The Statesman.
London, England, 1814-07-19 00:00:00

LORD COCHRANE'S CASE.

TO THE EDITOR. OF VIE STkTESNIAN.
Sla,—The contemplation of this subject produces,.
in my mind, almost an endless variety of reflections.
I have already sent a -voluminous letter to the Editor 1
of a Weekly Paper, containing remarks written be- I
fore reading his Lordship's defence, and that defence
has suggested as many more. If it had never been
Proposed to inflict a further punishment upon his
Lordship, or rather to crush him with the weight of
accumulated disgrace—if this had not been intended,
perhaps we should never have seen this defence,
which, in my opinion, has so clearly manifested his
Lordship's innocence. I admit, Mr. EDITOR, that
disgrace is punishment, and indeed the severest of
all punishiaents to men of noble naiads; bet then, it.
is not easy to conceive how disgrace can be inflicted
where there is no certainty of crime. Crucifixion .
among the Jews, like hanging amen us, was not ,
only a punishment, but a disgrace likewise ; we
know, t. owever, of one instance when this punish-
meat having beets most unjustly applied, it did not i
disgrace the sufferer, bet, on the contrary, fee-
. cured him great respect, so that even the insignia of
this infamous punishment became a badge of honour,
and.conlineee so to this day ; which, I think, is a
satficient proof, that where no crime exists disgrace
cannof be inflicted by punishments, although such
punishments may be generally held infamous. The
pillory is esteemed a pusistment of this kind--why ?
Because infamous persons are generally put in it.—
It is net placing a man 'upon a board, and showing
him to the populace, that can disgrace him, if it is
not generally acknowledged by those who see him
there, that he hie committed some action of an in-
famous nature—but if an opinion directly the reverse
of this prevails, the circumstanse of standing upon a
board is of no consequence whatever. There is no-
thing in the pillory itself to daunt any lien' were it
not understood that the persons,.commonly placed
there are men infected with. the finest and most '
detestable vices; but sepposeyou cut an honourable
men there, the disgust excited will: not be against
the men, but against; the misapplication, of the pa-
inibhment. Now it ,Is the general opinion that this
punishment would have been athapplied to lord
Cocusans, even if 'he .had been guilty, beasts he.'
is not a ineet-pollated with any of those loathsome
and filthy vice' which are considered as qualifications
for the pillory. lie is clear from this sort of moral
leprosy,-although it must be confessed that be has
lived in a past-house; be- has breathed the air of a
.Ibsen where corruption is as notorious as the sun at
nenii-.4010, and yet he escaped contamination,—he
• liell-aut4hat physicians call the predisposition, or I
mo.ititptioeal adaptation to infection—and for this
Aniasoeit is, I 'oppose, that corruption and he are
so hostile to each ether. My opinion is, that after
a. man hat passed thrtiugh iuch alt ordeal as this.
Withoutstiut least taint itpan hie:parity, his character
albite t to shield hiin from atthcks such .as that
his Lordship by prOfessed gamblers, and
tter writchescwetriug for the sake of. reward....
• evidetkostraVet forward ought to Dem been of
twirls the sessesary for the conviction of
*Wipe was but. Lagoa of that, it was of less.
No ataolostlit to be placed in the pillory who has
the limit muse .of shame remaining, because that
meld be taking from Ms the chance, however
small it might -be, of reformation ; but when all
INPPGICOf this kind are extinguished in a man, when
be becomes what the law calls an incorrigible rogue,
thee yen may set him in the pillory, as the Spartans
exposed their slaves drunk) to create in their youth a
.4101mitertion of that vice. This is what the pillory
oßas designed for—the exposure of incorrigible
,rogues; not to punish them; no, that is out of the
question (for they are incorrigible in the eye of the
law), but to create disgust in the spectators. Now
I will ask any one, unless, indeed, it be the Judges
who pronounced the sentence, whether they can dis-
cover in Lord C— any resemblance to such a cha-
racter ?--Whether they think that the exhibition of
that Noblemen's person would excite disgust, by ro•
riving in the minds of the spectators the recollection
of flagitious vices ?—Do they imagine that when
Lord C— shows his honest face upon the pillory,
that an uproar of disapprobation will ensue, and
the ear be stunned with groans and hisses, as actually
happened at some late exhibitions, where a glimpse
only of the countenance revived in the minds of
the beholders a crowd of disgusting ideas.—No ;
there is neither man, woman, nor child, who will
venture to say this ; there is nobody who will draw
such a comparison ; and therefore, I do say, Mr.
EetToit, that it is much easier for some people to
pillory themselves, than to make the pillory a dis-
graceful punishment to such a man as Lord Coot-
JUNE.

I remember a hoax once played off at New-
market, very similar to that epee use Stock. E&.
change: the fraud was successful, and there was not
the least doubt whatever respecting the guilt of the
party ;.so that, notwithstanding his high rank, he
.was expelled the Jockey Club; a very slender pa-
stishinent, if indeed punishment it can be called:—
But let us suppose for a moment, that equal-handed
Jaatiee had doomed to the same pillory this New-
market sharper and Lord COCURAMI, who, ia my
'conscience, I never considered as a sharper, but only
the dupe of sharpers—even before I read that de-
fence u hich has so completely cleared him from every
stain—let us, I say, for a moment suppose this, and
then let me ask the reader which, in his opinion,
would best become such an exhibition ? in other
words, which is possessed of the most incorrigible
mind, and the most disgusting vices ? which is. best
qualified to create a nausea among the spectatosa,
without being himself one jet the wane for it 2—for
let it be remembered, that this is the design of the
pillory : it is impossible to justify the practice on
any other ground. No, the persons who are placed
Shore must be hardened offenders—lost to every son.
timent of virtue, callous to all sense of shame—
is the least spark of honour, the faintest hope
of reform, remains unextiegoished, that mao is
unfit for the pillory • but when all is dead, when
the moral man is reduced "to a mere cape: *tor.
tuum—wben it is impossible any longer to wound Ms
feelings, then is he fit for' a pillory's- and for nothing
else, because, being placed there, he may be of use
to excite a sentiment of indignation and abhorrence
• in the breasts of ethers; who have seem sense of ho.
sonr•and honesty remaining. That this is the intim-