Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1877-01-19
oughly exploded Grants administration has
finished il. Let us have men, whether they
were soldiers or civilians.
A Public Duty.

Rev. Il. ID. Hopkins was bound over in
$1,000 bonds TO answer in county court the
charge Of forgery. 1t is sad case, for
man who was for years a business man in
this place to be held for trial on such
charge as that Of forgery. Undoubtedly
the other financial transactions Of Mr.. Hop.
kins had silent but imperceptible influence
in making up decision in this case. Peo-
pie reasoned that II no could do as he had
in other matters this might be true of him.
We leave the courts to try the case and dc.
eide the question, but there is one thing to
be borne 10 mind Mr. Hopkins guilt, if
he be proved guilty, is very serious. Had
the charge been brought against man in
the lower social strata Of society, the public
sentiment would demand just punishment,
but the eminent position Of Mr.. Hopkins
socially, as we'll as his position as n minister
Of the gospel, iuclines many to shrink from
the idea of incarccrating such q man II al
most revOlts at bis suffering the penalty for
q crime such as would be inflicted on others.
That sentiment is natural we confess, but 1t
is vicious for all that; it is false aud dan.
gerous. Mr.. Hopkins social position should
have furnished him with principles and a
stimulus to an irreproachable character, such
as do net come in such measure to a man
lower down 10 the social scale. Superadded
to this was his religious culture, which not
only recognized the existence of conscience,
but developed the sensitiveness, the sagacitY,
the intention, and the accuracy Of that con-
science. We know that the North Ameri'
can Review took the position a few years
ago that the life work and study of the min
lister of the gospel did not of itself tend to
develop the purely religious life of the min.
ister, which only proved that the writer in
the Review knew nothing about it. The
man who gives vigor Of his matured man
hood, the strength Of his years, the fervid
zeal, the noblest enthusiasm, the warmest
impulses Of his heart, besides the fulness OF
his intellectual powers to the careful, pa
tieut, devout study of holy scripture, thereby
does secure for himself clearer and more
accurate knowledge Of right aud wrong: hi
conscience is better trained and thereby
more reliable in its instincts, and his type o.
manly character should be CORRESPONDENCE
high.
Hence unless it is assumed that Mr.
Hopkins was hypocrite or an impostor-;
suggestion which we have never heard from
any source-instead Of his eminent social
aud religious position demanding a lighte
punishment, it really demands more severe
one. His opportunities for moral culture
we're far greater than those enjoyed by mos
men correspondiugly great were his oblga
tions to observe with rare fidelity those prin
ciples of honesty which are current among
men; correspondingly great was his duty t.
preserve intact and inviolate the moral law
Of right which is above all legal enact
ments.
We owe him no i'll will, he is stranger
to US, but we rather pity him as most un
fortunate man his wife and family we pitt
more deeply, but the fabric Of human society
the foundation principles Of our Christian
civilization, must not be imperilled becaus
we sympathize with the man; because W
most deeply pity the gentle, affectlonat
wife and sorrowing children. The crime
and its expiration on the gallows, Of Major
the Wilton wife-murderer, has cast a dar
shadow over all the future OF the lives O
his innocent children; but justice demanded
the penalty, and the moral instincts Of SO
ciety could be satisfied only with the execu
ton of the law. SO let Mr.. Hopkins bav
fair trial, and then if proven guilty tn
full penalty of the law must be inflicted
!, II those eminent in their social and relig
ious culture and positions are not to kee
the law, who shall We write not to Civ
pain to any, but to guard against the inhu
ence of false sentiment, aud partial par
alysis of the moral convictions, for the peri
in these respects arises from just such case
as this Of which We speak.