Mr. Hodge declared himself to be innocent of the charge laid against him. GEORGE R. PORTER, J. P. March 16th, 1811. His Honor the President, Richard Hetherington Esqr's Charge to the Grand Jury, 15th April 1811,-Delivered in Court on the 25th April. Gentlemen of the Grand Jury. By virtue of a special commission of Oyer and Terminer and general gaol delivery, under the hand and seal of His Excellency the Governor in Chief, you have been summoned and are now.impanelled, as the Grand Jury of Inquest, for the Virgin-Islands. So repeatedly, Gentlemen,, have you discharged the duties of that important station, that it would be presumption in me to imagine you unacquainted with these duties; at this time it affords gratification to behold so respectable a collection of my fellow countrymen, assembled on the present occasion, and it cannot but be consolatory to myself and the rest of this Court, to feel from experience, an assurance that you will do every thing in your power to support the laws, and strictly by your indictments, agreeably to your oaths, to present every person guilty of offences, without partiality, favour, or affection. The Government of the Virgin-Islands has too leng Gentlemen, been considered, not only weak, but perhaps pusillanimous by offenders; it has too long been believed so, and it is high time that the energy of the laws should be used to prove the contrary. Most of our magistrates have endeavored to carry the laws into just execution to prevent crimes if possible, being committed, and to punish offenders, as examples to others from doing evil. It is to be hoped they will meet every aid and encouragement in the righteous discharge of their duty, and that their sentences will be respected, and carried into proper effect; otherwise we need hold no Courts, but becoming in a state of insubordination, leave every man to assert his own rights, and maintain what he may call, his own privileges in the best way he can; for, Gentlemen, when the laws are trampled upon, and the magistrates defied, no good order or decorum can exist in society, but all must be confusion, and the worst of anarchy. You will remember, Gentlemen, that you are not a jury to try offenders, but only to present offences, as they may be laid before you, or come to your knowledge, on behalf of the Crown. Should you need the assistance of the law officers on the present occasion, you have a right to call upon them for any information, which doubtless, they will either of them rea dily furnish you with. Consider, Gentlemen, that the peace, quiet, safety, and lives of the inhabitants, ever rest in the hands of a Grand Jury, do your duty impartially, and trust for your reward to your own consciences, your country, and your God. THE TRIAL OF ARTHUR HODGE, ESQ. Late one of the Members of His Majesty's Council for the Virgin-Islands-for the Murder of his Negro Man Slave, named PROSPER. AT a Court of Oyer and Terminer, and General RICHARD HETHERINGTON, Esq. |