Capital Punishment

The punishment of death.

The punish ment of death. The subject of capital punishment has occupied the attention of enlightened men for a long time, particularly since the middle of the last century; and none deserves to be more carefully Investigated. The right of punishing its members by society is that most nations, ancient and modern, have deemed capital punishment to be within th6 scope of the legitimate powers of government. Beccaria contends with zeal that the punishment of death ought not to be inflicted in time of peace, nor at other times, except in cases where the laws can be maintained in no other way. Beccaria, chap. 28. The ancient method of administering the law was by retribution or the vindication of the law upon the offender, and in England, as late as Geo. III., there were about two hundred offences punishable by death, among which were cutting down a tree, robbing a rabbit warren, harboring an offender against the revenue acts, stealing in a dwellinghouse to the amount of forty shillings, or In a shop goods to the amount of five shillings, counterfeiting the stamps that were used for the sale of perfumery, etc. Owing to the efforts of Sir Samuel Romilly, and later of Sir James Mackintosh, the old criminal code was succeeded by more humane legislation, and since the statute of 1861 there are but four crimes now punishable in England by death, high treason, murder, piracy with violence, and setting Are to the king's ships, dockyards, arsenals or stores. See, also, 2 Poll. & Maitl. 450; Crimes; Execution. It was abolished in Italy in 1S90, and has recently been restored in France. It has been abolished in some states. It is usually by hanging; some states have adopted electrocution; and two states permit a choice between hanging and shooting. See Electrocution.

The punishment of death.