The Sun.
London, England, 1847-01-05 00:00:00

PUNISHMENT OF DEATH.

A meeting was held last night at the National Hall,
Holborn, for the purpose of expressing the opinion of
those assembled as inimical to the maintenance of capital:
punishment in the British empire, Mr. Charles Gilpim
in the chair.
The CHAIRMAN commenced by expressing his belie
that the punishment of death was altogether opposed.
to the teachings of Christianity, which directed forgive-
ness rather than such a sanguinary punishment. gel
next alluded to other practical evils connected with the.
existence of such an infliction, amongst which was ita
irremediable character where the punishment was wrong-.
fully inflicted, and instanced, amongt other cases, one or
the conviction of a young man at Ipswich, a few years
since, who suffered death upon the false supposition of'
being concerned in a murder, with which it subsequently
appeared he had not even bad a remote connexion. This,.
the chairman said, was in itself a striking instar.ce
the fallibility of human judgment-(Hear, hear)-a
fallibility which was the more important for considera-
tion when it was reflected that it often resulted in the
awful and sinful infliction of the punishment of death.
Mr. F. ROWTON proposed the first resolution, which
was to the affect that the punishment of death was totally
indefensible on grounds of policy, morality, and religion,
and that in.the opinion of the meeting it ought to be im-
mediately and totally abolished. He altogether dis-
avowed such a ground as expediency for defending the
continuance of capital punishment, for it ought to be
opposed on principle, and altogether without relation to
expediency. But if it were necessary to discuss the
question on such grounds, he could easily prove that
sanguinary and atrocious crimes prevailed in the ratio
of the maintenance of sanguinary punishments.-(Hear.)
The fear of death was, in fact, the lowest and worst •
motive which could be given to a man to prevent him
from the commission of crime, and the carrying out of
the sentence only tended to brutalise men, and render
them callous and ferocious.-(Hear.) But, apart from
the objections he had alluded to, he would ask where was
the right of Christian men to put their fellow• men to
death ? We did not put madmen to death, although
many of them were more dangerous than some of those
who suffered death ; and why then should we assume a
right to put others to death because we did not Jeem
them mad ? The punishment of death was one that
was altogether opposed to the Divine clemency, and was
a disgrace to the statute-book of a Christian country.-
(Cheers.) The opponents of capital punishment had
with them all, great and enlightened ietellects. They
had with them Cobden, Bright, Fox, O'Connell, and all
the other great advocates of human liberty and of the
general good of mankind; and be had no doubt that
before long the cause which they advocated would be
found perfectly triumphant.-(Cheers.)
The resolution was seconded by Mr. ALFRED STE-
PHENS, who said that he concurred in the fullest manner
with the opinion express( din the resolution. The effect
of capital punishment had often been to defeat the very
purpose for which it was intended, and to permit many
criminals to go unpunished, from an unwillingness in
persons to he accessory so their death by prosecuting
them. He would ask who were those that attended
executions j V/ r e tney the pure, or innocent, or well-
iiisposed ? No, but in most cases the hardened and
guilty, and depraved, who indulged low and base pro-
pensities in witi,essing the dying agonies of a fellow-
creature.-(Hear, hear.) He would call upon the meet-
ing to join with their fellow-countrymen who were ap-
pealing to public opinion on this subject, for if they
succeeded in bringing public opinion to bear against it,
no Government, whoever might be at its head, could long
maintain it.-(Cheering.) He hoped they would there-
fore, in the strongest and most emphatic manner, protest
against the continuance of the foul, barbarous, un-
christian, and detestable hanging law.
The resolution was unanimously agreed to.
Mr. H. VINCENT proposed a resolution pledging the
meeting to petition Parliament against the punishment of
death. He directed the attention of the meeting to the
importance which was attached to the object for which
they had assembled, namely, the rendering human life
more sacred. How could peace and good will prevail
over war and all its evils, it it were not laid down as an
unalterable principle, that man's life was sacred, and that
none but God might take it.-(Hear, hear.) If it were
a part of Christianity to forgive those who injure us,and
net to return evil for evil, then the gallows could not be a
part of Christianity. The truth was, the punishment of
death rested entirely on a principle antagonistic to the
spirit of Christ, for it rested on the principle of revenge
instead of forgiveness.-(Hear, hear.) Experience had
shown that property was more secure now than when
men were put to death by dozens for the most trivial
offences ; and there was no doubt that the sanctity of
human life would be held more strictly when the punish-
ment of death was altogether abolished. He was the
advocate of the amelioration of the human race, and it
was because he saw in this question so much of advan-
tage to mankind embraced, that he would appeal to that
audience to ratify their opinion by a firm resolve to in-
variably express their opposition to this unchristian
punishment.---(Cheers.) All the enlightenment and
genius of the country were against this punishment-
public opinion was being brought to bear on it, and
nothing could resist the force of public opinion when it
was opposed to the maintenance of such an injustice as
the public sacrifice of man's life.-(Cheers.)
The resolution was seconded by Mr. HomAsi, and was
carried unanimously, after which the meeting separated.

