Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1875-05-19

greater than those which belong to Il on th,
supposition Of his innocence. But If IN,
popular verdict, and the verdict Of the jury
also, should be, "not proverbs We incline
to think il viii bc-yet that verdict does not
acquit the defendant from n series Of foolish
and sorrowfu mistakes, that in him can be
scarcely less fatal than sins. lie could not
have been caught in this tangled network Of
base charges and equivocal confessions; Of
slanderous reports and dismal subtcrfugos
and conccaments Of cruel and terriblecom-
plant, and passionate regrets and rcmorsc,
while in the simple and faithful discharge Of
his duties as a Christian pastor and teacher
lie may be guilty only Of weakness in the
face Of dark and relentless conspiracy; Of
miseral lc iufrmity and cowardice in the face
Of shameless slanderers; but his weakness
is of Tat sort, and has made such expression
Of itself, as must seriously diminish his in
huence, and the honor in which he has been
held in the minds Of so many men. We do
not think his guilt has been proved. twill
be difficult to find any twelve mon taken at
random, who can honestly believe that il is
proved. But that his own words have been
his most damaging foes very few will dcnyi
that his own weakness, in his long connection
with such men and women as have been his
chosen associates and confdants, has been
his most injurious enemy, his best friends
must admit We have always been m-
structed by the examples Of history, that no
splendor Of intellectual endowmeuts could
guard a man against the lowest aud vilest
appetites. Nor does history fail to assure
us that sad infrmities sometimes exist in
connection with the most brilliant moral and
religious teachers. But no reflections from
morality on the part Of the most illustrious
men, no wickedness aud cowardice on the
part Of the most famous teachers Of truth,
have ever obliterated the distinction be-
tween shame and honor Aud he who Of
tends against integrity, or wisdom, orhonor
whoever he is, is without praise He may
continue to speak, but to thousands his voice
has lost lis sweetest charm and its diyinest
eloquencc. Invective and invitation from his
lips are rayished of their old pathos and
power.
The practical closing of this case win be
hailed by all men who have public and pr-
vate virtue much at heart. The injury it
has done TO the moral sentiments of the com
munity, and especially to the young, who
have fed prurient curiosity with its pain
full details, is incalculable. 1t has been a
fountain of demoralizing influences. Neither
the vindication nor the condemnation Of the
defendant can compensate for the injury the
whole matter has done to the moral sense Of
the nation. No punishment of guilt and no
justification of innocence-if either were
possible in a civil suit for damages ouldre-
preceding statements, its noisy shoutings
back and forth of vilest charges, has
wrought in the sanctuarics of individual and
social life. 1t has brought the horrid shapes
and terms of the grossest vice into the famil-
lar conversations Of households, of salons
and of slums. For a whole year the wisest
and the meanest OF men, the purest and the
lowest of women, the young and the old,
have found themselves almost forced into
the discussion of a common, and hurtful sub
ject, v tn which the pure could not be fami-
liar W hout effacing the blush and charm of
purity, and with which the vile would be IA
miliar only to sharpen their own iIlsense
and unholy desire. We have discussed it
but little, and we dismiss it gladly. What
ever the verdict of the jury may be, we shall
chronicle it without shade of pleasure or
regret.