CAPITAL PUNISHMENT,
AND
THE L A. W
IN THREE PARTS.
BY JOHN STOLZ, M. D.,
..
AUTHOR OF A " TREATISE ON THE HUMAN FIVE SENSES, PRACTIS-
ING PHYSICIAN AND SURGEON, LECTURER ON PHYSIOLOGY,
HYGIENE, MENTAL TRAINING, &C., &C.
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DEDICATION.
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ESPECIALLY THOSE
Who Have Their Own, as Well as the Welfare of Their Fellow-man at Heart
TO THE PARENTS OF THE RISING GENERATION,
A nd to all Educators, whose Business it is to point out the Right Road in which Mankin
should go ;
THIS VOLUME
IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED BY
THE AUTHOR.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1873, by
EDGAR s. DKGOLYER,
in the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.
OTTAWAY, BROWN & COLBERT,
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PREFACE
After writing a book, it seems as necessary for the author to so-
licit the courteous attention of the reader to its pages, in a few
prefatory remarks, as it is when forming the acquaintance of a
stranger to be introduced by one already acquainted with the per-
son whose society is sought. In this duty I take great pleasure,
hoping that those who peruse this volume may realize much profit,
as thus my object will be attained.
The prevalence of crime in general, and the many murders in
particular, at the present time, was the actuating motive which
induced me to attempt an inquiry into the cause and effect of this
sad grievance, and, if possible, to point out a more successful
treatment, a sure means of preventing crime, and a better, more
humane method of treating the criminal than has hitherto been
employed. The idea that the infliction of the death penalty for
capital crime is either a preventive measure or a protection to so-
ciety is fully discussed, and shown to be utterly false, unnatural,
and an incentive to crime, and its speedy abolition strongly urged.
I have also endeavored to point out correct principles, by which
the laws of man may be made to harmonize with those of God
and nature ; and have striven to create a popular sentiment with
a view to bring about a general reform.
The work which I have undertaken is an attempt only to de-
fend the truth, and to fill a certain vacancy, which at the present
epoch seems to be widely felt. I offer no excuse for a murderer,
or in any manner shield crime, but, on the contrary, am in favor of
a rigid enforcement of the law. So long as capital punishment is
the law, let it be enforced ; but I contend that the law is wrong,
and should therefore be repealed. I have labored studiously to
set forth in .clear and pointed language the natural causes which
induce men to commit crime, and the just punishment and ration-
al means of prevention which have never before been presented to
the public in the same light.
3
4 PREFACE.
For my standpoint of reasoning, I have selected the science ol
physiology, which, doubtless, is the starting-point of all human ac-
tion. The moral, the intellectual, and the emotive natures of
man are governed by, and must, therefore, be studied in connec-
tion with, the laws which govern physical existence. Man is a
creature of education, governed wholly by circumstance ; his sur-
roundings make him what he is. The law of pliancy is as much a
law of the mind as of the body, and is fully discussed in this vol-
ume. It is held in these pages that mind is a physical force ; that
all knowledge is derived from the external world ; that crime is
the result of an unbalanced condition of the mental and physical
constitution, either hereditary or acquired; that the treatment of
crime, to be right, must be reformative and reparative ; that
man's laws must agree with the laws of physiology, which are also
laws of nature ; that all corporal punishment is contrary to the
laws of nature ; that society is largely responsible for the many
crimes committed, and that it is in duty bound to enforce the prin-
ciples set forth in this volume ; that education must be made
compulsory ; that all wrong actions on the part of man are the
fruit of ignorance, moral and physical depravity, and the only
remedy is in the universal education of the people, and the cer-
tain enforcement of the laws ; that it is a duty of the state to es-
tablish reformatory prisons and educational institutions; that it
costs the people'more to try and punish criminals than to educate
and reform them, to be successful in which we must understand
and obey first principles. These are some of the topics which
are discussed in this volume.
I have endeavored to avoid all sectarian ideas, or such as are
inclined to a weak sentimentalism. I have studiously labored to
follow the teachings of science upon the subject in hand, believ-
ing that the matter has never received that unbiased attention
which it strenuously calls for, and which an appeal to reason, and
a right use of the knowledge we have of human nature, will af-
ford.
The book, to be appreciated, must be carefully read, chapter by
chapter ; and, to be understood well, it must be studied.
Whatever criticisms may be offered by the public, I hope will
be given in the most liberal sense, and in as kindly a spirit as that
which actuated the author in its composition.
JOHN STOLZ, M. D.
OF CONTENTS
PART FIRST.
MURDER AND CRIME
CHAPTER I
CAUSE OF CRIME.
PAGE.
Opening Lines 15
Primary Laws of Nature. 16
Different Ages or Epochs of Time 17
Progress of Events. 18
The Child a Blank at Birth 19
Color of Hair and Eyes 20
The Advanced Thinker or Philos-
opher 21
Definition of Crime 22
Wonderful Observations 23
A Reasonable Conclusion 24
The Child a Counterpart of the
PAGE
Parents ._ 25
Is Man a Free Agent ? _ 26
The Author's Position Sustained. 27
Feeble-Minded Persons 28
Why we Seek the Society of One
Another _ 29
What Distinguished Writers Say 30
An Explanation Easily Under-
stood 31
Our Surroundings and Conditions,
and the Story of a Barber 32
CHAPTER II.
ORGANS OF THE BRAIN AND THEIJR FUNCTION.
On the Activity Called Life 33
No Traces of Mind in the Lower
Forms of Creation _ 34
Mind a Physical Manifestation. __ 35
On the Mysterious Operations of
God _ 36
Harmony Among the Faculties .. 37
Woman The Heart The Brain
The Causes of Discord _ 38
Unhappy Associations with Wo-
men and Men 39
Inattention to Bodily Health
Anger _ 40
Torture of a Wife A Little Broth 41
If a Man Breaks his Leg ... 42
A Physiological Maxim 43
A Weil-Balanced Education 44
Principles with which we have no
Right to Interfere 45
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER III.
CONSTITUTIONAL PREDISPOSITION TO CRIME.
PAGE.
Our Trip to New York Two
Happy Men 46
Conversation Between a Lawyer
and A Doctor ___ 47
The Murderer Williams. _ 48
The Family that had a Predisposi-
tion to Steal 49
Physical Laws Depravity The
Monomaniac The Clergy 50
PAGE.
The Morris and the Gill Family. 51
Two Years After Conversation
with a Lady 52
Three Classes of Persons who Com-
mit Crime 53
He Fixed on a Night 54
A Little Instruction Required 55
One who would have Stolen the
Money 56
CHAPTER IV.
THE TWO PATHS OF THE CHILD.
Two Boys of Equal Rights _ 57
The Boy on the Left-hand Path. . 58
The Boy on the Right-hand Path 59
I low to acquire a Second Nature. 60
Every Step you Take 61
One Step in Advance _ 62
Behold a Man! 63
Black-legs The Literature of
To-day 64
The History of a Man on an Ad-
joining Farm _ 64
Our Hero on the Left-hand Path 66
The End of the Two Boys 67
CHAPTER V.
ON MAN'S SOCIAL NATURE.
I low we are Disappointed _ _ 68
What Money can Buy Respect-
able Society _. 69
Fifty or a Hundred Dollars per
Month _ 70
The Social " Rings" Statesmen
Farmers Mechanics, etc 71
Social Propensities and How to
" Get a Little More" 72
Law and Order The Physician. 73
Where we Lay Crime 74
CHAPTER VI.
THE WORKING MAN.
Capital and Labor 75
It is a Physiological Truth 76
What is a Day's Work ? 77
What Science has Revealed 78
The Eight-Hour System 79
Eight O'clock, P. M. Places
where Criminals are Made 80
Change of Tactics Moral and
Legal Persuasion 81
What we Said in a Lecture 82
The Death Drink _ 83
Shall we Compromise with
. Vice? 84
New Kind of Associations 85
Woman's Reform A Child Six
Years Old A Little Group... 86
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VII.
ON ACCIDENTAL CRIME.
PAGE.
Voluntary and Involuntary Crime 87
Those who Never Commit Crime, 88
Things in Nature What is it that
will Restrain ? 89
A Temporary Fit 90
A Train of Cars Post-mortem.. 91
The Man and his Peach 92
What is it that Overshadows the
Present Era 93
The Gentleman o Forty Brains
The Doctor Books Health
and Wealth ._ 94
PAGE.
The Man and his Dirk 95
Chicago Intrinsic Virtue Men
and Electricity 96
The Wickedest Demon of Our
Day 97
" Heigh-ho ! Captain, Whither
are you Going ?" 98
" Mind your Business ! I can
Stem the Tide." 1 99
The Majority of the Present
Generation among the Break-
ers... . TOO
CHAPTER VIII.
ON THE PRINCIPLES WHICH GOVERN THE ACTIONS OF HUMAN BEINGS.
IIow Life and Mind are Created. 101
" It is not by Bread alone that we
Live" 102
On the Faculties and Propensi-
ties of the Mind _ 103
Knowledge impels toward the
Right 104
On the Innate Principle which
desires to be Happy 105
Those who follow Horse-racing
understand, etc 106
The Straight Road 107
How men use their Best Argu-
ments _. _ 108
How Thousands are Persuaded.. 109
Early Traits of Depravity no
Story of a Little Six-year-old and
his "Ma" ill
Modern Science and Marriage 1 12
The Human Race What Rev.
H. W. Beecher says 113
Nature is ever True 114
PART II.
CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
CHAPTER IX.
HISTORY AND PROGRESS OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
PAGE.
The only Divine Command ever
given on the Subject 115
Pagan Nations and the Death
Penalty 116
The Most Painless Manner of
Killing Men 117
What it was Fifty Years Ago... 118
PAGE.
The Progressive Ages and Capital
Punishment. 119
Conditions which have Existed
from all Time 120
Chaos and Order 121
What the Masses can be Made to
Believe.. 122
8
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER X.
ON PUNISHMENT OF CRIME IN GENERAL.
PAGE.
An Evident Daily Observation __ 123
How to obtain an Average Ex-
pression of the Conscience of
Men 124
How Happiness is obtained by
Man 125
The Primary Object of ^11 Law.. 126
Different Modes of Punishment __ 127
The Criminal on his Return from
Prison .. .128
PAGE.
A Reformatory Prison 129
Punishment to be Reformative
and Reparative 130
The question, How to Prevent
Crime? 131
The Criminal and the Lawyer 132
Effect of the Uncertainty of the
Punishment. 133
The End of the Chapter Read
It .- 134
CHAPTER XI.
STATE PRISONS AS A MEANS OF REFORMATION. WHAT WE UNDERSTAND BY A
REFORMATORY PRISON. HOW IT SHOULD BE CONSTRUCTED, AND
HOW CONDUCTED.
Rigid Legislation, Crime, De-
pravity, etc... 135
Nature's Laws, Crime, Pardon,
and Punishment 136
Qualities Common to those who
Mingle in Good Society. 137
Story of a Prisoner 138
After the Day's Work 139
Prof. Tyndal and his Proposed
Prayer Test 140
After the sound of the " Gavel,"
all are required to say " Amen,"
aloud 141
Music and Prayer in Prisons 142
Woman and her Powers in giving
Moral Instruction 143
Murderers' Prisons _ 144
Educators, Lecturers, Clergy, and
Men of Science who visit Prisons 145
A Deplorable Condition 146
CHAPTER XII.
REFUTATION OF THE DEATH PENALTY. HAVE WE A RIGHT TO INFLICT
PUNISHMENT BY DEATH? REASONS IRREFUTABLE. NOT A SINGLE
RATIONAL ARGUMENT LEFT WHY WE SHOULD KILL TO PUNISH.
Our Argument _ 147
The Heathen Mother and the
Christian Hangman -148
"He ought to be Hanged by the
Heels" 149
Hanging a Legal Murder __ 150
Each Point in Law, How Ana-
lyzed 151
Other Reasons why we should
Banish the Barbarous Practice
of Hanging 152
Life and Death 153
Statement of Daniel O'Connell. 154
The Great Faith in Man and Vic-
tor Hugo 155
Discussion of a Strange Question, 156
While they were yet Smoking the
Trap Fell _ 157
Whence the Authority for a Judge
or Jury, to say to a Condemned
Man, " Make your Peace with
God, for in so many Days thou
wilt be Hanged" _ 158
Is Capital Punishment an Act of
Christian Duty? 159
The New Testament and the
Death Penalty 160
Heaven a Condition Hell a Con-
dition . 161
Probationary Time, Conversion,
Sentence, and Execution _. . 162
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XIII.
ON THE DEATH PENALTY AS A PREVENTIVE MEASURE OF FUTURE CRIME.
IS SOCIETY THEREBY PROTECTED, AND SHALL WE CONTINUE TO KILL?
PAGE.
The Only Possible Justification of
the Death Penalty 163
A Mere Possibility 164
The Gallows, the Public, and the
Elixir of Terror 165
We are all under the Sentence of
Death, How does this Effect
Mankind?. 166
While writing a Paragraph, at
One O'clock p. m., Friday,
March I4th, 1873, an Import-
ant Lesson was Administered to
the People 167
Opinions of Distinguished Auth-
ors 168
Interesting History of the Effect
of Hanging 169
Words of a Murderer, just before
being Swung into Eternity 170
He began the Work of Murder.
The Death Penalty, and the
Policeman 171
Thousands of the Best Minds are
with us 172
PAGE.
Quotation of Opinions 173
The Death Penalty Cheapens
Human Life 174
The Rev. W. H. Thomas, of Chi-
cago, on Capital Punishment. _ 175
What the Public Good De-
mands _ _ 176
How the Lawyers Wrangle and
Quarrel 177
A Family of Six Children Unedu-
cated and Unsupported 178
Stokes' Case, Justice, Dollars and
Cents. _ 179
Capital Punishment and the
Press _ ..- 1 80-1 S I
The Insanity Dodge ... 182
Great Excitement and a Cry of
Help 183
Two Hundred Policemen requir-
ed to Hang Foster 184
The Reader's Question, " Will it
Do?" 185
A Relic of Heathen Nations, and
Christian Glory. 186
CHAPTER XIV.
ON COMPULSORY EDUCATION. SUGGESTIONS HOW TO PREVENT CRIME.
PUBLIC EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION FOR THE FRIENDLESS, ETC., ETC.
The Great Problem Solved 187
The Old Sore Leg A Flag of
Distress 188
Crime, Symptoms, and the Ra-
tional Treatment.. . _ 189
Can the Healing Potion be Suc-
cessfully Administered ? 190
Crime, Depravity, and a Univer-
sal Fact 191
Murderers, Physiology and the
Common Branches of Edu-
cation . 192
Obligation of Parents, Paupers,
Orphans, and Vagabonds 1 93
The Tribune and Our Mode of
Treating Criminals 194
Statistical Cost of Trying our
Criminals in Large Cities and
the United States 195
A State Institution 196
How Constructed and how Con-
ducted 197
Quotation on Compulsory Edu-
cation _ 198
The Girl of Sixteen and the Boy
of Eighteen 199
The Child Factories and the
School. 200
The Parents and a Few Dollars
More _ 201
Marriage, Vocation, and Money. 202
Prof. Huxley, Public Halls and
Law 203
Moral Suasion and Legal Per-
suasion ._ '. 204
" Will this then be a free Coun-
try?" 205
What we would have Remem-
bered 206
Physicians, Lawyers, Clergymen,
and their Use 207
The Terrible Disease which Per-
vades Society, and how it may
be "check-mat^" 208
10
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XV.
WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT INSANITY: WHO ARE THE INSANE ? AND SHALL WE
MAKE INSANITY AN EXCUSE FOR CRIME?
PAGE.
Insanity Physiologically Consid-
ered 209
What an Insane Man Thinks of_ 210
How the Brain is Exhausted 21 1
Different Forms of Mental Im-
pairment - 212
Hallucination, Illusion, and De-
lusion * 213
Emotional Insanity 214
Doctor Maudsley gives an Illus-
tration 215
What it is that makes one Com-
mit Suicide 216
Mania, eithej Chronic or Acute.. 217
Report of a Strange Man ; what
he declared himself to be, 218
Melancholia, Paralysis and Wo-
PAGE.
219
Dementia, Idiocy, Imbecility 220
Massachusetts Reports of the In-
sane 221
A Source of Criminality and In-
sanity no one can doubt . 222
Overtasking the Intellect _ 223
A Serious Error 224
Religious, Political and Reforma-
tory Gatherings _ 225
What a Single Idea may do for a
Person _ 226
Those who Jump into the River
or Put a Bullet through their
Heart 227
What shall we do with the Insane ? 228
CHAPTER XVI.
ON CORPORAL PUNISHMENT IN SCHOOLS. IN FAMILIES AND BY THE STATE.
Can we " Put " Goodness into the
Child by the Free Use of the
Rod - 229
What a Little Three-year-old said
toitsMother .-- 230
The Child can Reason. The First
Study of Parents. 231
What Sort of a Lesson a Child is
Taught by Whipping it 232
The Result of Striking a Man or
Woman in the Face 233
A New Method What we were
asked by a Lady while lecturing
in Indiana - 234
We Heard it Whispered, " The
Doctor must give it up" 235
How " Mamma" should Act when
her Child is Angry 236
Our Visit to the Schools in
Ohio 237
A Paper from a Medical Journal 238
" I love it, I love it, so merry and
wild, the artless and innocent
laugh of the child" 239
What we Think will be admitted 240
The Clergyman, the Rod, and
his Bible 241
A Thousand Efforts and Parental
Correction __ 242
A Heartrending Narrative of a
Christian Father in Boston 243
The Unhappy Father and his Lit-
tle Boy 244
" A big tear had stolen down his
cheek, but he was sleeping
calmly and sweetly" 245
The Little Coffin, a Playmate,
the Father's Hell, his Little
Boy, and the last Smile _.. 246
The Words that always Sounded
in the Father's Ears 247
Alas ! who would not Weep Tears
ofBlood? _._ 248
A Moral View of the Case 249
Another Inexcusable Folly _ 250
A Physiological View of the Case 251
Eleven Maxims which Every
Adult person should Commit to
Memory _ 252
Eleven Suggestions from the La-
dies' Sanitary Association of
London, Eng 253
Why we Need not Provide a Hal-
ter for the Adult 254
CONTENTS. I I
CHAPTER XVII.
ON WEALTH, HEALTH, CRIME, AND THE LABORING CLASSES. ORGANIZED CAP-
ITAL AND THE EFFECT IT HAS ON SOCIETY.
PAGE. PAGE.
Subsistence and Preservation 255 of Man 259
Men of Capital have Variously Conflicting Opinions 260
Organized 256 Wealth, and the Chicago Police
Mental Culture. Compared with Force ._ 261
Money. _. 257 A Brave Hand 262
How Society Becomes Unbal- The " Hod-Carriers " 263
anced __ 258 The Faculty which Rules Society 264
Ten Millions Intellectual Work
CHAPTER XVIII.
OUR PRESENT JURY SYSTEM. PROPOSED REFORMATION. MURDER TRIALS.
WOMEN AS JURORS. CONCLUSION OF PART II.
Reasons why the Grand Jury How Men spend their Last Dollar 271
should be Discontinued 265 Those who Fear Hell Less than
A Reformed Jury System _ 266 Men __ 272
Opinion of the Attorney General Recapitulation 273
ofEngland 267 " The Chief End of Man " 274
How True Justice is Attained 268 Aspirations of a Young Man 275
Qualifications of Jurors 269 A Melancholy Sight " The Sil-
Women in the Jury-Box, and Why ver Spoon" _ 276
Not? _.- 270 One Great Drawback 277
PART III.
THE LA.W.
CHAPTER XIX.
ON THE LAWS OF NATURE.
Definition of the Laws of Nature 279 Certain Faculties of the Mind
The Written and the Unwritten Considered. 287
Law_._ 280 The Ultimate Object of Human
What we See when we Open our Action 288
Eyes 281 The High-Road to Happiness... 289
The Faculty of Intuition 282 Future Generations _ 290
The Intentions and Secrets of Na- Human Laws 291
ture _ 283 Human Actions -Physical Exis-
The Customs of Society 284 tence Physiology 292
Pleasure and Pain 285 Speaking from a Moral Stand-
How the Body is Protected.. . 286 point 293
12
CONTENTS.
PAGE.
How we Decide between Right
and Wrong 294
Story about a Red-hot Iron 295
Does Nature Teach that we shall
not Steal? 296
How Men Differ in Organization 297
Sensibility the Source of all our
Greatness _. 298
Laws of Nervous Sensibility 299
Cromwell and Napoleon 300
A Multitude of Inferences 301
PAGE.
Excessive Emotion 302
The Youth and the Grandeur of
his Hopes 303
Innate Powers, Spirit and Body.. 304
What Nature says through a Cer-
tain Philosopher 305
Intelligence a Ruling Force 306.
The Elevation and Compass of
Thought 307
How Men Differ in Organization 308
Laws Established by Man 309
CHAPTER XX.
THE LAWS OF PHYSIOLOGY THE ONLY RELIABLE STARTING-POINT FOR THE
ENACTMENT OF HUMAN LAWS.
Governmental Laws Based on the
Teachings of Physiology. , 310
On the Commandments 311
A False God 312
Impressions on Mind and Body.. 313
A Certain Cause of Disease 314
Savans in Smoky Laboratories 315
A Delicate Organization 316
Affections of the Brain 317
A Death Warrant 318
Misanthrope and Hypochondria. 319
Those who Extract Poison from
Every Event of Life _ 320
That which Leads to the Marvel-
ous. _ 321
Tasso Heard Voices Whispering
his own Thoughts 322
The Virgin, Beautiful and Young 323
Of Organs Especially Affected by
Excessive Labor ._ 324
How Thoughts Absorb the Life.. 325
The Poet Santenil 326
Orators, Musicians, Actors, Phy-
sicians, etc _. 327
The Kind of Poison that Killed
him 328
Physiology of Man 329
Physiology Defined 330
On that which Composes our Bod-
ies 331
Water and its Use in the N System 332
The Best Kind of Food 333
The Quantity of Food Required
by a Healthy Man Daily 334
On Nutrition 335
The Digestive Apparatus 336
How the Different Elements of
Food are Digested 337
How Blood is Formed 338
Sounds of the Heart 339
Respiration 340
The Growth of the Body 341
The Natural Temperature of the
Body 342
Nitrogenized and Non-Nitrogen-
ized Elements of the Food 343
A Brief Statement of Facts 344
What Should be a Law of the
Land 345
When we may Expect to Enjoy
the Glory of Heaven 346
CHAPTER XXI.
MENTAL CULTURE, OR THE LAWS WHICH GOVERN MENTAL TRAINING.
The Store House of the Soul 347
The Blockhead and the School
Room _ 348
The Young Mind 349
Basis of a Strong Mind 350
The Boy and His Horse 351
Spontaneous Growth 352
From Dr. Burrows' Lecture 353
The Boy of Fourteen and His
Teacher 354
" I See It." How Beautiful ! A
Great Event 355
CONTENTS.
PAGE.
What is of Immense Importance. 356
College Graduates The Piano.
Greek Latin 357
How Should It be Done _. 358
The Richest Man that Walks the
Earth 359
A Sad Time The Garden of the
Mind 360
The Whipped Dog The Pet
Bird... 361
The Child that is too Good to
Live _ _ 362
The Farmer Interesting Reflec-
tions 363
The Maniac Why are We not
All There 364
PAGE.
In Passing Through a Crowd, etc. 365
Power of the Press 366
City News-stands, Bar-Rooms,
The Novel, etc 367
Delusions of Mortals 368
Why Married Men Run Away
With Young Girls... 369
The Unguarded Household '370
What Novel-Reading can Pro-
duce. 372
The Mind and Barrel of Powder 373
Poetry, Music, Stories, Games,
etc.. 374
A Glorious Sight 375
When Once the Day of Probation
is Past 376
CHAPTER XXII.
ON THE LAWS OF PHYSICAL CULTURE TEMPERAMENTAL HARMONY THE
BASIS OF PHYSICAL PERFECTION.
Temperaments and Physiology.. 377
Pluman Temperaments Defined. 378
The Most Scientific Classification
ever Given -379~38o
The Vital, Mental and Motive
Temperaments 381-382-383
How the Temperaments May be
Studied 384-385-386
How to Read Character by
Temperamental Indication
387-388-3^9
Important Hints by George Comb 390
How to Cultivate, and How to
Restrain the Different Temper-
aments _ 391
Daily Observation 392
Temperamental Condition When
Variously Compounded 393
Characteristics of a Vast Intel-
lect 394
A Man of Genius 395
Phrenologist and the Human
Brain 396
What of the Forty-Two Pairs of
Nerves 397
The Tabernacle of the Soul. _... 398
A Work of Three Thousand
Years 399
On the Advantages of the Temp-
erament in which the Nervous
System Predominates .400-401-402
A Vigilant Sentinel. 403
An Amazing Tenacity of Life 404
Certain Literary Character 405
How to have great Enjoyment _ . 406
A Remarkable Youth 407
The daily Practice of Physicians
attests to a truth 408
Those who rouse the world 409
A Happy Ending of All _ 410
APPENDIX I.
HANGING AS A MEANS OF GRACE. ELOQUENT DISCOURSE BY W. H. RYDER.
D.D. DOES HANGING QUALIFY A MURDERER FOR HEAVEN ? IF IT IS
A MEANS OF GRACE, THE MORE OF IT THE BETTER. HOW
THE CONDEMNED SHOULD BE TREATED. THE MATE-
RIAL IDEA OF HEAVEN AND HELL.
His Bible Text _. 419
What he says on the side of Hu-
manity 412
The Clergyman and the Gallows, 413
Pity, but not Sympathy 414
Repentance of Criminals _ 415
Interesting Opinions of a Con-
demned .. 4*6
14 CONTENTS.
PAGE. PACK.
What is meant by the word What of Heaven and Hell 419
"Paradise" 417 Where is God _ 420
How the Gallows maybe made A Walk toward Z ion 421
a means of Grace 418
APPENDIX II.
TO HANG OR NOT TO HANG. FROM THE CHRISTIAN UNION.
An Anticipated Horror 422 Laws of a. number of Different
Interesting Statistical State- States _ 424
ment _ 423 Murder Will not Walk Abroad... 425
APPENDIX III.
PAUPERISM AND COMPULSORY EDUCATION. FROM THE NATIONAL INDEPEND-
ENT, OF PHILADELPHIA, PA.
What of Disreputable Parents.. _ 426 Mourn 429
A Main Pillar 427 Rescue and Reformatory Schools, 430
Official Corruption 428 Jack Sheppard and other Crim-
Our Rulers, and the People who inals _. 431
PART FIRST.
MURDER AND CRIME.
CHAPTER I.
CAUSE OF CRIME.
Take heed, erring man, and learn of those who by experience have been
taught ;
Erase from the mind " the written troubles," crime, murder, and every evil
thought,
And cure thy brain of that dreadful malady, which now weighs down upon thy
soul.
We are living in an age of the world's history
which requires every individual to live in obedience
to "law and order" established by civilized and
Christian governments. Laws, like other institutions
of human construction, have changed from time to
time, and were improved as rapidly as the human
family progressed in their understanding of human
nature, the laws of nature, science, circumstances,
and the surroundings which govern men in their
actions.
Each amendment in governmental, and criminal
1 6 MURDER AND CRIME.
laws was thought to be right and strictly in harmony
with the laws of nature, at the time of enacting such
o
amendment or law. But if found, after a few years'
experiment, that such was not the case, farther
amendment was made, and all clauses which were
thought to be too harsh, unnatural, impractical, do-
ing injustice to those who were found guilty of crime,
were thrown out or modified, according to the
judgment and conscience of a majority of the popu-
lation of the community, state, continent, or country.
And I am of the opinion that this great work of
perfecting human institutions will thus continue,
until ultimate principles are arrived at. All laws, to
be successful and of benefit to those whom it is
intended to correct and govern, must agree with ulti-
mate and primary laws of nature. In proportion,
then, as we understand those primary laws, are we
enabled to construct correct laws by which to govern
men in their intercourse with each other.
Science, observation, and experience of the past,
have established one great truth, and that is, that
whenever an ultimate principle is arrived at, in the
construction of any doctrine or law, it will stand the
test, and always bring happiness to the human family.
The laws of any country, which have for their object
the correction and regulation of human action, and
to determine between the right and the wrong, are
progressive in their nature, like other institutions of
the world. Few of the sciences are known to be per-
fect ; still the work of progress is going on steadily,
year after year. Events follow each other, and since
the dawning morn of human intelligence, reformation,
CAUSE OF CRIME. 17
/
inventions, discoveries in mechanics, agriculture, navi-
gation, and the various branches of science, medicine,
and surgery, the wonderful operations of the human
mind and the natural relations that one human being
sustains to another are gradually becoming more
perfectly understood, and consequently human hap-
piness is this day greater than even a century ago.
The entire human family have, collectively and
individually, labored in this work of discovering ulti-
mates, primates, and laws governing the coporeal
and the phenomena, both in physical nature as well
as in the realm of mind.
Each age or epoch of time has furnished its
philosophers persons of a high susceptibility,
mental and moral impressibility, which enabled them
to take a step in advance of the masses, and see in
advance of them the incoming of scientific and moral
reform.
Each improvement was recognized as a truth at
the time of its advent ; but after experience, and a
few years' practice, all that was found to disagree
with the laws of God and Nature was discarded and
allowed to take its place among the things that were.
Not so with ultimate principles or laws. The actions,
discoveries, and legal enactments, as long as they are
in harmony with the fixed laws of nature, and are
intrinsically a truth, ever have stood, and will con-
tinue as long as eternity may roll.
The present era will take its place in human his-
tory marked by every nation of the globe as having
made greater progress in scientific investigations, dis-
coveries, moral and political reformation, than any
2
1 8 MURDER AND CRIME.
other period since the advent of man on the earth.
To sustain this statement, I will simply cite to the
reader a few leading facts. Never before was the
road to knowledge more clear, and advantages better
for all classes of men and women to acquire, if they
choose, even scientific knowledge. Ecclesiastical and
canonical laws are almost entirely banished. Men
have greater freedom of thought. Scientists can
now give an opinion without being restricted by
some tyrant king or priest. Even religion is allowed
a geater field, and men are permitted to worship God
according to the dictates of their own conscience,
which never was so extensive as now. There never
was a time when the world contained so many scien-
tists, so many great men and women who were dis-
tinguished on the farm, in machinery, in commerce,
in the various professions, on the rostrum, in the
schools, in reformatory efforts, and in statesmanship,
as now. The world never before was linked together
by a cable of cold, inanimate matter, sunk to the bot-
tom of the ocean, and caused to hold conversation
between men at a remote distance, carrying messages
from continent to continent in one moment of time.
Mountains are pierced, valleys are bridged, and the
country traversed by the locomotive with almost
lightning speed. Oceans, rivers, and lakes are navi-
gated by steam. That great disseminator of human
thought and recorder of human actions, the printing
press, made its advent on this earth, with its improve-
ments, within the present period of the nineteenth
century. The sewing machine, suspension bridges
tunneling of rivers, chloroform in surgery, new dis-
CAUSE OF CRIME. 19
coveries in physiology, in medicine, and other sciences,
are wonderful to relate, and are sufficient proof that
the world is moving.
The time was when the world believed that per-
sons who transgressed the laws of the land were
possessed of devils, and that the best thing that could
be done with such individuals was to kill them. Per-
sons were believed to be bewitched, and were put to
death. Even now some of our religionists believe
and teach that man by nature is " desperately wicked,"
and that he has no good within him, a doctrine, how-
ever, which is fast becoming extinct ; for science has
revealed to us that mankind comes into life a
BLANK,
and has no character so long as the senses are not
acted upon, and so long as the young being is yet
uneducated. The child is, therefore, only a rudime-
tary man or woman, neither good or bad at birth, and
whatever he or she becomes in after life depends up-
on the conditions of birth, or, in other words, the
prenatal existence. At the time when the being is
conceived in the mother's womb a certain impulse is
given to the faculties, which, in after life, become the
leading propensities, especially when they are fos-
tered by the surroundings, habits, associations, and
moral and intellectual education. This is a question
which long has furnished points of dispute, but now
is almost universally admitted to be a truth. Physi-
ology teaches that the offspring partakes of the pecu-
liarities and character of its parent, not only in physical
2O MURDER AND CRIME.
strength and goodness or physical weakness and dis-
ease, but also of the mental and moral predisposi-
tion, as is universally demonstrated in every-day life.
Even in stature, physiognomy, refinement of tex-
ture, color of hair, eyes, and complexion, tempera-
mental conditions, and mental and intellectual powers,
a striking similarity exists between the child and the
parent. It is a maxim that the rising generation is
simply a counterpart of the present, and whatever
improvement is made, or whatever reformatory
achievement attained, must be made in the present
generation ; then the next will be far better, and so
continue generation after generation, until in one
thousand years, crime and murder will sink into
oblivion. It is not now a mooted question that
longevity runs in families. Lung consumption, scrof-
ulous diseases, delicate constitution, and shortness
of life are hereditary. I have known even a goitre
or thick neck to be peculiar to certain families. In-
sanity, epilepsy, and many of the diseases afflicting
families are transmitted from parent to child ; some-
times in a modified form ; sometimes in an aggra-
vated form. Greater will be the sufferings of your
child if you violate the laws of nature to-day, and
to-morrow become a father or mother of the future
man and woman a counterpart of yourself. And
thus we find that it is a scientific truth "that the sins
of the parent shall be visited upon the children until
the third and fourth generation." The diseased con-
ditions of your offspring will be modified providing
you live strictly according to physiological laws
which, in the third or fourth generation, may result
CAUSE OF CRIME. 21
in the production of a perfect man and woman,
beautiful in figure, healthy in body and mental and
moral harmony. Individuals make up families ; fam-
ilies, the community, state, or country. Society is
made up of individuals and families. Now, as we
find physical depravity and inharmonious operations
of the bodily forces in the individual, so will we find
a corresponding depravity and inharmonious opera-
tion of the mental, moral, and spiritual forces of that
individual. Society being made up of the individual,
rules and laws of society will correspond to the exact
degree of the depravity and goodness of its indi-
vidual members. Laws of cities, countries, or states
are enacted by the people, and it is evident that the
perfection or imperfection of these laws correspond
to the imperfection or perfection of the people that
create and enforce such laws. Whenever it so hap-
pens that a law is enacted by the instrumentality of
a superior person, an advanced thinker or philoso-
pher, as we may justly call him, such enactments
being many years in advance of the comprehension
of the masses, they become a dead letter on our
statute books until the masses can be educated up
to that standard of advanced thought.
Now, before we can consistently suggest any change
in our laws, or improve our present manner of pun-
ishment of crime and murder, it is well first to under-
stand the different causes of crime. For when-
ever we fully comprehend the real and various agen-
cies which induce men to commit criminal actions,
we can easily understand the indications as to the
proper means to be employed in the prevention and
22 MURDER AND CRIME.
cure of criminal conditions. This is our present un-
dertaking, and the first part of this volume is mainly
devoted to the origin and nature of crime. Before
we proceed to a consideration of the mental and
moral action of mankind, jve will call attention to a
proper
DEFINITION
of crime. By crime we understand any action or
deed perpetrated against the laws of the country by
sane persons, who are in the full exercise of their
faculties, of proper age and responsibility. This is a
popular definition, and for short is well enough; but
we shall show that no person in the natural and full
exercise of the faculties will ever commit crime, hav-
ing knowledge of the law. A further definition may
be interesting and useful. We copy from Webster
the following definition :
" Crime is an act which violates a law, divine or human ; an act which vio-
lates a rule of moral duty ; an offence against the laws of right, prescribed by
God or man, or against any rule of duty plainly implied in those laws. A crime
may consist in omission or neglect as well as in commission, or positive trans-
gression. The commander of a fortress, who suffers the enemy to take posses-
sion by neglect, is as really criminal as orte who voluntarily opens the gates
without resistance. But, in a more common or restricted sense, a crime denotes
an offence, or violation of public laws of a deeper and more atrocious nature ;
a public wrong, or a violation of the commands of God, and the offences
against the laws made to preserve the public right ; as treason, murder, rob-
bery, theft, arson, etc. The minor wrongs committed against individuals or
private rights, are denominated trespasses ; and the minor wrongs against public
rights are called misdemeanors. Crimes and misdemeanors are punishable by
indictment, information, or public prosecution ; trespasses, or private injuries,
at the suite of the individuals injured. But, in many cases, an act is considered
both as a public offence and a trespass, and is punishable both by the public and
the individual injured."
CAUSE OF CRIME. 23
With this explanation of crime, we proceed to.
consider the actuating principles which induce or
force men to commit crime. When men and women
of Christian and civilized birth and education, with
the law before them and the sure punishment which
is to follow any violation or disobedience to the law,
still continue in the commission of crime, there must
be in existence some force that impels them to com-
mit such crime, which is stronger than the law or the
punishment.
In our investigation of this subject, we wish to be
understood that we are dealing wholly with the
physical existence of man, and the laws and actions,
therefore, which govern human physical life may be
studied the same way that we study and learn any of
the different branches of science. During our inves-
tigation of the various and mysterious operations of
nature we have also extended our
OBSERVATIONS
and .examinations into the field of mental and psy-
chological phenomena, which operate through the
human organization. The ultimate object of all
learning centers in the mind; what it is, whence it is,
and how we may enlarge our knowledge in regard
to its wonderful operations or manifestations, is the
work of mankind and the great desire of every
thoughtful person. We have reason to believe from
our knowledge of the mind, that it is dependent for
its generation, or its creation, upon conditions simi-
lar to those that electrical, vital, and other forces in
24 MURDER AND CRIME.
nature are dependent upon for their generation, and
like them, is a physical force.
Certain conditions evolve electricity ; others, light ;
others heat ; and, as we ascend the scale, other con-
ditions produce vital manifestations. When the
conditions under which these forces act no longer
exist, they all , cease their action. Prevent oxygen
from uniting with carbon and hydrogen, and the heat
and light, which by such combination has been evolved,
now ceases its action. Place a zinc plate into a cop-
per vessel containing sulphuric acid, and water, and
electricity is generated. Remove the acid, and one
of the conditions producing it being taken away, it
becomes extinct. So with the mind. Let the con-
ditions on which it is dependent for existence be
withheld, and its manisfestations will cease. If only
partial destruction of the conditions producing these
forces, then a disturbance of the harmony or perfect
manifestation is immediately evident. As in de-
mented persons and others. When the conditions
producing mentality are interfered with in their
proper action, intellectuality proceeds improperly.
Pressure applied to the brain, will derange thinking,
feeling, remembering, and a general discord among
all the mental operations will be the result.
It is a reasonable conclusion, then, the mind ema-
nating from the corporeal system, that its manifesta-
tions are physical, and its characteristics derived from
the constitution of the body. All peculiarity belong-
ing to the mind its capacity to reason, to make de-
ductions, to analyze the mysteries of nature and grasp
subjects of highest magnitude for contemplation
CAUSE OF CRIME. 25
mainly depend on that organ termed the brain. The
brain, being the great center of the nervous system,
also imparts energy and strength to the intellectual
faculties, such as perception, memory, conception,
reasoning, etc., as well as the emulative part of man ;
feelings and impulses which mark his character, con-
trolling and directing his moral actions are derived
from the same source the brain. Impressions, in-
tended to educate the faculties, which come from
outer nature, are conveyed to the mind through the
five senses. The senses all centering in the brain, it
is evident that intellectuality and mental phenomena
operate wholly through that organ, and also mainly
depend for a proper and harmonious manifestation
on the healthy condition of the brain, in discharge ot
its function as a vital organ.
The intimate relation which exists between the
mind and the brain, leads us, then, to conclude that
the first is but the result of certain conditions ful-
filled in the latter, from the fact, also, that mental
traits and dispositions are hereditary to a large ex-
tent. From this, our readers may understand that we
claim that distinguished talents in parents are trans-
mitted alike to their children. Of course, this does
not always follow, on account of a want of strict re-
ciprocation, or perfect blending of all the forces nec-
essary for a perfect counterpart, between the father
and the mother ; still, we find that great and distin-
guished men and women minds of strong capacity
'often fall in families of like powers, and do not run
out until a number of unfavorable intermarriages;
as in the Lincoln family, Henry Clay, Washington,
26 MURDER AND CRIME.
and hundreds of others which might be cited.
Healthy and robust parents, who live to a ripe, old
age, usually transmit the elements of longevity to
their children. Let this be decided as it may, suffi-
cient analogy has been observed by our most distin-
guished physiologists, psychologists, and scientists, to
enable us to pronounce with certainty, that the con-
stitution of the mind is affected by the constitution
of the body ; as is also the intellectual, moral, and
social nature. Observe the children of depraved
parents. Unless carefully guarded, they will live a
life of depravity. There is an old proverb that, "-the
apple does not fall very far from the stem." It is
even claimed by eminent authors, that an infant born
of depraved parents may be brought up under the
influence and training of a pious family, and no pains
be spared to develop its moral feelings and to re-
strain its natural ones ; that frequently the result will
be, notwithstanding its culture, unmistakable indica-
tions of depravity when it arrives at adult age, though
not so great as if these had been nurtured through
youth, still, often bringing disappointment to those
who have fostered such children.
After having said these things, our readers may
raise the question : To what extent is man a
FREE-AGENT?
Cannot man control and make his own fortune? Is
he wholly subject to circumstances acting upon him?
Or can he not live, act, and do as he pleases, inde-
pendent of his surroundings and external influences ?
CAUSE OF CRIME. 27
Can man truly say, " this good thing have I done
because I chose to do it, and this evil thing for the
same reason ; in all that I do, I follow my own voli-
tion, and could have done otherwise if I had willed
it"?
These are questions of great importance, and
should be settled among men, for much depends on
our understanding whether a man is a " free moral
agent" or whether he is not, as to the actions and
government of the moral relation one human being
sustains to another. These are questions, however,
which we do not propose to discuss in our present
undertaking, only to notice well-established facts in
regard to the actions of men and women in general.
We leave our readers to answer these questions after
our task has been completed.
To sustain our position, we might quote many of
the best authors of this country, as well as Europe,
had we the space ; but as it is, we recommend our
readers to read Lock on " Human Understanding,"
or any more modern and scientific work on the phil-
osophy of the mind, and you will find it a well settled
fact, admitted by all who have given the subject any
thought, that, as we have already said, as to the origin
of mind, man has nothing to do as to the capacity of
his mind. He did not have the making of himself,
nor was he consulted under what peculiar circum-
stances he should be forced into life, consequently
his reasoning powers, his quickness, and the condi-
tions of his faculties, which, either on account of
their natural strength, enable him to canvass space
and measure other worlds, master the sciences and
28 MURDER AND CRIME.
construct new systems of government, and discern
order where there seems to be choas, or, on account
of their feebleness, unfit him for any profound reflec-
tion, and merely adapt him to occupy himself with
those things which administer to his animal propen-
sities. Man had not the say whether he should
possess the one or the other of these conditions, and
yet they have everything to do with his actions.
Those individuals who look beyond the mere circum-
stances of their immediate surroundings who trace
effect to cause, and contemplate and grasp profound
subjects are far different in organization, from the
fact that by culture and education they cannot im-
prove their condition so as to stand equal in mental
power with those who have by nature a highly re-
fined organization. How different the conduct ot
these individuals. However much they may differ
in organization, or in their general behavior in life,
it cannot be said that the results are the consequence
of any volition on their part
A feeble-minded person may think that groveling
to be its own choice, still we know that it is in ac-
cordance with the degree of power of the faculties
and functions received at birth. Some one said :
"The man of great intellect aspires, evea as the bird soars aloft, because the
air is its natural element. He cannot grovel whose mind impels to great un-
dertakings."
Though it is our object to make this volume strictly
original, it is well enough to give some of the views
of others ; yet our space will not allow us to give
elaborate references, therefore we simply say that
CAUSE OF CRIME, 29
what we teach in this volume is well supported by
our best thinkers, writers, physiologists, psycologists,
and scientists in this and the old country.
To understand clearly human actions, and further
consider mental operations, we are pleased to give
the views of Prof. J. A. Thacker, who is good author-
ity, and is the doctrine which will entirely overthrow,
by and by, our present mode of punishing criminals.
This author divides the mind into two departments :
the intellectual, or understanding, and the emotive, or
effective faculties, consisting of the emotions, or sen-
sibilities. The order of movement is the order in
which they have been mentioned. He says that
"the intellect first presents an object which arouses
some one or more of the emotive faculties, and they,
in turn, call into action the movements which follow
the will, as it is termed, being but the response to
that emotion which is in the ascendency.
" If we give the subject any consideration, we per-
ceive that there can not be any action without an
excitement first of the sensibilities, without some
emotion, desire or inclination having been aroused.
We seek food and drink to allay the sensations of
hunger and thirst and preserve life. We seek the
society of one another to minister to the gratification
we receive from social intercourse. In brief, we are
impelled in all that we do to perform an object which
has its origin in the emotive part of our nature. The
intellect, then, being antecedent in its operation, in
the feelings or sensibilities, we have the causes of all
men's actions. But we have demonstrated that the
emotions arise in the brain in the body the same
3O MURDER AND CRIME.
as the other department of the mind, the intellect,
and their character is fixed ; for as the constitution
of the body is, so must their constitution be.
"It follows from what we have said that every act
of the individual has its motive, which has had its
antecedent in some previous intellectual operation ;
that, knowing the disposition of a person, and the
causes which have been brought to bear upon him,
we can state with certainty his course of conduct in
any given matter. When the result is different from
what we had anticipated, we must attribute it to
having been deceived, either in the emotive functions
of some of his feelings in comparison with others, or
having been mistaken in the antecedents, or both.
But as a distinguished writer says, ' we never can
know the whole of any man's antecedents, or even
the whole of our own ; but it is certain that the near-
er we approach to a complete knowledge of the an-
tecedent, the more likely we shall be to predict the
consequent/ It is this confidence of uniformity of
conduct in one another, under given circumstances,
upon which we rely in all our associations. Without
it there could be no society.
" But if we pass from the study of the individual to
the contemplation of human actions in societies, we
will be further rewarded in our researches ; and we
will find in our examinations that the conduct of
men, as they make up communities, under particular
circumstances, is always the same. As, for instance,
the crimes of murder and suicide occur with such
regularity that, in any country, it can be predicted
from year to year, with very slight error, how many
CAUSE OF .CRIME.
of each will take place. Mr. Buckle, in mentioning
this fact, states that, in London, about 230 persons
annually make way with themselves; the number
oscillating, from the pressure of temporary causes,
between 266, the highest, and 2 13, the lowest. When,
in these offences, we consider how accidental, in the
majority of them, the circumstances seem which lead
to them, we are filled with astonishment at the re-
sult. M. Quetelet, the greatest statistician of his
day, also makes mention of the great regularity which
takes place annually in the number of the commis-
sions of crime. Mr. Buckle's explanation of these
phenomena is as follows: ' In a given state of so-
ciety a certain number of persons must put an end
to their own life. This is the general law, and the
special question as to who shall commit the crime
depends, of course, upon special laws ; which, how-
ever, in their total action must obey the large social
law to which they are all subordinate. And the
power of the larger law is so irresistible, that neither
the love of life nor the fear of another world can
avail anything toward even checking its operation.'
" An explanation more easily understood, would be,
we think, that in every country from food, soil, cli-
mate and other physical causes, a certain general
character is begotten among all the inhabitants, and
in different communities or large aggregated masses
of people in the same country, there are a certain
proportion endowed with similar characteristics or
affective faculties. Now, since certain causes, exterior
to the individual, are acting continually to arouse
particular traits or propensities in every member of
32 MURDER AND CRIME.
a community possessing them, these, brought into
action, must produce certain results."
From the facts we have stated in this connection,
we think sufficient has been said to make it evident
that the conduct of men is controlled by laws is
not left to chance, but is governed by law as well as
everything else in nature.
Before closing this chapter, we would say that as
man is wholly governed by circumstances, surround-
ings, and conditions, which effect him from all sides,
as well as those constitutional characteristics over
which he has no immediate or absolute control, it
may be well to suggest that persons as soon as they
learn that they have an inclination to steal imme-
diately discontinue all business which may give an
opportunity to carry out such inclination.
We once knew a barber who never could shave a
man and not think of cutting his throat. This feel-
ing grew so strong that he became alarmed, and one
day made this statement to us. Our advice was that
he should quit the business, which he did in a few
weeks. I believe this saved the man from becoming
a murderer. When it is found that persons in any
community have a disposition to commit crime, w r e
think that after we have so conclusively shown how
men are governed in their actions, that it is evident
that all punishment should be mainly reformatory ,.
with a view to cure our unfortunate criminals, and
thereby also protect society.*
*See Part Second, Chapter II.
ORGANS OF THE BRAIN AND THEIR FUNCTION. 33
CHAPTER II.
ORGANS OF THE BRAIN AND THEIR FUNCTION.
Life is an activity manifested upon the corporeal
plane of action only through an organized body,
composed of organized and inorganized matter.
This organization becomes more and more perfect
and more complicated as we ascend in the scale of
creation. From the lowest form of the sea-mosses
to the most beautiful flowers of- our garden, and from
the creeping worm of the dust beneath our feet on
up to the human mind, where the most perfect and
most powerful manifestations of life force in the uni-
verse exist.
Whenever we find that activity called life, we find
an organization through which it operates. In the
lowest forms of the grasses and mosses, life is scarcely
apparent for the reason that their organs are few,
and mostly single, through which it acts. As we as-
cend the scale of development in our observations
among plants, we find an increase of organs, also re-
finement in texture, and a greater activity of life. So
in the animal creation. In some of the lowest forms
of animals, a single organ of vitality exists through
which life is manifest. Here the life phenomena
are very short in duration, but as we trace this force
in its progressive development through the various
species and phases of animal creation, we find an in-
34 MURDER AND CRIME.
crease of organs, a greater complication and combi-
nation of principles through which life is manifested
upon the physical plane of action. In the human
organization we have a greater number and more
perfect organs of vitality than in other animal or-
ganizations, and consequently a greater activity of
life. It is evident that the human brain and nervous
system is susceptible of greater activity and admits
of a wider field of action, aside from the intellectual
operations of the mind, than any other being of
which we have any knowledge.* Now, we can easily
perceive that, as life depends upon corporeal organ-
ization for its physical manifestation, the human
mind, as it is of itself an organization, requires an
organ or organs as a media through which it may
act or manifest its existence upon the physical plane
of action. We may therefore, also, reasonably con-
clude that the more perfect the brain, which all
scientists now admit to be the organ of the mind,
the more perfect the manifestations of the mind and
the more powerful is its action.
In the lower forms of creation, mind is buk faintly
manifest. As we descend in the scale of beings, we
find the brain decreasing in size, also in the number
of convolutions and different departments, until en-
tirely lost, the same as other organs of the body, less
in number, less in size, and less important in func-
tion, until all traces of mind and life are lost among
the crude corporeal matter of the earth. That ani-
mals have not a mind is not now a mooted question ;
only it is not a human mind. The horse has a mind
* See the author's work on the " Human Five Senses."
