Part 9 (2/2)

But these two cla.s.ses are extremely few in number, and bear no proportion to the lower and more depraved part of the fraternity of thieves, who pursue the trade systematically; who conduct their depredations under such circ.u.mstances of caution, as to render detection extremely difficult; and whose knowledge of all the weak parts of the Criminal Law is generally so complete, as to enable them to elude justice, and obtain acquittals, when detected and put upon their trial:--_Namely_--

3. 1st. Servants, Ostlers, Stable and Post-Boys out of place, who, preferring what they consider as idleness, have studied the profession of Thieving.--2d. Persons who being imprisoned for debts, a.s.saults, or petty offences, have learned habits of idleness and profligacy in gaols.--3d.

Idle and disorderly mechanics and labourers, who having on this account lost the confidence of their masters or employers, resort to thieving, as a means of support; from all whom the notorious and hacknied thieves generally select the most trusty and daring to act as their a.s.sociates.--4th.

Criminals tried and acquitted of offences charged against them, of which cla.s.s a vast number is annually let loose upon Society.--5th. Convicts discharged from prison and the Hulks, after suffering the sentence of the Law: too often instructed by one another in all the arts and devices which attach to the most extreme degree of human depravity, and in the perfect knowledge of the means of perpetrating Crimes, and of eluding Justice.

To form some judgment of the number of persons in this great Metropolis who compose at least a part of the Criminal Phalanx engaged in depredations and acts of violence, it is only necessary to have recourse to the following Statement of the number of prisoners discharged, during a period of four years, from the eight different Gaols in the Metropolis, and within the Bills of Mortality.

1. Discharged by proclamation and gaol-deliveries; having been committed in consequence of being charged with various offences for which bills were not found by the Grand Jury, or where the prosecutors did not appear to maintain and support the charges 5592

2. Discharged by acquittals, in the different Courts; (frequently from having availed themselves of the defects of the Law,--from frauds in keeping back evidence, and other devices) 2962

3. Convicts discharged from the different gaols, after suffering the punishment of imprisonment, &c. inflicted on them for the several offences 2484 ----- Total 11038

The following is a Statement of the number of these discharges from the year 1792 to 1799 inclusive:--

1. Discharged by Proclamations and Gaol-deliveries 8650

2. Discharged by Acquittals 4935

3. Discharged after punishment: or by being bailed or pardoned 6925 ------ Total 20,510 ------

If to this deplorable Catalogue shall be added the Convicts which have been returned on the Public from the Hulks within the same period, namely, from 1792 to 1799 inclusive, either from pardons, escapes, or the expiration of their punishment, the numbers will stand thus:

Enlarged in 1792 303 ---- 1793 435 ---- 1794 62 ---- 1795 67 ---- 1796 38 ---- 1797 39 ---- 1798 93 ---- 1799 346 ---- 1383 ------ Total from Gaols and from the Hulks 21,893

Humanity shudders at the contemplation of this interesting part of the discussion, when it is considered, who these our miserable fellow-mortals are! and what is to be expected from the extreme depravity which attaches to the chief part of them!

And here a prominent feature of the imperfect state of the Police of the Metropolis and the Country is too evident to escape notice.

_Without friends, without character, and without the means of subsistence_, what are these unhappy mortals to do?--They are no sooner known or suspected, than they are avoided.--No person will employ them, even if they were disposed to return to the paths of honesty; unless they make use of fraud and deception, by concealing that they have been the inhabitants of a _Prison_, or of the _Hulks_.

At large upon the world, without food or raiment, and with the constant calls of nature upon them for both, without a home or any asylum to shelter them from the inclemency of the weather, _what is to become of them_?

The Police of the Country has provided no place of industry, in which those who were disposed to reform might find subsistence in return for voluntary labour; which, in their present situation, becomes useless to them, because no person will purchase it by employing them.[25]

Under all these circ.u.mstances it is to be feared, indeed it is known, that many Convicts, from dire necessity, return to their old courses.--And thus, through the medium of these miserable outcasts of Society, crimes are increased and become a regular trade, because many of them can make no other election.

[Footnote 25: That man will deserve a statue to his memory who shall devise and carry into effect a plan for the employment of _Discharged Prisoners and Convicts_, who may be desirous of labouring for their subsistence in an honest way.--It is only necessary for some men of weight and influence to make the attempt, in order to insure the a.s.sistance of the opulent and humane in so good and necessary a Work.

See a future Chapter as to the present state of punishment and the remedies proposed.]

It is indeed true, that during the first three years of the present war, many Convicts and idle and disorderly persons were sent to the Army and Navy: but still a vast number remained behind, who could not be accepted on account of ruptures, fits, or some other disability or infirmity; which, although they incapacitate them from serving his Majesty, do not prevent them from committing crimes.

While it must be evident, that the resource afforded by the present war, gives employment, for a time only, to many depraved characters and mischievous members of the community; how necessary is it to be provided with antidotes, previous to the return of peace; when, to the mult.i.tude of thieves now at large, there will be added numbers of the same cla.s.s, who may be discharged from the Navy and Army?--If some plan of employment is not speedily devised, to which all persons of this description may resort, who cannot otherwise subsist themselves in an honest way; and if the Police of the Metropolis is not greatly improved, by the introduction of more energy, and a greater degree of System and Method in its administration; it is much to be feared, that no existing power will be able to keep them within bounds.

It is in vain to say the Laws are sufficient.--They are indeed abundantly voluminous, and in many respects very excellent, but they require to be revised, consolidated, modernized, and adapted in a greater degree to the prevention of existing evils, with such regulations as would ensure their due execution not only _in every part of the Capital_, but also in all parts of the Kingdom.

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