The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 66, July 1962 - April, 1963 Page: 413
641 p. : ill., maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Diamond's Account of the Great Hanging
should so believe, from the evidence, you will find him guilty of
treason; and if you so find, you will in your verdict also say whether
the punishment shall be death, or confinement in the penitentiary for
life. If the Jury believe from the evidence that the accused had vol-
untarily determined to betray the State of Texas, and attempted to
get to the enemy with the articles as charged in the Indictment, and
was arrested, and by that arrest was prevented from reaching the
enemy, he is as guilty as if he had reached the enemy's lines. The
citizens of Texas have the legal right to disguise themselves as the
enemies of the country in order to discover the treasonable machina-
tion of those whom they may regard as untrue to our government,
and it is also, their duty to take such lawful steps. If upon a survey
of all the evidence in the case, the Jury have a reasonable doubt as
to the guilt of the accused, it is their duty to acquit-the law estab-
lished maxim being; "it is better that ninety and nine guilty men
should escape, than that one innocent man should suffer."
R. S. Waddell,
Dist. Judge
Verdict of the Jury
We, the Jury, find the Defendant guilty, and assess his punish-
ment-confinement in the Penitentiary for life.
I A Moore
Foreman
Having thus ended our notice of the criminal proceedings
against the Conspirators, we will refer to some of the consequences
of this wicked conspiracy, against the peace of the State and the
lives of its citizens.
Our eyes are at first met by scenes of horror and bloodshed; the
commission of crimes unexampled and unsurpassed in the annals
of atrocities performed through human agents, make up the record
of this organization.
In our first glance at its melancholly [sic] results, our hearts at
once entwine around the memory of the brave, the generous and
lamented Col. Young, who fell at the hands of those who fed at
his barn yard and eat at his table.
We are called upon to mourn the death of that noble and useful
citizen, James Dixon. We are called to view the horrible deeds
of the merciless savage, led on and inspirited in his insatiable thirst
for blood by those whom we blindly called friends and patriots.
We are called upon to record the death of Bicknell and others at413
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 66, July 1962 - April, 1963, periodical, 1963; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101196/m1/439/?rotate=270: accessed April 20, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.