The Statesman.
London, England, 1822-01-14 00:00:00

Enact from the Speech (lately

published)
•
C. Bastes. Esq. is the House of Commons. Maws-
day. May Et hill, on the Bill " for seltigsdsg the
Severity. of Punishment in certain cases of Ferrel
and the crimes connected therewith."
These are some few of the cases of this natsrewhieb
I have selected ; and I bald is my baud twelve has-
al red of a similar description. with which I weed sot
'rouble the House. 1, in the little leisure that 1
enjoy. have only been able to select so limited a
'lather; bar. if any gentleman wishes to enlarge his
~ollection, he will find DO difficulty in making that
twelve hundred twelve thousand. Now observe: each
f these cases involve the perjury of ;else mem. I
hive cosfi*ed myself to ose species of crime out of
a multitude—to one species of evasion oat of a ussid-
pule—and to one Coast, the Old Bailey. without
touching upon the remainder of England. all !related.
an.l all Scotland. And. thus restricted. I prove my
point. But, had I enlarged upon all crimes, tried In
:1:1 Courts, subject to every species of evasios. what
would then have bees the nalsber of demonstrated
perjuries? As this is an important part of the case,
I wish to prove whatever I. have asserted. I must.
then. show. that there are a multitude of evasions:
Goods may be taken. and yet the act sot solemn to
larceny, in the contemplation of the law. It may he
doceny, bat set privately: or, being privately. sat to
the value required: or, being to the value required.
not from the person, the shop, or the dwelling-house;
and in each of these steps there is room for evasion.
Nothisg. for example, can he more commas than a
a case of this mature; the prosecutor swears that be
lost a five posed bank note. pat it is a drawer.
locked the drawer, and took away the hey; the

drawee was broken open, the mosey gone.
f43nd upon the person of the prisoner, and other
circemstances conspire to establish his guilt. The
jury declare, that he is guilty of stealing, but not in
the Dwelling-house; by which they imply, that the
?lute and the man were accomplices; the noes ►reaks
open the drawer, passes t►rough the clews. finis its
way into the street, and there is met by the prisoner;
thee, and, epos the oath of the Joey, not till t►ee, his
guilt commences ; he is guilty of stealing, but net in
the dwelling-house.

Again : there is another mode of evasion, of great
efficacy in preserving the lives of criminals; a suppo-
sition. that the things stolen was taken in parts, aid
at different times; consequently. the prisoner at ao
one time is guilty of stealing to the amount made ca-
pital by 14w. For example. a raga has &guinea in his
pocket ; the prisoner evitleatly took it; sad the jury
suppose. that he first contrived to di►ide it into some
six and twenty separate pieces, communed six and
twenty distinct robberies, and then realise the
guinea which is footed upon him. Agals: John
Williams steals a live pig. sells it to a pablicaa much
under its value, for 7s. and a pot of beer. The Jaty
are coafident. that before be stole it, he cot it into
pieces, stole it slice by slice, then rejoined the parts.
resuscitated the pig, and produced it. unimpaired in
voice, health. and spirits, after so serious an operation.
—Bat, I will fatigue the House with only one addi-
tional case. It certainly is the meet canoes of all
that I have stated; but I am Woad to add. that it
dues aot stand epos that authentic and indisputable
evidence. upon which 1 rest all the other facts now
advanced. I advert to the celebrated case at P y ;

to which ancient and respectable borough beloug. I
believe, some peculiar, but rarely esercised rights of
trying offenders. A man was brought before the
Magistrates at Quarter Sessions. charged with stealing
a pair of leather breeches. The evidence was clear,
and his guilt was manifest; the Jury brought him in
guilty ; and the Magistrates were going to pronounce
upon him sentence of imprisonment. when the Clerk
informed them that the offence was capital, sod that
therefore they must proceed to pronounce sentence of
death. This ioformation threw these respectable Ms.
gistrates into the utmost confusion and dismay. What
was to be dose? was a question which all asked, and
none could answer. One advised the insertion of Net
before the word Guilty: Another thought it would be
mute regular to turn the prisoner louse, and say no
more about the matter. At length it was determined
to adjourn the Court, and to send a deputation over to
a Air. Willard. a gentleman. I presume. ►ery learned
in the law, to beg his counsel in so desperate an
emergency. It so happened. that the Lord Chief
Baron and another of the Judges were dining with
Air. Willard, when this strange embassy introduced
themsel►es. When their melancholy case was stated,
the Chief Heron said, that the best way would be to
insert after the word " Guilty." the words " Of
.11aneloughter. ' The deputation were delighted with
sa ingenious an experlient--returned ia trinmpb—and
em misinformed if it does not appear by the records
of this respectable borough; that the man was tried
fur stealing breeches, and convicted of Manslaughter.
I u another instance I bear of a man who was indicted
for returning from transportation, and found guilty of
petty larceny.