The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1885-10-28

ASI6ANS Y 49, ps'A fSeSS "
will prevail. The streets are crowded with
eager buyers, both black and white, making
purchases to gladden. the hearts OF loved
H1es Vi o'I,AS wanted to be s. served. Benedict
was getting q pair of shoes to sell to q negro
Ferguson was already there, watch
Ing his opportunity-lying III walt. He takes
1t in his overcoat pocket, Benedict, all un-
conscious Of the intention CT the assassin,
reaches over to get the shoes out of the box.
hears It, BenedIct Himself did not hear It,
he said. Notwithstanding Ferguson had
called him "a damned Lar" Benedict said,
What's that? If not murder, % can you
makeit7 1t has In 1t, gentlemen Of the Jury,
every one Of the elements Of murder, All,
eer snotem of lvi NJ i IN " Wait, 'g Fereu iss 1 soes ty
Benedict's place Of business. He goes to the
place where poor Benedict is carrying out his
portion OF the command of the Creator Tin
Ferguson lies in wait for Bededict In his own
house, his own home; for 1t was his home,
his very castle! He lies In wait to present
his pistol. Bear IN mind, gentlemon of the
grudge. You have the preceding. quarrel,
a deliberately planned scheme to do bodily
harm. Nay, to do more, to "kill 2 damned
and nerves himself to a horrible deed.
If malice was all element In the case OF the
State against Stark. then do these acts come
equally up to every element which consti,
otfense which he intended to commit. He
talked about It; glonted over 1t. Said what
he was going to do. Martin told him not to
murder. The ferocity Of the lion without
Its courage; the cruelty of the tiger without
Its growl; the venom Of the deadly rattle
snake, without Its warning rattle!
In all your reading, In all history, even IN
the graphic account of deeds done on the
clark and bloody ground" OF Kentucky
have you ever heard OF q murderer more dc.
Ing his pistol to steady his aim. Tho former
threat to "kill q damned Jew" which Is fol-
lowed by a remorselcss cruelty. You may
have heard Of a more atrocious murder, l
have not. What could he more horrlblef a
man slain in his W house! This unoffcnd-
Ing creature shot to death. Alone In the
world. No loving mother nor little sister to
wipe the death damp from bis brow as he
When Ferguson was arrested, what did he
say? "Benedict was trying to XIII me-,
coming down on me-" trying to c1t me-"
first turned to the possibility, OF escape.
me give bail" "T'll give Mr.. Brooks as secur:
Now, let us examine into tho character of
the defense which has been set up for the
prisoner at the bar, It is alleged that ne was
OF unsound mind at the time Of the
| hlllluR, IL IL U6 lChlIJ GIuo Lhtt HViSo'
CONS mind is dlsordered, Is II not strange 10
deed that no one, not even his fathers fam.
lily physician, had over heard OF the fact
until he had slain bis victim? Until ne was
arrested and in the hands Of the law? The
idea of insanity, like 'Jonah's gourd, must
have sprung up in a night. We hear nothing
OF 1t until the moment Of the killing-noth-
ing Of 1t before or after the eom ani OF Inc io'
BILE to some sort of f~ainting spells; that he
drank hard; that he was suffering from In
somnia after he came back from .Ninety-Six
that he was crazy and threatened to kill him
self, but no one certides that he had al attack
Of epilepsy Oh the day of the killing, or that
he had ever had an attack of that fearful dis:
ease. But even admitting that the prlsonerat
the bar did have epilepstoid seizures, did not
every doctor on TINT stand testify that epilep'
tics were harmlessP That unconsclousness,
spasms, and commissions were always present
in epllepstoid seizures, and that no epileptic
could conceive and perform any act while the
paroxism was upon him? DO you believe
that John G. Ferguson was unconscious, when
he slew Benedict? Doesn't his threats, his
bail. his anxiety to attend a wedding, all for
In connection with this I would like to re-
ply 10 what the learned counsel for the de.
killing, was Of unsound mind. Then I would
ask If his mind was diseased, and you thought
it to be so, why, In the nome Of Goa, did yo oG
uUU IllOh SSlo
by some OF your eminent physicians, who
have on this stand given such evidence OF
learning and skill! in their profession: The
testimony Of such men on this occasion, ia
corroborate the theory Of Insanity, would have
been Of inestimable value to the prisoner at
the bar. None could have been more sensible
OF this fact than his able and leaned counsel.
t MSows| Il s she iaarned Of co she 5pr Wiz sna tS yGp e Sslasye
edge of the law and their commendable yea
in behalf Of their client, would have neglect;
ed this most important duty, If they had
thought that there lurked In the brain OF
John c. Ferguson one latent spark Of insani.
ty? These are the matters to which General
Noise addressed himself.
II he had been unconscious. II O demon had
seized his brain. and If be had become q mere
automaton, he would, when consciousness re.
turned and he found that he had killed a man
have made all Abbeville resound with hit
cries. He did not do this. He acted k 9th
er men who commit marder. The lrst thing
he wanted was Lail, bail, bail. Lik Other
guilty men, he was ready with his excuses, al
leging that his victim was trying TO Kill him
was coming down on him, was trying to Gu
him, when in fact, poor Benedict, was attend
ing TO his business, trying to sell a pair O.
shoes to O negro woman, and with no thought
OF evil.
Who says that Ferguson ever had epilepsy
We are told that the disease ~ heredita.yt-
that It Is traDssuitted f1m .dLher to son. Is
nigreapaTtlcle OF proof that either the father
or mother, the grandfather or the grandmOth-
er ever had this disease? How, then, can no
have It? Unless you can trace 1T back TO those
Tell me-, my friends, If q mans father or
grandfather never had 1t, how is heto get II
Suppose his uncles to have had It, how Is he
to get it from them? If all of a mans cous-
that to affect him? Her mother said that his
sister Lizzie had 1t for six mouths: That she
was cured. The doctors who have been sworn
on this stand, say that the disease is incura-
BILE, and that 1t goes on from bad to- worse az
the patient grows older The proof Is that
the parents did not send for o doctor to see
The mother teshfcs that she never saw John
with an attack of epilepsy. VIII you tell me
that d lady, having 9 year old child, when Is
subject to epileptic fits, would trust 1t with a
lives not a mother in oil South Carolina, who
has a child, subject to epileptic fits, that
would not keep q constant watch, over 1t. NO
mother could be found who would trust SUCH
an infant to q negro girl wandering about over
the farm. All our instincts forbid us to be-
licve 1t.
At school he couldn't speel-looked pale.
When he went to lift log, he set down awhile.
When he went to other schools he acted Ike
every other boy every time he didn't want to
study-once he looked pale at DR.. Riley's to.
pie. and was unconscious for q time: Az
DoesSs't he seem zee IT" to have Hnvea q fancy N ' for gettinSg
on q drunk OF weddings?) Wasn't his be-
havior perfectly natural on the night ne re,
turned to his fathers house from Ninety-Six?
His liquor begins to die out. When his moth
err and his wife demonstrate with him
for bis conduct he feels bad : and 1t Is
perfectly natural for a half drunk man to
to say tina he wished he was dead. At such
times. by their reproaches, our wives and our
mothers sometimes make us feel very uncom-
Portable. at such times there is usually lott
In US enough of sentiment, enough Of liquor,
and enough of remorse, to make US laugh and
cry by turns, while there Is enough nervous:
ness In us to keep us from sleep. They called
1t insomnia
hid vo,1 rono am hnr thu fastimonv Of the cir