And so he ultimately did before the evening closed
in, as most of the others were identified by other witnesses; and when
they could not actually be sworn to, the piracies were brought home to
them by circumstantial evidence; such, for instance, as having been
captured on board of the craft we had taken, which again were identified
as the very vessels which had plundered the merchantmen and murdered
several of their crews, so that by six o'clock the jury had returned a
verdict of Guilty--and I believe there never was a juster--against the
whole of them. The finding, and sentence of death following thereupon,
seemed not to create any strong effect upon the prisoners. They had all
seen how the trial was going; and, long before this, the bitterness of
death seemed to be past.
I could hear one of our boat's crew, who was standing behind me, say to
his neighbour, "Why, Jem, surely he is in joke. Why, he don't mean to
condemn them to be hanged seriously, without his wig, eh?"
Immediately after the judgment was pronounced, which, both as to import,
and literally, I had translated to them, Captain Transom, who was
sitting on the bench beside his brother officers, nodded to me, "I say,
Mr Cringle, tell the coxswain to call Pearl, if you please."
I passed the word to one of the Firebrand's marines, who was on duty,
who again repeated the order to a seaman who was standing at the door.
"I say, Moses, call the clergyman.
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