The true Democrat., 1854-07-12
NO. 39.

style o1 argument But Mr. Gibson tells you that ne considers It out of pace-that he will not indulge in itand maintaining that the witness is perfectly annlmlated, magnanimously informs us that he will not trample on the dead!
 never saw this Barlow before-but how does he appear to you! What impression has this man left whom the lawyers-not the law-not the Court-but few lawyers, have so earnestly attempted to de- grade ln your estimaton-have cast a ban upon. and eXcommunicated so peremptorily from the society of all good men! care very little for his testmonv- had other evidences sufficient to establish tba facts he has proved; but believe all these attacks to he gratuitous and unjust He may, in some respects have acted foollshy-he may have been impudent but we have every reason to believe that he is not dis honest. Within half an hour after it occurred. he told Mays and Sullivan of his visit to Col Harnev's and the conversation with Butler and soon after this he related the same fact to Mir. and Mrs. Crensbaw Yet Mir. Carpenter tells you that he fabricated the story because he fascinated with the idea of as sociating ina wealthy and aristocratic family-be- cause he sought to obtain view of the interior of the house of Mir. Robert J. Ward. How do they recon Gle thls with the fact that he then made the same statements which he has made here, to three wtnes- ses of the highest intelligence and responsibility? He stands confirmed, as far as a witness can be confirm eo' ana II any stain has been cast upon him here it mas ony been done by the lawyers who have made nm the subject Of their abuse. He has proved the most Iunexceptlonabe character by the Mayor of Lou lsVllle and other gentlemen who are above imputa- ton; Ill the eye of the law and of his fellow-ctizen he IS perfectly credible, and so far as any testimony he has given in this is concerned he may be re
 ed on oy you as safely as any other witness who has testified in it.
 These statements of Butler to which Barlow has deposed accord perfectly with the testimony of Ro- bert Ward. You could expect no details from man under such circumstances and in such situation as Butler-he only gave general description of the oc- currence; but Robert has given you the details. And Prof Yandell, who was present at the same tme does not tell you, like Dr. Thomson that Ward came to the school house, cursed him. struck him. and shot him; but gives quite another account of his state ments. He speaks of him raising his hand, as he thought to indicate that the accused had elevated las III threatening manner; but you all know how com mon the habit of raising the hand in conversation is with some men. Dr. Thomson, it seems, heard no word of those statements which were made to Prof. 4andell; and the discrepancy between them is not surprising, for as they engaged at that moment the cause O1 the occurrence was matter of seconda ry lmportance-not of peculiar interest to them Here, gentlemen beg leave to recur for moment to circumstance which must confess has surprised me. It was the general evidence of the school boys that Ward entered the house with his right hand in his pocket, and gescuated with the fingers of his left Is 1t not wonderful that fact so immateria- so htte likely to attract attention-as the circum- stance that gentleman had his hand in his pocket and which of the hands he had there, should be re- membered with much accuracy by so many of these witnesses, so long after its occurrence? But you per celve that 1t has been made matter of considerable magnitude here. No doubt Sturgus thought it was important to show that the right hand was on the bis tol all the time, as if in sort of conspiracy with it. to act Jonty at precisely the proper moment; and oooGioF tillS they would have you beheve that ii the accused struck blow it was with his left hand Now, you can readily perceive why they would like to keep the right hand of Matt :" ard on that pistol during the whole time; and I nave 10 doubt that these boys have ever and anon heard the statement made in so many conversations held for the purpose of assisting their memories that they are now convinced the hand really was in that position. and that they saw it there.
 Again, they contend that Butler struck if he struck at all with the left hand and therefore that the blows could have inflicted injury. Now if his right hand had been so long and so utterly crippled they have attempted to show it must certainly have been non-combatant, and the left hand must have learned years betore to perform all the offices of the stroyed.
 You have been sitting here gentlemen. for eiobt days. Can you tell whether your hands were in your pocket when you came in this morning. or any other morning! Can you tell the position of the hands of any o1 the counsel as they rose up to address you lace to face! As you have been seated at home in your own house. and visitors have entered can you reeoNect the position of their hands! Yet fact so tnVai and unimportant at the time-one which could then be ot no possible interes-for no difficulty was apprehended until Butler had coared Ward-is re- lated with this minuteness 1 would suppose that not another human being in the form of man ever entered that school-room in regard to whom so ma ny boys can recolect distinctly the position of his hands. Whether the hand was in bis brooches or bis coat pocket is not a matter of so much importance and therefore not remembered so well! Gentlemen, you must be convinced that the recollection of such fact, under such circumstances is utterly impossible
 And he gesticulated, they say, with his left. Why should he not let the right hand do the right hands work:-why should it be kept that pistol? The idea is absurd. All the circumstances show that he at first expected no difficulty. Who believes this?- W ho does not know that, however unconscious of it the boys may be, this is the work of strained ina ginaton. supplying the place of a strained memory9
 Sturgus, you have heard, had administered q whipping to the boy aformer occasion the facts of which we desired to introduce here but we were not allowed to do Is 1t not probable that nstigated by his enmity toward the Wards when he heard of this punishment he advised Butler to refuse all ex- plantation and investigation? The circumstances of the case-the position of Butler and Ward-thcir friendly reations-the Just and reasonable demand that was made-all show the refusal to have been inconsistent with his character and his heart Is it not rational inference then that he may have been prompted by the sinister, subteranean motives of another man, who desired to minister to his own an ger and ill feeling: think 1t was not like Butler, when he was asked such question, by man he knew so we'll and esteemed highly, to button up his coat and answer haughtily: am not to be interrogated sir" But it paS like Sturgus.
 Gentlemen, am consuming much of your time, but believe the is clearly comprehended by you I think have made up the facts and made out the law think you satisfied that the pistol was not fred so far as we can judge until there was no other way of rescue for the prisoner from the peril of his life, or of great bodily harm. l think you under stand the principle that the law holds all such blood shed justifable-though blameable, yet excusable- This, then, is the condition in which the prisoner
 
 principles, think may base my argument.
 But there are other points in this case to which I feel it my duty to refer Notwithstanding the cir cumstances we have made out, this young has been persecuted and denounced from the first one of the viest of men, and of murderers. He has been hedup the world as the perpetrator of deliberate and diabolical outrage-an act of fendish maEgnty, for which there was no particle of mitigation. For months and months he has been thus pursued, with misrepresentatons and revings. This version of his case has been spread upon the wings of the wind, through the columns of the press. Now, it matters not in effect whether these publications, were made from the basest of motives, or in all honesty and truth by those who deceived by his prosecutors they aOere made. These rumors have gone abroad anticipating the result of this trial; but you how little his real case is like the that has been repre- sented to the world.
 His only refuge is in your verdict Through all this pesecution and these reviings he has passed; now, thank Cop, he waits the decision of your calm udg ment said his persecution over; but through those associated in the prosecution of this case with my friend Mr. Allen, it all seems to have been con centrated here. The first of them MT. Carpenter, was eloquent in denuneiation of the prisoner What necessity was there for thss It is his duty to convict unon the law and the testimony. hut what ri0ht has