:

CHAPTER XV.

A LAW SUIT,

Before ABNER HENDEE, Esq. a Justice of Peace in and for Tolland county. Connecticut: at his office in Hebron, on the first day of October, 1823.

AMMI ROGERS, vs.

This is an action on the case, in which the Plaintiff demands of the Defendant $15 damage and his cost, (this is all a Justice could give, and it is brought before him to have a speedy trial,) for saying falsely and maliciously that the book (see page 193) purporting to be a report of the trial of Ammi Rogers, in 1820. printed by Samuel Green, was true, and that the witnesses against him testified the truth and ought to be believed. On trial the defendant acknowledged that he uttered these words but plead no malice. The plaintiff replied, that the words were false, and that falsehood implied malice, and put himself on the court for trial, and the defendant likewise.

Mr. Lester Clark.-His father married Asenath and Maria A. Smith's mother's sister, and lived in the same house with them, and is the witness that the court, at New-London, refused to send for. He testified that he personally knew that many things stated in that book were absolutely false, particularly that Mr. Rogers never was shut up at their house, in a chamber alone,with Asenath C.Smith, with fastened doors.and no one else admitted into the room from Tuesday till Saturday. 2d, That he well remembers that in the fall of 1817, Asenath was very sickly, weak,unwell and had fits, and on one occasion fell from the bed on to the floor, and he offered to go after a Doctor for her; that her mother objected; that on the same night his father was taken sick and he did go after Dr. Downing, who came and bled him. 3d, That Dr. Downer and Col. Halsey did come to their house and stay all night in the spring of 1819; that the next morning there was writing done there, but he does not know what it was, and that he never

heard the said Asenath or any of the family accuse Mr. Rogers before that time. 4th, That James Lanman, Esq. did come to their house, soon after Halsey and Downer came there and staid all night, and was shut up alone, with the said Asenath, in their east chamber, for a considerable length of time. 5th, That he never knew nor heard such an agonizing shriek at their house as Maria had described, not till after Col. Halsey and Downer came there and staid, and he did not believe it was true. 6th, That he knew that Dr. George Downer had been in the habit of keeping private company with Ase ath C. Smith; that about the first of July, 1817, he came there and staid all night and he put out his horse. 7th, That he heard said Maria confess to Mr. Rogers, that what she had testified against him before Esq. Coit, was false, and she was sorry she had said it. And I now testify. that the general character of the said Maria is not equal to that of people in general as to truth and veracity: and that Sam Wheeler, the negro, who many years has lived within about forty rods of me, is a thief and a liar, and was so at the time of the trial of Mr. Rogers, and this is his general character and further the deponent saith not. LESTER CLARK. New-London county, ss Griswold, August 25, 1823. Subscribed and sworn before

JEDEDIAH BARSTOW, Justice of Peace. Perry Clark, testified the same as in page 186, and that he personally knew some part of the testimony of Maria A. Sinith, on the trial of Mr. Rogers, as contained in said book, was absolutely false; particularly it is not true that Mr. Rogers was, in the month of October, 1817, or at any other time, shut up with Asenath C. Smith at my house, as is there set forth-I know that Mr. Geer did constantly, four, and sometimes six times a day, pass through that chamber; and that Maria herself, and her mother, and Asenath, must and did pass through that chamber, back and forth, to the room where they slept, and I never heard of any shriek being heard in that chamber until about two years afterwards, &c. &c. and I testify that Maria A. Smith is, in my opinion, the smoothest and most plausible liar that I ever knew! and that in point of truth & veracity,her general character is not now, and at and long be-

fore the said trial was not on a par with that of mankind in general, &c. I testify, that I consider Sam Wheeler, the negro, who has lived and was brought up within about 40 rods of me, to have been,at the time of the said trial,and long before, and since, a most notorious liar, and a thief, and I have no knowl. edge of ever having sent any one into my chamber after a bag at any time. [see pages 95 and 124.] for I always keep my bags, not in my chamber, but in my corn house. &c.

PERRY CLARK. Griswold, Sept. 10, 1823.-Subscribed and sworn before me, JEDEDIAH BARSTOW, Justice of Peace.

James Cook, Esq. testified that he had examined a book purporting to be a report of my trial, printed by Samuel Green; that it contained a false report of the said trial. Ist, That not E B. Downing, but Elisha Geer, was the first witness, and his testimony was objected to, &c. 2d, That it represented him and others as testifying that on said trial which was not true, and which they never did testify. [iere he stated many particulars of the falsehoods and misrepresentations contained in that book.] 3d. He testified that the general moral characters of the said Maria and Sam, the regro, were very bad, and particularly as to truth and veracity, and were so at the time of said trial, &c.

