|
WARWICK GAOL.
――――♦――――
RETURN to an ADDRESS of the Honourable The House of Commons,
dated 21 January 1840;—for,
COPIES of any MEMORIALS or CORRESPONDENCE relating to the Treatment
of
William Lovett and John Collins, now Prisoners in Warwick Gaol.
_____________________________________________________________________
Ordered, by The House of Commons, to be Printed, 4 February 1840.
_____________________________________________________________________
Sir, Warwick Gaol, 20 August 1839.
YOU having kindly promised to lay before the magistrates of the
county any request we might choose to make respecting our treatment
in this prison, we beg you respectfully to make known to them the
following:
That feeling it to be impossible to preserve our health on the kind
of food allowed us by the rules (for one or other of us has been ill
from the first), we beg to be permitted to purchase a little tea,
sugar, and butter, and occasionally a small quantity of meat.
That as we feel it very cold in the cells, and now, especially as we
are not allowed to wear our shoes on the brick floor, we believe it
to be essential to our health that we be allowed to find our own
bedding, and be allowed to wear our shoes in the cell.
That being of weakly health, we beg we may not be locked out in the
open air, and that we may have free access to a fire to warm
ourselves and to prepare our food; and have the use of knife, fork,
and plate.
That we be allowed the free use of pens, ink, and paper, and be
allowed to correspond with and occasionally to see our friends
unrestricted by the presence of the turnkey.
That we be allowed to retire to our cells during the daytime for the purpose of reading or writing, and that we be not locked up
in them for 15 or 16 hours in the winter season without fire or
candle light.
That we are induced to make these requests from the knowledge we
possess that the like indulgences have been granted in other prisons
to persons convicted for political offences; and, at the same time,
we beg to assure the magistrates that, should the like favours be
extended to us, we will not in any way make an improper use of them.
We are, &c.
William Collins, Esq. M.P. (signed)
Wm. Lovett.
Warwick.
John Collins.
_________________________________
To the Right honourable Lord John Russell, Her Majesty's Secretary
of State
for the Home Department.
'The Memorial of William Lovett, of 6, Upper North-place, Grays'-inn
Road,
London, and John Collins, of Six-court, Bread-street, Birmingham,
Humbly showeth,
THAT your memorialists were both convicted at the last assizes in
this town for writing and publishing a seditious libel in the town
of Birmingham on the 5th of July last, and were sentenced to 12
months' imprisonment in this gaol, a place where the discipline is
extremely severe:
That your memorialists respectfully urge on your Lordship's
attention, that theirs being a political offence, springing out of
an effort which the people are now making to obtain an equality of
political rights, such offences have always been considered less
venial than crimes against society, and a distinction of punishment
has generally been made in such cases; instead of which, however,
the treatment of your memorialists has in no ways differed from that
of felons, or persons stained with the greatest crimes against
society.
And your memorialists feel this severity in their case to be the
more intolerable, from the conviction, that while they have
laboured, as they conceive it to be their duty, to obtain for their
countrymen some share in the making of the laws they are called on
to obey, they have never been the advocates of illegal or violent
modes of redress.
Your memorialists therefore hope your Lordship will take all these
circumstances into your consideration; and as they conceive their
case to be one of singular severity, trust that your Lordship will
be pleased to mitigate their punishment by permitting them to be
placed on the debtors' side of the prison, where they can be allowed
to purchase their own food, and have opportunities of corresponding
with and occasionally of seeing their friends.
And your memorialists beg to inform your Lordship, that such
relaxation of the severities of the common gaol has often been
extended to persons confined for political, and more especially for
libellous offences; for in the year 1821, Thomas Jonathan Wooler,
George Edmonds, Charles Maddox, and William Greathead Lewis, were so
placed on the debtors' side, in this gaol; and since that period Mr.
Guest, of Birmingham, and others, who were convicted for selling
seditious pamphlets, were allowed a like indulgence.
And in London numerous instances can be offered of great indulgences
having been allowed to prisoners for political offences; for
Richard Carlile, who was imprisoned in Newgate about five or six
years ago for publishing a libel in one of his publications, had a
room to himself, when his friends were allowed to visit him, to
bring him food and other necessaries, and where he had the free use
of pens, ink, and paper; and Mr. Henry Hetherington and James
Watson, who were subsequently imprisoned in Clerkenwell prison for
publishing and vending seditious publications, had similar
indulgences extended to them.
Your memorialists therefore hope your Lordship will take their case
into your consideration, and allow them to be placed on the debtors'
side of the prison, where they will be allowed to purchase their own
food, have free use of books, pens, ink, and paper, and to see their
friends.
And your memorialists, as in duty bound, will ever pray.
(signed) William Lovett.
20 August 1839.
John Collins.
_________________________________
Whitehall, 23 August 1839.
MR.
PHILLIPPS presents his
compliments to the visiting magistrates of the gaol at Warwick, and
requests, by desire of Lord John Russell, to be informed whether the
health of William Lovett suffers from confinement.
To the Visiting Magistrates of the Gaol,
Warwick.
_________________________________
THE
undersigned visiting magistrates have the honour to acknowledge the
receipt of Lord John Russell's note of inquiry respecting the health
of William Lovett, now confined in the county gaol. The same has
been referred to the surgeon, whose report is enclosed.
(signed) J. N. Cave Browne Cave.
Warwick Gaol,
S. F. Galton.
24 August 1839.
James Rattray.
H. C. Wise.
John Boucher.
_________________________________
Warwick Gaol, 24 August 1839.
WILLIAM
LOVETT, a prisoner in
Warwick gaol, was a few days ago suffering ago from an attack of the
bowels, common at this season of the year.
I have this day examined him, and find him in good health.
(signed) J. Wilmshurst, Surgeon to the Prison.
_________________________________
Working Men's Association,
6, Upper North-place, Gray's-inn Road,
My Lord,
24 August 1839.
A DEPUTATION
having been appointed to wait on your Lordship, concerning William
Lovett and John Collins, prisoners in Warwick gaol, and your
Lordship having signified it to be more convenient to receive a
statement in writing than by deputation.
