The Sun.
London, England, 1853-08-04 00:00:00

rienced the most heart-rending privations, seeking
the lowest and most humiliating species of work,
at a rate of remuneration so scanty as barely to
afford the coarsest subsistence for herself and child
—and that it was not until after even that re-
source had totally failed—until she was unable
to obtain employment on any terms, or under
any circumstances, and until the contemptuous
rejection of her humble application to the
" Bastile officials" to keep the baby until
she became stronger, that the frightful idea
of terminating the miserable career of both the
outcasts from society at the same moment of
taking the awful plunge into eternity, simulta-
neously with the innocent cause of and participa-
tOr in her sufferings, which, so far as she herself
was concerned, was only defeated by a mere acci-
dent. Considering, we say, all these matters, we
are convinced that there will be a universal feel-
ing of satisfaction at the leniency exhibited to the
poor, miserable, heart-broken creature--that even
the most stern moralist, the most rigid enforcer
of the Divine and human law against bloodshed
will acknowledge that the extenuating circum-
stances of the case more than justified the con-
cession to public opinion, and that perpetual exile
will be a more than adequate expiation for the
very serious offence of which she was most pro-
perly convicted.

We regret, however, to say that a very diffe-
rent view has, at' least up to this time, been taken
of the case of CAROLINE SHERWOOD, the miserable
perpetrator of the Brighton child-murder. The
applications for a lenient consideration of her case
have not yet been responded to, and unless the
humane exertions of those who have commiserated
her dreadful situation be speedily successful, the
victim of early seduction, and of the law
which prevented her from obtaining any
pecuniary assistance from the murderer of
her innocence towards the support of the
offspring of their mutual guilt, must suffer an
ignominious and painful death on the scaffold.
Early next week the lamentable tragedy will be
enacted, and the sight-seers of Sussex will be as-
sembled together to witness the deliberate shed-
ding of blood, as a means of enforcing the observ-
ance of the Divine precept, which forbids the
commission of murder in any manner or under
any circumstances—to behold the vindication of
the majesty of the law which tempts to crime,
and then demands the exemplary punishment of
the miserable criminal. May not this fearful
tragedy yet be averted ? Are there not grounds
on which the Home Secretary may be implored to
spare the feelings of many of her MAJESTY'S sub-
jects this last dread consummation of the legalised
deprivation of life of one of her MAJESTY'S sub-
jects, and that a female in the first blush of
womanhood—one who had fallen when an orphan
child of but fifteen years of age, and who for six
years, unprotected and unassisted, had endea-
voured to support her unfortunate child from her
own humble resources ?

We do not rest the case on a general objection
to capital punishments. We are aware that many
wise and excellent men have contested the right
of any Government to take the life of even the
most guilty citizen ; and the arguments in favour
of these views have been so clearly put forward
by the Morning Advertiser, that doubts at least
may be entertained on the subject. Without,
however, in any degree trenching on the ground
so ably occupied by our respected contemporary,
we venture to assert that there are, what our
continental brethren would call, " extenuating
circumstances," which fully justify the exercise
of the Royal prerogative in favour of CAROLINE
SHERWOOD, that the rays of the "brightest jewel
in the British Crown" may be permitted to sparkle
in the dreary dungeon at Lewes, to disperse the
gloom of the condemned cell, without affording
cause for a single complaint that her most gracious
MAJESTY had abandoned her functions in giving
time for repentance to her ill-fated and most un-
fortunate sister. These circumstances may be
briefly recapitulated as follows :-
Ist. The early age at which she became a vic-
tim to her seducer—viz., only 15 years.
2dly. That at the time she was an orphan,
without parents or relatives from whom she could
obtain any the slightest assistance in bringing up
or supporting her wretched child, which was thus
exclusively cast as a burden on her own slender
resources.

3dly. That through the defective state of the
law, she had forfeited all claim upon her be-
trayer, not having obtained an order within the
first twelvemonth after its birth.

4thly. That she had invariably maintained an
irreproachble character, fulfilling the duties of a
respectable situation creditably, while she de-
voted a considerable portion of her wages to the
support and maintenance of her child.
sthly. The fearful temptation to which she
was exposed ; the knowledge that the discovery
of her secret, which had beccme inevitable, would
prove the destruction of all her future prospects,
occasioning her separation from one to whom she
was devotedly attached, and flinging her head-
long from the position which she had nearly at-
tained.

6thly. The mode in which the crime was com-
mitted, which leads irresistibly to the inference
that it was unpremeditated, and that it, arose
from the temporary distraction at the considera-
tion of her critical position.
For all these reasons, we believe that it is a
case in which philanthropists may fairly use their
exertions, without subjecting themselves to the
reproach of an undue interference with the admi-
nistration of justice, and that Lord PALMERSTON
may grant these prayers, without in any degree
infringing upon the stern duties of his situation,
by recommending CAROLINE SHERWOOD as a fit
and proper subject for a conditional pardon, for
the extreme punishment being commuted to trans-
portation for life. The mere mention of the case
will, we are convinced, be sufficient to stimulate
the energies of those who only seek a legitimate
excuse for exerting themselves in the sacred cause
of humanity.