Daily Republican., 1878-12-11

against them by this negro; and dsfsnt
themselves a. best they can from III
terrible consequences. The case Ia I
peculiar one, and Is 70 the prisoners a
the bar frausht with ~ deep an inter
-st As though they were being tried fol
their lives. II isa charge dspsndsn
upon the testimony OF . single witness
~ charge very easy 10 be made and
very hard to be defended against. !
cannot imagine gentleman anything In
the vicissitudes OF lifr more embarrass
Ing than the position In which this
highly respectable but unfortunate peo.
pls are placed. ..
They come here, as strangers, from
their own neighborhood, summoned
from their own homes to appear before
the bar Of this court to meet charge
made upon them by the testimony Of a
strange witness-mads with terrible
dir-ctness and certainty-which in.
wolves the happiness Of their lives and
involving the happiness, Affects the
famlisr belonging TO them. am not
magnifying this case when say that it
is a serious as though It was veritably
matter Of life and death. They have
at stake that which Is as dear 10 them
AZ life itself. They are persons who
have a character In the community In
which they live, and they are here to
defend that character from every shade
Of rsproach.
They are arraign.d here for a
crime second to murder itself. I'm.
fortunate they have been in being the
victims Of this mans malice; but yet
they are fortunate in this that through
the goodness Of God VIZ are able to prove
to you by testimony facts which will
completely demoish-very scintilla Of ~
idence dropped from thA mouth of the
oonvicting witness for the State; which
will go TO convince you OF the entire
falsity Of the charges and impress upon
your minds the innocence of the parties
charged.
The facts that We are able 10 present
to you, which come to Us through Gods $
kindness are very brief OF the affair
OF that Tuesday We will show you a
story Of human transactions surrounded
by circumstances that must naturally
envelope all human evidences, and will
lead you to the po'nt where truth ends
and falsehooi begins. We will show
you family happy and contented, Of
irr-proaclable characters, living in a
community as peaceful citizens until
that fatal Tuesday in November; We
shall show you that this negro Jones
was taken from the house of a coiored
man in Chestertown and brought back
by an irats father who was prosecuting
an inquiry into certain sland-rous as
s.rtions circulated by this negro against
his daughters; that he was brought back
and confronted by those whom he had
caluminatrd;tlat In being thus confron-
ted he admitted he had been lying and
submitted to be chastised by those two
gentlemen w. Newcomb and 2. Vincent.
Now We don't propos. to keep back
from you anything or to deny anything
that actually took place; that James
Jones was whipped by these two gem
tlsnen for provocation such as should
never want for punishment from any
man who had true heart in his breast,
We do not deny; that after this chastise
msnt came the incarceration. W.
shall be able to show you that after tea
Jones was turned out OF that meat house
and left those premises with the prom
ise Of let go he would never tell any
more lies about the family" We shall
be- able to prove to you that the priso-
n-rs, Mrs. Amelia Dodson, Philip Vim
cent aud william N-wcomb we're in
the sitting room of the DodsOn home
the whole evening until half past
eleven O'Clock or thsreabouts,- - We shall
prove it to you by evidence naturally
belonging to the case. We shall show
yon further that these people are of re
putable character and have secured tn.
esteem Of the comunity. We shall
show you furthermore that the negro
is utterly unworthy of belief.
Having laid down that evidence to
you we think you will say that We
have made good case. In conclusion
would say VIZ are not here to try this
action from every floating rumor that
has been circulated. You must not lot
that enter your minds. We are here to
try 1t impartially, judicially and under
the sanctity Of our oaths.
The outlines gentlemen will be our
lsfence; it will be then for you to con
slider after the comments by the coun.
s.lfon both sides.
Alice Prettyman, sworn:-Livs in
am a daughter Of Mr..
Dodson; been married since the Both
lay Of July; besn at my fathers house
luring last month; know James Jones;
rscOllect the Tuesday on which he
was whipped; he had bs.n living with
IA two years; hs had left on Monday
night or Tuesday; Isaw him about noon;
hs was going out with papa and Mr..
Vincent in the carriage; they cams up
IN the yard and then went out into the
branch; my father, Mr.. Newcomb,
mother, Mr.. Vincent, Eliza Howard,
A ndrew Howard and myself went with
hem. sr-. ..- ..,..
Q.-What did Jones dof
Ale was made TO dig.
Q.--What aftsri
A.--After those things he said he put
|hsrs.
Q.-Wss there anything fouudi
A.-No sir, and no signs Of anything
having been put thsre.
Q,-Whst did Jones' sayi
A.-Hs said he couldn't ind sny-
hing; snd that he hadn't put any.
hing there. ...s, e. g.. ;, |
HI was taken back to tho house; no
vss asked about the rumors and hs
aid they we're fslse; they asked him
vhat should be done with him; he said