The Burnt Prairie [pp. 355-358]

185().] The Bui~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~it Prairie. 357'~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
them. But our hero saw the matter in a different light. " Out of this nettle, danger (said he
to himself-or might have said)-we pluck this
flower, safety." He took occasion to recommend them to Mr. Alibi-a very talented young
man-then in the Court house-newly come to
the circuit-not much engaged in business-and
doubtless very willing to embrace any opportunity of "coming out." "Would he be good
enough to speak to the gentleman for them?"
" Oh! certainly"-and he did speak to the gentleman a few words, which brought him out very
quickly to his expectant clients. He listened to
their story as if it were all quite new to himbelieved their assertions of innocence-felt great
sympathy and would be proud to defend them,
for he was convinced they were the victims of
deceptive circumstances. As to the matter of
fees, he begged them to be perfectly easy: nay,
he was better pleased that they had no money,
as it enabled him to feel and to prove that his
zeal in their behalf was not mercenary. His'disinterested services were of course joyfully accepted: and after a long consultation, the advocate and his clients parted from each other, with
hearts a good deal lighter than they had been
since the evening before.
It may be readily imagined that the two friends
did not omit to hold a private talk upon the subject that night; and if the representative of the
State did disclose to his adversary, the nature
and strength of the evidence he was to meet,
the revelation was certainly, under all the circumstances, not the heaviest sin he had to repent of. The next morning the trial came off.
The prosecuting attorney was eloquent in his
professions of impartiality in the discharge of
his duty. He felt himself to be a law officer of
the people-bound, in the exercise of his functions, not simply to press for the conviction of
every man who was arraigned, but to insist only
in such cases as were made out for the Commonwealth, by conclusive evidence. He should
endeavor to try that case, as if he were himself
ajuror. If sustained by the proof, he should
call upon those whom he addressed, to vindicate
the outraged laws of the land; if the proof should
fall short of what he had been led to expect, he
should leave the weight of the testimony, as
fairly as he could place it before them, to their
deliberate judgment. The counsel for the defence, too, was great upon his side. He was
confident in the innocence of his clients. He
knew that they were poor, friendless, and un known to the jury who held the balance of their
fate. He was aware of the prejudice excited
against them. He had heard that a cloud of
witnesses would be produced. But. strong in
consious rectitude-firm in their reliance upon
the wisdom,justice, and independence of the intelligent men who sat before him-they had put
themselves upon their country, without fear of
the issue. After this introduction, the witnesses
were called. The inflammation on their part
had by no means subsided: and an adroit crossexamination elicited enough of feeling, and a
sufficiency of contradictions in small matters, to
found a plausible argument of inconsistency, and
justify some smart hits at what are technically
called "swift witnesses." It was proved, moreover, that a good many persons had been about
the prairie in the course of the day: and there
was a considerable discrepancy, as to the exact
place where the fire commenced. This was
partly owing to the fact that it began on both
sides of the road at once, and partly from the
different points of view in which it was first seen.
At length, the examination was ended, and the
argument commenced. The prosecutor, following up his own lead, displayed a candor in dealing with the testimony, not always conspicuous
in those who fill similar stations: and while he
summed up with the declaration, that the evidence was sufficient to maintain the charge, he
forbore to urge itwith thatvehemence and zeal,
which the witnesses at least expected of him.
But the prisoner's counsel manifested no lack of
these qualities. He read and narrated case after
case of individuals convicted upon circumstantial evidence, and afterwards proved to be innocent, until the jurors' hair stood on end at the
number and enormity of these judicial murders.
It is said that five men made up their minds on
that day, never to convict for felony on circumstantial proof, and two more swore eternal hostility to the whole system of capital punishment.
But my readers, if they ever enjoyed the privilege of witnessing such trials, (and who has
not?) can easily furnish out some idea of the
defence, which he labored so diligently. He
wound up with a noble ribute to the lofty and
conscientious character of the prosecutor-the
frankness, with which he had admitted the circumstances in the prisoners' favor-and then appealing to that " reasonable doubt," which has
so often helped a desperafe case in its sorestextremity, defied (as he might safely do) the advocate of the State to declare that he believed the
guilt of the accused to be established beyond the
reach of its saving influence.
The prosecutor made the best reply he could
contrive under such embarrassments, neither
party asked any instructions from the Court, and
the jury were sent out. After a suspense of some
fifteen minutes, not less terrible to the counsel
than to the prisoners themselves, a verdict of
not guilty" was returned by the jury, and the
accused were set at liberty. Of-course, they
. 1&50.il
The -Burnt Prairt'e.
357