The Lincoln County herald., 1873-04-30

compos n,cntis? Oentlemea Of the juvy,
these considerations are not to bo lightly
passed BY.
In judging of Cain, look at the situa.
tion. On the one hand, terrible family
mystery, no schools, no churches, no Ice
lures, no society, no amusements, no
apples On the other hand the whole
burden Of humanity borne for the first
time psterual discipline; undue pbro-
biological developments; monotonous en-
ploy yment antediluviau monsters; ante
diluvian parents, and On anted,luvilD
good brother, iu whose mouth butter
wo uld have remained in tact for ages.
Undoubtedly that brother had an esas
perating smile. lie was happy because
lie was vir,uous. ile had a way of for
giving and forgetting thst for . time
would deprive the offender of reason
itself; above oil. hs had a cool, collected
manner of his own, added to q chronic
desire to be IN angel. His offerings
always fulfilled the conditions. His 6res
needed only to be lighted, and the smoke
was sure to ascend with satisfied, con
fdcnt curl far into the sky.
Gains. on the contrary, refused to
burn. We can see 1t all The smoke
struggled and Topped. 1t crcpt along
the ground, aud, clingins to his feet,
wound about him like a serpent. 1T
grew black and angry, shot sideways into
his eyes, binding and strangling him
And there stood Abel beside his pile,
radiant, satisfied, wanting to oe an angel !!
1t was but the work Of moment.
, The pent up, disorganiziug Influences Of
life time found vent in one wild mo-.
) ment of emotional insanity. Abel was
, no more
Why dwell upon tho tragedy? The
y world is familiar with its siclenng
. details. We shall not repeat them here,
e nor shall We question the justice Of the
, punishment that came to Cain the re-
p morse, the desolation, the sense Of being
8 a fugitive and a vagabond on the face Of
Q the earth. He had killed his brother
and the penalty must be paid. Sane OF
e insane, a terrible retribution must have
overtaken him. But now about hi.
Q guilt Would it have been the same in
either case? Are hereditary organisms
Y temperamental excitability, emotional
i phrensy not to be considered? No, q
3 thousand times, no? What "competen,
, juror" would scquiesce 10 such propo'
I sition
Friends, the time has come when thi'
( case must be taken up. Its mighty
g issues can no longer be set aside. i
- Cain was not sane at the moment Of th'
e killing, the stain Of murder must b.
e wiped from his brow now and forever
|. This tardy justice may at least be don
@ him. Our children, and our children
It children must be taught to speak # Cal
, the manslaughterer; Cain the mental
/ excitable Cain the peculiarly clrcum
O stanced. But Cain the murderer ? Never
l.. A mans own testimony shall not con
Il vict or acquit him. But are We not t
e take into account, as indicative OF hii
IS state Of mind, actions and declarations
IS coincident with the commission of tn
?, crime alleged against him If at o
If about vhe time of the fatal deed, ther
was positive evidence of coherence-
,s what then? Witness the last recorde
/ words of Cain:
y Every one that indeth me shall sla
10 me
|. Is this the utterance Of o sane mind
b Every one that fndeth me shall slay me
| Gentleman, Cain, at this point, was nc
n only crazy-he was the craziest man thu
ID ever existed No ordinary lunatic, how
10 ever preposterous his terrors, expects t
10 be killed more than once. But to thi
k poor creature rctribution suddenly as
@, sumed hydra headed form. His dis
,e tracted brain, unconscious that Adal
was the only ether man in tho wild
es world, instantly created an immeus
m population. He saw himself fallin
NJ again and again BY the strokes Of cue
il. cessive sssassirs, even as Abel had falle
. under his hand. His first dazed glimps
?. Of death expanded aud intensified into
to horror never since conceived by mind {
ID man. His happiness overthrow; b
u. reason . wreck: prey to fears th
!? stretched before him forever, with 4
Of possible hope of final destsuction-tt
IL only consolation is that be could NJ
"a foreknow the merciless verdict Of po
ps terity. lie did aot recognize in himse
u The First Mu,dercs. Rather thap drea
ID Of such ignomipy as this, vas il n
a better that he should cry in his rawlings
Every one shat 6ndeth me shall slay INT
!. We leave the question 70 the INTEL
- gence aud the justice OF this faithful 81
10 enlightened eentuvy.
40 Nor PAtAsAKf.-Ws heav stsavl
y, thiugs from Texas-s'iil, Nothing VOL
" - strange after you get used 10 tsel
u when our friend Blot was in Texas,