The Express.
London, England, 1864-09-23 00:00:00

BRITAIRGA.

TRW ETENHEE THE /AItiof3PROGREi.4.- Singing by
Mears. fl. Clifton sod Louis Liodmy : Madame Pleou.—Mr. G.
W. leater.—Coucluding with THE MUTINY AT THE EOM

HIGH WATER AT LONDON-BRIDGE.

THIS DAT:7lc;t7linl: 7h Im7...Alterooon, M. Urn.
T,Nivar.k.w Morning, 66. 8m ....Afternoon, ft. 61m.

LoNDON, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23.

WE are accustomed to indulge the pleasing be-
lief that all the tendencies of the age conspire to
make it impossible to conceal the grosser forms of
oppression, violence, and abuse from the public
eye, or withdraw them beyond the reach of the
law. The sight of a dungeon in some old ruin,
such as maybe seen in the remains of a castle or an
abbey, prompts the grateful reflection that we
now live in days of enlightenment, of telegraphs
and newspapers, of stipendiary magistrates and
detective police. Society, throughout its organiza-
tion, is quivering with energy ; and with its life we
infer its light must be increased. Legal justice with
us is like the sun, " there is nothing hid from the
" heat thereof." Certain recent occurrences have
tended to render this confidence less absolute than
before. While the view under notice is un-
doubtedly true in the main, we are made aware
that it must be held with some modifications.
The discovery of the lunatics who had been con-
fined in the west of England with every circum-
stance of illegality and wrong was a startling fact.
So was the murder of Mr. Hama& And now the
public learn that a lady may actually be imprisoned
for a couple of years in a large house in a respect-
able London suburb, subject throughout that
period to personal violence, without discovery, and
apparently without any suspicion on the part of
the neighbours.
Whatever may be alleged to extenuate the con-
duct of Mr. EDWARD HAMMOND at his approaching
trial, it is not likely to be denied that he locked
his wife in an iron-barred room in his house
at Peckham, where she was at the mercy
of his female servants, who had the custody of her
person, wore her clothes, rode in her carriage, and
when they pleased beat her severely about the
head. This treatment was the lot of a lady who
had brought her husband, a member of one of
the liberal professions, an income of 6001. a year.
How long it would have continued had not
its victim excited the pity of a passerby,
with whom she communicated by means of a scrap
of paper torn from the walls of her room, can
only be conjectured. When at length the facts
came to the knowledge of her sister's husband,
and measures were taken for her release, the con-
stable, who was sent to her husband's residence
in the middle of the day, had to get over a
barred gate in order to reach it, and found the
outer door guarded with a chain, and was with
difficulty admitted by Mr. HAMMOND. His wife's
prison was found to be a wretchedly furnished bed-
room, rank with a loathsomeodour. The lady was
without decent attire, her Paisley shawls and silk
dresses having passed into the hands of more
favoured wearers, and she appeared before the
magistrate in borrowed clothing. Dr. C. B.
Buouir., the medical gentleman who examined her
at her sister's request, stated his opinion that her
intellect was clear and of a high order, but the
natural consequences of confinement, without air
and exercise, were visible in her body, which was
emaciated, like that of a person who had had a
long illness. In her evidence before the magis-
trate the unfortunate lady said she could not tell
how many times she had been beaten by her ser-
vants, the number was so great.
We purposely abstain from noticing the reasons
which, according to Mrs. lismmoNn's belief, led
to her harsh treatment, or to the circumstances
which make them probable ; and as Mr. HAM-
stosn's defence is reserved, there is nothing to be
said from his point of view. These matters will
be fully investigated in due time. We may re-
mark, however, that of conscious, premeditated,
and rancorous cruelty on the part of the husband
there seems to be no evidence. The wrongs which
Mrs. HAMMuND endured appear rather to
be such as would be likely to befall a wife of
not very strong will, whose husband, a man weak-
ened by sensual indulgence, had fallen under the
control of the women about him. Whether this
was actually the case here we have not the mate-
rials for deciding. It does not, however, seem
that Mrs. IiamMOND was abut up for
any other reason than that it was con-
venient for the inmates of Laurel-house to
have her out of the way. The remarkable part
of the case is that they were able to effect their
object for so long a time. Mrs. HAMMOND was first
imprisoned in a room at Lanark-house, Peckham,
in September, I,$G2. Then there was a removal
to Laurel-house, which was for her only a change
of cells, and throughout the period of two years,
until the 7th of the present month, when Mrs. HILL
opened an imperfect comiutinication with her, and
supplied her with writing materials conveyed to
her window on the end of a long stick, she had
no means of acquainting her friends with her
unhappy condition. Perhaps, however, after all,
the possibility of such a sequestration is not so
very astonishing. It has often been remarked
that-isolation, whether of individuals or of fami-
lies, is nowhere carried so far as in large cities.
Poets celebrate tie retirement of the country, but

the true solitude is found by the thousands who
annually retire from the provinces to London,