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ministration of justice, of having violated this law. It is one of the
most. solemn acts of judicial power which an earthly tribunal can be
called upon to exercise. It is a high and exemplary manifestation of
the sovereign authority of the law, as well in its stern and inflexible
severity, as in its protecting and paternal benignity. It punishes the
guilty with severity, in order that the right to the enjovmentof'life-
the most precious of all rights-may be snore effectually secured.
By the record before us, it appears that you have been indicted, by
the Grand Jury of this county, for the crime of murder ; alleging that
on the 23d November last, you made an assault on the person of Dr.
George Parkman, and, by acts of violence, deprived him of life, with
malice aforethought. This is alleged to have been done within the
apartments of a public institution in this city, the Medical College, of
which you were a Professor and instructor, upon the person of a man
of mature age, well known, and of extensive connections in this com-
munity, and a benefactor of that institution. The charge of an offence
so aggravated, under such circumstances, in the midst of a peaceful
community, created an instantaneous outburst of surprise, alarm and
terror, and was followed by a universal and intense anxiety to learn,
by the results of a judicial proceeding, whether this charge was true.
The day of trial came ; a Court was organized to conduct it; a Jury
alulost of your own choosing was selected in the manner best calcu-
lated to insure intelligence and impartiality ; Counsel were appointed
to assist you in conducting your defence, who have done all that
learning, eloquence and skill could accomplish, in presenting your
defence in its most favorable aspects; a very large number of witnesses
were carefully examined; and, after a laborious trial, of unprecedented
length, conducted, as we hope, with patience and fidelity, that Jury
have pronounced you " Guilty."
To this verdict, upon a careful revision of the whole proceedings, I
am constrained to say, in behalf of the Court, that they can perceive
no just or legal ground of exception.
°' Guilty ! " How much, under all the thrilling circumstances which
cluster around the case and throng our memories in the retrospect,
does this single word import! The wilful, violent and malicious
destruction of the life a fellow-man, in the peace of God and under
the protection of the law - yes, of one in the midst of life, with bright
hopes, warm affections, mutual attachments, stron<_,,, extensive and
numerous, making life a blessing to himself and others !
We allude thus to the injury you have inflicted, not for the purpose
of awakening one unnecessary pang in a heart already lacerated, but
to remind you of the irreparable wrong done to the victim of your
cruelty, in sheer justice to him whose voice is now hushed in death,
and whose wrongs can only be vindicated by the living action of the
law. If, therefore, you may, at any moment, think your case a hard
one, and your punishment too severe -if one repining thought arises
m your mind, or one murmuring word seeks utterance from your lips -
think, oh ! think of him, instantly deprived of life byyour guilty hand ;
then, if not lost to all sense of retributive justice, if you have any
compunctious visitings of conscience, you may perhaps be ready to
exclaim, in the bitter anguish of truth,-ĢI have sinned against
Heaven and my own soul; my punishment is just; God be merciful to
me, a sinner! "
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