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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 1827, Edition 1 of 1, Page 488

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      O . The interest you take in this case misleads you . When you are guided by feeling more than by sober judgment , it is not wonderful that you should conclude , that you had overpowered me with argument , whilst you have only furnished me with declamation , Vox et preterea—Pardon me , you know the rest . But let us take your instances and analyse them , and you will be at no loss to perceive that the analogy , so far from holding good , will completely fail in the most material points .

      A . Do you maintain , then , that one man cannot be received as the substitute of another ? O . In certain cases I do . A . What is the difference between relieving a person from a grievous burden and the sentence of the law ? O . If a burden be too heavy for a person , he is under no obligation to bear it ; or , if it must be conveyed to a certain distance , it requires no great sagacity to divide it into such portions as may be easily conveyed . A . But what if it be of such a nature that it cannot be divided without the

      most material injury ? O . In that case he must either procure assistance or let it alone . A , Then you have no objection that another , who may be more able and willing , carry it for him ? O * Certainly not . A . Then why may not I bear the burden of Fauntleroy ' s sentence ? O . What do you mean by the burden of his sentence ?

      A . That load , that pressure , by which , in the mean time , his spirits are borne down , and which , at no distant date , will sink him into the grave . O . Now attend , I pray you , to the import of your expressions , and mistake not figurative for literal signification . Your illustration is entirely metaphorical or analogical ; but what is the force of such reasoning ? It is founded altogether upon resemblance ; but take this along with you , that resemblance is not reality . With the utmost propriety you may compare

      Fauntleroy ' s present affliction , and the execution which awaits him , to a burden under which , in the mean time , he droops , and eventually sinks in death . But while you are thus allowed to speak metaphorically , you are not in a matter of such importance , if I may be allou ^ d the expression , to act metaphorically , forgetting all the while that you are contenting yourself and endeavouring to satisfy others with the shadow without the substance , with the figure without the subject which it represents , and wishing to satisfy the law with the counterfeit of justice .

      A . The counterfeit of justice ! O . What else can it be called than a counterfeit ? Or if you prefer another term , you may call it a figurative , I was about to say a mimic , representation of justice—but it is not even that . , A . I do not altogether comprehend your meaning . O . Well then , let us reverse the illustration . Suppose , for instance , that the law were to lay hold of the figure without the reality , what would you think of the law ?

      A . Really I can form no judgment till you be more explicit . O . Suppose , then , that a robbery or murder be exhibited on the stage ; were the law to put to death th # actor because he had personated the robber or murderer , this would be punishing the counterfeit of crime . In like manner , were the law to accept of you instead of Fauntleroy , and consign you to execution , to call this the counterfeit of justice is but a tame designation , for it would be no other than a legal murder .

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      ~ 488 Vicarious Punishment .

  • Citation
    • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1827, page 488, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1798/page/16/