The Sun. — London, England, 1823-05-22 00:00:00

system tel Use, to be OE ceeious, should a iehool saf morality, and should retweaent dee feelings of all good men in society. But what sort of - morals did we teach by the Laws cif England, which - punished .equally by the loss of life tlie man who destroyed a twig or cut down a cherry-tree, •end the black hearted criminal who betrayed his country to a • foreigh yoke, or spilt the innocent blood of a fellow-Creature, without provocation ? lie thanked Godthis conspiracy of the Criminal Lew against the moral feelings of mankind was rot sucteessful.. Tthee,:feelinge of more overcame the sophistry anti . corruption ). rof law, which in its failure became con ' temPtible, and too ocn trip - object of that indignation - which ought to have Wien on the head of the transtgres-f sor. He bad often thought that the assertion that our rem. pugnance to enforce„ severe penal - laws was an under statement, inasmuch ea a coneictien- of "a trifling of !fender, and his sentence to an excesslet - purtiehruente. never failed to affixt the bystiinders with pity or disgust; and not un freqtiently the recellection of it induced the juror to swerve - from hisseadt On the trial, or the prosecutor from his charge.— Hence' the 'law became the object of that indignation, which should have been directed against the crime. He appealed to the ration at large, if such was the feeling created by the appre hension of inadequate punishment on the prosecutor's mmd, thottgh an aggrieved party,' and acting consequently in a seirit of irritation, what must be the effect produced by the de, eention on the mind of the calm spectator, on the public, when inade the subject 'of narration, or on posterity when it shall hereafter become a matter of history ? The due apportionment of pUniehment made the law respected and venerated. This was its jot criterion; and every attempt to equalise the penalty to the highest possible infliction, namely, death, in venous eases 14 different degrees of criminality, was the bane of legislation. In his mind, every instance of the punishment of a sheep-stealer, by the existing rigorous• laws, robbed society of part of the security of human , life:—He would ask those who ob jected to all improvement in the Penal Code, whether such had been the system of the ancient laws of England ? In the time of Sir Ai. hale, the number of felonies had not en.. .eettled four ; and that enlightened man had said, that Eng land was the country where the laws were most literally exc . voted, and where least was left to the discretion of the Judge— a eleitriojaris. Those characteristics had been since changed; the number of capital felonies had increased from flair - to 200 ; and those laws which - formerly had been so literally exe cuted, were now administered on the opposite principle, anti that discretion, formerly in such little - Ose, was now in full opera tion. Ile .did nut propose the repeal of - any of the Ancient •Switutes of the kingdom; there were but two Statutes en. acted prior to the Revolution, the repeal of which would be consequent to his proposed melioration of the Penal Code. The last century had been remarkable for penal enactment; ; but that age had passed, and the system of penal enactment); had been stopped by the interposition of a lamented lion. Friend, whose opposition to those blood-th irsty enactin en tit was sufficient, independent of his illustrious fame and great talents, to humor talizehis name. •Witence had that system derived its origin ? If not in antiquity, it might have originated in the wisdom of the .Legislature; but unfortunately it appeared, from the page of liistofy . , that it arose from the culpable neglect by Parliament of one of the greatest principles of all civilized Legislatures—the inviolability of the life of man. It was strange to find, that while the. people of England. had increased in all the arts of ~c ivilization, the progress of legislation had deteriorated. But the country now beheld those errors ; it resolved to remedy :them ? anti the people called for an amelioration of the Criminal Code. It was remarkable that for the forty years succeeding the Revolution, as the legal reports of those years ..demonstrated, the number of criminals executed on the Home Circuit had not been one-half of the convicted, and the last 40 years it had been one-fourth, while in the other parts of England it had not been one-eleventh part ; thereby cx. hibiting the extraordinary fact, that, while the number of penal Jaws had increased, the proportion of capital punishments had decreased. lie appealed for a proof' of that position to the ex. perience of England since the Revolution. He would not, while alluding to the laws of the Hebrew people, contend that they ought to be applied to the civil government of this or any uthernutton; yet there was one fact which deserved notice—their 'venerable legislator had paid special attention to the principle of the mere liability of human lite in all cases of theft, except, in ' deed, one case, viz. man-stealing ; that great legislator had ordered the pdnisluitent of death to be inflicted on the dealers in human • flesh, and yet that abominable traffic had had its defenders in that :'House. In other cases of theft a two-fold or a four-fold restitu tion had been considered a sufficient punishment; but death was reserved for the traffic inAheir fellow-men. Front the small num ber of persons executed-in France when contrasted with Eng -land, one might be led 'to suppose the morality of the former 'country %ulterior to the latter; but that was not in reality the case—the difference arose front their different code of laws. It was futile to reason front the natured their different police : the :,.police eta country did not SO untch tend to prevent crimes as to ensurethe,punishment of diem. Upon those principles he should 'feel it his duty to proposucertain 'Resolutions to the considera. lion of the 'House, as topreliminstry foundation for the in troduction of certain Bat to ameliorate the Penal Code of Great Britain. Those Resolutions would specify certain felo. nies ' the repeal of the capital punishment for which he hoped the Legislature