Star. — London, England, 1816-08-29 00:00:00

IMPROMPTU. , . In London—highly•laooone'd town— ' We have a tribe of Butybodtts; • • Whit run iu terror uplsid down, Bothering with idle work their noddles! With doing much they nothing At; . Their talents te no purpose spending; Their own vexations they renew, Still more and more all else offending • r POLICE OFTHE METROPOLIS. MINUTES OF EVIDENCE TAKEN BEFORE THE DOM. MITTLE OF THB HOUSE OF COMMONS. ON THE '5 I.ITE OF THE POLICE OF THE METROPOLIS. The Hon. LILNIT Gass BZIOIILT in the Chain Etanioattoo of Towels eigo, the Peiet °Meer, cootinued. Do )tm think. , from your long obseriation, that the morals and manners of tbeltriver people are better or worse than formerly 1..... t am decidedly of • opinion, that, with respect to the presOtt •tiMe, and the early part of my time, such as 1734 th 3, 4,4, 6, and 7, where there is one person convicted now, I !hay say, I am posiiively convinced there were five then ; we never had an execntiori wherein we did not grace that unfortunate gibbet with ten, twelve, to thirteen, :sixteen, and twenty ; and forty I once saw -at twic 6 I base them all down at home. I remem ber, in 1783. when Serjeant Adair was Recprder, there were forty hung at two executions—the unfor tuoate people themselves laugh at it now ; they call it a bagatelle. I was convening with an old offen dertorne years ago, whot has now quite changed his life ; and be said—" Why, Sir, where there is one hung now, there were five when I was young ;" and I said-44 Yes , you are right in your calculation, and you are very lucky that you were spared so lon=l have lived to be a better man." I agree with Barrington, whom I brought from Newcastle ; and however great Lord Chief Baron Eyre's speech was to him, after he had answered him, it came to this climax :-" New, (says be) Townsend, you beard what the Chief Baron said to me ; a fine flowery mash, was it not ?" " Yes s" “ Bat he did not an. Amer the question I put to him." Now bow could be ? Now after all that the Chief Baron said to him after be was acquitted, giving him advice, this word was every thing : says be,—" My Lord, I have paid great attention to what you have been sating to me, after my acquittal :• I return my sincere thanks to the Jury for their goodnesi : but your Lordship says, you lament very much that a man of my abilities should not turn my abilities to a better tile. Now, my Lord, I have only this reply to make—l am ready :o go into any service, to work for my labour, if your Lordship will but find me a master." Why, what was the reply to that ?..•44 Gooier, take the prisoner away." Why, who would employ him ? that - was the point. It is really farcical with me • tainetimee, when I have heard Magistrates say— er Young man, really I am very sorry for you ; you arc mach to be pitied; you should turn your talents to a better account ; and you should really leave off this bad course of life." Yes, that is better said than dohe ; for where is there any body to take these wretches ? I will take upon myself to say, that I have known this to be a clear case, which they have said to me—" Sir. we do not thieve from disposi tion ; bat we thieve because we cannot get employ. snent—oor character is damned, and nobody will have us :" and so it is ; there is no question about it: Then again, upon the other hand, there aretases where men might do, but will not. Do yogi think, that, taking the small number of erecuttoss, which is the modern practice, there is a less or greater nuniber of crimes committed now than formerly ?.—I think myself there are less; and lam sot alone in that. Tam astonished, consider. ink the times. Now, for instance, what was ex pected ? that there would be knocking down, and this, and that, and ,'other. What was the character of this Sessions, when the Committee are told, and for a confirmation they may send to the Secretary of State's Office, how many criminals were convicted ? I have known 220 tried at one Sessions; I have con victed myself from thirteen to twenty-fire for return ing from transportation at one Sessions. is it your opinion, according to your observation, that the morals and manners of the lower people are better ?