Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1843-04-06

serious CONSIDERATION Oh Inc PuOilCs Ht
portion referring TO the press is especially
true and deserving Of serious attention
Rich. Comp.
PUBLIC OUTRAGES-THEIR CAUSES
AND EFFECTS.
The shocking murder in New York,
which we noticed yesterday, is another
instance Of one crime producing another.
And il would be well If it could be made
to operate as a beacon to those, whose
course is in tho tortuous channel where
passions ebb and flow without regulator.
We are not astonished at the result.
Let who will have been the murderer. the
act was evidently the consequence of the
former violation OF the laws Of God and
man, and naturally a consequence, too.
| We need not stop here TO prove, or to IL.
lus;rate the truth of this assertion. Those
conversant with the affairs Of life, have
learned to discover the intimate connec.
ton between one crime and another-be-
tween the continued provocation by CRIME,
and the visitation Of the vengeance of the
provoked upon the aggressor. If the
visitation is not always visible, il is ire-
| a
the world overlooks the connection. If it
is not always made, it is, perhaps, be.
cause the infamy is not repeated, to lead
to discovery, or the injured flies away
from the chance of revenge, that he may
not find himself involved in guilt, as well
as in misfortune.
These open violations of the laws Of
the land, in the attack upon the person,
and sometimes in the taking Of the life Of
a human being, are growing more and
more frequent, and it might be worth the
inquiry of the man of thought and leisure,
what is the cause of the frequency. The
personal attack, wrong as it is, and most
to BE- censured, is rarely without real or
an imaginary cause. A man seldom
strikes another, without thinking, al least,
that he IS resenting some injury. The
murder of Corlics was, probably, the ile
gal visitation Of an injured husband, or
the vergesnce Of a sighted woman.
In the latter instance the law could not
have aided her, because the injury itself
arose from unlawful acts. In the former,
the law is armed with powers to revenge;
but the haste Of injured feelings, and the
misconceptlon as to the true qualities of
honor, would prevent an appeal to that
law.
1t cannot be denied that the courts of
justice Of our land are, in some States,
stripped of considerable portion of their
terrors, by the new tenure by which the
Judges hold their office, and the imputa.
tions which such circumstances have led
some to cast upon the motives OF their
decisions.
But the crime to which we have refer.
red above, is not the only one which has,
Of late, multiplied the instances of VIC.
lence, and brought the citizen to antici.
pate the action of law, which, while it
might slightly punish The offender against
his peace, would afford his wounds-very
little redress.
The open pronigacy Of a portion Of the
press--the direct attack which it makes
upon the character Of ciilzens-its un-
guarded false statements of what, if true,
would destroy the character Of any man,
and its total inability TO repair the injury,
are attendant sources of violence and out
rage. Very few men can command
enough of good sense, to sit still under a
continued attack, and trust to their own
general character, and 10 the insignif-
canoe, or Known vIciousness Of the assail-
er. They are injured at the time, and
they naturally seek for vengeance al the
time. The delay of the law, aud often
the defeat OF justice are not TO be endured;
and thus the law is violated, and justice
outraged, by the injured. The freedom
of the press, properly guaranteed, to dis
cuss the character and claims of candl-
date for public office, or the conduct OF
the public officer, is abused, to the graft
ication OF personal dislike, 10 miserable
jealousy, to reprehensve envy Of imagi.
nary superior success, or sometimes 10
the degraded, morbid appetite Of praise
Tor smartness--a desire to be considered
as having said something to be talked of.
The dirty pellet thrown against tho mar
BILE facade, is always conspicuous.
The public who laments and condemns
the violence which springs from both
kinds Of vices TO which we allude, is much
to blame for the encouragement which it
gives to the preparation Of such crimes.
To the former, in tolerating the company
Of the offender; to the latter, in pa,roniz
ing his disorgani.ing course. and even
smiling species Of approval, at his libels
until these libels or attacks reach them.
selves or their own family.
Let those who mourn over the violence
produced, check, or, at least, disapprove
of, the evil causes. II is in vain that the
virtuous complain of the violation OF the
law, when they, by their continuance OF
approval, give law superior to eglsla
ItisG ensctments, to encourage the evils
that are tho certain cause Of the effects
deplored.
r The murder of Corlies. lately, in New York,
by some person unknown.
al need not tell you what think of that
man, Henry Clay, OF Hanoper. He has
done for himself, wha, friends and fortune
can do for no man, and has acquired wha'
neither friends nor Toes can take away
from him-"a tame for which he him.
self has fought" and to which no mans
M