The Rutland herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1850-1852, 1850-07-11
PRELIMINARY REMARKS


: p'edgcd to n side. hu, in god faith. as e,
c pressing my own personal belief. are as e.
o lows
Tha, the human remains found in IN
Il medical colegr in November las, wcrc ,hos
n of the late DR.. Grorgc Psrkman md TIA
n lr came Ia his death by the hands M Dr
!. Webster. IN n moment 81 passion nndc
= grca, prcvWation that thcr was no Irc
u meditation nor mnrlcruus intent that thrr,
= was ii homicide but not mur,lef. ar If i
could bc called murder under ilrr rigi,
interpolation of the rules of common Law
Prevailing i'll this commonwcalth yet thai
At was no, murder according To thc mora
u lgnen,s Of our people or Of mankind, -
not the crime Ia which the public sense o
Justice awards the punishment Of death, or
fH which .hs, puni,hm is inflicted under
the usual AMI actual administration o the
law in Massachusetts,.
am enabled 10 re cnt from Dr. Web
stcrs own lip, statement of the facts con
neoted with the ho,uictle. The crcdililty
and value Of this statement mut depend
partly IN the date Of it, and the circumstan-
COS under which il was made. Before read.
ing it, therefore, | will relate those oircum-
stances Ia the committee.
My acquaintance with DR. Webster be-
fore his trial had been Of the slgl,es, and
most casual kind Soon after his sentence
| received from him request tina, ! would
vist him as clergyman, during his impris-
onmeni 1t was service no, 10 bc de-
clincd.
had followed the reports Of the trial,
aul acquescel in the verdict as a righteous
one and had no thought hu. that the SEN
tence was To be, and ought to bc carried IN
To execution. did no, make it my object
| 10 draw Il confession from him early or 10
/ lead him to commit himself one way or the
other, on the question Of his guilt or uno-
ccncc. cnrc,nlly avoided every remark
and inquiry that nigh, tempt him TO make
any false declaration lie seemed to under
stand me, and neither denied nor declared
his guilt. expected he would finally bc
induced to communicate 10 me whatever he
knew abou, the disappearance Of Dr. Park
man, and about the remains found at ihc
college. But was in no hurry about this.
| thought ! should he more likely to obtain
from him the cXac, truth, hy waiting til "a
favorable time. Accordingly it was my Oh
lect for the first weeks TO become acquainted
with him, to win his confidence aud attach
mcni ly attention and sympathy, and to
cn'lcavor TO make those impressions Of Il
moral and religious nature. which were suit
cd to his situation as Il more or less sinful
and certainly dying man. As time passed,
seemed TO myself to have succeeded in
these objects, almost beyond my hopes.
Al length. on the 23d day OF May,
hal made up my mind to address him i'll II
wholly new strain, and to demand OF him a
full statement Of facts. | then believed
myself to be ON such terms with him. that
| coull abruptly and aut'oritatively de-
mand his confidence ! did 81 and | WAS
not disappointed in the result. On enter
ing hi, cell, that day, told him that was
going to broach a new and important sub
jcct to him, and he must listen to me scri-
ously, and not reply till had done. | then
said to him, that he must have felt all along
that there was one barrier to our free com
munica,ion one point on which We did not
understand one another that the embar-
rassInent which attended the avoiding Of
! that point obviously went far TO defeat the
satisfaction and profit to himself which ought
to result from our interviews. said that
he must certainly have somc knowledge
respecting the fate Of Dr. Parkman, which
! | had not, and that the unsl,ared secret must
bc 10 him an oppressive and intolerable bur
den that the time had come when he ought
to share it with some one and under the
circumstances with he that ! had scrupu-
lou>ly forcbone hitherto to press him on
this point. and urged it now only because
/ | believed it would be for his relief and
peace Of mind that thought he must feel
J by this time that he owed me the truth, and
I tia, he could trust me that he need no,
fear to tell me the whole truth. for ! was
not there (" reproach him nor To Judge him,
/ but To comfort him in his distress. and la
help him in making peace with God and
ins CONSCIENCE, and to assist hIR. if might,
10 live while he liked, and die when hc
should die, with the humility # sinner
and the iirInncss of man. and | trusted,
the hop, of Il Christian that in order to
my beIug Of any real service "a hiH, there
must la truth and true relations Between
~. cautioned him not 10 answer rnc has
tily. not Ia speak until h. was prepared 10
tell the whplc and absolute ruth--that |
would cnd"syor "a pu, favorable cGns,rue-
ton upon his silence that ! was in 40 h'lr-
~, and thai he nigh, take "a day or two
more I" consider whether NY advice to him
i 10 make full disclosure Was not rc;i-'a.l-