The Imperfections of Human Government
The termination of what is probably the most sensational murder trial ever conducted in this country, gives occasion for some reflections on the imperfections of the machinery of human government, even in the most perfect government that men can devise. After a trial which involved an unprecedented expenditure of time and money, and the most careful and elaborate use of the legal machinery in the metropolis of the nation, the prisoner was adjudged guilty and sentenced to death. After spending four years in jail he is granted a new trial, and is acquitted. Two such opposite results, reached in the same court under the operation of the same law, coupled with the four years’ imprisonment of a man now declared innocent, constitute a strong comment on the imperfect character of that branch of the state government under which the proceedings were taken. As Christians, we desire a better government, and look forward to that true and perfect “government of the people by the people” which Christ is to establish on the earth at the close of the judgment day.