is bounded by the rivers Orr and Calder, nocturnal robberies of arms and ammunition, and nightly meetings of the rioters for the purposes of discipline, became very frequent; and in the whole of the disturbed villages the patroles found the people up at midnight, and heard frequent firing at short distances through the whole night. It is singular that the districts in which the riots were carried to the greatest excess, were those in which the want of employment for the working manufacturers had been the least felt; and this circumstance, combined with the discipline and organization which the rioters seemed so anxious to acquire, left no doubt that their views extended to revolutionary measures of the most dangerous character. The system established could prosper only by an implicit obedience on the part of the rioters to their leaders; at the same time, there was no reason to believe that the disturbances were countenanced by persons of any rank in society, the leaders being men of the lowest order and the most desperate fortune. But the form which the associations assumed was alarming; a general secret committee had the superintendance of all the societies, each of which had its own secret committee for conducting the correspondence, and pursuing measures in concert with the societies established in other districts of the country. To ensure secrecy, an oath was administered to the initiated of the most detestable nature; an oath which bound him by the fear of assassination never to reveal any of the proceedings of his brethren; and which farther bound him to assassinate, or to pursue with the utmost vengeance, all persons who should be guilty of discovering their secret schemes. As this oath is of a very singular nature, it may be interesting to insert it. "I, A. B. of my own voluntary will, do declare and solemn

ly swear, that I never will reveal to any person or persons under the canopy of heaven, the names of the persons who compose this secret committee, their proceedings, meeting, places of abode, dress, features, connections, or any thing else that might lead to a discovery of the same, either by word or deed, or sign, under the penalty of being sent out of the world by the first brother who shall meet me, and my name and character blotted out of existence, and never to be remembered but with contempt and abhorrence; and I further now do swear, that I will use my best endeavours to punish by death any traitor or traitors, should any rise up amongst us, wherever I can find him or them, and though he should fly to the verge of nature, I will pursue him with unceasing vengeance. So help me God, and bless me to keep this my oath inviolable."

The military organization was, however, the most striking feature in the constitution of these societies. The rioters assembled in large numbers, in general by night, on heights or commons, which are numerous and extensive in some of the districts where the disturbances were most serious; they took the usual military precautions of patroles and countersigns; muster rolls were called over by numbers not by names; the leaders were generally in disguise; sentinels were placed to give alarm on the approach of any persons who might be suspected of a design to interrupt or give information of the proceedings; and, on the firing of a gun or other signal, the rioters instantly dispersed in such a manner as to avoid detection. The money which was, in many instances, obtained by contributions or plunder, served as a strong inducement to engage in the disturbances, while the horrid oath which was administered, the system of intimidation adopted, the destruction of houses and factories, the actual assas

sinations committed, and the daring attempts made in other cases, gave a character of ferocity to these proceedings which had seldom been known in this country. And such were the daring and perseverance of these insur gents, that, although a great military force had been assembled in many districts; although the magistrates had zealously discharged their duty, even at the hazard of their lives, and the watch and ward act had in several places been put in force, every effort for a time proved unsuccessful to put down the disturbances. In such circumstances, the interference of the legislature was loudly called for; and whatever might have been the opinions entertained as to the causes of the riots, the protection of the innocent, and the security of the state, imperiously demanded the most vigorous and deci

sive measures.

A bill was accordingly introduced by Mr Secretary Ryder for the more exemplary punishment of frame-breakers. In support of this measure, it was stated, that at this time (about the middle of February) a system of riot had existed for three months; a system bordering on insurrection; and that, although it had been believed at first that the ordinary powers of the magistrates, and the accustomed punishments of the penal code, would have proved sufficient to check the disturbances, it had now become necessary to interfere, by adding to the terrors of the law. That the assistance of the military power had already been taken in Nottingham and the neighbourhood to an extent which had never been known on any former occasion; that even this, however, had been found insufficient; that active and intelligent magistrates had been sent down; rewards had been offered for the discovery of the offenders, and a special commission had been proposed with the view of bringing the rioters to a

