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About News & planters' gazette. (Washington, Wilkes County [sic], Ga.) 1840-1844 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 24, 1843)
NEWS & PLANTERS’ GAZETTE. i>. . COTTIIG, Editor. No. SEIIIES!]- N£WS & PLANTERS'BAZtIIF. terms: Published weekly at. Three Dollar spat annum ! if paid at the time of subscribing; or Three j Dollars ahd FiftiJ Cents, ii not paid tii it lit expi ration of Six months. No paper to bo discontinued,unless al the | option of the Editor, without the settlement of j all arrearages. D* Litters, on busined§,u/.ii be postpaid,to j insure attention. No communication shall he j publnmd, unless ice are made acquainted with the name of the author. TO ADVERTISERS. Advertisements, not exceeding one square,first liinsertion, Serenly-Jire Cents; and for each sub- Rpquent insertion, Fifty Cents. A reduction will UK made of twenty-five per cent, to those who J advertise by the year. Advertisements not limited when handed in, will be inserted till for bid, and charged accordingly. Sales of Land and Negroes by Executors, Ad ministrators and Guardians, are required by law, to be advertised, in a public Gazette, sixty days previous to the day of sale. The sales of Personal Property must be adver tised in like manner, forty days. Notice to Debtors and Creditors of an Estate must be published forty days. Notice that application will be made to the Court of Ordinary, for leave to sell Land or Ne groes, must be published for four months— notice that application will be made for Letters of Administration, must be published thirty days; and Letters of Dismission, six months. 03“ A meeting of the Democratic Party of Wilkes county will be held at the Court House in Washington, on the first Tuesday in September, for the purpose of nomina ting a Ticket to represent the County in the next General Assembly. 49 td J. A. CLEVELAN I>, Dentist. HAS arrived, and will remain in Town about \ two weeks. Office at the former resi dence of L. S. Brown, Esq. Washington, August 10, 1843. 2t Factory Cloth* tire* THE Subscriber lias just received from Poul lain Factory : 4 bales Cotton Yams, 4 “ very heavy Negro Shirtings, ■ 1 “ fine do. do. 23 pieces Cotton Bagging, Bagging Twine, 4* Which lie offers on very reasonable terms, for Cash. G. P. COZART. August 10,1843. 50 u>m. A prime lot. of MIDDLINGS, for sale by it. 11. VICKERS. August 10, 1843. 50 COTTING &, BUTLER, ATTORN IES, HAVE taken an OFFICE in the rear of Willis & Hester’s Store. January, 1843. 28 STATE OF GEO WILKES COUNTY. - - ■ ■ House of Representatives of the Congress of the United States, to fill the vacancies; caused by the resignation of the Hon. Mark A. Cooper and John B.’ Lamar. We the Justices of the Inferi or Court for the county aforesaid, hereby give notice, that an Election will be held at the Court- House in the Town of Washington and at the several Election Precincts in'sai l (a :ty . State aforesaid, on MONDAY the second day of OCTOBER next, for two Representatives to fill the aforesaid vacancies. LEWIS S. BROWN, j. i. c. HEZEKIAH L. EMBRY, j. i. c. -***. JAMES HARRIS, j. i. c. WILLIAM Q. ANDERSON, j. i.c. A. S. WINGFIELD, j. i. c. August 8,1843. 50 Notice to Debtors and Creditors. ALL persons indebted to the Estate nf Nancy A. Mcßea, late of Wilkes county, deceas ed, are requested to make immediate payment, and those having any demands will please pre sent them in terms of law for payment. LEWIS S. 8R0WN,),,,.., JOHN 11. DYSON, j July “20, 1843. 6t 47 ADMINISTRATOR’S SALE. WILL be sold on the first Tuesday in Sep tember next, before the Court-House door in Washington, Wilkes county, between the le gal hours of sale, the following property, to-wit: One Negro Girl named Efty, about sixteen vears old, sold as the property of Edward Jones, deceased, for the purpose of paying the debts of said deceased, by order of the Honorable the Inferior Court of Wilkes county, while sitting for Ordinary purposes. Terms made known on the day of sale. FELIX G. HENDERSON, Adm’r. , . do bonis non. June 29, 1834. 