of criminals in this multitude of poor wretches, who are rearing for no other purpose than to supply your gaols, your penitentiaries, your hulks, your colonies, and, finally, the gibbets of your country with their victims-any thing like a proof of the efficiency of your law?" There was not a foreigner of distinction who had attended to the subject, who had not been shocked at the number and audacity of crimes in this country. Such foreigners might well be supposed to ask, Has your law done that which you expected from your law? Are your houses safe? Certainly not. Are your streets safe? Certainly not. Are your gaols empty? Certainly not. Is life more secure, and property less endangered here than elsewhere? Certainly not. Has crime decreased? Certainly not. Has it remained stationary? Certainly not. Has it increased? It certainly has—and in a prodigious rate.

Mr Buxton then went over the series of British history, the examples of foreign Europe, and of America, and the recent phenomena of crime and criminal legislation in this country, in order to shew, that a law which exceeded the just severity of the case, was always inefficient; and that a mitigation of penalty produced a diminution of crime. "Crime," said he, "has increased in England, as compared with every other country-as compared with itself at former periods. Now, what species of crime has increased? Those atrocious acts of violent robbery and murder, which, in all times and in all countries, have been punished with death? By no means. These have decreased. Where, then, has the augmentation taken place? Precisely in those lesser felonies which are capital now, but were not formerly-which are capital in England, but in no other country—that is, we differ from ourselves in former times, and from our neighbours at the present

moment; first, by our peculiar treatment of certain offences; and, secondly, by the multiplication of those very offences under that very mode of treatment." He then animadverted on the careless and undistinguishing manner in which such laws had been accumulated. "Though some records are handed down to us, of the discussions during the last century, in this House, upon a multitude of points of little significance, hardly a remnant remains upon the subject of criminal law and yet, during that period, our penal code has been quadrupled. Upon an average, every year of that period was marked by the enactment of a capital offence; besides those occasions in which the legislature, as if tired of the tedious retail method of confining one capital denunciation to one statute, had heaped together-and faggoted, for that is the only term which is applicable— fifteen or twenty of such enactments in one heterogeneous mass. I remember a case, in which, in the same paragraph, nineteen are thus bundled together; one of which is for a civil trespass to the value of sixpence, and another for the worst species of murder. All these acts, as far as I can learn, passed sub silentio, without debate, inquiry, examination, evidence, or any general interest." Mr B. particularly urged, that under the present mode of administering English law, it was impossible to execute such a code as the present. "Either you must have a public prosecutor-(perhaps the greatest innovation on British jurisprudence that could be devised)—or you must reconcile those to whom the duty of prosecuting is now consigned, to the discharge of that duty; and this you can do only by reconciling this law to their feelings. You must have that vexatious, meddling police, which the honourable and learned gentleman so solemnly deprecated; or you must revert to the good old English method

of repressing crime, which is to be found in the hearty disposition of the public to aid and invigorate the law. The people of this country have strong feelings of humanity, and strong principles of justice; and, so long as the legislators keep within the bounds of moderation, so long the people will side with the law against the offender. But, when the bounds of reason and moderation are overstepped, as unquestionably they are in a multitude of your enactments, the feelings and the principles of the people, which ought to aid, withstand, and rebel against the operation of the law; and the very virtues of the people, their sense of true justice and humanity, which ought to be the strength of your law, go over to the enemy, investing the felon with chances of escape, and with hopes of deliverance, which would never have belonged to him, but for the severity of your law. And, who are the auxiliaries whom you thus repel? The very persons whom, of all others, you ought to secure on your side-the just, the merciful, and the conscientious. You depend upon the just man; but the just man sees, that his support is demanded to laws which violate all justice; which confound crimes the most venal and the most atrocious, by one terrible uniformity of punishment. The just man sees this, and remains inactive. You ask the merciful man to aid you. But, how can any man who loves mercy contribute to the support of laws which set the common principles of humanity at defiance? And then, the religious man. I know that I am now upon delicate ground; and that this is neither the time nor the occasion, for entering very largely upon this subject; but I may say, that the number of persons in this country, who square their opinions by the tenor of the doctrines of their faith, is very great-that it has of late years much increased; and fervently do I desire, as I confidently trust, that every

