The first reason is,
that if you, gentlemen, are a jury selected by the Crown,
as juries are known to be selected heretofore in political
cases--if you are, in fact, a jury selected with the express
purpose of finding a verdict for the Crown--then, gentlemen,
all the talent and ability that I could employ would avail
me nothing. If, on the other hand, by any chance the
Attorney-General permitted honest men to find their way into
the box, then, gentlemen, lawyers were equally unnecessary for
me.
Not an inaccurate view of the case, perhaps; the experience of the
Fenian trials, from first to last, certainly goes to support it.
The general set about his work of defending himself with infinite
coolness and self-possession. He was supplied with a chair, a small
table, and writing materials in the dock. When he had any notes to
make, he sat down, cleaned and adjusted his spectacles, and wrote out
what he wanted. When he wished to cross-examine a witness, he removed
his glasses, came to the front of the dock, and put his questions
steadily and quietly, without a trace of excitement in his manner,
but always with a close application to the subject in hand. One could
almost refuse to believe, while listening to him, that he had not been
educated and trained for the bar; and undoubtedly many of those who
wear wigs and gowns in her Majesty's courts, are far from exhibiting
the same degree of aptitude for the profession.
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