JET. 43.] THE TRIAL. 397 



felt how great a damage this would be to our case. I 

 resolved upon declaring, in opening the defence, that I 

 meant to call her ; of course, after urging strongly that 

 she was the witness of our adversaries, and not ours. 

 Yet notwithstanding this I should call her, which I 

 intended to do the first possible opportunity that is, 

 when our evidence had at any moment produced such 

 an impression as might make any failure of Bron of 

 little consequence. When my address closed, I felt 

 that the impression made, especially by the peroration, 

 was stronger than I could have expected. This I 

 gathered from the loudly-declared feeling both of our 

 adversaries at the bar and also of the Lords. I ran 

 down-stairs to the room allotted to our witnesses, that 

 I might bring her up immediately and examine her 

 alone ; or rather tender her for cross-examination, they 

 not being prepared to sift her. I reckoned on her 

 escaping with a few questions on their part, and I 

 should then have called for judgment, or for their re- 

 ply, and we should have been safe, without calling any 

 other witnesses. Her examination, or the tendering 

 her for cross-examination, was all we required ; if we 

 had her not, then we must go into our whole case. 

 Unhappily she was not be found, so Williams went on 

 to open our case in detail, and to urge such points as 

 I had insufficiently touched upon. But, above all, he 

 had to open our evidence, as Mariette Bron was not to 

 be found. In the course of a few days we came to the 

 knowledge of things in her conduct, and of declara- 

 tions which she had made to connections of her sister, 

 that rendered calling her quite impossible. 



The peroration of the address above referred to was 

 as follows ; and the subjoined letter, written to my 



