New-York daily tribune., 1851-09-29

a
reputation before lie ent 10 prison. before or at
ter this prosecution began twenty seven of Teputs-
uOn since be came from The prison, and before a.
well IS aftCr TIE prosecution commenced eight
peak "a hs character before he went 10 prison, and
no. aitcrv ARD six Of hIs character while IN the
state Puson. and seveniyseyen OF his iaIne all the
vay through from leiC Until now.
These vltEesses. when crOSs-examined n the
coUI fO- The people and required u describe t0e
rumcTs winch have Tpsned EtO this whitening, ol iS.-
lrg tlpeachr1eni, say that lie l. charged with per
urv, larceny employ Iug labor without paying Is hire,
;IavC.l-C uuCer ny StiiJUS ana suspicious ClrCum-
stances. swearing through the Courts causes n
which ne IS employed Is ~. advocate, iase preienSes
OF having recovered large Sums OF money iron tle
state or unIuSt npTisOnn eu iee1ing his horses VITA
his IeiehbOTS wheat and oats, Offering 70 lend tci
pous sums OF money on morteageS pretending to
msginaTy contracts .Or grading the railroad aut
bullc NJ Gpots ia-Se preieDses about the title and
quality OF lands baseess pretense> abOu; al agency
OF factory that has 10 existence, hypocutlcat pre-
lenses 10 p-etl malicious swearing against as oss'
friends fOI money a universal suspicion of dealing
IN counterfeit money, and aSsocia;ng with AID mar
boilBg cepraved ard abaLdCnei men Among the
witnesses are laboTerS mechanics, farmers. law
yer. doctors cOnstabes magistrates, judges, men,
beTs % The House Of Representatives. Senators, and
many lay mCmberS anC officers OF various relglouS
societies. Ore OF the witnesses Is nTother-In-lfW
of Phelps. and large number OF the witnesses quote
MS faine f-I-law for the Tepu'atlOn which they
sign. The iatRer-naw refused TO appear under
cur subpoena. ana Was not produced 10 TepeI the
unpe achmtni. When this singular exposure was
made, the learned Distric-Atorney remarked that
n was SAID II Tie Scripture that a mans enemy
should be they Of his own household How guilty
hte must tha; be that forfclts the enjoyment Of al.
the natural affections When YOU cOnsluer lie num-
Der OF these witnesses, their occupation and charac
ter. their advantages OF acquaintance with the sub
ect Of Their testimony and their relations TO the Wit
ness, and when you consider that eIghtys OF them
are drawn from circle OF less than three miles con-
tanning hs residence IN purely rural district IN the
interior OF the Peninsula. think YOU will admit that
an Impeachment so effective 50 conclusive, was
r. i A
Gentlemen. YOU VIII be on your guard against the
false issues raised to weaken the force OF thiS I'M
peachment. Efforts were made IN some instances TO
dlScredit the witnesses themselves. Allow AL that
was done IN that way. and think It amounts to- the
fact that one Of them was indicted and convicted OF
an assault and battery on a woman III years ago an
ofense that do not claim ought 20 be forgiven with
out deep peni,ence thai another was convicted OF
an assault and fined $40 within shorter period
and hat third one Supprt SSed fact which he feared
would expose him 10 the hatred OF Phelps.
You have been told IN the second place, that many
witnesses did not rocollect or give the names Of
those from HON they derived the character which
they assigned. Gentlemen. when character Is bad,
VIGOROUSLY bad universally bad. II Is the exception
OF favorable speech only that can be remembered.
L. YOU declare that a season was Wet, YOU may De
able specify the days of shine but not the days
O. storm. But think that before the impeachment
closed. the prosecution found the authorities gwen
quite sufficient. Is is certain that when the whole
population Of nelghborhood came a. ono man, ana
united m confirming the testimony OF those who had
come before tha. the correctness Of all was estab
| lshed
/, was insisted that the period within which the
the character Of the witness to be proved should
he limited to two years succeeding PheIpss discharge
| from Irson and anterior 20 The commencement Oi
this prosecution. But Gentlemen you Judge Of the
soundness Of tree BY inspecting not the bark, nor
the exterior circles. but the entire trunk. II be un
sound throughout, You VIII find dithollOW at the heart
Thea eument that Won shall not inquire as 70 PhepSS
character before he event to prison assumes that
punishment restored character, forfeited by convic-
ton But this position manitesty unsound Again,
the Counsel insist tnat YOU shall exclude testimony
Of the character Of the witness arising from discus
SONS which have occurred during tins trlat. But
hat I, us, the period III whlchhs character mas been
subject OF discussion IL Is true that you must al
low Tor tie effect OF sympathy With the defendants IN
| considering such testimony. But these witnesses
have such sympathy. With one ortwo exceptions,
Of them Is related to any OF the defendants.
