The Statesman. — London, England, 1818-08-25 00:00:00

illal „, MR :' • , , • -7 • ••• • us. of fel we can only he justified when necessary Inc the purposes of safe custody ; and in a prison where the (tlon-convicts are unironed, the fettering risoners who are under examination, is, in the opinion of your Committee, unwarrantable. Vlstriwo MAGISTRATES.—A Committee of Ma. giStrales meet no thorlday previous IA the Session*. and - thoThuraday neat hut one after them ; they as sertiblel7 times a.year ; fix or nine generally meet, cod they go round the prison personally itospablin( , ; at other times, individual Magistrates visit the, priane ; a journal is k•ot, hot observed/ma are hard— ly ever made in ft. The Committee's meeting ofteha wo d the 'emetics., are entered in a hili,k ) w hich is in the possession of the Clerk of the Peace. 'IIICLIGIOtIa ArrEena:vca...—The Chaplain (Mr. l ituell) performs Divine Service once on Sunday. Wednesday, anti Friday •, he generally ellen& him. 'lBll two da ) s a.week, an d his C u rate once ; he states to sour Committee, that he goes round the jail once * week et least ; he attends also the school, rate • and hears the boys read. Your Committee 10111 to observe, that in their opinion it would he ex • wdieut to prbvide a schoolmaster to take charge of tbe boss ; it is of' importance that he should be a per • Sor t of irreproachable character, and on no account a prisoner for any offence. The establishment of a Armors; school in the prison, would also to their mind he a salutary measure. The Chaplajn circulates among the prisoners religions tracts, and there ore .several Bibles in each yard ;..he keep' jouroal in which he enters the time of the performance of Di vine Service, and he makes sometime; remark' on ,the conduct of the prisoners ; a copy of this jour sSal is laid quarterly before the Magistrates , — I Though the attendance of this Chaplain is thus re. .golar, and the performance of his various duties , highly meritorious, yet, in the opinion of your Com mittee, the Sabbath-day is by no means well on , ployed . this prison. The service begins soon after oboe ,o'Clock, and, of course, is over before 12 ; from that hour till night, the poisoners have neither refl. gious nor moral instruction:, they are left entirely to themselves; and the Chaplain states, that he has never on that day gone round the yards. Your COMMittee think it would he elpedient to perform the service twice on Sundays; and that if a school master was appointed, some portion of the slay which • is now spent in idleness; and in loose and unprofitable conversation, might be more beneficially employed. •.—The Chaplain informed your Committee, that here also he has never administered the sacrament, nor , has he ever rollmop() it to the sirk or the (4 fug ; hut , visits once a. week the infirmaries, and if wattled is sent for. Jobs, Wright, the Surgeon's assistant, in. formed your Committee, that of the so persons who base died there during the fifteen months he has been a prisoner, the chaplain visited and prayed with r at t ly eight or nine. f t : , Your Committee think it right here to add, that H otber pets , ns in the same situation as the above .pri. wner, have reported the attendance of the Chaplain jus be regular, and the pevformance of his religious duties earnest and esemplary, but your Committee „lye' that in fact he has more writ) than hetan, well .10e,1110flO ; he has in attend the two p r i s ms. i n .t h e y jltot of which 4,063 persons, and to the Cold Bath ... Ads Boum of h possection„ 3,667 were cOrateitted • 41014 the last twelve months. la the i'ipioion of Committee,. Pi , iag Service ought to he read leek of these .pciaOns twice every liabhath-day. • le prison estahlithed as a ,house of correctioto thttploist, is of the most important Ha .ltgrei opor,;ebtt: Ike rests • almost exclus ivel y . the moral a,nd ; re M $W! instruction, and ennap. evieetly the reformation of the torisoners; the whole time andlinronittiog, attention of a person ought to ▪ _ be given to abedischarge p( these duties; and though Dour Committee are awaie of the smallness of the as -2,--iary allowed by Act of Parliament, yet the Magis _ Vales have the goower, by the asvignment of a