New-York daily tribune., 1844-02-08
THE TRIBUNE.
Amelia Norman.


lard It is necessarily long, and most Of the facts
already familiar to our readers, but we must
make room for the following extracts
-. "Thank God, human sympathles are
warm and active even amid the malaria OF GU
les. The Young friend to whom / dedicated my
volume of New. York Letters, whose kindness OF
heart is only eouallsd by his energy of purpose,
Gained the ear of the Judges, and earnestly en-.
tHreated for postponement He took upon himself
tho expenses of the trial, trusting Providence for
aid. A noble-souled, warm-hearted stranger, a
Mr.. Kearney, formerly of Boston, though man
of limited means, offered fifty dollars, and went
with him to procure the services OF DaVlo e.io-
ham. ESQ. one of the ablest lawyers In our GRIM
inal courts. The sum was of course much small
er than his usual fee, but he was influenced oy
hicber motives than pecunlary recompense'-
When ne entered upon the case, he was surprised
at the amount of respectable testimony In favor
of the girls character, previous to her acqualnt-
ance with Ballard. His heart was touched by
the story of her wrongs, confirmed as 1t was py
multitude of witnesses. On the second day OF
trial, he wrote me noble letter, returning the
money, for the prisoners benefit, declaring that
this trial involved considerations higher and holl-
er than the relation of lawyer and client. The
blessing of God be with him During four weary
davs, he exerted himself with watchful vigilance
and untiring zeal. His appeal in behalf of out
ragged womanhood was noble burst of heartfelt
eloouence, which shall for ever remember with
gratitude and admiration
I" Mr. Sandford's Biblical arguments evinced
much less acuteness. than his legal distinctions.
While portraying the horrors ofmurder, he urged
the usual plea, that the Divine adherence Of it
was evinced by the requlsltion of blood Tor
blood and he sustained this position by the mark
which God set upon Cain. He apparently forgot
that the mark was set upon Cain In order that
men should not slay him. Unfortunately tor the
advocates of capital punishment, this is the only
case on record where the direct agency Of God
was interposed in case of murder.
"Mr. Sandford likewise found the first seducer
in the Bible, in the person of our mother Eve,
and said the serpent had been busy with the sex
ever since. He drew lively picture of poor IN
nocent men tempted, betrayed and prosecuted by
women. This was putting the saddle on the
wrong horse, with vengeance! And he himself
afterward implied as much for he reminded the
Jury that there were twelve thousand prostitutes
in New York, supported by money that came
from our citizens; and added, that all these
prostitutes had tie same ecrongs TO revenge on
sonebody He asked the jury whether 1t would
be worse to have the virtue OF their daughters
ruined, or their young and generous sons brought
home stabbed by the hands of prostitutes IL
this precedent were established, he feared that
strangers visiting New York would stumble over
the dead bodies Of citizens, at the very thresholds
of their own doors.
"Ihad no doubt that if all deeply injured women
were to undertake to redress their wrengs IN thus
bad way, there would be huge pile of dead cltl-
zens RI even thought it not impossible that some
of the honorable court themselves might be among
the missmgl was aware that ribs all around
the room felt unsafe in view of the picture the
pleader had drawn. 1t unquestionaby was an ar
gument that came home to mems business anc
bosoms Yet felt no very active pity for theil
terrors. 1 Indignantly asked what had been done
to the twelve thousand men, who made those poor
creatures prostitutes | remembered that stran-
gers visiting our city continually stumbled upon
something worse than dead bodies, viz: degraded,
rnjusd souls, in the forms Of those twelve thou
sand prostitutes; :rt asked, Wh" Id
or9er L. t9F tsem Mr.. Sardford declared that
women could take care Of themselves as well as
men. Perhaps SO; but his twelve thousand facts
show that men do not take care Of themselves );
and he urged that generous youth" were contin-
uay led astray by this band of prostitutes, though
of course the temptation must be merely animal,
unmingled with the seductive influence of the af-
fections, which often leads woman to ruin,
through the agency of her best impulses.
" lie said that betrayed women had redress at
the civil law. | never hear that assertion without
burning Indignation. What is the redress for
broken heart, blghted reputation, the desertion of
friends, the loss of respectable employment the
scorn and Kissing Of the world? Why, the wo-
man must acknowledge herself the seruant of
somebody, who may claim ,pdges for her lost time
With Indignation and scon, appeal to common
sense and common Justice, against this misera-
BILE legal fcton-this impudent assumption that
l am chattel personal. 1t is standing insult tc
womankind and had we not become the slaves
we are deemed in law, we should rise en- maSse
in the majesty of moral power, and sweep that
contemplate insult from the statute book.
"Let me not be understood as hoping much from
penalties. They will be cheering to me only as
indications of public opinion in the process of
regeneration. By attraction, and not by repul-
sion, must better state of things be induced. In
the mean time, protest against considering wo-
man a chatte, or a play thing; and ask men to
consider well how ieariuly this assumption is
avenged IN their own domestic life, by having mo-
theirs, wives, and daughters, who are chattels and
paythngs. Here, and not elsewhere, lies the
secret of Mr.. Sandford's twelve thousand dangers.
He asks, "What if they were all armed, and
abroad to redress their wrongs2" Alas they are
armed; and the terrible wreck they make among
human souls, is more painful to the rejecting
mind, than piles Of dead bodies Verify, they
haoe their revenge, though claw and order" take
no cognizance of the fact.
During the two first days Of the trial, Ballard
was brought into Court, by subpoena from the
prisoners counsel, and they took mischievous
satisfaction in calling him forward when the
Court opened. But forward he would not come
He hid behind stove-pipes and skulked in corners
This was, perhaps, prudent measure; for the
Al