Star. — London, England, 1810-05-02 00:00:00

had rendered tikathatit l S iiabld to apitai went, and those who had itlffered it He thought a c ase KA been fairly made but foi the interfeitmce of parliament, and he should therefore support the Bill. The SOLICITOR -GENERAL seconded the re 4 me ndation of his Hon. Fr i e nd who ha d just sat d -c : l w n, for the general establishment of penitentiaries, hal ing known the beneficial effects of that system from 1 1 :, o wn experience. It was indeed notorious, that the ters equence of ordinary imprisonment of the hulks and of tranvortation, was to confirm, or Lather to g,s• - ffeavate the habits of bad men: It was , therefore , ii necessar7 to devise other means, at least for the amend -ot q F offenders, so as to fit them for restoration to s o ciety, and he knew of nothing better than that pre ieibed by the Act of the 19th of his present Majesty, for the e stablishment of Penitentiaries. The Learned O e n , leman denied, from his own experience, that the fear of the punishment of death had the effect ascribed to i t upon the minds of prosecutors, witnesses and ; u ric; : and he believed no practical man could say to; or that that fear had no effect upon criminalss— indeed it would seem very strange that the fear of death s hould be operative upon the mind of proseen to, w i tnes ses and juries, while it should be wholly inoperative upon the mind p un the offender, who was lae subject to that pshment. As to the slene to lan o f i m punity to offenders resulting from the opera. tica of ins fear, he was quite astonished at the asset* . 6 ,, 17( rit was well known that prosecutors could if thevplease.d. leave out the capital part of the charge i n their indictment ; and the juries being so apt, as it was said, to reduce the value of the goods stolen, in et; der to evade the capital punis h m e nt; ho w could it be said that the law, as it stood, afforded any facility to the escape of guilt. as even the evasion of the capital pu tishment could not secure impunity to the criminal ? Upon the whole he felt it to be his duty to oppose the motion, conceiving the law, as it stood, to be neces sary for the protection of an Englishman's house, which was provtrbially his castle (a cry of hear, hear, from some Gentlemen on the o(asosiiion aide.) Yes, said the Learned Gentleman, I would have an English man's habitation protected from being the refuge of a eriminall as well as from being the object of a crimi nal's attack (some cheers on Me Ministerial Benches.)— Alier s .me panegyric upon the general system of our petal laws. the Learned Gentleman concluded with dbs-rving upon the impropriety of abridging the dis (Tejon of the Judges, or introducing any innovation where no practical mischief was found to result from the existing - establishment. Mr. CANNING wished not to be misunderstood h the vote he meant to give upon this question. He would vote for the motion before the House, while he subscribed to much of the general reasoning ad duced by its opponents, and protested to the greetr part of that ascribed to the Learned Mover, upon his opening, which he did not happen to have heard.— The Right Hon. Gentleman exposed the fallacy of the argument used by his Learned Friend who spoke last, with regard to the operation ?f the fears of the punishment of death upon the mind of prosecutors and juries, compared to that upon the minds of offen ders ; for the distinction was clear between the feel ' jogs of a well-regulated mind, and those which must be supposed to belong to hardened sinners. The one night be very unwilling .to inflict that which the other might be comparatively indifferent about suf (trill. As to means which his Learned Friend descika as still in the power of prosecutors to pro tect offenders from capital punishinent, he confessed that he could not reconcile the use of these means, with the conception which he had of the obligation to which prosecutors, as all other witnesses, were sub ject to tell " the whole truth." But lie did not wish to leave the life of man to such discretions, or to sub ject offences to a greater degree of punishment than they deserved, which was fairly the case before the Bmse. He begged to protest against the charge of innovation as applied to this ease. For himself he tboug!it he might say, that no such imputation mild apply to him. But, in fact, k could not at all apply to the motion. It might as well be said, that the Act this motion proposed to repeal, was upon its original enactment an innovation. Probably it was then a great innovation, which a change of circum stances had now rendered it quite unnecessary any longer to continnz. He could not, therefore, allow such a cry to influence his judgment. