MR. BROWN'S OPINION OF THE TRIAL AND THE PRESIDING MAGISTRATES.
"I told you it would be a farce, did I not? How could it be
otherwise, when a man like Hubbard was the presiding magistrate?
His sympathies were entirely with those who had violated the law;
and though he made an effort to conceal his bias, the attempt was
a failure."
"I agree with you, Mr. Gurney; the whole thing, to me, seemed like
a put-up job, and the bench were like children in the hands of
that crafty lawyer. I never witnessed a greater exhibition of
imbecility than was manifested by both Hubbard and Broban. They
appear to have studied law to about the same extent that Sealy has
the Bible, and you have an idea of about how much that is."
"Yes, Mr. Brown, I have an idea! And I also have an idea there was
an understanding between Murdon and Sealy. The fact is, the bench
consisted of two old geese and a fox. Two of them were lukewarm
supporters, who would 'damn it with faint praise;' and the third
was a rabid opponent, and he was the only one who was qualified,
either by native or acquired ability, for the position."
"But I thought, Mr. Gurney, that both Hubbard and Broban were
strong supporters of the bill. I know they voted for it. But I was
surprised that they were chosen to try these cases. I considered
them incompetent to do so. In fact, I have often wondered that men
so utterly unqualified were ever appointed to the position."
"In regard to their being supporters of the Dunkin Act," said Mr.
Gurney, "they, like many others, voted for it because they found
it popular to do so; at the same time, I believe, they wished it
to fail, for their sympathies were entirely with the drinking
party, and if it is a success they will deserve no credit for it."
"From what I saw yesterday, I must agree with you, Mr. Gurney. I
am sure they did not wish to convict. But how was it that Squires
Stebbins and Griffiths did not try these cases?"
"In my opinion, Mr. Brown, they were afraid to act. They said
important business called them away; but I am almost certain they
made business in order to escape the duty. I understand they have
been subjected to a species of bull-dozing. Being both of them
merchants, they were threatened by the liquor party with a loss of
custom if they acted, and they had not enough backbone to stand
the pressure. I have also been informed that their wives, who were
in abject terror, met and had a consultation, and concluded it
would not be safe for their husbands to act, as there had been
threats of personal violence and of injury to property; so, under
these influences, 'important' business was manufactured for the
occasion. They have thus escaped the responsibility!"
"Yes," said Mr. Brown, "and left those two non-entities to be
gulled by Sealy and bullied by Murdon. I must again express my
surprise that such incompetents should have been appointed to
their positions."
"They are specimen bricks of the big batch the Government turned
out a year or two ago. Why, do you not know that they manufactured
magistrates by the wholesale? Many of them were appointed--not
because of their qualifications, for they were notoriously
ignorant--but because they wished to reward them for services to
the party, and to insure their loyalty in the future."
"I am afraid," said Mr. Brown, "when you have to depend upon such
broken reeds, and have so many other obstacles to meet, you will
find it difficult to successfully work the Act."
"Yes, we will have to meet and overcome difficulties; but we have
anticipated this from the first. I must confess, however, that I was
disappointed at the attitude of some who, I thought, would be its
strongest supporters. I find they are craven-hearted, weak-kneed,
and afraid to give active assistance. They say it will injure their
business; so it is a matter of selfishness with them. If it fails,
it will be because of the half-hearted support we receive from
so-called respectable temperance men and moderate drinkers. I know
the Act is far from perfect, because the liquor party in Parliament
succeeded in introducing clauses that somewhat weaken its
effectiveness, and they now attack it because of these very defects.
But with all its defects, we would succeed in working it if we had
the sympathy and hearty support of all its professed friends; without
this, though it came forth with the stamp of the Infinite, it would
fail."
"You think we have too many of the genus mollusk in the temperance
ranks, Mr. Gurney? These creatures, with, no backbone, infest and
curse the Churches of to-day, and I have no doubt they will prove
the greatest curse to the temperance cause. A half-hearted friend
in the citadel is more to be dreaded than a foe without."
"Yes, Mr. Brown; more to be dreaded, and generally more to be
despised."
