Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 1, November 20, 1841 by Various
page 50 of 61 (81%)
page 50 of 61 (81%)
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deprecating the existing morbid sympathy for criminals. The moment that a
man sins against the conventionalities of society he ought certainly to be excluded from all claims upon the sympathy of his fellows. It is very true that even the felon has kindred, parents, wife, children--for whom, and in whom, God has implanted an instinctive love. It is true that the criminal may have been led by the example of aristocratic sinners to disregard the injunctions of revealed religion against the adulterer, the gamester, and the drunkard; and having imitated the "pleasant follies" of the great without possessing the requisite means for such enjoyments, the man of pleasure has degenerated into the man of crime. It is true that the poor and ignorant may have claims upon the wealth and the intelligence of the rich and learned; but are we to pause to inquire whether want may have driven the destitute to theft, or the absence of early instruction have left the physical desires of the offender's nature superior to its moral restrictions.--Certainly not, whilst we have a gallows. There is, however, one difficulty which seems to interfere with a liberal exercise of the rope and the beam. Where are we to find executioners? for if "whoso sheddeth man's blood" be amenable to man, surely Jack Ketch is not to be exempted. The _Times_ condemns the late Lord Chamberlain for allowing the representation of "Jack Sheppard" and "Madame Laffarge" at the Adelphi; so do we. The _Times_ intimates, that "the newspapers teem with details about everything which such criminals 'as Dick Turpin and Jack Sheppard' say or do; that complete biographies of them are presented to the public; that report after report expatiates upon every refinement and peculiarity in their wickedness," for "the good purpose" of warning the embryo highwayman. We are something more than _duberous_ of this. We can see no difference between the exhibition of the stage and the gloating of the broadsheet; they are both "the agents by which the exploits of the gay |
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