guilty to escape, and, consequently, it is impossible for me to consent to sit here, by my silence approving the doctrines laid down by the mistaken but well-intentioned Rector of the parish. God punishes the breaker of laws, and we are but imitating Him when we punish the wrong-doer. It is a solemn duty we owe to both our country and God to do this; and, therefore, I hope, if the gentleman has any other observations to offer, he will not found them upon such irrational and pernicious theories."

Lester felt indignant at being thus lectured, yet it was with perfect composure that he resumed his address.

"It has been rightly urged," he said, "that the violation of law involves punishment, but, in admitting this, we must carefully avoid confounding the human with the Divine. If a man goes begging when he is hungry, God does not punish him through the stings of conscience; but if a man commits murder, I feel assured that the terrors of a guilty conscience will not fail to avenge the murdered one. It will follow from this, that if we make a law against begging, and punish men by imprisonment for asking bread when they are hungry, we must not expect their consciences to punish also. It is wrong in the nature of things for a man to take the life of his neighbour, but not so with the bird that builds in our eaves. Every one feels at liberty to kill a rat or a sparrow-why not a hare or a pheasant? The mere human arrangements made about these things do not change their intrinsic nature, and, consequently, the conscience will never plead in favour of our artificial game-laws. Then, as regards the sin of permitting the guilty to go free, I do not acknowledge that this man is guilty of any sin; he has broken one of the artificial, but not one of the Divine laws, and I am morally justified in asking that he shall be pardoned; but even were it otherwise, even had he actually sinned, I should still ask the same. When, as a clergyman, I repeat the words, Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us,' they have, to my mind, this meaning, that I should not ask God to forgive me, if I cannot forgive the wrongs I have endured at the hands of my fellow-men. Moreover, it is the foundation of our Christian faith, that God does forgive sin without inflicting any punishment. And when I ask the Bench to deal leniently with the prisoner, I do it with the assurance that every gentleman present knows he has not committed a crime. You are naturally desirous to prevent your pastime being interfered with, and, to gain your ends, may send the accused to prison; but if this be your resolve, then I declare you to be violators of the Divine laws, inasmuch as you will be guilty of selfishly poisoning the very springs of justice, and of adding agony to the sufferings of a poor, friendless man. Gentlemen, I

have done."

The Bench rose, and retired for some minutes, but on their return it was evident that Walters was doomed.

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Ralph Poinder now prepared himself for the performance of his task in passing sentence. Prisoner," said he, "we have listened with unusual consideration to the observations addressed to us on your behalf by the Rector of this parish. We all entertain the highest respect for his known character as a philanthropist, which has gained him the esteem of many of our townsmen; and feeling that his appeal to us as Christians could not be overlooked, the court, with few interruptions, permitted him to pursue a course of advocacy which would not have been tolerated in any other person. legal gentleman argued as he has done, the Court must have stopped him; and now that he has been heard, we cannot but feel that if his views were reduced

Had a

to practice there would be an end of all law and government; society would be ruined if magistrates were to act as he, through mistaken kindness, advises. If all offenders were pardoned, offences would soon be trebled. Probably a time will arrive-it is so set forth in the Sacred Scriptures, and must therefore be true-a time will come, when there will be neither robbery nor murder, and then it will be easy to act upon the principles which have been so earnestly laid down by Mr. Lester. But we must deal with men and things as they are; just now, such a course would be as pernicious as it would be illegal and un-Christian. And in naming the latter I think it is but right to say that this Court always proceeds upon Christian principles-we cannot recognise any others. Our laws are Christian laws, the fact of their having been made by Christian men is sufficient to satisfy us with regard to their nature; we, therefore, have nothing further to do than justly to administer them. Now it is clearly against the laws for any unlicensed person to take possession of any kind of game; and you, prisoner, cannot plead that you were ignorant of the law, for, by endeavouring to hide the hare under your smock frock, you gave evidence of your knowledge."

A subdued murmur ran through the Court, proving that the listeners appreciated the acuteness of the observation.

Poinder was greatly pleased with this recognition of his skill. "Had you," he continued, " carried it openly along the road the Court would have judged your conduct differently, but, taking the case as it stands, we shall not be doing justice unless we inflict the full penalty in the shape of a fine, which, with the addition of expenses, must be paid before leaving the Court, or you will be committed to prison for the space of three calendar months.”

