The above letters have been in our possession now for some months,
and we had intended ere this, to have presented them in the pages of
the Journal. But by this delay we have recently and very opportunely
received, by a gentleman from Williamsport, the dying confession of
William Miller. Whilst on the one hand we were surprised, in its perusal,
to observe the striking coincidences between Mr. Fowler’s statements and
the individual’s own confession of his private history, on the other we
were shocked to read such a long series of youthful vice and crime. We
doubt whether a similar instance can be found recorded in the annals of
history. The facts in the case of this unfortunate young man involves
many important principles in jurisprudence, education, morals, &c. &c.;
but our present object is simply to present the _facts_ in the case.
The general facts connected with the murder are contained in the letter
of Judge Lewis. But as his confession relates the particulars more in
detail, preceded by a continued series of vicious and criminal conduct
for fifteen years, showing the gradual process by which he became so
hardened and cruel, we are induced to present the entire confession,
notwithstanding its length. It is undoubtedly similar in some respects
to that of many others much older than Miller, yet less experienced
in crime, who end their days in the prison or on the gallows. Though
young in years, he had emphatically grown old in the school of vice.
We earnestly request every reader to notice the following facts in his
melancholy narrative, which undoubtedly prepared the way for the number
and enormity of his crimes.
_His mother died when he was quite young. He was subject to little,
if any, parental restraint and government; received, comparatively,
no education, nor moral and religious instruction; early gave way to
his “evil passions;” was greatly encouraged by bad associates; was not
restrained by the ties of family affection, nor influenced much by any
relations to friends and acquaintances, either in regard to his business
or his character; first commenced stealing little things, then lying;
persevered constantly in such offences for nearly fifteen years, till he
finally committed robbery and murder._ But it appears that he had planned
several murders, and even that of his _own_ brother, before the execution
of his last fatal deed.
Let every reader observe, that Miller grew up with his intellectual
faculties _uneducated_, his moral sentiments _unenlightened_, his
domestic feelings _but little exercised_, and his selfish propensities
and sentiments _unrestrained_. We need not say, that these facts involve
important principles in the true physiology of the brain and the science
of mind.
The facts in the confession should also be compared with the statements
of Mr. Fowler’s letter. It is due to state, that Mr. F. has never seen
this confession, nor the letter of Judge Lewis—that he knows nothing of
the contents of either, and there is no reason to doubt his statement
concerning his knowledge of Miller’s _real_ character. A phrenologist
will readily perceive that, from the data first taken by Mr. F., even a
darker portrait might have been drawn on strict scientific principles,
than what Mr. F.’s letter presents. We have italicised some parts of the
confession which strikingly accord with the phrenological descriptions.
[3] This case affords an additional confirmation of the truth
of a physiological hypothesis, to which I have been led by
numerous observations, and which, if true, is of considerable
importance: viz. that the _nervous_ and _nervous bilious_
temperaments favour the manifestation of the _moral_ and
_intellectual_ faculties, the _sanguine_ and _lymphatic_, that
of the organs located in the basilar and posterior region of
the brain. I have never found, within the walls of a prison, a
purely _nervous_ or _nervous bilious_ temperament.