HL Deb 31 May 1842 vol 63 cc1007-13
The Marquess of Clanricarde,

in rising to move for a copy of the regulations observed in the gaol of Newgate with regard to criminals after condemnation for capital offences, said that he did not pretend to any particular qualification for bringing this case before their Lordship; at the same time, he did not think it necessary to make any apology, because he was about to bring under their Lordships' notice a case which he considered to have been shameful, disgusting, and profane, and one which, if it were allowed to pass without any notice, might well cast a stain upon the manners and condition of the lower orders of society. He wished the subject had been taken up by some right rev. Prelate, because he conceived it was not only an act of justice to our feelings as civilized persons, but that it involved, in a great degree, the profanation of the house of worship, the reprehension of which would come well from such authority. He held in his hand an extract from the Times, of Monday the 23d of May, from which he would read a few passages:— Yesterday a great number of respectable persons of both sexes were admitted, by orders from the sheriffs, to the chapel in Newgate, in which the rev. Mr. Carver (the ordinary) read divine service, and preached a sermon adapted to the awful condition of Daniel Good, who has been ordered to be executed this morning. Before half-past nine o'clock the common door of admission to the gaol was blocked up by the multitude, and at ten o'clock all were accommodated in the most satisfactory manner in the different parts of the chapel allotted to visitors. At about that hour the Lady Mayoress and some of her ladyship's friends entered the governor's pew. The body of the chapel was furnished with benches and chairs by the direction of the governor; so that, although we never recollect to have seen the chapel so numerously attended, every individual in it was provided with a seat. Immediately before the service commenced, the general-mass of the prisoners confined in Newgate entered, and took their seats within the railings on each side of the building, attended by turnkeys, and then Good was led in by two of the officers of the establishment, and placed in a chair in the midst of the congregation by the governor. His appearance indicated extreme mental suffering. He clasped this hands together sometimes, and sometimes he raised them up and pressed them against his breast in great agony, the tears streaming from his eyes whilst he endeavoured to catch a glimpse of some old acquaintance or friend amongst the surrounding multitude. So strong was the expression of horror in his face and demeanour, that a respectable female, who was prompted by the curiosity which will induce even persons of the weakest nerves to witness the 'condemned sermon' once in their lives, shrieked and fainted. The culprit looked with evident anxiety towards the spot from which the alarm proceeded; but, finding that a stranger was the cause of it, he seemed to retire within the awful circle of his own meditations, and to struggle with feelings beyond the power of any human being to describe. The service was interrupted for some moments by this incident, and the Ordinary did not proceed until the lady who had ventured to try the experiment of abiding the presence of so dreadful an offender was carried away from the scene, Then came a description of the service and of the conduct of the culprit, which he did not think it necessary to read. The article went on to say, During the first part of the service it was considered necessary to give him a glass of cold water, by which he was, or seemed to be, relieved. The Ordinary took his text from the General Epistle of James, chapter 1, verse 15. 'Then when lust hath conceived, it bring eth forth sin; and sin, when it is finished, bring eth forth death.' With a great deal of power he addressed himself, after many general observations upon the consequences of indulging the passion to which it was acknowledged the convict was the slave, to the miserable wretch himself who was so soon to be separated from kindred and acquaintance in this I world for ever. He called upon the mur- derer, convicted as that murderer had been upon the clearest testimony, to make an avowal of his guilt, as the only reparation now in his power to offer for the transgression of the laws of his country and of humanity. Good repeated the shake of the head, and the upward motion of the hands and eyes upon being thus solemnly invited to make a salutary confession, in order, no doubt, to impress upon the congregation that his defence was founded in truth; and when the service was concluded he raised up his hands once more, and said, 'Oh! God bless you all.' He was then conducted back to his room. He did not appear in the prison dress, his wish to attend chapel in his own clothes having been complied with. He could not refrain from expressing the indignation and disgust with which he had read that statement. He was justified in saying that there could hardly be found in the history of barbarous nations, in the records of violence and bloodshed, or in the sacrifices committed in remote ages, an exhibition of a more degrading and disgusting kind than that which this audience had assembled to witness for the mere sake of gratifying a morbid and depraved appetite. In those remote ages, persons assembled merely to witness the physical sufferings of the individual, but here the man was dressed out and brought into this assembly in order that they might witness not his physical, but his mental sufferings. Yet this was an exhibition which was called a numerous assembly of most respectable persons of both sexes. He begged their Lordships to observe that the criminal was not—as he imagined he would have been—put into a closet or pew apart from the congregation, where he might have indulged in his meditations undisturbed by the gaze of those whom morbid curiosity had drawn to the scene. On the contrary, it appeared that the criminal was purposely dressed for the occasion; he was led into the middle of the congregation, to a place where every person had a good view, and where all were accommodated with seats. This was the sort of Sunday pastime which took place in one of the chapels of this metropolis, and over which a Christian minister was called to preside. He did not blame the clergyman—he had a duty to perform, and he was, perhaps, the only individual present for whom pity could be felt. He did not wish to blame any particular person, because he did not know where the blame rested, not being aware what changes had been made in the regu- lation of the prisons in reference to this point. He had looked into several reports of the inspectors of prisons, but he had found nothing to guide him in the matter. He thought, however, that some notice ought to be taken of the practice, in order to prevent the recurrence of it. In making this motion, he wished to guard himself against being supposed as having any particular sympathy with the unfortunate criminal, or as pronouncing any opinion on the publicity of execution. Not knowing the prison regulations, of course he spoke liable to correction, when he said that he thought the allowing Good to take off the prison dress, and appear in one of his own, was against the spirit of all such regulations. The prison dress was a mark of degradation, and whether it was at the criminal's desire, or against his wish, that it was exchanged for a private dress, in either case the exchange ought not to have been made. The object of granting some delay previous to execution, was to enable the culprit to make his peace with the offended Deity, and to devote some hours or days to receiving the comforts of religion. But if a man was to be visited and brought out and exposed, as the criminal Good had been, how could his thoughts take the direction which it was the end of religious instruction to produce? From the statement which he had read, it would be seen that during the whole time of the service the attention of the criminal was devoted to observing the audience, and the effect produced on them. This was surely contrary to the spirit of the law. The case was different as to executions. He thought the utmost publicity ought to be given to executions; and even this was to be justified only by the belief that such publicity tended to prevent crime by the awe which it inspired. The sheriff, therefore, was perfectly justified in acting acccording to the law, in making executions public, but the law never allowed any church or chapel to be desecrated by an exhibition of the criminal during divine service. He would not trouble their Lordships further on this matter, because he had brought the subject forward merely for information. If any inconvenience should result from granting the information, he would at once withdraw the motion, but he hoped it would be agreed to in order that their Lordships might mark their sense of what bad taken place, so as to prevent the re- currence of the practice on some future occasion. He begged to move for a copy of the regulations observed in the gaol of Newgate, with regard to criminals after condemnation for capital offences.