bodge oind other advantages, to. pike up to the Chaplain 'such an addition to his volory.as shall hold out in- Aucenteots to a pe t rualu,ly,qoalified , and wh o m i g ht , , thus be led to desote his , ttetorted labour to the cor rectional Poke of the prison. From the present Wade , tistatetiajsry, Mr.ltuell is compelled to look to other 0t professional relent'.: and the Sundays mhich ought exclusively to be devOted to the prison frit, ors under his care, are taken up in the performance Jo of she sacred duties of lit% office elsewhere; the ex ._ 4w/tient:it of s rpor Committee has satisfied them that t Abggliorgymen ought t o give his exclusive and WI. b jod,ual &doggiest to the prisoners under his care; and e lhat unless that is done, the race will clegtoorate eMplittle else than , the mere performance of the cere., onies of religion, which are heard with indifference, .rnikd Yorgotteto as soon as ended. js Mr. ituell seems to be swore of the evils of the 'Vele system • and your Committee dee p ly reg ret ~ tbat be is unable from the circumstanc es of his rim ( Pota to carry tido 'effect those plaits of reform and ..silersOcest.tif the utility of which be seems to be 4117 COO, illet4 • ItatostwArsolf.— Your Committee cannot refer to this subject Without great pain ; the experiment of a rrouse df correction has here entirely failed; they are, 'however, 'glided that the failure is to be evil. *, boleti to the battens of the system ad o p ted, to the wino of ibe proper separation and classification of prisoners, to the departure from the principle and enactments of the Acts of the 19th and 31st of Gen. 111. and to the almost entire absence of employment, so essential to carry into effect the intentions of the Legislature, in passing the above-named Statu who tes; and they remark, that out of the 356 proners were in the Cold Bath-fields, on the 10th April, 47 bad been committed there before. The Governor informed your Committee that the prison, at present, " is ant exactly a house of cor rection; and he is afraid that most of the prisoners who have been confined there are as bad when they go out as they are when they come in, and some a great deal worse ; and that this is in consequence of the great number *lto associate together." The Chaplain says, he is decidedly of opinion, that from the discipline of the prison, it corrupts more than it reforms; and the Surgeon who has been there 23 years, expresses his sorrow that K. cannot say he has ever seen much improvement. Out a review, then, of the state and management of 1 -206 * foIMOW' prison whir , (tom all they have Ord Worn, are, regolae v atfettlive,lei prisoners tentaisteil id; ithOis err.:, correpion without flies And regola the spirit, and in many in l ttances, • of those Statutes which p a rlismei opon those 'subjects, are - liirit`n'eirt ther cot ruplion and. not reformetiou ith s e Mb mod through which above 3000 persona ly, is, in the judgment of your Committee, an este.. blishment, the continuance of which, under its press. sent system, is calculated to augment• the mischiefs it is intended to diminish : and to spread that 'dispo sition to commit crimes against the property Salt peace of society, which, from whatever causes!' I I arising, is, unhappily for -the country. so univer.l sally prevalent. Your Committee batting thus etsa.s i mined into the present condition of two of the prin. cipal prisons of the Metropolis, and the House of Correction for the county of Middlesex • taking also into their consideratio n the acknowledge:l deficiencire of the county anti city prison of Newzate, cannot refrain frr.m calling the attention of the House to the deplorable state of all these . places of confinement. It appears that no less than 10,371 persons have pissed through these three witi-ns, during the last twelve months, of whom 1,714 were under twenty 'Para of age; from the manner in which these 10,000 persons were confined, they worst all of them have been more or less corrupted by the company in which they were associated, and rendered Winge members of society, by the means which the law proposes to make them better. As, however. from the small accommo.. (Jailor, which each prison affords for the purposes of classification