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; r 3tej __ THEE LEADER.; fNo, 314, Satu...
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[KT THIS DESARTirEK-T , IS AM OfeHSIOS-?...
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Tlxere; is no learned man trat will conf...
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(To t7ie Editor of the Zeader). Permitte...
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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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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Tkial Of William Palmer. "We Do Trust Th...
conclusion , ought to have been granted . Technically , indeed , these reports may not form substantive portions of the depositions which the prisoner has a right to be furnished with ; but on the grounds we have stated , we cannot biitfeel that it is a matterfor just regret that the means of repeating the experiments and testing the reasoning of Dr . Taylor are withheld
The objection raised is that alL this is matter for cross-examination at the trial . This is , in faefc , to leave a question which , requires careful examination , and deliberate research to the chance information of the witnesses summoned and the skill of the barristers employed . Such a course is not the most conducive to the discovery of truth j it is scant justice to the prisoner . " ¦ ¦ •*'"' ¦
In these representations we entirely concur . Our readers well know that we have no morbid sympathy with poisoners or genteel criminals . But William Palmer is a British citizen , accused of murder . If convicted , he must die on the scaffold . He says that he cannot defend himself without being furnished with a copy of the medical evidence adduced against him . What is medical jealousy , or forensic etiquette , compared with Justice ?
; R 3tej __ Thee Leader.; Fno, 314, Satu...
; r 3 tej __ THEE LEADER . ; fNo , 314 , Saturda y
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[ KT THIS DESARTirEK-T , IS AM OfeHSIOS- ? , EOWETEE EXTREME , ABB AtttOWTEI ) A 2 f EXPRESSION , IEE EDITOR NECESSARILY icokds nxsisJBiiE EsspOifsistE fob hone /]
Tlxere; Is No Learned Man Trat Will Conf...
Tlxere ; is no learned man trat will confess lie hath . . much , profited by * reading controversies , his senses awakened , and Ms judgment sharpened . If , ' then , it ; be profitable for him to read , why shoiold it nob , at l ^ ast , be tolerable for his adversary to write ?—Mu-ton .
(To T7ie Editor Of The Zeader). Permitte...
( To t 7 ie Editor of the Zeader ) . Permitted traffic im" ekglish g-irls . Sp 1 * —It is not long since England was started out of a < iream of complacent imbecility by discovering the horrors and degradation which her Sons were encountering in the distant East . She has now a yet mote humiliating lesson to read , in the far deeper horrors and fouler degradation which her Daughters
are daily exposed to nearer home . Is it necessary -that she should have to drink yet deeper of the cup of itafanly before what moral life there still is in her will be x-oused into resolute aud effective activity ? Let us be well assured , that just so much infamy as is needful for eucli purpose will be poured out to her with stern and judicial accuracy . Or has she no such moral life still circulating in her veins ? no heartfelt reverence for domestic jnirity ? no honour worth defending but what can be noisily vaunted in the battle-¦
field ? n ^ By the prompt ; energy of Sir S . W . Garden , a state . ment of facts has been elicited a nd laid before the public , by which it appears thattnero is now existing - —• not some unprecedented and solitary horror , which once done cannot be undone , but—a skilfully organised System of horrors , pursued steadily , oontimially , and with perfect immunity ; a kind of social Institution of Infamy ; a methodical and efficient confederacy of foulest villany , with its " rights of capital , " its " vested interests , " its precedents of trado , its official sauotions aud support ; and having for its avowed purpose neither xupve nor , loss than a raeroiless , and extensive traffic in the souls and bodies of
innocent English girls . The general boaringe of this subject have been pretty faithfully commented on by the preBS of this country ; and I am onoouragod by the tbnour of the ro in arks in the Leader of last ¦ tyeejc , , to hope that a few further commonts which Beem to bo called for antvy not bo unacceptable . , Th 0 | facts of the case whioh has beou the occasion of calling p \ iblic attention to this eubjoot , arc briofly ¦ these . ' A , young girl , sixteen years of age , of good character , tho daughter of respeotable industrious parentB , was , on hor way to Hackney to inquire afbor a Situation to which sho had boon recommended . Sho . gw aooompanioa by ft fomalo acquaintance , who , also , Was goxng to-her regular occupation . At the oornor « 5 S ^ Sfe ^ * i ^ appeared to bo known to ho * companion ; and who aekoa thorn in a friendly manner to go with
her to see two or three young girls like themselves . They , thinking no harm , consented ; and the girl , whose story has now been made public , was finally induced , not it seems without many misgivings , to accept a good situation which was promised her in Hamburg . She was taken , with two other girls to whom Bbe had been introduced , on board a steamer which lay near St . Katharine ' s Wharf . The vessel , however , had not proceeded far before her diffident and modest demeanour , contrasting with the bold address of her companions , caught the notice of one of the engineers , who called her aside and expressed his regret to see a girl of her respectable appearance in such company . A passenger on board , and the captain of the vessel , also gave her a similar caution , and told her , plainly and earnestly , - the purpose she was taken for .
