Wilmington daily gazette., 1873-07-15
From tho baltimore Gazette. -..,
THE lATEsT MURDER.

When fatal duel or any other peculiar deed
of blood occurs south OF MASON and DIxoN's line
Northern, and especially New England, precisiAns
roll up their eyes In horror, and when the Inc Of
vision is restored see, or pretend to see, ia them
evidences Of slavery, or OF the aristocratic over
bearing spirit they attribute to those who once
were masters. As general rule, common, vul-
gar homicides being about equal on both sides of
the line, with occasional excess in New York,
no inference Is drawn from them. It's only in
crimes OF special nature, such as we have re-
fsrred to- that this sangoInary significance is de-
tected. This being 40, we meekly inquire to
what infrmity or idiosyncrasy Of Northern ma
ture are to be attributed their criminal and homi-
cldal specialities They are very special. They
are unique. On the principal applied to us of
the South, there must be reason for them. The
other day we referred, in different connection
to the PARKNAN case, now almost faded out of
memory, but it had its earmark plainly discern
ible. Is there any parallel, anywhere else, to q
learned Professor OF q University numbering and
cutting up one of its patronP, and, after washing
his hands in the sink where his victims limbs
lay sodening, going home to play whist with his
daughters and gently scoding them If they re-
voked or did not lead trlmps Alright he was q
learned man Of high education. This we repeat,
IS an almost obsolete case but we have fresher
oues. We do not care to dwell anew on the New
York parrlcide, where the actor was o youth of
| education and strict training, and would have
been the last to fight duel, or shoot anybody
who had a chance of shooting him. Again, It
educated commonwealth, dotted over with acade-
| mies and colIeges-in one of which Senator
PATTERSON was once professor, we believe, of
| ethics-ln moral New Hampshire, there is per-
fectly well organized "Thuggee," q band of secret
assassins, whose function it to put obstructions
| on railway tracks, and hurl to agonished deaIh
| sleeping passengers-men, women and children.
Thus far the perpetrators have eludod detection,
and 1t is impossible TO say 70 what rank of life
they belong or what level of iatellsct and educa-
tion they have reached. But the last and
strongest case is most significant of all We find
II rather calmly, almost colly, told in the New
York Tribune OF last Friday. At West action,
Massachusetts, an intelligent, well educated little
boy OF ten years of age, who we quote, Eat school
was at the head Of his class" while walking in q
wood, in TT OF rage actually murdered and al
most mutilated companion, aged three. Hs
said he did 1t because the little fellow "broke h
toys, and he aOas about tired ofit." After it was
| done and he was brought up for examination, We
| are told he held in his hand the FiFeside Com
pan'on (a popular Northern book for good chill
dren), sand occasionally read it, and read other
newspapers" now and then cutting slips out OF
those relating TO his case, and handing them to
| a person near him. Well may the Tribune say
"such boy is psychological curiosity" though
we cannot agree that there is "any fascination in
so small an assassin" 1t Is q curiosity, and we
implore our New England friends to give us
some solution of its growth. The Tribune attri-
butes 1t to an accult hereditary taint-some long
/ buried homicidHl ancestor-some murderous
| "grand-Sather five or SIX times great" This is a
very consoing doctriue for the present generation
and for generation, and for living Massachusetts,.
| We certainly shall not be as unlkind and unjust
to them as they are to US, and attribute Doctor
| WEBsTER's ripe tendancy to Harvard University,
or the immature freak OF Master 9EoRoE Ed
WARD CURTAIN to the New England primary
schools.