The National Register. — London, England, 1818-02-22 00:00:00

I TED. 21 of IL Dtl. lie for the purpose of having the matter considered.' Hejrad thought it Isis duty ti the qutAlionakfure tfie and it had struck him that the way in Ono be had done it wits; the best in which it could be discussed. • -ed Mr. Bnounts 1M agreed entirely with his lion. Friend. He was extremely glad to find that there was no objection made to him, but with regard to the proper mode of pile-ceding.— Ile could not help urging on hi: Hon. Friend the necessity of immediately withdrawing his motion, and following that up with at motion for inquiry. Mr. W. Small agreed entirely with the motion of the Hon. Gentleman. He had a letter indeed o Well convinced him that some alteration in the administration of justice was ab solntely necessary in the not that' England. Sir M. W. RIDLEY said that the people of the northern counties would thank those who had endeavoured to bring :di- out the alteration for theirexertioo,, and lie trusted that they 'would finally have their effect. Mr. W. WYNN o b jected to the motion, so short a period before the Spring Assizes, on which account many would not be aware of it, whom it no doubt interested to be infortued of such apm acceding. The Motion was then withdrawn. Sir F. Ruarover presenter' a Petition front a person called James Leach ; and another from Rochdale in the comity or Lancaster. The Petition stated, that James Leaelt had been apprehended, and carried from the place a !erre lie resided to various parts of the reentry: that when he had complained of his treatment, the person to whom lie spoke had "d--d his prond limbs," and told him if he would not bear what he had, lie should have an iron collet rotted his neck. The petition, after stating various hat dships which ae atiasaid, to have been endured by the petitioner:, couclutied t ary,prayltug for redress of their gr i eva n ces . Read and laid on the table. ittsonntrew had to beg the attention of the House to a ,ppttaioa from Itenfamin Scholes, of Wakefield, in Yorkshire. He was a victualler and ale-house-keeper, by which business Hear* stated he had supported himself and his family with -.castanet. In the month of July, however, hr had been al_ prehended by a warraut from Lord Sidonotith, thrown into aaritiost; aqd netwithataittling the prison of Wakefield was well .seeetrad and . %sell aegulated, he had been conveyed to the -,easlle of psiahridge. There he had been detained till Jan. ill watch month he had been set at liberty without anymore 'cense tar his liberation than had been stated fur his detention. Tha.gentiou was then brought up, read, laid on the table, and oadlseed ;is Ise printed. PERSONS CONFINED ON SUSPICION OF TREASON. Lased Fofiasaotes' moved that the petitions of Francis Joseph Mitchell, Thomas Evans, gen. and the several other persona who bad been imprisoned tinder the act be' it - tit/ending the H %bras Corpus act, and who had petitioned the House to investigate the treatment which they hail reeciv. ea, should be entered and read. Enus being dotie, the Noble Lout( toceetletlaW.hen the -House considered all the eiream - Etanees detailed in those petitions, he was persuaded shat they would think, it their duty to pause, before they were I financed to entertain. as a matter of com se, a bill °tandem nity. They scented to think that it was really due to the ali• natters alike Crown, as the Noble Lord had stated, without aurprevions investigation ; but it he knew any thing of the principles of our coustiention, he would be bold to say, that it was the duty of the House on this occasion not to take care so meat of the Ministers of the Gruver as of the liberties of the people. When ministers thought proper to apply to the le gislature for a bill to suspend the Habeas Corpus, they assert ed that sedition and treason prevailed in seseral counties, and that the ordivary powers of the law were not sufficient to repiess them. But what had been the result ? The only in stante a inch we kuow of an) outrage iat e lng arisen taunt the eellapirit *bleb was said to prevail, was that which occurred lieTlerh3•slfita l which was fuliowed by a trial for high treason, And farce iedivitheris sutleted the punishment of the lass. It was evidefia, tlttfefuie, t h at the dangers of the cment) , had aaeit xagatrated !Savona their proper dimensions , aim that • IS - they might-have seen removed, •had goverument taken a die *teat ctsurseleura that which they had pursued. With res. pest to .the meatier in which Ministers had exercised the pewees Oven th em try the act for the snspeifding of the Ha. hear Cotpds,the w&. - fataaof asking for a bill of 'indemnify was at etral4satett Mid tleela Odd filmset' the laws. It Wag ad.; hated en 01 labels, 'that ate saaaeniimaor the - Habeas Corpus Act gave no new powers of deteiciag or diamissing persons. (Hear, Ltate,aaram Sit S. Ittnullly.) As %king up persona in a tlifferataafortia and 'executing Svaatints in a different Maitheiafratit ilre 'ordinary * cote se of pradeediaig, 'they 'MOH tra,k fur 'Ain't() the anapension Yet for any sort of satisfaction. I trilial been told that Francis Ward, whose petition he had nettle the grown' of . 