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should never come to an end were I to keep to a strictly nar-
rative form, and detail the infinite absurdities with which I
daily came in contact.
The prisoner was placed in the dock, and the jury were
sworn much as in Europe; almost all our own modes of pro-
cedure were reproduced, even to the requiring the prisoner
to plead guilty or not guilty. He pleaded not guilty, and the
case proceeded. The evidence for the prosecution was very
strong; but I must do the court the justice to observe that
the trial was absolutely impartial. Counsel for the prisoner
was allowed to urge everything that could be said in his de-
fence: the line taken was that the prisoner was simulating
consumption in order to defraud an insurance company,
from which he was about to buy an annuity, and that he
hoped thus to obtain it on more advantageous terms. If this
could have been shown to be the case he would have es-
caped a criminal prosecution, and been sent to a hospital
as for a moral ailment. The view, however, was one which
could not be reasonably sustained, in spite of all the inge-
nuity and eloquence of one of the most celebrated advocates
of the country. The case was only too clear, for the prisoner
was almost at the point of death, and it was astonishing that
he had not been tried and convicted long previously. His
coughing was incessant during the whole trial, and it was
all that the two jailors in charge of him could do to keep
him on his legs until it was over.
The summing up of the judge was admirable. He dwelt
upon every point that could be construed in favour of the
prisoner, but as he proceeded it became clear that the evi-

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