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THE GALLOWS,
THE    PRISON, AND       THE    POORIHOUSE.
A PLEA        FOR, IUMANITY;
SHOWING THE DEMANDS OF CHRISTIANITY
IN BEHALF OF THE CRIMINAL AND
PERISHING CLASSES.
BY G.. QUINBY.
"IT is not the will of your Father which is in Heaven that one of these
little ones should perish." CHRIST.
CINCINNATI:
G. W. QUINBY, PUBLISHER,
74 WEST FOURTH STREET.
1856.




Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1856, by
G. W. QUINBY,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court, for the Southern District
of Ohio.




TO THE HUMANE, BENEVOLENT AND HOPEFUL
OF EVERY SECT, PARTY AND CREED,
RELIGIOUS AND POLITICAL,
Of etag C(ratrg am: ClMni
WHO FEELS HIMSELF CONNECTED BY THE TIES OF A COMMON ORIGIN
AND A COMMON HUMANITY,
TO EVERY OTHER HUMAN BEING,
AND WHO NOT ONLY SEES THE WRONGS OF SOCIETY, BUT HAS FAITH
THAT THEY CAN BE REMOVED, AND IS WILLING TO
AID IN THEIR REMOVAL,
ljl         BYs otumt is eLTHE  AUTHORnAte Rbiat,
BY THE AUTHOR








PRE            ACE.
THE AUTHOR of the following pages, if he knows himself, would
place nothing upon paper to injure society. What he writes is the result
of years of investigation and observation, and is given to the world with
a desire alone to benefit his fellow-men, especially the little ones and
weak of the human family.   "Have we not all one Father, hath not
one God created us?" is a question asked by the ancient servant of God,
and answered in the affirmative by the Teachings, the Sympathies, and
the Cross of Christ as well as the divine within us.  I am, therefore,
a constituent member of the "Great Brotherhood," and if a true follower of my Master, must not injure the weakest, the most sinful, or the
most ignorant of the race, but labor for the welfare and happiness of
all. HUMANITY is never dangerous. In all my investigation, my observation and experience, I have never learned that the study, the cultivation or the practice of this divine principle would injure any one. No
one, therefore, need fear harm from a perusal of these chapters, or a
practical observance of the principles which they illustrate.
Society, throughout the civilized world, has advanced in its humanities; but is there not room for still greater advancement?  Is not our
Christianity still dogmatic rather than practical?  These important questions are considered at length in this work. Crucifixion, burning, roasting, starving, sawing asunder, were once deemed indispensable to the
safety and purity of society and the Church, while at a later day
the whipping-post, pillory and the stocks were regarded as equally
(v)




Vi                         PREFACE.
indispensable. But we have learned to live without these relies of barbarism. Can we not learn to live without other things, equally unnecessary, even if they are less cruel than the customs and institutions of our
fathers? The Inquisition is not so dreadful as endless hell-fire, but shall
we, therefore, sustain the Inquisition? Shall we maintain the gibbet, if
unnecessary, because the gibbet is less cruel than the faggot? Shall we
practice any cruelty in the punishment of our fellow-men, or refuse to
aid the poor and unfortunate, with the plea that our practices are more
benevolent than those of our ancestors, if a full and free play of our
humanity would be more Christian and better for them, for us, and for
society?  The author of this work is fully convinced, by reading, and
more especially, by personal investigation in jails and prisons, among
prisoners, and his intercourse with the poor, the ignorant and unfortunate,
that the Christian world is yet governed too generally by revenge, and
too little by the spirit of Christ and a true humanity. The result of our
investigations are before the reader. Our philosophy is based upon facts.
It is not utilitarian but Chiistica.  "Let God be true but every man a
liar."
In what we have said we have studied for clearness rather than
ornament in style. We have written for the heads and hearts of men
seeking for truth. To all such is this bcok respectfully dedicated, and
given to the world with the prayer to God that, as imperfect as it is, it
may be instrumental in helping on the great cause of humanity.
Cincinnati, October, 1856.




CONTENTS.
PART I.
CHAPTER I, Growth of Humanity.
Growth, a law of Nature-Man in his Rude State-Progress of Art, Science,
Education-The certainty of Progression in Ilumanity-The Hope of Doomed
Millions-Savageness of Society on the Introduction of Christianity-HerodTitus-Nero-Savage Condition of the Gentler Sex-Beauty of the Bible
Amidst this Deformity.............................................Page 11
CHAPTER II. Progress in the Last two Centuries.
Inhumanity of France and England Two Hundred Years ago-Cruelty of
Persecution gradually Softened-Inhumanity of Louis XIV-Inhumanity of
the Pilgrim Fathers-Persecution of the Quakers-The Softening of Penal
Codes-One Hundred and Fifty Offenses punished with Death in EnglandCodes of England, Sweden, Germany, France, and Poland-Hanging for
Stealing Forty Shillings-Touching case of the Execution of a Young
Woman in England-Case of a Young Girl-Progress of Humanity in the
Improvement of the Poor, Ignorant, Sick, and   Suffering-Extract from
Macaulay *............................................  20
CHAPTER III. Appeal to Christians.
Huumanity is not yet "Full Grown "-Dreadful Evils still Exist-The Conservative has no desire to go Back. and will not Advance-Opinions of Generations
to come of our Barbarities-The duty of the Christian to the Living-Christians must Labor in the Cause of Humanity, or the Work must Stop-The
Growth of Humanity confined to Christian Countries-Dreadful Barbarities
of the Chinese-Where Christianity prevails in its Purest and most Living
form, there is the Largest Benevolence *................................. 37
CHAPTER IV. Abolishment of the Gallows.
The Gallows a Relic of Barbarism-It is Unnecessary and Uuchristian-It
has been regarded as the Hand-maid of the Church, but so was the Pillory,
the Stocks, and the Whipping-post-The Charge of " Morbid Sympathy "-It
will not apply to the Great and Good who have labored for Reform-The Boy
Hung in Alexandria, La.-Touching Incidents......................... 46
CHAPTER V. Vengeance of the Gallows.
The Gallows an Institution of Vengeance-Lynch Law- " String him up,"
"Stretch his Neck," " Burn him," not Christian Exclamations-Execution of
Colt in New York-Declaration of Vengeance of Christian Ladies in Cincinnati-All this Foreign from the Christian Religion, and Condemned by it- * 51
CHAPTER VI. Individual Responsibility
Each Citizen's Responsibility for the Acts of the Gallows-Inconsistency o
Christians-" Thou shalt not Kill "-Killing by Proxy-Dreadful case of
Young Boyington-So long as the Death Penalty remains, can I shake off my
Individual Responsibility-I wish to have no Part or Lot in the Shedding of
Human Blood-The Authority of the State to Kill —Has it such Authority?Argument of Rantoul.....................................  56
(vii)




Viil                        CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VII. Irremediability.
Execution of the Innocent-The Evil can not be Remedied-Declaration of
Lafayette-Execution of the Innocent during the French RevolutionInjustice of Executing the Innocent-Instance of the Imprisonment of an
Innocent Man-Execution of an Innocent Man in Indiana-Execution of a
Poor German-Execution of an Innocent Young Girl-Innocent Man Hung
in England-Circumstantial Evidence not to be relied on-Positive Evidence
not always Certain-Extract from O'Connel............................. 6
CHAPTER VIII. The Bible Argument.
The Death Penalty forbidden by the Christian Scriptures-Authority of the
Scriptures above Human Authority-The Lex talionis of the Jews-The Law
of Love, the Christian Law-Touching Accounts of recent Executions-All
Christian Codes must Harmonize with the Law of Love-The Old Covenant
not binding on Christians.............................................   85
CHAPTER IX. Covenant with Noah —Moses.
Is it Positive, Universal, and Perpetual?-Accidental Killing-Killing in Selfdefense, or in Defense of one's Country, must be visited with Death-The
Executioner must be Slain-Death Penalty not known till the Year of the
World 1650-Cain not put to Death-Lamech not put to Death-Moses a
Murderer and not Slain-Numerous other cases of the same DescriptionGod did not Himself regard the Declaration to Noah-The true Rendering and
Teaching of the Text-Opinion of Learned Men-Evidence conclusive against
the Continuance of  the Gallows........................................  95
CHAPTER X. Gallows Unnecessary.
The Death Penalty not necessary to Personal or Social Security-We have
strong Prisons-The Murderer is not secured by the present Law-Difficult to
Convict-Facts from the Criminal Records in the United States and England
-There is a Repugnance to taking Human Life-If not Convicted the Murderer returns to Society-With the Penalty of Imprisonment for Life, he
would  be  secured......................................................  145
CHAPTER XI. Difficult to Enforce the Law.
Scruples of Jurors-Loth to Convict-The condition of Criminal Jurisprudence
in Ohio, as presented by a Cincinnati Editor-The cause of Laxity on the part
of Jurors to Convict-The Gallows stands in the way of Justice-It Facilitates
the Escape of the Guilty-Folly of Instituting Laws which can not be Enforced
Criminal Jurisprudence in Hamilton County, Ohio, for Fifteen Years-Large
number of Murders-But one Hung-Hlow it worked in England —France. 154
CHAPTER XII. Executions Deleterious as Examples.
The Gallows a Terror to Evil Doers-This is an Error-The Reverse is TrueFacts adduced in Proof-The Gallows hidden from the Public in fifteen States
-Lecount's Execution-Certainty of Punishment more Salutary than Severity
-Opinion of Jurors-How it worked in England and other Countries-Interesting Incidents-Testimony of Rantoul andLivingston-Proofs Conclusive. 171
CHAPTER XIII. Result of Experience Favorable.
Men ask for Practical Proofs-States and Countries have tried AbolishmentResult Favorable-Trial in Maine-No Executions in Twenty-two YearsVermont-Massachusetts-M3ichigan-WViscolsin-Effects of the Softening of
Pernal Codes in England and other Countries-Effects of Abolishment in
Tuscany-Tuscany compared with Rome-Effects of Abolishment in BelgiumAlso in Bombay and Russia.......................................... 194




CONTENTS.                                iX
CHAPTER XIV. Philosophy of Humanity Favorable.
Validity of our Philosophy doubted-Kindness in the Government of Home
and the Family-A State or Nation a Family-Want of Faith in Goodness to
overcome Evil-Saying of the French Sage-Example of the State-Conversation of the Monk and the Executioner-Influence of Bloody ExamplesSacredness of Human Life should be enforced —Early Training of ChildrenThe Quakers free from Crime-Children of Newgate Criminals........... 212
CHAPTER XV, Ends of Punishment not Answered.
Three  objects  of  Punishment-Reformation-Example-Reparation-What
Punishment is-What Revenge is-The Christian Law-Strangling men will
not Reform them-It is not an Example of Good-It can not restore the Life
of the Murdered Victim........................................ 218
CHAPTER XVI. Objections Considered.
The Murderer not fit to Live-Give him time to Repent, then Hang him-Not
entitled to Live-Sufferings of the Innocent-Interesting Incident-Lecount
and his Mother-Col. Hayne and his Son-James Dawson and his intended
Bride-Conclusion **.................................................. 222
PART II.
THE PRISON.
CHAPTER I. Crime-The Criminal and the Prison.
Crime in New York City, Philadelphia, and the United States-Crime in Great
Britain and France-Crime in Christendom-Five Hundred Thousand Criminals in the Christian World-What shall be done with them-Mad-Houses in
the Past-Prisons in the Past-Treatment of Prisoners regarded as Incurable
-Dreadful Cruelty.........................................-  231
CHAPTER II. Demands of Christianity.
What Shall we do with the Criminal?-He belongs to the Body Politic-Christ
the Head of every Man-Christians still destitute of Sympathy-No Patience
for the Criminal-Patience of Christ-Patience of God-Story of Abraham
and the Sinner-Imperfection of Humanity-God the Common Father-We are
all Members of the same Family-Christ came to Bless all, but. especially the
Sinful and Unfortunate. -             -            - *            237
CHAPTER III. Abandoned Vagrant Children,
Crime in Embryo-Abandoned Vagrant Children-Twenty-two Thousand in
New York City-Dogma of Total Depravity False and Pernicious-Necessity
of a Proper Culture-Good Seed and Soil in every Soul-Interesting Incident at Long Island Farms-What the State is doing to Crush these Little
Ones-Doing Nothing for them-Children Seven years old in Jail-What it
should do in their Behalf-Ohio Penitentiary-New York-MassachusettsVermont-Benevolent Societies not Sufficient........................... 243
CHAPTER IV. The Criminal —-His Treatment.
The Small Offender-Treatment not Reformatory-The Rookery-The IHouse
of Correction-The Jail-Unfortunate Females-Their Treatment-Should I e
Aided and Encouraged-The State never Aids them-How it works in New
York, Philadelphia, Cincinnati-Experience of Isaac Hopper, the Philanthropist
-Interesting Incident-Prisons for Small Offenders should resemble a House
of Reform-The Duty of the State-Individual Effort not Sufficient...... 257




X                            CONTENTS.
CHAPTER V. The Jail and the Penitentiary.
Need of Reform in the Common Jail-Congregated System Injturious-Jail in
Cincinnati-The Influence of the Old Criminal on the Young-Present System
makes Ciminals-Facts Related-Importance of Labor-Expense of Maintaining the Prisoner in Idleness-Reformation of the Offender the most Important
Consideration-The Penitentiary-The Old System-Progress already madeMore to be Done-Work of Howard, the Philanthropist-Eastern Penitentiary
of Pennsylvania-Separate System-Its Advantages-Ignorance the Cause
of Crime-Reform needed in the Educational Department-Also in the Disciplinary-Power of Kindness-Prisoners should be Encouraged when in Prison
and when they return to the World-Interesting Facts.................* 268
PART III.
THE POOR HOUSE.
CHAPTER I. Perishing Ones.
Poverty in   Christian  Lands-England-France-Ireland-Scotland-United
States-London-New York-Pauperism-Beggary-Needle Women-Interesting Incident-Death by Starvation in Philadelphia and Cincinnati-Romance
of a Shirt-Suffer.ng in Philadelphia-Working Classes in Great BritainUnited States-Many of them Slaves-Family Stowage in New York-Inhumanity  of  Christians...................................................  293
CHAPTER II. Jesus and the Poor.
The Life and Spirit of Christ-His HIumility-Design of Christianity-Christ
Unfelt in the Church-Christianity Provides for the Wants of the Body, as
well as the Wants of the Soul-Christians Neglect Poor Men's Bodies in their
Attention  to the Soul-Catholic Church-Its Neglect of the Poor-A
Farce........................................                   305
CHAPTER III. Character of our Christianity.
Personal and National Pride and Fashion hold Rule in the Church-Charity
thrust out-Landed Estates of Great Britain in Possession of the AristocracyTwenty-six Millions destitute of a Foot of Territory-The Church the Aristocracy-Cost of maintaining it comes upon the Poor-Enormous Expense of
maintaining the Royal F1mily- Facts Stated-Christ and the British QueenFrance, and her Millions expended for Ornalment-Spain and her ChristianityStrange Charity of a Queen —What America is doing................... 312
CHAPTER IV. An Appeal.
Oneness of the Human Family-Dependence of all Classes Mutual-Appeal
to Members of our National Councils-To Christian Ministers, Lawyers,
Doctors, Teachers, Artists, Farmers, Mechanics Traders, the Old and Young
the Learned and Ignorant, to help in the Good Work-Brighter Day DawningConclusion............................................................  323




THE GALLOWS, THE PRISON, AND
THE POOR-HOUSE.
CHAPTER I.
THE GROWTH OF HUMANITY.
Growth, alaw of Nature-Man in his rude State-Progress of Art, Science, Education-Power, destitute of Benevolence, a Curse-The certainty of Progression in Humanity-The Hope of doomed Millions-Savageness of Society on the introduction of
Christianity-Herod the cruel-Titus, " the Darling of Mankind''-Nero-Savage condition of the most refined Women-The Beauty of the Gospel amidst this Deformity.
Growth, improvement, progression, seem a law of nature, and the destiny of our race. Even the earth, itself,
is not destitute of active forces. Each moment the old
is passing into newness of life. The mass of matter
which, in the beginning, is said to have been " without
form  and void," has become the beautiful world which
surrounds us. In this perpetual recreation, noble forests,
luxuriant meadows, beautiful shrubbery and fragrant
flowers of a thousand tints have sprung into being, rendering charming the earth-home which our good Father
has given us for a brief time.
Man, too, is progressive in the elements of his beingin his INTELLECT and his HEART. At first he was rude.
His ideas were simple and his wants few. The bear was
better fed, and the panther better armed, than he
Thus was he thrown upon his own resources. Necessity gave him energy. He sewed fig leaves and covered
his nakedness. He had, too, his brain and his two hands
with which to labor; but no work-shop-no mill, and no
(11)




12          THE GROWTH OF HUMANITY.
steam-engine.  At length he constructed his stone axe,
and, by degrees, his saw and sledge-hammer. Then he
forsook his cave-home and dwelt in his rude hut. But
he tarried not here; for while the bear is only and always
a bear, no more and no less, from age to age-boasting
only of his fur coat, his claws and his teeth-there is
something divine in man which prompts him to activity
and improvement, and to look beyond the mere supply of
his necessities, and aim at comfort, elegance and beauty.
Hence the rude hut gradually passed into a habitation
of refinement. Simple studs and rafters became columns, arches and domes; and so, at length, followed out in
all their detail of order and beauty, the plinth, die, cornice, base, capital, architrave and mouldings, to give
symmetry, finish and perfection to the structure; and
thus architecture became, by degrees, a fine art. And
what have we now? Lift up your eyes and behold the
thousands'of magnificent cities that dot the earth;-the
grandeur of their temples and public edifices;-our mills,
with their millions of spindles and thundering looms;our work shops, with their multiplied implements for
construction;-our improvements in the arts of husbandry and in the modes of commerce. Behold oceans
spanned, and nations linked by steam-ships-and countries welded by iron bars, over which people of a thousand realms pass in flying palaces drawn by fiery steeds.
The same law of development prevails in Philosophy
and Science.
The crucible and the telescope, the galvanic battery
and the revelations of philosophy, as directed by human
research and ingenuity, have astonished the world. The
earth, once thought to be the center and bulk of the universe, now dwindles beneath our feet to a mere point;
while the twinkling stars, regarded by the ancients as




THE GROWTH OF HUMANITY.             13
so many lamps suspended in the midway heavens for the
convenience of our earth, now burst upon us with all the
grandeur of stupendous worlds, peopled with millions
of sentient beings, and spinning through the heavens
with the velocity of lightning, and the order and precision of mathematical certainty.
I suppose there are but few or none in any community
disposed to contradict, or even to doubt, the development
of which I speak, as connected with the Material or the
Intellectual. All men of thought, who know anything
of the past, are certain that the world is progressing in
learning, philosophy, science, art, political economy and
a true civilization. But all men of thought are not certain that the race is progressing in HUMIANITY. On the
contrary, many affirm that the world, like a patient hopelessly sick, is getting no better, but worse continually;
more corrupt, wicked and oppressive, and less kind, benevolent and humane. Such persons are always doubting the mollifying influences of the Christian religion, and
the prophetic declarations of the Bible with reference to
the growth of humanity among the nations. And not
only so, but they are constantly regretting that they were
born into the world at so late a period. " Ah!" they
groan, " the times are not what they once were i The
days of our good old fathers were happy days. There
was less oppression and more humanity than now, and a
great deal more true enjoyment." So chime the croakers.
It is strange that while society is moving forward with
eager speed, that so many should be filled with doubt,
and, dissatisfied with the present, should look back and
with regrets so tender, sigh for the " good old days"
of the dark ages.
I desire, then, in the beginning, to show to this class,
and to all, the sure growth of the human soul in the




14           THE GROWTH OF HUMANITY.
divine principle of benevolence. I wish to demonstrate
to every reader the certainty of such a growth; and further,
that the developments of humanity are never deleterious
to society, but, on the contrary, serve to soften and subdue the sinful. I am specially desirous to impress this
important truth on the hearts of all professed Christians,
and to convince them that Christianity has something to
do with the progression of which I speak.
Now, to me, the thought is a glorious one, and full of
encouragement, that while the public mind of all civilized
society is ripening with wisdom, it is softening with
benevolence. What are nations and communities, destitute of benevolence or humanity? What the power of
millions of men-each as learned as the seven wise men
-boasting of philosophy, science, riches, without humanity to control and direct their energies? Such power
would prove but a dreadful engine of cruelty and oppression. What every good man desires above all else, is to
behold a development that, while it mollifies and civilizes
society generally, it shall benefit man, especially the poor
and unfortunate classes of our race,-the criminal,the little ones and the weak, by kindness, instruction and
assistance. There is hope in such a progression-hope
for the suffering, toiling poor, inhabiting the wretched
cellars and garrets of our pent up cities-hope for the
intemperate and ignorant-hope for the "widow    and
the fatherless," cursed with poverty, rags and tears; in
short, hope for the doomed millions of enslaved Europe
and America, who live beneath the very spires, and sit
in the very shadow of our thousand churches, consecrated to Him who was the " sinner's friend," and who exclaimed, when on earth-" The spirit of the Lord is upon
me, because he hath anointed me to preach the Gospel to
the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to




THE GROWTH OF HUMANITY.              15
preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to
the blind; to set at liberty then that are br1iised, and to
preach the acceptable year of the Lord."
Is there such a progression now going forward in the
heart of all civilized society?
Let us see. We shall appeal to facts, and shall demonstrate by contrasting the past with the present. And
look you, first, at a few historical relations showing the
want of humanity-the extreme cruelty, that existed in
the most civilized and enlightened nations, o.n the introduction of Christianity into the world, eighteen centuries ago.
We have all read, in the Gospel, the simple but touching account of the massacre which took place by the order of Herod the Great, on the birth of Christ, in Bethlehem of Judea; but did we ever reflect on the inhumanity-the perfect savageness of the society and the
age, which could have tolerated an act so terribly cruel?
This man was born in Judea, of one of the first families of that realm, and was regarded as one of the greatest men of his time. His abilities as a politician and
commander were of the first order, and such was the magnificence he displayed in decorating his palace and other
public buildings, that Augustus said, " His soul was too
great for his kingdom." And yet, in the 33d year of
his reign as king of Judea, when Christ was born, being
unable to find the infant Savior that he might destroy
him, " he sent forth and slew all the children that were
in Bethlehem and all the coasts thereof, from two years
old and under," in order to make sure of his victim.
Can we conceive of a more cruel and heartless act?
And yet we are not told that the people, being filled with
horror, arose en masse and tore the unfeeling wretch from
his throne and consigned him to the flames.  To be sure,




16          THE GROWTH OF HUMANITY.
weeping and lamentations were heard throughout the
land, by wretched mothers who refused to be comforted.
But what then? This was of no consequence! Cruelty
and blood were common with kings, and familiar with the
people; and the terrible act was passed, without note or
comment. Herod was still reverenced and lauded as the
king of Judea. He put to death his innocent wife, and
butchered his sons, and still was reverenced and lauded
as the king of Judea. And, according to Josephus, he
planned a scene of posthumous cruelty which shows how
barbarous must have been the age that would suggest a
thought so terrible. It was this: He summoned the
chief persons among the Jews to the city of Jericho, and
caused them to be shut up in the royal circus. He was
now near seventy years of age and very sick, and he gave
strict orders to his sister Salome, to have all the men massacred at his death, that every great family in Judea
might weep at his funeral. His savage order, however,
was never executed.
Now here is a question: Is there a Prince on earth in
our age who would be guilty of acts so dreadfully cruel?
Or if so, is there a people on earth, civilized or savage,
that would not execrate the monster who could be thus
heartless? If not, then has not the world progressed in
humanity since that religion, which is peace on earth,
good will to men, was proclaimed?
I am aware that Herod bears the character of having
been a very cruel and blood-thirsty wretch, far worse than
most men of his time. Permit me, therefore, to mention
one other historical fact to show the inhumanity of society at that period. About thirty years subsequently
to the death of Christ, the Roman army invaded Judea
and destroyed the great city of the Jews, under Titus,
the Roman general, who in consequence of his many




THE GROWTH OF HUMANITY.             17
virtues, was called " the darling of mankind."  This man
Titus, who was the darling of mankind eighteen hundred
years ago, took ninety-seven thousand of the Jews
captive; six thousand of whom, chosen young men, he
sent to Nero, the Roman Emperor; the same Nero it was
who subsequently, for the gratification of an insane caprice, set fire to Rome that he might have a real representation of the burning of Troy, and who afterward trans.
ferred the guilt of the act to the Christians, and caused
them to be butchered by thousands throughout his domains. But let this pass. I am not recounting the doings of bad men; I was just speaking of an act perpetrated by Titus, " the darling of mankind." I repeat: Titus
sent six thousand of his ninety-seven thousand captives
to Rome, as slaves for Nero. Thirty thousand were sold
as bond-men into Egypt; eleven thousand in one place, he
caused to perish by starvation. At Cesarea he murdered
two thousand five hundred in honor of his brother's birthday, and a greater number at Berytus in honor of his
father's; while he distributed nearly thirty thousand
through the provinces of Rome, to be destroyed in their
theatres by the sword or torn in pieces by wild beasts.
And all this was perpetrated, not by a man recognized as
a savage by the age in which he lived, but one who was the
very quintessence of perfection, the "the darling of mankind!"
and I know not but the darling of wonmankind also, if any
distinction is allowed, for I am very sorry to say the women were as savage as the men. The reader is doubtless
familiar with the account, in the Gospel, of the dancing
of a beautiful damsel in the presence of a certain king,
on the occasion of his birthday, and how charmed he was
with her person and performance;-so charmed that he
declared with an oath, that he would give her whatever
she asked, even to the half of his kingdom. And do you
2




s1          THE GROWTH OF HUMANITY.
not recollect what she.demanded as a present?  " Give
me here," said she, "the head of John the Baptist in a
charger;"-that is, in a bowl or platter. What a present
for a young damsel, charming in her person, all decorated for the dance, to ask of a king enamored with her
beauty. The bloody head of the murdered fore-runner
of the Lord Jesus! But, astounding as it may seem,
her wishes were gratified. " The king sent and beheaded John in his prison; and the head was brought in a
charger and given to the damsel, and she brought it to
her mother." Perhaps the reader is ready to exclaim-'Why this damsel must have been educated a savage,
and was summoned to dance in the presence of the king,
becazusb of her remarkable agility or beauty. Instead of
this, she was herself of the royal family. Herod Phillip
was her father, Aristobulus her grandfather, and Herodias her mother, the woman to whom she carried the
bleeding, ghastly head of John, when she had received
it from the hand of the executioner. She was, therefore,
educated a member of the royal palace, and had all the
advantages which the most refined and polished society in
that age could afford.
But here we have a specimen of what constituted
refinement eighteen hundred years ago, in one of the
most civilized nations on earth. WMe see the nature of
the influences brought to bear on the minds of youthful
females. Herodias, the mother of the young woman
who so delighted the king, was offended with John
the Baptist, because he had the boldness to condemn her
incestuous intercourse with the king. She, therefore,
instructed her daughter to ask the head of John as a
present, if opportunity should present itself. And when
she received it, it is said that she gazed with exulting
pleasure on the speechless mouth that had dared to utter




THE GROWTH OF HUMAANITY.            19
such words of condemnation against her, and offered indignities to the tongue from which she could no longer
dread reproof. St. Jerome positively asserts that " when
she got the head, she drew out the tongue and thrust it
through with her bodkin."
Such was the moral condition of the world eighteen
hundred years ago. The apostle described it when he
said: " Their feet are swift to shed blood."
How shocking are these exhibitions of barbarity to the
humanity and refinement of the present age  Indeed,
has there been no growth of the element of humanity in
the human soul for the last eighteen centuries?  Why
the man who is unable to discover this change, would
light a candle at noonday to find the sun.
And I will add in this place, that if there was nothing
divine in the mission of Christ, the circumstance is most
remarkable, and to my mind wholly unaccountable, that
he should inculcate a religion so pure, and a philosophy
so divine, in the midst of a darkness so gross! His very
life-his spirit-his teachings, and the manner in which
he bore his sufferings and his death, were all in direct opposition to the prevailing sentiments and customs of the.
age in which he lived. His breathings of love and forgiveness-of tenderness and compassion-of benevolence and humanity, when contrasted with the predominant principles of that age, were like a resplendent star
in the midst of surrounding darkness-or a blooming
paradise in a howling wilderness.




CHAPTER II.
THE   MARCH    OF HUMANITY      DURING    THE   LAST   TWO
CENTURIES.
Inhumanity of France and England two Hundred Years ago —Cruelty of Persecution
gradually softened —Inhumanity of Louis XIV-Inhumanity of the Pilgrim Father —
Persecution of the Quakers-The softening of Penal Codes-One Hundred and Sixty
offenses Punishable with Death in England-Codes of England, Sweden, Germany.
France and Poland-The Cruelty of their Punishments-Ianging for stealing forty
Shillings —Touching case of the Execution of a Young Woman in England-Laws of the
New England Colonies —Case of a Young Girl —Progress of Humanity in the more
kindly Treatment of Criminals, and in the Improvement of the Poor, Ignorant, Sick
and Suffering —Extract from Macaulay.
But let us come forward to a more recent age, and
mark the growth of humanity in the hearts of those who
stand more closely connected with us on the pages of
history.   We will limit our investigations to the last two
centuries.
In 1650 we find France and England, two of the most
enlightened and civilized nations on the globe, governed
by principles, both in war and peace, that would utterly
shock the humanity of the present age.
Men regarded as great and good, both in Church and
State, gave their sanction to laws, practices and customs
so unjust and inhuman, as to strike the worst man now
living in civilized society dumb with astonishment and
horror! This will be seen as we proceed.
Notice the unmistakable       change which has been produced within the last two hundred years, with reference
to the cruelty of proscription and persecution in consequence of religious faith. Christians have now very gen(20)




THE MARCH OF HUMANITY.              21
erally learned the folly of attempting to convert men
to a love of Christian truth, and inspire them  with
benevolence, by prisons, chains, fire and torture.  But
two hundred years ago, these were the principal means
employed in the dissemination and defense of the Christian religion. Two hundred years ago, the inquisition,
that tribunal of horror and cruelty, which drank'the
blood of nearly four hundred thousand innocent victims,
was in full force in France, Spain, Portugal and other
countries. An accredited English writer says, in describing the inhumanity of priests and potentates in
uheir persecution of heretics:  " If the least shadow of
proof appeared against any pretended criminal, he was
condemned to death at once, and was clothed with a garment painted with flames, and with his own figure surrounded with dogs, serpents, and devils, all open-mouthed,
as if ready to devour him. If the offenders died in any
other faith than that of Rome, they were burned alive,
the priests telling them that they left them to the devil
who was standing at their elbow waiting to receive their
souls and bear them to the flames of hell.
Flaming furzes, fastened to poles, were thrust against
their faces till their faces were burned to a coal, and this
was accompanied with the loudest acclamations of joy
among the thousands of spectators. At last, fire was set
to the furze at the bottom of the stake, over which the
criminals were chained so high that the top of the flame
seldom reached higher than the seat they sat on, so that
they seemed to be roasted, rather than burned. There
could not be a more lamentable spectacle; the sufferers
continually crying out, so long as they were able-" Pity,
for the love of God!" Yet it was beheld by all sexes
and ages, with transports of joy and satisfaction. And
even monarchs, surrounded by their courtiers, sometimes




22            THE MARCH OF HUMANITY
graced the scene with their presence, imagining that they
were performing an act highly acceptable to the Deity.*
Two hundred years ago, Louis the XIV. filled the
throne of France. He was basely ignorant, but is described as possessing many virtues for a sovereign of
his time. Among his virtues is enumerated that of his
strong religious prejudices, and boldness in support of
the established Church. He manifested a marked desire
to convert supposed heretics to Catholicism, and introduced a method to accomplish his purpose which seems
to have been original with him. We have no account of
its ever having been practiced by Christ or his apostles,
or any of the early fathers. He beat religion into them
with the battle-ax. It is a literal fact that he sent forth
his troopers, soldiers and dragoons, with orders to go
from house to house, and from town to town, and with
the sword and battle-axe, force men and women into the
Catholic Church. " These blood-thirsty wretches entered
the Protestant houses in France, where they broke and
trampled under foot furniture, destroyed provisions,
turned dining-rooms into stables for their horses, and
treated the owners with the highest indignation and
cruelty. They bound to posts, mothers that gave suck,
and let their little infants lie languishing in their sight,
for several days and nights, crying, mourning and gasping for life. Some they bound before large fires, and
when they were half roasted, let them go. Some they
hung by the hair and some by the feet in chimneys, and
smoked them with hay till they were suffocated. Women
and maids were hung up by their feet or by their armpits, and exposed stark naked to public view. Some they
cut and slashed with knives, and after stripping them
naked, stuck their bodies full of pins and needles, from
*Dr. Dick's Philosophy of Religion.




DURING THE LAST TWO CENTURIES.         23
head to foot: or with red hot pinchers took hold of them
by the nose and other parts of the body, and dragged
them around their rooms till they promised to be good
Catholics, or actually expired beneath their sufferings.
If any endeavored to save themselves from these barbarities by flight, they were pursued into fields and woods
where they were shot like wild beasts.
On such scenes of desoltation and horror the Popish
clergy feasted their eyes, and made them simply a matter
of laughter and sport."*
All this was done less than two hundred years ago, in
refined and accomplished France, and simply for a difference of opinion in religious faith. In the civil wars on
account of religion, which happened in France in the
seventeenth century, above a million of men lost their
lives; four hundred villages, nine cities, two thousand
churches, and ten thousand dwellings, were burnt or destroyed. The inhumanity of the soldiers when set on by
the priests, filled with the ranklings of an unrelenting
religion, was utterly beyond description. Thousands of
men, women, and children died by starvation, by being
torn asunder, by butchery and by the flames. It is said
of Louis XIII., who carried on the war, that what gave
him greater pleasure than all things else, was the thought
of driving heretics out of his kingdom, and thereby
purging the Church of God of its corruptions.
In other countries the flames of persecution raged with
nearly the same fury. In the Netherlands alone, not
long previous to the time of which I speak, one hundred
thousand persons were hanged, beheaded, buried alive or
burned on account of their religious belief!
Even England, who has always acted with more calmness and humanity than any other nation, was not guilt-'Dr. Dick's Philosophy of Religion.




24            THE MARCH OF HUMANITY
less. During two or three years of the short reign of
Mary, in the sixteenth century, two hundred and seventy-seven persons were committed to the flames, besides
those who perished by fines, confiscations, and imprisonment. And " scarcely a century and a half has elapsed,
since the Presbyterians of Scotland were hunted across
moors and morasses, like partridges in the wilderness,
slaughtered by bands of ruffian dragoons, and forced to
seek their spiritual food in dens and mountains at the
peril of their lives."*
It was the inhumanity of persecution that drove the
pilgrim fathers from their homes in the old world, to
seek an asylum among the savage men and beasts of the
new. They were banished from their homes, and in
their turn, they banished others.
Two hundred years ago, Roger Williams, the founder of
the sect of Calvinist Baptists in this country, preached in
Plymouth, Boston and Salem. But his doctrine and ideas
of Church government were not pleasing to the Puritan
fathers, and he was banished to Rhode Island-he and his
wife and children, in the dead of winter, where he was dependent on the very savages for the means of subsistence!
Two hundred years ago, the magistrates of Massachusetts Colony cropped the ears, scourged the backs, and
bored the tongues of the Quakers with a hot iron. More
than this, they incarcerated them in jails and dungeons
-whipped them through the streets at the tail of a cart,
and banished them from the country on pain of death.
And when they returned, they actually seized them., and
put them to death by hanging.
Such is a sort of bird's eye view of the inhumanity and
intolerance which has been rife in the Christian world
within the last two hundred years.
*Dr. Dick's Philosophy of Religion.




DURING THE LAST TWO CENTURIES.        25
Has not an unmistakable change taken place in society in this time? Where is the Inquisition? Some say
it is still in use. If so, the progress of society cheats it
of its victims. The spirit of persecution may still be
burning in the hearts of some of the leading Papists, but
it is confined there by the growing intelligence, humanity, and love of liberty of the masses.
Where is the king or the potentate, in this age, that
dares to take the first step in the maintenance of any
system of faith by the inquisition, the stake, the rack, or
the scaffold? How would the public mind be struck
with horror, in England, Scotland, or the United States,
if men and women were beheaded or burned for their
religious faith! Suppose that to-day, in Boston, or Cincinnati, a Quaker should be arraigned, tried, and executed, " without benefit of clergy;"-executed, simply because
he repudiated wars, believed in the efficacy of kindness,
-the brotherhood of man, and thought fit to wear a drab
coat and broad-brimmed hat; —hanged for such an offense! What would the people think? What would
they say?  What would they do? Why, the whole nation-yea, the whole Christian world-would be shocked
in every nerve! There is, probably, no deed that could
be perpetrated by any party or sect, that would produce
a more fearful excitement, in any civilized society, than
to hang or burn a man for his religious belief! So great
and palpable is the change which has been wrought in
the popular mind, within the last two hundred years, in
favor of tolerance and humanity!
2. An unmistakable change in favor of humanity is
seen in the softening of the Penal Codes of nations.
We are told, by Judge Story, that less than one hundred years ago England punished one hundred and sixty
offenses with death. Dr. Dick says: "In our country it is
3




26          aTHIE MARCH OF HUMANITY
a melancholy truth, that among the variety of actions
which men are daily liable to commit, no less than on0
hundred and sixty have been declared, by act of Parliament, to be felonies without benefit of clergy, or in other
words, to be worthy of instant death."  A writer in the
London Morning IHerald, puts the number at rising two
hundred. France, Germany, Poland and Italy were still
more unjust and cruel in their punishments. Now, England makes but five offenses punishable with death; and
France, Germany and Poland have modified their codes
in like manner.
Sixty years ago, England, Sweden, Germany and Poland, not only put to death for certain offenses, but prolonged the torments of the offender by cruel tortures.
In Sweden, for instance, murder was punished first by
chopping off the hand, then beheading and quartering.
In Great Britain, "those guilty of high treason were
condemned to be hung on a gallows for some minutes;
then cut down while yet alive, the heart to be taken out,
and exposed to view, and the entrails burned."
The following account is given, by a traveler who was
in Berlin in 1819, of the execution of a man for murder,
which shows that the execution of criminals in Prussia
is frequently distinguished by a species of cruelty worthy
of the worst days of the inquisition. Amidst the parade
of executioners, officers of police, and other judicial authorities, the beating of drums, and the waving of flags
and colors, the criminal mounted the scaffold. No ministers of religion appeared to gild the horrors of eternity,
and to soothe the agonies of the criminal; and no repentant prayer closed his quivering lips.
Never," says the narrator, "shall I forget the one
bitter look of imploring agony that he threw around him,
as, immediately on stepping on the scaffold, his coat was




DURING THE LAST TWO CENTURIES.          27
rudely torn from his shoulders. He was then thrown
down, the cords fixed round his neck, which were drawn
until strangulation almost commenced. Another executioner then approached, bearing in his hands a heavy
wheel, bound with iron, with which he violently struck
the legs, arms, and chest, and lastly the head, of the criminal. I was, unfortunately, near enough to witness his
mangled and bleeding body still convulsed. It was then
carried down for interment, and, in less than a quarter of
an hour from the beginning of his torture, the corpse was
completely covered with earth.  Several large stones,
which were thrown upon him, hastened his last gasp: he
was mangled into eternity!"
Now, all such barbarities are expunged from the penal
code of nearly every civilized nation on earth. Only forty
years since, the crime of cutting a small tree, or of shooting a deer within the enclosure of an English lord, was
punishable with death. If a man stole more than forty
shillings from a dwelling in that country, the law clamored for his blood. He must be strangled. And, as incredible as the fact may appear to some in our time, this
inhuman law was not abolished till the year 1827-less
than thirty years ago; and then it was not fully abolished:
for the legislative body simply raised the capital indictment to five pounds, instead of four-or to sity shillings,
instead of forty. Since, England has wiped all such acts
from her statute books; and now in no case punishes
with death for theft.
Shop-lifting was also a crime punishable with death in
England but a few years since. And from  an extract
taken from a speech by the Hon. Sir William Meredeth
in 1777, on a bill creating a new capital felony, a glimpse
may be obtained of public sentiment on this subject at
that time-eighty years ago. This gentleman, in oppos



28           THE MARCH OF HUMANITY
ing the inhumanity of the laws, produced many touching
instances where the grossest injustice had been perpetrated in the punishment of offenders. Amongst others,
he mentioned the case of a young woman, of good family
and beautiful person, who had just been executed for
attempting to steal a small piece of cloth from a drygoods establishment.
" Her husband," said Mr. Meredeth, had been pressed
on board of a man-of-war ship, by the officers of government. The poor woman's goods had been sold to pay
some debt of her husband, and she, together with her two
little children, were turned into the streets, penniless
beggars.
"'T is a circumstance," said he, "not to be forgotten,
that she was very young, but little more than eighteen,
and remarkably handsome. She went to a linen draper's
— took some coarse linen from the counter, and slipped
it under her cloak. The shop-man saw her, and she laid
it down. FOR THIS SHE WAS EXECUTED. Her defense
was, that she had lived in credit and wanted nothing, till
a press-gang came, who were under the orders of the
government, and bore away her husband.   But since
then, she was deprived of a home, or even a bed; had
nothing to prevent the starvation of her children, or to
keep them from perishing with cold; and she might have
done something wrong, for she scarcely knew what she
did. The parish officers testified to the truth of this
declaration, but there had been a good deal of shop-lifting in that vicinity, notwithstanding the penalty was
death, and it became necessary to make an example of
some one. So this unfortunate woman was carried to
the gibbet, hung up by the neck, and choked like a cat,
for the special comfort and accommodation of the shopkeepers in Ludgate street, London.




DURING THE LAST TWO CENTURIES.         29
"When brought into court to receive her sentence,"
said Mr. Meredeth, "she behaved like one frantic. And
it was enough to break one's heart to see her set out for
the gallows, with her poor babe nursing at the breast."
It seems hardly credible that so heartless, inhuman and
unjust an act could have been perpetrated by the
authorities of England-enlightened, Christian England
-within the last century!
And yet the same code of criminal law was once in
vogue in the New-England colonies. Hanging for stealing forty shillings-for shop-lifting-for worshipping
any god but the true God-for blaspheming the name of
God-for stealing a man-or for smiting father or mother-was the law of Massachusetts and Connecticut, one
hundred and fifty years ago.
The following is copied from the penal code of the
Connecticut Colony, and was in vogue in 1690:
"If any man shall have or worship any other god
but the true God, he shall be put to death.
" If any man or woman be a witch, that is, hath or
consulteth with a familiar spirit, he or she shall be put
to death.
" If any man shall blaspheme the name of God, shall
curse the Father, Son, or Holy Ghost, he shall be put
to death.
" If any man stealeth a man, or mankind, he shall be
put to death.
"If any child or children above sixteen years, and of
sufficient understanding, shall curse or smite father or
mother, he shall be put to death.
"If any man have a stubborn and rebellious son of
sufficient years and understanding, viz: sixteen years of
age, who will not obey the voice of his father or the
voice of his mother, and when they have chastened him




30           THE BMARCH OP HUMANITY
will not hearken unto them; then may his father and his
another lay hold on him and bring him to the Magistrates
assembled at court, and testify unto them, and.such a son
shall be put to death."
These laws were but too effectually enforced. No less
than nineteen persons, as innocent of any crime as the
4'spirit-rappers" and "table-tippers" of our day, were
hung, and one pressed to death, in Salem, Mass., in
1692, for witchcraft. And the estimated number put to
death in England for the same offense, was thirty thousand; while in Germany not less than one hundred thousand suffered death by the scaffold, the flames, by being
drawn assunder, and by other methods, for the same crime.
In the colonies, even parents were instrumental in the
condemnation and execution of their own children:
An English lady of much repute who visited New
England not long previous to the war of'76, says in her
diary of 22d March, 1769, that a maid of nineteen years
of age was put upon her trial for life, in Connecticut, by
the complaint of her parents, both of whom were present
Bnd swore against her-saying that'she was stubborn
and had violated their commands."
The diary states that "at first the mother testified
strongly against her child; but when she had spoken a
few words, the daughter cried out in great agony of
grief,'Oh! I shall be destroyed in my youth by the
words of my own mother' On which the woman did so
soften her testimony, that the court being in doubt upon
the matter, had a consultation with the ministers present,
as to whether the accused girl had made herself justly
liable to the punishment prescribed for stubborn and
rebellious children in Deuteronomy, 21: 20."
When it was decided that this law applied only to a
rebellious so2, and that a daughter could not be put to




DURING THE LAST TWO CENTURIES.               31
death under its sanction; to which the court did assent,
and the girl, after being admonished, was set at liberty.
Thereupon she ran sobbing into the arms of her mother,
who did rejoice over her as one raised from the dead;
and moreover did mightily blame herself for putting her
child in so great peril, by complaining of disobedience."
Has not a change, then, been wrought in behalf of
humanity? Has not much of inhumanity been expunged
from  our statute books?   Is not human life regarded by
all legislators as a thing far more sacred? The humanity
of every Christian heart rises up against even legalized
killing. The offender may have wickedly violated the
law; his deeds of blood may have been many and appalling; but we ask, is it wise or Christian to strangle him?
-to imitate his own deeds of vengeance?
In Russia, Bombay, Belgium     and Tuscany, the punishment of death has been totally abolished. It is also
abolished in the States of Michigan and Wisconsin in
our own country; while in Maine, Vermont and Massachusetts, it is virtually abolished.* In eight of our other
States, but two offenses are punishable with death; while
in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee, their codes contain
but one crime for which death is the penalty.t        And
what is remarkable, crime is never increased by such exhibitions of humanity on the part of communities and
nations. Clemency always softens, while cruelty hardens, as I will demonstrate in the progress of these
* In each of these States the law requires that the offender, on
conviction, shall be imprisoned in the State Penitentiary for at least one
vear: after which the Governor of the State shall issue his warrant for
Ilis execution. But as no time is specified when the warrant shall be
issued, the executive, with a single exception, has failed to act in the
premises, and the consequence is, the offender is permitted to live.
t The penal code of Virginia has but one capital offense, when coirn
mitted by a white man, and that is duelling; but seventy-one, when committed by a slave. When regarded as applied to the slave, her code is
the most bloody now existing in the world.




32            THE MARCH OF HUMANITY
pages.  In the reign of Henry the VIII. of England,
the laws were never more severe; and it is a fact well
worthy the consideration of every man interested in jurisprudence or moral philosophy, that crime in Great Britain
was never so rife nor so terrible as during the reign of
Henry.   No less than seventy-two thousand executions
took place for robbery alone, amounting, on an average, to
more than six a day, Sundays included.
3. The progress of humanity is also seen in the more
kindly treatment of criminals and all other offenders,
when contrasted with the past.  The change in this direction within the last half-century, has been truly
wonderful.
One hundred years ago, men and women guilty of
minor offenses, were punished with pillory-galleyswhipping-stocks-mutilation, by cutting off the ears
and the nose, cutting out the tongue, putting out the
eyes, shaving off the hair, and branding-and with imprisonment.:
Fifty years ago, prisons were merely stone pens, and
dark, dismal dungeons, filled with filth and vermin. Into
these pens and dungeons were criminals thrust, chained
to their stone floors, and fed like our hogs, with worse
fare.  Now, men have learned, in all civilized communities, that such treatment was barbarous-that even the
convict is entitled to the humanity of his brother, and is
worth something. So his loathsome prison has, in a
measure, been converted into a workshop and school of
* In 1833 it was estimated that no less than SEVENTY-FIVE THOUSAND
were confined in jail in the United States fcr debt. A poor man of my
native town lay in prison all winter for a debt of six dollars only, while
his wife and large family of little children were suffering at home for the
provisions which his labor would have brought. An instance is reported
in one State, where a man was imprisoned for two cents only. Even Massachusetts did not wipe this cruel and foolish law from her statute books
till 1853.




DURING THE LAST TWO CENTURIES.         33
reform-a hospital for the body, the mind, the soul.
In nearly all our State prisons and penitentiaries, in
the Free States, there is the chaplain, the library, and in
some States the school of instruction; and efforts are
made not only to instruct the criminal in some useful
trade, that he may have the means of livelihood when he
returns to the world, but to instruct his heart and mind
in whatever will serve to guide and benefit him in after
life, and render him a virtuous member of society.
To me, there is something beautiful, Christian, divine,
in these displays of humanity. From the cleanly, wellregulated school of reform, which we find in many States
of our Union, called the House of Refuge, instituted for
the unfortunate youth of both sexes, through the house
of correction and the improved jail, to the cleanly and
well-regulated penitentiary, when contrasted with the
filth and brutality connected with the prisons of but half
a century ago, there is a growth in true benevolence and
Christian kindness manifested, that is full of hope and
exceedingly cheering to the benevolent Christian.
4. Again; the development of which I am speaking is
seen in the growing interest of nearly all classes, in the
improvement of the condition of the poor, the unfortunate, the sick, ignorant and suffering, of our earth. We
behold the blessed Jesus, at the pool of Bethesda, administering to the wants of the sick, lame, halt and blind;
so in our day, many of his followers have come to learn
that works of humanity and mercy are demanded of
them by the common interests of a common race. "Have
we not all one Father; hath not one God created us?"
and if so, are we not ALL BRETHREN? Feeling the force
of this beautiful principle, a broad philanthropy has
sprung up, which manifests itself in noble charities and
perpetual appeals in behalf of humanity.. Behold our




34          8THE MARCH Of HUMANITY
Hospitals-our Asylums for the Blind, Deaf and Dumb,
and for the Insane -our Homes for the Widow, the Orphan, the friendless and outcasts-our societies to assist
the poor-our Peace associations-our Temperance societies-our Prison associations, Howard associations, and
Ragged Schools! Behold what is being done for the most
wretched and filthy in Field Lane, London, and at the
Five Points, New-York! and what was done, but a few
years ago, in sending ships and frigates, loaded with
clothing, and barrels of flour and meal and hams, to the
starving people of Greece and Ireland.
Our fathers erected the gallows, the whipping-post, the
stocks and the pillory, by the church-side; but where
did they ever organize the benevolent societies, and erect
the benevolent institutions which I have enumerated?
These belong alone to the present age, and mark the age
as one of philanthropy and Christian benevolence, beyond every thing the world has ever witnessed. And the
more the human soul is brought to contemplate the condition of the criminal and perishing classes, and what
society can accomplish with no injury to itself, for suffering humanity-the more it beholds what there is yet to
be done-the more tender is it in its sympathies, and
disposed to combine the elements of its forces to contribute to their relief. And thus is the present an age full
of joyful hopes-an age softened and mellowed by charity-an age of advancement, not only in science, art,
political economy and material development, but of a universal humanity; in a word, it is an age, when contrasted
with the past, which is full of glory.
Macaulay, the eloquent English historian, in speaking
of the growth of humanity in England, says: " There is
scarcely a page of the history, or the lighter literature
of the seventeeth century, which does not contain some




DURING THE LAST TWO CENTURIES.            35
proof that our ancestors were less humane than their posterity.  The discipline of work-shops, of schools, of private families, though not more efficient than at present,
was infinitely harsher.  Masters, well born and bred, were
in the habit of beating their servants.  Pedagogues knew
of no way of imparting knowledge but by beating their
pupils. Husbands of decent station were not ashamed
to beat their wives.  The implacability of hostile factions
was such as we can scarcely conceive.
"Whigs were disposed to murmur because Stafford was
suffered to die without having his bowels burned before
his face. Tories reviled and insulted Russell, as his coach
passed from the Tower to the scaffold where he was put
to death.  As little mercy was shown by the populace to
the sufferers of humble rank. If an offender was put
into the pillory, it was well if he escaped with his life from
brick-bats and paving-stones. If he was tied on to the
cart's tail, the crowd pressed around him, imploring the
hangman to give it to the fellow well and make him howl.
"A man pressed to death for stealing a trifle, or a woman burned for coining, excited less sympathy than is
now felt for a galled horse, or an over-driven ox.*  The
prisons were hells on earth-seminaries of every crime
and of every disease. The lean and yellow culprits, when
they were brought into court from their cells, brought an
atmosphere of stench and pestilence with them, which
sometimes signally avenged them on the bench, bar and
jury. But on all this misery society looked with indifference. Nowhere could be found that sensitive and
restless compassion which has, in our time, extended a
powerful protection to the factory-child-to the HIindoo
*Two men were sentenced to one month's imprisonment at hard labor
in London, during the year 1853, for the crime of causing unnecessary
pain to a cat while killing it.




36           THE MARCH OF HUMANITY.
widow-to the negro-slave;-a compassion which winces
at every lash laid on the back of drunken soldiers;which will not suffer the thief in the hulks to be ill-fed
or over-worked, and which has repeatedly endeavored to
save the life of the murderer. It is true, that compassion
ought, like other feelings, to be under the government
of reason, and has for the want of such government, produced some ridiculous and some deplorable effects. But
the more we study the annals of the past, the more shall
we rejoice that we live in a merciful age-in an age in
which cruelty is abhorred, and in which pain, even when
deserved, is inflicted reluctantly, and from a sense of duty.
Every class, doubtless, has gained largely by this great
moral change; but the class which has gained most is
THE POOREST, THE MOST DEPENDENT AND THE MOST
DEFENCELESS."
And it may be added, these are the very classes that
most need the gain. They are the very classes for whom
the blessed Jesus specially labored; and never since he
returned to his Father, and our Father, has there been a
time when they so occupied the thoughts of the humane,
and when all the elements and forces of the world's life
so contributed to their improvement and happiness as the
present.




CHAPTER III.
APPEAL'TO CHRISTIANS.
Humanity is not yet "full grown" —Dreadful evils still exist-The Conservative has
no desire to go back, and will not advance-Opinions of Generations to come of our
Barbarities-The Duty of the Christian to the Living-Christians must labor in the
Cause of Humanity or the Work must stop.-The Growth of Humanity confined to
Christian Countries-Dreadful Barbarities of the Chinese-Where Christianity prevails
in its purest and most living form, there is the largest Benevolence.
Thus have we demonstrated the sure progress of humanity. But let not the reader infer from kwhat we have
said, that humanity is yet "full grown." There are still
dreadful evils, moral and social, in our world, and a vast
amount of human suffering-suffering arising from poverty, crime, ignorance and cruelty, which can and must
be ameliorated. We appeal to the reader for his co operation-his sympathy, advice and assistance. You look
back upon the past as exhibited in these pages, and you
say, " Really the world has progressed in its humanities.
I have no desire to go back and live under the customs
and laws which held rule two centuries ago. Our fathers
must have suffered extreme anxiety and great peril constantly. I rejoice that reforms so important to the interest and happiness of man, have been effected." All
this is very well.     But do    you   think  it probable
that all needed good has been effected?   Is there nothing
more that Christianity and humanity demand at our
hands?    Have we arrived at the ne plus ultra of reform?
If not, should we not go forward? You do not desire to
go back, but will you advance?   Everybody is opposed to
going back.   Thousands of sticklers for the death pen(37)




38            APPEAL TO CHRISTIANS.
alty for murder, condemn the rigid laws of our fathers,
and thank God that they did not live in the seventeenth.
century. It is difficult to get the conservative to move
willingly. He holds back, but like a horse in a ferryboat, no matter how stubbornly he pulls back, the boat
moves, and he goes with it in spite of himself, and when
once over, he has no disposition to return. Where is
the man who has been carried forward on the broad tide
of moral and spiritual reform, for the last half century,
though never so much against his will, that desires to
return to the delusion, superstition and inhumanity from
which he has merged?   Why he can only look back and
wonder that his fathers could have remained so long in
darkness.
Thus it will be with the generations to come. They
will refer to the unchristian barbarities of our day, and
say of us, " How astonishing that our fathers could have
conceived it either expedient or necessary to deliberately
kill men and women because they killed!"  Our fathers
were instrumental in the execution of their own children for disobedience;-they strangled men and wo.
men for theft, witchcraft and profanity, and we are astonished." Will not our children be equally astonished at
our perverseness in upholding the gibbet as a Christian
institution, and our almost total neglect of the millions
of young and old, upon whom the doom of poverty has
fixed its seal?  Examine, then, the several subjects presented in the future pages of this work carefully. You
do not believe that the sanguinary laws of our fathers
were either just, necessary, or Christian; and by investigation, you may come to have just as little faith in the
necessity, justice or Christianity of the gallows for any
crime.
If you are a professed Christian, then I would exhort




APPEAL TO CHRISTIANS.             39
yOU especially to consider what we have to offer before you
"turn from us and pass away."  Remember, that every
man, no matter how poor, or sinful, or ignorant, or
wretched, is your brother; bound up with you in the same
bundle of temporal and eternal interests. Christ died for
him as well as for you, and when on earth, he sought after
just such to heal and bless them. You believe it to be
your duty to labor for their future salvation, that their
immortal souls may be secure from suffering beyond the
grave. But is it not equally your duty to labor for the
amelioration of their condition in life, as Christ labored
when on earth. "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit
the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of
the world; for I was an hungered and ye gave me meat; I
was thirsty and ye gave me drink; I was a stranger and
ye took me in; naked and ye clothed me; I was sick and ye
visited me; I was in prison and ye came unto me....
Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto ONE
OF THE LEAST OF THESE my brethren, ye have done it
unto mne.'"*
Now, is it possible for you to enter the spiritual kingdom of the Lord Jesus-a kingdom of " righteousness,
peace and joy "and experience its promised blessings, so
long as you neglect to " remember in mercy" the weak
and perishing ones, whose bodies as well as souls Christ
himself has made it your duty to look after and bless?
Another consideration you must not fail to notice, viz:
that the world must be renovated, if at all, through the influence of the Christian religion. If Christians fail to
labor in the cause of humanity, therefore, the work must
stop. I have demonstrated the growth of humanity in
the world; but this advancement is confined mainly to
Christian countries, as is its civilization, and the progress
*Matthew 25: 34-40.




