Chapter 1 No.1

Considerámos já em si a pena de morte: vimos que nenhuma sanc??o tinha nos principios constitutivos da sociedade; antes era, em respeito a elles, um absurdo contradictorio. Falta examinar a quest?o pelo lado da necessidade: vêr, se como quer De Maistre, todo o poder, grandeza e subordina??o repousam no algoz; e se a espada da justi?a deve estar sempre desembaínhada para amea?ar e ferir de morte.

Tirai, diz aquelle fautor e apologista do despotismo, tirai do mundo o carrasco, esse agente incomprehensivel, e no mesmo instante a ordem se trocará em cháos, os ermos soverter-se-h?o, a sociedade desapparecerá.

é esta a linguagem de um dos mais habeis propugnadores do absolutismo na Europa. Foi este o resultado rigorosamente logico que elle deduziu dos seus principios politicos. Qual será a deduc??o de principios contrarios, de principios liberaes? Parece que a opposta. E com effeito foi a que delles deduzimos no antecedente artigo: vejamos agora qual a necessidade e a utilidade social da pena de morte.

E um facto ahi está-um facto perenne e innegavel-a historia criminal dos povos modernos, comparada com a frequencia dos supplicios. N?o falaremos de épochas de convuls?es politicas; porque a exalta??o das paix?es converte ent?o o homem em anjo de heroismo e resigna??o, ou em demonio de barbaria e vileza: mas consideremos os tempos ordinarios de cada sociedade, seja qual f?r a sua fórma politica de existir; vejamos se o cadafalso serve, em verdade, para reprimir crimes, porque, na falta de outros meios para alcan?ar aquelle fim, elle seria uma necessidade pública.

Como n?o é possível chamar a juizo a historia de todas as na??es da Europa, até porque escaceiam os apontamentos estatisticos desta especie na maior parte dellas, olhemos só para a Fran?a e Inglaterra.

Na Fran?a é indubitavel que ha uma repugnancia visivel á commina??o da pena de morte: a guilhotina, t?o rica de victimas durante a revolu??o, quasi que se vê hoje abandonada; e se muitas vezes a brandura e a philosophia faltam nas leis, est?o no caràcter do povo, e na consciencia dos juizes.

A Inglaterra foi no século XVIII, e ainda nos segundos dez annos do reinado de Jorge III, o país classico da f?rca, e a pena capital, segundo Mr. Phillips, dava a Londres umas parecen?as de a?ougue; hoje a Inglaterra está longe desta crueldade, mas ainda excede muito a Fran?a no numero das execu??es annuaes.

Em Fran?a, segundo um relatorio do ministro da justi?a, de 1829, vê-se que num anno, de 4475 criminosos julgados, tinham sido condemnados á morte só 89. No anno de 1833 aquelle país, tendo crescido em popula??o tinha diminuido em criminosos, pois só houve 4418, dos quaes apenas 74 foram condemnados á pena última.

Todos sabem que a popula??o da Inglaterra é bastante inferior á da Fran?a. A somma dos criminosos convencidos na Gr?-Bretanha era de pouco mais de 10:000 em 1829, sendo destes condemnados á pena última 1:311. Em 1832 houve 14:947 senten?as; n?o sabemos quantas de morte: mas basta-nos saber que a pena última imposta á nona parte dos criminosos em Inglaterra, em 1829, sendo em Fran?a, no mesmo anno, imposta á quinquagesima parte delles, n?o embara?ou que naquelle país a criminalidade fosse em progresso, emquanto neste foi em diminui??o.