I am directed to invite your Lordship's attention to the
following circumstances:
That William Lovett was, in conjunction with John Collins,
convicted of libel at the last assizes holden at Warwick, and
sentenced to one year's imprisonment in the county gaol.
That immediately on the sentence being passed, Mr. Collins
applied to the learned Judge to order them to be placed on the side
of the prison appropriated to debtors, and not on the felons' side,
and mentioned the cases of Messrs. George Edmond, Charles Maddocks,
W. G. Lewis, and T. J. Wooler, to whom similar orders had been
issued; to which may be added those of Sir C. Wolsley, Mr. Davison,
H. Hunt, and R. Carlile, all of whom were convicted of similar
offences, and none of whom were subject to rules and regulations
assigned to persons convicted of felony; the learned Judge remarked
he had not the power to issue an order in conformity with that
request, but recommended, if it should be necessary, that
application should be made to your Lordship.
They were afterwards removed to the gaol, and placed on the
felons' side, under rules and regulations of so rigidly severe a
character as is believed to be unprecedented in offences for
political libel, and to induce fears that in the case of Mr. Lovett
particularly the sentence may terminate his life, unless your
Lordship shall be pleased to order his removal, he having already
become an inmate of the infirmary, from the effects of the diet on
his delicate frame.
I am directed to press on your Lordship's attention that Mr.
Lovett is a person of an extremely weak and fragile constitution:
that his habits have always been those of a sober and intelligent
man, and most zealous in diffusing similar qualities among his
fellow-workmen: that his character for honesty can be attested by
several of his employers: and that he is the object of esteem and
respect among all who know him.
That the rules of the prison, which restrict them to writing
only two letters during the whole term of imprisonment, denies them
the use of books, pens, ink, and paper, and prevents any friend from
visiting them oftener than once in three months, press with peculiar
severity against persons of their character and habits.
I am further directed to remark to your Lordship, that prison
rules are sometimes relaxed, even in cases of very heinous offences,
on account of previous good character or situation in life, such as
that of F. J. Medhurst, confined in Coldbathfields for manslaughter,
who enjoys such exceptions, and has books allowed for amusement.
And, finally, that the gaol in which they are confined is 120
miles distant from the friends of Mr. Lovett, and 14 miles from
those of Mr. Collins. To all these circumstances I am directed
to invite your Lordship's serious attention, and to solicit that
your Lordship will be pleased to order that William Lovett and John
Collins be removed from the felons' to the debtors' side of Warwick
gaol.
I have, &c.
(signed)
R. Moore, Secretary.
_________________________________
My Lord,
Warwick, 25 August 1839.
HAVING
been requested by William Lovett and John Collins, prisoners
confined in Warwick gaol, to present a memorial to your Lordship,
praying for a relaxation of the severity of the prison regulations,
and wishing to make some communications to you on the same subject,
I will feel obliged to your Lordship to inform me, in a note
addressed to the Reform Club, stating at what hour it will be
convenient to you to see me.
My visit to town is specially to see your Lordship on this
business, and I cannot get there before six o'clock to-morrow
evening. If your Lordship would therefore have the kindness to
see me at any time to-morrow evening after six o'clock, or at an
early hour on the following morning, I should feel greatly obliged,
as I am most anxious to return home on Tuesday, having an important
engagement for the following morning.
I have, &c.
To the Right hon. Lord John Russell.
(signed)
William Collins.
_________________________________
Sir,
Whitehall, 29 August 1839.
I AM
directed by Lord John Russell to inform you that he directed a
reference to be made to the visiting magistrates of Warwick gaol,
relative to the state of health of William Lovett, and to inform you
that he has received from them a report of the surgeon of the gaol,
in which it appears that the prisoner is at this time in good
health.
His Lordship proposes to refer the other points to the
visiting magistrates.
William Collins, Esq. M.P.
I am, &c.
Warwick.
(signed)
S. M. Phillipps.
_________________________________
Sir,
Buckhurst, 30 August 1839.
UPON
considering the application of Lovett and Collins, now in Warwick
gaol, I do not consider that I have any power to order them to be
transferred to the debtors' side of the prison.
I have already written to the visiting magistrates,
respecting the health of Lovett, and I consider them and the surgeon
responsible for ordering such diet and other indulgence as the state
of his health may render necessary.
I must add that I do not concur in the description which
Lovett and Collins give of their own offence. They have
endeavoured to excite the people of Birmingham to overturn the laws
by arms and bloodshed, and failing in that attempt, have been
visited by a moderate punishment.
I am, &c.
William Collins, Esq. M.P.
(signed)
J. Russell.
_________________________________
My Lord,
Brompton-square, 29 August 1839.
I BEG
to accompany a communication to your Lordship from William Collins,
Esq. M.P. for Warwick, in continuance of a former one from Mr.
Joseph Parkes, with one from myself, which I should not have taken
the liberty to do, were not the case one of pressing necessity, and
because that no one but myself can communicate certain particulars
with which your Lordship should be made acquainted, and which I am
sure you will be satisfied ought not to be withheld.
I have known William Lovett several years, and can affirm,
from my own observation and other sources, that his state of health
is peculiar: that in consequence of residing and working in a damp
kitchen, he became affected with severe illness, and has never since
enjoyed good health: that since the year 1835 be has been incapable
of working at his trade: that he has been maintained in his weakly
state by a strict and peculiar regimen, any departure from which
indisposes him greatly, and endangers his life.
I beg also to state to your Lordship my opinion, which I am
certain is well founded, that the discipline and regimen of Warwick
gaol will destroy him.
I beg also to observe, that the certificate of the surgeon of
the gaol can relate only to the particular attack of illness of
William Lovett, and not to the general state of his health, with
which the surgeon was not acquainted. The actual state of his
health at the present moment is described in a letter to his wife,
which is enclosed, and which I very earnestly beg your Lordship will
cause to be read to you.
