Basil Montagu (1770-1851) was one of the period's leading advocates for the abolition of capital punishment. When he published the three installments of this book it was intended to provide a fillip to the debate in England over the relative merits and deficiencies of the judicial punishment of death. By gathering together all the known published opinions on the death penalty, it was his purpose to demonstrate the overwhelming weight of the argument on the side of the abolitionists, but without ignoring the arguments in support of the punishment. The work aimed at objectivity as well as comprehensiveness, and it stands as a unique contribution to our understanding of the moral, religious, legal, political and philosophical arguments about capital punishment. It was the first attempt to compile a complete spectrum of opinion on capital punishment.
The majority of writings included are by British authors, among whom are Thomas More, Francis Bacon, Walter Raleigh, Edward Coke, Thomas Hobbes, David Hume, Henry Home (Lord Kames), William Blackstone, William Cowper, Samuel Johnson, Oliver Goldsmith, William Paley, Jeremy Bentham, Patrick Colquhoun, John Howard, Samuel Romilly, Gilbert Wakefield and James Mackintosh.
- ISBN10 0554520575
- ISBN13 9780554520575
- Publish Date 21 August 2008 (first published 22 January 2004)
- Publish Status Unknown
- Publish Country US
- Imprint BiblioLife
- Format Paperback (US Trade)
- Pages 324
- Language English