Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1886-05-29


1 III, ,.,. A. r,, A.. ,,,., !, ..,..,,,u,,,,
l WI, VII G,, ~ '"" NV ,no eaun.ot VI H'onusn,P
| suu nnoo'un ,no Vonhres are Areauy
| kln"iinR upon tne NUS IN every grove
Thnp,a. u p h.nor tno Iohst ls spIesu.
aannr,s .,s -, spa,knnR eyes ao are, W1,n''cninR 1,'
| .ta w., you. ,o'u'n. iohIs WI, ~ M M tno.I
| ~non .noy seek w VAIN hnlong your rNnks
.or many Ioved anu amli'ar lace but
| ~ @"usn ,noso .oars VIII snine 'ne SUNLESS oI
| y,. Jy am we.cn"' ,',,, e.en AZ 'nv rhys y, u'e
| uorn'nH sun gi'tler through tne dew dfops
| WINCH the sau hiBht hath wep'.
THE WILKINSON SPEECH.
| Uut porbaps tho most po,e,, onor, of Mr.
| p,.,,,.. ,.,.l a. ,a,',. ~. e.. ,ns.., -.
WI" 80 ,Vo'' w '''o "o'o"'o W
.no 'e,opraten Wilkinson murder triai at
Iiarrodshurg, KY, In 1889, mt tho ago OF
thirty. OF this enhancing address "A distin-
| guished lawyer said; "The whole trial
upder bis magic ,,uuo,,o hocomo. Ijko m
no,t.o,,,. a,,''si,,., -. -. 60, o.. >,
p. 'o,'o''o" P'"y h".",s o'o,1 -,
susunheu' ihinR'lng suouueu ho'hor VII"
inhnite Pathos. Tho characters seom com
plete aud perform their parts 10 the very
consummation as 4, plastic heroes IN his
L hands
Judve Rowap. ope nj the LAWYERS I'm the
c.se In r.ferrin,, to the apeecb. remark ed
Il that Mr. prentjss had gone to Mtssj.sippi an
obscure peIapoyue, then correcting h iinselI
he added
"No; cannot say he was obscure. lie
could not be obscure anywhsre. The erup-
va n lahes pf his great mind. ike those of
Etna threw blaze of light around him,
which attracted or rather exacted their gaze
aud admiration" ;"
A few brief extracts from his speech are
introduced. Yet IL IL impossible 10 form
even the slightest concsptiou of It's magical
force and beauty without a fun reading OF It
The defendants Wilkinson, his
/ brother, Dr. Wilkinson, aud young Muir
daugh-wers personsl friends aud neighbors
of MIR Prentiss who on a visit TO Louis
oil i,,v, xaIi In, mn tho un.
Tending of them mscl ves In which hal neces-
L STATED the killing by thcm OF two OF the mob
OF conspirators that had gone To tho Gait
hpuse 10 horsew hip the Missis-i ppians Mr..
Prontiss, then a member OF Congress, msde
his way by river and stage to Harrodsburg,
KY, Ia which court change OF venue had
been secured for the prisoners, to take part
/ in their defense. The speech in its entirety
IL pronounced by any number Of jurists as
the ablest exposition Of the principles OF
seli-defense ever embodied IN 80 many
pages, aud this In a COUGHING of such imagery
OF language as Is seldom read.
Referring to the prejudice that had pre-
vailed against his clients Immediately after
the homicide In Louisville, he said to tho
jury:
"Pas-ioh and prejudice poured poison
into the public ear. Popular feeling was
reused into madness IL was with the Is-
most difficulty that the strong arm Of the
constituted authorities wrenched the victims
from the bands OF AN infuriated mob. Even
| tnb lnlrk walls pt tfe pflSpn hHrlly
protection for tho accused. Crouched and
sbivering on the dark floor of their gloomy
dungeon, they listened Ia the footsteps of the
gathering crowds: aud ever and anon, the
winter wind, that played melancholy music
through the rusty CRATES, was drowned by
the fierce bowling OF the human wolves, who
prov led and bayed around their place OF
refuge, thirsting tor blood"
Commenting upon the testimony of one
Oldham, who was known to have drawn "A
pstnl and tirp1 "a of thp MisSigslppians
during the ailray, aud vet who swore that he
was unarquainted with and indeed had
never ssea either OF the defendants, MIR.
prentiSs said
"Surcly Mr.. Henry Oldham mus he the
Knight Errant of the age, the Don QuiNote
OF the West, the paragon OF modern chiralry
" lie fights not from base desire of ven-
geauco, nor from sordd love of gold, not
even from patriotism and friendship, but
from "A higher and loitier sentiment: from
his pure, ardent, disiuteresled, unsophisti-
Gated love Oi glorious strife. Like jobs war
horse, ho 'smelleth the battle afar OIL and
tO the sound of the trumpet he saith ha, hs
"Sou have heard, gentlemen, of the bright,
warm isles which gem the oriental seas, and
arc kissed by the tery sun ofthe tropics; where
thoclova the cinnamon and the nutmeg grow
where the torrid atmosphere IL oppressed
with a delicious, but fierce and intoxicating
ipiiuenca. There the spirit OF man partak es
OF the same qualities which distinguish the
productions OF the soil. Even rs the rinds oi
tntlr IrultS spilt open Win uhturos fl'u On
cess, 80 do the human passions burst torth
with an overwhelming violence and rrodi'
sa,s s',iso 'i;,,a 'Thara in H.. i.ianhs nS Lava
Snn,,r, the Maiacras and others of the same
i,,it,,aa ,,ssa sir,iIar 70 that Of Mr. Henry
oIJra,,, are ~ frar,,,ant orcnrrenco In those
| cnnntria. II ia r,tIed urunning amuck -
An indiyiau,I ha,nmes 81 mil nT tight that he
r,n M Ionyor contain n. accordingly. hs
rms bimse1r with a snacss of daoyerI very
simJI,r m ina, torn, which Mr. Oldham vined
tbo hlnoJ with nj. nocEet b,ndk erchief and
rushinp into the pnhljc stre,ts. wounds and
| sIsys indisrrininately among the crowd. IT
| IL true, that this gallant exploit always re-
suits IN ihe dehth "t the person performing
uie Pe.i' VI nv ' "
| nnusive a mode OF cuItivaiinp national
| bravery. But, in the present instance,
trust this rule will loo relaxed. Mr.. Oldham
| is the only specimen we possess oil this Pecu.
| liar habit oi the spice Islands, AMI he should
| DO preserved as curiosity.
| "Bnt, alas the age OF chivalry mas gone py
and IN the performances oi my uuty, roar
shall have to exhibit some iittle defects III the
| character oil oiuhaii, calculated III TINS cen
| serious day To detract from his general merits
| I" 1t was with great pain, feel constrained
| to say, tior he IL sort OF favorlte OF mine)
| that telling the truth is not one OF his knighty
accomplishments, and that his heroic conduct
In the aiiray at the Gait house was nothing
| more nor les-, according to his own story
| than n downright cOWardly attempt at asSlS