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Untitled Article
jco ^ iempl ^^ d 3 & iaaterifctty 4 ^ mipdshed by proper exertions on the jjurt of the « fagtstraey ; mid ike co ^ rimunUy should be m&de to feel an interest in the subject . It would seem . right that a certain proportion of the loss , not less than half , should inune ~ diately be restored , upon conviction , to the party injured , upon the order © f the judge , without suit , out of the funds of the county where the crime was committed 5 provided the claimant had not been remiss in bringing
the offender to justice . Frivolous , indeed * would be the objection that with such claims to indemnity , men would not have a sufficient inducement to guard their property from violence or fraud . An inducement
would remain quite as powerful , as apparently ought to exist in any well ^ . . governed state . Loss would in nearly evfrfy instance be sustained aftei * all - atfid the inevitable trouble and vexation of prosecutions would not appear as things to be coujrte 4 or lightly regarded . Many a person is robbed or defrauded to an extent either ruinous
or most grievous to him ; and shall society sternly leave him to suffer , under the unfounded pretence , that to afford relief would be to give a premium upon the commission of crimes 1 Unfeeling avarice alone could suggest such pleas and such practices , which an Alfred would no more have
suffered at this period than in bis own age . As to the criminals , even if it should prove impossible to draw much profit from their labour , still they ought to labour with that view , either for life or for a definite period , according to the nature of the offence . Justice and
policy seem loudly to demand that this should be a part of the sentence for feiony , larceny , fraud and e ^ ery crime admitting of compensation ; and as proving to the criminal that 4 iis pursuits were likel y to be in every view unprofitable , it would not be without a salutary effect .
Late , and not without reluctance , we appear to be entering upon the reform of our criminal code . The reluctance manifested in relation to this work proceeds indeed , generally , from
a principle , which well directed , we ^ ouid , not censure—the principle of attachment to established laws and usages . But dislike of innovation ougiit to have reasonable bounds , and
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jfcftfc fe * stand in jfifa way < JJT real ; and needful improvement . So much Be gird should be paid to the . influence of habit , that the reform of $ ad instil tutions should commonly be earned forward by degrees , varying according to the nature of the subject and to the circumstances connected with it .
But it is incumbent upon those who would ppj >(> se every change professing to be an improvement , by the declaration , * ' nolumus leges Anglice mutare / 9 to prove that legislators never
make a bad law , and that laws originally good , can never become bad by lapse of time and alterations in the state of society . In the reform of our penal laws it seems that much may be done at once , and a foundation laid
for all that should follow , without danger or material inconvenience . To make sure provision for the Universal instruction of the children of the poor , attending especially to the means of fixing religious and moral impressions on their minds , is the first * though in
one viewa collateral , step in this great woifk . Measures directly bearing upon the subject , and immediately required , are , to amend a large pr 6 portion of our penal statutes , and to establish a regulated system of punishments , consonant in essential points
to justice , humanity and religion ; so that the law should no longer utter violent denunciations in terrorem , but should speak in the simple , iinpre&sive language of certainty , prescribing penalties which , not being excessive ^ should be enforced as a matter
naturally consequent upon the conviction of offenders : and to mention last what ifl of primary importance ^ the remodelling of most of our , prisons , for the proper classification ,
discipline , separation and employment of criminals . In dealing with actual criminals here ,, we must look for the chief means of repressing crime ; and here the mighty mass of existing evil will demand ail the wisdom and
energy and perseverance of * the supreme and local authorities The 24 th My pen would fail ttf etfpres ^ the sense which I entertain of the ' hf ^ h ^ deseit of Mrs . Fry and thcise ^ wni > have & > -6 pferated with her , of MK BuxtoYi » and * Mr . Gui * ney , in their efld&ivours to effect -the reform of prisons and of tbeit initiates ; but posterity wilt < not -, be micot in tJi ^ ir
Untitled Article
gg Enslitf art tfa Principles o /^ O ^ tmmai ^ L ^ it .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1823, page 32, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1780/page/32/
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