The Sun.
London, England, 1864-01-12 00:00:00

THE TOWNLEY CASE.

The following is a copy of the letter addressed by
Sir George Grey to Mr. Evans, M.P., in reply to
the memorial of the magistrates of the county of
Derby in the case of George Victor Townley :

To T. W. EVANS, ESQ., M.P., ALLESTREE-11.iLL,
DERBY.

Whitehall, Jan. 8.
Sir,—l am directed by Secretary Sir George Grey to
acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 7th inst., trans-

mitting a letter addressed to him by the magistrates of the
county of Derby, whose signatures are attached to it.
LSir George Grey has lead that letter with the attention to
which both the importance of the subject it refers to, and
the persons from whom it proceeds, justly entitle it.
In order to place the magistrates in full possession of
the proceedings which have taken place with reference to
the case of George Victor 'Townley, a copy of the corres-
pondence between this office and the Lunacy Commis-
sioners, together with two certificates of Townley's insanity
received by the Secretary of State, and of the order for the
removal of the prisoner to Bethlem Hospital under the pro-
visions of the statute 3 and 4 Viet., cap. 54, sec. 1, will be
transmitted to you as socn as it can be prepared.
The magistrates will learn from this correspondence that
it was in consequence of information conveyed to the Secre-
tary of State by the learned judge before whom the prisoner
was tried, that, in his opinion, a further inquiry as to the
sanity of the prisoner was necessary, that the Lunacy Com-
missioners were requested by the Secretary of State to
undertake the inquiry. Sir George Grey feels that it was
impossible to refuse an inquiry so recommended by the
judge, and he is not aware that, under the circumstances of
the case, he could have intrusted the inquiry to more able
or responsible persons, or to persons likely to conduct it
with greater impartiality and freedom from any precon-
ceived opinion or doubtful theories. The Commissioners'
report is among the papers which will be sent you with the
least possible delay, but the Secretary of State was not
called upon to decide on that report alone whether the sen-
tence of the law ought to be executed or not, because at the
same time that he received it he received also a certificate,
dated December 27, signed by three justices of the peace
(one for the county and two for the borough of Derby) and
two medical men, stating, in the terms required by law,
that they had examined and inquired into the mental state
of the prisoner, and certifying that he was insane. This
was followed by a certificate to the same effect, dated the
29th of December, and signed by two justices of the peace
for the county of Derby (one of them being the same who
had signed the former certificate), and the same two medi-
cal men. Copies of these certificates are also among the
papers which will be sent to you. Upon these certificates
from four justices of the peace and two medical practi-
tioners the prisoner, in accordance with the construction
which has been uniformly placed on the section of the Act
before mentioned, was ordered to be removed to Bethlem
Hospital, the capital sentence being respited, but not com-
muted.
e,The magistrates in their letter of the sth inst. say, with
reference to the inquiry made by two magistrates, aided by
two medical men, that that inquiry did not, like all previous
inquiries of the same kind, originate with the gaol authori-
ties, but was promoted and conducted as a matter of profes-
sional business by Townley's legal adviser. Sir Geo. Grey
had no previous information that this was the case,nor could
he be in any way responsible for any irregularity—if irre-
gularity there was—in the proceedings. No person other
than a magistrate could be admitted to examine the prisoner
or to inquire into his mental state without the sanction of
the visiting justices or of the Secretary of State; and as the
visiting justices must therefore have been aware of the pro-
ceeding, and as no communication on the subject was re-
ceived from them at the time, or has been received up
to the present time by the Secretary of State, he could only
presume that what was done was done with their knowledge
and sanction. So far, however, as it concerned the steps to
be taken by the Secretary of State, in conformity with the
law, on the receipt of such a certificate, it was immaterial
how the inquiry originated, provided the certificate was in
accordance with the provisions of the statute.
There is one other passage in the letter from the maxis •
trates to which Sir George Grey thinks it right to refer.
They say that the effect of the respite of Townley and of
his removal to a lunatic asylum "has bun to cause much
dissatisfaction, and to create a feeling, greatly to be
lamented, that there is one law for the rich and another for
the poor; that justice has been turned aside by the power
of money ; and that if Townley and his friends had been
poor he would have been executed." The magistrates may
possess information as to the expenditure of money by
Townley's friends of which the Secretary of State has no
knowledge ; nor is he aware of the manner in which the
magistrates believe such money to have been expended.
But the most satisfactory proof which can bo given that the
course taken with regard to Townley is one which it re-
quired no expenditure of money to obtain, and which would
have been equally taken had Townley and his friends been
poor, is a reference to a similar case which occurred at the
Spring Assizes held at Newcastle•on-Tyne in 1862, when a
man named Clark, himself a poor man, and with no friends
who were not also poor, and in whose defence no counsel
even was retained, was convicted of wilful murder and sen-
tenced to death. In that case, as in the case of Townley,
the learned judge before whom Clark was tried, in report-
ing the case to the Secretary of State, expressed his opinion
that the verdict was right, but called the attention of the
Secretary of State to the evidence as to the unsound state of
mind of the prisoner at the time of the trial, as havinv, to
use his own words, ":so intensely important a bearing upon
the question whether he ought to be executed." In conse-
quence of this representation from the judge, an inquiry as
to the insanity of the prisoner was directed by the Secretary
of Ste' e, and the result in that case, as in the present, was
his removal to a lunatic asylum.
Sir George Grey trusts that this statement will tend to
remove the impression which the magistrates say exists,
and which they appear to have shared, that a similar course
under similar circumstances, would not be adopted in the
case of a poor man as in the case of one whose friends had
the power of expending money in his behalf.—l am, sir,
your obedient servant,

