The Three Clerks Part 76

'Something like your own, is it?' said Mr. Chaffanbra.s.s, as though he were much surprised. 'Like your own! Well, will you have the goodness to read it?'

Undy turned it in his hand as though the proposed task were singularly disagreeable to him. Why, thought he to himself, should he be thus browbeaten by a dirty old Newgate lawyer? Why not pluck up his courage, and, at any rate, show that he was a man? 'No,' said he, 'I will not read it.'

'Then I will. Gentlemen of the jury, have the goodness to listen to me.' Of course there was a contest then between him and the lawyers on the other side whether the doc.u.ment might or might not be read; but equally of course the contest ended in the judge's decision that it should be read. And Mr. Chaffanbra.s.s did read it in a voice audible to all men. 'All will yet be well, if those shares be ready to-morrow morning.' We may take it as admitted, I suppose, that this is in your handwriting, Mr. Scott?'

'It probably may be, though I will not say that it is.'

'Do you not know, sir, with positive certainty that it is your writing?'

To this Undy made no direct answer. 'What is your opinion, Mr.

Scott?' said the judge; 'you can probably give an opinion by which the jury would be much guided.'

'I think it is, my lord,' said Undy.

'He thinks it is, said Mr. Chaffanbra.s.s, addressing the jury.

'Well, for once I agree with you. I think it is also--and how will you have the goodness to explain it. To whom was it addressed?'

'I cannot say.'

'When was it written?'

'I do not know.'

'What does it mean?'

'I cannot remember.'

'Was it addressed to Mr. Tudor?'

'I should think not.'

'Now, Mr. Scott, have the goodness to look at the jury, and to speak a little louder. You are in the habit of addressing a larger audience than this, and cannot, therefore, be shamefaced.

You mean to tell the jury that you think that that note was not intended by you for Mr. Tudor?'

'I think not,' said Undy.

'But you can't say who it was intended for?'

'No.'

'And by the virtue of your oath, you have told us all that you know about it?' Undy remained silent, but Mr. Chaffanbra.s.s did not press him for an answer. 'You have a brother, named Valentine, I think.' Now Captain Val had been summoned also, and was at this moment in court. Mr. Chaffanbra.s.s requested that he might be desired to leave it, and, consequently, he was ordered out in charge of a policeman.

'And now, Mr. Scott--was that note written by you to Mr. Tudor, with reference to certain shares, which you proposed that Mr.

Tudor should place in your brother's hands? Now, sir, I ask you, as a member of Parliament, as a member of the Government, as the son of a peer, to give a true answer to that question.' And then again Undy was silent; and again Mr. Chaffanbra.s.s leant on the desk and glared at him. 'And remember, sir, member of Parliament and n.o.bleman as you are, you shall be indicted for perjury, if you are guilty of perjury.'

'My lord,' said Undy, writhing in torment, 'am I to submit to this?'

'Mr. Chaffanbra.s.s,' said the judge, 'you should not threaten your witness. Mr. Scott--surely you can answer the question.'

Mr. Chaffanbra.s.s seemed not to have even heard what the judge said, so intently were his eyes fixed on poor Undy. 'Well, Mr.

Scott,' he said at last, very softly, 'is it convenient for you to answer me? Did that note refer to a certain number of bridge shares, which you required Mr. Tudor to hand over to the stepfather of this lady?'

Undy had no trust in his brother. He felt all but sure that, under the fire of Mr. Chaffanbra.s.s, he would confess everything.

It would be terrible to own the truth, but it would be more terrible to be indicted for perjury. So he sat silent.

'My lord, perhaps you will ask him,' said Mr. Chaffanbra.s.s.

'Mr. Scott, you understand the question--why do you not answer it?' asked the judge. But Undy still remained silent.

'You may go now,' said Mr. Chaffanbra.s.s. 'Your eloquence is of the silent sort; but, nevertheless, it is very impressive. You may go now, and sit on that bench again, if, after what has pa.s.sed, the sheriff thinks proper to permit it.'

Undy, however, did not try that officer's complaisance. He retired from the witness-box, and was not again seen during the trial in any conspicuous place in the court.

