The Statesman. — London, England, 1815-07-06 00:00:00

a ~h ~s 14 or Id in in o- 1 3 " n• :h. ;th ENT's CANAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL LOCKS. We congratulate the friends of science and corn. 'rce on the success of the new Philosophical Locks, dch are erected on that pert of the Regent's Canal IA is situated about 40 yards from the Hampstead id. These Locks, in our opinion, promise great 'vantages to the internal commerce and trade of the spire. The facility and ease with which a vessel is )nveted from one level of this Canal to another ;more like the work of enchantment than the Ie ct of philosophical and mechanical science skill. We yesterday witnessed with high tisfaction the working of these Locks, surrounded a crowd of spectators, whose gratification at this lightful and grand experiment could only be sur. : by their astonishment at the facility of its per. 'mance. We understand that the Chairman, Corn. 'tee, and Engineer of the Regent's Canal Com l. were assembled to inspect this sublime effort of )man skill ; and we think we hazard little in pro. uncing, that those Gentlemen participated in the light which appeared to fill every eye on that grati. IN occasion. In the boat that passed several times tm the upper to the lower, and from the lower to upper level of the Canal, we perceived Sir Wsa. touter, the inventor of the Locks, Mr. MAUDS. AY, the engineer who has erected thews, Mr. Moo- GAN. engineer to the Canal. with Mr. Benner., sod several other eminent engineers, all of whom ap peared highly gratified with the execution of this mighty work. Had we time, or did we feel our. selves capable of doing justice to this ingenious and useful invention, we should certainly attempt to give a description of it ; but as we are, for these rea sons, inadequate to the task, we must content ourselves at present by merely giving a faint notlitte of the plan.—We understand that the Regent's Canal forms a communication with that of the Grand Junction at the Basin at Padding. ton, and from thence it is to take a circuit to Lime house, along the northern boundary of the metropolis, in which course there is a fall of 60 or 70 feet ; and as the Rtgents's Canal has a very scanty supply of water, it is obvious that to attempt to navigate in such a Canal with the ordinary Locks, would occa :tioit such a lon of water that it would completely de eat the whole undertaking. The primary object of the Philosophical Locks is to prevent this ruinous loss f water. This grand end is fully effected by these Locks, ~ . . . aid they securea perfect navigation under such appal ing circumstances as , by the old system, would have de eated it. These locks are of great capacity : each lock as an iron casoon, of 80 feet long, 15 feet wide, lid seven feet deep; the weight of a casoon, filled rids water, is full 350 tons : two of these casoons et together, and are put into a state of equilibriunt vAn 'equal weight of water in each. The casoons thus bilenced ate, at any point of altitude from each other, supported by compressing the air below ee.o 0t5. ,, ,,is in the inner locks, and which are ren. IL-I nl dir tight by . mans of tho curtains of the ca. !. , n. and the water bet reen the minor walls of ii:e loner locks, and the main walls of the bluer; And the air that is discharged by one of the carrion' descending, h thereby forced through a pipe into the casoon that is ascending. and thus sup ports the equilibrium at any point of their traverse. The one casoon falling a foot suPplies with air the casonri rising a foot, and so on during the whole pro gress of their work. To this beautiful philosophical principle, is ingeniously applied the hydro.mechani cal principle of the immortal BRAMAii, wiliCh is etll. pinyed to give an impulse to the casoons, by which they are made either to ascend or descend as requir ed. It teas highly majestic to observe 700 tons of matter in motion, one half of which weight ascend ing, And the other half descending, through a perpendi cular distauce of seven feet in a perkdof two or three minutes, and alter:wifely changing their course. This Mighty mass was set in motion by the physical power of one or two men. This great performance, in our opinion, opens an era worthy of the genius of the engineers of the present age, and promises far to ex cel the long-considered mighty mechanical prodigies of the ancients, in their most ponderous structures. This grand and novel work redounds highly to the credit of all the parties concerned in its erection, and holds out very splendid advantages to the whole trade of the empire. a There is no truth in the report, that the late De sates in Parliament have been translated into German, and transmitted to the Continent, for the perusal of :!er Royal Highness the Duchess of ConocoLawn. I:uttnto Muanca.