The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1871-11-04

some emphasis upon the duty which men
at the head of families, and of elevated
station-like himself, For instahce-owed
TO society in general, and TO themselves
and children in particular and although
Emily, amidst her tears and sorrows,
could understand but little of all this ha-
rangue, she caught the sound of the words
''felon'' and 'Jail," and "majesty of the
law
Some people would have been weak
enough and silly enough to have sent the
weeping girl to her room, with an iniunc-
tion as to her future conduct, under the
impression that justice would gladly have
connved at such an arrangement. But,
then, how could the ''majesty of the law
have been upheld How was outraged
society to have been 9indicated True,
we had forgotten that. The hardware
master did not, however. His memory,
like his wares, was of an enduring kind
and he did not in this instance forget TO
stand up for the outraged grades of soci-
ETY. against the criminal enormity before
him.
The childron cried good deal Mrs.
Sharpe did not know what she should do;
and the servants declared it was mon
strous when they learned that poor, pretty
little Emily had gone off in cab to a
terrible prison. 1t so happened at that
very identical time the sessions were on,
and Mr.. Ser jeant Kain was in the very
thick of his very fourishing business,
busily engaged in upholding the majesty
of the law. The widow WAS not long in
making her way TO her poor child's side
and sad scene was that of their meeting,
even for jailOrS and such stony people to
witness.
The terrible. dreaded day of trial came.
Emily was led into cohrt in a state Ef
hysterical terror, which Mr.. SERGEANT Kain,
iii the fullness of his Judicial wisdom,
pronounced the very essence of hypocrisy.
Her mother remained as near to her as
she dared, whispering in her ear comfor:
that she herself scarcely dared to feel
The process of hearing the case was not
by any means a tedious one, and NIGH:
have been quickly dispatched, had the
bare facts been only gone into. But the
learned SERGEANT having been just previ-
ously defrauded Of two noted pickpock-
cts, whom he had inwardly reckoned on
as his particular property, determined TO
wreak his disappointed ''maies;y' upon
the next conner, which, unfortunately,
happened TO be Emily.
There were no witnesses beyond the
tradesman and the master, and their story
was soon told. The prisoner did not deny
the act of obtaining the goods under false
pretenscs-which was the chargc-and
would have said more. but was too terri>
fed. The foreman Of The jury-a mild
looking man, no doubt the father of a
famly-began to observe that the case
was scarcely such q one as should have
been brought on, but was cut short and
frowned down by the serjeant, who trem>
bling for the safety of justice and the
legal majesty aforesaid, proceeded to sum
up the evidence-not very ahstTuse af-
fair, one would suppose. But Mr.. Ser
ieant Kain worked it up 50 artistically,
iudicially, and threw in such a heap Of
horrors and monstrosities; that the gentle
men of the jury scarcely recognized the
case. When people listened 10 the learn
ed serieant's dennnciation of serpents, and
yipers, and pests of society, and at the
same time cast their eyes on the youthful
form and sorrowful face of the prisoner at
the bar, they must have thought it one of
the least 5enomOus and dangerous speCi
mems Of the serpent tribe they had ever
read or heard of; or seen in picture-books,
But Serjeant kain was not the man to
be humbugged by crime, simply because
it cried when detected. He knew what
the world was made Of and he main
tanned that it was perfectly shocking to
see young women of her age, seventeen
wears or more-the widow shrieked out,
'sscarcely fifteen !" but SERGEANT Kain
frowEed her down very indignantly, as
though he did not know the prisoner 8 age
better than her mother, and repeated with
emphasis, s'seventeen''-to see such young
women so hardened in the practices of
vice but the jury would of course do their
duty-in fact, they had no choice IN the
matter, for the creature had confessed her
guilt.
Amidst the most profound and painful
silence in the court, the fatal word ''guil-
ty !' was pronounced but people breath
ed more freely as The foreman OF the jury,
with trembling lips and moistened eyes,
added, "with strong recommendation to
mercy !" Again the court was hushed,
and only the hysterical sobbing of the
prisoner was heard, whilst The SERGEANT
proceeded to pass sentence: ''Six months
Imprisonment, with hard labor" The
foreman of the jury groaned and wept like
child and there was scarcely dry eye
beyond those of the prosecutor ard the
Judge. as the prisoner-the convict-was
carried fainting from the court.
The same evening, the foreman sought
the prison in which poor Emily was con-
fined. The keeper of the place had to:-
.unately better heart than the Judge,
and had seen the nature of the case at a
glance. Risking all consequences, he had