The New York Herald Newspaper, February 5, 1871, Page 4

MUR A History of Crime and Pun- ishment. The Assassin’s Bloody Work Through All Ages. GERMANY, FRANCE AND GREAT BRITAIN, America and Hor Malefactors—The Cost to Kang One New York Rowdy—The Murders of Thir- ty-Nine Years Past—Proceedings and Ir- regularities of the Criminal Courts, es Caused by Existing Laws— Why Murderers Are Not Treated on an Equality. ‘What ts crime? Crime is an intentional violation of daties imposed fy morai and social law, which causes an injury Upon others; punishment 1s the moral or physical suffering inflicted on the criminal in exptation and feparation of the wrong committed, Thus crime 1s @Sort of moral disease, of which panishment is the remedy. The efficacy of the remedy may be termed @ question of social therapeutics, a question of the fitness and measure of the dose. Punishment 15 directed not to the crime bat to the criminal, and it is clear therefore that tt will not be able to guaran- tee the public security and re-establish social h ar- mony disturbed by (he infraction, except by estab- Usning moral harmony in the soul of the criminal by effecting a regeneration, After having weighed the offence the Judge weighs the man, and in accordance witn the combined weight of these two material elements of judgment he determines the degree of punishment. The offence may ve easy to Measure; itis a fact. But the guilt, the perversity, the tncorrigivility of the agent, the social alarm that results in their extent and gravity are diMenit to es- tablish. The separation of crime from the person of the criminal would cause the loss of the rule and Ught of repression; it would become materialized, being inflicted rather u. the fact than upon the agent. It has occurred in some imstances—theugh rarely since the remodelling of legal and criminal institutions—tnat a en on @ first charge, until then virtuous, and a man profoundly depraved have been confounded in a blind estimation and sub- jected to an un/nst equality of punishment, when the decrees of jus ve not borne that seal of ; sinew of sufficiency and eMcacy, which must characterize an adininistration of justice at once firm, liberal and enlightened. But of all offences most revelting and repelling the crime of murder stands foremost. To it ts attached an everlasting stigma. Most men turn from it with horror and disgust. The mere thought of depriving another fellow creature of hfe, no matter what the means, whether the poniard, the pistol, or the bludgeon, causes the blood to chill in the veins of ali right-minded men. Yet murderers Dave ever existed, and murders the most foul have been commitied, as far back as records of the World’s transactions can be traced. The bitter penalty to be paid for this violation of a divine law has also been in existence from the remotest an- tiqulty. CAIN, THE FIRST MURDERER ever mentioned, wis made painfully aware of the Intensity of the crime he had committed in giving Way to the evil passion which caused him, through jealousy and envy, to raise the murderous club and strike his brother dead upon the green sward, where onlya few moments previeusly they had stood in the bitter pangs of remorse haa passed—necessartly tollowing such an action in the human breast—le was aflicted m a still greater degree by tue penalty in d: the Sentence of that Judge to whom Abel's blood had cried from the ground, which decreed that ‘a fagitive and a vaga- bond sbait thou be in the earth.” Thus did the first murderer fare; and as he went about from place to Place, dejected and forlorn, made fully cognizant of the heinousne’s of his crime, it was necessary to have “a mark set upon him" lest any finding him should Kill him, inferring that the horror of murder was realized among the natious of the earth long before the inscribed marble tables were banded down from Sinai. Even that pattern of humility, Moses, wno was trained under the most favorable auspices, having every advan- tage that could be obtained in the palace of the Egyptian monarch—whose proiége he was—dyed nishandsin human biood and may truthfully be styled an ass: n. There is a Jewish mythology Which states tuat afterwards, when he looked upon the indelible inscription on the table of command- menis, “he remembered the murder he had com- mitted and wept bitte » him, however—aud xt seems almost paradoxical—was entrusted the delivering to the people, to the world, those laws which not only definively forbade murder, but which also contaiued in @ detailed form the punishment or penalty to be indiscriminately exacted in every case. “At the hand of every man’s brother will I require the life of a man,” sald the great lawgiver, Gud irom that sentence there could be no appeal. THE DEATH PENALTY Was to be mgily carried into execution, and for ages alterwards the world was bouad by this laws Every coid-vlooded murderer placed within the reach of the administrators of justice expiated the crime of Inurder With his life. But, though it was acknowledge! to be a just requisition, and recog- nized among men os a great measure for determnz crime, yet it did not effectually prevent the perpe- tration of thls odious practice, even among the most enlightened. When Joab took three darts in his band aod pierced Absalom through the heart, while the latter was hanging helplessly by the hair of bis head from the boughs of the oak, he knew it was murder—a cowardaiy, cold-blooded assassinitton, emanating in the petty political jealousies concom!- tant upon their respective positions. As is well Known Joab was subsequently murdered tn turn, Partiy for this alleged act of crucity, when he was torn from off the horns of the altar of the Tabernacie, Murder continuea even among this favored race un- Ul the day wien the last Vestige of their mon- archical institutions had been crushed out by foreign invaders. And, moreover, when te Roman Congueror stood without the gates of their besieged capital, offering them generous terms of surrender, In order to prevent any furtuer carnage than what had alread, been committed, two conflicting parties in the city of Jerusalem met in the Teinpie and Murdered ‘sud tortured each other upon.tue very spot on which the great Solomon had stood when caung the building to its great end noble pur- id where the recital of tie law they then vlo- d bad so often been listened to. a was done in defiance of t fMicers of justice ‘and the tnstitutions tor the suppression of crime, all sof which bad been maintained at a great cost to she government. y MURDERS IN GREECE. Bat if assassination was rife among the Jews, it was equally so in the midst of those philosophical fathers of the human race to whom it has been said tne world is chiefy indebted for its sublime teach- ings in literature, In science and art, in the cultiva- tion of the eye, the band and the mind, and in those noble aud elevating quailties which ' characterize men of the present day. All that was lofty and comprehensive they presumed to teach; human nature wus to be so subdued that the passions under this stale of subjugation were tw be made the means of periecting the man and rendering him capab.e of withstanding temptation m any position of life. ‘They conceived they bad the fore- ost place iD the providential order of the world, But there were, nevertheless, murderers among them. There was pot a public exhibition at Athena, where, during the tive their rhetorical sages were instructing them from the sacred forum—of Greek excellence and superiority, of the necessity of maintainiug that position by 4 strict observance oF the laws and by giving their adheston ta jhe gov. ernwenis of the country—but that some hand yould clutch the assussin’s knife and plunge It i me heart of a fellow creature. In vain Escbylus, Sopno- clea, Kuripides, Aristophanes, Pisto and others Sought to instrict then irom tue national material; feom the legends and traditions of the iuyttucal the fates and fortunes