The Sun.
London, England, 1858-09-23 00:00:00

prevent any chances of firing unless he gave dis-
tinct orders, and it was quite possible that an
excited Irish youth, with his fighting blood up,
might have pulled a stray trigger, and then who
could foresee the consequences ? The sergeant par-
ticularly struck me. He was an old Ghuznee
stormer, grim as death, and hard as bog-oak. I
sounded him, with a view of ascertaining if he was
quite satisfied with the service, when he confided
to me that he did not think it right that the pri-
soners should have " p'huddn' (pudding) three
times a-week and the soldiers none. It was very
amusing to see his strong sense of discipline strug-
gling with the desire to give vent to his intense
delight at the prospect of a scrimmage.
" Now as to the cause of this dangerous emeute.
I heard the prisoners.questioned by the warders as
to the cause of their refusing to work, and not one
complainant did I hear against the prison discip-
line or treatment, but the universal reply was,
We won't be put upon by the Government,' or,
We won't be -humbugged by Government ;' and
this I found to mean precisely what is described in
your impression of Saturday—namely, that those
sentenced previous to 1853, and under the Act
of 1857, may
.by good conduct obtain the remis-
sion of a certain portion of their punishment, while
those sentenced under the Act of 1853 must work
out the whole of their term, no matter what their
conduct might be. Captain Gambier explained to
the whole body, in the kindest manner, that con-
victions for the same crimes under the Act of 1857
were for longer periods than under the Act of 1853,
and that there was no real difference between the
term of imprisonment actually inflicted under the
two Acts ; only that under the Act of 1857, if a
prisoner misconducted himself, the authorities had
power to keep him a certain moderate additional
period in confinement.
Now, just to hit the blot, if there be one, I would
ask this question :—Have the judges, in passing
sentences under the Act of 1857, kept in mind the
intentions of the Government in framing it, and its
provisions as regards remission ; or, in other words,
have they sentenced prisoners to five years' penal
servitude, under this Act, for the same crime as they
awarded four years under the Act of 1853, when
there was no remission ? If not, they are respon-
sible for a grave oversight.
" Before leaving Portland I was allowed by the
courtesy of Captain Clay to inspect the prison,
and I came to the conclusion that *e rules
and regulations were such as would gratify the
heart of the sickliest sentimentalist, the most
maudlin sympathizer with crime, or the most over-
strained philanthropist.• Everything was as clean
and orderly as a gentleman's house,—the food
unexceptionable, the bread I should prefer to
that of a London baker for my own table ;
the hours of work those of an ordinary la-
bourer ; chapel twice each day, a school established
in the prison, and daily instruction given to the
ignorant ; two chaplains in constant attendance,
who endeavour to lead their minds towards religion
and a better course of life ; and a well-ventilated
hospital for the sick or injured, with two surgeons
in attendance. Here I saw the ringleaders of the
conspiracy, who had received the mild punishment
of two or three dozen lashes. They were dressed
as usual, were unfettered in any way, and presented
no indication of suffering from their well-merited
chastisement. The prison discipline appeared to
me to be carried out with vigorous firmness, vigi-
lance, and kindness, from the highest to the lowest
in authority, and every indulgence consistent with
the rules granted to well-disposed convicts.
" I must confess I went to Portland touched with
a certain amount of sympathy for the prisoners,
but returned disenchanted and more than ever con-
vinced of the irredeemable condition of the human
heart when long steeped in the boiling sea of crime,
and how religious impressions, kindness, and all
humanising effbrts rebound from it as if made of
iron. But there is one channel into which I* would
direct the benevolent and charitable in every cor-
ner of our land ; let thrm seek out the lair of every
imprisoned convict and exercise their work on his
callous brood, and the famishing, sickly, despairing
mother. Here charity would be blessed, impres-
sionable objects found to work upon, many a young
soul would be saved, and their hands turned to
honest industry, and our prisons would lack their
future prey.. The tenderness and devotion of women
towards their imprisoned husbands, as evidenced by
their correspondence, I am informed are affecting in
the extreme. I understand they rarely reproach them
with the crime which has brought misery and star-
vation on their families, but earnestly pray for
their welfare and restoration, and urge obedience to
the authorities, and that they should seek by
prayer and repentance the pardon of their offended
God. An instance was related to me of a poor
woman last year, whose husband was about to be
transported, walking from the further part of
Wales to Portland, which, in consequence of her
being far advanced in pregnancy, occupied three
weeks, and who arrived there about an hour after
he had sailed, and too late for the parting inter-
view for which her painful toil had been under-
taken. Such appear to me-to be the proper objects
of sympathy and charity, and not the hardened
husband.

