The Sun. — London, England, 1817-07-03 00:00:00

-would dot lonit. -enjoy the misetable :pittance ; fin -lie did not think the people of this country were vet prepared to leave; to their posterity nothing ; ur fettered hands. The only part of the Right -Honourable Gentleman's statement which seemed to be any thing tike an_answer, was that which re-, jated to. the Petition : there teas, therefore, still much that wanted exohnation. ,Either there had been two Petitions, and one had been mislaid, or "the Petitioner did not know; secluded as he was inforiotiort.„ what:was the fate of the Pc titimt that had hee . n. pi - clewed. :slow, as to the point aboor .Evatilheiug put in irons, the % a")l3,AKer.iva's trlltrlly onsatisfactory. " It ro the practice of the prison to place p.‘qpi? in irons;" Ten why wadi 11 Sin't to this pri'son ? No man titight tobe put in irons till he was convicted, unless lor . the purpose of se' , 7nri ig hint; and the persons in question Were only committed Ott suspicion, and' :wit hoot ally' posit Ile information against `them, or at least without such as could - be got Ne woUld not advert to the felon's bed, or the fare,'or the otlrer privations which the Pe titioner experienced ; but there was one cir cumstattee that he • could not pa3s over, and 'that was, the robbing this poor man of [di flute, which contributed to 'beguile his dreaty boors: 'E'very body had read of a man con -fined in' the Bastillc, who had made an :as 'odate of A spider, tvhich the jailer perceiv ing, • had killed ; and this was justly stigmatised as an act of the most horrible cruelty that could be committed. He would leave the House to de, ride whether there was-not a great analogy be• tweenthe two cases. The - Hon. Gentleman then 'rectipitula'teti his terittement of the severities he 'supposed to be eicreised, and argued,' that if any. person so confined :Were to lose his life, the I-louse would have grathed to Ministers, not :the power • of confinement, hot that of life anti death'. .Lit those- (said he) who have support it measure take care, then, that the blood hf siteh persons does !sot lie on their headS.- , -- TO say that it was a libel on the Jailers to doubt their good conduct, was straining at a gnat and sWallowing a -camel. Those who had no feeling' fur the public *ere all at once airaid lest the character of vriaitt:r should suffer, and he be taile4l to account fne his condUct. It had been such prisoners . nsiglePetition hut hoW teeyetlity to to abont if, when no person was gd,ffere'd to conic near them ? Wer'e they to ad tress" the jailer, and desire him to write the Pe titions for them? BA he should trouble the House n, furth er. further. At thuth remaine"(l iincott fradieted of this case a'S- he conceived to call for ftsrther inquiry, and the House was bound to see that the great poWerS entrusted . to ;Ministers were tnildly exercised ; and they could do nothing more t 6 satisfy the people, than to she* them that suds powers were lift eierCis'ed with rigour Or abuse. M should note more " That the • Petition of alms. Evans - 1e referred to a Select Committee." Mr. Annit:bteiN said, that on offering himself' the House to make a very few observations on is-hat had fallen froth the Hon 'Gentleman, he thOold treSpAss on their patience hut a short time, he had yesterday gone into such particulars as lie had hoped would have been satisfactory. In what he was going to state, he should think proper to pass by those general topics On which the Hon. Member had dwelt at souse length, he hoped he would not think that the least disrespect was' intended towards him, but that they were not answered, hec,ause he did not think 'them imme diately relevant to the subject, and bectaxse he Considered the time of the Mute to be most va luable. He must return the Hon. Gent. his thanks tor the compliments he had paid to his Noble Re lative, and he assured him, that he could not bdt be the list persan to think lie had been 6ctuated by any motive ,of personal hostility. But Certainly he had s not anticipated that he woidd Inure had - any complaint to mite against the Se cretary of State for the Home Department, after the explanation he had given last night. He had proved, even to demonstration, that the petition was not detained in the Home Department 24 0111.5 . He had informed the House yesterday, that had received a receipt 'from Mr. Harmer, the petitioner's solicitor, for the petition which was kiven hack, and which was the only ()tie that had vcr come