injury, although in so doing, he himself received several severe bruises. This fact goes some way to negative the presumption that he was really the ringleader of the mob. He also gave assistance in protecting a surgeon, named Ekins, from personal harm.

As to Richard Lewis, he is convicted of stabbing, with intent to maim; but, besides that some doubt exists as to whether he has been satisfactorily identified as the real offender, it should be taken into account that the wound was given in a struggle, without circumstances of premeditation, and might have been accidental. A wound on the fleshy part of the thigh can hardly be supposed to have been intended.

In referring to this painful subject, it may not be irrelevant to allude to the fact, that the mob, though very riotous, shewed no bloodthirsty disposition. It is admitted that the mob had at one time possession of a great arms, yet they did not shoot any person.

number of fire

They had also possession of a certain pass, and the heights above it, from which they might have put to death the very soldiers who had fired on them with such deadly effect. The magistrates having retired to a distance, and taken refuge in Pendarren House, escorted by the military, for self-protection, Merthyr was of necessity left unprotected during three nights and two days succeeding that massacre; yet the mob made no assault, not even on the Castle Inn, notwithstanding the excited people had fresh in their view a scene of carnage, in which nearly a hundred of their number had fallen, killed or wounded, by the fire of the soldiery. More than this-from the heights, of which the mob were in possession, immediately after that carnage, with arms in their hands, they used the language of remonstrance, crying out,1166 Don't injure your own countrymen ;" "we only want bread;" and using similar expressions.

We are far from regarding lightly the offence of the Merthyr rioters. Whether they had just cause of complaint

:-where

against the practice of the Court of Requests, or not-whether they were correct in supposing that at a crisis, when the iron trade was more brisk than it had been for a considerable time, a design was entertained to lower their wages, or not-they should not have resorted to violence. But their violence has already been dreadfully punished :a hecatomb of victims have been offered up to the offended laws by military execution, surely Courts of Justice can afford to be merciful. The riots are now suppressed; the people have returned to their employments; and it is our firm conviction that the peace which has been restored, can be better preserved by mercy than by sacrifice.-Morning Herald, Thursday, July 28, 1831.

Respite of Lewis Lewis, one of the Merthyr Tidvil RiotersAppeal to the Mercy of the Crown on behalf of the other.

It has been stated, in a Welch Paper called the Cambrian, and copied into some of the London Papers, that a respite until the 6th of August had been received for Lewis Lewis, one of the Merthyr Tidvil rioters, under sentence of death; and that positive directions had been given by Mr. Justice BOSANQUET, by whom the prisoners had been tried, that the law should take its course on Richard Lewis, his fellowconvict, on Saturday last, the day originally appointed for the execution of both.

Our readers will recollect that last week we endeavoured to call the particular attention of the Executive department of the State, in whose hands, after the sentence of the law has been pronounced, are the issues of life and death,' to the cases of those two unfortunate men. It is satisfactory to us now to be enabled to announce that although so late as Friday last, no hope appeared for Richard Lewis, and preparations were made for his execution on the next day, yet in the course of the evening of Friday a respite was received, staying execution for fourteen days, to give time

to enquire more particularly into the circumstance of his case, there being strong grounds to suspect that the witnesses who deposed to his identity, have been, as we suggested, mistaken; and that when the stab was given, for which he was doomed to suffer, he was in a place which precluded the possibility of his being the guilty party. Depositions to this effect have, we understand, been laid before Lord MELBOURNE, by a gentleman of great respectability,* who

