Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1859-05-03
THE PRESS ON THE SICKLES AC.
QUITTAL.
GFrem the New York Tribune

We regard this as a most mistaken and mis-
chiev0us verdict-a sanction to the substitution
OF violence and vengeance for reliance on tho
regular and orderly redress of grievances
through the fundamentally Of law 1t ia a
verdict which carries this country long stride
backward toward the age when might was
right, and all wrongs were redressed by the red
hand or not at all.
Doubtless, Mr.. Sickles-no matter what could
be said to his prejudice-had been grieyousIy
wroDged by Key. That wrong was a palliation
OF, not an excuse for. the homicide which fol-
lowed. 1t would have justified the jury i'm re-
turning verdict of maIslaughter, or of muir
der In the second degree with a recommended
ton to mercy; IL did not and cannot Justify a
verdict of acquittal
On what ground could Mr.. Sickles' deed be
excused! On that Of insanity! Preposterous,
Ills counsel did not venture to call his intimate
friend and confidential adviser Butterworth
who cOunseled with him during tho greater
part of the day on which the homicide was CON :
mitted-frOm whose side he rose to arm himself
tor his deed of blood. The deliberate and cir
cumstantlai statement of Butterworth utterly
preeludes the idea of insanity on the part of
Sickles. Never was a man in trouble more col.
lected and thoughtful than was Sickles during
the morning which interyened between the
night Of his wife's confession and afternoon on
which he shot her paramOur. That the coun-
sci for defence saw and realized this is evident
from their declining to put Butterworth on the
stand.
The case, then, stands simply here: Mr. Key
and Mrs. Sickies were guilty of adultery: Mr.
Sickles was informed and assured of tho fact
and eighteen hours thereafter he shot the ur-
armed adulter again and again. battling all his
attempts to elude the deadly aim, and persist
ing in swapping pistols at the head Of the offen-
der rs he lay dying in the street. And Wash
ingtOn jury say this was right
Wa 4 -
was, Sickles did wrong in killing him; that he
ought not to have instituted himself an aven-
ger to the death Of the violated sanctities of
the marriage covenant. We make no account
herein of the alleged antecedents of SickIes. so
far as his private life is cOncerned-an inquiry
into which was properly ignored by the Court.
But we have no right to forget that SickIes was
lawmaker, and in that capacity under special
obligations to abide by and set an example of
respect for the requirements Of law Nor can
We forget that he had previously been a men,
her successively Of the Assembly and Senate
of our State, in neither Of which was his voice
ever raised In advocacy OF seyerer penalties for
adultery. We have abundant reason for our
belief that the laws against adultery as they
stand were deemed by him quite penal enough
until he learned that the crime had been com
mitted to his own especial prejudice, which
seems to have thrown a new light on the SUBJ
ject to his mind. ThereupOn he killed Key,
purpOsely, deliberately, on calculation; declar-
ing, hours afterwsrd, that they two could no
longer live on the same planet. Weeks after,
his friend and counsel, John Graham, went into
court with string of Scripture citations col
lated to prove that such homicide was not
merely justifisble, but laudable And the jury
would seem 10 have sustained the plea y.
The moral of this whole transaction is
Messrs. libertinesi be careful not SO much
what you do, rs to whose prejudice you do it,
Select your victims carefully from among those
who have no fathers, brothers or husband who
can WELD a club or aim a pistol-prey upon
the orphans the defenseless the lOwly or you
sin at the risk Of your lives. But choose pru-
IDENTIFY, and there are for you neither legal nor
illegal terrOrs-there is fear neither of the
prison nor of the bullet-there is, in short, per-
feet impunity
We protest against such Legislation, such ju-
risprudence. If adultery be q crime-as it
clearly is-let it be denounced and punished
hexibly. Let the seducer of poor friendless
orphan be punished just as surely and severely
as if the partner of his guilt were the wife or
daughter of n member Of Congress. No other
course can possibly exert good moral infiu.
ence. .r D.. 1s-. a Fa
We deplors especially the act of Mr.. Sickles.
because It plsinly tends to strengthen and con.
| firm a prevalent Southern misapprehens
with regard to Northern repugnance to duel,
| ing It is quite currently believed at the
South that Northern men generally decline
challenges not so much from n dislike TO take
| life as from dread of losing it, The circum-
| are calculated to strengthen that mistak en-
| presumption Bnt enough.
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