of the great dui families beiore the Trojan war; te of Miletus; of the wisdom of life re- corded tn the condensed sayings oF the early wages, the general truths of morality Bar religion; of persenal accountability, ani a es Oe NEW YORK HERALD, SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 187L~-rKiPLE SHEET, @ucing the severvty of the law in the cases of crim Bala condemned jor murder. Bat whether under the united congress inangu- rated by this great statesman and tne liberues granted to the citizens, or under the contro! of Aris Votle, who denounced tyranny as the corruption of monarchy and strove to create such a government Whose greatest and highest aim was to make vir- tuous and good ctuzena, to promote the happiness arising from blamelessness o1 life, 10 lead to the per- fecting of man’s social and moral nature and to en- courage men to great and noble deeds—the punisd- ment infiteted for assassination was death. The mode of procedure in THE ATHENIAN CRIMINAL COURTS Was anything but perfect. In the numerous State— espectaily in the democratic—couris the warfare of conning: factions was flerce and incessant. The violence of parties, the nflueuce of demagoguer, the oppressions of the rabble over those who hap- ened te incur their displeasure, and the uncer- uty O1 arriving ata just conclusion, caused Plato to treat the courts with distrast and to stigmatize them as tnobs, In his republic he shadowed forth @ constitution of society by which he considered that the evils ailiicting humanity might be cured, but his elthor hanged from a tree by the neck, drowned or buried alive, Theso were tno obly modes of public punishinent of death, Notwithstanding the Intestine and bloody conflicts of the German race; their struggles for the division and maintenance of separate Stat ve Badition of craity and designing ieaders suck as Kudolph, Count of Mapsburg, aud handreds of others ot a like call- bre, they never lost sight of the fact that crimt: must be made to feel the tron hand of the law, the terror of evil disposed persons ana to Improve the sociai condition of the people, Each generation added to and elevated the character of criminal law; from a mere primeval condition of ‘an eye for an eye,” or live for fe, they have addea dignity and majesiy to the laws until there are no more influen- tal or eflectual courts In the world than those of Germany. From severity to clemency has been their motto; tnstead of teaching by the gibbet, the kuile or the galiows, they have inangurated a system of education—so far as Prussia, especially, is concerued—reudering murder alinost obsolete. The only diMculties regarding the conviction and executing of criminals i Austria and Prussia at the present day are the slow methods of procedure aud the great expense of preparing papers in error, cure would have been worse thin the disease, and showed how little the most brilliant genius and the most profound Mwai ail in dealing with criml- nals on @ priort grounds without the ghts of expe- rience, Yo tryin murderers the Athemans first heard tne veaidony of the friends of the de. ceased, if any, and afterwards such witnesses as could spe; from personal kaowledge of the fry’ ‘of the accused. The court was composed of a ct ry /dicasts) never less than three hundred in num- in ro instances five hundred —put if a case was of a very appalling nature, or appeared to be of great pubiic Laterest and importance, as the mas- sacre of @ statesman, the number of dicasts sitting might vary from a quorum of a thousand to fifteen hundred, Kach caso was started by one of the archons, or magistrates, whose jurisdiction was xed by law, abd he prepared the papers for the trial, This magistrate took the hegemony or leader- ship of the court; be took preliminary cliarge of the cause and presided at the trial, Mis fuuctions, how- ever, bore no resemblance to those of the modern judge. He merely determined, in the first instance, af there Was any ground fer the accusations, and. if there was, oflciated a8 president, to maintain order and lo put the questions to vote when the counsel bad completed his arguments for the defence, A strigent oath was administered to the dicasts beore acting as jurymen. There was no bar, but the party accnsed ‘vas permitted te con- Ault his frieuds or law experts. As a rule the advo- cate engaged for a criminal discussed the matter of his ciient’s claims with consummate ability, but there Was no learned, upright and mdependent yadge to rale the points of law or to sum up the evidence in the case. After the archon bad put tho issues to a vole the dicasts took the evidence, the law and the facts into their own hands, and NO APPEAL COULD BE HAD FROM THEIR VERDICT. ‘The condemned had no mercy to expect, and it was rarely that a murderer escaped the iast penalty of the law. The consequence was that at times the courts of Athens were stained with acts of perjury and biood, which Hill the soul with contempt and horror when they are read of, and it is not surpris- ing that Piato placed them in the category of mobs, One redeenung feature in their proceedings was, that the administration of the law in ihe courts was open and pudic and entered on the historical records, The sieaithy arrest, the prison hidden from every human eve, except the keepers, the secret execu- tions, shut the judictal misdeeds from the blaze of notorte.y in which the death of Socrates and that of the gen2rals of Argiauss received the execration of the world. Tbe idea of trial by jury lay at the joundation of the legal procedure of tie Athenians, but wits no judge, with juries of five hundred, and with their comprekensive powers the courts were ever liavle to be swayed by the gusis of popular “ ° er the murderer had been sencenced he was— under the latest governments—taken back to prison, and in the course of a few days executed Within Its precincts in the presence of one of the arcuons and, Kind of sleruf wio undertook the ar Fangements.” Sometimes the condemued was ced through the heart; at other times a sysiein of decapitation was carried into effect. As the al- nee lo che Jarywen of nine cents a day was the principal item i the cost of conviction, the expense for the pumishment of @ malefactor was very trifling to the State. ROMAN MASSACRES AND CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS have been 80 frequently discussed, and the facts so isely placed Within tue reach of every reader of ancient and modern Distory, that it will only bo requisile te refer to them very briefly. From the time that Komulas founded the Leontine city its records 1eveal a comatant and unintermittent series of assassinations and coid blooded murders. A man no soener became popular through some deeds efvalorin the field or the Senate and forum, en- titung him to a position or oitice, than he was de- spatched wy some treackerous poniard, or batiered to death with the barvarous ciub. The Romans generally performed the act of murder after pre- tation, and the utmost treachery and deceit practised in the carrying out of ‘their designs against the person to be killed. The secrets ol a victiin’s household were ail discussed, and his havits were so closely watched that when the assassin had arranged to strike the fatal | blow it seldom faiied to accomplish tho desired | end. The standard of honor and morality in tne | capital of Christendom was lower during the middle an during jhe degeneraie days of the eSats. Py rare miurdérs Were more frequenily d gong the princes, Kvery page im the history of the Borgia family, for im- stance, is stained with blood, Popé Alexander VI, the father of the infamous Uesar Borgia, resorted to assassination whenever it answered his purpose, and the record of ne barbarian priBce could be inore revolting and horrible. tut the crimes of his son exceeded by far those of his father in tueir atrocity and enormity. He has been called THE GREATEST VILLAIN OF ALL AGES. He hesiiated at no crime, He