The effect of Capital Punishment on the commission of Murder.
Some murders are committed in hot blood and furious rage; some, in deliberate revenge; some, in terrible despair; some (but not many) for mere4 gain; some, for the removal of an object dangerous to the murderer’s peace or good name; some, to win a monstrous6 notoriety.
On murders committed in rage, in the despair of strong affection (as when a starving child is murdered by its parent) or for gain, I believe the punishment of death to have no effect in the least. In the two first cases, the impulse is a blind and wild one, infinitely7 beyond the reach of any reference to the punishment. In the last, there is little calculation beyond the absorbing greed of the money to be got. Courvoisier, for example, might have robbed his master with greater safety, and with fewer chances of detection, if he had not murdered him. But, his calculations going to the gain and not to the loss, he had no balance for the consequences of what he did. So, it would have been more safe and prudent8 in the woman who was hanged a few weeks since, for the murder in Westminster, to have simply robbed her old companion in an unguarded moment, as in her sleep. But, her calculation going to the gain of what she took to be a Bank note; and the poor old woman living between her and the gain; she murdered her.
On murders committed in deliberate revenge, or to remove a stumbling block in the murderer’s path, or in an insatiate craving9 for notoriety, is there reason to suppose that the punishment of death has the direct effect of an incentive10 and an impulse?
A murder is committed in deliberate revenge. The murderer is at no trouble to prepare his train of circumstances, takes little or no pains to escape, is quite cool and collected, perfectly11 content to deliver himself up to the Police, makes no secret of his guilt12, but boldly says, “I killed him. I’m glad of it. I meant to do it. I am ready to die.” There was such a case the other day. There was such another case not long ago. There are such cases frequently. It is the commonest first exclamation13 on being seized. Now, what is this but a false arguing of the question, announcing a foregone conclusion, expressly leading to the crime, and inseparably arising out of the Punishment of Death? “I took his life. I give up mine to pay for it. Life for life; blood for blood. I have done the crime. I am ready with the atonement. I know all about it; it’s a fair bargain between me and the law. Here am I to execute my part of it; and what more is to be said or done?” It is the very essence of the maintenance of this punishment for murder, that it does set life against life. It is in the essence of a stupid, weak, or otherwise ill-regulated mind (of such a murderer’s mind, in short), to recognise in this set off, a something that diminishes the base and coward character of murder. “In a pitched battle, I, a common man, may kill my adversary14, but he may kill me. In a duel15, a gentleman may shoot his opponent through the head, but the opponent may shoot him too, and this makes it fair. Very well. I take this man’s life for a reason I have, or choose to think I have, and the law takes mine. The law says, and the clergyman says, there must be blood for blood and life for life. Here it is. I pay the penalty.”
A mind incapable16, or confounded in its perceptions — and you must argue with reference to such a mind, or you could not have such a murder — may not only establish on these grounds an idea of strict justice and fair reparation, but a stubborn and dogged fortitude17 and foresight18 that satisfy it hugely. Whether the fact be really so, or not, is a question I would be content to rest, alone, on the number of cases of revengeful murder in which this is well known, without dispute, to have been the prevailing19 demeanour of the criminal: and in which such speeches and such absurd reasoning have been constantly uppermost with him. “Blood for blood”, and “life for life”, and such like balanced jingles20, have passed current in people’s mouths, from legislators downwards21, until they have been corrupted22 into “tit for tat”, and acted on.
Next, come the murders done, to sweep out of the way a dreaded24 or detested25 object. At the bottom of this class of crimes, there is a slow, corroding26, growing hate. Violent quarrels are commonly found to have taken place between the murdered person and the murderer: usually of opposite sexes. There are witnesses to old scenes of reproach and recrimination, in which they were the actors; and the murderer has been heard to say, in this or that coarse phrase, “that he wouldn’t mind killing27 her, though he should be hanged for it”— in these cases, the commonest avowal28.
It seems to me, that in this well-known scrap29 of evidence, there is a deeper meaning than is usually attached to it. I do not know, but it may be — I have a strong suspicion that it is — a clue to the slow growth of the crime, and its gradual development in the mind. More than this; a clue to the mental connection of the deed, with the punishment to which the doer of that deed is liable, until the two, conjoined, give birth to monstrous and misshapen Murder.
The idea of murder, in such a case, like that of self-destruction in the great majority of instances, is not a new one. It may have presented itself to the disturbed mind in a dim shape and afar off; but it has been there. After a quarrel, or with some strong sense upon him of irritation30 or discomfort31 arising out of the continuance of this life in his path, the man has brooded over the unformed desire to take it. “Though he should be hanged for it.” With the entrance of the Punishment into his thoughts, the shadow of the fatal beam begins to attend — not on himself, but on the object of his hate. At every new temptation, it is there, stronger and blacker yet, trying to terrify him. When she defies or threatens him, the scaffold seems to be her strength and “vantage ground”. Let her not be too sure of that; “though he should be hanged for it”.
Thus, he begins to raise up, in the contemplation of this death by hanging, a new and violent enemy to brave. The prospect32 of a slow and solitary33 expiation34 would have no congeniality with his wicked thoughts, but this throttling35 and strangling has. There is always before him, an ugly, bloody36, scarecrow phantom37, that champions her, as it were, and yet shows him, in a ghastly way, the example of murder. Is she very weak, or very trustful in him, or infirm, or old? It gives a hideous38 courage to what would be mere slaughter39 otherwise; for there it is, a presence always about her, darkly menacing him with that penalty whose murky40 secret has a fascination41 for all secret and unwholesome thoughts. And when he struggles with his victim at the last, “though he should be hanged for it”, it is a merciless wrestle42, not with one weak life only, but with that ever-haunting, ever-beckoning shadow of the gallows43, too; and with a fierce defiance44 to it, after their long survey of each other, to come on and do its worst.
Present this black idea of violence to a bad mind contemplating45 violence; hold up before a man remotely compassing the death of another person, the spectacle of his own ghastly and untimely death by man’s hands; and out of the depths of his own nature you shall assuredly raise up that which lures46 and tempts47 him on. The laws which regulate those mysteries have not been studied or cared for, by the maintainers of this law; but they are paramount48 and will always assert their power.
Out of one hundred and sixty-seven persons under sentence of Death in England, questioned at different times, in the course of years, by an English clergyman in the performance of his duty, there were only three who had not been spectators of executions.
We come, now, to the consideration of those murders which are committed, or attempted, with no other object than the attainment49 of an infamous50 notoriety. That this class of crimes has its origin in the Punishment of Death, we cannot question; because (as we have already seen, and shall presently establish by another proof) great notoriety and interest attach, and are generally understood to attach, only to those criminals who are in danger of being executed.
One of the most remarkable51 instances of murder originating in mad self-conceit52; and of the murderer’s part in the repulsive53 drama, in which the law appears at such great disadvantage to itself and to society, being acted almost to the last with a self-complacency that would be horribly ludicrous if it were not utterly54 revolting; is presented in the case of Hocker.
