New-York tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1841-1842, 1841-05-08

T. OSulvan Of this civ The document fills l64 octave
,,gos written with degree of ability often dis
paved in our Legislative re,o=, ard, Notwithstanding IT.
x,en, i AZ much Distinguished fer is condensation as Tor
any other quality
We can present but brief summary OF it positions 1t
asserts and we think concusvey proves that ne '1le docs
M, sanction the Punishment OF death In the ane-auvah
ra and when the law was gvenrom Mt Sinai the Orator
in the most emphatic and solemn reProbated the IN
fiction of the penalty the words Thon shat mol sag
and this decree was again gated IN the later revelation
Of III. will Of the same Being Whatever nay have been
taught or seemingly ncurated By the law OF Moses the pun
isment of death is clearly asrogaed and prohibited IN the
e.icr law of Jesus Christ Nothing more apparent than
that the infection of this penalty inconsistent with the prI
cc maintained BY the great Of procssed Christians
II an eternity OF eirbtion for the crimes of humanity Ger
.an the precep of our religion require yield to the
most guilty the full period of time that God himself may alot
TO him for repentance and reformation.
The right of society to take the Ke of its members is ex
trcmey doubtful and can be rghtfy exercised only in
Of absolute necessy-ior selfdccnce. This necessity Is
much less apparent in the case OF the criminal than that of
the luaac whom society has proposed pu, to death
The pretended right to nc the punishment Of death Is
not as it is claned be- application of the natural right
country shows concuvey that the fear of death is not
powerful or cectua restraint uron the passions and the mo-
tive. which lead to the commission of great crimes The
mass of those who suffered this punishment have aPPa
eny been indifferent to it, and the influence Of the publicity
Of has every where been found destructive
all healthy thought and octen The ookeron at the
cuons at the Old Bailey in England and elsewhere have
been uniformly described as the infamous Of mankind
and very frequently have been committed IN sight OF
the still ouiycrng bodies the malcactor which have after
ward been punished the same brutal way Almost every
public execution has given Others by DESTROYING the
regard for the invioably of life and by dcpravng in vast
variety of WAYS the minds those who have been witnesses
Of the spectacle Indeed the principle that the punishment
Of death is elicacious example, has been virtually
abandoned in , State and in others by the pooI-
ton Of public executions.
Certainty of punishment eiectual than severity
.ccrtantv fatal to all objects attends the punishment of
DEATH from the refusnance of Jurors TO i's inlcon which
would be resediel by penalty less abhorrent the instincts
of humanity The substitution of solitary confinement with
hard labor during life for the present capital punishment 1t
i. would be more scrcrc would be less cruel 1t would
nlacs the criminal within reach Christian renovation of
heart and thus spare his soul from condemnation.
In Belgium TUSCANY Holland India, and ether countries
the abolition of the punishment of death has been followed
by the happe>t Consequences and in Lnsand France and
nearly all European and American States the mitigation h
the penal code By TIE of the punishment o death
to TWO or three of the which lad been previously
extended has induced the heahu and permanent
forms The abcst criminal law, OF modern times
concur in the sentiment that the abolition Of the punishment
of death r all cases would be productive of immediate and
irsportant benefits and the Committee express conviction
which we doubt not is true that great majority OF the peo
pie of New-Yo are heart decidedly opposed capital
punishment and that the number is exceedingly small who
would not hail with high qualification at least trial of the
proposed reform, experiment.
On some points is less full than should have desired
particularly in regard the history of Legislation the
subject and the results of the mitigation of the pcAa laws
But az we have said before, the report (Which drawn up
bv Mr. OSullvas extremely able and all its parts
pertinent Ten times the number of copies have been
printed and we hope will be read with the aen
lion which the gravity of the subject demands. throughout
the State as we apprchend inu action will be had
on the bill which has been introduced into the Legislature
during the present session.
AIABAMA-The Legislature on the % passed law pro-
ydng for Special Election of Members of Congress Gov
Bagby immediately issued his Proclamation designating the
Goth inst for that Election The endorse
the back For General Ticket For Districts. and the
majority of votes determines whether the General Ticket
law shall stand or be repealed.
Hon John c. Calhoun has lately been travelling through
Alabama He strongly invited visit Tuscaloosa but
declined.
ASSASSINATION Thomas II Williams has declined the
regular Opposition nomination for Governor of Mississippi