44 C ADMINISTRATOR’S SALE. WILL be sold on the first Tuesday in Sep tember next, before the Court-House door in Cuthbert. Randolph county, a Lot of Land known by number (131) one hundred and thir ty-one, in the (8) eighth District of said county, as the property of James Sutler, late of said county, deceased. ‘ Sold for the purpose of a di vision, and-by an order of the Honorable the In ferior Court of'Randolph countv JOHN M. CHRISTIAN, Adm’r. Randolph co. June 22, 1843. ‘ 9t 43 IIAVII AND. RISLEY &, Cos. Near tho Mansion House, Globe and United States Hotels, AUGUSTA, GA., BEAI, ERS IN CITOI CII BRU6S AND MEDICINES, Surgical and Dental Instruments, Chemicals, Patent Medicines, ; Perfumery, Brushes, Paints, Oils, Window Glass, Dye Stulls, &c. &c. i iE Being connected with Haviland, Keese & Cos., New-York, and llav- VT it and, Hakkal & Allen, Charles ife"; gl ton, they are constantly receiving * fresh supplies of every article in their line, which they are enabled to sell at the lowest market prices. ID” All goods sold by them, warranted to be of the quality represented, or may be returned. Augusta, August 1843. ’ 51 ADMINISTRATOR’S SALE. I LI, be sold on the first Tuesday in Octo * * her next, before the Court-House doer in Henry county, agreeable to an order of the In ferior Court oi Elbert county, when sitting as a Court of Ordinary, one Tract of Land containing Two Hundred two and a half Acres, being num ber two hundred and fifteen, in the twelfth Dis trict of Henry county. Sold as a part of the Lands belonging to the estate of Thomas llaynes, deceased, late oi Elbert county. Terms wi’l be made.known on the day of sale, this 27fh day of duly, 1843. ’ LET-TY HAYNES, Ex’x. BENJAMIN THORNTON, Jr, AdutY. August 3. it ‘Jin It* ADMINISTRATOR’S SALE. TSriLL be.*fold on the first Tuesday in Oi tq ® * her next, before the i ‘ourt House door in Elbert County, agreeable to an order of the Life- | rior Court of Elbert county, while sit Eng * a > Court of ordinary, ore Tract of l/md cunt;,: I three Hundred and fifty eeven acres more or . I less, lying on Cold Water < ‘reek, adjeiuiiig lands belonging to Barden Rucker, Joel Hutcherson | and others. Sold as a part of the lands belong-j ing to the Estate of James Banks Jr. deceased, j late of Elbert County. Terms will be made ; known on the day of sole, this Ist day of August, 1843. JEREMIAH S. WARREN, Admr. on the Real estate of James Banks Jr. deceased. August 3. ni2m 49 • ADMINISTRATRIX’S SALE. WILL be sold on the first Tuesday in Octo ber next, before the Court-House door in Rabun county, agreeable to an order of the Infe rior Court of Elbert county, while sitting as a Court of Ordinary, one Tract of Land contain ing four hundred and ninety Acres, in the third district, number three of Rabun county.— Sold as a part oi ihe Lands belonging lo the Es tate of George Wyehc, deceased, late of Elbert couut.y. Terms will be made known on the day of sale, this lOrh July, 1843. AGATHA VVYCHE, Adrn’x. with the will annexed, on the Real Estate ot George Wyche, deceased. July 20,1843. m2m 47 ADMINISTRATRIX’S SALE. lyn.L be sold on I lie first Tuesday in-Sep * * tember next, before the Court-1 louse door in Elbert county, agreeable to an order of tjje In ferior Court of Elbert county, when sitting as a Court of Ordinary, the one-fourth part of an un divided Tract of Land, containing four hundred and seventy-eight Acres, in Elbert county, ad joining lands of William Penn, and others, and one Negro woman by the name of Fanny. Sold as the property of the Estate of George Wyche, deceased. Terms will be made known on the day of sale, this 29th of June, 1843. AGATHA WYCHE, Adm’x. on the Perishable Property, and Adm’x. with the will annexed outlie Real Estate of George Wyche, deceased. J uly 6. m'2m . 45 A D MINISTRA TRI X’S SA LE. WILL be sold on the first Tuesday in Sep tember next, before the Court-House door in Appling county, agreeably to an order of the Inferior Court of Elbert county, when sitting j or a Court, of Ordinary, one Tract of Land, con i taming four hundred and ninety Acres, in the | fourth District, number four hundred and eighty i three (483,) of Appling county. Sold as a part ! of the Lands belonging to the Estate of George | Wyche, deceased. Terms will be made known ! on the day of sale, this 29th dav of June, 1843. AGATHA WYCHE, Adm’x. with the will annexed, on the Real Estate of George Wyche, deceased. July 0. m2nj 45 ADMINISTRATOR’S SAl.fi. W'ILL be sold on the first Tuesday in Octo ber next, before the Court-House door in Elbert count}', agreeable to an order of the lin’-- i rior Court of Elbert county, while .