"he told them, indeed, if a point of law should arise, they may speak to it, but he would have no witness brow-beaten or misled in that court"
The beginning of the trial shows the majesty of the lion. He is in complete control of the proceedings and can at will admit or dismiss witnesses. At this point he had already refused the dogs as untrustworthy witnesses. This can be seen as a commentary on the judiciary system with the absolute power in a single entity. However, the comment is not negative, as the lion is depicted as a wise and fair ruler that takes every opinion and evidence carefully into account. That the lion has been chosen to represent this power is not surprising when considering the heraldry of lions, where they stand for power and the ruling class.
"This poor Ox, my Lord, was taken from his friends and relations in the country, where he led a peaceful and innocent life, and put under the care of a cruel and inhuman drover, who pricked him all the way to London, with the nail at the end of a pole;"
The account of the bee is the main evidence used in the end to judge the ox. The bee is judged to be trustworthy and, by his own words, has been sitting on the ox the whole journey, witnessing every single cruelty. This emotional part of the book allows the audience to connect with the ox through his suffering. In an interesting twist, this book written from the point of view of an animal court uses the word inhuman to describe a cruel person.
"T'is amazing that mankind should complain of cruelty in animals, when their own minds are productive of such scenes of inhumanity."
The wise and considered judge produces the main moral of the story. Animals do not act out of malicious intent, they are driven through human cruelty to their actions. The tiger's commentary reminds the other animals of their lot in life, swaying their opinion to support the ox. By this point in the story, the audience would be inclined to fully agree with the lawyer. The choice of the tiger is peculiar, as tiger's were rather unknown at this point of time in England and their heraldic meaning is less prominent that that of the lion. Nevertheless, similarly to the lion, the tiger is depicted as a wise, sophisticated creature that has a truly altruistic nature.
"Upon which, the cock clapped his wings, and crowed applause to the verdict;"
The penultimate sentence of the book shows that the verdict given to the ox was met with general approval. The cock, as the usual creature that starts the day, ends this story in an ironic twist. The verdict itself was given right before this quote and would be considered a very soft punishment, showing that the cruelty of men outweighs the deadly actions of one ox.