would agree to. The two first Resolutions :would affirm the opinion of the House : —first, that it would be :expedient to repeal the punishment of death in certain cases; -and secondly, the substitution of transportation and imprison. •thent in its room. To these would be AllbiOilled two liesolu. %ions, declaring that it was expedient that the Judges should not be obliged to pronounce sentence of death, except In cases where they considered itshiffiction imperative, and that all con fiticettion of 'property should cease after suicide, and that all in ,dignities after death should cease to be Inflicted on suicide and -on persons executed for high treason. Another Resolution -would be declaratory of the expediency at' repealing all the crimes .rendered capital by the Black Act, except the crimes of wilfully • setting fire 'to houses, or of maliciously.stabbing, as well us of ,Tepealiog the five felonies created by the Marriage Act. The alloble Reformer of the other House might render his resolution 'with respect to the latter unnecessary • but if it led the way in repealing those felonies, he had no objection to follow in their 4botsteps. The repeal of the five capital punishments which the *Committee on the Criminal Code had recommended, was also to -he proposed as a resolution, the general principle of which had been already admitted by the House. The nex t would embrace the Utility of a similar enactmennin relation to the stealing of sheep, • floret:s e em' cattle, and to larcenies committed in shops, dwel ,Jing•houses,. and navigable rivers. Within the list 16. years, the proportion of exeeetions of persons convicted of those lar cenies was one in.o6; so that it became a matter of mere chatice. whethera person - .so eonvicted . would be executed or etipt. Ile would always objett,to the rendering the amount of property stolen the criterion of crime, for the small property of the poor required to bo preserved to them ns well us the great property of the rich : he would always object to the rendering jurors excuseable on the score of humanity for pious. perjuries. The statute 1 (leo. IV. had removed the punishment of death 'for stealing in shops tinder die valtie of 181. instead of tis., as before ; yet that the Act had become a nullity for stealth over .10 shillings, for the accused were arraigned under another Act for stealing in a dwelling-house, as those shape in ninety nine cases out of a hundred, were attached to a dwelling. house. The Black Act had originally been a merely telt)- . . '...rary measure, as its preamble proved, to prevent pertains is _ gime(' from conuoitting odious - crimes, and its clauses had become nugatory until 1750, when a person named Berber had ~ Written albreatening letter to the Duke of Marlborough; and ~ the indolent Parliament of that period, instead of extracting . Ale only Clause whiCh that ease required, had actually rendered the , whole Act perpetual. The Acts 'which he desired to elnive-repealed were those of the -21 James 1., 6 (leo; 1., 27 1 -(jeo. IL, 3 (leo. lit, 23 Geo. HI., and 24. Geo. ; all athttive to the:offinizes in which capital punishment ought not to he inflicted. With respect to sheep, horses, and fattleitteal ing, the Acts requiring the infliction of capital punishment laid been passed in 1740. If the infliction of that punishment had been in reality necessary, why had it not been enacted before ? The infliction of, that punishment was so uncertain, that not more than mute in thirty of the convicted lout been executed, for a crime which, although rendered capital, was in itself' so obscure, that the infliction of death • had not been rendered a mean of prevention. There was another circumstance con. neeted with the infliction of capital punishment in those cases, which merited attention—it was, that it depended upon local 'circumstances, upon the fears of applicants to the Judges on -leaving the Assize towns. It would be worthy of an ethightened Legislature to 'remove such anomalies from its Statutes. lie • : now approached an important topic, of which the consideration , was equally important—it was the infliction of capital punish. went for forgery. lie thought that the authors of the cash payments had merited the thanks of the Legislature, if not for the measure itself, at least for its having removed' the necessity of such a waste of' human life. The midi Bank-notes had dis. uppeared, and the diminution of prosecutions for forgery had been so great that the propornon was last year, when contrasted with the preceding year, as one to two. the etateinent was as follows : Charged. Convicted. Executed. In 1821 - 121 - 76 - -16 In 1022 - 63 - - 6 This p ro portion he regarded as highly advantageous when con• trusted with the former years, and as . preparatory to the intro duction of a better system of punishment for that crime. For the crime of private forgery he thought a regulation of similar na ture would be useful ; for it would remove the odium •of ,causing the death of a clerk, of a relation, or of a conlideptial vent, .by whom that Crime was most frequently comutitteti, - while it would render the punishment of it more secure by ren tiering it less repuOiant to human feelings. While speaking of the utility of commuting capital punishments in those instances for secondary puinslmients, he would congratulate the House on the descrease of . a mode of punishment, which was calculated to move eminently useful to society. rle could neit"tifsvee with tu Ate said he did not allow the princi . plquicqu'W mutat peeeditr Mr. Roscoe,' whose excellent book be had lat e ly read, that se- inultuni, but that the extent of criminality , was palliated by condary pithiShmems ought to be lenient ; tOr he thought that numbers, by not being principals, by youth, sex, intoxication, severe secondary punishments would always prove useful. Fue levity, and wantonness. The Hon. and Learned Gent. (SirJ. M.) ture Legislatures might be enabled to discover other means of asked, what foreigner would not be struck with wonder and boy, punishment; but as all punishments ought to be in unison with ror at hearing the dispropqrtion between capital convictions and human sympathy, be thought that the