The weekly Lancaster gazette. (Lancaster, Ohio) 1852-1855, 1854-11-09
sELF.DEREssE TRIuMPnANr.

Court, New York, the following case wa.
tried, upon which the jury was addressed
oy. the defendant who had concluded I.
appear in his own defense: s-a
THE PEOPLE vs JAMES sALLERroE.--Th;,
was very interesting case, rendered .se
from the fact that the defendant acted 4,
his own lawyer" on the trial, witllou
having tbe advantage Of being one ofthe le
gal fraternity. His "summine up'' q
which we are able 10 give nearly q vcrba.
I'm report, with the exception Of the ofct.
ing was decidedly. rich, and afforded
much amusement for the.Iegal gentlemen
present. The defendant, who IS small
red haired, thin specimen Of Yankee, wa.
indicted for and assault and battery on one
Mr.. sDodder. The facts, as diSuleed upor
lrlal, are briefly as follows: VI - y
The defendant is ih the employ of the
Monganp Valley, Forestburg, and Port
Jervis Plank Road Company as tolI.ea,h.
erer. and resides upon the road, some miles
above Port Jervis. He and the comphin.
ant, Mr.. Dcddcr. are near neighbors.
On Sunday in February last. the de-
fendant saw the complainant in the act OF
beating his defendants cows along the
highway. and, as an inducement for him 10
quit, hurled few stones a. him, one OF
which, as the complainant testifies, struck
him on the back of the neck. a-
The testimony being concluded, the de-
fendaht addressed the Jury as follows:
q "fentlenpen Of khe jury: don't know
much about law, and since the trial has
been going on, have concluded that /
ought to know a little more. ought TO a.
pologize perhaps for appearing in my own
defense, and will do so by telling you thai
fed one lawyer aud hired another in this
case, but they both come up missing when
1 need them most suppose ] might have
secured the services Of some .ofthese o.ber
climbs ofthe law" that I see around me.
but having been cheated by Two Of .'em, /
concluded to goit con my own hook, " and
here | am! ,wantto tell you, gentlemen,
before | 60 further, that it is not my fault
that this case is here taking up the time of
this honorable count. 1 think You viii
give ME credit for telling the tru.h when /
say that it ought to have been tried before
a justice ofthe peace, it being better adapt
ed to- the. capacities Of such court than Of
this one. After this difficulty Dodder did
geta warrant for me from Squire Cudde-
beck, over in Deerpatk. He there charged
that | had insulted him; but five or SIX
months have freshened his recollection,a aud
he now says that ASSAULTED and battered
him. believe there is some difference be-
tween the two charges. .'5 ''
"Dodder says he swore to the complaint
before Squire Cuddeback, and leave it
for you to say whether he tells the truth
now in saying that battered him. was
taken by a constable before the Squire,
and either because the Justice was asham-
ed of what he had already done or hadn't
time toattend TO it, Idoa't know which, it
went down. Two or three weeks after
that l was arrested again, and, my, wife
having been confined, 1 thought it best, as
. dutiful husband, to by around hum, SO
got nd oft be giving security for my ap-
pearance to court.
"You know, gentlemen, that I am in the
employ of the Mongaup Valley, Fores.burg,
and Port Jervis Plank Road Company as a
gate-keeper. This company, it seems, had
sufficient confidence in my integrity and
honesty to place mein that important sts-
ton, and even if should receive $4,000
and steal 81, 50oofit, that's between me and
the company, and it's none of Dodler's
business. Now, when the company sent
me up along this road to collect tolls, this
Dodder was one of the inhabitants found
= here in tie in the woods. and I will say
Tor him that he is very fair specimen of
the restof the population. But there ism I
any OF them that appreciate all the benefits
of this plank road. s.-i b.. ,,.--. .-.. 4 -r
= '1t let out to civilization class of peo-
pie who never before realized the idea that
there was such thing as civilized life, and
this Dodder is one of them. 1t is a fact
that soon after moved there young wo-
man, seventeen years old, cum down out of
the mountains on the plank road one day
and said she had never been out before
She fairly seemed surprised to see a white
man, and after asking few questions went
back into the woods. This Dodder was my
nearest neighbor, and good deal nearer
than I wanted him; and Ihadn't been there
long before | heard he had been lying about
me to one of the directors, and, i soon found
out that he wanted to get his son, who was
sworn here against me, in my place. But
he hasn't done it yet, and if you don't con-
vict me | reckon he WON'T very soon VI ea7
s '4twont take long to dispose of Dodder
No. 2. He testi6es that he saw me throw
three stones at his father, AMI saw the "olj
man dodge" OF his oss-examinaiion
he says that he was in his own house in tile
woods, and had 10 look over q, hill twenty
feet high, and also over three slab fences
and two stone walls! Well, il he tells the
truth, all ! wish is that I,had young Doll
der's eyesu He is certainlya remarkable
boy, and can't consistently deny his 'yathi
erI" stlibai iris an z,in.ss,a ,,a1s i-obi
.,g Il am willing to admit that 1 did wrong
to throw stones at DoddeE and Iapologize
to all the world, and this court particularly;
for it, The doctors tell US that there are
two causes for all diseases, prcdisposition
aud excitability. think it was the latter
cause that moved me to stone DodJerg' I
confess myself guilty Of the as.
sault, but the battery ! depys andif you
find me guilty Of lhe battery 1 viii appeal
from, the + decision to the Court of high
Heaven itself before / win sabmittoit. J q
'tNow, gentlemen, you saw Mr., Dodder
and heard him swear against me. Iasked