Litchfield enquirer., 1871-05-18
..' "THOU SHALT NOT KILL
The Law. of the State and the Law of God
 A CRIME NOT KNOWN TO THE STATUTE -A LATE TRIAL GIVES POINT TO A MORAL

A CRIME NOT KNOWN TO THE STATUTE IA LATE TRIAL GIVES POINT TO MORAL We copy from the Baltimore American
 the following lecture lately delivered i1
 tue Congregational church in that city, by
 the Rev Leonard w Bacon, formerly pas
 tor of the Congregational church in thi'
 place:l zG 5us} ..s- H se3 4af 5.
 .eA al THOU SHALT NOT KILL. 4.T #g
 Thou shalt not kill; neither shalt tbot
 commit adultery. Deuteronomy V: IF. IS
 For week past the whole State of Mary
 land has been withf ssing, through ths
 newspapers. capital trial of extra aordinary
 interest and of very peculiar character. young homicide is On trial for his life. jury is empanelled and sworn to render |
 verdict according to law and facts. The
 instructions of the Bench and it's rulings on questions of evidence are faithfully
 conformed to the accepted principles o
 evidence and law so as to confine the in
 vestigation to the one question of the pris
 oner's innocence or guilt The course o
 the counsel for the prosecution and for tht
 defence is ostensibly directed to the same
 end-the State attempting to establish tht fact of homicide, with its implication O
 malice; the traverser making show O.
 proving: first, that the act was done IL self-defence; and, secondly, that it Wa. done in moment of irresponsible insanity THE TECHNICAL DEFENCE AND THE REAL DE FENCE
 All this is plain and straight. forward enough. All this, if such offences must come, is very right and honorable to the administration of justice in the State. But as we observe the progress of the trial, it becomes perfectly obvious, even to a stranger, tha: the real defence is one which it is forbidden to introduce, and which, nevertheless, is introduced: which it is for bidden to rebut. and which. nevertheless, is rebutted by the prosecution; which the jury are sworn not to take into considera- tion, and which. nevertheless. they are uni versally expected to consider, and unani- mously do consider, and on which with what IS commonly accepted as sort of pious perjury, amid the irrepressible ap- plauses of the crowd, they render their verdict. It is clearly enough not the man slayer who is on trial, but the man slain. The defence of the homicide in the forum of public opinion. the real defence of it. not the legal fiction of a defence-in the criminal court is that the victim had been guilty of seduction-the crime of seduction l was about to say; but seduction is no crime under Maryland law, The Court are trying, not an assassin, but dead man, and an absent woman. The sham defence of the prisoner at the bar is only set up to be dropped again. -7 ----- --
 TEE vERnrcr-N rrpvrD HIM pTarIT !"
 The jury having considered the case of the corpse, bring in a speedy verdict of serued him right, and the prisoner at the bar, being acquitted on the pretext of his having been temporary maniac, or of his having been assaulted with deadly weapons and forced into an unwilling homicide, instead of being tenderly committed to the charge of physicians or condoled with for the painful accident that had befallen him, is hailed with shouts and cheers, and car ried aloft on the shoulders of the crowd as a hero, deliverer of society from the presence of criminal so heinous that it is not fit that he should live.
 A case of peculiar character have called this. It belongs to peculiar class, but in it's class there is nothing peculiar in it at all. It varies in names, and scene, and but in no essential respect, rom the general course of judicial dealing n many of the United States with cases of he assassin ation of seducers and adul- 'erers. This fact is supposed to mark, and really does mark, the abhorrence of the people of those States for the crimes that provoked the deed. .sT. s.
 WHEREIN HAS HE OFFENDED
 But pause a moment What is the measure of the abhorrence of these States towards crimes against domestic purity and honor2 Suppose that tho accusation uttered by the lips of the young assassin over the body of his victim writhine in his leath.agony were true without qualification pr mitigation; suppose that he was the shameless seducer he is declared to be, has he offended against the State? What crime has he committed? Search the statute book and see! It is not named upon it. Look through the criminal code. For any hint which the people of Mary. land have ever given in any form of law as to the heinousness of his act, the seducer may stand before the whole community. may sit with the wisest and most honored of her counsellors in high seats of dignity, a blameless man. If hecould be convicted of the deed under every imaginable aggra. vation, it would subject him to no penalty, it would disqualify him for no honor or emolument in the peoples gift. But he cannot be convicted of seduction, for that crime is not named as crime in the laws of this Commonwealth. There is provi- sion. indeed. for civil process by which any differences arising between man and man on account of it may be adjusted by an assessment of damages. but nothing more. G 5s. 8aass~G3 4F as
 A VIRTUE THAT IS NOT CONSISTENT.
 And now is not your public sentiment a little absurd which roars so fercely around the steps of the seducer, putting Gains mark upon him "that every one that find- eth him may slay him." defending the murder of him by the authority of judicial precedents, on the ground that he is g criminal so dagitious that it is not fit that he should live, and yet when you are asked to name the crime of which he is guilty, you are at non plus, and search the statute book and criminal code and digest of decisions from title-page to tail-piece in vain. Plainly either public sentiment is wrong, or the laws are wrong. If the hon. orable instinct which rises to vindicate the violated sanctity of the family is not a de- prayed and malignant passion, if the loath- ing with which society yearns and retches to vomit out the .adulterer is not merely a morbid squeamishness, if the worthy in- dignation which burns against him in the