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CRIMINAL JURISPRUDENCE.

THERE is no subject of inquiry, so deeply interesting to society, or one which has so completely baffled the efforts of statesmen and legislators, as the discovery of an efficient method of preventing crime, and what is the best disposition which can be made of offenders. From the time of Moses, until a very recent period, the only attempts, for abating the evils of vice, were by moral or physical inflictions; not so much for the purpose of guarding against the recurrence of offences, by the terror of example, or for the reformation of the malefactor, who was compelled to suffer the horrors of remorse, the poignancy of degradation, or the agonies of torture, but as a retribution to the wronged, or as a penalty to the government, and still more often, as an expiatory punishment,-an atonement by blood,-the offering up of a sacrifice, not on the altar of outraged justice, but of implacable vengeance. To punish, appears to have been deemed the chief, if not the only object, and province of judicial tribunals; while the prevention of crime, and the reformation of offenders were scarcely considered, in forming codes of jurisprudence, and when, in fact, they should constitute the very basis, on which all criminal legislation should be founded.

The right to punish, is an attribute, which belongs exclusively to the Almighty; and man cannot exercise it, in any manner, in the true and emphatic meaning of the term; for who shall presume to prejudge the deeds of his fellow-man, with the intention of demanding an atonement, and measure out the degree and duration of his suffering on earth, when he has to answer for all his transgressions, at the awful tribunal of the Most High. Nations have declared many acts criminal, and chastised the delinquents in the most cruel and appalling manner, even unto death,-which may be deemed impeccable by the God of our creation, and render the perpetrators of such dreadful punishments rightfully obnoxious to his retributive justice.

Punishment, as a technical term, has been wrongfully used, in our correctional laws; for, when to maintain the peace of society and render all secure in their persons and their property, it becomes necessary to restrain the vicious, individuals must be deprived of their liberty, to a certain extent, and possibly of their lives; but this should not be done as a punishment; for so far as it may have that appearance or effect, such should not be the intention, but rather results, as an incident, from the impossibility of protecting private rights, and maintaining public tranquility, without abridging the freedom of those, who disregard the laws; but even this corrective must be administered in mercy, and no greater suffering inflicted, than is indispensable, in precluding the refractory, from the means of disturbing the peace and safety of the state. It must, therefore, be constantly kept in mind, that the chief objects to be attained are, to place the vicious beyond the power of doing wrong, to attempt their future reformation, and to render the influence of example as salutary as is practicable, on the morals of the whole people, by inducing every citizen to be virtuous in conduct, at least, from an apprehension of being visited by the like degradation, into which the convicted felon has fallen.

Mercy is the most emphatic injunction of our religion, and yet how slight has been its beneficent influence on the conduct of governments. Instead of being actuated by those lofty precepts, and impressed with those touching illustrations of charity, which so richly embellish the histories of the evangelists, there has been evinced more of Pagan ferocity, than of Christian clemency, in the treatment of criminals. How different was the teaching and example of the Son of God. To the reviled and compunctious female, in the Pharasee's house, he mildly said, "Thy sins are forgiven thee;" when the woman was brought before him in the temple, for judgement, and whose offence, by the Jewish laws, was death, these were the cheering words to the trembling and forsaken culprit: "Neither do I condemn thee,-go, and sin no more;" to the beseeching appeal of the suffering malefactor, he kindly replied, "To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise;" and the last words he uttered, was that memorable prayer, in behalf of those who had persecuted and crucified him; "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." So far from being instructed by such impressive lessons of mercy, they have scarcely been regarded by our jurists; for their penalties for offences, have too generally been those of personal suffering, by stripes, incarceration, torture, mutilation, and death, in every variety, of the most revolting forms. The demons of revenge, cruelty, and terror, have been in constant attendance, at the tribunals of justice, as the sanguinary avengers of violated law. It was not sufficient that the wretched culprit was deprived of his freedom, or his life; but, in either case, so horrible was the manner, that the last blow of death became an act of grace. When the scourge and the dungeon, hunger and thirst, and fire, and the rack, had been successively applied to the miserable convict, that he should expire at last, under these prolonged and remorseless inflictions, was the only consolation in the midst of torments which convulsed every muscle, and thrilled in every nerve.

*

With these views, it is obvious that the chief inquiry of legislators should be directed, to ascertain the cause of crime, what can be done to preserve the morals of the people, to render life and property secure, and to reclaim the vicious.

The occurrence of crime being the result of ignorance and immorality, it can only be prevented by the universal inculcation of education and virtuous principles. This is the broad foundation on which all criminal jurisprudence should be erected. Here must commence the work of regeneration, and it is the sacred duty of governments to illustrate this fundamental principle in the most extensive and efficient manner. The means of instruction must be so ample, as to embrace every child in the Union, and as much attention devoted to the improvement of the morals, as the development of intellect. To accomplish this, no expense is to be spared; for on it depends the happiness of millions, here and hereafter. The experiment has never been thoroughly made in any age or country; but, whenever and wherever it has been attempted, the results have uniformly demonstrated the correctness of the theory. The statistical investigations of the philan

* When criminals were tortured, after all their limbs had been broken by an iron bar, they were at last despatched by a blow on the breast, and, as it ended their torments, it was called the Coup de Grace.

thropic, in Europe and this country, exhibit the cheering fact, that crime is in an inverse ratio to the extent of education. It is less in England than in Ireland, less in Scotland than in England, and less in the United States than in Scotland, bearing the same relative proportion to the whole population, as ignorance does to instruction. But even in this country, not one of the states has done its duty, in the establishment of primary schools, and other indispensable seminaries of learning; and, what is most deplorable, the national government has done nothing, for the advancement of literature, science, or the arts.

