saw there a man whom Taber resembles. But Taber is proved to have been at
that time, and at the time of the robbery, in Boston. This is proved
beyond question. It is so certain, that the Solicitor-General has _nol
prossed_ the indictment against him.

There is an end, then, of all pretence of the adoption of a scheme of
robbery at Alfred. This leaves the prosecutor altogether unable to point
out any manner in which it should become known that he had money, or in
which a design to rob him should originate.

It is next to be considered whether the prosecutor's story is either
natural or consistent. But, on the threshold of the inquiry, every one
puts the question, What motive had the prosecutor to be guilty of the
abominable conduct of feigning a robbery? It is difficult to assign
motives. The jury do not know enough of his character or circumstances.
Such things have happened, and may happen again. Suppose he owed money in
Boston, and had it not to pay? Who knows how high he might estimate the
value of a plausible apology? Some men have also a whimsical ambition of
distinction. There is no end to the variety of modes in which human vanity
exhibits itself. A story of this nature excites the public sympathy. It
attracts general attention. It causes the name of the prosecutor to be
celebrated as a man who has been attacked, and, after a manly resistance,
overcome by robbers, and who has renewed his resistance as soon as
returning life and sensation enabled him, and, after a second conflict,
has been quite subdued, beaten and bruised out of all sense and sensation,
and finally left for dead on the field. It is not easy to say how far such
motives, trifling and ridiculous as most men would think them, might
influence the prosecutor, when connected with any expectation of favor or
indulgence, if he wanted such, from his creditors. It is to be remembered
that he probably did not see all the consequences of his conduct, if his