On one point
nearly all of the witnesses were agreed--whoever there might be any
doubt about, there could be none concerning Maguire. Seven witnesses
swore positively to having seen him assisting in breaking open the
van, and some of them even repeated the words which they said he
addressed to them while thus engaged. On the evening of Friday,
November 1st, the trials terminated. It was past five o'clock when
Judge Mellor concluded his charge. The court was densely crowded, and
every eye was strained to mark the effect of the judge's words upon
the countenances of the prisoners; but they, poor fellows, quailed not
as they heard the words which they knew would shortly be followed by
a verdict consigning them to the scaffold. Throughout the long trial
their courage had never flagged, their spirits had never failed them
for an instant. Maguire, who had no real connection with the other
four, and who knew that the charge against him was a baseless
concoction, did, indeed, betray traces of anxiety and bewilderment
as the trial progressed; but Allen, O'Brien, Larkin, and Condon went
through the frightful ordeal with a heroic display of courage to which
even the most malignant of their enemies have paid tribute.
The judge has done, and now the jury turned from the box "to consider
their verdict.
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