THE JOINT SESSION
Election day passed quietly; it resulted in an overwhelming majority in
favor of the government, and the character of the majority was clearly
animated by the intention to visit heavily upon Chairo the consequences
of his actions.
We had all understood that Lydia's return to New York was due to some
determination on her part, but what that determination was not even
Ariston knew. The first session of the legislature on the 1st of
January, '94, was attended by the deepest misgiving on the part of all
Chairo's friends; nothing could be determined by the proceedings of that
day--which were purely formal--but on the next an incident occurred
which showed how matters stood. The previous Speaker of the Senate who
would, if reelected, preside at the joint session of both houses, was a
man of moderate views, who had for years impartially administered the
duties of his office. It was a matter of course that he should be
renominated as the candidate of the government, and a motion to this
effect was duly made by Peleas. But it was seconded by Masters, and this
produced the effect of an understanding between the government and
Chairo's men which exasperated the irreconcilables; one of them,
therefore, in a moment of impulse nominated a distinguished Asclepian
priest, who had been elected on the platform of war on Chairo; his
nomination was hotly seconded by a chorus of voices, and although he was
opposed by the government party and by the supporters of both Chairo and
Masters, he was beaten only by a dozen votes.
The situation looked critical for Chairo when Masters stood up to bring
the amnesty bill before the joint session; he was received in a manner
signally different from that which usually greeted him; the applause of
his own particular adherents sounded faint and hollow and only served to
accentuate the silence of the rest. He did not speak at length,
reserving himself till after the report of the investigating committee
had been read. He was followed by several speakers, who repeated the
unreasoning vituperation which had marked the electoral campaign, all of
them opposed to the passage of an amnesty bill of any kind.
The real incident of the day was the reading of the report of the
investigating committee, which, for the first time, officially brought
out the facts as they were. The chairman of the committee who read the
report concluded by a brief expression of personal opinion to the effect
that after the reading of the report it was impossible for any one duly
conscious of his duties to the state to approve of the amnesty bill as
read. Doubtless many--perhaps, indeed, most of those concerned--had been
unduly influenced by others, and for these he was himself prepared to
cast a vote of pardon. But all the guilty parties were not before them.
He was interrupted here by a loud murmur of approval and by a counter
demonstration of those who still believed in Neaera's innocence. He did
not propose to try any one in their absence (applause), but assuredly it
was not proper to pardon any one in their absence either (loud
applause). There was one case which demanded particular attention; he
referred to the man who had organized the whole conspiracy. (There was a
deep silence here, and many involuntarily turned to where Chairo sat
erect and immovable with his arms crossed.) There was evidence to show
that after he had effected the particular personal end he had in view,
he had sent a message intended to put an end to further violence. He
asked the legislature to consider how far this tardy, unsuccessful, and,
as it appeared to him, half-hearted effort at reparation deserved to be
taken into account in mitigation.
This conclusion was greeted with the wildest applause; members stood up
and, with vociferating gestures directed at the corner where Chairo sat,
demanded justice and the full measure of the law.
It was expected that Masters would take the floor, but in the heated
condition of the house he judged it wiser that Arkles should be heard
before him. So Arkles slowly rose, and straightening himself to his full
height, addressed the speaker. The disorder which had followed the
speech of the chairman of the committee immediately subsided, and the
spokesman of the Demetrian cult was listened to in respectful silence.
"It is my honor," he said, "to address you on behalf of a religious cult
which has been outraged, upon the question whether this outrage shall go
unpunished or whether the cult shall be vindicated by the visitation on
the guilty of the full measure of the law."
