The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1880-01-29
HURSDAY-FOURTH DAY.
Court met at o'clock this morning and
shortly after opening Mr.. O'Brien begau
for the defiance He smoke az folIows.

At the commencement of this trial you and eac h
OF you with hand uplffted took solemn pledge to
render an impartial verdict. Are you prepared to
keepyour pledgefAre you prepared to do your duty
read the papers and the story that a mob fol-
lowed an honest German and had stricken him
down, but l have heard the facts During the
men many of whom had made up their minds and
with the cry OF vengeance ringi G in their ears.
What said by Mr. on Mara full that il
is unnecessary to go oyer it now. His statement
truthful fair and canGid aud felt 1t when he
got through. You hvaeone OF the most important
cases you have ever been called upon to cit upon
Upon you, fellow men, in your hands. is life and
stored to their friends go to The scaffold. Is
there a man on this jury VINO desires the convic-
By the next turn of fortune you may
be in the same position with these men.
Whatever may be our faults, fortune, crime, that
principle,-hnman sympathy, should abound. If
you are passing along the street and see your
neighbours house on fire, You ask no questions but
help do your part towards yoRr neighbor- If a
human being is in the stream you do not ask is he
African, German or whar. GU come to his aid.
| for their lives and liberty aud II there is a MAJ
here who is crying for vengeance appeal to him
pause, consider the facts be governed by
the cry of ''b God, ''blood,' which goes up from
those governed by prejudice Tue law presumes
they are rot guilty until so proven 1t is true they
| are strangers nor you bonnd to them, but they
are your brethren, bone Of your flesh. God has
breathed in their nostris To err is human
Mr.. o Brieu, continuing went over the testimony
ana procee0ed to dissect it in detail. Some OF he
witnesses for the people were scathinGly handled
trent lawyer growing eloquent he proceeded,
| made most earnest plea for his clients, and ad-
the jurors, personally appealed to him to exercise
| sympathy. The man, said o Brier' who has none
of the milk of human kindn is naturally mali
eious- he cannot be fair. His prejudices rule and
| he lacks that calm judgment which only fair rea-
soning gives, Raising his voice to & high key he
dwelt upon the vengeful spirit of the prosecution;
the desire win the CAsetO convict the prisoners
guilty or not guilty.
Now gentlemen of the jury, what are the facts
and l mean by that the, a tusl occurranees?
What, l ssk you are the true points in this caseF
it show malice? Has 1t been shown these prisoners
| deliberately murdered Whittick? Not bit of it.
| oh the contrary 1t has been most clearly demon
strated beyond shade of doubt that the action OF
these unfortunate young men was that ofse defense
Never before has clearer cese of self defence been
been est ablished than at this trial. The prosecu
ton will tell yQu tat it is your duty to convict
4 these men; the states attorney has held them up
| as outlaws he has pictured 10 you in blood curd-
ling language the murder Of Whittick, AID if you
accept his version, these unfortunate prisoners are
| fiends Observation-Disclosures without single re-
| deeming trait. With great stress. Mr.. Parmen-
| ter referes to the assault ON Hodgeman-I
| he would have it appear that this stove polish
peddIer was sbrutaly assaulted; that had any
/ have been the saKae as Wittick; he would make
you believe that these unfortunate young men
were banded together on that fatal I4Ih of
| November with murderous intent. But where
is the evidence to show this? Has it been pro-
outlaws; that they were bent on murder; that
they thrsted for blood-Has it been proven? No!
No; GenlislSn OF the 5ary, e say No rb,,+
murdered man, extollfhg his virtues and prais-
ing his uniform kindness TO all who kaeG him.
His reference TO Wittick feelingly given and
during its delivery there solemn stiffness
In the room. Mr.. OBriGns then resumed his
review of the test .Inony and piece by piece
unraveIieG l.. He spoke earnestly and clog Ient-
| " for an acQuittSt, Toward the close of his
speech, he warmed up and in magnitice 1t lam
guage referred 10 the good character OF defen-
dants pointing to the list of witnesses who Ral
testified to the reputation of his clients men
who swoFe 10 facts; who were not actuated by
any motive bat as men Of standing in the com
munity. Then in melQ dramatic tone, MIR,
o. Brien referred to the wife WRq chung to
Ganey. of the affectOnate relatives whose
hearts would bleed if these unfortunate men
were convicted. He spoke in an affecting man.
ner of the young n6R on trial, with the tears
streaming down his cheeks. fairly begged for
\ the acquittaI of the prisoners. There was a
death like stiffness during the delivery of this
part of Dir. Q'Brien's speech, and when he clos
ed his plea, he was yisibly affected.
At I2:15 P. NJ court caOSeG,