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and it is expected that this asseveration, which is no more than his
plea of not guilty, is to outweigh the proof!
Gentlemen, he was in that condition when he could have made an
inquiry, at any time. Can you conceive of any innocent man, going
along through twenty-four hours, nearly-for it was followed upduring
that day-and being perfectly mute, making no inquiry? The only
thing was, to ascertain from Starkweather what he could not tell him
with propriety. And from that hour in which the remains were
found, not a word escaped him, in regard to the matter. He continued
there till the Police Court, on Monday. He says, 1° I will go to prison ;
I will let my family suffer the torture of suspense; I will let my name
be blighted by the prejudgment of the world; I will not even ask them
what their evidence is." Then he returns to that prison, and there he
writes the letter containing this sentence
'° Tell mamma not to open the little bundle I gave her the other day,
but to keep it just as she received it."
Gentlemen, you have that letter with you. Here is a man of edu-
cation - here is a man who has lived all his days under the influences
of cultivated, social, and domestic associations-here is a man, a
Professor in a Christian University, whose motto is, 1' Christ and the
Church ! " He is in the cell of a prison, as he was described by his
Counsel, and he sits down under this terrible accusation-an accusa-
tion that he has been guilty of a crime at which the universal heart of
the world revolts ! And, Gentlemen, he is the victim of a conspiracy,
which has fabricated that accusation against him. He sits down to
write to his daughter, to ask his wife to conceal that, which, when this
note was read, and the officers went there, turned out to be the two
notes, and that statement of the indebtedness of himself to Dr. Park-
man!
Judge Merrick. There is no testimony.
Mr. Clifford. Mr. Clapp says that he went to Mrs. Webster,
after he got this letter, and these were produced.
Mr. Sohier. You are mistaken.
Mr. Clifford. Mr. Clapp so states it ; I do not think I can be mis-
taken. T. a will have it right.
lUr. Clifford (reads Mr. Clapp's testzmony.) 1° I had been directed,
particularly, to search for a certain package of papers ; and asked Mrs.
Webster it' she had the package mentioned by Dr. Webster. San-
derson brought other papers, and finding them not named in his
search-warrant, sent them back to the trunk. I requested her to give
them to me -I would give her a receipt; and she did so."
And you will find it underscored, '° not to open that bundle." He
is writing a letter, for the first time, to his daughter; and I ask you
whether he indicates in that such a character as his Counsel would
claim for him ? What is that letter ? Not a word in it, that he him-
self was assured of his innocence, and telling her to keep up her heart,
for it would all be made right! Not a syllable which could strengthen
and assure them - not a word of reliance upon God, in that dark hour
- but a paltry enumeration of his physical wants, and so on through -
a little pepper! and a little tea! Gentlemen, I forbear. I submit to
you, that is not a letter from an innoce:it father, the victim of a
foul conspiracy, immediately after his imprisonment, to a distressed
and anxious child. I will not comment upon it. You will consider
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