The National Register. — London, England, 1822-10-20 00:00:00

'INISIMENTIL CIPITAi PI We know not when we have met with observa tion% which have pleased us so much as some on the subject of our sanguinary Criminal Code, which appeared in the last number of The Loadess Museum —they are as fullows:—. The will of society has set up and armed a remorseless power, which may be said to be drank with the blood of miserable tad mistakom erieriaals. That power is Law ; red-robed. Banged nary., fierce-eyed, unrelenting law. England cells herself a Cbrietiaa essuatry ; sad the first title of her King is Defender of the Faith.' Bat does the Christian faith then 'section those terrible decrees by which the penalty of blood is affixed to so many and so diferest offences, is which the degrees of evil to mankind are of each vatious proportions No; we boldly tine it does not : those delectable laws that take life fur light °Tenors are contrary to the mild spirit of Chriatiasity, and are an offence against its divine founder. It may perhaps be urged, that the power of life and death is delegated by the many to that law which is referred by some theorists to the voice of the mass of society. Bet we would ask if society—that is, any number, definite or indefinite, (it matters not which) of indiei dasle -OM delegate tbatjwhich not one of them possessed—the right to take his own life !—Bither our laws are murderers, or that sentence is an absurdity which pronoeuees the man who pats an end to his own life. Fere de a. The time will come, we are perseaded, though long years mast first elapse, when the opinions *Meditated en this subject by the friends will prevail over the ferocious spirit breathed at present by oar criminal code, so diurseatat to a civilised nation, the enactments of which are so monstrous, that we may even be justified in averring that the Judges cannot fulfil them to the letter : So much indeed does human nature revolt from their horrible Weeny, that we daily see oompassiesate juries tampering with their oath, if not s,i solotely committing perjury, is order le save the miserable creatures whom a few shillings more in the value of a stolen iseamodity gives over to lie executioeer CHAILICTRRISTIC TRAITS. Half a dozen anecdotes will often give • truer idea of a nation than a whole history—the following may be taken as a proof of the boorish brutality of the Russians in the present century and in the Bret circles:— " A court banker, M. llegovikeffi, since dead, really a well bred, sensible, polite man, was dieing with Dr. R. at Peters • bargh ; dad after dieser, the Doctor having recently received from England an improved solar microscope, proposed to MON his guests with it. As usual, piths of p 'Mamie*, of lies and other insects were resorted to; till at last it was suggested by one of the party that some living subject should be procured. Be not shocked, gentle delicate reader, when I tell you that a house was meetioned. The difficulty was where to procure one; bat the Russian servants being observed to scrateb their heads occasieually, it was presumediressibia that a visit to their isbe or dwelling-place might procure the wished-for treasure. On this the court banker, with great amererte, sad kith suspecting that his good breeding would be called in question. cried, • Doctor, yoe need out give yourself sack unnecessary trouble,' and at the same time potting his lager and halal, very seism- Civilly to the back of his head, immediately produced use, the least sad fattest of its kind." CRUTBRIBURY, Oct. 17.—Sr. ETHIMBISRVB TOWIR. I esterday morning the inhaiaitatita of St. Paul's. Long port. and Lady Woottou's Green, were thrown into consternation by a tremendous anise, nearly resembling the roar of cannon, and supposed by some to be an earthquake; most of them eagerly left their beds to as certain the cause of alarm, which they soon discovered to be the sudden demolition of that fine monument of ancient architecture called St. Eliselben's 'tower, the most conspicuous ornament of those sublime ruins, St. Augustine's Monastery. The south and west fronts, corroded by the hand of time, and probably materially injured by the late winds and rain, fell with a tremen. duos crash, overwhelming every thing that lay in its way. It is calculated that not less than 1,000 loads of materials have fallen in the Fives Court, the garden be. longing to Mrs. Hills, and in the meadow belonging to the Kent and Canterbury Hospital, the inmates of which were