Here is an insolent55, flippant, dissolute youth: aping the man of intrigue56 and levity57: over-dressed, over-confident, inordinately58 vain of his personal appearance: distinguished59 as to his hair, cane60, snuff-box, and singing-voice: and unhappily the son of a working shoemaker. Bent61 on loftier flights than such a poor house-swallow as a teacher in a Sunday-school can take; and having no truth, industry, perseverance62, or other dull work-a-day quality, to plume63 his wings withal; he casts about him, in his jaunty64 way, for some mode of distinguishing himself — some means of getting that head of hair into the print-shops; of having something like justice done to his singing-voice and fine intellect; of making the life and adventures of Thomas Hocker remarkable; and of getting up some excitement in connection with that slighted piece of biography. The Stage? No. Not feasible. There has always been a conspiracy65 against the Thomas Hockers, in that kind of effort. It has been the same with Authorship in prose and poetry. Is there nothing else? A Murder, now, would make a noise in the papers! There is the gallows to be sure; but without that, it would be nothing. Short of that, it wouldn’t be fame. Well! We must all die at one time or other; and to die game, and have it in print, is just the thing for a man of spirit. They always die game at the Minor66 Theatres and the Saloons, and the people like it very much. Thurtell, too, died very game, and made a capital speech when he was tried. There’s all about it in a book at the cigar-shop now. Come, Tom, get your name up! Let it be a dashing murder that shall keep the wood-engravers at it for the next two months. You are the boy to go through with it, and interest the town!
The miserable67 wretch68, inflated69 by this lunatic conceit, arranges his whole plan for publication and effect. It is quite an epitome70 of his experience of the domestic melodrama71 or penny novel. There is the Victim Friend; the mysterious letter of the injured Female to the Victim Friend; the romantic spot for the Death-Struggle by night; the unexpected appearance of Thomas Hocker to the Policeman; the parlour of the Public House, with Thomas Hocker reading the paper to a strange gentleman; the Family Apartment, with a song by Thomas Hocker; the Inquest Room, with Thomas Hocker boldly looking on; the interior of the Marylebone Theatre, with Thomas Hocker taken into custody72; the Police Office with Thomas Hocker “affable” to the spectators; the interior of Newgate, with Thomas Hocker preparing his defence; the Court, where Thomas Hocker, with his dancing-master airs, is put upon his trial, and complimented by the Judge; the Prosecution73, the Defence, the Verdict, the Black Cap, the Sentence — each of them a line in any Playbill, and how bold a line in Thomas Hocker’s life!
It is worthy74 of remark, that the nearer he approaches to the gallows — the great last scene to which the whole of these effects have been working up — the more the overweening conceit of the poor wretch shows itself; the more he feels that he is the hero of the hour; the more audaciously and recklessly he lies, in supporting the character. In public — at the condemned75 sermon — he deports76 himself as becomes the man whose autographs are precious, whose portraits are innumerable; in memory of whom, whole fences and gates have been borne away, in splinters, from the scene of murder. He knows that the eyes of Europe are upon him; but he is not proud — only graceful77. He bows, like the first gentleman in Europe, to the turnkey who brings him a glass of water; and composes his clothes and hassock as carefully, as good Madame Blaize could do. In private — within the walls of the condemned cell — every word and action of his waning78 life, is a lie. His whole time is divided between telling lies and writing them. If he ever have another thought, it is for his genteel appearance on the scaffold; as when he begs the barber “not to cut his hair too short, or they won’t know him when he comes out”. His last proceeding79 but one is to write two romantic love letters to women who have no existence. His last proceeding of all (but less characteristic, though the only true one) is to swoon away, miserably80, in the arms of the attendants, and be hanged up like a craven dog.
Is not such a history, from first to last, a most revolting and disgraceful one; and can the student of it bring himself to believe that it ever could have place in any record of facts, or that the miserable chief-actor in it could have ever had a motive81 for his arrogant82 wickedness, but for the comment and the explanation which the Punishment of Death supplies!
It is not a solitary case, nor is it a prodigy83, but a mere specimen84 of a class. The case of Oxford85, who fired at Her Majesty86 in the Park, will be found, on examination, to resemble it very nearly, in the essential feature. There is no proved pretence87 whatever for regarding him as mad; other than that he was like this malefactor88, brimful of conceit, and a desire to become, even at the cost of the gallows (the only cost within his reach) the talk of the town. He had less invention than Hocker, and perhaps was not so deliberately89 bad; but his attempt was a branch of the same tree, and it has its root in the ground where the scaffold is erected90.
Oxford had his imitators. Let it never be forgotten in the consideration of this part of the subject, how they were stopped. So long as attempts invested them with the distinction of being in danger of death at the hangman’s hands, so long did they spring up. When the penalty of death was removed, and a mean and humiliating punishment substituted in its place, the race was at an end, and ceased to be.
II
We come, now, to consider the effect of Capital Punishment in the prevention of crime.
Does it prevent crime in those who attend executions?
There never is (and there never was) an execution at the Old Bailey in London, but the spectators include two large classes of thieves — one class who go there as they would go to a dog-fight, or any other brutal91 sport, for the attraction and excitement of the spectacle; the other who make it a dry matter of business, and mix with the crowd solely92 to pick pockets. Add to these, the dissolute, the drunken, the most idle, profligate93, and abandoned of both sexes — some moody94 ill-conditioned minds, drawn95 thither96 by a fearful interest — and some impelled97 by curiosity; of whom the greater part are of an age and temperament98 rendering99 the gratification of that curiosity highly dangerous to themselves and to society — and the great elements of the concourse are stated.
Nor is this assemblage peculiar100 to London. It is the same in country towns, allowing for the different statistics of the population. It is the same in America. I was present at an execution in Rome, for a most treacherous101 and wicked murder, and not only saw the same kind of assemblage there, but, wearing what is called a shooting-coat, with a great many pockets in it, felt innumerable hands busy in every one of them, close to the scaffold.
I have already mentioned that out of one hundred and sixty-seven convicts under sentence of death, questioned at different times in the performance of his duty by an English clergyman, there were only three who had not been spectators of executions. Mr. Wakefield, in his Facts relating to the Punishment of Death, goes into the working, as it were, of this sum. His testimony102 is extremely valuable, because it is the evidence of an educated and observing man, who, before having personal knowledge of the subject and of Newgate, was quite satisfied that the Punishment of Death should continue, but who, when he gained that experience, exerted himself to the utmost for its abolition103, even at the pain of constant public reference in his own person to his own imprisonment104. “It cannot be egotism”, he reasonably observes, “that prompts a man to speak of himself in connection with Newgate.”
“Whoever will undergo the pain,” says Mr. Wakefield, “of witnessing the public destruction of a fellow-creature’s life, in London, must be perfectly satisfied that in the great mass of spectators, the effect of the punishment is to excite sympathy for the criminal and hatred105 of the law . . . I am inclined to believe that the criminals of London, spoken of as a class and allowing for exceptions, take the same sort of delight in witnessing executions, as the sportsman and soldier find in the dangers of hunting and war . . . I am confident that few Old Bailey Sessions pass without the trial of a boy, whose first thought of crime occurred whilst he was witnessing an execution . . . And one grown man, of great mental powers and superior education, who was acquitted106 of a charge of forgery107, assured me that the first idea of committing a forgery occurred to him at the moment when he was accidentally witnessing the execution of Fauntleroy. To which it may be added, that Fauntleroy is said to have made precisely108 the same declaration in reference to the origin of his own criminality.
