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diff --git a/41642-0.txt b/41642-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..04e0460 --- /dev/null +++ b/41642-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6950 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41642 *** + +Note: Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive. See + http://archive.org/details/courtofcacusorst00leig + + + + + +THE COURT OF CACUS; + +Or, The Story of Burke and Hare. + +by + +ALEXANDER LEIGHTON, + +Author of "Curious Storied Traditions of Scottish Life," etc. + + + + + + + +London: +Houlston and Wright, Paternoster Row. +Edinburgh: W. P. Nimmo, St David Street. +1861. + +Edinburgh: +Printed by Ballantyne and Company, +Paul's Work. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +I have not written this book,--narrating a series of tragedies +unprecedented in the history of mankind, as well for the number of victims +and the depth of their sufferings as for the sordid temptation of the +actors,--without a proper consideration of what is due to the public and +myself. If I had thought I was to contribute to the increase of a taste +for moral stimulants, said to be peculiarly incident to our age--and yet, +I suspect, as strong in all bygone times--and without any countervailing +advantage to morals and the welfare of society, I would have desisted from +my labours. But, being satisfied that what has really occurred on the +stage of the world, however involving the dignity of our nature or +revolting to human feelings, must and will be known in some way, wherever +there are eyes to read or ears to hear, nay, was intended to be known by +Him through whose permission it was allowed to be, I consider it a +benefaction that the knowledge which kills shall be accompanied by the +knowledge which cures. Nay, were it possible, which it is not, to keep +from succeeding generations cases of great depravity punished for example, +and atoned for by penitence, the man who tried to conceal them would be +acting neither in obedience to God's providence nor for the good of the +people. We know what the Bible records of the doings of depraved men, and +we know also for what purpose; and may we not follow in the steps of the +inspired? + +But a slight survey of the nature of the mind may satisfy any one, not +necessarily a philosopher, that it requires as its natural food examples +of evil with the punishment and the cure. If it had been so ordered that +there were not in the soil of the heart congenital germs of wickedness +ready to spring up and branch into crimes under favouring circumstances, +which the complications of society are eternally producing, and that, +consequently, all evil was sheer imitation, something might be said for +concealing the thing to be imitated, even at the expense of losing the +antidote. Even in that case the "huddlers-up" would not be very +philosophical or very sensible; religious they could not be, because the +supposition is adverse to the most fundamental truth of Christianity--for, +as the imitation must of necessity be admitted to be catching, where so +many are caught, the deterring influences would be more necessary. But as +all must admit that the evil comes of itself and the antidote from man, +those who would conceal the latter must allow to the former its full sway. + +In all this, I do not overlook the benefits of abstract representations of +the beauty of virtue and the ugliness of vice. These belong to the +department of the imagination, where no principle of action resides; and +every one knows that the images must be embodied, in particular instances +taken from the real world of flesh and blood, so that the historian of +real occurrences must still work as an adjunct even to the fancy. If it be +said that he narrates stories that are revolting, the answer would seem to +be that, as the law still justifies example, and society calls for it, the +objection that the interest of a story is _too deep_ can only be used by +those who view the records of wickedness as a stimulant and not as a +terror, or those who, amidst the still-recurring daily murders, consider +society as beyond the need of amendment. The objection is thus an +adjection. Fortunately, none of us are acquainted with _amiable_ +enormities, and the longer these remain unknown to us, the better for us +and mankind; so that it seems to follow, that he who can render the acted +crimes of history as disagreeable and hateful as they can be made, even +with the aid of the dark shadows of his fancy, performs an act favourable +to the interests of society. Yet I have done my best to save from revolt +the feelings of the virtuous, as far as is consistent with the moral +effect intended by Providence to be produced on the vicious. + +YORK LODGE, TRINITY, _September 1861_. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + PAGE + + FIRST APPEARANCE IN SURGEON'S SQUARE, 1 + + INTERCALARY, 8 + + THE YOUNG AMATEURS, 22 + + THE REGULAR STAFF, 42 + + SYMPATHISING SEXTONS, DOCTORS, AND RELATIVES, 53 + + PREYING ON EACH OTHER, 66 + + RESUMPTION OF THE GREAT DRAMA, 77 + + THE QUATERNION, 90 + + THE OPENING OF THE COURT--THE OLD WOMAN OF GILMERTON, 107 + + THE MOTHER AND DAUGHTER, 119 + + THE GRANDMOTHER AND THE DUMB BOY, 132 + + THE STRAY WAIFS, 145 + + THE RELATIVE, 154 + + THE STUDY FOR THE ARTIST, 163 + + DAFT JAMIE, 179 + + THE BRISK LITTLE OLD WOMAN, 194 + + THE DISCOVERY, 202 + + THE COMPLICITY OF THE DOCTORS, 216 + + THE TRIAL, 230 + + THE JAIL, 251 + + VEJOVE, 259 + + THE EXHIBITION, 271 + + THE PROSECUTION AGAINST HARE, 283 + + THE HUNT OUT, 292 + + THE FINAL CAUSE, 306 + + + + +First Appearance in Surgeon's Square. + + +When the gloaming was setting in of an evening in the autumn of 1827, and +when the young students of Dr Knox's class had covered up those remains of +their own kind from which they had been trying to extract nature's +secrets, one was looking listlessly from the window into the Square. The +place was as quiet as usual, silent and sad enough to gratify a fancy that +there existed some connexion between the stillness and the work carried on +from day to day and night to night in these mysterious recesses; for, +strange enough, whatever curiosity might be felt by the inhabitants as to +what was done there, few were ever seen within that area except those in +some way connected with the rooms. So was it the more likely that our +young student's eye should have been attracted by the figure of a man +moving stealthily under the shade of the houses. Then he looked more +intently to ascertain whether he was not one of the regular staff of +body-snatchers who supplied "the thing," as they called it. But no; the +stranger, whoever he might be, was neither "Merryandrew," nor "the Spune," +nor "the Captain," nor any other of the gouls,--some half-dozen,--yet he +would have done no discredit to the fraternity either as to dress or +manner: little and thick-set, with a firm round face, small eyes, and +Irish nose, a down-looking sleazy dog, who, as he furtively turned his eye +up to the window, seemed to think he had no right to direct his vision +beyond the parallel of a man's pocket. + +The student, who could dissect living character no less than he could dead +tissue, immediately suspected that this meditative "worshipper of the +sweets of eve" was there upon business, but, being probably new to the +calling, he was timid, if not bashful. Yes, bashful; we do not retract the +word, comely as it is, for where, in all this wide world of sin and +shamelessness, could we suppose it possible to find a man who lives upon +it, and is shone on by its sun, and cheered by its flowers, capable of +selling the body of his fellow-creature for gold without having his face +suffused with blood, cast up by the indignant heart, at least for the +first time? And perhaps it was the first time to this new-comer. But in +whatever condition the strange man might be, the student had got over +_his_ weakness, that is, nature's strength, and, resolving to test the +lounger, he went down, and, shewing himself at the door, beckoned the +bashful one forward. + +"Were you looking for any one?" said he, as he peered into the +down-looking face, where there never had been a blush. + +"'Mph!--are you Dr Knox?" + +"No; but I am one of his students," was the reply of the young man, who +was now nearly satisfied of the intention of the stranger. + +"And, sure, I'm not far wrong thin, afther all." + +"And I may suit your purpose as well, perhaps." + +"Perhaps." + +"Well, speak out; don't be afraid. Have you got 'the thing?'" + +"Doun't know what you mean." + +"Ah! not an old hand, I perceive. You were never here before?" + +"No." + +"And don't know what to say?" + +"No." + +And the bashful man again turned his gloomy eyes to the ground, and didn't +know what to do with those hands of his, which were not made for +kid--perhaps for skin of another kind. And shouldn't this hardened student +have been sorry for a man in such confusion; but he wasn't--nay, he had no +sympathy with his refinement. + +"Why, man, don't you speak out?" he said impatiently. + +"There's some one coming through the Square there," was the reply, as the +man looked furtively to a side. + +"Come in here, then," said the student, as he pulled him into a large room +where there were three young men who acted as Knox's assistants. + +And there they were in the midst of a great number of coarse tables, with +one large one in the middle, whereon were deposited--each having its +portion--masses or lumps of some matter which could not be seen by reason +of all of them being covered with pieces of cloth--once white, but now +dirty gray, as if they had been soiled with clammy hands for weeks or +months. Nor were these signs, though unmistakeable to even the neophyte, +all that there spoke with a terrible eloquence of man's lowly destiny upon +earth; ay, and of man's pride too, even that pride of science which makes +such a fool of him in the very midst of the evidences of his corruption; +for although the windows were opened a little way, the choking air, thick +with gases which, in other circumstances, the free wind carries off to +dissipate and purify in the storm, pressed heavily upon the lungs, so that +even the uninitiated shrank with unfeigned feeling, as if he shuddered +under an awe that was perfectly foreign to his rough nature. + +"Sure, and I'm among the dead," said the man, whom the reader will have +discovered to be an Irishman; "and I have something ov that kind to----" + +"Sell," added one assistant sharply, as, in his scientific ardour, he +anticipated the merchant. + +"Yes." + +And now the bashful man was relieved of his burden of shame, light or +heavy as you please; but we verily say of _some_ weight, as we have him at +the beginning of a career which made the world ring till the echoes might +have disturbed the gods, and we know that he was not otherwise without +feelings pertaining to humanity; nay, we know, and shall tell, that on ONE +occasion pity suffused an eye that was destined to be oftener and longer +red with the fires of cruelty than was ever before in the world's history +the orb of a human being. + +"And what do you give for _wun_?" he whispered, as he sidled up to the ear +of the young anatomist who had been speaking to him. + +"Sometimes as high as £10." + +And for certain, if the student had been curious enough to estimate the +effect of such words upon such a man, to whom "ten pennies" would have +been words of inspiration, he would have seen in that eye, no longer dull +and muddy, the first access of that demon mammon, as by the touch upon the +heart it raised the first pulses of a fever which was to grow and grow, +till it dried up into a parched and senseless thing the fountain of pity; +for, however inoperative, we are bound to say it was still there, as if +abiding God's judgments--and transform one nature altogether into +another--_for a purpose_. + +"And wouldn't you give a pound more for a fresh wun?" said he, with that +intoxication of hope which sometimes makes a beggar play with a new-born +fortune. + +"Sometimes more and sometimes less," replied the other; "but 'the thing' +must always be seen." + +"And by my sowl it is a good thing, and worth the money any how." + +"Where is it?" + +"At home." + +"Then if you will bring it here about ten it will be examined, and you +will get your money; and since you are a beginner, I may tell you, you had +better bring it in a box." + +"And have we not a tea-chest all ready, which howlds it nate, and will not +my friend help me to bring it?" + +"Well, mind the hour, and be upon your guard that no one sees you." + +And so the man, however much an adult in the common immorality of the +world, in this singular crime as yet an infant, left to complete his sale +of merchandise. It would not be easy to figure his thoughts,--perhaps more +difficult to estimate his feelings,--yet it might be for good that we +could analyse these states of the mind, which are nought other than +diseases, that we might apply the cure which God has vouchsafed to our +keeping; even as that student strove to inquire into the secrets of the +body, that he might learn how to deal with the living frame when it is +out of order, or, perhaps, hastening to a premature dissolution. + +That man was William Burke, and we say this as a historian might have +said, that man was Alexander of Macedon, or that Julius Caesar, or that +Napoleon--all equally great, or at least great with the difference that +the first _as yet_ only desecrated the temple for money, and the others +took from it the deity for ambition. Ay, and with this difference also, +which time was to shew, that while there have been many slaughtering +kings, there never was but one William Burke. + + + + +Intercalary. + + +The ardour of the study of anatomy was in the youth, and it was there from +sympathy; yea, for years before, the Square and the College had been under +the fervour of competition. Nor was this fervour limited to the Scottish +metropolis, from which the fame of the successive Monroes had gone forth +over the world. There had arisen Barclay, who, as an extra-academical +lecturer, had the faculty of inspiring his students with all the zeal +which he himself possessed, and to his class in the Square there had come +students from England and Ireland, as well as foreign parts. Even in prior +times, when the teaching was almost limited to the college, the reputation +of the professors had so accumulated _élèves_ that Scotland groaned, and +groaned ineffectually, under the invasion of her sacred graveyards. The +country teemed with stories, in which there figured the midnight +adventures of those strange men who gained a living by supplying, at all +hazards, what was so peremptorily required in the scientific hall and its +adjacent rooms.[1] Anxious mourners visited by the light of the moon the +places where their dear relatives lay entombed, as if they could thereby +satisfy themselves that the beloved bodies still rested there in peace, +though it was certain that the artists became in a short time so +proficient in their work that they could leave a grave apparently as +entire as it was at the time when the mourners deposited their burden. +That these adventures should have taken strange and sometimes +grimly-ludicrous turns might have been expected, and yet it is more true +that they transcended belief. + +There was one long current in Leven in Fife of a character more like +fiction than truth. A middle-aged man of the name of Henderson had died +of an acute fever, and was buried in due time. He left a widow and +daughter, and we need not speak, even to those who have not experienced +such privation, of the deep valley of grief through which it takes so long +a time for the light of a living hope to penetrate, if, in some instances, +it ever penetrates at all. Yet people must live, and the widow was to keep +the small public-house in the skirts of the town which her husband had +conducted. Six days had passed since the funeral, when one night, at a +late hour, two men asked and got admittance for the purpose of +refreshment, one of them, according to their statement, having been taken +ill. They were introduced through a dark lobby into a room, where there +was one of those close beds so common in Scotland, and left there with the +drink they had ordered. By and by a loud knock came to the door, and the +voice of an officer demanded to know if some thieves who had broken into a +neighbouring house had there taken refuge. The noise and the impending +search had reached the ears of the two men who had entered shortly before, +and having had some good reason for being afraid of justice, they took +advantage of a window and got out, but they had made so much noise in +their flight, that the officers were directed to a pursuit, in which, +however, they ultimately failed. On their return they thought of examining +the room, with a view to ascertain whether the supposed thieves had left +in their hurry any of the booty; but all that they found was an empty bag, +which they took away with them for the purpose of an expected +identification. The confusion having ceased, the widow, in the depth of +her grief for her departed husband, went into the room to betake herself +to bed. She approached it for the purpose of folding it down, and in an +instant was transfixed; before her on the bed lay the dead body of her +husband in those very grave-clothes made by her own hands, and in which, +six days before, he had been buried. The explanation of the mystery was +not difficult. The two men belonged to the College staff of +body-snatchers; they had succeeded so far in their enterprise, and would +with their burden have avoided all houses, if one of them had not been +taken ill, and the other had not also wanted to participate in a +restorative after their night's work. It is supposed that, thinking +themselves secure in the quiet house, they had taken the body out of the +sack for some purpose only known to themselves, and thinking, when the +noise got up, that the pursuit was after them, they had flung it into the +close bed and flown. + +Once upon a track of such grim romance, so rich in specimens of a bypast +phase of society, it is not easy to get rid of it, nor is it any more +wrong to pursue it so far, to shew our social ameliorations, than it is to +search for underlying strata in the physical world, which tell us of a +rudeness in Nature's workings from which she progresses to more perfect +organisms. Another of these stories is scarcely less interesting. A young +student of the name of Burns saw one day on the big centre-table of the +College practical hall what he considered to be the body of his mother. +Rendered wild by the conviction, he flew out of the room, took a ticket +for Dumfries, and, on arriving there, told his father (who, half-dead in +grief, was confined to bed,) his terrible story. It was night, and the +snow had been falling during the day, so that the graveyard was covered +nearly a foot in depth, and one might have thought that the father would +have put off the execution of a resolution, to which he came on the +instant, of examining the grave, till the following day; but without +saying a word, he rose deliberately, as if some new energy had seized him +and restored him to the active duties of life, and betaking himself, +accompanied by his son, to the place of sepulture, roused the sexton to +the work of investigation. The lantern and the spade were put in +requisition, and with the father and son as mute spectators, the green sod +was removed and the mould shovelled out till the coffin was laid bare. +Then the lid was unscrewed and taken off, and there lay, exposed to the +eyes of the husband and the son, the body of the endeared one--the centre +once of so many loves, and the source of so many domestic joys--calm in +the stillness of death. + +We have even a little poetry in some of these almost innumerable stories +of a state of social polity that will never return again. One was a +favourite of the students about 1818. One, George Duncan, from Angus, +lodged in the Potterow with another of the name of Ferguson from a shire +further north. They were both in love with a Miss Wilson, who resided +somewhere about Bruntsfield Links; and so embittered were they by this +feeling of rivalship, that they slept together, and ate their meals +together, and walked and talked together, without ever the name of the +girl being mentioned by either. There seemed to be a tacit admission that +each knew that the other was in love with the same individual, and that +each supposed the other the favourite, and that each hated the other with +all the virulence of an unsuccessful competitor. In this strange state of +things between two who had once been loving friends, Ferguson died of a +disease the nature of which baffled the acuteness of the best surgeons, +and in the course of a few days Duncan's rival was consigned to a grave in +the Buccleuch burying-ground. And now comes a far more singular part of +the story. Duncan, in league with a noted snatcher at that time, called +the "Screw," from the adroit way in which he managed the extracting +instrument, repaired, on the second night after the funeral, to the +cemetery where poor Ferguson had been deposited, with a view to lifting +the body and carrying it to Dr Monro's room. It was late, and the moon +shed more abundantly than the adventurers wished her soft light over the +still graves, and especially that of him whose nineteenth summer sun had +shown in a succession, with small interval, the smile of beauty and the +grin of death. But if this poetry of nature did not affect the rival and +the anatomist, something else did; for as the two slouched behind one of +the grave-stones to conceal themselves till the glare of the moon should +be hidden in a welcome cloud, who should be seen there, wrapped in a +night-cloak, and hanging over the grave of Ferguson, but the object of +their mutual affection? Nay, so near were they, that they heard her sobs +and her ejaculations of "Henry, dear Henry," and many others of those soft +endearments with which the heart of grief is so eloquent. If the iron had +entered into Duncan's soul before, it now burned there in the red fire of +his hatred. The sobbing figure rose and vanished, as do the night-visions +of these places, so suggestive of flitting images, and within an hour the +body of Ferguson was extended on the table within the College. Nor does +the story end with this terrible satisfaction, for Duncan more than once +afterwards, in the moonlit nights, witnessed from the same hiding-place, +and with what satisfaction to his relentless soul may be guessed, the same +offerings of the poor girl's affection over an empty grave. + +And so forth, through all the number of such stories as used to be rife at +that time, but have now died away amidst narratives of a more living +interest. But towards the close of Barclay's labours, in his class the +materials for such were rather on the increase, for the reason that the +invasions on consecrated places kept a proportion to the requirements of +an increasing class of students. Nor, when Barclay ceased to lecture, and +was succeeded by Knox, did this Scotch shame undergo any diminution, if it +did not wax more brazen in its features. Knox was destined, as well by his +powers as a public lecturer as by his ambition and vindictive impatience +of an intruder on his peculiar walk, and independently altogether of the +dark suspicions which rose like thick exhalations out of the depths of the +great tragedy subsequently enacted, to become a marked man, and the centre +of attraction to ardent students. His ambition felt, too, the quickening +spur of Liston, who, as an extra-academical lecturer on surgery, offered +for even more than a national reputation. The professional emulation of +these men soon degenerated into professional, if not personal hatred, +scarcely alleviated by the collateral envy they both bore towards the +academical professor, who, himself a good anatomist of the old school, +with family honours not distinguished from a professional inheritance, +could afford to view the new men with an easy if not proud disregard. + +With these feelings among the lecturers, we may easily fancy the almost +natural effects among the students, always remarkable for devotion to +their teachers. The spirit of the latter went through them like an +inoculation, and, while working in them as a rancour, it took the form, +as in the elders, of a professional emulation. Nay, it seemed to become +almost a frenzy among them, that those of one class should excel those of +another in the knowledge of the human body. Questions came to be discussed +among them, often suggested by faults imputed by one lecturer to another, +and the quarrels of the masters thus became bones of contention among +their scholars. An unsuccessful operation would be seized on as a pretext +to run down the operator; and as the anatomical books could not always, or +often, settle the dispute, the area of controversy would be in the halls +of dissection. In this state of affairs, it behoved that the demand for +subjects, which ever since the advent of Barclay had been on the increase, +should become day by day more clamant, and the number of vagabonds who +betook themselves to the calling came soon to take on the form and +organisation of a regular staff. + +Unfortunately the characters of the leaders, with the exception of Monro, +were not calculated to temper this zeal with discretion, or throw a veil +of decency over the transactions of low men, which, however justified, as +many said, by the necessities of science, were hostile to the instincts of +nature, and fearfully resented by the feelings of relatives. Liston was +accused, whether justly or not, of wiling patients from the Infirmary, to +set off by his brilliant operations the imperfections of the regular +surgeons of that institution; and great as he was in his profession, it is +certain that he wanted that simplicity and dignity of character necessary +to secure to him respect in proportion to the admiration due to his +powers. But Knox was a man of a far more complex organisation, if it was +indeed possible to analyse him. A despair to the physiognomist who +contemplated his rough irregular countenance, with a blind eye resembling +a grape, he was not less a difficulty to the psychologist. There seemed to +be no principle whereby you could think of binding him down to a line of +duty, and a universal sneer, not limited to mundane powers, formed the +contrast to an imputed self-perfection, not without the evidence of very +great scientific accomplishments. Even before he took up Barclay's class +he was damaged by a story which went the round of the public, and was +brought up against him at the time of his great occultation. + +On returning from the Cape, where he had been attached as surgeon to a +regiment, he was one day met by his old teacher, Professor Jameson, who, +after a kindly recognition in his own simple way, inquired what had been +his pursuits when abroad. + +"Why," replied Knox, with one of these expressions of an almost unreadable +face--something between a leer and overdone sincerity--"why, I was busy in +your way,--keen in the study of natural history. No place in the world +excels the Cape for curious objects in that department; will you believe +it, Professor, I have made an extraordinary discovery?" + +"Discovery! ah, you interest me." + +"And well I may," he continued, as the light of the one orb expressed the +new-born zeal of the naturalist. "I have found a new species of animal. +Yes, sir, altogether new, and at a world's-wide distance from any +congeners with which you are acquainted--quite an irreproducible phoenix." + +"Then we must identify it with your name,--some adjective connected with +night, but not darkness." + +"And that I have done, too," continued the naturalist. + +"Why, then, the description will form an excellent article for our +journal. I could wish that you write it out and send it to me. It will be +something grand, to shew the Southerners we are _en avant_." + +"I will do it," was the reply; "and you shall have it for the next +number." + +Nor was Knox worse in this instance than his word, if he could be, for by +and by there came to the Professor a spirited, if not elaborate +description of the new species, which, having been approved of by the +simple Professor, flared brilliantly among the heavy articles of his +beloved work. But unhappily for the discoverer, no less than for the +editor, the article fell under the eye of Dr Buckland, who soon found out +the whole affair to be an excellent hoax. Often afterwards Jameson looked +for his contributor to administer a reproof in his gentle way, but this +opportunity never awaited him, for Knox, though with one eye, had a long +sight when there was danger ahead, and the Professor in the distance sent +him down the nearest close with even more than his usual celerity. + +Those who knew the man would have no hesitation in placing such an example +of his recklessness to the credit of his rampant egotism,[2] certainly not +to that of practical joking, a species of devil's humour not always +dissociated from a _bonhommie_ to which the earnest mind of the man was a +stranger. Even the bitterness of soul towards competitors was not +sufficiently gratified by the pouring forth of the toffana-spirit of his +sarcasm. He behoved to hold the phial with refined fingers, and rub the +liquid into the "raw" with the soft touch of love. The affected +attenuation of voice and forced _retinu_ of feeling, sometimes +degenerating into a puppy's simper, bore such a contrast to the acerbity +of the matter, that the effect, though often ludicrous, was increased +tenfold. We may now read such a passage as we subjoin,[3] serving merely +as a solitary example of the style; but it would be vain to try to +estimate the effect from the mere allocation of vocables disjoined from +the acrimony they collected in their passage through the ear and carried +to the brain. + + + + +The Young Amateurs + + +It would seem that conspiring circumstances at the time pointed to that +kind of denouement which is the issue of an evil too great for society to +bear. In Barclay's time, the increased demand for the physical material of +the dissecting halls was supplied by a most convenient arrangement of +places. There was the Infirmary a little to the west, where deaths were +occurring several times a week, and many bodies left unclaimed by their +friends. Then, at the back of Barclay's hall was a little "death's +mailing" set apart for those who had been relieved of life in that refuge +of the wretched, and, strangely enough, the windows looked out upon the +tempting field; so that a man or woman, dreaming of no such fate, might +die and be buried, and taken and dissected, all within the temporal space +of a few days, and the physical of a few yards. No great wonder that there +was there a rope-ladder of ominous intention, and a box with such +accommodating appurtenances as would permit of the insertion of hooks at +the end of lines, whereby it might be let down empty and light, and +brought up full and heavy. Nor was it inappropriate that young Cullen, the +grandson of _Celeberrimus_, should be the man who accomplished with +greatest spirit these easy appropriations. Some will yet recollect how +these young gouls grinned with a satanic pleasure, as they saw the +heavy-looking sextons busy with the work which they were so soon to undo, +if it was not also more than surmise that these grave men could smile in +return, even while they were beating down the green sod, as if it were to +remain till the greater resurrection, in place of the smaller. + +As connected with the continued spoliation of this unfortunate little +Golgotha, a story was current out of which was formed a mock heroic +imitation of the 17th book of the "Iliad." It seemed that an old beggar of +the name of Sandy M'Nab, who used to be known in Edinburgh as a cripple +ballad singer, had died of almost pure old age in the Infirmary, and was, +in due time, consigned to that rest of which, as a peripatetic minstrel, +he had enjoyed so small a portion in this world. Yet how little one knows +of the fate to which he may be destined! Who could have supposed that +Sandy M'Nab, about whom nobody cared more than to give him an occasional +penny, and who was left to die in an hospital, would become as famous, +within a limited space, as Patroclus. It seemed that Cullen and some +others had, according to their custom, appropriated the body of the +minstrel, so far as to have it safely deposited in the box, and that box +carefully placed below the window waiting for the application of the rope, +whereby it was to be drawn to the upper regions; but in the meantime, some +three or four of Monro's Trojans, jealous of the Greeks, had got over the +wall with the same intention that had fired their opponents. Though the +night was dark, with only an occasional glimpse of a shy moon, who got +herself veiled every now and then, as if ashamed of those deeds of man +enacted under her light, the collegians soon ascertained that their envied +minstrel had been exhumed, yea, that that body, which once contained a +spirit all but cosmopolitan, was cribbed and confined in Cullen's +insatiable box. The discovery inflamed an original intention of mere +body-snatching into an emprise of stratagetic war against their +professional foes; and straightway they commenced to remove the box to the +other side of the yard, with a view to getting it hoisted over the wall. +But the work had scarcely commenced, when the watchful enemy, who, in +fact, all the time were busily undoing the rope in the hall above, +observed the stratagem below; and issuing forth, some three or four of +them, under the influence of something more like chivalry than the +stealing of bodies, they commenced an attack upon the intruders, which was +met by a stout resistance. The box had been removed to nearly the middle +of the yard, and round the sacred centre where lay the dead Patroclus, +the battle raged with a fierceness not unworthy of the old and immortal +conflict. At one time Sandy was in possession of the Barclayens, at +another in that of the Monroites; so that the old quotation, which was +subsequently incorporated in heroics, was perhaps never, in all time, so +applicable,--"_Danai Trojanique cadaver manus commiserunt_." Taken and +retaken, and guarded with menaces, the inner contest was, meanwhile, +illustrated by hand-to-hand fights over the swelling tumuli, perhaps not +less glorious in their small way than many which have involved the fate of +a kingdom; and yet the object of the conflict was the body of a wandering +beggar. Nor is it known how long this affray might have lasted, if some +people in the neighbourhood, having heard the uproar, had not threatened, +by getting to the top of the wall, to bring the champions before the +authorities. The Monroites fled, and the object of all this contention was +left in the hands of those who, by possession, had at least the prior +right. The box was hoisted to the rooms amidst the acclamations of the +conquerors. "_Sic hi alacres cadaver extulerunt e bello._" + +The want of this fruitful field behoved afterwards, on the advent of Knox, +to be supplied by increased exactions over the country; and hence came a +more perfect organisation of a staff, composed of men who, without the +excuse of a stimulus for science, were attracted to the work by the bribe +of high payments. We have already seen to what extent that bribe reached; +and whatever otherwise may be thought of those grim minions of the moon, +they had more to stir the low passions of human nature than those older +minions on the borders, who, for the sake of living steers, often made +dead bodies. Science became the Nemesis of the dearest and most sacred +affections; and what may appear strange enough, the students themselves +engaged in the work with a feeling, as we have hinted, approaching to +chivalry. They were sworn knights of the fair damsel Science, though the +rites were those of Melpomene, with the grotesque shapes of those of +Thalia. The midnight enterprises had charms for them, but they were death +to those feelings of a Christian people, which require to be viewed as a +natural and necessary part of a social fabric, to be tampered with only to +the ruin of virtue. Among these knights at an earlier period stood Robert +Liston, whose hardihood and coolness in such midnight adventures could +only be equalled by his subsequent surgical handlings; and like all other +vigorous and enthusiastic men, he had the power of enlisting associates, +warmed by the fire he himself felt. + +A favourite theatre for these dark deeds was the banks of the Forth, along +which are to be seen many of those small unprotected graveyards which, +attached to villages, are as the shadow of the life that is within them. +Yes, grave or merry as the hamlet may be, that shadow is never +awanting--often within the sound of the marriage-dance, and refusing to be +illumined by the light of man's earthly happiness. Sometimes in poetics +called the gnome that points to eternity, no man can but for a few brief +moments of seducing joy keep his eye from the contemplation of it; and, +whether he can or not, he must be content to lie within its dark outline. +These are common thoughts, which are sometimes condemned as a species of +moralising; yet surprise will not the less pass even into vertigo when we +think of individuals of the same species reversing rites which even lower +instincts shudder to touch. We are always looking for seriousness in +nature, and it is long till we are forced to confess that she is +continually mocking us. + + "_Usque adeo, res humanas vis abdita quædam + Obterit et pulchros fasceis sævasque secureis + Proculcare ac_ LUDIBRIO SIBI HABERE _videtur_." + +On one occasion our anatomist, having got a companion up to the point of +courage, resolved to pay a night-visit to one of these outlying places, +where, from information he had gained, there had been deposited an object +which had a charm to him other than that of the mere "thing." The man had +died of a disease which the country practitioner had reported to Liston as +something which had stimulated his curiosity, but which he could not be +permitted by the friends to inquire into in the manner so much desired by +doctors. The two knights got themselves arrayed as sailors--with the +jacket, the sou'-wester, the unbraced trousers, striped shirt, and all the +rest--and getting on board a pinnace, made their way to Cures. They had on +arrival some time to pass before the coming of the eery hour when such +work as they had on hand could be performed with the least chance of +interruption. The night, as the principal performer described it, was as +dark as the narrow house whereof they were to deprive the still +inhabitant, so that even with the assistance of the doctor's apprentice, +who went along with