ITO THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."1
SIE,—The article in your issue of April 21st oir Mr. Dillon's Arrest" contains these words :—" For instance, to admit the distinction of political offences as contrasted with ordinary offences, would be to revolutionise and destroy the whole system of English criminal jurisprudence." This sentence must have been written in ignorance of the fact that under the Prisons Acts and the "Rules for Prisons" founded on them (applicable to England, Scotland, and Ireland) this dis- tinction clearly exists. Among the several classes of prisoners specified in the rules, we find one thus defined,—" Persons convicted of sedition or seditious libel." These rules state .distinctly the treatment to be observed towards these prisoners, as distinguished from the treatment of ordinary criminal prisoners.
This implies a clear admission of the principle condemned
in the Spectator.—I am, Sir, &c., F. R.
Previous page
