A Treatise on the Police of the Metropolis Part 43

"The Messenger declared himself perfectly ignorant of the cause of the detention; stating, at the same time, that when he had conducted him to _Monsieur De Sartine_, he should have executed his orders, which were merely ministerial.

"After some further explanations, the Gentleman permitted the Officer to conduct him accordingly. _Monsieur De Sartine_ received him, with great politeness; and after requesting him to be seated, to his great astonishment, he described his portmanteau; and told him the exact sum in bills and specie which he had brought with him to Paris, and where he was to lodge, his usual time of going to bed, and a number of other circ.u.mstances, which the Gentleman had conceived could only be known to himself.--_Monsieur 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. _Monsieur 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 the bed, or into any of the closets which are in your bed-chamber_; (which he accurately described);--_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 _Monsieur de Sartine's_ intelligence was accurate in every particular, he 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 _Monsieur De Sartine_), the door of the bed-chamber burst open, and three men entered with a _dark lantern_, _daggers_ and _pistols_.--The Gentleman, who of course was awake, perceived one of them to be his own servant.--They rifled his portmanteau, undisturbed, and settled the plan of putting him to death.--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 such an awful interval of suspense; when, at the moment the villains were preparing to commit the horrid deed, four Police Officers, acting under _Mons.

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 commit the murder.

"The consequence was, that the perpetration of the atrocious deed was prevented, and sufficient evidence obtained to convict the offenders.--_Monsieur De Sartine's_ intelligence enabled him to _prevent_ this horrid offence of robbery and murder; which, but for the accuracy of the System, would probably have been carried into execution."

Another Anecdote, was mentioned to the Author by the same Minister, relative to the Emperor Joseph the Second: "That Monarch, having, in the year 1787, formed and promulgated a new Code of Laws relative to criminal and civil offences;[166] and having also established what he conceived to be the best System of Police in Europe, he could scarcely ever forgive the French Nation, in consequence of the accuracy and intelligence of _Mons. De Sartine_ having been found so much superior to his own; notwithstanding the immense pains he had bestowed upon that department of his Government.

[Footnote 166: Vide page 63 & _seq._ of this Volume.]

"A very notorious offender, who was a subject of the Emperor, and who committed many atrocious acts of violence and depredation at Vienna, was traced to Paris by the Police established by His Majesty, who ordered his Amba.s.sador at the Court of France to demand that this delinquent should be delivered up to Public Justice.

"_Mons. De Sartine_ acknowledged to the Imperial Amba.s.sador, that the person he inquired after had been in Paris;--that, if it would be any satisfaction, he could inform him where he had lodged, and the different gaming-tables, and other places of infamous resort, which he frequented while there;--but that he was now gone.--

"The Amba.s.sador, after stating the accuracy and correct mode by which the Police of Vienna was conducted, insisted that this offender must still be in Paris; otherwise the Emperor would not have commanded him to make such an application.

"_Monsieur de Sartine_ smiled at the incredulity of the Imperial Minister, and made a reply to the following effect:--

"_Do me the honour, Sir, to inform the Emperor, your Master, that the person he looks for left Paris on the 10th day of the last month; and is now lodged in a back room looking into a garden in the third story of a house, number 93, in ---- street, in his own Capital of Vienna; where his Majesty will, by sending to the spot, be sure to find him._--

"It was literally as the French Minister of Police had stated.--The Emperor, to his astonishment, found the delinquent in the house and apartment described; but he was greatly mortified at this proof of the accuracy of the French Police; which, in this instance, in point of intelligence _even in Vienna_, was discovered to be so much superior to his own."--

The fact is, that the French System had arrived at the greatest degree of perfection; and though not necessary, nor even proper, to be copied as _a pattern_, might, nevertheless, furnish many useful hints, calculated to improve the Police of this Metropolis, consistent with the existing Laws; and even to extend and increase the Liberty of Subject without taking one privilege away; or interfering in the pursuits of any one cla.s.s of individuals; except those employed in purposes of _mischief_, _fraud_, and _criminality_.

