The Sun.
London, England, 1844-05-29 00:00:00

,e, ,

J

e ver, to imprison many weeks ?) "the conse-
quence is misery, waste of funds, and multiplied
frauds and perjuries" (always the consequence when
ill- doing men are liable to punishment), " whilst no
benefit arises to the creditor" (which is just the ques-
tion in dispute) ; " the arrest, imprisonment, expense,
are ruinous to the debtor" (which is the sad result of
all punishment) ; " in short, the ordinary consequence
is, disappointment and loss to the creditor, destruc-
tion to the debtor" (the common result when men
injure their neighbours, and when the injured seek
protection at expensive and imperfect tribunals, an
argument for the improvement of these tribunals, not
for their abrogation).
It is needful that error like this should be sup-
ported by some evidence, and let—not the trading
people, the intelligent and practical merchants and
men of the world—but any young gentleman much
within his teens, read the evidence and blush that
grave and dignified men in high places can be allowed
to write, unreproved such incoherence, on which, too,
laws are to be, and have been founded, which have
and will continue to confiscate millions of treasure,
claimed by honest men at the hands of idlers, spend-
thrifts, and rogues, who, under the guise and pro-
mise of honesty, were believed on their solemn promise
to pay. The report goes on to say :
" Thai this has been the case since the abolition of
arrest on mesne-process, is most fully borne out by
returns, which have been produced before us. By a
return made to us from the Court of Relief of Insol-
vent Debtors, it appears, that from the Ist Oct. 1838,
to December, 1839, being fourteen months—
" The number of Town cases was,
Of these there were out of custody before
the day of hearing (was this because in
the interim they had settled with their
creditors ?)
Discharged opposed (because the creditor
had failed of legal proof ?)
Discharged unopposed, because of the ex-
pense, and therefore additional loss and un-
certainty of obtaining a remand ;* or
rather, as is too often the case, the detain-
ing creditor is satisfied as to his debt, on
condition that he shall not oppose, while
by the discharge all other debts are
cancelled
Of the opposed remanded for punishment...
Country cases during the same period
Of these, them were out of custody befoce
the" day of bearing (see above)
Discharged unopposed.—lt is an easy way
to pay debts amounting to 1,0001. by
getting a friend to arrest, paying him in
full, some 201., chancing the non-inter-
ference (almost certain) of the other cre-
ditors, and thus getting whitewashed
Discharged opposed (the Judge being a mer-
ciful man P) ..
• • • 673
Of the opposed remanded for punishment.. 220
" Therefore the whole number imprisoned in town
and country was 3,905, and out of that number 2,758,
were discharged, either before the day of hearing or
without opposition ; of those opposed, 1,147 were
nevertheless discharged, and only 361 remained for
punishment. Out of the whole number, divi-
dends were paid in 199 cases." These re-
turns are very imperfect, and, indeed, all
bankruptcy and insolvency returns are so. What
we should have been told is, the amount of debts
owing by the 3,905 debtors, and the amount of divi-
dends paid, and all particulars respecting the various
sub-divisions. But even important as the returns
are, they will not prove the conclusion of the Com-
missioners, who say :—" Deducting 361 who were
remanded, from the 1,147 who were opposed, it
would appear that 786 were opposed without
sufficient grounds; then, adding these 786
to the 2,758 who were discharged unopposed, it
would appear that, out of 3,905, the whole number
imprisoned, 3,544 were imprisoned who ought not, in
good policy, to have been imprisoned at all—for the
imprisonment of those persons produced no legitimate
advantage either to the creditors or to the com-
munity." Upon such statements the whole penal
laws of the country might be abrogated ; the prisons
pulled down; police disbanded; and the lawyers and
judges sent to the colonies; and the industrious and
frugal of mankind left an abandoned prey to the
cunning and the violent—those who have strong wits
and strong fists. For other purposes than these
however, was the expensive machinery of government
designed.
It would have been just as rational, had they at
once said that the picking of pockets ought not to be
punished, because some persist in so doing in defiance
of the terrors of the law. But the question is—How
many more would be pickpockets if there was no
punishment ? Just as, how many more men would
have refused to pay their debts, or have rendered
themselves unable to do so, had there been no arrest,
no punishment, to constrain them ; and how many
such are there now, more than there used to be,
since all punishment (nearly) is removed by the
mock humanity of the law? If the law-making class
were addicted to picking pockets after the Fleet-
street, fashion, as they are addicted to getting into
debt, i.e., picking pockets after the Oxford and Cam-
bridge fashion, the lawyers would soon have made a
report, with a table something like the following :
Number of persons taken into custody on
charges of larceny
Discharged by the magistrate for many
reasons, es—that the evidence was not
sufficiently technical to justify committal ;
that the prosecutor did not appear ; that
the accused pleaded great distress, was a
very interesting young woman, or was a
man with a wife and six small children,
ill of typhus, or the prisons were full, or
because the magistrate was a man who
had a feeling heart for the " unfortunate "
__ _

