The Sun. — 1850-07-11 (London, England)

PUNISHMENT OF DEATH.  Mr. EWART after presenting petititions in favour of the abolition of the punishment of death from Liverpool, Brighton, Shrewsbury, Sunderland, Glas goer, Colchester, Edinburgh, King's Lynn, the Liverpool Peace Society, and other places, proceeded to bring on his motion for leave to abolish the punishment of death. He said he assuredly should net again have brought forward that motion, if it were not for the increasing conviction in his own mind of the justice and expediency of the measure he advocated, and unless he had been convinced that there was an increasing public opinion on this subject throughout the country, and that that public opinion coutinued to receive accessions from day to day. Ou former occasions this question had been argued by figures, which had been triumphantly appealed to on both sides. He believed that on both sides of this question it was a drawn battle; but he thought, on the whole, the weight of statistics was on the side of the abolitionists, and that the mitigation of the punishm+ et of death wherever it had taken place had been attended not only without danger but also with security to society. On this occasion he should to be no statistical view of the subject. He should endeavour to show that the present system of retaining the puni,hreent of death was inconsistent with that great object of all punishment, namely, the certainty of punishment which was laid down by Blackstone as being the proper principle of all punishment, and with which no punishment could be said to be effectual for ins object. He believed if any gentleman would consult the returns which were laid upon the table of the House he would find many cases of murder in which prisoners had been acquitted, not because juries entertained a doubt et the crime, but a dread of the punishment. Lie would refer to the case of Jane Mitchell, tried at Newcastle on the 20.11 of February, 1819; that of Re• becca Smith, tried at Devizes on the 9th of August, in the same year; and Sarah White, tried at the Central Criminal Court on the 10th of January, 1850. In the two great cases the jury recommended the prisoner to mercy in consequence of their antipathy to the punishment. In the last case the same feeling induced the jury to return a verdict of not guilty. When we have such cases of the law becoming powerless through its own severity, he thought the time was come fur some interference. They had the testimony of Justices Coltman and Alderson that juries often gave their verdicts in the teeth of law and evidence in consequence of their great dislike to the punishment ; and beyond this the prisoners were oftentimes more desirous of bring tried for murder rather than for a smaller offence, because they had a feeling that juries would acquit them. They had the opinion of Chief Justice Wild, Justices Wightman and Colman, besides several members of the Irish bar against the punishment of death. If there was one thing on which he was more convinced than another, it was the purity of the motives which influenced the Right Hon. Gentleman the Seen tery for the Home Department, but it did happen that the public were very much perplexed to know, for what reason one criminal was reprieved by him and another criminal punished. He was at a loss to know on what ground the Right Honourable Gentleman would oppose the motion which he now proposed. On a firmer occasion the Right Hon. Baronet supported capital punishment ought on the ground of a certain definite ie.ee, which he supposed existed in the minds of the population on the subject. That, however, was not now the case. Another opinion which he formed was, that the public were in favour of capital punishment, but if he were to call public meetings all over the country, and take the it opinion on the subject, he would find that they s ere decidedly opposed to retaining this species of punishment. The Hon. Member concluded by moving for leave to bring in a Bill to abolish the punishment of I death.  Mr. HUME rose to second the motion, and was  (