And it was equally impossible for _one_ of the guard to know this, and be accessary to it, without letting others into the secret, for one was on duty only an hour and a half, when he was relieved by another. Nor could _all_ the guard have combined in this without the knowledge of the deputy keeper, for the keys were all in his care. Nor would any of the keepers or guard have dared to commit such an act, without the Warden's instructions. Without his knowledge this could not. 4. The Warden's _guilty_ appearance; his effort to make it appear that the grave had not been touched; and if it had been, that _he_ and all the _keepers_ and _guard_ were innocent. 5. The fact that nothing was ever done by him to find the body--no reward offered by him--no stir of any kind--but the business was hushed up, and the prisoners not allowed to speak of it to their friends, or mention it in any of their letters. 6. It became after a few years an undisputed report, that the Warden permitted the body to be removed for the benefit of his son; and the manner of the removal, and the persons engaged in it, were the subjects of frequent conversation. Such are the reasons for believing that the Warden was the principal agent in the removal of the body. It is not my office to render verdict on the evidence adduced, but I may be permitted to say that _if_ he was guilty, he was not fit for his office. The crime, according to the laws of that state, is severely punished; and aggravated as it was, if _he_ was guilty, imprisonment for life would not have been too great a penalty. He was an officer of high trust, and he could not have been guilty of that crime without connecting it with perjury and burglary. And if to these be added the crime of being accessary to his death I would ask what can be wanting to cap the climax of his iniquity? I do not say that any of these sins belong to him. He _may_ be innocent, notwithstanding all these appearances and I could wish that he were. There is darkness around the subject, too much for him if he is not guilty, but not enough if he is. One thing is certain, it will be known at some future day; and if he should finally have to plead guilty before his God, his punishment will not linger then, though he may escape it here. He had taken an oath to enforce the laws, and abide by them himself, and in particular to treat his prisoners tenderly and humanely; and if instead of doing so, he broke them, and became the destroyer of life, and the disturber of the repose of the dead, I envy him not his peace of mind in this world, nor his doom in the next.