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Law
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"He was at that time
a very young man, just engaged in the study of law; and Elisabeth found
him extremely agreeable."
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| Bow-street Office | Newgate Prison | ||
| Cold-bath Fields Prison | Old Bailey | ||
| The Devil to pay | O Yes! O Yes! | ||
| Felo de se | Powder Tax | ||
| Fleet Prison | Sir John Fielding | ||
| King's Bench Prison | Writs of Justice |
OLD BAILEY
(from Ackermann’s “Microcosm of London,” 1810)
MANY of our antiquarians are of opinion that the term Old Bailey is a corruption of Bale-hill, an eminence on which stood the Bale, or bailiff’s house, wherein was formerly held a court for the trial of malefactors; and this opinion seems to be confirmed by such a court having been kept here for many centuries, in which there is a place of security where the sheriffs keep their prisoners during the session, which still retains the name of the Bale-dock.
Contiguous to Newgate is Justice Hall, commonly called the Sessions-House; it was formerly a plain brick building, but is now rebuilt entirely of stone, and is brought much forwarder than the old one, and is parallel with the street. There is a flight of steps which leads to a gallery on each side of the court, for the accommodation of spectators. It is a very elegant and commodious room. The entrance into the area is narrow, to prevent the sudden irruption of the mob: above it is a figure of Justice. Every precaution has been taken to render it airy, and to prevent the effect of effluvia arising from that dreadful disorder, the gaol fever.
The havoc made in May 1750, was a melancholy admonition to those interested in every court of justice. The prisoners are brought to this court from Newgate by a passage that closely connects the two buildings; and there is a convenient place under the Sessions-House, in front, for detaining the prisoners till they are called upon their trials: there are also rooms for the grand and petty juries, with other accommodations.
A court is held eight times in the year, by a commission of Oyer and Terminer, for the trial of prisoners for crimes committed within the city of London and county of Middlesex: the judges are, the lord mayor, the aldermen who have passed the chair, and the recorder, who, on such occasions, are attended by both the sheriffs, and by one or more oft he judges. The offences committed in the county, by a jury of housekeepers in the county. The crimes tried in this court are high and petty treason, murder, felony, forgery, petty larceny, burglary, &c.
At the back of the Sessions-House is a convenient passage, covered over, for the judge and counsellors that attend the court.
NEWGATE PRISON
(from Ackermann’s “Microcosm of London,” 1810)
IT is the opinion of our best antiquarians that Newgate obtained its name from being erected several hundred years after the four original gates of the city. it was built in the reign of Henry I. Others, who maintain a contrary opinion, assert that it was only repaired at this period, and that it was anciently denominated Chamberlain-gate. It appears, from ancient records, that it was called Newgate, and was a common goal for felons taken in the city of London, or the county of Middlesex, as early as the year 1218; and that, so late as the year 1457, Newgate, and not the Tower, was the prison for the nobility and great officers of state.
In the year 1780, Newgate was almost burnt down by the rioters, and the felons confined in the strongest cells were released: such was the violence of the fire, that the great iron bars of the windows were burnt through, and the adjacent stones vitrified. This circumstance afforded the opportunity of carrying into effect a plan which had been long projected, of separating the felons from the debtors. Mr. Howard, in his State of Prisons, 4to ed. 213, seems to think, that without grit care, the prisoners are yet liable to the fatal fever which is the result of one of these errors. The exterior presents a uniform front to the west, of rustic work, and consists of two wings, the keeper’s home forming the center. The north side is appropriated to debtors, men and women: the men’s court is forty-nine feet six inches by thirty-one feet six inches; the women’s about the same length, but not more than half the width. These courts are surrounded by wards, rising three stories above the pavement: the men’s rooms are about twenty-three feet by fifteen feet, and are usually occupied by from fifteen to twenty persons; the debtor’s side has generally about 250 inhabitants. The allowance to debtors is ten ounces of bread and one pound and a half of potatoes per day: the debtors in the poor and women’s sides have an allowance of eight stone of beef weekly sent them by the sheriffs. The south side is appropriated to felons and persons confined for offences against government.
... the chapel of the prison during divine service on the Sunday preceding the execution of criminals. Upon this occasion, a suitable sermon, called the condemned sermon, is preached by the ordinary; during which a coffin is placed on a table within an inclosure, called the Dock; and round this coffin are prisoners condemned to die.
The mode of executing criminals at Tyburn had long been complained of, as tending rather to introduce depravity, by a want of solemnity, than to operate as a preventive to crimes, by exhibiting an awful example of punishment. To remedy this evil, both the place and manner of execution were changed: a temporary scaffold was constructed, to be placed in the open space before the debtors’ door of Newgate, having a movable platform for the criminals to stand on, which, by means of a lever and rollers, falls from under them. The whole of this building is hung with black; and the regulations which are observed on these mournful occasions, are calculated to produce that impression on the minds of the spectators which is the true end of all punishments.
A solemn exhortation was formerly given to the prisoners appointed to die at Tyburn, on their way from Newgate. Mr. Robert Dow, merchant tailor, who died in 162, left 2s. 8d. yearly, for ever, that the bellman should deliver from the wall to the unhappy criminals, as they went by in the cart, a most pious and awful admonition, and also another in the prison of Newgate on the night before they suffered. They were as follow:
Admonition to the prisoners in Newgate on the night before execution.
You prisoners that are within,
Who, for wickedness and sin,
After many mercies shewn you, are not appointed to die tomorrow in the forenoon, give ear, and understand, that to-morrow morning the greatest bell of St. Sepulchre’s shall toll for you, in form and manner of a passing bell, as used to be tolled for those who are at the point of death, to the end that all godly people hearing that bell, and knowing it is for your going to your deaths, may be stirred up heartily to pray to God to bestow his grace and mercy upon you whilst you live. I beseech you, for Jesus Christ’s sake, to keep this night in watching and prayer, to the salvation of your own souls, while there is yet time and place for mercy, as knowing to-morrow you must appear before the judgment-seat of your Creator, there to give an account of all things done in this life, and to suffer eternal torments for your sin committed against him, unless, upon your hearty and unfeigned repentance, you find mercy through merits, death, and passion of our only mediator and advocate, Jesus Christ, who now sits at the right hand of God to make intercession for as many of you as penitently return to him.
Admonition to the condemned criminals as they are passing by St. Sepulchre’s church wall to execution.
