Roland Cashel Volume Ii Part 57

"The criminal law of our land, gentlemen of the jury, is satisfied with the facts which establish guilt or innocence, without requiring that the motives of accused parties should be too closely scrutinized. Crime consists, of course, of the spirit in which a guilty action is done; but the law wisely infers that a guilty act is the evidence of a guilty spirit; and therefore, although there may be circ.u.mstances to extenuate the criminality of an act, the offence before the law is the same; and the fact, the great fact, that a man has killed his fellow-man, is what const.i.tutes murder.

"I have said that this case has but one difficulty; and that is, the possible motive which could have led to the fatal act Now, this would present itself as a considerable obstacle if the relations between the parties were such as we happily witness them in every county of this island, where the proprietor and his agent are persons linked, by the sacred obligation of duty, and the frequent intercourse of social life, into the closest friends.h.i.+p.

"That blood should stain the bonds of such brotherhood would be scarcely credible--and even when credible, inexplicable; it would be repugnant to all our senses to conceive an act so unnatural. But was the present a similar case? or rather, was it one exactly the opposite? You have heard that repeated differences occurred between the parties, amounting even to altercations. Mr. h.o.a.re's evidence has shown you that Mr. Cashel's extravagance had placed him in difficulties of no common kind; his demands for money were incessant, and the utter disregard of the cost of obtaining it is almost beyond belief. The exigence on one side, the manly resistance on the other, must have led to constant misunderstanding. But these were not the only circ.u.mstances that contributed to a feeling of estrangement, soon to become something still more perilous. And here I pause to ask myself how far I am warranted in disclosing facts of a private nature, although in their bearing they have an important relation to the case before us! It is a question of great delicacy; and were it not that the eternal interests of truth and justice transcend all others, I might shrink from the performance of a task which, considered in a merely personal point of view, is deeply distressing. But it is not of one so humble as myself of whom there is a question here: the issue is, whether a man's blood should be spilled, and no expiation be made for it?"

The counsel after this entered into a discursive kind of narrative of Cashel's intimacy with the Kennyf.e.c.k family, with whom he had been for a time domesticated; and after a ma.s.s of plausible generalities, wound up by an imputed charge that he had won the affections of the younger daughter, who, with the consent of her parents, was to become his wife.

"It will not seem strange to you, gentlemen," said he, "that I have not called to that table as a witness either the widow or the orphan to prove these facts, or that I have not subjected their sacred sorrows to the rude a.s.saults of a cross-examination. You will not think the worse of me for this reserve, nor shall I ask of you to give my statements the value of sworn evidence; you will hear them, and decide what value they possess in leading you to a true understanding of this case.

"I have said, that if a regular pledge and promise of marriage did not bind the parties, something which is considered equivalent among persons of honor did exist, and that by their mutual acquaintances they were regarded as contracted to each other. Mr. Cashel made her splendid and expensive presents, which had never been accepted save for the relations between them; he distinguished her on all occasions by exclusive attention, and among his friends he spoke of his approaching marriage as a matter fixed and determined on. In this state of things a discovery took place, which at once served to display the character of the young gentleman, and to rescue the family from one of the very deepest, because one of the most irremediable, of all calamities. Information reached them, accompanied by such circ.u.mstances as left no doubt of its veracity, that this Mr. Cashel had been married already, and that his wife, a young Spanish lady, was still living, and residing at the Havannah.

"I leave you to imagine the misery which this sad announcement produced in that circle, where, until he entered it, happiness had never been disturbed. It is not necessary that I should dwell upon the distress this cruel treachery produced: with its consequences alone we have any concern here; and these were a gradual estrangement,--a refusal, calm but firm, to receive Mr. Cashel as before; an intimation that they knew of circ.u.mstances which, from delicacy to him, they would never advert to openly, but which must at once bar all the contemplated relations: and to this sad, humiliating alternative he submitted!

"To avoid the slanderous stories which gossip would be certain to put in circulation, they did not decline the invitation they had before accepted to visit Tubbermore; they came, however, under the express stipulation that no close intimacy was ever to be resumed between Mr.

Cashel and themselves; he was not even to use the common privilege of a host,--to visit them in their own apartments. That this degree of cold distance was maintained between them, on every occasion, all the guests a.s.sembled at the house can testify; and he neither joined the party in carriage nor on horseback. Perhaps this interdiction was carried out with too rigid a discipline; perhaps the cold reserve they maintained had a.s.sumed a character of insult, to one whose blood still glowed with the fire of southern a.s.sociations; perhaps some circ.u.mstance with which we are unacquainted contributed to render this estrangement significant, and consequently painful to a man who could not brook the semblance of a check. It is needless to ask how or whence originating, since we can see in the fact itself cause sufficient for indignant reproof on one side, for a wounded self-love and tarnished honor on the other.

