But it was in his
address to the jury that the remarkable talents of the man were most
brilliantly revealed. It was an extraordinary piece of argument and
eloquence, seasoned occasionally with much quiet humour, and enriched
with many passages that showed a high and courageous spirit. His
scathing denunciations of the system of brutality practised towards
the political prisoners in Kilmainham gaol, and his picture of Mr.
Governor Price as "the old gorilla," will long be remembered. One
portion of his remarks ran as follows:--
The whole conduct of the Crown, since my arrest, has been such
as to warrant me in asserting that I have been treated
more like a beast of prey than a human being. If I had been
permitted to examine witnesses, I would have shown how the
case had been got up by the Crown. I would have shown them
how the Crown Solicitor, the gaolers, the head gaoler and the
deputy gaolers of Kilmainham, and the Protestant chaplain
of that institution, had gone in, day and night, to all\
the witnesses--to the cells of the prisoners--with a bribe
in one hand and a halter in the other. I would have shown
how political cases were got up by the Crown in Ireland. I
would have shown how there existed, under the authority of
the Castle, a triumvirate of the basest wretches that ever
conspired to take away the lives and liberties of men.
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