LINCOLN ON THE LIMITS OF PARDON
The Hon. John B. Alley was made the bearer to the President of a petition for pardon of a person confined in the Newburyport jail for being engaged in the slave trade. The petition was accompanied by a letter to Mr. Alley in which the prisoner acknowledged his guilt and the justice of his sentence. He was very penitent — at least on paper — and had received the full measure of his punishment, so far as related to the term of imprisonment; but he was still held because he could not pay his fine. The President, when he had himself read the petition, said: “My friend, you know my weakness is to be, if possible, too easily moved by appeals for mercy, and if this man were guilty of the foulest murder that the arm of a man could perpetrate, I might forgive him on such an appeal; but the man who could go to Africa and…
To view this resource, log in or sign up for a subscription plan
