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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Trial and Execution, for Petit Treason,
+of Mark and Phillis, Slaves of Capt. John Codman, by Abner Cheney Goodell, Jr.
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Trial and Execution, for Petit Treason, of Mark and Phillis, Slaves of Capt. John Codman
+       Who Murdered Their Master at Charlestown, Mass., in 1755;
+       for Which the Man Was Hanged and Gibbeted, and the Woman
+       Was Burned to Death. Including, Also, Some Account of Other
+       Punishments by Burning in Massachusetts
+
+Author: Abner Cheney Goodell, Jr.
+
+Release Date: August 28, 2008 [EBook #26446]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TRIAL, EXECUTION, PETIT TREASON ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Bryan Ness, Linda Cantoni, and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images generously made available
+by the Library of Congress)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Transcriber's Note: This e-book contains extensive passages from 18th
+Century documents. Spelling, punctuation, hyphenation, and
+capitalization are preserved as they appear in the original (including
+"goal" for "gaol"). Superscripts are rendered as normal letters.
+Macrons over consonants are rendered in brackets with an equal sign,
+e.g., [=c].]
+
+
+
+
+THE
+
+TRIAL AND EXECUTION,
+
+FOR PETIT TREASON,
+
+OF
+
+MARK AND PHILLIS,
+
+SLAVES OF CAPT. JOHN CODMAN,
+
+WHO MURDERED THEIR MASTER AT CHARLESTOWN, MASS., IN 1755;
+FOR WHICH THE MAN WAS HANGED AND GIBBETED,
+AND THE WOMAN WAS BURNED TO DEATH.
+
+INCLUDING, ALSO,
+
+SOME ACCOUNT OF OTHER PUNISHMENTS BY BURNING
+IN MASSACHUSETTS.
+
+
+BY
+
+ABNER CHENEY GOODELL, JR.
+
+
+CAMBRIDGE:
+JOHN WILSON AND SON.
+_University Press._
+1883.
+
+[200 copies printed.]
+
+
+
+
+THE TRIAL AND EXECUTION
+
+OF
+
+MARK AND PHILLIS,
+
+IN 1755.
+
+
+     [The following pages are, with slight changes, a reprint
+     from the Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical
+     Society, of a paper read before that Society, March 8, 1883,
+     in answer to a question propounded at a previous meeting,
+     relative to the authenticity of the tradition that a woman
+     was burned to death in Massachusetts in the year 1755. As
+     this case is the only known instance of the infliction of
+     the common-law penalty for petit treason, in New England,
+     and is not known to have been elsewhere reported, the
+     printers have, at the author's request, struck off, in
+     pamphlet form, a limited number of impressions for the use
+     of persons interested in the history of our criminal
+     jurisprudence, who may not have convenient access to the
+     serial from which it is taken, or who may desire to preserve
+     it separately.]
+
+It is not surprising that the execution of a woman, by burning, so
+lately as when Shirley was governor,--a period when the province had
+greatly advanced in culture and refinement,--should seem to any one
+incredible. Indeed, even so critical and thorough a student of our
+provincial history as our late distinguished associate, Dr. Palfrey,
+once wrote to me inquiring if the rumor of such a proceeding had any
+foundation in fact, and if so, whether the execution took place
+according to law, or by the impulse of an infuriated mob. It gave me
+great satisfaction to be able to settle his doubts on this subject by
+referring him to the records of the Superior Court of Judicature,
+where the judgment, from which I shall presently read to you, and a
+copy of which I sent to him, appears at length.
+
+The subject is important at this day only as serving to define the
+nature of the "cruel and unusual punishments" prohibited by the
+thirty-first article of the Declaration of Rights, in our state
+Constitution, since this mode of punishment, having continued after
+the adoption of the Constitution, cannot have been considered by the
+framers of that instrument either as "cruel" or "unusual" in the sense
+in which they used these words.
+
+The particulars of the crime for which the malefactors, Mark and
+Phillis, were executed are briefly as follows: Captain John Codman, a
+thrifty saddler, sea-captain, and merchant, of Charlestown, was the
+owner of several slaves whom he employed either as mechanics, common
+laborers, or house servants. Three of the most trusted of these, Mark,
+Phillis, and Phebe,--particularly Mark,--found the rigid discipline of
+their master unendurable, and, after setting fire to his workshop some
+six years before, hoping by the destruction of this building to so
+embarrass him that he would be obliged to sell them, they, in the year
+1755, conspired to gain their end by poisoning him to death.
+
+In this confederacy some five or six negroes belonging to other owners
+were more or less directly implicated. Mark, the leader, was able to
+read, and signed his examination, hereafter referred to, in a bold,
+legible hand. He professed to have read the Bible through, in order to
+find if, in any way, his master could be killed without inducing
+guilt, and had come to the conclusion that according to Scripture no
+sin would be committed if the act could be accomplished without
+bloodshed. It seems, moreover, to have been commonly believed by the
+negroes that a Mr. Salmon had been poisoned to death by one of his
+slaves, without discovery of the crime. So, application was made by
+Mark, first to Kerr, the servant of Dr. John Gibbons, and then to
+Robin, the servant of Dr. Wm. Clarke, at the North End of Boston, for
+poison from their masters' apothecary stores, which was to be
+administered by the two women.
+
+Essex, the servant of Thomas Powers, had also furnished Mark with a
+quantity of "black lead" for the same purpose. This was,
+unquestionably, not the harmless plumbago to which that name is now
+usually given, but galena, or _plumbum nigrum_, a native sulphuret of
+lead, probably used for a glaze by the potters of Charlestown.
+
+Kerr declined to have any hand in the business; but Robin twice
+obtained and delivered to Mark a quantity of arsenic, of which the
+women, Phebe and Phillis, made a solution which they kept secreted in
+a vial, and from time to time mixed with the water-gruel and sago
+which they sometimes gave directly to their victim to eat, and at
+other times prepared to be innocently administered to him by one of
+his daughters. They also mixed with his food some of the "black lead,"
+which Phillis seems to have thought was the efficient poison, though
+it appeared from the testimony that he was killed by the arsenic.
+
+The crime was promptly traced home to the conspirators; and on the
+second day of July, the day after Captain Codman's death, a coroner's
+jury found that he died from poison feloniously procured and
+administered by Mark. Ten days later, Quaco,--the nominal husband of
+Phebe, and one of the negroes implicated,--who was the servant of Mr.
+James Dalton, of Boston, was examined before William Stoddard, a
+justice of the peace, and on the same day Robin was arrested and
+committed to jail. The examination of Quaco was followed by the
+examination of Mark, and of Phillis, later in the month. These last
+were taken before the Attorney-General and Mr. Thaddeus Mason.
+
+At the term of the "Superiour Court of Judicature, Court of Assize,
+and General Goal Delivery," held at Cambridge on the second Tuesday of
+August following, the grand jury found a true bill for petit treason
+against Phillis, and against Mark and Robin as accessories before the
+fact. As this is the only indictment for this offence known to have
+been found in Massachusetts, and was drawn by that eminent lawyer,
+Edmund Trowbridge, then Attorney-General, it is worthy of being
+preserved in print, in connection with the coroner's verdict and the
+examinations of the suspected parties, which are as follows:--
+
+
+[_Coroner's Inquest._]
+
+[Two-penny
+stamp.]     MIDDLESEX ss.
+
+An Inquisition Indented, Taken at Charlestown Within the County of
+Middlesex Aforesaid the Second day of July in the Twenty ninth year of
+the Reign of our Lord George the Second by the Grace of God, of Great
+Britain France and Ireland, King Defender of the Faith &c., before
+John Remington Gentleman one of the Coroners of our said Lord the
+King, Within the County of Middlesex Aforesaid; upon view of the Body
+of John Codman of Charlestown Aforesaid Gentleman then and there Being
+dead by the oaths of Josiah Whitemore, Samuel Larkin, Samuel Larkin
+Junr. Richard Deavens, William Thompson, Nathaniel Brown, Samuel
+Kettle, John Larkin, Thomas Larkin, David Cheever, Barnabas Davis,
+Edward Goodwin, Benjamin Brazier, Samuel Sprague, Richard Phillips,
+Samuel Hendley and Michael Brigden Good and Lawfull men of Charlestown
+Aforesaid Within the County Aforesaid; Who being Charg'd and Sworn to
+Inquire for our said Lord the King, When, and by What means, and how
+the Said John Codman Came to his Death--upon their Oaths do Say that
+the said John Codman Came to his death By Poison Procured by his
+negro man servant Mark Which he took and Languishd untill the first of
+July Current and then died and so the Jurors Aforesaid upon their
+oaths do Say, that Aforesaid Mark in manner and Form Aforesaid, the
+Aforesaid John Codman then and there feloniously did Poison against
+the peace of our Soverign Lord the King his Crown and Dignity--
+
+In Witness, Whereof, as Well I the Coroner Aforesaid, as the Jurors
+Aforesaid, to this Inquisition have Interchangeably put our hands and
+Seals, the day And year Abovesaid.
+
+                            JOHN REMINGTON _Coroner_ [Seal.]
+RICHD PHILLIPS     [Seal.]  JOSIAH WHITTEMORE        [Seal.]
+SAMLL KETTELL      [Seal.]  SAML HENDLY              [Seal.]
+JOHN LARKIN        [Seal.]  MICHLL BRIGDEN           [Seal.]
+SAMUEL LARKIN JNR. [Seal.]  NATHLL BROWN             [Seal.]
+WILLIAM THOMPSON   [Seal.]  DAVID CHEEVER            [Seal.]
+THOMAS LARKIN      [Seal.]  SAMLL LARKIN             [Seal.]
+RICHARD DEVENS     [Seal.]  BENJAMIN BRAZIER         [Seal.]
+                            BARNABAS DAVIS           [Seal.]
+                            SAMUELL SPRAGUE          [Seal.]
+                            EDWD. GOODWIN            [Seal.]
+
+
+[_Examination of Quaco._]
+
+On the 12th July 1755, was Examined Quacoe a Negro man belonging to
+Mr James Dalton of Boston Victualler He sd Quacoe says that some
+time the last winter one Kerr a Negro man belonging to Doctr.
+Jno Gibbons came to the sd Quacoe & told him that Mark belongg.
+to Mr Codman had Been wth. him to get some Poyson and the sd. Quaco
+says that Ker told him that Mark asked the sd. Kerr whither Phoebe had
+been wth. him for said Poyson. The said Quacoe also says that he Spoke
+to Phoebe Mr Codman's negro woman whom he called his Wife & told her
+not to be Concerned with Mark for that she would be Brought into
+Trouble by him, for that Mark had been wth. Kerr Gibbons to get
+Poyson, & had askt sd Kerr whither Phoebe had not been wth him for sd
+Poyson. The sd Quacoe also says that the above discourse wth Phoebe
+was when they were going to Bed the Saturday night after the discourse
+had wth. Kerr Gibbons. He also says that he charged her not to be
+concerned wth. Mark about Poyson on any accot. whatever.
+
+The above Examination Taken on the 12th. July 1755 at Boston
+
+[Symbol: Per] WM STODDARD _J Pacis_
+
+
+[_Mittimus against Robin._]
+
+SUFFOLK ss:
+
+To The Keeper of His Majestys Goal in Boston and to the Constables of
+Boston Greeting--
+
+[Sidenote: L.S.]
+
+I herewith Comit to you Mr. Constable Pattin the Body of Robin a
+Negro man belonging to Dr. William Clarke of the North End of
+Boston, who is this day Charged wth being Concerned in the
+Poysoning of the late Mr. John Codman of Charles Town Deceased.
+Take Care of him and deliver him to The Keeper of His Majestys Goal in
+Boston; and you the sd Keeper are hereby Commanded to Receive the
+Body of the Said Robin and him Safely Keep untill he shall be
+discharged by Due Course of Law,
+
+Given under my hand and Seal at Boston the Twelfth day of July anno
+Domini 1755 and in the Twenty ninth Year of the Kings Reign.
+
+WM. STODDARD, _Just: Pacis_.
+
+
+[_Examination of Phillis._]
+
+MIDDX ss:
+
+The Examination of Phillis a negro Servant of John Codman late of
+Charlstown deceased taken by Edmund Trowbridge and Thaddeus Mason
+Esqrs at Cambridge in the County of Middlesex the 26th. Day of
+July Anno Domini 1755. And ye 2d of Augt. following--
+
+_Questn._ Was Mr. John Codman late of Charlstown de[=c]d, your
+Master?
+
+_Answr._ Yes he was.
+
+_Quest._ How long was you his servant?
+
+_Answr._ He my said Master bought me when I was a little girl and I
+continued his servant untill his Death.
+
+_Questn._ Do you know of what sickness your said master died?
+
+_Answer._ I suppose he was poisoned.
+
+_Quest._ Do you know he was poisoned?
+
+_Answr._ I do know he was poisoned.
+
+_Quest._ What was he poisoned with?
+
+_Answr._--It was with that black lead.
+
+_Quest._ what black Lead is it you mean?
+
+_Answr._ The Potter's Lead.
+
+_Quest._ How do you know your sd. master was poisoned with that
+Lead?
+
+_Answr._ Mark got some of the said Potter's Lead from Essex Powers
+and my young mistress Molly found some of the same Lead in the
+Porringer that my Master's Sagoe was in, he complain'd it was gritty;
+and that made Miss Molly look into the Porringer, and finding the Lead
+there, she ask'd me what it was, I told her I did not know.--I
+cleaned the Skillet the Sagoe was boiled in and found some of the same
+stuff in the bottom of the skillet that was in the bottom of the
+Porringer. And presently after Mark was carried to Goal, Tom brought a
+Paper of the Potter's Lead out of the Blacksmith's Shop, which he said
+he found there; and I saw it and am sure it was the same with that
+which Was in the bottom of the Porringer and the Skillet.
+
+_Quest._ Do you know that any other Poison besides the Potter's Lead
+was given to your sd master?
+
+_Answr._ Yes.
+
+_Quest._ What was it?
+
+_Answr._ It was Water which was poured out of a Vial.
+
+_Quest._ How do you know that, that Water was Poison?
+
+_Answr._ There was a White Powder in the Vial, which Sunk to the
+Bottom of it.--
+
+_Quest._ Do you know who put the Powder into the Vial?
+
+_Answr._ I put the first Powder in.
+
+_Quest._ Where did you get that Powder?
+
+_Answr._ Phebe gave it to me up in the Garret, the Sabbath Day
+morning before the last Sacrament before my master dyed, and Phoebe
+at the same time told me Mark gave it to her.
+
+_Quest._ What was the Powder in when Phoebe gave it you?
+
+_Answer._ It was in a White Paper, folded up Square, both ends being
+turn'd up, & it was tyed with some Twine.
+
+_Quest._ How much Powder was there in the Paper?
+
+_Answr._ There was a good deal of it I believe near an ounce.
+
+_Quest._ Did you put all that Powder into the Vial?
+
+_Answr._ No, I put in but a little of it, only so much as lay on
+the Point of a narrow Piece of flat Iron, with which I put it in,
+which Iron Mark made & gave it to me to give to Phebe, Mark gave me
+the sd Iron the Saturday before the Sabbath aforesd. I ask'd him
+what it was for, he would not tell me; he said Robbin gave him one,
+and he had lost it; and that he himself went into the shop and made
+this. I gave the sd Iron to Phoebe that same afternoon, in the
+Kitchen; and the next morning she gave it to me in the Garret, and
+Quaco was there with her; she whisper'd to me and told me to take the
+Paper of Powder which was in the hollow over the Window, and the flat
+Iron which was with it and put some of it into the Vial with the Iron
+which I did; and she bid me put some water into it, but I did not; but
+she afterwards put some in herself, as she told me, and she put it
+into the Closet in the Kitchen in a Corner behind a black Jug; and the
+same Vial was kept there untill my master dyed.
+
+_Quest._ Had your Master any of that Water which was put into the said
+Vial given to him?
+
+_Answr._ Yes he had.
+
+_Quest._ How was it given to him?
+
+_Answr._ It was poured into his barly Drink and into his Infusion,
+and into his Chocalate, and into his Watergruel.
+
+_Quest._ Who poured the Water out of the sd Vial into the
+Chocalate?
+
+_Answr._ Phoebe did, and Master afterwards eat it.
+
+_Quest._ Who pour'd it into his barly Drink?
+
+_Answr._ I did it myself; I pour'd a drop out of the Vial into the
+barly Drink, & I felt ugly, and pour'd the Water out of the mug again
+off from the Barly, and put clean Water into the mug again & cover'd
+it over that it might boil quick.
+
+_Quest._ Who pour'd the Water out of the Vial into the Infusion?
+
+_Answr._ Phoebe did.
+
+_Quest._ How do you know it?
+
+_Answr._ I came into the Kitchen and saw her do it.
+
+_Quest._ Did your master drink the Infusion after that water was so
+pour'd in?
+
+_Answr._ He drank one Tea Cup full of it.
+
+_Quest._ How do you know that Phoebe poured any of the poisoned
+Water out of the Vial into your Master's Chocalate?
+
+_Answr._ She told me she had done it.
+
+_Quest._ When did she tell you so?
+
+_Answr._ That Same Day.
+
+_Quest._ Was it before or after your Master eat that Chocalate that
+the poison'd Water was pour'd into, that She told you so?
+
+_Answr._ Before he eat it.
+
+_Quest._ Did you see him eat that Chocalate?
+
+_Answr._ Yes, I did, he eat it in the Kitchen on a little round
+Table.
+
+_Quest._ Who put the Second Powder into the Vial?
+
+_Answr._ Phoebe put it in; I left Part of the Powder she gave me
+in the Paper, and she afterwards put that into the Vial as she told
+me. as I was in the cellar drawing some Cyder, I heard Phoebe tell
+Mark that the Powder was all out, and all used up;
+
+_Quest._ When was it that you heard Phoebe tell Mark so?
+
+_Answr._ The Wednesday before my master dyed.
+
+_Quest._ Do you know of any more Powder being got to give to your
+master?
+
+_Answer._ Yes, but master never took any of it.
+
+_Quest._ Who got this last Powder?
+
+_Answr._ Mark got it.
+
+_Quest._ What did he do with it?
+
+_Answr._ He gave it to me; in our little House.
+
+_Quest._ What Sort of Powder was it that Mark gave You?
+
+_Answr._ I[t?] was white the same as the first.
+
+_Quest._ What was it in?
+
+_Answr._ In a Peice of Paper; he had more of that Powder than he
+gave me, it was in a Paper folded up in a long Square, he tore off
+Part of that Paper, and put Some of the Powder into it, and gave it to
+me and kept the rest himself. and at the same time that he gave it to
+me he told me that Robbin said we were damn'd Fools we had not given
+Master that first Powder at two Doses, for it wou'd have killed him,
+and no Body would have known who hurt him, for it was enough to kill
+the strongest man living; upon which I ask'd Mark how he knew, it
+would not have been found out, he said that Mr. Salmon's Negros
+poison'd him, and were never found out, but had got good masters, & so
+might we.
+
+_Quest._ What did you do with that Powder which Mark gave you?
+
+_Answr._ I put it into the Vial, & set it in the Same Place it was
+in before, there was some of the first Powder & Water remaining in the
+Vial when I put this last in.
+
+_Quest._ Do you know that any of the Water that was in the Vial after
+you put this last Powder in was given to your Master?
+
+_Answr._ No, he never had a drop of it. The next Day after Master
+died Mark came into the Closet where I was eating my Dinner and ask'd
+me for that Bottle. I ask'd him what he wanted it for, and he would
+not tell me, but insisted upon having it, upon which I told him that
+it was there behind the Jugg, and he took it and went directly down to
+the Shop in the yard, and I never saw it afterwards 'till Justice
+Mason shew it to me, on the Fast Day night.
+
+_Quest._ Do you know where Mark got that Powder which he gave to you?
+
+_Answr._ He had it of Robbin, Doctr Clark's Negro; that liv'd
+with Mr. Vassall.
+
+_Quest._ How do you know that Mark had that Powder of Robbin?
+
+_Answr._ The Thursday night before my master died Mark told me he
+was going over to Boston to Robbin to get some more Powder for he
+sd: Phoebe told him yt the other was all out; and Mark went
+over to Boston, and return'd again about nine o'Clock; and I ask'd
+Mark if he had got it, and he told me no, he had not, but Robbin was
+to bring it over the next night; and between 8 & 9 o'Clock that next
+night, a negro Fellow came to me in our Yard & ask'd me for Mark, And
+I ask'd him his name but he would not tell me, and I said to him,
+Countryman, if you'l tell me your name I'll call Mark, for I know
+where he is, but he would not, I then askt him if he was not Robbin
+Vassall, (for I mistrusted it was he) and upon that he laughed and
+said his name was not Robbin Vassall, but he came out of the Country
+and wanted to see Mark very much about his Child; and upon my refusing
+to tell him where Mark was the negro went away down to the Ferry, and
+I followed him at some distance & saw him go into the Ferry Boat, and
+the Boat put off, with him in it. That same Fryday, in the afternoon,
+Mark told me, if any Negro Fellow shou'd come; & say that he came out
+of the Country to call him, I ask'd him what negro it was that he
+expected wou'd come; he told me it was Robbin, and that he was to say
+that he came out of the Country to speak with Mark about his Child,
+and bid me tell no Body about it.
+
+_Quest._ Do you know Robbin Doctr. Clark's negro?
+
+_Answr._ I do, and have known him for many years.
+
+_Quest._ How then happen'd it that you cou'd not certainly tell
+whether the negro aforesd. that askt for Mark was Robbin or not?
+
+_Answr._ Because it was dark, So dark I cou'd not see his Face so
+as certainly to know him, but I am fully satisfyed it was Robbin.
+
+_Quest._ What Reason have you to be satisfyed it was Robbin?
+
+_Answr._ That same night I told Mark that a negro Fellow had been
+there and ask'd for him & wanted him, he ask'd me why I did not call
+him, I told him our Folks called me and I could not, Mark told me he
+was very Sorry I did not, and asked me if he gave me any Thing, I told
+him he did not, he said he was very sorry he did not; then I ask'd him
+who it was, and he said it was Robbin, and then he told me that he
+thought Robbin & he had been playing blind-mans Buff, for they had
+been over the Ferry twice that night and mist one another; and that
+Elijh Phipps & Timo Rand told him that a negro Fellow had been over
+the Ferry to speak with him about his Child. And then Mark told me he
+would the next Night go over to Robbin and get some more of the same
+Powder, and would bring it over on the Sabbath Day, & he went to
+Boston on the Saturday night, but did not return till Monday morning,
+when he brought it and gave it to me in the little House, as I told
+you before.
+
+_Quest._ Did you see Robbin at Charlstown in the Time of your master's
+sickness or about the Time of his Death?
+
+_Answr._ Yes, I saw him on ye Tuesday the Ship was launched,
+when my master catch'd Mark buying Drink at Mrs Shearman's to treat
+him with, & drove him away; and I saw him at Charlstown on the
+Saturday after my Master was buried; but I did not speak with him at
+either of those Times. The Tuesday he was before our Shop Door, in the
+Street, with Mark and had a Bag upon his shoulder; and on the Saturday
+in the afternoon I saw him going up the Street by our House, while
+Phoebe and I were washing in the back yard; I told Phoebe there
+was Robbin a going along this minit, and she said is he? and ask'd me
+what Cloaths he had on; I told her he had a bluish Coat on lined with
+a straw coloured or yellow lining and the Cuffs open & lined with the
+said Yellow lining, and that he had a black wigg on; and I told
+Phoebe I believed he was gone up to Mark to tell him not to own that
+he had given any Thing to him, and Phoebe said she believed so to;
+and I went into the street to the Pump with a Pail to get some Water,
+designing to see whether he went that Way, and I saw him go right up
+the main street, and I could see him as far up as Mr. Eleazer
+Phillips's, and I did not see him afterwards. I never see him with a
+Wigg on before, but as he went by us he look'd me full in the Face and
+I knew it was Robbin. When I told Phoebe that Robbin was going by, I
+thought she saw him, but she questioned whether it was he, and I told
+her I was sure it was he, for I had known him ever since he was a boy,
+and I told her I would lay a mug of Flip that it was he, but she wou'd
+not; and then it was that I told her I believed he was gone up to Mark
+&c.
+
+_Quest._ Do you know what Powder that was which Mark & Phoebe gave
+you, and you put into the Vial?
+
+_Answr._ Mark told me it was Ratsbane, but I told Phoebe I
+believed Mark lied & that it was only burnt allom, for I told her,
+that upon taking Ratsbane they would directly swell, and Master did
+not swell; and she said she believed so to.
+
+_Quest._ How many Times was any of that Water, which was in the Vial
+aforesd., put into your master's victuals?
+
+_Answr._ Not above Seven Times.
+
+_Quest._ When was the first Time?
+
+_Answr._ The next Monday morning after Phoebe gave me the first
+Powder. then it was put into his Chocalate, by Phoebe. The next was
+also put in to his Chocalate by Phoebe on the next Wednesday
+morning, and I thinking she put in more than she should, told her her
+hand was heavy, and there was no more put in, that, I know of till the
+next Fryday, when Phoebe put some into his Chocalate, and my Master
+eat the Chocalate all the three times aforesaid in the Kitchen, and I
+was there & saw him; The next was on the Saturday following, when I
+put Some into his Watergruel, but I felt ugly and threw it away, and
+made some fresh, and did not put any into that. The next was on the
+afternoon of the same Saturday, I made him some more Watergruel &
+pour'd some of the Water out of the Vial into it, and it turned
+yellow, and Miss Betty, ask'd me what was the matter with the
+Watergruel and I gave her no answer; but that was thrown away, and
+more fresh made, and Miss Molly was going to put the same Plumbs in
+again, and Phoebe told her not to do it, but she had better put in
+some fresh Plumbs, and she did; and no Poison was put into that; It
+was by Phoebe's advice that I put it into the first this afternoon.
+And he had no more, that I know of 'till the next Monday night, when
+Mark put some of the Potter's Lead into Masters Sagoe.
+
+_Quest._ How do you know that Mark put any of the Potter's Lead into
+the Sagoe?
+
+_Answer._ When I went out of the Kitchen I left the Sagoe in the
+little Iron Skillet on the Fire, and no body was in the Kitchen then,
+but when I returned, Mark was Sitting on a Form in the Corner, and I
+afterwards found Some of that Lead in the Skillet, and neither
+Phoebe nor I had any Such Lead.
+
+_Quest._ Do you know of any other Poison prepar'd for, or given to
+your Master?
+
+_Answr._ No, I do not.
+
+_Quest._ Who was it that first contrived the poisoning your Master
+Codman?
+
+_Answr._ It was Mark who first contrived it, He told Phoebe and I
+that he had read the Bible through, and that it was no Sin to kill him
+if they did not lay violent Hands on him So as to shed Blood, by
+sticking or stabbing or cutting his Throat.
+
+_Quest._ When was it that Mark first proposed the poisoning his
+Master?
+
+_Answr._ Some time last Winter; he proposed it to Phoebe and I,
+but we would not agree to it, and told him No Such Thing should be
+done in the House; This before my Master brought him home from Boston.
+
+_Quest._ Did he ever afterwards propose the poisoning his sd
+Master?
+
+_Answr._ Yes he did, a Week or a Fortnight after my Master brought
+him home from Boston, he proposed it to me first, and I would not
+agree to it, and then he proposed it to Phoebe.
+
+_Quet._ What Reason did Mark give for poisoning his Master?
+
+_Answ._ He said he was uneasy and wanted to have another Master, and
+he was concerned for Phoebe and I too.
+
+_Quest._ Do you know how your Master's Work house that was burnt down
+came on Fire?
+
+_Answr._ Yes I do.
+
+_Quest._ How came it on fire?
+
+_Answr._ I set it on fire, but it was thro' Mark's means, he gave
+me no rest 'till I did it.
+
+_Quest._ How did you Set your Master's Work House on fire?
+
+_Answr._ I threw a Coal of Fire into some Shavings between the
+Blacksmith's Shop & the Work House, and I went away & did not see it
+kindle.
+
+_Quest._ Who put the Shavings there?
+
+_Answr._ Mark did.
+
+_Quest._ Was any Body concern'd in the burning the Work house
+besides Mark and you?
+
+_Answr._ Yes, Phoebe knew about it as well as I.
+
+_Quest._ Where was Phoebe & Mark when you put the Coal of Fire into
+the Shavings?
+
+_Answr._ The were up Garret in bed.
+
+_Quest._ Who first proposed the Setting the Workhouse on fire? and
+what reason was given for doing it?
+
+_Answr._ Mark first proposed it, to Phoebe and I; and the Reason
+he gave us was that he wanted to get to Boston, and if all was burnt
+down, he did not know what Master could do without selling us.
+
+_Quest._ Why did you, when Phoebe pour'd Some of the Water out of
+the Vial into the Chocalate tell her, "her hand was heavy?"
+
+_Answr._ I thought she pour'd in too much, more than she should I
+felt ugly and I wan't willing she shou'd put in so much and that he
+should be kill'd so quick. Mark's orders were to give it in two Doses,
+that was the Directions Robbin gave to Mark, as Mark told me, and Mark
+Said Robbin told him there was no more taste in it than in Cold Water.
+
+_Quest._ Why did you not tell your Master or some of the Family that
+Phoebe had poisoned the Chocalate, and thereby prevent your Master's
+eating it?
+
+_Answr._ I do not know why I did not tell.
+
+The mark of X Phillis.
+
+
+[_Examination of Mark._]
+
+MIDDLESEX ss:
+
+The Examination of Mark a Negro Servant of John Codman late of
+Charlstown deceased taken by Edmund Trowbridge & Thaddeus Mason
+Esqrs. at Charlstown in the County of Middlesex the ---- Day of
+July Anno Dom: 1755.
+
+_Quest._ What is your name?
+
+_Answr._ Mark.
+
+_Quest._ Are you a Servant or Freeman?
+
+_Answr._ A Servant. Mr. John Codman decd: was my master.
+
+_Quest._ How long was you his Servant?
+
+_Answr._ For several Years before & untill his Death.
+
+_Quest._ Do you know what occasion'd your sd. Master's Death?
+
+_Answr._ He was poisoned.
+
+_Q._ What was he poisoned with?
+
+_A._ With Poison that came from the Doctor's.
+
+_Q._ What Doctor?
+
+_Answr._ Doctr. Clark that lives at the North End of Boston.
+
+_Q._ What sort of Poison was that?
+
+_A._ It was a White Powder put up in a Paper.
+
+_Q._ How do you know that that Powder came from Doctr. Clark's?
+
+_A._ Robbin the Negro Fellow that belongs to Doctr. Clark gave it
+to me.
+
+_Q._ When & where did Robbin give you that Powder?
+
+_An._ A Week Day night, at his Master's Barn.
+
+_Qu._ Was there any Person present with you when Robbin gave you that
+Powder?
+
+_An._ No. The first Time, the negro man his fellow Servant called him
+out, it was in the Evening near 9 o'Clock.
+
+_Qu._ How many Times had you such Powder of Robbin?
+
+_An._ Twice only.
+
+_Qu._ When was the last Time you had any such Powder of him?
+
+_An._ The Sabbath Day night before my sd. Master died, in the
+Evening after Candle Light.
+
+_Qu._ Where was it you had this last Powder of him, and what was it
+in?
+
+_An._ He gave it to me in the same Barn, it was done up in a long
+square in two Papers, the outtermost Paper was brown and the inermost
+Paper was White, as the other was.
+
+_Qu._ What did Robbin give you these Powders for?
+
+_An._ To kill three Pigs belonging to Quaco as Phoebe told me.
+
+_Qu._ How long ago was it Since Robbin gave you the first of these
+Powders?
+
+_An._ I can't certainly tell.
+
+_Qu._ Was it before Robbin & you were together at John Harris ye
+Potters Work house?
+
+_Ansr._ I think it was before.
+
+_Qu._ How long before was it?
+
+_Ansr._ About a Week before.
+
+_Qu._ Did you pay Robbin any Thing for these Powders?
+
+_An._ No. I did not.
+
+_Q._ What did you do with them?
+
+_Ans._ Phoebe had the first; and she sent Phillis for the second and
+I gave it to her.
+
+_Qu._ When & where did you give Phoebe the first Paper of that
+Powder?
+
+_An._ In our Garret; the same night I brought it over.
+
+_Qu._ Was any Body there when you gave it to her?
+
+_An._ No.
+
+_Qu._ What did she do with it?
+
+_An._ She took it & put it upon the Table.
+
+_Qu._ Did you give her the whole of the Powder you had of Robbin the
+first Time?
+
+_An._ Yes. I gave her the Paper with all the Powder in it, as I
+received it of Robbin.
+
+_Qu._ Did you tell her what was in the Paper?
+
+_An._ No. She knew what was in it; for she told me what to get.
+
+_Qu._ What did she tell you to get?
+
+_An._ Something to kill three Pigs.
+
+_Qu._ Did Robbin give you any Directions how to use that Powder, and
+tell you what Effect it would have?
+
+_Ans._ He told me to put it into about 2 Quarts of Swill or Indian
+meal, and it would make 'em swell up.
+
+_Qu._ Did you tell her how she must use the Powder? or what Effect it
+would have?
+
+_Answr._ yes I told her as Robbin told me.
+
+_Qu._ Do you know whether she used that Powder or any Part of it?
+
+_Answr._ no otherwise than as Phoebe & Phillis told me Since my
+master's Death.
+
+_Qu._ Who did you give the Second Paper of Powder to?
+
+_An._ To Phillis.
+
+_Qu._ When & where did you give that Paper of Powder to Phillis?
+
+_Ans._ In the little House; She came to empty a Pot over the Wharffe,
+and I gave it to her, The Monday before my sd. Master died, after
+Breakfast in the Forenoon.
+
+_Qu:_ Did you then give her all the Powder you recd. of Robbin the
+Second Time?
+
+_Ans._ Yes. I took off the brown Paper and gave it to her in the white
+Paper, that it was in, when Robbin gave it to me.
+
+_Qu._ What did she do with it?
+
+_Answr._ She caried it into the House to Phoebe as Phillis told
+me, She came to me & told me Phoebe sent her for that Thing that She
+sent me for, and thereupon I gave Phillis the Paper.
+
+_Qu:_ How was your Master poisoned with these Powders?
+
+_Answr._ Phoebe & Phillis told me that they used them for that
+End.
+
+_Qu:_ When did they tell you this?
+
+_Answr._ The next Day after my master died.
+
+_Q:_ Were they together when they told you So?
+
+_Answr._ No, Phillis told me of it first, and said that Phoebe
+used all that I brought first, that Way; and that the last was used so
+too by her and Phoebe; and then I went to Phoebe and ask'd her
+about it, and She denyed it at first but when I told her that Phillis
+had told me all about it, then she owned it.
+
+_Quest._ Had you no Reason before your sd. master dyed to think
+that the Powders you had of Robbin were given to your master or that
+he was poison'd therewith?
+
+_Answr._ No other Reason than hearing Phoebe the Saturday night
+before master died ask Phillis, if she had given him enough, to which
+she replyed, yes. I have given him enough, and will stick as close to
+him as his shirt to his back; but who she meant I did not then know,
+nor untill after master died.
+
+_Quest._ Was there no Discourse had between you Phoebe & Phillis
+about getting more Poison, after you had the first, of Robbin?
+
+_Answ._ The Fryday before my master died Phoebe told me that she had
+lost that stuff that I had brought to her from Robbin, and desired me
+to get her some more. I told her I wou'd when I went over to Boston;
+this was in the Forenoon, when she was washing in the back yard.
+
+_Quest._ Did you get her any more of Robbin?
+
+_Ansr._ Yes, and that was it which I gave to Phillis
+
+_Quest._ When did you go over to get the last Poison?
+
+_Ans._ on the Saturday night before my master died; I went over after
+Sunset; I went directly to Robbin; & told him I wanted some of the
+same I had of him before for that was lost, Robbin was then at the
+Corner of his master's House out in the street, he told me he could
+not get any then, but if I wou'd come on the Sabbath Day night he
+would let me have some, and I went to him on the Sabbath Day night
+after Candle Light, and he then gave it to me.