'elation, was a bad eltaraeter, and taerefore . naivorihy otlio attention of the House: but he eaonM ask no what craned the eltarge wets ads armed ? Had beaten* tiny thing wlillat aid been - proved against him—had Lc been ronvieted•Uf airy offence? tin tic old maxim of the tree wheat - he was sonar to see discountenance.' by sonic members of the - Honor, earl-Yemen ottabt to he ;'u aimdo t hull watt found to be ; anti this person ought therefore to be eutisidered as hottest and et edible tittle was, convicted of halttg the contrary. Whether he was it good or a• bad matt, his case 'otighato be inquired alto, and he ought to be placed our anaatpral footing with any other subject till Ohs guilt %wipeout. 'ills had receised a itstimonial of Ward': char aster, which be 'wank' read to the House V it was neces sarr ; but he ditratit ground his amnion .on the petitioner's character, but ml theatireach of the law which had lteen made in parson. lie should therefore comae& by morale," that a committee. 2be"ilfbi)Oilitell to 111(1161'e into de: tenth of the all. gef his thapentive of ramie's Ward, and eepurt thereon to the House." ' • Lord a:bauxite:act/ had imileratoed tic Noltie Lord lot nieray to allude to the tatse of Francis Ward, anti to move for a specific intiairyanto the allegations of leis Petition. lit: had, however, unfitly departed from that declared intention, and introduced into his /Teach the discussion of more com prehensive topies,comietted with the general measure of the snspenailat Art, and the cases of all those who had been ita pawned mete' the ;misers which it conferred. Hut though the Noble Lord (Lord Pinkstone) had altered his cmarstr, lie (Lout Castlereaglu) would not all his. lie would partienlarly advert to the case of Ward, which the Noble I. i.I therm ill the bat:a ground, and for inquiring aim %Ouch, ii...i the Neal e Lied confined lambed!' to it, he withal nit have' oirjerted to otataittee. lit cleated that his Naha! Friend the secretary are the Houle Department had been guilt) either of t ruelty or injustice ; he denied that he had ;teen his %%arrant fur com uatment withaut the a rid: nee at eredihle w itile%M.P, taken on oath (Ileac, lie.ar), Ipadettled that he had committed one ie. that'll:al on the testimony of the person (Other) so much el le/lea to b e }' the other stile of the House; lie :reeled that Za stitee'e urruat took place without out only having the deposi tame of credible wtthesses, but the authority of the Lew (A- THENATIONAL REGISTER. cers of the Crown.—(Hear hear.) It was altogether a false view of the Bill for the protection of the :11inkters of the rwn it was for the protection of individuals who had come ward to give information of the utmost importance to the security of the country but which could not be elicited otherwise titan by thefprospeet of :tacit protection as the inea sme alluded to held out, With respect to the Imidships of which tho-e Petitions complain, .much delusion had been practi.eil, r, hieb had been the CIIIISC of much intimation with- • out, and ini.tepre,entat ion within that House. Some of those Petitions were found even not to have been signed by those whose names ogre subscribed to them. The statements of nfr. Wird were a pregnant instance of misre presentation. The manner in which he stated his original imprison- nient was quite incorrect. The first arrest of Mr. Ward was by the I Magistrates of Nottingliasmupon suspicion of being concerned in those horrible acts which disgraced that part of the country. When lie was within a few days of being dismissed from confinement upon this charge, he was committed afresh upon a warrant from the Secretary of State upon charges of a treastatable nature. The complaint of being confined with common felons was applicable to the first period of imprisonment when lw was confined as a felon. With respect to to the place of his confinement. it appeared from the affidavit of the gaoler (which his Lordship read) that the walls were perfectly dry and free from damp , that there was no offensive smell but what arose from fumigation, that he never made any complaint to the gaoler, nor was he ever loaded with iron. or fetters.