The Sun.
London, England, 1863-02-03 00:00:00

CORK AND YOUGHALL.

The half-yearly meeting of this company was
appointed to be held yesterday, bat, in consequence
of the absence of an important member of the com-
pany, the meeting was adjourned to the 16th inst.

Transportation and Penal Servitude.

The following epitome of the History of our Con.
vict System during the last 80 years is taken from
the Athenceum :

Howard's crusade against prison abuses, and the closing
of the American ports by the War of Independence against
the English felon-trade, gave birth to various schemes of
penitentiary discipline. But at length, after some years of
languid discussion, when the congestion of criminals in the
country had become extremely dangerous, Pitt and Dun-
das "settled" the question, in spite of vehement remon.
' strances from Howard and Bentham, by founding a penal
colony at Botany Bay. This settlement held good for about
25 years, and then the disgraceful state of the hulks, the
horrible things reported of convict transport-ships, the
middle passage of which was in some respects worse than that
of slavers, and the rank growth of crime in New South
Wales, compelled Parliament and the country to endure
fresh discussions of the Convict question. Under the sus •
pices of Mr. Holford, Howard's and Bentham's schemes for
a National Penitentiary were resuscitated, and the Mill-
bank Prison—one of the most unlucky, ill-considered, and
costly projects ever blundered into, was built.
During the building, which was protracted through a
series of disasters over ten years, the convict question was
in abeyance. To all grumblings, in and out of Parliament,
official prophecies of the great results to be achieved by the
Penitentidry were the invariable answer. But when the
Penitentiary was at length completed and peopled with a
choice selection of felons, convicts still increased and
multiplied. Mrs. Fry and the " British ladies" took
common gaols and bridewells under their amiable
patronage, and founded the "goody-good" school of prison-
reformers ; Romilly and his successors mitigated the barba-
rities of the penal code ; and Sir Robert Peel consolidated
the criminal laws ; but none of these various movements at
all lessened the difficulty of the convict question. The
Penitentiary could not deal with a tithe of the convicts ; the
hulks were worse than ever, because more comfortable ; and
transportation, which, under the "assignment system"
then in force, was often the avenue to wealth, had almost
lost its terrors. Impressed with the growing difficulty of
the matter, Lord Melbourne, in 1833, sent Mr. Crawford to
inspect the much-lauded Penitentiaries in the United
States. He returned a monomaniac for the separate
system, for which, in a few years, he succeeded in ob-
taining the official patronage of Lord John Russell.
Under his influence and that of his colleague, the Rev.
Whitworth Russell, Lord John procured the necessary acts
for introducing encellulement into ordinary prisons, and
making it a part of a bran-new convict system. Some new
organisation was, in fact, imperatively required, for in the
midst of the discussion on Mr. Crawford's importation, the
opponents of transportation, headed by Archbishop
Whately and Sir William Molesworth, accomplished the
abolition of the assignment system. The elaboration of
Lord John's inchoate plans fell to the lot of Lord Stanley
and Sir James Graham, who once more " settled" the
Criminal question by establishing the Model Prison at
Pentonville for model convicts, and framing a " probation
system" in Tasmania (which was henceforth to be the
sole cesspool for our moral sewage) for the less interesting
scoundrels. Within four years this scheme, too, collapsed.
The convict establishment in Tasmania, by dint of
wretched mismanagement, sank into utter chaos, while the
model convicts of Pentonville, though they made most
edifying prisoners, yet when they were turned loose in
Australia to practise their model virtues, soon roused the
indignation of the colonists by their " Pentonvillany." In
this dilemma the discipline of Pentonville was modified,
transportation to Tasmania was suspended for a time, and
Sir George Grey and Earl Grey, who were now in office,
prepared to " settle" the Convict question once more.
According to the new scheme propounded by them, the
convict's sentence was divided into three portions. The
first was to be passed in separation, the second in penal
servitude on public works, and the third in a colony with a
ticket of leave. The stages at home were placed under the
management of Sir Joshua Jebb, who, by the death of his
former colleagues, Messrs. Crawford and Russell, had
risen to be the government factotum in convict matters,
His scheme promised well, and to all appearance the Con-
vic t question was again " settled," till the time came for
the colonies to receive our purified felons ; and then the
wrathful refusal of all of them, except Western Australia,
to serve any longer as a receptacle for our criminality, dis-
arranged the entire plan.: To meet the emergency, the first
Penal Servitude Act was hastily passed, substituting penal
servitude for transportation.

Total Destruction of the Theatre Royal,

Glasgow.

(From the North British Daily Mail.)