The situation of this Country, (indeed of every country in Europe,) has changed materially since the dissolution of the ancient Government of France.--The horde of sharpers and villains, who heretofore resorted to Paris from every part of Europe, will now consider London as their general and most productive theatre of action; for two obvious reasons:--1st. Paris being exhausted of riches, its n.o.bility banished, and the princ.i.p.al part of the active property there annihilated, the former resources for the support of criminal and depraved characters no longer exist; while that Metropolis holds out no allurements similar to what were formerly experienced. 2dly. The ignorance of the English language (a circ.u.mstance which formerly afforded us some protection), will no longer be a bar to the resort of the continental sharpers to the Metropolis of this kingdom. At no period was it ever so generally understood by Foreigners; or the French language so universally spoken, by at least the younger part of the People of this Country.--

The spirit of gaming and dissipation which prevails in London, promoted already in no inconsiderable degree by profligate characters from the Continent, the opulence of the People, and the great ma.s.s of active property in circulation, will afford a wide field for the exercise of the invention and wits of that description of men, both foreigners and natives, who infested Paris under the old Government, and which rendered a more than ordinary attention to its Police indispensably necessary.--

The termination of the present war will probably throw into this country a vast number of idle, profligate, and depraved characters, natives of this, as well as of other nations, who will require to be narrowly watched by a vigilant and well-regulated Police. The probability of such an accession to the numbers already engaged in acts of delinquency, serves to establish new and incontrovertible arguments in favour of the proposed _Board of Responsible Commissioners_, for managing the affairs of the Police of the Metropolis; to form a _Centre-point_, and to bind the System together.

To be well prepared against every possible evil, is one great step towards prevention; and among the many advantages already detailed, as likely to result from a _Board of Police Revenue_, this would be none of the least.

In every view in which the subject can be considered, such a System, strengthened by good and apposite Laws, could not fail to be productive of vast benefits to the Community. _Petty Thefts_ affecting all ranks who have any property to lose, and destroying the moral principle, would be greatly abridged:--as would also the plunder from vessels in the River Thames, as well as from the public a.r.s.enals, Dock-yards, and s.h.i.+ps of War. The more atrocious Crimes of Burglary and Highway Robbery, would suffer a severe check, in the embarra.s.sments which would arise from the System of detections and Rewards--from the restrictions proposed to be laid upon Receivers of Stolen Goods; upon Night Coaches,--and from other regulations applicable to those particular offences. A large proportion of the _Coiners_, _Dealers_, and _Utterers of Base Money_, feeling the risk of detection, as well as of punishment, greatly extended and increased, would probably abandon the business as hazardous and destructive. The completion of the General System would also, either collaterally or immediately, reach the tribe of Cheats, Swindlers, and Lottery Offenders, in such a manner as to occasion a considerable reduction of their number, by narrowing the ground, and destroying the resources by which they at present flourish.

The establishment of such a System would be an immediate benefit to every man of property, as an individual, independent of the Public at large; but even in another point of view, it is doubly necessary at this juncture, when new events are daily occurring, of a nature truly interesting to the peace and well-being of Society, and to the tranquillity of the State; rendering it more than ever necessary to establish a System of unremitting vigilance. It is a fact well established, that it was princ.i.p.ally through the medium, and by the a.s.sistance, of many of the twenty thousand miscreants who were registered, previous to the anarchy of France, on the books of the Lieutenant of Police, that the contending Factions in that distracted country, were enabled to perpetrate those horrid ma.s.sacres and acts of atrocity, which have been beheld with detestation, abhorrence, and astonishment, by every civilized nation in the world.

Let it be recollected, at the same time, that Mankind, in a state of depravity, arising from a long course of criminal turpitude, are nearly alike in every country; and that it becomes us to look with a jealous eye on the several thousand miscreants of the same description which now infest London; for they too, upon any fatal emergency, (which G.o.d forbid!) would be equally ready as their brethren in iniquity were, in Paris, to repeat the same atrocities, if any opportunity offered.

As the effectuating such an object has become so great a desideratum;--and as it is to confer those blessings which spring from a well-regulated Police, calculated to extend a species of protection[167] to the inhabitants of this great Metropolis, which has never been heretofore experienced:--it can scarcely fail to be a matter of general satisfaction to know that the Select Committee of the House of Commons on Finance, have strongly recommended to Parliament a System of Police, similar to that which had been submitted to the consideration of the Public in the former editions of this Work.

