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Letter to Editor
September 19, 1766
The New Hampshire Gazette And Historical Chronicle
Portsmouth, Greenland, Rockingham County, New Hampshire
What is this article about?
A letter to the printers of the Massachusetts-Gazette expresses horror at the severe sentence on William Pendergast for crimes including treason, burglary, and riots, questioning the lack of specific details and urging transparency to prevent inquisitorial secrecy and cruelty.
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OCR Quality
95%
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Full Text
From the Massachusetts-Gazette, of Sept. 11.
Messrs. Drapers,
LOOKING over the Papers of Monday last, I was struck with Horror on reading the Sentence past upon the unhappy William Pendergast.—(See our last Paper, under New-York Head) Such an unusual Severity we are Strangers to in these Lands, and GOD grant we ever may be so !—It is a noble Saying of the great Cicero, "Homo sum et nihil humanum a me alienum puto," and I believe it is very natural to feel extream Tenderness towards an Object that we apprehend to be treated with unwarrantable Asperity.
It should seem by the several Indictments, that this William Pendergast has been a high-handed Offender; if so I should have imagined his Crimes would have been notorious :—But it is the universal Question, and expressed with the most feeling Solicitude, What has the poor Man been guilty of ? Such a general Charge of Treason, Burglary, Riots, Assaults, &c. &c. is by no Means satisfactory. I hope we are not going to adopt the Maxims of Secrecy and Cruelty of the Infernal Inquisition: The World has a Right to a particular Information; such unheard-of Rigour in the Punishment is alarming beyond Measure: and if the Severities inflicted upon an Individual are beneficial to the State, it is necessary that we be acquainted with the Evil, that we may not fall into the same Condemnation.
Messrs. Drapers,
LOOKING over the Papers of Monday last, I was struck with Horror on reading the Sentence past upon the unhappy William Pendergast.—(See our last Paper, under New-York Head) Such an unusual Severity we are Strangers to in these Lands, and GOD grant we ever may be so !—It is a noble Saying of the great Cicero, "Homo sum et nihil humanum a me alienum puto," and I believe it is very natural to feel extream Tenderness towards an Object that we apprehend to be treated with unwarrantable Asperity.
It should seem by the several Indictments, that this William Pendergast has been a high-handed Offender; if so I should have imagined his Crimes would have been notorious :—But it is the universal Question, and expressed with the most feeling Solicitude, What has the poor Man been guilty of ? Such a general Charge of Treason, Burglary, Riots, Assaults, &c. &c. is by no Means satisfactory. I hope we are not going to adopt the Maxims of Secrecy and Cruelty of the Infernal Inquisition: The World has a Right to a particular Information; such unheard-of Rigour in the Punishment is alarming beyond Measure: and if the Severities inflicted upon an Individual are beneficial to the State, it is necessary that we be acquainted with the Evil, that we may not fall into the same Condemnation.
What sub-type of article is it?
Emotional
Persuasive
Ethical Moral
What themes does it cover?
Crime Punishment
Morality
What keywords are associated?
William Pendergast
Severe Sentence
Treason
Burglary
Riots
Transparency
Inquisition
Justice
What entities or persons were involved?
Messrs. Drapers
Letter to Editor Details
Recipient
Messrs. Drapers
Main Argument
the severe sentence on william pendergast for unspecified crimes like treason and burglary is horrifying and unjust without public details; transparency is essential to avoid secrecy and cruelty akin to the inquisition.
Notable Details
Quotes Cicero: 'Homo Sum Et Nihil Humanum A Me Alienum Puto'
References The Infernal Inquisition As A Model Of Secrecy And Cruelty