, 1865-07-03

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PENALTk FVK Ia 0AADEkAA$
We arc sure thAt no reader Of The IRlsCHE
conld have Laid down hls'papez, on Saturday
morning, after tsTing; gone through tie ac-
count Of tho hanging of William Bell, In our
ncicbbc13pg city Of Tankegan, without con-
tetslrg TO thrill Of horror IL viaw Of that
nd tragedy. We take It for granted that
Bell was guilty. We assume. In the absence
Of ali p1etense to the contrary, that he had a
flr trial before an honest aud unprejudlced
turr Of hs countrymen. We know that be
vas zealously and ably defended, that he w1s
not 1elsOtlese3y followed by his prosecutor,
and that, admitting the credibflity
4of :, The evidence which has : not
been impeeched, snd Is perhaps unimpeacha-
BIZ, the case Was made ont agatnst him
as 1af as circumstantaal testimony eau ever
: make cut case against anybody. The day
before the execution. probably nineteen Of
every twenty men In the county, who were
familiar with the details Of the crime, the
frmnets that he wns guilty, and that, In the
itunolation Of victim, society would get i'd
Of . monster whose death was necessary to
dt4 v3udicstiun md ta{eiy. Perhaps they
~ere right. We do not question here the
wisdom or Justice Of the popular verdict;
but now that the deed Ia done and
that Bell Is dsad, We must contesa
: that there IL something in the quiet
demeanor, the {orgiv1ng spirit and
uAfa1tering asseveratouE offnnocence on the
part Of the acc0sed, that may successfully
challenge the recent belief in his guslt, and
make al who have been actors In the terrible
drsna ha.fo1 LIST. another is added to that
long list Of Innocent men who hare suffered
martyrs fate by reason Of the falfihi1ity or
human Judgment and the frequent errors OF
hnmkn tribunals. We do not pretend to de-
eide the question about which this grave
doubt ID raised. Let the shroud In which ths
dead Haan Is enveloped be drawn closer about
him, and hide forever tie mystery and horror
'of the taexpllcable double tragedy OF which
Lake county Vas the scene.
= But lot n bc heasd while we eagau. and for
perhaps the twentieth time, enter cur
aolcmn protest against this law pre-
scrfbfng the penalty for Murder as It now
stands in most Of these States of tie North
west Ne do not debate the question Of the
right Of society TO the life Of one Of It's mem.
be1s. We DO not care to examine the arEu.
lufnfso Of the contestants on this point, all Of
whom appeal to the divine word and the sen.
ttment Of mankind for proofs. in support Of
thelr conflicting propositions. We put OUT
protest On lower grounds; and right here By
the gave OF = man who is supposed To have
&omntt&edu murder on an fntrm and deftnse-
less old womap, without any apprecfab1c
motive, who, when the deed WAS done, made
no effort to eecape, and who, to the latest
moment Of hla tft-wheu he had made his
pesce with his Maker, forgiven aud blessed
All who had condemued aud ail who were
abCut to execute him, aud when he
stood face to face with Death--ma7u.
tanned with quiet but unquenchable ftrvor
and most impressive easnestness and soleu-
nifty. A. I am not guilty. die an innocent
mani" and died with these words on hIA
1lps,-we say that. here by the grave OF this
man, nc inter again and again our protest
agsanst the repetition Of such scenes, and our
old declaration that human testimony is too
weak aud falub1e, and human Judgments ate
tao erroneous to justify the law As 1t now
reads, save In these inlequent and exception
n caecs In Which the malice and the crime
are as clear as the Sun. We do so for the sake
OF faocaety and the protection Of the inno-
oent-sor society ~hith, hesltatea to hxug,
and often turns adrift dangerous and proba-
BY guilty men whoee place is within prison
Ealls, for the innocent, scores aud
scores OF whom have entered q felon's
,de1th-kome By reason Of mistaken ideu-
tity others by circumstances unne1ufng ii
themselves, 1ngenfously tortured into eyl-
dences Of guilt; still others by the un6irness
Of prosecutors, the stupidity ofdefeuders, the
'prejudices OF Jurors Influenced and tndsmed
bTFopular clamor, and more from dellbesate
and horrible PERJURY. Neither List II short
one. AL persons are aware how rarely prose-
cut1on for murder ia followed by conviction
of the accnsed and there Ia not, in any coxa~
snuuity, au tutr11tgent man' wno does not. In
his Own belief, know Of at least one casc in
which The victim was unjusuy hung. Both
the frequency with which the supposed guilty
escape, and the rarer CASES In which ~the in
noecnt suffer, n1e powerful Incentives to
make The punishment for murder something
elective between that EXTREMIST penalty
That the law knowr, and the lighter
sentence that does not take away Life.
Let ont LOOK over the criminal
hlstc1r OF Illinois, OF any othe1 northwestern
statc, apd zee how many sra the murders aud
how fen the puniahmcnts therefor. The es.
cape Of tbs guilty, when they are arralgned,
is rot because the body OF ons citizens do
not hate crime and lure 3us!1ce, not becaase
prostcuiots and courts ave indIsposed to do
their duty. The fezf Of jurors is, lest. IN IN
hlctinK the Death Penalty, they should put |
to death man possibly INNOCENT Of murder
~ous intent, though be may bare taken usa-
n1nan who -was, during the commission of \
the crsne, temporarily insane, the victim Of a !!
delnefop, or the sufferer BY deadly insult Or
a bloT. This u the reason why 30 mapy /
blood y.handca wresches are turned loose
upon tie World to re-euact their fesrfr1 |
cfin1es, and 10 ecourge society anew, until at
Last the moose brings them up. And as lone
as doubt can remain hapsipe orr
cases Of violence attended With death. a
long ~ men are ever insane, as long as as.
samt may be defended to tue extent Of Kill
Ing tie aesatlant, this difficulty with jurors
will he encountered, aud the public viii sue:
fes. He see no remedy except to auend tie
law 10 as to give the jury in al trials for cap-
tsl odsnsea the right to eject whether the pun.
ishment shall be death or imprisonment for
LIE. That done. We might hope what We now
csnnct, that 1t wouid not be safer f,r q man
to Kill Els adversary outright, eren On the {
public STREET, than main him without tue re-
motest intention to kill. And thereafter no
wouid be tortured by the fear
that The Innocent would be put beyond the
reach Of restoration when the!r innocence
ahould be declared. Let u have the 7,form!
THE CHURCH CON
Few o{ our readers, and none Of tbs Church.
EntD, IN the aenomina.!onal sense, ere mus
Wsse Of the controversy now wsgtng in New