Gazette and sentinel., 1860-01-28

quaintance here, beyond the household
III which | have been employed, and
where | have cndeavored to discharge
my duties, faithfully, honestly and we'll.
Although l dare not hope, and do not
wish that my life should be spared, vet
1t is my devout and earnest desire that
the stain of this crime may not rest up
on my name. | devoutly hope that my
good mistress, and her kind and excel
lent daughter may yet be convinced that
they have not nourished and befriended
highway robber. / have, therefore, in
humble devotion, offered a prayer to
heaven, and believe it has been heard
and accepted. | venture To assert that,
if ! am innocent of the crime for which
| suffer, the grass, for one generation
at least, will not cover my grave. My
lord, | await your sentence without a
murmur, without a sorrow; and | de-
voutly pray that all who hear me now
may repent of their sins, and meet Inc
again i'll 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 had not tien covered his grave.
1t is situated i'll a remote corner of the
churchyard, far removed from all other
graves. 1t is not a raised mound of
earth, but is even with the surrounding
ground, which is. for some distance, es-
pecially luXuriant, the heritage being
rich and abundant. Numerous attempts
have been made by some who are still
alive, and others who have passed away
to bring grass upon that bare spot
Fresh soil has been frequently spread
upon it, and seeds of various kinds have
keen sOwn. but not a blade had there
ever been known 10 spring from them,
and the soil oOn became a smooth, cold,
and stubborn clay. Withrespectto the
unhappy witnesses. it appears that Par
kcr's ancestors, had once owned Oak
field, and that he had hoped by getting
rid of Newton to remove the main OBJ
obstacle there was TO his re-posscssing
it, and that Pearce had, at the time of
Mr.. Morris's death, aspired to the hand
of his daughter, i'll whose affections he
felt he had been supplanted by poor
Newton. The former soon left the
nc~ighborhood, became Il drunken and
disSolutc man, and was ultimately kill
cd in some limeworkS, while in the act
of blasting a rock. Pcarcc grew sui
len and diSpiritcd, his very existence
seemed a burden to him, and as the old
sexton of Montgomery said, che wasted
away from the face of the earth"
have not seen the grave since 1850,
but | have heard that some person has
covered 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 I'M
covered for at least m generation, has
been heard, and his memory indicated
in a most remarkable manner. The
name given to the grave was singular
ly inappropriate: it should have been
called ''the grave of the innocent" The
widow, with her daughter, left 0akfeld,
and went to reside will her brother.
For some weeks afNewton's burial, it is
said his grave was, from time to time.
found strewn with wild flowers, by
whom done was unknown; but it was
observed, that after Jane Morris had
left the neighborhood not q flower was
fOund uDon the GRAVE