-.e iug ■ a Court of Ordinary, one Negro woman by the name of Sally and her child. Sola as a part of the Negroes belonging to the Estate of John Hall, deceased,.for the benefit of the creditors of said deceased. Terms cash. THOMAS J. TURMAN, Adm’r. July 20, 1843. ra2m de bonis non. j GEORGIA, ) To Thomas O’Kelly and his Elbert county. ( wife Elizabeth O’Kelly, Thoni i as J. Sandidge, Richard S. Sandidge, Albert G. Sandidge, JohnQ. A. Sandidge, Louisa A. Pace, i Elizabeth Jane Pace, and Martha Pace, heirs at j law and distributees of the Estate of Claborn Sandidge, deceased, late of Elbert county, you 1 are hereby notified that we intend to apply to the ; Honorable the Inferior Court of Elbert county, ; while sitting as a Court of Ordinary, on the first Monday in November next, for an order and to ; divide the Negroes belonging *o the Estate of Claborn Sandidge, deceased. JAMES M. SANDIDGE, ) ANDREW J. SANDIDGE, { June 23,1843. rn4m 43 lIOUR months after date, application will be made to the Inferior Court of Elbert coun ! ty, while sitting as a Court of Ordinary, for leave ! to sell all the Lands and a part of the Negroes, i belonging to the Estate ot John Nunnelee, de • ceased, late of Elbert county, this 10th Julv, 1843 NICHOLAS BURTON, Adm’r. ! July 00. 1843. m4in 47 PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY MORNING WASHINGTON, (WILKES COUNTY, GA.,) AUGUST 24, 1840. SiD'sccUauc^UsL UNCERTAINTY OF THE LAW. TIIE JUNIOR COUNSEL. A toqst there is in vogue at the Bar-mess, and especially favored by the juniors, “The glorious uncertainty of■ the law.” None who have given their attention to tho pro ceedings of our criminal courts, will deny the claim for a cordial reception which this pitliyscntencepossessesotitlio.se to whom it is addressed. What knowledge of human nature, what nice discrimination of charac ter, does the successful conduct of a cause involve! What a trival incident often de termines tho verdict of a jury ! A fact in judiciously disclosed, a line of cross-exam ination indiscreetly pursued, the calling up of one blundering, or unwilling witness, the dispensing with the testimony of anoth er ; eacli of these, in turn, has led to un merited defeat; while on the other hand, a touching appeal to the feelings of a jury, or a bold and dexterous descent to, and a doption of, their coarser prejudices, an apt repartee, a happy retort, a humerous illus tration, has crowned with undeserved tri umph many a desperate ease. A higher intellectual treat than that afforded by the genius ofan able and practised counsel, can ! scarcely be presented to a thoughtful mind. ; Clear and consecutive in his reasoning, j quick and subtle in the knowledge of what j to present and what to withhold, carrying j his audience along with him while he takes ! a full view of the whole bearings of the i question, and the relation in which it may j stand to general or special laws, lulling all ; suspicion, and inducing, by the common sense and practical experience he displays, a feeiing of thorough security in his aver ments —we forget that he is a paid advo cate, and extend to his integrity that con viction which his facts and his arguments have fenced us to yield to his judgement. Nor, in dwelling on the “glorious uncer tainty,” must it be forgotten, that occasion ally a counsel takes a view ofthe case to tally opposed to that which his brief sug gests to him. lie not unfrequemly dares to think (or himself; if erroneously, fright- ■ ful indeed is the penalty paid by those whom i he represents! Thus did I reason during the trial for murder of Re/.a Gray, a deeply-wronged and desperate woman, who for a short pe riod came under my care. She was defen ded, in the absence from sudden illness of his leader, by a junior counsel, who aimed | at the reputation of “an immensely clever I young man,” with “very original views,” ; and who “had an opinion of his. own” on most points. lie chose to consider her guilty, and as such treated her. She as severated her innocence. Repeatedly, and in solemn terms, didshe protest that she had no knowledge direct or indirect, of the crime laid to her charge ; but her counsel, instead of crediting her, and subjecting to severe cross-examination the deponents a gainst her, raised this point of law, and that point of law, (which the judge successively over-ruled) and showed an evident reluc tance to cross-examine any witness for the prosecution, apparently afraid of eliciting facts unfavorable to the prisoner. His de fence was a series of quibbles, .not a thor ough sifting of facts. The result was—but ! 1 am anticipating. The case was enveloped in mystery.