extremely terrified. The remaining side is so much shaken, that it must be removed. Thus suddenly is de stroyed one of the finest specimens of the monastic age. Xhelbert's Tower was n ame d i n ho n o u r of King Ethel. n, a Kentish monarch, who reigned over this country from 860 to gfiti, during which period St. Augustirte, monk of the Roman Church, came over as a missionary, and obtained favour with the monarch, who embraced the Christian faith, and bestowed upon the fraternity the site of the monastery, with unity itnportant appen dages. The tower was built about the year 1047, and the then Archbishop (Eidisots) contributed, with many others, to its erection. Hafted, in his hivory of CAI. terbury, lays—" 4Vheit we enter the site of the monas tery, the first object is Ethelben's Tower, whose beauty, though much defaced, especially by sacrilegious hands of late years. will witness to rucceeding ages the mag nificence of the whole, when all stood complete in their glory together.' Ethelberis 'lower, the original form of which was a square, composed of flint and stone; there were the remains of a stone staircase, leading to the top; it is supposed to have beets used at a (Nifty.— The side walls were formed of arches of most exerstsite workmanship, exhibiting she xe.l and liberality of the professors of religion at the period of its erection. The aptj 'Ming chapel or chancel has long been used as a fees' court, in which, and the adjacent bowling-green. the citizens resort to spend their summer evenings. One day last week, as two old women were collecting fuel Olt Jet ingion-hill. Sussex, they observed at no great distance from them a bird of uncommon size, endeavour ing to make its escape by Right, which front some appa rent hurt that it had received, it was unable. to effect, and Use w sssss en its cousequence speedily overtook their game, wheat a desperate conflict ensued, and it was not smill it hail been killed by the prongs with winch they were armed that the object or their pursuit could he secured. It proved to Ise site Prlicalass basinia of Lin. tiaras, Gamier, or Sulam Goose, a bird rarely met with !J I M: our coast : 01111 species 111, however, very common in the Hebrides, and other solitary rocky isles of North &tutu. THE NATIONAL REGISTiii smut Ar rms C4PX OF GOOD mops. Cara Town, JOLT 27.-Afia our pidiful task to record the most violent gale of ,wind this colony ever experienced, the effects of which have been most fatal to the shipping in Table Bay. It had been ante. cedently remarked, that the north-west gales, al though very severe, and bringing into the bay a tre mendous and dangerous swell, yet, that they lost much of their terror, from the shortness of their du ration ; this remark has not proved just in the pre sent unfortunate instance. Oa Thursday, the lath. it was new moon ; the weather changed suddenly with it ; it had been remarkably fine for several days, but Friday morning was ushered in with clouds and rain, and with every appearance of a gale coming on ; the weather, however, continued in the same state the whole of the day ; the follow ing day, (Saturday,) the gale was severe ; in the afternoon, the ship Royal George, Captain Bowditch, last from Van Dieman's Land, went on shore close to the jetty ; at night, the brig Adriatic, Captain Rutter, shared the same fate, as did the coasting schooner Gad Intent. The barometer was as low as 29. 50. at two o'clock on Sunday morning ; the, violence of the wind was then excessive ; and at day-light on Monday morning. the four following brigs were lying on the beach between Craig's I Tower and the Castle, viz :—Olive Branch, Capt. Kind • Sum, Capt. Murray; Lavina, Capt. Keith , and Lander, Capt. Middleton. Most fortunately not many lives were lost; but we have to lament Captain Middleton of the Leander, who was drowned by the upsetting of the boat, in. which he bad left the wrecked brig. William Brown, seaman, of the Leander, met a like fate, as did James Graham, seaman, of the brig Adriatic. The ship John Palmer drove very close to the shore, but fortunately brought up, and is at present safe : the following brigs rode the whole of Monday at single anchor, although the weather was scarcely more moderate, via. Bronglsam, Marianne, Nelson, and arm. The Wigs Arethasa, Travis, and Antelope kept their ground. The gale abated somewhat on Tuesday. but it blew again with astonishing violence in the night between Tuesday and Wednesday, when rain fell in torrents. As much