The Sumter banner. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1846-1855, 1852-01-13
MISCELLANEOUS.
The state W. Phlneas II. Johnson.

i sentence iof5the. Court, as delivered
t,ypJ &c O'Neall, III Columbia, on
NJ Monday, tic 18th of%December last.
&sPhineas johnson: Young man,
how can 1 say to you, in the awful
language Of tile inspired prnphct, set
thy, house in order, for thou shalt die,
a,id not livc.' Vet it must he done.
You arc before me ,toy, in the morn.
insof life-in few brief days yon
Z. will lie cut eff, and the place which
now knows you, shall know YOU no
inoreiforever.' 1t is my duty to say
to: you, that the nature Of your
crime; forbids the possibility Of pardon
Aere.ea Your only hope Of pardon is
in the merciful atonenent offered for
goa aud cit men, in the broken body
and streaming blood of Him who
i eried, father forgive them, for they
s know not what they do
E 4'st Four crime, awful as it is, must
be set before you, i'll tic hope that it
may do you, and the community
good. Te creep npan poor woman,
j ia her own solitary cabin, iii the still,
ness OF night, with her nursing at
iier feet, her lirs,-Lor.l wrapt in i,tan-
tile innocent slun.ber by her side,
wl,en her hands we're preparing the
seanty portion Of vegetables for her
and their food, and to shoot her as a
wild beast, hardly has a parallel in
Sac au,,ais of crime. lyheu1to tllis
is aided, the guilty :wretchpwho com
initted tlis deed was her scducer, the
father Of her little oncs where, oh
where shall ,we ind another as foul IL
Z IDIOT on humanity,
5g'Ss .sss ou, at least. her person ought
have been sacreIISsgs ''f:sE yon, Size
Shad male tAAaastsself sclsatSy, ,lcs,ra,l-
cd beng, to whoia beauty was Il re.
proacti, character was inIany, and
affection was hated. Tor you, she
had left q lather's house aud lAcnty,
and iial become, a dependant On al
most charity, for food and covering.
I1 you, she had given Tie Hedges
OF her love, ia the etarYing, deyrai-
ed children around .hcrGS How could
you, young man, slay her, who had
thus ssiScA her all TO you? How
could .syon level YOUR gun at the
+ head which had oNen been }illowcd
in guilty affection upon your hosonr>
Remember, I Jbcg you to remember,
shat her blysM will sink you forever
into everlasting tolments, unless you
can feel/ttat mercy, your Saviour's
.dylng(mcrcy, has removed the guilty
weight oft from your soul.
1t is necessary: too, yos"g man,
for your own sake and that Of tic
section OF the country (Pca Ridge,
of Onion District from which you
came that it should be said, | fear
your crime is the consequence of the
gross immortality AMI vice which has
too much thcre abounded. Female
sirtue has there, am told, lost its
appropriate value. Seduction is not
regarded as criipc; and concuoinage
is pot ut all rare or disgraceful. VIII
:. you not, as You approach the gal
lows, say with me, shame upon such
a state Of things! You will be, most
probably, the first white man hang,
Cd in Union District; and tcarfu.
will be the commentary Of your fate,
upon such state OF morals.
is 1t true. that you and tile de-
.4ecased once were members Of the
same re!;gious community? Can it
E 'be,a that you forgot that the weak and
@oYely being by your side, was 20, r
Sister in the honse OF your Master,
sRRd that violating her confidence,
you snatched q crown of peace from
.1,cr head, to place upon it one of
shame! Oh! if these things be SO,
think upon them-ponder them night
nnd day, for they demand a fearful
reckoning and account.
f. .'From you | turn, and with me |
hope you will in thought also so, to
the house Of your parents. What is
there2 Peaoe! No. oh no! | can,
in imagination, hear your young wife
t.rantically asking to be allowed to
share your prison solitude; you,,
another, like Rachel, weeping for
her children, and would not be com
fortcd, for they were not;' your faith
nr, once respectable, now broken
down, and lamcntins like David, for
Assaiom, oh, my sou, would to
God that.l had died for thec! WHO
has cansed this scene Of morning?
NlitStl say yaiity youny mns, thou
Dirt the mani q at
q Sad and awful as all these
thoughts and "reminiscences may be,