-0o Sunday evening, as a yacitg woman, named Catharine Harris, servant to Mr. Conner, of Carrygrohate, and her fellow-servant, A boy, were going home from Cork, they were over tacit by two men, about a mile from town, one of whom took the woman up in his arms, and forcibly eltrird her into a bye-road, while the other man, ith stones, kept the boy from entering, and by rarentening to kill him, terrified him so that he ran agay. At day-break in the morning, two women discovered the body lying lii the middle of the bye told, quite dead ; her mouth and nose were bloody, her face and neck quite black, and her cap and cloak torn orr. An Inquest has been held on the body of the tilifertunate young woman, which brought in a of Wilful Murder, against Edmond Walsh a•,d another person unknown. Walsh, by the exer *ions of Mr. Conner and some of the constables, has been apprehended and fully committed by the Coro 11^r for trial, and there is every hope that his eompa %sill be taken.—(Cork Advertiser, June 29). We are requested, by the Secretary of the Eagle Insurance Company, to state, that Policies expir ing at Midsummer-day, may be renewed within fifteen days from that period, at either of their Of fices, in Cornhill or the Haymarket, where An nuities are granted and purchased, and every descrip tion of Fire and Life Insurance effected on the most equitable terms.—Allowance of Rent o Premises destroyed by Fire as heretofore. We have frequently called the at ten the public (feling It. oor duty so to do) to did and really attractive advantages of the pr Lot tery : there is one feature, however, which we have not yet noticed, and to which we particularly call the attention of those oho rosy have neglected their purchases, namely, esrg Ti et drawn on the igth natant must be a Prim A • IMMO REGI r, We mercy which le which road. advent 'lr empire e t con‘P! PC Seems effect and sl satisfai I. • by a ci ii . delight passed former tnittee, If parry, 4+ human ponndi delight • fying from ti ip the up] st CONGIII LAY, I • • THE STATESMAN. IMPERIAL PARLI4,NRNt . horrible crime. Neither the law npr the Judge in tended that this crime, abominal4as it was, should he punished with death, and yet ;ebb was frequently the result. The death too, whiCh such criminals (sometimes met with was more severe than the punish ment of death when i n fli c t e d i n t h e or di nary way. — I lie himself had witnessed an instance of this in 17SO. A person was pilloried in Southwarli for an mina- • tural crime, and the criminal by the fall of the Idl- • iory was killed. Judge Eyre, in a case where one had by perjury attempted to swear away another I person's life, had refrained f rom i n fli ct i ng t h e pun i s h - . ment of the pillory on the very ground that the pu- nishment might in reality be different from what the 1 1 Court intended. It might be said, however, that it was too late in the Session to go into the subject, he- 1 cause no other punishinent was propdsed by this Bill to he substituted in those Came where that of the ! pillory was to be abolished. But be saw no great inconvenience in abolishing the pirnishinent of the pillory at present, and leaving the offences in which it had been usually inflicted to the punishment by fine and imprisonment, till some additional regula -1 lions should be framed in a subsequent Session. Ile therefore submitted that the 13111 ought to proceed even in this Session, and moved that it be now com -1 witted. I Lord ELLENBOROUGII felt come pain in ad dressing their Lordships on ,this subject, differing as he did, in some particulars frotii the Noble Earl who , had just sat down. As for himself, lie certainly had no particular attachment to this method of punish. ment, bat for the sake of the public he was bound openly and plainly to state his opinion to their Lord. ships. Ile had lived in habits of friendship with the very worthy person who had introduced this Bill, and had no doubt it was introduced from the best and purel motives ; but the Bill was certainly defective . even in his own view of the subject, for if the pu nishment were to be abolished, it would be requisite' at the same time to substitute some other punishment in its place. This the Bill hid not done. fie could not admit, however, that the punishment ought to be altogether abolished, because there were several of ' fences to which it was more applicable than any other that could be found. With respect to the inequality and uncertainty of which the Noble Earl had spoken, the objection might be in some degree applied to all other punishments, unless the officers of the law en trusted with the execution did their duty. In the case of Dr. Shebbesre, which was to be found in 7 Burrow, the Sheriffs had not done their dtity.