40             APPEAL TO CHRISTIANS.
of science, art, and philosophy, and all the activities of
the world's life.
I said in a previous chapter, that I desired to encourage the Christian in the labors of humanity, by showing
that Christianity is the main-spring in all moral, social
and intellectual progress, and advancement in humanity.
Let him take a map of the world, and examine for
himself. The nations of the earth, when considered in
a religious point, are arranged into two great classes, viz:
the Pagan and Christian; and these two into other two,
viz: the frst into Pagan and Mohammedan, and the second
into Catholic and Protestant. Now, in what countries
do we find the progress and growth which I have described in these pages?  Where the most intense love of
learning? Where the schools and colleges? Where the
profound knowledge of science? Where the books, newspapers, post routes, railroads, and other marks of a high
form of civilization? And above all, where the growth
in humanity, which alone is the truest seal of the highest
human progress?
Take a map and trace. The activities and developments of which I have spoken are not in Africa. There,
darkness and cruelty still reign predominant. We visit
Asia-India, China, and what is the result?      Very
nearly the same as that of Africa. The people of the
"Celestial Empire" boast of their antiquity. The Chinese, if we believe the affirmations of their philosophers,
were the first and the purest people formed by the gods.
They have existed from all eternity, and from all eternity
the same. They never change. Change, development,
with them is weakness.*  And the consequence is, the
* It is said of a Chinaman, that he chanced to learn to roast a pig, three
hundred years ago, by the burning of a house; and to this day, when one
of his descendants wishes to roast a pig, he burns a house, not having been
able to discover any other method.




APPEAL TO CHRISTIANS.            41
grossest superstition and ignorance, and the most dreadful barbarities still prevail among them. During the
past year (1855) more than 150,000 " rebels" have
been executed in the most dreadful manner, in China.
An American, present during one day of slaughter in
Canton, writes as follows concerning the dreadful scenes
that passed before his eyes:
" As we approached the execution ground many were
met with their hands to their nostrils, or with their tails
tied round their faces, for the purpose of avoiding the
horrid stench, which could literally be "felt" at a considerable distance. The groun'd was covered with partially dried gore, the result of the past day's work. There
are no drains to take the blood away, nor is any substance
used to slake it. One man was found digging holes for
two crosses, on which, he said, four were to be tied and
cut in pieces.
" The execution had been fixed for noon. At half-past
eleven, half a dozen men arrived with the knives, preceded
by the bearers of rough deal-wood boxes, decorated with
bloody sides. These were the coffins. Unconcern was the
general appearance of the soldiers and spectators, of whom,
altogether, there may have been one hundred and fifty.
At a quarter of twelve, the first batch of ten prisoners arrived, speedily followed by the rest in similar quantities.
" Each prisoner (having his hands tied behind his
back, and labeled on the tail,) appeared to have been
thrust down in a wicker basket, over which his chained
legs dangled loosely, the body riding uncomfortably, and
marked with a long paper tally, pasted on a slip of bamboo thrust between the prisoner's jacket and his back.
These "man-baskets," slung with small cords, were carried on bamboos on the shoulders of two men. As the
prisoners arrived, each was made to kneel with his face
4




42             APPEAL TO CHRISTIANS.
to the south. In a space of about 20 feet by 12 we
counted as many as seventy, ranged in half a dozen rows.
At five minutes to twelve a white-button mandarin arrived, and the two to be first cut in pieces were tied to
the crosses. While looking at this frightening process
the execution commenced, and twenty or thirty must
have been headless before we were aware of it. The only sound to be heard was a horrid cheep-cheep-cheep,
as the knives fell. One blow was sufficient for eachthe head tumbling between the legs of the victim before
it. As the sword falls, the blood-gushing trunk springs
forward, falls on the breast, and is still for ever.
" In four minutes, the decapitation was complete; and
then on the other victims commenced the barbarity,
which, to think of only, is sufficiently barbaric. With a
short sharp knife a slice was cut out from under each
arm. A low, suppressed, fearful groan from each followed the operation of the weapon. Dexterous as butchers, a slice was taken successively by the operators from
the calves, the thighs, and then from each breast. We
may suppose, we hope, that by this time the sufferers
were insensible to pain; but they were not dead. The
knife was then stuck into the abdomen, which was ripped
up to the breast-bone, and the blade twisted round and
round as the heart was separated from its holding. Up
to this moment, having once set eyes on the victim under torture, they had become fixed as by fascination;
but they could be riveted there no longer. A whirling
sensation ran through the brain, and it was with difficulty we could keep ourselves from falling. But this
was not all; the lashings were then cut, and the head,
being tied by the tail to a limb of the cross, was severed
from the body, which was then dismembered of hands
and arms, feet and legs, separately. After this the man



APPEAL TO CHRISTIANS.            43
darins left the ground, to return, however, with a man
and woman; the latter, it was said, the wife of one of the
rebel chiefs the man a leader of some rank. The woman was cut up in the way we have described; for the man,
a more horrible punishment was decreed. He was flayed
alive. We did not see this, but it was witnessed by the
Sergeant of Marines of the United States, J. P. Kennedy-the cry at the first insertion of the knife across the
forehead, and the pulling of the flesh over the eyes, being
most horrible."
How shocking this description! And the more shocking to the senses of the well-informed Christian, from the
fact that he feels the enormity, the astounding injustice
and folly of such barbarities!  We look in vain, then,
in the Pagan world for the developments which we have
described.
We come next to Turkey, where Mohammed and the
Koran have had their day and their influence, and what
is the result? Do we discover a love of improvement
and learning-a progression in the arts, science, and
knowledge, among the Turks? or do they grow in the
divine principles of benevolence and humanity? Are
they influencing the world of mankind, on these subjects,
by their essays, and books-and by missionary effort?
Not at all. The Turk loves his belly and his ease, and
hates all beyond. The whole country is buried in a dark
cloud of ignorance and superstition. There is not a postroute within its borders, and the people are too indolent
to establish any. And many of their laws and customs
are such as marked the sterner cruelties of the darker
ages. No, in no Pagan, in no Mohammedan country, do
we discover the developments which we have described.
We have only the Christian nations left. And here
they exist. But they exist no where else on the face of the




44             APPEAL TO CHRISTIANS.
globe. Does not this significant fact teach us a lesson
with reference to the influence of Christianity in effecting
this glorious result?  Many men rail at the Christian
religion. Here is matter for the contemplation of such.
There is one other significant fact connected with this
subject, which I feel it my duty to mention, viz: that
the growth in humanity, and the activities of which I
have spoken, are confined mainly to Protestant countries.
Take the map, and examine again. Visit South and
Central America, Mexico and Cuba;-pass over into
Spain, Portugal, Italy. In all of these countries Catholicism is the predominant religion; but in none of them
do we find an active moral or intellectual development.
Here are ignorance, superstition, filth, immorality, crime,
cruelty and tyranny; but few schools, newspapers, books,
Bibles or colleges. It is for the simple reason, that unmixed Romanism forbids growth. It anathematizes progression, starving and stinting the soul. In the main, it
is not Christian. The Inquisition is no Christian institution. To decapitate men, women, and children;-to
burn them over a slow fire of green wood;-to draw
them asunder, joint by joint, or incarcerate them in
gloomy dungeons, is not Christ-like. Still, notwithstanding all these corruptions of Christianity, we find
even Catholic countries in advance of the Pagan or Mohammedan.
But it is where the people have had the Bible in their
own hands, and studied for themselves the commands of
God and the inculcations of a Christian philosophy, that
the growth of humanity is untrammeled and has manifested itself in a universal diffusion of knowledge, and a
broad and generous desire for the improvement and happiness of the race. In Great Britain and the United
States, the inspired word has been circulated without




APPEAL TO CHRISTIANS.              45
"let or hindrance."   Here, Christianity, in a purer
and more divine, loving and benevolent form, exists.
And where it does so exist, no matter in what community, there you behold the highest form of civilization on
earth-the most profound love of learning-the most
humane laws-the largest benevolence, the purest morality, the least crime, and the greatest amount of happiness.
We are certain of the truth of what we say. Reader, we
ask again, are you a professed Christian?  If so, we repeat, Consider well the claims of what we say in the
future pages of this book, before you decide against
them; for only in Christianity, and the efforts of its supporters, is there hope of the world's renovation.




CHAPTER IV.
ABOLISHMENT OF THE GALLOWS.
The Gallows a Relic of Barbarism-It is Unnecessary and Unchristian-Should be
Abolished-It has been regarded the Hand.maid of the Church-But so was the Pillory, the Stocks, and the IWhipping-post-The Charge of " Morbid Sympathy''-It will
not apply to the Great and Good who have labored for Reform-The Boy hung in Alexandria, La.-Touching Incidents,
If the reader has perused the preceding pages, he is
prepared for what we have to say on the abolishment of
the Death Penalty. The gallows we honestly believe to
be a relic of barbarism-is not a Christian institution-is
the cause of more crime than it cures-is unnecessary-is
condemned by the spirit of the Christian religion, and
should, therefore, be condemned by every good citizen,
and especially by every professed Christian; and the law
that sustains it should be wiped from the statute book
of every civilized state and nation under heaven.
"Abolish the gallows!" exclaim thousands of excellent men and women, as they start and raise their hands
in astonishment; "what would become of society without
the gallows!"  "Abolish the gallows!" echoes the minister of God; "the gallows, an instrument sustained by
God's own law, and which has been the hand-maid of
the Church for long centuries, in the protection of life
and property, and so efficacious in preventing the
depredations of the robber and assassin! Oh! this will
never do-never! NEVER I      There would be no safety
for honest people!"
(46)




ABOLISHMENT OF THE GALLOWS.          47
So said our fathers and mothers when the whippingpost, the stocks and the gallows graced every churchyard
in the country, and were thought to be as necessary to
good order and good government as the pulpit or the
Bible. I can assure you, my readers, that the reforms
in human punishments, which I have described in the
preceding pages, were not effected without an effort.
Every inch of ground has been stoutly contested by those
who venerate the customs of the fathers. When it was
proposed by the humane to abolish the whipping-post,
the stocks, and the pillory, many were alarmed at the
bare thought of such a change, and said: " These punishments are of divine origin,-how can society exist without them?"  And yet these old relics of barbarism have
passed away forever, and society is still in existence.
No moral earthquake has shaken the foundations of community, and the institutions of Christianity are not
totally demolished.
Indeed, as we have seen, all rejoice that a better day
has dawned, and would not return to the wilderness from
which our fathers escaped, for any consideration. Now
what we desire is, that our Christian communities should
have faith in the divine teachings of their religion, and
like the children of Israel, joiuney still on toward the
promised land. Most certainly Christianity predicts the
time the gallows shall cease to exist; when every nation,
tribe and language, shall unite in one holy and harmonious society, and labor to "save, and not to destroy men's
lives;" when "violence shall no more be heard in the land;"
when "the knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth;"
when "the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the
young lion and the fatling together, and a little child
shall lead them."  Then L"judgment shall dwell in the




48         ABOLISHMENT OF THE GALLOWS.
wilderness, and righteousness in the fruitful field, and
the work of righteousness shall be peace, and the effect
of righteousness quietness and assurance forever; and all
people shall dwell in peaceable habitations, and in sure
dwellings, and in quiet resting-places."
When the fulfilment of this blessed prediction shall be
realized, as it surely will be in the progress of the Christian religion, we think it altogether probable that the
gallows will be known only upon the pages of history,
and as an instrument of the darker ages.
One consideration more, before we enter on the main
argument. Great exertions are made by those who sustain the gallows, and are in favor of a rigid penal code,
to impress the public mind with the idea that those who
advocate a reform have no regard for the public welfare
-no love for good order and good government-are full
of a morbid sympathy for the criminal-but entertaining
no regard for those whom his lawless passions have destroyed-that we are mere " humanity mongers;"-and
even say that all we desire is, that all law should be abolished, so that robbers and assassins and murderers may
be turned out into the world, to wander up and down the
earth, " like a roaring lion, seeking whom they may
devour."
Now all this is unfair-it is ungenerous-it is positivelyfalse! Look at the long list of eminent Christian
men, of modern times, who were so earnestly engaged in
the reform of which I am speaking, and answer, could
they have acted from the motive thus ascribed to them?
Were LAFAYETTE, and Dr. JOHNSON, and Judge BLACKSTONE, and MONTESQUIEU, and Sir THOMAS MOORE, and
LIVINGSTON, and HOWARD, and FRANKLIN, and Lord
BROUGHAM, and Fox, and PITT, and RUSH, and WILBERFORCE, and CHANNING. and RANTOUL, and UPHAM-were




ABOLISHMENT OF THE GALLOWS.          49
these great and good men regardless of good order and
good government?  Were they laboring only to save the
miserable criminal from merited punishment?  Had they
no sympathy for society as well as for the offender?
Were they disposed to abolish all law, and permit the
most desperate villains to run at large? Why, you might
as well charge CHRIST HIMSELF with cherishing a "m or-,id sympathy," for he was their guide. Then consider the
character of the Quakers. They, as a sect, have always
opposed the gallows. Are they not a pure, peaceable, order-loving and excellent people? Are they disregardful
of the public good?
Why, we must have laws-and penal laws-so long as
there are wicked men to be punished. But it does not,
therefore, follow, that we must punish any man, or woman,
or child, by KILLING. Have we not strong prisons and bars
and bolts enough, and places for solitary confinement, if
necessary? Can not the citizens of the great State of
Ohio, or any other, guard themselves with all their jails
and State prisons and penitentiaries, from the depredations of the few persons who may be disposed to murder?
Must we take them from our prisons where they are perfectly secure, and choke the life out of them as a Christian
duty, and for fear they may again injure us? A few
months since, (Sept., 1855,) the people of Alexandria,
La., were engaged in the work of strangling a little boy
on the gallows, only ten years old. A secular paper,* in
giving an account of the affair, said: " On the day before he was called to face death, some gentlemen visited
him and propounded questions to him; but his answers
were and could be no other than childish. He was, I believe, only ten years old. The gentlemen told him the
sheriff was to hang him the next morning, and asked him
*New Orleans Delta.
5




50        ABOLISHMENT OF THE GALLOWS.
what he thought of it, whether he had made his peace
with God, and why he did not pray? His answer was,' I
have been hung many a time.' He was, at the time, amusing himself with some marbles he had in his cell. He was
playing all the time in jail, never once thinking that
death was soon to claim him as its victim. To show how
a child's mind ranges when about to die, I will mention
that, when upon the scaffold, he begged to be permitted
to pray, which was granted, and then he commenced to
cry! 0, what a horrible sight it was i"
Now, was that act necessary? Was it Christian? Was
it humane?  Was it not rather barbarous and cowardly?
In our view, Christian missionaries need not go to the
Sandwich Islands to find heathen customs and barbarities. Pagans would be ashamed of the above deed I I
would abolish the gallows, then, not from a morbid sympathy for the criminal-not because we would screen
him from punishment-nor because we disregard the
security and welfare of society-but for other important
reasons, which to us are good and sufficient;-some of
which we will now present.




CHAPTER V.
FIRST REASON FOR ABOLISHMENT.
The Gallows an institution of Vengeance-Lynch Law-" String him up," "Stretch
his neck,"' Burn him," not Christian exclamations-Execution of Colt in New-York
-Declarations of Vengeance of Christian Ladies in Cincinnati-All this foreign from
the spirit of the Christian Religion, and condemned by it.
The first reason I would offer for the abolishment of
the Death Penalty is, It is founded in a spirit of retaliation.  It is a work of vengeance!
We profess to be a Christian people.  Retaliation and
vengeance are inconsistent with Christianity. Lynch
law sometimes prevails in some portions of our country.
A man commits a gross outrage, which exasperates the
public mind. Vengeance! vengeance! is now the cry.
The culprit is seized, and either hung up and strangled,
or tied to a stake and burned. Nothing but revenge will
satisfy the enraged multitude.
Now, in this act, you perceive the spirit which first
prompted the taking of human life for crime, and which
does much towards sustaining the gallows at the present
time.  How many do we find in every community who
advocate the existence of the Death Penalty on this very
ground? " The miserable offender of the law," say they,
"has outraged society-he isn't fit to live-he has no
claims on society for life-his brother's blood should be
avenged!   String him up, we say-string him up!"
(51)




52        FIRST REASON FOR ABOLISHMENT.
Bills for the abolishment of the Death Penalty have
been rejected in the Legislatures of New-York, Pennsylvania and Ohio, at different times, mainly from the
influence of the argument drawn from what was called
the justice of capital punishment. It was argued that
"men who would murder ought to be killed;"-they
"deserved this punishment;"-"hanging was just good
enough for them;" while the speakers actually ridiculed
the "mock sympathy" that would institute a milder
punishment for a man guilty of death. When a magistrate of eminence, in conversation with Mr. Livingston
the philanthropist, on this subject, was driven from
every other argument, he said very frankly, " I must
confess that there is some little feeling of revenge at the
bottom of my opinion on the subject."  "If all other
reasoners," adds Mr. Livingston, "were equally candid,
there would be less difficulty in establishing true doctrines."  "Passion first made revengeful laws, and revenge once incorporated with the system of justice, reproduced its own image, after passion had expired."
When Colt was expected to be executed in New-York,
some years since, and the people had assembled in thousands to witness the act, and it was found that a portion of the prison was on fire-a writer, describing the
scene, said:
"The hearts of men were filled with murder; they
gloated over the thoughts of vengeance, and were rabid
to witness a fellow-creature's agony. They complained
loudly that he was not to be hung high enough for the
crowd to see him.'What a pity!' exclaimed a woman
who stood near me, gazing at the burning tower;'they
will have to give him two hours more to live' "
And when a man,* who now lies in jail in this city,
* Arrison, the Torpedo Murderer.




FIRST REASON FOR ABOLISHMENT.         53
charged with a diabolical murder, was taken and brought
here, both men and women, even ladies-Christian ladies,
exclaimed, " Hang him!"  "String him up! -" He
deserves to have his neck stretched!" One lady-a most
devout member of a most devout Church-went so far as
to declare, in her wrath, that "he should be hung by his
toes, head downward, that he might die by inches!"
the common method being too merciful.
Now, this is the spirit which prompts the work of
death, but it is not the spirit of Christ. It is the spirit
which nailed him to the cross, but not the spirit which
dictated that more than mortal petition, " Father, forgive
them, they know not what they do."
I behold the Savior, as he went from place to place
blessing the poor-healing the sick-raising up the
bowed down-imparting hope to the sinner, and weeping over the frailties and sufferings of humanity; but no
where do I see him giving countenance to an act of vengeance.
On one occasion, when the Samaritans refused to receive
him into their city, we read that his disciples said,
" Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down
from heaven and consume them, even as Elias did?"
How were they exasperated! But what said Jesus, that
calm, and mild, and blessed being?  " He turned and rebuked them; and said, Ye know not what manner of
spirit ye are of. For the Son of Man is not come to
DESTROY MEN'S LIVES, BUT TO SAVE THEM."
"As if he had said," remarks Dr. Adam Clarke, the
Methodist commentator, in his paraphrase on this text,
"Ye do not consider that the present is a dispensation
of mercy and love; and that the design of God is not to
destroy sinners, but to give them space to repent, that he
may save them unto life eternal. And ye, my disciples,
do not consider that the zeal which you feel springs from




54        FIRST REASON FOR ABOLISHMENT.
an evil principle within you. Let not the followers of
that Christ who died for his enemies, think of avenging
themselves on the sinner."
Now, these are reasonable and Christian words. The
closing declaration is full of meaning. " Let not the
followers of that Christ who died for his enemies, think of
avenging themselves on the sinner." Did Christ ever avenge
himself on the sinner? Did he ever hang, or burn, or
kill?
" Artists once loved to paint the Savior in the lowly
toil of lowly men; his garments covered with the dust
of common life; his soul sullied by no pollution. But
paint him to your fancy as an executioner-legally killing
a man; the halter in his hands, leading Judas to the
scaffold for high treason! You see the relation which
such an act bears to Christianity." You perceive that
in Christ it would not be Christian. And if not Christian in him, how can it be in you and I, who hold up the
hands of the sheriff when he destroys the life of a fellowcreature?
No, my reader, the true Christian can never avenge
himself on the sinner. And yet, how general, how universal, has been the work of vengeance by the Church.
Look at the slaughter of the inquisition;-the millions
slain by order of the Romish Church! Our law for killing is said to be humane; for while it demands the life
of the offender, it requires that he be executed in the
quickest possible manner, and in the way that shall produce the least pain. But it was not thus with our fathers; not thus with the old Church when it was actuated
only by revenge. As we have seen, our fathers not only
killed, but they tortured, in a manner the most diabolical;
by burning-by the rack-by pulling out toe and finger
nails, unjointing the limbs-flaying alive, &c., &c.




FIRST REASON FOR ABOLISHMENT.         55
Christian writers have detailed a long list of modes of
killing, as perpetrated by the Church, and which were
resorted to only to wreak vengeance on the poor victim,
by producing the greatest possible suffering. Amongst
these, may be mentioned the following: " Crucifixionburning-roasting-hanging by the leg or rib-starving
-sawing asunder —exposing to wild-beasts-rending
asunder by horses drawn opposite ways-burying alive
-blowing from the mouth of a cannon-compulsory deprivation of sleep-rolling in a barrel stuck with nailspressing slowly to death by a weight laid on the breastcasting headlong from a rock-tearing out the bowels,
or the heart-pulling to pieces with red-hot pincersstretching on the rack-breaking on the wheel-squeezing the marrow from the bones by screws or wedges,"
&c., &c.
Now, is all that Christian? Is it not rather diabolical?
And when men have been put to death from this revengeful, this hellish spirit, have they not been mturdered?
What is murder? It is to kill with malice prepense or
aforethought. It matters not whether one man or ten
thousand commit the deed; if we destroy human life with
premeditated vengeance, we?nurder. Every man, therefore, who says, " String him up "-  Crucify him "" Stretch his neck "-" He deserves to be killed," etc.,
etc., has the spirit of murder in his soul, which is unchristian, and should never be cherished. I again say,
The gallows is sustained by this spirit, and should
therefore be abolished, for we profess to be Christians.




CHAPTER VI.
SECOND REASON FOR ABOLISHMENT.
EACH CITIZEN'S RESPONSIBILITY.
Each Citizen's responsibility for the acts of the Gallows-Ineonsistency of Christians-"' Thou shalt not kill' — Killing by Proxy-Dreadful Case of Young BoyingtonSo long as the Death Penalty remains, canI shake off my Individual Responsibility -I
wish to have no part nor lot in the shedding of Human Blood-The Authority of the
State to kill-Has it such Authority?-Argument of Rantoul.
Another reason why I labor for the abolishment of the
gallows, is, that so long as men are executed in the State
of which I am   a citizen, I feel that as a citizen, I with
others, am responsible for the act; a sort of )(articeps crimi.
nis —  accessory before the fact."
"' THOU SHALT NOT KILL,       is one of the TEN     great
commandments of the Decalogue.          When    I listen, it
comes as the voice of God, the Great Fountain of all
Life, to my soul.' Thou shalt not kill." These words
I learned to repeat by heart, when a little child at Sabbath School.    "To destroy human life," said my pious
teacher, "is the most dreadfully wicked act that was ever
committed!" So said my minister; and so said all his
Church.
And yet, my Sabbath School teacher, my minister, and
all his Church, would themselves kill;-not as individuals,
but as citizens of the State;-and not with their own
hands, but through the instrumentality of the hangman.
I look around in society, and I find that very much
the same instruction is given in all our Sabbath Schools
(56)




SECOND REASON FOR ABOLISHMENT.          57
and Churches, concerning the sixth commandment, as
when I was a child, whilst the same disposition is manifested, on the part of the people, to violate its requirements. Our Christian fathers and mothers, lawyers,
doctors and divines, still say it is very wicked to kill;
and yet, each of our thirty-one States, with the few exceptions I have stated in the preceding pages, have enacted laws which absolutely require the death of men,
women and children, when guilty of certain offenses.
Yea, even if innocent, the same demand is made, provided
the tribunal before which they are tried, believes them to
be guilty, and they have no means of establishing their
innocence.
Now, for one, I desire not to participate in any such
responsibility. A few years since, suspicion was fastened
upon a respectable young man, by the name of Boyington, in Louisiana, of having murdered a fellow-lodger at
a tavern. He was tried, found guilty, and condemned to
death. His letters to his parents from his prison were
most touching-and always to the purpose that he knew
nothing of the crime for which he. was condemned.
When placed on the gallows, he made an able and
most moving vindication of himself; again protesting, in
the name of God, that innocence which his fellow-men
refused to believe. He said he could not die for such a
crime, when he was no more guilty than any man in the
vast crowd before him. But when informed that he
mnqt suffer-that there was no help for hinm-he broke
wildly loose from those by whom he was surrounded on
the scaffold, and rushed in among the multitude, in the
most piteous manner crying, in the name of God, for
help, and repeating the assurance, with the most dreadful shrieks, that he was innocent. He was soon again secured by the sheriff, dragged back to the scaffold, and in




58       SECOND REASON FOR ABOLISHMENT.
the midst of the most awful cries, and heart-rending
calls for mercy, launched into eternity.
What followed?-A few months after this terrible
scene, the tavern-keeper, on his death-bed, confessed his
own guilt, and proved the innocence of young Boyington!
But now it was too late. The die had been cast. The
innocent victim was slain. His life could not be restored. His poor, heart-broken mother mourned over
the event a few weeks, and was laid in the grave beside
her unfortunate son.
Now permit me to inquire of my reader: " Who killed
that young man?"   "Who killed him?" you respond:
"Why the sheriff, the hangman."  No, my friend, you
mistake. The hangman acted simply as an instrument
of the government. "Ah, yes," say you, " I see how it
is, the government killed him. The government made the
law declaring that he should be killed; described how
he should be killed, and who should be used as an instrument in the work of death. Then the government
strangled the man, simply using the hands of the sheriff
to adjust the knot-place the rope-draw down the cap,
and -let him swing."    Just so. But then there is
another question behind all this, in which you and I
should have been specially interested if we had been citizens of Louisiana at that time, viz: Who, or what, constitutes the government of a State?  " Who, or what, constitutes the government," you ask. Yes. Suppose you
desire to find the government of the State of which you
are a citizen, where would you seek for it? " Why," say
you, "I should seek it at the capitol of the State, if the
Legislature was in session."  But would you find it
there? Suppose you should enter the Senate-chamber
of your State, seat yourself by the side of some leading
politician, and tell him your errand. What reply do you




SECOND REASON FOR ABOLISHMENT.        59
think hewould make, if an honest and intelligent man?
I will tell you. " My dear sir, you have come to the
wrong place to find the government of our State. We
are merely' the servants of the people.' We never do
anything without'feeling the public pulse.' The wishes
of -our constituents, when fully known, are'law and
gospel' with us. You perceive, therefore, that it is not
we who govern the State, but the State that governs us!"
If you should enter the private room of your governor,
and counsel him, the same answer would be returned, if
the truth were uttered. "Go home to the people!" he
would exclaim, "if you wish to find the government of our
State. They place us in these offices-direct us what to
do, and we are particularly careful to see that their will
is respected, when once fully known, especially when we
are made to realize that they are determined and in earnest."
The people, then, are the government of the State.
They are responsible for its laws and institutions, while
the officers of government are only responsible for the
execution of the laws.
Suppose, now, that when the unfortunate young man,
Boyington, mentioned above, was forced upon the gallows a second time, to be strangled, all the time terribly
conscious of his own innocence, you and I had been present amid the swaying throng as witnesses of the awful
spectacle. When we heard him declaring, in the most
heart-rending accents, his innocence-appealing to the
multitude for mercy, saying, " Oh, spare me; for the love
of God and my poor mother, spare me! I am not fit to die!
I am innocent!"-when we saw and heard all this, I
repeat, should we not have felt that we were participators
in this act; and if the poor man was innocent, our hands
were not clean of the awful crime of his murder. Suppose he should have pointed to individuals then present




60       SECOND REASON FOR ABOLISHMENT.
and have said, " Sir, you kill me, and you, and you;-you,
and such as you are the State;-you have instituted, and
you sustain the law which requires that I should be
killed; —you sanction this work; you pay the court for
condemning, and these men for strangling me!" If he
had made such an appeal, would not every word of it
have been true?
All the more humane and Christian of the multitude
might have declared, " We have no sympathy for the
gallows-we have no desire for your death. If our prayers could be answered, you would be spared;-we wash
our hands clean of this act." But would this declaration
have changed the responsibility from them to others, inasmuch as they were still citizens of the State, and paid
their money and lent their influence, in making its laws
and maintaining its institutions?
Now, for my own part, I do not wish to occupy a position like this. If a man should murder my own child,
or the dearest friend I have on earth, if once fairly secured in prison, I would never consent to his death.
To kill him would only be imitating his own wicked example. It would be of no advantage to me. It would
not restore life to my child or friend. It could not benefit the culprit. It would be simply a work of vengeance,
which the religion I profess utterly forbids. I say again,
I could not, therefore, consent to his death. And yet,
as a citizen of the State, I am made, even against my
own will, to share the responsibilities of every legalized
vmurder the State commits. A large majority of the most
order-loving and Christian portion of the people of
Ohio and other States, are unquestionably opposed to
the Death Penalty. Their humanity rises up against it.
And yet, so long as this law remains on our statute
books, and men are executed, so long will these thou



EACH CITIZEN'S RESPONSIBILITY.         61
sands be under the necessity of participating in the act,
and feel responsible for its results.
Another consideration. If an assassin should enter
my dwelling at midnight, with the intent to murder, but
should miss his aim, and I should succeed in securing
him hand and foot with strong cords, I should feel that
I had no right to proceed and deliberately beat out his
brains, even if I possessed a desire to commit so dastard
an act. He is secure. He can do me no further injury;
and if I should kill him under such circumstances, the
State would call it murder, and hold me responsible for
the deed, declaring that I had no authority to deprive
him of life, when he was once secure. And this is true.
But then the State would take this same man, and though
possessed of means to hold him far more securely than
I, would go to work, and after weeks or months of preparation, commit the very deed which, if perpetrated by me,
as an individual, it pronounces murder. Now, an important and very interesting question arises, viz: Whence
derives the State its authority for this deed?  Many good
and wise men have argued, and not without reason, that
it has no authority.  Look at the subject a moment.
Who constitute the State?  Answer: Its citizens, irrespective of numbers, whether ten persons, ten hundred,
or ten hundred thousand. Well, it is plain that they can
possess no authority in their associated capacity as a
State, but such as is derived from themselves as individuals.
The State cannot say, I have a right to kill because I am
the State, or because I have the power; it can only say, I
have a right to kill because the citizens which consti
tute this body have delegated this authority to me. This
being admitted, then, we ask, can any individual delegate to another or others a right which he himself does
notpossess?  Reader, you are a citizen of some State, and,




62       SECOND REASON FOR ABOLISHMENT.
therefore, a constituent member of the body-politic.
You grant, as an individual, you have no right to beat
out the brains of an assassin, whom you have securely
bound. Now, can you confer this right upon another
man, or ten other men, when you do not yourself possess
it? You answer, that the authority is derived from the
compact, in which the citizens of the State have mutually
agreed to surrender life under certain circumstances. But
here the same question returns upon us, Can a man enter
any compact by which he can confer upon others authority which he does not himself possess?
God has given me life. I hope I am grateful for this
blessing- -but he has given me no control over my life. I
hold it under him. I have no authority to destroy my
existence or barter it away. I cannot commit suicide;
I cannot sell my life, or dispose of my existence in any
possible manner, for God has given me no such authority,
but positivelyforbidden it. Now, as I have no right to
dispose of my existence, can I, by entering a compact,
delegate to others this right?
There is a provision in law, that no man shall burn
his own buildings; and, can he authorize another to
burn his buildings when he has no such right himself?
The law of God declares, " Thou shalt not steal."  Can
any man who has no right to steal, delegate this right to
another?  No. All can see, then, that we have no power
to give to another or others anything which we ourselves
do not possess.
Now, then, suppose that ten men, or an hundred, constitute a colony on some island, or in some new territory,
and they assemble to digest and adopt laws by which
they are to be governed in their intercourse one with
another. Have they any right to enter a compact by
which they barter away, or shall forfeit their lives? If




EACH CITIZEN S RESPONSIBILITY.        63
I were one of this compact, could I say to others, " Gentlemen, if I do certain things, or leave undone certain
things, I will give you my existence? You shall be at
liberty, and have the right to, strangle the life out of me?
And if either of you are, in like manner, guilty, I shall
claim the same right to strangle you?"  To my mind it
is very plain, that if I entered such a league, I should as
really transcend any authority that I possess, as I should
to burn my own buildings, or kill the assassin whom I
had safely secured.
Says Mr. Rantoul,* "A man holds his life as a tenant
at will-not, indeed, of society, who did not and cannot
give it, or renew it, and have, therefore, no right to take
it away-but of that Almighty Being who.se gift life is,
to whom it belongs, and who alone has a right to reclaim
his gift whenever it shall seem good in his sight. A man
may not surrender up his life till he is called for. May
he, then, make a contract with his neighbor that in such
and such case his neighbor shall kill him? Such a contract, if executed, would involve the one party in the
guilt of suicide, and the other in the guilt of murder.
" If a man may not say to his next neighbor,' When
I have burned your house in the night time, or wrested
your purse from you on the high-way, or broken into
your house in the night, with an iron crow, to take a
morsel of meat for my starving child, do you seize me,
shut me up a few weeks, and then bring me out and
strangle me; and in like case, if your turn comes first, I
will serve you in the same way'-if I could not make
this agreement with one of my neighbors, would such an
agreement between ten of us be any more valid or justifiable? No. Nor if the number were a hundred instead
* An eminent Boston lawyer, who has labored with much industry for
years in the cause of humanity. No man has accomplished more in the
softening of the penal codes of the New-England States than Mr,Rantoul.




64       SECOND REASON FOR ABOLISI-IMENT.
of ten-or a thousand-or twenty millions, who should
form this infernal compact, would this increase of the
number of partners vary one hair's breadth the moral
character of the transaction? If this execution of the
contract be not murder on the one side, and suicide on
the other, what precise number of persons must engage
in it, in order that what was criminal before may become
innocent, not to say virtuous? And upon what hitherto
unheard-of principles of morality is an act of murder in
an individual, or a small corToration, converted into an
act of justice whenever another subscriber has joined the
association for mutual sacrifice? It is a familiar fact in
the history of mankind, that great corporations will do,
and glory in, what the very individuals composing them
would shrink from or blush at. But how can the division
of the responsibility transform vice into virtue, or diminish the amount of any given crime?"
There is both truth and reason in the foregoing. If it
is morally wrong for one man to steal, it is morally
wrong for ten-twenty-fifty-a hundred-or a hundred
millions, to steal. If it is morally wrong for one man to
take human life, when the culprit is securely bound, it
is morally wrong for ten, twenty, fifty, a hundred, or a
hundred millions, to commit the act. I, therefore, feel
that as a citizen, I should use my influence to abolish a
law which I fully believe is not valid, and for which I
feel that I should not be held responsible, and yet must
be, so long as it remains.
Mr. Rantoul says that "great corporations will do, and
glory in, what the very individuals composing them
would shrink from or blush at."  This is true. Let me
secure the assassin with manacles and cords, and chain
him to a post so that he can not move, hand oi- foot;
and though he had murdered my wife and children, I




EACH CITIZEN'S RESPONSIBILITY.               65
should blush and be ashamed to cut his throat, or beat
out his brains, or strangle him with a halter, now that he
is secure and helpless.*   Indeed, it would be a murderous and dastardly act. For no consideration would I
thus become an executioner. And should I ask another
to do an act for me which I would shrink-from            doing myself with the utmost horror?       And this is what
I demand of the State when I ask the State to sustain
the gallows. It is what the State consents to do, when it
places upon its statute books the Death Penalty. It becomes the executioner of those who are securely bound
or imprisoned, and for whose further depredations it can
have no fears. Thus will great corporations do, and glory
in, what the very     individuals composing them      would
shrink from or blush at.
In concluding this chapter, I would remark that some
may say that the Bible affords authority for killing, and
refer us to " Moses and the Prophets." In reply, I answer, that it was Moses and the Prophets who authorized
our fathers to burn the witches, execute for profanity,
strangle their children for disobedience, and hang for
stealing forty shillings.  But was this authority valid?
And if so, why is it not still in vogue?   Suppose Moses
gave this authority to a particular people, existing under
* Dr. Rush says: "The power over human life is the sole prerogative
of Him who gave it. Human laws are, therefore, in rebellion against
this prerogative when they transfer it to human hands." I understand
Mr. Rantoul to advance the same doctrine in the above argument;-that
is, that human life is in the hands of God alone-that power over it is his
sole prerogative, and, therefore, that man has no right to destroy the life
of his fellow under any ciqcumstacnces. Many good men have advocated
the same doctrine. It is not my design to discuss it in this work, as it is
not necessary; but I wish simply to say that, though every man feels that
the power of life and death is alone in the hands of God, he alsofeels that
self-preservation is the first law of his nature, and that if an assassin were
cutting his throat, or murdering his wife and children, he would be recreant to the duty which he owes to himself and his family, if he did not
protect them to the utmost of his power, even to the sacrifice of the
assassin's life.
6




66       SECOND REASON FOR ABOLISHMENT.
peculiar circumstances, in a dark and rude state of society, can we claim the same authority from the same
source?
We live under the influence of a " new and better covenant."  We are not heathen nor Hebrews, but CHRISTIANS. Show me a single declaration or act of Christ or
his apostles that sanctions the gallows-or burning-beheading-strangling-the rack-the wheel, or the taking
of human life in any form, or for any crime, and I will
yield the argument. But till then, you must not condemn me if I love the spirit and commands of my Master more than the inhumanity and barbarity of a darker
age.
MAore on this point when we come to consider the
scriptural argument for the gallows.




CHAPTER VII.
THIRD REASON FOR ABOLISHMENT.
IRREMEDIABILITY.
Execution of the Innocent-The evil cannot be remedied-Declaration of LafayetteExecetion of the Innocent during the French Revolution-Dying Protestations of Innocence-Injustice of executing the Innocent-Instance of the Imprisonment of an Innocent Man-Agony which the Innocent must experience in Conviction and ExecutionExecution of an Innocent Man in Indiana-Execution of a Poor German —Execution
of an Innocent Young Girl-Innocent Man hung in England —Circumstantial Evidence
not to be relied on-Positive Evidence not always Certain-Extract from O' Connel of
Ireland.
One of the most pressing and cogent reasons with me
for the abolishment of the Death Penalty, is the fact
that-so long as it remains on our statute books, and is enforced, the INNOCENT are liable to be put to death as well
as the guilty.
The great and good Lafayette said, "I shall ask for
the abolishment of the Penalty of Death, until I have the
infallibility of human judgment demonstrated to me."
And he said this because of the awful scenes he had witnessed in consequence of the execution of the innocent.
" The punishment of Death has always inspired me with
feelings of horror," he exclaimed, " since the execrable
use made of it during     the former revolution."    During
that revolution, the innocent and the guilty were made
to pour out their blood upon the block indiscriminately.
" Oh! spare me; for before God I proclaim          my innocence! "-" With the voice of a dying mortal I solemnly
declare  that I am     guiltless!" were protestations for
(67)




68-       THIRD REASON FOR ABOLISHMENT.
which the guillotine tarried not in its work of death.
Neither has the gallows in Europe and America. In
England more than 10,000 men and women have been
executed who protested most sacredly, with their last
breath, that they had no knowledge of the crimes for
which they were about to suffer. And, in the United
States, the number is rising three hundred.
It is true, that even the dying testimony of men is
not always to be credited; but, out of so many, is it not
altogether probable a large number uttered the truth?
Some of them-indeed, a majority-were entitled to
credit, for they had become hopeful converts to the
Christian religion - were "changed from  nature to
grace'-fitted for the immortal spheres, and were expecting a world of glory on passing away from this world of
sin. So said their spiritual advisers, and so said the
Christian Church generally. Hence I repeat, they were
entitled to credit among Christians. But they were not
credited. On the contrary, every one of them was strangled;-yes, strangled by the hands of Christians, in the
very midst of their protestations of innocence!
Now, as I view the subject, to kill a human being for
a crime of which he is innocent, is one of the most unjust and dreadful deeds that can be perpetrated. He is
made to suffer an evil which it is impossible to remedy.
We can restore property, and liberty, and even character,
to the innocent, but we can never restore LIFE. A few
years ago, a man in the western part of Massachusetts
was convicted of burning a barn, on the positive evidence
of a neighbor, and was sentenced to the State prison for six
years. But when three years had passed, the very man
on whose testimony he was convicted, when on his death
bed, confessed his own guilt in the crime; and thus was
the innocent man restored to liberty, and to his discon



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An Innocent MVan preparing for ]Execution —Page 69.








IRREMEDIABILITY.                   69
solate and wretched family, who had been deprived of
his presence and assistance during these long and painful months and years.*    But though he was restored,
how could that world of mortification, and anxiety, and
suffering, which he and his family had experienced, be
restored?
Now, this was sufficiently unjust and dreadful, but it is
as nothing-or as the mere "dust in the balance"-when
compared with the evil perpetrated in executing the in.
nocent. Here, nothing can be done to remedy the evil. The
poor victim has gone into eternity. It is now too late.
Think of the long days and nights of suffering of the
doomed man, when in prison awaiting his trial; of his
agony, when the awful word " GUILTY" is pronounced,
and his sentence passed. Think of the days and weeks
of wretchedness which follow;-of his soul on fire with
the conviction of his own innocence, when the world will
not credit his protestations. Think of his grief when
the awful thought comes to his soul, that his own
parents, his wife, his darling children, will always believe
him a felon; and must always suffer the disgrace that
will attach to his memory.   Think of his agony as his
day of doom approaches, and he takes his last farewell
of wife and children.   He is innocent, but no nman believes it, and he has no means of proving it.  He stands
upon the gallows, and still protests his innocence, but in
vain. For weeks and months he has lived on the hope
that a just God would not desert him; that in his Providence the truth would be revealed, and his innocence
proved. But now he is in despair. The fatal noose is
* The State, feeling the injustice it had thus inflicted on one of its
citizens, by three years' false imprisonment, made an effort-a very weak
effort it was-to compensate him for his labor while in prison. The Legislature magnanimously voted the stipend of $300, as an equivalent for
three years' confinement and hard labor. And this was all.




70        THIRD REASON FOR ABOLISHMENT.
fixed; the minister has commended him to God, and
prayed that He will have mercy on his soul, when he
feels no mercy;-the cap is drawn down, and the hangman is ready to strike the blow that will send him into
eternity, and yet there is no one to testify to his innocence. He must die, and die a felon! There is no hope!
Great God what must be the agony of a sensitive soul,
conscious of its own purity, under such circumstances!
For what would the reader take his place?
THE DROP FALLS! The man dies-dies a murderer.
His body is given over for dissection. A knowledge of
his execution is heralded to the wide world. But the
next month, or week-nay, it may be the next hour, (as
has many times occurred,) the facts in the case are revealed, and the truth of the poor man's protestations
verified. But it is now too late-TOO LATE! Who can
bring back the life-or even restore the body, for a decent, Christian burial? Who can heal the wounds of
that broken-hearted widow, or father, or mother; or give
an equivalent for the long days, and weeks, and months,
of agonized suffering, on the part of the children? Oh,
all this is irreparable.
And yet, the supporters of the gallows will turn away
from this argument, with a mere word, as if the whole
matter were of but little or no consequence. Says a
minister of the "true Church," "When an innocent man
suffers, all that can be said is, that Providence has seen
fit to take away, by painful exit, one whom a few more
years would have necessarily carried to the tomb." Yes,
and he should have added, "The poor wretch should
submit to the mandate of Heaven, without a pang or a
m'2urmnur! "
Now, is not that cool?  Is it not heartless? "All that
can be said!"  Indeed; suppose that the case were kis




IRREMEDIABILITY.                71
own, or that of his son or daughter, would he dispose of
it in this calm and philosophic manner? Would he not
find utterance for other words?  And does not that religion which he professes teach him that every man is his
brother, and that he should feel the same interest in the
unjust sufferings of others that he does in his own? Did
not Jesus forget his own trials and weep alone for others?
And yet here is a Christian minister, high in an evangelical Church, who can dismiss this great question of
inhumanity and injustice with the cold answer, that if
the innocent victim is doomed to be hung he must make
the best of it; he would have died in a few years anyhow.
Lafayette was right when he said that he would oppose
the Death Penalty until the infallibility of human judgment was demonstrated. The writer of these pages has
made this a principle of action for years. It is his motto
still. Society had better permit a score of felons to go
clear, than to put to death one innocent fellow-creature.
For, at best, the murderer cannot escape punishment.
The mark of Cain is upon him. " Vengeance is mine, I
will repay, saith the Lord." " Though hand join in hand,
the wickedshall not be unpunished."  Man is fallible,
but God cannot err. Human tribunals are endowed
with only human wisdom, and though governed by motives the most sincere, have often misjudged. Even
when the evidence has been positive and to the point,
they have, in numerous instances, been deceived, and
convicted and put to death the innocent. Many cases
of this kind have taken place, both in this country and
in Europe, a few of which we relate.
EXECUTION OF AN INNOCENT MAN IN INDIANA.
Several years ago, a man residing about seventy miles
from Cincinnati, died by poisoning, and suspicions rest



72       THIRD REASON FOR ABOLISHMENT.
ing on a near neighbor and acquiantance, he was arrested
and brought to trial. The wife of the deceased made
positive oath that the prisoner at the bar was at her house
previous to the sickness of her husband, and administered
the poison in a cup of coffee, as she had reason to believe.
It was also proven that the prisoner purchased poison in
Cincinnati about that time, of the description found in
the stomach of the deceased. Thus was conviction of the
man's guilt fixed in the minds of the jury. In his defence, the prisoner admitted that he had purchased the
poison, but declared that he had purchased it for the
woman who swore against him, and who said, when she
sent for it, that she wanted to employ it to exterminate
rats;-that he gave it into her hand on his return from
Cincinnati, and was utterly ignorant of when or how it
was administered to her husband. This story, however,
availed nothing with the jury. The woman was a religious
woman, and her story was entitled to credit. The man
was accordingly convicted, sentenced and hung. But he
always protested his innocence to the hour of his death.
A few years passed, and the guilty woman confessed, not
long before her death, that she was the guilty wretch,
and declared that the State had executed an innocent
man-one who was utterly ignorant of the circumstances of the murder. What injustice was here! And yet
the court and jury sinned ignorantly. The State was in
fault, for by sanctioning the Death Penalty it had wantonly thrown away the power to atone for the grievous
wrong. If the man had been put to work in the State
prison, he could have been discharged when the facts
came out;-the State could have compensated him for his
services, and done what was in its power to make full
reparation for the wrong committed.
The following is another instance, somewhat similar:




IRREMEDIABILITY.              73
EXECUTION OF A POOR GERMAN FOR MURDER.
A few years ago, a poor German came to New-York,
and took lodgings where he was allowed to do his cooking in the same room with the family. The husband and
wife lived in a perpetual quarrel. One day the German
came into the kitchen, with a clasp-knife and a pan of
potatoes, and commenced to pare them for his dinner.
The quarrelsome couple were in a more violent altercation than usual; but he sat with his back towards
them, and, being ignorant of their language, felt in no
danger of being involved in their disputes. But the
woman, with a sudden and unexpected movement,
snatched the knife from his hand, and plunged it into
her husband's heart.  She had sufficient presence of
mind to rush into the street and scream murder. The
poor foreigner, in the meanwhile, seeing the wounded
man reel, sprang forward to catch him in his arms, and
drew out the knife. People from the street crowded in,
and found him with the dying man in his arms, the knife
in his hand, and blood upon his clothes. The wicked
woman swore, in her most positive terms, that he had
been fighting with her husband, and had stabbed him
with a knife he always carried. The unfortunate German knew too little of English to understand her accusation, or to tell his own story. He was dragged off to
prison, and the true state of the case was made known
through an interpreter, but it was not believed. Circumstantial evidence was exceedingly strong against the
accused, and the real criminal swore that she saw him
commit the murder. He was executed, notwithstanding
the most persevering efforts of his lawyer, John Anthon,
Esq., whose convictions of the man's innocence were so
painfully strong that, from that day to this, he has refused
7




74        THIRD REASON FOR ABOLISHMENT.
to have any connection with a capital case. Some years after this tragic event the woman died, and, on her deathbed, confessed her agency in the diabolical transaction;
but her poor victim could receive no benefit from this
~tardy repentance.
We could relate many accounts of this description,
where the evidence was positive, had we space. A few
must suffice.
EXECUTION OF AN INNOCENT YOUNG GIRL IN ENGLAND.
In the " Old Bailey (London) Trials" of the last century, there is an account of the conviction and execution of a young girl of seventeen, for stealing a
roll of ribbon, worth three shillings. But one witness
appeared against her, viz: the shop-man. " The prisoner came into my shop," said he, " and bought some ribbon. I saw her secrete this piece also. I personally
knew her, and was on the most friendly and sociable
terms with her. When she left the shop I accompanied
her, and offered her my arm, which she accepted. We
chatted together. As we reached the corner of a street
leading to the Bow street office, I turned toward it. She
said she was going in another direction, and bade me
good morning.  I said to her,' No! you are going with
me! I saw you steal a piece of my ribbon!' She immediately implored me for God's sake to overlook it, and
restored to me the article. I said to her that I had lost
many things in this way, and was resolved to make her
an example-that I was determined to have her life!"
How heartless the testimony of this cold-blooded
wretch. He accomplished his designs. His testimony
was positive. The court and jury believed his story, convicted the girl and hung her. And yet the subsequent
confession of the shop-man revealed the innocence of




IRREMEDIABILITY.               75
the girl, and the enormity of his own sin, in taking this
method to hide the fruits of an illicit intercourse with
the girl.
From the relation of such facts, the reader will not
only come to realize the injustice liable to fall upon the
most innocent at any moment, but he will also discover
how little implicit credit is to be placed upon even the
most positive testimony. It is often said, even by those
who sustain the Death Penalty, that a man should never
be convicted and hung on circumstantial evidence, because of its uncertainty. But we see in all the cases
above presented, that positive testimony is equally uncertain. The witnesses may be personally interested, and
swear falsely to shelter themselves. Does not the reader
see that so long as human tribunals are fallible, that they
may err, even when most certain that they are correct
in the judgment rendered. The following is another instance of the same description:
AN INNOCENT MAN HUNG IN ENGLAND FOR ROBBERY.
A robber in England knocked a traveler from his
horse, stabbed him, and took his pocket-book. It was
in a turn in the road, and he was hidden by the bushes.
He had no sooner accomplished his work than he heard
another traveler approaching; but he had injured his
ancle and could not escape. He, therefore, secreted
himself near the place of the murder. The traveler came
up, saw the dying man with the dirk still in his breast.
He sprang from his horse, drew out the dirk, and did
all in his power to staunch the wound, but in vain. Just
at that moment other travelers appeared, and the robber,
thinking that he would be discovered, came boldly from
his hiding-place, and upon his testimony the innocent
man was arrested, and, to his own astonishment, on his




76        THIRD REASON FOR ABOLISHMENT.
person was found the pocket-book of the murdered man.
The real thief had slipped it, unperceived, into his
pocket, at a moment when all eyes were turned in another direction. The prisoner protested, in the most
positive manner, his innocence; but there were the positive testimony of the witness, the bloody dirk in his
hand, as seen by other witnesses, the pocket-book of
the murdered man found on his person, and, besides all
this, it was shown that he and the deceased were enemies. He was, therefore, convicted, sentenced and hung.
In a few months the real murderer was convicted of another crime, and when on the gallows confessed the facts
as above related.
Again, circumstantial evidence sometimes appears
equivalent to positive and certain proof, it is so linked
and woven together, and yet there may be no proof in it.
Consider the following cases:
A SURGEON CHARGED WITH THE MURDER OF HIS
SERVANT.
A gentleman was tried in Dublin on the 24th of May,
1728, charged with the murder of his maid-servant. An
opposite neighbor saw him admitted into his house about
ten at night, by his servant, who opened the door, holding in her hand a lighted candle in a brazen candlestick.
Not long after, the gentleman made an alarm, exclaiming that his servant was murdered. The woman was
found a corpse in the kitchen, her head fractured, her
neck wounded so as to divide the jugular vein, and her
dress steeped in blood. On further search, the inquirer
discovered that the prisoner had on a clean shirt, while
one freshly stained with blood, and ascertained to be his,
was discovered in the recess of a cupboard; where also
was found a silver goblet, bearing the marks of a bloody




IRREMEDIABILITY.               77
thumb and finger. The prisoner fainted on being shown
the shirt. He was executed.
His defense, on trial, was, that the maid-servant admitted him, as sworn, and went to the kitchen; that he had
occasion to call her, but not being answered, went and
found her lying on the floor; not knowing her to be
dead, and being a surgeon, he proceeded to open a vein
in her neck; in moving the body, the blood stained his
hands and shirt sleeves. He then thought it best to
make an alarm for assistance, but being afraid of the effect which his appearance might produce, he changed his
linen, and displaced the silver cup in order to put his
bloody shirt out of sight.
This story was deemed incredible. Several years after,
a dying penitent confessed to a priest, that he was concealed in the gentleman's house for the purpose of robbing it, at the moment of the gentleman's return; that
hearing him enter, he resolved to escape; that the woman saw, and attempted to detain him; that he, fearing
detection, knocked her down with the candlestick she
had in her hand, and fled, unnoticed, from the premises.
The following case, from a London paper, furnishes
the strongest arguments to the friends of abolition of
Capital Punishment. At the Surrey Sessions, Mr. Charnoch, who was engaged to defend a prisoner on circumstantial evidence, said such evidence was always dangerous to conviction, and cited the following illustration:
EXECUTION OF A FARMER FOR THE MURDER OF HIS NIECE.
A farmer who was left executor and guardian, was indieted for the wilful murder of his niece. A serious
quarrel took place between them, and the farmer was
heard to say, that his niece would not live to enjoy her
property. Soon after, she was missed. Rumors were




78        THIRD REASON FOR ABOLISHMENT.
quickly spread that she was murdered by her guardian.
On being apprehended, blood was found upon his clothes.
The judge was persuaded to postpone the trial, and the
most strenuous exertions were made to find the niece, but
in vain. The prisoner, to save his life, resorted to a
step which procured his condemnation and execution
within forty-eight hours after his trial. A young lady
was produced, exactly resembling the supposed murdered female. Her height, age and complexion and voice
were so similar, that the witnesses swore to the identity.
An intimation was given that the female was not the
niece. By skilful cross-examination, the artifice was
detected, and the unfortunate man was hung. The unhappy convict declared his innocence, but was rebuked
by the clergyman for his hardihood.
In two years after, the niece made her appearance, and
claimed the property. It appeared that, the day after
the fatal quarrel, she had eloped with a stranger to whom
she was attached, and she had not been heard of till her
unexpected return, and that, by mere accident, she had
heard of her uncle's execution.*
To show, still further, the fallibility of human judgment, we would state, that when tribunals have hung,
even on the confession of the parties, they have sometimes
erred. The confession, a false one, may have been extracted from the prisoner by hope of reward or pardon. How
many thousands, in olden times, confessed to anything
suggested by the blood-thirsty priests, in order to save
themselves from the horrid tortures of the inquisition.
CONFESSION OF AN INNOCENT MAN IN ENGLAND.
Some years ago, the London Morning Herald contained the account of a man who confessed his guilt of a
* We take the above instances from a work entitled " Essays on the
Punishment of Death." by Rev. Charles Spear, Boston.




IRREMEDIABILITY.              79
certain crime. "Circumstances transpired, which, notwithstanding his confession, led many to doubt his guilt.
He at length admitted that he had made up his mind to
suffer the punishment, in order to claim, upon conviction,
a reward which had been offered, and hand it to his
starving wife and children."
Here the wretched man confessed, when he was innocent. But all can see his motive; it was the hope of a
reward offered, that he might, by suffering the punishment of the alleged crime, save his wife and children
from starvation. What a comment on the Christianity,
civilization and organization of society in England. And
in America it is the same, as we shall see in the future pages of this work. Shame on our inhnutmanity and
our professions of the Christian religion! The most ignorant Pagan is less indifferent and unfeeling toward those
in distress!
A remarkable case of confession, where the prisoner
was innocent, happened in Vermont, in our own country.
It has been cited on many occasions, and was narrated
as given below, by Rev. W. S. Balch, of New-York city,
who was born and educated in the vicinity of the place
where the facts occurred. We copy from Mr. Spear's
work on Capital Punishment. It will be seen that
Bourne confessed to a falsehood in hope of commutation.
BOURNE CONVICTED OF THE MURDER OF HIS BROTHERIN-LAW.
A case occurred in Manchester, Vermont. Two men,
brothers, by the name of Bourne, were convicted of murder of a brother-in-law, named Colvin. While under
the sentence of death, one of the brothers confessed a
participation in the murder. By an act of the Legislature, his punishment was commuted to imprisonment for




80        THIRD REASON FOR ABOLISHMENT.
life. The other stoutly persisted in asserting his innocence. Great excitement prevailed during and after the
trial; I remember it well. It was near my native town.
But when the confession was made under oath, and published, none longer doubted. Had he declared he did
not assist in the murder, would he have been believed?
The day of execution at length arrived. Hundreds of
people from the hills and vales were gathered around the
gallows, to witness the dying struggles of a poor unfortunate fellow-sinner. The hour had arrived, and the
elder Bourne, still avowing his innocence, wan and weak,
was led forth into the ring, and beneath the horrid engine of death. The sheriff was about to adjust the halter, and draw down the dismal cap, when a cry was heard
from behind the ring-" Stop! stop! For God's sake
stop." All eyes were directed that way, when to the
astonishment of all, the murdered Colvin was led into
the ring, presented to the sheriff, recognized by the assembled neighbors, and greeted by Bourne with feelings
better imagined than described; and the people doomed
to return home in disappointment-as some remarked,
" without seeing the funt they anticipated."
Had Colvin, (says Mr. Balch,) not been found, for he
was in New Jersey, or had some little hindrance delayed a single hour, an innocent man would have been hurried out of the world as a felon, leaving wife, and children, and friends to lament his untimely death; humanity to weep over the mistakes and weaknesses, and cruelties of human legislation; and judges and juries to reproach themselves for taking the fearful responsibility
of destroying a life which they could not restore when
their errors were clearly manifest.
Thus do we have pressed upon our notice, the fallibility of human judgment. How liable are we to be de



IRREMEDIABILITY.               81
ceived. How many thousands have been acquitted who
were guilty, and condemned who were innocent. Amid
all this uncertainty, and with a knowledge of the tremendous injustice attending the execution of the innocent,
[ feel that society has no right to wantonly throw away
its power of atoning for the wrong committed, by depriving a human being of that which it has not the
power to bestow. Within the walls of a strong prison,
safely guarded with bars and bolts, he would be secure.
There he could be instructed in heart and mind, by
the aid of books and good men; and, if guilty, be
made to feel the power of a love that could return good
for evil, and blessing for his efforts to destroy. And if,
in the providence of God, it should be revealed that he
was innocent, as we have already said, he could be compensated for his labor-restored to liberty, and so far as
possible, atonement could be made for the wrong committed.
We have already extended our remarks on this subject beyond our original intention, but cannot conclude
them without introducing an eloquent extract from a
speech* made by O'CONNELL, several years ago, before
the London society for the diffusion of information on
the subject of the Death Penalty. Iie refers to facts
most touching that had come under his own observation.
" He had long been deeply impressed," he said, " with
the conviction that Capital Punishment ought to be utterly abolished. He could not forget that' vengeance is
mine, saith the Lord, and I will repay it.' Perhaps it
was by the impulse of feeling, and what he conceived to
be humanity, that, in the early part of his life, he was
brought to this conviction; but long, and he might ven* Originally published in the Herald of Peace, for 1832. We copy from
"Essays on the Death Penalty."




