The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1868-06-27
AooUIrrAL OF COL B b PAYNR.
The Charge Of Judge Smith 70 the
Jury-Their Verdict


most entire attention of the Criminal Court,
has at last terminated in the honorable ac-
quittal and discharge Of Col Payne. The
closing speech on the side of the defense by
Col Jordan Stokes, commenced on Friday, I
but continued to Monday on account of that /
gentleman's illness, was mastery effort,
full of sound logical reason, coupled with /
language that could move hearts of stone to
tears Of pity. He was followed by Gov |
Neil ). Brown, who closed the argument for |
the prosecution. Gov. Brown as a forensic |
orator, prOclaimeT of the law, a statesman /
and gentlemen, Is too well known through
out the entire land for US to attempt any /
encOmiums upon his name His speech was
decidedly one of the browning laurels Inhis |
garland Of success.
Perhaps it would not be out Of place to !
give brief resume of the case as given by
the witnesses during the long trial
In July, 1856. Colonel b H. Payne shot
and killed Captain NJ s. Allan, for the al
legged ohense Of having at various times had
illicit Intercourse with the formers wife.
Both men stood well in the community and
until within a short time of the fatal ARRAY
referred to had been on terms of friendship.
Some time previous, however, Mrs. Payne
had fled a bill ia the Chaneery Court pray
ing for a divorce the ground of i'll treat
ment On the 24th day of May 1865, a d.
vorce was granted Mrs. 2. She was Col
Payne's second wife, he having previously
married a Kentucky lady, from whom he
procured q divorce
AS the kilingwas done In daylight and
on one Of the most public streets, it was-
witnessed by numerous persons, aud, as a
conseq 2ence, was easy of proof Both par
hes were armed, as was evidenced by Che
fact that pistol was found lying by the side
of Allen after he had fallen 1t is thought
by some that Alien fred once at Colonel
Payne, but the testimony is somewhat con-
h;cting on this point Colonel Pavne's first
shot missed Allen and took effect in the
thigh OF man who happened to be stand
ing near by.
A strange idea on the part of Col Payne
was that he was the Sheriff of the Al
mighty" whose duty it was to execute His
orders; that 1t was she decree of Providence
that Allen should die, and that he was the
instrument by which that decree was to be
enforced. When demonstrated with by his
! friends on the rashness of his course. shef
would cite to tnem passages in the Old Tes.
| lament, where aduiterers and fornicators
were put to death, and insisted tnat such
was The viii of God and that he was the
instrument in the hands of God to kill Al
/ len Aud on this plea portion of the de-
Tense rested. @
The argument was concluded at eleven
o'oloek, aud Judge Smith charged the jury
| as follows:
Gentlemen Of the Jary-The defendant,
b. H. Payne, is indicted in this case for
murder in the first degree, in killing a. s.
Allen, deceased. To the indictment the de-
| PENDANT pleads net guilty" and under this
generalrule, he attempts, by proof, to estab-
fish the defense of insanity The Code of
this State, (sec. 459) defines murder to be-
q If any person of sound mind and dis
erection, unIawiuliy kill any reasonable crea-
ture In being, and under the peace of the
State, with malice, aforethought, either ex-
press or implied, such person shall be guilty
Of murder"
To be OF sound mind and discretion is
necessary constituent, not only to murder
but to every other indictable offense In
other words, person accused, having ar
rived at the age Of discretion, must be sane
at the time of the commission of the ofense
before he can be made responsible to the
law.
Insanity IN our country Is becoming a very
common plea for oaenses committed under
the most aggravated circumstances when no
available Offense can be devised by the in
genuity of able and learned counsel to
screen the party accused from the punish.
ment Of the law. The plea Of insanity IN
this peculiar class of cases IS not less fire.
quent in proportion to their number than
y
jury should, therefore, examine into the
truth Of such plea with great caution and
circum spection, but if they are satisfied that
1t is well founded, they should acquis the
accused as readily as though it were upon.
the plea Of self-detense.
Over one hundred years ago in England
q man to be held insane must have no more
reason than a brute, an infant or a wild
beast At that time the privilege of the plea
IF dot 70
or idiots, while persons afflicted with insanity
from lunacy, partial arrangement, mono
mania and the like, were held to strict
criminal accountability. The science of
medical Jurisprudence commenced investi-
cations into this subject, and it became APP
parent that the lunatic during his frenzy
and the partially deranged man within the
range of his insanity, were as much entitled
to the benefits of the plea of insanity as the
mailman or idiot The insane were once
regarded as the victims Of Divine vengeance
and beyond the pale of human sympathies.
They are now a cherished class, for whose
treatment and recovery asylums are estab-
lished at public and private expense. These
receptacles for the insane afford ample Op-
portunities for scientific research, and con-
sequently new lights are thrown upon the
public mind and reflected IN the medical ju-
rispTudence of the country In charging
J
arrived at the duskY regions where the light
of sane responsibility and the darkness of
insane responsibility cOmmingle, and are
only discerned and annalized by the dis
eliminating eye of scientific research.
The subject of insanity, in connection
with it's criminal responsibility, has chal-
lenged the attention and caused much fruit
less labor Of learned and scientific authors,
to ascertain some certain test to determine
the existence and daUreo OF INSANITY nocaa-
sary in that connection. After a thorough
examination into the authorities upon this
subject, I find no better solution of the cues
ton than that insanity which is excused
from criminal responsibility is, when the
mind at the time Of the act is done, from
some disturbing cause, has become so disor-
ganized in It's functions that it is incapable
of distinguishing between right and wrong,
or to comprehend the relations of other
persons, the nature of the act committed
and its criminal character as against the law.
This test though generally COED, is not
applicable in all cases. 1t is contended IN
this case under consideration, that the ac-
4