ORGANS OF THE BRAIN AND THEIR FUNCTION. 35
peculiar to himself, which we may call with propriety
a horse's mind.
So every other living creature on earth differs in
degree of manifestation as the brain differs in its
relative size, refinement in texture, and perfectness
in organization. If, then, it is admitted, as by every
thinking person it must be, that life is an agency or
activity, operating only through bodily organizations,
the brain being the organ of the mind, we may further
reason correctly that the mind is an organization ot
faculties, these various faculties together constituting
and producing the various intellectual operations,
and establishing also a moral character. This is a
force or agency which mainly controls men's actions
in their intercourse one with another, although it may
be traced far down in nature ; yet, as it mainly con-
cerns us, we will confine our investigations to man-
kind. The faculties of the mind, in their combined
action producing intellectual and moral characteris-
tics, lead in the direction of moral action ; and by
experience in the result of such actions, we are en-
abled to know as to the ri^ht and the wrono- These
o o '
faculties are evidently of a physical nature, for they
are governed by circumstances, or, in a word, by our
corporeal surroundings. Mind being a physical
manifestation it will follow that physical laws control
it in the same manner that physical laws govern the
physiological operations of the brain, or the stomach,
or the food that is prepared for our use by nature.
If this is a correct position we may deal with the
mind as with other human physical existences. But
our reader may say that the mind is a psycological
36 MURDER AND CRIME.
phenomena, and that it is a reflection of the myste-
rious operations of the soul, and that it is too myste-
rious a subject for us to understand. So we may
further argue that it is a great mystery why all foliage
and grasses come forth and appear in the primitive
color, green ; and that it is a mysterious operation of
God through nature far beyond our comprehension,
and yet we do know something about it, for the
chemistry and physiology of plants, and the natural
sciences, have given us great light on the subject.
We have stated that physical laws govern the action
of the human mind, as well as other physical mani-
festations.
In the perfect manifestations of life phenomena
throughout all nature, we find that concert of action
of all the organs of any body is necessary ; and let
there be the slightest discord, we soon see a fading
away of the life activity, and unless harmony is re-
stored, the body will die. Withhold any of the life-
giving or life-sustaining agencies, and the same dis-
astrous result will follow. So in the human organi-
zation ; let any of the vital organs become deranged,
from disease or accident, and discord of the vital
phenomena are immediately manifest. If this is al-
lowed to continue, the body will soon decay and die;
also, if the necessary means to sustain life is with-
held, the effect will be the same. The brain being
the organ through which the mind acts, and mind
being a physical manifestation, it will follow as a nat-
ural consequence that concert of action of all the
organs of the brain is necessary to a perfect mental
manifestation. Let the slightest discord take place
ORGANS OF THE BRAIN AND THEIR FUNCTION. 37
in the brain, from whatever cause ; and immediate dis-
arrangement of the mental phenomena will be the
natural result. The brain beingr thus deranged, and
O O
being intimately connected with other organs of
vitality, in truth, it may be classed as one of the
organs of vitality, will, if harmony is not restored,
soon end in death, or lead to insanity, which is equal-
ly disastrous. Thus far, we think we have reasoned
logically, and if we cannot apply our manner of
reasoning to the brain and other higher natures of
mankind, we would consider what has been said a
failure. We do not fear that, however, though we
may have undertaken more than we bargained for.
We have stated that the mind is an organization
composed of faculties. These faculties require con-
cert of action, in order to manifest mental harmony
and correct moral actions in life. Let there be dis-
cord and disagreement among the faculties, and the
result would be disease of the mind, which if allowed
to go on, and not corrected, will end in wrong doing
violations of physiological laws or the laws of the
land, bringing sorrow to the individual and injury to
others. Discord of action among the organs of the
body and brain, we have stated, will, if harmony is not
restored, lead to disease, and eventually end in death.
Diseased conditions of the brain and nervous sys-
tem, if -not cured, are liable to end in death, or what is
worse insanity. Discord of action among the moral
and intellectual faculties, if not corrected, and -al-
lowed to go on, does not only produce disease of the
mind, but is liable to end in crime, murder, or self-
destruction.
38 MURDER AND CRIME.
Our readers may now naturally inquire how this
moral and intellectual disagreement or discord among
the faculties takes place. The causes are various,
and this volume does not admit of. space to enume-
rate them. In the first place, however, we will state
that the immediate cause or causes are of two kinds,
the one is slow and insidious ; the other sudden and
accidental. The reader is, perhaps, familiar with
some of the causes which produce disease of the
physical organism. They are of two kinds, the same
as those affecting the faculties of the mind. They
are slow, insidious, accidental, and having their start-
ing-point in ignorance, contrary habits, and evil asso-
ciations. By inattention to the proper selection of
food, the body gradually becomes unbalanced in the
natural chemical constituents, and diseased action
will take place ; or, by disobedience to the physiologi-
cal laws of digestion, that terrible disease, dyspepsia,
may gradually be superinduced, or consumption,
heart disease, disease of the brain, and a consequent
disarrangement of the mind, and a perversion of the
intellectual and moral faculties, is the result of
wrong-living. Thus we see that physical goodness
is necessary to mental, moral, and intellectual good-
ness, and is also a great source of mental distur-
bance, and often ends in the commission of a terrible
crime. Let a woman, who by means of tight dresses,
or by strapping around her chest that hideous mons-
ter called corset, compress her lungs, and she will
soon find herself becoming not only physically dis-
eased, but also mentally; she becomes fretful, and, in
a word, terribly inharmonious, and where it will end
ORGANS OF THE BRAIN AND THEIR FUNCTION. 39
no one can tell. If her son does not commit crime,
her grandchild may end its days on the gallows or
in prison. The subject of extreme mental labor,
continuous thought on one subject, disappointments
in the affections, long continued, unhappy associa-
tions with women or men, is very liable, if the diffi-
culty is not corrected, to end in disease of the mind,
to unbalance the physical organization, also the moral,
character, and is in every way a subject of legisla-
tion long before crime is committed.
A man affected with hydrophobia once came under
my care. While the paroxysm was on him, it be-
came necessary to tie him hand and foot to the bed-
stead, in order to prevent him from doing injury to
himself and others. After a few times, he could tell
when the paroxysm was approaching, and would call
at the top of his voice, " Tie me ! tie me, or I must
bite you !" So many persons are now at liberty, not
cared for in the proper way to cure their malady,
who, no doubt, often feel like crying aloud, " Tie me !
tie me, before I bite you !" The reader is here re-
ferred to the third chapter in part second of this
book. In chapter fourth, we trace the various causes
which pervert the moral faculties, under the head of
the " Two Paths of the Child," which the reader should
study carefully.
Among the accidental causes of discord among
the faculties, we refer first to the injuries of the body.
Wounds, bruises, fractures, surgical operations, have
in many instances produced such a powerful mental
shock that discord of action of many of the faculties
became almost irreparable. This condition is of
4O MURDER AND CRIME.
longer or shorter duration. I have known it to last
only a few minutes, and, in a number of cases, two
and three months. One lady, I remember, I was
called to treat a few years ago, who, by accident, in
trying to split some wood, split her great toe wide
open. The wound, in itself not very dangerous,
gave such a terrible shock to the brain and nervous
system, that though by the proper treatment entire
constitutional reaction was restored, the wound healed
by what surgeons call first intention, and in every
sense good bodily health, yet the discord among the
faculties lingered a long time, and it was nearly four
months before perfect reason was fully restored.
Anger may be classed among the sudden causes.
Though a disposition to anger is gradually acquired
by habit, yet it may be provoked by circumstances
over which the person has no acquired ability to con-
trol, and often terrible derangement of the moral and
intellectual powers is the immediate result, and be-
fore the difficulty can be arrested a hideous crime is
committed. Many cases may be cited where persons
were not aware that they were guilty of any crime
for weeks after such a mental debauch as simply a
fit of anger. Persons who become enraged, no mat-
ter what the exciting cause may be, are very liable
to commit crime, and also liable to become perma-
nently deranged. There never is a fit of anger
without a mental and physical prostration following,
which sometimes lasts for hours. It produces a
shock to the brain and nervous system the same as a
physical injury, and a reaction sometimes leaves the
person in a terrible condition. A Mr. Symonds who
ORGANS OF THE BRAIN AND TIIKIR FUNCTION. 41
came under my notice in the city of Philadelphia,
Pa., in the year 1860, had a regular bar-room fight.
Though not injured by his antagonist in the least, he
became so infuriated that it was a long time before
he could be quieted, and about the time of reaction,
he had a genuine epileptic fit. His reason never was
fully restored ; for nearly one year he was a hopeless
maniac, and is still confined to the insane asylum.
Habitual anger, if it does not lead to crime, will
bring on diseased conditions and shorten life. I
further affirm that all persons who become enraged
at everything that does not please them, on causes
most trivial, are dangerous persons of society, and
are subjects of legislation, in order to prevent crime.
A German of this city gradually contracted such a
habit to anger at everything that went slightly con-
trary to his wishes, that at times he would become
almost furious, throw things about in his shop, and
break the dishes for his wife, until he was nearly half
of his time in an enraged condition. One day he
threw a hammer at his own son's head, but fortunate-
ly, for the boy, missed him ; and frequently would
torture his wife and children. By this means, he
brought on an incurable disease of mind and body,
aside from the malady that weighed down his soul.
He is now a hopeless invalid, his poor wife giving
him her entire attention, feeding him a little broth,
and nursing him to the best of her ability, only to
prolong his miserable life a few days longer. When-
ever she happens to put the spoon a little edgeways
into his mouth, he will swear and damn everything
that is orreat and o O od, and I have heard him say
42 MURDER AND CRIME.
things to his wife and children too hideous to relate.
To briefly recapitulate, we will remind the reader
that the mind, moral, and intellectual faculties, are
physical manifestations, operating through a physical
organism, and are subject to and controlled by phy-
sical laws. Now, as the moral and intellectual facul-
ties may be and are mainly disturbed through physi-
cal causes, so may the difficulty be corrected through
physical agencies or means by which to arrest the
tendency to crime and wrong-doing. If a man by
accident breaks his leg, the surgeon will apply splints,
and give the parts rest until nature heals the fracture ;
or, let any of the organs of vitality become diseased,
the physician will use such remedials of cure as, by
experience and the study of physiological laws, en-
ables him to correctly prescribe and cure his patient.
The disease is of a physical nature, a disturbance of
the vital forces, which may be local or constitutional.
The means of cure must correspond to the nature
of the disease, and be strictly in accordance with
nature's laws. The physician cannot cure his patient,
or the surgeon heal a fracture, by the use of means
that will inflict greater injury, instead of means that
will soothe, calm, and control diseased conditions.
The same course of reasoning will apply to the fac-
ulties ; let any of them become discordant with the
others, and we have mental disturbance in a word,
diseased conditions of the mental or moral nature.
To cure such persons the same laws will have to be
observed as when the body is diseased, viz., rest,
proper selection of food, hygienic and remedial
means by which to stay the " devouring flame," and
ORGANS OF THE BRAIN AND THEIR FUNCTION. 43
save the individual from crime and premature decay.
We will take a person with whom the faculty to
acquire money and property has become uncontrol-
lable by conscience, caution, reason, and other facul-
ties, and this person is lead in this manner to rob
his neighbor. The natural treatment should be rest,
in a house of correction, the proper exercise of other
faculties, exercise of the body, the proper selection
of food, and the proper education of this faculty,
which may be considered in a diseased condition, by
such means as the indications of the case may re-
quire, bearing always in the mind that the means of
cure is cooling, soothing, calming, and restorative,
rather than depleting and trying to cure one disease
by creating another, often rendering the means of
cure worse than the disease.
The faculties also come under physical laws in re-
gard to their function ; in fact, they are almost wholly
dependent upon the objective and corporeal sur-
rounding for their exercise ; consequently, all educa-
tional means must be of a tangible or physical char-
acter, and, like the body, may be strengthened and
very fully developed by obeying physiological laws.
If we would strengthen a certain muscle, we must
give it the requisite exercise and rest. This is a
physiological maxim, and will hold good throughout
all nature. Any of the bodily organs may be made
stronger by the same rule the brain, the nervous
system, or any of the senses admit largely of culti-
vation, and thus may be made stronger and perform
their functions more perfectly. The brain becomes
stronger by exercising the mind in intellectual pur-
44 MURDER AND CRIME.
suits so that each faculty, or all the faculties collec-
tively, may be enlarged in capacity, in concert of ac-
tion, and all brought into perfect working order by a
well-balanced education.
The immediate means of education to be mainly
considered are : first, our immediate surroundings
ctnd conditions in*life; second, associations; and
thirdly, vocation. The reader here is referred to
Chapter IV, on the " Two Paths of the Child."
All education and knowledge is acquired in two
ways : first, by experience ; second, by learning the
experience of others-; in other words, by being
taught, by conversing, reading, and attending schools
instituted for that purpose. The first is positive ;
the latter, negative, but becomes positive as it is
brought into practice. The first means of acquiring
knowledge should be encouraged, and the latter
should be made compulsory, by which means, at least,
a theoretical foundation is laid, and if strictly cor-
rect, in accordance with the laws of nature, the laws
of conscience, reason, and a combined support of all
the faculties, will stand when brought into practice,
prove to be good, and bring untold happiness to
every individual and society in general.
As to the accidental causes of crime, no law can
be enacted to prevent such. The perpetrator can
be tried as to the cause, intent, and motive. The
slow and insidious causes of crjme maybe controlled
by legal enactment, the tendency averted, and our
present prevalence of crime very much decreased by
observing the suggestion in Part Second of this
book. From what has been said under this head, we
ORGANS OF THE BRAIN AND THEIR FUNCTION. 45
can easily perceive that crime, murder, and all wrong-
doing is the result of a diseased condition of the
body, deranged brain, and a perversion of the moral
and intellectual faculties, brought about by wrong
education, habits, association, unfavorable surround-
ings, conditions of the parents before being born, and
the influence of society in general.
If this is not correct reasoning, then I ask this
question : whence the cause of crime ? is crime in-
nate or acquired ? If acquired, we have a right to
take hold and correct the person guilty, but if an
innate principle, then we have no right to interfere
with what God has seen fit so to create.
The question, I think, has been settled long since
by our best thinkers, that faculties are innate, but not
principles ; organs, brain, nervous system, vital phe-
nomena, and faculties of the mind are innate, but the
various intellectual operations of the mind, the moral
sense and character, are acquired, and hence the poor
unfortunate criminal cannot be held alone responsible
for his crime. Perhaps fifty, a hundred, or more per-
sons were accessory to the crime with which he is
charged.
46 MURDER AND CRIME.
CHAPTER III.
CONSTITUTIONAL PREDISPOSITION TO CRIME.
In March, eighteen hundred and seventy-one, I
made a visit to the great city of New York for the
first time in my life. After a short stay, I seated
myself in the cars, for Buffalo. About one hour's
ride from the great metropolis, the train made a stop
at a station, and two well-dressed gentlemen entered
the cars, and were seated just in front of me. They
were busily engaged in talking, and continued a
spirited conversation. From their conversation, I
could know that one was a lawyer by profession and
the other a physician. I was especially interested in
their conversation, for both were evidently of a high-
ly refined, mental and physical organization ; men of
culture, correct habits, and liberal education, about
forty years of age ; the lawyer of the vital and the
physician of the mental temperament ; both posses-
sing great psycological powers ; in a word, appearing
to be happy, congenial, and living in the very sun-
shine of health. All these conditions, my dear read-
ers, have some bearing, with me at least, as to the
truth of a doctrine advanced by men and women,
and I give weight to the ideas advanced by persons
of a well-balanced, healthy organization more than
when I find people in an opposite state or condition.
I never knew a dyspeptic that was not fretful, fault-
CONSTITUTIONAL PREDISPOSITION TO CRIME. 47
finding, hateful, with never a smile for any one, not
even for themselves, and such a person is disqualified
to think on subjects of vital importance, or to teach
mankind the way to health and happiness. Those
men whose conversation I am about to relate, were,
so far as I am able to judge of a man's health, en-
tirely clear of dyspepsia and mental depression, as
there was not the slightest evidence of disease writ-
ten upon their physiognomy. After a few minutes,
their conversation turned upon the seeming preva-
lence of crime and murder; for it seemed but re-
cently an outrageous murder had been committed in
their town, also a number of daring robberies. For the
benefit of our readers, we here reproduce the leading
ideas advanced by those men, from notes taken at
the time, but unobserved by them. We will call
the one Lawyer Jones, and the other Doctor Newton.
Lawyer Jones said he was very sorry to see that
young man James Gill arrested for breaking in, and
robbing Mr. Johnston's store the other night ; " for
this," he said, " is the only boy of four brothers out
of the penitentiary, and it was always believed he
was honest ; but circumstances are so strong against
him that he cannot escape conviction. It is singu-
lar, indeed, in regard to the Gill family, for it is known
that nearly all of them will steal. The old man, a
few years ago, you remember, was convicted for rob-
bing Mr. Rollins of a considerable sum of money.
He broke in the house during Sunday afternoon,
while the family were at the Sabbath school. He
was induced to refund the money, and was afterward
reprieved by reason of his extreme old age."
48 MURDER AND CRIME.
DOCTOR NEWTON. Yes. I have kept track of
that family for a number of years, and have also in-
quired into their previous history. It seems that
they have all been industrious, and very saving, by
which means they have accumulated a handsome
fortune. Still, they would all steal, and even the
women are strongly suspected. The mother of
these boys, I am credibly informed, has admitted
that from a child she had a strong propensity to take
little things while visiting her neighbors, but thinks
she has overcome that inclination in after years. .
L. J. Do you think, then, doctor, that a predis-
position to steal, lie, etc., may be transmitted from
parent to child, and become an inherent principle,
untimately and finally ending in some terrible crime,
like that of the murderer Williamson, who, it seems,
had an irresistable mania for thieving, from a little
boy.
DR. N. I have not the slightest doubt on the
subject, for I have given the matter considerable at-
tention, and inquired into the subject, as well as into
the history of many of our criminals ; and as a gen-
eral thing I find nearly every case traceable to a
disreputable ancestry, who, previous to propagating
their offspring, have lived in open violation of the
laws of physiology, and moral and religious princi-
ples. I am, further, of the opinion that such parents
continue to feed those organs by their examples in
life, and instead of all the faculties being simultane-
ously acted upon, the child hears and sees nothing
but wrong-doing on the part of his parents and asso-
ciates, and consequently a constitutional inclination
CONSTITUTIONAL PREDISPOSITION TO CRIME. 49
to steal, etc., is created, and those organs of the
brain, and those faculties of the mind, which have
the greater activity become the stronger, and in time
they become the predominating or controlling power
of the man or woman thus created and educated.
L. J. It would seem that your position is correct,
for I cannot recall in my mind a single instance of
our most noted criminals where the previous history
was anything but favorable. In nearly every in-
stance, the parents of our murderers, and criminals
of lesser magnitude, were terribly depraved. The
children of such parents, being begotten and raised
under the influence of vice, crime, physical, moral,
and social depravity, of course obey their nature ;
and what but crime can be expected of them ?
DR. N. If you are correct, which I believe you
are, then, why not make provision for the prevention
of crime, restraining the liberty of such persons as are
found possessing a predisposition to steal, etc., and
placing them in a house of correction, until they out-
grow such disposition ? For example : the William-
son murderer had a perfect mania for stealing, and it
was generally known. He also stated in court that
he only wanted the man's money, and was very sorry
that he had to kill him ; for the man fought desper-
ately, and in the struggle was killed. I do not believe
that this man Williamson is constitutionally a mur-
derer, for he feels very sorry. Others, I believe, have
a natural desire for blood, as Williamson had only
for thieving. I think such persons are subjects of
legal attention, long before they become uncontrolla-
ble and commit some outrageous crime.
4
5O MURDER AND CRIME.
L. J. It is a fact. This subject is rapidly being
investigated, and men are changing their views as to
the real cause of crime, and I think we are standing
on the threshold of a radical change in our criminal
laws. It also seems that something more is necessary
to stay the present tendency to crime ; for all our
punishment, and efforts aiming merely to protect
society and bring every criminal to justice, does not
mitigate crime, but seems to increase it.
DR. N. I am glad that the legal profession is be-
ginning to see this subject in its true light. Some of
our most eminent clergymen are also investigating
the philosophy and causes of wrong-doing, crime,
and murder. The most eminent of the medical fac-
ulty, physiologists, and professors of mental science,
now nearly all agree that mind is a physical manifes-
tation, that it is governed by physical laws, and that
all crime is the result of an organic or constitutional
condition, favoring or producing discord among the
faculties of the mind, and criminal action is the result.
It is a settled truth that crime is the result of
depravity, both physical and mental, and may be
considered a species of insanity. Long-continued
thought in a certain direction, long practice of cer-
tain habits, say swearing, lying, stealing, is a species
of insanity. The miser, who worships his gold above
every thing else, is a monomaniac ; and such condi-
tions will doubtless lead to further commission of
crime.
L. J. Doctor, you do not presume to say that all
crime is an outgrowth of an organic or constitutional
o o
predisposition ? I will cite a case. Ned Morris, a
CONSTITUTIONAL PREDISPOSITION TO CRIME. 51
man of forty-five, was caught stealing corn from the
crib of Mr. Nelson, the other day, and it seems, from
the evidence elicited in the case, that he was forced
to do so, or beg, or starve. His family was greatly
in need of subsistence, and this was evidently the
first attempt to steal in his life.
DR. N. We divide criminals into two kinds : those
who lie, steal, etc., from necessity, and those who do
so from choice. The first commit crime to keep from
starving, and the last do so merely to obey a natural
propensity. Ned Morris simply erred in judgment.
His pride would not allow him to beg, so he tried
stealing. He also made frequent efforts during the
winter to earn a subsistence, but his neighbors refused
to employ him. The actuating causes to steal, in
Ned Morris's case, and the Gill family are widely
different, and I think the mode of punishment should
differ as much as the forces which caused either to
commit crime. The one should be compensatory,
and the other reformatory. Ned Morris should be
supplied with subsistence and something to do, and
the Gill boy placed in a house of correction, until he
entirely outgrows his disposition to steal.
The conversation of these two gentlemen was
c>
suddenly brought to a close by the conductor an-
nouncing a certain station, which, it seemed, was their
destination. I was sorry to part with them, for the
subject which they were discussing was very interest-
ing to me. The conversation of these two gentlemen
reminds me, however, of observations of my own,
which I take the liberty to state in connection with
this subject. It is a well-attested fact that persons
52 MURDER AND CRIME.
acquire a sort of mania to lie, steal, etc., brought
about by circumstances most insidious, and over
which they have no control ; among which we men-
tion parental transmission, associations, bodily habits,
and influence of society in general. While lecturing
in Southern Illinois, I was consulted by the parents
of a little girl about fourteen years of age, in regard
to her uncontrollable desire to steal. She could not
be allowed to visit the neighbors without bringing
disgrace upon herself and her family. My prescrip-
tion was to make her carry back any article stolen
by her to the owner, and ask their pardon. Two
years after, I received a letter stating that my sug-
gestion almost entirely cured the child. The parents
were in the habit of punishing the little girl severely
by whipping her until she would promise never to do
so again, thus forcing her to lie, for neither the pun-
ishment nor her promise was strong enough to coun-
teract the mania to steal. This, of course, I strictly
forbid, and in place of the parents carrying back the
stolen goods of the little girl, as they were in the
habit of doing, require her to do so herself, and only
reason with her, and never punish the child in a
a corporal manner ; also never to force her to make
a promise unless sure she could keep it. I also re-
quired the mother to visit the neighbors frequently
with the child; for seclusion from society would have
made matters worse. In conversation with the lady,
and she was a woman of more than an ordinary
mind, the mother admitted that when young she
was nearly as bad as her daughter; and not until
after she had given birth to this child did she entirely
CONSTITUTIONAL PREDISPOSITION TO CRIME. 53
overcome this inclination. Even now, she thought,
if her condition in life were unhappy, if she were in
want, she could be easily induced to exercise that
inclination. But her husband was a very good man,
and loved her, and did everything to make his family
happy., I might relate hundreds of similar cases of
different shades and degrees of the mania to steal,
lie, etc., and also, were it necessary, give many state-
ments elicited from convicts on this subject. Dr.
Buckley, who is one of our best authorities on this
subject, even states that there is a condition which
creates a mania for burning buildings, torturing and
destroying animals and men, poisoning persons and
taking the greatest delight in doing so. Another
class, who commit crime from necessity, are not to be
classed among those who are constitutionally so in-
clined, and require different treatment at the hands
of the law. It is a common proverb that " necessity
is the mother of invention." So necessity is often
the mother of crime. One person is stronger and
constitutionally better qualified to resist temptation,
and overcome circumstances of necessity, than an-
other.
These persons may be divided into three classes.
The first are by force of necessity acted upon so as
to at once begin to plan, and soon are enabled to
carry out their desire successfully. The second, think
and lay plans how to steal money or property in or-
der to help themselves, but their conscience will not
allow them to carry them into execution. An ac-
quaintance of mine positively made this statement to
me, and I have reason, from his candor, to believe
54 MURDER AND CRIME.
that he made a truthful disclosure of his experience,
which might have ended in years of toil in the peni-
tentiary. He stated that a few years ago he was
greatly in need of four hundred dollars, to pay the
balance due on his farm. His neighbor had just re-
ceived six hundred dollars, and he knew, from con-
versation he had with him, where it was kept. An
idea struck him very forcibly that his neighbor was
rich and had no use for that money, while he was so
much in need of it. This lead him to think that he
could steal the money, and no one would even know
it, a thought which, he said, never before entered
his mind. He fixed on a night when he should per-
form this act. He had gone about half the distance
on his errand when his remorse was so great that he
returned. He discussed the pros and cons, the ifs
and ands, in his mind for one week, when he made
the second attempt. This time he arrived at the
gate of the neighbor's house, and was again forced to
abandon the job ; not from fear of detection, for
everything was in his favor to perpetrate a success-
ful robbery; but the various faculties of caution,
reason, conscientiousness, and others argued the right
and wrong and the consequences so strongly with the
faculty of acquisitiveness that they became masters
of the situation, and held in subjection a power that
was about to force this man to commit a crime. All
was quiet for two weeks, he making every endeavor
to hire money ; but he failed, and the force of neces-
sity became so great that he was induced to make
the third attempt, and this time pried open the win-
dow with a crow-bar, and got quite into the room
CONSTITUTIONAL PREDISPOSITION TO CRIME. 55
where the money was, but abandoned the job as be-
fore. The next morning he called on this neighbor,
and without any trouble obtained the requisite loan.
He said he was glad, for had the old gentleman re-
fused, he believed he should have attempted it anoth-
er time, and been successful. Thus we see that to
commit crime requires some practice, some training,
even where the disposition is naturally strong. This
man was not a good robber, he did not understand
his business. A little instruction, however, would
have made him successful. For example, had he
taken a glass of whisky before he started, he would
have had no such trouble as he related. Thousands
of our criminals first deaden their moral sensibilities
with some narcotic, most generally whisky, before
they undertake to carry out their criminal designs.
The third class are equally acted upon by force of
necessity ; but never think of lying or stealing to
help themselves out of trouble. They use t means to
accomplish ends, and endeavor to make the best of
life. These persons are honest, and would not lie or
steal, to make a cent more. While traveling with a
friend, we had occasion to remain over night at a
hotel in Lincoln, 111. My friend had three hundred
dollars, which he placed under his pillow for safety.
The next morning he forgot it, and we left the town.
It was not until the afternoon that he discovered the
loss. He immediately returned to the hotel, with a
hope of recovering his money. The chamber-maid
had found the money and returned it to the clerk,
who locked it up until the owner should call for it.
The clerk and the maid both were properly rewarded
56 MURDER AND CRIME.
for their honesty. This maid was only receiving
three dollars per week for her labor, and had also
very poor clothing. Why did she not attempt to
keep this money, which she could have done as easy
as not ? Simply for the reason that she was naturally
honest. One not so would have stolen the money
That no one is strictly honest is not true, for we
could cite hundreds of similar circumstances that
show conclusively that there are persons strictly
honest, who are naturally and constitutionally in-
clined to do right to render unto all men that which
belongs to them. Such persons do right because it
is right to do right, and not from policy, but for that
reason also it brings happiness to themselves as well
as others.
" Then be them to thyself true,
It will follow, as does night the day,
Thou canst not be false to any man."
No. i.
No. 2.
No. 3.
No. 4.
THE TWO PATHS OF THE CHILD. 57
CHAPTER IV.
THE TWO PATHS OF THE CHILD.
The subject of this chapter is the child, in its
career through life. To bring the subject clearly
before the mind of our reader, we will suppose two
boys begin existence at the same time, both born of
healthy parents. Each of these boys has equal
rights, so far as subsistence is concerned. The same
sun that shines on the one shines on the other ; the
same atmosphere supplies both with oxygen ; and
each have equal claims upon their parents and society.
Both have a just claim to a correct education, a
proper training of their faculties, and in every way
being fitted to take their places, each , respectively in
his proper station in life, becoming a useful member
of society. The original design of nature in the crea-
tion of human beings, doubtless, is their own ulti-
mate happiness. But in these two boys we find it is
quite contrary, the one going astray on the left hand
path, while the other continues on the right hand
path, the one leading to destruction and sorrow ;
the other, to life and happiness. Why this is so is
our present object of inquiry. Let us, then, follow
the one upon the right hand path, and the other upon
the left hand path of life. The subject of prenatal
condition and prenatal transmission of constitutional
predisposition to human offspring is fully discussed
in other parts of this book. We take these boys,
53 MURDER AND CRIME.
supposing that they are equal in organization, and
still the end is so dissimilar: And why ? The wood-
cuts Nos. i and 2 represent health and intelligence ;
and, as rudimentary human beings, divinity and holi-
ness. No one can consistently argue that there is
any depravity here, or that by nature they spring
into life "desperately wicked." No; it is a pleasure
to look upon them. Every line marks perfection
upon the "face divine." They are both now on their
way to the ultimatum of life. Action is a law of
nature, and these two boys must act ; there is no
standing still. They take a step in advance. And
this brings us to the wood-cuts Nos. 3 and 4. How
different in appearance ! What a wonderful improve-
ment in the one on the right ; and how different the
other, on the left ! Let us inquire into the reason of
this change. We have stated that both must act.
Both are now growing, though very tender, as the
little sprout that makes its first appearance in your
garden in the spring of the year. Like the tender
sprout, they are affected and mainly controlled by
their surroundings. The young plant requires proper
cultivation. The weeds must be pulled up around it,
and all obstacles to a natural growth removed. If
the husbandman allows the weeds to grow up with
the good seeds sown, nine chances to one the tender
twig becomes crippled and deformed ; and thus by
neglect a crooked, homely, uncouth, and worthless
tree in after life is the result. So with our two boys.
No matter how pure the germ, by neglect of the
proper cultivation of the germinal faculties, and the
physiology of the body, depravity soon stamps itself
THE TWO PATHS OF THE CHILI). 59
upon the physiognomy, and it is apparent to every one
acquainted with human nature, that this boy is on the
high road to disease, sorrow, and crime.
The boy on the right hand path has thus far re-
ceived proper cultivation of the faculties ; his sur-
roundings are more favorable ; the example of his
parents is better ; and he is growing under the sun-
shine of right training, correct associations, and happy
surroundings. His mother does not tell him a lie
o
every time she goes away from home. The father
does not every day make the boy great promises
which he does not keep. He does not use profane
language, nor chew tobacco, nor drink intoxicating
drinks, nor allow himself to become angry in the
presence of his child. He never leaves home with-
out a kiss anda"by-by, Johnny." He awards his
boy for the good he does, and explains the right in
contrast to the wrong. Instead of applying the, rod
he reasons with his boy, and by example teaches him
to return good for evil. The mother co-operates in
this great work, and if she is a true mother she will
take the lead. These good parents select proper
associations for their child, and always know where
he is, and what he is doing. They will teach him
correct habits of life ; how to divide his time, a
time to play, a time to work, a time to eat, a time to
read, a time to go to school, a time to sleep. They
will select the proper kinds of food, and prepare it
in a healthful manner. They will teach him how to
bathe and keep clean, how to exercise, and how to
rest. They will also provide the proper kind of
literature, and in every way see that their boy
6O MURDER AND CRIME.
receives a well-balanced education physically, mor-
ally, intellectually, and socially. They will also
provide him with some employment.
The boy on the left hand receives the opposite at-
tention, and we find opposite results. He grows up
among the weeds of unfavorable surroundings, and
we behold the effects in his face. He is a " crooked
stick" at best; and what shall we do with him?
By practice and cultivation, human depravity may
be changed from bad to worse or from depravity
to goodness. This boy, if allowed to go on under
the thus far unfavorable training, and neglect of
proper cultivation, will continue to become more
and more degenerated; but, like the little plant
in the garden, which the weeds may have almost
smothered, by careful cultivation may become re-
vived, improved, and end in a moderately fine growth.
By removing all unfavorable influences, correcting
the daily habits, setting a good example, and giving
both body and mind the proper exercise, this boy
may also pass upon the right hand path. But while
this work of reformation is accomplishing, the first
boy has steadily progressed ; consequently, the boy
who has spent say five years in the wrong direction
is just thus far in the rear ; so much of his life is lost
to him. But we are safe in asserting that the boy
who has moved five years upon the left hand path
has lost ten years ; for it will take five years to get
back to the first position. To acquire a second
nature will require considerable time, and I am of
the opinion that it will take longer to overcome a
second nature, than it did to acquire it ; hence
THE TWO PATHS OF THE CHILD. 6 1
all reformation is slow. The application of princi-
ples of cure must be strictly natural. The young
are easily lead out of the right path, but are also
more easily set right again. A boy can contract the
habit of chewing tobacco in from one to two weeks,
and in about the same time can cure himself again.
But if the habit is continued to adult age, it will be
difficult to reform. So in regard to any of the vices.
Parents, and men and women in general, you can-
not be too careful in setting a good example before
children ; for the child observes and copies
EVERY STEP YOU TAKE.
Thence we can justly hold parents and society re-
sponsible, to a great extent, for the deeds of the ris-
ing generation. The boy whom we picture upon the
right path would not thus remain in the right were
there no inducements, or if he were not assisted and
guided by his parents, associates, teachers, and per-
sons who live by the precepts which they teach.
Neither would the boy whom we picture upon the
left, pursue so unnatural and unhappy a course were
he not stimulated in that direction. It is a maxim
that you must bend the tree while it is yet young,
for when old it is almost impossible. " Train up the
child in the way he should go, and when he is old he
will not depart from it." In our story of these two
boys, we have divided human life into, four stages :
childhood, youth, manhood, and old age. The most
important of these four stages is childhood ; hence
here is where we must begin our work of correcting,
62 MURDER AND CRIME.
educating, and drawing out the principles of good-
ness originally implanted in place of the evil ; for
as we hold either good or evil principles may, by
education, become the ruling power through life.
Napoleon once said, " Give me the children of any
nation, and I will overthrow the government of that
nation in ten years." We will be more reasonable,
and say, take the children for the next twenty years,
and we can banish whisky from the land, or recon-
struct our entire government, if it be necessary for
the happiness of our people. To accomplish this, it
will simply be necessary to so instruct the faculties
and powers of the child as to keep it upon the right-
hand path of life. If we would increase our drink-
ing shops, give lawyers and physicians plenty of work,
fill our poor houses, insane asylums, and prisons, all
that is required is to stimulate and foster the propen-
sities, faculties, and passions of the child tending to
keep it upon the left-hand path of life. And in
twenty years this nation will be sufficiently miserable,
even so as to open direct communication with the
great city of destruction, sending its victims upon
the left-hand path as it were with lightning speed,
the child making its journey in a few years.
Let us now take a step in advance, and follow our
two boys through the second stage of life from
youth to manhood. Here, as before, our illustra-
tions speak for themselves. Behold wood-cuts Nos.
5 and 6. What a wonderful change has been wrought
in the constitutions of these two boys! No. 5 shows
evident improvement. See how cleanly and tidy he
appears in his dress ; his hair properly combed ; his
No. 5.
No. 6.
No. 8.
THE TWO PATHS OF THE CHILD. 63
form straight and comely ; his figure attractive ; his
forehead massive; his eyes lively and bright. In a
word, his face bespeaks intelligence, refinement, and
a moral and religious character, which makes every-
body love him, speak well of him, and, in the language
of the poet,
" Behold in him .a man."
He was taught all the liberal branches of educa-
tion, and not only caused to speak his pieces, but by
precept daily, step after step, to bring into practice
all the requisite qualifications necessary to make an
exemplary man ; enabling him to take his place in
life as parent, teacher, preacher, lawyer, physician,
statesman, or to pursue any other honorable voca-
tion in life equally necessary to make up what we
truly may term good society.
Now, let us behold for a moment wood-cut No. 6.
We see that a wonderful change has been wrought
since we saw him in youth. His tilting hat, his cigar
in his mouth, scars upon his face, roguish eyes, un-
couth appearance, filthy, shabby clothing, deformed
figure, in a word, his face and general appearance,
bespeak depravity. Physically, mentally, and
morally he is almost a wreck. He did not " usure
with his talents," he did not make use of every op-
portunity to improve his powers in the right direc-
tion. It may have been that he learned to speak his
piece in school, but was not taught by precept. His
mother sent him to school to get him out of her
way; allowed him to play on the street till ten o'clock
in the night, to keep him out of her way. His father
64 MURDER AND CRIME.
spent his evenings down town. The boy received
attention only when a bad report was brought to the
father or the mother, when he was punished with a
rawhide. He learned to hate his parents. ' The fac-
ulty of combativeness was strongly stimulated at
home, and fighting with other boys, and being nat-
urally intelligent, "made of good grit," was soon
called a "jocky fellow," took his glass with ease, threw
the dice skillfully, and won at games of cards. His
vocation was that of a vagabond, liar, robber, and
" black-leg," in general ; he was well trained in his
profession, understood every turn and sharp hit cal-
culated to make him a successful pilgrim upon the
left-hand path of life. He possessed every qualifica-
tion to make him distinguished among his fellows
the elements necessary to make up what we may call
" very bad society."
I must beg to be indulged here, and revert again
in this boy's history to one prevalent cause which
leads its thousands upon the wrong path, where the
majority end their life in disgrace perhaps in prison,
perhaps on the gallows; or, at least, live an unhappy
life, die broken-hearted, and prematurely end a life
which otherwise might have been prolonged. I refer
to the literature
OF TO-DAY,
which is so extensively circulated" throughout the
land, such as the Police Gazette, New York Ledger,
New York Weekly, Saturday Night, sporting papers,
dime novels, and higher-priced novels, tragical litera-
THE TWO PATHS OF THE CHILD. 65
ture, unnatural love stories, robber books, tragical
theatrical performances, nude and immodest exhibi-
tions of women in theaters, and illustrations in papers
and books, all only intended to draw out, or act upon
the passions and faculties of the lowest order of
men and women. This sort of literature we term
light reading, and literature of easy virtue. This
kind of reading feeds the mind the same as pork,
coffee, and tobacco would feed the body, and will
produce discord among the faculties. The person so
educated searches after the enjoyment of those un-
natural conditions with which the mind is impressed.
The subject of this chapter, the boy on the left-hand
path, was mainly fed on this kind of literature sus-
tained by gaming for money, " bad whisky," and worse
than all, evil associations.
I am well acquainted with the history of a man
who \vas born on an adjoining farm. We grew up
together until we were fifteen years of age, he being
one year my senior. He was not a bad boy. His
mother was a very good woman. His father was a
man of easy virtue, yet no one could speak aught of
him. The father, however, indulged the boy in many
things, such as an occasional fight at school, which
was well enough in self-defence, but this boy brought
on quarrels, and his father did not reprove him, but
always spoke of his " smart boy." At the age of
fourteen, some one in the little town, within one mile
of our homes, loaned him the History, Life and
Death of that noted robber and murderer, John A.
Murrel. He read and studied that book until he
could almost repeat it from memory. This was the
5
66 MURDER AND CRIME
beginning of his ruin. He bought and borrowed all
this sort of literature that was at his command, and
I often heard him say that some day he should be
distinguished as a highway robber. This was all
kept from his mother, but the father gave him money
to buy novels. ; At the age of sixteen, he ran away
from home, following the Ohio river. He served a
time in the Tennessee penitentiary, and now is learn-
ing the cooper trade in the penitentiary, at Jefferson-
ville, Indiana. His mother died in great sorrow,
lamenting to her last moments the loss of her son,
who was once a noble boy.
Our hero upon the left-hand path possessed an
extraordinarily strong constitution, or he would have
died long before he even reached middle age. It is
a physiological law that those who live a life of de-
bauchery, and in violation of nature's laws, do not
live out half the days allotted them by nature. An
unbalanced education of the moral and intellectual
nature, and disobedience to the health-giving princi-
ples of the body, create conditions well illustrated in
wood-cut No. 8. Contrast this with wood-cut No. 7,
and we see the end of our two boys, who started in
life at the same time and under similar conditions.
How different is the end ! Our boy on the left con-
tracted gradually, through life, such habits, and
acquired such conditions as are now lashing him even
unto death. His own vagabond friends have for-
saken htm, society despises him, though, to a great
extent, he is the workmanship of its own hands. The
good people of the church give him but little atten-
tion ; the day of reformation is passed. Retribution
THE TWO PATHS OF THE CHILD. 67
surely follows sin. Nature is "true to herself." Dis-
eased in soul and body, what shall we do for him,
kill him, nurse him, teach him, or doctor him? (See
Part Second of this book.) He would prefer death,
if he could die. He calls aloud for some healing
balm for some one to cool his parched lips. Earth
has no charms for him ; all his joys have been en-
gulfed in the sea of vice; the world has forsaken
him, and now, an inmate of a prison cell, chained and
condemned to death for crime.
The boy originally pure and divine,
The most miserable now of human kind ;
Every act of life wrote upon his face
That the good was there, but vice now took its place.
Wood-cut No. 7 represents our boy on the right-
hand path in old age. Here we behold the marks of
a well-spent life. The opposite represents a life of
depravity ; but this, purity and good intentions. He
has labored for himself; he has labored for others.
His heart beats for all mankind; he is the good old
grandfather, giving good advice to the rising genera-
tion. His mind is well stored with knowledge; all
of his faculties have been well trained through life,
and consequently he is as happy as life can make
him. Such a man is not afraid to die ; he is pre-
pared for death, happy in life, happy in death, and
the future can bring nothing but happiness. A
healthy body, healthy mind, and healthy character
are the best qualifications to enable us to pass into
that happy state called Heaven.
68 MURDER AND CRIME.
CHAPTER V.
ON MAN'S SOCIAL NATURE.
Man is an intellectual, moral, and social beino;. In
o
this only is he distinguished from, and rises above all
other created beings. The intellectual gives him
understanding, the moral a sense of ri^ht and wrono-,
o' o o 7
and the social a desire to associate with his fellows,
which makes him friendly, happy, and is that 'which
forms society. The first object or desire with all
human beings is to be happy. This he seeks in
various channels; if he fail in one, he will try an-
other ; sometimes he lays his plans and labors for a
lifetime in a certain direction, overcoming all obsta-
cles in the way, and often at the end of life finds it
all a failure. He seeks congenial associations in the
various organizations of society, and only to renew
his search when he finds himself disappointed. He
will labor and study how to accumulate wealth, all to
gain social position, and each year he adds to his
" glistening store ;" still the desired end has not been
reached. He leaves his rural vocation for some petty
office in a crowded city, and only regrets his step
when too late. Wjhile young he aspires to some pro-
fession ; he enters it with great expectations, and
only sees his folly in after life. He soon finds there
is no royal road to professional distinction. So, in
every vocation and channel of human life, men and
women are daily discouraged at finding the road to
ON MAN'S SOCIAL NATURE. 6g
social, political, and professional position and fame
beset with thorns on all sides, and happiness is not
to be found in that direction.
Men and women in their social intercourse with
each other are mainly attracted and repelled, to or
from each other, by two forces, which are antago-
nistic, and bring untold misery and unhappiness to
individuals, communities, and society in general.
These two forces are wealth and poverty; wealth
attracts and poverty repels. Those who are poor
are constantly striving to gain wealth, at least a home,
and as the common expression is, appear moderately
well in society. Those who have wealth are con-
stantly afraid that the poor will rise and become their
equals. The mistress is terribly chagrined if Bridget
should manage, by industry, to treat herself to a
dress nearly as good as her mistress, especially if she
has it made fashionably. The capitalist has all that
money can buy; he lives in a fine house, drives his
fine horses, keeps his servants, wears fine clothing,
gets into office, makes our laws, and is said to be
respectable. He is the center of attraction, and peo-
ple will spend their last dollar to keep up appearances
in society. The poor man, the laborer, the mechanic,
the clerk, the student, have social organs, as well as
the rich, which demand social position. Yet he
thinks the rich are happy, and the poor only miserable.
They are excluded from the social intercourse of
what is called respectable society, and happiness
comes not to them.
They are forced to associate with those in equal
financial circumstances; and thus the mechanic, the
7O MURDER AND CRIME.
laborer, or what is termed, in the language of society,
the " irrepressibles," the non-respectable class, become
the center of repulsion. There is a constant effort
on the one hand to establish a social line of demar-
cation, and on the other hand, a terrible strife to tear
it down, to blot out, if possible, all such distinction.
Here is a prolific source, which furnishes the majority
of our criminals. It killed Fisk ; it kills its thou-
sands; it grinds the poor; it jeopardizes the rich
man's wealth ; it enters all stations of life, and fur-
nishes its victims ; it fills our prisons, the gallows,
with its culprits, the asylum with its inmates, the
county-house with its paupers, and throws little
orphans upon the cold charities of the world, without
a guiding star, whither to steer their little bark upon
the life current of the world. Man is a social being,
and often uses wrong means to satisfy the social na-
ture. This he is forced to do nine times out of ten
by society. The fifty or hundred dollars a month is
not sufficient to pay rent, or pay on a little home, to
feed and clothe the children, and buy silk dresses or
velvet cloaks for the wife, in order to appear well in
society. Now, if the lie is not told to make the dol-
lar, or, under cover of the night, property unlawfully
appropriated, they withdraw from society, and live a
life of comparative seclusion, which is almost as sure
to lead to crime as if the first inclination had been
indulged. By and by, they become dissatisfied with
life, and soon misunderstandings between husband
and wife end in an unhappy manner, for which they
are severely censured by society, and receive not the
slightest sympathy. The children imbibe from their
ON MAN'S SOCIAL NATURE.
parents' bad example an unhappy disposition, and if
the difficulty is not cured, and they do not commit
crime, their offspring, almost as a rule, end in the
commission of some terrible crime, to which, I hold,
society is accessory, and should be held responsible
as well as the poor victim.
Society has not provided a place of amusement
for the working class to attend once a week for a
mere nominal sum, where the social nature and other
faculties of the mind can have an hour's relaxation
from the cares and labors of the day. There are no
lecture halls where the working man with his family
can attend once a week free, or at least, for a small
sum, where our lecturers, physicians, clergymen, law-
yers, statesmen, scientists, teachers, farmers, mechan-
ics, and business men, should be invited to lecture, in
the course of the year, on all subjects pertaining to
man's education, reformation, and cultivation of the
various faculties, and thus tend to improve the con-
dition of all classes. Other public institutions ot
learning should be erected in every community, as
we shall show in another part of this work, where the
social as well as the intellectual and moral faculties
may receive proper attention. The social " rings,"
as they now exist in society, I think, are productive
of evil. Like many " rings," monopolies, and asso-
ciations which combine their efforts in order to gain
the controlling power, society has gradually been or-
ganized into "rings," monopolizing power, which
should be discouraged. The social faculties require
careful training the same as the intellectual and moral.
These faculties are blind, and rush headlong in the
72 MURDER AND CRIME.
pursuit of happiness, irrespective of right and wrong,
or consequences ; that is, a man or woman unac-
quainted with physiology will, under the influence of
the social nature alone, indulge in the social glass,
and while having a "jolly good time," circumstances
over which their intellectual and moral faculties have
lost all control,^will force them on, and before they
have regained their equanimity, have committed some
terrible crime. The condition or end of such per-
sons is brought about generally by a slow process ;
gradually indulging uncultivated inclinations ; igno-
rantly, or by circumstances over which, as individuals
alone, they have no control, contracting a sort of
mania, and becoming dangerous members of society.
Another, uninformed and unbalanced, fosters his
social propensities, and labors from morning till
night, year in and year out, in accumulating a few
dollars more, mainly to gain a high social position.
The intellectual and moral is called into requisition,
mainly to aid the social inclinations, irrespective of
the right or the wrong, so the end is attained. If
this course be persisted in, or unrestrained, it will end
in crime. Society is the actuating principle ; wealth
the attractive, and poverty the repelling force. Such
persons are living in constant fear of becoming poor,
and, if so, they would be forever in discord ; conse-
quently we find a wonderful struggle among men and
women to rise and "get a little more."
The affections and the sexual passions, unrestrained
and uncultivated, lead thousands into criminal chan-
nels, secret vices, and social discord. Society has a
thousand and more allurements to entrap and seduce
ON MANS SOCIAL NATURE. 73
those who have by nature, or by virtue of birth, these
faculties large, and are otherwise unbalanced in their
intellectual, moral and social nature. Men and wo-
men disguise their true nature by art, dress, and
"putting on style." The little girl is dressed a la
mode by exposing her legs, regardless of modesty
and physiological laws, ruining her health, and per-
verting her social nature, all to be in style, and ap-
pear well in fashionable society. Society what a
word ! who knows what it is, and what it means ?
How little attention is given by the people to the
wonderful influence that society exerts upon the
moral and social nature of the individual. Atten-
tion is only given to the unfortunate one who is
caught stealing, or in the commission of any other
crime, and society cries aloud," Protection, protection
against such fiends !" No one ever suggests the idea
of inquiring into the cause of a murder or any other
crime. It is true, the immediate provocations are
sufficiently investigated at the time of the trial.
This is simply treating the wound inflicted upon so-
ciety; and the constitutional, predisposing cause,
which permeates the very soul and body of society,
of which the poor criminal is simply a slight erup-
tion, is lost sight of; and thus we are only treating
the effect, instead of removing the cause. Law is
only instituted to reach the criminal ; lawyers deal
only with the criminal ; physicians prescribe only for
the sick ; and society makes no real provision for the
prevention of crime. Let the lawyer lecture upon
the philosophy of " Law and Order ;" the physician,
on physiology, natural laws, and how to be healthy;
74 MURDER AND CRIME.
the teacher, on the understanding ; the clergyman,
on moral philosophy; and the scientist, on science,
etc. And I apprehend, when we open these various
channels of education, in addition to those that are
now in operation (and, I hope, are in good working
order), that the time is not far hence when society
will be so reformed that comparatively few crimes
will be perpetrated. We, then, lay crime at the door
of society ; and to eradicate it from among us, more
attention must be given to the cultivation of the so-
cial, as well as the moral and intellectual faculties of
the rising generation.
THE WORKING MAN, 75
CHAPTER VI.
THE WORKING MAN.