enriched himseif by fonl pots and turders. Cardimais aud princes Were the special objects of his fury. When he could not get them into is own bands he would employ the'r confidential friends and attendants io murder them 1m thelr castles. His last great plot will be ever remembered. He Fog e aconvention for agreeing on the terms ofa general and permanent peace, inviting al! the rival princes to be present. ‘Phe iatter all appeared at the appoluted time, when, ata given signal a few moments atierwards, they were ull fouliy assaseimated. #18 murders weie endless, The means, instruments, forins and sub- tleties he employed exceeded all knowiedge or com- prehension, He willed tne deavh of any man, wo- mau or child in any part of Europe, and they die Poison in wines, in food, clothing, flowers, per- fumes, letters, presents, in tie atmosphere where one breath drawn was instant death, In stiletoes, hidden springs of poisoned steel, which in grasping | a band infused the deadly poison; in violent mur- der, and i ail the countless forms in which the subtle genlas of chemisis, artis or diploma.tsts could be used, the iniernal geuius of this prince of assassins adapted to his work. Previous to the timeof Cesar Borgia. criminal triais?were conducted with the greatest gravity, tue system of trial by Judge and jury being the most perieciin the world. ivery opportunity was given to the murderer to defend “hiunselt, even at the ex- pense of the State: the trials lasting Irequentiy eigit | or teu days. Various modes of puiting prisoners to Ceath were resorted to, Political assassias were turown from the “farpelan Rock ;” that Fittest goal of Treason’s race, ‘The promontory whence the traitors leap, Cured ali ambition. In other instances the rack or the stake. While during the bloody reign of Nero great criminals were turned inte the zoological arenas and torn w pleces by wild auimais in the presence of the citizens and magistrii. For several centuries afterwards the udi- cla! government was slinply odious, and it was not until the reiga of Pope Pius 1X. that any attempt was made to weed out the corruption from the couris and place jurisprudence on au equitable vasis, CRIME AND: PUNISHMENT IN GERMANY, It is a remarkable fact that the forefatners of the German race tad no public, but only a private law, all ther oidest enactments mereiy referring to the motual rights of the freeborn and to the rights of the latter over slaves. They had a State Assembly, composed of the treevorn, which was convoked by sending crier round with an arrow, aud beyond thelr decisions there was no Jaw. Incase of murder the friends of the deceased could nave but two means of obtaining sausfaction—t. ¢., either to fight It out with the assassin or receive a fine as an in- demnity or commutation. Every one was supposed to be avenged. It was the especial duty of a Jainily, 2 & 2: 3 & &c., before an appeal can be had to a higher court, ora roa sition from the juage who seatences the prisoné? ior a pardon from the king. ABOLITION OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT. ‘The effect of the clemency shown to criminals in Prussia has had such a salatary effect, and reduced the murder calendars to such smell proportions, that ten months ago a bill for the ‘Abolition of Capital Punishment was brought forward and passed by aconsiderable majority in the Honse of the Legislature of the North German Confederation. There was an objection taken subsequently by the Premier, Couns Bismarck, and at his suggestion, and on some technical objection put forward by the Minister, the bill was withdrawn, only to be pre- sented again at the iorthcoming session of the Par- liament of Cutted Germany. ‘The early RECORDS OF CRIME IN FRANCH farnish matier at once for horror, disgust, and le’ sons in jurisprudence for the whole world, Mu after the same manner as the Germans, their first ideas of law consisted m avenging the injured, or in taking life for life when and wherever occasion ne- cessitated. Like other European countries Franco had to pusg through the periods when lawlessness of every kind prevailed, every excess known to the humao mind was indulged in, and marders—cold- blooded assassinations—plunder and rapine were Perpetrated without even a shadow of excuse or necessity, Her first ideas of criminal law came from Rome, No sooner was a aystem established among the high-spirited, excitaple Gauls than they sought to upset or suppress it. After centuries of lighting between the constituted authorities and the eople, followed by the acceptance of the Christian foils, the administration of the law began ‘0 be respected, and great criminals coald no longer bide benind the gross prejudices and ignorance of the populace. Murderers were given up and MADE T0 PAY BLOOD FOR BLOOD, according vo the recommendation of the early priests, and as set forth in the decalogne. Toward the end of the twelfth century a pertect code of criminal laws was drawn up, setting forth that as- sassins, traitors, felons and gross Neretics should surfer death, elther on the rack, atthe stake or by suitocation. This same code contained restrictions upon judges, jurors and the manger tn which the proceedings were te be conducted in the caze3 named, the kings and tne popes only having the power to veto the seniencs of death and pardon the condemned or commute the sentence of death to servitude for Life. - A great point was made of the pablic manner in which the sentences were to be carried out. It was considered that nothing would deter crime more than exhiviting to the peopie the dead, leadiess body of an assassin Who had been put to death be- fore the eyes of the multitude. But modern judges have expo-ed the fallacy of such @ belief and proved that, instead of suporessing the evil passions of men, hurvured in Lotyeds of intamy and lawiessuesa such a8 existed in all large cities, it only tends to excite and inflame those desires which piace mea upon the gailows. THE CONDUCTING OF MURDER TRIALS in France 13 frequently lengtiy, tudecisive and ex- pensive. After tie detectives make the arrest tie accused is taken before a Commissaire de Police, and after the covoner’s verdict and papers have been read over the prisoner undergoes an examination. ir this magistrate agrees with the corener that tho Thai 18 Guilty he refuses pail and sends iim to prison to await his triai at the Court of Assize: ius case is piaced in the hands of the procureur geaeral—if the he thinks Convenient, beiore the court formal examination tie evidence is ha Grand Jury, who sometimes remain together for nearly a Week before the necessary quorum of two-thirds their number agree either for or vgainst @ verdict of guity. This 1s sub- sequent to the charge from the bench. If they return @ tree bill against the accused the counsel for the defence 18 ps Tmitted to plead im mitigation of punishment. The juage aud legal geuuemen appear in their wigs and black silk gowns. In passing sentence of death the biack cap is assuined by the judge, who allows, generaily, one Month to transpire belore the deoree fs carried out. Shouid the connsel for the defence give notice of lust the decision of the jury he must ers and evidence to the Court of Cas- ‘is the supreme court of appeal from all the tribunals for the review of the judges and the Minister of Justice. This is a most expensive pro- cess, and scidom avails unless accompanied by a mendation frum the judge of the Court of 3 in the world Paris stands foremost and extent of murders aad bloody crimes comuitied within 1ts walis. “THE REIGN OF TERROR,” from 1790 to 1795. is noted in history for the numbers of assassinations and tne bloody work the guillotive had to perform while the hellish Jacooins and Girondists swayed the popular will. Long before the unlortunate Louis Fourteenth and bis mis- guided Queen, Marie Antoinette, were called upon to suffer, the Place de la Concorde was the constant scene of fiendish ribaldry