them, they had the greatest difficulty to discover the +limited spot of their operations. But Liston had encountered such +difficulties before, and then "what mattered if they should take the wrong +one?" for with the exception of the pathological curiosity, as in this +case, these children of science had no more scruples of choice. In a trice +the game was bagged, as they sometimes described the work, and the boy, +getting alarmed, flew off with the necessary injunction of secrecy, which +only added to his alarm, as they could plainly perceive by the sounds of +his rapid receding steps heard in the stillness of the haunted spot. + +But the work there was generally the least difficult of such enterprises, +for as yet the people had not throughout the rural districts been roused +to the necessity of the night-watch, which afterwards became so common. +The danger lay in the conveyance, which in this, as in most other +instances, was by the means of a pair of strong shoulders. The burden was +accordingly hoisted on Liston's broad back, and the two, stumbling over +the green _tumuli_, got to the skirts, and away as far as they could from +habitations. The field side of a thick hedge was the selected place of +deposit until the morning gave them light for achieving the further +migrations of the unconscious charge; and then there was to be sought out +a place of rest for the two tars, wearied with travelling all day +homewards in the north after so long a cruise in the South Sea. Nor was it +long before a welcome light proclaimed to Liston, who knew the country, +the small wayside inn, in which they would repose during the night. And +there, to be sure, they got that easy entrance, if not jolly welcome, so +often accorded to this good-hearted set of men. They were soon in harmony +with the household, and especially with a "Mary the maid of the inn," who +saw peculiar charms in seamen in general, and in our friend Robert in +particular; nor was the admiration all on one side, though Mary's +predilection for his kind was, as matters turned out, to be anything but +auspicious to the concealed students. Then the coquetting was helped by a +little warm drink, if not a song from the companion about a certain "sheer +hulk," which lay somewhere else than behind the hedge. + +All this, be it observed, had taken place by the kitchen fire--an +appropriate place for benighted seamen; and it being now considerably +beyond twelve, they were about to be shewn their room, when they were +suddenly roused by a loud shout outside, the words, "Ship, ahoy!" being +more distinctly heard by our _quasi_ tars than they perhaps relished, for, +after all, neither of our students, however they might impose upon Mary, +felt very comfortable under the apprehension of being scanned by a true +son of Neptune. + +"That's my brother Bill," said the girl, as she ran to open the door; "I +fear he has been drinking." + +The door being opened, the "Ship, ahoy" entered; and what was the horror +of Liston and his friend when they saw a round, good-humoured sailor +staggering under the weight of that identical bag and its contents which +they had placed behind the hedge only a very short time before! + +"There," cried the blustering lad, who had clearly enough been drinking, +as he threw the heavy load on the kitchen-floor with the something between +a squash and thump which might have been expected from the nature of the +contents--"there, and if it aint something good, rot them chaps there who +stole it." + +"What is it?" said Mary. + +"And why should I know? Ask them. Didn't they put the hulk behind a hedge +when I was lying there trying to wear about upon t'other tack? What ho!" +he continued, "where did you heave from? But first let's see what's the +cargo." + +And before the petrified students could bring up a sufficient energy to +interfere, Bill's knife had severed the thick cord which bound the neck of +the bag. Then mumbling to himself, "What under the hatches?" he exposed, +by rolling down the mouth of the bag, the gray head of a man. + +The tar's speech was choked in a moment, and while the girl uttered a loud +scream, and rushed out into the darkness, there stood the brave seaman, +whose courage was equal to an indifference in a hurricane of wind or war, +with his mouth open, and his eyes fixed in his head, and his arms extended +as if waiting for the swing of a rope; all which culminated in a shout of +terror as he ran after his sister, and left the field to those who could +not by their own arts or exertions have got the command of it. So true is +it that man's extremity is also not only God's opportunity, but sometimes +his own, though against His will and His laws. Not a moment was to be +lost. Without binding again the bag, the burden was again upon the back of +the now resolute Liston, and without having time to pay for their warm +drink, or to remember Mary for her smiles, the adventurers were off on +their way to the beach. + +Of all the unfortunate places on the banks of the estuary resorted to for +these midnight prowlings, no one was more remarkable than that romantic +little death's croft, Rosyth, near to Limekilns. Close upon the seashore, +from which it is divided by a rough dike, and with one or two +melancholy-enough-looking trees at the back, it forms a prominent object +of interest to the pleasure parties in the Forth; nor is it possible for +even a very practical person to visit it, when the waves are dashing and +brattling against the shore, to be unimpressed with the solitude and the +stillness of the inhabitants, amidst the ceaseless sounds of what he might +term nature's threnody sung over the achievements of the grim king. Often +resorted to by strangers who love, because they require the stimulus of +the poetry of external things, the more, perhaps, because they want the +true well-spring of humanity within the heart, it is a favourite resort of +the inhabitants of the village, where bereaved ones, chiefly lovers of +course, sit and beguile their griefs by listening to these sounds, which +they can easily fancy have been heard for so many generations, even by +those who lie there, and who have themselves acted the same part. The few +old gray head-stones, occasionally dashed by the surf, have their story, +which is connected through centuries with the names of the villagers; and +such melancholy musers find themselves more easily associated with a line +of humble ancestors than can occur in the pedigrees of populous towns. +Surely it is impossible that these holy feelings can have a final cause so +indifferent to Him who, out of man's heart, however hardened, "brings the +issues of love," that it can be overlooked, defeated, and mocked by that +pride of science of which man makes an idol. The _ludibrium_ referred to +by Lucretius is in this instance, at least, of man's making; and if it is +conceded to be necessary that the bodily system should be known, that +necessity, which is so far of man's thought, must be restricted by that +other necessity, which is altogether of God's. + +It was not to be supposed that this romantic mailing should escape the +observation of our anatomist. Nor did it; and we are specially reminded of +the fact by an admission made by Liston himself, that, unpoetical and +rough as he was, an incident once occurred here which touched him more +than any operation he ever performed. On this occasion he and his friends +had made use of a boat specially hired for the purpose--a mode of +conveyance which subsequently passed into a custom, before the Limekilns +people were roused from their apathy, and became next to frantic under +circumstances which left it in doubt whether any one of them, husband, +wife, father, mother, or lover, could say that their relations had not +been stolen away from their cherished Rosyth. The adventurers studied +their time so well that their boat would get alongside of the dike under +the shade of night, and they could wile away an hour or two while they +watched the opportunity of a descent. They were favoured by that +inspissated moonlight, which was enough for their keen eyes, and not less +keen hands, and yet might suffice to enable them to escape observation. +But just as they were about to land they observed the figure of a young +woman sitting near one of the head-stones. The stillness all about enabled +them to hear deep sobs, as if the heart had been convulsed, and tried by +these efforts to throw off the weight of a deep grief. The story was +readable enough even by gouls, but so intent were they on their prey that +they felt no response to these offerings of the stricken heart to Him who, +for His own purposes, had struck it. The scene continued beyond the +endurance of their patience, and science, as usual, murmured against +Nature's decrees; but at length she who was thought an intruder rose, and +after some movement of the arms, which came afterwards to be understood, +slowly left the spot. + +The coast, as the saying goes, was now at last clear, and with a bound the +myrmidons overleaped the wall. They were presently on the spot where the +female had been seated, and even in their hurry observed that the +heart-broken creature had been occupied as her last act by throwing some +silly bits of flowers over the grave,--signs which as little physically as +morally interfered with their design of spoliation. In a few minutes the +object they sought was in their possession, and if there was any care more +than ordinary observed in putting all matters to right on the surface, it +was the selfish wish to keep so convenient a place free from those +suspicions which might bar another visit. Nay, so heartless were they, +that one of the party, whether Liston himself we cannot say, though it +would not have been unlike him, decorated his jacket by sticking one of +the slips of offering into the button-hole. They now hurried with their +burden to the boat and pushed off, but they had scarcely got beyond a few +yards when they saw the same figure hurrying to the dike. The light of the +moon was now brighter, and they could easily observe the figure as it +passed hurriedly, as if in great excitement, backwards and forwards, +occasionally holding out the arms, and uttering the most melancholy sounds +that ever came from the human heart. It might be that as yet she had hope +in mere adjuration, but as the boat moved further and further away, there +came a shrill wail, so piercing that it might have been heard even at the +distance of the village. But heedless of an appeal, which nature responded +to faithfully by an echo, they rowed away, still hearing, in spite of the +splash of the oars, the same wail as it gradually became faint in their +increasing distance. At length they could hear nothing but the sweltering +of the waters, and Rosyth with its solitary mourner bade fair to be +forgotten under the Lethe of the flask, which on such occasions was never +awanting. + +This story was very soon made readable to Liston and the others by the +concatenation of certain very simple circumstances. A newspaper report +which Liston had seen some days before, had announced the death, by +drowning, of a young sailor belonging to Limekilns. The account was +sufficiently lugubrious for any readers; but the editor, as usual, had +mixed up with it, whether truly or not, the old story of love and +impending marriage; the object too being, of course, young, brave, +virtuous, and comely. Then came the account of the funeral, also +touchingly given. But it seemed that all this poetry had been thrown away +upon the ardent anatomist; nor even when afterwards, in the hall, he +became satisfied that he had secured the right object, would he in his +heart admit that he had in this adventure done anything more than would be +justified by the use he could make of his knowledge in ameliorating +physical evils in his fellow-men, however dearly that advantage might have +been acquired in the agony of that figure he had left wailing at Rosyth. +Yet it is but fair to say that Liston himself admitted that the sound of +that cry, the sight of those wringing hands, and the rapid goings to and +fro of the shade on the shore, never passed from his memory. + +Robert Liston, beyond all the others, carried so much of the spirit of +chivalry into his adventures of body-snatching, that he thought it as +noble an act to carry off a corpse as an ancient knight-errant did to bear +off a prisoner; but his followers were more like mimallons than myrmidons, +and required more of the flask to keep up their spirits. Some of these +youths once made a mistake at Rosyth. Having run up their boat, they +proceeded to the little death's croft to take up the body of a woman who +had died in child-bed. The night was dark and gusty, and the wind whistled +through the long grass as if Nænia had been presiding there to hear her +own doleful music; but our youths cared little for these things, and, +after twenty minutes' work, they pulled up "the tall beauty," as they +called her after they got home. Away they hurried her to the dike, upon +which they laid her, till two got over to place her in the boat. All +seemed fair, but just at the moment, some ill-mannered tyke set up, +without the excuse of a moon,--for she was far enough away beyond the +shadows,--a deep howl, so prolonged and mournful, that even all the +potency of the flask could not save them from being struck with awe, as +well as a fear of detection. But they had more to be afraid of, for almost +immediately after, one of them called out, "There's a lantern among the +graves;" and thus flurried, yet determined not to lose their prize, they +rugged the body from the top of the rubble dike so roughly, if not +violently, that a great portion of the long hair, which had got entangled +among the stones, was, along with a piece of the scalp, torn away, and +left hanging on the other side. Safe on board, they lost no time in +pushing off, in spite of the surly breakers that threatened to detain +them; nor did they now care for either the dog or the lantern, the latter +of which they saw through the dark medium, dodging towards the very spot +they had left, and then remain stationary there, as if the bearer had been +stayed and petrified by the relic they had left. Up to not a very late +period, the story went in the neighbourhood that he who bore the lantern +was the husband of "the tall beauty," and that he discovered the hair, and +knew from the colour, which nearly approached flaxen, that it was that of +his wife, whose untimely death had rendered him frantic. + +There was no loss in that case; but another which was current among the +classes not long after was less fortunate, though not less true, as indeed +may be verified by the brother, still living, of the young student who +figured in it. Somewhere about Gilmerton or Liberton, we are uncertain +which, a small farmer who had lost his wife went out one morning very +early, probably because he could not rest in his bed for the dreary blank +that was there,--that negative so much more appalling to love than the +dead positive. On going along the Edinburgh road, he observed some white +figure lying close by the footpath, and making up to see what it was, he +came upon the corpse of a woman, dressed in her scolloped dead-clothes, +and lying extended upon her back, with the "starr eyes" open, glazed, and +fixed. On looking more narrowly, he discovered that it was his own wife, +and, all dismayed and wild as he became, he could still have the power to +think that she had come back to life after having been buried and lain in +the grave for three days, and had thus far struggled to get to her beloved +home. Frenzy knows nothing of logic, and was he to think how she could +have thrown off a ton of earth and got up again to the light of the sun? +The idea took him by force, and, throwing himself upon the body, he looked +into the dead orbs, and watched the cold stiff lips, and listened for a +breath. Vain heart, with all its hopes and tumults! no sign in return for +all this madness. Yet he persevered, and gave up, and resumed, and, as the +hope died to come back again, he writhed his strong body in an agony +tenfold more acute than his first grief; nor would he in all probability +have renounced the insane hope for a much longer time, if the Penicuik +carrier had not come up, and, hearing the wonderful tale, hinted the +explanation of an interrupted body-snatching. The light flashed upon him +in an instant, and, in pursuance of a desire to keep the occurrence secret +for the sake of her friends, he prevailed upon the man to take the body in +the cart and remove it to his house. It was buried again privately on the +following night, and few ever heard of the occurrence. And now comes the +explanation of a story which may seem altogether incredible. A young +student of the name of F----y, belonging to Monro's class, entered with +two others into an adventure of body-snatching, in imitation of those +whose exploits had produced in them an enthusiasm untempered by prudence, +and not directed by experience. They fixed upon their ground, and hired a +gig, and the hour was regulated by an obituary. Away accordingly they set, +with no more knowledge of the secrets of the art than what they could get +from the regular purveyors of the class, but provided with the necessary +instrument. They soon got to their destination, and, leaving the gig in +the charge of one of them, the two others got over the low wall, and, by +the aid of the moon, discovered the last laid turf. Going to work +vigorously, they succeeded in raising the body of a woman, but not having +brought from the gig the indispensable sack, and, being fluttered and +hurried, they bethought themselves of carrying the object to the side of +the road, just as it was with the dead-clothes, and then running along by +the side of the hedge to where their companion waited. F----y accordingly, +with the aid of his friend, got the white burden hoisted on his back, +holding it as firmly as he could by the linen. So far all was well, and +they were fortunate, moreover, in getting out by a gate which they could +open; but just as F----y got to the road, along which he had to go a +considerable space, the grasp he had of the shroud began to give way, +perhaps almost unknown to himself, the effect of which was that the body +slipped so far down that the feet touched the ground. The consequence was +altogether peculiar; as F----y bent and dodged in the hurry of getting +forward, the feet of the corpse, coming always to the ground, resiled +again with something like elasticity, so that it appeared to him as if it +trotted or leaped behind him. Fear is the mother of suspicion, and the +idea took hold of him that the body was alive. He uttered a roar,--threw +his burden off, and crying out to his friend, "By G----, she's alive!" +jumped into the gig. His friend was taken by the same terror, and away +they galloped, leaving the corpse in the place where it was found next +morning by the husband. + + + + +The Regular Staff. + + +It is, we think, laid down in that strange book of Robert Forsyth's on +morals, that the gratification of the desire of knowledge is, at least on +this earth of ours, the true end of man; and, no doubt, were we to judge +of the strength of this desire in forcing man down into the bowels of the +earth, and up into the heavens, across unknown seas, and over equally +unknown continents, we would not be slow to confess its great power. And +yet how many there are who assign the same place to the power of mammon, +while others stand up for love and the social affections! We will not +presume to decide where the range goes from the things of earth to those +of heaven; but it appears pretty certain that there have been a good many +Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpes, who have lauded, while in health, the +practice of leaving the body to the doctors, and who yet have shrunk from +the personal example when the shadow of the dark angel was over them. +There have been also, we suspect, fewer Jeremy Benthams, who actually have +left their carrion to the vultures of science, than of Merryleeses, who +have robbed churchyards, and sold the stolen article for money.[4] Nor, in +estimating the motives of the few scientific testators, can we say that we +have much belief in their professions, if it is not more true that they +are only seekers of notoriety, sometimes, as in the case of the author of +the Fallacies, so weak as to be bribed by the offer of having their skins +tanned and distributed in slips--the skin being, in such instances, the +most valuable part of their corporations. + +In pursuance of these notions, we may safely infer that if the wants of +the halls had been left to be supplied by the scientific zeal of the +amateurs, the state of anatomy would have been less perfect than we find +it under the auspices of such men as Schwann, or Bell, or Hall, in our +day. And we say this without being much satisfied that all the boasted +discoveries have led to much more than the conviction that we get deeper +and deeper into the dark, while--admitting many ameliorations--the people +recover from operations, or die of diseases, very much as they used to do. +What are called the high cases might very well be left alone, so that we +might be still bound to admit that Nature's purpose, in imposing the +sacred feeling for the dead, is consistent with her determination, that if +in this defeated by man, he shall earn nothing by trying to get at her +secrets. But there was no necessity that the matter of purveyance should +be left to the students. There have always been body-thieves; but the time +had come in Scotland, when not only their number behoved to be increased, +but their energies also, by the multiplied demands of the halls. + +How far this increase might have progressed, but for the great drama of +"The Scotch Court of Cacus," it is impossible to say; but for a time the +staff of Knox's artists were rather put upon their wits and exertions, +than increased by dangerous bunglers. The trade was perilous, and required +attributes not very often found united,--a total bluntness of feeling, a +certain amount of low courage, much ingenuity of device, clever personal +handling, and total disregard of public opinion--the love of money being +the governing stimulant. Few classes of men could have afforded a better +study in the lower and grosser parts of human nature. There was one called +Merrylees, or more often Merry-Andrew, a great favourite with the +students. Of gigantic height, he was thin and gaunt, even to +ridiculousness, with a long pale face, and the jaws of an ogre. His shabby +clothes, no doubt made for some tall person of proportionate girth, hung +upon his sharp joints, more as if they had been placed there to dry than +to clothe and keep warm. Nor less grotesque were the motions and gestures +of this strange being. It seemed as if he went upon springs, and even the +muscles of his face, as they passed from the grin of idiot pleasure to the +scowl of anger, seemed to obey a similar power. Every movement was a +spasm, as if the long lank muscles, unable to effect a contraction through +such a length, accomplished their object by the concentrated energy of +violent snatches. So, too, with the moral part: the normal but grotesque +gravity was only to be disturbed by some sudden access of passion, which +made him toss his arms and gesticulate. So completely was he the cause of +fun in others, that often on the street some larking student would cry +out, "Merry-Andrew," for no other purpose than to see him wheel about, +clench his hands, and throw his face into all manner of furious +contortions. All this only conspired to make him a butt, and the loud +laugh which always came when there was nothing to laugh at, or rather +something which would have produced gravity in another, helped the +consummation. + +Yet withal this same idiot was the king of Knox's artists. Nothing dared +him, and nothing shamed him, if he was not even proud of a profession +which was patronised by gentlemen and men of science, and paid at a rate +which might have put industrious and honest tradesmen to the blush. Like +many other half simpletons, too, he had a fertility of device in attaining +his object, which insured success, when others apparently more intelligent +despaired. So he was a leader upon whom often depended the hopes of the +students, when their material was scarce or awanting. When not engaged in +his rural exploits, he was always hanging about the Infirmary, where, no +doubt, he was in secret communication with the _élèves_ of that +institution connected with Knox's rooms. From these he got intelligence of +likely deaths, where there was a chance of the persons not being soon +claimed by their relatives. Now was the opportunity of this genius. He +kept a brown black suit for the occasion of a mourner, repaired to the +Infirmary, and acted the part of the relative to such perfection, that the +nurses at least--for the medical men could wink--were deceived. Nay, he +looked at all times so much the afflicted, that the personation even to +something like tears was as easy to him as to the weeper in the House of +Commons, who cried "like a crocodile with his hands in his breeches' +pockets." The moment the body was got outside in the white coffin, the +bearers actually _ran_ with it to the hall, under the inspiration of the, +to such glandered hacks in the shape of men, so enormous a reward. + +Another of the leaders, though far inferior to Merrylees, was the "Spune," +a name given to a man whose real one was scarcely known in the rooms, and +which was supposed to indicate some superior genius in lifting out the +contents of a coffin. He was a littleish man, with a clean-shaved face, +surmounting a dirty black suit, worn down to the cotton, which time had +glazed. One would have taken him not certainly for a remunerated Methodist +preacher, but one who would have given a great amount of doctrine for as +much as would have got him a dinner. Yet he was in reality a mute, being +one of those dumb worshippers of philosophy whose thoughts, going down +into the earth, if not up to heaven, are too deep and sacred for human +speech. Nay, so grave, precise, and wise did he look, that you would have +said he bore all the honours of the science to the advancement of which he +contributed so much; nor is it certain that he did not really feel--so +necessary if not indispensable they considered themselves to be to the +professors--that he was engaged in the holy cause of the advancement of +mankind and the amelioration of their natural ills,--a conviction this, on +the part of the "Spune," not modified by the reception of his fee, which +he considered to be the wages of virtue; for while Merry-Andrew clutched +his reward with a spasm and a spring, his compeer took his with the +dignity and nonchalance of one who laboured for the benefit of his +species. However ludicrous all this, one could scarcely say that it was +out of place, for without the "Spune" the indagators in the hall would +have had small chance of extracting anything from that deep well where it +is said truth can alone be found. + +Another was a man whose real name was Mowatt, but who was christened by +the professional appellation of "Moudewart," (_moldewarp_,) sufficiently +indicative of his calling in burrowing into the bowels of the earth. An +old plasterer, too lazy to work, he had betaken himself to this trade from +a mere love of the money, so that he behoved to rank in a much lower grade +than the "Spune." Then, so essentially insensible was he to the honour of +contributing to science, that he did not take on a particle of dignity, +even from the sympathy of his fellow-labourers. It might be in vain that +the "Spune" tried to impress him with the importance of his calling,--he +was a man of merely so many pounds for what is in the bag, and no more. +Without that principle of receptivity which enables a congenial soul to +take on the reflection of the beauty or honour of an act, he was equally +dead to the sublime inspiration of knowledge. Even Merry-Andrew had +collected some scientific terms--such as _caput_, or _cranium_, sometimes +even attempting _occiput_--all parts of the body with which alone he had +anything to do in the process of abstraction; and as for the "Spune," he +could even discourse of _tibias_ and _fibulas_, if he did not stagger +under _os coccygis_, in a manner which might have made his companion prick +up his ear at the wonder that any such head could carry such terms. But +what can be done with a man who has no symptoms of a human soul but that +which shews itself when the eye counts with something like pleasure the +price of a human body? Yet, strange enough, and perhaps unjustly enough, +the two others were not more prized by their patrons than this degraded +son of science, who served their purpose equally well--a fact which would +have brought down the learned dignity of his co-labourers if they had had +sense enough to notice it. + +The others of the staff (the names of some of whom we could give) were not +to be compared to these leaders--not even to the "Moudiewart," who, +however stupid in respect to the science, was really sufficiently up to +"the thing" to entitle him to rank as a successful if not respectable +merchant. They were so utterly insensate, that they could not even commit +the great mistake of supposing that their occupation degraded them, for +the good reason that they were unconscious of degradation. Not that they +were unhappy in consequence of not liking the work, for they were even +fond of it as a means of getting them drink and tobacco, without the hope +of which they might have been dull or sad, but not unhappy, a term which +implies something like intelligence, if not sentiment. Fitted only for the +humblest parts of the calling--the carrying, the watching, the calling out +when intruders loomed in the distance--they had no envy towards the higher +orders, and being thus free from all care, they could sing or whistle +beneath the burden of a poet without thinking that they desecrated the +profession of the Muses. We might thus liken them to those interlusive +gentry who play the punning parts of a terribly deep tragedy, and who, not +knowing where the pathos lies, as when Hamlet discourses on the skull, are +contented with the duty of shovelling out either soil or song. + +If we were inclined to moralise a little on the condition of such men as +these, if men they can be called, we would hesitate to subscribe to the +old Johnsonian notion that happiness has any relation to the number of +ideas that pass through the mind, if we would not go to the other extreme, +that for aught we know, there may be as much of that kind of thing between +the shells of an oyster as between the ribs of a human being--at least the +question must remain unsettled until we come again in the round of changes +to the doctrine of transmigration of souls. The world is full of the +examples of the meeting of extremes; and if you want one more, just take +that afforded by the fact that these men we have been describing could +carry on their shoulders in a canvas bag a Rothschild or a Byron, and +never think that they were to any degree honoured by the burden. All one +to them--the beautiful young creature who died of a scorned affection, the +shrivelled miser who expired in a clutch of his gold, or the old +gaberlunzie whose puckered lungs could no longer inflate themselves or the +bagpipes which once received so joyfully the superabundant wind. But +seriously, although these things have been, are we entitled to go with the +fatalist, who says that what is, is as it ought to be? Though the wily fox +contrived to get his neighbours to cut off their tails to make them like +himself in his misfortune of being excaudated, is that any reason why +nature should repeal her law and produce therefore tailless foxes? We hope +not. And so also, because science run mad decreed that she should be +served by such men and such acts, in opposition to the first and last +throbbings of the love of kindred, is that any reason why nature should +renounce her right of forming man in the image of God, and with affections +which are to endure through all eternity? But we have even now, when it is +whispered that subjects are again becoming scarce, men of the Christian +faith who speak lightly of the dead human frame as nothing when deprived +of the spirit. This may do for the logic of physics, but we have been led +to believe that the religion we profess is not that of Merry-Andrew or +the "Spune," but a divine intimation that the temple of the soul is not +limited to the time of the earth--yea, that it is something which, _only +changed_, shall rise again and endure for ever. Even this is not adverse +to the claims of science; but as a shade distinguishes homicide and +murder, so does a shade distinguish between science in reverence to God, +and science in desecration of His first and most universal laws. + + + + +Sympathising Sextons, Doctors, and Relatives. + + +All forces are measured by opposition, as, indeed, all the phenomena of +nature are known to us by comparison, and so, in all fairness, we must +estimate the turpitude of the professors and students the more lightly, in +proportion to their freedom from all endearing feelings of recognition or +friendship towards those whose remains came within their studies. The same +metre is due to the class of purveyors, and Heaven knows how much, after +all this abatement, remained at their debit, cognisant as they behoved to +be of the certainty that they were sowing the bitter seeds of misery +throughout the land. But what are we to say of others--doctors in the +country who were privy to the remunerated exhumation of their +patients--sextons who gave the pregnant hint, and then went to sleep in +the expectation of a fee in the morning--nay, of those, and such at that +time were counted among human beings, who bartered their friends and +relatives for a smile of mammon? + +Out of these materials how easy could it be to add so much, and so many +more darker shades to the picture. We have no great wish to lay them on +either thick or thin--the mind will paint for itself, as rises the +contemplation: the family doctor hanging over his patient with +professional sympathy, and perhaps something finer, dreaming the while of +a _post-obit_ fee, in addition to that paid for his skill to cure--the +sexton clapping down the sod over a companion who had often set the table +in a roar, in which the grave official had joined, and meditating a +resurrection through his means in the morning--the relative who had even +got the length of tears, dropping them on the pale face of an old friend, +all the while that he meditated a sale of the body. But it is true that +the annals of the period justified all these grim pictures. Many will +still recollect the young Irish doctor who went in the Square under the +name of the "Captain"--a man of such infinite spirits, always in a flow of +his country's humour, that you could not suppose that there was time or +room in his mind for a little smooth pool to reflect a passing cloud of +sadness. In his native town he drove a great trade for the Edinburgh +halls--his largest contribution being laid on the graveyard of his native +town. And surely, in his case, we would have thought the Chinese system of +paying a doctor, only in the case of recovery, would have been an example +of Irish prudence. Nay, so many were the barrels, with a peculiar species +of _contenu_, he sent by Leith, that it was difficult to avoid the +suspicion that the rollicking son of Erin had a faith in his medicines +stronger than the hope which illumined the faces of his patients. These +barrels of the "Captain" were quite well known, not only to the skippers, +but the porters about the pier, ay, even the carters who made the final +transport; and here, again, mammon was the seducing spirit. It was only +when he came over for his large accumulated payments that he was seen in +the hall, where his jokes and immeasurable laughter might have made those +quiet heads on the tables rise to get a look of their once sympathising +surgeon. Nor, in the consideration of the students, was his laughter +unjustified by his jokes; as once where, pointing to a certain table, he +apostrophised the burden it carried--"Ah, Misthress O'Neil! did I spare +the whisky on you, which you loved so well,--and didn't you lave me a +purty little sum to keep the resurrectionists away from you,--and didn't I +take care of you myself? and by J----s you are there, and don't thank me +for coming over to see you;" or when, in the same brogue, he told them +that, not long before his coming over, he had, for lack of "the thing" in +his own town, taken a car and rode to a neighbouring village, where he +got precisely what he wanted; that, on returning at a rapid rate with his +charge, he met the mother of it with the words in her mouth-- + +"Well, docther, is it all right wid the grave ov poor Pat?" + +"All right, misthress. Didn't I tell you afore there were no +resurrectionists in that quarter?" + +"And you are sure you eximined it complately?" + +"No doubt in the wide earth." + +"Then I may go back, and you'll give me a ride?" + +"Surely, and plaisant," said he; "just get up." + +"And," continued the Captain to the delighted students, "I dhrove the good +lady home agin without breaking a bone of her body, and Pat never said a +word." + +"But," he went on, "if I were to tell you all my Irish work, I would never +get back to my ould country agin." + +"Just another adventure, Captain." + +"Well, then, didn't a purty young girl--and I have hopes of her yet for +myself, for she has money galore--come to me one day in a mighty fit of +grief?" + +"'My poor mother has been rizzt,' said she, as she burst out in the way of +these gentle craturs. + +"'And she has not,' said I--(the more by token that I had the ould lady in +the house.) + +"'I have been at the grave,' said she, 'and I see it has been disturbed.' + +"'And it has not,' said I; 'for wasn't I there this morning before ever a +soul in all the town was stirring? and didn't I leave it all right with my +ould friend?' + +"'But I have seen marks,' said she again; for she was so determined. + +"'And do you think I don't know you have?' said I; 'and didn't I see them, +after I got a spade from the sexton and put on a nate sod or two more to +make the grave dacent and respectable?' + +"'Oh, I'm so glad,' replied she, all of a content. + +"'And you'll be gladder yet, my darling,' said I, as I gave her a kiss. +'Go home and contint yourself, and perhaps, when your mournings are off, +you may consent to make a poor docther happy.' + +"And so she went away, blushing as no one ever saw except in a raal rose." + +And the laugh again sounded through the hall among the dead. + +Whether these stories were true, or merely got up by the extravagant love +of fun in the Captain, it would not be easy to say; but certain it is, +that their being told and responded