Carried Unanimously

Aceording lo agreemcnt the CODBIKB givcs this week the opiniou of the ministen who oceupy pulpils in this city upon ; the question of restoring capital , ment in this state. Tlie unanimity that existe among tliem respecün# this question is a little surprisinfr, as is also the fact, that in searching for men who oppose the death peualty re shoiilil be ohllged to look outs'uJc tin: ranks of the clergy. Anotlicr curious tliing tu be noted is the unanimous verdict of those who are or have been jmlsres of eourts in opposition to its restoration. Wlien it comes to tke point wliere the word of lus mouth seals the fate of a human belng, and Muda blm to cternity, the judge rather not be compelleil, or liave the power eren, of pronouncinc tliat se:iteiipe. Nevertlielcss, tlie irticles are nteresting, tlie arguments excellent, and the renden wlll peruse them with interest: CATHOLIC. ,'. -. l'i'. Fierh:-l believe it should be done. The scriptures uphold it. A man Who t.ikes another's lite, his should be taken in return. BAPTIST. Hcv. S. IIaskeU:- believe that premeditatcd murder should be punished with deatU. And that one who in coniinittintc othcr crimes s armed with deadly wc ipoiiN ; i n . i oaaa them with fcta.1 efltect, II gutlty of suc'li premcditateil uiniii' r. aEBHAM LDTHKKAN. 80. . '. Uelser:- You can pat me down as in favor of restoring eapltftl imni.-himii:. I flrmly bolicve it siiould be done. Beo. Mr. Neumnnn:- It is hard to hang :i man, but I tliink the moral influence of capital punUhment would be sood, and it Should be restore). If a man is sent to Btate piison the event soon passes irum the people'i mtnda, but f ainan is executed tlie effect is different; the horror ofsuch a death lasts a long time, and restrain people from committing crinie. FSKSBTTSJUAH. Ba. !- 11. Slede:- 1 take the gronnd w ithout any hesitancy that capital punlah Dient for murder is seriously and hnperaüve ly demandad. This view I have long entertained, and recent occuireno.es wblle they have notchanged, have lerved to deepen my conviction. A long ïvsidenoe In a state wheie tiiis was both the law and the practiee has conliruied the iiupi ssiou that such a law meets the requiicinents til justicc, is needed for the safety of the community, and has the siuKtion of the Divine legislation which oannoi with safety be set aside. The argument is ¦ broail om, bot mj be ttatod in a very general uay - that the inlliction of capital punlshmcnt for murder is demanded on the ground of the supreme sanctity, worthiuess and greatness of human life. To uiaintaiu the greatness of man it is suprcmely neoessary that the marderar In lii malice or passion forgetM the mystery and wonderfulness of the nature of his victim should be put to death. This is the exact ground upon which the divine legislation is founded- namely, the dignity and sacrednes of human life. We believe that it is historcally trne that those nations that have maae the higheat advancement ui social order have done so in the use of capital punishment for murder and kindred crimes. There is not to be found in history the iustance of a nation that has maile any real progress in the liues of civili.ation except they have placed this as the penalty on their statute book?. Take whatever view you niay about otlicr modes of punishment, there is notbing else that bolds back the arm of tlie muiderer from inflicting the fatal blow as the knowledge that his own Ufe is forfeited by that act to the law. COXGREGATION.VL. liev. W. II. Ryder: - In my judgment tlierc is no such fixed and permanent relation between crimes and penaltiis that certain penalties are always the appropriate iüflictions for certain crimes. In a rtule state of society the leath penalty must be inflicted mueh more freely than in a time wlien civilization bas made considerable progresa. Wlien the court? are more perfectly orgnnized, the prisou system more complete, and the public mind more sensltive. The true principie seems to be that penalties must be just severe enough to reduce crime to the minimum, and guard society most perfectly. Penalties wliich are more or less severe than ibis are unjust and cruel. All seem to admit tliat in these times and in our country, death is the appropriate penalty for not more than three crimes, viz., treason, certain military oflences, and wilful murder. Concerning the latter crime it seenis to be admitted that the death penalty should be inflicted only in cases of extreme guilt - of "cnld-blooded brutal murder. My own iinpression is that society would be safer and sach crimes less frequent if this penalty ovorhung the heads of the brutal classes who commit such crimes. I think that there is less dansrer of the repetition f the crime ot Garfield's murder because the criminal was ezeeuted, and that, f the young man who in Detroit, a few weeks ago, murdered his afflanced on the eveninjr belbre thuir upioiul:l wedding cuiili! have received a more sever appointment than the provisión of a comfortable home for the rest of his life - with the hope ol tbe governor's pardon if this mode ol life would became irksome to him - it would have been a inore eflective wiirning for such brulish creituiec, and thnt if the murderers of the Croucli family can ever be found and convicted, it woul( be au honor and a blessing to the state to hang them, if the law permitted it. PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL. Ree. 8. Earp: - Human life is the gift of the Almighty which man cannot bestow, and must not take away at hls pleas ure. It is the highest right vested in the person, and its violation is not only a crime again9t the victim, but ngainst society itself. And therefore, the instinct o: the moral nature echoes the senteuce "Whoso sheildetli man's blood, by man shall bis blood be shed ; " it demands that the sternest sanction shall be given to a law that guards the very existence of mankind. ïetit is a proof of the marvellous wisdom of the Mosaic code, that in so primitive a time it could utter this cotninand. No law is of slower growth. Wu is not indeed the state of nature; nor is man, as some naturalista claim, a beast of prey, who obeyed the saine instinct as a wolf or a shark. Such philosophy cannot expíala how he could emerge at all from the rule of teeth and claws into civilizatiou. But in the rude infancy of mankind the ideas of social order are pushed asidc by the selflsh passions. "Eye for eye, and tooth for tootli" is the first notiou of justice. We have in the Hebrew cities of rcfuge traces of thut custom of the "avenger of blood," which lingers still even in Oreece aud Sicily. Personal vengeance is au aUuiitted right among all barbarous peoples; aud while roany, like the ancient Germana, lml rigid penalties agaiust iinpurity, the homeide paid only a smal] fine. The senso of the acredness of life is tbc fruit of a riper time. Even with our boasted advanceiiicut it is not long suice the duel, the last absurdity of feudalism, has begun to be regarded ns crime. Society, then, takes its grciit step towards civilizatiou when it nndBrnu Uu "UI itatna ot' God, and ïtitutes law for what Bacon calis the "wild justlcu of revengo." Bat we have at this day sonie wlio urge this very principie of the sacredness of human Ufe against law, and claim that Mpltal punishment is oulv a legal murder. We doubt uot tbat n CurUtian humanih, ever siiice tlie effort of wise men like Beccaria, has done niuch to redeem our legislatton from the barbarity that punished Hjrlit oöenees with the galtowi; and t my bc as we advance tbat the death enaíty fOf inurder inay prove less ell'ecive thati other means. Kut we cannot tnnt that there is any moral WTOOg in it. Saman Ufe Umored, but not so sacred as he ends for whicli it ii given. We suienderit for the Ufe of home and country; ind therefore justice has the right to take lt, bccausc the belDg of sodety is of more wortli than that of miy individual man. Itcan oever renounce that right. if it be needed for self-preservation. It afflnus it in the case of war. It cannot be clrnied unless we claim absolute personul freedom. Xor is the plea of humanity a suffieient answer. We may well doubt whether the plausable argument that "a man can be put to no worse use than hanjring," be true In every case. Wc ma] inodify the law, we may reserve such penalt es for rare and terrible guilt; but if our humanity be severed from our social duty, it becomes oruelty to the victims of crime. Justice itself, 'in taking lift for life, appeals to the couscience that "it bears not the sword in vain ;" it ïlvM ui impartial hearing : It arraya 'tself in the solenin pump of the tribunal to show that it iets in nowrath it rantpnneti; it shudders at its own rwponslblllty ; it apeaks the verdict with pity ; and wlicn It gtrlkes, It surrounds even tlie scailold with tlie l:ist kindly offices of religión. METHODIST KPISCOPAX. Dr. U'. H'. llamsay: - Punishinent niut be considered iu its relation to crime, and