Litchfield enquirer., 1842-11-24
From dIc ". r. Tribune. JOHN c. COLT.

JOHN c. COLT.
 The closing scene in the career of this WVctched man occurred yesterday. All the desperate efforts of his counsel and friends to obtain new trial, reprieve. or mittl- gation of his sentence. having utterly tailed and his last hope of avoiding an immediate and shameful death being 01 aD end, he was married yesteEday at noon Co hts mistress the mother of his child. At SO'clock r: m.
 his brother and hts wife took leave of hlm
 forever, and, at his earnest solicitation, ne
 was allowed to pass his last hour alone. Al 2 ouarter before {, when the Sheriff went to his cell to prepare hira for execution, ne was found dead! having driven knife to his nearl! The, lite and death of this hHpless 0einS
 must aff;'fd solemn warming 10 the xoutn of our City and Land. Few of them are en- ! tering upon life with fiirer prospects. wi'h pober opportunities, than were those of John l c. Colt. Of a respected and influential fa' m!y, possessing good talents and winning address, enjoying and proiiting by liberal oppor,untieS for mental culture, he might fairly have looked forward 10 life Of use lulness, honor and happiness, closing at ripe maturity in q death. bed soothed oy me a'" tentiOns of loving and sOrrowful hearts. - ! This nigM have been, but tor the canKer m the heart-the seItishness, and pride, and
 recklessuess, which entered deeply into his character-a disposition 10 measure every
 thing by the standard of personal interest or qualification. On this rock has ne been
 wrecked and now, after a career neither
 exemplary nor happy, we see h'n', at the
 early age of thirty, following in 'gnomlny and blood to the grave one victim ot ms fierce. ungoverned passions, and leaving be- hind him another, far more to be pitled, to tesolate widowhood of anguish and shame.
 His orphan child, too-an infant of few
 months-to what a heritage of undescrved dishonor does it succeed while most re-
 spected and worthy circle of relatives are plunged in destresS and dooned to endure
 the hauntings of painful, humbling remem.
 brance! Aud all this ruin is the work of one perverse spirit-of- one who might have
 been a blessing and an honor to them all. Human justice has been robbed of its ap-
 propriate sacrifice, yet to divine requirement
 the satisfaction is complete. The blood of
 the victim no longer cries from the ground
 for retribution. Let the grave. then, cover
 his errors. save as they may be rendered
 heacons to the pathway of Life.
 We will hope that this tragedy, viewed in all it's proportions, has cone much to hasten the Abolition of the Punishment of Dea th.-
 We have refused to take any part in the ef- forts made to obtain a mitigation of Colts
 punishment for we felt that if there ever
 was case in which the public safety re-
 Quired bloody eXpiation of crime this was such one. We do not believe that Colt
 premeditated the death of Adams we be-
 lieve he was killed in a frenzy of passion,
 with no intent of robbery or concealment.-
 But we believe Colt was endeavoring to send away the books, which Adams had printed for him, clandestinely, and in viola ton of his engagement that they should re- main under the control of Adams until paid for. But Colt was proud and necessitous, and he thought only of raising money for his imminent wants. Adams went to his room to reprOach him with his bad faith, struck him, and then Adams clenching him to avoid further beating, Colt seazed the hatchet, which lay at hand and dealt blow after blow upon his victims skull, any one of which must have occasion death. The circumstances render the case one of murder, and the subsequent conduct of Colt - his night of horrid effort-his packing and ship. ping of the corpse-his taking away the watch of Adams to his lodgini,s-hls rigid concealment of the whole tragedy, even from his brother and his mistress-his reck. less bearing on the trial, on receiving his sentence. and generally since his arrest--all stamp the deed with the character of felo- nious taking of life, and bespeak mind cal lOus to the consequences of such a crime.- If this case were to be treated as one of something else than murder, we do not sec how murder could ever after be proved ex- cept in the bare case of human witnesses ob- serving it's perpetraton. "Wc Quarreled and Killed him." would be the murderers uniform plea and how should we resist it ! It seems just rule to consider the act of killing human being murder where the homicide himself, in his attempts to avoid detection, clearly puts that construction up on it.
 But wha: has been the influence of the Punishment of Death in this easel What moral effects have been produced by its ex- istence! Have we not seen the community equally, indeed, but still divi. dcd-with regard to the justice of the sen. tence! And will not all admit that on those who believe a punishment unjust in its infiic- ton on a criminal will exert an influence most pernicioIs-an influence adverse to re. vercnce for and attachment to the laws !- Will not refiecting men feel that the excite ment and the concussion of the last five days, as to whether Colt would or would not, should or should not, be hung. has been pre- judicial to that fila! regard for the laws and their administration which all ought to feel |? If the punishment of murder had been soli- tary confinement for life without chance of pardon, would not the acquiescence of the community have been hearty and universal, and the moral influence far more salutary than now! And here at last we see the gal lows cheated of its prey, and the cuiprit hur- ried cut of existence by his own deadly hand. in manner which may we'll throw doubt on the sincerity of his professions of