Lawton monologue — The Garotters

‘I suppose I must. I shall not expect mercy for myself; perhaps you’ll say that, as an old and hardened offender, I don’t deserve it. But I had an accomplice—a young man very respectably connected, and who, whatever his previous life may have been, had managed to keep a good reputation; a young man a little apt to be misled by overweening vanity and the ill-advised flattery of his friends; but I hope that neither of you gentlemen will be hard upon him, but will consider his youth, and perhaps his congenital moral and intellectual deficiencies, even when you find your watches—on Mr. Campbell’s person.’ He leans forward, rubbing his hands, and smiling upon Campbell, ‘How will that do, Mr. Campbell, for a flyer?’