1,679

474

1,147
141

2/ 226
..

.112

1,441

1,679

who did wring (not who suffered wrong) 1,147
Of the remainder who were committed, bills
were ignored by the grand jury, chiefly
because the prosecutor did not appear,
that is, they were unopposed
Of those sent to take their trial, many were
found not guilty, because of some defect
in the form of the indictment; or, again,
because the prosecutor did not appear—or
a witness had broken down, bullied by
Counsellor P—; or the judge was care-
less, and did not clearly charge the jury;
or because the jury were chiefly humanity-
mongers, who would not convict a fellow-
creature, and send him to prison for some
months to keep company with bad people ;
thus, in the end, of the original number
accused, there travelled on to punishment
only
141
Thus, because of 1,679 captions, only 141 travelled
past the various bye-ways of escape; and reached the
goal ; therefore it is proved that the punishment of lar-
ceny is useless, and ought to be abolished I Let the
vengeful prosecutor be satisfied that the law has granted
him a cessio bonorum,—a return of his watch if found
on the person of the thief, or else a nulls bona; but
for the poor unfortunate thief, why send him to pri-
son, to get his morals corrupted, and moreover prevent
his getting "a chance of a bit of bread for his Nancy
and the kids."

474

It is very remarkable that a man of the high intel-
lect and probity of Lord Cottenham should have
been misled by this childish report of the Commis-
sioners; but it may be taken as a melancholy proof
of the sporadic character of this class of Neuroses.
The best treatment fur it, as far as research has yet
gone, consists in abundant exercise in the open air,
and nutritious diet, neither slops nor stimulants, the
pressure on the brain is by these means relieved, and
its firmness of substance restored ; while the diseased
trains of ideas are best broken by study of the early
English writers, such as South, Fuller, and Milton,
and, above all, by the study of the Holy Scriptures.

* A creditor lately opposed a man in the Court at Exeter
who owed him 20/., at a charge of 9/., and got nothing but a
remand for six months; thus losing by his public spirit, not
90/., but 294 Creditors do not arrest for vengeance, but they
press and press, to get all they can out of an unwilling deb-
tor, of whose real ability to pay they have no possible means
of knowing, and when he has allowed himself to be taken to
prison, they infer that he really cannot pay, or rather, that
lie cannot be made to pay, but by further process too expen-
sive and laborious for them to hazard.

ECLIPSE OF TIIE MOON,—On Friday night there
will be a total eclipse of the moon visible at Green-
wich. First contact with the shadow at 9h.9 m. F.M.,
middle of the eclipse 10h. 50m., and last contact
with the shadow about half-past 12 on the morning
of the Ist June.

NEWLY INVENTED SPECTACLES, Deafness Relieved
Telescopes, Opera Glasses, &c., 39, Albemarle-street,Pic-
cadilly. Deafness Acoustic Instruments—lnvisible Voice
Conductors when fixed in the cavity of the ears are not
perceptible, they enable individuals at an advanced age,
and of forty and fifty years' standing, of extreme deaf-
ness, instantly to join in general conversation, and to
catch the sound of a distant low speaker at church,
theatre, &c.—lt pours the conversation into the ears to
such an extent that in most severe cases deafness cannot
be observed. Also original Ear Cornets, French,
German, and Spanish Artificial Ears and Improved hear-
ing Trumpets of every description. Immediately the
Newly Invented Spectacles arc placed before imperfect
vision that mist and dullness which appear before the
eyes is removed, every object becomes clear and distinct,
so that the most aged defective sight becomes bright and
brilliant, and is brought to its youthful, natural, and ori-
ginal state. Also Achromatic Waistcoat Telescopes and
Opera Glasses. Every kind of Telescopes of larger size,
with increasing powers, for Shooting, Sea purposes, and
upon stand for astronomical observations, with the cele-
brated Lenses of the most clear, transparent brilliancy;
the powers are so great and the Lenses so bright and
brilhant, that minute objects at an extraordinary distance
are brought completely under the eyes.—Sportsmen, Tou-
rists, and sea-side visitors will indeed have a great treat.
Caution.—Messrs. S. and B. Solomons, Opticians and
Aurists, are not in any way connected with a person of
the same name in their immediate neighbourhood ; nor
in any part of the country. To prevent mistakes be
cautious, and observe,—Only to be hitd at 39, Albemarle-
street, Piccadilly, opposite the York Hotel.