to his office. This reeeipt he bath at that 'Moment in his hand. Whetherthis w - as the actual lietition alluded to, be could not say. As to the other point, that this Noble Relative ought daily to inf9ent hitnselr of the interiot stitte of those prisons, It did appear ty be a most extraordi ifity charge against "a Secretary of State, who was perfectly ready to receive 'at4 complaint, that lie should not have made daily inquiries into the COnd'tion of the prisoners. It was open to the isrisoners to Make any complaint ; and none had ever come but that Of the younger Mr. Evans, to 'tvhieb he bad alluded yesterday. There never bad been any denial of pen, ink, and paper; and even If a pris'oner could not Write, he might send ,any complaint he had to make by the jailor : an in 'stance had occurred of a verbal request having . 'been sent from prisoner by the jailor of Cold bath-fields. The Hon. Gentleman had adverted to what he (Mr. Addington) had said - on a former -Occasion, and, as be observed, with some degree of warmth. He admitted he had felt warmly on the occasion, hot if he had- not been interrupted; 'as he most properly was, by the Right Ho 7 nourahle Gentleman to whom he addressed hint self, he meant to have asked how it was pos 'sible for 'the Secretary of State to know what passed 'in the interior of the prison, when, if any prisoner felt the smallest oppression, or 'conceived himself improperly treated, he had the :right of complaining. As to the insinuations of 'the Hon. -Gentleman, that persons were sent to' 'prison with no charges against them, that could 'be got at, he would only say, that not one of these persons was committed to prison without previOus depositions being taken Ott oath before a -Magistrate. It *as true, that in the Circular Letter sent to the jailers, all persons not coin ' witted 'on suspicion of High Treason were ex cluded. But it was open to any person Vo mike application to the Secretary of State for perinission to Visit a prisoner so committed, and he was sure that 'the `House Would feel that it was right to listit 'this permission under some restraint. He 'felt it his duty to exculpate the•individnals against vltes'en ,such 'Charges 'Were . made ; antl-iworder to investigate the foundation for them, he had thought • .• 7 . it necessary to send lot tli ragain and • e mine him, that he might hear what he had to gaY in I►is ji.stificaiicin again , t any of the charges al: leged against • him. With respect to the allow ance of coals, the j,,iler was not permitted to depart from the ordinary rides of the prison; but there was in winter an unlimited allowance adieu' ; though in summer the quantity for culinary purposes was abridged. There was a re.zulation also respect ing candles. Evans certainly diL) complain of not being allowed can4les:; and the jailer told him that he could nut violate the rules of the, prison tvithont higher authority, but he. might apply to the Secretary of tate for an order to receive them. As for the flute, the jailor said. it was an invari , able role of tile prison pot - to allow musical- in struments in it. Ile regretted that this - rule . caused the prisoner to be deprived of his flare, bat whe'!irr the action deserved the epithets ap plied to it, seeing that it was the consequence of a regulation, he must he permitted to douht. 7 --; With respect to the bed furnished to Mr. Evans, it was a perfectly new one, and of a better descrip tion than the others in the same prison. Mr. Evans, he further remarked, might have had fur niture of his own• brought in to him, but no ap plication for permission to do so had ever been made. He had asked the jailer if the Sheriff often visited the prison ? and had been answered in the affirmative. The Sheriff, when he visited Mr. Evans, hail been accompanied by a most respect able Gentleman, a Member of that House, and the statement whieb he (Mr. Evans) then made with respect to his situation was such, that he knew not bow to reconcile it with that contained in the Pe tition. The Honourable Member to whom he had alltuled.could correct hint if what he had just advanced was -in any respect incorrect. Upon the whole of the facts he submitted, that - if the jailor had exercised hite.thrty „with any apparent rigour, in, the case of a person of whom he heard nothing but good—elle praises of whose humanity were in every mouth—if such an individual had been more strict than was absolutely necessary, would the House feel he merited any severity of censure