From pioneer home to the White House : life of Abraham Lincoln: boyhood, youth, manhood, assassination, death . mony, andcalled attention particularly to the discrepancies in thestatements of the principal witness. What had seemedto the multitude as plain, truthful statements he showedto be wholly inconsistent with other parts of thetestimony, indicating a plot against an innocent , raising his clear, full voice to a higher key, andlifting his long, wiry right arm above his head, as ifabout to annihilate his clients accuser, he exclaimed : And he testifies that the moon was shining bri
From pioneer home to the White House : life of Abraham Lincoln: boyhood, youth, manhood, assassination, death . mony, andcalled attention particularly to the discrepancies in thestatements of the principal witness. What had seemedto the multitude as plain, truthful statements he showedto be wholly inconsistent with other parts of thetestimony, indicating a plot against an innocent , raising his clear, full voice to a higher key, andlifting his long, wiry right arm above his head, as ifabout to annihilate his clients accuser, he exclaimed : And he testifies that the moon was shining brightlywhen the deed was perpetrated, between the hours often and eleven oclock, when the moon did not appearon that night, as your Honors almanac will show, untilan hour or more later, and consequently the whole storyis a fabrication. The audience were carried by this sudden overthrowof the accusers testimony, and they were now as bitteragainst the principal witness as they were beforeagainst the accused. Lincoln continued in a strain of singular eloquence,portraying the loneliness and sorrow of the widowed. It ts not Sundown, and volt ark Frer.— Page 291. A SUCCESSFUL LA WYE/?, 291 mother, whose husband, long since gathered to hisfathers, and his good companion with the silver locks,welcomed a strange and penniless boy to their humbleabode, dividing their scanty store with him, and,pausing, and exhibiting much emotion—that boystands before you now pleading for the life of hisbenefactors son — the staff of the widows decliningyears. The effect was electric ; and eyes unused toweep shed tears as rain. With unmistakable expres-sions of honest sympathy around him, Lincoln closedhis remarkable plea with the words, If justice is done,as I believe it will be, before the sun sets, it will shineupon my client a free man. The jury returned to the court-room, after thirtyminutes of retirement, with the verdict of NotGuilty. Turning to his client, Lincoln said, It isnot sundown, and
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