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diff --git a/37650.txt b/37650.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0a4e15f --- /dev/null +++ b/37650.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2259 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of An Enquiry into the Causes of the Frequent +Executions at Tyburn (1725), by Bernard Mandeville and Malvin R. Zirker + +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: An Enquiry into the Causes of the Frequent Executions at Tyburn (1725) + +Author: Bernard Mandeville + Malvin R. Zirker + +Release Date: October 6, 2011 [EBook #37650] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CAUSES OF EXECUTIONS AT TYBURN (1725) *** + + + + +Produced by Chris Curnow, Joseph Cooper and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + +THE AUGUSTAN REPRINT SOCIETY + +BERNARD MANDEVILLE, + +_AN ENQUIRY_ + +INTO THE CAUSES + +OF THE + +FREQUENT EXECUTIONS + +AT + +_TYBURN_. + +(1725) + +_INTRODUCTION_ + +BY MALVIN R. ZIRKER, JR. + +[Illustration] + +PUBLICATION NUMBER 105 + +WILLIAM ANDREWS CLARK MEMORIAL LIBRARY + +UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES + +1964 + + + + +GENERAL EDITORS + +Richard C. Boys, _University of Michigan_ +Earl R. Miner, _University of California, Los Angeles_ +Maximillian E. Novak, _University of California, Los Angeles_ +Lawrence Clark Powell, _Wm. Andrews Clark Memorial Library_ + + +ADVISORY EDITORS + +John Butt, _University of Edinburgh_ +James L. Clifford, _Columbia University_ +Ralph Cohen, _University of California, Los Angeles_ +Vinton A. Dearing, _University of California, Los Angeles_ +Arthur Friedman, _University of Chicago_ +Louis A. Landa, _Princeton University_ +Samuel H. Monk, _University of Minnesota_ +Everett T. Moore, _University of California, Los Angeles_ +James Sutherland, _University College, London_ +H. T. Swedenberg, Jr., _University of California, Los Angeles_ + + +CORRESPONDING SECRETARY + +Edna C. Davis, _Clark Memorial Library_ + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +The _Enquiry into the Causes of the Frequent Executions at Tyburn_ was +originally published as a series of letters to the _British Journal_. +The first letter appeared on February 27, 1725;[1] just twelve days +before, Jonathan Wild, self-proclaimed "Thief-Catcher General of _Great +Britain_ and _Ireland_," had been arrested and imprisoned in Newgate. +Thus the _Enquiry_ had a special timeliness and forms a part of the +contemporary interest in the increasingly notorious activities of Wild. +Wild's systematic exploitation of the London underworld and his callous +betrayal of his colleagues in criminality (he received L40 from the +government for each capital conviction he could claim) had created +public protest since at least 1718 when an act (which Mandeville cites +in his Preface) directed against receivers of stolen goods was passed, +most probably with the primary intention of curtailing Wild's +operations. Wild's notoriety was at its peak in 1724-5 after his +successful apprehension of Joseph Blake ("Blueskin") and Jack Sheppard, +the latter figure becoming a kind of national hero after his five +escapes from prison (he was recaptured by Wild each time).[2] + +The timeliness of Mandeville's pamphlet extends, of course, beyond its +interest in Jonathan Wild, who after all receives comparatively little +of Mandeville's attention. The spectacle of Tyburn itself and the civil +and moral failures it represented was one which Londoners could scarcely +ignore and which for some provided a morbid fascination. Mandeville's +vivid description of the condemned criminal in Newgate, his journey to +Tyburn, and his "turning off," must have been strikingly forceful to his +contemporaries, who knew all too well the accuracy of his description. + +"Tyburn Fair" was a holiday. Apprentices deserted their posts, +pickpockets, dram-dealers and other free-lance caterers, prostitutes, +grub-street elegiasts armed with dying speeches or commemorative verses, +went to theirs, to swell the enormous and unruly holiday mob, a mob +given a certain tone by the presence of the respectable or aristocratic +curious (Boswell says "I must confess that I myself am never absent from +a public execution") who came in their coaches or even rode along with +the condemned in his cart. The mob at Tyburn reached enormous +proportions. Thirty thousand people witnessed an execution in 1776; +eighty thousand an execution in Moorfields in 1767.[3] Richardson, in +_Familiar Letters on Important Occasions_ (Letter CLX) refers to the +"pressure of the mob, which is prodigious, nay, almost incredible." + +When such popular madness was climaxed by the generally unrepentant +criminal's drunken bravado (Richardson's criminals "grew most shamefully +daring and wanton.... They swore, laugh'd and talked obscenely"[4]), and +by their glorification by the mob (according to Fielding the criminal at +Tyburn was "triumphant," and enjoyed the "compassion of the meek and +tender-hearted, and ... the applause, admiration, and envy, of all the +bold and hardened"[5]), serious-minded men rightly wondered what valid +end the execution of the law served. And of course it was not merely +that the criminal died unrepentant or that the spectators remained +unedified and undeterred. The scene at Tyburn also reflected society's +failure to utilize a significant portion of its "most useful members," a +failure disturbing to the dominant mercantile attitude of the time which +valued "the bodies of men" as potential sources of wealth (Mandeville's +concern with the usefulness of the lower class is obvious throughout the +first part of the _Fable of the Bees_ and in the _Essay on Charity, and +Charity-schools_). + +Mandeville's subject, then, was one familiar to his readers and one +whose importance they recognized. His attitude toward his subject was +for the most part a thoroughly conventional one. For instance, his +primary assumption that the penal code must be harsh since its function +is to deter, not to reclaim, pervades eighteenth-century thought on the +subject and is clearly reflected in the number of offences carrying the +death penalty (160 when Blackstone wrote; 220 in the early nineteenth +century). Its logical culmination may be found in arguments such as +George Ollyffe presented in 1731. Ollyffe, noting that the frequency of +the death penalty was not deterring criminals, suggests that more +horrible forms of punishment be devised, such as breaking on the wheel, +"by which the Criminals run through ten thousand thousand of the most +exquisite Agonies ... during the unconceivable Torture of their +bruised, broken, and disjointed Limbs," or "twisting a little Cord hard +about their Arms or Legs," which would produce the "keenest Anguish."[6] +Ollyffe's public-spirited ingenuity should be a warning to modern +readers who assume that Mandeville's attitude is unusually harsh and +unfeeling. + +Most of Mandeville's specific proposals too may be paralleled in the +many pamphlets of the time concerned with the criminal and the lower +class. To point out some of the similarities between Mandeville's and +Fielding's proposals (which he states most fully in _An Enquiry into the +late Increase of Robbers_, 1751) is not to posit direct influence but to +suggest the uniformity of opinion on these matters during many years. +Both Mandeville and Fielding argue for closer control over receivers of +stolen goods, against advertising in the paper to recover stolen goods, +against the false compassion of the tender-hearted who fail to prosecute +or of juries which fail to convict the guilty, against the +indiscriminate imprisonment of young with old, hardened criminals with +first offenders, men with women, and against frequent pardons. They +agree in demanding that the condemned should meet his death, soberly, +shortly after his conviction.[7] + +Mandeville's suggestion that the bodies of the executed be turned over +to surgeons for dissection is not to be found in Fielding's pamphlet. It +does, however, become a part of the "Act for preventing the horrid Crime +of Murder" (25 Geo. II. c. 37), an act for which Fielding is often given +credit.[8] This suggestion, and that in Chapter VI to trade felons into +slavery (which as far as I know is Mandeville's own), clearly stem from +the impulse to increase the deterrent power of the law by making it more +terrible. + +What distinguishes Mandeville's pamphlet (in addition to the +characteristically hard-headed bluntness of its author) is a quality +present in one degree or another in all his work: an exuberant delight +in creating scene. Throughout the _Fable of the Bees_, for example, but +especially in the first part, the argument is punctuated by vivid scenes +in which an idea is acted out or illustrated. Invariably these scenes +have a merit and interest beyond that owing to their function in the +argument. They are lively, vivid, picturesque, humorous or touching in +their own right. The reader can scarcely doubt that Mandeville enjoyed +composing them--he admits as much in the Preface to the _Enquiry_ when +he acknowledges, in defending the "lowness" of his subject, the +"Pleasure there is in imitating Nature in what Shape soever." + +The gusto and vitality of the description of the events at Tyburn well +illustrate Mandeville's art. He puts us on the scene, lets us see and +hear the various actors, gives us telling detail: a bully rolling in the +mire; a putrified wig; a drunken old woman on a bulk; refuse flying +through the air; trollops in rags; a gin seller "squeez'd up in a +corner"; carcasses of dogs and cats. The scene is filled with objects +and has movement as well: the mob is a torrent which "bursts through the +gate," a "floating multitude." There is "jostling," "kicking dirt," +"rolling"; peddlers "stir about," and one who has "ventured in the +Middle of the Current" is "fluctuating in the irregular Stream." The air +is filled with "oaths and vile expressions," and "loud laughter"; a +peddler "tears his Throat with crying his commodity." Mandeville orders +his scene spatially and chronologically, and he enforces its vividness +by relating the action in the present tense. Its basic unity, however, +is owing to the evaluation and control provided by the various tones of +the narrator's voice, which is alternately scornful and disgusted +("abandoned Rakehells") and almost playfully ironic ("he is the +prettiest Fellow among them who is the least shock'd at Nastiness"; +"their darling Cordial, the grand Preservative of Sloth, Jeneva"). + +For one reader at least Mandeville is eminently successful in capturing +what must have been the appalling uproar and the dismaying quality of +the events at Tyburn. His vivid, circumstantial realism sets the +_Enquiry_ apart, as far as I know, from all other pamphlets dealing with +this sorry subject. If his views for the most part are conventional, his +style and technique are not, and in this respect the _Enquiry_ is best +compared not with other pamphlets but with Hogarth's portrayal of the +demise of the idle apprentice (Plate XI of the _Industrious and Idle +Apprentice_, 1747), in which Hogarth represents visually many of the +same details which Mandeville reports and in which he conveys a +comparable sense of the violent and brutal activity of the Tyburn mob. + + + + +FOOTNOTES TO THE INTRODUCTION + + +[Footnote 1: See "A Note on the Text" below.] + +[Footnote 2: A useful account of Wild's career and fame appears in +William R. Irwin's _The Making of Jonathan Wild_ (New York, 1941), pp. +3-32.] + +[Footnote 3: The figures are taken from Leon Radzinowicz' _A History of +English Criminal Law_ (New York, 1948-56), vol. I, p. 175, n. 45.] + +[Footnote 4: Compare the hero of Swift's "_Clever_ Tom Clinch _going to +be hanged_" (1726), "Who hung like a Hero, and never would flinch." He +"Rode stately through _Holbourn_, to die in his Calling," and adjured +his friends to "Take Courage, dear Comrades, and be not afraid, / Nor +slip this Occasion to follow your Trade."] + +[Footnote 5: Henry Fielding, "An Enquiry into the Causes of the late +Increase of Robbers," _Works_, ed. Henley (London, 1903), vol. 13, p. +122. Fielding might have added that the criminal-hero also enjoyed the +amorous admiration of the fair: when clever Tom Clinch rode by "The +Maids to the Doors and the Balconies ran, / And said, lack-a-day! he's a +proper young Man"; according to Mrs. Peachum "The youth in his cart hath +the air of a lord, / And we cry, There dies an Adonis!"] + +[Footnote 6: George Ollyffe, _An Essay Humbly Offer'd, for an Act of +Parliament to prevent Capital Crimes, and the Loss of many Lives; and to +Promote a desirable Improvement and Blessing in the Nation_, second +edition, (London, 1731), p. 8.] + +[Footnote 