repeal of capital punish- executions in this country. If he did notmitteke, this very case merit in the cases he had stated would be useful. The ancient was referred to by a foreigner, by Montesquieu. Speaking off mode of 'passing senterfce, so awful as Rhea long been in Eng , the necessity of making some distinction between the same land, had ceased, from repetition, to produce the eflect for which crime under different circumstances, he said that 'in China rob it had been designed. Even the fear of punishment had ceased bery was invariably punished with death. The consequence was to affect the convict, for all calculated that there was a chance that robbery and aesassinatioe went together. In Muscovy rob-, of escape. Two years ago a petition had been presented from bery, unattended with violence, was not punished with death, Maidstone, stating that out of 43 persons sentenced to death, and therefore murder seldom accompanied robbery. The con. not more than two had been ordered for execution. How strange sequences, he said, were the same in England as in Muscovy, therefore must be a system of law, which required the Judges though the law differed, because the discretion left to the Exe to sentence forty-three persons to die, and yet to order that not cutive Power here had the same effect as a distinction made by more then two of them should be executed. If the Resolutions law. The Hon. and Learned Gent. said that in cases of horse which he should propose should he agreed to, they would tot stealing, and similar offencee, the law was carried into execu pledge the House to support all the Bills which he ghoul() bring tion merely as the crime happened to be prevalent or not at a in, but would leave it In the power of every Member of expe- certain time and place. Now he (Mr. P.) thou g ht th a t 's uc h rience and judgment to propose whatever he might consider precisely was the principle on which the punishment of death either necessary or suitable. The next subject to which he should be inflicted. 'Why affix the punishment of death at all would ask the attention of the House, was to the propriety of but as a means of deterring others from committing the same repealing the disgraceful indignities inflicted on the bodies of crime ? The preyalence of a crime was a good ground for carry /suicides and traitors. His Hon. Friend the Membet for Nor- ing the lawinto execution. He would now come to those par wich had given notice of his intention to move for the re teal of denier meas.ires which he was prepared to originate. The first those indignities in the former case ; and if that Hon. Member respected such alterations in the Criminal Law as would do away did not persevere, he should feel it his duty to bring forward that capital punishments in certain case s. He preferred adopting measure, to which he three years ago had Pledged himself, but the division made by the Committee of 1019. In their report which circumstances connected with some political offences had they classed offences under four heads. The first division in. rendered them ill suited to him. He should also propose the eluded such capital cases as the Committee thought might be repeal (WA the confiscations in cases of suicide—a proceeding punished, as larcenies or misdemeanors. They amounted to which he regarded as adapted to the state of civilization, and twelve, in flair of which capital puniehMent had already been which, as well as the corruption of the blood, was repealed in done away with. lie proposed to remit it in the other eight, Holland, Russia, Spain, I ranee, the New German States, and which were all'made capital by what was called the Black Act. the United States of America. He did not intend to propose He thought it impossible that any one could argue that those the repeal of the law of forfeiture in cases of High 'Lea- offences should be punished with death—thus were twelve out of son, because he would not give cause for any reproach the 200 cases of which the first class consisted removed. The arising front the feers which some would then entertain of second class differed from the first, 'because in it were included that repeal's giving encouragement to treason. In the case crimes which the Committee had declared to merit the highest of suicide there was a forfeiture of goods and chattels, punishment known to our laws, except death. In that class and it' ever there was an unjust principle it was this, for the were no less than fifty-three of malignant and daring character. punishment was inflicted on the innocent and not the guilty. The first had been alread y decided upon ; the second entered The law stepped in reduce to beggary those who had already into the class of forgery ; the third was similarly circumstanced lost the support of a parent ;it deprived them of all which a pa- with the first ; it related to the receiving of etolen goods; the rent might have set apart for their future use. It was a sin- fourth was for maliciously killing and wounding cattle; to the . gular circumstance, too, that the law in this case affeeted only first branch of which he wished to call the attention of the ' personal property, and left untouched the estates of the great House, it being an offence, the cruelty of .Which 'rendered It landed proprietors. lie requested the attention of the House to deserving of being made capital. It was not, however, one of the indignities offered to the dead. The feelings of human na. frequent commission, there having been only two executions ture revolted from them.' For what reason was it that in exc.. for it in the course of sixteen years; it required also that malice cutions for high treason the executioner wore a mask ? for what against the owners of the cattleethould be proved. He would biii the' natural horror with which men viewed the circum. therefore concur in extending 'the alteration for that case. The stances which attended them. In the only case which lately next crime was that of maliciously cutting down and tie occurred, he understood that no murmur proceeded from the stroying trees." for width 'only two. had been convicted within crowd until the heads of the individuals who suffered were the sixteen years, aria