Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-08-12 00:00:00

TO TRZ

MOST NOBLE TEE MARQUIS OF WESTMINSTER,

LORD Li= Ellrmarr OE CliEffalßE.

MY Lin,--I this day take the liberty of 1
addressing your lordship e-a a most important and
solemn question —namely, teapital. • punish men t. I
offer no further apology for doing so, because, if
the history t; the'creation, as given by Moses, be
true, both= of us are men, am-leanly men, made
precisely of the same materials. A-poor unfortunate
fellow-creature has been left for execution in this
city -ripen- circumstantial evidence. According to
my judgment such evidence 4e, eiothing but the
suppositions of men, wed, therefore, no man ought,
to be executed on set 311. evidence. Is it not an
admitted fact that many persons in this country
have been executed oneireunvstantial evidence and
afterwards proved to be innocent? lam opposed
to capital punishment altogether, and am of
opinion that no man ought to be executed. We
, are infer-rued that the only man ever created was
formed of earth, by the immediate hand of God,
and that the Great Creator afterwards breathed
, into the dead body of Adam, and man became a
livingesoul. . Clearly, therefore, the immortal part
of man is a sacred thing between him and his God,
and ought. not 'to be dragged from the mortal
except-by. him who gave it. The first murderer
repented in dust and ashes, and said, " My
punishment is greater than _.I can bear. Behold,
' thou hest driven me out this day from the face of
the earth, and from thy face-shall I be hid, and I
shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth ;
and it shall come to pass, that every one that
findeth me shall slay line:" And the Lord slid
unto him, " Therefore, whosoever slayeth, Cain,
vengeance shall be taken on him seven-fold ; and
the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest any one
finding him-should slay him." Now, my lord, I
do not think that this was given as a caution to
the-Jew individuals who might have been on the
earth at this particular time, or who might have
been on the earth during the; life-time of Cain; but
was also a caution to all future generations, and
ought to stand as perfect in these days as in the
days of Cain.; if so, I have a right to . conclude.
whoever slayeth John Bleg,g, vengeance shall be
taken on him seven-fold, either in this world or in
that which is to come. David, King of Israel, was
a murderer. I ask, why was he not hanged ? It is
true the sword never left his house during his life,
in consequence of slaying -Uriah. I have no wish
for the murderer to go unpunished. Banish him
from the land of his birth, if you will ; but give
him-his life, in order that he may repent of h:s
enormous sin. Every day do I hear professors of
Christianity say, hang all by all means. Such
Christianity is not worth a rush. lamat a loss to
know how a man, calling himself a Christian, can
be favourable to capital punishment. According
to my judgment there caa be. no congeniality=
between Christianity and capital punishment I
am afraid that much or the boasted Christianity of
England is empty profession. I know that a vast
number of the people of England make long
prayers. on the house-tops, in order that they may
be heard and seen by men; verily, they shall
have their reward. I' would a thousand times
rather have the Christianity of Titus, the late
heathen Emperor of Rome, than the Christianity
of some of the people of England. Most advocates
of capital punishment quote the following verse:—
" Whoso shedeth man's blood, by man shall his
blood be shed." I am not aware that they ever
attempt quoting any other verse. Well, this verse
was written by Moses. The same man also wrote :
" Lot the Sabbath-breaker and the adulterer be put
to death. If the whole law of Moses, so called, had
been kept in its integrity in thili country, fully
three-fourths of the people of England would have
been hanged long ago. My lord, I have known
some law-makers who were notorious adulterers
God help them if Moses had reigned in
,England
in their days. The compassionate Jesus forgave
the poor woman taken in adultery, which was
punishable with death according to the law of
Moses, when the blood-thirsty Scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites, would have destroyed root
and branch. Remember, my lord, Scribes and
Pharisees of our day are precisely of the
same disposition as the Scribes and Pharisees
in the days of our Saviour. James and John,
the immediate followers of Christ, were under the
influetce of the Evil One, as many professors of our
day are. When the Redeemer was on his way to
Jerusalem, attended by these two men, James and
John, on their way they called at a Samaritan vil
lage, I suppose in order to basic refreshments.
The people of the village refused-to entertain them,
because the Samaritans- had no wish to have
dealings, with Jews. When the two disciples,
saw that the people refused to entertain them,
they said, " Lord, wilt thou that we command
a fire from Heaven to come down, and con-
sume them, even as Elias did." ' Jesus rebuked
them, and said, "Ye know not what manner of
spirit ye are of, for the Son of Mania not come .to
destroy men's lives, but to save them." If I had
an interview to-day with all advocates of capital
punishment, i would say to them, "Ye know not
what manner of spirit ye are of." If advocates of
capital punishment had visited Stafford on Satur-
day last, surely the scene would have brought
them to a proper state of mind. Perhaps the
scene would have softened the heart of the most
hardened wretch in human form. Well, my Lord,
if John Blagg had been properly educated, he
would not have been in his present fearful posi-
tiion. One great cause of murders, and other
crimes, is the want of a proper education. Another
great cause is the great partition wall between rich
and poor. If proud rich people acknowledged the
poor to be creatures of the same God, there would
.be less crime. Take my word for it, my Lord,
°foolish distinctions of this earth is a great curse.
Think you, my Lord, do rich men ever think that
they are made of the same material as the poor.
I would recommend all rich men to read the
4dth Psalm, and to be careful to understand
I what they read. When they have read the Psalm
in question, let them afterwards read the , 2nd '
chapter of Ct. James, in both they will find grand
truths. ham not quite sure whether or not proud
rich men read much of Scripture ; I am fully
aware that many of them are well-informed in
other matters which tends to degrade the minds
of men. My Lord, if all the human family acknow-
ledged each other brothers and sisters, children of
the same parents, there would have been no Crimea
war, or the present slaughter in India. Now, my
lord, a few more words about the late Emperor of
1 Rome. It is recorded that he showed the most
' remarkable sense of :the value of human life; when
he accepted the office of Chief Pontiff, he declared-
that he took it in order to keep his hands free from
blood, and often said, " That he would rather die
himself than cause the death, of others." -Well,
my Lord, here is a pattern for despots of Europe,
and falsely-called Christians, who are always
thirsting ~or human blood. There is a connect-
ing link between the conduct of this heathen
prince and the 27th verse of the Ist chapter of
James—it is as falliciee :—.' Pure religion,eud
undefiled before God and the Father is this, to
visit the fatherless and widows in their afflic-
tion, and to keep himself unspotted, from the
world, —I am, my Lord, 'your Lord,!=hip's humble
servant, • A NATIVE OF THE PRI:siCIFUJTY•
Chester, August lf), 1857.