The working men and women constitute the only-
foundation upon which we can base the perpetuation
of our civilized and republican form of government.
Capital has been said to be superior to labor, and to
control it. This I do not credit, however. A man
can till the soil, and grow potatoes, wheat, and corn,
thus maintaining a subsistence independent of capi-
tal. Therefore, I hold that labor should be honored,
and capital made subordinate, or better, be co-opera-
tive, as either is almost indispensable ; but we cannot
admit that capital is the superior. By the working
men and women, we mean all those people who labor
for a living. The men and women who labor with
their hands in the shop or field to maintain an hon-
orable subsistence, are, other things being equal,
in my judgment, the respectable classes. So long as
society judges men by the clothes they wear, the
amount of money and property they own, so long
will true merit, honesty in motive, intellectual and
moral acquirements, go unrewarded, and will not be
considered necessary qualifications to attain an hon-
orable position in society.
44 If I were tall to reach the pole,
Or grasp the ocean in my span,
I must be measured by my soul,
For the mind's the standard of the man."
76 MURDER AND CRIME.
True merit of character, honest motives, educ;
tional attainments, dignified deportment, etiquette
strictly based upon the laws of nature, truth, love,
and friendship, are qualifications which society should
hold at a high premium, rather than at a discount.
To acquire these requisite individual attainments,
and reconstruct society so that the greatest amount
of happiness may come unto all classes of men, and
thereby prevent future commission of crime, the con-
dition of the working classes must be so improved
that greater facilities are given for the expansion and
development of the higher nature of mankind.
In the condition in which we now find the working
man, he has but little time, and much less opportu-
nity, to attend to the exercise of his natural faculties.
The majority of the working classes are comparative-
ly short lived, the average longevity of the men and
women of our factories and shops, the mechanic and
common laborer, being only about twenty-eight years,
while those who carry on business, the professional,
and the wealthy, attain an average longevity of about
forty; proving conclusively that the physical condi-
tion of the working classes is not so favorable to
length of days as that of the last class mentioned.
It is a physiological truth that a man laboring in-
cessantly for ten or twelve hours out of twenty-four
expends each day a greater amount of vital force
than nature is enabled to restore during the few
hours of rest and sleep which he is permitted to en-
joy, especially if he should set apart three or four
hours for mental improvement reading, conversing,
attending lectures or places of amusement. By this
THE WORKING MAN. JJ
means he becomes physically and mentally unbal-
anced. His body becomes diseased, and, of course,
the mind sympathizes, he is made unhappy ; life
has lost its pleasures, and if he does not commit
crime, his offspring will ; and he succumbs to the
destroying force that prematurely ends his sorrowful
life, which otherwise might have been prolonged and
made happy. A man performing what is called " a
good day's work" of ten hours' hard labor requires, it
he complies with physiological laws, at least three
hours to attend to his toilet and other little matters
about his home (for working men, as a rule, cannot
keep body servants), before the bodily forces react
and become moderately well balanced before he is
really in a condition to give the brain-work the neces-
sary attention. We would give him three or four
hours for mental improvement, and the time required
to come and go to and from his place of labor.
Thus, altogether, at least, eighteen hours of his daily
life are spent in a state of activity, expending a
greater amount of vital force than is re-accumulated.
To say nothing of the restless hours spent in bed,
trying to go to sleep, and the many hours during
which the various faculties of the mind receive no at-
tention, we still find the majority of the working
class in a very deplorable condition, viewing the sub-
ject, as we do, from a physiological standpoint. Life
itself is an expenditure of the original vital capital
transmitted by parental creation, and if we in an un-
natural manner call an extra amount into use, with-
out attention given to the necessary restorative
means, we cut short our existence, and render our
78 MURDER AND CRIME.
days most miserable. So long, then, as men disobey
physiological laws in their various corporeal exer-
cises, in their daily vocations, and in the exercise of
the mind, so long will we have need for courts of
justice, and prisons.
Science has revealed many truths, as well as
Divine revelations, and among those revelations is
the now established maxim that physical de-
pravity creates intellectual as well as moral
and social depravity. To avert the present tenden-
cies of crime, bring about a general regeneration of
each individual member of society, and establish new
institutions of learning, and additional methods of
developing that divine and more noble nature of
man. All have a common interest in the work, and
all should take a part. I will state here a firm con-
viction, formed from long observation, that too much
one-sided education has been given to the rising gen-
eration in times past; z. e. y the churches have hitherto
mainly given their whole time to the cultivation of
the moral and religious nature alone, while the laws
governing the corporeal are almost wholly, neglected.
I will illustrate my idea. A celebrated clergyman in
Brooklyn, N. Y., receives a salary of twenty thousand
dollars. Fifteen thousand dollars of that money is
invested in a corn farm. The products of that farm
are gathered and sold to the distillers, and that fiery
liquid, alcohol, which all nature universally abhors, is
bottled and sold at the highest market price to the
very class of men, whom, by his previous labors, he
sought to reform, to convince of their sins, and, if
possible,
" To render happier a cheerless lot."
THE WORKING MAN. 79
But by this means all is counteracted, and if any
difference in the condition of men, they are worse
than if the first effort had not been made. By this
illustration I wish to convey this idea : in the culti-
vation of man's capabilities, by an effort in one di-
rection, and total neglect in another, a counteracting
force is created, and the opposite force is just as
liable to become the controlling power of the being
as the one which is correct, and hence such educa-
tion is really worse than no education, and, no doubt,
is a great source of crime.
To revert to the working classes, and further in-
quire into their conditions and well-being, if possible,
to fully understand the real causes of crime, I will
say that I am strongly in favor of the
EIGHT HOUR SYSTEM,
which, if rightly understood, and diligently applied,
will doubtless much improve the physical condition
of the laboring man ; and I can not see that capital,
which employs labor, is not also much the gainer
thereby. On the principle that " an ounce of pre-
vention is better than a pound of cure," we claim
that it is much cheaper to prevent crime than it is to
maintain courts, jails, prisons and poor-houses. This
being the case, it would seem quite reasonable that a
universal effort should be made, for it is quite easy
to establish the fact that too much occupation pre-
disposes to physical, moral, and intellectual depravity
Let a universal decree go forth that every working
man cease his labor at five P. M., and every store,
8O MURDER AND CRIME.
shop, or other place of business, be closed at seven
P. M., and I affirm that the present condition of all
classes will be vastly improved ; and where we now
have loafers, vagabonds, and criminals, respectable
men and women will take their places. All classes
will then get through with their work during the day,
do their shopping, buying, and selling, so that the
evening may be spent in rest, amusement, music,
social enjoyment, and mental recreation, which should
always, however, have for its object progress and
improvment in divine humanity. As it is now, men
keep open their stores, shops, and places of business,
most generally until late hours of the night, attract-
ing around their counters a certain class, with a hope
of making a " few cents more." Go into any of our
towns, and announce a lecture on physiology, and at
eight o'clock P. M., you will find the majority of peo-
ple shopping or loitering about in their usual places
of resort saloons, stores, etc. These places hatch
out a majority of our criminals. The lecturer will
have a few of the righteous ones who "require not
salvation." By too much occupation, and not a proper
division of our time, manifold evils follow as a nat-
ural consequence. Eight hours of well applied
industry will insure to every person -a vine-clad
home and a pleasant little spot of ground, and we
are safe in saying also a competency to leave for
those dependent on them to enjoy. Eight hours for
our daily vocation, eight hours for rest and mental
improvement, and eight hours for sleep. This seems
to be the most natural division of time that we can
have, unless our object is to work men and women
THE WORKING MAN. 8 1
like beasts of burden, and traffic with the life and
souls of men. Who will take the lead in this great
work? Of course some one must make an effort.
The good people in every community should call a
convention, and hold adjourned meetings once every
week, until the necessary laws can be passed, estab-
lishing the eight-hour system, closing every shop,
saloon, store, or other place of business, at six, or at
least at seven, P. M.
Consider the construction of public halls for lec-
turing and other educational purposes. Let society
change its tactics, and let every body co-operate in
the accumulation of bodily health, brain capital,
moral and social worth, rather than to accumulate
mere earthly wealth, which is any day liable to " take
to itself wings and fly away."
For the present, our churches, and county court-
house, and school-house may be occupied one night
each week, at least until appropriations can be made,
and provisions for the great work of prevention of
crime in reality, by the proper education of a class
of people who are woefully neglected, and who fur-
nish the majority of our criminals. Moral suasion,
it may be argued, is all that is necessary. We be-
lieve in moral suasion, but
LEGAL PERSUASION
is the only hope, in controlling those whose moral
faculties are almost entirely dormant. The man or
woman who can not see the right, and will not obey
the right, when it is made self-evident to every reas-
6
82 MURDER AND CRIME.
oning mind, it is necessary to control by legal per-
suasion. We spoke as follows, in a lecture in Ohio,
a few years since, though our remarks were directed
merely in a temperance point of view ; still, what
was said is applicable to all conditions which we hope,
to reform, mentioned in this chapter.
The question, " How may the temperance cause
be successful ?" is, no doubt, interesting to every tem-
perance man and woman. It has been the theme for
many years. Various plans have been adopted ; and
in course of time, each, in turn, has done some good.
The success was in proportion as these plans, or
temperance institutions, were based upon natural and
fundamental principles. For any institution or or-
ganization having man's higher development for its
object, grounded upon these principles, must and will
finally succeed. A truth can never be annihilated ;
it may be retarded in its progress for a time, but
finally it will rule. Truth, like the fixed laws of
nature, is an emanation from God, and, like himself,
is all-powerful. Man in his undeveloped state is not
prepared to recognize it ; yet by sad experience and
careful research he is often brought to light, and oh !
how bright and beautiful.
The first work that occupied the attention of edu-
cated men in the temperance cause was to ascertain
how spirituous liquor affects the human system.
These investigations were suggested, in the first
place, by the manifest results it produced upon those
who drank it. It was evident that those who imbibed
this " fiery liquid " were soon disqualified to attend to
their daily avocations, or the ordinary duties of life ;
THE WORKING MAN. 83
and that many of the evils that afflicted mankind
were the result of intoxicating drinks, even capable
of producing death,
At first it was thought that a moderate use of it
would be healthful ; but even this was found to be
incorrect. By experiments made on animals and
men, it is now an established truth that alcohol abso-
lutely acts as a poison on the tissues of both man
and animals. In view of these facts, philosophic
minds soon began to advocate the total abstinence
of the use of so deadly a drink, as a beverage, and
in a very short time became quite a power, in per-
suading many of the best minds of the country to
advocate the total abolition of this huge monster
from among us.
Various plans were suggested, from time to time^
and all in turn have, thus far, 'been unsuccessful.
And why? Moral persuasion has ever been perse-
vered in, and all that has been accomplished, includ-
ing the work of the temperance orders, is simply
establishing a line of demarkation between the man
that drinks and he that is strictly sober and temper-
ate. There is no more association with each other.
This is an important point attained. In this we
boldly recognize the foe to human improvement, and
know where to find him.
Now, notwithstanding the general diffusion of
scientific knowledge, on the deleterious effect of
whisky on the human system, and the positive dem-
onstration to our senses every day, we find that it is
distilled, bought, sold, and drank, delivering up its
thousands annually to delirium tremens and death.
84 MURDER AND CRIME.
No one can consistently plead ignorance at this stage
of human progress ; therefore, it may be considered
a willful and malicious violation of the laws of
nature and the laws of humanity, sinning against
light and knowledge. I believe that no man has a
moral right, and should not have a legal right, to con-
sign himself under the influence of any force that may,
for a time, cause him to forget his moral obligation
to his fellow-man, and to assist him to carry out
some fiendish end, thus disgracing humanity.
In the hope of success, I recognize at this stage of the
temperance work, first, rigid and thorough legal action.
This will hold the rum-traffic and the drunkard in
check, while general diffusion of scientific knowledge
will so prepare the future man that he will be a law
unto himself. But some one will say, " This has been
tried and failed." Yes, and always will, so long as
we aim only to regulate the excessive use of it. If
we 'would dry up a stream, we must stop the fountain.
Hence, the only hope is to regulate by law the indis-
criminate distillation of rum. Place it wholly under
the control of properly-qualified physicians, the same
as other poisons and medicines. A rigid license law,
as in some states, might be useful. But this would
be simply palliating ; the disease would still exist.
Shall we compromise longer with vice ? or shall
we advocate true principles, and stand aloof from
every contaminating influence of the low, undevel-
oped brute, man, who will not hear the truth? Is it
not more noble to prevent the commission of crime
than to punish the perpetrators after the hideous
deed has been consummated? Is it not reasonable
THE WORKING MAX. 85
that a thing capable of doing so much mischief in
the land should be made a subject of positive legis-
lation, or even a topic as a political issue? Do we
not often spring issues of much less consequence ? I
apprehend that the question of abolishing negro
slavery in this country was of no greater importance
than the question before us now ; for it underlies all
evil, or all reformation.
However, before legislation can be enforced, the pub-
lic mind must be educated up to the proper point. And
here I recognize the second most important thing to
be done, which is, if we would be successful in educa-
ting the masses, to organize our forces. The time
for pleasing temperance orations, music, and young
men and ladies flirting with each other in lodges, has
gone by. Action is what the true temperance public
wants, and the whisky ring is looking for it. They
are getting a good ready, for they know that their
days are short ; and nothing deters them more than
a thorough organization.
United effort is sure of success, and to educate the
public mind up to this standard which implies
action I would suggest the organization of the fol-
lowing associations, in addition to the present church
and temperance organizations :
First, a " Young Meris Physiological Association "
should be organized in every city, town, or precinct,
where all sorts of subjects, pertaining to health,
sobriety, and consequent happiness are debated and
taught. These should meet once a week, and every
young man should belong to it. In these associations
physicians should make themselves useful.
86 MURDER AND CRIME.
Our women should be thoroughly organized into
" Women's Health Reform Associations? where all
subjects pertaining to their development could be
taught and debated, and in a very short time she
would have all the rights that her mission in life de-
mands. Here, again, physicians should take an active
part ; then, instead of prescribing a few powders for
the sick, the more noble part of the profession would
be brought into use ; that is, of being health-educa-
tors, thus preventing sickness, suffering, and often
premature death.
Then, " Children's Plealth and Temperance Lyce-
ums" should be established all over our great coun-
o
try, and in ten years thirty millions of new voices
will speak in thunder tones. The drunkard, the rum-
seller, the distiller, will not object to their children
being educated " in the way they should go." Every
child six years old should be induced to attend a
lyceum once a week. Each lyceum should be known
by some motto, inscribed upon a banner; then its
little members should be divided into groups, each
having its little banner and motto, or name, and each
child be furnished with a little flag inscribed with an
appropriate motto. This work, I believe, should be
conducted by the ladies. Every young lady should
have charge of one of these little groups. Let us
give the ladies something to do, and I believe they
will work.
ON ACCIDENTAL CRIME. 87'
CHAPTER VII.
ON ACCIDENTAL CRIME.
The various causes of crime and murder which we
have noticed in other chapters, are, as we have also
stated, of two kinds, and of different origin, the one
originating in a hereditary predisposition, and the
other in an acquired condition, which predisposes to
crime. Sufficient explanation has been given, and
the facts successfully established, to enable us to in-
troduce a third kind of crime, the origin of which is
purely accidental. Crime is divided by some into
voluntary and involuntary. Those who have by
creation a natural and irresistible impulse to commit
crime, it is claimed, do so involuntarily^ and those
who have acquired a disposition, commit a voluntary
crime. The last statement is not true, for both the
acquired and the hereditary condition, is forced on
the individual, as we have shown, and hence all ac-
tions are involuntary. Since the first condition, which
is the actuating power, is not assumed by any volun-
tary act of theirs, it cannot be reasonably argued
that the results or actions are voluntary. Again, no
person of a sound mind, highly developed perceptive
and reflective powers, well educated, with good habits,
good associations, and a harmonious physical and
mental organization, can ever commit crime. Doubt-
less a certain degree of depravity is necessary for
any one to lie, steal, and murder. Now, if a de-
88 MURDER AND CRIME.
praved condition is necessary to perpetrate crime,
can you consistently claim and prove your position,
that people voluntarily take upon themselves phy-
sical, moral, intellectual, and social depravity, in
order that they are enabled to carry out wicked de-
signs ? No one would voluntarily assume the life of
a drunkard, and none ever do, for all such conditions
gradually grow and overpower men before they are
aware.
If it is true that the good, the wise, the religious,
and those that are pure in heart, never commit crimes
such as lying, stealing, murdering, etc., then it will-
follow that such deeds are never the result of wis-
dom, reason, pure motives, and due consideration of
consequences, or the fruit of knowledge and a refined
intellectual organization. If crime could be the re-
sult of wisdom and purity of heart, then we might
call such a deed a voluntary act ; but so long as it
cannot be proven from either Divine revelation,
science, or nature, that man ever performs a volun-
tary act of life, we are not willing to admit that it is
possible for a man to commit a voluntary crime or
murder. For any person to perpetrate a willful
crime, more than ordinary depravity is required, and
depravity is generally the result of ignorance, neg-
lected culture, and unfavorable surroundings of the
young, and persons even in after life m^y acquire
such conditions.
We do not believe, then, in voluntary crime, and
so long as science will sustain this idea, we do not
hesitate to assert it.
We therefore class all such as hitherto were thought
ON ACCIDENTAL CRIME. . 89
to be voluntary crimes with those which we denomi-
nate accidental.
We have, then, only involuntary and accidental
crime to deal with. The reader here may propound
the question, if all crime is only involuntary and ac-
cidental, then, who is responsible ? and how can we
hold any one accountable for their wrong deeds? In
answer, we say, that for the very reason that such a
force exists, which in an involuntary manner causes
men to commit hideous crimes, are they accountable,
and subjects of legislation, in order to restrain all
such conditions or dispositions until the difficulty is
entirely overcome.
No one need ever fear those who have no involun-
tary feeling in the direction of committing crime ;
but it is this involuntary power which has insinuated
itself into the human family, that is so very difficult
to counteract by law and punishment.
We have conclusively argued the question, and
have shown that man is governed by law the same
as other things in nature ; and that he is not strictly
free to act, in any sense, is especially evident when
we consider the circumstances and forces which act
upon him from every direction, in every stage of life,
the time. and manner of his advent on earth, and
his exit from this mundane sphere of existence.
We will now consider what we understand by an
accidental crime. This is an event without one's
foresight or expectation ; an event that proceeds from
an unknown cause, or an unusual effect of a known
cause, and therefore not expected ; a crime committed
without an efficient intelligent cause and without
90 MURDER AND CRIME.
design. The inquiry may rise, can such a crime ever
be perpetrated ? It is quite possible that such crimes
can be committed. They are occurring every day.
A crime committed during a temporary fit of in-
sanity is an accidental one, and many persons are
liable. A gentleman of first respectability, in New
York, a few years ago, after the day's work in the
office, while splitting some kindlings, that his wife
might start a fire and cook him some supper, imagined
that he saw a monstrous fiend approaching him, and
to fight for his life, he thought, was the only alterna-
tive. It was his wife, who had come to the wood-
shed after the wood. She was killed outright by her
husband, who ran to the house, to tell his wife of the
terrible fight he had had, but could not find her.
After a few minutes he recovered his sanity, and it
almost made him permanently insane to learn that it
was his own wife he had killed, instead of the horri-
ble monster which he imagined he saw. It was
o
proven that they lived happy together, and never had
a quarrel, which fact cannot but lead one to believe
his statement. He was also a man of fine intellect
and culture, and religious in hisevery-day life. This
murder was accidental.
A few days after the battle of Perryville, while
dressing the wounded, in a field hospital, we were
summoned immediately to call and see a man who,
it was reported, had been killed by the cook in one
of the mess tents, in the other end of the catnp.
When we arrived, the man was quite dead. The
cook stated that the man kept "tormenting him" by
disturbing the fire, and snatching little pieces of
ON ACCIDENTAL CRIME. 9!
meat from the kettle, all in sport, however. The
cook commanded him to cease, or he should " slap
his mouth for him," which he did, with the palm of
his hand, on the side of the face. The man fell dead
as though he had been shot. This statement was
o
proven to be correct. The cook was a powerful
man, and it was thought that he dislocated the man's
neck; but a post mortem examination revealed no
evidence of any internal derangement, and hence we
decided that the man died from a nervous shock,
produced accidentally on the part of the cook. This
was purely an accidental murder. The railroad com-
pany at Dayton, Ohio, three years ago, were repeated-
ly informed by a competent engineer that their steam
boiler was dangerous, and further use would jeopar-
dize many lives ; but they gave the matter no atten-
tion. The boiler exploded, and killed eight or ten
men, and wounded some twenty others. This was
an accidental crime, though brought about by neglect
on the part of the officers of the company. Still we
class it among the accidental crimes. They reasoned
thus : "The boiler has lasted so long, and will, per-
haps, last a few days longer, when it will be tim'e
enough to have the matter investigated." In the
meantime, it exploded.
A train of cars is thrown from the track by reason
of a broken rail, or a defective tie, and a number of
lives are lost, which is all strictly accidental ; yet, we
hold it is criminal, for had the road been properly
inspected and put in order, the accident would, in all
probability, never have occurred. This is also mainly
the result of a strong propensity on the part of the
92 MURDER AND CRIME.
company to make money ; hence they avoid all possi-
ble repairs of their road until it is too late. After a
terrible accident has taken place, they repair their
road, on the principle that after the thief has stolen
your horse, you lock your stable. The crime con-
sists in want of vigilance, and is attributable to men
not doing their whole duty. A child is allowed to
play near a stand on which is burning an oil lamp.
By accident the child upsets the stand. The lamp
explodes, and, ten chances to one, the child is burnt
to death, arid the house, and, perhaps, a whole block
of buildings burned. The crime is accidental. The
mother did not think her child would upset the stand.
A thoughtless act, and hence a crime. A man in
Adams County, Ohio, heard a number of boys in his
peach orchard, stealing peaches. He thought he
would only scare them a little by firing his gun
through the bushes ; but in so doing he killed one of
the boys. He did not mean to kill the boy ; yet,
from want of forethought, he became guilty of a
crime, yes, a murder, the most horrible of crimes
for which, though accidental, he should be held ac-
countable, for we cannot allow an exchange of life
for a peach.
This man, it was believed, had no intention to
murder this boy, still he made use of very dangerous
means to scare the boys. He might have caused a
rushing noise through the bushes, called to John,
" Go around on the right," and to James, " Go on the
left; let us surround them," at the same time calling
his dogs, etc, and the boys would have left in haste.
Or, what was better, if he had called the boys to him
ON ACCIDENTAL CRIME. 93
and given them what peaches they could eat, he
would have taught them a moral lesson and perhaps
cured them of stealing peaches ever after.
We might cite hundreds of instances of accidental
crime, murder, etc., occurring every day in all parts
of the country. We believe in punishing, in a proper
manner, all such crimes. The kind and degree of
the crime to be ascertained by the actuating motives,
and the means at hand by which such a crime might
have been avoided ; that is, such as forethought, and
the means which science and experience have taught
men by which to prevent calamities, accidents and
crime.
The high premium which is paid by our nation for
condensation of various sensational vibrations, high-
wrought brain action, and velocity of motion, at
whatever the risk or cost, destroying the very soul
of our civilization, is a danger overshadowing the
general mind and heart of the
PRESENT ERA.
The general interrogation is in a half-breathless
way: What do you know ? What can you do ?
How quick can you do it ? How much money have
you ? How long did it take you to make it ? etc.
The politician first responds : " I have been tried,
as it were, in the fire ! I have traveled hundreds of
miles, and can bolt my meals at irregular hours; can
travel further in fewer days than any of my acquain-
tance; write hundreds of letters; make scores of
speeches ; talk more hours in private ; sleep less ;
94 MURDER AND CRIME.
read a greater number of books, and still my health
is in a good condition, my mind fresh and vigorous.
It does not injure me. No, no, I know how much I
can bear." So answers the moderate drinker, and
before he is aware, he is a diseased man, having
gradually acquired a mania for liquor, and he dies an
accidental death. Was guilty of crime.
The general businessman comes forward and must
be heard, claiming that " he can do a little more"
than any other build more houses, get the most
rent, loan the most money, get the best interest, work
the greatest number of men in the shop, is up early
and late, sleeps only a few hours out of twenty-four,
bolts his meals as does the statesman, at irregular
hours; but all this, he thinks, does not injure his
mind, only his liver. I said to a gentleman of forty,
a few days ago, you overtax your brain ; you must
sleep more, and forget your business, at least for the
space of ten hours out of twenty-four. " No, Doc-
tor," he said, " it is not my brain, it is for fifteen per
cent. I will let you have " when I interrupted him.
Recovering himself, he thought " it was his kidneys.
Doctor," he continued, " can't you give me something
that will straighten me up for a few days? then I
will come and take a regular course and obey your
prescription, but just now, Doctor, I have to meet
my obligations and finish that block ; you know I
am not one that will allow any one to out-do me in
business." " But, sir," we remarked, " your brain and
mind is diseased, and it will require some considera-
ble time to effect a cure; and suppose you should die
to-morrow " "Oh, well, Doctor," he interrupted,
ON ACCIDENTAL CRIME. 95
"you are trying to frighten me, and you may be right,
but I have not time to give the subject much atten-
tion for a few weeks." Well, well, all right, take this
medicine, and call again in three days ; you will be
better and perhaps be able to finish that block of
buildings.
In November, 1872, one dreary night, we were
aroused about two o'clock in the morning, by the
ringing of the door-bell. The messenger requested
us to visit a man at one of our fashionable hotels.
On arriving, we were directed to room , on the
fourth floor. Being introduced by the landlord, as
the Doctor sent for, our patient immediately sprang
to his feet, and presenting a huge dirk knife, said :
" Doctor, had it not been for this dirk. I should have
been killed more than an hour ago." I asked him to
let me examine the knife, which he did. I then
handed it to the landlord, and he took it away. I
then requested the patient to keep quiet while I felt
his pulse. I found him feverish and mentally a
wreck. He thought himself surrounded by demons
who sought his life, and hence he fought desperately
with them during about three hours of the night. I
gave him a strong anodyne, and remained with him
about an hour, when he fell asleep. The next morn-
ing we found our patient somewhat better, but still
deranged. We now recognized in him the same
person whom we had previously prescribed for at
our office, and who had been for a month very much
improved by our prescription, but at length disobeyed
our advice, and continued overtaxing his mind for a
few months, until we now find him almost a hopeless
96 MURDER AND CRIME.
maniac. He was restored in about three months,
but, honestly, we do not believe this man is yet
cured, as he is liable at any time to meet with an ac-
cident and commit a terrible crime. Such persons
require from one to three years of the very best
treatment before we can safely say that they are
thoroughly cured. Some never recover. He was a
man of good habits, so far as his eating and drinking
was concerned, but in regard to his mental labors, he
was a debauchee, a slave to an unbalanced condition
of the faculty of acquisitiveness. He had more of
this world's goods than any one individual has a
moral right to have.
The present period of " fast living" is wonderfully
affecting all classes, and men and women in every
station of life are nursing the monster that will im-
pel the steel and pierce their own hearts. The
almighty struggle of this epoch is for outward wealth.
The maddening spirit of the age is "electricity."
Man's principle of intrinsic goodness has been con-
verted into the fiery prince of the " powers of the
air." Men fancy they have scientifically caught and
commercially harnessed their absolute master. And
yet he cracks his whip of live lighting over our heads ;
he teaches and insists that we shall do everything
with lightning speed !
The rebuilding of Chicago is a fair illustration of
o o
this age of "electricity." My friend, from Boston,
writes : " Obediently, we race, and rush, and push,
with wild, headlong energy into everything and over
everything we undertake to do, or conceive a fancy
for doing. We immediately begin to overwork, and
ON ACCIDENTAL CRIME. 97
overeat and overdrink, and overchew, and oversmoke,
and overlive, and at last, when too late, we discover
ourselves to be overdead in trespasses and sins."
The wickedest demon of our day is the " imp" of
impatience. It attacks the nerves, the brain, and in
a twinkling of an eye it is in a " murderous rage."
The blood becomes feverish, the heart throbs with
excitement, and if the victim does not thrust a dagger
into his own bosom, he may into that of his neigh-
bor, and down goes his subject, covered with the
mantel of "sudden disease." The over-sensitive
condition of the brain and nervous system sends the
victim to an asylum for the insane. So \vonderfully
subtile is this force which gradually undermines
human happiness, that before we are aware, we are
guilty of an involuntary or accidental crime. Why
is it that those who are drifting in the direction of
the city of destruction will not heed the admonitions
of those who from knowledge and experience can
give proper advice, is a mystery for future genera-
tions to reveal. When science positively teaches a
man how to avoid disease, and he still persists in his
murderous course, we sometimes feel discouraged,
but no one can tell what an amount of good is done
every day by the many efforts that are put forth to
reform mankind ; for if not a school, church, or in-
stitution which has for its object the improvement of
the condition of the human family, were in existence,
then crime and murder, and human depravity would
soon be indescribably great. As it now is, our daily
papers are full of all sorts of crimes, suicides, and
murders, committed every day, in all parts of the
7
98 MURDER AND CRIME.
country. By the combined effort of good people,
much can be accomplished, on the principle that " by
the testimony of two or three a truth shall be estab-
lished." The " erring ones," being admonished, and
" hailed," as it were, by those on the right, one after
another will be added to the testimony, until, by and
by, v those on the left will begin to heed the teaching
of the good, and reform.
We will suppose a captain starts from Cincinnati
upon the Ohio river, with an intention to go to Pitts-
burgh. If he allows his boat to drift down with the
current, he would go further and further from his
designed destination. Now, We will further suppose
that heaven is at Pittsburgh, and the " city of destruc-
tion" at New Orleans. The flag upon the main-mast
of the vessel has inscribed upon it the word" Heaven,"
by which all passers-by may know whither the ship is
bound. My dear reader, every human being that
enters upon the current of life has written upon his
physiognomy, Heaven, by which all may know whither
he is bound. The ship, however, drifts along easily
for a time, until, by and by, it is observed by those
watching its course that the captain is sailing in the
wrong direction. He is hailed. " Heigh-ho, Cap-
tain, whither are you going ?" " To Heaven, of
course ! don't you see by the flag of my ship whither
I am going ?" " But you are on the wrong road ; you
are on the way to destruction." " Don't believe it,
for I am gliding along so easily." A little further
down, and another " heigh-ho" comes from the shore.
The captain is undisturbed, and he drifts a little
further down the current toward the city of destruc-
ON ACCIDENTAL CRIME. 99
tion. He is now more frequently hailed by the good
people on the shore of safety, who are rapidly win-
ning their way back; they may have started further
down than the Captain did, but are moving in the
right direction.
The repeated " Heigh-ho," and warning of danger
signals ahead, now arouses the captain to a conviction
that perhaps he is on the wrong road, and he begins
to throw out the lead, and feel about him ; but be-
hold he is already among the breakers, and in a mist
of darkness. He is now in great trouble. His ship
is momentarily in danger of being dashed to pieces ;
life-boats are manned and sent out for his rescue,
and in case he should lose entire control of his ship,
they are ready to take him in, and if possible, save not
only his life, but the lives of all those that keep him
company. The captain, however, is by this time
fully convinced that unless something is done he and
his ship will be destroyed. If he now makes use of
the proper means which he has at hand, he can save
himself from destruction. He has a compass, a pilot,
a rudder, and fuel to fire up, all sufficient to create a
counterforce, and "stem the tide;" he will by econ-
omy, and care in the use of the small store of supplies
yet left him, be enabled to get back at least from
whence he first started. In this, of course, he will be
much encouraged by the good people that are going
in the same direction. It is doubtless true at least
those who have gone in that direction tell us so
that as we approach the celestial city a state of
heaven, or happiness the wind is more favorable,
the climate more genial, and^by hoisting occasionally
IOO MURDER AND CRIME.
an extra sail, our progress is steady and sure. Had
the captain heeded the first warning as to the "right
road," he would not have spent half a life-time in
experimenting in the opposite direction.
The majority of the present generation are down
among breakers. First, those drifting down the cur-
rent of " fast living," and merely enjoying the sensual,
and neglecting the use of natural talents with which
they were originally gifted, do not heed the admoni-
tions of those on the shore, who are daily laboring
to instruct the stray wanderers, and warn them of
the danger ahead. Secondly, those who are on the
shore of safety do not call out loud enough, and are
-not sufficiently united in supporting each other and
in making a common effort to save their fellow man.
THE ACTIONS OF HUMAN BEINGS. IOI
CHAPTER VIII.
ON THE PRINCIPLES WHICH GOVERN THE ACTIONS OF
HUMAN BEINGS.
Action is requisite to a state of existence ; where
there is no action, there is no life. Life as a force is
the result of a combination of other forces, and with-
out a correlative action of all the forces, it is not
generated, or at least is not manifested.
We have stated in another chapter that life oper-
ates through organization, and is a physical force ;
also that mind operates through organization the
same as life, and is also a physical force. Mind is,
therefore, created by a combination of various forces
the same as life. Now, as a greater number of forces
are requisite to produce life than to produce light, or
any of the single forces that combine and create life,
so a greater number of forces are requisite to create
mind. The same is true of the moral nature of man.
A combination of faculties, each performing a certain
function, creating a moral force, and each faculty
requiring also a greater number of forces upon which
the exercise of its function depends.
To bring this subject more fully before the mind
of our readers, we copy a brief sketch from the
author's work on "The Human Five Senses," page
7-9-
" It is a fact that life is a force, sustained and cre-
ated by other forces, and is, therefore, an activity
IO2 MURDER AND CRIME.
which can not exist independent of other things.
Our surroundings, the objective world, the elements,
light, heat, atmosphere, electricity, magnetism, etc.,
focalize, stimulate and sustain, or even create this
activity which we call life. If it were possible to place
a man far off into space, where the objective world
could not act upon his senses, he would not live one
moment that is, this life activity would become con-
served, or rendered latent. The effect would be the
same, if there were nothing for the eye to see, the
ear to hear ; nothing to taste or smell, or come in
contact with, as if the senses of the body were de-
stroyed by disease or accident. So we exist simply
because other things exist. It is not by bread alone
that we live : it is by contact.
"The same is true of the mind. No one has ever
originated a thought, for it is impossible to think of
anything that has not, or never had, an existence.
The objective world acts upon the various faculties
of the mind, through the medium of the five senses
of the body, and thus starts us to thinking. The
internal organs of the body are acted upon in like
manner, through the same channels, which starts
them to work and perform their functions. The eye
gives rise to thought in connection with what we see.
We think of sound, and study its nature, in propor-
tion as we are capable of being impressed 'by the
different waves of sound, and thus we gain ideas.
We feel by coming in contact with things that sur-
round us, and the mind is thus stimulated into a state
of activity. Through taste and smell, the mind be-
comes conscious of odors and flavors, and we think
of them.
THE ACTIONS. OF HUMAN BEINGS. 103
In this manner all nature combines,
To form, to create the human mind.
"It is evident, then, that the more perfect these
organs, the greater will be our means of communica-
tion ; and the more we see, hear, feel, taste, and
smell, the greater will be our knowledge of things
that surround us, and the better are we fitted for re-
flection, to contemplate, to philosophize, to reason,
and finally, to understand the many mysteries that
are now hid from us in darkness. So long, then, as
the five senses are in harmony with our relations, we
are growing intellectually and morally, and in every
way are capable of an extensive experience, which is
God and nature's own method of unfolding and ma-
turing the human mind. Like the acorn that germ-
inates and grows into the stately oak, under the
genial influence of light, heat, moisture, atmosphere,
and other immediate life-sustaining forces, so the
mind unfolds each day, each moment, during the
wakeful time of the being, by being variously acted
upon by things, circumstances, and conditions from
without."
Each separate faculty or propensity of the mind is
so intricate that it requires years of study to cor-
rectly understand it, how to cultivate it ; what its
true relation to other faculties are, and the relative
function in the mind, all of which together aid in
producing a moral character in men and women.
Take, for example, the faculty of reason, and thou-
sands of circumstances, agencies, forces, and condi-
tions are required to stimulate and exercise its
function. So any of the social faculties, or those of
IO4 MURDER AND CRIME.
a selfish nature. For example, acquisitiveness, the
faculty that gives man a desire to accumulate prop-
erty, and what a field for study ! love, hatred, con-
scientiousness, veneration, caution, and other faculties
which distinguish men from brutes. Then consider
those which have a closer relation to animal life,
such as destructiveness, combativeness, and others,
each of which is dependent upon a combination ot
many forces and conditions to call it into action.
Each separate force or agency which enters into the
whole, in producing and actuating a single faculty,
requires a careful study, in order to understand prop-
erly the faculty as a whole. When we take this course
in studying the mind, there is some probability ot
learning something about it. Now, a correlative oper-
ation of all these forces is requisite in order to pro-
duce a heathy action of the constitution of the mind,
for it is through a combined effort of these forces,
acting through each faculty respectively that mind is
created, also a moral, intellectual, and social character.
The highest of all these forces is
KNOWLEDGE.
The universe thus focalizes and creates this most
powerful force, which is the ultimatum of all human
experience, cultivation, and development of both the
physical and mental constitution. It is this that
makes man happy or miserable. It brings happiness
to know the wrong, the false, and the imperfect in
ourselves, also in our surroundings, for by having'
such knowledge we are impelled toward the right,
THE ACTIONS OF HUMAN BEINGS. IO5
the good, the perfect. Having knowledge of the
truth, the beautiful, the good, we are made doubly
happy, positively to know that we are in the right.
True, knowledge teaches men of their depravity,
their short-comings, their violations of the laws of
God and nature, the wrongs committed toward their
fellows, and defines strictly criminal actions, which,
when men see their fallen condition, are miserable
and unhappy so long as they know that such is the
case.
Mankind never are absolutely happy, and happy
only momentarily. Neither are they ever absolutely
miserable and are only so for a short space of time.
T.he mind naturally argues itself into a greater state
of happiness, or a lesser degree of unhappiness and
suffering. Men naturally flee from pain and sorrow.
It is an innate principle that all mankind desire to
be happy. The line of demarcation between the
right and the wrong, the beautiful, and the good, and
the evil, and imperfection of nature or the actions of
man, is difficult to establish for all mankind. Each
individual draws this line of division as they under-
stand, and are enabled from their knowledge pre-
viously acquired as to the real and the true. These,
then, are only relative virtues, and conditions, and
each moment of existence establishes its own condi-
tion, state, or being, which makes mankind happy or
unhappy as the nature of the actuating principles
may decide.
To acquire knowledge, and attain a state of hap-
piness is the primary motive-power of all human
actions. This being the " chief end of man," we may
IO6 MURDER AND CRIME.
consider the human family on a grand march, some
in the front, some in the rear, and all on the road in
search after the promised prize.
Those who follow horse-racing understand full
well that the horse of good stock, the one best
groomed, best trained, and longest in practice, will
win the prize. So in this grand human march, those
of good parentage, proper education, and every-day
practice in the right direction will take the advance,
and win the prize. All along the line of march to-
ward human happiness are innumerable by-ways,
cross-roads, which have greater or less attractions,
and entrap. those unaware of the evil results. Many
of these alluring channels, that lead in the wrong
direction are so intimately blended with the right
path at first, that often years of toil are spent before
the deception is discovered. These roads leading so
many to destruction, so gradually diverge from the
high road of happiness, that even the wise sometimes
lose themselves, and spend half a lifetime in the
wrong direction.
How needful it is, then, that every individual of
this generation, who has acquired knowledge of these
places of danger, should erect a finger-board, or
build a wall, as it were, closing up these places which
make attacks upon and ensnare those who are un-
protected and easily persuaded. Then the next gen-
eration passing along this line of march to happiness
will have much less opposition to contend with, and
thus we may bring about a total abolition of crime.
Human beings are so differently organized, and so
many different conditions exist, that in this grand
THE ACTIONS OF HUMAN BEINGS. IO7
march through life, we are variously acted upon, and
are susceptible to the influences of so many diverg-
ing by-ways that we have scarcely a reasonable hope
of ever so reforming the world that all mankind shall
be enabled to obey the injunction that comes from
on high, namely, " do unto all men as you wish them
to do unto you." Yet we have such faith in God and
nature, and in the application of correct principles
and strict obedience to natural laws, that such an
event seems possible. The various allurements, and
enticing means which are so profusely distributed
along the
STRAIGHT ROAD
to happiness, and which lead men from the path of
virtue and distinction, may be divided into the cor-
poreal, moral, intellectual and social. Those of the
corporeal are mainly those which act upon the bodily
senses ; something good to eat ; something pleasing
to the eye, ear, and the feelings, which, if not rightly
understood, cause great bodily disturbances. Many
labor simply to please the sense of taste; others,
that of sight to dress well, to be fashionable, etc.;
and so the bodily constitution may become diseased,
and years of time be spent in trying to correct the
difficulty.
Through the same channels, the moral nature is
acted upon by what is called moral action. The
principal allurement which leads men astray in their
moral nature is wealth, and a man will stretch his
conscience as far as he thinks it is policy even as
far as his neighbor. The farmer will open the best
IOS MURDER AND CRIME.
bag of wheat first to sell his grain. The merchant
will show the bright side of his goods, 'and hide all
defects. The capitalist will use his best argument to
prove that money is worth fifteen and twenty per
cent. So it is in nearly every channel of commercial
intercourse between man and man ; and thus men
deal with eaclrother as though all were rogues. In
this manner men are gradually entrapped into selfish
practices, which, of course, will grow much faster on
some than on others. Those who have by nature a
strong inclination to steal, soon become dissatisfied
with the lie only, and now begin thieving. Before
they get back into the right path again many commit
a murder. Thus man becomes morally depraved,
and little by little, unconsciously, is led into wrong
habits. By and by, the disease becomes chronic and
the cure will be very slow. Intellectual allurements
which cause perversion and misunderstandings, are
mainly those which we may call wit, sharp trading,
and using every intellectual acquirement in a selfish
way, to learn how to make the most money, and be
well spoken of among men of commercial standing.
Some robbers are very shrewd men. Most people
study human nature, the laws of their country, and
even the sciences, only to brighten their intellect, to
appear brilliant in society, and to be well qualified to
explore every avenue, and manipulate those with
whom they deal in such a manner as to make the
most money, and, if possible, to attain wealth and
fame. This is a fruitful source, which gradually leads
men to ruin. The perversion of man's intellectual
powers, will eventually react and bring sorrow upon
the individual.
THE ACTIONS OF HUMAN BEINGS. IOQ
Social means of every shade are continually draw-
ing men and women into the pathway of error.
Thousands are persuaded by the many promises and
plausible arguments brought to bear upon those who
have been more or less disappointed in life. Those
who do not consider consequences before they act,
are gradually entrapped and carried with the tide
down the stream of vice. Those who have the social
organs relatively large are constantly on the look-out
for some golden opportunity when their most san-
guine anticipations may be fully realized. Disap-
pointments often end in crime, and a greater number
of murders are perpetrated by reason of a perverted
social nature than from any other one cause. Men
rob and murder for money mainly, some may hold,
but in nearly every instance the mainspring is trace-
able to a social disappointment of so'me kind, not
enough money to appear well in society, to attend
theaters, the gambling hall, to buy the social glass or
otherwise sustain themselves in satisfying the social
appetite. Hence they often rush headlong into the
various channels of vice and evil, thinking sometime
to be happy, if not in one direction, in another, and
so keep trying until after the meridian of life is
passed ; and if they do not end their life by suicide,
otherwise die disgraced and broken-hearted, suc-
cumbing to the destroying forces of an unhappy life.
To recapitulate, briefly, we end the first part of
this work, by reminding the reader of two prominent
facts which we have honestly labored to establish in
the previous chapters. The first, we remark, is a
hereditary predisposition to crime, and the second an
110 MURDER AND CRIME.
acquired disposition which gradually lead persons
into criminal action, and we are justified in stating
a third condition which we denominate accidental.
We have conclusively shown that parental transmis-
sion has much to do with the bodily health, the moral,
intellectual, and social qualities of the rising genera-
tion. Even in infancy, early traits of depravity are
often observed, as well as good traits of character.
In either case, the actions in after life are governed,
to a great degree, by the peculiar constitutional
" make up," both of the physical and mental. One
will be susceptible to culture more than the other;
one will be easily impressed in the direction of right,
and the other in the direction of wrong.
Acquired conditions are mainly those brought
about by education, habits, surroundings, associations
and necessity, gradually establishing a disposition
and inclination which become finally the controlling
power, and lead the being to a state of happiness, or
sorrow and suffering, according as the various educa-
tional means of development are good or evil in their
nature. Accidental crimes are- seemingly unavoid-
able, yet when we come closely to reason on the
subject we shall find that nearly all such occurrences
are easily avoided. We are safe in stating that
nearly every accidental crime is the result of neglect,
want of forethought, and a lack of employment of
proper means to prevent such accidents. This may
be through malice, ignorance and indolence.
There are crimes that can scarcely be named or
classified. We will state a case, and then allow the
reader to judge as to what sort of a crime he consid-
THE ACTIONS OF HUMAN BEINGS. Ill
ers the following : In the winter of 1 864, we followed a
lady, of the upper class, on Third street, Cincinnati,
mainly to learn where she was going, where she lived,
and who she was, all only to gain an idea of course,
for we were almost moved to tears in beholding her
little six-year-old, trotting along by her side, going to
prayer-meeting, with its little legs almost entirely
exposed ; its panties did not reach quite over the
knees the cotton stockings too short, so that every
step it took the knees and the greatest portion of the
thighs became entirely exposed. The meantime the
mother was muffled up in fur, and a large cloak cov-
ering her extremities, and in every way well protected
from the cold. With the Bible and hymn book under
her arm, she entered the house of prayer, and for
one long hour and a half, she forced her dear little
pet to sit on a bench, with its little legs hanging un-
supported, until at length it was relieved of its suf-
fering, only to freeze on its way home, with an occa-
sional murmur of " Ma! I'm so cold," shivering in the
storm. We thought it was high time that somebody
should pray.
We have thus far in our work presented many
important points for consideration and profound
thought, on the part of our readers. We have given
our idea of the origin and immediate stimulating,
cause of crime, and we believe if men would rise to
the highest enjoyment of
HUMAN HAPPINESS,
an effort must be made to learn the sciences, and
not only have this knowledge vested in the minds of
112 MURDER AND CRIME.
a " favored few," but within the reach of the masses.
Harmonious and correlative operation of all the
faculties must be developed in every individual, in
order to bring about harmony in society, harmony in
the family, and in the government.
Modern science recognizes one fact, that the law
o
of the globe, arid of all things that dwell upon it, is
the law of progress. Man a natural being, created,
lives and moves in nature, so is he affected by the
same law, hence we may expect to unfold and to go
on unfolding. This great primal law is as true to-day
as it was at the beginning of creation, and has been
operating ever since, raising the world higher and
higher, and doubtless will continue to carry the world
onward and upward. As intelligent human beings, how-
ever, we may assist nature much in her effort to pro-
duce the perfect man and woman, by obeying the law
of physiology. Wherever this law is strictly obeyed,
the offspring invariably proves to be healthy and har-
monious. It is admitted by our most scientific physi-
ologists, that the child inherits the peculiar character
and constitution of its parents, and if the education
is to develop that peculiarity, it will continue and be
the governing principle through life. Now, it would
follow, that the wisest course on the part of those
who intend to unite in marriage, would be to give
this matter a thought, and endeavor to understand
the law that governs perfect organization. If inclined
to disease, consult and obey every principle of
hygiene, give yourself a thorough overhauling, and
if possible consult a scientific physiologist. These
are vital principles, and if man will give this matter
THE ACTIONS OF HUMAN BEINGS. 113
as much attention as he does in growing horses,
sheep, cattle and pork, he will rise in the scale of
human perfection, the same as the animal kingdom,
for by proper selection steadily, from year to year,
and from generation to generation, the beasts of the
field rise and become more perfect. Rev. H. W.
Beecher says, " the human race never will be carried
up until man learns that there is a law, by obedience
to which, generations shall transmit transmissible ex-
cellences."
This I believe to be true in a physical as well as
a spiritual sense. Behold the children of the crude,
undeveloped parent, and no wonder that rigid legis-
lation is still necessary to govern men and nations,
and from the present indications the next generation
will be but slightly improved, hence, the most noble
work that we can engage in is to teach and learn and
try to understand nature's laws in this respect. From
observation and scientific research we gather that
nothing is surer than this : that a tendency in any
given direction is transmissible by education. " A
tendency to good or evil is transmitted and becomes
a fixed quality if it be educated." So writes a mod-
ern scientist, and as facts are difficult to overcome,
we had better at once yield the question, and go to
work and better the condition of things in this re-
spect. Upon the principle that a certain muscle may
be developed by giving it the proper exercise, so may
we develop any faculty of the brain, or inner man, by
giving it proper exercise or rest. If a man has
the organ of combativeness very large it may soon
be subdued by giving it rest, and exercising the oppo-
8
114 MURDER AND CRIME.
site principle, that of love and peace, and soon that
individual will be a law unto himself, and the next
generation will have less of combativeness. The
same is true of every department of human life. Let
the world practice the opposite to evil and man will
soon become constitutionally redeemed and be a law
unto himself. This if ever accomplished will have to
be done on scientific principles. Nature is ever true
to right action, and the more we are stimulated to act
in harmony with nature the faster is our progress,
hence, the necessity of teaching, preaching, lecturing,
reading, writing, debating, thinking, reasoning, criti-
cising and continuing our research until we under-
stand more and more of the divine laws, and thereby
grow more and more beautiful, more good, healthy
and happy ; and instead of the sins of the parents
being "visited upon the children of the third and
fourth generations," the good deeds and right actions
are transmitted to future generations, that the coming
man may have the pleasure of journeying along the
path of life, decorated with flowers and evergreens,
the noble and the beautiful.
PART II.
CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
CHAPTER IX.
HISTORY AND PROGRESS OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
Since the earliest record of human history, capital
punishment has been considered by nearly all nations,
as a just punishment for capital crime. The practice
of punishing crime by deatrrmay be traced far back
in human history, even to savage nations where it had
its origin. According to Agassiz, Darwin, Hugh
Miller, Humbolt, Spencer, and other scientists and
naturalists, capital punishment is traceable only to
heathen origin. It seems to be an established fact
that this mode of punishment was not first suggested
by any enlightened person or nation. It is a practice
merely continued as a relic of the benighted ages,
the same as some forms of worship. It cannot be
successfully established that it was ever- a command
of God. The only command that was ever given on
the subject, was, " Thou shalt not kill." We make
Il6 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
this statement without fear of contradiction, from
the fact that heathens punished by death before ever
the M.osaic law was established. Heathens inflicted
the death penalty in the most brutal manner, and for
mere trivial offences. The Pagan nations also in-
flicted death in a very barbarous manner. The first
mode was by stoning the criminals to death. The
next was by burning them to death ; first by tying
their hands and feet, and then throwing them into a
fire prepared for the occasion. At the time and reign
of Nebuchadnezzar an oven was built and kept heated,
to a proper heat, and constantly in readiness for the
purpose of destroying the life of condemned crimi-
nals. We read that three young men Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego, were condemned to death
by this brutal king; and the oven was ordered to be
heated seven times hotter than for ordinary execu-
tions. At another period wild beasts were kept in
dens for the express purpose of devouring condemned
criminals. At a later period criminals were nailed
on a cross and tortured unto death. During this
period of the history of capital punishment Christ
was executed on a cross, as was then the mode of
inflicting the death penalty. Afterward death was
inflicted by beheading the criminal, John was the first
who was beheaded by authority of the rulers. Dur-
ing the progress of the early ages of what are termed
Pagan nations, or of the children of Israel, the death
penalty was often inflicted in the most inhuman
manner and for mere trivial offences. Adultery was
then punishable by being stoned to death, and at
other times the most noted criminals were dragged
PROGRESS OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT. 117
by the heels through the streets in order to inflict
the greatest possible torture. This was often done
in the belief that God had pleasure in criminals being
punished in the most brutal manner. Gentile nations
punished their criminals still more inhumanly than did
the " children of God." Prisoners of war were also
put to death in the most torturous manner, and the
rulers and people often took great delight in tortur-
ing their criminals unto death.
