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Leader (1850-1860), 19th December 1857, Edition 2 of 2, Page 15, HOW TO KILL A GOVERNESS. The death of th...

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      ¦'¦^^^¦^¦Mivm^B^^^^^Hhmh Stkong Goveenme...

      ¦ ' ¦^^^¦^¦ MiVM ^ B ^^^^^ HHMH STKONG GOVEENMENT IN WHITECROSS STREET . TsceRE is a theory , "wiuch ^ we -virill not undertake to defend , that debtors generally are injured men , creditors harpies , and slaves that pay , simpletons . But—the law of parallax operating on . the earth as in the skws—there is another order of persons who regard -undischarged debts as unrepented crimes , and who would arm every creditor with Shylock ' s knife , allowing ; no faenignant justice to intervene and / prohibit the mingling of blood with the sacrifice < yf insolvency . Now , it is a principle of the

      law to interpose between , the frozen and torrid belts a temperate zone , represented by Portugal-street , where it is the office of sundry Commissioners to discriminate between those who cannot and those who will not pay—the unfortunate and the reckless . In . the case of bankrupts they ere so often criminal that Parliament provides ti set of appropriate regulations , distinguishing : eight years' penal servitude from two years' imprisonment . Insolvents , however , are of several classes— -people who will not apply to the courts , people without the means of going through , and people who are sentenced to

      detention for debts improperly contracted . Swindling , disaster , and -conviction are thus mixed up in large proportions 5 but hitherto the prisoners have teen huddled together in the most melancholy dens of London . It " was time that reform should reach "Whitecrbss-sti-eet—it may afterwards proceed to the Queen ' s Bench , and possibly give a call in Gursitor-streetj where unhappy respectability in difficulties is privileged to air itself in a vile iron cage at an exorbitant cost . However , as we have said , the spirit of the age has been at work in Whitecross-street , and last Saturday the male inmates

      were convened to hear certain decrees Sanctioned by Sir Oeokge Grey , but originating with the Civic Gttol Committee . Mr . Charles Pearson , the City Solicitor ., is very probably at the bottom of the innovation which it will be his duty to put in practice , Mr . BuRDoff , the late governor , having retired , and Mr . Bkown , his deputy , having been ' relieved . ' Mr . Pearson , as administrator of tlie interregnum , promises the prisoners ' a public dinner of roast-beef and plum-pudding . ' No doubt the debtors are obliged to ' Mr . Pearson . Thev may enjoy , through his beneficence , the ordinary Christmas treat of the Avorkhouse and the

      Penitentiary . We wonder liow many of them will eat the beef and pudding of the City Solicitor . We wonder , also , whether the charitable plateful would be offered to the younger brother of any alderman , who , being suddenly arrested , might find himself in the debtors' ward when Mr . Pearson ' s tickets are distributed . _ A 3 to the new rules , they are not altogether vexatious . It is fair to separate debtors on remand from those who are only waiting for relief in the ordinary course of law . "We sympathize with the Court of Aldermen in the feeling evinced by their regulation ' that no prisoner is to be disrespectful

      to the Lord Mayor , ' though it reminds us of the Chinese edict against sneezing "when the emperor is asleep ; also , it is quite proper that persons confined for debt should not be permitted to intoxicate themselves , to swear , quarrel , play cards , or even sing songs , to the annoyance of others . It is notorious that these regulations , under the old regime , were continually neglected ; no spirituous liquors wero allowed to pass through' tl * c gates , even when gently hidden under crinoline , yet the gin trade throve to extortion within the" precincts . Probably , the custom of cooking in the day-rooms was

      a nuisance ; certainly the separation of dormitories is a positive and excellent reform . But the debtors have a right to protest against an endeavour to degrade them , indiscriminately " , to the level of criminals . In actions of false imprisonment , when the charge has been one of felony , the greatest emphasis is cilways laid on the fact that " the accused person was search e d at the police-station . In future , all prisoners admitted to Whitecross-strcct arc to be immediately searched , to discover whether they have any weapons , instruments of escape , or

      spirituous liquors concealed on their persons . This is mere wantonness and barbarity . The invmitcs of the debtors' prison rarely or never attempt to escape , and if they did , it is the duty of the authorities to prevent them . Again , the debtor is to see no friends except nt the rate of one each clay for two hours , or two cadi day for one hour , unless , indeed , they be : professional visitors , or sight-scors provided with tickets from the visiting justices . All these interviews arc to take place in iv particular room

