THE RECONSIDERED VERDICT

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XI, Issue 112, 3 May 1876, Page 4

THE RECONSIDERED VERDICT

A TRUE STORY. (From Macmillan's Magazine ) t True in substance, though I toll it fr"orn a memory not very reteutive of details, and, though true, probably new to many of my readers, is the Btory of the " Reconsidered Verdict." Some sixty autumns ago, the caße was tried at Chester before a judge of great ability and eminence, and a jury •whose intelligence — but you shall bear. In the .preceding Spring — April, I think was the month — there had been a bad dase of burglary at a farmhouse in' Cheshire. Three men had tied down and gagged the farmer and his two maid-servants, and had rifled the house at their leisure. The police were told of the matter, and pretty accurate descriptions were given of thß men. n There were two other clnes. In the struggle one of the men had lost a button from his coat, which button he had left behind. Also, the same man had had his face so severely scratched hy one of the maids, that the girl Said "she was sure she had left her mark on him." -^Weeks passed without any arrest being made, and people began to forget the. burglary, until one day a man was taken up in Liverpool on suspicion of being .concerned in quite a difierent matter.' He had with him a bundle containing some of the plunder of the farm-house. More of the plunder was found at his lodgings. His face bore traces of recent scratching; and, to clinch the matter, his coat wanted a button, and the buttons on it corresponded exactly with tbat picked up at tfie soene of the burglary. His defence was' very flimsy — " He knew nothing about the burglary, but had bought tbe coat and things cheap of a man in the Btreet." " Did he know the man ? " "No, never saw him before nor since." " How about the scratches ? " " Well, He' was' a sailor, and too much accustomed to big hurts to take notice of scratches." Of course he was committed for trial, and the trial, as I have said, came on at Chester. It excited a good deal of interest, aod the court was crowded, an invalid staying at the principal inn so far shaking off a touch of tropical fever as to' send in ! his card to the judge and to ask for a place behind the bar ; and ye.t after aH there was very little to be sjjjd. , The circumstantial testimony above given was overwhelming, and in addition that, farmer and servants with, one accord swore- to the identity of the prisoner with tbe burglar. There was no defence; the jury found a verdict ofiGuilty without leaving the box; and as a burglary Was a hanging matter in those dayß, it merely remained to pass sentence of death. Only a formula between him and judgment : "'Prisoner at the bar, you have heard the verdict of the jury. Have you anything to say why sentence of death should not be passed upon you ? " Then the prisoner spoke for the first time. Just brushing his eyes with the cuff of his coat^ he began, " Well, cap'n, it's har,d to be hung for noth'u, but I ca^ see tliis is a yard-arm business. I kuow no more o' this 'ere burglary than a baby; but these witnesses ha'n't tol'd A 'tib lies, I s'pose. And what can I Bay agen 'em ? When this came off — April, didn't they say — I was fighting the- slavers on the Gold Coast. But you've got no call to believe that, and so there's an end to it." "There was something in the man's manner that impressed the judge ; so he".- said not unkindly, "But surely, ' prisoner, if your- story is tru«, you must have friends and comrades with whorja you could have communicated. If you thought they could do you good, you would have done so. It is too late now." " Yon're'right, cap'n ; it's too late. But it's all very well to say 'let 'em know'iwhen a man is locked up in gaol, and can't write hor read, and don't -know where they ore. They may be ih America, they may be at the Ca'pe,!ahd how could I ever let 'em know ; least-ways, not in time ? No, it's no use, and you'd better order me to be run up to the yard-arm at ouce." urged the judge, *' the court has i 'b6 : wish to hang a man who may bei; innocent. Is tbere no one who could speak for you 1" The man looked in a hopeless sort of way round the court. "No," he began ; but just then his eye lighted on the stranger from the inn. " Yes," he added, pointing to him, " there is a gentleman who might speak for me if he would." Thb judge turned round. "Do you know the prisoner ?'' he asked. " No, my lord," was the reply ; " I never saw him before in my life," " Well, Captain Sharp," said the prisoner, "if you put the rope round my neck. l give in. Go ou, my lord." v Stay," said the judgo ; "is your name Captain Sharp ?" " Yes, my lord ;" and " Capt. Sharp, R,N," was on the card he had sent iv. *' Well, the prisouer seems to recognise you, so I wili ask you to step into the witness-box aud be sworn that he may ask you questions " The captaiu went into the box, and tbe following dialogue ensued : — "Are you 'Captain Sharp, of his Majesty's ship Vulture ?'' " Yes." " Were you in command of her on the slave coast this spring ?" " I was." "Aud wasn't I one of your crew ?" " Most certainly not." ".But, capo, don't you remember the big slaver tbat gave you all tbe trouble) that you had to board ?"

