Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-06-03


Tor final struggle, therefore murder
had been committed. Are yoa doubt
full as TO whether the tracks disclosed
any such opposition? And You must
be doubtful on that point unless you
are satisfied with that. so you can de-
duce from ii the deduction that she
was bracing herself for the final strug
gle, or that she was about to make a
desperate effort to leap that fence and
land herself in that reservoir.
THE PRIsoNER's POSITION.
My friend says that the prisoner
must be required to say what he did
with her. He grows eloquent upon
that point, and demands that the pris-
Oner at the bar shall be required to say
what he did with this woman before he
had established or made an effort to
establish the fact that is in controversy
above all facts in this case--that the
prisoner was in company with that
woman on the night Of the 18th Of
March. But establish that if you will;
establish that if you can, and yet the
requirement weuld be unreasonable
and in the very teeth Of the law.
There is very celebrated case Of
that character in which man Of high
character in England, having chastised
his seryant-girl and she suddenly dis
appearing he was charged with the
murder, was committed to Jail, and
told by the judges, You must pro-
duce that girl, or you will be tried for
murder, and upon the presumption that
will arise against you you will be con-
yicted." In his distraction, in his
agony, overwhelmed, though innocent,
by the circumstances that seemed to
point at him as the murderer of this
girl, and not able to produce her, she
having fled and concealed herself in
the great city Of London, he pro-
duced another girl, supposed to
be very much like her, as the girl
that had been in his employment, but
when the case came to trial 1t was
shown that she was not the girl. He
was convicted and executed upon that
evidence, and afterwards the real girl
came to light, and ever since, my hon
ored friend ito Colonel Aylettl-you
know it, and you ought not to have
taken that position before the jury-it
has been held that man is not required
to produce the deceased, although he
may have been seen in her company,
and the last person seen in her com
pany. unless, by the evidence, he can
be brought right upon the very scene Of
the tragedy.
Yet the Commonwealth, backed mp
by all the power it can command in
every direction. demands in this court,
at this late day. in this enlightened
age, that that shall be done which was
done in days that are past, but which
is no longer to be done in the light of
the civilization of this day.
" CRUCIFY HIM CRUCIFY HIM
Having passed this demand, my
friend says the people of Virginia rise
up as one man to demand the conyic-
tion of the prisoner at the bar. We
are not here, his Honor sits not there,
you are not sworn in that box to carry
out the demands Of the people Of Vir-
| ginia. But you are here to try this
case upon the law and the evidence
deduced in court. Demands of that
sort are unreasonable. unjust. Such
demands may result in the sacrifice of
the innocent. Since the day that the
maddened mob cried at the heels of the
Saviour. " Cruelty him Cruelty him -
no reliance is to be placed upon
the demands of the impassioned mob.
Prejudice runs away with them. They
inconsiderately conceive ideas not JUS
titled by the facts. When the Apostle
Paul, saved from shipwreck, sat over
that fire built upon the island, and that
viper came out Of the wood and fasten-
ed itself upon his hand, the islanders
said lie is a murderer who has
escaped the dangers Of the sea, whom
the vengeance of God permitteth not to
live" lie shook the viper from him
and felt no harm . And that same
prejudiced crowd at once said He
is a God. and not a murderer" That.
gentlemen, is fair sample of public
opinion!
NO OPPORTUNITY FOR INTIMACY.
Mr.. Pollard went into the very
minutest details Of the visit Of Cluye-
RUS to Mr.. Walkers, and argued to
show that there were no means by
which the prisoner at the bar and the
dead woman ever could have been inti-
mate there.
The witnesses Mary Curtis and
Clara Anderson received notice from
the speaker, who characterized them
in the strongest language.
THE MOTIVE.
Mr.. Pollard referred to what Colonel
Aylett said, that the paper put in evil
dence containing the agreement as to
what was written by Miss Bray to
the prisoner, and rice rersa, contained
the motive for the crime, and after read
ing the statement of Miss Bray, of her
engagement with the prisoner for two
years, denied that there could be mo-
tive found in what Miss Bray
wrote. Again, Colonel AYlett had said
that the prisoner had shown no sympa-
thy for the deceased. Had there been
any expert to show this Had not the
gentleman testified in this matter? Mr..
Pollard would believe Colonel Aylett
in almost everything, but he had al
lowed his excitement to get ahead oi
him. Mr.. Pollard did not interrupt
him, because he thought if he was let
alone he would rush along so fast that
he would injure himself quite enough.
THE POEM.
In alluding to the poem ION the
Delaware the speaker asked ii II
could be kept and cherished by yir'
tuous woman, prefacing the remark by
saying, Far be it from me to say any
thing against this poor dead woman >
In referring to Mr.. Cauthorn's evidence
Mr.. Pollard said that Colonel Ayleti
misrepresented this witness. The
speaker did not take any notes, but
Colonel Aylett was writing all the