pposed, that either she was not to be brought to trial at
these sittings, or that the charge was abandoned; as I wish it had been,
and as it ought to have been; for I am convinced, that this prosecution
cannot be sustained by either law or reason; and that it must be from the
weakness of the counsel alone, that you, gentlemen, can be betrayed to
pronounce a verdict of Guilty against the defendant.

Gentlemen, it is my duty to clear this case of every possible prejudice
that may hang about it in your minds before I enter into the merits of my
defence. I do not know how you are affected, but I well know, that with
many persons, I should have a host of prejudices to contend against, in
the very name alone of Carlile. Many either believe, or affect to
believe, that the very sound is an omen and an execration, and that
either he cannot be sincere and honest in the opinions which he
professes, or if he be, that those opinions are incompatible with the
existence or practice of any moral or social virtue. But, whatever his
opinions may be, and whatever your sentiments upon them, I have at least
a right to ask of you not to allow any prejudice against the relation,
against the brother, to warp your judgment on the trial of the defendant:
for, what can possibly be more remote from justice, than, instead of
judging a person fairly for his own conduct, to condemn him by our
opinion of the sentiments and character of another? I hope and trust
that you have entertained no such prejudices: but if you have, I feel
assured, that you brought them no further than the threshold of the
court:--at that door they fell from you, like the burthen from the
pilgrim (in the beautiful allegory) on his reaching the cross; and you
stand there with your minds unbiassed, free and pure, to decide between
the crown and the defendant in this cause. But it is not only my duty,
gentlemen, to clear the defendant, but to extricate the counsel from
every unfavourable suspicion, lest it should, possibly, by any confusion
of the client with the advocate, operate to the disadvantage of the
defendant.

Whatever, therefore, may be thought of the pamphlet which is before you,
as a libel, or of the writer or publisher, I most solemnly affirm, that
there is no one who more warmly admires the English constitution, as it
stands in theory and ought to exist in practice, than myself, nor is
there any one who would more willingly shed his blood if it were
necessary,