The confession of Jesse was made, when he was aroused from sleep, at midnight, under the impression, as he stated, at the time, that “something had come in at the window, and was on the bed beside him”—somewhat extra-judicial, this confession, to be sure. This Jesse appears to have been a most unfilial scoundrel; for, instead of confessing, as Stephen had confessed, that Stephen himself killed Colvin, single-handed and alone; Jesse catered, more abundantly, to the popular appetite for horrors, by confessing that his old father, Barney Boorn, “damned” his son-in-law, Colvin, very frequently, and “cut his throat with a small penknife.” All this clotted mass of inconsistent absurdity, extorted by hope and fear, his honor, Judge Chace, received, as legal evidence, and gravely certified up to the General Assembly of Vermont.
It is true, Judge Chace, as we have stated, rejected the written confession of Stephen, because Raymond swore, as follows—“I have heard Mr. Pratt and Mr. Sheldon tell Jesse Boorn, that if he would confess, in case he was guilty, they would petition the legislature for him—I have made the same proposition to Stephen myself, and always told him I had no doubt of his guilt, and that the public mind was against him.” It is needless to expatiate on the gross impropriety of addressing such language to a prisoner, under such circumstances.
But the witness, Farnsworth, was then produced to prove Stephen’s oral confession, that he killed Colvin. It appears, by the minutes, certified by Judge Chace, that he put the preliminary questions, and that the witness swore, “that neither he nor anybody else, to his knowledge, had done anything, directly or indirectly, to influence the said Stephen to the talk he was about to communicate.” In vain, the prisoners’ counsel protested, that the evidence was inadmissible, because the “talk” between Stephen and Farnsworth was subsequent to the proposition made to Stephen by Raymond. In vain they pressed the consideration, that if, on this ground, the written confession had been rejected, the oral confession should also be rejected. In vain they offered to prove other proposals and promises, made to the prisoners, at other times, before the conversation, now offered to be proved. Nothing, however, would stay their honors, from gibbetting their judicial reputation, in chains, which no time will ever knock off. They suffered Farnsworth to testify; and he swore, that Stephen told him, “about two weeks after the written confession, that he killed Colvin,” &c. This must have been about September 10, 1819, and, of course, before the trial, when he was still relying on the promises of Squire Raymond, and others.
The prisoners’ counsel very judiciously moved, for the reception of the written confession, and it was read accordingly. Unable to restrain the judicial antics of the Court, it appeared to be the only course, for the prisoners’ counsel, to throw the whole crude and incongruous mass before the jury, and leave its credibility, or rather, its palpable incredibility, to their decision. It would be desirable, as a judicial curiosity, to possess a copy of Judge Chace’s charge. Of his instructions to the jury he says nothing, in his certified statement to the General Assembly.
Now, apart from the confessions of these men, extorted, so clearly, by the fear of death, and the hope of pardon, there was evidence enough to excite suspicion, and there was no more: but, the law of our country convicts no man of murder, or manslaughter, upon suspicion. I shall conclude my remarks, upon this interesting case, in the following number.
No. LXXXV.
The chains of Stephen Boorn were stricken off, and Jesse was liberated from prison. They were men of note. If there were not giants, there were lions, in those days. Colvin soon became weary of standing upon that dizzy eminence, where circumstances had placed him. He had a painful recollection, no doubt, more or less distinct, of the past: and, after he had served the high purpose, for which he had been brought from New Jersey, he expressed an earnest wish to return to the home of his adoption; where he had found, in the good Mr. Polhamus, a friend, who had considered the necessities and distresses of his body and mind; and, who had been willing, in return for his feeble services, to give him shelter and protection.
The Boorns had, undoubtedly, a fortunate, and, almost a miraculous, escape. So had their honors, the Judges, Chace and Doolittle. Their first meeting, after the denouement, must have been perfectly tragi-comical.
Their escape from an awful precipice may admonish all, who sit, in judgment, upon the lives of their fellow-men, to administer the law, with extreme caution, and with a high and holy regard, for those well-established principles, and rules, which can never be disregarded, with impunity. God forbid, that any humble phraseology of mine should, for an instant, be perverted, to mislead the meanest understanding—to foster those principles, which, for the purpose of extending mercy, undeserved, to the murderer, would heap gross injustice and cruelty, upon the whole community—to break down the positive law of God, which Jesus Christ declared, that he came to confirm; and, in its place and stead, to erect the sickly decrees of a society of philandering puppets, whose wires are notoriously pulled, by certain professional and political managers.