-1 really do not think they are worse; and with respect to cruelty in robbery, such desperate th;ngs as we had formerly, there is not a thing ib be compared to. His Majesty was advised by Mr. Thomas Townsend, then Secretary of State in 1783, to punish with severity. Mr. Taylor's father was Sheriff at that time; in that very Sessions the enor mity of the offences was thought so desperate, and lelunder bad got to such an alarming pitch, that a tter went -down, by command of his Majesty, to the theh Judges and Recorders sitting, that his Ma. jesty would dispense with all the Recorders' Reports, and that they should select the worst of the offenders out, and order them for execution, as the Court slould think fit: they did so ; I think it was either five or seven in the Sessions week, on the Friday, were le. leCted, called up on the Saturday, and sentenced, and ordered for execution on the following . Friday. Was not the punishment of death put.into execs. titan more frequently then than it is now ; were not criminals then hung for the same species of offences for which they are now transported ?--The number cally convicted now is not so large by any means. According to the returns laid before Parliament, at different periods;' the number of persons committed for trial seems to have increased considerably of late years; should you consider that increase to arise from the augmentation of the population of the city, : of Iran the increase of crimes amongst the lower orders ?—The increase of the population most be' • taken Into consideration, ceetalnly. • Do not you attribute it to the increased ac. deity of the Police ? it is not to be can owed, for a mome nt; I fi rst bap it, there e three Justices at Bow Sir John Fielding t and two others ; and the Kagistrate, for his re. utuseration, took tires on what they did—paltry fees; afil the Act of the Legislatrale swept away all the blagisaates' two-and-tourpences, and alt the rest o f desk emoluments of that kind; Sic John Fielding gip wad by those fees of aka • :Ka& Sir Jehir.Fieldbqf say salary ( nry trifling, if any ; the Chief flagistragi seed Monday :. ~s morniug to settle with the clerk the account of those fees. The activity of the officers of Bow-street has infi nitely increased of late years 1: No doubt about it ; and there is•one thing which appears to me most ex traordinary, when I remember, in very likely a -Week, there should be from ten to fifteen highway robberies. We have not had a man committed for a highway robbery lately; I speak of persons on horse- back ; formerly there were two, three, or tour high wAymen, some on Hounslow Heath,. some on Wim- ' bledon Common, some on Fincbley Common, some OR thy . Romford rind. I have - actually come to Bow-street in the morning, and while I have been leaning over the desk, had three or four people come in and - say, leas robbed by two highwaymen in such a place; I was robbed by a single highwayman in such a place. People travel now safely by means of the Lone patrole, which Sir Richard Ford planned. Where are then highway robberies now ? as I Was, observing to the Chancellor at the time I was up at his house on the Corn Bill : he said. " Townsend, I knew you very well, so many years ago." .1 said, " yes, my Lord; I remember your coming fist to the bar, first in your plain gown, and then as King's Counsel, and now Chancellor. Now your Lordship sits as Chancellor, and directs the executions on the Recorder% Report; but where are the highway rob beries now r and his Lordship said, , ‘ Yes, I am '-estouished." There are no footpad robberies or road robberies not, but merely jostling you in the streets. They used to In ready to pop at a man as soon as he let down his glass( that ryas by banditties. You remendirek the ease of Abershaw ?—Yes ; I bad him tuckettue where he wan;. it was through me. I never left a Court of Justice without having dis charged my own feelings as much in favour of the unhappy criminal as I did on the parenf the prosecu tion ; and I once ipplied to Mr. Janie, Buller to save two men out of three who were convicted ; and on my application we argued a good dial about it.— I said—a My Lord, I .have no motive but my duty the Jury have pronounced them guilty. I hatorbeard your Lordship pronounce sentence of death, and I have now informed you of the different dispositions of the three men. If you choose to execute them all I have nothing to say about it but was I you, in the room of being the officer, and you were to tell me , what Townsend has told you I should think it would' , be for a justification for you to respite thous two un happy men, and hang that one who has been convic ted three times before." The other men had never been convicted before; and the other had becniehree times convicted ; and he very properly did. And how are Judges or Justices to know how many times a man has been convicted but by the information of the officer in whose duty and department it is to keep a register of old offenders. The Magistrate sits up there, he knows nothing of it till the party is brought before him—he cannot. Do you think any advantages arise from a man being put on a gibbet after his execution ?