Iowa capitol reporter. [volume] (Iowa City, Iowa) 1841-1855, 1847-02-17
SIS it En,bolicala"

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY II, 1847.
ssIs it Enbolica12''
Old Hawk S last cffusion is replcte with
choieely.selccicd falsehoods, from bis In
exhsustible fanl Of that commodity. In
speaking sf 4he debate in the House on
the bill 10 hbolisl, capital punishment, he
says=aLsdngrsll introduced bill 70 re-.
peal PC la,us 81 .Aoses,' We need only
saylAat this is unqualifiedly false. Mr..
Lefingwell introduced no such bill. All
who we're within the House during the
thee days discussion on the capital pun,
ishsnent bill, know that nearly all Of that
timsiswas occupied by some three or four
gentlemen in Theological quarrel. The
question seemed to be, as one member OBJ
served, us ii smbolicall' or in other
words, As we inferred from his argument,
is the Mosaic law now in force in this
StateP One contendcd that it was; one
laid that twas repealed by the new dis
pcnsatioD; and another said that both were
thelaw Of the land. Tie s.embolicaI' old
gefIslemanhaa the best Of the game; and
it may well be imagined that the absurdi-
~ of such . doctrine, at this enlightened
day,pr oduced no small degree ofmerriment
among those who were not mad fanatics or
designing hypccrites. Messrs. Morton,
(whig,) and Day, (de,n., } drew up "a bill
to repeal all the laws Of Moses now in
force in Ibis Safe The bill was circu-
lated among the members, and all enjoyed
the joke. There WIS nothing OF serious
nature. contained in il; it was intended on
ly toridicule the argument, that the Mo-
eaie law was in force in this State. and
thst.it was the law Of the land. After the
bill had been shown to nearly all in the
House, Mr.. Morton having been called
10 the Chair,) Mr.. Leffingwell presented
the'bill to the House, and all enjoyed the
legislative spot that its introduction gave
rise 10. So far from being treated as Sc.
rious matter, no minutes Of the proceed
ings were kept; and there is nothiag on
the journal to show tina: such bill was
even thought Of. The "unanimous relec
tom he speaks OF. was BY vote Of IL
to Sd ,chigs and 4 democrats Young for
the bill, and two of those wigs from Des
Moines.
Thus, il can plainly be seen, that the Oh
ject Of the lying old miscremt was, BY
garbling frcm the bill enough 10 suit his
own christian purposes, by grossly mis-
representing the facts and his designs, AMI |
by absolute falsehood to iniure Mr.. Lef- |
fngwesi-or, by denounc,ng il as $50
cotoco" measure, 10 make political capital
tor the knaves in whose hands he is phi
ant tool;-or. perhaps, raise himself In the
estimation Of honest men, from the depths
Of moral and political depreciation in
which it were impossible Tor any being
caring the form Of humanity, TO find
lower deep. Having utterly failed In his !!
object, we would recommend this phara-
saical old dolt to repair 10 his closet, and
reflect seriously upon such of the laws Of
Moses as relate to the crime Of lying, and
particularly upon the passage Of scripture
which says that "all liars shall have their
part in the lake that burneth with fire and
birthstone" Under the laws Of Moses,
such a walking moral pes,ilerce would
scarcely have been tolerated, or permitted
to breathe tie free air Of Heaven Had
they been in force at the line Of his birth,
he was.ld doubtless have been strangied
as monster, without ever being permit
ted 10 see the light Of day.