"I understand, Mr. Gurney, the liquor party are jubilant over the
result of the trial. I heard Captain McWriggler expatiating upon
it this morning, and he said the Act and all sumptuary laws of
similar character are a humbug."
"I have no doubt he will say so," answered Mr. Gurney; "and so
will all unprincipled demagogues. They are willing to pander to
the liquor interests, or anything else--no matter how low and
demoralizing it may be--if it only helps them to power. I
understood what he was at. He said to Mr. Martin, 'I told you it
would end in a fizzle;' and then continued talking to him in a
similar strain for some time: and when he was through, the latter
said 'he thought he was about right.' But you know as well as I
do, Mr. Gurney, that Martin is weak, and easily influenced."
"Yes, I know it, Mr. Brown; and all such men as he is will be
approached, and, if we keep them on our side, it will be by making
the Act a success from the first. In regard to yesterday's trial,
I am willing to admit it was a great failure of justice, or, to
use McWriggler's classic language, 'a fizzle.' But he knew, as
well as we do, what led to that result; for, as I remarked a few
moments ago, the whole proceedings were a farce. Between the
vexatious objections of Murdon, the pettifogger, who had charge of
the defence, and of Sealy, who, I believe, had entered into a
conspiracy with the former to defeat the ends of justice by
browbeating and cajoling the other two magistrates, the trial was
made a complete fiasco."
"And there was some rather crooked swearing done there, was there
not, Mr. Gurney?" asked Mr. Brown.
"Swearing! I should think there was! I shuddered as I listened to
the evidence of some of the hotel-keepers and the miserable
creatures they had degraded by their traffic. I was always aware
that whiskey was a fearful demoralizer, and I have seen some
striking illustrations of the fact before; but the swearing done
yesterday by men whose word a few years ago would not have been
questioned, has demonstrated, as nothing else could, its power to
deprave. Why, they twisted, and quibbled, and tried in every
possible manner to evade the questions put; they swore they were
not certain the liquor they drank was intoxicating, when it was
evident to all who heard them that the statements they were making
under oath were untrue."
"Are you not now more dubious as to the result than you were
before the trial?"
"Yes; I am willing to admit I am not so sanguine as I was," Mr.
Gurney replied. "What with weak or else utterly profligate and
unprincipled magistrates; with opponents of the lowest and most
vicious instincts, who have poor creatures that are completely
under their control, and seem so lost to every vestige of honor as
to be willing to swear to anything in order to screen those who
furnish them with liquor; with a large percentage of the press
prostituting its power in assisting our enemies; and with timid
and vacillating friends to help meet this determined and
unprincipled opposition, I must confess I am somewhat troubled.
But the thought of such men as Ashton, Morris, and Dr. Dalton,
with their stricken and despairing families and friends, nerves me
for the conflict, and makes me resolve that, trusting in God, I will
fight it as long as He gives me strength to do so; and, when I die,
God will raise up those who will take my place and the place of
those with whom I am associated. I am certain, in the end, our cause
will succeed. It may not be during my life. It may be long, long years
hence, when the cause of temperance shall ultimately prevail--but
it will prevail some time. We must remember that 'one day with the
Lord is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day;' and,
though this prevalence of evil and the triumphing of the vicious may
cause us to be impatient and cry out in our anguish, 'How long, O
Lord, how long?' yet God will sweep away the scourge from our
land, like He swept away slavery from our mother and sister lands.
It is for us to pray, and watch, and work, and leave the rest with
God; and some day there will be a great shout, and we will cry,
some on earth and some in heaven, 'God has gotten us the
victory?'"
"Well, Mr. Gurney, I, like you, believe that temperance will
ultimately prevail; but I do not believe it will be in the near
future, and I am afraid this attempt will be a failure. If we try
to push legislation faster than public sentiment will warrant us
in doing, we will defeat our object and help the enemy. In my
opinion, there will have to be years of agitation; and the great
masses, who are either indifferent or antagonistic, will have to
be enlightened, and their sympathies enlisted, before a law like
the present can be run successfully. I have to-day conversed with
men who professed to favor our side, and yet they expressed great
sympathy for Rivers because he was fined, and some of them gave it
as their opinion that the Act would end in failure. I believe the
farmers are very much annoyed because the tavern-sheds are closed
against them; and some say, if they had to vote again it would be
to reverse their former one. The fact is, there must be a strong
public sentiment in our favor if we successfully cope with those
men who have their capital invested in the business, and who will
fight with the vigor that selfishness and desperation ever impart.
