The weekly Minnesotian. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1852-1858, 1855-01-20
For the Minnesotiau .

For the Mfnnesotau.
The Penalty of Death.-Is it Expedient?
"Is it expedient to award to the civil magis-
trate the power of the sword, as an ultimate
sanction to law ~
Two classes of reasoners have invoked the
from expediency, in behalf of their
projects for new modelling our penal code and
our ideas of the sanctions of civil power.
LIST. The class who acknowledge, that by
the Holy Scriptures the power of life and death,
under certain Limitation, is allowed to lie an
attribute of civil authority: that, as they teach
God has left "no umpire but the sword in ma
TONS quarrels, no decision of the right but the
battles: but who denying the morality of the
humanity of such grant of power, repudiate
the claim of the Bible as infallible divine rule
of right.
End. The class who professedly receive the
Bible, but consider it's teachings as obsolete
in many respects, or susceptible of develop
ment or modification. These think they see in
the spirit of the scriptures indications ofprin
ciples which little agree with its plain record
and regard themselves at liberty to neglect
that record in certain cases.
Both these classes resort of necessity to the
argument from expediency in the discussion O.
questions like the present. Into that large
and almost limitless field I do not propose t.
follow them but to enter it only so far as the
discussion of the question of the scriptural law
fitness of the power of the sword has inciden
tally led the way.
The advocates for abolishing this power ap
peal to Scripture and propose to cast new
light upon its utterances follow them glad
ly into this repository of all high truth.
They propose to convert the warrant for the
magistrate's power over life, from command
or permissive sanction, into prediction ant
,vhat prediction:
Why, that murder will follow upon murder
"Whoso sheddeth MINIS blood, by man wil
mot shalt his blood be shed, for in the image
of God, made He man."
Now, grant that this is divine, infalli
BILE prediction and what follows? Why're
cisely this: that all history of human society
has been a record ofthe fulfllment of the pre-
dictiOn, and always will be
Either the majesty of the law, and the SWORD
of the magistrate, must avenge blood crying
from the ground, or private Vengeance will
take the sword-and murder lead on to muir
der.
In truth, the "new translation" does no more
than elicit from pregnant law, the latent
reason gifts erpediency, and justification of its
stern behest.
The saying of our Blessed Saviour, "whoso
taketh the sword shall perish by the sword
has been quoted as bearing on this question,
and putting the end of the Bible in contradc-
ton with the beginning. But these words
were uttered in rebuke of private resistance to
the magistrate, and personal selfavenging. II
is only re-iteration ofthe latent reason of the
command to Noah, not an abrogation of it.
"He that taketh the sword shall perish by the
sword" Resistance by the sword to the MAG
IsTRATE, even in defence of personal right, un-
dermines the only security of human freedom,
viz the protection of the lav. The sword
drawn for selfavenging in private quarrels,
leaves you no security but in the channels of
perpetual strife, and in the law of the strong
est.
do not believe, Messrs. Editors, that any
experiments which may be made, On any
principle counter to that involved either liz the
new or the old translation of the Noachic pre-
cepr, will tend any where but to the confrma-
ton of that sentence-"He that taketh the
sword [either for private Vengeance or for per-
sonal resistance to the magistrate1 shall perish
by thesword."
And here, Messrs. Editors, | leave this ques-
ton OF expediency.
But beg to add word of more general
bearing. There is a false and ugly implication
too often involved in all these discussions, viz:
That one party delights in, and advocates the
of the penalty in1 question ;
the other speaks humanely for its abrogation
Mr.. O'Sullivan, before he turned his face to-
ward Cuba and his sympathies towards fillibus-
tering, was not slow to put the issue systemat-
ically in this light; on his side all the human
ity; on the other pharisaic hardness and
sanctimonious delight in blood.
Let us guard against that illusion of debate,
which leads the disputant to invest his dis
ieutsentent with every ugly attribute of the
serroneous position or opinion he is
defending.
The truth is, that disputes On such questions
IS these, come, Twill not say of shallowness
but Of that haste and hurry which is incompat-
ble with depth. We do not go far enough back
in our meditation of the subject,-n bottom
ing, as Lord Bacon calls it. To our mind there
les at the very bottom of all discussion of this
grave and affecting question, another-ininte-
y wider in its reach-and upon which some
men most certainly are in error-an error col
,ring every movement of their lives 1t is
he question "what is humanity" What is it
when it takes the form of true selElove? What
shen it goes out in love to our neighbor p
Who exemplifes it? 1 merely suggest this
bought and add an instance for meditation.
The complex impulses of sense of justice
# patriotism, of fidelity to official trust, of alb
lorrenee of treason and its abettors, and the
enderest, most melting interest in brother
tho an enemy displayed themselves in the
igning of death-warrant of Major Andre,-
nd the Father Of his Country felt them all,
Ghen, the tears flowing faster than the ink from
lis pen, he put firmly his hand to the fatal
rriting Now, was General Washington. at
hat moment, type of the man truly humane
V.
But what Is expedency? The just and the expedi-
nt, would be found, able to see the end from