and horror. The mu)ti- tade who gathered beneath the scaifold and howied like thousands of wolves for the blood of the cul- prit; the indecency, the cruelty and barbarous practices of the executioners, were suiliciept of Ubemselves to condemn tke execution of culprits in pudlic. It is, at least, some consvla- tion that the mainspring of the barba:ous movement of that me, Robesplerre, was hunseif brought to the “bloody Kaife.” Be- fore his execution he blew away a portion of his lower jaw with @ revolver, and when he came to the scaifold it was bound up with linument; bat the man whe was to execute hin tore off the binding, causing the wretched traltor and murderer to howl with pain—a just retribution for bis cruel and bloody propensities—and he died beneath the guillotine amid the execrations of the enraged mob he pre- viously had controiled at will. The cost to the late government alone of the trac- uvicting aud executing the notorious mur- Taupmann has been estimaied at 25,0001, The trial of princes of France ior murder can only be undertaken im the Haute Cour (High Court), the jurors being the conseils g-n*raux ot tie various provinces, as in the case of Prince Pierre Bonaparte ior the murder of Victor Noir iasi year. GREAP BRITAIN twe centuries ago differed vut litile from the other countries of Europe in her laws regardiog those condemned to deain for heinous offences. Supersti- ton, bigowy ana irregularity of procedure were ob- servable in almost every case, Maay of the laws for the suppression of crime were based upon unjust principles, Whether the culprit was a Tyrrel, a Jack Sheppard, or a cold-blooded, cowardly assassin ike Ruthven, it was not deemed soficient to simply. hang them, but, as if to create greater terror in tne Public intud, they were quartered ana then hung up on a gibbet. There the mutilated remains would hang On seme common or place of public resort, through summer and winter, sunshine and rain, until the elements had reduced the sub- stance 60 that it rell piece by piece to the ground, food for hawks or carrion crows, ‘There are men living tu-day who remember the case of a noted highwaymaa, captured in Kensington lane, near London, and executed and gibbited on Barnes’ Com- mon, but @ few miles from the metrepolis, and the authorities did not remove the repulsive remains until & body of citizens, whose eyes and nasal organs had been offenaed, requested them to do so. Formerly men were hanged for sheep and horse stealing, forgery and political offences, These thtags occurred long alter England had claimed to have acquired the acme of civilization and learning, and @ member of which had been murdered, to aveuge bin tp the uttermost. Where a murderer, after hav- ing been deprived of all the property he possessed, failed to satisfy the frieads of the deceased, he was held to serve them gratuitously ior twenty years. Injuries to women were estimated trebiy higner than those offered to men; and 1 was permitted to her friends to mutilate the offender and de- prive bim of lite when or how they chose, But where satisfaction could not be obtained, either by single combat, servitude or flue, also in cases of a doubtiui character, the sentence was left witn God, the injured pelieving that He would always ingict the requisite punisumeat. Jn addiuion to the ordeal by fignting, customary ameng the ireeborn, there was that of fre and water, tue Band or the foot of the guilty parties BEING HELD UPON A. RED-HOT IRON OR IN BOLLING WATER. ‘The German axiom was, ‘Where there is no accuser eir is ne judge.” ee a ‘ata 5 period in their history a court for the trial of a murderer was held in the open atr, where all transacitons were conducted by word ef mouth. ‘The priestly judge of the assembly sat in a chair, staff in hand, with his legs crossed, as a sign of imn- partiality and tranquillity of mind, apd his face turned toward the east, during the new, moon, to imply that the administration of justice was as sare as the increase of that orb. On the right stood the accuser, on the left the accused, encircled by the armed community, who pronounced she verdict, the Kinstotk aud eee of the Mere or guild to which the defendant beluoged, standing around him ae conjuratores—that is, they swore, a3 & mutter of course, they knew him to be an houorable man, and believed what be said, If the offence could not be substantiated the ordeal of swearing and the sub- scribing by oath to their statements by the conjura- Loves decided the point; but if the erime was proved by reliable witnesses the SENTENCE OF DEAT! WAS PRONOUNCED AND BXE- CUTED. ‘The priest alone had the power of passing sen- tence on the criminal “in the name of God,’? break- ing the staff in his hand while utiering the words as udgine! ed by individual exyeri- pon) and Seler and. ‘oy peculiarities of Individual ebaracter), in a mauner striking and linpressive and ‘with # soverunity of style hardly surpassed by or Hebrew prophets. Their tempies were constantly stained with human blood, notwithstanding the fo mina! insiitations and penal codes and wwe pul “4 gmanner iu Which the coudemned was called upon Sate moushan ‘This state of things continued 4 asign that the body and soul of the condemned were to be separated as effectually as ihe broken stat. Capital punishment was awarded to all mur- derers, traitors, deserters, thieves, aduiterers—in fact all crimes against Man's honor and dignity or fe- male chasul ‘This Jast terrible sentence was car- ried out in various ways. For great mutilation the murderer vee taneaaeee pe gone in his own house, or decapitation was orde for men, with a bnee sword, whlle female criminals were ‘Was supposed to be furemost among the nations of the earth in literature, science and public enlighten- ment. Grad: , however, the possession, not pro- fession only, of enughtenment began to show itself in the public mind, and a great outcry was raised by the nation against inflicting the death penalty tor minor offences, Statesmen and governments set to work and CAPITAL PUNISHMENT FOR CATTLE STEALING AND FORGERY WAS ABOLISHED, murder and high treason remaining as the only two offences for which the scaffold was the penalty. Mar- Velious to relate, the penalty had enly been with- drawn a few years when the former crimes almost entirely ceaséa, and horse stealing, &¢., became a matter of past history. The records of Newgate show again the fallacy of pubuc executions as @ means of deterring crime. the erection of @ scaffold in the Oid Fears J was al- ‘Ways @ signal for the collecting of every , pICk- pocket, prostitute or rowdy who could possibly at- tend, and these would gather in a dease and immov- able mob, forming & conglomeration of human beings seething, reeking with crime, as early us six o'clock on the evening preceding the day of the exe- cution. Ali through the long hours of the night the air would resound with their shouts of coarse laughter and dranken fits of revelry and disstpation, carrying on their debaucheries despite the police, who were perfectly powerless on these occasions. Even the condemned criminal could bear tne tumult from his ceil. So anxious were these roughs to witness the executions that they would hire every available room or olice in the peighborhood, cem- manding @ view of the scaffold weeks in advance and pay un exorbitant price for tweive or fourteen bours’ occupation. In the case of the murderer Mfiller, who was ar- rested in American waters, it was slinply revolting to witneey the crowd which had collected. No sooner had he ascended the scasfold than one fright- Jul yell Was raised, as though from the lowest depths of Juferno, causing even the cuiprit to turn and stare at them in disgust; while here and there hall crasy vealets could be seen standing on a chair or held on the shoulders of two men, singing “Come to Jesus” and holding forth in the wost erratic style on the certain damnation Of every one in une crowd unless bec could