The daily exchange. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1858-1861, 1858-09-27
BALTIMORE.
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 81, 1853.

Some forty years ago, Lord BYRON wrote, in
his simplicity
'This is the patent age of new inventions
For killing bOdies.n
We smile Ito use graceful and favorite phrase
of an amlable contemporary at the benighted con-
dition of gentleman who thought himself justi-
fed in paying so exalted a compliment, even in
verse to pastoral age ofthe world, when ''billies,
and bowie-knives and sung-shot where myths as
vet, and revolvers and six-shooters were not. Still
more do we marvel at the innocence of the poor
poet, when, in another place, he writes some of
his clcverest verses, to detail incident, which
nowadays, would probably have ended in an
honorable discharge by one of Mr.. SwANNs Police
Justices or a recognzance Of straw ball. under the
auspices of Judge STUMP and Mr.. WHITNEY. Let
us hearl1en to the old-time story:
Il heard a shot-'twas eight o'clock scarce past.
And running fast as | was able,
found the military commandment
Stretched on the street and able scarce to pant
Poor fellow For some reason, surely bad,
They had slain him with five slugs and left him there
To perish on the pavement"
This is common-placeand simple enough, surely,
but the thing becomes absolutely puerile, beneath
the dignity of anything like respectable assassina-
ton, when we reach its lame and impotent con
cusion.
THE man was gone; in some Italian quarrel,
Killed by five bullets from an old gun barrel
A s!patent agen indeed, when the science of muir
der had as yet made such contemplate progress,
and homicide was not ashamed to deal with such
primitive and dsreputable weapons A world of
Arcade If must have been, when laureled bards
took inspiration from what would hardly be, with
us. a 'qocal item p We'll, indeed, may we be
proud when we look back upon such vestiges of
ancient civilization, that the sacred brthright'
which our worthy MAYOR so eloquently claims for
us has carried us so far above the level of those
s'foreign paupers," the beggarly Italians
But it was not our purpose here to dwell so
particularly upon the 'new inventions" for killing
people as upon the new ideas which are in vogue
touching the responsibility of those who kill them
In former times, every man who was present, aid
ING and ahetting, when murder was committed,
was held to be as much the murderer as the indi-
vidual who drew the trigger or plunged in the
knife Now, it seems to be the impression, not
only of a great many of the community but Of
some of the public officials that the criminal
law requires the absolute Identification of the
man who handled the weapon, and that he
is technically called, Fhis crowd" with whom
outraged justice has no right to meddle.-
Now in the name of the law and of common sense
and public security, we protest against so danger
Gus and abominable doctrine, and warn the pub
lie against it, as a perncious heresy which sets
the gates Of justice, already unguardcd enough
wide open to the very worst of evil doors. If
uries will tamper with their oaths, in drawingsuch
distinctions, let it be fully understood, in advance
that the community will regard such perjury in
the light of what it is. The law upon the point
is susceptible of no misconstruction, that is not
wickedly wilful. 1t involves principle about
which there is no contrariety of opinion or con-
fct of decisions. No public oficer-Prosecutor,
Judge or Juryman-can make any honest mistake
about it. The killing once proven, every man
who was present, aiding, abetting, encouraging,
exciting, furthering the unlawful assault or riot
in any way, is as much the murderer as if he
struck the blow-whether he intended murder or
not-whether he knew of the murder or not
whether he saw it perpetrated or not. Engaged
in the commission of a criminal act jointly with
others, be shares, to the full, the whole response
bility of every criminal result, whether contem-
plated or not contemplated. \ pistol shot, dis
charged from a crowd of rioters is the act of every
man in the crowd, and the blood that is shed by
it is on every such mans head. We trust that in
the search for those of the murderers of FISCHER,
who are yet unarresed, this principle will not be
ignored, and that the reward offered by Mr..
SWAMI for their arrest and conviction will not
withdraw the attention of the public and the au-
thorities, from the equal responsibility and merited
punishment of those arrested already, if they
should turn out to have taken part in the rotous
and outrageous trespass, of which the murder was
but the consummaton.