The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1859-05-11
1From the Correspondent ofthe y. Y Times.1
CLOSING SCENES OF TIE SICKLES
TRIAL
WASHINGTON, Tuesday, April 2s.

IL.
WASHINGTON, Tuesday, April 26.
The closing scenes of the Sickles trial were
exceedingly impressive and exciting. The
Jury retired at precisely ten minutes before 2
o'clock The room was crowded with specta-
tors, and instinctively every eye was turned
| towards the clock. Every inmate that passed
was set down as fresh proof presumptiye of a,
disae aereement The crowd gradually broke up
into groups The counsel of Mir. Sickles
gathered around the dock, Mr.. S.. himself was
as calm and self-possesseda as usual, and conyers-
ed with his friends, most of whom spoke only
words of hope and encouragement.-while a
few vcntured to warn him of the chances of an
adverse result. His only reply was: Il am
prepared for the worst" though his manner
indicated that hope was completely dominant
For time silence had prevailed in the Court
room, but as time wore on this gave way to
the buzz of whispering voices. Col. Selden.
the Marshal, had taken possession of the
witness-box and kept up steady conversation
with the Judge. The appearance OF knobby
little policeman, who came in and ordered out
chairs for the Jury, made the assurance doubly
sure of those who expected disagreement
The Jury had asked for fire. Clearly they
were to make night oft. The hot, uneasy,
jammed and nervous crowd was working itself
up to pitch ofmost unnecessary but very nat
ural excitement, and, like all crowds in such a:
| state, grew every moment more open mouthed
credulous and greedy of the very worst possi-
BILE conjecturcs. The prisoner meanwhile, let
me say 20 his credit bore himself with perfect
| ly unaffected calmness and self posses son;
though the anxiety and the suggestions of
his friends were eminently calculated to upset
any mans composure.
At length, Just as the clock struck three,
fhera xyaS a ra N hoard from inSi6a Of fbo door
of the Marshal's room. 1t was not very loud
rap, but it electrified the crowd, reused the
wearied Judge, silenced the buzzing groups
The news, in the usual mysterious way of news
had come utbefore the jury. Nobody brought
| it; but the little white door of the jury room
had hardly swung halfway open before there
| ran through the Courtroom the illsuppressed
murmer,y" He as acquitted! The jury followed
their verdict, and it..seemed an age befrre they
had all filed, one by one, back into their box
their venerable Foreman, Mr.. Arnold, at their
head. "Gentlemen of the jury said the
Clerk, in his dry, official tone '-have YOU a.
| greed upon your verdict" ..We have" replied
Mr.. Arnold in a soft, low voice ..Stand up,
Daniel E. Sickles,'' said the Clerk The pris-
oner rose. GLOW say you, gentlemen of the
Jury, do you find tn: prisoner at the bar. as
indicted; guilty or not guilty." "NoT
Ii anybody still persisted In doubling which
way ran the cympathies of the Washington
people in this case, 1 think his skepticism must
have given way before the scene which follow
ed. The decorum of the court went off at once
in most irregular bat irrepressible cheering.
The Judge and the Marshal did their best in a
quiet way to repress this outburst of enthusi-
asm, but they were merely doing formal duty,
and the movement was rather informal for all con-
cerned, and so the judicial accents were lost in
the general clamor. / do not think, however,
that either the Judge or Marshaltook this mis-
conduct ver.y seriously to heart. or that it was
felt to be a very dangerous assault upon the Dig
nifty of the Bench and the Court
1t restored itself to order as soon as its first
flush was over, and suffered Mr. Stanton to ask
of His Honor s'the discharge of the prisoner"
That His Honor did order the discharge of the
prisoner is presumable, though it was not easy
for anybody to hear his reply, or to make out
anything very clearly that followed, till Mr.
Sickles was seen thankingthe Jury for his "safe
deliverance. There were few carriages
drawn up in front of the Court house. and into
one of these, through a dense mass of shouting
and cheering men, Mr.. Sickles was hurried,
not without difficulty, by his friends. and driv-
en- rapidly off to the house of his friend, Mr..
MeBlair on Presidents square
There he was received with genuine well
come by the ladies ofthe family, but could not
so easily escape from the congratulation of the
hundreds of persons, officers of both services,
clergymen of various denominations, lawyers
and citizens generally, who insisted upon testi-
flying their belief that, in the acquittal of Mr.
Sickles, the Jury had simply vindicated the
natural sanctities of the family and the home |
Messrs. Brady, Chiffon, Stanton, Phillips !
and others of Mr.. Sickles' counsel were not for
gotten in this outburst of the popular feeling,
but were felcitated at the National Hotel on the |
happy result of the their labors by succession
of enthusiastic crowds. From first to last this |
community has spoken with but one voice on
this matter, and everything that has come to
light in the course of the trial, has contributed
to deepen the emphasis of satisfaction and of
sympathy with which the citiz, ms and the
house-holders of Washington hail the verdict
of "acquittal' this day rendered.
AN INCIDENT.
As an instance of feeling among the people,
[ may mention touching incident which oc-
Cured just as I left Mr. Sickles. An old
ruitman from the neighborhood of George
sown, came in with basket of fresh oranges
md said. "Mr. Sckles, am asp6or man. but I
have wife and child at home; whom Islove,
md !. if you will take this poargif. as q token
# hoRI honor man who hastaught me- h6s
o defend them, will be made most happy"