— On a small farm, about ten miles from the county town, resided a wealthy yeoman, of the name of Ampthill. His family consis ted ofhis wife, a dressy, volatile person, many years younger than himself; a son by a former marriage, who assisted him in the farm ; and a housekeeper, or compan ion, Reza Gray, a superior kind of servant, whose conduct became subsequently the subject of such a lengthened and painful inquiry. For the last seven months of his life, the old yeoman’s healtli had gradually declin ed ; and, yielding to the reiterated repre sentations of his wife and son, he reluctant ly made his will. Eleven weeks after wards he expired; under circumstances which became matter ofjudicial investiga tion. Ampthill was particularly found of Suffolk dumplings ; and on the morning of his death, begged that his favorite dish .might form part of tit at day’s dinner. Os those dumplings he ate freely ; his son mod erately ; the wife extremely sparingly; while I Ileza, the serveant girl, they were declined altogether. Soon after the meal, the old yeoman was seized with very alarming symptoms. These were speedi ly shared by his son. The wife was tpken ill ; and the whole house-hold became pan ic-stricken. A medical man was sent for, who at once pronounced the case of Mr. Am’ptliill to be beyond all human aid, and the son to be in imminent danger. “For the wife’s recovery,” he added, “ho thought he could answer; and affirm safely, from present appearances, that the whole fami ly had been poisoned !” The amazement this announcement cre ated in a retired and quiet hamlet, may be imagined. The Surgeon's prognosis proved correct. Obi Ampthill died a few minutes before midnight. A coroner’s inquest was held ; the body was examined ; and the pre sence of arsenic detected in the contents of the stomach. Further investigation was deemed necessary. The remains of the Suffolk dumplings were analyzed, and sim ilar results obtained. It was clear the old farmer had perished by poison ; but, wheth ier accidentally or wilfully administered, was the mooted question. To that a pain ful answer seemed given, when a packet i containing arsenic was found in the maid- ! servant’s room. Sho was immediately ta ken up on suspicion ; a train of circum stances all tending to criminate her were submitted to the consideration of the coro ner’s jury ; arid they, nfter a lengthened and patient investigation, returned a ver dict of “ Wilful Murder. *’ The coroner at once issued his warrant, and she became the following morning the inmute ol a prison. The nerve she possessed was remarka ble. Rapid as had been the transition from a home of quiet and comfort to tho restraint and Wretchedness of a goal, no murmurs, no tears, no womanish regrets escaped her. She affirmed—and from this statement she never varied—that she was guiltless of the crime alleged against her ; and that she could explain, on her trial, easily and sat isfactorily, every circumstanoe on which her accusers relied. Os the favourable is sue of that trial she seemed certain. She was, in fact, perfectly fearless. When 1 ventured to tel 1 her that her life hung on the breath of twelve men ; and that it was wisdom, by prayer and penitence to pre pare for that final reckoning which could not be far otf, and might be very near, she replied quickly, hut calmly. ‘No British jury will hang an innocent woman ! 1 know my countrymen better.’ A warning was then hazarded against presumption ; and tiie weight of the cir cumstantial evidence against her was, in detail, recalled to her memory. With a cheerful smile she replied, “What will circumstantial evidence a- j vail against innocence ? I tell you that 1 am not guilty ! I would not have hurt a hair j of that old man’s head. Murder him !—| No ! Murder, sir, is not committed without some foul and constraining motive.” She became ashy pale as she said this. “But here —what had I to gain by my poor mas ter’s deatii ? His will contained no be quest to me! You cannot frighten me. I have much to repent of—much—but not in this case. Here lam fearless. 1 am in nocent ; and it will appear. Ere long a verdict of‘Not guilty,’ will unlock my prison door.” But in tiiat opinion she stood alone. Her attorney did not place implicit faith in tier declarations ; and her counsel vas con vinced she was a guilty woman. To the former this appeared unusual and suspi cious ; she would give no account of the previous portion of her life; would say noth ing as to her connections ; and call no wit ness as to character. “It is the present you have to deal with,” washer reply when pressed upon this point—“not the past. There is one, and but one question for consideration—am I, or am I not, my master’s murderer !” “Siie’s been in troubled waters