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Capital Punishment: For The Signal Of Liberty

Capital Punishment: For The Signal Of Liberty image
Parent Issue
Day
19
Month
January
Year
1846
Copyright
Public Domain
Letter to the Editor
OCR Text

Mossr?. Knrrons : - I noticed on orticle in j he Sipnal of the 29ih December in favor of apital I'unislnnent, to which I respeclfully eg leave to reply through the columns of 'onr paper. The first njcgqnienf as ?o callei by its wrier, oppears to be iliawn from wliat he calla a enernl principie - that of npportioninsr penalty o the nriiiire and nmount of crime committed. 'liis, if it be a general principio, in many inonces, ennnot be applied, becniiEe a person may have been guilty of two or more offences efore heing dr-tected, and yet tlie punishrhen? f Dcath cannot be infiícled bul once, and if ïat is the right principie ihe criminal must iffer punitliment equivalent to Ihnt of death or every ofll-nce, and for as many crimes as ie may be fonnd to bo guilty of, or olherwise e he may ncknowledge himself gnilly of, nd ihen be h need. Henee, I concítldé, that 1 rgument must fall to the ground, from the mple fact t lint there would bo no adequate )unislm!ent for tho pirate who ha8 sent lliouawds of hia fellow beinL:8 nnprepared lo a ntery prave. No human fkill could iuvent ie meons with which to punish the criminal jreeably to Ihis principie. I am not a litila surprised to he?r an ndidiial appeal to the New Testament fur aulority to tuke life. Tho 13tli chapter ol Romans, the onc referred to, can never bc pplied to our administraron. If the Power? ml be are ordained of God, Vhat renson or glit have we to complain of impropcr legisaiion ? If our SherifTs are God's ministerö.. nd if our lawmakersaro dictated to by Divine wisdom, we ought with all deference to tubmit and be quiet, wiiatcver Uw tlicy in thcir wiádi in may see lil lo emet. Again, the writer thinks it is unjtist to tnx innocent people to support nconfineinent that pcruon who has tiiken Ihe life of his fellow creature. In reply to thi.=, I have only lo say that many of our State l'rieons yield an annual menme from the labor of the convicts. Thf-refore. instead of innocent people paying to one of God's ministers, ns the gentleman would have it, from & to 8 hundred dollars ís a hang man'8 fee, bc idos addilional charges, I think it would be quite as expedient and hifjhly commendoble lo save their livc-á, and t hr ir labor, and give then an oppcrtunity to leflcct upon the enormity of their crime and prepar to meet their Mukcr whi) g.ne them life and who F,in my opinión, the only jiropor Judje when it should bc tnken away. . Thou shalt not kil!, is a Divine command nnd ought !o be deeply engraven upon every heart, and is ae binding upon communiliea as upon individuals. The Mosaic Jaw was never given to anv other people than the Jews, and therefore was not binding upnn any other :iation,tieither was it designed to be o'dipatory opon ihem after the introductirn of the Gospel. The Law and the Prophets were until John, but since that time the k'mgdom of Ileaven is preached, which justifies no vindictive rneasurp, no eye for eyo and tooth for tootli. No. Almosi every poge of the New Tcatnment sresplendent with the glorious Gospel of the Son of God, which stricily forbi-ls the puniehmeni of Death. Let this relie of bnrbanin be erased from our slatule books. Let our enligh'enod community frown upon ihis unjust and b'trbarous cu8tom. Would lo God that the Lfgislatures of each and every state in this Union would aboli.-h the punishment of death that it nvght be kuown no moro forever. I should be pleased to hear from the wrher ngnin, to gether with lis name, or inilials .it least.