Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1859-09-08


sorrow which is felt by you and your friends,
the necessary consequence of your own acts.
But what ought TO be dones When the sur
seon finds a limb Incurably diseased, he apple
the knife and cuts of the member before II de
stroys the 1hole system, and bis act is humane
Upon the same principle, when member Of so
ciety becomes SO morally diseased as to perpe
trate crimes, and thereby endanger the cOmmu
nifty in which he lives, society must protect it
self as far as il safely may from. the evil infu
ence of that member; and, under our law, in ca.
ses of the greatest crime. we even go TO the ex
tent of taking away the life of the offender. Blu
il is all for the preservation of social order Tha
is the principal object of punishment, and th'
tue ground upon which it may be justified.
| How then is it with your ease7 You have beer
| found guilty of burglary. The evidence showed
three distinct burgiaries- True, the most I'M
poriant evidence against you was the Testimony
| Gf John West, your accGml,lice; but il must be
confessed that his testimony bore pretty strong
impress of truth, and it was certainly corrobora
ted not only with respect to the crime itself, but
also your participation in the commission of it.
The crime itself. ascertain il from the ev-
iieAce thnrgb grave ore, is not OF the great
| est magnitude; bit ii woa!d be unreasonable to
atfx the same punishment AZ II vOu had been Of
good character and correct department. l viii
do no more, however. than to s!lade to yoGr de-
linauencies. bat il canuot Ice denied that hen
you are intOxica ted-and that is very ofteI-
your presence is nightmare upon this whole
community.
The term Of your confinement in the pen.en-
tary will be FIVE years. You will there be kept
at hard labor during that time. Aud | trust
that you will profit by the moral and spiritual
instruction there afforded, administered, as it
is. by persons much more competent for the task
than could be.
JONAH BRIGGS: You have been indicted for the
crime of burglary committed at the store of L. T.
Dorsey & Co. Your case was submitted to
fair jury. a very able defence has been made for
YOU and your companions, and the verdict is
that you are guilty. Can you say anything why
the sentence required by law should not now be
passed?
The defen dant answered that he was not
guilty. ..
As others who have been jointly indicted with
you have not been tried. will not speak of
your case so fully as / otherwise would.
think it sufficiently appears that few men and
boys in the southeastern part, of the county
mised by such pernicious works as the 'Life of
John A. Murreli"-were forming themselves into
a band of robbers; that you belonged to that
band, and taat you had secret cave to conceal
the fruits Of your crimes, and the evidence
tainly shows your participation in the crime
charged in this indictment
Your fate ought to be warning to every boy
in the county, that crime will surely be punished;
that the delinquent may escape for awhile, but
at last he must bring disgrace upon himself and
sorrow upon his friends; and there is no sorrow
like that sorrow which the felon brings upon his
friends.
ain satisfied that you have been mised by
older and worse men, and this fact has much
force in determining the length of time you must
be imprisoned. The judgment Of the Court is,
that you be imprisoned in the penitentiary and
kept at hard labor five years, and that you pay
the costs of prosecution. And NAV your con-
inement be a salutary lesson as well as a pun
ishment, so that at the expiration of the term,
you may enter upon the discharge of your duties
a better man than l can hope you now are.
There, however, you will receive instruction as to
your duties from persons fully competent to give
it; and may you and your unfortunate young
companions profit by that instruction!
EBENEzER KNAPP: You have been convicted on
the same Indictment with Jonah Briggs. Have
you anything to say why sentence should not be
passed upon you?
Answer-Nothingt TO say.
Your guilt is clearly proved. / will add moth
ing to the remarks made to your companion in
crime. The judgment of the Court is that you
be imprisoned in the penitentiary and kept at
hard labor for five years, and that you pay the
costs of prosecution.
ISAAC SuTroN: You also have been convicted
upon the same indictment. Can you urge any
thing why sentence of the law ought not to be
passed upon you?
Answer-Not guilty.
The case is also proved against you by salts
factory evidence. An effort was made IN YOUR
case to prove that you were at home, near Bell
air. on the night of the robbery. 1 sincerely re-
grettcd to discover. near the close Of the evi-
dence, tha, vour effort must entirely fail. The
judgment OF the Court i, tha5you 10 Imprisoned
in he peniJentiary and kept al hard labor. Ion
five years, ANA that you pay the costs Of pFosecu
ii IN.
CARTER SUrTox: You also have hccG convicted
ou he same indictment. Have y0u ANYTHING c
say why I should not sentence y0a?
Ars~eT-A!! that was psa5rd against -nv Was
having that ru;e. Il the Joett @o4lu grant as-
Il new trial prove iha, / had dat RE
for more tnAn two yerr>.
Your guilt is also found ;,v ,ie jury. J -h'ak
he verdicS IS right. althous4 the ta>e agsiiisi
you not quite so strong -sdt aga.ast youf
in crime. In view 81 your youth. |
and the fact that older persons proba bly, msled |
you, and from the further fact that ! do no; |
think you have so far advanced in crime as the |
others, am disposed TO infiict you lighter |
punishment and hope that this act of lsniency |
to You and your afflicted parents viii not be lost
upon you, but that you wiz strive to be--as any
of you may yet te-a useful me Der Of society. |
The judgment OF tie court is that You lie i'm |
prisoned in the penitentiary, and kept at hard |
labor, for year, and that you pay the costs of
p osecution.
ALFRED McMILLEN: You have been indicted |
for malieiously shooting Alexander Glidden with |
intent to murder him; and the jury to which |
the case was submitted found that you are gull
ty. Can you urge anything further why sem
tence of Jaw should not be passed upon you?
The defendant replied that he threw himselfon
the mercy of the Court.
During the fifteen years that have been con-
versant with courts of justice, 1 have heard some
cases exhibiting the human heart in its worst
forms; but think that with one exception, you
exhibited more depravity than any offender
have seen on trial. The details of the Sabbath
day which this affair took place are remarka-
BILE. Tono less than four persons did you on
that day communicate the fact that You were
going to shoot Gldden; aud that you called him
out from his family, and without any attempt
en- his part to do you injury, you fred pistol at
and afterwards you followed him, and while he
was entering his own door, you again attem pied
TO take away his life.
True, you were intoxicated on that day, and
although drunkenness is no excuse for crime
yet the circumstances under which a crime is /
perpetrated are always proper for the consider
alton of the Court in afiixing the punishment.
But unfortunately the evidence showed the fact
that intoxication did not occasion your hostility
against Glidden; it only disclosed il; it only
brought out that which was latent. The evil
dence is-and it came from source evidently
friendly to you-that on one evening, nearly a
month previous to this crime, YOU requested q
workman in the mill where you were both en-
gagged to put but little oil in the lamps, as you
expected 10 have SIGHT with GlidGen, and in
tended to take the advantage of him and after
wards when Glidden proposed to make up your
cuties,-wbich really rested on trifling