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER did not agr. , e in the justness of the criticism passed upon the speech of his Learned Friend (the Solicitor General), by his Right Honourable Friend who spoke last, in the proposition put by the last Speaker. He argued from the case of the hardened offender against the scruples of an humane juror ; but it was not the hardened offender they wanted to deter, but those who had not, perhaps, been actually guilty of any offence. He denied that the opinions of legal men were poised upon the practical good consequences of .the law as it now stood. He rather thought that the authority of legal men were at one side, and that side tie law, as it was, and not as it would be, innovated upon. It had been said, that juries were deterred from bringing In verdicts of conviction ) but how many were deterred from the commission of the of fence ? Prosecutors who abandoned the capital part of any charge which they could substantiate, might be backward in promulgating such proofs of their own humanity. B u t w h at recor d s cou ld t h ey ex p ec t to have of the numbers who bad been deterred from the commission of crime by the dread of death ? these Persons were not likely to confess that they would have been dishonest but for the law. The proposed change was founded upon theory, which, however plausible, ought not to be allowed to bear down the opposing testimony of long established practice. Sir SAMUEL ROMILLY replied. He contended that the grounds upon which the toroposed Bill rested Were not those of theory, but of practice. The ob jections that had been visited upon this Bill in conse quence of any opinions he might have offered upon Other • subjects, he thought it quite unnecessary to make any answer to, as he then rose to defend his bill. and not his errors i▪ n judgment (if they were rs), upon questions wholly unconnected with the Present question. He contended, that prosecutors Were deterred from prosecuting rather than run the rite' of devotin g to anignominious death some persons Who had been long in their service, and whose coun tenance had so often refle be the beams of their mas ters' benignity. This mig• ht an aggravated case • but why _should a case because it was aggravated, be thereforel... without remedy ? The severity of the law 412 de te rred Juries from a full discharge of their duty. About st year ari a laud wal convicted at the Old Bailey, of stealing a ilflo Bank note out of a dwelling house. The Jury brought in their verdict, that she Was guilty of stealing a thing out of a dwelling-house to the value of 395. Had the Jury in this case acted up tb the solemn appeal they had made tb Goa # and what had forced them into the commission of an of fence so awefiilly greater than that they were appointed to try I An Ho n . Friend of his had ridiculed the sition, that the certainty of the punishment was More efficacious in preventing crimes than their severity; but did that Gentleman forget thatthis maxim was tliemain principle of all the arguments of Dr. Paley ? It had been saki, that he had the authority of the Judges against hitii: The Judges generally had expressed no opinion upsin it; but their known practice in screen. ing, through Motives of humanity, the culprits befbre them from the capital part of such offences, was an evidence in favour of such as he now proposed. Sir Samuel Romilly then proceeded to shew the cruel operation of the law, from its uncertainty, on those Unhappy wretches wlib had buoyed thetriselves up With the hopes of pardimi With even the assurance of it, at the very moment that the Judge was exhor tins them to make the best use of their short time in pieparing themselves for that other world into which they were so speedily to pass. Was not this (he was sorry to use the Viords)—but was it not turning into a solerdn mockery that pious prayer with which the awful sentence of the law concluded ? The House then divided on the question that the Bill be engtossed.-Ayes 31—Noes 33—.-Maiprity Q. On our readmission, we found Sir SAMUEL Ro- MILLY deprecating the thinness of the House, and hoping that they would not, in the present state of the House, press the Consideration of the. second question. Mr. BRODGliAllio Mr. WILBERFORCE, and Mr. Gm try, supported this opinion. Mr. PERCEVAL and Mr. RYDER were for deciding upon the question then. Strange's were then excluded, but we understand no division took place.—Adjourned. 11 - 1 E EVENING STAR. LONDON. WEDNESDAY, MAY g. PRICE OF STOCKS THIS DAY AT ONt O'CLOCK. s ler C. Cons money, 70H—acc. Red. 691-4 per Cent. 1141-5 pa Cent. Navy 100 to 104 Paris Papers to the 24th have arrived, tut they ate so completely occupied with the discussions in the Hbuse of Commons respecting Sir FRANCIS BURDETT, and the documents recently laid before Parliament relative to the misunderstanding between Lord WEL. LINOTON and General CUESTAy that we have been able to find nothing in them worthy to be presented to our Readers.