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the t r ial. I have talked over this historical case \lit h my friend Si r Edward
Shell , then t he only survivor of all the cremates pe rsona" i n t ha t ce lebrated drama..
I l earned from Sir Edva~d thRt t he forema n of the jury va s 8 ve Ll.c-knovn citizen,
named J ohn Power, who had
live d i n st . John's for many yeare ; a nd ve s bett er kn own
as "Bi g J ohn Pove r-" from Wa t erf or d ..
Rev . Francis Sylveste r Haho ney , better
known as Father Prout , pries t , \lit a nd
poet, vas born in Cork in 1805, a nd di ed at Paris 1n 1886 . He 'Wa s ordained prie st ,
bu t devoted himl'lelf lorgely to literature . His linguistic pover-s, great Learnf ng ,
keen \.lit an d f e cundit y of r hyme pla ced him in the front
r ank, e ve n amongst the
brilliant men ....i t h vbosi he e saocf.eted , I hav e no r ec or d that he eve r became awar e
t ha t , un c ons cd ou aky ,
he 'Wa s the cau se of a r:ewfound land Lev sut t , 'Which at the time
created such excitement and brought t.oget.her- such an array of talent , judge s,
'Witnesses, parties to suit and counsel, 85 has r a r ely been equalled 1n t he history
of the Colony .
All 'Who took part i n that historic drama have passed oway , plaintiff ,
defendant, j udge s, wi t ne s se s and j ury . The present generation , .pa r ticu lar ly those
vhose privilege and
pleasure it has been t o share the r e spons i bilitie s of public
life, \lith 't.he Hon, Si r Fdvard Shea , can f orm a f airly c orrect e s t i mate of the
calibre of the uen , the ~T~~, Shea$", C'a-rtf"l"S, tent.s, takes, +~ S OO & , Elli"*,,.~
an d Pa r sons, who in "Ibe days of 158 11 foueht s o va liantly against French aggrese -,
i on and t.he indifference of Fnglish atetesaen to Colonial i nteres t s, a nd ca n
a ppre ci a te to some ex tent , the sterling patrioti sm an d r-ugged independen ce of those
men , amongst whom Sir Fdwsrd Shea ve e ce r-te fn Iy not the l e a st .