Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Vol. 66, No 409, November 1849Various
History
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Vol. 66, No 409, November 1849
Various
England -- Periodicals; Scotland -- Periodicals
suspicions exist that a Hungarian minister was directly privy to that
act of dastardly and cruel murder. But there is no manner of doubt
at all as to the atrocities which were committed in Vienna when that
hapless city was in the hands of the red republicans and the Poles.
Pillage, murder, and violation were crimes of every-day occurrence,
and it is not wonderful if the memory of these wrongs has in some
instances goaded on the victors to a revenge which all must deplore.
As to the military executions which have taken place, we have a word
to say. The suppression of almost every revolt has been followed by
strong measures on the part of the conquerors, against those who
excited the insurrection. Our own history is full of them. Succeeding
generations, according to their estimate of the justness of the cause
which they espoused, have blamed, or pitied, or applauded the conduct
of the men who thus perilled and lost their lives; but the necessity
of such executions has rarely or never been questioned. We allude,
of course, to those who have been the leaders and instigators of the
movement, and upon whom the responsibility, and the expiation for
the blood which has been shed must fall; not to the subordinates who
ought to be, and almost always are, the proper objects of mercy. The
most ardent Jacobite, while he deplored the death, and vindicated the
principles of Lords Balmerino and Kilmarnock, never thought of blaming
the government of the day for having sent those devoted noblemen to
the block. But in their case the execution assumed the character of a
terrible national solemnity--not hastily enacted, but following after a
deliberate trial before unprejudiced judges, upon which the attention
and interest of the whole country was concentrated. And, therefore,
while posterity has been unanimous in expressing its abhorrence of the
bloody butcheries of William, Duke of Cumberland, after the battle
of Culloden, no reflection has been thrown upon the ministers of
George II. for having allowed the law to take its course against the
more prominent leaders of the rebellion, even though the sympathies
of many good men have been enlisted on the losing side. Now, we do
not hesitate to condemn most strongly the conduct of Austria on the
present occasion. No judicial process, so far as we can learn, has been
instituted against the captive chiefs, save that which is equivalent
to no process at all--the sentence of a court-martial. Except in cases
of the most absolute necessity, the functions of the soldier and the
judge ought never to be combined and confounded. When the flame of
civil war is once trodden out, the civil law ought immediately to
resume its wonted supremacy. Treason and rebellion are undoubtedly the
highest of all crimes; but, being the highest, it is therefore the more
necessary that they should be subjected to the gravest investigation;
so that in no way may the punishment inflicted, on account of a heinous
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account