, 1859-05-06
SCENE IN A JURY ROOM.
A Thrilling Story.

once nuQ TIE extEetnc lcuciLy OF IeuVIIb my
business t. serve upon "the Jury" l plead in
could not swear that was deaf nor bind, nor
yet non c0Rpos, but did tell them that had al
ready formed an opinion. They asked me If my
opinion would prevent me from receiving the tes-
tInony in good faith, and rendering q verdict ac-
-cording TO il replied that Of course I should
weigh the evidence carefully, and be governed by
it was then informed that "wOIld do"
The case to be tried was one Of arson-then q
capital Cfenec--and thc prisoner at the bar was
young man, named Charles Ambold, whom had
know fiom boyhoOd, and who was naturally one
Of the finest youths Of the town where he resided
He had widowed m.thrr who del ended upon
him for SUPP OFT; and his cicl. Of friends was
large and choice. ! was morally certain that he
did not commit the crime, and hence, ! am sure,
those who were friendly to him got me on the
panel, and had me retained.
Tho trial commenced, and we twelve men took
our seats in the Jury box. had very respect
able set with me-only there was one whom l
didn't like to see there. This man was Moulton
Warren. lie was a dark.Eaced sinister-looking
fellow-at least to me. know that young Am
bold had one lsult. He had recently been addicted
to dr.n,, aud had b,en known to visit disrepu-
table houses. 1t was one Of those houses that
had been burned, for setting fire to which he
had leen appiehended.
Now / ad uilen tried to persuade Charles Am
bold from the course he was pursuing. He had
repeatedly promised inc that he would reform,
aad aS repeatedly had he broken away. had
of.en talked TO hun Of bis poor mother, until he
had wept like chid: but the effect was not last
ing There was power Of temptation more
effective than aay influence ! could WELD. He
wou.d fall away ino this evil companionsl,ip, and
for while his IN ,rhOOd was gone. One or two
abandoned women had gained great power over
him, and upon them he wasted much Of his sub
sta. ce.
And knew that this very man who was now
upon the Iury-lEis Moulion Warren-was the
one who had done more than ali others to lead
the poor youth away. Il was Warren who had
drank with hiI, aud who had led him away to
those more abominable haunts Of sin and pOllu-
ton. Why was he upon the jury? ] could not
account for it upon the ground that Charley still
supposed him lo be his friend. The poor schorch-
cd insect was still ignorant Of tho flame that
scorcled him. He really believed that Moulton
Warren was his friend.
The trial commenced. The Indictment set fOrth
tl.at Charles Ambold had, with mali,e afors-
thought" and with all sorts Of wicked and lelon.
ious intents, set fire 10 certain dwelling house,
thereby endangering human life. This dwelling,
as have already intimated, was low sink Of
iniquity, where the abandoned Of both sexes we're
wont to congrcgatc, and where the youthful pris-
Oner had spent much Of his tine.
The evidence FIR the prosecution came on, and
was startled. One after another gave in their
testimony, some Of them very reluctantly, and
was frightened when l saw how plainly il all
pointed to the prisoner as the guilty party. Sew.
eralcrcdible witnesses sworc that they had heard
him threaten to burn the house down, and others
had heard him ay repeatedly that he wished was
hur l,r,en Nl,,-,a
Uf tie prominent ciIizcns-wno saw him lurking
about the premises on the night Of the fire.
With regard to the provoraIiOn on the prisoners
part for such deed, 1t was proved. upon his own
admission, that he had been il.treated there, aid
that he had sworn to have revenge. And further
mOrc, II was proved that he had been heard ~ say
tat his salvation Of soul aud body depended upon
the destruction Of that house. Next came more
testimony, stronger still.
The fire had been set in q back basement room,
where shsyiigs and other stuff for kindlng were
kept. Entrance had been gained through back
window, which had been partly pried open with
q stout knife. This basement wall was Of brick,
and beneath the sash was found the blade OF
knife which had been broken off in trying to raise
the sash. The blade was recognized as belonging
to thS prisoners knife! Amaker Of cutlery had
made the knife TO order for AmbOld only month
previous, and he knew the blade at once, and
swore to i'll
But this was not ALL The Gre had been evi.
IDENTIFY set first to the shayings which lay upon the
stone floor, but piled up against wooden parti-
ton. This floor was damp, and some Of the outer
shayings, even, were not wholly burned up. But
just at the edge, where the fire commenced, lay
apiece Of paper, rolled up, aud about half burned,
and, from the manner in which it lay, il was very
evident that the lire had been set with II. THIS
piece Of rolled paper had been ignited by match,
q number OF which were scattered around, and
as soon as it was on fire, II had been laid upon
the hoOr, with the burning end Just in the shaw
ings. OF course, these shayings were in blaze
instantly; but, the paper torch being upon the
damp st0nes, had not burned wholly up.
And this paper was found to be a part Of
letter belonging to the prisoneri A letter which
he had received fiom friend OF his land friend
Of minc) only week beforcl That friend had
to come forward and swear that piece Of charred
paper was part Of u letter he had written to tho
prisonCrl This friends name was Stephen Grant.
He was q young merchant, and tbs letter had
been written for the purpose Of inducing Ambold
toreform. Stephen tried hard TO avoid testifying,
for he knew, as did others, that the fire must
have been set with that identical paper; but he
was summoned, and he could not deny his own
chirogaphy.
The case looked dark Many witnesses were
Wllhhg 10 teStiiy 10 the PRISONERS good qualities,
but no one could swear that he was not dissipatcd
and degraded. That house had been to him indeed
arcgiOn internal Its destruction cried out for his
bodily life; and its existence had long been eating
away his soul Poor Charley! had before been
sure Of his innocence, but now could only shake
my bead and pity him.
Finally he was allowed TO speak for himself
He said he was innocent Of the crime imputed to
him. He said that he had threatened TO burn
that house doWn-that he had said about all that
bad been sworn to. And, furthermore, he was
around the house on the night Of the fire. He
was not ten rods of when the flames burst forth,