The examiner. [volume] (Louisville, Ky.) 1847-1849, 1849-06-02
~ IN, :bs F,sw Is wss asl i SAT-

nsst.'
'Wss not the cIasp.knife that had oeen
found always left in the kitchen ior cui'hS'
ry purposes -, |,
'No--not always; generally-Dut no'
this time that Armstrong went away, she
was sure.'
MARY Strugnell, you be ialse'swofn
woman before God and man. interrupted
the male prisoner. with great violence Oh
manner.
The outbreak Of the prisoner was check
ed and rebuked by the Judge. and the cross,
examination soon afterwards closed. Had
the counsel been allowed to follow up his
advantage by an address to the jury, he
would, doubt lot, spite OF their preludces
against the prisoners, have obtained an ac-
lquittal; but as il was, after a neutral sort oil
charge from the Judge, by no means the
ablest that then adorned The bench, the Ju-
rors, having deliberated for something more
than half an hour, returned into court with
a verdict OF guilty against both prisoners,
, accompanying it, however, with strong
recommendation to mercy
Mercy said The Judge. 'What lori on
! what sround!'
The Jurors stared at each other and al
, the Judge: they had no reason 10 give! The
4 fact was, their conviction Of the prisoners
D guilt had been very much shaken by the
Q cross eAaminaton of the chief witness loI
e the prosecution, and this recommendation
= was compromise which conscience made
|. with doubt. | have known many such IN
d stances.
H The usual ridiculous formality Of asking
the wretched conyicts what they had to urge
e why sentence should not be passed upon
d them was gone through; the Judge, with un.
d moved feelings, put on the fatal cap; and
II then new and startling light burst upon
d the mysterious, bewildering affair.
D, Stop, my lordp exclaimed Armstrong
Q. with rough vehemence. Hear me speak
?. III tell ye all about il; will Indeed, my
a lord. Quiet, Martha. tell ye. It's my
/, lord, that's guilty, not the woman. GoC
" bless We, my lord, not the wife, Doan
k hurt the wife, and Use tell ye all about it
n. alone am guilty; not, the Lord be praised
a Of murder, but of robbery!
ne 'Johnl-Johnl' sobbed the wife, cling
pa ing passionately 10 her husband, let US dit
ps together!
ld Quiet, Martha, tell ye! Yes, my lord,
ed Use tell ye all about ii. was gone away,
a. wife and |, for more nor week, to receive
il. money for Mr.. Wilson. on account oil
he Struggled goods-that money, my lon, as
n was found in the chest. When We came
ed home on that dreadful Sunday night my
at lord, We went in back way; and heating q
IT. noise. went up stairs, and found poor
IS. Wilson stone-dead on the floor. | were
he dreadful skeared, and let drop tie candle,
II, called to wife, and told her Of IL. She
screamed out, and amaist tainted away
he And then, my lord, all at oncath devil
IN. shot it into my head, to keep me money
he had brought and knowing as the keys o.
ed the desk where the moTtgsge writing wa:
IL, kept. was in the bedroom, crept back, a,
rs that lalse-hearted woman sad, got the keys
ny and took the deed; and then | persuaded
III. wife, who had been trembling in the kitch
ew EN- all the while, that we had better 60 on
ng quiet again, as there was nobody in tn
zee house but us: / had tried that woman
on door--and We might perhaps be taken 70
he the murderers. And so We did; and that
il the downright, honest tpth, my lord. In
rightly served; but Cod bless you, doan
on hurt the woman-my wife, my lord, thes
to thirty years. Five snd-twenty years ago
10 come May, which shall never see, W
ad. buried our two children. Had they lived
ar might have been better man; but tn
ers place they left empty was soon filled up b.
1u- love Of cursed lucTe, and that has brough
ng me here. deserve it; but oh, mercy, IN
oc. lord mercy, good gentleman
| from the stony features Of the Judge to tn
~. Jury, as il they could help bim-'not 70
ice me, but the wife. She be as innocent @
this as a newborn babe. It'sI scour
he drel that be, that has brought thee, Maj
ed. tina, to this shameful pass The rugge
as man snslched his life-companion to hi
om breast with passionate emotion, and teal
M. of remose and agony streamed down hi
in rough cheeks.
the was deeply affected, and felt that III
m. man had uttered the whole truth. Ii wa
nor evidently one Of those cases in which a pei
pe. son liable TO suspicion damages his owI
ri; cause by resOrting 10 a trick. No doubt
or BY his act of theft, Armstrong had bee
,rv driven to an expedient which would not hav
AZ been adopted by person perfectly innC
ct cent. And thus, from one thing to another
90 the charge Of murder had been fixed upo
mr. him and his haplsss wife. When his cor
m. fession had been uttered. felt species &
he self accusation in having contributed to hi
his destruction. and gladly would have III
ais done the whole days proceedings. TIL
nd Judge, ON the contrary, was quite undisturt
or. ed Viewing the harangue Of Armstron
a. as mere tissue Of falsehood, he coolly pre-
ID. nounced sentence OF death on the prison
il. ers. They were TO be hanged on Monday
ry This was Friday.
,rt "A bad job whispered the counsel fc
en- the defence as he passed me. That witne,
m. Of yours, the woman Suugnell, is the rea
culprit.'
= tasted no dinner that day: was sicI
e. at heart; for ] felt as il The blood Of tw
fellow-creatures was on my hands. In tn
Of evening sailed forth 10 the judges lodg
he ings. He listened to all had to say; bu
n was quite imperturbable. The obstinat
d. old man was satisfied that the sentence wa
he as il should be. returned to my inn in
d. fever of despair. Without the approval Q
or the Judge, knew that an application to tn
r I'll