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MATTHEW HILL AT BIRMINGHAM. Great praise...
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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.
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The Von Beck Mystification . To The Edit...
" 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 Tain in her own language for nine hours and a half . I then returned to my cell , to await the investigation , which I was informed would take place at eleven o ' clock , before the town magistrates . " INSPECTOR GLOSSOP ' S STA TEMENT . ¦ " I am inspector in the Birmingham police force , x 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 Elizabeth 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 tn that celltohear lhat passed in tie bedroom ^ Jfe /^ JK !^ the next morning ( Saturday ) she
sep G night : On was removed to one of 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 tchaveShe said , 'Nothing . ' However I gave her 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 « L was He said he did not know . I asked him if he had Ed 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 that night . Derra had in his cell agood 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 . —Geokge
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 on Saturday morning , when he was taken to the end of the corridor , on to which his cell opened , to wash himself . heard
He said nothing to me about having any groaning , nor did I hear any myself ; and he did not have any communication tcith any other prisoner . Soon after seven o ' clock on Saturday morning Mrs . Taylor brought a female prisoner , who was called the Baroness von Beck , to me , and she was placed in one of our cells . She asked me for some water , and 1 recommended her to have some tea instead , and my wife got some tea for her . The walls dividing the cells are fourteen inches thick . There was no prisoner in either of the cells adjoining to that which Derra occupied on the night of the 29 ih of August . Dated the 17 th of October , 1851 . —John Beaumont , Sergeant . "
MH 8 . UEAUMONT S STATEMENT . " I am the wife of Sergeant J . Beaumont , and am in the habit of attending on female prisoners at the Birmingham prison . On Saturday morning , the 30 th of August , I attended upon a female prisoner called the Baroness von Beck . From between seven and eight o ' clock until eleven o ' clock , when she died . I took her some tea and toast about eight o ' clock , but she declined to take it ; she asked for water , and I « ave her some . I gave her water very frequently , and did all I could to sooth and comfort her . In the next cell 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 . — Elizaukth Bkaumont . " MRS . EMZAHETH TAYLOlt ' S STATEMENT .
"lam employed at the prison in Moor-street , Birmingham , to attend on female prisoners . On Friday night , the 29 th 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 was on the floor above the room in which Mr . Glossop , the governor , slept . The bed on which the prisoner lay was a good feather bed . There was another bed in the room , but I sat up all ni ^ ht , as the prisoner seemed ill . She often moaned , but not loud enough to be heard even in the adjoining room . I asked her frequently to have some water , but she always refused . Jn the morning , about seven o ' clock , I assisted her to dreHH , and took her down Ktairs to one of the cells . 1 left her there in the care of Mrs . Beaumont , the wife of one of the sergeants . Whilst I was with her she did not see any one , except myself , and Mrs . Beaumont , and the turnkey . —Dated the 17 th of October , 18 . 01 . —Elijsaukth TaYI . UH . "
JOSKVH YKATES ' S STATEMENT . " I am a constable in the Birmingham police force ; on Saturday , the . 'JOth of August last , 1 was on duty at the prison in Moor-street , from seven o ' clock in the morning until after eleven o ' clock . 1 went round the cells in the course of my duty . I found in the first u lady , who I waa told wan the Baroness von Beck . She was lying down on the mattrcHB - whe waa dressed ; she seemed ill . Mrs . Iteauniont noon after brought her some tea ; after Una , ahe nuked me frequently for water . I always K « veher Home and Beaumont
water whenever she asked , I saw Mrs . take her water . 1 saw Inspector UloBsop take her a KlaxH of brandy . In the next cell waH Mr . Derra ; Isnokc to him ; be fr .-qunify asked for water and 1 gave vt him . he also hud ,., n , ink , and paper Riven to him at h . s rcMMHt ; he anke . 1 me how thr Baroness was ; ho did not icL , his cell until he wan taken into the public off ** I hen unlocked his cell , m > d Sergeant Beaumont loMk hi cut ; he panned the cell where the Barone- was , he d ' ul Jt speak to her ; he « 1 M »»'«> ' ^ [ % about having beard groaning and Wi ¦ not ask m . < , i
any HlliuiL JWiviiiK m »« "" j r > VI i l / t 1 M /" iI h . HKI'll to take him to the Baroness . -October 10 , 1861 . —Joam ji YlIATUH . "
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Matthew Hill At Birmingham. Great Praise...
