The Lancaster Herald, and Town and County Advertiser. — 1831-12-24 (Lancaster, Lancashire, England)

CRIMINAL CONFESSIONS.  (From Me Times.  - - We are ;winced, on the convietion and condemnation of the murderer Hollowily, to make a few remarks respecting voluntary confessions, of which it Arnold seem that this wretch made three, differing in many particulars from each othet, though none were necessity for the establishment of his guilt. It really seems to us, that every magistrate, who has a prisoner to examine, thinks it his duty to vet himself with all his skill to prevent the discuvely of the truth from the only person' who, though he may strive to disguise, knows coinpletely the facts of the case. This custom has no sanction in law, is repugnant to common nw, and contrary to the practice of all other nations whose codes are, generally speaking, in a more perfect state, e certainly much more humane than our own. A man i.htreed with an offence ought not to he impelled to confession I y the promise of pardon; but is there no difference between this arol actively urging him to silence against his will, as a method of escape, thoiteh he may have committed the offence? We are really sick of reading examinations, every part and rrtlon of which is made up of injunctions to the accused to do n4l say nothing whatever that can by any possibility injure his chance of eluding justice. What the practice ought to be is this --ell hints of advantage to the accused from confession, all rec numendations to confess being cautiously abstained from, what lie has to POIV• or chooses voluntarily to soy, should be received in siletox and no obstruetions thrown in his way. And, after all, what do these confessions amount to? They are hut too frequently a tissue of falsehood and truth, calculated to mislead the jury, and cast a doubt upon the positive facts of the case. Such are confessions before conviction. As to confessions after conviction, by which it is now almost universally sought to shake the soundest verdicts, agitate the public mind, and throw a doubt upon the proper administration of justice, we really think that, except in very extraordinary circumstances, they are not worthy to be published at all. Indeed we do not perceive what tight, in a Protestant church, either priest or magistrate his to urge a convict to make a confession ; and if the first kind of confessions be of little worth, these second are almost universally false. We call attent'on to a letter in this day's journal by Mr. Corder (though it may perhaps hardly be necessary to convince any man who attended to the evidence), which proves to demonstration that the last words with which Bishop and Williams treat out of the world with were false. There has nothing ever been heard of any Lincolnshire boy missing—it is most likely none such was murdered ; but at all events it is c.,rtain, beyond doubt, that the murder for which the wretches suffered was that charged upon them at the trial,—namely, the murder or the poor Italian boy; and his was the body which was taken, as it may he said, upon them. Their brutality seems even to have beets exceeded by that of Holloway. Such a monster surely never beforeliftedupthe hand to plead in a crimir We have, when we write this, received no account of his execution ; we only hope that the strength of his savage tn'inl, and the clearness of his intellect, may have continued with Lim till he reached the gallows, PO that he OM have been en:tided to feel the full horrors of his situation, of which the two others were incapable. Afterwards we consign him to the mercy of that beinc who knows best how he has been formed and trained to such a state of insolent, callous, sanguinary ferocity. It is remarkable that the chief murderer of Mr. Steel, upwards of 30 years ago, was John Holloway ; his accomplice was named Owen Haggarty ; and this most just verdict was attempted to be invalidated after their exetnition. Fauutlerny's confession was a confession of being innocent of almost all the forgeries he had committed.  Serrt.E.—We are glad to find that a Mechanic's Library has been established in this place, and with every prospect of success. The number of Members we have been inflamed, is now above one hundred and twenty, and of volumes nearly three hundred, although but a few weeks hay elapsed since this undertaking was commenced.