Some of the jury were half
inclined to speculate on the probabilities of a confession, and,
swept away by the current of suspicion, were not indisposed to
convict without evidence, in order that the result might do credit to
their penetration; but this was impossible, even in an American court
of justice, in the good old times of which we write. Hanging persons
on suspicion, and acquitting felons because the mob think murder no
crime, are modern inventions. The charge of the judge was clear and
decisive. He admitted that there were grounds of suspicion--that
there were circumstances connected with the prisoner's peculiar mode
of life that were not reconcilable with the lowness of his finances;
but yet of direct testimony there was not a vestige, and of
circumstantial evidence there were not only links wanting in the
chain, but, in fact, there was not a single link extending beyond the
locksmith's dwelling. Sparks was accordingly acquitted; but as no
other clue was found to direct suspicion, it still lay upon him like
a cloud.
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