ragged through the
streets of Portsmouth, passed in her turn to the Great Beyond. Verily,
we in America have, after all, only a short historical perspective.

AN HISTORIC TRAGEDY

One hundred years ago there was committed in Dedham, Massachusetts, one
of the most famous murders of this country, a crime, some description of
which falls naturally enough into these chapters, inasmuch as the person
punished as the criminal belonged to the illustrious Fairbanks family,
whose picturesque homestead is widely known as one of the oldest houses
in New England.

In the _Massachusetts Federalist_ of Saturday, September 12, 1801, we
find an editorial paragraph which, apart from its intrinsic interest, is
valuable as an example of the great difference between ancient and
modern journalistic treatment of murder matter. This paragraph reads, in
the quaint old type of the time: "On Thursday last Jason Fairbanks was
executed at Dedham for the murder of Miss Elizabeth Fales. He was taken
from the gaol in this town at eight o'clock, by the sheriff of this
county, and delivered to the sheriff of Norfolk County at the boundary
line between the two counties.

"He was in an open coach, and was attended therein by the Reverend
Doctor Thatcher and two peace officers. From the county line in Norfolk
he was conducted to the Dedham gaol by Sheriff Cutler, his deputies, and
a score of cavalry under Captain Davis; and from the gaol in Dedham to
the place of execution was guarded by two companies of cavalry and a
detachment of volunteer infantry.

"He mounted the scaffold about a quarter before three with his usual
steadiness, and soon after making a signal with his handkerchief, was
swung off. After hanging about twenty-five minutes, his body was cut
down and buried near the gallows. His deportment during his journey to
and at the place of execution was marked with the same apathy and
indifference which he discovered before and since his trial. We do not
learn he has made any confession of his guilt."

As a matter of fact, far from making a confession of his guilt, Jason
Fairbanks denied even to the moment of his execution that he killed
Elizabeth Fales, and his family and many other worthy citizens of Dedham
believed, and kept believing to the end of their lives, that the girl
committed suicide, and that an innocent man was punished for a crime he
could never have perpetrated.

In the trial it was shown that this beautiful girl of ei