“May it please your lordships and you gentlemen of the jury, this is an
indictment against the prisoner at the bar for a crime of so atrocious
and uncommon a nature, as to render it impossible to affix any epithet
to the crime descriptive of its enormity. This is, gentlemen, the first
instance of its existence, and I hope in God it will be the last. The
indictment, you have perceived already, turns upon three counts: the
prisoner at the bar is first charged for setting fire to a quantity of
hemp and ropes particularly specified; the second count is for setting
fire to a certain building erected in the dockyard, called the
rope-house: the third count is for firing His Majesty’s naval stores.
Gentlemen, the matter will be more fully opened to you by the learned
and experienced gentleman who leads this business, and I doubt not but
your verdict will be satisfactory to your country.”