Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1866-08-09


Guilty.
The Judges believing that the man
was more of a mOnomaniac than a
base murderer, did not wish him to
put in that plea, but desired that he
should plead not guilty, in order that
the jury might bring i'll such averdict
as would authorize the court to pro-
nOunce sentence of perpetual con
finement rather than that of death,
which, Is the law then was, could be
obviated only by executive pardon,
that would not be safe in his case
And so the chief justice said To him
that he was not bound to plead guilty
to the charge; that was thing for
the government to prOre: and he
earnestly advised him to withdraw
the plea he had made, and instead
thereof put in the plea of not guilty.
What" exclaimed the prisoner,
McCausland, would the honorable
justice of the Supreme Court of
Massachusetts advise me to lie to
their honors? / did kill the woman;
l meant to kill her; L am guilty, and
want to suffer the penalty"
What could the court do: They
could not feel it their sluty to order
him hung; and after consultation, eli
rected the sheriff to take the prisoner
to Jail whence he came, and leave him
there to dtcan hes sentence. And there
he stayed in that murderers cell
aacaiti1y sentence from Oct. 20, 1874,
to Aug. %, 1929, q period which,
after year of confinement before
trial, wanted only two months of
thirty SIR gears, when death released
him from a prison that had SD long
been his solitary home, and from a
world whose bright sun and green
fields he had not seen for more than
one third of Il century.
As often rs court sat during all
that. time, he never failed to send
word to the judges by his jailor, re-
questing them to explain why they
neglected their duty in his case, and
demanding that they sho'd pronounce
the sentence due him; but the court
could only renew at every session its
instruction to the sheriff to keep him
where he was awaiting sentence.
He was an object of great curl
Osity. All the exercise he had
was to pace the floor of his narrow
cell, which he did at regular hours
He kept himself and his dungeon ex-
ceedingly clean. He washed and
combed himself thrice Il day, read
his Bible Systematically, and 10y the
use of other books and of newspapers
which were given him, kept up with
the passing history of the times
The narration which he gave to
visitors. the prayers which he offered
to God and the hymns which he so
musically sung were all well com
posed and well expressed. His
health never failed him till the last
month ofhis existence.
When visitors called to see him
and they We're many-he would
stand concealed under the front wall
of his cell, beside the little grated
window, as they approached it to look
in, and would not exhibit himself till
a hand was thrust through with two
cents in it. which he would receive as
his customary fee, and then lie would
present his noble form with all its
manly beauty and dignity. Stroking
down his long white beard. after
saluting his visitor, he would begin
to relate the circumstances of his
murder with all the sOberHess and
pious air of an Old Testament patri-
arch; then he would pray q fervent
PRAYER, and close by singing well
chosen religious hymn. In the
course of year he thus collected
quite large sums of money, which,
with the pension he received for his
revolutionary services, he sent to
his family, that was highly respecta-
bic, in Gardiner. They visited him
often, and kept him supplied with all
the necessaries and luxuries of life
that the Tailor was not auth orized to
provide for him.
During the most of his confine-
ment it was his good fortune to have
in the person of his keeper one OF
the most intelligent and kind hearted
men that ever blest the society of
Augusta-Hon. Pitt Dillingham;
McCausland regarded him rs his faith
er and friend. On one occasion Mr..
Dillingham; ventured to offer to take
him out of his dark and narrow
cell and conduct him into the square
in front of the Jail that he might once
more see the glorious sun, the arch
ing sky, the green earth and the dwell
ling places of man which lined the
street His reply WAS characteristic:
i cannot consent, sir, that you
should thus transgress the laws on
my account. Since / cannot 90 free,
it is better / should stay where |
am, for should / once more behold
the beauties of the earth, should on
~ return less happy than / am now.
No, sir, LET me live and die in my cell "
At another time, however, Mr. Dill
bingham did prevail upon him to pass
the door of his dungeon and accom-
pany him into his private parlor. As
he entered the room, his eyes stared
fearfully upon the rich furniture; and
finding himself before the mirror, he
beheld his whole person so altered
since he saw it last in early manhood,
that he sank with fainting sensation
into chair, and begged his kind as
sistant to conduct him as speedily as
possible into his cell again. Mr..