Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1872-05-09

to the Hatyen Government, tewhom !
had sSld III sHeswas- a yonng lawyer
Igteat promise in:Nsw York City :.
/. m. Your. old friend, :, iI.. =
s. A. L.
aDie Argument by Col. Hamilton. !
In the us eircnit Court at Charles
| ton, on Wednesday last, in the trial {
the Kp.Klu1 case, The United Statesv
Robkeg. sF;SRiggins, Of York charge uage
with conspiracy and dmurder, Judge Bon
presiding~Gel-H Hamilton, ,ef> Kork;Tforth
defence1 a. a6egelose sof the testimony
made, thsS6llewmg argument before tn
Court and juryS :. :: = xl.4.,.s:'or
The defence hayingnofurther witnesses
Colonel Hamilton began his address tosth
lury. He said.s ".May it please thecouf
and gentlemen Of the jury, congratulate
you upon the fact that you have. arrived
atlaf at thss end d; % case, I'M which abt
testimony has been voluminous, and which
| am convinced, has been a wearisome
trial TO you. I'congratulate you;also fol
the reason that you have come to the tria
of this case-with your mind relieved o
the prejudice which has surrounded the
general circumstances of this case. be.
lieve that the mists ofpfejudice, are begin.
ming to rise, and that. the fires of hatred
which have been invoked in the progress
of these cases now burns less fefcely. ]
can very well understand the existence o.
tA;s; f. xan anreiudiee. if the horrd stories that
tfS srt t.oae, n,,rsAaat -thA-oona-
ed, and in high quarters of the govern
ment, that this grand conspiracy was
new rebellion" but | think that by this
time YOU are:conyinced that this is no such
Ting. It has also been clrcnmstantlaiii!y
told that this was resuscltatlon OF the
Confederate army in secret, that it. was
thoroughly organized throughout the
country, with generals and other officers
and it has been great disappointment nc n;
doubt to find that this was all fable. II
is proven now that the Confederate army
is not nit; that the organization, what
ever it is, is composed Of young men II
the humblest walks of life. 1t is a; very
significant fact that after all this labor o
the government, after all this force ant
treasure have been employed, alter mil
ions of dollars have been expended. th'
highest man in the community. agaAs3
whom is found any positive evidence L
Mr.. Jim Bunch, barkeeper m .Umol
County, who had been private soldier II
the Confederate army, and who Is maj
in the, ,humblest walk Of life The storle
of the extent and organization OF this con
spiracy are shown to rest on suppositlon
| alone, they are myths, they are untrue
they are disproved. You understand ..
this time what is the class Of men belong
ing. 10 this conspiracy. You see then
every day in court, upon the witness stan'
and on the streets. They are of the hum
bier, uneducated. class OF agrlc1ltural Ia
borers. They are men who work betweel
the handles of-the plough, and side b.
side with colored laborers. 1t is anon
these men that the organization prevailed
| II was the natural, the inevitable resul
among such classes Of the disturbed con on
ditiop OF society. It sprung up local..
and spontaneously, and was secret oecaus
under the militia laws that had been maa
a penitentiary offence for white men
ORGANIZE without the consent Of the doV
erRor 1t is, gentlemen, a deliberate an IN
trntb and SANDER upon she educated, tn
ylrtuous, the intelligent people OF TIL
State, to say that they approve tnea
murders and these inhuman Whipping:
It is not so. can speak OF the senIl
nicnt of this community upon this sui
iectsand the sentiment OF that communit
is unanimously as much against these out
,.,ges as can be the feeling of the strong
] est biased man upon the other side. 70
will find that there has been trouble ioI q
| tered between these laboring men OF u
! two races in the up-country, and this na
lied to most deplorable results on eithe
sde hut YOU will also find that it spranI
4 not from politics, that It's origin must
sought for in something deeper Tar Una
i politics" :. ~,
! he had asserted before and still m9lntall
| ed that the Jury in o case Of capital feioL
were the Judges both Of law, and tact. +
ouoted two decisions to sustain this poln
{ the first being in, the United States Y
Wilson and Porter, and the second q ca
in I'd Sumner. In the first case the JuSal
distinctly laid down. that principle, and nd
the other case the Judge admitted tn n
, the Jury were to Judge O. the applicabi
-, of thc law to the case in hand Ths
1 he said. was precisely what he elaine
S It was great, sacred right, and one
2 the great bulwarks Of liberty when !
' Pilgrims of the MayAower brought WI
o them IN their bosoms. He illustrated
\ point by relating that nearly two hu
!. | elrcd years ago in London poor. Quak
u Penn by name, was, brought up in COT
charged with the terrible offence of preac
8 ing the gospel in Grace Church street,
Q not being a clergyman Of the Establish
IS Church. There was law on the statl
q books which made that on awful offen
q There was no doubt about the fact IL
: = the poor Quaker had preached in Gr'
= Church street, and the jury were III
: charged by the Judge as to both the
and fact, but when they returned u II
2 court and the foreman was asked Tor th
ID verdict, he answered, "Not guilty,
:. lord.u That was the power they had
g Judge of the law and the fact. 1t wa
= right guaranteed by. the constltutll
III which declares that the trialtby jury 81
s be inviolate, and it was a right wi,
g. could not be. taken from them, ne cal
er attention to another right which had
is hundreds of years been guaranteed to
4 defendant-the right to be tried by a J
drawn from the vicinage N which he L
by a jury of his peers and nelghlb
= hThere was no instance on record IN III
| Britain or this country, until these CT
arose, where defendant was tired ex'