82       THIRD REASON FOR ABOLISHMENT.
ture to say, great experience in the criminal law-for no
advocate, at least in his own country, had the miserable
boast which he could make of the frequency of his practice in that branch-that experience had confirmed him
in his opinion, that there should not be in man the
power of extinguishing life, because the result was irreparable; because the injury could not be compensated
which might be done, if the beings were not infallible
who inflicted the punishment; (and where should we
find such?) and, because, while we thought we were vindicating the law of society, we might be committing the
greatest outrage that could be perpetrated upon our fellow-creatures. The honorable and learned gentleman
who spoke last, shuddered at the death of even a criminal; but what would his feelings have been had he witnessed, as he had, the execution of the innocent!
" One of the first events which struck him when he was
rising into life, was seeing a gentleman who had forsaken
society, and thrown himself into a mountain lodge;
abandoning the intercourse of men, and wandering
about like a troubled spirit, a willing outlaw, and an
outcast from the social state. He inquired the cause,
and learned that it originated in these circumstances:Two men got into his bed-room at night, and robbed him,
but did not treat him with any brutality. He prosecuted two brothers for the crime; and they being unprepared with any defense, from a consciousness of their innocence, were convicted and executed. Not a fortnight
after they had been laid in the grave, in the presence of
their father, and amidst the tears of their broken-hearted
mother, the gentleman discovered his total mistake!"
Mr. O'Connell said he would mention another instance,
of which he had a personal knowledge:
"He defended three brothers who were indicted for




IRREMEDIABILITY.              83
murder; and the judge having a leaning, as was not unusual in such cases, to the side of the crown prosecution,
almost compelled the jury to convict. He sat at his
window as the men passed by, after receiving sentence.
A military guard was placed over them, and it was positively forbidden that any one should have any intercourse with them. He saw their mother, strong in her
affections, break through the guard, which was sufficient
to resist any male force-he saw her clasp her eldest son,
who was but twenty-two years of age-he saw her cling
to her second, who was but twenty-and he saw her faint
as she clasped the neck of her youngest boy, who was
but eighteen. And they were innocent, but were executed.
" He mentioned these facts to show with what extreme
caution any one should do that which was irrevocable.
When we recollected that, in criminal cases, a prisoner
was almost shut out from making any defense; and that,
in cases of circumstantial evidence, men were convicted,
not upon facts, but upon reasonings and deductions;when we recollected that the criminal law permitted the
counsel for the crown to aggravate the impression against
the prisoner, and prohibited his counsel from opening
his mouth in his defense,-it might be said, without
much exaggeration, that such a code was written in letters of blood. Was this England, the first country in
the world for the love of liberty, and the encouragement
of all the arts which adorn civilization and morality?
Was this the country where, if a man had five pounds at
stake, he might employ ten or twenty counsel to speak
for him as long as they liked; but, when his life was in
jeopardy, the law said,'The counsel against you shall
speak in aggravation of the charge; but the lips of your
counsel shall be sealed!' Up to the present moment,




84       THIRD REASON FOR ABOIISHMENT.
that horrible state of the law continued. He was firmly
persuaded that if he had been entitled to speak on behalf
of those three brothers-feeble as might be his advocacy, perhaps his heart would have aided his judgment
and given him an inspiration beyond the natural dulness
of his disposition-he felt that he would have made it
impossible for any jury to convict. If the punishment
of these three brothers had not been incapable of being
recalled, they might have been restored to their family;
and the mother, who wept over their grave, might have
been borne in decency to her tomb by those over whose
premature death she mourned."*
But enough. Were there no other reason for the
abolishment of the Death Penalty, this would be sufficient
for us. Down with the gallows, then. It can be spared
with injury to no one; and so long as it remains, the innocent are not safe.
* See Herald of Peace for April, May and June. London: 1832.




CHAPTER VIII.
FOURTH REASON FOR ABOLISHMENT.
THE BIBLE ARGUMENT.
The Death Penalty forbidden by the Christian Scriijtures-Authority of the Scriptures above Human Authority-The Lex talionis of the Jews-The Law of Love the
Christian Law-Touching account of recent Executions-All Christian Codes must
Harmonize with the Law of Love-The Old Covenant not binding on Christians.
Another reason why the Punishment of Death should
be abolished, especially by all CHRISTIAN governments, is,.
that it is positively forbidden by the Christian Scriptures.
With the writer of these pages, there is no authority
superior to the authority of God. His word is our criterion. We never, knowingly, swerve from its divine requirements and teachings. Human speculations, in the
presence of the plain teaching of the inspired volume,
like mist before the morning sun, dissipate into airy
nothingness.   "Let God be true, but every       man   a
liar," is the motto by which we are led; and, happily,
with reference to the subject under consideration, He is
upon the side of clemency. He "will have mercy and
not sacrifice."*
",But," answers the objector, "the Bible certainly
sanctions the Death Penalty. There is no plainer or
more positive declaration than this:'WHoso   SHEDDETH
MAN'S BLOOD, BY MAN SHALL HIS BLOOD BE SHED;' and
all know, who know anything of the Bible, that the law
* Matthew, 9: 13.
(85)




86       FOURTH REASON FOR ABOLISHMENT.
of Moses demanded the life of the offender for a multitude of sins.' Breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for
tooth,' is the express declaration of God himself. How,
then, can we abolish the Death Punishment, without
first abolishing the law of God; and how can we disregard the law of God with any degree of safety? Ah, I
fear for that community which will thus thoughtlessly
or wilfully trample under foot the wise instruction of
the Divine Being t"
So said our fathers, both in England and our own
country, fifty years ago, when an attempt was made to
abolish the stocks, the pillory and the whipping-post,
all of which were regarded as divine institutions, and
indispensably necessary to the safety of society. So it
was thought a hundred years ago, by the most orthodox
Christians in Europe and America, when hanging was
the penalty for stealing forty shillings; also for idolatry,
blasphemy, Sabbath-breaking, abuse of parents, perjury
and adultery. All these laws were devoutly believed to
be founded on God's law, binding on the Christian, and
could not be abolished with any degree of safety. And
yet they were abolished, and with no detriment to either
morals or religion, and are not now believed, by any sect
of Christians living, to be required by the divine law.
No well-informed, sane man, no matter what his religion,
would consent, for any consideration, to go back to the
middle of the last century, and institute its penal code as
a substitute for our own. But if the Jewish law is still
binding, how can we remit all its punishments but one;
and what grounds have we to argue that this is binding,
-and to the end of time-when we admit that all the rest
were temporary, and only designed for a previous age?
More than this: is not the question at least worthy of
our careful consideration, whether, having abolishe l




THE BIBLE ARGUMENT.              87
the entire code of Moses, with the exception of this,
with no apparent injury, but with manifest improvement
and with no violation of the divine precept, we cannot
also give up this?
And this, we repeat, is what the Christian Scriptures
actually demand. That " breach for breach, eye for eye,
tooth for tooth, is the express declaration of God," as
the objector says, is, at least, problematical. Christ did
not so understand by the demands of the Mosaic dispensation. It was not God, but "them of old time," who
said this. " Ye have heard that it hath been said by them
of old time.... an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a
tooth." This was the lex talionis, or law of retaliation, incorporated into the code of the early Hebrews and the
rule of vengeance by which they were governed. And
suppose we admit that God did permit or even command
the Jews, when in a rude and barbarous state, to institute
laws thus sanguinary and bloody, where is the man who
can make it appear that they are still binding under the
Christian dispensation?  On the contrary, there is no
truth of the divine word more palpable than the fact,
that Christ himself abrogated the very spirit and principle of that old code, and gave the world a new and better
covenant in his life, teachings, sufferings and examples.
In the very first sermon he preached, behold how
positively and clearly he defined the principles of his
own religion, in contradistinction to those of Moses:
" Ye have heard that it hath been said, an eye for an eye
and a tooth for a tooth; but I say unto you, that ye
resist not evil; but whosoever shall smite thee on thy
right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any
man will sue thee at the law and take away thy coat, let
him have thy cloak also."* We cannot suppose that Christ
* Matthew 5: 38-40.




88       FOURTH REASON FOR ABOLISHMENT.
designed that this command should be literally obeyed; but
the principle contained in this declaration he did design
should be enforced as a new, a better, a more divine law;
a law which should abrogate the Mosaic precept and take
its place. And I ask my Christian brother or sister,
who may peruse these pages, is not its rule the exact
opposite of the Levitical law? "I say unto you that
ye resist not evil, but whosoever shall smite thee on the
one cheek, turn to him the other also."  He farther
says: "Ye have heard that it hath been said, thou shalt
love thy neighbor, and hate thy enemy; but I say unto
you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do
good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use-and persecute you; that ye may be the
children of your Father which is in Heaven; for he
maketh his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and
sendeth his rain on the just and on the unjust."*  How
can the man who professes to have been born into the
spiritual kingdom of the Master-a kingdom of "righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost "-and to be
governed by the foregoing instruction, still uphold the
killing of men, women and children by " legal strangulation?"  How would the above declarations of Christ
appear as written mottoes for the gallows? "LovE, THE
FULFILLING OF THE LAW," inscribed on the cross-bar of
the gibbet  What an inconsistency!  Jesus "lived the
doctrine which he taught."  He returned good for evil
and blessing for cursing; and finally died upon the cross
for his enemies, closing and sanctioning his labors of
love by that more than mortal petition,  Father, forgive
them, for they know not what they do!"  Oh, blessed
Being! the true guide and pattern of all Christians.
Here is light communicated from heaven, to illuminate
* Matthew, 5: 44-45.




THE BIBLE ARGUMENT.                89
our path of duty. We are not left to our own sagaciousness, but should follow our great examplar. " For even
hereunto were ye called: because- Christ also sufferedfor,us, leaving us an example, that we should follow in his
steps; who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth;
who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered he threatened not; but committed himself to Him who
judgeth righteously.*  How divine, how beautiful this instruction; and how plain it is that, everywhere in the
New Testament, LOVE is made the test of the validity of
our claims to the Christian character.  " By this shall all
men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love."t
Again, " He that loveth, dwelleth in God and God in
him."t  " For this, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou
shalt not kill; thou shalt not bear false witness; thou
shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment,
it is briefly comprehended in this saying: thou shalt love
thy neighbor as thyself. Love worketh NO ill to its neighbor;
therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law."ll  Above all
things," says the same apostle, after enumerating various
other duties, "put on CHARITY," (or love) " which is the
bond of perfectness."~ In short, the inculcation of this
divine principle as the great central element of the Christian religion, is as common in the Gospel as its practical
utility is superior. So common and so plain is it, that
the wayfaring man, though a fool, need not err. "It is
the theme of all the apostolic exhortations, that with
which their morality begins and ends, from which all
their details and enumerations set out and into which
they return."
Is it not, then, evident that if all the relative duties of
the Christian are embraced in one word and that word is
* 1 Peter, 2: 21.    1 John, 13: 35.. John, 4: 16.
1 Romans, 13: 9.    ~ Colossian 3: 14.
8




90       FOURTH REASON FOR ABOLISHMENT.
LOVE, that he can institute no form of government, nor
sanction any modes of punishment, that are founded on
vengeance, and that result in the violent destruction of a
fellow-creature?
As I write, the daily papers laid on my table give the
particulars of two executions which have just taken place,
one in Louisville, Ky., and the other in Roxbury, N. C.
George Huffner, executed in Louisville, asserted in the
most positive manner, till the moment of his exit from
time to eternity, his entire innocence of the crime for
which he was about to suffer, and left a brief but touching epistle, in which he expressed an ardent hope that
the time would come when the people of Louisville and
elsewhere, would know that he died an innocent man.
Says the account: "After the clergyman, Rev. Mr.
Adams, addressed the people, and exhorted them to preserve decorum, the prisoner stepped forth, and in a firm
voice said, that he'was not guilty of the crime of murder.'
Prayer was then offered up to God by the Rev. Mr.
Adams, after which the prisoner desired him to tell the
people that he died in full hope of heaven. The sheriff
adjusted the fatal noose, after covering the victim's head
with a cap. He then bade farewell to the ministers and
officers around him, and just a moment before being
launched into eternity, he earnestly asked if there was
any one around' who believed him innocent.''I do,'
was heard, and just then the drop fell and all was over.
" Just at that moment, a woman, almost wild with excitement, forced her way to the foot of the scaffold, begging the sheriff to send the body to his unfortunate wife,
who was almost crazy with grief and despair. The wish
was complied with, and the body sent to her for burial.
The sympathies of the community are demanded for
this poor woman, who is in extreme destitution, with a




THE BIBLE ARGUMENT.              91
small child to support, twenty months old, and is again
on the eve of confinement."
Here was a man-a Christian man-with a soul all
bright with a glorious hope of immortality, whom the
Christian people of Kentucky, his brethren, strangled
into eternity. Was that act really a Christian act?
Was it in harmony with the law of love, the great central principle of the Christian religion?
The other case was somewhat similar. The prisoner's
name was Williams. He was greatly distressed and dreadfully alarmed with reference to his future condition, but
protesting his innocence, with the most piteous appeals
to the last. Every moment he besought the prayers of all
Christians around him in his behalf. Says the writer:
" The hour arriving for his execution, the sheriff, with a
bleeding heart and tear-moistened eye, called for him.
Taking Mr. Lyon, (his father's friend and neighbor,)
by the hand, and begging him to go with him and pray
for him, he proceeded to the gallows, praying all the
way, until he arrived in sight of the gallows, when,
trembling like a leaf, he gave vent to an expression of
feeling which no pen can describe, and which touched
the most callous heart. Arriving at the gallows, he
sued for the last moment, and begged every Christian on
the ground to pray for him.
" It was here that the sheriff read him a brief note,
reminding him of future rewards and punishments, of
the awfulness of dying with a lie on his lips, and invoking him to say, while he looked eternity in the face,
whether he was guilty or innocent of the murder. He
replied, that he had' said all he had to say about it-he
was not guilty!" So the prisoner protested his innocence
to the last moment. Mounting the scaffold, and forgiving everybody, his soul was launched into eternity."




92       FOURTH REASON FOR ABOLISHMENT.
Yes, but if every Christian duty is embraced in a single word, and that word is love, could this act be a Christian act?  Would not Christ have had mercy on the
poor man?   Did he ever condemn to death?  Can the
law which demanded the, death of these wretched men,
be in harmony with the Christian precept which requires
" good for evil." A law which would secure them in
prison-treat them kindly-instruct them in their duty
to God and their fellow men-renovate their souls with
the spirit of Christianity, and thus cast out the spirit of
evil, by a manifestation of goodness, would be Christian;
but that which demands " eye for eye, tooth for tooth, and
life for life," never! NEVER! This belongs to another
covenant, and another age.  We are living in the nineteenth century of the Christian era. We profess to be
Christians. We are not Hebrews nor Hindoos. Whom,
then, shall we follow, Christ or Moses?  There is such a
thing as progression; as " a growing in grace, and in a
knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ."  Why
should we go back four thousand years for our morality,
our laws, our religion, and our faith? when Christ is the
light that is to lighten every man that cometh into the
world, he being' the way, the truth and the life?"
Yet, this is what the majority of Christians are everywhere doing. Christ himself has instructed them that' the law and the prophets were until John; since that
time the kingdom of God is preached;"* but giving no
heed to this, they forsake the "kingdom of Christ," and
going back to " the law and the prophets," and planting
themselves on the old covenant, say, "This is our law, our
morality, our Christianity, ourfaith."
It is a fact which no one will attempt to dispute who
is at all acquainted with the subject, that every opposer to
* Luke, 16:16.




THE BIBLE ARGUMENT.               93
progression in humanity and moral purity, has gone to
the "types and shadows" of the Old Testament, to maintain his position. He could obtain no sympathy, no aid
from Christ and his apostles. If a Christian would find
a scriptural argument for drunkenness, he must go to
Noah, or the history of the ancient Hebrews. So of
war and the gallows. These practices can find no advocate in Christ or his immediate followers. But even
Christian men believe that they must be sustained, and
they, therefore, appeal to commandments and a code
which existed two thousand years before Christ, and which
he clearly abrogated, as we have seen. But where is their
authority, for such a course? What consistency is there
in it? Why not advocate the sacrifice of sheep and goats,
the burning of incense, and the making of offerings of
oil and flour? They were demanded by the law of
Moses, and are as really binding on us under the Christian dispensation, as the Death Penalty. This, then,
we repeat, is a very important reason for the abolishment of the gallows. It is not sanctioned, but positively
condemned, by the Christian religion.
And here, so far as the demands of the Bible go, we
might rest the argument. It satisfies me; for admitting
all the opposer claims for the Levitical code, under the
old dispensation, to be true, it is no more binding on us
than is. the penal code of Connecticut colony, which
hung for witchcraft, profanity, idolatry and petty robbery. We are followers of Christ, and not of " them of
old time," and until it can be shown that the New Testament clearly sanctions the Punishment of Death, we may
rest in the assurance that the Bible contains no commands, nor instructions, that demand at our hand the
blood of a fellow creature, no matter what his offenses.
But this disposition of the subject, though satisfactory




94       FOURTH REASON FOR ABOLISHMENT.
to some, will not answer the expectations of all my readers. Many sincerely believe that the Mosaic law is still
binding, and especially the declaration of God to Noah,
"Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood
be shed"-" a declaration," it is contended, "that is expressive of the law of God concerning the murderer. He
must be slain. The command is universal and perpetual.
From the beginning God made this demand, and it must
run parallel with the existence of man, to the end of
time."  So affirm the most able supporters of the Death
Penalty. Let us, then, enter into a more minute and
critical examination of the subject. " Prove all things,
and hold fast that which is good," is an apostolic injunction by which we have long been led. It shall be our
motto in the investigation of the question before us.
We begin with the declaration to Noah.




CHAPTER IX.
THE   BIBLE ARGUMENT CONTINUED.
COVENANT WITH NOAH.
Is it positive, universal and perpetual?-Accidental killing-Killing in Self-defense,
or in defense of one's Country, must be visited with Death-The Executioner must
be slain-The text restricted to the Murderer; but in what degree of murder shall it
be applied-Death Penalty not known till the year of the world 1650-Cain not put to
death Lamech not put to death Moses a-murderer and not slain-Numerous other
cases of the same description - God did not himself regard the declaration to Noah-Tho
true rendering and teaching of the text-Opinion of learned men-Evidence conclusive
against the continuance of the Gallows.
" Whoso sheddeth man's blood by man shall his blood be
shed."     Gen. 9: 6.
If the reader has perused the foregoing chapter, he is
prepared for what we have to say on this declaration
of God to Noah; a declaration which the advocates of
the Death Penalty contend is positive, universal in its application and perpetual to the end of time.   "Can language
be more emphatic or universal?" exclaims an ardent de.
fender of the gallows.      "Whoso"-that is, any person
whatever-"sheddeth man's blood"-who kills his fellow
creature-"by man shall his blood be shed."              There
is no escape, and no limit as to time, or country, or situation. On the contrary, such were the circumstances
under which the declaration was made, that the whole
context goes to show that this command was designed to
be "perpetual and universal."
Let us admit, for the sake of the argument, that the
objector is correct in these premises; and then query,
(95)




96        THE BIBLE ARGUMENT CONTINUED.
"Whoso" signifies, he says, "any person whatever," and
to "shed blood" means "to kill."  The meaning of the
text is, then, if applied literally, that any person whatever
who kills, shall himself be killed. "There is no escape."
It follows, then, that the man who destroys life accidentally, or in self-defense, or in defense of his country,
must be killed, for he kills.  " There is no escape."  The
jury who convict the prisoner of murder, the judge who
passes sentence of death on him, and the hangman who
closes the scene of blood, all must be killed, for they
are all guilty of killing; the judge and jury by proxy,
the hangman, personally. The heroes of "seventy six,"
who fought the battles of the American Revolution, with
the Father of his Country at their head, should all to a
man have been executed, for they all "shed blood."  Notice, the language of the text is "positive" and "without
restriction," "extending to all who kill." " Whoso sheddeth
man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed."  "There
is no escape." As says a writer when discanting on this
subject: "If this command to Noah requires the death
of all who shed blood without exception, then it is clear
that the executioner should be killed; and when he is slain,
his slayer must be put to death, and his and his, and thus
the work of slaughter should go on, till the last man becomes his own executioner and crowns, with his corpse,
the work of universal carnage."
Here, the objector finds himself in a dilemma, and to
escape, says that he would restrict the application of the
text to the murderer. But, we reply, first, that the mom.ent he restricts the text, that moment he surrenders
the ground already assumed, that it is of "universal application;" and second, that he has no authority for
such restriction, as there is nothing either in the text or
context that will warrant it.




COVENANT WITH NOAH.               97
But suppose he is permitted to make the restriction
and apply the principle contained in the text only in a
case of murder; in what degree of murder would he
make the application?  The penal codes of all our States
recognize, at least, two degrees of murder. Killing with
mali ce prepense, or aforethought, is murder in the first degree. Killing in the heat of passion, is man-slaughter,
or murder in the second degree. Does the objector say
that he would apply the principle of the text only in the,
case of murder in the first degree? But with what propriety can he make this restriction? If a man rises up
in the heat of passion and slays his fellow, does he not
just as really shed his blood as if the act were premeditated? and if so, does not the declaration to Noah demand his blood? If he answers in the affirmative, then
he must make the penal code of his own State more
severe, for no State in our Union, as our laws now stand,
demands death for man-slaughter.  But why not, if we
are Christians, and the declaration, "whoso sheddeth
man's blood by man shall his blood be shed," is still
binding on us?
From the foregoing considerations, it will be perceived
that the declaration cannot be literally and universally
applied; and that no Christian nation pretends to live
up to such a construction; for it is only in extreme
cases, and for the worst form of murder, that we "shed
blood."
And when we say that this declaration contains a law
which God designed from the beginning to restrain the
passions and regulate the conduct of men,-a law to be
regarded perpetually to the end of time,-we say what the
Scriptures do not sanction-indeed, what they positively
deny, as we will now show.
9




98       THE BIBLE ARGUMENT CONTINUED.
THE WORLD SIXTEEN CENTURIES WITHOUT THE
DEATH PENALTY.
First, the declaration contained in the text under cone
sideration was not given to Noah till the year of the
world 1657; and, what is a little remarkable, up to this
time the Death Penalty was not known among men,
and yet murder had been committed. How will the
objector account for this fact, if the law of "life for life"
was designed fromn the beginning to restrain men from
violence, and proclaimed as an adequate punishment for
the crime of murder?  For more than sixteen hundred
years the generations of men had been multiplying in
the earth, and had been guilty of slaying each other, and
still the law of death was not instituted!
Go back to the first murder ever committed, and how
does God himself deal with the wretched homicide?
Does he make an application of the principle contained
in the declaration to Noah as a punishment for the crime
of Cain? Not at all; instead, he positively declares that
Cain should not be slain. Let us look at his case.
CASE OF CAIN.
"And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came
to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up
against Abel his brother, and slew him. And the Lord
said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said,
I know not. Am I my brother's keeper? And he said,
what hast thou done?  The voice of thy brother's blood
crieth unto me from the ground, and now art thou
cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to
receive thy brother's blood from thy hand. When thou
tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee
her strength: a fugitive and vagabond shalt thou be in




COVENANT WITH NOAH.              99
the earth. And Cain said unto the Lord, My punishment is greater than I can bear.  Behold thou hast
d.riven me out this day from the face of the earth; and
from thy face shall I be hid; and it shall come to pass, that
every one that findeth me shall slay me. And the Lord said
unto him, therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance
shall be taken on him seven-fold. And the Lord set a
mark upon Cain lest any finding him should slay him."*
Here we have the account of the first murder ever
committed, the first law ever instituted for the punishment of the offender, and the details of the first trial on
record where the criminal was a murderer.     The
Almighty God was himself the Law-giver and the Judge;
the garden of Eden the court-room, and the blood of the
slain Abel, crying from the teeming ground, both the
accuser and the witness.
And what is the nature of the penalty attached to the
awful offense of the wretched man? Was it "blood for
blood?"  If Capital Punishment is a perpetual institution, divine and universal, why was it not then proclaimed? There was no mistake in the guilt of the
criminal at the bar. At first, he was inclined to cover
his sin with a falsehood. "And the Lord said unto
Cain, where is thy brother Abel? and he said, I know
not; am I my brother's keeper?" But "God is not
mocked." Human tribunals are fallible and may be deceived, but infinite knowledge, never!
We may succeed in hiding our crimes from man, but
the eye of God penetrates into the very secrets of the
soul, and our sin will find us out, and "though hand
join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished." Cain
was guilty of murder, and when fully charged with the
dreadful crime, he did not longer deny. We ask again,
Gen. 4: 8-15.




100      THE BIBLE ARGUMENT CONTINUTED.
why did not the Almighty then institute the Death Penalty?  Why did he not then erect the gallows, and himself become the executioner? Do you say that the murder
was not an aggravated one; that Cain slew his brother in
the heat of passion, and was, therefore, entitled to lenity?
But the facts in the case will not warrant such a supposition; on the contrary, they show plain enough that the
murder was premeditated, and wilful. Look at the preceding account. "Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain
was a tiller of the ground. And in process of time it
came to pass, that Cain brought, of the fruit of the
ground, an offering unto the Lord. And Abel, he also
brought of the firstlings of his floc.k, and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his
offering; but unto Cain and his offering he had not
respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his colunteznance
fell. And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth?
and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well,
shalt not thou be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin
lieth at the door."*  Here we witness the "wrath" of
Cain. His heart was filled with envy, jealousy, and
hatred toward his kind and innocent brother; and these
passions raged like a sea, unbridled, till the destruction
of Abel was the consequence. What a cold-blooded,
heartless murder! And yet, God did not slay the murderer! He did not deprive him of liberty, even; and instead
of hanging him up like a cat on a gibbet, and strangling
the life.out of him, as we Christians would do in a similar case, he actually instituted a law TO SAVE HIM FROM3
DEATH. Is not this remarkable, if " life for life" is so
necessary to restrain the vicious, and so sanctifying in its
moral influences! Hear the sentence pronounced by God
Himself, upon the guilty man. "And now art thou
* Genesis, 4: 2-7.




COVENANT WITH NOAH.             101
cursed from the earth which hath opened her mouth to
receive thy brother's blood from thy hand. When thou
tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee
her strength; a fugitive and vagabond shalt thou be in
the earth."
Here was the doom of Cain. God did not slay him
because he had slain. This would have been a work of
retaliation and vengeance. "Thou shalt not kill," is
the law of God, and He would not be the first to violate
his own precept; but by his dealings with the murderer,
he would show all men the sanctity of human life. And
thus: " from the ashes of murdered Abel, and from the
stamped forehead of Cain, is proclaimed to the magistrate,
and the criminal, to the murderer in his bloody purpose,
and thejudge in his fearful decision,' Thou shalt not kill.' 
But though God did not slay the murderer, the penalty that he pronounced was a fearful one. He was banished from God and from society. His conscience was
full of guilt, and the awful apprehension of being hunted
like a wild beast, by his fellow men, was overwhelming
in its effect; so that he exclaimed, in the voice of despair, "My punishment is greater than I can bear! Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of
the earth, and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall
be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it
shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall
slay me."
Some contend that the Death Penalty must have been
previously instituted, or Cain would not have expressed
a fear of being slain. But not so. God has implanted
a sort of instinct in man, which causes him to dread the
very evils which he inflicts on others. The dishonest
man suspects the integrity of all men; the liar confides in
no man's word; the thief expects to be robbed, and the




102      THE BIBLE ARGUMENT CONTINUED.
murderer to be killed. So with Cain. He was a murderer. The voice of his brother's blood was ever crying
from the ground; and he felt that as he had killed without provocation, the hands of all men would be turned
against him, and whosoever found him would slay him.
But God said this should not be. "Whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him seven fold.
And the Lord God set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him."  What this "mark" was, has
given rise to many conjectures. Nothing is said in the
context from which we can decide; neither does it
matter, so far as the present question is concerned, inasmuch as we are assured that it protected the wretched
homicide from destruction. Still we think the explanation, as given by Dr. Shuckford, of England, an eminent
Hebrew scholar, very reasonable and beautiful, and so
perfectly in harmony with this entire account, that we
cannot forbear giving it a place here. " The Hebrew
word oth," says he, "which we translate a mark,' signifies a sign or token. Thus, Gen. 9: 13, the bow set in the
heavens, was to be leoth, for a sign or token that the
world should not again be destroyed by flood; therefore
the words,'and the Lord set a mark upon Cain,'
should be translated, and the Lord appointed unto Cain
a token or sign,' to convince him that no person should be
permitted to slay him. To have marked him would have
been the most likely way to have brought all the evils
he dreaded upon him; therefore, the Lord gave him
some miraculous sign or token that he should not be
slain, to the end that he should not despair, but, having
time to repent, might return to a gracious God and find
mercy."
Here, then, we have the case of Cain. He was guilty
of a dreadful murder, arraigned by God himself, convict



COVENANT WITII NOAH.            103
ed and sentenced. His punishment was dreadful, still
his life was preserved, and so should be the life of every
homicide. He was banished from the face of society, and
so should be every homicide. The murderer is guilty of
the worst crime that man can commit. His presence is
dangerous in any community, and he should, therefore,
be safely secured. But he should not be injured. God
has given us an example of clemency, in his dealings toward the miserable Cain, which it would be wise in us to
follow. He visited him with no act of vengeance, but
while he assured him of the certainty of his punishment,
he gave him a sign or token, that he should not be slain,
"to the end that he might not despair, but, having time
to repent, might return to a gracious God, and find forgiveness."  What mingling of mercy and justice! And
what a beautiful example for legislation in all ages!
The reader must see that the argument founded on the
case of Cain, when Jehovah himself was both Law-giver
and Judge, affords the Death Penaltyno aid; neither does
it sustain the assertion that the principle contained in
the declaration to Noah was of universal application; on
the contrary, it refutes the idea, as God did not himself
regard it.
Coming down from this first offense in the history of
man, to the year of the world 500, we find an account of
the second murderer, whose case we will briefly consider.
LAMECI, THE SECOND MURDERER.
Lamech is the second murderer of whom we have any
account; and it is a little singular that he was a descendant of Cain, and the father of Noah. We are told that
after the sentence was pronounced upon Cain, that he
"went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in
the land of Nod, on the east of Eden."  " The Hebrew




104       THE BIBLE ARGUMENT CONTINUED.
word nod, says an eminent commentator, "signifies the
same as nad, a vagcaboncl, and, therefore, should have been
rendered, as some contend, " an1d C.in went out from the
presence of the Lord'I, (that is, from the spiritual paradise
of God in the garden,) on the coast of Edenz, and dwelt a
uvagabonzd lpou the earth; and thus the curse pronounced
on him in the twelfth verse was accomplished."  But
notwithstanding the curse that followed him, we are told
that his wife accompanied him, that he had sons and
daughters-built a city, and that his descendants were
prosperc-s. The account is given in the following language:  " And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived
and bare Enoch, and he builded a city, and called the
name of the city after the name of his son Enoch. And
unto Enoch was born Irad; and Irad begat Mehujael;
and Mehujael begat Methusael, and Methusael begat Lamech. And Lamech took unto him two wives; the name
of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah."
Thus it will be seen that Lamech was a bigamist. " He
was the first man," says Dr. A. Clarke, "who dared to reverse the order of God, by introducing polygamy."  He
was also guilty of killing a man.; and notwithstanding
both these offenses, was not himself, slain.  "And Lamech said unto his wives Acdah and Zillah, hear my
voice; ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech;
for 1 have slain a man to my wounding, and a young
man to my hurt."'' It is sumroosed that Lamech had slain a man in his
own defense, and that his wives, being alarmed lest the
friends of the deceased should seek his life in return, to
quiet their fears, he makes this speech, in which lie
endeavors to prove that there was no room for fear on
this account; for if the slayer of the wilful murderer,
* Genesis 4 23.




COVENANT WITH NOAH.             105
Cain, should suffer a seven fold punishment, surely he
who should kill Lamech, for having killed a man in selfdefense, might expect a seventy-seven fold punishment.'
These two are the only accounts of murder on record,
previous to the declaration to Noah now under consideration, which was given, as we before said,'in the year of
the world, 1652, and in neither of these was the life of
the offender destroyed.
INSTANCES OF DISREGARD OF THE DECLARATION TO NOAH
AFTER IT WAS MADE.
It may be said by the objector, that previously to God's
covenant with Noah, no express law against the murderer had been instituted, and for this reason he was not
visited with death. But what a mistake. Could not a
law against murder be instituted, without annexing the
penalty of death? Let the reader look carefully at God's
dealings with the first murderer, as exhibited in the
preceding pages; let him reflect upon the guilt of the
wretched man-his arraignment before the bar of offend..
ed justice-his examination as a criminal-the verdict
rendered, and the sentence passed, and answer whether
a law was not then and there instituted against the
murderer; a law, too, which but echoed the very instinct
which God had previously written in the soul of man, and
inscribed on every filament of his nature, standing as a
perpetual and eternal edict, declaring, " Thou shalt not
kill."  We grant that no statute law had been instituted,
no chains forged, or prison reared, or gallows erected.
Still, God had instituted a law, annexed the penalty, and
punished the offender; and yet, as we have seen, he
neither burned, hanged nor drowned him.
But suppose we grant that no express law against the
murderer had been instituted previously to the declara



106       THE BIBLE ARGUMENT CONTINUED.
tion of Noah, and, therefore, the offender was not put to
death; this plea cannot be put in against God's disregard
of this penalty, after he spoke so emphatically and said:
" Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood
be shed;" for here, the objector says, is the law of " life
for life," instituted by God, and which is to be perpetual
and universal.
But was it a universal law?  After the declaration
was made, was every man put to death who was guilty of
murder?   Did God himself regard it in his dealings
with those who killed? Why, instead of this, we find
no intimations of the Death Penalty in the sacred history,
for more than six hundred years subsequently to God's
covenant with Noah. Is not this remarkable, if the law
of " life for life " was to be a rule of perpetual and universal application?
In the year of the world, 2200, we find Isaac and his
wife tarrying with Abimelech, the king of the Philistines.
To secure them against harm, after Isaac's prevarication,
Abimelech charged all his people, saying, "He that
toucheth this man or his wife, shall surely be put to
death."*  And this is the first threatening of the Death
Penalty that appears in the Bible.
In the year 2266 Simeon and Levi, sons of the patriarch Jacob, as the sacred word informs us, armed themselves, with each a sword, and fell upon the defenseless
and innocent men of a certain city, and slew them all.t
And did Jacob, their father, convict them of murder, and
command that they, in turn, be slain? Not at all. He
simply reproved them at the time, and when on the bed
of death, pronounced the natural consequences of a life of
cruelty and vengeance. He called them to him and said,
as he spoke to his children in the order of their ages:
* Genesis 22: 11.                  t Genesis 2: 3.




COVENANT WITI-I NOAH.           107
" Simeon and Levi are brethren. Instruments of cruelty
are in their habitation. Oh my soul, come not thou into
their secret; unto their assembly, mine honor, be not
thou united. For in their anger they slew a man," (the
original says, a noble and hoitorable man,) " cursed be
their anger, for it was fierce, and their wrath, for it was
cruel. I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in
Israel."*  This was all. And it was enough. Simeon
and Levi were not slain; still, like Cain, they were punished. They and their posterity were divided and scattered. They attained to no political eminence; but
were followed by adversity and a curse, in the future
years of their existence.
Now, we must keep in mind that the law of Noah was
given to the Hebrews, and that Jacob was a judge or
ruler among them. Is it at all probable, then, that
this just and devout man could have regarded the declaration to Noah, which we are considering, as a positive
command, that all who shed blood should be killed?'If
he had so understood this instruction, would he not have
executed these murderers though they were his sons, or
offered some apology for not doing it? Most certainly.
But instead of this, we find no intimation in the entire
account, that the necessity of such a punishment occurred
to him.
Pursuing history still further, in the year 2433, we
find even Moses-Moses the man of God, the great lawgiver-himself slaying a man. " He looked this way, and
that way, and when he saw that there was no man, he
slew the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand."t  Moses
committed this deed with the full knowledge of all that
had been said to Noah, and yet God did not visit him
with death. He was neither hung nor crucified.
* Genesis 49: 2 -7.               t Exodus 2: 12.




108      THE BIBLE ARGUMENT CONTINUED.
Coming down further still, we behold Doeg, by order of the blood-thirsty and cruel Saul, wickedly murdering no less than eighty-five innocent and defenseless
priests, together with all the "women and children and
sucklings" of the city, and yet the declaration of God,
"Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood
be shed," was not even mentioned to him.
Again, in the year 3074, Zimri conspired against
Elah, king of Judah, and treacherously "smote and
killed him"* in his own house when drunk, and he, in
turn, was not slain, but reigned as king in place of the
murdered Elah.
Then, coming down further, we find David killing the
Amalekite directly, and the faithful, noble and heroic
Uriah, indirectly, but was not in turn himself destroyed.
But why not, if God had designed the declaration of
Noah as a positive law against the murderer? David was
guilty of a double crime. He had stolen the affections
of the wife of Uriah, in the absence of the latter;-had
become her paramour, and now wished to rid himself of
the husband that he might marry the wife. So he wrote
a letter to Joab, the commander of his soldiers, saying,
" Set ye Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and
retire ye from him that he may be smitten and die."t
This letter was put into the hand of Uriah himself to
carry to Joab, so that the unfortunate man became the
bearer of his own death-warrant. Joab did as he was
directed, and poor Uriah perished by order of the king,
when he was fighting for the honor of that king. What
a diabolical act on the part of David! And yet, though
God himself took this matter in hand, and arraigned the
unfortunate David before his "judgment-seat " through
the instrumentality of Nathan the prophet, he did not
* 1 Kings 16: 9-10.           t 2 Samuel 11: 15.




COVENANT WITH NOAH.             109
command that he be put to death; but pronounced the
following sentence upon him: "Thus saith the Lord
God of Israel: I anointed thee king over Israel, and I
delivered thee out of the hand of Saul....  Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of God, to do
evil in his sight?  Thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite
with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife,
and hast slain him with the sword of the children of
Ammon. Now, therefore, the sword shall never depart
from thine house; because thou hast despised me. Behold, saith the Lord God, I will raise up evil against thee
out of thine own house..... And David said unto
Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan
said unto David: the Lord hath put away thy sin-thou
shalt not die." Here was David's punishment. His life
was preserved; but all which was pronounced against
him was fulfilled to the very letter.*
And when we come down to the time of Christ, we
find the cruel Herod beheading the innocent John in his
prison;-Christ himself nailed to the cross; -Saul
breathing out wrath and slaughter;-Peter and Stephen
cruelly murdered, and yet we have no account that those
engaged in this work of blood were themselves slain.
Instead of this, Saul the murderer was converted to
Christianity, through the power of the Holy Ghost, and
afterward became " Paul the apostle to the Gentiles,"
and the author of thirteen books of the New Testament.
In conclusion, then, we come to ask, can it be that
God designed the principle contained in the declaration,
i" Wtoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be
shed," to be universally applied?  Can we arrive at this
result with all these facts before us? Did the Almighty
design even that its spirit should enter the moral and
* See the entire account, 2 Samuel 12th chapter.




110       THE BIBLE ARGUMENT CONTINUED.
penal codes of nations, and that blood should be poured
out for blood, to the end of time? We cannot believe
this; and many of the most eminent Christians and biblical scholars of all denominations, who have written on
the subject, some of whom believe in the necessity of the
Death Penalty, entertain the same views; assuring us
that this text does not afford that support to the punishment of death, that Christians so generally ascribe to
it, as will more fully appear in what follows.
TWELVE DIFFERENT TRANSLATIONS.
We have not yet done with Noah. All that we have
said may appear plausible to all, but may not be satisfactory to all. For though Noah lived two thousand
and five hundred years before Christ, God's declaration
to him is the rock on which the Christian plants himself
in his defense of the gallows. In the year 1843, the
Rev. George B. Cheever, of New York, in his reply to
O'Sullivan's masterly production, in favor of the abolishment of the Death Penalty, calls this text in the ninth
chapter of Genesis, "the CITADEL of the argumtent comzmanding and sweeping the whole stbject."  Thousands
view the text in the same light. Converse with whoim we
will on the subject, and if he be a Christian in favor of
legal strangulation, whether minister or layman, he will
be sure to adduce this text; and though he is driven
from every other point in the fortress, will retire within
the precincts of this with an air of the most perfect confidence that it cannot be taken from him. During the
past year we have noticed three published sermons and
many essays and articles in religious journals of our
land, in favor of the Punishment of Death, and in each,
the foundation of the argument was God's declaration
to Noah.




COVENANT WITH NOAH.              11t
Now, we believe the Bible. We believe that it contains a pure and exalted morality; that it inculcates the
most ennobling ideas of human duty, of God and the
immortal world. There is no man who has a more
sacred reverence for this " book of books,"-the greatest
gift of God to man-than the author of these pages.
But this is not all. We not only entertain a high opinion and strong affection for the Bible, but we strive,
above all things, to understand its true teachings. " Understandest thou what thou readest?"* is an important
injunction, which it would be well for all Christians to
keep in mind, in the perusal of the divine word; because
a bare reverence for the Scriptures is not enough. They
will be of little service to us if we do not comprehend
their teachings.
With reference to the text under consideration, we
have given several reasons why we cannot believe that
God designed the declaration it contains as a law demanding the blood of the offender, and reaching down to
the end of time. But there are more and weightier reasons for this conclusion-reasons drawn fron the text
itself. In the first place, let me say that this verse has
had twelve different translations, all by learned Christian
men. Some of these translations favor the Death Penalty, and some oppose it, as we shall see bye-and-bye.
But let us put the reasonable question here, whether it
is probable that Almighty God would have left a matter
of so much importance, resting upon a single line of
Hebrew-and that line of Hebrew so ambiguous as that
twelve different Christian men, of equal sincerity and
learning, give it as many renderings?  The Christian
says that this text is his "impregnable foundation;" and
yet, if he is a Hebrew scholar, he dare not stand up in
Acts 8: 36.




112       THE BIBLE ARGUMENT CONTINUED.
a company of scholars and affirm that he is sure of its
meaning.
THE TRUE MEANING AND DESIGN OF THE TEXT.
We have now arrived at the proper place in our investigations, to give what we believe to be the true meaning
of this declaration. The writer of these pages is not a
Calvinist theologically, but respecting the intent of this
text, his views are perfectly in harmony with those of the
great Genevan. Calvin says, that to render it "by man,"
is a "forced construction;"-that the following is a better translation: " Whoso sheddeth the blood of man, his
blood will be shed;" making the rendering, not in the
form of a command, but denunciatory, and describing
prophetically what is the natural consequence of bloody
deeds. The declaration was a general one, and never
designed for literal, particular and universal application.
Christ used nearly the same form of expression and with
reference to the same subject, when he reproved the
hasty Peter who was about to commit an act of violence,
in defense of his Master: "AILL they that take the sword
shall perish with the sword."*  How positive, how zuiversal, is the sense of this declaration when understood
literally. And yet no one can believe that Christ designed to teach that Capital Punishment should be inflicted with the sword on all who use it. He meant only
that "a violent life is apt to close with a violent death."
Again, John says: " He that killeth with the sword,
must be killed with the sword."t  How emphatic is this
expression, and yet, the meaning is, simply, that they
who contend in battle, are likely, on both sides, sooner
or later, to become sacrifices to their mutual animosities.
So of the declaration to Noah. When God spake these
- Matthew 26: 57.            t Revelation 13: 10.




COVENANT WITH NOAH.             113
words the ark had rested upon the mountain; and Noah
and all his family walked forth upon the green earth,
for the waters had abated. Then God established his
covenant; and gave the precious promise that" summer
and winter, seed-time and harvest," should never cease.
Then the bow spanned the heavens, as a token which
should remain perpetually, of the love and constancy of
the Father, and of his declaration that the earth should
never again be destroyed by a deluge.
And God said to Noah: " And the fear of you shall be
upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of
the air; upon all that move upon the earth, and upon all
the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered.
Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you;
even as the green herb, have I given you all things.
But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood there
of, shall ye not eat. And surely your blood of your
lives will I require. At the hand of every beast will I
require it, and at the.hand of every man; at the hand of
every man's brother will I require the life of man.
Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be
shed."
Great stress is usually laid upon the word "shall" in
this text. "By man SHALL his blood be shed," as if the
declaration was imperative. But this same auxilliary is
employed in this same connection where the meaning
cannot be imperative. "Every moving thing that liveth
SHALL BE meat for you."*   Caterpillers, spiders and
rattlesnakes " live " and "move;" so that if this text is
to be taken in its literal and imperative sense, all men are
doomed to subsist upon these poisonous insects and reptiles. Do you say this instruction was limited to the Hebrews, and designed only to regulate their practices in diet?
* See third verse.
10




114        THE BIBLE ARGUMENT CONTINUED.
then, on the same grounds, we can limit the instruction
of the sixth verse to the Hebrews, and say that oly' they
should pour out.blood for blood.    But this was not the
design of the text.  " Bloody and deceitful men shall not
live out half their days."-*  Here is the same imperative
form; but the sense is not imperative.    The instruction
is general, and the same as that contained in the declaration to Noah, teaching us that'" violence begets iviolence."   Again, it is declared that "the wicked shall do
wickedly, and none of the wicked shall understand."t    If
we take this in an imperative sense, then it contains a
command to sin and not to understand the truth.      So in
the declaration of Christ to Peter, " They that take the
sword, shall perish by the sword," the same imperative
form occurs, and yet w3 know     the declaration was not
imperative.   A better rendering would have been,' They
that take the sword will perish by the sword," which is
the sense, as we have seen, in which Calvin gives the
phrase " shall be shed," in the declaration to Noah, notwithstanding he was both theoretically and practically in
favor of Capital Punishment, especially by burning.1
TESTIMONY OF LEARNED MEN.-TRUE TRANSLATION.
The views we have now taken of this subject are sustained by some of the leading spirits in every age of the
Christian Church.    Even   three hundred    years before
Christ, we find the Seventy-Two learned Jews of Alexan* Psalms 55;7. -                      Daniel 12: 10.
T The Death Penalty has always been a dreadful instrument of injustice
and cruelty in the hands of both political and religious despots. Millions
of innocent men and women have been put to death by the Church, for
matters of faith. Calvin possessed this power. James Gallet was beheaded by his order, "because he had written," what Calvin deemed "profane
letters." Michael Servetus, in his passage through Geneva, in 1553, was
arrested, and on Calvin's accusation, was burnt alive because he had attacked, (not men and women,) but the mystery of the Triiity." Numerous
other similar examples might be adduced, showing how fearful is such a
law even in the hands of religious men.




COVENANT WITH NOAH.             115
dria, in translating their Hebrew Scriptures into Greek,
omitting the words "by man."  They gave the text as
they understood it, merely as indicating the natural conseq;unces ofviolence. Now, is it not probable that they
understood the teachings of their own Scriptures, as correctly as we at this late day; and as they were probably
in favor of the law of "life for life," is it not reasonable
to suppose that they would have employed this declaration to support the practice, if they could have done so
without violating the text?  And yet they have it, when
literally rendered, as follows: "Whoso sheddeth man's
blood, for his blood, (i. e. the blood of the slain,) will have
his own shed."
Not only the Septuagint, but Wickliffe and the Vulgate omit the words "by man."  The Samaritan version
has it: "For the man his blood will be shed."  While
the Latin version has it: " Whoso sheddeth human blood,
his blood will be shed."  Martini's Italian version has
it: "Whoso sheds human blood, his blood will be shed,'
not mentioning the instrument by which the bloody
work will be accomplished, and like the others, giving
the general form. "The French Bible in common use,
and which is distributed by our Bible societies, has it:'Who will shed the blood of man in man, his blood will
be poured out;' making the'beth-adam' of the Hebrew to refer to the mode of the first life-taking, and not
to the agent in the second. Swedenborg also renders it:'He who sheds the blood of man in man, his blood shall
be shed'-placing the comma after'in man,' as in the
French. Paschal quotes it:'Whoso sheddeth human
blood, his blood will be shed;' and adds-' This general
prohibition takes from man all power over the life of
man.' Cahen, the director of the Hebrew school in
Paris, who not long since published a new version of the




116       THE BIBLE ARGUMENT CONTINUED.
Old Testament, also uses the future indicative,'will be
shed.'"
A writer in the Democratic Review,* gives a learned
criticism, showing the obscurity of our common translation, and what has to be assumed by the translators to
give the text the form and signification with which it is
clothed as it comes to us. He says:
"Although the question is one of criticism, it may,
however, be made plain enough to the unlearned, as well
as to the more scholarly reader. What is the literal
rendering of the Hebrew of the sixth verse of Genesis,
ix?  This is the first question. Simply this:'Shedding blood of man in man his (or its) blood will be
shed.' No one will dispute this. Now, in order to convert this into the common English version, three things
have to be assumed on the strength of some right or
authority, which, wherever it may reside, it is very certain does not belong to the Hebrew itself. Namely:
1st. The participle'shedding,' is not only made personal and masculine, but it is confined to the personal and masculine sense, in the words' whoso sheddeth.'
2nd. The verb, which in the original is the simple future
tense, so as to be rendered in Latin effunditur, and in
English'will be shed,' must receive an imperative sense
so as to be read'shall be shed.' And 3dly. The expression which is literally'in man,' in the original, must be
made to denote agency, by selecting and assigning to the
preposition employed, only one of its various meanings,
so as to be converted into'by man.' It is only after
the performance of this triple process that the original
Hebrew (of which we have given above a literal rendering) becomes translated, or rather transformed, into the
common English reading of our Bible.
* March, 1843: page 228.




COVENANT WITH NOAH.              117
" Respecting the fiuture form of the verb, however, we
deny most emphatically that our opponents have any
right or reason to claim for it any necessary imperative
force. Do they deny the fact?  No. But they say, as
there is no third person i mperative in the Hebrew, the fiuture has to be used when it is desired to express that sense.
The word may, undoubtedly, be so rendered if we choose,
but it is not necessary to do it so. Because the future
form may sometimes be rendered imperatively, must it always be? Are may and must identical?    For one instance of the imperative, ten can be pointed to, of the simple and proper future tense.....
"i Our position on this point cannot be shaken; no
scholar, no candid reasoner, can dispute it-namely, that
there is not necessarily anything imperative in the use of
the Hebrew verb here used, and that it may as well be
rendered'will be shed,' (denunciatory or declaratory)or'may be shed,' (permissively.) To give it the imperative
sense, and then claim our obedience as a command, is not
only to beg the whole question, but even imperatively to
clothe in the garb of divine authority, that which is the
mere imposture of human assumption. The present application of it may be fairly compared to an act of forging
a sovereign's signet to a death-warrant."
Le Clerc, who is excellent authority, also tells us that
the translation "by man," should have been "among
men."   "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, his blood will be
shed among men."   " This is the natural consequence of
bloody deeds."  He adds: "Homicides suffer a retributive punishment for their crime, whether they fall into
the hands of the law, or by the providence of God, they
generally perish by some violent death."
Professor T. C. Upham,* of Bowdoin College, Maine,
* A Presbyterian or Congregationalist in sentiment.




118       THE BIBLE ARGUMENT CONTINUED.
one of the first Hebrew scholars in the country, says,
that ". the passage may be read,' Whnoso sheddeth man's
blood, by man WILL his blood be shed.' "  He adds that
the expressions are " obviously not to be understood as a
command, authorizing and requiring every one, by his
own act, and in his own person, to put to death any and
every other individual who has been guilty of murder.
Such an interpretation would fill the world with violence
and confusion."  He also says: "We regard it as merely expressive of a great retributive fact in nature, and in
the overruling providence of God, that he who designedly
and wickedly takes human life shall, assuredly. in some
way or other, meet with severe punishment, and will
probably come to a violent end."t
"The mark of Cain is stamped upon murderers, and
they are lost and ruined men, even if the civil magistrate does not touch them. All nature frowns upon
them; the very stones cry out; some perish by quarrels
in the streets; some seek a refuge on the ocean and are
drowned; some are put to death by their fellow men from
feelings of revenge; some are killed in war; some put
themselves to death by violent means; some die of pure
remorse and anguish of spirit; and, in one way or other,
as sure as there is a God in heaven, who requires the
blood they have shed at their hands, they all, sooner or
later, come to a miserable end."
Never were truer words than these, or more in harmony with the express declarations of heaven. "God is not
mocked; for whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also
reap." The history of the world from the beginning attests to the truth of this declaration. Many facts that
have come under our own observation, and others drawn
from history, both sacred and profane, might be given in
t Manual of Peace, page 219.




COVENANT WIT-H NOA:.            119
illustration, had we space. Read the Old Testament history, and mark the course and end of cruel and bloodthirsty kings and others, and you will be astonished to
find how large a number died of violent deaths; and,
therefore, how true is the declaration, " Whoso sheddeth
man's blood, by man will his blood be shed."
In illustration of this general truth, Rev. Mr. Spear, of
Boston, in his Essays on the Death Penalty, gives a
striking account, taken from some English work, of the
murder of an exciseman, on the southern coast of England, "that was barbarously beaten to death in the presence of his wife and children, who were deterred from
giving any alarm by two of the gang, who stood over
them with a pistol at each of their heads."  This was
seventy years ago. "The government offered a large
reward for the apprehension of the murderers, but: no
tidings were obtained of them for twenty-five years. At
about that time the minister of Symington Church.was
sent for by a man on his death-bed, and this man.confessed that he was the thirtieth man of the gang who had
murdered Bursey; that he stood watch at the garden
wicket, between the house and the road, to give the
alarm, if needful, but had no further active hand in the
murder; that the other twenty-nine had every one died a
violent death;-some by fire, shipwreck, battle, frays with
their companions in crimes, or some other means, so that
-:of the whole thirty, no one but himself had a chance to
die in their beds or at their homes. At the time of his
confession, the writer was in the neighborhood of Symington, and had the facts from the minister who received the dying man's confession."
Such are.the proofs we are able to adduce:to:support
the views advanced concerning the:true meaning and.intent of this declaration to Noah.




120      THE BIBLE ARGUMENT CONTINUED.
We would add here, that many critics entitled to equal
credit for learning and piety, with those we have mentioned, translate the words "whoso," referring to man, by
the term whatsoever, referring to the beast; and contend
that the declaration is not that the blood of man shall be
shed for the crime of killing, but that man shall destroy
the beast who kills. Michaelis renders it: " Whatsoever
sheddeth man's blood, his blood shall be shed." Rev. E.
H. Chapin,* in a series of lectures in Boston, a few years
ago, on the Death Penalty, takes this view of the passage:
I am inclined to the opinion," says he, " that we find
the true meaning of this text in the translation,' Whatsoever sheddeth man's blood, by man shall its blood
be shed.' This translation is well authorized and supported. Thus rendered, it extends the sanctity of human life, even to the beast, and accords with the
context. " And surely your blood of your lives will I
require; at the hand of every man; at the hand of every
man's brother will I require the life of man. Whatsoever sheddeth man's blood, by man shall its blood be
shed, for in the image of God made he man."....
" The great idea inculcated here, is the sacredness of the
mysterious principle of life. Even in the beast it was to
be respected; the life thereof, which is the blood, was
not to be eaten. But should the beast violate that principle of life in man, by shedding his blood, man was to
shed the blood of the beast, in order to demonstrate the
sanctity of that which was made in the image of God."
But, says God, "at the hand of every man's brother,
will 1," not shall man-not shall a court of justice-but
"will I require the life of man."
"The penalty, here," continues Mr. Chapin, "is not
with man, but with God,.... for in the case of man's
* An eminent Universalist clergyman of New York city.