speedy trial. That government had thus exhausted all its ordinary resources for preserving the public tranquillity, and it now became necessary to think of measures of a different kind. That depredations had been carried on with a greater degree of secrecy and management than had before been known in similar proceedings; that this might, in some measure, be accounted for from the circumstance that the frames did not in general belong to those in whose possession they were found, and of course the persons who ought to have defended the property from the attacks of the rioters, being themselves operative weavers, had very often conceived that they had an interest in their destruction.-The riots, it was observed, had, in a great measure, arisen from the system of over-trading which became so general when South America was opened to British commerce; and this source having been soon exhausted, many workmen had been left unemployed. The breaking of frames was already by law a minor felony punishable by transportation for fourteen years; but as this punishment had been found inadequate, it now became necessary to attach to the crime of frame-breaking a capital punishment. Although an increase in the number of capital punishments is in itself an evil, cases of necessity may occur when this lenient principle must be modified or departed from. If ever there was a case of such necessity, the present certainly was one; for, without expatiating on the great value of the property exposed to destruction, and the extraordinary temptations which bad men had to indulge the basest passions, under pretence of destroying the obnoxious machinery, the tranquillity of the state seemed to be involved in the result of the measure now proposed. A passage in the works of Sir Matthew Hale was referred to, that the policy of the bill

might have the support of so great a lawyer and so humane a man. Sir Matthew observes, "where offences grow enormous, frequent, and danger. ous to the state; where they threat en to become destructive to society, and are likely to produce ruin among the inhabitants of a place, severe punishments, and even death itself, are sometimes necessary for the safety of the country." This description applied well to Nottingham, where no less than one thousand frames had already been broken, and the lives and properties of the inhabitants were at the mercy of a ferocious mob, who threatened destruction to all who opposed them. It was feared that the difficulty of detection might perhaps become greater when the severity of the punishment was thus increased; but this consideration was far less important than the chance that the crime might become less frequent. When a person reflects that he runs the risk of losing his life in gratifying his malice, he may be deterred from pursuing unlawful courses, even when the dread of transportation would not prevail. As to the other clauses of the bill, which went to enforce the provisions of a law now obsolete, for establishing watch and ward throughout the counties, no hesitation could be entertained, since many enlightened persons, intimately acquainted with the state of the county of Nottingham, looked forward to such a measure as the most effectual means of quieting the disturbances.-The evil was so enormous and pressing, that little time could be afforded for deliberation ; and, at all events, this was not a case in which previous enquiry was demanded, since no difference of opinion existed as to the character and extent of the disturbances. That the measure now proposed was intended to be temporary, and that, although it might have been usual in ancient

times to appoint a committee of enquiry before adding to the severity of the penal code, yet this formality might well be dispensed with at the present day, when there exists so free and extensive a communication with every district of the country, by means of which members had abundant oppor tunities of informing themselves as to the state of the disturbed counties. That so soon as it should be known that parliament had taken up the subject with so much solemnity, a great effect would be produced on the minds of those infatuated persons who were acting under the delusion of more designing individuals.-That no advantage could be derived from a commit. tee to enquire into the causes of the disturbances; for, although it were proved that they had arisen from a decay of trade, could the committee open the continent, and restore the commerce of the nation to the same facilities which it had lately enjoyed?—That the measure proposed was founded on that leading principle of all criminal law, pana ad paucos, metus ad omnes perveniat, the threat would have the effect of intimidating the many, and the punishment would fall only on the few. The bill had been brought forward not with a view to punish, but to prevent the crime; it had not for its object the shedding of human blood, but to render the commission of offences less frequent. When some persons talked of sporting with the lives of others, it might be asked, who sported with the lives of the people? who neglected the general safety ? on whom must fall the awful responsibility. if a remedy were not promptly applied to evils so alarming? If the law were openly defied, and force opposed to force, thousands must fall victims to the sentiments of a false humanity. That it was of no importance to enquire into the fact, whether the disturbances had been produced by dis

tress among the workmen; if they had, that might be a good reason for a change in the general policy of the government, but could be no ground for opposing a temporary act, which was so loudly called for by the exigencies of the times.

But the interposition of parliament was required not by the distress of the workmen, but by a conspiracy against the machinery, which had regularly exhibited itself at all times when new machinery had been introduced. Penal statutes had thus been found necessary for the protection of every successive improvement in machinery. The severity of punishment must be adapted not to the enormity of the crime, but to the difficulty of preventing it ;-That there are but two ways of legislating in criminal matters, either by leaving the amount of punishment to the discretion of the judge, or by defining the different species of crime, and fixing separate punishments for each. That the latter mode would be found difficult, if not impossible, while the former is at once practicable and safe. That how sanguinary_soever the language of the laws of England may be, their execution has always been mild. -It argued an ignorance of human nature to suppose that while detection was never absolutely impossible, men would not be more readily deterred from the commission of crimes, in proportion to the severity of the punish ment attached to them. The punishment proposed by the bill would thus have a powerful effect in quelling the disturbances which disgraced the country.

