Lynchburg daily Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1852-1861, 1859-04-09

| impress your MIND, by the citation of some Of
those general principles as recognized in the
administration II criminal justice.
Mr.. Guild then proceeded to read from Wharton,
pages 3s. i6s. LII. ITO, 1872 1872, 1877, and I99
The rules. gentlemen, by which the crime OF
murder is tested ara not Of to-lays or yesterdays
growth. They have come down L, US cousecrated
by time, and have met the approval If Just. wise,
aud good men. While changes in other respects
| have be, n made in the law which governs and
controls the relations of man to man. while the
hand Of reform and innovation has been busy in
tearing down and remodcling other portions of
| the structure OF human Justice the groat grand
old common law with respect to this offence, in
stead of being impaired. has been cemenicd and
strengthened by time. Springing like nh arch as
it were. over the vast chasm which separate. the
remote past from the present. they have become
stronger by the pressure of centuries. The max
! inns OF the common law relating to the crime Of
murder based upon common sense and COM
mon justice. However technical that common
! law may be In other respects here it deals alone
with tho fact. All it's features are essentially hui
man. Tho figures Of these great old masters, even
our rough-hewn ancestors. as portrayed to us in
the light of their own nI,xims, revealed to US
living. actual men, like unto ourselves. These
principles owe their entire strength, and I may
say, also, their yeracity, to their humnnty-not
the modern. sickly. sentimental humanity, but one
that is God-fearing and men-oving.
Art while thus they allow n sufficient. to,era.
ton of the weakness OF our common nature, they
form as it were at the same tmo the very pedestal
upon which rests the sublime figure Of public U.S.
tce. Whenever those principles perverted,
whenever they are warped for the purpose Of
shielding criminal, whether he be humble or
powerful the blow is struck Mt both humanity and
Justice. Society gentlemen has its human cries,
as well the solitary prisoner, and il they come
up to in the swell of uncounted voices, they
are no less wrong. The jury that sends its deliv
GRANGE to the offender, whose stains not wash
Ell of by the evidence in the trial, is itself moral
! " dirclct to the high obligations which humanity
alone imposes upon him. These practices, gentle
men. relating to the law Of murder. have been
! proved by experience to be evidently wise and
/ Just, that in no civilized court that | have heard
of has there ever been any essential departure
/ from it. Innovations, even in it's widest mo-
mcnts, gentlemen Of the jury never vet have
suggested the propriety Of allowing revenge AZ
either of justification or even a palliation of the
crime of murder.
Human society could exist upon such basis.
civilization itself would become an imposition
The common law has the most sacred regard for
human rights 40 sacred that even the rankest
criminal who has assumed unto himself the func
tons Of judge, jury and executioner is himself
given by that law the privileges of fair and i'm
partinl trial 1t gives to-day to Daniel f. Sicklrs.
the prisoner at the bar. not only what lie denied
t, his victim nm impartial jury and an upright
Judge, but until he is proven guilty, clothes him
IN the spotless robes of innocence.
/ How long the facts that may he proven in tho
progress Of this case, how long the presumption
of innocence in his favor will control the facts Of
the case, rs they may be given to you in evidence,
is for YOU to determine. How soon, gentlemen,
! that presumption will be suppanted by annthor,
+ terrible to the prisoner is one which the law au.
III ri1es and commands you to draw In addition
To this second presumption the proofs in this case
/ will show. further expressed malice the
part Of the prisoner Mt the bar towards the de-
ceased. is for you to decide.
You sit there, gentlemen. under the law of the
land. No prince potenate ever exercised
higher function than that You are called upon to
perform: it is M solemn as death; it is as m men
t,us a. life. Your conscienccs have been purgrd
by the ordeal of the court and you have s"emnly
sworn you competent to decide upon the guilt
or innocence of the prisoner Mt the bnr
You sit there, gentlemen. rs jurymcn, and not
~ legislators Whether the law be wise or fool
ish--whether it inhcts too severe too mild
punishment. is concern. You are there to find
the facts, and not to amend the law. You mil ht
as we'll annu the law which empanels you. rs to
attempt to alter Sc. aside the law which defines
or establishes the crime of murder; nor, gentlemen
Of the jury, have you anything to do with the
punishment which the law affxes to that crime.
! The responsibility rests olone with the lawma-
king power, and the propriety of its exercise and
ADMINISTRATION is a question addressed exclusively
to the wise discretion of the Executive, who can
sheath the sword of justice, or let it fall upon the
| guilty head
Your duties and responsibilities, gentlemen of
! the jury, are solemn and momentous enough,
without assuming others that do not belong to
You. You sit there to try the issue between the
prisoner at the bar and the prosecution of the Uni
tod States, which alleges that the law has been
| ri lated.
/ The issue thus made up. you to try.
| The responsibilities that attach to the consequent
| ccs of that issue rest elsewhere. Nav more. gem
tlemcn OF the jury those consequences themselves
Independent even of their responsibilities. are in
the hands Of the law and in the keeping If the
wise, mrrcifu and just God.
I | know not, gentlemen of the jury, what will
hc The peculiar line of the defence in this case;
! ii dll, it would hardly be proper for me- t, al
lulc to it at this time. If, however, gentlemen,
it be legal. and it be proved to your satisfaction.
let the prisoner 60 free. Lei him g free as the
| winds Of heaven.
If, however, on the other hand. it be not legal,
if it receive not the sanction of the law, if, be-
Ing legal, it be not proved, | charge YOU gentle
men of the urv,hy the duty that You owe to your
selves, and to your country, and to your God,
to snte the ready hand Of violence everywhere
by verdict, and to proclaim to the four
| quarters of the now listening world that there
is virtue yet left in Jury, no matter how high
the position or lofty the pretensions Of the ohen-
der
When the district attorney lad concluded, the
following witnesses for the government were sworn
in:
Thos. Woodward Annie G. Kngsland. VIM.
Behee f. W. Cone the Hon. Hiram Wnlhridge.
i Ell G. West, 81. Dillon. Barney Hay. Daniel
| pngher,v, j. d. II r,ver. Eugene Pendetn. Dr..
C"lidec Dr. Stone, r. y. D ,wncr Francis DOYLE,
/. f. Martin. j, y. Reed, Philip r Van Wycke.