Washington telegraph., 1849-04-18
A MAGNANIMoUs MURDERER

A MAGNANIMOUS MURDERER.
| The following is an extract from one Of
the four speeches made by Mr.. Fopte. OF
Mississippi, in the Senate, during the ses-
sion of the lst instant:
| II has been barely fifteen years since
l was called upon to defend a gifted ma
tive Of New England, against charge Of
which he confessed himself guilty; that
/ charge was murder. My client-for such
he became-had been guilty according
to his own account, as given in all auto
biograp ply dictated by him, but which
was accused at the time, of writing, OF
eight murders and sixty robberies. The
testimony against the prisoner was too
conclusive TO be resisted successfully. He
lad been convicted the sentence of death
was about to be passed upon him, and he
was asked the ordinary question-whar
lie had to say why the dreadful Judgment
should not be pronounced against him.
He arose gracefully from his seat on
the prisoners bench; he stood erect be-
fore the court and the audience. His coun.
tenance was free from the marks of tre-
Hdation, of Embarrassment or of conscious
guilt. HIS mind seemed for a moment
solemnly to revert to the strange scenes
Of romantic and bloody adventure through
which he had passed. He turned those
fierce eyes of his upon the Judge who was
presently TO consign him TO the scattold.
and exclaimed III tones that l can never
forget, "Sr, you have asked me ques-
ton, aud lintend to answer it. You be-
hold before you a man, cut oil from the
sympathes of his fellow beings, who is
yet not unworthy of their esteem and COM
misseration; WAC has not slept in human
habitation for fully nine years; who has
roamed along the banks of the majestic
Mississippi, aud lived alone upon the
meat, uacooked, of the wild tenants of
the wilderness, tlat he has been able to
make his victims; who, not iorgetful Of
classic lore, has prused with delight,
amidst the unfreque1ted forest, the pages
of Horace, of Taciius, and of Juvenal;
who felt for the degraded condition ofhis
race, and sighed to participate i'll some
work of general melioration.
81 have slain men with impunity and
ment, burdensome 10 the generation with
which they stood connected, and whose
death | supposed would prove a blessing
TO society. am now charged with mur-
der, and convicted, upon evidence which
l admit to be strong, and even irresistible,
OF the staying of a human being in cold
blood. But how was it that slew this
man, for whose blood am now TO be held
responsible He was my enemy without
provocation. He pursued me with un-
sparlng malignity. lie subjected me 10
lndignitles which excited me to madness,
and L vowed never to rest satisfied until
my prosecutor should cease TO live Look
upon me bear witness to the world here.
after that stand up at this solemn hour
calmly and composedy before you. My
soul is unconscious of crime. My heart
accuses me not of murder; and when, a
few days hence, | shall ascend the scat
fold to expia.e offences of which am my
self not sensible, by undergoing dishon-
orable death, [ shall be found, / trust, as
calm as selt-possessed and unrufiled as l
now am" so much for the selt:esteem
of one who was known in his day as :" the
Rob Roy of the Mississippi"
CALIFORNIA ADvENTURERs.-Amo
the crowds of Adventures now in ST.
Louis, on their way to the gold regions,
the Republican tells of two-an old man
and his wife-the first supposed to be ut
least seventy years of age, and the latter
not more than year his junior. These
in 20
poor team, consisting of yoke OF oxen
and an ill-fed horse. The old man was
as buoyant in the hope of making a for
tune in the gold digglns as any of the
Young men destined to the same place;
and his withered and aged partner talked
eloquently OF the enJoyments she antici-
pated on her return with an abundance
of the rich metal TO. her children some
years hence. They had sold their farm
in Illinois, and proposed TO make the
entire trip by land. They were wiling
to endure all the privations, exposure and
hardships consequent upon such jour
ney under the consolation, and-cheered
by the prospect of returning in a few
wears rich i'll gold. They had built their
airy castle, and even age and infirlnity
did not mantle any part of it with the
moss or ivy of doubt or distrust as TO the
result.
GRAND BALLOON AsCENsIoNs.-In ac.
cordance with his promise to the public.
Mons. Victor Verdelie Yesterday made
AN ascension from the corner ofSt. Charles
and Poydras streets. He arose from the