crime in its relation to the majesty of the law, and the best interest ot .w community. Law should always be eommensurate with the dignity of its source. Indeed, it is buc the instrument of the power that wields it, and must be so executed as not to bring its sou ree into contempt. But the second interest is the one which vrill have the most influence on the popular sentiment in regulatlng the standard of crime, and its consequent penalty. Crime is n standing meDace to society, 'ind in nroportloji as it is eucouraed. wil! every social interest languish; and as it is repressed. the conditions of lite beoome mure hopefnl and prosperous. Tlic prevalenee of crime la manifest in all departiuents of society thongb it usually appears most flaringly in its disregnrd for property interests, and the lower value whleb it attnclies to life. The latter we i'ükI at the very apex of uil interests. It thercfore. becomfli a matter oí greatest importance, as to liow the crime of murder may be prevented. lts extreme turpttode mnct lie practlcally manifest in the iws enactcd for its pnnishment and suppression. This can only be done by isoatlng it from minor offenses, and attacling to it a penalty whleh will sustain to itlicr penaltie the same relation whleh it snstnins to other crimes. The crime liat been inlittfled and rendered less heinous in the popular estimation by placing it in a gronp of offonses to which is attached a coinmon penalty. This has been done In two ways : First, by punishing capitally for n wide number of dissimilar oft'enses. But a little more than a centur}' ago in England, ICO crimes ucre punished capitally, and if we go back to the time of Edward III, there were 13 murders to where there is one now. There is an other extreme, and It is the one prevalent In Michigan to-day. It consiste in putting murder In a class of offenses and visiting it with the penalty due the lowest deeds of the class. This cannot but work to the injury of society, namety, by intimating that a crime against life is not more heinous than ene against propertj', since botli are punished the same way if not to the same degree. A MOOnd social injury resultinir trom the aboe mentioned cause, is the dethrouement of the mnjesty of law. Transgressors unfortunately are obtuse to most moral and humane sentiments, and weizh notalifc, out a penalty in ttie moment of uieditating murdur. lt lias been frequcntly asserted that hnprigonment is accompanied wlth detenent nfluences equal (O the death penalty. Then why in tliose states where tlie law exacto the luttel-, is there sucli i persistent effort to have the extreme penalty coniniuted to impriionment for life. Possibly lor the reason urged by a culprit who requcsted tbat the rope be pla,ced under his arms as he was ticklish about tlie neck. Bal pttsoners do not usually regard a life sentence as meaning for life. The author of a terrible minder said on his way to JaoktOO the other day, tlmt lie would not st:iv there ten years. We all know how frequently the law's penalty is shortened by the clemency of the pardoning board, or by a benignant governor. The comnmuity has a rijrht to detnand that the law be a terror to evil-doers, and that the degree of the penalty and the certanty of its execution be such as to afford the sense of security to every home. And now we niay conclude, if the ninjesty of the law is above the criminnl's life, and if the forfaiture of the criminal' Ufe is tlie only way to the more complete security of the oommunitv, that sentiment is certainly misplaeed which stands in the way of capital punishinent. IXITARIAN. li.r.Jae. T. ttirby:- Tlie tcelins and rea8on which commonly aetuate thé cry for capital punishment, aremany of them, such as I cannot approve. The clamor for a death penalty for murder is too often grounded In un unchristi.in onving for vengeance, and au erroneous idea that orimes (Iemand correspondió;; retribution at the hands of eartbly government8. No human tribunal, however, has suffii:ient knowledjte to declare what punishment is the exact desert of a given crime, and revende is a motive no less unworthy in society at large than in the pri yate individual. The appeal to bible authority as requiring capital punishment In return for the takini; of life is equally unwarrantable. The letter of Jcwifh law has no rightful claim to constrain either Christian sensibilities or the jiidjrment of reason and experienee. If a Christian community is to decide the question by reliious