The Sun.
London, England, 1834-09-26 00:00:00

DECREASE OF PUBLIC EXECUTIONS.

The repeated respites of the execution of Garside
and his fellow convict for the murder of Mr. Ashton,
and the singular but pleasing fact that, during the
shrievalty which is about to expire, a single execution
has not taken place in London or Middlesex—a fact
without a parallel in the annals of crime—have given
rise to much conversation in public companies. It is
at length conceded by many who were formerly ad-
vocates for capital punishment that, under a mitigated
administration of the law, the offences which used to
be visited with death have been much on the de-
cline. This remark applies particularly to the crime
of forgery, for the punishment now inflicted is more
dreaded than even death itself.

Passing over the reign of George 111., when male-
factors were hurried out of the world by tens, fifteens,
and twenties at a time, it will be seen by the fol-
lowing statement that during the latter part of the
Regency and the reign of his son and successor, the
edge of the sword of justice was not, in this respect,
much blunted. It is said, when a benevolent person
complained to a late city judge of the frequency of
public executions, he replied, " Oh, they are necessary
in order to impress the minds of the public with the
solemnity and importance of courts of justice, and if
they do not deter persons from the committal of crime,
they amuse and gratify the public, who would not be
satisfied unless such examples were made."
The following is a summary statement of the of-
fences for which persons have been executed in each
respective year, since 1816 ; to which is prefixed the
names of the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs for each year
1816.—Woou, Mayor. BELL and THORP, Sheriffs—For
burglary, 3 ; cutting and maiming, 1; uttering forged notes,
3 ; murder, 6 ; highway robbery, 1 ; robbery on the Thames,
2 ; unnatural offence, 2 ; total, 18. •
1817.—Woou, Mayor. BRYDGES and KIRBY, SileriffS.—
Burglary, 6 ; forgery, 2 ; uttering forged notes, 3 ; highway
robbery, 5 ; murder, 1 ; riot and robbery, 1 ; piracy, 4; rape,
1 ; total, 23.
1818.—C. SMITH, Mayor. ALDERSON and DESANGES, She-
riffs.—Burglary, 2 ; forgery, 4; uttering forged notes, 8;
highway robbery, 1 ; robbery on the Thames, 2 ; murder, 3 ;
total, 20. •
1819.— ATKINS, Mayor. ROBERTS and GWYN, Sheriffs.—
Burglary, 7 ; uttering forged notes, 4 ; forgery, 1 ; highway
robbery, 5 ; murder, 1 ; letter-breaking, 4 ; sheep-stealing,
1:; cattle-stealing, 1 ; unnatural offence, 1 ; maliciously shoot-
ing, 1 ; total, 26.
1820.—BRYDGES, Mayor. ROTHWELL and PARKINS, She-
riffs.—Burglary, 9 ; extortion, 2 : forgery, 1 ; uttering forged
notes, 14 ; highway robbery, 5 ; high treason, 5 ; housebreak-
ing, 1 ; horse-stealing, 1 ; murder, 1 ; sheep-stealing, 1 ,
stealing in dwelling-houses, 2 ; sacrilege, 1 ; total, 43.-
1821.—Tnoap,Mayor. WILLIAMS and WAITHMAM, She-
riffs.—Burglary, 4 ; cutting and maiming, 1; extortion, 2 ;
uttering forged notes, 6 ; forgery, 1 ; highway robbery, 13 ;
sheep-stealing, 1 ; stealing in dwelling-houses, 2 ; sacrilege,
1 ; smuggling, 1; prix ately stealing, 1; total, 33. ,
1822.—MAGNEY, Mayor. VENABLES and GARRATT, Sne-
riffs.—Burglary, 11 ; uttering forged notes, 3 ; forgery, ;
murder, 1 Lunnatural offence,2; housebreaking, 5 ; total, 23.
1823.—HEYGATE, Mayor. LUCAS and THOMPSON, She-
riffs.—Burglary, 9 ; cutting and maiming, 2 ; forgery, 1.:
uttering forged notes, 2 ; highway robbery, 1 • housebreaking,
1 ; stealing in dwelling-houses, 1 ; unnatural offence, 1 ; to-

