Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1886-12-18
THE FATE 0E CLUVERIUS.

A close consideration of the Gu
verius case will not oe pleasant t.
some, and others may not like az
plain a deduction of facts as we arr
about to make. Guilty or innocent
Cluverius will no doubt be hung fol
the murder of Lillian Madison. i
he is guilty of her murder, the gull
of her seduction is upon him, to con
ceal which in the interest of his mar
riage to some rich lady led to hel
murder. There is no positive proof
of the charge of seduction and muir
der, but the circumstantial evidence
is strong. 1t was one of those cases
which aroused public Indignation
and every person turned detective
and witness. Vengeance called fol
victim. The right one or not
Cluverius will have to answer.
THIS truth stares us in the face
The crime of seduction is common
murder follows frequently; moral
and social death the seduced rarely
escapes, while in fifty cases out of a
hundred the seducer loses nothing
he rather gains in reputation; in
forty cases ont of hundred he may
have to face the civil law in some
way, though good fee will nearly
always save him, or if he has moth.
ing at all he comes out clear in some
states, in others ii may be a fine OF
short Imprisonment; in the ten
cases wanting to make the hundred,
nine pay the penalty by marriage OF
money, and the tenth is either shot
or hung.
Another truth equally staring and
glazing, is: why public sentiment,
popular indignation and the forces
of the law smile with indifference
upon ninety-nine cases Of seduction
and Illicit cohabitation, and pass
them by as "not worse than any
thing else," or "any other place."
and concentrate all their power and
vengeance upon the hundredth I'm.
lucky "poor devil" God will hard
ly accept that as satisfying the peo-
ple's consciences or the laws course.
The legal records show one or two
cases in every State of a determined
effort to hang by the officers and
the people; while every court docket
has its quota of moral murders, and
every town its weekly budget of sen.
sational wrong-doing. In ninety-nine
cases the people are entertained by
gossipy murder, in the hundredth
they demand public exhibition OF
the same for which the law erects a
gallows.
The most startling truth presents
itself when human nature is dis
sected behind the scenes Of piously-
attired humanity. o ye cable roads
TO eternity, what pleasant corpses
glide adown your rugged incline, in
comparison with the CHASTITY skele
tons that line the gilded and incens'
ed highways to immortality.
We are not given to paradine
dainty morsels of sensational pabu
lum before the public, and shall
select very respectable reference
to press home the point we desire
to make. 1t is not so long since
public life brought distinguished
private character before the hungry
gaze of a morbid world, press ant
public, bar and rostrum, rushed tt
the defence at any cost, and the in
glorious admission, and evidence o
penal condemnation, was made, tina
are (men) have all at some time beer
guilty of-stepping oper the mora
trace d! Had some "poOr devil
acknowledged his guilt thus pub
licly. the grand jury would have
sent him to court, and his tellowmel
found room for him III the peniten
tiary. But that are covered tn,
highest grade of social, ministerial
literary and judicial life. Allusior
is made to the past for a twofolc
purpose: few Cluveriuses find tn,
punishment of their crimes on tn
top of the gibbet while the thous
ands of ace's play with the gallow
with as much safety as child doe
with the toy, and travel the peniten
tiary road as secure as the victor
who hail their chief. Anothe
object is, to call the attention Q
parents who have children, pastor
who have flocks, officers who hay
sworn duties, to the great impol
lance of not waiting for a Cluverlu
to make an example of but to ele
vate the public sentiment and i'm
prove the moral and social lif
around them every day. Surely j
is open to improvement.
We, personally, may be among tn
multitudlnous ace, if not in actiol
perhaps in thought, but we shal
never howl for the death of a Clu
verius while III the unhung Grove
ourselves, as doubtlessly many are
who would not confess their sins on
to another, or think themselves il