, 1874-02-28

Rafferty, has suffered tue extreme pena4ty
which the Law attaches to the heinous crime he
committed. His account with the world is SET
tied. We have never been ablo to discover 3
suspicion Of vindictiveness in the long and
tedious prosecution which led to liB death. Who
could cherish hatred OF work out revenge against
50 poor = piece Of humanity7 The man he
murdered left no friends OF influence to
secure tho punishment Of his murderer.
Rafferty, himself engaged 3 partisanship
that left no means untried to save his life.
Mover was q man more patiently, persistontly,
or ably defended. His counsel fought every
inch Of the ground. He got his client three
tria1s. He brought out every point Of defenEo
warranted by the facts and the law. He re-
manned steadfast to the last, and builded up
Bympathy and pressure which it must have been
hard Tor tho Governor to resist. And only at
the fnal moment did he telegraph: "Good-
byo; I can do no more" In Ranerty's case,
it was simply q desperate struggle between So
ciety and one human life. On the one hand Wes
the sancsity Of human life in general; on tho
other, tho continued existence Of single atom
in the composition OF the world. Christopher
Rafferty,, standing alone, was not the sort Of
man to excite any strong personal animosity.
Ho was too insignificant for that. There vas q
h1utishness in his nature wLich could not excite
any stronger feeling than contempt, and
WAS more apt to bring out pity. Low and
vicious instincts were born in him, and
they we're fostored and developed BY his rear
ing. He was surrounded with ignorance and
the brutality to which it is kin. Religion to him
Was At best d blind faith which was easily over
come BY drink and vicious associations. To
this extent he was Theoretically irresponsible,
perhaps, when he murdered o 0'Moara,-as much
30 as any murderer, not insane, could be,-lf we
take his yer3iou OF the killing. But the
welfare OF society cannot afford to admit
the theory OF irresponsibility in the
laws that govern it. Society, it is true, owes
duty to tho class to which Rafferty, belonged,
which it does not adequately discharge but
the failure 10 discharge this duty must not ove1
ride the first la1 Of Belf-preservation. II
Society neglects to throw about the ignorant
and vicious all the deterrent Influences OF educa-
tion which it might and ought to exercise, it
pays dearly for the omission in the violence and
crime which it endures. But violence must be
resisted aud crime punished none the less, il We
would hold Society together.
It il in this light NO must regard the e1ecn-
ton OF Rafferty,. It was d viudication Of tho
law. After the desperate struggle to save hia
life, his death must strike certain terror into
the hearts Of meu OF his class, whish. moro
than anything else, will restrain them from the
indulgence Of their passions and viciousuess.
No one caa gloat over Rafertys death
no one, outside Of his Immediate frieuds,
can very sincerely regret it. Thousands
OF men die every year in tho course
of nature, each one OF whom is Worth =
Thousand times more to the world Than Rafferty,.
Shall such G7es as these be ieopa1dized to save
such as RaNorty's7 This was the issue, diveated
OF all morbid sentiment. The WORK OF eradicAt-
ing the vicio1lsness By removing the Ignorance
Of the lowest classes in society is slow ono.
Rafe1ty'a crime ia rominder that We must 50 st
it With renewed rigor, but nanorsy's execution
is also warning to these classes that, while NC
are st it, society shall be protected against their
assaults. Il the two lessons mako the i'm
preston they Ought to make, the two deaths OF
Gesher without compensation.