“When we was put in the dock, I noticed first of all what a gentleman Compeyson looked, wi’ his curly hair and his black clothes and his white pocket-handkercher, and what a common sort of a wretch I looked. When the prosecution opened and the evidence was put short, aforehand, I noticed how heavy it all bore on me, and how light on him…But when the defence come on, then I see the plan plainer; for, says the counsellor for Compeyson, ‘My lord and gentlemen, here you has afore you, side by side, two persons as your eyes can separate wide; one, the younger, well brought up; one, the elder, ill brought up…Can you doubt, if there’s but one in it, which is the one, and, if there’s two in it, which is much the worst one?'”
– Charles Dickens
Great Expectations, Chapter 43. The inequality and unfairness of Victorian justice is put on trial in Magwitch’s account of his own court appearance for fraud and other money crimes. In the dock with him is his crime partner Compeyson, who in contrast to Magwitch’s wretched appearance puts on a show of a well-dressed gentleman. Compeyson’s lawyer contrasts his gentility and good upbringing with Magwitch’s lower class background. Guess which one receives the lesser sentence from a biased justice system? – Compeyson!