The Glasgow Theatre Royal was on Saturday morning
completely destroyed by fire. Shortly after half-past four
o'clock a constable in Dunlop-street observed a bright glare
of light through one of the windows in that part of the
building (the north-east wing) containing the wardrobe and
other properties. He immediately raised an alarm, and in
a few moments more the flames penetrated the roof, and
soon the whole theatre was enveloped in one mass of flame,
quite illuminating the entire district. Intimation of the
occurrence was without delay transmitted to the Fire Bri-
gade Office, and the engines were turned out with ail
speed. On reaching Dunlop-street, Mr. Bryson, superin-
tendent of the fire brigade, saw that any attempt to save the
theatre would be utterly futile. He consequently directed
the efforts of those under him not so much to the theatre
itself as to those buildings contiguous to it. He stationed
men on the tops of the surrounding houses, and whilst
some firemen kept these cool, others poured down torrents
of water upon the burning pile. His efforts were to a very
large extent successful. Till about half-past 6 o'clock the
fire in the Royal raged on, and not till there was almost
nothing more to burn did the flames subside. The walls of
the theatre are still standing, but the back one is conside-
rably off the perpendicular, so that it is thought it will be
necessary to pull it down. The north one is still more in-
secure. The other two (the south and west ones) seem
sound enough at present. As we have stated, the attempts
to save the adjoining houses have been to a large extent
successful—very successful when their proximity to the
theatre is taken into account. Indeed, only in one in-
stance has any damage been done by fire. The premises
of Messrs. John Steivart and Co., iron and steel merchants,
at the back of the burned structure, have suffered slightly.
The hay-loft was at one time ignited, but the fire there
was quickly subdued. One of the young men connected
with the establishment having at an early period of
the fire observed the flames threatening the stable, very
prudently entered and at once removed two valuable horses,
which otherwise might have been suffocated. The back
rooms in the promises of Mr. Hillcoat, wine and spirit mer-
chant, have been damaged by water, but not to a very great
degree.

Theatres in Glasgow seem fated to destruction by fire.
The Queen-street one was burned down : that of Anderson,
the famous " Wizard of the North," shared the same fate ;
David Prince Miller's Adelphi Theatre was no exception
to what would seem to be the rule; and now the Tneatre
Royal, we dare say the most beautiful and best appointed
of the whole, has succumbed to the same element. An
alarm a fire raised in this building in the winter of 1848-9,
on a Saturday night, ended most tragically in the death of
50 individuals, victims to unnecessary fear, for ex that oc-
casion the so-called fire was really no fire at all. The ward-
robe, the library, the armoury, and the "properties" gene-
rally of the Theatre Royal were, we believe, the richest, the
most extensive, and the most varied of any theatre out of
London, and even surpassed some of those in the metropolis.
The wardrobe, in fact, was three in one, comprising, as it
did, besides the one proper to the Royal, that of the late
Mr. Murray, of Edinburgh, and that of the Prince's
Theatre. The library was also very valuable, and those
who have been in the habit of visiting the theatre can well
judge of the value of the general properties. This erection,
which is about 50ft. high, 50ft. broad, and 70 yards long
was raised in the latter end of 1339, on the site of the old
theatre, in consequence of the felt insufficiency of the then
existing theatre accommodation. Mr. J. H. Alexander
was the proprietor, and under his management the play-
going portion of the public for nany years were well sup-
plied with theatrical entertainments. The building and
decorations as they stood previous to this catastrophe, in-
cluding the site, which is very valuable, were estimated at
from £20,000 to £30,000. The property in it belonging
to Mrs. Glover is valued at from £B,OOO to £lO,OOO.
The building is insured in the Royal Insurance Com-
pany for £3,000; Commercial Union, £2,000 ; Liverpool
and London Company, £1,000; Sun, £1,000; and Scottish
Provincial, £l,ooo—in all, CB,OO. The fixtures and ma-
chinery in the theatre are insured in the Scottish Provincial
for £l,OOO. Mrs. Glover's property is only partially insured.
Her loss, as we have stated, is estimated at about £lO,OOO,
while she is only insured for £3,000 in the Norwich Union.
The proprietor of the refreshment department is insured in
the Provincial Welsh Company for £lOO. But there are
other parties who will be losers more or less. The actors
and actresses have every one of them lost not only their
employment for the present, but their whole professional
accessories. A subsequent examination of the ruins shows
that the whole of the books in the library have not been
lacing
otfh ae
totally destroyed. A number of manuscripts, as well as
printed works, have only been partially burned round the
edges; but it is still doubtful whether any practical use can
.e
a At
alp;
ever be made of those which haveesceaspee:
room and staircase on the north side of the theatre have
I been savedi, but they cannot be turned to any account,
also ' ,
the only reason for mentioning their
fact that on the wall of the room, after the fire had been
hats and headdresses of all kinds—f
subdued, no end of
beaver—were found from
the king's crown to the beggar's
Imes and heat with which
pended, quite unharmed by the ,
has also been found.
they had been surrounded. The cashbox
At this conflagration the advantages of the copious supply
;
of water we now possess were abundantly demonstrated.
Bryson merely Bryson
The engines were never required, Mr. A
attaching the 13 hose which were used to the mains. Ef
yet the origin of the fire is quite a mystery. The theatre
was closed at 12 o'clock on Friday night, at which hour all
was left in seeming order and security.
On Saturday afternoon and during the whole of Sunday
the scene of the conflagration was visited by thousands of
citizens. Firemen were present throughout Saturday night,
and up till 7 o'clock on Sunday evening, occasionally pour-
ing water on the smouldering debris.

