The Press.
London, England, 1856-08-23 00:00:00

ragged beggar•woman, or the shining wares of a goldsmith's
shop—why, then, at least, he will find things going right
badly with him.

Here we must close our extracts ; and we
heartily desire that Heins poems were well
translated by some adept in English verse.
The minor poems of Schiller have been ably
rendered by Sir E. Lytton, and we could
desire that his brilliant pen were exercised on
Heine's poems.

Three Papers on Capital Punishment. By
Edward Webster, A. H. Dymond, and Henry
Mayhew, Esqrs. London : Office of the
Society for Promoting the Amendment of

the Law.
Tux Society for Promoting the Amendment of
the Law has published three Pagers on
Capital Punishment—the first by Mr. Web-
ster ; the second by Mr. Dymond ; the third
by Mr. Mayhew. Of these papers the one by
Mr Dymond appears to us the most valuable.
We take advantage of the facts it supplies to
lay before our readers the main points of the
argument on this surely not unimportant
subject.
The question is one peculiarly calling for
unprejudiced judgment, and fortunately it is
of that practical kind to be resolved to a con-
siderable extent by the evidence of figures
and the exercise of reason. Sentimental con-
siderations, on which stress is sometimes laid,
have in reality little to do with it. We have
no further concern with them than as they
affect the question whether the law should
not be a teacher to the people in proclaiming
the principle of the inviolable sanctity of life.
Further than this we would not allow the
sentiment of humanity any place in the dis-
cussion of the question.
Nor, on the other hand, is any force to be
allowed to that sentiment of revenge which in-
sists that punishments should be retaliatory.
Without speculating too curiously on the
causes of crime, and the large amount of it
that is due to vicious disposition or to faults
of early training, we must admit that our
criminal population—apart from the punish.
ment inflicted by the law—are the most unfor-
tunate part of the community. It is surely a
Christian principle that we should extend to
them as much pity and mercy as are consis-
tent with care for the safety of society.
The real broad point to be argued is,
whether the punishment of death does tend to
prevent murder more than any punishment
that could be substituted for it. If it is more
efficacious than any substitute that could be
found, it ought in our judgment to stand ; if
it be less so, it ought to be changed for the
more efficient penalty. But it is to he ob-
served that as by this punishment innocent
persons and families may be, and often are,
irremediably injured by unjust executions, the
balance of good to bo derived from it by
society should be clear and unquestionable to
counteract what is certainly a heavy evil.
The statement of Sir Fitzroy Kelly, that in
the course of the present century not less
than fifty innocent persons have been put to
death, should weigh in the scale against the
continuance of this punishment, if the balance
be in other respects equal.
The first objection to the argument that the
penalty of death is the most detersive of all
punishment, is the fact that all the murders
which are committed are committed in the
face of it. Plainly it does net deter those who
commit the crime. But does it deter persons
who but for its existence would commit the
crime ? Mr. Dymond is of opinion " that the
" deterring effects of all punishments are over-
" estimated." We doubt whether this is gene-
rally true as regards offences against property ;
bee we are inclined to think it is emphatically
true of the crime most repugnant to humanity
—murder.

Murder may be broadly divided into three
slams of eases.

1.. Murders in which the perpetrators are
reckless of detection. Under this head must
be classed the shocking case of Bousfield,
rafter destroying his wife and children,
rtenvoteede-forfficmcetlittendhougsacveniniitesteeclfteindiowcaililscetoddt;
oclaring hie oiclig. The case of Westroq
1,