The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1869-05-14
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MORNING SESSION.

MORNING SESSION.
Court was called al 8 A. NJ. The atten.
dance was very large, every available stand
lug place being occupied, and the greatest
interest and sympathy for the prisoner mani
tested,
Mr., Farnandis continued, and spoke most
eloquently for nearly two hours
Mr. 81. w. Archer then arose, and spoke of
the duty which had fallen upon him TO make
the opening statement of the case, exam
inc witnesses, &c. He had cndcavored to
conduct the case with fidelity. To his col
leagues had been assigned the duty of present
ing this case to the jury, and they had done
their duty well-so well that there was moth
ing left for him to do. l WILL he continued,
merely go through matter of form to show
how fully concur with my colleagues / shall
not address to you any appeal in behalf of
this lady, but shall appeal to your judgments
and reasons. will endeavor to enforce the
arguments bearing upon the legal questions.
There is no dispute upon any of the facts in
the case. We have compelled the State to
bring forward all the facts in the case-all
the surrounding circumstances which led to
the aftair-the relation between these parties
is not denied-his pretence of being an hon
orabie suitor-all these are before you. Mr..
Archer next spoke OF the gentleness and pu.
rity OF character of the accused, all her traits
! going to make up lovely girl. This she
was before she became victim. 1t is for
you to apply the law. All these facts have
| their bearing, and from them you are to Judge
whether she is responsible being.
We are trying this case under the laws of
America and the laws of Maryland and not
under the common law. Under the common
law, all killing is not murder, nor can any
10 1N,,,~ 81 u
| ingredients necessary to make 1t SUCH
Where do they get their common law? 1t is
made up from decisions in preceding cases.
Our Code is silent rs to what constitutes
murder. 1t docs not say that all deliberate
killing is murder In the first degree, but that
all murder committed under such circum-
stances is murder in the first degree. The
law leaves underlined what constitutes murder
ITSELF There are thousands of cases of will
full, premeditated killing which are not muir
| der, and have none of the ingredients which
are necessary to constitute murder Life ia
ken in defence Of ones property is not muir
der-though the killing be premcditated and
| deliberate. No statutes defining murder are
on our statute-books. Our judicial tribunals
| are as fully competent TO decide and cstab-
fish law as the judges of England, who estab-
| lished the common law. Judges of ENGLAND
have decided that acts committed in heat of
| blood are not murder-that upon sudden
provocation, a simple blow will reduce the
| offence from murder to manslaughter Was
there no heat of blood here? Now let me
give an illustration: A soldier gave some
opprobrious language to woman, and she
struck him, and turned from him and ran,
when he pursued her and catching up with
her, stabbed her in the back and killed her.
The Court decided at first that this was MUIR
der-on the ground that blow from wo-
man was not sufficient provocation, but hear
ing thatthe blow was struck with an iron
pan-~by which the soldiers face was cut
the Court deciled that the crime was not
murder in the highest degree.
| II it should be considered that.the blood of
a strong man had been raised to such a pitch
by so trivial provocation, what shall be said
of this case, where woman has suffered the
greatest wrong which a woman can suffer
more than can be suffered, under any circum-
stances, by a man? Now, gentlemen, when
will the cooling time comeY A simple blow
may be forgotten in a moment, but an injury
to the heart may be remembered for an indie.
finite period. He then read from an author
ity showing that no special time could be laid
down when the blood would become coolP
Who can look at the circumstances of this case
and say that this lady's blood had time to
cool2 1t was not single act, but series of
them, beginning last year, and continuing in
its operations until the act occurred. Who
can tell the agony and desperation produced
upon her; deceived and wounded in the ten
dercst spot by the one she loved her home
made desolate, and her life forever a blank?
The wrong was continuing UP to the very
day of the birth OF the little child the moth
er's heart increasing in agony with every
look and wall of the infant Can any ono
say that up to the very hour Of the commits
sion of the act, that she was not laboring I'M
der an indignity more terrible than could be
inflicted upon any one of us. The aggraya-
ton in this case is ten thousand times greater
than in any case in which an excuse has been
allowed. There is no written law for these
cases. The authorized judge had declared
that heated blood was an excuse to lessen the
crime of murder.
That view of the case only extends to the
reduction of the case from higher grade to
lower. Our plea is not guilty. If, instead
of finding that the act did not occur in heated
blood, but while her mind was in a state of
frenzy, then she was entitled to acQlittal.-p-
The evidence is all on one side. We have
established her insanity without doubt. We
have not shown mere theory, mere argument
No, VIC have given you medical authority Ic-
lating to operations Of the mind in such cases,
and we have given you the evidence to prove
IL. he tnen redQ from lnCQlcal authority
showing that nine tenths of the cases of in
sanity laid down have been the result of NOR
al causes that the prcdisposition to insanity
was increased to great extent by hidden
grief and distress OF mind and such causes.
Now we have seen all these causes opera ing
upon the mind Of the young lady, while in u
delicate condition. We have the nights of
anguish and tears, the false vows other lover.
her secluson from society. We see young
girl who has never hurt Worm, full of sym
pathy and kindness, rushing hastily and hur-
riedly upon a scene, and COMFORTING herself
in ouch manner as to convince the bystand.
crs that she was insane.
John Hutchins said that, judging from her
actions, he thought she was woman escaped
from a mad-house. This is the strongest
evidence, when we contrast it with her for
mer character. Her action could only be
accounted for on the ground that her wrongs
and her injuries had injured her brain. This
is uncontradicted on the part of the State
They ask us why we did not bring up her
neighbors and friends to testify. She was
cut off and secluded from those who might
have seen her In her time of trouble. Why
did not they bring parties forward to speak
of her mental condition? They did make
such an effort which succeeded SO badly that
they abandoned it.
Can you suppose it possible that young
girl, tenderly nurture6, brought up as she
was cOuld ahont down n man opd ~, lo,,