Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1833-06-20
[From the Norwich (Co~n Courier.
u,rpDER oFMRs. SHERMAN AND
CHILD.

.oa i'm the papers an account OF inuroe
.ommitted IN some portion of our exten
s;ye country in forty nine cases
ont offifty they are Perpetrated while INC
cvtprirs are under the influence oi Intox-
icaiing liqnor, which inste ad OF PaiI'a'ing
only aggravates the guilt, as the Indui'
renee of one vice can never be made m
excuse for a still more revolving crime
II is now our duty to communicate the
fact ihat tragedy of the most painful
description has been enacted IN our NTH
erto ne acelnl town--causing degree OF
excitement hitherto unexampled among
us. On Friday evening, 9TH inst, man
nv the name of DAVID SHERMAN, split
his wife's head with an axe, causing IN
stant death, and at the same time So Sc
yereIv wounding young child that 1t
died before u O'clock. For the partic-
ulars, ,as they were ehciied before Court
of enquiry, on Saturday morning, we re-
fer to another paragraph. 1t Is said this
is the first murder ever committed IN tins
town., and The neraetrator oi tins rs not n
native Of the State. This event brings
home to our citizens the utter folly Of
longer permitting ardent spirits to be re-
tailed by any body-and the man who
can advocate it after Witnessing their
deplorable effects, rs thus exhibited,
must have a heart for unfeeling hard
ness the possession of which we do not
envy him. Why is it that wife and
mother, without warning, or moment
allowed for preparation, is hurried into
eternty--that an innocent and unsus-
pecting infant is stretched in death at her
side-and that he, the parent Of one, and
who should have protected both, is now
obnoxious, as n murderer, to the laws Of
his country Simply, for no other rea-
son, than that some one, whose conscience
is blunted TO all the better feelings of hui
manity, might make TWO CENTS proft on
hoT pint of Rum' This is the truth
turn which ever way you plcase-rea-
son with it as you will--this is the con-
eIusion 10 which you must come at last.
Comfort, health, character, life, all sac
riiced for n sum less than man would
be ashamed to bestow upon the most
miserable beggar. All the rctfibutons
of eternity dared, that beastly passion
may be gratifed, and one mite more be
added to the wages of iniquity. Alter
all that has been said and written upon
this subject, can the person who still con.
thues in this unholy traffic hope to es-
cape from his full share of the moral re-
sponsibility attached to all the crimes to
which it gives BIRTH NEVER. 1t matters
not whether he sells one hogshcad or
twenty, a single gallon or only a gill-he
will be answerabe at the bar Of con-
science for his full proportion Of all the
thells, robberies and murders, and the
thousand other nameless vices that have
their rise in ardent spirits. Let the dea-
Ter Of whatever grade remember, how
ever large may be his gains, that they are
The price of Jiood-the blood Of helpless
and innocent children-the pur-
chase of immortal souls; that however
remote he may be from the scene of ac-
lion, he is partaker Of the guilt as fully
as if present, and that as long as he con-
linues his miserable trade, so long is he
responsible for the crimes which it be-
gets. One would suppose that the facts
which have already been made public,
were amply sufficient to induce every
man TO abandon all connexion with ar
dent spirits, and 10 ensure their entire
expulsion from the pale Of civilized So
ciety,-yet there are not wanting those
who challenge to themselves consdera-
ton and influence, on account Of their
wealth, station, talents and learning that
nre bitterly, we had almost said, malig-'
nantly, opposed to what is usually term
ed the temperance reformation. Lcgis-
|ators, judges, magistrates, protesting
and even ministers Of the gos-
pei have been found, throwing every OBJ
'tacle in the progress Of what is calcula-
ed more than any one thing else to me-
iornte the condition of the poor-and in
roducc plenty and comfort into the door
If the humbiest individual in the land -
While others are benevolently employed
n endeavoring to stay the desolating
lood of intcmperance, they are laboring
D hinder the work What others build !
p, they destroy-and not content with
,erely gratifying their own selfish lusts,
hey strive to deter the timid who would
therwise willingly be found on the 9TH
n side. And what is the consequence
the legitimate consequence Of this OPP
osition' Ask the murdered wife-the 4 :
rPhan childien-cnquirc at the State
at the gallows.
The following is the article above referred to.
A murder Of the most atrocious char
cter was committed at the village of
,recnville, in this town, on Friday eve.
ing last A man by the name of David
herman, well known for his Incorporate
abits and abuse Of his family, on The
'orning of that day sharpencd his axe,