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Page 54
I was taken into a big hall, in which I had often sat to hear a concert
of music. On the dais at the upper end were seated a number of dignified
persons, in a semicircle, with a very handsome and stately old man in
the centre on a chair of state, whose face was new to me. Before this
Court I was formally arraigned; I had to stand alone in the middle of
the floor, in an open space. Two of my captors stood on each side of me;
while the rest of the court was densely packed with people, who greeted
me with obvious hostility.
When silence was procured, the President said to me, with a show of
great courtesy, that he could not disguise from himself that the charge
against me was a serious one; but that justice would be done to me,
fully and carefully. I should have ample opportunity to excuse myself.
He then called upon one of those who sat with him to state the case
briefly, and call witnesses and after that he promised I might speak for
myself.
A man rose from one of the seats, and, pleading somewhat rhetorically,
said that the object of the great community, to which so many were proud
to belong, was to secure to all the utmost amount of innocent
enjoyment, and the most entire peace of mind; that no pressure was put
upon any one who decided to stay there, and to observe the quiet customs
of the place; but that it was always considered a heinous and
ill-disposed thing to attempt to unsettle any one's convictions, or to
attempt, by using undue influence, to bring about the migration of any
citizen to conditions of which little was known, but which there was
reason to believe were distinctly undesirable.
"We are, above all," he said, "a religious community; our rites and our
ceremonies are privileges open to all; we compel no one to attend them;
all that we insist is that no one, by restless innovation or cynical
contempt, should attempt to disturb the emotions of serene
contemplation, distinguished courtesy, and artistic feeling, for which
our society has been so long and justly celebrated."
This was received with loud applause, indulgently checked by the
President. Some witnesses were then called, who testified to the
indifference and restlessness which I had on many occasions manifested.
It was brought up against me that I had provoked a much-respected member
of the community, Charmides, to utter some very treasonous and
unpleasant language, and that it was believed that the rash and unhappy
step, which he had lately taken, of leaving the place, had been entirely
or mainly the result of my discontented and ill-advised suggestion.
Then Lucius himself, wearing an air of extreme gravity and even
despondency, was called, and a murmur of sympathy ran through the
audience. Lucius, apparently struggling with deep emotion, said that he
bore me no actual ill-will; that on my first arrival he had done his
best to welcome me and make me feel at home; that it was probably known
to all that I had been accompanied by an accomplished and justly popular
lady, whom I had openly treated with scanty civility and undisguised
contempt. That he had himself, under the laws of the place, contracted
a close alliance with my unhappy prot�g�e, and that their union had been
duly accredited; but that I had lost no opportunity of attempting to
undermine his happiness, and to maintain an unwholesome influence over
her. That I had at last left the place myself, with a most uncivil
abruptness; during the interval of absence my occupations were believed
to have been of the most dubious character: it was more than suspected,
indeed, that I had penetrated to places, the very name of which could
hardly be mentioned without shame and consternation. That my associates
had been persons of the vilest character and the most brutal
antecedents; and at last, feeling in need of distraction, I had again
returned with the deliberate intention of seducing his unhappy partner
into accompanying me to one or other of the abandoned places I had
visited. He added that Cynthia had been so much overcome by her emotion,
and her natural compassion for an old acquaintance, that he had
persuaded her not to subject herself to the painful strain of an
appearance in public; but that for this action he threw himself upon the
mercy of the Court, who would know that it was only dictated by
chivalrous motives.
At this there was subdued applause, and Lucius, after adding a few
broken words to the effect that he lived only for the maintenance of
order, peace, and happiness, and that he was devoted heart and soul to
the best interests of the community, completely broke down, and was
assisted from his place by friends.
The whole thing was so malignant and ingenious a travesty of what had
happened, that I was entirely at a loss to know what to say. The
President, however, courteously intimated that though the case appeared
to present a good many very unsatisfactory features, yet I was entirely
at liberty to justify myself if I could, and, if not, to make
submission; and added that I should be dealt with as leniently as
possible.
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