The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-07-26 00:00:00

LIVERPOOL MIDSUMMER SESSIONS

The Midsummer Sessions of the Peace for the Borough of
Liverpool commenced yesterday, before James Clarke, Esq.,
Recorder. The calendar is very heavy, containing the names
of no less than 150 persons for trial an charges of felony and
misdemeanour. The following gentlemen were sworn the
Grand Jury :
NICHOLAS ROSKELL, Esq., merchant, Chapel-st., foreman,
Joseph Brereton, timber merchant, Jordan-street,
henry Glyn, merchant, Exchange-street East,
Joshua Heap, broker, North John-street,
Isaac Hutchinson, merchant, Nile-street,
A. Hurtz, manufacturing chemist, Upper Stanhope-street,
William Logan, anchor smith, Bath-street,
Robert Livingston, merchant, Chadwick-street,
John Mather, merchant, Mount-pleasant,
Benjamin Platt, jun., merchant, Upper Parliament-street,
William Pickering, merchant, Breck-road, Everton,
Wm. Fothergill Robinson, hide broker, Prince Edwin-st.
Thomas R. Robinson, wine merchant, Hatton-garden,
William Rotherham, merchant, Exchange-street West,
James Stringer, merchant, Seel-street,
James Sergeant, broker, Oldhall-street,
James Stitt, iron merchant, Islington,
J. A. Thine, merchant, Exchange-alley North,
John Tomlinson, corn merchant, Nile-street,
John Twiname, corn merchant, Duke-street,
John Worrall, shipowner, Salthouse Dock.
The Clerk of the Peace having read the Queen's procla-
mation against vice, profaneness, and immorality,
The RECORDER proceeded to deliver the charge to the
Grand Jury. He was sorry to tell them that the calendar,
in point of numbers, was a very serious calendar indeed;
but still the great majority of the cases were of a simple na-
ture, and would not require any very laborious investigation
on their parts. If, however, contrary to his expectation,
they should meet with any difficulties, arid they would have
the goodness to communicate them to the court, he would
endeavour, as far as he could, to remove those difficulties.
He was sorry to observe again a class of cases in the calen-
dar which always gave him great pain, namely, embezzle-
ment by confidential clerks. There were two or three cases
of that description for trial, which, he was sorry to say, were
of rather an aggravated nature. Offences of this description
were never caused by distress; the parties• were always in
valuable situations, receiving large sums of money from their
employers ; therefore it was idle to set up the plea of dis-
tress in extenuation of the offence. In fact it was the want
of principle and the absence of integrity which led young
men to commit this crime. He had already observed that
the calendar was very full, and one reason why it was so was
that imprisonment was found of no good at all. All the
gaols in the kingdom were crowded, and the parties came
out of them worse than they went in ; and they would not
be surprised when he told them that one-half of the prison-
ers to come before them had been convicted over and over
again. Education in gaols, though it was of some use, did
not terminate in those good consequences which one would
naturally expect. There were excellent masters and religi-
ous and pious chaplains, yet still their fruits were not of
that description which the country would wish, for parties
came out of gaol with a determination to renew their crimes,
and they did renew them with very great vigour; their ha-
bits were rendered worse, whilst their powers of committing
crime were much-increased. They had just heard the royal
proclamation read by the Clerk of the Peace against vice,
profaneness, and immorality; and they were aware that an
act of parliament had been recently passed requiring public-
houses in this borough to be closed from twelve o'clock on
Saturday night till one the next day. They would all agree
with him that this provision was quite in accordance with
the spirit of her Majesty's proclamation, and that if that
clause had not been enacted by the legislature the royal
proclamation would have become a mere idle form of words.
The spirit of her Majesty's proclamation could not be carried
into effect unless public-houses were so closed; therefore, as
the cause of morality, the cause of religion, and the comforts
of the poor themselves were concerned in this clause, he was
very glad to see it enacted by the legislature. The learned
Recorder closed his charge by recommending the Grand
Jury to put themselves in possession of the act recently
passed, by which the law between principal and agent is very
materially altered; and having dwelt on the importance of
mercantile men making themselves acquainted with its pro-
visions, he dismissed the Grand Jury to their labours.
The Grand Jury then retired, and shortly afterwards they
sent a few bills into court. The trials immediately com-
menced, but none of the cases tried yesterday possessed the
slightest public interest.
The calendar, as before stated, contains the names of 150
parties for trial. Of these 46 are totally unable either to
read or write; only .1-1 can read arid write well; 62 can read
and write imperfectly ; and 28 can read imperfectly.