Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 21, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 January 1911 — The Modem Inquisition. [ARTICLE]

The Modem Inquisition.

When the love letters sf man has written are read in court, civilization Blips back a notch. The thing is ja barbarity, a medieval savagery belonging to the inquisition and the application of thumbscrews. The anguish of the old torture„ chambers had at least something of dignity about it. There were high examples—some which became famous—of nobility of spirit and physical endurance. But when one’s love letters are recited for the entertainment of a Jury there Is no chance for the exercise of manhood. Thero is no dignity which cannot be made to appear absurd. There is nothing for the victim to do but grit his teeth and endure while his soul writhes and sweats in agony. Chances are that half the men upon the jury who enjoy these' exposures of asinlnity would rather go to their death than have their own love letters read aloud. They take delight that a man has been found to have been as silly as themselves. But, strange to say, jurymen seldom indicate any sympathy in the case. They usually give the man whose foolishness has been paraded the worst of it. Human charity goes on a strike.