Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1850-1854, 1853-04-29

a
ciple TO govern human legislation in all coming
! time-a statute with penalty corresponding to
the desert of the crime, with reason for it, enact
ment. Thus it reads, Genesis 8: 6, "Whoso she'd
deth mans blood, by man shall his blood be shed.
for in the image of God made he man" Now
here is Heavens Statute against murder and its
terrible penalty annexed and the reason for it. or
the ground of its desert declared-'Fo or in the i'm
age of God made he man" The moral aspect of
the crime comes out of the reason assigned and
the desert deepens in shade because it is the image
of God that is cloven down by killing a man with
murderous intent. By such killing, God is as
saulted upon His Throne and if it were possible
we may suppose that the spirit that would muir
derously take the life off fellow being would pierce
the heart of God Is there no desert that attach
es to such an act Is this Statute of God merely
defamation Is there no mystery, that is, a
profound meaning embodied within this Statute
But OH says one, this is obsolete passage adap-
ted to the age in which it was announced. 1t was
a law given to old Noah, under the old dispense
ton, and is in no manner applicable to the present
advanced age of the world But, we would ask
where is the ground or the sense for such an OBJ
lection that In order to have any force the
objector must be able to show that the law is ab-
rogdted; and can he do that? He can show that
the ceremonial and judicial law of the Jew is done
away; but this statute is not found among them.
1t was committed to Noah for the world soon after
he left the aTkit was given for good reason which
then existed and it is sound principle of philo-
sophy, which no one, with whom we will conde-
scend to argue, win deny, that while the reason
for law remains, the force of q law remains, UNI
less formally abolished The reason for the law
remains, which existed when the statute enact
ed, (for man is as much the image of God now as
he was then, There is no known abrogation of
the law upon the page Of the Bible, and why then
is not the statute applicable to the present day
But where do you find this Statute transferred
to the New Testament dispensation, is an enqui-
ry? We answer, no where, in the same words;
but the principle is recognized as Just and authori-
tative in the new The apostle Paul, in the 18th
of Romans, in speaking Of the Divine appointment
of human governments and of the rightful author
ity of magistracy under such a government says,
''but if thou do that which is evil be afraid for he
beareth not the sword in vain for he is the min
lister of God revengcr to execute wrath upon
him that doeth evil The expression "for he bear
eth not the sword in vain," is symbolical of the
mode of nflicting Capital Punishment among the
Romans, which was by beheading with the sword
Now here the principle is recognized, as being I'M
der the Divine appointment. The statute in its
very words is not transferred, there was no ne
cesSity il should be- any more than it was neccssa-
ny that the statute for the institution of marriage
or of the Sabbath should be formally re-enacted in
the New Testament. The principle is there &C
knowledged, and that is all we need demand
So also when Paul stood before Festus accused bv
the Jews, he says, " If l be an offender or have
committed anything worthy of death, | refuse not
to die &C. But why should Paul be ready to suf-
fer death, if it dnrghteous to infict the pen
atty of death? No ought to be ,OiLling to en-
dure an unrighteous penalty, and certainly Paul
would not be. Crime has desert, which no refor-
nation, nor discipline can cancel. 1t has desert
standing back in the shade of its turpitude, which
nothing can answer to righteous law-to justice,
but the punishment of the offender, or good rea-
son, such as will satisfy justice, why the punish
| ment should be arrested The moral desert of
crime is its substance and the attribute of Justice
that seeks it out and defines it, and measures it,
is the mystery of the law Some people entirely
lose sight of this in their contemplation of crime
They place crime among the list of mtSfoytunes of
life, and reckon the punishment due to it by the
principle ofeXpediency! They look upon the eco
nomical aspect of crime, at its bearings upon So
ciety, at how they can get along with IT, and its
effects with the least possible suffering to the Grim
inal. They would punish a murderer, but how
much How deep is the shade of the moral de-
sert of such crime It is not done in q moment
of passion he is not moving under any sense of
njuty done by his Yictim-he is not phrensied by
Intoxicating drinks. He is moved, it is true, by
some motive; some dark, dreadful motive-but he
has deliberately surveyedt he has thought it over
and over, laid his plans, weighed results, and &C
comphshed the deed Is there no moral desert,
that appears upon the face of this transaction -
No desert of suffering due to such wretch Does
justice demand no atoncment, beyond what can be
made by imprisonment for lIte and attempt to
reform the criminal by Imprisonment, that he may
kill nobody else, and an attempt at reformation
that he may be a better man. Is this economical
aspect of the subject the only one or the main one
to be considered! Is there not moral desert in
this crime deep, dark, damning! Can justice, hui
man or divine-the law of God or the law of man
be satisfied in such an instance with mere NOM
inal penalty of imprisonment for life, with the
chance of course of escape or being pardoned with
in a short time Is there not desert attached to
such crime as this, that overshadows every other
aspect of itl that absorbs the attention, arouSes
the Indignation, and sickens the heart in the con-
temptation of? If there is no desert or if the de-
sert be the secondary consideration if there be
moral turpitude, or next to none attached to such
a crime, then why punish at all
Why not just confine in a respectable way, and
endeavor to reform the criminal, as you would
crazy man whom you wished to prevent doing any
harm, and whom you would try to cure. If the
commission of crime is merely the manifestation
of disease, then why not employ the Physician ra-
Their than the Bailiff! Why infict any punishment
if there be desert! But You say there is desert,
but not so terrible as to call for death The muir
derer deserves to be punished, but not by death.
But we inquire again, is there deeper desert in
the crime of deliberate murder, than in some felo-
Nous act that does not include murder, and that
might include perpetual imprisonment. What is
the loss OF all my goods, or even OF my liberty,
compared with the loss of my life And does not
the creature that takes my life, deserve a severer
punishment than he that deprives me of liberty or
property! This inquiry justice answers it should
The law in its mysterious searchings goes down to
the fountain of moral desert, analyses its nature
measures its turpitude, and solemnly pronounces
its doom The majesty of the law eminently con-
sists in adapting penalty to crime. There is then
a ma jesty and mystery in the law even in human
law. Though human legislators enact it, it is, ne
vertheless the voice of God echoed through the
transitions of human wisdom. 1t is the transmits
sion of the response of the oracle within the veil
through the state political. Wordsworth in his
poem, has suggested that idea, when he says,
what is a state? The wise behold in her, a crea-
ture, born of time, that keeps eye fixed on the
Statute of eternity, to which her judgements rev.
erentially refer"
Human Law, we have already said, derives
all its mystery and majesty and we may add its
real authority from the divine law 1! 4 punish
ment inflicted on me, for an net, for which dis
cover no moral turpitude has no majesty in it.
can have no reverence for it. l can do less than
contemn It and its executors! l can feel no abase-
ment in view of my act. / lose no selfreSpect.
Such law has no majesty, and that because it is
unjust. But let an individual commit an act, that
he is conscious includes its desert let him feel
guilty, conscience being his accuser; let him be
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