Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1873-03-19
On Ilanging.

~ VI uNatus ~ - 'hV o"ly why III MhtVn
We can escape from the Ter tali9nis or the
personal rcprsal and rtndetta There are a
good many strong reasons, which it is not
necessary to rcoapiiulate, why he WHO pays
no respect to other mems life should have
no respect paid to his own Life is too sn-
cred to be at the mercy Of every scoundrol,
and murder is such an invasion Of mans
rights that he who is guilty Of
it has no rights which society is bound to
respect, except it may be, to quick trial,
an impartial sentence and shoIt shriit. We
have more sympathy with a murdered man.
than with a murderer and the sense of jus.
tice which God has given to every man is
not satisfied when crime fails to meet its
adequate and proportieuate penalty
The whole country has watchodthc course
Of Gov. Dix Of New York recently with
great interest All the influence that
wealth, that high position in church and
State could give, have been brought to bear
upon him to remit or modify the sentences
of two murderers who have been found
guilty Of the crime Of murder in its most
otrocious forms. But he has wiihstood
their influence and one Of them, GAffney,
has already paid the forfeit Of his life at
B1ftlo, and the other, Foster, will do so
on Friday next, in New York. 1t is al
woys hard to resist the solicitations Of mercy,
especially when urged by such means as
have been used in Fosters case. The heart
Of man docs not delight in hanging fell
low mortal aud would readily find an ex.
cuse to avoid the unpleasant duty. But
Gov. Dix refuses to interfere with the
just course Of law The law provides
that murderer shall be tried by a
jury Of his peers, and if found guilty
shall be hung. 1t does not provide
that he shall get clear of his sentence
by the Intervention of his friends or the in.
Guence Of his neghbors after the trial aud
sentence. Even the pardoning power is
vested in the Governor not to defeat the
ends Of justice, but secure the supposed
criminal against wrong aid injustice being
done to him by an unfair and prejudicet
trial, and to take into account any fact,
that may subsequently have come light
that would have been for his benefit bad
they been revealed before, 1t is for tn,
correction Of injustice aud not for the over
throw Of law and justice. With suct
views Of the nature and limitations Of the
executive clcmcncy, it is simply impossible
for Gov Dix to interfere, however solicit
ed, with the due course Of law. And every
right minded man must commend the firm
ness which adheres go closely to the con
vction Of duty.
But it is not Of the justice and right o
society to take the life Of the murderer tina
we care tc say anything at all. The dealt
penalty belongs to the order Of nature anC
justice aud the eternal fitness of things
Yet there may arise a question as to how
that penalty shall be inflicted 1t is tn
dictate alike of religion and law that tn
penalty itself shall be stript Of all un
necessary cruelty, that there shall be n
torture about it. In the history of penal
ties we find that they have been grow
ing lighter in their character and easier i
their execution. Almost every country ha
its fayorite mode OF inaicting death upo
criminals. The old Hebrews used to ston
transgressor to death the Greeks woul
give to him cup Of hemock to drink, an
the Romans would hurl him from the Tai
peian rock. In Turkey the bowstring, tn
bag aud the Bosphorus are administers
with an JUNCTION that must be excessivel
annoying to the yic.im. In Japan the o
fender becomes his own eIccutioner and b
bowels gush out under the persuasive ha
kari la some quarters Of the world Il
poor wretch is impaled upon post or GRO
and left to die in the most prolonged al
, horrible agonies. Other nations resort
the wheel and the unfortunate criminal
broken inch by inchion the terrible cyinde
In Russia the inhuman kuout 1ays its vi
tins alive, while in France the guilloti
0 shears men Of their heads with the certai
I ty aud speed of Lightning. In Spain Il
criminal sits down in chair and a sing
! touch Of the screw chokes him in the irt
4 collar of the garrote. Men Lave been to
n in pieces by horses, buried alive, made ia
| gets for rifle balls shot from the mouth
cannons, burnt at the stake, sliced in
. shreds in the inquisition, and put to dea
G by means so iendish that we might ascri
| the mode to the positive inspiration of t
l. devil.
% But Of all modes Of inAicting death Il
d prevail in civilized and Christian eountri
e We regard death by hanging as the IN,
! tardy in Its result, the most unhappy 10
: accessories, the most liable to miscarriaJ
e aud therefore to prolonged torture,
most shocking to the senses Of observe
y aud attended with the most suffering to
3 victim. How often we read the disgust
details which attended the breaking of
y rope, or Of the terrible conyulsions that
ie sue when the fall does not break the ne
y, and the patient is left, hand and foot.ti
10 aud gestioulating Ia terrible agony, to
y painful process Of slow strangulati
N We do not remember Of any one who
d, come back to tell US Of tho sensations
ed experienced gu being hanged. But to
10 who critically observes theprocess, it see
10 to combine the painful features OF hal
score Of modes Of punishment There
the fall from tho Tarpeisn rock, Their,
O. the wreiched pressure Of the bow stri
is there is the muscular confinement Of
u bag, there is the inch by inch torture
a. breaking cords aud tendons as il on
n wheel aud there is the prolonged angu
II Of the bitter machinery of the inq