Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1872-12-11
The Aesthetics Of Murder.

spirit, by which VIC mean the spirit
now manifest in American juries, was
cultured essayist born eighty-six
years ago who regarded it as fine
art. Some people thought him heart
less and villainous, and the best Of
people thought him ironical, but had
he written his celebrated eassay on
"Murder as Fine Art" in 1872 he
would have been considered n philoso-
pher. Murder is no longer debatable
as a matter of fact, but as a matter of
form. The cumulative verdicts of
American juries compel us TO criticize
murder, If We criticise statue or a
picture. an oratorio or poom. We
may speak Of the "design," tho "group-
ing" the "light and shade" the "po-
etry and sentiment" but we may no
longer dcnounce the act as hideous or
heinous perse. The days when the
husbands of Dacian wives and the
sons of Thracian mothers were butch
cred to make Roman holiday are
passed, but modern civilization has
only enlarged the amphitheater for
murder, and thrown over it the pro-
lection and sanction OF law, as exhib-
tied id the sacred right Of trial by jury.
Modern butcbery has reached state
of such colossal sublimity and nsthet-
ical excellence, under the tender train
ing Of modern jures, that il deserves
to be treated, as tho British cssayist
treated it, as one of the fine arts
Not long ago, young man in Vir-
ginia was murdered for peoping into a
parlor window and reporting what he
saw TO the father of the girl, whose
amours with rival the too curious
lover could not tolerate. Tho mur-
dorcr was, of course, acquitted. Men
tion has been made In our columns of
the fact that man may not kiss bis
wife in public, or bear truthful wit
ness against his neighbor, or take
measures to restore his gum-shoes TO
their wonted place in the home of his
mistress, nor woman refuse to marry
a barber and be spared, and still later
il appears that man may not demol-
ish furniture and live. 10 show how
popular murder is becoming il is only
necessary TO state that nearly thirty
practitioners in the murder profession
arc in the New York "Tombs" await
ing the formalities that attend an &C.
quittal by an American Jury. Ros-
cnzweig, who killed a girl and packed
her in trunk and attempted to ship
her West, having grown weary OF in,
carceration at Sing Sing, is about TO
have a new trial and go free. The
same hour that brings us the news OF
the murder of the breaker of furniture
in Circleville conveys tho intelligence
that n jury in Sidney, in twenty min
utes. returns a verdict of "Not guilty
in the case OF man popularIy Cenev-
ed to bo guilty Of murder as improp-
or and unartistic as any known since
the invention of the art by Cain some
years ago.
Since it is hopeless to appeal Ia
juries for the suppression of murder
which is certainly wrong and ought
to be suppressed, an appeal should be
made to the taste of those who prac
tico murder that some limitation al
least may be thrown around it, A dis
tinguished critic in murder has re
stricted it's subject TO three classes.-
The person to be murdered should b
"good man." he should "not be I
public character" and he should b'
, "in good health" Into the philoso
[ ply of this classification and limita
/ ton we can not enter, but it woulC
, crafty many people who have con
, siderable unfinished earthly business
| to know that there is q line of dc
5 marka,ion somewhere beyond whicl
r the murderers may be persuaded no
0 to pass. The authority to which w
. have appealed maintains by way o
corollary and illustration that no tai
lor above twenty-five, who is then sur
r to be dyspeptic, should be included il
= the list of victims which good tast
d would sanction, and that tho subjec
Y ought to have family Of young chil
D dren- wholly dependent on his exer
:, tions for support, by way OF deepen
lug W. pasro. s.a =, s'u ";a,.;,.i os n ~"
eou'u ~ emao.uJ 'ra,.,d w.. oynar;onno sans
u oeu".9 ~. ~" "o ...,;n,' H., - 49, ,an
~ eoeua,y " '" WY ""'' w
y peeii s',".s o..;,. ,ov
] a 'ery 'mPU''ans s, ,Sar.ons I'e1sO oro or,;,Io
9 arises as y; " mnay ma po'GT Tho, e. c';r ,roms
= W 'aIs0. a;a,, INV auo 49, sac,a alum
NIL, anu v n,hnr;"od ~ apn,ao pS % i, Tho nv,
> s".'y s.n aot. as n,nsdor " has hson so,,iod I;
: 'oe9'Cn 60. - I 80 ~
vur oou.'S ,ua'sa W. sa,ana, - o,hor a,assos
y ao0,a INV n' "nna,,. on,;,IoJ 70 ,nder,ol,
/ puoP'o liz Iu" ~, soooo ,;r,;, mns, i
Gwod The GOOD s os ,ho oomn,nn;,
= would ,een % demand ,bos u;nors i
= Jsnr;ved Of this nrivileoo. as thew Ar
y of Of other civil rights; for. if a yo,n,
man once ''indulses himself in murder
yorv soon be comes 10 think little 10
4 rohbinr and from robbing he conc
y reyt to drinking and Sabbatb. .br,als
~ ;nr and from that 10 inciyility an,
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