The Statesman.
London, England, 1818-12-11 00:00:00

-A

encroached upon, and which they wished to
restore and preserve. list, against the opinion this
given, he would advance one of Blackstone, who bad
•icl, that if the laws were changed or amended every
.tory, it would be so much the better for the then
existing generation. Besides this, Blackstone, speak-
of the severity of the laws, had the following
words it is a melancholy truth, that among the
iety of actions which men are daily liable'to corn-
no less than a hundred and silty have been de-
Auer! by Act of Parliament to be felonies without
benefit of clergy ; or, in other words, to be worthy
!mink death. So dreadful a list, instead of di-
,tinisbing, Increashs the number of offenders. The
Injured, through compassion, will often forbear to
cosetcate ; Juries, threegh compassion, will some-
'lmes forget their oaths, and either acquit the guilty
mitigate the nature of the offence; and Judges,
Iltreeett compassion, will respite one half of the con.
icts, and recommend them to Royal mercy. Among
many chances of escaping, the needy and hardened
offender overlooks the multitude that suffer ; he
'ldl7 engages in some desperate attempt to relieve
wants or supply his vices ; and, if onespectedly
, hand of justice overtakes him, he deems himself
peculiarly unfortunate in falling at last a sacrifice to
th-le laws which long impunity- has tamed him to
It wae impossible for that Learned Commentator
bare expressed binwelf otherwise, when he found
many capital punishMents annexed to the commis-
of so many comparatively trivial actions. For
, act alone—that of going amongst the gypsies for
month, the punishment decreed by the law was
• death. To remedy the abuses arising oat of this un-
natal operation of the I.4ws, several distinguished
men had exerted tkemselves•at different periods.—
Mr. Fez had done so, end failed ; but in the trial he
elicited the • opinions of the first characters of the
is favone.of his motion. Amongst others, it
wasknown that Mr. Pitt Was favourable to a general
revision ; for Mr. Wilberforce- asserted on one occa-
sion, that so deeply was Mr. Pitt impressed with the
meceraity of a genetsl revision of the Penal Code, that
bad it in contemplation to have the whole of it
submitted to the consideration of some of the
eminent lawyers of the day. So far the opinions of
many great men had gone in favour of his proposition.
Be should now look at the facts which bad resulted
from the great increase of capital punishments. If
ware necessary, as was alleged by the oppo-
nents of the revision, their good effects ought to be
risible, and the country ought to be improved in its
morality. But how did the matter stand ? Instead of a
decrease, there was a fearful increase of crime within a
years. (Here Mr. Fayed read the comparative
statement of the increase of crimes and punishments,
Within the last few years, for which we refer our
Readers: to the Advertisement of the Resolutions, in
stoother page.) •Besides these, he added, there was
be observed the wonderful increase in the crime of
forgery, which seemed,' and was, in fact, spreading
• were in proportion to the severity with which it
visited. The number of forged one-pound Bank-
notes discovered by the Bank of England, between
pnnary 1, 1814, and April 10, 1818, were as fol-
low
Years. • Amount. Years.
3814 , 10,310 1816
...
41• om January 1, to April 10, rBl 8, 8,917.
ro •• this he ce Iceived it might be Troy fairly do-
_at•ed that the lb: smile of capital pun. ;anent. was
asotabe beat, nor IA all a good diode of suppressing
"rime. Among the crimes fur which the utmost
enmity of our law was, not too gr. !t, there were
>me about which there could be uo difference of
tpinion. These were murder, treasoi , and bdr-
ry; but he would ssk, ought the same awed of
severity to he dealt out to the man who stole to
value of ss. as to him who violently and
'bout cause deprived his fellow man of life—to
who dared to conspire against the life of his SI/.
f ereign, or to him who
.in the dead of night should
•,k it, upon the property of another ? The suppo-
ton Fns as absurd as it was ws.iting in good policy
humanity ; but the Court would, no doubt, be
;ked to learn that, including the three offenees
tch he had just named, there were not less than
crimes punishable with death—(l/ear, hear !)
of which were made capital in the present reign.
might, perhaps, be said, as was urged by the
doble Secretary of State, that it rested with the pro.
secetors in many cases not to indict for the capital
• of the crime; as, for instance, where it was fur
ding above the value of 40s. in a dwelling-house,
virile of the property stolen might be stated as
less. To this be would answer, that, however ha-
,.ne the intentions of a prosecutor might be, he was
boated to tell the truth and the whole truth ; and
if he was robbed to the value of 51., and swore
It as under 405., he would be calling God to wit-
ness with a lie in his mouth. Thia was one of those
"loos frauds which were frequently resorted to, to
present the infliction of capital punishment, but
which, more than all other things, showed the neces-
• of having that punishment mitigated to something
severe, but more certain. He had as high a re-
spect for the laws as any man, and therefore he did
net wish to see them treated as mere forMs in those
cases where, if they were too severe or ineffectual, they
AK to be repealed or amended.—(flear, .hetze!)
Hot nothing was more common every day than to
Judges and Juries endeavouring to evade their
severity by such means as those to which he had al-
Jded. Ile was not•skilled in law himself, and there.
fore be should be very diffident of giving his own op!.
.ns upon them ; but what he urged were notalottehis
ro, but those of the most eminent lawyers of the day.
mongst these were those of Mr. Montage and
Lushington. Amongst the veiy• many laws
oich were still on the Statute Book, and whose
existence proved the necessity of revision, the Court
should know, and " perhaps," said Mr. Favell,
you, my Lord (addressing the Lord Mayor), are
• ignorant, that though at the commencement of
,ur high office you followed the splendid hospitality
your predecessors, you were yet liable to prosecu-
tion, from whiffle you happily have escaped, for has-
move then two courses at your tahle.—(
and a laugh.)—And," contineed Mr. Favell, " the
Members of the Court are also liable to prosecution
wearing any for on their clothes, that not being
towed to .any one beneath the rank of an Alder-
in. Besides these, there is another law, which was
enacted for the protection and encouragement of the

