k
upon its last energies, which give it strength in the same way in which
the death-struggle frequently arouses the muscular action of the I
body--an unconscious power or resistance that forces the culprit's heart
to take refuge in the first and strongest instincts of its nature,
the undying principle of self-preservation. No sooner was the verdict
returned and silence obtained, than the judge, now deeply affected, put
on the black cap, at which a low wild murmur of stifled grief and pity
rang through the court-house; but no sooner was his eye bent on the
prisoner than their anxiety to hear the sentence hushed them once more
into the stillness of the grave. The prisoner looked upon him with an
open but melancholy gaze, which, from the candid and manly character of
his countenance, was touching in the extreme.

"Connor O'Donovan," said the judge, "have you anything to say why
sentence of death should not be passed upon you?"

"My lord," he replied, "I can say nothing to prevent it. I am prepared
for it. I know I must bear it, and I hope I will bear it as a man ought,
that feels his heart free from even a thought of the crime he is to die
for. I have nothing more to say."

"You have this day been found guilty," proceeded the judge, "and, in the
opinion of the court, upon clear and satisfactory evidence, of a crime
marked by a character of revenge, which I am bound to say must have
proceeded from a very malignant spirit. It was a wanton act, for the
perpetration of which your motives were so inadequate, that one must
feel at a loss to ascertain the exact principle on which you committed
it. It was also not only a wicked act, but one so mean, that a young man
bearing the character of spirit and generosity which you have hitherto
borne, as appears from the testimony of those respectable persons who
this day have spoken in your favor, ought to have scorned to contemplate
it even for a moment. Had the passion you entertained for the daughter
of the man you so basely injured, possessed one atom of the dignity,
disinterestedness, or purity of true affection, you never could have
stooped to any act offensive to the object of your love, or to those
even in the remotest degree related to her. The example, consequently,
which you have held out to society, is equally vile and dangerous. A
parent discharges the most solemn and important of all duties, when
disposing of his children in marriage, because by that act he seals
their ha