All good people, pray heartily to God for these poor sinners, who are now going to their death, for whom this great bell doth toll. You that are condemned to die, repent with lamentable tears; ask mercy of the Lord for the salvation of your own soul, through the merits, death, and passion of Jesus Christ, who now sits at the right hand of God to make intercession for as many of you as penitently return unto him.
Lord have mercy upon you,
Christ have mercy upon you,
Lord have mercy upon you,
Christ have mercy upon you.
Cold-bath Fields Prison
(from Ackermann's Microcosm of London, 1809)
It is a strong proof of the healthiness of the prison, that from November 1793 to November 1807, out of 19,862 male and female prisoners, only ninety-one have died: there have been twenty-four born in the prison in the same period. There are three hundred and thirty-three cells in the prison, in which the convicts are locked up separately at night; there are also more commodious apartments for those who can afford to pay half-a-guinea per week for them.
The prison is divided into two sides, the male and female. On the male side are five day-rooms for the convicts, two rooms for the vagrants, who are sent there for seen days previous to their being passed to their respective parishes; one separate apartment for the debtors, one infirmary, one foul ward, and an apartment for the clerks. On the female side are six day-rooms, a wash-house, two store-rooms, one infirmary, one foul ward, and an apartment for the children of the convicts, who are kept separate from their parents, and are taught to read, say their catechism, &c.; they have three meals a day, and are comfortably clothed.
The COUNTY allowance to the convicts is, for the day, one pint of water-gruel, one pound of bread, half a pound of meat, or six ounces when dressed, three times one week, and four times the next; on the intermediate days they have the broth in which their meat was boiled. All sick persons have wine, or whatever indulgence is ordered by the doctor.
The following are the regulations of the prison:
1. That the walls and ceiling shall be scraped once in the year at least.
2. That the cells shall be kept clean.
3. That they shall be supplied with fresh air by ventilators or otherwise.
4 That there shall be two rooms for the sick.
5. That a warm and cold bath, or bathing-tubs, shall be provided.
6. That this act shall be hung up in the gaol.
7. That a surgeon or apothecary shall be appointed, with a salary.
Once every year the governor is interrogated, whether the above seven regulations have been complied with.
In the first court of the prison are fixed against the wall three large boards, containing an abstract of the various acts relative to the duties of the governor and conduct of the prisoners; they are placed at a convenient height for reading.
The prisoners are severally employed in useful labour. Males, in picking oakum, knotting of yarn, making of spun yarn, making rope, making and repairing the prisoners' clothing, whitewashing and painting the prison, attending the county carpenter, bricklayer, mason, or plumber, as labourers; and others as gardeners, carpenters, making wheelbarrows and other utensils for the garden.
Females, in spinning thread for the use of the prison, making and repairing the bedding and clothing for the prisoners, washing, picking oakumm &c.
Sir Robert Taylor was the architect who began the building; after his death Sir William Chambers was appointed to that office; at his decease it was completed by Mr. Rogers, county surveyor.
It has been a maxim of ethic writers in every age, that idleness is he root of all evil. To check the progress of vice by inducing habits of industry, to restore health by temperance and cleanliness, and to mend the morals of the profligate by restraining vicious intercourse, were among the objects which the projectors of this institution had in view. This prison is said to have been planned and conducted on the principles of the late benevolent Mr. Howard. As it is not the object of this work at all to enter into political disputes, we shall confine ourselves to a short statement of the nature of the establishment; merely observing, in the year 1800, Sir Francis Burdett moved into Parliament, that the management and conduct of this prison be enquired into. A committee of the House of Commons was appointed, by a special commission under the privy seal, to investigate it; who made a fair and candid report, in which they declared, that some abuses did exist. In February 1808, Mr. Sheridan presented a petition, signed by the foreman of the grand jury, who had visited the prison in November 1807, stating, that the loaves with which the prisoners were served, were deficient in weight from one and a half to two ounces, and that the prison weight was light. A special commission was also appointed to examine into this charge.
The following is an extract from the certified copy of the report of the visiting magistrates of the county, to whom it was referred to examine the allegations contained in the letter from Mr. Sheriff Phillips to W. Mainwaring, Esq . dated 13th November, 1807.
"Upon the whole, therefore, of this investigation, it appears to your committee, that the sheriff has been imposed upon, and that the statement made to him originated in misapprehension, and was altogether frivolous and unfounded. And your said committee lastly report, that they have frequently examined into the state and condition of the house of correction, and of the several prisoners there confined; they have found the prison perfectly clean, and the prisoners healthy and without complaint: and your committee have great satisfaction in representing to the House, that it appears to them, by the information of the Rev. Mr. Evans, the chaplain to the prison, and Mr. Aris, the governor, that the prisoners behave orderly, with decency and due decorum in the chapel during divine service; and that the children, who are kept separate and apart from their parents, make great progress in their learning: all which the committee submit.
"DANIEL WILLIAMS, Chairman."
Report to the TRAVERSE
JURY of the February Session, 1808.
"We, of the Traverse Jury, have visited the prison, and have inspected
the whole, and have conversed with many of the prisoners, and found no cause
of complaint, either in the internal regulations, or the quantity or quality
of the provisions, but highly approve of them."
Without pretending to comment on these reports, we shall merely state, that it appears, from the prison bread-book, that the loaves, taken in the aggregate, are almost always above weight; as it is a standing order of the magistrates, that the baker shall be paid for such over-weight, and consequently he has no motive for making his bread light. On the day the grand jury visited the prison, it appears by the book, that the bread was two pounds over weight in the aggregate, though it is very possible that some of the loaves separately may have been light.
Bow-street Office
(from Ackermann's Microcosm of London, 1809)
(with some notes by Henry Fielding, a discourse on crime
in the metropolis, and a bit about the French police.)
This office has the largest jurisdiction of any in the metropolis, its authority extending to every part of his majesty's dominions, except the city of London, which is governed by its own magistrates.
Bow-street is, in a peculiar sense, the government office, besides acting as a police office in concert with the others, whose power extends only within a certain district. The police of this country has hitherto been very imperfect: the celebrated Henry Fielding was the first, who, by his abilities, contributed to the security of the public, by the detection and prevention of crimes. In august 1753, while a Bow-street magistrate, he was sent for by the Duke of Newcastle, on account of the number of street-robberies and murders committed nightly, and desired by the duke to form some plan for the detection and dispersion of the dreadful gangs of robbers by whom they were committed. Fielding wrote a plan, and offered to clear the streets of them, if he might have 600l. at his own disposal. The duke approved of his plan; and in a few days after he had received 200l. of the money, the whole gang was entirely dispersed; seven of them were in actual custody, and the rest driven, some out of town, and others out of the kingdom; and so fully had his plan succeeded, that in the entire freedom from street-robberies and murders, the winter of 1753 stands unrivalled during a course of many years. At this time the only profit arising to the magistrate was from the fees of his office: of the profits arising from these sources, however, Fielding had no very opinion; after complaining that his maladies were much increased by his unremitted attention to his public duties, and having at that time a jaundice, a dropsy, and an asthma, he retired into the country, and from thence went to Lisbon, where he died. The following extract represents an agreeable specimen of that lively writer, still animated in all his sufferings, and it also gives a correct idea of the business of an active and upright magistrate at that time.
