THE VERDICT.
We must not make a scare-crow of the law,
Setting it up to frighten birds of prey;
And let it keep one shape till custom makes it,
Their perch and not their terror.
--Shakespeare.
The members of a court-martial sit in the double capacity of jurors and
judges; as jurors they find the facts, and as judges they award the
punishment. Yet their session with closed doors was without the solemn
formality that the uninitiated might have supposed to attend a grave
deliberation upon a matter of guilt or innocence involving a question
of life or death.
No sooner were the doors closed that shut out the "vulgar" crowd, than
the "high and mighty" officials immediately fell into easy attitudes,
and disengaged conversation upon the weather, the climate, yesterday's
dinner at General Cushion's quarters, the claret, the cigars and the
Mexican signoritas.
They were presently recalled from this easy chat by the President, a
severe disciplinarian, who reminded them rather sharply of the business
upon which they had convened.
The officers immediately wheeled themselves around in the chairs,
facing the table, and fell into order.
The Judge Advocate seated himself at his detached stand, opened his
book, called the attention of the court, and commenced and read over
the whole record of the evidence and the proceedings up to this time.
The President then said:
"For my own part, gentlemen, I think this quite a simple matter,
requiring but little deliberation. Here is the fact of the offence
proved, and here is the law upon that offence clearly defined. Nothing
seems to remain for us to do but to bring in a verdict in accordance
with the law and the fact."
Several of the older officers and sterner disciplinarians agreed with
the President, who now said:
"I move that the vote be immediately taken upon this question."
To this, also, the elder officers assented. And the Judge Advocate was
preparing to take the ballot, when one of the younger members arose and
said:
"Mr. President and gentlemen, there are mitigating circumstances
attending this offence, which, in my opinion, should be duly weighed
before making up our ballot."
"Lieutenant Lovel, when your hair has grown white in the service of
your country, as mine has, and when your skin is mottled with the scars
of a score of well-fought fields, you will find your soft theories
corrected by hard experience, and you will know that in the case of a
sentinel sleeping upon his post there can be no mitigating
circumstances; that nothing can palliate such flagrant and dangerous
neglect, involving the safety of the whole army; a crime that martial
law and custom have very necessarily made punishable by death," said
the President, sternly.
The young lieutenant sat down abashed, under the impression that he had
betrayed himself into some act of gross impropriety. This was his first
appearance in the character of juror and judge; he was literally
unaccustomed to public speaking, and did not hazard a reply.
"Has any other gentleman any views to advance before we proceed to a
general ballot?" inquired the President.
Several of the officers whispered together, and then some one replied
that there seemed to be no reason why the vote should not be
immediately taken.
Herbert Greyson remained perfectly silent. Why he did not speak then,
in reply to this adjuration--why, indeed, he had not spoken before, in
support of Lieutenant Lovel's views in favor of his friend, I do not
know to this day, though I mean to ask him the first time I have the
opportunity. Perhaps he wished to "draw the enemy's fire," perhaps he
was inclined to dramatic effects; but whatever might have been the
motive, he continued silent, offering no obstacle to the immediate
taking of the vote.
The Judge Advocate then called the court to order for the taking of the
ballot, and proceeded to question the members in turn, commencing with
the youngest.
"How say you, Lieutenant Lovel, is the prisoner on trial guilty or not
guilty of the offence laid to his charge?"
"Guilty," responded the young officer, as his eyes filled with tears of
pity for the other young life against which he had felt obliged to
record this vote.
"If that is the opinion of one who seems friendly to him, what will be
the votes of the other stern judges?" said Herbert Greyson to himself,
in dismay.
"What say you, Lieutenant Adams--is the prisoner guilty or not guilty?"
said the Judge Advocate, proceeding with the ballot.
"Guilty!"
"Lieutenant Cragin?"
"Guilty!"
"Lieutenant Evans?"
"Guilty!"
"Lieutenant Goffe?"
"Guilty!"
"Lieutenant Hesse?"
"Guilty!"
"Captain Kingsley?"
"Guilty!"
"Captain McConkey?"
"Guilty!"
