Year: 1864

/ ordered home, and bidding me wish him
/ JOY upon his prospect of again beholding
his darling constant Laura


Well, six months passed, and | heard


no more of Charley; nor indeed had |


much time to think about him, for poor
old Wardle's illness ended in hi, death,
| and | was appointed, Professionally, man
aging clerk IN his stead The assizes were
on. and we had several heavy cases for
trial in different parts Of the country
One of these, the great cause of Stopperty
against Moss was entered for trial at


ork; and thither ! went by the mail


for there were no railways in those days
with my briefs and witnesses. and re


tanned therefor Lord Campbell as my


leading counsel.


York is a charming old city, in which a


stranger can spend day or two very


pleasantly in looking about him. But


clerk il charge of law suit, Master Jack,


must not 20 looking about him, or let his


witnesses out Of HE sight; for he never


knows, from one hour to another, when


his cause may be called on 1t may stand


half a dozen down on the list but if you


presume on this tc 90 out for q walk, or a


row on the river, the others are sure to


break down, or be referred, or what not
and pretty mess you will be in then. 1t


may renaIl the very next for trial, and


you may be told that the one before it


cannot last two hours; and for all that it


may drag on for days Such a case


was that which stopped the way"


before Stopperty against Moss. a dozen


times it threatened to break down, and
dozen and one times it got on its weary


legs again. 1t was dull affair; and, for


want of some thing better to do-as dared


not leave the castle-I strolled into the
crown court, where Gas you must know,


Miss Nary the prisoners were tried
There sat the Judge In his scarlet robes,
with the high Sheriff of the county by his


side, and before him three prisoners stand
in the dock upon their trial for burglary.


| began To chat with some young barrls


ters whom ! knew, and was paying no
attention to the proceedings, when all Of
q sudden | heard the name of Lord Thorn
bury mentioned by the counsel who was
conducting the prosecution. pricked up
my ears, and began to listen to the case.


1t appeared that day or two before the


burglary, Lord Thurnbury had returned


with his bride from their continental tour,


and had taken up his abode at his country


seat; that, in anticipation of the festivities


which were TO follow, the whole of his


grand family plate and her ladyships


Jewels had been brought down from his


London bar kers that one of the prisoners


was discarded servant, who knew where


those valuables were kept; that the house


had been broken into, and the whole Of


the silver swept away and that another


of the accused was caught in the act of


climbing down from the roof of an out


house CLOSE to the place where an entrance


L / Y n
fellow, (who was indicted by the name Of
Richard Thompson) seemed to be Gear
enough; that against his companions rest
ed upon circumstantial evidence One of
them, named Arnold, had been seen in
company with Thompson the day before
the burglary, prowling about the park
close TO the house, in a suspicious manner
and the landlord of the inn at which
| Thompson had been staying swore that a
| man-whom he afterwards recognized as
| Arnold-called for the prisoner Thompson
! the following night, and that they walked
| ont together in the direction of Lord
/ Thornbury' park The name of the dis
! carded servant was OHara. and he had
/ been taken into custody in the house of a
noted receiver Of stolen goods in Sheffield,
where. concealed under some ashes in the
! back kitchen was found mass of silver
plate broken up and partially melted, but
/ not sufficiently so to obliterate the marks
/ whereby ii was identified as Lord Thorn
! bury property The wretched old fence


was indicted also; but he pleaded guilty,
and was called as a witness against his
I client Arnold and 0Hara were defend
! ed bv counsel, and every dodge that expe-
rience and ingenuity could devise was
made use of to get them off, and to throw
all the blame on Thompson. There was
a public path through the park, where the
former had been seen talking with Thomp


son: perhaps he had merely asked him his


wav. If he had accompanied him to the


hall and assisted in the burglary, how


came it that he (the prisoner Arnold hao


not also been taken? As for . Hara, he
poor innocent, was the victim OF the oio


jew fence" No one had seen him bring


the stolen plate to Sheffield. Some one
else might have taken it to the Jew house


and there was nothing to show that . Ha
ra knew the bad character Of that mansion
into which-so suggested his defender


he might have been inveigled; and so fortf


and so on, but the jury were not to b.
| humbugged; and after short discussion
: found Arnold and O'Hara guilty, The.
had no doubt about Thompson; had h
, not been actually caught in the act? Thi
prisoner had no counsel had asked n
: question of any of the witnesses agains
) him and upon being asked if he wishe'


to say anything in his defence. merel,
| shook his head What will he get !?
, asked young barrister in front of me


"Oh, ten years at least, said the frien,
: he addressed its bad case; but wha
? good looking fellow the scoundrel IS
. The dock at \ ork Castle is panneled L
: at the sides, and raised a good heigh
: from the ground l was standing in
sort of gangway there is to the right of II
5 and could only see the back of the pris
j oners heads; so, when | heard the abov
) remark, began to press forward, out c
: curiosity to see what sort of a looking ma
T this Richard Thompson was; but my at
tention was diverted bv a rustling of silki
t and the next moment Laura, Countess c


Thornburv. escorted by her noble spouse
| appeared on the bench, and was polltel
5 handed into a seat on the left Of the Judg
1 hv the high Sheriff Now, | think tha
i handsome. well dressed women are orna
! ments in nearly every scene; but L cannC
l. bear to see them in criminal court, an


y l.