COVENANT WnITH NOAiI.           121
murder, not only is the sacred principle of life violated,
but the image of God in man is desecrated."
There is reason in this interpretation. God required
the life of Abel at the hand of Cain, for Cain had desecrated the image of God, and violated the principle of life
in his brother. Still Cain was not executed, for this was
not the kind of requital that God demanded, as it would
have been but a repetition of the offense-a desecration of
another image, and a violation of another life. The
muderer was called to an account, and the Lord settled
it with him in his own way. So he does with every one
who violates his image in man. " Vengeance is mine,
saith the Lord, 1 will repay." It is our business to
guard the murderer, from committing greater depredation on society. God will see that his punishment is
sufficiently severe. Was it not thus with Cain? In cold
blood had he wantonly slain a kind-hearted brother without provocation, and behold how he sinks in wretchedness and ruin, a miserable vagabond and outcast on
God's earth. Shunned and forsaken of all men, no wonder he exclaims, " My punishment is greater than I can
bear!"  Surely "-the way of the transgressor is hard,
and " there is NO rest to the zoicked, saith my God."
Men, even Christians, are sometimes inclined to contradict God, and say that the way of the sinner is easy,
pleasant and delightful; whilst the path of the virtuous
is hard, barren, and cheerless. And so they would visit
the criminal with vengeance, declaring that if there were
no whips, or prisons, or dungeons, or gibbets, that there
would be no punishment. Ah! how little such persons
confide in the wisdom and positive declarations of Him
who knoweth the condition of all hearts, and who hath
said, " the wicked are like the troubled sea when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt."  Is there
11




122      THE BIBLE ARGUMENT CONTINUED.
no punishment in remorse?  Can the murderer run away
from his own conscience? Is not his soul like the
troubled sea? Has he not kindled the fires of hell within him, which many waters cannot drown? Is his rest
upon his pillow sweet, and with a soul overwhelmed in
guilt, does he not " flee when no man pursueth?" Why,
then, should Christians entertain this strong desire to
visit the criminal with vengeance, and dabble with their own
fingers in his blood, lest he escape a "just recompense of
reward?" Cannot they fasten him securely with strong
chains and bolts and bars in his stone prison, and trust
to Him " who cannot lie," when he affirms that, "though
hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be mzpunished?"
This is the doctrine in which we should educate our
children, and which we should teach at the fire-side, in
the street, at our place of business, in the pulpit, at the
bar, in the halls of legislation, and everywhere: that while
human life is sacred-while the image of God in man
should never be desecrated, even in the murderer, the
power over human life being the sole prerogative of Him
who gave it-it is impossible for the offender to go unpunished. Let society everywhere be impressed with
this undeviating truth-this eternal law of God-that
"violence begets violence," while kindness and clemency
alone will kill revenge, and melt and subdue the heartand more will be accomplished in a single year for the
suppression of crime, and the purity and safety of society
than was effected during the whole reign of Nero the
tyrant, with all his dreadful severity and cruelty, his
chains, racks, dungeons, gibbets, fires and other engines
of torture and destruction.
Such, then, are our views with reference to this noted
passage in Genesis. We cannot deem it a command upon
which the penal code of nations should rest, requiring




THE CODE OF MOSES.              123
blood for blood to the end of time, even allowing it the
common interpretation. It was addressed to no government, but to an individual in the early ages of the world.
God did not himself regard it. More than 2200 years of
the world's history passed away before it was enforced;
and since, in millions of instances, where the offender was
guilty of murder, it was not regarded. It may be a warrant for " the avenger of blood," the nearest relative of
a murdered man, to kill. This is the most that can be
claimed for it. But let any man attempt to obey that
custom now, and he would be arrested, convicted, and
executed for murder.
TIHE CODE OF MOSES.
But by this time the reader is impatient to inquire of
the writer if he has forgotten that God gave a law to
Moses; and if he is not aware that the principle of the
declaration, "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man
shall his blood be shed," was incorporated into that law,
and that this law must be still binding on us under the
Christian dispensation, for Christ himself said, "Think
not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets;
I am come not to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say
unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle
shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled."*
We are not unaware of the existence of the Levitical
code, and are ready to grant that the Death Penalty was
clearly embodied in its demands. But our questioner
would do well to notice that it required life for. other
crimes beside that of murder. Let him examine the following catalogue of offenses, all of which were recognized
as capital, and punished with death by the law of Moses,
and then answer ifevery "jot and tittle" of that law is st;ll
* Matthew 5: 18.




124       THE BIBLE ARGUMENT CONTINUED.
binding on Christians in the middle of the Nineteenth
Century.   It was carefully prepared by Mr. Spear of
Boston, who in introducing it into his " Essays on the
Death Penalty," says: " It is remarkable that no writer
with whom we have met has performed this labor. We
feel that it will do more to settle the question of its adoption by any civilized community than all other considerations."
CAPITAL OFFENSES IN THE MOSAIC CODE.
Murder,......     Exodus, xxi. 12
Kidnapping,......     "    "  16
Eating leavened bread during the Passover,  "   xii. 15
Suffering an unruly ox to be at liberty, if he kill;
the ox also to be stoned,....      xxi. 29
Witchcraft,......    "    xxii. 18
Beastiality, the beast put to death,..  "    "  19
Idolatry,....             "' 20
Oppression of Widow and Fatherless,.."     " 22
Compounding holy ointment, or putting it on any
stranger,.......    "     33
Violation of the Sabbath,...xxxi. 14
Smiting of father or mother,.."            xxi. 15
Sodomy.......       Lev. xx. 13
Eating the flesh of the sacrifice of peace-offerings with uncleanness,....   vii. 20
Eating the fat of offered beasts,..     " "     25
Eating any manner of blood,.             "     "27
Offering children to Moloch,...         xx. 2
Eating a sacrifice of peace-offering,..     xix. 8
Screening the idolater,..     "     xx. 4
Goingatfter familiar spirits and wizards,.  "  "   6
Adultery, [both parties, if female married, and
not a bond-maid,].....            10
Incest, [three kinds,]....            "  11
Cursing of parents,....        "     "   9
Unchastity in a priest's daughter,..   "    xxi. 9




THE CODE OF MOSES.               125
Blasphemy,......     Lev. xiv. 16
Stranger coming nigh the tabernacle,.  Numbers i. 51
Coming nigh the priest's office,... "    iii. 10
Usurping the sacerdotal functions,.,  "     iv. 20
Forbearing to keep the passover, if not journeying,....... "'    ix. 13
Presumption, or despising the word of the Lord, "  xv. 30
Uncleanness, or defiling the sanctuary of the
Lord,......    "    xix. 13
False pretension to the character of a divine
messenger,.....      Deut. xiii. 5
Opposition to the decree of the highest judicial authority,......      xvii. 12
Unchastity before marriage, when charged by
a husband,....."      xxii. 13
Here is the Levitical catalogue of offenses punishable
with death by the law of Moses. To those in our day
whose hearts are chastened by the grace of Christ, and
who, therefore, pity the sinful, and would "save" and
not " destroy men's lives," it looks dark and cruel. The
thunderings of Sinai are heard in it-smoke and lightning, and mutterings of wrath are mingled with its fearful demands. And the modes of killing described were
equally cruel.  Stoning and the sword-afterward decapitation, sawing asunder, strangulation and crucifixion
were the methods.
We have presented this code, thus in detail, that the
objector, especially the Christian objector, who is everlastingly harping on the "requisitions of GOD'S LAW,"
and the necessity of our walking " by the light of that
law," may know just what it is, what it demands, what
amount of light there really is in it, and whether it is
binding on us upon whom the "SUN of righteousness has
arisen with healing in his'beams."
Now, if the Christian stickler for the gallows contends




126       THE BIBLE ARGUMENT CONTINUED.
that Christ did not abrogate "one jot or tittle" of the
foregoing code, but came to render it positively more
binding, then it comes to us entire, and we, as the followers of Christ, are under the necessity of taking it to
our hearts as it is, and of making it the law of the land
in which we chance to reside, whether it be in a highly
civilized society, or among barbarians. We contend that
this is the only alternative.  There is no other. Do you
say that the criminal law of Moses was sanctioned by
Christ, and is still binding on society? then we say you
must take the entire law. "He that smiteth father or
mother shall surely be put to death."*  This is the declaration of Moses.  Incorporate it into your own penal
code, and you must do it if you are a follower of Moses.
"He that curseth father or mother shall surely be put to
death."t So says the Levitical law. "He that stealeth
a man and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand,
shall surely be put to death."' This is the demand of the
Mosaic code. It also required the life of the offender
for kindling a fire, or gathering sticks on the Sabbath.
Is not this law, "one jot or tittle" yet abrogated?  Then
blot out the penal code of your own statute book and
inscribe this in its place. " Ye shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child. If thou afflict them in anywise,
and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry,
and my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the
sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children
fatherless."11 Take care, fellow Christian; you are in
danger, if this declaration reaches to our time. How
many hard-hearted, cruel men-yea, Christian men, if a
strict observance of the rites and ceremonies of religion
will make them so-are ardent supporters of the gallows
* Exodus 21: 15.                  ftIbid 21:17.: Ibid 21: 16.                     U Ibid 21: 24-25.




THE CODE OF MOSES.              127
for nurder, on the ground that the law of God demands
life for life, while they themselves, "afflict the widow and
fatherless," trample upon their rights, and rob them of
their lawful patrimony, and never dream that they have
violated the same law, and are, therefore, worthy of the
halter. "Thou shalt give life for life, eye for eye,
tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burning for
burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe." So said
Moses, fifteen hundred years before Christ, and so should
the Christian minister, and the Christian Church in the
middle of the nineteenth century declare, if not one "jot
or tittle " of the Levitical law is abrogated.
Here, then, is the unavoidable position of the man
who upholds the Death Penalty, on the ground that
the law of Moses sanctioned it. He must take the entire
law. Go back to Moses, then, if you will, fellow Christian, and at the foot of the thundering Sinai, plant yourself on that old code, and plead for the continuance of
the gallows, on its'authority; but remember that you
must use it on other criminals beside the murderer. You
must write down in your statute book: " Death for him
who violates the Sabbath; and for him who profanes the
name of God; and for him who afflicts the widow or fatherless; and for him who desecrateth the sanctuary of
God; and for him who goeth after any God but the true
God; and for him who communeth with a familiar
spirit." Let all this be written down in the penal codes
of our States, as it must be, if not " one jot or tittle" of
the law is abrogated, and it would probably bring our
Christian people, who are so great sticklers for that law,
to their senses.
The opposer may say, now, that so much as demands
death for the murderer is binding, and no more. But what
right have you to say this?  By what rule of propriety




128      THE BIBLE ARGU3MENT CONTINUED.
or reason, can you select from the code of Moses, whatever your whim may choose to dictate, and throw the rest
away? Did you not, just now, quote from Christ, "Verily
I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one
tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled?" On the same ground that you can dispense with
a part of the law, we can dispense with the whole.
It will be seen by the foregoing catalogue, that the
Mosaic code contained thirty-four capital offenses. The
opposer strikes off thirty-three without hesitation, as not
binding, and retains the remaining one as binding.
Having presented the demands of the Levitical law,
and shown pretty conclusively, we think, that it must be
surrendered by the opposer as untenable, not affording
any just grounds of argument for the gallows, it becomes
necessary, to a full understanding of the subject, that a
word of explanation be offered to harmonize what may
appear to the casual or thoughtless reader, as a contradiction in the teachings of Christ, concerning the Mosaic
law; he declaring on some occasions, that he was "the
end of the law," and on others, that he "came not to destroy but to fulfil it."
It may be well to notice here, an error into which
many Christians-some of them intelligent Christianssometimes fall, viz: they not unfrequently confound the
declaration to Noah, with the Levitical law, thinking
that they are one and the same. This is a mistake.
The covenant was made with Noah, as we have seen, in
the year of the world 1657; but the decalogue, or ten
commandments, and the general laws for the regulation
of the Hebrews under Moses, were not given till the year
of the world, 2513, or nearly a thousand years after the
ark rested upon the mountain, and the bow spanned the
heavens, in token of the covenant with every living thing.




THE CODE OF MOSES.             129
To reconcile the apparent contradiction to which we
h-ave alluded, it is necessary to understand that the law
of Moses was not a unit, embracing but a single design,
but was rather threefold in its nature and application,
and was divided in the following order, viz: the Moral,
the Penal, and the Ceremonial; the first embracing the ten
commandments, written on the tables of stone; the
second relating to penaljurisprudence, or the punishment
of crime; and the third relating to the rites and ceremonies connected with the Jewish worship.
Now, the MORAL LAW of God can never be annulled.
It is founded in justice and the nature of things, and can
no more be abrogated than the centripetal and centrifugal forces, which regulate the courses of the heavenly
bodies. In the decalogue, idolatry, profanity, blasphemy, profanation of the Sabbath, disobedience to parents,
destroying human life, the cultivation of revengeful passions, riot, excess, drunkenness, gluttony, slothfulness,
superstition, mortifications, self-denials, adultery, theft,
cheating, withholding of men's rights, rapine, robbery,
murder, perjury, covetousness, and every conceivable
wrong and injustice are condemned and forbidden. Not
in so many words, it is true, but really in the application
of the principles involved in the decalogue. And why
are they forbidden, and why are the principles involved
in the decalogue eternal? Because sin is the worst
enemy of man; and because an adherence to the moral
law of Him who is infinite in wisdom, will protect man
from this subtle enemy, and guard him safely in the
ways of virtue, and therefore in the way of happiness.
" Thou shalt not kill."  " Thou shalt not steal."  "Thou
shalt not commit adultery."  "Thou shalt not bear false
witness against thy neighbor."  And why not? Because
these acts are in their nature unjust; and wrong, because




130      THE BIBLE ARGUMENT CONTINUED.
they are unjust. Millions of men and women believe
that they can violate these moral commandments, and
suffer no unhappy consequences. But how false and
fallacious this hope. God's law, whether it regulates the
material or the spiritual, cannot be violated with impunity. Can a man bury himself in the sea and not drown?
or throw himself upon the flames and not burn? Neither
can he become a thief, or robber, or drunkard, or liar, or
debauchee, and not suffer the wretched consequences.
The moral law of God, then, still remains. It is yet
in full force. Christianity abrogates no moral duty, but
it defines all duty more clearly, sanctions it, and strengthens its hold upon the affections of the human soul. The
commandment, "Thou shalt not kill," was proclaimed
anew by Christ, in the declaration. "Thou shalt love thy
neighbor as thyself." There is not a principle of moral
duty embraced in the decalogue which was not adopted
and reiterated again and again by Christ and his apostles.
Now, it was to this fact-the fact that he came not to
release men from any moral obligation imposed by the
Scriptures, which God had previously given, and also to
the fact that all the types and shadows of the ancient
law were fulfilled in him-that Christ referred to when he
said: "Think not that I am come to destroy the law or
the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one
jot or one tittle shall in no-wise pass from the law till all
be fulfilled."  Did he mean to include the penal and ceremonial in this declaration? Not at all. For he immediately adds: "Whosoever, therefore, shall break one of
these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall
be called the least in the kingdom of heaven; but whosoever shall do, and teach them, the same shall be called




THE CODE OF MOSES.             131
great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say unto you,
that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case
enter into the kingdom of heaven."
Here he alludes only to the moral law of the Jews,
which he sanctions, enforcing every "jot and tittle" of its
demands, and concludes the declaration by asserting,
that except the righteousness of those to whom he addressed himself, exceed the righteousness of those under
the law, they could in no case enter into his Gospel or
heavenly kingdom-a kingdom of righteousness, peace
and joy in the Holy Ghost, which he came to set up and
establish in the earth. Thus teaching the superiority of
his religion. In his "kingdom," as we have seen, no
hatred or revenge could be admitted, but only love.
"Love is the fulfitling of the law;" "'Love worketh no ill
to his neighbor." Plainly, then, it was concerning the
moral law that he made the declaration under consideration.
We have said that the moral law of God is founded on
fixed principles, and cannot, therefore, be abrogated or
changed, but is eternal. But can this be affirmed of the
criminal code of any nation or age? Is it immutable?
We have seen what was the code of Moses, and how the
Hebrews were punished for violating its requirements.
If a man was found gathering sticks on Sunday, he was
stoned to death. Was that law eternal?  The wilful,
disobedient son was killed. Was the law that required
his death eternal? Not at all. All this may have been
best for the rude, uncultivated condition of the early
Jews, but not for us living under the noon-day light of
the Sun of Righteousness. God did not design the
penal code of Moses for us. Our education, habits of




132      THE BIBLE ARGUMENT CONTINUED.
thought, customs, means for securing and instructing
the criminal, are all far in advance of those of olden
time. The command of God to Abraham, was that he
should sacrifice his son Isaac. But this command extends neither to the author nor the reader of this book.
It was temporary, and ended with Abraham, and the
circumstances under which he acted.
So with the penal code of Moses. It was temporary.
It demanded of the Hebrews, "eye for eye, tooth for
tooth, blow for blow, life for life." But Christ said, as
we have seen, (and he uttered these divine words in the
very sermon where he made the declaration, "I am not
come to destroy, but to fufil,") "Ye have heard that it
hath been said, an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth;
but I say unto you that ye resist not evil; but whosoever
shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the
other also. Ye have heard that it hath been said, thou
shalt love thy neighbor and hate thy enemy; but I say
unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse
you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them
which despitefully use you and persecute you." Here
the spirit of retaliation and vengeance of the old law was
forever abrogated, and it was the very first work of Christ.
According to that law, adultery was a capital crime.
Death by stoning was the awful penalty; but did Jesus
inflict it when the persecuting Jews endeavored to ensnare him into an act that would condemn the great
doctrine of love and good-will which he had taught?
By no means. Look at the course of that lowly Being.
"And the Scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a
woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in
the midst, they said unto him: Master, this woman was
taken in adultery, in the very act. Now, Moses, in the




THE CODE OF MOSES.                133
law  commanded us that such should be stoned,* but
what sayest thou? This they said, tempting him, that
they might have to accuse him.      But Jesus stooped
down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as tho'
he heard them not. So when they continued asking
him, he lifted up himself and said unto them: He that
is-without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at
her. And they which heard it, being convicted by
their own consciences, went out one by one, beginning at
the eldest, even unto the last, and Jesus was left alone,
and the woman in the midst. When Jesus had lifted
up himself and saw none but the woman, he said unto
her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no
man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And
Jesus said unto her: Neither do I condemn thee; go and
sin no more." How perfectly in harmony was the dealings of Jesus with this poor, sinful woman, and the
spirit of his divine precepts.  He had abrogated the law
of Moses in his sermon on the mount, and taught kindness for those who were out of the way; and now, by
his own act he condemns that law, and shows the miserable offender pity and forgiveness. But would he have
done this if the Mosaic.law was designed for all time?
Is the reader still in doubt respecting the abrogation
of the judicial and ceremonial law of Moses by Christ?
If so, we would refer him to Paul, who seemed to understand the nature of the question perfectly. He says to
the Hebrews: "The days come, saith the Lord, when I
will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and
* The Jewish method of stoning, according to the Rabbins, was as follows: The culprit, half naked, the hands tied behind the back, was placed
on a scaffold, ten or twelve feet high. The witnesses who stood with her
pushed her off with great force; if she was killed by the fall there was
nothing further done; but if she was not, one of the witnesses took up a
very large stone, and dashed it upon her breast, which, generally, was the
coup de grace, or finishing touch.-DR. ADAM CLARKE.




134       THE BIBLE ARGUMENT CONTINUED.
with the house of Judah; not according to the covenant
which I made with their fathers, in the day when I took
them by the hand and led them out of the land of Egypt;
because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. For this is the covenant
that I will make with the house of Israel, after those
days, saith the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds,
and write them in their hearts; and I will be to them a God
and they shall be to me a people... for Iwill be merciful
to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities
will I remember no more. In that he saith a new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now:that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away."*  "For
the priesthood being changed, there is made, of necessity, a
change also of the law. For there is verily a disannulling of
the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof."t  Christ, also, affirmed, saying: " The
law and the prophets were until John; since that time
the kingdom of God is preached."'  And to make assurance doubly sure, we would say that Calmet, whose
learning and orthodoxy, no one will question, remarks
that, " The law of Moses is superseded or abrogated by
the Gospel. Since the death of the Messiah, the LEGAL
ceremonies are of no longer obligation."  He also says:
"When we say that the Gospel has rescued us from the
yoke of the law, we understand only the appointments
of the ceremonial and judicial law; not those moral
precepts, whose obligation is indispensable, and whose
observation is much more perfect, and extensive, enforced, under the law of grace, than it was under the
old law."ll
Thus have we seen that there are no instructions or
* Hebrews 8: 8-13.   t Hebrews 7.    $ Luke 16: 16.
i Dictionary of the Bible, page 611.




THE CODE OF MOSES.             135
commandments IN ALL THE BIBLE, that stand in the way
of the abolishment of the Death Penalty. The judicial
law of Moses, like all criminal enactments, and political
institutions, was designed for a particular people, in a
particular age, and was, therefore, temporary, and not to
be compared with "the good things to come," under the
Gospel dispensation. It passed away when Christianity
was introduced. Jesus was the " end of the law;" and
he, by his teachings and examples, not only abrogated
and condemned the law of Moses, and utterly forbid all
retaliation and vengeance toward those who are out of
the way, but, as we have seen, actually demanded of his
followers, kindness and mercy toward them. And think
of it as we may, my brother in Christ, this is what the
"law of Jesus " requires of you, if you have entered his
kingdom, and are, therefore, confessedly, a subject of his
government. His religion is a religion of LOVE. All
the priests, and ordinances, and types, and symbols of the
Law and the Prophets were fulfilled in him. "The
Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet from the
midst of thee, of thy brethren like unto me; unto him ye
shall hearken." Jesus came, pronounced the censure of
condemnation on the retaliatory spirit and vengeance of
the old covenant, and summed up and enforced all moral
duty in two great commandments: "Thou shalt love
the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul,
and with all thy mind; this is the first and great commandment; and the second is like unto it: Thou shalt
love THY NEIGHBOR AS THYSELF. On these two commandments, hang all the law and the prophets."  His religion, we repeat, then, is emphatically a RELIGION OF
LOVE. If we love our fellow men as we love ourselves,
how can we strangle the life out of them, or stone or
crucify them? Let the spirit of the law of love be car



136       THE BIBLE ARGUMIENT CONTINUED.
ried out in penal enactments, and we should have no
more use for the gibbet or hangman. And this is not
all. If we entertained a Christian love for the criminal,
we should not only not kill him, not only do him no injustice or violence, but our benevolence would prompt
us to do him all the good in our power. If he is dangerous when at liberty, he must be confined; but when
once secured, and wholly in our power, all unkindness
and vengeance are forbidden, and we must labor for the
instruction and reformation of the man. Go to Christ,
contemplate his acts toward the sinful, and you will find
that the obligations of his benevolence are not merely
prohibitory-directing us to avoid " working ill" to another-but mandatory, requiring us to do him good.*
Many a Christian possesses love enough for the criminal,
to cause him to refrain from doing him actual violence,
but not enough to " return good for evil." But to abstain
from injustice or violence is not enough. The wretched
sinner is our brother. He is weak, ignorant, it may be,
at all events, unfortunate. To be Christ-like, we must not
" destroy," but " save " him. " LOVE is the fulfilling of
the law." But how can we save him if we strangle him
while in his sins?
"Think gently of the erring!
Lord let us not forget,
However darkly stained by sin,
He is a brother yet.
Heir of the same inheritance!
Child of the self-same God,
He hath stumbled in the path,
We have in darkness trod.
* This subject is more fully discussed in this volume under the head of
"THE PRISON."




SCRIPTURE OBJECTIONS ANSWERED.        137
Speak gently to him, brother,
Thou yet may'st lead him back
With holy words and tones of love
From misery's thorny track.
Forget not thou hast often sinned,
And sinful yet must be;
Deal gently with the erring one,
As God has dealt with thee.
OBJECTIONS DRAWN FROM THE CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURES.
1. It is objected to the ground we have taken in the
foregoing, that the Christian Scriptures themselves favor
the gallows. Paul said: "Let every soul be subject unto
the higher powers. For there is no power but of God;
the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever,
therefore, resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of
God; and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works but
to the evil. Wilt thou, then, not be afraid of the power?
Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the
same; for he is the minister of God to thee for good.
But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain; for he is the minister of God,
a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil......Render, therefore, to all their dues; tribute to
whom tribute is due, custom to whom custom, fear to
whom fear, honor to whom honor. Owe no man anything, but love one another."*
The instruction of the above is simply this: Let
every man be obedient to the laws of the civil government under which the providence of God has cast his lot.
The very design of the civil government is to secure the
order, harmony, defense and happiness of society, and
* Romans 13: 1 —8.
12




138      THE BIBLE ARGUMENT CONTINUED.
also the rights and liberty of individuals. No nation or
people can exist without government of some kind; nor
can it exist with any degree of security, if individuals to
any considerable extent trample upon the laws. No
greater curse can befall a nation than sedition and anarchy. Christianity gives no lenity to lawlessness, a fact
plainly evident from the foregoing address of Paul to the
Christians in Rome.
In order to a more full understanding, not only of the
nature, but the design of this instruction at that particular juncture, and to that particular people, it should be
known that the Jews had a deeply rooted aversion to any
government but their own, and had previously manifested an uneasy and seditious spirit at Rome; so that by
an edict of the Emperor Claudius they had been banished
from the city. Paul was anxious, not only to instruct
the Christians there in the duty of obedience to the civil
government, but to assure the Romans themselves that
they need not fear insurrection or sedition from them,
for their religion positively forbid lawlessness, and enforced obedience to "the powers that be."
But no one should ever infer from this that Christianity, in any other way, sanctioned and upheld the cruel,
extravagant, and unjust laws of the Romans at that time.
It is one thing to be "subject" to a law, and quite
another and a different thing to approbate the law itself
with our judgment. We should always endeavor to
enforce and obey the laws we have, whether they are in
harmony with our individual sense of justice and expediency, or not, for the reason before mentioned, viz: the
necessity of government and the curse of rebellion. But
this does not preclude another duty, which we owe to
ourselves and to our country, of equal importance, and
that is to labor for the repeal of all unjust and unchris



SCRIPTURE OBJECTIONS ANSWERED.        139
tian laws, and the enactment of those in harmony with
benevolence, and the true interests and happiness of
society.
It is recorded that when John Hancock* was governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts seventy-five
years ago, one "Rachael Whall was hung in Boston for
highway robbery. Her offense consisted in twitching
from the hand of another female, a bonnet, worth, perhaps, seventy-five cents, and running off with it.  The
most urgent applications for her pardon were unsuccessful."
"I mention this," says the writer, "not to the disparagement of the governor. He doubtless acted from a sense
of duty, thinking it best for the conmmunity that the laws
of the land, however frightfully severe, while they were laws,
should be executed."
Now, this man acted, whether wisely or not, from a
sense of the importance of the principle involved in the
instruction of Paul, above mentioned. "Be obedient to
the powers that be," said governor Hancock. They
were obedient, and this young girl was executed on Boston common, for robbing to the amount of seventy-five
cents. No man will say that the law which demanded
the death of that girl for this crime, was a Christian law,
or that Christianity forbid its repeal; on the contrary,
Christianity demands its repeal.' Edward Vaile Brown was hung in Boston, fifty years
ago, for burglary, committed in the house of Captain
Osias Goodwin, in Charter street, and stealing therefrom
sundry articles."
( Within the same period, a girl of seventeen was hung
in London, for stealing a silver cream pitcher."
" Long after the commencement of the present century, eight separate capital convictions are recorded on the
* John Hancock was governor of Massachusetts from 1780 to 1785.




140      THE BIBLE ARGUMENT CONTINUED.
books of the court of the Old Bailey, London, as one day's
job of a single tribunal, the culprits being all boys and
girls between the ages of ten and sixteen, and their offenses
petty thefts."
No one will have the hardihood to contend that the
laws which were in force in our country and England,
fifty years ago, were in harmony with the benevolence
and justice of the Christian religion; or that the instruction of Paul, now under consideration, prohibited a reform. Neither can it be shown that it prohibited a reform in the government or laws of Rome in the days of
the apostle.
The truth is, Christ had himself, previously, plainly
abrogated the principle of " blood for blood," as we
have clearly shown, again and again, in this volume, and
given the law of LOVE as the basis of all penal enactments. And if the reader will take the trouble of referring to the connection in which the foregoing is found,
he will there find that Paul enforces the Christian principle in the very verses that follow after what we have
quoted. After exhorting the Christians to be " subject
unto the higher powers," he says: " He that loveth another fulfilleth the law; for this, thou shalt not commit adultery; THOU SHALT NOT KILL; thou shalt not steal; thou
shalt not bear false witness; thou shalt not covet; and if
there be any other commandment it is briefly comprehended in this saying, viz: thou shalt love thy neighbor as
thyself.  LOVE WORKETH NO ILL TO HIS NEIGHBOR.
THEREFORE LOVE IS THE FULFILLING OF THE LAW."*
All must perceive that the principle enforced here, is
perfectly in harmony with the declarations of Christ,
already examined, and directly opposed to the sanguinary
and terribly cruel laws and customs which prevailed in
*Romans 13: 8-10.




SCRIPTURE OBJECTIONS ANSWERED.        141
Rome at that time. So that while Paul exhorted obedience to the " powers " that existed, he presented the
great moral principle of the Gospel, divine and beautiful,
as the foundation of all human law. " Thou shalt love
thy neighbor as thyself."   "Love worketh vo ill."
"Love is the fulfilling of the law."  Now, let this principle prevail, and it is impossible for the law which requires
"    eye for eye, tooth for tooth, blood for blood," to exist.
And the reason why nearly all our States are still disgraced with the gallows, is simply this: we are followers
of Moses, and not of Christ.
But it may be said here, that Paul declared that those
in authority " bear not the sword in vain;" and that he
designed to sanction the Death Penalty, as he employed
this phrase in connection with the declaration, " execute
wrath upon him that doeth evil." In answer to this, we
reply, first, that the language is not in the form of approbation, but it is the simple statement of a fact; and second,
that the word " sword " was put, not as figurative of the
executioner, but as an emblem of power and authority,
without reference to any special office.*  Thus is the entire passage in Romans, which is so often quoted to sustain the code of Moses, shown to be, not only not opposed to the views presented in this volume, but entirely
in harmony with them.
2. Again, it is objected, that Paul said, "If I be an
offender, or have committed anything worthy of death, I
refuse not to die; but if there be none of these things
whereof these accuse me, no man may deliver me unto
tlcum."t  In this, it is said Paul did not condemn the
Death Penalty, but rather sanctioned it by declaring his
readiness to die, if they could convict him of having
violated their laws. We answer, Paul was under trial
* See Cruden; also C!oibnet.    t Acts 25: 11.




142       THE BIBLE ARGUMENT CONTINUED.
where his life was at stake; not for killing a man, but
for other and minor offenses charged on him. Now, if it
can be shown that he sanctioned Capital Punishment for
murder, (the crime for which we kill,) because he said he
refused not to die if he was proven guilty, it can also
be shown that he sanctioned it for the offenses brought
against him on that occasion, viz: preaching a new religion, and denouncing the unjust and malevolent sentiments and laws of the Jews; for he said he refused not
to die if they cozlldfix upon him their charges. The truth
is, the sentiment of this text was uttered without referrence to either the justice or injustice of Capital Punishment. It is simply the language of a man conscious
of his innocence, and with no desire to save his life by
subterfuges. The question was not, whether Capital
Punishment was lawful, but whether it was lawful upon
him. He says, I refuse not to die if I amn an offender.
But I am no offender, and therefore you have no right
to kill me, even if the laws by which you do your bloody
work are lawful and just. This is the substance of
Paul's declaration. If it sanctions the Death Penalty at
all, it sanctions it for all the heralds of the Gospel who
have the courage to proclaim the truth of God, in the
face of error and superstition, for this was the head and
front of the apostle's offending.
3. Once more. Christ was crucified between two
thieves. One of them confessed that his punishment
was just. Now, because Christ did not then and there
speak out and oppose the Death Penalty, and protest
against the punishment of these men as unlawful and
unjust, it is inferred that he sanctioned Capital Punishment. This is a small peg on which to hang men and
women, we are aware, but as slight as it may appear to
some who may peruse these pages, it has been employed




SCRIPTURE OBJECTIONS ANSWERED.       143
by many learned divines and others, as a principal argument on which to base the gallows. But what folly.
The account does not affirm that those put to death with
Christ were murderers, but only thieves. If then, Christ, by
his silence on that occasion, sanctioned Capital Punishment at all, he sanctioned it for theft. But will the sticklers for the Death Penalty in our day hang.for theft?
Nor is this all. If Christ, by his silence, approved the
punishment of the thieves, he also approved of his own
punishment, for "as a sheep before his shearers is dumb,
so he opened not his mouth" to assert his own innocence.
He also approved of that particular mode of death, viz:
crucifixion; but will the supporters of the Death Penalty,
in our time, go in for "the cross and nails," for all who
are worthy of death? The truth is, it was not so much the
work of Christ to condemn particular institutions, as to
advance great truths, scattering them like seed, here and
there, and relying on the natural course of things to secure the desired harvest. The Gospel he compared to
"leaven which a woman took and hid in meal till the
whole was leavened."  The principles of religion, like
the leaven, work silently, but certainly, in the hearts of
men and communities, assimilating the desires and sentiments of the world to their own nature. When hanging upon the cross it was no time nor place for him to
condemn the cruel laws of the Jews. It would have
availed nothing; and, besides, he had previously, in the
most plain and positive manner, condemned and abrogated their judicial covenant, and instituted another, more
divine and ennobling. If the malefactors who suffered
with him were worthy of death for theft, how much more
deserving of this punishment were the guilty murderers
of the innocent Jesus; and yet that blessed "Lamb of
God" did not pronounce upon these wicked men any pun



144       THE BIBLE ARGUMENT CONTINUED.
ishment, much less the punishment of death. Instead
of this, the last accents that fell from his lips, were in a
prayer to God for the forgiveness of those who were nailing him to the cross. " FATHER, FORGIVE THEM, THEY
KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO!!   Well has it been said, that
" Socrates died like a philosopher, but Jesus Christ like
a God!".IHow can men gaze upon that blessed being,
when thus suspended upon the cross in the awful agonies of death, and listen to this more than mortal petition for the forgiveness of his own murderers-so in harmony with all his teachings, and a whole life of love and
compassion, and still contend that he sanctioned the
Death Penalty, because he failed to denounce it at this
dreadful hour. Surely, if they have no better evidence
than this, that Christianity sanctions the gallows, their
cause stands on a precarious foundation.
The foregoing are the most prominent objections
drawn from the Christian Scriptures, in favor of Capital
Punishment, which have come to our notice. The reader will perceive that when examined in the light of reason,
and other portions of the divine word, they afford the
gallows no support. Thus is the Bible taken from the
hands of those who support the Death Penalty, and employed as an instrument of abolishment. "Let God be
true, but every man a liar.




CHAPTER X.
FIFTH REASON FOR ABOLISHMENT.
THE DEATH PENALTY IS NOT NECESSARY.
The Death Penalty not necessary to Personal or Social Security-Protection in
life and property is what the good citizen asks-We have strong Prisons in every State
in which to confine men of base passions-The Murderer is not secured by the present
Law-Difficulty to convict -Facts from the Criminal Records in the United States
and England-There is a repugnance to taking Human Life-If not convicted the
Murderer returns to Society —With the Penalty of Imprisonment for Life he would
be secured,
WE have now seen that the Christian Scriptures are
not in favor of, but are positively opposed to the Death
Penalty; and that for various other reasons which we
have adduced, it should be abolished by all Christian
communities and nations.       Another important reason
we have for abolishment is, that IT IS UTTERLY UNNECESSARY TO PERSONAL OR SOCIAL PROTECTION.
What every good citizen desires is security.       When
traveling, whether it be by railroad or steamboat-in
carriage or on foot-in the open country or crowded city
-and when at home, about his lawful business, or reposing in slumber at night, he wishes to be protected,
not from prowling, blood-thirsty beasts, but from menthe robber and assassin. Now a special object of penal
law is to protect him; and what he asks is the law which
will the most certainly secure this result.      The Death
Penalty is on the statute book of his State. The gallows
drinks the blood of its victim every now and then. Still
he does not feel secure. The law is not enough. Pis13                                  (145)




146       FIFTH REASON FOR ABOLISHMENT.
tols and dirks are at his side, under his pillow or in his
pocket. But, notwithstanding, he possesses great confidence in the moral power of sanguinary laws; so he exclaims: "Annihilate the gallows as a terror to evil doers
-abolish all killing for crime, and thus say to a desperado that he may do his worst and he can escape the
halter-and would not the result be an overwhelming
increase of crime?  Would not blood run like water, and
all sense of individual and social security be banished?"
This, he says, is the main question with him when considering the subject. It is the ztility of the gallows.
Just convince him that by abolishing the Death Penalty
you do not lessen restraint and multiply crime-or, in
other words, convince him that the gallows is not absolutely necessary to the 1rotection of society-and he will
gladly consent to a change.
If the reader occupies this position, we would respectfully invite his careful attention to the following thoughts
and facts touching the subject, for we are not without
hope that we shall be able to convince him not only that
the law which requires the death of the offender affords
no more security than imprisonment for life, but such is
its practical operation, that it is positively less effectual
in this respect than the latter penalty.
He desires to feel that society is protected from the
depredations of the assassin. Now we can imagine conditions of communities where the necessity of killing the
offender might be pleaded to secure such protection.
Take, for instance, Moses and the Israelites, when in the
wilderness, journeying from Egypt to the promised land,
at the very time that the law of death was instituted.
Where were their jails or prisons, and other means for
securing the murderer against the possibility of escape?
Or take the condition of our brothers, fathers, or hus



THE DEATH PENALTY NOT NECESSARY.           147
bands in California during the first year of emigration
and effort for gold.  There we behold thousands of men
in a new, wilderness country, surrounded by savages,
without even the form of civil government.   No courts,
judges, sheriffs, police, nor jails, and no means of selfprotection. If the assassin was caught and convicted
where were the strong prison, the iron bars and bolts
and trustworthy keepers to hold him securely? In such
a condition of society, the necessity of "summary justice"
and the punishment of death might be argued with some
show of propriety.  But with the people of Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, and other States where "law and order"
prevail, the case is widely different.  Here there are
well organized governments, with a court and jail in
every county, and police regulations in every town; so
that the assassin or murderer can rarely escape detection
after committing a crime, and if detected can be secured.
If, in Ohio, our laws demanded imprisonment for-life
for the crime of murder, and the offender should be
safely lodged in our penitentiary, would he not be secure?  That institution is one of the most substantial
edifices and faithfully guarded prisons in the world. It
contains workshops for the criminal by day, and cells,
constructed of stone and iron, for his safe keeping by
night; the whole of which is under the watchful care of
the most vigilant keepers. We again ask, if the murderer
is not safe when once confined within the walls of that
prison.  Take the case of Arrison,* if you will.  He is
thought to be one of the most desperate men living. I
appeal to my fellow citizens to know if they would entertain the least fear of his breaking through the walls, or
*W. H. Arrison, now confined in the Cincinnati jail, charged with
the murder of Allison and his wife, at the Medical College in this City,
during the summer of 1854, with a torpedo, a dreadful instrument which
exploded and tore them in pieces on opening the box that contained it.




148       FIFTH REASON FOR ABOLISHMENT.
bars and bolts of that prison, and again returning upon
society to engage in another work of blood, provided he
were once placed there for life?
"Ah," says the objector, "we should have no apprehension of the man's breaking prison, but there are other
means of escape. Influential friends, or money, sometimes possess a potent power. Prison doors will open
at their nod. In plain words, we should fear the pardoning power." Then take the pardoning power from
the Governor, where it is now lodged, and vest it in
twelve men who shall constitute a court to examine and
decide upon all appeals for pardons and commutations,
subject to certain restrictions in the crime of murder.
I ask again, if this provision were instituted concerning the pardoning power, and the murderer were secure
in the penitentiary, would not the people of Ohio feel
that his depredations on society were at an end? You
say you would have him executed, not because the Bible
demands his life, nor yet from a spirit of retaliation to
avenge the outrage he has committed against society, but
simply as a matter of expediency, to render your own
safety more certain. But are you not just as secure by
his confinement in prison as by his execution? It is
possible, we grant, that he may break away and escape:
but not probable; and this possibility we must risk as
we should were his destiny to be decided by us in our
individual, instead of our social capacity. Suppose a
robber should enter your house and attempt your life:
he strikes at your heart with his glittering dagger. The
first law of your nature is self-preservation or protection.
Either your life or the life of an assassin must be destroyed; and no matter how powerfully your feelings
may revolt at the thought of killing a man, you are not
long in deciding it to be your duty to defend yourself




THE DEATH PENALTY NOT NECESSARY.       149
to the extent of your power. If you kill under such
circumstances, you are justified. Why? Because you
are driven by acttal necessity to commit the act in order
to preserve your own existence. And this is all that
can justify you, or delegate to you the right to kill the
man. No Christian will justify the taking of human
life by an individual in self-defense, on any other
ground. Suppose it is a mere child who attempts to
rob and murder you-one whom     you are certain you
can seize and bind securely-but, instead, you kill
him; will society justify the act? Or, further, having
bound him with cords so that he can move neither
hand nor foot, and thus relieved yourself of all fear of
farther injury, you take a club and deliberately beat out
his brains; would society justify the act? Certainly not.
Why not? Plainly because the deed is not committed
in self-defense. You are safe. He cannot injure you.
The officers of justice can take him into custody, and
place him  beyond the possibility of again outraging
society.
I am now writing for the minds and hearts of Christians, as well as others. Is the reader a Christian? If
so, permit me to ask, would you thus deliberately kill
the murderer after you had securely bound him? Would
it be necessary? What would you think of your neighbor-a brother in Christ-a member of the same Church
-for instance, the pastor of your society, and your spiritual teacher-if, having surprised a robber in his house,
and securely bound him to a post with manacles, cords
and chains, should call you and other members of his
flock to see him cut his throat, or strangle him with a
halter? Would you not be astonished beyond measure?
And if he should commit the deed, would not the whole
Church, yea, the whole community, be struck dumb with




150       FIFTH REASON FOR ABOLISHMENT.
horror?  "This man is secure," you would exclaim, "why
do you kill him?" And your astonishment would not
be lessened at the answer of your clerical executioner:
" I know he is secure; I feel safe. There is not one
chance in a thousand for him to escape. But then escape
is possible. He may break these chains and cords and injure somebody. It is best for us to be positively secure;
therefore, I kill him."
We venture to assert that no individual can be found,
Christian or infidel, base enough to commit so cowardly
and damning a deed. And any man who should present
such a reason for the act, would be regarded as a madman
or a consummate villain. And yet this is precisely the
principle on which society acts, when it has safely secured
the offender within stone walls, with bars and bolts, and
then chokes the life out of him, on the ground of selfsecurity. If the Christian minister should commit an act
of this character, as described above, the State would take
him, convict him of murder, treat his plea of self-protection with derision, and hang him-his own Church assisting in the work-not as individuals, but as members of
the body-politic, through the hangman.*
But if the act is morally wrong in an individual, how
can it be morally right in the State. If the act, when
committed by a Christian minister, is shocking to the
moral sense of the Church, why should it not be, when
perpetrated by the State, inasmuch as the State is professedly Christian?  And further: if the State treats the
plea of the individual who kills the bound man for selfprotection, with derision, with what propriety can it make
this a reason for its own acts of blood?  Look at the
strength of the State and its means of self-security.
See the sixth chapter of this work, under the head of Individual
Resonsibility.




THE DEATH PENALTY NOT NECESSARY.               151
Look at its strong prisons, its chains, its cells, its dungeons, its strong police force, and its hundreds of thousands of citizens to assist in maintaining the supremacy
of the law and prevent an escape. Yet it ridicules the
plea of an individual, when he kills in self-defense, while it
leads out from its iron and stone cells, its victims, sometimes little boys, and weak emaciated women, and chokes
the life out of them, because it is unsafe to let them  live.*
They may escape from prison, and kill or injure somebody.
The reader must perceive, then, that the argument in
favor of the gallows, drawn from       necessity, and based
on self-protection, possesses but little force, and is hardly
entitled to consideration. If we should kill criminals,
simply because they are dangerous to society-if this
is the only ground on which we defend the gallows, then,
to be consistent, we should employ it against the lunatic;
for it is as dangerous to society for him to have his freedom, and probably more so, than for the murderer.         It
is not uncommon for madmen to commit acts of the most
dreadful violence.   Yet where is the man, especially the
Christian, who would dream of killing this unfortunate
class of our fellow-creatures from necessity, on the ground
of self-protection.  Every humane heart would revolt at
the thought.    Even if at liberty and roaming at large,
there are but few who would refuse to risk any injury
they might do, rather than to put them to death. For
* A little boy, but ten years of age, was hung in Alexandria, La., in Sept.
last, (1855.) See page 49 of this work. In 1854, a woman was executed
in New York State, weak and feeble, leaving an infant, which had its
birth in her cell. And now, as we write, the secular papers before us contain an account of the death of a woman, who was soon to be executed in
New HTampshire. She was delivered of a child a few months ago in her
cell, and the authorities were waiting for her to gain sufficient strength
to be killed, when death by consumption terminated her miserable existence. Was it necessary to strangle these wretched creatures in selfdefense?




152       FIFTI REASON FOR ABOLISHM3ENT.
all such, the State provides an asylum-a place of confinement-where they are not only kept securely, but by
humane and judicious treatment, are often entirely restored, and, with sane minds, permitted to return again
to their friends and to the blessings of social life. Now,
when safely lodged within the walls of an asylum, the
lunatic is neither feared nor dreaded by society at large.
Confidence is reposed in the strength of the institution
and in the caution and vigilance of those in whose charge
it is placed. So should it be, and so might it be, with
the murderer. He -is a mnoral lunatic; perhaps more
really so, in many cases, than the world imagines, or will
believe. To turn him loose upon society would be a
dangerous act. This should not be; justice does not demand it. Let him be safely lodged in the penitentiary
and kept in durance. Let him be treated with kindness
and humanity, but effectually confined, and society
would no longer experience apprehensions of insecurity
from the simple factthat the man was living. For, tho'
living, he would be so really separated from the world by
stone and iron-so utterly banished from society, and so
securely guarded-as that he would be dead to the world,
and the world dead to him.
The plea of self-protection, then, is a false one. Not
only is it false, but it is mischievous. " It is terrible,"
says one " in the hands of a people's tyrant, or of a tyrannous people. Self-protection, says the despot, and the
heads of the noble, brave and good, roll before him in
ghastly heaps. Self-protection, says the demagogue, and
the guillotine moves its iron jaws, and the streets are
red with blood. Self-protection, says the injured man, and
anticipates the law, becoming for himself judge and executioner. Self-protection, says the mutineer, dead men
tell no tales, and the ocean bubbles red above his com



THE DEATH PENALTY NOT NECESSARY.        153
rades. Believe me, this principle of self-protection that
relies on blood, is a dangerous, two-edged principle. Self
protection may be secured without blood-shed. We may
obey God's law without inflicting Capital Punishment.
There is a higher dictate than that of revenge. There is
a nobler end for punishment than the infliction of pain.
There is a more binding code than the law of Moses. It
is found in the spirit and precepts of Jesus Christ."
We have said that if the murderer was safely confined
within the walls of the penitentiary, society would feel
secure. We come now to add, that if the penalty for
murder was imprisonment for life, instead of hanging,
murderers would be sectred; but, as the law now stands
upon the statute books of nearly all our States, eight out
of ten guilty of murder escape, not from prison, but
they escape conviction, and are returned again loose upon
society. Thus does the law of death defeat the very objectAfor which the class we are now considering would retaipn
it. They would retain it, in order to take the offender
from society and put him beyond the power of again
trampling upon its laws. But instead of this, it stands
directly in the way of securing this result. It screens
the murderer from all punishment, and positively
snatches him from the hand of justice, and sends him
back into the world, all reeking with the blood of his
murdered victim, to prey again upon society, and, it may
be, to enact over again the same dreadful deed of which
he is guilty. Thus, is the present law the most unsafe,
for the simple reason that IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO ENFORCE
IT ECCEPT IN RARE CASES. But this is an important point
in our investigations, and must be made the subject of a
chapter by itself.




CHAPTER XI.
SIXTH REASON FOR ABOLISHMENT.
THE DEATH PENALTY DIFFICULT TO ENFORCE.
Scruples of Jurors-Loth to convict-The condition of Criminal Jurisprudence in
Ohio, as presented by a Cincinnati Editor-The cause of Laxity on the part of Jurors
to convict-The Gallows stands in the way of Justice-It facilitates the escape of the
Guilty —Folly of instituting Laws which cannot be enforced-Criminal Jurisprudence
in Hamilton County, Ohio, for fifteen years-Large number of Murders —But one
hung-How it worked in England-France.
The Death Penalty cannot be enforced onlly in rare cases.
IT FACILITATES THE ESCAPE OP THE GUILTY itn many instances, which is another important reason for abolishment.
The truth is, the Death Penalty is so far behind public
sentiment, and so revolting to the humanity of every
morally sensitive heart, that most persons refuse to act
as jurymen in capital cases, from "conscientious scruples," while those who consent, will not convict, unless
in the most certain cases of guilt.   If the least thread of
evidence is elicited in behalf of the offender, they will
hang upon it, and acquit him through its instrumentality, and thus he escapes all punishment, though guilty.
Look at the history of criminal jurisprudence in Ohio,
Indiana, Pennsylvania, New York, New England, anywhere in any Christian country on the face of the earth,
where the gallows still exists, and the fact of which we
speak is demonstrated to a certainty.     While I write, a
(154)




THE DEATH PENALTY DIFFICULT TO ENFORCE. 1:5
leading daily journal* of Cincinnati is placed before me,
the editor of which, a warm supporter of the gallows,
utters his complaints against this condition of things,
and threatens Lynch law in the following strain, if matters are not speedily amended:
" It does seem as if it were impossible to procure anything like justice in'capital cases,' as they are called in
this State.  Murder is alarmingly frequent, yet we hear
of no instance where the murderer expiates his or her
guilt. Judging by the past, and the history of our jurisprudence, there is no crime that can be committed with
such impunity from punishment in Ohio, as that of
murder, the most wilful of all crimes. It matters not
how atrocious are the circumstances attending it, or the
conclusive character of the evidence that points out the
criminal, there is always some loop-hole by which the
penalty is evaded. When juries do their duty in the
premises, and render an honest verdict, some legal technicality is raised, by which the prisoner is enabled to escape. The extraordinary laxity in the administration of
our laws for murder; exceeds that of any other State in
the Union, with the exception of California. Look into
our own county jail, for instance, and see what a farce
and mockery are the attempts which have been made for
years here to execute the law in those cases where the
punishment is death. It is high time that public opinion
became aroused to this matter, and that some steps were
taken by which the clogs that now retard the wheels of
justice were removed. Human life is too sacred a thing
to allow the legal barriers and safeguards that protect it
* The Cormmercial. The editor's indignation was aroused by the report
just received from Piqua, Ohio, that a man and woman, (Jane Elizabeth
liggen and James Mowrey,) guilty of murder, in that county, and who
had confessed their guilt, had been discharged through some legal technicality. If the law had been imprisonment for life, conviction would undoubtedly have been the result. Ohio will not hang a womnan.




156       SIXTH REASON FOR ABOLISHMENT.
to be broken down. There should be even a greater
certainty of punishment to him who unlawfully takes life,
than for any other offense; but in our State the certainty
has got pretty much all on the other side-in favor of an
escape. If we do not have a reform pretty soon, it would
not surprise us to see' Judge Lynch' erect his summary
court and proceed to execute that justice upon murderous malefactors that the regular tribunals will not
afford."
All that is here uttered with reference to the difficulty experienced in convicting the guilty in Ohio, is true;
and because it is true, and comes from one who has great
confidence in the efficacy of legal strangulation, we
copy it.
In the recent trial of the notorious Arrison, in Cincinnati, three days were spent in empanelling a jury.
Upwards of three hundred persons were excused from
serving, on the ground of "conscientious scruples."  We
were told by a gentleman of intelligence, who was summoned as a juror in that case, that if he had served, he
would not have convicted the prisoner of murder in the
first degree, no matter what the nature of the evidence
against him, simply because he could not consent to be
an instrument in destroying human life. In the case
of Mrs. Riggen, of Miami county, alluded to in the
note preeeding, nearly two weeks were expended in empanelling a jury; hundreds being pronounced by the
court as unfit to serve, in consequence of their scruples
of conscience on the subject of the Death Penalty, before
twelve could be found who were willing to convict. The
same repugnance exists throughout our State, and in every State to a greater or less extent, and is becoming
every year, more and more real; so that it has come to
be quite generally understood that no jury will jeopard



.THE DEATH PENALTY DIFFICULT TO ENFORCE. 157
ize the life of a fellow creature by conviction, if there is
the least possible chance to save him. Almost always
there are some of the jury whose hearts revolt at pronouncing the word " GUILTY," however strongly their judgments
may sanction the justness of such a decision, and they
refuse to return such a verdict, not because they are not
convinced of the offender's criminality, but because the
punishment to follow the verdict is so shocking to humanity, and they are so fearful of convicting the innocent, that they shrink from the responsibility, and say
"NOT GUILTY," when in every instance, if the penalty
were imprisonment for life, they would return a verdict
of guilty, and thus secure the offender from further depredations. Such is the repugnance, we repeat, which
very generally exists in society, against sending a fellow-being to the scaffold. Some sneer at it-pronounce
it a "morbid sympathy,"-a "childish, silly repugnance"
-and curse jurymen for a set of chicken-hearted fools,
who "themselves deserve to have their necks stretched,"
for their indifference to the public welfare. But all this
does not disprove the fact that the repugnance of which
we speak is a reality. It does not eradicate it from the
human soul. Men do shudder and they will shudder at
violating the shrine of human life. The feeling is natural. God has implanted it in every breast, and it grows
with the growth of humanity, and strengthens more and
more in the soul which is chastened by the principles of
a pure and holy religion. And we may rest assured of
this fact, viz: that so long as our communities progress
in benevolence and intelligence, our preset law cannot be
enobrced, as I before said, only in rare cases.
Men ask for a continuance of the gallows that " society
may be protected."  But is society protected by this institution?  Let the editor referred to above, answer. "It




158          SIXTH REASON FOR ABOLISHMENT.
seems as if it were impossible," he says, "to procure anything like justice in capital cases in this State. Murder
is alarmingly frequent," (notwithstanding the existence of
the Death Penalty,) "yet we hear of no instance where the
offender expiates his or her guilt. No crime can be committed with such impunity of punishment in Ohio, as murder.
There is alwcays some loop-hole by which the penalty is
evaded. When jurors do their duty in the premises, and
render an honest verdict, some legal technicality is
raised by which the prisoner is enabled to escape."      All
this is true. Is not the gallows, then, a glorious protection to society in Ohio?     Why, instead of this, it is
the very instrument that protects the offender, and affords
him a free pass back into society.  Wipe the Death Penalty from  our statute books, and place instead imprisonment for life, and our fellow townsmen will no longer
have cause to complain of the "laxity" of our judicial
tribunals; the "impunity" with which the crime: of murder is committed; the "loop-holes" of the law, and the
"farce and mockery" everywhere perceptible in the execution of the law.   "It is high time," he says, " that public opinion became aroused to this matter, and that some
steps were taken by which the clogs that now retard the
wheels of justice were removed."      This is precisely our
opinion. But by investigation* he will find that the
only "clog that retards the wheels of justice," with reference to the murderer, is the gallows. Pull down this
* In justice to the gentleman mentioned here, whose talents and motives we respect, we should say, that probably he is becoming convinced
of the impotency of our law as it now stands, for he closes the article referred to, as follows: "While we are in favor of the law in relation to
murder as it now stands on the statute book, yet, if it be true, as many
believe, that in consequence of the conscientious convictions of thousands of people against the Death Penalty, that the present condition of
things is owing, it would be best to have the criminal law changed. It
is a subject that well demands the attention of legislators, who should see
where the fault lies,. and apply the remedy, if it is in their power."




THE DEATH PENALTY DIFFICULT TO ENFORCE. 159
old relic of barbarism, and place in its stead a law that
can be enforced, and there will be no longer complaint
about the slow and uncertain movement of the wheels of
justice."  "Human life is too sacred a thing," he says,
"to allow the legal barriers and safegzuards that protect
it to be broken down."  But all the "legal barriers and
safeguards" we have to protect human life in Ohio, are
the gibbet and the hangman; and these, as we have seen,
are already "broken down."  They exist only on the
statute books as a mere threat. Every murderer within
our borders, is told that if he kills he shall be hung;
but he has come to know that this is a mere bug-bear,
and that the probability is that instead of being hung if
caught, he shall be tried and dischargeed. He has no
fear of the gallows.  In traveling in a neighboring
State a few years since, we tarried a short time at a tavern kept by a widow lady, who had a young negro
servant about the house and stable, a mischievous, malicious little urchin, who was full of his pranks, and
was anything but obedient to the wishes of his mistress.
The good landlady had instituted a government in her
domestic affairs, but, unfortunately, it was a government
whose "barriers and safeguards," like those of our State
with reference to the crime of murder, consisted principally of threats-awful threats, which she never dreamed
of enforcing. "Here, Tom!" she would exclaim at the
top of her voice, "where have you been? Did I not
tell you not to leave the house, but to stay here and wait
on the gentlemen? Now, you go away again, and I'll
tie you up by your two thumbs and skin you, you see if I
don't." Ten times in a day did she make this threat. But
it was only a threat. Tom came to understand by it that
it was merely a bug-bear, and to treat it accordingly.
He knew he should not be skinned. He never was




160         SIXTH REASON FOR ABOLISHMENT.
skinned in his life, though he had been       threatened with
this penalty a thousand times; and with a snap of his
fingers, a shrill whistle, and shrewd grimace, he would
be off to his pranks again.
How unwise in a family, how much more unwise in a
State, to institute laws which cannot be enforced, and
which, therefore, can claim no respect from      the party to
be governed. Gambling has been a penitentiary offense
in Ohio, for several years, but has it ever been enforced
in a single instance?     The penalty for murder in        the
first degree in Ohio, is death by hanging. In Hamilton
county* alone, within the last fifteen years, hundreds of
murders, of all descriptions and every degree of violence and
atrocity, have been committed, BUT WITH A SINGLE EXCEPTION, this penalty has never been enforced ipon the murderer
in our county during all these years.   Here is a fact which
should astonish the sticklers for the gallows, and bring
them to a sense of the true nature of this question.
Why has not the murderer been executed in Hamilton
county?    Was it because      he could    not be arrested?
Not at all. But because when arrested he could not be
convicted; or if convicted, the moral sympathy of the
* Hamilton County embraces Cincinnati. Within the last fifteen years,
at least five hundred murders have either been perpetrated, or attempted,
in this county. Of course we do not mean that all these crimes would
come under the head of premeditated murder. We include in this number, shooting and stabbing in fights and rows, on the streets, in houses of
ill-fame, in bar-rooms, on steamboats, indeed, every form and degree of
murder. The author of these pages kept a minute of the violent deaths
perpetrated in our city, during the years 1852-3, (Lecount was hung in
the beginning of 1853,) and the number in these two years reached to 198.
Some have doubted the statement, when publicly made, of five hundred
violent deaths in Cincinnati in the time given, and asked us for the authority on which it is based. The above is our authority. If in two
years there were nearly two hundred, in the remaining thirteen years it
is probable there were, at least, three hundred. But not half of those
guilty of perpetrating these offenses were arrested. Out of all arrested
during the fifteen years, probably forty-five, or three a year, were tried for
murder in the first degree, the penalty of which is death. One was hung.
Where are the remainingforty-four?




