e Attorney-General hopes to make
the stepping-stone to the bench--for; gentlemen, I do not
accuse the Attorney-General of wishing to prosecute me for
the purpose of having me punished; I believe he is above any
paltry consideration of that sort--but, gentlemen, all men are
influenced by one motive or another, and the Attorney-General,
though he is the first law officer of the Crown in Ireland,
is human like ourselves; he is not above all human frailty,
but like other men, doubtless, likes office, and likes
the emolument which office brings. But, gentlemen of the
jury, it will be your fault if you make your shoulders the
stepping-stone for the Attorney-General to spring upon the
bench. I say these words to you in sober, solemn earnestness.
You are now trying a man who has lived all his life-time in
a country where freedom is venerated and adored. You may
believe, gentlemen, that you have the speech of freedom here;
but I claim, gentlemen, that the real spirit of freedom has
fled these shores many a century ago--has sped across the
Atlantic, and perched upon American soil; and, gentlemen, it
ought to be your wish and desire--as I am sure it is, for I am
unwilling to believe that you are the men the Attorney-General
deems you to be--to do me justice, and to prove that Dublin
juries do not on all occasions bring in a verdict at the
dictation of the Crown. Gentlemen, the principle of freedom
is at stake. Every man that is born into this world has a
right to freedom, unless he forfeits that right by his
own misdemeanour. Perhaps you have read the Declaration of
American Independence. In that declaration, drawn up by one
Thomas Jefferson, it is stated that every man born into this
world is born free and equal; that he has the right--the
inalienable right--to live in liberty and the pursuit of
happiness. These are the cardinal principles of liberty. I
claim these rights, unless I have forfeited them by my own
misconduct. I claim there is not one particle, one scintilla,
of evidence to warrant you in finding a verdict for the Crown.
I have not conspired with General Roberts or any of these
other generals. There is no evidence to show you anything
about any such conspiracy, as far as I am concerned. With
these facts before you, I ask you, as reasonable men, is
there one part