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town, there to dry in spite of occasional pecking from crows and vultures. The whole performance to impress the young generation with the fear of God and teach them to honour the king.
I soon reconciled myself to my lot, and remembering my younger days at school, I argued thus:—
Where there are no bricks, there are no walls: but, walls are required to enclose the gates; therefore, in Ballaarat there are no gates. Corolarium—How the deuce can they hang up my hind-quarters on the gates of Ballaarat Township? Hence, Toorak must possess a craft which passes all understanding of Traitors.
The jury, however, appeared frightened at this powerful thundering from Mr. Ireland, who now began to turn the law towards a respectable and more congenial quarter, and proved, that if the prisoner at the bar had burnt down all the brothels not kept on the sly in Her Majesty's dominions, he would be a Traitor; yet, if he had left one single brothel standing—say, in Sandwich Islands—for the accommodation of any of Her Majesty's well-affected subjects, then the high treason was not high—high enough and up to the mark; that is, my fore-quarter could not be legally stuck up on the imaginary gates of Ballaarat.
His Honour appeared to me, to assent to the hue of argument of the Learned Counsel, who concluded a very lengthy but most able address, by calling on the jury to put an end by their verdict to the continued incarceration of the man, and to teach the government that they could not escape from the responsibilities they had incurred by their folly, by trying to obtain a verdict, which would brand the subjects of Her Majesty in this Colony with disloyalty.
The jury now appeared to me to be ready to let the high traitor go his way in bodily integrity.
Mr. Aspinall then rose to address the jury on behalf of the prisoner. His speech was spirited, cutting, withering' but could only cover the falsehood, and not bring to light the truth: hence to record his speech here cannot possibly serve the purpose of this Book: hence the four documents, and my important observation on them in the following chapter.
