The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1825-02-17 00:00:00

LONDON SESSIONS, WiDNISDAT, FEB. 16.

This morning these Sessions commenced at Guildhall.
RECORDER'S CHARGE--PUCiILIS3I.
The Grand and Petit Juries having been sworn,
The RECORDER addressed the former at considerable length.
Ile was happy to congratulate the gentlemen of the Grand Jury
that the calendar of prisoners was much lighter than it had been
at correspooding Sessions in preceding years, nor were any of the
offences marked with any extraordinary degree of moral turpitude.
There was, however, a case of manslaughter, which would claim
their particular attention, and it was probable that, in the CDC to
which he alluded, a bill for murder would also be preferred against
the accused. It would therefore be their province to find either one
or the other of the bills or both, should they think proper, on the
evidence which would be laid before them. The Recorder was ex-
tremely sorry to observe, that that part of the calendar which re-
lated to the count•, contained no less a number than five
cafes of manslaughter, which were alleged to have been com-
mitted during the short interval since the last session. It appeared
to him, as it had to others, that much of this evil was to be attri-
buted to the encouragement held out to those notorious violator of
the law, denominated pugilists, whose profession it was to fight for
money ; hence it was that the lower classes of the people were fre-
quently led Into disputes, and teimisated them in the disgraceful
manner to which he alluded. It was lamentable that men of rank
were to be found who debased themselves so low as to sanction and
promote such proceedings, which were shameful and flagrant mis-
demeanors against the public at large. He (the Recorder) could
not help regretting that persons of distinction should, by their pa-
tronage, sanction such violations of public peace and public decen.
cy, and thereby contribute to the deterioration of public morals.
In order, if possible. to stem this tide of iniquity, fraught as it
WAS with destruction to human life, the Court was determined, as
far as its power and influence went, to yield its assistance ; and
should any case of this deseription come before it, the patties con-
victed should be punished with the utmost rigour of the law. The
Learned Recorder also intimated, that not only the principal in
each contests, but those who had provoked, excited, or abetted
them, should also be prosecuted, and that neither rank net station
should prove a shield against the powerful sword of the law. The
Recorder attributed the diminution of offence in the City to the
promptness with which the daily prowler had been prosecuted, and
condignly punished (alluding to the crime of stealing handkerchiefs,
&c.) ; it was therefore, by such a procedure, that crimes of other
descriptions might, if Lot abolished, at least be rendered much less
frequent.
After the Recorder had made some general remarks on some of
the cases contained in the calendar, the Gentlemen of the Grand
Jury were dismissed until to-morrow morning.
Several cases of assault were disposed of, but all totally void of
interest. s