night here.' And then my wife began to reckon on her fingers, 2nd of January, 2nd of February, and so on to the 2nd of September, the day on which she had lain in. That made nine months. 'Do you believe me now?' said she. I heard no more, but rushed out like a madman. "You passed by the diningroom?-I could not do otherwise. "You saw Morton there?-Yes. "What did you say to him?I said, 'Is it true what I have just heard?' He did not reply. I seized up a knife from the table, and Morton rose to fly. I pursued him, and, overtaking him on the staircase, which was very dark, I struck him without knowing where or how."

Witnesses were produced, who deposed to the delirium of Mrs. Bower and to her violent acts while in that excited state; and an English barrister related a consultation which Mr. Morton had sought with him for the strange purpose of obtaining advice as to a divorce between Bower and his wife, and his own subsequent marriage with her.

After the evidence had been given the Advocate-General proceeded to urge the case against the accused-in particular to deprive him of the excuse behind which he had entrenched himself; namely, that, believing in the declarations of his wife, he had given way to an uncontrollable burst of passion under the influence of which he had struck the fatal blow. He maintained that the accused ought not to have given any credit to the assertion of his wife, who was incontestibly under the influence of a malady which affected her brain. To wholly

acquit the accused would be to establish a dreadful precedent of impunity; still the jury might, if they thought fit, alleviate the verdict by the addition of "extenuating circumstances" which would enable the Court to proportion the punishment to the fault.

ears.

In

The celebrated advocate M. Chaix d'Estange addressed the Court for the accused in a strain which sounds strange to English He commenced by examining the motive which had actuated Bower. Was it true that the wife was guilty of adultery? Was it true that Morton was her paramour and the father of the child? The learned gentleman answered these questions in the affirmative. Look, said he, at the conduct of this woman before October 1st, and since that period. Before that date every one was fully aware that Morton was her paramour, and every one felt for Bower. terrogate Bacon, Morton's servant, and he will tell you of these notes and papers which he was in the habit of carrying, and always in secret, from Mrs. Bower to Morton, and from Morton to her. Interrogate the portress of her house as to Morton's visits, at what time they took place, what was their length, and what was their character. Question the portress on the confidences made to her on the mission which she had to fulfil to Morton after the accouchement, on the hair which she had to carry to the child's father, and on the happy resemblance, which she was to be sure to mention to him! And let it not be said that she was ill then. The order given on October 1st, was only a repetition of the order given a fortnight before. After October 1st, interrogate Mrs.

Bower herself, her conduct, her expressions of regret. For whom were these expressions? For her husband? By no means, but for the man whom she had lost, for the dearest object of her affections! Will it be said that this regret was the result of madness? But since these unhappy circumstances, Mrs. Bower is in London, in perfect health; and it is for Morton that she displays her mourning; it is for Morton whom she regrets; and when she writes to Paris her letters are encircled with black. Here is one; I hold it here which testifies to her inconsolable grief, and it is for Morton that she feels it! The learned counsel gave a recital of the facts of the 1st of October, and asked whether it was possible that the law could punish Bower for striking the seducer of his wife. "He struck him," he said; "I will not say that it did him honour, but because he could not do otherwise. He killed him, because he ought to do so, and because it was necessary for him to act as he did. I ask you, gentlemen, what man among you would not have done the same, if he had been placed in a similar position? For my part, I say that he has only done what he ought." After giving a dramatic recital of all the events of the evening of the 1st of October, the learned gentleman concluded by saying:-"We have been all told that Bower acted without actual proofs of the adultery of his wife, and that it would not have been possible for him to have had her condemned for that crime. If Morton were present, it has been said it would be impossible to prove that adultery before a court of justice; no magistrate would be found to believe the charge, nor any law

to punish it. How can such reasoning be for a moment admitted? What! with the facts before us, that a man, a friend, stole into the house of Bower, seduced his wife, who had been so chaste and so pure before that time,-when this man, not contenting himself with the adultery which he commits, but introduced an adulterous child into the family, when that woman tells her husband, 'It was here, ten months ago, in your bed, that a friend possessed my person, and that friend is the father of that child whom you believe to be yours, but who is your friend's,'-and when this husband, thus betrayed, with rage in his heart, and his breast torn by a million furies, has recourse to a court of justice, he will be simply told,-"This is not sufficiently proved, the law can do nothing for your grief,-it is powerless to avenge your injuries.' Then this husband will seek from his own arm that vengeance which the law refuses him. This is why I say that Bower has acted right in what he has done. This man,' the learned gentleman continued, "belongs to a nation which is justly proud of its institutions-to a nation which has preceded us in the path of progress. He was out of the reach of French justice, and yet he has come to cause himself to be tried by it. He has done well. I do not say that our justice is the best in the world, but I can say that it is the first. He will return to London, and will tell his countrymen what French justice is,

with what religious attention a French jury listens to evidence,with what intelligence and conscience it judges the affairs submitted to it. He has paid homage to our justice, and I say again he

has done well. You will not excuse him: you will acquit him. Do you think that in so doing you will grant him impunity? Impunity? oh no! The evening of the 1st of October will be for him a subject of eternal remorse.

In acquitting him you will give him not happiness, but at least repose."

The jury retired; but in about three minutes they returned, and declared, in the usual form, that their verdict was one of acquittal.

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