to in the manner thus described, from +the lips of an ear-witness, shews us the atmosphere of moral feeling that +then obtained in places proudly designated as being dedicated to the +interests of humanity, and from which, too, we could draw the conclusion +that what was gained in the amelioration of physical disease was required +to be debited so largely with the deterioration of morals and a +wide-spread infliction of pain. But even darker deeds were done in +Scotland than those for which the Captain took so gasconading a credit. +From a certain village called S----e, the myrmidons of the Square, and +particularly the "Spune," got more material for the Hall than could have +been expected without a resident sympathiser and participator in the +profits. That zealous correspondent was not the sexton--no, nor the +minister; but he was the minister's brother, and, so far as we can learn, +a member of the profession. Need it be remarked how convenient the +relation between the messenger of heaven and the benefactor of earth--the +physician of souls and the curer of bodies--the man of prayers and the man +of pills--the distributor of the great catholicon and the dispenser of the +small! We can fancy the godly man, we believe all unconscious of the +intentions of his brother, pouring the holy unction of his prayers over +the struggling spirit of the dying Christian, and the doctor counting the +pulses as they died away into that stillness which was to be the prelude +to the payment--five pounds--for the deserted temple. One recording angel +would fly to heaven with a name to be inscribed in the roll of eternal +salvation, and the other to Edinburgh to announce that another body was to +be inserted in the black list of Surgeon's Square. + +Even this was not the culmination of the evil. The head of the +scorpion--society--was to swallow its tail, so that the virtue and the +poison would meet and traverse together the circle. Mammon, through the +medium of the leaders of the purveyors of science, extended his charm to +the hearts of relations and friends, changing the soft glance of love and +pity into the fiery glare of sordid rapacity. Throughout the High Street +and Canongate, and down through the squalid wynds and closes, where, +though crime and misery shake hands over the bottle of whisky, the +death-bed still retains some claims over the affections, and where +religion is sometimes able to extort from the demons of passion the +unwilling tribute of compunction, these strange men prowled in the hope of +finding or making a monster. And in this it is certain that they succeeded +more often than was then suspected, or is even yet known. Their first +inquiry was for death-beds, and the next for evidence of squalid poverty +combined with vice. The subject was approached cautiously where the ground +had all the appearance of being dangerous. If they were met by +deliberation or hesitation, between which and blows there was no space, +their object was secured, as the devil's is, by exposing to the haggard +eye of penury the very form and substance of the bribe. In one case, +reported by Merrylees himself, the bargain was struck in a whisper by the +bed-side of the dying friend. How far the relationship extended in any of +these cases we never could ascertain; and it is only fair to assume, for +the sake of human nature, that in the majority of instances the success +was only over the keepers of stray lodgers, and mere friends, as +distinguished from relatives; but that there were, some where there +behoved to be the yearnings of affection, and a consequent struggle +between love and mammon, there can be no doubt. + +Thus, however difficult or delicate the moral impediments that required to +be overcome, the physical parts of the contract were of easy management. +The coffining was made a little ceremony, performed in presence of some of +the neighbours. There would be tears, no doubt, if not an Irish howl, and +the louder perhaps the greater the bribe; and in the evening a bag of +tanners' bark supplied the place of the friend of the many virtues +discoursed of at the wake. Nor was there less care taken in carrying this +box of bark to the Canongate burying-ground than was displayed by +"Merry-Andrew" in conveying the _surrogatum_ to Surgeon's Square; but, of +course, there would be a difference in the speed of the respective +bearers. Taking all these details into account, we can scarcely deny that +these men wrought harder for their money than if they had pursued a +regular calling. But, then, they liked it. Even after the bargain for the +living invalid was struck, how many anxious watchings at a wynd-end were +to exhaust the weary hours before the spirit took wing from the sold body! +The gaunt figure of Merrylees, as he jerked his lank muscles and threw +his face into the old contortions, might be seen there, but none would +know what this meant. + +One night, a student who saw him standing at a close-end, and suspected +that his friend was watching his prey, whispered in his ear, "She's dead," +and, aided by the darkness, escaped. In a moment after, "Merry-Andrew" +shot down the wynd, and, opening the door, pushed his lugubrious face into +a house. + +"It's a' owre I hear," said he, in a loud whisper; "and when will we come +for the body?" + +"Whisht, ye mongrel," replied the old harridan who acted as nurse; "she's +as lively as a cricket." + +A statement which, though whispered in the unction of secresy, and with +most evident sincerity, Merrylees doubted, under a suspicion that the +woman's conscience had come between her and the love of money; and, +jerking himself forward to the bed, he threw the shadow of his revolting +countenance over the face of the terrified invalid, enough of itself to +have sent the hovering spirit to its destination, whether above or below. +Not a word was spoken by the victim. She had heard enough to rouse terror +sufficient to deprive her of speech, if not of breath; and all that the +ogre witnessed was the pair of eyes lighted up with the parting rays of +the fluttering spirit, and peering mysteriously as if into his very soul. + +But then, as it happened, "Merry-Andrew" had only a body, and this look, +more like as it was to a phosphoric gleam than the light of the living +spirit, fell blank. Enough for him that she was not yet dead; and, taking +one of his springing steps, he was out of the room, forcing his way up the +wynd, to seek, and, if possible, to wreak a most imprudent vengeance on +the larking prig who had put his long muscles to such unfruitful exercise. +Meanwhile, the young rogue had waited for the butt, to see some more of +his picturesque spasms; nor was he disappointed, for the moment Merrylees +cast his eye on him, he tossed up his hands, and, with a shout which might +have been taken by one who did not know him, or even by one who did, as an +indication either of intense fun or fiery anger, made after him at the +rate of his long strides. The student, of course, escaped, and Merrylees, +convinced that the invalid was not so near her end as he wished, went +growling home to bed. + +But this tragedy, with its ephialtic forms reflecting these coruscations +of grim comedy, did not end here. The old invalid, no doubt hastened by +what she had witnessed, died on the following night; and on that after the +next succeeding, when he had reason to expect that she would be +conveniently placed in that white fir receptacle that has a shape so +peculiarly its own, and not deemed by him so artistic as that of a bag or +a box, Merrylees, accompanied by the "Spune," entered the dead room with +the sackful of bark. To their astonishment, and what Merrylees even called +disgusting to an honourable mind, the old wretch had scruples. + +"A light has come doon upon me frae heaven," she said, "and I canna." + +"Light frae heaven!" said Merrylees indignantly. "Will that shew the +doctors how to cut a cancer out o' ye, ye auld fule? But we'll sune put +out that light," he whispered to his companion. "Awa' and bring in a +half-mutchkin." + +"Ay," replied the "Spune," as he got hold of a bottle, "we are only +obeying the will o' God. 'Man's infirmities shall verily be cured by the +light o' His wisdom.' I forget the text." + +And the "Spune," proud of his biblical learning, went upon his mission. He +was back in a few minutes; for where in Scotland is whisky not easily got? + +Then Merrylees, (as he used to tell the story to some of the students, to +which we cannot be expected to be strictly true as regards every act or +word,) filling out a glass, handed it to the wavering witch. + +"Tak' ye that," he said, "and it will drive the deevil out o' ye." + +And finding that she easily complied, he filled out another, which went in +the same direction with no less relish. + +"And noo," said he, as he saw her scruples melting in the liquid fire, +and took out a pound-note, which he held between her face and the candle, +"look through that, ye auld deevil, and ye'll see some o' the real light +o' heaven that will mak' your cats' een reel." + +"But that's only ane," said the now-wavering merchant, "and ye ken ye +promised three." + +"And here they are," replied he, as he held before her the money to the +amount of which she had only had an experience in her dreams, and which +reduced her staggering reason to a vestige. + +"Weel," she at length said, "ye may tak' her." + +And all things thus bade fair for the completion of the barter, when the +men, and scarcely less the woman, were startled by a knock at the door, +which having been opened, to the dismay of the purchasers there entered a +person, dressed in a loose great-coat, with a broad bonnet on his head, +and a thick cravat round his throat, so broad as to conceal a part of his +face. + +"Mrs Wilson is dead?" said the stranger, as he approached the bed. + +"Ay," replied the woman, from whom even the whisky could not keep off an +ague of fear. + +"I am her nephew," continued the stranger, "and I am come to pay the last +duties of affection to one who was kind to me when I was a boy. Can I see +her?" + +"Ay," said the woman; "she's no screwed doon yet." + +Enough for "Merry-Andrew" and the "Spune." They were off, and up the wynd +in a moment, followed by the stranger, who, for some reason that has not +in the story yet appeared, gave them chase, only so much as to terrify +them into a flight, but without being carried so far as to insure a +seizure, which he did not seem inclined to achieve. Nor did he return to +bury Mrs Wilson--a strange mystery to the unnatural nurse, who, however, +did not lose all, for the three pounds had been left on the table, and +were quickly appropriated without the least consideration. + +The story next day went the round of the hall; and it was not until the +woman was buried, that Merrylees and his friend were made aware that the +same student who had played the principal performer at the head of the +wynd was the stranger in a very well-assorted disguise. + + + + +Preying on each other + + +We are surprised when we find a man turn wicked all of a sudden, and +seldom think that we are simply drawing a false conclusion, insomuch as +the suddenness of the supposed change is a mere jump of development,--the +consequence of a long train, dating perhaps from infancy. So true is it, +that the increase of depravity is the progression of degrees, all +according to that law of nature whereby God wills to act by the regular +process of cause and effect, each change helping another, till matters +come to a burst, when the often-split powers take new directions, to begin +in new courses, and go on increasing as before. We have already seen the +demon mammon obeying the law of increased power, spreading from a centre +in Surgeon's Square among the people, and trying heart after heart, even +to that core where he battled successfully with affections which God seems +to have consecrated to Himself. Yes; and the demon was to go farther and +farther,--even beyond the stage where we are sure to find him,--contesting +even the breasts of the regular traders, the very centres of their +natural affinities. + +We have already noticed the use to which "Merry-Andrew" put that +brown-black suit of his, the white neckcloth, the haggard cheeks, and the +tears,--all so often the stage property in the melodrama of life, and as +easily put off as the personation of the character, unless kept on by the +adhesive effect of a good legacy. But as every man is once or twice in his +life doomed to experience in reality that which he falsifies in theory, so +our mourner over those he had never seen before was on one occasion, at +least, placed in a position where it might have been expected he would +experience something like a qualm about the thing which was in form, if +not in consistency, a heart. It seems that Merrylees had a sister in +Penicuik, with whom he had been brought up, and towards whom, before he +had experienced the hardening process of mammon's manipulations, he had +entertained something like affection. That sister happened to die; and, on +a certain day, Merrylees appeared in the Square once more in the old suit +which had so faithfully repaid its original cost twenty times over. He had +sense enough--and the reason thereof may appear, on a little consideration +of the character of his compeers--to keep the circumstance of the death to +himself; and, accordingly, when the apparition appeared in the ominous +suit, they anticipated another descent of grief upon the Infirmary. + +This suspicion very soon passed away, for not only was there no sign of +that puckering up of the lank muscles, not deserving the name of a look of +vivacity, which preceded his lugubrious personation in the hospital, but +the day passed without any aid being asked from the others to help to +carry, or rather run, with the white coffin. The methodist "Spune" was the +first to divine the real cause of the chief's melancholy; and whether it +was, as was said,--for we are not certain of the fact,--that the two had +had a quarrel some time before about the division of spoil, it was certain +that the worsted competitor began to entertain some very dark thoughts +about a visit to Penicuik church-yard, whereby he could not only +remunerate himself in the shape of money, but achieve one of the most +curious revenges that ever were enjoyed since Nemesis began to have her +fiery eyes. So, taking Mowat to a side of the Square, the "Spune" began to +look mysteriously into his face--a most unnecessary process, where there +never was any change of expression since first nature squeezed the clay +into solidity. + +"I suspect Merrylees' sister's dead at last," said he; "isn't she as good +as another?" + +"Nae difference," was the answer, without any surprise. + +"Yes, ye fule, some; and you're so stupid you don't see it." + +"I can see nane,--a' is alike to me; ae worm's as gude's anither to the +'Moudiewart.'" + +"Ay, but if a worm had bitten ye, man, wouldn't you squeeze it the +harder?" + +"Maybe." + +"And have you forgotten the ten shillings in Blackfriars' Wynd?" + +"I'll tak it oot o' his blude," was the surly reply. + +"And why not out of his sister's?" said the "Spune," with another dark +look as unnecessary as the former. + +"Just as sune,--a' ane." + +"And," continued the tempter, where no temptation was necessary, "I know +where she lies, just in the southeast angle, where he told me his father +was laid." + +"Why no him?" replied Mowat; "a' ane." + +"Rotten ten years ago, you idiot," said the other, getting impatient. + +"Weel, the fresh ane then." + +"Now you are sensible," continued the friendly counsellor; "we might have +her here in the morning, with five pounds each in our pockets, and a laugh +in our sleeves at Merrylees." + +"I never saw you laugh," said Mowat, in perfect innocence. + +"No more you did, nor any other person, 'cause its always in the sleeve. +Doesn't do to laugh about these things--they're scientific." + +"Umph! dinna understand that; but I'm ready when you like." + +"That's right," replied the gratified "Spune." "Have Cameron's donkey and +cart at the south end of Newington by ten o'clock. It's moonlight, I +think." + +"Dinna ken, but it's a' ane. I'll be there; but, mind, you stand the +whisky this time." + +And so (having indulged, perhaps, in our own way of putting this +conversation--the _contenu_ being the same) the important enterprise was +arranged with that zest on the part of the grave and precise principal +which results from secrecy; for it was impossible to suppose that +Merrylees could suspect that even they were capable of preying on their +fellow-labourer, and robbing the nest of any affections that might hang +about it. + +At the appointed time the "Moudiewart" was at his post with the little +cuddy and the cart, where he was soon joined by his friend. Away they +went,--Mowat driving, and the "Spune" lying extended in the vehicle, in +utter disregard of the poor animal, not much larger than himself. With +such an object before them, comprehending within the success of its +acquisition the gratification of two of the strongest passions of degraded +man, and no sensibility to admit of the feeling of a reaction in the +quietness of the road and the increasing stillness of the hour, with, in +addition, an auspicious moon, in whose face they could look only as a +light-giving thing that makes gnomes out of head-stones, they might have +been supposed to be merry. But no, there were no salient points in their +natures from which could spring even that mirth which rides on the back of +horrors. Mutely they drove along, with no sounds to break the silence, +save the patter of the donkey's feet and the turns of the wheels. Very +different this silent progress from those expeditions in which Merrylees +formed a part, and where, if there was necessarily absent everything like +the rational discourse of human beings, there was yet something to relieve +the monotony in the shout after draining off a glass, the muscular +contortions, and the _bizarres étourderies_ of their strange friend. It +was the caravan without the fool, and even he, as a son of Momus and +Angerona, or some such mongrels, was a droll against his will. Sad fate to +him who, even in his efforts not to be the cause of mirth in others, could +himself become the butt of those whom, not more stupid, he could, in his +self-protection, afford to despise. But Merrylees had at length fallen +among his enemies, and must abide the issue of a terrible revenge. + +By about the hour of half-past twelve they had reached a part of the road +where, by the convenience of a slap, they could leave their equipage, with +the donkey's neck fixed to a post, and his head within reach of some +tempting provender. All this arranged to their satisfaction, they searched +about for stray loungers, none of whom could be espied,--so straight they +went to their destined work. As familiar with the burying-ground as they +were with their own squalid dwellings, they were soon among the green +hillocks, few of which, as they saw by the light of the moon, which came +upon them in fitful gleams, making all these sombre things more like the +productions of _feerie_ than of honest nature, held out any temptations to +these lovers of new sod. But at length the "Spune" stopped at an elevation +more recent than any around it. + +"This is the grave of Merrylees' father anyhow," said the superior. + +"Then out with him," said the stolid Mowat. + +"Still the idiot," said the other. "Did I not tell you last night he's +gone into powder ten years ago, and that it's the sister we're after?" + +"Then out wi' her," was the sulky reply. + +Nor did the "Spune" need the stimulus of the stolid. He began straight the +work,--difficult and arduous to all but such adepts,--puffing, and drawing +wind to puff again. + +"Hush!" said Mowat. "I heard a noise." + +And the "Spune," who after all was a great coward, stood motionless to +listen, but all was so still, even as the dead that lay around, that even +the breathing of the men sounded like strong whispers. Then away wrought +the reassured again, and anon the screwing, the jerking, the pulling, till +at last came the final pull, shewing, in the passing beam, the long white +shroud, with what it enveloped, extended on the green turf. At that moment +the whole area rang with a shout, something between a roar and a yelp, and +looking round they saw, behind a low head-stone, a tall figure in white +(of course), with its long arms tossed up as with a sudden fling. The +apparition was appalling even to men who had no more faith in ghosts than +they had in souls; and just as another toss announced the coming shout, +they took to flight, staggering as they flew over the numerous +inequalities, but making more speed under the spur of terror than ever +they had done under that of mammon. They were gone. + +And now the apparition, after making some more strange movements, +proceeded to take off a white sheet, which he deliberately stuck into the +bottom of a coarse bag. Two or three giant steps brought him to the +spoiled place of rest. + +"And you're there, Sarah Merrylees?" he said, in a voice sufficiently +hollow for the part he had so recently assumed. "The 'Spune' is without +its porridge this time; and shall not man live on the fruit of the earth?" + +And one might have fancied there was a chuckle, as if the creature had +been satisfied with its own fun. But now came the part of this tragedy +which will for certain be scouted as the work of fiction, but which as +certainly made a part of the story. Merrylees,--for it was he, who, +having met David Cameron of the West Port on the previous night, had +learned the intention of his friends to visit Penicuik, and thereby came +to the conclusion that his presence there would be useful,--then took out +a rope, and, having gone through a process at which he was very expert, he +was soon standing by the side of the wall under his burden of Sarah +Merrylees. Nor was it long till he reached the high road, where, keeping +by the dark side of the hedge, he intended to proceed to a convenient spot +where he might leave his load till he could contrive to bring a +conveyance. He had not proceeded far when he heard the roll of the cart, +and saw his two friends alongside of it. There was no time to throw away +over the head of such an opportunity. So, depositing his burden at the +foot of the hedge, close by his side, he ran forward as far as was safe, +crying out, "Stop the robbers!"--_Nestor Graecos objurgavit_; whereupon +the terrified "Spune," with the white apparition still in his mind's eye, +fled with renewed precipitation, closely followed by Mowat, and leaving +David Cameron's cart with the donkey to whatever fate might overtake it. +The coast being thus once more clear, and being well satisfied that his +friends were too cowardly to return, he ran forward and stopped the +donkey; then returning for his burden, he carried it to the cart, wherein +he deposited it. A long sauntering journey brought him to town, where, +after going through many manoeuvres, he at last contrived to lodge his +capture in the hall of the Square. + +This terrible story--which, we may add, was a favourite among the +students--was told by Merrylees, so far as pertained to him, as altogether +applicable to another body, whereby he afforded proof that there is no +hardness of heart to which man can attain that is utterly exclusive of a +spot where some permeating feeling still supplies the issues of shame. +About his part of it the "Spune" had small compunction; but, to confess +the truth, it was not till we knew what occurred afterwards that we could +bring ourselves to believe that it was possible for it to be true. + +To those who know human nature, in the only proper way in which it can be +known, it is scarcely necessary to say that we are always under the +influence of that error which induces us to estimate the feelings of +others by our own. But there is something about these judgments of others +even more fallacious, in so far as it almost amounts to an impossibility +that we can, through a feeling present, fancy the total absence of it in +others. Unable to attain to a negative except in relation to the positive, +through which it is thought to be seen, we must either project in some way +the matter of our thoughts and feeling into the supposed non-existent, or +not think at all. If we could suppose a total death of the affections in +a brother as easily as the overwhelming domination of money, we would not +deny credit to this most wonderful story; but there lies the difficulty, +and you must get out of it the best way you can. Even if you don't succumb +in despair, you are far still from the Court of Cacus, so soon to be +opened to you by a pen, even as hell was opened to Virgil by the golden +_ramus_. + + + + +Resumption of the Great Drama. + + +The man whom, in our first chapter, we described as a neophyte, left the +students with his bashfulness, if we can so call it, supplied by +confidence. The power which we have already seen making such havoc among +feelings and affections deemed all but ineradicable, had produced the +first thrill in a heart long since dead to the pulses of pity. We may say +so much, that his life, prior to this day--when there opened to him a +vista through which he could see, amidst moving furies, the illuminated +figure of mammon, with the means of getting money without hard labour--had +been little else all through than a wrestle with poverty, often +degenerating into squalid misery; and we may thus estimate the state of +his mind, under the new-born hope of what, to such a man, might have the +appearance of a small fortune. + +But even with the view which the information given him by the students +opened up of a new means of making money, we are not entitled to suppose +that, as he that night directed his steps to the Cowgate with the +intention of reaching the lodgings which he occupied in the West Port, he +had any prevision of the extent to which this new pursuit would lead him. +His expectations could only, as yet, be limited to the acquisition _in +some way_ of those objects required in the halls of the Square, and the +value of which had previously come to his ears through the medium of that +under-current of whispers to which the exploits of Merrylees, and the +others then in the full progress of their career, had given impulse and +meaning. Sure it was, at any rate, that he was utterly unconscious that he +was permitted to be an agent, selected after due care by the devil, to +push and force those passions by which a Christian country, with a name +renowned throughout the world for virtue, had been scourged and scathed to +a climax. Far less could he foresee the means--to our obscure vision of +the ways of Providence--so out of proportion to the evils (already set +forth by us) which they remedied, if not put an end to. So it has been +said. But by what right do we make out that want of proportion? We know +pretty nearly the amount of evil subsequently perpetrated by William +Burke,--name of fear, and which even yet only passes in a whisper,--but we +do not know (for all we have said is only an inkling,) and never will +know, the amount of that other evil which his deeds were to be the means +of bringing to an end. The cry had for years gone up to the great white +throne of the outraged feelings of a Christian nation. There was only the +exception of those who appealed to the pride of science, and man's natural +love of life and a sound living body. Meanwhile, those in power, to whom +Heaven had accorded the means of reconciliation, looked on with apathy, at +least without interest,--an observation which may lead us to the thought +that there was less of profanity than is generally supposed in the +suggestion which some have ventured, and some have approved, that this man +had a mission, yea, that the devil was permitted to tempt him to commit +deeds which would rouse the country to seek a remedy sufficient to stop +the violation of natural feelings, and at the same time provide for the +claims of science. + +So, with the sordid thoughts suited to his mission, he trudged along, +looking about for some one he expected to see; and by and by there came +from behind, and joined him, an individual, in the shape of a spare +wretch, gruesome and goulish, of moderate height, with a cadaverous face, +in which were set, in the most whimsical manner, two gray eyes, so far +apart that it did not seem possible for him to look at you with both at +the same time. There was in these oblique orbs, too, a leer which seemed +to be the normal and unchangeable expression of a mind which not only +disregarded the humanities and rights of his species, but mocked and +laughed at them. Most creatures, even the wickedest, are at times +surprised into moments of _bonhommie_. Nature seems to demand this as a +kind of rest to the spirit, as if evil were a disturbance, which, to be +sure, it generally is; but the malignity of this wonderful being was so +thorough-going, smooth, and natural, that even what he might intend for a +bastard kind of love or friendship was only a modification of his +diabolism, so that his smile was merely a relaxation of his congenital +enmity towards all that was good and beautiful in nature. This man was +William Hare,--a name which, not less than that of William Burke, will +ever be as an apparition to the retina of the ear of mankind. + +The forgathering of these men was followed instantly, but secretly, as if +they feared the chances of a whisper having a collateral fall, by the +reciprocation of confidences, in which, as a matter of course, was +included the success of the visitor to the Square, and over the face of +the listener there came merely a stronger phase of the ordinary expression +of the malign pleasure which less or more always played in those divergent +eyes. But these conferences cannot be understood without a knowledge of +what had taken place in the latter's house in Tanners' Close, to which +they were loungingly directing their steps, and where the former lodged. +And many others lodged there too, for it was one of those low +caravanseries or lodging-houses which are as well the refuge of trampers, +who would pass there a night, as of more permanent residenters, who, +deprived of a home by vagabondism, earned a desultory livelihood as +chance carriers or troggan-mongers, fish-hawkers, or peripatetic dealers +in small wares. Sometimes a lodger a little above these classes would find +his account in the cheap refuge, and three days before that night a tall +man, a pensioner, who ordinarily went by the name of Donald, had died, a +short time only before his pension became due. To that pension the master +of the establishment had looked forward as the means of being reimbursed +for several months' rent and advances, amounting to somewhere about £4. +This loss rankled in the mind of Hare, for though Donald was not without +some poor friends who would see him decently buried, they were without the +means, as well perhaps the will, to pay a debt for the justice of which +the bad character of the creditor could be no guarantee. + +And here we have the best evidence, that even on that day when Donald +died, and up to the morning of the funeral, and eight or ten hours +previous to this forgathering in the Cowgate, no thought had crossed the +mind of either of these men of taking the debt out of the body of the +pensioner. Allowing for all discrepancies as to the time when the tongue +of one of them gave expression to the dark purpose, it is clear that the +communication would not, on the supposition of the thought having been +slumbering in the mind, have been delayed till the morning of the funeral, +nor even to the hour of bringing in the coffin. No doubt they had been +both aware that such things had been done, and were being done, in +Edinburgh at that time, and the temptation had crossed them, not without +being accepted by their sordidness. The intention and the thought sprang +up together, and, by all accounts, it was the mind of Hare that produced +the birth; but the exclusiveness of the _credit_ was just so much the less +in proportion to the readiness by which it was on the instant adopted and +cherished by his friend. You may here mark an analogy, which it might be +of pregnant interest for all men, and women too, to ponder, as a _little_ +sermon, and not the less that this entire history is a _big_ one:--The +tiny seed will lie in the ground for years, and though the soil may be +known to be congenial in the wealth of rottenness, it will not spring to +the expectation of the gardener. It may be tossed over and over, and +hither and thither for years, and appear above ground, shooting resolutely +its stem, when not only not looked for, but against all expectation. So it +is with the mind and its germs. The small shoot of an invention takes its +start from an agreement of circumstances unknown to us, and grows and +grows into branching horrors; nay, every branch, and leaflet, and +poisonous calyx has its secondary origin in a germ as mysteriously +stimulated as the one that lay so long perhaps in the earth. And what +then? Why, just this--that our practical philosophy is ever vexing itself +by tugging at the cords of Calvinism. Why and how did this thought arise +in the mind of Hare? Because he was a wicked man. And why was he a wicked +man? The old story of the scroll, whereon were marked in fire the names of +the reprobates. But reject it, and say that he made himself a wicked man. +Try that process upon yourself, if you happen to be a good one, or the +opposite, if you happen to be bad, and see how you will succeed by such +decree of your own. + +The proposition was thus made that the body of the stalwart Donald should +be sold to the doctors, and at once agreed to by the listener, only with +the scruple that there was no time between the period of their +conversation and the funeral to get all matters arranged--a sorry +objection from such a man, and so accordingly made small account of by +either. And so they straightway set about getting the bag of tanner's +bark--a circumstance which shews us that the practices of Merry-Andrew and +his brethren had reached their ears. Nor are we to have the smallest +hesitation in assuming that Helen M'Dougal, with whom Burke lived in +concubinage, and Hare's wife--the two females in the house--joined to form +that quatern destined to the orgies of the Court of Cacus. The bag of bark +was speedily procured, the body of Donald hauled out of the coffin and +deposited on a bed, the bark was put in, the lid screwed down, and all +made decent and fair for the bearers. When the vice has fructified into an +act, how easy is the tribute paid to virtue! And so these men, according +to the normal course, joined with long faces the train of the mourners, +among whom--though some of them who loved the jolly old pensioner had +tears in their eyes--they could hold up, or rather down, their faces as +mournfully as the best. + +The interlude of this play of the forenoon, and the melodrama of the +night, consisted in the appearance of Burke in the hall in Surgeons' +Square, and having forgathered in the Cowgate in the manner we have set +forth, the two friends, bound together by prior confidences, of which no +man ever knew the extent or nature, pursued their way to Tanners' Close, +where they were welcomed by the women with the remainder of the whisky got +for the funeral. The offering was to nerve them for the work in which they +were merely apprentices; nor was the offering given and participated in +less cheerfully by the women themselves, that they had both applied the +soft hand of feminine attentions to the gallant pensioner,--even hung over +his squalid couch tenderly, and wet his dry lips, and all the more, +surely, that he had been a soldier, had seen and mixed in battles in his +day, and therefore deserved something better than a bag for a winding +sheet, and the knife of the anatomist coming after, at so long a distance, +the bayonet of the enemy. Such gilt, which shews itself everywhere as +society gets more civilised, is easily rubbed off; and with the knowledge +of these tender nurses, the two men proceeded to their work, which, +coarse as it was, was easily executed. The bag was filled and hoisted on +the shoulders of Burke, who carried it in the dark as far as Bristo Port, +where Hare, as a relay, took up the burden. So well known along the +Grassmarket and Cowgate, where their figures might have excited attention, +they took then the round-about way of College Street, and, getting to the +Square, they felt some of that hesitation--shall we call it +bashfulness?