The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1808-06-13 00:00:00

ROYAL HUMANE SOCIETY.

Yesterday the annual Secirion, in aid of the
Royal 11iiinaue Societe, was ptearli,d at St. Mar-
grwet's Church, Webt;nipiat r, by the itev. W. W.
Deaf xs, LA. B. F.A.S. Chaplain to thcor Royal
Highnesses the Dukes of Vow.: and thasttlESTLIL,
and Precentor oftheCollegisteCtinrch of St. Peter,
Westutinster. The interesthei..scene of so many
fellow-creatures restored to lee, the well known
abilities and teal of the Rev. Divine, and the vocal
powers of Messrs VATTSHIAK, BEALS, HuISFALI.,
11,taass. and Boys, and the Young Gentler's.n of
the IVestminster Choir, who had kindly vnturi-
t.ered their services on the occasion, drer. a swine-
nits and respectable congregation.—Prenons to
the sermon, a beautiful anthem was sung. The
l'reacher took his text from the 14th chapter of
Job, verse 14, " If a seas die shall he live again."
He mid this at first would appear a parades, even
to us, who had the benefit of ieVelatl..ll, tin wonder
it dni to Job and his companions. After having il-
lustrated his subject, he defender] philosophy
from the charge of presumption, a.sl the attacks of
ignorance, and peuved that the inventions and doe
eo7eries of philosophy were heretic: al to mankind.
as to it we are indebted for all improvements and
dizzomiries in the moral rust physical weld, and
ovary branch of science ; and pliihnoat in, con-
tended, directed by a fain,' ote:I to truth, as.
rioted in the study awl l,r cal, e. 4 revealed religisio:
The text was not bale! consist, red as conveying a
doubt of the future existo.ce of the soul, but as
was clearly expresstil in the r.nniiader of the verse,
a eisaeictou that man should Lye his appointed
*Me, Mad a belief that the of his time
hero was ordained.—lt might then be asked, he
said, was it not impious to restore after death? But
this was i;atisfsietorily answered, by the example of
our Savour resto:ing Lazarus, &e. Hie then pro-
ceeded. moo: eloquently. to describe the situation
of supposed to be dead, and that mauy
might be restored. :Stull the blued " said he,
, which lately warmed and animated this body, be
again endued with motion, shall the powers of ac-
tion be restored, the Vaal spark relighted, the pulse
be wade to beat again, tail this man be raised
to join the universal chorus of praise and thanks-
giving to his Greater ? What heart does not
joie with me in sidling it possible, and that the
art of nun could do it—!t has been done by the
Houma. Society-.. See, he lives ! And not iu one so-
litary instance. but upwards of 3000 persons hare
been restored to themselves, their families, and
couutry. Some of them were suffering from acLa-
dent, and many of them she victims of despair.
Look at the persons present ; they we-e on the
brink of eternity ; the waters had enclosed them,
the weeds encircled, and 'mai was ready to receive
them, which of you would not hare stretched out
your hand to lace them Now, behold *e father
restored to his tensity, infants to their parents, mid
suicides .to .t in tile evecutioo of their purpose.
blessing tired- fnr having given them !lOW
•to prepare fir an as fug eternity. ' The eloquent
Preacher was perticularlr afiecting in this part of
his discour,e. He stated that the resiscitating art
way lint discover& d and practised in this imuutry„
and had no •V spread all over the walla that nee
discoveries are always opted and negiccted by ig-
norance and prejudice ; but that toe discoveries in
uiedirel science had succeedeil, and that prejudice
had given way to coneictioa. He coorluded by a
most forcible appeal to the charity of hiy auditory,
whom he entreated to g.ve as though themselves,
or -onse d..ar relatives, might become objects of the
Society's attention and care. Alter the sermon.
another anthem was sua4. The collection, we
understand, amounted to 431. es. which masa very
handsome steu, considering they hare had three
other charity sermons within three months.

Th.. East Kent Militia have marched for Chiches-
ter.—.% !arty of the Oxford Nlslitia. which are at
Haslar Barracks, have twil'oarkel ow board the Suf-
folk prison-ship, Lieut. Bitcuta, at Portsmouth.
The Meeting at the (risen and Anchor-tavern,
nn Saturday, to conoiler of so application to Par-
liament for powers to complete a Canal trom Mar-
ket to the (;taini Junction Camul.
Cieretty open a direct com.nuukattou, by inland
pat:cation, Gets eon the metropolis mid Leicester-
• Nottatiultanashire, Derbyshire. add other
Niirthern cenal,t'ai-s, was very respectably attended,
▪ tLe projected selietwe unanimously approved
of and aloirted ; and sub,criptialas to a considera-
ble st.iouut wste tannedii:tely entti-ed tutu.

- L.ll INIWMGENCE.