damage has been done on shore as in the bay; many stores in Cape Twin have fallen in, numbers of houses are seriously injured, and in the vicinity of town the injury individuals have sus tained is to a very great extent: the number of houses and stores seriously damned amount to 69. From Wynberg to Cape Town. third are *tamely any premises which have not aufferni, and eon* most seriously. DREADFUL CALL MAROATI, (NIT* 14...Betlikele One and two o'clock this morning, a remarks* Wadden gale of wind came on from the north-cost, which in a few minutes increased to a perfect hurricane, sad conti nued unabated till daylight. The mat alarming apprehensions were entertained, which were, as the day approached, unhappily verified. The first ob ject of distress that presented itself was a vessel on shore upon the Nayland Rock : the Crew were for tunately saved, but the tide &en at she time she drifted higher and higher, and now lies claw, under the cliff near the Sea Bathing Infirmary. with some scores of persons with carts and horses removing the cargo; her name is the Good Meld, regular trader between Cowes and London. Would to God, for the sake of humanity, that this disas trous storm had been coiAned to the loss of property only; but a brig that was seen at anchor in the evening, about a mile from the Long Nose, or Fairnesi Dock, was, alas ! seen for the last time.— The morning presented nothing but pieces of wreck floating ashore, seamen's chests, spars, deck planks, &c. She must, as the wind blew directly upon the rock, have gone to pieces in the night, and every soul on board have perished. The officer on the preventive service with great promptitude seised the chests; and with equal feeling, declined open ing them to the present The name of the vessel is pretty well known ; but as some doubts may exist, it would be cruelty to the relatives of the ship's company to mention it, before all doubt is removed. Nor does this end the catalogue—for the topmasts and yards are distinctly seen dotting, with other parcels of wreck, of another ship, about half roads across. She must have foundered at her an chorage; particulars of course unknown. At five o'clock, p. m. a fine 22-inch cable is just going of to the Honourable Company's ship Vansileart, Capt. Dalrymple, which has rode out the gale in fine style. An event of i moat diatresaing nature occurred on Friday last, at Marquise, in the aeighboorbood or Calais • d Usher, Esq. of Enaisaorthy, Ire lead, and formerly for many years of the 89d regiment, a young mar of remark ably 6ite parsed and amiable manners, while out in quest of pupa, in pas f ies through a ►edge, received the contents of his ow. vie is the right side; the ►hot pluisod,througli his lenge, sad he expired in about three miaow*. 'fhicviat has excited an universal seasatioe in the place where it ooearred. where Mr. Usher was generally knew') and beloved. Ut IrESTM I SSTER SESSIONS. TMORSOAT,OCr. 17.--Thieday these sesainna . eont• minced before F. Como, Esq. Chairman. and a bench of M taistrates. About It o'clock, Waddington, the radical, appeared on the floor, and addressing the Chairman. said he ha 4 a matter to submit to the Coon, that highly concerned the administration of justice and the liberty of the sub. ject. He proceeded to observe. that it was within the Knowledge of the Court, that he had been indicted— that he had given bail to appear to take his trial—that he had appeared, and beets tried and acquitted ; yet. notwithstanding his having so fully complied with what the law required—notwithstanding his having beer. pro nounced by a jury of his country an innocent man ' a letter had been lately written by Mr. Allen the clerk of the peace, to each of his bail, vatting that hio recogni zance ha d been forfeited by his non-appearance. and would be immediately returned into Eaclieqtter to be entreated. This proceeding, he understood, intik place in consequence of his refusal to pay a lee to Mr. Allen. If Mr. Allen would show him any law by which, alter' having appeared according to the terms of his recogni zance. and taken his trial. and been acquitted, his hail should be called on to pay recognizatices which had not been forfeited. because he did not pay a fee, to an officer. be would, if necessary, sell his bed to save his bail; but it there were no such law, ht hoped the Court would protect him from such an imposition. The Chairman having heard the complaint with great attention, said, that by giving bail and appearing to sake