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 . Last year , in 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 had been able to elude the proof of 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 I 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 marauders 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 criminal * 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 criminalis 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 , which 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 more 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 wtaether he is sent forth to spread infection throughout the land . As long , then , as punishment is measured out on the retributive princip le , so long an individual once convicted must remain an object of just and unavoidable suspicion ; and the class to which he belongs m & y 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 " present mode of proceeding to criminals" " that which we pursue when our wish ifl not to deter but to stimulate and encourage . " ' What is our treatment of our children in their education ? Do we not give them short and easy lessons at first , lest they should be disgusted with learning at the outset , and bo close their minds against the lessons of their teachers ? And do we not augment their tasks
with the growth of their strength , and in proportion ai practice adds to their ability for mental application ? Do we not , in short , graduate the rate of their progress according to their powers of action and endurance r * Well , then , let us now consider our treatment of criminals . When the juvenile offender first presents himself at the bar , we give him a slight imprisonment , just enough to accustom him to short separatio n * from his companions , and to dispel the wholesome illusion which had made the gaol a place of fear , because it was a place of mystery . On the next occasion he remains longer ; but he has become practised in prinou life , and bear * confinement far better than he would have done but for his former lesson . This process ia repeated trom time to time , while the moral which the wretched creature draws from his alternations of confinement and
freedom i « , not to refrain from offending , but to commit offences in such u manner as shall least expose him to the ri » k of detection ; and , moreover , thai when at length detected he ought to bear his privations with us much of contempt and defiance as he can command ; consoled by the prospect of restored freedom , and the hope of better fortune in future . Its not thin , gentlemen , a . fair
parallel ? And does it not show that our treatment of nT lefactors is better calculated to confirm them in evi doing than to withdraw them from crime ? It will be oh served that I speak of the general working of our svstem That there are many exceptions to the rule I am glad to Having established this position , he points out the startling fact that for many years we have been sta . dually mitigating the severity of our criminal code " of our criminal administration , and lessening the 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 unreforined , 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 amon g 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 liable to be dealt with as follows : —If after the expiration of his imprison ment 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 established , to call on the prisoner to show that he enjoys the means of honest subsistence either from his property ,
his labour , the kindness of his 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 . But 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 sch eme than to the ordinary and care hi 1 administration of justice . Indeed , he thinks that the trials he proposes would not be so open to these charges as trials for specific offences . Mr . Hill drew a vivid and touching picture of the Frome violation and murder : — " Gentlemen , the crying necessity of this jurisdiction so presses itself on my mind that I cannot refrain from adverting to it once more . But few days have elapsed reside ( the county
since the part of England in which I of Somerset ) was the scene of an appalling outrage , filling the district with indignation and horror . ; v girl , fifteen years old , was left by her parents alone ai their dwelling , during their necessary ' Attendance , at the neighbouring market at Frome . On thesir return home they found her dead body atretched on the tloo ' , and dabbled in blood . In the open day—m a nou » not distant from others of the hamlet , and « ear a main road—had this unhappy girl lost her i ' in the defence , and alas ! in the unsuccessful * " - ™\ Wr ™ . ritv . The Ditiffs of death were sharpened by i
cruel ignominy of violation . How much less wocouhad been her fate—how much less bitter the B " ot " bereaved parents—had she been devoured by a ™» prey ! Her image would then have dwelt m tlxLl 1 M _ mory unsullied by those revolting associations oi i ^^ tion with which it will now for ever be mingled . convict then , I ask , to exhaust all our sympathies T ^ we to have no thought for the myriads of ho it ^ faithful subjects exposed to the name " V }\ " * f ' whoSo deeply feeling the want of protection , the comiorto lives is oftentimes destroyed by the perpetual fear wu harasses their minds ?" But , he says , those who fear great evil" ^ tfll " nronoBul advocate the use of firearms in i »« f ( lf of life and property ; a remedy he <*> ™™ " , tioii more dangerous to aocietv thim the i ;""* ? - " \ m ^ of his own proposal . Yet ho wind" «{> u hl iw with the obvious admission that witu inu ¦ ,, ht present ntate we must protect ourselves iroin burlar beat cim t uul * ii
«» an we . _ ,, ; DUTgwrn m » wu . »» . «<» rm »' " Nevertheless , gentlemen , if the * , ' H , o . neknown ruilians to remain at large , these I ) Iir "" bti , \\ adica perhaps cannot , and most certainly wul mC t | u > d <» penned with ; yet . who does not ace that any iw 0 | f , triul , however rude and defcotivo , « vc » JornO »*»
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 25, 1851, page 6, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_25101851/page/6/
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