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Holland took occasion to make some very ingenious remarks on the nature of punishment, showing that disproportionate severity led inevitably to the multiplication of crimes, by increasing the chances of escape to the criminal, from the reluctance which men felt to prosecute for petty of. fences for which the law had strangely provided a capital punishment. Lord Liverpool was of opinion, that the increase of crimes was partly owing to the change from war to peace; and he remarked, that if the records of London and Middlesex were examined, with the view of ascertaining the state of crimes during and after the American war, the proportional increase would be found to resemble, in a very remarkable manner, what had recently occurred. It appeared, that during that war crimes had at first diminished, then increased towards its conclusion; and during the first years of peace, had still greatly increased. In 1777, the number of capital convictions was 63; in 1778, they were 81; in 1779, they decreased to 60, a circumstance well worthy of their Lordships' attention. In 1781, the number increased to 90; in 1782, the number was 108; in 1783, still increasing, 173; in 1784, the convictions were 153; and in 1785, they were 151. Hence it appeared, that the increase of crimes during the last years of the American war, and the first years of peace, compared with the first year of the war, was nearly in the proportion of 3 to 1, which was precisely the proportion which had been observed to take place with respect to the late war. From these facts it was natural to look to the increase of crimes, to which their Lordships' attention was now called, as having for its principal cause the state of the country produced by the change from war to

VOL, XII. PART I.

peace. An examination of the state of crimes during and after the war of 1756 would afford a similar result. The number of the convictions was in 1759, 15; in 1760, 14; in 1761, 13; in 1762, 25; in 1763, 61; in 1764, 52; in 1765, 41.

The Marquis of Lansdown did not concur in this view of the causes of the increase of crime, and instanced, as a proof, the great number of juvenile offenders, the cause of which he took to be the state of our prisons, which had become seminaries of vice, in which the youths are formed and tutored to the commission of crime. -The petition was ordered to lie on the table.

On the 28th of January Sir James Mackintosh moved for certain returns of forgeries on the Bank of England, and in the course of his speech took occasion to animadvert on a document recently laid before the House, namely, the Report of the Commissioners appointed to inquire into the means of lessening the facility with which Bank-notes had been hitherto imitated. The remarks of the honourable and learned gentleman called up Mr Courtenay, who made a number of observations explanatory of the course that had been pursued by the Committee in question,-of the plans, nearly 200 in all, which had been submitted to their consideration, nine of which only promised to be in any degree useful in accomplishing the great object they had in view,— and of the experiments which were still in progress, for ascertaining the effect of combining an improved plan with an improved paper. After a few words from Mr Tierney and Mr Manning, Sir James Mackintosh amended his motion, by including in the lists for which he had moved the number of forged notes detected by the Bank during the period which

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his motion embraced; and the motion, thus amended, was agreed to.

A petition from a number of Quakers, and signed on behalf of the whole society resident in Great Britain, was, on the 9th of February, presented to the House of Commons by Mr Wilberforce, in an eloquent speech, in which that great and good man took occasion to eulogise warmly the quiet and sober but active philanthropy of the body from whom the petition emanated, and to allude, with peculiar felicity and force, to the exertions of the late lamented Sir Samuel Romilly for the amelioration of the Criminal Law of this country.-The petition was read and ordered to be printed.

Sir James Mackintosh having expressed his astonishment that Ministers had given no hint of their sentiments as to an alteration of the Penal Code, and Lord Castlereagh having answered, that the time for doing so would be when any member made a motion on that subject, gave notice that he would make a motion on the subject on that day three weeks.

As in some degree german to this subject, we may notice here, that on the 18th, Mr Bennet made a motion in the House of Commons, for the appointment of a Committee, to inquire into the system of transportation, and into the state of the Colony of New South Wales, and to report their opinion to the House. The grounds of this motion seemed to be the sufferings of the convicts in their outward voyage, the expensive nature of the punishment itself, and its total inadequacy in effecting the reformation of convicts sent thither at so great an expence to the State; chiefly, as he said, owing to the relaxed system of police that prevailed in the colony, the vices.

prevalent in which he described in strong and perhaps somewhat exaggerated colours. The motion, however, though warmly supported by Mr Wilberforce, Sir James Mackintosh, Mr Tierney, and others, was finally lost, by a majority of twenty; Lord Castlereagh having moved the previous question, upon the ground that it was not expedient to make this a separate inquiry, as the system of transportation was intimately connected with the state of prisons, for inquiring into which he meant soon to move for the appointment of a Committee. The debate was protracted to great length; but the extensive mass of materials we have before us on the more immediate subject of this chapter, prevents us from laying before our readers any detailed analysis of the topics urged on both sides.

