Litchfield enquirer., 1833-06-13

never encouraged his attentions, and that he only
 shared in common with Othsrs the aaabiy and kind-
 ness which characterized her in all the relations oi life. This may we'll be subject of doubt It may be doubted whether in the ex0atiOn of conscious pow
 CT she did not rihe with the naughty and passionate eprit she had captiyated; and encourage the wild,
 frenzied, but faithful affection which she we'll knew
 he cherished for Der. 90. the playful folly PrOveda
 fatai OneA-4he moving cause of tragedy most deeP' The character oi Coueh, as depicted to me by his
 friends and associates, was moral, gentle and affection.
 ate; but reserved, naughty, prone to jealousy and 1 ''when roused perplexed in the extreme. Upon
 former occasion, n which he had exhibited this last
 dangerous trait, aged friend solemnly rebuked hm'
 concluding with these words. Mark me, Clough,
 this jeaIOasy and passion, if not subdued will bring you to early and infamous deaih. HIS wof0s l { fear about to be fearIuly realized.
 short time before the cOmmtsSlon oi the tatai act
 for which he is arrsgned, the malicious taiie or
 the village informed him, that Mrs Hamilton was en-
 gagged another. His worst suspicons were reas'z- ed. The torture of spirit which, duTng the whoe
 ofhs passion, he had constantly betrayed was heightened into intense aWd frenZed agony. Reason
 swept away before the storm. The passion wnich | had SO completely engrossed his nature was disap- pointed, bafied shamed, his pride mOr6edi his ei.
 ovation afmanner and loftness of prctension exposed
 to rdicue, and himself subjected to Ihe sneerng ?ny
 and open and bitter ribadry of his rivals and enemies
 The spirit of revenge started up in his bosom and ne
 became, he has since confessed, the Passlve and
 reckless instrument of this new passion. It dd not'
 toid exhibit itself in wldness of demeanor, or
 violence of outward passion. He was calm and des.
 perate; and determined bury himsel the cause and
 renembrance Of his passion and modification Tn one
 It will to remembered that he boarded in the same l honse with Mes. Hamilton. He feigned illness, and Mrs. Fl, being sent into the room he seized her. He
 held her in one arm while with the other he brandls
 ed her husban dirk the fatal pledge ofa fatal afec. ton. The weapon fell once-again--and a third time, hnd at each blow pierced through the heart.-
 Hee cries brought several men into the room, but the 1 suddenness and horror of the scene appalled, them,
 and their eternal disgrace they ged It has been
 said that when seen, the dirk was in his victims bo-
 som, aR he moving t about in the wound for the purpose of making it deeper and wider. This howev.
 er is denied and i. is alleged that the weapon had
 struck upon brcast-pn and that he was dlseDgagng
 it. He inflicted iD all eleven wounds. Mrs. II. shriek- 1 ing, struggling and covered with biood escaped with
 strength altogether unaccountabe, and fled from the
 room, but shortly afterwards expired. Hue murderer made no attempt to escape. Pale, haggard and ap- paled, he regarded the scene with stupid hcrror.- The arm which had been bold against innocent and lovely woman, was paralyzed when the seets point vas directed against his own bosom, It was said that he took audanum, a womans or coward's weapon. An emeiic was administered, bat the prob- ability is that the consciousness that he was murder er-the blood stained and guilty destroyer 0i the wo- man he Ioved-siunned every faculty, and he forgot even his own existence.
 At three o'clock the court was again opened. The
 indictment containing several counts wa: read oy the Attorney General. The examining ofwitnesses upon the part of the government then commenced The known and undispuled facts of the murder were de- tailed by several witnesses with great precision. The examination progressed with rapidty, and was sten- ed to by the crowded assemblage with hushed inter- est, The court having expressed desire that the re- port should be pnbIished forbear at present gv-
 ing it more in detail The conduct ol the prisoner on the gfeund; his head supported by hts arm' and his poaare was seldom changed. Once ortwice dur ing the course of the examination, when the horrible incidents of the murder were graphically depicted by the witnesses, the "hcctic of moment" would nge his chee bat would instantly be succeeded by his acc cuatoned paleRess. The oaiy plea that can he urged in his defence is iasasity. It would perhaps be improper 10 discuss the soundness Of this justification; suffice 1t to say that his conviction is generally, but with regret anti cipated. There few who would not condemn, and none who will not pity him.
 Within short time past, there have been l tMa persons tried and convicted ofmuEder in The state OT CUnuecvIcut one tried for the same offence in Rhode Island, the trial of which occupied the court more than three weeks, and ended in an acquttal of the per- son indicted there is a trial now in progress, or perhaps just closed, in New-Jersey; and there is another individual in the last men, tioned state, waiting for trial, charged with the murder of no less than three of his fellow beings. Three of these cases were strongly marked, and of very atrocioas character.- Nor was the fourth less 80, if in fact it was ac- tuaily case of murder. On what ground the jury found their verdict of not guilty, in the ease of Avery, we have not heard. It certainly might have been for the want of sat- isfactory evidence that murder had been committed. The evidence, as far as we have seen it, was not clear, nor free from req sOnable doubt; and without such proof Of this first, and indispensable requisite in the inves- tigation, an acquittal must necessarily follow. The jury might also have considered the evi. dence not sufficient to warrant conviction, that, if a murder had in fact been con- mitted, the person on trial was guilty of 1t. We can easily conceive of the interven- tion ofdOubts in the minds ofmen, who were called upon to try aud determine case of life and death, where the evidence asall circum- stantial. and where the party accused enjoyed the benefit of good character previously to the offence with which he was charged.
 The instances of crime, and trial. apd con- victiOn, exhibit a lamentable degree of degen- eracy in our country. We are prone to adopt the idea, that the multiplication of crimes a. mongst us, Is to be ascribed to the introduce tion Of foreigners of desperate characters into the United States. All the persons charged with the murders above mentioned, except the case at Morristown, New-Jersey, if we are not mistaken, were Americans. The man on trial at Mount Holly. and those convicted for the murder at the state prison at Wethers-