The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1853-1911, 1860-01-26

Oeo, ana, after taxing from HIN bis over
coat and valise, hurried him off to Jail -
The next day be was waited upon by an
other constable. one Ford, who demand
ed his keys, which be refused to give up
Ford assured him that if no abolition doe :
umenis were found in his possession, be
would be discharged; but if the charge
gainst him should be proved. be would e
hung up at the prison gates by the Vigi.
lance Committee. To persist in refusing
to give up his keys Ford assured him,
would be considered as equivalent to a
confession of guilt, and he should call the
Committee to execute speedy judgment =
Under these threats be had no alternative
but to comply with the demand for the
keys and surrendered them. ln the eve-
ming of that day Mr.. Olin, Justice of
the Peace, called upon him, and inform
ed him that Mr.. Foster Blodget, jr., the
Mayor OF Augusta had filed an affidavit
against him which was sufficient to swear
away ten lives, if be had 80 many This
formidable document, which Mr.. Oliu
showed him. asserted that be, the Ma gor,
had been Informed aud believed that the
errand of Craugale at the South was TO
stir up an lnsurrection among the slaves,
and that he was doing so; that be had as
serted that the slaves would be justified
in rising against their masters; that the
people of the North would be justified in
putting arms into the hands of the slaves;
that the people of Massachusetts were JUS
tilted in aiding and arming the "nigsers"
at Harperis Ferry; and that be, the May
or, was prepared to prove these assertions
Mr.. Crsngale met these assertions with a
fat denial. lie assured Mr. Olin that
the whole story was falsehood, fiction
from beginning to end; that he had never
held and had never uttered any such SEN
timents. Mr. Olin thereupon informed
bin that bis trial would take place the
next day, and advised him to send for and
engage as his counsel Col. Cum ming, a
well known lawyer, and one of the most
respectable and influential citizens of Au.
eusta The advice was taken, and Col.
Cumming applied to. He called that
evening. and, after listening TO Mr.. Gran
b
consented to defend the case.
III this time, it should be remembered.
the prisoner was held under no legal pro-
cess, but, though confined iu the City
Prison. and visited by the officers of the
Jaw, wa- simply in the custody of the
Vigilance Comutttee The Dext morn
Ing he was ordered into court, and on his
way thither was arrested at the suit of
the State on charge of endeasipg to in
cite an insurrection among the slaves, and
was arraigned before Justices Oliu and
Piquet. The statute of the State which
provides the penalty Of death for the
crime with which the prisoner was char
ged was read, when Col. Cum ming moved
that the case be carried to the Superior
Court, which would sit the latter part of
January, and that the prisoner be re-
manded to take bis trial at that time
He gave as his reasons for this motion
that the present trial was held, in fact,
By the Vigilance Committee, who alone
constituted the audience, and who would
hang the accused then and there, if the
! slightest shadow of suspicion could attach
to him. Mr.. Crangle himself, however,
arose and opposed this motion. Strong
in his own innocence. be wished the trial
to proceed, and did not fear the result
The witnesses were then called and
examined They were Charles NJ
Gala, John Nelly, Allen Davy, Thomas
I. Fogarty, and James Hughes, the bar.
keeper at the United States Hotel. Their
evidence, however. was only hearsay-
Not one of them knew anything, Of his
own knowledge, of the prisoner; not one
OF them had ever heard him utter single
Abolition opinion, or any opinion what
ever, upon the subject Of Slavery. and
none of them knew anything about him.
good, bad, or Indifferent The ouly evil
deUce OF any momeDt was that of Hughes,
who testified, on a cross-examinoton,
that Aodrew Gray had pointed out the
prisoner to him as an Abolitionst; and
that of Nelly, who acknowledged that be
had agreed and proposed that the prison
er shouli be hanged without the formali-
! ty OF trial, at the time of his arrest, upon
the laDp-post opposite the Upitea States
Hotel This sdmission passed even with
out rebuke from the Court But the
Court was ore vigiant when Hughes
admitted that Gray was pointed out
the prisoner to him as an Aboiitionist,
and ruled out the evidence on the ground
that the trade of Augusta with the North
would be injured should il become known
that such was their method of dealing
with creditors. After the witnesses had
been examined, Col Gun ming addressed
the Court in speech. evidently so fear
less as to have exercised strong inAu-
enee over the minds OF the Court and au-
dience, aud marked by degree OF sound
comm on sense hitherto unbeard OF under
such circumstances. He denounced these
Vigilsbce Committees as self made tribu-
nails. constituting themselves as at once
witnesses aud judges, and as actuated by
DO higher motive than determination to
denounce all Northern men of property
as Abolitionists. for the purpose of ruin.