To-day's trial indicates we have desperate and unscrupulous foes
to meet, and that they can find miserable and degraded tools in
attendance to do their dirty work, and help them defeat the ends
of justice."
"I am more sanguine than you are," said Mr. Gurney; "and while I
am willing to admit that the imbecility of the magistrates who
professed to be our friends, the coldness on the part of a great
many who, I expected, would give us enthusiastic assistance, and
'having done all, would still stand;' and the manner in which both
the tavern-keepers and their degraded tools, as I believe,
perjured themselves, have made me a little less confident than I
was before yesterday's exhibition. Yet I am still of the opinion
the Act can be made a success. I, at least, am determined to do
all I can to make it such."
"I, like you, Mr. Gurney, was astonished at the reckless manner
with which some gave evidence yesterday, for while I was certain
the defendant in each case was equally as guilty as Rivers, he was
the only one who was fined, the others clearing themselves by
equivocation, and what, at least, appears to me very much like
perjury. And that miserable Grogson evidently was posted to swear
straight through. I was amazed at his flippancy and his evident
willingness to swear to anything that would screen those who had
received him."
"I am not surprised that you were, Mr. Brown; for we know that Dr.
Dalton and Ashton had no reason to swear to anything that was
untrue, and we do not believe they would be capable of doing so,
if they had, and they both swore that Grogson, and, in fact, the
whole party, drank liquor on the night in question. So the latter
actually perjured himself to screen a man who has taken hundreds
of dollars from him, and is, more than any one else, responsible
for his being the degraded wretch he is at present, and for his
wife and children being in the most abject poverty."
"I remember him when he was in comfortable circumstances and
considered a respectable man," said Mr. Brown, "and rather a
fine young fellow. He was illiterate, of course, but possessed
good native talent and a fund of humor which seemed almost
inexhaustible. He was a good business man for one whose early
opportunities were but limited; and his tact and shrewdness
largely compensated for what he lacked in other respects. He
married an estimable young girl from the neighborhood in which I
was raised; but he took to drinking, and from that time degenerated
very rapidly, until he is the degraded creature you saw yesterday.
His cronies have very appropriately given him the sobriquet of
'Whiskey Jemmie.' I understand his wife and children are existing
in utter poverty--brought, by his abuse, to be abject specimens of
squalor and rags."
"Yes, Mrs. Holman and my wife were to his shanty the other day,
and found them actually in need of the necessaries of life; and
some time ago, when Mr. Mason took them some food, Grogson waited
until he was out of sight, and then meanly ate up what had been
brought for his starving wife and little ones, and though Mrs.
Grogson was ill at the time, and part of what was brought was
prepared especially for her; yet the brute devoured every morsel.
And I heard they were laughing at Porter's, because, as they put
it, he had 'sold the parson.'"
"I believe Rivers has appealed, has he not, Mr. Gurney?"
"Yes! on the ground that the law is _ultra vires_. It is
appealed until next month, when the case will come before Judge
McGullet, and, as he is entirely in sympathy with the antis, I
have no doubt he will decide in their favor. Then we will have to
carry it to a Court of Appeal, when we hope to obtain justice."
"I have no doubt but you will," said Mr. Brown; "but, in the
meantime, they will continue selling liquor, and, having no
license to pay, they will endeavor to have a perfect carnival of
drunkenness. When they think it is time to strike, they will
circulate a petition to have the Act repealed, and the great
majority, who will only look at the effect without stopping to
consider the cause, will be in sympathy with them, and they will
carry the appeal by an immense majority. Do you not think so?"
Mr. Gurney remained in an attitude of deep contemplation for a few
moments, and then answered:
"Such may be the case; but we will have to throw our best energies
into the work, and leave the rest to God. If we do our part and
remain faithful to each other and the cause we have espoused, we
will have done what we could; and if our efforts are for the
present fruitless, we shall, at least, have no reason for regret."