Mexico weekly ledger. (Mexico, Mo.) 1855-1956, 1882-10-12
MhNlcos MISSOURI 1rHuRspA YnoGToBER -, 1882

= - :, -- = : ~
point of martyr. He comesto you, their
representative, to say that, though his
Isufferings have been hundred times
greater than they have any knowledge
of-immeasurably greater than the courts
which he eFaded would have attached to
his acts-he recognizes that he no right to
complain of his lot. He comes as man
who, conscious of an honest purpose, asks
to be permitted to do what an honest,
Iiaw-abiding citizen may to remove from
Missouri the odium for which his name is
in part responsible. He comes as man
who, outlaw though he be, has for those
husband love as strong and a devotion
as deep as are found IN men whose lives
are biameless before the world, and as one
who is anxious to remove from his closet
the skeleton wliclls so long has been its
hideous occupant. : sEFS
If it were not for the fear of RESPONSE
bility for what did not do, rather than
for what did, Governor Crittenden, you
should neyer HaXe found it necessary to
put price on my head. An excited and
justly indignant public is not always dis
criminative, and when a man Isl stripped
of the safeguard Of presumptve Innocence
with which the law theoretically sur
rounds him Gas would be), he is put
TO the dangerous necessity Of, proving a
Negative. That fearis still With me, Eand
as l write 1t prompts me to abandon my
present purpose, and, having for nearly
twenty-five years proved my ability to
evade the attempts to capture me, to take
my little family and go to some remote
section where can live quiet life, free
from apprehension That refuse to obey
such an impulse, that l prefer to go back
to my boyhood's home and face my dis
grace, in order to live it down, that am
willing to place myself under a surveil-
lance to which no man in Missouri has
ever been subjected -as must naturally be
the case should l return-that should
choose this rough course when smoother
ones offer, is, humbly submit, proof
that am not SO bad as have been painted,
and that the elements of manhood have
not been entirely omitted from my nature.
Right terribly, Gov. Cfittenden, have
the offenses against society, which have
been charged against the James family,
been avenged. God knows, enough blood
has been spilled, enough hearts broken,
enough lives blighted. God knows that
ifit is the purpose of the law to prevent
crime by making its punishment awful
to contemplate, that purpose has been
served in rare degree in these ten years
| Of terror and tragedy. Is it's demand for
vengeance Unsuitable Is ''justice tenn
pered with mercy" a mere poetical moth
ing? Must the great state of Missouri
indulge in spirit Of vengeance till it has
secured its last ounce Of flesh?
Or, laying all considerations of mercy
aside, cannot your State q would to God
l could say "my State!") better afford,
now that it has yindicated its laws as nc
State ever did before, to say to its suppl
cant: eyes, come in. We will convert
your very notoriety into powerful in
strument of good order. We will, purely
as an unsentimental investment, restore
you to citizenship and give you an oppor-
tunity to prove the sincerity of your con-
| triton and fair purposes. We will cal
upon you to utilize your experience in
enforcing the laws which you have in the
past been charged with violating, and
when, by years of correct department and
honest industry you have won the conf
dence of all who now condemn you, we
will point to it all as proof of our Wis
dom"
If was certain would not be made ;
scapegoat, l would never have troubled
you with this petition, but would have
long ago faced your courts and met YOU
charges. But once in the tolls, l woult
have had to accept all the chances, ant
while none would be interested in proving
my innocence of whatever might be alleg.
ed, many might find it to their advantage
[ to assist in convicting me. Put yourself
in my place for one moment, and thel
judge of my course in keeping out of tn,
/ laws clutches f.
There is one consideration other thai
! those already mentioned, which has weigh
ed heavily in favor of my taking my pres
ent STEP. For five months have been il
| constant fear that some friend of mine, O.
Jesse's, or some silly person seeking noto
/ riety, might carry out the threats of assas
sination, which have been, according t
published reports, poured in upon you
Suppose, for Il moment, that that had oc
Cured. Is there man living who woul
not have held me responsible for it! An
yet, not only were the threats not mine
1 as you will discover by comparing ther
with my writing, but the thought of re
venge was never for one moment enter
tanned by me. b.. .....
f i have now stated my case, and have,
4 trust, avoided any SAVIOR of mawkishness
q i ask if you cannot, consistently with you
4 duty, give me some hope for amnesty un
der the conditions / have specified.
may strike you that modesty Is not til
most prominent characteristic of this re
} quest, but it should be remembered
tconaes from man who is still at largt
fand the uncertainty of whose where
abouts is, although it need not be, tn
cause of deal of apprehension. i d
not appeal as a man who, having fol
4 lowed the wrong course until his head
whitening and he is tottering on the verg
of the grave, is taught repentance by HI
incapacity for further iniquity, but as on
who is yet young and vigorous, and VIII
has reasonable ground to believe tn,
there are more years yet left him for az
tive service within the pale of socie1
than those which he has spent outside
$ it. ... ... F-
Il submit that it is not an improp'
question for your consideration wheth.
: it would not be better to have me hur
ter of fugitives than fugitive-wheth,
Frank James, humbled, repentant and n
formed before all the world, will not
an example more fraught with good
the rising generation than Frank James
mysterious wanderer or the occupant
tfolos,fs ro1l f,r rr.rap sF +.=I