—Yes, I was always of that opinion.; and I reconunendid Sir William Scott to hang the two men that are hanging down the River. I will state my reason. We will take for granted. that. those men were hanged as this morning. for the murder of those revenue °Seers— they are by law dissected ; the sentence is, thaiatter wards the body is to go to the surgeons for dissection; there is an end of it—it dies. But look at this : There are a couple of men now hanging near the . Thames, where all the sailors must come up ;--and one says to the other...A Pray what are these two fellows there for 1"- 6 Why, (says another) poor I r ill go and ask." They ask—" Why, those two men are hang and gibbeued for murdering his Ma jesty's revenue officers." And so the thing is kept alive. If it teas not for this, people would die, and nobody would know any thing of it. In Abershaw's case I said to the Sheriff—" the only difficnky in hanging this fellow upon this place is its being so near Lord Spencer's house ;" but we went down, and pointed out a particular place ; he was hung at the particular pitch of the hill where he used to do the work. If there was a person ever went to see that man banging I am sure there was . a hundred thousand. I received information that they meant to cut him down. I said to Sir Richard Ford—" I will counteract this ; in oider to have it done right, I will go and sit up all night, and have eight or ten officers at a distance, for i shall nail these fellows," for I talked cant language to him. However we had the officers there. but nobody ever came, or else, Ding so cline to Kent -street, they would have come down and sewed the gibbet, and taken it all away, for Kent•street was a very desperate place, though it is not so now. Lord Chief Justice Eyre once went the Home Circuit ; he began at Hertford, and finished at Kingston. Crimes were so deilSerate,that io his charge to the Grand Jury at Hertford, he finished, e‘ Now, Gentlemen of the Jury, you have heard my opinion as to the enormity of the offences committed : be careful what bills you find, for whatever bills you find, if the Ludes are convicted before me,, if they are, convicted lor a capital offence, I have made up my mind, as I go through the circuit, to execute every one." He did so be never saved man or wotnan ; and a singular circumstance occurred, that stands upon record fresh in my mind ; there were seven people convicted for a robbery in Kent -street,. for calling in a pedlar;. and after robbing the may he jumped oat of the window s There were four men and three women concerned ; they were all con victed, and all hanged in Kent-street, opposite She, door; and. I think, on Kennington Common eight more, making 14 all that were convicted were hung. Do you think the milder execution of the law which is at present practised, has had any bad eireet in increasing the number df criminal ff-pft is impose sible, almost, to say; one would hope hot: bat I really do not know what to say to that; I do- sot know , what the Penitentiary House may do, for know very little of its regulations yet, but 1 will take upon myself to say, that the confining a person for five years will be more punishment than ten ear. entices. -Loch a man up for flu years, it• is any thing and every thing. Ido not know what hanks may be, but I know to an old thief it meld be dread ful, day after day. I have always bees decidedly of opinion, and have told the Judges so, nobody, hi In 7 Opinion ought to suffer death but those who cameo murder, swum and cm, and setting (Ire, and °boom against nature; as t• all the rest, if yea met those to the Peakeatieryi Howe 1 disk. k void be pt.' finable. , • • State to the Cotamittau "fiat you Wok an the • leading obstructions to the convidlon of Criminals against the public peace ?-10 the first place, persons ; object to the expense; we all know that the expense is not so much, provided the prosecution , is not con. ducted by P.ttorney and Counsel; but we cannot beat that into the public . ; and if that is done there comes a bill of 20 or 030. Others do not like it because there is such a waste of time; sometimes they must wait three, four, or five days at the Old Bailey before their trial comes on, besides the exami nation at the Office, all of which are existing cir :assistance:, thit are daily occurring, and therefore a great many people will not prosecute ; and in some cases persons are deterred from an unwillingness to have their names brought in. 1)o you think reasons such as you have given, operate very strongly on a great proportion of those individuals who suffer injury in one way and another, and prevent their appearance ?