e of facts? Drayton says he was hired
to come here,--that he was to be paid for taking them
away. Does that look as if he seduced them? [The counsel
here commented at length on Drayton's statements, for
the purpose of showing that they tended to prove nothing
more than a transportation for hire; and he threw no
little ridicule on the 'phantom ship' which the District
Attorney had conjured up in his opening of the case, but
which, in his late speech, he had wholly overlooked.]

"But, even should you find that Drayton seduced these
slaves to leave their masters, to make out a case of
larceny you must be satisfied that he took them into his
possession. Now, what is possession of a slave? Not
merely being in company with him. If I ride in a hack, I
am not in possession of the driver. Possession of a
slave is dominion and control; and where is the
slightest evidence that this prisoner claimed any
dominion or control over these slaves? The whole
question in this case is, Were these slaves stolen, or
were they running away with the prisoner's assistance?
The mere fact of their being in the prisoner's company
throws no light whatever on this matter.

"The great point, however, in this case is this,--By the
judge's instructions, enticement must be proved. Shall
the record of this trial go forth to the world showing
that you have found a fact of which there was no
evidence?

"I believe in my conscience there is a gap in this
evidence not to be filled up except by passion and
prejudice. If that is so, I hope there is no one so
ungenerous, so little of a true southerner, as to blame
me for my zeal in this case, or not to rejoice in a
verdict of acquittal. It is bad enough that strangers
should have got up a mob in this District in relation to
this matter. It would, however, be a million times worse
if juries cannot be found here cool and dispassionate
enough to render impartial verdicts.

"_District Attorney_.--I hope, gentlemen of the jury,
you will rise above all out-of-door influence. Make
yourselves abolitionists, if you can; but look at the
facts of the case. And, looking at those facts, is it
necessary for me to open my lips in reply? In a case
like this, sustained by such direct testimony, such
overwhelming proof, I defy any man,--however crazy o