aving been
raised under a very strong moral restraint and having lived an
exemplary life, with the exception of this strange desire that
his will-power could not control.

"The next case is that of C.H. He came of an old family of brainy
men who have, and do yet, occupy prominent places in the pulpit
and the bar, and was himself a gifted young attorney. I knew him
intimately, as for six years he was a close neighbor and we were
associated in lodge-work. He was an effeminate little fellow:
height, 5 feet 2 inches; weight, 105 pounds; very near-sighted;
and he had a light voice, not a treble or falsetto, but still a
voice that detracted materially from the beautiful rhetoric that
flowed from his lips. He had served his country as its
representative in the Legislature and had received the nomination
for senator, over a hard-fought political battle. The last
canvass and speeches were made at a town which was, in
consequence, crowded. That night H. had to occupy a room with a
stranger, named E., a travelling salesman. There were two beds in
this room. Mr. E., on the following day told several people that
during the night he was awakened by H., who had come over to his
bed and had his mouth on his 'person,' and that he had threatened
to kick him out of the room, but that H. pleaded with him and
fell on his knees and swore that he had been overcome by a
passion that he had heretofore controlled, and begged of him not
to expose him. These facts coming to the notice of his opponents,
within twenty-four hours, they hastened to take advantage of it
by placarding H. as a second Oscar Wilde, and stating the facts
as far as decency and the law allowed. H.'s friends came to him
and gave him one of two alternatives: if guilty, either to kill
himself or leave that section forever; if not guilty, to slay his
traducer, E.H. affirmed his innocence, and in company with two
friends, C. and J., took the train for ----. Learning there that
E. was at a town twelve miles east, they hired a fast livery and
drove overland. They found E. at the station, awaiting the
arrival of a train. H., with a pistol, strode forward and in his
excitement said: 'You exposed me, did you?' Being near-sighted,
his aim proved wide of the mark. E. sprang forward and grappled
with H. for possession of the pistol, and was f