Connecticut western news., 1874-03-13
THE JAWS OF DEATH.

"And may God have mercy on your soul!'
 These-the closing words of the sentence of death which had been pro- nounced upon me-were the only ones I heard from the time when, by order of the officer, stood up to receive the judgment of the law. The courtroom was crowded almost beyond it's capacity, and all ages, sexes and conditions of life were represented in that throng. The dock was situated so that about two-thirds of the room came within the range of my vision-the other portion, including the gallery above, I had noticed when I came in. During each and every day of my protracted trial the crowd of curiosity had been large, but now it seemed redoubled. What thoughts and emotions filled and agi- tated my mind for the short time I sat there on that hard and cruel seat In all that mass of living beings there was not one who could partahe of that knowledge which was restricted to me alone-the knowledge of my innocence. All, from the evidence on the trial, and the verdict of the jury, from the state ments and deductions of the news papers, from a thousand other causes which operate on populace excited by the commission of great crime in their midst, and whose convictions are already half made up by the arrest of somebody, all were sure of my guilt. From the time I had made the ac- quaintance of him for whose bloody deeds was condemned to suffer, the hand of Fate had lain heavily upon me. Nhof &hnro+nfora c+r ho1 one month ago so worked upon my frank and unsuspecting nature, had so insidiously and artfully opened my heart and crept therein, that within two hours of our meeting we were pledging and repledging our eternal friendship in bottles of wine. All this alone.
 In twenty-four hours afterward I was taken to prison, there to remain until in due time I should be brought to the bar of the court to answer for the mur- q was told) must be observed, for as to my conviction there was no earthly doubt. The following report from Q paper shows why such was the general opinion:
 "Our usually quiet town was last night the scene of one of the most bru- U cry of pain, followed by the report of a pistol, was heard near the southeast tollgate. The few people that were in the nelghborhoed hurried to the spot, and beheld prone on the ground the lifeless form of one of our wealthiest and most respected citizens, David FL burne, Esq. A pistol. shot through the head, from which the blood poured out ISc %o1l o+ he had been cruelty assassinated and robbed. Search was immediately in- stituted for the murderer, and he was soon afterward found secreted under 8 shed near the scene of the dreadful deed, with an empty pistol in his hand, blood on his person, and the watch of the deceased in his pocket. His face was livid with fear when detected, and his attempted explanation of the condi- tion in which he was found was mass of contradictions. He had hearing before the Justice and was committed to prison. The name of the villain is Leonard Manor. Let speedy justice be meted out to him."
 All the above, as @ recital of facts, was true, but the statement that I, Leonard Manor, was the author of the crime, was untrue. But mighty and trongly forged chain of circumstantials evidence was bound around me, which I was unable to break, and my counsel, MT. Cook, met with his first defeat as a criminal practitioner. The only witness that could rebut the violent presump- tion of my guilt and disprove what had been brought against me, was not to be found made way with, no doubt, by him. And there I sat alone in that dock and felt what no may can describe. Protest my innocence I might, and swear it with all the vehemence of an earnest soul; but I would be either laughed at for my audacity, or whistled down as feigned lunatic. Oh, God what it is to be falsely judged To have an iron wall between your self-con- seiousness and the belief of the outer world To see yourself crowded into the grave by the torrent of popular fury, and yet have that in your bosom which might roll back the tide and save you could it but reach out beyond the narrow circle in which it is confined
 Oh, what is physical strength to the | power of this internal sense in such aI
 hour as this l How willingly would have bartered the best gifts of nature If those around me could have partaker | nf hfa