The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-12-28
SEATTLE. MONDAY. DEC. IS.


The poet Bryant. speaking Of Edgar A.
Poe, said that he was worse than immoral
man: he was an immoral man; that is. he
impressed one as al intellectual man with
complete moral vacancy; that he was not
demoraiized. for be was from childhood
destitute Of moral sense or sensibility. He
would lie; would sell the same manuscript
torwo different publications, borrow money
without the slightest expectation OF ever
paying II.
Poe was notable type Of the immoral
man Of genius, and among other historical
examples are Napoleon, Cesar Borgia,
Marlborough, TalIeyrand and Aaron Burr.
The peculiarly OF this temperament is
that it seems born without any moral
sense. 1t speaks in Richard the Third
when he derides conscience as a mere word
used by towards to conjure with when
they wish to keep the strong in awe. This
temperament of moral vacancy is the fear
full characteristic Of certain class OF GRIM
inals. who. possessed Of more than medi-
OGRE intellect, nerve and self-poise, deliber-
ately take to criminal pursuits as naturally
Is 3 duck does 10 water.
Isaac Sawtelle, the New Hampshire muir
derer, who died suddenly in prison on
Saturday, was man Of this sort; man
with a moral vacancy. He had always
been from boy q creature of criminal in
stincts; be had received good education;
was man OF considerable acuteness, Of
extraordinary nerve and fortitude under
al circumstances. The unshrinking cool
ness and clearness with which he con-
fessed to ali the details Of his deliberate
murder of his brother; the cutting of Of
the arms and head, and the buryiug of the
head al q distance from the body, was
never surpassed by any record in our an
mails of crime. He confessed that he pro-
cured all the tools necessary 10 bury the
body, and admitted that he bargained for
the return Of his money If he returned the
tools unused. ~ was not certain that
Hiram would make it necessary for me to
kill him, but had fully determined to
kill him unless he did as wished"
He decoyed his brother from home By
pretending that his brothers child was
sick; he drove him to lonely spot in the
woods and shot him TO death. He was so
careful in his observation Of the scene of
the crime that he was able in Jail to draw
30 accurate diagram. of the spot where
he had buried the head that the searchers
were able to find ii without difficulty. In
his GOODNESS, clearness, and utter remorse-
lessness under circumstances that were
calculated 10 break down any ordinary
criminal, Isaac Sawtelle was q psychology
zeal curiosity. He does not appear TO ever
have shown any emotion save when he
babe his old mother goodbye.
The father OF sawtelle was aconvict, who
accumulated considerable property after
his release from the Charlestown, Mass. J
penitentiary. Isaac Sawtele was sent TO
prison on sentence OF twenty years for an
assault IN a woman case and was released
on ga ticket-of-leave" before the full expir-
alton Of his sentence, about two years ago.
He was a fearful criminal; Of the same
type. though less brilliant and accom-
plished. as Birchall, the murderer Of Ben
well. who was executed N Canada in No
yeruber $500