—When afterwards m• moved to the gaol of Oxfoni, it could be proved that his complaints were equally ill-founded, and that when he wished for any change it was attended to as soon as selieited. for which he himself expressed his giatittade. This man affected the character of an extremely moral and reh e eions person, and complained much that he had net the privilege a attending public worshM. He had Swim confined there from the 21:4 day of June. and from that day to the Ist of August, he never once expressed a wish to that purpose; and the first notice they had of such a wish was by a letter to his wife.— This letter, whit+ the garter ne..er saw, was noticed by the Secre tary of State. Inquiry was imrsecliately made why the prisoner was not allowed to attend public worship. The gaoler wrote in re ply, that there were no ekeetions whatever made, had he expressed any wish to that purpose, and that he could sit in his own s.at on Wednesday and Friday mornings and Sunday afternoon.— With regard to env oilier complaints, he never made any remon stranesw to the officers of the gaol; an 4 it appeared that another prisoner (Haynes) who had beeteereate4 as the same way, expressed his gratitude for the kindnes4se had,experienced. When lie com plained of solitary continesor t, he was allowed to join another prisoner, and they were sentined the use of a yard. It likewise appeared,that his confinetent was not attended with anyprejudiee to his health, hut that he had left the gaol as wen as he came to it When afterwards, the gaol berme crowded by the number of other prisoners, lord Sidmouth ordered that he should be retooled. It was excessively painful to allude 10 the moral character of an individual, but it sr necessary to prevent the hote:e from being carried okay by their fc togs . He must protest against the attempt to mislead the House export,- statements. The House, he trusted, would not suffer ir feelings to he trifled with, nor cull in question the conduct of Ministers in the exercise of an arduous duty, ott such ground, as the Petition on the table contained. As to the of the petitioner, lie Uvula prove them to be very diffirent from what the Petition might lead Gentlemen to expect. He must however, ietiaiu trout enterine into all the evidence he could produce m the subject, for the same rea-ons for which lie could not bring forward the evidence against those committed under the suspension :wt. 'I he danger of disclosure to those who pee evidence was the cause of concealment. But he could, notwithstanding, satisfy the House as to the petitioner's moral character. Front the tennis of his Petition, lie night be supposed to be more than ordinary religious; when complaining of the officers, he says,—" Having always conformed to the laws of no less a personage than Jesus Christ, ' Do unto others as you would have others do tmto you,' I believedll had nothing to fear." Then. to give an idea of his distress, he says :-.." Fi gure to . your imagination. a man who had a severe part allotted to him in life, who bad worked hard for 12, 14, and ler hours a day mid often longer, and on whom a numerous family de-' pentied for sitstenance, soddenly dragged from his home and lahmir, to he' ininiorreelelti a dungeon. .tiltl to this, " lie proceeds," that I am possessed of all the - liner feelings that can. adorn human mature (a general litingitrand That those feelings were put on a ruck," &e. Now, in complete contra. diction to all this, he was prepared to show that this petition er hail been engaged in the most' atrotiens critnes.—(Hear, hear.) In 11416, two persons were convicted and eat:calm' at Leicester and Nottingham, who made a full confession of their.crimes a shoat time isreViens to their excention. Their coute.sions were taken by the Magistrate, and forwarded by Mr. Mandy to his Majesty's Ministers: The confessions lie would now read, suppressing all the entities alluded to iii them, except the name of Francis Ward. The first was +he con fession of Josiah Mitthell, who was executed at Lricrstcr tOr a felony committed at Loughborough. In this confession lie stated : .--" 13. shot A.