The Sun.
London, England, 1832-01-16 00:00:00

SENTENCES ON THE PRISONERS.

Before the Judges came again into Court, there
was an immense crowd collected round the doors
seeking to gain admission. The doors were thrown
open at three o'clock, soon after which the Court
was crowded in every part.
A company of the 18th Font had in the interim
been hrougl* into the gaol. In a few minutes after
the Judges took their seats on the bench, and the
prisoners who were to receive sentence were placed
at the bar.

They were George Beck, George Bearson, John
Armstrong, Thomas Shelton, and Charles Berkins.
These five prisoners were paced in the front. Wil-
liam Kitchen, David Thurman, Valentine Marshall,
and Thomas Whitta4er, were placed immediately
behind them.

All the prisoners seemed much affected by the
awful situation in which they were placed : the pri-
soner Beck was composed, but soon after he was
placed at the bar he began to shed tears, and for
the remainder of the time he kept his handkerchief
to his eyes.
Hearson appeared more firm, but he, too, in a
short time gave way to his feelings and shed tears.
The other prisoners from the moment they came in
seemed wholly unnerved, particularly Shelton arid
Beikine ; the former of whom trembled violently,
the latter put his head down, and never raised it till
the whole of the awful ceremony was concluded.
The Clerk of the Arraigns asked each of the pri-
soners separately what he had to say why he should
not (lie according to law.
On hearing this, Beck, and some of the others,
wept aloud; but the moment the Judges put on
their black caps the whole of the prisoners sobbed,
and groaned, and cried out " The Lord have mercy
on us." This prayer they continued to repeat aloud
for some moment,. The appearance of the Judges
with their caps—the awful indication that they were
about to consign some of their fellow-creatures to an
untimely death—the solemn stillness of the Court
—interrupted only by the deep groans and earnest
ejaculations of the prisoners, gave to the whole
scene a degree of awe which will not be forgotten by
those who witnessed it. When silence was per-
fectly restored,
Mr. Justice LITTLEDALE addressed the prisoners
to the following effect _ . .

George Beck, George Hearson, John Ai rnstrong,
Thomas Shelton, William Kitchen, and David Thur-
man, you stand convicted, by several juries by whom
you have been tried, of the offence of having unlaw-
fully and maliciously destroyed a mill at Beeston,
belonging to William Lone. The wisdom of the
legislature, for the purpose of protecting property
of this description, has affixed to the commission of
this crime the penalty of death; and most wisely
has the policy of the law inflicted the greatest pe-
nalty which is known in the administration of the
criminal justice of the country.
You, Charles Berkins, Valentine Marshall, and
Thomas Whittaker, stand convicted by a jury of
your country, of the offence of having unlawfully
and maliciously set fire to a house of John Musters,
and to this offence also the penalty of death is at-
tached. And there is, if possible, even a stronger
reason for doing this in the case of a dwelling-house
than of a mill; for besides the loss of the property.
and the terror and alarm which it occasions, the lives
of the persons who are in the house may be de-
stroyed, for want of the power of being able to
make their escape.
It appears that on the 10th of October last a
meeting was held in this town upon the subject of
Parliamentary Reform. After that meeting was
Over, a number of misguided and deluded men,
taking advantage of the excitement which but too
often follows the assemblage of a large number of
person,:, proceeded to acts of outrage and mischief
wholly unconnected with the original objects of that
meeting. hi the first place a large and tumultuous
as-embly of these persons, consisting of above 1000,
proceeded to attack Sharpe's•mill, and then went to
the house of Mr. Musters, at Colwick-hall. They
armed themselves with iron bars, and wooden imple-
ments of force, broke open the windows, forcibly
entered the house, burnt the furniture in several
rooms, burnt one of the floors, and but for
the particular construction of the house, the
whole would probably have beer; burnt to the
ground. Several articles of value a ere carried away,
and the family were thrown into the greatest state

