Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1867-08-07

er's con nsel wonld he yefy variable and not
the jury should judge as 70 the Law OF his
case. Perhaps they would have You regard
the Court rs sitting upon the bench merely TO
conrt-room, which probably the crier' of the
court or the bailif might Be disposed to regard
as an usurpAtfon OF his prerogauve. If the
jury are TO entirely disregard the judges in
see but little left than that for him to perform
1t istrue gentlemen that you have the Pocer;
and in cases when your conscIenses are salts
fled that tha Instructions of the Court are die.
tated, not by an honest desire to enlighten the
jury, as to the true state Of the law. bu, by
corrupt and wicked motives. you may have
the right to disregrd the Instructions purposely
intended to mislead you. But to claim that
the jury are better judges OF what the law may
be than the Court, ls about As reasons able as to
assert that q plain farmer or mer chant may be
taken fresh from his plow or his counter, and
he more capable OF navigating and maneuyer-
lag steam frigate or to lead your armies to GER
tain victory, than your Admiral or your Gen
eralin- Chief In my opinion, yon have just
the same right to disregard the evidence Of he
witnesses " no stood before you unimpeached
in any matter respecting the facts involved in
Court may say to you under an Official oath,
AS to the law that may apply to the facts. a
lnry have the porer II they choose to exercise
il, after having assumed the obligations OF
neither believe the Judge nor the witnesses.
but decide the law and facts according to their
repose in the counsel on either side; but such
is not the purpose fer which jnries were in
stituted and they have no right SO to act
When the witnesses In the cause have testified
before you as to the facts il is then the Off ce
OF the Judge, under his official oath. to testify
to you in the spirit OF truth, according to the
best Of his knowledge and ability, as to what
10 the law which may be apple able 10 these
facts; and an honest Jury will disregard nei.
Their the testimony Of the witnesses nor the in.
structions Of The judge, unless they ara salts
lied that corrupt motives have actuated them.
They Will leave the party to his Iegiti ma g re-
dress, a writ of error to the appellate court.
Much stress has also been laid by the
counsel for the defense, upon the fact which
they assert. that during the progress OF this
trial more than $50 exceptions have been taken
to the ruling OF the Court, concerning the ad-
missibility OF evidence. II they have found
themselves under the necessity of calculating
the number of these exceptions, and parading
them before you with view OF having YOU to
render verdict according to irrevelant evil
dence not before you rather than according TO
the testimony which you have heard, have
no disposition to crIticise their taste, bnl leave
them to present their case in their own way
AT the same time feel II my duty to remark
to you that if counsel will be so bold Is Il,
present propositions to the Court which every
tyfo In The profession ought to know are un-
ie2able ii does not necessarily follow that the
Judge must always be weak as to sustain
them. 1t has heretofore been supposed thu,
exceptions to the ruling of a Judge at pist
rms, were intended to be passed in review
before the appellate courts. l have never he.
fore known them to be neatly calculated and
presented to the jury IN the way OF argument.
In reference TO taese matter / may observe
fhat perhaps l owe l. 10 the dignity of the
~ bench 10 have Interrupted counsel in the
conduct OF the case in his par ocular, but il a
cause involving the life of thu prisoner upon
the one hand aud thu VIE dica ton OF the OUT
ragged Justice Of a nation mourning upon the
other, deem 1t my duty to cast not an atom
IN the one scale or the other, which might by
any possibility tend to pre- udice either side Of
n irAitp Hr ti,.,
Ill a general way &c the evidence 1t would
BE- i'm posi- BILE for ne 10 view it in detail with
out taxing yonr patience, which has already
hem sesrly exhausted. l have already said
that the counsel tor defence rely upon an abb
10 acquit The prisoner. They have also en-
aeavored to destroy the credihilry OF nearly,
If not All OF the material witnesses. whose tes-
uEony to connect the prisoner With thu body
OF the crime. either by contradict ting the m by
other witnesses on points material TO tia Issue,
or by attacking their character for credibility
whether they have succeeded in DESTROYING
the credihility Of any one, or more OF them, you
are to determine
On the other hand, the prosecution rsly for
a conviction on the evidence which they have
spread before you, tending to show the malice
OF the prisoner towards the Federal Govern.
