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
Thoughts an the Punishment ef . . - i . A-A-r -i > Dmth . •¦ - <) a « 5 > ¦ ^< - TH E faaMali ^ ijf ftlt teW tet finally rest ibn the c * oriseatatie < kts moral sfcnse of mankind . The immediate demand for public safety , and the general confidence in the knowledge
and good intentions of the higher and more enlightened portion of society , occasion the necessity of entrusting the right to form the laws to a limited number of individuals . The prosperity ,
the virtue and the happiiiess of the community are thus committed from age to age to persons of distinguished abilities and authority ; the laws undergo , at the same time , many modifications from the influence of custotri .
the prevailing opinions of the people at large , and various minor and accidental causes . It is a great benefit to have established laws ; and this benefit is thus secured ; but there has been one important evil hitherto attettdant
on it , which is , that laws , when once they are established , are not Sufficiently open to improvement , and do not keep pace with the spirit of the times . It is only in the infancy of nations that we find this is the case . Then , the superstition or the ignorance , the
virtues or the vices of the people themselves , have generally been reflected in their legislative enactments . Thus the burning of witches , the ordeal of hot iron , and other ( equally absurd regulations , have marked the period of fear and fanaticism , and the
cutting off of hands , and torturing of criminals before execution , have stained the annals of a more bloody and inexorable age . But the savage and revengeful laws which have taken their rise in a period of darkness ,, are
too seldom annulled by the increasing knowledge and improvement of a country ; for long usage , and the familiarity which the human mind naturally imbibes with the repetition of even disgusting and horrible occurrences , may , and often does , occasion their
continuance . To this may be added , the great difficulty of effecting any alteration in laws once sanctioned and apparently established , and also the great responsibility , in some degree , always involved in a change of measures . From these causes it follows . " ¦¦ ' / « uA \ J ML KJ
— ~^ ~™ " *¦ " * " m ^ m ^ ^* r . V ^ * . « ^* V A that a Christian and enlightened people sometimes retain in their code the
Untitled Article
relics of a more barharaua age ^ aud , as an instance of this / the tawsy if examined into , in almost all riViiiaed nations , will be found to be behind the spirit of the times ; they frill not be found equal to the general sen ^ e of the nation at large , far less to the views of the superior and benevolent
portion of the community . The first of these classes , namely , the middle , m * eluding almost all who are not sunk in low of brutal ignorance , bring the spirit of the laws to the ordeal of their own hearts and feelings ; and nature and conscience are their principal
guides in the judgments which they form . Cruelty is naturally repulsive to the human breast , and too severe a retribution of erime always wears this aspect j the harshness of the
condemnation often awarded to Small Offences , is therefore the reason why persons of this description are averse to have recourse to it , and would rather suffer in some measure themselves , and even remain contented with some loss of
property , than reduce their fellowcreatures to severe punishment or probable ruin . They feel within themselves that so far as the laws exceed the bounds of reason and moderation , so far , to them , ttaey are useless—^ and their aversion to have recourse to
them occasions the entire escape of the offender , and consequently the increase of crime . Even in fcases of great crimes the same objection occurs ; for , however strong the desire of retribution or revenge may be , there is a natural and instinctive abhorrence
to taking away the life of a human being , even under the sanction of the law , which few persons can overcome . On this account the general opinion of the people is opposed to the execution of the laws respecting- criminals . tion of the laws respecting criminals
, and the universal feeling that prevails is the de&ire of the entire escape of the offender . In mild and humane laws no such confusion cam ensue , for then there is nothing to impede either
the course of justice , or to prevent the injured person immediately seeking redress oi * retribution ; and , therefore , if only on the score of expediency , a moderate system is to be preferred .
The second cla 3 sof the community , over whom the same objections hold even a superior force , are the enlight-
Untitled Article
68 Thoughts on the Punishment of Death
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 2, 1826, page 68, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2545/page/4/
-