--which Burke had betrayed at his prior visit. They +accordingly placed their load at the door of a cellar in the lower part of +the buildings, and mounting to the room where one of them had been before, +encountered the same three young assistants still engaged in their ardent +work. + +"Bring it up," was the reply of more than one, when they had heard the +words of the merchants, as they hung fire in their mouths and tongues. Up +soon _it_ was, and drawn out and laid upon the table in the winding-sheet. +Yes, a piece of delicacy that which was soon to be dispensed with as +extravagant and unnecessary. And the covering partially drawn off, there +is that rapid and curious, yet never perfectly composed, scanning of the +eyes of even old students, but with no recoil on the part of the sellers, +who had sat and drank with the old soldier, and heard his stories of +Peninsular battles, and laughed at his jokes. Not the less racy these, +that he thought his companions kind and jolly souls--how far away from +the intention of selling his body for gold he never imagined, for the idea +could not have entered the mind of Suspicion herself, if there be any such +goddess in the mythology of poets. But all such reminiscences, if they +threatened to force an entry into the minds of these men, were quickly +sent back to the limbo of obliviousness by the obdurate mammon. + +By and by, and after the exit of one of the students, there came in the +monoculus himself, Knox, and the covering was altogether withdrawn. It +seemed to him a fair mercantable commodity. That is, it was not too old +for any of the valuable tissues,--in the midst of which lay the secrets +these students were so anxious to reveal, not for the purpose of filling +their pockets in after-times, but for the benefit of mankind,--to have +been dissolved or injured. Seven pounds ten shillings is pronounced as the +price of the body of the veteran. A shadow passed over the faces of the +sellers; the sum did not come up to the hopes inspired by the reports +which had oozed out of the earnings of the Merry-Andrews and the "Spunes." +Yet the sum, to these wretched earners of pennies for vagrants' beds and +cobbled shoes, was a _coup_ of mammon sufficient to have made their +hardened hearts clatter upon their ribs, and scare away the last trace of +humanity inspired by the lips of a mother, kept otherwise, and up to this +time, unscathed by the temptations of the devil. But they could not refuse +the sum,--that is, they had not yet hardihood to chaffer; and, the money +being paid, they were on the eve of departing, when they were told that +they would be made welcome again, if they came with an equally good +recommendation. And as they went, they did not forget the shirt. + +So, with the first spoil in his pocket--for Burke was the foremost man, +and got the money--he and his friend betook themselves to Tanners' Close, +keeping, no doubt, in remembrance, the words of the students, that they +would be welcome again. Nor can we have any doubt that when they arrived +at home, after a day of such novel and ingenious, and, we may surely add, +triumphant performance, they would celebrate, with the women, in an orgie +debauch of hours, this great event of a new birth of hope, the realisation +of which would elevate them even to an upper caste among the humble +inhabitants of Portsburgh. But even they themselves did not know what +progeny would come of this cockatrice's egg, laid in the dark corner of +the habitation of sin. Our story would not have carried that moral, which +is the eternal burden of all histories of crime, if the thought of murder +had come to them without that prelusive conciliation, under the condition +of which the devil is permitted to arrive at his greatest achievements. + +Much, even at this early stage, was made of the conduct of Knox and his +assistants, but, we think, with little justice to these men. Why did they +not ask those dark and suspicious-looking ruffians, who did not belong to +their regular staff, where they got the object thus brought to them? The +answer appears to be satisfactory, whatever might be thought of their +subsequent defence and explanations. There was nothing here to excite +suspicion, except, as it was said, the absence of certain marks often made +by resurrectionists in their process of working, but the exception went +for nothing in the face of an assertion that such marks are seldom to be +seen; and then, as for the asserted naturalness--if we may use the +expression of an inquiry of such a kind--it was said, and may be repeated, +that that which appears to be natural is not always expedient. We are here +to keep in view that the medical men were aware that they were dealing in +smuggled goods, the participation on their part being, as they conceived, +justified by the necessities of their profession; and when was it ever +known that the dealer with a smuggler questioned him as to the whereabouts +and the manner of his contravention of the laws? It does not need even to +be remarked, that to discourage is not the best way to lay the foundation +of a new bargain; nay, there was weight in the observation, that the +prudent avoidance of such interrogation had become a habit, and though +they were perfectly aware that bodies had been brought to them which had +never been in graves, and, consequently, that there existed a practice of +sale and purchase between the men devoted to this profession, and the +friends or distant relatives of the dead, they still considered that all +such cases were covered by the claims of science, whereby society got +returned to it, in the shape of an increased knowledge and skill of cure, +that which had been taken from it against the sanction of human +affections. Then it was admitted, even by the "howlers," that never, up to +this time, had there been offered a body which could be said to have borne +marks of violence; and if the minds of at least these generous and +well-bred youths never entertained a suspicion of murder, the fact might +more properly have been adduced as honourable to their estimate of +mankind, than as an objection to their want of guard against an evil which +had not yet appeared in the world, and which was to become, unhappily, in +good old Scotland, a new species of crime. + + + + +The Quaternion. + + +We suspect there is scarcely a life of a great man, whether he has been +great for good or for evil, in which you will not find passages that are +analogous to some things in your own. As with the physical monsters, +described by such men as Dr Denham, in which there is always a natural +foundation out of which grow the amorphous excrescences which we call +monstrosities, so in the moral there is always something that pertains to +the natural, insomuch that we may say, that the abnormal beings who go by +the name of monsters are, as respects their unenvied peculiarity, the +result of a twist in the development of what was intended to be according +to the ordinary rule. The observation may serve as a _cave diabolum_ even +to those who think they are for certain out of the reprobatory decrees. + +William Burke was born in the parish of Orrey, county of Tyrone, Ireland, +in the spring of 1792. When at school, he was distinguished as an apt +scholar, and was, besides, cleanly and active in his habits. Though bred a +Catholic, he was taken when very young into the service of a Presbyterian +minister, a circumstance which may explain the religious tendencies he +subsequently exhibited; but even at this early period, he began to shew +signs of that versatility of purpose which, leading sometimes to success, +more often ends in vagabondism. Having left the minister to try the trade +of a baker, he renounced that for the occupation of a weaver; and from +that he enlisted in the Donegal militia. Yet in the midst of these changes +he observed so much moral regularity that he was selected by one of the +officers as his servant. While thus employed he married a young woman in +Ballinha; and after seven years he returned to live with her, on the +disbanding of the regiment. Still with a fair character, he then became +the servant to a neighbouring gentleman, with whom he lived three years. +Meanwhile he had a family by his wife; and having taken it into his head +that he would be able to maintain them by getting a sub-lease of a piece +of ground from his father-in-law, who was himself a tenant, he insisted +for this right, which was refused, and the quarrel which ensued sent him +to Scotland. Still, however, even in his advanced manhood, without any +other stain than an imputed infidelity to his wife, we are assured, at +least, that as yet he had shewn no indications of what may be termed +cruelty even by the fastidious, if it was not that he bore the reputation +of mildness approaching to softness. + +Yet he came to Scotland with this blot on his soul, and it was soon +deepened, when, having gone to work as a labourer on the Union Canal, he +fell in, at Meddiston, with Helen M'Dougal, a comely, if not good-looking, +young widow, then residing there after the death of her husband. It has +been always said that this was an affair of love, at least it ended in a +connexion so close that they resolved to live together. + +It would appear that the connexion thus formed having been communicated to +his priest, he was admonished, and recommended to return to his wife; and +a consequence of his refusal was the ordinary excommunication. Yet he +continued to have religious fits, during the continuance of which he +avoided the chapel, from the terrors of the anathema. We trace him +afterwards, as he returned with his paramour to Edinburgh, where he fell, +as the consequence of his continued versatility, into peripatetic pedlery, +buying and vending old clothes, skins of animals, human hair, and other +small articles and wares. Nor did he stick by this, soon betaking himself +to cobbling, for which, in a rude way, he discovered that he had a turn, +though he had never been taught the craft; and by purchasing old shoes and +boots, to which he applied his art, and getting M'Dougal to hawk them, he +contrived to realise fifteen or twenty shillings a-week. At this time he +was a lodger in "_The Beggars' Hotel_," kept by the well-known Mikey +Culzean,--an establishment which had a famous termination, when, being +one day burned to the ground, there came forth, driven by the flames, such +a swarm of beggars, halt and blind, that their congregation seemed as +difficult to account for as the assemblage of a colony of rats. Among them +appeared Burke and M'Dougal; but there were left behind in the fire the +library of the cobbler, consisting of Ambrose's "Looking unto Jesus," +Boston's "Fourfold State," "The Pilgrim's Progress," and Booth's "Reign of +Grace." Once more he became a lodger with Mikey, who took up a new hotel +in Brown's Close, Grassmarket. + +That the man, originally neither cruel nor profane, was not yet, like +Balaam, left to his idol, would appear from his continued religious +exercises. The grace of the Lord tracks the devil in his darkest caves. In +the next house the candle of salvation burned, and even cast its light +into the thick atmosphere of the surrounding dens. Thither Burke repaired, +and joined, with apparent seriousness, in the exercise of devotion; nor +did he fail to tax the incurable Mikey with profanity, when that notorious +lover of a joke, even at the expense of divine things, thrust his head +through the papered partition, and cried out, to the dismay of the +devotees, "The performance is just going to begin." In all this there +seemed to be no hypocrisy, because there was no use to which he tried to +turn it; and then his conversations on the subject of the service, which, +after the company dispersed, he had with the man in whose house the +meetings were held, seemed to be too secret for the displays of the mere +dissembler. + +Other traits conspired to shew the nature of the man, before the +temptations of the idol changed it. Kind and serviceable, inoffensive and +playful, he was industrious as well, and seldom inclined for drink. Fond +of singing and playing on the flute, he sought, in his melancholy moods, +the solace of plaintive airs. All which qualities were combined with a +jocular and quizzical turn, which, displaying a fund of low humour, made +him a favourite. Some anecdotes are given in illustration,--as where, one +day, when he heard a salt-wife bawling out, "Wha'll buy salt?" he replied, +"Upon my word, I doun't know; but if you ask that woman gaping at the door +opposite, perhaps she may inform you;" or where, on another, when, having +been abused by a painted Jezebel on the High Street, he tried to shame her +by an accusation: "I might have passed over the painting," said he, "if it +had been properly done, but it's shameful to come to the street bedaubed +in that unskilful way,"--an objurgation which was applauded by the +bystanders. + +Yet, withal, there were deductions to be made from such favourable +accounts, inducing the conviction that there is small faith due to drawn +characters, where, perhaps, the potentialities may have been asleep, only +awaiting the touch of the demon. But is not this less or more the case +with all of us? if it be not metaphysically true that every unregenerated +man has his price,--that is, every such man has a sacrifice of moral +principle to sell, if a price and a purchaser can be found to his liking. +What a million of money will not purchase, may be bought by the smile or +tear of a woman. The paradox cannot be disproved, because the +eventualities of temptation cannot be exhausted in any one man's life. +This man, though appearing to have kindly feelings, could be cruel to the +woman who, whatever her faults, had followed him in all his wanderings and +misery; but then, of course, there was _the occasion_, as where, having +roused her jealousy by attentions to a young woman who was related to her, +he, in return for her complaints, almost murdered her. The story current +at the time was, that the three having slept in the same bed, the quarrel +began between the two women, who, betaking themselves to the floor, +entered into a battle. So long as the conflict was maintained on nearly +equal terms, the man contented himself with witnessing it; but when the +elder virago was likely to master the young one, he rose out of bed, and +interfered in behalf of the latter. His interference soon turned the +scale; and he inflicted an unmerciful punishment upon his partner. Then +came the neighbours, who found M'Dougal extended upon the floor apparently +lifeless, with the man standing by, and contemplating. After some time she +exhibited signs of life, when again seizing her by the hair, he cried, +"There is life in her yet!" and dashed her head violently on the floor. +By this time the police were attracted by the noise, who, upon asking +Burke whether the woman was his wife, got the reply in a mild, if not +insinuating tone, "Yes, gentlemen, she is my wife." + +We thus get to one of the secrets of this man's character. The passions +are said to occur in opposite phases--strong loves, and strong hatreds, +and so forth; but there is one which nature, in love, has reserved, pure, +solitary, and unchangeable, without counterpart to dim its lustre, or +antagonist to neutralise its effect, and that is _pity_. This man wanted +pity. If we were fanciful, we might here go with the gentle poets, who +tell us, in their way, that, like the dew-drop which falls in the evening, +and shines equally clear on the deadly nightshade and the rose, it solaces +virtue in adversity, without scorning sin in the pains of retribution. If, +in our analysis of man's character, we find not his heart, as the +fire-opal, enclosing one of nature's tears, we may throw the crucible +aside, extinguish the fire, and cast the _caput mortuum_ to the dogs; and +yet dogs have pity. We have found, even already, enough to lead us to +another clue. He possessed radical cunning, the greatest and most +insuperable of all the obstacles to moral and religious emendation. Other +evils only hang about the heart, but this, the true gift of the devil, is +the very blood of the organ. We are, then, led to suspect him of religious +hypocrisy. If we were not told there is hope for all, we might surely say +that the advent of the Spirit of grace is possible in every case but that +of hypocrisy veiled by religion; yea, the creature cursed with this vice, +Faith views in the distance as an impossibility, and flies past in +despair, to try her persuasions on the _honest_ sinner. + +The subsequent notices of this man's life, up to the commencement of the +deeds which have rendered him famous, only tend to confirm these +observations. Renouncing once more his cobbling, he went, still followed +by his partner, to Peebles, where he was employed in road-making. Though +still maintaining some pretensions to religion, he now began to shew a +gradual deterioration of character, keeping suspicious hours, and making +his house the resort of profligate characters, where scenes of drunkenness +and riot were of common occurrence, especially on Saturday nights and +Sundays. Retaining the same vagrant habits, he next betook himself to +Penicuik, and after the harvest of 1827, still accompanied by M'Dougal, he +came once more to reside in Edinburgh, where the occasion offered of +getting acquainted with Hare, and becoming a lodger with him in his house +in Tanner's Close, called Log's lodgings. This house, which afforded room +for seven beds, was kept under the name of Mrs Hare's first husband, Log, +and being the resort of all kinds of loose wanderers, washed off from the +lowest bed of the conglomerates, was the scene of still greater riots +than the lodger had ever patronized in his own. That the intimacy between +him and his landlord had soon ripened into such friendship as these people +are capable of, was proved by an occurrence mentioned by a person who +called on Burke with the intention of giving him a job. He found Hare +beating without mercy his friend's paramour, who was extended on the +floor, while Burke was sitting unconcernedly at the window. When asked why +he allowed another man to beat his wife, "Oh, she deserves all she is +getting," was the reply. Yet the man still preserved more of a respectable +character than those with whom he here associated--retaining even yet much +of his disposition to serve, his quiet humour, if not a species of +politeness, all of which was perfectly reconcilable with the presence of +that potentiality of crime which lay slumbering in the heart, under the +thin veil of religion, and not to be crossed or checked, when roused to +action, by pity, no trace of which appeared to be in him. He was set aside +for his idol, and only waited the temptation to become what he became. + +William Hare, the second of our quaternion, was also a native of Ireland, +having been born in the neighbourhood of Londonderry. Like so many of the +poor children of that country, he was never trained to any trade whereby +he might have been saved from that gradual descent into desultory modes of +earning a livelihood, which leading, as we have already said, to +vagabondism, is the introduction to so many temptations. After working at +country work for some time near his native place, he came over to +Scotland, where he engaged as a common labourer upon the Union Canal, and +assisted for some time in the work of unloading Mr Dawson's boats at +Port-Hopetoun. It was here that he became acquainted with Log or Logue, to +whose widow he was subsequently married, and with whom he came to lodge. +After the canal was finished, he betook himself to the occupation of a +travelling huckster, going about the country with an old horse and cart, +selling at one time fish, at another crockery, or exchanging the latter +for old iron, which he disposed of to the dealers. From the cart and the +horse he went down to the hurley, using that vehicle for much the same +purposes. Some quarrel with Log, before the latter's death, drove him to +new quarters; but not long after, and when Log had been dead and buried, +he returned to Tanner's Close, where he assumed all the rights of the +landlord of seven beds, as well as the privileges of the husband, though +Mrs Log was never called by his name. + +It was now that, having tasted power in becoming a landlord with such +drawings as twopence or threepence a night, he shewed more of his +character than had previously been known. Always inclined to take drink, +wherever and whenever he could get it, he now, as a consequence of +idleness and opportunity, became drunken and dissolute--the effect of +liquor being to render him quarrelsome and always ready to fight. Nay, so +strong was this propensity in him, that he appeared always to be on the +outlook for a contest, picking a quarrel upon any opportunity, and even +trying to make one out of the simple act of looking at him. Though a sorry +pugilist, he had no fear of an opponent twice his size, and never gave in +until fairly disabled--even then endeavouring to wreak, in so far as oaths +could, a vengeance on the head of his enemy. On the failure of an opponent +without, he had no difficulty, so long as Mrs Log was there, of finding +one within; nor was she, also a drunkard, loath to encounter him upon +equal terms, so that the house was seldom free from brawls, if it did not +often exhibit a regularly-contested battle between the master and +mistress. Even vice has its traits of ludicrousness. Those of the +neighbours who were fond of sights were often enough gratified by some wag +going and reporting to the landlady that Willie Hare, as he was usually +called, was upon the street drunk, whereupon the wife, herself probably in +the same state, would issue forth in search of him, when a battle was the +issue of the rencontre. Such was the kind of life led by this couple up to +the time of Burke's entry. + +The passion of violence produced by inebriation will not always, or indeed +often, afford any clue to character. It may be hardly necessary to say +that Hare was naturally cruel, yet we have seen that Burke could scarcely +be said to present that feature unless when roused by some strong motive, +so that we have no difficulty in finding at the first glance an essential +difference in the two men;--the one being, in his very nature and +constitution, vindictive and malign--the other ready to suffocate the +humanity that was in him at the beck of an impulse strong enough to move +him. Only one of them could probably have been guilty of such an action as +this: On one occasion, when a person of the name of M'Lean (the narrator) +was returning from shearing at Carnwath, he got into company with Hare, +Burke, and his wife, and the party went into a public-house at Balerno, +near Currie, to get some refreshment. When the reckoning was, as they call +it, clubbed, Hare snatched up the money from the table and pocketed it, +whereupon Burke, in the fear of a disturbance, advanced the sum. On +leaving the inn, M'Lean taxed the offender with his trick, who, in place +of being ashamed or even pocketing the affront, knocked the feet from his +companion, laid him on the ground, and kicked him with his shoe pointed +with iron plates. If we add to this inborn malignity which, in feeling, +whether expressed by words or acts, arrayed him against mankind, and +scarcely ever alleviated by those emotions of friendship which are to be +found in the most hardened breasts, that scorn of human nature, not +unaccompanied with satirical laughter, to which we have alluded, we have +that foundation of character in the man upon which was so easily reared +the towering edifice of his crimes. + +Yet after all this information, which was so industriously gleaned, the +psychologist was not satisfied. He wanted to vindicate human nature from +even a possible diverging incidence of a law which could account for such +crimes, by tracing them to malignity and mammon. We would fain look with +favour on such scepticism; and it is to be admitted that all who had the +curiosity to see and converse with this man discovered a want. With a low +animal brow, he justified the phrenologist by discovering no power of +ratiocination, if, indeed, what is termed reasoning was not an +impossibility to him. His mind was entirely under the government of +external objects, among which selfishness made its selection, irrespective +of the humanities, of which he had none. We might thus term him, as he has +been called, a fool or semi-idiot, only within the limits of that +responsibility which the law is bound, for the preservation of mankind, to +push far beyond the verge where nature draws her distinctions between the +morally sane and the insane. We thus get quit of the heavy imputation +which the doings of such a man cast upon our kind; and if we are met by +the reflection, that Burke had both thought and sense to an extent which +was rather a surprise to those who conversed with him with a view to +ascertain the structure of his mind, we have the advantage of the reply, +that, naturally indolent, if not soft, he allowed himself to be ruled by +another, who, with all his defects, possessed resolution and a dominating +will. The history of mankind is full of the phenomena of "imposed +will"--the source of more divergence from the normal line than we ever +dream of. + +We come now to the third of our quaternion, Helen M'Dougal, a native, as +we have said, of the small village of Meddiston, in the parish of +Muiravonside, and county of Stirling, where her early years were spent. +Her maiden name was Dougal. At no time, however early, did her character +exhibit any such diversity of oscillation between the good and the evil, +as, giving play to contending passions, creates an interest in the +inquirer into human nature. All seemed to be straight, on and down from +the beginning. At an early period she formed a connexion with a man, +M'Dougal, who resided in the same village, to whom she bore a child during +the lifetime of his wife. After the latter's death, the intercourse which +continued led to cohabitation, passing for marriage, and she bearing his +name. Afterwards coming together to Leith, where he followed his +occupation of a sawyer, she was left alone, poor and friendless, by his +death, which took place from typhus while he was confined in Queensberry +House. She now returned to her native village, where she met with Burke, +then, as we have seen, a labourer on the canal, when that intercourse +commenced, the evil auspices of which were to be so terribly verified. +Thereafter, wherever they resided, there seems never to have been much +change in the character of this woman. In Edinburgh, Leith, Peebles, or +Penicuik, she was always distinguished for loose and drunken habits; nor +were these ever relieved by any geniality of nature, the uniform +expression of her mind and countenance being a stern moroseness which +concentrated upon her universal dislike, so that it was often said that +she was unworthy even of Burke. From all this it may easily be induced +that she was not, in the crimes of which she was cognisant, or in which +she took a part, under any influence of an imposed will on the part of +Burke; the contrary being rather to be presumed, that she ruled him, and +that it was only when he was roused by her fierceness of temper or +jealousy that he repaid her domination by a cruel punishment. + +The last of the four, Margaret Laird or Hare, was, like her husband, a +native of Ireland, and accompanied her first husband, Log, to Scotland. +The latter bore the character of a decent, hard-working man, who had not +only the world out of doors to contend with, but within, the temper of a +masculine wife. Some success enabled him to become a small contractor on +the Union Canal, and for some time he worked his contract, with a +detachment of his countrymen, in the neighbourhood of Winchburgh; but we +may estimate the extent of his contract, and not less the Irish +peculiarity of both the man and his wife, when we know that the +contractor's lady worked along with the men in the character of a +labourer, with a man's coat on her back, wheeling a barrowful of rubbish +as stoutly as any of her men. At that time, they inhabited a temporary hut +on the banks of the canal, and, whatever her faults may have been, she +exhibited here nothing but economy and industry. The work being finished, +Log settled in Edinburgh, where, though honest enough, the contractor +became sunk in the huckster, and the keeper of a beggars' hotel, which was +soon to rival even Mickey Culzean's. Upon his death, the lodging and +furniture, such as it was, with any small earnings he had saved, devolved +upon the widow, and thereafter she conducted the establishment; but she +soon shewed the smallness of her gratitude and the strength of her passion +by cohabiting with one of her lodgers, described as young and +good-looking, and, thereafter, the depravity of her taste in accepting +Hare after the young lover forsook her. Yet her choice was only that which +is made by those who seek their kind. The drunkard and semi idiot had +charms for one who was herself destitute not less of virtue than of +prudence, and we are soon to see her descending into unparalleled crime, +not by the imposed will of Hare, but the ready suggestion of her own +heart. + +Such are the characters of our wonderful story; and we make no apology to +sensible men for disentombing such specimens of our kind from the +dust-covered chronicles of their deeds. A salutary horror, not only of +their great crimes, but also of those lesser ones which led to these, +pervaded the people of Scotland long after the tragedy of so many acts and +scenes was performed; and thus it is, in the providence of God, that +virtue becomes brighter by the contrast with vice. It is only, as some one +has observed, when the tempest tosses the waves of the ocean into +mountains that we see into its depths. It was by the light of burning Troy +that Æneas saw the faces of the gods; and so it is through the light of +human passions that we discover the nature of the heart of man. + + + + +The Opening of the Court--The Old Woman of Gilmerton.[5] + + +The house which went by the name of Log's lodging-house, and which was +occupied by William Hare, as raised by the favour of the widow to the +elevation of landlord, was, as already said, situated in Tanner's +Close,--one of those narrow passages that wind from the north side of the +West Port. The entry from the street begins with a descent of a few steps, +and is dark from the superincumbent land. On proceeding downwards, you +came--for the house, which was rased for shame, is no longer to be +seen--to a smallish self-contained dwelling of one flat, and consisting of +three apartments. One passing down the close might, with an observant eye, +have seen into the front room; but this disadvantage was compensated by +the house being disjoined from other dwellings, and a ticket, "Beds to +let," as an invitation to vagrants, so many of whom were destined never to +come out alive, distinguished it still more. The outer apartment was +large, occupied all round by these structures called beds, composed of +knocked-up fir stumps, and covered with a few gray sheets and brown +blankets, among which the squalid wanderer sought rest, and the profligate +snored out his debauch under the weight of nightmare. Another room opening +from this was also comparatively large, and furnished much in the same +manner. In place of any concealment being practised, so far impossible, +indeed, in the case of a public lodging-house, the door stood generally +open, and, as we have said, the windows were overlooked by the passengers +up and down; but as the spider's net is spread open while his small keep +is a secret hole, so here there was a small apartment, or rather closet, +the window of which looked upon a pig-sty and a dead wall, and into which, +as we know, were introduced those unhappy beings destined to death. The +very character of the house, the continued scene of roused passions, saved +it from that observation which is directed towards temporary tumults, so +that no surprise could have been excited by cries of suffering issuing +from such a place, even if they could have been heard from the interior +den; and that was still more impossible, from the extraordinary mode of +extinguishing life adopted by the wary and yet unwary colleagues. In this +inner apartment Burke used to work when he did work, which, always +seldom, soon came to be rare, and eventually relinquished for other wages. + +It will thus be seen that this small dark room was the appropriate place +where the words of secrecy would pass to the ear, or be blurted forth, +coarse and broken, under the fevered brain of drunkenness. Since ever that +night when the £7, 10s. flared its magnetic influence over their eyes, and +was communicated, by confidence and sympathy, to the two females, the +little world of this quaternity was changed. The women saw that other +lodgers would die, and the inspiring hope, not so demoniac as to curdle +the remaining drops of human kindness that refused to leave the female +breast, pointed in the inevitable direction of gaudy finery, which they +might flaunt in the wondering eyes of the poor people of Portsburgh; but +so slow a process did not suit the inflamed passions of the men. Hare had +been revolving in his mind a scheme to set up his own will as the arbiter +of the occasion, which would secure more money, even as he wished it; and +the secret of this talisman behoved to be communicated to his friend, now +poor and miserable, and dissolved in habits of sloth and inebriety. It was +in that small room, and while the two women were engaged in the front +apartments, that this mystic rite was performed between the solitary +inmates, over, as might be expected, the caldron fires of drink. Yes, the +mouth found power to utter the words which came as the dictates of a mere +desire for money, that they should seize the opportunity so often +presented to them of people lying drunk and senseless, and deprive them, +by suffocation, of life. The proposition was accepted under the same +approving auspices of mammon, who had already made both his own; and under +the force of that temptation involved in the words which had been uttered +in Surgeon's Square, offering a welcome to a return with a similar burden +to that of the pensioner. You may cease to indulge here in those visions +of the fancy which would represent human nature in convulsions, panting +under the impression of a thought which, at first, produced a revolt, and +then became conciliated. The "make" of each of these men was perfect under +its own conditions, and if there was any seriousness, it was only a +passing fear that they might bring their necks into jeopardy. Pity, which +never lived in them, could not be said to be dead; the impress of the +first money had burned into their souls; the welcome of the doctors rung +in their ears; and Grace, studying them in the distance, had flown past +them as an impossibility. + +There is reason to believe that this resolution come to by these men, +sitting together in this dark room, passed as an element into an orgy, +different from all those in which they had so often indulged, if not from +any that the world ever witnessed; nor was it modified, if it was not +inflamed, by those visions of struggling nature expiring among their +hands, which, rising as mere spectral forms, disappeared as soon before +the images they pictured of a life of sensual indulgence and enervating +sloth. If the project had sprung out of the ebullitions of intoxicated +passions, it might have died away on the morrow, but, the result of +calculation, it only received strength from the hopes which it roused, and +which again were inflamed by the celebration. Nay, time, as day by day +passed without a likely lodger coming in, increased the desire to begin, +and chafed them into impatience. Hare accordingly resolved to commence +prowling about the streets for some promising individual whom he might +seduce into the house, and for some days he followed this occupation, but +his efforts failed, and the report at night only again inflamed the desire +of the morning. One afternoon, it was in December 1827, he again betook +himself to the street, and for hours dodged about searching among the poor +and miserable for some one who, already intoxicated, might offer those +facilities to a beginner which were afterwards held of small account when +practice gave proficiency and success confidence. At last he observed in +the Grassmarket a decent-looking elderly woman (Abigail Simpson, as +afterwards ascertained) whose wandering eye and irregular step shewed that +she had got more of the publican's drug than her perhaps weak head could +carry. His eye was immediately fixed upon her, and the old smile, which +always obeyed the bidding of an evil thought, played over his face, nor +did he let her out of his sight as he dogged her irregular movements from +place to place. He could see that she was poor, that she was probably +friendless, and, above all, that she was tipsy, and he knew enough of +degraded nature to tell him what the proverb has settled, _Qui a bu +boira_,--he who has drunk will drink more. Making up to her, he introduced +himself as one who had met her before, and to his delight, discovered that +she was inclined to be communicative, if not garrulous. It was not a +difficult matter to advise her to accompany him to his house, where he +would treat her with the old bribe of "a dram." So away they trudged +together, the dissembler taking special care as he went to keep her on her +course, from which she was every moment inclined to stray, by professions +of interest and friendship. + +Arrived at the lodging-house, the woman was introduced to Burke, with what +looks between the two may easily be imagined, as an old friend, and drink +was immediately procured. There was now a party which was joined by the +two women, who, when they saw the men plying the stranger with whisky--the +full value of which their difficulty in getting it to the extent they +desired was sufficiently known to them--must have been aware that there +was at the bottom of this generosity more than the friendship professed by +men dead to the feeling, even as regards those who might have had a claim +to it. The time passed, and the party became merry, nor was the stranger +the least joyous of them, for had she not fallen among friends by sheer +accident? and should she not prove her gratitude by being happy, ay, and +communicating to them all her secrets? Was she not fortunate in being able +to tell them that she was a pensioner of a gentleman in the New Town, who +paid her regularly one shilling and sixpence a-week, besides little +gratuities, such as the can of kitchen-fee she carried with her, and put +aside till she should depart? Yes, and more, that she was blessed with a +fine young daughter she had left at home, and who would be anxiously +waiting her return. And then that daughter was not only good, she was +_beautiful_, and the very pride of her soul. All this Hare heard; and he +could carry out the play she had begun, even amidst the intentions he +entertained, by expressing an interest in the mother's paragon, so deeply +felt, that, being unmarried, he would put in for her hand, provided the +mother would consent. And consent she did, so far as her condition would +allow, and here, newly forged, was another bond of friendship. Nay, when +he and the daughter should have become man and wife, it behoved that they +could not live without the good old mother--who, accordingly, would take +up her residence with them, with no more cares of poverty, and no +dependence upon the pensioning gentleman of the New Town. + +Could any human creature be more happy? Nor were the actors less so, +though for a reason so very different. But the drink went done, even with +the forbearance of the men, that she who would pay so dearly for it should +have enough for their purpose. Mrs Hare had money, and there was the can +of kitchen-fee, which the stranger could sell, and take home with +her--_when the time came_--the price, one and sixpence, to help her little +pension, and get a dram at another time, when they would not be there to +give it to her. Then, to make the play even more merry and ingenious, this +small sum was, very soon after, again, taken from the now almost +unconscious woman's pocket, and laid out on more spirits, that the +expected opportunity might be made more propitious. The scene progressed +with even increased symptoms of noisy merriment. The old woman revived, +and, under so many influences bearing on a kindly heart, did her best to +sing some of her old songs--household words to her, no doubt, and feelings +as well, with which she often at home wiled back the days of her youth, +and charmed the ear of that daughter of whom she was so proud and so fond. +Nay, we have the hearsay of the day for saying, that Burke contributed his +part, singing, as he was so much in the habit of doing, some of those +airs, generally, according to the account of those who knew him, +sentimental, if not melancholy. + +And here we are obliged absolutely to stop for a moment, not that we wish +to intrude upon the reader a moralising spirit, where every word suggests +a sermon out of more hardened things than stones, but that we are +mystified, and are inclined to ask counsel. Could that man have had any +sense of the beautiful in the sentiments of these lyrics which, it was +said, he sang with feeling, if not pathos? Can it be possible that such a +sense can be consistent with a demoralisation such as his? We suspect that +it is. We are led to expect its impossibility by a reference to opposite, +if not antagonistic, feelings: we cannot love and hate the same object. +This is true, and would seem to disprove our proposition _à priori_. We +can reconcile the contradiction only by having recourse to the different +faculties of the imagination and the sense. The poet who has ravished his +readers by a description of the beauty of female virtue and innocence has +been found in a brothel. One of the most touching religious poems in the +world has been sung by one who, among brawling revellers, maligned +religion and its votaries. The praises of temperance have been +enchantingly poured forth by a bacchanal. The oppressor of the poor has +wept at a representation of affecting generosity. Any one may fill up the +list without perhaps including a hypocrite. The imagination has its +emotions, and the sense its feelings, or, perhaps, no feelings. The why +and the wherefore touch the ultimate, and we are lost; but the fact +remains, as proved by evidence, that William Burke could, in song, be +pathetic. + +Recurring to our real tragedy, the effect of the drink soon again sent the +creature from her lyrics into a condition which might have suited the +purpose of the men; but whether it was that, as beginners, they lost +courage, or that lodgers came in and defeated their intentions, they +failed that night in effecting their object. The unconscious woman was +lifted into a bed, where she lay till the morning. A severe sickness was +the consequence of the importunities of her new-made friends; and the +colleagues, exasperated by their defeat of the previous night, were +alongside of the bed, with offerings of sympathy, and more drink. In the +midst of all this, she cried that she wished to get home to her beloved +daughter, at the very time that she weakly accepted that which +incapacitated her. By and by, the lodgers for the night began to leave the +house; and the victim being once more reduced to unconsciousness, they +fell to their work in the precise manner they had planned. Hare laid hold +of the apertures of breathing, and Burke throwing himself on her body to +repress struggles and keep down the ribs, maintained his position till the +last sob escaped from the oppressed lungs; and the woman, after a struggle +of fully a quarter of an hour, was a corpse. In the evening the body was +conveyed to Surgeon's Square, and ten pounds procured for it. + +All this tragedy was being acted while the daughter, at Gilmerton, was +waiting anxiously for the return of her mother. The evening had passed +without exciting in her much alarm; but when the morning came, with no +mother, and no intelligence, she became oppressed with fears. Without +having tasted breakfast, she sallied forth. The village was gone through, +and afforded no trace. She next directed her steps to Edinburgh, inquiring +at every one she met if they had seen a woman of the appearance she +described. At length she resorted to the house of the gentleman who paid +the pension, but beyond the information that she had been there on the +previous day, she could get no satisfaction. She then wandered through all +parts of the city, calling on every one she knew, and putting the same +question--if they had seen her mother?