This person was convicted of robbing and wounding a soldier, in company with others not in custody, and sentenced to seven years transportation.

I, who was pretty close to her, and watched her countenance narrowly, could see that she was much cast down on hearing her sentence; but she was obdurate beyond her years, and quickly recovering herself she launched forth into a torrent of foul invective and ribald abuse of judge and jury, and all present; and with impious oaths that mode one's blood curdle, she was forcibly removed from the dock, and thrust below.

The trial of the day was now to come on. It was one of those foul agrarian outrages so common in some parts of Ireland. A "caretaker" had been set upon by a gang of blood-thirsty ruffians, and murdered, his head having been literally beaten to pieces.

Although eight or ten men had been engaged in this atrocity, and it was done within sight and hearing of several persons in no way connected with the murderers, yet but three men stood at the bar to take their trial for the offence, so difficult is it to obtain evidence in a country where the witness of to-day may be the victim of tomorrow, -so easy is it for criminals to escape

when the mass of the population is tainted, and makes common cause with them.

The three men at the bar were strikingly contrasted with each other in appearance and manner. One was a spare, middle-sized man of fifty-five or sixty years of age, his hair quite grey, and countenance deeply lined. There was nothing in his expression to stamp him as a murderer; on the contrary, under other circumstances, and in a different position, one would have been disposed to set him down as a mild and inoffensive person.

Next to him stood a tall, stout-built, powerfullooking man of about twenty-eight or thirty. His features were regular, even handsome; but there was a fierce, vindictive expression in his dark eyes that almost made one quail before his glance. His head was covered with a profusion of thicklymatted, curly, black hair, and he wore a quantity of beard and whiskers. On entering the dock, he had drawn himself up to his full height, and gazed around him with a fixed and determined air, and with a forbidding scowl upon his brow; and he maintained this proud attitude and demeanour during the whole continuance of the trial, betraying no outward sign of emotion even when evidence the most damning was produced against

him.

He was the man to lead a forlorn hope, or be foremost in a boarding-party; but one would scarcely have thought one possessing apparently so much courage and determination could be a cowardly assassin.

The third who stood at that bar was a youth of not more than eighteen or nineteen years old. It is probable that the usual expression of his features was mild and prepossessing, his figure rather above the middle size and well proportioned; but terror had so drawn and distorted his face, and his form was so bowed and bent, as with trembling knees and quivering hands he leant, or rather crouched, against the side of the dock, that it was impossible to do more than guess at his natural appearance.

His face was ashy pale, his lips bloodless, a damp, cold sweat rested on his brow, and a nervous twitching affected every feature and limb. Never did I behold a picture of more abject fear. One's pity was almost swallowed up in contempt; and one felt that, if a murderer, he had sadly mistaken his calling, for those who "haste to shed blood " should at least possess a share of brute courage to fit them for their trade.

All three prisoners pleaded not guilty; they did so by an interpreter, as none of them spoke more than a few words of English. The two first

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spoke distinctly enough, but it was with much difficulty the plea of the last could be ascertained; and it was thought at first that he had confessed himself guilty of the crime he stood charged with, and thrown himself upon the mercy of the court. Such, however, was not the case.

The counsel for the prosecution opened the case with a clear statement of the leading particulars of the murder, and then called his witnesses. An attempt was made by the prisoners' counsel to shake their evidence; but, though he displayed much ingenuity, he totally failed to discredit their testimony.

The guilt of all the parties seemed to be very clearly established. At times, facts were deposed to of a startling and abhorrent nature, even amidst the dark and bloody transaction which formed the subject of inquiry.

It was curious to watch the demeanour of the culprits during the progress of the trial, and more especially when the evidence told directly against either individual.

The youngest man seemed totally incapable of paying any attention to what was passing before him. From first to last, he was so overwhelmed by fear as to be incapable of thoroughly understanding even the cause and grounds of that fear

itself. It might be said of him that "in the midst of life he was in death;" for he was evidently dead to all sense of everything about him: only an ill-defined feeling of dread had possession of his soul.

The elderly man paid great attention to the proceedings, and occasionally made some observations in an under tone to the interpreter, who communicated them to his advocate. Except that at times, when some point of the evidence bore. peculiarly hard upon him, a livid hue overspread his countenance for a moment, he maintained a quiet fortitude.

The other prisoner bore himself proudly throughout the trial. But it might be observed that, whenever a witness deposed to anything which went to inculpate him more immediately, the dark brow darkened, the scowl became more intense, and the eye flashed with increased fierceness. He spoke not a word during the whole day, but every now and then his lips moved as if muttering to himself, and then he clenched his teeth more rigidly than before. His hands rested, for the most part, on the rail which ran across the front of the dock; and I could plainly perceive, by the swelling of the veins and muscles, that when particularly excited he grasped it with con