snit the separation of offenders, no ef ficient plan can he expected to take place in the prj• sons, your Committee *WI to propose the classifica tion of the prisons themselves. and they can see no rational objection to tech a plan being carried into esecotine, on the nest assembly of Parliament. New. gate might he appropriated solely to all charges of felonies before trial. Clerken well for misdemeanants sod fines for misdemeanants, and for prisoners under re-elimination, and for session cases before trial. Felori.fioes to he committed to the Cdld Bath.fields prisorr, as well as those misdemeanors that require solitary imprisonment. The debtors from all the prisons to be removed to the New Prison ; and further accommodation to he provided ' for the vagrants within the • area of the present House of Correction, *so that they should have nothing to do with the interior"' of the prison...-. Tothill.fields prison to he used for re elaiiination prisoners committed from the' different Mites, misdemeanors. and misdemeanor . .fines. —In this way great additional accommodation would be af. forded in each prison, and a mode of discipline might he adopted suited to the condition of each class and description of offenders. The rules of rigour that are proper, fur coevicierl prisoners, are surely improper to be applied to the untried ; and the fine for a misdemeanor cannot in jnstice be subject to the 'same severity of, discipllne.shick n applied Ire the correction of the Mori. - Beside*, it is well known, that much additional. accommodation is required is ISTrO go:to and in the prism. 4.1 Tothilf:fieldo. , our Conimitioe 1'44 therefore, disposed to seg. gest the propriety of building a new prison, solely , for the females: to that 'nisi's', where, as to the Saint Lazar., at Paris, all the woolen who are con victed of offences, as well as the disorderly in the Metropolis, ma. he at once C nntmilled ; they should all he made subject to a discipline moral and re. ligious; and, az...ye all, trained to such habits of in. dostry as would give them at !roost a chance of re. gaining that sto in society which they had lost by their misconduct. The @sample of Newgate, under the cave of Mrs. Fry, demonstrate how much Can he dime, even antler every discouragement. Your Commineeare sorry to be obliged to remark, that though were is no subject upon which the best 'interests of society more depend, than the preven tion of offences and the reformation of offenders, yet, in this country, none have received so little attention; and that while every civilized nation in Europe is hrisigisig into active operation the principle of that sound and rational policy, designated by the penitentiary system, this country alone has, until the last few years, been content to pass two Acts of Parliament, the 19th and 31st Geo. M. and to re• main indifferent, if the salutary enactments of those Statutes were put into esecution. Your Committee beg leave to direct the attention of the House to these Acts of Parliament, and they trust, that early in the ensuing Session, some additional legislative measure may be brought forward, to carry not only the letter but the spirit of those Acts into immediate esecution. Your Committee, in pursuance of the Plan which in the Second Report of the Inst. Session of Parlia. mem, they lay down as a guide for their future con duct, proceed to the consideration of the other sub. sects which have been submitted to their itivestigatioit. I - • . Mr. Nswwast, Keeper of Newgate, speameg of the effect of capital punishment, says, twenty is the greatest number he ever knew suffer at once. There were 21 intended for one day, but only 19 were execoted. There were two executions following each other—one 19 the other 20. These were after the riots in 1780. Mr. NEWMAN says, from his ob servation, the effect of capital punishment has not been to serve as an example to the Public. Persons of bad disposition embrace crime as a dangeroan pro. fession—a game in which they may get prizes ss well as blanks; and when they are unfortunate, these is a sort of heroism attending it, and they do not wish to appear cowardly. Ile remembered one instance many years ago; • boy of the name of Cox, who had been tried at the Old Ileney several times, entitled received many addresses from the Coed, and he used jokingly to call the ttecoiDti " God. father." lie came to be executed at last, end the night before his execution, he amused himself by en• graving out a plain halfpenny, the picture of it man hanging. and W. C. on the other side. He wag not above 19 or 20 at the time of his death. When young, he used to go about with a pin.s.fore, • and a ball or top in his baud, which he used to IhroW down areas, and by that means gain admission to the house, and steal something from it.