The daily exchange. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1858-1861, 1860-07-10

JACOB S. HARDEN was hung in New Jersey on
Friday last He had confessed his guilt, and there
can he but one opinion about the enormity of the
crime for which he suffered, and the propriety Of
infiicng upon him the severest penalties of the
law. But It may be doubted whether the punish
ment to which lie was subjected, wrought upon
the community the sautary effects it was designed
to produce. The spectacle witnessed that day hv
the people Of Belvidere was not an edifyinr one
and the comments of the newspaper correspondents
upon it, are not more likely than was the scene IL
sell to exert any beneficial influence upon the pub
Inc at large. Drunkenness and disorder kept HIGH
revel outside of the Jail yard, while inside of the
prison, maudlin sympathy and impernent Curl
osity held an equally disgusting festival The re-
porters for the press have given to the world their
several narratives, in which the words and acts Of
the wretched criminal during his last hours, are
set forth with painful mnuteness. Every despair
ing expression which crossed his face as he pre-
pared for death, and every convulsive struggle of
his frame in its moment of final agony have been
duly chronicled. But such has been the custom
of the press from immemorial time, and society
always insists impatienty on being furnished
with full details Of every transaction that
can interest or excite it. 1t is not, therefore,
to the mere publication of these that we
object but it is to the tone in which they are dis
cussed, and the sentimental inanities by which
they are usually accompanied. The special cor
respondents who rush in such frantic haste to the
cell of the condemned feon generally forget alto
gether the nature of his crime and the purpose of
MS punishment. They question him about his
past lie, his present convictions, and his future
hopes, and attectionately wrngng his hand at the
loot OF the scaifold they part from him as from
loved companion. They regard him as victim
rather than maefactsr. Every excuse that can
be imagined is brought forward to palliate his
guilt and he is generally reported to have dis
played in his last moments many of the higher
q"a''''es OF the gentleman, the hero, and the
SAINT. HARDEN, we are told, was always ''gente-
manly and courteous during his imprisonment"
anu ne had "won the esteem of the Sheriff and
keepers to such degree that it seemed to them
ike losing an old friend when they hung him -
lie was manly, brave, and young man of fine
talents. lie killed his wife it is true and that in
the most deliberate, treacherous and cold-booded
way that can be conceived. From that time up
to the hour of his death he manifested neither sor
row nor remorse. But for all that he is not
wholly blamaeble. He possessed mind which
''was not well balanced" ''Those who knew him
'before The commission of the crime for which he
died. say that he not vicious in the slightest
degree, but was thoughtless and reckless, and
committed his sing, not so much from deliber-
tate desire to do evil as from thoughtlessness at
'the moment and recklessness as TO conse-
tuupnppS
thought, was in sngularly abnormal condition.
while another tells us that HARDEN himself was of
the opinion that there was something lacking in
CHS organization His demeanor at the GAL
lows was weare informed, very praiseworthy, and
his gallant bearing was especially noticeable.
Paragraph after paragraph of such stuff as we
have quoted may be read in most of the descrip-
tons OF HARDEN's execution, which are being now
republished throughout the country. His crime
is softened down until charity may look upon it
as simple ndscretion and his death of degra-
daton is treated as though it was not altogether
an ignoble one. 1t may be that his idiosyncracies
were such as to render him an irresponsible be-
lhg' nut as far as human judgment can discover
ne was merely depraved, and cold and cruel
lie was as far as earthly tribunals can Judge,
ihoi'eu u murder by the basest motives and most
brutal passions and he deserved, if ever man did,
the doom that overlook him. To sneak of him or
of his offence, in the language which the ne,vsro-
per correspondents have used concerning them ;s
as injurious as it is absurd. 1t is impossible to
offer more direct encouragement TO enit ,hor b.,
thus extending TO every subject of publ,c ;,s,;cs
assurances of popular sympathy and regard and
we may add respect.