Page:In defense of Harriet Shelley, and other essays.djvu/343

 FROM THE &quot;LONDON TIMES&quot;

precedent. It is upon precedents that the enduring edifice of jurisprudence is reared. The prisoner at the bar has been fairly and righteously condemned to death for the murder of the man Szczepanik, and, in my opinion, there is but one course to pursue in the matter: he must be hanged.&quot;

Mr. Justice Crawford said :

&quot;But, your Excellency, he was pardoned on the scaffold for that.&quot;

&quot;The pardon is not valid, and cannot stand, be cause he was pardoned for killing a man whom he had not killed. A man cannot be pardoned for a crime which he has not committed; it would be an absurdity.&quot;

&quot;But, your Excellency, he did kill a man.&quot;

&quot;That is an extraneous detail; we have nothing to do with it. The court cannot take up this crime until the prisoner has expiated the other one.&quot;

Mr. Justice Halleck said:

&quot;If we order his execution, your Excellency, we shall bring about a miscarriage of justice ; for the governor will pardon him again.&quot;

&quot;He will not have the pardon. He cannot pardon a man for a crime which he has not committed. As I observed before, it would be an absurdity.&quot;

After a consultation, Mr. Justice Wadsworth said :

&quot;Several of us have arrived at the conclusion, your Excellency, that it would be an error to hang the prisoner for killing Szczepanik, but only for killing the other man, since it is proven that he did not kill Szczepanik.&quot;

&quot;On the contrary, it is proven that he did kill

�� �