The Sun.
London, England, 1841-08-04 00:00:00

LEICESTER, SATURDAY, JULY 31.

The Commission was opened here at two o'clock yes-
terday, by Mr. Baron Gurney, who immediately attended
divine service, and afterwards disposed, in the space of
less than an hour, of the business of the borough, which
consisted of a few trifling larcenies.
Mr. Baron GURNEY took his seat at ten this morning
on the civil side of the Court. Eight causes only were
entered for trial • of these one is a special jury, which
is appointed for Monday morning, six were undefended
or referred, and the remaining involved a question of a
right of way of the most uninteresting character possible.
Mr. Baron PARKE presided at the Crown Court. The
calendar included the names of 42 prisoners, of whom
many are charged with very heinous offences, but the
cases tried to-day were of an ordinary nature, and devoid
of interest to the general reader.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.
MANSION-HOUSE.

A young man, named William Smith alias Tom Priest,
was brought up, charged with having broken into, and
robbed, the auction-rooms of Mr. Johnson, who is exten-
sively engaged in the disposal of unredeemed articles, in
Gracechurch-street, of an immense quantity of plate,
watches, diamond rings, &c.
One of the City police, in going his rounds in Grace-
church-street, observed something up a court in that vi-
cinity which excited his suspicion ; he went to the spot,
when, upon looking about, he saw two bags near a truck,
which stood against the wall, and the prisoner curled
up in a corner, evidently for the purpose of concealing
himself. Witness asked him whether he knew any thing
of the bags ? to which he replied in the negative ; and
witness then proceeded to search him, and was surprised
at finding that his pockets were stuffed with silver spoons,
watches, and other valuable property. Upon being con-
veyed to the station-house, the prisoner stated that this
property belonged' to the sale-rooms.

Cope, porter to Mr. Johnson, the proprietor of the
auction-rooms, stated that he resided on the nremises,
and that, upon going to bed, he left all right in the
house. At a quarter to four o'clock he wus rung up by
the policeman, and informed that the premises had been
robbed. Upon looking at the property found upon the
prisoner, and in the two bags, he perceived the tickets to
each lot to be those which he had himself written and
attached. They were pawnbrokers' pledges which were
advertised to be sold that day. He supposed the goods
taken might be worth 7001. .
The LORD MAYOR asked how the thief, or thieves,
could have got into the premises ? The witness said
that the thieves, for he believed there were more than
one, must have got up Barnes's-court, and got over a wall
by means.of the truck which stood against it, and then
walked upon a ledge, and entered by the skylight, which
the inmates did not think of fastening, as its height seemed
to give it such security. In the wareroom from which
the property was taken, were found a dark lantern, two
small crowbars, and a rope. . .

Mr. Johnson stated that the property now missing was
unimportant. . .

The Loan MA.von—Does the prisoner wish to say
any thing ? Prisoner—Why, no, my Lord, I've nothing
to say.
The LORD MAYOR—Your name in my list is William
Smith. I suppose that is not your own name ? Pri-
soner—No, my Lord, it would only be deceiving you to
sav it was. My name is Thomas Priest.
The turnkey of the Compter said that the prisoner
was well known as a thief, and had been but a short
time ago tried at the Old Bailey.
The prisoner was committed for trial.
Sir PETER LAURIE, who sat in the latter part of the
day took occasion on some case of no public importance,
to state that he felt great gratification in being able to
assure the public, from the chair in which he sat, that
the Penitentiary system, which had been so loudly repro-
bated by men of humanity, was about to be completely
altered. He had heard from unquestionable authority
that after the long trial which had been given to the
solitary and maddening process in that place of punish-
ment, it had at length been discovered that the cruel
rigours of the place were not productive of the good an-
ticipated ;. that the silent and solitary system, instead of
causing an improvement of morals, deprived some of the
wretched delinquents, sentenced to pine within its walls,
of the use of their reason altogether ; and that the Go-
vernment was at length awakened to the necessity of
prison reform, as regarded the horrible place of punish-
ment called the Penitentiary.
Mr. HUMPHRIES, the Solicitor, stated that Sir Peter
Laurie would remember having presented a petition from
him to the Court of Aldermen on the subject some time
ago. Whatever sentences might have been passed upon
unfortunate wretches who violated the laws of the coun-
try, it was never intended by those who made the laws
or who adjudicated that prisoners should be subjected
to punishment calculated to drive them- mad. -He under-
stood that :the number of those who lost their senses in
consequence of the solitary and silent system was on the
increase.

Sir PETER LAURIE declared that three men and three
women had completely lost their reason last year, and
the same number of men and women had lost their rea-
son within the last six months. He had complained and
felt greatly upon the subject. Upon every occasion he
had sought opportunities of exposing the iniquity of the
infliction, and now he must say that he had his reward
in the departure from the system.
Mr. nobler, jun., who was also present when Sir
Peter Laurie mentioned the fact of the intended altera-
tion, said he apprehended that the model prison which
the Government were building would be the means of es-
tablishing a more rigorous series of punishments than
the Penitentiary was capable of inflicting. The plan
upon which that place of punishment was being con-
structed was such as to encourage every fear that great
powers would be given to those who superintended the
inmates.

Sir PETER LAURIE said he had no apprehension of the
kind. At all events one serious evil was about to dis-
appear, and he really did not think it possible that it was
to be substituted by anything half so bad.