New Orleans daily crescent., 1857-12-14

a Scene q Jury Room
Il 4 THR ILIINas STORY. 4
Tonce had the extreme felicity Of leaving my busi
ness to serve upon y the jury plead in all manner
4 of ways III rslease, but "a no effect.
could not ewesr that was deal nor blind nor yei
formed an opinion. They asked mo If my opinion
would prevent me- from receiving the testimony in
Good faith. and rendering verdict according to it
replied that of course should weigh the evidence
formed that e would do"
The casc 70 be tried was one Of arson-then cap.
ifal 0anse and the prisoner at the bar was young
man manned Charles Ambold, whom had known
youtha Of the town where he resided He had wid.
owed mother who depended upon him for support
and hs pirce Of friends was large and choice. was
morally certain that be did not commit the crime
and hence, lam sure those who were friendly to him
llgdt me on the panel and succeeded in having me
| The trial commenced, and we twelve men took oul
seats in the jury box. had very respectable sci
with me only there was one man whom did not
was very dark faced, sinisterlooking man at least
70 me- knew that young Ambold had one fault
He had recently been addicted to drink, and had
been known TO visit dsreputable houses. 1t was one
or those houses that had been burned Tor setting fire
to which be had been apprehended. B 7S L 4
Now had often tried to persuade Charles Ambold
from the course he was pursuing. BE had frequently
promised me that he would reform and az repeatedly
had he broken away had often talked to him of bis
moor mother. until he had went like child hut the
effect was not lasting There was power Of tempta-
t0n more effective than any influence could WELD.
He would fall away into this evil companionship and
| for i while hjs manhood was zone one 81 two
abandoned women bad gained great power over him.
ana unorl them he wasted nnnch 81 iii substance,
And knew that this yery man who was now on
tha furry th;s Wnnlfan Wsrray, v vvaa the ana who
Mad done more than III oters Il IesS IN or vonth
away. Il wa warren who had drank with him, and
vho had led him avay "a those most abominable
haunts of ain and polution., Why was he upon the
iury could only account for It upon the ground
That Charley stiIi s;1pDdae him ID he hs fiand The
moor scorc6ed insect was sti ignorant Of the fame
fhat scorchsd hinn. He really beIieyed Warren vas
bia friend. s355
Tie trial commenced The Indictment set forth
that Charles Yntold had uvith alice oht
aI wh An aorta az wicked an felon01s intents set
6fe 10 certain dwelling house, thereby endabrering
human life. This dwelling al have already init.
mated was low sink OF iniduity. where the aban-
doned of both sexes were wont TO conQrerate and
where the youthful prisoner had spent much of his
time.
4 The evidence for the prosecution came on, and /
was startled. One after another oaye in their tes.
timony, some Of them very reluctantly, and was
the prisoner as the guilty party Several credible
witnesses syyore that thev lad heard him threaten
to burn the house down, and others had heard him
say repeatedly that lie wished 1t was burned down.
Then came several witnesses three Of them promn-
ent cjtizenswho saw him lurking about the premises
on the night OF The IRE, #
with regard to the proyocation on the prisoners
part for such deed It was proved upon his own ad-
mission that be had been i'll treated there and be
had sworn to have revenge And Furthermore. ii was
proved that he had been heard 10 say that his saliva
tion OF soul and body depended upon the destruction
Ut that house. And next came more testimony
stronger still.
q The fire had been set III back basement room
where shayiurs and other stuff for kndinr were kent
Entrance had been gained by a back window which
had been partly pried open with stout knife This
was found TIE blade Of knife which had been broken
off in trying to raise the sash It was recognized as
belonging 10 the prisoners knife a maker Of cut
lery bad made a knife to order for Ambold only 4
month previous, and be knew the blade at once, and
swore to IT. 5ss T1s1
But this was not ALL The fire had been evidently
set first to the shayinRs which Law upon the stone
floor, but piled up against wooden partition. This
door was damp and some Of the outer shavinas even
were not burned up. But Just at the edge when the
fire commenced, lay piece Of paper, rolled up, and
about half burned and from the manner in which it
lay, it was very evident that the fire had been set
with it, This piece OF rolled paper had been gn;ted
by match, number Of which were scattered
around and as soon as it was on fire, it had been laid
lpon the floor with the burning end inst in the shaw
ngs or course, these shayings we're in . blaze in
stantly; but the paper torch being upon the damp
stones, had not burned wholly up.
q And this paper was found to be part of a letter
belonging to the prisoner A letter which he had
received from friend Of his (and friend Of mines
only week 5efore That friend had to come for
ward and swear that piece of charred paper was
part Of letter he had written to the prisoner This
friends name was Stephen Grant He was Young
merchant and the letter had been written for the
purpose Of inducing Ambold to reform. Stephen
tried hard to avoid testifying for he knew as did
Others, that thefire must have been set with that
identical paper; he was summoned, and he could not
deny his own chirography.
The case looked dark. Many witnesses were will
ling to testify to the prisoners good qualities; but
one could swear that he was not dissipaed and de-
graded. That house had been to him indeed, region
Internal Its destruction cried out for bis bodily fe
Poor Charlie! had before been sure Of his inno-
cence; but now could only shake my head and pity
him. S'f sta
Finally, he was allowed to speak for himself. He
said he was innocent of the crime imputed to him.
He said that he had threatened to burn that house
downthat he had said about oil that had been sworn
to- And, Furthermore, he was around the house on
the night of the fire. He was not ten rods off when
the flames burst FORTH and he was one of the first to
give the alarm. He had uttered one;cry of fire when
he noticed where the flames must have originated
and the thought came to him il he were found there
he might be suspected of having set the fire, so be
ran away. s
He also said that three nights before the conagra
tion he had been robbed in that house. His pockets
had been robbed Of every thing in them, and his