CRIMINAL COURT.----Yesterday.

Margaret Connell, 27, Sarah Francis, 19, John
Lovell, 21, and John Power, 27, were charged with
assault and robbery upon John Rose.
The prosecutor in this case is a fishmonger at the
east end of the town, and on the night of the 23d
of December he had been to his club, and had en-
joyed himself upon the occasion to such an extent
that he admitted he was the worse for the liquor he
had imbibed. On his way home, according to his
own statement, he was assailed by four persons, two
men and two women, who shoved or knocked him
down, and his pockets were then rifled, and he was
robbed of a portion of the money that was upon
him. The prosecutor was unable to speak to the
identity of any of the prisoners who were concerned
in the alleged robbery, and although by the evidence
of other witnesses it was established that the pri-
soners were near the prosecutor, the case for the
prosecution was not at all clearly made out.
The jury acquitted the whole of the prisoners.
(Before the Common Sergeant.)
Charles Baker, 20, pleaded guilty to a charge of
forgery.
The prisoner, it appeared, was in the service of
Messrs. Bell and Dakly, the publishers in Fleet-
street, and he took the opportunity afforded to him
by his position to tear out a blank cheque from the
cheque-book of one of the firm, which he filled up
for £2O, but it was done in such a clumsy manner
that it was at once detected to be a forgery.
The Common Sergeant sentenced the prisoner to
12 months' hard labour.

George Vinpany, 48, a little humpbacked man,
described as t. jeweller, pleaded guilty to a charge
of feloniously having in his possession a mould cal-
culated to fabricate counterfeit sovereigns.
It appeared from a statement made by Mr. Bren-
nan, who was formerly an inspector of police, but
who is now specially attached to the Mint, and en-
gaged in the detection of offences against the coin,
that the prisoner has for a great many years been
most actively employed in connexion with such
offences, and he was convicted in 1848 of an offence
of this description, and sentenced to 10 years' trans-
portation. He, however, obtained his liberty in
about five years and a half, and it appeared that he
immediately recommenced his old occupation, but
his proceedings were conducted with so much cau-
tion and ingenuity that it was not until very re-
cently that the police were enabled to get hold of
him, and as Brennan somewhat naively observed,
he had never had so much trouble with a man in
his life as he bad had with the prisoner. When he
was taken into custody a great number of letters
were found in his possession that had been sent
from different parts of the country, applying for
counterfeit money, and there appeared to be no doubt
that the prisoner was an active agent in disseminat-
ing counterfeit coin throughout all parts of the
kingdom. In the room where the prisoner was taken
into custody there were found several moulds, made
of much better materials, and capable of fabricat-
ing counterfeit coin of a superior character, than
those ordinarily made use of by coiners, and other
articles which showed clearly that the prisoner was
an adopt at his nefarious calling, It was also stated
that the prisoner had been charged, with one of the
men who was tried last session for being concerned
in the robbery of the Bank of England note paper,
with uttering forged notes.
The Common Sergeant observed that it would be
mearly
a waste of time to address any remarks to a
man like the prisoner. It was clear that he was
determined to break the laws, and although he had
evaded detection for some time, he had at last found,
as was always the case, that the law was too strong
for him. He then sentenced the prisoner to be kept
in penal servitude for twenty years.
Sarah Anne Barrett, 43, pleaded guilty to two
indictments charging her with stealing property
belonging
to her employers.
The prisoner was convicted of an offenca of the
same class in 1860 at this court, but in consequence
of a very artful and piteous appeal made by her for
mercy only a slight sentence was passed upon her.
At this time, it appeared that she had a sum of about
£3O in the savings bank, which, by her conviction,
was forfeited, but after her discharge, she made such
representations to the Home Secretary that he con-
sented to the money being restored to her,
and on her being taken into custody upon
the present charges it was discovered that she
had increased the amount to over £7O; and as
her wages were only £lB a year, the natural
inference derived from this fact was that this money
must have been the produce of the various felo-
nies committed by the prisoner. It was inciden-
tally stated in the course of the narrative given by
the learned counsel that one of the officials in the
gaol where the prisoner had been confined after her
conviction had assisted her to make out a deed of
gift to her sister of all the property of which she was
possessed, by which means it escaped forfeiture, and
the rights of the Crown were defeated ; but as it did
not appear by what means the information had been
obtained, and the parties, of course, had no oppor-
tunity of giving any explanation, it is obvious that
it would be unfair to mention the name of the per-
son who was alleged to have acted in the manner
described.

The Common Sergeant sentenced her to be kept
in penal servitude for six years.
William Ballard, 56, and Bliza Ballard, 36, man
and wife, were charged with being feloniously in
possession of a galvanic battery for the purpose of
making counterfeit coin.
The jury acquitted the woman on the ground that
she had acted under the influence of her husband,
and found the former guilty.
Brennan stated that he had known the prisoner
thirty years,•and he had no doubt that during the
whole of that long period he had been engaged in
making counterfeit coin, but his proceedings were
conducted with so much art that he had been unable
to get a case against him until the present occasion.
The Common Sergeant sentenced the prisoner to
ten years' penal servitude.