On this page

• Text (1)

  Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

  • 

    Untitled Article

• Transcript

  • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

    Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.

    Untitled Article

    " The keeper , Joseph Yeates—let his name be recorded with honour—was kind enough to procure her a glass of water , which she had prayed for in vain in her own language for nine hours and a half . I then returned to nay cell , to await the investigation , which I was informed would take place at eleven o'clock , before the town magistrates . "

    INSPECTOR GLOSSOP S STATEMENT . "I am inspector in the Birmingham police force . I am the governor of the prison in Moor-street , and reside in the house attached thereto . On the night of Friday , the 29 th of August last , a person called the Baroness von Beck slept in a room in my house , and Ji j lizaoetn Taylor was with her during the night . On the same night Constant Derra was in one of the cells of the prison . It is not possible for a person in that cell to hear what passed in the bedroom where the female prisoner slept that nio-ht . On the next morning ( Saturday ) she was removed to one o ( the cells , and was attended to by Mrs . Beaumont . I saw her there about nine o clock . Seeing that she was ill , I inquired what she would like However I her

    to have . She said , ' Nothing . ' gave some brandy . Mrs . Beaumont had previously taken her some tea . Derra was in the next cell . After speaking to the female prisoner , I went to him and asked him who ehe was . lie said he did not know . I asked him if he had heard me talking to her . He said he had , but did not know her ; and asked me what sort of a woman she ¦ was . I told him . He said he did not know her , but if I would let him see her he would tell me . I told him I could not do that , and left him . The bed on which the female prisoner lay in my house was a good feather bed , and had clean sheets thatnight . Derra had in his cell a good mattress , pillow , and rug , and- a good bedstead—exactly the same as our constables have themselves to sleep on . —Dated this 17 th day of October , 1851 . —George

    Glossop . " SERGEANT BEAUMONT ' S STATEMENT . " I am sergeant in the police force of Birmingham , and head turnkey at the prison in Moor-street , Birmingham . On Friday night , the 29 th of August last , I received Constant Derra at the prison , and locked him up in one of the cells of the prison . I had charge of him until'he was taken into the police court on Saturday morning . He did not leave his cell until he was taken into the court , except between six and seven o ' clock oti Saturday morning , when he was taken to the end of the corridor , on to wliich his cell opened , to wash himself . He said nothing to me about having heard any groaning , nor did I hear any m ; self ; ar . d he did not have any communication xcith ' any other prisoner . Soon after seven o ' clock on S .-. turdav ru . rnina Mrs . Taylor brought a

    female prisoner , who wa . j called the Baroness von Beck , to me , and she -. vis \ i \ m i ::: one of our cells . She asked me for some s . j-r : r . ir : i I recommended her to have some tea instead , aa i a ; v vl : ' -. i : ' ¦ ;< : nie tea for her . The walls dividing the eel . ^ x- ' r f . u . r - . ' . tm . xiwhts thick . TLere was no prisor . er in ora-f ; . ' - ' r ..: = ¦ . : ¦;; .. ; i'ij -ining to thrit which Derra oecui : : ;¦ : :-z ' . ii - ? " -- "• .. h- ; 2 'J h of August . D ^ trd the 17 th of < J . ry / .-ir , I - "! . — ~ > < . : ¦ £ : « " Beaumoxt , Sergeant . " m ; .- ; . ; . y .. \ . i : mint ' s statement . J

    " I am the wifeoi' Ser ^ j- . Beaumont , and am in the habit of atter . diiip ; ou female prisoners at the Birmingham prison . On S ir urduy morning , the 30 th of August , I attended upon a f .-miile prisoner called the Baroness von Beck . From between seven and eight o ' clock until eleven o'clock , when she died . I toolc her some tea and toast about eight o'clock , but she declined to take it ; she asked for water , and I gave her some . I gave her water very frequently , and did all I could to sooth and comfort her . In the next coll to that in which she was there was a young man called Constant Derra . He did not see or have any communication with her . —Dated the 17 th of October , 1851 . — Elizahhtii Beaumont . " TVlltS . HMZM 1 KTJI TAYLOlt ' S STATEMENT .