7: Fielding's and Mandeville's positions may be compared to +that of an anonymous pamphleteer writing in 1701: "I might add, that it +were not amiss, if after Condemnation they were allowed nothing but +Bread and Water; a good way to humble them, and bring them to a sense of +their Condition, as to a future state, and to put a stop to their +murthering their Keepers, and attempting to break Gaol. And it were +well, if a Particular Habit (Black the most proper Colour) were assigned +them, at least at their Executions; and that they might not be suffered +to make their Exits in gay Clothes (as they sometimes do like Men that +Triumph) but rather as becomes Those, who are just going to undergo the +Curse of the Law, and that are intended to be a Warning to Others." R. +J., _Hanging not punishment enough, for Murtherers, High-way Men, and +House-Breakers_, p. 21.] + +[Footnote 8: Both the criminal and the "mob" detested the anatomists. In +the British Journal of March 20, 1725--one of the issues in which +Mandeville's letters appeared--a captured murderer is reported to have +said "d----n my Soul; but I desire I may not be Anatomiz'd." In the same +issue is recorded a mob's assault on a doctor whom they suspected, +rightly it seems, of grave-robbing. He was forced to flee for his life +and his stable was "pulled down."] + + + + +A NOTE ON THE TEXT + + +The letters (which Mandeville tells us were composed before Wild's +capture) appeared in nos. 128-133 of the _British Journal_ (Feb. 27, +Mar. 6, Mar. 13, Mar. 20, Mar. 27, and Apr. 3, 1725). The differences +between the text of the newspapers and that of the pamphlet have some +significance, for what alterations there are suggest that Mandeville was +a fairly careful editor. The Preface to the pamphlet is entirely +new--its addition is one of several changes Mandeville made to put the +articles in pamphlet form. He also, for example, added a Table of +Contents, and gave headings to each chapter and, in one instance, +changed "Papers" to "Chapters." + +Throughout minor changes (not clearly purposeful) in punctuation, +italicization, and capitalization occur, and occasionally a word is +changed ("Holland" becomes "Leyden," p. 27) or a word is inserted ("none +of them should" becomes "none of them likewise should," p. 13), but only +three changes may be called substantial. (1) In the first newspaper +article the following sentence appeared in the text in brackets after +the footnoted sentence on p. 3 of the pamphlet: "Here I beg leave to +observe, that the greatest Part of this Treatise was wrote some Months +before Jonathan Wild was apprehended; and that as nothing was said of +him, but what may be equally applied to any one, who either now follows, +or shall take upon him the same Employment, I keep to the original +Manuscript, imagining the Reader will be better pleased to see the +Author's Sentiments concerning Jonathan, and the Trade he drove before +his Commitment, than any Alterations that might be expected from +what has happen'd since." (2) The phrase on p. 17, "with Applause, +and repeated with Impunity," corrects the newspaper version "with +Impunity, and repeated with Applause." (3) On p. 25, lines 3 through +17 appear only in the pamphlet, the newspaper version reading merely +"... of Course, we seldom meet with any Thing that is edifying, or +moving." + +The pamphlet is reproduced from the copy at the Huntington Library. + + + + +AN +ENQUIRY +INTO THE +CAUSES +OF THE +FREQUENT EXECUTIONS +AT +_TYBURN_: + +AND + +_A_ PROPOSAL _for some_ REGULATIONS _concerning_ +FELONS _in_ PRISON, _and the good +Effects to be Expected from them_. + +To which is Added, + +A Discourse on TRANSPORTATION, and a Method +to render that Punishment more Effectual. + +By _B. MANDEVILLE_, M.D. + +_Oderunt peccare Mali formidine Poenae._ + +_LONDON_, +Printed: And Sold by _F. Roberts_ in _Warwick-Lane_. +MDCCXXV. + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +THE + +PREFACE + + +The Design of this small Treatise, is to lessen if not prevent the +common Practice of Thieving, and save many Lives of the loose and +indigent Vulgar, of which now such great Numbers are yearly lavish'd +away for Trifles. In order to this, I have endeavour'd to set in a true +Light the destructive Consequences of _Theftbote_, and the Damage the +Publick sustains from the Trade that is drove by Thiefcatchers, and the +various ways now in vogue of compounding Felonies, by which the Safety +as well as Maintenance of Thieves and Pilferers are industriously taken +care of, and the Laws that enforce Prosecution altogether eluded. + +To the same Purpose I have pointed at the Licentiousness and other +Disorders of _Newgate_, arising from the wrong Method we have of +treating common Felons in Prison. I have describ'd the Transactions of +Execution Day, with the Procession to _Tyburn_, and demonstrated what +small Advantage they are of, as well to the condemn'd themselves, whose +grand Affair it is to prepare themselves for another World, as to their +Companions who should be deterred, or the rest of the Spectators, who +should be struck with the Awfulness of the Solemnity. I have likewise +searched into the Origin of Courage, and the wrong Judgments that are +differently pass'd on the dying Behaviour of Malefactors, shew'd the ill +Consequences as well as Absurdity of our mistaking Drunkenness for +Intrepidity, and a senseless Deportment for Undauntedness; and touch'd +on the several Neglects and Mismanagements that are accessary, and one +way or other contribute to the Encrease and Support of Felons, and +consequently, the Frequency of Executions. Afterwards I have in a +Chapter by it self offer'd some Proposals for a better Usage, and more +proper Treatment of common Felons in Confinement, and made a Pathetical +Representation of the good Effects we might probably expect from such +wholesome Regulations. To these I have added a Discourse on +Transportation, and a Method of rendering that Punishment not only more +effectual on the Criminals, but likewise advantagious to the Publick in +the most extraordinary manner. + +I am not so vain as to place any Merit in the Performance, or promise my +self the Applause of many: on the contrary, I expect to be censur'd, and +perhaps deservedly, for the uncouth Decorations I have intermix'd with +my Subject. Men of Taste and Politeness will think themselves very +little oblig'd to me for entertaining them with the meanest and most +abject part of low Life, for almost a whole Chapter together; and tell +me that the Inside of _Newgate_, either on an Execution Day, or any +other, is not a Scene they ought to be troubled with; and that the +Exactness of a Picture among the Judicious is of little Worth where the +noble manner is wanting. To this I could answer that, if I have +trespassed against the Laws either of Elegance or Formality, I was +forc'd to it by what is superior to all Laws, Necessity. When a Man is +to inspire his Readers with an Aversion to what they are unacquainted +with, he can never compass his End without furnishing them first with a +general Idea of the Thing against which he wou'd raise their +Indignation: I could add that, when a Piece is lively and tolerably +finish'd, the good-natured Critick will pardon the Meaness of the +Design, for the sake of the Colouring and the Application of the Master. +But if neither of these Excuses are thought sufficient, I must plead +guilty, and confess that the Pleasure there is in imitating Nature in +what Shape soever is so bewitching, that it over-rules the Dictates of +Art, and often forces us to offend against our own Judgment. + +As there are in this City not a few Men of Business and good +Understanding, whose Leisure allows them not to read much beyond the +Publick News, and most of them are concern'd in the Contents of this +Pamphlet, I caused the several Chapters of it to be Printed in as many +Papers of the _British_ Journal; imagining that its having been +dispers'd, and, as it were, advertis'd in that manner, could give no +Offence to the more Curious, who would chuse to have it entire by it +self, and peruse it in a Character less troublesome to the Eyes. + +In the first Chapter I should have taken notice of a Clause in an Act of +Parliament that was made in the Fourth Year of His present Majesty, and +is call'd, _An Act for the further Preventing Robbery, Burglary, and +other Felonies_, &c. The candid Reader I hope will pardon the Neglect, +occasion'd by the small Acquaintance I have with the Law, and give me +leave in this Place to repair that Omission. The Words are these. + + And whereas there are several Persons who have secret Acquaintance + with Felons, and who make it their Business to help Persons to their + stollen Goods, and by that Means gain Money from them, which is + divided between them and the Felons, where-by they greatly encourage + such Offenders: Be it Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That + whenever any Person taketh Money or Reward, directly or indirectly, + under Pretence, or upon account of helping any Person or Persons to + any stollen Goods or Chattels, every such Person so taking Money or + Reward, as aforesaid (unless such Person doth apprehend, or cause to + be apprehended such Felon who stole the same, and cause such Felon + to be brought to his Trial for the same, and give Evidence against + him) shall be guilty of Felony, and suffer the Pains and Penalties + of Felony, according to the felony committed in stealing such Goods, + and in such and the same manner, as if such Offender had himself + stole such Goods and Chattels, in the manner and with such + Circumstances as the same were stollen. + +Since the Printing of these Chapters, in the Paper aforesaid, I have +likewise been inform'd; that, as receiving Money for assisting others in +the Recovery of their stolen Goods, is by this Act made Felony; so by +the known Rules of Law, whoever is aiding and assisting thereto is of +Course guilty as an Accessary, and to incurr the same Punishment as the +Principal: and it cannot be doubted; but that he, who pays Money on such +an Occasion, is accessary to the Receiving of it; which well deserves +the Reflection of those who make no Scruple of redeeming the Goods that +had been stolen from them; as likewise does another Thing, which is, +that if he who takes Money for stolen Goods is a principal Felon, and +that he who pays it is a Felon, as being accessary, then he who by +publick Advertisements with Promises of Secrecy, and that no Questions +shall be asked, invites others to commit Felony, is guilty of a great +Misdemeanour, tho' it produce no Effect; but, if it do, the Person +publishing such Advertisement will be an Accessary likewise. + +[Illustration] + + + + +THE + +CONTENTS. + + +CHAP. I. + + OF THEFTBOTE; _or, the Crime + of Compounding of Felony_. Page 1 + +CHAP. II. + + _Of the ill Consequences of_ THEFTBOTE, + _and the Licentiousness of Felons in_ + Newgate. 9 + +CHAP. III. + + _Of Execution Day, the Journey to_ Tyburn, + and _a Word in behalf of Anatomical + Dissections._ 18 + +CHAP. IV. + + _Of the wrong Judgments that are pass'd + on the dying Behaviour of Malefactors._ 28 + +CHAP. V. + + _Of Regulations concerning_ FELONS _in + Prison, and the good Effects to be expected + from them._ 37 + +CHAP. VI. + + _Of_ TRANSPORTATION: _And a + Method to render that Punishment more + effectual._ 46 + +[Illustration] + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAP. I. + + _Of_ THEFTBOTE; _or, the Crime of Compounding of Felony._ + + +The Multitude of unhappy Wretches, that every Year are put to Death for +Trifles in our great Metropolis, has long been afflicting to Men of Pity +and Humanity; and continues to give great Uneasiness to every Person, +who has a Value for his Kind. Many good Projects have been thought of to +cure this Evil, by sapping the Foundation of it: A Society has been set +up to reform our Manners; and neither Workhouses, nor Discipline on +small Crimes, have been wanting: An Act has been made against prophane +Cursing and Swearing; and many Charity Schools have been erected. But +the Event has not answer'd hitherto the good Design of those Endeavours. +This City abounds as much with loose, lazy, and dishonest Poor; there +is as much Mischief done by ordinary Felons; and Executions for Theft +and Burglary are as frequent, at least, as ever: Nay, it is believed, +that _London_ is more pester'd with low Villany than any other Place +whatever, the Proportion of Bigness between them not left unconsider'd. +As there is no Effect without a Cause, so something must be the Reason +of this Calamity. I have long and carefully examined into this Matter, +and am forced to ascribe the Mischief complained of to two palpable +Evils, distinct from those we have in common with other large overgrown +Cities. One regards Prosecutions; the other the Treatment that is given +to Malefactors after they are taken. I shall begin with the first: I +mean the Neglect of them, occasion'd by our shameful Negotiations with +Thieves, or their Agents, for the Recovery of stolen Goods, by which, in +Reality, we become Aiders and Abetters to them. + +The Law of _England_ is so tender of Mens Lives, that whoever justly +prosecutes, and convicts a Person of a Capital Crime, has nothing to +answer for to his Conscience, but, on the contrary, has done a Service +to his Country, without Offence to God, or the least Breach of Charity +to his Neighbour. But as every Body has not Strength of Mind and +Resolution enough to perform Duties that are repugnant to his Nature, +so, making Allowances for Human Frailties, I could excuse the +Backwardness of a meek home-bred Person, who should complain, That to +appear in open Court, and speak before a Judge, are terrible Things to +him. But I think it unpardonable, that a Man should knowingly act +against the Law, and by so doing powerfully contribute to the Increase, +as well as Safety and Maintenance, of Pilferers and Robbers, from no +other Principle, than a criminal Selfishness, accompany'd with an utter +Disregard to the Publick: Yet nothing is more common among us.