person who had the watch in his possession, feeling for the situation of an unhappy man, might be induced to place that watch on the ground. But it is by no means certain how Mr. Townsend lost his watch, whether by an act of felony, or whether by accident; it might have fallen into the hands of some other person, and that person, feeling for my unhappy situation, might have been induced to restore it. I humbly hope, that the circumstances of the case are such as may induce a scrupulous jury to make a favourable deci→ sion; and I am very well convinced that you will not be led by any other circumstances than those of the present case; either from reports of former misfortunes, or by the fear of my falling into similar ones. I am now just thirty-two years of age, (shall be fo next month); it is nearly half the life of man; it is not worth while being impatient to provide for the other half, so far as to do any thing unworthy. Gentlemen, in the course of my life I have suffered much distress, I have felt something of the vicissitudes of fortune, and now from observation I am convinced, upon the whole, there is no joy but what arises from the practice of virtue, and consists in the felicity of a tranquil mind, and a benevolent heart; sources of consolation which the most prosperous circumstances do not always furnish, and which may be felt under the most indi

*

*Here he makes himself three years younger than he really is.

gent. It will be my study, Gentlemen, to possess them; nor will the heaviest affliction of poverty, pain, or disgrace, cause me to part with resolutions founded on the deepest reflection and which will end but with life: I will perish on the pavement before I will deviate from them. For my own part, whatever your verdict may be, I trust I shall be enabled to meet it with a firmness of mind. He, indeed, has little to fear from death, whose fame is tarnished, and who has endured the ceaseless abuse of unfeeling minds; when Heaven accepts contrition, it receives into favour when it pardons; but man, more cruel than his Maker, pursues his offending brother with unrelenting severity, and marks a deviation from rectitude with a never dying infamy, and with unceasing suspicion and reproach, which seem to exclude him from the pale of virtue. Gentlemen of the Jury, the thought of death may appal the rich and prosperous; but, on the other hand, the unfortunate cannot have much to fear from it; yet the tenderness of nature cannot be quite subdued by the utmost degree of human resolution, and I cannot be insensible to the woes which must be felt by an affectionate companion and an infant offspring; and there is besides a principle in human nature, stronger even than the fear of death, and which can hardly fail to operate some time or other in life; I mean the desire of good fame. Under that laudable influence, Gentlemen, if

I am acquitted, I will quickly retire to some distant land, where my name and misfortunes will be alike unknown; where harmless manners shall shield me from the imputation of guilt, and where prejudice will not be liable to misrepresentation; and I do now assure you, Gentlemen of the Jury, that I feel a cheering hope, even at this awful moment, that the rest of my life will be so conducted, as to make me as much an object of esteem and applause, as I am now the unhappy object of censure and suspicion."

After the Jury's verdict of transportation for seven years was pronounced, the Lord Chief Baron thus addressed the prisoner:

"Mr. Barrington, hitherto I have conducted myself towards you on this trial as if I had never seen you before; but now, when nothing which I can say can prejudice the Jury, I must say that you have been treated with much more favour than you deserve. This ought to have been a capital indictment, and it ought to have reached your life; and public justice very much calls for such a sacrifice: for if ever there was a man in the world that abused and prostituted great talents to the most unworthy and shameful purposes, you are that man; and you have done it against all warning, against the example of your own case, and of a thousand other cases that have occurred; and I am afraid that now, as the punishment does not reach your life, I cannot entertain the least hope that you will in any manner reform; but that the end of it will be, that you must be a shameful spectacle at your latter end.

Mr. Barrington bowed and retired.

On Wednesday the 22d of September, 1790, the Recorder pronounced the sentence of the court upon him, when Barrington addressed them in a sort of farewell speech, conceived in nearly the following terms:

"MY LORD,

"I have a great deal to say in extenuation of the crime for which I now stand convicted at this bar; but, upon consideration, I will not arrest the attention of the honourable Court too long. Among the extraordinary vicissitudes incident to human nature, it is the peculiar and unfortunate lot of some devoted persons to have their best wishes, and their most earnest endeavours, to deserve the good opinion of the inost respectable part of society, entirely frustrated. Whatever they can say, or whatever they may do, every word and its meaning, every action and its motive, is represented in an unfavourable light, and is distorted from the real intention of the speaker or the actor.

"That this has been my unhappy fate does not seem to stand in need of any confirmation.

"Every effort to deserve well of mankind, that my heart bore witness to its rectitude, has been by such measures as those, and consequently has been rendered abortive. Many of the circumstances of my life, I can without any violation of truth, declare to have, therefore, happened absolutely in spite of myself.

"The world, my Lord, has given me credit for abilities, indeed much greater than I possess,

and therefore, much more than I deserved; but I have never found any kind hand to foster these abilities.

"I might ask, where was the generous and powerful hand that was ever stretched forth to rescue George Barrington from infamy? In an age like this, which in several respects, is so justly famed for liberal sentiments, it was my severe lot, that no noble-minded gentleman stepped forward and said to me, Barrington, you are possessed of talents which may be useful to society. I feel for your situation; and as long as you act the part of a good citizen, I will be your protector: you will then have time and opportunity to rescue yourself from the obloquy of your former conduct.

"Alas, my Lord, George Barrington had never the supreme felicity of having such comfort administered to his wounded spirit. As matters have unfortunately turned out, the die is cast; and as it is, I bend, resigned to my fate, without one murmer or complaint."

Having thus concluded a speech, which, for the neatness of the language, and the pathos that runs through the whole, has never been exceeded at that bar, he left it with a respectful bow, and thus withdrew from public life in Europe, to act a part in the new world; and though in a different sphere, yet not much less distinguished than before, as the following pages will abundantly testify.