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to be taken in their strict and literal sense, they must forget that, according to their interpretation, we should have no more right to kill a furious wild beast in self-defense, than we should to take the life of a murderer. Nay, if we should be assailed by a host of devouring insects, we should remember the command, "Thou shalt not kill," and quietly submit to our fate like good Christian men. If such interpreters had read a little beyond the end of the tenth commandment, they would have seen that the great Lawgiver himself, who said, "Thou shalt not kill," had enjoined the infliction of capital punishment for a number of offenses. Now, we presume that the Almighty is fully as good an interpreter of his own law as is the most enlightened reformer of the present day; and, if so, we may safely conclude that the sixth commandment was made for the prevention of murder, and not for the protection of the murderer.

The argument of Dymond is replete with this error. "Look for a moment," says he, "upon the capital offender and upon ourselves. He, a depraved and deep violator of the law of God-one who is obnoxious to the vengeance of Heaven-one, however, whom Christ came peculiarly to call to repentance and to save. Ourselves, his brethren-brethren by the relationship of nature-brethren, in some degree, in offenses against God-brethren especially in the trembling hope of a common salvation. How ought beings so situated to act toward one another? Ought we to kill or to amend him? Ought we, so far as is in our power, to cut off his future hope, or, so far as is in our power, to strengthen the foundation of that hope? Is it the reasonable or decent office of one candidate for the mercy of God to hang his fellow-candidate upon a gibbet?"

All this is very well said, but most miserably applied. It is true we are all candidates for the mercy of God; and therefore, as we hope to be forgiven, we should also forgive. But does it follow that governments should proceed on the principle of the forgiveness of injuries, of overcoming evil with good? Does it follow that the criminal, standing convicted at the bar of justice, should be heard, when he admonishes the judge, under the pain of God's displeasure, to do unto others as he would be done by? If the object of such reasoners were to overthrow all government, and abolish all penal sanctions, then they would at least be consistent with themselves; but as such is not their object, how inconceivably futile is their logic? One candidate for the mercy of God should not hang his fellow-candidate on a gibbet, it is true, nor should he inflict any other evil upon him; he

should rather return good for evil; but what signifies this, in the present controversy, unless we wish to see all government torn up by the roots, and society set afloat upon the wild and lawless waves of human passion, and tossed amid all the contending elements, anarchy, and confusion?

Such reasoning is not more ruinous in its consequences than it is irreconcilable with the inspired wisdom of an apostle. St. Paul enforces the forgiveness of injuries by every consideration which can be brought to bear on the human mind, and by all the fervid and glowing eloquence of a divine inspiration. But does he teach that the civil power should be controlled by such considerations? So far from it, that he has taken the utmost pains to prevent others, if possible, from making such an abuse of thein. In the very midst of the highest strain of the eloquence in which he enjoins the forgiveness of injuries, he does not forget to remind us that our wrongs shall not go unredressed, even in this life, if they are of such a nature as to require the interposition of temporal power. The powers that be, says he, are ordained of God, in order to avenge the community, and to protect the individual, by the punishment of the evil doer. Thus, according to the wisdom of an inspired apostle, the most unbounded love in the bosom of the individual, the most absolute and unconditional forgiveness of injuries, is perfectly consistent with the terrific power of the sword in the hand of the magistrate. Nay, these two things are joined together in the very same lesson; as if to prevent the infatuation and folly of man from setting up the one in opposition to the other. We are required, not to return evil for evil, but to overcome evil with good; because vengeance belongeth unto God, who hath ordained the civil power for our safety and protection.

The spirit of Christianity requires the abrogation of no penalty which is demanded by the exigences of society. Let it be shown that the punishment of death in the case of murder is not required for the protection of the innocent, and the repose of society, and it will then be time to talk about the spirit of the gospel and the dictates of humanity. We are not satisfied with vague and loose declamations. We wish to see what is really for the good of society, in order that we may know what is required, not by a weak, blind, and yielding compassion, which looks only to the criminal and his sufferings, but by that enlightened and far-seeing benevolence which seeks to secure the good of all. No doubt have we, that there are really good men who are laboring to heave from its old foundations the great institution of capital punishment for the crime of murder; and only let it be shown, that their benevolent

feeling is not misguided, that it would contravene neither the law of God nor the good of man, and most joyfully will we co-operate with them. But until this be done, we shall remain as deaf as adders to all the outcries and clamors against the barbarity of the law, and in behalf of what is called the cause of humanity. That cause we reverence, and most earnestly would we support it; but yet we cannot forget that the name may be applied to a dark feeling, wholly unenlightened either by reason or by revelation, as well as to the dictates of a true benevolence. There are men, whose compassion is so exceedingly tender, that they cannot believe there is a God in heaven, because there is suffering on earth. It is among such, we are persuaded, that the shallow philosophy of a Beccaria and a Bentham will make its most easy conquests.