" In conclusion, I trust the Government will take
into consideration the great exertions, extra labour,
and vigilance of the officers of the prison, and suit-
ably reward them. This may be done without in-
curring Any additional expense, as I understand the
300 refractory prisoners forfeit by the rules of the
prison all the gratuities to which they would have
been entitled on their discharge, and which, in the
aggregate, must amount to a large sum.
" I =lose my card, from which you will see that
I have no connexion with the prison, and do not
live within 500 miles of it."

SURREY SESSIONS.—Sept. 22.

EXTENSIVE DEFALCATIONS OF AN INCOME AND

ASSESSED TAX COLLECTOR.

Mr. Henry Burbridge,4o, for many years an ex-
tensive builder at Richmond, in this county, and
recently assessor and collector of income and
assessed taxes in that parish, was indicted for
having unlawfully and without the authority of the
Income-tax Commissioners obtained various sums
of money from several persons in Richmond, with
intent to defraud her Majesty's Commissioners of
Inland Revenue. There were other counts in the
indictment varying'the offence.
Mr. Hurrell, instructed by Mr. Jacobs, prose-
cuted on behalf of the Crown ; and Mr. Thomson,
instructed by Mr. Hall, for the prisoner.
The court was crowded during the proceedings,
which lasted several hours.

Mr. 0. B. Harrison having opened the pleadings,
Mr. Murrell said that he with his learned friend
appeared on behalf of the Crown to prosecute the
prisoner for a very serious offence. Mr. Burbridge,
who now stood at the felon's bar to answer these
charges, had for a long time carried on an exten-
sive lousiness as a timber merchant at Richmond,
and so high Is his character that he was appointed
by the Commissioners of Inland Revenue to the
office of assessor and collector of income and as-
sessed taxes for the parish of Richmond in 1854.
He continued to hold that office virtually to the
month of December last ; but it is the custom of
the commissioners to re-appoint the collectors every
year, and the re-appointments are made at the
close of each financial year, on the sth of April.
The prisoner was not re-appointed on the sth of
April, 1857, but he continued his duties in order to
close the outstanding accounts for the year 1856,
and, remained in that position until the 12th of
December, 1857, when his accounts were investi-
gated by Mr. Sells, the surveyor to the district,
and it was ascertained that his defalcations
amounted to £713, which he admitted. In
consequence of that discovery the commissioners
exercised the power vested in them by act of Parlia-
ment, and committed Mr.Burbridge to Horscmongcr-
lane gaol until he paid the•money. It afterwards
was ascertained that he had received a considerable
portion of the taxes due in 1857, after he had ceased
to be the lawfully appointed collector, therefore he
was now charged with obtaining the sums in ques-
tion by false and fraudulent pretences. He then
called—

Captain Robert Henry 'Wood, who said that he
resided at No.B, Pembroke Villas, Richmond-green.
He was the owner and proprietor of several houses
in Richmond, which were subject to schedule A in
the income tax. He knew the prisoner as a builder
and collector of income and assessed taxes for the
parish of Richmond, having frequently paid him the
taxes. On the 20th October, 1857, he received a
notice from him that he was indebted in the sum of
£7 12s. for income-and assessed taxes. Witness
went to his house and paid him, when the prisoner
handed him the, receipt produced. (The latter was.
put in ; it was h regular printed one, but the figures
in the years were altered with a pen from 1856 and
1857 to 1857 and 1858.) On the 31st May last he
paid the same taxes to a Mr. Sloman, who was au-
thorised to collect it by the commissioners, conse-
quently he had paid it twice.
This witness was cross-examined by Mr. Thom-
son, but nothing material was elicited from him.
When he paid him in October, 1857, he believed
him to be still the authorised collector, or he should
not have done so.

Mr. J. C. Sells was next called. He said he was
surveyor of taxes for the Kingston district; of which
the parish of Richmond was a portion. The prisoner
was appointed collector for the latter place in 1854,
but was not re-appointed, as was usual, on the sth
April, 1857, consequently he had no right to collect
taxes for the latter year. He ceased to be collector
after the sth of April, 1857. On the 26th October
witness received the assessment -for Richmond,
signed " Henry and John Burbridge, assessors."