New laws are not going to make us safer

There is a contrast between John Monckton and almost everyone who has written about his murder. He was better prepared for his death than they were. He believed in divine grace and in eternal life. He was certain that the victories of evil are transient and that good will ultimately prevail; that death shall have no dominion. He knew that his Redeemer liveth. John Monckton had lived in charity. He died in hope and in faith.

Those of us in the valley of the shadow of the death of faith have no such comfort. This is part of the reason for the intensity of the response to Mr Monckton’s death. To those who believe that life is not a dress rehearsal but the first and final performance, such a premature death is hideous. Though it is not a thought which we care to dwell on, we know that le dernier act est sanglant — but not, surely, as early as 49.