Page:The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 14.pdf/401

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The Green Bag.

here, in this solemn presence, with the dread issues of life and death entrusted to my care, declare as far as my voice will reach, that he who invades the sanctuary of the home, imposes the impurity of his debased and brutal desires upon the presence of innocence, breaks the charm and halo of virtue, and defiles the altar of domestic life, forfeits his right of abode in the midst of human society, and deserves to die. The husband's hand is thrice armed for his de struction, the father rises against him in paternal majesty, and the brother may scourge him from the face of the earth wherever he is found. His offense is be yond the reach of pardon, and appeals to Heaven and earth combined for redress. It is ranked with crime and invites the lash of chastisement from every virtuous quar ter." And of the fallen woman : " For the betrayed and ruined woman there is nothing left of life except the pain of living. The joy of existence never comes again. When we see the autumn leaf falling to the ground, and the white shroud of winter spread over the fields, we are blest with the certain hope that the soft air of spring will, after a little while, come back to us and renew in our midst the splendors of this beautiful world; that the fresh green sward, adorned with flowers, will again spread at our feet, and the deep foliage of the forest will weave its bright canopy over our heads. But to the soul that has loved, trusted, and lost, there conies no second spring. The solemn sky of autumn and the chilling winds of winter alone remain to her. No glad and golden summer awaits her in the future. A scorched and barren desert without ver dure, without tree, or plant, or blossom, or shrub, or one single cooling fountain at which to rest in all the desolate pilgrimage, lies before her tired and faltering feet. She makes the rest of her journey, too, alone.

The leper's taint is upon her in the eyes of the world, and friends fall off and avert their eyes." In 1884, Captain Edward T. Johnson, of Indianapolis, Ind., killed Major Edwin Henry near Greeneville, Tenn. Johnson was a man of slight figure, in a measure an invalid, and of a highly-strung, nervous or ganization. He had been a captain in the War of the Rebellion on the Northern side, was a lawyer and a man of fine culture and much ability, being particularly able upon the political rostrum. His home was in In dianapolis. He was employed in the gov ernment internal revenue service; and while in eastern Tennessee with his wife, Henry seduced her. Henry afterwards visited her in Indianapolis while Johnson was on duty in Tennessee. Mrs. Johnson had always borne an excellent reputation, and moved in high social ranks. Her gross violation of her conjugal duties so preyed upon her that she committed suicide. She wrote a letter to her husband confessing her guilt, and then dressing herself at her home as if for burial, and placing a photograph of her husband before her, she shot herself through the heart. After the funeral Johnson returned to Tennessee, and not far from Greeneville killed Henry, in the act of drawing his pistol to shoot him, by shooting into his body thirty-two buckshot. These facts formed a fine setting for such an orator as Voorhees; and he was again triumphant, the jury having agreed to a ver dict of "not guilty" within a few minutes after retiring, but remaining out twenty-four hours to avoid the charge of hastiness. Voorhees' speech on this trial has been criti cized, because of several misstatements con cerning what was the law, and it is open to the charge; but as an oration — as a play upon human feelings, as an appeal to the chivalry of man — few orations excel it. It