for adhering to what be understood to he his instruc tions ? He had on Tuesday received two letters from the ,other prisoners confined in the same prison ueder similar circumstances, couched in the strongest terms of gratitude for the extreme kindness and•humanity with which they had : been treated by the jailor. He felt it to be his duty to oppose the motion. Mr• B. : Straw spoke to the correctness o f the . conduct•of the bead jailer, and of thtise employed tinder him. He had been that day to the prison, and had seen the, whole - of the persons confined on suspicion of-High Treason. He had asked" them, if, abstracting the cause of • their confine-: meat, they had any objection to make to, Or ob servation to offer on, the treatment they bad ex perienced from the jailer, or the restrictions tin der which they had been placed by the Magi strates. .All declared, that so far as the Magis trates and. jailer svere concerned, they had no oh servati-Ons to:•-offt'r. The elder Evans said, that '' Freedom was sweet, and he . wiAred to be rated, but he had nothing to say against the jailer." Piikington declared, that "-so far front having any thing to, object to him, he should al.; ways regard • 'ruin with • love and gratitude."— Young Evans complained that be was riot allowed catoges. This, he said, was of little importance now, but it would be more seriously felt as the nights grew longer. By that time the Hon. Member had no doubt this subject rebtad be taken into consideration. Ogden, with tears in his eyes, had replied to the questions put to him, " So long as Menuity- holds her seat, .so long shall 1 remember with gratitude the conduct of the jailer, for be has been a friend to me it my distress." Mr. BENNETT had known the jailor long, and had known nothing of him but what redounded to his credit. The question, however, was not whether the jailor bad properly executed his Or ders, but whether the rules .and regulations in themselves were proper. • Every thing material in the ,Petition had been .admitted. The statement that pens, ink, and paper, tt ere not allowed to the prisoners, he believed to be incorrect, but for th.erest,what bad been stated appeaVed•to be (roe. He proceeded to vindicate the principal allega tions in the Petition. He contended the prison ers bad been treated with wanton cruelty,, but he considered the Goveroment alone were ,in fault. When the prisons, in 'which the persons recently taken tip were now confined, were built, the country .was not under a government like the present, and those places were only made fit for the reception of felons. • If the eastern' iIOW acted upon were persevered in, itavonld .he found neces sary to build special prisons for the reception of those - who Were' t$ he deprived of their liberty under the Habeas Corpus Suspension Act. He should-give his vote for the motion of. his Hon. Friend. Mr. 11. SUMNER stated the prison to have been visited by three Magistrates at the Conroy, sobse qoent to the committal of the prisoners ; Mr. Young and Mr. Laing were of the number. They visited the cells without any objection being mitre to their doing so. Evans complained of having been pot in irons, Which be said was grating to his feelings. He bad been told this teas contrary to the rule of the prison,- unless it was. ordered by the Secretary of State. He (Mr. H. Sumner) bad understood that the jailor, as he was accus tomed to put persons charged with felonies in irons, had conceived himself bound to take the same course with an ,individual who was charged with a still higher offence. The Magistrates re commended the prisoner to present a memorial to the Secretary of State; this was done, and the memorial immediatelyproduced the desired effect. He bore testimony to the generally unexception able character of the jailor, and was of opinion the error into which he had fallen, from a mis construction of his orders, tinder all the circum stances, ought mist to lie noticed. He described he dimensions of the prison; stated the prisoner to have been at liberty to send for his own furniture, arid added, this had been done "bv Mr. L.-Hunt, who Was confined in .the same apartment, and furnished as it -was by him, he (Mt. Sumner) had never been in a more comfortable room iu his life. Mr. Evans might . have made it the same. With respect to_fira, the• prisotser bad been re stricted, not-as-to-quantity,.