National Republican., 1873-03-25
sHIS6ToN, March u. is7l
Ano,ber View or ,hc ou,.,ion.


10 hs Editor af ne National RsIpbIioaA3
STA: The frequent public destruction Of life by
the State, Mr.. Rdltor, when we contemplate 1t in
all Its bearings, creates q serious doubt IN our
minds as to its utility. We are led into this ad-
mission because experience proves to us all that
to famlllarEe men to the destruction OF life ls TO
teach them not to abhor that destruction. Hence
when the State executes q man In order to do
good by the example, bad men turn away from
the spectacle more prepared to do violence than
ever before. This Ia proven in the case Of the
Rogerski murderer, who attended the execution
OF Barney Wood short time previous to the
crime.
II being evident that capital punishment does
not prevent murder, I am impressed with the
fact that when the State resorts to this mode Of
punishment for criminals It overlooks entirely
the obligations embraced in the moral law, which
should be guide, because 1t Is best adapted for
the proper ends OF punishment.
To take the life OF q fellow man Is to exert
the utmost power which man can possess
over man. 1t Is to perform an action the most
serious and awful which q human being can per-
form. Respecting such an action, then, can any
truth be more manifest than that the dictates
OF Christianity ought especially to be taken into
account In defending capital punishment men
place these dictates entirely out Of the question,
and lose sight entirely OF the moral aspects OF the
case. Is this right Ought we to kill or to
amend the offender Is It the oficc OF one can
dldate for the mercy OF God to hang his fellow
candidate upon the gibbet7 ! am serious,
though, perhaps, men Of levlty may sneer at me.
u such men reject Christianity do not address
them. II they admit Its truth let them man.
fully show that Its principles should not thus be
applied.
reformation, have them classified, allow them
certain Kinda Of labDF nmpF thnTn yaFinua roll
gious instruction, dc., why may we not prescribe
the same regulations for the greater criminals
Do they not need reformation too? II prison
discipline and penltentiary he needful for
sharpers and plckpockets, surely, Mr.. Editor, they
are needful for murderers and highwaymen? /?
Yet what do we do7 Reform the one and hang
the other. As so much IL sacrificed to extend
the terror OF example, we ought TO he certain
that the terror Of capital punishment Is greater
than that OF all others. Do we know this We
do not. In lryinR's OratiOns we have this testi-
mony; "There are no practical despisers Of death
like those who touch and taste and handle death
daily by daily committing capital offences. They
| make Jest OF death In all It's forms, and all It's
terrors are In their mouths scorn." And Eliza
beth Fry says that "capltal conycts pacify their
conscience with the dangerous aud mos falla-
| clous notion that the violent death which awaits
them Will serve as full a.onemcnt for all their
| sins"
We see, therefore, Mr.. Elltor, by this testi-
| mony that the effect Of capital punishment Is
douby bad. Prst, It makes them comparatively
| little AFRAID OF death, because they regard II "a
so much less an evil, and secondly, It encourages
them TO go on In the commission OF crimes, be-
| cause they imagine that the number or enorlnity
Of them, however great, will not preclude them
| from admission into heaven. do not fear to
say that Of both these mischlefs the punishment
| OF death Is the immediate source. Substitute
| another punishment, and they will not think that
that Is an atonement for their sins, aud will not
receive encouragement to continue their crimes.
But an argument In favor OF capital punish
ment has been raised fro IA the Christian Scrip
| lures themselves, and many suppose that there
Is moral obligation to take the life OF a mur-
derer: "Who sheddeth mans blood, by man
shall his blood be shed" This suppOsition Is Gu.
tirely adverse to the supremacy Of Christian
morality. Our law Is the Christian law, and II
the precepts OF that law, or Its spirit, prohibits
the punishment Of death, It cannot be made
right to Christians by referring 10 command
ment which was given to Noah. There Is great
inconsistency In the reasonlngs OF men who
urge the passage. Genesis, ix:4, D and 0 each
contains law delivered to Noah. OF these
three laws we habitually disregard two; how,
then, eau We with reason insist on the authority
OF the third After all, II the command were In
full force, It would not Justify our laws, for they
shed the blood OF many who have not shed blood
themselves.
The dictate OF Christianity Is, therefore, to
employ that punishment which, while 1t dcters
the spectator, reforms the man. Capital pun
lshment IL irreyoca9le. II an innocent man
suffers II z Impossible to recall the sentence Of
the law. We know that scores OF criminals have
been put TO death VINO were afterwards dlscOy-
cred to be Innocent These are serious cOnsId-
erhtOns, anu ought TO make men sOlemnly pause
before, upon grounds necessarily uncertain, they
take away that life which God has given, and
which they cannot restore. The question then
presents itself what Is the course TO pursue with
this class OF ohenders7 The answer Is plain
have recourse 10 the moral law, and build up
system Of punishment which Will be most
enectual In DenentlnR the offender himself; for
Seneca says that "the end OF all correction Is
either the amendment OF wicked men or to pre-
vent the influence OF III example,"
This IL the primary object. II Ia the duty OF
the State to AmellOrate and reCtify the DISPOSE
tions In which the murderer's crime originates;
10 snbdne the Yehemence Of his passions, to
raise up In his mind power that may cOunteTAct
the power Of future temptation. lie Is mentally
diseased, aud we should feel towards those who
are mentally diseased as we feel towards the
physical sunerer-cOmpassOn; and the great
In endeayoTing this object severe remedies must
often be employed. Il Is Just what we should
expect; and the remedies will probably be severe
IN proportion to the inyeteracy and maliRnity OF
the complaint, But still the end should never be
forgotten, and l think Just estimate OF our
moral obligations will lead US TO regard the at
tAinment OF that end as paramount to every
other. II we adopt the spirit OF the declaration,
81 came not To call the righteous, but sinners to
repentance" we shall entertain no doubt that the
reformation Of offenders Is the primary business
OF the Christian In deyising punlshments. There
appears no valid reason why In the case OF public
acted upon, "If brother be OyertakGn In u fault
restore such an one" Therefore, II reformation
be the primary object, anu II the punishment OF
death precludes attention to that object II
stands that the punishment OF death Ia wrong
g. II, NJ,