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CIKCUM8TANCK8.
VOL. VII,
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justify thu actions occasioned by them,
yet, if sutlloiontly considered, tlicy would
materially change- our judgments. "Cir
cuiustunccs alter cases." If you and I
hud boon surrounded by the same inllu.
uncus as that convict, the probabilities are,
that to-day, we shtuld be guilty of the
same crime. If the convict hud been
reared by your parents, m the same man
ner in which you were brought up, he
would now be as upright as you are. It
is impossible for one who has never been
tempted by a similar exposure, to judge a
fallen man in accordance with humanity.
How strangely constituted is the hu
man mind! In judging our fellow men,
we neglect all palliating circumstances,
such us poverty, want, lack of proper
training, and innumerable temptations;
so we conclude that a certain man is uat
urally bad. Hut when wu want to estab
lish the guilt or innocence of a man, we
consider all such, and do they count for
him? No, against him. Circumstantial
evidence is almost as strong as direct evi
dence, and partly owing to the ease with
which it can be manufactured, is much
more frequently used, than even stronger
evidence. Men are sent to the State's
prison for life, or arc deprived of life
oven, on mere circumstantial evidence.
1 do not wisli to decry this kind of uvi.
dunce. I am well aware that without
it justice and order couid not bu main
tained, and that society in its various
forms could not exist. But I would ecu.
sure the partial manner in which man
kind use it. I would censure the prac
tice of condeming a man without allow
ing his lack of early training, his tuinpta
tions, and the evil inlluuneusby which he
has been surrounded, to plead in his
favor. More strongly do 1 censure the
practice of allowing those same things to
have so much weight against an accused
purson.
A man is charged witli murder. It is
shown in the evidence thathu is ignorant,
rude, despised ui.d poor: thu murdered
man is rich. It is known ilia! ho had a
favorable opportunity for connniting the
deed. All these things weight heavily
against him in the minds of tiiu jurymen.
This could not bu otherwise. But ought
these circumstances to testify against him
when we are considering him as n mnn?
No, but thev should rather plead for him.
To a greater extent than most of us
imagine, the crimes, sins, and errors of
the age, are the direct results of circum
stances. Protestants are accustomed to
look with pity upon Catholics; pity for
the hopelessness of their condition. The
Catholic regards the Protestant as no
christian. Each class thinks the other is
wrong, and wonders how it can uphold
such a system of religion. What causes
their differences of opinion? Circvun.
stances. The child born of Protestant
parents becomes a Protestant. Thu chil
dren of Catholic parents almost invariably
embrace Catholicism. Circumstances of
which we have no control make us Pro
testant or Catholic. Why, then, is there
so much bitterness between tl.u two sects?
I have heard young men express aston
ishment that slavery ever existed in so
enlightened a country as this, saying that
never could they have upheld an insti
tution so utterly incompatible with their
principles. If, while slavery uxistud in
this country, these young men had been
born lu Georgia, to an inheritance of two
hundred ilaves each, would they have
the same principles they now have? If
the homes of Phillips and Stevens hud
been exchanged, can any one doubt Unit
the opinions and actions in regard to
slavery would have been exactly opposite
to what they were? Why, then, is the
South so bitter against thu Nortli ? Why
do the Northern people regard their
countrymen of the South with so much
distrust? Circumstances moulded the
opinions of the Northern men; different
ciicumstaiiccs moulded thu opinions of
Southern men. If the moulds had been
exchanged, one for the other, thu opinions
of thu men of eacli section would have
been the reverse of what they now are.