--but always receiving the same +answer. No weariness oppressed her in this vain search. The night set in +only as a prelude to the revival of her hopes in the morning; and search +followed search, and day followed day, every hour diminishing hope. The +time was now counted by weeks, and as these sped, by months, yet ever as +the time flew, and the hope decayed, the love increased with every +accession of her grief. At length even hope was relinquished, and all +speculations were lost in mystery. The only conclusion that could +rationally be come to was, that the missing one had wandered by the canal +and been drowned; for that a human being could disappear and be for ever +lost in the city of Edinburgh, with its humane inhabitants ready to render +succour, and its vigilant police ever on the watch, was what no one could +conceive. The explanation was to come at a time which, to grief, might be +thought long in the future; and such an explanation to a daughter! ay, and +a daughter of whom the mother was so proud and so fond. + + + + +The Mother and Daughter. + + +If we were to estimate the benefits derived from sacrificing to mammon, +according to the material uses to which they are devoted, we would be apt +to form a very humble estimate of his godship; but these, we suspect, +constitute, even with the lowest of his worshippers, only a small part of +the charm of his gifts. Seventeen pounds ten shillings, the price of one +dead body, and that of the life and the corpse of another, produced a +change in the economy of Log's house and in the minds of its ruling +inhabitants. This appeared first in the dresses of the women, who, from +being little better than trulls, with clothes bought in pawnshops, and +often not far removed from ragged tanterwallops, began to be equipped like +respectable people. Bonnets were got from the milliner direct; and it is +even said that fine prints appeared in gaudy colours on the two women of +Log's house. It was observed, too, that they held their heads higher, and +walked more circumspectly, as if some species of pride--the kind we leave +to the moral analyst--had asserted its universal power, undismayed by the +scowl of vice. Lodgers began to be less cared for, as mere lodgers, though +the most squalid of them had recommendations of another kind, of which +they themselves were not aware; and as for the men, the producers of this +wonderful change, they were now gentlemen at large--the huckster's cart, +the hurley, the old horse, the stool, and the awl-box, having been +discharged and despised as unworthy of those who held in their hands a +charm invested with even greater power than the ring of Giges or Mongogul, +even that of turning, by a touch, the mortal part of human nature into +gold. + +Hitherto even the philosophers had been wrong in their estimate of man and +the world on which he lives. The ill-natured cynics represented that, in +his earthly aspect, man is a parasite on the great animal the world; +preying on his fellow-creatures, he is, in return, preyed upon by +parasites. There are those that prey upon his body, others that, in the +form of pains, ride upon the back of his vicious pleasures. There are +those that fawn upon him, and feed upon his fortunes, and when he dies he +is eaten by parasites. But there was in reserve, and unknown to these +detractors, a chapter on human nature only laid open to our time and +country, for though the Easterns had their fable of the gouls, it was +received only as a fairy tale by the Westerns, till they were surprised +into a belief even transcending the images of Arabian fancy. Yet the more +hopeful philosophers, who draw their inspirations from Calvary, where was +seen the consideration for the shekels of silver, are not dismayed. Yea, +in this lowly thing we call our body, which preys on garbage, and is +preyed upon in return, is a microcosm, which represents, in extension, +that which has no limit--in perfection, that which is without end--in +beauty, that which the poet cannot, with all his inspiration, describe. + +We would not be true to human nature if we limited the effects of this +change in the fortunes of Log's house to what we have already described. +The vicious heart pants for pleasures to worry it. _La lampe inextinguible +du plaisir_ must burn, though fed with rancid oil extracted from decayed +organisms; and so there was a growing increase, not only in the number, +but in the intensity of the "enjoyments" of the bacchanalian nights. If +the neighbours had noticed the external changes, they were not the less +observant--though destined to be long ignorant of the cause--of what was +nightly acted within. The brawls and fights were louder and more frequent, +and the dithyrambics which mixed with them in grotesque inconsistency had +more of the _ménad_ of the priests of Cybele. Yet all this, by God's law, +was sternly a necessity: we need no moral here. Secrecy and publicity are +separate instruments of divine retribution, working strangely and +mysteriously to the same end. Even the ordinary secret sin corrodes the +heart by its immurement, and the sin of Log's house was not an ordinary +one. The more it is suppressed, the greater the elasticity of the torment. +When freed from the prison of the heart it produces that recoil of the +good which isolates the criminal from the smiles of fellowship and the +help of society. Yes, this is the point with the diverging paths of ruin +or redemption, and Heaven still vindicates the old economy. If the sinner +will be saved by penitence, he must give signs of his suffering, and the +world will profit by it as well as himself. If he hurries to ruin, he will +still give evidence of his agony. In either case, that Providence which +watches over us will still serve its purpose. + +Only one of these paths was here open, and the quaternity even rushed into +it. The progress of the ruin must keep apace. The excitement, in the +shape, to them, of pleasure, must be sustained; and above all, the men had +tasted the _power_ of money--not to be estimated by what it produced--in +what simply pleased such strange natures. They had got their heads into +the dagon temple, and though all the rest of the body was exposed, they +felt, however much they were in danger of justice, that they had some +security against a continuance of the misery and contempt of their prior +lives. They must, accordingly, go on, for they were dipsomaniacs in blood. +The £17, 10s. must, if it had not already, come to an end, under the +expense of these nightly orgies, and, behold the prowler again out to look +for a new victim. + +There had been known to both of the men, and not less to the women, an +unfortunate creature of the name of Mary Haldane, whose vagrant beat was +the old scene of the Grassmarket. Her life had not been all through a +succession of those scenes in which her class figure; for, previous to the +birth of a natural child, the fruit of seduction, she had been not only +respected for a fair reputation, but looked on favourably for those +personal qualities so often the means of ruin. Then the demon drink had +met her at that turn of the fortunes of so many of her kind, when decayed +beauty is not compensated by the consolations of penitence. The road down +was easy, even to that stage where flapping rags could scarcely cover the +body. Need we say that this creature was likely, when the prowler knew +from his own experience that she would drink _to the point_. One day he +accordingly issued forth to seek for Mary, but Mary had been in the drink +fever for days, and he could only regret that so favourable a condition +had not ensued in Log's house, where the termination would not have been +the recovery which this time once more awaited her. Exasperated by his +disappointment, he was only the more determined to overlook other tempting +objects in that fruitful field of human weeds, fit enough for death's +scythe. Nor had he to wait long. Two days afterwards Mary was standing at +the mouth of the narrow close up which she lived.[6] The moment he saw +her, the old smile and eloquent twinkle again illuminated or darkened his +face, for he was as sure of his prey as the fox is of its spoil when it +sits in the roost with its head under its wing. Nor was the smile less +expressive that Mary presented to him. The red and swollen eyes, the +quivering cheeks, and all the other signs of that unhappiness through +which the rebel spirit will still shoot its buoyance in spite of depressed +nature. Misery is easily approached. The dram is again the bribe, and the +kindliness of the offer a recommendation, which was as much a surprise as +a pleasure to one from whom all kindliness had been long barred by the +magnetic repulsion of poverty and degradation. Poor Mary was once more +happy; and, accompanying her "friend," she trudged along to the place +where the _envied_ stimulant awaited her. + +As they were slowly wending their way along the West Port, the people, as +some of them afterwards stated, looked earnestly at the couple, without +being able to explain the sympathy which brought them together; for +already Hare was upon the rise in society, with a new coat and hat, and +even a tie; but the presence of the _gentleman_ did not prevent the +children from pursuing their old game of teazing Mary, nor could the +threatenings of her protector keep them off. At this juncture, who should +approach from the opposite direction but the colleague. The mutual +smile--yea, more. Would Burke, who had the character of being serviceable +to the unfortunate, permit Mary Haldane to be abused while he was present? +He would protect the friendless; and so the boys got a drubbing, and +injured misfortune was vindicated. Having accomplished this act of +justice, Burke, who had now so little to do, and was so far above +cobbling, proceeded on what had been intended as a pleasant stroll, while +his friend and Mary held their way to Log's lodgings. In a short time he +was seen to return with a quicker step; and by and by they are all +assembled in the little dark room "with the window looking out on the dead +wall"--where the women, who knew that the money was getting exhausted, +received them with their peculiar welcome. + +Well, you expect something, and already the heart throbs,--and do not stop +it; for pity does not close her eye upon the unfortunate, even where sin +has contributed to the misery of the sufferer. But here you cannot help +yourself: the inevitable recoil from cruelty will open the issues of +compassion whether you will or no; and so strangely formed are we, that +here you may be the more willing to acknowledge the soft emotion, that +Mary's eyes reeled with delight when she saw Helen M'Dougal place upon the +table a supply of whisky, which to her share would transcend even the +necessities of "the want" after the fever. There was on this occasion no +necessity for the siren song to charm into confidence where the bottle +was, a band more hallowed, in the estimation of the guest, than the +pledges of love. Neither Hare's sardonic jollity nor Burke's pathos was +needed where the work was apparently so easy; and they were no longer +neophytes, but adepts, not only in confidence, but manipulation. Yea, it +was the work of apprentices, and they were journeymen; nor was it +necessary that they should concern themselves with more than filling the +glass and contemplating the imbodied value--ten pounds--as, by her fading +energies and impending unconsciousness, it assumed its full proportions. +All is ready--the drooping head--the closing eye--the languid, helpless +body. The women get the hint. They knew the unseemliness of being +spectators--nay, they were delicate. A repetition of the former scene, +only with even less resistance. Hare holds again the lips, and Burke +presses his twelve stone weight. Scarcely a sigh; but on a trial if dead, +a long gurgling indraught. More required--and all is still in that dark +room "with the window looking out on the dead wall." + +After a preliminary visit to the College, where arrangement was made for +the reception, the colleagues carried their burden, at an hour approaching +to twelve, to its destination. As usual, it was examined before +payment,--the amount of which, in this instance, we do not know; but, +whether from some want of success, consequent on the increased +watchfulness over cemeteries, attending the midnight adventures of our +friends Merrylees and the "Spune," or from a greater avidity for science +on the part of the surgeons, it is certain that, as the supply from Log's +lodgings increased, the value given for a burden became greater, +amounting, in some instances, to £12 or £14. + +The band was thus again supplied with resources, and the consequence was +an increase of extravagance and riot--the former exhibiting itself in a +still more inconsistent style of dress on the part of the females, and the +latter in more frequent disturbances of the neighbours. Even questions +began to be put to Helen M'Dougal, which were parried by the intelligence +that she communicated,--that she had fallen heir to some house property +about her place of birth, and that it was only right that decent people +should rise in the world, and take the use of their own. Nor was Mary Hare +less adroit in her fences. But the explanations thus given of what +appeared to be a mystery were not deemed satisfactory, though no theory +could be formed by the remonstrants. + +On the part of the _fortunate_ crew, the sums they received seemed only to +stimulate their avidity. Not now waiting for the dispersion of the +earnings, they aimed at a store, perhaps apprised by some looming +suspicion that their fortune was too good to last, and a strange +circumstance soon threw another temptation in their way. Young Mary +Haldane, the daughter of her whom we have seen so easily and suddenly +removed from the world and life, with all those sins on her head which had +accumulated from the day of her seduction, had been brought up by the +mother to ways as shameless as her own. As yet, however, it was the +morning of life to the girl, and it is not always or often that wayward +affections spent upon men more profligate than themselves, diminish the +love of such creatures to their parents, even if the latter ought, by +their neglect, to have earned nothing but hatred. We have seen one +daughter cast into inconsolable grief, another was to be a wanderer and +inquirer for her parent, with another and even more terrible issue. Having +ascertained, on the morning subsequent to that evening when the burden was +conveyed to Surgeon's Square, that her mother had not been seen on the +previous night, Mary occupied the day in searching. The woman was a +ken-speckle, the familiar object of all in the neighbourhood, as well as +the game of the urchins; and much curiosity was added to the sympathy for +the orphan, who, unfortunately, was scarcely less notorious. Many aided in +the inquiry, but with no more success, of course, than that which attended +the efforts of the daughter. It is still remembered how she went about in +her decayed finery, with swollen eyes, and the tears on her cheeks, +sobbing out her grief, amidst the fruitless question, "Had any one seen +Mary Haldane?" At length, one of the neighbours was told by a grocer in +Portsburgh, that the woman had been seen going towards Log's lodgings in +the company of William Hare--a trace which, as no suspicions as yet +attached to the man, held out some hope of success. + +The information was immediately conveyed to the young woman, who thereupon +hastened to the West Port, where she got the story confirmed, with all the +minutiæ of Burke's gallant rescue of Hare's _protégée_ from the assaults +of the urchins. Nor did she stop till she got to Log's lodgings. Mrs Hare +denied that the woman had ever been in her house--a statement corroborated +by Helen M'Dougal, who, in her new-born pride, resented the imputation +that it could be possible for the beggar to have the impudence to approach +the residence of respectable people; but Hare, who in the back room had +heard the rencontre, came forth, and taking the part of the girl--with +what expression of countenance to his companions, it would be difficult +for a mere pen to give the symbols of an idea--sympathised with her, and +even more, asked her to come into the room with the window opening to the +dead wall, and get a dram to dry up her tears. The girl, also given to +drink, was tempted, and complied with the kind invitation. It was not long +till the colleague made his appearance, having, it is supposed, seen Mary +enter when he was lounging idly about the top of the close. They were no +sooner seated, and the whisky put upon the table by Helen M'Dougal, than +Hare began his explanation. He told her that her mother had spoken to him +on that day when she disappeared; that she told him she was going to +Midcalder, (where he knew she had some friends;) and that he had no doubt +she would be found there, to the great joy of the despairing girl. + +And no doubt the poor girl's heart jumped to the valediction. She began to +get cheerful under the new-lighted lamp of hope; and if there was any +deficiency in the oil, it was supplied by the cognate combustible which, +like all other agents of the same kind, consumes by its latent fires those +who consume it. Glass succeeded glass, and with hope getting brighter and +brighter before her eyes, now dry enough, and sympathy sounding louder and +louder in her ears, what marvel that Mary Haldane should be as happy as +those who had preceded her in those jubilations. She talked of her lovers +and her youthful escapades--not forgetting those whisky-born fortunes, +embracing equipages and servants, which are the continual destiny of the +wretched, as if nature, in some mood of pity, made an imaginary +compensation for real privations and as real misery. How little conscious +was she that the two men, who responded so exuberantly to her wild +aspirations, were watching when they would exhaust and bring her "to the +point." Nor was the issue long delayed. Mary was one of those who, once +fairly begun, never stopped, if the means were in her power, till she had +run the full course. The symptoms of the artificial narcosis began to shew +themselves,--the thick speech, the heavy eye, the bent head, and only a +little longer and she was extended on the floor. Let us not speak of this +girl's youth, the interest of her peculiar fortunes, with no chance ever +given her of putting even the first step in the path of virtue. Why, there +was, even in the estimation of those who stood over, ready for the work of +their calling, a curious if not stimulating aptitude in sending her after +her mother. Did she not call there to see her, and find her? and why +should they defeat so laudable a purpose? The quarter of an hour's +suspension between life and death, with those mysterious agonies of which +the organism is capable, even in the absence of manifestations, or at +least in their suppression by external force, and Mary Haldane experienced +the fate of her mother. And with her mother, too, she lay that night in +the hall of Surgeon's Square. + + + + +The Grandmother and the Dumb Boy. + + +It has been said, that in the course of one man's life there occurs +usually only one springtide on which he may direct his barque to fortune, +and, so far as we have seen, this chance was not denied to the governors +of Log's lodgings; but nature has not equally decreed that the voyagers +shall see beyond that fortune, or to what it may lead. Nay, is there not +something in the circumference of the objects of a day, if not an hour, if +not a minute, which, like that which surrounds the scorpion, keeps all +inside inviolate from the anathemas beyond? But then the circumference is +ever changing, and ever enclosing new objects, till the last, with an +opening in the side, looks out upon the dark or light theatre of +retribution or salvation. We sometimes see this solitary springtide +surmounted by the shattered barque of age, from which the waters of life +are fast receding, and yet the voyager moves on. His fortune is a +_hysteria_, through the ecstatic delirium of which he cannot see the gulf +before his nose. These two men and two women whose history we record were +on their springtide, and we are not to wonder that, beyond the +circumference of rock and cloud, they were prevented from looking; not +that there were not openings through which they could see ruin, but that +the insanity of a fruitful wickedness made them revel blindly in the +buoyancy of their progress, heedless of all rocks and gulfs of +retribution. + +Poor moralising this, we suspect, as regards men whose pleasures, bought +at such a price of a revolt against nature, could be termed only "painted +pain." But even they could not be exempted from the laws of human nature. +The circle behoved to contain its objects, and to change from day to day +till the last came, with the lateral opening looking into perdition; +perhaps any other mode ever devised by man of bringing sacrifices to +mammon might not have been utterly exclusive of an attempt to get into a +caste above. Bankrupts, thieves, adulterers, and even ordinary murderers, +sometimes in our day try their hands at this, and make wonderful +successes, for even these crimes which make men what they are, are not +absolutely incompatible with a modern conventional status; but the crime +of the men of our history involved in its very nature the impossibility of +ever holding up the head in any other way than a swagger of desperation, +or directing the eyes to an honest face, except as a look of dogged +defiance. So, in addition to those evidences of change at Log's lodgings, +we have only to mention the restlessness of the moneyed vagabonds driving +them out to the streets to pull companions of their grade into +drinking-houses, and treating them with the money which, however they +might love it, burnt their hands that dispensed it. The delirium of +intoxication amidst living objects that carried the mind out, was the +refuge from, not the spectre of conscience, for conscience they had none, +but that of justice, which no averting of the eyes could enable them to +avoid, only the reeling of them could make it a changing phantasmagoria. + +And why, when we have so much deeper tragedies to recount, ought we to +stop our narrative to record--unless, indeed, for the mere sake of the +arithmetic of murders--a mere interlude resorted to as a relief from +dithyrambism? Childermas day came round again! Poor Joe the miller could +bring his price of eleven pounds as well as the rest of them. No doubt, +when he offered himself, in the heyday of his life, to Jenny the farmer's +daughter, he thought himself of greater account than merely eleven pounds; +but men undergo deterioration. Even when rejected, he would have spurned +the valuation when he sung that jolly song of independence so often sung +by his craft, and which declares the determination that neither lawyer nor +doctor would "e'er get a fee from him,"--true enough, yet, alas! not false +in the reverse, that doctors would give a fee _for_ him. Joe's +miscalculations were due to his ignorance of the effects of intemperance, +for it will not do to say that these are known when every day brings up +new developments of consequences resulting from this most dangerous of all +the voluntary evils of man. Say that the drunkard dares the advent of +poverty, crime, the horrors of _delirium tremens_--death,--could he say +that this last is a greater violence to nature than that produced by the +grip and the pressure which, in all these cases, were only consequent upon +the inebriation, which, again, was the act of his own will? It was while +in a state of inebriety that the prowler met Joe. He was already made and +prepared, and the subsequent decoyment, the additional drink, the final +onset of the grim actors, their success, were only the development of a +drama wrought out by actors who took an advantage accorded by himself. Our +authority for treating this case as a mere interlude is derived from the +admission of Burke himself, who, as a great judge could estimate the +importance of what by others cannot be estimated at all, for the simple +reason that the smallest of these tragedies so far transcends all power of +comprehension that comparison becomes a farce; yet though this once jolly +son of a jolly craft might have earned the contempt attributed to a +facility of dying, he was, we are assured, mourned in the hamlet of his +birth, where his frailties, if condemned, were placed, as is too often the +case, to the account of a good heart. Nay, for aught we know,--and we say +it the more readily that no one can trace or enumerate the threads which +the poorest of God's creatures leaves ramifying from heart to heart, all +to respond, as by electric sympathy, to the shock of his death,--the +farmer's daughter might even be concussed to tears--how much too +late--when the terrible tragedy was divulged. We may be at least certain +that Joe never dreamed that a man's character in the world depends upon +his manner of leaving it, or he would have saved his reputation by a +greater resistance when the enemies were upon him, but he was also then +too late: the devil, whom he might have fought with and defeated if sober, +had taken on a strange form, and was unknown to the victim, for the reason +that the victim did not know himself. + +However unimportant he might be in these annals, the price which the +miller brought was sufficient to stimulate the now, and long before, +irredeemable actors to a deed which, in the estimation of Burke himself, +as it must ever be in that of a blushing nation, stood unparalleled among +his own atrocities, as by all experiences else it was unparalleled in the +world. Before entering upon the detail, we feel inclined to philosophise a +little. We have been obliged to speak of these men as men, because they +possessed all the physical characters of the species. In a natural view it +has been said that, by the presence of the lower animals in the world, man +is more injured in his ideas of a high nature and destiny than he is +benefited in the temporal advantages of being fed and clothed by them. +The Roman felt the inconveniences of the presence of apes in the same +world with him, when he cried out, in rage or satire or pity, _Simia, quam +similis, turpissima bestia, nobis_! Then what is the use of these beings +always putting us in mind of our resemblance to them? If we are to believe +Pythagoras, Mr Tweddel, or Mr Smith, or any one of the vegetarians, we +could, in their absence, live on herbs and fruits, and be clothed with +cotton and linen. Their presence in the same world, and with so much in +common with us, is a continual satire on man's psychological privilege or +peculium, and to get quit of this many early nations accorded a soul and a +hereafter to them. The satire was inverted when men made gods of them. We +of a modern age shew our respect by an act of parliament against being +cruel to them; and secondly, by eating them. In the midst of such curious +speculations we are always apt to forget that within the moralities of our +species we have gorillas far fiercer than any brother or sister of that +"splendid specimen" described by Du Chaillu, and yet the strength and +savagery of this animal have been called in doubt. + +One day, about a month after the disposal of Joe the miller, Hare was +again on the track of the unfortunate, and this time, as it was said, sent +out by his colleague, as if the latter had wished to seek in repetition +the assuagement of familiarity. Alas! the old search. You cry me mercy, +and I would forbear did I not know that truth must bear her crown amidst +the lying conventionalities of refinement; and virtue, who is her +companion, looks to her for strength, while she shines the brighter for +the proximity of vice. Yes, the old threading through the mazes of human +beings,--now passing between the ripe and the raw, the full-blooded youth +and the tottering beggar, the rich and the poor--apportioning the meed of +his approbation according to the selective affinities of the possible. +Polypheme had no tastes; this man was refined. Yea, even like the good +philanthropist who passes by those who do not require his help, and turns +kindly to the maimed and the blind and the miserable, his were claimed by +those on whom the hard and heavy hand of calamity had pressed. The goddess +pitied Iphigenia, and made her a priestess, not because she was beautiful +and the daughter of a great king, but because she was unfortunate. + +But on this occasion the searcher was _sought_. While standing on the High +Street holding the button of the ragged coat of an old man who pleased +him, and whose escape, seeing he was a dipsomaniac, would be nothing short +of miracle, there came up to him an Irishwoman, also advanced in years, +apparently a weary tramp, her shoes covered with dust, and her poor +clothes looking as if she had slept in them all night among straw. She was +a stranger in a strange city, and by her side was a little boy whom she +held by the hand, for he was one of God's stricken--deaf and dumb--with +that wistful peering of the eyes which is as often the effect of the +infirmity as of the habit of solicitation. She told him that she was from +Ireland, that she was on the search for some one of her countrymen or +countrywomen whom she knew, and from whom she intended to claim that +privilege of friendship and assistance which the people of that country, +with all their faults, are so liberal in according. Was there need for a +bond of confidence? He himself was of the ould country, and would he not +assist a country-woman with a charge so helpless, so pitiful, so +burdensome, except for the love which bore it? Nay, did he not know the +very person she sought? and did she not reside in Log's lodgings, whereto +he would be so delighted to lead her? Happy escape for the button-held, +and yet strange freak of the mind as it works awry often for an opposite; +for he seemed, as he departed, to envy the new comer, who had thus secured +the friendship of one now possessed of money, and not backward in shewing +it. + +So along they went, up between the high houses of Edinburgh's principal +thoroughfare and down by the then Old Bow, with its strange old fronts and +leering storm windows, as if they were curious about the modern people, so +unlike their ancient inhabitants, all which sights raised a wonderment in +the western Celt, which could only be satisfied by questions, and which, +again, were answered with as much particularity as if she was not only to +see them all again, but to seek them out for a purpose. Then how the boy +watched the face of the man, as if some instinct had told him he would +befriend his grandmother, and be in the room of a father to him. And what +had this boy ever learned yet through his eyes alone, to be able to read +backwards the looks of love. Do we not get dreary? The road has no +windings, and there are no trees to conceal the cave of skulls on the +Aventinian mount. Once again with his victim,--for surely we cannot count +the deaf and dumb boy with the wistful eyes as being destined to have his +name--if it could be known in the strange country--recorded in the list, +within the little back room. The colleague was there, lying drowsy from +the prior night's potations, but not unexpectant of the return of his +friend. His eye brightened as the quickened orb threw off the drowsy +vapours; and could he be otherwise than polite--the word is not +misapplied--to the strangers? But where was the Irish friend? Oh, she +would come in good time; and though it were long, did not Helen M'Dougal +place upon the table, in a goodly bottle, that which qualified the ardour +of impatience? The boy must be cared for too till the friend came, and +Mary Hare would do that duty in the front room--yea, might there not have +been sweetmeats in Log's lodgings when the Logs had now waxed wealthy? In +two hours that woman was lying a corpse in the bed of the small room "with +the window looking out on the dead wall." The boy was dumb, but he had +wistful eyes, and begged imploringly with these to see his grandmother. +The women could not even lie to him, and tell him he would see her in the +morning. + +In the evening the two men sat over the fire in that same room, with the +body of the woman stretched out on the bed which was at the back of the +wall behind them. The boy was still under the charge of Mary Hare in the +front room. Every moment that had separated him from his grandmother--to +him all the world of his knowledge and affections--rendered the duty of +the governess more difficult, and even strange sounds, between a groan and +a scream, made their way out of his speechless mouth, as if nature in an +agony struggled against her own decrees. The sounds found their way to the +back room, and it came to be a question with the men, as they still sat +looking into the fire, what was to be done with him. It was proposed by +one, we know not which, that he should be taken out in the dark to the +Canongate and there left. The policy had two reasons to support it. In the +first place, he could not peach, and was therefore safe; in the second, +they could hardly venture the offer of two burdens, however welcome at +Surgeon's Square, for fear of awakening suspicions, a reason, this latter, +which was rejected by the other, supposed to be Burke, for the other +reason, that the boy, when dead, could be kept in the house for a few days +without great depreciation in value; and even if they should get for him +a pound or two less, they could make it up upon a fresher one next time. + +There was thus some little disagreement between the faithful friends, +which must await a settlement; and, in the meantime, Hare went out to get +a tea-chest for the conveyance of the inhabitant of the bed against the +wall. On his departure, his friend sat ruminating. At one time, when +alone, and amidst the sombre yet sometimes _soft_ influences of +melancholy, with her throng of shades of the past and gone, he used to +sing to himself plaintive airs. Perhaps his melancholy at these times was +poetical. These shades point to the ghosts of our friends, that seem to +stand on yonder shore of the land of shadows, and beckon us to them. We +resist the appeal from day to day for the sake of those that remain. These +die too, and the crowd of beckoners increases, till all that formed our +world seem to have flitted away, and then we make the sign of resignation +to the hermit shadow (in his case the hangman) that is to lead us to them. +If he ever did indulge in these plaintive airs, now was the propitious +time, but his mind was engaged on something more practical--the +resolution, turned and turned again, and examined and laid aside to come +back--yes, the resolution to send the boy after his grandmother. + +The night passed, the boy having by some means been made to understand +that his protectress was in bed unwell, but the mutterings of the mute +might have indicated that he had fears which, perhaps, he could not +comprehend. The morning found the resolution of the prior night unshaken; +and, in that same back room where the grandmother lay, Burke took the boy +on his knee, and, as he himself expressed it, broke his back. No wonder +that he described this scene as the one that lay most heavily upon his +heart, and said that he was haunted by the recollection of the piteous +expression of the wistful eyes as the victim looked in his face. The lad +was laid on the bed along with his grandmother; and in the evening an old +herring barrel held the couple who in life were each to each the one thing +loved--and love is the same in the high and the low--had the same fate, +enclosed in the same receptacle, and dealt with in the same way in +Surgeon's Square. + +It was recorded that a curious incident happened in connexion with this +affair which had wellnigh put a stop to the career of these wonderful men, +and we cannot help thinking, in looking back upon it, that it should not +have led to a complete discovery. The herring barrel, containing the two +bodies, was placed in a cart. An old horse, which Hare had used in his +traffic in fish and crockery-ware, was yoked to it, and the two set out in +the darkening to Surgeon's Square with their cargo. They proceeded along +the West Port without anything remarkable happening, but when they reached +the marketplace, at the entrance to the Grassmarket, the horse stopped, +and, notwithstanding all their efforts, would not move a leg. They were in +confusion. Exposure was imminent. As Burke afterwards said, they thought +"the poor old horse had risen up in judgment against them." A crowd +collected, but, strangely enough, the people were so much occupied with +the horse that they never thought of inquiring what was in the cart; and +when it was found that neither entreaties nor blows would induce the +animal to move forward, two porters were allowed to bear off the burden +without any particular notice. Nay, these men so much less squeamish than +the horse, took the barrel to the dissecting rooms without ever asking +what they were carrying. The horse, which it is probable age and hard +usage had arrested in its progress, was, in revenge for the fright it had +caused its masters, led to a neighbouring tannery and slaughtered. It was +of no value in Surgeon's Square.