of this friend of Ury’s was, that Webb made him a desk; and the jury thought they saw in it an altar for a Catholic priest!  That was enough.  The attorney-general told the jury that the prisoner was a Romish priest, and then proceeded to prove the exceeding sinfulness of that Church.  Acknowledging the paucity of the evidence intended to prove him a priest, the learned gentleman hastened to dilate upon all the dark deeds of Rome, and thereby poisoned the minds of the jury against the unfortunate Ury.  He was found guilty, and on the 29th of August, 1741, was hanged, professing his innocence, and submitting cheerfully to a cruel and unjust death as a servant of the Lord.[256]

The trials of the Negroes had continued, but were somewhat overshadowed by that of the reputed Catholic priest.  On the 18th of July seven Negroes were hanged, including a Negro doctor named Harry.  On the 23d of July a number of white persons were fined for keeping disorderly houses,—­entertaining Negroes; while nine Negroes were, the same day, released from jail on account of a lack of evidence!  On the 15th of August a Spanish Negro was hanged.  On the 31st of August, Corry (the dancing-master), Ryan, Kelly, and Coffin—­all white persons—­were dismissed because no one prosecuted; while the reader must have observed that the evidence against them was quite as strong as that offered against any of the persons executed, by the lying trio Burton, Kane, and Sarah.  But Mr. Smith the historian gives the correct reason why these trials came to such a sudden end.

“The whole summer was spent in the prosecutions; every new trial led to further accusations:  a coincidence of slight circumstances, was magnified by the general terror into violent presumptions; tales collected without doors, mingling with the proofs given at the bar, poisoned the minds of the jurors; and the sanguinary spirit of the day suffered no check till Mary, the capital informer, bewildered by frequent examinations and suggestions, lost her first impressions, and began to touch characters, which malice itself did not dare to suspect."[257]

The 24th of September was solemnly set apart for public thanksgiving for the escape of the citizens from destruction!

As we have already said, this “Negro plot” has but one parallel in the history of civilization.  It had its origin in a diseased public conscience, inflamed by religious bigotry, accelerated by hired liars, and consummated in the blind and bloody action of a court and jury who imagined themselves sitting over a powder-magazine.  That a robbery took place, there was abundant evidence in the finding of some of the articles, and the admissions of Hughson and others; but there was not a syllable of competent evidence to show that there was an organized plot.  And the time came, after the city had gotten back to its accustomed quietness, that the most sincere believers in the “Negro plot” were converted to