The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1846-03-17 00:00:00

THE MARCH SESSIONS.

The court for the trial of prisoners within this borough
was opened yesterday, before Gilbert Henderson, Esq.,
Recorder. The calendar contained the names of 106 pri-
soners for felony, and 10 tor misdemeanours. Of the
whole, according to that document, 45 could neither read
nor write ; 49 could read and write imperfectly ; 18 could
read imperfectly ; and 4 could read and write well.
The following gentlemen were sworn of the
GRAND JURY.
William Atherton, Dale-street, Merchant, Foreman.
Joseph Brereton, Jordan.street, Timber Merchant,
David Behrend, Cable-street, Shipbroker,
Edward Cox, Chapel-street, Broker,
Thomas Chaloner, Queen's Dock, Shipbuilder,
John Dutton, Exchange Buildings, Broker,
William Henry Dobie, Queen Anne-street, Merchant,
Dan. Jones Fynney, Fenwick-street, Corn Merchant,
George Langford Fosberry, Tithebarn-street, Merchant,
Thomas Britain Forwood, North John-street, Merchant,
Richd. Forshaw, jun., Dale-street, Stock and Sharebroker,
T. Forsyth, Exchange-street Last, Stock and Sharebroker,
Edw. Glazebrook, Brunswick-street, Wine Merchant,
Edw. Humble, Blackburn-place, Hope-street, Gentleman,
Geo. Kendall, Rodney-street, Merchant,
H. Littledale, Exchange-buildings, Broker,
Edw. Moon, Tithebarn-street, Merchant,
Robert Mather, Mount Pleasant, Gentleman,
John Backhouse Neilson, High-street,. Sharebroker,
William Nixon, Vernon-street, Rectifier.
The proclamation against vice and immorality having
been read,
The RICCORDER addressed the jury as follows :—The
calendar at this, the present quarter session, contains the
names of 116 persons for trial, and bearing in mind that
this number has occurred within the space of six weeks,
cannot congratulate you on the present aspect of crime in
this borough. There seems to be no reason to question
the efficiency of the police, for you find from the list, that
in 26 of the cases which come before you, the police have
either detected the offenders, or rendered material service
in apprehending them. I notice, with satisfaction, six
cases in which pawnbrokers, by causing the apprehension
of parties giving in pledge stolen goods, have rendered
most essential service to the ends of justice, and have thus
reflected great credit, not only on themselves, but on the
profession towhich they belong. On looking at the depos'
tions 1 think there are not any requiring remark or direction
from me; and I shall leave the cases to you, satisfied that
your intelligence and general knowledge will enable you to
decide what portion require to be further investigated by the
petit jury. It is nearly three years since I first had the
honcur to occupy the position which I now do, and
during that time 1 have observed, with some attention, the
statements of crime ; and, in calling your attention to this
subject, I would rather refer to some official document.
than make any statement of my own. I would first call
your attention to a return which I find in a report recently
made by the Inspector:of Prisons in this district. In that
return I find the total number of persons convicted at the
Liverpool Borough Sessions, in each of the last five years,
to be as follows :

Year. Conviction.
1841
1842
1843
1844
1845
This return shows the number of persons tried and convicted
at the Sessions,—but it is no criterion of the.number of persons
charged with felony and brought before the magistrates. I
shall, therefore, refer to another return made by the keeper of
the main bridewell, showing the number of persons charged
with felony during the last four years; they were
In 1842
1843
1844
1845
Now it would be a source of much gratification to notice in
each of .these successive years that the number of felonies had
progressively diminished, but that I must call your attention
to the fact that, during the same period the number of other
offences has progressively increased. I read from the same re-
turn the number of persons in each of those last four years
brought before the magistrates charged with other offences
than felony. They are as follow::

