Free eBooks at Planet eBook.com 1gentlemen of the jury. And I swear, by finding him guilty
you will only make it easier for him: you will ease his con-
science, he will curse the blood he has shed and will not
regret it. At the same time you will destroy in him the pos-
sibility of becoming a new man, for he will remain in his
wickedness and blindness all his life.
‘But do you want to punish him fearfully, terribly, with
the most awful punishment that could be imagined, and
at the same time to save him and regenerate his soul? If so,
overwhelm him with your mercy! You will see, you will
hear how he will tremble and be horror-struck. ‘How can I
endure this mercy? How can I endure so much love? Am I
worthy of it?’ That’s what he will exclaim.
‘Oh, I know, I know that heart, that wild but grateful
heart, gentlemen of the jury! It will bow before your mer-
cy; it thirsts for a great and loving action, it will melt and
mount upwards. There are souls which, in their limitation,
blame the whole world. But subdue such a soul with mercy,
show it love, and it will curse its past, for there are many
good impulses in it. Such a heart will expand and see that
God is merciful and that men are good and just. He will
be horror-stricken; he will be crushed by remorse and the
vast obligation laid upon him henceforth. And he will not
say then, ‘I am quits,’ but will say, ‘I am guilty in the sight
of all men and am more unworthy than all.’ With tears of
penitence and poignant, tender anguish, he will exclaim:
‘Others are better than I, they wanted to save me, not to ruin
me!’ Oh, this act of mercy is so easy for you, for in the ab-
sence of anything like real evidence it will be too awful for