But one convict “who was within an ace5 of being hanged”, among the many with whom Mr. Wakefield conversed109, seems to me to have unconsciously put a question which the advocates of Capital Punishment would find it very difficult indeed to answer. “Have you often seen an execution?” asked Mr. Wakefield. “Yes, often.” “Did it not frighten you?” “No. Why should it?”
It is very easy and very natural to turn from this ruffian, shocked by the hardened retort; but answer his question, why should it? Should he be frightened by the sight of a dead man? We are born to die, he says, with a careless triumph. We are not born to the treadmill110, or to servitude and slavery, or to banishment111; but the executioner has done no more for that criminal than nature may do tomorrow for the judge, and will certainly do, in her own good time, for judge and jury, counsel and witnesses, turnkeys, hangman, and all. Should he be frightened by the manner of the death? It is horrible, truly, so horrible, that the law, afraid or ashamed of its own deed, hides the face of the struggling wretch it slays112; but does this fact naturally awaken113 in such a man, terror — or defiance? Let the same man speak. “What did you think then?” asked Mr. Wakefield. “Think? Why, I thought it was a — shame.”
Disgust and indignation, or recklessness and indifference114, or a morbid115 tendency to brood over the sight until temptation is engendered116 by it, are the inevitable117 consequences of the spectacle, according to the difference of habit and disposition118 in those who behold119 it. Why should it frighten or deter120? We know it does not. We know it from the police reports, and from the testimony of those who have experience of prisons and prisoners, and we may know it, on the occasion of an execution, by the evidence of our own senses; if we will be at the misery121 of using them for such a purpose. But why should it? Who would send his child or his apprentice122, or what tutor would send his scholars, or what master would send his servants, to be deterred123 from vice124 by the spectacle of an execution? If it be an example to criminals, and to criminals only, why are not the prisoners in Newgate brought out to see the show before the debtors’ door? Why, while they are made parties to the condemned sermon, are they rigidly125 excluded from the improving postscript126 of the gallows? Because an execution is well known to be an utterly useless, barbarous, and brutalising sight, and because the sympathy of all beholders, who have any sympathy at all, is certain to be always with the criminal, and never with the law.
I learn from the newspaper accounts of every execution, how Mr. So-and-so, and Mr. Somebody else, and Mr. So-forth127 shook hands with the culprit, but I never find them shaking hands with the hangman. All kinds of attention and consideration are lavished128 on the one; but the other is universally avoided, like a pestilence129. I want to know why so much sympathy is expended130 on the man who kills another in the vehemence131 of his own bad passions, and why the man who kills him in the name of the law is shunned132 and fled from? Is it because the murderer is going to die? Then by no means put him to death. Is it because the hangman executes a law, which, when they once come near it face to face, all men instinctively133 revolt from? Then by all means change it. There is, there can be, no prevention in such a law.
It may be urged that Public Executions are not intended for the benefit of those dregs of society who habitually134 attend them. This is an absurdity135, to which the obvious answer is, So much the worse. If they be not considered with reference to that class of persons, comprehending a great host of criminals in various stages of development, they ought to be, and must be. To lose sight of that consideration is to be irrational136, unjust, and cruel. All other punishments are especially devised, with a reference to the rooted habits, propensities137, and antipathies138 of criminals. And shall it be said, out of Bedlam139, that this last punishment of all is alone to be made an exception from the rule, even where it is shown to be a means of propagating vice and crime?
But there may be people who do not attend executions, to whom the general fame and rumour140 of such scenes is an example, and a means of deterring141 from crime.
Who are they? We have seen that around Capital Punishment there lingers a fascination, urging weak and bad people towards it, and imparting an interest to details connected with it, and with malefactors awaiting it or suffering it, which even good and well-disposed people cannot withstand. We know that last-dying speeches and Newgate calendars are the favourite literature of very low intellects. The gallows is not appealed to as an example in the instruction of youth (unless they are training for it); nor are there condensed accounts of celebrated142 executions for the use of national schools. There is a story in an old spelling-book of a certain Don’t Care who was hanged at last, but it is not understood to have had any remarkable effect on crimes or executions in the generation to which it belonged, and with which it has passed away. Hogarth’s idle apprentice is hanged; but the whole scene — with the unmistakable stout143 lady, drunk and pious144, in the cast; the quarrelling, blasphemy145, lewdness146, and uproar147; Tiddy Doll vending148 his gingerbread, and the boys picking his pocket — is a bitter satire149 on the great example; as efficient then, as now.
Is it efficient to prevent crime? The parliamentary returns demonstrate that it is not. I was engaged in making some extracts from these documents, when I found them so well abstracted in one of the papers published by the committee on this subject established at Aylesbury last year, by the humane150 exertions151 of Lord Nugent, that I am glad to quote the general results from its pages:
“In 1843 a return was laid on the table of the House of the commitments and executions for murder in England and Wales during the thirty years ending with December 1842, divided into five periods of six years each. It shows that in the last six years, from 1836 to 1842, during which there were only 50 executions, the commitments for murder were fewer by 61 than in the six years preceding with 74 executions; fewer by 63 than in the six years ending 1830 with 75 executions; fewer by 56 than in the six years ending 1824 with 94 executions; and fewer by 93 than in the six years ending 1818 when there was no less a number of executions than 122. But it may be said, perhaps, that in the inference we draw from this return, we are substituting cause for effect, and that in each successive cycle, the number of murders decreased in consequence of the example of public executions in the cycle immediately preceding, and that it was for that reason there were fewer commitments. This might be said with some colour of truth, if the example had been taken from two successive cycles only. But when the comparative examples adduced are of no less than five successive cycles, and the result gradually and constantly progressive in the same direction, the relation of facts to each other is determined152 beyond all ground for dispute, namely, that the number of these crimes has diminished in consequence of the diminution153 of the number of executions. More especially when it is also remembered that it was immediately after the first of these cycles of five years, when there had been the greatest number of executions and the greatest number of murders, that the greatest number of persons were suddenly cast loose upon the country, without employ, by the reduction of the Army and Navy; that then came periods of great distress154 and great disturbance155 in the agricultural and manufacturing districts; and above all, that it was during the subsequent cycles that the most important mitigations were effected in the law, and that the Punishment of Death was taken away not only for crimes of stealth, such as cattle and horse stealing and forgery, of which crimes corresponding statistics show likewise a corresponding decrease, but for the crimes of violence too, tending to murder, such as are many of the incendiary offences, and such as are highway robbery and burglary. But another return, laid before the House at the same time, bears upon our argument, if possible, still more conclusively157. In table 11 we have only the years which have occurred since 1810, in which all persons convicted of murder suffered death; and, compared with these an equal number of years in which the smallest proportion of persons convicted were executed. In the first case there were 66 persons convicted, all of whom underwent the penalty of death; in the second 83 were convicted, of whom 31 only were executed. Now see how these two very different methods of dealing158 with the crime of murder affected159 the commission of it in the years immediately following. The number of commitments for murder, in the four years immediately following those in which all persons convicted were executed, was 270.