Fielding had been advised to try the Bath waters, but in consequence of the message from the Duke of Newcastle, and his exertions to free the metropolis from the desperate gangs of villains that infested it, his health considerably declined, and his was no longer a case in which the Bath waters are considered efficacious. The following account of himself and his office is from his Voyage to Lisbon:
"I had vanity enough to rank myself with those heroes of old times, who became voluntary sacrifices to the good of the public. But lest the reader should be too eager to catch at the word vanity, I will frankly own, that I had a stronger motive than the love of the public to push me on: I will therefore confess to him, that my private affairs, at the beginning of the winter, had but a gloomy appearance; for I had not plundered the public of the poor of those sums which men who are always ready to plunder both of as much as they can, have been pleased to suspect me of taking; on the contrary, by composing the quarrels of porters and beggars, which I blush to say hath not been universally practised, and by refusing to take a shilling from a man who most undoubtedly would not have had another left, I had reduced an income of about 500l. a year of the dirtiest money upon earth, to little more than 300l. an inconsiderable proportion of which remained with my clerk; and indeed if the whole had done so, as it ought, he would have been ill paid for sitting sixteen hours in the twenty-four in the most unwholesome as well as nauseous air in the universe."
That this was the practice of Fielding, there can be no doubt: but that the conduct of some other justices was very flagrant, is equally indisputable; and the memory of the trading justices of Westminster, and Clerkenwell in particular are handed down with abhorrence and contempt.
To Henry Fielding succeeded his brother, Sir John, who was many years an able and active magistrate.
Patrick Colquhoun, Esq. in his excellent work on the Police, exposed the defects of the system, and the necessity of a reform. It was taken into consideration by Parliament, and in 1792 an act was passed for that purpose, which established seven offices, besides Bow-street and the Marine Police; settled salaries were appointed to the magistrates, and the fees and penalties of the whole paid into the hands of a receiver, to make a fund for the paying these salaries and other incidental expences. This act of the 32d Geo. III. was amended by an act of the 37th, and by another of the 42d.
The present magistrates of Bow-street Office, 1808, are,
James Reed, Esq ..................£ 1000 per annum.
Aaron Graham, Esq ..................500
John Nares, Esq .......................500
Three clerks and eight officers.
It is impossible to make many extracts from Mr. Colquohoun's valuable book. It is the basis of his system, that the numerous tribes of receivers in this metropolis are the great cause of the vice and immorality so widely prevalent, by the easy mode they hold out to the pilferer of disposing of what he has stolen, without his being asked any questions. There are upwards of three thousand receivers of stolen goods in the metropolis alone, and a proportionate number dispersed all over the kingdom.
Impressed with a deep sense of the utility of investigating the nature of the police system, the select committee of the House of Commons on finance, turned their attention to this, among many other important objects, in the session of the year 1798; and after a laborious investigation, during which Mr. Colquhoun was many times personally examined, they made their final report; in which they recommended it to Parliament to establish funds, to be placed under the direction of the receiver-general of the police offices, and a competent number of commissioners: these funds to arise from the licensing of hawkers and pedlars, and hackney coaches, together with other licence duties proposed, fees, penalties, &c.; their payments subject to the approbation of the lords commissioners of the Treasury: the police magistrates to be empowered to make bye-laws, for the regulation of the minor objects of the police, such as relate to the controul of all coaches, carts, drivers, &c. and the removal of all annoyances, &c. subject to the approbation of the judges.
They recommended also the establishment of two additional police offices in the city of London, but not without the consent of the lord mayor, aldermen, and common council being previously obtained; and their authority to extend over the four counties of Middlesex, Kent, Essex, and Surry; and that of the other eight offices over the whole metropolis and the four counties also.
"It is proposed to appoint counsel for the crown, with moderate salaries, to conduct all criminal prosecutions.
"The keeping a register of the various lodging-houses.
"The establishment of a police Gazette (this paper is called The Public
Hue and Cry, a police gazette, published every third Saturday in the month,
at No. 240, Strand, and sent to the principal magistrates gratis), to be circulated
at a low price, and furnished gratis to all persons under the superintendance
of the board, who shall pay a licence duty to a certain amount."
The two leading objects in the report are,
1st. The prevention of crimes and misdemeanours by bringing under regulations a variety of dangerous and suspicious trades (1. Wholesale and retail dealers in naval stores, hand-stuff, and rags; 2. Dealers in old iron and other metals; 3. Dealers in second-hand wearing apparel, stationary and itinerant; 4. Founders and others using crucibles; 5. Persons using draught and truck carts for conveying stores, rags, and metals; 6. Persons licensed to slaughter horses; 7. Persons keeping livery stables and letting horses for hire; 8. Auctioneers who hold periodical or diurnal sales.) the uncontrouled exercise of which by persons of loose conduct, is known to contribute in a very high degree to the concealment, and by that means, to the encouragement and multiplication of crimes.
2. To raise a moderate revenue for police purposes from the persons who shall be thus controuled, by means of licence duties and otherwise, so managed as not to become a material burden; while a confident hope is entertained, that the amount of this revenue will go a considerable length in relieving the finances of the country of the expences at present incurred for objects of police; and that in the effect of the general system a considerable saving will arise, in consequence of the expected diminution of crimes, particularly as the chief part of the expence appears to arise after the delinquents are convicted.