Since the Christian era, various modes of inflicting
the death penalty have been practiced. Different
kings and rulers had different modes of inflicting
death, according as they saw proper. Beheading has
been the common mode and is now practiced in the
old country. At different periods, however, criminals
were put upon the rack and bones broken, one after
another, until dead. Others were required to drink
the poison hemlock, or confined in a dark dungeon
and starved to death.
^During the remote ages, and even down to the
present day, men have made it a study how to put
criminals to death in the most expeditious manner,
rather than how to reform mankind and make them
better. During the present era it has been the object
to inflict the death penalty in the easiest and most
painless manner, which is, no doubt, a premonitory
sign of abolishing it entirely. In this country the
death penalty is inflicted by hanging, and which no
doubt is the most painless manner of killing men,
except by chloroform, or by some subtle, narcotic
poison. But a few years ago criminals were executed
in public ; now it is done almost everywhere in pri-
IlS CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
vate, which is another sign of the incoming reform.
The one great truth which we derive from the history
and progress of capital punishment is, that the man-
ner of inflicting the death penalty has been, from
time to time, greatly modified. The death penalty is
now inflicted by civilized nations for murder and
treason only, and in a less shocking manner than
even a century ago. Less than fifty years ago, men
were lashed for crime, sometimes until the flesh was
cleft from their backs. Men were caused to run the
gauntlet, were placed in stocks, and suffered many
other most inhuman punishments, which often were
worse than death itself; as, for instance, having the
eyes put out, or the body mained in some other man-
ner, disabling the criminal for life. This was often
done to maintain national power or pride, and when
no real crime was committed. The man who con-
structed that great wonder, the clock at Strasburg,
had his eyes put out by order of the rulers, lest he
should go into other countries and construct a similar
clock, or, perhaps, a greatly improved one, and thus
wound the national pride. Notwithstanding the
seventy of the punishment inflicted for crime, during
the earlier periods of human history, crime was then
more prevalent than now ; for as nations became
more enlightened, crime grew proportionately less as
well as the severe modes of punishment. It is an
admitted truth by those who have given the matter
any thought, that it is not the severity of punish-
ment that prevents crime, but the absolute certainty.
The proper education of the moral, intellectual, and
social nature of man is the surest means of mitiga-
PROGRESS OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT. 119
ting vice. The more intelligent a nation, the less the
number of crimes committed, and the greater the
happiness of the nation, as compared with those pos-
sessing a lesser degree of intellectual attainments^
As we review the scale of human history, and note
the progressive development of man's capabilities,
we find a decrease of intelligence and a greater dis-
cord of the moral and social nature, until we at last
reach the heathen, where those virtues which distin-
guish man from the brute are yet in a state of chaos.
Crime and the mode of inflicting penalties therefor
run parallel with the progressive or retrograding
epoch of human intelligence. Crime in our day is
gradually diminishing, and the inhuman modes of in-
flicting punishment are greatly modified. Reasoning
from the past, the time is not far in the future when
capital punishment will take its place among the
things that were.
If we are thus progressing, it may further be
argued that the time will come when crime will no
more be known among men, and, consequently, no
kind of p^ln^shment necessary. What a glorious
habitation this earth will then be ! when men and
women will live, as it were, " a law unto themselves."
This, it may be affirmed, is an impossibility, from the
very nature of man, who is naturally inclined to evil.
It will be admitted that individuals have attained to
such a degree of perfection that they are enabled
to live lives of beauty and goodness. Now, if it is
possible for individuals to attain the ultimate design
of human life, which is happiness, then it is possible
for all nations and races of men on earth to attain
120 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
that state. Though this may require thousands of
ages, yet we believe the ultimatum of human life
originally designed by our Creator, is a state of
happiness. If this reasoning is not correct, every
effort to harmonize and reform men is a failure,
God himself would be a failure ; creation would be a
failure. But this is not possible, for the tendency
evidently is, and has been since the advent of man
on earth, to rise out of chaos. Everything in nature
is more perfect ; the atmosphere is more pure ; the
flowers are more beautiful ; vegetation is more health-
ful ; animals are more refined in their nature, and
more easily domesticated ; birds are more happy in
their songs, than six thousand years ago. Of course,
man is keeping pace in the development of his
powers ; in his ability to obey natural laws ; in his
comprehension of the mysteries of nature, even in
understanding the wonderful operations of his own
mind.
But it may be again affirmed that, so long as men
exist, crime will exist, and all the difference there
will be, is that he will be more capable of discerning
criminal action, and the line between virtue and
wrong-doing will- be more marked, so that this work
of choosing between right and wrong, which is now
infinite, will be simplified ; that the two principles of
right and wrong are only relative conditions, which
have existed from all time, and will continue to exist
throughout all eternity; that the grosser mind is only
capable of discerning crimes of the crudest and lowest
forms, while the enlightened mind is capable of dis-
cerning crimes which to the unenlightened mind
PROGRESS OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT. 121
seem no crime at all, and so on ad infinitum. How-
ever this may be decided by our readers, we do not
believe that there is a constant strife between
CHAOS AND ORDER.
Order, having once taken the place of chaos, is ab-
solute in its power. Since the planetary system be-
gan to move in regular order it has never deviated
from its natural course. Everything in nature moves
in accordance with the law, governing, in the very
nature of things, the universe and all within it, by
absolute power.
Actions of men are absolute in themselves, though
they may only have a relative existence. We can not
recall an act, a word spoken, a criminal or good deed,
restore life, or change the natural order of things, any
sooner than we can
" Call back the wind,
Or undo what time has done ;
Beckon music from a broken lute ;
Renew the redness of a last year's rose ;
Or dig the sunken sunset from the deep."
Actions, then, are absolute, and we cannot recall
them. All that lies in our power is to prevent the
recurrence of similar deeds or actions. God and
nature have planted in and around us means by
which we may overcome evil tendencies, and avoid a
repetition of wrong-doing. The very fact that a man
can outgrow evil inclinations, and make reparation
to injured persons, proves our position that any
person may control discord, and become organically
122 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
and constitutionally harmonious within himself, and
at length be naturally inclined to live in harmony
with " Law and Order." The history of capital pun-
ishment, as before remarked, favors our views, as to
its gradually becoming extinct. A more rational and
efficient mode of punishing criminals will soon take
its place in this country, as well as in other of the
more enlightened nations. As soon as the masses
can be made to believe that an " ounce of prevention
is better than a pound of cure," and that the only
sure means of averting evil is a well-balanced and
universal education of the rising generation, we pre-
dict that it will not be necessary to put human beings
to death as a punishment for crime.
CHAPTER X.
ON PUNISHMENT OF CRIME IN GENERAL.
It is evident, from experience and daily observation,
" that the way of the transgressor is hard." The laws
of nature hold a firm grasp on those who oppose her
teachings. From these laws men have learned to es-
tablish certain rules or laws, by which to govern their
own actions. As everything in the universe is gov-
erned by law, man has a right to rule and govern
even to hold accountable those who transgress the
laws of right in their dealings and intercourse with
each other. The object of man, then, is to enact
law r s which agree in spirit with the laws of God and
nature, to which they will approximate, in proportion
as he understands the latter.
The laws of man, as well as the laws of God and
nature, have for their primary object the correction
and reformation of those who are transgressing the
laws of right, and also to keep those in the right who
are right. Laws exist from necessity, and nothing in
the grand universe can exist without law and order.
As man progressed in intelligence, he learned more
and more, of the governing principle of things and
men ; and since man first began his career on this
globe, the line between right and wrong has been
drawn closer and finer. Hence the laws of necessity
have changed from time to time, and even now men
enact laws according as they understand the right
123
124 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
and the wrong. Governments have progressed from
anarchy to monarchy, and from monarchy to republic,
in this country, and may, in time, become demo-
cratic. This enables men now to enact laws by a
majority vote, by which means an average expression
of the intelligence of the people of any community
or state may be ascertained. In this manner we can
also obtain an average expression of the conscience
of men, and the most rational course to be pursued
in punishing crime. In this manner also laws are
established by men to govern their own actions in
general intercourse one with another.
t>
We have stated that there is nothing that is not
under law, from the little atom of dust under our
feet up to man. Without law and order, the universe
would become a chaos, time would cease, and a wreck
of worlds, and mingling of the human soul with the
general mass, would be the end. Law is simply a
rule of action. Now, if action according to rule is
law, then any action contrary to rule is a violation of
law, and is, therefore, approximating to chaos, dis-
cord, and will, like the " crash of worlds," become a
wreck. Therefore, there can be no law without a
penalty. There can not be a transgression of law
without a corresponding penalty following such trans-
gression as a natural consequence.
Withhold one of the life-giving elements as light,
for instance from the plant, by placing it in a dun-
geon, and it will wither and die. Place a man in a
dungeon, and he will wither and die ; he will be of no
consequence to himself, to man, nor to heaven. The
consequences of any violation of law we denominate,
ON PUNISHMENT OF CRIME IN GENERAL. 125
in accordance with a popular idea, " penalty," which
every general or special law defines, prescribes, and
deals out, according as the nature of the crime may
indicate. If the law says, Thou shalt not steal, then
the law must also define to what extent you shall not
commit such a crime ; or, when found guilty, pre-
scribe the punishment, in order that justice, which is
the end of the law, is not defeated. We see, then,
that all human beings are subject to punishment,
either when acting in violation of nature's laws or
the laws of man.
Whether it can be said that nature punishes or
only causes suffering, is a question. To punish, im-
plies to deal out a certain amount of torture. This
is not what we wish to have understood when we use
the word punishment. (See Part Third of this book.)
Nature is always true to herself, sure in her work-
ings, and never fails to correct her own wrongs ;
hence, no one who violates any of her laws can ever
escape the penalty suffering. " Though a man flee
to the ends of the earth, nature will be there to re-
quire obedience, until the last farthing is paid." So
long as men are, by creation and education, inclined
to do wrong, and so long as men are guilty of crime
so long will it be necessary to govern men's actions
by legal enactment, the object of which is plainly to
point out the right and define the wrong. It is evi-
dent, from the knowledge we have of nature's laws,
that man is required to live in harmony with, first
for his own happiness, and secondly for the happi-
ness of others. For the same reason, men have
established law and order, first to restrain one's
126 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
unnatural inclinations, and to bring happiness to the
individual ; secondly, to the whole human family.
The end of law is justice, justice to the individ-
ual justice to the whole human family. Nature
guards her children against further violence by pro-
ducing pain. Bodily violation of law produces bodily
pain. Moral transgression produces moral pain ;
and were it not so, the destroying forces would con-
tinue their destructive process, until the body or the
soul is destroyed. Hence, pain is an affliction just
and right. This, however, nature does not inflict
from any malice or revenge ; it is an act of mercy,
the object being mainly to reform and make better
those who are so unfortunate as to come in contact
with, or act in opposition to, the harmony of God
and nature.
The primary object, then, of all law and punish-
ment is and should be, first, reformation of the crim-
inal ; second, compensation to the injured ; and,
thirdly, prevention of further crime.
We remark here briefly, that as nature restrains
men in their criminal course, by setting up an oppo-
site force, pain, so are men justifiable in restrain-
ing those who are infringing on others' rights, by
apprehending, trying by a court of justice, and, if
found guilty, punishing them according as the nature
of the crime may indicate. On this point we all agree,
and even favor a strict enforcement of law in every
instance of criminal action. But we proceed now to
consider the
ON PUNISHMENT OF CRIME IN GENERAL. 127
DIFFERENT MODES
of punishment or means of correction. As we have
stated, the first object of law and order, and the sub-
jection of persons to penal service, is to reform, if
possible, those guilty of trangression. We differ
widely from those who incline to the present mode of
reforming our criminals. This, we hold, can not be
done by inflicting a greater injury, on the principle
of contraria contraribus curantur; that, by produc-
ing an artificial disease, we can cure the natural one.
Neither can this be done on the homeopathic prin-
ciple of similia similibus curantur: that treatment
similar to that which produces a disease will cure it-
In surgical practice, if we would heal a wound, we
must not produce greater irritation, by applying fric-
tion, on the principle of "an eye for an eye, or a tooth
for a tooth." In all those conditions, sanitive and
restorative means are indicated. We therefore, can
not admit that to cure the criminal of his malady, it
is best to apply the lash, or in any manner to inflict
corporal torture ; but only to restrain and subdue
the evil disease and stimulate the healing powers,
by which means we accomplish the primary object,
namely, curing our patient of his criminal inclinations.
By this we mean to be understood that a person con-
victed of crime, sentenced to imprisonment for a
given number of years, condemned to hard labor,
and sparingly fed, can not so be reformed. Some
provision must be made by which the various facul-
ties of the mind can also be cultivated. We would
have a prison where the convict is subjected to eight
128 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
hours' hard labor, eight hours for intellectual, moral,
and social instruction, thus improving his mental
condition, and eight hours for rest and sleep. (See
Chapter VI).
Simply to condemn a person to penal servitude
for a oqven length of time and make no effort to re-
o o
form him, is an outrage, not only to the criminal, but
society in general. The criminal, after serving his
time in prison, is allowed again to mingle in society,
and if there is any difference in his nature he is less
capable of self government than before, and is liable
at any time to commit a greater crime than before.
But recently a murder is reported as having taken
place in the state of New York perpetrated by a re-
turned convict, who served seven years for stealing a
small sum of money. On his return home, he killed
the man who had caused him to be convicted. Now,
if this convict had been properly treated, in those
seven years, such a high tone of moral duty might
have been acquired that he would have forgiven
rather than murdered this man.
In this city hundreds of criminals are sent to the
work house called the " Bridewell," some for a few
weeks and some for a few months, then liberated
again, only to commit a greater crime. The mal-
treatment they receive in these prisons feeds the
faculty of revenge, and the punishment, in our judge-
ment, is not reformatory. Hundreds of vagabonds,
thieves, gamblers, and "black-legs," are convicted, and
those who cannot pay a fine are sent to the prisons,
which, in turn, send out the poor victims again to
mingle in society, without having been taught a single
ON PUNISHMENT OF CRIME IN GENERAL. 1 2Q
lesson to aid them in overcoming their evil natures,
and be better men and women. They have nothing
to show that they are reformed, hence they are dis-
carded from society ; and though they may have
formed resolutions never to do a wrong deed again,
nevertheless, by and by, when they find no one to
sympathize with them or assist them in avoiding the
seducing influence of their surroundings, and find
that the "spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak," in a
short time they are entrapped again in crime. We
hold that this is an outrage practiced both upon the
criminal and society. All persons who are convicted
of crime, where imprisonment is deemed necessary,
should be sent to a
REFORMATORY PRISON,
where they should be required to remain until they
can be sufficiently reformed to enable them to live at
least an average moral life.
To acquire such abilities, time is necessary, also
the be..st known means, to so regenerate both body
and mind that it will be safe to give the criminal his
liberty. For our idea of the kind and form of prison
we recommend, we refer our readers to Chapter XI.
Here the convict should be required to labor in the
pursuit of some trade or vocation, where his labor
will produce enough to pay all expenses, and what-
ever amount he earns more than will be necessary to
defray expenses, should be applied, at least, par-
tially, to
130 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
COMPENSATE
the party whom the criminal injured at the time ol
committing the crime. Eight hours of well-regulated
labor will produce enough profit to pay all expense
of conducting the business of the prison, and of the
educational department, and reap a daily profit which
should go to the injured party until full restoration
is made ; after which, the amount due should be at
the prisoner's disposal, to be paid to his wife, chil-
dren, brother, sister, parents, or friends, as he may
direct.
There is no moral right why a state should appro-
priate the earnings of a convict further than to pay
all expenses. I am not aware that all states give a
lease to some one for a stipulated time and sum of
money, but I know that the state of Indiana, some
years since, leased the Jeffersonville prison for a
number of thousand dollars to a gentleman who, of
course, would make all he could out of it, and send
home, in as good a condition as possible, those who
survived his treatment ; and we can imagine thq kind
of reformation they would receive.
Compensation is our second claim, which should
be one of the prominent features in punishing crim-
inals. This should be required in all instances, and
under all circumstances. If a man sells his little
home, receives his pay for it, and in the night he is
robbed of this money, he has lost all he has in the
world. Is it not right that this money be refunded
to the man by the robber? If the robber is not
speedily arrested, he will, most probably, have spent
ON PUNISHMENT OF CRIME IN GENERAL. 131
nearly all of the money, and the injured man will be
required to wait until the robber can earn it in prison.
But if the state appropriates all the profits, or makes
no effort to accumulate profits, by good business
regulations of the states* prison, then, of course, it
will be difficult for the prisoner to earn enough to
pay back the injured party, unless he has property,
when it should be held in the same manner as for
debt.
I think many will see as I do on another point.
An injured party who has lost money by theft should
be compensated. If it is impossible for the prisoner
to make restitution ; an appropriation from the gen-
eral county funds should be made. We cannot see
why this is not good reasoning, for the injured party
may have been a good citizen for a lifetime, and paid
taxes, and expected the protection which every citizen
has a right to claim at the hands of the law. Even
if the prisoner is not competent to make full restora-
tion, the injured party should not be entirely de-
frauded.
It is plain to all that punishment should be refor-
matory, and compensatory ; and this brings us to our
third question, namely :
PREVENTION OF CRIME
How to prevent crime has been a study for ages,
and is even now a subject of serious thought. Not-
withstanding the many aspiring church-steeples,
schools, benevolent associations, and reformatory in-
stitutions, which ornament our comparatively civilized
132 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
nation, still our newspapers chronicle each day so
many murders, robberies, mobs, insurrections, and
crimes of all shades and character that men become
almost discouraged, and often feel like abandoning
the work.
Thus far laws have been severe enough, and, in
many instances, too severe, and hence cannot be en-
forced by any jury. The most prominent reason
that we give as to why law and the punishment are
incompetent to counteract the criminal inclinations of
men, is first, the uncertainty of enforcement of the
punishment, and second, the idea of bodily torture
simply as a means of reformation and reparation of
the injury done by the criminal. The uncertainty of
punishment of our criminals at the present age is so
prevalent, that it is almost useless to have any one
arrested. The prosecuting attorney is sworn to en-
force the law, and vindicate justice in every instance
of violations of law. The criminal hires the best
talent to defend his case in law, which he has the
money to pay for. This attorney is also sworn, only,
however, to do his duty by his client. These two
antagonistic powers meet in courts of justice, and
each endeavors to defeat the other, and the one that
can present the finest argument wins the trial. Each
lawyer uses his best powers to appear " sharp," and
thereby hopes to gain reputation. We will illustrate
how criminals are tried and punished, how the public
is protected, and justice vindicated. It is like two
gamblers at a game of chance. The one who has
had the longest practice and is'also naturally " sharp,"
knows best how to manipulate the game, and he
ON PUNISHMENT OF CRIME IN GENERAL. 133
comes out ahead. Right or wrong, he is ahead, and
wins a name among gamblers as a "good fellow"; so
our courts of justice are but little else than a game
of chance, and the sharpest lawyer comes out ahead.
Here men are taught to lie and those who are not
very sharp naturally are " brightened up," and go out
having learned, as they say, " a thing or two," and the
next time, they know better how to " pull the wires."
This is called justice. This is called prevention of
crime. The uncertainty of punishment is one reason,
then, why " law and order" is not better observed.
And punishment, being mainly of a corporeal nature,
does not reform the criminal, and hence is not pre-
ventive. Punishment, in many instances, is too
severe, and hence many are allowed to go " scott
free." It is an established fact that Stokes killed
Fisk, and can justly, according to law, be found guilty
of murder in the first degree, the only punishment of
which, is death. Men hesitate to vote to kill their
fellow .man, and the law is not enforced. This is
neither reformatory, compensatory, or preventive;
neither justice to the criminal nor to the public.
According to our idea of punishment, this case
would have long since been disposed of; the criminal
would now be doing something for himself and
others, and thousands of dollars would have been
saved to the public. (See Chapters XI and XII.)
To prevent crime, the following suggestion, if
strictly observed, will, we think, accomplish more in
one year than has hitherto been done in twenty
years ; and if persevered in for a century or two,
will almost entirely eradicate crime from among us :
134 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
First, Compulsatory Education, which is sufficiently
elucidated under that head, and the reader is there-
fore referred to that chapter. Second, rigid legis-
lation, and the absolute certainty of punishment ;
the establishment of reformatory prisons; compen-
satory measures to be required of every criminal ;
and, thirdly, the abolition of all extreme, unnatural
punishment, which includes all corporeal means of
correction, the setting aside of which will enable our
courts of justice to enforce the law, and thus make
punishment certain without violating their own con-
science.
CHAPTER XL
STATE'S PRISONS AS A MEANS OF REFORMATION. WHAT
WE UNDERSTAND BY A REFORMATORY PRISON.
HOW IT SHOULD BE CONSTRUCTED,
AND HOW CONDUCTED.
We believe in rigid legislation for all crimes and
vices. There should be no possible escape from
justice; justice to the individual as well as to the
public.
As soon as a person is convicted - of crime, all
right to liberty on the part of the criminal should be
considered as forfeited, and should not be regained
by a mere money fine or by any executive pardoning
power.
To punish merely by a money fine only so far as
compensatory means are necessary to repair injuries
done by the criminal, etc., makes the perpetrator
only more angry and revengeful. It does not sub-
due the evil nature. We can hear every day such
persons declare by everything great and good that
they will see the day when they shall be even, etc.,
seeking how to revenge themselves on those, who,
perhaps, have honestly testified in the case.
We claim that any crime committed as the result of
depravity is too serious a matter for any one to be
permitted to buy their liberty by simply paying a
certain sum of money into the county treasury, and
at the same time make no restoration to the injured
136 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
party, such as is due every good citizen who has suf-
fered at the hands of a debased criminal. It is not
reasonable that a mere forfeiture of property should
cure the criminal of his moral, intellectual, social, or
bodily depravity. It would seem equivalent to buy-
ing salvation for a certain sum of money, and thus
gaining a seat in Heaven.
Liberty, therefore, can only be restored to a crimi-
nal after he has made full reparation, to the best of
his ability, and shown visible evidence of thorough
regeneration.
Nature never pardons offenders against her laws.
The moral statute book which is accepted as a guide
by Christians, also teaches, beyond a doubt, that all
who would be saved must make use of the means
which God and nature have implanted in and around
man. Science teaches that a man must grow to be
good or bad. If he is to become pure and holy, he
must strive for it daily, and " usure with his talents,"
and thus gradually overcome evil inclinations.
From this standpoint of reasoning we claim that
any county, state, or government, has a right to en-
force by legal action compulsatory reformation, es-
pecially in those who have proven an incompetency
to self-government.
If a man persistently commits a crime, by reason
of a depraved nature, we cannot see how he can re-
ceive consistently a pardon and be allowed his liberty.
We are safe in saying that this would only stimulate
his evil propensities, and he would be liable at any
time to perpetrate a greater crime than before. For
one resting under the ban of the law to regain liberty
PRISONS AS A MEANS OF REFORMATION. 137
visible and indisputable evidence should be required,
to show that he or she has been thoroughly restored
to a better condition has acquired the moral and
social qualities common to those who mingle in good
society.
To accomplish this end, a general reformation
among our criminals, which is the primary object
of law and penal service, as well as to prevent crime,
we ask permission to here introduce our idea of what
we call a
REFORMATORY PRISON.
In the first place, a prison should have various de-
partments, where every convict can be furnished with
daily employment.
Employment is necessary for healthy reformation
in prison, as well as out of it. To labor for a subsis-
tence is one of the first laws of nature.
In this respect, our prisons are sufficiently arranged,
even now, but we can not admit that a violation of
the first law of physiology, by imposing too much
labor and utterly neglecting the cultivation of the
mind, can be termed reformatory.
Convicts are now required to labor for the state
ten to twelve hours daily, which is too much in
prison, as well as out of it. Those who are compe-
tent workmen are permitted to make extra time,
which is credited on the prison books, and either paid
for in money, or by an abreviation of their term of
imprisonment. Not long ago, we met a convict who
had served six years in prison, at Michigan City,
138 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
Indiana, whose crime was committed strictly under
force of necessity. His family was greatly in need
of subsistence, and two men of short acquaintance
with him persuaded him to assist them in robbing a
man whom they knew to have money about his per-
son, agreeing to divide with him the proceeds of the
transaction. He consented, and in a dark place, on
his way home these three men robbed their victim of
one hundred and thirty dollars. The other two, who
had the money, escaped, and this man was arrested
and served six years in the State's Prison, at hard
labor, simply for being accessory to the crime. This,
of course, made matters worse, and his family suf-
fered greatly for want of support He was a cooper
by trade, and a good workman ; so he requested a
daily task, with a view that, if he worked well, he
could make extra wages, and be enabled to send
money to his family for their support This was
granted, but it required all of ten hours to complete
his task, although he was an extra good workman.
After completing his daily task, he worked three and
four hours each day, the proceeds of which he sent
home to his family. He said that he repeatedly
begged the officer to lessen his task, so that he could
do better by his family, but was not granted his
request.
After three years, his health failed, and he was no
longer enabled to make extra time, and how his family
fared after that time he said, "Godt only knows."
This man's soul was overflowing with revenge. He
felt bitter, and swore that before he died he should
have revenge of those who injured him.
PRISONS AS A MEANS OF REFORMATION. 139
This case is a fair specimen of the unregenerated
condition of returned convicts generally ; not very
well qualified to take their place in good society.
The following is the statement of a New York
correspondent, copied from the Chicago Tribune.
It shows how little sympathy criminals get, and how
little attention is given to reform them, or to do
justice to the public:
" The investigation into the condition of the Tombs Prison and Blackwell's
Island, by one of the morning papers, shows that criminal justice here is ad-
ministered in the most reckless and unjust manner. The prison discipline and
management at Blackwell's Isl.and are wanting in influences calculated to in-
spire any encouragement for the reform in the inmates. Police justices are
constantly committing prisoners in disregard of facts. It is a common thing at
the Tombs to have cases disposed of at the rate of one a minute."
Eight hours of hard labor is enough for health, in
prison or elsewhere, and if more is exacted, as a rule,
the body suffers and becomes diseased. We have
shown elsewhere in this volume that bodily perfection
is a requisite condition of mental improvement.
After the day's work, in nearly all prisons, the rule
practiced is to lock the convict up in his cell until the
next morning, when he is required to repeat his daily
task. No conversation is allowed in prison among
the convicts. Nearly all state's prisons have a library ;
but none are required to read or study. They can
do so if they choose. This should be made compul-
satory. Occasionally they have .preaching on the
Sabbath, but not often. Now, we hold it to be a
scientific truth that a prisoner condemned for crime
has as much moral right to the exercise of all of his
mental faculties as those who are not prisoners.
I4O CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
There should be departments in every prison
where all convicts should be required to receive
mental training daily. After setting apart eight
hours for labor; eight hours for rest and mental
recreation, out of which three hours will be necessary
for mealtimes, and one hour, on the whole, in taking
a bath and giving attention to the toilet, which is
necessary to keep healthy, there yet remain four
hours, during which each convict should attend
school. A place could be arranged like one of our
school halls, where they may be taught, at least in all
of the common branches of education, dividing them
up into classes according to the different degree of
intellectual attainments ; each convict to learn and
recite his lesson the same as our children in schools,
so as to make education practical.
It is not necessary to introduce the Bible here as
a lawful text-book ; but the exercises should be
opened and closed by music, singing, and prayer, in
which each convict be required to join. This, we
hold, is necessary, from a scientific point of view,
PROF. TYNDAL
notwithstanding; for we know that music and sing-
ing have a charming effect on not only men but ani-
mals. Without music the lion and tiger could not
be controlled at all by man. It operates on ideality,
and sublimity. In a word, it causes men to forget
the " ups and downs" of life, and relaxes the grosser
nature. If things heavenly are allowed to assert
their claims, though only for the time being, they have
PRISONS AS A MEANS OF REFORMATION.
a harmonizing effect. So with prayer; it has a har-
monizing effect, and though it acts on a different set
of faculties, still it is a potent means to subdue the
gross and conflicting nature of man. The simple
act of bowing in humiliation is prayer, and a good
process, by which convicts may be much benefited,
to change from an audible prayer, by the sound of
the " gavel," call every one on their knees, requesting
ten minutes silent prayer by all, while at the same
time a bell or large triangle is tolled silently, as it
were, at " low twelve," so that the bell seems at a far
distance ; at the same time darken the room to near
twilight. At the end of ten minutes a single sound of
the " gavel," and all be required to say " Amen," aloud,
This, we believe, has a greater harmonizing effect
than an audible prayer by some one presiding. Some
such exercises should be had at the beginning and
closing of every evening's instruction of the poor
criminal..
We ask permission here to give our views on the
subject of prayer, which we believe to be scientific-
ally true. Prayer, like music, has a harmonizing
effect on the one who prays, and on no one else.
Harmony is healthful, and the first object of nature ;
therefore, any process which produces harmony,
where discord previously existed, is good and useful.
We do not believe that prayer to God will ever
change his general course ; or induce him to act by
special decree, even to pardon the criminal of his
sins, without strict obedience to " His laws fixt fast
in Fate." How, then, is prayer answered ? Simply
by the process of humiliation ; it has a harmonizing
142 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
effect, subduing the grosser feelings, and in this re-
spect those who are in need of prayer are blessed,
and made happier and better. You will observe that
the man in business who prays much, is always the
most successful, other things being equal ; for the
greater the harmony in one's disposition, the better
qualified is he for the duties of life. On this prin-
ciple, Prof. Tyndal would find himself defeated in his
proposed " prayer test ;" for any thing that has a har-
monizing effect, indulged in at proper intervals and
proper times, is good even for the sick. This every well
informed physician must admit to be correct reason-
ing. Music and prayer, then, should constitute part
of the mental exercise, not only on the Sabbath, but
every day, during the four hours of school exercise,
which we propose. All persons, including convicts,
will be much more refreshed bodily, after the eight
hours' hard labor, than if no such exercise is had. For
each evening in the week have different exercises.
At least one night in the week some one should be
invited, free of charge, to lecture on some subject
relating to human science. If these lecturers come
from abroad, the traveling expenses .should be paid.
No creed, sect, or religion in particular should be re-
quired as a qualification of any who give instruction
to convicts.
Woman should particularly be allowed to exercise
her power in these places, as teacher, lecturer, etc.
The reason why woman should be invited and hired
for these places, and to bring her influence to bear on
the prisoners, requires no explanation.
Different lyceums should be organized, to meet in
PRISONS AS A MEANS OF REFORMATION. 143
different halls, according to the the degree of de-
pravity or intellectuality of the prisoners, where sub-
jects of importance should be allowed to be debated
by the convicts, thus drawing their attention away
from their fallen condition, that they may, by and
by, arise from their groveling nature and aspire
to sublime contemplation. One evening, at least, in
the week should be set apart for some innocent amuse-
ment, amusement, however, which always has a moral
underlying it.
Here we must make a greater effort to moral cul-
ture than with the child. The child requires a great-
er variety of education ; but here everything should
have a moral to it. The faculties of reason and
conscience should by all means be well instructed,
and all unruly faculties subdued, and induced to rest,
and by this means bring into a greater activity a
higher order of faculties. An extra suit of clothing
should be provided for Sunday, and all underclothing
be changed twice a week, and, if possible, a clean
night-shirt be worn, as all workingmen should do for
health.
Hygienic rules should be as strictly enforced in
prison as they are in our insane asylums. Water is
cheap, and every state's prison should be well sup-
plied with bath rooms, and daily bathing be required.
Bath rooms should be supplied with hot and cold
water. Hot water can be furnished by the same fire
that supplies steam-power to the shops, etc.
The cells, or sleeping apartments, should all front
south, so that the sun can shine into them, and a
large yard or grounds be provided, where, at a o;iven
144 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
hour, prisoners should be allowed to exercise in the
open air and sun-light.
Do this, and men will work better during the eight
hours,, be much easier reformed and controlled, and
instead of coming home vagabonds, they will return
respectable men and women, having truly been bene-
fited by the pumshment. of the law.
Wherever we have failed in our suggestions, or
failed to mention all necessary departments belong-
ing to a truly reformatory prison, we hope others
better qualified than we may complete the plan. We
would, however, suggest a separate prison for
MURDERERS.
This, of course, our readers will say, " is not neces-
sary, inasmuch as we hang most of our murderers."
But we find that only one out of fifty murderers is
ever hanged. Why this is so will be the subject of
another chapter. While we shall argue that capital
punishment is wrong and inhuman, we shall also show
that solitary confinement in a dungeon is also wrong,
and worse than hanging. Hence, we shall require a
prison for the safe keeping of such as are so far de-
praved as to kill one of their fellow beings. This
kind of a prison should be built doubly strong, and
arranged so as to give each a separate apartment,
and provide employment daily by which expenses
can be defrayed. It should be conducted about the
same as the prison for minor offences, although a
more rigid government should be had, from the fact
that a murderer is evidently more depraved than one
PRISONS AS A MEANS OF REFORMATION. 145
who simply has stolen. Again, the educational de-
partment may be made optional. We believe in the
imprisonment for life, where a man takes the life of
another ; and no pardoning power, save that of the
jury and community who have found him guilty o r
murder, may, when circumstances demand it, reprieve
him. The culprit should labor in the reformatory
prison, where he can acquire better and more easily
such qualifications as society demands for its protec-
tion. We think, however, that all murderers had best
be sent to penal servitude for life, and caused to earn
enough, if possible, to compensate those whom they
have injured permanently. This prison may closely
approximate to the reformatory prison, where the
same machinery can be made to supply power, water,
etc. The educators, lecturers,clergymen, and scien-
tists, who visit the reformatory prison, may easily visit
the murderers, and speak a word of encouragement,
to render a heavy heart lighter, and to prepare them
for another life. These prisons may be conducted
like clock-work; for we certainly have enough knowl-
edge of science and human nature to construct rules
and systems that will work well and profitably, if
people only can agree, and see alike.
One thing is true, and that is, but little attention is
given to a criminal by society. He is sent off to
state's prison, and that is the last of him. This cer-
tainly does not speak very well for a Christian people.
It augments crime instead of decreasing it. When
a murder is committed in a county, there should be a
day of prayer and humiliation, each person examin-
ing their own condition ; and, instead of, as now
10
146 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
crying out, hang him, they should visit the poor
wretch, and pity rather than despise ; for we can not
imagine a greater sorrow, or a more deplorable con-
dition, than to be a murderer.
" The ugliest fiend of hell ! a deadly venom
Preys on his vitals, turns the healthful hue
Of his fresh cheeks to haggard sallowness;
And dries his spirit up.
" Good stars, that were his former guides.
Have empty left their orbs, and shot their fires
Into the abyss of hell.
Curs't is the wretch enslaved to such a vice,
Who ventures life and soul upon the dice."
J
CHAPTER XII.
REFUTATION OF THE DEATH PENALTY. HAVE WE A
RIGHT TO INFLICT PUNISHMENT BY DEATH ?
REASONS IRREFUTABLE ; NOT A SINGLE
RATIONAL ARGUMENT LEFT WHY
WE SHOULD KILL TO PUNISH.
Capital punishment is doubtless a relic of the darlc"
ages, and is one of the evils afflicting enlightened
and civilized nations of the present era. The same
human ingenuity that applies science, in the use of
electricity, of steam, and other inventions, in render-
ing general good to mankind, is, we think, sufficiently
advanced at this age to devise some substitute as a
means of punishing capital crime aside from tlie,
death penalty. It is a serious question whether death
is a penalty at all, and when we come to argue the
point, our readers will see the force of this assertion.
In previous chapters of this volume we have can-
vassed, to some degree, the causes of crime, also ad-
vanced a few ideas as to how to prevent it. We are
now persuaded that our readers are sufficiently pre-
pared to receive, and consider
OUR ARGUMENTS
and reasons why the death penalty should not be in-
flicted. In the first place we remark that, as we have
already stated, the primary object of law and punish-
147
14-8 , CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
ment is reformation of the criminal, and we hold
should be compensatory as well as preventive of
future crime. As to the first proposition, all will
agree that it is right and good to render 'happier all
those that are in sorrow, and that it is a glorious work.
<*' Punishment, it is believed, should be reformatory
in its character; if possible, to restore the criminal to
a normal condition, not only for his own good here
and hereafter, but also for the general good of man-
kind.
This, then, it is evident, cannot be accomplished by
inflicting the death penalty. For when a man is
dead, all earthly means of reformation is to him lost ;
it is corporal punishment ; it is like striking a man in
the face to reform him, or kill him to make him bet-
ter. The heathen mother throws her infant into the
river Ganges to appease the wrath of her god. The
Christian hangs his fellowman to appease the wrath of
his God; and believes it a command of God "that
he who sheds man's blood by man shall his blood be
.shed."
\r In the second place, we cannot see how punish-
f ment can be compensatory after a criminal is dead.
We can not benefit tKose who are dead ; who were
murdered, by murdering also in turn. It can not
benefit the injured party, who are living, to inflict the
death penalty.
There can no possible benefit be derived by hang-
ing a man, either to the dead, to the living, to the
culprit, or to society, except, perhaps, the carpenter
who is fortunate enough to get the job to build the
gallows.
REFUTATION OF THE DEATH PENALTY. 149
The popular belief is that one who has been in-
strumental in taking the life of another, should be
required to forfeit his life also ?
It can be no satisfaction to the dead to know that,
as he was ushered out of life prematurely at the
hand of the assassin, the assassin will also have to
render up his life prematurely for having done such
a deed. It reminds us of the time during our late
war, when retaliation was talked of, viz., to hang one
of the southern prisoners north, for every one of our
men hanged by the southern army. That this would
deter the south from hanging our men, it was believed ;
but what satisfaction could it have been to one of
our men to know that while he was beinor handed
O C5
south, some one was meeting the same fate north.
We apprehend none. The dead, we think, cannot
be affected in any manner whether we hang or do
not hang the perpetrator of their murder. \ To sim-
ply say that a murderer deserves to die, is no arguV
ment whv he should die. This is almost the orilv
* J
argument put forward deliberately in defense of
capital punishment at the present day? Many, with-
out taking a second thought, often, on hearing, or
reading, of a terrible crime being committed, exclaim,
"swing up the scoundrel," "he deserves to be cut to
pieces," " he ought to be hanged by the heels." Sim-
ilar expressions we hear every day, which expressions
we conceive to be utterly wrong if made a reason for
continuing the death penalty. It is neither more or
less than the sentiment of gratified vengeance ; it is
a vindictive emanation, unworthy of any enlightened
soul. It is no part of our province to deal out the
I5O CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
deserts of iniquity, as such. The rights of society
do not include this power of rewarding or punishing
the individual on purely moral grounds. Another
says, "with the abstract rights or wrongs of human
actions society has nothing to do; it must regard
them solely as beneficial or injurious to social order,
and scrupulously forbear from assigning to them
either reward or punishment on the score of their
moral character." A murderer may, or may not, de-
serve to be hanged, still we should be willing to trust
to God for the proper adjustment of man's irrepara-
ble wrongs.
-,
f To murder is an irreparable crime ; we cannot
restore life. Can society repair the injury by legally
taking the life of the guilty criminal ? or by a second
wrong- act, right the first ? If it is wrong to murder
o ' o o
in an illegal manner, we can not see that it is right to
o o
murder in a legal form any more than that it is wrong
v^to steal illegally, but right to steal by legal action.
. j/^Reparation is the second object of law. The
' punishment, therefore, should be in accordance with
the spirit of the law, which, it is plain, the enforce-
ment of the death penalty is not.
We deem it right and necessary that all persons
found guilty of murder in the first degree should be
put in prison for life, without the prospect of being
pardoned out. We agree with the sentiment ex-
pressed in an editorial in the Chicago Evening Mail:
44 We do not see any better reason for permitting
the executive to pardon a man when convicted and
sentenced than there would be to permit the same
power to waive both trial and sentence. With the
REFUTATION OF THE DEATH PENALTY.
aid of counsel, a prisoner usually has all the mitiga-
ting circumstances in his case presented with ampli-
tude and power to the jury. Each point of law is
acutely analyzed and settled before the presiding
judge; the right of appeal remains, and it surely
seems that when all the guards which the law throws
around criminals upon trial are exhausted and a final
verdict and sentence are secured, the matter should
go on to its consummation."
Those found guilty of murder in the second degree
should be returned to imprisonment for life, with a
pardoning power vested in the jury or community
which finds them guilty. This we believe to be just,
for two reasons. First, it will give the murderer
some opportunity during his natural life to reform,
and prepare for a higher life ; and, secondly, it will
give him a chance to make at least partial reparation
for the great wrongs he has inflicted upon those in-
jured by the death of their relative father, husband,
wife, sister, or brother.
The murderer's prison, as well as the reformatory
prison, can be so conducted that a considerable profit
will be made, which should go to repair the injuries
done by the prisoner's crime. Where no relatives
exist to receive such compensation, the profits of a
murderer should go to sustain some benevolent insti-
tution. The profits of the convicts in the reforma-
tory prison, should, after full reparation is made, be
at the disposal of the prisoner, to be paid to his
family, or other needy friends, if he so wills it ; or it
may be allowed to accumulate, and be paid to the
prisoner when he has satisfied the law, and is entirely
T 5 2 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
cured of his malady. This would give him some-
thing to start with in life again, and would be an im-
petus without which he might feel very much dis-
couraged.
If the death penalty, then, is neither compensatory
nor reformatory, and so far all will agree with our
mode of reasoning, there are still
OTHER REASONS -
why we should banish this barbarous practice from
the land.
^/vVe notice, in this connection, the difficulty in the
enforcement of the terrible penalty of death, from
the fact that every effort is put forth to evade the
law, and save the life of the criminal. Thousands of
dollars are spent in trying our murderers, both by the
culprit as well as the public, and a new trial is often
granted on the most trivial mistakes in the pleadings
\ on either side.
V~It generally requires from one to two years to de-
cide whether a murderer is guilty, and whether he
shall be hung, or be imprisoned, all owing to the
penalty being unnatural and most severe. It is hard
to get a jury to agree on a verdict of death, unless
the criminal is very unpopular, and the party mur-
V^dered of some standing in society. Take, for exam-
ple, the Stokes, Rafferty, and a great number of other
cases which we might mention, where the law yet
remains uninforced against men proven guilty of
murder in the first degree. Some technical flaw is
discovered by some good judge, and a supersedeas is
REFUTATION OF THE DEATH PENALTY. 153
granted, only to prolong the life of a fellow being for
a few months, or perhaps a year. It is due to the fact
of the penalty being too severe, that men hesitate,
equivocate, and falter in their power to inflict it until
the murderer either escapes, or the farce becomes so
tedious that it is finally decided to execute. Previous
to the enforcement of the penalty, every exertion is
made to obtain a reprieve from the governor. Of
course, a man's life being suspended on a single
thread, it becomes a matter of some importance how
the approach shall be made, and what arguments
shall be put forward. With the governor, it is a
matter wholly technical. He considers the popu-
larity or unpopularity of the case. He decides in
accordance with the power vested in him. He does
not inquire upon the moral right or wrong in regard
to killing the murderer or sending him to prison for
life, but only on some sharp points of law. The best
lawyer comes out ahead. All are actuated by the
amouj of. money to be made out of the case, on the one
hand, and on the other, by the dread of enforcing the
extreme penalty of the law ;, and under these circum-
stances justice is "shorn threadbare," and the law is
almost entirely defeated. Only one murder out
fifty in the United States is ever executed according
to the law. This great uncertainty of punishment^
increases crime, and is a good reason why capital
punishment should be entirely abolished.
Another point which we wish to consider is this"?
(Life we can not give ; hence we should not take it)
from another. In case of fraudulent or circumstan-
tial evidence, upon which many persons have been
154 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
convicted and executed, who were afterwards found
to be innocent, the mistake is so irreparable that if
one innocent person is put to death once in a hun-
dred years, it is sufficient reason why the death pen-
alty should be entirely dispensed with.
In the state of Ohio, a few years ago, it was possi-
tively asserted that, some twenty years since, they
executed a man for murder, who, it seems, was inno-
cent. The facts came out by the dying testimony of
an old man who died in the neighborhood, and who,
of course, would not criminate himself, and therefore
saw his neighbor die innocent.
F. E. Abbot remarks, in speaking of capital pun-
ishment, that "it is a punishment which, if inflicted
upon the innocent through mistake or perjury, admits
of no redress ; and there are overwhelming proofs
that it has often been inflicted on the innocent."
Victor De Tracy said, in the French Chamber of
Deputies, in 1828, that within six months eleven sen-
tences of death were reversed by the higher courts
of France, for errors of facts. In the British Parlia-
ment Fitzroy Kelly said that fourteen innocent per-
sons were hanged in England during the first half of
the present century. Another eminent jurist adds his
testimony. Daniel O'Connell makes the following
statement : " I myself defended three brothers who
were accused of murder. I saw the mother clasp
her eldest son, who was but twenty-two years of age.
I saw her hang on her second, who was not twenty.
I saw her faint when she clung to the neck of her
youngest boy, who was but eighteen. They were
executed, and they were innocent!' A single instance
REFUTATION OF THE DEATH PENALTY. 155
of this kind is sufficient reason for abolishing capital
punishment for all time to come. It is sufficient to
arouse every human heart and to inspire confidence
and hope in a new system of punishment. We i'rust
not wonder, when such awful mistakes continually
occur, that the immortal Lafayette exclaimed, in 18307^
in the French Chamber of Deputies : " I shall de-
mand the abolition of the death penalty until I have /
the infallibility of human judgement proven to me^T"
Or that King Louis Phillippi exclaimed, " I have
detested it all my life long." Charles Hugo was
fined one hundred dollars and imprisoned six months
for publishing the following in his paper, after the
execution of Montcharmont, although defended most
eloquently by his father, Victor Hugo: "Whatever^
be the hand that commits it, homicide is never moral
teaching. However honest and conscientious may
be your tribunals and your judges, it will never be by
killing that you will prove 'thou must not kill/" ,
The celebrated scholar and clergyman of Toledo,
Ohio, F. E. Abbot, said in a lecture as follows : " The
growing uneasiness with which civilized communities
regard the death penalty, is clearly, in my opinion,
occasioned by the expanding conscience of the race,
which begins to realize the truth that no maf| is
wholly a brute; that criminals are men, and that
something better can be done with them than to
stamp their life out under the heels of the multitude.
The great faith in man, which lies at the root of
o
American civilization, and is the grand inspiration of
free religion, begins already to teach the individuality
of human life, and to throw a sacred protection even
156 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
over those who have themselves dared to violate it.
Yes, society is slowly learning that hardest of lessons,
how to overcome evil with good, how to take the
desfferate outcast out of his desperation, and, while
restraining him from further evil, to melt his hard-
ened heart with kindness and love."
We now introduce a strange question which per-
haps the reader has not investigated, and which is
another good reason against inflicting the death
penalty. In the first place, we assert that it is a
question whether this penalty is not an outrage, as
the premature time of death is in violation of the
laws of nature. The absolute process of dying is
not painful ; it is a natural law, and nature should,
therefore, be allowed to assert her rights. To take
nature's work* in our own hands and inflict death
upon one of our fellow beings,-whom God and nature
sees proper to let live and continue to supply him
with the necessary elements of life, until he has run
his course, is like a mob taking the work of the law
in their own hands, in an unlawful manner, inflicting
the death penalty by " lynching."
It is as natural to die as it is to be born ; and hence,
when death absolutely takes hold of us, we are un-
conscious of the process of change that is going on.
One who dies a natural death in a "green old age,"
brought on by the natural course of things, is happy in
death. Were it not so, nature would outrage her
children. Those who ' bring about such an event
prematurely, by living in disobedience to natural laws,
often suffer severely, bodily and mentally, during the
process of inducing death previous to the actual death,
REFUTATION OF THE DEATH PENALTY. 157
at which time all is at peace. Those who are exe-
cuted suffer severely for a time after the death sen-
tence is pronounced upon them ; but the closer the
time draws near, the less are they affected by the idea
of death, and hence we have an obvious reason why
criminals walk with a steady step on the gallows, and
face death. The common expression is, " they were
of good pluck." Our people who delight in tragedies
are those who read the Police Gazette, and similar
papers, gamblers and "jockey fellows," who all
speak of such coolness in meeting this death as a
mark of heroism.
When death is the only alternative, the culprit as-
sumes an air of indifference, unless he is innocent, or
his spiritual adviser can arouse him on the subject
of religion. The seven notorious horse-thieves, who
were hung in public, some years ago, near Cincinnati,
Ohio, requested as their last and dying privilege, to
smoke a cigar. They were granted their last request,
and, in their own language, " were having a jolly
time together." While they were yet smoking, the
trap fell, and each swung into eternity. In nearly
every instance of those who are executed, we learn
that they all sleep well the night previous, eat heartily
at breakfast, and are in every way much less con-
cerned at this stage of their fate, than those who are
required to enforce the penalty of death. Many
meet their fate with malice and revenge in their
heart, as did the murderer at Peoria, 111., a few weeks
ago, who declared his innocence to the last moment
of his life.
If the object of the death penalty is to torture the
158 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
criminal, it should be inflicted within the space of
twice twenty-four hours after the sentence is pro-
nounced. Then the suffering would be truly great.
If it is argued that such a course would be inhuman,
and that it is much easier for a person to meet death
after having a month's time for preparation, which
is a truth, we ask, would it not be better to give
him his natural lifetime for preparation for the here-
after, and leave him to meet his death when God
and nature decrees it to be so. Further, we ask
whence the authority for a judgie, jury, or a commu-
nity to say to a condemned man, " Make your peace
with God, for in so many days thou wilt be hanged."
By what method has it been ascertained how long it
takes one to prepare for eternity? Nature and God
both say plainly that man needs a natural lifetime
for reformation ; for regeneration is a growth, and
can not be the work of a moment.
The notorious highwayman and murderer, John
A. Murrel, once met a poor wood-chopper in the
woods, whom he requested to " hand over his money ;"
but the poor man declared he had none, and that he
had a wife and eight children to maintain. The rob-
ber thinking that a man so poor as that had better
be dead, pulled out his watch and pistol, and gave
the poor man five minutes to make his peace with
God. The man fell upon his knees, and prayed
aloud for himself and for the robber ; but the robber
kept his word, and shot., the man at the. end of five
minutes.*
* See the Confession of Murrel.