—We have, however, been enabled to pre sent in our front page, a few extracts from Dutch Papers to the 29th ult. received this morning Mr. DICKENSON, who accompanied Mr. MACKENZIE to Morlaix, is returned, and is most probably the bearer of some new proposition on the part of the French Government. He is to return to Morlaix in a few days, to rejoin Mr. MACKENZIE. The re:rort of their having proceeded to Paris, and been treated with marked distinction, is quite unfounded. A Gentleman who came over in one of the cartels mentioned in the STAR of yesterday, states, than an expectation of peace with this country was very ge nerally entertained throughout France; and that, in consequence, the situation of the British prisoners was greatly ameliorated. The women and children were furnished with every necessary, and treated with great kindness by the inhabitants of the different places through which they passed on their route to Morlaix. By diff!rent accounts from the Peninsula it appears that the French ) or rather the Foreigners in the French service, are deserting in more than usual numbers to the Spanish and •Portuguese armies.— They had been generally taught to believe, that Cadiz would have been surprised, and that the occu pation of that place. would close the arduous and in glorious war with Spain. In that hope they now find themselves completely disappointed, and the conse quence of that disappointment has been a general dissatisfaction in the French army ) heightened and exasperated by the manifold privations and hardships to which they are daily, and without hope of extrica tion, exposed. The French deserters, who have already come over in great numbers, declare that the desertion would be very general, for the reasons we have just stated, were it not for the apprehension that the, Spaniards would give them no quarter. From this apprehension they have, however, been relieved, by the most positive assurances from the Spanish Govern• ment, not only that their persons shall be inviolable, but that every attention will be paid to rendering their situation both comfortable and secure. In pur suance of that assurance, means have been employed to convey these encouraging pfospects to the French troops. Not only have they been assured of personal safety, but the additional and irresistible persuasion of money has been employed to second and encourage their acknowledged inclination. We have other proofs of the judgment and energy which now characterize the conduct of the Spanish Regency, and we will not fail to take an early opportunity of communicating them to the Publis.—ln the mean time we lay before our Readers the subjoined letter from an intelligent Officer serving with the army under Lord Wm.- LINGTON : " VIZEU, APRIL it. " We left Spain without regret, oa the 9th of De cember, and took up our cantonments in this part of Portugal, which we reached in the beginning of Ja nuary, and where we have remained ever since.— Ten battalions were left with General HILL, at Abrantus, w hich have since moved - to Portugal, and ,• t ' the iist if the artily acettiiies GUarcli Ceioriee, Ph he4, Francoso, and every town and village la this pait of the country. One gieat blessing has arisen from our removal fault Spain—sitkness has taked its leaie of us, and out hospitals, which at the tithe I last wrote, formed nearly a third of our whole army,- are wow reduced to a very Moderate kale, smallei even than under common ciictinistances in England: The banks of the Guadiana Ceitainly proied an un healthy situations but considering the fatigues and hardships we had Undergone, conitotly hutted, from the period we left Abrantes till the very end of Oc- I tober, badly fed, and often not at all, and Wee:slit marching—no situation could have been fciund which would not have kin thought unhealthy. The Mid of autumn and the latter part of a campaign haie in all armies the same effects ; and when the French bulletins tell us that the madness of our Government sent one army to perish in the marshes of Walcheren (a truth not to be questioned), they add also, and another in the sands of Estremadura l Our generous 'Countrymen, who have so iriolently and invidiously attacked the character of Lord Wituatiorow, will not fail to catch at this hint ; but if they wish to do any more than expose their own ignorance, they will inquire whether the principal part of the sickness was not the natural result of previous hardships ansl of the unfavourable season, and whether any human prudence could in a great degree have diminished it They will inquire too whether the French armies, (the experience and wisdom of whose Generals they never doubt) did not also lose a few men at that sea son—though no mad leader led them to the Gua diana; and should they find that they %gee eten more unhealthy than ours, and still are extremely sickly, they may perhaps begin to find out, that the more they talk of the Management of armies', the more only do they confound themselves in their owri stupidity 4 a Lord Vigra.murcs, in spite of all their attacks, is beloved by the army, and adcired by every one in this country ; and that battle, which we are told by. a great orator in the House of Commons, has rendered vic- tory and defeat synonimotis, has in