FINSBURY MUTUAL INSTRUC-

TION SOCIETY.

Mr. T. Cooper (authot-471-'urgtttory of Suicides") de-
livered a lecture last evening, in the Finsbury Ilall, Bun-
hill-row, St. Luke's, " on the Conquest of Difficulties in
Learning and Science," as examples to the working
classes. As may be supposed, a subject full of such in-
terest to those whose lot it is to toil for their daily
bread, and who have hitherto, from some cause or
other, been debarred the acquisition 01 knowledge, com-
manded a crowded audience, and the lecturer was lis-
tened to throughout with great and deserved attention.
Mr. Cooper acquitted himself of his task with ability
and credit to himself. Independently of his know.
ledge of ancient and modern literature, as well as
science, he is possessed of consHerable oratorical
powers, and w as, therefore, enabled to impress upon
his hearers, not only his own estimate ef the im-
portance of attaining knowledge by the working man,
but the great and permanent value which such acqui-
sition must give to that class in their position
in society. Knowledge is power, said the philo-
sopher. and thi refore the attainment of such know-
ledge mu-t give its possessors an advantage calculated to
raise their position in the great social scale of human ex-
ister.ce. Mr. Cteipe r having adverted generally to the
acquisition of niectill acquirements, he proceeded to show
how futile was the idea that a working man could not if
he pleased—and even at what was called an advanced
ate—obtain a thorough acquaintance with at least the
elements of the Greek and Latin languages. By that
means the treasures of ancient classic lure would be
opened to them, and what was of equal importance, it
would enable them to trace the derivation of words from
their original source. He then enumerated many in-
stances of great and learned men—aye, and of the hum-
ble or working classes too—who had attained the ages of
forty and fifty before they commenced the study of the
dead languages, and 3 et, by perseverance and resolution,
not only obtained a perfect acquaintance with them, but
translated the writings of the must celebrated facts of an-
tiquity into the English tongue. The possibility of
acquiring a thorough knowledge of mathematics
followed, and was, we shall take leave to say,
the most practical part of the lecture, as ad-
dressed to his audience. We are not going to
deny but that a knowledge of the anciert languages has
been acquired by men in the humbler walks of life, many
of whom have adorned the countries which gave them
birth; nor do we say that such an acquisition is not an
advantage, but with the generality of artisans and work-
ing men it may be a question whether the time and
labour lost in the pursuit would be eventually repaid.
It is not so with science. There an artisan has an op-
portunity of testing his knowledge by the very employ-
ment in which he is engaged, of advancing, by his in-
genuity and skill, that great mechanical power which has
made this country what she is in arts and manufactures,
and of acquiring daily a practical knowledge which he
may apply to the great business of life, and
in the tulFlment of those duties and objects in
which all men are individually engaged. It is in
this that the study of mathematics affords the greatest
benefits to the working man and to society ut large,
and which no pursuit after mere ancient or modern
literature can ever bestow. And, talking of modern
literature, it did occur to us that the lecturer was rather

" hard" upon works of fiction as forming a portion of
the working men's library. It may be quite true that
those employed at manual labour have little or no time
for reading novels, or works of a similar nature ; and it
may be quite true also that that time might.be better
devoted to the attainment of mechanical knowledge ;
but surely, at seine period or another, there can be no
error in making themselves acquainted with the beauties
of their own language, wiar the works of men, though
novelists, whose genius will ever shed a lustre on the
land which gave them birth. The reading of such works,
to the exclusion of all others, way indeed be an evil of
great magnitude, but as a part of a course of literary
instruction it must confer vast benefits on those who do
so judiciously.
interest
toct r
eated containb y
the
The room where the lecture was given is very small,
and,many who
lecture
absorbed all other considerations. At the •
cone thiton
Mr. Cooper was loudly cheered.
soughtw e
admission,rgret to
baudtdbi ec

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EATiI Lit, Y., .'r•L_iy goon after
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, !ad of
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