William Lovett is a man of remarkably mild manners, and of an
integrity not surpassed by any man with whom I have ever had the
pleasure of being acquainted; and I respectfully claim of your
Lordship to believe that I would not mislead your Lordship in any
the smallest particular.
I beg most earnestly of your Lordship that you will be
pleased to order the removal of William Lovett to the debtors' side
of the prison, where his wife, whose attendance is necessary to his
existence, may have access to him.
I am, &c.
The Right hon. Lord John Russell,
(signed)
Francis Place.
&c. &c. &c.
_________________________________
My Lord,
Birmingham, 10 October 1839.
AT
the earnest solicitation of numerous friends of John Collins, I take
the liberty to hand you the enclosed petition, and to unite myself
(most sincerely) in the prayer of it, that the two unfortunate
prisoners may be removed from the felons' to that of the debtors'
side of the gaol at Warwick, which, I assure your Lordship, will
give the greatest possible satisfaction to many very worthy persons
in this town. The petition is signed by eight of the borough
magistrates, and a considerable number of the other signatures are
those of town councillors.
I have, &c.
The Most Noble
(signed)
Joshua Scholefield.
The Marquess of Normandy,
M. P. for Birmingham.
&c. &c.
_________________________________
TO the Right honourable Lord Normandy, Her Majesty's
Principal Secretary
of State for the Home Department.
The humble Petition of the undersigned, Inhabitants of Birmingham,
Showeth,
THAT William
Lovett and John Collins were convicted at the last Warwick assizes
of publishing a seditious libel, and were sentenced to 12 months'
imprisonment in Warwick gaol.
That after sentence they were imprisoned in that part of the
gaol which is assigned to criminals; and, in consequence, they are
not only liable to be limited to the gaol allowance, but are
deprived of all private correspondence, and all opportunities of
private interviews with their families and friends.
That during the administration of my Lord Castlereagh, George
Edmonds, Major Cartwright, and Jonathan Wooler were imprisoned in
the same gaol on a much more serious charge, and the Government of
that time directed that they should be imprisoned on the gentlemen
debtors' side of the prison, which was accordingly done; but
although Lord John Russell formally desired the visiting magistrates
of the gaol to place these persons in the debtors' ward, yet at
present the magistrates have not thought it expedient to comply with
this request.
That your Lordship's petitioners respectfully urge upon your
Lordship, that there is a broad distinction betwixt political and
the general class of criminal cases; that the former do not
necessarily arise from any base, selfish, or immoral motives, but
may be the result of the purest and most patriotic, and a
corresponding distinction should be made in the punishment.
Your Lordship's petitioners therefore humbly pray that Mr.
William Lovett and John Collins may be removed from the criminal
side of the gaol of Warwick, and that they be imprisoned on the
debtors' side of the said prison.
And your petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray, &c.
|
William Scholefield. |
James Tongue. |
Thomas Phillips. |
|
P. H. Muntz. |
James C. Perry. |
John Betts. |
|
John Meredith. |
Daniel Turner. |
Joseph Gillott. |
|
John Boit Davies. |
John Thomas Dyer. |
Edward M. Martin. |
|
Henry Van Wort. |
W. H. Ashmore. |
John Hollingsworth. |
|
Thomas Bolton. |
G. V. Blunt. |
James Goddard. |
|
Thomas Clarke. |
J. W. Winfield. |
Wm. & Francis Room. |
|
Samuel Beale. |
D. B. Smith. |
John Bourn. |
|
George Attwood. |
Thomas Weston. |
Butler Brothers. |
|
R. K. Douglas. |
Henry Tidmarsh. |
Thomas Clowes. |
|
Abel Preston. |
Josiah James. |
C. Smith. |
_________________________________
Sir,
Whitehall, 21 October 1839.
I AM directed by the
Marquess of Normanby to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of
the l0th instant, with its enclosed petition, praying that John
Collins and William Lovett may be transferred from the felons' to
the debtors' side of Warwick gaol, and to acquaint you that his
Lordship cannot interfere with the regulations of that prison.
I am, &c.
J. Scholefield, Esq. M.P.
(signed) F. Maule.
Birmingham.
_________________________________
TO the Right honourable the Earl of Normanby, Principal
Secretary of State
for the Home Department,
The humble Memorial of Mary Lovett,
Showeth,
THAT your memorialist is the wife of
William Lovett, now confined in Warwick gaol for writing certain
resolutions which have been deemed a seditious libel.
That her husband has been treated with severity, and suffered
under deprivations of various kinds, which during the several
administrations of Mr. Pitt, and others, from 1792 to 1839, were
never in such cases inflicted.
That the health of her husband was so seriously injured
several years ago that he has never since recovered therefrom.
That soon after his confinement, in consequence of his
treatment and the prison diet, he was seriously indisposed, and has
been twice in the infirmary.
That representations thereof having been made to the Right
honourable Lord John Russell, some changes took place; but his
treatment and diet is still such as gives strong reason to believe
that it is not possible for his enfeebled constitution to sustain
itself; that if continued, it will destroy him before the expiration
of his sentence; or should he live until that time, will so far have
injured him as certainly to shorten his life.
That her husband is a mild, considerate, moral man, a
self-instructed man, diligent in acquiring knowledge, and not at all
an uninstructed coarsely-minded man, for whom, and for whose crimes
alone, the severe discipline of the gaol was intended.
That among other severities, in no way necessary for the safe
custody of her husband, is the following: that no one shall be
admitted to see him except at the termination of a quarter of a year
from his committal, and so on during the whole time of his
imprisonment.
That a quarter of a year from his commitment will expire on
Monday next, the 28th day of the present month, when your
memorialist intends to visit him; but Your memorialist is informed
that she will be permitted to see him for only a very short time, in
the presence of one of the turnkeys, and with a hatch-door between
them.
That your memorialist has been and still is grievously
afflicted in consequence of her husband's sufferings, and her
well-grounded apprehensions of the consequences, and she therefore
most urgently implores your Lordship that you will be pleased either
to give her, or to procure for her, an admission to the prison, and
such further accommodation for seeing conversing with her husband as
may be necessary for her to learn from him the actual state of his
health, his expectations relating thereto, that she may be enabled,
so far as circumstances will permit, to render him the assistance
necessary to the preservation of his health during his imprisonment,
and thereby also to prevent the future fatal consequences which must
otherwise ensue.
