The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1868-01-01

court handed me note, whispering W lug a'
Che same time, and pointing out an Ola gen.
tleu,an in the audience-one OF the olaes'
residents in the villages the writer;
With no idea as to its purport, openeu
the note and read it carefully. There was
that written in it which gave me rene"eu
hone. When I turned, a moment after,
and ran my eye slowly along the jury,
felt that a sudden light had broken upon
the dismal story of the trial ana Ine ~
cused mans fortunes. gave the Ptlsoned1
an encouraging look, smiled as l tulnIu
from nv inspection Of the jury, and Calmly
commenced my appeal-for | had no arsu-
nnant-for iustice to the suspected man.
There were two men upon tne uni nLosa
whom liked my eyes particularly. .noS
men had been listless during the pios.e
of the Casa listlessness tnat aIoos,
was satisfied, from convlction VI VIZ
soner's guilt. But upon these Two m 70
based my anticipations o. success sa -
suit of the trial. had Been lnaeo'eu ~
The information contained IN Inc noIo
which had been sent me for placing con-
fdence in the attempt to enlist faVoraoly
the sympathy of these two men ana WIN
a nersistent. unceasing, answering 'lhul-
cation of the principle that man mu ;s.iilty
hold innocent of crime until provessn inrv-
thereof, | held the gaze of thu shev were-
men-sitting side by 81 f which I exhausted
f,r tho hour and In ~ w. aI;aot or
ioi wy ~. ~ effort to clear my cllenl VI
Language aaGch and peril which menaced
inca "a reproach and peril which it was
within the jury's power to lnflict or TO
guard him from.
Long before I had resumed my seat |
had lost the despair with which had COM
menced my appeal. Long before the echo
of my last words sounded in the court
room I read in the faces Of my two jury
men the result Of my pointed speech. And
when, after an hours stay in the jury
mems room, the jury returned with YER
dict of "not guilty." felt how timely, in
deed, had been the in.imation which the
note written by my old friend had con-
tanned. The information was simply this:
That on the jury were two men with whom
an appeal such as l had just made would
not be in vain that the father of one had
been wrongfully hanged for suspected
murder under circumstances nearly SINH
lar to those which had brought Jacob Fem
70 trial, his innocence having been indi-
Gated subsequently; that the other had
once fallen under suspicion for social
offence charged against him, but which he
had always denied, and always with bit
ter protest against the forejudgment OF
man on insufficient evidence. And with
this knowledge in my possession, which |
had skilfully used, I had gradually brought
these two men to an iron determination that
the accused, on circumstantial evidence
alone, which declared him guilty, should
not be hurried to his account branded as q
murderer. I dare say that the sturdy
resolution of these men induced the others
to acquiesce in the verdict given, Il take
no special credit to myself for influencing
the ten other men, and thus saved the life
which had been abandoned, in the mind OF
the public, to the gallows.
This case, I am glad to say, was the be-
ginning of great professional success
And I was not the less applauded when,
wears after, q noted burglar and criminal
wretch who had exhausted the catalogue
of crimes from playing the avocatlon oil
the murderous highwayman to that OF q
common kpockct-declared himself,
when finally brought to the scatfold, to be
the. murderer of Martin Day, and the man
who had sold the spoils Of the unfortunate
pedlcr to Jacob Fem On that dismal
night-fcr the deed performed on which
the latter had been brought within the
awful pale of suspicion Of the shedding OF
| human blood.