On the other hand, there are really good men who shrink from the idea of putting the murderer to death, because it closes the period of his probation, and seals his fate for ever. This is an awful consideration; it is worthy of our most devout and earnest attention. But it will be found, we think, that it is only from a partial view of the subject that the opposers of capital punishment can hope to derive any support from such a consideration. When so much stress is laid upon the fact, that the murderer is a probationer for eternity, it seems to be forgotten, that those who are exposed to the shafts of murder are likewise candidates for the mercy of God, and that they may be cut off in their sins in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, and without a moment's warning hurried into the presence of their Maker. Hence, the argument gains as much on the one side as it does on the other, by the consideration that we are immortal beings, and that our destiny hereafter depends upon our conduct in this life. If anything, it gives additional weight to the argument in favor of capital punishment inasmuch as those who need to be protected against the crime of murder, are exposed to a sudden and instantaneous loss of life; whereas the murderer always has time for repentance. It shows that whatever is necessary to protect human life, against so sudden and unexpected a termination of it, is a matter of stern and inexorable necessity. Hence, if it is necessary to protect human life by the infliction of capital punishment on the murderer, on the supposition that we are mortal; much more necessary is it to guard it by such a penalty, on the supposition that we are immortal, and that this life is merely a state of probation.

The gospel is so far from weakening, that it presents in a clearer and stronger light the reason on which the law of murder was originally based: It has brought life and immortality to light. It

has illustrated the excellences and glories of the image originally impressed on the soul of man. By the eternity which it unveils, by the stupendous redemption which it reveals, it invests the life of man with an importance and value, of which the imagination in its highest flights can form no adequate conception. Hence, he' who wantonly takes the life of his fellow-man, and thereby puts an end to his probation, is guilty of a crime which words were not invented to express, nor finite minds formed to grasp. No penalty is too great, no penalty bears the least appearance or shadow of severity, provided it be adapted to protect human life against the perpetration of such a crime. Why, then, should we lay an exclusive stress upon the life of the murderer, as if he were the only candidate on earth for the mercy of God? Shall the life of man cease to be protected by the most awful penalty known to the law, because the murderer may choose to incur it, by the perpetration of the most appalling crime that has ever stained the earth or outraged Heaven?

To conclude. The murderer deserves to die. This is the dictate of his own conscience. Hence, to punish him with death is not unjust. The good of society requires the penalty of death to be attached to the crime of murder; and hence the penalty is humane. The universal sentiment of mankind has declared this to be the most just, the most fitting, and the most efficacious punishment for the crime of murder; and hence it has stood till the present day. The Word of God has sanctioned it, and that, too, for reasons which have obtained in all ages and nations of the world; and therefore it is wise, and just, and good. These are the grounds on which the cause of capital punishment is founded. Though it has been assailed by the misguided philanthropy, by the incoherent and jarring sophisms, by the warm and impassioned declamation, of a thousand adversaries, we do not perceive that its foundations have been shaken. B.

ART. VIII.-CRITICAL NOTICES.

1. A Companion for the Afflicted: designed for the Benefit of all who are distressed, whether in Mind, Body, or Estate. By THOMAS H. WALKER. New-York: Lane & Tippett. 1846.

THE sufferings incident to mortality are numerous and pressing. To know how to endure them, and how to improve them, is an important point of wisdom. The afflicted constitute a numerous class; and whatever our prosperity to-day, to-morrow we may be of the number of those who suffer "chastisement." In a multitude of instances, those who are made to drink deeply of the cup of sorrow are deprived of the public means of grace, and even of the blessings of private religious instruction and intercourse. How important is it, under such circumstances, to have at hand a good book suited to the condition and wants of such, that they may not, in their despondency, forget that they "suffer according to the will of God," and that their afflictions may work for them "a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory!" We have met with no merely human composition better calculated to instruct, to soothe, and to comfort the afflicted than the present work. We, therefore, earnestly recommend it to the church at large. Those who do not especially need its advices and consolations now, may need them but too soon. Let every Christian family, then, immediately procure a copy. May God give this precious book his blessing!

2. Glimpses of the Dark Ages; or Sketches of the Social Condition of Europe from the Fifth to the Twelfth Century. Edited by D. P. KiDDER. New-York: Lane & Tippett. 1846.

THIS is the second volume of our Monthly Series. It is sold in neat paper covers at the low price of 20 cts., and rarely has an equal amount of so valuable reading been offered to the public for that sum.

Its contents should be read and understood by all who would fully comprehend the history of the church or of the world.

The author has confined himself to one branch of the history of the middle ages. He attempts nothing more than a glance at the social condition of Europe, from the fifth to the twelfth century; political affairs, military transactions, the rise and fall of dynasties, the relation of European states to each other, and the lives and deeds of the heroes of those days do not come within the range of his plan. He has marked out the first six centuries of the middle ages for separate consideration, because in the twelfth century a new epoch commenced.

Much of what is true of the former period is not true of the latter.

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