In the reign of Henry VIII, 72,000 thieves were hanged, being
at the rate of 2,000 a year. In the reign of George III,
twenty persons were executed on the same morning in London for
stealing. In 1785, ninety-seven persons were executed in London
for stealing from a shop to the value of five shillings or more.
If the amount were less than five shillings the punishment was
not capital.
At the beginning of the nineteenth century the punishment of
death might be inflicted for more than two hundred crimes. These
are some of the offenses that were punished with death: Picking
a man’s pocket, taking a rabbit from a warren, stealing five
shillings or more from a shop, cutting down a tree, catching and
stealing a fish, personating a Greenwich pensioner, stealing a
sheep or horse, harboring an offender against the revenue acts.
(2586)
=Punishment in China=--See CRIME EXPOSED.
=Punishment of Sinners=--See SINNERS AND GOD.