"Are we at a loss for such motives, then, in the presence of facts like these? Ask yourselves, Is a man, bred and trained up in all the riotous freedom of a service scarcely above the rank of piracy,--accustomed to the lawless license of a land where each makes the law with his own right hand,--is such a man one to bear a slight with patient submission, or to submit to an open shame in tame obedience? Can you not easily imagine how all the petty differences of opinion they might have had were merely skirmishes in front of that line where deeper and graver feelings stood in battle array? Can you suppose that, however ruled over by the ordinary courtesies of life, this youth nourished his plans of ultimate revenge, not only upon those who refused with indignation his traitorous alliance, but who were the depository of a secret that must interdict all views of marriage in any other quarter?"

CHAPTER x.x.x. THE DEFENCE

Equal to either fortune.

--Eugene Aram.

As the Crown counsel sat down, a low murmur ran through the Court, whose meaning it would be difficult to define; for if the greater number present were carried away by the indignant eloquence of the pleader to believe Cashel a hardened criminal, some few still seemed to cling to his side, and bent their eyes towards the dock with looks of sympathy and comfort. And oh, how little know they, whose eyes are beaming with the bright spark that warms their generous hearts, what loadstars are they to him who stands alone, forsaken, and accused in the criminal dock! What a resting-place does the weary and tired soul feel that glance of kindly meaning! How does it speak to his bruised and wounded spirit of hope and charity! What energy will it impart to the fast-failing courage! what self-respect and self-reliance to him who, a few moments back, was sinking beneath the abas.e.m.e.nt of despair!

Such was the effect now produced upon Roland Cashel. The array of circ.u.mstances, so formidably marshalled by his accuser, had completely overwhelmed him; the consciousness of innocence failed to support him against the feeling which he saw spreading like a mist around him.

Against the accusation--against its fearful penalty--his own stout heart could sustain him; but how bear up against the contempt and the abhorrence of his fellow-men! Under the crus.h.i.+ng weight of this shame he was sinking fast, when a stray glance--a chance expression of interest, like sunlight piercing a dark cloud--gave promise that all was not lost.

He felt that there were yet some who wished to believe him guiltless, and that all sympathy for him had not yet died out.

"Does the prisoner desire to avail himself of the privilege he possesses to call witnesses to character?" asked the judge.

"No, my Lord," said Cashel, firmly, but respectfully. "Since my accession to fortune, my life has been pa.s.sed for the most part in what is called the 'fas.h.i.+onable world;' and from what I have seen of it, the society does not seem rich in those persons whose commendations, were they to give them, would weigh heavily with your Lords.h.i.+p. Besides, they could say little to my praise, which the learned counsel has not already said to my disparagement,--that I had the command of wealth, and squandered it without taste and without credit."

Few and insignificant as were these words, the easy and fearless mode of their delivery, the manly energy of him who spoke them, seemed to produce a most favorable impression throughout the court, which as rapidly reacted upon Cashel; for now the embers of hope were fanned, and already glowed into a slight flicker.

"The prisoner having waived his privilege, my Lord," said the Attorney-General, "I beg to observe that the case is now closed."

"Is it too late, then, my Lord, for me to address a few words to the jury?" asked Roland, calmly.

"What say you, Mr. Attorney-General?" asked the judge.

"Your Lords.h.i.+p knows far better than I, that to address the Court at this stage of the proceedings, would be to concede the right of reply--and, in fact, of speaking twice; since the prisoner's not having availed himself of the fitting occasion to comment on the evidence, gives him not the slightest pretension to usurp another one."

"Such is the law of the case," said the judge, solemnly.

"I have nothing to observe against it, my Lord," said Cashel. "If I have not availed myself of the privilege accorded to men placed as I am, I must only submit to the penalty my pride has brought upon me,--for it was pride, my Lord. Since that, however, another, and I hope a higher pride has animated me, to vindicate my character and my fame; so that, at some future day--a long future, it may be--when the true facts of this dark mystery shall be brought to light, a more cautious spirit will pervade men's minds as to the guilt of him a.s.sailed by circ.u.mstantial evidence. It might be, my Lord, that all I could adduce in my own behalf would weigh little against the weight of accusations which even to myself appear terribly consistent. I know, for I feel, how hard it would be to accept the cold unsupported narrative of a prisoner, in which many pa.s.sages might occur of doubtful probability, some of even less credit, and some again of an obscurity to which even he himself could not afford the clew; and yet, with all these difficulties, enhanced tenfold by my little knowledge of the forms of a court, and my slender capacity, I regret, my Lord, that I am unable to address the few words I had intended to the jury,--less, believe me, to avert the s.h.i.+pwreck that awaits myself, than to be a beacon to some other who may be as solitary and unfriended as I am."

These words, delivered with much feeling, but in a spirit of calm determination, seemed to thrill through the entire a.s.semblage; and even the senior judge stopped to confer for some minutes with his brother on the bench, in evident hesitation what course to adopt. At length he said,--

"However we may regret the course you have followed in thus depriving yourself of that legitimate defence the const.i.tution of our country provides, we see no sufficient reason to deviate from the common order of proceeding in like cases. I will now, therefore, address the jury, who have already heard your words, and will accord them any consideration they may merit."