"Captain Lucas?"
"Guilty!"
"Captain O'Donnelly?"
"Guilty!"
"Captain Rosencrantz?"
"Guilty!"
"Major Greyson?"
"NOT GUILTY!"
Every officer sprang to his feet and gazed in astonishment,
consternation and indignant inquiry upon the renderer of this
unprecedented vote.
The President was the first to speak, breaking out with:
"Sir! Major Greyson! your vote, sir, in direct defiance of the fact and
the law upon it, is unprecedented, sir, in the whole history of
court-martial!"
"I record it as uttered, nevertheless," replied Herbert.
"And your oath, sir! What becomes of your oath as a judge of this
court?"
"I regard my oath in my vote!"
"What, sir?" inquired Captain McConkey, "do you mean to say that you
have rendered that vote in accordance with the facts elicited in
evidence, as by your oath you were bound to do?"
"Yes."
"How, sir, do you mean to say that the prisoner did not sleep upon his
post?"
"Certainly I do not; on the contrary, I grant that he did sleep upon
his post, and yet I maintain that in doing so he was not guilty!"
"Major Greyson plays with us," said the President.
"By no means, sir! I never was in more solemn earnest than at present!
Your honor, the President and gentlemen judges of the court, as I am
not counsel for the prisoner, nor civil officer, nor lawyer, of whose
interference courts-martial are proverbially jealous, I beg you will
permit me to say a few words in support, or at least, I will say, in
explanation of the vote which you have characterized as an opinion in
opposition to fact and law, and unprecedented in the whole history of
courts-martial."
"Yes, it is! it is!" said General W., shifting uneasily in his seat.
"You heard the defense of the prisoner," continued Herbert; "you heard
the narrative of his wrongs and sufferings, to the truth of which his
every aspect bore testimony. I will not here express a judgment as to
the motives that prompted his superior officers, I will merely advert
to the facts themselves, in order to prove that the prisoner, under the
circumstances, could not, with his human power, have done otherwise
than he did."
"Sir, if the prisoner considered himself wronged by his captain, which
is very doubtful, he could have appealed to the Colonel of his
Regiment!"
"Sir, the Articles of War accord him that privilege. But is it ever
taken advantage of? Is there a case on record where a private soldier
ventures to make a dangerous enemy of his immediate superior by
complaining of his Captain to his Colonel? Nor in this case would it
have been of the least use, inasmuch as this soldier had well-founded
reasons for believing the Colonel of his regiment his personal enemy,
and the Captain as the instrument of this enmity."
"And you, Major Greyson, do you coincide in the opinion of the
prisoner? Do you think that there could have been anything in common
between the Colonel of the regiment and the poor private in the ranks,
to explain such an equalizing sentiment as enmity?" inquired Captain
O'Donnelly.
"I answer distinctly, yes, sir! In the first place, this poor private
is a young gentleman of birth and education, the heir of one of the
most important estates in Virginia, and the betrothed of one of the
most lovely girls in the world. In both these capacities he has stood
in the way of Colonel Le Noir, standing between him and the estate on
the one hand, and between him and the young lady on the other. He has
disappointed Le Noir both in love and ambition. And he has thereby made
an enemy of the man who has, besides, the nearest interest in his
destruction. Gentlemen, what I say now in the absence of Colonel Le
Noir, I am prepared to repeat in his presence, and maintain at the
proper time and place."
"But how came this young gentleman of birth and expectations to be
found in the ranks?" inquired Captain Rosencrantz.
"How came we to have headstrong sons of wealthy parents, fast young men
of fortune, and runaway students from the universities and colleges of
the United States in our ranks? In a burst of boyish impatience the
youth enlisted. Destiny gave him as the Colonel of his regiment his
mortal enemy. Colonel Le Noir found in Captain Zuten a ready instrument
for his malignity. And between them both they have done all that could
possibly be effected to defeat the good fortune and insure the
destruction of Traverse Rocke. And I repeat, gentlemen, that what I
feel constrained to affirm here in the absence of those officers, I
shall assuredly reassert and maintain in their presence, upon the
proper occasion. In fact I shall bring formal charges against Colonel
Le Noir and Captain Zuten, of conduct unworthy of officers and
gentlemen!"