[7] + + + + +The Stray Waifs + + +There is no great wonder that thinking people, while admitting ruling +motives of action, should be chary about the question of their origin; how +one rises out of another, and that out of one further removed, and so +forth, as deep down as you please. The harlequin jackets may be removed +one after another, till you come to the skin, which, being white, is said +to be of no colour, only a negative, as also has been said of black. In +another view, the subject appears still more unfruitful; for, as you may +bring a tune, combining the grave and the gay, out of one length of +catgut, so the human mind will give you off all sorts of feelings, some +good and some bad, in the course of the same hour. In truth, as our doings +are made up of passions and restraints, which latter may be passions as +well, we will never understand thoroughly a human action. When we admit +that these great criminals took away lives, right and left, for the sake +of money, how much do we achieve? We just accuse them of what the Greeks +called _chrysomania_, or madness for gold. Strange that in our country, +where the passion is pretty strong, we have no such name, avarice being +entirely different; but this passion may have been a rider on the love of +drink, and then we cannot estimate either the one or the other, till we +know the force of the countervailing restraints. If these--and there are +many--are weak or _nil_, the passion may be a very weak affair, so that +such beings as our principal actors might--seeing they wanted pity and +religion and fear--have thought less of suffocating a fellow-creature than +Bellarmine did of removing a fly from his face. With no pretension to be +teachers, we offer these hints merely as explanatory of our manner of +treating a subject much discussed at the time. + +Of one thing, however, we may be certain, and that is, the effect of +familiarity in removing those inconvenient asperities called scruples, +which nature is continually casting up to preserve the triumph of the good +over the evil; and so we may well be satisfied that every succeeding +success operated with the double effect of confirming the prior purpose +and stimulating to a repetition. This is merely the confidence inspired by +habit, with which we are all daily cognisant; and therefore the subsequent +atrocities ought really to excite less curiosity, though not less +revulsion, than those that went before. Yet this is not found to be the +case, and the reason is, that even great men in the murdering way are +generally content with one trial, as being sufficient for all their power +to carry before the judgment-seat of God. + +It is always to be remembered that all these moral wonders took place in +very quick succession, and only a few weeks pass until we arrive at the +waifs. The actors had come to see that they had a great stage to perform +on, and supplied as well with innumerable objects. They had only to look a +few yards to the west, up Portsburgh, or to the east, up the Grassmarket +and Cowgate, to be certain that "a ten pounds," all prepared, was walking +or staggering as if every roll to a side offered to be one into their +arms. They had thus reason, if they had been of a philosophical +habit,--and one had the poetry of sentiment--to thank the great genius +Society for his injustice to his own members. And what an extraordinary +injustice it appears, when we consider that the high head of Wealth is +upheld by the tax of respect imposed upon the poor and the humble! If +there were no inferiors to witness a man's greatness, he would be great no +more; and yet those who are the soil from which this moral grandness +springs are left to rot, as if the more it approached to compost the +ranker would be the tribute to his mightiness: so, without abating our +horror of these men, we cannot altogether forget that the sufferers in +most instances were cast away by Mammon to be in turn immolated to Mammon. + +They had in short a bank--Heaven knows, not of "elegance"--upon which +they could pass a draft when they chose; nor was it forged--they were +themselves the drawers, and the money seemed to belong to no one; so +careless at that time--it is, we hope, different now--was society of those +whom it was bound to look after and protect. So money was again needed, +and Burke was to pass the draft, because perhaps his companion thought +that as there is (of course) honour among thieves, so fair play must be +esteemed a jewel among manslayers. And here the strange circumstance +occurred, in the midst of all these strange things, that his draft was to +be endorsed _by a constable_. He had been among his dear friends in the +Canongate,--and a man or a woman had now a value for him which a short +time before he never dreamt of,--thinking of how he could make some of +them more dear to him than they seemed to be to themselves, when his +attention was directed to a poor unfortunate, steeped in poverty and +drink, in the hands of a police officer. Mixing with the crowd, he went up +to the officer, and, with much apparent sympathy, interfered for one who +had no home and no friends to care for her. He would furnish that home, at +least for a time, and be that friend. The poor woman, like some of the +others who had wondered that they should become objects of interest, +looked at him as one may be supposed to do who has considered herself past +the hope of man's charity. Some of the crowd, struck with the offer, +backed the sympathiser, and the policeman, considering for a little, at +last consented, giving her up to the kind friend,--no other than a +philanthropist of the humbler order, but perhaps not the less +sincere,--and enjoining upon him the due performance of his promise. + +Having got his charge, the crowd--whose curiosity was served not less than +its benevolence, for these poor people feel intensely for each other's +sorrows, the more by reason that no one else does--separated. Then, alas! +the old story. The tempter and the victim pace the streets towards the +block-altar of the sacrifice; and as they go, we may consider how many +have achieved a world-wide notoriety for having concocted one of these +acts, with the attending circumstances of having watched their opportunity +and been defeated, and still kept to their purpose, and, veiling all in +romantic mystery, at length effected their object. Such men, and their +solitary performance, with which they were contented, or to which they +were limited by the gallows, are only qualified to form a meagre episode +to the terrible drama we are with so much imperfection evolving; even as +Faust's vision rose in curling smoke, and took on the gigantic form of a +being out of nature and belonging to another world. We have heard of +hardened men who gave those they intended to sacrifice time to pray. There +was allowed only short shrift in Log's lodgings. Before nightfall this +woman lay doubled up in a tea-chest. We will not disturb you in your +pause as your mind, led by her who dropped pity's tear on the written +words of the recording angel, goes away back to the youth or the +maidenhood of this woman. The "perhaps" has a weakness in it, but who +shall gainsay, with the doctrine of chances against him, that she was, as +you may be, beautiful and good, yea, at one time looking forward to years +of happiness, a redeemed's death, and a Christian's funeral, even with +that confidence which--blessings on your pitiful heart!--will be +sanctified and verified to you, because it is in God? + +We are not done with the waifs even so far as known, and their number has +never been recorded. It was a practice of Burke to wander out in the early +mornings. He would have been seen pacing the solitude of the deserted +streets even before cock-crow. Nor could any man tell the reason: it was +not asked, not even speculated upon. Like the traces of sympathetic ink, +the notice lay unverified, till the great disclosure, when it came up +fresh into many minds. And it came up all at once, with the suspicion that +he did not go those solitary rounds for contemplation, far less from +remorse; a feeling which, so far as can be ascertained--for the pang of +the wistful look of the dumb boy was suspected to be a mere trick of the +prison confessional--never ruffled his pillow. The night-hawk goes to bed +in the early morning, before the choir offer their song to the rising sun, +and these catch no flies till he is far up in the heavens. The first +surmise of the discovery of what had been doing in Log's lodgings sprang +the suspicion with elastic rapidity, that these early walks were +undertaken in prosecution of the old purpose, and specially stimulated by +an interest in that institution--to be found, we believe, nowhere +else--the cinder-women;[8] not singing-birds these, if he was not a +night-hawk; but the osprey is as early on the long sands, when there is +not to be seen there a living thing, except the gulls, as they pace so +securely the edge of the sea. + +A very early riser in Edinburgh is impressed with the sight of these thin, +haggard figures flitting from backet to backet in the great solitude. The +only moving creatures in the long streets,--if you did not know they had +any other object in view,--you would think that, being immured in the dark +dens of the Old Town, and ashamed to shew their faces during the day, they +crawl out to get a _glimpse_ of their old haunts, where, as unfortunates, +(the greater number,) they once flaunted their charms, till they faded to +the point of recoil. You would say, too, that they belonged neither to +this world nor any other--mere pendencies, with no solidity to keep them +on the earth, and no wings to take them from it--hopeless, too, and +fearless, not from despair or passion, but from sheer inanity--glimmers, +not lights, flickering at the end of wicks, with no oil except what they +have imbibed long before. It was this prey that brought the prowler out so +early in the morning; and he might have revelled in a field so fruitful +long enough, without that risk of discovery which attended his other +assaults. Friendless as they are, with years intervening since they were +cast off, not only from society, but from those who once knew them,--some +worshippers of beauty, perhaps,--there were none to inquire after them, +scarcely any to miss them, except a sister straggler, who might wonder for +a moment why a shadow had disappeared. + +That more of these creatures fell into his hands than the culprit +confessed, was the general opinion of the time. One, at least, was +certain, as a waif scarcely worthy of mention among so many cases, and +these so much more _éclatants_. On that eventful morning he was more early +than usual; the gray mists only as yet disappearing, and the figures he +sought for looming as shadows here and there at long intervals. It was +supposed to be in the New Town where he encountered the hopeless, soulless +creature, scraping as usual in a dust-box, picking up the bits of cinders, +and peering in the dim light for the chance turn-up of the sign of some +servant's _lâcheté_. A more easy approach than ever, with the charmed +"dram" on his lips, sufficient to bring the light of hope once more to the +cinder eyes. Even the long distance from the New Town, by the Mound and +the Bow, to Log's lodgings, as they paced and paced, would only increase +the hope, to be gratified at the end. And of course it was gratified; so +cheap a purchase, too, where the oil was all in the wick, and the blue +glimmer, rendered for a short time white by a glass only once repeated, +would recede into unconsciousness almost before the energy to take +advantage of it was up in arms. While this work was doing, in which the +accomplice rose from his sleep to join, the women were in bed--saved in +this instance from the trouble of their delicacy in going into another +room, or the passage, as they sometimes did. Nay, the cock had not crowed +before all was over. The gurgling sound would be weak. It has been said +that the death-scream of the surprised sinner, and the dying prayer of the +Christian, are the extremes which terminate two courses of life. They may +be the last signs in this world and the first in the next, as they are the +farewell to time or the salutation to eternity. Who was there to care? + + + + +The Relative. + + +So far we have had details through the medium of confessions uttered when +the only _terriculumentum_ to be feared by those who had no belief in a +hereafter--the law--had given forth her decree of death, supplemented as +these were by collateral testimony, or, rather, desultory remarks of +others who had seen portions of the drama; but in some instances there +were thrown across the light which at last illuminated the mystery, +certain shadows with no defined forms, and through which the light shone +only to make them lurid. + +Of this kind of partially-revealed secrets was the story of the young +cousin. No name or personal marks or place of origin ever came to the +public ear, far less the form or features of the sacrificed; only, +and no more, that a cousin of Helen M'Dougal's,--by uncle or aunt +uncertain,--left her mother and sister,--from whence, also under the +gnome,--to visit her relative in Edinburgh. It was known that she entered +under the door-lintel of Log's lodgings, and was never seen again. If the +world, as a spasmodic poet tells us, were destroyed, a few atoms left of +the wreck, with their internal forces of attraction and repulsion, would +enable a philosopher to tell how it was made. We smile at the +extravagance, while we acknowledge some kind of truth, which we cannot +understand. These small traces of the little world of crime within the +back room "with the window looking out on the dead wall," long since +destroyed and erased from the bigger world of which it formed a part and +the shame, may be brought together and filled up by the imagination, with +a certainty so far removed from the feeling of fiction, that we might +scarcely regret the want of particulars. We have had small need of that +faculty in our history; yet, comparatively, of that little world we know +next to nothing. We might as well deny to the welcomed cousin a name and a +place of birth, as refuse to believe that she went into that house with +the expectation of meeting friendship, if not love, to a greater degree +than what was held out to the hope of others. They would shake hands with +her--(what love and hypocrisy don't?)--and there would be inquiries after +the mother, and the sister too;--just what takes place at all such +meetings. Nor are we to forget the welcome in the still more common shape, +not the fatted calf, but the bottle of whisky, so useful an auxiliary +there. If the paramour or husband of her cousin ever sung his sentimental +airs, he would surely not refuse on the occasion of a visit of one allied +to him in the bonds of affinity. There could not help being joy, for it +was through the light of the feeling of mirth that these eight eyes looked +on the guest they were making happy. Those who have read the German tale +of the two eyes which followed everywhere Hans Kauffmann, and never glared +upon him but when he was alone in the dark, and which at an after-period +he saw shining in the face of his enemy, as that enemy, the wreaker of +vengeance, stood over him with the thirsty sword, may trace a resemblance; +but as for these eyes of the four hosts looking anger on the poor +relative, we may safely place that among the impossibilities--and surely +we do that more easily than we can fancy the expression of that peculiar +welcome. + +We wonder how nature so often leaves us in the dark. We cannot understand +that she has so much to do that she is for ever in a hurry, so that we +only see at times the skirt of her cloak. Then we are ourselves so +restless and impatient for knowledge, that we snuff the candle of our +inquiry so often that we can see nothing. Perhaps all this is intended for +the purpose of giving us a wider world of imagination, and more ardour in +peopling it with all its strange beings, spectral images, protean forms, +wild movements--for what further end we know not, but we work our +privilege in these days of fiction very well. The veil is often an +exaggerator, but in this act of our drama it seems hard to fill up the +unknown recesses with possibilities equal to the realities. Just try to +supply the required minutiæ to the few words said to have been uttered by +Helen M'Dougal. After many months of fruitless inquiry, met with a denial +that any one in Log's lodgings had seen the young cousin, the mother and +sister, probably under suspicion of some foul play, went to the house of +Constantine Burke, the brother of our man. Helen M'Dougal happened to be +present, and to the request again made to know what had become of the +girl, the woman, who must have been under the influence of drink, for at +this time the explosion had not taken place, answered, "Oh, you need not +trouble yourselves about Jessy. She was murdered, and sold long ago." + +Among the cases of mere outline and shadowy traces, suspected to have been +more in number, as including more waifs than admitted, we may place +another. It seems to have been a bargain between the two principal actors +that their work should be conjunct in action as well as in payment. On one +occasion, Burke, having now plenty of money, went to the country on a +pleasure jaunt. Yes; pleasure. Amidst all our philosophy and inquiry into +causes and motives, would we not save ourselves a deal of trouble by +attributing nine-tenths of the actions of men, not excepting murder, to a +desire for pleasure? All swallow the love-apple bait presented by some +wicked genius of the devil, who sports with the affections of mankind. +The beguiler laughs as he angles. Some victims afford him fine "rises," +and look shy, only to come again to bite in earnest. Some swallow and +enjoy the sweet morsel, until the hook approaches the pylorus of their +reason. Some disgorge it, to seek it again; others break the line and run +away with the hook, to die in secret places under a crag. Some are caught +by a fin, and carry the mark of the forbidden pleasure only to excite them +to another trial; others are held on till they reach the bank, where they +writhe in agony amidst sunbeams, wild thyme, and gaudy flowers, with the +laugh of the tempter sounding in their ears. And some, on being swung +ashore, get entangled _in a tree_, and hang there by the neck. How few can +nibble off cunningly the _cibum præfixum ære_, and avoid the snare! Burke +had gone on a pleasure jaunt--not to be hooked yet. On his return he found +Log's lodgings as he left them; nor did he suspect that any of the unholy +work had been performed in his absence. If the old orgies had been +continued,--and how could they now be renounced when the increasing weight +of all those deeds must have been pressing more and more on their hearts, +however they might try to conceal it, and required the old art of buoyancy +as a counter-agent?--there had been plenty of money to supply the means, +so that Burke thought that no march had been stolen upon him by his +cunning colleague. It happened, however, that he had occasion soon after +his return to call at the hall in Surgeon's Square--perhaps to get the +price, or part of it, of the last burden. He was there told by one of the +assistants that his friend had been there shortly before with a box, not +empty, and had been paid for it. He even got the day of the month and the +hour of the evening, from which he saw that his co-actor had been +secretly, as he said, working during his absence "on his own hook." +Enraged at this want of honour, he repaired to the house, where he found +his friend, and taxed him with the fraud. Hare stoutly denied the charge. +The women were appealed to, but neither of them would admit anything; for +we are to remember that both of them were not only in fear of their +respective lords, but of those of each other. Nay, we have seen Hare using +as much liberty of punishing M'Dougal when his friend was present, as +Burke had of thrashing Mrs Hare, which it is certain he often did. Nay, +the women even had their battles royal, and the men were, as well, often +engaged in fierce conflict. The present subject was a _delicate_ one. It +touched the honour of contractors, the purse of sordidness, and the faith +of friendship. Well, we verily believe that even Burke was fit for these +heroics, and he was fit for something else. He fell upon his friend with +fury, and Hare, ever ready for battle with all and sundry, not excepting +his wife, retaliated. They fought long and desperately, the women looking +on with only that concern which might find its account in so being +revenged for some prior cruelty exercised toward them by one or the other, +perhaps both. This was one of those riots which so much disturbed the +neighbours. A crowd, as usual, collected at the door, but even the +exasperation of the parties could not force out the secret of their +quarrel. It would have been strange indeed if it had! and we say this even +in the midst of daily examples of anger roused to a pitch of opening the +floodgates of very dark things, even to the confusion and ruin of the +angry, and so far involuntary, confessor. How little did that crowd of +spectators know what these men were fighting about! + +But if the subject was the price of a human body, whose spirit was it that +enlivened it--man or woman, young or old, good or evil? The creature +passed away in the middle of a large city renowned for civilisation, and +even with the tread of passers-by reaching the scene, more secretly than +one who perishes at sea; for, in that case, though there is none to see, +there are always some to draw a conclusion. Yet, withal, we cannot say +that Providence does not vindicate the importance of its creatures. That +victim would, for certain, be mourned somewhere. There are even notes of +woe in the grove, when the missing mate is snared by the fowler, though no +one may be there to hear. It was remarked at the time when the great +secret burst, and the news flew on the back of broadsheets throughout the +land, that there were scarcely any direct declarations of claims. Even +when conviction was heavy on the heart that a missing relative could in a +certain way be accounted for, the issues were spasmed, and people only +looked their thoughts. If the whisper passed, it was only among close +relatives, and they kept the secret to themselves, even to the exclusion +of friends. It was from this cause that the papers could not, with all +their efforts, pander to the curiosity of the public by giving names. Nay, +so awe-struck was that public itself, that, after the first excitement and +wonder, and after Burke had paid the penalty, there seemed a wish to hurry +away from both the subject and its details. They wanted back to their +natural feelings and sympathies; and the hurriedness with which the crimes +were laid past, with the resolution that they should not be mentioned, +seemed to hold some ratio to their gigantic proportions. But the reasons +which actuated the people of the time are not these by which posterity is +to be influenced; for vice, whatever may be its degree, must ever be the +foil of goodness, and the punishment of the wicked the sanction of virtue. +It was even said by one of the newspapers of the day, that these records +would at some future time form the materials out of which some Sir Walter +would weave a romance. The prophecy is not justified in us. The +romance-writer will come; at present, we are content with the office of +chronicler. + +How much we could wish that these things had never been left to us to +chronicle, and how much too that what we have already said were the worst +we have to say! But thus begun, it behoved that the obstinacy of these men +should harden more and more; that the recklessness increased by success +should, according to rule, get more and more regardless of danger, till +the delirium of wickedness should throw them into the hands of justice. +Already "The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the +ground." + + + + +The Study for the Artist. + + +If these conspirators against society had limited their operations to the +waifs,--a wide enough field surely in a city like Edinburgh, renowned at +the time for the extent of the wide tattered fringe of the social +web,--they might have remained undetected for a lengthened period;--ay, +even until they had cut off hundreds; and why they left this secure area +can only be accounted for by that universal law whereby the doers of evil +acquire a confidence which blinds them to all sense of danger. The bold +and reckless case of the young cousin was the first indication of the +coming change, and we will see with what rapidity the progress was pursued +in terms of that inevitable decree of Providence. + +It has been mentioned that Burke had a brother of the name of Constantine, +who, having driven a desultory trade something of the nature of that +followed by his brother and his associate, had become a street-sweeper or +scavenger, and lived in Gibb's Close in the Canongate. It never was +satisfactorily established that this man was acquainted with the +conspiracy, although many suspicions, especially arising out of the case +of Mary Paterson, which is now to form the burden of our chapter, appeared +to hang heavy upon him. For once the scene of death was changed from the +old shambles to Gibb's Close. Mary Paterson, a young girl of eighteen or +nineteen years of age, of remarkably handsome form, as to which we will +hear more by and by, and who turned her attractions to no other use than +that of _the old abuse_, had been, along with a companion named Janet +Brown, lodged in the Canongate Police-office, on Tuesday the 8th of April +1828. They were kept till four or five o'clock next morning, when they +repaired to the house of a person called Mrs Laurie, where they had +formerly lodged together. They had been for some time constant friends, +and had more of affection for each other than is generally found among +individuals of their class. The woman, who felt for them, expressed a wish +that they should remain, but, for some reason unknown, they preferred +another course, and went to the house of one Swanston, who sold drink. +They got there a gill of whisky, and when they were drinking the spirits, +their eye fell upon Burke, who was there even at that hour, busy drinking +rum and bitters with the landlord. They had never seen Burke before, and +made no sign of a wish to enter into conversation with him; but he, who +appeared to have been watching them, came forward, and, affecting to be +much taken with them, ordered an additional supply of the rum and +bitters; nor did this drinking bout finish till three gills were consumed +in addition to what they had drunk before. Of this drink Burke +participated largely; and, indeed, it was supposed that he often wrought +himself designedly up to his required point of courage by the means of +liquor when he had any special work to accomplish. + +In the course of the debauch, and when he discovered that the girls were +of that kind who, when begun to drink, are regardless of limits, he +proposed that they should accompany him to his lodgings, which he said +were close by. Mary was willing enough, but her companion, Brown, shewed +signs of reluctance, not probably being much enamoured of their new +friend. Whereupon he roused himself to remove her scruples, by shewing +money, and stating that he was a pensioner, and could keep her, Brown, +handsomely, even make her comfortable for life; and that if she had any +fears of the people in the house, he would stand by her against any +insolence or abuse. All this attention, as Brown subsequently stated, was, +as she thought, directed to her in preference to Mary--with whom, as for +personal recommendations, she could not compete--in consequence of her shy +and backward nature wherein she was a contrast to her friend, who was of a +disposition fearless and forward. Besides, he knew from their apparent +affection for each other that the one would not accompany him without the +other. At length Brown gave up her scruples, and all the more readily that +he made the additional offer to provide a good breakfast for them, as an +earnest of all that which he had promised to do for them. Matters being +now arranged, he bought from Swanston two bottles of whisky, one of which +he gave to each of the two girls to carry. He then conducted them to the +house of Constantine Burke, where they found that man and his wife already +up, but with the fire as yet unlighted. Whereupon Burke got into a great +fury, abusing the woman for negligence in not paying more attention--a +feint with a meaning of which some supposed she was not altogether +ignorant. + +Straightway the gloomy aspect of the miserable house, the residence of so +rich a pensioner, was removed by the new-lighted fire, and the woman with +all activity set to work, in which she was joined by her handy +brother-in-law, to produce a hearty breakfast for her lodger and guests. +Tea, bread and butter, eggs and finnan haddocks, covered the table. They +were now merry: the effects of the previous drink had not yet died away, +while the breakfast before them, and the promises of the new friend, all +tended towards a state of happiness to which the poor girls were total +strangers. Meanwhile the brother, who joined in the breakfast, left +shortly to proceed to his work; and the meal having been finished, with +the cups and other things left remaining on the table, the two bottles of +whisky were produced. The drinking again commenced, Burke still +participating to a large extent, at the same time that he pressed glass +after glass profusely upon the girls. The impulsive and reckless Mary, +still true to her character, shewed no scruples. One glass followed +another, till by and by the drug began to shew signs of a speedy triumph; +but Brown was more chary, often refusing the proffered poison; not that +she had any suspicions of evil design on the part of the generous +pensioner, but simply because she did not wish to get drunk--a +consummation so clearly impending, with two bottles on the table, and only +three participants. + +Burke now saw that Mary, who had fallen back on the chair all but +unconscious, was safe. The next step to be taken in his scheme, which, +notwithstanding the enormous quantity of drink he had swallowed, he +prosecuted deliberately, was to get Brown, still comparatively sober, out +of the house; and he cunningly proposed to go along with her for a walk, +to revive them after their potations. The girl at once agreed, and, +leaving Mary in her narcotised condition, they sallied forth; but the +purpose of a walk was changed, and, inconsistently enough, Brown soon +found herself in another public-house with her generous and most +persevering friend. Here two bottles of London stout were ordered, along +with a pie, and the girl, whose natural caution and shyness were not proof +against so much seduction, drank a large share of the porter, Burke +himself shewing no reluctance to participate as well, knowing not only +that he could stand a great amount of drink, but that the more he took, +within the limits of consciousness, if not coolness, the better able he +would be for the execution of his purpose--in this instance, as it +appeared, a double one, involving both the girls at the same time, or, at +least, with a short intervening interval. The porter having had its due +effect upon Brown, who was yet, however, far from "the point," he then +induced her to accompany him again to the house they had left. Here the +remainder of the two bottles of whisky was produced, Mary all the time +lying almost unconscious, and only raising her head at times, and looking +with stupid earnestness on the proceedings. + +Now there comes up a new incident in the play, which has never been well +explained. All of a sudden Helen M'Dougal, whom we might have supposed to +be in Log's lodgings, who had not appeared at breakfast, and had not +hitherto been seen by the girls, starts violently out of a bed. There is a +whisper by Constantine's wife in the ear of Brown, that the apparition is +no other than Burke's wife; and the latter immediately commenced, with all +appearance of a jealous fury, to accuse the girls of having the intention +of corrupting her husband. The part was so well acted, that Brown, getting +alarmed, entreated forgiveness, on the plea that neither she nor Mary had +known that he was married, otherwise they would not have remained in his +company. The play proceeds. Helen M'Dougal breaks down: she was, she said, +not angry with them, only with her husband, who was continually deserting +her, spending his money on loose women, and leading a life of dissipation. +She then asked them to remain, and with such apparent sincerity that Brown +was satisfied, but as for Mary she was incapable of understanding a much +less complicated plot. M'Dougal next turned against Burke, upbraiding him +for his infidelity, taking up the things that were upon the table, dashing +them into the fire, and otherwise exhibiting the height of a woman's +passion. Nor was Burke indolent or regardless of this fierce onset; he +retaliated, and taking up a dram-glass hurled it against her face, hitting +her above the eye, and cutting, even to profuse bleeding, her forehead. At +this time, or a few minutes before, Constantine's wife rushed out of the +house, with the intention, as Brown subsequently supposed, of bringing +Hare, but it is more probable, on the supposition of an art-and-partship, +to the extent at least of knowledge, that she found some good reason for +being merely absent. Immediately after her departure, Burke succeeded, +with an apparent effort, in turning Helen M'Dougal to the door, and +locking it after her. + +Pausing a little in the midst of our narrative, we may remark, that +although it was generally supposed that this quarrel between Burke and +Helen M'Dougal was got up for the purpose of confusion, yet it is not +easy to see how any end could have been served by it; while the cutting of +the woman's face had too much seriousness about it, even as a part of the +terrible drama, to admit of the theory of an entire feint. The discrepancy +may be reconciled by the introduction of another passion, jealousy, but +this we cannot recognise, however true, except upon the assumption that +M'Dougal had some reason in her own mind to lead her to the suspicion that +Burke could be unfaithful to her with the very women he intended to slay. +Nor, however aggravating this may be, where aggravation seemed impossible, +it cannot be held as transcending the potentialities of a nature +altogether alienated from God, especially when we keep in remembrance the +true character of the passion thus imputed to Burke, as being so often +utterly independent of the emotion of love, in which a moral sentiment +forms a necessary element. This collision, as it were, between the desire +that Burke should _kill_, and another, that he should not _possess_, would +produce that irregularity, as we term it, in the plot which imparts to the +acting the incongruity so difficult to the analyses of the time. But while +it in some measure interferes with the unity so congenial to the +romancist, and which we unreasonably look for in nature, because it is +more consistent with art, it presents us with a picture of human nature +never before witnessed out of the domain of extravagant fiction. + +At the time that Burke returned, after the locking out, Mary was lying +across the bed, not having been able, even during the heat and noise of +battle, to lift her head to satisfy the natural curiosity of her sex, if +the curiosity itself was not altogether sopited. Burke knew the prolonged +continuance of these states, proportioned as they were to the quantity of +poison he had seen swallowed. So Mary is laid up as a reserve, ready for +his assault at any time within the period of hours. He therefore turned +his attention to the less easy subject, her companion, expressing still +greater kindness to her, and pressing her by all manner of solicitation to +lie down along with him in the bed from which, shortly before, his wife +had so unexpectedly sprung, and who, even yet, with continued +inconsistency, persisted in knocking at the door. So strong were these +solicitations, and so affected was Brown with the drink she had taken, +that, according to her own statement afterwards, she would have complied +with his request if it had not been that she was terrified by the noise +made by M'Dougal. Either supposition is possible, that he wished to +gratify a purpose upon the one, and then execute his final intention upon +her companion; or that he intended to immolate first the more difficult +victim, and then take his own time with the other. + +Fortunately the poor girl was able to resist his entreaties, as much +probably through some instinctive feeling as from prudence. Anxious to +get away, she expressed a wish to depart, to which Burke at first shewed +no inclination, but at length, and probably under