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    murders , and other crimes of violence and cruelty , have either diminished or not increased ; and that the deplorable increase of criminals is not of such a nature as to indicate any diminution in the humanity of ] thp people . The practice of immediately publishing the circumstances

    of every atrocious crime , and of circulating in various forms an account of every st&ge of the proceedings which relate to it , is far more prevalent in England than in any . other country , and in our times than in any former age . It is on the whole of great utility , not only a £ a controul on courts of judicature , but

    also as a means of rendering it extremely difficult for odious criminals to escape . In this country no atrocious crimes remain secret ; with these advantages , however , it cannot be denied , that by publishing the circumstances of all crimes , our modem practice tends to make our age and nation appear more criminal than , in comparison with others , it really

    is . 2 . In considering the subject of our penal laws ,, your Committee will first lay before the House their observations on that part which is the least likely to give

    rise to difference of opinion . That many statutes denouncing capital punishments might be safely and wisely repealed , has long been a prevalent opinion . It is sanctioned by the authority of two successive Committees of this House ,

    composed of the most eminent men of their age , and in some measure by the authority of the House itself , which passed several bills on the recommendation of their Committees . As a general position , the propriety of repealing such statutes seems scarcely to have been disputed ; respecting the number and choice of tjhem , different sentiments ^ must always be expected . Your Committee have . not

    attempted a complete enumeration ,, which much time and considerable deliberation would be required to axrcompiisl * . They selected some capital felonies ^ , for $ ie contiuuanqe ^ of whJWh-they cai > no fc antfir cipate aipLV ^ serious > argument ^ , and , which to th t ^> £ np

    seem ;^ m ^ erv ^ pui ^ se ^ t that oi ; incumbey ^ ng and , discrediting $$$ statute-book . ^ , ' , ' Y # riojis f . ^ nsiderptiQns have „ cQ ^ bfoe / J , ; te rc gi # fe « t tej *? eh ftfeft : sometimes ^^^^ y ^ g hj ^ r / ftwp raised an insignificant offence , or' -, an al ipost indifferent acLJUltQ a capital crime ;

    m other acts , the evil has peen manifestly and , indeed ^ a ^ ow % fdl ^ tSitt | 3 &rary , though it untortuii ^ tely . zp ^ uce < i ^ permanent kw . Whero <> ttie i ^ mrfisjfrttettt * i * a < teadbh was evidenUy unti ^ eeom ^ iat tfa timmffi ; ta origiiiai ) r ^^^ liJN ^^ ^ it waaroriglitifaJ ^ TJw ^ tifedby / artempo ^ ^ ly - dang ^ f ;< wrT ^ T ^ cwJedfby & temtpomty fej ^ r , i ^ than toa g ^ ^ e ^ i acknowledged

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    to be altogether disproportioned to the offence , your Committee conceive themselves warranted in confidently recommending its' abolition . But they have also adverted to another consideration : if , in addition to the intrinsic evidence of unwarrantable severity in a law , which arises fro

    m the comparison , of the act forbidden with the punisjxment , threatened , they . find also that tke law , has scarcely ever been executed since its first enactment , Or if it has fallen into disuse as the nation became mqre humane and generally enlightened , * your Committee consider themselves as authorized to

    recommend its repeal , by long experience , and by the deliberate judgment of the whole nation . In the application of this latter principle , they have been materially aided by the documents which have been mentioned . Where a penal , law Jias not been carried into effect in Middlesex for

    more than a century , in the counties round London for sixty years , and in the extensive district which forms the Western Circuit for fifty , it may be safely concluded that the general opinion has pronounced it to be unfit or unnecessary I © continue in force . The Committee are

    aware that there are cases in which it * may be said , that the dread of the punishment has prevented the perpetration of the crime , and where , therefore , the law appears to be inefficacious only because it has completely accomplished its purpose . Whatever speciousness may

    belong to this reasoning in the case of conspicuous crimes , and punishments generally present to the minds of men , it never can be plausibly applied to rare and obscure offences , to penal enactments , of which it requires a more than ordinarydegree of professional accuracy habitually to recollect the existence . Your

    Committee have endeavoured to avoid all cases which seem to them to be on this ground disputable . From general caution , and a desire to' avoid even the appearance df precipitation , they ha # e postponed cases , which seem tci theth liable to as little dbubt as 'Some *> f thoise to'which they are about to advert :

    It : has sometimes be « n '^« aid , that the abolition of penal la # s wAi ^ l viiave ^ fallen into * disuse > i «» 6 ft little f advantage to the eomnninity jH ftfour < € omiHfttee consid ^ i-< this opikiora > as «* an erroi * . They foJ ^ Jfr * otanlarge . omthe . stHking remark ijftLtrfa Bacon , > fchat * iaM such laws weaHfjl ftlUl disarm ' thevcfeher parts * of the-6 rfi » WJf 1 systeimi THWfrequent occuVi $ ttce * ftf « fcfe unexecuted threat of > death tnlh tJrfl ^ ffafl code tends to rob that itujlisk ^ etit ? oJ ^ aH its terrors , and to «» e « ervate tne general authority of t ± t ^ Ag <^ ernineTit * andrfthed ^ ws . r nitiltiplft&titw iffr ^ tefr flaws of ; Bnfflancl rbafe ? br © fcight ? ^ on ^ TOe ul >

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    Register of Public Documents . * 57

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    VOJL . XV . I

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1820, page 57, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2484/page/57/