Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1880-03-20
JUDGE HOGE'S LECTURE.

We reproduce from the Charles
town Free Press notice of the lee
ture delivered in that town, on the
evening of the 9Th Of March, being
one of a course which has been given
this winter under the auspices of the
Good Templars. From this report
one can get, at least, an idea of the
beauty and grandeur of the lecture.
But we desire, especially, to call at
tention to that point in which the
lecturer strongly denounces lynch
law, and portrays, with startling eff
feet, the terrible results which might
flow from it. We quote from the
report:
"But, whatever the shortcomings
of the administration of civil justice,
there can be no individual disobedi-
ence or organized violation of the
laws of the land without imperiling
the integrity of the whole social sys-
tenn. 1t is true that men and classes
often suffer from the burden of I'M
wise statutes, and that communities
rebel against delays which seem to
promise immunity to fragrant crime.
But, whenever man undertakes to
resist the law which binds his neigh
bors equally with himself, or any set
of men usurp the jurisdiction of the
Courts, they invade every principle
of social order. A prisoner untried,
uncondemned, may be unlawfully
hurried to his fate; on some leafiess
tree may suspend his CHASTITY corpse,
and the act be justified by the verdict
of the community-morally, substan-
tial justice may have been done in
the estimation of the disguised exc
cutioners, and even perhaps of the
quiet, thoughtful citizens, whose
opinions constituted public senti.
ment. But the question arises, who
shall hinder the criminal and the vi
cious from rising in turn, with mask
ed faces, defying the law, trampling
down its barriers, and disposing as
they choose of your lives or your
property? and exposing the folly of
such dangerous precedents. The
great wrong of to-day may be repeat
ed tomorrow only with a terribly
different motive--tO.day's actors may
be to-morrow's victims. If this be
true, how have we seen its truth en-
phaSised in our own experience. In
the midst of long-established civili-
Zation remote from the rude necesSi-
ties of the frontier, we have seen the
appointed agencies of society thrust
away from their duty-the solemn
responsibilities of the law defiantly
assumed, and the offices of the halter
and the scaffold performed by law
less and reckless hands"
This is a view of the matter that
but few, if any, of those who have
given their quiet or open sanction to
the acts Of lynchers have thought of.
1t is startling proposition, when
calmly considered. You give your
sanction to the violation of the law
you applaud the midnight acts of
masked men, in tramping down its
most sacred barriers-but, has the
terrible force of the idea suggested
in the above quotation ever occurred
to you ?-"Who shall hinder the
criminal and the vicious from rising
in turn, with masked faces, defying
the law, trampling down its barriers,
and disposing as they choose of your
lives and your property ?" You es-
tablish the precedent; you set the
fearful example. What will be the
result if it is acted upon and followed
out by those who have little or no
regard for the majesty of the law at
best? This is the question for those
who are most interested in having
the full protection of law, to ask
themselves.
DWyVNAI NnTEG