She was appealed to, to save her husband's life with the
sacrifice of her fame. In the consciousness of innocence, she refused
with Spartan firmness to slander her reputation by staining her
conscience with a lie. Her friends stood by her; and when hope had
withered into despair, and the possibility gone forever of saving him
by this means, the eloquence of McDuffie and the influence of family
were invoked, and successfully.
In the examination of the witnesses he showed great tact, and
successfully kept from the jury facts which would have left them no
excuse for a verdict of acquittal. But it was in his address that his
great powers made themselves manifest. The opening was impassioned and
powerful. Scarcely had he spoken ten minutes before the Bench, the Bar,
the jury, and the audience were in tears, and, during the entire
speech, so entirely did he control the feelings of every one who heard
him, that the sobs from every part of the courtroom were audible above
the sounds of his voice. When he had concluded, the jury went weeping
from the box to the room of their deliberations, and soon returned a
verdict of acquittal.
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