Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1871-07-13
Scene in a Jury Room.
A THRILLING STORY.

ff TTlH 1852
I once had the extreme com
fort OF leaving my business .tc
serve upon "the jury" I plead
led in oil manner of ways for re-
lease bat to no effect. 4 could
not swear that / was deaf, Dol
blind, nor yet non compo8, but
did tell them that lad aIready y
formed an opinion. They asked
me if my opinion would prevent
ne from receiving the testimony
in good faith and rendering yer,
dict according to it. II replied
that of course / should weigh The
evidence carefully and be governed
by it. / was then informed that
| "would do" aes h..@'
The case to be tried was one Of
arson then a capital offence
and the prisoner at the bar a young
man named Charles Ambold,
whom | had known from my boy.
hood, aud who was natural one
Of tie fgest youths oi Ils, fosvn
where he resided. He Lad a
widowed. mother, WHO Sdepended
upon him for support, and his
circle OF friends was large and
choice. "a A. was morall britain
that he did not eolnmit The criine,
and bencesiIl am sure, those who
were friendlys1o him got me on
the pane. aud lad me retained.
The trial commenced and Rave
twelve men took our seat in Che
jury brX. | had a very. respect
able set with me--olily tGeresg gas
one man whom / did not like to
see there, This man was Moul-
ton Warren. He was 4 dark
faced, sinister-lookiug feIIow-at
least 10 me. i knew that young
Ambold had one fault lie had
recently, been addicted TO drink,
and been known to visit disrepu-
table houses. 1t was one Of those
houses that had been burned. Tor
setting fire TO which he had been
apprehen1ed. IA - u .5-sfo1 -
Now ! had often tried, to aptr-
suade Charles Anibold from the
course he was pursuing He Had
repeatedly promised me that she
would reform, and as repeatedly
he bad broken away. lad often
talked 70 him Of sllis poor mother
until 5hellRd wept like u. Child !;
but the effect was not ssfastfng =
There was a power Of teMptIiion
more elfectigesthan any iptlnence
| could Weld. He would ialY a.
way into tie evil com psst6Qship,
aud for a while his aHlhEOd was
gone: One or. Two aband6hsd wo-
mep- had gained great power over
him, and upon them he had wasted
much fahis substance. = is.s-sss
And LkAew that this very man.
who was now npon the jury.
this Alonlton Warren was the
ope who's had aona more sttianShll
Others todead tie poor youth a.
way. II was Warren who had
drankiwith him, and who had led
him away to those most abominable
haunts of sin and pollution. Why
was he upon the jury? / could
only account for it on the ground
that Charley still supposed him to
be his friend. The. poor scorched
insect was still Ignorant of the
fame that sscerched him. He
really believed that Moulton
Warren was his friend. %
r. The trial commenced. The in
dictment set forth that Charles
Ambold had, "with malice afore-
thouaht,'' and with all sorts of
wicked and feldAlAus intents, set
fire to a certain dwelling house,
thereby endangering human Life.
This dwelling, as / have already
intimated, was a low sink of iniq-
uity where the abandoned of
both sexes were wont to congre-
gate, and where the youthful pris,
oner had spent most of his time.
The evidence for the proseeu!
tion came on, and / was startled.
One after another gave in their
testimony, some of them very re-
luctantly, and ] was frightened
when | saw how plainly it all
pointed to the prisoner as the
guilty party. Several credible
witnesses swore that they had
heard him threaten to burn the
house down. Then came several
witnesses-threc of them .promi-
nent citizens who saw him Turk
ing about the premises on the night
of the fire.
With regard to the provocation
on the prisoners part, 1t was proved
upon his own admission. that he
had been, i'll treated, there and
that he had sworn 10 have re-
venge. Aud furthermore, it was
proved that he had been heard 10