brave, brave Sir Rob[ert]

[lynn cates]

implication

Hello. That's true. It was Mr. Ryder's implication, based on social circles.

LC

[Roy Corduroy]

...the "woman of good family's" plea, transmitted by Crawford...

Hi Lynn,

The Crawford letter didn't say that.

Roy

[lynn cates]

Hello. I'd like to see a discussion about Sir Robert in conjunction with the letter found by Mr. Ryder in the Duke University collection.

In particular, I'd like to know if anyone thinks it is possible that the "woman of good family's" plea, transmitted by Crawford, could have had a psychological effect on Sir Robert so that, unwittingly, it "coloured" his thinking vis-a-vis his choice of suspects.

This is in no way to cast aspersions on Mr. Anderson's character. I will assume he was both honest and brave.

To be very precise: I am thinking about a dilemma, sometimes taken up by Act Utilitarian ethicists, along the lines that, if 2 people are accused of a crime, and there is no certainty about which is guilty, why not blame the one whose "memory" stands to lose less. It is an outcome of their "Greatest Happiness Principle."

LC