+
+_Quest._ Was there any Body with you on the Saturday night when you
+ask'd for the Poison, or do you know whether any Person saw you &
+Robbin together that Evening?
+
+_Answr._ No, nobody was there, and I dont know that any Body saw us
+together that Evening.
+
+_Quest._ How long was you with Robbin at Mr. Harris's Work house?
+
+_Answr._ I made no tarry there, but left him at the Pot house, and
+he and the young man that was with him followed me and overtook me a
+little below Mr. Waite's Slaughter house; And they went with me
+into the Lane leading from the market Place to the long Wharffe near
+Mrs. Shearman's, while I went into Mrs. Shearmans and got a mug
+of Toddy, in the mug I brought from Mr. Harris's Work house, and I
+carried it to them and they both drank with me.
+
+_Quest._ Had you any Discourse with Robbin in private or between you
+and him alone that Day?
+
+_Ansr._ No, none at all.
+
+_Quest._ Where did you drink the Toddy?
+
+_Answr._ In the Lane aforesd.
+
+_Quest._ Where did you all go after you drank the Toddy?
+
+_Answr._ We all came away together & went thro' Mr. Sprague's
+Yard & so thro' Mrs. Silence Harris's yard & Entry into the street.
+and they went directly down to the Ferry and I went into my master's
+Yard with the Pots I brought from the Potters Work house.
+
+_Quest._ Did you then go with them to the Ferry or nearer to it than
+your master's House?
+
+_Answr._ No, I did not.
+
+_Quest._ Did Robbin give you, or did you give Robbin any Thing between
+the Time of your coming out of Mr. Harris's Entry and his going
+over the Ferry?
+
+_Answr._ No, I did not give him any Thing neither did he give me
+any Thing.
+
+_Quest._ After you had parted with him when you came thro' the Entry,
+did you call him back?
+
+_Answr._ No, I did not.
+
+_Quest._ Did your master that Day forbid Mrs Shearman's letting you
+have any more Drink?
+
+_Answr._ Yes, my master told her not to sell any Drink to any of
+his Servants.
+
+_Quest._ Did Robbin know of it?
+
+_Answr._ Not that I know of; he see master go into Mrs.
+Shearman's Shop, and pass'd by Robbin in the Lane as Robbin told me.
+
+_Quest._ Did you ever apply to any body else, besides Robbin for
+Poison?
+
+_Answr._ No, only to Carr, Doctr. Gibbon's negro man, and then
+Phoebe sent me for it. She had been with Carr before on the same
+account, & he told her he cou'd not get her any then, as she told me;
+
+_Quest._ Did you get any Poison of Carr?
+
+_Ansr._ No, he told me he wou'd not let me have any, untill he had
+seen Quaco, and did not know whether he shou'd then or not, and I
+never went to him afterwards.
+
+_Quest._ Did you never ask Doctr. Rand's Cato for any Poison?
+
+_Answr._ No, I do not know that I ever did, in the World.
+
+_Quest._ Had you and Phoebe any Conversation together about your
+master in or near your Blacksmith's Shop or in the yard the Monday
+before your master died?
+
+_Answr._ I had not, that I know of.
+
+_Quest._ Did you that Day before Tom or any other of your master's
+Servants say that you knew that your master would dye or utter any
+Words to that effect?
+
+_Answr._ No, I did not. The Day before master dyed, Phoebe came
+into the Shop to dress Tom's Eye & got to dancing & mocking master &
+shaking herself & acting as master did in the Bed; And Tom said he did
+not care, he hop'd he wou'd never get up again for his Eye's sake, and
+Scipio was there at the same time and saw her.
+
+_Quest._ Did you ever Say that your master had been offer'd £400 for
+you but wou'd not take it, and now he shou'd not have a farthing or
+Words to that effect?
+
+_Answr._ No I never said any such Thing. MARK.[1]
+
+[Footnote 1: Mark signed his deposition here, and the entry,
+"continued," was made at the end of the sheet; the next sheet
+beginning, "Mark's Examination, continued."]
+
+_Quest._ Did you ever tell Phoebe or Phillis that the Week before
+your master dyed, that you went over the Ferry to see Robbin to get
+some more Poison, and that he came over the Ferry in another Boat and
+so you mist each other and that he Robbin pretended to the Ferry-man
+that he was a Country negro and wanted to see you about your Child, or
+Words to that Effect?
+
+_Answr._ I never told them or either of them so.
+
+_Quest._ How came that Viall buried near your Forge in the
+Black-Smith's Shop, that you told Mr. Kettell of, and he found
+there?
+
+_Answr._ I buried it there.
+
+_Quest._ When did you bury it there?
+
+_Answr._ In the afternoon of that Day that master dyed.
+
+_Quest._ Where did you get that Vial?
+
+_Answr._ I took it from Phillis that same Afternoon.
+
+_Quest._ Did any body see you take it from her?
+
+_Answr._ No. When I took it from Phillis she own'd that Phoebe
+had given the first Poison that I brought to master; and that she and
+Phoebe had given him all the Rest saving what was then in the
+Bottle. and thereupon I went to Phoebe and charged her with it, she
+at first deny'd it, but at last own'd it it and begg'd me to say
+nothing about it; I told her if I had known she wou'd have put it to
+that use I would not have got it for her; then I call'd Pompey to go
+down to the shop with me for I wanted to speak with him, intending to
+shew him the Vial, and he came into the shop but before I had an
+opportunity to speak to him Mr. Kettell took me.
+
+_Quest._ Where was the Vial when you talked with Phoebe as
+aforesd?
+
+_Answr._ I had it in my Pocket, and told her so, then I went into
+the shop and buried it, then I went into the House immediately to call
+Pompey to shew it to him.
+
+_Quest._ Why did you bury the Vial before you called Pompy? or shew it
+to any body?
+
+_Answr:_ I buried it because I did not want any body should see it
+before I shewed it to him.
+
+_Questn._ Have you lately had any Potters powder'd Lead by you or
+in your Possession?
+
+_Answr._ Only that I had from Essex Powars; which was as I suppose
+ground to Powder.
+
+_Quest._ When did you get that powder'd Lead of Essex?
+
+_Ansr:_ I had it of him that Day I went there for six butter Pots,
+which my master's son Isaac sent me for.
+
+_Quest._ What did you get that Lead for?
+
+_Answr._ To see if it would melt in our Fire. upon a Dispute
+between Tom and I about it; Tom said it would melt, and I told him I
+did not believe it would; I carried it home and laid it upon the Wall
+Plate in the Blacksmith's shop, and I never moved it afterwards or
+thought any Thing about it, 'till it was show'd to me by the Justice.
+
+_Quet._ Do you know that any Part of that Lead you had of Essex or any
+Lead like unto it was given to your master or put into his Victuals or
+Drink?
+
+_Answr._ I do not.
+
+_Quest._ Do you know of any Proposal made of poisoning your master?
+
+_Answ._ No, I do not, nor ever heard any such Thing proposed by any
+Body.
+
+_Quest._ Do you know of any Cushoe nuts being procured for that
+Purpose?
+
+_Answr._ No; I have not seen a Cushoe nut since I have been in this
+Country.
+
+_Quest._ Do you know of any Copperas or Green stuff being provided for
+that Purpose?
+
+_Answr._ No I do not.
+
+_Quest._ What Time on the Saturday before your master dyed was it that
+you heard Phoebe ask Phillis, if she had given him enough, and
+Phillis said she had, and would stick as close to him as his Shirt to
+his Back?
+
+_Answr._ In the afternoon about Dark; and before I went to Boston.
+
+_Quest._ How came you, after you had heard this Talk between Phoebe
+and Phillis, to get her sd. Phoebe more Poison?
+
+_Answr._ I did not know what she meant by their Talk, nor who they
+meant, by him.
+
+_Quest._ Did you tell Carr that Phoebe sent you for that Poison you
+applyed to him for?
+
+_Answr._ She did not tell me it was Poison, but told me to ask Carr
+for that Thing he had promised her; he said he knew what it was and
+would not send it, 'till he had talked to Quaco, and did not know that
+he should send it afterwards; and I said no more to Carr about it.
+
+_Quest._ Did you ever ask Carr at any other Time for Poison?
+
+_Ansr._ No.
+
+_Quest._ Did you never ask him for something to Poison or kill a Dog?
+
+_Answr._ No, not that I know of.
+
+_Quest._ Was you ever bit by a Dog?
+
+_Answr._ No. I never was.
+
+_Quest._ Do you know any Thing more of your master's being poisoned
+than you have before related?
+
+_Ansr._ No, I do not.
+
+MARK.
+
+
+[_Bill of Indictment._]
+
+[Sidenote: MIDDLESEX ss.]
+
+At His Majesties Superiour Court of Judicature Court of
+Assize and General Goal Delivery held at Cambridge in and for the
+County of Middlesex on the first Tuesday of August in the Twenty ninth
+Year of the Reign of George the Second by the Grace of God of Great
+Britain France & Ireland King Defender of the Faith &c.
+
+The Jurors for the said Lord the King upon their Oath present That
+Phillis a Negro woman of Charlestown in the County of Middlesex
+Spinster Servant of John Codman late of Charlestown aforesaid
+Gentleman not having the Fear of God before her Eyes but of her Malice
+forethought contriving to deprive the said John Codman her said Master
+of his Life and him feloniously and Traiterously to kill and murder,
+She the said Phillis on the thirtieth Day of June last at Charlestown
+aforesaid in the Dwelling house of the said John there did of her
+Malice forethought willfully feloniously and Traiterously put a Deadly
+Poison called Arsenick into a Vial of water and thereby did then and
+there Poison the same Water----and that the said Phillis knowing the
+Water aforesaid to be so poisoned did then and there feloniously
+willfully traiterously and of her Malice forethought put one spoonfull
+of the Same Water so poisoned into a Pint of the Said John's
+Watergruel and thereby poison the Same Watergruel----And that the said
+Phillis did then and there of her malice forethought feloniously
+willfully and traiterously in manner as aforesaid poison the
+Watergruel aforesaid, with a felonious and Traiterous Intent and
+Design that the said John her said master then being should then and
+there eat the Same Watergruel so poisoned and thereby be poisoned
+killed & murdered----And that one Elizabeth Codman not knowing the
+Watergruel aforesaid to be so poisoned then and there Innocently gave
+the Same Watergruel so poisoned as aforesaid to the said John to eat--
+
+And that the said John then and there being the said Phillis's Master
+and being altogether ignorant of the Watergruel aforesaid's being
+poisoned as as[2] aforesaid and Suspecting no Evil did then and there
+eat the same Watergruel so poisoned as aforesaid----And that the said
+Phillis then and there was feloniously and traiterously present with
+the said Elizabeth & John knowing of and consenting unto the said
+Elizabeth's giving him the said John the Watergruel aforesaid so
+poisoned as aforesaid and his eating the same as aforesaid----And that
+the said John by means of his eating the Watergruel aforesaid so
+poisoned as aforesaid There Languished for the space of fifteen Hours
+and then at Charlestown aforesaid Died of the Poison aforesaid given
+him as aforesaid----And So the Jurors aforesaid upon their Oath say
+that the said Phillis did at Charlestown aforesaid of her malice
+forethought in manner and form aforesaid willfully feloniously and
+traiterously poison kill & murder the said John Codman her said master
+against the Peace of the said Lord the King his Crown & Dignity.
+
+[Footnote 2: _Sic._]
+
+And the Jurors aforesaid upon their Oath further present That Mark a
+Negro man of Charlestown aforesaid Labourer and Servant of the said
+John Codman. And Robbin a Negro man of Boston in the County of Suffolk
+Labourer & Servant of John Clark of Boston aforesaid Apothecary before
+the said Treason and murder aforesaid committed by the said Phillis in
+manner & form aforesaid did at Charlestown aforesaid on the twentieth
+Day of June last of their malice forethought (the said Mark then being
+Servant of the said John Codman) feloniously & traiterously advise &
+incite procure & abet the said Phillis to do and commit the said
+Treason & Murder aforesaid against the Peace of the said Lord the King
+his Crown and Dignity.
+
+EDM TROWBRIDGE _Attr [Symbol: Per] Dom Rege._
+
+This is a True Bill.
+
+CALEB DANA _foreman_.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The case was tried, at the same term at which the parties were
+indicted, before Stephen Sewall, chief justice, and Benjamin Lynde,
+John Cushing, and Chambers Russell, associate justices,--all fairly
+read in the law, and the Chief Justice eminent in his profession.
+Samuel Winthrop and Nathaniel Hatch, jointly, were clerks of the
+court.[3]
+
+[Footnote 3: This is assumed to be the case, since both these clerks
+officially signed papers in this very case, though, from the loose
+custom which gradually obtained with the clerks of our highest
+judicial court, of not recording their appointments, it is impossible
+to verify this statement by the record. Samuel Tyley, Jr., and
+Benjamin Rolfe were sworn in as joint clerks of this court, Feb. 26,
+1718, and Samuel Winthrop was clerk as early as June, 1745, and
+Nathaniel Hatch as early as September, 1752.]
+
+Mark and Phillis were convicted, and sentence of death was pronounced
+upon them in strict conformity to the common law of England. On the
+6th of September, a warrant for their execution was issued, under the
+seal of the court, commanding Richard Foster, Sheriff of Middlesex, to
+perform the last office of the law, on the 18th of the same month; and
+upon this warrant the sheriff made return upon the day of the
+execution.
+
+The subpoenas to the witnesses against the accused, the caption and
+conclusion of the record of the case, and the warrant for the
+execution of the condemned are as follows:--
+
+PROVINCE OF THE     } _George the Second by the Grace of God of Great
+MASSACHUSETTS BAY,  }  Britain France & Ireland King Defender
+ss.                 }  of ye Faith &c._
+
+       To the Sheriff of our County of Middlesex his under
+SEAL.  Sheriff or Deputy or to any Constable of the Town of
+       Charlestown within Said County, Greeting--
+
+We Command you That you Su[=m]on Wm. Brattle Esqr Docter Pinchin of
+Boston Joseph Rand Junr. Hatter Bartholomew Powers Isaac Rand
+Phisitian Wm. Kneland, Benjn. Codman Parnel Codman Elizh.
+Codman Mary Codman Ann Codman Catherine Codman, Pompey Thomas Cuffee
+and Scipeo negro servants that were Jno. Codman Decd. James Kittle
+Wm. Foster Phisitian Essex Servant to thomas powers Servt. of
+Dr. Rand Dinah Servt. of Richd. Foster Esqr Ruth Adams
+
+To appear Before our Justices of our Superiour Court of Judicature
+Court of Assize and General Goal Delivery now held at Cambridge within
+& for said County tomorrow at Eight of ye Clock before noon to give
+Such Evidence in our Behalf (as you know) against Mark a Negro man &
+Phillis a Negro woman both of Charlestown aforesaid--
+
+Hereof fail not and so soon as may be make return of this Writ with
+your Doings Therein into the same Court Witness Stephen Sewall Esq. at
+Boston the sixth Day of August in the twenty ninth year of our Reign
+Annoq. Domini 1755
+
+SAML WINTHROP _Cler_
+
+[_Endorsed Return._]
+
+MIDDLESEX ss. August 7, 1755
+
+We have somoned the persons within named to appear & Give Evidence at
+the time & place within mentioned.
+
+JAMES KETTELL, _Dept Sheriff_,
+  & JOHN MILLER
+    _Constabel_.
+
+
+PROVINCE OF THE       } _George the Second by the Grace of God of
+MASSACHUSETTS BAY ss  }  Great Britain France & Ireland King
+                         Defender of the Faith &c._
+
+       To the Sheriff of our County of Suffolk his under Sheriff
+SEAL.  or Deputy or to any Constable of the Town of Boston in
+       sd. County Greeting
+
+We Command you that you Summon The Wife of Ichabod Jones Eliza.
+Mercy Car, a negro man servant of John Gibbins Apothecary Quaco the
+servt. of ---- Dalton Quaco a Negro man belonging to mr. John
+White
+
+To appear before our Justices of our Superiour Court of Judicature
+Court of Assize & General Goal Delivery now holden at Cambridge within
+and for said County Tomorrow morning at Eight of ye Clock before
+noon Then and there to give Such Evidence in our Behalf as you know
+against Mark a Negro man & Phillis a Negro woman both of Charlestown
+in our County of Middlesex--
+
+Hereof Fail not and so soon as may be make Return of this Writ with
+your Doings therein into the same Court
+
+Witness Stephen Sewall Esq. at Boston the Sixth Day of August in the
+twenty ninth year of our Reign Annoq, Domini 1755
+
+SAML WINTHROP _Cler_
+
+
+[_Record of the Case._]
+
+PROVINCE OF THE   } _Anno Regni Regis Georgii secondi Magnæ
+MASSACHUSETTS BAY }  Britanniæ Franciæ Hiberniæ vicesimonono._
+MIDDLESEX ss.     }
+
+At his Majestys Superiour Court of Judicature Court of
+Assize and General Goal Delivery began and held at
+Cambridge within and for the County of Middlesex on
+the first Tuesday of August Annoque Domini 1755--
+
+By the Honoble. Stephen Sewall Esqr: Chief Justice
+                               Benjamin Lynde[4] }
+                               John Cushing &    } Esquires Justices
+                               Chambers Russell  }
+
+[Footnote 4: Judge Lynde makes a memorandum of this trial, and of the
+particulars of the executions, in his diary under date of July 9,
+1755.--Lynde Diaries (privately printed, 1880), p. 179.--EDS. OF
+PROCEEDINGS.]
+
+[_After reciting the words of the indictment, the record proceeds as
+follows, being, as far as where the record of the trial and sentence
+begins, an extension of a memorandum on the indictment._]
+
+Upon this Indictment the said Phillis was arraigned and upon her
+arraignment pleaded not guilty and for trial put herself upon God and
+the Country and the said Mark was also arraigned upon this Indictment
+and upon his arraignment pleaded not Guilty and for trial put himself
+upon God and the Country, a Jury was thereupon Sworne to try the issue
+Mr. John Miller Foreman and fellows who having fully heared the
+Evidence went out to consider thereof and returned with their verdicts
+and upon their oath's say'd that the said Phillis is Guilty, and that
+the said Mark is Guilty, upon which the prisoners were remanded, and
+being again brot and set to the Bar, the Kings Attorney moved the
+Court that Judgment of Death might be given against them, whereupon
+they were asked by the chief Justice if they had ought to say why
+Judgment of Death should not be given against them, and having nothing
+material to offer Judgment of Death was pronounced against them by the
+chief Justice in the name of the Court in form following that is to
+Say that the said Phillis go from hence to the place where she came
+from, and from thence to the place of Execution & there be burnt to
+Death, and that the said Mark go from hence to the place where he came
+from, and from thence be drawn to the place of Execution and there be
+hanged by the neck until he be dead and God Almighty have mercy upon
+their Souls. Ordered that these Sentences be put into Execution upon
+thursday the eighth[5] day of September next between the hours of one
+and five of the Clock in the Afternoon.
+
+[Footnote 5: An error. It should have been "eighteenth."]
+
+Warrant issued Sep. 6. 1755.
+
+
+[_Writ of execution, or death-warrant._]
+
+PROVINCE OF THE   } _George the second by the Grace of God of
+MASSACHUSETTS BAY }  Great Britain France and Ireland King
+MIDDLESEX ss.     }  Defender of the Faith &Ca_
+
+SEAL.  To Richard Foster Esqr. Sheriff of our County of Middlesex
+       in Said Province
+
+Greeting
+
+Whereas at our Superiour Court of Judicature Court of Assize and
+General Goal Delivery begun and held at Cambridge within and for the
+County of Middlesex on the first Tuesday of August last the Grand
+Jurors for us for the Body of our said County of Middlesex did on
+their Oath Present That Phillis a Negro woman of Charlestown in the
+County of Middlesex Spinster Servant of John Codman late of
+Charlestown aforesaid Gentleman, not having the fear of God before her
+Eyes, but of her malice forethought contriving to deprive the Said
+John Codman her Said master of his life and him feloniously and
+Traiterously to kill and murder, she the said Phillis on the
+thirteenth day of June last at Charlestown aforesaid in the dwelling
+house of the said John there did of her malice forethought willfully
+felloniously and Traiterously put a Deadly Poison called Arsenick into
+a Vial of Water and thereby did then and there Poison the same
+water--and That the said Phillis knowing the water aforesaid to be so
+poisoned did then and there feloniously willfully traiterously and of
+her malice forethought put one spoonfull of the same water so poisoned
+into a pint of the said John's watergruel and thereby poison the same
+watergruel--and that the said Phillis did then and there of her malice
+forethought felloniously willfully & traiterously in manner as
+aforesaid poison the watergruel aforesaid, with a felonious and
+traiterous Intent and design that the said John her said master then
+being should then and there eat the Same Watergruel so poisoned and
+thereby be Poisoned killed and murdered. And that one Elizabeth Codman
+not knowing the watergruel aforesaid to be so poisoned then and there
+Innocently gave the Same Watergruel so poisoned as aforesaid to the
+Said John to eat, and that the Said John then and there being the said
+Phillis's master and being altogether Ignorant of the watergruel
+aforesaid's being poisoned as aforesaid and suspecting no Evil did
+then & there eat the same watergruel so poisoned as aforesaid & that
+the said Phillis then and there was feloniously and traiterously
+present with the said Elizabeth & John knowing of & consenting unto
+the sd. Elizabeth's giving him the said John the watergruel
+aforesd. so poisoned as aforesaid & his eating the same as
+aforesd. And that the said John by means of his eating the
+watergruel aforesaid so poisoned as aforesaid there Languished for the
+space of Fifteen hours & then at Charlestown aforesaid died of the
+Poison aforesd. given him as aforesaid--and so the Jurors aforesaid
+upon their Oath said that the said Phillis did at Charlestown
+aforesaid of her malice forethought in manner and form aforesaid
+willfully feloniously and traiterously poison kill & murder the said
+John Codman her Said master against our Peace Crown & Dignity, and The
+Jurors aforesaid upon their Oath further present That Mark a Negroman
+of Charlestown aforesaid Labourer and Servant of the said John Codman
+before the said Treason and murder aforesaid committed by the said
+Phillis in manner and form aforesaid did at Charlestown aforesaid on
+the twentieth day of June last of his malice forethought (the said
+Mark then being Servant of the said John Codman) felloniously &
+traiterously advise and incite procure & abet the Said Phillis to do &
+commit the said Treason & murder aforesaid against our peace crown &
+Dignity (as in Said Indictmt. is at large Set forth) upon which
+Indictment the said Phillis and Mark were Severally arraigned and upon
+their arraignment Severally pleaded not Guilty and for Tryal put
+themselves on God and the Country, and Whereas the said Phillis & Mark
+at our Court aforesaid were each of them convict of the crime
+respectively alledg'd to be committed by them as aforesaid by the
+Verdict of twelve good & lawful men of our Said County and were by the
+consideration of our Said Court adjudged to Suffer the Pains of Death
+therefor; as to us appears of Record Execution of which said Sentence
+doth still remain to be done we command you therefore that on Thursday
+the Eighteenth day of September instant between the hours of one &
+Five o'Clock in the day time you cause the said Phillis to be drawn
+from our Goal in our County of Middlesex aforesaid (where she now is)
+to the place of Execution and there be burnt to Death & also that on
+the Same day between the hours of one & five of the Clock in the day
+time you cause the Said Mark to be drawn from our Goal in our County
+of Middlesex aforesaid (where he now is) to the place of Execution &
+there be hanged up by the Neck until he be dead, & for so doing this
+shall be your Sufficient Warrant--Hereof fail not; and make Return of
+this writ with your doings therein into the Clerks Office of our Said
+Court as soon as may be after you have Executed the Same Witness
+Stephen Sewall Esqr: at Boston the sixth day of September in the
+Twenty ninth Year of our reign Annoque Domini 1755--
+
+By Order of Court
+
+NATHANIEL HATCH _Cler_
+
+
+MIDDLESEX. ss--September the 18th. 1755.
+
+I Executed this warrant as above directed, by causing Phillis to be
+burnt to Death, and Mark to be hang'd by the neck until he was dead,
+between the hours of one and five a Clock of Said day--
+
+RICHD. FOSTER _Sheriff_
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It is worthy of observation that no such process as a formal warrant
+was required for a capital execution by the laws of England. In the
+King's Bench, the prisoner was committed to the custody of the marshal
+at the beginning of the trial, and an award of judgment upon the
+record was all the authority that that officer had for the execution.
+Formerly, it was customary in courts of oyer and terminer, and of jail
+delivery, to authorize the execution by a precept under the hands and
+seals of three or more commissioners, of whom one, at least, should be
+of the quorum; but this custom had become obsolete at the time of this
+trial, and only a calendar, or abstract of the record, subscribed by
+the judge, was put into the hands of the sheriff for this purpose; and
+such is the practice in England, I presume, to this day.
+
+Even Blackstone, who is so blind to many gross imperfections in the
+jurisprudence of his native country, is forced to remark, in view of
+the looseness of procedure in capital cases,--
+
+     "It may certainly afford matter of speculation that in civil
+     causes there should be such a variety of writs of execution
+     to recover a trifling debt, issued in the king's name, and
+     under the seal of the court, without which the sheriff
+     cannot legally stir one step; and yet that the execution of
+     a man, the most important and terrible task of any, should
+     depend upon a marginal note."[6]
+
+[Footnote 6: Comm. book iv. ch. 32, p. 403.]
+
+The courts and people of New England were always more mindful of the
+sacredness of human life than those of other nations, save, perhaps,
+the little community of the Netherlands. They also attached great
+importance to the formal proceedings by which the ends of justice
+were reached in criminal cases. This is well illustrated by an
+incident that is recorded relative to the action of the judges of the
+Superior Court of the Province when, after the conviction of
+Richardson for the murder of the boy Sneider, in 1770, it became
+evident to them that the cause of justice required that they should
+intercede to prevent his execution. They were long in doubt as to the
+sufficiency of a pardon obtained from the crown through the
+recommendation of the Lieutenant-Governor upon their certificate of
+its propriety, the only evidence of the pardon being its insertion in
+the Newgate Calendar. Hutchinson relates that "they were at length
+satisfied; and the prisoner having been brought into court early in
+the morning, when scarcely anybody but the officers of the court were
+present, pleaded his Majesty's pardon, and was discharged, and
+immediately absconded."[7]
+
+[Footnote 7: Hist. Mass. Bay, vol. iii. p. 287, n.]
+
+But, to proceed with a definition of the crime committed by these
+negroes, and a more particular account of the punishment for petit
+treason:--
+
+By the statute 25 Edw. III., this crime, which had had a wider
+application, was restricted to three classes of cases: 1, where a
+servant killed his master or mistress; 2, where a wife killed her
+husband; 3, where a clergyman killed his prelate, or the superior to
+whom he owed canonical obedience. The sentence in the case of a woman
+was, that she be burned to death, and in the case of a man, that he be
+drawn to the place of execution and there hanged by the neck until he
+be dead.[8] To mitigate the sufferings of felons at the stake, the
+executioner usually fastened one end of a cord to the stake, and
+bringing this cord around the neck of the woman, pulled it tightly the
+moment the torch was applied, and continued the strain until life was
+extinct, which, unless the cord was sooner burnt asunder, generally
+happened before the condemned had suffered much from the intensity of
+the flames.
+
+[Footnote 8: By stat. 22 Hen. VIII. ch. 9, a person of either sex, who
+was convicted of murdering another by poison, was to be boiled to
+death, and the offence was, by the same act, declared high treason;
+but this act was repealed by 1 Edw. VI. ch. 12, after several
+executions under it, including that of Margaret Davy, who poisoned her
+mistress. Though by the common law poisoning was deemed a most
+atrocious circumstance, it did not alter the punishment of the
+principal crime involved. The law considered only the crime, and not
+the manner in which it was committed.]
+
+In cases of high treason, other barbarities were practised upon the
+bodies of the criminals, but these were frequently, and in cases of
+persons of distinction, generally, remitted. Indeed, even the hanging
+was dispensed with in these latter cases; and hence we read of the
+execution of great prisoners of state, male and female, by beheading,
+which, strictly, is a manner of death unknown to the laws of England,
+except as an incident to the principal penalty by hanging or burning.
+After the hanging, the body, according to rule, was to be cut down (if
+possible, while yet alive) to be eviscerated, then beheaded, and the
+trunk and limbs divided into four parts, to be disposed of as the
+sovereign should order. By special writ, under the privy seal, all
+these circumstances, except decapitation, were, as I have already
+said, usually omitted.
+
+All male persons convicted whether of high treason or of petit treason
+were, unless specially exempted in the manner I have stated, _drawn_
+to the place of execution. This was originally an ignominious incident
+of the terrible penalty, and required that the criminal should be
+rudely pulled along over the ground, behind a horse; later, however, a
+hurdle or wicker frame, or a sledge,--that is, as we call it, a
+sled,--was used, either from motives of humanity, or in order to
+prolong the life of the traitor through subsequent stages of the
+punishment. According to Sir Matthew Hale, women were not to be drawn,
+in cases of petit treason, although the practice of later times,
+certainly, was to the contrary.[9] However, after the repeal in 1790,
+of the law for burning women, for which drawing and hanging were then
+substituted, women as well as men were sentenced to be drawn to the
+place of execution.
+
+[Footnote 9: The law was uncertain; but Hale appears to be the safest
+authority. Wood, in his Institutes,--at the time of this trial the
+most recent and popular treatise upon the laws of England,--states
+that women were to be drawn, in petit treason; as, indeed, do most, if
+not all, succeeding writers. They follow Coke, 3 Inst. 211; but
+neither the statutes referred to, nor the case cited from 12 Ass. 30,
+by the latter, support his statement. The report runs thus: "Alice _de
+W, qui fuit de l'age de xiij ans, fuit arse per judgment, pur ceo que
+el'avoit tue sa Maistres, & pur tant ceo fuit adjudge treason, &c._;"
+and it appears that the case turned upon the question of
+accountability, by reason of the tender age of the culprit. No mention
+of drawing is made in the judgment. Compare H.P.C., i. p. 382, and
+note, with Hawk. P.C., b. 2, ch. 48, § 6, and authorities there
+referred to, and Coke, _ut supra_. Also, see 4 Black. Comm. 204. It
+will have been noticed that though the judgment against Phillis was
+that she _go_ to the place of execution, the warrant required that she
+be drawn thither. The practice of drawing, in such cases, would have
+been challenged, probably, if the cruelties anciently incident thereto
+had not become obsolete.]
+
+Another incident to this punishment, though not peculiar to it, since
+it applied to all atrocious felonies, was the gibbeting, or hanging in
+chains. This was no part of the sentence, but was performed in
+accordance with a special order or direction of the court, given,
+probably, in most cases, verbally to the sheriff. After execution,
+the body of the felon was taken from the gallows and hung upon a
+gibbet conveniently near the place where the fact was committed, there
+to remain, until, from the action of the elements, or the ravages of
+birds of prey, it disappeared. Of the object of this ghastly feature
+of capital punishment it is alleged, "besides the terror of the
+example," "that it is a comfortable sight to the friends and relations
+of the deceased"; but the obviousness of this reason is somewhat
+lessened by the doubt in which we are left as to which deceased
+person, the criminal or his victim, is referred to. In the case of
+Mark it is noticeable that no sentence to the gibbet appears in the
+record, and I have found no order for it, or mention of it, in the
+papers on file.
+
+Phillis and Mark were executed at the usual place of execution in
+Cambridge; and the following account of the affair is taken from the
+Boston "Evening Post," of Sept. 22, 1755:--
+
+     "Thursday last, in the Afternoon, _Mark_, a Negro Man, and
+     _Phillis_, a Negro Woman, both Servants to the late Capt.
+     _John Codman_, of _Charlestown_, were executed at
+     _Cambridge_, for poisoning their said Master, as mentioned
+     in this Paper some Weeks ago. The Fellow was hanged, and the
+     Woman burned at a Stake about Ten Yards distant from the
+     Gallows. They both confessed themselves guilty of the Crime
+     for which they suffered, acknowledged the Justice of their
+     Sentence, and died very penitent. After Execution, the Body
+     of _Mark_ was brought down to _Charlestown_ Common, and
+     hanged in Chains, on a Gibbet erected there for that
+     Purpose."
+
+Frothingham, in his "History of Charlestown,"[10] quotes this item
+from the "Post," and adds, from Dr. Josiah Bartlett's account of
+Charlestown,[11] that "the place where Mark was suspended in irons was
+on the northerly side of Cambridge Road, about one fourth of a mile
+above our peninsula." He also adds, from the same authority, that
+"Phebe, who was the most culpable," became evidence against the
+others, and that she was transported to the West Indies.
+
+[Footnote 10: Page 264.]
+
+[Footnote 11: 2 Mass. Hist. Coll., vol. ii. p. 166, and note.]
+
+It is very likely that Phebe was transported, as described by Dr.
+Bartlett, but there is nothing on record to show that she was used as
+a principal witness. Indeed, the answers of Phillis and Mark on their
+examination are mutually recriminative, and amount to a plenary
+confession of the crime of each. Besides, as neither the governor nor
+the court had any authority to grant a pardon for murder,[12] it is
+not likely that any favor was shown to her in accordance with a
+promise from either, nor is there any evidence that any lenity was
+actually extended to her, except the negative circumstance that she
+was not included in the indictment.
+
+[Footnote 12: See Hutchinson's Hist. Mass. Bay, vol. iii. p. 287, n.
+Instances of pardons and reprieves occur in our judicial history, but
+they were invariably granted in the name of the king, by the
+commander-in-chief; and, if for a graver offence than manslaughter, it
+seems to have been understood that a pardon was not to be granted
+without previous express direction from the king. This was in
+compliance with a clause in the royal instructions, issued to all the
+governors, by which they were enjoined not to remit any fines or
+forfeitures above £10 in amount, or to dispose of escheats, without
+the royal sanction; forfeiture of lands and chattels being a
+consequence of attainder upon conviction of the higher class of
+felonies. The commission to Andros expressly excepted treason and
+murder from the offences which he was authorized to pardon.]
+
+This completes the narrative of this remarkable case. The body of Mark
+is said by Dr. Bartlett to have remained on the gibbet "until a short
+time before the Revolution." Certain it is that when Dr. Caleb Rea
+passed through Charlestown on the first day of June, 1758, on his way
+from Danvers to join the regiment, of which he had been chosen
+surgeon, in the expedition against Ticonderoga, he found the body
+hanging, and, having examined it, recorded in his journal that "his
+[Mark's] skin was but very little broken, although he had hung there
+near three or four years."[13]
+
+[Footnote 13: Hist. Coll. Essex Inst., vol. xviii. p. 88, n.]
+
+Finally, another patriot,--Paul Revere,--in describing his famous ride
+on the 18th of April, 1775, on a still more important errand, says,
+"After I had passed Charlestown Neck, and got nearly opposite where
+_Mark was hung in chains_, I saw two men on horseback under a
+tree,"[14] &c.; thus alluding to the site of the gibbet as a place
+well known at that time,--as undoubtedly it was, to all the country
+round.
+
+[Footnote 14: Letter of Colonel Revere to Cor. Sec. of Mass. Hist.
+Soc., Jan. 1, 1798: 1 Mass. Hist. Coll., vol. v. p. 107.]
+
+I have said that this is the only case of petit treason to be found in
+our records. There was, indeed, an earlier case in which the penalty
+of death by burning was inflicted; but in regard to that case there is
+no suggestion anywhere to my knowledge that the crime of petit treason
+had been committed, nor any allegation to that effect in the charge or
+indictment, nor even a hint that any life was lost by the misconduct
+of the condemned.[15] This was the case of Maria, a negress, who was
+executed at Roxbury in 1681. Perhaps it will be well to give the story
+of this case as it appears on the records of the Court of
+Assistants.[16]
+
+[Footnote 15: Although the record contains no allegation of loss of
+life, Increase Mather states in his diary, under date of Sept. 22,
+1681, that a child was burnt to death in one of the houses set on fire
+by this negress. Even if this were true, it is not probable that the
+relation of master and servant subsisted between the deceased and
+Maria, and neither this relation, nor the fact of treason, is averred
+in the indictment. See Mass. Hist. Soc. Proc., vol. iii. p. 320.]
+
+[Footnote 16: Boston, Sept. 6, 1681.]