—I think there are a great number of offenders escape merely because persons will not go to the expense and trouble of prosecuting. JOHN NELSON LAVENDER, called in, and Examined. What 9ffice do you belong to?—Queen-square. How long have you belonged to that Office ?—Six years, the 19th of last March. Did you hold any situation in that Office, or any other, prior to your appointment there 3—Yes, I held a situation in Bow-street Office for five years. Is the situation you hold now to be considered as one in the way of promotion ?—Not exactly so : I left Bow-street; I was one of the Patrols; I on account of a quarrel with the late Mr. Bond. What is the nature of the duties of your Office ? We have to attend from eleven in the morning to three in the afternoon, aid from seven to eight in the evening. Do you au attend regularly, or is it only a propor tion of yen each day f—We all ought to attend, but if we are oet on our duty that attendance is not re quired; it is understood that we should attend, but if there, is any business comes into the Office, or any information of felon, we are dispatched. I • it'a rule at the Office, that the individual want. ing your assistance is sure to find some of you there at Office-hoursf—Yes ; and when the Office is shut there is a house of call for us. Your salary is one guinea per week ?—lt is. Are you accustomed to attend at any of the Public Offices ?—Nn, I attend at the Opera House twice, and sometimes three times a week ; I succeeded Mr. Townsend in that appointment. Of course you receive from the Managers of the Opera an emolument for so doing ?—Yes, I receive a guinea a night ; and I am obliged to provide other assistance. Are you accustomed to receive compensation from private individuals, who employ you on any specific service in which you are engaged ?—Yes ; and that is the only means by which we can exist. If it were not for that reward which you receive far specific services performed, should you consider the salary paid by the Public as sufficient to induce you to keep the situation which you at present hold —Certainly not; I could not do it, from the nature of my business; that salary would very frequently be spent in one half of the first day, we are obliged to spesid i goof deal of money in obtaining infor mation of which the Goternment knows nothing. Do you receive in cases of convictions or appte. hewn of offenders under the Statute, a share in that reward which is known•by the name of the Par liamentary Reward ?—I have received several shares, but that is a business which I always decline, if I can possibly avoid it ; no Police Officer can go into the box at the Old Bailey with any comfort to him self, knowing that be will be asked the question by Counsel, which is always extremely unpleasant. You are then quite aware, when you are placed in that situation, that it is one of suspicion to a Jury who are to receive your evidence, and to your own breast it is most painful feel it so always. Can you state to the Committee what is the amount which you should suppose .any Officer at your Office has made in any one year by the Parlia i mentary rewards ?—I think that in our Office there has been less made than in any other Office. I should conceive no one of them has ever made 430 a year by those rewards. We have had very few convictions in our District for these four or five years. I do not think there have been snore than four or five burglaries. Should you not think the other Officers, as well as yourself, would be much better satisfied with having rewards for specific services performed, paid either by the Magistrates, or ordered by the Judge. you then being a competent Witness, than by the present mode ?—I think I can answer• that with a great deal of truth, on the part of myself and' my brother offi cers, that it is the feeling of every one of them that the Parliamentary reward should cease ; that they would feel much better satisfied to be paid by the Magistrate for any extra services performed. Even though the amount received might be less than they now receive ?—Certainly. I have convict ed two as notorious offenders as have troubled the town for many years. last Sessions ; the celebrated Roberts. and White (Conkey Beau, as he is called) ; and the only reward I got for that was 16s. Was that a share of the Parliamentary reward ? An allowance made by the county to prosecutors and witnesses attending. In the nature of a Rompensation for loss of time ? —Yes; but it was brno Means a compensation ; in e oae ease the parties are bankrupts, and the officers are left merely to that. Have not the Magistrates at the'different Police Oases a power to give something in the nature of wards foe extra services The Polies Act men tion it; bat, I have always found our own Magi strates decline it; they scarcely pay the expenses of the officers. 