one only of whom had been executed. held up by the executioner. In cases of suicide, he doubted if He was centefft, therefore, that it also should be commuted the law warranted the outrages practised on the body. There to transportation, admitting at the same time that should was no mention of them in Hawkins, Sir M. Hale, Stanford, the crime become general, the Government should have the Fitzherbert, or Bracton. They said nothing of the mode of in. power of applying to the Legislature to ;ender it capital. The terment. It rested merely on the unsupported assertion of 6th and 7th regarded Bankruptcy, and had been already defined. Blackstone. It might have been an obscure practice that grew The 11th, that of taming down the banks of rivers, he thought by degrees into law, but the question was whether it should be should not be subject to a higher punishment than the cutting permitted to exist. It' it operated as a punishment, why should down, of the banks of canals, as in nine cases out of' ten the in punishment be inflicted without trial, and how could there be jury done in the former was infinitely less than in the latter. trial where there could be no defence ? The only cases in which The next was that of sending threatening letters. It appeared this law was carried into effect were those of the poor and to him that the worst offence of that nature was not punished humble. He did not mean to say that this arose from the with kilned) severity as the least. That one which watt punish partiality of Juries : it was occasioned by two circumstances; ed with death was infinitely less formidable than that punished first, the greater ease with which evidence of insanity mi g ht only with transportation—the former requiring by an anony be procured, where the individuals belonged to the better mous letter a sum of money ; the latter signed with the writer's classes ; and secondly, because suicide was rarely the crime name, threatening to accuse the individual to whom it is ad. of the poor. It was the crime of those who indulged their dressed of Infamous or capital offence. The next was that of imagination too much, or who in consequence of gr e a t di ll. , personating an outpensioner of Chelsea or Greenwich, which appointments fell into fits of despondency: it was the re l 'he thought ought not to be punished with death, so fur as that suit of wounded shame, occasioned by false pride. The effect crime should be unconnected with the guilt of forgery. The of such a barbarous law was, that Juries were desirous to last was that of maliciously cutting serges—in . that case, also, find grounds for not inflicting the punishment it provided.— was he anxious that the capital punishment should badone away; Tho law of England was singular in this respect. No other, so that, in fact, out of those 15 cases of capital punishment, lie he believed attempted to stretch its authority beyond the agreed with the lion. Gentleman in commuting 12. The only bounds of life. Some were of opinion that public opinion was cases in the next branch were the three classes of larceny., That not to be regarded upon a subject of this kind. Ile would not of stealing privately in shops; upon a navigable river; and the here inquire into the value of public opinion generally, but stealing of marine stores : the crime of stea lin g pri vatel y in a whatever might be its importance upon other subjects, here it dwelling-house was exclusive of these. In the course of the could not be doubted. It was perfectly reasonable in questions 16 years to which he had referred, there had been 417 convictions relative to Criminal Law to appeal to the feelings of mankind. for stealing privately in shops, and not one execution ;he there- There was no other way of ascertaining the wisdom of such fore thought that here the ca pital punishment ought to be al. laws. It was not declamation, it was human manta itself that tercel. The stealing of m a rin e stores, are would also agree, ought rose up against them when they provided punishments diepro- not to be punished with death. The ease of stealing on nevi portioned to the crime. His object was to make Penal Law the gable rivers was somewhat different; as for it there had beent in representative of the public conscience, and consistent with the 16 years 61 convictions, and 5 executions • yet the stealing moral sentiment—to array the feelings of all men against the of property on canals not being capital, he had no objection to dangerous criminal—to-place hint in that moral solitude which the punishment in this case being commuted. With respect td would set every goodman ageinst hint; to separate the punish- stealing privately in a dwellingebouse to the value of 40e.' he ment, however, from any taint of cruelty that had the appear- was not prepared to say that the capital .punishment ought to ance of hardness of heart.— ' (Hear hear !) be dispensed with—there w e re many grounds on which that The Resolutions were . then put from the Chair, proposing the crime ought to be considered a s differing from the other offences remission of capital punishment in a variety of cases. of the same class. The entice ruin of a family might be effected; Mr. Secretary PEEL said, he begged the House to call to the sanctity of a man's dwelling-house wasviolated ; and upon mind what they were called upon to do. They were called that crim e J u d ge Bl a ckston e had spoken at considerable length, upon to remit the punishment of death in a great variety of in which he said that amongst the Romans, as stated by Cicero, eases, and to change the law of' high treason. He would it was deemed a crime of the greatest magnitude. For this crime, submit to the House whether the propositions were not so in sixteen years, there had been 1435 convictions; and from the important, as to make it necessary that they should have an number a executions that had been considered as imperiously opportunity of' considering each in separate and distinct called for, the principal portion of which were servants for rob- Bills. By affirming the resolutions now proposed, they would bing their masters, he was not inclined to 'omit in that case ca express an opinion lin the subject. Tine would not be the pita punishment. In the years 11119, 1820, and 11121, there case it' they consented merely to the bringing in of Bills.