The Eureka Stockade Part 28

Initium Sapientie Est Timor Domini.

There are circ.u.mstances in life, so inexplicable for the understanding; so intricate for the counsel; so overwhelming for the judgment; so tempting for the soul; so clas.h.i.+ng with common sense; so bewildering for the mind; so crus.h.i.+ng for the heart; that even the honest man cannot help at moments to believe in FATE. Hence the 'sic sinuerunt Fata,' will dash the fatalist ahead, and embolden him to knock down friend or foe, so as to carry out his conceit. If successful, he is a Caesar; if unsuccessful, ignominy and a violent grave are the reward of his worry.

If this be true, as far as it goes, whilst

Through living hosts and changing scenes we rove, The mart, the court, the sea, the battle-plain, As pa.s.sions sway, or accident may move;

it holds not true in a gaol. There you must meet yourself, and you find that you are not your G.o.d. Hence these new strings in my harp.

TO THE POINT.

I.

Gay is the early bloom of life's first dawn, But darker colours tinge maturer years; Our days as they advance grow more forlorn, Hope's brightest dreams dissolve away in tears Which were the best, to be or not to have been?

The question may be asked, no answer can be seen.

II.

On earth we live, within our thoughts--the slaves, Of our conceptions in each varied mood, Gay or melancholy;--it is the waves Of our imaginings, become the food The spirit preys upon; and laughs or raves With madness or with pleasure, as it would If drunk with liquids. WE EXIST AND DWELL AS THE MIND MAY DISPOSE, IN HEAVEN OR IN h.e.l.l.

THEME.

Death which we dread so much, is but a name.

SONNET.

He who never did eat his bread in tears; Who never pa.s.sed a dreary bitter night, And in his bed of sorrow, the hard fight Of pending troubles saw, with anxious fears: Who never an exile forlorn for years, And never wept with Israel 'at the sight Of the waters of Babylon' (Psalm 137), the might Of Heaven's word is unknown to his ears.

IS THERE A MORTAL EYE THAT NEVER WEPT?

WITH tears the child begins his wants to show In tears the man out of the earth is swept.

Whether we bless or grumble here below, HIM who ever in His hand the world has kept In dark affliction's school we learn to know.

(Of course my original is in Italian.)

Chapter Lx.x.xIV.

Judica Me Deus, Et Discarne Causam Meam De Gente Non Sancta; Ab Homine Iniquo Et Doloso Erue Me.

SUPREME COURT Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Felix, Wednesday, March 21st, 1855.

(Before his Honour Mr. Justice Barry.)

MY STATE TRIAL His HONOUR took his seat shortly after ten o'clock.

The prisoner, that is myself, was placed in the dock, and the following Jury sworn (after the usual challenging):-

PHILLIP BRAGG, Gore-street, Farmer, ALEXANDER BARTHOLOMEW, Brighton-road, Joiner, JAMES BLACK, Greville-street, Butcher, CHARLES b.u.t.t, Lennox-street, Carpenter, THOMAS BELL, Lennox-street, Carpenter, FREDERICK BAINES, Richmond-road, Painter, CHARLES BELFORD, Kew, Gardener, WILLIAM BROADHURST, Wellington-street, Grocer, JOSEPH BERRY, Hawthorne, Farmer, DAVID BOYLE, Kew, Gardener, WILLIAM BARNETT, Heidelberg, Gardener, JOHN BATES, Rowena-street, Baker.

'Brava gente. Dio vi benedica. Mio Fratello desidera veder ciascuno di Voi, nella nostra Bella Itallia.'

For the first time in my life (37 years old), I was placed in a felon's dock, and before a British jury.

The first glance I gave to the foreman made me all serene. I was sure that the right man was in the right place.

JAMES MACPHERSON GRANT, my attorney for the defence, was 'all there.'

RICHARD DAVIS IRELAND, barrister, my counsel, was heavy with thunder.

Thick, sound, robust, round-headed as he is, the glance of his eyes is irresistible. A pair of bushy whiskers frame in such a shrewd forehead, astute nose, thundering mouth; that one had better keep at a respectful distance from drakes. His whole head and strong-built frame tell that he is ready to settle at once with anybody; either with the tongue or with the fist. His eloquence savours pretty strongly of Daniel O'Connell, and is flavoured with colonial pepper; hence Mr. Ireland will always exercise a potent spell over a jury. If he were the Attorney-General, the colony would breath freer from knaves, rogues, and vagabonds. The 'sweeps,' especially, could not possibly prosper with Ireland's pepper.

According to promise, another lawyer, a man of flesh, had to be present: but, as he was not there, so he is not here.

Mr. ASPINALL, barrister, totally unknown to me before, volunteered his services as my counsel to a.s.sist Mr. Ireland.

'In memoria eterna manet amicus' BUTLER COLE ASPINALL. The print of generous frankness in your forehead, of benevolence in your eyes, of having no-two-ways in your nose, of sincere boldness in your mouth; your height, fine complexion, n.o.ble deportment, indicate in you the gentleman and the scholar. If now and then you fumble among papers, whilst addressing the jury, that is perhaps for fear it should be observed that you have no beard; in order that proper attention may be paid to your learning, which is that of a grey-headed man; and though it may be said, that the Eureka Stockade was hoggledy enough, yet your pop, pop, pop, was also doggledy.

You know a tree by its fruits; and so you may know, if you like, the Attorney-General by his High-Treason Indictment. I have not the patience to go through it a second time. There are too many Fosters, fostering and festering in this Victorian land.

JUDGE BARRY presided; a man of the old-gentleman John Bull's stamp.

Nothing in his face of the cast of a Jefferies. He can manage his temper, even among the vexations of law.

His Honour addressed me always with kindness. If he shampooed his summing-up, with parson's solemnity, indicating not little self-congratulation, His Honour had reason to be proud of the following remarks, which I here record for that purpose:-

"They had been told (said His Honour to the jury), that the prisoner in the dock had come sixteen thousand miles to get off from the Austrian rule--from the land of tyranny to that of liberty; and so he had, in the truest sense of the word, and that liberty which he enjoyed imposed upon him a local respect for Her Majesty, and a respect for her laws. He had the privilege of being tried by a jury, who would form their verdict solely from the facts adduced on the trial."

A fair hint; equal to saying, that under the British flag I was not going to be tried before the Holy (read, Infernal) Inquisition.

Chapter Lx.x.xV.

Sunt Miserie In Vita Hominus, Viro Probo Dolosis Circ.u.mdari!

Nulla Miseria Pejor.