It was then past seven o'clock; but Mr. Chaffanbra.s.s insisted on going on with the examination of Captain Val. It did not last long. Captain Val, also, was in that disagreeable position, that he did not know what Undy had confessed, and what denied. So he, also, refused to answer the questions of Mr. Chaffanbra.s.s, saying that he might possibly damage himself should he do so. This was enough for Mr. Chaffanbra.s.s, and then his work was done.

At eight o'clock the court again adjourned; again Charley posted off--for the third time that day--to let Gertrude know that, even as yet, all was not over; and again he and Alaric spent a melancholy evening at the neighbouring tavern; and then, again, on the third morning, all were re-a.s.sembled at the Old Bailey.

Or rather they were not all re-a.s.sembled. But few came now, and they were those who were obliged to come. The crack piece of the trial, that portion to which, among the connoisseurs, the interest was attached, that was all over. Mr. Chaffanbra.s.s had done his work. Undy Scott, the member of Parliament, had been gibbeted, and the rest was, in comparison, stale, flat, and unprofitable. The judge and jury, however, were there, so were the prosecuting counsel, so were Mr. Chaffanbra.s.s and Mr.

Younglad, and so was poor Alaric. The work of the day was commenced by the judge's charge, and then Alaric, to his infinite dismay, found how all the sophistry and laboured arguments of his very talented advocate were blown to the winds, and shown to be worthless. 'Gentlemen,' said the judge to the jurors, after he had gone through all the evidence, and told them what was admissible, and what was not--'gentlemen, I must especially remind you, that in coming to a verdict in the matter, no amount of guilt on the part of any other person can render guiltless him whom you are now trying, or palliate his guilt if he be guilty.

An endeavour has been made to affix a deep stigma on one of the witnesses who has been examined before you; and to induce you to feel, rather than to think, that Mr. Tudor is, at any rate, comparatively innocent--innocent as compared with that gentleman.

That is not the issue which you are called on to decide; not whether Mr. Scott, for purposes of his own, led Mr. Tudor on to guilt, and then turned against him; but whether Mr. Tudor himself has, or has not, been guilty under this Act of Parliament that has been explained to you.

'As regards the evidence of Mr. Scott, I am justified in telling you, that if the prisoner's guilt depended in any way on that evidence, it would be your duty to receive it with the most extreme caution, and to reject it altogether if not corroborated.

That evidence was not trustworthy, and in a great measure justified the treatment which the witness encountered from the learned barrister who examined him. But Mr. Scott was a witness for the defence, not for the prosecution. The case for the prosecution in no way hangs on his evidence.

'If it be your opinion that Mr. Tudor is guilty, and that he was unwarily enticed into guilt by Mr. Scott; that the whole arrangement of this trust was brought about by Mr. Scott or others, to enable him or them to make a cat's-paw of this new trustee, and thus use the lady's money for their own purposes, such an opinion on your part may justify you in recommending the prisoner to the merciful consideration of the bench; but it cannot justify you in finding a verdict of not guilty.'

As Alaric heard this, and much more to the same effect, his hopes, which certainly had been high during the examination of Undy Scott, again sank to zero, and left him in despair. He had almost begun to doubt the fact of his own guilt, so wondrously had his conduct been glossed over by Mr. Chaffanbra.s.s, so strikingly had any good attempt on his part been brought to the light, so black had Scott been made to appear. Ideas floated across his brain that he might go forth, not only free of the law, but whitewashed also in men's opinions, that he might again sit on his throne at the Civil Service Board, again cry to himself 'Excelsior,' and indulge the old dreams of his ambition.

But, alas! the deliberate and well-poised wisdom of the judge seemed to shower down cold truth upon the jury from his very eyes. His words were low in their tone, though very clear, impa.s.sive, delivered without gesticulation or artifice, such as that so powerfully used by Mr. Chaffanbra.s.s; but Alaric himself felt that it was impossible to doubt the truth of such a man; impossible to suppose that any juryman should do so. Ah me! why had he brought himself thus to quail beneath the gaze of an old man seated on a bench? with what object had he forced himself to bend his once proud neck? He had been before in courts such as this, and had mocked within his own spirit the paraphernalia of the horsehair wigs, the judges' faded finery, and the red cloth; he had laughed at the musty, stale solemnity by which miscreants were awed, and policemen enchanted; now, these things told on himself heavily enough; he felt now their weight and import.

