Informers, Prosecutors, Witnesses, Judges,
And Jurymen Are, As A Rule, Liable To Reluctance As To The
Performance Of Their Respective
Parts in the melancholy
drama.' The consequence is that 'the benefit of the doubt,'
while salving the consciences
Of these servants of the law,
not unfrequently turns a real criminal loose upon society;
whereas, had any other penalty than death been feasible, the
same person would have been found guilty.
Much might be said on either side, but on the whole it would
seem wisest to leave things - in this country - as they are;
and, for one, I am inclined to the belief that,
Mercy murders, pardoning those that kill.
CHAPTER XIX
WE were nearly six weeks in the Havana, being detained by
Lord Durham's illness. I provided myself with a capital
Spanish master, and made the most of him. This, as it turned
out, proved very useful to me in the course of my future
travels. About the middle of March we left for Charlestown
in the steamer ISABEL, and thence on to New York. On the
passage to Charlestown, we were amused one evening by the
tricks of a conjuror. I had seen the man and his wife
perform at the Egyptian Hall, Piccadilly. She was called the
'Mysterious Lady.' The papers were full of speculations as
to the nature of the mystery. It was the town talk and
excitement of the season.
This was the trick. The lady sat in the corner of a large
room, facing the wall, with her eyes bandaged.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 143 of 404
Words from 37528 to 37786
of 106633