REFUTATION OF THE DEATH PENALTY. 159
Now there was as much propriety in giving the
wood-chopper five minutes to " make sure his salva-
tion," as it was for the judge afterward to grant Mur-
rel thirty days in which to prepare himself for Heaven ;
and it strikes us very forcibly that the poor wood-
chopper accomplished more in five minutes than the
notorious murderer could in a lifetime. The very
fact, then, that it seems to be humane to give a crim-
inal time to prepare himself for eternity, and qualify
himself to meet death, is evidence to show that the
death penalty is unnatural and barbarous.
It may be further held that imprisonment for life is
also unnatural and barbarous. We answer, it is the
only means we have for self-protection, which is a
law of nature. It is an evil, we admit, but one exist-
ing from necessity. So long as society neglects the
child crime will be cpmmitted, and so long as crime
and murder are committed, so long will we require
prisons, to govern those who are incapable of self-
government.
Thus far, we believe our reasoning to be good, and
now, before we close this chapter, we will consider
briefly a few thoughts more, and inquire whether
capital punishment is an act
OF CHRISTIAN DUTY.
The primary object of religious teachings are
mainly to reform those W!TA are in a degenerated
condition. All education which teaches the way to
happiness is reformatory, and this is the work of
religious organizations and Christian educators. The
160 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
object is to bring sinners to repentance, if possible,
to lead them to glory, and make sure their salvation.
This can not be done by enforcing the death pen-
alty, which, we have already shown, is also a direct
violation of the laws of nature, and consequently
not a Christian duty. The command is, " Thou shalt
not kill." Nowhere in the New Testament is capi-
tal punishment recommended or commanded. Undei>-
the new law we are taught to obey the laws of the ;
government, to love our criniinals rather than
despise them, and "do good to those that hate us."
Under the old law, it was taught " an eye for an eye
and a tooth for a tooth, but a new command I give
unto you, love one another."
" Those who take the sword shall perish by the
sword." So it has always been. The best swimmer
will sometimes drown; the best pugilist is sometimes
whipped, and those that fight with the sword are in
danger of being killed by the sword. So we see that
this is not a command to punish by hanging. If so,
why is it not strictly obeyed, and our murderers put
to death in the same manner in which they murder
their victims? If a man takes the sword, he should
be killed by the sword, and not hanged by the neck.
Under the old law, the death penalty was enforced
by stoning the culprit to death. If this is taken as
a guide, why, then, do we not stone our murderers to
death instead of hanging? If capital punishment
was right under the olc^aw, why was it repealed un-
der the new law ? " A new command I give unto
you, love one another." If it were right and pleasing
in the sight of God to punish capital crime by hang-
REFUTATION OF THE DEATH PENALTY. l6l
ing, why was not an explicit command given which
all men could read and understand ? The truth is,
we are commanded to obey the law; but it was not
decreed that law shall not be so changed and amended
as to meet the necessary demands of every age, na-
tion, or country. We are also taught that " a mur-
jierer can not enter the kingdom of Heaven."
This we believe to be scientifically true, whether a
murderer in heart or indeed. So loner as we have
o
murder in our heart we are in a terrible state of
discord, and can not attain to a state of harmony so
long as this discord exists. In those who have car-
ried out the desire of their hearts, and actually mur-
dered in deed, the discord is still greater, and they
are also further from a state of harmony, or, in other
words, Heaven. Now, if " a murderer cannot enter
into the kingdom of Heaven," then, of course, he is
doomed to share the sufferings and sorrows of the
opposite condition, termed hell, which is a condition
the poor victim may outgrow in this life, by making
use of proper means; and after he is regenerated
even a murderer may enter into a heavenly state, but
he can never get there having murder in his heart.
Now, if it is necessary for murderers to outgrow
these conditions before they can enter into a state of
happiness, and if it is also true that there can be no
repentance hereafter, then we ask, is it a Christian
duty, or an act of charity to send a man to hell by
inflicting the death penalty ? This deprives him of
life, time, earthly means, and the grace of God
operating through these means in the conversion of
his soul. It may be, however, affirmed that it is
n
1 62 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
possible for this conversion to take place during the
probationary time between the sentence of the felon
and the time of his execution. If this were possible,
however, we still more strongly than ever persist in
abolishing capital punishment ; for as soon as a man
is regenerated, and a converted sinner, he is quite
good enough to live, and even to have his liberty. It
is evident that it is not a Christian duty to enforce
the death penalty as a punishment for capital crime.
It is not reformatory; it is not compensatory; it is
very uncertain, thus encouraging crime. Lastly, it is
not in keeping with the spirit of the Christian religion,
the teachings of science, of God and nature, and is
an outrage, disgraceful and unworthy of an enlight-
ened civilized Christian nation.
CHAPTER XIII.
ON THE DEATH PENALTY AS A PREVENTIVE MEASURE
OF FUTURE CRIME. IS SOCIETY THEREBY
PROTECTED, AND SHALL WE CON-
TINUE TO KILL?
In the previous chapter, we presented a number of
important questions for the consideration of our
readers, and we believe that what has been said is
conclusive and convincing. So far, we have not dis-
covered the slightest reason which might be brought
in defence of punishing crime by death. The justi-
fiable objects, as we have already stated in previous
chapters, for the infliction of penalties are three,
reformation of the criminal, reparation of the in-
jured party, and the prevention of future crime. The
death penalty can neither reform the criminal nor
repair injuries done to those who are murdered ; its
only possible justification must, therefore, be the
prevention of future crime. The whole question of
defense of capital punishment must turn on this one
point. It is to this part of the subject we propose
to devote the present chapter, and discuss the merits
and demerits of capital punishment as a preventive
measure. We admit that " dead men tell no tales,"
and that the dead can never commit crime. But we
can not admit that, with the present knowledge we
have of mechanics and architectural science, we are
163
164 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
not competent to construct a suitable prison for the
safe keeping of murderers as well as other criminals.
Then, if it is argued further that under nearly all
circumstances they are liable to escape and flee from
justice, we reply that we are about as willing to risk
the liberty of a man guilty of murder in the first de-
gree as one convkted of murder in the second degree,
or a base, low, unregenerated, ignorant vagabond,
who is liberated after a few months' penal service,
unreformed, and, in many instances, better qualified
to commit crime than before thanks to the manner
in which our prisons are conducted at the present
time. Then there can be no reasonable argument
offered on the score that, the prisoner being liable to
escape from prison, society is left unprotected. A
mere possibility in the course of a lifetime of such
an occurrence taking place, ought not to cause us to
act in a recklessly inhuman manner at the present, by
inflicting the death penalty.
We think that imprisonment for life is a sure pre-
ventive of further crime, and a sufficient protection
to society, at least so far as the condemned is con-
cerned ; for it certainly restrains him in his murder-
ous course,
In the next place, we will consider whether the
death penalty is a protection and means of prevention
of further crime, by creating a terror or fear, as it is
held. We often hear it remarked, " Were it not for
the death penalty, more people would be murdered."
If this is correct reasoning, we would suggest that
the means by which such fear is created be made
available to all persons, and of every age, by hanging
SHALL WE CONTINUE TO KILL? 165
being made as public as possible. On the day of
execution let all places of business be closed, and the
community en masse attend, and look on the felon as
he swings into eternity. Let the gallows be
erected in the most public place, and on an elevated
platform, so that thousands may be permitted to be-
hold and drink in the elixir of terror, that they may
fear the law, and be deterred from committing such a
terrible deed as to take the life of a human being.
This mode of teaching and reforming would, we
think, like all other teaching, need to be repeated
frequently that people might bear it in mind. For
one to acquire any of the branches of education,
most studious habits and daily application is neces-
sary ; so perhaps it would be well to hang pretty
often, in order that this means of prevention of
crime be successful. If no criminals are on hand,
pick up any one\who has no means of support, or
one who is of little use to society, and make a sacri-
fice of him for the " good of the people," that it may
be now as it was eighteen hundred years ago when
it was considered necessary that some one " should
die for the people."
" Death with torture is now universally disused ; and
the punishment inflicted is simply the extinction of
life ignominiously. Little importance attaches to the
ignominy as a deterring influence : First, because the
mind that will brave death itself, will not be much
influenced by the attendant circumstances ; secondly,
because, by destroying life, the consciousness of igno-
miny and of every other emotion is extinguished ;
and, thirdly, because the same amount of ignominy, if
1 66 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
it were necessay, might easily be inflicted without the
accompaniment of^ death. Simple death, therefore,
remains as the staple of the punishment. Now, by
the ordination of God, we are all under the sentence
of death. The clergy admonish us to bear it habit-
ually in mind, and to prepare for it ; the warrior
is praised for disregarding it ; and the philosopher
glories in resigning himself to it with cheerfulness
and equanimity ; and I ask, on what principle, con-
sistently with these views, can its infliction be justi-
fied as a punishment as the most terrible of
calamities as that which is to restrain the reckless,
excited, daring villain, after he has become insensible
to all other earthly motives ? He may tell the jury
which convicts him, and the judge who condemns him,
that they also are under sentence of death, and that
the brief space of time which will elapse between the
execution of the sentence on him and them, is no
very formidable consideration to his disadvantage.
Such a remark would be justified by religion, sup-
ported by philosophy, and sympathized with by men
of courage who were neither religious nor philosophi-
cal. How, then, I again ask, can we reconcile such
heterogeneous modes of viewing the most important
event of our mortal existence? If all who should
not be put to death for crime were naturally immortal
in this world, I could understand the consistency of
depriving a criminal of life, as the acme of human
infliction ; but in our actual condition, it appears to
be not only barbarous, but immoral and irreligious
to do so. If we value moral consistency as of any
importance in criminal legislation, we shall be led to
SHALL WE CONTINUE TO KILL? 167
abandon the notion that death is the most awful of
punishments, and regard it simply as an institution of
a great and merciful God, to be encountered with
courage and constancy at the call of duty, to be pre-
pared for by the aid of religion, and to be submitted
to with calmness and resignation, when it comes to
us in the course of Providence."*
As the author is penning the present paragraph,
one o'clock P. M., Friday, March 14th, 1873, George
Driver, in this city, and Osborne, at Knoxville, 111.,
are being executed for murder. This very moment
tne trap falls ; and as we look out on the street, we
see the usual busy throng. No one seems to know
or think for a moment that two souls are being
swung into eternity for the good of humanity for
the prevention of crime. We ask why this indiffer-
ence on the part of the people? If capital punish-
ment is to be a lesson, why not by law cause the
bells to-be tolled during the dreadful hour of death,
business to be suspended, and worship ordered in all
public halls and churches, and let all "enter into
their closets " and humiliate in silence. After the
hour of humiliation and prayer, let the community
gather together and march in procession, the band
playing some funeral dirge, and thus follow the felon
to a suitable place of execution, and cause him there
to expiate his crime. If capital punishment is to
deter and thus to prevent future murder, why not
give the community the full benefit of it ?
If the death penalty was inflicted in the manner
we suggest, then there might be some hope of deriv-
* George Combe, on Capital Punishment/
1 68 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
ing some good to mankind from an execution. His-
tory shows that when criminals were publicly executed,
murders were often committed before the crowd was
dispersed. Near Covington, Ky., a few years ago,
two murders were committed inside of an hour after
a public execution. The Rev. I. Roberts ascertained
that out of 1 68 condemned criminals, all but three
had witnessed executions. Observations made by
Buxton go to prove that it is notorious that execu-
tions very rarely take place without being the occasion
of new crimes. Dr. Forden, who was largely ac-
quainted with criminals, makes the same report. He
says : " An execution makes no more impression
than a fly." We have overwhelming facts which show
how little power there is in these sickening spectacles
to deter from crime. Executions, whether public or
private, are of no use either for punishing criminals
or deterring others. We would almost be willing to
wager though an execution takes place to-day in our
city, that before the morrow's sun a murder or at
least an attempt will take place. Each day our
newspapers report murders and tragedies in all parts
of the country, averaging about ten to twelve a day,
making in the aggregate about four thousand each
year in this comparativelyChristianized United States.
" Every execution," said Dr. Lushington, in the House
of Lords, " brings an additional candidate for the
hangman." Those who are sufficiently depraved to
commit murder are also prepared to hold death in
perfect contempt. This, with the hope of escaping
the uncertain penalty, takes away almost entirely the
force of the penalty. A notorious pirate said to his
SHALL WE CONTINUE TO KILL? 169
comrade, while they were undergoing the torture of
the wheel, " Why do you make all this noise ? Did
you not know that in our profession we were subject
to one more malady than the rest of the world ?" It
is reported as a matter of history that in 1822, John
Lechler was hung at Lancaster, Pa., for murder. The
very same evening one Wilson, who had been present,
met a weaver named Burns, with whom he had some
misunderstandings, and murdered him on their way
home from witnessing the execution of Lechler. He
o
was arrested and handcuffed with the irons hardly
yet cold from the wrist of John Lechler, who had
that same day been executed. An Irishman, exe-
cuted for forgery, was given back to his family, and
while his wife was lamenting over him, a young man
came to her to purchase some forged notes. For-
getting her grief, she was selling him some, when,
being surprised by the officers, she thrust the notes,
in her alarm, into the mouth of the corpse, where the
officers found them. So much for the example of her
husband's fate. The influence of the last speeches
of criminals go directly to show that there exists a
morbid appetite which Jeads to crime. Our daily
papers, the day after an execution, meet with far better
sales than before. An English paper states that from
one and a half to two and a half millions of copies
were sold of each of the penny narratives of the exe-
cutions of Rush, the Mannings, Courvosier, Good,
Conder and Grenacre. This class of literature, doubt-
less stimulates and feeds the tendency to crime by
exciting appeals to the imagination.
The evils of public executions become so great
I 70 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
and disgusting, and their pernicious effects so appa-
rent, that private executions have now nearly every-
where taken their place. Yet this change does not
improve the moral lesson, as it was thought it would,
by doing away with that very publicity and disgrace-
ful spectacle always attending public executions.
The change, however, proves clearly that society is
secretly ashamed of its own proceedings, and makes
a gradual approach to total abolition of the death
penalty.
It can not be successfully shown that capital pun-
ishment deters people from committing crime or
murder. Punishing by inflicting the death penalty
has been practiced since the world's history, and it
would seem by this time, if it is such a potent means
of prevention, murder should be almost unknown.
The fact is, nearly all murders are perpetrated under
the influence of a terrible force an
OVER-STIMULATED
condition. Under the influence of whisky, anger and
revenge are variously superinduced ; and often men
murder and are unconscious of the fact until some
time afterward, when sanity is restored. This is one
reason why so few murderers make their escape.
Under these influences men are not afraid to die.
Driver, the wife murderer, said, " God knows, I never
had any intention of killing her ; I did not get the
pistol for that purpose ; it was all the impulse of a
moment." Again, he said, "It was whisky that
brought me upon the gallows." His dying advice to
SHALL WE CONTINUE TO KILL/ 171
all was, " Let whisky alone." The Peoria murderer
declared his innocence to the last. Doubtless he
was under the influence of liquor at the time he in-
jured his wife. As a rule, we are safe in stating that
nine out of every ten murders are committed under
some uncontrollable and irresistible force at the
time which knows no reason. Under the influence
of excitement, the thoughts of patriotism, fame,
victory, the stimulus of an encouraging speech from
the general, and the music of fife and drum, men
are lead to the cannon's mouth in time of battle.
Under these influences men fear not death.
Those who, by education, and the influence of un-
favorable surroundings, acquire a constitutional pre-
disposition to murder, are only stimulated in their
evil propensities by seeing a man hung. Two years
ago, while a young man was arraigned in the court at
Cincinnati for murder, his brother attempted to mur-
der one of the important witnesses on the stairway
that led to the court-room, while the court was in
session. Notwithstanding the death penalty, and the
policeman standing at the head of the stairway, who
was at hand to arrest him, and whom he saw, still the
terrible feeling of revenge against this prosecuting
witness was greater than all. Having no capacity to
control his feelings, he began the work of murder.
It is not the dread of law and the punishment at-
tending crime that will prevent murder. It is the
placing of a high estimate on human life. The greater
elevation attained by any people in the scale of civil-
ization, the more value will be put on life. The
Empress Elizabeth abolished it in Russia, declaring,
172 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
" Experience demonstrates that capital punishment
never yet made men better." Her successor, the great
Catharine, adopted this reform in her code of laws
and remarked to Count de Sigur, "We must punish
crime without imitating it. The punishment by death
is rarely anything but a useless barbarity." We labor
for the abolition of this great evil, the barbarous
practice of putting criminals to death ; and in this
the author does not
STAND ALONE.
Thousands of the best minds are with us, on this
subject. The eminent jurist, John Bright, writes as
follows :
ROCHDALE, January 5, 1868.
H. M. BOVER, Esq.,
" Dear Sir, I do not think the punishment of death is neces-
sary to the security and well-being of society ; and I believe its
total abolition would not tend to increase those crimes which it is
now supposed by many to prevent. The security and well-being
of society do not depend on the severity of punishments. Bar-
barism in the law promotes barbarism among those subject to the
law ; and acts of cruelty under the law become examples of sim-
ilar acts contrary to the law. The real security for human life is
to be found in a reverence for it. If the law regarded it as in-
violable, then the people would begin also so to regard it. A
deep reverence for human life is worth more than a thousand
executions in the prevention of murder, and is, in fact, the great
security for human life. The law of capital punishment, whilst
pretending to support this reverence, does, in fact, tend to destroy
it. If the death penalty is of any force in any case to deter from
crime, it is of much more force in lessening our chief security
against it, for it proclaims the fact that kings, parliaments, judges,
and juries may determine when and how men may be put to
SHALL WE CONTINUE TO KILL? 173
death by violence, and familiarity with this idea cannot strengthen
the reverence for human life. To put men to death for crimes,
civil or political, is to give proof of weakness rather than strength,
and of barbarism rather than Christian civilization. If the
United States could get rid of the gallows, it would not stand long
here. One by one, we " Americanize" our institutions ; and, I
hope, in all that is good, we may not be unwilling to follow you.
I am very truly yours," JOHN BRIGHT.
The eminent lawyer and jurist, Edward Livingston,
in his arguments against capital punishment, published
in the introduction to the criminal code of Louisiana,
in 1820 and 1824, remarks :
"It (the necessity of taking life) exists between nations during
war, or a nation and one of its component parts in a rebellion
or insurrection, or between individuals during the moment of an
attempt against life which cannot otherwise be repelled ; but be-
tween society and individuals, organized as the former now is,
with all the means of repression and self-defence at its command,
never. I come, then, to the conclusion in which I desire most
explicitly to be understood, that, although the right to punish
with death might be abstractedly conceded to exist in certain
societies and under certain circumstances which might make it
necessary, yet, composed as society now is, these circumstances
can not reasonably be even supposed to occur ; that, therefore,
no necessity, and of course no right, to inflict death as a punish-
ment, exists."
F. E. Abbot, a celebrated clergyman and author,
whom we have already referred to, comes in strong
support of what we have aimed to impress upon the
minds of our readers :
" Highly as I value human life, it is not, in my estimation,
above all price : freedom is worth more, honor is worth more,
virtue is worth more, country is worth more, the welfare of the
race is worth more, great ideas are worth more. Fc*-
174 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
these, a man will cheerfully sacrifice his life ; and to preserve
them, nations and communities are summoned to sacrifice the
lives of their children. But nevertheless, life is worth more in
proportion as the race becomes civilized; and, in fact, the value
set on human life is one of the chief criteria of the elevation at-
tained by any people in the scale of civilization. Savages fling it
away in mere pastime ; but the wise man would not die as the
fool dies. A high^reverence for human life is so priceless in its
influence on social well-being, that every means may well be
taken to enhance it in the community. It is precisely because
the death penalty cheapens human life, breaks down the guards
of its sancity in popular estimation, that capital punishment, the
moment it ceases to be absolutely necessary, immediately becomes
an enormous outrage. At the very best, it is a necessary evil in
certain disorganized states of society ; but in every organized
community, it is a demoralizing agency of fearful power. The
people that permits legalized murder when other penalties would
better accomplish the same end, educates its children to blood-
shed, and wilfully fosters crime in its own borders.
" For proof of this statement, one need but consider the effect
of public executions. The sight of bloodsheddihg exercises a
terrible influence on the imagination. I saw, a year or two ago,
in the daily papers an account of a little boy of nine years, who,
having seen his father kill and dress several hogs, afterward in-
duced his younger brother to play at killing hogs, and murdered
him in the horrid sport. The school-master at Newgate, Eng-
land, says that * he has seen his pupils, before the bodies of crim-
inals were taken down from the scaffold, play the scene over again,
one acting the convict and the other the hangman.' The famous
Volney, just after the French revolution, relates that he was deep-
ly affected at seeing crowds of children amuse themselves with
chopping off the heads of cats and chickens, in imitation of the
dreadful scenes of the guillotine which had then grown infrequent :
' Even childhood had become inured to scenes of blood, and
imitated the most frightful tragedies for sport.' "
" Jas. Montgomery, aged 1 1 years, while playing at
hanging Foster, yesterday, at the residence of his
parents, in Brooklyn, strangled himself." Tribune.
SHALL WE CONTINUE TO KILL/ 175
The good Rev. W. H. Thomas, of the City of
Chicago, in a sermon on the subject of " Hanging,"
preached the Sabbath after Driver's execution, speaks
in clear and pointed terms, and comes in strong sup-
port of our position. We give his own words :
"The occasion could not pass without bringing up in many
minds the old question whether hanging is the best thing society
can do with a convicted murderer. All are agreed that whilst the
law makes death by hanging the penalty for murder, it should be
executed ; but all are not agreed that this is the best law in such
cases. It will hardly be claimed that it rests upon any command
of the scriptures, although they may be quoted as authorizing the
death penalty, for they make death the penalty for some fourteen
other and minor offenses, such as blasphemy, man-stealing, adul-
tery, witchcraft, etc. Surely no one would claim that we are un-
der that law. Nor will it be justified on the ground that hanging
is the only punishment that will satisfy the claims of justice.
This kind of administration belongs to God. The idea of punish-
ment in human laws is not retributive, but administrative, or for
the protection of society. And the one question is, can this be
secured as well, or better, by some other means. We think it can.
It is found in experience that it is almost impossible to secure the
conviction and execution of a murderer. Every possible techni-
cality of the law is exhausted, involving long delays, and keeping
the subject painfully before the public, and then, if conviction is
secured and sentence passed, the pardoning power is importuned
in every conceivable way for extension of time or commutation
of sentence. Now it seems to me that there is something sadly
wrong, either in the law itself, or in its administration. The very
element most essential for the prevention of crime, that is, cer-
tainty of speedy punishment, is to a very great extent lost. The
penalty of hanging is so great that it defeats itself by the difficulty
of its execution. A murderer runs about as many risks of being
killed by accident as he does of being hung. And when at long
intervals some wretch is executed, it is not at all certain that the
effect upon the hardened portions of the community is either
176 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
deep or lasting. What was the result last Friday ? When was
there seen such a crowd of the very worst characters ? And as
they hung around the jail, from morning till nearly night, feeding
their coarse, fiendish natures on the thoughts of human suffering,
the day seemed to them more as a holiday than the solemn ad-
ministration of justice. Who can say they were either bettered
in their natures, or deterred from crime by the experiences of
that day ? Then the effect upon the public at large is, to say the
least, not pleasant. Was there a thoughtful man or woman in
this vast city that spent the -hour from i to 2 o'clock without pain-
ful feelings ? To those who witnessed the execution, the scene
was trying to the last degree. If such things occur, we can not
blame the press for publishing them, but it is certainly not good
for the public morals to be so constantly occupied with the de-
tails of crime and trials and punishment. It has come to be the
larger part of our daily reading. Were the penalty different, so
much attention could not be called to these cases.
" The public good demands speedy, straightforward trials on the
merits of the case, and then where found guilty I would substitute
certain imprisonment for life in place of hanging. This imprison-
ment should be in a separate department of the penitentiary,
constructed especially for murderers, and the pardoning power
should be taken from the executive, and placed in nothing less
than the unanimous vote of both branches of the legislature, and
with these only in cases where the absolute innocence of the con-
vict is proven. This right to pardon, in any case, is a constant
source of perplexity and annoyance to governors, and in all cases
holds out the hope of pardon to offenders of all grades, greatly
weakens the dread of punishment, and thereby encourages crime.
This certain imprisonment for life at hard work would protect so-
ciety from any fear of danger from the murderer, and would, I
think, have a greater influence in preventing murder than the
present uncertainty of hanging, and the usually long term of such
convicts would make their labor profitable to the state, and the
profits might go to support those left dependant by their crime."
SHALL WE CONTINUE TO KILL? 177
If it were further necessary to convince our read-
ers of the rationale of our position, by giving the
opinion of others, we might fill ten volumes with the
names of good men and women throughout the
United States, who are in favor of abolishing capital
punishment. We proceed, however, to notice further
the effects which the excessive penalty of death has
on the criminal, on the friends of the criminal, and
the community in general. We have shown that it
does not prevent crime. George Driver was hanged
yesterday in this city ; Osborn at Knoxville, 111., the
same day. This morning, March the I5th, 1873, our
papers report a number of murders, -one shooting
affray, in this city, at one o'clock, A. M., in a saloon,
by a young man ; and we may expect a number more
during the next twenty-four hours. Thus far, we
have not been able to see any good whatever result-
ing from the death penalty ; but, on the other hand,
much harm is done, and crime thereby increased in-
stead of lessened. In consequence of the severe
punishment awaiting the murderer, every effort is
made to defeat the law.
Lawyers wrangle and quarrel over weak points in
law. The one for the benefit of the culprit, tries to
weaken the facts in the case ; the prosecuting attor-
ney on the other side, through pride, strives with
energy not to be defeated, though life may be involved ;
thus giving practical lessons in lying. The last dollar
is spent by friends to save the life of the murderer,
and thousands of dollars of the public treasure trying
to take his life. The uncertainty of punishment gives
the criminal a hope of escaping, and stimulates the
12
i; CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
friends to plead for a super sedeas, new trial, commu-
tation, stay of proceedings, etc., all involving thou-
sands of dollars, and neither doing justice to the
criminal nor to the public. Let murderers, as well as
other criminals, when found guilty, be immediately
disposed of, and sent to a suitable prison, where they
can be of some use, and begin the work of reparation
and reformation. No commutation, no supersedeas,
no reprieving power ; let the punishment be certain ;
and we affirm that this will truly prevent crime. In-
stead of keeping a murderer in jail, one or two
years, trying to convict him and enforce the death
penalty, which does no good whatever, would it
not be far better to assign a place for safe keep-
ing, where he can w r ork and earn something, and
do good to some one in need. For example,
George Driver left a family of five or six children,
uneducated and unsupported. Society will not ed-
ucate and support those children as they should be,
though accessory to the crime of the murder; still,
by the death penalty, the last support of those
children is taken from them, while, by imprisonment,
the criminal could have done something for their
benefit. Again : if the penalty were lighter and less
uncertain, Driver would not have spent his last dollar
in trying to save his life, and this money could have
been saved to his family, and in a few weeks he could
have been doing something more for them ; besides
saving thousands of dollars to the public.
It is estimated that from three to four hundred
thousand dollars is expended in the United States
each year in trying murderers alone. Now if this
SHALL WE CONTINUE TO KILL? 179
money were expended in supporting institutions
which have for their object the proper training of the
rising generation, who receive not the proper atten-
tion from parents, we apprehend that this would do
more to prevent future crime than to spend this
amount in simply trying to save the lives of our mur-
derers. The severity of the penalty, and the uncer-
tainty of enforcing it, has rendered our courts of
justice ludicrous, and people are dissatisfied. All the
public asks is strict enforcement of the law. If the
law is unnaturally severe, they are willing even now
to have it amended, so that it can be enforced, This
defect has given rise to all manner of opinions, and
newspaper comments, censuring our officers of the
law. One of our evening papers states as follows :
" Stokes has received an extension of life for an indefinite num-
ber of months, if indeed he does not entirely escape punishment.
Judge Boardman examined the flimsy pleas of the murderer's
lawyers for a stay of proceedings, and refused them, whereupon
Judge Davis, a man of less backbone, was called upon, and he
promptly granted a stay of proceedings. How utterly the execu-
tion of the laws depends on the judgment, temper or preference
of the judge, is shown in this case where, with precisely the same
facts before them, one man decides that Stokes must hang and
another grants him indefinite reprieve. If anything were needed
to utterly remove public confidence in our legal tribunals, such
farces as those in the cases of Stokes, Perteet, Rafferty, et id omne
genus, would suffice. Hereafter, let murder trials be decided by
flipping up coppers."
New trials are asked for. Everything is done to
save life, and this is quite unnecessary. When it is
plain that one is guilty of murder, why have trial
after trial ? If the death penalty can not be enforced,
l8o CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
abolish it, and stop this wrangling and expenditure
of money. Rigidly enforce the law and such edito-
rials as the following would not appear :
" Rafferty, our policeman-murderer, after two trials and convic-
tions, was sentenced on Saturday, to be hung on March yth, and
it seemed as if the last obstacle to the execution of justice was
removed. But, behold, the villain's counsel straightway went to
work to prepare a " bill of exceptions," and will besiege the Su-
preme Court for another trial ! This is outrageously purile and
utterly disgusting." Evening Mail.
Some time previous to the execution of Driver,
the newspapers were full of opinions like the above ;
and this preys on the wild imagintions of the people,
arousing simply the emotions ; and all sorts of ex-
pressions can be heard, such as, " The officers should
be hung as well as the murderer ;" " The lawyers
ought to be made to take the place of the prisoner ;"
etc., coming merely through the organ of revenge.
We can not expect any mitigation of crime. One
can judge where the editor stands who gives his
readers the following :
" George Driver, one of the crew of cold-blooded wife-murderers
who have done their deeds in this city within the past few months,
was yesterday found guilty of murder in the first degree, and sen-
tenced to be hung. This, of course, is to be considered the com-
mencement of a pleasant little farce, the end of "which is far off.
First will come a new trial, then an appeal to the Supreme Court,
then a reversal and remanding, then a change of venue, then a
supersedeas, then an appeal for executive clemency, if by any
chance the first verdict is sustained ; and finally after months of
time and thousands of dollars of the people's money have been
wasted on a wretch whose life is a curse to the world, he will
probably be required to board a while at the expense of the State,
or get free altogether."
SHALL WE CONTINUE TO KILL? l8l
People are yet uneducated on this subject. They
know of no other means of punishme.nt, and no
other means of prevention of crime than the death
penalty ; hence, under these circumstances, the un-
certainty of enforcing the law, we need not wonder
when a New York reporter makes the following
statement :
" New York is becoming agitated at the alarming frequency of
murder in that city, and the people are demanding that somebody
shall be punished. The past few weeks have been a harvest of
crime."
The editor of the Herald of Health has an opinion
differing some in tone and sentiment :
" HANGING A MAN. In Brooklyn yesterday a man was hung.
He had killed a policeman in attempting to escape from his grasp.
To-day the papers are full of graphic and disgusting accounts of
it. These accounts, we believe, have a very bad effect on morals,
and upon the health of delicate invalids, and upon the susceptible
brains of children. They do no good whatever. Now if men
are to lose their lives for murder, we say let it be done as decently
as possible. If society decides that, the murderer can not be
safely kept alive on the globe, for fear he will do more injury, let
it take him out of the way without shocking sensitive wives and
delicate invalids, and tender-hearted children with a brutal exhibi-
tion. How can this be done. We would not even have the
prisoner know it himself. Within a few years a method of butch-
ering animals has been invented, in which they suffer no pain.
Their brains are deliriously intoxicated by a peculiar anaesthetic,
and nothing can hurt them. Such an anaesthetic might be
silently passed into the prisoner's cell while he slept, and the
work would be done. Would not the ends of justice be quite as
well met? Would not the public be saved from a most dis-
gusting spectacle, and the papers that deal in such news betake
themselves to some other means of gratifying the public ear more
in accordance with public sentiment ?"
1 82 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
To evade the law all manner of questions and ex-
cuses are brought forward with the hope of saving
one's life. This dodging of the law, we think, would
cease as soon as the death penalty is abolished.
The most common expedient to evade the law is the
INSANITY DODGE.
This subject we notice more at length in another
chapter, on the subject of insanity. We will state,
however, that insanity can not be made an excuse for
crime, or a reason why punishment should not be
inflicted. If a man must be in his rational mind
before he is fit to be hanged, then we argue, when he
is so, he is also quite good enough to live. All per-
sons are insane, in a degree, who commit murder, for
one of a sound mind would not do so, hence insanity
can not be made a reason why punishment should
not be enforced in individual cases. In a very few in-
stances, perhaps one in a hundred, or perhaps in two
hundred, murderers may be considered wholly insane
and fit subjects only for an insane asylum. Yet a
terrible effort is made to clear murderers on this plea.
In nearly every murder trial insanity is made a plea
upon which to base a hope of saving the life of the
accused felon. The following we clip from the New
York correspondence of the Chicago Tribune :
" Scannell, the New York murderer, now on trial, has already
found direct evidence that he is insane. The family physician
has come forward to swear to it. In connection with this evi-
dence, it is interesting to inquire into the responsibility of the
Scannell family, the family physician, and the authorities who
permitted this insane man to roam about with murder the special
SHALL WE CONTINUE TO KILL? 183
object of his insane raalignits. It will be remembered that Scan-
nell made several attempts upon the life of the man whom he
finally killed, and once injured him so severely that he barely
escaped death. Why did not these evidences of Scannell's in-
sanity induce the authorities to inquire into his mental condition
at the time, and put him beyond the possibility of carrying 01 1
his murderous purpose ? If insanity is to be recognized as an
excuse for the crime of murder, it should also be recognized in
cases of attempted murder, and the demented creatures should be
consigned to the asylum or prison. This is a case in point, show-
ing the failure of the police system that does not attempt to pre-
vent crime as well as bring criminals to punishment."
If it is right, a Christian duty, and a benefit to the
public, to execute men for murder, why then so many
different opinions, and why make an effort to com-
mute the sentence of one guilty of murder. It
strikes us there must be something wrong about this
law or no one would even try to oppose it, or pray
that it might be either amended or wholly abolished.
If all were right no one would ever think of praying
for a reprieve, save the criminal or his family. Mrs.
Putman appeals to Governor Dix, of New York, to
have the sentence of Foster, the car-hook murderer
of her husband, commuted to lesser punishment.
The New York Times also urges a commutation of
Foster's sentence.
" The case," the Times remarks, " excites much
public attention." A letter from the Hon. Wm.
Orten, President of the Western Union Telegraph
Company, is published in the Times, in favor of com-
mutation, based on the application of the jurors, sta-
ting that they never regarded the condemned guilty
of murder in the first degree. If capital punishment
184 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
is right, if it is preventive of crime, if it is a Chris-
tian duty, why make such an effort to save life ; or
why need we be afraid of the people ? If it is a
moral lesson, and does " so much good," as it is
claimed; why need we an army of police to enforce
it ? The following is a dispatch from New York, on
the morning of the execution of Foster :
" Superintendent Kelso, with two hundred policemen, was on
hand this morning at 9 o'clock to preserve order. Foster, after
passing a restless and almost sleepless night, arose from his bed
about 8 o'clock and dressed himself for the execution. He then
partook of a little food, not seeming to have any appetite. Dr.
Tyng called and administered spiritual consolation, praying and
reading the scriptures to him. His father and brothers called be-
tween 8 and 9 o'clock, and took their final leave of the unfortu-
nate murderer. The scene was affecting in the extreme. Foster
bore up bravely, while his father and brothers were convulsed
with the burden cf their grief. They had done all that mortal
men could do to save him, and now they must part with him for-
ever."
The sole question is, is capital punishment neces-
sary to prevent crime ? Thus far we can see no
reasonable argument why it should be continued, or
that it has prevented a single murder.
So long ago as the time of Nero, it was perceived
by the philosopher Seneca, that retribution was a
just punishment. " No wise man," he says, " punishes
because crime has been committed, but only in order
that crime may not be committed." Unless essential
to the prevention of crime, capital punishment can
not be for a moment justified to an enlightened con-
science. Finally the reader may say, " you theorize
very well, but
SHALL WE CONTINUE TO KILL? 185
WILL IT DO
when put into practice ?" Wherever it has been
tried it has worked well. Michigan, since she abol-
ished capital punishment, has had comparatively few
murders committed within her borders. Wherever
the experiment has been, made, it has always been
with the best success. In Tuscany, where the death
penalty was abolished for twenty years, the Grand
Duke officially announced that " all crimes had
diminished," and Franklin stated that in Tuscany
only five murders occurred in twenty years, while in
Rome and its vicinity, where the death penalty was
inflicted, sixty murders occurred within three months.
It is reported by Sir James Mackintosh, in his fare-
well address to the grand jury, that after capital
punishment was abolished, in Bombay, the commis-
sion of murder was reduced in the ratio of one to
four. During the reign of Henry VIII. 72,000 crim-
inals were executed about 2,000 a year ; yet crime,
it is reported, continually increased. " It is not the
severity," says Seymour, " but the certainty of punish-
ment which deters." Make the punishment too
severe, and it will not be inflicted. When a theft of
forty shillings was punishable by death in England,
within a space of two years, 553 perjured verdicts
were rendered for thefts of thirty-nine shillings and
eleven pence. It is everywhere admitted that juries
Will not convict honestly, if the penalty is excessive.
Statistics carefully compiled in Michigan since the
abolition of the death penalty, show only twenty
murders, while in the city of Chicago alone one hun-
1 86 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
dred have taken place during the same period of
time. It is well to quote the words of the great
Roman orator: "Away with this cruelty from the
state. Allow it not, O judges, to prevail any longer
in the commonwealth. It has not only the fatal
effect of cutting off so many of your fellowmen in
so cruel a manner, but it has even banished from men
of the mildest temper, by the familiar practice of
slaughter, the sentiment of mercy."
The eminent Bishop Simpson says, " Not only is
capital punishment demoralizing to the public mind
not only are there frequent and fatal mistakes in
putting the innocent to death but also it is as use-
less as it is barbarous and unjust."
We believe now that the question of capital pun-
ishment is settled, and will be no longer questioned
as its doing any good whatever. It cannot reform
the criminal or compensate those who were injured.
It is not a Christian duty for it has been proven that
it does not deter others from committing murder,
hence is not a preventive measure. It violates the
laws of nature, and is contrary to the spirit and the
teachings of the New Testament. It is a relic of
o
heathen nations, and is a disgraceful tolerance of
enlightened Christian communities, where science
and reason are said to be in the zenith of glory.
CHAPTER XIV.
ON COMPULSORY EDUCATION. SUGGESTIONS HOW TO
PREVENT CRIME. PUBLIC EDUCATIONAL INSTI-
TUTIONS FOR THE FRIENDLESS, ETC., ETC.
" When ideas enter a barren brain, they lay inactive and dead, like seed cast
into sterile ground. But when they fall on genial soil, they are almost sure to
germinate and spring forth in some new and beautiful form." Horace Mann.
"The ' Coming Child.' At the risk of being thought fanatical, we assert that
the ' Coming State* must take all the children who are abused and kept in igno-
rance by brutal, drunken, vicious parents, and educate and train them up to be
useful and happy citizens. It is a disgrace to the nation that tens of thousands
of children are growing up in the filth and slime of our cities and villages in
the grossest and the most shameless moral degradation." Truth.
" The next progressive move among advanced nations will be, first in consid-
ering, and next in executing a plan for transforming swindlers, petty thieves,
and beggars into steady and useful laborers." N. C. Meeker.
The problem, how to prevent crime, requires great
wisdom to solve the mystery. A mere a priori con-
clusion is unsafe, and hence a thorough knowledge
of the entire constitution of man is requisite to form
a correct opinion. To arrive at the truth, a majority
of the people of the United States must possess
scientific knowledge of the human constitution the
physical, the moral, the intellectual, and the social
natures in order to be enabled to adjust man's laws
in harmony with the laws of nature. Until this is
accomplished we need not expect to be very success-
ful in our legislative enactments, with a view of pre-
venting crime. From the standpoint which we occupy
187
1 88 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
in viewing the subject, we can not other than recog-
nize in the criminal actions of men simply the symp-
toms of a diseased condition. This diseased condi-
tion has become chronic, we think, and, having been
treated for many thousand years unsuccessfully, a
general consultation of all the best minds of the
nation may be of great benefit. Sufficient scientific
knowledge has been acquired by the medical profes-
sion to know that, to cure a diseased condition the
cause must be removed ; then the effect will cease.
Those, however, who are not capable of recognizing
the real cause, treat simply effects, and thereby only
palliate the difficulty which is liable at any time to
break out in the most malignant form. To radically
heal an old sore on a man's leg, we will suppose, the
constitution must be restored to perfect health, and
while this is being done local treatment is also neces-
sary. To treat only the sore by local applications,
thereby subduing the active symptoms, is running
great risks, and jeopardizing the life of the patient.
This kind of treatment is much as if the "life
guards" on the sea shore, on beholding at a distance a
flag of distress waving from the mast of a vessel in
great danger, were to man the life-boat, and make
every effort to reach the scene of threatened disas-
ter, but, instead of rescuing the passengers aboard,
they were simply to cut down the flag- of distress,
and console themselves with the idea that they have
done their whole duty. This is a fair example of
the present mode of treating the diseased conditions
which pervade the body politic of the nation. Men
indulge in the belief that they have done their whole
ON COMPULSORY EDUCATION; 189
duty, when they have poulticed the sore by exacting
money fines for crime, or by sentencing a criminal to
hard labor for a few months or years; and think
when the sore is healed the cause is also removed.
By enforcing the death penalty, they simply cut dowi
the flag of distress. They argue that the dangej
has ceased because the flag announcing such condi-
tion has disappeared.
This palliative and insufficient treatment of crime
is the main reason why it continues to be manifest.
The active symptoms may be suspended for a time,
but soon make their appearance again, often in a
different form and more malignant in character. If
the sore is healed on the man's leg without radically
curing the constitution, the next manifestation of
the disease is very liable to be in the form of con-
sumption and to kill the patient. So in punishing
crime simply by healing the apparent symptoms, the
same disease is very liable in its next appearance to
be in a form of greater severity, perhaps of thrusting
the dagger into some one's heart. The only rational
treatment would be a removal of the cause, where-
upon the effect will cease. To treat simply the effect
is dangerous ; but to ascertain and treat, the cause
alone is uncertain. While we are engaged in re-
moving the cause, the effect has a certain influence,
and we make slow headway. While the constitution
is being treated, the sore requires cleansing and vari-
ous local treatment, in order to prevent re-absorption
of the poisonous virus. This statement of the case
is comprehensive ; and all agree as to the correctness
of the diagnosis. The only point on which we can
differ is in regard to the means to be employed in
CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
the treatment of the difficulty. We cheerfully give
our mode of treatment, and the remedies which we
would prescribe, and trust to the nurse, society, to
administer them promptly. We are aware that our
prescriptions are suggested at a very prolonged period
of the patient's disease ; and we are also conscious of
the fact that a great amount of treatment has already
been given, much, no doubt, with a good effect,
and perhaps some having a very bad effect ; yet, as
the saying is, " so long as there's life there's hope,"
and we are willing to make an effort in common with
many others to counteract, if possible, the diseased
tendencies. The ultimate object is perfect restora-
tion. To accomplish this, it is necessary, to under-
stand correctly the nature, character and cause of the
disease we are treating, and also the constitution, and
idiosyncrasy of our patient. These conditions have
been sufficiently canvassed in the first part of this
volume, to which the reader is referred. All that
now remains to be done is to indicate the treatment,
and whether the healing potion can be successfully
administered.
We have intimated that in the treatment the grand
object is to bring about revolution, restoration,
and, to accomplish this, the cause must be removed,
or the effect will not cease. This may be done in
two ways : in the treatment of the constitution by
constitutional means, or by local application in cor-
recting the effect. The constitutional measures are
moral suasion, and the local measures legal suasion.
The two should operate corelatively until the effect
requires no further treatment. We wish it to be
ON COMPULSORY EDUCATION.
understood by our reader that we figuratively com-
pare society, or the entire human family, to a body
variously organized. Let us now consider first the
CONSTITUTIONAL MEASURES
by which we propose to remove the cause of crime.
In the first part of this volume, we have shown that
men are mainly actuated by the force of circum-
stances ; surroundings, habits, associations, and edu-
cation affect men m all stations of life. We have
also stated that crime which is only a symptom is
the result of a depraved condition, which may have
been hereditary or acquired.
This depravity exists generally physically as well
as mentally. Physical depravity is the result of dis-
obedience to physiological laws, and mental depravity
is the result of ignorance or disobedience of the
natural laws governing mentality. It is scarcely
necessary to refer the reader to one universal fact,
which is that nearly all of our criminals are de-
praved and ignorant whose early training was woe-
fully neglected. Read the history of any of our
most noted criminals, and it will be conceded that
the crime may be traced back to a depraved ancestry,
neglected early education, and improper culture of
the moral and intellectual capabilities. The Buffalo
murderer, who was recently executed, was raised and
educated among harlots, gamblers, and thieves. His
whole life was devoted to crime, and hence was well
calculated to culminate in the most terrible of
crimes. The Galesburg murderer, Osborne, was a
CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
man of no education and lived a wicked life from
childhood. He had no one to lead him in the path
in which he should go in after life. With the Peoria
murderer it was the same. The notorious Probst, the
murderer of the Deering family, was more like a
beast than a human being. His history shows that
he never was taught by a mother ; that none interested
themselves in his moral training while a child. Driver
of Chicago was a man of no moral training; igno-
rant of physiology, and the most common branches
of natural philosophy. The Boston murderer who
is doomed to die in a few days, is ignorant of even
the most common branches of education, an orphan
child, allowed to grow up like a weed. Foster, the
car-hook murderer, is reported as of a depraved, un-
couth organization, of intemperate habits, and no
moral education. So we might go on and fill volume
after volume to show that crime and ignorance,
neglected early culture, and bodily and mental de-
pravity, go hand in hand. We make not an exagger-
ated statement when we affirm that not one in a hun-
dred of our murderers is an enlightened person.
These conditions, of course, exist in different degrees
of activity, from a murderer down to a common liar.
The disease assumes so many different forms, that it
is difficult to discern it, until very positive symptoms
have been developed. It is hard to find the line
where virtue ends and crime begins ; it is hard to
find in the body politic one who says," I have enough ;
I will loan you money at six per cent, per annum."
Having examined this subject in all its bearings, we
are satisfied that the best constitutional treatment, as
ON COMPULSORY EDUCATION. 193
indicated, is a universal education of the rising gen-
eration, a general diffusion of knowledge in all its
branches, and so educating every faculty of the mind
that where discord now exists harmony may take the
place.
In addition to the institutions of learning that
now exist, we recommend others. The vehicle
through which we propose to accomplish the general
diffusion of knowledge, is
COMPULSORY EDUCATION.
Let the state enforce by law the education of every
child in, at least, all the common branches, and, where
it is practicable, even in the higher ones.
Aside from obliging parents to send their children
to school, until the boy is eighteen and the girl six-
teen, the state should educate and support all the
paupers, orphans, and vagabond children. It will be
much cheaper than to support prisons, jails, and
criminal courts, and the effect will be far more pre-
ventive of crime than the infliction of an excessive
and unnatural punishment.
The Tribune in an editorial, March 19, 1873, which
we give below, verifies our statement : *
* " Governor Dix, who has always been peculiarly happy in his
aphoristic sentiments, says in his letter declining to interfere in
the Foster case : * Every man who strikes a murderous blow at the
life of his fellow, must be made to feel that his own is in certain
peril.' There is a need that this should be a guiding principle at
this time, and at all times, in dealing with the dangerous classes.
The present importance of Governor Dix's advice has just been
illustrated almost simultaneously in New York and Chicago. On
Monday evening, in New York, a party of three roughs, without
13
IQ4 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
The execution of Driver in this city, executions in
other places, and Gov. Dix's letter, at about the same
time, it seems, had not the desired effect. The editor
of the Tribune thinks that it is "only necessary that
Driver's murderous companions should be tried ac-
cording to law to have them go the same way he
went last Friday. It is only by ridding the commu-
nity of these outlaws that the class to which they
belong may be brought under the terror that alone
can restrain their murderous propensities." In our
mode of treating this class of people, we would have
them placed in a reformatory institute or prison, long
provocation, "began their murderous work in a saloon, and, evi-
dently maddened at the sight of the blood they caused to flow,
kept it up after going into the street, cutting and slashing with their
knives at every one they chanced to meet. Early yesterday morn-
ing, a somewhat similar slaughter occurred in the disreputable
neighborhood of Halsted street and Canalport avenue, where
Rafferty killed Officer O'Meara, and where the two police officers
were forced to kill the two McVeighs to save their own lives. In
yesterday's melee, one man had his throat cut from ear to ear,
others were badly damaged, and it was only the singular chance
which is noticed in rows of this kind that prevented a more gen-
eral destruction of human life. The neighborhood in which this
latest murder occurred is crowded with dangerous characters of
the Rafferty and McVeigh stamp, who seem to be entirely uncon-
trolled by law. There is but one way in which an impression can
be made upon such a community, and that is the way which Gov.
Dix suggests. The rapid and certain execution of the law, death
to actual murderers, and the severest punishment possible to would-
be murderers, is the only effectual remedy that can be applied.
Nothing short of this will appeal to the brutal instincts of the
classes who defy the laws, and permit their passions to run wild.
The man who deals a murderous blow * must be made to feel that
his own life is in certain peril.' "
ON COMPULSORY EDUCATION. 195
before they commit such horrible deeds as murder.
We do not believe it to be a good practice to con-
tinue to treat the effect alone, which is only the active
sympton of a poisonous virus infecting the entire body
of society.
It is said to make a deep impression on the mind
to touch people's pockets ; and they will at least
hearken to what you have to say. In this connec-
tion we beg permission to give a few figures. In the
year 1870, Chicago had over 25,000 arrests and trials
for crime. St. Louis had, during the same year,
26,500. To this number add New York, Philadel-
phia, Buffalo, Cincinnati, New Orleans, Nashville,
and other cities of like reputation in crime, and we
have, in the aggregate, in the United States, during
the year 1870, over 500,000 crimes which were tried
and disposed of according to law. It is further esti-
mated that it cost the people of the United States
^annually about thirty-six million dollars to punish
this great army of criminals. Chicago alone sup-
ports five hundred police, St. Louis over six hundred,
New York sixteen hundred, Philadelphia eight hun-
dred, and at a rough estimate the United States
supports constantly an army of police and officers of
justice of nearly thirty thousand, costing Chicago
alone over half a million of dollars, enough money
when properly invested to educate and support all of
its paupers, orphans, and children of neglectful
parents, and have enough money besides to defray
all expenses of a free public lecturing hall, in each
ward. All this money may be saved to the public,
after ten years; for if we educate our children in
196 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
earnest, and strictly according to the laws of their
nature, we can so bend and train them that in ten
years we shall have no need of five hundred able-
bodied men parading our streets, "armed with an im-
plement of death," to keep the people in the path of
virtue. It is doubtless, much cheaper for the state
to feed, educate, and train up its paupers, orphans,
and children of criminals and neglectful parents, than
afterwards to keep them as outlaws and criminals.