[9] As +soon as any Thing is missing, suspected to be stolen, the first Course +we steer is directly to the Office of Mr. _Jonathan Wild_. If what we +want is a Trinket, either enamel'd, or otherwise curiously wrought; if +there is Painting about it; if it be a particular Ring, the Gift of a +Friend; or any Thing which we esteem above the real Value, and offer +more for it than Mr. _Thief_ can make of it, we are look'd upon as good +Chaps, and welcome to redeem it. But if it be plain Gold or Silver, we +shall hardly see it again, unless we pay the Worth of it. Some Years +ago, it is true, a Man might, for half a Piece, have fetch'd back a +Snuff-Box that weigh'd twenty or thirty Shillings: But this was in the +Infancy of the Establishment. Now they are grown wiser, and calculate +exactly what such a Thing will melt down for: To offer less is thought +unreasonable; and unless Mr. _Thief-catcher_ stands your Friend indeed, +if you have it, you will seldom save any Thing but the Fashion. If in +this Place you can hear no Tidings of your Goods, it is counted a Sign, +that they are in the Hands of irregular Practitioners, that steal +without Permission of the Board. In this Case we immediately put in an +Advertisement in some News-Paper or other, with a Promise, that such a +Reward will be given, and no Questions asked. I own, that in the +Printing of these short Epistles there is no manner of Harm, if we +abstract the Act itself from the Concern the Publick has in it. The +Tenor of them is rather benevolent than injurious: And a Panegyrist on +the present Times might justly say of them, That in no Performances the +true Spirit of Christianity was so conspicuous as in these: That they +were not only free from Calumny and ill Language, but likewise so void +of Reproach, that speaking to a Thief, we never call'd him so in those +charitable Addresses: That in them the very Catalogues of Injuries +receiv'd, were penn'd with as little Heat, or Resentment, as ever +Tradesman shew'd in a Bill of Parcels directed to his best Customer: +That here we are so far from hating our Enemy, that we proffer him a +Recompence for his Trouble, if he will condescend to let us have our +own again; and leaving all Revenge to God, to shew that we are willing +to forgive and forget, we consult, in the most effectual Manner, the +Safety of a Person that deserves Hanging for the Wrong he has done us. +Yet, notwithstanding the kind Constructions that may be put on these +Civil Offers, they all tend to the _Compounding of Felony_, and are the +Occasion of a double Mischief: They invite the Indigent and Lazy to pick +Pockets, and render the Negligent more careless than probably they would +be, was this Practice abolish'd. A Pocket-Book, or Memorandum, may be +stole from a Man that is of vast Concern to him, and yet of no Use but +to the Owner: If this be taken by a regular Thief, a listed Pilferer, it +is easily recover'd for a small Reward. I don't suppose any one so +silly, that therefore he would go to Places, and into Companies, on +Purpose to have his Pocket pick'd; but I can't help thinking, that if +those Things were never to be heard of again, and the Loss +irretrievable, many young Rakes, and other loose Reprobates, would be +under greater Apprehensions, and more upon their Guard, at least when +they had such a Charge about them, than the Generality of them now are. +And again, if nothing could be made of Letters, Papers, and Things of +that Nature, such as have no known Worth, and are not readily turned +into Money, the numbers of Whores and Rogues, young and old, that are +employ'd in the Diving Trade, would decrease considerably; many of them, +from a Principle of Prudence, refusing to meddle with any Thing else. +For as on most of the Things now spoke of, no real Value can be set, the +Punishment would be inconsiderable, if any, should the Things be found +upon them, or themselves be taken in the Fact. Most Men will agree to +all this, whilst unconcern'd; but when private Interest is touch'd, it +soon stifles these Considerations. I should be a Fool, says one, when a +Thing of Value is stolen from me, not to get it back, if I can, for a +Trifle. If I lose a Sword, or a Watch, I must have another; and to save +the Fashion in these Things is considerable: It is better to lose the +Half than the Whole. I have nothing to do with the Thief, says another, +if I have my own again, it is all I want: What Good would it do to me to +have a poor Fellow hang'd? A Third, more compassionate, will tell us, +that if he knew the Thief, he would not meddle with him; and that he +would lose ten times the Value of what has been taken from him, rather +than be the Occasion of a Man's Death. To these I reply, that the +Legislators seem to have known how the Generality of Men would argue, +and what Excuses they would make; they had an Eye on the Frailty of our +Nature; consider'd, that all Prosecutions are troublesome, and often +very expensive; that most Men preferred their own Interest, their Ease +and Pleasure, to any Regard of the Publick; and therefore they provided +against our Passions with so much Severity. _Compounding of Felony_ is +not prohibited under a small Penalty, or attoned for by a little Fine; +it is next to Felony; and the most creditable Citizen, that is convicted +of it, ceases to be an honest Man. + +The Offence in our Law is call'd THEFTBOTE; of which my Lord Chief +Justice _Coke_ says, "That it is an Offence beyond Misprision of Felony; +for that is only a bare Concealment of his bare Knowledge: But that it +is THEFTBOTE when the Owner not only knows of the Felony, but takes of +the Thief his Goods again, or Amends for the same to favour or maintain +him, that is, not to prosecute him, to the Intent he may escape. The +Punishment of THEFTBOTE is Ransom and Imprisonment." THEFTBOTE (as +described by Act of Parliament) _est emenda furti capta absque +consideratione curiae domini regis_. Sir _Matthew Hale_, in his _Pleas of +the Crown_, says, "That THEFTBOTE is more than a bare Misprision of +Felony, and is, where the Owner doth not only know the Felony, but takes +his Goods again, or other Amends, not to prosecute." + +This Rigour of the Legislature is a full Demonstration, that they +thought it a Crime of the most pernicious Consequence to the Society; +yet it is become familiar to us; and our Remissness in several Matters, +relating to Felons, is not to be parallell'd in any other civiliz'd +Nation. That Rogues should be industriously dispers'd throughout the +City and Suburbs; that different Hours and Stations should be observ'd +among them, and regular Books kept of stollen Goods; that the +Superintendent in this hopeful Oeconomy should almost every Sessions, +for a Reward, betray, prosecute, and hang one or more of this his +Acquaintance, and at the same Time keep on his Correspondence amongst +the Survivors, whom, one after another, he sends all to their Triangular +Home; that Magistrates should not only know and see this, but likewise +continue to make use of such a Person for an Evidence, and in a manner +own that they are beholden to him in the Administration of Justice; +That, I say, all these Things should be Facts, is something very +extraordinary, in the Principal City, and the Home Management of a +Kingdom, so formidable abroad, and of such Moment in the Balance of +_Europe_, as that of _Great Britain_. + +The Mischief that one Man can do as a Thief, is a very Trifle to what he +may be the Occasion of, as an Agent or Concealer of Felons. The longer +this Practice continues, the more the Number of Rogues must hourly +encrease; and therefore it is high Time that regular Book-keeping of +stolen Goods should cease, and that all Gangs and Knots of Thieves +should be broke and destroy'd as much as is possible, at least, none of +them suffer'd to form themselves into Societies that are under +Discipline, and act by Order of a Superior. It is highly criminal in any +Man, for Lucre, to connive at a Piece of Felony which he could have +hinder'd: But a profess'd Thief-Catcher, above all, ought to be severely +punish'd, if it can be proved that he has suffer'd a known Rogue to go +on in his Villany, tho' but one Day, after it was in his Power to +apprehend and convict him, more especially if it appears that he was a +Sharer in the Profit. + + + + +CHAP. II. + + _Of the ill Consequences of_ THEFTBOTE, _and the Licentiousness of + Felons in Newgate._ + + +Often, when I have spoke against _Theftbote_, after the same manner as +now I have been writing, I have heard Men of Worth and good Sense come +into my Sentiments, who yet, after all, would tell me, That if I had +lost any Thing myself, they believ'd that I would be glad to have it +again with as little Cost and Trouble as I could. This I never denied, +and am still willing to own. We are all partial and unfit Judges in our +own Cause; but the most that can be made of this, is, That in that Case +neither I nor any Body else, that has had any Thing stolen from him, +ought to be consulted about the Matter: We are ill qualified, and +therefore incapable of determining any Thing rightly concerning it. I +have another Reason why this ought to be referred rather to those who +never lost any Thing by Thieves and Pilferers, than others who have been +Sufferers that Way: Rogues, it is true, have a thousand Stratagems, and +a Person may be very careful, and yet have his Pocket pick'd, if ever he +appears in the Street, or a Crowd: Yet, if we divide Mankind into two +Classes, that the one will be more exempt from those Misfortunes than +the other, is undeniable. A Man, who is always upon his Guard in the +Streets, and suspects all Crowds; that is temperate in his Liquor; +avoids, as much as is possible, unseasonable Hours; never gives Ear to +Night-walkers; a Man that abroad is always watchful over himself, and +every Thing about him, and at home takes Care of his Doors and Bolts, +his Shutters, Locks, and Bars; such a one, I say, is in less Danger than +others, who are unthinking, and never mind what Companies they thrust +themselves into; or such as will be drunk, go home late in the dark +unattended, and scruple not to talk and converse with lewd Women, as +they meet them; or that are careless of themselves as well as of the +securing and fastening of their Houses. It is evident then which Class +would yield the most proper Judges; whom if it was left to, I don't +question but the sober, careful, and wiser Part of the Nation would +agree, that the Practice in vogue, and Method made use of to recover +stolen Goods, even tho' there was no express Law against it, is, on many +Accounts, mischievous to the Publick, and visibly destructive to the +Interest of honest Property, and our Security in the Enjoyment of it. + +There is no greater Encouragement for Men to follow any Labour or +Handicraft, than that they are paid as soon as they have done their +Work, without any further Trouble. It is from such a Consideration as +this, that to encrease the publick Security, the Law not only punishes +Stealing, but likewise makes it Felony, knowingly to buy stolen Goods; +and moreover perpetuates honest Property, and renders the Right of it +inalienable from the injured Owner, who seizes his Goods in what Hands +soever he finds them. These two additional Precautions are of admirable +Use in hampering common Villains, and strengthening the Law against +Theft. From the first, a Rogue, after he has made himself liable to be +hang'd, may be