New-York tribune., 1871-09-07

~~~v 49,
woman Of great spirit and fortitude, resolutely
refused to lay down her head. She said she
had done nothing to merit execution they
might have her head IL they could get 1t, but
she would not lay 1t down. The headsman
then pursued her about the scafold, and was
compelled to strike her number Of blows
with his ak before he succeeded In beheading
her. Now, what is the reason of the unusual
horror this incident. arouses 1t cannot be in
the particular form of the death. The pursu-
ing and chopping Of the victim is 9 common
form Of wife murder at present. To the mind
of man who had never heard of decapita-
ton, we think it would not be so terrible as
the severing of the head from the body at
single blow. The explanation is partly that
we are used to people behaving with much
more docility on such occasions. SO many
persons die by the ak on the pages of his
tory in the conventiOnally cheerful and unre-
sisting manner that the block becomes almost
as natural way of exit from the worlds
troubles as the death-bed. An act like that of
Margaret of Salisbury breaks away the outer
shell of custom and interrupts the sense of
propriety into which experience has lulled
us. But apart from this, the woman's unwili
ingness to die Is itself strong element of
horror All the other people are 30 very will
ing Raleigh is airy and philosophic. Essex
has 80 very poor an opinion of himself, 80
deprecates any sort of sympathy with such
wretch, that when his head falls it seems
thing Of no Consequence, quite a matter OF
course. The culprits of the present, II 1t be
not sacrlege to name our modern cut-throats
with the suffering heroes of the past conduct
themselves with the same cheerful acquies-
cence. This 'soOthes and allays our sense OF the
awfulness of an execution. There was, in
deed. some time ago in London hand-to-
hand struggle with malefactor upon the
scaffold. The executioners were compelled to
push him upon the trap and hold him there.
Were such things of very frequent occurrence
we would soon see the end of capital punish
ment. But there is no likelihood of their Oc-
curing frequently. The tone of the dying man
is almost invariably acquiescent. To the COM
munity it seems that the sufferer hardly de-
sires to ive would rather "go," in fact. He
is apparently the best satisfied man on the
platform.
If persons sentenced to death have any phil
anthropic or theoretic interest in the question,
they would greatly help the advancement OF
what we will suppose to be their views by
resolute resistance upon the scaffold. They
must not be grateful they must not be maud
lin theySmust not shake hands with the sher-
iff. They are rarely heroes or poets, and can
therefore dispense with such things as seemli-
ness and dignity. If they offer vigorous
physical resistance, their grandchildren
will not be hanged People are careful OF
their nerves. Even now, for days before each
execution the sensitive portion of the public
feels as if it were going to have tooth out
What would be the strain were the whole
community compelled to be bracing its thews
and muscles for last struggle with con-
vict who would not be pushed upon the trap
dOOri
We do not offer this as practical sugges-
ton, for it will certainly never be taken. 1t
is only one of the explanations of the popular
insensibility to the awful spectacle of the gal
lows, and that, we maintain, is a most impOr-
tant point In any rational discussion of the
subject. The knowledge of what it is to hang
q man more and more penetrates the cOmmu-
nifty, and when it shall have done so COM
petely capital punishment will be abandoned.
We do not say that the scaffOld should be
swept away because it Is a very terrible
thing, but we do say that because it is a very
terrible thing we must see that there is a very
terrible necessity for it. We do not think any
such necessity exists. The notion that we in
flict punishment as the vicegerents of the AL
mighty, society has long abandoned. We have
also dropped the Biblical argument 1t would
be somewhat high h-handed to hang a broad
chm rchman or semi literal interpreter of the
Scriptures because the Bible enjOins it, as also
to pull the trap from under the feet of some
scholarly doubter, just as he was about to
prove that the words "a, TO, and fun" in the
original Hebrew meant something very differ
ent. There is but one ground ON which capi-
tai punishment could be retained in this prac-
tical, rational, and protesting age-its necessity
for the public protection. That there is no
such necessity, the facts very plainly prove.