Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1881-07-23

THE PRACTICAL WORKINGS OF AN pNwH0LE-
SOME DOCTRINE.
The unique document published below is the
| answer Of Franklin Burlingame to his wife's
petition for divorce from him. The plaintiff,
Mrs. Buriingame, bases her application for
divorce upon the grounds of desertion, ill-treat
ment OF herself and children, and of general i'm
morality in theory and practice on the part Of
Buriingame Burlingame has conducted the
news stand In the Capitol corridor near the
main entrance to the hall Of Representatives for
years, and his wife has assisted him. Some
months ago, while Mrs. B. was quite i'll, Burlin-
game moved all the furniture from the house
they occupied IN Sherman's row on F street,
between LIST and I'd northeast. Burlingame's
1ree-loye ideas and practices had, it is alleged
been the cause of continued trouble between
husband and wife, He had taken fancy to a
female fOrtune-teller and insisted upon sharing
MS home with her. To this Mrs. B. objected,
and finally he concluded to takeup his abode
with the fortune-teller. In leaving his wife
burllngame told her he had no complaint to
make against her, but they had been married
twenty years and her magnetism was exhausted;
tnat ne wanted to find q female companion of
the magnetic kind. Some Of the neighbors
learned OF Burlingames desertiOn of his wife,
and provided her with the attention her con-
dltlon required. The next incident in the fam
Ivy difficulty was an attempt of Burlingame's to
take iorclble possession Of his youngest child, a
boy ABOUT eight years of age. He handled the
child SO roughly that some of the neighbOrs
lnterfered The result was that Burlingame got
knocked down and the child escaped. The
charge made by the wife that Burlingame abuses
ms children can be substantiated by several
!amllles residing in Sherman's row. Since Bur-
lingame left his family his wife has had no home
OF her own. The children have been staying
with neighbors near her. When the youngest
boy first left his father the members of the
family into which he was received say he was
literally covered with bruises and welts, and had
besides several running sores caused by beatings
and klckings his father had administered. The
people OF Sherman's row generally pronounce
Burlingame crazy.
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF
COLUMBIA
Sarah A. Burlingame)
Franklin s S; Equity No. :"
To the Supreme Court Of the District Of Columbia,
Holding an Equity Court for said District:
THE DEFENDANT REPLIES AS FOLLOWS:
LIST. That his legal residence is in the town of
Warwick, in the state of Rhode Island That
he came to Washington as a soldier in the Union
army. and has since resided here because he has
most OF the time been employed by the US. gov
eminent.
I'd. That he was married, and has Children as
Sd. The defendant has no wish to attack any
statement the plaintiff makes in relation to her
conduct during the twenty-One years of their
married life, and sincerely regrets that he is
required to defend himself from any attack on
the part of the plaintiff He is compelled to
deny the charge of desertion contained in this
count, and to assert in the most positive and
truthful manner that it is unjust and untrue, and
that the idea of desertfon was never entertained
by and is very repugnant to him.
o,,ufo l,a thofoh o,,f ir1,f
ago the defendant abandoned the Christian
church, became an Inidel, a Spiritualist, and
"believer in the sO-ealled doctrine of Free Love.
and from that time ceased to be either good
husband or kind father" The defendant ad-
mits with profound satisfaction that he ''aban-
dOned the Christian church, (somewhat longer
ago than the time named); that he ''became an
lnfidel," a Spritualist and a believer in Social
Freedom. He, however, denies that "from that
time he ceased to be either good husband or a
kind father" and claims that these proofs of
moral, intellectual and spiritual growth have
been priceless aids to him in all the relations of
life. The defendant AYERS in this connection that
the plaintiff also abandoned the Christian church
at the same time. and has not. to the best of his
knowledge and belief, been inside of one since
that she also became, and has ever since been
known as an Infidel, a Spiritualist and believer
in Social Freedom. And as sufficient proof of
this, the defendant cites the fact that our young
est child, now nearly years of age, is named
after one of the grandest Intidels and Spiritual
lists Of modern times.
5th In this count the defendant is charged
with "brutal and ferocious" treatment of the
children, and threats of personal punishment to
the plaintiff at times when she interfered in
the.r behalf BRUTAL and ferOciOus'' are very
repulsive aud expressive words, and excite in
the mind of the defendant feeling of deep alb
hOrrence. They are grossly unjust and untruth-
full in their application, anI the defendant be-
lieves would be repudiated by the children them
selves in an unbiased expression OF opinion.
The views Of the plaintiff and defendant upsn
parental discipline have clashed, and this fact
has greatly increased the difficulty of attaining
to the best methods of training the children. The
defendant has never punished the children when
he would not gladly have received more severe
punishment himself if the object could as well
have been attained in that way. While in the
opinion OF the defendant the children excelled in
obedience, respectfulness, affection, modesty,
good manners, &c, they were afflicted with two
gross and perniciOus vices which were intensely
aggravating to the defendant, and very destruc-
tive to themselves. These exasperating vices
defendants business with the most vicious and
perplexing results. The necessity of suffering
the consequences and the responsibility of cor.
recting these devices devolved almost entirely
upon the defendant. The plaintiffs contribution
to this very trying branch Of domestic life con-
sisted mostly of theory and criticism, which as
often as they were put to the test were acknOwl-
edged by the plaintiff herself to be utterly futile
and valuelesS.
9th. This count is composed OF charge of the
habitual use OF vulgar, profane and blasphemous
language in the presence of the children, an ac-
count of the efforts of the plaintiff to cOunteract