The Democratic Whig. [volume] (Columbus, Miss.) 1842-1843, 1843-02-09
GENERAL JOSEPH DEsHA.

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nOunced the death ofihis Distinguishes
citizen ct his residence ia Georgetown
| Kentucky.
Il was the fortune ofthis man to b,
most injusIly abused while The Govern
or 81 Kentucky, aud the world in gen
eral has a very erroneous idea Of hi:
character. The crime Of his own sou
and the confessional BEAUcHAMP
the murderer ofCol, SHARP, gave oc.
easion to bis enem Is to vilify him
aud too credulous community drank
10 as truth, that which was conceived
in the bitierest malice end was as Ialst
as the Imagination Of man can con
ceive. Il was useless at that time to
attempt relutation; for the allegations
were put forth in a manner 70 render
explanation Intellectual, and confirmed,
in part at least, by the confession ofS
dying man, to which the mass ofman-
kind always ready TO give impliciI
faith.
The charges made we're, in sub
stance, that be had offered to pardon
the murderer, Beachamp, he would
6rst make and publish confession
iinpl;cpting the leaders Of the Old
Court Parry, who were the enemies oil
Desha, in the murder Of Col. Sharp
and thai he had taken improper means
to save the life OF his own son, the
the murderer Of Baker.
Having been at The time measurably
ia the confidence Of Gov. Desha, we
thought we understood the motives By
which he was actuaIed. ln the case
Of Beachamp, the reverse Of the char
gesis true. Beauchamp actually wrote
a confession duplicating The leaders Of
the Old Court Party, and virtually Of
fered it to Governor Desha as the
price Of his pardon, with an iuJimation
that in case Of refusal, a very different
confession would be left behind him.
The first conjcssion w0s offered TO rs for
publication; but we declined either 10
print or even read it, Ii was enough
FOR US, that as we are told, il implica-
ted individuals ia the murder Of Col.
Sharp, whom we believe to be as inca
pable Of the crime as were oursell.
Although We ghousht then, and do.
still, that the murder was occasioned
by the political controversy then rag
ing, il was Impossible lc believe tha,
such men as Johu j. Crittenden ana
others whom we understood to be i'm
plicaled by that paper had any thing
to do with it directly or indi-
rec II. To another printer Of the
New Court Party, the same paper, as
we understood, was offered for publ
cation and with a like result.
In tie meantime, application was
made TO Governor Deshl TO pardon
Bel u hamp. Never fora moment, as
we verify believe, did the Governor
entertain thought Of granting it. But,
having reason 10 believe from what
was passing, that Beauchamp was ca
pable of manufacturing any tale as a
dying confession to revenge himself
for a refusal, the Governor, in accor-
dance with the advice Of bis friends,
! postponed a positive answer TO the pc
tilion until the last moment. The muir
derer was executed ;Ihe confession Of
lered to aEoiheF given to the public as
utterly false in Ielatiou TO Governor
Desha, Col. Sharp, and other leaders Of
the New Court Party as the former was
in us for publication wassupprsssed.and
reference to the Old Court Party.
The report was, that the latter was'pub-
Iished under the advice and suprevis-
ion Of some Of the Old Court leaders
who knew It TO be false as we'll as the
man who fabricated it; bnt, unlike
their adversaries, were willing TO sIig-
Maize them with the false charges oil
a vengeful murderer.
In this matter Governor Desha was
made tn suffer, not because he offered
10 pardon the murderer on condition
that he would implicate bis personal
and political enemies in the murder,
but becaRss he refused 10 him aUheR ask
ed, on that gerry condition
In The case OF his son, the conduct
| Of Governor Desha, when properly un-
derstood ,wasequally blameless. The
change Of venue from one county 10
another, out Of which monstrous char
ges we're al the same time manufaclur-
ed was a matter Of course, always hav-
ing been granted in Kentucky when.
/ ever asked for. There was circumslan-
ces nlhis case favorable to the prison
err, which justified a J5lthsr 10 beliey-
inc him innocence. Nevertheless, be
was found guilty by jury in the coun-
~ TO which The trial had been transfer
red. On proof Of gross misconduct
on the part Of some Of the jurors, the
| Court granted a new trial. 4 second
trial was had, and he was again found
guilty. Again, on grounds which we
| do not remember, the Court granted a
=, ,-;,I IN Governor Desha's re-