is crime admit, I
believe it is. We say 'Not Guilty,' from a firm conviction on our minds
that we are saying the truth."

"Enough," said the judge. "Clerk, record the verdict." Then turning to
the dock, towards which every eye was now bent, he continued: "Roland
Cashel, a jury of your countrymen, solemnly sworn to try you on the
charge of murder, have this day pronounced you 'Not Guilty.' You go,
therefore, free from this dock, to resume that station you occupied in
society, without stain upon your character or blemish upon your fame.
The sworn verdict we have recorded obliterates the accusation. But, for
the sake of justice, for the interests of the glorious prerogative
we possess in trial by jury, for the sacred cause of truth itself, I
implore you, before quitting this court, to unravel the thread of this
dark mystery, so far as in you lies,--to fill up those blanks in the
narrative you have already given us,--to confirm, to the extent in your
power, the justice of that sentence by which you are restored once more
to the society of your friends and family. This, I say, is now your
duty; and the example you will give, in performing it, will reflect
credit upon yourself, and do service to the cause of truth, when you and
I and those around us shall be no more."

It was with stronger show of emotion than Cashel had yet displayed that
he leaned over the dock and said,--

"My Lord, when life, and something more than life, were in peril, I
deemed it right to reserve certain details from the notoriety of this
court. I did so, not to involve any other in the suspicion of this
guilt, whose author I know not. I did not do so from any caprice, still
less from that misanthropic affectation the counsel was ungenerous
enough to ascribe to me. I believe that I had good and sufficient
reasons for the course I adopted. I still think I have such. As to the
rest, the discovery of this guilt is now become the duty of my life,--I
owe it to those whose words have set me free, and I pledge myself to the
duty."

The Bench now conferred with the Crown lawyers as to the proceedings
necessary for the discharge of the prisoner; and already the crowds,
wearied and exhausted, began to withdraw. The interest of the scene was
over; and in the various expressions of those that passed might be read
the feelings with which they regarded the result. Many reprobated the
verdict as against law and all the facts; some attributed the "finding"
to the