The Sun.
London, England, 1832-01-07 00:00:00

erection used in carrying on any trade or manufac-
ture, or any branch thereof, shall suffer death as a
felon." As to the riotous and tumultuous assem-
bling of persons, and the demolition and destruction
of property when so assembling, it is enacted by 7 and
8 Geo, -h. c. 30., s. 8., " If any persons, riotously and
tumultuouslyassembled together, to the disturbance of
the public peace, shall unlawfully and with force de-
molish, or pull down, or destroy, or begin to demo-
lish, pull down, or destroy, any church or chapel,
or any chapel for the religious worship of persons
dissenting from the united Church of England and
Ireland, duly registered or recorded, or any house,
stable, coach-house, out-house, warehouse, office,
shop, mill, malt-house, hop-oast, barn, or granary,
or any building or erection used in carrying on any
trade or manufacture, or any branch thereof, or any
machinery, whether fixed or moveable, to be found
or employed in any manufacture, or any branch
thereof, or any steam-engine, or other engine, for
sinking, draining, or washing any mine, or any staith,
building, or erection, used in conducting the busi-
ness of any mine, or any bridge, waggon way, or
trench, for carrying materials for any mine, any such
offender shall he guilty of felony, and being con-
victed thereof, shall suffer death like a felon." ATth
regard to a mere simple riot, when of itself it is
defined to be " a tumultuous disturbance of
the peace by three persons or more assembled toge-
ther of their own authority with an intent mutually
to assist one another against any who shall oppose
them in the execution of some enterprise of a private
nature, and afterwards executing the same in a
violent or turbulent manner to the terror of the
people, whether the act intended were of itself law-
ful or unlawful." Thus stands the law with respect
to the crimes that are intended to be brought under
your consideration ; but some observations are ne-
cessary to be made as to the different classes of per-
sons who are charged as having committed these
various offences, and may be affected in various
degrees. It is not only proper to state the law
to you, but more particularly as applicable to the
cases to which capital punishment attaches. It is very
desirable to mention a subject of the greatest impor-
tance to those who join in these daring outrages,
and which is probably not understood as to the ex-
tent of their guilt by many of these deluded persons.
Many of them think that he only who applied the
torch or match to the building or stack in ease of fire,
or he who applies the bar, the mattock, or the ham-
mer in the demolition of buildings, is alone guilty of
the offence ; and they who merely stand by, giving
their encouragement, and handing even the imple-
ments, are guilty of a much less offence ; but these
deluded persons are not to flatter themselves that
they can escape a capital punishment on that ac-
count, for there is no doubt that they are principals
in the second degree, and liable to the same punish-
ment as those by whose hands more immediately the
work of destruction is effected, and who are called
principals in the first degree. So also, if a person
be not present at the time the crime is committed,
yet if he procures, or counsels, or commands ano.
ther to commit a crime, is an accessory before the
fact, and by the 26th section of the 7th and Bth
Geo. IV., cap. 30, principals in the second degree
and accessories before the fact are liable to the same
punishment as principals in the first degree. 'With
regard to those who engage in riots, the law is, that
if one person seeing others engaged in riots, joins
himself to them, and assists them, he is as much a
rioter as if he had joined them in the first instance
for the same purpose, inasmuch as he has no pre-
tence that he came innocently into their company,
but seems as if he had joined himself to them with
an intention of seconding them in the execution o'
their unlawful enterprise, and it would be endless as
well us superfluous to examine whether any particular
person engaged in a riot were in truth one of the first
who assembled, or actually had a previous knowledge
of the design, and the law is, that " if any person
encouraging or promoting, or taking any part in
riots, whether by words, signs, or gestures, or by
wearing the badge or ensign of the rioters, he is
himself to be considered a rioter;" for in this case
all are principals ; and on this occasion I think it
right to remark, that by the common law all riots
and unlawful assemblies by great numbers of people
as are calculated to excite alarm arid to endanger
property and public peace and tranquillity is pro-
hibited and punishable as misdemeanors. Though
the parties proceed to no acts of destruction or
injury of persons or property, such assemblies are
most dangerous, and acquire additional strength the
longer they continue together, their numbers in-
crease, their passions become inflamed, they get
bolder as they proceed, and the example of the
most ardent and daring gives the rule of conduct to
the rest, and when once they have violated the law
they are easily led into acts of further aggression,
and at last betrayed into the commission of the most
atrocious crimes. You w ill probably have some
accomplices brought before you as witnesses, in that
case you will receive them as competent. The
evidence of accomplices has, at all times, been ad-
mitted, from a principle of public policy and from
necessity, as it is frequently impossible to detect
the worst of crimes without their information; but
although accomplices are admitted as witnesses, their
testimony ought to be received by Juries with a
sober degree of jealousy and caution, for on their
own confession they stand contaminated with guilt,
and in the hope of lessening their own infamy, will
often be tempted to throw as much guilt as possible
upon the prisoners. They may also, in some cases,
be entitled to reward on the prisoners' conviction,
and in all cases expect to receive a pardon; and as
fear is usually their motive in giving evidence, the same
feeling may rPmpt them to exaggerate their state-
ment, for the purpose of destroying their former
associate, and securing themselves against his
vengeance. As accomplices are competent wit-
nesses, it follows, that if their evidence be believed
by a Jury, a prisoner may, strictly speaking, be
legally convicted upon it, though it be unaccom-
parried by any other evidence as to his identity ; but
their testimony alone is seldom of sufficient weight
with the Jury to induce them to give a verdict
against the prisoner, the temptation to commit per-
jury being so great; besides, the witness by ac-
cusing another may escape himself. The practice,
therefore, with Judges, is to advise the Jury to re-
gard the evidence of an accomplice only so far as it
may be confirmed in some material part of his nar-
rative by unimpeachable evidence. It is not neces-
sary that he should be confirmed in every circum-
stance which he details in evidence, for there would
'be no occasion to call him at all as a witness if his
narrative could be completely proved by other evi-
dence, free from all suspicion, nor need it appear
from the confirmatory evidence that he speaks truth
with respect to all the prisoners or with respect to
the share which each had in the transaction. But
if the Jury are satisfied that he speaks truth in some
material parts of his testimony, in which they see
unimpeachable evidence brought to confirm him,
that is a ground for them to believe that he also
speaks truly in other parts, and with regard to other
prisoners as to whom there may be no confirmation.
I have now brought to a close the observations I
have to make to you as applicable to the cases for
which his Majesty has been pleased to issue this
Commission. It now devolves on me to make
some remarks on the cases of the other prisoners
confined in the gaol. It gives me much pain to see
that in the calendar there are two separate and
distinct cases of incendiarism, in burning agricul-
tural produce. This offence of private burn-
ng is one of very deep moral guilt. it is easy