And your memorialist will ever pray.
(signed) Mary Lovett.
6, Upper North-place, Gray's-inn
Road,
19 October 1839.
_________________________________
Madam, Whitehall,
28 October 1839.
THE Marquess of
Normanby having had under consideration your petition, praying
permission to visit your husband in Warwick gaol, I am directed to
acquaint you that if you are anxious to see your husband more
frequently, on the ground of any delicacy in his health, Lord
Normandy will apply to the visiting justices to relax their rule in
that respect, but that his Lordship cannot interfere in any other
respect with the discipline of the prison.
I am, h&c.
Mrs. Lovett, 6, Upper North-place,
(signed)
F. Maule.
Gray's-inn Road.
_________________________________
Sir,
30 October 1839
I WAS this morning honoured with your
letter, by command of the Marquess of Normanby, in reply to my
memorial, acquainting me that if I am anxious to see my husband more
frequently, on the ground of any delicacy of health, Lord Normandy
will apply to the visiting justices to relax their rule in this
respect. For this communication I am most thankful, and beg
leave to state that I am most anxious to see my husband as often,
and in such a way, as may enable me to prevent, as much as may be
possible, the deterioration of his enfeebled constitution.
I beg further to state that I saw my husband on Monday last,
in the presence of one of the turnkeys, and for a short time only:
that at this interview I found him much thinner than he was previous
to his confinement, and in a state of great weakness, which gives me
too much cause to fear still worse results.
That this interview in the presence of the turnkey was very
miserable.
May I hope, Sir, that if permission to see my husband more
frequently be given, it may be alone, or at the least without the
presence of the turnkey.
I beg to assure Lord Normanby that my husband is too
honourable a man to use, or permit to be used, the permission in any
way that may be deemed improper.
I have, &c.
The Honourable Fox Maule.
(signed)
Mary Lovett.
_________________________________
Gentlemen,
Whitehall, 4 November 1839.
I AM directed by
the Marquess of Normanby to transmit for your perusal the enclosed
letter from Mrs. Lovett, on the subject of more frequent access to
her husband in Warwick gaol; and I am to request you to favour his
Lordship with your opinion, whether there is any ground either in
the state of the prisoner's health, or in any other respect, for
relaxing the rules of the prison with regard to the visits of his
friends.
I am, &c.
To the Visiting Magistrates of the Gaol,
(signed) F. Maule.
Warwick.
_________________________________
Sir,
Warwick Gaol, 9 November 1839.
IN reply to the
Marquess of Normanby's inquiries respecting the state of health of
William Lovett, and the necessity and propriety of granting him
further indulgences, the undersigned visiting magistrates beg leave
to send herewith a copy of a certificate of the surgeon to the
prison, by which it appears that he is in good health. They
desire also to observe that Mr. Lovett is treated with every
possible consideration consistent with a due regard to the
prescribed discipline of the prison.
We have, &c.
To the Honourable Fox Maule,
(signed) F. Tertius
Galton.
Under Secretary of State,
John Boudier.
Home Department.
H. C. Wise.
_________________________________
Warwick Gaol, 9 November 1839.
I HAVE this day seen William Lovett, a
prisoner in Warwick gaol, and find him in good health.
(signed)
J. Wilmshurst,
Surgeon to the Prison.
_________________________________
TO the Most Noble the Marquess of Normanby, Principal
Secretary of State
for the Home Department.
Memorial of the London Working Men's Association on behalf of
William Lovett and John Collins, confined in Warwick Gaol for
Seditious Libel,
Showeth,
THAT your
memorialists on a previous occasion submitted for the consideration
of Lord John Russell the case of William Lovett and John Collins,
confined in Warwick gaol for political libel, and were assured by
his Lordship their case should receive due attention.
That they have waited in the anxious expectation that such
modifications would be made in the very severe treatment to which
they have been subjected as would enable them to fulfil the term of
their imprisonment without the danger of either sacrificing their
lives, or permanently affecting their healths by its severity.
That your memorialists are aware that alterations have been
made respecting the prisoners' written communications with their
friends, but they grieve to add that no material change has taken
place as regards their general diet. They are kept five days
in each week on potatoes and bread, and two days on soup and bread.
They are not allowed any animal food, and are denied the
opportunity of purchasing anything additional to the gaol allowance.
That they are in a weak debilitated state of health in
consequence of these privations, foreboding, and, more especially to
Mr. Lovett, giving just apprehensions of the most lamentable
consequences.
That the prisoners have made applications to the visiting
justices to be allowed to purchase a small quantity of animal food,
and have received for answer that they could only do so by special
order from your Lordship.
That your memorialists beg to press on your Lordship's
attention, that they have known Mr. Lovett for a number of years,
and can affirm him to be a most exemplary, honest, intelligent, and
virtuously-minded man.
That the offence of which he has been convicted may be
committed without violation to any of these qualities, and has been
committed by many wise and good men.
That the severe treatment of John Collins and William Lovett
has never before, as your memorialists are informed, been inflicted
on persons confined for like offences in Warwick gaol. Your
memorialists therefore trust your Lordship will take the case of
Messrs. Lovett and Collins into consideration, and that your
Lordship will be pleased to order that they be removed from the
felons' to the debtors' side of the gaol, or that they be allowed to
expend such of their own money as will procure for them a
sufficiency of nutritious food, and that they may be allowed a more
free communication with their friends.
And your memorialists will ever pray.
(signed)
R. Moore,
6, Upper North-place,
On behalf of the Working Men's Association.
Gray's-inn Road, 4 Nov. 1839.
_________________________________
Sir,
Whitehall, 14 November 1839.
