When we stop and contemplate the enormity of “Man’s inhumanity to man,” as recorded in the lessons of the past, “the marvel is that man can smile, dreaming his ghostly, ghastly dream.” The basis of such misanthropy lies in the fact that criminals have been treated as enemies, to such an extent that mankind has warred upon them and committed deeds of war, when, in point of fact, the alleged criminal, frequently was less guilty than his judges, and, if guilty, he was only a mistaken man, needing correction, but not torture or death, to teach him the better path to tread. Would that future generations might be fully emancipated from the selfish creed which calls that good, which works _me_ weal and holds that ill, which _me_ alone doth harm or hurt. For our lives, like ravelled skeins, cross back and forth, connect and blend, “They change with place, they shift with race; and, in the veriest span of Time, Each Vice has worn a Virtue’s crown; all Good was banned as Sin or Crime.” FOOTNOTES: [1] Justice is the bond which keeps the interest of individuals united and without this virtue men would return to their original state of barbarity. Marquis Beccaria, on “Crimes and Punishments,” 9. Carlyle has well said: “Cruel is the panther of the woods, the she-bear, bereaved of her whelps; but there is in man a hatred crueler than that.” [2] Beccaria’s “Crimes and Punishments,” p. 41. The three theories regarding lawful punishment, are, retribution, prevention and reformation. According to the first of these theories, the object of punishment is the vindication of the law upon the offender, by the infliction of such pain or penalty as his crime deserves, hence, the motto for this theory, might be properly said to be Justice. The second idea, makes prevention of further crime, the sole object, the criminal being placed where he can do no further wrong to society, and the motto of this school of legal philosophers, can therefore properly be said to be protection. The third and by far the most philanthropic doctrine of punishment regards the object of correction as the primary one to be attained and that all punishment should cease when the criminal has been reformed. The motto for the last school of philosophy, might properly be said to be Brotherly Love. [3] Rawlinson’s “Ancient Monarchies.” [4] Genesis, XL., 19, 22. [5] Matthew, XIV., 8, 10. [6] Acts, XII., 2. [7] Revelation, XX., 4. A common punishment during the French Revolution. [8] Genesis, XXXVIII., 24. [9] Leviticus, XXI., 9. [10] Leviticus, XX., 14. [11] John’s “Babylonian Laws,” etc., Josephus; Matthew, XVIII., 6. The Emperor Tiberius, after torturing the victims of his wrath, cast them into the sea, where they were drowned. Sueton. Tiberii, lxii; Lea, “Superstition and Force,” (3 ed.) p. 377.