And then the jury retired from the court to consider their verdict, and Mr. Gitemthruet predicted that they would be hungry enough before they sat down to their next meal. 'His lords.h.i.+p was dead against us,' said Mr. Gitemthruet; 'but that was a matter of course; we must look to the jury, and the city juries are very fond of Mr. Chaffanbra.s.s; I am not quite sure, however, that Mr.

Chaffanbra.s.s was right: I would not have admitted so much myself; but then no one knows a city jury so well as Mr. Chaffanbra.s.s.'

Other causes came on, and still the jury did not return to court.

Mr. Chaffanbra.s.s seemed to have forgotten the very existence of Alaric Tudor, and was deeply engaged in vindicating a city butcher from an imputation of having vended a dead a.s.s by way of veal. All his indignation was now forgotten, and he was full of boisterous fun, filling the court with peals of laughter. One o'clock came, two, three, four, five, six, seven, and still no verdict. At the latter hour, when the court was about to be adjourned, the foreman came in, and a.s.sured the judge that there was no probability that they could agree; eleven of them thought one way, while the twelfth was opposed to them. 'You must reason with the gentleman,' said the judge. 'I have, my lord,' said the foreman, 'but it's all thrown away upon him.' 'Reason with him again,' said the judge, rising from his bench and preparing to go to his dinner.

And then one of the great fundamental supports of the British const.i.tution was brought into play. Reason was thrown away upon this tough juryman, and, therefore, it was necessary to ascertain what effect starvation might have upon him. A verdict, that is, a unanimous decision from these twelve men as to Alaric's guilt, was necessary; it might be that three would think him innocent, and nine guilty, or that any other division of opinion might take place; but such divisions among a jury are opposed to the spirit of the British const.i.tution. Twelve men must think alike; or, if they will not, they must be made to do so. 'Reason with him again,' said the judge, as he went to his own dinner. Had the judge bade them remind him how hungry he would soon be if he remained obstinate, his lords.h.i.+p would probably have expressed the thought which was pa.s.sing through his mind. 'There is one of us, my lord,' said the foreman, 'who will I know be very ill before long; he is already so bad that he can't sit upright.'

There are many ludicrous points in our blessed const.i.tution, but perhaps nothing so ludicrous as a juryman praying to a judge for mercy. He has been caught, shut up in a box, perhaps, for five or six days together, badgered with half a dozen lawyers till he is nearly deaf with their continual talking, and then he is locked up until he shall die or find a verdict. Such at least is the intention of the const.i.tution. The death, however, of three or four jurymen from starvation would not suit the humanity of the present age, and therefore, when extremities are nigh at hand, the dying jurymen, with medical certificates, are allowed to be carried off. It is devoutly to be wished that one juryman might be starved to death while thus serving the const.i.tution; the absurdity then would cure itself, and a verdict of a majority would be taken.

But in Alaric's case, reason or hunger did prevail at the last moment, and as the judge was leaving the court, he was called back to receive the verdict. Alaric, also, was brought back, still under Mr. Gitemthruet's wing, and with him came Charley. A few officers of the court were there, a jailer and a policeman or two, those whose attendance was absolutely necessary, but with these exceptions the place was empty. Not long since men were crowding for seats, and the policemen were hardly able to restrain the pressure of those who pushed forward; but now there was no pus.h.i.+ng; the dingy, dirty benches, a few inches of which had lately been so desirable, were not at all in request, and were anything but inviting in appearance; Alaric sat himself down on the very spot which had lately been sacred to Mr. Chaffanbra.s.s, and Mr. Gitemthruet, seated above him, might also fancy himself a barrister. There they sat for five minutes in perfect silence; the suspense of the moment cowed even the attorney, and Charley, who sat on the other side of Alaric, was so affected that he could hardly have spoken had he wished to do so.

And then the judge, who had been obliged to re-array himself before he returned to the bench, again took his seat, and an officer of the court inquired of the foreman of the jury, in his usual official language, what their finding was.

'Guilty on the third count,' said the foreman. 'Not guilty on the four others. We beg, however, most strongly to recommend the prisoner to your lords.h.i.+p's merciful consideration, believing that he has been led into this crime by one who has been much more guilty than himself.'

'I knew Mr. Chaffanbra.s.s was wrong,' said Mr. Gitemthruet. 'I knew he was wrong when he acknowledged so much. G.o.d bless my soul! in a court of law one should never acknowledge anything!