New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1859-04-11
MIR. GRAHAm's OPENING.

The opening of the defense Of Mr. Slckles by bis
friend and counsel, Mr. John Graham, fills large
space in our columns this morning. We do not
know that it could be replaced by anything more
deserving of calm consideration.
We ike the breadth and frankness of this open
Ing. Mr.. Key was an aduterer-therefore he
should have been killed He bad seduced Mrs.
Sckles-therefore, Mr.. SickIes did right in killing
him. This lie the real ground of defense in the case,
and, if we had been Mr.. Sickless adviser we should
have rested it just there. Mr.. Grsham's contrast
of Mr. Sickles's killing Key on the public square,
in the full blaze of day, in plain sight of scores of
people, with the stesltby, sneaking, pro@ng,
midnight stab or shot of the real murderer, is very
forcible. All must feel its truth. Without pre-
Judging this case assuming that the assertions of
the defense are justified by facts, We say that the
killing of On adulterer by an outraged husband is
not essentially murder. Culpable, il msy be; 1t
may be legally what you please; bat no man will
regard one who has shot, in open daylight IN
public square the seducer OF his wife or daughter,
as morally on a level with the skulkiog, plumber
seeking midnight assassin. If, then, the defense
had confined itself to proving the seduction and
there rested we believe it need have had no fear
of conviction, at least of murder.
True, there would have still been knotty and
very serious questions involved in or suggested by
this case-as, for instance: How far should the
,ntscedept life and character of ths husband be
brought into review in the trial Of such al issue
Suppose be could be proved reckless, persistent
bbeItine, would this circumstance weaken his
claim to stand forth defender, to the death, OF
female purity and household ssnctity' Suppose his
wife herself had been one Of the victims of his
wes would that fact initiate against bis right to
constitute himself bloody avenger of her lost in-
nocen nee and his outraged honor We might ima'
CINE many facts, or assumed facts. which might be
urged as justly entitled to weight in the disposal OF
such case; but the naked circumstance that Sc
! Queer had been shot by husband whose doneshc
peace he had treacherousy invaded will never be
held to justify conviction for murder.
| OF course, the prosecution in such case would
urge many and weghty objections to the acquttal of
| a man.lsyer arraigned for murderin the premises
az. for instance: If gentlemen, lawyers, Members
| Of Congress, may shoot on sight those whom they
undoubtedly believe guilty of adultery 10 their per-
sonsl prejudice, will you allow the same privilege
10 drsymen coal dealers, sailors, hot-carrers, and
! even negroesl If not, ,ohy not And if you do
deny this privilege to any class, where do you draw
the line? Let us know precisely who are entitled
to the benefit of your new gamelaw, and who are
not. And if the injured husband may right himself
| by Derringer or Colt how will you deal with the
| victim of the green.eyed monster who goes about
| shooting and stabbing when nobody has ever even
| meditated so invasion Of his marital rights
Again; If men may punish adultery by the red
! right hand, why not women as Welt There are
| many Injured husbands, doubtless; are there not
more injured wives If i. be a sacred duty of the
wronged TO punish the adulterer BY death, why not
| of the wropged wife as well as the wrOneed hus-
bandl II her nerves are not so steady az to rem
der her expert with the pistol, may she not deal
out justice through the fundamentally Of poison
! Or must she be restricted to the dagger alone1
| And then: The inconvenience of the rule In
sisted on by the defense in this case would proba-
bly, be urged on behalf of the prosecution. We
should not like to guess how many injured husbands
and wives there are in city like this; but every
\ one will admit there are doubtless q good many.
Let suppose that all these being JUSTIFIED IN ad-
! vance in so doing, should sally out, revolver in
hand, to execute justice on the respective destroy
ers of their peace, we apprehend that our streets
would be rendered dissgreesble by the stencil Of
burnt powder, even to those who should not object
to the incessant popping and cracking and the
whiEzing of bullets by their ears. Sacred as are
the rights Of wronged husbands the right of the
innocent to traverse the streets in peace and safety
must not wholly be sacrificed to them; and if the
cuckolds are TO be accorded the privilege Of ssush
ter in our streets there should be set apart some
hour, if not hours, in the day, when this privilege
should be suspended, so that quiet people might go
about heir business with thoughts intent on other
themes than adultery, and with ears uuapprehen-
sye of bullets.
These are some of the obstacles which seem to
stand in the way of constituting adultery perfect
and universal justification Of homicide We do not
sy that they should overbear the adverse consider
alton, so patiently collected and foTciSl! adduced