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The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.III. / From the Accession of George III. to the Twenty-Third Year of the Reign of Queen Victoria cover

The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.III. / From the Accession of George III. to the Twenty-Third Year of the Reign of Queen Victoria

Chapter 1176: LAW-REFORM.
By Edward Farr
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About This Book

The volume traces British political, parliamentary, and military developments from the accession of George III through the early nineteenth century, chronicling changes of ministry and cabinet, debates over colonial taxation and the American conflict, parliamentary controversies involving figures such as Wilkes and Warren Hastings, questions of Catholic relief and slave-trade abolition, and responses to the French Revolution and Napoleonic wars, including major naval and continental campaigns, the union with Ireland, and domestic legislation on finance, civil liberties, and parliamentary reform.

LAW-REFORM.

During this session there was a further mitigation of the criminal code. Two bills were introduced for this purpose in the house of commons. The first of these was introduced by Mr. Kelly, who proposed to abolish the punishment of death for all the crimes still capital, except murder and treason. This motion was seconded by Mr. Ewart, and the bill was brought in; but shortly afterwards a measure was introduced on the part of government, by Lord John Russell, which proposed to abolish the punishment of death in certain cases of embezzlement; for the offence of returning from transportation; for burning ships, where the act involved no treasonable intent; and for the crime of rape. Mr. Kelly approved of this measure as far as it went, but contended for the superiority of his own more comprehensive measure. He particularly objected to leaving the offence of setting fire to ships in the royal dockyards capital, and to retaining the punishment of death for attempts to murder. Mr. Kelly’s bill went first into committee; but he experienced so many defeats that he was induced to leave government to deal with their own measures on the same subject. The result was, that near the close of the session a bill was passed, whereby the punishment of transportation for life is substituted for death in all cases of forgery and embezzlement, which had before remained capital, and the crime of rape is made subject to the same mitigated penalty.