Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1816-02-17

SaCrinCe Is demanded Wretched. InlSSra-
rNble man, it is my painful duty to an
nounce to you, that YOU are the destined
vic tim :
But before l proceed u perform this sad
and melancholy oihce-In that little mo-
ment during which it is permitted to me,
still TO pausc-NVhile We are yet standing on
the narrow isthmus, watch se1ar ates eter-
nifty and time, would earnestly and afsc-
tionately Commune with you, ere we part
forever on this side the grave. Bear with
me III humble resignation, while I call you
to the sad and painful retrospect Of the
p st-Oulte with me IN sincere and pious
conference, while point you to the consol-
atcry anticipations OF the future.
You stand at the bar of your country's
Justice, convicted murderer. You come
from the confinement of yoar solitary cell,
relieved for moment, from the letters
which have cpchained you. You see in
the spectators who surround YOU, the in
dignant witnesses of your guilt. Conscience
tortures you with the recollectious of the
past. Imagination pourtrays to you, the
anticipated horrors of the future. You look
With trembling and reluctant eye, to that
ignominious death, which so soon must ter
inmate your mortal career-Does your
view stop here ! Is it limited to that brief
to release your immortal spirit from its
earthly tenement ? Listen to the brief de
tail, OF some Of those considerations which
should influence you to 2 d iIerent Conduct
am all unworthy of the task, which it
is allotted 20 me TO peri rm. Weak, fali-
bic, sinful, like yourself, ! am little fitted
tor the oihces OF Counsel and consolation
But am the minister Of my country's JUS
tice, and l will enieavour humby, yet sim
cerely to fulfil my duty.
You have been convicted OF a crime, a
likr forbidden by the positive institutions of
sooiety-and by the express, and emphatic
mandate ofOmnipotence. This CONVICTION
has been the result of a fair and dispassion
ate tria, In which y0u have been defended
by counsel of your choice. before jury Sc
lected under all those advantages, which
the ben gritty of the Law, accords even to
the guilty. | have look Il in vain during
its progress for one Favorable circumstance,
60 relieve the general character of enor-
nifty. which has marked your conduct
My most earnest reflections since it's termi-
nation, have been Insufficient to ascertain
the motive, by which you could have been
actuated. The deceased was man of mild
and amiable sposit.on-inoifensiv in his
conduct towards his w-solders-eXem-
plaFy in the discharge of the duties of his
statiou--He was YOUR brother in arms
engaged like yourself in the good cause of
your cOuntry-He had shared with YOU in
tue daily duties-He had participated with
you in the nightly vgi's Of the camp. No
previous luminosity enAamed you against
each other. You had just returned with
hin,, from social, vet temperate indulgence
You left him in moment of spoitve-
ness, deliberately to examine the contents
OF your musket-In the next mouent you
lodged them in his Bosom.
OF the motives which could have actua-
ted to such conduct, have already pro-
tessed my ignorance. / have sought in vain
for them in the act, or in the circumstan-
ces which attended its commission--and
Cannot dive into the secret recesSes Of your
cosorn-But you are destined shortly to
appear before that all-seeing Judge, who
is able to scan the inmost thoughts of your
heart. For this drca5 trial, it is your duty
now to prepare.
To e-is the lot ofaH men. My solicit
tude, for you, does not arise from the APP
prehcnsion that you cannot meet Ceath with
fortitnde. You are sol ier-and although
you may not nave encount5 red the shock of
battle, the idea of death, in the various
forms in which it assaults the soldier, has
no doubt been often present TO your mind.
1T Is another, and q very different thing, to
die in peni eIce, resignation, and an hum
bic confidence OF forgiveness, through the
merits and suferngs OF she Saviour OF man
kind. call you to the performance Of that
sacred duty.
At the moment of your trial, awakened
to other reCoilectious, by the military array
Of the witnesses who were called against
YOU, add yielding unconsciously to their in
huence, / could not repress tie wish, that
you had been permitted to- die. in the bat
ties Of your eCuntry-that partaking in the
stern conflict Of Canadian warfare, or shar-
ing ia the last brilliant struggle Of southern
strife, you had fallen in defence OF her vio-
lated rights. Irecall the wish. The death
of the patriot soldier, is oft times enviable
and glorious. If such had been your lot,
you would have escaped the commission of
a crime, from which the feelings of our
nature revolt with horror. Yet even in the
anguish of your present unhappy situation,
there are precious consultations, of which
you would then have been deprived The
ministers Of our holy religion. initiating the
benevolent example of HIM whom they re-
present. Will penetrate, have penetrated
the recesses of your dungeon. They come
to you in the spirit, and by the authority Of
the Divine commission, with which they
are entrusted to cali you to repentance
they Offer TO you the forgiveness of your
SINS, and happiness as infinite rs the rner-
cy, as durable as the existence of that God,
TO whom you owe your being. Reject not,
beseech you, the precious boon. Review
the transactions Of your past life. Recall
to your recollection. your first and earliest
deviation from rectitude. Pursue with un-
RENTED vigilance the painful scratiuv--