verdict, which was received by the court between 11 and 12
o'clock at night of the same day, when they were discharged.

Everybody commended the conduct of this jury and was
satisfied with the verdict, except the individual who was
convicted of murder in the second degree. The presence of
these ladies in court secured the most perfect decorum and
propriety of conduct, and the gentlemen of the bar and
others vied with each other in their courteous and
respectful demeanor toward the ladies and the court. Nothing
occurred to offend the most refined lady (if she was a
sensible lady) and the universal judgment of every
intelligent and fair-minded man present was and is, that the
experiment was a success.

I dislike the notoriety this matter has given me, but I do
not shrink from it. I never sought it nor expected it, and
have only performed what I regarded as a plain duty, neither
seeking nor desiring any praise, and quite indifferent to
any censure or criticism which my conduct may have invoked.

Thanking you for your friendly and complimentary
expressions, I am very respectfully yours,

J. H. HOWE.

As showing how the matter was received at home, in Laramie City,
I copy the following from the _Laramie Sentinel_ of April 7,
1870:

If we should neglect to give some idea of the results of our
jury experiment, the world would say we were afraid or
ashamed of it. For our own part we are inclined to admit
that it succeeded beyond all our expectations. We naturally
wished it to succeed; still we scarcely wished it to
demonstrate a theory that women were better qualified for
these duties than men. Hence, when Chief-Justice Howe said,
"In eighteen years' experience I have never had as fair,
candid, impartial and able a jury in court, as in this term
in Albany county," and when Associate-Justice Kingman said,
"For twenty-five years it has been an anxious study with me,
both on the bench and at the bar, how we are to prevent jury
trials from degenerating into a perfect burlesque, and it
has remained for Albany county to point out the rem