They all bear witness that she was both shocked and terrified at what she had heard , and had evidently no idea of the peril to which she was exposed . The woman who had brought her oat , tried hard to persuade her not to listen to , or believe them ; but she refused to have any further conversation with her , and made up her mind not to stir from the ship until she returned to England . In the meantime , however , hex father had discovered where she had been taken , and immediately applied to Sir R . W . Carden to assist him in recovering her . The magistrate at once sent two officers to make such arrangements as would be necessary to meet the case , and to telegraph -to Hamburgh in
order that the vessel might be searched on its arrival , aud -the poor girl protected . Accordingly when the vessel arrived , the police , who were on the look out , immediatel y came on board and took all the parties concerned into their own custody . But for what purpose ? To rescue the poor victim ? to help the helpless ? to defend the innocent girl from her foul seducers ? It was for no such purpose that the Hamburg police took the affair into their own hands . The telegraphic message only served to apprise them that a fresh , cargo of English female flesh and blood was arriving for their inspec tfon ; and they at once took official possession of their consignment , which they straightway conveyed
to their own depot , with a shrewd eye to the profit to be realised by the . transaction . Further than this , " there seemed to be no notice taken of the telegraphic despatch ordered by Sir R . W . Carden . " One of the officers whom that magistrate had instructed to act in the matter , and who seems to have acted throughout with a most praiseworthy intelligence and promptitude , followed in the next vessel . When he got to Hamburg , he proceeded with all speed to the police-station . He was received there " in a vely formal manner by the prefects or inspectors , " who seemingly were not at all gratified at having their trade interfered with by what they probably looked at as a London
opposition concern . " They refused to hear anything but what concerned the particular parties who had just arrived . " They told him that the procuress , with whom they were clearly on the most friendly and confidential terms , had " explained to their satisfacfaction " that the girls had engaged themselves to her expressly to follow " a course of prostitution ; " they evidently considered their only duty to be , to see that the hell-hag had her rights , and to take care that the wretohed girls were prostituted accordingly . For this purpose , they were evidently ready to render every assidtanoe . But when he assured them that the girl in question had been decoyed over by false representations and deceitful promises , and that she
had had no notion of the dreadful fate that was in store for her—to all such protestations of her innocence and simplicity they replied with an incredulous smile and a continental ehrug . They even referred to their friend , tho procuress , in support of a got-up charge of thoft , which she had malignantly preferred against hor struggling victim , in order to warrant their using forco to siibduo her . In every way theso Hamburg police nidod and abetted tho infumous procurers , uncl mod their official authority and power to accomplish tho foul destruction of the innocent girl sho had suaved into their hands . And , of course , in every caso , tho more iunocont tho Door irl thus left hel
g pless to them , the more is it worth their , brutal while to take a little extra trouble with her . The pollco-surgaou himself is tho accredited agent and active assistant of theso brothelkoopora , who inspects their wares , and pronounoos thorn fit or unfit for their market . " The revenue of the city is grewtly , aasisted by prostitution . " And " the criminal doctor , fis woll as tho oflicora of tho polico , scorn tu bo on a very good undorntanding with the characters who travol between Hamburg and London upon buBinesm of tho kind . " Owing to tho resolute resistance of tho poor girl in question , our ofiloer got there , happily , in time to roaono her from their porfldious oaro , which ho ut hiflfc Buoooodod porfeotly In dulng .
