The long-wished-for and fatal hour at last arrives, and but a little before a letter is sent by the prisoner to Cranstoun that her father was extremely ill, begging him to be cautious what he writes, lest any accident should happen to his letters.  Do the circumstances, the language, or the time of writing this letter leave any room to suppose the prisoner could be innocent?  They seem to me rather to be the fullest proof of her knowing what she had done.  What accidents could befall Cranstoun’s letters?  Why is he to take care what he writes, if nothing but the effects of innocency were to be contained in those letters?  In a very short time after this the strength of the poison carries the father out of the world.  Do but hear how the prisoner behaved thereupon.  The father’s corpse was not yet cold when she makes application to the footman, with a temptation of large sums of money as a reward, if he would go off with her; but the fidelity and virtue of the servant was proof against the temptation even of four or five hundred pounds.  The next proposal is to the maid to procure a chaise, with the offer of a reward for so doing, and to go along with her to London; but this project likewise failed, through the honesty of the servant.  The next morning, in the absence of Edward Herne (the guard that was set over her), she makes her escape from her father’s house, and, dressed as if going to take a journey, walked down the street; but the mob was soon aware of her, and forced her to take shelter in a public-house over the bridge.  Do these proceedings look as if they were the effects of innocence?  Far otherwise, I am afraid.  Would an innocent person have quitted a deceased parent’s house at a time when she was most wanting to make proper and decent preparations for his funeral?  Would an innocent person, at such a time as this, offer money for assistance to make an escape?  I think not; and I wish she may find a satisfactory cause to assign for such amazing behaviour.

Let us put innocence and guilt in the scale together, and observe to which side the prisoner’s actions are most applicable.  Innocence, celestial virgin, always has her guard about her; she dares look the frowns, the resentments, and the persecutions of the world in the face; is able to stand the test of the strictest inquiry; and the more we behold her, still the more shall we be in love with her charms.  But it is not so with guilt.  The baneful fiend makes use of unjustifiable means to conceal her wicked designs and prevent discovery.  Artifice and cunning are her supporters, bribery and corruption the defenders of her cause; she flies before the face of law and justice, and shuns the probation of a candid and impartial inquiry.  Upon the whole matter, you, gentlemen, are to judge; and judge as favourably as you can for the prisoner.