year will witness its augmentation. Can you afford to lose the religious man from your service? But, you do lose him. I hazard nothing when I say, that a very religious man cannot, in many cases, be a prosecutor. He deeply feels, that his own dearest hopes depend only on the pardon which he shall receive; and he knows, that the condition on which he asks forgiveness to his own trespasses, is the forgiveness he extends to the trespasses of others. He cannot, therefore, for many crimes, call down upon his brother sinner the exterminating vengeance of the law. The people have made enormous strides in all that tends to civilize and soften man; while the laws have contracted a ferocity, which did not belong to them in the most savage period of our history; and to such extremes of distance have they proceeded, that I do believe there never was a law so harsh as British law; or so mer. ciful and humane a people as the British people. And yet, to that mild and merciful people, is left the execution of that rigid and cruel law." Mr B. then went over the different items of the evidence, to prove that they tended to confirm all the conclusions which he had drawn. He strongly called upon the House to exert themselves for the prevention of crime. "Let me not," said he, " be misunderstood, as I sometimes have been, as an advocate for the criminal, or the apologist of crimes. No one views with more horror than I do the crimes which abound in this metropolis; but I may be excused, if I sometimes turn my attention from the effect to the cause-from the stream to its source-from guilt on the part of the criminal, to the neglect on our part, which occasions it. Let no one imagine, that the picture which I have drawn, is rarely seen, or extravagantly coloured. I do believe, that if the real mysteries of crime could be developed-if the secrets which are

now hid in impenetrable darkness, by the united interests of police and criminal, could be faithfully unfolded to the eye of the public, scenes both of guilt and wretchedness would be disclosed, which would shame every man, who is not dead to every sense of shame grieve every man, who is not insensible to all feelings of compassion-and rouse us all into ardent efforts for the prevention of crime." He had lately visited eight persons, and, if not deceived, he saw in those eight persons, eight victims to the cruelty of depending on ultimate punishment, instead of early prevention; each of them had begun with petty offences, had enjoyed a long career of unpunished crime, had been led, step by step, from one dark deed to a darker, till he had attained that degree and measure of wickedness, which called down the exterminating vengeance of the law. He finally characterized the system now acted on, as a system which, "having in its favour MrWyndham and Dr Paley, has against it, Johnson, Franklin, Pitt, Fox, More, Bacon, Coke, Blackstone, and a multitude of others-divines, moralists, statesmen, lawyers,—an unrivalled

phalanx of the wise and good. A system which has against it the still stronger authority of practical men, who draw their conclusions from real life. A system which has against it the still stronger authority of the common law of England, which, if wrong now, is wrong for the first time. A system which has against it the still stronger

authority of experience and experiment, in England, on the one side, in Tuscany, in America, and elsewhere, on the other. And, finally, a system, which, in its spirit and its temper, is against the temper and the spirit of that mild and merciful religion, which

desireth not the death of a sinner, but rather that he should turn from his wickedness and live.'"

The motion was supported by Mr T. Smith, Mr R. Martin, Dr Lushington, Mr Nolan, Mr Wynn, Mr W. Courtenay, Mr Wilberforce, and Sir James Mackintosh. It was opposed by Mr Bright, the Marquis of Londonderry, and the Attorney General.

The committal of the bill was finally carried, by 118 to 74.

On the 25th May, the report of the committee was received, and the amend ments proposed by it agreed to.

On the 4th June, the third reading of the bill was moved, and, after some discussion, carried by 117 against 111. The Marquis of Londonderry, however, afterwards announced, that he meant to divide the House on the question, " that the bill do pass."

Sir James Mackintosh exclaimed against this, as a most unworthy manoeuvre, after many of the friends of the bill had left the House, never expecting a division at so unusual a stage.

Lord C. however persisted, and the bill was then negatived by 121 against 115. It was thus lost for the present session.