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The amount of the general expence of the criminal police of the kingdom, is stated by the committee as follows: 1st. The annual average of the total expence of the seven public offices in the metropolis, from the institution in August 1792, to the end of the year 1797...................................................................................................... 2d. Total expence of the office in Bow-street in the year 1797, including remunerations to the magistrates in lieu of fees, perquisites, &c. and the expence of a patrol of sixty-eight persons... Total for the metropolis.................. The other expences incurred for the prosecution and conviction of felons, the maintenance, clothing, employment, and transportation of convicts, to which may be added the farther sums annually charged on the county rates, amounted in 1787 to.................... |
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As the leading feature of the report is the security of the rights of the innocent with respect to their life, property ,and convenience, this will not only be effected by increasing the difficulty of perpetrating offences, through a controul over those trades by which they are facilitated and promoted; but also by adding to the risk of detection, by a more prompt and certain mode of discovery wherever crimes are committed. This must the idle and profligate be compelled to assist the state by resorting to habits of industry, while the more incorrigible delinquents will be intimidated and deterred from pursuing a course of turpitude and criminality, which the energy of the police will render too hazardous and unprofitable to be followed as a trade; and the regular accession of numbers to recruit and strengthen the hordes of criminal delinquents who at present infest society, will be in a great measure prevented.
Of the vigilance of the French system of police just before the Revolution, Mr. Colquhoun speaks highly. This system, which though neither necessary nor even proper to be copied as a pattern, might nevertheless furnish many useful hints, calculated to improve ours, and perfectly consistent with the existing laws; it might even extend and increase the liberty of the subject, without taking one privilege away, or interfering in the pursuits of any one class, except those employed in purposes of mischief, fraud, and criminality.
An anecdote related, on the authority of a foreign minister long resident at Paris, by Mr. C. will give a good idea of the secrecy of their system.
"A merchant of high respectability in Bordeaux, had occasion to visit the metropolis upon commercial concerns, carrying with him bills and money to a very large amount.
"On his arrival at the gates of Paris, a genteel-looking man opened the door of his carriage, and addressed him to this effect: --- 'Sir, I have been waiting for you some time; according to my notes, you were to arrive at this hour; and your person, your carriage, and your portmanteau, exactly answering the description I hold in my hand, you will permit me to have the honour of conducting you the Monsieur Sartine.'
"This gentleman, astonished and alarmed at this interruption, and still more so at hearing the name of the lieutenant of the police mentioned, demanded to know what M. de Sartine wanted with him; adding, at the same time, that he never had committed any offence against the laws, and that they could have no right to interrupt and detain him.
"The messenger declared himself perfectly ignorant of the cause of this detention; stating, at the same time, that when he had conducted him to M. de Sartine, he should have executed his orders, which were merely official.
"After some further explanations, the gentleman permitted the officer to conduct him to M. de Sartine, who received him with great politeness, and requesting him to be seated, to his great astonishment, described his portmanteau, and told him the exact sum in bills and specie which he had brought to Paris, where he was to lodge, his usual time of going to bed, and a number of other circumstances, which the gentleman had conceived could only be known to himself.
"Mr de Sartine having thus excited attention, put this extraordinary question to him --- 'Sir, are you a man of courage?' The gentleman, still more astonished at the singularity of such an interrogatory, demanded the reason why he put such a strange question; adding, at the same time, that no man ever doubted his courage. M. de Sartine replied, 'Sir, you are to be robbed and murdered this night! If you are a man of courage, you must go to your hotel, and retire to rest at the usual hour; but be careful that you do not fall asleep; neither will it be proper for you to look under your bed, or into any of the closets which are in your bedchamber: you must place your portmanteau in its usual situation near your bed, and discover no suspicion: --- leave what remains to me. If, however, you do not feel your courage sufficient to bear you out, I will procure a person who shall personate you, and go to bed in your stead.'
"The gentleman being convinced, in the course of the conversation, that M. de Sartine's intelligency was accurate in every particular, refused to be personated, and formed an immediate resolution literally to follow the directions he had received. He accordingly went to bed at his usual hour, which was eleven o'clock: at half past twelve (the time mentioned by M. de Sartine), the door of the bedchamber was burst open, and three men entered with a dark lantern, daggers, and pistols. The gentleman, hearing all this, and not knowing by what means he was to be rescued, it may naturally be supposed was under great perturbation of mind during this awful interval; but at the moment the villains were prepared to commit the murder, four police officers, acting under M. de Sartine's orders, who were concealed under the bed and in the closet, rushed out and seized the offenders with the property in their possession, and in the act of preparing to complete their plan."
FLEET PRISON
(from Ackermann's Microcosm of London, 1810)
The Fleet Prison is situated on the east side of Fleet market, a little to the south of Fleet-lane, and was originally so called from the river Fleet running by it. It was destroyed in the riots of 1780, and was immediately rebuilt in its present state with brick and stone. The court into which you enter is the whole length of the building, which is about 90 feet. Passing through the lobby, you enter the inner court, where the prisoners entertain themselves with tennis, fives, and other amusements.
The building is separated into five divisions:
1st. The cellar floor, containing the kitchen, cellar, and fourteen apartments.
2nd. The chapel gallery, which contains the tap-rooms and fourteen rooms.
3d. The coffee-room gallery, and twenty-four rooms.
4th The infirmary gallery, and twenty-seven rooms.
5th The upper gallery, which contains twenty-seven rooms.
The passages or galleries run the whole length of the guilding.
The rooms measure fourteen feet and a half by twelve and a half.
The number of prisoners usually confined in the Fleet is about two hundred and fifty, and the number who have the benefit of the rules is about 50 more.
The keeper is called the warden of the Fleet, and his fees from the prisoners, for turning the key, for chamber-rent, &c. amount to a considerable sum.
This prison belongs to the Court of Common Pleas, and hither persons are committed for contempt of orders, &c. in the High Court of Chancery; or upon debt, when, by a writ of habeas corpus, they remove themselves thither from any other prison.
The rules of liberties of the Fleet are, all the north side of Ludgate-hill, and the Old Bailey up to Fleet-lane; down that lane into the market, and then turning the corner on the left, all the east side along the Fleet Prison to the bottom of Ludgate-hill
The ditch was cleansed some years since at a considerable expence, in the performing of which work, at the depth of fourteen feet, were found several Roman utensils; and a little deeper, a great quantity of Roman coins, in silver, copper, brass, and other metals, but none in gold. At Holborn bridge were found two brazen lares, about four inches long, one a Bacchus, the other a Ceres. It is probable conjecture, that these were thrown in by the affrighted Romans at the approach of the enraged Boadicea, who soon took ample revenge on her insulting conquerors. Here were also found numbers of Saxon antiquities, spurs, weapons, keys, seals, &c; also medals, crosses, and crucifixes, which might likewise have been flung in on occasion of some alarm. This cnal was afterwards neglected, and becoming a nuisance, was filled up, and a sewer formed beneath, to convey the water to the river. The fine market which extends the whole length of the old ditch, rose in its place, in 1733, in chich year an act was passed, to empower the lord mayor and citizens to fill the ditch at their own expence, and to vest the fee simple of the ground in them and their successors for ever. The present noble approace to Blackfriars bridge, and the well-built opening of Chatham-place, were but a few years since a muddy ditch. This had been the mouth of the creek, whih, as Stow informs us, in 1307 was of depth and width sufficient, "that ten or twelve ships navies at once, with merchandizes, were wont to come to the aforesaid bridge Fleete." It must be recollected, that at this period there were drawbridges upon London bridge, through which ships of a certain size might pass, and discharge their cargoes in the mouth of the river.
