"Now,  gentlemen,"  said  the  worthy  judge,  "  I  think  every  thing
has  been  so  far  comfortably  arranged ;  retire  to  your  room,  do
your  duty,  and  ire  will  do  ours."  Then  turning  to  the  sheriff:
"  Mr.  Sheriff,  order  them  windows  to  be  shut,  fire  put  in  the
stove  at  the  back  of  the  bench,  those  curtains  drawn  round  so
as  to  keep  the  cold  blast  from  me ;  and  whilst  these  things  are
being  done,  we  will  have  a  batch  of  bills  down  from  the  grand
jury-room,  and  we  can  proceed  to  business.''

The  commands  of  his  lordship  were  promptly  obeyed,  and,  just
as  he  had  anticipated,  several  bills  came  down  "  found."

The  attorney-general  rose  and  said,  that  there  was  a  case  of
vast  importance  which  he  intended  to  try  first :  it  was  that  of
one  of  the  persons  charged  with  the  murder  of  two  men  who  had
recently  come  to  reside  on  the  Ballintrasna  estate.  Although
there  were  a  great  many  persons  to  be  tried  for  the  same  offence,
he  proposed  trying  separately  the  one  whom  he  not  only  believed
to  be  the  principal  actor  in  that  horrible  tragedy,  but  the  chief
concoctor  of  the  diabolical  conspiracy  that  existed  in  the  country;
and,  with  his  lordship's  permission,  he  would  proceed  with  that
first.
