The Statesman.
London, England, 1818-11-13 00:00:00

.F"r.

_ ~:
_4 ; C.

-y.

Frs.-177

111111 STATI

1 • - • NRIVGATe .
Ma. Enrroa,—l read in yoo► Paper of last week,
a statement which purported to be the presentment
of the Grand Jury of the City of London, relatiee to
the state of Newgate, and the condition of the
prisoners therein. The authenticity of this docu-
ment I cannot doubt, but I confess no publica-
tion has ever surprised me more. The Grand Jury
present, " 6 that having visited the jail of Newgate,
they are much gratified by the order, cleanliness, and
comfort apparent in every part." No doubt the
Grand Jury did, in point of fact, walk over this pri-
son ; but the notions of comfort and order which
they entertain most be peculiar to themselves, and
were probably framed to justify all they saw. I,
too, visited Newgate on Tuesday last, the gd
instant, end found 40 persons in the condemned
cells, under sentence of dearth ; two of them boys
about 15 years of age. These 40 persons were shut
op in 15 cells (being nearly three in each), which are
in dimension eine feet long by seven wide; and the
prisoners ate shut up in them at least 12 hoots in the
24. 1 would then ask any number of persons in the
kingdom, excepting only the City of London Grand
Jere, if this mode of imprisonment be not so much
bodily torture; but even allowing that, as the lives.
of these poor wretches are forfeited, it is fitting to fill
op the interval between their sentence and the ese-
cutiots of them, by the infliction of a certain portion
of bodily suffering, throe is yet a more important
question to be considered—namely, what are; Lisll,
moral effects of thus mixing together all classes of
prisoners? Some of these miserable beings are
to be executed. Do the Grand Jury mean
to approve of this system as a mode of religious'
preparation for the day when the terrible sen-
jleece of the law is le be carried into effect ? Did any
-of tie Gentlemen take the trouble even of eneuirilig
what the victims themselves thought of the comfort
and order which are stated to be so manifest here and
elsewhere in the prison ? Did the Grand Jury ask
the Ordinary, Dr. Colton, what were his opinions
upon this sabject ? Do they not know, that lie
spoke before the Prison and Police Committees, with
the horror that became him as a Minister of the Gos-
pel of Christ, of the unseemly and irreligious effect
of this part of the Newgate arrangements? In truth,
the bodily pain endured is happiness to their mental
anguish. To the vicious and profligate,—to those
who seek to drive out of their minds all thought
of the future, and all recollections of the past, this
mode of imprisonment may inspire feelings of order
and comfort: in this soot of society all religious
conversation is banished as a matter of course : here
the present world is alone thought of ; the chances
of escape are discussed : future robberies are plane
ned ; and, above all, the mind is amused by the de.
tail of former achiesements, of haii-breadtb escapes,
and those romances of .41 life which are the delight
arid occupation of the it and desperate, •and which
bigot the stings of conscience and check the feelings
of remorse. I )rave no doubt, many of those who
ate cooftried iii the conderned cells woo 4.1 very un-
will ingiy exchange these amusemeuts for ti e solitude
and reflection which become their soilisppy coioli.
lion ; but to the serious And repentant olituder, this
mixed association of numbers is the most distiessing
evil of this ill.organized Prison.
It may be of no iinpoitatice in the eyes of some
persons, whether the individuals who are hanged die
'repentant er not, blaspheming God, and cursing
their fellow-creatures; or in the bumble but pious
tope of forgiveness, and in charity with mankind.—
' When thew poor ignorant creatures are executed,
they are, at least, oat of the way. But of the 40
who are condemned to death now in Newgate, per-
haps 35 will be spared. Is it then of oo consequence
to take advantage of their unhappy state, and in this
season of despair and doubt to make it also one of
,repentance and reformation ?
In truth, I do not know where the words comfort
and order can be applied, except on the female side,
and ill the infirmary. Did the Graud Jury know
that there is no room in Newgate for prisoners of a
better situation in life than common offenders; and
that in order to save Dr. Halloran from the society
pf pickpockets and thieves, this individual (whose
offence of forging a frank, defrsuditig the revenue of
10d., the law of Enghind, so just at all times in pro.
portioning the punishment to the crime, has sentenced
to seven years transportation) was, before trial, con-
fined in the condemned cells, among 30 or 40 vicious
and idle boys, and is at present in the infirmary,
living tied associating with the sick felons ? No part
of this system is to be laid to the charge of the
keeper, Mr. Brown ; he, on the contrary, does all
he can to remedy the evils which arise from it. Many
of these have brie, indeed, redressed of late; the
prisoners no longer suffer from famine and want of
bedding. All these miseries, for years unobserved
land unrepresented by inspecting Craud Juries, have
been, by those whe were nut the natural guardians
of the friendless and imprisoned,
.exposed, and are
oust, I hope, for ever at an end.
I observe, too, that while the Grand Jury take
i no notice of the real condition of the prisoners,
they are very careful to note the es pence which the
City incurs for the maintenance of the convicts.a.-
This is a grievance which ought to cease ; but it is
as nothing to the state of the condemned cell.; to
the idleness, noise, and intermiatore of eis classes
and ages, with the esception of boys under 15; and,
above ell, to the moral depravities of this school of
vice. All these things the Grand Jury do not seem to
have observed, or if they hare, may be taken to be
altogether indifferent about. I have thus, Sir, ven-
tured to comment upon this strange document, be-
cause it is calculated to raise a belief that all the evils
of Neergate have been amended ; and that, instead of
those grievances, moral and physical, which are de-
tailed in the evidence taken last year before the Pri.
son Committee (Mr. Ald. Wood in the Chair), order,
cleanliness, and comfort are apparent in every part.
Besides, I fear that this presentment is to be receiv-
ed as a demonstration that the City of London consi-
der that they have dune enough in the way of amend-
ment, and that the Public have no right to expect
from them a better regulated and constructed prison.
I, for one,' Sir, big leave to pretest against cotn-
ing•to thiS conclusion, and with the blessing of Cod
will never cease my bumble but zealous efforts to
effect that radical reformation or this establishment,
which shall make it, what it Is not It present, a cre-
dit to the metropolis, and an example to the kingdom.
I tor, Sir. sew OIDC lieni Ser•aot.
Walton-upon-11131110, Nt.‘.lo. H. GREY "SENNETT,

