Upon  this  Mr.  Promb  conferred  for  a  long  while  with
Uncle  Job,  urging  upon  him  something  he  would  by  no  means
consent  to,  but  of  what  nature  I  could  not  tell.  Afterward,
turning  to  the  judge,  he  said:

"The  defense  also  rests  its  case  here,  desiring  only  to
point  out  to  the  honorable  court  and  jury  that  in  all  his  life,
and  in  every  affair  of  business  in  which  he  has  been  engaged,
and  they  have  been  many,  Mr.  Throckmorton  has  borne  an
honorable  character  before  men,  no  shadow  of  any  kind  rest
ing  upon  it.  We  hold,  and  in  this  we  believe  the  jury  will
agree,  that  because  of  his  good  name  and  unimpeachable
integrity  it  is  impossible  he  could  have  committed  the  crime
imputed  to  him.  There  is  a  mystery  connected  with  the  case,
we  admit,  that  we  cannot  now  fathom,  but  feel  assured  that
time  will  do  this,  and  ere  long,  and  to  your  entire  satisfaction
and  that  of  the  community.  In  the  confident  belief  that  this
is  so,  he  throws  himself  upon  your  mercy,  believing  that  the
knowledge  you  have  of  men  and  how  little  likely  they  are  to
go  wrong  when  all  their  lives  have  been  animated  by  honor
able  acts,  will  be  found  sufficient  to  justify  his  acquittal — nay,
to  command  it  of  you  as  a  right."

The  trial  being  thus  closed,  Judge  Douglas  arose  to  charge
the  jury,  and  doing  so,  pointed  out  that  they  must  be  gov
erned  in  all  things  by  the  testimony,  but  that  if  adverse  to
the  prisoner,  his  previous  good  character  might  of  right  be
considered  in  fixing  the  sentence  or  in  considering  any  plea
for  mercy  the  jury  might  think  fit  to  make.
