The Montana post. [volume] (Virginia City, Montana Territory [i.e. Mont.]) 1864-1869, 1864-12-10

ou. gentleman or the jury, have been
empannelled and sworn to make
enquiry into the crimes that have been
in this county. Your duties are
both delicate and responsible. Your oath
requires that you present no person through
:. malice, hatred, or il-will." They need
no explanation. Another part of it, that
you will leave none unpresented through
fear, favor or Affection more diff
ault parhaps of performance, is equally
comprehensihle. Another part of it, that
you will leave none unpresented '' for any
reward or the promise or hope therof," /
will not comment upon, lest you might re-
gard it as an imputation upon your integri.
ty. 4 person accused of crime. reserves
still another and an important privilege /
through the medium Of your oath, and that
is that you will make no disclosures of tes-
timony, except when called upon to do so
IN court of justice. The most perfect !
protection is thus given to the character
and reputation of an accused persona |
protection which should never be with
drawn, until jury is satisfied of his guilt.
This oath, gentlemen, is, of itself, illustra-
tive of the exact justice with which the |
law seeks to deal with those, who are bold
and bad enough to violate it. There is no
vengeance in it. 1t neither pursues or pun
ishes from sinister considerations. Justice
with us, like the heathen representation, is
blindfold, that she may not see where the
blow must fall, but che holds the scales
with equal poise, and the sword is in read
mess to inhiet condign punishment upon
him who is found wanting. She seeks only
to answer, in a rational manner, the de-
mand of every good man, who feels that
his Own nature has been belied by the COM
mission of crime. She aims to do right.
The offender is punished because be has
disturbed the harmony of society. If his
crime has been that of murder, it is not on
ly the destruction of life, but it is the
offence against God-against morality-the
terrible example thus Furnished, and the
daager to society Of permitting such
crime to 20 unpunished, that the law con-
siders. Death is inAics.d because no
lighter penalty could answer Inc demand
Of Justice, and not merely for the purpose
Of taking human life. Sowith subordinate
or lighter offences. The punishment pro-
Iportioned to each has more reference to the
society that has been outraged, than to the
miserable individual upon whom it is in
ficted. He, indeed, whether on the seat
fold or N the solitude of the prison, is but
the instrument which the law employs, to
shadow forth its judgments upon minds
yet uncontaminated by guilt ard crime.
As the result Of this grand fabric of pun
ishments, peace and safety arc preserved
crime seldom occurs-and all fears and
arxieties incident to an unorganized cen-
dition Of society vanish before the benign
and omnipresent spirit of the law. No one
| 4 thot - ia doe of
all good men, that society, conformed IN
it's manners and custome, its laws and OBJ
: servances, to that which they have left in
the States of this Union, should grow uE
in this Territory, and exercise an influence
for good, for all time. No one doubts that
this may be produced, If courts and juries
cooperate with other moral agencies in
e purifying society of those evils which lie
, st and are continually sapping the founda'
tions OF rational happiness. Much-yery
much of our future character as a people
:. depends upon the manner in which crime il
;, met at tne commencement. You can o.
y bear witness to the fact, that where men art
d themselves indifferent to the various infu
t epees usually employed for their protection
). and refinement, crime and disorder prevail
: religion is neglected the Sabbath is Gus
). tomarily profaned, and society itself be
! comes irresistibly the minister to all tn
h lower and baser passions of our nature.
: Few moral enterprises. gentlemen, ar
G more difficult Of achievement than that 0
y reforming q people who have habituall
d yielded to the sway of vice and immorah
b ty. A steady and uniform application @
: law TO every offence, in such an exigency
Q is the surest resource, and to that must W
e look for the corrective to those abuse:
y which come under your consideration
lie Your part in seourging these evils from on
y midst, depends, not SO much upon tn
d amount, as quality of your labors. If b
n your action, the violators of law and col
al rupters OF society understand that the
g, cannot ply their vocations with impunity
1t there will soon be an end to many of th
70 disturbing influences, which now defy la
= and order. The criminal code Of this Tel
l. ritory, ike the codes of most Of the State
to of this Union, provides for the punishmel
Mt of al classes of crime, from those that Al
l. not grievous and aggravated, down to ii
of petty ofenses generally incident to stat
of civilization. Let me urge upon yo
ls gentlemen, the importance of giving to e
ir cry 'subj,ct that may by possibility q
N feet the peace, the morals, the purity, an
ut the safely Of this Territory, your earne
S, and conscientious attention. Rememb
mt thar it is intended, that any thing ard eyel
ey thing which breaks dowa, ard sets at noug
40 the established usages Of civilized seciet
mt comes within the purview of jurors oa
of and that il our statutes are deficient, Il
be oversight of jurors may have salutary il
of huenee upon the labors of Legislators. "
ty can. by timely action, purge this district
er many of those petty evils which now CO
h. rupt it. Of this character are those G
its fences under the names of prize fghtin
he gambling, Sabbath breaking, and all tn
'r- category of offences, that spring up almt
nd spontaneously in unorgnnized commuI
se ties. Would it not surprise you gentleme
a to hear that any of the older States h
We lapsed from state Of high morality in
N, a condition marked by these moral enor
'or itiesg Why shonld Trey exist here?
IL there less to occasion q blush, ON the br
III of an American citizens, at tbs exhItiti
of Of a prize fight on the Sabbath day, in |
ad new Territory of Montana, than in
nd more highly ehasteaed society Of New Er