CACIRT Or EnkG SIECW, /17YAC 1 I

Sittivt at.iTeit,FinqtrluAre tortlEt.UN,fmlr
and e Special Arry.
GEICLRAL
Twit Jitneys,. ratrXes,en.ro:t.
This was an indictment agaiiist ( :acerao:- Pirton,
dierging him with havingirdrunianly cotue-d.Louim
Lal,tiorie, on- of His je,tv's eub,;,.cts, to he
tortured end that !le (lid it uiAanfully and mali-
ciously. Ti,_ ciscutostancee of this ease base al-
ready been detailed to the pubbc; hut a new trial
bating been graded to colonel Picton. who al-
leges, that be was justified in what lie did Ly the
law of the Ishuid lie governesh*it will only be ne-
cessary, ou this. the second trial, to brio' the facts
generally before our readers. it will be remem-
bered, that after the cession of the Island of Tri-
nidad to the British arm,, General Picton was me-
pointed to the Government. In leol, a robhery
had been committed in the dwelling-house of one
Palm Louis., and suspicion having fallen upon
Carlos Granules, a servant in the fatisili , he was
apprehended. The money lost amounted to ,2000
ducats ; and it being also suspected 'hat Louisa
Caldrone a female, not fourteen years of age,
who bad intrigued with Gonsales, knew of the
rubbery, she was likewise apprehended and car-
ried lleftwe the Alcalde, or Judge, end interrogates'.
—irefusing to give any thing like a satisfactory
answer, the Judge wrote to Governor Picton, fur
permission to apply the torture, in order to wake
her disclose the name of the robber, and the place
where the money was concealed. To this request
Governor Picton acceded, and wrote an order to
the following ethict : it Apply the torture to Louisa
Caldrese." At that time there was iio iustroment
of torture in i.e Island, and the picket, such as
military men use, was resorted to. The Judge
(Baceriateri etteuded the unfortunate criwiniul in
prison. She was tied up by the wrist of her right
arm, and the hall of her left great tor placed upon
the point of the picket ; her left arm was then
drawn behind her, and tied to the right foot, so as
to bring the whole weight of her body upon the
picket. In that situation she remained till she
was nearly exhausted, when she confessed that
Carl% Gonsalez was the thief. She ass then taken
down, and the next day the tortu re was again applied
to induct her to tourers where the mosey was de-
pouted. This she persisted in saying she knew
nothing about, and was kept upon the picket till
she fended. Volatile spirits Wtilt placed to her
nostrils to revive her, she was again suspended, and
agent fainted. She still persisted to knowing
nothing of the money, and vim kept in irons for
eight months afterwanls, in a place white she could
not stand upright.
This was the ce,e, as proved on the part of the
prosecution, by Louisa Cakirone, who spoke Eug-
hob extremely well, and gave her evidence iu a
very interesting way. i'one of the witnesses for
the prosecution were cross-examined by the De-
fendaut's Colonel ; a jiistiticution of the punish-
ment, and not a denial- of the fact, constitutilig the
defence.
Mr. D•etes then addressed the Jury few the
Defeedant. He said st would be recnllected that
the suggestion of torture had test orieinieted with
the Defendant ; that he only seceded to the repre-
seatatiou of the Judge, that a alight torture was lie-
cessary to extract the truth ; and that the offence
charged against the criminal would have subjected
her, in this country, to an ignominious death. But
the very essence of the charge against the Defend-
ant consisted in the legality or illegality of the pu-
nishment. The Jury had teething to do with the
moral fitness or expediency of torture forming •
part of the jurisprudence of the country ; and if
that sort of punishment was recognised to be the
ha of the island, the Defendant was bound to ap-
ply it, if called upon to do so, His Pdajesty &min,
at the cassias of the island, pledged hie-emir to ad-
minister, by his representative, the laws as he found
them. He should therefore drew to the Jary that
tenure was authorised by the Spanish law is the
island, that it bad been applied, in various
iustaneee ; and further, that Governor Picton,
takiug the • law to be such, from the re-
presentation of the Juage himself, was he-
legally justified in the order he bad given. For
the severity of the punishment he was not ac
countable, miles* it was agreed that a Governor
ohouldialso be a CSICIM The only part he had in
isovas signing the order authorising the iidlictian
of • slight torture; and if-that was legal, he most
*acquitted. If it was Net, be wouid admit that
in jaw and in morals he was respoesible for every
act coiewevient upon that order. With respect to
the argurneet that torture was abrogated, elan
where it before existed, the moment it became a
British dependency, he should not reply to it.—
The qawebon had not been supported by any au-
thorities, and therefore could not be rimiatiiiied
The Learned Counsel then entered at great length
into an expos.tion of the law of Spain, es apphae-
bie to the Island or-Trinidad, and prodoced many
instances of torture having been inflicted, and law
autSorities to prone that punishment "2- torture
might be legally applied. The learnt Counsel
then produced his seidenci. which (Demised of ve
volummous depositions taken in the !...and
pitied. sod of extracts from 511li&i.h law hooks, all
of which went to ertabl:sit the fact of torture bo-
ing a part of the lave of tie
Mr. Gaaaow made an eloquent reply. He cern-
tended generally, that none of the autho, sties oiled
justided the iolfictina of torture; the case+ applied to
the law of old Spain. but not to her colonies; and
if they did, then the Defendant had acted illegally,
inasmuch as Losing Caldron, had no defeasor ap-
pointed to attend her during her examioetwiu: and
secoudly. that she was not of that age, to which the
law of old Spain authorized the application of tor-
ture.
The learned Jar Dag was very concise in his sum-
mine sip, ter cam harm,: rtsolied its.if into a pure
question of law, open the points of whether a Bri-
tish Governor was bound try cnitatenencti the appli-
cation of torture. event/lough His Majesty. at the
cession of the island, had guarantee! further-
ance of the existing laws? and -ehether. if so, tin
order was conclusive, wi,hnit a suhttsolieut gauped
to the Audience orthe Caramels, a Coert paramount
to few law in the island?
Tire Jary, ftand a tpec'.4 verdict of

dliy. eithjeet to thethe'aestiora show, referred to ;
and with iespect to the Cs ta. they found that to. -
t ate was authorised by the tow of the istvitd at the
time of thc.eession. and that the Defendant meted
"Ivitbou/ m3liee, forth', than waking an order a Lich
hr.thoo6lit hioniellheandto rotnply with:

• . .
t#4,11 hag pita nine in the morn-
ing till nrartZit et at night. Thetourt IV al rrowd-
ed to the e)Z ,tl4 the trial sicked eonaiii. Table
interest.--Thi ttioss for Middlesex finished.