-but as to stime. -If be bad been deprived of his flute, other enjoy ►nettts were left to biol. Penis, were. allowed, and also books, s hich he had the liberty of ex'changi►►g as often as could not sed that any blame attached" to those by, 1iC , 1 , 1 those matters %vete regulated. Mr. STUAIyr ‘VonTLEY, since he had. sat in that House, had ►►ever heard a -case more completely iffiswered, and'had never seen one more=eviden►ly trumped up, for the purpose of impoiing on the public. The first allegation---that respdeting the Petition said to have. been withheld, was a direct falseho►►d. The Petitioner might not have known that it was`pres'et►ted by'tlte Hon. Ocioreman op posite: hot his Solicitor, Mr. Harmer, must have known that it had been returned to hin t from the Office of the Secretary of State He, therefore, in suffering this charge to stand, had allowed a falsehodd to be stated, as it shonl&seein, that it might be published iii all the Sunday newspapers before it could he contradicted; He sliould have expected the Hon. Gentlents') who presented the former Petiti - on - to* have objected *to that ‘vhich was now under conSideration. The present Pe tition he - believed - to have been only trumped up to inflame the public - mind (male passing of the Habeas Corpus Suspension Ace. The grievances of which the Petitioner complained, he had more direct means of getting redressed, had• he not pre ferred coaling to that House, with the views he had. already imputed to him'. Instead of being confined in a dungeon, it turned out the apart ment. allotted to blur was unusually large and: con venient : the arcade was well calculated for exer cise and air. To the rules of the prison the Peti tioner was bound to submit, and in no one in stance had a case of wanton cruelty been made out. He could wish the prisoners were.admitted to the garden, but if this were contrary to those rules necessarily adopted for the security of other prisoners, the Petitioner had no right to complain that it had not been allowed him, He was frien& ly to the Suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act, because he loved the Constitution of his cotintry, apd thought this measure necessary to preserve- it. It was, however, the duty of that House to watch carefully over those who might be confined under it ; but at the same time, they ought to take care that the House should not be made the vehicle of unfounded accusations. Mr. BENNETT arid Mr. S. WORTLEY mutually explained. • fir F. BURDETT said, the reasoning of the-Hon.. Gentleman who hail just sat down, and who', toy , ing the Constitution of his country, that was,-the liberty of the subject, could take ,the course 'he had taken, was such that he could find-no ground on which to raise an argument with him. If the Petition on the table were,false, that was a strong reason why the Hon. Gentleman should wish it made the subject of-an inquiry. He remembered having been much.opposed when he called the at tention of the House to certain abuses, which •af- terwards turned out to be true, and he. was, then met try precisely the same sort of arguments and assertions which had been med on the present oc casion. ile could not think the prv:]ent Petitioner deserved to be stigmatised Jinving ; ..now.ng.y stated shat was false. A pavane' had be.en.drawn between the - circumstance of Mr. Evans being de prived of his flUte, and the story told of a_person confined irithe Bastille, and a spider. The pre sent case, however, was not so -similar to that which had been alltided to, as one which occurred some years ago in Cotltitith-fields prison. . Mr. Ark, it would be remembered, was at that time spoken of by many respectable Menthe's of that House as a person who only deviated from the rules by which his conduct ought to be regulated, through his excessive humanity. In every other respect his Conduct wa'• said to be excellent. An Hon. and - Religious Member of that House, whose opinions had great weight— Mr. STUART WORTLEY appealed to the Speaker if the Hon. Baloact was not out of order. The SPEAKEI: Wat sure that , any epithet applied ironically or disrespectfully to any Member of that House, personally, could not be other than dis orderly ; and the lion. Ili..ronet had not to learn, that the expression he had used was not common ly made use of to indicate any particular - Member. Sir F. BURDETT bad not used the expression in question f ironically, but distinctively.. That Hon. Member, whose opinions bad great weight in that House, had been so fai-itnposed upon, that he had declared the House of Correction, in Cold Bath Fields, to resemble an hospital rather alai a pri son. He (Sir F. Burdett) knew better at the time, but an Hon. Gentleman,"then a Member of that House (Mr. Wilberforce Bird) had told them of a man who was confined in a solitary cell for 11 or 15 -months between 4 wails, inclosing a space of 8 feet by 6, and heavily ironed. During a severe winter, a robin carne into the cell of tins unfortu nate person. 