The Hillsborough recorder. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1820-1879, 1842-05-19
Fsa~ he Sa.iosal Ia,siIises.es


hya Lawye. of Norlh Carolina. /" whieh
i cnalilshle 10 the taste and learning q
tl,e sulhor. Bot on page 25l of The work,
l observe lie following note on certain
pasSagr in The essay BY The editor
:. Psi.s Gsrls Il ARE. Ua.ess recently amend
"a thss dseadful idenseat y 20 thls day re-
!, r,cd b. me lass 81 Norih caFolina. For. if
- mislsle GOT, thr Isrrtble sentenae Of psine
6srss 4 are sss inn,eie.i By one q her Coats
81, aIew vesrssga. Whea the pnsonsf Was
,.rrs,sned fsr trial ne stood mute. and refused
y dead s.lLer gailsy o. not ghilIy. Where
SEQ nc was i.ia % his back up,sn the bare
4 III the esag hsa.e. great sflghis ~
.n.t. aud greater, lhan nc could besF--wese
Jared bpaa his BODY. aad 10 this condiiion he
was frd with ditch water from Q spoon lil hs
Si,k We ehalleaee the uaisersal iarisrru.
deare a. aadera Ch,isleadom 20 cot llerod
this Ne call npan or correspondent, and
ererf allser iriead 90 hamaniiy. 10 use CD. II
"A .eaes - crasiRg from the Z. aIuie book Of
he goad Oh Nanh state this disgrarcfai and
baFlsroas prnaare."
Eliisr Ssmssra Literary sLnsngu.
That an editor II the Capital Of Virgil
MA, distant mol more than ten or twelve
hours travel from ihai &c North Carolina.
and with copy of the Statutes Of the lat-
Ger Safe Al least as near 10 him as the Ex-
eeuli.e o:lise IN Richmond. should have
yenluFrd upon a statement 50 uncalled for,
and 50 un!oundeJ. in publication aspir
ing 10 highes character for candor than
he ordinary newspaper press--a state
aent. than which Nall, Trollopc. Marry
4, Il IL omge genus, have put forth no
alumny on our country so ridiculously
.xtrayagant. is certainly a matter 10 be
.rgreifd BY al tIic lovers Of that liiera-
inre 10 which the Messenger Processes to
be leroled. Had the editor deigned 10
consult the first volume Of the Revised
Statutes Of North Carolina. which reduces
into but little more than 600 pages the
whole body Of her public statute law
whichis now in fnrce, from Magma Thar
IA Of Great Britain until the year 1897,
lie might Al least have spared his appeal
10 the " friends Of humanity 10 use their
influence in erasing barbarous provision
from her sialnie-book. lie will there
neither find the peine forte a dure Of
three centuries ago, nor any thing which
even a barbarian could mistake for il.
But, on the contrary, an express provi-
sion, that I" il any person arraigned shall
stand mute, Of malice, or will NOT answer
directly 70 the Indictment, in every such
case Il shall and may be lawful for the
couri 10 order the proper officer TO enter
plea af NOT gully on behalf Of such per-
son; and The plea so entered shall have
the same force and effect as il such per-
son had actually pleaded the same"
The readers of the Messenger who may
chance 10 read this will Judge whether the
code Of North Carolina is wanting in hui
mainly, or the editor Of the Messenger in
accuracy o(inlormaiion on subject which
he volunteers 10 illustrate. This pToyi-
sion, il is true. was inserted in the Revi-
sal Of 1896 for the first time. But il was
not then inserted because the old doctrine
Of peine forte 81 dure had ever prevailed
IN the state. All such statutes and parts
Of the common law Of Great Britain as
had been heretofore III force and use in
the colony, and as were not inconsistent
with the new form Of government, were
adopted By act nf the General Assembly
in l777. But there is no history or ira
ditiOn Of the existence OF this barbarism,
I" in force or usc," at any time in the co.
lony, and it is manifesily inconsistent
with certain declarations in the Dill Of
Nights, which forms part Of the Cons,i-
tuition, adopted in 1916. II therefore ne
yer had fuo,hold in her criminal law.
And with an acquaintance somewhat IA
miliar with the Reports Of cases decided
in her Courts. which reach back nearly
to the period of The Revolution, and with
personal acquaintance with, ] believe,
every professional man in the Stale now
living who has been at the bar for as much
as five years, | have never read or heard
ofany incidentin the proceedings Of those
Courts which could furnish even sug-
gesiion for the tale of atrocity which is
told with so much minuleness, aud dwell
on with such holy horror by the editor OF
the Messenger. as having been realized
"in one Of the Courts of North Carolina
only few years ago;" tale which, ii
true, would degrade North Carolina
Judge below the level of Scraggs or a
JcIfries, exhibit her unsurpassed system
of enlightened jurisprudence as no better
than that of our English ancestors in the
worst times Of feudal despoiism, and her
free and gallant people as no, only pa
ten, spectators, but the ready and Will
ling instruments Of most cruel and sa'
wage mur;ler.
81 sheer aud baseless fabrication i:
hardly 10 be found in the adventures o.
Mnnchalsen. Yet the story is told with
aprecision Of description which might al
most Indicate personal attestation, ant
more in sorrow than in anger. The nn
lucky culpril having been arraigned
stool mute; whereapo, he was laid OF
his back upon the bare floor, great weight:
--as great, aal greater, Than he could bea
we're placed upon his body, and in thu
con lition he vas fel with liich-water ffon