--C. It. told inc that Frasseis Ward had mentioned 11. e thing to him on Saturday evening, and said there would be a diet of money in it, the werknien hail on recd to gist one Mandrel pounds for the inachinei e. Seve ral of us met at the Navigation Inn, and fornied mar plans.- - I received films 3 to 11. front Wand for acts I performed. Ward gave me 101. for the part I took in dean ciyiiig the wot ksat Woodpeck-lane, ill Notfineliani. Francis Wind was the treasurer. Yard Achim:ea also to the Looghhormigh I Committee. M and employed me to shoot a alatT 'Alta had ce nsor al to turn ont,;nid offered 11. as 111% , reword." The Noble Lord requested that the House would not r 'fishier this as incredible ; assassination was a crime bargained for, and set at a regular price, like a piece of stockings or any other work. More than one jury had convicted on evidence seine!' showed that 41. was Ike price for shooting a Man. The Con fession went on. " 41 and offered lo!. for shooting some of Kendal's men. Ile odium(' put, f,,r shooting another master manufacturer ; and A. for slnwitine ooe of kis men for work. Mg. He off ci eil a la rue 16111 too 111111 . tit . 1 ilg the judge at the last assize. We met at d0...1011y renecleis, and wbed none agreed to do this, Francis %I aril took out a gulden g ' go anc said lie was (tete-maim it it must be dune." The second confession was ,host of Thomas Savage, w h o woe execu t e ,' a f ew weeks R ace Mites,-;1. It eon obated the foi mer confes sion. 'I he Noble Letd frosted the Ilona' , would now see till , CUIII'AC of prUCeCtling thee were called upon to adopt ; he trusted they niust now he aware of the true charamerni this Petition. 1% nether this Mail could be pot 1111011 his trial for the foul crimes with which be war charged, it war not for him to say, that lie had Ms ii committed .10 the evidence of Iwo credible witnesses, and that he waseharged with having. heels engaged in those dreadfill and infernal actions, by the con fession of two of his associates, given in the Most 11‘114514. IlatifiltallS,Ap the last n umea t s o f la se He could assure the Gentleinen opi ' nisite, that there were eiretinefiances which. li would appal tcir convictions as to the prori ediugs of -Mi. nisters.as much as in this case. In this ease Were was netbiug ie l usting to n mut al consietion but the judgment of a jury ; tint witn e nt that, evety mural Millet must be sai,..ti e d a, I. the Petitionet's character. Be hoped be had Sala eanagil to . preveut the feelines of hue 'House from being Iron rsiormy wit lm. if then the Motion was out rat.ouril in tiniaListe of My. al ;lid, he would contend that it was nut rusionst ie day other east. .C.t: house would nut, gut clot tr, on rouse e:.. matte state .. . meets, think it necesvai y to institute a Connuittee of enquiry into the allegations of those whose crimes threatens(' the country. This he trusted, not from distrust of the prinei. pies on vvhich Ilinistersacted. lint in justice to those whose %%hose wane gitakpanthrheatul to keep secret : the the came. quence of i h an eiiiiniry would be. either that Minist ers niustAti tto :111 the charges brought against thew, or ab ilo andon o , e %s had given evidence, on the frith of coo t,: cealmente.to the vindictive attacks of those whom they bud detected: • _ __ _ Nir. Jogs Smtist of Notlinzhani, confirmed the slatemt nt of the Noble Lord, as it respected the lam) of Ward's dia meter. Mr. Goutrassa exculpated the gan!er of Heading from the charge; of cruelty which had been made against him in the cases of Sellers, Holton, and Knight. Mr. Goamix, ou information which he had received, con tradicted the whole of the statements which had bran made Ly Rap+ley, one of the prisoners, confined in Gioce.ter Gaol. Sir F. Bunnv.rr alluded to the ease of Aris, of Cold Balk fields Prition,who had so often been represented ass humane man! atid warned the House against believing in do stale meets which were made of the humanity of gaolers. He con t en d e d that investigation was rocest,try as well in justice to the Petitioner, as to the persons to whom cruelty was imputed. In the course of his speech, the Honourable Baronet repeated the story alimit Aris killing .1 Robin, which visited a prisoner's cell, which he has so often intro. dneed into his speeches on this subject. Mr.W11.111:11FOUES: requested the flan. Baronet would state his authority for the story. Six F. lit Knave said that 4r. Wilberforce Bird, chairman to the Committer siren the House of Correction, bad relatutl the story of the Robin and Mr. Aris to the House. Mr. WitaFtlFOlit ;asked if Mr. Bird had spoken from his own knowledge : but no answer was given. Sir S. ROM ILLY observed that these were 11 Petitions ft ont diti s trent persons in different parts of the kingdom. and it was not because two or three of these contained False charges, that all jhe rest was to be discredited. Mr. Hoists SCNINER thought the House hail reason to COlll. plain of the utode adopted by the Noble Mover.