The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1873-02-08

Tu be- uulustly accused # crime, and
be Al the same time conscious of your ina
ability 70 establish your innocence to SUI
fer tile continual torture uf great wrong,
and he confronted with your impotency to
right Il. il undoubtedly 4 most desperate
and naddvuIug feeling II j. a feeling akin
to that experienced hy the soldier who,
having exhausted hls ammunition, Is com
PEELED W staua Ia the ranks a target for his
assailants hls power of resistance or de
feuse gone, tile prospect ~ instant death
before him, intensified by the requiem like
sound hisscd Ill hiS ear by every passing
missile
AZ Richard Arbyght lay IN his narrow
cell, the night of his arrest. he expert
enced this mental sensation III an acute
superlative degree. and each lay he remain
ed III prison but served to iutensate the
anguish lac endured He knew he Was in
nOcent. but the knowledge could not open
the doors of his dungeon. nor restore him
tu liberty and the confidence Of the world.
The real culprIt suffers from the tortures
Df conscious guilt. and lives in constant
dread Of the punishment which no Justly
deserves for his crime but his tortures are
by the wrongly accused, who sees himself
adjudged guilty, even III advance Of his
trial, and u whom the day VI trial il day
Of dread, inasmuch as there Is not within
his reach a possibility uf refutlng the
charge of what avail Is conscious inno-
cencc tu man thus situated of what
avail is the knowledge Of a happy home
and all its comforts. tO the shipwreck ed
mariner, dying Of hunger and exposure on
a desert isle He knows that beyond the
horizon lies his home. but Will the knowl-
edge bring him any nearer tn Il ? Richard
knew he WAS yuiltless. but the innate con
viction was powerless % set him free. The
mind may imagine. but words are unable
to adequately express the keen deep an
guish that rudely tore his soul All the
mlseries he had ever experienced. If sum
med up and multiplied hundred times,
would not equal this. His hitherto spot
less name, his sisters name and future, his
love for Vida, his very life. hung on the
result, and the present complexion # af
fairs seemed to indicate that the result
would be disastrous, calamitpus.
The third day after his incarceration, his
counsel, Mr.. La lspere, called upon him,
but found him unable to enter upon any
plan Of defense He was detected, broken
in spirit and despaired ~ being able to
rebut or break the force Of the circumstan-
tial evidence. that would be brought against
him. The attorney admitted that the case
WAS a remarkably formidable and ugly one;
but still. If Judiciously managed. he thought
evidenced might be unearthed Ia prove
that the corp',, ,Lllcti were not the bodies
of Miller and Mahoncy. and If that
fact could be substantiated. it could
lie proven that the r .s-cGtion was mali
cious and the indIctment for arson would
necessarily have t. b. abandoned To this
Arbyght answered, that he felt satisfied
that his enemies rested their hopes ~ con
viction on their ability to prove that the
corpus dcIicti we're the bodies Of Mahoney
and Miller and that they had taken every
precautlon necessary I" make that fact ap-
pear irrefragahle. he therefore thought the
chances in that direction hopeless IN tn,
extreme. Mr. lanspere was Of different
opinion, but seeing ms client in no MOOD
to pursue the subject. he left, promising t.
call again on the morrow.
That afternoon his sister arrived in the
city, and her first act WAS to call upon him
She found hlm ~ the same depressed stats
of mind in which his counsel left him. tn,
meeting between them was a very sad one
there were tears tno-but they were no
shed by Bertha. This beautiful, gentl,
being, a few days since, full Of girlisf
fancy, vivacitv and mirth. had become sud
denly and strangely changed One houl
after she had heard the ill-fated news, sh,
1 hal nj II
She had passed almost instantly from fairy
| girlhood to mature womanhood. She be
| | eyed her brother innocent Of the heiniou
crime with which he was charged, and al
her wOman's nature, her deep, impassion
ed, abiding affection, her keen, intultiv,
perception, her love of rectitude and alb
| horrence Of treacnery, her sensltiveness t.
her brothers wrOngs-she thought not 0
herself were all centered on one singl,
object saving him from his dreadful i'm
pending fate She believed herself calle,
upon to act with heroic fortitude anC
bravery, and hence tears and lamentation
were not to be thought of. She rallie / tn
poor fellow, demonstrated, coaxed and in
cheered and disposed to view his case NOR
/ hopefully
Bertha found home at Soolfre Cot
tage. Che sergeant was firm believer il
Richards innocence, and a good friend t,
his afflicted sister He entered hearth,
! to the case and was an invaluable assist
aut in securing testimony favorable to tn
accused.
You must pray incessantly, and pu
your trust in the good God, spoke Mrs
SoOl6re to Bertha, one evening, as the da,