H. WADDINGTON,

To THE RIGHT HON. SIR G. GREY, BART., m.r., SEC-
RETARY OP STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT.
The following is a copy of a letter addressed to
Sir George Grey by Mr. Cox, the magistrate of the
county of Derby, who signed the certificate of insa-
nity in the case of George Victor Townley :
Derby, Jan. 8.
Sir,—l beg to enclose you a letter signed by two borough
magistrates and two medical men of Derby, and myself.
Mr. Scott, the other county magistrate who signed the
certificate of the 29th of December last, and who was to
have eigned the enclosed letter, has suddenly been called to
Scotland for the purpose of attending his sister's funeral.-
-I have the honour to be, Sir, your obedient servant,
W. T. Cox,
J.P. for the County and Borough of Derby.

To THE RIGHT Ho-s. SIR GEORGE GREY, BERT., M.P.,
HER MAJESTY'S PRINCIPAL SECRETARY OF STATE FOR
THE HOME DEPARTMENT, &C.

Sir,—We the uladersi4ned justices of the peace for the
county and borough of Derby, and medical men of Derby,
who signed and forwarded to you two certificates as to the
insanity of George Victor Townley, dated the 27th and 29th
December last, having had our attention called to a
memorial, signed by certain "magistrates of the county of
Derby" dated the sth inst., beg to solicit your considera-
tion of the following facts. _ _ _

Upon the trial of the prisoner, Mr. H. F. Gisborne and
Mr. J. H. Sims, the surgeon and governor of the gaol in '
which the prisoner was confined, deposed to the fact of the
prisoner being insane at that period,—viz., on the 11th of
December, and the Rev. H. Moore (chaplain of the gaol)
made a written report of the prisoner's insanity in his
Minute-book, for the inspection of the visiting justices early
in the month of December, and we have been credibly in-
formed and believed that, notwithstanding such evidence of
the surgeon and governor and report of the chaplain, none
of the visiting justices or county magistrates, excepting
ourselves, have visited the prisoner or taken any action
whatever upon such evidence or report.
. .

We beg further to state that we entered upon the inquiry
as to the prisoner's mental condition from a mere sense of
duty, and we took considerable pains to ascertain the true
state of his mind. On the one hand, we believe our certifi-
cates to be perfectly true, while, on the other, we are assured
that none of the county magistrates who havo signed the
memorial of the sth inst. have any personal knowledge of
the subject matter of our certificates. Neither the prisoner's
adviser nor any of his friends were present at our examina-
tions, and they have in no way influenced our judgment, or
attempted to do so.—We have, &c.,
W. T. Cox, J.P. for the Borough of Derby.
J. B. TORISAN, J.Y. for the Borough of
Derby.
Taos. ROE, Mayor of the Borough of Derby.
HENRY GOODE, M.B, and M.R.C.S.
THOMAS HARWOOD, Surgeon &c., and Medi-
cal Officer to the Derby Union,
Derby, Jan. 8.

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