—(a laugh. —As far us regarded hintsilf, he was able to gleesome infor mation of one use; that of Ogden was falsehood from the beginning to the end of his Petition. As to has disease, it hail 4(11 ascertained that he had die disease upon Imo when lie fiat entered the prison. Ogden had es en said that lie thought it a blessing that lie bad conic to that prison, for lie could never have been cured elsewhere. He had also pressed the utmost gtatitude to the gaoler fur his kind treat ( went. The ATTORN EY-GENERAL said, no gaolcr could he justified or indemnified by the BiU of Indemnity. but would be liable for any excess of the powers entrusted to him, and be sub ject to a civil action. _ _ _ LAMIIE said, the principal Allegations in the Petition were for illegal Arre;ts and unjust iletentioa,aud it would not be proper to investigate such charges in an open Com mittee, and therefore he could tot vote ful the motion of the Noble lord. Lord FotKSTUSE replied ; after which the House divided, when there Appealed—lor the motion liti--Agaiust it Itl —Majority 101 i. Adjourned at Half past Twelve o'Clock. M EON ES D &T. CITY BUSINESS. Mr. Alderman Wenn rose s to move for tke appointment of a e ttttt unites. to inquire into, and to report their evidence, ob sewations, and opinion as to the state of prisons in Londun acd.tiouthwork. The Hon. Mir. BEN NET thought that there was muck defect is Newgate from the want of room, and that the way in whitir prisoners were confined was a source of crime. He had ob served instances of a want of proper accommodation. He saw a child destitute of any convenient and fit clothing, wt.° must have beau seen by the Sheriffs and visiting Magistrates, but had sot been properly provided for. .l Oh respect ter provisiuns ' it was probable that the supply of food had beim scanty. Some who were not supplied by their own retails efk eLe placed in neatly a starving situation. It was but quite rteuutly that tl.e system concerning baking had been changed; • and be believed it had at isen from proceedingsan that house. lit hoped that Newgatc and the New Prison would be ex amined into properly anti attended tn, and that they would be made schools of reform, and ant of vice. Sir W. Ctrris believed that much of what bad been sa n d was an exaggeration. some things might be tine ; but not so in the manner itt which they were put. Prisoner, were allnQwd dlb. of meat per week, and sib. of bread at Nevrgate. The bread appeared to be 25 good as any gentleman might find at home. In the New Gaol some interference had been relnired front the breaking of windows. As to the regulation of prisons, it might be observed, that they were not places to be furnished with Turku carpets : they were places of pu nishment. Mr. WARR'S node some observations respecting the state of the Borough , Conquer. He adverted then to the case of (filmier, we believe,) on whose burly all inquest sat some iittle time hack in Westmiaster. But he under:loud that more space was now afforded in Tuthill- fields prison than 'ri l e Motion of Mr. Alderman At . CO I), for *tarsal; into the prisons of London and Soutliwat k, was egret il to, and the Cointoittee named. the remainder of the Parliamentary, see the Sixth !'reef INMPOEN'S Swoan.—Among the interesting ob. jects of curiosity in Charlton-house is the armoury, . v.-hich contains a magnificent collection of ancient arms, disposed with much taste. Among other valuable Weapons i 3: the identical sword of the celebrated patriot, Julia Hampden, in the highest preservation ; the hat and scabbard are ornamented with small bronze figures in relief, representing the history 01 David Alla ; arid, from the admirable spirit and skill diviayed in their execution, they are supposed by the most connoisseurs to be the work of the celebrated 1 ta is t artist, Celini.— . The extracting of. l'ot-ash flow l'otatne sta:ks has commenced in and promises to become a most valu4ble article of trade to that part of the Coned , Ki x loia.. It is,calculined that 350,thu1 acres of 1.111( zire annually cultivated with potatoes there. Toe•e wauld produce 0,87.5 tons of pot-ash, which, at. „W. pa to; would atr4otint to 937,5001. lex aurauz. , 4.