St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-01-16
THE DEVIL CONVICTED.
"A Hybrid Scene at the Salvation
Army HEADQUARTERS.

| Army Headquarters.
What was announced to be drawing
card at the Salvation Army barracks
last night-a trial of the devil by jury
proved a winner, so far as crowd was
concerned, but a travesty upon nearly
| everything else. Tie crowd was
there, and SO were all the
other Inevitable concomtants of a
| Salvation Army scene. E.. Il. Will
Jams sat as Judge and heard rude form
of Indictment of the devil, presented by
a man named Gardner, as prosecutor.
| John Gornand represented himself as
| the attorney for the devil. George
Green acted as a supposed sheriff, who
announced that the court was open
for the purpose of trying the devil,
The farce was opened in way scarcely
heard of by the Judiciary of this coun-
try; that is. by singing, if an attempt to
get harmonious sounds out of cracked
female voice can be called singing The
title of the rendition was .,HaleIujah to
the King. I'm Glad Joined the Army"
Ill as nearly the tune of yankee
Doodle" as the aforesaid voice could ap-
| proach. At the end of each StanZa the
solOist would appeal to the audience to
.ie0me along and help me sing it; come
along nOw.''
@ The impromptu judge asking if the
Jury was impaneled, the representa-
tive OF the defendant and attorney for
the prosecution entered into contro-
versy as to the propriety of female or
male jury, only to be cut short by the
representative OF justice deciding to I'M
panel as jury portion of the left
wing of the army. A controversy arose
at this juncture as to the jurisdiction of
fhp trIhIIpa nj In FRY nd
The case, particularly as it was alleged
That the victim was not present
ia person, as custom requires, and
I7lt could not be presumed that
the case could be disposed of by punish
ing even ii found guilty. But under the
ruling that presumption aud custom are
not law, ana that the devil was, if not
present in person, at least by attorney,
the trial proceeded upon the charges of
being a murderer, thief, liar and rob-
Der. The witnesses were called, one of
them testifying that the devil deceived
him and got him into prison in Aus
tralia, Ireland, Calcutta and other
places; parted him from his wife five
years ago; caused him to attempt
suicide: to spend the 500 month
made in the mines in drink.
and landed him in st. Paul
five weeks ago dead broke" Capt.
Jones testified to the service of the devil
i'll gambling and drinking until he lost
''hall lis 'ealtn, lis 'ouse, and fell from
the Ugh pinnacle of Societv.n An old
cUlored man related his experience with
the devil i'll the lauj OF cotton. Harris,
Andrews, Shelter and other soldiers de-
tailed their experiences in the employ
OF the prince of darkness, recjting de-
spair, malice, enmity, deceit, ETC., in
which considerable private life was; de-
tailed, showing the Slums and vices into
which drinking men and gamblers some
times sink.
Defendants attorney, at the close of
the testimony, confessed the crimes of
his client had been proven and ap-
peaied for mercy, The prosecutor ap-
pealed for verdict and sentence in
accordance with the evidence. Guilty
was the word pronounced by the female
jury. The judge set aside the verdict
on the grounds that the defendant
was not present and he had
done only what he was sent to
earth to do, namely to be the
prince of devils with power over the
world, and has done his work we'll and
not oyerdone it. He will be punished in
all eternity, and finite beings have no
power to punish him. An exhortation
was then delivered to overcome him by
doing right and living Christian lives.
The whole proceeding was on a par
with the usual meetings of the Saliva
ton Army laringly inconSiStent,ap
rently blaSphemouS and irreyerent.