The prison was founded as early as the first of Richard I.; it was also the place of confinement for such as had incurred the displeasure of that arbitrary court, the Star Chamber. This prison became such a scene of cruelty, that, in the year 1729, a most benevolent set of gentlemen, prorotypes of the good Howard, formed themselves into a committee, to search into the horrors of the gloomy gaol.
Unpitied and unheard, where misery moans,
Where sickness pines, where thirst and hunger burn,
And poor misfortune feels the lash of vice:
While in the land of liberty (the land
Whose every street and public meeting glow
With open freedom,) little tyrants rag'd,
Snatch'd the lean morsel from the starving mouth;
Tore from cold wint'ry limbs the tatter'd weed,
Even robb'd them of the last of comforts, sleep;
The freeborn Briton to the dungeon chain'd,
Or, as the lust of cruelty prevail'd,
At pleasure mark'd him with inglorious stripes,
And crush'd out lives by secret, barbarous ways.
THOMSON.
All these barbarities were realized. The House of Commons, the year preceding, had taken up the enquiries, and found that Huggins, warden of the Fleet, and Bambridge, his deputy, and William Action, turnkey, had exercised most shocking cruelties. Those monsters were tried for the murder of five unhappy men, who died under the most horrid treatment from then: yet, notwithstanding the prosecution was recommended from the throne, and conducted by the ablest lawyers, to the concern of all good men, these wretches escaped their merited punishment. Since this period the management of the prison has undergone a material alteration for the beter; indeed the laudable philanthropy of Mr. Howard has excited a spirit of enquiry into these receptables of misery and wickedness, which is an honour to the age we live in, and to human nature itself.
KING'S BENCH
PRISON
(from Ackermann's Microcosm of London, 1810)
This Prison is situated at the north-east corner of the road which runs through St. George's-firlds to the Westminster bridge. It is a place of confinement for debtors, and for those who are sentenced by the Court of King's Bench for libels and other misdemeanors; but such as a re able to purchase the liberties, may have the benefit of walking through a part of the Borough and in St. George's-fields. The walls of this Prison are very high, and all prospect beyond them is excluded, even from the uppermost windows. There is a neat chapel belonging to it, in which divine worship is regularly performed. The rooms are nearly all alike, and measure about 9 feet square. The building, which is constructed of brick, is very extensive; and the marshal, who has the keeping of this Prison, has very handsome apartments on the outside. Prisoners from any other gaol may be removed to this by habeas corpus.
Felo de se
(from Joe Miller's Jests)
An under Officer of the Customs at the port of Liverpool, running heedlessly along a Ship's Gunnel, happened to tip over-board, and was drown'd; being soon after taken up, the Coroner's Jury was summon'd to sit upon the Body: One of the Jury-men returning home, was call'd to by an Alderman of the Town, and ask'd what Verdict they brought in, and whether they found it Felo de se? Ay, ay, says the Jury-man, shaking his Noddle, he fell into the Sea sure enough.
WRITS OF JUSTICE (1824)
A bill was lately introduced into Parliament, by which it was directed that a penalty of fifty pounds was to be levied for the commission of a certain offence, which penalty, it was provided, should be equally divided between the informer and the church-warden of the parish in which the offence might arise. When the bill was committed, the penalty of fifty pounds was changed to “transportation for seven years;” but the other parts of the bill remaining unaltered, it now enacts, “that the said penalty of transportation for seven years shall be equally divided between the churchwarden and the informer.”
O YES! O YES!
Few persons would suppose, that a crier, when bawling in our courts of justice, or in country towns, "O yes! O yes! was commanding the talkers to become hearers in the old French phrase Oyez, (listen), which has been retained by this officer ever since legal pleadings were conducted in that language--this however is the fact.
SIR JOHN FIELDING
Sir J. Fielding, a relation of the author of Tom Jones, was blind; but this did not prevent him from filling, with great distinction, the place of Chief Magistrate of the Police Office, in London. He kept in his mind the description of many hundred thieves, and was never mistaken when they were brought before him.
POWDER TAX
(from "The Register of the Times", April/May, 1795)
We do not wish to give an opinion on the act of parliament, of which the following is an abstract. As it has now past the legislative ordeal, we should render but little service to the public, were we inclined to censure or to praise it. The only useful part, therefore, of our duty left, is to simplify the law as it stands at present, and present it to our readers.
AN ABSTRACT OF AN ACT FOR GRANTING TO HIS MAJESTY A DUTY ON
CERTIFICATES ISSUED FOR USING HAIR POWDER.
Persons wearing hair-powder to take out a certificate annually,
chargeable with a stamp duty of 1l. 1s.
1. That from and after May 5, 1795, there shall be raised, levied,
collected, and paid throughout Great Britain, unto and for the use of his
Majesty, his heirs and successors, the stamp duty following: every person
who shall use, or wear any powder, commonly called hair-powder, of whatever
materials the same shall be made, shall previously enter his or her name,
or place of abode, and take out a certificate annually, as herein mentioned;
and that upon every piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper,
upon which any certificate to any person shall be ingrossed, written, or printed,
there shall be charged a stamp duty of one pound one shilling.
All powder worn as an article of dress, to be deemed hair-powder.
2. That to prevent the application of other names to any powder,
which shall be used as hair-powder, with intent to evade the payment of the
duty, it is enacted, that every sort and composition of powder, used or worn,
by any person in his or her dress, shall be deemed hair-powder, and within
the meaning of this act.
Act not to extend to the royal family, or their immediate
servants.
3. That nothing in this act shall extend to any of the royal family, or the
immediate servants of any of the royal family, serving in the capacities enumerated
by an act passed in the seventeenth year of his Majesty's reign, intituled
"an act for the granting to his Majesty a duty upon all servants employed
in the capacities therein mentioned."
Exemptions
4. That nothing contained in this act shall extend to clergymen who are
not possessed of an annual income of 100 l. or upwards, arising from
ecclesiastical preferment or otherwise; nor to any subaltern or non-commissioned
officer or private in the army, or under the rank of commander in the navy.