+
+     "Marja[17] Negro Servant to Joshua Lambe of Roxbury in the
+     County of Suffolk in New England being presented by the
+     Grand Jury was Indicted by the name of Marja Negro for
+     not hauing the feare of God before hir eyes & being
+     Instigated by the divil at or upon the eleventh Day of July
+     last in the night did wittingly willingly & felloniously set
+     on fier the dwelling house of Thomas Swann of sd Roxbury by
+     taking a coale from vnder a still & carrjed it into another
+     Roome and layd it on floore neere the doore & presently went
+     & crept into a hole at a back doore of thy master Lambs
+     house & set it on fier also taking a liue coale betweene two
+     chips & carried it into the chimber by which also it was
+     Consumed as by yr Confession will appeare Contrary to the
+     peace of our Soueraigne Lord the king his croune & dignity
+     the lawes of this Jurisdiction in that Case made & prouided
+     title firing of houses--The prisoner at the barr pleaded &
+     acknowledged hirselfe to be Guilty of ye fact. And
+     accordingly the next day being Again brought to the Barr
+     had sentenc of death pronnonc't agt hir by the
+     Honnoble Gouñor. that she should Goe from the barr to
+     the prison whenc she came & thence to the place of execution
+     & there be burnt.--Ye lord be mercifull to thy Soule
+     sd ye Gov."
+
+[Footnote 17: I have followed Secretary Rawson in his peculiar use of
+the letter j. See many similar instances in the Mass. Colony Records.]
+
+The case was capital under the act referred to in the record. The act
+reads as follows:--
+
+     [Sidenote: Burning Houses.]
+
+     [Sidenote: Capital.]
+
+     And if any person of the age aforesaid, [16 years and
+     upwards] shall after the publication hereof, wittingly and
+     willingly, and felloniously, set on fire any _Dwelling
+     House_, _Meeting House_, _Store House_, or shall in like
+     manner, set on fire any _out-House_, _Barn_, _Stable_,
+     _Leanto_, _Stack of Hay_, _Corn or Wood_, or any thing of
+     like nature, whereby any _Dwelling House_, _Meeting House or
+     Store House_ cometh to be burnt, the party or parties
+     vehemently suspected thereof, shall be apprehended by
+     Warrant from one or more of the Magistrates, and committed
+     to Prison, there to remain without Baile, till the next
+     Court of Assistants, who upon legal conviction by due proof,
+     or confession of the Crime, shall adjudge such person or
+     persons to be put to death, and to forfeit so much of his
+     Lands, Goods or Chattels, as shall make full satisfaction,
+     to the party or parties damnified. [1652.][18]
+
+[Footnote 18: Mass. Colony Laws, ed. 1672, p. 52.]
+
+It will be observed that the law prescribes no such punishment as was
+ordered by the Assistants, and how the court were satisfied of the
+legality of their sentence is to me inexplicable, except upon the
+possible claim that they might rightfully exercise the expansive
+discretion which they applied to the case of the first Quakers, and so
+supply a deficiency in the ordinances of the General Court, by
+administering the _lex talionis_[19] in this particular instance as a
+necessary terror to evil-doers.
+
+[Footnote 19: Exodus xxi. 25. "In all criminall offences, where the
+law hath prescribed no certaine penaltie, the judges have power to
+inflict penalties, according to the rule of God's word."--Declaration
+of the General Court: Hutch. Coll. Papers, p. 207. And see the first
+article of the Colonial "Liberties," in Mass. Hist. Coll., vol. viii.
+p. 216.]
+
+The public opinion which permitted the colonial magistrates to
+exercise, unchallenged, a discretion not given to them by positive
+law, as in this case and that of the first Quakers, and in the
+instance of their conviction of a capital crime, of Tom, the Indian,
+in 1674,[20] of whose guilt the jury were doubtful, cannot be deemed
+to have enlarged their authority, by _custom_, without a perversion of
+language and a disregard of fundamental distinctions relative to the
+nature and source of law.[21]
+
+[Footnote 20: Records of the Court of Assistants, 1674, p. 14.]
+
+[Footnote 21: By the stat. 8 Hen. VI. ch. 6, the burning of houses,
+after a threat to do so if money be not paid, &c., was made high
+treason, and the incendiary suffered as any other traitor; that is, if
+a woman, she was burned to death. But this statute was repealed in the
+reign of Edward VI., as regards the treason, and the offence remained
+felony as at the common law, and punishable by hanging only.
+
+That mistaken notions as to the nature of penalties to be inflicted in
+criminal cases, and as to the authority of the bench to impose unusual
+punishments, were not solely entertained in this distant colony, and
+among men not bred to the law, may be shown by many instances in the
+English law-books. One of the most notable is Sir Edw. Coke's
+reference to the case of Peter Burchet, a prisoner in the Tower,--who
+slew his keeper with a billet of wood, which drew blood,--as an
+authority for inflicting the additional punishment of cutting off the
+hand (under the stat. 33 Hen. VIII.) in the case of murder perpetrated
+in the king's palace, when attended with bloodshed. In Elderton's
+case, Chief Justice Holt, whose habits of thorough research were not
+less remarkable than his absolute fairness and honesty, said, "I have
+searched for the case cited [as Jones's case] about killing a man in
+the Tower. It is Burdelt and Muskett's case. Being dissatisfied with
+my Lord Coke's report of it, therefore I sent for the record, ... and
+there is judgment of death given, but no judgment that his right hand
+should be cut off. It is indeed so related in Stowe's Chronicle, and
+in fact his hand was cut off, but there was no judgment for it."
+Compare 3 Inst., ch. 65 (p. 140 [Symbol: dagger]) with 2 Ld. Raym.,
+978, 982.]
+
+Two other negroes who were suspected of complicity with Maria were
+ordered to be transported. The record is as follows:--
+
+     [Sidenote: "Chessaleer negros Sentence"]
+
+     Chessaleer negro servant to Tho. Walker brickmaker now in
+     Goale on suspition of Joyning wth Marja Negro in Burning
+     of Dr Swans' & ---- Lambs houses in Roxbury in July last
+     The Court on Consideration of the Case Judged it meet to
+     order that he be kept in prison till his master send him
+     out of the country & then dischardg ye charges of
+     Imprisonment wch if he refuse to doe aboue one moneth the
+     country Tresurer is to see it donne & when ye chardges be
+     defrayd to returne the ouerplus to ye sd Walker
+
+     [Sidenote: James Pembertons negro sentence]
+
+     The like Judgment & sentenc was declard against James
+     Pemberton's negro in all respects as agt Chessaleer
+     negro &c.[22]
+
+[Footnote 22: Record of the Court of Assistants, _ubi supra_, pp. 138,
+139.]
+
+Still another negro was convicted, at the same term of the court, of
+the crime of arson, and ordered to be hanged, and afterwards consumed
+to ashes in the same fire with Maria, as appears by the following
+record:--
+
+     [Sidenote: Jack negro Jndicted & sentenc]
+
+     "Jack negro servant to Mr Samuel Woolcot of
+     Weathersfield thou art Jndicted by the name of Jack Negro
+     for not hauing the feare of God before thy eyes being
+     Instigated by the Divill did at or upon the foureteenth day
+     of July last 1681 wittingly & felloniously sett on fier
+     Leifteñat Wm Clarks house in North Hampton. by taking
+     a brand of fier from the hearth and swinging it vp & doune
+     for to find victualls as by his confession may Appeare
+     Contrary to the peace of our Soueraigne Lord the King his
+     Croune & dignity the lawes of God & of this Jurisdiction in
+     that case made & prouided title firing of houses page (52)
+     to wch Jndictment at the barr he pleaded not Guilty, &
+     Affirmd he would be trjed by God & the Country and after his
+     Confessions &c were read to him & his owni[=g] thereof were
+     Comitted to the Jury who brought him in Guilty and the
+     next day had his sentence pronounct agt him by the
+     Gouernor that he should goe from the barr to the place
+     whence he came & there be hangd by the neck till he be
+     dead & then taken doune & burnt to Ashes in the fier wth
+     Marja Negro--The Lord be mercifull to thy soule sajd the
+     Gouernor"[23]
+
+[Footnote 23: _Ibid._]
+
+There was some excuse for the latter part of this sentence, for since
+the offence was an atrocious felony, such as in England would subject
+the offender to an infamous punishment, it seemed proper to attach
+something more of ignominy to his sentence than the mere execution by
+hanging.
+
+Our forefathers of the colonial period regarded the Mosaic law as of
+too sacred obligation to be impaired in the least degree; much more to
+be expressly contravened by the courts of justice in respect to the
+command,--
+
+     "And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he
+     be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree, his body
+     shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in
+     any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is
+     accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the
+     Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance."[24]
+
+[Footnote 24: Deut. xxi. 22, 23.]
+
+--they, therefore, by an ordinance passed in 1641, had required that
+the body of every executed criminal should be buried within twelve
+hours after death, except in cases of anatomy, which prevented the
+possibility of hanging in chains after the English fashion; and the
+only way in which they could set a mark of infamy upon the deceased
+criminal, without a breach of the colonial ordinance as well as of the
+divine law, was to burn the body.[25]
+
+[Footnote 25: The ordinary punishment for all capital felonies during
+the colonial régime seems to have been simply hanging. Heretics and
+witches were subjected to no severer penalty; and in 1674, Robert
+Driver, who was convicted of murdering his master, Robert Williams of
+Piscataqua, and who thus incurred the penalty for petit treason, was
+sentenced to be "hanged by the neck until he be dead."--See Records of
+the Court of Assistants.]
+
+But this tendency to a strict adherence to the laws of Israel
+disappeared early in the provincial period, under the operation of the
+same causes which led to the abandonment of those rugged metaphrases
+of the Psalms of David, and of the song of Deborah and Barak, &c.,
+contained in the Bay Psalm-Book, for the smoother though less literal
+version of Tate and Brady and the presumptuous "Imitations" of Dr.
+Watts. When, therefore, under the new charter the offence called for
+it according to the custom of England, the gibbet was erected; and
+though the occasions for its employment were very rare, the report of
+sundry instances of its use has come down to us, as in the case of the
+pirates whose bodies hung in chains, from time to time, on the now
+vanished Bird Island in Boston Harbor, a locality as near the place
+where the fact was committed as could conveniently be used. I confess
+I find it impossible to understand whence the provincial judges
+claimed to derive their authority for ordering the bodies of criminals
+to be hung in chains. We have seen that, even if our fathers brought
+with them the right to exercise this authority, they soon enacted
+provisions entirely inconsistent with the practice; and I am not aware
+of any subsequent act of parliament, extending to the Colonies, that
+restored the authority; and certainly there was no law of the Province
+to that effect.
+
+I ought not to dismiss this subject without adding something to the
+brief allusion already made to the comparative mildness of the laws of
+Massachusetts in respect to capital punishment. The execution of Mark
+and Phillis took place just about the time that Blackstone was
+delivering his lectures at Oxford, which have since given him an
+enduring and world-wide fame as a commentator on the laws of England.
+This elegant defender and apologist for English laws and customs, in
+his commentaries, admits, seemingly with reluctance and regret, that
+there then existed on the statute-books of England no less than one
+hundred and sixty capital offences. At that time the number of capital
+offences in Massachusetts was less than one-tenth this number, if we
+exclude those made so by the acts relating to military offenders in
+actual service, and felonies on the high seas, and a few others,
+which, like the latter, were created by including among capital crimes
+certain offences which, though theretofore exempt from the death
+penalty by special circumstances and technical rules, had always been
+capitally punished when committed under other and not less justifiable
+circumstances.
+
+Said Isaac Backus, whom I find to be a very trustworthy authority, in
+a letter to this Society, under date of Feb. 20, 1794, "There has not
+been any person hanged in Plymouth County for above these sixty years
+past."[26] More than a century earlier, John Dunton mentions a sermon
+of Mather's, preached at the execution of "Morgan, the only person
+executed in that country [Massachusetts] for near seven years."[27] He
+must, however, I think, have forgotten the case of Maria, the negro
+woman.
+
+[Footnote 26: 1 Mass. Hist. Coll., vol. iii. p. 152.]
+
+[Footnote 27: _Ibid._, 2d series, vol. ii. p. 102.]
+
+Again, when the English riot act (1 Geo. I. stat. 2, ch. 5) was
+substantially adopted by the Province in 1751, the legislature
+studiously avoided the harshness of the former act by substituting
+forfeiture of lands and chattels, and whipping and imprisonment, for
+the death penalty.[28]
+
+[Footnote 28: Compare provincial statute 1750-51, ch. 17 (Prov. Laws,
+vol. iii. p. 540), with the act of parliament referred to.]
+
+In 1761 Governor Bernard vainly labored with his utmost zeal to secure
+the passage of an act or acts making it felony, without benefit of
+clergy, to forge public and private securities or vouchers for money,
+or to coin or counterfeit the current money of the Province. He sent a
+special message upon the subject to the Assembly, in which he
+stated:--
+
+     "In regard to the popular prejudices against capital
+     punishments which have hitherto prevailed in this country, I
+     shall only say that at present they are very ill-timed.
+     Whilst the people of this country lived from hand to mouth,
+     and had very little wealth but what was confined among
+     themselves, a simple system of laws might be proper, and
+     capital punishments might in a great measure be avoided; but
+     when by the acquisition, diffusion, and general intercourse
+     of wealth, the temptations to fraud are abundantly
+     increased, the terrors of it must be also proportionably
+     enlarged; otherwise if, through a false tenderness for
+     wicked men, the laws should not be sufficient to protect the
+     property of the honest and industrious, the rights of the
+     latter are given up to the former, and the undue mercy shown
+     to the one becomes a real injury to the other. To instance
+     this, I need only say that I have no doubt but that if these
+     crimes had been capital some years ago, and usually punished
+     as such, they would not have been committed at all at the
+     present time."
+
+The Governor's opinion, however, was not borne out by the experience
+of the British government in its dealings with crime. There, it was
+made a capital felony to steal in a dwelling-house to the amount of
+40_s._, or, privately, in a shop, goods to the value of 5_s._, or to
+counterfeit stamps that were used for the sale of perfumery, or such
+as were used for the certificates of hair-powder; and yet,
+notwithstanding this severity, all who considered the subject
+thoughtfully found that the increase of capital crimes more than kept
+pace with the increase of laws creating them; and this became so
+alarmingly evident that at length the conservative opposition to
+reform was overborne, and Sir Samuel Romilly and his coadjutors began
+those changes which have continued in the same direction to the
+present day. Before the reform was established, however, executions
+became so frequent that it was not uncommon for citizens to avoid
+certain parts of London and its environs on account of the intolerable
+odor, there, of decaying human bodies, hung in chains by the highways
+and before the doors of citizens.
+
+Still the judges rode their circuits, leaving briefly minuted
+"calendars" in the hands of the executioners, who erected close behind
+them the gallows and the gibbet as monuments of their dispensation of
+"justice." Barristers bandied repartees and cracked jokes over good
+dinners, and serjeants hobnobbed with their brethren of the bench and
+of the coif, apparently unconcerned at the responsible part they were
+enacting in this awful drama; while the poor rabble put on their best
+attire on the days of execution, and liberally patronized the venders
+of cakes and ale who, near the gallows, erected booths as on other
+gala days,--many of the spectators, no doubt, thinking that it would
+not be so bad a thing, after all, if it came their turn next to better
+their desperate condition by swinging on the newly contrived gallows,
+on which ten criminals could be hanged together.[29]
+
+[Footnote 29: See a picture of the new gallows, in the illustrated
+"Newgate Calendar."]
+
+Alas! well may we ask with astonishment if it is possible that such a
+state of society really existed in the England of Hannah More, of Sir
+William Jones and Edmund Burke,--the land throughout which the Wesleys
+were preaching and singing to eager multitudes of the free grace and
+abounding mercy of God; where the pious Cowper was pleading for the
+relief of "insolvent innocence," and Clarkson and Wilberforce and
+Granville Sharp were rousing the public mind to the evils of slavery
+in distant colonies!
+
+The case of petit treason which we have been considering occurred nine
+years before Beccaria startled all Europe with "the code of
+humanity,"--his treatise on crimes and punishments; yet had he known
+of our experience in this Province, he could have pointed to
+Massachusetts as the strongest practical illustration of the truth of
+his theory, that it is not necessary to multiply extreme penalties in
+order to prevent crime, but that we are to look for the amelioration
+of manners and the diminution of public and private wrongs to the
+mental and moral education of the people rather than to the terrors of
+the law.
+
+In 1777, when the Revolutionary War was beginning to assume its
+gravest aspect, and when the hopes of traitors were reviving, the
+barbarous incidents of the punishment for treason were abolished by
+the legislature of Massachusetts, and this crime was made punishable
+simply by hanging. Eight years later the distinction between petit
+treason and murder was abolished,--an improvement of the criminal code
+in which we were followed by Great Britain five years later still.[30]
+
+[Footnote 30: The Massachusetts act is as follows:--
+
+"Whereas it does not appear reasonable any longer to continue the
+distinction between the crimes of murder and petit treason:
+
+"Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives, in General
+Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, That from and after
+the passing of this act, in all cases wherein heretofore any person or
+persons would have been deemed or taken to have committed the crime of
+petit treason, such person or persons shall be deemed and taken to
+have committed the crime of murder only, and indicted and prosecuted
+to final judgment accordingly; and the same punishment only shall be
+inflicted as in the case of murder.--[This act passed _March 16,
+1785_.]"]
+
+So that it was possible that our good city of Boston might have been
+disgraced by one of these horrible executions as late as 1785, and
+that a delicate woman could, with all the solemnity of legal forms,
+have been publicly burned to death at Tyburn as late as 1790!
+
+In point of fact such executions occurred in England long after the
+burning of Phillis. A memorable case is that of Anne Beddingfield, who
+was burned for petit treason at Rushmore, near Ipswich, in 1763.
+
+In 1813 the last of the minor infamous punishments, such as whipping,
+branding, the stocks, the pillory, cutting off ears, slitting noses,
+boring tongues, &c., were abolished in this Commonwealth.
+
+As for hanging in chains, I cannot find when the custom was
+discontinued in Massachusetts. I do not remember to have read of an
+instance of this kind since the adoption of the Constitution, though I
+have made no special search for such an instance. Some of my hearers
+may be able to refer me definitely to the time and reason of the
+change.
+
+In England, by the stat. 25 Geo. II., ch. 35 (1752), which was three
+years before the execution at Cambridge, provision was made that
+hanging in chains should be included in the sentence to be pronounced
+by the court against all persons convicted of murder, and that the
+sentence should be executed on the next day but one after it was
+pronounced. This was changed by the stat. 9 Geo. IV., ch. 31, so as to
+give the court a discretion to order hanging in chains or dissection;
+and the next year this act was extended to Ireland. By the stat. 2 & 3
+Wm. IV., ch. 75, the court was authorized to order the body to be hung
+in chains or buried; and, finally, by the stat. 4 & 5 of Wm. IV., ch.
+26 (July 25, 1834), all laws requiring bodies to be hung in chains
+were repealed.
+
+No such sudden punishment as that prescribed by the act of parliament
+of the 25 Geo. II., could be legally inflicted here,--at least during
+the colonial period; for the colonial ordinance of 1641 required that
+four days at least should intervene between judgment and execution.
+
+The only barbarous treatment of the bodies of criminals authorized by
+law in Massachusetts since the adoption of the Constitution, that I am
+aware of, was prescribed by the act of 1784, to discourage the
+practice of duelling, which revived some of the provisions of a law of
+the Province, passed in 1728, denying duellists the right to be buried
+in a coffin, and requiring the coroner or executioner to see that
+their bodies be interred near the place of execution, or in the public
+highway, with a stake driven through them.[31]
+
+[Footnote 31: Compare act of June 30, 1784, with Prov. Stat. 1728-29,
+ch. 15: Prov. Laws, vol. ii. p. 516.]
+
+Now, happily, capital punishment is restricted in this Commonwealth
+and in England to two offences only; and while, here, even high
+treason is punishable simply by imprisonment, in England, strong
+efforts have been repeatedly made, and recently with a fair prospect
+of ultimate success, to induce parliament to imitate our example and
+take away the death penalty from this the highest crime known to the
+common law.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Trial and Execution, for Petit
+Treason, of Mark and Phillis, Slaves of Capt. John Codman, by Abner Cheney Goodell, Jr.
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TRIAL, EXECUTION, PETIT TREASON ***
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+    <title>
+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Trial and Execution, for Petit Treason, of Mark and Phillis, Slaves of Capt. John Codman, by Abner Cheney Goodell, Jr.
+    </title>
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+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Trial and Execution, for Petit Treason,
+of Mark and Phillis, Slaves of Capt. John Codman, by Abner Cheney Goodell, Jr.
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Trial and Execution, for Petit Treason, of Mark and Phillis, Slaves of Capt. John Codman
+       Who Murdered Their Master at Charlestown, Mass., in 1755;
+              for Which the Man Was Hanged and Gibbeted, and the Woman
+              Was Burned to Death. Including, Also, Some Account of Other
+              Punishments by Burning in Massachusetts
+
+Author: Abner Cheney Goodell, Jr.
+
+Release Date: August 28, 2008 [EBook #26446]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TRIAL, EXECUTION, PETIT TREASON ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Bryan Ness, Linda Cantoni, and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images generously made available
+by the Library of Congress)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+
+
+<div class="notes">
+<p class="center"><i>Transcriber's Notes</i></p>
+
+<p>This e-book contains extensive passages from 18th
+Century documents. Spelling, punctuation, hyphenation, and
+capitalization are preserved as they appear in the original (including
+"goal" for "gaol"). Macrons over consonants are rendered in brackets
+with an equal sign, e.g., [=c].</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<div class="bbox">
+<h1><span class="small">THE</span><br />
+<br />
+TRIAL AND EXECUTION,<br />
+<br />
+<span class="small">FOR PETIT TREASON,</span><br />
+<br />
+<span class="smaller">OF</span><br />
+<br />
+MARK AND PHILLIS,<br />
+<br />
+<span class="small"><span class="smcap">Slaves of Capt. John Codman</span>,</span><br />
+</h1>
+
+<p class="center"><b>WHO MURDERED THEIR MASTER AT CHARLESTOWN, MASS., IN 1755;<br />
+FOR WHICH THE MAN WAS HANGED AND GIBBETED,<br />
+AND THE WOMAN WAS BURNED TO DEATH.</b></p>
+
+<p class="center">
+<span class="small"><b>INCLUDING, ALSO,</b></span></p>
+
+<h3>
+SOME ACCOUNT OF OTHER PUNISHMENTS BY BURNING<br />
+IN MASSACHUSETTS.
+</h3>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<h3><span class="small">BY</span><br />
+<br />
+ABNER CHENEY GOODELL, <span class="smcap">Jr</span>.</h3>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+CAMBRIDGE:<br />
+<span class="gesperrt">JOHN WILSON AND SON.</span><br />
+<span class="gothic">University Press.</span><br />
+1883.<br />
+</p>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="small">[200 copies printed.]</span></p>
+</div>
+
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">3</a></span></p>
+
+<h1><span class="small">THE TRIAL AND EXECUTION</span><br />
+<br />
+<span class="smaller">OF</span><br />
+<br />
+MARK AND PHILLIS,<br />
+<br />
+<span class="small"><span class="smcap">In</span> 1755.</span></h1>
+
+<hr class="med" />
+
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p>[The following pages are, with slight changes, a reprint
+from the Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical
+Society, of a paper read before that Society, March 8, 1883,
+in answer to a question propounded at a previous meeting,
+relative to the authenticity of the tradition that a woman
+was burned to death in Massachusetts in the year 1755. As
+this case is the only known instance of the infliction of
+the common-law penalty for petit treason, in New England,
+and is not known to have been elsewhere reported, the
+printers have, at the author's request, struck off, in
+pamphlet form, a limited number of impressions for the use
+of persons interested in the history of our criminal
+jurisprudence, who may not have convenient access to the
+serial from which it is taken, or who may desire to preserve
+it separately.]</p></div>
+
+<p>It is not surprising that the execution of a woman, by burning, so
+lately as when Shirley was governor,&mdash;a period when the province had
+greatly advanced in culture and refinement,&mdash;should seem to any one
+incredible. Indeed, even so critical and thorough a student of our
+provincial history as our late distinguished associate, Dr. Palfrey,
+once wrote to me inquiring if the rumor of such a proceeding had any
+foundation in fact, and if so, whether the execution took place
+according to law, or by the impulse of an infuriated mob. It gave me
+great satisfaction to be able to settle his doubts on this subject by
+referring him to the records of the Superior Court of Judicature,
+where the judgment, from which I shall presently read to you, and a
+copy of which I sent to him, appears at length.</p>
+
+<p>The subject is important at this day only as serving to define the
+nature of the "cruel and unusual punishments" prohibited by the
+thirty-first article of the Declaration of Rights, in our state
+Constitution, since this mode of punishment, having continued after
+the adoption of the Constitution, cannot<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">4</a></span> have been considered by the
+framers of that instrument either as "cruel" or "unusual" in the sense
+in which they used these words.</p>
+
+<p>The particulars of the crime for which the malefactors, Mark and
+Phillis, were executed are briefly as follows: Captain John Codman, a
+thrifty saddler, sea-captain, and merchant, of Charlestown, was the
+owner of several slaves whom he employed either as mechanics, common
+laborers, or house servants. Three of the most trusted of these, Mark,
+Phillis, and Phebe,&mdash;particularly Mark,&mdash;found the rigid discipline of
+their master unendurable, and, after setting fire to his workshop some
+six years before, hoping by the destruction of this building to so
+embarrass him that he would be obliged to sell them, they, in the year
+1755, conspired to gain their end by poisoning him to death.</p>
+
+<p>In this confederacy some five or six negroes belonging to other owners
+were more or less directly implicated. Mark, the leader, was able to
+read, and signed his examination, hereafter referred to, in a bold,
+legible hand. He professed to have read the Bible through, in order to
+find if, in any way, his master could be killed without inducing
+guilt, and had come to the conclusion that according to Scripture no
+sin would be committed if the act could be accomplished without
+bloodshed. It seems, moreover, to have been commonly believed by the
+negroes that a Mr. Salmon had been poisoned to death by one of his
+slaves, without discovery of the crime. So, application was made by
+Mark, first to Kerr, the servant of Dr. John Gibbons, and then to
+Robin, the servant of Dr. Wm. Clarke, at the North End of Boston, for
+poison from their masters' apothecary stores, which was to be
+administered by the two women.</p>
+
+<p>Essex, the servant of Thomas Powers, had also furnished Mark with a
+quantity of "black lead" for the same purpose. This was,
+unquestionably, not the harmless plumbago to which that name is now
+usually given, but galena, or <i>plumbum nigrum</i>, a native sulphuret of
+lead, probably used for a glaze by the potters of Charlestown.</p>
+
+<p>Kerr declined to have any hand in the business; but Robin twice
+obtained and delivered to Mark a quantity of arsenic, of which the
+women, Phebe and Phillis, made a solution which they kept secreted in
+a vial, and from time to time mixed with the water-gruel and sago
+which they sometimes gave directly to their victim to eat, and at
+other times prepared to be innocently administered to him by one of
+his daughters. They also mixed with his food some of the "black lead,"
+which Phillis<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">5</a></span> seems to have thought was the efficient poison, though
+it appeared from the testimony that he was killed by the arsenic.</p>
+
+<p>The crime was promptly traced home to the conspirators; and on the
+second day of July, the day after Captain Codman's death, a coroner's
+jury found that he died from poison feloniously procured and
+administered by Mark. Ten days later, Quaco,&mdash;the nominal husband of
+Phebe, and one of the negroes implicated,&mdash;who was the servant of Mr.
+James Dalton, of Boston, was examined before William Stoddard, a
+justice of the peace, and on the same day Robin was arrested and
+committed to jail. The examination of Quaco was followed by the
+examination of Mark, and of Phillis, later in the month. These last
+were taken before the Attorney-General and Mr. Thaddeus Mason.</p>
+
+<p>At the term of the "Superiour Court of Judicature, Court of Assize,
+and General Goal Delivery," held at Cambridge on the second Tuesday of
+August following, the grand jury found a true bill for petit treason
+against Phillis, and against Mark and Robin as accessories before the
+fact. As this is the only indictment for this offence known to have
+been found in Massachusetts, and was drawn by that eminent lawyer,
+Edmund Trowbridge, then Attorney-General, it is worthy of being
+preserved in print, in connection with the coroner's verdict and the
+examinations of the suspected parties, which are as follows:&mdash;</p>
+
+
+<h3>[<i>Coroner&#8217;s Inquest.</i>]</h3>
+
+<p>
+[Two-penny<br />
+stamp.]<span style="margin-left: 3em;"><span class="smcap">Middlesex</span> ss.</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>An Inquisition Indented, Taken at Charlestown Within the County of
+Middlesex Aforesaid the Second day of July in the Twenty ninth year of
+the Reign of our Lord George the Second by the Grace of God, of Great
+Britain France and Ireland, King Defender of the Faith &amp;<span class="super">c.</span>, before
+John Remington Gentleman one of the Coroners of our said Lord the
+King, Within the County of Middlesex Aforesaid; upon view of the Body
+of John Codman of Charlestown Aforesaid Gentleman then and there Being
+dead by the oaths of Josiah Whitemore, Samuel Larkin, Samuel Larkin
+Jun<span class="super">r.</span> Richard Deavens, William Thompson, Nathaniel Brown, Samuel
+Kettle, John Larkin, Thomas Larkin, David Cheever, Barnabas Davis,
+Edward Goodwin, Benjamin Brazier, Samuel Sprague, Richard Phillips,
+Samuel Hendley and Michael Brigden Good and Lawfull men of Charlestown
+Aforesaid Within the County Aforesaid; Who being Charg'd and Sworn to
+Inquire for our said Lord the King, When, and by What means, and how
+the Said John Codman Came to his Death&mdash;upon their Oaths do Say that
+the said John Codman Came to his death By Poison Procured by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">6</a></span> his
+negro man servant Mark Which he took and Languishd untill the first of
+July Current and then died and so the Jurors Aforesaid upon their
+oaths do Say, that Aforesaid Mark in manner and Form Aforesaid, the
+Aforesaid John Codman then and there feloniously did Poison against
+the peace of our Soverign Lord the King his Crown and Dignity&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>In Witness, Whereof, as Well I the Coroner Aforesaid, as the Jurors
+Aforesaid, to this Inquisition have Interchangeably put our hands and
+Seals, the day And year Abovesaid.</p>
+
+<table style="width: 80%" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="signatures">
+<tr><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td><span class="smcap">John Remington</span> <i>Coroner</i></td><td>[Seal.]</td></tr>
+<tr><td><span class="smcap">Rich<span class="super">d</span> Phillips</span></td><td>[Seal.]</td><td><span class="smcap">Josiah Whittemore</span></td><td>[Seal.]</td></tr>
+<tr><td><span class="smcap">Sam<span class="super">ll</span> Kettell</span></td><td>[Seal.]</td><td><span class="smcap">Sam<span class="super">l</span> Hendly</span></td><td>[Seal.]</td></tr>
+<tr><td><span class="smcap">John Larkin</span></td><td>[Seal.]</td><td><span class="smcap">Mich<span class="super">ll</span> Brigden</span></td><td>[Seal.]</td></tr>
+<tr><td><span class="smcap">Samuel Larkin Jn<span class="super">r.</span></span></td><td>[Seal.]</td><td><span class="smcap">Nath<span class="super">ll</span> Brown</span></td><td>[Seal.]</td></tr>
+<tr><td><span class="smcap">William Thompson</span></td><td>[Seal.]</td><td><span class="smcap">David Cheever</span></td><td>[Seal.]</td></tr>
+<tr><td><span class="smcap">Thomas Larkin</span></td><td>[Seal.]</td><td><span class="smcap">Sam<span class="super">ll</span> Larkin</span></td><td>[Seal.]</td></tr>
+<tr><td><span class="smcap">Richard Devens</span></td><td>[Seal.]</td><td><span class="smcap">Benjamin Brazier</span></td><td>[Seal.]</td></tr>
+<tr><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td><span class="smcap">Barnabas Davis</span></td><td>[Seal.]</td></tr>
+<tr><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td><span class="smcap">Samuell Sprague</span></td><td>[Seal.]</td></tr>
+<tr><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td><span class="smcap">Edw<span class="super">d.</span> Goodwin</span></td><td>[Seal.]</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<hr class="med" />
+
+<h3>[<i>Examination of Quaco.</i>]</h3>
+
+<p>On the 12<span class="super">th</span> July 1755, was Examined Quacoe a Negro man belonging to
+M<span class="super">r</span> James Dalton of Boston Victualler He s<span class="super">d</span> Quacoe says that some
+time the last winter one Kerr a Negro man belonging to Doct<span class="super">r.</span>
+Jn<span class="super">o</span> Gibbons came to the s<span class="super">d</span> Quacoe &amp; told him that Mark
+belong<span class="super">g.</span> to M<span class="super">r</span> Codman had Been w<span class="super">th.</span> him to get some Poyson
+and the s<span class="super">d.</span> Quaco says that Ker told him that Mark asked the s<span class="super">d.</span>
+Kerr whither Ph&#339;be had been w<span class="super">th.</span> him for said Poyson. The said
+Quacoe also says that he Spoke to Ph&#339;be M<span class="super">r</span> Codman's negro woman
+whom he called his Wife &amp; told her not to be Concerned with Mark for
+that she would be Brought into Trouble by him, for that Mark had been
+w<span class="super">th.</span> Kerr Gibbons to get Poyson, &amp; had askt s<span class="super">d</span> Kerr whither
+Ph&#339;be had not been w<span class="super">th</span> him for s<span class="super">d</span> Poyson. The s<span class="super">d</span> Quacoe
+also says that the above discourse w<span class="super">th</span> Ph&#339;be was when they were
+going to Bed the Saturday night after the discourse had w<span class="super">th.</span> Kerr
+Gibbons. He also says that he charged her not to be concerned w<span class="super">th.</span>
+Mark about Poyson on any acco<span class="super">t.</span> whatever.</p>
+
+<p>The above Examination Taken on the 12<span class="super">th.</span> July 1755 at Boston</p>
+
+<p class="right">
+<img src="images/per.png" width="15" height="18" alt="symbol: per" title="symbol: per" />
+<span class="smcap">W<span class="super">m</span> Stoddard</span> <i>J Pacis</i>
+</p>
+
+<hr class="med" />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">7</a></span></p>
+
+<h3>[<i>Mittimus against Robin.</i>]</h3>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Suffolk</span> ss:</p>
+
+<p>To The Keeper of His Majestys Goal in Boston and to the Constables of
+Boston Greeting&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">L.S.</div>
+
+<p>I herewith Comit to you M<span class="super">r.</span> Constable Pattin the Body of Robin a
+Negro man belonging to D<span class="super">r.</span> William Clarke of the North End of
+Boston, who is this day Charged w<span class="super">th</span> being Concerned in the
+Poysoning of the late M<span class="super">r.</span> John Codman of Charles Town Deceased.