- f

-

- ; .
KEZVRN True NORTH. WEST EXPEbi.
DON TO THE POLE.
Thr Isabella „anti thP Alexander, Discovery ships,
are safely arrived in Brassa Sound, Lerwick, all
well; neither ship having lost a Ilan, nor a man in
the sick list.

COOI4II Rot; has completely succeeded in expler-
ing every part of lisfhn's Bay, and, with the excep-
tion of errolsin the latitudes and longtitudes, of veri-
fying the statrweuts of that old and able navigator'
whore name it hears; and of ascertaining that no pas-
sage exists between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceattl
through Strait and Batfin Bay, the wisole„i
being found to be surrounded by lii4h land extending
to the north as fest. as Int. 77. 55. and 1011.78. W.; and
in the 71th degree of latitude, stretching westward as
far as 84. W. lotgtitude.
They traced the same the whole way down to the
Cape Wat.ingham of Dvris, which they ascertained
to ;;P in lat. 66. and lona. 60.; from hence they steered
for Resolution Island, and stood homeward.
They have made many curious observations and
disceveries, of which, perhaps, will not be consi-
dered as the least iuteresting, that of a station being
found to inhabit the Arctic Regions; between the
latitudes of 76. and 78.; who thought that the
world to the South was all ice; that generation had
succeptled generation of a people who had never
tasted the fruits of the earth, had no idea of a Supreme
414eingr-vrtto never had an enemy., and whose Chiefs
had hitherto supposed themselves Monarchs of the
Universe.

There now only remain to he discovered the ter-
mination, if it 1141 one, of Mid(lletitti's Repulse
Bay, and, • few degrees to the Northward of it to
determine whether (r•enland he an island or joins
America, end this might with the greatest Pale be
done from the northerumnat station of the Hudson's
Bay Company in any one season.

BENSETT's LKTIER zits STATE
of NEWGATE.

-....13:09"...-

We de not remember to have ever read, even in
the pages of the Courier, any thing more insulting to
the understanding of the age than the remarks which
that Paper ha, thought proper to mike upon :Mr.
Bennett'. escelleot and human. Letter on the soh.
ject of a Presentment of the (;rand Jury of the City
of London, relative to the State of Newgate, giteti
in our Paper of this day. The misrepresentation' to
which the writer has had recourse, for the sake of
indulging io a puerile attempt at pleasantry, it►
every way so unsuitable to she occasion, bespeaks a
state of feeling which we certainly do not essay.—
We, kite inserted the Letter of Mr. Bennett in
smother part of oar Paper, and we shall here shortly
advert to the observations of the Courier:—