It was maintained, on the other hand, that parliament ought to have some documents before it,-something which might appear on its records to justify so serious an interference as that which had been proposed; that a local bill should have been brought in,

preceded by a petition from the magistrates; a committee should then have been appointed to enquire into the circumstances, a course of proceeding which would have shewn the rioters that the eye of the legislature was on them, and manifested to posterity the grounds on which parliament had acted;-That the old laws for the punishment of the offence of framebreaking had not yet been proved insufficient, since no convictions had hitherto taken place; and if the present measure were so pressing as it had been represented by ministers, why had they delayed so long to come to parliament to ask for a remedy? That so serious an alteration was not to be made in the whole police of the country without much deliberation ;-that the punishment of death, so far from operating as a check on crimes, rather increases their number; and that it is a great reproach to the criminal law of this country that capital punishments are so frequently inflicted. How could it be expected that this bill should operate a salutary change on the rioters, among whom there prevailed such a degree of union, concert, and good faith towards one another, that not one of them had even yet been detected? That the great object to be attained was the detection of the offenders; and that many other measures of a less alarming nature than the present, such as rendering the possessors of the frames responsible for their safety, and amercing the county in the value of those destroyed, would produce a degree of vigilance and perseverance which might afford a chance of putting down the conspiracy;— that the alarming extent to which the outrages had proceeded, must have arisen either from a conspiracy to suppress evidence against offenders, or supineness in the magistracy; and on either supposition the present measure would prove altogether ineffectual.—

1

That the legislature was in great danger of taking a wrong step at a moment when there existed so high a degree of indignation against persons who had committed violent aggressions on private property, and outrages on the public peace-that the enactment of the penalty of death for the offence of frame-breaking, could not impress the rioters with a very strong sense of the horror which the legislature entertained for the crime, as they must know that by an act of the same legislature, stealing to the value of 40s. had long ago been declared a capital felony-that the laws enacting severe punishments were unfortunately not the result of enlarged views or general principles, but sprung up one by one on some momentary alarm; that general principles, however, were more required in establishing capital punishments than in any other branch of legislation; and that if there were any measure which called for serious and solemn enquiry, it was that by which it was proposed that 10,000 of the people of this country should be rendered liable to the pains of death. It is true we have laws enacting death in similar cases, but these laws ought at once to be expunged from the statute-book if for this reason alone, that they are uniformly resorted to as precedents, when the indolence, the weakness, or the ignorance of the government lead it to increase the severity of the penal code. That the use which had been made of the military on this occasion was disgraceful to the government; that the soldiers ought never to be employed except in extreme cases, and then they should be rendered useful rather by the terror of their appearance than by the actual exertion of their power; but in this instance they had been employed in a way most ruinous to their own discipline, and the least efficient for the purpose of checking the outrages. That the late

excesses were not to be ascribed to the mildness of the punishment enacted by former laws, but to the failure of the magistrates to execute these laws. If the punishment of transportation for fourteen years be compared with the crime of breaking a frame, every man of common sense will declare it to be more than commensurate. The innovation now proposed was therefore unnecessary, cruel, and impolitic.-The bill proposed by the secretary of state was, however, carried through both houses of parliament, and received the royal assent.

The great engine of the operations of the rioters was the unlawful oath which they were accustomed to administer; and it became therefore a matter of the most serious importance to prevent those misguided persons from entering into a league so detestable. Mr Secretary Ryder brought in a bill for the purpose of declaring that the taking or administering of an oath, binding the party to the commission of a crime, should be deemed a capital felony. He proposed, however, to add this lenient provision, that any person who should have taken such an oath, and should come forward before a charge was made against him, confess his guilt before a magistrate, and take the oath of allegiance, should be saved from the penalty of the act. This measure combined at once the severity which seemed indispensable to check the offence, with that tenderness for the lives of the people which is the best characteristic of a free government. Those who obstinately persisted in the commission of crimes which threatened the peace of society, were to be punished with the most unrelenting severity, while the deluded persons who had been led astray by the machinations of men more designing and more wicked than themselves, were to have an opportunity afforded them of making their peace with the