If the citizens of the United States have done much to advance the the principles of civil and religious liberty, they have been grossly negligent in providing the requisite means for insuring their expansion and perpetuity; and unless the most liberal and energetic measures are adopted, for thoroughly instructing the whole people, there can be no hope of stability, in our free institutions of government. A republic is the glorious achievement of an exalted civilization, the triumphant exposition of mind, disenthralled from the emasculating restraints of barbaric servitude, and can only exist, where intelligence is universally disseminated. Education and morality are the brazen pillars of our political temple.

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It must never be forgotten, that the child is the parent of the virtues and vices of the adult; and that reformation, in man or woman, is of rare occurrence. The exceptions are so few, that they only tend to confirm the lamentable fact, that when there has once been a departure from the path of rectitude, all hope of a return is desperate, if not futile. With infancy, then, must commence the means of preventing crime, by giving to the mind that instruction, that elevated perception of virtue, that Christian beneficence, and that honorable direction, which can alone insure propriety of conduct, through adolesence, to the evening of protracted age.

Having provided adequate means for accomplishing these primary and all-important objects, the next consideration, is how to dispose of offenders; and it having been assumed, that punishment, as such, is unwarrantable by man, they must be so removed from the midst of society, as to be incapable of disturbing its peace and serenity, while they are subjected to the least possible moral or physical suffering; and, at the same time, are in a condition best calculated to induce reformation. Imprisonment has been thoroughly tried, in every variety of form, which either humanity or cruelty could suggest, and presents many insuperable objections. It has been fully shown, that it is ineffectual both for the prevention of crime, and the reclamation of the vicious, besides being the most barbarous of all the inflictions, which can be imposed upon man, when rendered solitary, inactive, silent, and interminable. It is being entombed alive,-a living death,-a horrible realization of the dreadful dream of Clarence.

The first great movement, for effecting a radical change in criminal law, was made in this country, by that philanthropic and most exemplary association, which claims the illustrious Penn as its great apostle in the western hemisphere. This was the substitution of penitentiary industry, for the barbarities of the scourge, the corrupting idleness of the jail, and the awful vengeance of death. Humanity hailed the development of this benignant and imposing theory, with enthusiasm ;

and, under the sanctions of that holy religion, whose characteristic teachings are repentance and mercy, the commendable experiment was prosecuted with a zeal, commensurate with the momentous objects, which it was so desirable to accomplish. It was expected that crime would be prevented, from an apprehension of the inevitable consequences of detection, and offenders reformed, by the influence of a discipline, which was to unite moral instruction with profitable labor; and thus, after a lapse of years, the delinquent would be restored to liberty, and the full enjoyment of all his civil rights, entirely divested of the least propensity to vice, and enabled, by an acquired trade, and habits of industry, to earn an honest subsistence.

In many of the states vast expenditures have been made, under the direction of the most enlightened and sanguine advocates of this penitentiary system, to verify its practicability; but, unfortunately, so complete has been the failure, that all hopes of satisfactory results must be abandoned. Instead of that beneficial change in the habits of the malefactors, which was so confidently promised, those vast structures, which have been erected for their improvement, are but so many seminaries of vice, from whence are daily coming forth, the more accomplished, hardened, and reckless depredator, instead of the compunctious and reclaimed citizen. This is so notorious, that, however unexpected and unwelcome the fact, it must be accredited, and the scheme abandoned, as utterly inefficient, for the purposes intended to be accomplished.

BANISHMENT, then, is the only mode of disposing of malefactors; but the manner of this banishment should be so attempered by mercy, as to partake of the character of an adventurous enterprise,-of a voluntary expatriation, with the cheering hope, that, in other climes, and under more auspicious prospects, a new and brighter career can be commenced ;-where the means of obtaining a comfortable subsistence will give a renovated energy to the mind, and, at the same time, preclude every inducement to error;-where an honorable ambition will gladden the heart, and elevate the soul, from the encouraging reflection, that they are the pioneers of a prosperous colony, and will thus be enabled to make an atonement for their various transgressions, in laying the foundations of a new republic,-in establishing a nation, which may ultimately become as illustrious for its enterprise, intelligence, happiness, freedom, and glory, as that from whence they emigrated.

It is the hope of reward, rather than the fear of punishment, which induces man to put forth his moral and physical energies. From the morn of prattling childhood, to the twilight of old age, from the private soldier to the commander of armies, from the humblest individual to the most exalted, the plaudits, the honors, the distinctions, the rewards for virtuous deeds and glorious achievements, are the chief, if not the only incentives, by which he is actuated. This lofty, this aspiring, this predominant and universal sentiment, is so deeply implanted in the mind, and so animates the heart, that the most renowned sages, jurists, and heroes, have appealed to it, as the grand principle, on which all human conduct was to be regulated. It is the anticipated beatitudes of heaven, rather than the terrors of divine wrath,-the grateful aroma of public approbation, rather than the withering breath

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