before,” was her law-man’s conclusion ; “and if she floats this time—it’s well ?” The trial took place. Serjeant Lens held the brief for the prosecution. Those .who recollect that equable, gentlemanly, and benevolent man, will readily imagine the delicacy and forbearance with which he discharged a disagreeable duty. In terms simple and well-chosen he detailed the case against the prisoner. No tone of exaggeration or of acrimony, no vehement gesture, no affected phraseology, no senti ment uttered for the sake of embellishment or effect, marred his manly and candid ad dress. It was the dispassionate statement of a conscicntous man. As the trial proceeded there was a grad ual disclosure of circumstances which seemed more or less to make against the prisoner. The paper of arsenic, partly used, found in her room, was produced ; and the party who had the misfortune to detect it was placed in the witness-box, and on oath compelled to state when, where, and how it was discovered. This arsenic, it was shown, Ro za had purchased about a month previously, of a chemist in a neighbouring town. The dumplings which had proved so noxious had been made by herself; nor i had she quitted the kitchen during tho en tire morning preceding the fatal meal.— The contents of the barrel, whence she had taken the flour used in making the dump ling, had been examined, and pronounced perfectly good and wholesome ? What, however, seemed most to impress the jury, was the appearance in the witness-box of her late master’s son ; pale, feeble, and e macinted, from the effects of poison ; and the tale which he there, in low and trern- 1 bling accents, told. He deposed to two quarrels, on two dif ferent occasions, between his late fatiier and the prisoner ; and he swore that on each occasion Reza, who was “short tempered, naggy, and very irascible,” said, “Ah! well l a day will come, and soon, old man, when you will repent this !” This witness, whose evidence told so much against his client, Mr. Harkaway, her counsel, declin ed to cross examine ! The medical evidence was then given ; and with it the case for the prosecution closed. The Judge, the late humane and excel lent Baron Bay ley, then called upon the prisoner for her defence. She read it from a written paper. It was not lengthy, hut somewhat probable; & delivered inaelear, sustained, and impressive tone. All the circumstances unfavorable to her she ad mitted ; and one by one explained. The arsenic found in her box she declared was purchased by her late master’s express di rection, and with his own money, and lor the purpose of being mixed with the seed wheat; a practice common in that part of the country ; and which he had adopted for vears. Some of the arsenic had been so 1 used, as her master’s son well knew ; and to prevent mischief she had taken the remain der out of the kitchen drawer, and placed it under lock and key in her own room. “As to the fact,” she proceeded, “of her not partaking at all on that well-remebered day of the yeast dumplings,—on which cir cumstances much remark had been made; thejury, she was sure, would agree that that must go for nothing when they were told that she never ate them ; they disagreed with her.” To make this statement good, she begged the judge would again call and question her late mistress. The charge of having threatened her master she met by observing that he had more than once em ployed towards her very gross and iminor al language; and that, with reference to his age, liis stale of health, and his appa rent nearness to the grave, she hud told him that a day was coming—his last day she meant—when he would repent of having used such expressions. With a solemn, forcible, and earnest as severation of her innocence, her defence closed. To it the judge paid marked at tention ; and on its termination replaced young Ampthill and the widow in the wit ness-box. Their testimony unquestionably corroborated a considerable portion of Ihe defence. The former admitted that it was his father’s practice to mingle arsenic with his Seed Wheat; and that he “recollected Reza on two occasions to have received money from her late master to purchase arsenic for that special purpose.” The widow stated, reluctantly enough, that “on no previous occasion had she ever known the prisoner to oat yeast dumpling:” she “invariably refused.” The threat was then adverted to ; and the step-son, on being hard pressed by the judge, admitted that his father had “very worrying ways;” and was not overnice in his- language— particularly