[Footnote 167: In mentioning what regards the protection of the Metropolis, with the inefficiency of the existing Civil Force in Constables, it is impossible to overlook those eminent advantages which have arisen from the excellent inst.i.tutions of the Honourable Artillery Company, the Light Horse Volunteers, and the other a.s.sociated Corps, who have so n.o.bly stood forth in the hour of danger to support the deficient Police of the Country.

To these Patriotic individuals, the inhabitants of the Metropolis are under infinite obligations.

Regardless of their own _ease_, _convenience_, _interest_, or _personal safety_, the members of these public-spirited a.s.sociations have ever stood forward in the hour of tumult and disorder gratuitously, and at their own expence, for the protection of their Fellow-citizens, and for the preservation of the Public peace.

The a.s.sistance they have, on every occasion, afforded the civil power, and the sacrifices of valuable time which they have made, at the risk of health, and under circ.u.mstances where they were compelled to forego that ease and comfort, which, in many instances, from their opulence and rank in life, are attached to their particular situations--it is to be hoped will never be forgotten by a grateful Public.]

In order that improvements, sanctioned by such high authority, and the adoption of which are so important to the best interests of Society, may be fully explained and elucidated; a detail of the measures, which have been recommended, with general observations on the proposed System, are reserved for the ensuing Chapter.

CHAP. XVIII.

_The System of Police recommended by the Select Committee on Finance explained.--A proposition to consolidate the two Boards of Hawkers and Pedlars, and Hackney Coaches, into a Board of Police Revenue.--The whole Revenues of Police from Fees, Penalties, and Licence Duties, to make a common Fund.--Accounts to be audited.--Magistrates to distribute small Rewards.--A power to the Board to make Bye-Laws.--A concurrent jurisdiction recommended--also the Penitentiary House for reforming Convicts.--Other measures proposed after the Board is established--namely, a Public Prosecutor for the Crown--A Register of Lodging Houses--The establishment of a Police Gazette.--Two leading objects to be attained--The prevention of Crimes: and raising a Revenue for Police purposes.--The enumeration of the Dealers who are proposed to be Licenced.--A General View of the annual expence of the present Police System. Observations on the effect of the System recommended by the Finance Committee, with respect to the Morals and Finances of the Country.--Suggestions respecting a chain of connection with Magistrates in the Country, and the mode of effecting it.--Licences to be granted by select Magistrates in the Country, and by the Central Board in London and the neighbourhood.--The Functions of the proposed Board explained.--Specifications of the Trades to be regulated and Licenced.--General Reflections on the advantages likely to result from the adoption of the plan recommended by the Finance Committee.--Concluding Observations._