Que prova isto? Que o supplício nada influe nas ac??es dos homens: que se devem buscar as causas que os levam a perpetrar delictos, para as remover, emvez de erguer cadafalsos, que destroem o criminoso, mas n?o impediram que elle o fosse. Um homem honrado ultrajado, n?o dista um passo de ser um assassino: n?o espereis que elle o seja, para depois o enforcardes: dai-lhe leis que tomem a seu cargo desaffrontá-lo. Um desgra?ado, rodeado de filhos, sem ter um bocado de p?o que lhes dê, vai converter-se num salteador da via pública; n?o espereis que elle o seja para depois o enforcardes: abri ao povo o caminho de ganhar a vida na lavoura, no commercio ou na industria, e os salteadores desapparecer?o. Uma crean?a de tenra idade mostra índole perversa, annuncia para a idade viril um malvado: moderai-lhe e torcei-lhe essa índole na infancia, creando uma educa??o pública, que n?o existe; n?o espereis que ella seja homem e criminoso, para depois a enforcades: guiai bem a mocidade e os crimes rarear?o.

Virá alguem com dizer que no estado actual da sociedade, existindo essas causas de crimes que apontámos, n?o é possivel apagar dos códigos criminaes as leis escriptas com sangue? P?r esta objec??o será daqui a cincoenta annos uma vergonha: ha tambem cincoenta annos que se julgava impossivel sustentar colonias sem o tráfico dos negros: quem, sem córar, se atreverá a dizê-lo hoje? Ainda ha pouquissimos séculos, os tractos e as fogueiras eram no entender de muitos politicos instrumentos necessarios da existencia social. No tempo dos hebreus era considerado o exterminio de ra?as inteiras como outro elemento da sociedade. Se conhecessemos a historia primitiva do género-humano, talvez lá achássemos ainda mais horriveis necessidades sociaes.

Felizmente o progresso intellectual e moral n?o pára: a última preocupa??o das épochas de barbaridade passará: a palavra algoz chegará a ser um archaismo: e os cadafalsos apodrecidos e roídos dos vermes ser?o algum dia, um monumento dos delirios e erros do passado.

A IMPRENSA

You'll also like

He Thought I Was A Doormat, Until I Ruined Him

SHANA GRAY

4.5

The sterile white of the operating room blurred, then sharpened, as Skye Sterling felt the cold clawing its way up her body. The heart monitor flatlined, a steady, high-pitched whine announcing her end. Her uterus had been removed, a desperate attempt to stop the bleeding, but the blood wouldn't clot. It just kept flowing, warm and sticky, pooling beneath her. Through heavy eyes, she saw a trembling nurse holding a phone on speaker. "Mr. Kensington," the nurse's voice cracked, "your wife... she's critical." A pause, then a sweet, poisonous giggle. Seraphina Miller. "Liam is in the shower," Seraphina's voice purred. "Stop calling, Skye. It's pathetic. Faking a medical emergency on our anniversary? Even for you, that's low." Then, Liam's bored voice: "If she dies, call the funeral home. I have a meeting in the morning." Click. The line went dead. A second later, so did Skye. The darkness that followed was absolute, suffocating, a black ocean crushing her lungs. She screamed into the void, a silent, agonizing wail of regret for loving a man who saw her as a nuisance, for dying without ever truly living. Until she died, she didn't understand. Why was her life so tragically wasted? Why did her husband, the man she loved, abandon her so cruelly? The injustice of it all burned hotter than the fever in her body. Then, the air rushed back in. Skye gasped, her body convulsing violently on the mattress. Her eyes flew open, wide and terrified, staring blindly into the darkness. Her trembling hand reached for her phone. May 12th. Five years ago. She was back.

His Unwanted Wife, The World's Coveted Genius

Derk Blaylock

4.5

Rumors said that Lucas married an unattractive woman with no background. In the three years they were together, he remained cold and distant to Belinda, who endured in silence. Her love for him forced her to sacrifice her self-worth and her dreams. When Lucas' true love reappeared, Belinda realized that their marriage was a sham from the start, a ploy to save another woman's life. She signed the divorce papers and left. Three years later, Belinda returned as a surgical prodigy and a maestro of the piano. Lost in regret, Lucas chased her in the rain and held her tightly. "You are mine, Belinda."

