Rensselaer Republican, Volume 15, Number 38, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 May 1883 — BOB’S PERORATION. [ARTICLE]

BOB’S PERORATION.

Col. IngermWs Closing Appeal to the Stdf Route Jury. Col Robert G. Ingersoll consumed six days in addressing the jury for the defense for the star-route conspiracy case. The speech is described as a very ingenious oqe, abounding in strong points in behalf of his clients. The conclusion, which had a visible effect upon court,’ jury and spectators, moving many to tears, is as follows: Now, gentlemen, the responsibility is with you. The fate of these men is in your hands. In your keep.ng is everything they love. Everything tnev hold dear is in your power. With this fearful responsibility, you nave no right to listen to the whispers of suspicion. You have no right to hearken to the promptings of fear. Beware of preju. dice. Look to the testimony alone. Be not convinced by the last argument; listen not to epithets instead of facts. Recall every argument made in this case. Put the evidence in the scale, and then have the honor ana manhood to say which scale goes down We ask from you the mercy of an honest verdict; that is all we ask—a verdict of your honesty. It is for you to say whether these defendants shall iive with honor among your fellow-citizens —whet .er they shah live in free air, or be taken from their wives, from their children, from their fireside, from all they hold most dear. It is for you to say whether they shall be clothed with honor, or with shame; whether their day shall set without a single star in all the sky of an eterned night; whether they shall be branded as criminals. After all they have suffered, after they have been pursued by a Government as no do endants before have been pursued, it is for ton to say whether their homes shall be Massed by the lightning of a false verdict You must say whether their future shall b“ one agony of jarief and tears. Nothing beneath the stars of heaven is so profoundly sad as the wreck of a'human being—nothing so profoundly mournful as a home covered with shame.' Nothing is so infinitely sad as a thing that shall cast a stain upon children yet unborn. It is for you to say whether this shall be such a verdict or one in accordance with the law and the facta The prosecution is heated with the chase; they are excited by the hunt; but will say that, in the end, "they will be a thousand times better pleased with a verdict of nob guilty than with what they ask. They would enjoy their victory; they would like success, and they would have you give to those aspirations greater weight than to homes, and wives, and children. I want a verdict that will relieve my clients from this agony of two long years; that will lift from them the cloud—a verdict that will fill their coming days and nights with joy—a verdict that will fill their minds with a sense of joy and gratitude to you, one and all.