Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1882-09-10
THE MURDER
or Addison by Garland, Near Lunenburg,
Va, and the Woman's Response
bility for It-What
A Southern Woman Thinks OF the Crime
which Should FIJI Every Honest
Heart with Shame.

"Poblic sentiment in the South is not
yet educated up 70 the point OF hoidainE
she murderer RS9 VINO hotewoftby n case has re-
| Gently occurred in Lunenburg, Va, which Illus
the code. An attractive young woman Of the
neighborhood had received attentions from two
| young men, Garland and Addison by name,
| Hearing riimor that Garland had been Boosting
| of flirting with her, she wrote him an insulting
| letter and handed IT over 20 Addison, who in
| dorsed 1t and sent 1t on with anote making him
| self responsible for its contents. meeting fol
| ammunition was exhausted, and Addison soon
| died Of his wounds 1t was old-blooded muir
der and the grand jury did their duty in indicting
Garland, but the trial proved little better than a
| farce, and the jury promptly acquitted MN aInid
| time but the day will come when Southern people
thus"
As Southern woman l bow nv head in
shame before the business of such rebukes;
| rebukes which the Northern pens only too
often find ample occasion TO administer.
"HeIl hath no fury like woman scorned,"
| nor has earth more. reeklessly dangerous
| power for evil. In the case which gave use
| to the rebuke copied above, the awful swift
ness with which one of the victims OF a
woman's frivolity was called npon to make
1 good his Endorsement" with his LIES blood
makes one wish that, among the other rights
and privileges women are clamoring for,
personal responsibility for their own frivo-
| lous utterances, and worse than frivolous &C.
tioDs, might be imposed upon them.
So long rs women OF the order OF this sat
/ tractive young woman" of Lunenburg can
make vicarious atonement for the charming
| piccadilloes that enter 50 largely into their
| notions of attraetIEenes-, Just so hong writ
| they continue to practice them with impunI-
ty, and to resent any structures upon them
| with an Indignation which is an outward and
| visible sign Of an inward and spiritual grace
| that is not always theirs.
There Is an arrogance about Southern
| women of certain class, born Of provincial
ism and nureed by ignorance. A sort of
| Chinese-like assumption OF celestial excel
| lence that is as hurtful to themselves as
4 ridiculous to outsiders. They love TO regard
themselves as the cherished objects of an
unreasoniDg and unreasonable sentiment,
/ yclept "chIvalry," which renders its expo
| nents idiotically willing to wipe out libel
With H-Sy io'o ~ 'Sit- -
| as daintily unequal to coarse (2) contact with
| the world! The fearless hand-to-hand fight
| with the "unspiritual god, circumstance"
| that is being daily and successfully waget by
their sisters of the sterner North thrills their
| delicate nerves with horror. They prefer TO
| "molder pieeemeal on the rock" rather than
| run the slightest risk of Sinking beneath the
| shockw In lack of new ideas, fresh i'm
| pressions or invigorating Innovations, they
| cling to the Evolutionary ideas OF their sec
| ton with the blind acceptance of unreasoning
II cllIQlOOO. Inc COQe Is dnOOS It's lIdul-
tions, therefore the code does not Inspire that
wholesome horror and loathing that its re-
quirements, calmly scanned, are calculated
10 inspire. They content to think and
have their being in the old unprecedented ruts
where women could play at Helen Of Troy
with degree OF success or failure modified
to suit the times and the improvements in
wsrlike weapons. They rather enjoy the
idea that men are ready to testify TO their
charms to the extent of making taro0ts of
themselves.
Not that they are vicious enough 10
calmly reason things out to the probability of
such awful fHaLes the one under consider
alton. The trouble is that they do not reason
at all. They regard with virtuous indigna-
ton the stories about the cold -blooded women
of old who would fold their jeweled hands
and calmly await the result of bull-bailing
or gladiatorial combat. Such things could
not be in our enlightened day. OH mad
the gods, etc. No one supposes that the |
attractive young woman of Lunenburg wished |
or expected that her favored sutton, man |
innocent even of the offense of having pro-
claimed her capable of flirting, would expi- |
ate her fault upon the field of honor ~ She |
did not ask that her tair fame should be vim |
dictated by the blood of the man she professed |
to love. She did not demand satisfaction at |
such extravasant figures. Oh! CHASTITY salts |
faction. Oh red-handed honor. Oh costly |
expiration. strong young life offered on |
the shrine of girls frivolity. A generous
heart stilled 10 soothe a woman's wounded |
vanity. Perhaps a mother bereaved and a |
home Swallowed because woman did not or
could not think.
If the hand SO ready to indite San insult |
ing letter" had belonged to a responsible
being, who can doubt it would have been
slower and more circumspect in its perform
ances? II woman's responsibility for her
own words and conduct could be fastened
upon her by a code more terrifying in its
requirements than the it.or-miss code now
SO easy of application, the reform in man
ners, the accession of dignity, the improved
circumspeclion in the use of the Eoglish Ian
guage would be marvellous in their rapidly
and comforting in their results.
1T is cold blooded murder" No; it was
a hot-blooded murder. A murder wrought
to its completion by woman's taking shelter
behind man whom she forced into peril of
his life.
When the fact of flirting becomes as abhor-
rent to women as the representation for it al
ready is, there will be less danger of charges,
false or true, less provocation to insulting
letters or the dernier resort of the pistol.
And when it ceases TO be a badge of
credit that man has "pinked his man.
upon the field of honor, or boast that he
is trigger man." or an amendment to the
code when editors advocate the passage of
an act of the Assembly "comm anding the
iheriff to conduct each duel at short range,
and to keep it up until fatal ending is Sc
:ured," which, par parentheses, reads as if
iuels must come, but woe be TO him by
whom they come, We will begin to feel |
glow of virtuous satisfaction.
The grand jury did us duty in indicting
Garland, but the trial proved little better
han farce" Even if the trial had not | ,
proven farce; if, instead of acquittal, con- !
fiction had been the verdict, there would still ,
lave remained unsettled the vital question
i the woman's responsibility-the power
Mighty to destroy. helpless to restore, rests :
nth her.
There is grander jury composed of the :.
ovoiced condolences of every right-think-
ng person. Before that jury she stands con-
icted. Their verdict is guilty; guilty of
murder in the first degree. There is a tri- Il
IN al more just, more unerring in its deci- v
ons than any tribunal of finite mans con- {
option. Bsforethat tribunal she can only I
lead "Father, forgive me, knew not what a
did," Even the plea OF ignorance and folly fl
MOTHER GOOSE |