at I wish to urge," said Paul. "It is
this. It is plain to me that the deceased man was murdered. It is
plain to us all, therefore, that someone must have been guilty of the
deed. Who would be likely to be guilty? The statements which found
credence here in the early part of the trial, that the deceased man had
no enemy beside myself has been shattered and destroyed. It has been
shown that one woman, at least, had reason to hate him with a deadly
hatred, and that case alone throws a tremendous light upon the
character of the deceased man. Far be it from me to throw suspicion
upon any innocent person--I have suffered too much myself to think of
doing such a thing--but even the deceased man's own father has made
terrible admissions. Do these admissions mean nothing? Are they to
count for nothing? That woman whose name has been mentioned, and who,
from the evidence given, could have no connection with this crime, had
a thousand times more reason to hate him than I. May there not be
others? Nay, there must be others----"

At this point Paul, knowing that he was drawing near to the end of what
he had to say, felt that he was indeed fighting for his life, and I
will not endeavour to describe his speech further. Possessing a mind
of more than ordinary clearness, having the gift of language to a
marked degree, and also having the strongest motive to make the most of
the facts which stood out clearly before him, he spoke almost like a
man inspired. With trembling voice, he was outwardly calm in
appearance. He again reviewed the evidence, showed its weakness, tore
the sophistries of Mr. Bakewell to pieces, and moved the hearts of all
present by his passionate appeal. More than once the spectators broke
in applause, while the barristers nudged each other with nods of
approval, as he made some special point in his defence. And presently,
when he sat down, everyone felt that Paul had saved his own life, that
he had fought a great battle and won it, that he not only did not
commit the deed of which he was accused, but that he was utterly
incapable of it, and that he would leave the court amid shouts of
triumph. Even to this day his speech is spoken of as one of the most
triumphant efforts ever made in the Manchester Assize Courts.

But this was only for a time. It is true he had seemingly answered Mr.
Bakewell in every point. It is true, too, that it seemed a crime
beyond all description to pronounce the Verdict