772 Sheet – American State Trials 1918 Volume X Leo Frank Document

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Reading Time: 3 minutes [386 words]

Here is the translated text as follows:

Consider the circumstances under which the prisoners have come to this country. They have been brought here with a sort of éclat, much to their disadvantage. A vast apparatus seems to have been put in motion against them. England, the queen of the ocean, has stretched forth her arm against them, and every man, from the Lords of the Admiralty down to the youngest midshipman on board the Curlew, seems to have decided upon their fate. We are too likely to be influenced by these circumstances and imagine that England would not have taken so much trouble; would not have sent the Savage, with Lieutenant Loney, to this country unless the prisoners had been guilty. It is but courtesy, it would appear, to hang them after all this; blood seemed necessary to cement the bond of union between the two nations.

I beg that it may not be supposed, however, that in speaking thus, I have any intention of reflecting upon England or the English navy. Those who had lived in the days of Collingwood and Nelson could never have aught but respectful feelings in relation to the latter (the navy), and with respect to the former (England), despite her scribblers, I believe that there exists among the respectable class of people in this country a deeply rooted feeling of regard for their fatherland. Knowing that this feeling of respect and regard exists in favor of England, I am desirous of cautioning the jury on this head, as she (England) has been the principal agent in this matter.

The manner in which the defense has been managed also requires some explanation. The long and tedious examinations which have taken place were not agreeable to us (the counsel) and would not have been persisted in, could we have had evidence of our own. But we do not have this evidence; we are like a naked and unarmed man opposed to a fully armed man. We had first to wrest from our adversary his weapons and then fight him. All we could do was to endeavor to find out chasms in the government evidence. We were obliged to try it as sailors did a chain cable, first by extreme pressure upon every inch, and then by ringing it to see if it held firm.

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