Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1868-09-25

OTTAWA, Sept. Il, ls5s.
The Whelsn case was resumed AT nine O'Clock
tins morning. Hon John Hlliard Cameron,
counsel for the defense. began ty alluiuE to
the strong prejudice existing against the prison
er. He sand the evidence in the case consisted
Of three kjuds-circumstautial. direct and ad-
missions Of the prisoner. He considered the
circumsiantial evidence brought forward in the
present case as wholly unreliable. and showed
the improbsbility of the direct evidence given
by Turner and Wade examined the evidence
Of LacroiI. who swore that be saw Whelan shoot
McGee, and showed now improbable II was He
spoke Of the admissions sworn TO by Cullen, and
cited authorities % show that such admission.
were TO perceived with great caution. Such words
are easily misrcpresentei from imperfect hear
ing from forgetfulness or from malice He
stroagly denounced the system Of spying kept
up on prisoners and expressed confidence in the
fairness Of the jury. At the close he stated
that Whean hsd avowed his innocence TO him,
and matters lay between him and his Maker.
The speech, which was very able lasted over
two hours, and produced a great impression
Mr.. O'Reilly. the Crown counsel, expressed
satisfaction al the remarks that fell from Mr..
Cameron regarding the fairness Of the trial. The
prisoner had been defended by the best talent in
j
carried away by cloquence, but judge from the
facts. He said great prejudice existed against
the crime, but not against the prisoner beyond
his connection with the crime. The learned
counsel sketche1 the career Of " halen, beginning
at Quebec under the name Of Sullivan, tracing
him to Montreal and showing how he doggel the
steps Of Mr.. McGee He reviewed the evidence
of the various witnesses; referred to the pistol
found on the prisoner and the threats he had
made against Mr.. McGee's life he showed the
consistency Of Turner's evidence. It contained
the story Of the same threats testified to by other
witnesses He also referred to the evidence Of
Wade that those men met night after night to
plot the death Of Mr. McGee. The evidence and
actions showed a conspiracy. The conspirators
had not vet been reached, but the evidence be-
fore the Crown would track them to their dens.
Mr.. Reilly traced the prisoners whole conduct
on the night Of the mn-der, his restlessness while
Mr.. McGee eloquently pleaded "the cause Of his
country" when the words " struck below the
belt " were used the prisoner shook his hand
passed it over his breast where the pistol was
and nodded te his confederate Lacroix, an uu-
lettered Frenchman, had seen the deed com
mitted He must be the greatest genius that
ever lived to invent such a story. He made q
most severe allusion to O'Farrell's attempt to
bribe witnesses. He said witnesses for the de
fence came and swore Gospel in one hand and
So in the other He closed his calm and dispas-
sionate address by adjuring the jury to find a
true verdict and declare the truth before their
God and their country.
After a short recess the Judge charged the
jury, which occupied FIVE hours and forty MI
nutes Probably not more than half an hour Of
the whole period WAS devoted TO comments on
the evidence, the remainder of the time being
al ba fps-T
Comments were made here and there as he went
along, but his charge, on the whole, was exceed
| ing moderate. His pros and cons, as far as they
went, were well balanced lie noticed that
there were some undisputed facts telling against
the prisoner, which left the plain issue of guilty
or not guilty.
As the jury retired whalen rose, very much
| flushed, and asked in loud, firm voice, - My
| Lord, can ask you one question can be in
court when the jury comes out, Judge You
will be here" The court adjourned till nine
O'Clock Tuesday morning. The streets around
| the court house are filled with an excited and
anxious crowd. 1t is likely the jury will render
sealed verdict tonight, and it is almost certain
| to be guilty. The court house was guarded by
.entinels to prevent any approach to Whalen in
| the dock. he has been cursing horribly all day.
| overheard tonight the words Of remark made
| by Whalen yesterday TO person behind him,
who told friend, swearing him to secrecy. The
repetition heard is that when a man was swear
ing that no one saw the murder, that it was i'm
possible that Lacroix could have seen Whalen,
whalen said =" By Ged, the bis right
No one could see me and no one did see me when
Ishot darcy McGee!"
Mitchell brought on $4,000, Fenian contri-
buttons from Cincinnati. Whalen is terrioiy
nervous to-day. His wife was in court
On the 10Th instant the jury brought in a
verdict Of guilty Only few Of the large crowd