his trial, and having been acquitted, he had satisfie.f every detbanti of that Court, and t.o process out of that Court should or could to c n account of the recognizances he had entered into; but a might perhaps be serviceable to him to inform him, that it was the duty of the Clerk of the Peace to return all recognixances that were not withdrawn to the Eacheytee; and that on the with. drawing of recognizance, he (the Clerk of the Peace) was entitled to a fee. Mr. Waddington had the means of aicertaining what that fee was, as it was stated in a table of fees which he co►►ld inspect; but if he did not choose to pay the fee, the °Seer would probably return the recognisance into the Exchequer. where. !a‘ prevent their being retreated, he would probably have 'mull fees to pay, and veopld incur a. c►nsiderab et. pense. It was a matter, the learned Chairman added. over which that Court had no control. Waddington thanked the Court fur the informatoon; admi. but said hetnust consider it a great defect in the aan.— nistration of the law. end a great violation of the li berty of the subject, if after au acquittal by his country,. an innocent man was to be left at the mercy of an °Blew. Waddington was proceeding with his speech. when a learned gentleman, before whom he was footling. observed that he was taking a greater liberty with its, Court than any gentleman at the bar would do, oaths" , never replied on the Court. Waddington quickly replied, the reason of that was -plain enough. " You" addressing' the. bar, " do no. thing but what you are paid for, and when ytolihink you hare done euough for your fee. ?Oil are Teri well content to do no more ; butt have my own interest 04 the interest of my country to attend to." Waddington then expressed a wish to the Court that the rt•vrnoCitia recognizance might be delayed to afford hios -an upper. tunity of petitioning Parliament on a satire of eo . ostaels public interest • he had reason 13 believe that Mr. G. Bennet was r eady to present such a petitiou. to support it in the House of Commons. FRIDAY, Ocr. 17.--George Yelli :was convicted 'of an assault upon a boy about Bor 9 years old. The pri soner had been a private in the 3d Gouda. from which he was discharged, after he was in custody for this offence, receiving, however. • good character fur the tins he had served in the regiment. The Conn, therefore, only sentenced him to four months solitary confinement. Joseph Deane was indicted for an assau't upon Elie. Hammond, a child under the age of nine years., with intent to commit a more serious offence, The child stated, that the prisoner lodged in the sante house with her norther, and on the re gof Thursday. the'llbb rust. between 7 and a o'clock. aa hen they were alone . in the kitchen, the prisoner placed her on the table, •god with his hand took an indecent liherty with her. She. however, kicked him once or twice, upon which lie kit .her and went to bed ; and did not repeat the offence.— Upon the suirges of one of the magistrates. the Chairman asked the witness if she had not before stated that the prisoner had taken freedoms with her twice P She replied that hr had not. Upon being remit deri by the Court of her having said that the prisoner sent her out fur porter (having first stated that she was not sent out of the house that evening), she said that he did send her for a pint of porter, and it was afterwards he did as she described. A surgeon who examined the child. swore that she had the appearance of having received violence.. het . he could not positively say that it might not be the ellett disease. The prisoner in his defence denied the charge alto gether. and called a witness, who swore that 'hst was with I elsewhere un the evening in question. until past nine o'clock. use learned Chairman. in his charge to the Jury, ems• tioned them against suffering their horror of the nature of this offence to prejudice their tnittds against the pri. soner ; and to ponder well before they convicted hiut upon such unsatisfactory evidence. The Jury. after about ten iii itt utes deliberatinn, found the prisoner guilty I and the Court sentenced Malin be imprisoned for tour intimhs, and be kept in solitary ems. hutment for the first mon.h. ThOMal Bates, a luau ul decent appearance. between 50 and 60 years of age, a grandfather, was found guilty of hiving c • itrd Jets 01 toe most shocking indecency towards three female ciuldrett at dterreut ittecii since the tit of !day. 1821. ~ 4 • - _ _~ V, • U li..M•