    " law employed at the prison in Moor-street , Birmingham , to attend on female prisoners . On Friday night , the ' 29 ih of August last , I passed the night with a lady prisoner , who was called the Baroness von Beck , in a bedroom in the ( Governor ' s house ,- it waa on the floor above the room in wliich Mr . Ulonaop , the governor , slept . The bed on which the prisoner lay was a Rood feather bed . There wan another bed in the room , but 1 sat up all night , as the prisoner scorned ill . She often moaned , but not loud enough to be . heard even in the adjoining room . I usked her frequently to have some water , but she always refused , la the morning , about seven o ' clock , 1 asaisted her to drcKH , and took her down stairs to one of the cells . I left her there in the care of Mrs . Beaumont , the wife of one of the sergeants . Whilst 1 was with her the did not see any one , except myself , and Mrn . Beaumont , and the turnkey . —Dated tlie 17 th of October , 18 . 51 . —IZiaxaiii ' . tii Tjlyi . ok . "

    JOKitt'Il YUATKHH NTAT 15 MKNT . " I am a constable in tlie Birmingham police force ; on Saturday , the UOtli of August lust , 1 was on duty at the prison in JVloor-stroet , from seven o'clock in the morning until after eleven o ' clock . 1 went round the cello in the courtm of my duty . 1 found in the lirat a lady , who I was told was the Baroness von Heck . She was lying down on the inuttrens ; she was dressed ; tdie seemed ill . Mrs . lieauinont soon after brought her utuno tea ; after this , site asked me frequently for water . I always t > ave her some water whenever slu : asked , und 1 saw MrH . Beaumont take her

    take her water . 1 hhw inspector ( ilossop a Klass of brandy . In the next cell was Mr . Derra ; 1 spoke to him he frequently asked for water and 1 gave it him , he alHO had pen , ink , and paper K ivui to him at Iiim request lie asked me how Die Haroticsswas ; he did not leave his cell until he was taken into the public office . 1 then unlocked hiH r .-ll , and ( Sei M cant Beaumont look him out : he passed Hie cell where the Baroness wan , but he did not -speak to her ; he did not uny a word to me about , having heard any groaning , and hv did not ask me to take him to t / toJluroncss . —Oclobtsr M > , 1861 . —JoHUi'H Ykjvtku . "

    MATTHEW HILL AT BIRMINGHAM . Great praise is due to Mr . M . D . Hill , the Recorder of Birmingham , for his consistent exertions to prevent rather than punish crime . Xast year , m his charge to the grand jury , he put forward , it will be remembered , a theory . on this subject which attracted great notice from the public , and considerable discussion in the press . He proposed to « hold in restraint known malefactors who could be shown on sufficient evidence to pursue crime as a calling , although by their dexterity and good fortune they of

    had been able to elude the proof any specific offence . " At the opening of the Quarter Sessions , on the 18 th instant , Mr . Hill again recurred to the subject , and delivered another charge , sustaining and elaborating the views he took last Michaelmas . He was bound to say , he observed , that he had carefully considered all the objections which had been urged against his plan , that he had weighed the arguments on both sides , and taken into account some general facts , and that the result was the confirmation of his original views . Those views embraced a speculative opinion and a practical proposal : —

    " My speculative opinion was , that all persons living without visible means of support , and who , in the belief of witnesses acquainted with their way of life , are maintaining themselves by crime as their stated calling , ought to be called upon to prove themselves in the enjoyment of some honest means of subsistence ; and 1 further submitted that , in the absence of such proof , they should be bound to give sureties for good conduct ; and again , that failing to give satisfactory security , they should be committed to prison for a limited period . This was my theory . " The ground of this theory was that professional marauder * were well known to the police , and that

    with , such knowledge at its disposal society was not only justified but bound to use it for the general protection . So far theory . His practical proposal he had limited in its application to convicted criminals for several obvious reasons . Conviction established the fact of criminality ; but in the majority of instances there was no evidence nor probability that the convicts had abandoned their evil course . " Indeed , " asks Mr . Hill , " how should there be ?" " The administration of the law proceeds on the principle of retribution . The criminal is convicted of a given offence , and has measured out to him a given length of punishment . It is true that during his term of