authority, the voice it should listen to should be rather that of the Master who bade us love our neighbor as ourself and return good for evil. The conslderation that should prcvail in settliug such a question is the general good of humanity, and the measures neccssary to the self-defence and security of the commiinity. Wliat mcthod will most surely prevent the terrible crimes against life wbleli have hitely been socommon'r' Now, capital punUliment is open to the grave objection that its nilstakes are Irretrievable and that when the only altérnate oftered to a jury is a verdict involving the death penalty and an en tire acquittal, men of sympathetic natures are unwilling to take ou themsclves the seriOU8 responsihility attaching to a virdict of guilty. Neverthelew, thcro secmB to be a considerable element iu our populniion to whlch to be housed for life undcr a tif(ht roof, and" to be fed and clothed by tlic n eminent is no deterreut uuainst crime. While to the sensitivo and reflned, web life niprisontncnt would be nioro dreadtul than dealb, to tliesc coarse, Hnimal natures, it is quite tlie reverse. Nothing but the fear of death on the gallows exerU on tlils class that restraininp influence tbat is nceded. I fear tben that in tlie present stage oí social uevi;iiMiicm, r [tal piinisliment is a necesBary 1" the state of Maine, where 1 formerly resided, the experiment of aboliKhing it has nlready been tried; but the increase of inurder cases, many of the most brutal kind, becarae so alarming that a few years ago, thedeath penalty was restored. lf it should be FMtored In Michigan also, it ought, bowever, to bc Mirrounded by careful prvisions tliut may obvíate the mischiefs that otherwlsc may arise: lat. The cxccutlon of the death penalty ought to bc poatponed (m i alreadj done in Vermontj U a year, al least, alter the pronoimcing oí the sentence, to give ainplc opportunity or a re-hearing of the OHM, it any new evidence be found showing the tinocence ot' the condeuined. ld. Instead of the dcath penalty and au cutiré acquittal being tlie only titernalives before a jury, the statute should reaenre capital punishmcut as the penalty for particulaily brutal crimes, the evidence of whfch is of the plaitiest and most umnistakuble tenor, while for all munter catei in whloh extenuating ciroinnstances or any reasonable sliadow of doubt ezUU, the penalty should not exceed that of Imprisonment, either for life or ¦ liinited term of years. oick raon augusta. At gusta, Jan. 22, 1886. Eeitok Bkal :- I am pleascd to see the exprejsion of public sentiment in regard to the restoration of capital punishment for crimináis. For oue, I am strongly opposed to the infliction of unnecessary severity towards any human being. We think that tliosc who have examined the history of ÜW past most, one and all, arrlve at this one conclusión, that whatlitÜt soperiorlty tho civilized man posseses oyer hls barbarous ancestors is due to the increase of tlie beucvolent and charitable qualities of mind. Xo man who looks facts squarely in the faco, we think, can doubt for an instant that man is to a great degree a cieature of circumstances. Tlmt society is justificó In protecting itsself nu one disputes, but bas the fear of dcabh over deterred man f rom dueling? Uan it be proven tbnt tho fear of death ever deterred man f rom engaging in mortal coutlict? lf we read history arilit its aunáis are full of instances, wliere peopic have triumphantly marched to ignominous death. Much better in our opinión, it would be to confino and edúcate the gullty minil. This idea, so often advanced, tliat the dark and ignorant past .-lioulil be accepted as the and oracle of the present and future, we have no syinpathy witli. Let the criminal element be taugïit to obey justice, truth aud moralitj', for the good which those creatures confer upon mankind, and society will gain 8 greater victory tliau ever has been gained by all the gallows and guillotine! m erected in christendom. P. H. Hariïib. A. WISE SUOGESTION. In conversation with Dr. Wm. F. Breakey upon this cuestión, he tnakes a noint tlrat 13 worthy of consideraron. He think9 that where insanity is alleged as an excuse for murder, that the mur dcrcr should be coiitincd in an asylum for a considerable period of time- long enough to prove whether the insanity is felgned or real. If fcigned, then justice can meet its deserts by imprisonmeut ; if real the asylum is certainly the place for him, where he cannot repeat the act.