Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1847-09-24

0OItbl lNGh hhu ONAA hh4 NV hoNS hCNNl !
known anything OF the inside of a Jail, OF 9th
err place of d~urance, except through Mrs. Fry
and Caleb Williams.
In this horrible condition passed the night,
deprived of my purse Of dollars and other mo-
ney, and with no other prospect before me
than being treated as a criminal yet | some
times ventured to hope that | should be ena-
bled 10 explain the true state of the case, and
exculpate myself before a reasonable and in.
telligent magistrate.
The morning dawned upon me through the
CRATES of the cage, and my solitude was bro
ken by the arrival of the constable, the inqui-
sitive looking old man and my Samaritan
friend. | was led out amidst an infuriated
crowd, who were by no means sparing in
their execrations, and was conducted after
much peril, into the presence Of the justice.
As my supposed crime was of a glaring
and prominent nature, it was allowed to COM
mence the business of the day. My accuser
was placed before me, and in a blunt, straight
forward manner, told his story-how he found
the stranger with a fractured skull, living
dead and covered with brains and blood
how he went for assistance, and on his re-
turn, found the clothes scattered about and
the body removed. My own dollars, and my
own blood on my own face, was given in ev-
idence against me; the story was made COM
plete in all its parts, and the investigation
ended in my committal to the county Jail to
take nv trial al the next a~ssizes, for the will
full murder of a person unknown, and the con-
stable and his companions were ordered to
make diligent search for the body. Shortly
after nv commitment, as if all circumstances
censpired against me, the people after an ac-
tive search, succeeded in discovering the bo-
DIV of a strange person, almost in nudity, in
a canal, which ran along the back of the town,
upon which the coroner set in due form and
thus, to the satisfaction of my prosecutors, a
chain of evidence was made out sufficiently
strong to put me on my trial.
Letthose good people whopreach so strong
ly in favor Of the comfortable feelings arising
from conscious innocence, and build so much
on inward fortitude, and who join in the de-
~claration of the peot, that "whatever is, is
risht"-let them place themselves for a mo-
ment in my situation-let them feel the hor-
rors of a man, charged with his own murder,
T and unable 10 convince his judges that he is
actually in existence. How obtuse are the
in~tellects Of many worthy people, who, in
, the eager pursuit of truth, hug to their hearts
any antic who may chance to assume the
garb of that rarely discovered parsonage.
Already | lancied, in my gloomy reflections,
tllub 4 NIX JuiJ NSiui III W u Bu''JS
, and in my dreams | saw the Judge put on the
) fatal black cap, and begin to pass on me the
awful sentence of the law. Then ] fancied
> heard my last dying speech and confession
chaunted about the streets to be sold for a
half penny, and posted on cottage walls, and
children taught reading and the necessity OF
virtue from the same paper. Then the hOr-
rors of an ignominious death-the halter, the
, gallows, the populace, the murmur of indig-
= nation, shouts Of "monster, murderer" &c,
all echoing around me in my Imagination
3 These were truly enough to drive me from
S my senses, and 10 render me incapable of sup
porting myself till the hour of trial.
: From my childhood | had always accus-
5 toned myself to look on the gloomy side OF
things, and in this, my hour of distress, my
b~rooding disposition was buster than ever.
| sometimes began to question whether this
was not part of my punishment for the sins
committed in my Lifetime.
At length the a~ssizes commenced, and in
due course | was placed before the Court to
take my trial. Never shall | forget that mo-
ment. | was reused by it. My own con-
viction of my personal identity was complete;
but would it avail ne any thingl The story
on which | had to depend was nothing in the
face of the evidence to be adduced. Was
such an improbable story to be believed =
Should | be allowed to sit up myself as TIT
murdered man, when the witness saw hin
! living dead, and the body was found in tn
4 canal? 1t was contrary to common sense
n and would, of course, be looked upon as tn
desperate attempt of a hardened villain 10 BAT
o fe the ends of justice. | had no friends t
speak of my character or condition. wa
alone riendless, and the public clamor lou
10 against me. My own dollars were more elo
I'd quent than the prosecuting counsel.
b. My trial proceeded. Oh! how the speec
nd went to my heart! The audience shuddere
- as they heard the glaring facts; and oh! whs
nd looks of horror and reproach were cast at me
lis prejudice, with her myriad ears, were gapin
de on, and gulping down the plausible story
ia The witnesses gave their evidence with clea
ge ness and precision. The landlord of the Ii
he tie public house, where ! first stopped, wa
en- called 10 prove having seen dollars in the po
nd session of the murdered man when at h
re. house. During all the previous proceeding!
a this man had never before looked at me fat
in to face; but when he was confronted vii
ce, me he gave an involuntary start, and SCENE
The unable to utter a syllable. He fixed his eyl
.ng i~ntently on me, and pointed TO his cheek, al
ce, stammered out, He is not guilty he is n
md guilty !" Hearing this exclamation, and Sc
ere ing him point to his cheek, | remembered
the had a large scar on my own, from a sab
wound | received years before; and whit
d the witness had regained his composure,
proceeded TO identify me as the man wi
Of came to his house in a sailors dress, with
ave purse of dollars, on the evening of the su
posed murder, and asserted that | could
on none other than the supposed victim of bruI
ere violence. But the body found in the car
i've had it a scar like mine on The cheek! !
With the witness who had found it, remember
dis it had not. Hope dawned on me warm
the enough. was called on for my defence, a
the told my tale simply and composedly, and T
/, as heart beat calmly.
STA The Judge summed up the evidence to I
ing jury, and directed as usual, that if there "
und any doubt the prisoner should be entitled
and it. The jury obeyed the direction of
pc Judge, and their verdict of "Not GUILTY