The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1874-01-20

So long as there is public sentiment tao
lily unprotesting against the carrying of
weapons, we must be prepared for such
tragedies as that at Anderson. So long as
there is no law to compel, and no sentiment
to condemn, men will go forth murderers in
heart, because prepared to take life. There
is no human provocation which can justify
man in lifting his hand in murder against
his fellow. There is no instincto of manliness
which does not revolt from slaughter of
this sort. There is no cause, or pretext or
provocation which iustifes man in playing
the part of executioner. If man carries
deadly weapon he is a murderer in his heart.
OF the poor, half crazed victim, lying in his
gore in Anderson yonder, only the tenderest
words can be spoken. He WAS mad
when he did the fatal deed which brought
swift and cruel destruction upon him. His
soft heart had been wronged, his kind ma
ture warped by tbe.persistent cruel maligni-
ties of his calculating, vindictive enemy.
Incapable of deceit as he was devoid of poll
cy or constraint, he saw the fabric of his
life work sapped at the root by the
heartless, baseless calumnies of an
unprincipled adventurer. He realized only
that the good name which he had by con-
tinuous effort won i'm the world and the
patrimony OF honor that he had laid by for
his family, were tainted by the fetid breath
of envy and malice. He knew that his re.
lentless enemy had stabbed and cut the fine
chords OF LIES reputation, whose delicate
tissue may be healed but never re-
stored. He could only think of. this
and his ardent spirit, too quick to see the
palpable consequences Of even Temporary
disrepute, was not strong enough TO carry
him to that abiding trust, which strength
ems the weak and comforts the afflicted. His
only thought was that his reputation once
blemished by charge so circum-
stantial could never be restored to
it's natural luster, even the
clearest attestation of probity and
innocence. With a ferocity OF hate
which seems to have deepeHed in Intensity
with each shadow Of vantage, his enemy
pursued him. His most amiable weaknesses
were tortured into sins; his lavish and ele-
CANT hospitality turned into reproach; his
constant charities and incessant efforts in
the public behalf distorted, and his finan-
cial calamity magnifed into peculation
and ruin. Inmeshed in network
so diverse and impenetrable, only the COOL
est brain and most skilled wording could
have extricated himself from the entangling
meshes. Alas. poor Tom Stilwell was not
that. His brain was never cool. His hand
and heart were ever ready for generous
Decd his tongue always first to record the
the kindly sentiment. He was as incapable
ofmalice as the tender child, and as deficient
in craft. Consider an ardent, impetuous,
honest heart like this smitten with
the palsy OF undeserved reproach
Think of the hot passionate protest, the i'm
patient intolerance with the very thought of
delay, the rash desire of instant reparation,
the terrible craze of revenge. In this con-
dition. worked up to frenzy ofprotest and
horror, he seeks the first means for redress
that come to the blind, the unreasoning and
the insane. 1t is hard in this We I'D. for any
of us to be brought face to Fl - with the
ruin of our life work-to stand before the
fragments reared in days and nights and