Marrying Her Was Easy, Losing Her Was Hell

Michael Tretter

4.5

"Stella once savored Marc's devotion, yet his covert cruelty cut deep. She torched their wedding portrait at his feet while he sent flirty messages to his mistress. With her chest tight and eyes blazing, Stella delivered a sharp slap. Then she deleted her identity, signed onto a classified research mission, vanished without a trace, and left him a hidden bombshell. On launch day she vanished; that same dawn Marc's empire crumbled. All he unearthed was her death certificate, and he shattered. When they met again, a gala spotlighted Stella beside a tycoon. Marc begged. With a smirk, she said, ""Out of your league, darling."

A Divorce He Regrets

Alissa Nexus

4.8

The day Raina gave birth should have been the happiest of her life. Instead, it became her worst nightmare. Moments after delivering their twins, Alexander shattered her heart-divorcing her and forcing her to sign away custody of their son, Liam. With nothing but betrayal and heartbreak to her name, Raina disappeared, raising their daughter, Ava, on her own.Years later, fate comes knocking when Liam falls gravely ill. Desperate to save his son, Alexander is forced to seek out the one person he once cast aside. Alexander finds himself face to face with the woman he underestimated, pleading for a second chance-not just for himself, but for their son. But Raina is no longer the same broken woman who once loved him.No longer the woman he left behind. She has carved out a new life-one built on strength, wealth, and a long-buried legacy she expected to uncover.Raina has spent years learning to live without him.The question is... Will she risk reopening old wounds to save the son she never got to love? or has Alexander lost her forever?

The Bride He Cast Away on Their Wedding Night

PageProfit Studio

4.9

In the glittering world of high society and cutthroat ambition, a single sentence shatters a marriage: "Let's get a divorce." For three years, Claire Thompson has lived in exile, her marriage to the powerful Nelson Cooper a hollow shell existing only on paper. Shipped abroad on her wedding day and utterly forgotten, she returns only to be handed divorce papers. But Claire is no longer the timid, heartbroken girl she once was. Behind her quiet facade lies a woman transformed, secretly rejoicing at her newfound freedom. However, freedom comes with a price. As Claire signs the papers with relief, a chilling phone call reveals a dark truth: the threats she faced overseas were no accident, and the trail leads shockingly close to home-to the family that raised her and the husband who discarded her. Just as she prepares to sever all ties, a twist of fate pulls her back into the gilded cage. Nelson, for reasons unknown, suddenly stalls the divorce. Meanwhile, the family that disowned her and the fragile, manipulative sister who stole her life are determined to ruin her reputation and drive her out for good. But Claire is playing a different game now. With a mysterious new identity, powerful allies, and secrets of her own, she is no one's pawn. As hidden truths unravel and loyalties are tested, a stunning question emerges: In this high-stakes battle of love, betrayal, and revenge, who is truly trapping whom?

THE LYCAN KING'S TREASURED LUNA

Jhasmheen Oneal

5.0

Narine never expected to survive. Not after what was done to her body, mind, and soul. But fate had other plans. Rescued by Supreme Alpha Sargis, the kingdom's most feared ruler, she finds herself under the protection of a man she doesn't know... and a bond she doesn't understand. Sargis is no stranger to sacrifice. Ruthless, ambitious, and loyal to the sacred matebond, he's spent years searching for the soul fate promised him, never imagining she would come to him broken, on the brink of death, and afraid of her own shadow. He never meant to fall for her... but he does. Hard and fast. And he'll burn the world before letting anyone hurt her again. What begins in silence between two fractured souls slowly grows into something intimate and real. But healing is never linear. With the court whispering, the past clawing at their heels, and the future hanging by a thread, their bond is tested again and again. Because falling in love is one thing. Surviving it? That's a war of its own. Narine must decide, can she survive being loved by a man who burns like fire, when all she's ever known is how not to feel? Will she shrink for the sake of peace, or rise as Queen for the sake of his soul? For readers who believe even the most fractured souls can be whole again, and that true love doesn't save you. It stands beside you while you save yourself.

Opúsculos por Alexandre Herculano - Tomo 08

Contents

Chapter 1 No.1

Other books by Alexandre Herculano

Opúsculos por Alexandre Herculano - Tomo I

Opúsculos por Alexandre Herculano - Tomo II

Opúsculos por Alexandre Herculano - Tomo VII

Eurico o presbytero