was attributable to an undiagnosed blood condition akin to haemophilia". In his memoir Some experiences of a barrister's life, published in 1883, Ballantine offered a highly sensationalised account of Cancellor's death: "the wretched half-witted victim of a lunatic's system of education was deliberately mangled to death". Hopley was convicted of manslaughter, not murder, because of his position as a schoolteacher "endowed with parental authority". Sir Alexander Cockburn, the Chief Justice of the Court of Queen's Bench, presented a summary of the decision: Cockburn further suggested that Hopley should have realised Cancellor's cognitive deficiencies and taken these into account in his treatment of the boy. Hopley was sentenced to four years of penal servitude, and was incarcerated in Portsea and Chatham. After being indicted, he wrote of himself that "while anguish shook the frame, the conscience suffered not one pang. I searched and searched among the deepest secrets of my soul, and could not blame myself ... I could look up tranquilly into the face of heaven who knew me to be Not Guilty." He believed that his actions were justifiable because he had undertaken them in his duty as schoolteacher. He portrayed himself as a victim of public opinion, claiming that "a mournful accident was swelled up into a bloody midnight murder, and how it has been brought about that my unfortunate name has been branded, not simply through the United Kingdom, but through the civilised world, as one of the most execrable monsters or of madmen." He published a pamphlet arguing that Locock had perjured himself and had conspired with Fowler to influence the outcome of the trial. Reaction and aftermath The trial was sensationalised by contemporary media. The press derided Hopley as "monstrous", and criticised schoolteachers in general and private schoolteachers in particular. Newspapers published graphic accounts of Cancellor's injuries and autopsy and further exaggerated the early rumours surrounding his death. Cancellor's was the first death by corporal punishment to have received broad public interest. To prevent overcrowding, the court issued tickets for admission to the public gallery during the trial; the courtroom was full an hour before the trial began. After Hopley's conviction, he issued at least two pamphlets on model education from gaol, which were poorly received by the public. Hopley's fame was short-lived; a month after his conviction, the press was focused on another case of corporal punishment, that of Caroline Lefevre, whose arms were