— had been eleven executions for burglary its London and Middle- By voting the Resolutions, they would pronounce an opinion sex, and nine executions for larceny. In the course of the lest on high treason, and on the propriety of removing capital five years there had been 25 executions in England and Wales punishments in cases of sheep stealing, horse stealing, and for larceny. Ile held in hit hand the particulars of these cases, others not at all mentioned in the report of the Committee ap- and was sure if he were to refer to them that they would be found pointed to inquire into the subject. No reference was made to be cases of exaggetated atrocity. 'So many cases had occurred by the Committee to five out of nine of the Resolutions, on in which the property stolen was so considerable, that it would which they were now called u pon to express a distinct opinion. not be prudent militia a law declaring that tureen); should pot Would it not place the Hoene in a most inconvenient situation be c a pitally punished: He thought too w ide an inference had it' they were now to affirm the Residutions, and afterwards been shown of the-indisposition of persons to prosecute, and of find themselves obliged to reject the Bills that might be founded Juri es to convict. Even the evidence of Mr. Shelton (Clerk on them ? The course proposed was the most inconvenient that of th e A rra i g ns) and of 'Sir Archibald AP Donald would not could be pursued. lie was not covertly attempting to under. Mr. bear out that inference. When before the Committee, mine the proposition of the lion. and Learned Gentleman by a Shelton, in answer to the questions put to him, only said that mere objection of fors He opposed his Resolutions last year pr osecutors an d j u rors sought to re d uce , in as many cases as because he thought inconvenient then, and at all times that p oss ibl e , t h e va l ue of the property stolen below 40 shillings ;._ the House should enter into pledges as to what they should do in w hi c h h e (M r . P ee l) thought might be owing to the want of a future session. It might not be in tbeir. power, to redeem the proof that property to that amount had beets stolen at any one pledge. lie (Mr. P.) was now prepared to redeem the pledge tim e . H e wo uld contend that so well were witnesses and jurors he gave, and to say that it was fit to take into consideration the aware that capital puniehment would not follow conviction , un state of their criminal law with a view to its mitigation. lie less some extre me or aggravated circumstances therefore conceded th e principle : it was only in the. details that no reluctance to prosecute could be proved to have been they differed. Early in this session he informed the lion. and evinced, lltherefore thought it would be should appear, e Learned Gentleman (Sir J. Mackintosh) that the subject had =ve • Ipunishment from this It followed then that been under the serious consideration of' Government and that h captta _,Gentleman. crime. . he was prepared to explain the views His Majesty's Ministers A u lt a tt e r d eedWith the Hon. in 23 out of the '29 cases vhim. 'Flue only case that remained to be con had taken of it. However, he was unwilling to take it out of 'd • t.. 4) b- si ered wits that .of forgery. The Honourable Gentleman the hands of the lion. and Learned Gentleman, as the Con ' that 1. argued, that he had the authority of that House for saying mittee had been appointed in consequence of the ' ice lb " - - - Undoubted) App. Vents. ••• motirni he brought forward. He (Mr. Peel) expressed himself prepared to originate measures, or to leave them to the Honourable and Learned Gentleman. Having said thus much by way of pre face,- he would advert to one or two general observations made by the Hon. and Learned . Gentleman. One'decided objection he (Sir James Mackintosh) had to the present state of their criminal law, was the disproportion between the instances in whicli punishment was inflicted to those in which it was not. If his object was that in every case the punishment provided by law must be carried into execution, he feared it would be impossible for him to succeed. Ile alloWed there were taws on the Statute Book that required revision, but he could not con cur with those who objected to their Criminal Law on account of the discretion it left to the Judyes and the Executive Go vernment. It was utterly impossible to establish such a pro portion between the crime and the punishment as to take away entirely the exercise of this discretion; In many cases which the Hun. and Learned Gentleman did - not propose to touch, Otero was as great a disproportion between the convictions and the executions us in those for which he wished to provide - remedy. From lllop to 1816, there were 65 'convictions for the . crime of arson, and only 11 executions. This, 4 would not be denied, was a most aggravated crime, and yet the executions did not amount to half the convictions. lie woulittake the case of Shooting, stabbing, and poisoning with intent to kill. In 116 years there were 139 convictions, - 4 -init only in 59 of them was the law carried into effect. The Executive Government ' was obliged to take into consideration various circumstances of mitigation. In cases of burglary during the same period, the disproportion was greater. The convictions were 2,494, the executions 239. It in so aggravated a case as that of burglary, the executions were only one in ten, it was a still stronger proof that a very wide discretion must be left to the Execu• tive Government. The necessity of titwli a discretion was strongly called to his mind by a passage in one of the lately published volumes of Mr. Burke's Works. It referred to the convulsions of 1780. In a letter to Sir Grey Cooper, he there I pressed a variety of circumstances as a ground for the extension of mercy, and begged of hint to make a selection of 'cases.