In the House of Lords, on the 25th of February, Lord Sidmouth rose to call their Lordships' attention to the returns of the state of prisons and penitentiary houses. Every pains had certainly been taken to produce accuracy. Letters had been written to all the Sheriffs of counties, requiring returns of the state of all the gaols under their superintendence. All the Clerks of the Peace had also been directed to make similar returns of the prisons under their control or management. Similar directions had been sent to the Magistrates of cities; and he was happy to state, that, with one or two exceptions, the directions given had been correctly complied with in the returns. From England and Wales the returns were nearly complete, as well as those from Scotland; but some were still wanting from Ireland. Upon the whole, about five-sixths of the returns had been received, and he regarded them as in a state of sufficient completeness to be re

ferred to a Committee of their Lordships' house. With respect to the number of persons committed, convicted, and executed, their Lord ships were now accurately informed, by returns regularly made for the whole country, from 1805, when the regulation commenced, down to the last year. There was also a return from the county of Middlesex and the city of London, of the convictions and executions, from 1749 to 1808. Some persons had been of opinion that the state of the prisons was the principal cause of the increase of crimes during late years; others had attributed that increase to the circumstances in which the country was placed. He had little hesitation in asserting, that had every prison in the kingdom been in that state which the most benevolent person could have wished, still the circumstances in which the country had been placed Iwould have increased them. The pressure of the necessary burdens which the country had sustained, the deficiency in the demand for labour, the number of individuals discharged from the army and navy, and all the other circumstances of derangement into which the country had been thrown by the sudden change from war to peace, formed a variety of causes which could not fail to induce a tendency to crimes, even if the gaols had been in the best possible state with respect to the means of classification and labour. The state of the Criminal Law, as it respected punishments, would also demand their Lordships' attention. By some that law was held out as a sanguinary code. Others had conceived that lenity in enforcing it was a great cause of the evil under which the country laboured. As to the sup. position that the execution of the laws had become more sanguinary,

he conceived that it was completely contradicted by the returns on the table. It appeared, from the returns for the county of Middlesex and London, which commenced in the year 1749, down to the year 1805 when the regular returns began, that the annual average number of convictions was 62, and of executions 52. He was sorry to say, that in consequence of unavoidable circumstances, the punishment of transportation had lost many of its salutary terrors. The number of persons liable to transportation had so greatly increased within the last seven years, that when they arrived at the place of their destination, it was difficult to find the means of classifying or properly disposing of them, In the hulks, however, a classification had taken place, religious instruction was administered, and constant and regular labour performed. A regulation had, also, within these three years, been adopted, which had proved of the greatest advantage, with reference to the behaviour of the convicts. It had been thought proper to discharge those who behaved in an exemplary manner, upon certificates to that effect. The instances were few in which the persons so recommended were not pardoned; and he was happy to say, that the instances were also few in which the persons who had experienced that favour were found to return to their former situation. He should not enter into the question of the propriety of confining convicts in hulks. Those who attribute the increase of crimes to the state of the prisons are generally of opinion that the object of making imprisonment effectual in this respect, would be attained by a reform of the gaols. He did not mean to say that much might not be done by a good system of prison discipline, and due atten

tion ought to be directed to that important object; but it would be found that there were many local prisons, the abuses of which depended on circumstances which could not be corrected without great labour and expence. He wished to go into the inquiry with a full conviction of rendering the investigation useful. The information laid on the table must form the basis of inquiry. The evil was one which called upon their Lordships to apply their utmost labours to remove. Under these impressions he should move, that a Select Committee be appointed to consider of the papers presented on the 19th and 23d of the present month, relative to the state of the gaols, prisons and crimes in the united kingdom, and to report thereon.

The Marquis of Lansdown having expressed his satisfaction, that the object which he had in view, when he first addressed them, came now recommended to them by greater authority, the question was put, agreed to, and a Committee appointed accordingly.

