“But it seems another skeleton has been discovered by some laborer, which was full as confidently averred to be Clarke’s as this. My lord, must some of the living, if it promotes some interest, be made answerable for all the bones that earth has concealed, and chance exposed? and might not a place where bones lay, be mentioned by a person by chance, as well as found by a laborer by chance? or is it more criminal accidentally to name where bones lie, than accidentally to find where they lie?
“Here, too, is a human skull produced, which is fractured; but was this the cause, or was it the consequence of death? was it owing to violence, or was it the effect of natural decay? If it was violence, was it before or after death? My lord, in May, 1732, the remains of William, lord archbishop of this province, were taken up, by permission, in this cathedral, and the bones of the skull were found broken; yet certainly he died by no violence offered to him alive, that could occasion that fracture there.
“Let it be considered, my lord, that upon the dissolution of religious houses, and the commencement of the reformation, the ravages of those times affected both the living and the dead. In search after imaginary treasures, coffins were broken up, graves and vaults dug open, monuments ransacked, and shrines demolished; and it ceased about the beginning of the reign of queen Elizabeth. I entreat your lordship, suffer not the violences, the depredations, and iniquities of those times to be imputed to this.
“Moreover, what gentleman is ignorant that Knaresborough had a castle; which, though now a ruin, was once considerable, both for its strength and garrison? All know it was vigorously besieged by the arms of parliament; at which siege, in sallies, conflicts, flights, pursuits, many fell in the places round it, and where they fell, were buried; for every place, my lord, is burial earth in war; and many, questionless, of these, rest yet unknown, whose bones futurity shall yet discover.
“I hope, with all imaginable submission, that what has been said will not be thought impertinent to this indictment; and that it will be far from the wisdom, the learning, and the integrity of this place, to impute to the living, what zeal in its fury may have done; what nature may have done; what nature may have taken off, and piety interred; or what war alone may have destroyed, alone deposited.
“As to the circumstances that have been raked together, I have nothing to observe, but that all circumstances whatever, are precarious, and have too frequently been found lamentably fallible; even the strongest have failed. They may rise to the utmost degree of probability, yet they are but probability still. Why need I name to your lordship the two Harrisons, recorded by Dr. Howel, who both suffered upon circumstances, because of the sudden disappearance of their lodger, who was in credit, had contracted debts, borrowed money, and went off unseen, and returned a great many years after their execution? Why name the intricate affair of Jacques de Moulin, under king Charles II., related by a gentleman who was counsel for the crown? and why the unhappy Coleman, who suffered innocent, though convicted upon positive evidence, and whose children perished for want, because the world uncharitably believed the father guilty? Why mention the perjury of Smith, incautiously admitted king’s evidence, who, to screen himself, equally accused Faircloth and Loveday of the murder of Dunn; the first of whom, in 1749, was executed at Winchester; and Loveday was about to suffer at Reading, had not Smith been proved to be perjured, to the satisfaction of the court, by the surgeon of the Gosport hospital?
“Now, my lord, having endeavored to show that the whole of this process is altogether repugnant to every part of my life; that it is inconsistent with my condition of health about that time; that no rational inference can be drawn that a person is dead who suddenly disappears; that hermitages were the constant repositories of the bones of the recluse; that the revolutions in religion, or the fortunes of war, have mangled or buried the dead; the conclusion remains, perhaps no less reasonably than impatiently wished for. I, at last, after a year’s confinement, equal to either fortune, put myself upon the candor, the justice, and the humanity of your lordship, and upon yours, my countrymen, gentlemen of the jury.”
Aram was tried by Judge Noel, who, having remarked that this defence was one of the most ingenious pieces of reasoning that had ever fallen under his notice, summed up the evidence to the jury, who gave a verdict of guilty; in consequence of which he received sentence of death.
After conviction, a clergyman was appointed to attend him, and to exhort him to an ample confession. Aram appeared to pay proper attention to what was said, but after the minister had retired, he formed the resolution of destroying himself; and when the morning appointed for his execution arrived, the keeper, on proceeding to take him out of his cell, was surprised to find him almost expiring through loss of blood, having cut his left arm, above the elbow and near the wrist, with a razor. A surgeon being sent for, stopped the bleeding; but when he was taken to the place of execution, he was so very weak as to be unable to join in devotion with the clergyman who attended him.
On the table in his cell was found the following paper, containing his reasons for attempting to commit suicide:—“What am I better than my fathers? To die is natural and necessary. Perfectly sensible of this, I fear no more to die than I did to be born. But the manner of it is something which should, in my opinion, be decent and manly. I think I have regarded both these points. Certainly nobody has a better right to dispose of man’s life than himself; and he, not others, should determine how. As for any indignities offered to my body, or silly reflections on my faith and morals, they are, as they always were, things indifferent to me. I think, though contrary to the common way of thinking, I wrong no man by this, and hope it is not offensive to the eternal Being that formed me and the world: and as by this, I injure no man, no man can reasonably be offended. I solicitously recommend myself to the eternal and almighty Being, the God of nature, if I have done amiss. But perhaps I have not; and I hope this thing will never be imputed to me. Though I am now stained by malevolence, and suffer by prejudice, I hope to rise fair and unblemished. My life was not polluted, my morals were irreproachable, and my opinions orthodox. I slept sound till three o’clock, awaked, and wrote these lines:—