— They had held an Umbrella over his head as stated by the Noble Earl, and lie believed that a servant stood near, and supplied him with refreshments; add, in deed, the Sheriffs had so far betrayed their trust, that he was nit properly put into the pillory nt all. But then the Sheriff was afterwards punished by fine and imprisonment. Daniel Isaac Eaton, who had before been known as an offender, was pilloried op. posite to Newgate for a vile and blasphemous attempt to ridicule the nativity of on! Saviour, of which, as well as other fundamental doctrines of our religion, he spoke in a manner lhocliing to every pious and well disposed mind. The reason, however, for or dering him to be pilloried opposite Newgate, was rot exactly that stated by the Noble Earl. The Court thought that this was an oicence which would excite HOUSE OF LORDS, JULY 5. In the cave' of Kier and others V. Dvke of Athol, judgment of the Court below reversed. Tne ruses nP fillin.rlsl),l P. Oldie of Athol (division of cam moo ), and Robe. hop v. Graham, remitted for re•c.•nsider ation. In the case of -- v. Lord :Uinta, judgment of the Court below reves tc.d. In the cnse of Blake v. Vesey, decree of the Court of Ex chequer affirmed. In Barnet v. Knowles, judgment nflnned. • The Apothi-caries' Itegvl:ttion Bill. Surgeons Charter Bill, Newspaper Stamps' B 11, Law Proceedino Stamps' Bill. mat others, were brought up from tbe Commons, and read a first time. The Irish Chnneery Examinations Bill retnraed t and the Amendments, OD the Matson of Lord ItEDESDALE, ordered to he taken int.+ consideration to-morrow. The Local Militia Pay and Chithitni Bill, the Eng and Irish Militia Pay and Clothiag Bill, the Innkeepers' Allow ance Bill, the Agent General of the Farce, Hill, the Spiriis' Licence Bill, the Navy Bill, and (Salt Deity Bill, were rend gerund time, and ordered to he committed. The Wellington Wool Bill, the Scotch Ave-sed 'faxes' Bill, and other.. were einsmitre.l. The two Exchequer Bilis Rill., the MA Pasting Biß, the Irish Mule Servants' Duty Bill, and others, were read a third time, and pa►sed. VACCINATION. Earl STANHOI'E rose to move the second read= ing of the Vaccination Bill, for the purpose of mov ing that the Bill be rejected. The real object of the Bill was to put half a million or more of the public money into the pockets of the Doctors of this Cow pox Society. This was a very curious Bill, and all the Bills on this subject had been curious. One Bill had been brought up from the Commons, recom mending that a red flag should he hung out of the windows of those houses where the small-pox pre •ailed, and that was kicked out. Two Bills on the same subject by a Noble Lord not now in his place, and these had been kicked out; and that Noble Lord had wisely given notice that he did not intend to bring in any more such Bills. This Bill stated, that there were three kinds of vaccine matter, good, bad, and spurious, and yet it described no intelligi ble means of distinguishing any one of these from the others. He concluded by moving that the Bill be read a second time; and this being negatived, he moved that the Bill be rejected, which was agreed to. 1 PETITIONS. Earl GREY presented the Petitions against a Tax Bill which he had formerly offered, but withdrawn in order to give time to consider whether there was any regulation or practice of the House against the receiving of Petitions against Tax Bills. The LORD CHANCELLOR stated, that he had only found instances of two Petitions, the one frons the Lord Mayor and Council of London, and an. other from certain Tobacco Traders, respecting a Bill for the regulation of the Tobacco Trade; one of these was received, the other was rejected. Evrl GREY,did not find that there was any pre cedent that ought to prevent the reception of such petitions. In some instances he believed that they had been received even in the Session when the taxes complained of in the Petitions passed contrary to the rules of the other House. He knew of no principle whatever that ought to prevent their Lordships from receiving them. After a few words to the same effect from Earl STANHOPE, ,the Petitions were laid on the table. and especially in cases