+Take Care of him and deliver him to The Keeper of His Majestys Goal in
+Boston; and you the s<span class="super">d</span> Keeper are hereby Commanded to Receive the
+Body of the Said Robin and him Safely Keep untill he shall be
+discharged by Due Course of Law,</p>
+
+<p>Given under my hand and Seal at Boston the Twelfth day of July anno
+Domini 1755 and in the Twenty ninth Year of the Kings Reign.</p>
+
+<p class="right">
+<span class="smcap">W<span class="super">m.</span> Stoddard</span>, <i>Just: Pacis</i>.<br />
+</p>
+
+<hr class="med" />
+
+<h3>[<i>Examination of Phillis.</i>]</h3>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Midd<span class="super">x</span></span> ss:</p>
+
+<p>The Examination of Phillis a negro Servant of John Codman late of
+Charlstown deceased taken by Edmund Trowbridge and Thaddeus Mason
+Esq<span class="super">rs</span> at Cambridge in the County of Middlesex the 26<span class="super">th.</span> Day of
+July Anno Domini 1755. And y<span class="super">e</span> 2<span class="super">d</span> of Aug<span class="super">t.</span> following&mdash;</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest<span class="super">n</span>.</i> Was M<span class="super">r.</span> John Codman late of Charlstown de[=c]d, your
+Master?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> Yes he was.</p>
+
+<p><i>Ques<span class="super">t</span>.</i> How long was you his servant?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> He my said Master bought me when I was a little girl and I
+continued his servant untill his Death.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest<span class="super">n</span>.</i> Do you know of what sickness your said master died?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answer.</i> I suppose he was poisoned.</p>
+
+<p><i>Ques<span class="super">t</span>.</i> Do you know he was poisoned?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> I do know he was poisoned.</p>
+
+<p><i>Ques<span class="super">t</span>.</i> What was he poisoned with?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i>&mdash;It was with that black lead.</p>
+
+<p><i>Ques<span class="super">t</span>.</i> what black Lead is it you mean?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> The Potter's Lead.</p>
+
+<p><i>Ques<span class="super">t</span>.</i> How do you know your s<span class="super">d.</span> master was poisoned with that
+Lead?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> Mark got some of the said Potter's Lead from Essex Powers
+and my young mistress Molly found some of the same Lead in the
+Porringer that my Master's Sagoe was in, he complain'd it was gritty;
+and that made Miss Molly look into the Porringer, and finding the Lead
+there, she ask'd me what it was, I told her I did not know.&mdash;I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">8</a></span>
+cleaned the Skillet the Sagoe was boiled in and found some of the same
+stuff in the bottom of the skillet that was in the bottom of the
+Porringer. And presently after Mark was carried to Goal, Tom brought a
+Paper of the Potter's Lead out of the Blacksmith's Shop, which he said
+he found there; and I saw it and am sure it was the same with that
+which Was in the bottom of the Porringer and the Skillet.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> Do you know that any other Poison besides the Potter's Lead
+was given to your s<span class="super">d</span> master?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> Yes.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> What was it?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> It was Water which was poured out of a Vial.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> How do you know that, that Water was Poison?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> There was a White Powder in the Vial, which Sunk to the
+Bottom of it.&mdash;</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> Do you know who put the Powder into the Vial?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> I put the first Powder in.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> Where did you get that Powder?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> Phebe gave it to me up in the Garret, the Sabbath Day
+morning before the last Sacrament before my master dyed, and Ph&#339;be
+at the same time told me Mark gave it to her.</p>
+
+<p><i>Ques<span class="super">t</span>.</i> What was the Powder in when Ph&#339;be gave it you?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answer.</i> It was in a White Paper, folded up Square, both ends being
+turn'd up, &amp; it was tyed with some Twine.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> How much Powder was there in the Paper?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> There was a good deal of it I believe near an ounce.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> Did you put all that Powder into the Vial?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> No, I put in but a little of it, only so much as lay on
+the Point of a narrow Piece of flat Iron, with which I put it in,
+which Iron Mark made &amp; gave it to me to give to Phebe, Mark gave me
+the s<span class="super">d</span> Iron the Saturday before the Sabbath afores<span class="super">d</span>. I ask'd him
+what it was for, he would not tell me; he said Robbin gave him one,
+and he had lost it; and that he himself went into the shop and made
+this. I gave the s<span class="super">d</span> Iron to Ph&#339;be that same afternoon, in the
+Kitchen; and the next morning she gave it to me in the Garret, and
+Quaco was there with her; she whisper'd to me and told me to take the
+Paper of Powder which was in the hollow over the Window, and the flat
+Iron which was with it and put some of it into the Vial with the Iron
+which I did; and she bid me put some water into it, but I did not; but
+she afterwards put some in herself, as she told me, and she put it
+into the Closet in the Kitchen in a Corner behind a black Jug; and the
+same Vial was kept there untill my master dyed.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> Had your Master any of that Water which was put into the said
+Vial given to him?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> Yes he had.</p>
+
+<p><i>Ques<span class="super">t</span>.</i> How was it given to him?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> It was poured into his barly Drink and into his Infusion,
+and into his Chocalate, and into his Watergruel.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> Who poured the Water out of the s<span class="super">d</span> Vial into the
+Chocalate?</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">9</a></span></p><p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> Ph&#339;be did, and Master afterwards eat it.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> Who pour'd it into his barly Drink?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> I did it myself; I pour'd a drop out of the Vial into the
+barly Drink, &amp; I felt ugly, and pour'd the Water out of the mug again
+off from the Barly, and put clean Water into the mug again &amp; cover'd
+it over that it might boil quick.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> Who pour'd the Water out of the Vial into the Infusion?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> Ph&#339;be did.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> How do you know it?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> I came into the Kitchen and saw her do it.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> Did your master drink the Infusion after that water was so
+pour'd in?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> He drank one Tea Cup full of it.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> How do you know that Ph&#339;be poured any of the poisoned
+Water out of the Vial into your Master's Chocalate?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> She told me she had done it.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> When did she tell you so?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> That Same Day.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> Was it before or after your Master eat that Chocalate that
+the poison'd Water was pour'd into, that She told you so?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> Before he eat it.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> Did you see him eat that Chocalate?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> Yes, I did, he eat it in the Kitchen on a little round
+Table.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> Who put the Second Powder into the Vial?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> Ph&#339;be put it in; I left Part of the Powder she gave me
+in the Paper, and she afterwards put that into the Vial as she told
+me. as I was in the cellar drawing some Cyder, I heard Ph&#339;be tell
+Mark that the Powder was all out, and all used up;</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> When was it that you heard Ph&#339;be tell Mark so?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> The Wednesday before my master dyed.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> Do you know of any more Powder being got to give to your
+master?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answer.</i> Yes, but master never took any of it.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> Who got this last Powder?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> Mark got it.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> What did he do with it?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> He gave it to me; in our little House.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> What Sort of Powder was it that Mark gave You?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> I[t?] was white the same as the first.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> What was it in?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> In a Peice of Paper; he had more of that Powder than he
+gave me, it was in a Paper folded up in a long Square, he tore off
+Part of that Paper, and put Some of the Powder into it, and gave it to
+me and kept the rest himself. and at the same time that he gave it to
+me he told me that Robbin said we were damn'd Fools we had not given
+Master that first Powder at two Doses, for it wou'd have killed him,
+and no Body would have known who hurt him, for it was enough to kill
+the strongest man living; upon which I ask'd Mark how he knew, it
+would not have been found out, he said that Mr. Salmon's Negros
+poison'd him, and were never found out, but had got good masters, &amp; so
+might we.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">10</a></span></p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> What did you do with that Powder which Mark gave you?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> I put it into the Vial, &amp; set it in the Same Place it was
+in before, there was some of the first Powder &amp; Water remaining in the
+Vial when I put this last in.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> Do you know that any of the Water that was in the Vial after
+you put this last Powder in was given to your Master?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> No, he never had a drop of it. The next Day after Master
+died Mark came into the Closet where I was eating my Dinner and ask'd
+me for that Bottle. I ask'd him what he wanted it for, and he would
+not tell me, but insisted upon having it, upon which I told him that
+it was there behind the Jugg, and he took it and went directly down to
+the Shop in the yard, and I never saw it afterwards 'till Justice
+Mason shew it to me, on the Fast Day night.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> Do you know where Mark got that Powder which he gave to you?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> He had it of Robbin, Doc<span class="super">tr</span> Clark's Negro; that liv'd
+with Mr. Vassall.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> How do you know that Mark had that Powder of Robbin?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> The Thursday night before my master died Mark told me he
+was going over to Boston to Robbin to get some more Powder for he
+s<span class="super">d:</span> Ph&#339;be told him y<span class="super">t</span> the other was all out; and Mark went
+over to Boston, and return'd again about nine o'Clock; and I ask'd
+Mark if he had got it, and he told me no, he had not, but Robbin was
+to bring it over the next night; and between 8 &amp; 9 o'Clock that next
+night, a negro Fellow came to me in our Yard &amp; ask'd me for Mark, And
+I ask'd him his name but he would not tell me, and I said to him,
+Countryman, if you'l tell me your name I'll call Mark, for I know
+where he is, but he would not, I then askt him if he was not Robbin
+Vassall, (for I mistrusted it was he) and upon that he laughed and
+said his name was not Robbin Vassall, but he came out of the Country
+and wanted to see Mark very much about his Child; and upon my refusing
+to tell him where Mark was the negro went away down to the Ferry, and
+I followed him at some distance &amp; saw him go into the Ferry Boat, and
+the Boat put off, with him in it. That same Fryday, in the afternoon,
+Mark told me, if any Negro Fellow shou'd come; &amp; say that he came out
+of the Country to call him, I ask'd him what negro it was that he
+expected wou'd come; he told me it was Robbin, and that he was to say
+that he came out of the Country to speak with Mark about his Child,
+and bid me tell no Body about it.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> Do you know Robbin Doct<span class="super">r.</span> Clark's negro?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> I do, and have known him for many years.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> How then happen'd it that you cou'd not certainly tell
+whether the negro afores<span class="super">d.</span> that askt for Mark was Robbin or not?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> Because it was dark, So dark I cou'd not see his Face so
+as certainly to know him, but I am fully satisfyed it was Robbin.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> What Reason have you to be satisfyed it was Robbin?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> That same night I told Mark that a negro Fellow had been
+there and ask'd for him &amp; wanted him, he ask'd me why I did not call<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">11</a></span>
+him, I told him our Folks called me and I could not, Mark told me he
+was very Sorry I did not, and asked me if he gave me any Thing, I told
+him he did not, he said he was very sorry he did not; then I ask'd him
+who it was, and he said it was Robbin, and then he told me that he
+thought Robbin &amp; he had been playing blind-mans Buff, for they had
+been over the Ferry twice that night and mist one another; and that
+Elij<span class="super">h</span> Phipps &amp; Timo Rand told him that a negro Fellow had been over
+the Ferry to speak with him about his Child. And then Mark told me he
+would the next Night go over to Robbin and get some more of the same
+Powder, and would bring it over on the Sabbath Day, &amp; he went to
+Boston on the Saturday night, but did not return till Monday morning,
+when he brought it and gave it to me in the little House, as I told
+you before.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> Did you see Robbin at Charlstown in the Time of your master's
+sickness or about the Time of his Death?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> Yes, I saw him on y<span class="super">e</span> Tuesday the Ship was launched,
+when my master catch'd Mark buying Drink at M<span class="super">rs</span> Shearman's to treat
+him with, &amp; drove him away; and I saw him at Charlstown on the
+Saturday after my Master was buried; but I did not speak with him at
+either of those Times. The Tuesday he was before our Shop Door, in the
+Street, with Mark and had a Bag upon his shoulder; and on the Saturday
+in the afternoon I saw him going up the Street by our House, while
+Ph&#339;be and I were washing in the back yard; I told Ph&#339;be there
+was Robbin a going along this minit, and she said is he? and ask'd me
+what Cloaths he had on; I told her he had a bluish Coat on lined with
+a straw coloured or yellow lining and the Cuffs open &amp; lined with the
+said Yellow lining, and that he had a black wigg on; and I told
+Ph&#339;be I believed he was gone up to Mark to tell him not to own that
+he had given any Thing to him, and Ph&#339;be said she believed so to;
+and I went into the street to the Pump with a Pail to get some Water,
+designing to see whether he went that Way, and I saw him go right up
+the main street, and I could see him as far up as Mr. Eleazer
+Phillips's, and I did not see him afterwards. I never see him with a
+Wigg on before, but as he went by us he look'd me full in the Face and
+I knew it was Robbin. When I told Ph&#339;be that Robbin was going by, I
+thought she saw him, but she questioned whether it was he, and I told
+her I was sure it was he, for I had known him ever since he was a boy,
+and I told her I would lay a mug of Flip that it was he, but she wou'd
+not; and then it was that I told her I believed he was gone up to Mark
+&amp;c.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> Do you know what Powder that was which Mark &amp; Ph&#339;be gave
+you, and you put into the Vial?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> Mark told me it was Ratsbane, but I told Ph&#339;be I
+believed Mark lied &amp; that it was only burnt allom, for I told her,
+that upon taking Ratsbane they would directly swell, and Master did
+not swell; and she said she believed so to.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> How many Times was any of that Water, which was in the Vial
+afores<span class="super">d.</span>, put into your master's victuals?</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">12</a></span></p><p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> Not above Seven Times.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> When was the first Time?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> The next Monday morning after Ph&#339;be gave me the first
+Powder. then it was put into his Chocalate, by Ph&#339;be. The next was
+also put in to his Chocalate by Ph&#339;be on the next Wednesday
+morning, and I thinking she put in more than she should, told her her
+hand was heavy, and there was no more put in, that, I know of till the
+next Fryday, when Ph&#339;be put some into his Chocalate, and my Master
+eat the Chocalate all the three times aforesaid in the Kitchen, and I
+was there &amp; saw him; The next was on the Saturday following, when I
+put Some into his Watergruel, but I felt ugly and threw it away, and
+made some fresh, and did not put any into that. The next was on the
+afternoon of the same Saturday, I made him some more Watergruel &amp;
+pour'd some of the Water out of the Vial into it, and it turned
+yellow, and Miss Betty, ask'd me what was the matter with the
+Watergruel and I gave her no answer; but that was thrown away, and
+more fresh made, and Miss Molly was going to put the same Plumbs in
+again, and Ph&#339;be told her not to do it, but she had better put in
+some fresh Plumbs, and she did; and no Poison was put into that; It
+was by Ph&#339;be's advice that I put it into the first this afternoon.
+And he had no more, that I know of 'till the next Monday night, when
+Mark put some of the Potter's Lead into Masters Sagoe.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> How do you know that Mark put any of the Potter's Lead into
+the Sagoe?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answer.</i> When I went out of the Kitchen I left the Sagoe in the
+little Iron Skillet on the Fire, and no body was in the Kitchen then,
+but when I returned, Mark was Sitting on a Form in the Corner, and I
+afterwards found Some of that Lead in the Skillet, and neither
+Ph&#339;be nor I had any Such Lead.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> Do you know of any other Poison prepar'd for, or given to
+your Master?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> No, I do not.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> Who was it that first contrived the poisoning your Master
+Codman?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> It was Mark who first contrived it, He told Ph&#339;be and I
+that he had read the Bible through, and that it was no Sin to kill him
+if they did not lay violent Hands on him So as to shed Blood, by
+sticking or stabbing or cutting his Throat.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> When was it that Mark first proposed the poisoning his
+Master?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> Some time last Winter; he proposed it to Ph&#339;be and I,
+but we would not agree to it, and told him No Such Thing should be
+done in the House; This before my Master brought him home from Boston.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> Did he ever afterwards propose the poisoning his s<span class="super">d</span>
+Master?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> Yes he did, a Week or a Fortnight after my Master brought
+him home from Boston, he proposed it to me first, and I would not
+agree to it, and then he proposed it to Ph&#339;be.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quet.</i> What Reason did Mark give for poisoning his Master?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ.</i> He said he was uneasy and wanted to have another Master, and
+he was concerned for Ph&#339;be and I too.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">13</a></span></p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> Do you know how your Master's Work house that was burnt down
+came on Fire?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> Yes I do.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> How came it on fire?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> I set it on fire, but it was thro' Mark's means, he gave
+me no rest 'till I did it.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> How did you Set your Master's Work House on fire?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> I threw a Coal of Fire into some Shavings between the
+Blacksmith's Shop &amp; the Work House, and I went away &amp; did not see it
+kindle.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> Who put the Shavings there?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> Mark did.</p>
+
+<p><i>Ques<span class="super">t.</span></i> Was any Body concern'd in the burning the Work house
+besides Mark and you?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> Yes, Ph&#339;be knew about it as well as I.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> Where was Ph&#339;be &amp; Mark when you put the Coal of Fire into
+the Shavings?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> The were up Garret in bed.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> Who first proposed the Setting the Workhouse on fire? and
+what reason was given for doing it?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> Mark first proposed it, to Ph&#339;be and I; and the Reason
+he gave us was that he wanted to get to Boston, and if all was burnt
+down, he did not know what Master could do without selling us.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> Why did you, when Ph&#339;be pour'd Some of the Water out of
+the Vial into the Chocalate tell her, "her hand was heavy?"</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> I thought she pour'd in too much, more than she should I
+felt ugly and I wan't willing she shou'd put in so much and that he
+should be kill'd so quick. Mark's orders were to give it in two Doses,
+that was the Directions Robbin gave to Mark, as Mark told me, and Mark
+Said Robbin told him there was no more taste in it than in Cold Water.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> Why did you not tell your Master or some of the Family that
+Ph&#339;be had poisoned the Chocalate, and thereby prevent your Master's
+eating it?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> I do not know why I did not tell.</p>
+
+<p class="right">
+The mark of <b>X</b> Phillis.<br />
+</p>
+
+<hr class="med" />
+
+<h3>[<i>Examination of Mark.</i>]</h3>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Middlesex</span> ss:</p>
+
+<p>The Examination of Mark a Negro Servant of John Codman late of
+Charlstown deceased taken by Edmund Trowbridge &amp; Thaddeus Mason
+Esq<span class="super">rs.</span> at Charlstown in the County of Middlesex the &mdash;&mdash; Day of
+July Anno Dom: 1755.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> What is your name?</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">14</a></span></p><p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> Mark.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> Are you a Servant or Freeman?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> A Servant. M<span class="super">r.</span> John Codman dec<span class="super">d:</span> was my master.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> How long was you his Servant?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> For several Years before &amp; untill his Death.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> Do you know what occasion'd your s<span class="super">d.</span> Master's Death?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> He was poisoned.</p>
+
+<p><i>Q.</i> What was he poisoned with?</p>
+
+<p><i>A.</i> With Poison that came from the Doctor's.</p>
+
+<p><i>Q.</i> What Doctor?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> Doct<span class="super">r.</span> Clark that lives at the North End of Boston.</p>
+
+<p><i>Q.</i> What sort of Poison was that?</p>
+
+<p><i>A.</i> It was a White Powder put up in a Paper.</p>
+
+<p><i>Q.</i> How do you know that that Powder came from Doct<span class="super">r.</span> Clark's?</p>
+
+<p><i>A.</i> Robbin the Negro Fellow that belongs to Doct<span class="super">r.</span> Clark gave it
+to me.</p>
+
+<p><i>Q.</i> When &amp; where did Robbin give you that Powder?</p>
+
+<p><i>An.</i> A Week Day night, at his Master's Barn.</p>
+
+<p><i>Qu.</i> Was there any Person present with you when Robbin gave you that
+Powder?</p>
+
+<p><i>An.</i> No. The first Time, the negro man his fellow Servant called him
+out, it was in the Evening near 9 o'Clock.</p>
+
+<p><i>Qu.</i> How many Times had you such Powder of Robbin?</p>
+
+<p><i>An.</i> Twice only.</p>
+
+<p><i>Qu.</i> When was the last Time you had any such Powder of him?</p>
+
+<p><i>An.</i> The Sabbath Day night before my s<span class="super">d.</span> Master died, in the
+Evening after Candle Light.</p>
+
+<p><i>Qu.</i> Where was it you had this last Powder of him, and what was it
+in?</p>
+
+<p><i>An.</i> He gave it to me in the same Barn, it was done up in a long
+square in two Papers, the outtermost Paper was brown and the inermost
+Paper was White, as the other was.</p>
+
+<p><i>Qu.</i> What did Robbin give you these Powders for?</p>
+
+<p><i>An.</i> To kill three Pigs belonging to Quaco as Ph&#339;be told me.</p>
+
+<p><i>Qu.</i> How long ago was it Since Robbin gave you the first of these
+Powders?</p>
+
+<p><i>An.</i> I can't certainly tell.</p>
+
+<p><i>Qu.</i> Was it before Robbin &amp; you were together at John Harris y<span class="super">e</span>
+Potters Work house?</p>
+
+<p><i>Ans<span class="super">r</span>.</i> I think it was before.</p>
+
+<p><i>Qu.</i> How long before was it?</p>
+
+<p><i>Ans<span class="super">r</span>.</i> About a Week before.</p>
+
+<p><i>Qu.</i> Did you pay Robbin any Thing for these Powders?</p>
+
+<p><i>An.</i> No. I did not.</p>
+
+<p><i>Q.</i> What did you do with them?</p>
+
+<p><i>Ans.</i> Ph&#339;be had the first; and she sent Phillis for the second and
+I gave it to her.</p>
+
+<p><i>Qu.</i> When &amp; where did you give Ph&#339;be the first Paper of that
+Powder?</p>
+
+<p><i>An.</i> In our Garret; the same night I brought it over.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">15</a></span></p>
+
+<p><i>Qu.</i> Was any Body there when you gave it to her?</p>
+
+<p><i>An.</i> No.</p>
+
+<p><i>Qu.</i> What did she do with it?</p>
+
+<p><i>An.</i> She took it &amp; put it upon the Table.</p>
+
+<p><i>Qu.</i> Did you give her the whole of the Powder you had of Robbin the
+first Time?</p>
+
+<p><i>An.</i> Yes. I gave her the Paper with all the Powder in it, as I
+received it of Robbin.</p>
+
+<p><i>Qu.</i> Did you tell her what was in the Paper?</p>
+
+<p><i>An.</i> No. She knew what was in it; for she told me what to get.</p>
+
+<p><i>Qu.</i> What did she tell you to get?</p>
+
+<p><i>An.</i> Something to kill three Pigs.</p>
+
+<p><i>Qu.</i> Did Robbin give you any Directions how to use that Powder, and
+tell you what Effect it would have?</p>
+
+<p><i>Ans.</i> He told me to put it into about 2 Quarts of Swill or Indian
+meal, and it would make 'em swell up.</p>
+
+<p><i>Qu.</i> Did you tell her how she must use the Powder? or what Effect it
+would have?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> yes I told her as Robbin told me.</p>
+
+<p><i>Qu.</i> Do you know whether she used that Powder or any Part of it?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> no otherwise than as Ph&#339;be &amp; Phillis told me Since my
+master's Death.</p>
+
+<p><i>Qu.</i> Who did you give the Second Paper of Powder to?</p>
+
+<p><i>An.</i> To Phillis.</p>
+
+<p><i>Qu.</i> When &amp; where did you give that Paper of Powder to Phillis?</p>
+
+<p><i>Ans.</i> In the little House; She came to empty a Pot over the Wharffe,
+and I gave it to her, The Monday before my s<span class="super">d.</span> Master died, after
+Breakfast in the Forenoon.</p>
+
+<p><i>Qu:</i> Did you then give her all the Powder you rec<span class="super">d.</span> of Robbin the
+Second Time?</p>
+
+<p><i>Ans.</i> Yes. I took off the brown Paper and gave it to her in the white
+Paper, that it was in, when Robbin gave it to me.</p>
+
+<p><i>Qu.</i> What did she do with it?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> She caried it into the House to Ph&#339;be as Phillis told
+me, She came to me &amp; told me Ph&#339;be sent her for that Thing that She
+sent me for, and thereupon I gave Phillis the Paper.</p>
+
+<p><i>Qu:</i> How was your Master poisoned with these Powders?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> Ph&#339;be &amp; Phillis told me that they used them for that
+End.</p>
+
+<p><i>Qu:</i> When did they tell you this?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> The next Day after my master died.</p>
+
+<p><i>Q:</i> Were they together when they told you So?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> No, Phillis told me of it first, and said that Ph&#339;be
+used all that I brought first, that Way; and that the last was used so
+too by her and Ph&#339;be; and then I went to Ph&#339;be and ask'd her
+about it, and She denyed it at first but when I told her that Phillis
+had told me all about it, then she owned it.</p>
+
+<p><i>Ques<span class="super">t.</span></i> Had you no Reason before your s<span class="super">d.</span> master dyed to think
+that the Powders you had of Robbin were given to your master or that
+he was poison'd therewith?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">16</a></span></p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> No other Reason than hearing Ph&#339;be the Saturday night
+before master died ask Phillis, if she had given him enough, to which
+she replyed, yes. I have given him enough, and will stick as close to
+him as his shirt to his back; but who she meant I did not then know,
+nor untill after master died.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> Was there no Discourse had between you Ph&#339;be &amp; Phillis
+about getting more Poison, after you had the first, of Robbin?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ.</i> The Fryday before my master died Ph&#339;be told me that she had
+lost that stuff that I had brought to her from Robbin, and desired me
+to get her some more. I told her I wou'd when I went over to Boston;
+this was in the Forenoon, when she was washing in the back yard.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> Did you get her any more of Robbin?</p>
+
+<p><i>Ans<span class="super">r</span>.</i> Yes, and that was it which I gave to Phillis</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> When did you go over to get the last Poison?</p>
+
+<p><i>Ans.</i> on the Saturday night before my master died; I went over after
+Sunset; I went directly to Robbin; &amp; told him I wanted some of the
+same I had of him before for that was lost, Robbin was then at the
+Corner of his master's House out in the street, he told me he could
+not get any then, but if I wou'd come on the Sabbath Day night he
+would let me have some, and I went to him on the Sabbath Day night
+after Candle Light, and he then gave it to me.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> Was there any Body with you on the Saturday night when you
+ask'd for the Poison, or do you know whether any Person saw you &amp;
+Robbin together that Evening?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> No, nobody was there, and I dont know that any Body saw us
+together that Evening.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> How long was you with Robbin at M<span class="super">r.</span> Harris's Work house?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> I made no tarry there, but left him at the Pot house, and
+he and the young man that was with him followed me and overtook me a
+little below M<span class="super">r.</span> Waite's Slaughter house; And they went with me
+into the Lane leading from the market Place to the long Wharffe near
+M<span class="super">rs.</span> Shearman's, while I went into M<span class="super">rs.</span> Shearmans and got a mug
+of Toddy, in the mug I brought from M<span class="super">r.</span> Harris's Work house, and I
+carried it to them and they both drank with me.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> Had you any Discourse with Robbin in private or between you
+and him alone that Day?</p>
+
+<p><i>Ansr.</i> No, none at all.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> Where did you drink the Toddy?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> In the Lane afores<span class="super">d.</span></p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> Where did you all go after you drank the Toddy?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> We all came away together &amp; went thro' M<span class="super">r.</span> Sprague's
+Yard &amp; so thro' M<span class="super">rs.</span> Silence Harris's yard &amp; Entry into the street.
+and they went directly down to the Ferry and I went into my master's
+Yard with the Pots I brought from the Potters Work house.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> Did you then go with them to the Ferry or nearer to it than
+your master's House?</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">17</a></span></p><p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> No, I did not.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> Did Robbin give you, or did you give Robbin any Thing between
+the Time of your coming out of M<span class="super">r.</span> Harris's Entry and his going
+over the Ferry?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> No, I did not give him any Thing neither did he give me
+any Thing.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> After you had parted with him when you came thro' the Entry,
+did you call him back?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> No, I did not.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> Did your master that Day forbid M<span class="super">rs</span> Shearman's letting you
+have any more Drink?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> Yes, my master told her not to sell any Drink to any of
+his Servants.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> Did Robbin know of it?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> Not that I know of; he see master go into M<span class="super">rs.</span>
+Shearman's Shop, and pass'd by Robbin in the Lane as Robbin told me.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> Did you ever apply to any body else, besides Robbin for
+Poison?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> No, only to Carr, Doct<span class="super">r.</span> Gibbon's negro man, and then
+Ph&#339;be sent me for it. She had been with Carr before on the same
+account, &amp; he told her he cou'd not get her any then, as she told me;</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> Did you get any Poison of Carr?</p>
+
+<p><i>Ans<span class="super">r.</span></i> No, he told me he wou'd not let me have any, untill he had
+seen Quaco, and did not know whether he shou'd then or not, and I
+never went to him afterwards.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> Did you never ask Doct<span class="super">r.</span> Rand's Cato for any Poison?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> No, I do not know that I ever did, in the World.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> Had you and Ph&#339;be any Conversation together about your
+master in or near your Blacksmith's Shop or in the yard the Monday
+before your master died?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> I had not, that I know of.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> Did you that Day before Tom or any other of your master's
+Servants say that you knew that your master would dye or utter any
+Words to that effect?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> No, I did not. The Day before master dyed, Ph&#339;be came
+into the Shop to dress Tom's Eye &amp; got to dancing &amp; mocking master &amp;
+shaking herself &amp; acting as master did in the Bed; And Tom said he did
+not care, he hop'd he wou'd never get up again for his Eye's sake, and
+Scipio was there at the same time and saw her.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> Did you ever Say that your master had been offer'd &pound;400 for
+you but wou'd not take it, and now he shou'd not have a farthing or
+Words to that effect?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> No I never said any such Thing. <span style="margin-left: 3em;"><span class="smcap">Mark.</span><a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></span></p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> Did you ever tell Ph&#339;be or Phillis that the Week before
+your master dyed, that you went over the Ferry to see Robbin to get
+some more Poison, and that he came over the Ferry in another Boat<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">18</a></span> and
+so you mist each other and that he Robbin pretended to the Ferry-man
+that he was a Country negro and wanted to see you about your Child, or
+Words to that Effect?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> I never told them or either of them so.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> How came that Viall buried near your Forge in the
+Black-Smith's Shop, that you told M<span class="super">r.</span> Kettell of, and he found
+there?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> I buried it there.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> When did you bury it there?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> In the afternoon of that Day that master dyed.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> Where did you get that Vial?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> I took it from Phillis that same Afternoon.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> Did any body see you take it from her?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> No. When I took it from Phillis she own'd that Ph&#339;be
+had given the first Poison that I brought to master; and that she and
+Ph&#339;be had given him all the Rest saving what was then in the
+Bottle. and thereupon I went to Ph&#339;be and charged her with it, she
+at first deny'd it, but at last own'd it it and begg'd me to say
+nothing about it; I told her if I had known she wou'd have put it to
+that use I would not have got it for her; then I call'd Pompey to go
+down to the shop with me for I wanted to speak with him, intending to
+shew him the Vial, and he came into the shop but before I had an
+opportunity to speak to him M<span class="super">r.</span> Kettell took me.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> Where was the Vial when you talked with Ph&#339;be as
+afores<span class="super">d</span>?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> I had it in my Pocket, and told her so, then I went into
+the shop and buried it, then I went into the House immediately to call
+Pompey to shew it to him.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> Why did you bury the Vial before you called Pompy? or shew it
+to any body?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r:</span></i> I buried it because I did not want any body should see it
+before I shewed it to him.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest<span class="super">n.</span></i> Have you lately had any Potters powder'd Lead by you or
+in your Possession?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> Only that I had from Essex Powars; which was as I suppose
+ground to Powder.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> When did you get that powder'd Lead of Essex?</p>
+
+<p><i>Ans<span class="super">r:</span></i> I had it of him that Day I went there for six butter Pots,
+which my master's son Isaac sent me for.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> What did you get that Lead for?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> To see if it would melt in our Fire. upon a Dispute
+between Tom and I about it; Tom said it would melt, and I told him I
+did not believe it would; I carried it home and laid it upon the Wall
+Plate in the Blacksmith's shop, and I never moved it afterwards or
+thought any Thing about it, 'till it was show'd to me by the Justice.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quet.</i> Do you know that any Part of that Lead you had of Essex or any
+Lead like unto it was given to your master or put into his Victuals or
+Drink?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> I do not.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> Do you know of any Proposal made of poisoning your master?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">19</a></span></p>
+
+<p><i>Answ.</i> No, I do not, nor ever heard any such Thing proposed by any
+Body.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> Do you know of any Cushoe nuts being procured for that
+Purpose?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> No; I have not seen a Cushoe nut since I have been in this
+Country.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> Do you know of any Copperas or Green stuff being provided for
+that Purpose?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> No I do not.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> What Time on the Saturday before your master dyed was it that
+you heard Ph&#339;be ask Phillis, if she had given him enough, and
+Phillis said she had, and would stick as close to him as his Shirt to
+his Back?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> In the afternoon about Dark; and before I went to Boston.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> How came you, after you had heard this Talk between Ph&#339;be
+and Phillis, to get her s<span class="super">d.</span> Ph&#339;be more Poison?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> I did not know what she meant by their Talk, nor who they
+meant, by him.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> Did you tell Carr that Ph&#339;be sent you for that Poison you
+applyed to him for?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> She did not tell me it was Poison, but told me to ask Carr
+for that Thing he had promised her; he said he knew what it was and
+would not send it, 'till he had talked to Quaco, and did not know that
+he should send it afterwards; and I said no more to Carr about it.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> Did you ever ask Carr at any other Time for Poison?</p>
+
+<p><i>Ans<span class="super">r</span>.</i> No.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> Did you never ask him for something to Poison or kill a Dog?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> No, not that I know of.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> Was you ever bit by a Dog?</p>
+
+<p><i>Answ<span class="super">r</span>.</i> No. I never was.</p>
+
+<p><i>Quest.</i> Do you know any Thing more of your master's being poisoned
+than you have before related?</p>
+
+<p><i>Ans<span class="super">r</span>.</i> No, I do not.</p>
+
+<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Mark.</span></p>
+
+<hr class="med" />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">20</a></span></p>
+
+<h3>[<i>Bill of Indictment.</i>]</h3>
+
+<table style="width: 100%" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="header">
+<tr>
+<td style="width: 20%; vertical-align: top"><p><span class="smcap">Middlesex</span> ss.</p></td>
+<td><p class="hang">At His Majesties Superiour Court of Judicature Court
+of Assize and General Goal Delivery held at Cambridge
+in and for the County of Middlesex on the
+first Tuesday of August in the Twenty ninth Year
+of the Reign of George the Second by the Grace
+of God of Great Britain France &amp; Ireland King
+Defender of the Faith &amp;<span class="super">c</span>.</p></td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>The Jurors for the said Lord the King upon their Oath present That
+Phillis a Negro woman of Charlestown in the County of Middlesex
+Spinster Servant of John Codman late of Charlestown aforesaid
+Gentleman not having the Fear of God before her Eyes but of her Malice
+forethought contriving to deprive the said John Codman her said Master
+of his Life and him feloniously and Traiterously to kill and murder,
+She the said Phillis on the thirtieth Day of June last at Charlestown
+aforesaid in the Dwelling house of the said John there did of her
+Malice forethought willfully feloniously and Traiterously put a Deadly
+Poison called Arsenick into a Vial of water and thereby did then and
+there Poison the same Water&mdash;&mdash;and that the said Phillis knowing the
+Water aforesaid to be so poisoned did then and there feloniously
+willfully traiterously and of her Malice forethought put one spoonfull
+of the Same Water so poisoned into a Pint of the Said John's
+Watergruel and thereby poison the Same Watergruel&mdash;&mdash;And that the said
+Phillis did then and there of her malice forethought feloniously
+willfully and traiterously in manner as aforesaid poison the
+Watergruel aforesaid, with a felonious and Traiterous Intent and
+Design that the said John her said master then being should then and
+there eat the Same Watergruel so poisoned and thereby be poisoned
+killed &amp; murdered&mdash;&mdash;And that one Elizabeth Codman not knowing the
+Watergruel aforesaid to be so poisoned then and there Innocently gave
+the Same Watergruel so poisoned as aforesaid to the said John to eat&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>And that the said John then and there being the said Phillis's Master
+and being altogether ignorant of the Watergruel aforesaid's being
+poisoned as as<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> aforesaid and Suspecting no Evil did then and there
+eat the same Watergruel so poisoned as aforesaid&mdash;&mdash;And that the said
+Phillis then and there was feloniously and traiterously present with
+the said Elizabeth &amp; John knowing of and consenting unto the said
+Elizabeth's giving him the said John the Watergruel aforesaid so
+poisoned as aforesaid and his eating the same as aforesaid&mdash;&mdash;And that
+the said John by means of his eating the Watergruel aforesaid so
+poisoned as aforesaid There Languished for the space of fifteen Hours
+and then at Charlestown aforesaid Died of the Poison aforesaid given
+him as aforesaid&mdash;&mdash;And So the Jurors aforesaid upon their Oath say<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">21</a></span>
+that the said Phillis did at Charlestown aforesaid of her malice
+forethought in manner and form aforesaid willfully feloniously and
+traiterously poison kill &amp; murder the said John Codman her said master
+against the Peace of the said Lord the King his Crown &amp; Dignity.</p>
+
+<p>And the Jurors aforesaid upon their Oath further present That Mark a
+Negro man of Charlestown aforesaid Labourer and Servant of the said
+John Codman. And Robbin a Negro man of Boston in the County of Suffolk
+Labourer &amp; Servant of John Clark of Boston aforesaid Apothecary before
+the said Treason and murder aforesaid committed by the said Phillis in
+manner &amp; form aforesaid did at Charlestown aforesaid on the twentieth
+Day of June last of their malice forethought (the said Mark then being
+Servant of the said John Codman) feloniously &amp; traiterously advise &amp;
+incite procure &amp; abet the said Phillis to do and commit the said
+Treason &amp; Murder aforesaid against the Peace of the said Lord the King
+his Crown and Dignity.</p>
+
+<p class="right">
+<span class="smcap">Edm Trowbridge</span> <i>Att<span class="super">r</span> <img src="images/per.png" width="15" height="18" alt="symbol: per" title="symbol: per" /> Dom Reg<span class="super">e</span>.</i><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>This is a True Bill.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><span class="smcap">Caleb Dana</span> <i>foreman</i>.</span>
+</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p>The case was tried, at the same term at which the parties were
+indicted, before Stephen Sewall, chief justice, and Benjamin Lynde,
+John Cushing, and Chambers Russell, associate justices,&mdash;all fairly
+read in the law, and the Chief Justice eminent in his profession.
