The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1873-07-17
50 90 PER YEAR.

Longstreet. one of the returning officers "a h,
acted with HaW kins was asked IL they nat
the returns iu their possession when the,
nade their pretended canvass. and Judgi
Lynch would not permit the question 20 d,
answered. The report Of the senate Com
mlttee- on which the Picavuue commented
]: was offered IN evidence and ruled ont nh,
5. defendants then made an effort % proy,
tid~ Alhs character, but were not permit.o,
10 dO 50. They offered 10 read 10 the iurk
an Indictment recently found bv the Grang
= Jury OF the Parish of Orleans against jacob
Hawkins, the plaintiff, Tor embezzlemenL
, with "a certificate OF the Clerk that the i'm
. dIctment was still pending, but judge
Lynch would not allow il 10 be done. (The
Grand jury found this indictment against
Hawkins for embczzlement on the testi-
mony OF Gov. Madison Wells, a member OF
Hawkins own paTty.) The defendants OF
iered 10 prove Hawkins character by him
sell, but Judge Lynch again came 70 the
rescue.
! When this case WAS called for trial the
defendants moved for a continuance on Tie
, ground OF the absence OF two OF their Wit
neSses. They made the proper affidavit that
the ,idenCc OF those witnesses was mate
rial, *. Tie names OF these WttucsSe.
we're Pelagie Brown aud Baby Alarchund.
The defendants used Cue diligence to pro-
cure the attendance OF these witnesses. The
subpWnaS we're given 60 the Sheriff 20 serve.
directed 10 what were the residences OF
these witnesses - few days before the trial,
Z
dvSt grated, Inc witnesses had mNstCriou~ly
+ disappeared and could not hc found. Not
I few people are uuchariIable enough To say
/ THAI these Witnesses were spirited away hy
! liaW kins 10 prevent their testify ing against
/ him. lie tried 10 create the Impression chat
! Pclagic Brown was dead, THAT she died IN
] the parish prison ia lS6G. In fact. IlaW kins
sNore that hc had heard 80. and he produced
several other Witnesses who SWorr that they
/ had heard That Pelagie Brown was dead.
& Al Ia
i bal of the toroncr's jury over q person
called Pclage Brown, but not single Wit
ness Was produced who testified to hc death
of Pclagie from his own knowledge. The
defendants, on the other hand, proved that
she did not die ia the parish prison, and
that She was still living. Deputy sheriff
Lynn testified that hc knew her well. that /
he had known her for fifteen years, that he |
had seen her frequently when she was ban /
the parish prison on the charge of poisoning /
Fanny Crouch in 1850, and that he had met /
her face TO face few days before on Ram !
part street. Mr.. Whitney, who was employ |
ed 10 get mp evidence for the defendants, /
stated that he had talked 20 "A woman e. tll- |
ing herself peagie Brown a few DAYS be- /
tore the trial, and that he had talked with |
her with view To having her called "A, "a /
witness. Notwithstanding proper show
ing for continuance WAS made hV the de
PENDANTS, Judge Lynch refused it. ruling iu
this matter as hc did all through the trial iu
favor OF his friend Hawkins.
Now, il may be asked what did the de-
PENDANTS expect To prove By these witnesses
They eNptctcd.to prove something that
would have been damaging even To the
character of Hawkins. In lS5G, a thrifty
German lady by the name of Fanny Crouch
was poisoned. shortly after her death,
Pclagic Brown wa, discovered to have "A bill
of sale Of all Fanny Crouch's furniture and
other effects, and suspicion lt once pointed
I"agic Brown out as the guilty party.
Now
TINS MODEL JUDGE HAWKINS
Was on the most Intimate terms with pela-
gle Brown, the suspected pOisoncr, and
some OF his clothes were found in her room
by the detective when Pclagic Brown was
arrested II Is now seen why Hawkins
was not willing 10 grant "A continuance To-
procure the attendance of these witnesses.