1842
1843
1844
1845
Thus you see the constantly progressive increase in the num-
ber of persons charged with other offences. On this subject
the Inspector of Prisons of the Northern and Eastern District
of England has remarked, that this old and flourishing maritime
town is almost the only exception, in this extensive district,
where there has not been a diminution of'cOmnaittals to prison
during the last year. Gentlemen, I am sorry to add, the only
bright part of this picture is already beginning to be clouded.
Since October last, a marked increase has taken place in the
business of this court, the number of committals for felony,
according to the best calculations I can make, have exceeded,
by one-third, the number during the same period in each of the
two preceding years. Ido not now propose to inquire into the
source of this increase,—l wish simply to establish the fact, and
to call your attention to the general magnitude of crime, in
order that you may feel the importance of using every pos-
sible means to check the progress of social disorder. You are
now met to render your assistance for that purpose ; when you
shall have performed your part, and when the Petty Jury shall
have performed theirs, we shall then have separated the guilty
from the innocent. But the main question will then remain,
how are the guilty to be disposed of ? There are two modes of
punishment which we are enabled to adopt with reference to
the public protection, which are within the discretion of this
court, transportation and imprisonment. When we reflect that
transportation is a punishment by which parties are removed to
the furthest quarters of the globe for many years; to be passed
in imprisonment and servitude, breaking asunder every social
tie, to say nothing of the expense to this country, and the horror
and disgust which must be entertained towards these unfortu-
nate victims by those resident abroad, it is clear that that is a
punishment which ought to be imposed in comparatively few
and serious cases. If it were otherwise, it would be effectual
as a punishment, and such undue severity would defeat its own
object. It is clear, in the majority of cases in this court, im-
prisonment is the most general that can be adopted. But the
far greater number of cases to which the same punishment
must apply are those disposed of by the magistrates when I tell
you that in the course of last year no fewer than 6235 different
individuals were committed to the borough prison, the largest
number probably that passed through any prison in the kingdom
in that statement will suggest to:you what a powerful instrument
a prison may be made for good or for evil. If you were to ask
me as to the result of my experience, and whether I consider
confinement in our Borough Gaol most calculated to produce
any good moral effect, I am sorry to say I must answer—cer-
tainly not. Individual cases may exist. I know that some do
exist where confinement in that gaol have been productive of be,.
nelit and effectual afterwards, but gentlemen that is not the ge-
neral effect and tendency of imprisonment in the gaol. Nay, I
am prepared to go further, and state that the general influence
of imprisonment is decidedly unfavourable and injurious and
ill calculated to influence the conduct of the parties in future
life. The number of re-commitments which take place are
strong evidence on this subject. If you were to inquire to-day,
or any day, of what class of persons the inmates of gaols are
composed, I venture to say you would find more than half were
persons who had been previously convicted. If you ask for
proof, I refer you to my calendar of last sessions, where out of
106 persons charged with felony, no fewer than 65 had been
committed previously. Here you have evidence of the iletli-
ciency of the effect of imprisonment in a gaol. When I
have to Impose a long term of imprisonment, •and it is
an old offender, what can I expect but that he will be
while in prison an instrument ot corrupting others. If the
culprit is a novice, what can I expect from the association to
which the punishment inflicted consigns him, but that his cha-
racter, instead of being improved, will be materially injured?
Yet this does not arise from any deficiency on the part of those
who have the charge of our prisons : officers more diligent and
zealous cannot be found, or more competent to manage, with
satisfaction to the public, a proper prison establishment. But
without a building of suitable plan and construction,—without
sufficient spaCe and extent of accommodation, it is impossible
to enforce that strict and severe discipline which is so essential
to produce a lasting and salutary impression, or prevent the
association with bad characters which is so fatal to all that are
of a good disposition. During the last ten years the Govern-
ment of the country has paid the most laudable attention to the
subject, and great light has been thrown °lithe various matters
connected with prison management. Many prejudices have been
removed, and are every day being removed, and the result is
now well understood, that the separation of one prisoner from
another is the great and leading feature in all prison estab:ish-
ments. In the punishment of offenders the well-disposed have
no right to be subjected to the infliction of being contaminated by
being compelled to associate with bad characters. An improved
system of punishment has been adopted at Bath, Shrewsbury,
and partially at Preston, and in every instance with success.
Ever since I hail the honour of a seat on this bench, I have
been led to expect a prison on such a principle as I mention
would have been provided for the borough. 1 have waited for
it, and have no hesitation in saying I have mitigated my sen-
tences with reference to the inadequacy of the prison establish-
ment; and if any person will examine the return to which I
have referred, drawn up by the Inspector of Prisons, he will
find what I mean. I have been compelled, owing to the imper-
fection of our prison establishment, to adopt such modification
in several cases ; and it is high time I should be relieved of that
difficulty. I care not so much for myself—that is nothing: it
is on public grounds I ask it. That a total change is required,
is, I feel convinced, the opinion of every one. All I know who
have had any experience, and are conversant with the subject,
and capable of judging of it, entertain the same views. The
excellent chaplain of the gaol finds the utility of his labours
impaired and paralysed by the present state of thins, and has
made a strong representation on the subject. After stating
the evils of the system, he observes that the delay in the intro-
duction of a better and more practical system is an infliction
of little less than injustice, if not cruelty, on many who, in
the meantime, shall be committed to this prison. The report
was read before the mi.igistrates,
and they passed a resolution,
that they were deeply impressed with the importance of the
Chaplain's report, and expressed a hope that the evils to which
he had alluded would, at no distant period, be removed by the
erection of a new gaol. The Inspector of Prisons, who visited
the Gaol in October last, in his report to Parliament, after ad-
verting. to some details, which plainly show how inadequate this
prison is to effect the great object of such an institution, says—
" The inconveniences resulting from the want of a suitable
penal establishment in the town of Liverpool, are becoming so
complicated and perplexing to those entrusted with the admi-
nistration
.of
.justice, and to the officers of the prison, and so
directly injurious to the interests of society, from the ineffi-
ciency of the present prison as a deterring agent, that I cannot
too strongly press upon the municipal authorities the urgency
that exists for providing a new gaol. The truly lamentable
number of re-committals show that imprisonment there has
little or no influence in checking crime or disorder, and this
remark more particularly applies in the case of women."

