Houver. Did he, or not? That point
you are to try by the law and the evidence. Because you
may esteem this a peculiarly valuable kind of property,
you are not to measure out in this case a peculiar kind
of justice. You have heard the evidence; the law for the
purposes of this trial you are to take from the judge.
But you are not to be led away with the idea that you
must convict this prisoner at any rate. It is a
well-established principle that it is better for an
indefinite number of guilty men to escape than for one
innocent man to be convicted and punished; and for the
best of reasons,--for to have the very machinery
established for the protection of right turned into an
instrument for the infliction of wrong, strikes a more
fatal blow at civil society than any number of
unpunished private injuries.

"Nor is there any danger that the prisoner will escape
due punishment for any crimes he may have committed.
Besides this and forty other larceny indictments hanging
over his head, there are seventy-four transportation
indictments against him. Now, he cannot be guilty of
both; and which of these offences, if either, does the
evidence against him prove?

"Who is this man? Look at him! You see he has passed the
meridian of life. You have heard about him from his
neighbors. They pronounce him a fair, upright, moral
man. No suspicion hitherto was ever breathed against his
honesty. He was a professor of religion, and, so far as
we know, had walked in all the ordinances and commands
of the law blameless. Now, in all cases of doubt, a fair
and exemplary character, especially in an elderly man,
is a great capital to begin with. This prisoner may have
been mistaken in his views as to matters of human right;
but, as to violating what he believed to be duty, there
is not the slightest evidence that such was his
character, but abundance to the contrary. He is found
under circumstances that make him amenable to the law;
let him be tried,--I do not gainsay that; but let him
have the common sentiments of humanity extended toward
him, even if he be guilty.

"The point urged against him with such earnestness--I
may say vehemence--is, not that he took the slaves
merely, but that he took them with design to steal. His
confessions are dwelt upon, stated and overs