The times., 1898-11-27
PRAYING AGAINST Time
How a Preacher Saved Two
Men From Being Executed.
LONG PRAYER ON A HOT DAY
Crowd Grew Impatient and the
Sheriff Wanted to Do His Duty,
But Dominic Ryerson Prayed On
Violent Measures for Stopping
Him Under Consideration When .
Reprieve Arrived.

Tedu hot lOuS dbO, odiu
citizen. IAN amusing account OF man
who prayed against time for an object.
and it reminded me Of a prayer against
time that heard when I was boy. That
prayer was q serious matter, too. want
to tell you. for the lives of two men de-
pended on 1t, although they didn't know
It, It saved their lives. but it came mighty
near killing the man who prayed. And
this put me in mind, too. that only the
other day. in rummaging among some old
papers. I found time-stained sheet OF
paper on which was printed poem a
dozen or more verses In length. entitled
the .Mournfui Ballad of Carr and Smith
1 hadn't seen or heard or thought of that
poem for sixty years, but the moment I
saw It every word In those twelve verses
came back to my mind. for I had read
them so often when l was boy that 1
knew them by heart. I will repeat you
the first verse to show you what you
might expect of the other eleven This b
the way 1t goes:
Come, all ye weeping friends. and see
Alexander Carr die on the gallows tree.
For awful crime he did commit,
To il abetted by Solomon T. Smith.
And see Solomon, he, too, will die
The same awful fate, he hung on high;
Blind justice with her awful sword
Cuts OF these two with one accord.
Justice must have been blind. indeed
in the case of Messrs. Carr and Smith
for she was going to cut them Off with
her awful sword for the henious crime
of stealing an OK. There Is no date or
| reference of any kind In the ballad to In
dicate where this earth It was that
weeping friends were invited to see Alex
ander Carr and Solomon T. Smith ex-
plate their grievous offence on the gal
lows tree, but fortunately L am able
to supply the missing links and tell the
story of the case OF Carr and Smith.
which is used so lugubrious!y by this un-
known poet to point a moral and adOrn a
tale. The poet. though. wasted the
time of his muse, for although hundreds
| OF weeping friends and others who cid
not weep accepted the Invitation of the
ballad, they did not see either Alexan-
| der Carr or Solomon T. Smith die on the
| gallows tree. notwithstanding that Alex
| ander and Solomon T. were both on hand
| ready to be cut of with one accord
| They were. saved; and saved BY prayer.
/ too. And that's the prayer I am going
/ to tell you about.
! 1T will seem incredible that within the
| memory of any person now living CAPT
/ tai punishment was the legal penalty in
! Canada for the stealing OF live stock, but
/ such Is the fact, for I remember when
| thu was the law there The year this
/ ballad was printed must have been ls2S
| that in which Carr and Smith were to
have been hanged at the little village of
J Vittoria, not far from Toronto. for
I the alleged stealing of an OK 1 was
little boy then. living In Vittoria, but
/ remember the circumstances well. al
| though the main Incidents l know from
having them frequently related by
/ others. Carr was simple-minded man
of middle age and Smith was younger
! man OF about the same mental ca iber.
\ y farmer in the vicinity had an OK stolen
I one night. The skin was found in a place
! where Carr and Smith had been seen,
1 and the two men were arrested, charged
4 with being the thieves The case made
out against them on the trial seemed to
satisfy the jury that they were guilty.
| and they were convicted and sentenced
/ to be hanged.
Among those who held that hanging
| for such crime was no better than rnJr-
/ der were the Rev. John Ryerson, a Bap-
| tist preacher. and DR.. Rolf, both OF Wit
| toria They had doubts also OF the guilt
! of the condemned men and used all their
/ influence for them on the trial. but in
/ vain. The day was set for the hanging
( and the gibbet erected In a public place.
I On the morning of the day OF execution
Dominic Ryerson and DR.. Rolf resolved to
/ make a final effort to save the two men.
! The doctor was to mount his horse and
] ride post haste to Toronto and appeal to
/ the governor for a reprieve or pardon,
1 while the dominic, as spiritual adviser OF
the condemned men, was to delay the
| hanging until the doctors return by ex-
I ercising his privilege in prayer.
/ "A great, surging crowd OF people sur
/ rounded the gallows when Carr and
/ Smith were carried under the gibbet in
! cart. 1 was one OF them. having stolen
! from home for the occasion. The sheriff,
| of course. granted Dominic Ryerson's re-
| quest to offer prayer for the two un-
! fortunates 1t was hot day and there
! was no shelter for anyone from the fierce
rays OK the sun. No one had any suspi-
cion that the good preacher had any ute
| rior motive In making that prayer. and
[ for the first fifteen minutes OF 1t the sher-
iff and sweltering crowd listened with re-
! spectful patience. Then something OF un-
, easiness began to take possession OF the
I great audience. But the dominic prayed
on. The sheriff moved about to call the
preachers attention to the fact that time
1 was passing and the sweating crowd be-
gan to sway and murmur. But prayer
| was not to be rudely interrupted even on
| such a pressing occasion as that and
the dominic prayed on. An hour passed.
/ The preachers voice had grown husky.
His throat was dry and parched, his
tongue almost clung to the roof OF his
! mouth and his lips were shriveled and
cracked; but still he played. The con-
demned men themselves became impa-
tIent and showed by their looks that they
I longed for the good man to cease. Still
he prayed, uttering words of no signif-
canoe and almost inarticulate.
1.-The crowd became noisy in their heat
| and impatience and the sheriff. at last
| feeling that duty should take the place
! of reverence was about to take the domi-
/ ME by the shoulder and compel him to
cease, when there was shout heard on
the outer edge of the crowd and the
people made way mechanically for man
who struggled through the surging mass
toward the gibbet, waving a paper over
his head. The man was DR.. Rolf and the
| paper was reprieve signed by the gov
| ernor.
''At the sight of the doctor with a paper
| Dominic Ryerson fell insensible on the
cart and 1t was for a long time matter
of grave doubt whether he would re-
cover from the effects Of the extraordi-
nary physical and nervous strain his
! prayer against time had subjected him to,
| but he came to in good time The re-
! prieve led to further investigation into
the case of Carr and Smith and the result
was a pardon for both of them and the
abolition of the death penalty In Upper
| Canada for any crime except murder.