this country raised the character of our arms, beyond what you would almost think possible, and convinced the Portuguese, and all the better informed Spaniards that an English. man can fight to the full as well on shore as at sea, a remark which not a few of the Spaniards, who were present in the engagement, made. 44 With respect to the Portuguese troops, all will agree in expressing their surprise at the improvement made in their appearance, between the time we left their country and our return to it. There are few battalions in this army, in point of outward show, su perior to them, and they are daily improving. How far they can be brought to fight, as they are naturally not over-tourageous, remains to be seen. A batta lion of them is added to two English ones in a great number of our brigades, and the rest are now moved to Castel Branco, &c. so that if the French advance. i we shall soon have an opportunity of trying. 46 o.lr news from Spain, such I mean as are made known in the army, are very few, and little to be de.' pended upon. The French, however, are certainly not in a very flourishing state. In the good will of the people they have not gained an inch, and their efforts, on our leaving'Spain, to over-run it at a dash, have rather weakened theta than otherwise. At tempting to reach Cadiz by surprise and terror, they have opened its gates to us, and have upset the uld Junta, whose treachery anti stupidity have done so much for them. 4 , We hear nothing of moving. Our out-posts used to have frequent skirmishes near St. Felice!, on the Agueda, in this neighbourhood, where the corps com manded by NEV I SOLTLT, KELLERMAN, and LABORDE, was stationed. Lately, from our having had six weeks incessant rain, they have been perfectly separated, and it is said the French have retired. , 4 This is the season of Lent, and the mummeries carried on are most amusing. It has been thought by some wise people that our difference of religion would be the greatest bane to us here, and that we should every day be more detested by this bigotted people. Now it has turned out quite the contrary—at first they were sadly afraid of us, and used to run from us as from mad dogs ; but latterly they have become quite, reconciled, and look at the ceremonies of our church, which by the way are not forced very intrusively ou their notice, with curiosity and even satisfaction, at finding something like Christianity among the Hea thens. They are uniformly kind to us, and like our soldiers, who, disgusted with the treatment they met with in Spain, are grateful for the difference, and be have remarkably well to them. d , We have a number of Spaniards attached to ow. Commissariat, with mules, &c.—they have assimilated themselves not a littk to us; for it is nothing uncom mon to see two or three of them speechless from drink, a thing never heard of in their own country. They are a very different race from the Portuguese—in ap. pearance wonderfully superior; and, if they had a leader, equal to any thing as soldiers. The very first glance tells you whether a peasant you meet is Spa ' nish or Portuguese, and most cordially do they hate each other." The Bachelors of Windsor are making great prepa- 1 rations for the celebration of her MAJESTY'S birth-day, on the 19th instant. Her MAJESTY having honoured them with her presence on the 25th October last, ss hen they succeeded in their claim to a piece of ground. THE ARMY. • 1 Yesterday the first division of Sir SAW= Maid surra's regiment; the 103 d, commanded by Colonel Hartout.i. Scorr, marched into Gosport for em barkation; the 2d division marchec in to-morrow; when Sir Samar. will see both of them. Wednesday the gallant 45th march into Portsmouth for embarkation, then the 31st and 35th, with part of the 25th.-Generals LIST= and FI TZRoY are er• pected at Portsmouth, to see and Like leave of their fine regiments, before these noble fellows go abroad on service. It is said that more Artillery, as well as some re. giments of Heairy Cavalry, will be sent out to Lord WELLINGTON'S army: General PORTER is very speedily to have a grand review of these corps, the West-York, Slimpshiro, and Sussex Militias. NAVAL INTELLIGENCE. PLYMOUTH, APRIL 30. Nved tiie IaTaLLIORMIT gun brig firm a ender Mel. coati frigate from a crease ; and the PReASART Sleep await from the westward. Came in the Nancy and Active from Macs NIL Sailed the POORNII frigate, of 36 guns ' foe Portirtiouth * =time, she will shortly sail, with three other trip es, foe . PORTSMOUTH, MAY I. Arrived his Majesty's ship LION, from the Downs...4ood by Majesty's ship PORT Maxott, with a convoy for Guernsey and Jersey.—Went out of harbour his Majesty's ships Comtattrolt, Mottwacu, and Patwaosa "rh HALLS is appointed eon* for the West ladies.—Wind E.S.E DEAL; MAY I. Arrived his Majesty's ships ST. Gamma and Minswiana, from Portsmooth.—Passed the back of the Goodwin Seeds hies Majesty's ship VICTORY, for Yermonth l —Carne down has the River his Majessy's ship Siam& and theft'Till East India ship with several other ostwardbound.