The Statesman.
London, England, 1818-02-26 00:00:00

7*•••

opinion of the 'Directors of the Bank; but it
Lad hem retool necessary to sire them a sort of dis-
t:re:ion with respect to prosecutions, which ought
not to legal vie* be given to that body. The har-
ing a forged note might incur 14 years' transports-
tino. Though great discretion was given to the Bank
of , Eegland, as to prosecuting fee a capi-
tal offence. he believed they had taken a bossing
view trf elicit-cases: bet tee 'desired effect of great
severity had been lost, and..the evils of uttering
.forked stoles restraistrel. --414a-baliered that- the muse-
and (Neil's; of the People of •Sugland wereagainst the
the punishment of death-10r forgery; and•that per:
haps, in this respect, the strongest instance was to
uP s,sund of the e•etsloo of.the People, of this .coup-;
try to trey particular brooch, of theism, On ,that-
very &vitro young lads were to- haveheen execoted
'„tfortforgeiy,;.and.liad.itroot been for proper,comme-
nicatioes hiving been made, their fate would Alt
.'worming have heap irrevocably sealed.
•llt was clear
...that the !verity of. the punishments had not. pre.
'vented the crimes. The , Act ;of .the present reign
'stated in the preamble, that the crime of forgery had
•-grettaly increased.., It should be considered,, that if,
mingoitiary punishments did net destroy or diminish
the,evils, they would be.presiective.of very bad con-
, sequences. These were..tre he found not merely in
• 11.. th p lamentable lose. of lives, bet also in the effects
produced by horrid spectacles. It was the duty of a
Leg's.. Wore to inculcate end proninte the. best feel.
Isis of tturrttinitc. . There was. great danger to the
ertor;el feelings of the People in lettieg them see that
there was a light regard paid to lives. hr. Berke
had •elequently Impressed .his opinion on a subject
441411.6%i° ship, when. he • said that politica) crimes
. should Dot bepunisiterl by inflictions on a great num•
•lver et mantis; for such eteentioni iocreased the fe-
rocity of the human passions, aryl led men to regard
life lightly. The great trolley was to make men eon-
- sider their lives of much importance, and not to be
Sacrificed to passion, but only under the regulations
of the duties of morality and of the public law.—
[ Hear!]-lle had read something in the Newspapers
of that day which he could not avoid noticing. It ap-
peared, according to the accounts,' that- a wretched
spectacle had been exhibited to • a creed ; the Mast.
gled and bloody core of a suicide bad been ele-
vated before the eyes of eyery.body, with tbe instru."
went by which stilf.merder• had beed ennnitted,
and every other circumstance to make up a horrible
•
teshibitien.* Such a horrid display could have ne
other than an 'unfavourable effeCt on the gazing Mule
titode. It might he very •dastgitrous to women end
to children. He could not rinderstaed .aoy 'autho.
city far such a bloody ezhibillen. The verdict es.
tended only to the burying of such an offender in the
highway. The punishment was not to presume the
commissien of another clime, though perhaps of that
there. -could be little doubt. It, .watt. a matter of Wt.
• portance to consider whether Sheriffs or others were
• justified in taking upon themselves the direction of
• scenes so dreadful and revolting. He well recnem-
• bered when, upon a formai occasion, a Gentleman,
now no Tore, of the greatest talents, and in words
much better than he could mie, 'airiniadverted. in the
House on similar prirceedingi et the intertneot of •
wretched end criminal suicide. trh. Learned Genii
ttearian 'Boded here to the observatious of the late
Mr. Sheridan, on the raposure of the body of the
wretch Williams, with the. fatal maul, &c. hy'which
he murdered the Marrs and Williamsons, a few
years back.] lie should conclude by Moving for
leave to bring in a Bill to repeal those parts of the
10th anti 1 nth of William 111., which took away
Hquefit of Clergy for stealing in houses, da.
Mr. JOHN SNIFF,' did not wish to say any thing
which could take off the effect of what had fallen
from the Learned Gentleman. Circumstances en-
abled him to give added confirmation to what he had,
said on some points, especially as to only three or
four convictious on the Bankrupt Laws. The in•
stancvs of concealments fraudulently made in bank-
ruptcy cases were indeed innumerable. They were
numerous every year, and he believed that it could
be proved to the House. As to the crime of forgery,
it had increased (luring the last four or five years;
11,•1 he betievvd o-,seral persons were now waitiog to
take t!:eir trim! for this offence. He believed that
neitner tt,a Houle, nor the country at large, were
%s aa re of the numerous offences of this kind that
were compromised avid hushed op. Bankers were
perpetually liable to the effects of this crime.. They.
bad indeed formed an Association, and appointed a
Solicitor for the prosacutioe of offenders; but they
'were very often moved by pity, and acted contrary
to the principles of their association: Quite enough,
he thought, had beets said for impression on the mind
of the rouse.
Sir J. NEWPORT 'said, that a strong cage had
been 'made nut ; he trusted that. his lion. Friend
would persevere in applying the principles of wisdom
and homanity to the reformation of our criminal code.
'Awe was then given to. bring in the Bill.
Sir C. hlONCit said he understood a Constitution
had been agreed on between the Nur great Powers
for the lonian [eland,-ststilince farmed. The nature
of it might furnish an- object of jealousy to this
House. He therefore desired-to know whether it
was to be submitted to Pailiament ?
Lord CASTLEREAGH believed the Constitution
had been framed, and was in existence, but he had
received nct commands to lay it before the House.
Sir C. hIONCIi gave notice that he would, on
Tuesday neat, submit a motion to the house for an
Address to the Prince Regent, with a view to have it
laid before the House.
Mr. Balfour brought up an Account of the amount
of Fees paid by every individual on being admitted a
Licentiate of the London College of Surgeons.
On the motion of Sir J. NEWPORT, accounts
were ordered tube laid before the House of the
gross and net amount of the produce of the Duties in
Ireland, on servants, horses, harness, and carriages,
two and four-wheeled, as also of tobacco, sugar,
spirits, wine, &c. from 1790 to 1818, specifying the
rate of duty on each article. On the motion. of the
Hon. 'Baronet, en account was likewise ordered to
he laid before the House of any- order or notice that
had been given in Ireland by the Cemmissionera of
Excise and Inland Tiles, allowing windows which
had been closed to avoid the tax to be opened in_the
case of contagious fever elistiog in those houses in
which they were situated.

011 the mntion °Mir W. BURROUGHS, e return
vs; ur;:.e;ed to be made ttk the Rouse of an Fames