They live AZ distances OF 10 or ~ miles and more
from them all. For the most part, they never had,
nor have they now, acquaintance with the defen
ants. The excitement out of which this controversy
arose never disturbed the people of Sylvan nor OF
Ndshtenaw County Those who testify are neighbor>
OF Phelps. The influence Of this excitement tended %
awaken the Sympathes Of PhclpS'S neghbors an his
own behalf, ana TO rouse them to anger against the
| CefeIcaIts.
Again the prosecution argues reformation of the
witness from the fact that during the TWO years.
Slnce he came from states Prison. he Is not proved
10 have committed crimes. But YOU viii re-
member that the form OF inquiry prescribed by tie
Court forbade The defense 10 ASK what Has the
general character Of thC witness, and limited US 10
INQUIRE for ms reputation for truth and Yerachy
ONLY. Nevertheless. the rCCaplula'IOn OF reports ds
70 his gsHlraf character which ranSprcd on the
cros>.examinaon l.. thrust sufficient To Satst them
and you Oh That point.
And now. gentlemen, how has tins impeachment
been answered One hundred and eighteen persons
have been 10 sustain the genera reputation OF
the witness for truth and yeracity. Ol 'hese, one
says, on examination, thai hs reputation IS
rlrci, and three that they do not knoN where
Piers irCS one that his reputation Is mrtded
one, that he does not know even one Hoghbor @
PtrpS. One. that the majority of nelghoors say hiS
character ! rery tad. One Samuel Chadwick says
that he himself took hiS neighbors watch clandeS-
timely carried to Detroit, and wore 1t until us loss
was advertised, ans then he delivered II up and de-
mandod so, upon the false pTetense that he had
PAD that money "a reclaim II nom the thet sixteen
Witnesses say that they know nothing OF Phelpss re-
putatlOn since ls42. ard that then Al was DUBIOUS
one, that he does moi know ms reputation where he
lives one, that his reputation Is bad where ne lveS,
bu; good elsewhere one, that he does nov know
Phelps thirty either that they DO not knO" MS
uelghbors, DO hot know his reputation among hls
Loighbors one, that he l. not competent TO Judge
one. That some say hs character i good ana some
bad one, who lives thirty miles from Phelps, tnat
he obtained his character by inquiries on a commiS-
SION for that purpose from the Railroad and three,
that thcy DO not know his character at all. All the
wtnes>es without exception, declare as the grounds
of their testimony when favorable to Phelps cndr-
aCtCr not that they have heard discussed ana mus
pronounced good. but simply that they have never
heard 1t discussed at all and all OF them who testify
TO a knowledge OF his character IN the neighborhood
II
not heard his neghbors discuss t. and yet they refer
IN that connection to the very nelghbors who nave
already come here and have pronounced MS char
acter bad.
OF these, so called. sustaining Witnesses, htteen
came from Sylvan eleven from Sharon, an ad. oinIng
town two from Manchester, distant i've miles
twenty from Lima, near where Phel ps resided before
gong 70 State Prison, five from Freedom, which
believe adioine, Sylvan sixteen from Oakland Co,
where he resided before going to the state Prison
tw from Chelsea, SIX miles from where Phelps re-
sides thirteen from Dexter, fifteen miles from ms
residence eight from Ann Aroor, twenty five miles
distant from his residence on viii Judge at once
of the and accuracy Of their knowledge OF the
subject on which they testified when | state that
eighteen described the distance at which they reside
from Henry Phelps, and that the average OF those
distances Is eleven ana half mes The law, gentle
men. requires that the reputation, whether good or
he