The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1850-07-13

some uWn. wa know, 30 long submit 10 en-,
! llnrrnrHneuts nud yrKutioua, nud seau not 10
/ know Rpy hrlp tor H., when 10y a lildn eurr.
, ~ and dnHnElnl rnglcily theS might put nu
end 10 them. Il is eVidrin that Dr. Webster
managed his pecuniarY ntiaJs miserdlly, hut
I u ~ evident, aiso, thar he WIS IN M silel 'les
'prrHir sfrHils ~ to make tho sum of inGr o.
\ live litnidfod dollars a suhicioni motive fu,
/ ihe tremendous enterprise of murder.
Aud Then, lurihsr,' It " 20 he presumed
] tlmt fhc had dnlihnmieJ p,nhncd hazard,
ous murder for The sako of getting possess.
ION of the unirH,uud had several days 10 con
hidrr nf 10, a. ~ ruppOHed--it N ~ ho pre-
hIinci TfHr m wuuiri iruvr tS-'ti- -''sgi4sauEGd
iho vial question, ns 60 the effect of his hny-
| ing the uolBs with tle uinfks OF cane InIiou
upon them on his liabilities. Observe now
what would bo the effect. II would tlo him
nu good 10 pnssnss the large note. iur hu was
not lu prnteud tu hHyr paid ii, mud II would
do liiu no good 10 suppre-- ll, hnceuso Mr
] 4. Cunningham WINS perfectly ncquuiulrd
7 WIN mn TIC ihti- tclntinf t"ii, The posses
sion of the small note would ROT iio n lrru
di-rhnrro f"r IN amount uuirs- % wns cnncel-
led IA d. fufkuhns hand writing, or unless
Ih'ro we're bn rlui"fremonl 60 lh9 same
amount IN the larger note, Tor the smaller
note Wns included IN the lnrRer one. II
would not dn foe hlm to pIoducc Tho i1rer
uuio Wih ma endorsement upon h., iof there
wodld be felony gn the face of H., IN the
marks oi cancellation on n nUto hnt partly
paid. Apd Il hs meant To have IL supposed
dat the large note witt cnlorfemCut was
gone with the missing nnu, Why I'D hc sIoi,
Ia crAsr the signature and Otherwise cnuccl
IL, aud put II carefully hy with the small one,
instead at putting u,,uio tllc'tirc which was
burning nt his side To keep II was mere.
" Ia keep what wuuId iir ryitIcnce Of he
own twn criucs Hrd no csidcucr lhnt hr
lnt ruid hrs dUht 'lhrtr wu~ -'trh l,oss-
u"H- ~ rucuhiipu, hud such q laundering m
,cuusrqucge ui reasoning uNui the Wi,ol.
ltruusncuon Ia reference IA il, nolcg, M lo
show th#i there was $50 calculation. uur ,rGa.-
r"ung about ito prcnodtulrd purpose
| u looks H. u lic was taken iy surprise, nod
7 '- - 4fr--'ti I.ssI
bee suddenly and unexpectedly fnuud him.
-rll pinccd, that lee could do nothing consid-
crUJrly or well.
/ Upon citicr hypothesis thai of prcmcdilu-
ted o. sudden houicidu, thrre 10 sou,e,i,ug
\ iuoNplirHbir Hhcut these notes, mud really
de- nOi Ihnk Il n IN Dr. Web-icr'- power to
char up tho mystery iuly, II he was ever 90
murh inciHpd Tdilp w.
br. Nohslrr's account Of (he homicide
should have the benefit oflhn pruvons NOR
! al improhnhiliiy that il accompanies the on
( " rival theory, thar nf premcdiHtion. II is
highly Improbable, il wtil he admitted, lhut
man of dcccui Ilic, mid, analhc, nnd NOV
iug auong al amenities, nnd reIiuVd aEEuriu.
tiops Of yiriuous sorioy,und Ola family like
7 thnt of DR. Weh.ior sympnthi<iug, Ia rather
AZ unusual drgrav, ~ ihc tj-tr- unI iccrca.
tious Of dunrstic circle exclusively c'iuis
/ uiuo,--ihnt such n Uau would deliberately
J plnu The murder ofncSlhcr, aud cherish aud
mature lus design i"r scyrrai ,tBys.
