The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1858-09-08

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 if he were found there, he
might be suspected of having set the fire,
so he ran away. He also said that three
nights before the confagration; he had
been robbed in that house. His pockets
had been emptied of every thing in them,
and his pocket book containing forty dol
lars in money, and some valuable papers,
had been taken. He had gone there on
the night of the fire to try and persuade
them to give him back his money and
papers-or at least to get back what he
could. When he got there, he saw man
60 in whom he did not wish to see, so he
had hung around, waiting for him to de-
part. lie was around by the back part
of the building once-and that was an
hour before the fire broke out. He knew
nothing of it--nothing. He clasped his
hands, and with his fearless eyes raised
toward heaven, he called on God to wit
ness that he was Innocent
/ have told you that / knew him well.
l knew him so well, that from that mo-
ment l knew him to be innocent!
knew his very soul! l knew how free and
open it was-ah! how sinfully so!-and
knew that there was no falsehood in
the story he had told us. "..
"My boy is innocent! My boy is in
nocent."
1 heard the cry-and l saw an old
woman sink back into the arms of male
Icompanion. 1t was his poor mother! her
heart was well nigh broken! Yet I saw
that all this had but little effect upon the
mass of the spectators. The prisoners
course of dissipation his many threats
against the house--and the very fact of
his having been robbed and abused there
were heavy against him.
The counsel for the prisoner made his
speech, which was labored and hard He
was foolish enough to intimate that if his
client araS around at the back part of the
house he must have been intoxicated. In
short his plea had better been left out
The evidence he could not shake, and he
did all he could to oppose evidence, some
of 1t most absurd and ridiculous. / af-
terward learned that Moulton Warren en-
gagged that lawyer for the youthful pris-
oner! The government attorney made
his plea. 1t was plain, straightforward
and very conclusive. --a." z7..1
The judge finally gave his charge He
was fair and candid. He reviewed the
evidence carefully and pointed out such
as bore heavily upon the case. He told
us if there was a lingering doubt in oul
minds we must give the prisoner the bene
6t of it. But could plainly see there
was no doubt in his mind.
I Wc-the jury-were conducted to oul
room by an officer, and there locked up
i A silence of some minutes cnsued. Moul
ton Warren was the first to speak: a
SWELL" he said, m s'pose there's M
!, need of our bein' here great while. 0
course we all know that the prisoner mus
, have set fire to the house!"
: There was something in the manner o
that man as he said this which excited
/ my curiosity-I won't say 1t was sus
; picion then-only curiosity. He spok
with forced effort at calmness which
ct once perceived. The more l locke,
S at him, the more l became strangely ner
vous and uneasy. l wondered why h
should be so anxious to get rid of tn
,ho1l
: knew that he had frequented that evi
0 house, and that he had done much towar
4 tempting Charley to dissipation. l kne'
4 he was in tha. house on the night o
= which the prisoner was robbed-for Char
I. ley had told me so when visited him i
: his cell. l had then asked the unfortu
e nate youth if he was sure Warren was hi
n friend. Oh--he was sure of it. II
b should have hunted him up on the nigl
# of his robbery, only they told him Wa
= rem had gone. -@ ". ..-a.s-eE
q By the by the foreman proposed tn;
}. we should each take up piece of papt
t and write down our opinion, and the
l compare notes. went to my hat, whic
d had placed npon table with numb'
k of others, and took out sheet of pape
d l had got half way back to the table WHIT
8 l found l had made a mistake. l he
e got part of letter from another man
u hat. l was about to turn back when Il
d name of the writer o. the letter arrest'
r my attention. 1 looked more closel
!. and read "Stepnen Grant" Next
'r caught this sentence: saa a.-rs.rs
st "And now, dear Charles, if not for yo
r; own, yet for your mothers sake, let L
ot hope you will do better" -si.. . 60. a
started as though shot had stru
es me. held in my hand the other half
,s the sheet which had been used to fire t
ar burnt house! went to the table al
d found that had taken it from Moult'
a WarreE's hat! looked to see if hi
pt been observed--and I had not. Up
I'd the paper back, and then took a pie
~ from my own hat, which was of the SAL
is pattern as the other, and by it's side.
az / returned to the table and sat dow
Warren was by my side. He had writ
lynsf