The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1878-01-29
TUESDAY. JAN. 30, 1873.
Letter from sherrard Clemens.

AR Nv
letter from sherrard Clemens, formerly
Of this city, on behalf Of boy who is to
be hung there next Friday named VIE.
ners. It seems, according to ast. Louis
dispatch, that the case is exciting pro-
found interest. We read that "bnndreds
Of petitions are being sent to Governor
Phelps, and petitions are on Change
each day, receiving a large number OF
signatures, all Of them Ofths most prom
inent business and social men Of St. Louis,
TO obtain mercy for the victim Of a liquor
and passion.heated BRAIN" Among 9TH
ers, sherrard Clemens comes upon the
scene Of action with the following letter
on behalf Of the unfortunate young man:
10 His Ereeleney, John s. Phelps, Gsrer-
nor ofGs STATE of Missouri:
The undersigned supplicates your ex.
ecutiye clemency in favor Of William
Wieners, now under sentence Of death.
The crime Of which he was convicted
was committed in u moment Of frantic
passion, with his whole frame influenced
by strong drink, so that the morning after
the fatal deed he had no recollection Of
Il at all. Under these circumstances
there was NOT that malice pepenSe on his
part which is an indispensable ingredient
Of murder in the first degree. The whole
evidence in the case plainly shows this.
We know that drunkenness lie no abso.
Lutte excuse for crime; but we believe
that all the recent cases establish the
principle that, where the brain has be-
come 30 besotted, soitened and degraded
by alcoholic drinks that reason is de-
throned and personal consciousness de-
based, courts Of equity, as we'll as law,
will interpose and relieve the victim oil
the ruinous effects OF his " civil con-
tracts.
II this principle pertains, as 1t does
certainly pertain, to matters oil purely
civil concerument, how much more in
cumbent upon u high and honorable pub.
lie functionary, like yourself, TO inter
pose every idea OF mercy in favor OF hu-
man life which the courts oijustice them
selves enforce in favor Of mere earthly
property, or estate which may be decided
away, without consideration, in a protrac.
ted and frantic debauch. We believe
there are moments in the lie oil every
hardened and confirmed sot (whose whole
system has become enfiltrated with all the
noisome and poisonous gangrenes OF the
worm Of the Observation-Disclosures dread
full on the body than the a~ll-ravening
worm OF the gravel when In u moment oil
sudden heat and frenzy crimes may be
committed, and reason 20 dethroned that
consciousness returns only to have mem
DRY refuse any trace OF what the hands,
ali bloody, red and reeking, have done.
All such instances are mere acts oil in
sanity, for which the individual is no
more responsible than for any other acts
insanity, for drunkenness itself Is a
greedy and insane disease.
In the case Of Wieners, we believe this
to have been his state OF mind, and when
the fatal shot was given, we are con
WINGED he was a mere idiot, with reier-
ence TO all the influences which ought 10
have controlled his reason.
And may it please your Excellency, in
addition to alIthis the alleged criminal
is q mere lad, with the flower and down
Of youth yet upon his cheeks; nurtured
and brought up under all the malign in
auences OF a foster mother, and thrown
in the midst OF the multitudinous popu.
lations Of this great city, cultureless and
motherless; poor from boyhood up, yet,
"still ono Of Adams heirs,
Tho doomed by chance Of birth
To dIeSs 70 mean, and cat The ItA1I lnsttAl Of lhe
fat Of thu earth,
To mako such humble meals as honest labor
ALONE aud d crust, with . grace to God,
And little thanks TO manW
But poor "a lie has been, he ia poorer
now than ever, standing in the very jaws
OF death, bereft OF every earthly hope,
except the devotion and love which
springs from a tender and innocent sis.
ter, 10 whom his very soul yet sweetly
elings.
We beseech and implore your Excel.
eney to consider what possible element or
point in the fundamental facts OF this
case there ia which renders It incumbent
upon you TO impose upon the helpless
victim OF his own unreason the extreme
penalty Of the law. What public necessity
impels this mans death? 1.-THE last fatal
agony Ia the only possible expiration
from The present standpoint, is not a life
Of agony more OF an example and terror
10 evil.doers than the sad and terrible
spectacle Of the gallows and the execu.
ton? Death Ia silent and eternal. Life
is earnest, life is real, and n s%entient
reformed being is worth u whole army OF
skeletons.
We supplicate your Excellency, there
fore, to interpose your final pr%erogative
in favor Of the doomed and agonized lad.
Save him from all consequences OF his
own insane act. Save him from the al.
ready erected scafIold and the prepared
rope. Save him, that new and untried
influences may surround and sink for
ever into his soul. Save him, that from
now up to the day Of his death his spirit
may feel all the sacred mysteries OF the
mercy which Is not strained, bnt which
blesses both the giver and the receiver.
Save him, that the Sovereign Ruler and
Disposer Of this world may say to you
in turn:
aIn@much as ye have done tunto one
Of the least Of these, ye have done 1t also
unto me.n SnERRARD CLEMENS.