New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1900-02-17
GEN. MOLINEUX'S PLEA.
Continued from hrst pnEc.

day by day. week by week, month by month,
there has been always that first loving cry
from his lips for Blanche and mother" Can
he be guilty of cowardly poisoning? Is II pos
Sible? Can II be? Mo- I know that he is in
nocent, and l know that am alive.
If these feelings are thought to spring from
the prejudice of a father, ask the prison at
PENDANTS. ask those ministers of religion and of
CHARITY who serve the wants Of those poor pris-
oners; ask the sacred women. those vistants
OF the Tombs, who we'll called the Angels
of the Tombs.' whether the behavior of Roland
Burnham Molineux has been that of brave
and an innocent man rather than that of das-
tardly posoner. They will, know, speak for
him.
And a father may be permitted to say of his
son, under these circumstances that Roland
has never done a despicable or a cowardly
thing. 1t is not in him. He has always been
ready to take his punishment like a man. If
whipped, he has acknowledged the fact and
has been ready to meet his foes face to face
without malice. Like his father he has not
been faultless, but he has also had much of the
better and the kindlier nature Of his mother
He a pervert degenerate and vicious poison
er! 1t is impossible and absurd.
CANNOT UNDERSTAND IT.
Although no lawyer. I have always believed
world, and L still believe SO. and honor and re-
spect the bar such With this belief 1t has
been impossible for me to understand how
member Of that bar, and, in addition, a sworn
public prosecutor, a man educated in an Amer
lean college and associating with American men,
could assault by vile insnuations woman, the
welded wife of the defendant.
Moreover where should the mother and the
wife Of my son have been when he was on
trial for his life? Does not every voice say
that they should have been at his side and
does not every heart indorse that sentiment?
And yet we are told by the authority presiding
over that trial that the presence Of my wife
and my daughter matter of taste con-
corning which men might differ" 1t is mat
ter concerning which can conceive no differ
ence of opinion, and believe that in this view
1 correct.
Think OF the situation! father a mother
q cit NV cid ~ he m
being tried for his life, and they must be silent
The finger of scorn is pointed at the wife, and
the father of her husband and her own father
in affection, must be silent! l. the protector of
that fatherless and motherless girl. whom my
wife and saw married to my son as the Wlfe
of his bosom and the woman or ms cholce
must be silent! l must hear the presence or
my wife and my daughter at that supreme
moment characterized in a final argument 10
which the law allows no answer, shame
a shame, with every emphasis of voice ana
gesture, and yet I must be silent!
Can it be wondered that l appeal 10 the
fathers, the mothers the wives and the nus
bands of all the homes and 1resides Of the land
for the assistance of their prayers and their
consideration for the mental and physical suf-
fering of my household?
/ have failed in this communication IL have
not made plain to all the noble hearted men
and women living under our flag my most warm
and hearty thanks for their expressions of SYM
pathy and their tender of service. Their kind
ness has ineXpressby touched me.
Let me add one statement in conclusion. The
prosecuting officer has stated in a public In
terview that was conscious of the guilt Of my
SON The assertion Is made unequivocaly, and
must be answered in like manner. 1t is abso-
lutely false, and must have been known to him
to be false when he made it. l can conceive
of no reason which could have actuated such
falsehOod except the consciousness that his own
position needed apology and defence.
My son. Roland Burnham Molineux, Is limo
cent I know 1t, and 1 ask for sympathy
for him. My only request is that 1 may have
the heartfelt support of all those who believe
in noble American womanhood as eXemplifed
in those who bear the family name of
EDWARD LESLIE MOLINEUX.