Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-08-24 00:00:00

THE LATE EXECUTIONS.

It is a roglancholy fact that in the middle of the nine-
teenth eentnry great crimes appear to be as prevalent as
they were a hundred years ago, notwithstanding the rapid
strides which have been made in the arts of lire during
the century. A. hundred years since the working and
agricultural classes were almost entirely uneducated ; an
ataizan or a peasant labourer who could either read or
write was a rara avis in terra, and drunkenness was then
far more general than it is now. In the present day,
thanks to the improved intellectual state of the popula-
tion, intemperance amongst all classes has materially
decreased, and although it is still too prevalent,
its sensible diminution is a great source of congratulation
to the philanthropist. During the past century schools of
all kinds have sprung up. The old. dame schools, almost
the only schools for the labouring population, have
passed away and in their stead we have, Sunday, National,
and Ragged Schools, and even. working men's colleges.
The country now ungrudgingly votes educational grants by
hundreds of thousands of pounds. Surely from such ex-
tensive efforts to improve the social position of the
population excellent results were to have been expected.
To a certain extent these have been realised ; but still the
great facts remain, that our monster prisons are kept full ;
and that the hangman's office is no, sinecure. This is a
In otter of great surprise to all who- ponder deeply on the
subject, especially when it is remembered what great
alterations have been made in the criminal code within
the last thirty years. Formerly, to commit a burglary or
a robbery, to forge a bill or note, to steal a sheep or horde,
was punished with death ; but. now the only crimes for
which the last penalty of the law is inexorably exacted is
that of murder. It is true that arson and rape are placed
in the same category ; but they are never capitally
punished. Oa this single crime alone, then, the hangman
has to rely for the profits of his hideous calling; and yet
during the last two years he has made a very tolerable
income. This year alone five persons have been executed
at Maidstone, and there has nut been a single month during
which one or two human beings have not been hanged.
ha almost all these cases the crimes committed have been
of the most hideous character—in fact, of such a nature
as almost to preclude the possibility of the extension of
any mercy to them. Take, for instance, the cases of Palmer
and Dove the poisoners, and of the young men who on
Thursday expiated their crimes at Maidstone. To have
extended mercyto them would have been to outrage justice.
In the present day there is, however, a strong feeling in
the country against the she 'ding of blood, and societies
have been formed to agitate for the abolishment of the
punishment by death ; no sooner, therefore, is a culprit
condemned, than the most strenuous efforts are made for
a commutation of the sentence. No one, consequently,' is
executed except for the perpetration of crimes which
admit of no' extenuating circumstances. There is a fur-
ther point worthy of consideration, and that is, that some
of the worst murders during the last two years have been
committed by persons who have been well educated. Pal-
mer was a man bred to an honourable profession, and pos-
sessed of considerable intellectual powers, yet engaged in
the perpetration of a series of murders, of the most
atrocious character. Indeed, there were few of those who
of late have been executed but could read and write well.
Education, it has always been contended, elevates the
mind, and enables man to put a greater restraint upon his
passions ; but the long list of murders lately committed
—many of them by educated men—have been attended
with atrocities which might have been expected amongst
the Thugs, but certainly not in civilised England. These
cases may be said to be only the exceptions which prove
the rule; but, descending iu the scale of crime, it is found
that the worst offences have been committed by highly
educated personages. Sir John Dean Paul, Strachan, and
Bates ; Robson, Redpath, the Sadleirs, with many others,
had every advantage of position and talent; and yet they
could not refrain from the commission of offences which 30
years ago they would have expiated on the scaffold. What
then is to be inferred from these facts ? Are we to be-
lieve that education does not tend to the prevention of
crime ? On the contrary, we think it does tend materially
to diminish the length of the black calendar, and that
without it our gaols, extensive as they are, would not be'
capacious enough by one half. The great fault lies, it is
justly believed, in the fact that the moral training of tha
population is not sufficiently attended to. It is true that
we have in this countty splendid institutions supported
entirely by the voluntary contributions of the charitable
and benevolent, and which have no parallel in any other
eountry in the world. But still there is very very much
left undone, that might be accomplished, and without
much additional cost. The fact is, that the feeling of
prosleytism has taken so firm a hold upon a large class of
the population, that whilst committing many acts of self.-
denial to christianise the heatlio, they forget the wan's of
those who have greater claims upon them—namely, their
own countrymen. Some of the leading religious societies
spend annually many hundreds of thousands of pounds on
extensive missionary establishments in all parts of the
known world ; though it cannot be denied that the success
which has attended their efforts has not been in any way in
proportion to the cost. On the contrary, there are some in-
stances which would lead to the conclusion that they have
done more harm than good. Look at the effosts which have
been made to christianize Lelia. How many true converts
have been made during the last hundred years in that coun-
try, considering the great exertions that have been used?
Tne results are a Imitted to be discouraging, but it is now
discovered that this system of proselytising may, if it
does not lose us India altogether, at all events cause a
frightful destruction of human life. Would not, then,
these benevolent persons be doing more good if they
turned themain portion of their energies to the moral
improvemement of their own countrymen ? There is a
wide field for their utmost exertions, and until the hang-
man is no longer required, and our gaols co.nparatively
empty, they will have no occasion to expend millions
abroad.— Observer.