Exemptions
5. That nothing in this act shall extend to any officer or private corps of
yoemanry or volunteers, either cavalry or infantry, raised by virtue of an
act of the 34th year of his present Majesty, entituled "an act for encouraging
and disciplining such companies of men as shall voluntarily enroll themselves
for the defence of their counties, towns, or coasts, or for the general defence
of the kingdom during the war.
Persons having more than two daughters unmarried, to receive
a certificate for the whole upon paying for two.
6. That any person having more than two daughters unmarried, on
paying the duty for two shall receive a certificate or certificates for the
whole number, of whom he shall give an account; that neither the person giving
such an account, or any of the persons included in the certificate, shall
be liable for the penalties imposed by this act.
Act not to extend to dissenting preachers not possessed of
an income of 100 l.
7. That nothing in this act extend to preachers dissenting from
the church of England, in holy orders, or pretended holy orders, who is, or
hereafter may be entitled to the benefit of the stature, made in the first
year of the reign of king William and queen Mary; or of the statutes made
in the 19th and 31st of the present Majesty, unless they possess annually
100 l. or upwards.
Duty to be under the management of the commissioners of the
stamps.
8. That for the more effectual levying, collecting, and paying the duties
herein granted, the same to be under the management of the commissioners for
the time being, appointed to manage the duties on stamped vellum, parchment,
and paper, who are empowered to denote payment of the duty by this act imposed,
either by using stamps, hitherto in their possession, or providing new stamps
as they shall think necessary.
Commissioners to appoint offices within certain limits for
receipt of names, &c. and the head Distributors to appoint them without
such limits. Offices to be kept open as the commissioners shall direct, who
shall cause the same and their situation, &c. to be advertised.
9. That for convenience in paying the said duty, the commissioners may appoint
offices and places within the limits of ten miles from the head office of
stamp duties, in Middlesex, for the receipt of accounts, of names, and places
of abode, of persons liable to the payment of the said duty, within the said
limits; and that the respective head distributors, without the limits, in
their respective divisions, with the consent and approbation of the said commissioners,
appoint in every county, riding, division, shire, stewartry, or place in Great
Britain, one or more such offices for the receipts of all accounts, names,
and places of abode, of all other persons liable to the payment of the duty
without the limits of ten miles from the head office, as aforesaid, all which
said offices shall be kept open for the purpose of this act, as such times
as the said commissioners shall direct; which directions, situations of offices,
&c. the said commissioners shall cause to be publicly advertised in some
newspaper usually circulated in the neighbourhood of such offices, with the
names of officers appointed to superintend the same.
Persons liable to make entry, and certificates to be made
out in the following forms.
10. That from and after the 5th of May, 1795, every person liable to the duty
by this act imposed, shall, within the space of one calendar month next ensuing,
make such entry as aforesaid, by delivering, or causing to be delivered, according
to the directions of this act, into the head office of stamps, or such other
office as the said commissioners shall appoint, or into the office of the
head distributors of stamps, or their deputies, or others appointed to receive
the same, an account in writing, containing his or her name and place o abode,
and whether he or she is a house keeper, or one of the family, or a lodger,
inmate, apprentice, or servant, abiding in the house or any person, with the
day, month, and year of delivering in the same; and such commissioners, or
their distributors, or such other persons who shall be appointed to receive
such accounts at the office or place of delivery, shall thereupon, and upon
payment of their said duty, issue a certificate, made out in the name of the
proper officer, and stamped, to denote the duty by this act imposed.
Determination of certificates.
11. That every certificate shall cease and determine on the 5th of April in
the year for which the same shall be issued; and every certificate taken out
after the 5th of May, 1795, or within one calendar month afterwards, for the
year 1795, or in any subsequent year, for the year in which the same shall
be issued, shall be in force till the 5th of April then next following, and
shall commence from the date thereof; and every certificate taken out for
any year subsequent to the year in which the same shall be issued, shall commence
from the 5th of April then next ensuing, and continue till the 5th of April
in the succeeding.
Names of all persons in the same dwelling may be in one account,
but certificates to be issued for each.
12. That the names of all or any number of persons residing in the same house
may be included in one account, or the accounts may be several, at the election
of such person or persons, but a separate certificate must be issued in respect
of each person.
Masters paying the duty for servants to receive certificates,
which shall extend to successors in the same capacity.
13. That if any master or mistress intend to pay the duties, in respect of
any servant or servants, they shall deliver a true and faithful account of
such servants by him or her kept, in respect of whom such duties are intended
to be paid, setting forth the several capacities in which such servants are
kept; upon payment of the duties for the several servants specified in such
account, it shall be lawful to deliver a distinct certificate to such master
or mistress for each such servant, the certificate to set forth in words at
length the particular capacity in which such servant shall be hired; every
certificate shall extend to the servant named therein during their continuing
in the same service, and to every servant who shall come into the service
of the said master or mistress, during the continuance of such certificate,
in the room of such servant named therein, in the same capacity; no servant
serving such master or mistress shall be required to obtain any other certificate
during the continuance of such servitude.
Commissioners to prepare books containing certificates, &c.
On payment of duty certificates to be filled up and delivered.
14. That the said Commissioners shall cause to be prepared books, in which
every leaf shall be divided and distinguished into two columns, in each of
which columns shall be printed an equal number of blank certificates, for
the names, &c. of the persons to whom such certificates are issued, of
equal length and breadth as near as can be, and the said two columns to be
joined with some flourish or device, through which the outermost may be cut
off indentwise, and all certificates in the inner column shall be numbered
progressively as they are placed therein, beginning such enumeration at the
end of every year, ending on the 5th of April as aforesaid, in receipt of
each office where certificates shall be granted, and the certificates in the
outer column shall be numbered in the like manner, every successive certificate
in the outer column bearing the same number with the corresponding certificate
with the inner column of such book, and the certificates in the outer column
shall be severally stamped with a stamp denoting the duty by this act imposed;
the said commissioners shall take care to provide books for the different
distributors, officers, &c. that every person may be supplied with certificates
stamped in pursuance of this act, and the said commissioners, distributors,
or officers, as aforesaid, shall receive any account or accounts together
with the duties payable by virtue of this act, and shall forthwith in respect
of each and every person whose name and place of abode shall be entered therein,
fill up one of the certificates in the outer column, in the order they are
placed therein, with the names, &c. and date when issued, and shall in
like manner fill up the corresponding certificate in the inner column, and
as the same are filled up, shall cause the outer certificate to be carefully
cut off indentwise, and delivered to the person requiring the same in manner
aforesaid, on payment of the duties hereby imposed, and without fee or other
charge.