Again he says—
" I do not assume that the building of a new gaol will cure
this lamentable state of things, but it is the duty of the muni-
cipal authorities to employ every available means for its
check and discouragement. A new penal establishment,
drected upon an improved principle, will permit at least the
classification, separation, and supervision of prisoners, the ap-
plication of hard labour, and scales of diet proportionate to the
length of imprisonment, which cannot be said to exist in the
present prison. lam aware that legal difficulties have arisen
with respect to the transfer of the ground selected for the site
of the new borough gaol, but the necessity tor prompt measures
is so apparent that should they be not speedily terminated, it
seems worthy of consideration whether some other locality
might not be availed of for the purpose."
To this testimony I take the liberty of adding my own. The
subject is one that will not brook delay, and for the sake of the
community at large it ought to be taken up with an energy and
despatch proportioned to the urgent importance of the silbject.
The local government is now building courts of law on a most
comprehensive scale, and surely that noble design will never
be allowed to remain incomplete, by providing a place for trial
without an establishment where the sentences of the magis-
trates may be carried into effect. It should bestow some per-
tion which has been given to the halls of justice to the cells of
prisoneis; when that is done,. and not till then, we may hope to
see the laws for the suppression of crime administered here in
a proper and efficient manner.

CHRIST CHURCH SCHOOL.--At this excellent and well-
conducted school upwards of 600 children receive a sound
Scriptural and useful education. In behalf of the funds for its
maintenance two Sermons will be preached on Sunday next,
and we need but add, in furtherance of the good cause, that
the Rev. Fielding Ould will preach in the forenoon, and the
Rev. Hugh M'Neile in the evenirq.
DEATH FROM STARVATION.—On Saturday a man unknown
Was foind in a sinking state in Manchester-street. He ap-
peared like a skeleton. A surgeon was called who ordered him
mustard plasters, but he died while they were being applied—
iu about an hour after he was received at the station.

TOTAL LOSS OF THE BARQUE " FRANCIS
SPAIGHT", OF THIS PORT, AND 21 PERSONS.

the ship England's Queen arrived in the Mersey yes-
terday afternooon, from Bombay and the Cape of Good
Hope, which latter port she left on the 19th of January.
This is the latest arrival from that quarter, and to Capt.
Sheddings, the commander of the vessel, we are indebted
for the Cape of Good Hope and Natal Shipping and
Mercantile Gazette of the 9th January, conveying the
following melancholy intelligence of the loss of the
Francis Snaieht :
During the night between Tuesday and Wednesday last, it
blew a violent gale from the northward, and at 6 a.m. on Wed-
nesday the squalls were very severe.
At 8. 30, the wind came more to the westward in a hard
squall accompanied with torrents of rain, when the barque
Francis Spaight, of 366 tons, from Manilla to London, was ob-
served driving towards the strand, and an attempt was unfor-
tunately made to set the mainsail, which broils-lir the vessel's
broadside to the shore; and in this position, with th mainsail
aback, she continued to drive until she struck the ground near
the slave lodge, about a mile from the village of Papendorp,
when, in consequence of being broadside to the beach, she
rolled heavily, the sea occasionally breaking over her decks. A
whale boat and a serf boat were sent from Cape Town ; the
whale boat succeeded in getting alongside the barque, and a
line was thrown over the vessel by the rocket apparatils. The
moment the boat touched the side, the crew of the barque, who
appeared to have lost all presence of mind, rushed into her,
when she was filled and capsized, and sad to relate, the captain
and fourteen men of the crew were drowned, together with four
men of the boat's crew, named Thomas Williams, William
Taylor, John Jackson, and Charles Norton.
A surf boat and another boat were also sent from the North
Wharf by Messrs. T. and J. Sinclair; both boats capsized, and
two men, named Dollie and Peter, were drowned.
The following 'are the names of the crew saved, viz.: James
Robertson, carpenter, and John Mc. Leod, seaman.
Captain Patterson and the following men were drowned,
viz.: Thomas Haydon, mate, Magnus Smith, second mate,
Henry Hiate, steward, David Evans, Edward Mc. Donald,
George Hutchings, John Smith, of Leith, John Smith, of Edin-
burgh, and William Widder, seamen; William Rymes, cook,
John Mittin, Thomas Beddoe, William Hall, and Richard Par-
ker, apprentices.
It is exactly twenty-five years since a northerly gale occurred
in Table Bay during the summer months ; and on reference to
the Government Gazette of the year 1821, we find that on the
4th of January a northerly gale, therein designated a hurricane,
blew with great violence, when the Danish ship India Packet,
and the English ships Borah and Emma, were stranded ; but
we believe no loss of life then occurred. Had the head-sails of
the Francis Spaight been set, instead of the main-sail, and the
vessel run on the beach, stem on, and forced up by keeping the
head sails upon her, it is very probable that the whole of the
crew would have been saved.

The vessel is broken in midships and is a total wreck ; and
very little of the cargo will be saved uninjured.
The manifest and mail have not yet been found, but so far as
it has been ascertained the cargo consisted of sugar, hemp,
tobacco, cigars, rattans, and sundry other articles.