of mixed fraud and perjury. Cases might arise where persons might attempt to defend themselves against a conviction for fraud of which they had been guilty by perjury, or suborna tion of perjury. In such a case he himself would have concurred in the infliction of the punishment of the pillory, even where he might be disposed not to • inflict it where the ingredient of perjury, or sub ornation of perjury, might be wanting. But the best mode of proceeding would be to desire the Judges in another Sessi )n to prepare a Bill on this subject, pointing out the cases where, according to their experience, the punishment of the pillory was proper, and the cases to which, though at present applicable, it was not suited. This plot had been pursued with regard to the revenue, leis, where those which inflicted the punishment of death were distinguished from those which did not. The Earl of LIVERPOOL, approved of the pro ceeding just suggested by the Noble and I.earned Lord on the woolsack. The punishment of the pil lory was an objectionable one, because it could not be made exactly that which the law and Judge in tended; but then he must consider that it had been long established, and could not therefore be con's,. niently abolished altogether, especially in cases of I perjury and fraud, Earl STANHOPE stated, that the plan which had been accomplished at the instance of a Noble Friend of his (Greniille) was the consolid 'don of the punishments for breach of the revenue laws into one Bill. As to the punishment of the pillory, he detested it on account of its inequality. Suppose, said his Lordship, the Noble Earl opposite (Liver pool) and myself had been found guilty of publish.. ing a libel, for Which offence the punishment of the pillory has been sometimes indicted ; and suppose we had been pilloried about the time when the Corn Billwaspissing, the Noble Earl would have been confoundedly pelted, and I should not. The Earl of LAUDERDALE said that it was great satisfaction to him to see the'calm and dispel.. sionate mode in which the subject had been discussed, and he was sure the amiable mind of his Learned Friend (hr. M. A. Taylor) would be highly grati fied to find that there was such a disposition to lm. prove the Criminal Law in this particular at la Mere period, though it was not thought proper to pass this Bill in the present Session. It would be in vain for him, therefore, to press it any further at present. The Bill was then ordered to be committed this day two months. The Report of the Copyhoiders' Bill wal, on the motion of Lord EGLENBOROUGII, ordered to be received to-morrow. Adjourned. HOUSE OF COMMONS. The Apothecaries Bill, the Consolidated Fund Bill, that Flax ' Bill, (he Cinders Bill, the Inland Coals Biel, pnd the Militia Pay Bill, were severally read a third time and pissed. 'fhe lteport of the Vote of Credit Bill was received, and tba Bit! ordered to he read a third time to morrow. The Report of the American Trade Bill %vas also received, and the Bill ordered to be recd a third time to-morrow, after a few words from Mr. A. Browne, Alderman Atkins, 31r. IN it berforce, and Mr. Preston. The tier or( of the Charitable Donation Bit! was received, and the Bill to be read a third time to-morrow. ADJOURNMENT. The CIIANCEELOB, --- of she EXCHEQUER PILLORY BILL i popular indignation, and they ordered him to bepil. ! The Earl of LA U DERDALE rose to move the !l or ied i n th a t pl ace th a t i n case lif e s h ou ld b e en d an - gave notice, that as all the ordi nar y b us i ness wou ld : committal of the Pillory Punishment Abolition Bill. ! g y re d, h e m i g h t b e h urr i e d i nto N ewgate an d pro. probably be gone through by to-m or row, h e s h ou ld, Ile expressed his regret at being under the necessity i t ecte d. I t was true, th at d ur i ng hi s exposure some on that day, move that the House d o adj ourn till , 4 • of proposing this subject for their Lordships' contd. ;of the spectators were said to have applauded ; but Tuesday neat, to allow the usual time f or the p u blic : deration at so late a period of the Session ; but that was it di ffi cult in such a case to surround the pillory ' business in the other House to be di s p a t c h e d. ' . was not Isis fault, and far less was it the fault of his ' with persons of the same description, in order to ' The Report of the Irish Cotton Bounty Bill was a Learned and excellent Friend (Mr. M. A. Taylor), alleviate the sense of his disgrace? Even if a person received, and the Bill ordered tube read a third tittle , . 