The investigations in the course of which Emilius related his version
of what had passed between him and his ill-fated brother--I use the
phrase to give expression to my meaning, but indeed it is hard to say
to which of the brothers, the living or the dead, it can be applied
with the greater force--took place in private, only the accused and
the magistrate, with a secretary to write down what was said, being
present. The magistrate in his conversations with Doctor Louis and
Gabriel Carew, did not hesitate to declare his belief in the
prisoner's guilt. He declined altogether to entertain the sentimental
views which Doctor Louis advanced in Emilius's favour--such as the
love which it was well known had existed between the brothers since
their birth, the character for gentleness which Emilius had earned,
the numberless acts of kindness which could be set to his credit, and
the general esteem which was accorded to him by those among whom he
had chiefly lived.
"My experience is," he said, "that all pervious records of a man's
life and character are not only valueless but misleading when the
passions of love and jealousy enter his soul. They dominate him
utterly; they are sufficiently baleful to transform him from an angel
to a demon. He sees things through false light, and justifies himself
for the commission of any monstrous act. Reason becomes warped, the
judgment is distorted, the sense of right-doing vanishes; he is the
victim of delusions."