The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-07-19
HOUSE OF LORDS TRIALS.
Convictions Recalled by the Case 81
Earl Russell

Earl Russell.
LONDON, July I9.-The conviction of
Earl Russell for bigamy by the House Of
Lords and his sentence to three months
Imprisonment in Holloway Jail IS being
widely discussed.
There are many peculiar features Of a
trial in the House of Lorcs- The verdict
is given by q majority Of the votes OF
those present. and even Iunatics may cast
the decisive ballots. since, in the case Of
peers, even insanity is no bar against tax
ing part in q trial and sitting in judg-
ment.
In the memorable session in which
Gladstone's Home Rule bill, after being
passed by the House Of Commons, was
killed by the House of Lords, three peers
were brought from insane asyIums to
Westminster, in charge Of their keepers,
to vote against it.
Only in cases of treason, nisprision, and
felony peers are entitled TO trial by their
peers. being subject for minor offences tC
the jurisdiction of the ordinary courts of
law Rigany is q felony. Earl Russell,
although an advanced Radical, can claim
hereditary privilege as the grandson OF an
earl and a Prime Minister. His case re-
calls, in addition to some pI ecedents 9TH
er privileges peers possess which are not
granted to common British burghers
Thus, for example, if any member Of the
House of Lords ever should find himself
at the foot Of the scafold ne may demand
to be hanged with a siiken cord. Lord
Ferre-s WAS the last peer to avail him
self o. this last privilege Of all
Lord FerTers was hanged at TybuTn in
1850 for the atrocious murder OF his stew
ard, and his execution was one of the
most remarkable judicial ceremonies ever
Witnessed IN England. He was man Of
great conceit and was conveyed to the
galIows wearing his wedding garments, in
a landau drawn by six horses, escorted
by parties Of horse and foot Behind came
q hearse and six horses. for the purpose
Of taking the corpse from the place of
execution to Surgeons Han. where it was
dissected- Lord Ferrers' death agony was
prolonged to please his own vanity, foT
nearly three hours. That was the length
Of time occupied by the procession to the
gaIIows, in which the police, grenadiers,
and the sheriff took part THE appara-
tus of DEATH" remarked the condemned
man on the way, and the passing
through such crowds OF people, are ten
times worse than death itself, but I sup
pose they never saw a lord hanged and
perhaps they viii never see another
He complained that the King had not
allowed him to die on the spot where his
ancestor, the Earl Of Essex, died IL the
time OF Elizabeth, and thought it hard
that he should have 10 die at the same
place as a common feIon. To compen-
safe himself he had the scanold hung
with black at his own expen - and was
pinioned with a black sash
Lord Ferrers was right N suppOsing
that the people would never see the exc
eution Of another lord. He WIS the last
Of the Deerage to die on the gaiIOws- But
he was not by any means tie first Two
centuries before Lord StoUrtOn- had been
hanged for the murder Of a man and his
son under very aggravated circumstances
He was hanged IN siIken halter aU Sal
iSbury, and in spite Of the manner OF MS
cathedral Of that city, with the halter
thrown over it
Lord Sauquahar was another peer to
suffer the laws last penalty He murdered
a fencing master VINO in fencing con-
test had gGuged out the peers eye Does
the man son live asked Henry " OF
FaTnce when Lord Sanqudhar related the
incident to him. and the question so in
pressed his IOrdship that he straightway
came back to London and planned the
murder Of the fencer. He claimed the
right Of being tried BY his peers, but was
refused the distinction on the ground that
he was GEIy "A lord in Scotland and did not
possess any English barOEy- He had one
yard AT Westminster on a sibbet, erected
for RI