—( Police Report.) Lin-Thishire cows were driven list this louse of Correction, your Committee feet it A lot of Cit %eir duty"to declare it to be their decided opinion, week to Norwich marker, and sold at 401. per head. that the whole system followed therein requires to be 'No - droves of Wrich vonieS were also'sbown; which %tinged; they impute oó blame to the officers of the produced from four to five pounds each. • • .- 4tiitursitii, 2.5, )44.- _ Cettort.epienefe h are re. turned to their mempel,owymhoenhed made t,attbe a old simi dpri i ce nt s, ov e en d r. some hoodteda more, fere, were to resume working yesterday. Thii m y be true, end we sbeeld be glad to see it conireek bet the Manchester Papers, which we received j terday, and from which we made extracts, do , lead os to expect any such termination to the rli a . pules between the workmen and their employers... In consequence of the minions made by those "h e are still disposed to be refractory to prevent the rest from resuming their labours % a reward of 9.ogeim e has been offered, on the conviction of any penal guilty of such malpractices. A sort of counter. statement to that made by the Spinners, has heee p at forth, which will be found noticed in an article is another column. The names of the Commissioners for Erigalihit into Charity Abuses are at length publishekteite the universal astonishment of the Public that of MI:. BROUGHAIK does tint appear among them! Bat em conclusion will. be dra an by the whole countr) fret so remarkable an omission. All men will plainly perceive that no real effectual enquiry is meant to be instituted, and they will lament the issuing oia Commission which can only tend to saddle theme. try %lilt a great &editions, 'apace. Other Mak. mom may be rema , ked in this list of names. Tie two G.nilernen, Mr. PARRY and - Mr. Itsq Temp mended by the. Committee, are left out ; ad in their place are pot men recommended rattly by their connection with the Ministers! This is cert.iinly as barefaced an attempt to stop en. quiry into proven and glaring abuses as we have wit. nested moil's. conduct of even the present Ministry, hut moiling betters' *es' to be expected from the fow term of corruption end the protectors of injustice. The rumour which we noticed 'Warder of Com mhsinorra being appointed to mike some -new ar. tenements between this country and America, in re. garrl to trade, appears to be correct. We'are now informed that Mr. GALLATIN, Ambassador from the United States to the Court of France, and Mr. Rum. American Ambassador in this country, are appointed the Plenipotentiaries for this purpose, on the pat! of the United Stater. They held a conference with Lord, CAsTLEREAon on Saturday, at his Lordship's seat, North Cray, Kent, at which Mr. ROBINSON, of the Board of Trade, and Mr. Gousettne, the Co lonial Secretary, who, we understand, are the Pleni potentiaries appointed by his Majesty's Government to negociate with the American Plenipotentiaries, assisted. In Mr. ROBINSON'; hands, we doubt not, the important commercial points thus to be adjusted are safe; but it is plain, from the little attention which the Congress Negotiator has paid to the trading irate-,I rests of the British Nation, that his forte lies in another way. The object of the conference thus held is stated to have been for the purpose of renewing and extending► the Commercial Treaty already existing between Great Britain and the United States. Are our Ministers at length disposed to acknowledo the propriety of granting to America, by a solemn treaty, the sante privileges in regard to the Hight of , Search, in case of disputes between nations, which our Treaties of