If I could have gone into the street I could have procured this
comparatively trifling bail in half an hour; as it was, after I was
in jail I sent for a man whom I knew, and gave him my gold watch and
one hundred dollars, all the money I had, to procure me bail, which
he promised to do; but he never did a thing for me, except to rob
me.
A lawyer came to me and offered to take my case in hand for one
hundred dollars, but I had not the money to give him. I then sent to
New York for a lawyer whom I knew, and when he came to see me he
took the same view of the case that Elizabeth and I did; that is,
that the long separation between my first wife and myself, and my
presumed ignorance as to whether she was alive or dead, gave me full
liberty to marry again. At least, he thought any court would
consider it an extenuating circumstance, and he promised to be
present at my trial and aid me all he could.
I lay in Newark jail nine months, awaiting my trial. During that
time I had almost daily quarrels with the jailor, who abused me
shamefully, and told me I ought to go to State prison and stay there
for life. Once he took hold of me and I struck him, for which I was
put in the dark cell forty-eight hours. At last came my trial. The
court appointed counsel for me, for I had no money to fee a lawyer,
and my New York friend was on hand to advise and assist. I lad
witnesses to show the length of time that had elapsed since my
separation from my first wife, and we also raised the point as to
whether the justice who married me, was really a legal justice of
the peace or not.
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