ore years ago, when York was a
place of insignificant proportions; when Hamilton could barely be said
to have an existence; and when the sites of most of the other towns of
the Province whose names are now familiar to us still formed part of the
hunting-grounds of the native Indian. The little town on the frontier
was relatively a place of much greater importance than it is at present;
though its fortunes, even at that early period, were decidedly on the
wane, and such glory as it could ever boast of possessing, as the
Provincial capital, had departed from it long before. To speak with
absolute precision, the date was Friday, the 20th of August, 1819: so
long ago that, as far as I have been able to learn, there are only two
persons now living who were present on the occasion. The court-room,
which was the largest in the Province, was packed to the doors, and
though every window was thrown open for purposes of ventilation, the
atmosphere was almost stifling. Even a stranger, had any such been
present, could not have failed to perceive that the trial was one in
which a keen interest was felt by the spectators, many of whom were
restless and irritable, insomuch that they found it impossible to keep
perfectly still, and from time to time shifted uneasily in their places.
Whispers, "not loud, but deep," occasionally reverberated from the back
benches to the quadrangular space in front assigned to gentlemen of the
long robe, and ascended thence to the august presence upon the judgment
seat. Ever and anon the stentorian voice of the crier proclaimed
silence, in a tone which plainly signified that endurance had well-nigh
reached its limits, and that he would really be compelled to proceed to
extremities if his mandate were any longer disobeyed.

The court-room was of the old conventional pattern. At the upper end was
the large elevated desk, or throne, extending nearly half way across the
chamber, with spacious cushioned chairs, and other suitable
accommodation for the presiding judge and his associates. To right and
left were the enclosed jury boxes, with seats raised considerably above
the level of the floor, but not so high as those provided for the
justices. Directly opposite the throne of justice, and about six yards
distant therefrom, was the prisoners' dock, into which five or six
persons might have been thrust, at a pinch. The intervening space
enclosed by this quadrangle--throne, prisoners' dock, and jury
boxes--was ma