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SERMON XVIII.

MURDER.

BY THE REV. THOMAS SHAW, OF STAMFORD.

FOR FROM WITHIN, OUT OF THE HEART OF MEN, PROCEED
MURDERS."-MARK VII. 21.

Of late, awful crimes-deeds of blood-have been committed in our midst; deeds which, from their tragical character and circumstances of aggravation, have commanded the attention of the country at large, produced a deep and general sensation, and caused the public mind to thrill with horror. Those were dark days and lamentable periods in the history of our towns and villages, when the "feet" which were "swift to shed blood" sped on their murderous work. In those deeds we are all interested, though differently. They must engage the serious attention of the civil magistrate, who is "not a terror to good works, but to the evil," who "beareth not the sword in vain : for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil;" such deeds will be additional facts for the consideration of the political economist, whose important science demonstrates the inconvenience and

expensiveness of crime to the state, as well as to families and individuals. They will be chronicled by the historian, and remain a dark and uneffacable blot in the history of our land; and they must be noted also by the divine, whose office requires him to depict and denounce transgression, and to warn men of the dangers and evils of sin. We shall confine ourselves to that course of remark which is proper to the sacredness of the place we now occupy. It belongs to us at this time to consider the late fearful crimes, not in their judicial and economical, but in their moral or religious aspects. Murder is a dreadful crimein many respects the most appalling in the catalogue of evils-and we may take occasion, from our text, to consider

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What is murder? It is the taking of human life unlawfully. That human life may be lawfully taken, under certain circumstances, the highest authority teaches. But on a subject of so great importance, and where the dearest interests of man are involved, we need, in order to avoid a fearful guilt and responsibility, to be clearly satisfied of the lawfulness and necessity of the act. The Word of God mentions, at least, two instances in which, according to general opinion, human life may be taken: viz., in case of self-defence, where the life of another may be sacrificed in a defensive struggle, rendered absolutely necessary to the preservation of our own property or life. A sufficient warrant for this is given in the case of the thief, mentioned in Exodus xxii. 2: "If a thief be found breaking up, and be smitten that he die, there shall no

blood be shed for him."

But, in this instance, the death of the individual is presumed to be the result of accident and not of intention; or if of intention, the act of taking life must be simply the result of conviction that such a step was absolutely necessary to self-preservation in property, and if of property, much more of life: as if, in this case, the defender of his own property or life became the subject of malevolent passion, and committed a fatal act where a less injury would have sufficed for his preservation, or that of his family, or property, the deed would be murderous in the judgment of the Divine law. How far the principle of self-defence may apply to standing armies and wars we shall not presume to determine; though, if reason and Scripture sanction the act of self-defence in the case of individuals and families, it appears lawful, by fair analogy, that states should combine to protect themselves from their foes; but we can feel no hesitation in regarding many of the wars which have been carried on by even professedly Christian nations, as wholesale murders, and involving a fearful amount of national guilt. The second instance is that of murder (Gen. ix. 5, 6): "And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man. Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed for in the image of God made he man." This command is addressed to all men; and it is repeated by Solomon as a universal precept: "A man that doeth violence to the blood of any person shall flee to the pit; let no man stay him." (Prov. xxviii, 17.) The same law was incorporated with the Mosaic ritual; and, according to that institution, life might be taken in several cases. But, as it has been properly observed, the Jewish law is binding upon other nations only in those instances in

which, harmonizing with other parts of the Divine law contained in the Scriptures, it is clearly unchangeable and universal. The law which required life for life, blood for blood, was given long before the Jewish lawas early as the time of Noah; and was, in all probability, in existence long before that period, as may be gathered from the history of Cain, although the Divine Being thought proper, in that instance, to make an exception from the letter of his own rule, by substituting another and adequate penalty. If murder be taking human life unlawfully, then the murderous act extends to that life in all its stages; and, doubtless, those wretched women who destroy the fruit of the womb ere it has seen the light of day, are as certainly guilty of murder in the sight of God, as though they took the life of their offspring at a further and fully developed stage.

Now, if human life is rendered sacred by its Author, and may not be sacrificed, except in those few instances. which may be necessary to self-preservation, or for the punishment of that atrocious crime, murder, must we not shudder at the immorality and cruelty, not only of heathenism, but of some portions of Christendom, where weak, deformed, and helpless infancy, and decrepid age are wantonly destroyed; where human savages prey upon their fellow-men; and where, under the accursed system of slavery, the lives of men and women are often taken upon the slightest pretences, and to gratify the most contemptible passions; and that with impunity, so far as human law is concerned.

But while we behold with abhorrence and horror the crime of murder in its outward act, let us not forget that that act is only the development and consummation of the murderous conception in the heart. And that the evil intention, as it lies buried in the recesses of the soul

unperceived by human eye, is as certainly a transgression of the Divine law as the overt act. St. John instructs us on this point (1 John iii. 15): "Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer." The hatred of the heart is the same evil passion which moved Cain to murder his brother. Our blessed Lord most explicitly taught the same doctrine (Matt. v. 21, 22): "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: but I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire." Let us learn, therefore, how possible it is to be a murderer in heart, and consequently exposed to the vengeance of God, although we may be restrained from the external act and escape the infliction of punishment by man.

II. LET US CONSIDER THE AWFUL CHARACTER OF THIS CRIME—a crime which involves manifold and fearful evils, and which God and man concur to condemn, abhor, and punish.

1. It is the greatest personal injury that can be done to a fellow-creature—the deepest wrong that can be inflicted, or that malevolence can meditate; it is an inconceivable, because irreparable evil. Compared with any other personal injury, it acquires a fearful excess, an appalling magnitude. Life is the blessing man values more than all the things which appertain to this world. He may highly prize health, and character, and property; but "skin for skin, yea all that a man hath will he give for his life." Better, therefore, if we must have the choice of evils, that the tongue of slander were let loose and we were unjustly filched of our reputation; that the fire of the incendiary

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