repeat “I Do Belleve,"”’ &eo, he law recently passed ip the British Parhament adopting the American method of executions, vin, within the precincts of the prisons, 1s looked upon by plulanthropists aud statesmen as being condu- cive to the well-being ol all classes, ‘The cost of con- victing murderers in England has been estimated as averaging between £2,000 and £4.000, Afiat the sale prisoner be a piebeian—who arraigas him as soon as | 0) mutation to penal servitude f ual made to the Home Seoretary by a petition having as many sign tures of influential clazeus as the coansel for ihe defence can obtain, The Home Secretary then coniera Wh the ydge who tried the case, ana if the latier gives his opinion in favor of a respite the for- ‘mer sonds the papers to her Majesty with a recom- mendation of mercy, Which never falls to prolong the life of the crimtual. AMERICAN LAWS, MURDERERS AND PROCERDINGS. Having thus taken a cursory glance at crime and the criminal proceedings of the principal countries in the Old Worid, the cost and dificulties attending the punishment of murderers, it will be necessary, in order to make the statistics complete, to give a short review of the criminal proceedings of this country as represonied by the city of New York. Daring the past thirty-nine years, according to the most reliabie records, crime bas been steadily in- creasing in New York; but when its cosmopolitan Population 13 considered, the transitory visits and conseqneatly calions condition of thousands of doubtiul characters poured into this port year after year, and@ the increase of the regu/ar population, there are less murders committed mm proportion than in any other large city, It is true there can be no more miserable picture Presented to tho world than that of a condemned criminal, when all efforts to save his life have failed. To see him crouching ina cell, whose gioom can only be equalled by the dark visions and forebodings in the mind of the murderer; all the associations of former days yreak in upon his brain with terrible force, and every ray of hope has tied. The glorious rays of the spring sun; the green flelds and beautiful mountains; the singing of the birds and the murmur- ing streams have uow no charms and are lost to him forever, Much as he would wish to cling to the earth, he finds it slipping like a glacier slowly and surely irom beneath 0.8 feet; and Re already realizes the cord around his neck and feels the choking sen- sation in his throat, as he ls swung into the presence of 9 ator. BS, this is not all, There is a great rota fessou to be learned, without which the pun- ishment ol death would be void of effect to those left behind, There is still something more, and that 18 THE IMMENSE OOST TO PUNISH A MURDERES IN NEW YORK. The following ts the list of persons sentenced and executed in this city since January 1, 1832:— Daniei Ransom, January 7, 1882; Richard Jackson, November 19, 1835; Samuel Hackiey, January 14, 1837; Edward Coleman, January 12, 1838; Patrick Russell, December 8, 1341; James Eager, May 9, 1545; Charles fbomas, November 20, 1846; Matihew Wood, June 2, 1849; Aaren B, Stookey, June 27, 1551; q h Clark, November 21, 1851; Otto Grunzig, Jaguary 23, 1852; Nicholas Howlett, January 28, 1353; William Saul, Janusry 28, 1353; Patrick Fitzgerald, June 17, 1863; John Dorsey, June 17, 1857; James Rodgers, November 12, 1868; James Stephens, Feb- Tuary 3, 1860; John Craniman, March 39, 1860. The following during 1966:—Bervard Friery, Francis Fenn, George Wagner, Jeremiah O’Brien, and John Keal, August 5, 181. Besides, there are’ Lawrence Sailuvan and John Thomas uot yet executed. Durlag the same period there have been twenty-one scn- tences of death commuted to penal servitude ior fe, It ig now proposed to show the nearest approxima- tion that can be ovtained to the cost of convicting one murderer, and after describing Lie proceedings, to take the case of Joun teal, the murderer of Smedick, as the last man executed at the Tombs City Prison, On the 24th July, 1568, Real was arrested and was prasent during the inquest before the Cer- oner on the body of his victiin, February 10, 1362, he was tried be‘ore Judge Laruard in the Court of Qyer ana Terminer, the District Attorney presecut- ing and ex-Judge Stuart appointed to delend him, ‘The trial lasted through the eutire day, and at mid- night he was seutenced todeaih. A writ of error Was obtained; wud on the Ist of April the Disirict Aitorney and = the counsel for the deieuce | argued the matter in the Supreme Court he- fore three judges; again before a single judge three days subsequently, when tne sentence was ae and cw scad( erecsed tor oe 1 OR Wecember 13, 1889, the Pistrict Attoruey, Sith rt rit andther reargaéd tue whole evidence before the Supreme Court, when cach of the judges read long decisio: twe for and one against tic execution being carried out. Juue 30, i8i0, U Was argued in the Court of Appeals in the p Of a fuii court, and the sentence was race eniirmed an he was ordered to be hauge’i on the Sth of August, 1570, ‘The gallows were erected on the 4thof August, and on the 5th he was executed in the preseuce of the Sherif and others named by law. Untike tnany other tourder trials, this one, it has. been remarked, was promptiy carried throagh all the stages 1 the courts, aud yet the cost, according to the aunered tabie, appears to be immenase—being 16,000, Tis table does not inciude of about two saillings a day to tie Jurymen for each day they served on the tial; Coroner, for holding mquest. se - Salaries of judd, eugaged in hearing the case, from the day vl Coaviction to the day of the last decison srescescccscccsccce 1,184 ary to District Ati 'Y and assistants, in- omary allowance irom the Beard of Supervis BDOUL....cesscecceree 5,512 Fee to Sheriii, deputies, &¢., and for erecting the gallows tWice......... +. 500 Paid to one deiending counsel. + 8,000 Cost for clerks, writers, steuograpners, criers, & 1 . B10 Real's food, aitendance, washing, &c., for Tinety-sLX’ Weeks... 0005 480 Nine Weeks on “SherifPs boara’’..... 103 Two hundrea police ofticers, Superi and cap‘ains attending at the 400 Defending couusel Stuart, for casn expeust telegrams, subpanas, yet paid. sees Printing fer defence. Making a total of........ see . After all the forms in the complicated crlininal law in this city have been it must be confessed it is a perf Jabyriath of puzzles—in order to obiain a stay of procecdings and lave a case reargued in the Su- preme Court and Court of Appeals tor a suspension of judgment on the suppostion that the sentencing Judge might gave committed an error, there is still a more REMARKABLE ANOMALY IN THE WORKINGS OF THE courts. This difference Nes between the Courts of Oyer and Termiver an‘ General Sessions. If a criminal is tried and condemned to death im the Generai Ses- sions, NO matier what the character of the murder, he will be able as a matter of certainty, if not as a mater of absolute right, Claimed according to the estabiished custom of the court, to obtain an imme- diate stay of proceedings. The counsel for the deience serves the Sheriff with the writ of error, or “stay,” frequentiy at the same time that he is served with the warrant handing over the body of the condemned man for execution. This case 18, three months later, taken and argued before the Supreme Court, in the presence of at least taree Judges, who take the papers and defer their decision geuerally (or three moatis longer. At the end of this time if they confirm the oviginal sentence we District Attorney adus the additional evidence to his prinied books, and when the counsel for the delence puts in his papers on an application fora rehearing Sy hotel pills, we., not seeeeee o£ system of eded to—and t metwork, a hands nis evideace in and gives notice of his inten- uon to oppose the motion and argue in favor of the decision of the court below. It is usual for all the parties to attend before the