Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1888-03-29
BEN BUTLER.
He Writes a Remarkable Letter
to Capt. w. p. Black,
=. of Chicago.
In Which He Refers to the Execution
ofthe Anarchists as a Judicial
Murder. .-.ss
fChioago special.l

The following letter from Gen. B. F.
Butler to Capt. w. p. Black is given tC
the public through the columns Of the 10.
cal press:
Il am very much obliged to you for your let
your argument to the jury in the case OF Spies
ct al. or what will be known in the long history
as the anarchist case
"Our pleasant acquaintance under tho most
unpleasant circumstances-the joint unsuc
oessful advocacy Of life for mon who were un-
Eon G any aRd se nd
character, and will make our friendship last
ing one, at least on my side.
Il had not believed IL possible that palpab.e
judicial murders could again prevail In this
country. They once did in what we have been
accustomed to regard as thu best and purest
days OF the colo lies. It is less than two centu
ries since seven men Of the highest standing, a
majority OF whom were reverend gentlemen,
clergymen, as good and pious men as ever
lived, rs exemplary In every relation OF life as
It was possible for men to be. sat IN &C.
called court OF justice, each morning session
whereof was opened with f.rvent prayer to the
divine source OF all knowledge, grace, and
power to direct the actors OF his servants ne
the judges of that court; and in that court
wore arraigned day after day poor, miser.
able, broken-coHn superstitious Women and
children uTon the accusation that they hAd
commerce with tho devil and used his power
as q means OF spite upon their neighbors, and
as ono of the means Of inhicting torture be-
cause thereof the devil had empowered these
poor creatures to shoot common house pins
from a distance into the flesh Of their neigh
bors' children, by which they were greatly
ahiicted. Being put into the bar 70 De trlod,
they were not allowed counsel, and, shank
God, our profession was not disgraced, because
the attorney general was q merchant The
deluded creatures sometimes pleaded guilty,
and sometimes not guilty, but in either event
they were found guilty and executed, and the
pins, which were produced in evidence, can
now be seen among the records Of that court
IN the courthouse OF tho county OF EsseK'
Massachusetts,.
And beyond all this that court enforced,
worse than the tortures OF inquistion. dreadful
wrongs upon a prisoner in order TO accomplish
his conviction. Giles Corey was an old man,
81 years of age. He had daughter some Az
years OF age simple minded not able 10 earn
her own living, and a small farm, q pieco OF
land and a house thereon, which no hoped to
leave TO his daughter at his then impending
death. Giles was accused OF being wizard.
His life had beon blnmeless In everything
except his supposed commerce with the devil
Upon ex parte testimony he was indicted for this
too great intimacy with the evil one, and set 10
tho bar to be tried for his life
Giles knew that II he pie aded not guilty he
was sure to becenvicted, be cause that was the
doom Of the anarchists OF that day, and IL he
pleaded guilty he would be sentenced to death,
and in either cas- o the fal m would be forfeited
to the king Bu', II he did not plead at all
such was the law-then he could not be tried al
all, and his property could not b, forfeited t.
the king and taken from his daughter. So Giles
stood mute and put the court at defiance.
And then that court OF pious clergymen re-
sorted to method to make him plead which
had not been in practice in England for two
hundred years, and never here; and poor Giles
was teken and laid on the ground by the side oil
tho court house on his back, with the flashing
sun burning in his eyes and a sing'e cup OF
water from the ditch OF tho jail with crust al
bread was given him onco in twenty-four
hours, and weights were placed upon his body
until at last the lie was crushed out of him,
but not the father lovo for his chill. He died
but not until his perched tongue protruded from
the old mans fevered mouth. 1t was thrust
back by the Chief Justice with his cane The
cherished daughter inherited.
"Being fully i'm bued with this knowledge oi
what good men will do when they are either
frightened for their souls or thor bodies, 1t has
not been to me a source of so much wonder as
it might otherwise have been how the law was
administered in frenzy in Chicago. years
hence when you and have passed. away the
cases of Giles Corey and tho witches and the
cases Of the anarchists will be compared by
just-minded men moro than they are now.
hope thero may one fact follow in the an
nrchists cases that followed in the witches
cases. Judge Sewnll, q reverend clergyman
one of the judges OF tho witches, before he died
learned how greatly he had erred and sinneo
before God, aud he repented in sack-cloth and
ashes, literally coming out in the face OF his
congregation and standing in the broad aisle oi
the church exclaiming, while his written con
fession of his sins and folly in the witches
case was being read 'Alasi God have mercy
on me for what have done
Il hope you will live to be present when one
of tho judges before whom VOC argued will find
IL his duty to take n like step: but fear tha
whilo no has had the incredible folly of Judge
Sewall in the treatment OF his prisoners, he
won { have the piety of Sewall in publicly ap
pealing to his God for mercy, as an example
against all others offending in like inanner
"A learned and upright Judge, writing the
judicial history of witchcraft in this country
sums up as follows: If the popular cry Is u
be the standard Of what is right, the security
OF property is at an end, personal liberty is M
longer safe, and the blood OF the innocent will
often seal the triumph OF popular admins
tration OF Justice, in the triumph of popuIa
vengeance
"Some later writer on judicial proceedings
com pairing the judicial murder Of the witche
with the trial OF the anarchists, will close by
saying: Alas how surely from age to age dotl
history repeat herself. One further fact, which
send TO you for your comfort The determined
action Of n single member Of our profession
standing up against this craze brought it to al
end. lcok for like fruits to come from wha
you have DONE"