237. PETITION TO RETAIN THE DEATH PENALTY Rare printed petition, 2pp. legal folio, Cumberland Co., Pa., 1812, addressed to the State of Pennsylvania House and Senate in response to their consideration of a bill to outlaw capital punishment. In part: "...This terrible crime [murder] at which humanity shudders...has hitherto in Pennsylvania been checked and fettered...by carrying into legal and practical effect, the Divine Denunciation...the miserable wretch, whose life is rendered up in some degree as an atonement - but chiefly as a beacon to warn others...to spare one life thus forfeited may be indirectly to destroy many...Is it credible...that imprisonment, even for an indefinite period of time, will be more dreaded than Death?...To cut off the ears - the hands or feet - or any mutilation, of the person - or torture, are all contrary to the genius and temper of our government...". Foxed a bit at margins, soiled at margins, else very good. Much more content which remains at the center of debate even today! $150 - 200