still disappointed, and miss his chief Aim; for as Money +is what he wants, if no Body will purchase what he offers, he is never +the nearer. The Second makes that he is never safe, tho' he is rid of +the Goods, and the Money in his Pocket; for tho' they are gone through +half a Dozen Hands, as soon as the Right Owner lays Claim to the Things +stole, every one is oblig'd to discover where he had them; and by this +Means it is seldom difficult to find out the Thief, or the Receiver of +stolen Goods. To leap these two Barriers, and free himself at once of +the Trouble there is in finding a safe Purchaser, and all Apprehensions +of future Danger, a Rogue could not wish or imagine any Thing more +effectual than that he might lodge what he has stole in the Hands of the +Owner himself, and so receive a Reward for his Pains, and, at the same +Time, a Pardon for his Crime, of him, whose Prosecution was the only +Thing he had to fear. It is evident then, that the friendly Commerce, +and amicable Negotiations, now in vogue, between Thieves and those that +are robb'd by them, are the greatest Encouragement of low Villany that +can be invented, and as sure a Way to keep up the Breed of Rogues, and +promote the Interest of them, as either our Fishery or the Coal Trade +are constant Nurseries for Sailors. + +I am not ignorant, that in the present Conjuncture, as Cases might be +stated, it would be very harsh, and seem to be the Height of Injustice, +if we should hinder People from redeeming stolen Goods on all +Emergencies whatever. A Man may be vigilant and careful, and his +Servants the same, and yet, their Eyes being one Moment turn'd from the +Counter, a Shop-Book may be snatched, and carried off, perhaps, a Month +before _Christmas_. This may put a Tradesman of good Business in great +Distress: Must he lose it? I say, Yes, if the Publick is to be preferr'd +to a private Interest. In the mean time, I know very well what every +Body would do in that Case: But that the Whole suffers by the +Redemption, I prove thus: Let us say, that this Year twelve Shop-Books +are stole, that are all recover'd for two or three Guineas apiece got +for them, and no Body punish'd. You may expect that next Year you will +have forty or fifty stole, and in a few Years nothing will be more +common. And again, let us suppose that last Year an hundred Shop-Books +were stole; but, by vertue of some effectual Law for that Purpose, not +one redeemed. The Consequence, in all Probability, would be, that the +next Year you would hardly have ten Shop-Books stole; and if, thro' the +strict Observance of the Law, none of them likewise should be redeem'd, +you would hear no more of that Practice. + +Besides, when a Man steals what is of no Value but to me, and can have +no other View than that I should redeem it, and be his Pay-Master +myself, the Felony becomes, in a manner, a compound Action, in which, as +soon as I comply, I join with the Thief: And if we consider that the +changing of Property from one Man to another, is seldom of any +Consequence to the Publick, and that all the Mischief that can befal it +from Theft, that is, the Loss of Goods that Way sustain'd by private +Persons, consists in this, That those who committed it, gain their +Point, and come off with Impunity, let who will be the Thief, or the +Receiver; if, I say, we consider these two Things, it will appear, that +in the Case I have mentioned, myself, who for my own Ends assisted the +Thief with Money, and secured him from Prosecution, had the greatest +Share in the Transaction, and consequently was, of the two, the most +injurious to the civil Society. Without me the Rogue would not only have +been disappointed, but likewise, whilst he continued in Possession of +the Thing stole, remained in the perpetual Dread of being prosecuted for +what he never had any Benefit from; and it is not probable that a Man +who had been twice so served, would ever make such another Attempt. + +These Things well deserve the Consideration of wise Men, and I desire +the compassionate Part of Mankind to reflect on what daily Experience +teaches us of common Felons, and they will easily find out, that +unseasonable Pity may prove the greatest Cruelty. The oftner a young +Rogue steals with Impunity, the sooner he'll be a thorough-paced +Villain, that will venture on more hazardous Undertakings; and the more +numerous the Examples of such are, the more loose People will enter into +the Fraternity, of which, whether it be great or small, very few ever +arrive to a middle Age. Some are cunning enough never to be taken in a +Fact; but no Subtlety can save them from the Impeachment of others. A +licens'd Practitioner may be skreen'd and protected some Years, if he +sticks to Discipline, and pays the greatest Part of his Earnings for his +Security; but if he rides resty, and squabbles about the Contribution +required of him, he is in a dangerous Way. It is possible that a +dextrous Youth may be esteemed, and be a Favourite to the Superintendent +a great while; but when he grows very notorious, he is hunted like a +Deer, and the Premium on his Head betrays him. He may baffle his +Prosecutor, find a Flaw in an Indictment, elude the Force of an +Evidence, come off once or twice, be reprieved, break Goal, or be +pardoned, the Gallows will be his Portion at last. The Wretch that is +train'd up to stealing, is the Property of the Hangman: He can never +entirely leave off his Trade: Many, after Transportation, have, with +great Hazard of their Lives, found the Way back again to _Newgate_. A +Thief bred must be hang'd if he lives. + +From all which appears, what I undertook to prove, That Remissness as to +Prosecutions, occasion'd by the bare-faced Compositions of Felony, is +one of the grand Causes of that lamentable Complaint, the Frequency of +Executions; and should we compare the Droves that are carried to +_Tyburn_ for Slaughter, with those others that are sent to _Smithfield_ +for the same Purpose, we would find the modern Thief-Catcher subservient +to the Executioner in the same Manner, as the wealthy Grazier is to the +needy Butcher; and that of the Cattle in either Sense, few are kill'd by +the one that were never cherish'd by the other. + +I am now come to the second Cause, which is the Treatment Felons receive +after they are taken, both in _Newgate_ and their Journey from thence to +the Gallows: First, It is wrong to suffer such Numbers of them to be and +converse together; for nothing but the utmost Corruption can be expected +from a Company of forty or fifty People in a Prison, who, every one of +them, singly consider'd, were all the worst of Thousands before they +met. Secondly, It is an Encouragement to Vice, that the most dissolute +of both Sexes, and generally young People too, should live promiscuously +in the same Place, and have Access to one another. For the rest, the +Licentiousness of the Place is abominable, and there are no low Jests +so filthy, no Maxims so destructive to good Manners, or Expressions so +vile and prophane, but what are utter'd there with Applause, and +repeated with Impunity. They eat and drink what they can purchase, every +Body has Admittance to them, and they are debarr'd from nothing but +going out. Their most serious Hours they spend in mock Tryals, and +instructing one another in cross Questions, to confound Witnesses; and +all the Stratagems and Evasions that can be of Service, to elude the +Charge that shall be made against them; or else in reading Lectures on +some Branch or other of their Profession, the various Arts and Methods +of Stealing, or the Glory, as well as Usefulness of invincible Impudence +on all offensive and defensive Emergencies. As villainous Pawn-brokers, +and all Receivers of stolen Goods, have good Reasons to be liberal to +those they have dealt with, when in this Distress, so no Felons are here +in Want, and reduced to the Allowance of the Prison, but Novices and +silly Creatures, that have the least deserved to be punish'd; whereas +the Veteran Rogues, and such as have been great Traders, are well +provided for. This keeps them up in Debauchery; and many, after +Condemnation, persist in their riotous Courses, and pampering their +Bodies, whilst the Care that is taken of their Souls is very mean. For +such is the Noise and Confusion all around them, that even the best +dispos'd have not sufficient Opportunities to prepare themselves for +another World; and the Helps they receive in Spirituals are, all Things +consider'd, no better than the Accounts we have of them after every +Session. + + + + +CHAP. III. + + _Of Execution Day, the Journey to _Tyburn_, and a Word in behalf of + Anatomical Dissections._ + + +When the Day of Execution is come, among extraordinary Sinners, and +Persons condemned for their Crimes, who have but that Morning to live, +one would expect a deep Sense of Sorrow, with all the Signs of a +thorough Contrition, and the utmost Concern; that either Silence, or a +sober Sadness, should prevail; and that all, who had any Business there, +should be grave and serious, and behave themselves, at least, with +common Decency, and a Deportment suitable to the Occasion. But the very +Reverse is true. The horrid Aspects of Turnkeys and Gaolers, in +Discontent and Hurry; the sharp and dreadful Looks of Rogues, that beg +in Irons, but would rob you with greater Satisfaction, if they could; +the Bellowings of half a dozen Names at a time, that are perpetually +made in the Enquiries after one another; the Variety of strong Voices, +that are heard, of howling in one Place, scolding and quarrelling in +another, and loud Laughter in a third; the substantial Breakfasts that +are made in the midst of all this; the Seas of Beer that are swill'd; +the never-ceasing Outcries for more; and the bawling Answers of the +Tapsters as continual; the Quantity and Varieties of more entoxicating +Liquors, that are swallow'd in every Part of _Newgate_; the Impudence, +and unseasonable Jests of those, who administer them; their black Hands, +and Nastiness all over; all these, joined together, are astonishing and +terrible, without mentioning the Oaths and Imprecations, that from every +Corner are echo'd a about, for Trifles; or the little, light, and +general Squallor of the Gaol itself, accompany'd with the melancholy +Noise of Fetters, differently sounding, according to their Weight: But +what is most shocking to a thinking Man, is, the Behaviour of the +Condemn'd, whom (for the greatest Part) you'll find, either drinking +madly, or uttering the vilest Ribaldry, and jeering others, that are +less impenitent; whilst the Ordinary bustles among them, and, shifting +from one to another, distributes Scraps of good Counsel to unattentive +Hearers; and near him, the Hangman, impatient to be gone, swears at +their Delays; and, as fast as he can, does his Part, in preparing them +for their Journey. + +At last, out they set; and with them a Torrent of Mob bursts thorough +the Gate. Amongst the lower Rank, and working People, the idlest, and +such as are most fond of making Holidays, with Prentices and Journeymen +to the meanest Trades, are the most honourable Part of these floating +Multitudes. All the rest are worse. The Days being known before-hand, +they are a Summons to all Thieves and Pickpockets, of both Sexes, to +meet. Great Mobs are a Safeguard to one another, which makes these Days +Jubilees, on which old Offenders, and all who dare not shew their Heads +on any other, venture out of their Holes; and they resemble Free Marts, +where there is an Amnesty for all Outlaws. All the Way, from _Newgate_ +to _Tyburn_, is one continued Fair, for Whores and Rogues of the meaner +Sort. Here the most abandon'd Rakehells may light on Women as shameless: +Here Trollops, all in Rags, may pick up Sweethearts of the same +Politeness: And there are none so lewd, so vile, or so indigent, of +either Sex, but at the Time and Place aforesaid, they may find a +Paramour. Where the Croud is the least, which, among the Itinerants, is +no where very thin, the Mob is the rudest; and here, jostling one +another, and kicking Dirt about, are the most innocent Pastimes. Now you +see a Man, without Provocation, push his Companion in the Kennel; and +two Minutes after, the Sufferer trip up the other's Heels, and the +first Aggressor lies rolling in the more solid Mire: And he is the +prettiest Fellow among them, who is the least shock'd at Nastiness, and +the most boisterous in his Sports. No modern Rabble can long subsist +without their darling Cordial, the grand Preservative of Sloth, +_Jeneva_, that infallible Antidote against Care and frugal Reflexion; +which, being repeated removes all Pain of sober Thought, and in a little +Time cures the tormenting Sense of the most pressing Necessities. The +Traders, who vent it among the Mob on