The Sun.
London, England, 1828-05-14 00:00:00

reach wal ; a tear which souse. bay was engaged in to
tFend all we held dear, lint which he thought was waged
the expellee of what we ought to hold most dear,
amely, the character, and independence, and prosperity of a
able and once hottest population. This depreciated paper
used the price of provisions faster than the rate of waves,
tad thus threw the labourer upon the poor rate, in order
a eke out that provision, which till then had always been
!hinted, and never refused as the fair reward of their
kl'lnstr.Y. The neat cause of crime was the distress pros
loced by raising the value of the money in which the
rational debt Was borrowed, and in which the labourer is
(bid, by sahieho a part of the earnings of the latter were
transferred to the gain of the former. This scarcity of
of course threw thousands out of work, and left
thew who had any, a mere pittance of wages to live on ;
while the food of the labourer thus became more scarce,
that unprotected property called game, became more
Pientil."l, and data added its share to the increase of
'ences• The third great cause of this misfortune was to
b"cr
oefreildrsoeug ht within the walls of the prison, where the
found less labour, more food, better lodging,
moreover, worse company than in his state of
•t-uc'eel'Coi for to whatever extent you carry classification,
.`noounts at best only to the packing together of couge-
f Srlat,r 8 Consult the most experienced magistrates and
'") they all agree i this lamentable fitet of eneral
tonta-m
ili ation of persons committed for trial, and no general
'&tiou of persons coinniitted for trial, and nothing
as Yet done to remedy it ; but there could be no oblige-
°u 4-101.5 sacred on the part of Parliament, than promptly
to a,St whatever was calculated to alleviate it. The re-
tite``lea he would suggest were, granting greater powers to
accept of bail, to prevent innocent persons at least from
gB, irretrievable corruption ; the next was snore frequent
deliveries; and the last was to empower magistrates
hiPettY sessions to sentence boys under a certain age, say
ta 7, to short imprisontnents of a few weeks of soli-
!Y nemen t for petty or simple larcenies ; whipping
41-
:ght be allowed fur second offences, but never in public,
''eePt where all chance of amendment was desperate.
adults The should have the option of going before a jury.
is a general complaint of the inutility of long int-
i.onsats, and it were both merciful, wise, and econo-
feal to condense them, so that all the offender may know
th the inside of the gaol may be the personal restraint and
e.ltoral improvement. Our counties are now ruined
tiY,,lnereasing rates, owing to the multitude of proseeu-
v-„-4 for trifling offences. Our punishments are too se-
tjte, they are far more so than formerly when our people
-re.re exposed to less temptation than now. Compare your
to%'ll'ioal lists with those of forty or fifty years ago—compare
the° the relative condition of the labourer, who was not
th forced, and would have been ashamed, to seek from
Poor rate the just reward of his labour—and let us ask
t,':selvos how we can in conscience reconcile it to ourselves
%7,lacerbate, as we do, instead of mitigating, as we
ONut to do, our penal inflictions on persons whom our
t.lative crimes and blunders have exposed to tempta-
ia% almost irresistible and unknown to better times.
shouldi all he asked was to bring in a Bill, of which he
leave the clauses as, pen as possible, in order to re-
aft•Z 441! the improvement which the House was able to
VERGUSON was convinced that a Bill of this na-
p-e,oould never pass through a single stage in that House.
I),Qt'l that part of the law which made the forfeiture of
LeL'cikrty consequent on a conviction for felony was altered,
11'44 quite sure that the House would never trust such a
astsas to magistrates.
1,11% SYKES hoped the House would give his Hon.
IPd leave to bring i this Bill, because it was very pro-
Ze that some measure might emanate from the House
'eh would amend the criminal jurisdiction. At present
c'bjection of his Hon. Friend (Mr. Ferguson), who had
"'h't tit down, appeared to him to be insurmountable ; bat
a,e„la,v on this point might be very easily and very ad-
41"tageously altered. He was quite sure that every body
I,,t•lilt agree, that long imprisonments were so far from
pr-ilt calculated to do good, that they, for the most part,
ever afterwards
men who had once become inmates of gaols from
et' afterwards returning to the paths of virtue. He
never knew of a man being reformed by such a course of
and he had, therefore, always been for trans-
'-tt'og an offender at once, if the offence were a serious
fl
rather than sentence hint to a long imprisonment.
ief°.,.re he sat down, he must recommend to the notice of
1,,L,;1° n. Friend (Mr. Davenport) a very able pamphlet,
t„',ten by a Baronet in the west of England, Sir John
t'cr'lly Wilmot, which contained some very useful sugges-
-°''' On the subject which his Hon. Friend's Bill contem-
, 1,140.
141. WESTERN trusted that leave would be given for
the
sill to be brought in.
Leave was then given to bring in the Bill.