1 who had originated this Bill in the other House. lie were so totally degraded as not to feel the disgrace to-morrow. , had postponed it from time to time, in order, if pos. of this exposure in his own person, the example ' The Report on the East India Postage Bill was .. sible, to have the advantage which, with respect to a would be salutary in its effects on others. Then as brought up, and the Bill ordered to be read • third - subject of this nature, must result from the attend.. to the punishment being more severe than was in- time to-morrow, after a short conversatinu, in which ante of the N o bl e an d L earne d Lord on the wool-' tended, the Officer was empowered to see to the Alderman Atkins, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, sack. He was aware that before proposing any ma-i proper execution of the sentence, and arm himself and Gen. Gascoiene participated. terial alteration in th e cr i m i n al law of the country,' with the whole force of the posse comilalus for that 1 Mr. WILBERFORCE brought in a Bill to pre. he ought to have given a great deal of attention to: purpose, if necessary; but it was no good argument , vent the unlawful importation of Slaves into the Bri. , the subject: but the criminal law in this particular: against the punishment to say that it was not pro. , fish Colonies. , point was so very different from every other part of : party executed ;if not, that was th e f au lt o f th e I Mr. BARHAM opposed the measure, because be it, that he had no hesitation in pressing this Bill up. Officer who had the charge of the execution, and such , thought that no sufficient grounds had been laid for ton their Lordships' attention, even with the limited Officers might, by possibility, betray their trust with the necessity of such a Bill. Before they enactede examination which it had been in his power on the respect to other punishments as well as this. In the , law to prevent certain evils, they ought at least to present occasi on t o app l y t o th e su bj ec t matter of the' ease mentioned by the Noble Earl of a person being , ascertain that the evils themselves existed, and from ' question. The punishment of the pillory had been killed by the fall of the pillory, the fault was that of all that had come to his knowledge in coosequence of condemned by almost all those who had studied and the Officer. This punishment was as old as 1269 on i the late enquiries, he did not believe that any clan . . written upon the philosophy of criminal law, almost our statute book, and had existed before by common I destine importation of Slaves was carrisd on. He by all the politicians who had attended to its nature i law. M. Lamba r d and Fletor spoke of it, and of was, besides, convinced that the Bill of the Hon. and effects, and e ve n by some o f the J u dges wh o had ' the care which was necessary in the Officer to pre- ; Gentleman would he found absolutely nugatory and. to apply it. No principle in criminal law was bet- vent its exceeding the just measure. The criminal inefficient as to the objects which it professed to cc ter established than this, that the punishment ought was to be punished by disgrace and exposure, salris : complish. The Bill was unnecessary. The evils to be commensurate to t h e o ffence. In this respect tames membris el vita. The punishment was not against which it was fftttended to be directed it'd no the punishment of the pillory was extremely objet. confined to this country. Du Cange spoke of it as ! real existence; and if passed into a law there: - ite it tiunable. In one of the older statutes, it was put in existing on the Continent, the offender being ex- could only be in the spirit of the advice given by the alternative, that a man should pay a fine of 20s. posed latlibrio omnium. Considering that the pu- , Ovid to a lover with respect to the affectatiou of at. or be put in the pillory, so that the same punishment nishment had existed so long, and that no regulation • 1 tention to his mistress ; was to be inflicted on one who could not pay 20s. as was ma d e f or t h e su b st i tut i on o f ano th er pun i s h men t, ! " tit si nullus ere Wale, tamen excute radium." on one who had attempted to commit an unnatural he could not agree to the passing of this Bill. He While he was on his legs he would observe tliat . it and abominable crime. Such a state of the law was was adv erse , a t an y rate, to this sweeping abolition, . was his intention in the next Session of Parliament a disgrace to the ag e an d coun t r y i n which it existed. though he admitted, that in that instance mentioned to revive the Bill, which, having recently passed Another remarkable feature in this punishment was by the Noble Earl, where it might be hillicted on a ' through that House, had been rejected elsewhere.