-7-7

' " Mr. Bennett," says. the Courier, " has ad-
drataed a letter to the Editor of a Morning Paper,
e.amtpleitting of the presentment lately made by the
Greed Jury tJ the City of London, relative to the
state of Newgate. The particular part of this do.
cument to which Mr. Bennett otjects, is that
wherein they state, • that hiving visited the jail of
New tote, they are much gratified by the order,
ftlearitiness, and comfort apparent in every part.'-
-11 e doea not venture to deuy that order and cleanll-
- weed ; but he positively insists-that there is no
appearance of ' comfort' in the condemned cells,
whose dimensions he gives ; and adds, that there
were nearly' three persons in each' ender sentence of
.death, when he visited them on the 3d inst." Now,
so far from Mr. Bennett not venturing to deny that
order prevailed in this prison, and limiting the want
of comfort to the condemned cells, as is implied by
this language of the Courier, he expressly says," In
truth I do not know where the words comfort end
order can be applied, except on the female %Ole and in
the infirmary." Order and arrangement are object's
of paramount importance .in a prison, and the im.
portlier.' of them we thought had been impressed on
almost all who are capable of reading, with the ex-
ception of au Alderman or two, whose intellects are
probably clouded by the opacity of their senses—by
the praiseworthy labours of the Prison Committee, in
which Mr. Bennett has rendered such important ser-
vices to his country, and the labours of Mr. Buxton,
Mrs. Fry, and other philanthropical individuals. Of
'the want of order in this prison, Mr. Bennett gi yea an
instance which speaks volumes—" Did the Grand
Jury," he says, " know that there is no room in New.
gate forprisoners, of a better situation in life than cont.
noon offenders, and that in order to save Dr. Halloran
from the society of pickpockets and thieves, this indi-
vidual (whose Wrence of forging a frank, defrauding
the revenue of 10d. the Law of England, so jest at
all times io proportioning the punishment to the
crime, lies sentenced to seven years' transportation)
was, before trial, confined in the condemned cells
among 30 or 40 vicious and idle boys, and is at pre-
sent in the infirmary, tiring and essociating with the
sick felons?" The Law presumes every man inno-
cent till convicted by a Jury of kis country ; but
here a Clergyman, charged with an act, which the
Lew, indeed, visits with a heavy punishment, but
which will always appear venial in' the eyes of the
world, is subjected before trial, to one of the most
grievous punishments that can be inflicted on a man
of his habits. Would it be believed that the object of
first limitiug Mr. Bennett's objections to the want
bf comfort, and that only in the condemned oells, was
merely to introduce this common place joke, " We
should almost think he aimed at the ridiculous, when
he attempted to associate two such ideas as hanging
and comfort? It reminds us of the anecdote of a
Yorkshire carpenter, who was employed to con-
struct a new gallows. Wheat Use machine was finish-
ed, it was inspected by the Sheriffs, who expressed
their fears'that it would be toe small. ` Too small,'
exclaimed the maker, co, f warrant' you half a
dozen persons cuold bang here as comfortable as
possible. "
What are we to think of the writer who cool&
treat with this unbecoming levity a subject of no I
importance than the preparing the minds of those es'
fortunate beings who are aboet to close their worldly
accouutyfor the scene on w bich they are about Neater?

Diedlesterdaylaged 85, at his seat, A.htead Park,
in the coati'', of Sauey (and of Castle. 'tiling, in the
enmity of Norfolk), RICHARD liowAao, &ill. bro.
Cher of the late, a ad uncle of the present Lord 13satoT•

~~

I

'

" • •

-- -
DRURY-LANE THEATRE..
•
A General Meeting of the Renters of this Theatre
(heretofore the new Renters) wits held, yesterday,
isl theSatrion of the Theatre.
Mr. FALLOFEILO was called to the Chair, who
stated the object of the Meeting to be the Ethetiott
of two Trustees, and to receive the Report of
Committee.
The Report was then read.
Sir T. Tonto:I, Bert. moved the ennfirmation of
the Report, which was agreed to unastinsoully.
The foll Owing Resolutions were passed riansoi.
mously
" Thanks to the Committee for their Report.
" That Sir Thomas Turton, Bart. he a Trustee.
in the place of Mr. Hosiston, deceased.
" That Mt. Fallofeild be a Trustee, to the roost
of Mr. Graham, resigned. .
" That the Treasurer and Deputy Treasurer be ye.
quested to attend this Meeting, to explain the state of
the finances of the Theatre up to the present moment,
as far as is consistent with their sett'se of dety.
64 That the followitm question be pot—Ntlethec
the receipts of the Theatre, during the present season,
base been equal to the expenditure."
The TREASURER attended, cud stated, that he did
eats conceive himself at liberty to answer the question.
The following Resolutions were then voted unani-
mously .7---
44 That a subscription of one pound per share, be
forthwith paid into the BaiLking•house of . Messrs.
'Ransom, Morland, and Co. to the *cermet of the
three Trustees, for the purpose of protecting the
rights of the new Renter..
" That the Trustees be requested to apply forth.
with to the Sub. Committee, to ascertain a fact very
important to theit (elite interest, via. ff the receipts
of the present Season 1111,0 equllled the expenditure,
and that they be requested, without loss.uf time, to
adopt such measures as the pressing circumstances of
the rise require.
•• 'That the Report and Resol.eliens btrinted,
and sent to every new Renter. ~oaftleshi
" Tnat it is the opinion of this Meetings' fttat any
future payment ce lacCellet of the "Wittily dne to then
slew iteeterS, he p4il into the hinds ut their Trus-
tees, and nut into the trati,ls of abl Treasurer of the
Theatre.
-

the

That the Thgnks of this Meeting be given to
he Chairman."
A liberal subscription weR then made.

