The "Orsini Affair" was one of high treason and murder. It was the attempt on the part of a band of conspirators to murder Napoleon III.
In order to accomplish this _political_ object, they exploded a bomb as nearly under his Majesty"s carriage as they could manage, but instead of murdering the Emperor they killed a policeman.
Orsini was captured, tried, and executed in the good old French fashion. His political career ended with the guillotine--a sharp remedy, but effective, so far as he was concerned.
One Dr. Simon Bernard was more fortunate than his princ.i.p.al, for he was in England, the refuge of discontented foreign murderers, who try to do good by stealth, and sometimes feel very uncomfortable when they find that it turns out to be a.s.sa.s.sination.
Bernard was a brother conspirator in this famous Orsini business, and being apprehended in England, was taken to be tried before Lord Chief Justice Campbell, Edwin James and myself being retained for the defence.
There was no defence on the facts, and no case on the law. He was indicted for conspiracy with Orsini to murder the Emperor in Paris.
I had prepared a very elaborate and exhaustive argument in favour of the prisoner, on the law, and had little doubt I could secure his acquittal; but the facts were terribly strong, and we knew well enough if the jury convicted, Campbell would hang the prisoner, for he never tolerated murder. With this view of the case, we summoned Dr. Bernard to a consultation, which was held in one of the most ghastly rooms of Newgate.
No more miserable place could be found outside the jail, and it could only be surpa.s.sed in horror by one within. It might have been, and probably was, an anteroom to h.e.l.l, but of that I say nothing. I leave my description, for I can do no more justice to it. The only cheerful thing about it was Dr. Bernard himself. He was totally unconcerned with the danger of his situation, and regarded himself as a hero of the first order. Murder, hanging, guillotine--all seemed to be the everyday chances of life, and to him there was nothing sweeter or more desirable, if you might judge by his demeanour.
I thought it well to mention the fact that, if the jury found him guilty, Lord Campbell would certainly sentence him to death. He exhibited no emotion whatever, but shrugging his shoulders after the manner of a Frenchman who differed from you in opinion, said,--
"Well, if I am hanged, I must be hanged, that is all."
With a man like him it was impossible to argue or ask for explanations. He seemed to be possessed with the one idea that to remedy all the grievances of the State it was merely necessary to blow up the Emperor with his horses and carriage, and coolly informed us, without the least reserve, that the bombs manufactured with this political object had been sent over to Paris from England concealed in firkins of b.u.t.ter. I can find no words in which to express my feelings.
So ended our first consultation. The "merits" of the case were gone; there was no defence. But whatever might be our opinion on Dr.
Bernard"s state of mind, we could not abandon him to his fate. We were retained to defend him, and defend him we must, even in spite of himself, if we could do so consistently with our professional honour and duty.
Accordingly we had another consultation, and as I have said there was one other room in England more ghastly than that where we held our first interview, so now I reluctantly introduce you to it.
If a man about to be tried for his life could look on this apartment and its horrors unmoved, he would certainly be a fit subject for the attentions of the hangman, and deserving of no human sympathy. It was enough to shake the nerves of the hangman himself.
We were in an apartment on the north-east side of the quadrangular building, where the sunshine never entered. Even daylight never came, but only a feeble, sickening twilight, precursor of the grave itself.
It was not merely the gloom that intensified the horrors of the situation, or the ghastly traditions of the place, or the impending fate of our callous client; but there was a tier of shelves occupying the side of the apartment, on which were placed in dismal prominence the plaster-of-Paris busts of all the malefactors who had been hanged in Newgate for some hundred years.
No man can look attractive after having been hanged, and the indentation of the hangman"s rope on every one of their necks, with the mark of the knot under the ear, gave such an impression of all that can be conceived of devilish horror as would baffle the conceptions of the most morbid genius.
Whether these things were preserved for phrenological purposes or for the gratification of the most sanguinary taste, I never knew, but they impressed me with a disgust of the brutal tendency of the age.
Dr. Bernard, however, seemed to take a different view. Probably he was scientific. He went up to them, and examined, as it seemed, every one of these ghastly memorials with an interest which could only be scientific. It did not seem to have occurred to his brain that _his_ head would probably be the next to adorn that repository of criminal effigies.
He was in charge of a warder, and looked round with the utmost composure, as though examining the Caesars in the British Museum, and was as interested as any fanatical fool of a phrenologist. He shrugged his shoulders, raised his eyebrows, and repeated his old formula, "Well, if I am to be hanged, I must be hanged."
_He was acquitted_. My elaborate arguments on the law were not necessary, for the jury actually refused to believe the evidence as to the facts!
Such are the chances of trial by jury!