these Occasions, are commonly the +worst of both Sexes, but most of them weather-beaten Fellows, that have +mis-spent their Youth. Here stands an old Sloven, in a Wig actually +putrify'd, squeez'd up in a Corner, and recommends a Dram of it to the +Goers-by: There another in Rags, with several Bottles in a Basket, stirs +about with it, where the Throng is the thinnest, and tears his Throat +with crying his Commodity; and further off, you may see the Head of a +third, who has ventur'd in the Middle of the Current, and minds his +Business, as he is fluctuating in the irregular Stream: Whilst higher +up, an old decrepit Woman sits dreaming with it on a Bulk; and over +against her, in a Soldier's Coat, her termagant Daughter sells the +Sots-Comfort with great Dispatch. The intelligible Sounds, that are +heard among them, are Oaths and vile Expressions, with Wishes of +Damnation at every other Word, pronounced promiscuously against +themselves, or those they speak to, without the least Alteration in the +Meaning. + +As these undisciplined Armies have no particular Enemies to encounter, +but Cleanliness and good Manners, so nothing is more entertaining to +them, than the dead Carcasses of Dogs and Cats, or, for want of them, +Rags, and all Trompery that is capable of imbibing Dirt. These, well +trampled in Filth, and, if possible, of the worst sort, are, by the +Ringleaders, flung as high and as far as a strong Arm can carry them, +and commonly directed where the Throng is the thickest: Whilst these +ill-boding Meteors are shooting thro' the Air, the Joy and Satisfaction +of the Beholders is visible in every Countenance and Gesture; and more +audibly express'd by the great Shouts that accompany them in their +Course; and, as the Projectiles come nearer the Earth, are turn'd into +loud Laughter, which is more or less violent in Proportion to the +Mischief promis'd by the Fall. And to see a good Suit of Cloaths spoiled +by this Piece of Gallantry, is the tip-top of their Diversion, which +they seldom go home without enjoying: For tho' no People in their Senses +would venture among them on Foot, in any tolerable Dress, yet there are +young Rakes of Fortune, who care not what they lavish, or destroy: Of +these the maddest sort will often, after a Night's Debauch, mix with +Crowds, and thrust themselves in the midst of the most abominable +Rabble, where they seldom fail of meeting with such Adventures. + +Tho' before setting out, the Prisoners took care to swallow what they +could, to be drunk, and stifle their Fear; yet the Courage that strong +Liquors can give, wears off, and the Way they have to go being +considerable, they are in Danger of recovering, and, without repeating +the Dose, Sobriety would often overtake them: For this Reason they must +drink as they go; and the Cart stops for that Purpose three or four, and +sometimes half a dozen Times, or more, before they come to their +Journey's End. These Halts always encrease the Numbers about the +Criminals; and more prodigiously, when they are very notorious Rogues. +The whole March, with every Incident of it, seems to be contrived on +Purpose, to take off and divert the Thoughts of the Condemned from the +only Thing that should employ them. Thousands are pressing to mind the +Looks of them. Their _quondam_ Companions, more eager than others, break +through all Obstacles to take Leave: And here you may see young +Villains, that are proud of being so, (if they knew any of the +Malefactors,) tear the Cloaths off their Backs, by squeezing and +creeping thro' the Legs of Men and Horses, to shake Hands with him; and +not to lose, before so much Company, the Reputation there is in having +had such a valuable Acquaintance. It is incredible what a Scene of +Confusion all this often makes, which yet grows worse near the Gallows; +and the violent Efforts of the most sturdy and resolute of the Mob on +one Side, and the potent Endeavours of rugged Goalers, and others, to +beat them off, on the other; the terrible Blows that are struck, the +Heads that are broke, the Pieces of swingeing Sticks, and Blood, that +fly about, the Men that are knock'd down and trampled upon, are beyond +Imagination, whilst the Dissonance of Voices, and the Variety of +Outcries, for different Reasons, that are heard there, together with the +Sound of more distant Noises, make such a Discord not to be parallel'd. +If we consider, besides all this, the mean Equipages of the Sheriffs +Officers, and the scrubby Horses that compose the Cavalcade, the +Irregularity of the March, and the Want of Order among all the +Attendants, we shall be forced to confess, that these Processions are +very void of that decent Solemnity that would be required to make them +awful. At the very Place of Execution, the most remarkable Scene is a +vast Multitude on Foot, intermixed with many Horsemen and +Hackney-Coaches, all very dirty, or else cover'd with Dust, that are +either abusing one another, or else staring at the Prisoners, among whom +there is commonly very little Devotion; and in that, which is practis'd +and dispatch'd there, of Course, there is as little good Sense as there +is Melody. It is possible that a Man of extraordinary Holiness, by +anticipating the Joys of Heaven, might embrace a violent Death in such +Raptures, as would dispose him to the singing of Psalms: But to require +this Exercise, or expect it promiscuously of every Wretch that comes to +be hang'd, is as wild and extravagant as the Performance of it is +commonly frightful and impertinent: Besides this, there is always at +that Place, such a mixture of Oddnesses and Hurry, that from what +passes, the best dispos'd Spectator seldom can pick out any thing that +is edifying or moving. + +Here I must observe, that the Possibility of Pardons and Reprieves, that +often come very late, and which, with or without Grounds, most Criminals +continue to hope for, 'till they are hang'd, is another great Clog, that +keeps attach'd to the World those that are less abandon'd, and more +relenting than the Generality of them; and who, without that Hindrance, +would, in all Probability, prepare themselves for certain Death, which +overtakes many whilst they are still doubting of it. The Ordinary and +Executioner, having performed their different Duties, with small +Ceremony, and equal Concern, seem to be tired, and glad it is over. + +The Tragedy being ended, the next Entertainment is a Squabble between +the Surgeons and the Mob, about the dead Bodies of the Malefactors that +are not to be hanged in Chains. They have suffer'd the Law, (cries the +Rabble,) and shall have no other Barbarities put upon them: We know what +you are, and will not leave them before we see them buried. If the +others are numerous, and resolute enough to persist in their Enterprize, +a Fray ensues: From whence I shall take an Opportunity of saying +something upon the Occasion of it. I have no Design that savours of +Cruelty, or even Indecency, towards a human Body; but shall endeavour to +demonstrate, that the superstitious Reverence of the Vulgar for a +Corpse, even of a Malefactor, and the strong Aversion they have against +dissecting them, are prejudicial to the Publick; For as Health and sound +Limbs are the most desirable of all Temporal Blessings, so we ought to +encourage the Improvement of Physick and Surgery, wherever it is in our +Power. The Knowledge of Anatomy is inseparable from the Studies of +either; and it is almost impossible for a Man to understand the Inside +of our Bodies, without having seen several of them skilfully dissected. +Kings and Princes are open'd, and have their Hearts and Bowels taken +out, and embalm'd. It is not then Ignominious, much less offensive to +the dead Body, which may be interred with as much Decency, after +Dissection, as if it never had been touch'd. But suppose that many of +our common Thieves were not to be buried at all, and some of them made +Skeletons; and that several Parts of others, variously prepared, should +be preserved for the Instruction of Students? What if it was a Disgrace +to the surviving Relations of those, who had Lectures read upon their +Bodies, and were made use of for Anatomical Preparations? The Dishonour +would seldom reach beyond the Scum of the People; and to be dissected, +can never be a greater Scandal than being hanged. The University of +_Leyden_ in _Holland_ have a Power given them by the Legislature to +demand, for this Purpose, the Bodies of ordinary Rogues executed within +that Province; but, with us, it is the general Complaint of all +Professors of Anatomy, that they can get none to dissect: Where then +shall we find a readier Supply; and what Degree of People are fitter for +it than those I have named? When Persons of no Possessions of their own, +that have slipp'd no Opportunity of wronging whomever they could, die +without Restitution, indebted to the Publick, ought not the injur'd +Publick to have a Title to, and the Disposal of, what the others have +left? And is any Thing more reasonable, than that they should enjoy that +Right, especially when they only make use of it for commendable +Purposes? What is done for the common Good, every Member of the Society +may, at one time or other, receive an Advantage from; and therefore +quarrelsome People, that love fighting, act very preposterously and +inconsistent with their Interest, when they venture to have their Bones +broke, for endeavouring to deprive Surgeons of the Means to understand +the Structure of them. + + + + +CHAP. IV. + + _Of the wrong Judgments that are pass'd on the dying Behaviour of + Malefactors._ + + +Having finish'd the Picture I proposed to draw of modern Executions, and +the Crowds that usually attend them, I shall make some Remarks on the +Judgments that are commonly passed on the dying Behaviour of our +ordinary Felons. In a rich and potent Kingdom, where worldly Glory is +not in Contempt, and to think meanly of our selves seldom taught by +Example, whatever it may be by Precept, nothing is counted more +provoking, or less to be born with Patience, than to be called a Coward. +The vilest Rogues, and most despicable Villains, may own a thousand +Crimes, and often brag of the most abominable Actions; but there is +scarce one, who will confess that he has no Courage. Our general Esteem +for Valour, which is demonstrable from what I have said, as it is of +great Use to a warlike Nation, is very commendable; and Fortitude ought +ever to keep its Place amongst the Cardinal Virtues: But the Notions +which the Vulgar have of Courage, as well as Honour and Shame, are full +of dangerous Errors. Compliments, as well as Reproaches, when ill +applied, are often the Causes of great Mischief; and I am persuaded, +that the Perverseness of Opinion now reigning amongst us, both in +applauding and discommending the Conduct of Criminals in their last +Hours, is an accessary Evil, that very much contributes to what is the +Subject of our grand Complaint, the Frequency of Executions. To explain +my self on this Matter in the clearest Manner I am able, I beg leave to +begin with it from the Bottom. + +In all living Creatures, that fall under our Senses, we perceive an +Instinct of Self-Preservation; and the more sensible they are, the +greater Aversion they discover to the Dissolution of their Being. Man, +the most perfect of them, sets an inestimable Value on Life, and knows +no Fear equal to the Horror he has against Death. This is to be +understood only of Man, in the State of Nature, before he has made +Reflections on himself, and what he sees of the Creation; but when, +after that his Reason demonstrates to him that there must have been a +first Cause; that the World is govern'd by an intelligent Being; that +himself, a Compound of Soul and Body, is indebted to that Being for all +he enjoys, and that there is a strong Probability of a Life after this: +When, moreover, he considers himself as incorporated in a Community of +vast Numbers, that all together make one Body politick, the Welfare of +which he finds universally esteemed, as a Concern superior to all +others: When, I say, he finds and reflects on all this, he plainly sees, +that the Fear of Death, must, on many Accounts, be prejudicial to the +publick Good and common Security, in which he has a Share. It is a +Virtue then to conquer it; and if we inspect into the early OEconomy of +all Nations, we shall find, that the most powerful Motives made use of +to induce Man to lessen this Fear, and moderate the Fondness which +Nature has given us of Life, had their Origin from Religion, or a +publick Spirit; that is, in other Words, from a Representation of his +Duty either to God or his Country. Thus holy Martyrs have suffer'd with +Fortitude for their Faith, and, in Confidence of eternal Happiness, +hasten'd to Death with Alacrity, and even