The National Register. — London, England, 1808-04-25 00:00:00

*5B ri,fz - r r "-‘ tHliitATTOigAt ROM' tercel, and may proceed to trial thereon, as if the defendant had appeared awl pleaded Not Guilty. There is a clause au thorize Cie execulion in Scotland of warrants issued in England : and there is a clan-e enabling the prosecutor to cause the bail bond to be assi : ;o:%l to the Ring so as to give a foundation for the same process that is usual ou bonds originally made to his Majesty." Is it not obvious that this statute must open the door for endless hostilities, and immeasurable oppressions? A quar rel takes place between two neighbours : they wait an opportunity, and as soon as either commits any petty olleuce, (and who is there that does not perpetually offend against some little peaal statute ?) the other hastens to ob tain a w arrant , and thrusts his adversary into gaol,—Oh no, it is answered, the adversary may give bail.—But suppose, as it perpetually happens, the offending party be poor and friendless, and the offended party rich and powerful : shat shall we find to be the consequence thee' ? why then we shall find that for no greater fault than a nuisance in a foot-path, an abusive expression in a wrangle, or some other sin of the same importance, a poor man who has no connexion capable of bailiug him, a steamer perhaps to most of the neighbourhood, perhaps a working man on whom the maintenance of a whole family uls, must be dragged from his home, and of course from his employ ment, plunged into a gaol, and left there till he can pro cure bail forsooth, or till his cause shall be decided. And all this, not only upon an indictment filed, an indictment necessarily found true and presented by at least twelve grand jurymen of the county—not only upon the less con stitutional process of an information, which may be filed by any prosecutor on direction from the Court of King's stench—but upon a mere affidavit, sworn before a single Judge ! Yes ! upon a mere affidavit, sworn before a single Judge, an Englishman may be carried from his home, per haps twenty or thirty miles, and immured iu " The con- , " mnn gaol of the courtly 1" • Perhaps it may be thought that any man, if he be re-' spectable, will almost always he able to find hail, notwith standing the lowness of his circumstances. If there should be but one case in a hundred years of a respectable man confined for want of bail, that one case would be suffi cient to prove this Bill unconstitutional : but we .contend that such examples must necessarily be of frequent occur rence. The men of any consequence in every county al ready exercise, as it is well known, a most heavy tyranny upon the poorer people : the elections give occasion to perpetual demands on the services of tenants, and those te nants who refuse their services so demanded, arc too often snarked men, the destined objects of the first convenient vengeance. Rights of common, and the game laws, are also constant soureestf animosity ; and in all sech animo sities the poor are the most likely to setter. Here then is an act facilitating the infliction of suffering upon the poor. It continually happens, that a poor man, however honest and industrious, if once he offends the principal person of the place, finds his means of livelihood in that part of the country destroyed. No one dares oppose the leading man. The poor fellow is apprehended under a warrant for some crime not heavier than knocking down a hare in his own le most charitable is helpless family, act to bail him : business of ours, the enmity of our APRIL o• -. " landlord, at whose suit the man is going to gaol ! "we are sorry, but go he must." Shall the Attorney to:- neral say that this is not nature 1• Shall the Attorney (ie. neral then say that his proposition is justice? But this Bill not only facilitates the revenge that is de cided: it promotes the resolves of undetermined vengeance. For many a spiteful villain who is desirous of harassiry: his enemy, is at present unwilling to employ the means which the existing laws afford, because j►e considers that he has no immediate mode of revenge: that if ho indict; tilt: obnoxious person, revenge cannot come till the time of eel:• viction, and the conviction itself is not certain but by the aid of this Bill the re , enge may be gratified in a moment ; the warrant is issued, and the offender is a prisoner for month:, —let the poor Mlow be found guilty or acquitted at last : but in the mean-time the foe has made sure of his revenge, and his object is gained. Sometimes even motives more dread ful than revenge itself have urged a wretch to the imagine of his fellow-creature's liberty : perhaps the husband is imprisoned o:•ly that the wife may be violated—perhaps the father is sent away from home only that the daughter ►nay be seduced—perhaps—hut why should we cite so many possibilities on so evident an ? Every man must feel at once that there is no (►orror to which individuals may not be exposed, no mischiefs which the State may not suffer, when the persons of Englishmen are no longer se cure, and imprisonment is the predecessor of offence. Will any one tell us that when the facilitation of revenge produces the frequency of punishment for small offence , ; the real interests of justice, and the true advantage of society are promoted ? If there be any one who thinks that incessant prose‘litions for petty faults contribute to the good order of a county, and who believes that it is desirable to make the English people *a nation of spiteful informers, let such a reasoner make use of this argu ment. For ourselves we confess that it is revoking to all our feelings. We are surprised • when we find that the pending Bill'has passed the !louse of Commons ; we know not how it has happened that among so many watchful guardians of popuiar privilege, among so many declaimers anxious to disiday their ae•zutc;iess, no sing:e person should have stepped forth to ward this dreadful blow from the , liberties of his country : that no one should yet have perceived the mod:210:1s dan:rer and paradoxical purport of a Bill, which renders an I,:ttgliF.hinan liable to be im prisoned before tr;al, for those faults, which, even rtflr convictiem, subject him to no greaser penalty than imps:. sonmcnt ! REVIEW OF POLITICAL DECLAIMERS• No..X‘ 11. CORBETT'S wtrh I POLITICAL REGISTER. After three or four weeks intermission, we recommenco out war with Mr. Cobbett—iserimps we ought rather to my, u ith Mr. Cobbett's principles: for Mr. Cobbett himself gives 00 tokens of hostility to us; but Mr. Cobbeqes principles arc hos tile to us, and to Lug-laud, and to all mankind. They are p. oi eiples as variable a the E cal; , and as paradoxical as a riddle; they affect moderation and they propagate iutemperatica : they , demand unvarying consistency mid give a perpetual example of mutability : they insist upon the blessings of war, and seek the wens of procuring, peace : they preach the necessity of 'tarsi moray, and undervalue economical reform. Lu bis Paper or the Mb ; Mr. c o m m ie di lem ma Ow Itel • • • -- - - ~ garden: perhaps one or t among the neirhbour. )4 .* -":21 , ..._, , n6.he fate of hi , I, and ack ,k , - 4, : j eist,,,; ; a good LV,tr. ~. \ • sett : -Tv . ' . . 6 ,. la 1W 1 A. , ~,,, at is i z aw ` itc , -+ ,' % ' ,•) ' . s „: . , - 0 'NUS 1 • , INV -'- . g 4 s .... ir . 4•1-: . 4 .... e• , -4) .1: 47 . 7 , %10j1 413 , 314 r 0