As a relief to this gloomy chapter I must tell you of a distinguished Judge who had to sentence a dishonest butler for robbing his master of some silver spoons. He considered it his duty to say a few words to the prisoner in pa.s.sing sentence, in order to show the enormity of the crime of a servant in his position robbing his master, and by way of warning to others who might be tempted to follow his example.
"You, prisoner," said his lordship, "have been found guilty, by a jury of your country, of stealing these articles from your employer--mark that--_your employer_! Now, it aggravates your offence that he is your employer, because he employs you to look after his property. You _did_ look after it, but not in the way that a butler should--mark that!"
The judge here hemmed and coughed, as if somewhat exhausted with his exemplary speech; and then resumed his address, which was ethical and judicial: "You, prisoner, have _no_ excuse for your conduct. You had a most excellent situation, and a kind master to whom you owed a debt of the deepest grat.i.tude and your allegiance as a faithful servant, instead of which you paid him by _feathering your nest with his silver spoons_; therefore you must be transported for the term of seven years!"
The metaphor was equal to that employed by an Attorney-General, who at a certain time in the history of the Home Rule agitation, addressing his const.i.tuents, told them that _Mr. Gladstone had sent up a balloon to see which way the cat jumped with regard to Ireland_! He was soon appointed a Judge of the High Court.
Judges, however, are not always masters of their feelings, any more than they are of their language; they are sometimes carried away by prejudice, or even controlled by sentiment. I knew one, a very worthy and amiable man, who, having to sentence a prisoner to death, was so overcome by the terrible nature of the crime that he informed the unhappy convict that he could expect _no mercy either in this world or the next_!
Littledale, again, was an uncommonly kind and virtuous man, a good husband and a learned Judge; but he was afflicted with a wife whom he could not control. She, on the contrary, controlled him, and left him no peace unless she had her will. At times, however, she overdid her business. Littledale had a butler who had been in the family many years, and with whom he would not have parted on any account. He would sooner have parted with her ladyship. One morning, however, this excellent butler came to Sir Joseph and said, with tears in his eyes,--
"I beg your pardon, my lord--"
"What"s the matter, James?"
"I"m very sorry, my lord," said the butler, "but I wish to leave."
"Wish to leave, James? Why, what do you wish to leave for? Haven"t you got a good situation?"
"Capital sitiwation, Sir Joseph, and you have always been a good kind master to me, Sir Joseph; but, O Sir Joseph, Sir Joseph!"
"What then, James, what then? Why do you wish to leave? Not going to get married, eh--not surely going to get married? O James, don"t do it!"
"Heaven forbid, Sir Joseph!"
"Eh, eh? Well, then, what is it? Speak out, James, and tell me all about it. Tell me--tell me as a friend! If there is any trouble--"
"Well, Sir Joseph, I could put up with anything from _you_, Sir Joseph, but I _can"t get on with my lady_!"
"My lady be--. O James, what a sinner you make of me! Is that all, James? Then go down on your knees at once and _thank G.o.d my lady is not your wife_!"
It was a happy thought, and James stayed.
I don"t think I have mentioned a curious reason that a jury once gave for _not_ finding a prisoner guilty, although he had been tried on a charge of a most terrible murder. The evidence was irresistible to anybody but a jury, and the case was one of inexcusable brutality. The man had been tried for the murder of his father and mother, and, as I said, the evidence was too clear to leave a doubt as to his guilt.
The jury retired to consider their verdict, and were away so long that the Judge sent for them and asked if there was any point upon which he could enlighten them. They answered no, and thought they understood the case perfectly well.
After a great deal of further consideration they brought in a verdict of "_Not Guilty_."
The Judge was angry at so outrageous a violation of their plain duty, and did what he ought not to have done--namely, asked the reason they brought in such a verdict, when they knew the culprit was guilty and ought to have been hanged.
"That"s just it, my lord," said the foreman of this distinguished body. "I a.s.sure you we had no doubt about the prisoner"s guilt, but we _thought there had been deaths enough in the family lately, and so gave him the benefit of the doubt_!"
There was a young solicitor who had been entrusted with a defence in a case of murder. It was his first case of importance, and he was, of course, enthusiastic in his devotion to his client"s interests.
Indeed, his enthusiasm rather overstepped his prudence.
By dint of perseverance and persuasion he obtained a promise from a juror-in-waiting that if he should be on the jury he would consent to no other verdict than manslaughter, which would be a tremendous triumph for the young solicitor.
The case was a very strong one for wilful murder. The friendly juror-in-waiting took his seat in the box. Everything went well except the evidence, and the solicitor"s heart almost failed for fear his man should give way. The jury for a long time were unable to agree.
Now the young solicitor felt it was his faithful juror who was standing out.
"All agreed but one, my lord."
"Go back to your room," said the Judge; which they did, and after another long absence returned with a verdict of "Manslaughter."