On the 1st of March, Lord Castle. reagh moved for the appointment of a Committee of the Commons, "toinquire into the state of gaols and other places of confinement, and also into the best means to be taken for their improvement, and for the prevention of crime." This motion seemed calculated to anticipate, and render unnecessary the motion of Sir J. Mackintosh, which stood for the following day. His Lordship, in the course of his speech, went into a long and elaborate detail of particulars, through which we cannot follow him; he contended principally that the increase of crime was local rather than general; that there was nothing symptomatic of any augmentation of moral depravity in the great mass of the community; and

that the consideration of the state of crime and punishment might be advantageously conjoined with an inquiry into the discipline of gaols and places of confinement.

Sir James Mackintosh remarked, that he had already stated his determination not to open the merits of his ensuing motion before it came on. He should not follow the Noble Lord, in replying to the objections he had made to that motion; but when it came on to-morrow, he should urge whatever he might feel necessary; and if the House judged proper, it would of course reject it. He should to-morrow move, "that a Select Committee be appointed to consider the operation and nature of the Criminal Laws relative to the capital punishment of felony."

After a few remarks from Messrs Lawson, Wynn, Alderman Wood, and F. Buxton, the motion was agreed to, and a Committee appointed.

On the 2d of March, Sir James Mackintosh rose, pursuant to the notice he had given, to move that a Select Committee be appointed to consider so much of the Criminal Law as ordained capital punishment, and to report their opinion to the House. In making this motion, he followed a precedent long established, for in 1770 the same authority had been delegated to a committee for the same purpose. If it were only a question between him and the Noble Lord (Castlereagh), the only subject of discussion would be, which of the modes of inquiry proposed was the most convenient; but because the House and every member of it was a party to the question, a few observations were necessary on this preliminary point,-That the state of crimes themselves, unconnected with any other subject, called for investigation, was agreed. The

Noble Lord included this investigation among the objects of his committee, thus admitting the necessity of inquiry, and also that that inquiry should be as extensive as he proposed by the present motion. The question here clearly was, which was the most convenient mode; for as to the necessity of inquiry, the appointment of a committee to inquire, and the inquiry being equally extensive, the Noble Lord concurred with him. These admissions brought the question between them into a narrower compass. But he had two material objections to state against including his motion in the Noble Lord's. First, the physical impossibility of conducting the inquiry he proposed to any effect, if so included. The House had on all sides allowed, that the most laborious committee would require a whole session for the investigation of the state of gaols. The member who had last year presided in the committee for inquiring into the state of prisons (Mr Bennet) had also stated, that that was a subject equal to the utmost exertions of any committee in one session. The state and merit of the Criminal Law, transportation, and the little adjunct of the hulks; these were the additions proposed by the Noble Lord to be made to an inquiry which of itself must outlive the longest session of Parliament. It had been even admitted by the Noble Lord, that the committee must be subdivided into two or three committees. What was the inference from this admission? The Noble Lord had proposed a committee, which must divide itself, contrary to the usage of Parliament. He proposed the ap. pointment of a committee in the usual way. He had even the authority which belonged to whatever was said from the Chair for calling it unconstitutional and unparliamen

tary. The Noble Lord, for the purpose of avoiding the impossibility of his plan, had proposed to invade the practice and usage of Parliament. His second objection to his motion being included in the Noble Lord's was, that it was contrary to the usage of Parliament. Upon this he had already in some measure animadverted. What was the object of his Lordship's motion? It was to "inquire into the state and description of gaols and other places of confinement, and into the best method of providing for the reformation, as well as the safe custody and punishment, of offenders." It was "for the reformation as well as the custody of offenders." These must evidently be the same offenders. They were the same offenders whose reformation, and whose custody and punishment, were to be provided for. There was therefore a necessary exclusion of capital prisoners, since their reformation and punishment could not be contemporary. It was too plain to be stated, that this was the necessary meaning of the construction of the motion, and that the same persons were to be reformed and punished. It would, indeed, be a monstrous thing, and, in his estimation, beyond all example, that in an inquiry into the state of gaols, the Criminal Law of England should skulk into that inquiry under one vague and equivocal word. Neither of their motions assumed more than this-that there was room for inquiry. The Noble Lord's motion assumed this; it assumed no more. His no more reflected on the laws and magistracy of the country than the Noble Lord's. How should it, for the Noble Lord's motion was contended to be as extensive as his ? But in bringing forward this motion, he had not been guided by his own feelings, nor had he trusted entirely

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