“In the four years immediately following those in which little more than one-third of the persons convicted were executed, there were but 222, being 48 less. If we compare the commitments in the following years with those in the first years, we shall find that, immediately after the examples of unsparing execution, the crime increased nearly 13 per cent., and that after commutation was the practice and capital punishment the exception, it decreased 17 per cent.
“In the same parliamentary return is an account of the commitments and executions in London and Middlesex, spread over a space of 32 years, ending in 1842, divided into two cycles of 16 years each. In the first of these, 34 persons were convicted of murder, all of whom were executed. In the second, 27 were convicted, and only 17 executed. The commitments for murder during the latter long period, with 17 executions, were more than one half fewer than they had been in the former long period with exactly double the number of executions. This appears to us to be as conclusive156 upon our argument as any statistical160 illustration can be upon any argument professing161 to place successive events in the relation of cause and effect to each other. How justly then is it said in that able and useful periodical work, now in the course of publication at Glasgow, under the name of the Magazine of Popular Information on Capital and Secondary Punishment, ‘the greater the number of executions, the greater the number of murders; the smaller the number of executions, the smaller the number of murders. The lives of her Majesty’s subjects are less safe with a hundred executions a year than with fifty; less safe with fifty than with twenty-five.’”
Similar results have followed from rendering public executions more and more infrequent, in Tuscany, in Prussia, in France, in Belgium. Wherever capital punishments are diminished in their number, there, crimes diminish in their number too.
But the very same advocates of the punishment of Death who contend, in the teeth of all facts and figures, that it does prevent crime, contend in the same breath against its abolition because it does not! “There are so many bad murders,” say they, “and they follow in such quick succession, that the Punishment must not be repealed163.” Why, is not this a reason, among others, for repealing164 it? Does it not go to show that it is ineffective as an example; that it fails to prevent crime; and that it is wholly inefficient165 to stay that imitation, or contagion166, call it what you please, which brings one murder on the heels of another?
One forgery came crowding on another’s heels in the same way, when the same punishment attached to that crime. Since it has been removed, forgeries167 have diminished in a most remarkable degree. Yet within five and thirty years, Lord Eldon, with tearful solemnity, imagined in the House of Lords as a possibility for their Lordships to shudder168 at, that the time might come when some visionary and morbid person might even propose the abolition of the punishment of Death for forgery. And when it was proposed, Lords Lyndhurst, Wynford, Tenterden, and Eldon — all Law Lords — opposed it.
The same Lord Tenterden manfully said, on another occasion and another question, that he was glad the subject of the amendment169 of the laws had been taken up by Mr. Peel, “who had not been bred to the law; for those who were, were rendered dull, by habit, to many of its defects!” I would respectfully submit, in extension of this text, that a criminal judge is an excellent witness against the Punishment of Death, but a bad witness in its favour; and I will reserve this point for a few remarks in the next, concluding, Letter.
III
The last English Judge, I believe, who gave expression to a public and judicial170 opinion in favour of the punishment of Death, is Mr. Justice Coleridge, who, in charging the Grand Jury at Hertford last year, took occasion to lament171 the presence of serious crimes in the calendar, and to say that he feared that they were referable to the comparative infrequency of Capital Punishment.
It is not incompatible172 with the utmost deference173 and respect for an authority so eminent174, to say that, in this, Mr. Justice Coleridge was not supported by facts, but quite the reverse. He went out of his way to found a general assumption on certain very limited and partial grounds, and even on those grounds was wrong. For among the few crimes which he instanced, murder stood prominently forth. Now persons found guilty of murder are more certainly and unsparingly hanged at this time, as the Parliamentary Returns demonstrate, than such criminals ever were. So how can the decline of public executions affect that class of crimes? As to persons committing murder, and yet not found guilty of it by juries, they escape solely because there are many public executions — not because there are none or few.
But when I submit that a criminal judge is an excellent witness against Capital Punishment, but a bad witness in its favour, I do so on more broad and general grounds than apply to this error in fact and deduction175 (so I presume to consider it) on the part of the distinguished judge in question. And they are grounds which do not apply offensively to judges, as a class; than whom there are no authorities in England so deserving of general respect and confidence, or so possessed176 of it; but which apply alike to all men in their several degrees and pursuits.
It is certain that men contract a general liking177 for those things which they have studied at great cost of time and intellect, and their proficiency178 in which has led to their becoming distinguished and successful. It is certain that out of this feeling arises, not only that passive blindness to their defects of which the example given by my Lord Tenterden was quoted in the last letter, but an active disposition to advocate and defend them. If it were otherwise; if it were not for this spirit of interest and partisanship179; no single pursuit could have that attraction for its votaries180 which most pursuits in course of time establish. Thus legal authorities are usually jealous of innovations on legal principles. Thus it is described of the lawyer in the Introductory Discourse181 to the Description of Utopia, that he said of a proposal against Capital Punishment, “‘this could never be so established in England but that it must needs bring the weal-public into great jeopardy182 and hazard’, and as he was thus saying, he shaked his head, and made a wry183 mouth, and so he held his peace”. Thus the Recorder of London, in 1811, objected to “the capital part being taken off” from the offence of picking pockets. Thus the Lord Chancellor184, in 1813, objected to the removal of the penalty of death from the offence of stealing to the amount of five shillings from a shop. Thus, Lord Ellenborough, in 1820, anticipated the worst effects from there being no punishment of death for stealing five shillings worth of wet linen185 from a bleaching186 ground. Thus the Solicitor187 General, in 1830, advocated the punishment of death for forgery, and “the satisfaction of thinking” in the teeth of mountains of evidence from bankers and other injured parties (one thousand bankers alone!) “that he was deterring persons from the commission of crime, by the severity of the law”. Thus, Mr. Justice Coleridge delivered his charge at Hertford in 1845. Thus there were in the criminal code of England, in 1790, one hundred and sixty crimes punishable with death. Thus the lawyer has said, again and again, in his generation, that any change in such a state of things “must needs bring the weal-public into jeopardy and hazard”. And thus he has, all through the dismal188 history, “shaked his head, and made a wry mouth, and held his peace”. Except — a glorious exception! — when such lawyers as Bacon, More, Blackstone, Romilly, and — let us ever gratefully remember — in later times Mr. Basil Montagu, have striven, each in his day, within the utmost limits of the endurance of the mistaken feeling of the people or the legislature of the time, to champion and maintain the truth.
