New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1873-08-20
savagely treated in Newly at any time or

savagely treated in New-York at any time or
wherever men and women exist.
Il is Bow Street case of a girl aged IS years.
neatly dressed and describing herself as a
servant She told the magistrate that she had
been in service for some time, and bad been
in one situation for over four years After
ward she went to a miliner's shop, and while
there found a sovereign on the floor
and wrongfuiy kept it. When her mas
ter asked her if she had found it, she
denied the fact. But conscience got the
better of her, and voluntarily she confessed
the finding and restored the money. Did her
brute of master credit her with this hon
esty, all the more creditable because 1t was
somewhat tardyf Will it be believed that ne
actually prosecuted the girl for theft, and thus
caused her to be imprisoned for three months
After this she was turned out OF jail to live az
she could If she had not been an uncommonly
good girl she would have betaken herself
to the street to earn the wages and TO
eat the bitter bread of prostitution. In
stead of this. she found another place and
was working in it industriously when her old
master found her out, sought an interview
with her new employer, told him the story
and thus again sent her back to destltutlon'
for she was Immediately discharged. Moreover,
this inexpressiby mean fellow whose head,
if we were pugnaciOus, it would give us
thrill of pure felicity to punch, told the young
woman that he "would get her out OF every
"stuation she obtained" There g the dig
nifty of Human Nature for you! A htte
lower than the angels is this cockney speci-
men If 30, it must be the fallen angels
But our opinion of Human Nature comes
ND again bravely when we read that Mr..
Vaughan, the sitting magistrate to whom the
girl had applied for advice, waxed exceedingly
angry when he heard the story. He could nj
do much but he Immediately sent Tor Buck,
"the s,lmmoning officer" He ordered
him to 90 to the man complained Of and
Uniform him that every person had
ga right to redeem the character which ne OF
:" she had lost" Bravo, Mr.. Vaughan! Tor
these are brave words to be uttered upon the
Bow Street bench. We trust that the DOiu
Buck carried them faithfully, and even inter
polated little vigorous swearing upon MS
own account. The recording angel, we are
sure, would be deaf to such expletives. TEL
"himn added Mr.. Vaughan, " that he Is ex-
"posing himself to the possibility of an ac-
4" tion.n That is the way to talk to such man
miliners! Damages eco" is good physic
for such cases of ossi6cation OF the heart!
We have told this story because it has
moral for New-York. A sinner deslrous OF
reforming, and thwarted in his efforts to
reform by the over-righteous and the super
respectable, the unfeeling and the unforgiving,
presents one of the saddest and most dlscred-
table of spectacles in a world which is full
of SUCH Even very dishonest men and women
may be won back to honesty by forbearance
and kindness and encouraging assistance. But
the very dshonest-that is, the thoroughly hard
ened and depraved-are not so common as we
are apt to think, even in this wicked age
Most natures pass through life oscillating be-
tween the extremes of right and wrong, and
we have the best of authority for believing
that there is no man who llveth and sinneth
not. But it is hard for us to compre-
bend the cardinal Christian doctrine OF
forgiveness, partly because there Is a
doctrine which is both Christian and heather,
of Justice. We forget naturally that
of the divinest justice mercy is a necessary
constituent. Our eyes are dimmed 10y passion
or prejudice by timidity or selfshness, so that
we cannot see the point at which penalties
should melt into pardon. And yet with all our
furious and fussy virtue, we are the most COM
nlaisant of Chesterfelds to great sinners and
TO sin gold-plated We shake woman roughly
by the shoulder who has stolen bit OF
bread, possibly bit of cheap finery-how Is
il with the self-cOnstituted back-paymasters
who write M. C. or U. S. S. after their
names7 We forget that the woman may be
reformed, and that the gentleman in broad
cloth may be past redemption. He DULLES us
into forgiveness, and she =! Let u.s. for the
present, at least drop the subject.