ither in the premises or conclusion. The earl, it is true,
had formed a deliberate plan for the perpetration of the murder; but he
had taken no precautions for his own safety or escape; and this neglect
will the more plainly appear to have been the criterion of insanity, if
we reflect that he justified what he had done as a meritorious action;
and declared he would, upon Mr. Johnson's death, surrender himself to
the house of lords. Had he been impelled to this violence by a sudden
gust of passion, it could not be expected that he should have taken
any measure for his own preservation; but as it was the execution of a
deliberate scheme, and his lordship was by no means defective in point
of ingenuity, he might easily have contrived means for concealing
the murder until he should have accomplished his escape; and, in our
opinion, any other than a madman would either have taken some such
measures, or formed some plan for the concealment of his own guilt. The
design itself seems to have been rather an intended sacrifice to justice
than a gratification of revenge. Neither do we think that the sanity of
his mind was ascertained by the accuracy and deliberation with which he
made his remarks, and examined the evidence at his trial. The influence
of his frenzy might be past; though it was no sign of sound reason to
supply the prosecutor with such an argument to his prejudice. Had his
judgment been really unimpaired, he might have assumed the mask of
lunacy for his own preservation. The trial was continued for two days;
and on the third the lord-steward, after having made a short speech
touching the heinous nature of the offence, pronounced the same sentence
of death upon the earl which malefactors of the lowest class undergo:
that from the Tower, in which he was imprisoned, he should, on the
Monday following, be led to the common place of execution, there to be
hanged by the neck, and his body be afterwards dissected and anatomized.
This last part of the sentence seemed to shock the criminal extremely;
he changed colour, his jaw quivered, and he appeared to be in great
agitation; but during the remaining part of his life he behaved
with surprising composure, and even unconcern. After he had received
sentence, the lords, his judges, by virtue of a power vested in them,
respited his execution for one month, that he might have time to settle
his temporal and spiritual concerns. Before sentence was passed, the
earl read a paper, in w