But suppose those Hamburg polioo had thus got her in thoir powor , and no one hart appeared with authority to demand hor back . Can thoro bo any a «« o questiqn that by ouo foul monnu or nnothor , hor destruction would havo beon nooomplishod 1 Lot it
be freely admitted that , but for her own folly and indiscretion in suffering herself to be persuaded and guided by a stranger , Bhe would probably never have got there—and what does it prove ? That she there by forfeited all claim to the sympathy and protection of her country ? Is there an Englishman so secure in his own wisdom and wariness that he could wish such measure meted to himself ? Let us honestly recollect the struggles poor girls now have to get aliv ing at all : and if we cannot , or will not , even attempt to help them by a wiser and safer guidance , let us at least , not taunt them for following , in their helplessness and inexperience , such guidance as they can foolish though it may sometimes be . '
But now let us pass from this individual case , and consider tliat it forms bufc one instance in the woi-kin " of an extensive and skilfully organised' traffic . Lei us call to mind the diabolical dexterity , the multifarious deceptions , the snares , and plausible inducements which are so tracherously and cunningly employed by these worse than pirates , to inveigle iunocent , unhappy girls to their- ruin . And it will suffice to add , that it is precisel y the most innocent , the most inexperienced and guileless , which form the most coveted merchandise in their infernal and most detestable markets . No purity of heart can secure any Englishman ' s daughter fro the
m falling next victim of this fearful trade . Let her only ^ become destitute ; be left without protection , ' and without any experience of the depth atid foulness of human treachery ; and the more beautiful her character in all female excellences , so much the more threatening will be her miserable destruction . Let these poor girls' infamous betrayers only succeed in decoying their victims into Hamburg ; and we are , to our , utter amazement , informed ' they can forthwith reckon on the vigilant and zealous co-operation of the Hamburg police , for the completion of -tneir work . Well would it be for the honour of England if this were all that could be said . But it is not all : it . is not even the first thing for England
to consider . The officer wbo was sent over , succeeded , as I said , in saving one poor girl . He then " waited upon Colonel Hodges , the British Consul , " to apprise him of the facts he had discovered ; evidently expecting that lie would be giving Colonel Hodges startling information which he could make some official rise of , but he waB mistaken ; "he soon learned that the Consul was perfectly aware that the atrocious traffic had been carried on for some time , and constantly lamented , & c , & c , & c . We are also told , '' the Vice-Consul added his testimony to that of his inferior , and mentioned several
heartrending cases , presenting new features of the horrors of the prostitution thus apparently sanctioned . " So that , taking them at their own confession , there seems to be no possibility of doubting that these two gentlemen , Government Officers , Consul ; and Vice-Consul , appointed to watch over the interests of British subjects in Hamburg , were perfectly familiar with the atrocities which were daily and systematically practised upon these poor , snared , defenceless girls , and yet could stand tamely looking on , " constantly lamenting . " We have of late heard much of official incapacity ; but has anything yet been exposed equal to this ?
Now , suppose that instead of thus trafficking in the souls and bodios of innocent Englis h gii'ls , execrable smugglers had been carrying on a flourishing trade in any ether contraband English exports—would tho English consul still have considered that the alpha and omega of his duties consisted in " constantly lamenting ? " The humble officor already alluded to evidently took a different view of the case , and urgod " that tho authorities in London , by whom ho had been sent , wore anxiously expecting tho interposition of tho English , consul" in a matter eo gravely aU ' octing tuo honour of England , and tho well-being of English siibjeets in Hamburg . Whorexipon the English consul blandly replied that " nothing would give
him higher gratification than the power of checking so monstrous an evil , hut that tLio immediate intor . feronco of Lord Clarendon would , in his opinion , bo necessary boforo much good could be offootod in tho way of counteraotion ; and that it would bo advisable to present ; a memorial to that minister for— " for what ? an iustant and peremptory suppression of tho intolerable , unutterable iniquity ? AIuh , no ; m ' mply for— - " an inquiry into tho case ! " Can any tiling bo imagined moi-o utborly o , nd audaciously imbecile ?
How is it that the British Consul had , uofc liimsolf oumiuunicatod with Lord , Clarendon on Iho mibjoot ? And , if ho hud ho cominunicutoil , how in it that wo now diHoover , witharaaaoinonfc and horror , that young innocent girls aro at thia very tinio being whaniofully nnd helplessly aold in tho tihiunbloB of Hamburg ; while tho l £ ugli » h Consul has no other duty than to look tainoly on with olHoial aoroniky , uml " ooimtanUy lumout thoir doplorablo condition ? " JIub England ilny honour loft worth fighting for , while nuuh «» wpoukftblo degradation in connived ut , or oonfoBSOctty permitted by hor own Qo-vormnoiit ? 27 th March , 1800 . 1 am , « ir , youva , ho ., 11 . L .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), March 29, 1856, page 14, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_29031856/page/14/
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