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 which occupied several months, (during which period the Author of this Treatise underwent several examinations),[168] they made their _final Report_--in which, after stating it as their opinion, "that the general tendency of our oeconomical arrangements upon this subject is ill calculated to meet the acc.u.mulating burdens, which are the infallible result of so much error in our System of Police"--they recommended it to Parliament to reduce or consolidate "the two offices of Hawkers and Pedlars, and Hackney Coaches, into a Board of Police Revenue, under the direction of a competent number of Commissioners, with such Salaries as should bid fair to engage talents adequate to the situation, and as should be sufficient to command the whole exertion of those talents.--That the Receiver of the Police offices, should be the Receiver-General of the funds proposed to be collected by this Board.--That the superintendence of aliens should form a part of its business.--That the fees and penalties received at the several offices of Police, together with the Licence-duties and penalties, if any, which shall be in the collection of this consolidated Board, shall make one common fund, out of which all salaries and expences of the several offices of Police should be defrayed, as well as all those of the Consolidated Board, and that all payments whatever should be made by the Receiver, under the sanction of this Board, subject to the approbation of the Lords Commissioners of his Majesty's Treasury.--That the accounts of the Receiver should be audited and signed by the Board before being delivered to the Treasury, or the office for auditing accounts.--That the balances in the hands of the Receiver, after retaining what may be sufficient for current expences, should be paid into the Exchequer at frequent and fixed periods.--That Magistrates of Police should be impowered to distribute small rewards to Constables or others, for meritorious services, to be paid by the Revenue, after receiving the sanction of the Board: And further, that the Board should have power to make Bye-laws, for the regulation of such Minor Objects of Police as relate to the objects of their superintendence, and to the control of all Coaches, Chairs, Carts, Barrows, and the conduct of all Coachmen, Chairmen, Carters, &c. and the removal and prevention of annoyances, and the correction of all offences against the cleanliness, the quiet, and the free pa.s.sage of the Streets of the Metropolis, similar to the powers now possessed by the Commissioners of Hackney Coaches, and subject in like manner to the approbation of the Superior Judges in the Courts in Westminster-Hall."--The Committee further recommend that two additional Police Offices should be established in the City of London, consisting each of three Magistrates, to be named by the Lord Mayor and Aldermen, and paid out of the General funds, and to have Commissions from the Crown, extending over the whole Metropolis, and the Counties of Middles.e.x, Kent, Ess.e.x, and Surry; and that the Commissions of the Magistrates of the other eight Offices should extend in like manner over the whole Metropolis, and the four above-mentioned Counties.[169] And finally, the Committee recommend that no time should be lost in carrying into effect the Plan and Proposal of Jeremiah Bentham, Esq. for employing and reforming Convicts, as a measure which bids fairer than any other that was offered to the Public, to diminish the Public expenditure in this branch, and to produce a salutary Reform in the object of the proposed Inst.i.tution.

[Footnote 168: See Appendix to the 28th Report of the Committee.]

[Footnote 169: It is not proposed in the Bill, now in preparation, hereafter stated, to introduce any thing respecting the City of London, unless the consent of the Lord-Mayor, Aldermen, and Common-Council, shall be previously obtained.]

Other measures are stated by this Committee as well calculated to facilitate the means of detection and conviction of Offenders, and to reduce the expence which is now borne by the Public, or sustained by private Individuals, in the maintenance of a very inefficient Police; while they seem calculated to lessen the growing Calendars of Delinquency, but which may be better matured after the consolidation of the Offices here proposed shall have taken place.--"Such as the appointment of Counsel for the Crown, with moderate Salaries, to conduct all Criminal Prosecutions, and rendering the Solicitor to the Board useful, either in such Prosecutions as any of the Public Officers might find it necessary to inst.i.tute; or in such Criminal Prosecutions at the suit of Individuals, as the Public Justice of the Country should render expedient.--Such as a Register of Lodging-houses in the Metropolis.--Such as the establishment of a Police Gazette, to be circulated at a low price, and furnished gratis to all persons under the superintendence of the Board; who shall pay a licence duty to a certain amount: And such also as an Annual Report of the state of the Police of the Country."

In considering this Report in general, it is no slight gratification to the Author of this Treatise, to discover that all the great features of his original design for giving to Police its genuine character, unmixed with those judicial Powers which lead to punishment, and properly belong to Magistracy alone, have been sanctioned by such high authority.

In taking a general view not only of what is specifically recommended by the Select Committee of the House of Commons; but also of the Report itself, two leading objects appear to be in contemplation, namely--

1st. The prevention of crimes and misdemeanors, by bringing under regulations a variety of dangerous and suspicious trades;[170] the uncontrolled 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.

[Footnote 170: The Trades alluded to are these following,--vide Appendix (C) 28th Report of Select Committee of the House of Commons on Finance, page 45, 46, and 47.

_New Revenues._

1. Wholesale and Retail Dealers in old Naval Stores, Hand-stuff, and Rags.

2. Dealers in second-hand wearing Apparel, Stationary and Itinerant.

3. Dealers in old Iron and other Metals, &c.

4. Founders and others using Crucibles.

5. Persons using Draught and Truck Carts for conveying Stores, Rags, and Metals.

6. Persons Licenced to slaughter horses.

7. Persons keeping Livery Stables, and letting Horses for hire.

8. Auctioneers, who hold periodical or diurnal Sales.

_Existing Revenues proposed to be transferred with a view to a more effectual control, and to an improved Finance._

9. Hackney Coaches and Chairs.