rejoiced in the Midst of +Flames. And thus there have been valiant Men, in all Ages, that have +exposed themselves to the greatest Hazards, in Defence of their Laws and +Liberties, and, animated by a zealous Love for their Country, sacrific'd +their Lives to the publick Welfare. As Men of this Sort have every +where deservedly gained the general Applause, and the Virtue they are +possess'd of has been honoured by the Name of Courage; so, on the +contrary, the Fearful and Pusillanimous, that ever prefer their own +Safety to all other Considerations, and are therefore never to be relied +upon, are as justly despis'd, and the ignominious Word, by which we +reproach the Vice that enslaves them, is Cowardice. + +From what has been said it is evident, that the original Reason why +Courage is generally esteemed, is, because it is taken for granted, that +both the Principle we act from, and the End we labour for in conquering +our Fears, are praise-worthy, and have a visible Tendency, either to the +Good of others, or our own spiritual Felicity. Nothing, therefore, is +more unjust, than that we should continue our Esteem for Valour when it +degenerates, and both the Motive Men set out with, and the Scope they +aim at, are palpably destructive. Anger, Pride, Envy, and several other +Passions, are capable of subduing Fear. But, as these Principles are +evil in themselves, so it is impossible that the End to be obtain'd by +them should be commendable. What perverse and miserable Judges are we +then, that applaud a Person's Intrepidity in fighting a Duel, when in +the Act itself, we see him willfully violate the Laws of God and Man? +But should human Honour here break in upon me, and my Reasoning, how +right soever, be overpower'd by the irresistable Clamour of the +fashionable World, what can be said for the senseless Intimidity of a +vulgar Rogue, who not only professes an utter Disregard to Honour and +Conscience, but has likewise, at his first Setting out, as a Preliminary +to his Business, disclaim'd all Pretences to common Honesty? Why should +we delight in the Intrepidity, tho' it was real, of a Villain in his +Impiety? Why should Christians be pleased to see a great Sinner give up +his Ghost impenitent; or imagine that he dies bravely, because he bids +Defiance to Heaven, and boldly plunges himself into an Abyss of eternal +Misery? Yet nothing is more common amongst us: And the further a Man is +removed from Repentance, nay, the more void he seems to be of all +Religion, and the less Concern he discovers for Futurity, the more he is +admired by our sprightly People: Whereas, he who shews but the least +Sorrow for his Sins, or, by his Tears, or Dismality of Gestures, lets us +know that he is under Apprehensions of the divine Wrath, is a weak silly +Creature, not worth looking at: And he only, in the Opinion of many, +dies like a Man, who, in reality, goes off most like a Brute. But some +of my Readers, perhaps, will have nothing to do with Christianity. +Suppose, then, we lay by that Consideration; I grant, that to subdue +the Terrors of Death is a manifest Token of Intrepidity, and promise to +pay Homage to true Courage wheresoever I can meet with it; only let us +not be imposed upon, but try the Valour of this undaunted Hero, whether +it be genuine. No Man can conquer the Fear of Death, but by something +superior to it: What is the Power that supports him in the Conflict, and +what Principle does he act from? It is not his Innocence, for his Guilt +is publick, and his Crimes are proved upon him. It is not Zeal for +Religion, nor the Love of his Country: He pretends to neither. Yet it +must be some mighty Principle of vast Force and Efficacy; for if he acts +consistently, he despises not only Death, but the Wrath of Omnipotence, +and a Punishment just at Hand, that shall be everlasting. Will you say +that he firmly believes that there is no God, nor Life after this, and +that Man is wholly mortal? Suppose it; that's no Support against Death +itself: But look narrowly into him, and you will alter your Opinion, +even as to that. The Enthusiasm of Atheists has other Symptoms; +deplorable as it is, the Appearance of it is more sedate, and they make +some Pretences to Reasoning: But what Probability is there, that a poor +Rascal, who was brought up in Ignorance, and perhaps cannot read, one +who never troubled his Head with thinking, much less with thinking on +abstruse Matters, and Metaphysicks, should so far lose himself in the +Mazes of Philosophy, as to become a speculative Atheist. + +Since, then, we can find no Principle from which it is possible a common +Villain should derive his Undauntedness, it is evident that what we see +is spurious, and the Bravery we admire only counterfeited, and false at +Bottom. The Terror of Death inwardly excruciates him; But his Fear of +shewing this, of being called a Coward, and laugh'd at by his +Companions, has some Command over his outward Appearance; therefore, +(not to be found out,) sometimes he swears or scoffs at Religion; at +others he mixes forc'd Laughter with the vilest Language, and trys all +the Strength of Brutality to keep down a struggling Conscience, and +appear more atheistical and obdurate than, to his Sorrow, he feels +himself to be. But his Impudence would soon fail him, and his +inexhaustible Stock be but a weak Match for the Agonies he suffers, if +he took not Refuge in strong Liquors. These are his only Support, and +Drunkenness the Cause of his Intrepidity. Should I be told, that in many +of them no Signs are seen either of Fear or Ebriety, it would be of no +Force against my Assertion: As great Fear sinks, so hard Drinking raises +the Spirits: They are two Enemies, that, when equally match'd, may, by +mutual Conflict, easily disarm and hinder the Operations or each other. +Let a curious Observer mind the continual Changes of the Prisoner's +unsettled Behaviour, the wild Manner of his Actions, and, above all, the +greedy Haste, with which he throws down every Thing potable and +intoxicating, and he will soon perceive that our Sham-Hero drinks +neither with Comfort, nor for Pleasure, and seems to expect no other +Benefit from it, than that it may take away his Senses, and hinder him +from thinking. Are not they fine Judges, who are imposed upon by such +pusillanimous Wretches, that are so far from having conquer'd the Fear +of Death, that they go out of the World without having ever dared one +Moment soberly to think of it; and of whom it can only be said, that +they died hard and unmov'd, because they were senseless, and with the +Courage of a Stone suffer'd themselves, without Thought, to drop into +Eternity? + +The Mischief that these Patterns of Impenitence, together with the +Applause that is given them, must produce in a vast and opulent City, +will appear from the following Consideration. It is necessary to the +publick Peace and Security, that Burglary, Robbing in the Streets, or on +the Highway, and all those Crimes where Violence is mix'd with +Injustice, should be capitally punish'd: But considering on the one +hand, how much more prone Men are to Ease and Pleasure, than they are to +Industry and Labour; and, on the other, the Generality of human Wants, +and the unequal Distributions of Fortune to supply them, it must be +acknowledg'd, that where Men are without Shame and Education, and +consequently not affected with the Ties either of Honour or Religion, +Poverty itself is a strong Temptation to Thieving, when Opportunities +offer. The greatest Charity, therefore, and Compassion we can shew to +our Fellow-Creatures, is an extraordinary Severity, and never-ceasing +Watchfulness in a Government against the first Approaches of Dishonesty. +It is with this View that the Provision of the Legislature, that such +Offenders should be punish'd with Death, is to be vindicated; tho' the +Punishment is greater than the Laws, framed by God himself for the +_Jewish_ Commonwealth, inflicted; or what natural Justice, proportioning +the Punishment to the Crime, seems to require: For it is not the Death +of those poor Souls that is chiefly aim'd at in Executions, but the +Terror we would have it strike in others of the same loose Principles: +And, for the same Reason, these Executions are little better than +Barbarity, and sporting away the Lives of the indigent Vulgar, if those +valuable Sacrifices we are obliged to make to the publick Safety, are +render'd insignificant. If no Remedy can be found for these Evils, it +would be better that Malefactors should be put to Death in private; for +our publick Executions are become Decoys, that draw in the Necessitous, +and, in effect, as cruel as frequent Pardons; instead of giving Warning, +they are examplary the wrong Way, and encourage where they should deter. +The small Concern, and seeming Indolence of the Condemn'd, harden the +Profligates that behold them, and confirm to them, by ocular +Demonstration, what they encourage one another with in viler Language, +(low, as it is, permit me to mention it,) _That there is nothing in +being hang'd, but awry Neck, and a wet pair of Breeches._ + + + + +CHAP. V. + + _Of Regulations concerning_ FELONS _in Prison, and the good Effects + to be expected from them._ + + +What has been said in the foregoing Chapters, in relation to common +_Felons_, has pointed at the evil Customs, Mismanagements, and perverse +Opinions, that prevail amongst us. I shall now conclude what I proposed +to publish on this Subject with offering some Proposals towards a better +Usage of them in Prison; and the good Effect such Alterations, in all +Probability, would produce. All which, without Arrogance or Presumption, +I submit to better Judgment. + +_First_, I would have every one of the Malefactors lock'd up by himself; +and they should never be suffer'd to converse together. It would not be +a very great Expence (where Chimneys, convenient Windows, Order, and +Beauty would be out of the Question:) to build an hundred small Rooms, +perhaps, of twelve Foot Square, that would be strong, beyond the +Possibility of being forced by naked Hands; and, to prevent all Hopes of +breaking Goal, I would have it a Custom made, to search, suspected or +not, all Prisoners, and the Places they are in, every Night before +Bed-time. The Rooms I speak of, I would rather have obscure, than +otherwise; and the small Light they had, far beyond Reach. They, should +all have such Conveniences, that those, who were shut up in them, +should, during their Stay, have no Occasion to stir out of them on any +Account. Thus we might secure Prisoners, without galling them with +Irons, before we are sure that they deserve to be punish'd at all. + +_Secondly_, I would have a Law made, to fix a certain number of Days, +after which the Condemned should not have the Benefit of Pardons or +Reprieves, tho' they might be obtain'd. This Time elaps'd, they should +have one Day to bid farewell to Friends and Relations: After which, they +should have three times four and twenty Hours allow'd them, for no other +Purpose, than to make their Peace with Heaven, and prepare themselves +for Death. During this time, they should be inaccessible to all but a +sober Keeper, to take Care of them, and a Clergyman, to assist them in +Spirituals. And here I beg leave to observe, that Men of Reputation, who +live in Credit, and by their Learning, or exemplary Lives, have acquired +the Publick Esteem, are fitter for this Task, than others of small +Parts, and no Repute; that, labouring under narrow Circumstances, for a +poor Salary, and some miserable Perquisites, take upon them this weighty +Province, as a Livelihood and Business, to be constantly follow'd. The +more Respect and Reverence are paid to Divines, and the higher their +Dignity is, the greater Opportunity they have of making themselves +serviceable in every Branch of their Function, but more especially that +Part of it now under Consideration. In other Protestant Countries, +beyond Sea, the Ministers of the National Church perform this Office, +either by Turns, or as the Criminal, and sometimes the Magistrate, +desire it. In most Employments Use makes Perfectness, but here it +incapacitates: and was a Man, even of the greatest Prudence and +Watchfulness over himself, always to converse with Rogues, and do +nothing else but instruct and attend Malefactors in their last Hours, +the very Habit he would contract from it, would spoil him for that +Purpose: And it is impossible, but constant Practice wou'd, in a little +Time, wear out, or at least take off the greatest Part of that +Earnestness and Concern, which ought to be inseparable from the Charge I +speak of. + +The greater Provision we made for the Souls and future Happiness of +these short-liv'd Sinners, the less Indulgence we should have for their +Bodies and sensual Appetites: And