      and are to be watched by the warders . Lastly , no smoking is to be permitted , however inclement the season , except in the airing-yard . This , again , is a cruel and offensive innovation , entirely unnecessary , and likely to produce the most bitter discontent . The Debtors Memorial , indeed , sets forth that many of the new rules are calculated to humiliate them , and interfere with their comfort , without answering any intelligible purpose whatever . "We trust _ the civic Gaol Committee ¦ will reconsider this question ; we wish for no special indulgence to

      imprisoned debtors , least of all to those who , having robbed a little way outside the pale of the criminal law , are punished by' remands , * or those who , with the Insolvent Court -open to them , refuse to take advantage of it , and seek to wear , out the pertinacity of their creditors . The heir to a peerage , we believej is waiting for his . coronet to exonerate him from immense personal debts ; but to treat cases ' of this kind it is not necessary to insult and persecute a number of them , many of whom have nothing but their misfortunes to regret . -

      How To Kill A Governess. The Death Of Th...

      HOW TO KILL A GOVERNESS . The death of the noor young governess at Boulogne is a glimpse into the private life of England ; and it is no satisfaction to learn that similar crimes are perpetrated in France . A woman , scarcely more than a girl , was brought from France to teach languages , music , manners , and perhaps Christian .. charity , to children . Her patron was a lady *— 'let none her name ; ' we will suppose the teacher fulfilled her duty —Heaven knows some one failed in human duty to her . - ; She fell ill ; how she suffered is not to be guessed ; the lady of the house bethought herself of transmitting the sick burden to its friends ; but she knew—the ticket on the young girl ' s bosom , and the money sewn in . her

      garments prove it—that the educator of her children was incapable of speech or action . Accordingly , labelled like a basket of game , the governess was sent by railway and steam-boat to Boulogne , where the mercy of atvangovB took her dying to an hotel . She never spoke again . Typhoid fever , and effusion on the brain , had done their work , and the ' young person' had . no further need of the sum of salary fastened to her stays . A kind employer , foreseeing that she would be speechless , and thinking she might be dead on the road , had written a ' direction' and placed it where , upon preparing the governess for the coffin , it would certainly be found . That was considerate . The lady evidentl y did not wish the young girl to be buried without identification .

      O men -with sisters dear ! O men with mothers and -wives ! This was manslaughter , and ought to be followed by . a cropped head , a yellow uniform , and penal labour . ' The case is one which appeals , in rigorous justice , to the imagination . Picture the scene at the genteel house when they were c getting rid' of the governess . They lifted her out of bed , probably ; they dressed " her ; they fastened a card on hey bosom ; she was insensible , and could not receive her salary ; therefore—just people— 'they sewed it inside her stays ; then they despatched her , as site lay in silent , mortal , sickness , to the railway , and lastly they commended her to the guard -t—perhaps to Heaven !

      We do not admire personal battery ; but if three rural viragos—with more milk of human kindness than the white-handed English lady—were to select nine thongs , and inflict mercilessly upon the tender Mrs . — -- the discipline anciently applied to vestals , medievally to nuns , modernly to maidens in Siam , and generally to vicious children , very few juries would care to find any other verdict than 1 Itichly Deserved . ' Seriously , the hideous cruelty shown to this desolate young girl is one of the fe \ y offences on account of which we regret the abolition of the Bridewell whipping-posls . No gentleman would send a horse or a dog upon a long j on nicy in a condition so terrible ; man or woman , tlie perpetrator of such an action is more than brutal , and deserves to be expelled from society .

      A Case In Coukt. An Notion Was Tried A S...

      A CASE IN COUKT . An notion was tried a short timo since , in the Exchequer Courl , to which we would call attention : — The history of the case is in many respects peculiar . A certain Wiu ; iAat Geouge Dennett WaIjT . is , by misrepresentations , induced the ¦ ¦ defendant' , the drawer of a bill of exchange , to entrust ; Iiim with it , for the purpose of getting it discounted The man Wallis deposited it with an attorney

      named Akps , and failed to pay over the amount , or any part of it , to the drawer , to return the bill to him , or to inform Mm into what channel the security had passed . The defendant having reason to believe that the holders were well acquainted with the real character of tne man Wallis—and if such were the fa <; t they could hardly be ignorant of the isircumstances under which he became possessed of the _ bill—refused payment when it arrived at maturity . Last February the defendant was served