ST'. PANCRAS, AUDDLRSKI.

k~._

~~

T
We are desired by the Directors of the Pool. de
the Perish of St. Pancras • to contradta a statement
which appeared ill our' Paper of Thrarsdeti, the Silt
inst. (as copied from a Morning Paper as a Police
Report at llatton.gartlen), relative to a man of the
name of k4in p, who was represented to have attempted
an art of suicide by reason of the culpable neglect of
the Overseers of that Parish. The Directors finding
that the circumstances there related are contrary to
the fact', as appears by the subsequent elimination
of the man upon an inveoigation instituted by them,
have favoured us with the following• statement, as
given by the man himself :—Teat he It 'plied to the
Overseer, Mr. Cater, for assistance, thine, beiug a
stranger, the Overseer very propedretiquired his
residence and the particulars of Meijer., that he
might first inform himself whether iteViete an object
of parochial relief, end desired the magi to come to
him again, and he would relieve him if correct; and
he was accordingly relieved, end desired to attend
before the Committee at the Work-111,04;e for their
further direction ; he did do atten.l, end it appears
that he had then some work in hand : they gave Mu
some further temporary relief, and ht. went sway as.
lisfied. Shortly after that, on the day he attempted
the rash act, a melaticholy sort of fear came over
him in a way he cannot account for, and drove him
to a desperation equally unaccountable, whi'ds caused
him to make the attempt upon his life. The matt
adds, that his statement at the Police-Office, orwhich
lie has heard, is altogether misconceived, and that he
should be guilty of great ingratitude towards the
Overseers and the Parish, were he not to contradict
i', and with that view has voluntarily made the fol-
lowing affidavit :
" altuoLsiisx TO FIT.
" I, Jame, Kemp, of the Parish of St. Pancias. in the said
calmly, carpenter, do declare, upon this my oath, that I never
did make any applichtinn whatever far relief to Mr. Alston,
one of the Overseers of the Poor of the afinetaid Parish; nor
was I ever refused relief by Mr. Ca,er, she other Overseer, as
ss nue.' my hand ibis 9th daly of November, 1818.
he mai k:1 of JAML9 KEMP.
" Witness. Wm. Talsemot,.olfieer,
Public-Other, ilation-garden•
" Swain before me, at the Pulice.Offire, Hatton.gardee,
this 9th day of November, 1818. " Box, itaYrcerotio."
The above statement cannot but prove satisfactory
to the Public, and we regret that the cheracters of
individuals should be called its question try the 1164
surance of the person who furni-tied the account to
all the Papers, and who positively stated that it tree
the perticular wish of the Sitting Magistrate that LL
should be published in all the Journals of tbe•alta ' •
tropolis.
---.....----.......
The dramatic veteran " Gentleman Sarum," who
is now its the 90th year of his age, is still living at
his favourite residence, near Bury, in Suffolk, and
enjoys tolerable health and good spirits, hut has not
visited the Theatre for some time past. During Miss
O'Nett.t.'s last professional trip to Bury, tie esa
pressed a wish to he personally intros:aced to her,
which he was. by Mr. BELLAW r, the Manager, and
the interview wis highly pleasing to both parties.
' Another than is iii custody, on suspicion of !mint
concerned in the robbery at Mr. Chapman's, Holy.
field Hall. . ..
The importation of 'potatoes and ontorre, within
the lest month, has been immense. They have been
brought from Guernsey, Jersey, lie French, Flemish,
and Ditch ports, and even from St. Peteraburgh.
Coax Factiaecte4 Nov. 19.—Wheyt trade doll ~- line saw..
plea at 814 Moot Liv's price..—Oars 1.. dearcr.--iti Batley,
Peos,• Beans, and tither ealtari no atimation.
aro ITH.f, IELI) MARK vr, Noe. 13..
T., ;ink the Offal, per stone of Sins.
Seer ... 9.. St to b.. Od. I Heal of Cattle' OAP Of r
to . .
onus . 4.1. et. to (it. Sj . Rents .. ... ...... • 6SO
Veal ... 4s. 6t.IV 6. B.t. Skew,. nod Lambs
?ere . 4s. 64. r.. Ils. Od. Calves .... ........140
Lamb. .... Ot. oi. to 04 04. • Pie .....: ..... ...... - . !sill
H kY-IIitAKET.
Fey .. .. bl. ie. ud.• t.. el. es. 04.
' Cover ..... 6'. Os. OA. to 91. its. Od.
Mtr..w ... M. its. titt. ht St. lea. US.

W

„

~

*

.‘

•••••