I would have it strictly observed, +that from the Moment their Death was fixed, 'till their Execution, they +should receive nothing for Sustenance but Bread and Water; and of either +what they would. I would, moreover, have it enacted, That every Year a +certain number of dead Bodies, not under six, should be allowed to +Physicians and Surgeons, for Anatomical Uses, not to be made choice of +till after Death, in such a Manner, that no Felon could be sure this +would not be his Lot. + +If they should complain, that the miserable Diet they were confined to, +was a Severity that disturbed their Thoughts, and hinder'd their +Devotion, it would be a Sign, that their Minds were not yet turned the +right Way: But this Grievance, a short Time and Necessity will never +fail to cure. The harsher that Article may seem, the more Efficacy it +would be of, in deterring Rogues from Mischief: For I do not doubt but +most of them would look upon the wholsome Regulations in Prison here +mentioned, as the most considerable Part of the Punishment they were to +suffer; though, I confess, that what I have in View by this low Diet, +chiefly regards the eternal Welfare of those unhappy People, as it +would be instrumental to an early Repentance. When, free from Fumes of +Food, and all intoxicating Comforts, the serious Thoughts of a Criminal +shall be obliged to dwell upon his wretched Self, and behold the +Prospect of a future State so near, so certainly to come, the loosest +and most abandon'd will be brought to Reason. Death being unavoidable, +and nothing upon Earth to save him, Self-defence will make him turn his +Eyes elsewhere: His continued Abstinence will help to clear his +Understanding; then searching after Truth, he will be soon convinced of +the Folly and Weakness of those Arguments, by which he had been used to +harden his Conscience, keep out Remorse, and fortify his Steadiness in +Guilt. + +When a Man thus wean'd from the World, and all the Hopes of Life, should +be drawn forth from his dark and solitary Dungeon, once more enjoy the +open Air, and see himself exposed to gazing Multitudes, there met on +purpose to feed their Curiosity at his Expence; when the Paleness of his +Countenance, and the Shaking of every Limb, should, without Disguise, +reveal the Motions of his Heart; and his Spirits neither confounded, nor +buoy'd up by inebriating Liquors, should discover their real Condition +and Incapacity to uphold their trembling Tenement; the Spectacle would +be awful, and strike the Hearts of the Beholders: When seated on the +ignominious Cart, by his restless Posture, the Distortion of his +Features, and the continual wringing of his Hands, he should disclose +his Woe within, and the utmost depth of Sorrow: When we should hear his +shrill Cries and sad Complaints interrupted with bitter Sobs and anxious +Groans, and now and then, at sudden Starts, see Floods of Tears gushing +from his distracted Eyes, how thoroughly would the Concurrence of so +many strong Evidences convince us of the Pangs, the amazing Horror, and +unspeakable Agonies of his excruciated Soul! + +Common Stubbornness and Stupidity could not be Proof against all this; +and the Licentious Rabble of both Sexes, that make now the most +considerable part of those dismal Processions, would not attend in such +tumultuous Crowds. Few Profligates would be able to stand the Shock of +Sounds and Actions so really tragical: Many would run away for fear of +rouzing the Lion kept chain'd within, and waking a guilty Conscience +from the Lethargy they have thrown it in with so much Labour. They would +not follow long to behold a Scene so little to their Purpose; and +whatever Multitudes of them might set out with these Penitents, they +would drop off, and dwindle away by Degrees; even the most obdurate +would sicken at such a Sight, and turning from it to less displeasing +Objects, seek after more suitable Diversions. The Absence of so many +Rake-hells, that only take delight in Mischief, would render these +Tragedies more solemn, and, at the same Time, make room for Spectators +of a better Sort, and lesser Sinners, on whom, in all Probability, they +would have a more desirable Effect. It is not to be express'd, what +lasting and useful Impressions such Shews would make: Many that are +conscious of their Frailty, and the small Power they have of conquering +their Passions, would take an Opportunity from them of adoring the +divine Mercy, for having preserved them hitherto from falling into such +Crimes; even the Voluptuous, that in the Enjoyment of Youth and Vigour, +are enamour'd with Life for the sake of Pleasure, would be startled at +them, and thank God that this was not their Case; and several by the +Fear of Death only, become more serious and reflecting. + +Thus much we should gain, at least, in Behalf of Religion, from every +Execution, even of the most sorry Felons, who, void of Sense and +Goodness, only grieve because they are to die, and go they know not +where: But it is more than probable, that some of them would become good +Christians, and make exemplary Ends. When the Condemn'd should, in every +Respect, receive the Treatment I have requir'd, and by this Means, +undisturb'd by earthly Cares, have Leisure, in sober Sadness, to review +their past Life, and examine into the Multitude, as well as Enormity of +their Offences; then, after thorough Contrition, and an open Confession +in Behalf of Justice, animated by Faith, betake to constant Prayer; we +ought to believe that thus exerting themselves in the Work of Salvation, +by the good Guidance of able Divines, and their own unwearied +Endeavours, many of them would find Favour in the Sight of the Almighty; +and that several, even as they went to Death, would be regenerated, and +comforted from above with a strong Assurance of Forgiveness. What a +visible Alteration would it not make in them, when they should perceive +their Spirits, that the Moment before were overwhelm'd with Grief, or +fill'd with black Despair, cherish'd and enlighten'd by the powerful +Beams of heavenly Grace and Clemency: Transported with the Prospect of +approaching Bliss they then would wish to die, and rejoice that they +should be made Examples to frighten Evil-doers from their Ways. + +But when they should consider, what Acts of Devotion and unfeigned +Piety, what Works of superlative Charity would be necessary, if they +were to live, to atone for the heinous Crimes and manifold +Transgressions they had been guilty of against God and their Neighbour, +how would it rouze their Souls, and how eager would it not render them, +in the most profitable Manner, to spend the small Remains of Life! +Sometimes they would deter the wicked and in the same Breath solicite +Heaven for their Conversion: At others, reasoning from the Changes they +had experienced within, they would combat Impiety with Vehemence, and +conjure Unbelievers no longer to doubt of an everlasting Futurity: They +would paint to them, in the strongest Colours, the Horrors they had felt +from an accusing Conscience, and the Abyss of Misery they had been +plunged in, whilst yet labouring under the dire Reflection on eternal +Vengeance; And thus, mixing fervent Prayers with strenuous Exhortation, +they would employ the few Moments, that were left them, in Exercises +intirely spiritual and holy. + +How such Conversions would affect the Minds of all that saw or heard +them, cannot be better imagin'd than by examining our selves. When we +had seen an half-starv'd Wretch, that look'd like Death, come shivering +from his Prison, and hardly able to speak or stand, get with Difficulty +on the slow uncomfortable Carriage; where, at the first Rumbling of it, +he should begin to weep, and as he went, dissolve in Tears, and lose +himself in incoherent Lamentations, it would move us to Compassion. But +with what Astonishment would it not fill us, to behold the same +Creature, near the fatal Tree, become lively, glow with Zeal, and, in +Strength of Voice and Action, excell the most vigorous Preachers! All +this we might expect; and that those of Wit and Genius, as certainly +there are among them, would often light on new and convincing Arguments +to warn the Sinner: Nay, some of them prove stupendious Orators, that +would not only spread Amazement all around them, but likewise find +uncommon Ways to reach the Heart with Violence, and force Repentance on +their Hearers. It is Stupidity to doubt the vast Use such Executions +would be of, to compass Happiness both here and hereafter; and should we +regard the first only, it would be no Exaggeration to assert, that one +of them would be more serviceable to the Peace and Security of this +immense City, than a thousand of those that are now so frequent among +us. + + + + +CHAP. VI. + + _Of_ TRANSPORTATION: _And a Method to render that Punishment more + effectual._ + + +When I concluded the last, I thought not to have tired the Reader any +longer with the Subject of Malefactors: But it has been remonstated to +me since, that what I had wrote, would seem very defective, and this +Treatise be, in reality, imperfect, if I said nothing of Transportation; +which, for some Years last past, on many Occasions, has been +substituted, and inflicted in the room of capital Punishment; and +having, at the same Time, been furnish'd with a Hint concerning this +Affair, that may be of admirable Use, I cannot forbear imparting it to +the Publick. There is no doubt but the Design of Transporting Felons, +instead of hanging them, when their Crimes were not very enormous, was +just and commendable, and it was reasonable to expect that it would have +proved a powerful Remedy against the grand Evil I have all along +complain'd of, and which has been so often repeated. But our subtle +Criminals have found out Means hitherto to render it ineffectual: Some +have made their Escape in the Voyage itself; others, condemn'd to this +Punishment, never have been put on board; several have reach'd the +Plantations, but been return'd again by the first Shipping, and great +Numbers have been come back before half their Time was expir'd. Those +that are forced to stay, do very little Service themselves, and spoil +the other Slaves, teaching the _Africans_ more Villany and Mischief than +ever they could have learn'd without the Examples and Instructions of +such _Europeans_. We have loud Complaints from all the Islands, that we +send such Numbers, and they know not what to do with them. As they come +from _England_, and are to serve _English_ Men, their Colour, as well as +Country and Language, plead for them; and the Masters that complain of +them, are to blame themselves for treating them with less Severity than +they do the innocent, as well as unfortunate Blacks, and more remisly +than they ought, if they consider'd that these Country Men of theirs are +sent thither on purpose to work, and are condemn'd to Hard Labour, as a +Punishment for their Crimes. The mild Usage our Felons receive beyond +Sea, and the many Examples of such as come back before their Time, with +Impunity, have quite destroy'd the End which Transportation was design'd +for. The Criminals have no dread against it, remain as they were +themselves, and do no Service to others. + +To redress this, there is an Expedient that may immediately be put +into practice, and is, to my thinking, every way unexceptionable; +for it would effectually prevent the returning of the Felons, +make them serviceable in the most extraordinary Manner, and, +at the same Time, be terrible beyond Expression. The Use I would put +them to is, the Redemption of Slaves, that in _Morocco_, as well as +_Tunis_, _Algiers_, and other Places on the Coast of _Barbary_, groan +under a miserable Servitude. Should it be objected, that such abandon'd +People would turn Mahometans, and our selves become accessary to their +eternal Ruin, I would ask what Surety we had for those that were there +already. Amongst our Seafaring Men, the Practice of Piety is very +scarce: Abundance of them lead very bad Lives, who yet, as to the Love +of their Country, and the _Meum & Tuum_, are very honest Fellows. There +are not many that are well grounded in the Principles of their Religion, +or would be capable of maintaining it against an Adversary of the least +Ability; and we are not certain, that under great Temptations, they +would remain stedfast to the Christian Faith. The Danger then of +Apostacy being the same in both, we must be manifestly the Gainers, when +we change lazy cowardly Thieves, and incorrigible Rogues for brave, +laborious, and useful People. It would be no difficult Matter to enter +into Negotiations with the several Powers of _Barbary_ for this Purpose; +neither is it reasonable to imagine, that they would scruple to take our +Felons on account of the bad Lives they had led, or refuse