+Samuel Winthrop and Nathaniel Hatch, jointly, were clerks of the
+court.<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></p>
+
+<p>Mark and Phillis were convicted, and sentence of death was pronounced
+upon them in strict conformity to the common law of England. On the
+6th of September, a warrant for their execution was issued, under the
+seal of the court, commanding Richard Foster, Sheriff of Middlesex, to
+perform the last office of the law, on the 18th of the same month; and
+upon this warrant the sheriff made return upon the day of the
+execution.</p>
+
+<p>The subp&#339;nas to the witnesses against the accused, the caption and
+conclusion of the record of the case, and the warrant for the
+execution of the condemned are as follows:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">22</a></span></p>
+
+<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="header">
+<tr>
+<td style="width: 25%" class="center">
+<span class="smcap">Province of the</span><br />
+<span class="smcap">Massachusetts Bay,</span><br />
+ss.
+</td>
+<td class="center" style="width: 10%">
+<b>}<br />
+}<br />
+}</b>
+</td>
+<td>
+<p class="hang" style="text-align: justify"><i>George the Second by the Grace of God of Great</i>
+<i>Britain France &amp; Ireland King Defender</i>
+<i>of y<span class="super">e</span> Faith &amp;<span class="super">c.</span></i></p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+
+<table border="0" cellpadding="10" cellspacing="0" summary="header">
+<tr>
+<td class="center" style="border: solid black 1px">
+SEAL.
+</td>
+<td>
+<p class="hang" style="text-align: justify">To the Sheriff of our County of Middlesex his under
+Sheriff or Deputy or to any Constable of the Town of
+Charlestown within Said County, Greeting&mdash;</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>We Command you That you Su[=m]on W<span class="super">m</span>. Brattle Esqr Docter Pinchin of
+Boston Joseph Rand Jun<span class="super">r.</span> Hatter Bartholomew Powers Isaac Rand
+Phisitian W<span class="super">m.</span> Kneland, Benj<span class="super">n.</span> Codman Parnel Codman Eliz<span class="super">h.</span>
+Codman Mary Codman Ann Codman Catherine Codman, Pompey Thomas Cuffee
+and Scipeo negro servants that were Jno. Codman Dec<span class="super">d.</span> James Kittle
+W<span class="super">m.</span> Foster Phisitian Essex Servant to thomas powers Serv<span class="super">t.</span> of
+Dr. Rand Dinah Serv<span class="super">t.</span> of Rich<span class="super">d.</span> Foster Esqr Ruth Adams</p>
+
+<p>To appear Before our Justices of our Superiour Court of Judicature
+Court of Assize and General Goal Delivery now held at Cambridge within
+&amp; for said County tomorrow at Eight of y<span class="super">e</span> Clock before noon to give
+Such Evidence in our Behalf (as you know) against Mark a Negro man &amp;
+Phillis a Negro woman both of Charlestown aforesaid&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>Hereof fail not and so soon as may be make return of this Writ with
+your Doings Therein into the same Court Witness Stephen Sewall Esq. at
+Boston the sixth Day of August in the twenty ninth year of our Reign
+Annoq. Domini 1755</p>
+
+<p class="right">
+<span class="smcap">Sam<span class="super">l</span> Winthrop</span> <i>Cler</i><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">[<i>Endorsed Return.</i>]</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Middlesex</span> ss. August 7, 1755</p>
+
+<p>We have somoned the persons within named to appear &amp; Give Evidence at
+the time &amp; place within mentioned.</p>
+
+<p class="right">
+<span class="smcap">James Kettell</span>, <i>Dept Sheriff</i>,<br />
+&amp; <span class="smcap">John Miller</span><br />
+<i>Constabel</i>.<br />
+</p>
+
+<hr class="med" />
+
+<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="header">
+<tr>
+<td class="center" style="width: 25%">
+<span class="smcap">Province of the</span><br />
+<span class="smcap">Massachusetts Bay,</span> ss
+</td>
+<td class="center" style="width: 10%">
+<b>}<br />
+}</b>
+</td>
+<td>
+<p class="hang" style="text-align: justify"><i>George the Second by the Grace of God of</i>
+<i>Great Britain France &amp; Ireland King</i>
+<i>Defender of the Faith &amp;c.</i></p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+
+<table border="0" cellpadding="10" cellspacing="0" summary="header">
+<tr>
+<td class="center" style="border: solid black 1px">
+SEAL.
+</td>
+<td>
+<p class="hang" style="text-align: justify">To the Sheriff of our County of Suffolk his under Sheriff
+or Deputy or any Constable of the Town of Boston in
+s<span class="super">d.</span> County Greeting</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>We Command you that you Summon The Wife of Ichabod Jones Eliz<span class="super">a.</span>
+Mercy Car, a negro man servant of John Gibbins Apothecary Quaco the
+serv<span class="super">t.</span> of &mdash;&mdash; Dalton Quaco a Negro man belonging to m<span class="super">r.</span> John
+White<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">23</a></span></p>
+
+<p>To appear before our Justices of our Superiour Court of Judicature
+Court of Assize &amp; General Goal Delivery now holden at Cambridge within
+and for said County Tomorrow morning at Eight of y<span class="super">e</span> Clock before
+noon Then and there to give Such Evidence in our Behalf as you know
+against Mark a Negro man &amp; Phillis a Negro woman both of Charlestown
+in our County of Middlesex&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>Hereof Fail not and so soon as may be make Return of this Writ with
+your Doings therein into the same Court</p>
+
+<p>Witness Stephen Sewall Esq. at Boston the Sixth Day of August in the
+twenty ninth year of our Reign Annoq, Domini 1755</p>
+
+<p class="right">
+<span class="smcap">Sam<span class="super">l</span> Winthrop</span> <i>Cler</i><br />
+</p>
+
+
+<hr class="med" />
+
+<h3>[<i>Record of the Case.</i>]</h3>
+
+<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="header">
+<tr>
+<td class="center" style="width: 25%">
+<span class="smcap">Province of the</span><br />
+<span class="smcap">Massachusetts Bay</span><br />
+<span class="smcap">Middlesex</span> ss.
+</td>
+<td class="center" style="width: 10%">
+<b>}<br />
+}<br />
+}</b>
+</td>
+<td>
+<p class="hang" style="text-align: justify"><i>Anno Regni Regis Georgii secondi Magn&aelig;</i>
+<i>Britanni&aelig; Franci&aelig; Hiberni&aelig;</i>
+<i>vicesimonono.</i></p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+
+<div class="blockquot4">
+<p class="hang">At his Majestys Superiour Court of Judicature Court of
+Assize and General Goal Delivery began and held at
+Cambridge within and for the County of Middlesex on
+the first Tuesday of August Annoque Domini 1755&mdash;
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>By the Hon<span class="super">oble.</span> Stephen Sewall Esq<span class="super">r:</span> Chief Justice<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 13em;">Benjamin Lynde<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> <b>}</b></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 13em;">John Cushing &amp;<span style="margin-left: 1.3em"><b>}</b> Esquires Justices</span></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 13em;">Chambers Russell&nbsp;&nbsp;<b>}</b></span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p class="hang">[<i>After reciting the words of the indictment, the record proceeds as
+follows, being, as far as where the record of the trial and sentence
+begins, an extension of a memorandum on the indictment.</i>]</p>
+
+<p>Upon this Indictment the said Phillis was arraigned and upon her
+arraignment pleaded not guilty and for trial put herself upon God and
+the Country and the said Mark was also arraigned upon this Indictment
+and upon his arraignment pleaded not Guilty and for trial put himself
+upon God and the Country, a Jury was thereupon Sworne to try the issue
+M<span class="super">r.</span> John Miller Foreman and fellows who having fully heared the
+Evidence went out to consider thereof and returned with their verdicts
+and upon their oath's say'd that the said Phillis is Guilty, and that
+the said Mark is Guilty, upon which the prisoners were remanded, and
+being again brot and set to the Bar, the Kings Attorney<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">24</a></span> moved the
+Court that Judgment of Death might be given against them, whereupon
+they were asked by the chief Justice if they had ought to say why
+Judgment of Death should not be given against them, and having nothing
+material to offer Judgment of Death was pronounced against them by the
+chief Justice in the name of the Court in form following that is to
+Say that the said Phillis go from hence to the place where she came
+from, and from thence to the place of Execution &amp; there be burnt to
+Death, and that the said Mark go from hence to the place where he came
+from, and from thence be drawn to the place of Execution and there be
+hanged by the neck until he be dead and God Almighty have mercy upon
+their Souls. Ordered that these Sentences be put into Execution upon
+thursday the eighth<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> day of September next between the hours of one
+and five of the Clock in the Afternoon.</p>
+
+<p class="right">
+Warrant issued Sep. 6. 1755.<br />
+</p>
+
+
+<hr class="med" />
+
+<h3>[<i>Writ of execution, or death-warrant.</i>]</h3>
+
+<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="header">
+<tr>
+<td class="center" style="width: 25%">
+<span class="smcap">Province of the</span><br />
+<span class="smcap">Massachusetts Bay</span><br />
+<span class="smcap">Middlesex</span> ss.
+</td>
+<td class="center" style="width: 10%">
+<b>}<br />
+}<br />
+}</b>
+</td>
+<td>
+<p class="hang" style="text-align: justify"><i>George the second by the Grace of God of</i>
+<i>Great Britain France &amp; Ireland King</i>
+<i>Defender of the Faith &amp;C<span class="super">a</span></i></p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+
+<table style="width: 100%; padding-top: 1em" border="0" cellpadding="10" cellspacing="0" summary="header">
+<tr>
+<td class="center" style="border: solid black 1px">
+SEAL.
+</td>
+<td>
+<p class="hang" style="text-align: justify">To Richard Foster Esq<span class="super">r.</span> Sheriff of our County of
+Middlesex in Said Province</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+
+<p class="right"><span style="margin-right: 5em">Greeting</span></p>
+
+<p>Whereas at our Superiour Court of Judicature Court of Assize and
+General Goal Delivery begun and held at Cambridge within and for the
+County of Middlesex on the first Tuesday of August last the Grand
+Jurors for us for the Body of our said County of Middlesex did on
+their Oath Present That Phillis a Negro woman of Charlestown in the
+County of Middlesex Spinster Servant of John Codman late of
+Charlestown aforesaid Gentleman, not having the fear of God before her
+Eyes, but of her malice forethought contriving to deprive the Said
+John Codman her Said master of his life and him feloniously and
+Traiterously to kill and murder, she the said Phillis on the
+thirteenth day of June last at Charlestown aforesaid in the dwelling
+house of the said John there did of her malice forethought willfully
+felloniously and Traiterously put a Deadly Poison called Arsenick into
+a Vial of Water and thereby did then and there Poison the same
+water&mdash;and That the said Phillis knowing the water aforesaid to be so
+poisoned did then and there feloniously willfully traiterously and of
+her malice forethought put one spoonfull of the same water so poisoned
+into a pint of the said John's watergruel and thereby poison the same
+watergruel&mdash;and that the said Phillis did then and there of her malice
+forethought felloniously<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">25</a></span> willfully &amp; traiterously in manner as
+aforesaid poison the watergruel aforesaid, with a felonious and
+traiterous Intent and design that the said John her said master then
+being should then and there eat the Same Watergruel so poisoned and
+thereby be Poisoned killed and murdered. And that one Elizabeth Codman
+not knowing the watergruel aforesaid to be so poisoned then and there
+Innocently gave the Same Watergruel so poisoned as aforesaid to the
+Said John to eat, and that the Said John then and there being the said
+Phillis<span class="super">'s</span> master and being altogether Ignorant of the watergruel
+aforesaid's being poisoned as aforesaid and suspecting no Evil did
+then &amp; there eat the same watergruel so poisoned as aforesaid &amp; that
+the said Phillis then and there was feloniously and traiterously
+present with the said Elizabeth &amp; John knowing of &amp; consenting unto
+the s<span class="super">d.</span> Elizabeth's giving him the said John the watergruel
+afores<span class="super">d.</span> so poisoned as aforesaid &amp; his eating the same as
+afores<span class="super">d.</span> And that the said John by means of his eating the
+watergruel aforesaid so poisoned as aforesaid there Languished for the
+space of Fifteen hours &amp; then at Charlestown aforesaid died of the
+Poison afores<span class="super">d.</span> given him as aforesaid&mdash;and so the Jurors aforesaid
+upon their Oath said that the said Phillis did at Charlestown
+aforesaid of her malice forethought in manner and form aforesaid
+willfully feloniously and traiterously poison kill &amp; murder the said
+John Codman her Said master against our Peace Crown &amp; Dignity, and The
+Jurors aforesaid upon their Oath further present That Mark a Negroman
+of Charlestown aforesaid Labourer and Servant of the said John Codman
+before the said Treason and murder aforesaid committed by the said
+Phillis in manner and form aforesaid did at Charlestown aforesaid on
+the twentieth day of June last of his malice forethought (the said
+Mark then being Servant of the said John Codman) felloniously &amp;
+traiterously advise and incite procure &amp; abet the Said Phillis to do &amp;
+commit the said Treason &amp; murder aforesaid against our peace crown &amp;
+Dignity (as in Said Indictm<span class="super">t.</span> is at large Set forth) upon which
+Indictment the said Phillis and Mark were Severally arraigned and upon
+their arraignment Severally pleaded not Guilty and for Tryal put
+themselves on God and the Country, and Whereas the said Phillis &amp; Mark
+at our Court aforesaid were each of them convict of the crime
+respectively alledg'd to be committed by them as aforesaid by the
+Verdict of twelve good &amp; lawful men of our Said County and were by the
+consideration of our Said Court adjudged to Suffer the Pains of Death
+therefor; as to us appears of Record Execution of which said Sentence
+doth still remain to be done we command you therefore that on Thursday
+the Eighteenth day of September instant between the hours of one &amp;
+Five o'Clock in the day time you cause the said Phillis to be drawn
+from our Goal in our County of Middlesex aforesaid (where she now is)
+to the place of Execution and there be burnt to Death &amp; also that on
+the Same day between the hours of one &amp; five of the Clock in the day
+time you cause the Said Mark to be drawn from our Goal in our County
+of Middlesex aforesaid (where he now is) to the place of Execution &amp;
+there be hanged up by the Neck until he be dead, &amp; for so doing this
+shall be your Sufficient Warrant&mdash;Hereof<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">26</a></span> fail not; and make Return of
+this writ with your doings therein into the Clerks Office of our Said
+Court as soon as may be after you have Executed the Same Witness
+Stephen Sewall Esq<span class="super">r:</span> at Boston the sixth day of September in the
+Twenty ninth Year of our reign Annoque Domini 1755&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>By Order of Court</p>
+
+<p class="right">
+<span class="smcap">Nathaniel Hatch</span> <i>Cler</i><br />
+</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Middlesex.</span> ss&mdash;September the 18<span class="super">th.</span> 1755.</p>
+
+<p>I Executed this warrant as above directed, by causing Phillis to be
+burnt to Death, and Mark to be hang'd by the neck until he was dead,
+between the hours of one and five a Clock of Said day&mdash;</p>
+
+<p class="right">
+<span class="smcap">Rich<span class="super">d.</span> Foster</span> <i>Sheriff</i><br />
+</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p>It is worthy of observation that no such process as a formal warrant
+was required for a capital execution by the laws of England. In the
+King's Bench, the prisoner was committed to the custody of the marshal
+at the beginning of the trial, and an award of judgment upon the
+record was all the authority that that officer had for the execution.
+Formerly, it was customary in courts of oyer and terminer, and of jail
+delivery, to authorize the execution by a precept under the hands and
+seals of three or more commissioners, of whom one, at least, should be
+of the quorum; but this custom had become obsolete at the time of this
+trial, and only a calendar, or abstract of the record, subscribed by
+the judge, was put into the hands of the sheriff for this purpose; and
+such is the practice in England, I presume, to this day.</p>
+
+<p>Even Blackstone, who is so blind to many gross imperfections in the
+jurisprudence of his native country, is forced to remark, in view of
+the looseness of procedure in capital cases,&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"It may certainly afford matter of speculation that in civil
+causes there should be such a variety of writs of execution
+to recover a trifling debt, issued in the king's name, and
+under the seal of the court, without which the sheriff
+cannot legally stir one step; and yet that the execution of
+a man, the most important and terrible task of any, should
+depend upon a marginal note."<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>The courts and people of New England were always more mindful of the
+sacredness of human life than those of other nations, save, perhaps,
+the little community of the Netherlands. They also attached great
+importance to the formal<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">27</a></span> proceedings by which the ends of justice
+were reached in criminal cases. This is well illustrated by an
+incident that is recorded relative to the action of the judges of the
+Superior Court of the Province when, after the conviction of
+Richardson for the murder of the boy Sneider, in 1770, it became
+evident to them that the cause of justice required that they should
+intercede to prevent his execution. They were long in doubt as to the
+sufficiency of a pardon obtained from the crown through the
+recommendation of the Lieutenant-Governor upon their certificate of
+its propriety, the only evidence of the pardon being its insertion in
+the Newgate Calendar. Hutchinson relates that "they were at length
+satisfied; and the prisoner having been brought into court early in
+the morning, when scarcely anybody but the officers of the court were
+present, pleaded his Majesty's pardon, and was discharged, and
+immediately absconded."<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a></p>
+
+<p>But, to proceed with a definition of the crime committed by these
+negroes, and a more particular account of the punishment for petit
+treason:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>By the statute 25 Edw. III., this crime, which had had a wider
+application, was restricted to three classes of cases: 1, where a
+servant killed his master or mistress; 2, where a wife killed her
+husband; 3, where a clergyman killed his prelate, or the superior to
+whom he owed canonical obedience. The sentence in the case of a woman
+was, that she be burned to death, and in the case of a man, that he be
+drawn to the place of execution and there hanged by the neck until he
+be dead.<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> To mitigate the sufferings of felons at the stake, the
+executioner usually fastened one end of a cord to the stake, and
+bringing this cord around the neck of the woman, pulled it tightly the
+moment the torch was applied, and continued the strain until life was
+extinct, which, unless the cord was sooner burnt asunder, generally
+happened before the condemned had suffered much from the intensity of
+the flames.</p>
+
+<p>In cases of high treason, other barbarities were practised upon the
+bodies of the criminals, but these were frequently,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">28</a></span> and in cases of
+persons of distinction, generally, remitted. Indeed, even the hanging
+was dispensed with in these latter cases; and hence we read of the
+execution of great prisoners of state, male and female, by beheading,
+which, strictly, is a manner of death unknown to the laws of England,
+except as an incident to the principal penalty by hanging or burning.
+After the hanging, the body, according to rule, was to be cut down (if
+possible, while yet alive) to be eviscerated, then beheaded, and the
+trunk and limbs divided into four parts, to be disposed of as the
+sovereign should order. By special writ, under the privy seal, all
+these circumstances, except decapitation, were, as I have already
+said, usually omitted.</p>
+
+<p>All male persons convicted whether of high treason or of petit treason
+were, unless specially exempted in the manner I have stated, <i>drawn</i>
+to the place of execution. This was originally an ignominious incident
+of the terrible penalty, and required that the criminal should be
+rudely pulled along over the ground, behind a horse; later, however, a
+hurdle or wicker frame, or a sledge,&mdash;that is, as we call it, a
+sled,&mdash;was used, either from motives of humanity, or in order to
+prolong the life of the traitor through subsequent stages of the
+punishment. According to Sir Matthew Hale, women were not to be drawn,
+in cases of petit treason, although the practice of later times,
+certainly, was to the contrary.<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> However, after the repeal in 1790,
+of the law for burning women, for which drawing and hanging were then
+substituted, women as well as men were sentenced to be drawn to the
+place of execution.</p>
+
+<p>Another incident to this punishment, though not peculiar to it, since
+it applied to all atrocious felonies, was the gibbeting, or hanging in
+chains. This was no part of the sentence, but was performed in
+accordance with a special order or direction of the court, given,
+probably, in most cases, ver<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">29</a></span>bally to the sheriff. After execution,
+the body of the felon was taken from the gallows and hung upon a
+gibbet conveniently near the place where the fact was committed, there
+to remain, until, from the action of the elements, or the ravages of
+birds of prey, it disappeared. Of the object of this ghastly feature
+of capital punishment it is alleged, "besides the terror of the
+example," "that it is a comfortable sight to the friends and relations
+of the deceased"; but the obviousness of this reason is somewhat
+lessened by the doubt in which we are left as to which deceased
+person, the criminal or his victim, is referred to. In the case of
+Mark it is noticeable that no sentence to the gibbet appears in the
+record, and I have found no order for it, or mention of it, in the
+papers on file.</p>
+
+<p>Phillis and Mark were executed at the usual place of execution in
+Cambridge; and the following account of the affair is taken from the
+Boston "Evening Post," of Sept. 22, 1755:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"Thursday last, in the Afternoon, <i>Mark</i>, a Negro Man, and
+<i>Phillis</i>, a Negro Woman, both Servants to the late Capt.
+<i>John Codman</i>, of <i>Charlestown</i>, were executed at
+<i>Cambridge</i>, for poisoning their said Master, as mentioned
+in this Paper some Weeks ago. The Fellow was hanged, and the
+Woman burned at a Stake about Ten Yards distant from the
+Gallows. They both confessed themselves guilty of the Crime
+for which they suffered, acknowledged the Justice of their
+Sentence, and died very penitent. After Execution, the Body
+of <i>Mark</i> was brought down to <i>Charlestown</i> Common, and
+hanged in Chains, on a Gibbet erected there for that
+Purpose."</p></div>
+
+<p>Frothingham, in his "History of Charlestown,"<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> quotes this item
+from the "Post," and adds, from Dr. Josiah Bartlett's account of
+Charlestown,<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> that "the place where Mark was suspended in irons was
+on the northerly side of Cambridge Road, about one fourth of a mile
+above our peninsula." He also adds, from the same authority, that
+"Phebe, who was the most culpable," became evidence against the
+others, and that she was transported to the West Indies.</p>
+
+<p>It is very likely that Phebe was transported, as described by Dr.
+Bartlett, but there is nothing on record to show that she was used as
+a principal witness. Indeed, the answers of Phillis and Mark on their
+examination are mutually recriminative, and amount to a plenary
+confession of the crime of each. Besides, as neither the governor nor
+the court had any<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">30</a></span> authority to grant a pardon for murder,<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> it is
+not likely that any favor was shown to her in accordance with a
+promise from either, nor is there any evidence that any lenity was
+actually extended to her, except the negative circumstance that she
+was not included in the indictment.</p>
+
+<p>This completes the narrative of this remarkable case. The body of Mark
+is said by Dr. Bartlett to have remained on the gibbet "until a short
+time before the Revolution." Certain it is that when Dr. Caleb Rea
+passed through Charlestown on the first day of June, 1758, on his way
+from Danvers to join the regiment, of which he had been chosen
+surgeon, in the expedition against Ticonderoga, he found the body
+hanging, and, having examined it, recorded in his journal that "his
+[Mark's] skin was but very little broken, although he had hung there
+near three or four years."<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a></p>
+
+<p>Finally, another patriot,&mdash;Paul Revere,&mdash;in describing his famous ride
+on the 18th of April, 1775, on a still more important errand, says,
+"After I had passed Charlestown Neck, and got nearly opposite where
+<i>Mark was hung in chains</i>, I saw two men on horseback under a
+tree,"<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> &amp;c.; thus alluding to the site of the gibbet as a place
+well known at that time,&mdash;as undoubtedly it was, to all the country
+round.</p>
+
+<p>I have said that this is the only case of petit treason to be found in
+our records. There was, indeed, an earlier case in which the penalty
+of death by burning was inflicted; but in regard to that case there is
+no suggestion anywhere to my knowledge that the crime of petit treason
+had been committed, nor any allegation to that effect in the charge or
+indictment, nor even a hint that any life was lost by the misconduct
+of the condemned.<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> This was the case of Maria, a negress,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">31</a></span> who was
+executed at Roxbury in 1681. Perhaps it will be well to give the story
+of this case as it appears on the records of the Court of
+Assistants.<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a></p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"Marja<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> Negro Servant to Joshua Lambe of Roxbury in the
+County of Suffolk in New England being presented by the
+Grand Jury was Indicted by the name of Marja Negro for
+no<span class="super">t</span> hauing the feare of God before hir eyes &amp; being
+Instigated by the divil at or upon the eleventh Day of July
+last in the night did wittingly willingly &amp; felloniously set
+on fier the dwelling house of Thomas Swann of sd Roxbury by
+taking a coale from vnder a still &amp; carrjed it into another
+Roome and layd it on floore neere the doore &amp; presently went
+&amp; crept into a hole at a back doore of thy master Lambs
+house &amp; set it on fier also taking a liue coale betweene two
+chips &amp; carried it into the chimbe<span class="super">r</span> by which also it was
+Consumed as by y<span class="super">r</span> Confession will appeare Contrary to the
+peace of our Soueraigne Lord the king his croune &amp; dignity
+the lawes of this Jurisdiction in that Case made &amp; prouided
+title firing of houses&mdash;The prisoner at the barr pleaded &amp;
+acknowledged hirselfe to be Guilty of ye fact. And
+accordingly the nex<span class="super">t</span> day being Again brought to the Barr
+had sentenc of death pronnonc't ag<span class="super">t</span> hir by the
+Honno<span class="super">ble</span> Gou&ntilde;o<span class="super">r.</span> that she should Goe from the barr to
+the prison whenc she came &amp; thence to the place of execution
+&amp; there be burn<span class="super">t.</span>&mdash;Y<span class="super">e</span> lord be mercifull to thy Soule
+sd y<span class="super">e</span> Gov."</p></div>
+
+<p>The case was capital under the act referred to in the record. The act
+reads as follows:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<div class="sidenote2">Burning Houses.</div>
+
+<p>And if any person of the age aforesaid, [16 years and
+upwards] shall after the publication hereof, wittingly and
+willingly, and felloniously, set on fire any <i>Dwelling
+House</i>, <i>Meeting House</i>, <i>Store House</i>, or shall in like
+manner, set on fire any <i>out-House</i>, <i>Barn</i>, <i>Stable</i>,
+<i>Leanto</i>, <i>Stack of Hay</i>, <i>Corn or Wood</i>, or any thing of
+like nature, whereby any <i>Dwelling House</i>, <i>Meeting House or
+Store House</i> cometh to be burnt, the party or parties
+vehemently suspected thereof, shall be apprehended by
+<span class="sidenote2">Capital.</span>Warrant from one or more of the Magistrates, and committed
+to Prison, there to remain without Baile, till the next
+Court of Assistants, who upon legal conviction by due proof,
+or confession of the Crime, shall adjudge such person or
+persons to be put to death, and to forfeit so much of his
+Lands, Goods or Chattels, as shall make full satisfaction,
+to the party or parties damnified. [1652.]<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>It will be observed that the law prescribes no such punishment as was
+ordered by the Assistants, and how the court<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">32</a></span> were satisfied of the
+legality of their sentence is to me inexplicable, except upon the
+possible claim that they might rightfully exercise the expansive
+discretion which they applied to the case of the first Quakers, and so
+supply a deficiency in the ordinances of the General Court, by
+administering the <i>lex talionis</i><a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> in this particular instance as a
+necessary terror to evil-doers.</p>
+
+<p>The public opinion which permitted the colonial magistrates to
+exercise, unchallenged, a discretion not given to them by positive
+law, as in this case and that of the first Quakers, and in the
+instance of their conviction of a capital crime, of Tom, the Indian,
+in 1674,<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> of whose guilt the jury were doubtful, cannot be deemed
+to have enlarged their authority, by <i>custom</i>, without a perversion of
+language and a disregard of fundamental distinctions relative to the
+nature and source of law.<a name="FNanchor_21_21" id="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a></p>
+
+<p>Two other negroes who were suspected of complicity with Maria were
+ordered to be transported. The record is as follows:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot2">
+<div class="sidenote3">"Chessaleer negro<span class="super">s</span><br />Sentence"</div>
+
+<p>Chessaleer negro servant to Tho. Walker brickmaker now in
+Goale on suspition of Joyning w<span class="super">th</span> Marja Negro in Burning
+of D<span class="super">r</span> Swans' &amp; &mdash;&mdash; Lambs houses in Roxbury in July last
+The Court on Consideration of the Case Judged it meet to
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">33</a></span>orde<span class="super">r</span> that he be kept in prison till his master send him
+out of the country &amp; then dischardg y<span class="super">e</span> charges of
+Imprisonment wch if he refuse to doe aboue one moneth the
+country Tresurer is to see it donne &amp; when y<span class="super">e</span> chardges be
+defrayd to returne the ouerplus to y<span class="super">e</span> sd Walker</p>
+
+<p><span class="sidenote3">James Pemberton<span class="super">s</span><br />
+negro sentence</span>The like Judgment &amp; sentenc was declard against Jame<span class="super">s</span>
+Pembe<span class="super">r</span>ton's negro in all respects as ag<span class="super">t</span> Chessaleer
+negro &amp;c.<a name="FNanchor_22_22" id="FNanchor_22_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>Still another negro was convicted, at the same term of the court, of
+the crime of arson, and ordered to be hanged, and afterwards consumed
+to ashes in the same fire with Maria, as appears by the following
+record:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot3">
+<p>"Jack negro servant to M<span class="super">r</span> Samuel Woolcot of
+Weathe<span class="super">r</span>sfield thou art Jndicted by the name of Jack Negro
+for no<span class="super">t</span> hauing the feare of God before thy eyes being
+Instigated by the Divill did at or upon the foureteenth day
+of July last 1681 wittingly &amp; felloniously sett on fier
+Leifte&ntilde;at W<span class="super">m</span> Clarks house in North Hampton. by taking
+<span class="sidenote4">Jack negro<br />Jndicted &amp; sentenc</span>a brand of fier from the hearth and swinging it vp &amp; doune
+for to find victualls as by his confession may Appeare
+Contrary to the peace of ou<span class="super">r</span> Soueraigne Lord the King his
+Croune &amp; dignity the lawes of God &amp; of this Jurisdiction in
+that case made &amp; prouided title firing of houses page (52)
+to wch Jndictment at the barr he pleaded not Guilty, &amp;
+Affirmd he would be trjed by God &amp; the Country and after his
+Confessions &amp;c. were read to him &amp; his owni[=g] thereof were
+Comitted to the Jury who brought him in Guilty and the
+nex<span class="super">t</span> day had his sentence pronounct agt him by the
+Gouernor that he should goe from the barr to the place
+whence he came &amp; there be hang<span class="super">d</span> by the neck till he be
+dead &amp; then taken doune &amp; burnt to Ashes in the fier w<span class="super">th</span>
+Marja Negro&mdash;The Lord be mercifull to thy soule sajd the
+Gouerno<span class="super">r</span>"<a name="FNanchor_23_23" id="FNanchor_23_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>There was some excuse for the latter part of this sentence, for since
+the offence was an atrocious felony, such as in England would subject
+the offender to an infamous punishment, it seemed proper to attach
+something more of ignominy to his sentence than the mere execution by
+hanging.</p>
+
+<p>Our forefathers of the colonial period regarded the Mosaic law as of
+too sacred obligation to be impaired in the least degree; much more to
+be expressly contravened by the courts of justice in respect to the
+command,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">34</a></span>&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he
+be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree, his body
+shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in
+any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is
+accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the
+Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance."<a name="FNanchor_24_24" id="FNanchor_24_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>&mdash;they, therefore, by an ordinance passed in 1641, had required that
+the body of every executed criminal should be buried within twelve
+hours after death, except in cases of anatomy, which prevented the
+possibility of hanging in chains after the English fashion; and the
+only way in which they could set a mark of infamy upon the deceased
+criminal, without a breach of the colonial ordinance as well as of the
+divine law, was to burn the body.<a name="FNanchor_25_25" id="FNanchor_25_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a></p>
+
+<p>But this tendency to a strict adherence to the laws of Israel
+disappeared early in the provincial period, under the operation of the
+same causes which led to the abandonment of those rugged metaphrases
+of the Psalms of David, and of the song of Deborah and Barak, &amp;c.,
+contained in the Bay Psalm-Book, for the smoother though less literal
+version of Tate and Brady and the presumptuous "Imitations" of Dr.
+Watts. When, therefore, under the new charter the offence called for
+it according to the custom of England, the gibbet was erected; and
+though the occasions for its employment were very rare, the report of
+sundry instances of its use has come down to us, as in the case of the
+pirates whose bodies hung in chains, from time to time, on the now
+vanished Bird Island in Boston Harbor, a locality as near the place
+where the fact was committed as could conveniently be used. I confess
+I find it impossible to understand whence the provincial judges
+claimed to derive their authority for ordering the bodies of criminals
+to be hung in chains. We have seen that, even if our fathers brought
+with them the right to exercise this authority, they soon enacted
+provisions entirely inconsistent with the practice; and I am not aware
+of any subsequent act of parliament, extending to the Colonies, that
+restored the authority; and certainly there was no law of the Province
+to that effect.</p>
+
+<p>I ought not to dismiss this subject without adding some<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">35</a></span>thing to the
+brief allusion already made to the comparative mildness of the laws of
+Massachusetts in respect to capital punishment. The execution of Mark
+and Phillis took place just about the time that Blackstone was
+delivering his lectures at Oxford, which have since given him an
+enduring and world-wide fame as a commentator on the laws of England.
+This elegant defender and apologist for English laws and customs, in
+his commentaries, admits, seemingly with reluctance and regret, that
+there then existed on the statute-books of England no less than one
+hundred and sixty capital offences. At that time the number of capital
+offences in Massachusetts was less than one-tenth this number, if we
+exclude those made so by the acts relating to military offenders in
+actual service, and felonies on the high seas, and a few others,
+which, like the latter, were created by including among capital crimes
+certain offences which, though theretofore exempt from the death
+penalty by special circumstances and technical rules, had always been
+capitally punished when committed under other and not less justifiable
+circumstances.</p>
+
+<p>Said Isaac Backus, whom I find to be a very trustworthy authority, in
+a letter to this Society, under date of Feb. 20, 1794, "There has not
+been any person hanged in Plymouth County for above these sixty years
+past."<a name="FNanchor_26_26" id="FNanchor_26_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a> More than a century earlier, John Dunton mentions a sermon
+of Mather's, preached at the execution of "Morgan, the only person
+executed in that country [Massachusetts] for near seven years."<a name="FNanchor_27_27" id="FNanchor_27_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a> He
+must, however, I think, have forgotten the case of Maria, the negro
+woman.</p>
+
+<p>Again, when the English riot act (1 Geo. I. stat. 2, ch. 5) was
+substantially adopted by the Province in 1751, the legislature
+studiously avoided the harshness of the former act by substituting
+forfeiture of lands and chattels, and whipping and imprisonment, for
+the death penalty.<a name="FNanchor_28_28" id="FNanchor_28_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a></p>
+
+<p>In 1761 Governor Bernard vainly labored with his utmost zeal to secure
+the passage of an act or acts making it felony, without benefit of
+clergy, to forge public and private securities or vouchers for money,
+or to coin or counterfeit the current money of the Province. He sent a
+special message upon the subject to the Assembly, in which he
+stated:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"In regard to the popular prejudices against capital
+punishments which have hitherto prevailed in this country, I
+shall only say that at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">36</a></span> present they are very ill-timed.
