Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1900-05-17
of the person who exactcd it,"
at was u womanT'
Mr.. Mitchell did not reply.

keep faith You would not bctray.
But will tell all
stop" cried Mr. Mitchell but
Preacher Jim, not needing him, con.
tinucd
~ am the guilty man killed Mat
thew Mora. | killed slippery Sam"
At this Mr.. Barnes started from his
chair but a moment later he sat down
again, cXclamng:
you the murderer Of Matthew Mora!
Man, you arc mHdr'
Mr. Mitchell sat still and said nothing.
An expression akin to pity and regret
fitted across his countenancc.
Gentlemen. pursued Preacher Jim.
81 will tell you the whole story for
there is yet much that will surprise
you much that even You. Mr. Mitchell.
do not suspect But first let me ask
you-tell me about my mother. You
were with her while ! went in search
OF doctor. What happencdf How
came you to make her promise ID
shield me- She did not know. She
did not suspect No, no, 1t was i'm.
possible"
Your mother told me the story OF
her life and of vours-that is. she told
me Of your father. in whose history
much that relates to yourself finds OK
planation-ayc, palliatiou. Your herit
age was bad"
"Ah' She told about tho old man
did shef But what about the promise?
'She feared that some day YOU would
discover who your father is and that
then murder might be done. She had
horrible nightmares, in which she
dreamed that you had paid the su,
prcme penalty Of the law
she was a prophet"
"Shc argued that whatever wicked.
ness existed in your nature you had in.
herited fro-*Your father, and she ask.
ed me if ever you should commit 4
crime that l would exert my cndeavors
in your behalf; that | should reveal
your bad ancestry and urge that as
plea for leniency. This | promised to
do. and this l will do"
1T will be UNNECESSARY"
Your mother intrusted to my care a
number Of letters and papers in which.
she said, | would find disclosed the
identity of your father Poor soul,
She must have forgotten that in her
anxiety to prevent you from learning
the truth she had taken precautions
which left the documents practically
useless. | examined them as soon rs
! found an opportunity, and wherever
n name must have occurred it had
been cut out"
My poor mother, She at least loved
me- whatever wrong she did in bring
ing me into the world. But let me tell
you OF my crime. At the outset | will
surprise you. For years | have loved
Lillian Wales"
you loved Lillian Vale" exclaimed
Mr. Mitchell. "Extraordinarv,
More so than you dream. Yes
have loved her since she was a little
child. | loved her then and | loved
her more as she blossomed into WON
anhood. But. though loved her faith.
fully, ardenuy, my passion was hope
less"
why so7 Could you not win her af.
fections in return :"
Perhaps. I never sought to do so.
You forget the advice which you heard
me give to others IN my lecture-my
sermon, I might call H. Do you think
that would tell other born criminals
TO deny themselves the pleasure OF
having offspring and myself not have
strength to abide by my own doctrine?
No, l am criminal, congenitally a
degenerate. II was q crime TO bring
such as l am into the world. II would
be greater sin for me to become IA
Their"
You are strange combination Of
good and evil, Preacher Jim"
THAT is true of all men. He who
is considered wholly good is merely one
in whom the good greatly prcponlrr.
ates. The converse is also true. and
the worst men have some good in their
natures. That might be their saliva
ton were this truth recognized and
acted upon. but it is not. The whole
world, save perhaps a very few who
are regarded rs fanatcal dreamcrs
look upon the criminals case As hope.
less, reformation impossible. He il
merely thing to be despised, to be
bounded to be imprisoned if he steals
what he cannot earn, to be slain if at
.ength he turn upon those VINO nave
driven him to despair This is the
crime of civilization, II is the crime
of the century,
DO you hear that. Mr.. EarueS-ths
crime of the century? Preacher Jim
defines it for you. You thought il was
the killing Of Matthew Mora. but
told you that ii was not the crime Of
any one man. Now you learn what it
is 1t is the blind biSotry with which
boaSted civilization fortunes the de-
generate products of its own vices
making hard laws for their punish
mcnt and measuring their acts hy
the standards of sound and normal
manhood. That, MIR Barnes, is the
crime Of the century, crime which
must be eradicated in the next cen
fury. or else within another hundred
years it will have wrought ruin upon
the race"
you are right Mr. Mitchell. My own
case is bitter example of the truth
of the doctrine which YOU advocate.
am what you APPLY called n degenerate
product Of vice in another. say this
an assertion Of the truth But let me
continue. AS have said, l have al
ways loved Lillian Vale, despite my