The Sun.
London, England, 1827-10-03 00:00:00

MIDDLESEX GRAND JURY.

We annex a 'copy of the report presented by
the Middlesex Grand Jury to the Chairman of
the Quarter . Sessions. on Thursday last, and
Which contains information on• the state of the
police, eve., arising from sources : 'to whiCh it is
difficult to have access. .

The Chairman. baying admitted the right,
which is firmly, st,ablished„ for the Grand Jury
to inspeci.the county Prisons, by the order which
he signed for this iiiirpose, after " they were
"discharged,"' as he has sincesaid, it appears ex-
traordinary 'that he; should•have cavilled at. re-
ceiving a report of the state in .which.
,tho.se
'prisons might be found ;, and as it may not al-
Ways happen that the police and prison arrange:
meats may be such as to admit of an account so
favOurable as the present, it may be of import-
ance for the guidance, of future *brand Juries to
make known .that the Chairman hesitated to re,
ceive any report, otherwise -than ." from the gen"
tlemen who had composed the; Grand Jury."
.The .ordet for inspeeting the. prisons .was
signed by the Coirman at about four o'clock o*„
Friday, the 21st instant, the inspection was-1,-'1
eluded at about two o'clock on Saturday, the
22d, and the report was agreed upOn immedi-
ately afterward's, ,:It was at this .time only that
the duty of .the, Grand Jury could have been
concluded, by the immediate presenting of their
:report ;. but the. Court had adjourned from
Friday,- the 21st, :till the morning .of Thursday,
the
.27th, and it was. on Thursday , morning last,
the 27th, that the Grand Jury .attended at
Hicks's7hall.: On' offering to present their re-
port, they were told; that " their functions had
ceased," and that " they had been absolved frOin
their oath " by the Chairman. As Protestants,
it is, not easy to conceive how even. the Chairman
of, the Quarter Sessions can give, ahsolUtion
from an, bath, the obligation of which is entirely
prospective; and as the disclosure of facts; which
occasionally come to the knowledge of Grand
Jury under the snared tie of an oath, would; in
some caSes,•disturb the harmony of families,—in
Others, thiow a doubt on 'the titles to•estates, or
the chastity ofwomen, or the legitimacy
.of off-
spring, and in all undecided cases, attach stigma
upon evidence purely ex parte,,--we may assume;
that in using the words "' We thank you, Gen=
tlemen,—your country thanks you,—you are
discharged,"—the. Chairman could; at the mo-
ment, have 'contemplated` a discharge only froth
the duties which the Court imposed, 'leaving it
to the Grand Jury to perform, according to their
own consciences; those duties which custom has
enjoined, and which he attested under his own
hand, at that time, that he knew 'to be incom-
plete ; and it may not be too much to expect,
from the experience of the Chairman of the.
Quarter. Sessions, to hear, instead " of absolu-
tion from an oath," that it is incumbent, on all
Parties to bear.in mind the continued obligations
•
'of it, though ft is frequently but too carelessly ad-
ministered in a Court of Justice :
" Middlesex Grand Jury-lidom, Sept. 22.
On concluding their inquiry into the evidence
upon the 'bills laid before them, the Grand Jury
express their regret at the great numerical increase
of crime in the course Of a few years; very nearly
700 bills having been preferred, and a large'propor-
don of which are for serious offences.

" The Grand Jury 'are able to bear testimony to
the zeal and intelligence of- the officers who have
come before them belonging to Bow-street and the
other police eStablishments; but it has appeared, on
several occasion's; that the names of some of those
officers have been put on the back of bills as wit-
'leases, when the parties have had no knowledge
whatever of the circumstances of the indictments,
nor of any fads connected with the charges. This
practice may multiply expense, and , Kris/ deprive
the public unnecessarily. of the active employment
of the supernumerary whilst waiting for and during
the investigation.
" The state of decrepitude in which many watch-
men have been before the Grand Jury, (several de-
claring themselves to be above the age of 60 years),
is worthy of 'observation and immediate alteration ;
and it would be right, in the choice of these men,
that greater attention should be paid to their mental
as well as to their bodily qualifications.
" During the Sessions, noise and disorder have
prevailed about the Court to an extent which has
frequently interrupted the proceedings ; when, to
the above statement, is added that thieving has been
committed within the walls of the Sessions-house,
no further testimony can be required to prove the
inadequacy dr inefficiCney of the means employed to
preserve order at this time.
" The Grand Jury have examined the 'state of
the county gaols and have reason to express their
satisfaction at the cleanliness, and, in general, at
the system of order which appears to prevail among
the prisoners within them. -It has, however, come
to the knowledge of the Grand Jury, that, during
the time when the prisoners have been employed on
the tread-mill, they have been occasionally left for a
considerable time entirely to themselves. The
Grand Jury desire to point out the necessity of pre-
venting the confusion which is likely to ensue at such
a period, as well as the opportunity then afforded
for plotting and conspiracy.

. .
" To ernploy the better class of prisoners as over-
seers or inspectors (who are called in the prison
Yardsmen'), may to a limited extent, be a very
proper measure, but, considering among whom only
the selection can be made, the authority to be exerted
over others by these agents, and the confidence to
be reposed in them, ought, without the slightest
intermission, -to be subject to the presence,
vigilance, and immediate controul of some of-
'ficer of the establishment. Had this degree of
caution'been observed at the House of Correction,
the death of a prisoner, which has recently occur-
red, would in all probability have been avoided.
" The Grand Jury are of opinion, that after the
necessities of life are supplied, the indulgence to be
procured in a prison ought, in ordinary circumstan-
ces, to fall short of the comfort which the honest
exertions of the poorest labourer with a family will
enable him to procure beneath his own roof. Having
this conviction, it has excited surprise in the minds
of the Grand Jury, that ten women who arc exclu-
sively
employed in the, laundry at the House of Cor-
rection should be entitled each to meat and porter
daily. If the exertion necessary by ten women to
complete the woil; he such as to call-for sustenance
.superior to that of the other prisoners, to diminish
the duration of such employment, and to increase
the number of woneen.engaged in it, is the obvious
remedy, ,possessing, moreover, the advantage of in-
structing additional individuals in an occupation by
which: they might gain an honest livelihood at the
time of their emancipation."

Their Royal. Highnesses the Dukes of Cla-
rence and Sussex will head the procession which is to open
the Hammersmith Bridge on Saturday next.
The Members of the Louth Independent Club
held iheircinarterly meeting at Ardee on the 25th inst.--
Tipperary Free jeress. .