American watchman and Delaware advertiser. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1822-1828, 1824-01-13

district that would furnish houses sufficient to &C
commodate specified number Of scholars-or a
certain sum- for each scholar, to every portion of
any district that will furnish school house. In a
country like ours, where all power, directly or indi
rectly, flows from the people, il is matter of as
stonshment that the diffusion of knowledge and
the extension of religion and morality among The
peope were not the FIRST objects of public patronage
ISome oil sister states have wisely extended the
arm Of public protection over the education of the
poor. ] trust that you will not be backward In
following this example. No longer satisfied with
passing laws to punish bad habits, let US unite our
efforts in the enactment of laws to prevent their
formation. II the fountain is permitted to remain
Iopen, it is useless labor to throw barriers across
the stream. 1t is in vain that swell our penal
code, if every rising generation is permitted to be
raised in ignorance and vice. In vain do we boast
of our elective franchise, and of our civil rights, i'll
10 large portion Of our citizens are unable read
the tickets which they annually present at the polls.
Such may think themselves free, but, in fact
they are slaves. Ignorance always has been and
always will be the slave of knowledge. Ifinforma-
ton is generally dfused among people, that people
will always be their masters--they will always
govern. An enlightened people never has been,
and never can be, ensaved But if the door of
knowledge is closed upon the poor, who are always
the great mass al the peopl,e-lf education is con-
fined to the circles oflhe rich, the few will govern.
The people may, for while be battered with the
idea that they free, and rest coAtented under
the delusion but this dream will vanish and they
will soon openly be constrained to wear the chains
which their own ignorance forged. The unhappy
situation Of foreign nations induces mehus urgently,
to press upon you the subject OF education. What,
but ignorance, and its necessary accompaniment,
vice, have reared that disgusting spectacle of NOR
al debasemcnt which Europe at present exhibits
Sensible OF the incompatibty between knowledge
and slavery, the masters of the old World have co
sed every avenue against the people, and openly
declared that nation, TO be kept in chains, must
jbe kept in ignorance. The circulation of all
books that advocate political liberty and civil rights
has been suppressed and the freedom OF the press is
totally destroyed If we would avoid these effects
let us avoid the cause Human nature is the same
in every CLINE, and in the same circumstances,
with the same causes pressing upon II, will always
lproduce the same effects. Every page o! history
Iexposes to US the shoals upon which other nations
have shipwrecked their liberty, and the present
lstate of Europe dreadully confirms the lesson.
Enlighten the people-open schools Tor the instruc-
ton Of the poor, and our liberty will be perpetual
But, if we close against the admonitions Of
history, and shut eyes against the light of
Iperience, the fairest prospects that ever opened
upon the world will be blighted, and the hopes of
humanity and the prayers of the pious will be fruit
less and unavailing.
would earnestly recommend to your consde-
ration the propricty of making such alterations in
our penal code, will render it eficacious in
promoting the great object of punishmens. No
part of legislation much requires the exercise of
"a calm and unprecedented mind, as that which relates
to the framing of penal laws. In furnishing often
ces whose moral turpitude naturally exctes our
adherence and disgust, it requires no small self
control to prevent our feelings from influencing our
Judgment Affected by the odiousness Of the crime,
we are apt to be forgetful Of the authority with
which we are invested, and assuming the preroga-
tive of higher tribunal, or6aip punishment &C
cordng TO our idea of its dement,. But communi-
ties, like individuals, are obviously uniustfable in
violating personal liberty, encroaching upon pri
waite rights, except upon the ground selfpreserva
ton. This principle, it is hoped you will carry
with you into your examination of our penal code.
The peace and safety of society require only the
prevention Of crimes this therefore is the only le-
Ultimate object Of criminal law. No punishment
should be severer than is necessary to produce this
object: such punishment is not only unjust and
unauthorized, but it is calculated to defeat the very
object it was designed to accomplish. England fur
nishes the strongest testimony to prove this fact
no country in the world exhibits so sanguinary a
penal code; and no country in the world witnesses
the preparation OF so many crimes. The complex.
ion of our criminal code resembles that of England,
and we have proportionally experienced the same
lpernlcous effects. he penal laws OF this State are
much severer than those of any State in the Union,
and believe that there is portion of our country,
of the same population, where half the number of
lcrmes are committed, Sanguinary laws, instead of
being barrier 10 the commission of crimes, tend
to their multiplication, by multiplying the chances
of escape. When the punishment is disproportion
ate to the offence uries will be reluctant TO convict,
and when they do convict, pardon will seldom be
denied Severe laws are pernicfous TO society,
whether executed or not: if they executed
they tend to debase the public mind, by crafty
ing the worst passions of the human heart or they
excite pity for the criminal and horror for them