ment, and especially towards the deceased,
Abraham Lidcoln, for a long time prior TO the
murder His frequent Communications and
Intercourse, private, confidential ani mysts-
nous, with Booth and the other conspirators,
personally and by letters; his interest mani
tested in providing quarters a the Herndon
House tor Payne, no attempted to assassinate
Secretary Seward: his procurement of arms for
aiding the escape of Booth and Herold. and his
concealment OF them at Surratts willie shortly
prior 10 the assassination of the President: his
fabrication OF false accounts and contradictory
statements as to the object of his mo yements.
his expression used to Smoot shortly before the
assassination OF the President that II the Yam.
KEGS knew what he was dong or was aoont TO
do. they would stretch his neck for HIM: his
fixing Of the wooden bar against the door OF
the Presidents box at the thearer: his presence
here in this city on the day Of the murder: his
being in company with Booth and McIIaugh-
lin at the barber's on that day; his appearance
in front OF foTd's Theater on the night o, the
murder; his excited and suspicious manner
while there, and his calling out the time TO
Booth and the other men with them two or
three tunes shortly before the fatal shot
was fired by Booth as the signal for action:
his alleged activity II the management OF the
entire conspiracy planned for the fatal evening
OF the Il "a of April his flight from the city on
the morning of the 18th OF April, as soon as
u was possible for him 10 leave; his swift
haste 10 get into Canada; his abandonment OF
his mother an d family: his con eaIment of him.
self in Canada at the house Of the rebel SYM
pathlzers Boucher and LapieITe: his disguise
o. ms person hy me coioring OF his hair, the
changing ofhis dress and wearing OF specta les
his hight from Canada under an assumed
name and disguised personal appearance
MS lree ana voluntary confessions to Dr.
MCMILLAN on board the steamer Peruvian:
his constantanprehensioh OF the United States
detectives, even on the Brush steamer and on
i'i tsh soli MS hight from England to Rome.
ana entering the papal service: his confession
to 81. NJ aiie while there, as 10 the manner of
his escape from Washing ton Immediately after
Inc murder; his failure to prove TO you WHERE
Ne eat and slept during the time when he left
Montreal on the 18th OF April till he returned on
the 18Th OF the same month: his fiyht from
Rome 10 Egypt. All these matters are pre-
seEted Tor your careful and candid considpra-
ton. You are to weight them all, and then
make up your verdict.
In giving these matters your attention Won
Will not fail to remember that flight from the
sceLe OF crime, the fabrication Of false accounts
and contradictory statements, the conceaiment
or instruments OF violence, all circum.
stances strongly Indicative OF guilt You will
further bear i'll mind that confession OF crime
when freely and fairly made, the body of the
crime being proved, (Which is in this case the
1act OF murder,) is one sf the surest proofs of
g0ilt, because 1t Is the testimony OF the Omnis-
Gent speaking through the conscience OF the
culprit You will not either, forget that cir
cumstantial evidence carries with 1t the high.
est degree OF moral certainty. These are well
settled rules OF law to which it is my duty to
invite your attention.
From the observations which 1 have ad-
dressed to you,yo will infer: First. That con-
spiracy formed in time of war to rake the life
OF the President and Vice President OF the
Republic snd the heads Of the executive de-
partments, for the purpose OF aiding the enc.
mics OF the Federal Government, by throwing
It into anarchy and confusion, is treason as
heinous and as hurtful to the people OF this
country as the comprising the death Of the
King or Queen of Great Britain is to the sub
jects OF that realm.
Second That every person engaged in such
conspiracy, as long Rs he continues mambs
c 6 h 10 nnfn w for ho