There is another and a stronger reason still, why a criminal judge is a bad witness in favour of the punishment of Death. He is a chief actor in the terrible drama of a trial, where the life or death of a fellow creature is at issue. No one who has seen such a trial can fail to know, or can ever forget, its intense interest. I care not how painful this interest is to the good, wise judge upon the bench. I admit its painful nature, and the judge’s goodness and wisdom to the fullest extent — but I submit that his prominent share in the excitement of such a trial, and the dread23 mystery involved, has a tendency to bewilder and confuse the judge upon the general subject of that penalty. I know the solemn pause before the verdict, the bush and stifling189 of the fever in the court, the solitary figure brought back to the bar, and standing190 there, observed of all the outstretched heads and gleaming eyes, to be next minute stricken dead as one may say, among them. I know the thrill that goes round when the black cap is put on, and how there will be shrieks191 among the women, and a taking out of some one in a swoon; and, when the judge’s faltering192 voice delivers sentence, how awfully193 the prisoner and he confront each other; two mere men, destined194 one day, however far removed from one another at this time, to stand alike as suppliants195 at the bar of God. I know all this, I can imagine what the office of the judge costs in this execution of it; but I say that in these strong sensations he is lost, and is unable to abstract the penalty as a preventive or example, from an experience of it, and from associations surrounding it, which are and can be, only his, and his alone.
Not to contend that there is no amount of wig196 or ermine that can change the nature of the man inside; not to say that the nature of a judge may be, like the dyer’s hand, subdued197 to what it works in, and may become too used to this punishment of death to consider it quite dispassionately; not to say that it may possibly be inconsistent to have, deciding as calm authorities in favour of death, judges who have been constantly sentencing to death; — I contend that for the reasons I have stated alone, a judge, and especially a criminal judge, is a bad witness for the punishment but an excellent witness against it, inasmuch as in the latter case his conviction of its inutility has been so strong and paramount as utterly to beat down and conquer these adverse198 incidents. I have no scruple199 in stating this position, because, for anything I know, the majority of excellent judges now on the bench may have overcome them, and may be opposed to the punishment of Death under any circumstances.
I mentioned that I would devote a portion of this letter to a few prominent illustrations of each head of objection to the punishment of Death. Those on record are so very numerous that selection is extremely difficult; but in reference to the possibility of mistake, and the impossibility of reparation, one case is as good (I should rather say as bad) as a hundred; and if there were none but Eliza Fenning’s, that would be sufficient. Nay200, if there were none at all, it would be enough to sustain this objection, that men of finite and limited judgment201 do inflict202, on testimony which admits of doubt, an infinite and irreparable punishment. But there are on record numerous instances of mistake; many of them very generally known and immediately recognisable in the following summary, which I copy from the New York Report already referred to.
“There have been cases in which groans203 have been heard in the apartment of the crime, which have attracted the steps of those on whose testimony the case has turned — when, on proceeding to the spot, they have found a man bending over the murdered body, a lantern in the left hand, and the knife yet dripping with the warm current in the blood-stained right, with horror-stricken countenance204, and lips which, in the presence of the dead, seem to refuse to deny the crime in the very act of which he is thus surprised — and yet the man has been, many years after, when his memory alone could be benefited by the discovery, ascertained205 not to have been the real murderer! There have been cases in which, in a house in which were two persons alone, a murder has been committed on one of them — when many additional circumstances have fastened the imputation206 upon the other — and when, all apparent modes of access from without, being closed inward, the demonstration207 has seemed complete of the guilt for which that other has suffered the doom208 of the law — yet suffered innocently! There have been cases in which a father has been found murdered in an outhouse, the only person at home being a son, sworn by a sister to have been dissolute and undutiful, and anxious for the death of the father, and succession to the family property — when the track of his shoes in the snow is found from the house to the spot of the murder, and the hammer with which it was committed (known as his own), found, on a search, in the corner of one of his private drawers, with the bloody evidence of the deed only imperfectly effaced209 from it — and yet the son has been innocent! — the sister, years after, on her death-bed, confessing herself the fratricide as well as the parricide210. There have been cases in which men have been hung on the most positive testimony to identity (aided by many suspicious circumstances), by persons familiar with their appearance, which have afterwards proved grievous mistakes, growing out of remarkable personal resemblance. There have been cases in which two men have been seen fighting in a field — an old enmity existing between them — the one found dead, killed by a stab from a pitchfork known as belonging to the other, and which that other had been carrying, the pitch-fork lying by the side of the murdered man — and yet its owner has been afterwards found not to have been the author of the murder of which it had been the instrument, the true murderer sitting on the jury that tried him. There have been cases in which an innkeeper has been charged by one of his servants with the murder of a traveller, the servant deposing211 to having seen his master on the stranger’s bed, strangling him, and afterwards rifling his pockets — another servant deposing that she saw him come down at that time at a very early hour in the morning, steal into the garden, take gold from his pocket, and carefully wrapping it up bury it in a designated spot — on the search of which the ground is found loose and freshly dug, and a sum of thirty pounds in gold found buried according to the description — the master, who confessed the burying of the money, with many evidences of guilt in his hesitation212 and confusion, has been hung of course, and proved innocent only too late. There have been cases in which a traveller has been robbed on the highway of twenty guineas, which he had taken the precaution to mark — one of these is found to have been paid away or changed by one of the servants of the inn which the traveller reaches the same evening — the servant is about the height of the robber, who had been cloaked and disguised — his master deposes213 to his having been recently unaccountably extravagant214 and flush of gold — and on his trunk being searched the other nineteen marked guineas and the traveller’s purse are found there, the servant being asleep at the time, half-drunk — he is of course convicted and hung, for the crime of which his master was the author! There have been cases in which a father and daughter have been overheard in violent dispute — the words “barbarity”, “cruelly”, and “death”, being heard frequently to proceed from the latter — the former goes out locking the door behind him — groans are overheard, and the words, “cruel father, thou art the cause of my death!”— on the room being opened she is found on the point of death from a wound in her side, and near her the knife with which it had been inflicted215 — and on being questioned as to her owing her death to her father, her last motion before expiring is an expression of assent216 — the father, on returning to the room, exhibits the usual evidences of guilt — he, too, is of course hung — and it is not till nearly a year afterwards that, on the discovery of conclusive evidence that it was a suicide, the vain reparation is made, to his memory by the public authorities, of — waving a pair of colours over his grave in token of the recognition of his innocence217.”
More than a hundred such cases are known, it is said in this Report, in English criminal jurisprudence. The same Report contains three striking cases of supposed criminals being unjustly hanged in America; and also five more in which people whose innocence was not afterwards established were put to death on evidence as purely218 circumstantial and as doubtful, to say the least of it, as any that was held to be sufficient in this general summary of legal murders. Mr. O’Connell defended, in Ireland, within five and twenty years, three brothers who were hanged for a murder of which they were afterwards shown to have been innocent. I cannot find the reference at this moment, but I have seen it stated on good authority, that but for the exertions, I think of the present Lord Chief Baron219, six or seven innocent men would certainly have been hanged. Such are the instances of wrong judgment which are known to us. How many more there may be in which the real murderers never disclosed their guilt, or were never discovered, and where the odium of great crimes still rests on guiltless people long since resolved to dust in their untimely graves, no human power can tell.