Sir M. W. RIDLEY moved for a copy of the memorial
ria the coal-owners ou the rivers Tyne and Weare to the
ttet asury, dated March 28, ISM
'TY AND BOROUGHS POLLS AT ELECTIONS
BILL.
5 4111 ALTHORP moved the farther consideration of the
,ePort upon this Bill.
a,„"Ill% ROBINSON said, that with so few members pre-
it!, he hoped the Bill would not be proceeded in. In case
ere not postponed, he should be compelled to adopt that
-4e which the forms of the House allowed him, under
-'44 circumstances.
(Lt,ord ALTHORP said, that any discussion which was
'll'4 could be taken upon the third reading of the Bill.
a ,
Pad° been so long in the House, that he was indisposed to
("Pone it.
ilakled •a/o the motion of Mr. RontssoN, the House then
" when, no
40 Members t being present, an adjourn-
', k,
took place (at Half-past Eleven o'Clock) to to-morrow
to lltty
day.)

Mr. j, FARISH, farmer, of Gillhouse, in
1,4 neighbourhood, ha.s now in his possession foue young
irrels, and a kitten, which have all been suckled and
,°n Lie uph lisle e little family living upon the most
41ie.ble terms.-- Cby a cat—
ar Journal.
Ott Wednesday a grilse, weighing 4lbs., was
„
at the water-mouth. At this time of the year grilec
't Mere minnows in comparisen, which makes it rather
Iraordinary that one of that size should have been found.
e Salmon fishing is offering to be pretty prosperous here
season.—Angus Telegraph.
SINGULAR CIRCUMSTANCE.—About thirty
ties ago, a bout laden with smuggled spirits, coming
i'4lri the Isle of Man, was overtaken by a storm and lost
%Huth Bat', near Beckfoot ; every soul on board
perished ; and some days afterwards the body of one of the
kltn Ivas washed ashore. A parson who discovered it lying
l'ongst the wreck thrown up by the remorseless sea, dug
h!rave and buried it in the sand. Some weeks ago
tk lame person, walking upon the shore observed that
1,4 action of the sea had uncovered the skeleton of the
11?tlY he had buried thirty years before ! But what was
surprise to find, that though the fleshhad crumbled
4li dust and mixed with its parent earth, and nothing
11,
left of the once manly form but the bare bones, the
ititket in which the man had been dressed was as perfect as
'it day on which it was buried, and apparently as strong ;
e shoes were also on the feet, uninjured by-y
time, and
„s
ne were some other parts of the dress perfectly bound
fresh. He again consigned the remain' of tke smuggler
the grave.—Carlisle Journal.
tXECUTION AT FALKIRK.—In our Stirling
tircnit intelligence last month, we gave a short account of
th r,t trial and conviction of FRANCIS COCKPURN, nailor in
inelon, for the murder of WILLIAM Bust, also a nador
,:4
that village. It may be remembered that the jury were
t' unanimous in their verdict, on which account a number
4
v:ecpectablo individuals made some investigation, and got
‘l'iteas affidavits which they thought justified them in pre-
i:ting a petition to his MaJtsry fur a commutation of
sentence, but last week an answer was received from
‘,,,t; PEEL, stating that there appeared nothing in the case
could induce his MAJESTY to extend the Royal
ny to the unfortunate individual. After that was made
1,1,Li became
to him, the clergymen in Stirling, and even of Fel-
became unremitting in their attendance upon Lin.
s sentence ordained him to lie executed at Falkirk,
Alacnoteian of Staffa, the Sheriff-Depute of the
14;14tY, went there, and swore in about `doo of the
ttrl'ijiiici inhabitants as special constables, thereby /ri-
ming to sever the necessity of bringing in the
it 1t0....
How, not trusting wholly to this,
1)4 t'tuadron of dragoons were brought from Eciin-
F4ghi and took their station this morning at Lan-
' a mile eastward of Falkirk. About one o'clock
verSheriff-Depute and his Substitute, with a posse of ofll-
to,!, arrived at Falkirk with the criminal, who was ac-
iq'atilliartied by a clergyman from Stirling, and on arriving
th, t scaffold, erected in the centre of the High-street,
Y retired to a house adjoining. After spending upwards
as an hour in devotional exercises, he was brought out, and
pr:l6l the scaffold with a firm step ; and after an im-
%ll,ol:ve Prayer, put up by the Rev. Dr. BELrsAOE, he
bands with the Sheriffs and other gentlamen, who
t1,t(71. He then shortly prayed, and on giving a signal
ti,,nrOP fell. After hanging the usual time he was cut
to tdi and put into a cart, which immediately proceeded
raultitliburgh, under a military escort. There was a great
acle assembled, who conduc themselv prperly
rount'igof li they seemed to sympathis tee
d for the crimi es
nalo on ac-
,
tual his youth, and the provocation he Lad got from
ab (44 it is somewhat remarkable eat 1317E.T'S father,
eirnii:;syears ago, was whipped through Falkirk for a
wence.., Caledonia,: Abrcury,