Il Is further seen why he could not take the
witness stand to swear TO his own charac- |
ter when the defendants sought to place
him there. During this trial, the cXtraor-
binary fact was disclosed of "A Judge on the |
bench suing for 100000 damages 20 his
when his character was such that
he dared not 90 on the witness stand to
swear TO II himself. The defendants tried
one whole day to put him on the witness
stand, but on the witness stand Judge IlaW-
kins would not 90. Counsel for defendants |
dared him 70 take the stand, and told they |
would ask him some questions that he would
not dare answer truthfully. Hawkins had !
"A friend in Lynch, and the defendants were
denied their clear, legal rights. II Is "A mat !
matter of practice in all the courts of the !
State for the parties 20 the suit to testify. :
Aud such a ruling as Lynch made on this {
point has never been heard OF since the I
Legislature in 1865 made "auy person a
witness in civil matters who had !
proper understandings But the ruling OF
the pseudo Judge on This point accords with 4
his ruling on every other important point
presented during the trial. The editor of
the Evening Herald says ia his paper that 7
ffa4F-.. N-fs. i'm 81
nent lawyer, no way connected with the $
suit, II Judge Lynch had made single cor Z
rect ruling IN the case. and that the answer q
was prompt Not one according TO the law q
and the daily practice OF the courts" IS
The oath taken by Hawkins was in these O
words: II, Jacob Hawkins, do sOlenuly y
swear that will faithfully and diligently
perform the duties Of returning officer as L
prescribed by law; tat 1 will carefully y
ma honestly canvass and compile the | q
OF the votes, aud make a true and =
correct return of the election, SO help me Il
iod." That Hawkins violated this oath e.
md therefore committed perjury according q
% the statutes OF the state, the defendants "a
we're prepared To maintain. lie could not u
make true and correct return OF the cleo II
ion without having the statements OF the u
'otes to canvass ana compile. The counsel -
or the Picayune made noble struggle C
Turing four entire days to prove that Haw-
,ins AHA commit perjury, but ali their ei- Il
Orts were unaValling, for Hawkins Judge g
uled ont every particle of evidence going u
o prove justification. They submitted to n
very species Of rudcnrss and indiguty s'
rom Hawkins Judge, in order 10 serve the ~
interests Of their clients. all 10 no purpose. "
'heir speeches to the jury were high-toned
nd eloquent. Ihcy deserved success, but n
hawkins Judge was determined that the
uit should 20 against them.
The case was given to the jury on Friday,
nd at o'clock on Friday evening the jury
anne into court and said IL was i'm possible
or them to agree. The jury were then
Jckcd up in "A hot, close, sulLTy room ina this | m
without sleep aud without rest, Tor they had q
o bars To protect them against the sWarms | oi
+ rayenous mosquitoes that are 10 be found Is
bout The court buildings. ON Saturday re
Iorning the jury stood as it did the prcyi- hi
as evening. and Judge Lynch sent them li
ord that he intended 10 coniinc them until ! M
hey did agree. The Jury, after being lock- ~
d up all day saturday, was brought into OF
he court room at O'Clock, when TWO of Is
ne Jury told Hawkins Judge that it was hs
II possible for them 10 agree. They were IT,
len, in an insOlent and insulting manner, ! ci
rdered back TO the close, sultry room and eI
I'D il they did not agree by . O'Clock that d,
vening ia
THEY SHOULD REMAIN IMPRISONED -,
nti they did agree. Before the hour Of IS
inc O'Clock Saturday evening came the >,
My two Democratic mem bers Of the Jury Is
ere paid Il certain sum OF money and pro- -
Used much larger sum II they would ~
gree with the majority. Thinking thar ~
us would be sufficient cause TO inVAidate Of
leir verdict, and wishing to get out Of
risOn and away from the heat aud mosqui- A
,es. they consented Ia a verdict, intending
, tell the Judge all about it. When the
our of o o'clock Saturday night arrived
gery body was surprised To hear the Jury
al agreed. When the verdict was an o.
ounced these two iurymen wanted to ex-