+Whilst the people of this country lived from hand to mouth,
+and had very little wealth but what was confined among
+themselves, a simple system of laws might be proper, and
+capital punishments might in a great measure be avoided; but
+when by the acquisition, diffusion, and general intercourse
+of wealth, the temptations to fraud are abundantly
+increased, the terrors of it must be also proportionably
+enlarged; otherwise if, through a false tenderness for
+wicked men, the laws should not be sufficient to protect the
+property of the honest and industrious, the rights of the
+latter are given up to the former, and the undue mercy shown
+to the one becomes a real injury to the other. To instance
+this, I need only say that I have no doubt but that if these
+crimes had been capital some years ago, and usually punished
+as such, they would not have been committed at all at the
+present time."</p></div>
+
+<p>The Governor's opinion, however, was not borne out by the experience
+of the British government in its dealings with crime. There, it was
+made a capital felony to steal in a dwelling-house to the amount of
+40<i>s.</i>, or, privately, in a shop, goods to the value of 5<i>s.</i>, or to
+counterfeit stamps that were used for the sale of perfumery, or such
+as were used for the certificates of hair-powder; and yet,
+notwithstanding this severity, all who considered the subject
+thoughtfully found that the increase of capital crimes more than kept
+pace with the increase of laws creating them; and this became so
+alarmingly evident that at length the conservative opposition to
+reform was overborne, and Sir Samuel Romilly and his coadjutors began
+those changes which have continued in the same direction to the
+present day. Before the reform was established, however, executions
+became so frequent that it was not uncommon for citizens to avoid
+certain parts of London and its environs on account of the intolerable
+odor, there, of decaying human bodies, hung in chains by the highways
+and before the doors of citizens.</p>
+
+<p>Still the judges rode their circuits, leaving briefly minuted
+"calendars" in the hands of the executioners, who erected close behind
+them the gallows and the gibbet as monuments of their dispensation of
+"justice." Barristers bandied repartees and cracked jokes over good
+dinners, and serjeants hobnobbed with their brethren of the bench and
+of the coif, apparently unconcerned at the responsible part they were
+enacting in this awful drama; while the poor rabble put on their best
+attire on the days of execution, and liberally patronized the venders
+of cakes and ale who, near the gallows, erected booths as on other
+gala days,&mdash;many of the spectators, no doubt, thinking that it would
+not be so bad a thing, after all, if it came their turn next to better
+their desperate<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">37</a></span> condition by swinging on the newly contrived gallows,
+on which ten criminals could be hanged together.<a name="FNanchor_29_29" id="FNanchor_29_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a></p>
+
+<p>Alas! well may we ask with astonishment if it is possible that such a
+state of society really existed in the England of Hannah More, of Sir
+William Jones and Edmund Burke,&mdash;the land throughout which the Wesleys
+were preaching and singing to eager multitudes of the free grace and
+abounding mercy of God; where the pious Cowper was pleading for the
+relief of "insolvent innocence," and Clarkson and Wilberforce and
+Granville Sharp were rousing the public mind to the evils of slavery
+in distant colonies!</p>
+
+<p>The case of petit treason which we have been considering occurred nine
+years before Beccaria startled all Europe with "the code of
+humanity,"&mdash;his treatise on crimes and punishments; yet had he known
+of our experience in this Province, he could have pointed to
+Massachusetts as the strongest practical illustration of the truth of
+his theory, that it is not necessary to multiply extreme penalties in
+order to prevent crime, but that we are to look for the amelioration
+of manners and the diminution of public and private wrongs to the
+mental and moral education of the people rather than to the terrors of
+the law.</p>
+
+<p>In 1777, when the Revolutionary War was beginning to assume its
+gravest aspect, and when the hopes of traitors were reviving, the
+barbarous incidents of the punishment for treason were abolished by
+the legislature of Massachusetts, and this crime was made punishable
+simply by hanging. Eight years later the distinction between petit
+treason and murder was abolished,&mdash;an improvement of the criminal code
+in which we were followed by Great Britain five years later still.<a name="FNanchor_30_30" id="FNanchor_30_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a></p>
+
+<p>So that it was possible that our good city of Boston might have been
+disgraced by one of these horrible executions as late as 1785, and
+that a delicate woman could, with all the solemnity of legal forms,
+have been publicly burned to death at Tyburn as late as 1790!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">38</a></span></p>
+
+<p>In point of fact such executions occurred in England long after the
+burning of Phillis. A memorable case is that of Anne Beddingfield, who
+was burned for petit treason at Rushmore, near Ipswich, in 1763.</p>
+
+<p>In 1813 the last of the minor infamous punishments, such as whipping,
+branding, the stocks, the pillory, cutting off ears, slitting noses,
+boring tongues, &amp;c., were abolished in this Commonwealth.</p>
+
+<p>As for hanging in chains, I cannot find when the custom was
+discontinued in Massachusetts. I do not remember to have read of an
+instance of this kind since the adoption of the Constitution, though I
+have made no special search for such an instance. Some of my hearers
+may be able to refer me definitely to the time and reason of the
+change.</p>
+
+<p>In England, by the stat. 25 Geo. II., ch. 35 (1752), which was three
+years before the execution at Cambridge, provision was made that
+hanging in chains should be included in the sentence to be pronounced
+by the court against all persons convicted of murder, and that the
+sentence should be executed on the next day but one after it was
+pronounced. This was changed by the stat. 9 Geo. IV., ch. 31, so as to
+give the court a discretion to order hanging in chains or dissection;
+and the next year this act was extended to Ireland. By the stat. 2 &amp; 3
+Wm. IV., ch. 75, the court was authorized to order the body to be hung
+in chains or buried; and, finally, by the stat. 4 &amp; 5 of Wm. IV., ch.
+26 (July 25, 1834), all laws requiring bodies to be hung in chains
+were repealed.</p>
+
+<p>No such sudden punishment as that prescribed by the act of parliament
+of the 25 Geo. II., could be legally inflicted here,&mdash;at least during
+the colonial period; for the colonial ordinance of 1641 required that
+four days at least should intervene between judgment and execution.</p>
+
+<p>The only barbarous treatment of the bodies of criminals authorized by
+law in Massachusetts since the adoption of the Constitution, that I am
+aware of, was prescribed by the act of 1784, to discourage the
+practice of duelling, which revived some of the provisions of a law of
+the Province, passed in 1728, denying duellists the right to be buried
+in a coffin, and requiring the coroner or executioner to see that
+their bodies be interred near the place of execution, or in the public
+highway, with a stake driven through them.<a name="FNanchor_31_31" id="FNanchor_31_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a></p>
+
+<p>Now, happily, capital punishment is restricted in this Commonwealth
+and in England to two offences only; and while,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">39</a></span> here, even high
+treason is punishable simply by imprisonment, in England, strong
+efforts have been repeatedly made, and recently with a fair prospect
+of ultimate success, to induce parliament to imitate our example and
+take away the death penalty from this the highest crime known to the
+common law.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<h2>FOOTNOTES</h2>
+
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> Mark signed his deposition here, and the entry,
+"continued," was made at the end of the sheet; the next sheet
+beginning, "Mark's Examination, continued."</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> <i>Sic.</i></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> This is assumed to be the case, since both these clerks
+officially signed papers in this very case, though, from the loose
+custom which gradually obtained with the clerks of our highest
+judicial court, of not recording their appointments, it is impossible
+to verify this statement by the record. Samuel Tyley, Jr., and
+Benjamin Rolfe were sworn in as joint clerks of this court, Feb. 26,
+1718, and Samuel Winthrop was clerk as early as June, 1745, and
+Nathaniel Hatch as early as September, 1752.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> Judge Lynde makes a memorandum of this trial, and of the
+particulars of the executions, in his diary under date of July 9,
+1755.&mdash;Lynde Diaries (privately printed, 1880), p. 179.&mdash;<span class="smcap">Eds. of
+Proceedings</span>.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> An error. It should have been "eighteenth."</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> Comm. book iv. ch. 32, p. 403.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> Hist. Mass. Bay, vol. iii. p. 287, n.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> By stat. 22 Hen. VIII. ch. 9, a person of either sex, who
+was convicted of murdering another by poison, was to be boiled to
+death, and the offence was, by the same act, declared high treason;
+but this act was repealed by 1 Edw. VI. ch. 12, after several
+executions under it, including that of Margaret Davy, who poisoned her
+mistress. Though by the common law poisoning was deemed a most
+atrocious circumstance, it did not alter the punishment of the
+principal crime involved. The law considered only the crime, and not
+the manner in which it was committed.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> The law was uncertain; but Hale appears to be the safest
+authority. Wood, in his Institutes,&mdash;at the time of this trial the
+most recent and popular treatise upon the laws of England,&mdash;states
+that women were to be drawn, in petit treason; as, indeed, do most, if
+not all, succeeding writers. They follow Coke, 3 Inst. 211; but
+neither the statutes referred to, nor the case cited from 12 Ass. 30,
+by the latter, support his statement. The report runs thus: "Alice <span class="gothic">de
+W, qui fuit de l'age de xiij ans, fuit arse per judgment, pur ceo que
+el'avoit tue sa Maistres, &amp; pur tant ceo fuit adjudge treason, &amp;c.</span>;"
+and it appears that the case turned upon the question of
+accountability, by reason of the tender age of the culprit. No mention
+of drawing is made in the judgment. Compare H.P.C., i. p. 382, and
+note, with Hawk. P.C., b. 2, ch. 48, &sect; 6, and authorities there
+referred to, and Coke, <i>ut supra</i>. Also, see 4 Black. Comm. 204. It
+will have been noticed that though the judgment against Phillis was
+that she <i>go</i> to the place of execution, the warrant required that she
+be drawn thither. The practice of drawing, in such cases, would have
+been challenged, probably, if the cruelties anciently incident thereto
+had not become obsolete.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> Page 264.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> 2 Mass. Hist. Coll., vol. ii. p. 166, and note.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> See Hutchinson's Hist. Mass. Bay, vol. iii. p. 287, n.
+Instances of pardons and reprieves occur in our judicial history, but
+they were invariably granted in the name of the king, by the
+commander-in-chief; and, if for a graver offence than manslaughter, it
+seems to have been understood that a pardon was not to be granted
+without previous express direction from the king. This was in
+compliance with a clause in the royal instructions, issued to all the
+governors, by which they were enjoined not to remit any fines or
+forfeitures above &pound;10 in amount, or to dispose of escheats, without
+the royal sanction; forfeiture of lands and chattels being a
+consequence of attainder upon conviction of the higher class of
+felonies. The commission to Andros expressly excepted treason and
+murder from the offences which he was authorized to pardon.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> Hist. Coll. Essex Inst., vol. xviii. p. 88, n.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> Letter of Colonel Revere to Cor. Sec. of Mass. Hist.
+Soc., Jan. 1, 1798: 1 Mass. Hist. Coll., vol. v. p. 107.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> Although the record contains no allegation of loss of
+life, Increase Mather states in his diary, under date of Sept. 22,
+1681, that a child was burnt to death in one of the houses set on fire
+by this negress. Even if this were true, it is not probable that the
+relation of master and servant subsisted between the deceased and
+Maria, and neither this relation, nor the fact of treason, is averred
+in the indictment. See Mass. Hist. Soc. Proc., vol. iii. p. 320.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> Boston, Sept. 6, 1681.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> I have followed Secretary Rawson in his peculiar use of
+the letter j. See many similar instances in the Mass. Colony Records.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> Mass. Colony Laws, ed. 1672, p. 52.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> Exodus xxi. 25. "In all criminall offences, where the
+law hath prescribed no certaine penaltie, the judges have power to
+inflict penalties, according to the rule of God's word."&mdash;Declaration
+of the General Court: Hutch. Coll. Papers, p. 207. And see the first
+article of the Colonial "Liberties," in Mass. Hist. Coll., vol. viii.
+p. 216.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> Records of the Court of Assistants, 1674, p. 14.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> By the stat. 8 Hen. VI. ch. 6, the burning of houses,
+after a threat to do so if money be not paid, &amp;c., was made high
+treason, and the incendiary suffered as any other traitor; that is, if
+a woman, she was burned to death. But this statute was repealed in the
+reign of Edward VI., as regards the treason, and the offence remained
+felony as at the common law, and punishable by hanging only.
+</p><p>
+That mistaken notions as to the nature of penalties to be inflicted in
+criminal cases, and as to the authority of the bench to impose unusual
+punishments, were not solely entertained in this distant colony, and
+among men not bred to the law, may be shown by many instances in the
+English law-books. One of the most notable is Sir Edw. Coke's
+reference to the case of Peter Burchet, a prisoner in the Tower,&mdash;who
+slew his keeper with a billet of wood, which drew blood,&mdash;as an
+authority for inflicting the additional punishment of cutting off the
+hand (under the stat. 33 Hen. VIII.) in the case of murder perpetrated
+in the king's palace, when attended with bloodshed. In Elderton's
+case, Chief Justice Holt, whose habits of thorough research were not
+less remarkable than his absolute fairness and honesty, said, "I have
+searched for the case cited [as Jones's case] about killing a man in
+the Tower. It is Burdelt and Muskett's case. Being dissatisfied with
+my Lord Coke's report of it, therefore I sent for the record, ... and
+there is judgment of death given, but no judgment that his right hand
+should be cut off. It is indeed so related in Stowe's Chronicle, and
+in fact his hand was cut off, but there was no judgment for it."
+Compare 3 Inst., ch. 65 (p. 140&#8224;) with 2 Ld. Raym.,
+978, 982.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_22_22" id="Footnote_22_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> Record of the Court of Assistants, <i>ubi supra</i>, pp. 138,
+139.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_23_23" id="Footnote_23_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_24_24" id="Footnote_24_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> Deut. xxi. 22, 23.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_25_25" id="Footnote_25_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> The ordinary punishment for all capital felonies during
+the colonial r&eacute;gime seems to have been simply hanging. Heretics and
+witches were subjected to no severer penalty; and in 1674, Robert
+Driver, who was convicted of murdering his master, Robert Williams of
+Piscataqua, and who thus incurred the penalty for petit treason, was
+sentenced to be "hanged by the neck until he be dead."&mdash;See Records of
+the Court of Assistants.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_26_26" id="Footnote_26_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> 1 Mass. Hist. Coll., vol. iii. p. 152.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_27_27" id="Footnote_27_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, 2d series, vol. ii. p. 102.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_28_28" id="Footnote_28_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> Compare provincial statute 1750-51, ch. 17 (Prov. Laws,
+vol. iii. p. 540), with the act of parliament referred to.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_29_29" id="Footnote_29_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_29"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> See a picture of the new gallows, in the illustrated
+"Newgate Calendar."</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_30_30" id="Footnote_30_30"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_30"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> The Massachusetts act is as follows:&mdash;
+</p><p>
+"Whereas it does not appear reasonable any longer to continue the
+distinction between the crimes of murder and petit treason:
+</p><p>
+"Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives, in General
+Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, That from and after
+the passing of this act, in all cases wherein heretofore any person or
+persons would have been deemed or taken to have committed the crime of
+petit treason, such person or persons shall be deemed and taken to
+have committed the crime of murder only, and indicted and prosecuted
+to final judgment accordingly; and the same punishment only shall be
+inflicted as in the case of murder.&mdash;[This act passed <i>March 16,
+1785</i>.]"</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_31_31" id="Footnote_31_31"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_31"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> Compare act of June 30, 1784, with Prov. Stat. 1728-29,
+ch. 15: Prov. Laws, vol. ii. p. 516.</p></div>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Trial and Execution, for Petit
+Treason, of Mark and Phillis, Slaves of Capt. John Codman, by Abner Cheney Goodell, Jr.
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+</body>
+</html>
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@@ -0,0 +1,2530 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Trial and Execution, for Petit Treason,
+of Mark and Phillis, Slaves of Capt. John Codman, by Abner Cheney Goodell, Jr.
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Trial and Execution, for Petit Treason, of Mark and Phillis, Slaves of Capt. John Codman
+       Who Murdered Their Master at Charlestown, Mass., in 1755;
+       for Which the Man Was Hanged and Gibbeted, and the Woman
+       Was Burned to Death. Including, Also, Some Account of Other
+       Punishments by Burning in Massachusetts
+
+Author: Abner Cheney Goodell, Jr.
+
+Release Date: August 28, 2008 [EBook #26446]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TRIAL, EXECUTION, PETIT TREASON ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Bryan Ness, Linda Cantoni, and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images generously made available
+by the Library of Congress)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Transcriber's Note: This e-book contains extensive passages from 18th
+Century documents. Spelling, punctuation, hyphenation, and
+capitalization are preserved as they appear in the original (including
+"goal" for "gaol"). Superscripts are rendered as normal letters.
+Macrons over consonants are rendered in brackets with an equal sign,
+e.g., [=c].]
+
+
+
+
+THE
+
+TRIAL AND EXECUTION,
+
+FOR PETIT TREASON,
+
+OF
+
+MARK AND PHILLIS,
+
+SLAVES OF CAPT. JOHN CODMAN,
+
+WHO MURDERED THEIR MASTER AT CHARLESTOWN, MASS., IN 1755;
+FOR WHICH THE MAN WAS HANGED AND GIBBETED,
+AND THE WOMAN WAS BURNED TO DEATH.
+
+INCLUDING, ALSO,
+
+SOME ACCOUNT OF OTHER PUNISHMENTS BY BURNING
+IN MASSACHUSETTS.
+
+
+BY
+
+ABNER CHENEY GOODELL, JR.
+
+
+CAMBRIDGE:
+JOHN WILSON AND SON.
+_University Press._
+1883.
+
+[200 copies printed.]
+
+
+
+
+THE TRIAL AND EXECUTION
+
+OF
+
+MARK AND PHILLIS,
+
+IN 1755.
+
+
+     [The following pages are, with slight changes, a reprint
+     from the Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical
+     Society, of a paper read before that Society, March 8, 1883,
+     in answer to a question propounded at a previous meeting,
+     relative to the authenticity of the tradition that a woman
+     was burned to death in Massachusetts in the year 1755. As
+     this case is the only known instance of the infliction of
+     the common-law penalty for petit treason, in New England,
+     and is not known to have been elsewhere reported, the
+     printers have, at the author's request, struck off, in
+     pamphlet form, a limited number of impressions for the use
+     of persons interested in the history of our criminal
+     jurisprudence, who may not have convenient access to the
+     serial from which it is taken, or who may desire to preserve
+     it separately.]
+
+It is not surprising that the execution of a woman, by burning, so
+lately as when Shirley was governor,--a period when the province had
+greatly advanced in culture and refinement,--should seem to any one
+incredible. Indeed, even so critical and thorough a student of our
+provincial history as our late distinguished associate, Dr. Palfrey,
+once wrote to me inquiring if the rumor of such a proceeding had any
+foundation in fact, and if so, whether the execution took place
+according to law, or by the impulse of an infuriated mob. It gave me
+great satisfaction to be able to settle his doubts on this subject by
+referring him to the records of the Superior Court of Judicature,
+where the judgment, from which I shall presently read to you, and a
+copy of which I sent to him, appears at length.
+
+The subject is important at this day only as serving to define the
+nature of the "cruel and unusual punishments" prohibited by the
+thirty-first article of the Declaration of Rights, in our state
+Constitution, since this mode of punishment, having continued after
+the adoption of the Constitution, cannot have been considered by the
+framers of that instrument either as "cruel" or "unusual" in the sense
+in which they used these words.
+
+The particulars of the crime for which the malefactors, Mark and
+Phillis, were executed are briefly as follows: Captain John Codman, a
+thrifty saddler, sea-captain, and merchant, of Charlestown, was the
+owner of several slaves whom he employed either as mechanics, common
+laborers, or house servants. Three of the most trusted of these, Mark,
+Phillis, and Phebe,--particularly Mark,--found the rigid discipline of
+their master unendurable, and, after setting fire to his workshop some
+six years before, hoping by the destruction of this building to so
+embarrass him that he would be obliged to sell them, they, in the year
+1755, conspired to gain their end by poisoning him to death.
+
+In this confederacy some five or six negroes belonging to other owners
+were more or less directly implicated. Mark, the leader, was able to
+read, and signed his examination, hereafter referred to, in a bold,
+legible hand. He professed to have read the Bible through, in order to
+find if, in any way, his master could be killed without inducing
+guilt, and had come to the conclusion that according to Scripture no
+sin would be committed if the act could be accomplished without
+bloodshed. It seems, moreover, to have been commonly believed by the
+negroes that a Mr. Salmon had been poisoned to death by one of his
+slaves, without discovery of the crime. So, application was made by
+Mark, first to Kerr, the servant of Dr. John Gibbons, and then to
+Robin, the servant of Dr. Wm. Clarke, at the North End of Boston, for
+poison from their masters' apothecary stores, which was to be
+administered by the two women.
+
+Essex, the servant of Thomas Powers, had also furnished Mark with a
+quantity of "black lead" for the same purpose. This was,
+unquestionably, not the harmless plumbago to which that name is now
+usually given, but galena, or _plumbum nigrum_, a native sulphuret of
+lead, probably used for a glaze by the potters of Charlestown.
+
+Kerr declined to have any hand in the business; but Robin twice
+obtained and delivered to Mark a quantity of arsenic, of which the
+women, Phebe and Phillis, made a solution which they kept secreted in
+a vial, and from time to time mixed with the water-gruel and sago
+which they sometimes gave directly to their victim to eat, and at
+other times prepared to be innocently administered to him by one of
+his daughters. They also mixed with his food some of the "black lead,"
+which Phillis seems to have thought was the efficient poison, though
+it appeared from the testimony that he was killed by the arsenic.
+
+The crime was promptly traced home to the conspirators; and on the
+second day of July, the day after Captain Codman's death, a coroner's
+jury found that he died from poison feloniously procured and
+administered by Mark. Ten days later, Quaco,--the nominal husband of
+Phebe, and one of the negroes implicated,--who was the servant of Mr.
+James Dalton, of Boston, was examined before William Stoddard, a
+justice of the peace, and on the same day Robin was arrested and
+committed to jail. The examination of Quaco was followed by the
+examination of Mark, and of Phillis, later in the month. These last
+were taken before the Attorney-General and Mr. Thaddeus Mason.
+
+At the term of the "Superiour Court of Judicature, Court of Assize,
+and General Goal Delivery," held at Cambridge on the second Tuesday of
+August following, the grand jury found a true bill for petit treason
+against Phillis, and against Mark and Robin as accessories before the
+fact. As this is the only indictment for this offence known to have
+been found in Massachusetts, and was drawn by that eminent lawyer,
+Edmund Trowbridge, then Attorney-General, it is worthy of being
+preserved in print, in connection with the coroner's verdict and the
+examinations of the suspected parties, which are as follows:--
+
+
+[_Coroner's Inquest._]
+
+[Two-penny
+stamp.]     MIDDLESEX ss.
+
+An Inquisition Indented, Taken at Charlestown Within the County of
+Middlesex Aforesaid the Second day of July in the Twenty ninth year of
+the Reign of our Lord George the Second by the Grace of God, of Great
+Britain France and Ireland, King Defender of the Faith &c., before
+John Remington Gentleman one of the Coroners of our said Lord the
+King, Within the County of Middlesex Aforesaid; upon view of the Body
+of John Codman of Charlestown Aforesaid Gentleman then and there Being
+dead by the oaths of Josiah Whitemore, Samuel Larkin, Samuel Larkin
+Junr. Richard Deavens, William Thompson, Nathaniel Brown, Samuel
+Kettle, John Larkin, Thomas Larkin, David Cheever, Barnabas Davis,
+Edward Goodwin, Benjamin Brazier, Samuel Sprague, Richard Phillips,
+Samuel Hendley and Michael Brigden Good and Lawfull men of Charlestown
+Aforesaid Within the County Aforesaid; Who being Charg'd and Sworn to
+Inquire for our said Lord the King, When, and by What means, and how
+the Said John Codman Came to his Death--upon their Oaths do Say that
+the said John Codman Came to his death By Poison Procured by his
+negro man servant Mark Which he took and Languishd untill the first of
+July Current and then died and so the Jurors Aforesaid upon their
+oaths do Say, that Aforesaid Mark in manner and Form Aforesaid, the
+Aforesaid John Codman then and there feloniously did Poison against
+the peace of our Soverign Lord the King his Crown and Dignity--
+
+In Witness, Whereof, as Well I the Coroner Aforesaid, as the Jurors
+Aforesaid, to this Inquisition have Interchangeably put our hands and
+Seals, the day And year Abovesaid.
+
+                            JOHN REMINGTON _Coroner_ [Seal.]
+RICHD PHILLIPS     [Seal.]  JOSIAH WHITTEMORE        [Seal.]
+SAMLL KETTELL      [Seal.]  SAML HENDLY              [Seal.]
+JOHN LARKIN        [Seal.]  MICHLL BRIGDEN           [Seal.]
+SAMUEL LARKIN JNR. [Seal.]  NATHLL BROWN             [Seal.]
+WILLIAM THOMPSON   [Seal.]  DAVID CHEEVER            [Seal.]
+THOMAS LARKIN      [Seal.]  SAMLL LARKIN             [Seal.]
+RICHARD DEVENS     [Seal.]  BENJAMIN BRAZIER         [Seal.]
+                            BARNABAS DAVIS           [Seal.]
+                            SAMUELL SPRAGUE          [Seal.]
+                            EDWD. GOODWIN            [Seal.]
+
+
+[_Examination of Quaco._]
+
+On the 12th July 1755, was Examined Quacoe a Negro man belonging to
+Mr James Dalton of Boston Victualler He sd Quacoe says that some
+time the last winter one Kerr a Negro man belonging to Doctr.
+Jno Gibbons came to the sd Quacoe & told him that Mark belongg.
+to Mr Codman had Been wth. him to get some Poyson and the sd. Quaco
+says that Ker told him that Mark asked the sd. Kerr whither Phoebe had
+been wth. him for said Poyson. The said Quacoe also says that he Spoke
+to Phoebe Mr Codman's negro woman whom he called his Wife & told her
+not to be Concerned with Mark for that she would be Brought into
+Trouble by him, for that Mark had been wth. Kerr Gibbons to get
+Poyson, & had askt sd Kerr whither Phoebe had not been wth him for sd
+Poyson. The sd Quacoe also says that the above discourse wth Phoebe
+was when they were going to Bed the Saturday night after the discourse
+had wth. Kerr Gibbons. He also says that he charged her not to be
+concerned wth. Mark about Poyson on any accot. whatever.
+
+The above Examination Taken on the 12th. July 1755 at Boston
+
+[Symbol: Per] WM STODDARD _J Pacis_
+
+
+[_Mittimus against Robin._]
+
+SUFFOLK ss:
+
+To The Keeper of His Majestys Goal in Boston and to the Constables of
+Boston Greeting--
+
+[Sidenote: L.S.]
+
+I herewith Comit to you Mr. Constable Pattin the Body of Robin a
+Negro man belonging to Dr. William Clarke of the North End of
+Boston, who is this day Charged wth being Concerned in the
+Poysoning of the late Mr. John Codman of Charles Town Deceased.
+Take Care of him and deliver him to The Keeper of His Majestys Goal in
+Boston; and you the sd Keeper are hereby Commanded to Receive the
+Body of the Said Robin and him Safely Keep untill he shall be
+discharged by Due Course of Law,
+
+Given under my hand and Seal at Boston the Twelfth day of July anno
+Domini 1755 and in the Twenty ninth Year of the Kings Reign.
+
+WM. STODDARD, _Just: Pacis_.
+
+
+[_Examination of Phillis._]
+
+MIDDX ss:
+
+The Examination of Phillis a negro Servant of John Codman late of
+Charlstown deceased taken by Edmund Trowbridge and Thaddeus Mason
+Esqrs at Cambridge in the County of Middlesex the 26th. Day of
+July Anno Domini 1755. And ye 2d of Augt. following--
+
+_Questn._ Was Mr. John Codman late of Charlstown de[=c]d, your
+Master?
+
+_Answr._ Yes he was.
+
+_Quest._ How long was you his servant?
+
+_Answr._ He my said Master bought me when I was a little girl and I
+continued his servant untill his Death.
+
+_Questn._ Do you know of what sickness your said master died?
+
+_Answer._ I suppose he was poisoned.
+
+_Quest._ Do you know he was poisoned?
+
+_Answr._ I do know he was poisoned.
+
+_Quest._ What was he poisoned with?
+
+_Answr._--It was with that black lead.
+
+_Quest._ what black Lead is it you mean?
+
+_Answr._ The Potter's Lead.
+
+_Quest._ How do you know your sd. master was poisoned with that
+Lead?
+
+_Answr._ Mark got some of the said Potter's Lead from Essex Powers
+and my young mistress Molly found some of the same Lead in the
+Porringer that my Master's Sagoe was in, he complain'd it was gritty;
+and that made Miss Molly look into the Porringer, and finding the Lead
+there, she ask'd me what it was, I told her I did not know.--I
+cleaned the Skillet the Sagoe was boiled in and found some of the same
+stuff in the bottom of the skillet that was in the bottom of the
+Porringer. And presently after Mark was carried to Goal, Tom brought a
+Paper of the Potter's Lead out of the Blacksmith's Shop, which he said
+he found there; and I saw it and am sure it was the same with that
+which Was in the bottom of the Porringer and the Skillet.
+
+_Quest._ Do you know that any other Poison besides the Potter's Lead
+was given to your sd master?
+
+_Answr._ Yes.
+
+_Quest._ What was it?
+
+_Answr._ It was Water which was poured out of a Vial.
+
+_Quest._ How do you know that, that Water was Poison?
+
+_Answr._ There was a White Powder in the Vial, which Sunk to the
+Bottom of it.--
+
+_Quest._ Do you know who put the Powder into the Vial?
+
+_Answr._ I put the first Powder in.
+
+_Quest._ Where did you get that Powder?
+
+_Answr._ Phebe gave it to me up in the Garret, the Sabbath Day
+morning before the last Sacrament before my master dyed, and Phoebe
+at the same time told me Mark gave it to her.
+
+_Quest._ What was the Powder in when Phoebe gave it you?
+
+_Answer._ It was in a White Paper, folded up Square, both ends being
+turn'd up, & it was tyed with some Twine.
+
+_Quest._ How much Powder was there in the Paper?
+
+_Answr._ There was a good deal of it I believe near an ounce.
+
+_Quest._ Did you put all that Powder into the Vial?
+
+_Answr._ No, I put in but a little of it, only so much as lay on
+the Point of a narrow Piece of flat Iron, with which I put it in,
+which Iron Mark made & gave it to me to give to Phebe, Mark gave me
+the sd Iron the Saturday before the Sabbath aforesd. I ask'd him
+what it was for, he would not tell me; he said Robbin gave him one,
+and he had lost it; and that he himself went into the shop and made
+this. I gave the sd Iron to Phoebe that same afternoon, in the
+Kitchen; and the next morning she gave it to me in the Garret, and
+Quaco was there with her; she whisper'd to me and told me to take the
+Paper of Powder which was in the hollow over the Window, and the flat
+Iron which was with it and put some of it into the Vial with the Iron
+which I did; and she bid me put some water into it, but I did not; but
+she afterwards put some in herself, as she told me, and she put it
+into the Closet in the Kitchen in a Corner behind a black Jug; and the
+same Vial was kept there untill my master dyed.
+
+_Quest._ Had your Master any of that Water which was put into the said
+Vial given to him?
+
+_Answr._ Yes he had.
+
+_Quest._ How was it given to him?
+
+_Answr._ It was poured into his barly Drink and into his Infusion,
+and into his Chocalate, and into his Watergruel.
+
+_Quest._ Who poured the Water out of the sd Vial into the
+Chocalate?
+
+_Answr._ Phoebe did, and Master afterwards eat it.
+
+_Quest._ Who pour'd it into his barly Drink?
+
+_Answr._ I did it myself; I pour'd a drop out of the Vial into the
+barly Drink, & I felt ugly, and pour'd the Water out of the mug again
+off from the Barly, and put clean Water into the mug again & cover'd
+it over that it might boil quick.
+
+_Quest._ Who pour'd the Water out of the Vial into the Infusion?
+
+_Answr._ Phoebe did.
+
+_Quest._ How do you know it?
+
+_Answr._ I came into the Kitchen and saw her do it.
+
+_Quest._ Did your master drink the Infusion after that water was so
+pour'd in?
+
+_Answr._ He drank one Tea Cup full of it.
+
+_Quest._ How do you know that Phoebe poured any of the poisoned
+Water out of the Vial into your Master's Chocalate?
+
+_Answr._ She told me she had done it.
+
+_Quest._ When did she tell you so?
+
+_Answr._ That Same Day.
+
+_Quest._ Was it before or after your Master eat that Chocalate that
+the poison'd Water was pour'd into, that She told you so?
+
+_Answr._ Before he eat it.
+
+_Quest._ Did you see him eat that Chocalate?
+
+_Answr._ Yes, I did, he eat it in the Kitchen on a little round
+Table.
+
+_Quest._ Who put the Second Powder into the Vial?
+
+_Answr._ Phoebe put it in; I left Part of the Powder she gave me
+in the Paper, and she afterwards put that into the Vial as she told
+me. as I was in the cellar drawing some Cyder, I heard Phoebe tell
+Mark that the Powder was all out, and all used up;
+
+_Quest._ When was it that you heard Phoebe tell Mark so?
+
+_Answr._ The Wednesday before my master dyed.
+
+_Quest._ Do you know of any more Powder being got to give to your
+master?
+
+_Answer._ Yes, but master never took any of it.
+
+_Quest._ Who got this last Powder?
+
+_Answr._ Mark got it.
+
+_Quest._ What did he do with it?
+
+_Answr._ He gave it to me; in our little House.
+
+_Quest._ What Sort of Powder was it that Mark gave You?
+
+_Answr._ I[t?] was white the same as the first.
+
+_Quest._ What was it in?
+
+_Answr._ In a Peice of Paper; he had more of that Powder than he
+gave me, it was in a Paper folded up in a long Square, he tore off
+Part of that Paper, and put Some of the Powder into it, and gave it to
+me and kept the rest himself. and at the same time that he gave it to
+me he told me that Robbin said we were damn'd Fools we had not given
+Master that first Powder at two Doses, for it wou'd have killed him,
+and no Body would have known who hurt him, for it was enough to kill
+the strongest man living; upon which I ask'd Mark how he knew, it
+would not have been found out, he said that Mr. Salmon's Negros
+poison'd him, and were never found out, but had got good masters, & so
+might we.
+
+_Quest._ What did you do with that Powder which Mark gave you?
+
+_Answr._ I put it into the Vial, & set it in the Same Place it was
+in before, there was some of the first Powder & Water remaining in the
+Vial when I put this last in.
+
+_Quest._ Do you know that any of the Water that was in the Vial after
+you put this last Powder in was given to your Master?
+
+_Answr._ No, he never had a drop of it. The next Day after Master
+died Mark came into the Closet where I was eating my Dinner and ask'd
+me for that Bottle. I ask'd him what he wanted it for, and he would
+not tell me, but insisted upon having it, upon which I told him that
+it was there behind the Jugg, and he took it and went directly down to
+the Shop in the yard, and I never saw it afterwards 'till Justice
+Mason shew it to me, on the Fast Day night.
+
+_Quest._ Do you know where Mark got that Powder which he gave to you?
+
+_Answr._ He had it of Robbin, Doctr Clark's Negro; that liv'd
+with Mr. Vassall.
+
+_Quest._ How do you know that Mark had that Powder of Robbin?
