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Article CRIME, AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE IN ITHACA* ← Page 5 of 7 →
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Crime, And Criminal Justice In Ithaca*
and of the circumstantial evidence against him . But , upon more full investigation , a change took place ; and , although opinions were still divided , the conviction of the majority of impartial persons of the upper class , including most of the English , seemed now to be , that a foul conspiracy existed to involve tlie unfortunate man and his family in the cruellest spec . es of destruction . It was conjectured , to explain the apparent singularity in the selection of the two principal victims
, that the plot had been to kill the wife and child before the father ' s eyes , anil then to fasten the guilt of the action upon himself , ancl bring him to the scaffold . This , however , seemed a refinement of iniquity scarcely conceivable ; ancl hence others preferred the supposition , that the plan had been to murder the whole family ; but that its authors had heen prevented , by some sudden alarm , from the complete execution of their purpose . The perjury of the servant-girlof the tradesmanor of
, , other witnesses'for the prosecution , did not , in itself , seem to be considered as necessarily implying the existence of a conspiracy ; it being , as I was informed , not altogether inconsistent with the principles of modern Greek morality , where a firm conviction prevailed of the guilt of an individual , and an excessive anxiety for his conviction , to promote tbe desired object , even by false testimony ! This , at least , was the mode in which the more intelligent believers in the guilt of Soleure
proposed to set aside the argument which the palpable falsehood of a great part of the evidence supplied of his innocence . - •¦ ' The crown advocate ' s own fate furnished a . striking episode inthis tragical history . In the full ardour of his zeal against the prisoner "
and while basking in the sunshine of popular favour , he suddenly became deranged , and was sent off and placed in confinement at Corfu . The circumstance was naturally turned to account by the friends of Soleure , as a Divine judgment against his persecutor ; and there was reason to believe it had not been without its effect on the minds of tlie superstitious populace . Owing to this and other incidental causes of delay , upwards of a year had elapsed before the opening of the trial ,
and the process was now at one of its most interesting stages . The prisoner , if deficient in physical courage , displayed no small degree of that mental firmness which might be the result either of philosophy or of despair . He was entitled by law to claim his release , if not brought to the bar within the year . But he disdained to avail himself of this privilege , asserting that , if he were to live , he would not live under tlie odium of so horrible a crime ; and if he were to die , it mattered but
little , as he had lost all that made life dear to him . Tlie newlyappointed advocate—himself a native of the place , a personal friend of Soleure , a Mason , and engaged as witness for the defence—was incapacitated by these causes from performing his functions , whicli were transferred to the individual holding the same office in the neighbouring island of Cefalonia . This person , a man of honour , as well as ol ability , made no secret of his conviction of the innocence of the
accused ; and it was even said , that so strong was his sense of the futility of the charges against him , that it was not his intention to reply to the speech of the counsel for the defence . .-.. i ¦ . ¦ ..-It rained hard the whole morning—I therefore the more readil y acquiesced in Captain IV ' s proposal to accompany him to the court , where the proceedings promised to be interesting . - . In"approaching the Itliaean agora , the mind instinctively reverted to '' tlie description of the second book of the Odyssey ; and thc contrast betwOen
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Crime, And Criminal Justice In Ithaca*
and of the circumstantial evidence against him . But , upon more full investigation , a change took place ; and , although opinions were still divided , the conviction of the majority of impartial persons of the upper class , including most of the English , seemed now to be , that a foul conspiracy existed to involve tlie unfortunate man and his family in the cruellest spec . es of destruction . It was conjectured , to explain the apparent singularity in the selection of the two principal victims
, that the plot had been to kill the wife and child before the father ' s eyes , anil then to fasten the guilt of the action upon himself , ancl bring him to the scaffold . This , however , seemed a refinement of iniquity scarcely conceivable ; ancl hence others preferred the supposition , that the plan had been to murder the whole family ; but that its authors had heen prevented , by some sudden alarm , from the complete execution of their purpose . The perjury of the servant-girlof the tradesmanor of
, , other witnesses'for the prosecution , did not , in itself , seem to be considered as necessarily implying the existence of a conspiracy ; it being , as I was informed , not altogether inconsistent with the principles of modern Greek morality , where a firm conviction prevailed of the guilt of an individual , and an excessive anxiety for his conviction , to promote tbe desired object , even by false testimony ! This , at least , was the mode in which the more intelligent believers in the guilt of Soleure
proposed to set aside the argument which the palpable falsehood of a great part of the evidence supplied of his innocence . - •¦ ' The crown advocate ' s own fate furnished a . striking episode inthis tragical history . In the full ardour of his zeal against the prisoner "
and while basking in the sunshine of popular favour , he suddenly became deranged , and was sent off and placed in confinement at Corfu . The circumstance was naturally turned to account by the friends of Soleure , as a Divine judgment against his persecutor ; and there was reason to believe it had not been without its effect on the minds of tlie superstitious populace . Owing to this and other incidental causes of delay , upwards of a year had elapsed before the opening of the trial ,
and the process was now at one of its most interesting stages . The prisoner , if deficient in physical courage , displayed no small degree of that mental firmness which might be the result either of philosophy or of despair . He was entitled by law to claim his release , if not brought to the bar within the year . But he disdained to avail himself of this privilege , asserting that , if he were to live , he would not live under tlie odium of so horrible a crime ; and if he were to die , it mattered but
little , as he had lost all that made life dear to him . Tlie newlyappointed advocate—himself a native of the place , a personal friend of Soleure , a Mason , and engaged as witness for the defence—was incapacitated by these causes from performing his functions , whicli were transferred to the individual holding the same office in the neighbouring island of Cefalonia . This person , a man of honour , as well as ol ability , made no secret of his conviction of the innocence of the
accused ; and it was even said , that so strong was his sense of the futility of the charges against him , that it was not his intention to reply to the speech of the counsel for the defence . .-.. i ¦ . ¦ ..-It rained hard the whole morning—I therefore the more readil y acquiesced in Captain IV ' s proposal to accompany him to the court , where the proceedings promised to be interesting . - . In"approaching the Itliaean agora , the mind instinctively reverted to '' tlie description of the second book of the Odyssey ; and thc contrast betwOen