'At the Bow-street Office I believe they are paid for every thing, and that very liberally but they are under a different establishment from the other Police Offices. I do not think, since I have been at Queen -square Office. which is six years, that my payment for extra services has amounted to except where I lave been out as an extra•constable ' on public fetes, and en such occasions. Supposing that the Parliamentary► rewards wen taken away; nod that the Officers of the Police were to realm toe their exertions the reward which indi *ideals sleight think fit to pay them for their trouble. *hit *Mad you think a sufficient salary on the part of the pablic f—As an Officer is expected to keep :Wain% and to be above temptatiqp j and to do no- j thing mean. I shemilti riot think th e d overn m eit l could think of giving him - less than rel2o or els) a year. Are you not of opinion, that if the present sals,, was doubled, and the Magistrates had iy)w cr tor: ward their officers for extra services, and the J u d o , the same at the Assizes, that that would b.. a $44 cient remuneration to the Officers for t!wir s.rrir ei r —Yes; if the Magistrates and Judges wri,,id ~,„, Officers for their expenses in travelling , wh tt !.„ t r i l succeed or not ; for on !flirty occasi-ns v..,. d ,, n , succeed, and then k is very hard for an nfli, er out of pocket his expenses; I am sure I 114vr more than half my salary in expenses, w hi, actually thrown away, and which I have no of recovering ; and if I did not .!,, that I perhaps get nothing at all —To Le earths-ed. We have already stated the execution, at P t den Heath, of the eight unfortunate malefartnt. various crimes, on Thursday last : tl.c~ all the sentence of the law with a degree of mu ) and fortitude deserting a better fate. The dat fine, an immense number of spectators were tar exceeding any assemblage upon a similal sion in the county of Kent for many years. precaution to prevent confusion was taken by , cious arrangement of the Oificers and Javeiin under the direction of the Under Sheriff, who, to his credit, remained on the spot until the • were all removed by their respective tele•it. the place of execution. The solemnity t taw Ins was awful, a complete silence pervad, u 4 e „ bah assemblage present from the moment of their smut at the fatal spot, until the bodies were removed, Every exertion was used by the Chaplain and U. Sheriff, previous to the removal of Connor, Co l b y , and grown, from the jail and at the place of cation, to obtain, if possible, a disc ,, very of the dd. cient property stolen from the Coromandel hey, bet to no effect ; and- they with their companimis w launched into eternity, declaring to the last t eir i. nocence of the crime for which they were about suffer. Since their execution, however, Coeby , ,,if ti it is said, has impeached several others, some t whoa are said to be in respectable circumstances at Black. wall. Five of them have been committed trnm the Thames Police Office for re-examination. WESSELS' JESUIT'S DROPS. In his If" jesty's Navy these Drops have for near 100 ysirsm maintained their character as a specific ter the Scurvy, Oad Dropsy, fitringuary, Weakness and Obstruction. in the US" Passage, and General Debility; bat particularly for lbw:. dills and speedy cure of the Venereal Disea.e : Wessels' Jesuit'sfiess and Specific Remedy, are the only sate and expeditious Cure,ed are so innocent in their nature, as to require little or no re:traix The great object to be attended t• is, that Patients at d chasers should be carelt.l in h.: ving the true aud genuine Prep* tion, as the unsafe, utisanctioned, and dangerous counterfeits a , tempted to be footed nit the Public, by absolute fatsel.uods, IN so numerous, that the Prnpricors requ st every purcha.er to tit for All/assets' I esurr's ai.d unless they have -he foiling. Mg words on tite stamp, they are gross impositions Oil ts.e " Joseph iVessels, 6(:,. Sc. l'aul's Church-yard," which his Mt jetty's Commissioners have ordered to be engraved on every Stem to - sect:re them a* their right. Ad ethers are Counterfeits. Merchants, Caorains, ant Venders supplied on liberal terms Price 2s. 91-11 s —and 225. per bottle. • NUT htm : I dpi no: li s er t o b t , rTNI Ire spi te ich a l The 0 me ats ORAL Pennell. 31.triet rs, let t aC) : 5r11,1,41 •: 1 11 " T 1 34 . i f ill 'rem, . WV in ace & , SOU Fart ig r 2 pki. WO lin ltje - H 10, 124 WI sulat Poe a 1 0. 