Burlington hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa) 1845-185?, 1845-06-26

''a' 'au resled ON them. The prison
efs look their seats in the bar apparent.
~ as unmoved and as unconcerned as
!ney had been during the whole trial,
The most GREATNESS silence prevaile,
~ the audience, as the jury replied 10
me inquiry of the Court, that they had
agreed on their verdicl;it was handed
to the Clerk and read by him: "te.
The Jury. find UiHia,n Hodces and
Stephen Hodges GUILTY of JIur.
DER" The feelings of the large crowd
SO long kept IN painful suspense. and
Their anxiety kept a, such fearful
stretch. could no, now be restrained
and many of them Joined in clappiuo
and other signs of appreciation. order
however was soon restored by the
oferiii. The prisoners received The
verdict of the Jury as unmoved as ever:
hardly was muscle or feature seen to
move. The Court took recess un,il
three o'clock.
On re.assembling in the afternoon
the large room of The Methodist Church
was more crowded than ever. Every
dIsposable place was occupied. The
prisoners Looked a lille more concern
ed, but their emotion was hardly dis.
cernable. They were placed on the
right hand of the Judges seat. Judge
Mason IN a solemn and Impressive
voice. asked William Hodges il he had
any thing further to say why the sen!
'ence of the law should no, be pro-
nounced upon him.
lie replied: 81 have nothing more to
say except that | am innocent of the
charge; | have had the benefit of fair
trial by jury of my country-l have
been found guilty and am prepared to
subml! myself TO my fate" Stephen
Hodges, IN reply to the Court, spoke
to The same effect, both asserted their
entire innocence Of the charge.
Judge Mason in deep and visible
emotion. proceeded TO deliver the fol.
loving sentence:
SENTENCE OF THE COURT.
Inc trial on which your lives depended
mas now terminated, and to you that termi-
nation is fatal. After a full and far in.
Vest'gaton. tina. Jury to which YOU had en-.
trusted your fate, and which from the pri.
viieges extended to you, NAV almost he
SAID to have been of your own selection.
nave declared you guilty Of mnrder-a
murder too which IN point Of atrocitv, NAV
utmost De said TO be unpa ralleled in the an.
hais oil crime. With scarcely an apparent
Ihancement for the commission of the most
trixIul a l.
lhe greatest. You have not only witt sac
rIigIous hand invaded the sacred fountains
OF HE, but with an apparently delhi crate
purpose, nearly akin in malice to that of
the arch hend, you have entered the little
Eden OF love and contentment, with which
quiet and unotfending family were sur.
rounding themselves-cut off in the bloom
and maturity of manhood two Of their chief
supports; drenching their very hearth stones
with their HES blood, and brought desso.
latIon and unuiterabe woe into that house
winch but for you would have been the a
bode OF all the sacred charities and innocent
pleasures of domestic lifc
Nor are the consequences of vour crime
confined TO the immediate suf fcrers Thouuh
iessened III intensity, they have extended to
,he whoe community. feeling of appre
hepson and insecurity has been communi-
called to every cottage throughout the
county,. When a blamelessness of life
WHICH creates no enmties--a medlocritv of
condition which excites no envv-when an
almost entire absence of that motive which
addresses itself to the sordid love of gain,
cannot secure the slumberer from the as
saults OF the midnight assassin, well NAV
tho indweler OF every cabin fee. that anxi
ETY. and wide spread Consideration which
must 50 greatly augment the aggregate evils
OF human existence.
For all these evils, immediate and remote,
the law holds you responsible, and is now
about toapply all that there is Of remedy
within It's reach Blood for blood is its
stern demand and never was that sanpnina.
~ roquisition more righteous. Unable to
restore the dead. 1t accords thus much of
vengeance to the living Your lives too,
are regarded as incompatible wit h the safe
ty of society; and III the bloom of youth
ana health you by the hands o: your
fellow mortals, to be consigned to the gal
lows and 'the grave. An example also
seems to be allied for to deter Others from a
repetition OF like offences, and you about
to be exhibited as awful beacon to warn
all others from course like that which has
resulted in your ruin. May your dying
struggles, to which the eyes Of thousands
Will soon be directed, turn back into the
path OF rectitude all those who are in any
way disposed to pursue course like that
whose fatal termination you have SO nearly
reached.
You need not be reminded o; the awful |
condition IN which you arc now placed-of
the blackness of that gulf which is now
opening beneath your feet. Under the cir
cumstances OF the case you only ex-
pect that the utmost rigors OF the law will
be enforced against you. The picture Of
the distress produced by your crime is too
fresh IN the memory of the community to
permit the voice OF pity to effect any thing
IN your be- alf. and the horrd nature of
your offence pnts to silence those who are
consc'entlously opposed to the inhuman
punishment you about to suffer, and
makes them almost regard your case as
proper exception to the mider rule which
they would ia:n substitute for that now a.
bout 10 be enforced. Look therefore for
mercy only to Heaven. Expect pardon
from none but your God. In the silence
oil your prison, with speedy and cruel
death staring you in the face, repent of
your mlsdeeds and do all that still remains
in you to atone for them, and mercy and
pardon will not be sought from these sour.
ces in vain.
In the discharge of the solemn duty which
IS now imposed upon me, feel almost
overwhelmed with awe, as | become one
o! the instruments by which the lives Of
two human beings are about to be extin-
gu,shed-for life, how much soever it may
have been perverted from its original pur-
pose. is still all emanation from the Divini.
ty. But as the irresponsible organ of that