of terror and alarm. The whole amount of the loss
at that place was estimated at from 2,0001. to
3,0001. After this, they went to the ancient and
beautiful Castle of Nottingham, the pride and orna-
ment of this part of the country. On the following
day they went to Mr. Lowe's silk-mill at Beeston,
where there were 160 or 170 persons earning ;heir
livelihood, which they burnt to the ground, and
produced a loss nearly to the extent of 15,0001.
The mob who committed this daring outrage
consisted of between 2,000 and 3,000 persons.
Many of them were armed with iron pallisades,
pump-handles, axes, hammers, and other weapons
of destruction. Wt en they arrived there, they
were entreated to desist from executing their ho:rid
purpost-, as so many industrious persons would be
thrown out of employment ; but all to no effect.
The work of destruction was determined upon, and
was carried to its full extent, and the mill and ma-
chinery were soon burnt to the ground. They then
proceeded to Wollaston, where they were stopped
by the military in the park. On this occasion there
does not appear to have been the slightest reason for
such conduct on the part of these tumultuous meet-
ings. There was nothing in the conduct, in the
character, or in the opinions of Mr. Lowe or of
Mr. Musters, which gave occasion to these acts of
outrage. It seems to have been the mere malicious
and reckless mischief of a violent and outrageous
multitude, determined on the destruction of property
for the sake of such destruction and of plunder;
and, perhaps, had Mr. Lowe himself been present,
they would have injured him, for they inquired for,
and threatened to burn and strangle him.
It is a most painful duty in a Judge to select
those persons whose fate may serve as a lesson of
the danger and wiclaidness of offending against
the law. The object of the law is not to punish
criminals for the sake of revenge for the injuries they
have occasioned, but it is that by the examples
made, dither persons may be deterred from violating
the law by the commission of crimes ; and it has
been a most painful act in us to discriminate be-
tween the various degrees of guilt in which you
have been implicated ; but we have made such se-
lection as we have thought best to be proper ex-
amples to be made for the sake of the publicjustice
of the country, and also such as we think his Ma-
jesty may, if he should think proper, extend his
Royal mercy to, so far as to spare their lives. And
' those whose lives we think may be spared, con-
sistent with the public justice, are you William
Kitchen, David Thurman, Valentine Marshall, and
Thomas Whittaker.—(" Oh ! thank you, my
Lord," repeated those prisoners several times. Some
of the other prisoners here again sobbed aloud.)
The Learned Judge continued :

I lament much that it is not in our power to re-
commend any others to the mercy of his Majesty,
but a serious example is necessary to he made. In
the case of the Beeston Mill, you, Gorge Back,
appear as the most prominent person in heading the
mob on this calamitous day. The Jury recom-
mended you to mercy ; and on being asked en what
grounds, they said that you had had a good character
given to you, and that you appeared in some mea-
sure to hare been forced into what you did. I la-
ment that I cannot give effect to that recommenda-
tion. In case of riotous and tumultuous assemblies,
it but too often happens that persons who have
borne an excellent character before, will be found to
be excited to such an extent as to forget all other
views, but join in the mob, and if a former good
character was to be any protection to them, the most
guilty would often go unpunished. Now as to the
force—you state that you were foxed into it ; but
even allowing that, of which there is no evidence but
your own declaration, how is that consistent with
the fact of your being one of the ringleaders 2 There
is no reason for extending mercy to you.
With regard to you, George Hearson, you also
have been a most prominent person in this tumul-
tuous mob. You have added to the enormity of
your first crime that of setting up an alibi, which
the Jury have very properly treated as founded in
falsehood.

