, 1877-10-07


every community in greater or less degree
for noted criminals is illustrated III conf
munication to the Now York Grala*'c, written
by personal friend of WILLIAM G. GILMAN,
the stock-broker, whose forgeries amount to
about half million Of dollars. Ihe writer
po,srs ont his soul in sympathy for his frlend'
and seeks to gloss over his crimes ~ draw
ing beautiful picture of his daily life Ho
sets ont with the general declaration that all
great forgers, from DR.. DOB down to Will
LAM G. GILMAN, are usually ''gent1e aud
engaging criminals." This being the case,
we ore not surprised to learn that ''if there
ever was person born into this hard world
with the tastes and instincts of gentleman,
that person was WILLIAM c. GILMAN
that st his aspirations for the artts-
ticallv beautiful were boundless and
exacting; that his disposition was SO
amiable and gentle that he wished to
include al people whom he loved, and they
were many, in the circle of those who were
to enjoy what he enjoyed,-a ditfusiTe, hos
pitablc soul. In d good sense, atiens appe-
tens, sui prcfitsus During tho time OF his
forceries we are informed that daily, month
ly, yearly, the mans distress became more
md more terrible This was obvious to his
intimates, but the why and wherefore of his
suffering remained concealed. Cu,4Sa Mtet els
rst notissin1a." The nlaudlin friend Of Mr..
WILLIAM G. GILMAN completes his handsome
coat Of Anglo-Latin yeneering as follows
There is little more for the public to learn about
wt7ttAM C. GILMAN. He pctook himself to the
fascinating crime OF forgery because only In this
crime did he gee the means OF compelling society
To recognize his demands. Tint these demands
were not legitimate, that his of1ense was great Gre
truisns which cannot he opposed. But the man is
explained. and, although we may none the less con-
denim, wc may to & certain extent forgive.
Now. what does MI this mean: Simply
TINT Mr.. GILMAN could II smile and smile
and be o villain If his friend had written
his tribute truthfully lie would have said
something to this effect: :" II ever there
WAS a person born into this world with the
tastcs and instincts Of n gentleman, that per-
son was WILLIAM G. GILMAN, aad If ever
there was O person who completely dis
craced and belied the tastes aud instincts
with which he was born, it WAS this same
WILLIAM c. GILMAN, for he was. born gen
tlenan and turned out scoundrel. Ills rs
pirat1ons for tho art1stically beautiful were
boundlcss and cxactng; so much so, in fact,
thatit was only possible to gratify them by
the noble art Of forgery. His disposition
WAS so aniablo and gentle that he wished al
| people whom lie loved to help him enjoy
what he stole from his associates III business.
He was di1fusive, hospitable soul so long
as the largess which he bestowed was
| f1ched from other peoples pockets. He
| betook himself to tho fascinating practice Of
raigine $3.50 in scrip to $4,000
and initiating other persons chirog-
raphy at the bottom Of checks and DRIFTS
because only in this way did he see the
! means of compelling society to recognize
| his demands The man is thus explained,
| and, a,.hough we may condemn him. we may
| to O certain extent forgive him, but it will be
| hard to forgive society, from whom ho stole.
| for not recognizing his beautiful, tender, and
emotional nature, and his artistic aspirations.
| He should, however, 60 to the Penitentlary,
| where, although the opportunities for diff
| fusive, hospitable soul are somewhat re-
| stricted, society will no longer be compelled
| to recognize his demands"
! Any other view Of 11r. GMMAS's case is
simply maudlin. His sympathizer in this
instance belongs to class in society which
seeks to make forgery, and all that class OF
crimes, respectable. This sympathy with
crime is the dry rot of society. 1t is almost
! Us bad rs the crime itself. The sympathizer
is criminally guilty to the extent that lis
sympathy induces the criminal to Violate the
laws; and if some punishment could be de-
| vised for this class of sympatlaizers with
| scoundrcls we should hear less of their
depredations upon the property OF Others
| --sEaaIIo0--u 051 r.pInA