The semi-weekly messenger., 1908-01-24
PARDON FOR THE eOnVcT
incidents in Life OF the Late JUDGE
Fuller
His Trfurnphs at the Rar-Thc Fist
II ght I'm Camp-The Tragedy OF
thc Broken Br dgc


On the bench of the United States
Court OF Claims, was leading lawyer
OF the Fayetteville bar before and af-
ten the civil war During the war he
vas first a private in the LIST tBethel
North Carolina regiment at Yorktown
lery officer from which position he
was elected TO the Confederate cong
ress
Mr.. Fuller was a man of very at
tractive personality, impulsivc and
warm-hearted, brilliant in conyersa-
ton, and was one Of the most powerful
advocates before jury in North Car
oIina He seemed to have an intui-
tive perception of the strong points Of
q case, with a nervous, dramatic way
of expressing them. which appealed TO
the listener with extraordinary force.
He was once associated with the
solicitor in the prosecution Of case
of homicide, the defendant being a man
ing in the eastern part Of Fayetteville,
then known as Campbellton. His
splendid effort was doubtless largely
instrumental in carrying conviction to
the minds of the jury, and the accus-
ed was sentenced to the penitentiary
for a term of years.
Time passed on; and one evening
about dark, the lawyer was seated in
his Office, which was very singularly
situated, being built high up over
street, access to it being long plank
platform and railing. Light footsteps
were heard On the plank causeway and
a knock ON the door which on being
opened admitted poorly dressed, hag-
gard woman of middle age. In broken
speech and with many tears she told
that she was the wife of the man who
had been condemned to prison, Of his
failing health and of his certain speedy
death under the existing punishment
She knew that the lawyer had prose
cuted her husband, but people told her
That he was a man Of generous heart
as we'll as great influence, and she i'm
plOred his help in securing the pardon
OF the unhappy convict.
Mr.. Fuller was deeply moved; he
cOmfOrted the poor woman as best he
could, and dismissed her with the a.
surance that her appeal should not go
disregarded-and then he sat long into
the night, thinking. The next day he
I,;,- 70 Dol I, L,D
returned after an absence of three or
four days.
Several weeks elapsed. Again night
was drawing on and again the ,awyer
was seated in his Office, perched above
the dashing torrent of the noisy creek
Once more there uTre soft footsteps
outside, and timid knock on the door
But this time it opened for the convict
himself, who, with his face convulsed
with deep feeling, his whole form trem-
bling, poured out his thanks for the
pardon which released him-pardon,
happiness, even if it were TO come
home to die; happiness to be under
his own poor roof with his wife and
great advocate, who has himself pass
ed on to last tribunal, declare that
i'm those few moments he tasted one
Of the purest joys of ali his life.
On one occasion, few months af-
ter the beginning of the war, Mr. Full
Ter was walking along a Fayetteville
street, when there came meeting him
six or eight men, armed and equipped
with knapsacks and blankets, on their
way to join command in the army
AS the squad got opposite him one of
the men stepped out of ranks, and
said: I've been rottipg for months IN
Jail. sent there by your great speech
against me III the court house. They
have turned me loose if | will enlist
in the service. and | hope in the first
fight that cannon ball will take off
my damned head!'
The man did die Of wounds receiv-
I'D on the battlefield. THAT decides
it." said the lawyer; Il will never
again prosecute a man charged with
a capital felony" And so far as
know, he never did.
One of the greatest forensic tri-
umphs of Judge Fuller's brilliant pro-
iessional career was his defense Of the
accused in the famous Tolar trial be-
fore military commission, in Raj
eigh in 1867, under Candy admins
tration. His mastery efforts were not
crowned with success, for conviction,
not justice, was the foregone conclu-
sion before that court; but his superb
and his able conduct of the
case put the capstone on his reputa-
ton as lawyer.
Judge Fuller was gifted with ali ex-
cUisitt, sense of hunlor. He told a
story we'll, and here is one that he
told on himself. Would We call it an
alIegorica1 story? The reader can