The effect of public executions on those who witness them, requires no better illustration, and can have none, than the scene which any execution in itself presents, and the general Police-office knowledge of the offences arising out of them. I have stated my belief that the study of rude scenes leads to the disregard of human life, and to murder. Referring, since that expression of opinion, to the very last trial for murder in London, I have made inquiry220, and am assured that the youth now under sentence of death in Newgate for the murder of his master in Drury Lane, was a vigilant221 spectator of the three last public executions in this City. What effects a daily increasing familiarity with the scaffold, and with death upon it, wrought222 in France in the Great Revolution, everybody knows. In reference to this very question of Capital Punishment, Robespierre himself, before he was
“in blood stept in so far”,
warned the National Assembly that in taking human life, and in displaying before the eyes of the people scenes of cruelty and the bodies of murdered men, the law awakened223 ferocious224 prejudices, which gave birth to a long and growing train of their own kind. With how much reason this was said, let his own detestable name bear witness! If we would know how callous225 and hardened society, even in a peaceful and settled state, becomes to public executions when they are frequent, let us recollect226 how few they were who made the last attempt to stay the dreadful Monday-morning spectacles of men and women strung up in a row for crimes as different in their degree as our whole social scheme is different in its component227 parts, which, within some fifteen years or so, made human shambles228 of the Old Bailey.
There is no better way of testing the effect of public executions on those who do not actually behold them, but who read of them and know of them, than by inquiring into their efficiency in preventing crime. In this respect they have always, and in all countries, failed. According to all facts and figures, failed. In Russia, in Spain, in France, in Italy, in Belgium, in Sweden, in England, there has been one result. In Bombay, during the Recordership of Sir James Macintosh, there were fewer crimes in seven years without one execution, than in the preceding seven years with forty-seven executions; notwithstanding that in the seven years without capital punishment, the population had greatly increased, and there had been a large accession to the numbers of the ignorant and licentious229 soldiery, with whom the more violent offences originated. During the four wickedest years of the Bank of England (from 1814 to 1817, inclusive), when the one-pound note capital prosecutions230 were most numerous and shocking, the number of forged one-pound notes discovered by the Bank steadily231 increased, from the gross amount in the first year of 10,342 pounds, to the gross amount in the last of 28,412 pounds. But in every branch of this part of the subject — the inefficiency232 of capital punishment to prevent crime, and its efficiency to produce it — the body of evidence (if there were space to quote or analyse it here) is overpowering and resistless.
I have purposely deferred233 until now any reference to one objection which is urged against the abolition of capital punishment: I mean that objection which claims to rest on Scriptural authority.
It was excellently well said by Lord Melbourne, that no class of persons can be shown to be very miserable and oppressed, but some supporters of things as they are will immediately rise up and assert — not that those persons are moderately well to do, or that their lot in life has a reasonably bright side — but that they are, of all sorts and conditions of men, the happiest. In like manner, when a certain proceeding or institution is shown to be very wrong indeed, there is a class of people who rush to the fountainhead at once, and will have no less an authority for it than the Bible, on any terms.
So, we have the Bible appealed to in behalf of Capital Punishment. So, we have the Bible produced as a distinct authority for Slavery. So, American representatives find the title of their country to the Oregon territory distinctly laid down in the Book of Genesis. So, in course of time, we shall find Repudiation234, perhaps, expressly commanded in the Sacred Writings.
It is enough for me to be satisfied, on calm inquiry and with reason, that an Institution or Custom is wrong and bad; and thence to feel assured that IT CANNOT BE a part of the law laid down by the Divinity who walked the earth. Though every other man who wields235 a pen should turn himself into a commentator236 on the Scriptures237 — not all their united efforts, pursued through our united lives, could ever persuade me that Slavery is a Christian238 law; nor, with one of these objections to an execution in my certain knowledge, that Executions are a Christian law, my will is not concerned. I could not, in my veneration239 for the life and lessons of Our Lord, believe it. If any text appeared to justify240 the claim, I would reject that limited appeal, and rest upon the character of the Redeemer, and the great scheme of His Religion, where, in its broad spirit, made so plain — and not this or that disputed letter — we all put our trust. But, happily, such doubts do not exist. The case is far too plain. The Rev2. Henry Christmas, in a recent pamphlet on this subject, shows clearly that in five important versions of the Old Testament241 (to say nothing of versions of less note) the words, “by man”, in the often-quoted text, “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed”, do not appear at all. We know that the law of Moses was delivered to certain wandering tribes in a peculiar and perfectly different social condition from that which prevails among us at this time. We know that the Christian Dispensation did distinctly repeal162 and annul242 certain portions of that law. We know that the doctrine243 of retributive justice or vengeance244, was plainly disavowed by the Saviour245. We know that on the only occasion of an offender246, liable by the law to death, being brought before Him for His judgment, it was not death. We know that He said, “Thou shalt not kill”. And if we are still to inflict capital punishment because of the Mosaic247 law (under which it was not the consequence of a legal proceeding, but an act of vengeance from the next of kin3, which would surely be discouraged by our later laws if it were revived among the Jews just now) it would be equally reasonable to establish the lawfulness248 of a plurality of wives on the same authority.
Here I will leave this aspect of the question. I should not have treated of it at all in the columns of a newspaper, but for the possibility of being unjustly supposed to have given it no consideration in my own mind.
In bringing to a close these letters on a subject, in connection with which there is happily very little that is new to be said or written, I beg to be understood as advocating the total abolition of the Punishment of Death, as a general principle, for the advantage of society, for the prevention of crime, and without the least reference to, or tenderness for any individual malefactor whomsoever. Indeed, in most cases of murder, my feeling towards the culprit is very strongly and violently the reverse. I am the more desirous to be so understood, after reading a speech made by Mr. Macaulay in the House of Commons last Tuesday night, in which that accomplished249 gentleman hardly seemed to recognise the possibility of anybody entertaining an honest conviction of the inutility and bad effects of Capital Punishment in the abstract, founded on inquiry and reflection, without being the victim of “a kind of effeminate feeling”. Without staying to inquire what there may be that is especially manly250 and heroic in the advocacy of the gallows, or to express my admiration251 of Mr. Calcraft, the hangman, as doubtless one of the most manly specimens252 now in existence, I would simply hint a doubt, in all good humour, whether this be the true Macaulay way of meeting a great question? One of the instances of effeminacy of feeling quoted by Mr. Macaulay, I have reason to think was not quite fairly stated. I allude253 to the petition in Tawell’s case. I had neither hand nor part in it myself; but, unless I am greatly mistaken, it did pretty clearly set forth that Tawell was a most abhorred254 villain255, and that the House might conclude how strongly the petitioners256 were opposed to the Punishment of Death, when they prayed for its non-infliction even in such a case.