He used advisedly the very catchword "full measure of the law," which
had never failed to secure applause at the meetings held by the
indignant supporters of the cult, and his purpose was fulfilled, for he
at once got them on his side, as the approval that greeted his opening
fully showed. He then reviewed the history of the cult, its principles,
the benefit it had bestowed; he dwelt upon the earnestness of its
devotees, and contrasted the social conditions that prevailed where the
cult was strong with those that prevailed where it was non-existent. For
two hours he kept the unflagging attention of the audience with the most
carefully reasoned exposition of what the cult stood for that that
generation had heard. Clearly the conclusion to be drawn from his
argument was, that an institution so essential to public welfare was
entitled to the further protection of the state, and that an outrage
upon it must be so punished as to render any repetition of the offense
to the highest degree improbable. Sure of this conclusion, the
irreconcilables joined with the government ranks in loud approval of
Arkles's discourse. But here Arkles turned an unexpected corner, for
after having demanded justice, in tones that filled the house with a
reverberation of applause, he suddenly asked the question: "And in this
case, what is the justice we have a right to ask?"
He turned at this point to the desk by him, filled a glass with water,
drank it, and continued:
"The Demetrian cult is not founded on legal enactment. It is not propped
by any state authority. It derives all its strength from the appeal it
makes to reason and morality. So long as it finds support in the public
conscience it is strong; the moment it appeals from conscience to the
state it confesses a weakness of which the cult is not to-day aware.
Nay, there never was a day when the cult was more strong than now, never
when it was better able to vindicate its rights upon its own merits,
that is to say, not by appeal to the state for protection, but by appeal
to every man and woman in the commonwealth for support.
"And here it is essential to make a careful distinction between acts
committed in violation of the law of the land and those committed in
violation of our sanctuary. As to the first, he, as spokesman of the
cult, had nothing to say; the state alone could deal with them. As to
the last, they had received the prayerful deliberation of the Demetrian
council, and he was instructed now to read the following resolution:
"'Inasmuch as the exercise of our duties can be justified only by
the extent to which this exercise is approved, not merely by the
worshippers of Demeter but by the community at large;
"'Inasmuch as such exercise deals with the most sacred and intimate
passions of the human heart;
"'We now solemnly declare that we count only upon devotion to the
cult for protection, and deem it wiser to suffer sacrilege to go
unpunished than by retaliation to keep alive in the hearts of the
guilty or of those who support them, a spark of hostility or
resentment.'"
A profound silence followed the reading of this resolution, and Arkles
concluded as follows:
"It has been the policy of our commonwealth to abandon the
principle of punishment for crime. Those who are unfit for social
life we remove from social life and try to make them fit; until
they are fit for it, we keep them isolated. Do not let us depart
from a salutary rule in the interests of the cult, which the cult
itself has largely contributed to introduce and which it is deeply
interested in keeping alive. There are contingencies, Mr. Speaker,
when the highest justice is mercy."
When Arkles sat down he left the session in a state of suspended
judgment. There was applause, but it was the applause of men convinced
against their will, and the irreconcilables remained absolutely silent.
The day was drawing to a close, and the session adjourned almost in a
state of confusion.
As we walked home to our quarters we none of us were inclined to speak.
"That speech of Arkles will bear fruit," said Ariston. But Chairo was
gloomily silent, and I did not have the heart to speak words of
encouragement I did not feel. We were joined at the bath by quite a
number of our house, who seemed anxious to cheer us up by the gossip of
the day. All were much exercised by the result of the four-mile race
which had just been run. It was the first time a woman had ever entered
for this race, and she had succeeded in making a dead heat of it.
Chairo, who had excelled in these sports, was gradually aroused from his
discouragement, and, without much reason for it, we returned to the
session next day in a better humor than circumstances warranted, for the
whole day was taken up in violent harangues against the incriminated
parties, some attacking Chairo not only as a conspirator but as a coward
for treachery to Neaera, others attacking Neaera without vindicating
Chairo.
That evening Chairo left us to dine with a few of his followers, who,
feeling the situation desperate, advised a conference with Peleas,
Masters, and Arkles, with a view to suggesting an amendment to the
amnesty bill that would secure a majority without going to the extremes
demanded by the irreconcilables.