any for their +Impudence, Wickedness, or Aversion to Labour. They consider and manage +their Slaves as we do our Cattle; and it is their Age, their Health, the +Soundness of their Limbs, and their Strength, they examine into, with +little Regard to their Temper or their Morals: They are ever watchful +over them, without trusting to their Honesty, or expecting any voluntary +Obedience from them. If bought Servants are able, Masters there have +sure Ways to make them work. They laugh at Stubborness and refractory +Spirits, and their steady Severity is a sovereign Remedy against Sloth, +and all other Failings of the Will: From all which it is highly +probable, that a Barbarian would be glad to change an elderly honest +Man, pretty well worn, and above Fifty, for a sturdy House-breaker of +Five and twenty: And as to those that might be pretty equal, as to Years +and Abilities, what if we should give them three for two, or two for +one? I am sure we could be no Losers. Those likewise that are known to +be in Quality superior to common Sailors, might be redeem'd by still a +greater Number of Felons; or, at the worst, they could be no Sufferers +by the Exchanges of the others. + +What I am speaking of, I confess would be a very severe Punishment for +Felony; but I cannot imagine, how we can think on the Rigour of it, +without reflecting, at the same Time, on the Inhumanity we are guilty of +in the small Concern we often shew, for many Years, for the Captivity of +those who have deserv'd no Punishment at all. The greater the Calamities +are of that cruel Bondage, the more reasonable it is, that the Guilty +should suffer it rather than the Innocent. It is unpardonable not to +deliver from the Yoke of Infidels, when it is in our Power, our Fellow +Subjects, whom we have no Complaint against. When sufficient Sums cannot +be rais'd to redeem them with Money, what should hinder us from doing it +at the Expence of Miscreants, whom it is Injustice not to punish, and +who, out of Chains, cannot be otherwise than noxious to the Publick? If +this be duly weigh'd, I doubt not, but what, at first, seems to be the +greatest Objection to this Proposal, would, on further Reflection, be +found an unanswerable Argument why we should embrace it. There would +likewise be room always, with fresh Supplies of Felons, to release +those, who might be cured, or, at least, thought to have been +sufficiently punish'd; and, to prevent all Tricks and Escapes, this +Service might be perform'd by Men of War instead of Merchant Men, or +Transports. This effectual Manner of Transportation, as Felons are +treated, and Things are managed now, would be more dreadful than +hanging, whilst it was only talk'd of; but when it came to the Push, and +Criminals came near, and under the Gallows, there would be very few, if +they were sober enough to think at all, that, before the Cart drove +away, would not change their Minds, put off the evil Hour if they could, +and chuse Slavery, or any Thing else, to avoid immediate Death. But +then, if the Regulations I have offer'd in the foregoing Chapter +were likewise to be put in Practice, the forc'd Abstinence, and +unavoidable Sobriety in Prison, with the other Preparations before +Detail, and the Journey from _Newgate_ to _Tyburn_, without Hopes +of Pardon or Reprieve, would strike great Terror even at a Distance; by +which Means, the Thoughts of either would be insupportable, and there +would be no great Purchase in the Choice. The Horror loose People would +conceive against such Proceedings, would be of inestimable Consequence +to the Nation, and Thousands that are yet unborn would, deterr'd by the +Rigour of those Laws, turn their Hands to honest Labour, and die in +their Beds in their own Country, that without them, and Things remaining +as they are, will either be hanged, or transported long before the End +of this Century. But if what I propose should not lessen the Number of +Felons so much as ought to be expected, it would clear us at least from +the Blame of not having endeavoured it; and from Transportation we +should have the Satisfaction, that the Kingdom would not lose so many +Inhabitants by it as it does now, though the same Numbers were sent +abroad. But, what is infinitely more valuable, that Punishment likewise +would rid without Slaughter, or Probability of Return, the Country of +the Vermin of Society, that, perpetually nibbling at our Property, +destroy the Comforts of secure and undisturb'd Possession, at the same +Time that it would furnish us with an Opportunity of performing the most +charitable Action in the World; for such I will not scruple to call the +redeeming and restoring to their Friends, without their Cost, +industrious Mariners, that lost their Liberties, and became Sufferers +in an honest Calling, and were led into dreadful Captivity by Infidels, +whilst, in promoting the Interest of Commerce and Navigation, they were +labouring for the Safety, the Wealth, and Glory of their Country. + +I shall be told by some of my Readers, that they are ready to contribute +to the Redemption of unfortunate Captives with their Purses; but that +among Christians, free-born Subjects ought never to be made Slaves for +any Reason, or at any Rate whatever. But this is a Singularity peculiar +to _Englishmen_, more built on an Excess of Good-nature, than any sound +Reason. _France_ and _Spain_ make use of Malefactors in their Gallies, +and the _Hugonots_ of the first would never have complained of that +Punishment, had it never been inflicted on any but Thieves and Villains. +But these are _Roman_ Catholick Countries, and arbitrary Kingdoms: Of +_Holland_ you can say neither, and yet the great Cities of it have all +Work-houses for Criminals. At _Amsterdam_ there is one, where Felons are +kept constantly employ'd in rasping of _Brasil_ Wood: To earn at this as +much as they spend is not to be done without excessive Labour, though +they fare as hard as they work; yet they are obliged to get more than +their Maintenance costs considerably. They have a Task set them, which +if they do not perform, the Neglect of their Hands is reveng'd on their +Bellies; and they are stinted in their Allowance in Proportion to the +Deficiency. In this Place a very strict Hand is kept over them; no +Offences are left unpunished, and they are often drubb'd even for ill +Language. The Periods of Time, for which Felons are condemned to this +Rasp-house, are vastly different, according as their great Crimes, or +slighter Trespasses deserve this Tuition, and themselves are young or +old Offenders, and judged to be more or less incorrigible, from six +Weeks to ninety nine Years. These are not called Slaves; but such is +their Abode, their Diet, and their Discipline, that of those who were to +be confined there for any considerable Number of Years, I don't believe +there ever was one who would not have thought it a glorious Preferment, +if, instead of it, he might have taken his Chance, and been sold for a +Slave in _Turky_. + +We have, I own, no open Enemies in _Africk_ more than any where else at +present; and our most gracious Sovereign has, by his Clemency and +powerful Influence over the Emperor of _Morocco_, procured Liberty to +those of his Subjects that had been taken in _English_ Ships: But it is +wrong from thence to infer, that there are no Slaves in _Turky_ of the +_British_ Nation. + +Among those that are brought up to the Sea, there are many, that, by +several Accidents, are left ashore in Foreign Parts, and are +necessitated to enter themselves on any Ships they can meet with. If +this be done in Time of Peace, and when they are not summoned to serve +their own Country, they are guilty of no Fault. But as all Mariners, as +well as Soldiers, share the Fate of those on whose Side they engage, so +many of our Sailors are Slaves in _Turky_, that were taken in _French_, +_Dutch_, and other Ships, and are consequently not reclaimable by any +Treaty made with _Great Britain_. Tho' these might not deserve the same +Regard altogether with those that were taken in Ships of the _British_ +Nation; yet, as they are our Countrymen, and have committed no Crime, +their Redemption ought not to be deferred one Moment, if they might be +had in Exchange for others, whom we have judged not worthy to live +amongst us. Besides, as we are at Peace now with all those Rovers, so +half a Year hence, some or other of them may fall out with us; their +Friendship is not much to be depended upon: Let the Provision but be +made, and Felons kept at hard Labour, and under strict Discipline at +home, till they are wanted abroad, and we shall find, that the +Institution it self, the very Name of it, will be of vast Use, before +the Thing itself is put into Practice. + + +_FINIS._ + + + + +FOOTNOTE: + +[Footnote 9: _This was wrote some Months before_ Jonathan Wild _was +apprehended_.] + + + + +THE AUGUSTAN REPRINT SOCIETY + +_Publications in Print_ + +=1948-1949= + + 16. Nevil Payne's _Fatal Jealousy_ (1673). + + 17. Nicholas Rowe's _Some Account of the Life of Mr. William + Shakespeare_ (1709). + + 18. "Of Genius," in _The Occasional Paper_, Vol. III, No. 10 + (1719); and Aaron Hill's Preface to _The Creation_ (1720). + + +=1949-1950= + + 22. Samuel Johnson's _The Vanity of Human Wishes_ (1749) and _Two + Rambler_ papers (1750). + + 23. John Dryden's _His Majesties Declaration Defended_ (1681). + + +=1950-1951= + + 26. Charles Macklin's _The Man of the World_ (1792). + + +=1951-1952= + + 31. Thomas Gray's _An Elegy Wrote in a Country Church Yard_ (1751); + and _The Eton College Manuscript_. + + +=1952-1953= + + 41. Bernard Mandeville's _A Letter to Dion_ (1732). + + +=1953-1954= + + 45. John Robert Scott's _Dissertation on the Progress of the Fine + Arts_. (1800). + + +=1954-1955= + + 49. Two St. Cecilia's Day Sermons (1696-1697). + + 51. Lewis Maidwell's _An Essay upon the Necessity and Excellency of + Education_ (1705). + + 52. Pappity Stampoy's _A Collection of Scotch Proverbs_ (1663). + + +=1958-1959= + + 75. John Joyne, _A Journal_ (1679) + + 76. Andre Dacier, _Preface to Aristotle's Art of Poetry_ (1705). + + +=1959-1960= + + 80. [P. Whalley's] _An Essay on the Manner of Writing History_ + (1746). + + 83. _Sawney and Colley (1742) and other Pope Pamphlets._ + + 84. Richard Savage's _An Author to be lett_ (1729). + + +=1960-1961= + + 85-86. _Essays on the Theatre from Eighteenth-Century Periodicals._ + + 87. Daniel Defoe, _Of Captain Mission and his Crew_ (1728). + + 90. Henry Needler, _Works_ (1728). + + +=1961-1962= + + 93. John Norris, _Cursory Reflections Upon a Book Call'd. An Essay + Concerning Human Understanding_ (1690). + + 94. An Collins, _Divine Songs and Meditacions_ (1653). + + 95. _An Essay on the New Species of Writing Founded by Mr. + Fielding_ (1751). + + 96. _Hanoverian Ballads._ + + +=1962-1963= + + 97. Myles Davies, _Athenae Britannicae_ (1716-1719). + + 98. _Select Hymns Taken Out of Mr. Herbert's Temple_ (1697). + + 99. Thomas Augustine Arne, _Artaxerxes_ (1761). + + 100. Simon Patrick, _A Brief Account of the New Sect of + Latitude-Men_ (1662). + + 101-102. Richard Hurd, _Letters on Chivalry and Romance_ (1762). + + + + +William Andrews Clark Memorial Library: University of California, Los +Angeles + +THE AUGUSTAN REPRINT SOCIETY + + +GENERAL EDITORS + +R. C. BOYS +University of Michigan + +MAXIMILLIAN E. NOVAK +University of California, Los Angeles + +EARL MINER +University of California, Los Angeles + +LAWRENCE CLARK POWELL +Wm. Andrews Clark Memorial Library + +_Corresponding Secretary_: Mrs. Edna C. Davis, Wm. Andrews Clark +Memorial Library + + +The Society's purpose is to publish reprints (usually facsimile +reproductions) of rare seventeenth and eighteenth century works. All +income of the Society is devoted to defraying costs of publication and +mailing. + +Correspondence concerning subscriptions in the United States and Canada +should be addressed to the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, 2205 +West Adams Boulevard, Los Angeles, California. 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Introduction by John Robert Moore. + + BERNARD MANDEVILLE, _An Enquiry into the Causes of the Frequent + Executions at Tyburn_ (1725). Introduction by Malvin R. Zirker, Jr. + + JOHN OLDMIXON, _An Essay on Criticism_ (1728). Introduction by R. + J. Madden, C.S.B. + + +THE AUGUSTAN REPRINT SOCIETY + +William Andrews Clark Memorial Library + +2205 WEST ADAMS BOULEVARD, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 90018 + +Make check or money order payable to THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF +CALIFORNIA. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of An Enquiry into the Causes of the +Frequent Executions at Tyburn (1725), by Bernard Mandeville and Malvin R. 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