It is far better and easier to train the young heart
than to frighten the adult into right doing. Let
society do its whole duty by the child, and it will not
need to strangle the adult. For the education of
this class of children we recommend a
STATE INSTITUTION.
Let the state make an appropriation and, if neces-
sary, levy a special tax to build a house of correction
or a reformatory educational institute, where all
children, six years of age and upwards, and even
adults of doubtful moral habits, may be sent and
made to work and be schooled so as to train them to
a useful life. This institution can be made self-sus-
taining by the proper cultivation of about five hun-
dred to one thousand acres of land, which may be
bought very cheap, and by this means give all the
inmates practical lessons in farming. Here the
child may learn something about nature which it can
never learn in a city prison, or the so-called house of
correction. Eight hours for educational exercises in
school, part of which time may be devoted to the
ON COMPULSORY EDUCATION. 197
toilet, bathing, etc.; and eight hours for labor, during
which time the teacher, at the signal of the bell,
marches with her class to a place assigned to her,
where she can give practical instruction in cultivating
vegetables and small fruits for the table, beautiful
flowers, and young fruit trees for the market. Little
girls, as well as boys, should learn something about
tilling the soil of mother earth. This is healthful to
the body and gives the mind variety of thought.
During the winter season these children should, in-
stead of farm exercises, be required to take practical
lessons in housekeeping, sewing, or learning some
trade, all of which will fit them aside from the intel-
lectual and moral education which they receive in
school to take their place in society when they are
grown.
The farm should be divided up, so as to suit the
ages and different classes from the child to the
adult; the girls being only required to cultivate
flowers, vegetables, and small fruits. All manner of
industry may be taught here, also every branch of
education. No one should be allowed to leave this
institution, without they are sufficiently well qualified
to enable them to enter good society, and make an
honorable living. This institution should be so ar-
ranged as to provide every means of development
All the different natures df man, all the faculties,
should receive attention. It should contain lecture-
rooms, lyceums, gymnasiums, and bath-rooms. It
should be provided with amusement, and music, wor-
ship, social training, lessons in conversation and con-
certs would lend zest to more practical occupations.
198 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
Attached to the institute should be play-grounds,
parks, an^ a few small lakes. It should also be pro-
vided with a museum, containing varieties of wild as
well as domestic animals, that practical instruction
may be given in natural history. The schools should
be conducted about the same as our public schools.
An institution of this kind can be sustained at much
less expense than our present system of treating
criminals. Aside from the state institutions, which
we have suggested, the compulsory education of the
masses is absolutely necessary.* Parents should be
* ON COMPULSORY EDUCATION. " A peculiar feature of the
legislation of the past winter has been the unprecedented num-
ber of measures designed to secure more general and more reg-
ular attendance of children at school.
u Not only in the National Legislature, but in several of the
State Legislatures, bills have been introduced for the promotion of
public education by devices ranging from penalties for non-attend-
ance at school, as proposed in the state of New York, to rewards
for regular attendance (by remission of taxes), as proposed in
Illinois. Though these schemes have been, for the most part, un-
successful, the time not being ripe for them, as their friends
allege, they have shown very clearly the drift of public opinion.
The nation has been aroused to a sense of its educational poverty,
and is earnestly casting about for a cure. It has learned that
some millions of its population are illiterate; that millions of
children are growing up unschooled ; that ignorance is every-
where associated with, if not related to, poverty and crime ; and
that the productive force of the country is seriously weakened by
lack of intelligence. The natural inference is, that a wider diffu-
sion of elementary instruction would go far to inaugurate a hap-
pier state of things. And the inference is just. But when people
assume, as the advocates of compulsory schooling do, that the
instruction now given in the schools is a certain cure-all for the
evils noticed, and that the one thing needful is some means oi
ON COMPULSORY EDUCATION. 199
compelled by law to send their children to school
from eight years of age until the boy is eighteen and
the girl is sixteen. In the little province of Witten-
berg, Germany, this has been a law for over a century,
and now, with a population of seven million souls,
murder is a rare occurrence
bringing all the children into the schools and keeping them there,
then their position may be reasonably questioned. It is by no
means evident that such an extension of the scope and power of
the public schools would be an advantage. Indeed there are
reasons for suspecting that it might prove a national calamity un-
less a radical change were first made in the matter and methods
of popular teaching. Let us not be charged with hostility to
public schools. We believe in them firmly. It is not only the
wisest policy but the highest duty of the community to make
education a public concern, and to see to it that no poverty, indif-
ference, or greed shall be suffered to deprive the young of suitable
opportunities for instruction and culture. We believe, further,
that a well devised and properly conducted system of public
schools is the directest, cheapest, surest, and best means for secur-
ing the instruction of all classes. Nevertheless, we seriously
question whether the existing system is anywhere near that state
of perfection which would warrant us in stereotyping it, and en-
forcing it on all children. We are by no means sure that the in-
struction given in the schools is, in the main, such as the children
need. We doubt whether the mental habits fostered by the
schools are really beneficial to inhabitants of a working world like
ours. We doubt whether instruction is offered at the most suita-
ble times and for the most suitable periods. In short, there is
not a feature of the popular school system that we should not
wish to have carefully reconsidered before extending its sphere
and power. The perfection of the system is to be found in Bos-
ton. It is the professed desire of the advocates of compulsory
education to secure, as far as possible, to all the children of the
land, the school advantages provided by that city. In view ol
the testimony of the hundred and fifty physicians who have ioined
2OO CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
No child should be allowed to be employed in
factories or elsewhere, when the employment posi-
tively prevents it from acquiring a proper education,
during its school days.
If it is not in the power of parents to educate their
children without receiving some income from their
earnings, then it is the duty of society to educate
with the parents of the pupils in the Boston Latin school in pro-
testing against the system of long hours and cramming enforced
in that school in particular, and in the public schools in general,
we may be pardoned for accounting those 'advantages' some-
thing fearful. ' I cannot doubt that the modern system of forcing
the tender brain of youth lays the foundation for the brain and
nervous disorders of after years the cases of melancholia,
paralysis, softening of the brain, and kindred diseases becoming
so fearfully prevalent.' So writes Dr. Clement A. Walker, Super-
intendent of the City Hospital for the Insane. Dr. George A.
Stuart adds : ' Of late years the majority of diseases seem to
have assumed a nervous type, which in most cases may be traced
to over-taxation of the mental powers of the young, both male
and female.' And Dr. J. B. Treadwell : ' Hundreds of pupils
of our public schools are ruined in health every year ; this I
know from personal observation.' And Dr. H. F. Damon : * The
amount of vital power has its limits, and these limits, in my judg-
ment, are far exceeded by the present system of overtasking the
pupils in our public schools.' Dr. E. B. Moore writes that he
has a son now in the insane asylum, ' the result of excessive study
and disappointed ambition.'
" We do not infer that such would everywhere be the inevitable
results of the proposed extension of public schooling, but such
results would be possible, indeed probable, unless the system were
materially modified ; and we ought to be very cautious in erect-
ing a national god so likely to turn out a Moloch. If the choice
lies between healthy ignorance and * an overtaxed brain, a dwarfed
body, a weakened intellect, a variety of diseases, and a premature
grave,' which Dr. P. D. Walsh says is the natural, or unnatural,
ON COMPULSORY EDUCATION. 2OI
them. This being done, we believe that the consti-
tutional disease, which now prevades society, will be
largely mitigated. How many parents who have suf-
ficient means to support and educate their children,
force them to labor daily in shops or the field, only
to have them earn a few dollars so that the parent
result of the current system of schooling, commend us to an
abundance of healthy ignorance.
" Even if much study were never a weariness to the flesh, if
the requirements of the schools could be complied with without
any risk of broken health, the present cost of schooling would be
needlessly great. The complaint that our schools are spoiling
our more promising youth for work, that they foster foolish am-
bitions and aversions to material pursuits, is not wholly without
foundation. Ten or fifteen years of exclusive devotion to books
is very apt to develop tastes and habits unfriendly to productive
labor. The youth leaves school a young man (in his own estima-
tion at least), and very likely with exaggerated notions of his own
importance. He is too old, and too proud, and ' too much of a
gentleman' to begin at the bottom of any craft, and, by doing a
boy's work, acquire that familiarity with details on which the
mastery of any business depends. Besides, in most cases, he can
not afford the time for such an apprenticeship. He must begin
to earn wages at once. The consequence is, the country is full of
unprofitably t educated' men, who, having neither rude strength
nor skilled hands, are glad to get employment at lower rates than
are paid to common laborers. The loss to the country from this
needless diverting of youth from productive labor is beyond esti-
mation. It is due very largely to the unwise requirements of the
schools in the matter of time. They suffer no rivals. Their
pupils must give the best part of the day, regularly, to school
work, or withdraw. It may ruin their health, and deprive them
of opportunity to acquire the practical business training on which
their future happiness and usefulness will chiefly depend. No
matter ; the character of the school is at stake, and the school,
not the student, is the primary consideration. The Boston Board
2O2 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
may be enabled to accumulate money. Such persons
are proper subjects for legislation.
Again, no person should be allowed to marry with-
out they can show visible means to support and
educate a family. A young man should have a legiti-
mate vocation, aside from a given amount of money,
admit this inversion of the proper order of things with uncon-
scious frankness, in their refusal to lessen the amount of study re-
quired of the Latin school boys. ' It would be impossible/ they
plead, * to point out any eminent school of this grade in which a
less number of hours is found sufficient.'
"At the lower end of the social scale is another class of victims
to the unwisdom of our school conductors. The records of our
Board of Education show that half the children who enter the
schools never pass beyond the primary grades ; that is, they leave
school before they can read a newspaper, or work a simple sum in
fractions. Mrs. Holmes's ' Children who Work,' in our last num-
ber, tells what becomes of the most of them. Their sad condi-
tion justifies legislative interference; but it would be going to as
injurious an extreme to compel them to stop work entirely,
and go to school all day. They must live ; and they must earn
their living soon, if not now. The school of letters is to them a
need, the school of labor is an absolute necessity ; and, as things
are, they cannot take both. Nevertheless, they could have, and
should have, both ; and we believe that the public schools ought
to take the first step toward making this consummation possible,
by offering instruction at such times, and for such periods, as shall
least conflict with the primary requirements of the children. The
current six-hour system is destructive at both ends, and in the
middle. It is ruinous to health, it prevents the practical educa-
tion of the well-to-do, and it shuts out from school privileges that
large class which cannot command the whole day for book-learn-
ing. A system so doubtfully adapted to the circumstances of the
case needs very careful looking to before it is made absolute in
power and dominion. Indeed, our Boards of Education are in
urgent need of some scores of Huxleys to insist, as Professor
ON COMPULSORY EDUCATION. 2O3
on which to begin life. The young woman should
also be required to own a reasonable outfit. This is
a law in some states, in the old country, and it is said
to work admirably. Such a law would inspire a spirit
of economy and industry, make young men and
women more steady in their habits, and instead of
producing paupers would very soon render even the
term obsolete.
Public halls should be erected in every township,
and in every ward, for free lecturing purposes, lyceums,
and amusements, each night in the week. The hall
to be under the control of a janitor, who may be
appointed or elected, and who should be required to
light and keep it in order for some exercises each
night, whose salary should be fixed by the county com-
missioners and paid out of the county funds. It
should be generally understood that on every Mon-
day evening a lecture will be given by some one who
may volunteer or officiate by special request. In this
home talent should be encouraged as much as possible.
On Tuesday evening we would suggest a debating
lyceum ; on Wednesday, a concert ; on Thursday,
dancing; on Friday, children's temperance lyceum;
Huxley did at a late meeting of the London School Board, on a
reconsideration, not only of the subjects and methods of elemen-
tary instruction, but of the hours given to schooling. Our public
schools may never become perpetual fountains at which all may
draw as they have opportunity ; but they will cease, we hope, to
hedge themselves about with needless exactions and impassable
barriers. They will not insist on six hours' attendance a day,
when three hours are the limit of profitable study ; nor will they
insist on three hours' study or none when any number of children
can command but one hour." Journal of Education.
2O4 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
and on Saturday, political debating meeting, where
all, either men or women would have a right to speak,
speaking being limited to ten minutes, and no ill-
natured discussions being allowed, or dogmatic
decisions by the house ; simply a statement of opin-
ion. Persons may be called on to speak, but those
who prefer to read short paragraphs from papers or
books, may be permitted to do so. These exercises
should never be allowed to be prolonged after half-
past nine o'clock, the time of beginning being about
half-past seven o'clock. These exercises may be
made attractive, interesting, and useful, where the
working man and woman can spend their evenings
to a good advantage. Compulsory education, we
believe, then, to be the only hope of regenerating
society, so that, in time, wrong-doing will cease.
We come now to consider briefly in addition to
what has already been suggested in other chapters,
as to how to co-operate with moral suasion in the
treatment
OF THE EFFECT
by legal persuasion. We believe it to be necessary
and right to suppress all business of an illegitimate
character: such as drinking-shops, gambling houses,
lectures and places of amusement where the moral
welfare of mankind is not the chief object. Busi-
ness, of every kind, should, by law, be suspended each
evening at half-past 6 o'clock, (see Chapter V., Part
First), then people will finish the day's work in a day,
and not take part of the night to do it. Then people
ON COMPULSORY EDUCATION. 2O5
will strive to administer to the spiritual and moral
nature as well as to provide for the body. All per-
sons moving into a neighborhood, should have their
names registered, stating their vocation, in order to
ascertain whether they have an honorable means of
support.
This will put a stop to loafing, effectually. Any
one found intoxicated should be arrested, and his
liberty restrained. He should be sent to a house of
correction, of the kind heretofore indicated. If he is
a married man, his property should pass into the
entire control of his wife, or a guardian appointed
by the court, to control the business affairs of a
drunkard, until he can show sufficient evidence from
the reformatory institute that he is cured, and
capable of conducting his own affairs again.
There should be no money fine as a punishment.
Drunkenness should be made a penal offense and
punished the same as other crimes, which are consid-
ered violations of law. This would be death to in-
ebriation which now goes unpunished ; then we shall
not be required to hang men for murder, perpetrated
while under the influence of whisky. Some one asks,
" Will this then be a free country ?" Yes ; free to do
and act just as you please, only you will not be free
to do wrong. We are opposed to punishing the
criminal by exacting a certain sum of money ; it is
no punishment whatever; it is no more punishment
than to pay an honest debt.
This will not reform the criminal, either physically
or mentally. If crime is the result of depravity,
which we think will be admitted, then the punish-
206 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
ment should be -to cure that depravity, and not to
foster it. Nearly all of our minor crimes are pun-
ished by fines, and those who can not pay are sent to
a work-house until they can pay to the city or county
the amount required as a fine. This is what we call
corporal punishment, and has never reformed a single
criminal (See chapter on that subject.) As to the
bail system, we have for a number of years been
opposed to accepting a bail bond to insure the crimi-
nal's appearance at some time in the future, to answer
to the charges against him. The Tribune, this
morning, March I7th, 1873, gives an official report
where thirty-five criminals have escaped justice, the
bail bonds proying worthless, defrauding the county
out of $20,000. We are in favor of abolishing this
uncertain mode of administering justice. Bring the
accused to a speedy trial, and inflict punishment
promptly, and thus dispose of a criminal in a few
days, and put him to work where he can be reformed.
So long as we accept money as a payment for crime,
we are allowing the virus of the sore to be reab-
sorbed, and this is a constant source of constitutional
poisoning.
A word in regard to religious teachings or secta-
rian ideas. We would have
IT REMEMBERED
that we are not in favor of mixing things up too
much. The Sabbath is set apart legitimately for
worship and religious instruction. Let the evenings
during the week, then, be devoted to scientific educa-
ON COMPULSORY EDUCATION. 207
tion, which is the handmaid of religion. The clergy
may here use their powers and talents in giving lec-
tures on philosophical subjects. It is as well for a
mechanic to know the composition of water, as for a
physician, a lawyer, or clergyman ; or to understand
the use of the air we breathe, the influence of light,
heat, etc., on life ; or to acquire knowledge on any of
the branches pertaining to physiology, hygiene, men-
tal and moral philosophy. Here is a work for physi-
cians that is unlimited. We do not think it proper
to teach people medicine, but too much knowledge
on physiology can not be diffused among the people.
It teaches how to eat, how to exercise, how to sleep,
how to train the physical organism as well as the
mental. If we would prevent crime and overcome
evil, we must labor to diffuse knowledge among the
masses on all subjects which teach men how to live
rather than how to die. It is the sentiment of the
profession, expressed by that great and good man,
the immortal Horace 'Greeley, when he said that
" children need training just as much as colts. Like
them, they are animals, though something more-
having physical organizations, and souls inside of
them. But these latter, however grand in themselves,
are dependent for their mode, method and power of
expression upon the physical organizations in which
they dwell, and with which they are so intimately
connected. To bring the soul out, the body must be
trained. Herein is the relation of parents to chil-
dren in this country, most lamentably defective. I
do not overlook the fact that much of the success in
training depends upon the quality of the physical
organization."
208 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
In a lecture on the " Coming Man," delivered in
Philadelphia, and published at the time in one of the
city papers, we said that " the only hope of the ' com-
ing man,' occupying a higher station in life, capable
of perpetuating a republican form of government,
and continuing his march toward perfection is in a
general diffusion of physiological knowledge in addi-
tion to the moral teachings of the church. Man
must first be organically and constitutionally regen-
erated, before he can enjoy a spiritual and moral
harmony. So long as man is physically depraved he
is incapable of imbibing higher truth, hence physi-
cians have a work which is as important in the great
work of man's reformation as that of the clergy."
Now we believe, and it seems quite rational, too,
that if the suggestions advanced in this chapter alone
were carried into effect and properly systematized,
crime which is the effect of the great disease per-
vading society could soon be controlled and " check-
mated," that but few symptoms would be manifested,
and the cause removed by universal education through
moral suasion, administered by the strong arm of
legal persuasion. Thus by purifying the constitution,
and at the same time suppressing the effect, we may
reasonably hope that the day is not far distant when
crime and human depravity will be superseded by
virtue, and enable every member of the human family
to enter into a glorious state of happiness.
CHAPTER XV.
WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT INSANITY. WHO ARE THE
INSANE? AND SHALL WE MAKE INSANITY
AN EXCUSE FOR CRIME?
" If man exercise only his spiritual powers on earth, and confine their activity
alone to the spiritual portion of the brain, disease will follow, and there is
danger of a dethronement of reason. A healthful activity is the regulator of
the whole man." Huxley.
" As reason exalts man above, so the lack of it degrades him beneath, the
animal consciousness." Davis.
This world may be looked upon as one grand
asylum for the insane. The difference between those
within the walls of a house for the safe-keeping of
those which the law considers absolutely insane and
those on the outside is not so great as one might
suppose. Insanity assumes as many different forms
as crime.
Insanity is 'the result of a diseased condition of
the physical organism as well as of the mind. Crime
is a manifestation of a depraved condition of the
mental as well as of the physical organism. Right
actions of men are the manifestation of a healthy
mental and physical condition of the being. Those
whom we consider insane are persons whose actions
are discordant, and not in harmony with the common
actions of men. Insanity, like crime, has its origin
in hereditary transmission ; also in an acquired con-
dition, which demands a simultaneous attention and
34 209
2IO CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
study. We have stated in the first part of this vol-
ume that consumption, scrofula, and other diseases
are transmissible from parent to child, and are, there-
fore, often peculiar to families. The same conditions
may be acquired by even the most healthy and robust
persons who have no preceptible hereditary taint in
their system. The same we have stated to be true
of crime, virtue, and mental power. Sanity in the
human mental constitution, like health in the mate-
rial body, rewards its possessor by lifting his sensa-
tions and thoughts superior to self; while the insane
mind is punished with an unconquerable and obtru-
sive egotism is supremely rapt in self importance,
even as a diseased body gives its proprietor no rest
neither day nor night. An insane man incessantly
thinks of himself. A sane mind, on the contrary,
thinks for the benefit of others. Society, with its in-
tense antagonisms, and organized hatreds, develops
insanity in individuals, by compelling each to be
practically tyrannical and unceasingly selfish. Obe-
dience to the sanitary laws of the mental constitution
would remove the individual from the vortex of con-
flicting interests. He would choose the good and
reject the evil ; and thus he would become " insane,"
in the opinion of all narrow and selfish minds, be-
cause he could no longer respect their assumed rights,
nor harmonize with their diabolical methods.
Sanity in the human mind is celestial and har-
monial health ; in exchange for which, earthly riches
are poverty.
The sane mind is instructed by the past, thankful
for the present, hopeful for the future ; but the in-
WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT INSANITY. 2 1 I
sane man turns his back to the future, quarrels with
the present, and sees the past as a universal grave of
hopes and longings. It is important to note, that
not only the mind and body are governed by laws,
but that they are, to a great extent, governed by the
same laws. Whatever improves the physical quali-
ties of the brain, improves also the mind ; whatever
deteriorates the brain impairs the mind. They have
a common development, are equally increased in
vigor, capacity, and power by systematic and judi-
cious exercise, and are alike injured by deficient or
excessive effort.
The brain is exhausted by thinking, as the muscles
by acting ; and, like the exhausted muscles, it re-
quires time for the restoration of vigor through nu-
tritive repair. As thus the mind is dependent upon
the conditions of the brain, while the brain is con-
trolled by the bodily system, we see how impossible
it is to deal with the mental powers in a practical
way without taking the material organization into
account. Diseases of the brain are, above all others,
complex and obscure. Those of subordinate parts
affect only the organic function ; but when the higher
nervous centers become disordered, thought, feeling,
will, conduct, and character are implicated, and the
whole circle of individual relations and actions be-
comes a study of symptoms a field of diagnosis.
So great is the difficulty and responsibility of the
task x that only the educated and capable physician,
who devotes his life to this specialty, is competent to
deal with these cases. And yet all members of the
community have a vital interest in the subject, be-
212 , CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
cause, first, health and vigor of mind are of the high-
est importance, and these interests each person has
in his own immediate care ; second, the causes that
undermine them are numerous and insidious ; third,
society has a duty to perform toward the defective
minded, which should be performed not ignprantly,
but intelligently; and, finally, a real knowledge of
the characteristics and causes of mental deterioration
is the key to a true understanding of the constitu-
tion of human nature.
We will now speak briefly of the different forms of
MENTAL IMPAIRMENT.
We have stated that, owing to certain conditions
of the body, false appearances and various disturb-
ances of the senses are liable to arise. These errors
are of several kinds. We are here largely indebted
to Huxley, Youman, and others, for our statements.
One of the simplest forms of mental aberration is
HALLUCINATION.
All the senses are subject to this deception. Sights,
sounds, tastes, smells, and contacts are experienced
when there are no realities to cause them. These
mistakes are very common, and the greatest minds
are often subject to them. Byron fancied he was
visited by a spectre, which he confessed, was but the
effect of an over-worked brain. Dr. Johnson said
that he heard distinctly the voice of his mother call-
ing, " Sam," although she, at the time, was residing a
long way off. Goethe positively asserts that he one
WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT INSANITY. 213
day saw the exact counterpart of himself coming
toward him. Descartes, after long confinement, was
followed by an invisible person calling upon him to
pursue the search of truth. Luther imagined he saw
the devil, and threw his ink-stand at him. Hallu-
cinations may thus exist in a sound state of the rea-
son, which recognizes their true character. In the
insane, they assume a thousand singular and fantastic
forms. The first form that presents itself is what are
called
ILLUSIONS.
In this case an object may be seen, but misunder-
stood, or mistaken for something else. These are
very common. When the imagination becomes mor-
bidly excited through the influence of fear, supersti-
tion, or otherwise, there is great liability to illusion.
The folds of drapery, or pieces of furniture, seen by
a pale, uncertain light, are taken for apparitions ; the
clouds are transformed into fighting armies ; or the
heavens appear filled with blood. When the mind
becomes more deeply perverted, one person is mis-
taken for another; animals are mistaken for men,
and conversely ; an old hat for a royal crown, and a
handful of pebbles for heaps of gold. Another de-
viation is what is termed
DELUSION.
In these cases, the seat of error is not in the
senses themselves, but the judgment, in relation to
objects of sense. The mind is liable to deceptions,
214 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
and to accept as facts various false notions, which
have no immediate reference to sense, perceptions,
as where a person believes he is a prophet, or a
king, or is the victim of a conspiracy to take his life,
or has lost his soul.
From the illustrations given, it will be seen that
hallucination and illusion may co-exist with a sound
state of the reason, which comprehends their real
nature ; and it is maintained that, in some cases, the
mind can rectify its own delusions. But if in any of
these circumstances the individual is incapable of
recognizing or correcting them when an appeal is
made to his reason, the case is one of delusional in-
sanity. These delusions are, of course, liable to
involve the feelings, and the character of the insanity
may depend upon the emotions excited. A person
under the delusion of pride, who fancies himself an em-
peror or an angel, may be harmless; but if, under the
delusion of fear, he imagines those around him to be
enemies, seeking to take his life, or if he hears voices
commanding him to kill them, his insanity is danger-
ous, and necessitates restraint.
EMOTIONAL INSANITY.
By this is understood a derangement of the affec-
tions, an abnormal deficiency of moral sense, or
morbid activity of the propensities which give rise to
extravagance of conduct. These diseases of feeling
do not necessarily involve insanity of the intellect.
A person may have a good degree of intelligence with
a very low and defective moral nature ; or he may be
WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT INSANITY. 215
driven by insane impulses to the commission of acts
which his judgment condemns. In the healthy bal-
ance of the faculties, reason guards the passions ;
but these may be so morbidly exalted that reason
loses its empire ; it can counsel, but no longer con-
trol. Moral perversities of character may be hered-
itary, or exist from birth, when the whole life of the
individual is morally unhealthy ; or they may be due
to various causes, the effects of which are seen in a
profound change in the conduct. Examples of the
former kind are numerous, where inertness or obtuse-
ness of the moral nature, and a controlling activity
of the lower propensities, have been witnessed from
childhood, and over which threats, rewards, and pun-
ishments were without influence. In some cases,
persons in whom mental derangement has never
appeared become the subjects of a gradual change ot
feeling and conduct. They are noticed to be un-
usually absorbed, reserved, and irritable upon the
slightest provocation. As the cloud gathers, there is
increasing suspicion and moroseness, and, without
perhaps knowing the reason, the patient's friends
regard him as an altered man. At last the storm
bursts, and some outrageous act is committed. If it
is not a breach of law, he is declared insane, and sent
to the asylum ; if the law has been violated, he is
probably declared a criminal, and sent to prison or
execution. Or the case may terminate in suicide,
under a blind impulse to self-destruction. Doctor
Maudsley gives a good illustration of emotional
insanity. " A married lady, aged thirty-one, who had
only one child, a few months old, was for months
2l6 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
afflicted with a strong and persistent suicidal impulse
without any delusion or disorder of the intellect
After some weeks of anxious care from her relatives,
she was sent to an asylum, so frequent were her sui-
cidal attempts. She was quite rational, even in her
great horror and reprobation of the morbid propen-
sity, and bitterly deplored the grief and trouble she
caused her friends. Nevertheless, her attempts at
suicide were unceasing, at one time trying to strangle
herself, and again refusing to take food. After she
had been in the asylum for four months, she appeared
to be undergoing a slow and steady improvement,
and watchfulness was somewhat relaxed; but one
night she suddenly slipped out of a door, climbed a
high garden-wall with surprising agility, and threw
herself headlong into a reservoir of water. She was
got out before life was extinct, and after this attempt
gradually regained her cheerfulness and love of life."
Doctor Maudsley exclaims : " In the face of such an
example of uncontrollable impulse, what a cruel
mockery to measure the lunatic's responsibility by
his knowledge of right and wrong !" implying that
there are those who would limit insanity to derange-
ment of the intellect a derangement so profound as
to obliterate the capability of even discriminating
between right and wrong. There has been a reluc-
tance to admit the existence of what is termed moral
insanity on the part of many, who confine their atten-
tion to the practical difficulties it involves as regards
society. They are in the habit of believing that, for
all practical purposes, the moral endowments of men
are equal. Not exactly that they are equally benevo-
WHAT \VE KNOW ABOUT INSANITY. 217
lent, equally honest, equally true to the right and
good ; but that they have an equal chance so to be,
if they choose. In the moral sense or faculty, it is
easy to recognize two different elements, the power
to discern the distinction between right and wrong,
virtue and vice, the. honest and the base, and the dis-
position to pursue the one and avoid the other. These
elements, like those of the intellect, are unequally
developed in different men, which inequality may be
either congenital or produced in after life by moral or
physical causes. And thus, though a person may
appear to act with perfect freedom of will, uncon-
scious of any irresistible bias, yet it is obvious that
his conduct is actually governed more by these
variable conditions of his moral nature than by any
abstract notions formed by the intellect.
It does not answer the essential question to say
that a person is good or bad because he chooses to
be one or the other. In the considerations here pre-
sented, and in these only, are to be found a satisfac-
tory answer to this question. The first of these we
will call
MANIA.
This is applied to a large class of cerebral disor-
ders, in which the balance of the mental forces is
lost, and the mind is in a state of preternatural ex-
citement, which exhibits itself in a thousand different
ways. It may be either chronic or acute. In the
former, it is somewhat modified and lessoned, ap-
proaching imbecility as the mind becomes more and
2l8 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
more disorganized through the insidious and debili-
tating effects of the disease.
The acute form, as its name indicates, is an exalted
violent action of strong unexhausted mental faculties
whose action is perverted and uncontrolled by the
will of the patient or of his friends. To say that
these conditions are made, is absurd, to say the least.
The next form we have to deal with, is
MONOMANIA.
This is similar to mania, except in this particular,
that it is limited to a single faculty, or a single idea.
In all other things, and upon all other subjects, the
patient may be perfectly compos, but on one particular
subject he is, as they say, " wild as a hawk." It may
be an intense desire to kill homicidal mania ; or a
suicidal mania an irresistible impulse to self-destruc-
tion. A case of this kind has already been described.
A diseased propensity to steal is called kleptomania;
and in pyromania there is the desire to burn build-
ings. There are monomanias of pride, vanity, etc.
Dr. Bucknill describes the following case :
" An industrious, well-informed artisan had a fever
that ended in an attack of maniacal excitement.
From this he recovered, but grew irritable, morose,
and quarrelsome. After the lapse of more than a
year, he declared himself the Son of God. After
this, his temper became more docile, with the excep-
tion of an occasional outburst of violence toward
those whom he thinks ought to obey him. He is
reasonable and rational, and works industriously at
WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT INSANITY. 2IQ
his trade." Another form of cerebral disorder, and
one marked by depression, sadness and gloom, is the
opposite of mania. The one is an exalted, furious
condition ; the other a lowered and depressed state
of the mind, and is termed
MELANCHOLIA.
Melancholia takes a variety of forms. It may be an
exaggeration of the patient's natural character, and
have a long period of development. It is often a
consequence of other forms of insanity, and may
spring from the grief that follows sudden calamity.
The diseased depression of the feelings characteristic
of melancholia may exist without impairing the in-
tellectual operations ; but it is generally accompanied
by delusions and hallucinations, although these gen-
erally derive their tone from the character of the
disorder. They are insane explanations of the
patient's wretchedness, or gloomy forebodings of
what is to happen to him in the future. There is
another form of insanity, characterized by a diminu-
tion of mental power, and by an incapacity, which
gradually increases, and invades the whole muscular
system. This is called
GENERAL PARALYSIS.
This disease is one peculiar to manhood. It is
scarcely ever met with before thirty. Women are
seldom sufferers from general paralysis.
The earliest symptoms of motor derangement
affect the tongue, and are evinced in thickness of
22O CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
speech, and imperfect articulation of words, especially
those abounding in consonants. It is a curious fact
that the mental derangement accompanying this
striking and fatal decay of bodily energy takes the
form of an exaggerated feeling of personal power
and importance. One man imagines he is the
possessor of ship-loads of gold and silver; another,
that he is the Son of God ; another, that he is as
heavy as the world ; and so on through the list of
kings, emperors, etc., each person having his own
peculiar phantasy. We have three other forms of
mental derangement. One, which consists of ex-
treme debility, and results from loss, obliteration, or
decay of the faculties, is called
DEMENTIA.
Another form, the result of profound infirmity of the
cerebro-spinal system, caused by arrested develop-
ment before birth or in early infancy, and which per-
verts or destroys the reflex, instinctive, and intellec-
tual function, is known as
IDIOCY.
The third and last form denotes a degree of mental
deficiency not so low as idiocy a development rather
retarded than arrested. The memory and under-
standing are in a state of feebleness, but they are
capable of some education. This is termed
IMBECILITY.
We have here briefly described the leading forms
WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT INSANITY. 221
of mental disease, which in their ultimate stages dis-
solve the responsible relation of their victim to so-
ciety. What to do with these cases is a question for
the physician and the judge ; but from the point of
view of mental hygiene, which aims at their preven-
tion, our attention is drawn to the definite causes of
mental improvement, which are seen in many other
effects beside those of overt insanity. There is much
perverted mental action that never passes into mania ;
much mental weakness that never reaches dementia ;
much morbidity of feeling that never ripens into
moral insanity. The classes in which mental defects
are so prominent that the state must assume their
charge are deplorably numerous ; yet they form but
a fraction of the total amount of mental weakness
and incapacity which exists in the community.
Massachusetts reports three thousand insane, twelve
hundred idiots, about five hundred blind, and four
hundred deaf-mutes. But, beside these, she has ten
thousand paupers persons incapable of taking care
of themselves and a large criminal class, who, from
moral perversity, in which low and' deficient organi-
zation plays a leading part, become the scourge of
society.
All of the forms of mental impairment, and de-
grees of immorality and lawlessness, are the result
of concurring influences, both internal and external.
The causes are predisposing and exciting. The pre-
disposing cause to insanity is most generally a trans-
mitted condition, which the patient may have had
from birth, only requiring some exciting cause to de-
velop it into acute mania, which will manifest itself
222 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
in the perpetration of some outrageous crime against
society. Again, we may have mania from some ex-
ternal exciting cause, and have no former predispo-
sition. A mind overworked, or overburdened with
care and anxiety, from the slightest exciting cause
may suddenly break down, and the manifest symp-
toms are those of acute mania, in most cases that of
a suicidal form an intense desire to end one's life,
Defective nutrition of the cerebral structure is another
cause of insanity. This may be due to an arrest of
nutritive action in the organ, or a deficiency of proper
nutrition of the body, which becoming weakened, of
a necessity involves the cerebral functions. Without
a sound body we cannot have a sound mind, and vice
versa. That debilitated stock is a source of criminal-
ity and insanity, no one can doubt. How the running
down of stock, through the loss of vital power, by
hereditary influences, should swell the ranks of the
dependent classes, or those incapable of self-support,
is obvious. But this cause is equally powerful in
reinforcing the dangerous classes who fill our jails
and prisons. Immoral training and vicious associa-
tions are undoubtedly among the potent agencies by
which these are educated for the career of crime
and vice ; but a co-operating cause, of far greater
power, is low organization or defective cerebral en-
dowment. They begin life with a nervous system,
incapable of the higher controlling functions.
OVERTASKING THE EMOTIONS
is undoubtedly one great cause of insanity, and a
WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT INSANITY. 223
concomitant of advancing civilization. The savage
state is marked by simple unchangeable social insti-
tutions, uniformity of manners and habits. The
savage rarely laughs or sheds tears ; he is educated
to stoicism. On the contrary, our education, instead
of being a training to self-control, and a systematic
discipline of the emotions, through cultivation of the
sciences of nature, is too generally conducted in the
spirit of excitement ; studies are pursued under the
spur of sharp competition for the prizes and applause
of public examinations, and, in place of sober and
solid attainment, our culture degenerates into a mere
preparation for trade and politics.
OVERTASKING THE INTELLECT
is an extensive cause ot mental derangement, though
less so than those just considered. The baneful
effects of cerebral exhaustion have already been no-
ticed to some extent. That study is carried often to
injurious lengths, is notorious. Moderate use, un-
doubtedly develops the brain, and it is equally certain
that if the amount of work is carried much beyond
this point, the organ is endangered. It has been
objected to this view that the lunatic asylums are
chiefly peopled with inferior rather than highly cul-
tivated minds ; but inferior minds are just those
most likely to be injured by excessive study. Any
one can reason from the physical to the mental
powers and see that this is so. The educated, trained
muscles of the blacksmith will endure more continued
hard labor than the uneducated, soft, flaccid muscles
224 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
of the clerk, and just so in proportion the educated
brain will endure more constant laborious study than
the one that is not educated. It is not to be forgot-
ten that there are evils of mental underaction as well
as of overaction. While there is no evidence that,
in the case of uncultured savages, the brain is liable
to become diseased from lack of exercise, the same
thing can not be affirmed of the cultivated races.
The progress of civilization in these races is accom-
panied by a higher development and increasing com-
plexity of cerebral organization ; and this higher
condition can only be maintained by a corresponding-
ly higher degree of functional exercise. Without
that activity which its greater perfection implies and
requires, the brain of the civilized man degenerates.
To end this chapter without giving a few hints and
precautions would leave it unfinished. It is a serious
error to suppose that, because there may be a pre-
disposition to insanity in a family, therefore the
members are to regard their danger in the light of a
fatality from which there is no escape ; on the con-
trary, these are pre-eminently the cases in which, to
a wise discretion, forewarning is forearming. Where
such a tendency exists, the education, occupation,
and habits should be ordered with the strictest refer-
ence to it. The establishment of strong bodily health
should be a paramount consideration. The physical
education should be specially directed to strengthen
the nervous system and diminish its excitability.
Much study, bodily inaction, confinement to warm
rooms, sleeping on feathers, are all favorable to undue
nervous susceptibility. In the education of children
WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT INSANITY. 225
thus circumstanced, in brain exercises, it is of the first
importance to remember that whatever tends in any
degree to impair the mental health, acts with re-
doubled power when co-operating with morbid ten-
dencies.* While the brain is yet plastic and pliable, a
little mismanagement, the humoring of precocity, the
repression of physical and nervous activity, or over-
stimulation of thought, may awaken the germs of
mental disorder, and lead to the most injurious con-
sequences. To persons thus predisposed, steady and
agreeable occupation, which does not try the patience
or temper, or involve much responsibility, excitement,
or exhaustion, is in the highest degree desirable.
Religious, political, and reformatory gatherings,
where the passions are aroused and the sympathies
excited, should be carefully avoided, together with
all excitements which tend to disturb the sleep.
Persons predisposed to mental disease should care-
fully avoid a partial, one-sided cultivation of their
mental powers, a fault to which their mental con-
stitution renders them peculiarly liable. Let them
bear in mind that every prominent trait of character,
intellectual or moral, every favorite form of mental
exercise, is liable to be fostered at the expense of
other exercises and attributes, until it becomes an
indication of actual disease. Here lies the peculiar
danger that the very thing most agreeable to their
tastes and feelings is that which they have most to
fear.-
There is another disposition of mind to be care-
fully shunned by this class of persons that of al-
lowing the attention to be engrossed by some par-
* See Part III, on Mental Training.
226 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
ticular interest to the neglect of every other, even of
those most nearly connected with the welfare of the
individual. The caution is especially necessary in an
age where intellectual character is marked by strife
and conflict, rather than calm contemplation of phil-
osophical inquiry ; and even in which the good and
true is pursued with an ardor more indicative of ner-
vous excitement than of pure unadulterated emotion.
Where the mind of a person revolves in a very nar-
row circle of thought, it lacks entirely that recupera-
tive and invigorating power which springs from a
wider comprehension of things, and more numerous
objects of interest. The habit of brooding over a
single idea is calculated to dwarf the soundest mind ;
but, to those unfortunately constituted, it is positively
dangerous, because they are easily led to this kind of
partial mental activity, and are kept from running
into fatal extremes by none of these conservative
agencies which a broader discipline and a more gen-
erous culture naturally furnish. The result of this
continual dwelling on a favorite idea is, that it comes
up unbidden, and cannot be dismissed at pleasure.
Reason, fancy, passion, emotion every power of the
mind, in short are pressed into its service, until it is
magnified into gigantic proportions, and endowed
with wonderful attributes. The conceptions become
unnaturally vivid, the general views narrow and dis-
torted, the proprieties of time and place are disre-
garded, the guiding, controlling power of the mind
is disturbed, and, as the last stage of this melancholy
process, reason is completely dethroned.
Hence for the moral and intellectual elevation we
WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT INSANITY. 227
are not to look exclusively to education, but to what-
ever tends to improve the bodily constitution, and
especially the qualities of the brain. In our schemes
of philanthropy we are apt to deal with men as if
they could be moulded to any desirable purpose,
provided only the right instrumentalities are used ;
ignoring altogether the fact that there is a physical
organ in the case, where original endowments must
limit very strictly our range of moral appliances.
But while we are bringing to bear upon them all the
kindly influences of learning and religion, let us not
overlook these physical agencies which determine the
efficacy of the brain as the material instrument of
the mind.
It is to one only of these pretended benevolences
that we designed to draw attention, when we wrote
the heading of this chapter, the plea of insanity,
which is now so rife, which is to become the scape-
goat of every infraction of law, and justice, and right.
Already has it come to the pass, that if a man eats
himself to death, or guzzles bad liquor until he can
guzzle no more, or studies himself to a skeleton and
then jumps into the river, or puts a bullet through
his heart, the merciful verdict is, "He is insane'' If
he forgets his friend's name, or fires his neighbor's
dwelling or his own store to secure the insurance ; or
if a young lady allows herself to be abducted by
another woman's husband, or a hysterical daughter
of a millionaire marries her father's coachman, the
convenient cloak of "insanity" is benevolently thrown
around the delinquencies and aberrations ; and the
next day the weak and the unprincipled alike show
228 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
themselves in the streets, the "observed of all observ-
ers," the lions of the hour.
Is heaven-born charity and her sister, true benevo-
lence, thus to mantle over all that is dishonorable
and murderous, and to cover lechery from our sight ?
These things ought not so to be. The true philan-
thropist of our day and generation should wake up
to the discovery of an effectual remedy for these
evils.
But not to make our chapter too long, we propose,
in short, that all persons be tried for the crimes fairly
charged against them. Let the majority of the jury
decide on the verdict as to the fact of the act ; then
let the plea of insanity come in. If not sustained,
let the law take its course. If sustained, let the per-
son be committed to an insane asylum for life, if the
crime was a capital one, or, if cured of their insanity,
to be transferred to the penitentiary for the remainder
of their days.
If the act be only a penitentiary offense, let them
be sent to the asylum, to remain for life, or until
cured ; and when cured let them serve the same time
in the penitentiary which they would have done had
they not been declared insane. For, beyond ques-
tion, if insane, the asylum is the proper place for
them ; if not insane, the penitentiary should not be
cheated of its workmen. In other words, either have
no laws or enforce those we have enacted.
CHAPTER XVI.
ON CORPORAL PUNISHMENT IN SCHOOLS. IN FAMI-
LIES AND BY THE STATE.
" Spoil the rod and spare the child."
Stay thy hand and think ere you strike the innocent one.
Parent do not chasten your child by inflicting bodily pain : it can do no good.
Parent, teacher, ponder and be wise.
Help your child to grow and rise
To the land of angel skies.
The correction of wrong actions in the child by
inflicting bodily pain is of ancient date, and had its
origin in the belief that goodness can be "put into"
the child by the free use of the rod. Like all modes
of corporal punishment for crime inflicted by the
state, it has an evil effect on the sufferer, and, instead
of instilling virtue, veracity, intelligence, social and
moral goodness, it arouses combative and revengeful
feelings in the child as well as in the adult. It was
believed, and is now, to some extent, that when a
child is disobedient, it can be made to feel sorry for
its wrong deeds by inflicting pain upon the corporal
system. This mode of punishment impresses the
child, as well as the adult, with the idea that parents,
teachers, and officers of the law are absolute rulers,
monarchs, rather than teachers and protectors.
It further impresses the child with the idea that it is
" desperately wicked," and that it is necessary to be
229
230 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
punished about so much daily to make it good. I
have known children those who are unnecessarily
punished by their parents or teachers to wonder
why they have not had their usual whipping, if it has
been somewhat prolonged by reason of the mother
feeling more harmonious than usual. We were once
at a neighbor's house, and while in conversation with
the mother, the little three-year-old suddenly left its
busy play, and, running up, said, " Ma, I haven't had
my whipping to-day." It is also a doctrine with
those who punish in a corporal manner that by the
" free use of the rod" the child can be made to love
its parents, its teachers, or its governess. Some of
the nations of earth, evidently, however, of doubtful
civilization, have a rule for the husband to whip his
wife each day to make her love him. Where the
husband neglects this duty, the wife, knowing- no
other mode by which her love for him can be made
stronger, often finds fault with him for not whipping
more. We have not tried this means of making
women love their husbands in this enlightened coun-
try ; but where it has been tried, in individual in-
stances, the result, it is said, is not very satisfactory.
It is irrational and contrary to the laws of nature
to entertain the thought for one moment, that by in-
flicting bodily torture the child's grosser nature may
be thereby subdued, its inclinations to do wrong,
cured, or its unruly disposition conquered. From
the light we have on the subject, we think we can
show that it has diametrically the
OPPOSITE EFFECT.
ON CORPORAL PUNISHMENT. 231
The child reasons as well as the adult, only the
child reasons as a child, and not as a man or woman
would reason. The child has feelings as well as the
adult, differing only in degree and power. To make
a child understand, one must come down to a child's
comprehension ; and to enforce obedience to rule or
law, the child requires knowledge of the nature or
character of such rule or law. Without proper in-
struction and acquired constitutional ability, the child
will not be competent to comply with the laws laid
down for its government. Parents and teachers
have, then, two important questions to solve, first,
that of the child's ability to obey certain restrictions,
and secondly, if they are not requiring more of a
child than it is able to perform. The first study will
be how to increase the capabilities of the child, phy-
sically as well as mentally, and secondly, how to pre-
scribe for its government, and how to exercise the
acquired capabilities by giving practical lessons in
every-day life. To require more of a child than it is
capable of performing, from its very organization,
age, amount of education, etc., can only irritate and
perplex it. We ask, then, is it just to punish in a
corporal manner a child who is incapable of obeying
your requirements ; or can you by so doing increase
its natural power to perform ? Here we have an ex-
planation of the cause of so much correction, scold-
ing, and whipping in the family and the school. The
truth is, too much is required of the child ; besides
which, it is reproved, and many times punished, for
the most trivial offenses. At length the child will no
longer try to do right, finding it so unsuccessful, and
232 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
>t will come to the conclusion that a certain amount
of punishment is part of life, as food or sleep. Be-
fore pursuing this subject farther, we will notice the
effect which corporal punishment has, and inquire
whether it is
THE BEST METHOD
of punishing children. The only lesson that a child
can be taught by the infliction of bodily pain is that
it is organized by nature to suffer pain. The first
impulse which pain produces on the system is resis-
tance. No one will submit to pain unless positively
overpowered. Whatever comes in contact with our
bodies, and by such contact produces pain, our first
effort is to get away from or resist, and thus relieve
ourselves from suffering as soon as possible. This
is one of the first laws of nature, which is self-pro-
tection. The same feeling is produced in the child
when corporal punishment is inflicted for wrong
doing. Resistance is not only a nervous or physical
force, but is also mental. When you strike your
child so as to inflict pain, it is a law of the system to
protect itself, and for this purpose the physical forces
refer the matter to the brain for instruction. The
brain and nervous system receives instruction from
the mind, and the first faculty which is aroused is
combativeness. The first impulse of this faculty is
to strike back, to evade the blows, and protect its
own organism. The faculties of hatred and revenge
are also brought into requisition. Destructiveness
is always close at hand and ready to be employed.
ON CORPORAL PUNISHMENT. 233
This is the reason why a child, when it is punished
so as to produce pain, will stamp, kick, strike, bite,
shed tears, and plead for mercy, and promise every-
thing to avoid this unnatural mode of punishment.
Reluctantly we must make a statement, which is
scarcely credible, nevertheless it is true. We have
seen parents, and many pretending to be religious
too, who punish their children as long as they would
resist the blows of the rod, often until they became
exhausted, requiring them to promise to be good.
Inflicting any sort of corporal punishment, however
light it may be, outrages the digtiity and feeling of
the child, calls into activity the animal nature, and
instead of restraining their evil tendencies, it gives
practical lessons how to carry them out. Children,
like men and women, have certain rights. Strike a
man or woman, with a view to make them obedient,
humble, and submissive, and you will find the first
effort they make is to resent the' insult. So with the
child ; the first thought that is aroused is a desire to
deal back the blow, and to defend and protect its
body. It is difficult to know where the evil of this
inhuman practice of punishing may end. It may
bring the child to the gallows, for by it, it is taught
practical lessons in crime.
Nearly all persons, who resort to the use of the rod,
while punishing a child, are. angry, often speak roughly,
and sometimes use profane language. Thus the
child is taught how to be angry, how to speak rough,
how to swear, how to be inhuman and brutal. Not
more than one in a hundred ever punish without re-
quiring the child to promise to be good, " never to
do so again," and by this means f~~~ ^ * u ~ v:1 J **?
234 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
lie, for while it is undergoing punishment, it will
promise anything, whether it can keep it or not.
Many parents do not delight in punishing, so they
keep promising all day long," to whip" and "to whip,"
and yet do not do it. This is giving the child prac-
tical lessons in lying. Others again are constantly
scolding, finding fault with everything the child does,
and it soon learns that whatever its parent or teacher
says is very doubtful, and it grows up without any
real culture or training. To tempt a child into wrong-
doing, then, punish it. Such act is worse than bar-
barous ; yet we have known intelligent persons to be
guilty of it. We might fill a volume simply in enu-
merating how criminals are made through the barbar-
ous practice of inflicting pain as a punishment for
disobedience in the child. But a word in regard to
a successful
SUBSTITUTE.
While lecturing on this subject, in the state of
Indiana, a few years ago, we gave permission at the
close of the lecture for any one to ask us questions
of general interest bearing on the subject of entirely
abolishing corporal punishment. A lady of middle
age, of the mental motive temperament, and of more
than ordinary intelligence, arose in the audience and
said, " Doctor, I have a patient for you, and if you
can prescribe successfully, in accordance with the
theory you advance, I will give up the question. I
have a boy," she continued, " three years old, who
gets angry at everything that don't go to please him,
ON CORPORAL PUNISHMENT. 235
and when he takes those fits of anger, he throws
himself on the floor, kicks, and stamps, and strikes
the floor with his hands and head, cries, and keeps
this up until I comply with his wishes, or I must
whip him until he is conquered." This, she said,
" would take place, on the average, three or four
times a day ; and, Doctor, I have done everything in
my power to overcome this terrible disposition. Now
what can be done except to whip this ill nature right
out of him ?" We paused a moment, and gave a
glance over our audience, which by their actions
seemed to say, " There, Doctor, is a case which you
can't control without whipping." We could hear it
whispered, " That's a stumper," and many were ex-
pecting an admission on our part of failure ; but we
were not lost for -an answer, or fearful to make an
attempt to prescribe for the case, and which after-
wards proved a perfect cure. It was a difficult case,
and the first of the kind ever brought under our no-
tice. " This child is too young to reason," one ob-
served ; and another said, " Doctor, you will have to
give it up ; it is necessary to punish by inflicting
bodily pain to conquer some children." We turned
to the lady, and said, " Will you, in the presence of
this audience, agree to follow our directions so far as
lies in your power ?" To which she agreed.
