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the witnesses. Mr. Bilger, senior, deposed what the reader is already in possession of, with these additions; that, a few minutes after my quitting the shop, he missed the articles named in the indictment; and that having, on my second visit, received my final instructions for a ring, and the address I have before mentioned, he went himself next day to Curzon-street, and found No. 13 to be an empty house! Mr. Bilger having concluded, and Mr. Gurney not offering to cross-examine him, conformable to the suggestions in my brief, and as I fully expected he would, I was extremely surprised, and was soon afterwards convinced that he had not received any brief at all, or had any grounds to plead upon. I, therefore, requested to ask Mr. Bilger a question, namely, "Why he did not apprehend me on the Tuesday night, on which he swears I came the second time to his shop, after having missed the property on the preceding Friday, and suspected me for it?" Ans. "My lord, he had so much the appearance of a gentleman that I thought I might be mistaken. He was very differently dressed then from what he is now. He wore whiskers, and an eye-glass, and was very nicely powdered[1]. My
- ↑ Subjoined to the report of my trial, in the public prints, was this remark. "The prisoner, on his trial, had left off his false whiskers, his powdered head-dress, and his eye-glass, and appeared in a loose great-coat and silk handkerchief!!" Indeed there were many similar pieces of wit at my expense, and some
