"
And he used to think: "I have justified myself to myself all along. I
was never one who considered human life so sacred as some try to make
out. Why should it be? Aren't we proved to be animals--along with the
rest? The parsons own it nowadays themselves, allowing a man's soul to
be what God counts most important, but not going so far as to say any
animal's soul isn't immortal too. Then where's the sacredness? If it's
right to kill a vicious dog or a poisonous snake, how is it so wrong
to out a man that won't behave himself?"
Insensibly this consideration had the greatest possible effect on his
conduct. Without advancing step by step in a reasoned progress, he
understood that any one holding his views on human life generally
should not attach an excessive value to his own individual life. He
must carry his life lightly, and be ready to lay it down without a lot
of fuss. Sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. He acted on the
maxim, risking his life freely, courting dangers that he would have
avoided in the days before the day on which he executed Mr. Barradine.
Executed--yes. But God would not have authorized him, although Judge
Lynch would. God would say: "It must be left to Me. I will attend to
it in My own good time.
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