the pressure of an +apprehension that, inebriated as she was, she might call for assistance, +and thus deprive him of Mary, whom, as she lay still senseless, he already +calculated upon as his own, he agreed to her request. He even conducted +her past Helen M'Dougal, who was still upon the stair, either under the +influence of her jealousy or of the old delicacy which so often took her +out of the view of the final catastrophes. In all this Brown made a narrow +escape, for whether Mrs Constantine Burke had really gone for the other, +and perhaps greater, arch-conspirator, Hare, or not, it is certain that +that fearful man arrived at Gibb's Close not long after the departure of +Brown. The moment Hare arrived, and there being now no one in the house +except themselves, and the unconscious Mary still lying in bed, they fell +straight upon their victim. The old story again. The process was familiar +to them--the energy at ready call--the execution easy. Burke springs upon +the senseless victim--Hare is at his post--the heavy body pressing with +the knees upon the soft bosom--the closing up of the mouth and nose--the +gurgling--the long inspirations--the watchings to listen, and listen +again, and examine if all was finished--the make-sure--the finish. So +quickly had the process been gone through that, on Brown's return, not +more than twenty minutes afterwards, Mary Paterson was lying dead, but +concealed from her observation by having been flung into a corner and +covered up. + +It may be of interest now to trace Brown. After getting past Helen +M'Dougal, who was on the stair, about, no doubt, to watch the process +inside, she went straight to Mrs Laurie's, and told her, with a laugh, +that she would not remain with her, as she had got fine lodgings +elsewhere; but after informing the landlady more seriously of the +circumstances, she was advised to go back, along with Mrs Laurie's +servant, and endeavour to get Mary removed; not, however, that either the +one or the other had any fears of her ultimate safety. The accompaniment +of the servant was probably another of the apparently accidental means by +which the life of this girl was preserved. Half stupified as she still +was, she did not recollect the name of the close in which the house was +situated, and being at a loss, but still anxious about her comrade, whom +she loved, she applied to Swanston for a direction to the residence of the +man whom she had seen there in the morning, and with whom she and her +friend had gone. The man replied, that they ought not to have gone with +him, because he was a married man, and did not keep company with women of +their kind, but that she would probably find him in his brother's house, +in Gibb's Close. Still, so stupified was she that, after getting into the +close, she went into the wrong house, where she was told that the people +there kept no company with such characters, but that she would probably +feel herself in the right direction by going up-stairs. They accordingly +ascended, entered, and found there Helen M'Dougal, Hare, and Hare's wife. +The dead prey had collected the ravens even within so short a time. Burke +was absent--no doubt in Surgeon's Square; but those present, with the +corpse within a few feet of them, were as unconcerned as if one among them +had been engaged in throttling a chicken for dinner. + +Upon inquiry for her friend, Mrs Hare rushed forward and attempted to +strike Brown,--a movement not easily accounted for, except upon the +supposition of a feminine way of repelling an intruder upon their secrecy, +who might be dangerous; but this burst gave way to a quieter demeanour, +the result of greater prudence, for the recklessness of passion is not +exclusive of minor means of self-preservation. They told her that Mary had +gone out with Burke, and invited her to sit down and take a glass with +them, upon which the servant left. Brown now saw Hare's eye fixed upon +her, and no doubt her partial inebriation was a temptation which was +touching; and Helen M'Dougal continued her part of the play, by railing +against her husband for going away with the girl whose dead body was +actually in the room. Brown, surrounded by the three fiends, was again in +danger; but, fortunately, Mrs Laurie, who had got alarmed at the report +of the servant, upon what precise grounds is not known, sent back the girl +to bring away Brown. No attempt was made to retain her in the presence of +the servant, but she was invited to return,--a circumstance so adverse to +the policy of keeping away so interested an inquirer as to be almost proof +of their intention to send her after her friend, the double object of the +price of her body and the seal of secrecy being the motive. + +Meanwhile, changes had been going on in the house; and when Brown, in the +afternoon, again called, Hare was gone--having given up his hope of the +further prey, as he would calculate upon Brown's gradual return to +sobriety. She was now told that Burke and Mary had never returned. Further +inquiries were made, not only by Brown, but by a Mrs Worthington, with +whom the two girls lived, and then another story was trumped up, to the +effect that Mary had gone on the tramp with a packman to Glasgow. This +story pleased Brown less than the other, which carried the inconsistency +of a recovery from drunken unconsciousness in so short a time; while the +tramp to Glasgow, and no intimation from that quarter, were equally unlike +the habits of the girl, who could write an intelligent letter, and would +certainly have done so if for no other object than to inform Brown of her +departure and to claim her clothes, which still lay in Mrs Worthington's. +No further intelligence was ever obtained till the great break up. The +fate of Mary Paterson was meanwhile a mystery. But when we take into +account the vagrant habits of these restless and changeful beings, we need +make no reproach on the want of affection of friends or relatives. + +We may state here that Brown believed firmly that Constantine Burke and +his wife were cognisant of this affair, both from their manner at the time +and the conduct of the man afterwards when she questioned him about Mary. +Often, when he was at his work in the morning, she inquired if he had +heard any further intelligence of her companion, but the answers were +surly and snatchy,--"How the h--ll can I tell about you sort of people, +here to-day and away to-morrow?" or, again, "I am often out upon my lawful +business, and how can I answer for all that takes place in my house in my +absence?" And so the inquiries for Mary Paterson died away for lack of +satisfaction, and the only hope that remained was that some day she would +cast up when weary of her wanderings with the packman. + +The account which Brown gave of this unfortunate creature is touching. She +admitted that she was irregular in her habits, but far from being low in +her grade; and expressed her indignation at a paltry print which appeared +of her, representing her in the garb of a servant, a dress in which she +never appeared. She had been well educated for one in her sphere, and +possessed, as we have already said, a fine person, for which she was +remarkable. She was a native of Edinburgh; and her mother being dead, she +was left to herself, driven along in her career by a frowardness of +purpose and impulsiveness of feeling, not yet inconsistent with a warm +heart and kindly affections. + +The supplement of the story is given by one of the confessions of Burke. +He cut the hair off her head when she was still warm. It will be +remembered that he formerly dealt in this commodity, and Mary's was too +long and beautiful to be given to the doctors. It might one day figure as +her own on a lady of rank;--and how little she would know of the fate of +her whom it had adorned, as adorning it! But to what end? Even that of the +poisonous flower of Paphos, which is said to have the most beautiful +petals, and to throw them the soonest away. Within four hours Burke and +Hare took the body to Surgeon's Square. It was then cold enough, but had +not yet got time to assume the stiffness of the dead. When uncovered, a +tall lad who was along with Mr Ferguson, one of Dr Knox's assistants, +expressed surprise and said that he knew the girl, and had been with her a +day or two before. Sharp questions followed as to where and how she had +been got, when Burke satisfied the inquirers--wondrous facility!--that he +had purchased the body from an old woman at the back of the Canongate. Nor +did the story finish here; So struck was Knox with the beauty and fine +proportions of the body of Mary, that he invited an artist to come to the +rooms to see it, for the benefit of his profession; and with the +conservative instinct of an old museum collector, the curious Professor +kept his favourite specimen three months in whisky. No wonder that this +case roused the suspicions of the public against the doctors,--a subject +we will take up in a subsequent chapter. Opinions ran high, and both sides +had their reasons and their arguments, upon all which we shall attempt a +judgment. + + + + +Daft Jamie. + + +The work goes on, with a change of shambles. Some time after the scene in +Constantine Burke's house in Gibb's Close, Burke and Helen M'Dougal +removed from Log's house to that of a relation of theirs of the name of +Broggan. It was never properly ascertained whether this separation was the +consequence of a quarrel between the parties, or whether it was imagined +that another establishment would furnish additional opportunities for +carrying on the trade. The latter opinion seems to have been justified by +their joint operations having undergone no interruption. Broggan's house +was admirably adapted for working the conspiracy, provided the inmates +could be relied on, a condition indispensable where the house consisted of +only one apartment, though with a convenient dark passage into which the +females could retreat as a safeguard to their feelings. If we are +surprised that four individuals could be found in the world to harmonise +in a confederacy for so extraordinary a purpose, we come to be appalled +with wonder and dismay at the apparent facility they found in +conciliating the scruples of those who could have derived but little +reward for their silence. We have seen Constantine Burke and his wife +acting the aiding confidants, and now we see another man and his wife +brought over with apparently little difficulty. We seek for the +explanation of course in the power of money, but this does not allay the +wonder, if it does not rather increase it, as extending the charm of that +agent even beyond what we could ever have dreamed of its influence. + +The first tragedy in the new theatre involved the fate of a decent woman, +the widow of a porter named Ostler, who lived in the Grassmarket, and who +had died shortly before. She gained her livelihood in an industrious, if +not laborious way, mainly by washing and dressing, eking it out by any +desultory work she could find, sometimes in the country during harvest. +She had been accustomed to visit Broggan's house in her vocation of +washerwoman, and was well known to the neighbours, both from her long +residence among them, and her frequent visits to the mangle at that time +kept by a woman of the name of Mrs Law. One day this woman was seen to +enter Broggan's house at a time when Burke was known to be there, and some +of the neighbours noticed, though without paying any particular attention +to the circumstance, that some time after she entered, there came from the +apartment sounds of jollity, as if the inmates had got merry under the +influence of drink. Burke himself exerted his musical powers, and Mrs +Ostler, not to be behind, favoured the happy party with her favourite +song--"Home, sweet home," which she sung in a wavering treble, not without +sweetness. The symposium was no further noticed, nor was it exactly known +who formed the party, but that Broggan's wife was in the house at the +time, may be inferred from the fact, afterwards ascertained, that about +that period she lay in of a child. From that hour Mrs Ostler was never +seen. She was despatched some time after the singing of "Home, sweet +home," and carried to Surgeon's Square the same evening. The ancients were +fond of the subject of the shortness, the brittleness, and the vanity of +human life. Homer has his soap-bubble, Plutarch his point of time, Plato +his peregrination, and so forth, and the moderns imitate them. Yet, at the +worst, man has generally made some little sign even at the death of a +beggar. It was reserved for Portsburgh to be the place where life +disappeared like a snuffed-out candle in mid-day--the hand unseen, the +light scarcely missed--even the material which supplied it gone as if by +magic. If Mrs Ostler was soon missed, the speculation died away under the +ordinary supposition, that she had fallen into some water; and there was +an end. + +The first murder after the change of residence was a mere prelude to an +act--_heu! heu! vita vehementer effera et barbara!_--altogether Cyclopic. +There lived in Edinburgh in that year--1828--an imbecile of the name of +James Wilson, or, as he was called, "Daft Jamie." His residence was in +Stevenson's Close, Canongate; but, with the exception of the night-time, +he was seldom at home, being, like most of his class, a great wanderer; +nor were his wanderings limited to the Old Town--he was seen everywhere, +and seemed never to be weary. Though evidently deficient in intellect, he +was strong and healthy in the body, going in all weathers bareheaded and +barefooted, without injury to his constitution, and without a murmur of +discontent. Never was there a more happy creature of the kind than Daft +Jamie; for while, as we too well know, those thus afflicted were at that +time, when they were less than now under the public care, often the +objects of hatred, more often of sport and play to the young of the lower +classes, Jamie was a universal favourite. It was not that the inhabitants +of Edinburgh merely pitied him--they really liked him. Perfectly harmless +and inoffensive, and not uncomely in his appearance, he possessed great +kindliness of heart; and to all who had occasion to be on the streets of +Edinburgh, whether early or late, he was familiar, always dressed much in +the same way,--the good-humoured, winning smile never absent from his full +round face,--always ready to salute by a peculiar manner of taking the +front lock of his hair between his finger and thumb, nodding quickly, +bowing and smiling. We can say, from experience, that there was no +resisting Jamie's smile and the twitch of the lock, and you felt this if +you had a penny in your pocket, which was all the more readily given that +he never seemed to wish for it. Nay, he sometimes rejected money, saying +that he didn't need it, for that he had "the feck o' half-a-croon on him." +This _bonhommie_ was perfectly genuine, not more the result of the +universal favour with which he was regarded than of heartfelt kindliness, +and a robust health independent of all weathers. + +Another peculiarity consisted in the importance he attached to his brass +snuff-box and spoon, which he always carried about with him, and used with +great economy, and with so much of selection, that while many might be +favoured with the smile and the bow, it was only a very select few, +principally favourites among the young collegians, to whom he condescended +to offer a spoonful of his rapee. Though undoubtedly imbecile, and +incapable of any continuous mental effort, he possessed a small portion of +intellect, never exhibiting any of the vagaries of his class. He kept up a +correct knowledge of the days of the month and week,--a species of +learning of which he was very proud,--and even went far beyond this in a +certain facility he had in calculating the day on which any feast or +commemoration would take place; so that to the students and boys he served +as a kind of walking calendar. He had musical talents too, so well +appreciated, that he was often called upon to entertain his juvenile +acquaintances with a song, which he executed in tolerable style. In +addition to all these recommendations, he was scrupulously clean in his +person, changing his linen, it was said, three times a week; and his hands +and feet, though always uncovered, appearing as having been carefully +washed before he came out. + +It was stated at the time that almost all the naturals then recollected on +the streets of the city had met with violent or untimely deaths. There was +Bobby Auld, who may yet be remembered as being a great crony of Jamie's. +Bobby was killed by the kick of an ass, and fell into the hands of Dr +Monro. Some others were mentioned. Nothing was more curious than to +witness a forgathering between these two. They talked about affairs in +general with the greatest complacency, not hesitating to criticise each +other's knowledge or perspicacity--even venturing the word _fool_ when the +detected ignorance or error warranted the liberty. It is narrated that on +one occasion Bobby and Jamie met accidentally in the neighbourhood of the +Grassmarket. "It's a cauld day, Bobby." "Ay is't, Jamie. Wudna we be the +better o' a dram? hae ye ony siller, man? I hae tippence." "And I hae +fourpence," says Jamie. "Ou, man," rejoins the other, "that'll get a haill +mutchkin." And away they went to a neighbouring public-house, where the +money having been first shewn as a necessary security, the whisky was +demanded with great dignity, and placed before them But before either of +them had tasted the liquor, "Lord, man," said Bobby, "did ye see the twa +dougs fechtin' on the street? They're no dune yet; I hear their growling +and their biting." "No," replied Jamie, "I saw nae dougs fechtin'." "It's +a grand sight, though," continued the other natural. "It has lasted +half-an-hour, an's weel worth seeing. I wud advise ye to gang to the door +and see it, for ye'll maybe never see the like again, in this world at +least." Then Jamie proceeded unsuspiciously, for he had no guile or +cunning about him, to see this wonderful dog-fight; but speedily returned +with the information that he could see nothing of the kind. "They'll just +be dune, then," coolly observed Bobby. "But what's come o' the whisky?" +said Jamie, as he opened wide his eyes on the stoup standing empty. "Ou, +man," was the treacherous reply, "ye see I couldna wait." Upon Jamie's +being questioned how he had revenged this foul play, his answer was in +perfect character,--"Ou, what could ye say to puir Bobby? He's daft, ye +ken." + +Though much inferior to his crony in trickery--of which, indeed, he had +none--Jamie was much his superior in intellect and knowledge. His father +is said to have been a decent religious man, who took him regularly to a +place of worship in the Old Town on the Sabbaths; and Jamie, perhaps from +habit, continued as regularly to keep up the practice. On one occasion, +when examined by a worthy elder of the congregation, it was said that +Jamie not only shewed far more knowledge than could have been expected +from him, but turned the tables upon his querist, putting considerably +more than the old theological questions of the _enfants terribles_, which +no one has been able to answer any more than our learned elder. And then, +to crown all, there was the parting valediction, "If ye wud like ony mair +information, Mr ----, ye ken brawly whaur to fin' me." + +One morning in the month of September or early in October of the same +year, Jamie was, as usual, wandering about in the Grassmarket, giving his +bow and twitch of the lock to any superior person he met; for he well knew +the differences of caste, considering himself far above the lowest, if not +even up to the line which he drew between the giving and the withholding +of the brass box and the spoon. Kindly affected towards his mother,--to +whose love in return he was indebted for the clean way in which he was +kept, and many attentions, for which, by a wise providence, the natural +comes in, as if for compensation, to the exclusion of his brothers and +sisters,--Jamie was looking for his parent. At this time he was observed +by Mrs Hare,[9] who, going up as she had often done before, asked him who +he was looking for. "My mither," was the answer; "hae ye seen her ony +gait?" "Ay," said the woman, "she's in my house." And with this +temptation she induced him to go with her. They were soon in the old +den--Log's lodgings--where Hare himself was crouching for prey. Behold +Jamie introduced to the court with the old honour--the fatal wink! There +left with one who would take special care that he would not escape, the +woman, as a provider of another kind--for she catered for life as well as +death--went to Mr Rymer's shop to get some butter, and it chanced that +Burke was at the time standing beside the counter. She then asked her +friend, who, as we have said, was now in other lodgings, for a dram, which +was accordingly handed to her by Mr Rymer, and when she was drinking it +off, she stamped with her foot upon Burke's, as if to tell him that he was +wanted. He knew instantly the meaning of the sign, having previously seen +her leading Jamie, to use his own words, as a dumb lamb to the slaughter. +The moment she departed, he followed; and when he entered, he was accosted +by Mrs Hare with the words, "You have come too late; the whisky is all +done." At this time, Jamie was sitting in the front room, with the cup +(used for a glass) in his hand, smiling and talking, and every now and +then looking round for the entry of his mother. Hare was alongside of him, +and Burke took a seat opposite. It was proposed to send for another +half-mutchkin, and this having been procured, they invited Jamie to the +fatal back room with the window looking out on the dead wall. + +On getting him into the apartment, they advised him to sit down on the +front of the bed, to which he assented; and Hare's wife, after getting +some of the spirits, went out, and locked the door quietly, and put the +key in through an opening below it, supposed to have been made for the +purpose. Now was the time to tempt Jamie with the whisky; but to their +utter disappointment, they found that he would drink no more than he had +done, and that scarcely amounted to a glass. It was his mother he wanted, +and for her he repeatedly called, in those accents of yearning which, +though coming from a youth, had, in perfect consistency with his nature, +all the pathos of infantine simplicity. Alas! there was no mother there. +Even the woman, who might have understood the yearning,--for she was +herself a mother,--had locked him in with demons. The two men were driven +out of their reckoning by Jamie's refusal to drink, and were necessitated +to manoeuvre; but in any view, they had a young and strong individual to +deal with, and they knew, from prior experience, that unless aided by the +effects of drink, they must lay their account with a desperate resistance. +No effort was left untried to get Jamie to take more whisky, but still +with the unsuccessful result. As yet kindly to him, he did not suspect +them; and, at length, so far overcome even by the small quantity of +spirits he had drunk, he lay down on the bed and fell asleep. But this +state, which even in the most wicked has the appearance of innocence, was +to be no guard against those to whom the old proverb so well +applied,--"_Somnus absit ab oculis_." Yes, they required to be awake, for +they had _work_ to do. They must kill a young, full-blooded youth, without +the use of a lethal weapon, and without leaving a mark. They must wrestle +to do this against the piteous appeals of innocence from one God-stricken, +and who had never injured human being. They must do it with the ferocity +of the striped lord of the jungle; they must do it without the help or the +excuse of revenge; they must do it with the ingenuity of an artist. + +Burke, who was up to the pitch of mammon's inspiration, and all the more +that he had been fretted by being so far foiled by an idiot, sat watching +his opportunity. The two were silent, only occasionally looking at each +other, and then at Jamie, as he lay still sleeping on the bed. At length +Burke said, "Shall we do it now?" to which Hare replied, "He is too strong +for you yet." Burke accordingly waited a little, as probably misgivings +crossed him that the conflict would be too furious to risk, and the noise +might attract attention at that hour. Jamie got some more moments to live. + +But this could not continue long; nor did it. Burke, become hot with +impatience, suddenly threw himself upon the still sleeping simpleton, and, +clutching him by the neck, attempted to strangle him. The onset roused +the instinctive energies of the lad, who had sense enough to see his +danger. The fear which in other circumstances would have made him run to +avoid his enemies, seemed to pass into courage, and nerve him to sudden +desperation. He clutched his assaulter with great force--his eye darted +forth his fury--the mantling foam stood upon his lips like a lather--and +throwing off the tiger with a bound, he sprang to the floor, stood erect, +and awaited another onset. Nor did he wait long. Burke, in his turn, +roused by opposition to the height of his wrath, again seized him, with +the intention to throw him; but Jamie had the greater strength, and, +besides, he fought for his life, so that he was again likely to become the +master, when Burke cried out to Hare, who had hitherto kept back, as if +afraid to enter into the struggle, to come forward and assist him, +otherwise "I will stick a knife in you." The threat had its effect, for +Hare, rushing forward at the very moment when Jamie was mastering his +enemy, tripped up his heels, and laid him on his back on the floor. Not a +moment was now to be lost, as the continued thumping and knocking against +the furniture and the screams of the lad might reach the Close, and they +must do their work, as we have said, without a knife, (which would have +quickly brought matters to a termination,) otherwise no price at Surgeon's +Square. The next moment saw Burke extended upon the body of the still +struggling simpleton, while Hare, at his head, was engaged in the old +process of holding the nose and mouth. Even after this, it was still a +struggle of considerable duration. The men were sweating and breathing +loud with their mere efforts to kill, and Burke, roused to fury, was often +thrown off, only to spring again with greater ferocity. By and by, Jamie's +struggles got weaker and weaker--relapses into stillness--wild upraisings +again--spasmodic jerks of effort--those indescribable sounds which the +doctors say attend cynanche--all receding gradually to the last sign. Nor +did they quit their grasp till they were pretty sure they had effected +their purpose. They hung over him--listened for breathings--made surety +surer. Daft Jamie is dead! + +This was beyond all question the most imprudent of all the acts of these +terrible beings. Without supposing them mad, it is hardly possible to +imagine that they could place before young men of the College, who were in +the daily habit of conversing with their victim, a body which could +scarcely fail to be recognised upon the instant. Yet on that very day it +was put into a chest and conveyed to the rooms, where, _after +examination_, it brought the price of £10. Burke, when he rose up after +being satisfied that Jamie was dead, rifled his pockets, and took out the +small box and the spoon, giving the spoon to Hare, and keeping the box to +himself. The clothes he gave to his brothers children, who, when the +bundle was unbound, fell to fighting about them; connected with which +part of an atrocity which the paper will scarcely bear the impression of, +is the curious fact that a baker some time after recognised upon one of +Constantine Burke's sons a pair of trousers he had not long before given +to Jamie. But here, again, though the mother of the lad, distracted by his +sudden disappearance, ran about searching and inquiring everywhere for her +poor boy, and though it was circulated that one of Dr Knox's students had +affirmed that he saw Jamie on the dissecting-table, no suspicion of the +manner in which he had been disposed of was ever hinted, till the final +discovery, which arose out of another case. Yet it is certain that even +before this event there had begun to move an under-current of uneasiness +in the public mind, and even some dark hints appeared in the public +prints; not that any of these pointed to anything of a defined character, +but that they gradually gave rise to a suspicion that there was some great +secret to be unfolded--what, no one could tell, no one even surmise--which +would startle the public ear, and lay open some terrible conspiracy. +Theories flew about in various guises, all as dark as they were +ridiculous. Some said that there existed somewhere in the city a secret +association of men, bound together by a fearful oath to avenge fancied +wrongs by a crusade against society, and that the members prowled about at +night for their victims, which they immolated amidst oaths and curses. +Others, still more wild, whispered that the missing individuals were +slaughtered and eaten by a gang of famished wretches, who having once +tasted human flesh, got keen upon the zest. Sawney Bean and Christie of +the Cleik rose up again, and became what they had been in olden times, the +bugbears of grown children. And, however ridiculous all these fancies +might appear after the disclosure of the true secret, it cannot be denied +that even sensible people, who looked sharply into human nature, and were +not utterly sceptical of the old legends, might, without the charge of +being fanciful, be led into thoughts which they would otherwise have been +ashamed of. The fact that so many individuals, old and young, had +disappeared within so short a time, without a trace being left, and in +many cases with their clothes lying unclaimed, remained to be accounted +for, and there was no experience to guide, and no theory of human nature +to explain. After all, was it possible that any supposition could +transcend, yea, come up to the reality? + + + + +The Brisk Little Old Woman. + + +It has been stated that Burke went to live in the house occupied by the +man called Broggan. This house, after Broggan's departure, continued to be +possessed by the lodger and his paramour. In a land to the eastward of +that occupied by Hare in Tanner's Close, you reached it after descending a +common stair, and turning to the right, where a dark passage conducted to +several rooms, at the end, and at right angles with which passage, there +was a trance leading solely to Burke's room, and which could be closed by +a door, so as to make it altogether secluded from the main entry. The room +was a very small place, more like a cellar than the dwelling of a human +being. A crazy chair stood by the fireplace; old shoes and implements for +shoemaking lay scattered on the floor; a cupboard against the wall held a +few plates and bowls; and two beds, coarse wooden frames without posts or +curtains, were filled with old straw and rags; so that of the money which +the parties had received no part had ever been devoted to any other +purpose than meat and drink, after allowing for the expense of the +transitory effort on the part of the women to appear better dressed. + +On the morning of a certain day of December, Burke chances again to be in +the shop of Mr Rymer, where he saw a poor beggar woman asking for alms, +whose brogue revealed that she was one of his country-women. The old +story, you will say. Yes, alas! the old story, but with a difference. She +would be garrulous--are not all poor people so?--yet the good heart admits +that there is some cause for garrulity where there are wants to supply and +no one willing to lend an ear. She would tell Burke, who had accosted her +with the old accents of sympathy, that she had come over to Scotland to +seek for her son. So straightway the sympathiser's name becomes Docherty, +and he would be glad to shew kindness to his country-woman, whom he +accordingly invited to his house. The proposal was accepted on the +instant, and, Burke leading the way, they proceeded to this asylum, which +had so miraculously come in the way of one who had no place she could call +a home upon earth. On their arrival, the old play begins. Burke sets +before her a breakfast, and, having left Helen M'Dougal to attend to her +wants, he went straightway to find his associate, whom he informed that he +had got "a shot in the house," a piece of information always welcome to +that fearful man. Meanwhile Helen M'Dougal performed her part. At the very +first appearance of the poor stranger she knew the fate that awaited her, +and yet she set her to work in the cleaning of the house--a duty which the +woman would cheerfully undertake out of pure gratitude to those who had +thus generously taken in the weary wanderer and filled her empty stomach, +yea, promised her harbourage for a time. + +Hours passed, during which, in the absence of Burke, who would appear in +due time, the two females were feminine, for they were engaged in acts +which, as the natural work of their instincts, constitute so far the +difference between the sexes; nor was the friendship which these acts were +calculated to cement and strengthen to be weakened, in the estimation of +the guest, by the arrival, in the evening, of Burke and Hare, and the +latter's wife--a jolly crew, who could render compatible, again as so +often before, the orgies of a wild mirth with the foreseen doom of the one +round whom these orgies were celebrated. When these parties entered, there +were in the house a person of the name of Gray and his wife, who had been +for some time lodgers with Burke. It was necessary that these persons, who +could not be trusted, should not sleep there that night, and Burke +accordingly went out to seek lodgings for them, whereupon, at a certain +hour, they departed, taking with them some suspicion that their banishment +from their quarters did not quadrate with the excuse that a wandering +beggar, albeit represented as a relative, should take their place, if +they had not some other grounds, derived from particular observations, to +lead them to a thought which was destined to be the original spark to +raise into conflagration a long collected mass of rottenness. + +On the departure of the Grays, the saturnalia preceding the sacrifice +commenced, and the scene was too fraught with enjoyment for the females, +always ready for scenes of excitement, to be absent. The inevitable whisky +was brought, and the poor stranger, to whom it would be as warmth to a +heart cold enough from poverty and privations, must partake. And now there +was to be one of those apparent inconsistencies which the one string of +catgut exhibits in every day of our lives. If the joyous scene was to +finish by the death of her around whom, and for whom, it was celebrated, +surely the more remote it was kept from observing eyes the safer; so says +prudence, but prudence forgets that she belongs exclusively to the natural +and the rational, and like all reasoners who argue from _egoism_ to +_tuism_, she expects abnormals to follow her maxims, which appear to them +to be as abnorm as they are to her. So while their spirits are up, as well +from the stimulant of drink as from that of the coming sacrifice, they go, +whither the destined victim had preceded them, into the neighbouring +apartment, occupied by a Mrs Connoway. There the scene was continued, or +rather begun afresh. More drink was brought by M'Dougal, and the enjoyment +was elevated into the altitudes of dithyrambism. Songs were sung, +accompanied by a chorus of hoarse, broken voices, among which the +_tremula_ of the "brisk" little old woman mixed its quavers, till at +length they all rose and danced. This scene continued for a considerable +time, when they left. It was now eleven o'clock, and they were all again +in their old quarters. + +We have already seen that it formed a part of their plan of assault that +some of the parties should quarrel and fight--the confusion thus produced +being the opportunity of the assault. And the scheme was not departed from +on this occasion. In the heat of the pretended _mêlée_ the little old +woman, who had interfered on behalf of Burke, because he had been "kind to +her," was cast down by force, for she had not drunk so much as they wanted +her to do, and by keeping her senses had driven them to the necessity of +the fighting prelude. This was the sign. The women, in the knowledge of +the approaching struggle, hurry out of the room. At the very moment, Burke +throws himself, with all the desperation of his purpose, on the body of +the prostrate woman, clutching her by the throat, while his companion, +bounding to his help, joins his energies in the old way, so that by the +combination of powers utterly beyond resistance, she was held for full +fifteen minutes, until, amidst the silence of deep hush and listening, +they thought her dead. Not yet. They were deceived: there was more life +than they counted upon in the little old woman, and the signs of +reaction, as nature vindicated her guardship of the spirit, challenged a +further effort. The weight and compression were renewed, and continued +till there could be no doubt. The little old woman was dead, and in an +instant after doubled up and thrown among a parcel of straw there for the +purpose, in a corner of the room, between the foot of the bed and the +wall. + +When they were satisfied that the act had been accomplished, the women +returned from the dark passage; whereupon Burke--it was now about +twelve--went to the residence of Dr Knox's curator of the rooms, who lived +near by, and bringing him along with him, pointed to the straw, and said, +"There is a subject for you, which will be ready in the morning." After +the departure of the curator, the party sat down to begin again their +debauch, in the course of which they were joined by a young man called +Broggan, when the revelry being continued, was carried on till four or +five in the morning, at which time the two women lay down in bed, with +Broggan alongside of them. Next morning, and after Hare and his wife had +left for their own house, Mr Gray and his wife, who had slept there during +the night, returned to Burke's, in consequence of an invitation given them +by him to come to breakfast. On entering the house, they looked for the +little old woman, and were surprised that she was not to be seen. +Thereafter Mrs Gray having, during a search for her child's stockings, +approached the bundle of straw, was met by Burke coming forward and +intercepting her, by crying, "Keep out there!" with a _nod_. Broggan was +then requested by Burke to sit on a chair so situated as to guard the +straw, and prevent an approach; but during the day he deserted his post, +and Mrs Gray, still more satisfied that there was something to be +discovered, took the earliest opportunity of a search. The dissipation had +driven all the actors right and left, so that at length the coast was +clear. Assisted by her husband, she began to remove the straw, and the +first thing she touched was the arm of the dead woman. They then examined +the body, which was entirely naked, and discovered that the mouth and a +part of the face were covered with blood. They had seen enough, and +thought it high time to get out of that house--a purpose they were in the +course of executing when they met Helen M'Dougal on the stair. Gray +immediately told her he had seen the dead body, whereupon she got alarmed, +implored him to hold his tongue, and said that if he did it would be worth +ten pounds a week to him; but the man was honest, and replied, "God forbid +that I should have that on my conscience!"