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

for the State had found q case in which the
Court of Appeals had decided that this was
good defence; would they not then have
yielded to the law? There are many cases
where parties may take the law in their own
hands--as IN seli-deience, where man makes
himself judge of the law in his own case.
AFTERNOON SESSION.
Mr.. Archer continued The prosecution
had attempted to connect Richard Cairnes
with this affair to the prejudice of the priso-
ner at the bar; but there was not a word of
proof to show his connection with it.
He argued that there was no arrangement
between Miss Cairnes and her brother pre-
vious to the affair, and that the circumstan-
tial evidence should have no weight at all
upon the jury. Mr.. Archer next spoke ofthc
various manifestations of insanity, and said
that the actions and words of Miss Carnes
were not to be taken as proof of her sanity
He next argued that man has the right to
take the law into his own hands, provided
he is willing to take the responsibility of his
acts of which responsibility jury would be
the judge, and said that it was right to pro-
tect our homes against invasion, whether
that invasion was made by force or came in
the clothing of sheep to take that which
was most precious. fla father can protect
his child-if a mother can protect her daugh.
not fatherless girl protect her own rightss
We only ask a verdict in accordance with
those which have been given in previous
cases. That the jury would be bound by the
prccedents which have gone hefore-where
any doubt exists-that jurics were as much
bound by these preccdents as judges were in
the Interpretation of the law. The Jury
should allow their sympathy for the accused
to have weight with them-even if they
sometimes trenched upon the rigid rules of
technical law.
In this case great outrage had been COM
mitted-not only against a widowed mother
but against society, and If not discountenan-
ced, would rend the foundations of society,"
He deplored the life that had been lost, but
like the thunderstorm that purifies the atmos-
phcre, if this would bring security to our
family circles from such invasons, it would
he well The verdict of acquittal will be n
righteous one, and from this verdict we may
expect the best results to society. We have
a common law Of our own, of equal weight
with the common law of England, which is
made up of decisions inpreceding cases. Our
law should be of equal weight with you.
Mr.. Archer closed with an earnest appeal
to the jury for verdict of acquittal
Attorney General Jones, on the part ofthe
State, then addressed the jury. He said
that he had never, in practice of thirty
years arisen to perform duty under
such embarrassing circumstances. He
spoke of the length of time the case
had occupied-that nothing short of a
sense of duty urged him to Il performance
of the unpleasant task deyolying upon him.
| stand here to yindicate the principles of
justice, of law and order--the peace and
happin, of society-doctrines which are
far better calculated to secure these than
the doctrines to which / haye listened from
the gentlemen on the other side.
do not complain of the bias displayed
by the counsel on the other side; they
would be less than men, less than the high
professional men that they are, if they did
not give the whole power of their minds to
the cause they advocate. A remark was
made yesterday by the counsel for the ac-
cused that Nicholas McComas was in "the
peace ofGod and ofthe State of MARYLAND"
These are the usual formalities in the form
of indictments which have been handed
down to us for hundreds of years. If ev.
cry man who is not in 1.-The peace of Godn
is to be shot down, what condition we
should be in.
You remember the terms of abuse with
which the defence stigmatiZed Nicholas
McComas; that he was monster whose
life was forfeited; an enemy to the human
race. The defence of their client does NOT
compel them to blackcn unnecessarily the
name of that buried man. / do not think
they are paying very high compliment
to their client thus to hold him up as q
monster of iniquity. Who was Nicholas
McComasa He was the son of widowed
mother; the support of that mother and
three sisters; industrious and hard work
ing F.; an example of sobriety and industry
in his relations to society, and as son and
brother. He was the accepted lover of
this lady; lady of refinement and culture,
the first in her neighborhood. They be-
came engaged. His standing might be
Judged when such lady gave him her
heart and hand. No fixed day for marriage
had been named, but it had been talked of.
1t is in evidence that he alleged that he
wanted to get permanent location, so
that he might consummate his wishes Did
the prisoner at the bar believe that his cir
cumstances prevented hin from consumma-
ting his wishes2 Who better calculated
than she to know his circumstances and
condition? If he was the artful, lazy, worth
less character of the practised seducer, why
did she not dismiss her faithless lover 2
The man who goes deliberately to plot the
destruction ola lady, young or old, there
is no word to describe the horror which
every honest heart would feel against such
II man. McComas' conduct at the last in.
terview they had together, at Mr. Smith
sons in November, 1868, was not that of
deliberate intentional seducer; and subse-
guently, after the birth of the child, when
the officer had arrested him on the charge
of being the father of this child, he then
avowed his love for her, and would not
allow word to be spoken against her.
Can you believe that this man was prac-
tised seducer9 Is there no possibility that
in moment Of unsuspecting confidence
both were betrayed into an act producing
such fearful consequences In November
: he said he was not then prepared to marry
her. That he should have done so, / do
say, and would have advised it if he had
, been my brother; but that he should have
been shot down like a dog, deny. If his
life had been spared, and other counsel had
been given, the speaker thought that they
I would have been married. That they were
not, is to be deplored.
The State had extended to the young
lady every advantage which could be
gained by showing those excellences of
character which she possessed. The At
n H. Il H..