Literary Cadet And Rhode Island Statesman

LITERARY CADET AND RHODE-ISLAND STATESMAN
PROVIDENCE, SATURDAY, AUGUST 11.

ADMINISTRATION CANDIDATES.
FOR THE TWENTIETH CONGRESS.
HON. TRISTAM BURGES.
Hon. DUTEE J. PEARCE.

Mrs. Whipple.--Whatever the world may think of this guilty, criminal, and wretched woman, we believe that there are but few who will not rejoice that she has escaped the ignominy of the gallows; and is left to live, and sigh, and weep, over the errors of her youth; and to ponder over the damning deeds which she has committed; to lament, that in an unguarded hour, she fell from her high estate, and reduced herself to a level with the worst and vilest of the outlawed outcasts of creation.

As to her guilt, so far as she is rendered guilty, by participating in the murder of her husband, it is a question which yet remains undecided; but for ourselves, from an attentive perusal of her trial, as well as the trial of her paramour, we have made up our minds to believe, that although she consented to a thousand things which were criminal, she did not consent to the murder of her husband:--And however guilty she may have been, if she had no participation in the cold-blooded deed, she is not entitled to the vengeance of the law, but should be suffered to live, to drag out a miserable existence, and to receive the execrations of the world, whilst scorn points at her, her slow, unmoving finger.

But though we condemn and hold in abhorrence the guilty adultress, yet when we look upon her, and witness the sufferings she is doomed to bear, and the load of shame that covers her, a ray of pity is elicited in her behalf, and the heart involuntarily throbs for one, who is neither entitled to mercy, love, or pity. But alas! wretched, misguided, and accused woman! In the midst of the spring tide of life, when the world was bright before her, when hope told a joyful tale, and friendship and love watched her as she slumbered, and drove care and sorrow from her presence, in that blissful moment, when she was in the enjoyment of all the blessings that Heaven confers on poor mortality, she listened to the flattering notes of the tempter, and by

"One false step for ever damned her fame."

And now, contemned, scoffed at, spurned from society, loathed and detested, marked with double guilt, bearing the impress of the abhorred adultress, the secondary actor in the murder of her husband, she is left to wander around the world, to

"howl! like the midnight wolf.
And curse her life in bitterness of misery."

But yesterday, and the world pointed to her as the virtuous companion of the marriage bed, the kind and affectionate partner of her husband's joys and sorrows, and hopes and fears;-- to day the world revolts at her approach, and loathes her for her infamy.

There is no spectacle, on which man can ponder, which is more repelling to the vision, or more offensive to the better feelings of humanity, than that presented by shipwrecked virtue, and blasted fame. If the subject be of our own sex, still does its aspect produce bitter anguish, and lend us to deplore the fall of him, who but for his vices, might have retained a reputable rank in society, but who, madly threw himself away, and worships at the shrine of Lucifer. But how much more dreadful is the spectacle, when we behold it in the ruins of woman's blasted hopes, and shipwrecked fame! If, indeed, we can look upon the fall of man, without a sensation of anguish;-- when we behold a prostrate woman-- "lovely woman," given by Heaven for the solace of our cares;--as the soother of our sorrows;--we involuntarily revolt from the sight; -- pity her misfortunes;--forgive her errors;--overlook her vices; and lament that He, who regards the sparrow's fall, and tempers the wind to the shorn lamb, had not in his mercy have spared her from the wreck of ruin.

In the annals of crime, there is rarely to be found a case of infamy --of moral degradation, of self-selected, and self-solicited ruin, which can bear any comparison to that, which is afforded in the history of Mrs. Whipple; and whilst pity, and partial friendship, might plead against the exposure of her "accumulated and damned errors," and throw a mantle over her troubles, justice demands, that more than "the one half" should be told, that others may profit by her example, and shun the dreadful gulf into which she has fallen, "never to rise again."

And yet, whilst she is held up to public odium, it should be remembered by parents, that all her misfortunes--if indeed her crimes and errors can be justly ranked under that mild appellation--originated in the error of early education.

Unfortunately, she was born to a rich inheritance: and considering wealth a mantle, which would cover a "multitude of sins," she gave loose to all the extravagances her sinful propensities could conceive; and whilst they, who should have acted as her guardian angels, and tutored her young mind to the adoption of virtuous principles, neglected the trusts committed to them, she grew up like a rank weed, and was suffered to partake of those sinful enjoyments, which have since sealed her doom, and at the early age of twenty-five, covered her with infamy and shame.

At the early age of fourteen, left unrestrained, she was clandestinely wedded to Whipple, a man, who, though he ever sustained a respectable standing, it is said, sought her for her wealth, and through artifice, taking advantage of her age, and the weakness of her sex, led her to the altar: and this was accomplished, when her passions were not matured;--at the moment they were opening, and when her mind was unsettled and unstable.

As she advanced in years, she beheld her self united to a man, many years her senior; and to one, who was but ill calculated to gratify her whims, or indulge her caprice -- She beheld herself tied for life to a man, who was not the object of her choice; and as she witnessed the gay and giddy throng, joyous around her, she panted for release, and hated him to whom she had been wedded, and groaned beneath the bondage that premature matrimony is always certain to impose. Love soon turned to hatred, and she too soon proved that,

"Heaven has no scourge, like love to hatred turned.
Nor hell a fury, like a woman's scorn."

Strang, her paramour, though holding an humble station in life, was wily, artful, and seductive in his manners, and though he possessed none of the exterior graces of a gentleman, to charm the eye, fascinate the senses, and beguile the passions, too well did he understand the art of the seducer; and led on by avarice, and the pride of female conquest, he fixed his eye upon the giddy, and loose-principled wife, and marked her for his victim.-- Finding that she listened to his tales, and reciprocated his pretended attachment, he resolved first to possess her, and then her wealth; and to accomplish his ends, he meditated the murder of Whipple; and, as the world well knows, at last consummated the bloody deed that he had planned, and for which he will soon suffer death on the gibbet.

But from what we can learn, it does not appear that Mrs. Whipple consented to the murder of her husband, though it is apparent that she was aware of the intentions of Strang, and did not warn him of the danger that hung over him; and tacitly, by her deportment and silence, permitted the horrid deed to be perpetrated. Be this as it may, however, the guilt that hangs over her can never be removed; and to an ignominious grave she must sooner or later descend, carrying with her the contempt of the world, and the wrath of the Eternal Avenger.

The fate of this wretched woman, should deeply impress upon the minds of parents, the importance of attending to the education of their children;--it should teach them the importance of watching over the actions of their offspring, and the necessity of inculcating those pious and virtuous principles, which will invariably steer youth from vice, and lead them in the paths of rectitude and happiness. Parents should carefully, though without rigor, look to the conduct of their children, punish the first steps they take, which depart in the least from propriety and piety. Had the wretched woman who is the subject of these remarks been properly attended to, and all her actions watched, she would, in all human probability, have been a good, a virtuous, and a useful member of society.

But she is now lost to the world;-- to herself, and abandoned to all the vices, of which her sex can be guilty; and though we must abhor a wretch so vile, we cannot but lament, that she is lost forever; and that the gates of mercy and of grace, are forever closed upon her hopes, her prospects, and her prayers.-- But yet, charity will plead for mercy in her behalf, and pity and humanity will strive to throw the mantle of forgiveness over her errors.