tal, 18. -
1824.—WAITHMAN, Mayor. WHITTAKER and LAURIE, She-
riffs.—Burglary, 3 ; uttering forged notes, 1 ; forgery, 2 ;
highway robbery, 3 ; murder, 1 ; privately stealing, 1 ; total, 11.
1825.—GARRATT, Mayor. BROWN and KEY, Sheriffs.—
Burglary, 8 ; highway robbery, 1 ; forgery, 1 ; horse-stealing,
4 ; letter-breaking, 1' • murder, 1 ; rape, 1 total, 17.
1826.—VENABLES, Mayor. CROWDER and KELLY, Sheriffs.
—Burglary, 4 ; forgery, 1 ; highway robbery, 7 ; horse-steal-
ing, 1 ; murder, 1 ; sheep-stealing, 1; stealing in a dwelling-
house, 1 ; total 16.
1827.—BROWN, Mayor. FAREBROTHER and WINCHESTER,
Sheriffs.—Arson, I ; burglary, 2 ; coining, 3 ; highway rob-
bery, 5 ; housebreaking, 1 ; sheep-stealing, 2 ; rape,
1; steal-
ing in dwelling-houses, 2 ; total, 17.
1828.—LvcAs, Mayor. SPOTTISWOODE and STABLE, She-
riffs.—Burglary, 8 ; coining, 1 ; cutting and maiming, 2 ;
forgery, 1 ; uttering forged notes, 2 ; murder, I ; housebreak-
ing, 4 ; highway robbery, 2 ; stealing in dwelling-houses, 1
total, 22.
1829.—TITOMPSON, Mayor. BOOTH and COPELAND, She'
riffs. —Arson, 1 ; burglary, 8 ; coining, I ; forgery, 5; utter
ing forged notes, 1 ; highway robbery, 6 ; murder, 2 ; mali-
ciously shooting, 2 ; sheep-stealing, 1 ; stealing in a dwelling-
house, 1 ; total, 28.
1830.—(Wm. IV. Rex.)—CROWDER Mayor. RICHARD-
SON and WARD, Sheriffs.—Burglary, 2 ; highway robbery, 1 ;
Murder, 1 L piracy, 5 ; total, 6.
1831.—KEY, Mayor. MARSHALL and POLAND, Sheriffs.--
-
Murder, 2 ; sheep-stealing, 1 ; stealing in a dwelling-house,
I ; total, 4.
1832.—KEY, Mayor. COWAN and PIRIE, Sheriffs.—Mur-
der, 2 ; highway robbery, 2 ; total, 4.
1833.— LAURIE, Mayor. HUMPHREY and PEAK, Sheriffs.—
Murder, 1; highway robbery, 2 ; total, 3.
1834.—FAREBROTHER, Mayor. HARMER and WILSON, She-
riffs.—No execution this year.

at work with some labourers close to the main road. A
funeral passed, and four men, whom he thought were at the
fhneral, came off the road, and were in the act of walking
across a barley-field belonging to his father, when he called
out to them not to do so, the day being wet and that they
would injure it. They turned about and shook their
sticks in a menacing manner at him. At that moment he
heard a voice behind him, saying, " You are my prisoner,"

whereupon he turned round, and saw the traverser, who
is a Magistrate for .the County of Cork, with a pair of
iron hand-cuffs in his hand. Mr. Cross was speaking

angrily to William Hallinan. Witness addressing the
traverser, said—" Sir, if these men are yours, it is a
shame to let them trample and injure corn fields in this
manner." Mr. Cross, in reply, said " that he would send
as many more of them there if he wished, for that he was
a Magistrate, and the law allowed him to do what he
pleased! !" Witness replied that he (Mr. Cross) should
not send any man there to injure his father's property,
upon which Mr. Cross ran at him, pushed him off the ditch,
h 2 was his_prisoner, and called upon his men to hand-
cuff him. About ten men immediately came up i four or
five of them seized witness, and held him for Mr. Cross,
who endeavoured to force the handcuffs on him. The

