failed to accomplish, and MACKINTOSH attempted in vain, has not since called forth the talents and energies of any other within the walls of parliament. The narrow limits which Mr. PEEL prescribed to himself in his " Amendment of the Criminal Law," has left this task untouched, for some man

6

'any thing could be better than the provisions of the English law in all its branches. Of the various improvements which he proposed,

' and which would all have been thought wild imaginations of a visionary speculator, had they been made public at the time, it is remarkable 'that a large proportion are now either the law of the land, or almost 'certain of speedily becoming so. From hence we may draw a very 'favourable inference touching the rest which are still resisted, and 'predict their soon being accepted, if we were made acquainted with < their nature and purport.

"Can any one doubt that it would be of the greatest benefit to the * community to have access to these important manuscripts, were it for no other reason than to give the proposed reforms of the law the < advantage of such high authority in their favour? They would have ❝ not merely the sanction of his name, whom all wise men have revered, ' and all good men loved; but also, in some sort, the authority of the < legislature itself, which has adopted so many of his propositions, and 'still hesitates to receive the rest. But there is every reason to expect ' matter valuable for its intrinsic importance from such a quarter; and ' even where late writers may have gone over the same ground, there ' is a high degree of curiosity in observing how far Sir Samuel ROMILLY ' had gone in the path of law reform, in an early age, as it were, and before men had been taught by Mr. BENTHAM to speculate with ' unrestrained freedom. We therefore venture to hope that these ❝ valuable remains will no longer be withheld from the world. Their 6 ❝ truly illustrious Author, when he bequeathed them to the care of his 'chosen friends, (Mr. now Lord BROUGHAM and Mr. WHISHAW,) 'charged them by no means to think of his literary reputation, but only 'to consider whether or not the publication of these papers was likely 'to benefit mankind;—a noble sentiment, well worthy of the exalted ❝ mind from which it proceeded—a sentiment of which were they ever 'to lose sight, those friends would betray their trust.'

[To the foregoing information we may add, it is found upon enquiry, that it will not now be long before all the Mss. of Sir Samuel ROMILLY will be laid before the Public.-ED.]

of greater moral courage and more comprehensive intellect than his legislative exertions have yet displayed.

On various occasions we have endeavoured to bring this subject under the notice of the public and of parliament. We have always looked upon the multiplicity of capital punishments, which disgrace our Statute-book, as not less abhorrent from humanity than at variance with the soundest principles of civil wisdom.

All great legislators and writers on law have held the opinion, that certainty of punishment is much more effectual in repressing crime, than an extreme, but capricious severity. Now, in a country far advanced in civilization, it is scarcely possible that laws of a cruel and inhuman nature can be invariably carried into effect. If all the persons, who receive sentence of death at the Old Bailey, were actually to pass into the hands of the executioner, the feelings of the people would not tolerate the repeated exhibitions of the wholesale work of blood; or, if they did, the frequency of the scene would so brutalize them, that they would think no more of the waste of human life than of the spilling of water! And what an awful responsibility would rest upon a Government that could so harden and degrade the hearts of its subjects!

What a number of convicts, too, have sentence of death recorded against them at the several Assizes, who, as a matter of course, never suffer the last punishment of the law!

These facts prove that we have a criminal code which is equally cruel and impracticable. Why not change it for one so just and reasonable, in the apportionment of the penalty to the offence, as to be capable of certain and uniform execution? If death ought not to be inflicted-if, in fact, it dare not be inflicted on the greater number of those to whom our laws award it, is not the solemn passing of the sentence, and the recording it in open Court, and in the face of the people, a mockery of retributive justice, which is equally impolitic and indecorous ?

Then see the other evils which arise from such a state of the law :-one Judge is humane and sensitive; another has less of the milk of human kindness in his disposition. The one will not leave any man for execution who is not convicted of some very heinous crime; the other will be less compunctious about taking away the life of a fellow-creature, and send wretches to the scaffold who are guilty of less flagrant offences, because the law gives him the power of doing it. Thus it may be said that men are executed or saved, not by a certain law, but by judicial caprice.

While this state of things continues, there is a great number of persons in society, who, rather than avenge a wrong by risking the life of the offender, desist from prosecution altogether; by which means the very severity of the law counteracts its own purpose, and he who, under a more rational system, would have received a proportionate punishment, escapes with perfect impunity!

