He admitted that the circumstances
sufficiently established the charge of killing, but proceeded, however,
to certain liberal assumptions, without any ground whatever, of
provocation on the part of Forrester, which made his murder only matter
of self-defence on the side of the accused, whose crime therefore became
justifiable: but Ralph, who had for some time been listening with
manifest impatience to sundry other misrepresentations, not equally evil
with this, but almost equally annoying, now rose and interrupted him;
and, though the proceeding was something informal, proceeded to correct
the statement.
"No one, may it please your honor, and you, gentlemen, now presiding
over my fate, can be more conscious than myself, from the nature of the
evidence given in this case, of the utter hopelessness of any defence
which may be offered on my behalf. But, while recognising, in their
fullest force, the strong circumstantial proofs of crime which you have
heard, I may be permitted to deny for myself what my counsel has been
pleased to admit for me.
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