Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1888-03-09
FOR RONoR'S SAKE.
By B. L. FARJkON.
Aus.or sf stsreas Psssss rqsare." "Ihs
BsigAt ssas 20 Lsfs," Etc
gooSrIHunp.)
CHAPTER vi.

DESCRIPTION OF THE LAST OATS PnocEED-
NGs-ExTRACTED FROM A DAILY PAPER.
1.-THE trial Of Edward Layton for the
murder Of his wife came to singular and
unsatisfactory termination late last night
That the public interest In the case had
reached an almost unprecedented height
was proved by the largo number Of per-
sons who were unable to obtain admission
to the court.
ION the previous evening the evidence
for the prosecution had closed, and there
was painful and eager expectancy in the
minds Of all present as to the line Of de-
fense which the prisoner intended to
adopt This line Of defense-if indeed Il
can bc called defcnse-was as surprising
as 1t was brief
1.-THE prisoner, addressing the Judge and
jury, intimated that II was not his inten-
tion TO call witnesses on his behalf. Most
Of the witnesses for the prosecution, he
said, had given their evidence fairly, and
II they had committed themselves to mis-
statements and discrepancies, It was more
because they were either misled or mis-
taken--in the case Of one witness, Ida
White, because she was strangely preju-
diced against him-than that they had q
desire to make the case against him even
blacker than It was. 1t had happened be-
fore, and would doubtless happen again,
that man found himself thrust into
such an unhappy position as he himself
stood through no fault of his own,
and that he was unable to say or
do anything to prove his innocence. Some
times it was with such man matter Of
honor, sometimes a matter Of conscience.
In his own case it sprung from both his
honor and his conscience that his lips were
sealed, and the utmost he could say for
himself was that he was an innocent man,
with so dark an array Of evidence against
him as to almost incontestably prove him
to be guilty. All that he could do was to
declare most solemnly that the accusation
upon which he was being tried was false,
and that he stood before them as nm
stained by crime a. they were themselves,
What could be said truly In his favor was
that his character, and to some extent his
blameless life, were q refutation of the
charge. Evidence Of character was gen.
orally called in mitigation of impending
punishment. He did not intend to cali
such evidence, because, by SO doing, Il
would be q half admission that he stood
there guilty instead of IN innocent man.
He knew perfectly well how lame and i'm.
potent these weak words must sound in
the ears OF those who were sitting in iudg-
mept upon him; but this he could not
help. 1t was but part Of the fatal web In
which he was entangled. That no aud
his wife had lived unhappily together was
not to be disputed; but even in this most
serious crisis OF his life he denied the right
arrogated by the legal profession to
rip open mans private affairs and ex-
pose to the vulgar gaze what he desired
should be hidden from 1t. The last thing
- 4 1n I,al hnnv L.
times the peril in which he then stood,
was to drag other persons into the case,
and to allow them to DO blackened and
vilifled as he had been. u can scarcely
doubt, said the prisoner, what your ver-
dict will be. Were I In you; place I
should most likely decide as you will de-
eide, but none the less will it be O solemn
fact that, though you arc legally right,
you are morally wrong. must be con-
tent to let the case rest as IT has been pre-
sented to you, and to abide the ISSUE
though it may cost me my life.'
=, man orraienad unon so rrave 4
cbarge has there been heard n defense so
wooE and strange. hut N is nevertheiess
y fart that the nrisoner,s earnest and to
ali anncar,nce. ingenious manner pro.
duced deem impression upon all who
heard him. and when he ceased speaking
there was In the murmurs of astonish.
ment that followed. nm unmistakable note
Of sympatby.
CATER Slight pause the attorney pen.
erai rose to sum m the cose AGAINST tho
prisoner. and his incisive judicial utter.
ances soon dispelled the imnression which
the prisoner's earnestness had produced.
He said that in the circumstances of the
case his speech would be briefer than II
otherwise would have been. He had a
dutv to perform and he would perform Il.
without, he hoped, any undue severity or
harshness, Unhappily the evidence was
only too clear against the prisoner. and
unHannily the prisoner had strengthened
the case anainst himself This was not
a matter of sentiment; it was matter OF
Justice, and Justice must be done. With