Court of Appeals, where six judges constitute a full court. The ume for obtaming a hearing in this court takes about stx miontus, and if they still con- firm the verdict oi the first bart the opposing coun- sel can demand anew trial—a mere furm—and the prisover is resentenced for execution generally within about four months, allowing altogether aveut eighteen mouths to elapse between an execution aad the passing of the first decree. When a murderer hus been tried and sentenced to death in THE COURT OF OYRR AND TERMINER the obtaining of a stay of proceedings 1s the most difficult portion of the opposing counsel’s duties. Belore a writ of error is granted—that 18, aamitiing the possibility of an error in judgment—the most conclusive argument and proof must be adduced. The reasen is obvious. The presiding Judge in this court is a member of the Supreme Court, vefore wnom ‘the case must subssquentiy be argued, and if a wiit oferroris allowed the same judge who tried the cause will again sit when the evidence ts reproduced in the court above. It is, thereiore, higuly improvabie that he will condemm his own judgment by permit- Ung the commutation of the sentence. byen if two of his brethren decide against him he can issue a dissent and carry it to the Court of Ap- peals above. According to Judiciary Amendment ‘act passea by the Legislature and ratiied and accepted on November 6, 18¢9, it was provided that “no judge or justice shail sit ata general term of any court or in the Court of Appeais in review of a dectsion made by him or by any court of which he Was at the time a sitting member.” But this was utterly discarded in the case of Real; for the judge who sentenced aim sat in appeal on the case on the 18th December, 1369, and on June 80, 1870, after the act of the Legisiature had been passed and ratified, ‘Thus two inen, tried and convicted for murder in two separate courts—only tnirty yards distant from each other—in the same city, for the same oifence, under the same laws, having jor their object the panishing and repression ef crime, stand upon an ‘unequal fooung. The one tried in the General Ses- sions Will certainly survive eighteen months afier his sentence, and stand an excellent chance of get- ting @ pardon from the Governor; wile the man tried and sentenced in the Court of Oyer and Ter- miner ust make nis peace with God, for tne pass- ing of the sentence meauvs alinest certain death. ‘This can be borne oat by two murderers at present in the Tombs. John Thomas, @ colored man, was convicted and condemned 1m the Court of Oyer and Termiuer last year, and every effort to obtain a stay of proceedings from the Supreme Cvurt has failed, and he will be hauged on the 1th of this month, Lawrence Sullivan, also convicted for murder, put in tae Court of General Sessions, was senteneed one day and ovtuined a writ oferror the next morning, aod whereas Thomas | will suffer the last penalty of the law to the day, the former will live tora year and @ haif, and probably hot be hanged at the end of that period. The un- certainiy and irregularity of this modus operandt | must be observable to all, and leaves an unsetiied Conviction in the minds of those men who tigure on the calendars of the courts as to the panishment they may expect in case of marder, fhe vacillatt policy referred to can only tend tw degrade the ad- Ininistration of Justice. Instead of adding to the certainty, the caimness ead powerful, dignified | Daajesty of the courts, it appears te undermine te fundamental basis of ali the crimunal institutions in ‘thus city. In former times it was customary for the courts to te in case he was tuo poor to pro the means to carry on his case, aud the Hoard of Bu- made @ moderate allowance; but for the Yast ptxtesn yeata f @ counsel has eon appointed of the entire matter before the Court of Appeals he | the defence | been discussed by tne greatost minds of all ages, ang With-tho general practice of the courts, During the present scssion an attempt has been made to pass an act through the Legislature for ihe estabushinent of a district burean, to be callea THR PUBLIC DEFENCE OFFICE, the appointment to be heid, at a fixed salary, by an onicer appointed by the State, whose duty tt sali be to take up the cause of murderers and defend them, 4n opposition to the District Attorney and the extst- ing bureau. The bill has not been made pubile, be- cause It has been conceived by some, at ‘pre- seut tn eitice, that it will be impossible toavold @ rupture between the Disirict Attorney andthe Public Defender; that the latter would be able to obtain all the points of the former's argu- ments, and thus reduce the eficacy ot the pleading on both sides, In any case it would seem to be an mprevement on the prosons ineffectual system, Ms Country has now the opportunity of benefiting by all the laws and experience of other nations; Ler Setigntnsees and magnificent resources place her in the foremost ranks among the nations of the civilized worid; her Lestitutions must eventually be- come the most noole and effectual in their Influence and administration. With all unis it would be little better than a standing disgrace to permit the pre. sent errors in the criminal courts to remain uncor- og or expunged from the statute books of tue RELIGIOUS. Services To-Day. Rev. R. 8. McArthur preaches morning and even- ing iu Calvary Baptist church, Rev. Dr. Cheever will preach this evening tn Lex- ington avenue churek, corner of Forty-sixth street, on “The Sign of the Prephet Jonah,” and Rev. Dr. Sanderson will tn the morning repeat his sermon on “The Memorial Offering.” Services this morning and evening in the Church of the Reformation, Fiftieth street. Rev. Dr. McVickar preaches this morning and evening in the Church of the Holy Light, Rev. Dr. Potter, of Grace church, will preach thts evening in Calvary church in bebali of tae House of the Good Shepherd. Rev. Chauncey Glies will lecture this evening in the New Jerusalem (Swedenborgian) charch on “How, Under Providence, the Removal of Children tothe Spiritual World is Made Beneficial to Their Parents.” Preaching on “The Coming of the Lord” at the Catholic Apostolic church this evening. Rev. Morgan DIx will preach this evening in St, Peter's church, West Twentieth street. Rey. Dr. Wescott will preach ta Plymouth Baptist church this morning and evening. The subject in the evening will be to young men, on “Motives to Early Piety.” Rey. Merrill Richardson will preach this morning and evening in the New England Congregational church. The subject in the evening will be “What is Regeneration Rev. G, H. Hepworth will preach this morning In the Church of the Messtah en “How to Get Reli- gion.” Services also in the evening. Rey. T. O. Ewer preaciies morning and evening in Christ charch. Rev. Charles H. Deems preaches morning and evening in the Church of the Strangers. The Most Rev. Archbishop McCloskey will admin- ister the Sacrament of Confirmation in St. Augus- tne’s church, Morrisanta, this afternoon, at half. Dast three o'clock, Rey. C. C. Foote will preacn this morning in the Christian churo, West ‘wenty-eighth street, on “Sin;” In the evening on “What is Christianity?” Rev. C. 8. Harrower will preach this morning and evening in St. Lake’s Methodist Episcopal church. Communion services wii be held in St. Thomas’ church this morning. Preaching aiso in the evemug. Jobn, the Herald,” will be the subject of Rev. Charles F. Lee's discourse this morning 1a the Fifth Universalist churca, Pumpton Building. The Right Rey, William H. Odenheimer, Bishop of New Jersey, will preach this evening i the Memo- rial Church of Bishop Wainwright, Rev. E. C. Sweciser will preach this evening in the Universalist church, corner Bigecker aad Downiug streets, on the parable of the sheep and the goais. Services in the morning as usual. Rev. J. R. Kendrick will preach morning and evening in the Tabernacle Baptist charch, Rev. J, M. Pullman will preach in the Sixth