__ These convictions were for the riots which took place at chat period. Mr. Burke did not think that the punishment of death too great for the crime, but he said it should be extended to no more than six of the persons convicted. The first ground of mitigation he offered was, that the chief delinquents had escap ed. Secondly, that those who had been convicted were igno-, tant of the law. Thirdly , remissn ess on the p art of the Go.. vernment, and the impunity with which similar offences had met with in Edinburgh. Fourthly, the conduct of the Lord Major, who, he said, was an actual accomplice in the crime. Which of these circumstances, he would ask could have been previously mitigation? Mr ontemplated by law as grounds of. forgery ought not to lie punished with death. Y when the increasing number of executions for the forging of hank -notes proved that capital punishment did • not deter from the commission of that crime, he was one of those who thought such extreme of punishment might be commuted.— `ln the year 1820 there had been one hundred and seventy-nine convictions for forgery. In 1821 thirty-two convictions. In 1822 unlY l l- So that in the diminished number of convictions the enemies of the return to metallic currency had sonic coin. pensation fol. the evils which they attributed to that measure. In 1820 there had been A 9 executions for forgery. In 1821 there had been 14 executed. In 1822 only 4. This diminution convinced him that much good had ariseli from the repeal. Of the 4 exe cutions in 1822, one of them was for a crime of peculiar atrocity was that of a tritstee who had defrauded a whole family of. their entire property and means of existence. 'The Hon. Gen tleman had brought forward, amongst his other cases, those of horse-stealing, sheepAtealing, and cattle-stealing, to which also lie had contended dud the punishment of death ought not to be attached ; but These crimes not being noticed in the report of the Committee, ought 'not to have been mentioned by the Hon. Gentleman; and he truited, therefore, that the House would refuse its support on that point to the Hon. Gentleman. The subject of suicide he thought the lion. Gentleman should 1101 have mixed up with the others. Having troubled the House at much length upon those subjects on which he differed from the Hon. Gent., he turned with great satisfaction to another point in which he concurred with him; namely, that for relieving the Judges front the passing of the sentence of death in certain cases. Although a Bill for that purpose was in the contemplation of Government, yet was he not the less willing to concur with the Honourable Gentleman. Another point on which he agreed with the lion. Gent. was that of in. creasing the minor punishments. We had at present the punish. ment of tmnsportatihn to Botany Bay, which, front the changes that had taken pla6a; it would be extremely difficult to render a measure of punishment at all. We had also another punish. ment which was a most salutary one, that of confinement on board the hulks, und hard labour on the public works; but the employ. ment of convicts in that way ought to be regulated by expediency; there were at present in that state no less than 3,000 eon? victs, beyond which number, lie thought, no increase should take place. lie thought another punishment might be intro. ducal, that of enabling the Crown to commute the punishment of death for transportation to some or other of our Colonies, to be there conlified on board a hulk, and to hard labour upon the Public works; Bermuda for example. Ile had Bill in pre : paration combining those three points—the hulks, liard boor, and expatriation, instead of transportation. The ques tion the House had to consider was a most important one.— Would it be wise (even admitting the punishment to be much too severe) to make too extensive an experiment ? Such a measure would prejudice the objects which the non. Gentleman himself had in view. The proper way to retrace our steps would be by doing so gradually. Ile, therefore found it impossible to agree that the Resolutions of the Hon. Gentleman should be carried.; but as in many of ' th em he concurred with the lion. Mover, he preferred meeting them with the previous question, instead of a decided negative leaving it to the lion. Gentleman to bring in separate Bills upon each of those in which they both agreed.- , 4Hear, heat 1) Mr. F. BUXTON contended, that the very small number of executions that had taken place within sixteen years for some crimes, was a good reason why the capital punishment in those cares ought to be done away. There was another point on which he trusted his Hon. Friend would not yield—the increased num ber of executions for the crime of privately stealing in a dwell ing house,. that has taken place within these few years, proved that they had not had the effect of deterring from tha t crime, which he thought an unanswerable argument in favour of the repeal of capital punishment respecting it. Mr. SCARLETT said that in any case in Which discretion could be avoided it was quite right that it should be dispensed with, for the value of punishment was that it tbllowed crime with the utmost certainty and celerity. The argument too of so many individuals haying escaped from death who were sentenced to that punishment, made in his mind against the punishment. There were some of the Resolutions to which he could not accede, though he agreed to all of them in the abstract. Be fore he sat down he could not but express his satisfaction that the principle laid down by his lamented friend, Sir S. Romilly, now for the first time received the concurrence of the House. Mr. PEEL explained that he thought it desirable to take the subject of the Criminal Law into consideration for a particular and specific purpose—to see merely whether punishment ought to be mitigated. Mr. SclnixTT explained. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL complained of the incon venient mode in which these resolutions were brought forward —they were called upon to vote a sweeping abolition of the pa nishment of death, as far as it applied to larcenies in dwelling_ houses, and yet against many of these acts not one word was urged. Mr. It. MARTIN said, that should the lion. and Learned Gentleman be defeated to-night, he hoped he would not hesitate to bring forward Bills containing every one of his resolutions. — It by no means followed, that though he was defeated or: that night, be should not subsequently succeed in every one of his resolutions. Mr. J. 31ACKINTOSI1 replied. The Attorney-General had tbund some fault with the phraselareeny in a dwelling-house. Now if that objection had been urged against a Bill, there would weight , in its be some techn ical nicety ' • but to a resolution, it seemed to him to come with rather a bad grace. Upon the first resolution he would take the sense of the House. To that course . lie was determined to adhere. A great deal of Parliamentary special pleading had been introduced upon that occasion. This was merely introducing another stage into the Bill ; and if the previous question was carried against his first resolution, he should certainly .despair of making any impression upon the House as to the necessity of repealing the too severe enactments of the Criminal Law. If it were negatived, he should not trouble the House with dividing upon the other resolutions, but merely propose them for the sake of procuring their insertion upon the Journals of the House. The House then divided, and the numbers were-- For the Resolution 7t; Against it - - . . 86 Majority - —to The other Resolutions were then proposed and negatiVed. DOG FIGHTING. Mr. H. MARTIN moved for leave to bring in a Bill to pro hibit Bull baiting and Dog fighting. Mr. BROUGHAM said, that he was a friend to the prin ciple of any measure calculated to put an end to animal' or hu man sufferings ; but it was an objection to the present Bill that it did not go far enongh. It aimed at the prevention of sports which formed the amusement of the lower orders, but did not interfere with those in which the more wealthy and powerful classes indulged. He would ask whether fishing, grouse-shoot ing, hare-hunting, fox-hunting, horse-racing, and other diver sions of the same kind, were not to the full as cruel as those against which the Bill was levelled ? Unless the Bill was amended so as to include both, he would object to any measure c w l a a s ss n e i s o o d i e i t l o is in l i l e ai rf es er t e y w 's i t s h u tt j e cc a t ili . uset s en h t e s founded on a distinction between the lower and more powerful said tt a that e rc norich, h attempt e wd oppose the Bill in i ts fi rst stage , an d i n every stage if necessary. Mr. It. MARTIN observed, that the argument of the Hon. and Learned Gentleman was most absurd. It was as much as to say, if five hundred persons were cast upon a desolate rock, because he could not save them all they should all be downed. Mr. IlitouutiAst and Mr. MARTIN' mutually explained. • Mr. P]alsh objected to the Bill as an unfit subject for legis lation. Mr. J. SMITH said, that he would vote for the motion of his Hon. Friend, so far as it related to dog lighting —a sport of a brutal nature, which was very much indulged in. Mr. W. SMITH declared himself in favour of the Bill, and denied that such sports had any tendency to keep up the manly character of the lower classes. They were practised by the worst description of persons, and not by those who had any character to recommend them, and their obvious consequence was to introduce cruelty not courage. Sir M. W. RIDLEY thought such subjects were beneath legislation, and denied the tendency of such sports to excite to cruelty. He had himself attended them frequently in early life, and did not feel that they had hardened his feeling's. Mr. BUXTON expressed a hope that his Honourable Friend would not be prevailed upon to withdraw his motion. The tame arguments had been urged against his former Bill, the effects of which were found to be so salutary. As to the tendency of such sports. he could state the case of a boy, who, from attending at dog fights, and mixing with the society there, became perverted in character, and lost to every useful purpose in society. Ile was less fortunate than the Hon. Gentleman opposite, for his morals were corrupted. Mr. BROUGHAM wished to ask his Hon. Friend if he had taken the trouble to analyse the component parts of the company at a horse race ? The house then divided on the question for leave to bring in 'the Bill. The numbers were— For the motion 10—Against it 47—Majority 29. Mr. S. RICE moved for leave to bring in a Bill to amend the laws relating to the o ff ice of Coroner in Ireland. Mr. GOULBURN objected to the motion, and expressed his opinion that the office of Coroner in Ireland should be assi milated as far as possible to the same office in England, but not invested with greater power. After a few words from Sir .1. Newport, Mr. Martin, Mr. J. Grattan, and Mr. S. Rice, the motion was negatived without a division. Mr. C. WYNN moved that the House this day resolve it. self into a Committee of the whole House, to consider the Acts of the 53d, the 54th, and the 57th of the late King, relative to the East India Trade. Mr. FORBES observed, that if the Right Hon. Gentleman meant to put India shipping and seamen on a level with British shipping and seamen, he would oppose the motion.—Agreed to. Mr. S. RICE gave notice that he would this day propose to the House to fix a time for submitting his propositions rela tive to the Court of Exchequer in Ireland. He was prepared to net according to the pleasure of the House; and whether it seemed expedient that he should bring forward his measures on this most momentous question in tins Session or the next, he was equally ready to meet the subject on his own responsi bility. The Iletwrt of the Masters and Apprentices Bill was brought up and ordered to be read a third time on Wednesday next. On the third reading of the Sheriff's` Courts of Scotland Bill being moved, Mr. HUME proposed that it be re-committed, on account of the-House - having been taken by-surprise in a manner that pre, vented. discussion on the several stages of the Bill.—The Bill was then ordered to be re-committed on Friday, the 30th. The other Orders of the Day were then disposed of, and the House adjourned at Hat r-easT Two. CONTINENTAL SOCIETY. Yesterday the Continental Society for propa gating Religious Knowledge over the whole Continent took place at the k'reentason's Tavern, Sir T. BAntrw, Ban. in the Chair. The Report, among other facts, stated, that during the last year a footing 134 been gained in the South of France, and Meetings established amongst Jews, Catholics, and the nomi.: nal Protestants, and the circulation of the Bible went on there in spite of the opposition it met with from the Authorities. 