The Rutland daily globe. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1873-1877, 1873-10-31

ny EDWARD =. otOkcS, OF Was, tHcIc"it'l,
on the evening of the same day, probed
and drugged to his end by unslSillful ply
sicians. In either event he has gone to his
reward such as it may be, leaving but few
to mourn his loss, save what may be in
volvcd in a disapproval and condemnation
of the manner of his taking off. Whether
the ball. the probe or morphia did the fatal
work, few there be who, to-day, would de-
sire that work undonc; or, rather, who
would desire that life restored. A double
satisfaction would have been experienced
on that Sunday morning, if it could have
been truthfully announced that Fisk had
been as quick as Stokes and each fired
simultaneously and with like results. Such
we say would doubtless have been in accord
with the sentiments of the great mass OF
the community, but, after all, they were
sentiments dangerous to be INDUCED in.
The Albany Journal expressed the popular
appreciation of Fisk when it announced
that he had lived the life of a reprobate and
died the death of a dog. Stokes was equal
ly a p.obatc and it would have gratiiied
the great majority, if then, or now, he
could also, have died the death of dog.
The life or death of Fisk or Stokes were,
however, as nothing compared with the
safety of society and the correct admins
tratUn of the laws of the land When
this was placed in the scale, it mattercd not
,vl,othnr Eicls n rnprnl,ntn Iyhnsp fnl-
ing off would prove al unquestionablc
blessing or whether Stokes was as pure as
spotless infant or stepped in crime The
same law protected them that protected us.
! If Stokes had the right to remove from the
world a pest of society, everyone had the
same right. If he was to try, CON
denim and execute a person whom he so
considered, the same right belongs to all,
as, also, the right to determine who should
be 80 removed.
Stokes was arrested, indicted and placed
on trial. His first trial was concluded on
| sultlhg IN a ,ilsagrGeintut t91Hnc"Ml ,;;a,
new trial was accordingly ordered. The
second trial commenced near the close OF
the year and the result was Il verdict of
guilty of murder in the first degree" BY
one of those strange condolences, which
sometimes occur, Stokes was brought into
court on the first anniversary of the fatal
shooting, and sentenced to be changed by
the neck until he was dead on the 2Sth of
the ensuing February. Hardly has a con-
al
such almost universal satisfaction by the
people of the whole country, yet it was an
unthinking feeling of satisfaction. Had
Edward s. Stokes been executed, under
that conviction and sentence, he would
have been murdered in every meaning OF
the word of murder save that of intention
We doubt not that Judge Boardman, who
presided at the trial, was an honest man
and an upright judge, or that the members
Of the jury intended to do their duty but
he was as surely tried, convicted and
sentenced by the clamors of a mob, as il
the proceedings had taken place before 4
self constituted vigilance committee. All
can readily recall the deeply excited state
of the public mind at the time of the trial
There seemed to be an almost perfect inn
munty to criminals in the city of New
York. Murderer after murderer had beer
discharged under the sham pretcnse of 4
sensational and pretended momentary in
sanity. Not day passed but with new
murder to be considered, some of them ex
rppIipn in tippIioInncS al
those heretofore known. The murderer
too, would walk away from the scene OF
his crime, coolly brandishing his knife
pistol or club with the taunt that there
was no punishment for murder. The pub
lie mind was frenzied with the demand of
blood for blood" and Stokes happened to
be the first victim. Judge Boardman and
the jurors yielded to the clamor of the mol
and, unconscious to themselves, rendered q
verdict and sentence accordingly The eff.
feet of the popular clamor was apparent in
the difficulty that, for so long time, pre-.
vented the allowance of bill of excep.
tons and stay of proceedings, so that re-
view OF the case might be obtained in a
higher court. We have always looked
upon the course of Judge Davis, in grant
ing the exceptions and stay, as one of the
grandcst and proudest acts that could hap
pen in the life of any public man. Rising
superior to the clamors of the mob, disre
garding the wishes of the peoplc-fronl
whom, by the way, he derived his power
and received his judicial oilice-and above
all selfish considerations of personal pop.
ularity, he administered the law rs he un,
derstood it, and gave Stokes the same
chance for his life that every man is en-
titled to in free country.
Sad will be the day when, in free Anne
RIGA, the meanest and most depravcd OF
men shall not be entitled to and receive 6
full, fair and impartial trial at the hands Of
a jury of his countrymen. Sad will be the
day when judges and jurors, yielding to q
popular clamor, shall enter upon the sacri
flee of fellow human, and no just, up
right, fearless judge shall be found to say
them nay. Better far that a thousand
Fisks be actually murdered "with malice
aforethought and with ''premeditated de-
sign" Better far that thousand Stokes
with their hands rocking with blood and
their hearts blackened with the intentional
, and malicious staying of man shall 90 un
} whipped of Justice. That Judge Davis wa,
right in his view of the case, no one now
doubts--thc Court of Appeals of New York
by an unanimous decision, placed the mat