The Davenport gazette. [volume] (Davenport, Scott Co., Iowa) 1841-185?, 1849-02-08
For Nie Gaseste]
TRIAL OF Tue SUPPOSED lSCExpllaIEs.n

SSs00 Va A0A ssOS00 bNOGJWl0 IGNs
Mr.. SASDERs:-On reading the article
in the Gazette Of the 25,h ult., ss.rom Hol.
denis Magazine headed, Trial Of the sun.
posed lnccndiares," perceived the writer
Of that article was unacquainted with q
portion Of the facts he Processes to relate:
especially those in relation 10 the person
he is pleased 10 style Judge Paere. The
name aud many other statements in the
article are pure fc,ions. Had the writer
suppressed the real name only out Il con.
sideration Of family and friends, lie would
be cycusab!e; but when he loads him down
with titles and distinctions he never eniov-
cd; and also locates the commission Of sui.
eide some four or five hundred miles from
whore ]. actually occurred, j, nav no, be
thought inviduous in me % state some Of
the facts in relation TO the matter derived
from authentic sources on the spot.
To begin then. would first premise, that
the individual who defrauded the govern
ment and committed suicide was never a
member Of Congress nor Judge of the U.
S. Supreme Court. Robert Temple (the
person who figures in the article above al
lulcd to as Judge racre) when l first knew
him, in the year 1907 or q, was young
man officiating as Clerk OF the County
Court in Rutland, Vermont, and cotempo-
rary with Rolin c. Mallory a young man
Of promising eIoquence at the bar. Nal.
'ory was elected, think, in 1918 or 'l0a
member Of Congress and took prominent
part against the admission Of Missouri a !
Slave State; remained member until his
death, which happened some time during
the administration Of the Younger Adams.
Temples fa,hcr-in-law, General Clark,
Commonly called 'Old Riile') was Chief
Judge Of the County Court AT the time I
first knew the former. Temple at this
time resided either in Castleton or Fair
Haven in the same county. Some yenrs
after he purchased nm estate in Rutland
and removed to that village.
After the pension law was passed Tenn
pie became an agent for the pensioners
and rs their ngcnt committed frauds on tho
United States Treasury to the amount Of
some forty thousand dollars. II WINS effect
cd in this manncr;-on the death Of a pen
s,oner he continued drawing the pension,
keeping tho department in ignorance Of his
deccase, aud mas, likely would MT have
been detected had not Congress passed
law that the names oi ai deceased pension
crs should be published with the date Of
their lecense. While this law was in s2i-
tsiion Temple set about contriviny mcans
tod s,roy tho evidences Of his guilt ia the
Treasury Office, and for that purpose re-
paired 10 Washington 10 consummate HE
purpose. II il generally believed tina. he
fixed TN one Of the Clerks in the Office % q
Il, instrument to eiiec. his object and CON-
menced ,ampering with him. The Clerk
either from n desire To aid or en.rnp him.
listened 10 his plans; what these plans &C.
,unlly were can only infer from the cur
rent rep' ris at tho time. !, appears how
ever certain that Temple set ou, on his re-
turn home, nnd ut Pbiladelphia o, New
York wrote back to the Clerk enclosing
$50. On the receipt Of the letter and
its contents tho whole matter was laid be-
fore the proper authorities and an order
was dispatched TO the District Attorney at
Rutland 10 arrcs, Temple. In the mean
time Temple had arrived at home, and with
mind i'll ut ease repaired to the post Office
in the morning where he saw the letter to
the District Attorney, told tho Postmaster
he would take il and on his way home hand
it to the Attorney. Instead OF doing this
he took il to his own house, examined ito
contents, took down his double barrel gun,
passed out TO his barn, stopped aud con-
versed few minutes with some men st
work in his yard, then passed round to the
back Of the barn where soon was heard the
report ola gun. Tho men on going round
found him wel,crng in his blood. So you
sec it was ai his own barn in Rutland, w.,
whero the suicide was committed, vice
''Gadsby HOTEL" City Of Washington.
Il is believed in nd that one Of tho
Whites was there for some time with Ten
pie previous TO burning tho Treasury and