Herald and tribune. [volume] (Jonesborough, Tenn.) 1869-current, 1871-12-14
MISCELLANEOUS.
Mans Perddy and Wsman'ss Sim.
plicitv.

young girl in st. Louis, pleaded guilty to
manslaughter on the charge of killing her
illegitimate child, and after confessing to
the crime she addressed TIE Judge of the
Court as follows: 81
l stand indicted before your Honor for
the murder of my infant child on the 4th
day of April, 1871 At the instance of
personal friend, l have decided to plead
guilty of manslaughter in the second de-
gree.
l have been induced to take this course
because, although not morally responsible
for the act which | committed. and which
Ihave never have d%isavowed, / have been
advised that under the peculiar circam-
stances surrounding me, it is difficult if
not impossible, to establish by legal eyi-
dence in court the poraFy .assmtE3
der which [ labored az he nue.
Nv mother died iu tHi. city when II
was bat a child Bereft Of her loving
care. l received from rag fatSessuch niea-
gre support and educatiun as his, limited
n means afforded At the tender ase sof
five (now some iiteen years ago. / was
subjected to the control OF > 5teP-uqch-
eE.
During tet years preceding The date OF
nv great misfortune 7 Eved iuu1y father's
humble home. assisting IN HOUSEHOLDS du-
ties, in the care Of my little brothers ana
sisters. and aiding him as a saleSwonan
lat his ..stand" In the market. From ear
ly morn till dark of nearly every day of
those ten terrible years-years to me OF
hunger, cold, humiliation and suffering
Istood faithfully at my post. endeayoring,
as become a dutiful daughter. to relieve
my father of the blight and burden ofpov-
erty.
Throughout all this time and until the
present hour excepting the one sin which
caused my talD | preserved my womanly
purity and virtue. About two years ago,
while engaged as [ have stated, l met a
gentleman some seven years my senior, OF
seemingly good character and habits, who
won my heart. He proposed marriage
and | accepted.
Pending the time for the happy consul
nation of my girlish hopes and ambition.
and con6ding in his love and truth, L be-
came a victim to his lust, and fell, alas to
rise no more.
The natural result having soon become
apparent, L implored him to restore my
good name by making me his wife. This
be repeatedly promised to do, yet post
poned the ceremony on one pretext or an
other until | was near my accouchment,
D when he fed the city, and left me ruined,
wretched and disgraced.
1 concealed my dishonor from every
one. My step mother began to suspect
the nature of my condition. She accused
me of my error; I denied it. Instead of
sympathy or kipkly effort to win my love
and confidence, / received abuse, and was
threatened with violence. My misery
was complete l could bear no more. |
resolved to leave my fathers house, and
did so. Iobtained employment as a do
mestic in the home of a respectable fami-
" of this city, where l remained, doing
such work as | could, until the hour Zone
locked forward to as one Of supreme hap
piness and joy) when my child was born.
You, sir, who are husband and father, can
appreciate far better than my poor words
can express the anguish. the agony of
rmind and body which | then endured.
Overwhelmed with shame, worn and
exhausted by the loss of strength, conse-
-quent on childbirth. my brain distracted
and my heart broken, L arose from my
bed a few hours after confinement. took
my babe in my arms to a founding hes
pital, and besought the lady i'll charge to
take and keep it for me, offering such
compensation as | was able to give. This
she refused to do. L left this institution,
still carrying my child.
The gloom of night had gathered round
me. Nv steps were slow, faint and tot
tering. The stars shore bright and true.
rs of old, but / saw them not the lamps
shed their accustomed light in vain the
streets were filled with happy children /: L
heard not their merry voices. their joyous
laughter: mothers, folding smiling babes
Oh their loy ing breasts. touched me-. pros
ed me as 7 passed along; | felt them not;
darkness, the b'ackncss of despair, was a
hove, around, beneath me, expelling every
raw of reason from my soul.
Yet on | went. | reached tie Convent
and told the same tale, asked the same re
lief I had begged for in vain before, and
was-denied. Repuised in the only two
places where [ could hope TO bud help or
sympathy, l knew not what TO do. Will
Their could / go, where obtain aid or com
fort in this, the deepest extremity OF a
wonan's sorrow? 2
Home? l bad none that l could call
M y own The dwelling where my dead
mother nursed and blessed me had been
closed against me. Such as it was, | dare
not enter the portals, for, from its rude
threshold echoed a fathers angry curse
What then? Crazed, half dead. almost
unconscious. l sought the rear Of the
building. and entered the closet, M child
dropped from my nerveless arms and
was dead. In my wild despair-in my
wilder deliriumI cast my darling babe
away. and destroyed its sweet young life,
How l reached the house of my friends
knew not nor can l now realize how crj
why I did the horrid deed.
For many weeks thereafter / oscillated
between life and death. God alone knows
tho extent of my suffefings. am sure
He will pity. will pardon me, for | knew
not what L did. I5
Sueh,your Honor, Is the simple story of
my life snch a faithful history of my
crime. I am but a young girl-poor aud
helpless, friendless-who never did wong
TO man or woman. Whether [ am a ft
subject for the laws vengeance, it is for
you to decide.
It may be that society demands a vic
tim /; that the public good requires ansex
ample. and that / am the right character
or person to furnish it. Ifso, [ shall hum
bly, submit to the sacrifice, trusting and
believing. however. in the justice of God
for q reversal of that law which consigns
me to chains ann infamy, while it toler-