The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1853-1911, 1860-06-07

speech was brief and formal. Lincoln a
. rose, while deathly silence pervated th
! vast audience, and in clear but moder
ate tone began bis argument Slowly ant
! carefully he reviewed the testimony
pointing out the hitherto unobserved dis
crepancies in the statements of the prin
cipal witness. That which had seemed
plain and plausible he made to appear
crooked as serpent's path. The witness
bad stated that the affair took place at 9
certain hour in the evening, and that, BY
the aid of the brightly shining moon, be
saw the prisoner infict the death blow
with slung.shot. Mr. Lincoln showed
that at the hour referred to, the moon had
not yet appeared above the horizon, and
consequently the whole tale was fabri-
cation. An almost insta ntaneous change
seemed to have been wrought in the
minds of bis auditors, and the verdict of
"not guilty" was at the end of every
tongue. But the advocate was not con.
tent with this intellectual achievement
His whole being had for months been
bound up in this work of gratitude and
mercy, and, as the lava of the overohar-
geG crater bursts from its imprisonment,
SO great thoughts and burning words leap.
ed forth from the soul of the eloquent Lin.
coin. He drew picture of the perjurer SO
horrid and CHASTITY that the aocuser could
sit under it no longer, but reeled and
staggered from the Courtroom, while the
audience fancied they could see the brand
upon his brow. Then in words of thrill
ling pathos, Lincoln appealed to the ju-
rors as fathers of SONS who might become
fatherless, and as husbands of wives who
might be widowed, to yield to no previous
impressions, no ill-founded prejudice, but
to do his client justice; and as he alluded
to the debt of gratitude which he owed
the boys sire, tears were seen to fall from
many eyes unused to weep. 1t was near
night when he concluded by saying that,
if justice were done-as he believed it
would be-before the sun should set, it
would shine upon his client free man.
The Jury retired, and the Court adjourn.
ed for the day. Half an hour had not e.
lapsed, when, as the officers of the Court
and the volunteer attorney sat at the tea
table of their hotel, a messenger announ-
ced that the Jury had returned to their
seats. All repaired Immediately to the
Court House, and while the prisoner wss
being brought from the Jail, the Court
room was filled to overfowing with citi-
zens of the town. When the prisoner
and his mother entered, silence reigned
as completely as though the house were
empty. The foreman of the Jury, in an.
swer to the usual inquiry from the Court,
delivered the verdict of "Not Guilty p
The widow dropped into the arms Of her
SOD, who lifted her up, and told her to
look upon him as before-free and limo.
cent Then, with the words, "Where is
Mr. Lincoln r. be rushed across the room
and grasped the hand of bis deliverer,
while bis heart was too full for utterance,
Lincoln turned his eyes toward the West,
where the sun still fingered in view, and
then turning to the youth, said, ut is
not yet suudown, and you are free" I
confess that my cheeks were not wholly
unwet BY tears, and turned from the af.
fecting scene. AS cast glance behind,
| saw Abraham Lincoln obeying the d.
vine injunction, by comforting the wild
owed and the fatherless. D.