, 1877-03-18
meal prepared By our municipal authorities
might be exceedingly, disngreeab1e if It
should at any future time be set before us.

| MEa1 PttpAItA ~ oA1 '4A40AooAF0A eAsAA7A4"A~
might be exceedingly, disngreeab1e if
should at any future time be set before ua
| THE JONES MURDER.
The public are already familiar with tn
grotesque and wretched details Of the mur
der of S. s. JONES by PIE, the. injured
husband,-a murder clearly enough growing
out of sickening combination of Spiritual
ism, and free-love, and personal immortality
Il. is not necessary, however, to trace tht
sudden death Of JONES to Spiritualism- That
apparently, p1ayed no part in the work o1
seduction, and it would be as unjust te
fasten any responsibility upon it as it would
be to lag the burden Of the BEEcHER scandal
upon Congregationalism. There is, how:
ever, great principle or fact underlying the
whole matter that is worthy Of considera.
| ton.
Uudeniably, the killing Of JONES was mur.
der: By the relations Of the law no man has
right to murder another even for the seduc-
ton Of wife. The law does not openly per-
nit it to be done. II does not call it self
! defense or justifable homicide. The statutes
stamp it as murder; but juries always have
| and always will regard murder under sucl,
circumstances es instifable, It is the un-
written law of the people which cancels the
| written laws Of the lawmakers. It is per-
| 1nps impossible to find in the criminal
records of this country an instance where q
| man has been hanged for killing the selucer
of his wife More or less punishment has
sometimes been inflicted, but, as 8 rule,
none at all. The motives in this
sad drama are very apparent If the
statements Of tbs implicated parties can be
relied upon. Tha etIortof q morning eontem-
porary to trace soma similarity between the
JONES murder and tie HASFoRD murder, and
Of the latter. is absurd. There is nothing in
common between them, either in circum-
stances or in relations. The confession Of
Mrs. PKE was the inspiring and controlling
motive that led the half -crazed phrenologist
to avenge his injuries, If this confession be
true, the work OF JONES in wrecking the hap
piness Of the PnH family was one of the
most cold d-blooded, most deliberately planned,
aud most systematically managed villainies
on record He laid his plans and worked at
them patiently, determinedly, and de1ib-
erately, for weeks and months, by taking
advantage of her sympathles, by 1n-
gratiating himself into her affections
through hypocritical acts of kindness, by
aiding her in her literary projects, by
exerting his strong wiu~power upon a
naturally weak woman, until he had &C.
complshed his purposes. and then he main
tained the liaison so long es it suited his
wishes, and apparently SO long as his other
mistresses were willing. The utter hypocrisy
of the man is shown in the fact that, at the
very time he was working out this de-
iberately- planned seduction, he was preach
ing against free-love:w was denouncing Hull |
aud other notorious free-love advocates, and
had brought himself into libel suit for
charging Hrs. WooDHu11 with the very i'm
moralities be Was practicing
On the other hand, if the testimony Of !!
three of the witnesses before the Grand |
Jury is to be relied upon, Mrs PEE is a per-
son Of very unsavory reputation, one
whom it would be an utter impossibility to |
5EAuECa. oAt u AAESV "2tAE91Co Aeok0Et
that she held her CHAINS at figure so
worthless as to recall stories of travel
fifty or sixty years ago among the
natives of the Sandwich. Islands. Under
these circumstances, should they b. estab-
ished beyond the possibility Of doubt,
much Of the Nervousness of JONES otfense in
he eyes Of the public will be removed, and
t.. |
,dium attached to PRE.
What proofs may be establish ed On the
rial we do not know but this much is Ger
ais, that, if the Court and jury believe that
I1rs. PIXIES confession il true, and that it was
'oluntarily made, P1KE will not be in any
|nnger at their hands, if thousands of
'recedents are Of any aveil- Certainly,
PIKE is tried by jury OF twelve
married. men, and makes good this confes-
ion, be will be cleared. This is not pal
ation Of murder. There are 10 excuses or 3,
pologles for murder; but, where man COM .
1its adultery with woman under such cir
umstances as are detailed in Ma. P1kE,s ,
the world decides that he has .
ommitted a crime fully equivalent to mur- :
er. If the law punished the seducer !
18th imprisonment for life, and there ,
ere any hope that the penalty could
e enforced, the case would be dif-
rent, and men would not be so apt to
Ike the law into their own hands but the =
'medy in 3 suit for damages is so grossly :.
adequate for the offense that the man who
sorts to it is considered by society as y
avenly, mercenary wretch. So long as :.
ere is no law or statute adequately punish :,
6 the seduction Of a wife, SO long will hus- :
.nds take their revenge in their own way,
I'd society will acqnit them. Apparently, it
under such circumstances as these that