, 1874-05-24

| eagerly to his comfort found out that his tall
manic letters ncant-Fried, Roasted, al
---~-~-
WAGER OF RATTiE.
Tho Inst Case in which Tt1tn Aucien
Law was Appealed To.
f.7o,n tho VIM Yort Tim. -
Few perEons, perhzrB. who read With p1essn,
In Tho pages Of "Iyanhoen tha acoourt ~ II
combat between the TamDfer End the chauoio
Of tho unfortunate Rebecca nnd who nansn
speculate on tho strange sfate of eocietv vi,c
| then existed, where q PERSONS honor An
his ifo rested frequently on tha ar
| durauco OF A horse or Tho tnnobnese n
an ash l.nce. are aware to Row lafe day til
mode of deciding criminal questions IVES ii. Ia,
OF GONE Of the readers Of this arricie to To- faa-
that the first quarter Of this boastel ninetoant1
ceuturr nearlv witnessed ei1niI,r friaI bv co-s,
bat TO settIe the oucstjon of r1,ilt ~ ;,nocanc
in cara Of ra1r,cr 9hosa resdara rrnn b.r
heard Of tho case before may foel interested il
the account here given of it's details, which ha
been abridged from a collection OF remarkable
trials recently published in England
Mary Ashford WAS young girl Of the NOS
| faacinating manners, OF lovely person. in ths
bloom and prime Of life, and living for SONS
| time under the protection Of her uncle, small
farmer reeiding at Langley, warwick County
| England.
| On tho 26th Of Hay, 1917, the unfortunate
young woman went to birmingham On hal
| way eho called upon friend one Hannah Cox,
ut the neghboEing village Of Erdogton, and ar.
ranged that she should be back early in tho
I evening and 60 to dance at Tyburn.
| Abraham Thornton was at the dance, admired
Nary, and MAS heard to say, sI have bcea inti-
mate with her sieter, and will be intimate With
| her, though it should cost me- my llfe." He
| accompanied her from the daucug-room. and
! vas 6oeu with her at e.ila about 8 q.
N. At q. N. she called at her friend Cox's.
| and was then calm, composed, and in good spir-
| its. She left there between and 4, u.. at or
Immediately after which departure she was
seen on har way home By three Witnesses.
About q. H. Iaboror found = bonnet and
bundIs in neighbor1ag field, close by the top
Of slope that led down to . pit filled With
and set Of long reins, and the body Of Mary
Ashford was discovered. outraged and murdered
Death had probably been caused by drowning,
the body having been thrown into the pool while
iusenaible.
Thornton was without sn7 hesitation, CON-
mitted for trial on the Coroner'a inouost, Tha
datails of the csse. a. riY.n in ths ey;dance
need not be dva|t on here. Many circnm-
atapces-the marks Of foot-prints. which core
1pondod With his shoes. and his remark about the
murdered girl wbea Ut the b.ll-eee1nedt to poiut
him out ss the guilty perty. On tho otber
hand, strong evidence Tas BROUGHT forward bv
The defense It was shown that Mary could not
hav met her death before 4:3o a. m. probnb1v
not until 4: 10 a. It waH 1ndisputab1Y proved
that Thornton was seen at 4:S0 T. u, as dis
lance from the pit in Il straight line Of IL
miles, but by the nearest road. When 20 seen
be vas calm. and did not seem Is if he had been
running. He was short aud remarkably thick
set msn. With legs . "a thick a. hoyel-nosts. !"
accordins to his own attorpcy's description Of
him in Instructions to coursci 40 that. unIe.s
tho Witnesses we're mistaxen as to the time. his
olibf WAS clearly proved.
Nr Ju1t;cc Hniroyd in rivino tha nam tn tb.
his was one Of those uysterione transac:ions
in which Justice could not be done but by cora,
narinp most ca1efully ali the facts and c,rcum
stances of the case. II an7
fair and reasonable doubt nroaa in their minds
a. to bis guilt, tha prisoner WAS entitlod to the
benefit Of tho doubt, ..
The jury, after consulting about aix minutes,
returned verdict OF mo. guilty"
In the opinion of the who1a community, this
ended the case. The verdict of q jury IN all
criminal cases is considered fina1 and tbau1b-
where the prisoner is found guilty, the seatenea
may BE- modified Or remtted By tho pardoning
power-in the event Of acquittal the pri8oaer
can never again be put on Lla trial for the same
ofIense. This was tthe PRACTICE At that time -
much Is nuv, but an old proceeding. T. relic Of
the feudsl ages. had never been abolished BIZ any
statute. and YVES, therefore, the 1ar OF En-.
gland il 1877 Il was the extraordinary resort
to this proceeding which has made Thorntous
case 80 notorious.
By tho Law as it then stood tho heir-at-lav OF .
murdered person, or OF = person considered to
bo murdered. was at liberty to appcal the per-
son suspected. This appeal was, in fact
criminal prosecution lin the form Of private
against another. l. differed from a public prcse-
cutiou in that it sourht to laye tha offender
punished not because the crime was . public
ofYense but because it was private in iurv Mora
becausa the crown cannot modify or remit the
~ tha ;rrv il, 7-i,,+a u,,;t Il fo1oxad