'The man fed the robin with crumbs, and the bird grew faniiliar with him, and - at last became so much"so, that even the entrance Pt the turnkey did not disttsrb him. Aris'did not ~tten look Ow his prisoners,lfimself, but one morning going into tl►is cell, and perceiving the. robin, he immediately took it from the, man, and squeezed it to death in his hand. The prisoner was so shocked at this act of cruelty, that he declared he could not have endured a greater pang if all the relations he-had in the world'had been sacri ficed before his face. Till! story had been, told of that jailer, whose only fault %vas' his excessive humanity., lie hoped the Hbuse would put•sue the same course now which was taken - then, fun{ inquire into the merits of the case now brought before them. It had been said by a celebrated writer, that " the steeled jailer was seldom the friend of man." The keoer of Horsemonger lane prison might be a man of humanity, hut still he contended the case was one tvidich called for inquiry. He argued at somilengrp on the hard ships to which the prisoner had been subjected, and showed, on the authority of Lord Coke, and also on the authority of the old bOok called "'Tie Mirror," that a man confined under such circum stances ought not to be put in irrins. 1 it were wished to create dissatisfaction in the country, he did not think a better course could be taken than that which -Ministers had judged it advisable to tak . c. He supported the motion. Lord CASTLEREAGH thought mitch of .what had been said would have been better offered on the Habeas Corpus Suspension 33111, than on the pre sent occasion. With. respect N . /the:special titles (ion before the House, he did not see any thins to t,,11 rot ing.iiry. 11 in zliicease it mere ti;,; , ;._.Lt nece'sstor'y, they might be lea to i,n4pii . re imo it he state of all the prisons fn the country., or they t►nigl.t , . he ten to construct hew prisons for the reciption of such pet icUts as were nor confined under the Suspension Act. It had not beets shewn that an teal grievance had been complained of _which the proper anthoritics had not exerted themselves to 'redies.s. It MI such groundS' .intptiries were to—take , place., the Honse would have nothing else to do. it, had been seep t 44 the otficer3 of the jail had done their duty, and that Goveriment had stepped fOrWard ttr ictieve• the•prittoners,. as- tar as they could with propriety, and, tinder such circumstances, be could hardly think the Hon. Gentleman would persevere in his motion. If the - case referted - to by the Honourable Baronet were held -to he an ar--; gument intavour of-the present motion, it might be regarded as a standing reason for going into an inquiry. on every petition of the kind that might be presented': He was of opinion• no case 'had been made out—that no cause for complaint bad been illOWn to exist, which steps bad not already been taken to . remove. Lord COCHRANE was of opinion,lhat the House would be better occupied by inquiries like that now suggested, than it had.been of late, for bad they not been employed through a considerable part of the present Session in destroying; 4fit liberties of England ?—(Cries of ‘• Order," " hear," &c.) The SPEAKER appealed to" the House anyi thing more disorderly could be said at any timic:, than that they were occupied in destroying the li berties of the country: Lord COCHRANE snid, it might be better that he diotrld say, they had been suspending the liber ties of the country : but suspended as he believed them to be in perpetuity, he could hot bUt ceasi der, that under such circumstances the Constitn: don of the country was subverted, where liberties like those of Englishin'en had ever existed. Ht: spoke at some length against the . SuspemiOn of the HabeaS . Corptis Act, and supporting the motion before the House.;`. he stated fifteatLallegazonS be contained in the petition, had received DO answer, and Which ,set iot'th the most niateriat facts of the case. . General HOPE stated, the ailioation in the F'' - tition which.represented the petitlooer to off froin the rays Of the sun, was wholly