PUBLIC EXECUTIONS.—MR. DICKENS' SUBSTITUTE.

Wellington Independent, Volume VI, Issue 478, 11 May 1850, Page 4

PUBLIC EXECUTIONS.—MR. DICKENS' SUBSTITUTE.

The popular author of " Oliver Twist," " Nicholas Nickleby," " David Copperfield," &c, has come forward, not as au advocate for the abolition of capital punishments, but as the projector of a new mode of carrying out the extreme sentence of the law. His plan is thus explained ia a letter addressed to the, Times-; — " From the moment of a murdeerr's being sentenced to death, I would dismiss him to the dread obscurity to which the wisest judge upon the bench consigned the murderer Rush. I would allow no curious visitors to hold any communication with him; I would place every obstacle in the way of his sayings and doings being served up in print on Sunday mornings for the perusal of families. His execution within the walls of the j>rison should be conducted with e\ery terrible solemnity that careful consideration could devise. Mr. Calcraft, the hangman (of whom I have some information in reference to this last occasion,) should be restrained in his unseemly briskness, in his jokes, 1 his oaths, and his brandy. To attend the execution I would summon a jury of 24, to be called the Witness Jury, eight to be summoned on a low qualification, eight on a_ higher, eight on a higher still; so that it might fairly represent all classes of society. There should be present, likewise, the governor ofthe jail, the chaplain, the surgeon, and other officers, the sheriffs of the county or city, and two inspectors of prisons. All these should sign a grave and solemn form of certificate (the same in every case) that on such a day, at such nn hour, in such a jail, for such a .crime, such a murderer was hanged in .their sight. There should be another certificate from the officers of the prison ihat the person hanged was the person, and no other; a third, that the person was! buried These should be posted on the prison gate for 21 days, printed in the Gazette and exhibited in other public places; and during the hour of the body's hanging I would have the bells of .all the churches in that town ox city lolled, and all the shops s!_ut up, that all might he reminded of what wa? being done."

Mr. Dickens enforces his views by re- ' ference to the awe-inspiring effects of tragic incidents ou the stage (particularly behind the scenes,) the imposing mystery of the police van passing through the streets, and other " aids to the imagination," well-known to writers of fiction, and liberally dealt -out to their readers. Such ideas "are even improved upon by the free trade editor of the Economist, wdiose whole business is to pass off' delusions as realities, and deduce therefrom what he calls " useful lessons." Thus, referring to the proposal of Mr. Dickens, to inflict capital punishment privately, the Economist characteristically observes — •* Such a change will do away with all the horrors of a public execution, but it will deprive putting men to death of every justification as an example to the people." This iw.y be quite just, but mark what follows :—" If they (the people) are not to witness it, a narrative of hanging, properly drawn up and vouched —keeping the criminals in secret—would be quite as useful as an execution itself, and the crime of taking away life might be avoided, while a lesson would be taught." What sort of lesson ? We suppose that the statistics of the Economist are "properly drawn up and vouched" on the principle above described. This little revelation of character ought to be overlooked. !