WHAT is COMING to LIVERPOOL on the
31st instant ?—Why,
THE GREATEST NOVELTY IN THE WORLD!

WHERE IS IT TO BE SEEN?

THAT'S THE QUESTION.

EMIGRiTION NEWS.—The official returns of emigratinn
from the several ports of the United Kingdom for the
month of July give the following details :—The total
number of persons who have left our shores is 19,368; of
these 10,141 went to the United Slates, 6,213 to Austra-
ha, 2,706 to British North America. and 303 to other
pieces not named. Total number who left last year in the
corresponding month was 15,254. The increase of this
year is divided thus :-2,006 to Australasia, 1,344 to the
United States, 741 to British North America, and 23 to
other paces. The Omega :ailed on the 12 inst. from
Plymouth for Adelaide, with 311 government emigrants,
equal to 372 statute adults. The Enigriteon Commissioners
have received from Sedney, by the last m oil, the first instal-
ment (S 0,0001) of a sum t f 100,0001, vied before the pro-
rogation of the New South Wales Parliament, for the
purposes of emigration. The new ministry of Victoria,
not having matured any new system of emigration, the
Executive of that colony have reqtres'ed the Emigration
Commissioners to continue their functions for the present,
and have remitted a sum of about £30,000 to be expended
by the 'Commissioners under the remittance regulation.
The Lady Keunaway, appointed to receive emigrants for
the Cape of Cood Hope at Plymouth, on the 20th inst.,
carries eut a large number of single women, selected pric-
cipally from Ireland, who are to be lcc tted at East London,
on the Buffalo River, at the settlements of the British
German Legion.--Emigration Record.
M. LOCI; BLANC AND THE THEO.tY OF TYitANNICLDE.—
We have been permitted during the pist week to look
over some proof sheets of the ninth volume of M. Innis
Blanc's " History of the Revolution," which incidentally
finrnisa a decisive reply to certain charges recently circu-
lated with industrious malice against the republican
refueeras in ibis country. The following are the reflections
with which he concludes the chapter devoted to 1161 trat and
Charlotte Corday :—" We may here repeat, in conclusion,
and with all the authority of the facts just detailed, what
we have already said in another work—that
assassination is a mistake as well as a crime which
ought to be left to aristocrats and tyrants. When
Henri 11. allures the Duke of Guise into the Chateau de
Bois, and causes him to be strangled by the bravos
of the ante-chamber, when the royalists attempt the'
life of Napoleon by an infernal machine—these are crimes
worthy of those who commit them, but democracy refuses
to be assisted thus. Stich means are essentially opposed
to its genius and principle. For who can, without pre-
sumption, arrogate the right of siting himself as an
avenger of liberty or as the Nemesis of destiny, in the
place of a whole people, almost in the place of history?
The stroke of a dagger is usurpation. Where is the power
answering to that monstrous right ? What ; then the first
corner by raising his arm may
change the course of his-
toric laws. Any man in the street by pulling the trigger
of a pistol may convulse the world ! No, it is not moved
thus. Evil, when it exist in the midst of a society, springs
from a vast number of causes, amongst which the exist-
encedeemed, has only
of an ind powerful be may be
is accorded the honour of holding a people's life in his
own. an occidehnoralevperre-eminence. To no man
Reggi rig Pardon of Pascal's shade, it appears to us
that he has war.tonly degraded humanity in making the
fate of the universe depend on the length of Cleopatra's
nose. The occasion is only the surface of the cause, but
we, too, often confounded the one with the other. We
think to destroy tyranny by destroying the tyrant. Vain
Evil, whenever it exists, is at the root of things.
It does I
not exist b?cause it has a representative, it is
represented because it exists. You have stabbed Caesar
He reappears in the more terrible form of Octavius.
Have you compelled Nero to commit suicide ? You de
not escape Vitellius. Marat expirdi bathed in blood. See
Hebert succeeds. It avails nothing to destroy the per-
sonification when you leave untouched the principle
personified, which always finds instruments for its work."
--,Leader.