Word: ellenborough
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Dates: during 1940-1949
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...George III's reign, more than 200 crimes were punishable by death. Among them: felling a tree, picking a pocket, associating with gypsies for a month. In 1810, to a proposal to abolish 'the death penalty for shoplifting of articles worth five shillings or more, Lord Ellenborough had solemnly objected: "I trust your lordships will pause before you assent to an experiment pregnant with danger to the security of property . . . Repeal this law and see the contrast-no man can trust himself for an hour out of doors without the most alarming apprehensions that on his return every...
...without the dire consequences predicted by Ellenborough, gibbet and gallows were prescribed for fewer & fewer crimes. When murder was crossed off the list last week, only three capital crimes remained: high treason in time of war, piracy with violence, arson in dockyards...