Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1856-07-21
EVENING STAR.
MR. BROOKS BEFORE THE COURT

Owing TO the late hour at which the sscopy"
reached our composing room, several typo
GRAPHICAL errors crept into our original publica-
tion of the speech delivered by Mr.. Brooks, Of
Carolina, when about to be sentenced by the
Criminal Court for this county for his assault
on Senator Sumner. As sthese errors perverted
the sense Of his remarks in some particulars,
we take occasion to republish q corrected copy
of his speech delivered on that occasion; as
| follows:
May it please your honor May be per-
mittcd to say word Judge Crawford
| Certainly L appear in person before this
| honorable court simply to receive its judg-
| ment L would have preferred that the per
| son upon whom the assault was committed
| had been present TO answer whether or not his
| speech which hbelled my State and my blood
was printed before its delivery in the Senate.
| L feel confident that, un Ter oath, he could not
| have denied this fact, which, with due defer
| ence to your honor, L regard as material to
| my defence, inasmuch as a libel is contrary to
| law, and to that extent would operate in ex
| tenuation Of my offence.
| would like to have inquired of him, in
person, as to the degree of his personal inju-
| ries, and to have been informed in what way
he could reconcile that part 0f his statement
|
| was made with the sentence which immedi-
ately succeeds this language in his testimony
before the investig ating committee, and which
| is as follows:
| while these words were passing from his
| (my) lips, he commenced a succession of blows
with heavy cane on my bare head, By the
first Of ,chiek I ,ras stunned so as to lose
sight"
| 1t would have gratifed me had be been COM
PEELED to answer under oath as to the violence
Of the first blow, which l aver was but a tap,
| and intended to put him on bis guard
| But, sir, he is conveniently and deliberate
| ly absent and on travel, notwithstanding but
six days ago this case was postponed On &C
count OF his extreme indisposition and the ma
terislity of his testimony; and yet, with all
| these advantages, prefer to receive the judg-
ment Of the court tha to continue in suspense
| 1t is not NY purpose to adduce any evidence
| in defence
| L have already accomplished more than half
of the journey of life, and this is the first time
tn it has been my misfortune TO be arraigned
before any judicial tribunal as a breaker of
any law Of my country. confess, sir, and
without shame, that my sensibilities are
| disturbed by my novel position, and L have
| but to express my profound regret that. in
| discharging a duty imposed upon me by my
| own sense Of right and the sentiment Of the
gallant people it is my pride aad honor to rep
resent, l am constrained, as a consequence, TO
| approach you as yiolatOr, and not as
maker, of the laws.
In extenuation Of my offence, permit me to
| say that no extraordinary power of invention
| is requisite to Imagine variety OF personal
| grievances which the good of society and even
public morality require to be redressed and
| yet no adequate legal remedy may be had
| 30, also, are there cases which may fall under
| the condemnation of the letter Of the law, and
yaf glon ;Ior 81.
ties. The villain who peryerts the best feel
lngs OF the better sex, and rewards unsus-
pectlng devotion with ruin; may bid defiance
to this honorable court. But, where sister
dishonOr is blotted out with the blood of her
destroyer, an intelligent and wholesome pub
lie opinion, imbodied in an intelligent and
virtuous jury, always has, and always will,
control the law, and popular sentiment will
applaud what the books may condemn.
1t is the glory of the law that it is founded
In reason. But can that reasoning be Just
which is not regardful of human feeling? Sir,
no one knows better than yourself that such a
reproach does not rest upon our Jurisprudence;
for, even the stern letter of the law touches
with tenderness the husband who slays in the
act the usurper Of his bed. The child who
kills in defence of its parent is excused by
the law, which is ever regardful of the vir-
tuous impulses of nature.
BY a parity Of reasoning, patriotism is re-
garfed by every nation upon earth as the car.
dinal political virtue. Laws are made to re-
ward 1t, and TO perpetuate the names of those
who are its eXemplars And can it be ex-
pected-will it be required-that L, with a
heart to feel and an arm to strike, shall pa
tiently hear and ignobly submit while my po-
litical mother is covered with insult, and OBJ
loquy, and dishOnor while her character is
slnndered and her reputation libelled
Sir, the substance which have been gath
To-, = 4 L
body may be consigned TO the common JAIL
| my life itself may DO forfeited, but will be
! true to the instincts of my nature-true to
the home of my nativity, and to the mother
that bore me.
The first political lesson which my ripening
| faculties fully cOmprehended and appreciated
was the high moral and social obligations Of
every citizen to bow himself to the majesty of
the law. In obedience to the precepts Of nv
youth which are sanctioned by the experience
and judgment of mature years, L submit my
case to the discretion of the court with entire
confidence, that while you, sir, a magis-
trate, perform your whole duty to your coun-
try and yourself, you will remember that in
every regulated community public opinion
distinguishes between crime and honorable
resentment, and tolerates the refuge which
men sometimes seek in the magnanimity Of
the judges.
Upon the conclusion Of Mr.. Brookss re-
marks, Judge Crawford proceeded TO give tho
following decision:
GAS this matter will be within a short time
the subject of legal investigation in another
place, and as it is not necessary to the dis
charge Of my duty that 1 should remark on
the evidence adduced, which 1 could not do
without touching on some of the points that
will probably be raised elsewhere, it appears
to me to be proper that the sentence of the
Court should be pronounced without COM
ment. That sentence is that the defendant
nay q fine of $500"
LIBEL IN DIRECTORY "A curious action
was brought before the civil tribunal at Paris
A jeweller, in respectable way of business
demanded damages from the proprietors of a
Partisan directory, called "Bottin's- Alma
mack" for having scandalously ridiculed him,
by adding to his name a course epithet, APP
piled to husbands deceived by their wives,