We then- gave the following direction. " In the
first place," we remarked, " it will be necessary to re-
move all possible causes which have a tendency to
cross your child. His surroundings must be as har-
monious as possible, and, to accomplish this, it will
require some study. Whatever crosses your child,
236 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
avoid the occurrence of. And, in the second place,
do not try to force him into submission. It is
dangerous to attempt to force such children into
absolute submission without giving time for them to
outgrow their ill nature. The danger is in the liabil-
ity of superinducing diseases of the body, while
mentally they are liable to become imbecile. Do
not cross your child too much, but gradually divert
his attention, and, instead of finding fault with him
for every trivial offense, praise him much ; and after
you have excited his faculty of approbativeness, then
bring to bear your ideas as to his wrong deeds.
This can be done without deceiving him, for every
child has some virtue. If you are constantly harping
on your neighbor's defective points, you will drive
him from you, and bring ridicule upon yourself."
We further remarked to this lady : " When your
child takes one of those terrible angry fits, then go
away from him, rather abruptly, and simply remark,
1 Mamma don't like to see Willie do so !' Go out of
the room, close the door and say no more to him
about his conduct. But do not stand at the door,
asking him if ' Willie is good,' ' Shall mamma come
back ?' as you will only make bad worse. You may
look through the key-hole, and you will find him in
a few moments composed, and looking around and
viewing his situation. Finding he is alone, he will
now feel truly sorry, and will call for his mamma.
You now may enter the room, cheerful, smiling. Take
him up in your arms and kiss him, and never refer to
his conduct until you are [sure he is perfectly calm.
For a change of treatment, you may turn him out a
ON CORPORAL PUNISHMENT. 237
few times, or give no attention to him whatever, not
even to speak to him. Do not try to persuade him
or scold him, or promise him anything while he is in
anger, do not try to coax him or to force him, but
when he is good, treat him kindly. Be positive in
all your treatment of him, but kind and loving as
well, and, my word for it, your boy will soon be all
you desire him to be."
About six months after we gave this advice, we re-
ceived a letter from this lady, stating that her boy
was almost entirely free from his malady. If this
kind of punishment will effectually cure one of the
worst dispositions, then, we ask, will it not answer in
milder forms of obstinate organization ; and if it
can be done in the family, we claim it can be made a
success in the school.
In 1867, we visited quite a number of schools in
different cities in Ohio, for the purpose of informing
ourselves how the new system of school government
succeeded ; and we found those that had totally
abolished corporal punishment the most happy.
The best schools are in Dayton, Ohio. They are
constructed and conducted as nearly correct as any
we have ever visited ;. especially the new school, in
the sixth district. Every room is well furnished with
portraits, landscape paintings, house plants, and flow-
ers of every kind. This variety of scenery is untir-
ing to the eye, and pleasing to the child. Each pupil
is seated separately, with a desk before him. The
house is heated by steam-pipes running through
every room ; good facilities for ventilation. The
classes are drilled in a large music-hall each day, in
gymnastic exercises, vocal music, etc. This gives
238 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
the mind rest and the body exercise, thus developing
both. Scarcely any corporal punishment is resorted
to. Several of the superintendents of the schools
inform us, however, that those children who are
whipped and knocked about at home require to be
punished in that way at school. This is a disgraceful
report for those parents who are continually whipping
their children, as many unwisely do.
In speaking of certain injurious influences of
schools upon the health and welfare of children,
Prof. Rud. Virchow closes an interesting paper by
enumerating the following agencies as of importance :
" i . TJie air in the school-room, the quality of which is deter-
mined by the size of the room, the number of pupils, the mode
of heating, the ventilation, moisture of the floor and walls, dust
(cleanliness.)
" 2. The light, as determined by the situation of the building
and room, the size of the windows and their relation to the desks,
the color of the walls and surroundings, artificial light (gas, oil.)
" 3. The sitting in the school-room, especially the relations of
desk and seat, size of the seats, their arrangement, and duration
of sitting.
"4. Bodily exercise, especially playing, gymnastics, swimming,
their relations to sitting and to the purely mental labor, their
arrangements and superintendence.
"5. Mental exertion, its duration and variety, the individual
amount, the arrangement and duration of recesses and vacations,
the extent of home and school exercises, the date of the com-
mencement of obligatory attendance, etc.
" 6. The punishments, especially corporal.
" 7. The water for drinking.
"8. Ite privies.
" 9. The means (implements) of instruction, especially the choice
of school books (size of type), and objects of illustration." St.
Louis Med. and Surg. Journal, from Virchow V Archiv. and Boston
Medical and Surgical Journal.
ON CORPORAL PUNISHMENT. 239
The subject of corporal punishment of children
is now being rapidly abolished in schools, and the
most intelligent have long since wholly discarded it
in their families. The day is not far distant when
parents will learn thn.t kind words will do more than
the rod. The eminent Prof. G. T. Wise, of Ohio, said
in a closing address on this subject :
" Oh pause ! ye heartless and unthinking parent or
teacher, ere the cruel rod in thy uplifted hand de-
scends upon the back of thy wayward child.
"We do not believe in the torturing of children;
the practice belongs only to the heathen mothers of
the Ganges, and to the barbarous nations and ages of
the past. It must not be in this enlightened day ; it
is revolting to God and conscientious humanity.
Science, experience, and the finer sensitive nature
declaim against it. The sayings of the wise man,
Solomon, would have been indeed more properly
rendered : " Spoil the rod and spare the child." Talk
about breaking their stubborn spirits ! Nonsense !
It is nothing more or less than stifling their innocent
prattle, their merry laughter, and their pure and
guileless emotions, which only annoy prudish, ner-
vous, old-maid school-marms and crusty, disappointed
old bachelors.
'"I love it, I love it, so merry and wild,
The artless and innocent laugh of the child.'
" Better indeed have them grow up perverse and
wayward than be reduced to an idiotic servility by
blows from the rod upon the body, head, and face,
which seems to be indulged in by many parents and
teachers as though it were a pleasant pastime.
240 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
" There is a proper remedy for all the little errors
of childhood. It is the gentle, yet ail-powerfully per-
suasive influence of love upon their tender, childish,
and impressible hearts. The very name and essence
of God is Love, and by it are all things to be sub-
dued in gentleness, to his will. All-persuading love
is alone sufficient for the governing of our household
pets. If it should fail then, though the first instance
has yet to be recorded, you will seek in vain for an
antidote in the cruel rod. Do not then clip the little
bright wings of childish thoughts, but make the air
fragrant and balmy with love where first shall begin
their puny flight; and in after years, when the many
wintry storms of life have wrinkled the fair brows,
and given in exchange for their chaplets of golden
ringlets the silvery crown of age, even then the very
atmosphere in which they live and move will be
serene and redolent with sweet odors of love and
good will for their fellowmen."
We think it will
BE ADMITTED
that corporal punishment in schools, in the family
and by the state is productive of farther crime. It is
not reformatory; it is not compensatory. It can do
no good and will not even deter others from commit-
ing future crime. Inquire into the history of any of
our criminals, and it will be found that they were
punished by the use of the rod while young. They
were not brought up under the genial influences of
kind words.
ON CORPORAL PUNISHMENT. 241
Most people think it is time enough to educate the
reasoning faculties when their children have arrived
at the age of puberty, but that while young they
must be whipped into obedience. When we hear a
mother say to her child every five minutes, " Don't
do so, or I'll whip you," or see her, instead of merely
promising to whip, actually strike the child for every
little offence, we think of the end of these children.
Here is where our criminals are manufactured. We
have known parents to cut the skin of their children
by striking them with a raw-hide, or otherwise punish
with unreasonable severity. We have brought legal
action against such persons frequently, and here is a
work for the humane society the protection of our
innocent children as well as animals. As a rule, the
more children are punished by the use of the rod, in
the family or while at school, the better will they be
qualified to commit crime in after life. We are
acquainted with a clergyman who believed it a relig-
ious duty to "spare not the rod." He had four sons
and three daughters. He once said to us in conversa-
tion on this subject, " that he kept two instruments
on hand for the proper government of his family
the Bible and a hickory rod." Two of this man's
sons have been convicted a number of times for
stealing, and one is now serving his time in the state's
o 7 o
prison, while one of the daughters is unfortunate for
life. As a means of ascertaining whether our account
is true, let the judges of % our courts and the justices
of the peace question every criminal brought before
them for one year, and it will be found that each will
give a history in favor of our position, viz., that while
16
242 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
young they received a regular amount of corporal
punishment. It is not the severity of the punishment
that makes children better, but judicious and certain
means of correction which will do the work when
administered in a proper spirit. The following nar-
rative is copied from Hall's Journal of Health, on
PARENTAL CORRECTION:
" That man commits a crime, and so does the woman,
who will send a child to bed with a wounded spirit, or
who shall allow any vindictiveness of feeling to exist
in consequence of anything the child may have done.
Sharp-pointed memories have often driven men mad ;
multitudes are there who are more dead than alive,
from the ailings of the mind, which is wasting itself
away in vain remorses for the irrevocable past. The
fault of most parents is over-harsh reproofs of their
.children ; reproofs that are hasty, unproportioned to
the offense, and hence, as to one's own child, helpless
and unresisting, are a cruelty as well as an injustice.
Thrice happy is that parent who has no child in the
grave which can be wished back, only if for a brief
space, so as to afford some opportunity for repairing
some unmerited unkindness toward the dead darling.
Parents have been many times urged in these pages
to make persistent efforts to arrange two things in
domestic intercourse, and to spare no pains and no
amount of moral courage and determination, in order
that they should be brought about. It may require
a thousand efforts, and there may be a thousand fail-
ures, as discouraging as thev are sad ; still let the
ON CORPORAL PUNISHMENT. 243
high resolve go out, " it shall be done P and the prick-
ling of many a thorn will be spared in after years
and in old age. The two points to be daily aimed at
are:
First. Let the family table be always a meeting-
place of pleasantness, and affection and peace, and
for the exhibition of all the sweeter feelings' of do-
mestic life.
Second. Let every child be sent to bed with kisses
of affection, especially those under ten years of age.
All that is on this globe could not hire me to be
put in the place of either the father or the mother in
the following narration of the former editor of a
monthly of deserved repute in its time. The occur-
rence took place in Boston, about the year 1850, and
every detail is minutely and literally true :
" A few weeks before, L. B. H. wrote to me that he
had buried his eldest son, a fine, manly little fellow of
eight years of age, who had never known a day's
illness until that which finally removed him hence, to
be here no more. His death occurred under circum-
stances which were peculiarly painful to his parents.
A younger brother, a delicate, sickly child from its
birth, the next in age to him, had been down for
nearly a fortnight with an epidemic fever. In conse-
quence of the nature of the disease, every precaution
had been adopted, that prudence suggested, to guard
the other members of the family against it. But of
this one, the father's eldest, he said he had little to
fear, so rugged was he and so generally healthy.
Still, however, he kept a vigilant eye upon him, and
especially forbade his going into the pools and docks
244 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
near his school, which it was his custom sometimes to
visit ; for he was but a boy, and ' boys will be boys/
and we ought more frequently to think that it is their
nature to be. Of all unnatural things, a reproach
almost to childish frankness and innocence, save me
from a ' boy-man !' But to the story.
" One evening this unhappy father came home,
wearied with a long day's hard labor, and vexed at
some little disappointments which had soured his
naturally kind disposition, and rendered him pecu-
liarly susceptible to the smallest annoyance. While
he was sitting by the fire, in this unhappy mood of
mind, his wife entered the apartment and said :
" ' Henry has just come in, -and he is a perfect fright.
He is covered from head to foot with dock mud, and
is as wet as a drowned rat !'
" ' Where is he ?' asked the father, sternly.
"'He is shivering over the kitchen-fire. He was
afraid to come up here when the girl told him you
had come home/
"'Tell Jane to tell him to come here this instant !'
was the brief reply to this information.
" Presently the poor boy entered, half perished with
affright and cold. His father danced a t his sad
o o
plight, reproached him bitterly with his disobedience,
spoke of the punishment -which awaited him in the
morning, as the penalty for his offense, and in a harsh
voice concluded with :
" ' Now, sir, go to your bed !'
" ' But, father/ said the little fellow, ' I want to tell
you '
" ' Not a word, sir ; go to bed!'
ON CORPORAL PUNISHMENT. 245
" * I only wanted to say, father, that '
" With a peremptory stamp, an imperative wave of
his hand toward the door, and a frown upon his brow,
did that father, without other speech, again close the
door of explanation and expostulation.
" When the boy had gone supperless and sad to
his bed, the father sat restless and uneasy while sup-
per was being prepared, and at tea-table ate but little.
His wife saw the real cause, or the additional cause
of his emotion, and interposed the remark :
"'I think, my dear, you ought at least to have
heard what Henry had to say. My heart ached for
him when he turned away with his eyes full of tears.
Henry is a good boy, after all, if he does sometimes
do wrong. He is a tender-hearted, affectionate boy.
He always was.'
" And therewithal the water stood in the eyes of
that forgiving mother, even as it stood in the eyes of
Mercy, in 'the house of the Interpreter,' as recorded
by Bunyan.
" After tea the evening paper was taken up ; but
there was no news and nothing of interest for that
father in the journal of that evening. He sat for
some time in an evidently painful reverie, and then
rose and repaired to his bedchamber. As he passed
the bedroom where his little boy slept, he thought he
would look in upon him before retiring to rest He
crept to his low cot, and bent over him. A big tear
had stolen down the boy's cheek and rested upon it,
but he was sleeping calmly and sweetly. The father
deeply regretted his harshness as he gazed upon his
son, but he felt also the ' sense of duty ;' yet in the
246 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
night, talking the matter over with the lad's mother,
he resolved and promised, instead of punishing, as
he had threatened, to make amends to the boy's ag-
grieved spirit in the morning for the manner in which
he had repelled all explanation of his offense.
" But that morning never came to the poor child
in health. He awoke the next morning with a raging
fever on his brain, and wild with delirium. In forty-
eight hours he was in his shroud. He knew neither
his father nor his mother, when they were first called
to his bedside, nor at any moment afterward. Wait-
ing, watching for one token of recognition, hour after
hour, in speechless agony, did that unhappy father
bend over the couch of his dying son. Once, indeed,
he thought he saw a smile of recognition light up
his dying eye, and he leaned eagerly forward, for he
would have given worlds to have whispered one
kind word in his ear and have been answered ; but
that gleam of apparent intelligence passed quickly
away, and was succeeded by the cold, unmeaning
glare, and the wild tossing of the fevered limbs,
which lasted until death came to his relief.
" Two days afterward the undertaker came with
the little coffin, and his son, a playmate of the de-
ceased boy, bringing the low stools on which it was
to stand in the entry-hall.
"'I was with Henry/ said the lad, * when he got
into the water. We were playing down at the Long
Wharf, Henry, and Frank Mumford and I ; and the
tide was out very low, and there was a beam run out
from the wharf, and Charles got out on it to get a
fish-line and hook that hung over where the water
ON CORPORAL PUNISHMENT. 247
was deep, and the first thing we saw he had slipped
off and was struggling in the water! Henry threw
off his cap and jumped clear from the wharf into
the water, and after a great deal of hard work, got
Charles out ; and they waded up through the mud
to where the wharf was not so wet and slippery, and
then I helped them to climb up the side. Charles
told Henry not to say anything about it, for if he
did his father would never let him go near the water
again. Henry was very sorry, and all the way going
home he kept saying:
" ' What will father say when he sees me to-night ?
I wish we had not gone to the wharf!'
" ' Dear, brave boy ! f exclaimed the bereaved father ;
1 and this was the explanation which I so cruelly re-
fused to hear !' and hot and bitter tears rolled down
his cheeks.
" Yes, that stern father now learned, and for the
first time, that what he had treated with unwonted
seventy as a fault was but the impulse of a generous
nature, which, forgetful of self, had hazarded life for
another. It was but the quick prompting of that
manly spirit which he himself had always endeavored
to graft upon his susceptible mind, and which, young
as he was, had already manifested itself on more than
one occasion.
" Let me close this story in the very words of that
father, and let the lesson sink deep into the heart of
every parent who shall peruse this sketch :
" ' Everything that I now see that ever belonged to
him reminds me of my lost boy. Yesterday I found
some rude pencil sketches, which it was his delight
248 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
to make for the amusement of his younger brother.
To-day, in rummaging an old closet, I came across
his boots, still covered with dock mud, as when he
last wore them. (You may think it strange, but that
which is usually so unsightly an object is now most
precious to me.) And every morning and evening I
pass the ground where my son's voice rang the mer-
riest among his playmates.
" * All these things speak to me vividly of his active
life, but I can not though I have often tried I can
not recall any other expression on the dear boy's face
than that mute, mournful one with which he turned
from me on the night I so harshly repulsed him. . . .
Then my heart bleeds afresh !
" ' Oh ! how careful should we be that in our daily
conduct toward those little beings sent us by a kind
Providence, we are not laying up for ourselves the
sources of many a future bitter tear! How cautious
that, neither by inconsiderate nor cruel word or look,
we unjustly grieve their generous feeling ! And how
guardedly ought we to weigh every action against its
motive, lest, in a moment of excitement, we be led
to mete out to the venial errors of the heart the
punishment due only to wilful crime !
" ' Alas ! perhaps few parents suspect how often
the fierce rebuke, the sudden blow, is answered in
their children by the tears, not of passion, not of
physical or mental pain, but of -a loving yet grieved
or outraged nature P "
But why in this sad case should the mother be
called to weep tears of blood, and be considered a
partaker of the father's fault ? It was for the crimi-
ON CORPORAL PUNISHMENT. 249
nal want of judgment and consideration on her part.
The father had come home wearied and discouraged
in connection with the business of the day, was sit-
ting by the fire in a moody state of mind, and the
mother bursts in upon him with the announcement
of the boy's condition, without acquainting herself
with the circumstances, and without uttering one
word of extenuation, but presenting the case to the
father's mind in the strongest terms of aggravation.
No wonder, under all the circumstances, the husband
should have fired up, and that he should have been
driven on like one unpossessed of himself. Had the
mother possessed but a small share of observation,
and even a less amount of common sense, she would
herself have inquired into all the circumstances of
the case, and begun the history by extolling the noble-
ness of their son ; then it would have had a calming,
compensating effect on the father's mind ; it would
have been drawn away from business, and would
have nestled itself lovingly amid the darling ones
around him.
Even if there had been no extenuating circum-
stances, she ought to have had wit enough to have
respected the humor of her husband ; she ought to
have seen in a moment that something had gone
wrong with him, and should have studiously kept from
saying or doing anything which could by any possi-
bility have roused him into a tempest of uncontrol-
lable passion. There are many other just such
thoughtless, hare-brained women, who deserve neither
the name of mother nor wife, who seem to glory in
dashing at their husbands the instant they open the
250 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
door, on their return from a hard day's toil, of body
or of mind, and with amazing volubility, pour out the
mishaps, vexations, and misfortunes of the day, and
in a way, too, as if the husband was wholly to blame,
although he may not have had the slightest connec-
tion with them, in the most remote manner possible.
Another inexcusable folly was in the father threat-
ening to punish the child next day ; leaving the little
fellow's mind to exaggerate it in his fears, and be a
living torture until the end came. Not long ago, we
read an account of an editor who sent his little son
to an upstairs room, and had the door locked, with
the threat that he would be flogged at the end of a
certain number of hours. True to his word, he went
to the door at the appointed time, and in the unlock-
ing of it the child was so alarmed that he ran to the
window, jumped out and broke his neck. It is the
limit of folly and the refinement of cruelty to threaten
punishment to a child for a thing done. If punish-
ment is merited, it should be inflicted and then dis-
missed ; yet there are parents not a few who seem to
have a malignant pleasure, after children have been
reproved or otherwise punished for a specific fault,
in reminding them of it on every possible occasion
for months afterward ; the certain effect of which is
to induce a kind of desperation in the mind of the
child, and a " don't care" feeling, which can not fail to
have a most unfortunate influence on that child's
character for all its life thereafter.
Let parents, then, who would avoid an old age of
agony, in connection with harshness, injustice, and
even cruelty to their children, remember never to
ON CORPORAL PUNISHMENT. 251
punish or even threaten a child under the influence
of a passionate state of the mind, because the mor-
row may bring death, and no other compensation can
be ever made.
There is a physiological view to be taken of this
case, which may be communicated with profit. Even
if the child had been ever so much to blame, he
should have been tenderly dealt with as to the present.
His mind and body had been most intensely exer-
cised, and the reaction had left the whole system in
a state of complete exhaustion. In addition, the
body was chilled. He should have been cleansed
and redressed with all a mother's affection ; a warm
supper and some hot drink should have been given
him, and he should have been put to sleep tenderly,
in a warm bed. But instead of all this, he was cold,
wet, hungry, "shivering," sent to bed, his feelings
" hurt," to an extent which words can not express.
We almost feel as if the father of the unfortunate
boy was entitled to the designation of " savage," and
his wife, a poor, hasty, weak-minded nonentity, worse
than no wife at all."
It is not necessary to say that the parent who
inflicted the unjust punishment, as reported in the
previous narrative, was sufficiently punished, although
not dealt with legally. How many thousand parents
treat their children in a similar manner. Here les-
sons are instilled which culminate in crime.
Before closing this chapter, we will pen a few
maxims, which, if strictly observed in the govern-
ment of children, will render correction by corporal
punishment entirely unnecessary :
252 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
1. Never require your child to do more than it is
competent to perform.
2. Educate its faculties as fast as it is capable of
comprehending. " Little by little lofty temples
grow."
3. Never strike your child so as to inflict bodily
pain: it will not reform it; it will not make it love
you.
4. Never leave home without kissing your children,
or on putting them to bed, or on rising in the morn-
ing. " Oh ! how much there is in a kiss !"
5. Never act or speak in any other manner, in the
presence of your child, than you would, under the
same circumstances, if in the presence of the most
distinguished person. " Respect your child, and it
will respect you."
6. Appeal to the judgment of your child as well as
present your own for its consideration.
7. Never correct your child while in an irritable
mood : you will only set a bad example, giving the
child practical lessons in the manifestation of angry
passions. Remember, the child copies after the
parent.
8. Never reprove or correct your child in the
presence of strangers : this will only wound its feel-
ings. Train your child to behave in the private nur-
sery of the family as you would have it in the presence
of strangers.
9. The father and mother never should differ in
opinion as to the mode or necessity of correction in
presence of the child. For the child will side with
the one that is in its own favor. Concert of action
ON CORPORAL PUNISHMENT. 253
is necessary on the part of parents to have a correct
family government.
10. Never let your child go to places of amuse-
ment while under age, unless you accompany it, or
unless it is in the care of some trusty friend. Always
introduce your child to strangers, just as you would
a friend of your own years. You should go frequent-
ly with your children to proper places of amusement.
11. Never speak of your neighbor in the presence
of your child in any other manner than you would
in the presence of others. Never entertain visitors
in the most genial manner and afterwards speak
slightly of them. Do not invite them to be sure and
call again, saying in the hearing of your child, after
they have left : " Hope they never will call again."
Do not promise to return their visit, but afterwards
say, " I never shall call on them ; they do not belong
to 'our set'" What can your child think of your
double dealing?*
* To TRAIN A CHILD. A little tract issued for distribution
by the Ladies' Sanitary Association of London, gives these wise
suggestions for the nurture of children in health of body and
spirit :
1. Never refuse a thing if it is harmless ; give it, if you are able,
without delay.
2. Never give anything because it is cried for that you have re-
fused when asked for.
3. Be careful to observe real illness, and avoid causing bodily
uneasiness from over-clothing or cold or unwholesome food, such
as candy, sugar-plums, sour fruit, or giving buns or cakes to quiet
the child.
4. Avoid false promises. They are sure to be found out false.
5. Avoid threats of all kinds. If believed, they make children
254 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
Let the principles set forth in this chapter be in-
culcated, heralded broadcast over the land, and
create a popular sentiment in favor of the opinion
that to prevent crime we must " strike at the root of
the evil" begin our work with the child ; and if we
do our duty here, it will not be necessary to provide
a halter for the adult.
timid, and injure both mind and body : if not believed, they are
useless. Such threats as bogie, policeman, and black-man, are
sure to be found out false, if the child lives.
6. Never say anything untrue to a child.
7. Do not wreak your own bad temper, or visit your own feel-
ings of fatigue and trouble, on children, by being severe with
them, or by saying, " You shan't have, it" or " I won't give it to
you," when there is no reason for refusal, except that you are
yourself tired, or in trouble, or out of sorts.
8. Avoid giving orders, such as " Stand still," " Go on," " Hold
your tongue," " Put it down," etc., unless you really mean that
you should be obeyed ; and the fewer orders you give, the better.
9. Neither give too much pity, nor yet be severe and unkind,
when a child tumbles down and hurts itself.
10. Do not worry a child. Let it alone, and let it live in
peace.
n. Teach it early to play alone, and amuse itself without your
help. Let it alone, is a golden rule in nine cases out of ten.
To sum up all in a. few words, try to feel like a child ; to enter
into its griefs and joys, its trials and triumphs. Then look forward
to the time when it shall have numbered as many years as you
have seen, and pray for help and strength to do your duty by it.
You may fail, as we all may ; but if you sow the seed with humil-
ity and faith, you will have done all that is permitted to us im-
perfect creatures ; and if you have reared up a cheerful, loving,
truthful, and brave spirit, in a healthy body, you have been work-
ing with him who told us it was " not the will of our Father in
Heaven that one of these little ones should perish."
CHAPTER XVII.
ON WEALTH, HEALTH, CRIME, AND THE LABORING
CLASSES. ORGANIZED CAPITAL AND THE
EFFECT IT HAS ON SOCIETY.
" The tendency of wealth to accumulate in few hands, and the creation of
giant power, and not disinclined to use it like giants, threatens to put the laws
of state at the disposal of the highest bidder." Theo. Tilton.
Subsistence and preservation of the vital integrity
of the body is a law of nature. To insure such a
state of enjoyment individuals have a right to make
use of means which will provide for their physical
wants. No law or condition of society should ever
be allowed to infringe on one's rights to maintain an
honorable subsistence. As subsistence is a law of
the physical nature, so is education and the proper
development of the mental faculties a law of the
mind, and each individual has, therefore, a just claim
on society to be permitted to acquire a mental sub-
sistence as well as to maintain the body.
To accumulate wealth, position, and place, a giant
power in the hands of a few, which is the tendency
and the ultimate object of society, is not a law of
nature. It is a perverted condition of the law of
self-preservation, and its effect necessarily is to de-
prive a large portion of the people of an easy means
of maintaining a subsistence. In consequence of
this unadjustable condition of society with the laws
of nature, some men resort to every means to ac-
2 55
256 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
quire wealth, while, on the other hand, others are
striving to preserve natural rights, honorably, if it
can be done so ; but money, men will have, though it
may deprive some of the necessary means of subsis-
tence. A man has a right to acquire a competency ;
but no one has a moral right by accumulating wealth
to create a power that incites men to crime. Again,
the education of man's capabilities, the moral, the
intellectual, and the social natures, is a claim or lien
which every child has on society by a law of nature
which stands parallel with the first law of subsistence.
Every individual child born into life should be sus-
tained, and it is, at least, a duty, not to prevent it
from acquiring a reasonable amount of education,
which is a mental competency, and may be compared
to that which provides for physical existence. In
proportion, then, as one portion of society accumu-
lates wealth by depriving the other of a needful com-
petency, there will exist a lack of the proper intellec-
tual development, thereby unbalancing the mental
condition of society, one portion rushing headlong
after the things which will maintain position and
wealth, and the other portion laboring under the
weight of a benighted condition of the mind, and
forced on by necessity of subsistence to often appro-
priate property that belongs to others.
For the purpose of increasing wealth, and holding
a controlling power, men of capital have variously
organized themselves. The condition of men unor-
ganized is one comparatively void of power.
We will now consider the relative advantages
which men have in acquiring moral and intellectual
ON WEALTH, HEALTH, CRIME, ETC. 257
education and in the accumulation of wealth. It is
a truth that to accumulate mental wealth, about as
much labor and economy is necessary as to obtain
houses, lands, and gold. The child learns early to
supply its own body with the necessary food for sub-
sistence, and gradually through life it continues to
learn more and more, how to make money, how to
economize, and how to use all possible resources in
making labor as profitable as possible. The same
economy and ingenuity which is required to attain to
an easy financial position is also necessary to be
brought into requisition in acquiring a mind well
stored with knowledge. In this last the common
every-day laborer has but few advantages. During
childhood and youth the laboring classes enjoy but
few advantages for attending to an early mental cul-
ture compared with those who have sufficient finan-
cial income to support them during the most impor-
tant period of life. The same cause that makes finan-
cial paupers make also paupers intellectual. The
capital which controls labor also controls the educa-
tion of the laboring classes. In this, capital is so far
in advance that it is almost too late to remedy the
difficulty. This unbalanced condition between labor
and capital is productive of crime and much sorrow
among men.
The faculty which governs capital is ever at work
in devising means to maintain a supremacy. The
love of money has already attained an alarming in-
fluence, and to counteract it is a matter of much study.
Men are taught, in childhood, a few moral and intel-
lectual lessons, which at manhood are almost entirely
17
258 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
abandoned ; the study is more how to make money.
Instead of instituting a daily reading and studying of
the sciences and endeavoring to master the true phil-
osophy of human life, their leisure hours are mainly
spent in reading the daily news, novels, and the most
flimsical literature. Capital and men labor six days
each week in the pursuit of earthly things; the
churches, -and other institutions, which have man's
moral and religious welfare for their object, labor only
two hours each week, giving capital and the business
of every day life an advantage of six days, of ten to
fifteen hours in each day, while the moral, intellectual,
religious, and social nature of man receives only at-
tention two hours in the week. Thus an unbalanced
condition is gradually acquired by the individual.
Society, of course, will be the same, for society is
made up of individuals. Money is invested in public
schools, whose labors, however, extend only to a short
period ; for, as we have already stated, all this work,
as a rule, stops at adult age. The churches aim to
counteract the tendency of wealth and labor to accu-
mulate in the hands of a few, or even to carry away
mankind in the direction of immoral or irreligious
channels ; but as capital labors six days each week,
and ten and fifteen hours each day, and the churches
labor only about two hours in each week, the church
stands a very poor chance to gain much on capital.
The capital employed in the direction of wealth, and
in conducting the business of physical life, produces
about thirty per cent, per annum, while the capital
employed in conducting the business of man's devel-
oping and accumulating of that true wealth of the
ON HEALTH, WEALTH, CRIME, ETC. 259
soul which only can eventually make men happy,
produces comparatively no per cent, per annum.
Take for example, the ten millions of property in-
vested in churches in this city, and this amount of
capital lies dormant for six days each week, and only
really labors about two hours on the seventh. This
ten millions of capital, invested in the business con-
ducted by fashionable society, will increase during the
same period of time from twenty to thirty per cent.
Or, let us consider the ten millions invested in man-
ufacturing business, and it will sway a power which
it has been entirely incompetent hitherto to counter-
act, or to bring even a restraining influence to bear
upon. The ten millions invested in manufacturing
purposes, work men ten to twelve hours each day,
four hours longer than even the law of physiology
would grant, to say nothing of the moral wrong,
and by this means an unbalanced condition is gradu-
ally acquired between the physical and mental ; and
the ten millions employed by the church cannot com-
pete in two hours with the efforts put forth in the
sixty or seventy hours employed by the manufactur-
ing interest each week. Here is an unbalanced con-
dition of society an antagonism between wealth,
labor, and the intellectual work of man. In conse-
quence of this unequal condition of society, corporal
means are resorted to, to restrain the eating canker
upon the body of society. Can it be longer a ques-
tion whether society makes her own criminals? and
is it not self-evident that by corporal punishment the
difficulty can never be removed ? In consequence of
this disproportionate condition of society, crime is
26O CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
prevalent, even in the higher as well as in the lower
walks of life.
" Corruption in high places, or rather its exposure,
is at present occupying a very large share of the at-
tention of the public. We have had Tammany frauds,
Credit Mobilier bribery, the corrupt election of sena-
tors, fraudulent contracts, defalcations of public
officers, and almost every other variety of crime,
dished up for our daily meal for months past. And
still new exposures are being made, and new dishes
are being set before us. The last is the discovery of
forgeries by a prominent Pittsburgh business man
amounting to seventy-five thousand dollars."
The strife between capital and labor is now being
more and more agitated. In New York city the em-
ployers and workingmen are now beginning to dis-
cuss the proposed movement in various trades with
reference to wages and hours of labor. Conflicting
opinions prevail on both sides. The employers seem
to be unanimous in their opposition to a reduction of
hours, while the workmen are not united, and many
regard favorably the ten-hour system.
Why this agitation and this great amount of fric-
tion ? If all was rightly adjusted, in harmony with
the laws of nature (see Part III of this volume),
all would be more happy, crime would be less fre-
quent, and men would seek after the things of the
spirit, and employ the ten millions now invested in
church purposes, in exercising the talents of the soul
at least one hour and a half each evening, makin!
about fifteen hours each week in place of two, thu<
bringing a reasonable amount of counteracting in-
ON WEALTH, HEALTH, CRIME, ETC. 26 1
fluence to bear on the ten millions employed in an
opposite direction. We have aimed to be lenient
when we compare ten millions 'of church property to
ten millions of money invested in the opposite direc-
tion ; but really the difference is by the thousands of
millions, and hence we need not wonder that five
hundred police are required in Chicago to keep men
from tearing each other to pieces like wild beasts.
Aside from the millions of organized capital em-
ployed mainly in what is called a legitimate business,
millions more are invested in drinking saloons which
are run about twenty hours each day, Sundays not
excepted. Of these there are about twenty-five, on
the average, throughout the state, to every church,
and they manufacture at least five devils to one
Christian made by the church. In the face of these
facts, ministers of the gospel will rise in their pulpits
and argue from the light of " divine revelation" that
hanging our murderers is preventive of crime.
How shall we "correct all this wonderful discord
which pervades society? In addition to what has
been said under the head of compulsory education,
and of corporal punishment, we now call attention to
one very important and too much neglected fact,
which is,
THE LABORING CLASS
must be held in greater respect : they must be brought
up into good society, and be permitted to associate
with those of learning and of wealth. In other
words, the line that now divides the laboring classes
202 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
from the professional and the wealthy should be
broken down.
It is a grand truth that labor is honorable, and
without it we -cannot exist. Think for a moment of
the dignity and importance of labor ; of the innu-
merable comforts the laboring classes are procuring
for humanity ; of the beauties they are elaborating
all around us ; of the mines of wealth they are
developing in every direction.
" Let not ambition mock their useful toil,
Their homely joys, and destiny obscure ;
Nor grandeur hear with a disdainful smile
The short and simple annals of the poor."
No, let us not "mock their useful toil," nor think
less of " their homely joys," but give a helping hand
to our common laboring classes, that all may together
rise and progress in the pursuit of human happiness.
Have you ever contemplated the wonders which a
faithful laborer's lifetime may accomplish, and yet
not learned to respect the laboring man ? I love to
grasp the hand of a man that has felled a forest ! It
may be hard, it may be rough, but it is a brave hand
and I love it! And when I think how that vigorous
arm hath cleft in twain the proud hickory, how the
lofty oak hath yielded to its ponderous blows, I will
persist in believing that the honest yeoman has ac-
complished a great, a noble work, the disparagements
of the head-measurers notwithstanding. Yes, he who
has redeemed a single acre from the fertile waste of
nature, and subjected it to the work of feeding the
millions, or has planted a tree from which posterity
ON WEALTH, HEALTH, CRIME, ETC. 263
may pluck, has performed a noble act. I tell you it
is for such as these that " the wilderness and the sol-
itary places shall be glad, and the desert shall rejoice
and blossom as the rose."
There are the " hod-carriers." Do you smile at
the mention of the word ? Stand a little while near
a large building in process of erection and watch the
movements of those busy men. Here they come,
with hurried step, one after another, to the brick
pile. For the hundredth time to-day they fill their
hods and retrace their steps. Slowly, cautiously,
they ascend the dizzy ladders. Their burdens
dumped, they turn again to repeat that oft-repeated
journey. But mark you! Those buttresses are
growing. Upward, upward, toward the bright, blue
heavens rise those massive walls! The roof is
arched, the dome is finished, and now, as that noble
edifice looms up against the sky, and you contem-
plate its stern solidity, its massive grandeur, its archi-
tectural beauty, does not a thrill of exultant joy
vibrate within your inmost soul as you remind your-
self that three or four brave fellows have absolutely
shouldered that magnificent structure?
Away with that abominable dogma that the
highly gifted only may accomplish great results. God
can use the humblest vessel he has made.
Hands, heads and hearts should all be set to work
to bless the world, and for the individual (I care not
what may be the circumference of his skull !) who is
willing to devote his triple self to the guidance of
his Maker, I would not hesitate to predict an ample
success in time, and a glorious career in eternity
264 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
though all the craniologists in the world should
shake their incredulous heads at once. It is not
yours nor mine to say that such an individual might
not, out of the abundance of his labors, actually
double the hallelujahs of Heaven.
Think of the rebuilding of Chicago. Were it not
for the laboring classes, the burnt district would yet
be a barren waste. But as it is, hundreds of stately
and noble edifices loom up against the sky, where
one year ago was but solitary ruins.
Unless society makes proper provision for the
working classes, by the universal education of all
the mental faculties of every individual member of
society, an unbalanced condition will continue be-
tween capital and labor, between wealth and the
moral and religious nature of man, between the
educated and the uncultivated faculties of the mind.
Society may be compared to an organization com-
posed of a number of faculties the same as an indi-
vidual. Now, where the faculty of acquisitiveness is
the predominant power, the individual will measure
everything by what money is worth. The chief
end will be money. This faculty is even now the
ruling force of society, supported by selfishness, re-
venge, and hatred, brought into activity by the facul-
ties of combativeness and destructiveness. These
are the forces which labor six days each week, and,
in many cases, include the Sabbath day, while the
faculties of reason, conscience, benevolence, friendship,
love, and charity, are exercised only about two hours
in the week. The majority of mankind " seek after
the things that are temporal," rather than " after the
things of the spiritual.
CHAPTER XVIII.
OUR PRESENT JURY SYSTEM. PROPOSED REFORMATION.
MURDER TRIALS. WOMEN AS JURORS
CONCLUSION OF PART II.
We would not consider our task complete in what
has been said on crime and punishment, if we were
not to give a passing notice to the present jury sys-
tem. In the first place, we remark that we believe
the Grand Jury to be a useless body of officials
which should be discontinued. We give the follow-
ing reasons :
First. It is a secret trial of a person supposed to
be guilty of a crime, where the criminal is not per-
mitted to be present, and has, therefore, no opportu-
nity to defend himself.
Second. The Grand Jury, after deliberation, ren-
ders a verdict which is no more descisive than if
twelve men, not empowered by any legal authority,
were to meet in secret and pass resolutions that a
certain person in the neighborhood is guilty of some
crime or misdemeanor, and would recommend an
arrest, and that they be committed for trial. How
many persons have been found not guilty by the
court, even after the Grand Jury passes a verdict of
guilty, and many have been set aside by the courts.
Third. Any one may go before the Grand Jury
and give in testimony against their neighbors, and
265
266 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
no one is allowed to know who the complainant is,
making it altogether a one-sided trial, giving credence
only to the story of one side of the question. Here
much injustice is done; and if there were none, it is
entirely useless, as the decision is not final ; a useless
expense, a sham trial, and may be dispensed with
without in the least impairing our resources to deal
out justice. The justice of the peace, or any judge,
may give an opinion and cause one to be committed
to farther trial, after hearing the preliminary testi-
mony. What use is there, after a coroners' jury has
found a verdict, that the Grand Jury should again
consider the case, and proceed to trial of the
criminal.
Trial by jury we believe to be just and a verdict
by a two-third vote is all that is necessary to arrive
at a just decision. Instead, however, of decreasing
the number, as the Attorney General of England pro-
poses, as a radical means of reforming the jury sys-
tem, which is not looked upon with much favor, how-
ever, we are in favor of increasing the number to
twenty-four in all trials for murder and treason. To
show that the subject of reforming our present
JURY SYSTEM
is already being agitated in this and the old country,
we copy from the press opinions which explain them-
selves :
'"The evils of the jury system, as developed by
modern experience, are of a nature too serious to be
ignored. The subject has been agitated to consider-
OUR PRESENT JURY SYSTEM. 267
able extent in this country for some time ; and the
English journals have shown the same state of things
in Great Britain. At last the attorney general of
that nation has proposed a very radical measure,
which is not looked upon with favor, and will hardly
succeed in becoming a law.
o
" The principal features of this proposition are a
reduction of the number of the jury from twelve to
seven, except in trials for treason and murder, and
the principle that a majority shall be allowed to vote
a verdict. The first change is recommended in order
to decrease the number of persons withheld from
their occupations to attend court where they await
summons as jurors. The attorney general argues
that there is no magic in the number twelve, and that
the number might just as well be seven. In reply to
this, it is answered that there is no more magic in the
number seven ; that the evil complained of can be
remedied in some other manner, and that it would
be dangerous to change the number constituting a
jury when the people have learned to regard that
number as necessary to their protection.
" The principle that a majority shall be allowed to
vote a verdict, is assailed still more strenuously. The
proposition is similar to one recently introduced in
the Illinois Legislature, except that in the latter case
a vote of two-thirds is required for a verdict.
" It is hardly probable that either of these propo-
sitions would work an improvement on the present
system, and we think the views of the public, are ex-
pressed in the following terse extract from an article
on the subject in a morning paper in this city, which
268 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
says: 'Both plans seem to be inconsiderate and
dangerous. In the organization of juries, two-thirds
of the members are as apt to be stupid blockheads
as one-third, and the proposed change would give
them the opportunity of determining a verdict when-
ever such a division should occur. It would simply
bean application of the majority rule to jury ver-
dicts, as it exists now in politics. The principle is
carried far enough already, and it would be especially
dangerous and objectionable to apply it to absolute
judicial verdicts affecting life, liberty, and property.
The principle of unanimity has the constant advan-
tage of securing deliberation and consultation more
apt to result in a just verdict than a hasty, inconsid-
erate vote of the majority/ "
We cannot see a good reason why a two-thirds vote
is not as near true justice as when one-third stand
against the rest and are finally persuaded to " give
in" and return a verdict by a unanimous vote. As
before stated, we are in favor of increasing the num-
ber of jurors to twenty-four in all murder trials and
for treason. Twelve men and twelve women. After
the trial and the usual charge given by the judge, the
jury should then retire to a suitable room where each
is provided with a seat so isolated from each other
that no private conversation can be had : in no case
should it be allowed. We do not believe that dis-
cussions are proper by a jury. The case has been
sufficiently discussed during the trial, and each mem-
ber of the jury should be allowed an individual vote,
and not be influenced by the knowledge of how
others vote. The sheriff, or the clerk of the court,
OUR PRESENT JURY SYSTEM. 269
should act as chairman of the jury. At the sound of
the gavel, each juror should be required to step to a
private desk, and write his of her verdict on a suita-
ble card, and deposit it in a box. A two-third vote
to be decisive ; if, however, a two-third vote is not
the result of the first ballot, then a second ballot may
be ordered by the chairman ; should there be no de-
cision, he may call for a third, but this should be the
limit, and, however the ballot may then stand, a ver-
dict of guilty or not guilty is rendered, after which,
the jury should be discharged. We oppose all dis-
cussions by juries, in the jury-room, for the following
reasons : First, the best talker can carry those who
are easily persuaded. Secondly, many persons, though
having clear minds, are not competent to bring re-
butting arguments, having had no practice in speak-
ing or debating, and yet would render a just verdict.
We hold it to be just and necessary to require, by
law, certain
QUALIFICATIONS
of jurors before they are considered as fit to sit on a
jury. First, we mention age. No male should be
allowed to sit on a jury under thirty or over fifty ;
no female under twenty-five or over fifty. Between
these two periods of human life, the judgment and
mental capacities are at the highest degree of vigor,
and are available more than at any other time, and
hence the most just decisions may be arrived at if
this precaution is taken in the selection of jurors.
The second qualification should be that each juror be
in possession of knowledge of our common branches
27O CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
of education, at least. The third qualification is,
that each juror should be a freeholder, and in pur-
suit of some honorable vocation, by which to main-
tain a subsistence. Some may object to our idea of
permitting women to set on juries.
We ask, has she no power to judge of human
affairs? Can she not understand right from wrong,
and is not woman more moral than man, as a rule?
And if she is to be governed by law, why shall she
not have a right to say how she shall be ruled ? And
again, has she not as much interest in the welfare of
the opposite sex as men have in hers, and is it not a
moral duty that she should interest herself in matters
of law as well as in domestic affairs ? Let women be
permitted to take their place in the jury-box, and we
affirm that our courts of justice will not be conducted
as too disreputable a place for a respectable lady
even to appear in as a witness. In all trials for
crimes less than murder or treason, twelve jurors are
sufficient, six men and six women, but a two-thirds
vote should be requisite for a verdict, and the same
rule should be observed as before mentioned.
In trial of disputes in regard to property or money,
the present system is as good as need be. Minor
cases of crime, such as justices of the peace are now
allowed to decide, may be continued. For example,
a person is arraigned for vagrancy. It is not neces-
sary to decide by jury ; but if the evidence is suffi-
ciently conclusive, the justice of the peace may at
once decide the case, and send him to the reforma-
tory institution, where such persons are further
disposed of by a competent board of educators.
OUR PRESENT JURY SYSTEM. 271
We do not believe in the right of appeal from one
court to another ; after a trial has been had according
to law, it should be decisive. As it is now, so long as
parties have a dollar to spend, they continue to law
one another until justice is defeated. This creates
a spirit of revenge. Men declare that they will have
satisfaction if they have to spend their last dollar.
This is a great evil, though it may be remunerative to
officers of the law and lawyers. The question is,
has ever an appeal been made with a view only to
gain justice, or was it mainly through a spirit of
revenge and an object to dishonorably win the suit
on some technical point in law ? Remove, then, the
right of an appeal after the case has been regularly
tried, according to law, and then the poor will have
justice done, as well as moneyed monopolies, or those
that have money enough to carry on a law suit until
their opponent has exhausted all his resources.
Take away the right of appeal, and the pardoning
power from the executive, make justice the impera-
tive power in the land, and people will shun the law
as they would a prison, attending to their legitimate
business rather than trying to defeat the ends of
justice.
We believe that no court has a moral right to
require men to take upon themselves a solemn oath.
Affirmation by one's own word of honor, as they
hope to answer to men and this court, not to God,
is stronger than the oath now administered. Most
people who swear falsely fear hell less than they do
men, as the majority believe there is time enough for
God to forgive their sins; and they will risk the in-
272 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
definite hereafter rather than incur the nearer punish-
ment of the law established by man. A person who
will respect his own honor less than an oath, is not a
proper subject to sit on a jury or to testify as a
witness.
In conclusion of this chapter and Part Second of
this volume, we take occasion to review briefly the
leading ideas advanced in support of the total aboli-
tion of the death penalty. History shows that the
severity of the death penalty inflicted upon criminals
is growing less, and it is now only used as a punish-
ment for murder and treason, while in former ages it
was administered for many crimes of lesser magni-
tude. Formerly executions were held in public : now
only murderers in the first degree are executed, and
this is done in private. This favors the idea that it
will soon be abolished. History further shows that
the death penalty has never prevented crime, and
that it had its origin among heathen nations and is
not a command of God * nor was it ever suggested
* THE PUNISHMENT OF MURDER. To the Editor of the Chicago
Tribune: SIR: Why is it that our clergy, as a general thing,
are so clamorous for the bloody code ? These heralds of the
gentle Jesus that Jesus who never uttered a syllable approving
the taking of human life as a punishment one would expect to
be the last to call for the old Mosaic ukase of " A life for a life."
As an instance how the most adverse texts of Scripture are
used by clergymen to enforce their notions, the sermon of the
Rev. Mr. Helmer on Sunday evening was remarkable. His theme
was Cain, the first murderer ; and, in some way, from that he drew
an instruction in favor of capital punishment.
Now, Cain was not put to death by God, but separated from his
fellows ; and, to prevent his fellowmen from killing him, God put
OUR PRESENT JURY SYSTEM. 273
by a righteous person or an enlightened nation. It
is therefore a relic of barbarism adhering to our
civilized institutions, which long since should have
taken its place in oblivion.
We have also maintained the great necessity and
right to punish crime, and contended successfully for
the strict enforcement of the three primary objects of
law and punishment, namely : first, reformation of
the criminal ; secondly, reparation or compensation
to the injured party, and thirdly, prevention of future
crime. We have shown that the first object can only
be obtained by sending the criminal to a reformatory
prison, murderers to prison for life, withholding the
a mark on him, and threatened seven-fold vengeance upon any
one who should kill him.
Not much capital punishment doctrine here.
That so candid and able a man as Mr. Helmer could fall into
such a line of deduction, seems singular.
I, for one, have long been opposed to the death penalty. The
arguments of its advocates seem to me fallacious, and the secret
of the desire for its infliction to be in the natural feeling of ven-
geance in case of murder.
That the restraining effect of executions on crime is a vagery,
is proved by the fact that, in each of the recent executions in this
city and in New York, murders were committed within a single
day thereafter, within cannon-shot of the scaffold.
The Tribune of this morning, to my mind, struck the right
note, and for the first time, to my notice, has the thought been
clearly put forth, " that at present, and until we abolish the par-
doning power, there is no such thing as imprisonment for life."
We must have the death penalty for murder till we can imprison
for life. Let us take away the pardoning power from the execu-
tive in case of murder ; and, until we can do that, let murderers
hang, say I. CHIVEX.
CHICAGO, March 24, 1873.
IS
274 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
pardoning power from the executive, as also the right
to appeal to higher courts or for a new trial on the
part of the accused.
These principles can never be attained by enforc-
ing the death penalty. After death, no reparation
can be made by the criminal; nor can we call back
the innocent and restore life again. Neither science,
nature, or divine revelation teach that it is a Chris-
tian duty to hang murderers ; but, on the other
hand, they teach us plainly that as long as God and
nature lets the criminal live we should certainly be
willing to do so, and as God did with Cain separate
them from society, and imprison them for life. It
has also been successfully argued that the death
penalty does not deter men from committing crime,
but rather induces crime, and is therefore not a sure
prevention. The only true means of preventing
crime is the certain enforcement of the law, and the
punishment being made reformatory and compensa-
tory ; compulsory education of the masses, and in
placing a high estimate on life, educating mankind to
the belief that " the chief end of man" will be to look
after the proper culture of the child, in order that
the future generation may develop into healthy, in-
tellectual, and moral men and women, rather than to
acquire wealth and mere earthly possessions, which
are at any time liable to " take to themselves wings
and fly away."
