The Weekly Tallahasseean., 1901-02-14
IN szARs SHALL DAY.
ontinued from, last l.sllh).

eoeEch lhe was called upon TO pre-
eaOe q fhe trial of Aaron Burr, for
sreasos To bis country. What story
Can OF more fascinating than the
saeOry Bun's life? Famed as an
"OE1tar statesman and lawyer, he
sPlseaf fd,in court in answerlto a cap.
SxtM cSme, the acknowledged slayer
-Of hasiltoE, and saw upon tie bench
SRFesSd ig the dearest friend of the
dead ateSnan. What wonder that
with II the dramatic power Of
whIctEEe was capable he should ex-
~ciaim shrinking he was sure to lie
sprtjusiced in his trial from such
grave E"Gmcidence: "Woulh to God
Tdsat Edid stand on the same ground
with Aany other man." Yet that
calm md impartial mind, which We
today pay homage to, stopped not
an hlYrulings to the level of per-
ssOnalPseiudice, dislike or f ear. The
county, at that time demanded the
"'deaiA of Burr. The jury were
zselecRd frem among rrejudiced
~SHrsendS with greatest difficulty, and it
"~as ecaIst of Marthall's definition
LOT treason that the slay er Of his dear,
est fsend went out from that court
hTCouGa free man. s'Treason against
Hthe Dnited States" said Marshall.
~~'shak consist only in levying war
sagailkt them or in adheripg to their
~enenFes, giving them aid and COM
fort, &nd can it be that the landing
Af a few men, however desperate
aEd however intent to overthrow
the government of a State, was a
Aevyslg of wa? 1t might be a con-
-FpIa y, but it was not treason within
tile OnstiLutiOn." And Burr as OF
xnecefsity acquitted because of this
def itiolr, and the attorney for th'
Gov krnment said: s'Marshhll stepped
in bStween B' rr and DEATH" What,
n So fne that must have been! I'm
=agiEe the crowded court room IN
Virginia, filled with excited spccta-
1tOrsS clamoring for Ihei death of
BGr Finally the court officers be-
gin 10 arrive; the Clerk: perhaps Is
frstSn his place; thCn the Attorney
Gertra for the Government, and
there is a stretching of Decks to get
n glimpse Ct the man who will pro
7nO1bce the accusation against a
zfraisor; then there is a stir, and into
that crowded court room comes The
.AnaIS Shal, leading like a felon that
mage mind, that man who had
gTaEed flights of oratOry with beau
r1ieSx yet unreached, who had been
Vi9e- President of the United States,
and once lacked but one vote of be-
angS President instead of ThOma>
Jefferson. The door opens. and
-shiling through the throng, looking
zneisher to the right or left,
walked the subject of this
~eulagy, the jurist Marshall. He
-takss his place upon the bench, and
4Ori a long moment jurlst and
PrYOner surveyed each o,her-nevel
IN Le history of mankind did two
zmdEe wonderful eyes look into one
zanS Sther than then. Thus the trial
began. Before the learned Justice
esto2d an Old-tlme rival in politics,
-znoE the acknowledged slayer of his
~deSrest friend, and on uial for a
<criine even more heinous than that
in he eyes of the juriSt before him,
the crime of treason against his ma
7tiT land; yet through all that fierce
.trHl the scales of justice were held
with even hand, and 10 word against
7dhs slayer of his friend, passed the
Hi OF the jurist. 1t was the picture
-offa good judge, profoundly learn' d
1infall the law, not merely upright
zaIA well intended, but the man who
-WS not respect persons in Judgment;
abrH looks only for justice, though the
lightning should light upon his brow,
while he holds the balance even,
wfile he protects in liz cOnstitu-
=aifnal ri ehs the most OdiOus indi-
vSlual then in this country, and 10y
hi action dignifying and ennobling
zfhe judiciary, and sustaining and