inly appropriated to the use of barristers and attorneys,
and their clients. A large portion of the space so appropriated was
occupied by a table, around which were distributed a few chairs, every
one of which was occupied; and at the end directly below the judicial
throne was a small enclosure provided for the clerk of the court, set
apart by a low railing, and containing a desk of diminutive size.
Between the clerk's desk and the left-hand jury box was the witness
stall, raised to a level with the highest seats provided for the jurors.
A seat for the sheriff was placed a short distance to the right of the
throne of justice, and on a slightly lower level.

All these arrangements occupied perhaps one-third of the entire
court-room. The rest of the space, extending from the rear of the
prisoners' dock to the lower end of the chamber, was occupied by seats
rising tier behind tier, with a passage down the middle. Between each
of the ends of these seats and the walls of the chamber were passages of
about three feet in width, leading to the doors, for purposes of
"ingress, egress and regress." Such was the plan of the conventional
Upper Canadian court-room in the olden time; and such, with a few
inconsiderable modifications, many of them remain down to the present
day.

The sole occupant of the judgment seat, on this sultry afternoon, was a
gentleman of somewhat diminutive size, but withal of handsome and
imposing appearance. Though he had reached advanced middle life, he
presented none of the signs of age, and evidently retained all his
vigour unimpaired. His eyes were bright and keen, and his small but firm
and clearly cut features were lighted up with the consciousness of
mental power. No one, looking upon that countenance, could doubt that
its owner had all his faculties under strict and thorough control, or
that his faculties were considerably above those of average humanity.
The face was not one for a child to fall in love with, for it was a
perfect index to the character, and was firm and strong rather than
amiable or kind. Evidently a man who, should the occasion for doing so
arise, would deal out the utmost rigour of the law, if not with
indifference, at least without a qualm. He was the Honourable William
Dummer Powell, and he occupied the high office of Chief Justice of the
Province. In conjunction with the Reverend Doctor Strachan, Rector of
York, he had for several years practically directed the administration