witness resisted with all his strength, and Mr. Cross did
not succeed in getting on the handcuffs. Witness had
been engaged in making a ditch ; his hands were soiled ;
and, from coining so closely and violently in contact with
Mr. Cross's hands, the latter also became soiled. Mr.
Cross afterwards had the summons now produced served
upon witness ‘, for obstructing him in the execution of his
duty as a Magistrate ;" but the Magistrates dismissed the
complaint.
The witness was cross-examined at considerable length
by Mr. Daltera ; but he did not vary in the least from his
original statement. He admitted Mr. Cross was a tithe
collector for the Rev. Mr. Beresford, the Rector of the
parish, where the alleged outrage was committed ; but
he added that his father owed no tithe, having paid it in.
April.
William Hallinan corroborated O'Brien's statement fully.
Mr. MORGAN cross-examined him ; but his direct evi-
dence remained unshaken. _ _

Timothy sen., father of the first witness, gave
similar evidence. .

This witness and his son are very decent-looking persons,
and gave their evidence with great correctness and pro-
priety.
Joseph Capel Fitzgerald, Esq.—ls a magistrate. O'Brien
is his tenant, and he and his son are most respectable and
well-conducted men. O'Brien paid his tithe in full last
April.

The case for the prosecution closed here, and Mr. DAL-
TERA, for the defence, stated that he would call no wit-
nesses, and that he would rest his defence upon an autho-
rity which he then produced from the Lord Lieutenant to
Mr. Cross.
The CHAIRMAN called for the document.
It was a letter from Sir William Gosset, as follows :
" Sir—l received your statement and laid it before the
Lord Lieutenant, and I am desired by his Excellency to say
that he approves of Mr. Cross's devoting his services to act
with the tithe collectors."

The ASSISTANT BARRISTER did not consider this by any
means " an authority" to Mr. Cross to act as he had done
The ASSISTANT BARRISTER then summed up. Though
painful the duty may be which the Jury had to perform, he
did not, throughout the evidence adduced,' discover any-
thing which should cause a moment's hesitation as to their
verdict ; and it, therefore, imperatively devolved upon them
to find the traverser Guilty. His Worship then recapitu-
lated the evidence, and, in remarking on the law of the case,
said, to constitute false imprisonment it was by no means
necessary that persons be confined within the walls of one
of his Majesty's prison ; neither was it necessary he should
be confined within the walls of any house or. place. In this
free country, continued his Worship, it is sufficient to call
for reparation from the laws of the land, should a man's free-
dom of motion be abridged by the unlawful act of any

