Baton-Rouge gazette. [volume] (Baton-Rouge, La.) 1819-1856, 1852-05-22
singular Case, the treat atment Of orime,

"A correspondent In wyoming 70. sends
It's an account of case of mental malady,
moral ballucination, or Whatever 1t may
be called, which lately occurred In that
region, and which inay suggest some use.
ful reflections for the student Of spiritual
pathology.
Something over year since, the peo-
ple Of quiet district Of that county were
startled with report charging the crime
Of theft upon the wife Of one OF the most
respectable citizens of the place. What
rendered the charge stll more exciting,
was tho fact that both the accuser and the
necased were members Of the same church.
aud both of hitherto untnlnted reputation.
A suit for slander was the consequence !,
bat before the trial came on, such was the
difficulty In the way Of justifying, and
such the drift Of public opinion In favor Of
the accused, that, yielding TO the advice Of
counsel. the defendant, aalo was also \
woman. proposed terms Of settlement. and
procured release from prospective dam.
ages BY paying the plaintiff some forty dol.
lsrs TO discontinue the suit
Meanwhile the church took up the mat.
ter and tried the aconser, who seemed thus
wrongfuly to charge her sister with SO
grave an offence. On this ecclesiastical
trial the aeeuser adhered to her original
declaration, bur, not sustaining IT, was ex.
PEELED from the communion Of the society.
After this, the accused went before the
Grand Jury Of the county aud made an
earnest eudeavor to procure an indictment
against her aceuser for perjury. But this
failed, and for some time the position Of
the parties remained unebanged--the nc
eused juotifed by the church and the world
and the accuser eclipsed by suspicion Of
perjury. and in disgrace among those she
bud been wont to love and honor as bre;h-
rcn and sisters.
But suddenly, from some cause not full
ly explained, the accused purity, after hav.
ing triumphed over the accusation and Its
author, has confessed the truth Of the
charge. She admits, too. that II is true
not only In the single case alledgcd, but
that for years she had been In the habit Of
plferng. A person Of good education and
respectable connections, she was IN the
possession Of ample means to satisfy every
DESIRE and stole merely TO crafty an iris.
table passion. What she took she used TO
destroy Immediately. Though haunted
by the keenest sense Of sin in the act aud
won't before going where she might be
tempted to commit It, to retire to her cham.
Der, and on her knees and with tears OF
agony streaming down her cheeks, 10 i'm.
pore the help of Heaven TO snbdue the
propensity, she still perpetrated the oftense
on every occasion.
On this confession, the husband Of the
unfortunate woman hastened to make res-
titution to oil sufferers. Our eorrespon.
dent adds, that in this sore affection he IL
sustained by the sympathy of all who
| know the parties.
We recollect several similar instances
of habitnaI theft occurring within the past
twenty years in Albany, Boston, this City
and other places. They would seem 20
require a modification Of the usual view
of crime, and to suggest more humane
treatment Of its perpetrators. In these
cases the oiTense has none Of the features
Of malicious and wiltul wrong commit
| ted against others, for the sake of some
fancied advantage to the offender Its
characteristics are those Of malady The
resistless impulse. against which the pray
er Of faith and the anguish Of a soul BATH.
ed in the horrors Of repentance were una.
| vailing; the theft committed for the sake
Of committing it alone the immediate
destruction of the stolen article without
any attempt to make use OF it,--are all
rather the symptoms Of intimate and sub.
! tie disease than Of wilfnl and criminal de-
| pravity. In our view. the unhappy per.
| son deserves the tenderest pity from hei
stronger and saner fellow beings. but not
the scourge Of public condemnation. ab
florence and scorn.
Our treatment of crime has been dicta.
ted by the necessities Of Society in its va.
| rious periods, and at this day we do not
doubt that it is generally what the exigen'
cies Of our social condition require. But
as it has hitherto grown less rigorous and
| more humane with the advancing wealth,
intelligence. and morality of the people,
there is no doubt that it will continue to
change in the same direction. The time
| will doubtless come when such facts as
those we have stated above will have theil
weight in legislation meanwhile they
are Of great importance as elucidating the
philosophy Of the subject.--N Y. Tribune
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