/ II l. NOT vycrssury to claim Tor him much
/ moral puucN,lr, or elevation oi uiud, to ct.
al'r ~ iu sHy th1tlt Is extremely imprnbnllr
4Ae!ufGllnlld. l-.-an- -lilrrnlAl1ll4 thai iuusl
Alcld 10 positive c,ldcuct,hut then It requires
/ such cNidcuCc to OICTgUUc II. tuTi rtrrrr,
lrrher .upportn1 tlul io could nod dS pre-
! mediate such - plan, aud intend lprKrcujc
IT, thrr" is rtll grtUirr moral imprNSdEly.
'irri when the moment arrived hcshonl,f hnf
, hiWsclfuhlc to cNrrutr it. \ mnu may have
fgo mornl principle 70 prevent his rourciviur
"a i'i'tf-etah- ,ti,.t,i,-lt,fnay conceive IL .aid
/ lay oll lis pluus tor achieving H. mud yet.
>Hy, II hc j, nuaccu~Jomcd ro yioGucc nud
l bl'od, with no ruliiuuly habits or hs.ocia-
T uuiious, illr hn Il mid, not 90 say tuId
iuuu, lhr citaucrS gre httudrrd to one HAT
when the itur comes, lac viii shrink lrou
thc performance, that he Will not have the
truurUrc aud The nerve tor It,, that hc will not
hr up To a., tlnt hc cannot do it. II hc does
NOT liud Iimsclfmorally nho,c. there is grcm
/ probability IhaJ be- viii fiud himself tie
low the point of cuur.trr mud hurdihoud NJ
which such deed can hr done. | suppose
/ there are among mankind bundled mur-
/ dcrous premcdiIhunns. TO one prcneditnicd
murder. -. then. there is an iururnso dcu-
[ bic uorul. lWprohnhilitY against the hyputh-
rttrrr r. ti.=i-
/ prrmed,inird, aud then dore ~ -premetliia-
ted. Tint improhnhIty would hn,c to Yield
10 strong evidence, hul there must be- such
evidence, greut prcpoudcraucr otit, CON.
elusive testimony or circumstances. thu
raunoI toe rNp'niUcd utu0ng u,her hypothesis
such evidence, in word, MS IL not found
"a the history of this cR,c.
II from all The facts and circumstances of
tic case, credit shall be gwen To the state.
mrut Of DR. Webster. and tie committee
-trnii r0nrlude iJEt II Is most prDhnhiC or e.
-qunlly pruhahc Tor that would be- euuughl
Tint tho homicide WIS cuiuuitIcd IN the hcUr
, of blood, and was unprecedented, ought the
prnyer orThr PrutTurl 10 hu gruntrri rtiti tii,.
sentence can4luulnL2 2-
/ i am not cohpcIeut 10 discuss The legal
questions thar mghi uri>o about malice be.
ng implsd hy law, nnd about shifting the
burden ut proof from tie commonwealth to
the prisoner, and ! SUPPOSE the committee
would nut cnrc To hcnr arguments on these
qneslinrs from amy person. ThrrnmnAttec
tnusi he we'll aware. that there aro some dit.
lcreuces otorWlun on points of that nature
among gcltlcfncn lenrnc,l in the law, and g
ven Hmuug the justires of our Supreme
Court. The council Win give such weight
as they see tiI 10 Ile f,ct, that some ques-
ttous of principle nlat ui5ht affect the cnsr
uf DIR, Webster, are regarded as open. que--
tlons among lawyers hrre and elsewhere. TT
may be- presumed, however, that tho eXecu-