The Newberry herald. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1865-1884, 1875-09-01

thieves and other felons who are his
| fellow-prisoners; he is to be treated it
; is supposed like a debtor. But the
I moral degradation remains, and it will
| be practically ineffaceable. I am told
! that his name will be stricken from
the roll of the clubs of which he was
a member, and that upon his release
from prison he will find every door
closed against him. Much surprise
was excited by the remark made by
the Judge III sentencing him, to the
effect that he might efface the stigma
of his crime and degradation by some
splendid act of service to his country
| in the future. But how can he dc
this if, as is now said to be certain, he
is to be cashiered from the army ''for
conduct uubeeoming an officer and a
gentleman :" Col. Baker was mag,
niGccut officer. Prince Frederick
Charles of Prussia not long ago said
that there we're "ouly four great cav
airy officers in Europe" and of these
| Col. Baker was one. He was esteem
ed throughout the whole army; the
men respected ard liked him; his fellow.
officers looked up to him. The COM
mander-in.c chief, the Duke Of Cam
bridge, was warmly attached to him.
On the very night after Col. Bakers
unhappy meeting with Miss Dicken'
son he was present at dinrer given
by the Duke; in fact, it was to attend
| that dinner he was coming up to town
After the dinner he made a little
| speech in honor of the Duke, which
80 charmed his royal highness that as
the colonel sat down he slapped him
on the shoulder and exclaimed, "Ba,
ker, you are the best fellow that ever
lived |" The affection which the
Prince of Wales bore for him is well
known, and, in word, there was no
| officer in the British army who was at
once so deserving aud SO certain of fu,
tare promotion and glory as this now
disgraced and ruined man. He has
thrown everything away, and for what!
I have heard some severe criticisms
upon the manner in which his coun-
sci conducted his defence-or, rather,
did not conduct it, for there was posi-
tirely no defence made for him. All
that they tried to do-and in that
they succeeded-was to prevent his
conviction on the graver count OF the
Indictment. Had he been found gull
ty of that it would have been felony,
and be would have been sent to penal
servitude. The counsel for the de-
fence showed a nervous desire to avoid
casting any reflections upon Miss Dick
enson and in this they were probably
prudent. But still it is probable that
the young lady was not averse to lit
tie iunocent Irritation with such a
handsome and agreeable man; she
perhaps thought that she had made a
conquest of him, and that it might re-
suit in marriage. He had not given
her his uame-she was probably under
the impression that he was unmarried;
and she perhaps conversed with him a
little too freely. He seems to have
mistaken her character as she did his;
what he was thinking of was very far
from what she was contemplating.
Of course, all this is no moral excuse
for the man; he has got exactly what
he deserved And now I wonder
whether. had these things happened
in America under exactly similar cir.
cumstauces, justice would have been
done so quickly and so perfectl y? In
America, perhaps, one Of the brothers
of Miss Dickinson would have shot
Col. Baker, but, had the affair gone
to the courts, would it have ended as
it has? I doubt it; but perhaps l
am wrong. [ hear it suggested to-day
that when Col. Baker comes out Of
prison he may go off to Egypt and Of
fer his services to the Khedive. That
is not at all a bad idea. His offence
would, perhaps, be thought little.of in
Egypt, and the Khedive might thank
heaven for the calamity which had
brought such valuable accession to
his army.
Since then, however, a late letter.
correspondence of the N. Y. Tribune
tells US that Col. Baker has not been
cashiered, but that he has or will be
allowed to resign; that instead of for
feiting it, he will likely be allowed the
value Of his commission; that his
imprisonment scarcely deserves the
naue, he being allowed every magma
bic privilege in his comfortable quar-
ters. All these things, we are told,
have caused great indignation, and
illustrate ",he contempt Of military
officials for public opinion"
1t is not long since Major Har-
bord of the English army was cashiered
for cheating at cards. 1t is hinted
that the war office have allowed him
the value Of his commission. So that
it does seem that military officials do
have contempt for the law in En-
gland, and it might be said that they
have no regard for the reputation of
the British army.
Official List Of Patents
Issued by the United States Patent