THE Marquess of
Normanby having had under consideration the memorial to which your
name is affixed, praying that John Collins and William Lovett, who
are confined in Warwick gaol, may be transferred from the felons' to
the debtors' side -of the prison, and that they may be allowed
additional food, &c.; I am directed to acquaint you that enquiry has
been made into the subject of the memorial, and that Lord Normanby
sees no reason for interference with the regulations of the gaols.
I have, &c.
Mr. R. Moore, 6, Upper North-place,
(signed) S. M. Phillips.
Gray's-inn Road.
_________________________________
6, Upper North-place, Gray's-inn Road,
Sir,
16 November 1839.
ON the 30th of
October I was favoured with a letter from you, informing me that if
I were anxious to see my husband more frequently, Lord Normanby
would apply to the magistrates of Warwick to relax their rule in
this particular. To this I replied on the same day in a manner
which I hoped would be considered respectful and ensure a favourable
answer. It is now 15 days since, but no answer has been
delivered to me, and I am therefore left in a much worse state than
I should have been had no hope been held out to me.
My interview with my husband, as mentioned in my letter of
the 30th October, has made me anxious, beyond my power of
expression, to attend my husband, so as to be able to supply him
with such food as his condition demands, and without which he must
perish.
I do therefore, Sir, most earnestly entreat your good offices
to procure for me a favourable answer to my request, which is of the
greatest importance to both my husband and myself.
I have, &c.
The Honourable Fox Maule,
(signed) Mary Lovett.
&c. &c. &c.
_________________________________
Madam
Whitehall, 19 November 1839.
THE
Marquess of Normanby having received from the visiting magistrates
of Warwick gaol a report on your application for more frequent
access to your husband, on the ground of his impaired health, I am
directed to acquaint you that it appears, by medical certificate,
that your husband's health is good, and that he is treated with
every possible consideration consistent with a due regard to the
prescribed discipline of the prison.
I am, &c.
Mrs. Lovett, 6, Upper North-place,
(signed) S. M. Phillipps.
Gray's-inn Road.
_________________________________
No. 6, Upper North-place,
My Lord,
5 December 1839.
HAVING been
informed by Mr. Duncombe that your Lordship, in consequence of the
reports of the surgeon of the gaol at Warwick, is under the
impression that my husband, William Lovett, is in good health, I beg
to submit to your Lordship that having recently seen my husband, I
found him, to my great affliction, much altered in appearance and
very feeble; that he complained of great general weakness and
constant sinking at the stomach, the consequence of his diet, and
which, if persisted in, I am convinced must shorten his life.
I further beg to say, that having seen my husband, and
knowing but too well the consequences which must ensue, I have no
confidence in the reports of the surgeon, and hope your Lordship
will not place any reliance thereon, but that should your Lordship
deem it necessary, I may be permitted to send a medical gentleman
acquainted with my husband's constitution to examine him and report
on his state of health to your Lordship.
I am, &c.
To the Right hon. the Marquess of (signed)
Mary Lovett.
Normanby, &c. &c.
_________________________________
Madam,
Whitehall, 7 December 1839.
I AM directed by
the Marquess of Normanby to acquaint you, in reply to your letter of
the 5th instant, that his Lordship will desire the visiting justices
of Warwick gaol to allow the medical gentleman, represented by you
to be acquainted with your husband's constitution, to see him in
that prison. I am therefore to request you to inform me of the
name of the gentleman alluded to, in order that it may be
communicated to the magistrates.
I am, &c.
Mrs. Lovett, 6, Upper North-place,
(signed)
S. M. Phillipps.
Gray's-inn Road.
_________________________________
6, Upper North-place, Gray's-inn Road,
Sir,
7 December 1839.
I BEG
to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of this day's date, in
which you request me to inform you of the name of the gentleman
alluded to, in order that it may be communicated to the magistrates.
The name and address of the gentleman alluded to in my letter
to Lord Normanby are, "J. Robert Black, M.D. Shawfield-street,
Chelsea."
May I beg a line in reply, to enable me to consume as small a
portion of Dr. Black's time as possible.
I have, &c.
S. M. Phillipps, Esq.
(signed)
Mary Lovett.
&c. &c.
&c.
_________________________________
Madam,
Whitehall, 11 December 1839.
I AM directed by
the Marquess of Normanby to acquaint you, in reply to your letter of
the 7th instant, that directions have been given for allowing Dr.
Robert Black to see and examine your husband in Warwick gaol, in
conjunction with the surgeon of the prison.
I am, &c.
(signed)
S. M. Phillipps.
_________________________________
3, Shawfield-street, Chelsea,
Dear Sir,
19 December 1839.
ACCORDING to your request, I reduce to
writing the substance of my communication to you yesterday.
I saw Mr. Lovett on Saturday last in Warwick gaol,
accompanied by Mr. Wilmshurst, the surgeon to the prison. I
found Mr. Lovett without any specific disease, and without any
complaint of diseased sensations, except a slight uneasiness
occasionally from flatulence, but much thinner than he was before
his imprisonment, with a yellow dry skin, and with great fullness of
the small blood-vessels of the eyes. To any one not acquainted
with his constitution he would appear to be in tolerable health, as
indeed he himself thinks he is. To me, however, though
certainly in a better state of health than I expected to find him,
his condition appears to be one of peril. About four years
ago, when his health did not permit him to work regularly at his
trade, I investigated his case with great care, seeing him two or
three times a week during several months, and found the debility
under which he suffered so increased by the privations and anxieties
upon its interference with his work, that the only chance of
preventing his sinking rapidly to decay depended upon a total change
of his habits by a removal from the workshop. This removal was
effected under rather favourable circumstances; but notwithstanding
this, the recovery to his previous state of health was so slow, that
no very decided amendment manifested itself for more than a year,
and it was not until within the last twelve months that his health
seemed to be positively restored. Now he appears to me to be
fast approaching the same debilitated condition from which he was so
long in recovering, and, consequently, I consider his life
endangered by a perseverance in the present course of treatment
adopted towards him, as a second sinking so soon after his recovery
from the first may render it impossible for his system to rally
again.
His daily diet consists of,—
1¾ lbs. of perfectly good bread.
1lb. of very bad potatoes, with salt.