I " Yes." " And you yourself led the boarders?" "Ob, yes ; but all that is nothing — you may easily liave heard or read nil about that." " Well, but cap'n, onco more; dou't • you remember the big nigger that was ; almost cutting you dowo ? Don't you remember tho man who stood between you and Death, and what he got for it? Don't you remember thai? — and brushing back his hair, the prisoner showed a great scar down one side of his head." The whole court looked on breathless, as the captain stared at the scar and the man, till his eyes seemed starting from bis head. At length as if io a dream, the captain muttered to himself, " Good God is it possible ?" Then slowly and deliberately, he got out of the witness-box, and clambered out into tbe dock, where he seized the prisoner's hand, and turning to the judge said : "My lord, this was the best man iD my crew, and he saved my life. Providence has cent me here to save his. He is so changed by illness and Imprisonment that I could not recognise him. But there is no mistake now, and if you hang the old bo's ah of the Vulture, you must hang his captain with hira." There followed a scene "rarely witnessed iv a court of justice Amid cheers and aobs that no one cared to suppress, the judge briefly directed the jury to reconsider their verdict, which they at once .did finding a unanimous "not guilty/ The prisoner was discharged and left the dock arm-in-arm with the captain. They were hurried iuto a chaise, and drawn to the inn in a triumphal procession, and after a sumptuous lunch they poßted off together to London. As they cleared the ancient town Captain bharp might have been heard addressing his compunion somewhat as follows : — " Well, old pal, we pulled through that business, . pretty well, I think. But it was a near go. That was a denied good notion of Wily . Bob's to wait for the verdict before moving. We could never have touched that evidence. " Yes," replied the innocpnt and long-suffering boatswain of the Vulture; " aud if you hud cottoned to me a minute too soon, the old beak would have bsen fly to the trick." Lord, I was fit to burst when tho old boy began to cry." From which brief dialogue we gather that " Captain Sharp " might have known more of the burglary thau of the Vulture, Nothing more was ever heard of either of them. Such is the story of " the reconsidered verdict."

An epigrammatic Frenchman has emphasised the contrasts and contrarieties between the civilisation of the Mongol and that of the European as follows: — "In China tbe magnetic needle pbints to the south; the cardinal points are live in number; the left hand is the place of honor; politeness re- . quires you to keep your hat. on in presence of a superior, or in thnt of a person you wish to honor; a book is read from right to left; fruit is eaten at the beginning of a dinner, and soup at its close; at sohool childreu learn their lessons aloud, and repeat them altogether, their silence is punished aa a sign of idleness; anc), finally, a title of nobility conferred on a' man for some signal service rendered to the State does not descend to his posterity, but goes backwards and ennobles his ances- • tors." This odd Sinensian Lund' formerly ocoupied no very prominent place in Western thought, and doubtless, like other regions difficult of access, was set down by travellers like . Sir John Mandeville as being only " fulle of devylles." Risen from the Ranks. — Lieuf.Colonel. lei. Wfldeson, V.O, who has succeeded lo the Lieut.-Coloncy of the . 75th Regiment, makes ihe third officer commanding a regiment who has obtained his commission from the ranks. The other two cases are those of Lieut.Colouel J. M'lCay, of the 2ud Battalion 12th Regiment, and Lient.'-Colonel W. M'Bean, V.C.. of the 93rd Highlanders. Colonel Wadeson obtained his ensi«ncy in the 75th, from sergeantmajor, June 2,. 1857 ; tecame lieutenant Sept, 19, 1857; captain, Dec. 9, 1864 ; and major, July 17, 1872. He served with the reyioient in the. lndian campaign of 1857 from tho outbreak on May 12, iucludiug the battles of Budlukeßserai, the siege operations before Delhi, and repulse of sorties on June 12 and 15, aud of night attacks on lhe camp ou Juna 19 and 23,

and July 14 and 18; the storming; (severely wounded) the capture ofj Delhi (medal with, clasp, and Victoria ; Cross). Ho obtained the Victoria Cross ' when ao ensigu for his " conspicuous ; bravery at 'Delhi .on' July 18, 1857, : when the 7oih . was engaged in thej Sulijee Muudee, in having save I the' life of Private Farrell when attacked by a eowar of the enemy's cavalry, and killing the sowar. Also, ou the same day, for resouing Private Barry when, wounded and helpless, he was attacked hy a cavalry sowar, whom Ensign Wadeson killed. — Army and Navy Gazette.