The Winchester appeal. [volume] (Winchester, Tenn.) 1856-1856, 1856-05-03

| iCdShou ~ PoihI III tllc IOuu oPPoSilC
to it, the excitement of the horse rose
to so furious pitch that he became
almost unmanageable.
The whole party now checked their
horses, and for a moment regarcd the
strange conduct of the horse with pro-
found establishment. His flesh quiv-
crcd-his nostrils distcnded; and his
eye CHANGING into the wood where his
noble master had met his horrible fate
he stood for a moment, snorting and
ncighing--a sublime picture Of the
widest excitement.
One of the party suggested to MI.
Merriweathcr to give him the rein
that, meanwhile, had been tightly
drawn. This was done, and instant
ly the noble animal rushed into the
wood, and down to the identified tree
under which the body had been found,
and commenced paving at it's root
After moment he trotted out further
into the wood, and, after making a
semi-cirlce in his course, returned to
the same spot, and there stood neigh
ing, trembling and paving until he
was forced away. Similar exhibitions
were made by the horse a number of
times afterwards in passing the spot.
At this development in the testmo-
ny, thrill Of Feeling ran through the
the Court room like an electric shock.
Thus far the proof had traced out
the history of this mysterious murder
with a certainty too fearful to be doubt
ed; and had pointed to the pallicd
youth who sat in the prisoners dock as
the guilty agent thereof.
Justice tempered even with an I'M
strained mercy, seemed impatient for
the sacrifice, when the strong arm of
the law interposed its might and maj
csty to shield him. The venue I'M
proven, or even in doubt, would have
left to the tribunal of justice no other
alternave than to bid him to 60 out
again a free wanderer upon the earth,
with the blood and the guilt thick up
on him. But the God who 'marketh
the sparrow when he falls in his in
scrutablc Providence, had yet in re-
serve an eloquent witness against him
---whose faithful heart was steel to the
wiIes of the corrupter, and whose tes-
timony fell upon the astounded ears of
the jury, as
Confirmation strong,
AS proof Of holy writ"
No blood had ever been seen on the
road and no appearance of any strug-
gle there. If the killing had been
done in the road, the horse, whose rap
id flight and and wild fright must have
been occasioned instantly by the death
struggle, would have known nothing Of
the tree in the wood, The scene was
pictured before the mind of jury-as
if typed by the glorious Daguerre; the
decoy into the wood-the robbers de-
, mand for gold or blood--the death
: struggle at the trcc-and the instincts
, were destined to vindicatc, as if by {
: miracle, the unerring certainty of ret
| ribute justice; and thus the venue wa
proven-thus the doom of the prison
| er was sealed, and thus
1 A pebble in the streamlet
+. Hath turned the course ofmany river
Il A dew drop on the baby plant
Hath warped the giant oak forever.
q The verdict of the jury was, tina
). the prisoner was guilty, and sentenc
r of death was pronounced against hin
, which was afterwards committed t
J., Imprisonment for life in the State Pen
Il itentiary.
# In that gloomy catacomb Of huma
d hearts and hopes, where time is a
=. eternity. and by sense ofliberty los
William Peterson now expatiates hi
,. dreadful crime.-Georgm Constitution
r. aHst..