The Wolf was hanged this morning, gentlemen, and some zoophytes took good care to avail themselves of the opportunity for a demonstration in favour of the abolition of capital punishment. I confess that their arguments have little effect on me. I cannot conceive why they made so much fuss to save a wretch who destroyed his brother. It is to punish him more severely, they say, that they would permit him to live! How they deceive themselves! The convict always cherishes the consoling hope of being one day able to escape. It may be he will settle down contentedly to the undisturbed round of prison life. From a wretched outcast who gained a precarious subsistence by crime, he comes to take pleasure in his banishment. The burden of care has been lifted from his back. His wants are provided for by the State, and he need no longer dread the horrors of dying from hunger. The punishment inflicted has given him at last a recognised position in society. If the penalty of death is to cease to be carried into effect, the nations {306} of Europe, and the world at large, must commence by the abolition of war, for on the field of battle thousands of innocent lives are sacrificed as the penalty of the guilt or misgovernment of a single individual. Let kings and emperors so raise the moral tone of their statesmen and subjects as to enable them practically to carry out the Divine command, “Thou shalt not kill.” Twenty-two different portraits of the Wolf were issued, no one of them resembling another, yet all guaranteed likenesses. [Illustration] The complete account of the trial, drawn up by a clever shorthand writer, was sold by thousands. The memory of the Wolf was also enshrined in verse and recited in the streets. I. “Give ear, Jays, Hawks, and Magpies, Attend, all Kites and Crows, {307} A story we shall now unfold More black than ye suppose. II. “The story of a guilty deed, For harpies vile befitted, Which cunning Wolf with crafty tongue And keen-edged tooth committed. III. “A tender Lamb one joyous morn Beside its mother played, The Wolf came creeping up And friendliest greeting made. IV. “The Ewe responsive welcome gave, The Wolf lay down to sleep, But soon he started up again And slew that trustful Sheep. V. “ ‘Help, mother dear!’ the Lambkin cried, But oh! its cry was vain, With cruel fangs the unsparing Wolf Straight clove its neck in twain. VI. “But never while misdeeds abound Shall wakeful vengeance fail, Two Watch-Dogs bold, who guard the fold, That guilty Wolf assail. VII. “ ‘Now, comrades,’ cries the wily Wolf, ‘Some healing balm obtain, In yonder cave ‘tis stored;’ but soon He found such tricks were vain. VIII.