The Fairfield herald. [volume] (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1849-1876, 1866-10-17
Charge Of Judge Aldrich.

GENTLEMEN or TIE JURY.-I ad
monlsh you to bear in mind the circum
stances by which you are slrronhed,
call nroM von TO recoilect that tile Law
If South Carolina is now what it always
has bceu namely, tha, the negro shall
he protected from violence offered agains.
lis prrson. IT. has been law OF oul
State for many years that il u negro is
assaulted, tie porty committing the as
sault be punished; and if the lifc> of a
negro be taken wuhmaice aforelhonght
the law has always regarded that act as
murder. ltis therefore 10 naw thing that
man should be indicted for the killing
ofa negro. II
While informing you that s,,ch has
always been the law of South Carolina,
| almonish you to avoid another cx.
treme Do not allow yourselves to be in
tIucuccd by any excitement, because o
the peculiar condition Of the society
which now exists Let us mcle oul
justice to these people as we have always
dope. bet us not he unduly prcjudced
ior or against them. III the present in.
stance, loi us view the case according
10 the facts that have bcen detailed, and
the law as it shall be announced
There can he no doubt =. .. 81, lhat thc
ny; :onsrs ol ,nn-l., Killed The negro,
Tnl>."1uliifs alas John Dawkins. 1t
is,very probable that this man Counts
was one Of party who committed the
most, brutal and atrocious murder Of All
inolfhnsive man by the name Of L,muel
lane, in Newbcrry, and robbed him of
q largo amount Of gold and silver.
have no doubt the prisoners knew hat
his crime had been committed. They
heard acciden'ly, through little yellow
bay that the deceased was in the road
near the Asylum; That ho had asked
the boy to show him and his companion
,hs way TO The Cl,nriol,c Depot, and
had given lin a,qiarter of dollar; aud
's,s hs ~, ig iliIbR liI RassyS
Ais of facts. he
immediately wont to Starring and Pope,
and gave them notice Of the occutrricn.
These two m"n for Il perfectly legal pnr-
pose, prepared for the arrest of the ne
gro.
The only d (iiculty in the case, gentle
men, is whether they had any right to
arrest this negro in the way they dN
That they had right to arrest h,"'' !
have no doubt. They had cye'3 reason y
to believe that he was one p','E, y
not the identical mar w"o i'au ,S''''''
M ~" I,,'1 III, ~ man Lane in New
""i + rooora .mI<W pursued. and came upon
per'SSi ,:.. SSiL kilNd him. The question is,
whether tLat was an excnsab!e homi.
eide.
/ tlGnk that the law was properly stat
cd,gyou, when you wereinformcd that
aD6llic'r armed with warrant for the
frcst Of person accused of felony, has
no right to take The life of the accused,
unlcss there is such resistance to his an.
thurity, that the act becomes absolutely
necessary. But every. citizen has right,
where felony has been committed, 10
arrest tic fclon. The only difference
between him and tho officer is this, tllat
il he al 'cmpIs to arrest party accused
accused wltiiftlony, not being armed
authority, what cvee he does
is at his own peril, lfitbc proved thsL
the person arrested is no ftlon, then is
the c,tlzcn guilty ola breach OF tho
peace, and il in the process Of tho arrest
the accused DO killed, tho citizen be-
comes guilty Of murder. If on the 9th
or hand, it should appear that the party
to be arrested was himself murderer
and was killed in thc2act of.arrcst, then
the question comes up; what degree Of
guilt shall attach to the citizen.
D. The law has been read by tie learned
counsel, who, had so ably and zealously
defcndd clhese unfortunate men. You will
perceive that in one Of the authorities up
onwh,ch great reliance IS placed, it is sta.
ted that private persons may arrest.
In the language there used, "an in,lict.
mcnt found,is good cause cf arrest, by
private persons, if it may be made with.
out ,hc Heath Of the fclon," butt is said
that if rhc ftlon be killed, their justifca.
tion must depend upon the laca Of the
parties guilt, which it will be c'incnm bent
upon them to. make out otherwise, they
will be guilty Of mapslaughter 4
It will be vely dangerous, gentlomon oil
the Jury, to allow cverv man, who hears
that felony has been commit cd, to indgc
n y
whether there Is necesa,ly for him to
arrest the supposed felon, or to take his
liGa. IF this were allowed, lhcrc would
great number of cases ofmnrder which
conld not be reached at MI. Such a
privilege might he made an excuse for q
crime uuparallcd in civilized society
w hen an officer of the law is sent forth
to arrest felon who has shocked hui.
mainly by tho cnormity of his offence.
he is compelled, by the law, 10 be eau.
tious how he takes human life; He is
not authorized to do so simply because
the felon fees. But, when private citi-
zens undertake to arrest All accused par.
ty, although tho motives may be per
fcctly praiseworthy and is to becncoura.
we'd. they must DO extremely cautious