第10章

But I saw a grim smile pass over the seared visage of a stately oldcommander- by his war-worn figure and rich military dress, he mighthave been one of Napoleon's famous marshals- who, with the rest of theworld's soldiery, had just flung away the sword that had been familiarto his right hand for half a century.

"Aye, aye!" grumbled he. "Let them proclaim what they please;but, in the end, we shall find that all this foolery has only mademore work for the armorers and cannon-founders.""Why, sir," exclaimed I, in astonishment, "do you imagine thatthe human race will ever so far return on the steps of its pastmadness as to weld another sword, or cast another cannon?""There will be no need," observed, with a sneer, one who neitherfelt benevolence, nor had faith in it. "When Cain wished to slay hisbrother, he was at no loss for a weapon.""We shall see," replied the veteran commander. "If I am mistaken,so much the better; but in my opinion- without pretending tophilosophize about the matter- the necessity of war lies far deeperthan these honest gentlemen suppose. What! Is there a field for allthe petty disputes of individuals, and shall there be no greatlaw-court for the settlement of national difficulties? Thebattle-field is the only court where such suits can be tried!""You forget, general," rejoined I, "that, in this advanced stage ofcivilization, Reason and Philanthropy combined will constitute justsuch a tribunal as is requisite.""Ah, I had forgotten that, indeed!" said the old warrior, as helimped away.

The fire was now to be replenished with materials that had hithertobeen considered of even greater importance to the well-being ofsociety, than the warlike munitions which we had already seenconsumed. A body of reformers had travelled all over the earth, inquest of the machinery by which the different nations wereaccustomed to inflict the punishment of death. A shudder passedthrough the multitude, as these ghastly emblems were draggedforward. Even the flames seemed at first to shrink away, displayingthe shape and murderous contrivance of each in a full blaze oflight, which, of itself, was sufficient to convince mankind of thelong and deadly error of human law. Those old implements of cruelty-those horrible monsters of mechanism- those inventions which it seemedto demand something worse than man's natural heart to contrive, andwhich had lurked in the dusky nooks of ancient prisons, the subject ofterror-stricken legend- were now brought forth to view. Headsmen'saxes, with the rust of noble and royal blood upon them, and a vastcollection of halters that had choked the breath of plebeianvictims, were thrown in together. A shout greeted the arrival of theguillotine, which was thrust forward on the same wheels that had borneit from one to another of the blood-stained streets of Paris. Butthe loudest roar of applause went up, telling the distant sky of thetriumph of the earth's redemption, when the gallows made itsappearance. An ill-looking fellow, however, rushed forward, and,putting himself in the path of the reformers, bellowed hoarsely, andfought with brute fury to stay their progress.

It was little matter of surprise, perhaps, that the executionershould thus do his best to vindicate and uphold the machinery by whichhe himself had his livelihood, and worthier individuals their death.

But it deserved special note, that men of a far different sphere- evenof that class in whose guardianship the world is apt to trust itsbenevolence- were found to take the hangman's view of the question.

"Stay, my brethren!" cried one of them. "You are misled by afalse philanthropy! you know not what you do. The gallows is aHeaven-ordained instrument! Bear it back, then, reverently, and set itup in its old place; else the world will fall to speedy ruin anddesolation!""Onward, onward!" shouted a leader in the reform. "Into theflames with the accursed instrument of man's bloody policy. How canhuman law inculcate benevolence and love, while it persists in settingup the gallows as its chief symbol! One heave more, good friends,and the world will be redeemed from its greatest error!"A thousand hands, that, nevertheless, loathed the touch, now lenttheir assistance, and thrust the ominous burthen far, far, into thecentre of the raging furnace. There its fatal and abhorred image wasbeheld, first black, then a red coal, then ashes.

"That was well done!" exclaimed I.

"Yes, it was well done," replied- but with less enthusiasm than Iexpected- the thoughtful observer who was still at my side; "welldone, if the world be good enough for the measure. Death, however,is an idea that cannot easily be dispensed with, in any conditionbetween the primal innocence and that other purity and perfection,which, perchance, we are destined to attain after travelling round thefull circle. But, at all events, it is well that the experiment shouldnow be tried.""Too cold! too cold!" impatiently exclaimed the young and ardentleader in this triumph. "Let the heart have its voice here, as well asthe intellect. And as for ripeness- and as for progress- let mankindalways do the highest, kindest, noblest thing that, at any givenperiod, it has attained the perception of; and surely that thingcannot be wrong, nor wrongly timed."I know not whether it were the excitement of the scene, orwhether the good people around the bonfire were really growing moreenlightened every instant; but they now proceeded to measures, inthe full length of which I was hardly prepared to keep them company.