Tea, twice a day.
Water. |
I have great pleasure in saying that I was met by Mr.
Wilmshurst, the surgeon of the prison, in the most frank and
gentlemanly manner; indeed, his conduct throughout my visit to Mr.
Lovett was of the most attentive and honourable description.
When I went to examine Mr. Lovett's cell, I saw Collins, whom
I had seen once before; the great alteration in his appearance, and
the child-like thinness of his voice, with his anxious countenance,
made so strong an impression on me, that I cannot refrain from
mentioning it, though my visit had nothing to do with him.
I am, &c.
T. S. Duncombe, Esq. M.P.
(signed) J.
Robert Black.
_________________________________
Gentlemen,
Whitehall, 21 December 1839.
I AM directed by the Marquess of
Normanby to transmit to you the enclosed copy of a letter from Dr.
Black respecting the state of health of William Lovett, a prisoner
in Warwick gaol; and I am to request you to show that letter to the
surgeon of the prison, and desire him to report his opinion whether
a better diet would be advisable for this prisoner, and also whether
any other mitigation of the prison rules is advisable for his
health.
I am, &c.
(signed)
S. M. Phillipps.
_________________________________
Sir,
Vicarage, Warwick, 26 December 1839.
As one of the visiting magistrates, it has devolved on me to
transmit the desired report of the surgeon of the county gaol
respecting William Lovett. For the information of Lord
Normanby, I feel it right to observe, that it has uniformly been the
wish of the visiting magistrates to extend to Mr. Lovett every
indulgence consistent with the discipline and prescribed rules of
the prison. The governor has received directions, and he has
been prompt in attending to them, to watch carefully the state of
health of the prisoner, and to report to the surgeon any impression
on his mind that medical attendance was required: and it is only
right to add, that the surgeon is not slow to order wine, meat, or
nutritious food, whenever he deems such indulgence conducive to the
recovery of health. When the dietary was fixed, it was
earnestly desired that it should be such as would send out the
prisoners, on the expiration of their sentence, in health and
vigour, to enable them to resume, at once, their ordinary labour or
occupation. From frequent personal inspection, I confidently
state, that the quality and cooking of the potatoes is generally
extremely good. The meat allowed, and from which most
excellent soup is made, Mr. Lovett from choice rejects.
I have, &c.
(signed)
John Boudier.
_________________________________
Warwick Gaol, 24 December 1839.
I HAVE
this day seen William Lovett, and likewise John Collins, prisoners
in Warwick gaol, and have to report, that I find them in good
health, and do not consider an increase of diet called for at
present.
I have also to remark, that the dietary of the prison was
approved of by the inspector of prisons, Dr. Bissit Hawkins.
(signed)
J. Wilmshurst,
To the
Surgeon to the Prison.
Visiting Magistrates of the County Gaol,
Warwick.
_________________________________
Madam,
Whitehall, 28 December 1839.
THE Marquess of
Normanby having made particular inquiries of the visiting justices
of Warwick gaol, to whom a copy of Dr. Black's report on the state
of your husband's health has been transmitted, with directions that
it might be communicated to the surgeon of the prison, I am desired
by his Lordship to inform you, that he is assured by the magistrates
that every attention is paid to the health of all persons who are
confined therein. The surgeon also reports that your husband
is in good health, and that an increase of diet is not called for at
present.
I am, &c.
Mrs. Lovett,
(signed)
S. M. Phillipps.
6, Upper North-place, Gray's-inn Road.
_________________________________
My Lord,
Warwick, 2 January 1840.
AT
the late quarter sessions for the county of Warwick a motion was
made by counsel, on behalf of Messrs. Collins and Lovett, for some
indulgences with regard to diet; the court decided that the
application must be made to the Secretary of State, and that they
were satisfied with the decision of the visiting magistrates, and
left the case of the two prisoners entirely to them.
Your Lordship is aware that the several offences of which
prisoners are convicted are classed under separate heads, and that a
dietary settled by the court of quarter sessions, approved of by the
surgeon, and confirmed by the Secretary of State, is the only rule
and regulation for the diet of the prisoners, which it is the duty
of the visiting magistrates to see regularly enforced.
These regulations are subject to alteration, according to the
health of the prisoners; and the surgeon has not only general, but
particular orders to alter or vary them, according as, in his
opinion, the health of the prisoners require.
There are two questions with respect to the treatment of
Messrs. Collins and Lovett, which are totally distinct, and which
ought not to be blended together, if an impartial and just decision
is to be arrived at.
First, the conduct of the magistracy in administering the
law; and secondly, the justice of the application of the law itself
to the case of the two prisoners who apply for indulgence.
I have, to your Lordship personally, as well as in open court
at quarter sessions, and in Parliament, justified and exonerated the
visiting magistrates in particular, and the magistrates generally,
from any injustice or inhumanity in refusing the application of the
two prisoners in question, and in considering them in precisely the
same point of view as any other prisoners convicted of misdemeanors.
The regulation is, that all misdemeanants should be confined in that
part of the gaol appropriated to this class of crime; that the
dietary established by law should be the dietary of all, subject
only to the discretion of the surgeon, who has power to relax or
alter it, according to the health of the prisoners.
It is quite clear, therefore, that neither the visiting
magistrates nor the court of quarter sessions ought to interfere,
except on the application of the surgeon; and that the only quarter
from which any indulgence can proceed is from the Secretary of
State.
But the second question, as to the application of the law to
the case of the two prisoners, Messrs. Collins and Lovett, and
whether or not the Secretary of State might in their case relax some
of its hardships, is a very difference consideration, and one on
which, with your Lordship's permission, I will, in as few words as
possible, draw your Lordship's attention.
Certain offences are classed under the general term of
felons, and certain others under the general term of misdemeanors.
Now, however reprehensible may be all misdemeanors, it cannot
be denied that there are great shades of difference between the
guilt of some of them compared with that of others; and while some
not only border upon, but perhaps exceed the crime of a common
felony, there are others which are hardly imbued with any moral
guilt at all. A longer or shorter sentence of imprisonment may
mark the difference between such cases, but as the deprivations to
all are the same when in confinement, it is only the duration of the
loss of liberty which makes any distinction.