towards women !” The summing up was beautiful. It a bounded with humanity, precision, and caution. Those who were at all conver sant with Judge Buyley’s character, or cog nizant of his aversion to capital punish ments, or aware of the reluctance with which he approached oases where the pen alty was death, the share they occupied of his thoughts, and the painful and absorbing attention with which, when compelled to try capital offences, he perused each depo sition previous to ascending the judgment seat, were prepared for no common display ot humanity and discrimination on this oc casion. Nor were they disappointed. He dwelt on every circumstance favorable to the prisoner. He enlarged on the absence of all motive. He drew the jurv’s atten tion to the fact of the deceased being ac customed to mix arsenic with his seed wheat ; and the probability there was of some of this wheat finding its way into tiie flower barrel, and thus that this fatal oc currence might have been altogether acci dental. The language used by the prison er to her late master did not, in it is opinion, amount to a threat; and tho explanation \ she gave of it was natural and reasonable, j He expressed surprise that no witnesses iiad been called to character ; the more because the jury would see that the prisoner had re ceived an education far, very far superior to that usually bestowed on persons in her rank of life. On the whole, it was clear that this was the interpretation which judge Bayley wished the jury to adopt in evi dence, viz., that Ampthill’s death was acci dental. The conclusion of his address was dignified and solemn. lie reminded the jury of their fearful responsibilities. lie warned them of the effect of their decision upon the unhappy woman now before them. It was not sufficient that the case against the prisoner was one of strong suspicion. Her life was in their hands; and before they took it away they must he satisfied that she was, with malice aforethought, wanton ly and wilfully the murderess of her mas ter, as charged in the indictment. Tiie jury retired to consider their ver dict. Five, ten, twenty minutes elapsed ; the next case was called, and*a fresh jury sworn, and still the fate of Reza Gray hung in the balance. Forty minutes passed ; and the anxiety of a crowded court was be coming momentarily more marked and vis ible, when the jury returned into court. — Every eye was fixed on the foreman ; who, instead of delivering the expected verdict, asked the judge for some explanation on i that part of the evidence which related to j the discovery of arsenic in the prisoner’s box. j “ You must take tiiat fact,” was his lord ship’s reply, “as you find it staled in the evidence. I can give you no explanation. The prisoner accounts for it by saying, that she placed it there by way of precau tion. Her aim was, she asserts, to prevent mischief.” “ But in her box,”’ said the foreman in quiringly, “ arsenic was found ; that box was locked—and she held the key ?” “ That is in evidence ; and also,” added the judge, with emphasis, “tiiat the mo ment she found that suspicion had attached to her, she voluntarily delivered up the key of that box, and desired that it might be searched, and every article she had. The whole of that portion of the evidence must be considered— not a part.” Thejury retired. And such a jury! God help the poor prisoner ! Such juries, and such jurors as I have known leave my own country par ish ! Jurors to whom I would not entrust the fate of a favorite dog. Obstinate, pre judiced, narrow-minded, cruel, deaf to rea son, and inaccessible to remonstrance ; men, as Lord John Russell aptly described M. J. KAPPEL, Printer. ; them, “ whose intellects are as muddy as their roads, ami their wills far more obsti nate than those of the brutes they drive.” Such beings had their representatives in the jury-box that morning. The foreman set with lips firmly screwed together, knitted brows, and a lowering, resolute eye, which said as plainly as lips and eyes could say', “ My mind is made up, this is a hanging matter?” Once this expression varied j when the judge, in his charge, dwelt on tlfe ! points favorable to the prisoner. The fore, man then rolled his eyes in the most extra ordinary manner round the court, and fixed them finally on the ceiling. It was tanta mount to “ Tell that to ihe marines /” Within two of him was an aged, sharp vis aged man, who sat bolt upright, the very prototype of humor! He held his hands ] closely clasped together, and as the evi i donee proceeded, seemed to say “ What ! 