    confinement we take some steps to reform him , wliich are more or less adapted to attain that end . But his detention is neither in the first instance regulated by an estimate of the time required for that purpose , nor is there any power to continue it until his reformation is effected . The prisoner is afflicted with a moral disease , but the prison cannot be considered in the light of a hospital for its treatment without exposing the administration of criminal justice to ridicule . For what should we think of an hospital for the cure of a malignant and infectious disease ( and surely no disease can be m ore malignant or more infectious than crime ) , if the rule of its governors

    was to keep the patient , not until he is cured , but a week , a month , or a year , according to a principle of regulation quite irrespective of his condition at the time of his dismissal , and making it altogether a matter of accident whether he is relieved of his distemper , or whether he is sent forth to spread infection throughout the laud . As long , then , as punishment is measured out on the retributive principle , so long an individual once convicted must remain an object of juat and unavoidable suspicion ; and the class to which he belongs may reasonably be selected for any experiment which the welfare of the community requires to be instituted . "

    There is good reason to believe that criminals pursue a career of depredation for long periods with impunity ; and Mr . Hill finds the reason for this in the fact that " our present system of punishments offers great facilities , not to say inducements , to a training to crime . " Mr . Hill powerfully illustrates his view by an ingenious comparison between " our present mode of proceeding to criminal * " and " that which we pursue when our wish is xiot to deter but to stimulate and encourage . "

    " What is our treatment of our children in their education ? l ) o we not give them uhort and easy lcasona at lirtit , lest they should be diagubted with learning at the outset , and no clone their minds against the lessons of their touchers ? And do vre not augment their ta « ka with the growth of their strength , and in proportion as practice addH to their ability for mental application ? Do we not , in nhort , graduate the rate of their progress according to their powers of action and endurance ? Well ,

    then , let ua now consider our trcutment of criminals When the juvenile oilender first present ** himself at the bar , we give him a blight imprisonment , just enough to acciiHtom him to short neparationn lrom hia companions , and to dispel the wholeiioine illusion which had made the gaol a place of four , because it was a place of mystery . On the next occasion he remuiiiH longer ; but he han become practised in pritum life , and bears coniiucment far better than he would have

    done but . for his former lefmon . Thin proccus in repeated from tim « ' to time , while tlie moral which the wretched crenturc draws from bin alternations of cotiliuemcnt and freedom is , not to refrain from ollriiding , hut to commit ( illciU'c h in such a manner uh shall least expose him to the rir . lt of detection ; and , moreover , that when at length detected he ought to hear hi » privations widi as much oi contempt ami Uefiunco uh he can command ; coiiboied by thfl prospect of restored freedom , and the hope of better fortune in future , in not thi « , gentlemen , a fair

    parallel ? And does it not show that our treatment oT ^ T * le / actors is better calculated to confirm them in -i doing than to withdraw them from crime ? It will bph served that I speak of the general working of our svatpm That there are many exceptions to the rule I am irUA 7 " believe . " ° u l 0 Having established this position , he points out th startling fact that for many years we have been era dually mitigating the severity of our criminal code ' of our criminal administration , and lessening th ' periods of imprisonment . Not only this , but those colonies set apart as penal settlements , have actually refused to admit more convicts into their limits And these two facts , taken in connection with the system of retributive punishment , lead to

    the belief that henceforward considerable additions will and must be made to the number of convicts roaming at large , not only unreformed , but hardened and educated in the practice of crime Having no colonial outlets for our convicts with limited terms of imprisonment , it is obvious that there must be a permanent augmentation among us of liberated convicts . He does not advocate transportation but points out the inevitable consequence of its stoppage while the country adheres to the system of retributive punishment . This will require some special remedy , and what is the remedy Mr . Hill proposes ?

