idea of their wives laying their heads upon their

pillows; that, they could never endure the notion of their children

laying their heads upon their pillows; in short, that there never

more could be, for them or theirs, any laying of heads upon pillows

at all, unless the prisoner’s head was taken off. That head Mr.

Attorney-General concluded by demanding of them, in the name

of everything he could think of with a round turn in it, and on the

faith of his solemn asseveration that he already considered the

prisoner as good as dead and gone.

When the Attorney-General ceased, a buzz arose in the court as

if a cloud of great blue-flies were swarming about the prisoner, in

anticipation of what he was soon to become. When toned down

again, the unimpeachable patriot appeared in the witness-box.

Mr. Solicitor-General then, following his leader’s lead,

examined the patriot: John Barsad, gentleman, by name. The

story of his pure soul was exactly what Mr. Attorney-General had

described it to beperhaps, if it had a fault, a little too exactly.

Having released his noble bosom of its burden, he would have

modestly withdrawn himself, but that the wigged gentleman with

the papers before him, sitting not far from Mr. Lorry, begged to

ask him a few questions. The wigged gentleman sitting opposite,

still looking at the ceiling of the court.

Had