The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1852-11-27


no assistance in extinguishihg the fire; and.
personally, / admit shat s;le I'D not do 30. II
has been asserted, upon oath, that no or,.
knew where she was hidden until the flames
were extingnished: and vet ii has been prey
ed that. on leaving her home, She mad her
way. with her precious burden, tothe cottaer
of her aged and widowed father, who hnr-
! RED, at her cntreaty TO the farm, while she
, remained alone in his hovel 10 watch over her
infant
| We would have produced that father to
swear 10 the fact gentlemen of the Jury hrt
he has been summoned to a higher fr,Lrpal
than Ours: he was poor bat he was n-r TOO
poor to feel: humble, hut not too bn,pIjc "a
be beyond the reach of shame; and the birth
OF his last grandchild in aprison-I cannot. I
dare not dwell Epon this subiect-I am warn
ed by the sufiocating sobs behind me. thas
my <sal is degenerating into cruelty: suffice
IT. then, that the unhappy old man is dead.
aaa that thus one important witness has been
,3st to u.s.
M lie frocureur expatiated largely also
upon the expressions of bitter hopelesSness.
which were from time to time forced Tt,,tr,
the wruns heart of my unhappy client She
wished that the farm were burnt to tIe Ground
and her husband reduced TO the rank Of a
common laborer:' and even declared whiI,
smarting under the tyranny of her near reia-
tIres. that she would gladly fire it herself. 20
hc relieved from the lie of wrctrhcdncss to
which she was condemned" | am not about
to justify these expressions: am ready to
admit that they Were alike ungnarjl,rl and
> unSeemiv; bur. gentlemen ot The inrv. re-
member the rr"voratian i there on, of ,S
who has never ra-llv uttered 4 word that he
would "'a'ily recall: n9 We. m,.n of ,,,ura-
ton OF station. and eagcr for the apr,a,,se ot'
the wori;i. do we always measure our Scnt..r-
res and weigh our phrases in a moment Of
passion DO not let rs lie 10 orr own souls.
''ocntlcmrn ofthc Jury, hav" done. What
the, prosecution could not prove We ca,ror
diSTrovc; hnt we can a'pcal To our Gol-we
can appeal to the judgment Of all homes. men
and We can appeal to Your ,i>~i~;on. Th.S
W" do boldly: this w H. t;.ar}e<~l, w. ar.
IN !yonr hands. and We are safe. Yor Will
restore wife 10 her hu>han,i-a mother IN
her chliircn-an outra>t To her komc. You
will do this for Won have sworn defend the
right; and that right can only he maintained
by oar acguittal."
A low murmur Of applause. which waS.
however, Instantly checked. WIS br3rl
throughout the court and silence WIS uo
no sooner restored. than the Prornreur once
more rose. He Gi>~,cir,l with great forensic
el"lu"ncc the address OF the counsel. an,! a.
/ Iudr'i with keen and even inGclicatc- sarcasm
to the youth and good looks Of tir prisoner.
which had. as he asserted. stood her iu,;,.,1
of innocence. H. "clnm"nt,rlrnnn III, ~.
OF experience OF her advocate. who had. A. he
declared sacrificed hi> Judgment To lis en-
thu.iasm and where he should have con,in,.-
ed, had only ,lazzl,,l hi> hearers. H.. e,..n
appealed to the prisoner herself whether. had
an acqulttal hecn possible. She could lla,rd,.-
sired 1t. when. as she must be well awar,. i
could but entail upor her an existence Of ol-
oqny and suspicion; AMI, finally, he called
upon the jury TO deliver >nt-irtv from a wn,,.-
an whose attercarcer, should she leave that
court ahsolred, might be readily prophe>icd
from It's antecedcntS.
confess that, as eagerly watched tie
count snances of the jury, entertained little
hope for the wretched woman, who sat with
clasped hands and bent head utterly notion
less, as though she also were counting the
brief moments of her forfeited existence: I'M
til, as the jury were preparing to retire, one
of her guards laid his hand upon her shoul-
der, and whispered few words in her ear,
upon which she passirey rose, and disap-
Peared with two gendarmes through the mar
row door by which she had entered. Thence.
As was informed, she was conducted to a
cell, where alone and in darkness. all Prison
erS await the verdict about to be pronounced
upon them; a fearful ordeal TO those upon
whose guilt or innocence the arbiterS of their
fate We're tar,ly in deciding.
And while she was thus abandoned f. all
the agonies of suspense, the court itself be-
came a scene of hustle aui excitement. The
President. the Procurcur and hall a dozen
OF their friends, had retired to the apartments
of the former to partake OF Refreshments: and
they had no sooner withdrawn, than a group
of some twenty or thirty privileged in,lirid-
mails gathered together on the platform. some
of whom were hu>ici in devourin. boa-Lon<
and exchanging Jokes which cirteai hearty.
although suppressed LAUGHTER; while others
drew the daily papers from their T,Drkci>. and
were soon absorbed in politics. totally forget
tul Of the wreschcd woman whose fate WAS
even then under discussion in the irr-v-room
To myself, this appeared the most painful
feature of 'hc trial: the careless nirtn and
heartle>s indifference to tL, a@onic> o: f.l-
| ow creature 50 reck i,>>ly exhibited AT Such
a moment, reroIted me; but, happily. the sGt-
f;.ring was brief. Ten minutes only had C.
I,,-.J ,l., r.. t..li ,u- ,nr,. >,u,,tl.,l ny