+
+_Answr._ The Thursday night before my master died Mark told me he
+was going over to Boston to Robbin to get some more Powder for he
+sd: Phoebe told him yt the other was all out; and Mark went
+over to Boston, and return'd again about nine o'Clock; and I ask'd
+Mark if he had got it, and he told me no, he had not, but Robbin was
+to bring it over the next night; and between 8 & 9 o'Clock that next
+night, a negro Fellow came to me in our Yard & ask'd me for Mark, And
+I ask'd him his name but he would not tell me, and I said to him,
+Countryman, if you'l tell me your name I'll call Mark, for I know
+where he is, but he would not, I then askt him if he was not Robbin
+Vassall, (for I mistrusted it was he) and upon that he laughed and
+said his name was not Robbin Vassall, but he came out of the Country
+and wanted to see Mark very much about his Child; and upon my refusing
+to tell him where Mark was the negro went away down to the Ferry, and
+I followed him at some distance & saw him go into the Ferry Boat, and
+the Boat put off, with him in it. That same Fryday, in the afternoon,
+Mark told me, if any Negro Fellow shou'd come; & say that he came out
+of the Country to call him, I ask'd him what negro it was that he
+expected wou'd come; he told me it was Robbin, and that he was to say
+that he came out of the Country to speak with Mark about his Child,
+and bid me tell no Body about it.
+
+_Quest._ Do you know Robbin Doctr. Clark's negro?
+
+_Answr._ I do, and have known him for many years.
+
+_Quest._ How then happen'd it that you cou'd not certainly tell
+whether the negro aforesd. that askt for Mark was Robbin or not?
+
+_Answr._ Because it was dark, So dark I cou'd not see his Face so
+as certainly to know him, but I am fully satisfyed it was Robbin.
+
+_Quest._ What Reason have you to be satisfyed it was Robbin?
+
+_Answr._ That same night I told Mark that a negro Fellow had been
+there and ask'd for him & wanted him, he ask'd me why I did not call
+him, I told him our Folks called me and I could not, Mark told me he
+was very Sorry I did not, and asked me if he gave me any Thing, I told
+him he did not, he said he was very sorry he did not; then I ask'd him
+who it was, and he said it was Robbin, and then he told me that he
+thought Robbin & he had been playing blind-mans Buff, for they had
+been over the Ferry twice that night and mist one another; and that
+Elijh Phipps & Timo Rand told him that a negro Fellow had been over
+the Ferry to speak with him about his Child. And then Mark told me he
+would the next Night go over to Robbin and get some more of the same
+Powder, and would bring it over on the Sabbath Day, & he went to
+Boston on the Saturday night, but did not return till Monday morning,
+when he brought it and gave it to me in the little House, as I told
+you before.
+
+_Quest._ Did you see Robbin at Charlstown in the Time of your master's
+sickness or about the Time of his Death?
+
+_Answr._ Yes, I saw him on ye Tuesday the Ship was launched,
+when my master catch'd Mark buying Drink at Mrs Shearman's to treat
+him with, & drove him away; and I saw him at Charlstown on the
+Saturday after my Master was buried; but I did not speak with him at
+either of those Times. The Tuesday he was before our Shop Door, in the
+Street, with Mark and had a Bag upon his shoulder; and on the Saturday
+in the afternoon I saw him going up the Street by our House, while
+Phoebe and I were washing in the back yard; I told Phoebe there
+was Robbin a going along this minit, and she said is he? and ask'd me
+what Cloaths he had on; I told her he had a bluish Coat on lined with
+a straw coloured or yellow lining and the Cuffs open & lined with the
+said Yellow lining, and that he had a black wigg on; and I told
+Phoebe I believed he was gone up to Mark to tell him not to own that
+he had given any Thing to him, and Phoebe said she believed so to;
+and I went into the street to the Pump with a Pail to get some Water,
+designing to see whether he went that Way, and I saw him go right up
+the main street, and I could see him as far up as Mr. Eleazer
+Phillips's, and I did not see him afterwards. I never see him with a
+Wigg on before, but as he went by us he look'd me full in the Face and
+I knew it was Robbin. When I told Phoebe that Robbin was going by, I
+thought she saw him, but she questioned whether it was he, and I told
+her I was sure it was he, for I had known him ever since he was a boy,
+and I told her I would lay a mug of Flip that it was he, but she wou'd
+not; and then it was that I told her I believed he was gone up to Mark
+&c.
+
+_Quest._ Do you know what Powder that was which Mark & Phoebe gave
+you, and you put into the Vial?
+
+_Answr._ Mark told me it was Ratsbane, but I told Phoebe I
+believed Mark lied & that it was only burnt allom, for I told her,
+that upon taking Ratsbane they would directly swell, and Master did
+not swell; and she said she believed so to.
+
+_Quest._ How many Times was any of that Water, which was in the Vial
+aforesd., put into your master's victuals?
+
+_Answr._ Not above Seven Times.
+
+_Quest._ When was the first Time?
+
+_Answr._ The next Monday morning after Phoebe gave me the first
+Powder. then it was put into his Chocalate, by Phoebe. The next was
+also put in to his Chocalate by Phoebe on the next Wednesday
+morning, and I thinking she put in more than she should, told her her
+hand was heavy, and there was no more put in, that, I know of till the
+next Fryday, when Phoebe put some into his Chocalate, and my Master
+eat the Chocalate all the three times aforesaid in the Kitchen, and I
+was there & saw him; The next was on the Saturday following, when I
+put Some into his Watergruel, but I felt ugly and threw it away, and
+made some fresh, and did not put any into that. The next was on the
+afternoon of the same Saturday, I made him some more Watergruel &
+pour'd some of the Water out of the Vial into it, and it turned
+yellow, and Miss Betty, ask'd me what was the matter with the
+Watergruel and I gave her no answer; but that was thrown away, and
+more fresh made, and Miss Molly was going to put the same Plumbs in
+again, and Phoebe told her not to do it, but she had better put in
+some fresh Plumbs, and she did; and no Poison was put into that; It
+was by Phoebe's advice that I put it into the first this afternoon.
+And he had no more, that I know of 'till the next Monday night, when
+Mark put some of the Potter's Lead into Masters Sagoe.
+
+_Quest._ How do you know that Mark put any of the Potter's Lead into
+the Sagoe?
+
+_Answer._ When I went out of the Kitchen I left the Sagoe in the
+little Iron Skillet on the Fire, and no body was in the Kitchen then,
+but when I returned, Mark was Sitting on a Form in the Corner, and I
+afterwards found Some of that Lead in the Skillet, and neither
+Phoebe nor I had any Such Lead.
+
+_Quest._ Do you know of any other Poison prepar'd for, or given to
+your Master?
+
+_Answr._ No, I do not.
+
+_Quest._ Who was it that first contrived the poisoning your Master
+Codman?
+
+_Answr._ It was Mark who first contrived it, He told Phoebe and I
+that he had read the Bible through, and that it was no Sin to kill him
+if they did not lay violent Hands on him So as to shed Blood, by
+sticking or stabbing or cutting his Throat.
+
+_Quest._ When was it that Mark first proposed the poisoning his
+Master?
+
+_Answr._ Some time last Winter; he proposed it to Phoebe and I,
+but we would not agree to it, and told him No Such Thing should be
+done in the House; This before my Master brought him home from Boston.
+
+_Quest._ Did he ever afterwards propose the poisoning his sd
+Master?
+
+_Answr._ Yes he did, a Week or a Fortnight after my Master brought
+him home from Boston, he proposed it to me first, and I would not
+agree to it, and then he proposed it to Phoebe.
+
+_Quet._ What Reason did Mark give for poisoning his Master?
+
+_Answ._ He said he was uneasy and wanted to have another Master, and
+he was concerned for Phoebe and I too.
+
+_Quest._ Do you know how your Master's Work house that was burnt down
+came on Fire?
+
+_Answr._ Yes I do.
+
+_Quest._ How came it on fire?
+
+_Answr._ I set it on fire, but it was thro' Mark's means, he gave
+me no rest 'till I did it.
+
+_Quest._ How did you Set your Master's Work House on fire?
+
+_Answr._ I threw a Coal of Fire into some Shavings between the
+Blacksmith's Shop & the Work House, and I went away & did not see it
+kindle.
+
+_Quest._ Who put the Shavings there?
+
+_Answr._ Mark did.
+
+_Quest._ Was any Body concern'd in the burning the Work house
+besides Mark and you?
+
+_Answr._ Yes, Phoebe knew about it as well as I.
+
+_Quest._ Where was Phoebe & Mark when you put the Coal of Fire into
+the Shavings?
+
+_Answr._ The were up Garret in bed.
+
+_Quest._ Who first proposed the Setting the Workhouse on fire? and
+what reason was given for doing it?
+
+_Answr._ Mark first proposed it, to Phoebe and I; and the Reason
+he gave us was that he wanted to get to Boston, and if all was burnt
+down, he did not know what Master could do without selling us.
+
+_Quest._ Why did you, when Phoebe pour'd Some of the Water out of
+the Vial into the Chocalate tell her, "her hand was heavy?"
+
+_Answr._ I thought she pour'd in too much, more than she should I
+felt ugly and I wan't willing she shou'd put in so much and that he
+should be kill'd so quick. Mark's orders were to give it in two Doses,
+that was the Directions Robbin gave to Mark, as Mark told me, and Mark
+Said Robbin told him there was no more taste in it than in Cold Water.
+
+_Quest._ Why did you not tell your Master or some of the Family that
+Phoebe had poisoned the Chocalate, and thereby prevent your Master's
+eating it?
+
+_Answr._ I do not know why I did not tell.
+
+The mark of X Phillis.
+
+
+[_Examination of Mark._]
+
+MIDDLESEX ss:
+
+The Examination of Mark a Negro Servant of John Codman late of
+Charlstown deceased taken by Edmund Trowbridge & Thaddeus Mason
+Esqrs. at Charlstown in the County of Middlesex the ---- Day of
+July Anno Dom: 1755.
+
+_Quest._ What is your name?
+
+_Answr._ Mark.
+
+_Quest._ Are you a Servant or Freeman?
+
+_Answr._ A Servant. Mr. John Codman decd: was my master.
+
+_Quest._ How long was you his Servant?
+
+_Answr._ For several Years before & untill his Death.
+
+_Quest._ Do you know what occasion'd your sd. Master's Death?
+
+_Answr._ He was poisoned.
+
+_Q._ What was he poisoned with?
+
+_A._ With Poison that came from the Doctor's.
+
+_Q._ What Doctor?
+
+_Answr._ Doctr. Clark that lives at the North End of Boston.
+
+_Q._ What sort of Poison was that?
+
+_A._ It was a White Powder put up in a Paper.
+
+_Q._ How do you know that that Powder came from Doctr. Clark's?
+
+_A._ Robbin the Negro Fellow that belongs to Doctr. Clark gave it
+to me.
+
+_Q._ When & where did Robbin give you that Powder?
+
+_An._ A Week Day night, at his Master's Barn.
+
+_Qu._ Was there any Person present with you when Robbin gave you that
+Powder?
+
+_An._ No. The first Time, the negro man his fellow Servant called him
+out, it was in the Evening near 9 o'Clock.
+
+_Qu._ How many Times had you such Powder of Robbin?
+
+_An._ Twice only.
+
+_Qu._ When was the last Time you had any such Powder of him?
+
+_An._ The Sabbath Day night before my sd. Master died, in the
+Evening after Candle Light.
+
+_Qu._ Where was it you had this last Powder of him, and what was it
+in?
+
+_An._ He gave it to me in the same Barn, it was done up in a long
+square in two Papers, the outtermost Paper was brown and the inermost
+Paper was White, as the other was.
+
+_Qu._ What did Robbin give you these Powders for?
+
+_An._ To kill three Pigs belonging to Quaco as Phoebe told me.
+
+_Qu._ How long ago was it Since Robbin gave you the first of these
+Powders?
+
+_An._ I can't certainly tell.
+
+_Qu._ Was it before Robbin & you were together at John Harris ye
+Potters Work house?
+
+_Ansr._ I think it was before.
+
+_Qu._ How long before was it?
+
+_Ansr._ About a Week before.
+
+_Qu._ Did you pay Robbin any Thing for these Powders?
+
+_An._ No. I did not.
+
+_Q._ What did you do with them?
+
+_Ans._ Phoebe had the first; and she sent Phillis for the second and
+I gave it to her.
+
+_Qu._ When & where did you give Phoebe the first Paper of that
+Powder?
+
+_An._ In our Garret; the same night I brought it over.
+
+_Qu._ Was any Body there when you gave it to her?
+
+_An._ No.
+
+_Qu._ What did she do with it?
+
+_An._ She took it & put it upon the Table.
+
+_Qu._ Did you give her the whole of the Powder you had of Robbin the
+first Time?
+
+_An._ Yes. I gave her the Paper with all the Powder in it, as I
+received it of Robbin.
+
+_Qu._ Did you tell her what was in the Paper?
+
+_An._ No. She knew what was in it; for she told me what to get.
+
+_Qu._ What did she tell you to get?
+
+_An._ Something to kill three Pigs.
+
+_Qu._ Did Robbin give you any Directions how to use that Powder, and
+tell you what Effect it would have?
+
+_Ans._ He told me to put it into about 2 Quarts of Swill or Indian
+meal, and it would make 'em swell up.
+
+_Qu._ Did you tell her how she must use the Powder? or what Effect it
+would have?
+
+_Answr._ yes I told her as Robbin told me.
+
+_Qu._ Do you know whether she used that Powder or any Part of it?
+
+_Answr._ no otherwise than as Phoebe & Phillis told me Since my
+master's Death.
+
+_Qu._ Who did you give the Second Paper of Powder to?
+
+_An._ To Phillis.
+
+_Qu._ When & where did you give that Paper of Powder to Phillis?
+
+_Ans._ In the little House; She came to empty a Pot over the Wharffe,
+and I gave it to her, The Monday before my sd. Master died, after
+Breakfast in the Forenoon.
+
+_Qu:_ Did you then give her all the Powder you recd. of Robbin the
+Second Time?
+
+_Ans._ Yes. I took off the brown Paper and gave it to her in the white
+Paper, that it was in, when Robbin gave it to me.
+
+_Qu._ What did she do with it?
+
+_Answr._ She caried it into the House to Phoebe as Phillis told
+me, She came to me & told me Phoebe sent her for that Thing that She
+sent me for, and thereupon I gave Phillis the Paper.
+
+_Qu:_ How was your Master poisoned with these Powders?
+
+_Answr._ Phoebe & Phillis told me that they used them for that
+End.
+
+_Qu:_ When did they tell you this?
+
+_Answr._ The next Day after my master died.
+
+_Q:_ Were they together when they told you So?
+
+_Answr._ No, Phillis told me of it first, and said that Phoebe
+used all that I brought first, that Way; and that the last was used so
+too by her and Phoebe; and then I went to Phoebe and ask'd her
+about it, and She denyed it at first but when I told her that Phillis
+had told me all about it, then she owned it.
+
+_Quest._ Had you no Reason before your sd. master dyed to think
+that the Powders you had of Robbin were given to your master or that
+he was poison'd therewith?
+
+_Answr._ No other Reason than hearing Phoebe the Saturday night
+before master died ask Phillis, if she had given him enough, to which
+she replyed, yes. I have given him enough, and will stick as close to
+him as his shirt to his back; but who she meant I did not then know,
+nor untill after master died.
+
+_Quest._ Was there no Discourse had between you Phoebe & Phillis
+about getting more Poison, after you had the first, of Robbin?
+
+_Answ._ The Fryday before my master died Phoebe told me that she had
+lost that stuff that I had brought to her from Robbin, and desired me
+to get her some more. I told her I wou'd when I went over to Boston;
+this was in the Forenoon, when she was washing in the back yard.
+
+_Quest._ Did you get her any more of Robbin?
+
+_Ansr._ Yes, and that was it which I gave to Phillis
+
+_Quest._ When did you go over to get the last Poison?
+
+_Ans._ on the Saturday night before my master died; I went over after
+Sunset; I went directly to Robbin; & told him I wanted some of the
+same I had of him before for that was lost, Robbin was then at the
+Corner of his master's House out in the street, he told me he could
+not get any then, but if I wou'd come on the Sabbath Day night he
+would let me have some, and I went to him on the Sabbath Day night
+after Candle Light, and he then gave it to me.
+
+_Quest._ Was there any Body with you on the Saturday night when you
+ask'd for the Poison, or do you know whether any Person saw you &
+Robbin together that Evening?
+
+_Answr._ No, nobody was there, and I dont know that any Body saw us
+together that Evening.
+
+_Quest._ How long was you with Robbin at Mr. Harris's Work house?
+
+_Answr._ I made no tarry there, but left him at the Pot house, and
+he and the young man that was with him followed me and overtook me a
+little below Mr. Waite's Slaughter house; And they went with me
+into the Lane leading from the market Place to the long Wharffe near
+Mrs. Shearman's, while I went into Mrs. Shearmans and got a mug
+of Toddy, in the mug I brought from Mr. Harris's Work house, and I
+carried it to them and they both drank with me.
+
+_Quest._ Had you any Discourse with Robbin in private or between you
+and him alone that Day?
+
+_Ansr._ No, none at all.
+
+_Quest._ Where did you drink the Toddy?
+
+_Answr._ In the Lane aforesd.
+
+_Quest._ Where did you all go after you drank the Toddy?
+
+_Answr._ We all came away together & went thro' Mr. Sprague's
+Yard & so thro' Mrs. Silence Harris's yard & Entry into the street.
+and they went directly down to the Ferry and I went into my master's
+Yard with the Pots I brought from the Potters Work house.
+
+_Quest._ Did you then go with them to the Ferry or nearer to it than
+your master's House?
+
+_Answr._ No, I did not.
+
+_Quest._ Did Robbin give you, or did you give Robbin any Thing between
+the Time of your coming out of Mr. Harris's Entry and his going
+over the Ferry?
+
+_Answr._ No, I did not give him any Thing neither did he give me
+any Thing.
+
+_Quest._ After you had parted with him when you came thro' the Entry,
+did you call him back?
+
+_Answr._ No, I did not.
+
+_Quest._ Did your master that Day forbid Mrs Shearman's letting you
+have any more Drink?
+
+_Answr._ Yes, my master told her not to sell any Drink to any of
+his Servants.
+
+_Quest._ Did Robbin know of it?
+
+_Answr._ Not that I know of; he see master go into Mrs.
+Shearman's Shop, and pass'd by Robbin in the Lane as Robbin told me.
+
+_Quest._ Did you ever apply to any body else, besides Robbin for
+Poison?
+
+_Answr._ No, only to Carr, Doctr. Gibbon's negro man, and then
+Phoebe sent me for it. She had been with Carr before on the same
+account, & he told her he cou'd not get her any then, as she told me;
+
+_Quest._ Did you get any Poison of Carr?
+
+_Ansr._ No, he told me he wou'd not let me have any, untill he had
+seen Quaco, and did not know whether he shou'd then or not, and I
+never went to him afterwards.
+
+_Quest._ Did you never ask Doctr. Rand's Cato for any Poison?
+
+_Answr._ No, I do not know that I ever did, in the World.
+
+_Quest._ Had you and Phoebe any Conversation together about your
+master in or near your Blacksmith's Shop or in the yard the Monday
+before your master died?
+
+_Answr._ I had not, that I know of.
+
+_Quest._ Did you that Day before Tom or any other of your master's
+Servants say that you knew that your master would dye or utter any
+Words to that effect?
+
+_Answr._ No, I did not. The Day before master dyed, Phoebe came
+into the Shop to dress Tom's Eye & got to dancing & mocking master &
+shaking herself & acting as master did in the Bed; And Tom said he did
+not care, he hop'd he wou'd never get up again for his Eye's sake, and
+Scipio was there at the same time and saw her.
+
+_Quest._ Did you ever Say that your master had been offer'd L400 for
+you but wou'd not take it, and now he shou'd not have a farthing or
+Words to that effect?
+
+_Answr._ No I never said any such Thing. MARK.[1]
+
+[Footnote 1: Mark signed his deposition here, and the entry,
+"continued," was made at the end of the sheet; the next sheet
+beginning, "Mark's Examination, continued."]
+
+_Quest._ Did you ever tell Phoebe or Phillis that the Week before
+your master dyed, that you went over the Ferry to see Robbin to get
+some more Poison, and that he came over the Ferry in another Boat and
+so you mist each other and that he Robbin pretended to the Ferry-man
+that he was a Country negro and wanted to see you about your Child, or
+Words to that Effect?
+
+_Answr._ I never told them or either of them so.
+
+_Quest._ How came that Viall buried near your Forge in the
+Black-Smith's Shop, that you told Mr. Kettell of, and he found
+there?
+
+_Answr._ I buried it there.
+
+_Quest._ When did you bury it there?
+
+_Answr._ In the afternoon of that Day that master dyed.
+
+_Quest._ Where did you get that Vial?
+
+_Answr._ I took it from Phillis that same Afternoon.
+
+_Quest._ Did any body see you take it from her?
+
+_Answr._ No. When I took it from Phillis she own'd that Phoebe
+had given the first Poison that I brought to master; and that she and
+Phoebe had given him all the Rest saving what was then in the
+Bottle. and thereupon I went to Phoebe and charged her with it, she
+at first deny'd it, but at last own'd it it and begg'd me to say
+nothing about it; I told her if I had known she wou'd have put it to
+that use I would not have got it for her; then I call'd Pompey to go
+down to the shop with me for I wanted to speak with him, intending to
+shew him the Vial, and he came into the shop but before I had an
+opportunity to speak to him Mr. Kettell took me.
+
+_Quest._ Where was the Vial when you talked with Phoebe as
+aforesd?
+
+_Answr._ I had it in my Pocket, and told her so, then I went into
+the shop and buried it, then I went into the House immediately to call
+Pompey to shew it to him.
+
+_Quest._ Why did you bury the Vial before you called Pompy? or shew it
+to any body?
+
+_Answr:_ I buried it because I did not want any body should see it
+before I shewed it to him.
+
+_Questn._ Have you lately had any Potters powder'd Lead by you or
+in your Possession?
+
+_Answr._ Only that I had from Essex Powars; which was as I suppose
+ground to Powder.
+
+_Quest._ When did you get that powder'd Lead of Essex?
+
+_Ansr:_ I had it of him that Day I went there for six butter Pots,
+which my master's son Isaac sent me for.
+
+_Quest._ What did you get that Lead for?
+
+_Answr._ To see if it would melt in our Fire. upon a Dispute
+between Tom and I about it; Tom said it would melt, and I told him I
+did not believe it would; I carried it home and laid it upon the Wall
+Plate in the Blacksmith's shop, and I never moved it afterwards or
+thought any Thing about it, 'till it was show'd to me by the Justice.
+
+_Quet._ Do you know that any Part of that Lead you had of Essex or any
+Lead like unto it was given to your master or put into his Victuals or
+Drink?
+
+_Answr._ I do not.
+
+_Quest._ Do you know of any Proposal made of poisoning your master?
+
+_Answ._ No, I do not, nor ever heard any such Thing proposed by any
+Body.
+
+_Quest._ Do you know of any Cushoe nuts being procured for that
+Purpose?
+
+_Answr._ No; I have not seen a Cushoe nut since I have been in this
+Country.
+
+_Quest._ Do you know of any Copperas or Green stuff being provided for
+that Purpose?
+
+_Answr._ No I do not.
+
+_Quest._ What Time on the Saturday before your master dyed was it that
+you heard Phoebe ask Phillis, if she had given him enough, and
+Phillis said she had, and would stick as close to him as his Shirt to
+his Back?
+
+_Answr._ In the afternoon about Dark; and before I went to Boston.
+
+_Quest._ How came you, after you had heard this Talk between Phoebe
+and Phillis, to get her sd. Phoebe more Poison?
+
+_Answr._ I did not know what she meant by their Talk, nor who they
+meant, by him.
+
+_Quest._ Did you tell Carr that Phoebe sent you for that Poison you
+applyed to him for?
+
+_Answr._ She did not tell me it was Poison, but told me to ask Carr
+for that Thing he had promised her; he said he knew what it was and
+would not send it, 'till he had talked to Quaco, and did not know that
+he should send it afterwards; and I said no more to Carr about it.
+
+_Quest._ Did you ever ask Carr at any other Time for Poison?
+
+_Ansr._ No.
+
+_Quest._ Did you never ask him for something to Poison or kill a Dog?
+
+_Answr._ No, not that I know of.
+
+_Quest._ Was you ever bit by a Dog?
+
+_Answr._ No. I never was.
+
+_Quest._ Do you know any Thing more of your master's being poisoned
+than you have before related?
+
+_Ansr._ No, I do not.
+
+MARK.
+
+
+[_Bill of Indictment._]
+
+[Sidenote: MIDDLESEX ss.]
+
+At His Majesties Superiour Court of Judicature Court of
+Assize and General Goal Delivery held at Cambridge in and for the
+County of Middlesex on the first Tuesday of August in the Twenty ninth
+Year of the Reign of George the Second by the Grace of God of Great
+Britain France & Ireland King Defender of the Faith &c.
+
+The Jurors for the said Lord the King upon their Oath present That
+Phillis a Negro woman of Charlestown in the County of Middlesex
+Spinster Servant of John Codman late of Charlestown aforesaid
+Gentleman not having the Fear of God before her Eyes but of her Malice
+forethought contriving to deprive the said John Codman her said Master
+of his Life and him feloniously and Traiterously to kill and murder,
+She the said Phillis on the thirtieth Day of June last at Charlestown
+aforesaid in the Dwelling house of the said John there did of her
+Malice forethought willfully feloniously and Traiterously put a Deadly
+Poison called Arsenick into a Vial of water and thereby did then and
+there Poison the same Water----and that the said Phillis knowing the
+Water aforesaid to be so poisoned did then and there feloniously
+willfully traiterously and of her Malice forethought put one spoonfull
+of the Same Water so poisoned into a Pint of the Said John's
+Watergruel and thereby poison the Same Watergruel----And that the said
+Phillis did then and there of her malice forethought feloniously
+willfully and traiterously in manner as aforesaid poison the
+Watergruel aforesaid, with a felonious and Traiterous Intent and
+Design that the said John her said master then being should then and
+there eat the Same Watergruel so poisoned and thereby be poisoned
+killed & murdered----And that one Elizabeth Codman not knowing the
+Watergruel aforesaid to be so poisoned then and there Innocently gave
+the Same Watergruel so poisoned as aforesaid to the said John to eat--
+
+And that the said John then and there being the said Phillis's Master
+and being altogether ignorant of the Watergruel aforesaid's being
+poisoned as as[2] aforesaid and Suspecting no Evil did then and there
+eat the same Watergruel so poisoned as aforesaid----And that the said
+Phillis then and there was feloniously and traiterously present with
+the said Elizabeth & John knowing of and consenting unto the said
+Elizabeth's giving him the said John the Watergruel aforesaid so
+poisoned as aforesaid and his eating the same as aforesaid----And that
+the said John by means of his eating the Watergruel aforesaid so
+poisoned as aforesaid There Languished for the space of fifteen Hours
+and then at Charlestown aforesaid Died of the Poison aforesaid given
+him as aforesaid----And So the Jurors aforesaid upon their Oath say
+that the said Phillis did at Charlestown aforesaid of her malice
+forethought in manner and form aforesaid willfully feloniously and
+traiterously poison kill & murder the said John Codman her said master
+against the Peace of the said Lord the King his Crown & Dignity.
+
+[Footnote 2: _Sic._]
+
+And the Jurors aforesaid upon their Oath further present That Mark a
+Negro man of Charlestown aforesaid Labourer and Servant of the said
+John Codman. And Robbin a Negro man of Boston in the County of Suffolk
+Labourer & Servant of John Clark of Boston aforesaid Apothecary before
+the said Treason and murder aforesaid committed by the said Phillis in
+manner & form aforesaid did at Charlestown aforesaid on the twentieth
+Day of June last of their malice forethought (the said Mark then being
+Servant of the said John Codman) feloniously & traiterously advise &
+incite procure & abet the said Phillis to do and commit the said
+Treason & Murder aforesaid against the Peace of the said Lord the King
+his Crown and Dignity.
+
+EDM TROWBRIDGE _Attr [Symbol: Per] Dom Rege._
+
+This is a True Bill.
+
+CALEB DANA _foreman_.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The case was tried, at the same term at which the parties were
+indicted, before Stephen Sewall, chief justice, and Benjamin Lynde,
+John Cushing, and Chambers Russell, associate justices,--all fairly
+read in the law, and the Chief Justice eminent in his profession.
+Samuel Winthrop and Nathaniel Hatch, jointly, were clerks of the
+court.[3]
+
+[Footnote 3: This is assumed to be the case, since both these clerks
+officially signed papers in this very case, though, from the loose
+custom which gradually obtained with the clerks of our highest
+judicial court, of not recording their appointments, it is impossible
+to verify this statement by the record. Samuel Tyley, Jr., and
+Benjamin Rolfe were sworn in as joint clerks of this court, Feb. 26,
+1718, and Samuel Winthrop was clerk as early as June, 1745, and
+Nathaniel Hatch as early as September, 1752.]
+
+Mark and Phillis were convicted, and sentence of death was pronounced
+upon them in strict conformity to the common law of England. On the
+6th of September, a warrant for their execution was issued, under the
+seal of the court, commanding Richard Foster, Sheriff of Middlesex, to
+perform the last office of the law, on the 18th of the same month; and
+upon this warrant the sheriff made return upon the day of the
+execution.
+
+The subpoenas to the witnesses against the accused, the caption and
+conclusion of the record of the case, and the warrant for the
+execution of the condemned are as follows:--
+
+PROVINCE OF THE     } _George the Second by the Grace of God of Great
+MASSACHUSETTS BAY,  }  Britain France & Ireland King Defender
+ss.                 }  of ye Faith &c._
+
+       To the Sheriff of our County of Middlesex his under
+SEAL.  Sheriff or Deputy or to any Constable of the Town of
+       Charlestown within Said County, Greeting--
+
+We Command you That you Su[=m]on Wm. Brattle Esqr Docter Pinchin of
+Boston Joseph Rand Junr. Hatter Bartholomew Powers Isaac Rand
+Phisitian Wm. Kneland, Benjn. Codman Parnel Codman Elizh.
+Codman Mary Codman Ann Codman Catherine Codman, Pompey Thomas Cuffee
+and Scipeo negro servants that were Jno. Codman Decd. James Kittle
+Wm. Foster Phisitian Essex Servant to thomas powers Servt. of
+Dr. Rand Dinah Servt. of Richd. Foster Esqr Ruth Adams
+
+To appear Before our Justices of our Superiour Court of Judicature
+Court of Assize and General Goal Delivery now held at Cambridge within
+& for said County tomorrow at Eight of ye Clock before noon to give
+Such Evidence in our Behalf (as you know) against Mark a Negro man &
+Phillis a Negro woman both of Charlestown aforesaid--
+
+Hereof fail not and so soon as may be make return of this Writ with
+your Doings Therein into the same Court Witness Stephen Sewall Esq. at
+Boston the sixth Day of August in the twenty ninth year of our Reign
+Annoq. Domini 1755
+
+SAML WINTHROP _Cler_
+
+[_Endorsed Return._]
+
+MIDDLESEX ss. August 7, 1755
+
+We have somoned the persons within named to appear & Give Evidence at
+the time & place within mentioned.
+
+JAMES KETTELL, _Dept Sheriff_,
+  & JOHN MILLER
+    _Constabel_.
+
+
+PROVINCE OF THE       } _George the Second by the Grace of God of
+MASSACHUSETTS BAY ss  }  Great Britain France & Ireland King
+                         Defender of the Faith &c._
+
+       To the Sheriff of our County of Suffolk his under Sheriff
+SEAL.  or Deputy or to any Constable of the Town of Boston in
+       sd. County Greeting
+
+We Command you that you Summon The Wife of Ichabod Jones Eliza.
+Mercy Car, a negro man servant of John Gibbins Apothecary Quaco the
+servt. of ---- Dalton Quaco a Negro man belonging to mr. John
+White
+
+To appear before our Justices of our Superiour Court of Judicature
+Court of Assize & General Goal Delivery now holden at Cambridge within
+and for said County Tomorrow morning at Eight of ye Clock before
+noon Then and there to give Such Evidence in our Behalf as you know
+against Mark a Negro man & Phillis a Negro woman both of Charlestown
+in our County of Middlesex--
+
+Hereof Fail not and so soon as may be make Return of this Writ with
+your Doings therein into the same Court
+
+Witness Stephen Sewall Esq. at Boston the Sixth Day of August in the
+twenty ninth year of our Reign Annoq, Domini 1755
+
+SAML WINTHROP _Cler_
+
+
+[_Record of the Case._]
+
+PROVINCE OF THE   } _Anno Regni Regis Georgii secondi Magnae
+MASSACHUSETTS BAY }  Britanniae Franciae Hiberniae vicesimonono._
+MIDDLESEX ss.     }
+
+At his Majestys Superiour Court of Judicature Court of
+Assize and General Goal Delivery began and held at
+Cambridge within and for the County of Middlesex on
+the first Tuesday of August Annoque Domini 1755--
+
+By the Honoble. Stephen Sewall Esqr: Chief Justice
+                               Benjamin Lynde[4] }
+                               John Cushing &    } Esquires Justices
+                               Chambers Russell  }
+
+[Footnote 4: Judge Lynde makes a memorandum of this trial, and of the
+particulars of the executions, in his diary under date of July 9,
+1755.--Lynde Diaries (privately printed, 1880), p. 179.--EDS. OF
+PROCEEDINGS.]
+
+[_After reciting the words of the indictment, the record proceeds as
+follows, being, as far as where the record of the trial and sentence
+begins, an extension of a memorandum on the indictment._]
+
+Upon this Indictment the said Phillis was arraigned and upon her
+arraignment pleaded not guilty and for trial put herself upon God and
+the Country and the said Mark was also arraigned upon this Indictment
+and upon his arraignment pleaded not Guilty and for trial put himself
+upon God and the Country, a Jury was thereupon Sworne to try the issue
+Mr. John Miller Foreman and fellows who having fully heared the
+Evidence went out to consider thereof and returned with their verdicts
+and upon their oath's say'd that the said Phillis is Guilty, and that
+the said Mark is Guilty, upon which the prisoners were remanded, and
+being again brot and set to the Bar, the Kings Attorney moved the
+Court that Judgment of Death might be given against them, whereupon
+they were asked by the chief Justice if they had ought to say why
+Judgment of Death should not be given against them, and having nothing
+material to offer Judgment of Death was pronounced against them by the
+chief Justice in the name of the Court in form following that is to
+Say that the said Phillis go from hence to the place where she came
+from, and from thence to the place of Execution & there be burnt to
+Death, and that the said Mark go from hence to the place where he came
+from, and from thence be drawn to the place of Execution and there be
+hanged by the neck until he be dead and God Almighty have mercy upon
+their Souls. Ordered that these Sentences be put into Execution upon
+thursday the eighth[5] day of September next between the hours of one
+and five of the Clock in the Afternoon.
+
+[Footnote 5: An error. It should have been "eighteenth."]
+
+Warrant issued Sep. 6. 1755.