Let labor be looked upon as honorable, and the
working classes have as many advantages in acquir-
ing an education as those who have wealth, and our
young men will not despise to learn a trade, or make
OUR PRESENT JURY SYSTEM. 275
farming their profession. As it is now, young men
aspire to some
PROFESSION
rather than to learn a trade. A few years ago we
penned a short article on this subject which is here
inserted :
"Some mothers and sisters, and perhaps fathers,
may be mortified because one of the family chooses
to be an artisan rather than a clerk in a counting-
room. So far as education goes, perchance, " the
honors are easy," but looking to the future of life,
and supposing no capital but brains and character,
who has the greatest chance, a young man who
wears out the best of his years in posting books, col-
lecting debts or making sales, with little or no hope
of promotion, and who considers a salary of two or
three thousand per annum large pay or another
who learns a trade thoroughly, and is an expert in a
a handicraft always in demand, at the highest wages,
making as his own master, even when a journeyman,
from fifteen hundred to two thousand dollars per
annum, and as he gets known, taking contracts and
gradually passing from the position of operative to
that of superintendent, and finally that of "boss?"
There are many illustrations of this fact around us.
There are two brothers here now, for example, one a
physician and the other a mechanic ; the last could
buy out the first and not feel it; he is received,
as he deserves to be, in quite as good a social
circle ; and his children mix with their cousins in the
276 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
same associations, notwithstanding some of the
"social status" shoddyites, whose progenitors were
coal-heavers, may turn up their noses at them.
"The whole question of his supposed inferiority
lies in the question of education and manners, and
nothing else; for, other things being equal, that is
the best pursuit which, faithfully and intelligently
adhered to, furnishes steady occupation, affords a
reasonable chance of promotion as the result of in-
dustry and enterprise, and, above all, leaves the man
independent, and not the servant or slave of a cor-
poration or individual upon which he is dependent
for his daily bread.
" It is a melancholy sight to see a gray-haired
book-keeper, or a vigorous clerk, cringing and fawn-
ing to suit the whims or caprices of some fancied
superior, often his junior in years and experience,
who has inherited the " silver spoon," but is his infe-
rior in intellect and all the attributes that make a
man. If any one supposes these employes do not
feel the humiliation and recognize their slavish con-
dition, he is mistaken. Hard and stern necessity
compels the "hated utterance" and submissive mien.
The knee is too often crooked " that thrift may fol-
low fawning," and so the man's life ebbs out ; and at
last he leaves, perhaps, a widow and children stranded
on the bleak shores of .the world's charity, to shift for
themselves as best they may. How many of our
readers will respond, "true, we know it," and would
gladly, if they could, take up a trade, and thus work
out their individual freedom.
" We do not suppose that in this wide country there
OUR PRESENT JURY SYSTEM. 277
is really any energetic man suffering, if he will work,
but every one who has been in California or the far
west, or any new country, knows that doctors, lawyers,
store and office clerks are a comparatively useless
class as contrasted with those who understand the
tilling of the soil or are skilled mechanics, Your
professional man, while he is usually respectable, has
one great drawback in the necessity of doing all his
work himself. You can not preach, try causes, physic,
or edit a newspaper by deputy, unless you are a quack
a humbug. The limit of your income is your own
ability to earn it, save in the exceptional cases of
good fortune of the successful merchant or tradesman,
and it is worthy of note that it is only recently that
commercial pursuits have been allowed to class with
professions, and that even now, in Europe, the mer-
chant, unless he has wealth enough to buy his way
into society, is as much under the ban as the mechanic.
" How much better, then, would it be if our young
men, instead of yielding to unworthy prejudice, and
frittering away their time and efforts in over-crowded,
and in most cases unproductive, pursuits, would go
to work at what promises prompt and certain support,
and, with skill, sobriety, and industry, insure compe-
tence.
PART III.
THE LAW.
CHAPTER XIX.
ON THE LAWS OF NATURE.
Our first effort will be to define the laws of nature,
and then make our deductions applicable to human
life. By the laws of nature, we understand a con-
stant and regular order of facts, by which God gov-
erns the universe ; a regular order of facts which are
o
presented to the reason of man through the five
senses, and which are common rules for the guidance
of his actions, without distinction of person, age, or
sect, and a close observation of which will ultimate
in happiness.
By the word, law, we understand " an order or pro-
hibition to act, with the express clause of a penalty
attached to the infraction or of a recompense attached
to the observance of that order." Literally it signi-
fies a lecture, translated from the Latin word lex
lectio, which took its name from the practice among
279
280 THE LAW.
the ancient nations to proclaim, in the form of a lec-
ture made to the people, all ordinances and regula-
tions, in order that they might observe them, and not
incur the penalties attached to the infraction of them.
This is the most comprehensive definition that can
be given either of the law of nature or of the word
law itself.
Blackstone divides law into the " unwritten and the
written." The unwritten law is that which is cogni-
zable only in the workings of nature. It is a fixed
law of nature that water flows downward ; that it
endeavors to find its level ; that it is heavier than air ;
that all bodies tend toward the earth; that flame
ascends toward the heavens ; that fire disorganizes
vegetables, and destroys the life of animals ; that air
is necessary for existence ; that water will drown all
air-breathing animals ; that certain plants will poison
and kill, and certain minerals attack the organs and
destroy life when taken into the system ; that the
sun illuminates successively every portion of the
surface of the terrestrial globe ; that its presence
causes both light and heat; that heat, acting upon
water, produces vapors ; that those vapors, rising in
clouds in the regions of the air, dissolve into rain or
snow, and renew incessantly the waters of fountains
and of rivers ; and so on, in a multitude of other in-
stances. The unwritten law may be further defined
as common law, which is a rule of action deriving its
authority from long usage or established custom,
which has been immemorially received and recognized
by judicial tribunals.
The written law is a rule of action prescribed or
ON THE LAWS OF NATURE. 28 1
enacted by the legislative powers, and promulgated
and recorded in written statutes, ordinances, edicts,
or decrees.
Natural laws are always right : they are fixed, and
do not change so as to create discord. To make the
legislative acts of man a success, they must agree
with nature's laws and thus only can the written law
become a blessing to man. For man to accomplish
this, a thorough knowledge of nature, or what is
termed the unwritten law, is requisite, for the laws of
man must be adjusted strictly in accordance with
those of nature before we can hope to arrive at a
just determination of the right and the wrong. We
will now
PROCEED TO EXAMINE
some of the laws of nature which have a bearing in
governing the actions of men.
Prof. W. Fishbaugh says : " The starting point of
all thought and investigation with every human being
is his own interior consciousness. This is to every
one the most absolutely fixed of all facts the most
positively certain of all certainties. Hence it is the
position from which all other certainties and uncer-
tainties, probabilities and improbabilities, possibilities
and impossibilities, are estimated. But as, from our
individual centers of consciousness and intellect, we
open our eyes and look without us, we find ourselves
surrounded by various forms and conditions, near
and remote, which act upon our physical, intellectual,
and moral natures, and are reacted upon by us.
282 THE LAW.
These active and reactive influences are, in some
sense, at a constant equipoise. There is thus a uni-
verse without, and a universe within us, a universe
of cognizable forms, principles, and conditions, and a
universe of cognizing faculties, the one being re-
lated to, and corresponding with, the other. It is a
legitimate object and privilege of every inquiring
mind to understand, in some degree, both of these
universes ; and in order to do this to the fullest ex-
tent, one must investigate each with a constant regard
to its analogy with, and relation to the other."
The forms of the outer universe are included in a
few simple and comprehensive classifications, arranged
above or beneath each other in the scale of creation.
Those beneath man, and which at present form the
special subject of our investigation, are embraced in
the comprehensive divisions of animal, vegetable,
mineral, geological, astronomical, or cosmical forms.
Of these, singularly and in united groups, together
with their more superficial properties, the interior
soul gains a preception through some one or more of
the sensational channels, known as touch, taste, sight,
hearing and smell. Proceeding upon the basis of
the impressions received through these avenues of
sense, the ratiocinative faculty becomes the medium
of some knowledge of the purposes and mutual rela-
tions of these, and of the laws by which they are
governed ; and availing itself of the contributions
of both sense and reason, at the same time that it
draws from its own interior and independent re-
sources, the faculty of intuition decides upon their
causes, their life forces, and their more interior signi-
fications.
ON THE LAWS OF NATURE. 283
The universe, or rather the material world, makes
an impression upon our senses, without which there
can be no existence. This contact with physical
nature creates a certain feeling, or, in other words,
makes an impression upon the interior cognizing fac-
ulties, which are so constituted as to be impressed
by the cognizable forms, principles, and conditions
of the surrounding universe. We form ideas in con-
nection with what we see, hear, touch, taste, or smell ;
and we say how rich, how beautiful the heavens and
the earth, when exposed to our sight. The senses
combine and create within us wonder and amazement
when we contemplate the movements of the universe,
animated, as it were, with a soul, as our own bodies
are, and we speak of nature in a sense mysterious,
" the intentions of nature ; the incomprehensible
secrets of nature," all operating on every being in
various ways so as to create a peculiar ccfndition,
both in the external conformation as well as in the
mental operations.
As we study the peculiarities of individuals, we
often say, " The nature of man is an enigma ; every
being acts according to its nature." As we examine
the nature of things, and inquire into the actions of
each being, or each species of beings, we see that all
are subject to constant and general rules, which can
not be infringed without interrupting and creating
discord in the general as well as the particular order
of things. These are rules of action, and constitute
what are called natural laws. It is a law of nature
that not two individuals existing are precisely alike
in external conformation, neither in mental organi-
284 THE LAW.
zation ; at least, various conditions of individual
peculiarity exist in a relative degree of activity.
Now, as there are a great number of different tissues,
organs, and filaments, which constitute the physical
organization, and a great variety of articles of diet,
and agencies and conditions necessary to sustain life,
so the mind is" made up of a great many different
faculties, and each faculty has its own peculiarities
which operating together, constitute an individual
character which manifests itself in an infinite variety
or degree of activity, and thus each person furnishes
a particular element, which, when organized, consti-
tutes what is termed society.
In order, then, to reform an individual, it is neces-
sary first to understand the nature and peculiarities
of the individual and the natural laws by which a
change may be wrought. So in regard to society.
To bring about a radical change in any of the cus-
toms of society, it will be necessary to co-operate
with the primary principles of nature, and to be suc-
cessful in this, it is necessary to analyze society,
as well as the individual, into ultimate parts or
elements.
After we have ascertained the ultimate elements
of which society is composed, we are prepared to
extend our attention to the proximate elements, or
those conditions which have been created by a com-
bination of the primary or ultimate principles, and
having inquired into the effects of all, we can easily
retrace our steps into the examination of the causes.
The same course of reasoning is applicable in our
investigations of any of the mysterious workings of
ON THE LAWS OF NATURE. 285
nature. First, to understand the nature and the
peculiarities of the primary elements ; then, to inquire
into the nature and peculiarities of the proximate
elements, and the conditions and the effect of these
elements when comprehended. To understand the
harmonious operations of these elements, when com-
pounded, or, in other words, to determine whether
the effect of all is right or wrong, is wholly a matter
of experience, and, by reasoning analogically, we are
enabled to form a correct conclusion as to the right
o
actions of men.
To understand the various conditions, and fully
comprehend the natural order which ends in right
action, is our present object, so that we may be en-
abled to adjust or harmonize man's laws with the
laws of nature. In the first place, we find that man
is so organized as to require support from the exter-
nal world to maintain his existence. In the second
place, there is no demand made by the interior or-
ganization which is not even bountifully supplied by
nature. Man has but to use proper means to possess
them to maintain harmony between the interior and
the exterior, to aid in which, two universal forces are
established in man, which attract or repel him in
his dealings with the existing corporal surroundings,
which are pleasure and pain. Pleasure attracts and
pain repels. The primary object of pain is the pro-
tection of the organic integrity, while pleasure pro-
duces a love of existence. For example, under cer-
tain conditions, cold will produce an unpleasant
sensation, and the being is thus admonished to use
rreans by which to protect itself, by maintaining an
286 THE LAW.
equilibrium of temperature. The same of heat.
Under certain conditions, where the temperature has
been raised to a burning heat, the being is imme-
diately warned on coming in contact with it, by pain,
to protect itself, and thus avoid being destroyed.
This condition first gave rise to the necessity of
clothing the body, and also to the construction of
houses, for protection against cold and heat, in order
to maintain that equilibrium of temperature which is
necessary for the proper expansion of life. While
man is thus engaged in clothing and protecting the
body against violence from whatever cause, a sensa-
tion of pleasure is produced, which creates a satis-
faction, and is the reward of labor.
Hunger is the messenger which informs the being
that the body is in need of food for the purpose of
maintaining the internal integrity of the organization.
Were it not for the pleasure experienced in eating, it
is doubtful whether people would supply the body
with nourishment, simply from duty, receiving no
other reward than mere existence.
These are, then, the forces which cause men to act
in a physical sense, and we shall show that all human
actions have their starting-point in man's endeavor
to flee from pain, unpleasantness, and sorrow, and to
attain pleasure, satisfaction, ease, and happiness.
These are natural laws ; and while nature inflicts
pain under certain circumstances, she also provides
the means by which to avoid or overcome such cir-
cumstances, and rewards the being by giving pleasure
in place of pain. Pain, then, is a teacher rather than
a chastizing or condemning pow&r. When certain
ON THE LAWS OF NATURE. 287
circumstances exist which are contrary to the nature
and welfare of man, this force teaches him how to
use means to the end of overcoming the difficulty,
and thus leads him to happiness. Here we see no
malice, no revenge ; nor can we find that nature ever
outrages her own laws. Pain, in truth, may be con-
sidered an angel of mercy, not a "fiend from the
regions of darkness." We have stated that the
starting-point of the actions of man is in pain and
pleasure. This is true in a physical sense; and now
let us see if the same course of reasoning will not
apply in regard to the mind. It has been stated that
the exterior world makes certain impressions upon
the five senses, and thence an impression is conveyed
to the mind, arousing certain faculties, or producing
certain impressions upon the cognizing powers of the
interior. Intellectuality proceeds in regular order as
the external impressions are conveyed. We will take
pain again, for example. The first impression made
on the physical, as well as on the mental, is a feeling
of resistance, and the first mental faculties which are
called into requisition are combativeness, destruct-
iveness, and the selfish propensities. These are the
executive powers, and immediately bring into use
such measures as the nature of the difficulty may in-
dicate. These faculties, however, are subject to the
higher faculties of reason, caution, acquisitiveness,
and conscientiousness, or, in other words, the moral
and intellectual faculties, which proceed analogically
and in accordance with previous experiences.
Thus the mind is interested in the welfare of the
physical organization through which it operates in
288 THE LAW.
providing for its wants ; to relieve when distressed,
to feed when hungered, to clothe when naked ; and
even to provide for future necessities by laying up a
store of provisions, acquiring property, and to pursue
happiness, which is the ultimate object of all human
action.
There can be no physical sensation without a cor-
responding impression being made on the mind, or,
at least, on one or more of the faculties of the mind
which correspond to the nature or kind of impression
conveyed through the physical communicating chan-
nels. The physical wants of the body are constantly
making demands on the faculty of acquisitiveness,
and this calls into requisition the executive faculties,
which go to work to supply the necessary means of
support or give protection. Sensation does not end
here. The higher tribunals are impressed which
judge of the right, the propriety, or the possibility of
consummating or complying with the requisition that
is made. The same is true of the social and of the
sexual propensities, which make a constant demand
for the exercise of their functions, wholly for the
pleasure which such exercise affords. So in regard
to other propensities or faculties of the mind. In
regard to the mind rendering a just verdict in decid-
ing upon the right or the wrong of any of the
demands or requisitions that are made, we will find
that this is done in accordance with a previous
knowledge acquired through experience or by being
educated through the experience of others, conveyed
to the mind by means of one or all of the five senses.
In this manner man acquires knowledge of the fixed
ON THE LAWS OF NATURE. 289
laws of nature, and also of the penalty which follows
any actions which are in disregard of such laws.
There are many real and regular orders or laws
which may be stated to illustrate how man gains a
knowledge of the laws of nature to which he must
conform. For example : if man pretends to see
clear in darkness ; if he goes in contradiction to the
course of the seasons, or the actions of the elements ;
if he pretends to remain under water without
being drowned ; to touch fire without burning him-
self; to deprive himself of air without being suffo-
cated ; to swallow poison without destroying himself,
he receives from each of these infractions of the
laws of nature a punishment proportionate to his
faults. But if, on the contrary, he observes and
practices each of these laws according to the regular
and exact relations they have to him, he preserves
his existence, and renders it as happy as it can be.
We find, further, that it is a law of nature that
man, under certain circumstances, is severely punished ;
or, in other words, he suffers pain in gaining knowl-
edge by practical experience. Under other circum-
stances, knowledge is acquired by the reward of
pleasure, the opposite force, which is the attractive
while pain is the repelling force of man's actions.
Thus man is endowed with the power to judge ac-
cording to the kind of impression that is made upon
him, whether such impression produces an unpleasant
sensation or a feeling of pleasure. He says, " This
is pleasant to me ; this I will pursue ; or, " This is
unpleasant, and this course I will shun." Now, with-
out a knowledge of the right road to happiness, .man
19
THE LAW.
is liable constantly to incur the infliction of pain,
Even in his endeavor to relieve himself, he often
makes bad worse; but by the long experience of
men, through the many and progressive ages of
human existence, much has been learned in regard
to the laws of nature, and the intimate relation which
man sustains to them. This knowledge is transmitted
to the rising generation by precept, by tradition, by
record, and, if properly inculcated, will enable the
future generation to pass along through life without
having to go back and learn by practical experience.
Hence, we see how necessary it is to institute laws
and institutions of learning to benefit the race by the
experience of those who lived before us, continuing
to add little by little to the previously acquired store
of knowledge through our own experience ; for it is
impossible to exist scarcely a moment without being
impressed by our surroundings, and we form an idea
as to the nature of such impressions and judge of
the pleasant or unpleasant sensation which is made
on the cognizable principle within us. It is easy to
perceive how to construct laws which will insure to
every individual a happy physical existence. The
revelations that have been made by physiology, give
us a correct idea concerning how to feed and how to
clothe the body, how to exercise, sleep, bathe, and
how to educate each mental faculty, in order to live
a healthy and happy life. It has been determined
that a crude, unreformed, animal-like organization
has a corresponding effect on the mental organiza-
tion, and we have a gross, unregenerated, beastly
Character to deal with ; while, under opposite condi-
ON THE LAWS OF NATURE. 29!
tion, where persons understand and live strictly in
harmony with the principles of physiology, an en-
lightened and highly refined character is manifested,
one, too, highly moral and religious; for we shall
claim for physiology the starting-point of all correct
human action. All other branches of education are
really and only collaterals.
HUMAN LAWS
must be in harmony with the laws governing physi-
cal life before we can expect to adjust them in har-
mony with the higher nature of man, or rather the
laws of nature which govern moral action. For ex-
ample, it is a law of physiology that time, practice,
and favorable. surroundings are necessary to develop,
to educate, and to regenerate a gross organization. To
facilitate a healthy growth, all obstacles must be re-
moved, and the agencies that support a harmonious
exercise of the capabilities of man be supplied.
This can not be done by laws which only exact a for-
feiture of money or property with a view thereby to
cure a condition of depravity. As well take the
clothing from a man already too poorly clad, to pro-
tect him against cold, bread from a child sparingly
fed, in the endeavor to support its physical existence.
Any law where " might makes right" is contrary to
nature, and we can easily see the true philosophy of
our argument, in the fact that a man, before he will
freeze, will steal. This is only obeying a physical
law, and man's law, instead of taking that which the
offender has, should supply him with an extra gar-
2 Q2 THE LAW.
ment ; and the moral effect will be obvious. We
see, therefore, that all legislation which is intended to
govern the actions of men must first be in harmony
with physiological laws, or we shall never be enabled
to do so correctly. So long as man's laws continue
to disregard^ the physical laws of nature, just so
long shall we fail in creating laws the infraction of
which will bring a just punishment upon the trans-
gressor. We have stated that human action begins
with physical existence, and that though our ideas
have their starting-point in the things of the corporal
or cognizable universe, pain and pleasure, the primary
forces, which cause men to act physically, so to
speak, as well as mentally, that we are endowed with
a principle which is the cognizing or a universe with-
in ; that pain repels and pleasure attracts; that pain
is an admonishing principle or force, which teaches
the being to avoid that which is wrong, and pleasure
is that which rewards as well as creates a feeling of
right ; that the mind calls into requisition every avail-
able means to enable the being to flee from pain and
attain to happiness; that physiology is the only re-
liable science or branch of education which teaches
the plain road to health and happiness, and all other
branches of education are auxiliary, and all join in
rendering man's physical existence harmonious with
the general and special laws of nature ; that the
mind reasons on all subjects analogically, and decides
between the ri^ht and the wrong-, by a knowledge
o o' J o
previously acquired, either through personal experi-
ence or from being taught by precept, tradition, or
by reading the records of the experience of others ;
ON THE LAWS OF NATURE. 293
that human laws must agree with the laws of nature,
and especially with the laws of physiology, in order
to be successful in regulating the actions of man ;
that criminals require treatment on the same princi-
ple that a person who is in a physically diseased con-
dition is not indisputable, and the treatment must be
in harmony with physiology; that might does not
make right, nor is the old Mosaic law, which taught
" an eye for an eye or a tooth for a tooth/' any reason
whatever why we should so legislate at the present
day.
The question may now be raised, " Can man, by
the study of nature alone, arrive at a just conclusion
as to what is right and what is wrong?"
Speaking from a
MORAL STANDPOINT,
we answer, that nature is the only source whence we
derive any truth, and that a moral action is strictly
defined by nature as well as by Divine revelation.
We derive from the light of nature the same idea
that is declared in the New Testament, namely:
" Do unto all men as you would have them do unto
you." In the first place, we remark that it is very
easily ascertained from our own feelings whether,
under certain circumstances, we are in pain or having
a pleasant sensation. If the sensation experienced
is painful, we say it is wrong, because it is contrary
to our own nature, and we resist it. If, however, the
sensation is pleasant, and perfectly congenial with
our nature, we say that is right, and we pursue it.
294 THE LAW.
Thus far our argument will be admitted. Now, if
this is good reasoning in regard to the physical
sensations produced through the physical senses,
then, as it has already been stated that a correspond-
ing impression is made on the mind, do we not derive
a correct idea of right and wrong? As the body is
thus guarded and instructed, as it were, by the sensa-
tions of pain and pleasure, when we are in discord or
inharmonious relation to the laws of nature, then are
we not so organized mentally, also to draw a moral
conclusion from such action ? What sensation is to
the body, conscience is to the mind. Conscience,
therefore, always decides whether an act is right or
wrong. If it is decided that a certain act is wrong, a
feeling of remorse is produced, and we are morally
in pain ; or, if it is decided that such an act is right,
then we are morally happy. If a feeling of remorse
is produced upon the mind, then the first impression
is a feeling of resistance, and the intellectual facul-
ties are implored to assist in providing means to
overcome the difficulty. If a feeling of right is pro-
duced, then all is happiness.
Conscience also proceeds to decide between right
and wrong, in accordance with a previous experience
and education, brought about variously by our senses
combining and creating knowledge. The starting-
point of all is in the physical sensation that is pro-
duced on the bodily senses, the mind drawing an
analogical conclusion, and by so reasoning a moral
feeling is produced. We will illustrate our idea.
For example, we come in contact with a red-hot iron ;
we find that it will burn us ; a feeling of pain is pro-
ON THE LAWS OF NATURE. 295
duced, and we use means to avoid further contact.
Our contact may have been accidental or intentional
the effect is the same; the hot iron will burn us.
Here we have learned a very important lesson, yet so
far no moral feeling is produced. But we see a child
advancing, who knows not that the hot iron will burn
it, and if, without giving the child instruction, We
allow it to take the hot iron in its hand, its hand is
burned to a crisp, and it is crippled for life, and we
know, from previous experience, that the iron would
burn it, as also that we might have prevented such a
calamity, a moral feeling is now produced in us, and
we are having moral pain while the child is suffering
only physical pain. We will illustrate our idea still
further. Suppose you have no knowledge of. the iron
being hot, and your neighbor does know, but neglects
to instruct you so as to save you from a sad experi-
ence, the first feeling you will have toward him will
be that of revenge, and you will call him to account
for not instructing you in regard to the iron being
hot. Now reverse the case, and, without the knowl-
edge and experience you have, another advances
whom you might save from meeting with the same
fate, but you neglect to do so, a moral feeling is
produced in your mind, and conscience will say,
under the circumstances, you ought to have done as
well by this man as you wished the other to do unto
you. Thus a moral action is produced, and a moral
lesson is learned from the light of nature alone. If
it were not for the wise provision which was made by
our Creator in creating the faculty of conscience,
might would make right ; or, in other words, the
296 THE LAW.
strongest would rule, and there would be no moral
accountability, and consequently no law would be
necessary to regulate the actions of men. Before
the moral and the intellectual faculties were educated,
man was in a savage state, and even now approxi-
mates to the brute in exact ratio as his moral educa-
tion is neglected. The person who possesses a well-
balanced physical organization, and a correspondingly
well-balanced moral education, requires no law to
restrain or force him into right doing. But since
such persons are rarely to be found, and the majority
are comparatively in an unbalanced condition, legis-
lation is necessary, only however with a view to edu-
cate on the one hand and to restrain on the other.
" How may we know that we 'shall not steal?"
asks one. " Does nature teach us that we must not
appropriate to ourselves that which
BELONGS TO ANOTHER?"
We answer that it does, from the fact that every
human being is endowed with the faculty of acquisi-
tiveness which says, this or that is my own, and you
must not take it from me without compensating me
for it. Having such a feeling ourselves, then, when
we steal from another, conscience and reason will
chide us, and we know that we have not done as we
wish to be done by. From this same standpoint we
reason, also, that when we have lost property, we
have a desire to bring the perpetrator to an account,
and if we can get a majority of the community to
think as we do, we can have a law enacted by which
ON THE LAWS OF NATURE. 297
the thief may be tried and punished. The punish-
ment should be, first, to make reparation of the stolen
property, or we bring the criminal to account mainly
through a feeling of revenge ; and, secondly, to re-
form the criminal, that he may never commit a like
crime again. This question has been sufficiently argued
in Part II. of this volume. No one, therefore, can
appropriate property, knowing that it belongs to
another, without feeling that he has stolen, though he
is entirely ignorant of the command, " Thou shalt
not steal."
We will now consider how men run into
ECCENTRIC CHANNELS,
while in the pursuit of happiness. Men's organiza-
tions differ in regard to temperamental condition, or
in the various combinations of the elements of
nervous susceptibility, and manifest as many different
dispositions as there are individuals. On the subject
of nervous sensibility we wrote an article, a few years
ago, and think it quite proper to reproduce some of
the ideas :
" The action of the nervous system is always ad-
dressed to our senses. This is so decided, when the
moral feelings are greatly agitated, as to effect the
exercise of the other functions. The dynamic con-
ditions of the organism, being no longer in just pro-
portion, all the springs of life share in the activity of
the nervous system. It is remarkable, indeed, that
the metaphorical language of all languages, accurately
represents the effects produced on the body by an
2Q8 THE LAW.
exalted sensibility. The blood freezes the eyes
sparkle the heart burns we tremble with fear or
hope we are pale with fright, swollen with pride,
panting with desire these are examples of truthful
metaphors in all languages. In a word, organic dis-
turbances and the agitations of the mind are in per-
fect correspondence, evidently because the source of
both is identical. When these truths are considered,
we shall cease to wonder that the rules of aesthetic
art have been referred to feeling, or that Abbot
should say, * Sensibility is the source of all our
genius.' Montaigne has already observed that * a
man is of no account until he is aroused.' This is so
true that a boor may become eloquent under the
excitement of strong emotion. Certainly, the spirited
personifications of savage oratory, such as, * Shall we
say to the bones of our fathers rise and march with
us?' or the mournful and stirring watchword of the
Vendean peasants, 'Long live the king T are as pow-
erful and startling as the words which Massillion
thundered in the ears of the Court of Louis the
Fourteenth : ' / think this very hour yo^t,r last, and
the end of the world' No one is ignorant of their
effect on his auditory. So we may perceive how
feeling contributes in the reply of Buffon to La Car-
damine, where he describes him wandering over
1 mountains covered with eternal snow, through im-
mense solitudes, where Nature was habituated to a
silence so profound, that she herself would have been
startled at the human voice that dared to interrogate
o
her secrets/ The audience struck with the sublimity
of the figure, sat a few seconds hushed and breath-
ON THE LAWS OF NATURE. 299
less, when a thunder of applause greeted the orator.
Whatever may be the reason, high moral and intel-
lectual culture adds little to the effect of eloquence ;
all its powerj is due to profound emotion. Speak to
my soul if you would have my soul give ear that
above all others is the precept the orator should heed.
M. Villemain, one of the most distinguished among
our men of letters, declares Tacitus to be the great-
est historian, precisely because 'while he is the most
candid and impartial, he is, I dare avow, at the same
time, the most passionate ; because he decrees like a
judge, and testifies like a sworn witness, though
excited and indignant at what he has seen/
" It is now an easy matter to explain by an applica-
tion, the
LAWS OF THE SENSIBILITY;
the moral peculiarities of men, the most remarkable
for their labors and genius. Predisposed by nature
to feeling, to lively emotion, because in their case the
impressions received surpass in intensity and dura-
tion, the occasions that give rise to them ; they are
eager for these, impressions and the sensations they
produce, and store them up from their earliest years.
On account of the variety of ideas they acquire in a
brief space of time, they very early learn to judge
and understand ; then endowed with the capacity of
expression, carried away and enraptured with their
own thoughts, they experience an irresistible craving
to communicate them, to cast them into the world oi
intelligence. And these thoughts we must say im-
3OO THE LAW.
pose laws on the world ; they are the life-giving
energy that emanates from those powerful souls that
civilize the nations, elevate them, sometimes degrade
them, or regenerate or enable them to accom-
plish their destiny. The force of circumstances in
the social world is only the force of ideas. Cromwell
was in his age * the visible destiny of that time.'
Napoleon was the destiny of the opening epoch of
our century. But how is it possible to believe that
such vital and intellectual activity can co-exist with
the regular and tranquil exercise of the functions of
the organism ? Is not life here in excess, in the
moral as well as the physical economy? Consider,
indeed, that agitation which is never stilled, that im-
patient and never-resting activity, that inward turbu-
lence of emotion, which constantly disturb the
organic forces, that feeling of abounding life so
intense and, at times, so painfully oppressive, which
gives to the character of distinguished men an air of
violence and disquietude, a something feverish and
inexplicable entirely alien to ordinary experience.
This restless and disturbed condition ceases, or is at
least in a measure subdued, when life is very active,
or even when by literary labor, the torrent of thought
and emotion is able to find vent. This crisis is ordi-
narily beneficial. The master works of art are pro-
duced, the treasures of feeling and imagination are
poured out to relieve the over-burdened spirit, and
satisfy a burning aspiration ; this is in accordance
with a law of the organization. The poetry is in the
poet, just as sound is in the lyre ; this is a truth of
positive physiology. The man of genius has often
ON THE LAWS OF NATURE. 30!
labored without a thought as to what should become
of his work, simply for self-gratification, happy in his
success. A multitude of inferences might be deduced
from these principles, applicable to science, art and
education, but such details are inconsistent with the
object of this work; its purpose is fundamental posi-
tions, and these I am anxious to establish.
" Perhaps it will be said that the above reflections
apply to artists alone, in whom the imagination is
generally more ardent than with men of science ;
this is an erroneous impression. The savant whose
highest capacity is simply to understand, is a man of
erudition merely he knows what has been, but en-
dowed with higher intellectual gifts, he desires to
extend to boundaries of science ; he investigates, he
invents, he imagines. If facts do not accord with his
imagined explanation, it remains a vague theory or
hypothesis; if on the contrary, facts agree with it
and the theory is their only fair exponent, pro-
gress has- been made, whether reached by syn-
thesis or by analytical and inductive processes.
To apprehend a general principle, to perceive its
most remote consequences, and trace them out
with such vigor, boldness and pertinacity of thought
as to reach immense and valuable results, and
next to state and formalize that controlling
principle as to render it intelligible, and explanatory
of whatever may be legitimately deduced from it
this is certainly a work of intellect to be performed
only by the aid of a powerful imagination. So far as
regards invention, Homer and Archimedes may justly
be said to occupy the same rank. That keen sensi-
3O2 THE LAW.
bility of soul, moreover, which animates one with
enthusiasm for ideas, is a characteristic .of savans, as
well as artists ; they have the same passion, the same
fanaticism for their works, their conceptions, their
theories or systems.
" There is in the nerves, the veins, the blood, the
very fibres of the man of genius, whether he be
savant, artist, poet, or mathematician, something
which predisposes him to extravagance, either in
ideas, sentiment or action. Thus the man of vigor-
ous and active imagination, must always appear a
kind of enigma to one of a cooler temperament.
Which of the three was the most demented Archi-
medes, the mathematician, running naked through
the streets of Syracuse, shouting ' I have found it !'
Peter of Cortona, saying to the bronze statue of a
horse, ' Well, why do you not move, do you not know
you are alive?' or the mineralogist, Werner, ever
ready to dash in pieces the finest statue, to examine
the structure of the marble of which it was made ?
Such generous frenzies of the soul evidently depend
upon a sensibility capable of excitation from the
slightest imaginable causes.
" Sometimes owing to
EXCESSIVE EMOTION,
agitation or excitement, the faculties are stunned into
a sort of impotence or stolid apathy. The individual
then feels the want of inordinate moral stimulus, the
soul's vitality seems exhausted and burnt out, as the
body of the voluptuary becomes wasted and worn.
ON THE LAWS OF NATURE. 303
The cause of this exhaustion and need of stimulus
is the same, and is easily explained. However supe-
rior the nervous system, taken as a whole, may be to
the other functions of the organism, it is confined to
certain limits of action compatible with the entire
human constitution. The intellectual and moral life
is the highest, the inner and true life of man ; but
like every vital energy it must act within prescribed
bounds. If we give to the functions of feeling and
knowing unlimited range, the organism will soon be
unable to respond to such action, and will be deprived
of its vigor with greater or less rapidity. In that
case, the higher man becomes a victim to chimerical
and fantastic ideas. He still desires, but what does
he desire ? what would he have ? for what does he
sigh ? He knows not. This excessive aspiration of
the faculties towards something undefinable and un-
create ; this soul sometimes rapt away to the third
heaven, and again cast down and grieved to death;
these flights of a dreamy and morbid imagination,
without apparent aim or determined object, " heaving
its restless waves in a sea without shore," have been
very well described by many writers. It is a state
which has a real existence in certain individuals en-
dowed with great moral energy, too early and inor-
dinately developed. I will only observe that romance
writers usually describe it as a condition peculiar to
youth, while on the contrary, medical observation has
shown me that the man who has had some experience
of life is more frequently afflicted with it. The fresh
and vigorous sensibility of the youth, and the grandeur
of his hopes, give sufficient scope to the activity of
304 THE LAW.
the spirit. Another proof that this singular state is
a consequence of a premature exhaustion of the
sensibility, is that the imagination no longer finding
adequate aliment in the external world, turns in upon
itself, and revolves in the circle of its own creations,
making incredible exertions to combat the weight of
thought and the pressure of despondency. Fleeting
from abstraction to abstraction, from chimera to
chimera, it ends with that fancy so often repeated by
Rousseau, " Naught beautiful save what is not so."
But the original impulse to such fantasies is always
found in a remarkably susceptible nervous system, in
an inordinate and ever excited sensibility. In this
way we ascend from effects to the law that explains
them. Whoever takes a different course, deserts the
path of observation and reality to wade in the vast
region of hypothesis. The most ultra asserters of
the innate powers of spirit, have been often brought
back to it in spite of themselves. Pascal said with
great good sense : " Let us not mistake, we are as
truly body as spirit." Do you not in a manner admit
it yourself, my divine Plato, when you declare that
every pain and every pleasure has, so to speak, a
nail with which it fastens the soul to the body, ren-
ders it like itself, and persuades it that there is noth-
ing true but what the body tells it ? (The Phaedo^)
Nature has then wisely ordained that the harmonious
play of our sensations should be successfully called
out in gradations of activity, of different force, and
style ; that our desires, our emotions, our passions
should be developed in proportion to that activity ;
but she at the same time admonishes us by the feel-
ON THE LAWS OF NATURE. 305
ing of weakness and disgust, that it is folly to crave
superhuman impressions in connection with actual
organic weakness, and demand from life more than
life can give. She seems to say to us with a certain
philosopher: ' Thou are but a limited creature de-
siring a perfection thou canst not attain. Do not
waste thy strength in vain endeavors ; obey my laws
and follow out the career appointed thee ; in the
beyond thou shalt find that abundant well-spring of
delight, which can alone satisfy thy thirst.'
EFFECTS OF THIS LAW ON THE SPECIAL
ACTIVITY OF THE INTELLECT.
"In stating the general laws of the sensibility, I ob-
served that among the first of these was the tendency
to concentrate itself upon a particular point of the
organism, when that point was unduly excited. The
states of health and disease, the physical and moral
condition furnish a multitude of illustrations of this
great law. This demonstrates that physiology, path-
ology, and psychology are connected together by
phenomena substantially the same, because they all
coalesce in one direction in the sensitive unity.
Stimulate a single point in the organism strongly,
and all the movements of the system at once gravi-
tate to it, because there is an undeniable sympathy
between all the organs. In the same way, also, let a
person be intensely pre-occupied with one idea, and
the energies of the understanding will immediately
take that direction. Around that fixed idea all
others will group. If in the physiological or patho-
20
306 THE LAW.
logical state, this law is seen to assume many degrees
of development, we may likewise observe gradations
in the concentration of conscious emotion. Follow-
ing an ascending scale, we find attention, reflection,
meditation, contemplation, and finally ecstacy or
raptus animi extra sensus, an elevation of the mind
beyond the senses. At this point, the sensibility
abandons, so to speak, the external organs and the
body so closely with the moral being, that there re-
sults a purely pathological state. The coldness of
the extremities, the paleness of the skin, a general
trembling, spasms, or the convulsive rigidity of the
muscles are its symptoms, and indicate its several
stages. It should be remembered, that in this facul-
ty of concentration is involved the power of abstrac-
tion, a characteristic of human intelligence ; man
owes to it, of course, his superiority to the brute.
Further, it is precisely the power of attention and
depth of contemplation, which place certain men on
a level superior to others. Has it not been asserted
that genius is nothing more than the capacity of at-
tention ? Has it not been compared to a burning
mirror, the focus of which illumines with intensity
but a single object? In truth, the more earnest the
attention that gaze of the mind the more vigor-
ous and sprightly will be the imagination. Our
power is commensurate with our intelligence; and
the intelligence is equal to the force of concentration.
If man, the frail creature of a day, has been able to
measure the heavens, calculate the mass of the.
heavenly bodies, seize the thunderbolt in the cloud,
and subdue the ocean ; if by the aid of the telescope
ON THE LAWS OF NATURE. 307
and microscope he has been able to reach two infini-
ties ; if it has been given to him to wrest from nature
some of her secrets ; to establish sciences ; to assign
to motion its laws ; to the universe its progress ; to
determine the limits and origin of reason, beyond
contradiction he owes it to this faculty. According
to Avicenna, the Arabian physician, all things obey
the human soul when elevated to the ecstatic state.
The meaning of this oracular statement is now un-
derstood. The fertility of invention, the creative
energy of the fine arts, the elevation and compass of
thought, power of execution, the magnificent gift by
which life is imparted to marble, bronze, and to the
canvas are entirely due to the concentration, to exal-
tation of mind, to that ecstatic intuition in which the
body no longer exists. It is, so to speak, to pass
during this life from the sphere of gross matter to
that of essences. The essential point is to have that
strength of brain which renders one capable of
grasping and holding under a single point of view,
the objects, with which the mind is occupied, in order
to consider it in its parts and in its totality, to ex-
amine it closely, to control it at will and become
master of it. A truth well known is but the copy
and production of a model long since elaborated in
the intellect of a man of genius. There is a type
pre-existing in the soul of the poet and artist, which
comes to light only under the fire of thought. The
pencil, the pen, the chisel, and the burin are but in-
struments employed to bring out what has been first
contemplated and finished in the lofty region of the
intellect. Before calling their aid, the inner genius
308 THE LAW.
has already realized the ideal, that is, what no one
has before seen and conceived.
" To recapitulate ; the sensibility is the distinguish-
ing characteristic of bodies which are organized, liv-
ing and animate; it attains its maximum of activity
in man ; it exists, acts, and lives only in and by itself;
in a word, the sensibility is the stuff of which life is
made. Meanwhile, this property is not merely the
prime mover in organic action ; by means of sensa-
tions and consciousness, it is the source of our pleas-
ures and our pains ; it influences the character, the in-
clinations and the will the warmth and coolness of
the imagination, the violence or moderation of desire,
the activity or sluggishness of the intellect. Con-
sidered physiologically, we may say, that man is what
the sensibility makes him. This function or property
is so important, so necessary, so radical, that the
philosophers had made of it a special soul the sen-
sitive soul. Bacon distinguishes the science of the
soul, into that of the divine breath, whence the
rational soul was derived, and into the science of the
irrational soul, which is common to us with the
brutes, and is regarded as the product of the dust of
the earth. According to Plato in Timaeus, 'the gods
having taken the principle of an immortal soul,
created a mortal body within which to place it ; but
they joined to it a mortal soul subject to the passions
by the necessity of its nature.' "
As men are differently organized, so do they differ
in the emotive principle, according to the sensibility
of the nervous system through which impressions are
conveyed to the cognizable, and again reflected in
ON THE LAWS OF NATURE. 309
the form of actions of which we judge as to whether
they are in harmony with the general or special laws
of nature and with the laws established by man.
CHAPTER XX.
THE LAWS OF PHYSIOLOGY THE ONLY RELIABLE START-
ING-POINT FOR THE ENACTMENT
OF HUMAN LAWS.
Whatever may be the theory of men, or however
many different stand-points may be assumed, outside
of the laws of physiology, in reasoning and deducing
proper data, from whence to start in the construction
of governmental laws, it will be found, after a tho-
rough investigation, that physiology is the only science
which points out to men the right direction. Any
law enacted by man which disagrees with the laws of
physiology, which are also the laws of nature,
can not stand, and men will not obey it.
Every thing in the universe contributes to man's
happiness, when in its proper relation. The starting-
point of all human action is in the physical. Even
the very thought, to have an existence at all, must be
associated with some existing thing. To convince
any one of the truth of this statement, let it be put
to a test. Any person can make the experiment.
You have only to endeavor to think of something
that does not exist, or to form a definite conception
of an object of which you know nothing, which has
not been presented to your understanding through
the nerves of sense, and you will find it an impossi-
bility. Now, if even thought is dependent on the
310
THE LAWS OF PHYSIOLOGY. 31 1
objective world for its support, may it not be reason-
able to conclude that the moral nature of man is also
indebted to the exterior world for its existence?
There can be no action unless some feeling; of con-
o
sciousness is aroused which is either pleasant or
unpleasant to our sensitive nature. Whatever we
learn, or whatever we do, the ultimate object of all is
a happy physical existence. In this we are often
disappointed ; yet we have a peculiar nature, which
enables us to try again. In the study of physiology,
we learn the road to physical perfection ; and I claim,
as we approximate to physical perfection, we are also
approaching moral and spiritual perfection ; for the
spiritual of man is so intimately connected with the
corporal that it is impossible to separate the two. I
affirm,therefore, that all successful legislation must first
agree with the laws of physiology ; and I may further
affirm that there never was a moral code of law given
by Divine revelation, in the last dispensation, at
least, that may not be harmonized with the same
laws. For example, take the ten commandments.
Each is most positively sustained by the teachings of
physiology. But some one asks the question, " How
does physiology teach that we shall worship only one
God the ever-living God of the universe?" "Thou
shalt have none other Gods before me." The theo-
logical as well as the scientific version of this com-
mand is that God is omnipresent, that he pervades
the universe ; and hence, to form an idea of a God
consisting of a single substance a single object is
physiologically dangerous ; for when the mind be-
comes intensely occupied in the pursuit of a single
312 THE LAW.
object, or study, the faculty through which such exer-
cise is carried on becomes unnaturally developed, and
an unbalanced condition among all the faculties is
thus created. Such a person is in danger of becom-
ing deranged. For example, consider the miser,
whose sole aim in life is to hoard up money. In
time he becomes a monomaniac. The faculty of
acquisitiveness has been fostered to such an excess
that every thing in life appears subordinate to riches.
Such a course is forbidden, by the command of God
which we have quoted. It is worshiping a false god
instead of the true God of the universe. It is like-
wise forbidden by the teachings of physiology, for it
is not reasonable to suppose that God would give a
command for the government of man, and then create
fixed laws in nature that do not harmonize with it.
It is a law of the body that a mixed diet is necessary,
in order to supply the various ingredients of which
it is composed. This has been ascertained by
persons making the experiment of trying to live on
a single article of diet. Animals have been fed for
months on a single substance of food, and it has been
found that such animals soon lose that natural integ-
rity necessary to health, become demented, emaciated,
and, if the process is continued, soon die. A great
number of different substances enter into a chemical
combination to form a healthy body. Everything in
the surrounding universe contributes to man's wel-
fare. Let him have a Separate God, living on a
single article of diet, and he will waste away and
die. God is in one sense a " wrathful God," for his
laws are immutable, and ever require obedience to
THE LAWS OF PHYSIOLOGY. 313
their mandates. As it is with the laws of the body
so is it with the laws of the mind. For any one to
pursue persistently a single study, without investiga-
ting collateral ones ; to foster passions which are al-
ready in excess ; or to cultivate a single faculty, or
even a group of faculties, to the exclusion of the
rest, will so unbalance the nature, if not corrected,
that destruction is imminent. A variety of studies,
and pursuits, embracing the whole of our surround-
ings, is the only safe course in life to insure a healthy
condition of mind and body. Thus physiology, as
well as Divine revelation, declares that we are not to
worship any god save the God of the Universe. In
like manner each and every law of physiology will,
when investigated, be found to agree with the com-
mands of God, and I am justifiable in making the
statement that they all aim to render man happy
during his physical existence, as well as to point him
to a glorious future.
In this connection, it may be well to state a few
familiar facts which will serve to impress
ON THE MIND
the observance of such regulation of habits of body
and mind as will enable the man of letters, as well as
all others, to maintain a degree of health and vigor
that will tend to subserve the higher purposes of life.
Where is the artist, savan, statesman, administrator,
etc., who will not assent frankly to the truth that
they are now victims to their negligence in regard to
sedentary habits? The multiplicity of business af-
314 THE LAW.
fairs, the want of method in working, the idea that
they have not exceeded certain bounds, and that a
little exercise will be sufficient ; the secret hope that
they will be strong enough to resist leads them on,
until at last nature admonishes them, by some aie-
ment more or less severe, that they must change their
course of life. Is there any more certain means of
producing a multitude of diseases than to keep the
mind constantly employed and the body inactive ?
The blood was made to circulate and the members to
be exercised : life and action are almost synonymous
terms. Tycho Brahe had a house erected with a
high tower, upon the Island of Huen, in^Denmark.
This retreat he called Urainsbiirgh. Here he lived
twenty-one years, scarcely ever going from home, and
laboring assiduously upon his astronomical observa-
tions. It was probably in this way that he contracted
the disease of the bladder of which he died. How
many analogous examples could be cited. We live
upon food and air, but we require food only at cer-
tain intervals,' while we need air at every respiration.
The principles of life which we extract from the
latter must, then, be constantly renewed. Now,
when the atmosphere is heavy, dense, mephitic, un-
changed, it is evident that instead of rectifying the
blood by respiration, we corrupt it deeply, and there
is no more abundant source of disease than this. Its
effects are more particularly apparent in large cities.
I am aware that the progress of civilization has
diminished the evil, but not so much as is generally
believed, especially for men devoted to the labors of
thought. One should guard against judging by
THE LAWS OF PHYSIOLOGY. 315
those upon whom fortune has lavished her gifts.
There is now more than one poet singing of the
beauties of nature and the delights of the country
who habitually breathes only the unhealthy air of
the obscure street where he resides ; and many an
artist has painted Aurora opening with her rosy
> fingers the golden gates of the Orient, who never saw
the sun rise. Savans may also be found in smoky
laboratories and narrow cabinets, who are busied with
experiments upon the purity and salubrity of the air.
All, however, with but few exceptions, complaining of
the bad state of their health. If you induce them
to consider the cause, then come objections and diffi-
culties without end. The celebrated Hellenish Dansse
de Villoison labored upon Greek fifteen hours a day.
La Harpe having asked him what his relaxations
were, he replied that when his brain was fatigued, he
went to the window a short time. He resided in
Rue de Saint Jean de Beauyois, one of the most
remote and dirty streets of Paris, especially at that
epoch.
- Let us bear in mind constantly, that pure air is an
indispensable to man as a bright sun is to vegetation.
PROLONGED AND REPEATED WATCH-
FULNESS.
Leibnitz sometimes passed three consecutive days
and nights in the same chair, resolving a problem
that interested him ; an excellent custom, as Fonte-
nelle observes, to accomplish a labor, but a very un-
healthy one. The Abbe de La Caille, a famous as-
3l6 THE LAW.
tronomer, had a fork invented in which he adjusted
his head, and in this position passed the night in
astronomical observations, without knowing, as a man
of wit observes, any other enemies than sleep and'
the clouds, without suspecting that there could be
any more delightful way of employing these silent
hours which revealed to him the harmony of the
universe. Thus he contracted an inflammation of
the lungs which carried him off in a short time.
Girsdet did not like to labor during the day. Seized
in the middle of the night by a fever of inspiration,
he arose, lit the chandelier suspended in his studio,
placed upon his head an enormous hat covered with
candles, and, in this strange costume, painted for
hours. No one ever had a feebler constitution, or a
more disordered state of health than Girsdet.
Man, and especially enlightened man, is, of all
animals, the one most subject to disease. What
must this predisposition be in men who have in them
the active and progressive principle of civilization ?
All that affects the social man re-acts upon his physi-
cal and moral constitution with an energy almost
always prejudicial to his health and well-being.
A delicate organization, extreme sensibility, habit-
ual excess of the same sensibility, a vivid imagina-
tion, the functions of the brain in continual action,
negligence and forgetfulness of the proper means to
preserve the health ; what a number of means to
weaken the springs of the economy, to undermine its
strength, to render the body languishing, sickly, ex-
posed to the attacks of morbific agents, and to make
of. life a fever, an agony of perpetual strife! All