Distributors to return books of certificates to the commissioners,
who shall transmit lists annually of the persons who have obtained certificates
to the respective clerks of the peace, &c.
15. That the distributors and officers aforesaid, shall, whenever required
by the said commissioners return the said books wherefrom the certificates
issued have been cut indentwise, to the said commissioners, at their head
office in Middlesex; and the said commissioners shall cause one correct list,
in alphabetical order, to be made out annually, before the 1st of November
in every year, of all who have obtained certificates for each county, &c.
containing the names, places of abode, and description of such persons, and
transmit a correct copy to the clerk of the peace, town clerk, sheriff deputy,
stewart clerk, or their respective deputies, of such county &c. which
lists and copies shall be open, at the respective offices, for the inspection
of any person, at all seasonable hours, on payment of sixpence, and no more;
and the said commissioners, by their officers, &c. for their respective
districts, are required, upon demand, to deliver a true copy or copies of
all such lists, or parts of lists, in their possession, to any person or persons
whatsoever (such copies being a true copy or copies, and signed by such officers
as aforesaid) for which no more than three-pence shall be charged, unless
the copies demanded shall contain the entries of two or more persons, in which
case, there shall be paid at the rate of six-pence for every two persons whose
names are certified therein; which lists, or parts of lists, and also a copy
signed as aforesaid, or any part of them, shall be allowed and admitted as
legal evidence of a certificate having been obtained by the person or persons
whose name shall be certified therein; and such copy may be required by any
justice of the peace in Great Britain, before whom a prosecution shall be
depending, gratis, on notice in writing being left at the office of the said
commissioners, &c.
Clerk of the peace to transmit copies of lists to the parish
officers, &c. to be affixed on the church doors, &c.--Penalty to persons
defacing such copies.
16. That the respective clerks of the peace, &c. shall within six weeks
after the receipt of the copy of such list, make out, or cause to be made
out therefrom, correct lists of all persons named therein, for each city,
town, parish, and place within such county, &c. and cause the same to
be transmitted to the churchwardens or overseers of the poor, constables,
tything-men, or other peace officers, of or within such city, town, &c.
who shall within three days after the receipt of such list, cause a true and
exact copy thereof to be affixed on the church or chapel doors and market
cross (if any) of such city, town, or place, and shall from time to time cause
the same to be replaced for the space of four weeks then next ensuing; and
as often as necessary for that purpose shall, from time to time during that
said four weeks, affix other copies thereof in like manner: Persons willfully
tearing, defacing, or removing, any such copy, shall forfeit for every offence
the sum of 40s. on conviction before a justice of the peace, one moiety of
which to the churchwarden, overseer, &c. as aforesaid, and the other to
the informer.
Penalty for wearing Hair Powder without, or for transferring
or fraudulently using certificates.
17. That from and after one calendar month from the 5th of May, 1795, if any
person shall wear, or use as an article of dress, any powder, commonly called
Hair Powder, of whatever materials the same shall be made or called, without
having obtained a certificate from the proper officer of stamps in the county,
&c. where such person shall reside; every such person shall, for every
such offence, forfeit 20l. which shall be sued for and recovered in
the county, &c. where such offender shall be; and if any person having
obtained any such certificate shall afterwards sell, transfer, or deliver
to any other person, with intent to diminish his Majesty's revenue by this
act, or any person fraudulently using such certificate, in order to evade
the payment of the said duty, shall for every offence pay the sum of 30l.
Persons from abroad are not required to obtain certificates
till 21 days after their arrival.
18. That no person coming into this kingdom from foreign parts, shall be required
to obtain a certificate before the expiration of 21 days after such arrival.
Clerks of the peace, &c. to be rewarded.
19. That the respective clerks of the peace, town clerks, or their respective
deputies, or other officers aforesaid, who have executed this act to the satisfaction
of the said commissioners, shall be allowed such reasonable reward as the
said commissioners think proper.
Penalty on officers for non-performance of their duty.
20. That if any officer appointed as aforesaid, shall neglect to perform his
or their duty in the execution of such office, with relation to the powers
and trust vested in them, or shall commit, or suffer to be committed, any
fraudulent practice, and there fore be convicted, he shall forfeit and pay
the sum of 50l.
Surveyors of houses, &c. to give notice to occupiers
of houses to produce lists annually of residents who have worn hair-powder,
&c.
21. That such persons who are surveyors for the duties of houses and windows
or lights, shall and may within fourteen days after the 5th of April yearly,
give or leave notice to or for every occupier of any dwelling house where
any person liable to the duties shall reside within the limits for which such
surveyances are to act, at his or her dwelling house, ( and where such dwelling
houses are divided into different apartments, and occupied by several persons
distinctly, then for the occupier of each district or apartment) to prepare
and produce, within 14 days, a list, in writing, to the best of his or her
belief, of the christian and surname of each and every person, resident in
such dwelling and liable to the duty, who shall within the year ending the
5th of April preceding such notice, to his or her knowledge, have used or
worn hair-powder, and the situation or capacity of such persons in respect
to the family or families in such dwelling house; in which list, all persons
of the family, apprentices, servants, lodgers, inmates, which to the best
of his or her knowledge or belief, are respectively liable to the duty, whether
such persons, or any of them, shall have obtained certificates or not, shall
be included; and every such occupier shall make out and sign the said list
with his or her name, and shall make a declaration, signed by him or her,
of the county, &c. where such occupiers hath obtained or doth tend to
obtain, his or her certificate, and whether for himself only, or for any part
of his or her family or servants, to such surveyor; and if any occupier neglect
or refuse to make out, sign, and deliver such list, or declaration, or omit
any person who ought to have been included, he or she shall, for every such
offence, forfeit and pay the sum of 20l. and be liable for prosecution
for every such offence, and be deemed guilty thereof, whether it shall appear
that the person so omitted or not returned according to the directions of
this act hath or hath not obtained for himself or herself a certificate, or
hath or hath not been prosecuted for any such offence, and whether such person,
so omitted or not returned, is or is not amenable to justice for any offence
against this act; and that the conviction of any such occupier shall not be
deemed to exempt the person so omitted from paying the duty, or from prosecution
or punishment for an offence against this act.
Surveyors to transmit lists to the commissioners for taxes,
who shall transmit copies to the commissioners of stamps.
