I would treat culprits like Tantia Topee, Nena Sahib, Bahadoor Khan, the Nawab of Bandah, &c., much in the same way as the convicts of Norfolk Island were treated in former days—make death the first favour for which they should crave, and the last which should be granted unto them; but with this difference, that if they murdered each other, the hope of ending their days for the deed should be a vain one. To hang such men is to frustrate the end and real object of all punishment, which is to deter others from the commission of the same offence. When such men are exterminated they are speedily forgotten, and their end is not regarded as an example for the prevention of evil; but so long as they are living, and suffering what to them is far worse than death, the case is otherwise. Be it known, however, that I am not an advocate for the abolition of capital punishment in this country for the crime of murder. The gallows, judiciously used, is, in my humble judgment, a very wholesome terror.
THE END.
LONDON:
SAVILL AND EDWARDS, PRINTERS,
CHANDOS STREET.
Transcriber's Notes
Obvious errors of punctuation and diacritics repaired.
The following alternate spellings have not been changed: "sanitarium" / "sanatarium", "Hindostan(ee)" / "Hindoostan(ee)".
Variants of "Goorkha" were changed to that spelling (pp. 21, 311, 409).
Hyphen removed: Deyrah Dhoon (p. 26), mantelpiece (p. 106).