Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1859-06-07
THE CASE OF PATRICK MURPHY.

!, THE CASE OF PATRICK MURPHY.
The following resolutions have been simu
taneously transmitted to the Governor oi III
E ginia and to this Office. Finding the cop.
4 which reaches lis, slightly different from tn
''original copy transmitted to the t;overnor
we have corrected ours, so as TO make the tw'
correspond precisely:
Public Meeting in Allegheny County.
At meeting OF the citizc;is OF the county "l .llc
.hany, ut the Court House. Friday, the eth da.
of May, s3" thc io!lpwin: resolution, were aioidc'
unanimously:
Resolved l,t, That We. the citizens of Acgian,
county. in meeting assembled dn no; approve "i th
course of Henry A. Wise. Governor Of the State o
Virginia, i'll granting further respite 10 Mnrlhy
aud most respectfully request that he give the ct'
ZEN Ui this county his rcl>oii> Tor 50 doing
, Resolved. I'd, That We have ever and sti wish &
Rbc by the laws of our country, but can no rca>o,
whatever. why the Governor should respite I,rd"r
the prisoner when by evidence he va, proven guilty
of the most hiia0Ns mHii,r. and i,und guilty !y -.
respectable and intrgcr, jury IL ever iIlcd ili'
box slice the days oil oarrcc"!cc,ipl, :d having thr
hcnctt oi three most able counsel.
Resolved, "d. That while our citizens. in Numbers,
are con.rc.acd Tor tile purpose "f witnessing tie
cAccutinn iiid finding u second Ic-litc granted IL
HIM, and therefore showing strong dcsirc To apply
Lynch law, Yet iurhcar act Violently. and hope
the Governor may see tla, law and evidence demand
the execution oil the 1t i;y oi luly ~ appointed 10y
himself.
It WAS further resolved. that copy Of these rc>o-
luton, be forwarded 10 the Governor, aud also 10 the
Richmond "Enqurer for publication:
CHARLES CALl.AGliAN, Chairman.
W. VI. NALL"N, Secretary.
The original copy sent to the Governor, was
accompanied by the following letter, u copy of
which we have secured from the files ut the
Capitol:
!. ne hoHe.ry, har I, NJ,
tnss,H"r" IIFWn;1.
Dear Sir:-l have the honor ui tr.Iii.inlttiu. TO
You the origins! cory Of solutions passed hy meet
Ing of the ci,Erl,> 81 Allc.iany in ir.ari to the
murderer Murphy We hal considerable eSrite-
mcn Oh Friday in regard 10 the iral,cr, ln succeed
cd i'll aaylng 1t 10y the actipn "l ne meeting II is
the opinion oi nineteen tNcetii- oi the citizens ci
the ,1Gu,y that lac i, guilty. therefore tlc excite
mvn;. Yours. most respectfully,
". NJ. M,LL"> sec. %! 'hc meeting.
I L. >.-Tho resolutions ar Published III the En-
quror. W. u. NJ.
We arc obliged To admit that the tone and
character of these resolutions are even worse
than their style Of composition or their def
4 cheney in grammatical accuracy OF expression.
Theproninent points to be observed. are.
| l>t. \ meeting Of excited citizens, nccc>sa-
rily ignorant of the facts of the cast a. cert.
fled Ia thc Executive, and upon which certified
facts the Executive is bound To act. slimnary
pronounccS condemnation of an act, the only
purpose Of which can be to secure time for full
consideration before proceeding to a final lc-
cision
I'd. The Executive is requested To give his
reasons for an act which his Iuc-tioncrs have
already condemned. without waiting for the
statement of such reasons
I'd. The meeting goes on to assert that they
"can see no reason for the Governors action.
18th. 1t seems TO he subject Of serious com.
plant that these good citizens have been dis
-, o,,;o,, '"af OF such specie:
numbers congrcgated for the purpose of wit
Messing it.
9TH ".A strong desire to apply Lynch law. y
9TH. An obvious threat: I'VE get forbcar TO
act violently, and hope the Governor may see
the law and evidence demand the execution on
the lst day Of July as appointed by himself
We propose to enter into no general discus
sion Of the improperly Of meeting assem-
bled for the purpose Of influencing the Exccu.
tive by popular clamor in case involving the
life of Il citizen, and where the Governors own
reason and conscience should furnish his only
guide in the examination Of law and facts.
\ reference TO the fifth section Of article 9TH
of the Constitution of Virginia, will satisfy the
Governor inqui>itors that he is bound to
'.givc reasons, for his action in cases like
! that under consideration, to 10 man or
body of men on earth. except TO the General
| Assembly Of Virginia 1t is true that the
, Governor is at liberty to publish his reasons
| for the consideration Of other persons But if
! we NAV he allowed TO express our own opinion,
we would say, ''f reasons were as plenty as
blackbcrric>, the Governor owes it 10 due
respect for law, liberty and public order to
furnish no reasons under the "compulsion' Of
threat issued hy an in>urrcctionary assem-
! blage.
As for the threat itself its publication is
alone sufficient To render it altogether harmless.
The civil and military authorities of the county
| and the State are forewarned in time of dis
position ON the part Of certain persons to act
Judge Lynch, unless Patrick Murphy shall be
! legally executed on the lSt .Iuly-and they
have full power TO perform their duty under
the circumstances. Nay, we have no fear,
whatever The sood citizens of .tllcghany
/ county. animated by the sentiment of good
citizenship which p.rvalc> the people OF this
Commonwealth, will never permit human life,
in the keeping Of officers of the law, TO he sac
rifccd by any mob, however dc,irous of wit
Messing capital execution
And if We know, as we think we Ito, the man
who occupies the position Of Governor Of |ir-
ginia. all attempts to intinidatc him will prove
worse than useless. We earnestly hope more
over, that Gov Wi>c's own view Of his public
duty will be such as 10 permit him to grant
Murphy at least an additional rcspitc-if it be
but for ono day This would, in our opinion
furnish fit rcbuhc to a manifest attempt to
ovcrawc II public lunctionary into acquicsccnce
with the wishes Of persons who have no right
Of authority whatever.
At all events. We confidently anticipate that
the Governor will not commit the impropriety oi
furnishing reasons to the meeting whose resoin-
tons wchavc published.
Since the Govcrnor's departure from this CITY,
we have been permitted to examine all the pa
pcrs transmitted to him. The petition for par
don, or communication Of punishment. is signed
by o7l residents of Alleghany county. FROM
the other papers, it appears that serious DIS
agreement exists between the Bench and the