In contemplating the various component parts of this Code, it is easy to discover that although some features of it may be worthy of imitation, upon the whole it is not suited either to the English constitution or the genius of our people. It is, however, a curious and interesting document, from which considerable information may be drawn; if ever that period shall arrive when a revision of our own criminal Code (in many respects more excellent than this) shall become an object of consideration with the Legislature.--At all events it strongly evinces the necessity of adapting the laws to the circumstances and situation of the Government; and of the people whose vices are to be restrained. The total abolition of the Punishment of death (excepting in military offences cognizable by Courts Martial) is a very prominent feature in this Code; which appears to have been founded in a great measure on the principles laid down by the Marquis Beccaria, in his Essay on Crimes and Punishments: That able writer establishes it as a maxim, which indeed will scarcely be controverted--"That the severity of Punishment should just be sufficient to excite compassion in the spectators, as it is intended more for them than the criminal.--A punishment, to be just, should have only that degree of severity which is sufficient to deter others, and no more"--This authour further asserts, "That perpetual labour has in it all that is necessary to deter the most hardened and determined, as much as the punishment of death, _where every example supposes a new crime_:--perpetual labour on the other hand, affords a frequent and lasting example."[20] [Footnote 20: The punishment of death is not authorized by any right.--If it were so, how could it be reconciled to the maxim, that a man has no right to kill himself? The punishment of death is a war of a whole nation against a citizen, whose destruction is considered as necessary or useful to the public good.--If I can demonstrate that it is neither necessary nor useful, I shall have gained the cause of humanity.--If the experience of all ages be not sufficient to prove that the punishment of death has never prevented determined men from injuring society--if the example of the Romans--if twenty years' reign of Elizabeth, Empress of Russia, be not sufficient, let us consult human nature in proof of my assertion. The death of a criminal is a terrible, but momentary spectacle; and therefore a less efficacious method of deterring others, than the continued example of a man deprived of his liberty, and condemned to repair by his labour, the injury done to Society. A condition so miserable is a much more powerful preventive than the fear of death, which men always behold in distant obscurity. BECCARIA, cap. 28.]