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not be believed. I called him up to the Clerks table
& had him sworn. His evidence was very important.
The case was argued by the Attorney General (John Kinkead) for the
State & by myself & perhaps Mr. Owens of Columbia
for the Prisoner. The jury retired & about an hour
brought in a verdict of Not Guilty, to, as I believe
to the entire satisfaction of the community, who had
become convinced in a great measure of their error.
Some of the circumstances connected with the trial
were so remarkable & unprecedented in their character
that I cannot pretermit them. The Judge
(Montgomery) was a very impulsive man; he was
not only the personal enemy of the man charged
but he was my personal enemy. I had beaten
him for Congress in 1814 and he seemed determined
never to forgive me for it. As soon as I commenced
speech to the jury, he left the bench and
did not resume his seat until I concluded my
argument, which occupied two hours in the delivery.
I never managed a case better - never made
a better speech - I convinced the jury that all three
of the men, were innocent; if I had not done so,
they would have convicted the man on trial, for
they were sensible, honest men. I [?]
with severity upon the conduct of the Judge
in having the witness guarded to & from the court
house. Appealing to them, I asked them if they
did not know that the witness could have passed
from the house, where she was sojourning to the
court house & back without being molested. I received from
the jurors or many of them a response in the affirmative
by significant gestures. I told them
that the conduct of the Judge was a libel upon