tiohn Armstrong, you have taken a most active
part in this work of demolition ; yo❑ assisted in
breaking down the gates; you have admitted that
you were concerned in the riots at Colwick-hall,
Nottingham-castle, and Beeston-mill ; you stated
that you had pulled a blind down, and pulled a
" swift" out of the engine, and set it on fire.
As to you, Thomas Shelton, you also had an iron
bar. Ihe things were brought out of the mill and
put into a heap, and you yourself set the heap on tire.
As to you, Charles Berkins, your offence is, being
concerned in the proceedings of the mob at Col-
wick-hall. You were one of the most prominent
rioters at that place, and further to increase your
offence, you have set up a false alibi, and evidence
given about your shirt which the Jury disbelieved.
As to you, therefore, George Beck, George
Hearson, John Armstrong, Thomas Shelton, and
Charles Berkins, you must all consider your lives
as forfeited to the law, and you have now but a short
time to remain in this world. It now remains for
me to pass upon you the awful sentence of the law,
arid that sentence is,—that you George Beck,
George Hearson, John Armstrong, Thomas Shelton,
and Charles Berkins, be taken from hence to the
place from whence you came, and from thence to a
place of execution, and that you be there severally
hanged by the neck until you are dead, and may the
Lord have mercy on your souls
The prisoners, who (with the exception of Hear-
son) were during the Learned Judge's address for
the most of the time in tears, now sobbed aloud.
The Learned JUDGE then continued his address
as follows:—" You, W. Kitchen and David Thur-
man, have been convicted of setting fire to the mill
at Beeston, and you, Valentine Nlarshall and Thos.
Whitaker, have been found guilty of a similar
offence at. Colwick-hall. There are circumstances
in your cases which induces us to rcommend
you to the mercy of the Crown, so that at
least your lives may be spared; but you must
n•t expect that your punishment will be slight,
for justice in this case requires that you quit this
country for ever. All the Court can now do is to
order the sentence of 'Death' to be recorded against
you—you understanding that your lives will be
spared.
The prisoner Whitaker then said, "My Lord,
may I be permitted to speak to the multitude around
me

The Judges consulted for a short time, and di-
rected Mr. Payne, the prisoner's attorney, to speak
with him. After hearing Mr. Payne's answer, which
was not made public, the Court ordered the pri-
soners to be removed.

At this moment the prisoner Berkins fell in a fit
at the bar, and was removed by the goaler.
It was understood in Court that Whitaker• was
anxious to warn the multitude against engaging in
such riotous and tumultuous assemblies as those
which had placed him in his then painful and de-
wading situation.
The Court was then adjourned to the 46th of
January.

Although Parliament re-assembles on Tues-
day next, yet no list of new Peers has been published in
the Gazette—nor has any official announcement on the
subject been made of a nature to set at rest the doubts and
surmises of the friends to Reform. • We hear, however,
from a source on which we can rely, that all is in a state
of readiness, and that, ere many days elapse, the public
mind will have full satisfaction on this most important
point. In one of their prognostications on this subject,
the Tory prints have proved the falsest of prophets. They
foretold that Lord GREY could not procure fifty men of
rank and fortune enough to justify their creation to the
Peerage in the whole kingdom ; and who would at his
distinction. Now the fact is, that Lord Gary has at this
hands, and under the circumstances of the case, accept
moment no less than one hundred and forty applications
the
for the Peerage—all of whom, in point of talent, birth,
and property, would add to, rather than detract from, the
dignity of the " Order." The truth is, Lord GREY is
I embarrassed by the number, being well aware how mans'
he may displease, on account of his ability to gratify only a
few.—News,

BRISTOL SPECIAL COMMISSION.

BRISTOL-SATURDAY.

Most of the rioters, in whose cases there was no
difference, were yesterday convicted. There was
nothing either of interest or novelty in their details,
therefore we do not give them to the public.
J. Harper, William Perkins, C. Coates, and J.
Rees, convicted in this Court yesterday, of rioting,
recei►eil sentence of imprisonment for two years,
with hard labour.

Jellemy, William Morgan, George Hying, J.
Jenkins, and Peter Brown, for the same offence, im-
prisonment for twelve months, and hard labour.
Richard Phipps, William Beare, Thomas Fitz-
gerald, John 8,-itten, Sarah Anderson, James Dono-
van; Samuel Harding, John Daly, James Elliot,
James Bayley, and Charles Turtle, against whom
bills were ignored, were or to be discharged.
Eleanor Doyle was indicted for receiving a watch,
knowing it to be stolen. The prisoner was further
indicted for stealing a box with eoit pair of gloves
on the Sunday night of the riots. The evidence did
not support the indictment, and the prisoner was ac-
gutted and discharged.
This case was the last of those arising out of the
late dis:urbances here.