'rhe funds were in good condition, the receipts being greater than the disbursements. Lord Po writscoußT moved that the Report should be re ecived.—Mr. SPENCER. PERCEVAL (son of the late Minister) seconded the motion. He congratulated the Meeting upon the prosperous appearance of. the object they had in view, and hoped the day was not distant when every nation on the Con tinent would enjoy th religious liberty, together with the lius feeling whichiPtrvaded this country. LLord RUCKSAVAGE moved a Resolution expressive of the gratification of the meeting at the success which the Society had met with abrowd, and the increase of their resources at home. ___ Mr. WiLuEnroncE exhorted the Society to goon, and re. turn to the Continent the light they had received from it in the days of Luther. After sonic observations front preachers amongst the French, thanks were voted to the Chairman, and the meeting separated. EXPRESS FROM PARIS. We have received, by Express, the Journal des Debats, the Pilule, and the Doile, of yester day, and the Journal des Debuts and the Consti tutionnel, of Tuesday. The only information which they contain, of any importance, is the ad mission, at length reluctantly given by the French Government, that MINI has, since the Bth inst. been ranging at freedom in Catalonia; and that his communications with Barcelona, and with General MILANS, are uninterrupted. Thus are annihilated all the hopes which the enemies of Spain had founded upon the boastful re presentations of the French,. who, 'after having announced that their operations had cut off MINA and one of his divisions from the re-t of his army, and that they had left it m no alternative but to retreat into Cerdague, are now obliged to confess that his move- . ments are beyond the control of his opponents, and that they only hope, by the celerity of their movements, to intercept him, or to force him to an -action: MINTA, however, will doubtless fight in his own time. There is no contradiction, to the report that he had cut to pieces the corps of ROMAGOZ A ; and he is too experienced a leader not to know that it is his interest to attack his enemies in detail. Marshal MoxcEY, it appears, who had marched out of Gerona for the purpose of attacking MILANS, re turned to Gerona on the 15th ; and it was hoped that the advance of Mora Ton upon his flank might induce MILANS to retire upon Barcelona ! It was added, on the 16th, that MILANS did break up from his position.—Bet how is all this ? Why did MONCEY return to Gerona ? Was MILANs too strong to be at' tacked by him ? We suspect that when the MO' truth is known, it w ill b e found that e 4,144„/ 6 * tro z w * ZeitO* MASONIC NOTICES FOR NEXT WEEK. ENGLAND. • Monday, May 26, LONDON. Nos. 4, 46. 71, 01, 104, 305, 321, 407, 458. COUNTRY. Nos. 97, 227. 246, 320. 360, 437, 400, 524, 546, 558, 578, 597, 643, 707, 710. 27, Loxnox. Nos. 316, 349. COUNTRY. Nos. 38, 67, 613, 07, 1 3 0, 145, 285, 340, 427, 477, 592, 640, 649, 668. Wednesday, - 28, LONDON. Lodge of Benevolence. Nos. 2, 12, 2: 3 5. COUNTRY. Nos. 84, 112, 215, 3144 414, 440, 442, 478, 543, 548, 549, 661. Thursday, 29, LONDON . . Nos. 7, 327. Gen•Vom• Fern. Sch. at 12. COUNTRY. Nos. 51, 110, 115, 176, 453, 483, 500, 657 670. ...- 30, LONDON. a • • COUNTRY. Nos. 53, 236. --31, LONDON. • • • COUNTRY. No. 492. IRELAND. Tuesday, :May 27, Cons. No. 27. Tuesaal., Friday, Saturday, TABLET to the MEMORY of the Late JAMES BAR TLEMAN, Esq. formerly a Chorister and Lay Clerk of Westminster Abbey, and Gentleman of his Majesty's Cha- Is Royal. Few Friends and Admirers of the Late JAMES BARTLEMAN, anxious to perpetuate the Remembrance of his Professional Talents and Privets Worth,' have resolved on erectin g a TABLET t o hi s MEMORY . A Subscription (not exceeding One Guinea each) has been opened, and application made .to the Dean and Chapter of Westminster for permission to place it in the Cloisters, near the Spot of his Interment, who have most kindly consented, on the payment of a FINE OI"I'WENTY GIIINEAS.—The Tablet has been completed by T. GaYrEnt, Esq. with a suitable Inscription from the Pen of the Very Reverend the DEAN of WESTMINSTER. The Subscription, through Private Channels (though rot sufficient to defray all expences) will in a few days enable the Secretary to discharge the FMe, when the Tablet will be im mediately. erected. Subscriptions will be received till the Ist of July next at ti e Royal Ilamfonic Institution, Reg e n t - street ; Messrs. llirchall and Co., New Bond-street ; Messrs. Clementi and Co., Cheap side ; and by the Secretary, W. Hawes, No. 7; Adelphi Tel - race ; to whom all Communications may be addressed. N. B.—Should there be any surplus, it will be applied in aid of the Fund for the Family of the late James Bartle man, Esq. PRICE 0: THIS Y AT Bank Stock ? STOCKS ONE O'CLOCK. India Stock India Bonds South Sea Stock Old Annuities Ex. Bills pr. Ditto Small Bank for Act. India for Con. Acct. Cons. for Acct . . , - 3 per Cent. Red. 7tlhi 3 per Cent. Cons.... 794 3 34 per Cent Old 1)7 4 pet Cent. . New LOO 5 per Cents. 1797 Bank Long Ann. 20; 5-16ths Imp. 3 per Cents. PRICE or FOREIGN STOCKS ix LONDON, MAY 22 AT ONE O'CLOCK. Five per Cents. 873. • (Six per Cents. 00. J, Five per Cents. (Metallic) 00. (Ditto New 70. • Neapolitan • {Five p, per Cent. Bonds, 753. . Scri 00. Austrian Five per Cents. (Metallic) 00. • {Five per Cent. Bonds, 00. , New Ditto, 37i. Scrip, 00 disc. • . Five per Cent. Bonds, 00. f Prussian 4. Ditto IN'ew, 84. Danish Five per Cent. Bonds, 00. Chili 00. Colombian . Six per Cent. Bonds, 59. Peruvian New Loan, 00. , ~ • Bank Shares £2l ss. • • American Six per Cent. 90-98. . ... Five per Cent. 95A-97. . Three per Cent. 70. French Ituian Span ill I 1110 H WATER AT LONDON BUT DGE TO-MORROW. Morning, 42 tninutes after 0. I Evening, 7 minutes after 1. THE SUN. SOLEM our ' s DICERE r.u.sult 4t/PEAT LONDON, THURSDAY, MAY 22, 1823.