30 MAY 1931, Page 15

A Hundred Years Ago Two men were hanged on Wednesday

; one for sheep-stealing, the other for stealing in a dwelling-house. It was alleged, in aggro.- vation of the crime of the former, that his character was bad—he was what the French call a mauvais sujet ; it does not appear that he had ever been tried before ; the thefts of the latter had been numerous and extensive. The execution of these men for crimes unaccom- panied by the slightest violence, has very naturally attracted the notice of a large and respectable class of the community, to whom the sanguinary character of our code has long been a subject of regret.