Navigation and Commerce guarmttee to other States? This question may still he allowed to sleep; but if no satisfactory understanding is established on the subject in die cool moments of pe‘ce, all other at. rangements may go for nothine when war in any quarter gives occasion for a renewal of the old dis. pules. The e•euts and measures growing out of the in u rtk American contest, nff , ird much reason for de. siting a clear understanding between the Govern ments of Great Britain and America on the subject of their maritime rights. We find by intelligence from Washington to the Isth, received with B4ltimore Papers to the 17th, that the Spanish Minister and the American Secretary at %Var bad been holding repeated conferences, and that the arrival of the l'esstocov at Washingtotrwes daily looked for. The official Journal still..speeks with much doubt as to the conduct of Gen. JAcason, and the Mobile Gazelle complains of itifrictions by the Americans of the terms on which Pensacola ca. pit elated. If, as is stated in an article from Mobile, all kinds of property have been seized in the Spanish port, end transported for adjudication to the ter ritory of the United States, there certainly is in • that extraordinary measure every appearanct of war between the American Government and the Court of Spain; but, apon the other band, the politicians of America seem disposed to deny the competency of General JACKSON to proceed in the manner he has ventured to do, and assert that neither ruts War Department nor the Executive were autho rized to empower him so to act. Pensacola is repre. glinted as being in its customs and institutions so on. sailed to those of its conquerors, that nothing less than the omnipotent hand of Congress will be scfli cient to consolidate their union. We doubt much whether these are the sentiments of tbkinhabitants of Florida. Their interests es a state, whatever may become of their customs, are certainly more likely to be advanced by en incorporation with the American Union than by the absurd, rapacious, and intolerant policy of the Spanish Government. . The noted Pirate, MITCIICLL, had four boats sta ll off the mouths 'of the Mississippi, boarding , and plundering the viesels hound to end fro..-1 New Orleans. Judge nLAND, - the American. Commis sinner, who had been left by his colleagues at Buenos Ayres, had gone over-land to Chili, whence he is ex pected to retort' by nest December, in the Ontario sloop of war, which has been lodge time lying at Valparaiso. A piratical schooner, iiith a Spanish prize, having on board a cargo worth 200,000 dol lars, had been. captured off Cumberland harbour by an Independent privateer. ~- The Duke of WELLINGTON, We find by the Flan ders Papers, continues to be occupied in inspecting the fortresses erecting on the Flemish frontier.— BONAPAIRTII has shown that all these expensive rrec• lions are not of much use in the way of defence 'against military firmer and good Generals ; but they are convenient depots for troops, and garrisons are convenient assistants to despots who want to keep their subjects in sutsjection. No other means of strengthening their dominions and preserving trait. quillity ever seem to occur to the restored remnants of the old school but the old practice and the old wespons—huilding ramparts And castles and fora , cations. They seem to imagine that peace ,catr only I be secered by a cliertax of the symbols of was, and think of uotbing but exhibiting on all occasions .....a. —... . ••• . . Thene,•onnt at the health of the Quer( yesterday • wss—" The QUEEN continues better." Y•st•rday 'unrolls./ the luggage of the Duke sel Dareese'of CASISNIGOT, end their Suite, was re. moved from Cneihritige..boute, in a WO caravan sad cart, to Deptford, to be put on board, a ,tranopirt, to be conveyed to Hanover. The herees of' their Royal ili g hnpmes will be removed this day from lowa to Deptford, for the Warne porptvee. ~ ott. .s. .1. Friday evening the Inter frigate, Captain I. FounesT, C• 11.. 