[From the London Lady's Companion]

Miriam 

A Tale of Circumstantial Evidence

It was on this very circuit, and in this very town. I was young at the bar then, one of the least known juniors, and very poor; anxious to work hard, but without either interest or connection to bring me forward. I had been the circuit four times, and, except twice, had never held a brief, and those two were given me by another man, who was summoned to his mother’s deathbed. Still I did not despair; I had, indeed, two incentives to courage and perseverance. The first was a firm trust in God’s mercy; and the second, my engagement to your mother. But it was hard work sometimes, lasses, and needed all my resolution to endure; but I did endure, and the end came. Well, it was the Lent Assizes, and Lord Cranstoun, the Lord Chief Justice, was on the criminal side. The calendar was unusually heavy, and we knew from his Lordship’s charge that he came prepared “to make an example,” as he called it.

The commission was opened late in the day, after which the court adjourned till the morrow. It happened that for some reason or other I remained in court a short time after everyone else had quitted it. It seemed but an accident, although doubtless it was God’s doing, and ordained by him. I remember that I, gazing idly on the empty benches, when I heard rapid footsteps approaching through the deserted passage, and a moment after I was accosted by an attorney:

“I beg your pardon,” he said, hurriedly, “can you tell me where to find Mr. Ashley?”

“Indeed, I cannot. Some mistake has occurred with his clerk, and… Read More