Bedford inquirer. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1857-1884, 1865-12-01

ry to constitute this offence? Besides malice.
which must always be found to exist in each
degree of murder, there must be, to make muir
der in the first degree, a specific intent to
take life; there must be wilful, deliberate
and premeditated killing. In other words:
the slayer must have desired and intended the
death of his victim; there must be GOODNESS
and deliberation in the purpose, and it must
have been premeditated, reflected upon and
turned over in the mind beforehand. When
death is produced by means of poison, or by
lying in wait, the law presumes the intention
to take life, the deliberation and premedita
ton; but when it is caused by others means,
the evidence of these elements of the offence
mustbe as clear and forcible as that arising from
the use ofpoison. This question ofintentmuSt
be determined from all the attending circum
stances, the previous threats and declarations
of the accused and the character of the weap-
on employed. To shoot man through the
head with musket or pistol ball, to stab him
in vital part with q sword or dagger, to
| cleave his scull with sn axe, and the like, are
such manifestations Of purpose to take life,
as it must be next to impossible to disregard.
In respect to the premeditation required by
the law, it has been held, that it may be ex-
hibited in minute before the killing, as well as
in year-but there must be clear evidence OF
premeditation.
In case where malice still exists, but the
evidence fails to fix on the mind that the Kill
ling was wilful, deliberate and premeditated;
or where the intent 1.aonlyt to do great bodi7
ly harm or other serious mischief or where
death ensues from the commission of some
crime, inferior in turpitude to those mention
ed in the statute, or of any unlawful act, or
from the use of deadly weapon, such killing
will only amount to murder in the second de-
gree.
At this point, it is proper we should direct
your attention to what the law means by the
term malice, in its connection with the crime
of murder.
The literal meaning of the word malice is
wickedness, i'll will, a disposition to injure
without cause, But the law assigns to it a
more extensive signifcation, as including, not
merely special i'll viii to the party slain, but
agenerally wicked, depraved and malignant
spirit, springing from heart regardless of
social duty, and fatally bent on mischief This
| is malice as defined by the law; and is either
express or implied. ''Where one person
kills another with sedate, deliberate mind,
and formed design, it is said to be express
1t may be proved directly, by evidence of the
declarations of the party, that he would kill
the deceased, have revenge upon him, or the
like expressions. 1t is, however, more fire.
quently established by circumstances, such
as antecedent grudges, previous quarrels, con-
certed schemes to injure the adversary, and
by any deliberate and cruel act committed by
one person against another. Malice is i'm
piled when the facts and circumstances con-
nected with the killing show there was no
provocation, and that the act was committed
from depraved inclination to mischief; OF it
may be inferred from the use of sn instrument
likely to kill.
Malice, as we have thus described it, is an
indisp ensable element in the crime of muir
der, whether of the first or second degree;
and before you can find the defendant guilty
of either grade of murder, the existence of
this element must be established. We state
this general principle without taking time to
present to you all the phases in which it may
be found to exhibit ITSELF From what we
have already said, and what has been said
during the discussions ofthe learned counsel,
we believe you fully comprehend the nature
of malice as we have defined it, and will be
able to apply it to the facts.
There is, however, another species of felo-
nious homicide, to which it is our duty now to
advert. The law calls it manslaughter, and
this is defined to be the unlawful and feloni-
GUS killing of another without any malice,
either express or implied. 1t differs from
murder in not requiring the presence of NAL
ice. The common and most readily compre
hended illustration of this offence is this !:
where two men fight upon sudden quarrel,
and one of them kills the other in the heat of
blood. Another illustration is, where a man
has been greatly provoked by any gross in
dignity and Immediately, in the heat of blood
kills the aggressor. But in order to reduce
a homicide, produced by deadly weapon, to
the grade of manslanghter, there must have
been reasonable proyocation-not a slight
or trivial one When such proyocation
is shown, the law will then, in merciful
indulgence to the frailty of human nature,
refuse to class this kind of killing with that
which results from cool, deliberation and
generalization.
We have thus, as concisely as possible, set
before you these three different grades of hon.
icide, and the rules of law in relation to them
as far as we think necessary for the purposes
Of this case, that you may apply them to the
facts detailed in evidence before you, and de-
termine to which class, if to either, the kill
ing in this case belongs; provided you would
come to the conclusion that the defence set
up has not been sustained. And this brings us
to the consideration of the rules of law ap-
plicable to the doctrine of self defence.
Self defence is an instinct of our common
humanity, and has found expression in the
universal and trite maxim that ''self preser-
vation is the first law of nature 1t is in
deed, a sacred right, recognized by the law
of the land, and enforced in every civilized
state. But when one man kills another on
the plea of self defence, he must satisfy the
minds of the jury that this was the onlyresort,
or that he had reasonable ground to believe