Cincinnati daily press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1860-1862, 1861-03-02
sIssuIar Aaonalls. Of nIarltaI vIttao.

Tbe reader Of those useful chronicles Of
scandal and immortality, the newspapers, can
not have failed to note some remarkable
M other people extends TO woman such
venerous freedoms as the American people.
hbese are The freedoms Of innocence, how
ever. which prevail among us,-and com
monty nothing evil results. Filtration does
not disturb tie rsposs Of confidence. The
American husband Is as unsuspicious as he is
brave and true.
is betrayed.
foundly injured In his honor and affections.
He loads his faithful revolver with care.
He placessa Derripger and hunting knife
in his breast pockeS next his heart. With
tears, he demands from the erring one con-
fession of guilt
She writes this in shame and agony of soul.
The husband procures testimony to its gen.
uineness, folds it. and lays it away for future
reference.
Al this moment his dearest friend and
the destroyer Of. his peace, passes gaily in
the street.
The ipjnred husband hastens to encounter
him; and addressing him a brief speech of
keprOacb, opens fire upon him and continues
s10k kOult uOIltulo hlNbI lllo Is tANluCb.
Arrest follows and full newspaper expos
ure of the whole affair, with the details of
trial that ends in the acquittal of the assas-
sin amid the oppauses Of virtuous popu-
lace.
Or, perhaps the husband, after securiug the
wife's confession, merely proceeds to trial
for divorce.
In this case, the public opinion which
would have sustained him in murder, con-
demns him. There is nothing theatrical,
nothing heroic in suit for divorce. 1t ar
gues base spirit inthe injured husband and
an ignorance Of the true use of firearms
which is sbsolutsly shameful.
The little woman" appears ia court, tear
full and heart. broken. The evidence of guilt
is overwhelming against herr but it is never
theless proven that her confession has been
extorted by the vilest conspiracy,
The divorce is refused, and triumphal
procession escorts the little woman" from
the hall Of Justice. In her city, cannons are
fred dapd houses are illuminated. The ma
ton is convulsed with joy.
In eitler case, what becomes Of these peo-
pie as they begin to fade out of the public
. thought
Doubtless the husband goes and hangs him
self The wife retires with bruised spirit
to the secluson ofreligion?
On the contrary.
After brief period Of broken -heartedness,
the whole affair is reconciled by the reunion
Of the erring wife and the injured husband.
"'Tis wise, tits WE'LL but none the less pain"
To the good public which loves its sensa-
tions, and cherishes a belief in their pro-
priety. This course on the part of the he
roine and hero is calculated to destroy the
romance which invested them before.
1t is siupidy sensible and commonplace,
and il has not the merit of novelty.
We do not join in condemnation, we
merely note the anomaly Of our civilization
in these respects.
But for some salient features of the latest
scandal case, these reflections, which are
moral, might have been spared.
Doubtless the constant reader is already
acquainted with the case of the distinguished
legal gentleman, whose relations to the wife
Of prominent New York politician dis
satisfied the husband.
1t has been described at length in the
newspapers. Scene-an improper house
Tableau-the lover carried away half dead
the wife confronted by her brothers and hus
band (who has reluctantly ceased to beat
her paramount confessed every thing that
has been seen.
The denouement of all this will strike no.
. body with surprise.
The husband has forgiven bis wife, and
taken her sgsin to his heart and home. The
lover is dying of bis injuries.
Surely, all this is sad enough, but it is
very droll. 1t suggests that probably some
thing is wrong in our social system.
With an old.world morality, a new-wort
freedom and insouciance prevail in the rapid
cities where these terrible things occur
Have they ali the primitive customs will
none Of the primitive Yirtues2
Then that strange sense OF honor, which il
so quick and ssuguinary that it visits an un-
hesitating butchefy upon offender, what
sea- change does it suffer when it reconcilef
itself to wear the other cause Of its stain
upon its very heart?
And that public opinion which applaudt
murder, snd refuses encouragement to tht
husband seeking legal redress-that, too, il
very peculiar.
One is puzzled, indeed, to know, whethe
in some thiags We are not still savages
wearing merely the DISCUSSES of civilization
and attempting to throw them off wheneve
we feel deeply and earnestly, without the ei
feet to escape from their eneryating anC
weakening conditions. ..