Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1871-03-16
(" The Wrong Haven for Bowen"

1eSiSidtoiS, so w dSuiuSIOl, Is peISSCuteu
on account of alleged bigamous prac-
tees. Wesay alleged, because he ap-
pears to be on trial, or giving bail to
appear, or waiting verdict most Of the
time, so that the little modicum Of the
work he can give to. his seat in the
House seems hardly worth while; but
nothing definite ever comes of it. At
ter protracted turn in bigamy pro-
ceedings, and an eclipse by reason of
the shadow cast upon his brightness by
the many women interestedin his lovely
career, Bowen, M. c., emerges, puts on
fresh shirt collar, and takes his seat in
the House of Representatives as serene
as if he were not the prize of contend
ing beauties, the male Helen Of Ho-
meric campaign. Here I am" says
Bowen to himself, when he is left to
himself, and sits in the hall of wisdom
among his homogeneous peers :" here l
am, and wonder who will come after
me next. Bowen is not to blame for
being attractive; he was born so. But
we question if he is not too attractive
for a member of Congress. The House
isa tolerably conspicuous place. Bowen
cannot sit in his seat without being the
target of a hundred female eyes, half Of
which may be eyes that have looked on
him before and longed to have him for
their own Bowen; nay might not Bowen
rise any day to question of privilege,
and, laying his hand on his waistcoat,
look up to the gallery and say, 1 have
feeling, Mr.. Speaker, that 1 am mar
ried, more or less, to half that gallery,
and l should like to have it cleared. ;"
Such a man as Bowen draws too many
visitors to the gallery There must be
some other sphere of life in which his
attractions would interfere less with the
public welfare.
We are not seeking, by mentioning
this mitigating circumstance Of this
fascination to defend Mr.. Bowen in
bigamy, if he has committed it, or even
in polygamy, if he has attempted to
practice that without its accompanying
religion, for we have no opinion Of an
unreligious bigamist or polygamist; but
what we desire to inquire is, if Mr..
Bowen was bigamist, why should he
desire to be a member Of Congress
also? If he had led life that would
render his old age liable to suits by
various women for the possession Of his
temporal frame, what the world recog
nizes as the outward and visible Bowen
why should he get into such con-
spicuous place for the exhibition of his
penitence as the House of Representa-
tives? Did he imagine that it is kind
of pillar of st. Simon? We should
however, be disposed to leave Bowen,
B. G., to the law, and Bowen, M. c.,
to legislation; but he appears now in a
new character, to which our attention
is called The present Mrs. Bowen
writes to the newspapers in depreciation
of the persecution of her husband, who
is described as thoroughly repentant
of the past, and let us hope, anxious
about the future. He had been an
orphan boy without relation or friends,
had drifted into the company of gam
blers and prostitutes, and had lived
their life until it pleased the good God
to lift him from the mire, and stir with
in him the spirit of reformation and
publication. 1t is no discredit to a
person to be an orphan, unless it is by
his own fault, like the unfortunate
Frenchman who murdered his father
and mother, and then pleaded orphan
age in mitigation of his sentence; but
there is nothing in the constitution of
our country encouraging one to be an
orphan, bigamist, and member Of
Congress at the same time. We are
informed, also that when he last mar
1ied, it was with firm resolve to lead
a temperate, studious and honorable
life. For months he has adhered to
this resolution, we also read, and yet
he continues to be persecuted by
prosecutions, just as if he had not re-
pented. We exceedingly regret that
Mr.. Bowen had a bad start in the
world, and that he has until lately led
a disgraceful life; and we rejoice that
ne is resolved upon reformation-even
if, we were about to say, it costs him
half his wives. But we remember
that it is the plurality of wives that is
the very thing in question. We sincere
ly deprecate persecution of one repen-
tant. In all kindness, we should say,
Go, Bowen, and sin no more. But
don't go to Congress. Sit down in
some inconspicuous place for while,
and grow in grace and in the knowledge
of monogamy, before you appear upon
a large stage of action and Aaunt your
penitence 1t is credit to you that
you have left the company of gam
blers and prostitutes" but it is no
recommendation to Congress that you
were in that company so recently.
Really, Congress is not house Of
refuge, nor a reform school, nor
Magdalen asylum for men-however
much it may have that appearance at
times.
Let us not get confused. 1t IS still,
even in this world of complex relations
and natural selections, better to have
married one woman at time, than to
have married four simultaneously, and
to have repented of three of the mar
riages. An outraged law will exact its
penalty one way or another, and no
penitence can altogether stay it, This
is an era of rather soft sympathy for
criminals, and we never feel like rebu-
king it when the criminal is modest
ard is anxious to make neither his sins
nor his recantation too conspicuous.
We must try, however, to preserve
place in the House Of Representatives