—Wind N.E. SHEERNESS, MAY 1. Sailed his Majesty's ship GtocisrAwr, with the tower kin oottenburgb. When the next will sail, is not lined.—Wind Y. FROM LLOYD'S LIST. Olt/kVaStlli, Miss I.—Arrived the Union, Harvey. Mins Cs. did, and the Swift, Logan, front Rio Janeiro.—Sailed the ltiliat.a, Toussaint, for India ; the Transit, Vast, for St. Thomas's ; the Archduke Charles, Meer, for Lima ; and the Lord eochrwse, Bedford, for Cadiz. ABERDEEN, APRIL 24. The Danish ship Dorothea, of Amdahl, of *7 tons burden, with fir timber, from Arundahl to Wexford, was wrecked on the coast of Shetland on the 2d instant. The crew saved, as the whole of the cargo. On the Sth instant, the Danish ship Gratis, of Drahm, from thence to Cork, with fir tinilier, was wrecked on Shetland, and of nineteen persons of which the crew consisted, four only were saved. This was a ship of between seven and eight hundred tons. The greater part of the cargo *so saes d.— By letters from Shetland, of the 11th April, we are happy to 2 .d that the act:donts of the loss of the Experiment Oreeolani sbip, eit London, lately circulated. are not true. Letters from New York, of the 23d of March, state that Mr. MACOX B S Bill had made no farther p s; nor ways it suppoied that it would again be cons r e ed. It was etpeeted that the Non-importation Bill would not, on its expiration, be relived; whereby the inter course would be left open. Yesterday an American Gentleman of distinction reached town from Paris, which place he left s few • days ago. Previous to his departure, he had an in• terview with General ARMSTRONG. who informed him, he had obtained passports from the French Glvalas ment to enable him to 'return to America with his family, for which purpose he had purchased a seques tered American vessel, named the Sally, Soon, which was to take him on board at Havre, some time between that period and the first of June. He however, beggel it might be perfectly understood, that, although his diplomatic functions had termi stated, it was not to be considered as conclusive of a rupture between France and America, as he was to be succeeded in his official character by Mr.Bectwera LtvzsGsTasz, who might be speeeily expected. We regret to have it to state, that the Bill for proving the Criminal Laws, introduced into the House of Commons by Sir SAMUEL RoMILLY, was last night thrown out. The chagrin of the thinking part of the community will no doubt be increased when they hear that this most important question in political economy was discussed in a House which consisted of si:tyfour Members only ! We trust, however, that the distinguished L la! Character who has devoted so much of his valuable time and splen. did talents to the consideration of the subject, will not be disheartened by a casual defeat, nor abandln the cause of humanity and sound policy, when he has such a host of allies on his side, both in and out of Parliament! CRIPRIMGARDEN THEAYRR.•Lan night the Ca. medy of 411 in the Wm: was revived at this Theatre. —This is the most perfect Comedy that the late Mr. MURPHY ever produced, and is so pregnant with eviiiioque and incident, that it will be a constant source of entertainment to a British audience, provided the representatives of the characters are tolerably equal to the undertaking.—The part of Sir Joke Rados was performed by Mr. YOUNG, in a manner which proved that he understood his author, though we do not think that his physical capabilities were sulreci• ently versatile for the required transitions of passion s and demi-passion, which should necessarily occur in the part.—Mr. Qualm Kesesti sustained the part of Beverley with more correctness than we recollect him to have displayed in any former effort. Many of his scenes were adequately supported, and the in terview which he had with Laity Reriku, at the corn menceinent of the third act, was conducted with much art and delicacy ; in truth, with a few exceptions, was got up, in a way, that drew forth the app whole audience, but particularly from , it, who were best enabled to appreciate cellence. COIN MAREZT, MAaa;•LANt. Ma• rttainins supplies of Foreip Wheat ate trade at 'lid* Tarlatioss—Bark7. for second sale and rather lower—Mo• u'--• those dearer—Bsoas of both sons support plies of Oats are somewhat conederable, qualities are quoted rather ehesper—Flour 117 Wheat, 78s. 945. 1045. Means, Flee ditto, 110 s. 1141. Tkk ditto Rye, 48s. Us. Oats 211. Barley, 841.475. Od. Poland dlt Malt 68s. 78s. Potatoe ditto, Whits Peas (balms) 86s. 74a. Rape Seeds' Way ditto 425. 50s. TIM Floor Bk. Saii.raeooada ' 16 1 i 1. the whole Play a ip, and represented approbation of die rom that portion of eciAte histrionic ex- r 2.—Tbis day die rem caoskiwaila, sad do aad Mbar,. MN, ' adm WY* Pollll.llllll • du* prionam.Tia Immo - e, womild ardlory r at We pleas. . • (old) 608.666. itto (old) Ws. See. la. Ns. 117 a. I ditto, 461. Sta. a o ditto, 361 Od. iced, 411. 641. 1101.