Unt- versaiist church morning aad evening. Professor Wiliam eon will speak before the Society of Progresq!: pituatists at Apollo Hall this moruing and event An Apologist for Brothor Beecher. To THE EpiTor oF THE HBRALD: Having been for some time a reader of your paper, and knowing that you treat al! subjects, secular and religious, with an impartial and unsectacian spirit, I beg of you to listen for a moment to the feeble veice of one who feels that great injustice has been done of late, through the columns of your paper, by cer- tain correspondents, to the Kev, Henry Ward Beecher. Ali great men have enemies, and especially those who figure 20 conspicuously as Beectar, in Bot only the theolegical but the political arena; and it cannot but be expected that such men should frequently be the victims of the most bitter invectives. But it seems to me ® pity that the prejudices of the people should be excited without jusi cause against one whose “heart 18 a3 warin and Catuolic as hi3 abilities are great” and whose discourses are so full of royal truths, and which ave productive of so much good, and would be productive of much more were the minds of the public unpreyuaiced. ‘There are many good and faithful Christians who would as soon be seen In the “pit” of tue Old Bowery theatre as to be seen of & sunday ina pew of Plymouth church. To them Beecher ts a kind of semi-demon, striving by the power of eloquence to uproot the tneology of their iathers, and vo ridicule the religion of Jesus Christ, Tuts results in @ great measure from prejudice; and many friends like myseli of the HERALD have been influenced by letters from the ubiic, Which have been publisned from time to time in your coiuains, and which they have mistaken for the sentiments of the HERALD instead of anonymous correspondents, Now, I have been for some years not only a con- stant reader of the HERALD, but of Beecher’s ser- mens, and aithough'the reports which you pubiis! from week to Week are as correct as such brief porte cah be, sull I teel myself at liberty to say that the letters wiuch you have published from the peo- ple contain many misstatements in regard to Beecher’s sermons which ought to be corrected. noticed one or two Sundays ago 1n your cole uns 4 letter from an old “Jacksonian Detuocrat,”? in which Beecher was accused of saying in & recent sermon that the Bible did not teach @ future exist- ence, Now, if the ears of the undersigned and the report of aphonograpner are of any account at ail the above staiement is entirely erroneous. 1 will. quote Mr. peecher’s own Words as they were reported ver- atim: “The question of continued existence is only recog- nized tn the Vid Testament, It ig not taughi there. And from the beginning of that first dispensation to the end of it; from the opening chapter of Genesis to the closing chapter of the record of the Old Testa- ment, the doctrine of future rewards and punish- ments, of immortality in bliss or of penalty in the otner life, 1s never once explicitly taught. But a great many times It is recognized.” Thus it will be seen tbat Mr. Beecher affirmed only that the Old Testament did not teach a future exis- tence, And in another part ef the same sermon (“The Heavenly State’) he acknowledges that Christ “brought immortatity and life to light,” anda hence that the New Testament does explicitly teach a future exisience, Now, I ask, is the statement of our frend, the Jacksonian Democrat, fair? Beecher be ac- cused, as he accuses him, of saying that the Bible did not teach a future existepce, and hence wo could comult sin, murder, robbery and the like eWith impunity, so far as the next world 1s con- cernedt And so I might mention many other misstatements which have been made from time to me, but 1 have already asked toe much of your valuable space. Will the public think for one moment before they condemn such a man as ay Ward Beecher? Yours respectfully, AMICUS VERITATIS. New York, Feb. 1, 1871, More Beecher. To THE EDITOR OF THE HERALD:— Last Sunday I noticed two articles, one signed “An Old Jackson Democrat,” and the other “An Anxtons Inquirer,” denouncing Mr. Beecher in strong terms. Ihave known Mr. Beecher for the last seven years, and I have reason to think 1 know lus peculiar Ideas and those of most of his congre- ‘ation. f will say for the benefit of the ‘Anxious uquirer” that if he would read more of Mr. Beecher’s religious novels his mind and thougnis Woujd be chauged for the better; and as he quotes much fiom tue Bibié 1 think, a8 Mr. Frothingham Said ina@ sermon last spring to his congregation, that there are many pas in the Bible which Would be as weil stricken out and some of the writ- ings of Contucius or the Koran substituted. if @ minister of our day does not keep to the old beaten paths there are always many to raise their hands in holy horror, ‘The earth moves, and strong meas 18 not fit or babes; ence they cry and vomit, ‘There is only one true path, and that must be found gf oop nd ald. any Of the members of Mr. Beecher’s church are tired of this ioe prejadice and are determined to sustain Mr. echer, even though me called Christ “an insigniticant, blear-ayed Jer OUTH ROCK. Distinction Between Man and tho Brute. To THR Epitor or THE HBRALD: ‘The above was the subject of a discourse by the Rev, Dr. Newman, of Washington, D. C., as reported in the Hunatp of January 30, This question has tence nas been passed In the Middlesex or | ho has not been and consequently elsewhere, the Saty appeal i Ns com- | has not been ad aubedac ae would be consisieat | as yet no decisive and satisfactory answer has been reached. A few years ago 1 was triumphantly asserted that the faculty of reason was the distino tive difference between the two; that man possessed that faculty and that the brute did not. There are few totelligent and observing minds at the prosent day that Dave not been compelled to admit that the brute possesses @ faculty wWentical with what in man we call reason, Dr, Nowman says that volition, or what he calls “the voliifonal act,” is what con- stututes the distinction—® very unsatisfactory ex. planation, I apprebend, to those of his hearers who took any interest in the subject. Nothing ts plainer than that brutes act precisely aa we do under similiar circumstances; and yet in man we call it reason, in the brate instinct. Does not tho dog practice you- tion, or choice, whon we altempt to call him away from his master? Is it not plain that he prefers bis master to a stramger, and that he acts precisely aa we should act under almilar circumstances? There 48, 1m fact, no distinction, and it is human pride rather than the ‘common sense of maukind” thas seeks to make the aistinction. Principies that are identical cannot be made to differ by simply giving them different names. Reason can never be made instinct by calling it by that name, “It is hard to define this diference,” says Dr. Newman—so hard, I add, that it has never been done and never can be, for the very good reason that there 18 no difference—- that ty, between what we call reason m man, but fustinct in the lower animals, But L may be asked if reason and lustinct are the same. auswer no Ali acts invviving volition are the results of reason; those which do nos require voillion, on the results of instinct, Volun- tary acts are reasonavle; iuvoluntary ones are in- Sttuctive. The one is atiended by thinking, the other without, Reason in tun and other animals is the same in kind, bus enly diferent 1u quality or degree, Humaa pride, | Know, 1s greatly averse to such an adinission, because of some preconceived nation, Men dare not Luk, they dare not use the faculties that God has given them. Why, if men dared to unk and to foliow the dictates of truth the entire structure of our reluitons to the brute crea- ton, to each other and to God would be greatly modified, if not compieteiy destroyed. When men learn that the brute was created by the same hand, 1s possessed with the same saculties in kind with themselves, 1s Watched over aad protected by the same kind and pareiital care, Laem shalt we learn t honor God by treaung His creatures wil greater kindnese, it was truly said by some one that “the more We exalt the crea- ture the more We exalt e Creator.’ And yet this sublime sentiment is seldom acted upom in our rejations with the lower animals. ‘There is nota facuity im the haman mind or , Laver, that 1s not found im the brute; ani 1 pledge my Word Co demonstrate the asseriion to one wio Wil deny it, and point out such facuity. lt this be true, and we can pe made to reulize it, the result would be to secure tu tiem in ulany ins'ances a better treatment at our hands. Dr. Newman goes on to Sty that in man there exists a triple uature— the physical, the Quunal and the inteliectual. Does not the brute, | ask, po: allo! these also? Has be nov a physical structare? Yes. Has he not ‘appetites and passions?’ Most certaialy. And has he not reason aud inteliect? Undoubtedly he bas. Wherein, then, does ue diver from man? ‘But you will say thacif the brute fas all the facut: that man possesses wiy 13 he not accountable? ‘There 18 no reason wity he should not be account abie, and o! vauion daily touches us that heis. To Who? it muy beasked. To his god, I reply, Aud who 18 his god? His uiaster—inau. Nor will 16 Seem strange that the dog feels Lis xccountabillty to his master When we resect tuat eight-ienths of the humas race worsuip aud pay homage nov only ww their fellow-1ea, but to blocks of Wood and stone, aulnais aud repes. It what i have said be truz—and I challenge refu- tation—what, then, is the distiactive difference be- tween man and the brute? They both have a physi- cal structure, bot have appetites aud passions and both have intellect and season. ‘the dldcrence, theh, seems to pe this—that while the braw may excel us In many Instances 10 his physical structure and be quite equai to us in Ls appetites and pas- sions, yet wan excels hin atimost iniinitely in the Scope Of uls Intelieciual powers, VND! A True Christin Goes for Dr. Hall—Are Catholics Mice, Rats and Peey-Seeking Owls? To 11 Eprror or tas HERALD:— Last night L went to hear the Rev. Dr, John Hall deitver is lecture on “Scepticism,” at Association Hail, and, greatly to my disgust, I remained until he had finished, He divided scepticism into two parts— plilosophical and sensational. Under the head of sensational scepticism he In- cluded the religious question, aud in the most forct- Ne lerms denounced the Romun Catholics as per- Jurers, infidels, oppesers to the Holy Bible, and even goes so Taras to try Dr. Tyng’s game of comparing them to mice, rats and to vermin of the lowest and basest kind. For represeutatives of the Koman Catholic Church he saows up such mea as Veltaire, Rosseau aad Paiue, tie very names of Whom te Roiuan Catholivs have beea taught toabuor, He iso Speaks of Jum Haggerty, Keddy the Blacksmith aud Kulloi 4s the class of men of which the Koman Catholic Church is composed. He reviews the lives of men Who, having leit (ue Roman Catholic Cauren, thelr services were sought ufter and finaliy ovtaines by Dr. Hall's own ancestors, aad these mea died the puid hireiings of his owa creed, Now, Mr, Luitor, to thiak that ® man, and hea intnister of ihe Gospel, can so degrade himsell ag to cail nis fellow men iutce, rais and prey-seeking ows ecause the; Lot happen tove of the same creed as himseif, to huid up to Wis auditors the tiree Worst men he could find ali ever ihe world, simply beeause iiey were born Roman Catholies—and { aud very happy lo add, they died veioaging to tue same Bec’ Whuse doctrines tke Rev. Dr. Hui profeases to teach! To think @ nian of tuvelligeace could be found who would so iar forget himself as to call down the curses of God and all Heaven to biot out of exisieuce a-religion Whose num- bers im tms city exceed by so Jar the numbers of all otver reiigious put together! The idea is totally absurd. 1 woud not have noticed it at all, only 1 wish to let Dr, Hall kKuow that, aithough he received deaiening applause irom nis slily audi- ters, there Was one winong Liem Who regards tim 48 & perjuring ass, In short, tus lecture was a base calumny against the Rouian Catholic religion, and all who applauded ‘bia Were as bad as (he lecturer himseil. LU you will be kind enough to give this space in Your vaiuable paper you will not owly oblige an old subscriber to your paper, Lut alse JAN. 2, LoTl. A TRUE CHRISTIAN. American Biblo Society. The stated meeting of the Board of Managers was held at the Bibie louse, Astor Place, on the 2d mst, Wiltam Wiitiock, Jr, Vico President, in the chair, Eight new auxillaries were recug- nized, of which three are in Alabama, two in North Carolina, ad in South Carolina, Bussissippi and Texas, one cach. Communications were received from Rev. Dr. Jacoby, Bremen, with a statement of the work doneduring the year from the depot at Bremen; from Mr. Andrew M, Miine, Buenos Ayres, whither he had gone during the siege of Monte Video, wiih encotraging siaiements as to his work: from Kev. W. H. baweil, staimg the safe arrival of the books from thie roviety at Nicclairisky, Siberia; and from slr, William P, Harvey, Hayans, stating the arrival of the books granted for Cuba, thoir ad- iuission into port, with the demand for them alreaay Manifested. An cncyuraging statement was ceived as to Bible work Fring ie Utab. a It was resolved lo pribs tue Book of Numbers in the Dakota language, the New Testament and sev- eral books of the Old having been already published by this society; also to pudush the Chaidean Gospel by Matthew in the Elxoo:h dialect; and arrange- agents were entered into for the preparation of the Serptures in the Azerbijan or Tartat-Turkish lan- guage, spoken in all the norihern part ef/Persia, and the trausiation of portions of \ue Scriptures in the ee dialect ha gg tietad he whoie number of volumes granted, five volumes in raised letters for the blind, is “ore aud others in value amounting Wo $913 88, and $500 more for prinung the Chaidean Gospels in the Kl- koosh dialect. Progress of Roligious Interest. Acorrespondent writes from Attica, Ind., as fol- lows:—“We are blessed with a precious revival. Twenty-one converts united with the Presbyterian church last Sabbath, the 224 instant. Tue work is still and powerful and progressing; there are now fifteen more candidates for admission, making thirty-sgx.”” A correspondent of the Watchman anda Reflector writes:--‘When the week ot prayer commenced this church (First Baptist, Medford, Mass.) united with the three other Kvangelical churches of this town, and as one man our prayers ascended that this season of prayer might not pasy without our seeing Mavy from our congregatious and Sabbato Schools turning unto the rd. Our meet- ings bave been crowded; the Spirit has Comne, hot in great power, not by bringwg scores and hundreds to the anxious seat, but it hus mani- fested itself tn the s:iii, small voice, and to-day we are rejoleing uver tive of our number, four of Whom are from our Sabbato school, that have sald, as for tuem they will serve the Lord, The orher charches. have also the same reasons for rejoicing, and we Shall Om this fourth week of the new year stil con- = to gather toyether to supplicate the Throne of drace. The Presbyterian churches in Benton Harbor, Mich., Saume county, Mo, Rev. Mc, McLeish’s, in Chicaco, and several others of this and other denom- jnattens are now experiencing tie biessiags of the revival Atno former L prtead has tho Week of Prayer been #o generally and satisiactorily observed tn Westera. New York as at the opening of the present ee Union services, ali Neila in the different churohes, were most common and attended with the happiest reanits, We hear of several instances im which awakoning and converting infiuencea ‘were experienced. aud where extra meetl are atill continued, with indications that the “eet due” to favor lon bas oma,