During the delivery of this address the prisoner became deadly pale, and clutched convulsively at the rail in front of the little box in which he stood. His condition was all the more painful to the observer because of his inability to utter his grief. When his fate was announced he almost shrieked out ;

"Oh, good gentleman, have mercy upon me, have mercy upon me! For the love o' God don't send me to prison! it will break my heart if I go to prison! I never in all my life stole anything from my masters or neighbours. You'll kill me if you send me to prison." Falling upon his knees he cried, "Pray don't send me to prison. I know it will be the death of me if you do.'

There was something in the voice and manner of the pleading man which painfully impressed every listener, and even Ralph Poinder half wished the words he had uttered could be recalled. Glancing around the Bench he seemed to be inviting a recommendation to mercy, but no one spake. Pausing an instant, as if to collect courage to place the man beyond the hope of release, he named the amount both of the fine and the expenses; the latter having been whispered into his ear by the clerk.

Had the whole moveable property of Walters-merely cottage furniture-been sold by public auction it would not have yielded the sum named. This fact was pretty well known to the Bench, for it was true of all men in his condition. But had it been proposed to raise the sum by means of a subscription there would have been no difficulty in immediately collecting it; for, secretly, nearly every magistrate then upon the bench would have given his share. They had no passionate desire to send this man to prison; but, being desirous of making an example, they seized the opportunity, and agreed to his incarceration. They were all alarmed, however, by the increasing pallor of the prisoner, who, when the Chairman had done speaking, reeled ominously, and then fell forward, foaming a little at the mouth like one in a fit. In an

instant every gentleman on the Bench was upon his feet, while many willing hands seized the prisoner to loosen his neckerchief and bathe his forehead.

One of the magistrates, a retired London physician, who had made a very large fortune in his profession, pressed forward to ascertain the real state of affairs, nor was he long in drawing forth the little case containing lancets which had never been used. Steady was the hand of the veteran when, for the first time for twenty years, he opened a vein, from which, however, no blood came. Ten minutes had not elapsed before all was over, the prisoner had been set at liberty by a superior judge, and then it was every one in Court felt that had mercy been shown by those who sat upon the Bench this sad ending would not have occurred. Yet for a time none spake their thoughts, for all were terror-stricken by the sadness of the visitation. The physician merely announced that life was hopelessly extinct, adding, "There can be no doubt that Mr. Lester is correct in saying this poor fellow has, for some time past, been living upon food both bad in quality, and insufficient in quantity. Probably, for some months past, he has not had one good meal of fresh meat, such as a man should have. He was shaken by want far more than by actual disease, as thousands of his class generally are. His emaciated frame betrays that painful fact. And now that this sad excitement has happened, the strain put upon his nervous system being more than he could bear, some vessel in the brain has given way, and his death must be ascribed to an apoplectic attack. Poor fellow! poor fellow !" he added, "he has been hardly entreated.”

These words were uttered not in the cold manner of one who merely announces a scientific truth, but quietly and with great feeling. Silence reigned again, for none of the magistrates cared to utter a word.

Lester, standing beside the corpse, broke it, saying, "Here, in presence of our dead brother, let us endeavour to school ourselves into punishing less and forgiving more. God will judge him more generously than he was judged by his brethren upon earth. In the hour of hunger he took a hare and was not forgiven; may they who denied him pardon, and who now know the intensity of his agony, learn the great lesson that they who pardon the transgressions of those who are poor, hungry, and ignorant, are but dealing justly with men, and paying due homage unto God. In a few days, although perhaps not so suddenly, we also must journey the way that he has gone; and if we do but closely scan the lineaments of his dead face, we shall learn the nothingness of those miserable vanities upon which we so readily set our hearts. We live as though life were a dream and death a delusion. But they are both stern realities which should neither be foolishly idled away nor insanely mocked. Let us have done with childish play and become as earnest men, who will use the world wisely and deal out justice to all God's suffering children. In savage lands that man's death could not have been thus caused. It is only here, in the centre of Christianity, that men die through hunger and systematically unjust treatment, while there is plenty in the land and knowledge to do well. We may take shame to ourselves that it is so, but certainly there is no hope of things becoming better, beyond this, that we shall each do better than we have hitherto done."

Here a wild unearthly wail rang through the Court, piercing every heart and that the more sharply because all knew from whom it proceeded, and how utterly impossible it was to say or do anything which would serve to relieve the widowed woman's distress.

The officers of the Court vainly endeavoured to hold her back, for her appeals rendered them powerless. Three men stood firmly against the door