Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1859-04-30
THE PRESS ON THE SICKLEs AC.
QUITTAL

Yesterday afternoon, in n second edition Of
the Journal. we announced the verdict rendered
in the case Of Daniel +. Sickles. Thspews, we
dare sa;. surprised nobody. The deaOHeBiFnt
of the sickening drama, which is now we trust,
finally played out, was so long Anticipated as
To have destroyed the interest of the audience
in the progress of the piece to q catastrophe
But If the result Of the trial was foreseen it.
nevertheless, cannot fail to shock the public
conscience and understanding Another Amer
lean jury have prOclaimed-and proclaimed,
too, from the very capital of the natiOn-that
taking life with premeditatiOn, with malice
afOrethOuyht. with deliberate plotting and pre-
arrangement in all the details Of the act is not
murder-is not even mansaughter, ''exeus-
able or :. justifable, - according to the sense
and phraseOlOgy Of the criminal code On the
contrary. the wild applause with which the
courtroom rang when the words g not guilty
were pronounced, and the triumphant manner
in which Mr.. Sickles was borno away from it,
amid the congratulations OF his friends and the
cheors of the mob. have declared that .ssassina-
tion may not only be rendered yenial by cir
cumstances, but dignifed and exalted into a
feat Of honorable prOWess aud heruism.
This ~ not only revolving, but most dan
gerous doctrine to be sent abroad throughout
the land, bearing upon it the seal of judicial
recognition and authority IL not ONLY makes
homicide guitleSs in the eye Of the law, but
praisewOrthy and admirable; it not only asserts
that any citizen, suppOsing himself to have a
sufficient prOvOcation, may take the law into
his own hand, be judge, jury and executioner,
and right his own real or imaginary wrongs by
the pistol or the bowie knife but il enn0ble,
the usurpatiOn. and makes it an object of am
bitiOn. This ablicatiOn of civil justice in favor
of private violence and vengeance-the releya-
tlOn OF the high and solemn functions of public
msgistracy in the adjudication of offences
against the State. 10 the wild passions and un-
settled Judgment of indiyiduals-breaks down
a lparg anil
RENTS all men for self-redrcss or defiance to
the fierce and bloody alternatives of secret or
open murder Can there be safety for any one
in a society in which hot blood, blind suspicion,
crazy caprice, or even the cool and clear sense
OF injured honor, may justify deliberate man.
slang ghter? Trusted with such license. who can
say where fools and knaves may stop In its ex-
ercise 1t il no answer to this to say that pub
lie justice will hold each one responsible for
going beyond the just limits of sanguinary
code OF private malice and reyange. When y
life has been taken by mistake, or without tho
warrant Of due proyOcatiOn. what human power
can repair that wrong Can courts and iuries
atone for IL, either tn the victim or to the laws
or to public sentiment, by taking another life
for the one already destroyed This putting
of the sword and the scales Of civil Justice into
the hands OF any man-but more especially of
bad, passionate and deprayed men, who never
attempt to yindicato their own rights and re-
dress their own grievances. without coming into
the tribunals of the country aud pleading that
they have taken life in lit Of insanity-is a
mOnstrou@ aud terrible thing.
IL j. surely time that public opinion had pro-
tested against the peryersiOn or total abnega-
tiOn of those sound and Wholesome principles
Of Jurisprudence, which should prevail in all
questions OF violence to person and life. and
which are necessary to hold society together.
. 1t Is time that the rule was established that
manslsughter. under 10 circumstance, is JUS
n tihable, that oven iii the EXTREMIST Cases Of
y killing in self-defence. the act is murder and
to be 50 returned by the jury. subject to the
remission of the penalty, upon their recommen-
dation by the Judiciary or the Executive 1t
Is time. too, that insanity as plea of justifca-
ton or excuse in cases Of msnslaughter was
abolished. save in the single instance Of positive
permanent and clearly aseertained mental de-
rangement.
Ifthese things are not determined. distinctly
and fually-if the doctrines and rules of our
criminal Jurisprudence are not recovered from
the barbarOus la1ity and impotence into which
they have latel fallen through the weakness
OF judges and the ignorance infatuatiOn Of
juries-we shall soon lose all just sense Of legal
responsibility all clear perceptions Of duty and
obligation respecting ourselves and our neigh
bOT, and violence and murder will become as
common as they have ever been in the widest
state of barbarism. The verdict in the SiekIes
case has no real ground. in fact or in law. to
stand upon. Even Oh the theory of extreme
ptOsOcatiOh hnu tenn pOrdr( loss OF reason under
excitement it cannot be defended IL has
struck one more fatal blow at the integrity of
the lsw of murder. 1t has done more0it has
impaired popular respect. not for one law only
but for all law. This il the aspect in which il
seems most reprehensible and portentous. and
none can calculate the fearful consequences of
Its influence hereafter.
The jury who rendered it have done infinite
social mischief, while each one has made him
self an accessory after the fact To foul and
infamous murder. They have not only become
c"ufederates of Sickies, sharing completely with
him in his atrociOus crime, but they will yirtu-
ally be the accOmpliees, before the fact, of
every murder that mayb perpetrated in future
Oh the authority Of their judgment in the recent
trial. 1t will be fortunate if each one of them
shall never have occasion to feel directly the
evil Of that dangerous liberty which they have
accorded 10 the caprice of the prehigate and
the violence of the assassin.
From the Journal of COnmercel
Whether justly or unjustly, the public senti-
ment has demanded the acquittal of the &C
cused, and would have clsmOred loudly against
n aconyictiOn. The guilty and wicked conduct
OF the victim placed him beyond the reach Of
public sympathy. however much it may feel for
the innocent family. which in an unexpected
hour was deprived of "A father and protec tor
Mr.. Siekles mad very great provocatiO and it
i easier to say that be should not have given
WAY to the impulse Of the terrible moment than