New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-03-14
"U ONORy md "SATISF1CTION."

| A Washington court is sitting in Judgment
| today between man and woman. The pub
| lie looks on A rank scandal being involved so
! many of the public can get access 10 the
| courtroom flock there daily to take ut first hand
the unwholesome story from the lips of wit
nesses and see with their own eyes the dra-
matte situations which develop in the trial. The
rest read eagerly the printed testimony and
! elaborate descriptions Of the parties ana their
LAWYERS the court and its officers, ana the daily
! scenes and incidents as they occur Inc
! exhibition is not calculated from any point OF
| view to inspire in Il pure ana wholesome ihihu
n feeling OF compacent satisfaction or the emo
ton Of pride With the merits or dement's or
the case we do not deal. 1t is not our function
TO prciudge it. But certain aspects or II, lnv0lV-
| ing only the admitted facts, do so thrust them
selves upon public attention that comment upon
them can hardly be avoided in chronclinG the
occurrences of the time.
! The man who sits in court as defendant is
white-haired. venerable, dignificd in department.
clearly in appearance, and with bearing That
suggests consciousness Of good breeding and
an ancestry Of which he has no cause to feel
ashamed He is Il member Of the United States
Congress: has possessed the confidence OF the
community in which he has lived to an I'M
usual degree. and for many years enjoyed In
political distinctions the marks Of that conf
dence He is eminent as a leader of his party;
is in high rcpute as an orator OF unusual elO-
0uencc and power; and being an active member
of n Christian church, prominent IN lis couf-
ellis influential in its deliberations ana strict
i'm his insistence upon the doctrines which in
culcate purity and uprightness as the essence
of religion and morals has enjoyed reputa-
ton for probity which unfortunately rarely ac-
companies political activity. BY the offices he
has held he is entitled to be addressed as The
Uonorable"-spell that word slowly. "h-o-n-or-
a.bl-e" look in your dictionaries for the definl-
ton of it-"The Honorable Mr.. Brcckinrdge.'
It Is the highest title We give In a republic.
Spelled with a large II. it belongs to him by
right Of his offices. But drop to the lower
case and the small h: give him the title, but
does he deserve the adjective, the plain hon
orable"?
Let us see The woman sitting there near hin
tells "A strange story; an unconiradlcied story;
fully corroboratcd In essential particulars, ana
not I'm its essentials denied by this Honor
able" defendant. Ii Is, briefly, without touch-
ing the question Of her character or antccedents
or Of any promise Of marriage, that this Hon
orablc' gentleman, this Christian gentleman
had been living for several years III uhla"iui
and scandalous relations with her, and mat she
had borne him children. With her claim mat
these relations began under deccitful promises
from him we have nothing to do; That Is Tor
the court to deal with. We take only the al
mitted facts. and among them that which Is
not denied that during the time or inns uhiaw-
ful relation he introduced her into the families
of his friends Of the highest social standing,
and on these we beg to inquire what meaning
1.-THE Honorable Mr.. Breckenridge what mean
Ing his friends in Kentucky his friends III so
cicty. in his party and in his church, attach TO
the words "honor and honorable Or the
honor the purity, the uprlghtness' the truth
fulness which this man protested so ostenta-
tiously, what faintest glimmer was there In all
the years Of this low, dsgraceful, base and
lying life? Horror! A word!' Thus the hout
Of Falstai1. But even he did not hold It In 90