The Daily empire. (Dayton, Ohio) 1865-1867, 1866-06-27

The grave, the last resting place of the
mortal part of man, has always been to
me subject of most solemn interest Be
lieving as do that frequently from the ST.
lent tombs comes power, capable of Inn
parting to us either happiness or misery
This power appears 10 me 10 be an emana-
tion from God, by which retributlve justice
Is frequently meted out to those who vlo-
late the laws of both God and man. IL is
this power which gave rise to the saying
that "muTder will out''--iew murders are
commioterl, but that la the course Of time
the murderer is sdiscoyered, sopietimesl by a
very tritling circumstance, but most gen
orally by the troubled soul of the murderer
himself Men who commit deliberate mur-
der seldom have any peace of mind many
to relieve their suferings have taken their
own lives, whilst othors who have been
more conscientious with regard to commit
ting suicide, have voluntarily given them
selves up, that they might be relieved of
their suffering by, legal execution All
going to show that from tho silent grave
comes a solemn whispering, which gives no
are stepped in the blood ofjnnoccnce.
IL sometimes happens that men who have
committed the most bloody crimes, have es-
capped legal punishment, through the inter-
position of base and INSCRIPTIONS friends.
But that does not save them from that other
and higher punishment, which Is more GER
tain and terrible than any human punish
ment. They may put on u face of brazen
impudence, with view to deceive, but
they cannot hide the operations of that con-
suming fire within, which gives no peace.
If this be the condition of the murderer,
is 1t unreasonable to suppose that there
might also be a silent emanaton from the
grave that would reach those who make
themselves accessory to murder by del
Tending the murderer, and screening from
the punishment OF helaw?
know that the taking Of mans life has
generally been considered us the greatest
punishment which can be inflicted upon
him. This ] think mistake. Man. as n
general thing, has great desire to live, and
the idea of having to lose his life by COM
mitting a certain crime, operates power
fully In preventing him from committing
such crime, consequently capital punish
ment has remarkable influence In pre-
venting the committal of those crimes, sub
Ject to such penalty. But this natural tear
Of death, which has its uses and is so great
check to crime, does not prove that few
days mental agony, previous to execution,
Is a greater punishment than a long life of
similar sensations.
II we take into consideration the few
capital punishments, compared Co the great
number of murders committed, it would
appear evident that Providence did not de-
sign capital punishment as the greatest |
punishment which could be inflicted upon |
man, but that IL should only serve rs n les
son and terror TO the great mass of man
KIND, who fear premature death; whilst |
those he would punish most, he permits TO |
live In some capacity or other, and drag |
out In some cases, a long life of mental |
misery and torment. Who thenis prepared |
to deny--or capable of judging to what |
extent this mental and other suffering NAV |
be meted out to all principal actors who |
would protect and defend men In the COM |
initial of the most bloody crimes known
to our laws.
IT