midnight
Could this noble beast but speak , '' urged Mr. Gentle Gammon , K.C. , `` could it even roar , it would speak its severest censures , would roar its loudest denunciations at the libellous statement that the noble Civic head of London who honoured it , could possibly have done so , could conceivably have climbed to such a height upon its back , unless he had been eminently sober , unfalteringly steady at the time when , clad in his robes in the calm violet depth of night , he had placed his offering in happy felicitation as a symbol and a greeting to his beloved City of London . This should have excited only admiration ; but seen through the prying eyes of a prurient pressman , this touching tribute had been changed by the vile alchemy of suspicion to an unseemly and ridiculous action of midnight debauchery which could only have turned the noble Lion to stone , had it not already been made of bronze . `` My Lord and Gentlemen of the Jury , this Lion stands for liberty , as do all British Lions . I claim the liberty and full right of my client , if he deems fit , to be able to decorate any statue of London whenever he pleases , at any or every possible hour of the night that he chooses , without the stupid and interfering intervention of a constable , or the slanderous pen of a Mr. Learnéd Bore , having the power to make a lovable and harmless action wear the appearance of a midnight frolic of bibulous recklessness , which , had it taken place , would have been only food and gossip for the senseless and shameful , and reflective regret for the wise . `` My Lord and Gentlemen of the Jury , my client does not wish for big damages , but he does demand strict justice . That is what he is here for , my Lord and Gentlemen of the Jury , that is what we are all here for . If I were given to emotion , which I am glad to confess I am not , my deepest and innermost emotions would be called forth by the picture of his Lordship there before us , who holds the scales of Justice in his hands , who can pierce the outer coverings of dissembling and falsehood with the eagle eye of truth , who can right this hideous wrong , who can smooth out the crooked paths of falsehood , making all plain .