Daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1865, 1860-02-20

Growth of immortality and Crime
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[Prom the Chicago Review, Jan. 2s.I
It will be readily conceded by those
who have read the Reiaew through its pre-
yious issues, that it has not published an
indecent item; has uniformly avoided
mentioning any of the glMring acts of
immortality and indecency which have
found place in the columns of the daily
Journals, while it has ignored all the 'nu-
merous scandals which have hecn SO
industriouslv circulated by those winged
messengers of wrong-the gossips. We
| thought nothing WAS to be gained for the
morals of the community by parading
before the eye the vices of our neighbOrs,
and not wishing to cater to the Uppetites
of the dcpraved, we have hitherto scrupu-
lously avoided reference to such matters.
We now arrive at different conclusion,
and believe that the good of society de-
mands an expose of those wretChcs, who,
for the qualification of their luSttnl nppe-
tites, dcsccrate homes, render miserable
through life their. victims, with whole
households of their friends, stain the fair.
cscutcheon of many innocent families, and
drag themselves into disgrace here and
pcrdition hereafter.
/ Nothing but the newspaper lnsh seems
to us to meet such cases, and since our
Chicago daily press lay bHrc only the
crimes, the Iollies and vices of the poor
and ,lowly, excepting where II political
| point is to be gained, and pass over case
ten thousand times, worse than the break
| ing up of den of intitmy by the police,
Of John kellys getting drunk, or Mrs. s.
| having row about the water supply,
knocks Mrs WIS eye into mourning; or
the case of the poor girl, who, friendless,
homeless and cold, ensuarcd by the
worlds love of show in dress, becomes
an outcast upon thesstreet-all of which
are detailed with the names, places and
uncomplimentary y'annotations. But when
Michigan avenue becomes the scene oFn
low and debasing crime, aud wien, a
mansion is proved to be a fouler den than
| the hurlots home, our contemporaries are
! silent, they have not word to say
The amenities of soeiesy directs them to
be silent. - Et@ 7l .s..t '-
1t is this silence, perhaps, which has
induced us to spread tile matter before
our readers. We have no respect for
adultery, because it is committed 10y the
elegant, the learned, the seemingly pious
and the wealthicst of the wealthy; there
fore, we unhesitatingly take7up this mat
ter, and shall continue to take up all
similar cases which reacl, us equally as
wellGuthenticnted as this. g. go
Our object is, by showing up these i'm
moralitics, to arouse, sufficient interest to
induce discussion, and to find, if possible,
! q solution of this great immoral question.
| Some one may rise upWhO can, tell Us why
j tits that as we are growing in intelligence,
| we seem TO be falling back into the licen-
tiousness of the dark ages; why is it that
| while the church is boasting of its mil
lions of heather converts, we are doing
worse than the uuchristianized cannihal (;
| Why is it, that in the very church itself,
many of the shining lights-divines, dea-
cons, and sisters-are the ones whose
| hearts are given over to lust and infamy.
| IS this the moral of our book learning p
! Is this the result of the mission of the fine
arts? There is something wrong in all
| this. 1t needs solution. Who shall give it?
Here, within the past year, two Chicago
| clergymen have parted from their tiocks
because of immoralitics prncticcd by them
among; the very ones whose souls were
confidcd to their pastoral charge; two men
in high, responsible positions in life, have
been guilty of'the seduction of their wives
sisters; one equally respectable had been
| guilty of immoral conduct with niece of
his wife-upon all of which our daily
| journals have not tlropcpd a word of re-
proNal. -sf ''' "'t'' 81
Two more of our churches arc now ugi-
tated by scandals. One, a canting villain
ruins a young girl; and the other, q case
where n married woman has consented to
receive the illicit embraces of IL member of
the same church. ..,-.
Almost within our ken, another disgrace
full scene'is trnnsPiring on this very lake
shore. Upat Racine the whole comnuni-
tyare agitated by the fragrant inmor'slity
of a clergyman of the Presbyterian church,
who, having been tGkenihto the home of a
happy family, has turned and stung his
entertainer, by robbing him of his wite-a
woman forty years old, and the mother of
noble, grown up daughters. We havoonly
to cast, our eyes across the Atlantic to find
| Mrs. Gprney running away with her foot
man: and thus We have the consolation
that we nre no worse nor better than our
neighbors. The world seems tohe full of
this species of crime. ae-.. ''''H
E.siaBut, for this case 1.-The city was startled
carly during the past week by the rumor
that leading banker had discovered his
wife to be holding Improper intimacy with
distinguished lawyer; and soon the story
got afloat, rs all bad ones will, and the
l = Il 80