responses not only to particular alarms in this period but also to underlying
weaknesses of the criminal law that had been revealed over many years in the
practice of the courts. They embodied well-established convictions about crime
control, but also introduced new ideas and practices into the law and its admin-
istration. Some of the newer strategies focused on ways of getting more offend-
ers prosecuted, convicted, and punished—the usefulness and necessity of which
was no less clear to men in this period (though none wrote about it systemat-
ically or at length) than it was to be to Beccaria.^4 The most direct proposals
The Revolution, Crime, and Punishment in London 317(^4) Anxiety about the unwillingness of victims to prosecute was expressed in a variety of ways in this
period. In 1692 and 1694 , for example, several judges spoke against bills in the House of Lords that
sought to make perjury a capital offence in cases in which the life of a defendant was at risk, mainly on
the ground that such a threat would discourage prosecutors. The target of the legislation (in response to
the climate of legal terror in the previous decade) was malicious prosecution in political and religious
cases. The bills failed for a variety of reasons, but the opposition of the judges was decisive, and their prin-
cipal anxiety about the legislation was the effect it would have on victims of property offences. ChiefJus-
tices Holt and Treby, Mr Justice Eyre, and Baron Powell all agreed that such legislation would be a
‘discouragement to prosecution’ and decrease the chances of conviction. Instead ‘of curing evils’, Treby
said, ‘it may enlarge them. It is very hard to convict persons. If this Bill pass, it will be harder. We have
much ado to bring on persons to prosecute.’ ‘We find it difficult to find prosecutors in housebreaking and
Shoplifting act: theft from shops, stables &
warehouses over 5 s. 0 d. removed from clergy (s. 1 ); 10 & 11 Wm III, c 23 ( 1699 )
prosecutor of those offences, burglary, and horse-theft
to have ‘Tyburn Ticket’ (s. 2 ); offenders who convict
two or more accomplices to be pardoned (s. 5 );
branding of clergy to be on the left cheek (s. 6 )
To punish accessories and receivers: accessory to 1 Anne, stat 2 , c 9 ( 1702 )
felony to be tried as a felon (s. 1 ); receivers to be tried
for a misdemeanor if principal offender acquitted (s. 2 );
witnesses for defendant to give evidence on oath (s. 3 )
Branding of clergy returned to thumb (s. 1 ); clergied 5 Anne, c 6 ( 1706 )
felons could be committed to house of correction
or workhouse for six months to two years at hard
labour (s. 2 ); defendants claiming benefit of clergy
no longer required to read (s. 6 )
To encourage the discovery and apprehending of 5 Anne, c 31 ( 1706 )
housebreakers: £ 40 reward for conviction of a
burglar (s. 1 ); housebreaker convicting two or more
accomplices to be pardoned (s. 4 ); receivers to be tried
as accessories (s. 5 ); if principal not convicted, receiver
could be tried for misdemeanor (s. 6 )
To punish theft from houses: benefit of clergy removed 12 Anne, c 7 ( 1713 )
from theft from houses of goods valued more that 40 s. 0 d.
Note:
aIn the case of bills, the reference to the journal of the House of Commons ( JHC) and the journal
of the House of Lords ( JHL) is to the first mention of the proposed legislation; further references can
be found in the indexes to the journals.