+
+
+[_Writ of execution, or death-warrant._]
+
+PROVINCE OF THE   } _George the second by the Grace of God of
+MASSACHUSETTS BAY }  Great Britain France and Ireland King
+MIDDLESEX ss.     }  Defender of the Faith &Ca_
+
+SEAL.  To Richard Foster Esqr. Sheriff of our County of Middlesex
+       in Said Province
+
+Greeting
+
+Whereas at our Superiour Court of Judicature Court of Assize and
+General Goal Delivery begun and held at Cambridge within and for the
+County of Middlesex on the first Tuesday of August last the Grand
+Jurors for us for the Body of our said County of Middlesex did on
+their Oath Present That Phillis a Negro woman of Charlestown in the
+County of Middlesex Spinster Servant of John Codman late of
+Charlestown aforesaid Gentleman, not having the fear of God before her
+Eyes, but of her malice forethought contriving to deprive the Said
+John Codman her Said master of his life and him feloniously and
+Traiterously to kill and murder, she the said Phillis on the
+thirteenth day of June last at Charlestown aforesaid in the dwelling
+house of the said John there did of her malice forethought willfully
+felloniously and Traiterously put a Deadly Poison called Arsenick into
+a Vial of Water and thereby did then and there Poison the same
+water--and That the said Phillis knowing the water aforesaid to be so
+poisoned did then and there feloniously willfully traiterously and of
+her malice forethought put one spoonfull of the same water so poisoned
+into a pint of the said John's watergruel and thereby poison the same
+watergruel--and that the said Phillis did then and there of her malice
+forethought felloniously willfully & traiterously in manner as
+aforesaid poison the watergruel aforesaid, with a felonious and
+traiterous Intent and design that the said John her said master then
+being should then and there eat the Same Watergruel so poisoned and
+thereby be Poisoned killed and murdered. And that one Elizabeth Codman
+not knowing the watergruel aforesaid to be so poisoned then and there
+Innocently gave the Same Watergruel so poisoned as aforesaid to the
+Said John to eat, and that the Said John then and there being the said
+Phillis's master and being altogether Ignorant of the watergruel
+aforesaid's being poisoned as aforesaid and suspecting no Evil did
+then & there eat the same watergruel so poisoned as aforesaid & that
+the said Phillis then and there was feloniously and traiterously
+present with the said Elizabeth & John knowing of & consenting unto
+the sd. Elizabeth's giving him the said John the watergruel
+aforesd. so poisoned as aforesaid & his eating the same as
+aforesd. And that the said John by means of his eating the
+watergruel aforesaid so poisoned as aforesaid there Languished for the
+space of Fifteen hours & then at Charlestown aforesaid died of the
+Poison aforesd. given him as aforesaid--and so the Jurors aforesaid
+upon their Oath said that the said Phillis did at Charlestown
+aforesaid of her malice forethought in manner and form aforesaid
+willfully feloniously and traiterously poison kill & murder the said
+John Codman her Said master against our Peace Crown & Dignity, and The
+Jurors aforesaid upon their Oath further present That Mark a Negroman
+of Charlestown aforesaid Labourer and Servant of the said John Codman
+before the said Treason and murder aforesaid committed by the said
+Phillis in manner and form aforesaid did at Charlestown aforesaid on
+the twentieth day of June last of his malice forethought (the said
+Mark then being Servant of the said John Codman) felloniously &
+traiterously advise and incite procure & abet the Said Phillis to do &
+commit the said Treason & murder aforesaid against our peace crown &
+Dignity (as in Said Indictmt. is at large Set forth) upon which
+Indictment the said Phillis and Mark were Severally arraigned and upon
+their arraignment Severally pleaded not Guilty and for Tryal put
+themselves on God and the Country, and Whereas the said Phillis & Mark
+at our Court aforesaid were each of them convict of the crime
+respectively alledg'd to be committed by them as aforesaid by the
+Verdict of twelve good & lawful men of our Said County and were by the
+consideration of our Said Court adjudged to Suffer the Pains of Death
+therefor; as to us appears of Record Execution of which said Sentence
+doth still remain to be done we command you therefore that on Thursday
+the Eighteenth day of September instant between the hours of one &
+Five o'Clock in the day time you cause the said Phillis to be drawn
+from our Goal in our County of Middlesex aforesaid (where she now is)
+to the place of Execution and there be burnt to Death & also that on
+the Same day between the hours of one & five of the Clock in the day
+time you cause the Said Mark to be drawn from our Goal in our County
+of Middlesex aforesaid (where he now is) to the place of Execution &
+there be hanged up by the Neck until he be dead, & for so doing this
+shall be your Sufficient Warrant--Hereof fail not; and make Return of
+this writ with your doings therein into the Clerks Office of our Said
+Court as soon as may be after you have Executed the Same Witness
+Stephen Sewall Esqr: at Boston the sixth day of September in the
+Twenty ninth Year of our reign Annoque Domini 1755--
+
+By Order of Court
+
+NATHANIEL HATCH _Cler_
+
+
+MIDDLESEX. ss--September the 18th. 1755.
+
+I Executed this warrant as above directed, by causing Phillis to be
+burnt to Death, and Mark to be hang'd by the neck until he was dead,
+between the hours of one and five a Clock of Said day--
+
+RICHD. FOSTER _Sheriff_
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It is worthy of observation that no such process as a formal warrant
+was required for a capital execution by the laws of England. In the
+King's Bench, the prisoner was committed to the custody of the marshal
+at the beginning of the trial, and an award of judgment upon the
+record was all the authority that that officer had for the execution.
+Formerly, it was customary in courts of oyer and terminer, and of jail
+delivery, to authorize the execution by a precept under the hands and
+seals of three or more commissioners, of whom one, at least, should be
+of the quorum; but this custom had become obsolete at the time of this
+trial, and only a calendar, or abstract of the record, subscribed by
+the judge, was put into the hands of the sheriff for this purpose; and
+such is the practice in England, I presume, to this day.
+
+Even Blackstone, who is so blind to many gross imperfections in the
+jurisprudence of his native country, is forced to remark, in view of
+the looseness of procedure in capital cases,--
+
+     "It may certainly afford matter of speculation that in civil
+     causes there should be such a variety of writs of execution
+     to recover a trifling debt, issued in the king's name, and
+     under the seal of the court, without which the sheriff
+     cannot legally stir one step; and yet that the execution of
+     a man, the most important and terrible task of any, should
+     depend upon a marginal note."[6]
+
+[Footnote 6: Comm. book iv. ch. 32, p. 403.]
+
+The courts and people of New England were always more mindful of the
+sacredness of human life than those of other nations, save, perhaps,
+the little community of the Netherlands. They also attached great
+importance to the formal proceedings by which the ends of justice
+were reached in criminal cases. This is well illustrated by an
+incident that is recorded relative to the action of the judges of the
+Superior Court of the Province when, after the conviction of
+Richardson for the murder of the boy Sneider, in 1770, it became
+evident to them that the cause of justice required that they should
+intercede to prevent his execution. They were long in doubt as to the
+sufficiency of a pardon obtained from the crown through the
+recommendation of the Lieutenant-Governor upon their certificate of
+its propriety, the only evidence of the pardon being its insertion in
+the Newgate Calendar. Hutchinson relates that "they were at length
+satisfied; and the prisoner having been brought into court early in
+the morning, when scarcely anybody but the officers of the court were
+present, pleaded his Majesty's pardon, and was discharged, and
+immediately absconded."[7]
+
+[Footnote 7: Hist. Mass. Bay, vol. iii. p. 287, n.]
+
+But, to proceed with a definition of the crime committed by these
+negroes, and a more particular account of the punishment for petit
+treason:--
+
+By the statute 25 Edw. III., this crime, which had had a wider
+application, was restricted to three classes of cases: 1, where a
+servant killed his master or mistress; 2, where a wife killed her
+husband; 3, where a clergyman killed his prelate, or the superior to
+whom he owed canonical obedience. The sentence in the case of a woman
+was, that she be burned to death, and in the case of a man, that he be
+drawn to the place of execution and there hanged by the neck until he
+be dead.[8] To mitigate the sufferings of felons at the stake, the
+executioner usually fastened one end of a cord to the stake, and
+bringing this cord around the neck of the woman, pulled it tightly the
+moment the torch was applied, and continued the strain until life was
+extinct, which, unless the cord was sooner burnt asunder, generally
+happened before the condemned had suffered much from the intensity of
+the flames.
+
+[Footnote 8: By stat. 22 Hen. VIII. ch. 9, a person of either sex, who
+was convicted of murdering another by poison, was to be boiled to
+death, and the offence was, by the same act, declared high treason;
+but this act was repealed by 1 Edw. VI. ch. 12, after several
+executions under it, including that of Margaret Davy, who poisoned her
+mistress. Though by the common law poisoning was deemed a most
+atrocious circumstance, it did not alter the punishment of the
+principal crime involved. The law considered only the crime, and not
+the manner in which it was committed.]
+
+In cases of high treason, other barbarities were practised upon the
+bodies of the criminals, but these were frequently, and in cases of
+persons of distinction, generally, remitted. Indeed, even the hanging
+was dispensed with in these latter cases; and hence we read of the
+execution of great prisoners of state, male and female, by beheading,
+which, strictly, is a manner of death unknown to the laws of England,
+except as an incident to the principal penalty by hanging or burning.
+After the hanging, the body, according to rule, was to be cut down (if
+possible, while yet alive) to be eviscerated, then beheaded, and the
+trunk and limbs divided into four parts, to be disposed of as the
+sovereign should order. By special writ, under the privy seal, all
+these circumstances, except decapitation, were, as I have already
+said, usually omitted.
+
+All male persons convicted whether of high treason or of petit treason
+were, unless specially exempted in the manner I have stated, _drawn_
+to the place of execution. This was originally an ignominious incident
+of the terrible penalty, and required that the criminal should be
+rudely pulled along over the ground, behind a horse; later, however, a
+hurdle or wicker frame, or a sledge,--that is, as we call it, a
+sled,--was used, either from motives of humanity, or in order to
+prolong the life of the traitor through subsequent stages of the
+punishment. According to Sir Matthew Hale, women were not to be drawn,
+in cases of petit treason, although the practice of later times,
+certainly, was to the contrary.[9] However, after the repeal in 1790,
+of the law for burning women, for which drawing and hanging were then
+substituted, women as well as men were sentenced to be drawn to the
+place of execution.
+
+[Footnote 9: The law was uncertain; but Hale appears to be the safest
+authority. Wood, in his Institutes,--at the time of this trial the
+most recent and popular treatise upon the laws of England,--states
+that women were to be drawn, in petit treason; as, indeed, do most, if
+not all, succeeding writers. They follow Coke, 3 Inst. 211; but
+neither the statutes referred to, nor the case cited from 12 Ass. 30,
+by the latter, support his statement. The report runs thus: "Alice _de
+W, qui fuit de l'age de xiij ans, fuit arse per judgment, pur ceo que
+el'avoit tue sa Maistres, & pur tant ceo fuit adjudge treason, &c._;"
+and it appears that the case turned upon the question of
+accountability, by reason of the tender age of the culprit. No mention
+of drawing is made in the judgment. Compare H.P.C., i. p. 382, and
+note, with Hawk. P.C., b. 2, ch. 48, Sec. 6, and authorities there
+referred to, and Coke, _ut supra_. Also, see 4 Black. Comm. 204. It
+will have been noticed that though the judgment against Phillis was
+that she _go_ to the place of execution, the warrant required that she
+be drawn thither. The practice of drawing, in such cases, would have
+been challenged, probably, if the cruelties anciently incident thereto
+had not become obsolete.]
+
+Another incident to this punishment, though not peculiar to it, since
+it applied to all atrocious felonies, was the gibbeting, or hanging in
+chains. This was no part of the sentence, but was performed in
+accordance with a special order or direction of the court, given,
+probably, in most cases, verbally to the sheriff. After execution,
+the body of the felon was taken from the gallows and hung upon a
+gibbet conveniently near the place where the fact was committed, there
+to remain, until, from the action of the elements, or the ravages of
+birds of prey, it disappeared. Of the object of this ghastly feature
+of capital punishment it is alleged, "besides the terror of the
+example," "that it is a comfortable sight to the friends and relations
+of the deceased"; but the obviousness of this reason is somewhat
+lessened by the doubt in which we are left as to which deceased
+person, the criminal or his victim, is referred to. In the case of
+Mark it is noticeable that no sentence to the gibbet appears in the
+record, and I have found no order for it, or mention of it, in the
+papers on file.
+
+Phillis and Mark were executed at the usual place of execution in
+Cambridge; and the following account of the affair is taken from the
+Boston "Evening Post," of Sept. 22, 1755:--
+
+     "Thursday last, in the Afternoon, _Mark_, a Negro Man, and
+     _Phillis_, a Negro Woman, both Servants to the late Capt.
+     _John Codman_, of _Charlestown_, were executed at
+     _Cambridge_, for poisoning their said Master, as mentioned
+     in this Paper some Weeks ago. The Fellow was hanged, and the
+     Woman burned at a Stake about Ten Yards distant from the
+     Gallows. They both confessed themselves guilty of the Crime
+     for which they suffered, acknowledged the Justice of their
+     Sentence, and died very penitent. After Execution, the Body
+     of _Mark_ was brought down to _Charlestown_ Common, and
+     hanged in Chains, on a Gibbet erected there for that
+     Purpose."
+
+Frothingham, in his "History of Charlestown,"[10] quotes this item
+from the "Post," and adds, from Dr. Josiah Bartlett's account of
+Charlestown,[11] that "the place where Mark was suspended in irons was
+on the northerly side of Cambridge Road, about one fourth of a mile
+above our peninsula." He also adds, from the same authority, that
+"Phebe, who was the most culpable," became evidence against the
+others, and that she was transported to the West Indies.
+
+[Footnote 10: Page 264.]
+
+[Footnote 11: 2 Mass. Hist. Coll., vol. ii. p. 166, and note.]
+
+It is very likely that Phebe was transported, as described by Dr.
+Bartlett, but there is nothing on record to show that she was used as
+a principal witness. Indeed, the answers of Phillis and Mark on their
+examination are mutually recriminative, and amount to a plenary
+confession of the crime of each. Besides, as neither the governor nor
+the court had any authority to grant a pardon for murder,[12] it is
+not likely that any favor was shown to her in accordance with a
+promise from either, nor is there any evidence that any lenity was
+actually extended to her, except the negative circumstance that she
+was not included in the indictment.
+
+[Footnote 12: See Hutchinson's Hist. Mass. Bay, vol. iii. p. 287, n.
+Instances of pardons and reprieves occur in our judicial history, but
+they were invariably granted in the name of the king, by the
+commander-in-chief; and, if for a graver offence than manslaughter, it
+seems to have been understood that a pardon was not to be granted
+without previous express direction from the king. This was in
+compliance with a clause in the royal instructions, issued to all the
+governors, by which they were enjoined not to remit any fines or
+forfeitures above L10 in amount, or to dispose of escheats, without
+the royal sanction; forfeiture of lands and chattels being a
+consequence of attainder upon conviction of the higher class of
+felonies. The commission to Andros expressly excepted treason and
+murder from the offences which he was authorized to pardon.]
+
+This completes the narrative of this remarkable case. The body of Mark
+is said by Dr. Bartlett to have remained on the gibbet "until a short
+time before the Revolution." Certain it is that when Dr. Caleb Rea
+passed through Charlestown on the first day of June, 1758, on his way
+from Danvers to join the regiment, of which he had been chosen
+surgeon, in the expedition against Ticonderoga, he found the body
+hanging, and, having examined it, recorded in his journal that "his
+[Mark's] skin was but very little broken, although he had hung there
+near three or four years."[13]
+
+[Footnote 13: Hist. Coll. Essex Inst., vol. xviii. p. 88, n.]
+
+Finally, another patriot,--Paul Revere,--in describing his famous ride
+on the 18th of April, 1775, on a still more important errand, says,
+"After I had passed Charlestown Neck, and got nearly opposite where
+_Mark was hung in chains_, I saw two men on horseback under a
+tree,"[14] &c.; thus alluding to the site of the gibbet as a place
+well known at that time,--as undoubtedly it was, to all the country
+round.
+
+[Footnote 14: Letter of Colonel Revere to Cor. Sec. of Mass. Hist.
+Soc., Jan. 1, 1798: 1 Mass. Hist. Coll., vol. v. p. 107.]
+
+I have said that this is the only case of petit treason to be found in
+our records. There was, indeed, an earlier case in which the penalty
+of death by burning was inflicted; but in regard to that case there is
+no suggestion anywhere to my knowledge that the crime of petit treason
+had been committed, nor any allegation to that effect in the charge or
+indictment, nor even a hint that any life was lost by the misconduct
+of the condemned.[15] This was the case of Maria, a negress, who was
+executed at Roxbury in 1681. Perhaps it will be well to give the story
+of this case as it appears on the records of the Court of
+Assistants.[16]
+
+[Footnote 15: Although the record contains no allegation of loss of
+life, Increase Mather states in his diary, under date of Sept. 22,
+1681, that a child was burnt to death in one of the houses set on fire
+by this negress. Even if this were true, it is not probable that the
+relation of master and servant subsisted between the deceased and
+Maria, and neither this relation, nor the fact of treason, is averred
+in the indictment. See Mass. Hist. Soc. Proc., vol. iii. p. 320.]
+
+[Footnote 16: Boston, Sept. 6, 1681.]
+
+     "Marja[17] Negro Servant to Joshua Lambe of Roxbury in the
+     County of Suffolk in New England being presented by the
+     Grand Jury was Indicted by the name of Marja Negro for
+     not hauing the feare of God before hir eyes & being
+     Instigated by the divil at or upon the eleventh Day of July
+     last in the night did wittingly willingly & felloniously set
+     on fier the dwelling house of Thomas Swann of sd Roxbury by
+     taking a coale from vnder a still & carrjed it into another
+     Roome and layd it on floore neere the doore & presently went
+     & crept into a hole at a back doore of thy master Lambs
+     house & set it on fier also taking a liue coale betweene two
+     chips & carried it into the chimber by which also it was
+     Consumed as by yr Confession will appeare Contrary to the
+     peace of our Soueraigne Lord the king his croune & dignity
+     the lawes of this Jurisdiction in that Case made & prouided
+     title firing of houses--The prisoner at the barr pleaded &
+     acknowledged hirselfe to be Guilty of ye fact. And
+     accordingly the next day being Again brought to the Barr
+     had sentenc of death pronnonc't agt hir by the
+     Honnoble Gounor. that she should Goe from the barr to
+     the prison whenc she came & thence to the place of execution
+     & there be burnt.--Ye lord be mercifull to thy Soule
+     sd ye Gov."
+
+[Footnote 17: I have followed Secretary Rawson in his peculiar use of
+the letter j. See many similar instances in the Mass. Colony Records.]
+
+The case was capital under the act referred to in the record. The act
+reads as follows:--
+
+     [Sidenote: Burning Houses.]
+
+     [Sidenote: Capital.]
+
+     And if any person of the age aforesaid, [16 years and
+     upwards] shall after the publication hereof, wittingly and
+     willingly, and felloniously, set on fire any _Dwelling
+     House_, _Meeting House_, _Store House_, or shall in like
+     manner, set on fire any _out-House_, _Barn_, _Stable_,
+     _Leanto_, _Stack of Hay_, _Corn or Wood_, or any thing of
+     like nature, whereby any _Dwelling House_, _Meeting House or
+     Store House_ cometh to be burnt, the party or parties
+     vehemently suspected thereof, shall be apprehended by
+     Warrant from one or more of the Magistrates, and committed
+     to Prison, there to remain without Baile, till the next
+     Court of Assistants, who upon legal conviction by due proof,
+     or confession of the Crime, shall adjudge such person or
+     persons to be put to death, and to forfeit so much of his
+     Lands, Goods or Chattels, as shall make full satisfaction,
+     to the party or parties damnified. [1652.][18]
+
+[Footnote 18: Mass. Colony Laws, ed. 1672, p. 52.]
+
+It will be observed that the law prescribes no such punishment as was
+ordered by the Assistants, and how the court were satisfied of the
+legality of their sentence is to me inexplicable, except upon the
+possible claim that they might rightfully exercise the expansive
+discretion which they applied to the case of the first Quakers, and so
+supply a deficiency in the ordinances of the General Court, by
+administering the _lex talionis_[19] in this particular instance as a
+necessary terror to evil-doers.
+
+[Footnote 19: Exodus xxi. 25. "In all criminall offences, where the
+law hath prescribed no certaine penaltie, the judges have power to
+inflict penalties, according to the rule of God's word."--Declaration
+of the General Court: Hutch. Coll. Papers, p. 207. And see the first
+article of the Colonial "Liberties," in Mass. Hist. Coll., vol. viii.
+p. 216.]
+
+The public opinion which permitted the colonial magistrates to
+exercise, unchallenged, a discretion not given to them by positive
+law, as in this case and that of the first Quakers, and in the
+instance of their conviction of a capital crime, of Tom, the Indian,
+in 1674,[20] of whose guilt the jury were doubtful, cannot be deemed
+to have enlarged their authority, by _custom_, without a perversion of
+language and a disregard of fundamental distinctions relative to the
+nature and source of law.[21]
+
+[Footnote 20: Records of the Court of Assistants, 1674, p. 14.]
+
+[Footnote 21: By the stat. 8 Hen. VI. ch. 6, the burning of houses,
+after a threat to do so if money be not paid, &c., was made high
+treason, and the incendiary suffered as any other traitor; that is, if
+a woman, she was burned to death. But this statute was repealed in the
+reign of Edward VI., as regards the treason, and the offence remained
+felony as at the common law, and punishable by hanging only.
+
+That mistaken notions as to the nature of penalties to be inflicted in
+criminal cases, and as to the authority of the bench to impose unusual
+punishments, were not solely entertained in this distant colony, and
+among men not bred to the law, may be shown by many instances in the
+English law-books. One of the most notable is Sir Edw. Coke's
+reference to the case of Peter Burchet, a prisoner in the Tower,--who
+slew his keeper with a billet of wood, which drew blood,--as an
+authority for inflicting the additional punishment of cutting off the
+hand (under the stat. 33 Hen. VIII.) in the case of murder perpetrated
+in the king's palace, when attended with bloodshed. In Elderton's
+case, Chief Justice Holt, whose habits of thorough research were not
+less remarkable than his absolute fairness and honesty, said, "I have
+searched for the case cited [as Jones's case] about killing a man in
+the Tower. It is Burdelt and Muskett's case. Being dissatisfied with
+my Lord Coke's report of it, therefore I sent for the record, ... and
+there is judgment of death given, but no judgment that his right hand
+should be cut off. It is indeed so related in Stowe's Chronicle, and
+in fact his hand was cut off, but there was no judgment for it."
+Compare 3 Inst., ch. 65 (p. 140 [Symbol: dagger]) with 2 Ld. Raym.,
+978, 982.]
+
+Two other negroes who were suspected of complicity with Maria were
+ordered to be transported. The record is as follows:--
+
+     [Sidenote: "Chessaleer negros Sentence"]
+
+     Chessaleer negro servant to Tho. Walker brickmaker now in
+     Goale on suspition of Joyning wth Marja Negro in Burning
+     of Dr Swans' & ---- Lambs houses in Roxbury in July last
+     The Court on Consideration of the Case Judged it meet to
+     order that he be kept in prison till his master send him
+     out of the country & then dischardg ye charges of
+     Imprisonment wch if he refuse to doe aboue one moneth the
+     country Tresurer is to see it donne & when ye chardges be
+     defrayd to returne the ouerplus to ye sd Walker
+
+     [Sidenote: James Pembertons negro sentence]
+
+     The like Judgment & sentenc was declard against James
+     Pemberton's negro in all respects as agt Chessaleer
+     negro &c.[22]
+
+[Footnote 22: Record of the Court of Assistants, _ubi supra_, pp. 138,
+139.]
+
+Still another negro was convicted, at the same term of the court, of
+the crime of arson, and ordered to be hanged, and afterwards consumed
+to ashes in the same fire with Maria, as appears by the following
+record:--
+
+     [Sidenote: Jack negro Jndicted & sentenc]
+
+     "Jack negro servant to Mr Samuel Woolcot of
+     Weathersfield thou art Jndicted by the name of Jack Negro
+     for not hauing the feare of God before thy eyes being
+     Instigated by the Divill did at or upon the foureteenth day
+     of July last 1681 wittingly & felloniously sett on fier
+     Leiftenat Wm Clarks house in North Hampton. by taking
+     a brand of fier from the hearth and swinging it vp & doune
+     for to find victualls as by his confession may Appeare
+     Contrary to the peace of our Soueraigne Lord the King his
+     Croune & dignity the lawes of God & of this Jurisdiction in
+     that case made & prouided title firing of houses page (52)
+     to wch Jndictment at the barr he pleaded not Guilty, &
+     Affirmd he would be trjed by God & the Country and after his
+     Confessions &c were read to him & his owni[=g] thereof were
+     Comitted to the Jury who brought him in Guilty and the
+     next day had his sentence pronounct agt him by the
+     Gouernor that he should goe from the barr to the place
+     whence he came & there be hangd by the neck till he be
+     dead & then taken doune & burnt to Ashes in the fier wth
+     Marja Negro--The Lord be mercifull to thy soule sajd the
+     Gouernor"[23]
+
+[Footnote 23: _Ibid._]
+
+There was some excuse for the latter part of this sentence, for since
+the offence was an atrocious felony, such as in England would subject
+the offender to an infamous punishment, it seemed proper to attach
+something more of ignominy to his sentence than the mere execution by
+hanging.
+
+Our forefathers of the colonial period regarded the Mosaic law as of
+too sacred obligation to be impaired in the least degree; much more to
+be expressly contravened by the courts of justice in respect to the
+command,--
+
+     "And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he
+     be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree, his body
+     shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in
+     any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is
+     accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the
+     Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance."[24]
+
+[Footnote 24: Deut. xxi. 22, 23.]
+
+--they, therefore, by an ordinance passed in 1641, had required that
+the body of every executed criminal should be buried within twelve
+hours after death, except in cases of anatomy, which prevented the
+possibility of hanging in chains after the English fashion; and the
+only way in which they could set a mark of infamy upon the deceased
+criminal, without a breach of the colonial ordinance as well as of the
+divine law, was to burn the body.[25]
+
+[Footnote 25: The ordinary punishment for all capital felonies during
+the colonial regime seems to have been simply hanging. Heretics and
+witches were subjected to no severer penalty; and in 1674, Robert
+Driver, who was convicted of murdering his master, Robert Williams of
+Piscataqua, and who thus incurred the penalty for petit treason, was
+sentenced to be "hanged by the neck until he be dead."--See Records of
+the Court of Assistants.]
+
+But this tendency to a strict adherence to the laws of Israel
+disappeared early in the provincial period, under the operation of the
+same causes which led to the abandonment of those rugged metaphrases
+of the Psalms of David, and of the song of Deborah and Barak, &c.,
+contained in the Bay Psalm-Book, for the smoother though less literal
+version of Tate and Brady and the presumptuous "Imitations" of Dr.
+Watts. When, therefore, under the new charter the offence called for
+it according to the custom of England, the gibbet was erected; and
+though the occasions for its employment were very rare, the report of
+sundry instances of its use has come down to us, as in the case of the
+pirates whose bodies hung in chains, from time to time, on the now
+vanished Bird Island in Boston Harbor, a locality as near the place
+where the fact was committed as could conveniently be used. I confess
+I find it impossible to understand whence the provincial judges
+claimed to derive their authority for ordering the bodies of criminals
+to be hung in chains. We have seen that, even if our fathers brought
+with them the right to exercise this authority, they soon enacted
+provisions entirely inconsistent with the practice; and I am not aware
+of any subsequent act of parliament, extending to the Colonies, that
+restored the authority; and certainly there was no law of the Province
+to that effect.
+
+I ought not to dismiss this subject without adding something to the
+brief allusion already made to the comparative mildness of the laws of
+Massachusetts in respect to capital punishment. The execution of Mark
+and Phillis took place just about the time that Blackstone was
+delivering his lectures at Oxford, which have since given him an
+enduring and world-wide fame as a commentator on the laws of England.
+This elegant defender and apologist for English laws and customs, in
+his commentaries, admits, seemingly with reluctance and regret, that
+there then existed on the statute-books of England no less than one
+hundred and sixty capital offences. At that time the number of capital
+offences in Massachusetts was less than one-tenth this number, if we
+exclude those made so by the acts relating to military offenders in
+actual service, and felonies on the high seas, and a few others,
+which, like the latter, were created by including among capital crimes
+certain offences which, though theretofore exempt from the death
+penalty by special circumstances and technical rules, had always been
+capitally punished when committed under other and not less justifiable
+circumstances.
+
+Said Isaac Backus, whom I find to be a very trustworthy authority, in
+a letter to this Society, under date of Feb. 20, 1794, "There has not
+been any person hanged in Plymouth County for above these sixty years
+past."[26] More than a century earlier, John Dunton mentions a sermon
+of Mather's, preached at the execution of "Morgan, the only person
+executed in that country [Massachusetts] for near seven years."[27] He
+must, however, I think, have forgotten the case of Maria, the negro
+woman.
+
+[Footnote 26: 1 Mass. Hist. Coll., vol. iii. p. 152.]
+
+[Footnote 27: _Ibid._, 2d series, vol. ii. p. 102.]
+
+Again, when the English riot act (1 Geo. I. stat. 2, ch. 5) was
+substantially adopted by the Province in 1751, the legislature
+studiously avoided the harshness of the former act by substituting
+forfeiture of lands and chattels, and whipping and imprisonment, for
+the death penalty.[28]
+
+[Footnote 28: Compare provincial statute 1750-51, ch. 17 (Prov. Laws,
+vol. iii. p. 540), with the act of parliament referred to.]
+
+In 1761 Governor Bernard vainly labored with his utmost zeal to secure
+the passage of an act or acts making it felony, without benefit of
+clergy, to forge public and private securities or vouchers for money,
+or to coin or counterfeit the current money of the Province. He sent a
+special message upon the subject to the Assembly, in which he
+stated:--
+
+     "In regard to the popular prejudices against capital
+     punishments which have hitherto prevailed in this country, I
+     shall only say that at present they are very ill-timed.
+     Whilst the people of this country lived from hand to mouth,
+     and had very little wealth but what was confined among
+     themselves, a simple system of laws might be proper, and
+     capital punishments might in a great measure be avoided; but
+     when by the acquisition, diffusion, and general intercourse
+     of wealth, the temptations to fraud are abundantly
+     increased, the terrors of it must be also proportionably
+     enlarged; otherwise if, through a false tenderness for
+     wicked men, the laws should not be sufficient to protect the
+     property of the honest and industrious, the rights of the
+     latter are given up to the former, and the undue mercy shown
+     to the one becomes a real injury to the other. To instance
+     this, I need only say that I have no doubt but that if these
+     crimes had been capital some years ago, and usually punished
+     as such, they would not have been committed at all at the
+     present time."
+
+The Governor's opinion, however, was not borne out by the experience
+of the British government in its dealings with crime. There, it was
+made a capital felony to steal in a dwelling-house to the amount of
+40_s._, or, privately, in a shop, goods to the value of 5_s._, or to
+counterfeit stamps that were used for the sale of perfumery, or such
+as were used for the certificates of hair-powder; and yet,
+notwithstanding this severity, all who considered the subject
+thoughtfully found that the increase of capital crimes more than kept
+pace with the increase of laws creating them; and this became so
+alarmingly evident that at length the conservative opposition to
+reform was overborne, and Sir Samuel Romilly and his coadjutors began
+those changes which have continued in the same direction to the
+present day. Before the reform was established, however, executions
+became so frequent that it was not uncommon for citizens to avoid
+certain parts of London and its environs on account of the intolerable
+odor, there, of decaying human bodies, hung in chains by the highways
+and before the doors of citizens.
+
+Still the judges rode their circuits, leaving briefly minuted
+"calendars" in the hands of the executioners, who erected close behind
+them the gallows and the gibbet as monuments of their dispensation of
+"justice." Barristers bandied repartees and cracked jokes over good
+dinners, and serjeants hobnobbed with their brethren of the bench and
+of the coif, apparently unconcerned at the responsible part they were
+enacting in this awful drama; while the poor rabble put on their best
+attire on the days of execution, and liberally patronized the venders
+of cakes and ale who, near the gallows, erected booths as on other
+gala days,--many of the spectators, no doubt, thinking that it would
+not be so bad a thing, after all, if it came their turn next to better
+their desperate condition by swinging on the newly contrived gallows,
+on which ten criminals could be hanged together.[29]
+
+[Footnote 29: See a picture of the new gallows, in the illustrated
+"Newgate Calendar."]
+
+Alas! well may we ask with astonishment if it is possible that such a
+state of society really existed in the England of Hannah More, of Sir
+William Jones and Edmund Burke,--the land throughout which the Wesleys
+were preaching and singing to eager multitudes of the free grace and
+abounding mercy of God; where the pious Cowper was pleading for the
+relief of "insolvent innocence," and Clarkson and Wilberforce and
+Granville Sharp were rousing the public mind to the evils of slavery
+in distant colonies!
+
+The case of petit treason which we have been considering occurred nine
+years before Beccaria startled all Europe with "the code of
+humanity,"--his treatise on crimes and punishments; yet had he known
+of our experience in this Province, he could have pointed to
+Massachusetts as the strongest practical illustration of the truth of
+his theory, that it is not necessary to multiply extreme penalties in
+order to prevent crime, but that we are to look for the amelioration
+of manners and the diminution of public and private wrongs to the
+mental and moral education of the people rather than to the terrors of
+the law.
+
+In 1777, when the Revolutionary War was beginning to assume its
+gravest aspect, and when the hopes of traitors were reviving, the
+barbarous incidents of the punishment for treason were abolished by
+the legislature of Massachusetts, and this crime was made punishable
+simply by hanging. Eight years later the distinction between petit
+treason and murder was abolished,--an improvement of the criminal code
+in which we were followed by Great Britain five years later still.[30]
+
+[Footnote 30: The Massachusetts act is as follows:--
+
+"Whereas it does not appear reasonable any longer to continue the
+distinction between the crimes of murder and petit treason:
+
+"Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives, in General
+Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, That from and after
+the passing of this act, in all cases wherein heretofore any person or
+persons would have been deemed or taken to have committed the crime of
+petit treason, such person or persons shall be deemed and taken to
+have committed the crime of murder only, and indicted and prosecuted
+to final judgment accordingly; and the same punishment only shall be
+inflicted as in the case of murder.--[This act passed _March 16,
+1785_.]"]
+
+So that it was possible that our good city of Boston might have been
+disgraced by one of these horrible executions as late as 1785, and
+that a delicate woman could, with all the solemnity of legal forms,
+have been publicly burned to death at Tyburn as late as 1790!
+
+In point of fact such executions occurred in England long after the
+burning of Phillis. A memorable case is that of Anne Beddingfield, who
+was burned for petit treason at Rushmore, near Ipswich, in 1763.
+
+In 1813 the last of the minor infamous punishments, such as whipping,
+branding, the stocks, the pillory, cutting off ears, slitting noses,
+boring tongues, &c., were abolished in this Commonwealth.
+
+As for hanging in chains, I cannot find when the custom was
+discontinued in Massachusetts. I do not remember to have read of an
+instance of this kind since the adoption of the Constitution, though I
+have made no special search for such an instance. Some of my hearers
+may be able to refer me definitely to the time and reason of the
+change.
+
+In England, by the stat. 25 Geo. II., ch. 35 (1752), which was three
+years before the execution at Cambridge, provision was made that
+hanging in chains should be included in the sentence to be pronounced
+by the court against all persons convicted of murder, and that the
+sentence should be executed on the next day but one after it was
+pronounced. This was changed by the stat. 9 Geo. IV., ch. 31, so as to
+give the court a discretion to order hanging in chains or dissection;
+and the next year this act was extended to Ireland. By the stat. 2 & 3
+Wm. IV., ch. 75, the court was authorized to order the body to be hung
+in chains or buried; and, finally, by the stat. 4 & 5 of Wm. IV., ch.
+26 (July 25, 1834), all laws requiring bodies to be hung in chains
+were repealed.
+
+No such sudden punishment as that prescribed by the act of parliament
+of the 25 Geo. II., could be legally inflicted here,--at least during
+the colonial period; for the colonial ordinance of 1641 required that
+four days at least should intervene between judgment and execution.
+
+The only barbarous treatment of the bodies of criminals authorized by
+law in Massachusetts since the adoption of the Constitution, that I am
+aware of, was prescribed by the act of 1784, to discourage the
+practice of duelling, which revived some of the provisions of a law of
+the Province, passed in 1728, denying duellists the right to be buried
+in a coffin, and requiring the coroner or executioner to see that
+their bodies be interred near the place of execution, or in the public
+highway, with a stake driven through them.[31]
+
+[Footnote 31: Compare act of June 30, 1784, with Prov. Stat. 1728-29,
+ch. 15: Prov. Laws, vol. ii. p. 516.]
+
+Now, happily, capital punishment is restricted in this Commonwealth
+and in England to two offences only; and while, here, even high
+treason is punishable simply by imprisonment, in England, strong
+efforts have been repeatedly made, and recently with a fair prospect
+of ultimate success, to induce parliament to imitate our example and
+take away the death penalty from this the highest crime known to the
+common law.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Trial and Execution, for Petit
+Treason, of Mark and Phillis, Slaves of Capt. John Codman, by Abner Cheney Goodell, Jr.
+
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