The punishment therefore of a misdemeanant, when enforced by
imprisonment, will greatly depend in its effect on the convict or
the nature of the deprivations which each may experience during the
term of his confinement. To the man who labours for his daily
bread, who is badly clothed and badly lodged, and who, as is the
case with 99 labourers in 100, does not taste meat once a month,
imprisonment in the misdemeanor side of the gaol, with the dietary
of good bread, potatoes, and half a pound of meat per week, is no
punishment, but a temporary deprivation of his liberty. His
animal condition and comforts are improved, and he invariably leaves
the walls of his prison, if not improved in morals, yet in improved
health and condition.
But with the prisoner who has lived in a comparative better
situation of life, whose daily food has been suited to his means,
and who has enjoyed at least one meal of meat per day, independent
of the mental anxiety he sustains by his imprisonment, the dietary
of the prison is almost starvation; and the half pound of meat meat
per week, which to the labourer is a luxury, to him is worse than
none at all.
If it be true, then, that to the working man, and to the
general run of misdemeanants, a year's imprisonment is a year of
increased animal comforts, I think I may safely assert, that to the
man who has been accustomed to animal diet and other common
indulgences, one year's imprisonment is at least equal to two if not
three years' imprisonment of the common run of offenders.
In the instance of Messrs. Collins and Lovett, I visited them
on the 2d January, and I confess to see men in a respectable
situation of life, not discoursing or complaining of their mental
sufferings; not deploring their loss of liberty; not asking for a
shortened period of incarceration; but with anxious, eager, and
earnest looks, and tones of expostulation, demanding that their
miserable half pound of meat per week should be given to them in a
solid form, and not part of it in a liquid state, which they could
not drink, and merging all their complaints in one only of animal
sustenance, was to my feelings a heartrending scene, and called
forth reflections which awakened my sincere sympathy.
I must decidedly say, that the offence of which the two
prisoners have been convicted was a heinous one; that their sentence
was just; and that the visiting magistrates have executed their
trust properly and impartially. But as I consider six months'
imprisonment, with the deprivations which Messrs. Collins and Lovett
have suffered, as compared with the common run of offenders, to be
equal to one or two years of such imprisonment to others; and as, on
inquiry from the gaoler, he has no cause off complaint whatever
against them, I think it not inconsistent with my opinion of their
criminality, and with the ends of justice, if your Lordship would
take their case into your consideration, and by relaxing the rules
as to dietary and books, you would place them, during the last six
months of their confinement, in a less rigid, and I think more just
position, than they have already experienced. In making this
application to your Lordship, I hardly need assure you it is done
without the slightest application or knowledge of the prisoners, and
is the result solely of my own conviction as to the justice and
propriety of it.
I am, &c.
To the Marquess of Normanby,
(signed)
E. Eardley Wilmot.
&c.
&c. &c.
_________________________________
Sir,
Whitehall, 8 January 1840.
I HAVE
the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 2d
instant, in which you inform me, that at the late quarter sessions
for the county of Warwick a motion was made by counsel in behalf of
the prisoners, Collins and Lovett, for some indulgences with regard
to diet, on which occasion the court decided that the application
must be made to the Secretary of State, and that they were satisfied
with the decision of the visiting magistrates, and left the case of
the two prisoners entirely to them.
After referring to the conduct of the magistrates in
administering the law with reference to the treatment of these
prisoners (of which conduct you entirely approve), you observe, "It
is quite clear that neither the visiting magistrates nor the court
of quarter sessions ought to interfere, except on the application of
the surgeon and that the only quarter from which any indulgence can
proceed is the Secretary of State."
I am not aware that the Secretary of State has authority to
prescribe or enforce the observance of prison diet in the case of
any prisoners. I cannot find, on inquiry, that such authority
has been ever exercised by the Secretary of State and it must be
obvious to you that the exercise of such an authority would be
subject to inconveniences and objections in various points of view.
I believe the power given by law for the regulation of the
diet of prisoners is vested in the magistrates at quarter sessions,
as appears to me to be clear from the 10th section of the Gaol Act,
4 Geo. 4, c. 64, articles 13, 14, 15, to which I request your
particular attention.
I am not aware of any alteration of the law upon this subject
by any recent statute, or of any power vested in the Secretary of
State by which he can, in the case of the prisoners before named,
reverse or control the regulations adopted by the visiting
magistrates, and approved by the magistrates at quarter sessions.
With reference to the latter part of your letter, in which
you observe upon the unequal and disproportionate effect which the
general regulations as to diet may be expected to produce on
individual prisoners (in consequence of their former habits of
life), and inquire of me whether, in the case of these particular
prisoners, I might not relax some of the hardships of the diet
regulations, I beg to inform you that I entirely concur in the
general observations made by you, and hope you pressed them upon the
consideration of the magistrates at quarter sessions when the
application was made on behalf of the prisoners.
In the case of Lovett more especially, whose general health
has been represented to be delicate, I should have thought some
relaxation might have been reasonably made, and a better diet
allowed, without prejudice to the prison discipline or to the
general regulations of the gaol.
I request you to make known this communication to the
visiting magistrates, and to any other magistrates who attend the
quarter sessions, with whom you may wish to confer.
I have, &c.
Sir E. Eardley Wilmot, Bart. M.P.
(signed)
Normandy.
Berkswell Hall, Coventry.
_________________________________
My Lord,
London, 10 January 1840,
AS you have been so obliging as to
direct my particular attention to the 13th, 14th, and 15th articles
of clause 10 in the Gaol Act, it is with great submission to your
Lordship's better judgment that I am compelled to say, that my
opinion as to the quarter from which any relaxation of punishment to
Messrs. Collins and Lovett should proceed is strengthened and
confirmed.