THE DEATH PENALTY DIFFICULT TO ENFORCE. 161
public, and the opinion which so generally prevails of
the utter inutility of the gallows, have sought for and
found a "loop-hole" for the culprit.*   In some instances
they have been pardoned; in others, sentence has been
commuted from hanging to imprisonment.
Now, in every instance where the offender was not convicted, he returned again to society. How unsafe, then,
is our present law?-unsafe because of the uncertainty of
its infliction.  Says an eminent lawyer, speaking on this
subject: "No one who is acquainted with the history of
criminal jurisprudence in this country, can doubt but
hundreds of guilty ones have been acquitted, and sent
back to the haunts of vice, for the simple reason that
jurors would not convict in consequence of the severity
attached to their crimes, it being death."
Another jurist of New York, equally eminent, says:
"None who ever attended our criminal courts in capital
cases can have failed to notice the operation of the principle here referred to, in a manner the most subversive of
the ends of justice, and the most dangerous to the security
of the community. None will question the truth here
presented, and none can compute the number of criminals who have been let loose upon society, free of all
penalty, and emboldened and hardened by a first impunity, nor form any conception of the amount of evil which
had its origin in this cause, in casting upon the adminis* James Summons, now in our jail, where he has been for the last four
years, has been three times tried for his life on the same offense; twice
convicted of the most atrocious murder, once sentenced and the day of
exc:ution fixed. Two years have passed since the law demanded his
death, but he still lives. He has cost the State more than $15,000. If
the penalty for his crime had been the penitentiary for life, he would long
since have been an inmate of that institution, and put to some useful employment, which is his proper place. The case of Arrison is very nearly
similar. He should now be diligently at work in our State prison. Cannot the public perceive that it is the gallows which facilitates the escape
of these men?
14




162       SIXTH REASON FOR ABOLISHMENT.
tration of the law an uncertainty in the last degree prejudicial to all the policy of penal justice."
Again he remarks: "There can be no criminal lawyer
in this State, of any extended practice or observation, by
whom the remark, that the uncertainty of conviction for
capital offenses has grown almost into a proverb, will not
be received as a truism. Juries will always be powerfully swayed in judgment as well as feeling, by the horror of shedding blood, which the laws of God have too
deeply planted in the hearts of all to be eradicated,
however it may be weakened by the influence of any laws
of man. In the clearest cases it is constantly seen that
they will not convict. They will violate their oaths
under a thousand pleas of technical deficiencies or imperfections of evidence, however immaterial."*
The feeling that exists on this subject is seen, as we
have already intimated, in the reluctance with which
many consent to act as jurymen. We have already mentioned several instances occurring in our State, illustrative of this fact. Many more might be adduced.
On the trial of Howard, in Dover, New Hampshire,
some years ago, seven hundred persons were excused or
set aside, before a panel was made up.
In the case of Shelby, of Kentucky, on his trial, the
jury could not agree, and were discharged; six or eight
of them, and the Judge, were hung in effigy. Afterward,
in attempting his second trial, nearly every man in the
county, who was competent to sit as a juror, was summoned, but the panel could not be filled.
In Kleim's case, in New York, after the panel was
exhausted, it was necessary to summon talismen, and
nearly a whole day was spent in filling up the jury. So
in the case of Gordon, in Rhode Island. It was said
*O'Sullivan's report to the Legislature of New York in 1813.




THE DEATH PENALTY DIFFICULT TO ENFORCE. 163
that "not a man in the city of Providence, would consent to sit on his trial.'"
These are extreme cases, we grant; but the feeling of
reluctance, and the sentiment which gives it birth, prevail, to a greater or less extent, in all communities. They
are pronounced by some to be an indication of weakness,
and condemned as a hurtful evil, preventing the execution of law and facilitating the escape of the criminal.
Hence we are called upon to stifle all such feelings-to
trample our foolish whims and opinions in the dust, and
lend our influence to assist in making the law we have,
potent, by making its execution certain.
But we reply, this was the same argument used by our
stern old fathers a century ago, in Connecticut and Massachusetts, when their fellow men manifested some slight
signs of aversion to the law that would crop the ears,
scourge the backs, and bore the tongues of men for
being Quakers; yea, that would shut them in jails,
banish them out of the colony, sell them as slaves, and
hang them on gibbets, simply for worshipping God after
the dictates of their own consciences. Those who cherished a little spark of humanity and ventured to say,
"is not this punishment too severe?" or "is it necessary?" or, "is it Christian?" were pronounced " weakminded," and were told that they harbored sentiments
that were exceedingly injurious both to religion and the
State. A magistrate of Boston, less than one hundred
years ago, rendered his name everlastingly odious to all
men of the-"sterner stuff," by humanely giving back to
his victim, a part of the ear he had officially shorn off,
that the mutilated member might be restored and made
whole. Yes, in criminal jurisprudence, humanity was
everywhere deemed a weakness and a damning evil.
* From Rev. W. Y. Emmet's Thoughts on the Death Penalty.




164       SIXTH REASON FOR ABOLISHMENT.
So in theology; pity for the damned was a mark of fee.
bleness in mind and faith. Even for a woman to weep
over the endless burnings of her own (non-elect) infant
child in the flames of hell, was deemed childish and
wrong. But the natural feelings and affections of the
human soul would, at times, burst out from the iron
shackles of a stern and unrelenting creed, and assert their
claims in startling tones of sympathy and denunciation.
Hence exclaimed Dr. Edwards, in rebuking this spirit:
"What has more especially given offense to many, and
raised a loud cry against the doings of some preachers,
as though their conduct was intolerable, is their frightening innocent children with talk of hell-fire and eternal damnation. But do not these people believe, in common with the whole country, that they are by nature'
children of wrath and heirs of hell? And that every one,
whether he be young or old, is exposed every moment to
eternal destruction, and wrath of Almighty God? This
complaint and cry, then, about frightening little children,
betrays a great deal of weakness and inconsideration."*
But did the stern rebuke of the Church, or the united
influence of creeds and the clergy stifle and put out
the fires of tender affection, which God himself had
kindled upon the altar of every mother's breast for the
child she bears, and that pillows upon her breast? Oh
no! It has exerted its supremacy;-it has saved the
object of its affection and solicitude-it has made it an
angel of light and crowned it with immortal glory.
Nothing short would satisfy the longings of the affectionate mother for the happiness of her offspring. So
with the sentiments that prevailed with reference to the
criminal. They were stern and cruel. But humanity,
enstamped upon the souls of God's creatures, directed
* Jonathan Edwards of Connecticut, in 1750.




THE DEATI PENALTY DIFFICULT TO ENFORCE. 165
by intelligence and a more divine religion, has asserted
its claims. It has grown in the human heart, till now
it manifests reluctance to destroy the life of a fellow
creature for any crime, and asks, "Is it necessary to kill
this brother? Can we not put him to a better use?  Is
the act Christian?"  And this is called "wealzcess."
And we are admonished to stand right up to the demands
of the law, and choke men, and women, and children,
with strong nerves and willing hands, without waiting
to inquire into the necessity or expediency of the act.
But would men have us go back to the days of heathen
barbarity? Would they have us kill simply because our
fathers killed, or out of a spirit of revenge?  This will
never do. Rather let us keep our eyes fixed upon Christ,
the glorious star of Bethlehem —have faith in his law as
the best and safest, and follow "upward and onward " in
the light of benevolence and justice. God forbid that
we should leave the "light of life," and go back into
the "darkness of death!"  Men will not go back. This
is evident. The march of the intellect and the heart is
forward. Hence, we repeat, the Death Penalty cannot be
enforced, in most of our States, only in rare cases.
How unwise, how impolitic, to retain a law which
involves interests so important, with which the public
mind has no sympathy, and which, therefore, cannot be
executed; for so long as it cannot be executed, it defeats
the very object it is designed to effect. The principal
object of the gallows is to protect society against the
assassin.  But, instead of this, as we have seen, it stands
directly in the way of such protection in consequence
of the difficulty to convict the offender; and if not convicted, he is liberated; whereas, if the penalty were imprisonment for life, juries would convict-all reasonable
minds would approve the law-public sympathy would




166        SIXTH REASON FOR ABOLISHMENT.
beat in its favor-it would be effective, for all law is
trebly strong which comports with the moral sympathy
of the community-the offender would be secured, and
thus society would be protected.
HOW IT WORKS IN ENGLAND.
The wise men of England and France have seen the
operation of the principle involved here, and have gradually softened their penal codes to keep pace with the
growth of humanity and intelligence, till, instead of
having nearly two hundred offenses punishable with
death, upon their statute books, there is but one crime for
which they actually kill at the present time.
Says an English writer: "Such was the effect of the
Death Penalty on the public mind, that' the leading juries
of the country looked on perjury as an amiable weakness, and even valued themselves on an act which shakes
purity and justice to the very center." Though sworn
to return a verdict " according to the law and the testimony," they did not scruple to falsify their oaths and
go counter to the law and the testimony, to save the life
of the offender.
Lord Suffield, in a speech to Parliament, on this
subject, in 1834, said that he "held in his hand a list
of five hundred and fifty-five perjured verdicts, delivered
at the Old Bailey in fifteen years', beginning with 1814
and ending with 1829, for the single offense of stealing
from dwellings, the value of the goods stolen being in
these cases sworn to be above forty shillings, the penalty of
which was death." How did the jurors save the offenders? As follows. They were under the necessity of
pronouncing them guilty, but at the same time they returned the value of the amount stolen less than forty shil



THE DEATH PENALTY DIFFICULT TO ENFORCE. 167
lings. No matter what was sworn to be the amount'
stolen, this was invariably the verdict.
A woman was proven to have stolen a ten pound note
-that or nothing. The jury found her guilty of stealing thirty-nine shillings. A man was convicted of stealing a pocket-book containing bank notes to the amount
of eighty pounds, and drafts to the amount of twenty;
the verdict was, " guilty of stealing thirty-nine shillings."
The same verdict was given in the case of a woman convicted of stealing, on her own confession, gold coins, to the
amount of sixty-three shillings, and other money to the
amount of forty-four-to wit: "stealing thirty-nine shillings." Even the judges sympathized with the condition
of the offender, and often suggested to the jury what
verdict to return. In one case, a man had stolen a valuable watch. Lord Mansfield, feeling anxious to save
his life, directed the jury to bring in its value at ten
pence. "Ten pence! my lord," exclaimed the anxious
owner, "why the very fashion of it cost me fifty shillings."  "Perhaps so," replied his lordship, "but we
cannot hang a man for fashion's sake;" and the verdict
was returned as directed.
"Some years since,"says the London Morning Herald, "a
man was tried at Carnovan for forgery, to a large amount,
on the. Bank of England. The evidence was as satisfactory to the guilt of the prisoner as possible, and brought
the charge clearly home to him. The jury, however,
acquitted him. The next day the.same individual was
tried on another indictment for forgery. Although the
evidence in this case was as conclusive as in the former
one, the jury acquitted the prisoner. The Judge (Chief
Baron Richards,) in addressing the prisoner, expressed
himself in these remarkable words: "Prisoner at the
bar-although you have been acquitted by a jury of your




168      SIXTH REASON FOR ABOLISHMENT.
countrymen of the crime of forgery, I am as convinced
of your guilt, as that two and two make four."  A short
time after the conclusion of the sessions, I met with one
of the jurymen, and expressed to him my surprise at the
acquittal of the man who had been tried for forgery.
He immediately answered me in the following words:
"Neither my fellow jurymen nor myself had the least
doubt of the prisoner's guilt; but we were unwilling to
bring in the verdict of guilty, because we were aware
that the prisoner would have been punished with death
-a penalty which we conceived to be too severe for the
offense."
Such was the feeling against Capital Punishment in
England. And the consequence was, that during nine
years, out of eight hundred and eight committed on capital offenses, no less than three hundred and thirty-four,
or nearly one-half, were acquitted. While of five hundred
and fifty-eight persons committed on charges not capital,
only fifty-seven, or a little more than one-tenth, were acquitted. England perceived the unfavorable operation of
a law so stringent; that it was unsafe, and, therefore, impolitic. She, therefore, raised the capital indictment to
sixty shillings, instead of forty. But this would not answer. Juries simply put the amount stolen to fifty-nine
shillings, instead of thirty-nine, thus saving the offender.
She then wiped all such laws from her statute books, and
to her surprise discovered from actual experience that
this act of clemency did not increase, but actually lessened the amount of crime. For now villians could be
secured.
HOW IT WORKS IN FRANCE.
The experience of France corresponds with that of
England. Speaking of French juries, M. C. Lucas, an




THE DEATH PENALTY DIFFICULT TO ENFORCE. 169
eminent French jurist, says: "There is scarcely a list,
at the present day, which does not contain men who
experience a conscientious, and almost invincible repugnance, to send one of their fellow beings to the scaffold."
In 1832, an alteration in the penal law of France empowered juries to state, in their verdicts of guilty, that
the crime was committed under extenuating circumstances.
When this is done in capital cases, the punishment is
commuted to a milder penalty. Now mark the result:
In a single year, (1834,) out of one hundred and thirtysix verdicts of guilty in capital indictments, one hundred
and eleven had the qualifying clause in them which saved
the offender's life. Only twenty-five out of the hundred and thirty-six, were sentenced to be executed, and
six of these received a commutation of punishment. So
that only nineteen, less than one-seventh, of the whole
number, suffered the extreme penalty of the law.
Suppose, now, that this were the law in Ohio, or Kentucky, Indiana or New-York, how many verdicts of
guilty, in capital cases, would be returned without the
extenuating clause to save the offender's life?  Judging
from " what we know," every man is ready to answer,
"not one."  For all this corresponds precisely with the
history of criminal jurisprudence in our own country, as the criminal records of Ohio, New-England,
New-York, Pennsylvania, and all the southern and
western States, will testify.
For instance, the only crime punishable with death
in Pennsylvania, is wilful murder. Now, from the year
1795 to the year 1845, there were one hundred and
eleven persons brought before the court for the city
and county of Philadelphia, charged with this offense.
Of these, only ten were convicted. The remaining one
hundred and one were acquitted, and returned to society.
15




170       SIXTH REASON FOR ABOLISHMENT.
How effectual is the gallows in the protection of society
in Philadelphia!
But look again. Man-slaughter, robbery, arson, rape,
and highway robbery are not punishable with death in
Pennsylvania. During the time stated above, viz: from
the year 1795, to the year 1845, five hundred persons
were brought before the same court, charged with these
crimes. Of these three hundred and forty-four were
convicted, and only one hundred and fifty-six acquitted.
How great the difference, and how much more certain of
conviction. Is there not good reason for believing that
if the penalty for murder had been imprisonment for
life, instead of the gallows, a much larger number of
those charged with this crime would have been convicted, and thus secured?
From all this we must see that the Death Penalty in
our country, is unsafe, impolitic, of no utility, and is not
necessary to individual or social protection, but is the
direct and positive means of the escape of tens of thousands of guilty men and women, and should, therefore,
be abolished.




CHAPTER XII.
SEVENTH    REASON    FOR   ABOLISHMENT.
EXECUTIONS, DELETERIOUS AS EXAMPLES.
The Gallows believed to be indispensable as a Preventive against Crime-Is a terror
to Evil-Doers-This is an Error-The reverse is true —Facts adduced in Proof-The
Gallows is hidden from the Public in fifteen States-Lecount's Execution-Certainty
of Punishment more salutary than Severity-Opinion of Jurists -How it worked in
England-and other Countries-Interesting Incidents-Testimony of Rantoul and Livingston-Proofs Conclusive.
In this stage of our investigations, the objector is disposed to remind us of what he deems a very important
fact in  connection   with   this question, viz: that the
gallows is indispensable as a preventive against crime.   It
is an  example of "terror to evil doers" —a dreadful
"warning    to the offender,"    and thus a safeguard to
society.
This is the opinion, we are aware, which has almost
universally prevailed from time immemorial.        But what
a mistake!    As strange as it may appear to those who
have given the subject but little investigation, just the reverse of this is true, as the history of crime in any and all
countries will testify.  Hanging, as an example, is not beneficial.  It will not deter men from crime.    It is no warning to the offender, but its tendency is to debase, and harden
the heart; to fan the flame of hatred, and to multiply murderers instead of diminishing the number, and, for this reason, should be abolished.
(17 1)




172       SEVENTH REASON FOR ABOLISHMENT.
If executions are so moral in their tendency, and so
necessary as examples, why hide the gallows from the
multitude? Why kill the offender privately, in the jail
or jail-yard, shutting out and positively forbidding the
presence of any but a favored few, who are permitted to
be present, by cards of invitation?   Twenty years ago, a
private execution was unknown.      Men, and women, and
children, were strangled in the open streets and fields,
where the example could be witnessed by from five thousand to fifty thousand persons. Now, fifteen of our
thirty-two States have decreed that all executions shall
be utterly hidden from public view; none can be admitted but a select few, such as clergymen, judges, lawyers,
and newspaper reporters. Three years ago, a man was
hung in the jail-yard of Cincinnati.   Not for twelve long
years had an example of killing, to prevent the crime of
murder, been presented in Hamilton county, and deeds
of blood were becoming uncommonly prevalent.      " Somebody must be strangled as a terror to evil-doers, or blood
will run like water." So said the ministers of God; so
said the dignified judges, and especially loafing, profane
and drunken policemen and constables. Lecount* was
accordingly fixed upon as the man to be executed as an
example; not because he was guilty of any aggravated
crime, but because he had been, previously, two years
in the State prison-had no money, but few friends,
* Henry Lecount was executed for killing a man equally as quarrelsome
and dangerous as himself, in a drunken fight. Strictly, the deed- was
man-slaughter. The man whom he. killed had been intimate with
Lecount's wife during his absence; boasted at the time of the fight of
what he had done, and swore that he would continue his visits in spite
of Lecount. With gentlemen, this would have been deemed a sufficient
provocation for shooting the offender; and if prosecuted, a discharge
would have been the result, Lecount was hung, while "Jim Summons,"
who was guilty of a most diabolical murder, and who was then in jail
under sentence of death, simply looked on, swearing that he " should not
be hung, for the old man," (his father,) "is rich." He was right-and is
still living.




EXECUTIONS DELETERIOUS AS EXAMPLES.      173
and could as well be spared from society as not, though
his poor old mother, and brothers and sisters, were overwhelmed with grief and sorrow at the awful event.
Hearing that this unfortunate man desired to see me
on the morning of his execution, I went to the jail-yard,
and asked to be admitted, but was refused, the keeper
at the gate declaring that his orders were positive, to
admit none but those who brought cards of invitation.
The yard is surrounded by a high and strong wall, but
the sheriff, to prevent the possibility of any one seeing
from the windows, and tops of the surrounding buildings
and trees, had taken the precaution to erect a house, sufficiently large to accommodate the spectators, over the
gallows. Thus it was entirely hidden from those without.
Though early in the morning, when we were there, hundreds had collected around the yard, and in the streets.,
and on the tops of buildings, in hopes to catch a glimpse
of the scene within, or hear the creaking of the gallows,
or listen to some parting words of the doomed man.
They were a ragged, drunken, profane, cut-throat appearing crew, of all nations and colors-men, women and
children, peering through the crevices in the wallsmoking, chewing, drinking and cracking jokes, or each
other's heads. Mothers, with their babes at the breast,
seemed as intently interested as any persons present.
Why not admit these, thought I, as well as ministers,
judges, lawyers and reporters, as I gazed upon the
scene before me? Do they not as really need the example? A noisy, drunken loafer, surrounded by a throng
of ragamuffins, was at the gate, contending for his right
to be let in to see the show. He swore that he had traveled one hundred miles "to see the fellow swing," and
that "no man had a better right to a peep, at the gallows 1"  Why not gratify this man':s curiosity., especially




174     SEVENTH REASON FOR ABOLISHMENT.
when the main object of the hanging was to terrify
evil-doers? Perhaps the effect would be salutary upon
his heart!
Why, the very men who, of all others, need the "example " as a "warning," are denied, by the law itself, the
benefit of the example. They are ever ready to perform
their part. "Evil doers" are the persons, of all others,
to exhibit themselves at a hanging. They are eager to
witness the dying struggles of a fellow creature. But
the State says peremptorily, they shall not witness
them. How inconsistent. First it declares the necessity
of hanging as an example, and then it builds a house
over the gallows, lest the "evil-doer " should witness the
example. We ask again, why all this privacy? this hiding the gallows from public view? this strangling of men
and women in the dark and in a corner? if executions are
so salutary in their influence, and so necessary as a terror to
evil-doers!
The truth is, the observing, thinking part of the community, especially jurists, have come to know that public
executions have no salutary effect as "examples," but
tend to make criminals, rather than reform those already
made.   Vengeance never softens, but always hardens.
"Satan cannot cast out satan." "The spirit of God " alone
will accomplish this work. It is not by the influence of
a revengeful or bloody act, that an unholy passion is
allayed. If you would have men remorseless, familiarize
them with blood. Put them in the slaughter-house or
army. A wretch who was executed in Exeter, England, on being removed from the bar after the sentence
of death had been passed upon him, exclaimed to the bystanders: "I have killed plenty of men to please the
king, and why should I not kill one to please myself?"
Another soldier, taken up for wantonly shooting a man




EXECUTIONS DELETERIOUS AS EXAMPLES.     175
at Lestwithiel in 1814, in witnessing the horror and agitation of the peaceful townsmen, very coolly observed:
" Here is a pretty fuss about killing one man; why I've
seen thousands killed. It's nothing!" Executioners,
however " chicken-hearted," when introduced to the
awful duties of their avocation, have found themselves
at home, after a little practice. A writer in witnessing
the strangling of seven men in Portugal some years since,
merely for "entertaining constitutional principles," describes the scene as follows:
" One at a time ascended the platform, up a broad flight
of steps, accompanied by two priests, as in the procession,
and was immediately placed on the seat, with his back to
an upright post. The hangman, a miserable wretch,
walking with a crutch, then secured the legs, the arms and
body of the unhappy man, with cords; and placing a short
cord round his neck and round the post, he put the hood
over the face, and then, going behind the post, introduced a short, thick stick, and giving it four or five turns,
produced strangulation. The body was then untied, and
laid at a convenient distance, and another brought up
from the foot of the scaffold, until the whole had suffered. The youngest, or least criminal, was executed first;
and, as each occupied fifteen to twenty minutes, the last
had to endure, for at least two hours, the horrid sight of
the sufferings of his fellow prisoners. The mind can
scarcely imagine a more dreadful state of mental suffering. When the whole were strangled, the hangtman
wiped his face, and, seating himself in the fatal seat, coolly
smoked a segar, regaled himself with a bottle of wine, and
then, placing a block of wood under the neck, proceeded
to cut off the heads, from which the blood flowed copiously in streams from the platform; then, collecting
the cords, and coolly wiping the hatchet and knife, on




176     SEVENTH REASON FOR ABOLISHMENT.
one of the white dresses, he left the platform, first throwing the heads and bodies in a heap, over the iron grating below. The fire was kindled, and in a few minutes
the whole was in a blaze. By six o'clock, the whole was
burnt to ashes, when a gang of galley-slaves, with irons
on their legs, took the ashes in hand-barrows, and threw
them into the Tagus."
Here was a man who was constantly witnessing the
"examples " of executions, and behold what an unfeeling
wretch he became.   With how little compunction of
conscience could he. have murdered any man. When the
guillotine was freely used during the reign of terror in
France, children, instead of becoming fearful of its name,
introduced the practice into their very plays, and amused
themselves with guillotining cats, dogs and chickens,
to supply the place of the executions which had become
less frequent. Here is the direct and certain influence
of sanguinary punishments. They have never produced a deep and solemn impression on the mind, and
awakened within it kindly feelings and emotions, but
directly the reverse. In proof of which I will adduce a
few out of many cases that have occurred both in this
country and Europe.
INFLUENCE OF HANGING IN OUR OWN COUNTRY.
The last man executed in the State of Maine, was
Safer, who was hung in Augusta, in the year 1834.
Thousands came from far and near to witness the death
struggles of the man. Word was circulated just before
the hour of execution, that he was to be reprieved, when
hundreds were filled with the most dreadful rage, and
swore that he should be hung at all events. Drunkenness, profanity and fighting were the order of the day.
Never before nor since, was Augusta so disgraced with




EXECUTIONS DELETERIOUS AS EXAMPLES.      177
rowdyism  and crime. A   large body of police were
brought into service, " and the very jail which had just
been emptied of a murderer, threw open its doors to receive those who came to profit by the solemn example of
an execution.*  No less than seven men were placed in the
very cell from  which Safer had just been taken to the
gallows."
"On the day of Lechler's execution in Pennsylvania,
some years ago, the usual scenes of vice and brutality
were witnessed, and crime flourished rankly on its favorite soil, the execution ground. Twenty-eight offenders
of various grades were committed to Lancaster jail that
night, and many others escaped, or the jail would have
been overflowed. One of the spectators on his way home
murdered another, and was arrested, and his limbs confined with the same irons which had scarcely been laid aside
long enough by Lechler to get cold.
" After the execution of Lechler, in Pennsylvania,
had gratified the people about York and Lancaster, with
the spectacle of his death, and produced its proper complement of homicide and other crimes, a poor wretch
was condemned to die in another part of the State, where
the people had not been indulged with such a spectacle.
They collected by thousands-tens of thousands. The
victim was brought out-all the eyes in the living mass
that surrounded the gibbet were fixed on his countenance,
and they waited, with strong desire, the expected signal
for launching him into eternity. There was a delay.
They grew impatient. It was prolonged, and they were
outrageous.. Cries, like those which precede the tardy
rising of the curtain in a theater, were heard. Impatient
for the delight they expected in seeing a fellow-creature
* Report of a Committee of the Legislature of Maine in 1835, on a new
bill with reference to Capital Punishment.




178     SEVENTH REASON FOR ABOLISHMENT.
die, they raised a ferocious cry. But when it was at
last announced that a reprieve had left them no hope of
witnessing his agonies, their fury knew no bounds; and
the poor maniac, (for it was discovered that he was insane,) was with difficulty snatched by the officers of justice, from the fate which the most violent among them
seemed determined to inflict."*
Thomas Barrett was executed in Worcester, Massachusetts, on the 3d of October, for rape and murder,
and on the 14th another murder was committed within
a few rods of the gallows, and not long after a rape in
the same county, and only a few miles from Worcester.
and withinfour months, four cases of capital crime, and
two of homicide, not capital, were committed within less
than a day's journey from the place of Barrett's execution.
Several years ago a man by the name of Strang was
hung in Albany, New York. A man by the name of
Kelly went from Otsego to Albany, a distance of seventy miles, for the sole purpose of seeing Strang executed,
On his return, he seemed entirely engrossed by the exhibition he had witnessed. He talked of nothing else
on the road and at the public houses where they stopped
for refreshment.
A man lived in Kelly's house, by the name of Spafford, with whom he had had some little difficulty. In
less than a fortnight after Strang was hung, an altercation occurred between Kelly and Spafford, when Kelly
seized a loaded gun, and shot Spafford through the heart.
For this offense he was tried, convicted, and executed.
There was not a particle of evidence that Kelly was inmane at the time he perpetrated the horrid act. Here was
a case where the spectator hastened to commit the -aine
* From the "Expediency of Abolishing the Punishment of Death," by
Livingston.




EXECUTIONS DELETERIOUS AS EXAMPLES.      179
offense, and with the same weapon, for which he had just
seen the terrible punishment of death inflicted.
On the evening of the day on which Kelly was hung,
a man by the name of Cooke, in the neighborhood of
Cooperstown, who was present at the execution, committed suicide by hanging. Now, may not the philosophical
inquirer be permitted to indulge the conjecture that
the public execution of Strang, instead of tending to
preserve life, led to the destruction of three other lives?
Every where the same effects are produced by such
public exhibitions, designed as examples to deter men
from crime.
Not long since, a man by the name of Smith was hung
in Paris, Kentucky, for the murder of his father.
The editor of the Paris Citizen, in speaking of the
event, says:
"This was the third execution in our county within
the last thirteen months, and it has convinced us more
fully, not only of the inutility but of the positive evils
of public executions. The effect upon the public mind,
or rather upon a large portion of those who had collected to witness the solemn scene, seemed to be the reverse
of that which would naturally be expected. Instead of
producing a subdued, solemn, and thoughtful state of
feeling, it seemed to be the occasion of drinking, merriment, and riot. We have rarely seen our streets filled
with a crowd so noisy and unconcerned, and we are informed that just as the unhappy convict was about to be
launched into eternity, a rabbit, starting up, was followed
by the shouts and hallooing of half the company assembled around the gallows. The number present to witness the terrible scene was not large. Much the greater proportion of our thoughtful and respectable citizens
stayed away as from a spectacle painful and unsuited to
their taste."




180      SEVENTH REASON FOR ABOLISHMENT.
Yes, and we may add, that this class not only stayed
away themselves, but kept their negroes away, having
become convinced that examples of this kind produce
no salutary effect upon the mind of even the negro, but,
if anything, render him more perverse and brutal.
This seems the uniform testimony of observing gentlemen with whom we have conversed in and around Paris.
They have come to regard the influence of executions,
to be just the reverse of what was once universally believed to be indispensable as a warning to the offender.
We have described the appearance of the multitude
around the jail in Cincinnati, at the execution of Lecount. This man was hung, as we have said, for. an
"'example to evil doers." The execution was on Friday.
On the following Saturday night, in the lower part of the
city, one man was stabbed, in a bloody affray, and another was shot; and on the following Sunday night, a brutal murder was perpetrated in a more central portion of
the city, on the body of a man who was beaten to death
with clubs. Within two weeks, there were seven attempts at murder. It is literally true that there was
more crime committed in Cincinnati, during the three
months following that execution, than ever before or since for
the same length of time.
We do not assert that the execution of Lecount was
the cause of this state of things: but we do assert that
the example of his execution, was no "warning to evil
doers," and that the moral condition of our city was not
at all improved by this example. The same can be said
of every execution which has ever taken place in Ohio.
Two men were hung in Columbus some years since,
and "the occasion was one of hilarity, obscene jesting, coarse ribaldly, drunkenness and crime."  Pickpockets were present in abundance, and men were cursing,




EXECUTIONS DELETERIOUS AS EXAMPLES.    181
fighting, and thieving, at the very moment of the
hanging.
"Nearly fifty years ago, a mulatto boy, about 16 years
old, was convicted of burglary, at Paris, Kentucky, and;
sentenced to be hung. The day of execution turned out
to be a very cold, wintry day; but, notwithstanding the
inclemency of the weather and bad state of the roads, a
great crowd of men, women and children of almost every
shade of color and of character, assembled about the
gallows at an early hour, remaining in the cold for a
long time. At last the sheriff arrived, with the culprit
riding on his coffin in a two-horse wagon. Stopping
under the gallows tree, a venerable and worthy Presbyterian divine (John Lyle,) got into the wagon, and sung
and prayed for him; at the conclusion of which, the
sheriff adjusted the rope, drew the cap over the culprit's
face, and hallooed to those in front of the horses,'Clear
the way-clear the way,' three or four times. Just then a
voice was heard in the distance:'Stop the execution!
a reprieve! a reprieve!' A man was seen on horseback
pressing through the crowd, and when in reach of the
sheriff, handed him a paper; who, after opening it,
handed it to the minister. The clergyman uncovered
the boy's face, called his attention to the reading of the
paper, and then read aloud; on which the people showed
evident signs of dissatisfaction and disappointment. The
preacher then appealed to the boy; reminding him of how
he had been snatched from death's door through the instrumentality of the Governor; and exhorted him always
to be a good boy; but he was interrupted by the tumultuous uproar of the rabble, who with oaths were expressing their disappointment. To a young man standing
near him, the minister said:'Oh, young man, young
man, how can you give utterance to such profanity on




182      SEVENTH REASON FOR ABOLISHMENT.
an occasion so solemn! Are you not glad that the Governor has reprieved this poor boy?''No,' said he,'I wish the
Governor was in h —.''O, fie, fie!' exclaimed the
man of God, and left the ground. The young man continued his profane harangue:'Here,' said he,'are hundreds
of us, who have been shivering and suffering in the cold
for hours, expecting to see that d  d rascal hung, and
now the Governor has set him at liberty and cheated us
out of the fun. D-n him, I wish both he and the
nigger were in h-1!' a sentiment which appeared to
be popular with the crowd. By this time the boy was
turned loose, and when he leaped fiom the wagon to the
ground, an old colored woman (said to be his mother,)
caught him by the arm and said:'Bill, Bill, did you see
dat dam old prince, (the negro wagoner) jest gwoing to
drive de cart from under you and hang you?''Yes, I
seed de dam old rascal; but neber mine, I'll gib him
h-1 for dat yet.' This raised a shout among the rowdies, and the crowd dispersed."
I should not omit to state here that this boy was hung
a year or two after this, in South Carolina. His name
was Bill Hardy.*    How   salutary the  effect of the
gallows!
But we turn from all other scenes of this description,
which have transpired in our country, to mention one of
a diabolical character, that has just occurred in our
neighboring state, Illinois.
A man by the name of A. F. Monroe, was convicted
of the murder of his father-in-law, at a special term of
the Cole county court, and was sentenced to be hung, on
the 15th of February.t  On that day, a large crowd came
*This account was furnished for this work by Mr. Jesse Kennedy, an
aged gentleman of veracity, who has resided near Paris from infancy, and
was perfectly acquainted with the facts at the time they transpired.
+February 15, 1856.




EXECUTIONS DELETERIOUS AS EXAMPLES.     183
in from the country round about, to witness the "example" about to be presented by the State as a preventive to
crime. Fathers and mothers came by thousands, bringing their children, large and small, male and female, that
they might have the benefit of its "salutary influence."
But behold, on arriving at the place of punishment, they
found that the rumor which had reached them at their
homes, of a respite from the Governor, was true. The
day of execution had been deferred till the 15th of May.
For this slight cause, the crowd in their rage, broke
through the wall of the jail, took out the culprit, and
like a set of infuriated demons, nmtrdered him with their
owz hands.
The following particulars of this dreadful deed, we extract from the (Illinois) State Register. They are from
the pen of one who was an eye-witness to the shocking scene:
"The crowds continued to pour into Charleston all
that day and the next-men, women and children-in
all kinds of conveyances, and from all parts of the country. By 11 o'clock, on Friday, there were at least 5,000
persons in town, who came, as they said, "to see the fun!"
"At 12 o'clock, M., the crowd began moving toward
the Court House, led on by a man named Cunningham,
a brother-in-law of the prisoner, who harangued the
crowd, saying he was willing to postpone the execution
for a short time, but that the people of Coles could attend to their own affairs without the interference of the
Governor.
"After the speech of Cunningham, a man named
McNary was called upon, who said, speaking of the prisoner:'Take him out, G-d d-m him, take him out,
and hang him.'
"After the speeches of the above named man and




184     SEVENTH REASON FOR ABOLISHMENT.
others, the Court House bell commenced ringing, which
seemed to be a signal for an attack on the jail.
"The mob, inflamed and excited by the harangues they
had heard, rushed en masse to the jail yard, where, yelling like demons let loose from the infernal regions, they
began to make an attack on the north side of the jail.
Some ten or fifteen minutes after they had commenced
the attack, the sheriff made his appearance, and addressed the mob for about two minutes, commanding them to
desist, but made no appeal to the spectators to assist him
in enforcing the law. The sheriff then disappeared, and
made no further effort either to resist the mob or to protect the prisoner.
"The mob were about two hours in making a breach in
the wall of the jail. I think not more than ten or twelve
men did the actual work, but they were encouraged by a
large portion of the crowd, who used every means to
keep up the excitement. During all this time were
heard the sounds of fife and drum, amid the demoniac
yells of the multitude.
"When the breach was made large enough, the prisoner was dragged through, badly bruised and insensible,
amid the deafening shouts of the mob, who immediately moved with him toward the square, the fife and drum
in the meantime sounding. The crowd pressed around,
and it would have been impossible to know the position
of the prisoner, had it not been designated by one who
carried a long staff.
" The mob then proceeded to the public square, with
the evident intention of there hanging the prisoner, and
thus completing their hellish transaction; but about
this time I noticed a prominent citizen edge his way
through the crowd, with the intention, as I supposed, of
addressing the mob, but in this I was disappointed;




EXECUTIONS DELETERIOUS AS EXAMPLES.    185
however, the mass commenced moving from the square,
and the cry immediately arose,'To the woods, to the
woods.'
" Immediately the mass moved with the prisoner toward
the woods. After proceeding about half a mile southwest of the square, another halt was made, and those
most active pressed the crowd back and succeeded in
making a ring, in which some six or seven held the
prisoner. In the middle of the ring was a tree, against
which a ladder was placed, on which a man ascended with
an axe and trimmed off the smaller branches; the rope
was now made fast to the tree, and all things appeared
ready for the blackest outrage which has at any time
been perpetrated by any people, much less those who
have claims to civilization.
"During all this time the prisoner appeared insensible
of what was going on, being unable to sustain himself
alone. He appeared like a man who had taken poisonous drugs, which had taken effect upon him; he did not
seem to heed the crowd, but would occasionally laugh in
a wild and insane manner.
"Again the cry was raised,' Take him back to jail,'Will you hang a dead man?' but some demon's voice was
heard saying,'You G —d d — d cowards, are you afraid
to hang him after bringing him here.' The prisoner was
now placed in a wagon under the rope-and again the
mob hesitated. It seemed that no one could be found
blood-thirsty enough to adjust the rope to his neck,
Finally a tool in the hands of others, by the name of
Thomas Fleming, placed the rope around the prisoner's
neck, while others held him up. The wagon was pulled
away and the awful deed accomplished-the victim, as
he hung, not making the least struggle."
Here, again, is the "salutary" and " restraining" in16




186       SEVENTH REASON FOR ABOLISHMENT.
fluence of the gallows.   What a "terror" it proved to'vil-doers! How it softened passion and allayed anger;
and what a chastening and sanctifying influence this
scene must have produced on the minds of children and
youth! It may be said, that " if the State had executed
Munroe, the people would not have been enraged!"
And what does this show but that they came to the place
of execution with murder in their hearts. The State had
resolved that the man should die. They had anticipated
the work of death at that particular juncture, and had
reflected upon it, until murder grew  in their hearts, and
nothing short of a full realization of their anticipations
would satisfy them.   " String him up!" "String him up!"
was the brutal cry.  The governor said it had been "but
a few days since the man was convicted.      Wait till the
middle of May." But they could not wait. Their souls
panted for his blood. They were eager to drink it. So,
assuming the responsibility, they tlhemselves became murderers.  They killed Munroe with malice prepense.     The
example of the State fanned up the flames of hell in their
bosom, and every man engaged in that dreadful work, is
as really deserving the gallows, as the miserable wretch
whom   their revenge strangled.*    Now, if the penalty of
murder had been imprisonment for life, in Illinois, it is
probable that Munroe, on conviction, would have been sent
to the penitentiary, and put to work; that the people
would have kept about their business, without once dream* From all accounts, they were the greatest aggressors. Munroe killed
his enemy in revenge. The mob killed him in revenge. But Munroe
3ontended with a single man, who had an opportunity of defending himself, and who said at one time during the fight, when the by-standers
proposed to separate them: " Let us alone; let me kill him." When the
mob came to murder Munroe, a hundred of them engaged in the work.
They pulled the man, half dead, through a crevice in the wall, mangled his
limbs, andwhen he had no more sense than an idiot, strangled the life
out of him. The deed committed by him was revengeful; that committed
by them, was revengeful, cowardly and malignant.




EXECUTIONS DELETERIOUS AS EXAMPLES.      187
ing of revenging themselves on the wretch, and that thus
the community would have been saved the curse of this
shocking tragedy, the evil effects of which will be visible
for years.
INFLUENCE OF EXECUTIONS IN ENGLAND.
The influence of public executions has been the same
in England as in this country. We have a mass of facts
gathered from various English writers, on this subject,
all going to show the wretched effects of sanguinary laws,
the most of which we omit for the want of space.
"Every execution," says Dr. Lushington, in Parliament, "brings an additional candidate for the hangman."
"Wo to society," exclaims Lepelletier, in his report to
the national assembly, "if in that multitude which gazes
eagerly on an execution, is found one of those beings
predisposed to crime by the perverseness of their propensities! His instinct, like that of wild beasts, awaits, perhaps, only the sight of blood, to awake-and already his
heart is hardened to murder, the moment he is quitting
the spot wet with blood which the sword of the law has
shed."*
Mr. Wakefield, who was long connected with the Newgate prison, London, says: " When I first entered Newgate, I had not a doubt of the efficacy of public executions, as deterring from crime. By degrees I came firmly to believe the contrary. Newgate is the very best place
to form  a somnd opinion on the subject; that is, my opinion
as deduced from facts in the case."
The editor of the London Morning Herald, a man who
has given this subject more thought and attention, perhaps, than any other man in England, said: " Frequency
of executions, in any country, is generally followed by a
* Spear's Essays on the Death Penalty.




188     SEVENTH REASON FOR ABOLISHMENT.
proportionate increase of crime, violence and blood.
When the Legislature lightly estimates human life, the
people are apt to undervalue it."
Says Dr. Dodd: "We constantly hear of crimes not
less heinous than those for which the criminal suffers.,
being perpetrated at the place and moment of an execution.'
The Doctor himself afterward committed a capital crime,
and was executed. And one of the same jurors who convicted Dodd, was executed on the same gallows for the
same offense, within a few months afterward. And
Fauntelry, who was executed for the same offense, says:
" I first conceived the design of committing it, returning
from an execution."
In an account of the execution of two persons in London, no less than FORTY ARRESTS were made FOR THE
SAME CRIME. What a blessed influence hanging must
have produced on the motley crew in attendance! " A
pick-pocket being asked by the chaplain of Newgate,
how he could venture on such a deed, at such a time,
very frankly replied:' Executions are the best harvests
I and my companions have, for when the eyes of the
spectators are fixed above, their pockets were unprotected below."'
"The Rev. Mr. Roberts, of Bristol, England, presents
the astounding fact, that he conversed with one hundred
and sixty-seven convicts under sentence of death, one
hundred and sixty-four of whom HAD WITNESSED EXECUTIONS."
T. F. Buxton, the well-known philanthrophist, said,
in a speech in the British Parliament: " It is notorious
that executions very rarely take place without being the
occasion on which new crimes are committed. "At an
execution in York, England, in 1844, and at a still later
one in London, pick-pockets were detected plying their
trade at the very foot of the gallows."




EXECUTIONS DELETERIOUS AS EXAMPLES.      189
" A speaker at a missionary meeting in England, in
1845, said he began the day at an execution at the Old
Bailey, and, continued he, to be convinced of the moral
effects of hanging, you should have watched the mob:
all that is licentious, acnd filthy and abomirable, is done under
the very gallows tree."
"An Irishman, found guilty of issuing forged banknotes, was executed, and his body delivered to his family. While the widow was lamenting over the corpse, a
young man came to her, to purchase some forged notes:
As soon as she knew his business, forgetting at once
both her grief and the cause of it, she raised up the dead
body of her husband, and pulled from under it a parcel
of the very paper, for the circulation of which he had
forfeited his life. At that moment an alarm was given
of the approach of the police; and, not knowing where
else to conceal the notes, she thrust them into the mouth
of the corpse, and there the officers found them."*
It is also related of a thief who was hung in England,
in 1827, that on being taken from  the gallows, he was
sent to the dissecting-room, where experiments in galvanism were tried on him, during which the professor
was absent for a few moments from the room, and when
he returned he found the culprit resuscitated, sitting
upright on the table, and looking wistfully round. On
his promising to leave that part of the country he released him. Only a few months after, he perceived by
the papers that this same man was to be hung a second
time, for a similar offense; and he became so interested in
the case, that he journeyed fifty miles to see him. In
conversation he asked him how he could possibly venture
to commit a theft, when he had already been hung for a
* Livingston makes this statement on the authority of an English gentleman, who related it at a public meeting in Squthampton, England.




190     SEVENTH REASON FOR ABOLISHMENT.
similar crime.  "Oh," he replied, "I care nothing for
the gallows. The truth is, I love to steal, and so I run
the risk! When you came into your room and found
me sitting up and looking round, I was just deciding on
what I could steal fromw you of the most value, and with the
least chance of detection."
This story may be regarded as too improbable to credit.
But it is well vouched. Many instances, somewhat similar, and equally incredible, are on record. Mr. Rantoul
relates that at the execution of the notorious pirate,
Gibbs, a few years ago, in New-York, a witness was present, who declared positively that he had seen him hung
on a former occasion, for the same crime, at some port
in SouthAmerica. IHe insisted that he recognized him
beyond the possibility of mistake, by certain peculiar
marks of identity; and when we consider the hot unfrequent cases which have occurred, of resuscitation after
hanging-(a distinguished physician now in New-York,
states that he has, in the course of his life, taken part in
three such cases)-the story is not incredible. At any
rate, there are numerous cases known, in which criminals,
who have narrowly escaped death for an attempted crime,
have made its repetition the first object of their newly
acquired liberty."
The following account of a conversation, said to have
taken place between a convict about to be hung for coining, and a clergyman in England, is from the Essays of
Mr. Spear, on the Death Penalty:
"Have you often seen an execution?"' Yes."
" Did not it frighten you?"
"No; why should it?"
"Did it not make you think that the same would happen to yourself?"




EXECUTIONS DELETERIOUS AS EXAIMPLES.   191
"Not a bit."
"What did you think, then?"
"Think? why I thought it was a d-d shame."
" Now, when you have been going to run a great risk
of being caught and hanged, did the thought never come
into your head, that it would be as well to avoid the
risk?"
" Never."
" Not when you remembered having seen men hanged
for the same thing?"
"Oh, I never remembered anything about it; and if I
had, what difference would that make? We must all
take our chance. I never thought it would fall on me,
and don't think it ever will."
"But if it should?"
"Why, then, I hope I shall suffer like a man-where's
the use of snivelling?"
From all these facts it will be perceived that men misconceive the true philosophy of sanguinary punishments,
when they argue that they exert a salutary influence by
restraining men from the committal of crime. The opinions of keepers of prisons, lawyers, judges, and all men
intimately connected with criminal jurisprudence, both
in America and Europe, have undergone a wonderful
change on this subject, since the introduction and test
of milder and more humane laws. Even at the present
day, when bar-rooms and liquor shops have become less
common, and temperance more prevalent, a hanging is,
of all places, the most notoriously drunken, obscene,
noisy, fighting and immoral. Every newspaper in the
land testifies to the truth of this declaration. Scarcely
an account of an execution has reached us from any portion of our country, for the last ten years, but has contained a description of attendant rowdyism and crime,




192      SEVENTH REASON FOR ABOLISHMENT.
as the legitimate fruits of the occasion. The law of
death, as administered even by Judge Lynch, is not a
sufficient "terror to evil-doers," to prevent them from
the most dreadful acts of vengeance. During the past
year, in California, sixty-eight men have been hung in
the most summary manner, by Lynch law, and yet no
less than five hundred and thirty-nine murders have
been committed, some of them   of the most atrocious
character, in the very neighborhood, and, in some instances, on the very day of the execution! At no time previous,
for the last fifty years, have laws so terrible prevailed,
and their execution been so determined and vindictive,
and yet in no part of our country has crime been so
prevalent. And this is the history of all countries.
Cruel and vindictive laws produce cruel and vindictive
people. The State should, therefore, ever be cautious of
her examples.
"The executioner," says O'Sullivan, "is the indirect
cause of more murders and more deaths, than he either
punishes or avenges. He is, in effect, a sort of public
teacher, both of the doctrine and practice of murder;
and in the school over which he presides, are but too
many apt scholars for his instructions to prove unavailing.'Sow an execution and reap a crop of murders,'
is an old proverb, but it is one whose meaning is as true
as it is terrible." During the reign of Henry VIII of
England, the penal laws of that country were dreadfully
severe. Hume bears record that seventy-two thousand'great and petty thieves," were executed, for robbery alone;
and under Elizabeth, his successor, "rogues were still
trussed up apace."  So that, during her administration,
nineteen thousand were strangled; and yet, there never
was a time in all the history of Etngland when crime was so
rife. In nearly every town and village, were men




EXECUTIONS DELETERIOUS AS EXAMPLES.     193
"strung up."   Frequently were they hung in trees,
where they were left for days as a "terror to evil-doers,"
and yet all this had no effect to deter the offender.
"Sure, and it's nothing to be hung, when one is used to
it," exclaimed an Irishman, when going to the gallows;
"and don't the half of us expect this will be our end!
so what matters it whether the gallows claims its own
this year or next t
17




CHAPTER X I.
EIGHTH   REASON    FOR ABOLISHMENT.
RESULT OF EXPERIENCE FAVORABLE.
Men aak for Practical Proof —States and Countries have made a trial of Abolishment-Result favorable -Trial in Maine -No Execatiot3 in twenty-two years -Compared with other States -Vermont Massachusetts — Michigan -Wisconsin -Effects of
the softeninr of Penal Codes in England and other Countries -Effects of Abolishment
inTuscany-Tuscany compared with Rome-Effects of, Abolishment in Belgium -Also
in Bombay and Russia —Re3ult decidedly in favor of Abolishment.
Many persons will trust to nothing short of experience.
They ask for practical, positive proof.    " Society is bad
enough," they say, "with the gallows; how do we know
that it would not be worse without it?     Has any State or
country tried the experiment of abolishment long enough
to determine fairly its moral effect?"     We answer, yes.
But if it had not, that fact should     deter no Christian
State or country fiom    following where Christianity    and
humanity, as well as a wise policy, direct.    The time was,
in our country, as we have seen, when theft was punished with hanging.     Many were fearful of the experiment of abolishment; but at last it was tried, and the
result was favorable.   So has it been with the crime of
murder. In every country where abolishment for this
crime has been tested, the effect has been TO LESSEN CRIME.
So that society is positively less safe with the Death
Penalty than without it, even'if the law.isrigitdly enforced.
What an argument is here in favor of abolishment!        Let
me now appeal to facts in proof of this statement.
(194)




RESULT OF EXPERIENCE FAVORABLE.          195
EFFECT OF ABOLISHMENT IN OUR OWN COUNTRY.
As we have seen during the progress of this work,
bloody codes have never had the effect to deter men from
crime. To many minds whose only idea of punishment
is vengeance, this fact is incredible. Nevertheless it is
so. When Massachusetts Colony executed men       and
women for stealing forty shillings, robbery, burglary and
shop-lifting, one would suppose that so dreadful a punishment would have totally prevented this description of
crime. But not so; it was more frequent than now, in proportion to the population. The softening of the penal
code had not the effect to increase, but rather to decrease
the offense. The same result has followed the abolishment
of the gallows for murder, wherever a trial has been tested.
MAINE. Here for the last fifteen years, the Death
Penalty has been virtaually abolished.*  And what is
the result? Just what we have said. In no part of our
country has the crime of murder been so rare. Only
three persons have been guilty of this foul deed, since
the change in the law. It is true, that the progress of
temperance, and, therefore, of civilization, in that Statethe closing of liquor shops and bar rooms-have had a
favorable influence in banishing crime, especially the
most aggravated classes of crime, from among the people. All know that " intemperance is the hand-maid of
vice." Still, the favorable aspect of society, so far as
relates to this question, must not be attributed to this
cause. The present law for murder went into force
more than ten years previous to the existence of the
liquor law; and not for more than twenty-two years has a
man or woman been executed in that State; and during
this time but five murders have been perpetrated.  Now,
* See the note at the bottom of the 31st page of this work.




196      EIGHTH REASON FOR ABOLISHMENT.
compare Maine with any State in the Union, of the
same population, where the gallows still remains, and
notice how favorable is the result to abolishment. Take
Kentucky, for instance. There have been three executions, at different times, within the last thirteen months,
in the town of Paris alone, in that State; and, during the
past year, as many as ten murders have been committed
within the limits of the State.t  As many on an average,
for the last twenty-two years, would amount to two hundred and twenty. The population of Maine, in 1850, was
583,169, and that of Kentucky, 982,405.
A comparison with Ohio or Indiana would exhibit
nearly the same result. As we have shown, five hundred
murderst have been either perpetrated or attempted, in
Hamilton county, Ohio, alone, in the last fifteen years.
We have no means of ascertaining the history of crime
in Indiana, beyond the past year. During the past year
(1855) eleven murders were perpetrated in that State.
Two months since, three men were hung at once in Lafayette. Since that event, two cases of homicide have
occurred in Indiana. The population of Ohio in 1850,
was 1,980,329, and that of Indiana, 988,416.
A comparison, even in New-England States, shows a
result favorable to Maine. New-Hampshire, with a population of only 317,976, has employed the gallows on
several occasions, within the last twenty years; while
the number of murders within her borders, has more than
trebled that in Maine. So in Connecticut, with a population of a little more than half of that in Maine, men
have been executed in various parts of the State, from
time to time; a majority of her population being decidedly
t Those killed in Louisville during the election excitement, in the fall
of 1855, are not included.
T See note at the bottom of the 160th page of this work.




RESULT OF EXPERIENCE FAVORABLE.        197
in favor of hard and stringent laws, and yet murders are
far more frequent in that State than in Maine. Three
months ago, no less than three dreadful murders were
perpetrated within a short distance of New-Haven.
Thus is it seen that after a trial of fifteen years, without the aid of the gallows as a "terror to evil doers," it is
found that the inhabitants of Maine not only live without
the fear of having their throats cut at night by bloody
assassins, as was anticipated by timid men and women,
when the gallows was abolished, but theypositively occupy
the safest spot, as to aggravated crime, on the American continent.
VERMONT modified her law four years ago, with reference to the Death Penalty, and made it very similar to
that of Maine. The result has proved most satisfactory.
Crime has not increased; on the contrary it has evidently
diminished.
MASSACHUSETTS enacted a similar law, in 1852, with the
same happy results. She has no disposition to go back
to the usages of a more barbarous age. Her next step
will be an advance one. We regret to record, however,
that John H. Clifford, the Governor of the State in 1853,
saw fit to issue his warrant for the hanging of a man
who was convicted of murder, soon after the modified
law took effect. The condemned man worked out his
year in the penitentiary according to the law. He was
as constant, faithful and orderly as any man in the
prison, but the Govenor had the power to strangle him;
he conceived it to be his duty to strangle him, and so
the man was strangled. The act was privately perpetrated in the little jailyard at Taunton, Bristol county.
No one, with the exception of the Governor, and a few
whose views and sympathies belong to a past age, regarded this deed as either Christian or necessary. Life




198      EIGHTH REASON FOR ABOLISHMENT.
and property were rendered no more secure, nor were the
manners and habits of the people improved.
In those States where the gallows has been absolutely
abolished, the result has proved equally satisfactory.
These are Rhode Island, Michigan and Wisconsin.
RHODE ISLAND has had an experience of six years, during which time the population of the State has considerably increased, while there has been no increase of crime
-especially of aggravated, crime.
MICHIGAN was the first State in the Union to abolish
the Death Penalty. She made the change in 1847, and
as reports have been every where circulated that an increase of crime was the result, and that the people of the
State were much dissatisfied with the law and wished it
abolished, I deem it necessary to present the facts in
the case somewhat in detail. The reader may rely on
the correctness of the statements which follow, as they
are from official reports.
In 1851, such was the report abroad, with reference to
the practical working of the new law in Michigan, that
the Secretary of State saw fit to make a statement, in
which it was shown that crimes of violence had actually
decreased after the abolishment of the Death Penalty.
He gave the facts as follows, with reference to the number of convictions for murder and manslaughter in the
State, from 1847 to 1851.
In  1847, for manslaughter....................... 1
In 1848, for murder in the First Degree,...........4
In   "      "     "(  Second  "............1
In  1849,    " " First        (.............1
In   "      "     "    Second <".............9
In 1850, no convictions for murder or manslaughter.
To the question whether murder had been more frequent




RESULT OF EXPERIENCE FAVORABLE.         199
since the law was changed, he replied at length in the negative, giving the statistics as follows:
COMPARATIVE TABLE.
Exhibiting the number of Indictments found in Michigan
during the years 1841 to 1850, inclusive, for murder, manslaughter, and for assault with intent to kill —as taken
from the Attorney General's Official Report.
H      ~' S-^: 1 me in I'd 1t -~ i  i-st j
C  c c c Cc0 c0 IP I C 00 COc 00
Murder,41                     5 2 1 3161 0 41 0 5
Manslaughter,            00 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 9 0111
Accessories,             21 0 1 0 0 0  2 0 0C 0 0i 0
Assault, with intent to kill, 1112 12 71 9 12 63 10! 9 13 8 40
Total of homicidal assaults, 1613,19 9i1(0115|82 l1114-,231 8156' The reader will bear in mind that during the period
included in this table, the population of Michigan was
rapidly increasing, partly by emigration of the degraded
poor of Europe, and that many counties which in'41
and'42 were a wilderness, were filled with an adventurous, hardy and excitable population in'49 and'50. This
official statement, therefore shows a most gratifying decrease of crime in Michigan, while it had been increasing
in other States, where Capital Punishment was most frequently and certainly inflicted."
It is true, that in 1852, in consequence of the fact that
one or two murders were perpetrated by returned Mexican soldiers, who ha I be ome familiar with blood while
abroad, it was conceived by certain persons whose sympathies for the institution of the gallows were unyielding,
that crime was "alarmingly on the increase," and a
memorial was sent from    the Grand Jury of Wayne
* We are indebted to the "Prisoner's Friend," a valuable monthly Magazine, edited and published by Rev. C. Spear, of Boston, for the facts
recorded above.




