"Now what are the facts, the bare facts, the cold facts, gentlemen?
And we are here to deal with facts. Here they are. There is a wedding.
My learned friend is not interested in weddings, not perhaps as much
interested as he should be, and as such, apparently, he excites the
pity of his friends."

This sally turned all eyes towards Mrs. Fitzpatrick, and a broad
smile spread over the court.

"There is a wedding, as I was saying. Unhappily the wedding feast,
as is too often the case with our foreign citizens, degenerates into
a drunken brawl. It is a convenient occasion for paying off old
scores. There is general melee, a scrap, in short. Suddenly these
two men come face to face, their passions inflamed. On the one hand
there is a burning sense of wrong, on the other an unquenchable
hate. For, gentlemen, remember, the man that hates you most
venomously is the man who has wronged you most deeply. These two
meet. There is a fight. When all is over, one man is found dead,
another with a wound in his breast. But who struck the first blow?
None can tell. We are absolutely without evidence upon this point.
In regard to the Polak, all that can be said is this, that it was
a most unfortunate occurrence. The attempt to connect the prisoner
with this man's death has utterly failed. In regard to the man
Rosenblatt, dismissing his absurdly tragic story, what evidence
has been brought before this court that there was any deliberate
attempt at murder? A blow was struck, but by whom? No one knows.
What was the motive? Was it in self-defence warding off some
murderous attack? No one can say. I have as much right to believe
that this was the case, as any man to believe the contrary. Indeed,