The attorney-general next passes on to examine the charges, which, he declares, are overwhelming and irrefutable. Then he goes on,—
“But what need is there of such questions after the crushing evidence of Count Claudieuse? You have heard it,—on the point of appearing before God!
“His first impulse was to follow the generous nature of his heart, and to pardon the man who had attempted his life. He desired to save him; but, as he felt death come nearer, he saw that he had no right to shield a criminal from the sword of justice: he remembered that there were other victims beside himself.
“And then, rising from his bed of agony, he dragged himself here into court, in order to tell you. ‘That is the man! By the light of the fire which he had kindled, I saw him and recognized him. He is the man!’
“And could you hesitate after such evidence? No! I can not and will not believe it. After such crimes, society expects that justice should be done,—justice in the name of Count Claudieuse on his deathbed,—justice in the name of the dead,—justice in the name of Bolton’s mother, and of Guillebault’s widow and her five children.”
A murmur of approbation accompanied the last words of M. Gransiere, and continued for some time after he had concluded. There is not a woman in the whole assembly who does not shed tears.
P.—The counsel for the defence.
[Pleading.]
As M. Magloire had so far alone taken an active part in the defence, it was generally believed that he would speak. But it was not so. M. Folgat rises.
Our court-house here in Sauveterre has at various times reechoed the words of almost all our great masters of forensic eloquence. We have heard Berryer, Dufaure, Jules Favre, and others; but, even after these illustrious orators, M. Folgat still succeeds in astonishing and moving us deeply.