In addition to this these responsible Commissioners of Police might, with great propriety, and with no little public utility, have committed to them the superintendence of all Receipts and Disbursements of the accounts, and of all monies applicable to objects of Police: these they should lay annually before Parliament, if required, accompanied by a General Report; that the Legislature, as well as the Public at large, might see in what manner the funds had been applied; and what progress had been made in the prevention of crimes, and in restoring among the Labouring People that sense of morality, which never, perhaps, was at a lower ebb than at present.
The most enlightened Foreigners who have visited this Metropolis, and contemplated the nature and organization of our Police System, join in one general remark upon it; viz.—"That we have some shadow of Police, for apprehending Delinquents, after crimes are actually committed; but none for the purpose of preventing them."—This certainly is, in one sense, literally true;—and from this source, combined with the imperfection of the Criminal Code, have arisen all those enormities and inconveniences already so amply detailed.
Attached to the Laws and Government of his country, even to a degree of enthusiasm, the Author of this Work will not be too prone to seek for greater perfection in other nations: or to quote them as examples to be imitated in the Metropolis of the British Empire; and still less if such examples should tend, in the slightest degree, to abridge that freedom which is the birth-right of every Briton. But as all true liberty depends on those fences which are established in every Country, for the protection of the Persons and Property of the People, against every attack whatsoever: and as prejudices ought to be banished from the mind in all discussions tending to promote the General Weal, we ought not to be ashamed of borrowing good Systems from other Nations; wherever such can be adopted, consistent with the Constitution of the Country, and the Liberty of the Subject.
In France, under the Old Government, how much soever many parts of the System of that Country were justly reprobated, by all who were acquainted with the blessings of Freedom, yet, in the management and regulation of what was denominated The Police, there existed that kind of Establishment, with regard to personal security, and protection against the depredations of the most depraved part of the community, which Englishmen have certainly never enjoyed; who, on the contrary, have suffered manifold inconveniences from an idea, (surely a very erroneous one,) "that we must endure these public wrongs, and expose our property and lives to the attack of murderers, robbers, and highwaymen, as the price of Liberty."
When difficulties are felt, it is our duty to look at them dispassionately; to face them with fortitude, and to discuss them with intelligence—divested of all prejudices generated merely by habit and education. By pursuing this mode of investigation, it will be discovered that in other Governments there may be some Establishments worthy of imitation; and which, perhaps, might in part be adopted, not only in perfect consistency with the Freedom of the Subject; but with the advantage of extending to the mass of the People, who are not in a course of delinquency, more real liberty than they at present enjoy.—
At the commencement of the troubles in France, it is a curious fact, that the Lieutenant-General of the National Police, as well as that of the Metropolis, had upon his Registers the names of not less than twenty thousand suspected and depraved characters, whose pursuits were known to be of a criminal nature; yet, by making this part of Police the immediate object of the close and uniform attention of one branch of the Executive Government, Crimes were much less frequent than in England; and the security extended to the Public, with regard to the protection of Life and Property against lawless depredation, was infinitely greater.—To elucidate this assertion, and to shew to what a wonderful height the System had advanced, the Reader is referred to the following Anecdotes; which were mentioned to the Author by a Foreign Minister of great intelligence and information, who resided some years at the Court of France.
"A Merchant of high respectability in Bourdeaux had occasion to visit the Metropolis upon commercial business, 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 to Monsieur De Sartine.
"The 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 Monsieur De Sartine wanted with him; adding, at the same time, that he never had committed any offence against the Laws, and that he could have no right to interrupt or detain him.
"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.