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Tomahawk (1867-1870), 28th March 1868, Edition 1 of 1, Page unpag, THE TOMAHAWK: A SATURDAY JOURNAL OF SATI...

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    • THE TODMORDEN TRAGEDY.
  • Text (5)
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      The Tomahawk: A Saturday Journal Of Sati...

      THE TOMAHAWK : A SATURDAY JOURNAL OF SATIRE . "INVITAT CULPAM QUI PECCATUM PRETERIT . "

      No. 47.] London, Marcpi 28, 1868. [Price...

      No . 47 . ] LONDON , MARCPI 28 , 1868 . [ Price Twopence .

      The Todmorden Tragedy.

      THE TODMORDEN TRAGEDY .

      We Have No Desire To Encourage That Morb...

      We have no desire to encourage that morbid craving for sensational crimes which is one of the characteristics of the age . of The the fulsome criminal details , which of every are g crime iven , so and prominently the minute descri in all ption the papers ; and the feverish curiosity of the public to know every which those particular our op natures are inion regulated of , his tend the life most directl b , y every no liable y princi little to to encourage p item le y , ield and of to utterl his crime a demeanour criminal y unpractised , especiall impulse , do y , in in in , the habit of self-restraint ; in which ; , the finer fibres and the deeper roots of feeling are alike wanting , and which are

      remarkable sink into apath for nothing y or rise but to an cruelty uniform , being pettishness at the mercy , which of may any evil passion , and particularly of that meanest and cruellest of all passions —vanity . but We we are are no certainl advocates y strongl for the y opposed extension to its of cap abolition ita ! punishment . It is not , necessary here to go over all the arguments pro and conj but we may safely assert that the fear of capital punishment does operate as a strong check against homicide . We can quite understand the motives of those who would do away with it altogether ; but we must protest against that cowardly method of evading it , which threatens to become more and more frequent—namely , by assigning all morbid or vicious impulsesthe cause of which we cannot understand—to Insanity ; in other words , denying the moral responsibility of all men who take reason away human that we life deem without sufficient any . desi It gn seems that to we us can that trace we are , or guilty any of much less injustice in presuming that a human being ; who has

      hitherto sane though enjoyed he or all she the should rights commit and privileges a crime of for a the sane commission citizen , is of which we were as unprepared as the victim , , and most probably the author of it . It is impossible , without entering into the minutest details of the inner life of the criminal , to pronounce whether it was probable or improbable that he or she would commit such a crime . It is the grossest presumption in anyone to state , " Oh , I am sure such an one could never have attempted murder if he had been in his right mind . " Weak natures shrink from acts of violence ; but , unfortunately , weak natures are at the mercy of strong passions , and it requires but a moment to do the crime of which it would take ages to repent . We feel sure that Justice is much hampered in crimes like the Todmorden Tragedy by our utterly ignoring that the mere act of taking away human life is one which offers great tempta-% 1 \ 111 2 £ 1 \ % XJliXJT 11 UOWH * IHC lllLUKX

      . JZ > LKJ UUJILLJ . W » JLV J , UULO £ J 1 V ^^ LIXI L - > as the perfection of revenge , —since death is what the murderer , in over his us own , in heart sensib , le dreads perh aps , most but , none —but the it exercises less strong a fascination , as being the supremest effort of mere human power . And since there is no person , however mean or contemptible , who cannot , if he choose , compass murder , the meanest arid most contemptible natures

      uug mis icucuuuu da suiiic uuuauictuuii iui iiicii luiiuuiiy iu accomplish any brave or noble action . They can become infamous if they cannot become famous . And here that inordinate vanity steps in which is generally inseparable from the weakest natures , and which blinds the murderer ' s cowardice to the consequence of his act ; for it requires very little courage to

      commit a murder where the judge and the hangman are out of sight . The most practised and hardened criminals invariably count the cost of their proposed crime . We would rather predict that a vain , weak egotist would become a murderer than one who had been a robber from his youth . No burglar could

      have been capable oi the useless brutality which the attack on Mrs . Plow exhibited . This infamous and contemptible assassin is an instance of the which power civilization of that passion subdues for though blood it cannot which stifle is dormant . Once in having man , fiendish tasted the greed sweets for murder of violence , and , even he becomes when captured possessed and with when a man the ifest result to of have his induced devilish reflection fury mi , g he ht tries have to been kirlr the , sufficientl table to y

      pieces in his impotent thirst for destruction . Command over one ' sself is only to be attained by habitintellect it at once restrains perceives passion the consequences because , even of in the the act moment which passion of rage , prompts feelings or ; but its in vanity a weak contin , stup ues id nature to rankle , a fancied because injury that nature to its is as incapable of despising as it is of forg , iving the injury . And it is only the most trivial circumstance which in svich a case either saves such a nature from , or brings it to , crime . "Lead us not often into utter temptation . , " is a prayer which even the most holy need The most revolting feature about the case of Miles Weatherill is the sort of sympathy which he has managed to enlist on his behalf . The incident related of Sarah Bell ' s throwing her arms round she was him fit after to be his his confession wife . We of will his brutal say nothing crimes , more showed of that her . n rTninef some uot ctJ Till cases " r \ r * the fcr \ n mali i c ¦ " oc gnant ? + \ 1 Li - * air \ hatred \ r * r * * 11 ±± 4 lii -T- * which ^ a- xji m /•«« Ui n- certain * 'xl- % / * - » aUiy V * 1 »» persons I UCLdlloC ** . ** - * + ** - ** . feel 4-W ^

      agai . < . \ r * - > v * . O j cvo . ^ y sc ,. ^ UL , LUC justl parsons y resent would ) , has try to absolutel make y them given better rise , to a the liberty expression which they of a kind " the of parson paltry " tried pity for to interfere this dastardl and tyrannize y assassin over , because the poor forsooth young which man and is quite separate worth him y of the from person his sweetheart on whom it ; is a bestowed kind of . pity Finally , in such cases as this we deprecate the plea of insanity cruelty on every to ground the public ; it is at large no mercy . If to there the real criminal ly exist ; it an is insanity a great and which with shows such itself disastrous so suddenl results y , and it is onl better y for so such short a a period be , insanity executed , may as a be warning too easil to y fei other gned , such , and insane to ordinary persons eyes person ; for is not such to be distinguished from voluntary crime . If the murderer showed symptoms in his previous life which pointed to the likelihood or possibility of his ever being seized with an uncontrollable

      impulse to take away life , why was he allowed to remain at reach large I beyond Man ' s the me grave rcy , no ; it is more better than to leave man ' s such punishment doubtful cases , can would to Omniscience make every , than passionate to invent fool a theory , and to every excuse vindictive crime , which fiend an irresponsible agent .

      It Creates Provkrh Twenty For . H Us Han...

      it creates Provkrh twenty for . H us HANDS . —Where suspicion finds one fault work A Free the endowments Translation of . — the Giving Protestant the Pop clergymen ish priests who who do do none .

  • Citation
    • Tomahawk (1867-1870), March 28, 1868, page unpag, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/t/issues/ttw_28031868/page/1/