The Lansing state Republican. [volume] (Lansing, Mich.) 1855-1874, 1861-10-02
SCENE A JURY ROOM.
. THRILLING STORY.
once had the extreme felicity of leaving my


, once had the extreme felicity of leaving my
. business 20 serve upon - the jury. plead IN
all manner of WAYS for release, but to no effect
could rot swear that was deaf, nor blind, nor
Vet rcH co,apos. but ! did ssy that had already
formed opinion. They asked ne if my opin-
ion would prevent me from receiving the testi-
n,ony IN good faith and rendering verdict ac-
oordii,s 10 II. replied that OF course should
weigh the evidence carefully, ana be governed
by IL. was then informed that would DO.
The case 10 be tried was one Of arSou-ihen
capital ot'eusc-and the prisoner AT the bar
vas Young man ,Ianed Charles AuibUld, whom
had known from boy hood, aud who ~as natur-
ally at the finest Youths ot the town where be
resided He had wido we'd mother, who iepen
ded upon lim for support and his circle OF friends
Vas large aud choice. was morally certain that
he did not commit the crime, and hence, am
sure, those who were friendly 10 him got ne on
the panel, and had me retained.
The trial menced, aud We twelve men took
our seats in the jury box. had very respec
table set with me-onlv there was one mar whom
didn't like to see there. This nan Nou-
ton Warren He dark faced, sinister
looking tellow-at least To me. | knew that
yeung Ambold had one fault lie had recently
been addicted 10 dri,.k, and had been known To
visit disrepu,abie houses. 1t was one OF those
houses that had been burned, for setting fire TO
which he had been apprehended.
Now had often tried to persuade Charles
Ambold from the course he was pursuing. He
had repeatedly promised NE that he would
reform, aud repeatedly had he broken away.
had often talked to him of his poor mother
until he had wept like child; but the effect
was not lasting. There was power of tempts.
ton more effective than any influence could
WELD. He would fall away into this evil COM
paniOnship, and for a while his manhood was
gone. One or two abandoned women had gained
T great power over him, and upon them he wasted
much OF his substance.
And new that this very man who was now
upon the jury - this Moulton Warren was
the one who had done more than all others TO
lead the poor youth away. 1t was Warren who
I had drank with him. and who had led him away
to those abominabe haunts OF sin and pollution
Why was he upon the jury. could only &C,
count for it upon the ground that Charley still
supposed him TO be bis friend The poor scorch-
ed insect was still ignorant of the fame that
f scorched him. He really believed that Moulton
! Warren was his friend.
The trial commenced. The Indictment set
forth that Charles Ambold had, "with malice
1 a!orethought," and with all sorts of wicked and
felobiOus intents, set fire to a certain dwelling
house, thereby endangering human life. This
dwelling, as l have already intimated, was
a low sink of iniquity where the abandoned
Of both sexes were wont to congregate, and
where the youthful prisoner had spent much OF
q his time.
e The evidence for the prosecution came On and
l was startled One after another gave n their
, testimony, some of them very reluctantly, and
was frightened when l saw how plainly it all
}, pointed out the prisoner the guilty party.
Several credtabc witnesses swOre that they bad
! heard HIM threaten to burn the house down
and others had neard him say repeatedly that he
wished il was burned down. Then came sew
eral witnesses-three of the prominent citizens
who saw him lurking about the premises on
the night of the fire.
. With regard To the prOvocatiOn on the prison
!, ers part, it was proved upon his own admission
that he had been ill-treated there and that he
had sworn To have revenge. And furthermore
it was proved that he had been heard to say thai
his salvation OF soUl and body depended upon
! the destruction OF that house. Next came testi
u mOny stronger still.
The fire had been set in a back basement
+ room where shavihgs and other stuff for kind
J ling were kept. Entrance had been gained
: through back window, which had been partly
pried open with knife. This basement wal
was brick, and beneath the sash was the hla
D OF :kniie which had been broken off in tryin.
, to raise the sash. The blade was reco sn;zed a.
}, belonging TO the prisoners knife. A maker o
cutlery had made IA knife TO order tor Amon,
: only month previous, and he knew the blad,
, at once, aud sworc to It,
!, But this was not all. The fire had been cvi
;, IDENTIFY sct first to the shavings which lay upoI
q the stone floor, bat piled up against wooder
= partition The floor damp, and some of th'
:. outer shavinss, even, were rot wholly burne'
.. up. But Just at the edge, where the FIRE com
,. menced, lay piece OF paper, rolled up, AN
;, about hall burned and from the manner II
= which il Law evident that the fire ha
j been Set with it. TLis piece of rolled paper ha
a been ignited by match, number Of whic
A were scattered around, and a. soon AT ig was o
fire it had been laid upon the floor. with til
, burning end Just in the -hsviugs OF conrse
!. these shavings i'll blaze Instantly; bu
, the paper torch being upon the damp stones, hs
,' not burned wholly up.
r. And this paper was found 10 be a part of
letter belonging to the prisoner "a letter whic
he had received from a friend Of his (and
friend Of mine) only week before. That irien
=" had 10 come forward and swear that that piece
:, : cbarred paper was part of letter he had wri
- ten 70 the prisoner. This friends name Wa
'e stephen Grant. He was young merchant an
, the letter had been written for the purpose
inducing AmDOlu 10 reform. SteDbeD tfitC mar
. to avoid testifying, for he knew, did other
u that the fire must have been set with that iei
" " tical paper: but he was summoned, and he cou|
:, :, not deny his own chirography.
.. The case looked dark. Many witnesses wei
NJ willing to testify to the prisoners good qualtie
a, butn one could swear that he was not dissir.
ss ted and degraded That house had been to hi
,e indeed a region Internal. Its destruction erie
70 out for his bodily life; aud its existence had Ion
=. beer eating away his soul. Poor Charley
had before been sure OF his innocence; b'
tv now could only shake my head and pity hin
az Finally he was allowed to speak for himsei
,;s He said he was innocent of the crime impute
;" to him. He said that he had threatened
burn that house down-that ne had said ebo'
all that had been sworn 10. And furthermor
vi he was round the house On the night of Il
-; fire. He was not ten rods off when the fam
III burst FORTH and he was one of the first to ri,
" tie alarm. He had uttered one cry of FIRE wht
IA w.. be noticed where the flames must have origin
.'S ted, and the thought came to him if he W
W ou found there. he might be suspected Of ha
eu ing set the FIRE, so he ran away. He also "a
:, that three hours before the fire he had been 70
~, os bed in that house. His pockets had been empti
NJ Of everything in them, and his pocket-boo
es containing forty dollars in money, and some Vi
CO liable papers had been taken. he had gone the
~ the night Of the fire to try and persuade the
=: to give him back his money and paper-or
~ W. leas, to get what he could. When he got thel
w he saw man go in whom he did not wish
* sea he had hupc fov hin,