"But it seems to me that this is not directly to the point at issue,"
said Captain Kingsley.
"On the contrary, sir, it is the point, the whole point, and only
point, as you shall presently see by attending to the facts that I
shall recall to your memory. You and all present must, then, see that
there was a deliberate purpose to effect the ruin of this young man. He
is accused of having been found sleeping on his post, the penalty of
which, in time of war, is death. Now listen to the history of the days
that preceded his fault, and tell me if human nature could have
withstood the trial?"
"Sunday night was the last of repose to the prisoner until Friday
morning, when he was found asleep on his post.
"Monday night he was sent with the reconnoitering party to Casa-de-Mata.
"Tuesday he was sent with the officer that carried our General's
expostulation to Santa Anna. At night he was put on guard.
"Wednesday he was sent with another party to protect a band of emigrants
crossing the marshes. At night he was sent with still another party to
reconnoiter Molina-del-Rey.
"Thursday he was sent in attendance upon the officer that carried
despatches to General Quitman, and did not return until after midnight,
when, thoroughly worn out, driven indeed to the extreme degree of
mortal endurance, he was again on a sultry, oppressive night, in a
still, solitary place, set on guard where a few hours later he was
found asleep upon his post--by whom? The Colonel of his regiment and
the Captain of his company, who seemed bent upon his ruin--as I hold
myself bound to establish before another court-martial.
"This result had been intended from the first! If five nights' loss of
sleep would not have effected this, fifteen probably would; if fifteen
would not, thirty would; or if thirty wouldn't sixty would!--and all
this Captain Zuten had the power to enforce until his doomed victim
should fall into the hands of the provost-marshal, and into the arms of
death!
"And now, gentlemen, in view of all these circumstances, I ask you--was
Traverse Rocke guilty of wilful neglect of duty in dropping asleep on
his post? And I move for a reconsideration, and a new ballot!"
"Such a thing is without precedent, sir! These mitigating circumstances
may be brought to bear on the Commander-in-Chief, and may be embodied
in a recommendation to mercy! They should have no weight in the finding
of the verdict," said the President, "which should be in accordance
with the fact and the law."
"And with justice and humanity! to find a verdict against this young
man would be to place an unmerited brand upon his spotless name, that
no after clemency of the Executive could wipe out! Gentlemen, will you
do this! No! I am sure that you will not! And again I move for a new
ballot!"
"I second the motion!" said Lieutenant Lovel, rising quite encouraged
to believe in his own first instincts, which had been so favorable.
"Gentlemen," said the President sternly, "this thing is without
precedent! In all the annals of courts-martial, without precedent!"
"Then, if there is no such precedent, it is quite time that such a one
were established, so that the iron car of literal law should not always
roll over and crush justice! Gentlemen, shall we have a new ballot?"
"Yes! yes! yes!" were the answers.
"It is irregular! It is illegal! It is unprecedented! A new ballot?
Never heard of such a thing in forty years of military life! Lord bless
my soul, what is the service coming to!"
"A new ballot! a new ballot! a new ballot!" was the unanimous cry.
The President groaned in spirit, and recorded a vow never to forgive
Herbert Greyson for this departure from routine.
The new ballot demanded by acclamation had to be held.
The Judge Advocate called the court to order and began anew. The votes
were taken as before, commencing with the young lieutenant, who now
responded sonorously:
"Not guilty!"
And so it ran around the entire circle.
"Not guilty!" "Not guilty!" "Not guilty!" were the hearty responses of
the court.
The acquittal was unanimous. The verdict was recorded.
The doors were then thrown open to the public, and the prisoner called
in and publicly discharged from custody.
The court then adjourned.
Traverse Rocke threw himself upon the bosom of his friend, exclaiming
in a broken voice:
"I cannot sufficiently thank you! My dear mother and Clara will do
that!"
"Nonsense!" said Herbert laughing; "didn't I tell you that the Lord
reigns, and the devil is a fool? This is only the beginning of
victories!"