HANGING MURDERERS IN CHAINS. (Hansard, 13 March 1834)

§ Mr. Littleton
said, that the House was, of course, aware, that he had given notice of a Motion with a view to abolish the practice in Ireland, and it would seem very strange to pass two Bills, one for each country, on the same subject. He thought one Bill might comprise both objects, and he had no objection to postpone his Motion in order to allow the hon. member for Liverpool to bring in a general measure upon the subject.

Mr. O'Connell
said, the right hon. Gentleman was mistaken in the object of the Motion of which he had given notice, for, instead of being to take away the power of hanging in chains from the Judges, it was expressly to give them that power—["No, no," from Mr. Littleton]. He would say, "Yes, yes." A doubt had existed as to whether the Judges possessed the power, and the Bill the right hon. Gentleman had given notice of, declared that they had such power. The right hon. Gentleman, no doubt, did not intend this, for they were all agreed, that this horrible practice should be done away with.

§ Mr. Shaw
said, the Act of 10th George 4th, not only gave the power to the Judges, but imposed upon them the necessity of directing that all criminals convicted of murder should either be dissected or hung 156 in chains. Subsequently, the hon. member for Bridport (Mr. Warburton) brought in his Anatomy Bill, by which he took away from the Judges in England the power of ordering the bodies of murderers to be dissected, and substituted the power of directing them to be buried within the precincts of the prison. [Mr. O'Connell:—Or to be hung in chains] No, the power of ordering them to be hung in chains existed before. The hon. and learned Gentleman had fallen into the same mistake as some well-intentioned persons, by whom, at a meeting recently held in London, the right hon. Gentleman's measure was denounced as an anatomical and a gibbeting Bill. It was no such thing. The Judges already possessed the power of directing murderers to be hung in chains; nor was it an anatomical Bill, because the power of ordering the body of the criminal to be dissected was taken away from the Judges. It did neither more nor less, than give the Judges the power of ordering the body of a murderer sentenced to be hanged to be buried within the precincts of the gaol, instead of being dissected. There could be no objection to the hon. member for Liverpool abolishing the practice in Ireland; but his enactment would not obviate the necessity for the introduction of the right hon. Gentleman's Bill; because, unless that passed, the Judge must order the body to be dissected—he had no alternative: he had not the power of ordering it to be buried within the precincts of the gaol. He was sorry the hon. member for Bridport was not present, because his great object was to do away with this power. It would be proper for the right hon. Gentleman to proceed with his Bill, which did not give the Judges the power of ordering murderers to be hanged in chains. He was surprised that the hon. and learned Gentleman, the member for Dublin, entertained an opinion that it gave the power. The Judge had the power already: and if there were not one word in the Bill on the subject of gibbeting, that power would remain the same. To show the necessity of the measure, he would mention, that only the other day a Judge in Ireland ordered the body of a murderer to be dissected. He considered it preferable to hanging in chains, and he knew that he must make either the one order or the other. He had omitted to state one thing. There was a question whether or not the Bill of the hon. member for Bridport extended to Ireland. He expected the opinion of the House would be, that it did not; 157 because, while it expressly repealed the English Acts, it did not, with regard to Ireland, repeal that provision which gave the Judges the power of directing the bodies of criminals either to be hung in chains or to be dissected. It certainly would be very desirable to remove any doubt that might exist on this point. He apprehended the object of the right hon. Gentleman's Bill simply was—to assimilate the law of Ireland, in this respect, to that of England.

§ Mr. Littleton
said, the hon. and learned Gentleman who had just sat down, was most likely to be correct with reference to the point to which he had just alluded, and, therefore, he (Mr. Littleton) would not argue it. All which would be requisite for the hon. member for Liverpool to do, would be to enact that, both in England and in Ireland the power of directing the body of a criminal to be hung in chains should be taken from the Judges; but a further enactment would be necessary for Ireland, empowering the Judges to order murderers to be buried within the gaol yard.

§ Dr. Lushington
said, that all the hon. member for Liverpool had to do, was to enact, that throughout England, Ireland, and Scotland, in all cases whatsoever where the Judges had the power to order the body of a criminal either to be anatomized, or to be hung in chains, that power should be taken away, and, instead thereof, the Judges should order the body to be buried privately in the gaol or elsewhere. A more simple Act it was impossible to devise. He was happy to say, that it was one on which the whole of that House appeared to be unanimous; and their opinion, he was fully convinced, was in perfect conformity with the feelings of the people of England, Scotland, and Ireland, which was only another proof of the increased intelligence and civilization of this nation.