200      EIGHTH REASON FOR ABOLISIHMENT.
County, Michigan, to the Legislature of that State, praying for the restoration of that old relic of barbarism. It
is also true, that that fact was employed in the Legislature of Massachusetts, New-York, Ohio and probably
in other States, as an argument against abolishment in
those States.
We recollect that in lecturing upon the subject of the
Death Penalty in 1852 and'53 we were met with this
statement on every hand: "Michigan     has abolished
Capital Punishment; and, after a trial of years, has determined on reinstating the gallows."  But what were the
facts concerning this memorial? Let a man* of integrity,
an old and respected resident of Michigan, answer. He
saw by the eastern papers how this piece of intelligence
was received and employed by those favoring the Death
Penalty in New-York and elsewhere; so he writes to the
editor of an eastern publication, as follows:'Know all men, that said memorial was born in the
city of Detroit, in sight of Rev. Dr. Duffield's church,
the Doctor being the great advocate for hanging in the
State. It was recommended to that same Grand Jury
by the Judge of the County Court of Wayne, he being a
member of Dr. Duffield's church, and strongly in favor
of drawing the halter to make men virtuous and orderly.
The memorial was signed by but fifteen of the twenty-four
jurors, and ushered into existence in the darkest spot of
our State. It was nursed through a short and feeble
life, by Dr. Duffield and others, but soon died, without
a relative to mourn its loss, and was buried, to be brought
forth by somebody in New-York city and other places,
to answer a bad cause.
*Rev. J. Stebbins. We have other communications and documents,
substantiating the above statement; but deem it unnecessay to offer
them here.




RESULT OF EXPERIENCE FAVORABLE.         201
"But it will never do. In Michigan a resurrection of
such a dead -body would be more offensive than the dissecting-rooms of a medical college, and not half as
useful.'This was the only memorial presented to our Legislature during the entire session; and this, together with
Dr. Duffield's sermon in favor of hanging, was smothered
with remonstrances, and never even got out of the hands
of the committee to whom it was referred, they finding
NO CAUSE FOR ACTION.     Thus ended the affair now
brought up to influence legislation in favor of hanging
in the great State of New-York. Shame! shame!
"Since the days of that memorial we have had a Convention and made a new Constitution.  In the Convention it was thought advisable to let hrit9eing letirely (lone.
Nor is this all. In Detroit there is now, and has been for
two years. a daily press fearlessly exposing every attempt
from abroad to support the gallows. And what is a significant fact, this press is the j')ople.'s a penny paper,
and has the largest circulation of any paper in Detroit."
This was the last we heard of the efforts of Michigan
to reinstate the gallows. The present law works adcmirably. A letter is before us from one:' long resident in
that State, and for two years chaplain in the Michigan
Penitentiary, in answer to enquiries put by us, in which
the writer says: "There never was a time since Michigan was a State when its morals were so pure as nownever a time when the State was so secure from the
robber or assassin. In my opinion it would be impossible to abolish the present law. Its practical working is
admirable. Outlaws are brought to justice. They are
convicted, and, consequently, secured, without effort; and
* Rev. J. Billings.




202      EIGHTI REASON FOR ABOLISHMENT.
the people consider themselves as safe from the murderer
when in the Penitentiary as they would were he in the
tomb. There he is, a livingc example to all evil doers;
and experience has proved that he is no more dangerous
or disorderly than other convicts.'
WISCONSIN. The Death Penalty was abolished several
years ago in this State. and generally the practical operation of the present law has been favorable. Not so many
murders have been committed by.fity per cent, in that
State, in ratio to the number of inhabitants, as in some
portions of Ohio or Kentucky, where the gallows is still
in vogue. There are men, however, in Wisconsin, who
have great confidence in the moral power of legal strangulation. They look upon the murderer with feelings of
savage revenge. Their hearts pant for blood. They
say-"hang him" innocent or guilty,'crucify himni
crucify him!'  This spirit is rife in Janesville. Wisconsin, so that not long since, a mob arose and seized a
man when being conveyed from the jail to the court
room, under trial for murder in that county. and as the
State had declared that it would not kill him. because he
had killed, they took the responsibility to perform this
heroic deed themselves. Amid horrid oaths and the
most impious imprecations. they trussed him up to
the limb of a tree and choked the life out of hii.
Now, some persons. both in and out of the State of
Wisconsin. attribute this lawless deed to the want of the
gallows in that State; and say the Death Penalty must
be reinstated, as if blood was never known to be shed
where the gallows was in vogue. But how narrow is the
vision of such men, and how limited their knowledge of
the real facts in the case! Let them reflect. Are there
no mobs or murders where Capital Punishment exists?
Let them look to Louisville, Cincinnati, Philadelphia,




RESULT OF EXPERIENCE FAVORABLE.          203
New-York, California, or nearer home, to Illinois."  In
all these cities and States the Death Penalty still exists.
And yet how frequent are the most dreadful crimes perpetrated. In California not only the gallows is erected,
but everywhere Judge Lynch presides at the trial of the
offender and convicts and executes in the most summary
manner. According to the statistics of crime just published in that State, no less than 68 persons were put to death
in this way, during 1855, and yet crime has not at all lessened under this severity. On the contrary, it has increased. In 1854 there were but 390 homicides. In 1855.
under this lawless and desperate code, there were 53S.
In Wisconsin, there may have been an increase of
crime, during the last year; but this is no certain
proof that the cause of this condition was the inefficiency
of the present law. The result of a single year is no
positive test in a case like this.  The circumstances
showing an apparent permanent change for the worse or
better, may be accidental.   For instance, during the
years 1845,'46 and'47 there was but o(e trial for a capital offense in Massachusetts.  But in the single year
1848, there were seven-tcenty-one times as malny as in the
three previous years. a result not paralleled nor even
approached in the case of Wisconsin.  And this apparent
change occurred in Massachusetts without any change in
the Penal Code of that state.  Now if Massachusetts had
abolished the Death Penalty at the beginning of 1848
what an argument this circumstance would have afforded
the friends of the gallows in favor of its restoration.
Such is the result of abolishment in our own country.
We sum it up by saying, that in every state of oeur UPI0io
cwhere the Death Penalty is either practically or really taol* In Charleston, Cules county, Illinois, a dreadful murder was perpetrated by a mob, similar to that in Wisconsin three months ago. See
pages 182-6 of this work, where the particulars are described.




204      EIGHTH REASON FOR ABOLISHMENT.
ished, there is LESS crime of anl atrocious character, than in
those States'where it still exists. The feeling of security is
not, therefore, diminished in consequence of abolishment.
The law is more in harmony with public sentiment.
The officers of justice are less embarrassed and more
prompt in their duties; the guilty can be convicted, and
when convicted are secured and punished. Let the gallows be abolished in every State, and the same result
would follow.
EFFECT OF ABOLISHMENT IN EUROPE.
"When one casts his eye upon the history of crime
and punishment in modern Europe," says Rantoul, "the
phenomenon which first attracts his notice is the prodigality with which the Death Penalty was formerly dispensed, and the prodigious advance which has been made
by a milder system  of repressive policy during the
eighteenth and the first quarter of the nineteenth centuries; and still more remarkably, during the last thirty
years. As this mitigation of punishment has been tried in
every part of christendom, if any evil consequences had
followed from it, some one would have been able to point
them out, and to tell us when, where, how, and how long
the mischief manifested itself. Yet among more than
two hundred authors upon this subject, whose writings
I have examined, I have never found but two who have
seriously attempted to exhibit the evils which these successive meliorations of the law must have occasioned, if
those wise men against whose indignant remonstrances
these changes were effected were right in their prognostications."
It is immaterial what countries we select as tests in
our investigations, for everywhere we shall find the results
subtantially the same, viz.: in favor of mild and humane
laws. We will begin with




RESULT OF EXPERIENCE FAVORABLE.        205
ENGLAND AND WALES.-The advance of crime was
never so rapid as in the latter part of the reign of George
III.  In 1814, the committals in England and Wales
were 6,390, and in 1817 they were 13,932. They had
more than doubled in three years! And yet more
crimes were condemned as capital during the reign of
George III. than in the reigns of all the Plantagenets,
Tudors, and Stuarts combined, as stern and hard as they
were. But thirty years ago or more, through the instrumentality of humane men, Great Britain began to soften
her penal code; and it was discovered that no sooner was
the Penalty of Death repealed for any given crime than
that crime was at once arrested in its progress, while
all other crimes continued to advance the same as before.
For instance; the Death Penalty for coining was repealed
May 23d, 1832; for horse stealing, sheep stealing, cattle
stealing, larceny in dwellings, (of ~5,) in July, 1832;
forgery, 15th Aug. 1832; and house breaking, 14th
Aug. 1833. For these offenses, in the four years ending
with 1831, there had been condemned to death 3,786
persons, of whom 66 were executed.
Now for these offenses, during the time mentioned in
the table below, the commitmets were as follows:
In three years.  Commitments.  Executions.
1827, 1828, 1829,    4,622       96
1830, 1831, 1832,   4,724        23
1833, 1834, 1835,    4,292        2
In this class, the commitments fell 432, or about nine
per cent., in the three years following the repeal. But
look at the result for those crimes where the Death Pen
alty still remained:In three years.  Commitments.  Executions.
1827, 1828, 1829,    1,705     108
1830, 1831, 1832.    2,236      120
1833, 1834, 1835,    2,247      102




206     EIGHTH REASON FOR ABOLISHMENT.
Here the commitments rose 542, or about thirty-two per
cent, in defiance of the gallows, in six years.
The result shown above proved the same with reference to every crime. For instance, mitigation of the
Death Penalty, for assaults on females, commenced in
1835. During the four years ending Dec. 1834, there
were 14 executions and 520 committals. During the
next four years, ending Dec. 1838, there were 4 executed
and 528 committals. To have borne the same proportion to the increased population, the last number should
have been 551 instead of 528. Again, mitigation for
arson commenced in 1837. During the two years ending in Dec. 1836, there were 9 executed and 148 committals; while during the two years following mitigation, ending Dec. 1838, there were no executions and
but 86 committals.
But though Great Britain has demonstrated in its
history, the fact, upon the one hand, that sanguinary
laws always make men bloody and cruel, and upon the
other, that, clemency on the part of the legislator always
inspires humanity among the citizens, yet it has never
cherished sufficient faith in the moral power of clemency
to wholly abandon the use of the gallows. This event
will come to pass in a few years. We have presented
the above simply to show the validity of the philosophy
of humanity advocated in this work, and on which the
results which we present are based.
We now turn to an examination of the effects of the
law in those countries in Europe where the Death Penalty
is absolutely abolished for every crime.
TUSCANY.-' Here we find the most satisfactory proofs
of the practical advantages resulting from the abolishment of Capital Punishment. The grand duke, Leopold,
ascended the throne in 1765, and, governed by the en



RESULT OF EXPERIENCE FAVORABLE.          207
lightened counsels of Beccaria, he commenced a general
reform of the penal code. After showing that' the proper
objects of punishment' are'the redress of injury' and'the correction of the delinquent,' and that he ought to
be'regarded as a child of the state,' and that his' amendment ought never to be abandoned in despair,' he goes
on to decree in the following language:
" We have resolved( to iaolish, (tld by the present law do
abolish, forever, thfe l) llishmenlet o(f (death, which shall not
be inflicted on any criminal, present or refusing to appear, or even confessing his crime, or being convicted of
any of those crimes which in the laws prior to these we
now promulgate, and whichl we will have to be absolutely
and entirely abolished, were styled capital.
"Let us now look at the effects of this experiment. 3M.
Berenger, in his report to the French Chamber of Deputies, in 1830, says the punishment of death was abolished
during a period of twenty-five years in Tuscany,'and
the mildness of the penal legislation had so improved the
character of the people there, that there was a time when
the prisons of the (,Grand Duchy were found entirely
empty.   Behold enough to prove sufficiently that the
abolition of the punishment of death is capable of producing the most salutary effects.' Mr. Livingston says,'that in Tuscany, where murder was not punished with
death, only five had been committed in twenty years;
while in Rome, where that punishment is inflicted with
great pomp and parade, sixty lmurders were committed
in the short space of three months in the city and
vicinity."*
But it is asked by the friends of the Death Penalty, if
the milder code was attended with such beneficial results
* We take the above from Mr. Spear's valuable work on Capital Punishment. What he says is correct as other documents in our possession
abundantly testify.




208      EIGHTH REASON FOR ABOLISHMENT.
in Tuscany, why was the punishment of death afterwards
restored? Simply because an enlightened and humane
sovereign was succeeded by a foreign conqueror and
despot. All despotism is based on the power of the ruler
to destroy; hence all despots have been the most decided
friends of cruel and bloody laws. The mild code of
Leopold was abolished and the guillotine restored by the
conquests under Napoleon, a man who never studied the
philosophy of clemency, but deluged all Europe in blood.
What better could have been expected?  The heart of a
lamb is not found under the skin of a tiger. After his
reign terminated and the power of his government was
lost in Tuscany, the Death Penalty was again abolished,
and on the day of abolishment the people showed their
joy by "rushing en masse for the guillotine, not to put it
in operation, but to commit it to the flames, and the bells
rung a merry peal."
RussIA.-In Russia the punishment of death is never
inflicted. The Empress Elizabeth ascended the throne
in 1741. At that time she pledged herself never to destroy human life for crime; a pledge which was faithfully kept during her entire reign. Catharine followed
her example, and Nicholas governed by the same humane
principle. And what has been the result after a trial of
more than oe hundred years, during which the Deatl
Penalty has been inflicted in that immense realm containing 62,000,000 of people only on two occasions?
Why, the most satisfactory.  The least mnmber of murders
are perpetrated in Rssia of any country on the globe of the
same population. Count De Segur made this declaration
on his return from that country in 1791 saying that
Catharine herself had several times said to him: " /We
must punish crime without imitating it; the punishment
of death is rarely anything but a useless barbarity."




RESULT OF EXPERIENCE FAVORABLE.        209
Is it not singular that enlightened England and France
have not, even yet, opened their eyes to the truth of this
important fact?  So satisfactory has been the trial of
abolishment, in Russia, that the reform has been carried
into Finland.
" Experience demonstrates," said Elizabeth, " that the
frequent repetition of Capital Punishment never yet
made men better. If, therefore, I can show that, in the
ordinary state of society, the death of a citizen is neither
useful nor necessary, I shall have pleaded the cause of
humanity with success."
" By her mildness and clemency," said Catharine, " she
did more to exalt the nation, and gave the fathers ofher
country a more excellent pattern, than that of all the
pomps of war, victory and devastation."  Well did a
Russian writer exclaim:"Blush! ye countries of a longer civilization, that
Russia should teach you the celestial principle of reforming depraved morals, not by the sanguinary execution or
inexorable justice, but by the mild and divine precepts of
heavenly mercy."*
BELGIUM.-We have full and accurate tables of crime
in Belgium both before and after abolishment, but our
limits will not permit us to give them in detail. The
result there, however, after a trial of years, has been most
satisfactory.  The Penal Code was once exceedingly
severe and executions common in that country, and, as
a necessary consequence, crime was rife. With the decrease of executions, as in other countries, crime diminished. Thus in nineteen years, ending with 1814,
there were 533 executions, 399 of which were for murder, or 21 per annu1,m; the law was then softened, and for
the next fifteen years there were 72 executions and but
*Spear's Essays on Capital Punishment.
18




210     EIGHTHI REASON FOR ABOLISHMENT.
114 murders, or only S 1)er annum. Capital Punishment
was then entirely abolished, and for the next five years
there were no executions and but 20 murders, or only
four per annum. How remarkable the change, and how
hard to credit with many; and yet it is the very result
which a true philosophy warrants, as we show in our
next chapter.
BOMBAY. It is thought by many that the gallows
may be safely dispensed with in a highly civilized community, but is indispensable in countries with a rude
and ignorant population. Experience has taught, however that strangling or beheading, burning or crucifying
men or women, is just as unnecessary and impolitic with
one people as with another, while the moral influence is
equally pernicious. Bombay is an Island in British
India. It was obtained by the Portuguese in 1530 from
an Indian chief and was ceded to Great Britain in 1661.
Its population is nearly 200,000 of whom 120,000 are
Hindoos, 40,000 Mohammedans, 12,000 native Christians,
15,000 Parsees and only about 5.000 English. And yet
among this mixed and ignorant population, of Hindoos,
Mohammedans and Parsees,-in the midst of heathen
darkness, with but scarcely a ray of Christian light, it was
found by actual experiment that killing for crime was
utterly useless. On this point we have abundant testimony, but a single statement must suffice. It is taken
from the farewell charge of Sir James MIackintosh to the
Grand Jury of the Supreme Court of Bombay, July 20,
1811. He says:
" Since my arrival here, in May, 1804, the punishment
of death has not been inflicted by this court. Now, the
population subject to our jurisdiction, either locally or
personally, cannot be less than two hundred thousand
persons. Whether any evil consequence has yet arisen
from so unusual (and in British dominions unexampled)




RESULT OF EXPERIENCE FAVORABLE.       211
a, circumstance, as the disuse of Capital Punishment, for
so long a period as seven years, or among a population
co considerable, is a question which you are entitled to
rsk, and to which I have the means of affording you a
satisfactory answer.
"From May, 1756, to May, 1763, (seven years,) the
capital convictions amounted to one hundred and fortyone, and the executions were forty-seven. The annual
average of persons who suffered death was almost seven,
and the annual average of capital crimes ascertained to
have been perpetrated, was nearly twenty:
"For the last fifty years the population has more than
doubled, and yet fiom May, 1804, to May, 1811, though
we had no capital execution, there have been but six
convictions for murder. Murders in the former period
with executions were, therefore, nearly as three to one to
those of the latter, in which no Capital Punishment was
inflicted.
"This small experiment has, therefore, been made without any diminution of the security of the lives and property of men. Two hundred thousand men have been
governed for seven years without a capital punishment,
and without any increase of crimes. If any experience
has been acquired, it has been safely and innocently
gained."
Here, then, are the results of abolishment. To whatever country we turn our attention we find the same
favorable response. Are not these facts significant? Let
not our States, then, longer be "faithless, but believing."  Cicero said, many centuries ago. "Away with the
executioner and the execution, and the very name of its
engine! Not merely from the limbs but from the very
thoughts, the eyes, the ears of Roman citizens."  Shall
American Christians of the nineteenth century say less
with reference to American citizens?




CHAPTER XIV.
NLNTH REASON FOR ABOLISHMENT.
THE PHILOSOPHY OF HUMANITY FAVORABLE.
Validity of our Philosophy doubted-Kindness in the government of Home and the
Family-A State or Nation a Family-Want of faith in Goodness to overcome EvilThe Philosophy of Christianity and Humanity harmonious-Saying of the French SageExample of the State-Conversation of the Monk and the Executioner -Influence of
bloody Examples-Sacredness of Human Life should he enforced-Early training of
children-The Quakers free from Crime-Children of Newgate Criminals.
THE facts which we present in the preceding chapter,
will astonish many persons who have given the subject
but little attention, or whose education has been such
that their prejudices are wholly enlisted on the side of
stern and inflexible laws for criminals. Some will doubt
the validity of the philosophy upon which the reform we
advocate is based, and say it is impossible that a mild and
lenient government should possess the power to prevent
crime, that is found in a stern and uncompromising administration of justice.   Even fathers and mothers who
have long since learned the necessity of love and kindness in the government of home and the family, and who
are certain from   daily observation that those children
are the most disobedient and cruel, who are educated
under the most stern and cruel authority, will doubt the
philosophy upon which they base all their hopes in domestic discipline, when they come to apply it to the government of a state or nation and say, "we dare not trust
it!"  But what is a state or nation but a family?     And
we may be certain that whatever principles will exert a
(212)




THE PHILOSOPIY OF HUMANITTY FAVORABLE. 213
healthfulmoral influence on the minds and hearts of our
children, will exert the same influence on the minds and
hearts of men and women, who are but children of a
larger growth. The philosophy of humanity is in harmony with the philosophy of Christianity, and is. therefore, in favor of abolishment. Every principle begets
its like. "The grace of God that bringeth salvation to
all men hath appeared, teachiig us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly, righteously
and godly in this present world.''* God's grace or love
will produce this effect, but wrath, hatred, never.' The
goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance;'"- not his
vengeance. Christ was once charged with casting out
devils by Beelzebub the prince of devils; but he denied
the possibility of such a thing by showing that Satan,
could not cast out Satan, or in other words, that evil
could not allay or destroy evil, but only the Spirit of
God-or goodness. Hence the injunction:' Be not
overcome of evil, lb7t overcome evil with GOOD;"' which is
the only principle which can overcome evil.
Now, in the philosophy of these Christian declarations
will be found an explanation of the seeming mystery connected with the facts recorded in the last chapter, with
reference to the effects of clemency. Cruelty and retaliation fan up the fires of hell in the soul, while forbearance and gentleness allay them   and awaken only
thoughts of repentance and aspirations for a more virtuous and holy life. The lesson of the French sage is a
true one; " liZe loi rigoareuse prodLit des crimes"-harsh
laws, beget crimes; and said Bentham: "If the legislator be desirous to inspire humanity amongst the citizens,
let him set the example; let him show the utmost respect
for the life of man. Sanguinary laws have a tendency
*Tit. ii: 11.  tRom. ii: 4  Rom. xii: 21.




14-      NINTH REASON FORl ABIIOS.IM cFNT.
to render man cruel, either by fear, by imitation, or by
revenge. But laws dictated by mildness humanize the
manners of a nation and the spirit of government."
Douglass Jerrold, in his "Lessons of Life," gives a
conversation between a monok and a hangmain in Paris, as
follows:
-'Ho! hold you there, Father-'.xamp)le.''Tis a
brave exnample to throttle a man in the public streets, on
the gibbet. Why, I know the faces of my audience as
well as Dominique did. I can show you a hundred who
never fail at the gallows' foot to come and gather good'example.' Do you think, most holy Father, that the
mob of Paris come to a hanging as to a sermon-to
amend their lives at a gibbet? No: many come as they
would take an extra dram! it gives their blood a fillipstirs them for an hour or two many to see a fellow man
act a scene which they must one day undergo; many
come as to puppets and ballet-singers at the Point Neuf;
but for exlmplle, why, father, as I am an honest executioner, I have, in my day, done my office llpon tici:ty, all
of whom were constant visitors, of years standing, at my
morning levees around the gallows, to witness the jerk
and the struggle.  That was the effect of a'good example'
Father!"
Here is exhibited the philosophy of sanguinary punishments; as an example, they harden and demoralize the
soul, and prepare men for deeds of revenge and blood.
When the state kills, it authorizes and sanctions the
work of death. Naturally, man has a horror of taking
human life. His instincts revolt at it, and his frame
shudders at the thought of it. It is not the old and experienced soldier who trembles at the blood and carnage
of the battle field, but the man whose sympathies have
not been blunted by these dreadful exhibitions. Let




THE PHILOSOPHY OF HUMANITY FAVORABLE. 215
the men, women and, children of any community become
familiar with the work of death as sanctioned by the state
in the execution of offenders, and their horror of bloodshed will gradually but certainly diminish, and they
themselves will kill if they have what they deem sufficient
provocation. The state has set the example. Duelling,
bloody affrays and murders, are fostered and sustained
by the gallows. This is wrong. The state, in its dignity,
should teach a lesson to every man, woman and child,
just the reverse. Both by its laws and its examples, it
should carefully maintain and enforce the sacredness of
human life; teaching that retaliation and vengeance belong alone to a savage state; that to kill men because
they have killed is but perpetrating the same evil; that
it is better to suffer wrong than do wrong, and that clemency, forbearance, gentleness, are more divine, ennobling
and blessed than retaliation and vengeance.
In every instance where a state or nation has exhibited such an example it has operated upon the people like
leaven on meal, assimilating their hearts gradually but
surely to its own divine nature. The officers of prisons in
Belgium testified, that from " their experience the abolishment of Capital Punishment tended greatly to soften the
disposition of the mass of the people."  The same report
comes from Russia and Tuscany. Such a thing in Maine
as a murder is very uncommon; and the consequence is,
when one occurs the whole community is shocked in its
every nerve; while in California, where executions are
almost of daily occurrence, the fact that a man has
been murdered is received as coolly as the news of his
marriage.
What a true philosophy calls for as a preventive to
murder and protection against it is, not the gibbet-not
the blood of the offender, but CORRECT MORAL SENTI



216       NINTH REASON FOR ABOLISHMENT.
MENT AMONG THE MASSES, AND ESPECIALLY A DEEP
REVERENCE FOR THE SACREDNESS OF HUMAN LIFE.
Let the State see to it that it sets the proper example,
and let all parents instil into the minds of their children,
from their very infancy, this reverence for human life,
and they are effectually armed against deeds of blood to
the last moments of their existence, as the consideration
of a single fact will be likely to convince them. The
Quakers, or Friends, are very particular in the education
of their children on this point.  Their religion utterly
forbids the practice of war, duelling, hanging, or the destruction of human life for any consideration.  In their
very infancy their children are impressed with this important truth; while always, in more advanced age, they
are strictly forbidden to attend an execution, or mingle
in the company of those who are familiar with crime.
Now is it not probable that if all children were educated
in the same principles we should have no need of gibbets
or State prisons.  How seldom is a Quaker arraigned
for crime; and what is remarkable, there is no account on
record of a murder committed by one of this sect.  Here is
the influence of early training and a correct moral sentiment.  On the other hand, the fact is notorious that
those who have been guilty of the most villainous
crimes were familiar with criminals and scenes of blood
when young. An English writer records it as a fact, that
some of the most desperate assassins ever incarcerated in
the prison of the Old Bailey, in London, or hung beneath its walls, were the children of parents who resided
in the alleys and courts in that cicinity and who were constantly about the prison and citnesses of every execution that
occurred.  Thousands transported to Botany Bay, took
their first lessons in crime at that place, and beneath the
very shadow of the gallows.




THE PHILOSOPHY OF HUMANITY FAVORABLE. 217
Thus have we demonstrated that the philosophy of
Christianity is the best possible, as the basis of all
human governments. Let us have faith in it and practically adopt it. " Oercome evil with good."  Would to
God that men, especially Christian men, could give up
the devil, as an incentive to purity, and confide more in
the moral power of God-or goodness!
19




CHAPTER XV.
TENTH REASON FOR ABOLISHMENT.
THE ENDS OF PUNISHMIENT NOT ANSWERED.
Three obiects of Punishment-Reformation-Example-Reparation-What Punishment is-W hat Revenge is-The Christian Law -Strangling Men will not Reform them
-It is not an Example of Good-It c.nnot restore the life of the murdered Victim.
The gallows does not subserve any of the great objects of
putnishment.
This is our concluding reason for its abolishment. It
is the last, but by no means the least in importance.
There can be but three proper objects of punishment
which are these, viz: First, the reformation of the offender:
Second, an example for the benefit of others; and Third,
restitution or compensation.
The first is the most important and legitimate object
of punishment, which always implies correction.  "Punishment is the infliction of pain in consequence of a neglect or violation of duty, w ith a view to correct the evil."
Hence, endless pain, or pain that results simply in the
death of the body, is not punishment, for the reason that
there can be no opportunity for correction.  The apostle
declares that' No chastening for the present seemeth to
be joyous, but grievous; nevertheless aftercardt it yieldeth
the peaceable fruits of righteousness unto them  which
are exercised thereby."*  But if we "chasten" a man by
strangling, or burning, or shooting him, what opportunity
Heb. xii. 11.
(218)




THE ENDS OF PUNISHMENT NOT ANSWERED. 219
has he for amendment. Christianity recognizes all men
as brethren of one great family, and it demands that in
devising punishments its votaries should be careful to
adopt those only which will reclaim the vicious. The
command is: "If thy brother be overtaken in a fault
restore such an one;" not that we strangle the life out of
him. Thus is it enjoined upon us to exert ourselves to
rectify and soften the disposition of our brother; to correct whatever there is wrong in him, and raise up in his
soul a power that shall be sufficient to counteract the
power of future temptation. And can this be done by
killing him? How unchristian is this whole system! If
our brother is overtaken in a fault we say, "hang him!
string him up! He has broken the law of God and man
and deserves to be killed!" If he asks time for repentance
we say, "give him no time!"':He is a murderer, and
should die!" So we kill him, whether he is prepared
for the great change or not. Now this is not punishment.
Rather is it revenge, which is "the infliction of pain in
consequence of the commission of injury, with a view to
gratify a malignant passion."  Should Christians ever be
controlled by malignant passion?
The second object of punishment mentioned above, is
example for the good of others. We might pause here to
argue the right of society to kill one man for the good
of others, but though the principle involves an absurdity,
and, therefore, is not, and cannot be legitimate, this
is not the place for its discussion. Our object here
is to show that the gallows does not subserve any of
the great objects of punishment. As we have seen,
killing a man does not reform him; and we come now
to say, that though we may kill him as an example,
for the good of others, to deter them from crime and
thus purify society, the practical operation of the act is




220       TENTH REASON FOR ABOLISHMENT.
found, by universal experience, to produce a condition
the very opposite of that which we desire; viz., instead of
its being an example for good, it is an example for evil,
as we have abundantly proven by an appeal to facts,
during the progress of this work.*
The third object of punishment is, Restitution or Compensation. It is no more than right, if'a thief steals my
purse, or a robber enter my house and carry off my property, that he be made to restore it. I am aware that this
principle is not recognized in our penal codes. A man
may steal a thousand dollars, be convicted and serve out
his time in the penitentiary, return to the world and be-.ome wealthy; but the law does not demand that he restore the stolen property. This is wrong. Individual as
well as general interests should be recognized and taken
care of by "the powers that be."  Reparation should be
made. Both the law of Moses and the Christian rule demand it. " If a man shall steal an ox or a sheep, and
kill it, or sell it, he shall restore five oxen for an ox,
and four sheep for a sheep."t
Now, if the principle of restitution were incorporated
into our penal codes, and offenders should be made to
recompense a fair equivalent, either in money or by their
labor in prison, those whom they had wronged by theft
or robbery, it would not only approve itself to their minds
as an act of reason, but it would enforce a lesson of
justice, which must prove beneficial, while at the same
time it would serve, in part, as punishment for the
offense.
But what we desire to say in this connection is, that
even if our penal codes were based on the principle involved here, the killing of one man could never restore the
* See the xii. chapter of this work, in which this point is fully discussed.
t Exodus, xxii. 1.




THE ENDS OP PUNISHMENT NOT ANSWERED.      221
life of his murdered victim. It could not give back to the
weeping widow and sorrowing children, the slain husband and father. He is gone, and the sacrifice of ten
thousand lives could not restore him to the arms of those
beloved, or return him in health to society. No reparation can be made for this dreadful deed save it be by
the positive repentance of the heart of the murderer,
manifested in a constant desire to employ a whole life
of labor for the welfare and happiness of those who
specially suffered by the death of the slain victim. Thus
do we see that all the legitimate aims of punishment are
denied by the gallows. Strangling men on the gibbet
till they are dead will neither reform them, prevent
others from the committal of crime, nor bring back to life
the murdered victim.
Now, with all these plain reasons against the Death
Penalty, shall we still continue it upon our statute books?
" I speak as unto wise men, judge ye what I say."




CHAPTER XVI.
OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED.
The Mnrderer not fit to Live-Give him time to Repent, then hang him-Not entitled to Live -Sufferings of the Innocent -Interestine Incident -Lecount and his Mother
-Col. Hayne and his Son-James Dawson and his intended Bride-Conclusion.
We close what we have to offer in this work on the
Death Penalty, by a consideration of a few objections
which are sometimes brought in favor of the gallows.
"THE MURDERER IS NOT FIT TO LIVE!'
But is he fit to die?  May be you are a professed Christian. Be cautious; you tread on dangerous ground here!
Suppose the sentiment so generally taught in Christian
books and Christian pulpits be true; viz: that the sinner
who dies with his soul unregenerated by the power of the
Holy Spirit, will be consigned to a hell of infin ite odzc endless anguish, can you have it in your heart to hasten his
exit from this state of probation?  He is a murderer;
and "ye know that no murderer HATH eternal life abiding
in him!"*  I appeal to you, fellow Christian, in the name
of mercy, and of Him from whom you expect mercy, I
ask, will you hasten the doom of the wretched victim?
You have him safely secured by bolts and bars.  He can
no longer injure any living creature.  Will you deny
him the poor boon of life a little longer? It may be he
is innocent. Will you take him from his stone cell, from
his wife and children, from father and mother, and thrust
1 John iii. 15.
(222)




OBJECTIONS CONSIDERtED.          223
him speedily out of life, wher e lit might have repented,
down into a never dying hell, where repentance can
ntever; NEVER come?
"BUT I WOULD GIVE TIIM TIME TO REPENT.'
Yes, you would give him time to repent:-you woul,
prepare his soul for the purity and bliss of heaven; make
of him a saint fit for glory, and then with your Christian
hands strangle the life out of him on a gibbet. Yes, if
he were innocent you would do this, if' you conceived him
to be guilty. You would do it for your "brother in
Christ."  Many a Christian has been thus strangled by
the hands of Christians:-In our own country, the act is
perpetrated every year or month-whilst the " minister of
God" stands by, with Bible in hand. and pronounces the
doomed culprit a'hopeful subject of immortal felicity."
Now, to us there appears but little really Christian or
necessary in all this.'1.As I lice saith the Lord. I have
no pleasure ir. the death of the sinlne' THAT REPENTETII,
but rather that he shoutld turn arnd lice."  If God has
no pleasure in the death of a REPENTANT sinner, why
should man? Why should society? Clhristiant society?
especially when the offender is now a pure, good Christian with a heart full of love to God and love to man,
and, therefore, jtst fit to lire. How singular that we
should conceive it either necessary or in harmony with
the demands of Christianity to kill one who, after weeks
or months of prayerful exertion, God has converted into
a saint. He is no longer a murderer, but a brother
Christian.  Why should we kill him?  -If thy brother
trespass against thee seven times in a day. and seven
times in a day turn again to thee saying, I repent; thoir
shalt forgive himn."*  The friend of the gallows will give
*Luke xvii: 4.




224           OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED.
the murderer time to repent, he says. but after he repents,
what then? Will he' forgive" him? Not he. But he
will administer to him the eucharist in his stone cell, then
lead him, with a halter about the neck, to the gallows,
make a hypocritical prayer over him, pull down the cap,
give the hangman the wink, and as the drop falls and
the body of his brother sways to and fro convulsed in
death, he rolls his eyes up to heaven and asks God to
have mercy on his soul, when he himself will have no
mercy, not even on his body, for in an hour it will be cut
down and sent to the dissecting room.
It may be said here that this same argument may be
employed against the law that would imprison the repentant criminal. We answer, that the two cases are
not parallel. Strangling or beheading or shooting a fellow creature is a work of blood and vengeance, and the
worst and most unchristian use you can put him to:
while by a proper imprisonment, he is taken on a sort of
probation, and may be instructed, disciplined and blest,
through the very means of confinement. Indeed, as we
shall show in the second part of this work, this should
be the leading object of punishment by imprisonment.
"BUT THE MURDERER IS NOT ENTITLED TO LIVE."
Would you say that, my Christian friend, if he were
your father, or husband, or brother?  Oh, my God, how
heartless and inconsiderate we are!'When we see a
man led to the gallows," says a thoughtful Christian
writer of England, we should say,'there goes my father
-there goes my son." If this were the spirit which
pervaded society, could we say,'the murderer has no
claims to life? Why should we be so indifferent to the
wretchedness that is the necessary consequence of hanging, simply because those who suffer are strangers to us?
~ —~lYIIrL IVVIIWIV~~LVU  IYV UYI  ~~VUI~0




OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED.          225
Every man who is executed holds endearing relationship
with some one.'Is that your child?" asked a gentleman
in the streets of Boston, of a woman who, at the peril of
her own life, had saved a little child from death by a runaway team of furious horses; —: No sir,' she replied,"it is not my child, but it is somebody's child!"  Every
man who is executed is somebody's child; and no matter
how low fallen he is ill sin; no matter how degraded
and wretched he has become, the heart of the parent
still clings to him. Society may say that he has no
claims to life; it may condemn him and strangle him,
but the parent, the wife, the child, cannot give him up.
I have seen enough of the wretchedness brought upon
the innocent in consequence of the execution of the
guilty. The day before the unfortunate Lecount was
hung in Cincinnati, three years ago, I visited his cell to
sympathize with, cheer, and strengthen him. lie had
just received the following message fiom his poor old
mother, residing in Dayton, member of the Methodist
Church, and now seventy-five years of age. "Oh, my
son, my son, would to God I could die for thee, my son!
my son!"  Every member of the family was in agony
for days and weeks. They could not sleep for thinking
of the dreadful fate of the doomed man. How many
thousands of innocent persons have dreadfully suffered
from the same cause. It is recorded of Col. Hayne, of
South Carolina, who was taken by the English during
the American Revolution, that he was thrown into prison,
loaded with chains, and afterward condemned to death.
His son, who was permitted to remain with him, was overwhelmed with consternation and grief. His father endeavored to console him. "To-morrow," said he, "I set
out for immortality; you will accompany me to the place
of my execution: and when I am dead, take my body,




226           OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED.
and bury it by the side of your mother.' The youth
here fell on his father's neck, crying': Oh, my father,
my father, I will die with you! I will die with you!"
The next morning Colonel Hayne was conducted to the
place of execution. His son accompanied him. Soon as
they came in sight of the gallows, the father strengthened
himself, and said, "! Now, my son. show yourself a man!
That tree is the boundary of my life, and of all my life's
sorrows. Beyond that,'the wicked cease from troubling
and the weary arc at rest.'  Don't lay too much at
heart our separation: it will be short.'Twas but lately
your dear mother died. To-day I die. And you, my
son, though but young, must shortly follow us."' Yes,
my father," replied the broken-hearted youth,'I shall
shortly follow you, for, indeed, I feel that I cannot live
long."  And his melancholy anticipation was fulfilled in
a manner more dreadful than is implied in the mere extension of life. On seeing his father in the hands of the
executioner, and then struggln in the halter. he stood
like one transfixed and motionless with horror. Till
then, proceeds the narration. he had wept incessantly;
but soon as he saw that sight, the fountain of his tears
was staunched, and he never wept more. Ile died insane;
and in his last moments often called on his father, in
terms that brought tears fiomn the hardest hetarts.
Hundreds of such incidents are on record. Some
years ago. a young man by the name of James D)awson,
with eighteen others, was executed in England for treason. At the time, he was strongly attached to a young
lady to whom he expected to be wedded on the very day
of his death.
"Not all the persuasions of her kindred could prevent
her from going to the place of execution. She was determined to see the last hour of a person so dear to her;




OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED.          227
and accordingly followed the sledges in a hackney coach,
accompanied by a gentleman nearly related to her, and
one female friend. She got near enough to see the fire
kindled which was to consume thtt heart which she
knew was so much devoted to her, and all the other
dreadful preparations for his fate, without being guilty
of any of those extravagances her friends had apprehended. But when all was over, and she found that he
was no more, she drew her head back in the coach, and
crying out,' My dear, I follow thee-I follow thee!sweet Jesus, receive both our souls together!'-fell on
the neck of her companion, and expired in the very
moment she was speaking."
Here we gather a glimpse of the wretchedness brought
upon the innocent through the instrumentality of the
Death Penalty. Would we then trample every vestige
of mercy under our feet and strangle the life out of our
fellow creatures, without regard to others whose hearts
are full of affections, simply because we have conceived
the idea that they are not entitled to life? It was once
said that the burglar, the thief, and the rolber were
not entitled to life; but, thanks to God, that day of darkness has passed and a brighter and more hopeful has
dawned.
In conclusion, then, I would say, my fellow Christian
-or fellow mortal-for we are all mortal whatever our
views-let us study and labor for the advancement of
humanity. If the gallows is not a Christian institution,
-if it is not neccessary-if it endangers the lives of the
innocent-if it will not secure either individual or public safety-if executions are deleterious-if their influence is only to harden the heart and multiply crime-in
a word, if we have proven what we have attempted in
this work, why should the gallows exist a single da)




228           OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED.
longer in any State in our Union of States? Down with
it, then! It belongs not to the present, but to a darker
age. If we are Christians let us trample under our feet
the very spirit which sustains and perpetuates it, and in
future look only to the cross of Christ for light to direct
us. We'need have no fears to go where he leads; for
he is the "Way, the Truth, and the Life."  If we base ourl
laws upon His law of mercy and justice we shall be certain of securing the best good of ourselves and our fellow men.
" The quality of mercy is not strained;
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath; it is twice blessed;
It blesseth him that giveth and him that takes;'Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown;
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings.
But mercy is above the sceptred sway;
It is enthroned in the heart of kings;
It is an attribute of God himself;And earthly power doth show likest God's
When mercy seasons justice."




THE PRISON.




The Prison of the Eighteenth Century.-Page 234.




THE PRISON.
CHAPT'ER I.
CRIME —THE CRIMINAL AND THE PRISON.
Crime in New-York City, Philadelphia, and the United States-Crime in Great Britain and France-Crime in Christendom-Five Hundred Thousand Criminals in the
Christian World-What shall be done with them-Mad-Houses in the Past-Prisons in
the Past-Treatment of Prisoners Regarded as linurable —Dreadful Cruelty.
IN  New-York city, during the     year 1855, nearly
34,000 arrests were made; in Philadelphia, 38,657; in
Cincinnati, 12,560; in Boston, 13,200; and- in other
cities nearly the same, in ratio to the population. A
large portion of those arrested were discharged; while a
large portion were guilty only of small offenses.    In
1850, according to the United States Census, the penitentiaries of this country contained 5,646 convicts, while
prisons of every description contained 40,000 criminals.
In England and Wales, during the year 1853, there were
27,057 commitments to the various prisons for crime.
In addition to this, it is estimated that London contains:0,000 vagrant men and women; that is, men and
women who have no steady employment-who are corrupt in their morals, poor, filthy, inteniperate, and
many of them wretchedly loathsome. Paris, 20,000.
New-York has nearly 4,000, Philadelphia 3,500, and
Cincinnati 1,500 of this class. Following in their foot(231]




232    CRIME-THE CRIMINAL AND THE PRISON.
steps, there are 60,000 vagrant children in London and
Paris, and nearly half this number in the three large
American cities above named. These children obtain
no instruction from our schools, though our schoolhouses are always open for their reception. They are
poor, ragged, corrupt, vicious, and fast approaching the
moral and physical condition of old offenders. These
vagrant men, women and children, live chiefly by petty
thieving. They never steal large amounts, but are guilty
of pilfering any small thing upon which they can lay
their hands and turn to immediate use. The parents of
such children not unfrequently instruct them in the art
of thieving, so that from this class come thousands of
our most adroit pick-pockets and burglars.
In the foregoing we have mentioned only a few great
cities of the Christian world. These classes exist, however, in every city, town and country in Europe and
America, and nearly to the extent, in ratio to the population, which we have mentioned. So that from these
partial statistical facts it will be perceived that in a population of 250,000,000, which is said to be the present
population of Christendom, there must be, at least, 500,000 human beings, young and old, guilty of various
degrees of crime. What an army! And what are the
demands of Christianity with reference to these classes?
I write for all, but especially for Christians. Our States
are professedly Christian States-our government a
Christian government. I put the question to every
Christian who reads this book, " What shall be done with
these classes of our fellow-creatures?"  And the question
is one of exceeding importance and fraught with interest, not only to the criminal classes themselves,
but to all, for individual security and happiness are inseparably connected with the purity of public morals;




CRIME-THE CRIMINAL AND THE PRISON.      233
and besides this, no man can tell how soon the question
may interest him personally. His own son-or daughter-may soon be numbered with transgressors. We ask
again, what shall be done with these classes?
We know what was done with them a brief time agoand what is done with them in our day; and both the
past and the present are full of prophecy for the future.
In the past, men, Christian men, looked on criminals as
voluntary enemies of mankind; and treated them, not
as weak, or dull, or unfortunate human beings, but as
beasts. Even lunatics were treated in the same spirit.
"Mad-houses were simply stone pens, or jails, encompassed by high and gloomy walls-without a tree or
shrub, or blade of grass; without shade in the heat of
summer, or protection from the cold of winter; with the
hard, stony soil worn into hollows from the restless feet
that trod it; and the only luxury'there, a bench fastened
to the wall with massive iron rings above it, so that even
in the open air, force, instead of care, might rule the
wretched inmates." Into these places, and iron cages,
were the unfortunate creatures thrust, and there kept in
nakedness and filth. If restless, they were chaiied with
iron and beaten with whips. If they gnashed their teeth
and tore their hair, and raved, they were beaten all the
more, as if madmen were not our brethren, but devils.
And what was the result?  Were these wretches cured of
their madness? Was their condition bettered? Not at
all. Such results were never contemplated. But what a
change a few years has wrought! "Now," as one has expressed it, " lunacy is a disease, to be prescribed for as
fever or rheumatism. When we find an incurable case we
do not kill the man, nor chain him, nor count him a
devil. Yet lunacy is not curable by force, by jails, dungeons, and cages; only by the medicine of wise and
20




234    CRIME-THE CRIMINAL AND THE PRISON.
good men. What if Christ had met one demoniac with
a whip, and another with chains!"
So with the criminal. All men regarded him, but a
few years ago, as inciurable, and worse than worthlessdeserving only to be thrown into some wretched prison,
or tortured, then killed, and buried in a dunghill.
Criminals were scourged and mutilated and branded with
red-hot iron-but never instructed, improved and blessed
as the religion of Christ and a common humanity demand. The whole apparatus for punishing the offender,
from the guillotine and the faggot down, was founded in
the spirit of revenge and force, and never in love and
attraction. Jesus never drives any body into his kingdom with whips and torture. His language is not go,
but come. "Come unto me all ye that labor or are heavy
laden." How then could the system of punishment
practiced by our fathers have been Christian?
Behold the prisons of Europe, but a single century
ago! What was the design for which they were erected?
Was it to safely keep the offender; to treat him kindly;
to convince him of his error, instruct, reform and bless
him, and send him back to the world when his term of
service expired, a better husband, or father, or son, and a
more worthy citizen? By no means.
This is an idea, what we have learned of it, of modern
origin. Prisons, even of a comparatively recent era, as
we have seen during the progress of these pages,* were
simply dungeons of incarceration, into which men and
women were thrown only to be abused and hidden from
society.  The most inhuman monsters were often
appointed as keepers, and comfort or even kindness was
seldom experienced by those whose misfortune or offense
had placed them within the power of these men.
-See pages 36-7, extract from MIacaulay.




CRIME-THE CRIMINAL AND THE PRISON.       235
All history attests to the fact that " torture in every
variety; chains, stripes, solitary confinement in darkness, dampness and idleness; promiscuous crowding of
offenders of every degree of guilt'in the same loathsome,
pestilential, narrow vaults; insufficient and unwholesome food; filth, illness of the body and sickness of the
soul, are among the cruelties which have been inflicted,
in every age, on the doomed criminal-whether guilty
or innocent, as a punishment for his offense."*  Where
were the sympathies, where the wisdom of the Christian
world during these ages? Where was the spirit, where
the example of the blessed Jesus?
It was not till the last century that society manifested
sufficient interest in the class of men of whom I am speaking, to inquire into their condition, or even ask if it
could not be bettered; and it was then aroused from its
lethargy mainly by the efforts of a single man. There
were, indeed, previous noble examples of attention to
those who were sick and in prison. The names of Carlo
Borromeo, Claudius Bernard and St. Vincent De Paul
are all bright with deeds of humanity. But their good
acts were confined mostly to particular localities. Not so
with those of the immortal HOWARD, a man whose name
will live in the hearts of the humane, so long as sin and
suffering afflict our earth. He conceived that the whole
system of criminal punishment was based on a wrong
principle-that the cruelty men endured in prison was
not only unchristian but wrong in itself, and he went
about the work of reform. From the year 1773 to 1790
-the year in which he died-he spent his whole time in
visiting and inspecting prisons, first in England, Ireland and Scotland, and afterwards throughout Europe,
and in endeavoring to ameliorate the condition of pris* Encyclopoediia Americana, Vol. X. p. 342.




236    CRIME-THE CRIMINAL AND THE PRISON.
oners guilty of every degree of crime. In this sublime
employment he chose to apply the fortune with which he
was favored; and when he disclosed to the world the sufferings and atrocities which everywhere prevailed in prisons, all Christendom was filled with horror and indignation. Thoughtful and Christian men were astonished at
their own indifference; and even those who exercised
control over prisons showed by the guilty consciousness
with which they shrank from the revelations of the cruelties committed under their authority, that they felt
themselves accountable for the most dreadful outrages
and wrongs, notwithstanding they were supported by
custom.




CHAPTER II.
DEMANDS OF CHRISTIANITY.
What shall we do with the Criminal?-He belongs to the Body Politic-Christ the
Head of every Man-Sentiments o f Christians still destitute of Sympathy-No Yatience
for the Criminal-Patience of Christ-Patience of God-Story of Abraham and the
Sinner-Imperfection of Humanity-God the Common Father-We are all Members of
the same Family —Christ came to Bless all, especially the Sinful and Unfortunate-We
are taught to do roR them, as well as WITH them.
By the preceding chapter we get a glimpse of what
was done with wicked men a little while ago. But the
question returns what shall we do with them?    They are
still among us-the hardened criminal-the drunken
vagrant-the young in crime-the degraded female-and
thousands of vagrant boys and girls, as we have seen, inhabiting filthy cellars and garrets in our large citiescandidates for the jail and penitentiary. These are all
in our midst and are so many members-corrupt members, but none the less members-of the " body politic."
What shall we do with them?
There are yet those in society who say, " they are
worthless; cut them off and cast them away; the sooner
we are rid of them the better." But is this Christian?
Is it best?  Would you sever the finger with a felon, or
the foot containing a sore, so long as the surgeon gives
promise of cure? Would not amputation weaken the
body and through sympathy injure its circulations?
The Sandwich Island savages once had a custom of killing their old men and women, because through age and
weakness, they were a tax on the efforts and strength of
the younger.   But that was a heathen custom.    We are
C237)




238         DEMANDS OF CHRISTIANITY.
Christians.  We are "all members one of another."
Christ is the HEAD of EVERY man; he died for ALL,
even for the most co)rrupt members of the great body of
humanity! Why, then, should any man-any Christian,
especially - say, cut off these base members forever
from all intercourse with humanity, truth, goodness and
happiness-hang them on a gibbet-plunge them into
dungeons-show them no pity-no mercy?    Ah, Christian reader, do you not expect mercy at the hand of God?
You have " no patience," you say, " with wickedness."
No patience with those, even, who would strive, as Christ
did, to better the condition of these perishing ones.
"Why show sympathy for a thief?" you ask. "Why
talk, and preach, and speculate about, and strive to bless
those whom God has cursed? Why build'magnificent
prisons' for the comfort of such men? and expend millions to better their condition? This is all mock sympathy, and I can have no patience with it."
But would this be your feeling, this your declaration,
if your father, or son, or brother were a convict?  And
has it never occurred to you how easy it is for human
nature to yield to temptation? and how possible it is for
even you to become a criminal? Many professed ministers of Christ, who once scouted all kindness and sympathy for the wretched offender, are now inmates of our
penitentiaries. " Who art thou, 0 man, that boasteth?
Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall."
Are you a Christian, and yet refuse to show mercy to
those out of the way? Have you studied the history and
teachings of your Master?  Was he ever out of patience
with the wretched criminal? Has he not instructed you
to visit those who were in prison? and behold his sympathy for the miserable thieves as he hung upon the




DEMANDS OF CHRISTIANITY.          239
cross. Even in the midst of malediction he only blessed.
You have no patience; and yet behold the patience of
Jesus, and of God the Great Sovereign of the universe,
" It is not the will of your Father which is in Heaven
that one of these little ones should perish." When all
had become wicked-all had gone out of the way-when
"there was none good, no not one," God was not impatient, but he sent his only begotten and well beloved Son
to die for the world as an example for man, and to commend his love to his great family.
" 0, for grace our hearts to soften,
Teach us, Lord, like thee to love;
We forget, alas, too often,
What a friend we have above.
Hear the story of Abraham and the sinner, and learn
a lesson of patience and humiliation:
"And it came to pass that Abraham sat in the door of
his tent, about the going down of the sun. And behold,
a man bent with age, came from the way of the wilderness, leaning on a staff. And Abraham arose and met
him, and said unto him, turn in, I pray thee, and wash
thy feet, and tarry all night; and thou shalt arise early
in the morning and go on thy way. And the man said,
nay, for I will abide' under this tree. But Abraham
pressed him greatly. So he arose and turned and they
went into the tent. And Abraham baked unleavened
bread and he did eat. And when Abraham saw that he
blessed not God, he said unto him, Wherefore dost thou
not worship the Most High God? And the man answered and said, I do not worship thy God but mine.
And Abraham's zeal was enkindled against the man, and
he arose and fell upon him and drove him forth with
blows into the wilderness.




240         DEMANDS OF CHRISTIANITY.
And God called unto Abraham, saying, Abraham
where is the stranger? And Abraham answered, Lord
he would not worship thee, neither would he call upon
thy name; therefore have I driven him out from before
my face into the wilderness.
And God said, have I borne with him these hundred
and ninety and eight years, and nourished him and
clothed him, notwithstanding his rebellion against me,
and couldst not thou, thyself a sinner, bear with him even
one night?"
I know that we profess to be Christians, but how little,
after all, do we cherish and practice what is Christ-like.
How little do our criminal jurisprudence and our feelings toward the guilty partake of the nature of the Christian religion-a religion which recognizes God as a common Father, and all men as brethren-belonging to the
same great family, possessing the same physical and moral nature; subjects of the same temptations, and destined,
ultimately, to the same immortality. All are sinful.
Perfection is not known to mortality; but some are more
sinful than others-not innately, but from a difference in
organization, circumstances and education. This is the
history of man from the beginning. The weak and the
strong, the righteous and the wicked, the rich and the poor
mingle together, and the Lord is the maker of them all.
Christianity contains the FATHER'S instructions for the
government of his FAMILY. He would have them all
happy, all blessed; and to this end he makes it the duty
of the strong to assist the weak; the righteous to bear
with and reclaim the wicked; and the rich to sympathize
with and aid the poor. We gaze upon the loathsome,
ragged vagrant-diseased externally and internally-or
upon a herd of offenders against the laws of God and man,




DEMANDS OF CHRISTIANITY.          241
huddled in jail, or at work in the penitentiary, with guilt
and self-abasement enstairped upon their features, and
we say, " they are doomed objects of the law's vengeance,
good enough for them-no matter how cruelly they are
treated-they are not entitled to the sympathy or aid of
good men!"   But what a violation is this of the spirit
and teachings, the history and death of the blessed
Jesus! How did he labor for the little ones and the
weak of earth's children. How kind was he to the unthankful and the evil. Follow him froml city to city,
over the mountains and along the valleys of Judea;
see him in the hovels of the poor-the abodes of wretchedness-in the cells of the prisoner-and every where
and always is he laboring for the doomed millions of
God's family. It is for these that he specially toils. " I am
not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance."*
" They that be whole need not a physician but they that
be sick.-"  "The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because
he hath anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor;
he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, recovering of sight to the blind,
*.... and to set at liberty them that are bruised."':
The classes that we have mentioned are wicked and
dangerous-they lack moral principle-and are sometimes even desperate. Society has a right to secure
them-to punish them. But it has no right to go beyond
the dictates of mercy and justice and punish with vengeance..It has no right to debase one of its members any
more than is absolutely necessary to the attainment of
its design. it has no right to endanger the health or the
intellect, or injure the remaining principles of any, even
the most abandoned and desperate; but it should mete
* Matthew 9: 13.  t Matthew 9: 12.; Luke 4: 18.
21




242          DEMANDS OF CHRISTIANITY.
out punishment with an eye single to the good of the offender
and public security. This is the demand of the Christian
religion. It will allow nothing short. The criminal is
unfortunate. If there is a weakly born, or wayward, unfortunate child in the family, will the good parent, or
brother or sister, cast him out and curse him?  Would it
not rather be a dictate of kindness and wisdom for all the
family to unite their energies to instruct, improve, correct and bless him?  And this is precisely what Christianity asks of you and me and all concerning our weakly
organized, sinful and unfortunate brethren and sisters of
the human race. And thus does it demand of us to do
something for them, a truth which the great mass of
Christians have yet to learn. They have conceived that
if they have done away with them; they were performing
their whole duty. " The Son of Man came not to destroy
men's lives but to save them."
* Luke 9: 56.




