The Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1822-1829, 1824-12-03
EXECUTION.

EXECUTION.
On Friday last. WILLIAM FERGUsoS,
convicted AT the last term of the Bedford
Superior Court of the murder of his wife
WAS hung at Liberty, pursuant 10 his SEN
trnce. We understand he made a full
confession of his guilt, and attributed the
horrid act 10 monentnry insanity, caused
by intosication, against which vice he So
lcmrhy cautioned the numerous assc mblage
that Witnessed his execution.
The question has been often asked, and
it certainly is Que of much Importance,
whether the present mode of executions ~
conducive To the suppression of crime
The best and most foreihlc view of tins
sub Get that we rccollect To have seen, is
that of Mr.. Livingston, in his revision of
the Penal Code Of Louisiana, IN which tn,
eClat given 10 the last hours of the criminal
is rcprehendcd in terms equally severe and
Just, as exciting a compassion for the wretch
that blinds us to his guilt When we see
him conducted from the prison 10 the
scailold, accompanied by the preparations
for his punishment and his burial-nheu
we see the rope, the colin, the maltock
and the grasc--whtn We Witness the ago
MES Of the criminal, his hands cIenehed IN
despair and his eyes rscttcd on the htn
vcns when we listen 10 his confident rs
scition that be has been pardonrd by his
God, aud his snticipations Of future hap
pinrss, we forget that his hands have been
stained with fellow creatures blood,
whom he has scnt, unanoiutcd and I'm.
anncMed,n 10 the bar Of the Supreme
Judge We view him in the light Of "a
martyr, whose hrmness and courage in
meeting hannah natu,e's last and most
dreadful encounter merits cur sympathy
and applause, rather than u lnalctactor
whose crimes Demand our d,tcstat,on and
adherence. The punishment loses more
than half lis trrrors ON the criminal himself,
and equally as much of ITS influence on
those who witness il. Stip the galows of
its establishments, for even the gallows is
not entirely devoid at them, deprive the
sufferer of the opportunity "f exhibiting
his trmness-- and we add tcnfold horror To
the doom that awaits him. Instead Of
conducting him through ranks of admiring
aud compassionate fellow beings, permit
ting linn 10 behold their sorrow and con
doleuce, make his death as SOLITARY ms lns
crime. Let no one be present but those
appointed 10 execute the mandate of the
Law and instead, as NOW, of resembling
the march Of martyr, sealing with Iris
blood his de, otiDn to principle, 1T wauid be
what il MAS intended 10 be, the nhlctien of
puuisllnrcui for crime and il would, 10 a
much greater extent, have the effect m
tended, ais prevention. The certainty Of
punishment, 1t mast he admitted, is IA more
etlectual eSioPpct TO the preparation of
crimes than its severity. But in cases
where Our Legislators have deemed the
punishment @t death exprdicut, few and
atrocious rs they are, ii should, instead of
being stripped in the smallest degree of its
tern ors be accompanied by every circnm
stance that may tend to make the erlprit
sensible of its magnitude, aud inspire with
fear aud dread those who hear of his fate.
One of the most daring violators er di
tine and human law whose trial ever dis
grGcediht crinNnM records of this country,
aud whose death could not atone fer his
outrage, was treated, in prison, and after
his death, in one of the most enlightened
cities eI the Union, with more respect and
reverence than any christian Rart,r OF
patriot hero who ,yerpcrishcd at the stake
or on the scafIold, in ,indcation of his civ, il
and religious liberties. His prison was
| thronged with the beauty, the fashion and
. the talent ct the town-he was accompa
MED to the gaIluNs by IA crowd of sympa
, thlsing men aud women, whn had used the
most stre0nous exertions to procure his
, pardon, and, tuiliug in that cxeor rated the
justice which doomed him to atone for his
aggravated Offences with his life-and his
body was followed TO its last home by a
| long train OF mourners, who committed il
, TO the earth with the usual funeral solem.
, mites, and believed his grave with tears,
while the poor victim whose life Ire had Ia
+ ken had breo deposited, unnoticea and
unknown" in his tonnb, without cliciting
one tear of regret for his antirnely fate,
except from his immediate relatives and
friends Andy the robhrr aud murder
er was stranger in Baltimore. unknnwn
except by his crmes-while his victim was
both known there and resrccted} Was
tins intended as Il punishment Was it
net Rather triumph
We must make radical alteration in
our modes of punishment, before we can
look for them to be cifcctual representatives.
of crime. When the murderer's CLOSING
scene ~ viewed as ga sabterrmico,rs road to
everlasting soy"-when his death is cele-