not a man of the twelve that has not more or less
of a _personal_ interest in the acquittal of the prisoner.

However bad, however depraved the human mind, it still leans to mercy:
the power to dispose of another man's life is generally sufficient for
the most malignant spirit in its thirst for vengeance. What then are
the feelings of twelve calm, and perhaps, benevolent men, at a moment
like this? The last words of the advocate have thrown a new element
into the whole case, for independent of their verdict upon the
prisoner comes now the direct appeal to their own hearts. How will
they feel when they reflect on this hereafter? I do not wish to pursue
this further. It is enough for my present purpose that, by the
ingenuity of the lawyer, criminals have escaped, do escape, and are
escaping, the just sentence on their crimes. What then is the result?
the advocate, who up to this moment has maintained a familiar, even a
friendly, intimacy with his client in the dock, now shrinks from the
very contamination of his look. He cannot bear that the blood-stained
fingers should grasp the hem of his garment, and he turns with a sense
of shame from the expressions of a gratitude that criminate him in his
own heart. However, this is but a passing sensation; he divests
himself of his wig and gown, and overwhelmed with congratulations for
his brilliant success, he springs into his carriage and goes home to
dress for dinner--for on that day he is engaged to the Chancellor, the
Bishop of London, or some other great and revered functionary--the
guardian of the church, or the custodian of conscience.

Now, there is only one thing in all this I would wish to bring
strikingly before the mind of my readers, and that is, that the
lawyer, throughout the entire proceeding, was a free and a willing
agent. There was neither legal nor moral compulsion to urge him on.
No; it was no intrepid defence against the tyranny of a government or
the usurpation of power--it was the assertion of no broad and
immutable principle of truth or justice--it was simply a matter of
legal acumen and persuasive eloquence, to the amount of fifty pounds
sterling.

This being admitted, let me now proceed to consider another
functionary, and observe how far the rule of right is consulted in the
treatment _he_ meets with--I mean the hangman. You start, good reader,
and your gesture of impatience denotes the very proposition I would
come to. I need scarcely remind you, t