The Alleghanian. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1859-1865, 1860-05-10

the teStlmonl OF thoSc TWO persons, which
WAS clear, positive and consistent through
out, was sentenced t. be hanged, and left
for execution. He employed no counsel,
and called no. witness III his defence; but
upon being asked by the Judge in the usu-
al form '.If he had anything to say why
sentence of death should nos be passed up
OH him?' he made, in substance, the iol-
lowing extraordinary speech:
My lord, it is evident all ] could say
III opposition to such testimony would be
i'll vain and hopeless. The witnesses are
men Of Spectabllity, and their evidence
has appeared plain and conclusive, and my
most solemn protestat.ons OF innocence
could avail ne nothing. | have called no
witnesses to character, and upon such evi-
dence the jury could pronounce no other
veIdict. 1 blame them not. From my
soul, too, L forgive those men, upon whose
false testimony | have been Convicted
But, my lord, protest most so!emnly be-
fore this court, before your lordship, and
above all, before that God in whose pres
ence | must shortly appear, | am entirely
guiltless of the crime Tor which am about
to suffer. | have produced no one to
speak in my behalf.
''Iwo years have scarcely elapsed since
| came into this cOuntr, an utter strange
| have made no acquaintance here beyond
the household i'll WHICH l have been euI-
ployed, and where i have cnGcavUred to
discharge my duties faithfully, honestly
and we'll. Although dare not hope, and
do not wish, that my life should be spared,
yet 1t Is my dcyOut and earnest desire tnat
tb rl,T,,
my name. | devoutiy hope that my good
mistress and her Kind and excellent
daughter may yet be convinced that they
have not nourished and beiriended higt-
way rUbbcr. l have, therefore, IN humble
devotion, offered Il prayer to Heaven, and
1 believe it las been heard and accepted
[ venture to assert that if | am innocent
OF the crime for which | suffer, the grass,
for one generation at least, VIII not cover
my grave. My lord, | await your sentence
without murmur, without Il sorrow, and
| devoutly pray that all who hear me now
may repent OF their sins and meet me in
Heaven"
The unfortunate man was condemned
and executed, and was buried in Mont
gomery churchyard. Thirty years had
passed away when / saw it, and the grass
hid not then covered his grave. 1t is
situated lit remote corner u the church.
yard, far removed from all other graves
1t Is not raised mound of earth, but IS
even with the surrounding ground, which
Is for some distance especially luXurlant,
the hcrbage beng rich and abundant
Numerous attempts have from time 10 time
been made by some VINO are still alive, and
others who have passed away, to bring
grass upon that bare sIot Eresh soil has
been frequently spIcad upon it. and seeds
of various kinds have been sown, but not
a blade had there ever been known to
spring from them, and the soil soon be-
came a smooth, cold and stubborn clay
With respect to the unhappy witnesses, 1t
appears that Parkcr's ancestors had once
owned Oakfield, and that he had hoped
by getting rid Of Newton, to remove the
main obstacle there WAS to his rcposses-
sing it, and that Pearce had, at the time
OF Mr.. Morris death, aspired to the hand
Of his daughter, in whose affections he felt
lie had been suppIanteu by poor Newton
/ he former soon left the ncighb0rhood,
became drunken and dissolute man, and
was ultimately killed in some limeworks,
Wnlic III TIE ACT Oj tidSlIlS Il ROCK. L cIfCc
grew sullem and dispirited, his very eX!s-
tence seemed burden to him, and, as the
old sexton Of Montgomery expressed it,
''he wasted away from the face Of the
Garth"
| have not seen the grave since 1850,
but have heard that some person has COW
cred it with thick turf, which has united
itself with the surrounding grass, except
at the head, which is still withered and
bare, as if scorched by lightning. The
prayer, however, Of poor Newton, that his
grave might remain uncovered for at least
one generation, has been heard, and his
memory vindicated in a most remarkable
manner. The name given to the grave
was singularly inappropriate it should
have been called ''the grave OF the inno-
cent" The widow, with her daughter,
left Oakland and went to reside with her
brother. For some weeks after poor New
tons burial, it * said, his grave was from
time to time, found strewed with wild
flowers, by whom done was unknown; but
it was observed that after Jane Morris had
left the neighporhood, not a flower was
found upon the grave.
Eg- a Wisconsin paper, after desert
bing 'farm for sale" adds The sur
rounding country is the most beautiful
the God of nature ever made The see