The weekly Oskaloosa herald. [volume] (Oskaloosa, Iowa) 1855-1885, 1873-05-15
THE INSANITY OF CAIN.

The following are the closing par
agraphs of a remarkable article il
Scrib,aer's for May, on "The Insanity
of Cain :"
In Judging of Cain, look at the
situation. On the one hand, a terri
BILE family misery, no schools, nc
churches, no lectures, no society, nc
amusement, no apples on the other
hand, the whole burden of humanity
borne for the first time, paternal disci.
pline undue chronological develop.
ments; monotonous employment
antediluvian monsters antedilu
vian parents, and an antediluvian
good brother in whose mouth butter
would have remained intact for
ages.
Undoubtedly that brother had an
exasperating smile. He was happy
because he was virtuous. He had a
way of forgetting and forgiving for a
time that would deprive the often,
der OF reason itself ;above all ,Ihe hada
cool collected manner of his own, ad-
ded to chronic desire to be an an
gel. His offerings always fulfilled
the conditions. His fires needed only
to be lighted, and the smoke was
sure to ascend with satisfied, conf.
dent curl far into the sky.
Gains on the contrary, refused to
burn. We can see it all. The
smoke struggling and Hopping. 1t
crept along the ground, and clinging
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 be
an angel
1t was but the work of moment.
The pent.up, disorganizing influence
OF lifetime found vent in one wild
moment of emotional insanity. Abel
was no more
Why dwell upon the tragedy !?
The world is familiar with its sicken-
ing details. We shall not repeat
them here, nor shall we question the
justice of the punishment that came
to Cain,-the remorse, the desola-
ton, the sense of being a fugitive
and vagabond on the face of the
earth, he had killed his brother, and
the penalty must be paid, Sane or
insane, terrible retribution must
have overtaken him. But how
about his guilt? Would it have
been the same in either case ? Are
hereditary organisms, Temperament
tai excitability, emotionable phrensy
not be considered No, a thousand
times no! What competent juror"
would acquiesce in such a PROPOSE
ton
Friends the time has come when
this case must be taken up.. It's
mighty issues can no longer be set
aside. IfCain was not sane at the
moment of the killing, the stain of
murder must be wiped from his brow
now and forever. This tardy jus tice
may at least be done him. Our
children and our children's children
must be taught to speak of Cain the
man-slaughterer Cain the mentally
excitable /; Cain the peculiarly-cir.
cumstanced. But Cain the murder.
er Never /!
A mans own testimony shall not
convict or acquit him. But we are
not to take into account, as indica-
tive of his state of mind, actions and
declarations ceincident with the COM
mission of the crime alleged against
him If at or about the time of the
fatal deed, there was positive evil
dence of the incoherence-what
then Witness the last recorded
words of Cain:
EVERY ONE THAT FINDETH ME
SHALL sLAY ME
Is this the utterance of sane
mind ? Every one that findeth me
shall slay me }? Gentlemen Cain at
this point. was not only crazy-he
was the craziest man that ever exist.
ed! No ordinary lunatic, however
preposterous his terrors, expect to be
killed more than once. But to this
poor creature retribution suddenly
assumed a hydra-headed form. His
distracted brain, unconscious that
Adam was the only other man in the
wide world, instantly created an i'm.
mense population. He saw himself
falling again and again by the strokes
of successive assasins, even as Abel
had fallen under his hands. His first
dazed glimpse of death expanded
and intensified into horror never
since conceived by mind of man. His
happiness overthrown; his reason a
wreck prey to fears that stretched
him forever, with no possible hope OF
final destruction,-the only consola,
ton is that he could not foreknow
the merciless verdict of posterity
He did not recognize in himseli
the First Murderer. Rather thar
dream of such ignomy as this, was i
not better that he should cry in hi.
rawlings: Every one that findeth me
shall slay me!
We leave the question to the in
telligence and the justice of this
faithful and enlightened century.