The Duke of Richmond

said, that having called the attention of their Lordships to a similar subject four years since, he rose to offer his thanks to the noble Lord for having brought this subject under the consideration of the House. It appeared to him, that the placing of the criminal in the midst of the congregation was a most reprehensible act, and of all means the least calculated to excite the sympathy of those about him; for what man could see an individual criminal, though he might be suffering under all the terrors of a guilty conscience, and not for the moment feel some degree of sympathy for the man, though others might suppose the sympathy was for the criminal. He objected to the practice on another ground. It was wrong to the criminal himself to bring him in, and thus induce him to act a part, to induce him to bring his hypocrisy forward, and to stifle the feelings natural to his situation. It would be far better if he were permitted to remain in a solitary cell, and there to endeavour to make his peace with his Creator. He knew, that his hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for the Home Department, would do his utmost to prevent the recurrence of these scenes, but, at the same time, if, on inspection of the person regulations, it should be found, that the Secretary of State has not the power to furnish this, he feared unless some change took place in public opinion that some legislative enactment would be necessary to prevent the recurrence of an exhibition which was wrong to the criminal, and injurious to the public.

Lord Wharncliffe

entirely concurred in the opinions expressed by the noble Lord opposite, and he felt exceedingly glad that the subject had been brought under the consideration of their Lordships, because he had to state, as far as Government was concerned, that they had no share in the exhibition alluded to. He agreed with what had been said as to the effect which such a display had on the criminal who was the subject of it, and who was made to pander to the morbid passion of those individuals. He thought that from the moment the person was condemned to death, up to the time of his execution, he ought to be left as much as possible in solitude; that he ought to have no communication, except with the ministers of religion; and that he should be at liberty to receive the sacrament, but beyond that, he should be kept by himself, and not exposed to the morbid curiosity of those around him.

The Marquess of Normanby

merely rose to confirm what had fallen from his noble Friend who had just sat down, as to the Government having no share in this transaction. It was known to every one who had filled the office of Secretary of State, that the government of the gaol of Newgate was exclusively in the corporation of London, as represented by the sheriff. During the time that he had held the office of Secretary of State, no instance exactly similar to the present one occurred; but he was obliged to interfere in reference to another practice which very improperly prevailed at the time that of making an exhibition of the criminal in the previous stages of his confinement. He was obliged on one or two occasions to send for the sheriff, and represent to him that though he was aware he had no authority to interfere, yet if such practices were continued, he should feel it his duty to call the attention of Parliament to the subject. He was happy to say, that he met with every co operation from the gentleman who at that time filled the office of sheriff, in checking the practice, as long as his authority existed. He hoped that the present motion would not be without its effect on the civic authorities, and that the practices complained of would not be allowed to recur.

The Marquess of Lansdowne

could not help joining his voice in this matter. There was one view, in addition to those which had been taken, which he was anxious to impress on the attention of the House. Although it was indispensable, for the sake of example, that executions should be public, still there was no necessity for making public the last few moments of the life of the unhappy individual. These ought to be left to the criminal himself. The notice taken of the criminal when introduced into the crowded chapel could not be a matter of indifference to him; for though to some minds this would be an aggravation of the punishment, yet to others it would prove a source of morbid gratification. He believed that many crimes, particularly in latter years, had been committed, or attempted to be com- mitted, from a morbid appetite for notoriety, created, in a great measure, by criminals being exhibited to those, he would not say mischievous or wicked, but to those most injudicious persons whose ill-constituted minds could derive a vicious sort of pleasure from such an exhibition. All this tended to create an opinion in the criminal that he was an object of interest; and it was, no doubt, the source, the motive for the committal of some of the most horrid outrages that disgraced humanity in this or in any other country. He trusted something would be done to prevent the recurrence of so disgraceful a practice, and he was glad the noble Lord had brought the question under the consideration of the House, because the present discussion would not, he thought, be without its effect.

Motion agreed to.