    " I propose that every person who has been convicted of a felony or of a misdemeanour implying fraud ( as obtaining goods under false pretences , knowingly passing base coin , and the like ) shall be liab . e to be dealt with as follows : —If after the expiration of his imprisonment under his conviction he shall be brought before a magistrate charged with still persevering in crime , it shall be the duty of the magistrate , if the witnesses by evidence of general conduct satisfy his mind that the charge is esttblished , to call on the prisoner to show that he enjoys the means of honest subsistence either from his property ,

    hi « labour , the kindness of hi 3 friends , the bounty of the charitable , or from his parish . Should he succeed in adducing this proof , he is to be discharged . Should not such proof be forthcoming , he is next to be called upon to give bail for his good behaviour . Supposing him to answer this demand , he is to be still entitled to his discharge . But in the event of his failure , he is then to be held to bail on his own recognizances , and his case to be sent to a jury at the assizes or sessions , when , if a verdict pass against him , he is to be imprisoned for a term to be fixed by the law , but capable of diminution by the judges before whom he is tried . "

    Mr . Hill thinks that this proposal " sufficiently guards the accused against the danger of being deprived of his liberty on fallacious grounds . " Indeed , the species of objection to which he thought his proposal most obnoxious was that it offered " too many chances of escape to be practically efficient for the restraint of criminals . 15 ut this objection has not been advanced . On the contrary , it has been urged that Mr . Hill ' s proposal provides too little protection against possible injustice . Mr . Hill admits that no court is infallible , that no touchstone of testimony has been discovered , and that innocent men may be

    convicted . But these are general objections no more applicable to his scheme ; than to the ordinary and care ful administration of justice . Indeed , he thinks that the trials he proposes would not be so open to these charges as trials lor specific offences . Mr . Hill drew a vivid and touching picture of the Frome violation and murder : — " Gentlemen , the crying necessity of this jurisdiction so itself on my mind that I cannot refrain from -V

    presses p ^ ^^ J J ^ - ^ j % J * J ^_ # Pk ^ K V > t * «^ B B — ^ —^» ¦ w ~ - ~ - ¦ -. . — — — . - adverting to it once more . But few days have elapsed since the part of England in which I reside ( the county of Somerset ) was the Hcene of an appalling outrage , filling the district with indignation and horror . A girl , fifteen years old , was left by her parents alone at their dwelling , during their necessary attendance at the neighbouring market at l- ' rome . On their return home they found her dead body stretched on the noor , nn . I ilalitilcd in blood . In the onen day—in a house to

    not distant from others of the hamlet , and near a . main road—had this unhappy girl lost her l » ' in the defence , and alas ! in the unauccessful de | . ,., ( I her purity , The panga of death were sharpened by * £ cruel ignominy of violation . How much 1 ch » luae , had been her late—how much less bitter the grief ol iu bereaved parents—had Bue been devoured by a oeub ^ prey ! Her image Would then have dwelt in their i mory unsullied by those revolting associations ot I '" tion with which it will now for ever be ininK led . c convict then , 1 ask , to exhaust all our HympathicB c ^ we to liuve no thoturUt for the myriads o < l' <> 11 ( ' [ h faithful subjects exposed to the same ing htli » I deeply feeling the want of protection , « -be comlort » i " lives is oftentimes dotUroyed by the perpetual itm

    hurasbea their mindB ?" But , ho sny . s , those who fe ; ir great evils fl' ^ in . , . propoHiil advocate the ubo of iireurma m tlll ! llir of life and property ; u remedy he ^ " ^"" "V ' tum more dangcroiiHto society tliun the ; pructic . u a ^ 1 . ^ , 0 of hiH own proposal . Yet lie : wiiulH uj > U ! iu uh with tlu : obvious admission that with tlio '' . j ui { , ut present state wo must protect ouraelvcH f ™» burglara uh wo beat can . iit " Neverthelefls , gentlemen , if the lnw w » » „„ ,. known ruiiiiuiH to renmin at large , them ) l > ari > ui 1 ^ ^ dies perhaps cannot , and moat certainly will » ' j » f penned with ; yet . who dueu not aec that any ' iUJ 0 Jf , trial , however ru < i « m 4 defective , « veu byW » iavi

    Untitled Article

    1010 &t ) t QLt&ilt t * [ Satcrday ,

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 25, 1851, page 1010, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1906/page/6/