Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-02-16
=I w. B. MOSES & SONS, F STREET, CORNER 11TH

ing-he read the indictment in T. loud
voice. so that all might hear.
Whereas Robert D'Esclade, fifth Duke
of Wessex. did. on the night OF the 18th
OF October of this year OF our Lord one
thousand five hundred and f1fty-three. un-
la wfuly kill Don Miguel. Marquis de
Suarez. grandee of Spain"
The voice OF the clerk went dronng on
the people. amazed. Mortified. tried not to
lose one single word Of this strange docu-
ment which SO loudly proclaimed the fact
that a dastardly crime unparalleled In Its
cowa rdice and ferocity had been commit.
ted by one who until now had stood above
all Englishmen as a mode. OF honor, 10y
atty and truth.
With every fresh charge skilfully wove n
together and intervie wed with sundry
dispositions obtained from my lord car
dinal and his retinue, the crowd OF spec
tators realized more and more that they
were face to face with a weird and mys-
terious tragedy. not pageant, but an
appalling drama. the prologue or which
was being enacted before them now.
1t seemed-as the clerk pursued his
reading-that he was slowly unfolding.
by mesh a hideous web. i'm the midst OF
which the presence of death-dealing and
loathsome spider could as yet only De
dimly guessed
close clinging web from which nc
man. be he the premier peer of England
or the humblest commoner. could ever
hope TO escape.
The web Of rough and misguided jus
tice of a Law of the TALON. retributive and
blind distributing with an impartial hand
condemnations and punlshments to guilty
and innocent alike. to the martyr ana 10
the felon. to the coward and the deceived
This was not a decadent. puny century.
peopled with neurotics and feeble minded
weddings; It was a century of men! men
who were giants alike in their virtues and
their passions. their Vices and their atrocl-
ties, narrow in their views. but stanch
in their beliefs savage in their creeds and
preiudces. but MEN for all that
/ The more heinous the offense the less
chance shall the prisoner have OF JUSTIFY
ing his conduct. That was the dictate OF
the law.
For truly" said Sir Robert Catline,
,or6 chief Justice OF England. in the
course of the trial Of Sir Nicholas Throck-
morton for high treason. Justice must
not be confused by sundry arguments In
the prisoners cause. which might lead to
hts acquittal and the non-punishment OF
so grave fault
witnesses were seldom-if ever-exam-
ined in the presence OF the accused.
Deposit;ons were extOrted-often by tor
ture. always by threats-from persons
who happened to be friends or associates
of the prisoner.
the citizen look to himself ere he fell into
the clutches OF his country's justice: once
there he had little or no chance OF prov
ing his Innocence.
Lest the guilty escape.
Always that awful possibility. rough
Justice demanded punishment: always
punishment.-lest the guilty escape.
And the people they listened knew
that they had come to see mans last
day upon earth.
the end of all things! Pomp and cere-
mony. gorgeous robes and costly appareis!
these to speed thee on thy way, but as in
eyitably as the dull winters night must
follow this gray November morning. SO
will pomp and circumstance fade away
into the past and leave thee with but one
red-clad figure by thy side-that Of the
headsman with the ak
Justice today could make short work OF
her duties.
had confessed to his crime. why should
Justice trouble herself to prove that which
was already admitted? she had merely to
think ont tire form and severity OF the
punishment for this man OF high degree
who had sunk and stopped SO low:
been taken for this was an unusual event.
n specially atrocious crime! the murder OF
a foreign envoy at the court OF the Queen
of England and at the hand or the pre-
mier peer OF .dle realm.
The Cardinal de Moreno. envoy-in-chief
OF his majesty the King OF Spain. had
given the matter a political significance.
in the name Of his royal master he had
demanded Judgment on that most mon
strous felony. and the exercise OF the full
rigor OF the law. The Duke OF Wessex
had been a rival sutton for the hand OF
the Queen Of England. and he had-pre
sumably-wi llfully removed a successful.
diplomatist who threatened to thwart his
projects.
And thus wessex was arraigned for
trsa son as we'll as for murder and the in
dictment set forth the dispositions OF my
lord cardinal and those of his servant
Pasquale. all Of which his grace had de-
clIned to peruse. He knew that these