Subscribed and sworn to, in due form of law, in Preston, September 8th, 1823, before

WILLIAM WILLIAMS. Justice of Peace. The seventeen objections, page 193, were fully proved to be well founded, and true.

Mr. Enoch Baker, Mr. Samuel Dorrance, and many others, testified that they personally k ew that the said book was false, and that the characters of the pricipal witnesses against me, in said trial, were had, and particularly as to truth and veracity, and that they ought not to have been believed. Would any other state's at'or ev, except James Lanman, have gone to the house of Elisha Gear, eight miles, and used the means which he did, to form such as informa tion, and brought forward such witnesses as Sam, the negro, and Maria, to support it, against a respectable clergyman, -one who had at least two thousand souls under his care,

[see the Rev. Mr. Blakeslee's letter, page 73,] and where the wardens made oath, that for six years then last past, they had never known or heard of a vote or a voice against him in his parish, except one man, (see page 100.) Would any other Judge, except Asa Chapman, have admitted such witnesses, and conducted the trial as he did? Do you ask why was all this? I answer, turn to pages 37 and 38, read that, and what follows, and you have the answer.

May it please the court, I have brought this suit, not to rob a neighbor of his money or to distress him; but to convince him and the world, that the book is a scandalous and malicious libel; and I think I have proved it to be so, by the most indubitable and incontestibie testimony. The defendant moved to have the court adjourn, on the ground, that he wanted the testimony of Constance F. Daniels, the reputed author of said book; it was agreed to, and the court adjourned to the 5th day of November, 1823, then to meet at the same place at 10 o'clock, A. M.

The said Daniels had been called upon, and acknowledged himself the author of said BOOK, and on the 19th day of November, 1822, in the town of Chatham, in Connecticut, before Ralph Smith, Esq. a Justice of the Peace, made solemn oath, that he could not recollect whether the testimony of Maria A. Smith was stated with precision or not, and all his answers were so equivocal and evasive, (though sworn to tell the whole truth,) that no satisfaction could be obtained from him, (his poverty and insignificance were his security.) On the 5th day of November, 1823, the court was called according to adjournment; the defendant did not appear, and the case went against him by default.

N. B. And it is decreed, that whoever shall give, sell, or lend, or in any way circulate that scandalous and malicious libel, purporting to be a report of the trial of Ammi Rogers, printed by Samuel Green, in New-London, in 1820, is liable to prosecution. Take Notice!!

AGAINST LYING AND FALSE SWEARING.

The Eternal God hath declared, in thundering and lightning, in the most solemn and awful manner, from mount Sinia, (and cursed be every one who continueth not in all

things written in the book of the law to do them,) that, Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. Cooly and deliberately to call the God of all worlds to witness and to sanction that which we know to be false, or that which we do not know to be true; or to induce others to do the same, is profane, is impious, is Heaven-daring, is God-defying! O, how dreadful! how shocking! how dangerous for time and for eternity! It hardens the soul against all the impressions of divine love and fear; it banishes the influence of divine grace from our hearts; it fixes upon our souls the black, the horrible seal of damnation! it dissolves all civil compact. Our courts of law ought to render judgment according to evidence; if that evidence be false, the judgment will be false. And as it respects individuals, how unjust, how cruel, how abusive is false witness. It deprives us of life, and of every thing which can make life desirable-by it, I have suffered, and by it you may suffer. No character, no honor, no profession,no property, nothing valuable can be safe! Do I see my beloved father or mother, do I see a dear brother or a charming sister, do I see, O, Gracious God! do I see my wife or daughter, by perjury and by falsehood, torn from my bleeding bosom, from every thing honorable, pleasant, gay and cheerful; dragged to a court of justice, stript of honor, character and happiness; loaded with indelible infamy and disgrace; my fondest hopes are blasted, my animating expectations are cut off, all my comfort is gone, and with unspeakable sorrow and anguish my gray hairs are brought down to the grave!! And what is the cause? Oh, it is false swearing and perjury! Thou fell monster of hell! what hast thou not done! gone, get thee hence! begone forever thou child of the devil! What can make any person appear so perfectly ridicu lous, hateful and contemptible, as to be detected in a disgraceful, mean lie? There is not a decent person on earth who would not resent even the suspicion of it; there is not the meanest scoundrel who walks the streets of New York, or any other place, who would not be ashamed of it. Liars and hypocrites are to have their portion in a bad place, in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone! The devil himself is said to have been a liar from the beginning,and liars and

Be