The
reform of the criminal law, which still carried the harsh
statutes of an unquiet age, had been ably championed by Romilly,
Mackintosh, and others, but it was Peel's way first to oppose,
then to admit the principle of the reform, and finally to enact
it into enduring law. On his initiative, in 1823, "nearly one
hundred felonies were removed from the list of capital crimes,
and judges were empowered to withhold the death penalty in all
cases except murder, when the culprit appeared deserving of
mercy." Other acts originating with him consolidated and unified
the vast and complex body of criminal statutes so as to simplify
procedure, and facilitate the ends of justice. Some conception of
his services in this particular may be gained from the fact that
"he secured the repeal of two hundred and seventy-eight acts
relating to the criminal law, embodying their useful provisions
in eight acts."
On Catholic emancipation Peel's process of conversion was slower.
He steadily fought the proposals for relief in the House of
Commons as long as Lord Liverpool lived, and when Canning
succeeded to the premiership (1827), he resigned rather than
serve under a pro-Catholic chief. When the Tories came back to
power under Wellington, in 1828, Peel resumed the Home
Secretaryship, with the leadership of the House of Commons, a
position for which he possessed incomparable qualifications.
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