Weekly Trinity journal., 1874-11-21
A TRIAL FOR PERJURY.

court in l., in the province of s.,
a trial for perjury excited unusual interest.
The accused was an accomplished young
girl, who fer Some years had been a gov
erness in a>%ealthy family, and whose
conduct had been above reproach.
She had been called as witness in an
ordinary civil suit, and had answered in
the negative the usual question as to
whether she had ever been punished for
any criminal ofiense. By accident it was
aiterward discovered that she, some time
previously, had been sentenced to arison
for thirty days for theft, and consequently
the charge Of perjury was brought against
her. Less on account of the false oath
than of the theft committed by the beau
tifu( and highly-cultured young lady, the
COURTROOM was filed to repletion. / was
unavOdably hindered from being present
until proceedings were nearly ended.
The counsel for the prisoner had risen
to speak fer his client. He was n digni-
fed old gentleman, and was usually some
what stiff, cold and measured in his man
ner of speaking, but to-day his voice
trembled and it was evident that he was
deeply moved.
" Gentlemen Of the jury" he began,
" have stood here many times to defend
the accused, but never with so heavy u
heart as to-day. While l have never
been moro fully convinced of the inno-
cence of my client, / have, on the other
hand, never been more fully conscious of
the difficulty, of the improbabilty, per-
haps, of obtaining favorable verdict.
1.-THE accused is an orphan. BY the
death of her parents before she had scarce
y reached womanhood, she was early
compelled to seek her bread among strang-
ers. A liberal education enabled her to
obtain situation rs governess. For two
years she was in the same house-always
industrious, simple in her manners, and
modest in her retensions-without there
ever having been the shadow of doubt
with regard to her honesty, when all at
once she was accused of theft and arrest
cd. She has assured me that she was
unjustly convicted. have practicod my
profession for fifty years. Long expert
ence has made me insensible TO tears and
plausible stories. Here, gentlemen, there
were no tears. Her words we're simple,
but (to me) convincing. The accused
was not guilty of the theft, and conse-
quently she could, with clear conscience
answer the question with regard to having
been punished for any crime, rs she did
in tao no9.tivo; fsg she had not bcnI
punished, but had been the victim of q
great injustice.
Il am, of course, not unmindful of the
fact that my opinion can hardly be taken
into account. The defense is compelled
to admit that, if judged solely by the
evidence, the charge has been substanti-
ated but beg, gentlemen, that you will
for moment imagine yourself in the
place of the accused. Again she had
found a situation nothing was known OF
her ever having been imprisoned for
some years she had discharged the duties
Of her position to the entire satisfaction
of her employers she had won tho love
and esteem of large and cultured circle.
Now | ask you, gentlemen, could she,
even had it been true, make a confession
that would have sent her oat friendless
into the cold world Would it not have
required more than human strength tC
make such a confession ? Can you not
understand, gentlemen, that what she
suffered when she was asked, Have yor
ever been punished for any criminal Of
fense p was sufficient to rob her, for the
moment at least, of reason ?
"The unusualness Of the case will ex
cuse me, trust, for calling your attention
to the severe punishment that must fol
low your verdict Of Guilty" Shall
young girl who, on single occasion
and, gentlemen, in this instance. even tha
has not been the case here-has commit
ted fault, for which she has fully atone,
by long years of irreproachable conduct
be brought together for time, long o
short, with the dregs Of socety2 Never
gentlemen-never Till now her sou
has been pure and unsullied. Were sh
to serve term in the penitentiary, wha
would she be then Who will assum
he responsibility Of sending her there
81 can say no more, gentlemen.
leave the case in your hands, and trus
and pray that you will give me a verdiC
of Not guilty."
The old jurist's plea was listened
with breathless silence. 1t was short, BIT
on that account all the more effective
No one seemed to be unmoved, and man
of the women present wept. glance
toward the accused she raised her eye
with look of gratitude, and reached OF
her hand to her aged counsel. Whei
had seen this pale but beautiful fac,
that wealth of dark brown hair, and the
large, honest eyes 1t seemed to me I
though these very lips, at some time, ha
told me story of bitter suffering; bl
r when and where? tried to awake
recollection but my efforts were frutlcs
The judge began the usual charge
| the jury. While it was evident that
felt deeply for the prisoner, he called Il
5 attention of the jury to the facts of Il
{ case which had been clearly proved ar
= which alone, said he, should govern the
in finding their verdict. In speaking
the life of the accused, he said:
I" For three years after the ofiense
a which she was convicted, her conduct HI
a been thoroughly exemplary, for the the
G was committed on the 9Th of April, 1871
Y At these words flood of recollection
o came upon me, and with them came Il
Joyous certainty that the young girl wou