The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1809-05-16

coLvNsIA, (s.c.) April %.


At the Court ofoeneraI Sessions of the Peace
holden at Union Court l,6use, in Marc,t last,
before the Hon. Judge WIEps, .STokn sY'oNiases
was tried and found guilty of the wiiftl murder
Of Sehs Mashis--and when the unhappy criminal
was brought to the bar, to receive the seatence
OF the law. the following eloquent and Impress
I've address was delivered by the Judge the Sc
fioas impression it made on all who were present,
the faithful, correct and forcitle view il exhibits
Of the awful and tefr6ck situation Of the wretch,
who, abandoned to the feelings of humanity, im-
srues bis hands in the blood Of his fellow crea-
tures-;nducedt the members ofthe bar attending
shat court. earnestly to reguestthe Hon. Judge
TO commit it to writing. and favor them with CO.
W-whichrequest he politely complied with, and
by those members fthe bar, It is now offered to
the public: @S
}oHN TsLLIsoS.
The duty which yet remains to Be
performed towards you, Of all others, TO rpe the
most awful and distressing, it IL my misfortune
TO be obliged to perform alone. 49,
Inc laws ofour common country have commits
sioned me to announce to you your doom hold
your death warrant in my hand
Death, the great destroyer of man, is terrible
even in its mildest forms, though we behold its
destructive ravages spread wide around US tho
we behold therich, the poor, the old, the young,
the virtuons the vicious fall indiscriminately be-
fore its deadly scythe, and feel our own fate ine-
vtabic, still, we cannot contemplate its frightful
approaches, but with the most fearful apprehen-
s!ons. The awful uncertainties ola future state,
tne untried vicissitudes of an unknown world,
whence meme who have gone ever returned, appal
the stoutest hearts and like towards we groan
nnder the pressure of Gfe's many ills, fearful to
draw aside the veil which hides the future from
as Butthough death be always dreadful, it is
not always equally so. TOY yield our lives to him
who gave thems to wait the dread moment on
our beds OF sickness, surrounded by those we
tove, whose affectionate concern, whose sympa-
thzing tears soften the anguish of expiring ma
sure-to die for our native land, to guard its ho-
nor IN the held OF danger, and meet the grim ty-
rant IN the cannon's mouth, though not enough
TO make him welcome, robs him Of half his ter
xofs
But unfortunately for you, these are consolati-
ons which will not support you in your approach
ing doom. The life whichG God hath given you,
you have yourself most wickedly destroyed the
sender love, the sympathetic tear which would
nave cisaved TO your departing spirit, and wing
ed it for ats fight, you have banished byyour pub
he disgrace, to pine in hopeless solicit,ide over
your untimely fate and to the offended Justice
Of that country for whose honor to have died,
would have been heroic, you fall victim. flung
up between the heavens and earth, heavens Ell
0est, greatest curse stamped on the deed You
nave done; no friendly voice to bid long Fare
well EMO friendly hand to close your eyes in death
you will exhibit an awful, but instructing spec
sacle to the world, and prove that the arm of a
Venglng justice is swift to oyertake him who
Sheds a brothers. blood.
Ineednot remind YOU, for YOU cannot have for
the circumstances which led to this fatal
catastrophe. Your hands yet smoke with the
blood OF murder, and Mathis's new raised grave
makes An impressive appealto your memory -
lipnk not to find paliistion for yoar offence, in
the intoxIcation under which, it is said, you Ia
bored, nor hope to extcnuate its horrors in the
Irritation ofp:,.sion which you cndeavored to es-
tebl'sh Yonr drunkenness, but aggrayates your
crime the disbolicsl fury which drove you on
to perpetrate this fatal deed seems not TO have
Dad any exciting cause and the insidious, COW
ardly manner in which you made the attack, the
deadly weapon which you welded, and Your
manly perseverance in nactng the deepest in
-1nrles on an adversary, who had not made the
slightest resistance, nay, who was even unable
20 raise M. hand against you, argue most savage
temperament Of SCUBA heart black with male
violence, and more siIan ordinarily derraved.
You have had fair and impartial trial by ju-
rors efyour own choice, in the selection OF whom
even your caprice has been tenderIy INDUCED !;
you have had the benefit Of able council, whose
manly addresses to the understanding, whose elo-
quent appeals to the heart, must have saved you,
1t even doubt Of your guilt could have been "
cited, but alas! it has all been nvairi--you have
been pronounced guilty Of the horrid crime of
murder. for which, you die unpitied.
twill be hardly generous to remind you, for it
can now only aggravate your distress, oftbe ma
ny strong Inducements which you had to differ
ent conduct. Living IN land of light and lber-
ty, where every right is securely protected, eve
~ virtuous exertion Literally warded, III the vi
gour of health and manhood, and surrounded by
all the means ofhonest enjoyment, life was surely
worth preserving.
You have, but my heart sckens at the thought,
a wife, who tenderly loves yo,r-eyou are a father
ofchilden, who look to you for bread for:,l.em,
At least, you ought to have lived Crsel drought
less man. what have you done Besides robbinr
these Objects, justly dear to your heart, of their
only protection and support; besides turning
them on a wide and friendlcss world, exposed 10
all the bufetngs of scott and adversely, YOU have.
nnkindly loaded them with disgrace, which tho
they do not merit, they must forever feel.
But Vt the laws of your country, and your co,in-
try's God if the love OF life and its varied en-
joyments it the distress ard disgrace of a IA
Inily you love, were unable to withhold your mrr-
derous arm, yet believe me, when assure rea-
sonyet more powerful than all, ought 70 have
made ydn pause-you have an immortal soul nj
stake, and have by this fatal deed to the manifold
ransgressions of an ill-spent life, added a
mountain of guilt.
Your DAYS on earth are now lu,nbercd The
sword Of death which hangs ap;ifted over the
fi3l thread ofyour existence, ready to drop, will
quickly cut it in twain, and those who have
known you shall know you no more But though,
you feel the fatal stroke, hope not in it TO find a
termination Of your woes it will be the mere
prelude TO another trial asyuly terrific again YOU
will be arrsigned at the bar of Justice, and the
black record of a thousand crimes spread in your
u1atu Aaro,