St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1879-02-07
Stokes and His Bail Bond.
BY REV. II. +. AUSTIN,

In your issue of jan. 30, you tell your
readers that: 'Last week bail bond
was completed to let DR.. Stokes loose.
:. Among the signers was the
Rev. ID. F. Austin of this placer Are
you sure such bail bond was COM
pleted at the time you wrote that
leader? BY whom was it completed
and to whom was it presented Are
You sure that Rev. ii. F. Austin of this
place was among the sisuers of the
pond If it was completed7 Did YOU
see the completed bond with the sigma
lures 3? | certainly have never signed
or seen such completed bail bond for
letting loose DR.. Stokes. | presume
you thought you stated the exact truth I:
but if it is possible for you to be some.
what wrongly informed and hence
slightly mistaken in opinion and state
ment OH one point, is it not possible
that your information is not omniscient
nor your judgment absolutely infalliEle
on some other points Now there are
those of intelligence and integrity who
think it possible that even in the Stokes
case you may be slightly prejudced
and somewhat partisan in your sweep
ing charges and swift conclusions.
am not defending DR.. Stokes OF
denying his damning sins. Doubtless
he has sinned against his Maker and
mankind. No sane man will apologize
for his actual sins or attempt to make
him always saint. Perhaps his sins
in the sight of God are greater than
yours or mine have ever been. He is
down, helpless, accused of grave crimes
though not taken in the very act. ''Let
him that is without sin cast the first
stone" But do you personally know
just how many and just what are his
personal sins ? Can you under oath
swear to one of these sins with which
you charge him and for which You con-
denim him ? Are yOu not publicly
charging him with high crime simply
on the strength of hearsay testimony
RumOr, on the wings of the winds.
with her ten thousand tongues is not
always to be trusted, for even 'what
everybody says" is not di,rdyS true. To
sanguine informers eXageration is easy
and to take up repI oach against their
neighbor seems natural, but sometimes
there are two sides to StOIy and until
thny 'GXpmmeu oN ~rrre 'ut-Ht eiI rtie ase |
obtained the ''accuscd is entitled to the !
benefit of IL doubt for circumstances |
alter cases. Indictment for crime is |
not the conviction of the supposed |
criminal. 1t is as safe rule in christian
law as in civil law to regard the accused |
as innocent till he is, before proper
tribunal, convicted of crime.
Alexander, while listening to the
complaints of one subject against an
other, sat leaning his right ear on his
hand. 'Sire, why sittest thou thus ?"
asked the accuser. II am reServiDg that
ear TO hear the other side of the story"
replied the absolute monarch. Credit
ing the report of the CdledOniaR, Stokes
has been tried on one Indictment for Il
great crime in the county coult with
due forms of law. A chosen jury of
twelve citizens of Caledonia cOunty-a
jury unchallenged by the State-in due
form returned verdict of "Not guilty"
| IRE h,t l,,t L.,
Caledonia jurymen there were not some
men of common sense, sufficient intel
ligence and integrity of character,
capable of weighing the evidence and
concluding as to the
guilt of the accused in the given case.
To brand them all as disqualified or
dishonest is Il serious charge to make
against those chosen men. They prob
ably have sufficient stamina not to be
swerved from their convictions by any
possible branding or brow-b beating any
newspaper can publicly give them
Personally do not know that | ever
saw any of those men but they cannot
all be fools or frauds, nor can they all be
bought with bids and bribes. For one
must accept their verdict as q verify
and hold that the accused is ''not guilty"
of that particular charge in its worst
features of high crime. l must also
hold him as innocent on other indict-
ments till he is tried and found guilty
by a properly chosen jury. This is my
Judgment of right and justice in such a
premise. Here l must stand in my own
independent opinion of right if l stand
all alone in this community.
In this may differ with the opinions
of cherished Christian friends whose
favor l prize, aud whose frowns l do
not fear. But does any intelligent i'm
partial mind respect a man or even IA
minister less for having an opinion of
right and daring to maintain it? In
my Judgment it is not just or right to
assume an accused man is guilty of
a particular crime because indicted.
but to hold him innocent till found
guilty by proper jury. Nor is it right
for an editor to take advantage of his
position and assume and assert the
guilt of the accused-especially if he is
not personal witness to the crime
and SO help intensity public prejudice
and possibly do great injustice to the
person accused. 1t is not always safe
to form an opinion and prejudge case