Arizona silver belt., 1891-02-21
A Remarkable sentence.

One or the most eccentric and at the same time one of the ablest Judges that ever sat upon the far Western bench was Kirby Benedict, who, for thirteen years, was a Justice of the Supreme Court of New Mexico, having been first appointed in 1853 by President Pierce and reappointed by President Buchan- an, and appointed Chief Justice of the court by President Lincoln. He was man of great ability and learning, strong in his prejudices, violent in his passions and relentless in his convic- | tions.
 There are many anecdotes told of Judge Benedict But the crowning act of his judicial career was the sentence of death passed by him upon prisoner convicted of murder, which sentence was as follows:
 'Jose Maria Martin, stand up. Jose Maria Martin, you have been indicted, tried and convicted by A jury of your conntrymen of the crime Of murder, and the Court is now about to pass upon you the dread sentence of the law. As usual thing, Jose Marin Martin, it is a painful duty for the Judge of a court of justice topronounce upon human being the sentence of death. There is something horrible about it, and the mind of the Court naturally revolts from the performance of such a duty. Happily, however, your case is relieved of all such un- pleasantness, and the Court takes posi- tive delight in sentencing you to death.
 ''You are young man, Jose Marin Martin, apparently of good physical constitution and robust health. Or dinarily you might have looked forward i to many years of life, and the Court has no doubt you have, and have ex- pected to die at a green old age; but you gre about to be cut off as the con sequence of your own act. Jose Maria 1 Martin, it is now the spring time; in little while the grass will be springing up in these beautiful valleys, and on ] these broad mesas and mountain sides flowers will be blooming, birds singing above your lowly head.
 "The sentence of the Court is that you be taken from this place to the county jail; that you there be kept safely and securely confined in the GUS tody of the sheriff until the day ap- pointed for your execution. Be very careful, Mir. Sheriff, that he have no opportunity to escape, and that you have him at the appointed place at the appointed time; that you be So kept, Jose Maria Martin, until-Mr. Clerk, on what day of the month does Friday about two weeks from this time come?" March 22d, your Honor. Very well-until Friday, the 22d day of March, when you will be taken from your place of confinement to some safe and convenient spot within the county 1 (that is in your discretion, Mr. Sheriff; you are only confined to the limits of | the countyl, and that you there be hanged by the neck until you are dead, and-the Court WAS about to add, Jose Maria Martin, may God have mercy on your soul, but the Court will not assume the responsibility of asking an all-wise Providence to do that which jury of your people have refused to do. The Lord couldn't have mercy on your soul However, if you have any re- 1 ligious belief, or are connected with any religious organization, it might be well enough for you to send for your priest or your minister and get from him-well, such consolation as you can; but the Court advises you to place no reliance upon anything # thnt kind. MT. Sheriff, remove the prisoner.
 Judge Benedict was probably drunk when he delivered the sentence, as that was his normal condition-ED. BELT
 The law-making that is going on throughout the United States at this time of year is something fearful to