Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1853-12-21

lrsue an errlng brother vlndlctlvely into D
e very presence of a final Judge. Ihave U
zen panied at the unfeeling and unforgiv- a
2 character of the public mind in relation
the alleged crime of the prisoner at the
If. He was in prison andyou visited him
ot. The meek and holy Master, who wept
yer sin, and spoke kindly/b the guilty, '
as found no rep. esentative in your midst, $
we one, to extend the most common hu-
AN sympathy to the lone one in his CELL |
Gentlemen, you are all the creatures of
education. The ordeal /
lat tries men, brings out their true char
atccel W,h@emong us shall dare to say
that no temptation cenIa shake him from
his position Man does not snow himself
The strongest of to-day, tried by adversely
tomorrow, may fall-the best may err.
Look at-Ricks, gentlemen Until his
ruin by a vice now too lamentably prevalent,
and the acts now alleged against him, was
he not the peer of the proudest in this COM
munity? Who of you ever heard aught a.
gainst him or his His honor was unfair
nished by an unworthy word or deed, his
generosity almost fault, and his worth, as
a man and citizen, equal to any. What
wrought his ruin !? The foul and fostering
hell of corruption, whose fumes even now
come Up into the precincts Of the very tenn
PIE of justice. Your tavern ruined him.
But for that, good citizen would stand
blameless among you day, and ahusband
and father dwell in peace in the bosom of
happy wife and children. And are there
none to blame for all this ruin? Before
God, believe the people of this communi-
family, as the prisoner at the oar. l. DC
sure, they did not strike the blow. But
their agents, the members of the excise
board, signed their death-warrant and
while at their homes and their prayers, the
devilish work was carried out. The victim
was first bound in the chains ofan appetite,
which has ruined the strongest intellects ev-
er created, his substance taken from him,
and his brain maddened with poison. Un-
der the direct influence of liquor, then and
now, sold by law in this community, he
committed the deed charged upon him
Who placed that temptation in his way ?
Are none but him guilty of the fatal re-
suits ? The rum which caused the deed,
went from your tavern. AS [ once dared
to say, it has proved curse indeed. You
have, Prometheus like, chained down the
victim, and then let loose vultures to tear
! him. There are accessories to this triple
murder, who are not punished py law. The
, people and their agents are -bariicepS c,1ntt-
: nis They have aided and abetted the
: sweeping tragedy. There is broad trail
} of blood from the ruined altar of the Kicks
t family to your own, and the threshold of
your tavern. The unofending wife and in
e nocent children died legally-died by the
e authority of the people of Oakvale-died a
c revolving and cruel death, under warrant,
h with your names, through your delegated
d instruments, attached in full to the parch-
l. merit of blood!
/ Gentlemen, this. prisoner is not the on
d y one who is to enter this room in custody
d Pauperism and crime are being manufactur.
y ed in our midst at fearful pace A fear
D. full change has come over our once peaceful
d and happy village. Our families have beer
v ruined, and our fields turned to waste
p Pauperism stalks your streets in it's rags
" Blood innocent blood, smokes hotly from
r, the licensed butchery of the rum demon
ID There is note of sorrowAssnd. a magic wal
upon the ear. Mabel Dunham and her i'm
a. bruted father-Hinson in your Jail, will
E. the flesh bitten from his arms, and his bod,
drenched in blood-an esteemed citize
ks frozen within sight of his own door-th
u Watt family at this hour weeping aroun
o. the corpse of broken-hearted mother
Kicks, the elder, of revolutionary memory
g with the SHOWS of winter in his thin locks
nd and the frost in his eye--a once happy fan
p lily, at rest in bloody grave-families ono
,e, wealthy and respectable, now living as toac
. paupers-scores now doom to the same fat
of and desolation and wo scattering broadca
I'd, among all classes, all point to your liqut
ly- business as the source of all Blood cri
from the ground, and fresh tragedies wi
nd startle, when too late, guilty communi
rat from its deathly slumbers.
n But I will not detain you longer,
by leave the fate of the prisoner with you al
,ed with God. There are few to weep in Il
vas event of a conviction, for he has no kindr'
vd on earth. The last of noble family is t
md fore you, charged with capital crime
ice Those whol-- he loved, as you love tho
len dear to you, are in their graves. Whate
i'm. er may be the result, may this communi
ng, bear in mind the period when the prison
in at the bar was all that a parent, husban
Kill and citizen should be, and as you 60 to 20
his hcmes this night, ask yourselves the qu
SO tion-what caused the fall of one so hi
xiv in your estimation p
and There were few dry eyes in the audicr
the during portions of the plea for the prison
iga- The judges lip even quivered with en-
pro- tion. In the minds Of some, new lg
1ple had dawned in relation to the liquor bu
, Of ness, while others ground their teeth, a
rgot watched the bold advocate with loweri
dis brows.
Dled Skillott's plea was labored and bitter
we're aimed more at Brayton and his dastar
ex- ISLANDERS upon a respectable commun
the and profession lie s--vidssHattllyy writihedi
hor- der the reflection that he had met with
/; SO antagonist more than his match.
the Fhe charge was feeling but plain, and
,fen- ter brief deliberation, the jury return
ton, verdict of guilty On being asked il
s he had anything to say, Ricks arose and sa
Il have but word to say 1 wish
ony, look you, gentlemen, in the face, and e,
neighbor in this room, and before God,
esult clare that I am not deliberate, wi