, 1859-11-03
A LAW for AL Things,

Tint there is no such thing rs chance is fact
which IL slowly finding its war 10 universal re-
counitiou. Things apparently quite accidental
arc nil found by observation to follow regular
Inv. The number of bt.tls, marriages sud
deaths, the relative proportions Of tue sexes, tho
number Of ships east AWAY, of houses destroyed
BY lire. Of murders. Of suicides, and eyen Of uu-
di1e:ted letters put into the post Office are un-
equal in equa! portions Of time That tLese
things are I'll under the Government Of Divine
lsw Is easily admitted, but that the probability
Of their Iappen n can be predicted by human
foresight, is fuct which hiss only lately found
its way into general belief. As long as Men
attempted 10 lind the Causes of esents, the var-
ely Of conflicting circumstances parAl, zed their
etfor s; but when patient investigators begun
to COLLECT particular instances aud to record.
their number, they discovered, as their obser-
vations read over large periods Of time, a reg
nlartiy which euAblcd them to forcsec+ +thcr re-
occurrence.
OF ail offences. it might well be supposed,
says Mr. Huckle, an eminent statisslcinn, tlat
tile crime of murder is one Of the most arpttra-
r. and irregular. For when we consider that
this, though generally the crowning act OF 4
long cali ger Of rice, is often the imntediAte re-
SUIT u what seems sudden impulse, that
when pretncdiiased. its co'au,itta', even with
the lc Ist chance of impuaity. requires rnrc
continuation OF favorable circumstances, for
WHICH tie crlnllnsi will frequently wait, that
thus hr has to bidc his time, and look for op-
portunitics lie cannot control; that when the
time has come bis heart may fail aln, that tue
question whether or not he shall commit the
act may depend on n baIance Of conflicting mo-
tiyes. such as the fear Of the law, a dread
Of the penalties held out by religion, tue prick
lug. Of his conscience, the app, eheusions Of fa-
tnrc renoTsc, the lore Of gain, Jealousy, Ic-
rcnge, desperation; when nc pat all these
things together. there asises such complica-
finn NJ csDsss that we n,irrllt reasonable eSpuIr
Of detecting any orler OF method in the result
Of those subtle and shifting agencies br which
murder is either caused or prevented. EuthoH
stands the fact. The fact is, murder is com-
form II relatiun to certain known circumstances,
as do the movements Of the tides and the rota-
tons Of tic seasons. MIR. Qaeklet, who has
spcnt lis life ia collecting and 1ncthodising the
statistics of differ cut countries. stu.e- rs the re.
suit Of III. Eaborions researches. that in every
re.occur with 4 coistancy which cannot be mis-
taken,
About suicide, Mr.. Buckle adds. that attempts
to murder mar be and constantly are SUCCESS
fullv resisted: batlled sometimes by the party
attacked. and sometimes liz the officers OF ius.
tice. Bat au atfempl to commit suicide is much
less liable to iuter1uptiou. Tie mau who has
determined to kill himself is not prevented a.
the last fnor.,elt by III. struggles Of IN enemy,
md as he can casily guard acainst the in,erfer-
ence of the ciyi1 ,uwer. the act becomes. as it
we're, isolated it is cut of from foreign disturb
aneet, and seems more clearly tie produc, Of
his own yoition than auy other oatnce could
possibly be. We may also add that, unlike
crimes in ceperal, it Is rarely caused by the
,ns,iration Of corfclrTates: 10 that men not b..
Inc eoadcd into il bT their companions, arc un-
ininencr,l Ly one preat class Of external asso-
ciates which mirlIt .lumper what is termed the
freedom Of the viii.
II mny. therefore, verr naturally be thought
imnructicable 10 cfer suicide to GENERAL prit,c
offence which is so eccentric, 50 solitary, so i'm