§ Mr. F. Kelly moved the Order of the Day for bringing up the report on this bill.
§ Mr. Fox Maulesaid, that as the House was so thin he thought it inexpedient to take the final division upon the present stage of the bill. His objections to it, however, remained the same. The more he looked at the measure, the more convinced he was of the impolicy of so soon again interfering with the criminal law. No doubt, the punishment of death ought to be altered; but this bill was so ingeniously drawn, as to make it necessary either to accept it wholly, or reject it wholly.
§ Mr. F. Kellyregretted, that on every occasion when the friends of this measure came down to discuss it, the Government should fly from a division. He was rejoiced, however, to see that the bill had already arrived at a stage when further opposition, even on the part of the Government, must be useless.
§ Mr. Goulburnsaid, there were many parts of this bill which would render it impossible for him to agree to it as a whole. He thought that in a matter of so much importance, the House was bound to make special enactments for the abolition of the punishment of death in particular cases, instead of introducing all the different crimes into the preamble, as was the case in this bill, and Mien legislating upon them.
§ The Attorney-Generalsaid, that the object which he, as well as the hon. and learned Member had in view, would have been much better attained had the bill contained special enactments. But, as it was, many offences of more or less magnitude were included in the same category, and because they had formerly been subjected to the same penalty of death, they were now, whatever might be their enormity, all to be visited with transportation for different terms, or with imprisonment. He very much doubted whether the bill would succeed this session, and if it were to do so, it was certainly not concocted in that mature and deliberate manner in which such a subject ought to be dealt with.
§ The report brought up.
§ Bill to be read a third time.