1 poison the master !! on his own homestead. ’ with his 1 missis’ by his side, surrounded j by bis grunting pigs, and cackling hens, | encircled by all that makes life dear ; the j kine lowing in their stalls, and the geese j hissing on the green. Tear him from ex istence, and thus! Death by flame would be too mild a punishment!” On the same row was another agricul turist, a broad-faced, wide mouthed, drow sy-looktng being, who, yawned at times fearfully, and seemed much inclined to snore. But he had manners! Whenever the judge spoke, he roused himself. And when Ba •on Bay ley commented, as he could scarcely avoid doing, on the enormity of the crime, our somnolent friend shook his bead slowly but zealously, much in the spirit of the candidate on the Bristol hus tings, who cried, “ 1 say ditto to Mr. Burke; I say ditto to Mr. Burke.” Marked and visible was the effect which the uncertainty of the jury produced upon ! the court. An air of deepened gravity I stole over the features of the judge. It ! seemed as if then, and for the first time, his mind had admitted the conviction that the verdict of the jury would be unfavorable. He stopped the cause lie was trying, and a gain referred to the notes. While so en gaged a bustle was heard without, and the jury in a body returned into court. The solemn question was put in the twanging, nasal accents of a hardened and careless official : “ Gentlemen of the jury, are you agreed upon your verdict ? How say you ? Is the prisoner at the bar guilty, or not guil ty ?” “Guilty.” You say she is guilty; that is your verdict, and so you say all V’ The judge slowly put on the black cap and proceeded to pass sentence. His ad dress was short, but impressive, and full of feeling. Nothing in the shape of reproach was to be found in it. He dwelt upon the awful features of her position ; and entreat ed her wholly to abstract her thoughts from that world which was so soon to close upon lier forever. The wretched woman gazed wildly around her when Baron Bayley be gan his address, as if wholly unprepared for the verdict, and utterly unable to real ize it. She grasped the dock convulsively with her hands ; her face became perfectly livid; and her bosom heaved with a vehe mence and rapidity frightful to witness.— But as his lordship proceeded, the extraor dinary nerve, which he had hitherto dis played, returned; and she listened calmly and submissively to her sentence. At its close she curtsied most respectfully to the court, and uttered in tones low, but distinct ly audible in the stillness that prevailed—■ “ I am innocent my Lord ; and so it toill one day appear Avery few minutes sufficed to dispense the dense assemblage collected within the county ball. Suspense had given place to certainty; andethe curiosity of the idler was’ appeased. In squeezing through the portal, I passed into a group of counsel, who were discussing the evidence. “ Was there ever,” said one, “ a line of defence so promising and so marred ? Why not have called the deceased’s widow?— Where was she on the rnorning'of old Amp thill’s deatli ? Risk there could have been, none in subjecting her to a raking cross examination !” “ The prisoner herself suggested it,” re marked another. “ Through her attorney she handed a slip of paper to her counsel, j Its purport was, ‘Call my late mistress as to my character and conduct while her ser vant. Cross-examine her. She cannot speak ill of me.’ The genius replied, ‘lt is useless : the case is complete!’ ” •‘ Ha ! ha ! ha !—a remark worthy of ‘ an original thinker,’ —truly descriptive of the man who has ‘ an -opinion of his own,’ on ail points . ” “I remember Sir Vicary Gibbs telling me,” resumed the first speaker, “ that he had more than once, ‘ known a prisoner hung by his own Counsel /” I set it down as one of Sir Vicary’s vinegar speeches, and nev er could man say a bitter thing with great er gusto ; but to-day have I seen it exem plified. The party who has actually tied the noose round the neck of that unhappy woman is ” | “ Her own counsel,” said Sergeant Pell, coming up, and finishing the sentence. Theodore Hook was a convivial ray and often entered a drawing-room allc. dinner party not quite in such a state as to be fit company for the ladies, oneot whom, being intimate with him, on oneol these oc casions handed him a tract enttt.ed “ Fhiec Words to a Drunkard.” The wit read out the title very deliberately, and answered “ I suppose they arc —pass the bottle.” [VOLUME XXVIII.
