Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1878-03-16

its borders, have pointed to hel
with pride; none of her Just Obliga-
! tions TO the humblest of her citizens
or to the prOudest of her creditors
abroad have ever been violated she
was the embodiment of law, and,
calm in the protecting power of that
| law, in the assurance that It every
where was supreme, and that there
was no higher power and no sOrce
beyond it, the laborer tilling his
field, the merchant at his desk, the
prisoner pining in his cell, all spent
their days in quiet and slept secure
at night. But, gentlemen of the
Grand Jury, for once and for the
first time in all these peaceful years,
that dream of security has been
rudely broken; for the first time
citizens are asking themselves, is
the law supreme or is there a power
above the law? This question is
asked, not by the criminal class of
the population, for that class is al
ways ready to aid in Overturning
the law, and always glad when they
see it trampeled underfoot this
question comes, not from those who
are swift to profit by any disturb
ance which relaXes the vigilance of
the officials and clogs for the mo-
ment the wheels of Justice. 1t is the
anxious enquiry of those who have
hitherto gladly paid their tribute to
the support of the law because they
fssncied that law protected their own
persons, their property and that
which was dearer than either-the
sacred dwelling of the loved ones at
home; it comes from those who feel
that not only the produce of the toll
of years, not only their individual
persons, but the priceless honor of
their wives and daughters depend
upon the rigid observance of the law
at all times and under all circum-
stances.
On the night of Friday, March LIST,
if public rumor be correct, a citizen
of your county, prisoner in your
custody, was taken from the county
jail, your property, at midnight, and
without trial, without one word in
his defence, without time or Oppor-
tunity to make his justification be-
fore man or his peace with God,
hanged by the neck until he was
dead. 1t is true that he was charged
with a crime which, | do not hest
tate to say, is the blacklist in the
catalogue it is trne that if he was
guilty, no punishment on this earth
could have been too great for him;
it is true that if he sought fOrcibly
to despoil a poor young girl of her
virtue, he committed an Offense
beside which, in the minds of all
right thinking men, murder in the
first degree would sink to the level
of misdemeanor But, gentlemen,
all that now is beside the question
he is gone to his last account and a
power higher than your or mine sits
in calm Judgment upon his deeds
and misdeeds. y punishment i'm
measurably beyond what human
Justice can infiict or the human
mind can conceive has visited him
if he was guilty.
But, while an enquiry into the
manner of his taking off cannot
profit him, it is a matter of deep
concern to us. While he by univer-
sal admission may have received his
Just dues and nothing more, society
has been deeply wronged; your
rights may have been seriously en-
dangered by the manner in which
punishment for his crime was melted
out on him. If masked men at
midnight may sit in judgment upon
the rights of one citizen, they may
do so upon those of another; if the
turn of Il guilty man comes first,
that of an innocent one may next
succeed. If earnest and well-dis-
posed citizens preside in the first
instance and seal a prisoners fate,
and there is no appeal from their
decision and no subsequent investi-
cation into their acts, men of very
different stamp may handle the next
case. If a bad man be taken from
prison tonight by those desiring to
act in the interest of justice, and
without process of law punished for
his crime, a worse man may be taken
out by his friends tomorrow night
and liberated altogether. If a guilty
man may be hung to-day, an innO-
cent man charged with crime may
be hung tomorrow. If there are to
be no more judges, no more jurieS,
no more witnesses, no more certain
and open verdicts upon the law and
the facts, then let society be resolved
into its elements, and every man
take his own life and that of his
loved ones into his own guardian
ship, his own hands.
Gentlemen of the Grand Jury, our
government is supposed to be gov
eminent of the people. From the
ranks of the sovereign people come
the trainers of the Constitution,
which is the organic law of the
State; from their ranks come the
representatives to enact the laws in
accordance with that Constitution
from their hands come the forces to
execute those laws. If the COnsti-
tuition does not guarantee the fullest
rights to the humblest citizen, it is
your fault; if your laws do not pro-
vide an adequate punishment for
every crime, it is your fault; if the
iurieS do not rigidly enforce those
laws, it is your own fault. You,
the people, are supreme; all power
is in you, all pledges are from you.
If citizen is charged with crime,
you arrest him; if he is armed, you
disarm him whatever natural
powers of self-prOtectiOn he may
have you take from him; helpless
and pOwerless among many, he lies
in your hands; if you place him for
safe keeping in the county Jail, he is
under your roof; if for moment
sense of his helpleSsneSS comes upon
him, he has a right to turn to your
laws and your Constitution and be
treasured you promise him that he
shall have an impartial trial before
a Jury of his countrymen and that
in open daylight he shall meet his
accuser face to face. Thus helpless,
thus bound, thus disarmed and at
the mercy of his foes, if he have any,
of course he has only one safeguard
your solemn promise of protection
upon which he and his fellOw-pris-
oners must rely.
Gentlemen of the Grand Jury, if
any human being, guilty or inno-
cent, charged with crime weighty
or trivial, has been taken by force
from your custody, it behOOves you,
as conscientious jurors, to enquire
rigidly into the facts of the case. 1t
sometimes happens that a crime so
enormous is committed, and the
criminal so unquestiOnably pointed