The Express.
London, England, 1853-12-26 00:00:00

A SERIFS OF HORRIBLE DOINGS.
The North sale Whig, of the 30th ult., printed
at Wilmington, North Carolina, publishes a condensed report
of the trial of the Rev. Oeorge W. Carawan, foe the murder
of Hr. C. H. Lander, a schoolteacher in Hyde county. The
whole cue is remarkable, on account of the status of the
brewed. the depravity developed, and the tragical issue of
the trial Eminent c itiesel were arrayed for both the pro-
secutioa aad the defence, and much excitement prevailed
during the preeediege. The paper before us gives the
following particulars:
Canine ern 56 years old, and for many yeses had been a
popular preacher is the Baptist charch—a man of strong
. sereising a powerful influence over his friends, and
feared u much as hated by his foes. Lassiter was &quiet
young man, engaged in the business of teaching. Some
month. beforel the murder, Lauber boarded in the
bowie of Carawaa, and a quarrel cross between them, Carte
wan allegiag that Lassiter was too lamellar with his (Cara-
won't a wile. Camino talked very freely song his
'ugh are on the aubjett ; said that Lassiter osght to be
shot ; that shootiag wee too good for him ; and that he and
Laseiter could not b. th live in the same neighbourhood
sad finally tried to get oat a peace "recruit against Las-
siter. Ogling that he had attempted to take his life. He
west Ca that way foe some time, when Lassiter sued
him for sl,eder, *ring the damages at 2,000 dole. A
kw hi un after the writ was served on Carawan, Lassiter
was killed.

He bad tini•bed a school on Rom bay, end on Monday,
t►e l.Sth of November, 1852, started on foot, with a carpet-
beg a his hanJ, to go to the Lake, when hi had mimed
soother school. About three o'clock pm. he passed Cara.
wen's house on his way to the Lake. Shortly after he
pew& Qumran left hie house, and went across the field
toward the wood* which lie between the bones and the spot
ma the road when Leasitgr was k•llcd, his wife following
wit► a gas wrapped up in her apron. She returned to the
loran immediately ; Carawan not tin sundown. That night
M was absent from home.
.

Tunny he remained at home; but on Wednesday, a
rainy day, he took • hoe and went into the woods, and was
gees several hours. Os Thursday. before L. was mimed
(the people on the Lake thinking he was at the Bay, and
the eople on the Bay thinking he was at the Lake). C.
went to oats of the neighbour', and inquired if he h tees
sayttine if L , stating that his (C.'.) busily had seen his I
pass his house on Monday with &package of clothes, and he
was thinking he had run away. On Friday evening, when
told th .t the people were searching for L., he impressed
great surprise that he should be missing— n had beard
anything of it.
Oa Saturday morning the search for Lassiter still going
as, he wrote to a friend to come and see him—that Laseiter
was missing—supported to be killed—sod added that he
(cemen) was at home all day 31 today, Tuesday, and
witdoesday, and that he could MT* it by Cilf•WID &Wylie
(the main witness on the trial for the state), hie nephew, a
boy who was living with hint. The body of Lassiter was
found on Saturday *seising in the swamps behind Carew's'.
house in an open lot, which was surrounded with briars,
anderbtusb, er , and covered with moss. The tams over
the grave had been carefully removed, the grave dug just
large enough to hold the body, the body pressed into it, the
grave filled up even with the surrounding earth and pressed
down, and the moss carefully laid back upon it. The MOSS
leaving no true: of a footprint, there was no sign that any-
body had ever been there, except that the moss over the
grave had faded a little ; about a handful of fresh dirt was
near it, and a dead limb of a tree had apparently been re-
may disturbed ; the bark, which had evidently jest fallen
from it, lying in one spot and the limb in another. The
men who were searching for the body bad stopped in this
lonely spot to rest, having given up the search for the day,
when these appearances attncted their attention, and the
body was found.
L was killed by gunshot wounds. Several shots were •
taken from the body, three from the heart. There were
three sloes of shot found in the body, and in one of the
barrels of C.'s gun, found in his house, just such shot, and
of three sines, were found. That night C. left Hyde county,
telling his nephew (Sawyer) that if he stayed there he shouM
be hung; that he should send for his family, and he (5 )
must go with them. On Sunday morning he landed from •
canoe at Durhom's Creek mills, in Beaufort county, about
thirty miles trots his home, telling the man who rowed
him over that he was after a piece of laud which another
man was trying to buy, and that was the reason of his
hurry, and charging him to keep his movements a secret.
From this time till his t at night in his house, in
January following, the state did not know his whereabouts.
But from letters received by the sheriff of Hyde, from Ten-
nessee, it seems he had been in that state, preaching under
the assumed oame or John Forbes.
After his imprisonment in Hyde County Gaol, he tried
to get a friend to hire the witness Sawyer to go away. He
had offered this same witness, before the body of Lassiter
was found, a negro, if he would swear that he, Carawn,
was at home all Monday, the d on which the murder
was committed. And while in Hyde gaol he wrote to a
friend (the letters were produced in court), to get Sawyer
out of the way. He had given, he said, in one of his letters,
Mary (his wife) MO dole. to get Sawyer off ; if that would
not do, give him 1,000 dole. If that would not do, he (his
friend) must get rid of Sawyer tt by hook or by crook" and
not suffer his (Carolina's) neck to be broke.
The defence set up for the prisoner was, that three of the
witnesses (including Sawyer) had sworn falsely, committed
wilful and deliberate perjury, and thvt it was impassible for
Cantina to have gnat through the woods, after Lassiter
parsed his house, quick enough to have cut him off.
The jury, atter a protracted sitting, brought in a verdict
of guilty, and the judge ordered a recess of the court for an
hour. As the crowd was 'caving, the prisoner suddenly
drew two pistols, one of which be tired at Mr. Warren, the
counsel fur the state, and with the other shot himself through
the head, killing himself instantly. The ball of the other
struck Mr. Warren Oa the breast, just above the heart, but
fortunately glans ed off and left only a slight wound. The
North Mate Whig says:
Canteen maintained his self•control throughout the
trial. He was as line looking a man as one would find
among a thousand—tall, admirably built, with a massive
!wad, showing, with enormous animal passing, large islet-
loci These passions have destroyed him, he having gives
himself all his lite to their unbridled sway. His wife, ap-
parently about his own age, and his children, had been
with him during the trial, acconspamying him to and from
the court-how sad jail,