The Van Buren press., 1879-08-30
THE CONKLING SCANDAL.
A Gallant Defence of Kate, and a
Rrp at' Roscoe.
Henry Wattcrson's Block Island Letter ]
OcEAN-VIEw HOTEL, BLOCK lsLANDl
Annust LIZ lS1l

August 10, 1879.
Kate Chase was not pretty girl. She
babe fair to be handsome woman, as
she is. But twenty years ago she was
tall, gangling, pale faced, with fine ex
pressive eyes, and serpentine move
ment, not unlike that of Modjeska,
but less graceful. 1t is not tue she has
always been vicious. 1t is not true that
she duped rich fool into q one-sided
marriage. 1t is true that in n single Of.
fair at Columbus, she caused her father
infinite anxiety and trouble, and that du-
ring the last two or three years, her con-
nection with Conkling has been the oc.
easion of deal of ugly talk at WASH
ington. She is ambitious, restless, fond
of admiration, and used to it; power
IN her day, and not willing, with the close
of it, to sink into obscurlty.
make bold to give it as my opinion
that there mover have been any criminal
relations between her and Mr.. Conk ing
although Mr.. Conkling, out of base,
overweening love of himself, would
rather have it appear so, than confess
himself so great fool rs to have gone
such great lengths, and wrought moth
ing more than a mouthful Of kisses. |
know that that this view of the case is
exposed to some ridicule. Tho licen-
tious spirit of the time can SEQ nothing
but its own image behind the curt a
that conceals the presence of man and
woman. When in doubt" says this
spirit, I" call it adultery" Yet nothing
is commoucr than the reverse, even
where the proof seems clearest.
In this particular business it is worth
no ones while TO consider Gov. Sprague.
He is, and has long been, mere sot.
All that his wife says of him is within
the mark. 1t is. perhaps true that il he
had shot Mr.. Conkling dead. no jury in
New England could be found to. convict
him. But, as he did not, he sinks out of
account, as poor creature who il-treat-
ed his wife, and left her pretty much to
her own devices.
She is what she is--an cx-belle, de-
throned queen, still young, still fond Of
pleasure; not yet resigned to the loss of
position and prestige, and conscious of
augmented charms. Alone in capital
that has never been or-squeamish or
very rigid in its social limitations, Mr..
Conkling comes her wry. Mr.. Conkling,
the friend of her father, the Jupiter To.
mans Of her party; the most brilliant,
and, tpparenty,t the most dashing among
the political leaders Of the day an ar
tist in scenic effects; professional, II
not profcssed lady killer. She Is only
a awoman, after all, with woman's limit
ed knowledge and narrow sphere of
movement, and she thinks she secs, in
this protfercd intimacy DEPRESSION from
her domestic grief and a revival of at
least a part OF her former self. One
step leads to another; intimacy ripens
into familiarity and familiarity into
indiscretiop and indscretion into a
reckless disregard of appearances and
public opinion. All this may happen,
often has happened, without the literal
violation of the commandment which
women are most taught to consider and
respect. Not surely without loss Of
delieacy; Of real modesty; of that pure
and priceless flower of household love
and honor, which, worn by the matron,
clevates her into divinity in the sight
of her husband and her husbands
friends, but yet without the vulgar and
vulgarizing physical contact which is
never long in showing itself at the win
dow, and marking off the guilty woman
from the rest in every look and line, &C
ton, and uttrrance. Mr.. Sprague is
cold and discerning-a woman of the
world She may have been infatuated
by Mr.. Conkling's snowy talents. She
may have been ouraptured by Mr.. Conk-
ling's preference. But she must have
known that her power lay in resistance,
in reserving something to herself, in
drawing the line somewhere. All wo.
men, more or less, know that little, and
it is preposterous to believe that this
self poised, aspiring woman--the mother
of many children, and with passions
quite as lukewarm as belong TO her con-
dition and her class--would give herself
completely away, her hold upon her lover
included, and in all these years, show no
sign Of it in her manners and her aspect
to the rest OF the world.
For my part don't believe it. l be-
lieve her to be n vain, and to have al
been daring, and imprudent woman,
not a wanton, and must say that the
provocation she has had from her hus-
band, aud the course which Mr.. Conk-
ling has pursued, together with the
wretched plight in which know her now
to be, fill me with sympathy | never
expected to feel for her. She is the
daughter of one Of the greatest men this
country ever produced, woman in dis
tress, abused and brow beaten by her
husband, betrayed and deserted by her
lover, aud that is enough for me.
Why, do you know that l am credibly
informed that Mr.. Conkling was assured
by the New York papers that if he would
authorize a denial Of the whole thing, on
his honor as q man, and senator, they
would not only suppress the denials, but
unite in an Endorsement, and If needed,
defense, and that Mr. Conkting refused
God of the universe! where are the bi
bles, where are the stacks of bibles, so
high that the meanest wretch would not
mount them, as upon an altar, and light
the pile with his own hands, and amid
the flames beneath, swear to the honor of
the woman who had trusted him, and who
stood compromised by his act, until his
senses left him.
Mr. Conkling, with characteristic avoi-
dance of contamination to his gentleman
hood, has fed the field, lie declines to