6 oat The THE CORDIAL BALM OF GILEAD, Prepared by Dr. Sotomox, Gilead-House, near Liverpool, price half a guinea a bottle; or the quantity of four in one fienil bottle for 335. on which ge. are saved, duty Laclede& FIIIHE CORDIAL BALM OF GILEAD if universally acknowlesigel to he peculiarly efficacious he inward wastings, lost of appetite, indig.,4 ion, depression of with, trembling or shaking of the hands rr hubs, obstina'e mg* shortness of breath, and consumptive habits. It thins the blad e eases the most violent pains in the head and stomach, and promote gentle perspiration. By the nobility and gentry this medicuuii much admired, bring pleasant to the taste and smell, gt tidy as winging the fibres of t!te stoinaea, and going that proper tea ii which a good digestion requires. No; hing can be betteradaped to help and nourish the constitution after a nocturnal ilehasti with wine, &c. This Cordial is highly e4teemed in the &anti West Indies for nourishing and Invigorating the nervous Ides, and acting as a general restorative on debilitated constitutions, arising from bilious complaints contracted in ha! climates.— I who have the care and education of females, the studious as well as the sedentary part of the community, should never be reitlard the Cordial Balm or Gil-ad, which removes diseases in the bead, invigorates the mind, improves the memory, and enlivens the imagination. It is the most absolute remedy for such diseases as are attend cd with the followttig symptom, namely, a great straimm of the Ineast, with difficult) of htng ; violent palpitations id the Ite.irt, sudden flushes of heat in v.iti.nis parts of the boy; It other times a sense of cold, as if water was poured on than; (lying pains in the aims and limbs, back and belay, resembline those occasioned by the gravel; the pulse very variable, saint, times uncommonly slow, at other times very quick; yawning the hiccough, frequent sighisig, and a ser.se of suffocation, as tiUUS a ball or lump in the throat; ahrrnate fits of crying and convul- sive laughing ; the sleep unsound. and seldom refreshing, and the patient often troubled with horrid dreams. Much has been said by interested individuals against medicines that are advertised; but there is a very impoitant observation to be made relating the Cordial Balm of Gilead, that unless Its operation was gentle, safe, and efficacious, it could not have obtained the unexampled demand it has acquired ; tor, as it has rarely the gnat advantage of a persuasive advocate at the ear of the patient, so nothing bst bis conviction ot its virtues, by its salutary effects, can induce per severaree, and yet reasonable perseverance is certainly most re quisite to enable even the happiest combination of cbenicals atA' galeniitals to root out chronic diseases, and restore the valetudins• rian to health. The CORDIAL BALM OF GII.EAD most wonderful'? cherishes nature, and will support the life of the aged and infirm. his all inward decays, debility, lowness of spirits, relaxation in either sex, whether hereditary or (Jaime to youthful iniprudencies this medial:le will afford the most wonderful relief. . hi well known characteristic of promoting longevity has been long maittiained ; fur by keeping the constitution, as it were, io continual repair, it 'reserves the body in health and vigour, aril . prevents premature decay. It requires no particular confinement nor attention to diet. Kr Dr. Salomon expects, when consulted by letter, the usual compliment of a LI nine to be inciosed, addressed, " Bias? Letter. Dr. Solomon, Gilead House, near Liverpool. k' double postage." Government security against Counterfeits. Sold by Samuel Leigh, 18, strand ; Bacon and Co. 150, Os ford-street. London ; Brodie and Dowding, Salisbury ; and all Medicine Venders; price ils. each, or four In one Family Book for 835. by whibh one lls bin tle is saved, with the words' " Sand. Solomon, Liverpotg, engraved on the 'tamp. PRICE OF STOCI Bank Stock 2154 s per Cent. Red. 62i 61 62 Ditto Cons. 611;41 4 per Cent& 77ki 78 77* • 5 per Cent. Navy 924414 'it.s YESTERDAY. !.ong Annui:ie4 5.16 India mock -- India Bonds 6 7 pre. Esdsequer Bilis s 3 prom Cons. for sec. 62f ft COAL MARKET, AUGUS F 28. Alps at Market. 4 , Ships sold. MI Newcastle 951 9 Senderland 9 Price. SM. Od. co 47% a 16.. 9d to 499.64 HIGH WATER TO MORROW AT LONDON BRIDGE+ Morning - - £0 min. after 7 Mtn:noon - • • 53 .........., 7 I.ONIJON: Primed by 1.11•11. KINT, Part Plan; Published there, and et the Mar•Pffice, 'movie Bar. prod S 7 pal sad de The ma dc The tick 11 Forth F o r th ?or W The or 1111 for etc °icor lifter ES Fort' the fc on (14 • 71 &II 1,111 T sea *I/ :i Orel Irabl *ion. 2. Is 1 oel M sek A' 1. ry an a