The Hillsdale standard. [volume] (Hillsdale, Mich.) 1851-1909, 1857-04-14
\ From the Toledo Commercial.
EATH SENTENCE OF WARD.

by trade, for the murder of his wife, at Sylv,
, MIA, short distance from Toledo, on Cd
Southern Railroad, and his subsequent tri,
7 and conviction.
The following sentence was passed b
Judge Fitch on RETURN j. M. WARD, at Tc
ledo, on Saturday the 4th inst:
Return ]. M. Ward, you have been indict
ed by the Grand Jury of this County, 70
the crimc Of murder in tho first degree: charg
ing that on the 4th day of February last
you made an assault upon Olive Ward, and
with deliberate and premeditated malice
did kill and murder her.
This is alleged to have been done, in ,
quiet village, in your own dwelling, and with
in few feet of other inhabited houses
The act was done secret and created no alarm
but the sudden disappearance of Mrs. WARD
required some explanation; this, you readily
gave. But, your appearance, and the i'm
probability OF your statements. with other
circumstances, excited the suspicion of your
neighbors, and led to the examination OF
your premises, which resulted in the discov-
cry Of portions of human bones in your stove,
and, ALSO in some ashes. which had been de-
posted in the rear of your house. These
circumstances coming to light, naturally cro-
ated no small degree of excitement in the
neghborhood. 1t seemed almost beyond hu-
man belief, that you could have DESTROYED
your wife, and then deliberately consumed
her remains, until, but little else than dust
and ashes were TO be found. Still, convic-
ton seems 10 have been forced upon the mind,
that it must be true. Your arrest followed,
and with it, an increasing anxiety to learn
by the result OF trial and judicial investiga-
ton, whether this charge was true or false
The trial came; jury selected of your own
chosing, impannelled and sworn
Your counsel have been jealous in your de-
fence. They have done all for you that their
learning, skill and eloquence could accom-
plish. A protracted and thorough examina-
ton Of the witnesses was permitted, and
patient investigation of all the circumstances
and facts, tending to throw any light upon
the subject, was pursued from day to da,
until the case, was finally submitted to the Jury.
That jury have passed upon the evidence,
and pronounced you guilty; and with that
verdict, after a careful revision of the testi-
mony am constrained TO say, l find no just
cause of complaint.
A further trial has been solicited by your
counsel, on tho ground that one of the ju-
rors who tried the cause had rendered him
self incompetent to serve as juror, by hav-
ing prejudged the case before taking his seat.
But the evidence submitted for the purpose
of establishing this fact has failed to satisfy
me. that be has flrmo9 nr avnrnssad arv
otner opinion Of your guilt or innocence, that
such as he stated on examination, prior to
his being sworn as juror, and which was not
considered by your counsel rs forming any
objection to his being placed upon the pannel.
/ have therefore denied the motion.
1t now becomes my painful duty to declare
to you that sentence which the law affixes to
the crime of which you stand convicted.
1t is, emphatically, the sentence of the
law. We, as a court, have no discretion
which we can exercise in your behalf Our
compassion and sympathy may be enlisted,
but they can afford you no aid the stern de-
mands of the law must he regarded, and its
awful penalty pronounced. We can hold
out to you no consolation or hope from any
earthly source.
The crime for which You are called upon
to atone is one Of great magnitude; the
highest known to our laws, and is punished
by the greatest penalty that man can infict.
God himself marked tho first offender, with |
strong and abiding evidences of his displeas-
ure, and in all civilized ages it has ever been |
regarded with horror and punished with sig
nal and marked severity. II cannot be con-
templated without exciting strong and pain
ful emotions. Who can calmly think of such
a scene where man tears from his helpless
bleeding victim that life which God alone
can give? Here the prisoner wept bitterly
Think not that the law has delt with you un-
mercifully; or, should you think that your
punishment was hard to be borne, look back
and think Of her whose spirit has been, by
your handS, forced unwarned and nnprepared,
into the presence Of a holy and just God,
there to be judged of the deeds dono here
below.
Think of the agony of that scene; when
the spirit fled with no pittying eye to weep,
no fond heart to sympathise, and no friendly
hand to close the dying eye, or to respond to
her last dying grasp! You and she alone;
she, whom you had sworn to love, honor and
protect, now before you, powerless, grasping
in the last agonics of death. What is your
fate compared TO hersi
1t is not my wish, on this occasion, to har-
row up your feelings by any ailusion to theso
scenes, which must be ever vivid to your mind.
They arc painful, but cannot be driven from
your memory while life remains I would
rather impress upon you, The stern necessity
Of preparing for death. 1t is common lot
of all men, but God in his mercy has not re-
vealed the time at which this great change
await US. We are all prone to regard it as
distant and 10 lay our plans from day 10 day,
aud from year to year, regardless of its silent
but sure reproach. We cling to life and do
not sufficiently contemplate the hour of death.
But with you, the charms, the cares, and the
busy scenes of life should now be forgotten.
They are no longer worthy Of your attention.
Your days are numbefed-a few more re-
volving suns and, with You, the scene must
be changed--you must pass TO the spirit land
there to dwell throughout the endles ages
Of ctcrnity-there to receive the reward or
punishment, which God in his infinite wisdom
and mercy may bestow.