, 1865-06-25

The bo-cnlled " argument Of Mr.. Doster
In tehs1f Of Payne, in the Assassination Trlal,
which We publish elsewhere, Is d forensic mar
VII little short Of n monstrosity. We have
read ltmnrtablc arguments upon moral in
sanity, wherein "1easncd ''connsel ingenI-
tusly tontended thet If The prisoner at the
lar bad an Irresistible tendency 10 steal, the
fec that 1t was Irresistible rendered 1t unjust
toIunleh hlul. In the case Of Huntington, Of
New York, the Wall street forger and Fifth
Artnue Ewtll, mis- counsel, AIr. Brady, ar
gned tbss his irrcpres4ible tendency to iml.
late o1herreople's signatures, which resulted
in his drawing several hundred Thousand dol
1Irs Of money uat his own, Was an ccccn.
II ctr which deserved our pity ratae. than or
ctpsurc. The proper puaitAment, It was In.
fts7.c, would be ccnlnencnt in IN elegant
private asylum without pcns, Ink or paper.
Unfortunately for this line Of argument, So
tougard such se}Eronyictc1 aconndrc1s as
c.j1niua,e, aad 1cals will them accordingly.
hut In Payke's cas-, even this mild phase Of
"me1a1 .nsanity" is not pretended. His
case, as pirtur.d By his counsel, approaches
moe nearly to that of the leading heroes Of
lulwer's novels, or Of By.on's metrical ro-
colsc1.td by the wrongs OF society into 4
1uG1ic criminal. The counsel admits that
Iayre attempted to murder the Secretary OF
stIic, that he is 60. insane, but pleads that
he believed the act TO Le no. only justifablc
bat mc..to.iouE. S:ciety fonnd him at the
ase Ct s!xtecr, q guilcless and innocent over
ster t.: his IA hers slave plantation. His
father rvas q Baptist minister and the 'drop-
pings o::te sanctuaTy" were blended In his
tS1er.es c. ui,h The dropptngs Of the slarc's
bleed u, der The tasl--he wasedu-atel to be.
live in slavery as part Of his rel!giou-heis
a lepit11natc outsfowth Lot merely Of Sou*h-
etu society. hut NJ the Southern Christianity.
Socltty having thus prcpa.edJ him for a
1cbel-hIs enlistment in TIC rebel n,my-his
desert. n, Poverty. aud the asccndcncy which
Bnrth ob1aired over him. sre all trnc71 as
Effects ard parts of The edacati2n which So.
eitty hss gir.n him. Htncs Society is re-
6Ien6isle for tue crime.
Society Will probably respond to this plea
flat as It IS imrractlcable to puaish itself In
a1l Its members for payne's crime, 1t must
select fcapegoas to bear tie punishment,
aId undcr the circumstances 1t can think
Of 10 victim more appropriate than Payne
himself.
Sr. Doste1rs a1gumcrs raises the inquiry
rlether, for tic sake of public morality and
tie popular conscience, there should not be
sene limit to the Garau]t'y : Of lawyers In de-
f.cdif E criminals, whether It is necessary for
them to en- 'er into studied defense Of crime
1f*rlt-fer II Is obvious that tbe plea here
nade for Payre applies 10 every criminal the
world has ever produced, and to nIne-tcnths
ci Them far morr properly than to hun. Ev
etS eus1 argument IL Disgrace to the lcsa!
as In The case OF Payne, by numcnopa cx1,
wiintssct, that the prisoner is ruIlt ( bcrond
all possibility of u doub,, The furct5on ~
ccInssl cIds. II, after tlfs, he rIses IN h. =.
Place to enter into IN .la',v,a.e dvI;nse w1,ch "
applies equally 10 every e1iminal. ond.ta
cEne in tie abstract, he allows l,Is >. ~ -
IN advocate to render Linn scarcely Less :,
ln!sance- TO society than is his client ' =