It may be as well to explain this so as at once to put a stop to the idea which he has endeavoured to propagate that the Secretary of State is a consenting party to his proceedings.
Mr. Hennessy's chief topic is flogging. He compares the frequency of the punishment in Hong Kong and England. This is a fallacious comparison. Flogging, as a punishment for adults, had become practically disused in England until it was revived in 1863 for the crime of robbery with violence. Whereas the punishment is assigned by the Law of Hong Kong to a great variety of offences.
Flogging is an art of the bad kind and is generally ignored by the public. In legal circles, it is always considered an offence when convicted.
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Mr. Hennessy also objects to the publicity of flogging. The expediency of public flogging has been much discussed. In England, the balance of opinion is decidedly in favour of secrecy; this opinion is no doubt influenced by a consideration of the practical impossibility of inflicting the spectacle of a flogging upon the English public. In Hong Kong, it may possibly be best to flog in public. It is a question for local consideration.
Mr. Hennessy has also started a...