"It may be, my Lord," said Cashel, "that evidence so strongly imbued with probability may induce the gentlemen in that box to believe me guilty; in which case, I understand, your Lords.h.i.+p would address to me the formal question, 'If I had anything to say why sentence of death should not be pa.s.sed upon me.' Now, if I am rightly informed, any observations of a prisoner at such a moment are regarded rather in the light of pet.i.tions for mercy, than as explanations or corrections of falsehood. I have, therefore, only now to say, that, whatever decision you may come to, the Court shall not be troubled further with interference of mine."

The Judge bowed slightly, as if in reply to this, and began his charge; but the foreman of the jury, leaning forward, said that his fellow-jurors had desired him to ask, as a favor to themselves, that the prisoner might be heard. A short conference ensued between the Bench and the Crown counsel, which ended by the permission being accorded; and now Cashel rose to address the Court.

"I will not," said he, "abuse the time of this Court by any irrelevant matter, nor will I advert to a single circ.u.mstance foreign to the substance of the charge against me. I purpose simply to give a narrative of the last day I pa.s.sed with my poor friend, and to leave on record this detail as the solemn protestation of innocence of one who has too little to live for to fear death."

With this brief preface he began a regular history of that eventful day, from the hour he had started from Tubbermore in company with Mr.

Kennyf.e.c.k.

The reader is already familiar with every step and circ.u.mstance of that period, so that it is not necessary we should weary him by any recapitulation; enough if we say that Cashel proceeded with a minuteness devoid of all prolixity, to mention each fact as it occurred, commenting as he went on upon the evidence already given, and explaining its import without impugning its truth. Juries are ever disposed to listen favorably to a speaker who brings to his aid no other allies than candor and frankness, and who, without pretensions to legal acuteness, narrates facts with clear and distinctive precision. Leaving him, therefore, still speaking, and in the irresistible force of truth gradually winning upon his hearers, let us quit the court for a brief time, and pa.s.sing through the crowded s.p.a.ce before the doors, traverse the town, densely thronged by curious and eager visitors. We do not mean to linger with them, nor overhear the comments they pa.s.sed upon the eventful scene beside them; our business is about a mile off, at a small public-house at a short distance from the roadside, usually frequented by cattle-dealers and the customers at the weekly markets. Here, in a meanly-furnished room, where, for it was now evening, a common dip candle shed its lugubrious yellow light upon the rude appliances of vulgar life, sat a man, whose eager expectancy was marked in every line of his figure. Every now and then he would arise from his chair, and, screening the candle from the wind, open the window to look out.

The night was dark and gusty; drifting rain beat at intervals against the gla.s.s, and seemed the forerunner of a great storm. The individual we have spoken of did not seem to care for, if he even noticed, the inclemency; he brushed the wet from his bushy beard and mustaches with indifference, and bent his ear to listen to the sounds upon the road in deepest earnestness. At last the sound of horses' feet and wheels was heard rapidly approaching, and a car drove up to the door, from which a man, wrapped up in a loose frieze coat, descended, and quickly mounted the stairs. As he reached the landing, the door of the room was thrown vide, and the other man, in a low, but distinct, voice said, "Well, what news?"

"All right," said he of the frieze coat, as, throwing off the wet garment, he discovered the person of Mr. Clare Jones. "Nothing could possibly go better; my cross-examination clinched Keane's evidence completely, and no jury could get over it."

"I almost wish you had let him alone," said the other, gruffly, and in evident discontent; "I foresee that the sympathy the scoundrel affected will be troublesome to us yet."

"I have no fears on that head," replied the other, confidently. "The facts are there, and Crankle's speech to evidence ripped him up in a terrific manner."

"Did he allude to the Spanish girl?"

"He did, and with great effect."

"And the Kilgoff affair--did he bring 'My Lady' up for judgment?"

"No. The Attorney-General positively forbade all allusion to that business."

"Oh, indeed!" said the other, with a savage sneer. "'The Court' was too sacred for such profanation."

"I think he was right, too," said Jones. "The statement could never have been brought to bear upon the case before the Court. It would have been a mere episode outside of the general history, and just as likely impress the Jury with the opinion that all the charges were trumped up to gain a conviction in any way."

The other paused, and seemed to reflect for some minutes, when he said, "Well, what are they about now?"

"When I left, the Court had just refused Cashel's demand to address the jury. The Chief Baron had ruled against him, and, of course, the charge is now being p.r.o.nounced. As I know how this must run, I took the opportunity of coming over here to see you."

"_My_ name was but once mentioned, you tell me," said the other, in an abrupt manner.

"It was stated that you were dangerously ill, without hope of recovery,"

said Jones, faltering, and with evident awkwardness.

"And not alluded to again?" asked the other, whom there is no need of calling Mr. Linton.

"Yes, once pa.s.singly," said Jones, still faltering.