tinfo::- ed. Ti) - ereacle, he described to he an airy p4s sage, about six fVet four inches broad, with win dogs, through which, by Ricans of'a stool, Me: Evans &ilea amused himself wit 4 a telescope view ing the Surrey 'hills.. Ppdt! . tile' whole, he bad, never hooWoof a person, having . the inisfortan,t,to be confined at all, Who had less 'cause fut cain- plaint. ' •rcplied, after which the nottou r ky,ai negatived wittiout a division. Thr Electron Laws Amendment Bill WilS committA, ar the Report ordered to. be receired to-mot row. Lord BINNING nstirekt that the Order'of the D a y f or the Report on the DIA India Navigation Laws be read. Till tiont , e tl;ern went into a Committee nit toe ab s& Ord.er„xrber4 th:.. Report was considered, and the Bill octleret! e 1-,eaot third time to-ntorpoW. , Vratne-brealting...Psevention ,wa6 . read a 5e.:414 time, and oracred to lie e.omruitted to-moir_ow. Sir .1. C HIPPISLEN b u;ht in the Cc4liers' raytacr.; Bill, which , was read a first. time, and order:ed to be reed second tine to-morrow.. The Extents in . .40.8M .went througts • the lteport was retA red, and'Oraerod to In talseo rota foniuT, . ..,eport was receives', aoo - further cohsideration to-naorrow ; and the Bill as awen.dett was ordered to be printed. • The Iti,b Grand, .Juiy,Presentment Bill went through a Committee; the Report was received and iigreed - to, au id the Bill was ordered to he reuk a third time in Friday. - The cottage Window Tax EKemption Bill, She Prize-money Bill, and the Navy Pay Office Regulation Bill, were read a st.• cond time, and ordered to be committed to-tuoirow. Mr. Brogilen brought up the Report - of the Sal& Rentss Distress Bill, which was agreed to, and the Bill •ordered , to he read a third time to-roorriv. The FricOhitis Arrests. Bill went through a Committee, the Report of which %%las ordered to he received to-trcorrow. The 'visit Fairs Regulation Bill was .Pead . a second time. and o rdered t o he cominitteitto-morrow., The IriShl.unatic Poor Dill was read a second time, and or dered to hestanmittect.to-morrow. . • • The Bank Token Stoppage Bill w:It; read, a second time, and ordered to be committed ta-ntorrow. The . Coal and Calm Bill was read a third time and pasc•tii. fu r. - Brugden brooght up the Report of the Land-tax iteL dentition Bill, which was agreed ;o, bud the pill vc..s to he read a third time to,rnorrow, The Irish Distilh-ry Bill went through a Committee, the Report of which was ordered to be received to-morrow: The Hackney Coach Licenses Bill went. through a Com mitiee, the Report of which was ordered to he received tse• morrow. Adjourned at Twelve o'clock. • nor INT E LLIGLNCE.. SoUTTIA'ARK,JoNE 3a.—We hatl not much - trade last week, not73ny alteration itro , ,,r i rrices,--The duty has been done to-day at 90,0001. ' MAIDSTONE,,, JUNE 30.—Letters front ‘Vor,.. tester, Sussex, and our own-neighbourhood, all concur in stating, that the Plantations vreseut a very gloomy arkaraoce. Lice and . Honey abound beyond all fumner ptccenent, tOeir ravages to • the he. of the bins, sknil where the hint is weak, it has stopped 'growing, and the stony bine is sitikiug. Tne , Wealti ut Kent is short of bine and. full of vcvmin. COAL MiNREET, 'JULY 2. Ships sold., • Price. 35: 3(i to 4 2s• fa, 375. Od. to JSs. fAt. .al. Market.. 544 Nvweast 4 Sunderland BIRTIIB. YeAterday, in HamiltOn;plate, • Piciadilly, her Oract the Duchess of Bedford, of •a son. • • This morning, Mrs. J., W. brooks' r of the raiid,, of a son. On the 25th ult. at Rotterdam, the L.nly c,f Cornetio%. Stolker, Esq. of that place, of a dadgliter. On Tuesday last, in New floswel I-con Lincoln's ari the-f,ady'of Boyce Combe, Esq. of a daughtNr. ALUULIED, On the Ist inst. at St. Pat ox's Church, Wall;Ward , neklq.. Walter Jackson, of Gutter-lane,•CheaPside, to Nlist P,Opc, only daughter of the late Dr. Pope, of [Jenks, Oxon. Yesterday, at. St. George's, Hanorer-sqllirC:John .11adock, Esq. Ad lirow-iw,.Denbiehshire, to Sidney, youngest daughter of the late Ahrahaut RobarD, F.sq. of Lower Grosvenor -street. - • DIED. On MonilaT last, suddenly, at Hampstead, Mary Octavi the wife of Wright, of Oxford-street. •- On Tueselayloorning, at Ilastings, Mrs. Clark, widow Of the late Dr. Clark, of Newcastle. LONDON: Printed by J. B. CARSTAIRS,.of Nu. es, Great Ormond-street, Queen-square; and published by W. A. SCRIPPS, of No. 7, South Molten-street, at THE SUN, Office, No. 119., Strand; where Adrettisements, 'Otlyre, Letters, &c. ,punt-paid) must be addressed,.