THE Condition of the country, in respect to the various branches of national industry, was still deeply marked by distress. Manufactures had, indeed, experienced such a measure of improvement, that labourers, in all their different branches, found now employment, though at wages very barely sufficient to afford the necessaries of life, while the profits of their employers were, if possible, still more scanty. The extreme cheapness of provisions, however, disastrous as it was to agriculture, afforded to the other classes the means of support upon even a slender income. It was upon the landed interest, therefore, that the weight of public distress now peculiarly fell; and petitions for relief were poured in without number from this respectable and influential class of the community. They were not willing to admit, yet were scarcely able to deny, that everything had already been done for them which the circumstances of society admitted of; and that neither ministers nor the country were prepared to grant any more extensive monopoly than they now enjoyed.

The subject of national distress was

first discussed at length, on occasion of a petition presented by Mr Dugdale, on the 9th February, from the merchants, inhabitants, and tradesmen of the townof Birmingham. The petitioners represented, that the present state of their trade, and consequently of those numerous classes who were dependant upon it, was deplorable. In order to get more accurate information as to the state of Birmingham in this respect, a committee was appointed by the petitioners some time back to inquire into the consumption of meat, beer, and other necessaries, in the town, as compared with the year 1818; and the result was, that a most material diminution of the consumption of such articles was found to have taken place, and this, it was unnecessary to add, had existed principally among the lower classes. Though there was some improvement in some articles, yet that, in the main branches of the trade, there had been a diminution of 25 per cent; the consequence was, that the capitalists were withdrawing their capital in the trade, and the workmen, in most instances, got employment only for three or four days in the week. The

depression, he feared, arose more from general than local causes,

Mr Lawley seconded the motion. He had heard with pleasure, and was not disposed to contradict, the statement of ministers, as to the improvements in many parts of our trade; but, if he were to rest his opinion upon what he knew of the state of the trade of Birmingham, it was not such as would bear out those statements which had given him so much satisfaction.

Mr Littleton observed, that if similar inquiries to those made in Birmingham had been instituted in the southwest of the county of Stafford, the same results would have been found. He believed, though the petitioners only hinted at it, that if a committee should be appointed, it would be found that a great part of the distress complained of, would be found to have resulted from what had been, he would admit, very properly done by his Majesty's government with respect to the metallic currency. The petitioners did not attribute their distress to the cessation of the war; but, though unwilling to dissent from so respectable a body, when he considered the very great extent to which the trade, in articles of military furniture, had been carried on in Birmingham, the great quantity of swords, guns, stirrups, and other such articles, which were constantly in demand; when he considered the large armaments which were fit ted out in every part of Europe, and the liberal assistance which was given by this country; when he consider ed the great bodies of militia which were kept up for so long a time, and when he recollected the increased demand which those circumstances must have created for articles in the Birmingham trade, he could not but conclude that it would require many years to fill up the chasm caused by the cessation of such a demand. The dulness of the iron trade appeared also in a great measure owing to the depression of

agriculture. He considered it, therefore, of importance that something should be done to assist the agriculturists, as that would, no doubt, effect a material improvement in the business of the manufacturers. Any improvement of the agricultural interest, however small, would be most important; and he sincerely hoped that the serious attention of government would be turned to it. He thought that some relief might be afforded by a revision of our system of taxation.

Mr Curwen considered the depression of so important a branch as the iron trade as a clear proof of the general distress of the country. Some kind of cheering hope had been held out, when it was stated that an improvement had taken place in some branches; but he would ask, was this of such a nature as to encourage a hope that a favourable change was about to take place in the state of the country? He believed not; and if his Majesty's ministers should consent to inquiry in to the subject, he thought it would be found that there was more ground for alarm than for hope. It was believed that the increase in our cotton manufactures was a proof of this growing improvement. If, however, that were to be looked upon as an improvement, the workmen would, as on other occasions, have turned round and demanded an increase of wages; but surely that had not been the case. He looked upon that increase as the result of a speculation from which no general benefit to the country would be derived. It was his fear that government had not taken the pains to make themselves acquainted with the real state of the country. It had been said elsewhere, that 16,000,000l. of taxes had been remitted since the peace; but the fund from which these could have been paid had been reduced much more than in proportion. He had no expectation of benefit from return to a system of restriction upon cash payments. The