[Editor: This is a chapter from The Eureka Stockade by Raffaello Carboni. A glossary has been provided to explain various words and phrases that may be unfamiliar to modern readers.]
XC.
Peccator videbit et irascetur; dentibus suis fremet et tabescet: desiderium peccatorum peribit.
At the end of Mr. Aspinall’s able oration, the jury appeared to me, to be decidedly willing to let me go, with an admonition to sin no more: because Mr. Aspinall took the same line of defence as Mr. Michie, the counsel in the trial of John Manning; that is, he confessed to the riot, but laughed at the treason. However rashly the diggers had acted in taking up arms, however higgledy-piggledy had been the management of the stockade, yet they were justified in resisting unconstitutional force by force.
His Honour tried the patience of the jury; well knowing by experience, that twelve true-born Britons can always afford to put up with a good long yarn.
The jury retired at nine o’clock. My first thought was directed to the Lord my God and my Redeemer. Then naturally enough, to sustain my courage, I was among my dear friends at Rome and London.
To remain in the felon’s dock whilst your JURY consult on your fate, is a sensation very peculiar in its kind. To be or not to be; that is the actual matter-of-fact question. Three letters making up the most important monosyllable in the language, which if pronounced is life, if omitted is death: an awkward position for an innocent man especially.
The jury, after twenty minutes past nine, were again in the jury-box. I was satisfied by their countenances that “the People” were victorious.
The Clerk of the Court: “Gentlemen of the Jury, have you considered your verdict?”
Foreman: “We have.”
The Clerk: “Do you find the prisoner at the bar Guilty or Not Guilty?”
Foreman, with a firm voice:
“NOT GUILTY!”
Magna opera Domini — (God save the People) — thus my chains sprang asunder. The people inside telegraphed the good news to the crowd outside, and “Hurrah!” rent the air in the old British style.
Source:
Raffaello Carboni. The Eureka Stockade: The Consequence of Some Pirates Wanting on Quarter-Deck a Rebellion, Public Library of South Australia, Adelaide, 1962 [facsimile of the 1855 edition], page 117
Editor’s notes:
magna opera Domini = (Latin) “great are the works of the Lord”; from Psalm 110:2 in the Latin Vulgate Bible [in various other Bibles, this is in Psalm 111:2, as the numbering of the Psalms varies between different versions of the Bible]
peccator videbit et irascetur; dentibus suis fremet et tabescet: desiderium peccatorum peribit = (Latin) “the wicked shall see, and shall be angry, he shall gnash with his teeth and pine away: the desire of the wicked shall perish”; from Psalm 111:10 in the Latin Vulgate Bible [in various other Bibles, this is in Psalm 112:10, as the numbering of the Psalms varies between different versions of the Bible]
to be or not to be = from a speech given by Prince Hamlet in the play “Hamlet” (Act 3, Scene 1) by William Shakespeare (1564 BC – 1616 BC); “To be, or not to be: that is the question”
References:
magna opera Domini:
Biblia Sacra Vulgatae Editionis, Nicolaum Pezzana [Nicolas Pezzana], Venetiis [Venice, Italy], 1669, page 432 (accessed 20 January 2013)
“Psalm 111”, New Advent (accessed 18 January 2013) [Psalm 111:2]
“Psalm 111:2”, Online Multilingual Bible (accessed 18 January 2013)
“Psalms 110:2 : Douay-Rheims Bible parallel: Christian Community, New Jerusalem, Clementine Latin Vulgate, Biblia Sacra Vulgatam”, Veritas Bible (accessed 18 January 2013)
peccator videbit et irascetur; dentibus suis fremet et tabescet: desiderium peccatorum peribit:
Biblia Sacra Vulgatae Editionis, Nicolaum Pezzana [Nicolas Pezzana], Venetiis [Venice, Italy], 1669, page 433 (accessed 20 January 2013)
“Psalm 112”, New Advent [Psalm 112:10] (accessed 18 January 2013)
“Psalm 112:10”, Online Multilingual Bible (accessed 18 January 2013)
“Psalms 111:10 : Douay-Rheims Bible parallel: Christian Community, New Jerusalem, Clementine Latin Vulgate, Biblia Sacra Vulgatam”, Veritas Bible (accessed 18 January 2013)
to be or not to be:
“The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark: Act 3, Scene 1”, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (accessed 31 January 2013)
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