* Joseph Tregellis PRICE, Esq. of Neath Abbey, Glamorganshire, a most respectable member of the Society of Friends, and himself extensively engaged in the iron trade, which trade gave employment to the numerous population of Merthyr Tidvil, where the riot had happened. This gentleman, actuated by motives which reflect credit alike upon his understanding and his heart, undertook with that judgment and prudence with which he is known to act, an investigation at Merthyr into the facts of the case. The investigation produced in Mr. PRICE's mind a conviction that, whoever might have inflicted the stab-wound in Donald Black's thigh, (the crime of which Richard Lewis had been convicted,) and whether, in the scuffle, that wound was intentional or accidental, -certainly it could not possibly have been the convict Richard Lewis; and for this reason-that Richard Lewis was ascertained by Mr. PRICE to have been in another part of the crowd, upon evidence unequivocal, unexceptionable, and satisfactory to the last degree. Mr. PRICE thereupon came off to London, expressly for the purpose of laying these facts before the Government. The House of Lords was sitting at the time; and there, in one of the passages, he was permitted an interview with Lord Chancellor BROUGHAM, hoping to obtain his Lordship's earnest mediation with Lord MELBOURNE, the Secretary then for the Home Department, to grant a respite. Lord BROUGHAM, however, came out again to Mr. PRICE, reporting that Lord MELBOURNE refused the respite, Mr. PRICE then requested to see Lord MELBOURNE himself. His Lordship immediately came out, listened to the facts of the case, and read the documents-walked to the Home Office, and, în the absence of the Under Secretary, without hesitation signed a respite of fourteen days, making Mr. PRICE the bearer of it. We state these points in justice to the character of Lord Melbourne,

was, we believe, the bearer of the petition for mercy for the two culprits, signed by eleven thousand persons of Merthyr Tidvil and its neighbourhood. His Lordship felt it his duty, under the circumstances, to grant the time requisite to investigate the accuracy of the statements laid before him; which, if correct, make out a complete case of innocence for the prisoner.

As to the other convict, Lewis Lewis, it is true the Judge did forward a respite for him to the 6th day of August; but since that, Lord MELBOURNE has granted a respite generally, which usually precedes the extension of the mercy of the Crown. This was the man who saved the life of a constable, as we stated last week, by exposing himself to the blows aimed at him, by which he received several bruises. The constable, we are informed, has since come forward to depose to the fact; and no doubt is now entertained that his respite will be followed by a reprieve, if it have not taken place already.

The petitions, so numerously signed, from Merthyr Tidvil and Cardiff, evince the deep interest which is taken in the fate of both those men; and every account which we receive from that part of the country confirms the opinion which was expressed, that the extension of mercy to both the convicts would go farther towards the effectual and regret that we cannot record the sequel with the same satisfaction. Mr. PRICE hastened back to Wales with the respite, as only a few hours remained before the Sheriff must demand the body of Richard Lewis for execution. Having done this, he hoped the man was safe-what then must have been his astonishment to hear, at the expiration of the respite, an issue which, after repeating his continued belief of the man's innocence, he communicated to a correspondent in the following terms ! 'I have just learned that · Richard Lewis, who was hung this morning at Cardiff, declared to the Chaplain and others around-audibly with his dying breath-that he was innocent of the charge for which he was sentenced to die. This • declaration he made in the Welch language, and at the same time "prayed for forgiveness for all his accusers.'-ED.

restoration of tranquillity than a hundred executions ;whereas, the taking of more lives, by the extreme rigour of the law, after so much bloodshed by the military, might give the angry feelings, which have partially subsided, a dangerous revival.-Morning Herald, Thursday, August 4, 1831.

The Case of William Jennings, convicted of Arson, at the
Chelmsford Assizes.

While upon a subject connected with the exercise of that prerogative of the Crown which is designed to temper the harshness, and correct the errors of the stern law, we will take the opportunity of briefly alluding to the case of William Jennings, convicted at Chelmsford of arson, in having set fire to a barn containing grain, and who is ordered for execution on Friday. In this case we merely wish to call the attention of the Secretary for the Home Department to the evidence on which the verdict of guilty was returned, and which seems altogether too slight and vague to warrant such a conclusion. We entreat only that execution should be stayed for such a length of time as is necessary to investigate a case upon which considerate persons, who have paid some attention to the facts, have great doubts. There is great reason to believe that the servant girl, who swore to having seen him coming from the direction of the barn on the evening of the fire, has been mistaken. The case of Ewen, who suffered for arson, last winter, at Chelmsford, and whose innocence was, afterwards, generally admitted, is fresh in the recollection of our readers.*-Let not another irreparable error of the sort be committed. If the law is to be acted upon, which says the guilty shall die, let us at least be convinced that those who die, are guilty.-Morning Herald, Thursday, August 4, 1831.

* Ante, p. 100.