On this page
-
Text (2)
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Article
no controul , therefore we are not always to expect consistency in his administration : the transference of punishment from the one friend to the other , then , under the direction of the elder Dionysius , need * give us no surprise . His acceptance of the one friend to die for the other was wanton , capricious , and in every point at variance with \ Iaw and justice , as founded on proper principles . Because , as I have already said , where there is crime 9 it cannot
be transferred ; and where tliere is no crime , there can be no punishment , A . Suppose that Fauntleroy had assaulted one of the lieges , or committed some petty crime , and on that account had been condemned to pay to the King a fine of a thousand pounds ; this is his punishment , but he cannot pay it O . Pay a punishment ! !
A . Sir , I beg not to be interrupted—I say he cannot pay it- ^ I advance it for him , and no objection is made to its acceptance : now , may I not in this case be said to bear his punishment , though innocent of his crime ? O . By no means , for here only his purse is punished . If it be empty , you are under no obligation to fill it ; but if you choose to do it , your gift is not a punishment .
A . But if I pay for him the amount of his fine , he escapes the punish * ment , and the law is satisfied : now , why may I not on the very same principle give my life ? O . If you will only recollect what has been said with regard to the instance of debt , you can have no difficulty on the subject . His punishment was fine : till that fine is paid , it is a debt due to the law . But there is a very wide difference between his purse and person . Personal punishments must be borne by the criminal himself , otherwise the law would sanction only a mockery of justice .
A . So you maintain the impossibility of one person bearing punishment for the crimes of another ? O . I do most unequivocally . A . Well , then , here are some cases in point . I shall be glad to know how you will dispose of them . Fauntleroy ' s family have no share in his crime , but if his sentence be executed , it will bring a stain upon them ,, the consequences of which are incalculable . But I will produce a still stronger instance . Suppose a wealthy nobleman has undergone a sentence of
attainder ; in this case his heirs , though innocent of his crime , become degraded in rank and fortune . Nay , we see nature herself under the divine regulation following the very same course . In consequence of criminfkl indulgences a man may transmit diseases to his family , which may render them miserable during life , and ultimately prove the cause of their death . In these , and in innumerable instances which might be mentioned , we see the innocent suffering for Jhe guilty . O . And b y their suffering have the guilty been released either from their crimes or their punishments ? A » P ^ o ; I cannot say that they have .
O . Well , then , you must own that the guilty in the first instance have been punished , and you see that , in popsequei * ce , others cqnqected with them may also suffer , $ n < I tfrajt severely , Rut you will ^ observe % \ &X their sufferings are not punishments ; they are only evils or misfortunes , which t ^ ke place according to the laws by whiqh human society is constituted , and which , so
for as the laws of nature , ar $ < conpernec | , it k impossible without a miracle to prevent . But marjk hour ttys evil is counterbalanced ; see how nicely nature adjusts her scales ; see with what equality good and etfil are flppQrtioned , Fpr m one mwf suffer w consequence ofxhe qrime of another ., W in a < # jrre-
Untitled Article
Viearious Punishment . 491
Untitled Article
2 x 2
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1827, page 491, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1798/page/19/
-