The daily Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1878-1???, 1879-01-12

maintained spirit OF bravado, at NJ
time showing any signs of rgrc
or contrition for the bloody crime he IA,
committed When he heard the souncs o
preparation for hiX execution, then, buino
before, did he commence preparing In
soul for eternity He passed through tn,
usual routine, announced himself ION
vertcd, and was, in so fnr as outward ap
pearanccs were concerned, Il saint. On HI
scaifold he had no words of self.acclIyator
tor the most atrocious and cowardlv erin,
he had committed, hut declared himself alb
solutely certain that he was "thc chosen d
God, and in that apparent frame of min
he swung from earth into eternity.
About the same time Adrian Eycrquc and
George Morris were hanged in the city n
New Orleans, the former for shooting Il
companion, in the most deliberate and cad
blooded manner, and the latter Tor hcwhg
his mistress to pieces with butcher knic
These men crowned their licndishives with
the most atrocious crimes known to cur
laws, were wickcdly defiant up to tine
within five days OF execution when tlcy
experienced religion" and without one
word of scf-accusatioh for the horrible
crimes they had committed, gloried in the
certainty Of future bliss,
To adopt the language If another We
hardly need say that Fletcher, Morn, and
Eycrquc, are not exceptions to the general
rule. Fully ninc-tcntlIs OF the red handed
human monsters who are hanged, 90
through the same process, and believe, or
affect to believe that they will swing from
the scafiold into the Christians heaven. So
thoroughly and enthusiastically good and
piOuS do they become on the verge of
eternity, that it seems pity that they are
not rcprcvrd at the ,a>t moment, that they
may live as shining examples for the imi
tation OF their fellow creatures, rather than
be hurried into another world by the hang
mans moose. So common has this sort Of
pietY become that it is made the subject of
n jest, and provokes more laughter and con
tempt than anything else. In short, pop
ular opinion regards these gallows CONVEX
sions as wrctched sham, calculated to do
a great deal more harm than good, and
treats them accordingly
Now we do not propose to discuss the
scriptura texts which are employed in this
work, nor do we question the motives Of
the dcvout men and women, who are en-
gagged in it. We simply desire to examine
tnat work, very briefly, in the liglt Of rca-
son and common sense. That there are
some murdercrs who sincerely Of their
crime, and would, if released. lead an alto
gethcr different life, We do not doubt: but
we insist that there is not the slightest
ground for believing that the repentance of
the vast majority Of murders is anything
more than fraud, or at best a sPlf.dcccp-
ton. We must entirely reconstruct our
ideas and experience of human nature to
believe that if Fletcher, Morris and EycrQuc
had been pardoned at the last moment and
permitted to 60 free, they would have spent
the remainder of their lives in the service
of virtue, and been known thereafter as
law-abiding, pIayertully disposed citizens.
1t is almost if not quite certain. they would
sooner or later have resumed their old
habits and associations, and finally landed
in the penitentiary or on the fatal trap.
But it is not the criminals themselves who
are the most injured by the sudden-convcr.
sion theory; it is society at large. The in
tercsts of the community demand not onlI
the punishment of homicide, but the lessen
ing OF the number Of homicidcs and it s
tor this purpose we inflict the death penal
ty. Yet that penalty is deprived of much
Of its terror, and most of its efficacy 10y the
industriously preached doctrine that the
red handed assassin can 90 straight to the
bosom Of his God by protesting belief in
what is termed "thc scheme of salvation"
and devoting his last days to religious ex.
ercises. There is always n chance that
the murderer will not be caught; there
Is always a chance that If caught
he will not be convicted; and
there is always chance thatcycn if caught
and convicted he will not be hanged Now
by adding to these chances the comfortable
and comforting assurance that the murder.
or, if he will avail himself of the offices of
the church can rprpivp n nnSgnort IN nnro