      with a writ at the suit of one Hall , and shortly afterwards 65 Z . was paid into court by him to abide the result of the action , but for some reason not explained fey the evidence , the plaintiff delayed the trial of the cause until the 1 st of December , when it came on for hearing before Chief Baron Poxlock . The issue being upon the defendant , his counsel , Mr . Montagu Chambers , opened the case , and called thedefendant , who proved that he had received no consideration fro * n any one for his bill , and also the false statement which Walks had made

      to induce him to part with it . A strong doubt being established as to whether the holder was not aware at the time the bill reached him that-Waxxis had become improperly possessed of it , the plaintiJ ? had to show his claim , and the first witness was the plaintiff ' s attorney , App s , who , to the surprise of every one in court , stated that the plaintiff , his client , was nothing more than a , cafes * paw for the real plaintiff , who is a trunk-maker ia tlie Strand , named Day ; that in a most circuitous manner tlie bill reached the hands of Day , whose father is alleged to have had a great dislike for such documents ; and that Day , with this singular excuse

      for not suing an his own name , soli cited a most obsequious person , named Hall ( who is an attorney ' s clerk , as well as brother-in-law of Apps the p laintiff ' s attorney ) j to figure as the plaintiff in his stead . Then followed some extraordinary revelations of the payment of moneys fey AtPB "to Walxis on account of the bill , » ud the toturn of such moneys b y Da * to Apps ; and lastly Haxl appeared , who admitted he had no interest in the bill , and was merely the pretended plaintifij having-. lent ; his name to Day to sue upon . ; and so complicated , if not suspicious , was the whole of this testimony , that only a jury could properly decide upon it with , justice . The Chief Baron , however , upon the plaintiff's counsel commencing to sum up

      the evidence , most unexpectedl y came between the plaintiff and the jury , by stopping the case , on the ground that the plaintiff had ' nothing to answer / Mr . Montagu Chambers still insisted upon , his right , under the statute , to address the jury , but was peremptorily interrupted by the Chief Baron , who refused , him permission to proceed * In our columns of intelligence , the scene which , then took place has already appeared . Now , we have a very strong objection to ' sham * anywhere , but more particularly in a court of justice ; and , if e sham plaintiffs , ' who may be paupers , nvfi i . (\ Vip . nllnwnrl wifli limMinifir + r > hviurr -nn +. ^ rvna

      »«« . « VVS- r ^ w l- *» AVr * T VS * A «!»« . «& MllUUtltVI UU U & AlAbL UU VA ^ S AMMJ on bills , no matter liow doubtfully obtained , against respectable and solvent persons , aud , if the facts in such cases arc not to be submitted to the common sense of a jury , courts of law will become little better than courts of intimidation and fraud * tending to ruin the honest , while bill-stealers and their accomplices reap a ricli harvest . The principle involved in this case is an important one to every man in the country , and , if the law be as the Chief Baron lays it down , the Legislature should immediately interfere for the sake of the public , the legal profession , and the judges themselves .

      The Iatr Exposcrk Of Dead Boons.—A. Tett...

      The iatr Exposcrk of Dead Boons . —A . tetter from the City Solicitor was read at a sitting an Tuesday of th « City Commission of Sewers . It con tuned « n intimation that tho Committee of Aldermen have resolved that the charge agaiuat Messrs . Piper and Young in connexion with the exposure of dead bodies in Moorfields burial-ground is not a case which tho City Solicitor should be directed to prosecute . The Court of Sewers thereupon resolved to carry on the prosecution themselves . Dr . Letheby informed tho court that tho nuisance had not ceased , the bodies being only very superficially covered .

      Tiik Indian Mutiny Rkmkp Fund . —Our Ambassador nt Vienna lias transmitted to tho Lord Mayor tho sum of GltA 17 s . < kl ., being tlio amount of subscriptions raised among ( jcrinaiia for tho Indian Mutiny Relief Fund . Suicxdk . —Mr . Thomas Marriott , of Liunbcotcrlvouse , Hadcliffu-on-TVunt , a magistrate of Nottingham , has drowned himself in a water-cistern , while on a visit to his son-in-law . lie had been suffering for somo tiiho from indigestion and low spirits .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 19, 1857, page 15, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_19121857/page/15/