22. That the surveyors shall transmit such lists to the commissioners
for the affairs of taxes, at their office in Middlesex, who shall within a
convenient time transmit a full and exact copy of the names and descriptions
of the persons therein, to said commissioners of Stamp Duties.
Residents who have usual residence elsewhere not included.
23. That no person shall be required to include in the list made out by him
or her, persons resident in his or her house who have places of usual residence
elsewhere in Great Britain.
Period for first lists to be made out.
24. That in the first list to be made out, the same shall be made for all
other persons resident in any such dwelling, who shall have used or worn hair-powder
as aforesaid, at any time between the 5th of May, 1795; and the 5th of April,
1796.
Penalties fixed for within 3 months.
25. That one moiety of all pecuniary penalties, and forfeitures, (except where
otherwise expressed) shall (if sued for within three calendar months) be to
his Majesty, and the other moiety, with full costs of suit, to the informer,
which may be sued for in his Majesty's court of Exchequer, Westminster, for
offences committed in England; his Majesty's court of Exchequer, at Edinburgh
for offences committed in Scotland; by action of debt, &c.
Not recoverable else, except in the name of the Attorney
General, &c.
26. That such prosecution shall be within the time before mentioned or
no such penalty shall be recoverable, unless in the name of his Majesty's
Attorney General, in England or Advocate in Scotland, in which case the whole
penalty shall belong to his Majesty, his heirs, &c. and be paid into the
hands of the Receiver General of his Majesty's Stamp Duties for the time being;
and that in such case it shall be lawful for the said commissioners to reward
such persons as appear to them entitled therein, as discoverers or informers
as they think fit, not exceeding one moiety, after deducting all expenses
for prosecution.
Justices may determine offences where the penalty does not exceed 20l.
27. That it may be lawful for any justice residing near the place where
the offence shall be committed, to hear and determine any offence, not exceeding
20l. which said justice is required, within three months after the
offence is committed to summon the party accused, giving to each party three
days notice to appear, and also the witnesses on either side to examine into
the fact, and upon proof, either by voluntary confession of the party accused,
or by oath of one or more credible witnesses, as the case may require, give
judgement for the penalty, one moiety thereof to the poor of the parish or
place where such offence was committed, and the other to the informer, and
may issue his warrant under his hand and seal for levying the penalty so adjudged,
on the goods of the offender, and to cause sale thereof unless they shall
be redeemed within six days, rendering to the party the overplus (if any)
and if the goods are not sufficient to answer the penalty, to commit such
offender to prison, there to remain not exceeding six months, and not less
than three months, unless such penalty be paid sooner; and if either party
find themselves aggrieved may upon giving security to the amount of such penalty
and costs, appeal to the justices of the peace at the next General Quarter
Sessions for the county, &c. which shall happen after 14 days next after
which such conviction shall have been made, and of which appeal reasonable
notice shall be given, who are hereby empowered to summon and examine witnesses
upon oath, and finally to hear and determine the same; in case the judgement
of such justice be affirmed the party appealing to pay such costs as to them
shall seem meet. That if any party accused of wearing hair-powder, without
obtaining a certificate, shall insist that he has obtained a certificate in
any other place, on his oath or affirmation, setting forth when and where
he obtained the same, it shall be lawful, at the request of the party accused,
to adjourn the hearing and determination of the complaint, in order for the
party accused to produce his certificate, or such entry or copy thereof, under
the hand of the proper officer; and at the end of the time allowed, if the
certificate or entry is not produced, the said justices shall proceed to the
determination of such complaint as before directed: and it may be lawful for
the said justice, where he shall see cause, to mitigate such penalties he
shall think fit.
Penalty on Witnesses not appearing, &c.
28. That any person summoned as a witness and refuse to appear to give evidence
at the time and place for that purpose appointed, without a reasonable excuse,
to be allowed by such Justice, or appearing, refuse to be examined on oath,
and give evidence, such persons shall forfeit, for every such offence 40s.
to be levied as before directed.
29. That the Justice of the Peace before any offender shall be convicted as aforesaid, shall cause the said conviction to be fairly wrote upon parchment, and returned to the next General Quarter Sessions of the Peace for the county, &c. where such conviction was made, there to be filed by the proper officer, and remain among the records of the same county, and not be removed by certiorari, or other process into any other court.
Persons claiming exemptions to prove their right.
30. That if any person is sued for non-payment, who shall claim exemption
from the duty, he shall prove that he is exempt according to the meaning of
this act as aforesaid; and if such person be a beneficial clergyman, the income
to be estimated on the average amount thereof, computed on seven years next
preceding that in which such action shall be commenced
Penalty for counterfeiting Stamps.
31. That if any person forge, counterfeit, or cause to be counterfeited any
stamp or mark used and provided in pursuance of this act, with intent to defraud
the revenue, every person so offending, and being lawfully convicted, shall
be adjudged a felon, and shall suffer death, as in cases of felony.
Provisions of former acts, relating to Stamp duties, to extend
to this act.
32. That all powers, provisions, articles, clauses, allowances on present
payment of the duty, and all other things appointed by any former acts of
Parliament relating to stamp duties on vellum, parchment, and paper (and not
hereby altered), shall, as far as the same are applicable, be of full force
and effect, with relation to the duty hereby imposed.
Duties to Receiver General of Stamps.
33. That the duties herein before granted, shall be paid from time to time
into the hands of the Receiver General for the time being of the duties on
stamped vellum, parchment, and paper.
Duties to be applied in defraying any increased charge by
any loan of this Session.
34. That the monies to arise from the duty hereby granted, or so much thereof
as shall be sufficient, shall be deemed an addition to the revenue for the
purpose of defraying the increased charge occasioned by any loan made, or
stock created, by any act or acts passed in this session of Parliament; and
that the said monies shall, for the ten years next ensuing, be paid into the
said receipt, distinctly and apart from all monies arising from the said duty,
and shall together with the monies arising from any other rates granted in
this session of Parliament, for defraying such increased charge as aforesaid,
be entered separate and apart from all other monies paid or payable to his
Majesty, his heirs, or successors.
The Devil to pay.
(from Joe Miller's Jests)
A toping Fellow was one Night making his Will over his Bottle; I will give, said he, Fifty Pounds to Five Taverns to drink to my Memory when I am dead; Ten Pounds to the Salutation for Courtiers; Ten Pounds to the Castle for Soldiers; Ten Pounds to the Mitre for Parsons; Ten Pounds to the Horn for Citizens; and Ten Pounds to the Devil for the Lawyers.
