The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1857-04-23
THE PACIFIC
Commercial Advertiser.
A THRILLING SKETCH.
THE LAWYERS BRIDE.

OLD JUDGE REMsEN, of Cowan, was fond of telling
his early experience at the bar. My first case, de
would say, came upon me unexpectedly, after L had
waited a considerable time for d client. The way L
came to get it, was this:
A young girl, Helen Montressor, was TO be tried at
our County Court for stealing a breastpin, valued at
four dollars, and twenty dollars in gold, from the
trunk of her employer, James Wesley, merchant in
the town of Bedford. The theft, which was detected
FIVE weeks before, oecaSioned quite a talk at the time,
as the girl was beautiful. and Wesley and his wife
Eunice were anything but that, besides being gen
orally detested. People said Helen had been treated
shanefully by her mistress, who was jealous OF her;
and it was even limited that there had been foul play
in the prosecution for theft. The subsequent trial OF
a gang of counterfeiters and horse-theves had so alb
sorbed public attention, that the. case of Helen Mon
tressOr was forgotten, and no one seemed to care for
her fate. But when she was placedin the prisoners
box, her beauty riyeted every eye, and when the
Judge asked her who was her counsel, and she mod
estly replied she had none and no money to pay a
lawyer, there was not a member of the bar present
who would not willingly have undertaken her Case.
The Judge, after looking rount for a moment hxed his
eye on me-. and said, 8 Mr.. Remsen, you will please
act as this young lady's counsel started as though
| had been shot. Luckily a juror was taken i'll, and
the, Court adjourned till ten next morning, or | am
afraid | should have made sad work with nay clients
case.
AS I left the courtroom / looked at my watch; 1t
was eleven, so | had but twenty-three- hours TO pre-
pare. | called upon the District Attorney and asked
to see the indictment, and the evidence taken before
the Justice of the Peace. As he tumbled over a pile
of documents in search of the papers he said, The
Judge must have a spite against you. Remsen, to put
you in such a tight place. and yon a green hand.
No ofence,'' he added, as he observed the rising color
of my cheek" no offence; | simply meant that you
are inexperienced. There are the documents; take
them home with you-only be sure to bring them to
Court tomorrow. You will see that your client has
not a chance
1 was annoyed at this light reference to my client,
for whom [ already entertained deep respect, and be-
lieved innocent; but [ said nothing. fastening TO
my office, I locked myself in and commenced the
analysis of my case, The evidence consisted of the
testimony Of James and Eunice Wesley, Sarah Brown,
q seamstress, Charlotte Boyce, a domestic, and
Thomas Hannegan, a man-of-hIl-work employed by
the Wesleys. Hannegan's evidence seemed straight
forward and truthful, and so did the servant girls.
/ made up my mind that they were not untriendiy 70
my client, and that | would seek an interview with
them, although it would ne~cessitate a journey to Bed
ford. In Miss Browns testimony I at once detected
intense malice. and determined TO harrow her unmer-
cifully in cross-examination. Wesley's evidence was
similar in style and matter to that of Hannegan; but
Mrs. Wesley's was full, dscursive and acrimonious
such as that, 6 She had always believed Helen to be
a viper, but her husband upheld the trollop." To
my mind the case seemed clear; Mrs. Wesley herse1
had put those things in Helen's trunk.s
I next went to the Court House and requested Mr.
Mace, the Sheriff, who lived in the wing of the build.
ing, to introduce me to the prisoner. He conducted
me to her cell. Although the bolts Changed heavily
Is they sprang from the locks, our entrance did not
seem to attract her attention. She was standing with
clasped hands before her grated window. gazing a
the SKY. line Shefln tOucneu ner arm, dnu SiSlul
Miss Montressor, Mr.. Remsen, is the lawyer who Ii
to manage your case, and he wants to see you" She
started, turned quickly round, and made an incllna
ton of her head, to indicate her readiness to listen
but she said not a word. The Sheriff left the cell
and we were alone. Conscious that every nomen
was precious, | said:
Miss MontressOr, we must throw aside ceremony
and communicate frankly upon this painful business
I believe you are innocent. The thing is to -prov'
you so. This promises to be difficult; but 1 an no
without hope. If you will tell ME frankly what you
experience has been with the Wesleys, my task ma.
be lightened."
[ then put a series of questions, and learned sh
was fifteen years old; that she had lived with Mrs
Wesley, who had been married about eight years
that she had lived with q kind old gentleman, names
Gregory, who taught her to call him grandpa: tina
Mrs. Wesley, who was then called Miss Naesmith
lived with Mr.. Gregory, also; that he seemed afrait
of Miss Naesmith; that Miss Naesmith inherited al
his property and married Mr.. Wesley about a month
after he died; that she told her never to call hin
grandpa any more, for he wasn't any relation TO her
that the day on which old Mr.. Gregory died he gave
her a sealed packet, and told her not to let Eunice SCI
1t, but to give it tOa certain lawyer, when he returned
TO town. for it would make her a rich young lady
and then he cried and said he had let Eunice have
her own way too much; that she fell asleep with thu
packet in her lap, and when she wokeu up 1t was gone
and she never dared ask any questions about 1t; tina
Mrs. Wesley hated her, and beat her, and treated he
like a slave, and that she sometimes thought 0
drowning herself, she was so miserable; that Mr.
Wesley said improper things to her; that he was
0& -rS $500 ~0% hoNE 49, $500
the day on which her trunk was searched, she Wa
on an GRAND to the ministers, was gone about az
hour and a half, and on her return was taken VI
stairs to see her trunk opened before she had pullel
off her bonnet and shawl; then she was sure Mrs
Wesley had put things in her trunk while she wa
out, because she (Helen) had overhauled it tina
morning, and they were not in then; but whethea
! Mr.. Wesley knew about it she could not say, although
she rather thought he did, because he looked guilt,
when his wife was opening the trunk
Telling the poor girl to cheer up, | went to tn
Sherif's sitting-room, where l found Mrs. Mace.
at once informed her that in my opinion Miss Mon
tressor was a prosecuted girl, and hoped she woulc
try to cheer her up, SO that she could enter the court
room with a good heart on the morrOw;-this the
kind-hearted woman promised to do, and | hastene6
to my office. My brain was in q whirl. Gregory
grandpa-the packet which was to make her q rich
young iady-its mysterious disappearance Wha
could all this mean Was old Mr.. Gregory really
Helen's grandfather? Was the packet his last vii
and testament, bequeathing his property to her
Andha Eunice Naesmith, now Wesley, stolen it from
the child as she slept, she might clutch the property
by virtue of a former will which had been f0rcea
from the old man ? He cried, and said he had LEI
Eunice have her own way too much I" Her own
way about what 2 | felt certain that I had got or
the track of great yiIlainy, and thought l could I'M.
derstand the reason for Eunice Wesley's hatred~o
Helen, and her desire to blast the poor girl char
acter. After spending a half hour in arranging my
plans, l ordered a carriage and drove to Bedford.
It was two when [ reached the village. I wished
first to see Hannegan, Wesley's serving man. By
H..