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The Doctor had taken care that it should be there—had assured him that it
would be there—and at this stage of the proceedings it was produced and read.
Citizen Gabelle was called to confirm it, and did so. Citizen Gabelle hinted,
with infinite delicacy and politeness, that in the pressure of business imposed
on the Tribunal by the multitude of enemies of the Republic with which it had to
deal, he had been slightly overlooked in his prison of the Abbaye—in fact, had
rather passed out of the Tribunal’s patriotic remembrance—until three days ago;
when he had been summoned before it, and had been set at liberty on the Jury’s
declaring themselves satisfied that the accusation against him was answered, as
to himself, by the surrender of the citizen Evremonde, called Darnay.
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The doctor had made sure that the letter was there. He had assured Darnay that
it would definitely be there. Now it was taken out and read, and they called
Citizen Gabelle to the stand to confirm the letter. He did so. Citizen Gabelle
hinted delicately and politely that since the tribunal was so busy dealing with
the many enemies of the Republic, he had been overlooked in Abbaye Prison. In
fact, the tribunal had forgotten him entirely until three days ago, when he had
been called in front of the court. The jury had released him when they decided
that his accusation had been resolved when citizen Evremonde, also known as
Darnay, had been captured.
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Doctor Manette was next questioned. His high personal popularity, and the
clearness of his answers, made a great impression; but, as he proceeded, as he
showed that the Accused was his first friend on his release from his long
imprisonment; that, the accused had remained in England, always faithful and
devoted to his daughter and himself in their exile; that, so far from being in
favour with the Aristocrat government there, he had actually been tried for his
life by it, as the foe of England and friend of the United States—as he brought
these circumstances into view, with the greatest discretion and with the
straightforward force of truth and earnestness, the Jury and the populace became
one. At last, when he appealed by name to Monsieur Lorry, an English gentleman
then and there present, who, like himself, had been a witness on that English
trial and could corroborate his account of it, the Jury declared that they had
heard enough, and that they were ready with their votes if the President were
content to receive them.
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Dr. Manette was questioned next. His popularity and his clear answers made a
good impression on the court, but he continued on and told the court that Darnay
was the first friend he made after he was freed from his long prison term and
that Darnay had stayed in England. He told them that Darnay had always stayed
faithful and devoted to Lucie and himself while they were in England. He told
them that he was so far from being sympathetic with the aristocratic government
of England that he was actually put on trial for his life by it as a foe of
England and a friend of the United States. After Dr. Manette had presented these
circumstances, discretely and straightforwardly, the jury and the crowd all
agreed. Finally, when he appealed to Mr. Lorry, an English gentleman who was
there in the courtroom, who, like himself, had witnessed that trial in England
and could confirm his story about it, the jury declared that they had heard
enough and that they were ready to vote if the president were ready to hear
them.
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At every vote (the Jurymen voted aloud and individually), the populace set up
a shout of applause. All the voices were in the prisoner’s favour, and the
President declared him free.
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The men on the jury voted aloud one at a time. Every time one of them
announced his vote the crowd would shout and applaud. All of them voted in favor
of the prisoner, and the president declared that Darnay was free.
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Then, began one of those extraordinary scenes with which the populace
sometimes gratified their fickleness, or their better impulses towards
generosity and mercy, or which they regarded as some set-off against their
swollen account of cruel rage. No man can decide now to which of these motives
such extraordinary scenes were referable; it is probable, to a blending of all
the three, with the second predominating. No sooner was the acquittal
pronounced, than tears were shed as freely as blood at another time, and such
fraternal embraces were bestowed upon the prisoner by as many of both sexes as
could rush at him, that after his long and unwholesome confinement he was in
danger of fainting from exhaustion; none the less because he knew very well,
that the very same people, carried by another current, would have rushed at him
with the very same intensity, to rend him to pieces and strew him over the
streets.
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Then the crowd started to act in a way that satisfied their fickleness and
their desire to be generous and merciful. Or perhaps it was a way to balance
their anger and violence. It’s impossible to tell what motivated this behavior.
It was probably a combination of all three, but the urge to be generous and
merciful. As soon as Darnay was acquitted, people started crying. So many men
and women embraced Darnay that he was in danger of fainting from exhaustion. It
was just as disturbing to him since he knew very well that those same people
could have been rushing at him with the same intensity to tear him to pieces and
spread his body over the streets.
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