Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1873-06-14


My energy was fired and aroused at
once. II will institute suit for dam
age and breach of promise at once.
poor girl, I | cried In the Indignation
OF manhood. Money will but poorly
repay Your sorrows, yet in so far as q
verdict for $40, 900 will do so, you shall
be avenged"
Soon as suit had commenced, Mr..
w. began his siege on me. He first
tried hattery. His old father, he said,
would turn over in the grave # he
could but know that Mai. Henry was
prosecuting his son. Finding nothing
could ever damp my ardor in behalf
of the poor, injured girl, and that spite
OF our previous friendship, | now held
him IN supreme contempt, he set about
his defense, and being wealthy, engag-
ed ali the best legal talent in Nash
vile and Springfield. When the day
for trial came 1 advised him to give
ME a Judgment, pro conJesso, for 50, 900,
I'D 10. I >-s..ia dismiss .ha-s.;t as
sured him he would regret the expos
ure of a public trial, and would iare
worse to spurn my proposition; and
that was thoroughly aroused, and
should handle him without mercy.
He laughed in my face at the sugges-
ton, and defed me even to get 5000
damages, for he felt perfectly assured
of a verdict in his favor.
George Boyd was my associate coun-
sci, sound lawyer, well-read and
pains-taking. He opened the argu-
ment, laying down the law in plain,
fOrcible language, and was followed
by defendants counsel. When the
last of these closed it was about dark,
and l begged of the court the privilege
of making my speech at once. / de-
tanned the jury for but little over an
hour, in the best speech of my life, and
made by candle-light. was warmed
up as | had never been before. Her
father was in the courtroom, his long
hair falling about his shoulders, and
his ruined daughter sitting, with her
bowed head by his side. From
the beginning my speech to its
close you could have heard a
pin drop-in fact there was no
other of sound but my own voice,
save now and then the broken
sobs of old and young in the audience.
In less than FIVE minutes after begin
ming / had the crowd, judge, jury and
spectators completely in my hands,
felt myself master of the occasion. l
was only sorry | had not demanded
$50, 000instead of$10,0O0. portrayed
the cold, sly, snakey steps of the Sc
Queer, the opportunities, the final
overpowering mastery of his stronger
mind and body. | dwelt upon wo-
mans trusting love and unselfish de-
yotion and constancy; drew the pic
ture of the poor girl as | had seen her
but few months before, and dwelt
upon the contrast now. | depicted
the heart anguish of the old father
tottering to the grave under the cruel
blow of the man he had trusted as a
son. | hurled anthemas against the
seducer-I protested, in the name of
our common manhood, against the
wrong inflicted upon our mothers,
wives and sisters in the person of that
poor girl, and demanded of the jury
whether they could be bribed into
cowardly silence by the villainous au-
thor of all these woes. | closed with
this apt and forcible quotation from
Scott:
Where shall the traitor rest,
He, the deceiver,
Who could win naiden's breast,
Ruin-and leave heri
In the lost battle,
Borne down by the flying,
Where mingles wars rattle
With the groans Ofthe dying,
There shall he be lying.
Her wings shall the eagle flap
Ger the fllse-hearted:
His warm blood the wolf shall lap
Ere life be parted!
Shame and dishOnorsit
By his grave ever;
Blessing shall hallOw it,
Never, Oh never,
The effect was electrical. When the
Judge could compose himself and the
crowd sufficiently to charge the jury to
retire and make up their verdict, the
foreman asked that his honor should
retain his seat, as they would return
in five minutes. Sure enough, in less
time, they brOugh hit in verdict giving
damages to the whole amount asked,
$1,000 This completely broke up
and ruined the seducer, and he moved
out of the country. Ifthe very curse
| had invoked in the words Of Scott
had been directly visited upon him,
misfortune could not have followed
sooner or more signally He died a
few years ago, scorned of all men and
women; while his victim afterwards
married clever gentleman and is to-
day happy wife and mother
G. e. Nj.