• .
• :.
•
. ,
,EMI
•..........
•
been
rester/
.1' ghee,
yid, i
COMO
Ctilltil
; ing o
1, 'worth
soviet
mit,
, ill claret
henefl
of in'
minis'
hojert
prose
times
f . or mi
, throe
I - . via'',
11 .. en ms
, otient
bolcli
, • his a
.
1 • the it
• patrol
•
I , these
coot.
4 It
• t
to In
' I .. tome
lion 1
i' one a
i 1 lir aMO
i 1 ' libgth
I . • ..< 14pa 1
t ; ‘ oxen
1.., . Mr. 1
s s •
. eliciti
1 ~
I day i
A -wash
1 - . retrial
. @ion,
weeel
At
f i' • ---,Gam
aril
from
li
1• /. •
,they 1
4 vents
I 1 visibli
• moral
- decre
few y
Marfa
nathit
. _Read,
i 1
i 4 "tooth
.. eelie
i• fele,
Ais it 1
- liat ,1
r.' • notes
Janet
• low :
i., y.ai
1814
i . . . lit, rib
I VINO I
t • veil
i'llill t'Pd
-- L-- illetli
Crime
Ilegfri
- some
opioi,
t- glary
-saved
the e.
1
l . with°
4
, s bim sl
,
i:
vereip
• break
k iitiOn
t and h
+ la ”c 1;
44 e laid
• "200 c
• 60 of
I it at
• Nobli
smut,
part I
.1 SWIM
1 the ii
• i less.
i. . mane
bosh'
that,
to it I
ness
1 Timis
prose
whici
I City o
less s
• 11 epect
note
# ' CM.
ooeh4
---Illa
• I see
sever
it hulk
fore I
1 nions
own,
Amo
Dr.
whicl
exist'
~ *, shoal
.t 1 66 yc
i
-' not i
i
. your
I i of y 4
tion,
lag I
and I
A i Mew
fors
li 1s 1 silos
i - an ii,
Amu