IHAPTER III.
ABANDONED VAGRANT CHILDREN.
Crime in Embryo-Abandoned Vagrant Children-22,000 in N. York City-Dogma of
Total Depravity False and Pernicious-Necessity of a Proper Culture-Good Seed and
Soil in every Soul-How can we expect those educated in Depravity to bring forth
Fruits of Virtue and Holiness-Interesting Incident at Long Island Farms-What
the State is doing to Crush these Little Ones Doing Nothing for them-Children seven
years old in Jail-What it should do in their behalf-Ohio Penitentiary —New-York —
Massachusettos-Vermont-Benevolent Societies-They are not Sufficient.
Having shown the demands of Christianity and a common humanity with reference to the classes of sinful
beings we have enumerated, let us now proceed to state
more definitely their condition, and what society is doing
and should do in their behalf. And we begin where it is
proper we should, viz: with ABANDONED VAGRANT CIIILDREN, OR CRIME IN EMBRYO.
Think what a child is-your child-what it may be
with a careful tender culture-what it is likely to be if
abandoned to the temptations and wickedness of the
world, and answer your own conscience if it is not the
duty of the strong, the rich, the guardians of Christian
society, to see to it that no child of this great family be
left to perish for the lack of a home, kindness and profitable instruction? And yet, how sad is the thought that
every great city contains thousands, some of them tens of
thousands, who are thus abandoned.      Abandoned!     How
little of Christ is in that word!   Did He ever abandon
any of the great family, young or old, no matter how
sinful or wretched? And yet, all over the world, there
are thousands of men and women, and even little children, abandoned by one another and by all men, to the
(2438




244       ABANDONED VAGRANT CHILDREN.
lust of hellish passions; to crime and to a career of sin,
degradation and death.
During the year 1854, there were more than 10,000
arrests and 6,000 commitments of boys, and 12,000 arrests
and 7,000 commitments of girls in the city of New-York
alone, between the ages of five and fifteen. Great God!
what a thought!  Twenty-two thousand children of this
description in Christian New-York! Think of the vice
-the young depravity-the taint and moral desolationthe blasphemy, obscenity, drunkenness, wantonness-the
rags and filth connected with these thousands, and the
history of a life of crime, suffering and death which may
follow, and if you have tears-weep!
Do you say-as many Christians have said, our fathers
and mothers especially-that "these vagrants are born
to crime-are full of evil-totally depraved-no one can
benefit them-send them to the prison or the gibbet, they
have no claim on our humanity!" But would you say
this were your child or your son's child included? And
he may be; who knows? Can you say it, and possess the
spirit of Christ?  Was He ever thus heartless?  These
children are depraved, sinful, wicked, but in their nature
no more so than others. We visit the dark and narrow
alleys of our great cities, where dwell hogs and filth-we
enter the wretched cellars and garrets, and if we remain
for any length of time, we may discover an exhibition of
human nature most depraved and sorrowful to contemplate; but just what any man of sober judgment would
expect under the circumstances.
The soil and the seed of virtue-of pure and generous
emotions and principles-as well as their opposite, are
in the nature of every child. What they need is care
and  culture.  The moral development of the child
depends almost wholly on this.




ABANDONED VAGRANT CHILDREN.          245'Tis Education forms the common mind,
Just as the twig is bent the tree's inclined.
The abandoned outcast children we have described,
whose mouths are full of blasphemy and bitterness,
whose hearts are steeped in iniquity, and whose features
are written all over with cunning, trickery and embryo
villainy, perhaps have never listened to the words of
persuasive kindness, or beheld a virtuous example. In
the language of the Psalmist, " They were shapen in iniquity and brought forth in sin." The curse of POVERTY
-an awful curse-is upon them. Their parents may
have died or forsaken them in infancy, or, what is worse,
may linger in drunkenness and crime. They extend
not to their children the care and affection common to
parents. They give them no good counsel. They put
up no prayers in their behalf. They never send them
to school or to the house of God; but, instead, positively
instruct them in the ways of depravity and the arts of crime.
There are thousands of children of this description in
Cincinnati at this moment, from five to fifteen years of
age, who have never seen the inside of a school-room, or
heard a lesson in virtue, but whose entire existence has
been in the service of depravity, in which they were educated by their parents and associates. Oh, how unfavorable has been their position, and the circumstances
by which they are surrounded, for the culture of the
good soil and seed of the soul. Instead, all the depraved
passions and principles of their being have been developed. And what else could a reasonable man expect?
These children are expert liars, thieves and pick-pockets, and by-and-by will be expert burglars, counterfeiters,
robbers and murderers, but it would be a marvel if they,
-or one in a dozen-became a good Christian or citizen, or honest man, or virtuous woman.




216       ABANDONED VAGRANT CHILDREN.
Let one plant seed in the bottom of a cold, dark cellar, and he will raise no fruit. The man who should
attempt it would be pronounced mad. The sunshine
and showers and the hand of culture are necessary to
insure the desired result. So with the moral elements
and affectionate desires of the young soul. They need
the warm sunshine of a careful and tender love, and the
soft showers of goodness, and kindness and affectionate
instruction. These will coax the better principles and
desires forward into a healthful growth, no matter how
cruelly the young soul has been neglected.
At a place called "Long Island Farms," not far from
the city of New-York, there are 1200 once abandoned
children, who were picked up in the vilest portions of
that great metropolis, and are now supported and educated at the public expense. Not one of them is totally
depraved. Their very natures contradict this foolish
and pernicious old dogma. A change is at once observable in their looks and behavior as soon as they are fairly established in their new home, and feel, and see, and
hear what they never before have felt, or seen, or heard,
viz: the warm glow of human kindness, the beautiful
picture of God's green earth, and the voice of real compassion.
"It is interesting," says one, "to see how suddenly
their better natures are wrought upon by the touching,
the beautiful, or by whatever is truly Christian. The
glad face of nature-the shining stars by night-the
sweet carol of the birds-the blooming flowers-the melody of music-the language of Jesus-the voice of love
and instruction-all this finds a ready response in the
young heart that is even supposed to be callous with
evil, and will touch and subdue the soul and soften the
affections, when many other sterner things would fail to




ABANDONED VAGRANT CHILDREN.          247
accomplish the desired effect. All of which shows that
the souls of abandoned vagrant children, as well as honest men's children, were formed for the pure and beautiful; as it also shows what is needed for the development, the culture, the full moral and spiritual growth of
these perishing ones.
What is the State doing for this class?  What should
it do for them?
The State does nothing for these weak, abandoned
creatures. It does much against them. I have seen a
little, abandoned, ragged child, destitute of covering for
head or feet, and but seven years of aye, brought into
court by a corpulent, savage officer, tried, condemned and
thrown into jail, to be the companion of felons. What
was his crime? Stealing silver spoons from a rich man's
table, in obedience to the instructions of his mother.
What was his history?  Birth in a garret, amid wretchedness and want-the child of lust and crime-cradled
in depravity, with the lullaby of drunken revelry-and
schooled in deception and knavery. Already was he old
in depravity. What else could you expect?  And the
State, instead of taking him at an earlier age, even, and
becoming his guardian, sending him to good schools, instructing his heart and intellect in everything virtuous
and useful, and thus helping him out of his degradation,
by the above act it but plunged him in the more deeply.
It made of him a felon-placed him in a college of felons, from whence he graduated but to spend the life of
a degraded criminal-perchance to die in the penitentiary or on a gibbet. And this by a Christian State!
Oh, for shame! for shame! And this is what every
State in our Christian Union is doing in the middle of
the Nineteenth Century, and in this age of Literature,
Education, Morals, Common Sense, Christianity, and a




248       ABANDONED VAGRANT CHILDREN.
" world-wide humanity," for this class of perishing little
ones. Massachusetts, New-York, Ohio, as States, all are
employed in this same wise and blessed work. Last year
New-York laid its strong arm on several little children,
but five and six years of age. In the beginning of 1855
we visited the Ohio State Penitentiary, and were
informed by the Warden that the prison contained 598
inmates. Sixty-five of the males were under 20 years of
age. We had thought that the penitentiary was designed
for old offenders; those of whose reform there was little
or no hope, and against whose depredations it becomes
necessary for society to secure itself by bars and bolts.
But here we found this large number, too young to be
desperate, and too young, also, to be given over to the
buffetings of Satan. What hope can they have after years
spent in the State Prison?  What degradation! Who
will trust or respect them? And how readily and unconcernedly the State thus casts away, and forever, the
whole earthly existence of these unfortunate youth, without one effort for their salvation or improvement. But
what we desire specially to record is, that we found, in
the penitentiary, one lad under thirteen years of age, several under fifteen, and the day previous to our visit, a
little girl was brought there from Dayton, aprisoner, but thirteen years old. We could not ascertain the name of the
heathen judge who sentenced this child thus to a life of
infamy. But this we know, that the State of Ohio, with
its 4,000 Christian ministers and 50,000 Church members, sustains upon its statute book the law by which the
abominable deed was perpetrated.
A Vermont paper * is placed on our table as we write,
which contains the following:
" There have been confined in our jail, during the last
Rutland HraZd.




ABANDONED VAGRANT CHILDREN.          249
four or five months, two boys aged about thirteen years.
Last week there was put into jail, a boy seven years of
age, charged with the crime of stealing butternuts! In
that jail are more than twenty persons confined for crime
of all grades. There are confined there; also, three miserable prostitutes!
"Into such company, ifn all the counties of this State, do
the laws of Vermont throw children who may, in their
ignorance, have broken the letter of the law. Among
criminals and hardened wretches, with nothing around
thembut barred doors, great hideous locks, grated windows, and everything which can remind them that they
are rascals and villains! No moral instruction, no good
influences are provided for them. No voice of kindness
reaches their ears. Idleness, bars, bolts and the rough
voices of desperate and cursing men are around them.
The State does not expend one dollar to, reform the children who are sent to the jail. They go in suspected rogues,
and go out with the feeling and determination of rascals.
Each old companion greets each juvenile offender who
comes from the jail, with-' you've been to jail!' His
eyes are pained with the full light. His limbs enervated
with idleness. His body is full of pains from breathing
foul air. His heart is faint with the taunts and gibes
that greet him."
And this is what Vermont is doing for depraved children. We turn from an exhibition of these facts to inquire what should be done for them?
Some cities, and towns, and counties, and many individuals, are doing something in the right direction for
these perishing ones. Hamilton county, Ohio, has its
House of Refuge or Reform School, for vagrant children.
It is an excellent Christian institution, and a monument
of wisdom and benevolence. It takes the child guilty of




250      ABANDONED VAGRANT CHILDREN.
crime, and while it punishes him with confinement-not
limited, however, by the stone walls, bars and bolts of
the building, but by the grounds of the establishmentit places him under the best and most judicious teachers
and keepers-furnishes him with a good home-with
good food and clothing, supports an excellent school, at
which he is put six hours in the day, and to Sabbath
School on Sunday, besides its chapel for preaching;-it
teaches him a good trade-instructs him in the importance of virtue and integrity-in short, the whole machinery of the institution is designed to aid, instruct and
bless those who become its inmates, so that they may
return to society improved and with hopefulness for the
future. But what is that one institution for our county
and State? It can accommodate only about three hundred pupils at a time, while Cincinnati alone will furnish more than three thousand.
A few such institutions only, can be found in our
Union; but in them we perceive the indications of the
remedy for the condition of these classes. Benevolent
Societies are springing up here and there, with the same
object in view. There is the "Ladies' Mission at the
Five Points," New-York, which has snatched large numbers of children from vice and ruin, and found them
good homes in the West; and the " Children's Aid
Society," in the same city, which has accomplished much
in the same direction. "Its object is sufficiently indicated by its name. It seeks first to remove the poor
child from the coil of evil influences which have been
thrown around him, and which have been daily strengthened by the sharpest pressure of animal necessities. It
comprehends the two-fold benefit of education and labor
in its system  of "Industrial Schools."  Of these,
at the present time, in New-York, there are eight, in




ABANDONED VAGRANT CHILDREN.                251
which a multitude of children are educated, taught to
work, supplied with a warm dinner daily, and with such
clothing as they can learn to make.        In  connection
with these, there is one shoe-shop, in which thirty or
forty boys earn a livelihood.     Another object of this
society is to find employment for its beneficiaries out of
the city, and during the past year places in the country
have been found for one hundred and twenty-five, where
their employers treat them as their own children.
These societies, we repeat, are based upon the proper
principle, and are laboring in the true direction. "They
aim to break up the old associations of the degraded
child, to throw around him the atmosphere of a true
home, and to blend intellectual, moral and religious
training with that true charity which teaches one how to
assert his true manliness, and support himself by the
honest labors of his own hands." *
But a work like this-so important to the degraded
classes themselves, and the purity of society generally,
possessing moral and practical advantages so immense,
should not be left to the caprice and uncertainty of voluntary benevolent societies alone.t- The State is interested in the matter, and should move, and move effectually ih it. There are 6000 children in Cincinnati who
attend no school.   This should not be permitted, unless
they are engaged in some honorable employment. No
vagrant or truant children should be allowed in our
* Humanity in the City, by Rev. E. H. Chapin.
f " The population of the Philadelphia House of Refuge at the beginning of the year," says the Annual Report of that institution, "was 364,
and at its close 392. The largest number under care at one time during
the year was 457. Average daily number 385-about one-third being in
the colored department. It is well for us that three or four hundred of
our neglected vicious children are under reforming influences; but what
hope is there for the FORTY-NINE FIFTIETHS that the report presents to
us as the lowest estimate of the number who are'growing. up in idleness,
vagrancy and crime' "




252       ABANDONED VAGRANT CHILDREN.
streets or drinking cellars and saloons, around the levee
or other public places, or even at home, without a proper
excuse. Every family should be visited in each ward,
by officers appointed and paid by the State-their condition noted; and the children obliged either to attend
school or employ their time in some useful avocation.
If the parents are poor, unable to spare their children
from home, or to properly clothe them or furnish them
with books, then let the State assist them-cautiouslyjudiciously-kindly, but determinedly, protecting their
interests, and doing for them what they are not capable
of doing for themselves.
Thus should the State become the GUARDIAN of all
those ignorant, sinful and weak ones who have not sufficient ability or discretion, or the disposition, to manage
their own affairs. In all great cities large numbers of
men and women exist by receiving stolen property.
Many of them keep second-hand stores, and encourage
boys and girls of this description in stealing tools from
workshops, produce from market wagons, goods from
stores, clothing, spoons, knives and forks, and whatever
they can lay their hands on, from dwellings and dooryards. Here is the school in which they receive their
first lessons in crime.  How important that all*such
schools should be utterly demolished, and children thus
engaged should be made to spend their time in institutions of knowledge and under the tuition of teachers
who would not only educate their minds in the important
rudiments of learning, but their hearts in the principles
of virtue and integrity. And all this can be accomplished
only through the efforts and determinate action of the
State, systematized and enforced by a judicious law covering the whole ground of need.
" But," says the objector, "this would cost something."




ABANDONED VAGRANT CHILDREN.          253
So do our houses of correction, police courts, and jails,
our criminal courts and penitentiaries, cost something..nd is it not more humane and wise to prevent crime
bhan to punish it? Most men of intelligence have come
to know that crime finds its chief ally in ignorance, and
that moral and mental abasement generally accompany
each other. Formerly men were not of this opinion.
A royal governor in Virginia once thanked God there
were no public schools in that province. Facts show the
connection between crime and ignorance. One half of
the criminals in this country for the last forty years,
could neither read nor write. In the several cities of
the State of New York, from 1840 to 1848, there were
29,949 persons convicted of crime, as returned by the
sheriffs of the several counties. Of the persons so convicted, 1182 are returned as having received a " common
education;" 444 as " tolerably well educated," and 128
only, or one in about two hundred, as " well educated."
Of the remaining 26,225, about half could barely read or
write; the residue were wholly destitute of literary instrnction. Of 1122 persons convicted in the same State in
1847, 1084 were utterly destitute of education. Of 134
persons convicted in 1848, twenty-three only had a
"common education;" thirteen a "tolerably good education," and ten only were returned as "well educated,"
while eighty-eight could neither read nor write.
We have mentioned a single State. An examination
into the statistics of other States shows nearly the same
result. In the South, so far as we have the means of investigation, the comparative number of criminals utterly
destitute of education, is still greater. And yet, notwithstanding these facts, with the existence of which every
intelligent citizen should be familiar, every community
contains men who look with distrust upon the increasing




254       ABANDONED VAGRANT CHILDREN.
liberality of our public expenditures in the cause of general education; as if money expended by the State to
educate the masses were a public loss. But if the masses
grow up in ignorance we shall have a nation of criminals.
Nineteen out of every twenty of the vagrant children,
and men and women of our large cities, can neither read
nor write. Nearly all the inmates of our state prisons
are utterly destitute of education, while out of the 165
persons who were hanged in the United States, during
1854, but seven could read or write. The United States
statistics for 1850 show, that the State of Maine has a
larger number of children at school in proportion to the
population than any country on the globe, and this State
is freer from crime than any country on the globe. And
besides all this, it is positively less expensive to educate
paupers and vagrant children than to take care of them
as criminals. The report of the Attorney-General of
Ohio, for 1854, shows that the cost of trial and conviction
of the criminals of this State, during that year, was a
trifle over $73 each.' While the school tax levied under our present system, amounts to but $1,50 for each
youth between five and twenty-one; and as three-fourths
of these youth, or 600,000 attend school during some
part of the year, the sum expended for the tuition of
each is only $2,00. So that the cost of convicting these
criminals would have instructed them in common schools
for forty years; or it would have paid for their tuition
and that of the next three generations of their successors (making 800 in all), for a period of nearly ten years
each.'*
How great an advantage, then, to community and the
State, would be a law which should so thoroughly sys* The above is from an excellent article on this subject in the Ohio
Journal of Education.




ABANDONED VAGRANT CHILDREN..            255
tematize a course of proceedure by officially appointed
agents for each ward in our cities, and each town and
plantation, as would secure the universal attendance of
children at school, at least during a portion of the year.*
It would not only keep them from much mischief and
crime when young, but be the means of saving them
from a life of ignorance and wretchedness, and make of
them respectable and useful members of society. At the
same time it would save expense to the State, lessen its
number of criminals and paupers, increase the public
security, and add to the purity and happiness of all.  It
is righteousness that exalteth a nation.
"Ill fares the land to hastening ills a prey
Where wealth increases, but where men decay."
Let not the State, then, think so much of saving money
as of saving men, by looking after the mental and moral
wants of her thousands of children and youth who were
so unfortunately born as not to have the ability or disposition to look out for themselves. They are the weak
and perishing ones.  " It is not the will of your Father in
Heaven that one of these little ones should perish."  They
need not perish, if the State would look after their interest with half the zeal she exercises to get or retain
political power. Political parties hold great conventions,
make great speeches and sometimes get very drunk on
the people's money, and all to secure to political demagogues the spoils of office. Would it not be very hopeful
if, for once, they should meet to devise ways and means
for aiding the weak ones of the "body politic" in their
efforts to live honest lives, and thus escape the Peniten* Of course we are speaking with reference to the Free States, where
free schools are universally sustained at the public expense.




256       ABANDONED VAGRANT CHILDREN.
tiary and the gibbet; or in some similar way show their
regard for the interest of society. A State Farm School
for the class of whom, we speak-ample, and conducted
on truly philosophical and Christian principles-would
be of more real value to a State, than many drunken,
boisterous conventions.  Ohio takes criminal parents
and locks them in jail, while the children wander about
the streets, sleep under carts, in door yards and haylofts, and furnish themselves the means of sustenance
by theft. Would it not be well for her, at least to institute a law by which these little ones shall be taken care
of, and not left to perish utterly, under such circumstances?  Would not the act be Christian, though not
popular with demagogues? " I speak as unto wise men,
judge ye what I say."




CHAPTER IV.
THE CRIMINAL-HIS TREATMENT.
The Small Offender-Treatment not Reformatory-The Rookery-The House of Correction-The Jail-Unfortunate Females-Their Treatment-Should be Aided and Encouraged-The State never aids them-How it works in New-York, Philadelphia,
Cincinnati-Experience of Isaac Hopper, the Philanthropist-Interesting IncidentPrisons for Small Offenders should resemble a House of Reform-The Duty of the
State-Individual Effort not Sufficient.
WE leave crime in embryo, and pass to the consideration of the demands of humanity and Christianity, with
reference to the real offender.
We will first notice the duty of the State toward those
guilty of small offenses. These constitute a large majority of those who violate the law. Out of the 36,000
arrested in Philadelphia in the year 1855, but few were
sentenced to the Penitentiary. So of other cities and
towns.   Thousands are annually brought before the
police court of Cincinnati, while the number we furnish
for the Columbus State prison is, comparatively, exceedingly limited. The youthful offender, guilty of larceny,
the old vagrant, the drunken debauchee-the wretched
prostitute-these go to swell the list upon the police
record of every city, and constitute more than six-sevenths
of all their arrests.
And what is the State doing for these classes?  Literally nothing.   Nothing to benefit or bless them, but all
to injure and curse them.   Let us look at the facts.
A man is a common vagrant. He is brought before
the judge of the police court, and sentenced to what is
22                                  (257)




258       THE CRIMINAL-HIS TREATMENT.
designed to be the House of Correction, for five, ten,
twenty or fifty days, on "' bread and water."  Female
vagrants are brought in, in the same manner, and done
for in the same way. Prostitutes, both old and young,
who are a thousand times less guilty of any criminal
offense, than the wretches who were instrumental in
their ruin, are either sent to the house of correction or
the common jail. Every morning exhibits a number of
these classes in the police court of every great city.
Monday morning, usually, presents the largest list.
Fifty or eighty are sometimes brought before the mayor
of Cincinnati in a single day. The common jail, or the
rookery, or the house of correction receives them. But
does the jail, or the rookery, or the house of correction,
with its "bread and water" fare, correct them? Do they
leave their place of punishment in the least improved
morally, physically or intellectually? Are they put to
some healthful and proper employment?  Are they met
with the voice of kindness and affectionate persuasion,
in their prison?   Are Christian  men and women
appointed by the State to oversee them, and employ
every means which a benevolent wisdom has sought out
to win them to the paths of virtue? Never. Instead,
they are visited with harsh words, and ofttimes with
positive cruelty and hatred. The State punishes as if
its sole motive were vengeance.   And it too often
appoints men as overseers of these places of confinement
who are utterly ignorant of any higher object in the discharge of their duties. Utterly regardless of the position
of their victims as human beings, and entirely destitute
of sympathy for them, they either treat them with heartless indifference, or heap upon them curses, and torture
them with blows. So that when they return to the
world, it is not with chastened affections and a resolve on




THE CRIMINAL-HIS TREATMENT.          259
amendment, but rather with a more bitter and vindictive
spirit and a stronger determination to follow in the paths
of crime and pollution. So that a few days only intervene, ere they are again brought before the mayor for
another trial, and sentenced to ten, or twenty, or fifty, or
a hundred days at the house of correction; and each
time they are forewarned by the court, that if again
found in violation of the law, it will be under the necessity of enforcing a more stringent punishment. The
number of days are, therefore, increased, and the treatment rendered more and more severe. But they are
never improved by such treatment.   Over and over
again are they subjected to the same ordeal; so that it is
no unfrequent thing for old offenders to have been thus
sentenced thirty, fifty, or even a hundred times. A man
in Troy, New-York, was imprisoned one hundred and
sixty-eight times for drunkenness, and a woman in Philadelphia over two hundred times. Is it said, that they
are so depraved by nature that no' power on earth can
improve them? This is simply an error. The very man
whom we just mentioned as having been imprisoned one
hundred and sixty-eight times for drunkenness, and
whom every body said no power on earth could improve,
was effectually reclaimed by the kindness, assistance and
affectionate persuasion of the Washingtonians twelve
years ago, and to this day is an industrious and sober
man, and good citizen, husband and father.
By the employment of the same means, (which are
simply those that God has ordained through Christ, or
in other words Christian,) the State could have reclaimed
him fifteen years earlier, and thus saved him and his,
from a life of infamy, and itself a heavy expense.
But perhaps the worst feature in our present system
is the injury done to the young and comparatively inno



260       THE- CRIMINAL — IS TREATMENT.
cent, by placing them in the company of the most depraved and polluted. All are made to herd in common
together. In all populous cities there are large numbers
of both sexes out of employment. By a careful inquiry,
it has been ascertained that there are on an average 1500
females, of this description, in New-York, 1300 in Philadelphia, and 500 in Cincinnati. Many of them are
orphans, and are homeless and friendless, and in consequence of the emergency that want brings, they are frequently subjected to fraud, imposition, deception, and, at
length, to ignominy, pollution and death. We have
been informed by an old physician of Cincinnati, that
he has known scores of beautiful young orphan females
to be. led down, step by step, to ruin, purely from the
simple fact of their position as orphans, destitute and
friendless, with no kind father or mother to counsel and
protect. The base deceiver, taking advantage of the
destitution and isolated position of his victim, by honeyed flattery, the most earnest protestations of love, and
the offer of rich presents, and a pretty little home all
their own, in some retired place in the city, allures her
to destruction. She yields to his embrace, and awakens,
at length, only to find herself deserted, and in her own
eyes and the eyes of the world-especially the Christian
world-utterly and hopelessly ruined; and the consequence is, in many cases, alas, how many! she plunges
deeper and deeper down into the vortex of infamy.
Now, for all such, careful Christian provision should
be made, by the State, to save them. But there is no
such provision. They are thrown into the alms house.
the house of correction, or the jail, in company with old,
drunken, profane hags, and, no matter how young, made
to listen to the most disgusting and awful blasphemy
and obscenity. By the Report of the Prison Society in




THE CRIMINAL-HIS TREATMENT.          261
New-York, we learn that there is constantly all average
of one hundred females, old and young, in the prison in
that city called the Tombs, all of whom are without
any employment whatever while there, and are left to
spend their time in such conversation and acts as their
depraved lives might suggest. " Here, we found in the
upper rooms," says the committee, "a number of young
girls, from ten to twenty years of age, associating together. It was a sad sight to see the little vagrant of
ten or twelve years, committed for her destitution, and
the want of a proper home and care-takers, cast into
companionship with those whose conduct and habits had
taken from them a name in respectable'society, and
whose corrupting influence must be powerful over those
neglected and unfortunate children. In the yard of the
prison were about thirty women, seated on benches,
many (perhaps the greater number) showing by their
wretched, bloated faces, a positive proof of the cause of
their incarceration. Others were in the cells, or walking
in the entries, but with every opportunity to circulate
the poison that festered in their own minds, and created
a malaria wherever they moved or breathed."
This committee also visited the prison for the same
classes on Blackwell's Island, in the vicinity of NewYork, and speak as follows of what they saw and heard:
" To this prison women are sent, who are sentenced to
periods of confinement, of from one to six months. A
large majority of these cases are from disorderly houses:
women, (many of them young,) to whom the glass, profane oath, and licentious practices, are the habits of daily
life. To some of these, the constant changes are from
the abode of drunkenness and debauchery to the almshouse and the prison. Cases have been known, where
women have been thus imprisoned forty times, and in




262       THE PRISONER-HIS TREATMENT.
their midst were several young girls,- whose countenances,
manners and histories, told that the blight of the destroyer
had but lately passed over them. From the Matron we
learned, that there were two hundred and sixty women
there; one hundred in the hospital; and one hundred
and sixty in a frame shantee, shut up together during
the day, often without employment, and corrupting, by
this dreadful association, the good that still might remain
in some."  Could any place or position be devised that
would more certainly quench the remaining sparks of
goodness in the young, prostrate all hope of reform, and
lead to certain ruin, than this? And here we discover
the wisdom and the Christianity of the State.
" It was a sadly distressing scene to witness, and to
know," says the committee, "that so little effort was
made to cultivate industrious habits, or refoi'm the morals of that degraded company; to the most of whom,
perhaps to all, Providence had given the capacity to be
useful, respectable, religious women. From occasional
visits to these prisons, benevolent, earnest minds have
seen the necessity, not only of efforts to remedy these
evils, but that a preventive power could, and would effect
great benefits to the unfortunate daughters of poverty,
ignorance, and crime."
This is true; and what we contend for, is that there
should be a reform in this entire department of police
operations.  The unfortunate beings above described
should never be ranked with common criminals, and shut
out from the world by the stone walls, bars and bolts of
the gloomy prison. They never can be improved or
saved by any such means. On the contrary, it proves,
in many instances, the direct and positive agency of
ruin, by sundering the last link which binds them to
society and gives them a feeling of right to make an
effort for virtue.




THE CRIMINAL-HIS TREATMENT.         263
What they need is encouragement, counsel, protection
and some place they can call HOMIE, where such protection and encouragement can be felt and realized by them,
and where they can feel some security against want.
Whenever and wherever such means have been employed
in their behalf, the result has been most salutary. A
Quaker gentleman of great humanity, who was long connected with the criminal courts of Philadelphia and
New-York,* relates that many years ago, when he was
inspector of the prison in the former city, a middle-aged
woman by the name of Norris was frequently recommitted. On one occasion, she begged of him to intercede
for her that she might get out.
"I am afraid thou wouldst soon come back again,"
said he.
" Very likely.  I expect to be brought soon," she
replied.
"Then where will be the use of letting thee out?"
" I should like to go out," said she. " It would seem
so good to feel free, if for only a little while, to look up
to the bright heavens, and enjoy the open free air."
"But if thou enjoys liberty so much, why dost thou
allow thyself to be brought back again?"
" How can I help it?  When I go out from prison no
one will employ me. I feel that everybody shuns me. No
respectable people will permit me to go into their houses.
I must go to such friends as I have. If they steal or do
wrong, I am taken with them; whether guilty or not, is
of no consequence. Nobody will believe me innocent.
They will all say,' She is an old offender; send her back
to prison; that is the best place for her.'"
It touched his feelings to hear her speak thus; and he
* Isaac T. Hopper, who died in New-York city two years ago, much
lamented by every friend of Humanity in the north.




264       THE CRIMINAL-HIS TREATMENT.
said:' "But if I should obtain steady employment for
thee and a good home, where thou wouldst be treated
kindly, and be paid for thy services, wouldst thou really
try to behave well?"
Her countenance brightened, as she eagerly exclaimed,
"Oh, yes indeed, indeed I would! But is there any place
on earth that will receive me, and be to me a HOME, and
can you help me to it?  If so, God bless you!"
" I think there is, and I will try what I can do. But
thee must not expect too much, as thee may be disappointed."
"I used my influence," said he, "to procure her dismissal, and succeeded in obtaining a good place for her
as head nurse in the hospital for the poor, and the consequence was that she remained there mnore than seventeen
years, discharging the duties of her situation so faithfully
that she gained the entire respect and confidence of all who
knew her."
"I have aided and encouraged," said he, "more than
fifty younger females, who had become fallen and degraded, by means similar to those I have mentioned, and
it is a great satisfaction to me to be able to state to the
world, that only two disappointed my expectations,"
Aid and encouragement, we repeat, are what they need
to benefit and bless them. And this is what the true
Christian will strive to afford. Behold Christ. When
the woman who had been taken in the very act of violating the Jewish law-a law which demanded her life for
the offense-was brought into the presence of Jesus, and
her sin proven upon her, and all men condemned her,
what was the language and the dealings of that pure and
exalted being toward her? Did he, by cruel words, and
more cruel acts, crush out of her heart whatever feelings
of self-respect or principle of virtue might have lingered




THE CRIMINAL-HIS TREATMENT.           265
there?  Not at all.  He aided and encouraged her.' Neither do I c6ndemn  thee; go thy way and sin no
m ore."
Now the State, as we have shown, acts upon no such
principle in its dealings with these classes. Though it
professes to be Christian, the element of Christianity,
love, kindness, is utterly wanting in its entire system
of operations. In New-York there is a " Home for
Friendless Females;" and in Boston a "Penitent Females' Refuge;" but they were not established by the
State, or county, or city, but by a few Christian men and
women organized into Benevolent Associations. They
obtained the means of erecting their buildings by begging of individuals the stingy sums ithat are usually
given for such purposes, and by Church contributions.
The consequence is, they have been struggling with pecuniary difficulties from the beginning, and are not yet
relieved. Expenses are constantly accruing, and how
is it possible that such institutions can be sustained by
charity alone?  Benevolent men will give for a single
year or two; but by constant drafts upon their resources,
they become discouraged. Moreover, all institutions of
this description erected in our large cities, are entirely
too limited in their accommodations, to answer the wants
of the communities in which they are located. That in
Boston has an average only of twenty inmates. Those
in New-York and Philadelphia but thirty or forty. In all
other cities the average is about the same in ratio to the
population. This, in itself, is well as far as it goes; but
it is not enough. Thousands are sentenced to the jail,
the house of correction and the rookery, every month,
who need the good instruction, the encouragement and
fostering aid, which these institutions might afford if
sufficiently ample for their accommodation, and were
23




266         THE CRIMINAL-ITIS TREATMENT.
owned or managed by the State or county. They should
be located out of the city, in some rural district, with
gardens and ample grounds, school-room for the younger,
and chapel for all; and while they should be so constructed as to prevent any from      escaping, they should
resemble a House of Reform and Industry, more than a
jail or huge prison.*
The philosophy that would degrade while it punishes,
is wholly wrong and unchristian.      The classes of whom
we speak, when guilty, should be sent, or, if you please,
sentenced to such an institution as we have described,
not through revenge, but for improvement.         It should
be a place, not of idleness like our common jail, but of
the most perfectly systematized industry.      The inmates
should not be put to the most degraded forms of female
drudgery, but to employments suited to their sex, and
so far as is consistent, congenial with their taste.   Such
a place might be made the manufactory of a thousand
useful articles of trade; such as straw hats and bonnets,
wearing apparel for men and boys, mattresses and bedding, millinery and dresses for ladies, collars, artificial
flowers, light shoes, hose, and many other things. And
care should be taken that all who enter destitute of a
knowledge of some kind of work, whereby they can obtian the support of life, should be given good trades,
so that when their term of time expires, they may not be
returned to the world destitute of the means of sustenance.
* We perceive that New-York is moving in the right direction so far as
concerns its inmates. The Committee on State Oharitable Institutions of
the New-York Legislature, reported a bill, lately, incorporating the "Home
for Inebriates" in the village of Geneva. This corporation is allowed to
hold 250 acres of land, or property to the amount of $250,000, in shares
of $20 each. The Home to be managed by nine trustees-the first set
to be appointed by the Governor and Senate, and the successors of six of
them to be appointed by the stockholders, and the successors of the other
three by the Governor and Senate. The bill also appropriates $10,000 to
the use of the corporation when $5,000 have been subscribed.




ABANDONED VAGRANT CHILDREN.        267
We confidently believe that such an institution, with
kind and judicious Christian men and women to oversee
and control its movements, would be an immense saving
to every large city, not only on the score of economy,
but of true charity, and that five-eighths of those who
might be thus aided, while they were punished, would be
saved from idleness, want and utter ruin; and " instead
of living to prey upon and curse society, enduring in
their own souls the unavailing anguish of remorse, they
might live to honor and bless the sphere in which they
move." This would be a humane, Christian and desirable
work. Why should not the State engage in it?




CHAPTER V.
THE JAIL AND THE PENITENTIARY.
Need of Reform in the Common Jail-Congregated System injurious-Jail in Cincinnati-The Influence of the Old Criminal on the Young —Present System makes Criminals-Facts related-Importance of Labor-Expense of maintaining the Prisoner in
Idleness-Reformation of the Offender the most important Consideratiorn-The Penitentiary-The Old System-Progress already made-More to be done-Work of Howard
the Philanthropist-Eastern Penitentiary of Pennsylvania-Separate System-Its
Advantages-Ignorance the Cause of Crime -Reform needed in the Educational Department-Also in the -Disciplinary-Power of Kindness-Prisoners should be Encouraged
when in Prison and when they return to the World-Interesting Facts.
THERE is great need of reform in the management of
the common jail, in this country. The present system
of herding together culprits of all ages and of every
degree of crime, and permitting them to remain in idleness, indulging in gambling and profanity, reading obscene books, recounting their deeds of daring and profligacy, and instructing each other in all the arts of crime,
is the most injurious and damning possible.
Take, for instance, the jail in Cincinnati, for the
county of Hamilton, which consists mainly of a room
say fifty feet in length by forty in breadth, with stone
floor and walls, and with cells for the safe keeping of the
prisoners by night. Each morning the doors of the
cells are opened, and all the prisoners, without regard to
age, complexion, education, or degree of guilt, have the
free range of the large room.    From fifty to one hundred
and fifty are its constant occupants. There, may be
seen at any time the old offender steeped in crime, and
learned in all the mysteries of theft and burglary, side
by side with the lad of fifteen whom an unfortunate and
(268)




THE JAIL AND THE PENITENTIARY.        269
trifling deviation from the right, has brought into this
position. He may be there only for a few weeks; he
may be detained merely as a witness, but behold how the
tempter, as he sits before him dealing his cards, recounting his exploits in crime, his association with dissolute
females, and describing his easy, jovial, pleasant life, is
luring him to temptation, and sowing the seeds of crime.
For days, weeks, it may be months, is he taught in this
school of crime. Nothing better presents itself to occupy
his attention. Not a day nor an hour's work is performed by the whole motley crew during their entire
term of imprisonment. Constantly do they lounge in
idleness, with no checks upon their tongues or passions.
Under such circumstances, what could reasonably be
expected, but that old villains should lead the young
offender in the evil way?  If it were one of the main
objects of the government to sow broad-cast the seeds of
crime, it could scarcely devise means better fitted to its
end, than is exhibited in the system of imprisonment
which most of our county jails present. Hundreds of
well-attested cases might be cited to show the truth of
this declaration, some of which have come under our
own observation; but we have space for but one, which
we extract from a voluminous letter just published, from
the Corresponding Secretary of the " Prison Association
of New-York," to one of the Vice-Presidents, on " The
Cause of Crime." Among other facts, he presents the
following:" We once visited the jail of Columbia county, (N. Y.)
and found among the inmates a boy of fifteen years old,
who had been put there for a breach of some corporation
ordinance-we believe it was firing crackers in the
streets; he was undoubtedly a bad, mischievous child,
but he never dreamed of committing a crime. A few




270      THE JAIL AND THE PENITENTIARY.
months afterwards, on visiting the same jail, we found
him there again; and on inquiring we learned that an
old burglar, who was in the jail at the time of his first
confinement, had taken a fancy to the lad and inflamed
his mind with images of the free and easy life that men
of his profession led-their exemption from labor, the
magnitude of their gains, and the pleasure they had in
spending them. When he had fully succeeded in rousing
the boy's ambition to enter a career of lawlessness and
crime, he taught him all the details of lock-picking and
pocket-picking, taught him how to elude the watchfulness of housekeepers and storekeepers, how to dispose of
troublesome dogs, and how to conceal and dispose of
stolen property; thus in a few short weeks, a wild boy,
through the agency of a common jail, was ripened into a
bold and consummate rogue, whose life was fully dedicated to the work of preying on the property and perhaps the lives of his fellow-men. On leaving the prison
the burglar furnished him with a letter to a confederate,
and together they soon planned a burglary; the boy
entered the store-the other remaining outside to watch
-but before he had secured his booty the proprietor
entered the store through a private passage and secured
him, while his confederate escaped; and he was now in
jail waiting for his trial, which was certain to end in
conviction!"
This is but an isolated case. Hundreds very similar
are constantly occurring. Nearly 10,000 different persons in the State of Ohio, and 30,000 in the State of
New-York, as many more in Pennsylvania, and all other
States in ratio to their population, pass through the corrupting ordeal of the county jail, annually; and when
we consider how large a portion of these are really or
legally innocent, or are detained only to testify to the




THE JAIL AND THE PENITENTIARY.        271
criminal acts of others, and must necessarily be contaminated more or less by the influences which surround
them, we behold the positive inhumanity of the system;
a consideration which is sufficient to condemn it, aside
from all considerations of public policy. " Why, sir,"
exclaimed a convict to us in the Cincinnati jail not long
since, when questioning him on this subject, " Why, sir,
bring a man to this room as pure as an angel, and let
him mingle in this company six months, and he will go
out a devil, AND CAN'T HELP HIMSELF!"  It is singular
that the public have not everywhere discovered, that the
inevitable tendency of this system is to multiply criminals instead of lessening them.
In addition to all this, it is an exceedingly expensive
method of punishing crime. Every criminal, no matter
how long he has to remain in confinement, must be supported in idleness at the cost of the State. James Summons, charged with the committal of a most revolting
murder, has lived a gentleman, for more than six years
in the Cincinnati jail, at the expense of our citizens, and
during the whole time has not so much as lifted a finger
toward his support. The annual expense to our State
for the support of our county jails, cannot be less than
$300,000; in New-York, $600,000, and in Pennsylvania about the same amount. Now this need not be.
" But how can it be remedied?" inquires the reader.
I answer, Reform the construction of your jails; especially, those of large cities. Make them equally safe,
but more ample, with workshops, and rooms fitted for
different descriptions of employment. The shoemaker,
carpenter, blacksmith, locksmith, turner, tailor, engraver,
printer might be put to work. Indeed, no man, or
woman, if in health, need remain in idleness. Some
simple employment could be furnished them, by which




272      THE JAIL AND THE PENITENTIARY.
they could at least be made to earn their board, after
deducting the interest on the cost of the establishment,
and the salary of the keepers. In the Cincinnati jail we
have on an average at least one hundred in constant
confinement. Allowing 313 working days in a year, the
average loss of time in idleness is 31,300 days, which at
80 cents per day would amount to an aggregate of
$25,040. The time squandered in the Tombs in NewYork city, is worth $50,000 annually. The same loss is
sustained in the jails of all our large towns and cities, in
ratio to the population; while at the same time honest
citizens are taxed to maintain these delinquents in their
idleness. Why should this state of things remain?
Do you say, that many of them are not yet convicted
of crime, but are detained in jail for trial, or as witnesses'against other criminals, and that the State has no right
to force them to labor, or if it has, such compulsion
would be unjust and inhuman? I answer, first, The
State has the same right to compel them to labor, that it
nas to deprive them of liberty; and second, It is positively inhuman, and most injurious to their morals, as
we have shown, to permit them to remain in idleness.
If guilty of crime, it is but just that they should be
made to pay the expense of their maintenance; and if
an examination, their innocence is established, or if they
ire detained as witnesses, justice would demand that the
6ounty should refund a fair equivalent for their services.
In this way they would be made to earn something for
themselves, during their confinement. Thus, viewing
the subject as we may, the advantages are altogether in
favor of the change which we have described. We are
satisfied, that so far as economy is concerned, the weight
of the argument is on the side of a change; while all
must allow that the moral advantages secured by the




THE JAIL AND THE PENITENTIARY.        273
change would be invaluable to the delinquents themselves. The great thing to be accomplished in the punishment of offenders, is their reformation. The question
of economy, notwithstanding what we have said, therefore,
is not one of moment. The true system of prison discipline to adopt, is that which possesses the greatest
reformatory power. No system should be countenanced
that makes bad men worse, and instructs the youthful
offender in all the subtile arts of villainy; which, as we
have seen, is the inevitable result of our present system.
THE PENITENTIARY.
WE have said, during the progress of these pages,
that sixty years ago prisons were simply dungeons of
incarceration and filth, into which men and women were
thrown only to be abused and hidden from society. The
great mass of men regarded the convict as incurable and
worse than worthless, deserving only to be tortured, then
killed and buried in a dunghill.
Such were the prevailing opinions, and the condition
of prisons in England and France, when the attention of
the benevolent Howard was turned to a consideration of
this important subject. He argued that the criminal,
notwithstanding his offense, is still a child of God and a
member of the human family. He had violated the law
and become a convict, but this was no just reason why
he should be the proscribed object of public vengeance,
and utterly destroyed. On the contrary, it was the duty
of society, while it punished, to endeavor to reclaim and
restore the offender. But this was impossible in prisons
constructed simply with reference to a dungeon confinement, where existed but little or no light, no ventilation
or cleanliness; no instruction or labor, no sympathy or
kind words, nor prayerful admonitions; and it was at his




274      THE JAIL AND THE PENITENTIARY.
suggestion that prisons were constructed on enlarged
and more humane plans, with separate cells, chapels and
healthful circulation of air.
Acting on the hints of this friend of humanity, the
work of improvement has progressed from that day to
the present, in all Christian countries, till now, many
prisons are aiming to be what humanity and Christianity
demand, viz: SCHOOLS OF REFORM, at the head of which
are some of the kindest and most Christian men the
world has ever known.
Probably the most humanely constructed and best
regulated prisdn in the world is the Eastern Penitentiary
of Pennsylvania. It is arranged on the separate plan, a
principle of discipline which originated in Pennsylvania
and was first applied and tested in that prison. No
prisoner is allowed to mingle with others. Each man
has a cell by himself, which is about 17 feet square and
12 feet high-large enough to admit a weaver's loom,
hydrant, bed, snug and convenient water closet, and
whatever else is necessary to the health and comfort of
the prisoner. To each cell there is attached a yard of
the same dimensions, where he is allowed to exercise one
hour each day, and in which he cultivates peaches, flowers, grape vines and shrubbery.
Some benevolent men have condemned the " separate
cell" system as inhuman, unnatural and awful. But
they have condemned without investigation. They suppose the prisoner exists in perpetual solitude-is destitute of light, and that he has no employment but that of
brooding over his own fate. But instead of this, it
allows him plenty of light, and permits any and every
degree of association with him, except that of other convicts. His friends can call to see him, and converse
with him at any hour as long as they desire. Each day




THE JAIL AND THE PENITENTIARY.        275
his task is assigned him-his overseer and chaplain visit
him for instruction and encouragement, and he is furnished good books, and permitted to employ a certain
amount of time for their perusal, and for educational
purposes. As his old associations with the corrupt are
broken up, and he is not permitted to mingle with them
for his term of improvement, there can be no question
but the probabilities of the reformation of a prisoner in
a separate prison, under such a government, are a hundred fold greater than in a congregate prison. Indeed,
this system has been faithfully tested, and with signal
and acknowledged success.
This is the principle we would recommend for all
States to adopt in the construction of their Penitentiaries,
as speedily as the nature of their circumstances will
allow. It is the principle on which our county prisons
for large towns and cities, should be erected. As says
the " Pennsylvania Journal of Prison Discipline," in its
advocacy of this system:"' When a man is arrested for crime, the legal presumption that he is innocent, should protect him from
all degrading and polluting associates.  Hence, he
should be secluded from all others charged with or convicted of crime, as one entitled to the sympathy and
companionship of the honest and good.
4' If he is acquitted, it shall be no fault of the government if he does not return to society without any stain
which was not on him when he was arrested.
" If he is convicted, the same care is demanded by
right and justice, as well as by sound public policy, that
he shall enjoy every opportunity to reinstate himself in
the confidence of his fellow-citizens, and that nothing
shall be done to him or suffered by him, that can possibly
contribute to his further deterioration, and that all




276      THE JAIL AND THE PENITENTIARY.
means are used to encourage him in efforts to retrieve
his character. Among these the first and chief is, a
complete change of company-absolute separation from
convict society, and all needful association with the honest and upright. This we regard as the sine qua non of
every rational, humane or reformatory system of prison
discipline."
But notwithstanding the progression of which we
have spoken, in the improvement of prisons and treatment of prisoners, there remains much yet to be accomplished in that direction. Neither the benevolence of
Christianity, nor the ingenuity of humanity, has arrived
at the ne plus ultra of effort.
In what we have further to say on this subject, we
desire to. specify four departments in which there is still
need of more marked attention; viz: the Educationalthe Disciplinary-Encouragement of the offender, and care
over him when discharged.
1.  The Educational Department. We are aware that
some men sneer at the idea of instructing a "State prison
bird." They don't want to live to see the day when the
penitentiary for convicts and felons shall be changed
into a college. They will never consent that the public
money shall be appropriated for any such purpose! But
such persons, though they may profess to be overstocked
with the Christian religion and a true philosophy, have
but precious little of either. We have no desire to see
our penitentiaries literally turned into colleges; but yet
while they are places of confinement, labor and punishment, both Christianity and a true policy demand that
they should be places of instruction.
As we have shown,* one great cause of crime is IGNORANCE. Seven-eighths of all the criminals in Christen* See statistical facts mentioned in third chapter.




THE JAIL AND THE PENITENTIARY.        277
dom, have but little or no education. Many of them
from infancy, were so circumstanced that it was beyond
their power to obtain even the rudiments of learning.
Their parents themselves were criminals, or crushed
with poverty, or existing in profligacy and drunkenness.
They had no care over their children, who grew up in
idleness and vagrancy; were instructed in crime by their
parents and early companions, and the State prison or
penitentiary is their end. There is no difficulty in showing, from the statistics of crime in the United States for
the last twenty years, that a large majority of Stateprison criminals could neither read nor write. And in
the report of the British and Foreign School Society, a
few years ago, we are informed that "' out of nearly 700
prisoners put on trial in four counties, upwards of two
hundred and sixty were as ignorant as the savages of the
desert-they could not read a single letter. Of the
whole 700, only 150 could write, or even read with ease;
and nearly the whole number were totally ignorant with
regard to the nature and obligations of true religion."
In the reports of the Society, for 1832-3, it is affirmed,
"In September, 1831,'out of fifty prisoners put on trial,
at Bedford, only four could read. At Wisbeach, in the
Isle of Ely, out of nineteen prisoners put on trial, only
six were able to read and write, and the capital offenses
were committed by persons in a state of the most debasing ignorance."   When a jailor was describing his
prisoners to Leigh Hunt, he termed them, "poor, ignorant
creatures." Now this phrase describes the condition of
nearly all the inmates of our penitentiaries in the United
States. There is now and then an educated man among
them, it is true, but generally they are a set of "poor,
ignorant creatures."  If they had been properly educated
when young, some of them would have been honorable




278      THE JAIL AND THE PENITENTIARY.
and high-minded men, a blessing to themselves and an
honor to their race.
And evidently what they need is instruction, to prevent a repetition of crime. Why should they not have
it, even in their prisons? The true object of punishment is the correction of the offender. But how can we
correct him if his mind is enshrouded in ignorance; if
he is low and groveling in all his conceptions, and,
therefore, has no appreciation of moral truth, and what
is really for his happiness? Our common schools are
established and supported by taxation: on the basis of
universal intelligence as the safeguard against moral
depravity. Our States have assumed, that it is wiser to
pay for the instruction of poor children, than to maintain
them in crime; and Great Britain is following in our
footsteps. She has learned that it does not cost the
United States so much by four 7Ttndred per cent to educate our children, as it does her own nation to support
her paupers and her criminals; and hence recommendations have come from the proper sources in that country
to insure the establishment of free schools somewhat
similar to our own in the free States.
If, then, it is in harm.ony with a wise policy to educate
children, to keep them out of crime, why is it not equally
wise to educate them in prison, to prevent a repetition of
crime? And surely this is what Christianity demands.
If we are Christians we must not-we cannot punish
crime out of revenge. Instead of this the obligations of
our benevolence teach us that while we punish the
offender to prevent a repetition of crime, we must do him
all the good in our power. Christianity is not merely
prohibitory-directing us to avoid "working ill" to another —but amendatory, requiring us to do him good.
And we may rest assured, that the legislator whose laws




THE JAIL AND THE PENITENTIARY.                279
are contrived only for the detection and punishment of
offenders, fulfils but half his duty. If he would conform to the Christian plan, he must also labor and provide for their reformation.
Much has been accomplished already in many prisons,
in the educational department. But not enough. All
our penitentiaries should be so regulated and managed,
that every man, woman and child, with common mental
capacity, should be necessitated to learn to read and
write, if the term of his or her sentence would admit of it.
They should also be carefully instructed in the principles
of morals and religion-not the religion        of a sect, or
creed, but the Christian religion, which consists in love
to God as a Father, and to man as a brother. To this
end, the most judicious and Christian teachers should
be selected, who would faithfully discharge their duties.
A few hundred dollars additional salary is a matter of
slight consideration.*    The right men      should, by all
means, be employed; for as far as the experiment has
been   tried, the result of furnishing      such  men   and
spending an hour or two each day in instructing the
convict, has been most salutary.
In New-York, teachers are employed in all the prisons.
In a recent report they say: "In discharging our duties
as teachers, we think we have been able to discern the
wisdom which prompted to the establishment of means
for the instruction of convicts confined in our prisons.
* Last winter our Ohio Legislature made a move in the right direction
for the advancement of the Columbus penitentiary convicts. A bill for
the thorough reorganization of that institution passed through the House
Committee of the Whole, which contained some excellent provisions.
Among other things, it was provided that the chaplain be a tutor, at a
salary of $800 per annum, and to have an assistant at $300 if necessary.
We were glad to see this, as it was an advancement upon the old system.
Still it was not advancement enough. To spend all their time in their
duties, if the right kind of men, they should at least have $400 added to
the above sums; while it should have been positively settled that an
assistant is "necessary."




280      THE JAIL AND THE PENITENTIARY.
The eagerness to learn, which has been manifest on the
part of the criminals who needed instruction-the attention and application which they have evinced, and the
improvement which they have made, are exceedingly
gratifying."
A young man writing to his brother, from the Eastern
Penitentiary of Pennsylvania, where the criminals are
not only instructed in good trades, but in reading, writing, arithmetic, religion, &c., says:-' I can now make a good shoe, and the improvement
of my mind, I leave you to judge by comparing my
letter to sister of some time since, with -this. My mind
is the main point at which I am aiming. I am determined to master the arithmetic, and other books. This
imprisonment will be the most useful of all my life spent
so far, and I assure you I shall try to improve by it
whenever the opportunity offers itself. When I am liberated, instead of wasting my evenings with engine
companies, I will attend some useful lecture at the
Franklin Institute, or in reading books from which I
can derive some useful information. My eyes are now
open, and I see the disgrace of being ignorant. I shall
always look upon this imprisonment as the greatest benefit I ever had, and when that happy time arrives that I
can be able to call myself worthy of my relatives, then
I will look back on these walls, and thank God that I
ever inhabited them."
2. In the Disciplinary Department, reform is also still
needed.
Prisons are too generally controlled by brute force.
Blows, chains, the lash, kicking, the screw, the showerbath, and other barbarous and cruel treatment has been
employed as a means to control and subdue the offender,
instead of persuasion and kind, Christian, moral means.




THE JAIL AND THE PENITENTIARY.         281
The benevolent Howard beheld this wherever he went;
and he saw no good resulting from it, but, on the contrary, it but increased the desperation of the offender
hardened in crime, and utterly froze all his better
feelings to their very fountain. He, therefore, resolved
to be governed only by kindness and tenderness in his
visits to the wretched criminal.  " Overcome evil with
good," he believed to be the true principle; and "experience soon convinced him that there was no man so
debased, or his feelings so callous, but that he could be
reached and softened by Christian kindness. Blows,
kicks, starvation and neglect, only turned the heart to
iron; but no sooner was the angel voice of this Christlike man heard, and his kindness felt, than the longsealed feelings were opened, the dried up sources of tears
were filled, the waters of sorrow flowed, and the heart of
sin became radiated with deep and undying love for his
benevolent visitor."*
Such are the effects of the law of Love, in all prisons
where it has been made the governing element. Says an
intelligent gentleman,t in describing what he saw and
heard during a visit to the Pennsylvania Institution a
few years ago: " I was greatly pleased to witness the
effects of kindness, in the gratitude and reverence manifested toward the warden. We were shown to, and into
perhaps a score of the cells in one of the wards-not by
selection, but by succession-and we did not see a single
instance which would create suspicion of the existence
of any other law than kindness (associated, of course,
with firmness.) The address of the warden, a mild and
kind Quakeri was indeed fatherly;-as, for example, he
would say, when he let down the iron wicket:
* Montgomery's Law of Kindness.
Rev. A. C. Thomas, Philadelphia.
24




282      TIlE JAIL AND TIE PENITENTIARY.
"'Well, Ned, how does thee get along to-day, my boy?
Does the work go to suit thee?' To another, who was
lying down and was striving to rise quickly, when he
heard the wicket open-' There, there, lie still, Sammy, I
am afraid thee don't feel well to-day. I am bringing
some friends to see thee, Sammy.' And thus from cell
to cell we went to see and converse with the prisonerssome of them committed for terrible crimes-and the
good warden was ever the same kind friend, as the evident gratitude and respect of the convicts denoted.
" The punishments, aside from separate confinement
and the necessity of work, are only two in number; in
minor offenses a withholding of food for one or more
days, and in aggravated cases a removal to what is
termed the dark cell. Of the latter description, during
a year, out of more than 400 prisoners, only 15 were
thus treated."
" When he took charge of the prison, he was informed
of a very hard subject-a stout, violent and very profane
mariner. He was told that nothing short of great sternness and severity could tame this rebellious spirit-and
so it seemed likely to prove, for offenses in violation of
rules of order, were reported daily of'Ben.' After a
week had elapsed, the warden went to the grating of his
room, and simply said: " Now, Ben, thee must go to the
dark cell."
The keepers ironed and removed him as directed.
He was perfectly furious, and broke out into the most
violent imprecations, which continued, with scarce an
interruption, for hours.
In this state, affairs remained until the next day,
and taking the advantage of a quiet spell, the warden
opened the wicket. Ben saluted him with a terrible
storm of abuse;-but the warden merely looked at him




THE JAIL AND THE PENITENTIARY.       283
in silence. "For full ten minutes, I should think," said
the worthy man in relating the incident, "Ben continued
his bitter tirade of abuse-and I continued to look at
him in silence. The truth is, I was querying with myself whether I had not taken wrong means to subdue
this violent man, and was striving to discover some way
of mending the error. But by-and-bye he was worried
out with his own vehemence, and he heaved a deep sigh
and was quiet.
" Thee has noted such states in children, I suppose. I
knew it was a tender time with him, and so I said kindly,
"' Ben, has thee a mother?'
" The strong man was subdued in an instant, and
sobbed like a child.
" I saw he was melted, and ordered the keepers to
take off his irons and return him to his cell. Visiting
him immediately after, I had a long private opportunity
with him-and to good effect, for he was afterward an
orderly and well-behaved man. And when his time
expired he left us with tears. I do not say that he was
altogether a changed man; but I do think that kindness
and tenderness did for Bene what nothing else on earth could
have accomplished."'
Many facts of a similar nature, going to show what
power there is in the principle of love, to overcome the
most ignorant and depraved, might be adduced, had we
space. All the prison keepers, both of this country and
Europe, who have been at all successful in " taming the
savage breast," have owed their success to it. They
could accomplish nothing with vengeance. Some men
think that philosophy is better than Christianity. They
are not aware that Christianity is the truest philosophy.
" God made us and not we ourselves."   He knows,
therefore, what is in us and what will answer our moral




284      THE JAIL AND THE PENITENTIARY.
and spiritual wants. And when Christ said, "Bless them
that curse you," and Paul exclaimed, "Overcome evil
with good," a principle of moral philosophy was enforced,
which has been found by actual demonstration, to be the
only power that will soften the heart of the criminal and
fill him with better desires and holier resolves.
Perhaps no man ever lived who was more successful
in reclaiming and subduing the savage spirit, than Captain Pillsbury, of the Weathersfield Prison, in Connecticut. Previous to his connection with the prison, the
convicts were visited with the most shameful cruelty.
The rooms were filthy, whipping was frequent and
severe, while many of the convicts were kept continually
in irons. This state of things was not only detrimental
to industry, for the institution run the State in debt
every year, but its effect upon the temper of the convicts
was very injurious, producing in them "a deep-rooted
and settled malignity." And there were so many recommitments to this and other prisons, of convicts who had
been sentenced to it in the first instance, as to demonstrate that such treatment did not produce reformation.
But when Captain Pillsbury took charge of the new
prison in Weathersfield, and the convicts were removed
to it from Newgate, he instituted a very different course
of treatment. He was kind in every respect, yet inflexibly firm in the discharge of his duty. He substituted
the law of kindness for severity. Says the Report, "' He
mingles authority and affection in his government and
instructions, so that the principles of obedience and
affection flow almost spontaneously towards him from
the hearts of the convicts." The consequences of such a
course, were immediate and obvious. The convicts were
liberated from their irons; their respect and obedience
to the agent were gained; and the institution began to




THE JAIL AND THE PENITENTIARY.            285
pay for itself by its own labors.  There was no institution of the kind in the whole country so successful. The
most desperate criminals, who could be tamed nowhere
else, were sent to Captain Pillsbury, to be charmed into
staying their term of time out. Even the most ferocious
were subdued-and all by kindness, confidence and love.
The most desperately bitter could not stir feelings cf
unkindness within him. If sick, he would watch over
them with the greatest assiduity by night and by day:
This was the man, " who, on being told that a desperate
prisoner had sworn to murder him, speedily sent for hill
to shave him, allowing no one to be present.   He eyed
the man, pointed to the razor, and desired him to proceed.   The prisoner's hand     trembled, but he went
through it very well.   When he had done, the Captain
said,'I have been told you meant to murder me, but I
thought I might trust you.'' God bless you, sir! you
may,' replied the regenerated man.   Such is the power
of faith in man."
Thus should the spirit of Christianity govern among
the most sinful. No other principle will reclaim them.
How important, then, that each State should look carefully after the true interests of its criminals in this:
respect. We are happy to know that Ohio is moving ill
the right direction.* Let other States follow her example, or, what is better, lead the way. Great care should
be employed in selecting proper keepers and teachers.
Politics should not govern. Profane, wicked, unfeeling
demagogues, who may work well for a party, will not do
* Section 16 of the bill before mentioned, does away with whipping,
and forbids the striking of a prisoner with a stick, or kicking of him, except where necessary in self-defense. All the officers to demean themselves in as kind, humane and forbearing a manner as is consistent with
the enforcement of strict discipline-forbids thie w f te slf te er-bat7t as
pulnishmzent, except with the consent of a physician. Punishment is to be
confinement in a dark cell, on bread and water diet.