4•^. -
TIIE JUNE NUMBER OF
COL BURN' S NEW MON'f,IILY MAGA-
ZINE AND HUMORIST,
Will contain the following interesting articles :

RECOLLECTIONS OF THE AUTHOR OF " VATHEK."
With a line Portrait of
THE LATE WILLIAM BECKFORD, ESQ.
A Dreamer Awakened. By Barry Cornwall.
Unpossessed Possessions. By Horace Smith, Esq.
D'lsraeli's " Coningsby."
Arabella ; or, the Moral of " The Pantie Fine," by Titmarsh.
MEMOIRS OF A GENTLEMAN ON HALF-PAY. No. I.
By IV. H. MAXWELL, Esq.
Author of " Stories of Waterloo," &c.
One More Savoy Ramble. By Mrs. Trollope.
Finishing with a Dinner. By the Author of " Peter Plinths."
How to make a Long Day. By Laman Blanchard, Esq.
Recreations in Natural History ; Elephants, concluded.

TIIE ROYAL ACADEMY EXHIBITION.
The Emperor Nicholas; his Nobles, Serfs, and Servants.
The Lost Ship.
The Voyages and Services of " The Nemesis" in China.
The Winds, &c.
Henry Colburn, Publisher, 13, Great Marlborough-street

In 3 vols., post Bvo.,
vir. R. D'ISRAELI'S " CONINGSBY ;
LVJL OR,
THE NEW GENERATION,"
IS NOW READY AT ALL THE LIBRARIES.
Henry Colburn, Publisher, 13, Great Marlborough-street.

ILLUSTRATED BY LEECH.
The JUNE NUMBER, Price Halfla-Crown, of
BEN TL E Y'S MISCEL,L ANY
Will contain :
THE FORTUNES OF THE SCATTERGOOD FAMILY,
By ALBERT SMITH.
With an Illustration by Leech.
Chap. XVlll.—VinOent is, led by Mr. Bolt to the edge of a precipice.
Chap. XIX.-"—Mr. Toe Jollit- becomes joyous at Graysend, where Mr.

Snarry relievos his mind. -
Chap. XX.—Frederick arrives at the end of his jogrneY. -
Chap. XXl.—The .meeting of 'Vincent and Amy Grantham—The

burning of Brabants. .
The Whims of a Water-Drinker. By Hal
The Last Gathering.
3ly Creole Cousin. By Albany Poyntz, with an Illustration by

The Whig and Tory,

An Universal Newspaper to Wit all Tastes and

- -
Opinions, composed by Steam. '
Benjamin of Breslau, and how he learnt the World. A German Tale.
A Ramble through Styria, the Tyrol, and Illyrfa; in 1841, By C. F.
• Fynes Clinton. Vienna—Journey through Styria—Salzburgh—
Valley of the Pinzgau—Falls of the Sabza7—lrmsbruck•
•
Love and Reason,. 'By Anna Savage,
A Fashionable Gaming House—Confessions of a Cr2upler.
The Manxman and his Visitor.
The Coryphee. By Menander.
The Vetturino. By Dudley Costello. The Cabaret—Disclosures.
A Song for the Sorrowful. By W. Law Gane.
Queen Elizabeth's Visit to Sandwich. By Henry Curling.
A song.
The Native Sentinel. By H. R. Addison. •
The Physiology of London Life. By J. Fisher Murray, author of
" The World of London." Parliamentary Life---London-ophilists—
How to get on la London,
Richard Bentley, New Burlington-street.