A DEFENCE OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT GEORGE CHEEVER Author
- new bookISBN: 2940012950581
• Table of contents with working links to chapters is included• The book has been corrected for spelling and grammatical errors• New and improved versionIn the present cond… More...
• Table of contents with working links to chapters is included• The book has been corrected for spelling and grammatical errors• New and improved versionIn the present condition of the question discussed in the following pages, no prefatory apology can be deemed necessary. The violent, and, in many respects, unscrupulous attack not only upon an important department of criminal jurisprudence, but also upon some of the deepest fundamental principles which lie beneath all legislation and even all morals, furnishes sufficient ground and reason for the defense attempted in these Essays. The several parts contain in themselves, or as prefixed, enough of introductory explanation to do away the necessity of any general extended preface. The writers, however, wish to call the attention to one particular idea, which, it is hoped, the reader will keep before his mind throughout. It is this:--that we strictly hold the negative position of defense. It is plausibly urged, that those who maintain the death penalty, should bear the burden of affirmative proof. But no intelligent reader can fail to perceive the weak petitio piincipii contained in this assumption. It is a sheer begging the question--a taking for granted that prima facie the common sense and practice of mankind, the dictates of religion, the precepts of morals, and the general current of legislation, have been all the other way. The writers of the following pages maintain, on the other hand, that the very reverse of this is the truth. Our opponents are the innovators ; they are trying new experiments ; they go counter to the universal sentiment of mankind in all ages; they denounce, as inhuman and barbarous, a law which Revelation expressly assures us was given by the Almighty himself--once to all the race, and subsequently (a position which no one except those who deny the inspiration of the Bible can ever call in question) to his own peculiar and favored people; they are in opposition to the general current of ancient and modern legislation ; they are putting forth new views of law, and government, and penalty, and of some of the most fundamental principles of political philosophy. We therefore most justly maintain, that upon them, as innovators and experimenters in respect to vital principles, lies the onus probandi ; and that, in addressing themselves to legislative bodies, they are bound to make out the affirmative by most clear and undoubted proofs, instead of that general declamation which they are so apt to use in place of argument. We wish all readers, and especially all legislators, into whose hands this work may come, to keep this thought prominently before them. It will, of itself, be a sufficient answer to a great deal of the sophistry put forth by these innovating reformers. It certainly should be a most serious consideration with every law-maker who has any proper sense of the solemn responsibility of his position, that any proposed measure bears upon its face the evidence of being a mere experiment, in opposition to the long-settled opinions, practice, and legislation, not of special times and places, but of the human race--with perhaps a few unimportant and inconclusive exceptions. With all such it should be a most solemn maxim-- not rashly, or without long, and serious, and most faithful examination, to change what has been deemed fundamental in almost all ages and nations, and in all governments, of whatever variety as to form or freedom. Has such satisfactory proof been presented, and such long, and serious, and faithful examination been made by those who advocate this new experiment of the abolition of capital punishment 1 If not, this alone, without anything else, is, for the present, a sufficient reply to their petitions for reform. There is another most serious consideration for the truly prudent and conscientious legislator, and one which should make him pause long before he acts. It is, that the step once taken, cannot, if found injurious, be soon if ever recalled. Digital Content>E-books>Philosophy>Philosophy>Philosophy, Unforgotten Classics Digital >16<