286:       THE JAIL AND TIHE PENITENTIARY.
here.  Their influence is decidedly deleterious.  Regard
should be had to moral purity.   The man who occupies
this position must possess that love which " suffereth
long and is kind."   Honor or emolument must not be
the leading motive with him in seeking the place. He
must feel that his work is a kind of mission, under God,
of good to his race-and one which he must not, and
dare not leave just to get more salary, more leisure, less
worry or less confinement. "Such aman," says an English philanthropist, "conducts his work in the spirit, and
by the instruments of the missionary. Not only teaching, but praying; not only admonishing and advising,
but giving the daily example of patience, kindness, industry, endurance, and devotion in his personal life.
Before such men the stubborn tempers bend, the hard
hearts soften, the idols of vice and crime are cast down.
They need not be men of extraordinary talent, but they
must be men of earnestness, love, and a sound mind."
3.  Criminals should be more encouraged than they are,
while suffering for their offenses.   If kind, obedient,
faithful, and guilty of no infraction of the rules of the
prison, they should have the credit and the advantage of
such behavior.   Their term of service should be shortened; they should be furnished with a certificate of good
behavior by the warden, on leaving the institution, and
acquire again the rights of citizenship.* In addition to
this, the prisoner should have his work allotted him,
and all he earned over the actual expenses of his imprisonment should be given for the support of his family,t
* All this is provided for in the new bill for the Ohio Penitentiary, to
which we have before alluded. This is truly Christian, and will have a
salutary effect.
*t Says Prof. Stowe, in his Report on Education in Prussia, of the provision made for the children of criminals:" When I was in Berlin I
went into the public prison, and visited every part of the establishment.
At last I was introduced to a very large hall, which was full of children,




THE JAIL AND THE PENITENTIARY.              287
who were deprived of his assistance by his imprisonment;
or, if he had no family, it should be paid to himself on
leaving the prison, that he might have the means of
support till he could find employment.
The State prison convict has little enough, at best, to
encourage him, as he toils in his dismal confinement.
To know that he is laboring for his wife and children,
whom his wickedness has made to suffer, would fill his
heart with gratitude; and to feel that when his term of
imprisonment expired, he would be restored to citizenship and would possess something which his own hands
had earned, to support him while he sought in the cold
and unforgiving world for an honest livelihood, would
cheer him in his gloom, and encourage him to strive for
that reputation which he had sacrificed by the perpetration of crime. The influence of such encouragement
could not but prove beneficial to all who might be exercised by it.
4.  Reform is needed in the treatment which the public
generally bestows on discharged convicts.  No matter how
pure his desires and sincere his resolves to amend his
life, on his return to the world, he is met with so much
coldness and distrust on every hand, and he finds it so
difficult everywhere he is known, to obtain employment
in consequence of this state of feeling, that he not unfrequently becomes enraged against society; and for the
double purpose of obtaining the means of living, and to
avenge himself on those who seem determined on his
with their books and teachers, and having all the appearance of a common
Prussian school-room.' What,' said 1,' is it possible that all these children are imprisoned here for crime?''Oh no,' said my conductor, smiling
at my simplicity;'but if a parent is imprisoned for crime, and, on that
account, his children are left destitute of the means of education, and
liable to grow up in ignorance and crime, the government has them taken
here, and maintained and educated for useful employment.' The thought
brought tears to my eyes."




288      THE JAIL AND THE PENITENTIARY.
ruin, he plunges again into crime, utterly regardless of
the consequences.
A young man in writing from his cell in the Eastern
Penitentiary in Pennsylvania, to his sister, speaks in the
following confident language: " I am resolved in my soul
never again to be guilty of crime. Much have I reflected
on my course since I have been an inmate of this cell,
and the kindness of my dear mother and sister, and I
feel sure that I can regain my good name. You say
uncle is well disposed toward me. I am glad to hear it.
I am young yet, and I thank God that my eyes are open.
What is there to hinder me from not only regaining his
regard, but the regard of all that know me? Nothing.
I shall try to do so with all my power, and those hearts
that have been almost broken by my heedlessness, will
heave for joy when they see what a difference this will
make in me."
This may have been sincere. At least, it is the duty
of the Christian to look upon such a case with favor, and
confide in the subject until he is proven again to be deceptive. Some say that all " State prison birds" are
deeply dyed villains-can never be anything else; and,
therefore, should never be harbored by any decent
family. But what a mistake-and how unchristian, nay,
inhuman the declaration. Thousands have been reclaimed. I know a man in my native State, who was
guilty of robbery to a large amount. He served out his
term in the State prison, and for more than thirty years
has been an honest, upright Christian-good father,
husband and citizen-in possession of a fine farm, and
is as much respected as any man in the neighborhood.
Says a gentleman* of Boston, who, for the last twelve
* Rev. Charles Spear, Universalist clergyman. He publishes a valuable monthly in Boston, called the PRISONER'S FRIEND, which is patron



THE JAIL AND THIE PENITENTIARY.           289
years, has made it his chief labor to find good homes for
discharged convicts: "I could give hundreds of cases
where the criminal has been restored to society and the
confidence of his fellow-men.  This whole movement is
one of the most sublime charity.    Heaven must smile
on the efforts of any one, who in the smallest degree
shows kindness, and contributes toward the saving of
the erring and the fallen."
Suppose, now, that the young man who penned the
excellent resolves mentioned above, on returning to
society, should be met only with coldness, distrust,
sneers and curses; would not such treatment be unchristian, nay, positively cruel? And could its effects be
other than injurious upon his soul? See how deplorable
the condition of such a man, as described by himself:
" Though his heart be as pure as the dew of heaven
yet unfallen, yet the gaze of suspicion is immovably fixed
upon him. The very circle which contains all his sympathies and his affections is destitute of sociality, of
pleasure, and consolation.    Does he ask forgiveness
in charity for the past?-not a feeling bosom aspirates a
pardoning response. Does he give an assurance of propriety in the future?-even that is sneered at with immovable disbelief. The inhuman deride him, and snicker
at his misfortunes; the unfeeling calumniate him, and
are not sparing in their invectives. He has no hour of
peace. Has he a wife?-she is'inconstant, or despises
him. Has he children?-they scorn to call him father.
Had he a home?-it is now a lonely ruin. God help the
ized by humane gentlemen, who always favor discharged convicts, until
they have reason to doubt their sincerity. Through these friends of Humanity, by advertising in his paper, Mr. Spear finds homes and employment for the blacksmiths, shoemakers, cabinet makers, &c., &c., of Charlestown Prison, against their term of imprisonment expires, which is an
invaluable favor to these unfortunate men.
25




290      THE JAIL AND THE PENITENTIARY.'poor man when affliction thus comes upon him!' His
consolation is scanty, his grief more than plentiful.'
This picture may be overdrawn, but there is much,
very much that is true in it. And is it just or humane?
Reader, remember, " It is your Father's good pleasure
that not one of these little ones should perish."
Such are our views of the Prison and the duty of the
State and of every individual, toward the prisoner. The
reader may condemn them; but we are certain that the
more he reflects upon them in connection with the
Christian religion, and a true philosophy, the better will
he be convinced that they have claims upon his affections
and his influence, which he must not disregard. Oh,
that the great world would awaken to a sense of what is
really divine, and for the good of the human race! Why
distrust the power of love?  Why be afraid to exercise
that charity which is kind, and without which " though
we give our bodies to be burned,"' we are nothing?"
But this shall not always be. The human family is fast
moving in the direction of Him who went about doing
good, and who was "kind to the unthankful and the
evil." ALL MEN shall soon be embraced by the Christian's arms of affection.
" God loves fiom whole to parts; but human soul
Must rise from individual to the whole.
Self-love but serves the virtuous mind to wake,
As the small pebble stirs the peaceful lake;
The centre mov'd, a circle straight succeeds,
Another still, and still another spreads;
Friend, parent, neighbor, first it will embrace;
His country next-and next all human race:
Wide and more wide, th' overflowings of the mind
Take every creature in, of every kind:
Earth smiles around, with boundless bounty blest,
And heaven beholds its image in his breast."




THE POOR-HOUSE.




A Christian Mother and Children, perishing with cold and
starvation, in the great City, and in the very midst of the
extravagance of wealth. Page 297.




THE POOR-HOUSE.
CHAPTER I.
PERISHING ONES.
Poverty in Christian Lands-England, France, Ireland, Scotland-United StatesLondon-New- York-Pauperism-Beggary-Needle Women-Interesting Incidc-ntDaath by Starvation in Philadelphia and Cincinnati-Romance of a Shirt — Suffering
in Philadelphia-Working Classes in Great Britain-United States-Many of them
Slaves-Family Stowage in New-York-Inhumanity of Christians.
THE author of these pages cannot send them forth
without offering a plea-brief though it is-in behalf of
the doomed victims of poverty, that everywhere exist,
especially in civilized, Christian lands.
" The POOR ye have always." What millions are scattered abroad in Christendom! As we look out upon the
great world, how do we behold them coming up from the
dens and kennels-the cellars and garrets-the alleys
and lanes of great cities; and from the jails and poorhouses, the highways and by-ways of our earth!
We contemplate Europe-England, France, Ireland,
Scotland, Spain, Germany, Russia-and wherever we
turn our attention, what an army of perishing creatures,
in rags and wretchedness, rise up before us! In England, every sixteenth man is a pauper.     In France,
nearly 5,000,000 are beggars and paupers. In Ireland,
from  the Government report of July 3, 1847, there
were 3,030,712 who subsisted on public alms.  In Scotland," thirteen per cent of the population are paupers
(293)




294              PERISHING ONES.
and live on the charities of their fellow-men." In Great
Britain (England, Ireland and Scotland), an immense
number of ragged, starving creatures, lie down every
night on their bundle of straw, or the damp earth, not
knowing where they may repose the succeeding night,
nor how to procure a loaf of bread to prevent utter starvation. In London alone, there are 30,000 professional
beggars. The census for 1854, taken in that city in the
night, shows over 20,000 destitute of a roof to cover
them. Fourteen thousand were "sleeping on doorsteps,
in hay-lofts and alleys, and under boxes, casks and carts,
and in barges, boats and other vessels." In Paris there
are 40,000 of the same description of perishing ones, and
in all the cities of Europe nearly as many, in ratio to
the population.
How vast the number in Europe, then, that are thus
cursed with POVERTY. What mind can conceive, or
tongue tell, or pen describe, the amount of mental and
physical suffering connected with it
When we turn to a contemplation of our own country,
the scene is less gloomy and sorrowful, but bad enough.
The report for the State of New-York in 1855, shows the
county paupers in that state to be 84,934; town paupers,
18,412; the number temporarily relieved, 159,092;-total
number relieved and supported, 204,161, at an aggregate
expense of $1,279,959.51.  Taking New-York for a
basis, and our country contains not less than 500,000
paupers. Beggars, of course, are not included in this
estimate. In all our large cities this class is numerous.
Said the " New-York Journal of Commerce," two years
ago: "Those of our city who have good homes, and
habitually lay their heads upon comfortable pillows, can
scarcely believe that every night hundreds of men and
women are wandering houseless about the streets of this




PERISHING ONES.,             295
great metropolis, without a place to shelter thelm. The
Chief of Police reports that during six months preceding
last November, 21,620 persons were furnished with
lodgings in the various station houses in our city. This
would give us "more than 43,000 for the year. But
probably not half of the number destitute of homes were
found and assisted by the police: so that really there
were more than 100,000 souls in this city' during the
year, destitute of a place of repose for the night. What
an amazing amount of misery is concentrated in this
single fact."
But the pautpers and the beggars do not constitute
the sum total of the POOR. Would to God they did.
The great mass of the poor are those who are struggling
by toil, privation, and even in destitution, to get bread
and clothing for themselves and children, and a place to
shelter them fiom the cold and the storm, without begginy
or caalling upon the public authorities for aid. Oh, my
God! How many thousands exist everywhere in Chris;
tendom, of this description! I see them now, in the
city-the village-the country.   I see them livingsuffering in garrets and cellars-and pent-up roomswith no ventilation; damp, filthy, destructive to health
and happiness. I see the widow and the orphan-and
the honest poor man, with a large family-weak and
sickly himself from long and constant toil to furnish
bread and clothing for his dear ones. I behold them all
in poverty; at times positively suffering for the want of
bread and fuel; and yet toiling on and on, from week to
week, year in and year out, perhaps without a murmur,
and yet with no hope of relief.
Cincinnati contains more than 6000 females, who earn
a scanty subsistence with the needle by working from
fourteen to seventeen hours per day. The-, youthful,




296                PERISHING ONES.
already broken down with intense toil, and the aged,
with wrinkled brow and tottering steps and husky voice,
are among the number.     Some of them    once lived in
affluence.  But their riches have taken wings and flown,
and the husband and the children have' passed to " the
land of rest."  We met one of this description a few
days since in a grocery, where she was purchasing her
half-pound of sugar and a very little flour and tea.  She
was "inl mourning." For long years had she worn the
same faded bonnet and little black shawl-for long
years had passed since the last dear son had been claimed
by the destroying scourge as it passed through the land.
A lonely widow is she now, "' with no kin in the country."
She had rented a room in the fourth story of a building
situated ten squares, or a mile and a half from the shop
of her employer, who keeps a clothing establishment
For this man she manufactures vests at 20 cents each.
" Eight a week, by working very late of nights," said
she, "is the best I can do.  That gives me $1.60, out of
which I have to pay one dollar a week for my rent and
fuel; which leaves me only 60 cents for bread and clothes.
Oh, sir, sometimes I feel that I cannot hold out much
longer.*  I am now seventy-one years of age, and have to
get up and down the stairs four stories, which is very
wearisome, sir!"
She had upon her arm her eight vests, which her toil
had finished, and she continued:
"1Do you not think my employer very hard, sir?      I
* How much sympathy should be shown this class of virtuous and industrious persons-aged and infirm widows. The late Mr. Graham, of
Brooklyn, New-York, has established on a scale of princely munificence,
a spacious Public Hospital, now nearly completed, on Raymond street: and
an asylum, four or five blocks off, for Poor Aged Women I Beautiful
deed I What monuments must such works as these be, so far beyond columns of brass, or statues of marble, or even legacie to the Board of
Foreigq Misimns




PERISHING ONES.               297
have been all the way to his store on this hot day, to
take these vests, and he refused to receive them and pay
me for them, because I w'as one dlay before my time. I
must go again to-morrow, which will require half the
day, besides climbing the stairs.  Indeed, sir, it is very
hard. I fear I shall not hold out much longer. God
knows what will become of me when that time arrives. I
cannot beg —and how camn I go to the poor-house! But
I must not repine. God is my shepherd and I shall not
want."
Ah, me! a man feels to weep when he listens to such
tales, and knows them to be true, though it is not his
mother who thus toils and suffers. An aged woman of
this description literally starved to death in the city of
Philadelphia, in the winter of 1842, for the want of the
means of procuring bread. These words were found
upon her table: " I cannot steal, and to beg lam ashamed."
During the same week the following appeared in one of
the daily papers* of Cincinnati:A CASE OF STARVATION.-Night before last about 9
o'clock, as J. H. Singer, a shoe dealer on Fifth street,
was passing along Water street, near Vine, his attention
was attracted to a little girl not over eight years of age,
who just then issued from an old desolate-looking frame
house, crying piteously. The forlorn appearance of the
child, together with the real anguish which seemed to
weigh upon her so heavily, induced Mr. S. to approach
and enquire the cause of her tears. She started with
evident fear at the sound of his voice, but in a moment
perceiving he was a stranger, besought him to give her
four cents to buy a loaf of bread. " 0, pray do, sir,"
said the poor child, " mother is sick and so hungry," and
* Cincinnati Daily Times.




298               PERISHING ONES.
again her tears fell. Where is your mother? enquired
Mr. S., who felt the full force of this appeal.
"Here, here, come, I will show you," cried the child.
Mr. S. did as desired, and after traversing a filthy passage and descending a broken stairway, looked upon one
of the most harrowing scenes of human misery, such as
would have softened with pity the hardest heart. The
apartment was part of a dark, damp cellar, without a
spark of fire, and bare of the most trifling article conducive to comfort-not a chair, table, or indeed anything
save an old trunk and mattress lying in the middle of
the floor, could be seen to denote the abode of any living
being.
On the mattress, however, lay the form of a woman
about 25 years of age, reduced almost to a skeleton. At
first sight Mr. S. thought her dead, but on observing her
more closely he discovered she was still alive, though
unable to move hand or foot. Directing the girl to remain where she was for a few minutes, he went out and
purchased a small bottle of cordial and some little articles of food, with which he immediately returned to the
wretched habitation. Mixing a portion of the cordial
with water, he applied it to the unfortunate woman's
lips, but for some moments without effect. At length,
however, she opened her eyes, and with evidently a painful effort, faintly articulated the word " bread."  Mr. S.
gave it to her at first in very small pieces dipped in the
cordial. Soon, under this kind treatment, she began to
regain a little strength, and finally, in about three hours
after the little girl's affecting supplication for her parent,
she was able to converse and move her limbs.
She proved to be a widow, whom poverty and ill-health
had reduced to this sad extremity. "It was so hard to
ask for assistance," she said. And when the truth was




PERISHING ONES.              299
known, it was ascertained that she had stinted herself to
feed her children, till death was about to relieve her of
her sufferings!
And all this in the very midst of abundance, wealth,
luxury, and a hundred Christian Churches, whose spires
pierce the clouds.
These are isolated cases, we know. But few literally
starve for the want of bread; but, oh, God! how many
suffer! How many perish inch by inch, as the heart's
blood oozes out drop by drop! How many are doomed
to toil all their days, and at last cry out to the cold, unfeeling world, "Give me bread-Oh, give me bread, or I
die!" In every great city of our beloved country and
of the world, thousands of this description can be found:
notwithstanding the profusion of wealth and professions
of humanity and Christian charity which everywhere
abound. Behold a scene, as painted by another:*
" Look yonder! Is it not a magnificent festival that
flashes along the wide hall, with its pillars, its draperies,
its columns! Ah! it is a gay scene! Elegantly dressed
men and beautiful women swaying gently along the
bounding floor, while the music of a full band bursts
upon your ears. This world is not so bad, after all.
Who talks of misery and rags in Philadelphia, while
these rich wines flow, these satins glisten, and these jewels flash from panting bosoms?
" But hold; let me tell you a romance connected with
this ball-room: yes, a romance of a shirt: and, mark ye,
those who may laugh at the title of this romance may
pray God to forgive them for it, ere I have done.'Let me tell you, then, the Romance of a Shirt. Yes,
that elegant shirt, clothing the bosom of yonder gay,
good-humored man-his pleasant face grows pleasanter
From the writings of George Lippard, Philadelphia.




300              PERISHING ONES.
with genial champagne-in the ball-room: let me tell
you the Romance of this Shirt.   You smile: it is
indeed a laughable thing-to look upon that Shirt and
remember that every stitch has been drenched with a
widow's tears-every thread along its carefully wrought
surface has been baptized with the sighs of a breaking
heart: that candle, held in the skeleton hand of Poverty,
has lighted the White Slave and shone on her hot eyeballs, as she listened to the moans of a child for bread,
and worked on, at the Shirt, sixteen weary hours; and
all for-just enough to' keep body and soul together.'
"i Come with me now through this spacious street,
flashing with a thousand lights; the Theatre glaring
here, and the Rum Palace there: let us at once dive into
the recesses of yonder darkened court.
" Into this old house, with rags and straw stuffed in
the window panes-up the dark stairs, that creak beneath our tread-into this lonely room.
" Ah! there is not much of romance in this scene.
" A lonely woman, clad in faded attire, sitting there by
a flaring light, working away, with hot eyeballs and feverish hands, at the very Shirt which you have seen in
yonder ball-room!
"Thus she has toiled for twelve long hours: and now,
while her orphan children are lying there, moaning in
their hungry sleep, there sits the mother, without bread
or fire, toiling on with hot eyeballs and trembling fingers-toiling on all day and all the night for this tremendous sum-a single ELEVEN-PENNY BIT! Twelve
and a half cents for one long winter's day of hunger,
toil, and cold-laughable, is it not?' And that flaring light glares in her face-shows the
shrunken outlines-the eyes unnaturally large and dark
-the under lip quivering, and quivering, as the poor




PERISHING ONES.              301
Widow tries to choke down the deep agony mounting to
her throat.
" This faded woman once dwelt amid scenes of comfort-luxury. She never dreamed that the lot of the
poor Child of Toil would be hers; never for a moment
thought that the splendid mansion would dwindle into
a dark, cold room; the dazzling chandelier into this
flickering candle; the light of a husband's smile into
this gloom of hopeless toil; the warm, happy forms of
childhood into those starved and ragged things in yonder
corner!-The husband died suddenly; his estate was insolvent: and now the story is clear. What claim has the
widow on the tenderness of society? Poor-she must
toil, and toil for the task-master, who chooses to reap his
profit-that is the word-from the loss of her health, the
nakedness of her children.
"An isolated case? Cherish the idea, if it saves you
the expense of a blush. But still the fact festers on the
forehead of your barbarous city civilization. There are
at least Ten Thousand poor and virtuous womenr in Philadelphia, who, suddenly impoverished by the death of a husband,
a father, or a brother, are forced to toil at various occupations for just such a pittance as'WILL KEEP BODY AND
SOUL TOGETHER!'
" Beautiful lady, darling of Chestnut street, now floating in the dance in yonder ball-room, can you tell me
how much agony was woven up with the threads of that
splendid robe which envelops your voluptuous form?
" Wear it; and while your bosom pants beneath it,
forget if you can your Slave Sister, who toiled sixteen
hours a day on this very dress, and now, while you
bound in the dance, clutches the pittance in her consumptive hand, and goes to her crust-to her sick mother-to her desolate home.




302              PERISHING ONES.
"Laugh, my gay beauty: it will show the ivory whiteness of your teeth: but remember-a whisper in your
ear-to-night your father is stricken with an apoplectic
fit-his wealth wrecked in hopeless insolvency-and tomorrow you must become the White Slave, make shirts
for twelve and a half cents, vests for a quarter of a dollar, dresses like the one you now wear for just enough
to buy your bread, or" Shall I picture the alternative?  There is a great
deal of luxury to be had in this large city for the mere
sacrifice of a woman's virtue."
High wrought as is this description, those who know
best affirm that it is not far from the truth. All over
the world, the same classes are to be found. In NewYork, Boston, New-Orleans, London, Paris, "their name
is legion." With the other sex the same condition prevails. The census of London for 1855 shows that there
are in that city " 20,000 journeyman tailors, of whom
14,000 earn a miserable existence by working 14 hours
a day, at twenty cents, including Sunday. There are also
in the same city, 30,000 sewing women, who, on an
average, make only 5~d, or 9 cents a day, by working 14
hours-not quite three-fourths of a cent per hour."
Throughout Great Britain, France and, indeed, nearly
all Europe, the same condition prevails among the laboring classes. They are simply slaves. In the collieries
and workshops of England, men toil for a mere pittance,
half clad, living upon the most wretched fare; while in
the factories their condition is no better, but more
dreadful. Six pence or a shilling a day is the extent of
a man's earnings. The consequence is, that if he has a
wife and children, all must go into the factory, in order
to obtain the means of subsistence. "Thousands of lit



PERISHING ONES.               303
tie children not over six years of age, from the very poverty of their parents, who have been employed from
infancy in the same trade, are obliged to enter these
places of toil, and there delve from twelve to sixteen
hours per day, or die with starvation. Indeed, these
factories are the homes of vast numbers of the suffering
poor in England. Half starved, and half clad, they toil
through the day, and rest their weary bodies at night
upon their chairs or stools, or lie down wherever they
chance to be, upon the hard, bare floor."
" Work-work-work!
From weary chime to chime;
Work-work-work!
As prisoners work, for crime!
And what its wages.  A bed of straw,
A crust of brea awl rags."
This is the condition of more than 50,000,000 of our
fellow creatures in Christian Europe. No wonder they
look to America, the Land of Promise, for "rest and a
competence."
But even here, as we have seen, Poverty stalks abroad
all over the land. " The destruction of the poor istheir poverty." They are ignorant, not from choice but
from  necessity. They are the "hewers of wood and
drawers of water."  Men of mind and energy use them
as tools, and out of their sweat and sinews coin goldtle American GOD. Their toil furnishes the luxuries of
the rich man's table, and builds charming mansions for
rich men's families-while they and theirs subsist on the
coarsest food, and are huddled together in miserable




304                   PERISHING    ONES.
dens,* comfortless and squalid, which they rent at extravagant prices from their rich employers. Such is the
condition of the world-and our own blessed country is
not exempt.' A recent official investigation into the occupation of what are
known as "tenement houses" in New-York, has resulted in showing
(not for the first time) a must prolific cause of crime and degradation.
In many cases five-story houses were found to contain from twenty to
thirty families-mostly of a low order and filthy habits. In one of the
wards one hundred and twenty-one tenement houses were found to contain two thousand two hundred and thirty-seven families, or eighteen and
a half families to each house, and in many of the houses a portion of the
ground floor is used for a shop. In one house one hundred and twelve
families were found I




CHAPTER II.
JESUS AND THE POOR.
The Life and Spirit of Christ-His Humility-Design of Christianity-Christ unfelt
in the Church —Christianity provides for the Wants of the Body, as well as the Wants
of the Soul —Christians neglect Poor Men's Bodies in their Attention to the SoulCatholic Church-Its Neglect of the Poor-A Farce.
IN the preceding chapter we have presented a bird'seye view of the condition of the perishing classes in
Christendom, where Churches dedicated to Him who
"came to preach the Gospel to the poor," are in every
hamlet and upon every hillside;-where ministers of
this same Gospel are as numberless as the stars of heaven
-where Bibles and prayer books can be had for nothing,
and a cart load of tracts thrown in-and where $10,000,000 can be spared annually to send the Gospel to the
heathen, while in Christian lands there are 50,000,000
of God's children, who cannot read his word, and are
pleading with hearts of anguish, not for wealth, nor even
comfort, but for bread to prevent starvation, and for rags
to cover their nakedness.
Cannot this condition of things be bettered?
Certainly. There is no difficulty in the way, if we
would only be Christians.
But how?
By paying our working classes better;-by making
laws for the improvement of the homes of the poor, and
doing more for their education;-by taking away from
work its curse of shame, and by looking more after the
26                                  (305)




306            JESUS AND THE POOR.
affairs of the millions of "little ones and weak" who
have no eyes to look for themselves.
All this can be done; and we repeat, it would be
done, and done very speedily, if all those who profess to
be the followers of Christ, but possessed his spirit and
practiced his doctrines.
To know what Christianity was, and what it required
when Jesus lived and labored on earth, and what it
should be in the nineteenth century, we should look to
Him-his life, spirit, teachings and acts.
And what was the life and spirit of Christ? All have
read the lives of the great and renowned-a Caesar, an
Alexander, a Napoleon-but what was the life and spirit
of Jesus.
Did he seek wealth or fame? Was he led by worldly
ambition, and did he study to secure the favor of the
great and influential? Did he repose in the luxury of
rich men's palaces, or pass his days in idleness and sensuality? Oh, no! Never! He dwelt rather in the
hovels of the poor, and the dens of misery. The weak,
the ignorant, the widow and the fatherless, the mourning
and suffering, shared his attention as he went about doing good, ever intent upon the great object of his mission, to comfort and bless the poor, the unfortunate, the
ignorant and the suffering.
Behold Him in his HUMILITY-his LOVE-his WISDOM.
He wears no silk, or purple, or glittering diadem. A
coarse robe falls from hiM shoulders, and his feet are
shod with worn and tattered and dusty sandals. He is all
humility; and it is the humility of love and wisdom.
See him as he wends his way along the highways, and
through the valleys of Galilee, on his errand of mercy to
the poor and the afflicted. Behold him at the pool of
Bethsaida, amidst the sick and lame and dying; at the




JESUS AND THE POOR.             307
grave of Lazarus, weeping with the afflicted; in the
poor widow's hut, sharing her scanty crust with orphans,
and breathing words of encouragement into their ears.
Everywhere and always he is the same kind, compassionate and benevolent Being, toiling and suffering to improve and bless the little ones and the weak of the human race. Oh, yes! He was consecrated by the Father
for this very purpose. Hear him exclaiming to the
proud Pharisees in the midst of the splendor and beauty
of a sumptuous synagogue-" The spirit of the Lord is
upon me, for he hath anointed me to preach the Gospel
to the poor. He hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captive, recovering of
sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
and to preach the acceptable year of the Lord." Here
we behold the design of Christianity. Jesus was consecrated, not to distract men with cold formulas, or frighten them with awful declarations of God's wrath, or torment them with the mysteries of subtile creeds, or save
their souls from some dreadful doom in the world of
spirits; but to raise up and encourage the oppressed, to
strengthen the weak, to bless the poor, heal the brokenhearted, and give all a hope of a happy immortality; in
a word, to show sympathy for, and render assistance to the
very classes that needed assistance and could obtain it from
no other source.
And how constantly and faithfully was he devoted to
the heavenly mission entrusted to his care. I see the
blind beggar, covered with rags-the maniac, foaming
with madness-the sick, sinful, and the victims of outrage and wrong, all pressing around him with hope and
joy; and as he lays his hands upon them and exerts his
heaven-derived power in their behalf, what a thrill of
joy runs from heart to heart, and how are the souls of




308            JFESUS AND THE POOR.
the once doomed and despairing overflowing with gratitude and peace!
This was the Christianity of Christ-the blessed Son
of God-the Savior of the world. It should be the Christianity of our day. But, alas! how little do we see of
Jesus in the Christian world-or Church, after a lapse
of eighteen centuries! Where is the spirit-where the
example of Christ? Fellow Christian, I put this question to you. The poor, the unfortunate, are still with
us; but is Jesus with us? Do we cultivate a desire to
visit the abodes of squallor and wretchedness? Do we
say, " Come, our Master has taught us by his own spirit
and example to go out into the by.ways and alleys of our
city, and seek for the kennels where starvation, leprosy,
and rags are mingled, and where the bitterness of despair
is experienced? Let us go and do them good." Nay,
nay!  But we are ashamed of the very classes whom
Christ delighted to bless, and has instructed us to assist.
Behold the rich, the most fashionable and the most influential portion of the Christian Church, looking down
with contempt on the poor and suffering. Some are positively mad with vexation, when called from the luxury
of a divan in a sumptuous parlor, to listen at the kitchen
door to the tale of some poor widow whose orphan children are starving for bread. They "wonder what these
straggling wretches were made for," and why they are
permitted to' disturb respectable folks in their houses."
If the Lord Jesus himself were on earth, clad in his
coarse raiment, with feet torn by the road-side flint, and
hair matted with the dews and rains of heaven, and the
dust from rich men's chariots, he would be driven from
the dwellings and the Churches of these fashionable
Christians-and perhaps shut up in the poor-house or
jail, with felons.




JESUS AND THE POORt.           309
The doctrine of Christ is in perfect harmony with his
spirit and acts. Ie- taught that God is the common
Father of the human race. "Have we not all one Father,
hath not one God created us?"  This interesting question, asked by one of the ancient servants of God, was
answered in the affirmative by Jesus. All, therefore, are
children of the same Father-memlbers of the same
household-BRETHREN. Here is the great central principle of the Christian religion. It should cement the
whole family of man in one holy bond of sympathy and
interest. We are brethren and sisters; all subjects of
the same infirmities, governed by the same laws, liable
to the same afflictions, and destined to the same immortality. Should there not be union, sympathy and mutual aid among the members of this household?  Will
the brother who has an abundance, stand unmoved at
the poverty and suffering of some weakly-born or ignorant member of his Father's household?  That would
be unnatural-inhuman. The strong must provide for
and protect the weak. God works by means; and here
is the means he has instituted to secure the preservation
of those who, through sickness or weakness or misfortune, cannot take care of themselves. Everywhere in
the inspired word has he plainly enforced this duty.
" The rich and the poor dwell together, and the Lord is
the Maker of them all."  We are " one body of many
members," of whom Christ is the head. "Whoso hath
this world's goods, and seeth his brother have need, and
shutteth up his bowels of compassion, how dwelleth the
love of God in him? My little children, let us not love
in word and in tongue, but in deed and in rutit7!'!"
Again: "What doth it profit, my brethren, though a
man say he hath faith, and have not works? Can faith
*1 John, 3: 17.




310            JESUS AND THE POOR.
save him? If a brother or sister be naked and destitute
of daily food, and one of you say unto them, Depart in
peace, be ye warmed and filled, notwithstanding ye give
them not those things which are needful to the body,
what doth it profit?"*
From all this, it is clear that Christianity demands
the physical comfort, as well as spiritual good, of those
for whom it was designed. It would " provide things
needful for the bocy," as well as look after the wants of
the soul. How can men and women, whose bodies are
actually perishing with cold and hunger, give proper
heed to the aspirations of religion? And yet, our doctors of divinity, our clergymen, and the Church everywhere, are praying day and night, and laboring with the
utmost diligence for the salvation of immortal souls
from hell and from purgatory, while they will not move
a finger to relieve poor, suffering, mortal bodies! Millions of dollars are raised, annually, in England and
America, to save the souls of the benighted heathen in
foreign lands, while in our own cities and around our
own homes, the bodies of thousands of poor women and
orphan children are perishing, inch by inch, for bread.
The minister of God, when called to the bed-side of
some poor dying wretch, whose very sickness is the consequence of his poverty, and the suffering of his starving
wife and children, prays with the most holy unction, an
hour and a half, for the salvation of the soul of the gasping sufferer; but he says nothing-he thinks nothing,
about the physical wants of this man and his family.
Behold the millions annually extorted by Catholic
priests from the poor of her Church, for the purpose of
erecting gorgeous temples, and other costly edifices,
where the souls of the Church are to be cared for; but
* James, 2: 14-17.




JESUS AND THE POOR.               311
how seldom do they look after the physical wants of her
millions of perishing votaries. A poor Irish woman, in
deep distress, once called on the author of these pages,
for assistance, He investigated her case, gave according to his scanty means, and suggested that her priest
would do something in her behalf. " Ah, sir," exclaimed
the suffering creature,' the priest takes all, but gives nothing."  In many instances this is literally true.  He
takes the last dollar from the ignorant and superstitious,
for looking after the wants of their souls, and then turns
them over to the world, to look after their starving, ragged bodies. And this is the Christianity of the nineteenth century.  Great God what a farce! How long
to its end?




CHAPTER III.
CHARACTER OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
Personal and National Pride and Fashion hold Rule in the Church-Charity thrust
out —Landed Estates of Great Britain in Possession of the Aristocracy-Twenty-Six
Millions destitute of a foot of Territory-The Church the Aristocracy —Cost of maintaiinig it comes upon the Poor-Enormous Expense of maintaining the Royal FamilyFacts stated-Christ and the British Queen —France and her Millions extended for
Ornament-Spain and her Christianity-Strange Charity of a Queen-What America
is doing.
WE repeat, the condition of the POOR would be looked
after, their wants supplied, the workers better paidtheir homes improved, their minds and hearts benefitted,
if Christians were what they profess to be-THE        FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST. There is no insurmountable barrier
in the way.   God's earth is sufficiently spacious for all.
It can be made to produce enough for the subsistence of
five hundred times its present population. The mneans to
accomplish the work of improving the poor are abundant. All we lack is disposition.    But, alas! how great
is this lack!  While we profess to love Christ and humanity, and desire to worship only these, we trample
them in the very dust of the earth in our eagerness to
approach the altars of Power, Ambition, Gold and
Fashion     These are the gods we worship!
Look at the facts.
The question which concerns the happiness of the
50;000,000 beggars, paupers and toiling sufferers in
Christendom, is one of exceeding importance.       But do
sovereigns or kingly assemblies ever consider it for the
purpose of devising ways and means for their relief?
C312)




CHARACTER 01 OUR CHRISTIANITY.        313
Never. It is not their policy. Great Britain contains
27,000,000 of inhabitants; 26,400,000 of whom own not
one inch of landed property. All the territory of that
realm is in the possession of less - than 60,000 families;
so that more than twenty-six millions of the people of
that nation, the most enlightened, Christian and wealthy
on the face of the earth, are the vassals and slaves of an
aristocracy. And the blackest feature of the whole
abominable system  is exhibited in the fact that the
Church of England constitutes that aristocracy.
The established religion is Episcopacy. The king is
the supreme head, and the Church is governed by two
archbishops and twenty-five bishops, who have seats in
the House of Lords, and are styled spiritual lords.  The
archbishops have the title of Grace and most reverend
father in God by divine permnission, and are " enthroned."
Bishops are addressed with the title, Lord and right reverend father in God by divine permission, and are simply
installed. These men really have no sympathy for the
poor and suffering classes of God's children.  They live
in the most princely style, enjoying an annual income
3ach, of from $50,000 to $1,000,000; so that instead of
assisting the poor, the Church aristocracy of England
grinds them to dust. The greatest curse that the poor
of that realm ever felt, was the law established through
the influence of the Church itself, which required onetenth of their annual income for the support of the
clergy.
The entire government of England is equally crushing, and the poor have no possible means of redre.s.
When Victoria, "the Defender of the Faith," ascended
the throne, she had the pleasure, as youthful as she was,
of giving her official sanction to an act of Parliament,
settling nearly $2,000,000 a year upon herself for life;
27




314      CHARACTER 0 O OURH CHRISTIANITY.
at the same time, the allowance to her mother was increased to $40,000 a year. The Queen now draws from
the civil list of Ireland and Scotland, poor and wretched
as they are, the sum of $1,415,000, in addition to the
amount voted her by Parliament, making an annual income of $3,340,000. Besides all this, the income fixed
by Parliament for the maintenance of Albert, the husband of the Queen, is $150,000 annually; and the Queen
has heaped upon him lucrative appointments to such an
extent, that the aggregate of their entire income is now
$4,988,650 every year, simply for personal and domestic
expenditure. So that the cost of the government of England, for the maintenance of the Queen, her royal husband and royal children, is at least FIVE MILLIONS OF
DOLLARS A YEAR! Look at that now, and consider that
while $800,000 are appropriated annually to replenish
the table and wine cellar of the Royal Family, there are
in the city of London, and almost within sight of the
Royal Palace, 30,000 professional beggars, and more than
50,000 widows, orphan children, and toiling poor, who
are slowly wasting into their rude graves for the want of
a sufficiency of wholesome food. Look at that, and consider that while the Queen has three magnificent palaces
appropriated to her use, within the borders of her realm
there are millions existing in wretched shan'tees, cellars
and garrets, in filth and vermin, with disease which festers and rankles within them, many of whom are ready
at any moment, to " curse God and die."  Look at that,
and remember that the Queen of England is a professed
Christian, and at the head of the Church of England,
which professedly is the Church of Christ, the friend of
the poor. Look upon the splendor of her throne, the
gold and purple and costly jewels which glitter and flash
upon her person, and then think of Christ, her great




CHARACTER OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.            315
spiritual King, with his tattered robe all covered with
the dust of rich men's chariots, and his unsandalled feet,
torn and bruised by the road-side flint, as he hastened
from place to place "to preach the Gospel to the poor,
and bind up the bleeding heart."  How dissimilar, when
contrasted, do they appear. The one in poverty and
rags, but comforting and protecting the "little ones and
the weak" of God's earth-and the other, clothed with
wealth, glittering with fashion and splendor, but with
her heel treading upon the necks, and pressing the life's
blood from   the hearts of these same perishing ones.
And the Church and Parliament and aristocracy of
Great Britain sanction, sustain and perpetuate this condition of things: which shows that the Church worships
power, fashion, national pride, rather than Christ.*
So with any nation in Christendom. France, for instance, Christian though she professes, with her 180,242
regular and secular clergy and nuns, and $700,000,000
of Church property, while she enslaves her poor and
grinds them to powder, makes gods of her rich and influential.  Nothing can exceed the extravagance of her
court. More than $500,000,000 are expended annually
for ornament and show, by the people of Paris, and yet
France has nearly 5,000,000 of paupers and beggars
within her borders. At the birth of the royal Prince, a
short time since, presents to the amount of nearly
2,000,000 francs were forwarded to the Empress for the
royal infant; while the starving and perishing of the
* The Queen of England is unquestionably a benevolent woman, naturally. The facts presented above show the love of power and the force
of education. The sin of Great Britain in lavishing so much upon the
crown, while it starves its poor, is enormous. A few months since the
Queen called on Parliament for an appropriation of $32,000 a year, to
maintain the stables of the young Prince; which is $7,000 more than is
appropriated annually by the United States to maintain the White
House at Washington.




316       CHARACTER OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
nation were forgotten.* Prof. Paul Dubois, the attending
physician, received 30,000 francs for his services, and the
public demonstrations of joy at the event cost $500,000.
Spain, so far as her means will permit, shows that her
Christianity is in keeping with that of France and England, though more superstitious. She never legislates
for the poor, but always against them. A   short time
since the Queen of that country, forgetting the wants of
her suffering subjects, gave a new cloak, ornamented
with garnets to the value of 200,000 reals, to a statue of
the Virgin Sonons. In this strange act is exhibited the
character not only of her charity, but her Christianity.
Famishing and perishing human beings, by thousands,
are at her very feet begging for aid, and she passes by
them all to bestow her gifts on a cold, lifeless statue.
In our own country, the inconsistency of our Christianity is apparent, though not of the same character.
Our form of government is more republican. The White
House in Washington is not so gorgeous as the Queen's
Palace in London; and the Presidential Chair yields but
$25,000 a year, instead of $5,000,000, for which we
should be duly grateful to God and the wisdom of our
ancestors. Yet such is the character of our government,
the want of true Christian sentiment, and the spirit of
patriotism among the leading politicians and law-makers
of our nation, that while we economize in the President's
salary, we permit millions of the public moneys to be
squandered in electioneering purposes. How much effort
is made, and time and means spent by legislative bodies,
to aggrandize "the party," extend the borders of the
Republic, and build up personal and selfish interests;
but how little in aid of any cause of real humanity. We
* With honor be it remembered, that the Emperor had many of the
presents, or an equivalent, appropriated to the wants of the poor.




CHARACTER OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.        317
have no money for benevolence; no time to pass laws for
the improvement of the homes of our poor, or benefitting
the social condition of the unfortunate-but time enough
to annex new States, to quarrel with our neighbors, legislate ourselves into bloody wars with them, and millions
at command to defray all expenses.
By thus glancing at the ruling motives of some of the
leading nations in Christendom, in the administration of
government, we behold the inconsistency of our Christianity. The truth is, there is no government on earth
that is, in the slightest degree, entitled to the name
Christian. The plea offered both by nations and individuals, for the neglect of the doomed millions of our
earth, is a want of means to assist them. England, France
and Russia have always presented this ostensibly as an
apology for their apathy; and yet France herself acknowledged that the Russian war, while it raged during
the last two years, cost in the aggregate the enormous
sum of one million of dollars per day, or over one thousand
millions during the war. If this money had been expended for the moral, intellectual, social and physical
improvement of the 50,000,000 beggars and paupers of
Europe, how vast the amount of happiness would it have
secured. But instead, it paid for cutting men's throats,
blowing them to atoms-plundering, pillaging, burning
towns, and destroying public buildings: in a word, it
paid for all the horrid evils of a bloody and terrible war,
during which more than 300,000 Christians were slain by
their brother Christians. And this is the Christianity of
the nineteenth century. We have no means to educate
the ignorant, feed the starving, clothe the naked, and
improve the dwellings of our millions of perishing
brethren and sisters of the human race; but means
enough to press them into the national service, and grind




318      CHARACTER OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
them to powder! means enough to lay waste green fields,
destroy dwellings, and drench whole towns in the blood
of our brethren!
And this is not all; the Christianity of social life is
even more inconsistent than that which pervades national
governments. Consider, a moment, the extravagance of
fashion in London, Paris, New-York, Philadelphia and
Cincinnati. We have already glanced at this subject.
" Nro means to assist the poor;" and yet what millions are
annually expended by the rich and fashionable of the
Church, for mere show. What sumptuous dwellings,
rich furniture, splendid carriages and costly churches!
Visit the church* of Bishop Bloomfield in London, on
the Sabbath, and you will behold gold and jewels sufficient to purchase all the poor of London good houses,
food, clothing and fuel for twenty years to come. One
of the leading journals of Paris, in speaking of the growing disposition to extravagance in that city, says:
"The Parisian ladies seem to be afflicted this season
with a perfect mania for magnificent toilettes; indeed,
extravagance and sinful profuseness are carried to the
extreme. An instance of this is furnished in the preparation of a'layette,' (a new-born infant's trousseau,) intended for a private family. The robe for the baptismal
ceremony is of white silk, covered with three flounces of
deep point d'angleterre lace; the body and sleeves of
the same material, and the whole ornamented with bows
of broad white ribbon. The cloak is gorgeously embroidered with silk, with a deep lace flounce, and the
hood is composed of silk lace and feathers. The whole
of the child's toilette is in the same style of magnificence, and probably will not cost-much short of eighteen
or twenty thousand dollars 
Where the Royal Household attend.




CHARACTER OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.        319
Even the fans in use this season are marked by
elaborateness of workmanship, and cost as high as $2,000
each. Twenty or thirty dollars is considered the merest
trifle for one of these highly decorated, carved, and enriched articles."
And yet, these fashionable Christian ladies havn't the
means of assisting some starving wretch with a crust of
bread; but if he should apply at their sumptuous establishments for aid, would drive him off with dogs or send
him to the watch-house-indignantly exclaiming: "Why
are these pests of society permitted to trouble honest
people? Do they think we are made of gold?"
In New-York, Philadelphia and Cincinnati the same
extravagance exists. The duties on imported silks, lace,
artificial flowers and other articles of ornament, are sufficient alone to relieve and maintain all the poor of our
land. In New-York it is no uncommon thing for a lady
-member of the Church-to expend $10,000 a year in
dress and ornament; while she has not a dollar for the
poor, and screws down her servants' wages to the lowest mill.
That is our Christianity.
In that city bridal presents have become fashionable.
Sometimes gifts to the amount of $20,000 are bestowed,
on the nuptials, in articles that can never be used, while
the money with which they are purchased is wrung from
the blood and sweat of perishing ones, who are doomed to
toil early and late, as we have seen, for a mere pittance
Here is the Christianity of the nineteenth century.
Says the Philadelphia Ledger:  " A fashionable drygoods dealer advertises a lace scarf worth fifteen hundred
dollars. Another has a bridal dress, for which he asks
twelve hundred dollars. Bonnets at two hundred dollars
are not unfrequently sold. Cashmeres from three hundred dollars and upward are seen by dozens in a walk




320       CHARACTER OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
along Broadway. A hundred dollars is quite a common
price for a silk gown. In a word, extravagance in dress
has reached a height which would have frightened our
prudent grandmothers and appalled their husbands. A
fashionable lady spends annually on her milliner, mantua-maker and lace-dealer a sum that would have supported an entire household, even in her own rank in
life, in the days of Mrs. Washington. Add to this the
expenditure for opera tickets, for a summer trip to the
springs, and for a score of little inevitable et ceteras, and
the reader gets some idea of the comparatively wanton
waste of money, carried on year after year, by thousands,
if not tens of thousands, of American women."
Yes, and while millions of toiling poor are suffering
all around them for the common necessaries of life. We
repeat, this is our Christianity!
"In Cincinnati, we havn't the means to do a work of
humanity." Last Christmas a great and general effort
was made by the friends of the Cincinnati Orphan Asylum, (an excellent Christian institution,) to obtain aid
for the further usefulness of the institution. All the
Protestant clergymen in the city were appealed to, who
in turn appealed to the hearts and pockets of their
fashionable Christian hearers, on the Sabbath previous
to Christmas, and called upon them in the name of all
that was beautiful and divine, to assist in this good work
to the utmost. Collections were taken in every Church;
and the entire aggregate amounted to just one-fifth of the
annual expenditure of a single fashionable Christian lady
of our city, for dress,* viz: $1,013.69.  From all the
merchants on Pearl street,t there was collected $374.00.
* We have been informed, from a source we have no reason to doubt
that the expense of some ladies in this city for personal decoration, is not
less than $6,000 a year.
f Wholesale Dealers.




CHARACTER OP OUR CHRISTIANITY.        321
From various other persons and associations, $180.00.
Total, $1,567.69-for which the managers of the institution "returned their grateful acknowledgments;" more
than intimating that notwithstanding the great need'of
the "institution for a much larger sum," this "far exceeded their most sanguine expectations:" and yet the
sum total was not equal to what some one of our fashionable Christians throws away every year for extravagance,
or expends in a single ornament for the person or the
parlor.
A few years since, the fashionables from different
parts of the country, stopping at Newport, R. I., during
the warm season, had a "Grand National Fancy Ball."
It was styled " a magnificent affair."  The Ocean House
hall was decorated for the occasion, at an expense of
$1,200. The tickets of admission were $18 each, and
there were six hundred persons present. The whole
expense of " this glorious occasion," said the reporters,
" could not have been less than $30,000. The belle of
the party was the youthful, elegant and fascinating
Madame Laverte, of Alabama. Her dress was a superb
satin, ornamented with pearls and gold embroidery, and
cost $6,000. Many other dresses were equally beautiful
and costly. What a magnificent entertainment! How
brilliant! —how enchanting!" To be sure. And we
make no war upon the custom of social life that sanctions such displays. This is not the design of this book.
But while we look upon an entertainment so magnificent,
we would not forget the thousands in our country,
clothed in rags and starving for bread; and above all, we
would not have the participators in all the extravagance
we have described, repeat that they, and Christian society
generally, have no means to assist the poor. It is false!
We have means enough; all we want is the disposition.




322      CHARACTER OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
Tell me not that Cincinnati, where the hardiest enterprise
prevails, and which has the means to build a thousand
miles of railroad, dig down or tunnel mountains, fill
valleys, build steam-ships and bridges and stores, and
expend $5,000,000 annually in extravagance, has no
means to assistthe poor. What she needs is the will. So
of other cities, States, and the nation. God has given
us the most plentiful land on the globe. We have an
abundance. Let us cultivate a disposition, and the perishing classes will rise up and call us blessed.




CHAPTER          IY.
AN APPEAL.
Oneness of the Human Family-Dependence of all Classes mutual-Appeal to Members
of our National Councils-To Christian Ministers, Lawyers, Doctors, Teachers, Artists, Farmers, Mechanics, Traders, the Old and Young, Learned and Ignorant, to help
in the good Work-Brighter Day dawning-Conclusion.
IN conclusion, we affectionately appeal to our fellowcreatures of all classes and both sexes, especially to professed Christians, to assist in the furtherance of the
principles advocated in this volume, so far as you believe
them to be in harmony with true Christian philosophy,
and for the happiness and well-being of the human family.  " God hath created of one blood all the nations of
men to dwell on all the face of the earth."  The dependence and happiness of all classes are mutual. " As we
have many members in one body and all members have
not the same office, so weq being many are one body in
Christ Jesus, and every one members one of another."*
Here the human form is made to represent the human
race.  The head, the eyes, the hands, the feet, are all
members of the same body, and though each has its distinct office, all are but one body, and every one members
one of another.  Some men operate by skill; others, by
capital; and others still, by labor: but each of these
classes is necessary to the others' happiness. Infinite
Wisdom hath appointed this diversity for the general
good, as the apostle declares: "Now hath God set the
members every one of them     in the body as it hath
*Rom. 12: 4-5.
(828)




324                 AN APPEAL.
pleased him, * * and tempered them together. The eye
cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee; nor
again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. Nay,
even those members of the body which seem to be more
feeble, are necessary; and those which we think are less
honorable, are worthy of more abundant honor."
Remember, then, my reader, that every other human
being is a portion of the great BODY OF HUMANITY, of
which you are a constituent member; and that it is impossible for you to wrong or oppress any brother or
sister of the human race, however abject or culpable,
without injuring yourself. " God hath tempered the
whole body together, that the members should have the
same care one of another. And whether one member
suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be
honored, all the members be honored with it."* Quaint
old Fuller says: " Let him who expects one class of
society to prosper in the highest degree while the other
is in distress, try whether one side of his face can smile,
while the other is pinched. The thing is impossible!"
Let members of our national councils and all our legislative bodies, then, in making laws for the punishment
and suppression of crime, and for the government of the
people generally, see to it, that while the criminal is
punished as the nature of his deeds demands, that he is
not utterly crushed, but, if possible, improved; and that
the poor and ignorant-the toiling and suffering classes,
are favored as their situation and a prudent wisdom may
dictate. The happiest people on earth have been those
who were governed by mild and humane sovereigns, who
studied for the improvement and happiness of the weak
ones of the body politic. Let the whole body be " tempered together," and all legislation be had with an eye
1 Cor. 12: 26-27.




AN APPEAL.                 325
single to the welfare and happiness of every member of
the body, and prosperity and a general elevation must
be the result.
To the ministers of the Gospel, we would appeal for
their hearty co-operation in extending the principles
advanced here, if in harmony with their convictions of
the Christian religion. Let us not be Christians in name
only, but " in deed and in truth." Let us study to apply
the teachings of Christ to the wants of humanity, for this
is the very object of the Christian religion. Take, then,
this great subject with you into the pulpit, my brother,
and you have Christ there with out-stretched arms,
blessing the poor, the unfortunate and sinful of our
earth.
To all the generous, loving and hopeful, we appeal,
whether in the Church or out, who have charity for the
imperfections of humanity, and confidence in the moral
power of goodness; and we beseech you to give countenance and favor to the principles we enforce. Make
them practical as opportunity may offer, that they may
be the more truly known and felt among men. What
you need is a heart to work. God give it to you, for
if you have hearts, you will work, and the world will be
Christianized, which is what it needs.
To men of all professions-the lawyer, the physician,
the teacher, the farmer, the mechanic, the trader, the
seaman, the artist-the young and the old-the learned
and the ignorant-male and female, we appeal. Do not
turn away from this subject as if of no importance, or
condemn it without a faithful examination. The doomed
classes of which we have spoken, are your brethren and
sisters. To mitigate their sufferings and rectify the
evils and errors of society, is so palpably your duty that
you dare not deny it. Will you not, then, go about




326                 AN APPEAL.
your duty? What hinders you? It may be avarice, or
ambition, or pride, or fashion. But these have no right
to a place in your heart, to the injury of others, and
should be rooted up. A few years, at most, and we shall
all lie on a level, low in the dust of the eart;-or
rather, be translated into a brighter world of immortality.
Why not, then, work for Humanity while our day lasts?
Is there anything better for us to do?  Is there not
something divine in lifting up the criminal and perishing classes? Was not Christ found in this very employment?   Ah! the day approaches when the true spirit
and design of Christianity will be known and felt.
"Onward, upward irresistibly, shall move the spirit of
Reform, abasing the proud, exalting the lowly, until
Oppression and Tyranny, Sloth and Selfishness, Want
and Ignorance, Cruelty and Inhumanity shall be swept
from the face of the earth, and a Golden Age of Knowledge, of Virtue, of Plenty and Happiness shall dawn upon our sinning and suffering race." God help us to
engage with alacrity in whatever labor is necessary to
produce a consummation so hopeful.
" A brighter morn awaits the human day,
When every transfer of Earth's natural gifts
Shall be a commerce of good words and works;
When poverty and wealth, the thirst of fame,
The fear of infamy, disease, and woe,
War with its million horrors, and fierce hell
Shall live but in the memory of time,
Who, like a penitent libertine, shall start,
Look back, and shudder at his younger years."