person.
The Jury, without retiring, returned an unanimous ver
dict of Guilty.
His WORSHIP, then, directing himself to the Traverser,
said—Philip Cross—You have been, I am sorry to say,
found guilty of an offence which appears to me to be as
gross a violation of the liberty of the subject as could, by
any possibility, be imagined ; and it is further aggravated
by this circumstance—that the man who outraged the law
in such a manner was himself' solemnly sworn to preserve
the peace. The man upon whose person the outrage was
committed belongs to the class of intelligent and respect-
able farmers in this county. O'Brien, the father, appears
to be a most respectable and well-conducted yeoman, hold-
ing a very extensive farm, and •uniformly paying his rent and
tithes—his conduct on all occasions most inoffensive, and
who never had any dispute with the Traverser. This man,
who has been so wantonly assaulted, along with some of his
labourers, perceives, on the day in question, a number of
persons crossing, unlawfully, through his ground—trampling
his corn, and doing his growing crops an injury. When
the prosecutor, very properly remonstrated with those per-
sons upon the mischief they were perpetrating, instead of
apology, the prosecutor and his men are answered by menaces,
accompanied by insulting and threatening gestures. Here
this Magistrate, the appointed and sworn preserver of the
peace—clothed in the mantle of authority, wantonly and
violently abuses the privilege placed in him by committing
an act of the most unparalleled nature. He accosts these
people, who are peaceably protecting their properties, and
makes use-of language towards them, which should never
have fallen from the lips of one in his situation of life—
more particularly so from a magistrate, to either his inferior
or his equal. This person attempted to put the degrading
badge of slavery upon a young man—upon a free-born
subject of a free country. But he was repelled. The
young man denies his authority and protests against so
gross a violation of the law. If he had not done so, what
might have been the consequence ? He would have for-
feited his freedom—he would have been dishonoured !
Then, Mr. Cross would, in all probability, have proceeded
to greater lengths ; but he was awed by the crowd of per-
sons who came up—witnesses of this disgraceful conduct—
by whose numbers he was terrified, and from whose appear-
ance he was apprehensive of a reprisal. In my opinion the
people who were assembled and witnessed the proceedings
acted with the most becoming moderation ; as, fortunately,
nothing serious had accrued .from it. For had those
persons taken the law into their own hands, as Mr. Cross and
his party had done—and in doing which they were certainly as
fully justified—if such hadbeen the case, we cannot now con-
template how direful the transaction might have been. From all
which has appearedin this case Heel myself most imperative-
ly called upon, sitting, as I do, administering the laws from
this Bench, to show, by the sentence of this Court, that the
law is no respecter of persons, and that there is not one law
for the rich man and another for the poor. I am called
upon to vindicate the laws in the person of one sworn to
be their guardian and protector, and who, in the instance
before us did, through some, to me, unaccountable motive,
himself outrage them without the least apparent provoca-
tion or apparent excuse. The case stands so utterly devoid
of any feature or circumstance to induce a mitigation of
punishment, or delay the judgment of the Court, that it
must be immediately put in force. His Worship then
enquired of the Agent for the prosecutors, whether it was
the intention of his clients to bring an action for damages ?
Mr. KIRBY replied that he had brought two actions to
be tried at the present Sessions, Upon which—
The ASSISTANT-BARRISTER said he had no hesitation
in giving a decree to the full amount of his jurisdiction in
young O'Brien's case. The sentence of the Court is, that
you, Philip Cross, be imprisoned for one calendar month,
and pay to the King a fine of 101.
Next day a memorial for the remission of the sentence,
on the ground of Mr. Cross being in delicate health, was
handed in.
The ASSISTANT BARRISTER intimated that the compli-
ance of the Court with the application just made would
amount to a mockery of justice ; whereupon his Worship
ordered the Tr verser to be committed to the county gaol,
which was immediately carried into effect.

LIVERPOOL COTTON-MARKET, SEPT• 24.
Sales of Cotton to-day 4,000 bales. The demand has been
gocd and general, and the trade, excited by the spirit of spe-
culation, purchase freely at the advance, which we make id.
per lb. on American and Id. on Brazils since Friday. Spe-
culators have taken 1,200 American, and exporters 100 bales.
Particulars of sales :-200 Bahia, lop. a 11 fd. ; 100 Per-
nams, 124 d. a 133-d.; remainder American, Bd. a 94d. per lb.

" Give me your address !" is a very common expression
amongst all people moving in what may be called respect-
able society ; but as we descend a little lower in the scale,
we then hear asked, what just answers the same purpose,
" Where do you live ?" Now, although the one equally
answers to the other in the end, there is yet a very marked
and great distinction betwixt the two. In the former, the
person applied to give his address merely as where he can
be heard of, or spoken to, perhaps accompanied by a paren-
thesis, " from twelve to four o'clock." The latter, again,
is in general given as the bona fide residence, name of the
street and number, verbatim. I lately mused on this sub-
ject in going make a call on a person living in rather an in-
tricate partof this great metropolis, and passed street after
street, and square after square, in which I thought it just
as likely he might live anywhere else, after many turnings
and windings, I found him correctly enough at the place
and number given. It was like the solution of a problem
in Euclid, or a question in Dillworth—equals to equals—
side to side—second to the right, first to the left (for so I
was told by a baker), on the right 37 will be found, which
•accordingly was the point I required. On going along, I
could not help revolving in my mind this daily and familiar
expression, which I think is seldom sufficiently noticed ;
for, although it is not the " silver link and silken tie" of
the poet, I consider it as the mighty chain that links the
great mass of society, and that binds us all, as it were, in
one body.—Leigh Hunt's London Journal. •