Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1886-03-20
the following grounds :

without cue authority oil law is MUIR
der. The civil magistrate "beareth
not the sword in VAIN He is au-
thorized, not to take life, but to exc
cute the penalty Of the law, even
when that penalty Is death. Not
even the magistrate may lift his
sword TO destroy life until he hears
the voice of the law commanding it.
He is simply the executive of the
sentence pronounced. Much less
then may the private citizen take
upon himself such a vast extent of
power. And if one may not. the
many are just as powerless. Num-
bers acting lawlessly may make a
mob, but they do not make law.
Thanks to orr God, we are not yet
prepared to subscribe to the senti-
ment that "might makes right
2. Not only without authority,
this procedure is against authority.
1t is directly in the face Of law. 1t
is positively and solemnly forbidden
by law. Hence the secrecy. Hence
the hours of darkness. Hence the
mask. Every man engaged in it ex-
poses himself to criminal prosecution
il discovered. 1t is clearly wrong
to seek by unlawful means to protect
law and society. Two wrongs can
never make right And the better
the class of men who engage in these
enterprises, the more danger is there.
For they give character and respec-
liability to the movement. The whole
community would repudiate it, if it
were the work only Of disreputable
and base men.
3. 1t is q gross usurpation ofpow-
er which has been delegated by the
constitution and laws to other hands.
1t can, therefore, no more be right
fully taken from them, than a farm,
sold and paid for, can be taken by
force from the purchaser. The peo-
pie have chosen their executive of
ficers and have committed to them
the guardianship Of the public veal
and they hold them responsible and
ask and desire no interference.
4. 1t defeats the very end sought,
which is to Inspire csi,.doers VI Til d
more fearful dread Of committing
outrageous crimes. Instead of this,
the effect rather is to arouse the
spirit of the slumbering devil with
in such breasts and to exasperate
them and to impel them to defy
power. Give wicked man occasion
to feel that injustice has been done
in vindication of the law, and you
strengthen within him his obstinate
opposition to law. Nothing can
make the law so effectively "terror
to evil-doers" as to give them fair,
calm, judicial trial. Let men feel
that justice will certainly measure
out to them their dues, if they sin
and the sentence of death and the
solemnity of its awful execution will
be more powerful restraint upon
others than mob violence can be.
5. The court Of the mob is as the
letting outof waters. To open the
crevasse is not difficult. But who
is he that will drive back the weight
of the rushing flood as it roars and
forces itself through? A child may
start the fire which all the skill and
courage of the best trained firemen
cannot quench.
a. 1t is a great evil that the minds
of the people should be made famil-
lar with lawlessness and violence.
Familiarity breeds contempt. !"
They who at first shrink and faint.
at sight OF bleeding and CHASTITY
wounds, on the battle field soon be-
come hardened and Indifferent to
them. So is it with these evils Of
the social system. 1t is like vice.
ga monster Of so frightful mien,
AS to be hated, needs but TO be seen;
Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face,
We first endure, then pity, then embrace"
1t is fearful EVIL for our children
to become accustomed to such de-
velopments. 1t is Of the first impor-
lance for them to have wholesome
reverence for the laws Of the land
instilled into their minds from ear
Hest years.
And not only is lawless spirit
easily imbibed by those who are
trainediup under its infuen But
also depraved and coarse and cru
ell taste. Witness for example, the
indecent and disgraceful rush of the
old and the young, Of men and wo-
men, to feast a morbid curiosity, by
going in droves, in carriages, in bug
gies, ON horseback and afoot to gaze
upon the exposed person of a guilty
negro whose crime had given him
notoriety. May kind heaven spare
the children of our homes from any
g.. 18Th 4 -. Al L Il - ~ he