The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1842-08-07
u. =, Circuit Court .
Refnre Judge Belts.

proceed to the sentence of Demyer convicted of robbng
the mail in Greene county.
moved for a verdict against you Have you any thing to
say why judgment should not be pronounced
| DEMYER-How, sir
CoURr-The District Attorney has moved that judg-
ment should be pronounced against YOU Have you any
| thing to offer why such should not be done2
DENVER can only say, sir that am not guilty Of the
charge, and sill read the few remarks have to make
DENY er then read denial from which make
tract and which contains the substance of the whoe:
"You are passing such sentence upon me in which
can say fearlessly that am not guilty of the charge
II such be pronounced upon me, can only say that
would only call upon my God, and say him in your
presence that am not guilty" He hoped the one that
really committed the deed would come forward, sc. He
concluded by hoping that he might be forgiven by God
| "who knows the hearts of all men,"
The paper did not contain than round denial and
| exhibited little or nothing in extenuaon.
Judge Belts then addressed the prisoner follows:
CONSTITUTES as well as courts are bound 10 90 accord
ing TO the evidence that be presented before them
1t only from that they can Judge They cannot look
| into the hearts of men, to know the guilt innocence
that prevail here-and must be governed by test
monyoithe various witnesses that called They
y expected to arrive at conclusions after duly weighing
the various andofen times conflicting testimony that
presents From such sources not only conclusions
drawn in court OF justice but they govern all the ram
been put upon your trial charge of very high and
grave offence which the laws OF your country cons
der among those of the deepest and most serious magn
tude You were placed by that country in Office of
honor and high trust You interested in preserving
the character of that office pure and unsullie not only
from the confidence that had been exhibited towards you
from every idea Of social and moral duty not only
reflected honor and credit upon yourself but upon those
around and connected with you. and should have
most sacredly and inviolaby guarded The trainers OF
laws however knowing that the mere sentiment of
honor will not always control the various individuals en-
trusted with the extensive and manifold duties OF the pub
lie business have gone further, and said we will not only
guard the public interest against unfathful servants but
superadd in such yours disgracelu and truly
| painful punishment They say for violation of trust
such as has been confded to you, where ndi
vdua found guilty Of stealing the property entrus
ed to him, he ishall be subject to Imprisonment for
of not less than ten nor more than twentyone
On charge of this kind you have been arragned at this
bar Testimony has been gone into in relation to it. You
have presented de fence and been patiently heard by
court and jury who were strangers to you and being
your ThEe was no personal feeling or interest
the part the Jurors which could be aGected-no passion
or prejudice to promote or crafty They heard the tes
mony with much calmncss and dspassionate enquiry
as they could have done had you been born and
| brought up in a foreign country. They have carefully
the charges that have been brought YOU
and the various facts connected with the Upon these
being submitted to the jury their province
decide whether in their opinion you guilty Of having
taken S245 from letter in the Posofce which had been
committed your charge They have pronounced against
YOU and it is my painful duty to say fully satisfied
the business OF the verdict which they have rendered
cannot say what was your motive in taking the guilty
step which you did only know that the verdict must
be looked upon perfectly correct and fully borne
by the evidence regret being enabled to say this
because you stand before this court with circum
you which must necessarily enlist sympa-
thy first as regards your person. you being yet in the
vsour and strength Oh early lie you nave an interesting
looked up to and depended upon you for supportyou
presenting evidence Of hitherto good character In
early life you placed in station where could be
| fully and adv antageousy developed-you went into a
cerkwas advanced by good conduct the
situation of prime pal-and subsequently married into
highly respectable family This was brought out in the
testimony, and shown with view to placing your
character and conduct in the most favorable light0sll
has failed to divert from you conviction to that
guilty act for which you are about to incur the suffer-
ing and the penalty Of the law regret that this is the
Communications such these of great pain to
magistrate whose duy it is fully to present them The
punishment will not fall upon you alone but upon those
who and dcar you, and whose destiny is nvo
we'd with your own If were merely Benjamin Demeyer
who to sustain the suffering would be less affective
the court pronounce senenc for although should
regret that fellow in the prime of his life and hther
to- till this fatal step was engaged in acts OF industry and
usefulness should be withdrawn from society and be ex.
posed the rgor and hardship of the punishment that
awaits you, yet how much is 1t aggravated and enhanced
by the circumstances which surround case such
the world the disgrace and the shame will not be needed
by YOU but after you dead they will still live to your
Children and remain of Indebtedness and
regret upon them thus falling with double force upon
their heads. Considerations such as these have
been in the minds of legislators framing laws
They know that hazard of loss forfeiture of property
would not in itself deter man from the commission Of
crime when oentmes the bringing disgrace upon
their families and their friends would prevent them from
putting in force the base designs they may have formed
against the welfare of society and they have much relied
upon it safe guard. This however, judging from the
evidence presented has not been sufficient to prevent
committing the serious crime which had been laid your
charge. The act not only committed by you, but
was done the purpose gain, needless perhaps
garded the danger Of discovery and the punishment
| You knew that not only DetraylDg solemn
trust but committing henous offence against the
laws of your country These would be considerations in
the mind of the Court to sentence to the severes de-
gree of punishment you are liable as you are aware to
re sentenced for 81 years and Congress to have
thought there cases in which the whole penalty
should be inflicted In the present instance you have
taken money which fell into your hands in the
OF your trust, which did not belong to you,
and appears to be one Of the strongest cases that
its power fully related to the facts would be difficult
pronounce shorter period than the extreme termthe
ham IN tn1.
your worthy of recommendations as to miti-
CATION of penalty, whether on account Of your IA
mily what, the Court cannot say but they have
unanimously asked that your punishment may not
be placed to the full extent Of the law. The
hope that the guilty act on your part was that possibly
you may have committed it without premcdaiion-that
the money suddenly thrown into your way overcame
your probty for moment and you concealed it, but that
Il YOU had had time for reaection,if the stage
waiting and required the instant return of the mail your
better Judgment and your honest feelings might have
saved you from the guilty contamination Of the act In
such the court andury suppose that you would
not have yielded and that you acted rather through weak
ness than prcmedtaed guilt nduging the anxiety
Of being placed in immediate of cxricating your
self from your difficulties rather than preconcertcd de-
sign betray your trust is these grounds principally
that the jury must have been DESTROYS Of speaking in
behalf and the court will feel authorized in not awarding
the highest degree of punishment Still for all this
hold out 10 you the slightest ntimaton that there is
any doubt of your being guilty man. What are the
actual facts in relation to the case, what inducements
caused you to commit the act cannot say-you If
the Judgment is in conformity with the facts then the
punishment Will be but small rehecuon mind
compared with that of another. You have go prison.
to labour and TOLL and suffer but CO. too, with the
conviction that you have not only done this deed but
| you have also followed it by invoking your God to
| bear witness to that which you believe not to be
| true. The imprisonment into which you are about
| going must be of long duration. Although you
young now, the change in your situation will be
sudden and of such nature that you hardly be able
say you will survive its rgors II is thing that
comes of State prison after being sentenced to it
for ten years But it, fortunate you do surviye-if
you do out, and return to your amilystill you
come back to that family more as you once did, but as
one from the deadyour children will have grown into
| manhood and womanhood, their fate may have been
otherwise fxed-you have LEFT them by your conduct
alone and they have got to get without your aid in
lie These considerations of deep and affecting
portland, a father husband and son, must excite
the most lively feelings of and regret in your
bosom Your aged father who has attended you in court,
| has created much sympathy-he has been for several
ioi