The Press.
London, England, 1856-06-14 00:00:00

Rittrapolitan.

THE ABOLITION OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT W&S
considered at a public meeting held on Monday even-
ing at the London Tavern,and, although no men of note
were present, the meeting was respectably and fully
attended. The grounds upon which the abolition of
death as a punishment was sought were set forth by
Mr. Webster, a Chancery barrister—viz., that capital
punishment was contrary to the law of God; that by
no possibility could it have the effect of preventing or
diminishing murder; that it had a direct tendency
to increase it; and that it was a punishment a
highly civilised nation ought at once to abolish.
Mr. Webster entered upon all these points at some
length, but the most satisfactory statement he made
was relative to the effect of the abolition of capital
punishment in Bombay, where between the years
1804 and 1811 the convictions for capital offences
underwent a marked diminution as compared with
the seven years between 1756 and 1763, when capital
punishment was in force. The late Sir James Mac-
intosh, when in India, in a charge to a grand jury,
mentioned that experiment as one which had been
made without any diminution of the security to life
or property, adding that 200,000 men had been
governed for seven years without recourse being had
to capital punishment, and without any increase of
crime among them. The Rev. Henry Christmas,
the Rev. H. Richards, and several other gentlemen,
addressed the meeting in able speeches, insisting
that capital punishments failed to restrain crime,
that the custom was opposed to Christ's dispensa-
tion, and that the public strangulation of a human
being was not desirable and could be avoided.
Several resolutions were passed, and, before the
meeting separated, a petition to Parliament agreed
upon, signed, and directed to be sent to Mr. Me-s-
-terman, M.P., for presentation.
THE SATURDAY HALF-HOLIDAY MOVEMENT is
certainly progressing. Several leading houses in
London now close at twelve or two p.m. on Satur-
days, and a petition to the Crystal Palace directors
has been sent in, signed by 980 workmen, praying
that the Saturday afternoon admission charges may
be reduced to the lowest scale. There is some
merit in the application ; the question probably will
be seriously considered by the directors.
THE WEEKLY RETURNS OF BIRTHS AND DEATHS
. show 1,068 of the latter against 1,747 births.

THE POSTPONEMENT OF PALMER'S EXECUTION, C

the ground of doubtful and conflicting testimony,
and to give time for further medical investigation,
was discussed and agreed to at a crowded public
meeting held in St. Martin's-hall on Tuesday evening.
The meeting was addressed by Mr. Langley, the Rev.
Dr. Thomas, Mr. Harris, and several other gentle-
men, who argued against the probability of Cook
having been poisoned at all, and maintained that at
least Palmer should not be executed until it was
satisfactorily proved that strychnine could or could
not be discovered. Two or three persons then made
an attempt to move amendments to the various reso-
lutions proposed, to the effect that Palmer had been
fairly convicted and ought to be executed forthwith,
when the most tremendous uproar ensued, and the
meeting at length terminated by an immense show of
hands in favour of the original resolutions against
the execution of Palmer. A deputation was ap-
pointed to wait upon Sir George Grey.