We are glad to see, however, that many intelligent and respectable persons are exerting themselves in various parts of England to obtain, by public meetings, and petitions to the legislature, such a revision and reform of the criminal laws as the interests of justice, and the progress of Christian civilization, demand.

At a meeting convened for the purpose at Southampton, the other day, a Mr. BULLAR exposed the present system in a speech seasoned with great power, and replete with the testimony of convincing facts. There is one passage, in particular, which we cannot avoid quoting, and in the sentiments of which we fully concur:

"But we are told," says Mr. BULLAR, "by some, that ours is a weak humanity; that legislators must have stouter nerves, and do their duty, and not allow those, whom they nickname humanity-mongers, to interfere. We reply, if this is a weak humanity, it is the weakness of Dr. JOHNSON, who could never think that to pick the pocket, and to pierce the heart, are equally criminal, whatever epithets of reproach or contempt his confession, as to unjust punish

ments, might incur from those who confounded cruelty with firmness.' It is the weakness of JUDGE BLACKSTONE, who said, that' to shed the blood of our fellow-creatures, is a matter which requires the greatest deliberation, and the fullest conviction of our own authority; for life is the immediate gift of GOD to man, which neither he can resign, nor can it be taken from him, unless by the command of Him who gave it.' If this tenderness of human life is, indeed, a weak humanity, it is the weakness of BECCARIA and MONTESQUIEU-of ERASMUS, and Sir Thomas MORE, and CHILLINGWORTH-of GOLDSMITH, and FRANKLIN, and HOWARD of Fox, of PITT, and of ROMILLY. So deeply (says Mr. WILBERFORCE) was Mr. PITT convinced of the improper severity of our laws, that, to my knowledge, that distinguished person had it in contemplation to submit the whole Penal Code to the revision of some able lawyers, for the purpose of digesting a plan to diminish the sanguinary nature of punishments; nay, it is the weakness of that solemn and venerable Liturgy which earnestly prays for all prisoners and captives,' and declares of the Almighty that he willeth not the death of a sinner, but rather that he may turn from his wickedness, and live.""

At this meeting Mr. HAMMOND, the Recorder of Southampton, attended, and strongly supported the object and prayer of the petition.

We trust such meetings will become more general, and that the voice of enlightened humanity will be raised throughout the kingdom, until the laws which doom our fellow-creatures to perish unjustly, shall themselves perish before the irresistible power of PUBLIC OPINION !—Morning Herald, Monday, March 15, 1830.

The Forgery Laws-Petition presented by Mr. Secretary PEEL. It has long been our lot to contend against the prejudices of Government and the legislature, in advocating the necessity of an effectual revision of our sanguinary Criminal Code.

The law of forgery, in particular, we have from time to time shewn, both in principle and its practical consequences,

to be one of the most objectionable on the Statute-book. Our exertions at one time seemed hopeless, but we persevered: our view of the question has slowly acquired a considerable accession of valuable support, and now half a conversion has been worked even in Mr. PEEL. We rejoice, on account of the power he wields, that the Home Secretary has, in this instance, made so considerable an advance towards the clear perception of the sound principles of criminal jurisprudence. We expect he will become, before many more sessions pass away, a complete and thorough proselyte to those enlightened opinions at which his prejudices used to startle, and his veneration for established errors rise in arms.

We give Mr. PEEL credit for having presided over the task of repealing a great number of useless and obsolete statutes; and for having consolidated the multifarious provisions of the Criminal Law. So far much has been done in pioneering the road towards improvement; though we cannot give unqualified praise to a work in which we are able to point out no small number of defects. But let that pass for the present. The design, as far as it went, was good; and the precedent of wholesome innovation which it established, will be an argument and a stimulus to more comprehensive improvement.

The rational and judicious adjustment of the principles of Criminal Law, and the proportionate adaptation of punishment to crime-that greatest and noblest work of penal legislation remains yet to be accomplished. But what friend of humanity and sound justice can despair, seeing that Mr. PEEL himself presented a petition to the House of Commons, on Monday night, praying the abolition of the punishment of death in all cases of forgery. This petition was from the "Society of Friends" in Ireland—a humane and intelligent class of people.*

* The following Copy of the Petition presented by Mr. PEEL is extracted from the printed Journals of Parliament.

A PETITION of Members of the Society of Friends, commonly