The Sun.
London, England, 1847-06-04 00:00:00

ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND POUNDS.

To say that such a requisition would be unreason-
able were preposterous. The blessings bestowed upon
the contemporary million, and upon all future gene.
rations, through the instrumentality of RICHARD Con-
DEN—through the oratorical masterpieces by which
he elicited the eulogiums of the Prime Minister—
and especially through the gratuitous toil by which
he destroyed his domestic comforts and undermined
his bodily health—are utterly incalculable. Our
recommendation then is most moderate and most
rational. The sum still required to complete the
golden plum which we would see presented by the
nation to its patriotic chieftain is surely of compara-
tive insignificance, namely, 19,5161. 6s. 4d. Cannot
this be obtained with sufficient rapidity to anticipate
the closing of the Testimonial Fund ? Why, a
halfpenny subscription from every enfranchised free-
trader would do is in a fortnight ; or a sixpence ad-
ditional from those who have already forwarded their
donations would carry the gilt to the desired
maximum. We offer our suggestion with all earnest-
ness ; let there be but a quick response in copper
pieces, and the hundred thousand pounds will, within
three weeks, be in the possession of the committee.
On the return of RICHARD COBDEN to England,
therefore, the National Testimonial might be presented
to him at some appropriate monster demonstration,
say in the vicinity of his old successes, at the
Theatre Royal Drury-lane. Banquets have
been given to RICHARD COBDEN by congenial fo-
reigners ; let us afford him a similar welcome on his
restoration to us, let us gladden his heart with the
sound of English cheers, and tender him a fitting
testimonial for his national and patriotic services—a
testimonial of
ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND POUNDS.

The Secretary of State for the Home Department,
n moving last night the committal of the Prisons
Bill and the Custody of Offenders Bill, explained the
Ministerial policy and intentions with respect to the
more serious cases of secondary punishments in a
speech of singular clearness and ability, which de-
servedly elicited the approbation of the House. For
many years past the Legislature has adopted a more
mitigated code for the repression of crime. Very
many cases, formerly visited with the ex-
treme penalty of the law, now only subject the
offender to the loss of liberty, either by a prolonged
term of imprisonment, or what is known to the law
as transportation, whether for life or a term of years.
In many of these cases the widest discretion is neces-
sarily entrusted to the presiding judge, who will
have it in his power either to expatriate the
criminal from his native land for the re-
mainder of his life, or to dismiss him with the
infliction of a nominal fine, or a brief detention
in cu,tody. Capital punishment has been practically
abolished, save in cases of wilful and aggravated
murder ; all offences, therefore, against property, and
all against the person not involving the death of the
aggrieved party, are treated as secondary crimes, and
visited only with secondary punishments. It be-
comes, therefore, a matter of the deepest interest to
the people generally, who have cordially assented to
the present more humane state of the law, that the
secondary punishments should be placed on a sound
and wholesome footing, so as at the same time to re-
press crime, by creating a salutary dread of its in-
evitable consequences; and, secondly, to afford the most
reasonable prospects for the reformation of the cul-
prit, and his restoration to society on some futurp
occasion, a wiser and a better man. To the attain-
ment of these points, the discipline to which
he shall be subjected, the place and man-
ner of his confinement should be directed.
It is due to those who yield a prompt and ready
obedience to the law, that they should be protected
in the full enjoyment of their rights and privileges,
that no morbid feelings of sensibility for those con-
victed of crimes and misdemeanours should encourage
others to corninit similar offence:4. It is not for the
sake of vengeance that the majesty of the law
is vindicated, but that a warning and ex-
ample might be held out to all This primary
o!ject being attained, it is incumbent upon us, as
a humane and Christian people, to win back
our erring brethren from the paths of vice, to
teach theta their duty as members of society, to in-
duce them, if possible, to earn their daily bread by the
efzerciseof their honest industry, and to remove them
tempthtaeitrionfobrymwerhicehrrothrse—y mayinto be induced
tboni every
rnorr,ail elapse into
za
it
time
. ion similar to that from which theyastat havee of
deeern
The M'Ili"`"lal plan just developed appears well cal-
cu'atf d r 0 attain thabe great_ol3,iects. .01,It makes the
I:ary
states,
ine•
,a,va_atiet:.‘ itytis g,ap bat
Hilly relaxed,
t. ed +oh ruble. Ills pro-
gress from one of those stages to another will be
mainly dependent on himself, on the evidences he