Then
follows the scene at Mr Heskett the publican's,
and you will observe how the stranger was treated
by the deceased, and, I am sorry to observe, by
those around, who seem to have urged him in a
manner which was aggravating in the highest degree.
While he asked for peace and for composition,
and offered submission to a magistrate, or to
a mutual arbiter, the prisoner was insulted by a
whole company, who seem on this occasion to have
forgotten the national maxim of `fair play;' and
while attempting to escape from the place in peace,
he was intercepted, struck down, and beaten to the
effusion of his blood.
``Gentlemen of the Jury, it was with some impatience
that I heard my learned brother, who
opened the case for the crown, give an unfavourable
turn to the prisoner's conduct on this occasion.
He said the prisoner was afraid to encounter his
antagonist in fair fight, or to submit to the laws of
the ring; and that therefore, like a cowardly Italian,
he had recourse to his fatal stiletto, to murder
the man whom he dared not meet in manly encounter.
I observed the prisoner shrink from this part
of the accusation with the abhorrence natural to a
brave man; and as I would wish to make my words
impressive, when I point his real crime, I must
secure his opinion of my impartiality, by rebutting
every thing that seems to me a false accusation.
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