— its gross inequality and uncertainty. The punish- person because he was not able to pay '2os. and ,In adverting to the coarse language of a passionate meat was not that which was consonant to the nature i n some o th er i ns t anc es, it might be abolished: , individual which had been used•in another place te a the offence, or to the intention of the Court which but in cases o f perjury a n d fraud, and in Some others, ' wards himself as the framer of the Bill, the House, awarded it, but depended on the humour of the mob, the punishment was particularly suited to the offence, he was sure, would do him the justice to believe that The case of Dr. Shebbeare was a remarkable one.-- and ought to be preserved. 'fin) subject could not, .he treated it with the contempt vellicii it deserved.— He had been sentenced to the pillory, but though however, be sufficiently considered this Session, lie He could not however help lamenting the general this was intended as disgrace, it turned out a sort of himself had never inflicted the punishment when alone apathy which had been manifested on that subject. triumph. He was put upon, but not in, the pillory ; on the Circuit, except in one instance, where he had , The• Deity a the African Institution appeared to hake the Sheriff hel his head to shelter (tripod two persons t o be put in the pillory, toe hair- . fallen asleep; or peradveuture he was journeying.— bim from t ; a d i servant stood iiq taken a bribe for assisting in the escape of French; With respect to the Bill now introduced, he repeated by to atteii upo and hand him refreshments, while prisoners, an offence u bids t h e Legislature soon : that it was uncalled for, and that the imputations he was at the same time applauded by the spectators: after made felony, punisha;de by transportation. In : which in its very preamble were thrown on the Co. so that the punishment, instead of being disgraceful former times, he did not allude to time . ; of peculiar . ; lollies, were wholly without foundation. to him, was au insult upon the law. Another case severity, but even since the reign of George I. there 1 Mrs W. SMITH defended the Bill; contending applicable to the point was that of Daniel Isaac were times when the punishment Iliad been inflicted in ' that the preamble involved no imputation against Cat Eaton. He had been put in the pillory for a very three cases for one in which it was now inflicted. It Colonies. All that it stated was, that the presa;•t serious offence, that of endeavouring to throw con- had hiten usual, ton, to send the offonders round the laws were not 'efficient to afford an effectual and cer tempt and ridicule on the fundamental principles of Coury. with labels on their foreheads, spnif) jog ' tain remedy for the existing evil. He was persuaded the Christian religion; and as an example to the their offence, and then to . pillory them two or three that if the lien. Gentleman deliberately considered prisoners, he presumed, he was pilloried opposite to times. The practice was milder at pres'i 7, front an the subject he would approve of a Bill, the object of Newgate jail;. but the crowd,, probably from some attention to some peculiarities in the times which . which was to accomplish that which in the present mistake as to the nature of his offence, applauded Judges applied in the exercise of a sound discretion. state of society in the West Indies, could not be ex. him. In this case ton, the punishment was far more He moved that tl.,e Bill be read a second time this day pected williont further Legislative interference. lenient than the Judges intended. In other cases it two months. I Air. A. BROWNE warmly vindieated the West was more severe: for instance, when the punishment The LORD CHANCELLOR was of opinion thst India Body from the aspersions of his Houourabla of the pillory was inflicted for offences which had a there were offences with respect to which it would Friend (Mr. Barham); and insisted that the impos. tendency to exasperate the feelings of the populace, be unwise to abolish the punishment of the pillory ; sibi!ity of proceeding in any enquiry at this advanced Sea as the attempting to commit an unnatural en d fet instance, cases of perjury and fraud, or cheating, period of the Session, was their only motive for Dot lr S~ "t~+, 1 t '4. 4. ' 1 1, .1 I 1 y, I ... i ' 1 `6 1 ' I, : 1 • ii . • ..' ; .. 1 . .1 . I ' A 1 Ai e ' . a. : ,i- r V F ,