The Sun.
London, England, 1864-01-29 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

Sin,—The further correspondence between Sir George
Grey and the magistrates, just published, shows in a still
stronger light the glaring failure of justice in Townley's
case. But we are having numerous practical illustrations
of the natural consequences of letting criminals escape the
punishment due to their crimes, by trumped up pleas of
insanity without the least foundation in fact. The papers
this week contain an account of a ruffian who wanted to
force himself upon a young woman, and because she was
not disposed to receive his addresses, threatened to serve her
as the wretch Townley served Miss Goodwin. The magis-
trate, very unwisely, and with ill-judged lenity would have
admitted him to bail, but his friends, who probably knew
his character too well, would not give bail for him, and
so far he is safe out of harm's way for the present.
Is there any doubt in the minds of any
reasonable person that this fellow contemplated wreaking
his revenge, and then, as a reward, pleading and shamming
insanity, and getting comfortably provided for for life. It
must not be supposed that the treatment of criminal luna-
tics is anything else than the best and most comfortable
that can be had in a lunatic asylum. Penal servitude is in
reality no punishment whatever. Convicts have only to
ingratiate themselves with the chaplain by a minimum of
hypocrisy, and they are all right. Take the condition of
any of Mr. Bright's new proteges—the farm labourers—
with their eight or ten shillings a week, and their families
of eight or ten people, :all stowed np in a single room, or
a two roomed cottage at the best. The food, and
lodging, and clothing of the convict under sentence of
penal servitude for life bears no comparison with
theirs, it is so infinitely superior. Their work is only
nominal work, while the day labourer has to toil 16 hours
a day out of doors in all weathers. The only drawback on
the tranquil and agreeable seclusion of the convict is that he
is confined indoors, but this cannot be so bad as being forced
to work out of doors in the worst weather. And then, too,
there is the ticket of leave, and the bonus that is given with
it, and the good round sums of money which the policeman
slips into the ticket-of-leave's hand from time to time to
keep him honest. Instead of the greatest criminal under
senteLce of penal servitude having the severest treatment,
it is just the reverse. The longer the term the milder
the treatment, so that in penal servitude for life
the criminal lives like a gentleman in everything
but liberty while he is in prison. Many gentle-
men work harder, not only for their living, but of their
own free will and amusement. But the treatment of a
criminal lunatic is much superior to that of a convict under
sentence of penal servitude. Few independent gentlemen
are so well off in their own houses, in everything barring
confinement. And this it is with which we reward our mur-
derers, if they will only add hypocrisy to the guilt of blood-
shedding, and sham insanity. Since Townley was ini-
quitously snatched from justice, while Wright was hung,
for no conceivable reason out that one had rich friends and
the other was poor, there have been numerous reports of
atrocious murders. This is just what was to be expected.
Murders will multiply rapidly under such a system.
But it is not only murder that is fostered and
encouraged in this way. Lesser criminals are beginning to
open their eyes. Only a day or two ago a thief pleaded
before the magist rate " that he had only been two months
out of a lunatic asylum." He was sane enough, however,
to obtain a quantity of goods upon false pretences, in the
execution of a very skilful and deliberately formed plan.
The magistrate in this case, however, was not so exceed-
ingly "green" as to be bamboozled by this scamp. But if
the fellow has rich friends they will soon get a couple of
" shallow" justice Dogberries and a couple of mad doctors
to sign a certificate of lunacy under the Act of 1840, and
set him free from punishment. We have seen now how
murderers and robbers and would-be murderers and robbers
are beginning to understand the excellence and utility of the
plea of insanity. We shall now see how useful this plea is
in cases of violent assaults. The following is " going the
round of the papers." It is taken from the Cheltenham
Times and Musical Record. A certain Captain Frederick
Huey got drunk, assaulted a policeman, first with a big
stick, then with a pair of tongs, finally with a poker. The
worst of it was that he pretended to be friendly with the
policeman, who up to that time had not taken him in
charge, notwithstanding his violent conduct, and when he
had thus thrown him off his guard, he tripped him down
with great violence. The blow with the poker, aimed at
the officer's head, and that too when he was up, to
that instant, unaware of what ho had to expect, was
dealt with such force that the iron bent over
the arm with which the man warded it off. As the arm
bent the poker, the inference is that the poker must have
broken the arm. The magistrates, after hearing the charge
proved, committed the gallant captain to the House of Cor-
rection for a month, this being the second assault. But the
gallant captain was luckily drunk, or else evinced great
presence of mind ; for whereas, on the former occasions,
when fined, he asked, " How will you have it ?" in a jaunty
sort of way, this time he shook his fist at the bench, and
told the bench it was " a snob and a blackguard."
This lucky accidental drunken outbreak, or astute and
premeditated performance, whichever it was, saved the
gallant captain; forthe Cheltenham Times, a few days after,
informs us that the gallant but drunken and frolicsome cap-
tain, who had bent a poker in trying to knock a policeman's
brains out, taking him unawares in a cowardly way, and
abused a whole bench of magistrates, shaking his fist in
their faces—" has been removed from prison, and placed in
the custody of competent persons, in consequence of repre-
sentations made to the authorities respecting his mental con-
dition." If this fellow had been a private, instead of a gal-
lant and drunken captain, he would have been still
working at the erank. But "what in the captain is but a
choleric, word in the corporal is rank blasphemy."
That the parties to blame for these gross and glaring
failures of justice will be called to a severe account when
Parliament meets is the demand of yours, &c.,

COMMON SENSE.

The Maharajah Dhuleep Singh, before quitting
England for Madras, caused the body of his late mother to
be removed from its temporary resting place at Kensal
Green, and transported for due funeral rites to the land of
the Maharanee's faith and birth.

At a meeting at Dudley, on Wednesday night,
Sir J. 1). Acton, M.P., said the Queen counts among her
subjects a greater number of Roman Catholic bishops than
any other sovereign in the world,