111141111104 to POrlSoloolls from Noe. foundland, having taken out Vice.Admirat Sir C. Hams:rote, Sart. who took spot% him the hovers. meat of that Island and iii deroutienctes ou the 20th of July. . •v . . Relf•AdfnitAl °TWAT hnleten hi s flag on Friday , afternoon, at Portsmouth , in the Phaeton, Captain t),I DILLON, under the usual seletes, tend sailed Skilvi. (lay afternoon to take the comosaw4, at Leith. It is rather a remarkable occurrence that the Reor•Ailwi. v, ral should 'hoist his fla g , for I fie: first time, in the '''.,,! same ship in which he first embarked fur sea its midshipman, 35 years sinc , . The Phaeton wallies commanded by Sir JOHN COLPOYS. The Alexanderand Isabella (two of the Northern- . i Discovery expedition ships) were spoken with on the ~ 7th ult. in lat. 73. 41.10ng. 45. by the Andrew Mar• eel, arrived at Mull from the Davis's Straits Fishery, and were in sight on the 15th, persevering to the northward. If unsuccessful in the first instance, it was understood they would put back Lieve Harbert, South East Bay, and winter. Many rumours have been afloat respecting the fate of young Guy, in the service of WHITLARE and Co. who was entrusted by them with a considerable sum of money to purchase wool with. It now turns out that tin violent hands have been laid on him, St 'some suspected ; he has absconded, and is gone to a distant clime. e may give some further particalus !at a future day.—(Nottinglau»s Review.) Twenty-five thoosatid melt of the Army of Oars. 1 pation, it is said, 'hill be reduced on its return fres Franre. On the 6th inst. was executed, at Baden. cgt Vienna, a young peasant gill, who had poisoned her mistress, in eider to marry her master (an old matt), who was in love with her. We lament to find, from the Papers received jet• teiday, that the typhus fever is on the increase in se• aar'i parte of. Irelasid. le Dublin thereinto been ss awful increase singe &larch last. Waterford in the South, and Sligo- iw the West, suffee severely from its malignant spread. According to private accounts from Msitchrster, upwards of 500 of the refractory cotton-spittak have returned to their employment at the old print; and some hundreds more, who had made a Oa" overture, were to resume working yesterdslee• ( Times.) LEAMINGTON SPA.—The demand for houses at NI very rapidly rising watering-place is m ost astonish. lag; and not withstentling they have doubled the env her of lodgings within the last twelve months, the" is not sufficient accommodation for the amazing ins flu: of visitors. Among the late arrivals We noti" the following distinguimhed characters, eit.:--Tht Earl and Countess of Chatham, the Ertl of Aylef• lord, the D 9 ke of Grafton and family, the Bishops( Meath and family, the Right llntinurahle Lord Wel• pole. the Duchess Dowager of Rutland snit sailer Sir John Stilton, Sir D. 13avley, Sir John Seing ters Lord Mouse, and the Esti Red Countesi of War I and family. The new hotel nun building well 041 %sick upwards of 16,0001. On Monday a Meeting of • large body colliers ern held at Kersal Moor, who came to some restdotioa' on the subjwct of an advance of wages. The Meetil was conducted in regular form, and certain iudin• duals made Speeches on the occasion. this nous . their chit! that the changed • J.,..Q.. Jjk .. i_. ! - N,.- - .V_ .stAlko-ic- --- 4.A 4. c.: •, , e _tyr, sry4 4rrFP‘T AN . • _ .... -....." ' • r , ' 4 6 4 m f g h•y prectivs are to protect his Netherland -- , .. . , .---- ...ma. - • men a•• hi iv , eso I' iirl • *word: , been able' to see pn 1 c„k:, , tre s 4s• g . ti THIS 5 1) p it er Y 06 A; .. k . ” 1 !'... ......; . 1 : r• ..LATIN!, liorl kin' (I to Vie . 11 . 4.6 .1. 4 1 11 „ , ;(4 5. . . 761 1 4V% Bt a bonse'v 5 I ,),Perrt,:" - co , ' i t i ,o )d n i :rovil I 1 L. liiiJallt) in his "Ceil, aggraudiaemenle, bnOloas o at i ons , i e w hich si t peters.. .: i. . Elck."(l l !er •-- -- . BOLL is the chief COtttribiltor to ahe expellee dins if s .. • • • ""~' l' for Aec.itiir Ossitna , 3e . . nearly the letter . 4 per Ceot. 95ii . . tarred . t.. , 2,.., vnt have enacted . . 7 I . .- -....war....mi.... OS-011- "glifliiiiiir:* , - , ---.-. _ I ---- -- - - -- , . • Aceordloi to some private accounts ,4 4 1T.P . 141 * iou is the result.; ... i t (WM t-Se itirSM.44iVe. A _____been received frlrlMilifttStelr y es t erday, spiiia t d s 2./.'..a.t.-.l_ . ' _____ . ........----•••••___—... 4.. ...... 7 "." ' . ... .7ka . • •-,„*.a....c.i.. ll.i —..t.on-aninnsii L... I