The 15th article declares, "That no prisoner, &c. shall
receive any food, clothing, or necessaries, other than the goal
allowance, except under such regulations and restrictions as to the
justices in general or quarter sessions assembled may appear
expedient, with reference to the several classes of prisoners, or
under special circumstances, to be judged of by one or more of the
visiting justices."
In obedience to this direction, the justices at quarter
sessions drew up a dietary, which was signed by the Secretary of
State for the time being, which dietary was with reference to the
several classes of prisoners, and is the only law of the prison.
It never was, or could be intended that the quarter sessions could
vary this dietary in each class, according as the prisoners in each
class might consider themselves unjustly treated, and thus have the
power of ordering as many different dietaries in each class as there
were real or imaginary shades of criminality in the prisoners.
What the quarter sessions may, should, or will do, in revising the
present dietary, and making a new one, is another question; but till
this is done, and signed by your Lordship, the present dietary must
continue the rule of the prison.
The special circumstances under which the visiting
magistrates are empowered to make exceptions to the rules of the
prison, must mean as regards the health and safety of the prisoners,
and the discipline and good order of the gaol. It never could
have been intended to invest them with the power of mitigation of
punishment, or a diminution of those galling effects which their
sentences have entailed upon them. Their duty is to put in
force the law, and see the proper execution of it, if it can be done
without physical injury; but the attribute of merciful relaxation of
punishment, or a mitigation of those hardships, which the sentence
of a court of justice has imposed, is alone the prerogative of the
Crown.
It was because I felt convinced that the quarter sessions had
no power by the 15th article to make a distinction between one
prisoner and another in any particular class of offenders, and that
the visiting magistrates, with their humane and intelligent surgeon,
reported that no alteration of diet was necessary, that I abstained
from pressing upon the court of quarter sessions those observations,
in which your Lordship does me the honour to say you entirely
concur. When the dietary shall be revised, and the one class
of misdemeanants which now prevails shall be further subdivided,
will be the time of urging the propriety of a further distinction of
offenders.
I am, &c.
The Marquess of Normanby,
(signed)
E. Eardley Wilmot.
&c. &c.
&c.
_________________________________
My Lord,
Warwick, 13 January 1840.
I HAVE the honour
to transmit a copy of a resolution passed this day at a meetings of
the visiting magistrates of the county gaol, Warwick, after anxious
consideration of your Lordship's letter, in reply to Sir E. Eardley
Wilmot's, transmitted to them on Saturday last, respecting further
allowance and indulgences suggested in the case of Messrs. Lovett
and Collins.
I am, h&c.
(signed)
John Boudier.
_________________________________
County Gaol, Warwick.
Copy of a Resolution of the Visiting Magistrates, 13th January 1840.
IN consequence of
a communication from Sir Eardley Wilmot on the subject of further
allowance and indulgence to the prisoners Lovett and Collins, in
which he, Sir Eardley, refers to a letter he had written to Lord
Normanby, and which has appeared in the Times newspaper, as well as
Lord Normanby's reply to such letter, the visiting magistrates, H.
C. Wise, Esq. S. T. Galton, Esq. W. Collins, Esq. and the Rev. John
Boudier, again took the case of the said prisoners into their
anxious consideration; and for reasons, and upon grounds stated
below, they are of opinion (dissentient, W. Collins, Esq.) that they
cannot legally, and in the honest exercise of their discretion, and
without doing injustice to other prisoners of the same class,
interfere with or relax the present rules and regulations of the
prison in regard to Lovett and Collins, modified as they have
already been to the full extent the visiting magistrates deem
themselves justified in going.
The foregoing decision has been made on the grounds, that by
the Act 4 Geo. 4, c. 64, s. 10, classification and uniformity of
treatment is required to be enforced; and it does not appear to the
visiting magistrates that any deviation from the rules and
regulations of the prison, in regard to classification or diet, is
discretionary on their part, except in special cases, where the
health of the prisoner is at stake.
In any conclusion the visiting magistrates draw on the
subject of the health of a prisoner, they are necessarily guided
chiefly by the opinion of the surgeon; and in the case of Lovett and
Collins, the surgeons several reports (his attention having been
specially called to Dr. Black's letter) up to the present time, and
due inquiry made by the visiting magistrates, lead them to conclude
that the health of the prisoners is good, and in no way, at present,
likely to suffer from adherence to the now existing rules and
allowances.
The visiting magistrates have the less hesitation in coming
to this decision from the circumstance that they have, on the
suggestion of the surgeon, authorized a provisional improvement of
the dietary of the gaol, whereby each prisoner in addition to former
allowance, subject only to a modification of the allowance of
vegetables, receives one pound of solid meat per week.
The dietary heretofore in use in the prison generally was as
under:
|
DIETARY. |
| |
Bread |
Gruel |
Potatoes |
Soup* |
|
Monday |
1¾ lb. |
3 |
1lb. |
- |
|
Tuesday |
1¾ |
3 |
1 |
- |
|
Wednesday |
1¾ |
3 |
1 |
1½ |
|
Thursday |
1¾ |
3 |
1 |
- |
|
Friday |
1¾ |
3 |
1 |
- |
|
Saturday |
1¾ |
3 |
1 |
- |
|
Sunday |
1¾ |
- |
- |
1½ |
* 3 pints of soup made from ½ pound of meat.
Females 1½lb. of bread per day, and in all other respects
same as the males.
In addition to which, the prisoners regulations, generally
have now, by present regulations, one pound of solid meat each per
week, subject only to a modification of the allowance of vegetables.
Messrs. Lovett, and Collins have been and are also further allowed,
by order of the surgeon, tea, morning and evening, and 1 lb. of
butter each per week.
(signed) H. C. Wise, )
Visiting
S. T. Galton, ) Magistrates.
To the Right hon. the Marquess of
John Boudier, )
Normandy, &c. &c.
_________________________________
WARWICK GAOL
――――♦――――
|
COPIES of MEMORIALS or CORRESPONDENCE
relating to the Treatment of William Lovett
and John Collins, now Prisoners in Warwick Gaol. |
(Mr. Warburton.)
______________________________________
Ordered, by The House of Commons, to be Printed,
4 February 1840.
|
