Literary cadet and Rhode-Island statesman. [volume] (Providence, R.I.) 1827-1829, 1827-12-19
brav. fellow was before me. The medal

brave fellow was before me. The medal
is mine, however. I won il in honour,
and I will not disown it like a coward
Il am sorry for YOU said the coroner
Keeper! he ~beckoned to the person
who held that Office in the neighbOuring
bridewell, handcuff your prisoner
'Dorgan started at the summons, as
il all the indignant energy which he was
capable Of assuming, had been silently
gathering within his breast during the
last hour, and were now for the first
time suddenly enkindled at a msment
Have | any thing to say? he exclaim-
ed; 'if your souls we're not blinded,
would not the case itself make it unnec-
essary for me to degrade myself even TO
a denial Of such a charge. ask you,
gentlemen ! he continued, standing
erect, and 1inging his arms wide, as he
looked round upon the company with
that glowing eIoquence Of eye, and
check, and action, which the great III
structress Nature can in an instant in
fuse on an occasion Of great excite
ment and emergency into the consti,u-
tons Of those to whom the science itself
has ever remained a mystery; Il ask
you, is It likely, that on the first night Of
my arrival. IN my native land, a.:er q long
and profitable absence, with every thing
that was waited 10 secure inc happiness
and honour for the remainder of my life,
and with the love of such a creature as
that to reward me for all my sufferings
and sights, and with the knowledge to-"
that her father %repenred of his hard con
duct towards me, and Ionged to call me
his friend again. ask you, is it likely
that | would, SO causelessly, dip my
hands in the blood Of that old man, to
blast all my hopes and pros
poets for ever Is it possible p
| I'm a British sailor-is that the charac-
ter of a ruffian or n traitor? That medal
which you hold was given me as IL re-
ward for discharging my duty well and
faithfully = is it likely | would stain it
with the blood Of a secret murder? l
trod the decks Of the Victory for seven
years, a deck hat was never pressed
by the foot Of coward. l laid my hand
on the white hairs of my commander
Nelson, when he lay bleeding on the bed
ofglory-is it likely I should hack and
hew the hoary head ola d~efenceless iel-
low creature? stood by his side at TraC-
algar, and never shrunk in the daylight
from an enemy's broadside-is it likely
that l would stab an old man in the
dark?''
Words, however spirited, cannot out
weigh facts. Dorgan is tried, condemn
ed, and carried to the place Of execu.
ton.
AT the moment when the hangman
was about to lay his fingers OH the col
lar, the crowd near him separated with
much noise. and confusion, and a man
darling through the passage and through
the file Of soldiers, seized the rude bri-
die, and striking the executioner so as
10 make him reel and stagger a few pa
ces, cried out in a hoarse and loud voice,
Come down, Mr.. Dorgan, come down
of o. the car. Let him 60, Mr.. Sheriff,
dear; for the man is here that did the
deed. The Sheriff, in the midst Of the
confusion that prevailed, imagining that
a rescue was about to be attempted, had
cooked a pistol and placed it to the head
of his prisoner. He now suffered the
muzzle 10 fall, and gazed in astonish-
ment on Kinchela, who stood pale,
trembling, and ~listless, at the horses
head. The truth flashed in the clergy
mans mind, as he recognized in Pryce
the same individual who sat with Dorgan
in the parlour ofthe Bee hive on the
evening before the MURDER
Revenge had urged the unhappy man
to the act, and rcmorse ia confess it.