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applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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rev
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| v.发动机旋转，加快速度 | |
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kin
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| n.家族，亲属，血缘关系；adj.亲属关系的，同类的 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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ace
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| n.A牌；发球得分；佼佼者；adj.杰出的 | |
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monstrous
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| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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infinitely
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prudent
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craving
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incentive
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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guilt
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| n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责 | |
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exclamation
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adversary
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duel
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| n./v.决斗；(双方的)斗争 | |
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incapable
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fortitude
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foresight
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prevailing
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| adj.盛行的；占优势的；主要的 | |
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jingles
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| 叮当声( jingle的名词复数 )； 节拍十分规则的简单诗歌 | |
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downwards
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corrupted
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| （使）败坏( corrupt的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）腐化； 引起（计算机文件等的）错误； 破坏 | |
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dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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dreaded
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| adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词) | |
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detested
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corroding
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killing
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avowal
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scrap
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| n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废 | |
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irritation
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discomfort
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| n.不舒服，不安，难过，困难，不方便 | |
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prospect
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solitary
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expiation
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throttling
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bloody
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phantom
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hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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slaughter
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| n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀 | |
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murky
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| adj.黑暗的，朦胧的；adv.阴暗地，混浊地；n.阴暗；昏暗 | |
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fascination
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| n.令人着迷的事物，魅力，迷恋 | |
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wrestle
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| vi.摔跤，角力；搏斗；全力对付 | |
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gallows
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| n.绞刑架，绞台 | |
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defiance
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| n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗 | |
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contemplating
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| 深思，细想，仔细考虑( contemplate的现在分词 )； 注视，凝视； 考虑接受（发生某事的可能性）； 深思熟虑，沉思，苦思冥想 | |
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lures
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| 吸引力，魅力（lure的复数形式） | |
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tempts
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| v.引诱或怂恿（某人）干不正当的事( tempt的第三人称单数 )；使想要 | |
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paramount
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| a.最重要的，最高权力的 | |
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attainment
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| n.达到，到达；［常pl.］成就，造诣 | |
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infamous
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| adj.声名狼藉的，臭名昭著的，邪恶的 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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conceit
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| n.自负，自高自大 | |
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repulsive
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| adj.排斥的，使人反感的 | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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insolent
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| adj.傲慢的，无理的 | |
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56
intrigue
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| vt.激起兴趣，迷住；vi.耍阴谋；n.阴谋，密谋 | |
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57
levity
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| n.轻率，轻浮，不稳定，多变 | |
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58
inordinately
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| adv.无度地，非常地 | |
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59
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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60
cane
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| n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的 | |
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61
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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62
perseverance
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| n.坚持不懈，不屈不挠 | |
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63
plume
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| n.羽毛；v.整理羽毛，骚首弄姿，用羽毛装饰 | |
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64
jaunty
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| adj．愉快的，满足的；adv.心满意足地，洋洋得意地；n.心满意足；洋洋得意 | |
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65
conspiracy
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| n.阴谋，密谋，共谋 | |
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66
minor
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| adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修 | |
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67
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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68
wretch
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| n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人 | |
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69
inflated
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| adj.（价格）飞涨的；（通货）膨胀的；言过其实的；充了气的v.使充气（于轮胎、气球等）( inflate的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）膨胀；（使）通货膨胀；物价上涨 | |
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70
epitome
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| n.典型，梗概 | |
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71
melodrama
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| n.音乐剧；情节剧 | |
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72
custody
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| n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留 | |
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73
prosecution
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| n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营 | |
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74
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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75
condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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76
deports
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| v.将…驱逐出境( deport的第三人称单数 )；举止 | |
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77
graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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78
waning
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|
| adj.（月亮）渐亏的，逐渐减弱或变小的n.月亏v.衰落( wane的现在分词 )；（月）亏；变小；变暗淡 | |
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79
proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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80
miserably
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| adv.痛苦地；悲惨地；糟糕地；极度地 | |
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81
motive
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|
| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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82
arrogant
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| adj.傲慢的，自大的 | |
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83
prodigy
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|
| n.惊人的事物，奇迹，神童，天才，预兆 | |
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84
specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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85
Oxford
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| n.牛津（英国城市） | |
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86
majesty
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|
| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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87
pretence
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| n.假装，作假；借口，口实；虚伪；虚饰 | |
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88
malefactor
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| n.罪犯 | |
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89
deliberately
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|
| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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90
ERECTED
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| adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立 | |
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91
brutal
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|
| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
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92
solely
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| adv.仅仅，唯一地 | |
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93
profligate
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| adj.行为不检的；n.放荡的人，浪子，肆意挥霍者 | |
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94
moody
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| adj.心情不稳的，易怒的，喜怒无常的 | |
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95
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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96
thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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97
impelled
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| v.推动、推进或敦促某人做某事( impel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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98
temperament
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| n.气质，性格，性情 | |
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99
rendering
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| n.表现，描写 | |
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100
peculiar
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|
| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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101
treacherous
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|
| adj.不可靠的，有暗藏的危险的；adj.背叛的，背信弃义的 | |
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102
testimony
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| n.证词；见证，证明 | |
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103
abolition
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| n.废除，取消 | |
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104
imprisonment
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| n.关押，监禁，坐牢 | |
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105
hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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106
acquitted
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| 宣判…无罪( acquit的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（自己）作出某种表现 | |
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107
forgery
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| n.伪造的文件等，赝品，伪造（行为） | |
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108
precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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109
conversed
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| v.交谈，谈话( converse的过去式 ) | |
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110
treadmill
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| n.踏车；单调的工作 | |
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111
banishment
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| n.放逐，驱逐 | |
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112
slays
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| 杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的第三人称单数 ) | |
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113
awaken
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| vi.醒，觉醒；vt.唤醒，使觉醒，唤起，激起 | |
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114
indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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115
morbid
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|
| adj.病的；致病的；病态的；可怕的 | |
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116
engendered
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| v.产生（某形势或状况），造成，引起( engender的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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117
inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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118
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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119
behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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120
deter
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| vt.阻止，使不敢，吓住 | |
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121
misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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122
apprentice
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| n.学徒，徒弟 | |
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123
deterred
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| v.阻止，制止( deter的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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124
vice
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| n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的 | |
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125
rigidly
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| adv.刻板地，僵化地 | |
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126
postscript
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| n.附言，又及；(正文后的)补充说明 | |
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127
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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128
lavished
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| v.过分给予，滥施( lavish的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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129
pestilence
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| n.瘟疫 | |
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130
expended
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| v.花费( expend的过去式和过去分词 )；使用（钱等）做某事；用光；耗尽 | |
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131
vehemence
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| n.热切；激烈；愤怒 | |
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132
shunned
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| v.避开，回避，避免( shun的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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133
instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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134
habitually
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| ad.习惯地，通常地 | |
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135
absurdity
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| n.荒谬，愚蠢；谬论 | |
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136
irrational
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| adj.无理性的，失去理性的 | |
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137
propensities
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| n.倾向，习性( propensity的名词复数 ) | |
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138
antipathies
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|
| 反感( antipathy的名词复数 )； 引起反感的事物； 憎恶的对象； （在本性、倾向等方面的）不相容 | |
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139
bedlam
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| n.混乱，骚乱；疯人院 | |
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140
rumour
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| n.谣言，谣传，传闻 | |
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141
deterring
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| v.阻止，制止( deter的现在分词 ) | |
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142
celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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144
pious
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| adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的 | |
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145
blasphemy
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| n.亵渎，渎神 | |
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146
lewdness
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| n. 淫荡, 邪恶 | |
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147
uproar
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| n.骚动，喧嚣，鼎沸 | |
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148
vending
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| v.出售（尤指土地等财产）( vend的现在分词 )；（尤指在公共场所）贩卖；发表（意见，言论）；声明 | |
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149
satire
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| n.讽刺，讽刺文学，讽刺作品 | |
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150
humane
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| adj.人道的，富有同情心的 | |
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151
exertions
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| n.努力( exertion的名词复数 )；费力；（能力、权力等的）运用；行使 | |
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152
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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153
diminution
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| n.减少；变小 | |
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154
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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155
disturbance
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| n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调 | |
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156
conclusive
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| adj.最后的，结论的；确凿的，消除怀疑的 | |
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157
conclusively
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| adv.令人信服地，确凿地 | |
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158
dealing
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| n.经商方法，待人态度 | |
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159
affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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160
statistical
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| adj.统计的，统计学的 | |
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161
professing
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| 声称( profess的现在分词 )； 宣称； 公开表明； 信奉 | |
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162
repeal
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| n.废止，撤消；v.废止，撤消 | |
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163
repealed
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| 撤销，废除( repeal的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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164
repealing
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| 撤销，废除( repeal的现在分词 ) | |
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165
inefficient
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| adj.效率低的，无效的 | |
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166
contagion
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| n.(通过接触的疾病)传染；蔓延 | |
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167
forgeries
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| 伪造( forgery的名词复数 )； 伪造的文件、签名等 | |
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168
shudder
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| v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动 | |
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169
amendment
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| n.改正，修正，改善，修正案 | |
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170
judicial
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| adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的 | |
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171
lament
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| n.悲叹，悔恨，恸哭；v.哀悼，悔恨，悲叹 | |
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172
incompatible
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| adj.不相容的，不协调的，不相配的 | |
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173
deference
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| n.尊重，顺从；敬意 | |
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174
eminent
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| adj.显赫的，杰出的，有名的，优良的 | |
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175
deduction
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| n.减除，扣除，减除额；推论，推理，演绎 | |
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176
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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177
liking
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| n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢 | |
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178
proficiency
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| n.精通，熟练，精练 | |
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179
Partisanship
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| n. 党派性, 党派偏见 | |
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180
votaries
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| n.信徒( votary的名词复数 )；追随者；（天主教）修士；修女 | |
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181
discourse
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| n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述 | |
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182
jeopardy
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| n.危险；危难 | |
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183
wry
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| adj.讽刺的；扭曲的 | |
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184
chancellor
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| n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长 | |
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185
linen
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| n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的 | |
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186
bleaching
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| 漂白法，漂白 | |
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187
solicitor
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| n.初级律师，事务律师 | |
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188
dismal
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| adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的 | |
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189
stifling
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| a.令人窒息的 | |
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190
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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191
shrieks
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| n.尖叫声( shriek的名词复数 )v.尖叫( shriek的第三人称单数 ) | |
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192
faltering
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| 犹豫的，支吾的，蹒跚的 | |
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193
awfully
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| adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地 | |
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194
destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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195
suppliants
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| n.恳求者，哀求者( suppliant的名词复数 ) | |
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196
wig
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| n.假发 | |
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197
subdued
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| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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198
adverse
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| adj.不利的；有害的；敌对的，不友好的 | |
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199
scruple
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| n./v.顾忌，迟疑 | |
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200
nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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201
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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202
inflict
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| vt.(on)把…强加给，使遭受，使承担 | |
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203
groans
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| n.呻吟，叹息( groan的名词复数 )；呻吟般的声音v.呻吟( groan的第三人称单数 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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204
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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205
ascertained
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| v.弄清，确定，查明( ascertain的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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206
imputation
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| n.归罪，责难 | |
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207
demonstration
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| n.表明，示范，论证，示威 | |
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208
doom
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| n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定 | |
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209
effaced
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| v.擦掉( efface的过去式和过去分词 )；抹去；超越；使黯然失色 | |
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210
parricide
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| n.杀父母；杀亲罪 | |
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211
deposing
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| v.罢免( depose的现在分词 )；（在法庭上）宣誓作证 | |
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212
hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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213
deposes
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| v.罢免( depose的第三人称单数 )；（在法庭上）宣誓作证 | |
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214
extravagant
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| adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的 | |
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215
inflicted
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| 把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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216
assent
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| v.批准，认可；n.批准，认可 | |
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217
innocence
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| n.无罪；天真；无害 | |
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218
purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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219
baron
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| n.男爵；(商业界等)巨头，大王 | |
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220
inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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221
vigilant
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| adj.警觉的，警戒的，警惕的 | |
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222
wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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223
awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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224
ferocious
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| adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的 | |
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225
callous
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| adj.无情的，冷淡的，硬结的，起老茧的 | |
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226
recollect
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| v.回忆，想起，记起，忆起，记得 | |
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227
component
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| n.组成部分，成分，元件；adj.组成的，合成的 | |
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228
shambles
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| n.混乱之处；废墟 | |
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229
licentious
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| adj.放纵的，淫乱的 | |
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230
prosecutions
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| 起诉( prosecution的名词复数 )； 原告； 实施； 从事 | |
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231
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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232
inefficiency
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| n.无效率，无能；无效率事例 | |
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233
deferred
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| adj.延期的，缓召的v.拖延，延缓，推迟( defer的过去式和过去分词 )；服从某人的意愿，遵从 | |
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234
repudiation
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| n.拒绝；否认；断绝关系；抛弃 | |
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235
wields
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| 手持着使用（武器、工具等）( wield的第三人称单数 )； 具有； 运用（权力）； 施加（影响） | |
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236
commentator
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| n.注释者，解说者；实况广播评论员 | |
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237
scriptures
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| 经文，圣典( scripture的名词复数 )； 经典 | |
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238
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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239
veneration
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| n.尊敬，崇拜 | |
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240
justify
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| vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护 | |
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241
testament
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| n.遗嘱；证明 | |
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242
annul
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| v.宣告…无效，取消，废止 | |
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243
doctrine
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| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
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244
vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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245
saviour
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| n.拯救者，救星 | |
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246
offender
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| n.冒犯者，违反者，犯罪者 | |
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247
mosaic
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| n./adj.镶嵌细工的，镶嵌工艺品的，嵌花式的 | |
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248
lawfulness
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| 法制，合法 | |
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249
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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250
manly
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| adj.有男子气概的；adv.男子般地，果断地 | |
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251
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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252
specimens
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| n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人 | |
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253
allude
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| v.提及，暗指 | |
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254
abhorred
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| v.憎恶( abhor的过去式和过去分词 )；（厌恶地）回避；拒绝；淘汰 | |
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255
villain
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| n.反派演员，反面人物；恶棍；问题的起因 | |
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256
petitioners
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| n.请求人，请愿人( petitioner的名词复数 )；离婚案原告 | |
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