[10] + +Now, at last, the great secret had got into a mind true to God and nature; +and here you have to mark, with gratitude to Him who takes His own time to +bring evil to light and crime to retribution, the beginning of the end of +all these terrible evils. + + + + +The Discovery. + + +The records of human actions, though so often blotted by stains of blood +shed by the power of money, have, as we have observed, seldom shewn more +than some one individual act of violence. We exclude, of course, those +which set forth the actions of regularly-organised banditti; and even +there the robberies with mere violence form the general theme,--the cases +of killing being the exception. Here again we see the agent not only +working its wonders in the four actors, but extending its influence all +around in closing up the issues of discovery. The bribe offered by Helen +M'Dougal to Gray, gives us a further insight into this collateral part of +the conspiracy; and while we have the young man Broggan clearly enough +brought in as an additional confidant, we cannot avoid the conclusion that +he too had been got over by the all-powerful agent. Nor can we account for +the conduct of one more, who came into the scene at a still later period, +by anything short of this paid "winking toleration." + +In the evening, after Gray and his wife left the house, the body of the +little old woman, which had been seen by them, was despatched to Surgeon's +Square in a manner somewhat different from that of the others. Indeed, +during the whole of this day, all the actors appear to have been deranged, +hurrying hither and thither without definite aim, as if under the +influence of a demon. The invitation to breakfast given to the Grays; the +nod of Burke when he scared Mrs Gray from the straw; the imprudent watch +committed to Broggan, and, above all, the leaving of the house with the +body lying in the corner, and the Grays there, so evidently upon the +alert, can only be accounted for on the supposition of frenzy. The new +element of the discovery made by the Grays, with the threatened +communication to the authorities made by the husband, was calculated to +aggravate that restlessness, so much better expressed by the German word +_verwirrung_. The nest was fluttered: all went to and fro, but whether it +was that the main chance could not, even by all this confusion and fear, +be driven from their minds, or that they saw the pressing necessity of +getting the body quickly out of the house, Burke hastened and engaged a +porter of the name of M'Culloch to convey the tea-chest, already procured, +with its burden, to Surgeon's Square. When the man came in the evening, +the body was not even put into the chest, and so confused and irresolute +were the two principals, that M'Culloch was obliged to help the packing. +He saw and handled the body,--forced it down with much pressure, and, even +when he was on the point of getting it upon his shoulders, he noticed an +oversight to which the others were blind. A part of the hair stuck out, +and so, with great caution, this careful cadie took the trouble to put all +to rights. + +Meanwhile, the other harpies, under the prevailing restlessness and +flutter, were on the watch. M'Culloch, with the burden, sallied forth by +the Cowgate to find his way to the top of the High School Wynd, where he +was to be met by Burke. When half way up that passage, he was joined by +Burke and Helen M'Dougal, and before he got to the Square, Hare and his +wife were there, so that all the four were thus, and on this occasion of +delivery only, drawn together by the double motive of clutching the money, +and the apprehensions enveloped in the long-reaching shadow of frowning +justice. Nor did they stop there. When the burden had been deposited, and +M'Culloch requested to go to Newington, where Dr Knox resided, to get his +five shilling fee for his winking toleration, they all set off together, +and, though there was some straggling and separating, the women never lost +sight of the men. Arrived at Newington, Dr Knox's curator took the +principals, along with M'Culloch, into a public-house, the women hanging +about outside on the watch, and a part of the price, to the extent of £7, +10s. having been paid and divided, the whole party returned to the city. + +While all this was going on, the man Gray, having been finally moved to +his purpose of informing the authorities of what he had witnessed, and +having also seen the removal, had repaired to the Police-office, where, +after waiting some time, he saw the officer, John Fisher. To him he +detailed what he and his wife had witnessed.[11] The bringing in of the +"brisk" little old woman--her good health--the manoeuvre to get him and +his wife to sleep at Hare's--so much of the orgie with its dancing and +singing as he knew--the disappearance of the stranger in the morning--the +discovery of the body under the straw--the blood upon the mouth--the bribe +of £10 a-week--the removal of the body. Whereupon Fisher, after +despatching his informant before him, repaired to the premises, but he +went with no other thought in his mind than that Gray was influenced by +spite;--so near again was the conspiracy to an escape from detection. Nor +did even what Fisher found and heard tend to awaken him. On getting to the +house, he met Burke and M'Dougal, with Gray and another man called Finlay, +coming up the stair, and having told Burke that he wanted to speak to +them, they all returned to the room. Fisher then began his interrogations. + +"Where are all your lodgers?" he said, directing himself to Burke. + +"There is one," replied he, pointing to Gray. "I turned him and his wife +out for bad conduct." + +"But what has become of the little woman who was here yesterday?" he +continued. + +"She's away." + +"When did she leave?" + +"About seven o'clock in the _morning_, and Hare will swear he saw her go." + +"Any more to swear that?" + +"Oh, a number!" replied Burke, insolently. + +Whereupon Fisher began to look about the house, and especially the bed, +where he saw many marks of blood. + +"How came these there?" he inquired at Helen M'Dougal. + +"Oh," replied she, confidently, "a woman lay-in there about a fortnight +ago, and the bed has not been washed since; and as for the little old +woman, she can be found. She lives in the Pleasance, and I saw her +to-night in the Vennel." + +"And when did she leave this?" he rejoined. + +"About seven o'clock _at night_," replied the incautious Helen. + +Upon this small discrepancy depended the further prosecution of the +inquiry, and, consequently, either the present discovery of the +conspiracy, or the continuation of it, with, probably, if possible, +increased atrocity, for Fisher was satisfied as to the blood as well as to +Gray's spite, and, according to his own assertion, came to the resolution +of taking Burke and M'Dougal to the Office, _only_ on the mere chance +ground of their difference about a time of the day. On arriving before the +Superintendent, Fisher mentioned what he had seen, and also what he +thought; but the superior, quickened by the mention of the blood, which so +far, hypothetically, at least, harmonised with Gray's story, took another +view. Yet how far was he from suspecting that he had in his very hands the +key to that chamber of horrors, the untraceable existence of which had for +a time produced so much deep-breathing oppression in the public mind! He +immediately paid a visit to the house, along with the police surgeon, Mr +Black, and Fisher himself. There they found a stripped bed-gown, which Mrs +Law, who came in, stated belonged to the little old woman, and in addition +to what Fisher had seen, a quantity of fresh blood, mixed with _fifteen or +sixteen ounces of saliva_, among the straw now under the bed, but which, +as we have seen, lay formerly between the end of the bed and the wall. + +On the following morning, the same three parties proceeded to Dr Knox's +rooms in Surgeon's Square, and having got the curator formerly mentioned, +who felt no hesitation in assisting their inquiries, they were led by him +to the cellar. "There is the box," said he, "but I do not know what is in +it." On opening it they found the body of a woman quite naked, and Gray +having then been sent for, came and identified it as that of the little +old woman. Thereupon the body and box were conveyed to the Police-office; +and on the day following an examination was conducted by Dr Christison and +Dr Newbigging, assisted by Mr Black, which, according to the conjectures +of the first, who as yet knew nothing of the real manner of death, +harmonised wonderfully with the _res gesta_. There were several contusions +on the legs, probably caused by the heavy shoes of the assailants--another +on the left loin--another on the shoulder-blade--one on the inside of the +lip, the consequence of pressure against the teeth, and two upon the head, +probably from being knocked against the floor in restraint of efforts to +rise. Above all, as an index to the _modus_, there was a ruffling of the +scarf skin under the chin, and as a proof of the _force_, a laceration of +the ligaments connecting the posterior parts of two of the vertebræ, +whereby blood had effused among the spinal muscles as far down as the +middle of the back. There was also blood oozing from the mouth and nose. +The body appeared to be that of a healthy person, all the organs of the +vital parts being unusually sound. From all which, Dr Christison, and also +the two other doctors, drew the conclusion, that the woman had met with a +violent death by means of throttling--a form indicated by the ruffling of +the skin below the chin as more likely than that of smothering or +suffocation. Nor was this conclusion liable to be affected by the fact +stated by Mr Black, that many of the intemperate people of the city, and +so many that he had seen six cases in the Police-office at one time, were +often on the eve of death, nay, altogether deprived of life, through +accidental suffocation from drink, produced by chance obstruction of the +mouth, or lying with the face on a pillow. + +All this information having been obtained, the authorities were at length +roused, and the Lord Advocate, it is said, saw at once that he was on the +eve of a great discovery, which would explain the recent disappearances. +All secrecy was imposed upon officials, yet in spite of the precaution, +parts of the story got currency among the people, and, offering a solution +as they did of the prevailing mystery, deepened the awe, while they +stimulated the curiosity not of the city only, but the kingdom. Hare and +his wife were laid hold of, and inquiries in every direction set on foot +and prosecuted. Recourse was had to the culprits, in the hope that some +one or more of them would confess, but at first there was no success in +this direction, each of them maintaining that they knew nothing of the +death of the woman, or the fate of any of the prior victims. On the 3d and +10th of November, Burke and Helen M'Dougal, finding that one fact could +not be denied, that a dead body was found in their house, issued +declarations whereby a story was trumped up to the effect that it was +brought there by a stranger, who called one day to get some work performed +by the former; but these were disregarded as inconsistent and ridiculous, +and the authorities were left to their scent. The evidence of the Grays +was of great importance, and other people were found who could speak to +isolated facts. Hugh Alston could swear that at half-past eleven on the +night of the 31st of October, when he was going to his house, in the same +land where Burke resided, he heard a noise coming from the latter's +room--men quarrelling and fighting--(the feint preceding the +onslaught)--and amidst the uproar the peculiar voice of a female crying +murder, then after some minutes the uproar diminished, and he heard a cry +as if proceeding from a person or animal that had been in the act of being +strangled. This circumstance recurred to him, and struck him forcibly next +evening, when he heard that a body had been found in that house. + +Additional information was got from Mrs Connoway, who occupied a room on +the right hand of the main passage leading to that other which terminated +in Burke's apartment. She remembered that, on Hallowe'en night, Burke +brought in with him a little old woman; that, on subsequently going into +his house, she saw her there sitting by the fire supping porridge and +milk, and upon her saying, "You have got a stranger," M'Dougal replied, +"Yes, a Highland woman, a friend of Burke's." In the darkening, the woman +came into her house, and she was surprised to hear her calling Burke by +the name of Docherty, wherein she corrected her. By and by, Hare and the +two women followed, one of the latter having a bottle of whisky, part of +which the stranger partook of along with the rest. Thereafter they got +merry, when they all rose and danced, the little old woman among the rest. +When the others left, the woman remained till such time as Burke, who was +out, should return to his own house, because she trusted to him for +protection. During the night she was disturbed by a terrible noise as of a +fight; and in the morning, about nine or ten, having gone ben, she found +collected Mrs Law, Young, Broggan, M'Dougal, and Burke, the last drinking +whisky, and sprinkling it over the bed and the straw, and M'Dougal singing +a song. On inquiring where the little old woman was, she was told by Helen +that she had kicked her out, because she was "ower freendly" with her +husband. Towards six she was called upon by Mrs Gray, who having +previously told her of the dead body, asked her to go in and see it, but +when she complied, she got so frightened that she turned and ran out. +Further on, her husband told Burke that it was reported that he had +murdered the woman; on hearing which he laughed very loud, as well as +M'Dougal, who was present, and then said, he "did not regard what all +Scotland said of him." Nor did he seem to be in the smallest degree +afraid. This information afforded by Mrs Connoway was corroborated to a +certain extent by Mrs Law, who occupied a room in the main passage +opposite to that of the former; and Broggan was willing to go so far as to +admit certain things, among the rest, the charge of sitting on the chair +opposite to the straw. + +Withal though this evidence could leave no doubt on the mind that murder +had been committed, it did not amount to proof against any particular +person. All that pertained to the disposal of the body at Surgeon's Square +was frankly told by the curator; but, with this exception, there was much +to complain of as regards the doctors. Knox and his assistants, all of +whom shewed from the beginning a marked, if not determined, refusal to +help the authorities in the furtherance of justice. But if all the +testimony that could be procured in support of the charge in this case was +insufficient, the deficiency was still greater in regard to those of Mary +Paterson and Daft Jamie, for unfortunately no one, with the exception of +the accomplices and the gentlemen in Surgeon's Square, had seen their dead +bodies, or could even say they were dead, so that the _corpus delicti_ was +literally little better than a myth. The authorities were therefore placed +in a very trying position. The people cried for vengeance; and the Lord +Advocate could only respond, "The decrees of the blind goddess are not +gropings in the dark;" and he moreover, said, that an ineffectual trial, +followed by an acquittal, would not only be injurious to the interests of +justice, damaging to the prestige of official dexterity, but dangerous to +the country, in the humour in which the inhabitants of Edinburgh felt +themselves. That humour had often shewn itself before. The example of the +Porteous mob was not only a lesson, but, as regards the crimes, a +derision; and it was just as certain as the death of the brisk little old +woman, that the big old Edinburgh would take the blind lady into their own +hands, and if she would not _see_ that it was right that these four +persons should be hanged, whether on a barber's pole or not--they would +extract her cataract or cure her _amaurosis_ for the purpose, and then +immolate the criminals at her altar. + +From this anxiety with which the Lord Advocate was oppressed, there was an +impending relief. The diligent officials, all straining for the +satisfaction of the people, the vindication of justice, and the comfort of +their superior, were continually attempting the prisoners, and at length +it was discovered that the crafty, cruel, and cowardly Hare, and also his +wife, were beginning to shew signs of inclination to buy their lives at +the expense of those of their perhaps less guilty associates. The leer of +the "fearful man," when the proposition was made to him, was a repetition +of the old satisfaction when a "shot was in the house," and it is not +unlikely that he chuckled at the rising thought of sending him to the +college for the benefit of science and the good of his fellow-creatures; +nor was the indication either unnatural to him or fallacious to the +public. In a short time he declared himself, but on the condition of a +firm bargain. The "shot" must be paid for by the price of immunity to his +person and that of his wife. + +When this information reached the law officers of the Crown, they hailed +it with that amount of satisfaction which might be felt when a man +procures by chemical agents from pollution the means of reproducing +health. It could be doubted by no one that the evidence of such a _socius +criminis_ as Hare, or _socia criminis_ as the amiable Mary, would be worth +less than the value of an old song, insomuch that while the old song +_might_ be true, the words of Hare, in a transaction where he himself was +concerned, could _not possibly_ be true. He would represent, and the +people knew it, the Janus head with one face looking simpering peace to +himself, and the other bloody war to his friend. Nor was this +foreknowledge of the man, founded as it was upon such an array of actions, +belied by the result. The precognition was, from beginning to end, a long +train of lies, wherein he represented himself as a good, easy soul--his +wife as well--who allowed Burke to have his own way, neither advising him +nor assisting him, only not obstructing; and even where he could not avoid +some confession of participation, attributing his weakness to the +easiness of his nature. How innocently he took a little liquor so as to +make him, not drunk, but merely put him in a sort of "drunkish way!" How +benignantly he sat on the chair at the side of the bed when the ruffian +Burke was fighting like a tiger to squeeze the life out of the little old +woman! As for the money, he merely accepted it--never earned it; and who +refuses money? So glaring was the falsehood of the man's statement, and +not less that of his wife, that the Lord Advocate was by no means sure of +a verdict. _Socii criminis_ have shades of character, but they are only to +be believed when they shew penitence, and strike with vigour their own +persons; but Hare only held on and kicked out; and a jury true to their +consciences might, after all, become disgusted, and find a verdict of "Not +proven." + + + + +The Complicity of the Doctors. + + +If the world is rife in unknown crimes, it is still more rich in winking +toleration, insomuch as there is generally several winkers to one actor, +and the former are of various kinds, while the latter is limited in his +passion. Some are cowardly accorders, who favour the crime which they have +not courage to commit; others are selfish, and expect benefit from their +convenient nictation; and some there are who would be injured by the +virtue of others having its own reward. So it is that the world, +notwithstanding grave faces and simpering moralities, contains within its +circumference only a trifle fewer rogues than inhabitants, the residue +being God's own--stern beings who have fought the devil at his own weapons +and conquered. These have a certain price in another place, where the +golden streets are happily not liable to be coined; but here they are of +small account, where money is the measure of a man's worth. We have +already seen that even such men as Burke and Hare had their sympathisers +and secret-keepers; but these were low, and therefore liable to be +tempted; and it may be said that we have different men to judge when we go +to the halls of science and seek for the winking tolerators of wholesale +murder. + +So far we admit, and we would be sorry indeed to do these men and youths +injustice. We know that great authorities, such as _Blackwood_, and +smaller ones, such as Colonel Cloud, accused them of art-and-partship as +resetters, and that the public at large did not hesitate even to +vociferate anathemas before a regular trial--with the devil's advocate to +plead for them--qualified them for excommunication by book, bell, and +candle. All this goes for nothing with us at a time when it was said the +fire of passion would be allayed, and sober reason exert her +authority.[12] + +It is fair, and even necessary, to assume as a fact, which, indeed, we +have seen established by the practice of "Merry-Andrew" and the "Spune," +that the disinterring craft were in the habit of purchasing dead bodies +from poor lodging-keepers or relatives, in all which cases the bodies +would be very different in appearance from those procured in the ordinary +way. We suspect, from the nature of the Scotch character, with its +sympathies and friendships, that those examples were not at any time many; +and the best evidence of this is, that under such an easy system, the +resurrection trade, always difficult and precarious, would not, especially +after the indictment of Dr Pattison of Glasgow in 1814, have been so +assiduously prosecuted. Such a system, too, depending upon the character +of a people and the feelings of individuals, must be supposed to have been +under the regulation of those natural, or, if you like, unnatural, laws to +which all organic beings are subjected. If, during a period of a decade, +examples of such purchase and sale were only one or two in a year, even +increasing _paulatim et gradatim_ to three or four, we would not be +prepared for a sudden increase starting up all at once in one year to from +sixteen to twenty; and there were many people who calculated the number in +our "Court of Cacus" at thirty. We may insist here a little upon this +view, because, amidst all the outcry against Knox and his assistants, it +was never taken into account. + +Nor could this sudden rise have appeared the less startling to any mind +below that of an idiot, that this new trade was not spread over a great +number of persons--and nothing less than a _very_ great number could have +sufficed for watching, ferreting, persuading, bribing--overcoming all the +prejudices arrayed against an act of sale--but was altogether engrossed by +two poor squalid Irishmen, who had come into the trade by a leap, and all +but superseded the old experienced hands. If we were to make the +supposition, that now, or at any other period in the history of Scotland, +two Irishmen had taken it into their heads to set up a trade of this kind +in the city of Edinburgh, we would soon come to an estimate of their +success, if the doubt would not rather be, that if they got one body in +the course of a whole year, it would be no less a wonder than a shame. Nor +was there any reasons which might have led the recipients in the Square to +suspect that these two solitary individuals were merely the agents or +hands of a "dead-body company," or a joint-stock affair, with one of the +crack names, "Association for the purpose of purchasing dead bodies, for +the benefit of science and the human race," a supposition which alone +could have reconciled men with eyes in their heads, and brains in those +heads, to the anomaly before them. + +But above all, that which had so much the appearance of justifying the +public rage, was the state in which the contents of these bags, boxes, +and chests were presented to the purchasers. One example may serve for the +whole. There was no reason for supposing that more violence was expended +upon Mrs Docherty than upon the others, if we are not rather to suppose +that the younger and stronger cases required more vigour, as presenting +more resistance. Even in the weakest cases, the _præsidia vitæ_ upon which +nature has expended so much labour are not to be overcome by external +force weakly exerted, and without leaving marks easily detected, even by +the unlettered in anatomy; but we have only to mention the case of Daft +Jamie, who fought manfully to the end, as an example of the necessity of +leaving upon the body even greater signs of violence than those presented +to the eyes of Dr Christison. Taking the little old woman as a fair medium +between the young and the old, the weak and the strong--you may remember +the examination report: contusions and bruises everywhere, extravasation +of blood, blotches of the same crying evidence, and finally the Lydian +test of the abraded skin of the throat,--while less or more of these marks +must have appeared in every one of the sixteen known cases, we cannot even +suppose a solitary example of one where they could have been altogether +wanting; and this led many to wonder at the time how the men preferred +violence, with so many chances of detection, to the soffana death-drops of +some subtle poison, the effects of which were far less likely to be +discovered by mere anatomists, curious about structure only, and so far +removed from the duty of a _post-mortem_ examination. With no pathological +views in their minds, they never would have dreamt of smelling for prussic +acid, or searching for the ravages of green vitriol or arsenic, any more +than they thought of drawing up their noses under the effluvia of +whisky--an evidence which was never absent, and could not be mistaken, and +must have led to the curious conclusion that all the bodies sold by +friends were those of drunkards, and drunkards alone. + +These contusions, and the invariable thumb-mark on the throat, were, +according to the gentle supposition, to be overlooked by men all on the +alert to see the cloth taken off--curious investigators into the arcana of +nature--most zealous inquirers into the structure of the human body--among +whom anything abnormal, or departing from ordinary laws or appearances, +produced a speculation, fraught not only with the ardour of science, but +the contentious conceit of young aspirants. Nay, these sharp professional +eyes were not the first examiners, for they came after the decision of the +mercantile, which scanned the value to fix the price. We are aware that +there never was an enunciation, not excepting the famous _what is is_, +without the condition of being liable to argumentation, and we are far +from wishing to deprive these men of their defence; but that they should +have treated as they did the imputation cast upon them, of, we do not say +winking toleration, but something like pretty wide-awake suspicion, as an +Argive calumny, pointed with venom and shot by passion, was going to the +other extreme. Offended innocence is not always the meek thing represented +by poets, yet it seldom takes on the form of a man at a window[13] +threatening to shoot the officials of the law if they dared to question +for the ends of justice so innocuous and ill-used a victim of public +prejudice. + +In all we have said we have assumed that these suspicions were to cast up +their shadows in the magic-lantern of minds, quite free from any +recollections or surmises of any body having ever been offered, in the +Square or neighbourhood, which could be said to have come to a violent +death. The assumption which was set forth at the time was not true, for it +turned out to have been pretty well known--and what professional scandal +is unknown to students?--that some six months only before, and when the +Irishmen were in full feather, the body of a female was offered for sale +by some ill-looking men--we do not say, as was said, of Burke's gang--to +the assistant of another teacher of anatomy in the city. The men were not +known to him as regular "Spunes," but as a subject was required, he +consented to accept of it, after being satisfied that it suited him. They +said that they had it now, and would bring it to the rooms in the evening, +between nine and ten o'clock, and at the appointed hour they made their +appearance, with a porter bearing the sack. The burden was taken in and +turned out of the bag, when it proved to be the body of a woman of the +town, in her clothes, with her shoes and stockings on. The startled +assistant proceeded at once to an examination, when he found a fracture on +the back part of the head, as by a blow from a blunt instrument. "You +d----d villains," cried this honest doctor, "where and how did you get +this body?" Whereto one, with much self-possession, replied, "It is the +body of a w----e, who has been _popt_ in a row in Halkerston's Wynd; and +if you don't take it, another will." The assistant then proposed, with the +intention of having them apprehended, that they should wait till he sent +for his principal; but the men, taking alarm, made off with their cargo, +and soon found a less scrupulous customer. This statement, which was given +on authority, was accompanied by an assurance that equally suspicious +cases were by no means rare. + +In addition to this preparation of the mind, as it may be called, to look +suspiciously on introductions coming out of the regular way, with the +admission made that they had not been exhumed, and with the inevitable +traces of violence which could not be blinked, there was the peculiarity +on which, perhaps, the greatest stress was laid, that in one of the +cases, at least, there was a recognition of the individual by one of the +students as having been seen and conversed with by him, in terms of more +than ordinary intimacy, only the night before, or at least a very short +period, countable by hours. We allude to Mary Paterson, "the study for the +artist," who, though naked, was said to have made her appearance on the +table _en papillote_--not to be believed--but who, for certain, attracted +so much observation, yea, admiration, that the recognition by the youth +could not have fallen as an idle brag. The case of Daft Jamie, the +collegians' favourite of almost every day's fun, was so much stronger, +that there seemed no mode of accounting for the pure innocence of +Surgeon's Square, except upon the supposition that all the students had, +in the course of a day, been merged in some Lethe. No great wonder that +the most zealous defenders of the craft were here contented with a simple +shaking of the head, for, to be sure, even the devil's advocate has not an +interminable tether. + +These charges are very practical, and even to us, at this distant period, +who would be regulated by reason and truth, and cannot be under the +influence of passion, are hard bones. Independently of our estimate of +youths--putting Knox out of the question,--of good birth and parentage, +whose generous hearts would revolt from the thought of a guilty +cognisance,--some of these assistants who came in contact with Burke, "and +no questions asked," have risen to rank in their profession, and bear a +high character for honesty and humanity. "They ken their ain ken;" but +their negative defence leaves their friends to the slough of mere +metaphysics. We all know that mysterious attractiveness and repulsiveness +of the mind which makes such fools of even the most practical of mankind. +The man would not look through Galileo's telescope, because he knew +beforehand that there was nothing to be seen; but he did no more than +every man does every day he lives. We all know that we may look, and not +see, hear, and not understand; yea, though the image of the outer thing +may be in black and white on the back of the eye, and the words play their +intellectual tune on the drum of the ear, you may neither see the one nor +hear the other. The bird-lime of acceptance is not present, and there is +even more--an absolute recusancy in proportion to some reigning wish in +the form of what we call a prejudice. All this is alphabetic, and we might +go deeper and get lost, but there is no occasion. The truth is, that these +medical students had a strong wish for subjects. This rose out of another +wish, that for knowledge, and this again came out of one behind, a wish to +shine or make money,--the benefit to mankind being only that thing which +we all understand when we hear people getting philanthropical in +recommending their leather, as contributing to the good of the eternal +sons of God. Then the next truth is, that they _did_ suspect, and +becoming the paradoxes which so many unconsciously become, did not _know_, +in the sense of an apprehension, that they suspected. When the thought +sought entrance to the mind, always under the cogency of the repulse of +unwillingness, it was either thrown out or dissolved; to all which the +authority of their leader or lecturer contributed, and not less the +generosity of their own hearts, naturally seeking uniformity, and averse +to think so ill of human nature, as was required to be implied in an +atrocity never before heard of in the world. If the thought had ever come +so strong upon them as to have amounted to an active conviction, why, then +they must have glided into the crime of winking toleration, and to that, +we verily believe, they never came. There were only three of these young +men who took an active charge. If there had been a score, we might have +conceded that one, perhaps two, might have been found among them capable, +by the predisposition of an evil nature, to have quietly succumbed to the +force of such startling appearances; but judging of the proportions +according to what we find among men, we require a large number for the +successful selection of the devil's own. In short, they were very much in +the position of resetters, who, standing in great need of the article, +take refuge from a suspicion which would injure them in the fallacious +eloquence of the naturally selfish heart, and casting up behind them +intervening obstructions to the light--a kind of weakness into which all +mankind are less or more liable to fall, and against which they are ready +to recoil when the passion of possession decays. It requires only +superficial looking to bring us to the conclusion, that the world is a +great collection of "wee pawns," every man resetting some thought or +feeling, false in itself, and improperly come by, and wrongfully retained. +The difference here lies in the fact, that we have not yet come to hold +this a crime, nor are we likely to do so till regeneration comes wrapt up +in the world-wide cloak of the millennium. + +In what we have said, we refer only to those who superintended the +division of the bodies and the work of the rooms, and were those who came +in contact with Burke. As for the curator, who is still a respectable +inhabitant of Edinburgh, and upon whom the short-lived blind fury of some +newspapers of the time fell, with much surprise to himself, and much +indignation elsewhere, he was, of all the parties concerned, the most free +from blame; nor did any one but himself come forward and assist the +authorities in the prosecution. Nay, it is understood that, under a +passing reflection that the number of apparently unexhumed bodies brought +by these men required explanation, he mentioned the circumstance to his +principal, and that gentleman silenced him at once by the statement that +they had long known of the practice of sale and purchase, and so the +suspicion passed away. And, indeed, in reference to them all, it requires +to be kept in view that Dr Knox's great characteristic was his desire to +subjugate all people to his will; and every one knows the insidious power +of authority. Accordingly, in so far as regards that gentleman, left to +the active fury of a mob which he braved, and to the suspicion of more +thinking people whom he tried to conciliate, we have little to say. His +whitewashing process, consisting of the printed judgment of his conduct by +a committee of eminent men, went a considerable length in his favour, and +yet did not save him from almost general suspicion. The evidence was all +of his own selection; the world never knew what it consisted of; and +though we are bound to admit that the umpires vindicated the privilege of +searching and satisfying themselves, he behoved to be still their +director, and, if he chose, their obstructor. Perhaps those who knew the +man the best, and those who knew him the worst, were the least +satisfied,--the latter being under passion, and the former aware of a +power of conciliation and persuasion under the guidance of a self-love and +power of will not often to be met with, and all this professedly not +regulated by any sense of religion or respect for public morals. In him we +have seen already the one gut-string playing several airs, but without a +touch of pity: the soft was not indeed his forte, his preference lying in +the direction of those examples we have already given--the joke upon +Professor Jameson, the poisoned satire upon Liston, the egotism among the +Taymouth Castle guests, the adulation of the Marquis of Breadalbane. Nor +can we forget, beyond all, the admitted perspicacity of one of the best +anatomists of his time, which, if it had been called in question in an +ordinary autopsy, with the most recondite appearances of poison or +violence, would have been vindicated by a power and success, accompanied +by a bitterness not often witnessed among scientific men. In his letter of +11th January 1829, to the curator of his rooms, he said, "All such matters +as these subside in a short time." "Not so," added the editor of the +_Mercury_; "such matters cannot subside till such time as he (Dr Knox) +clears himself to the public satisfaction." Time, we fear, has shewn the +falsehood of the one statement, and the hopelessness of the other. The +same suspicion remained, yea, remains still, and we fear will go down +through all time with the record of a story destined ever to be the +greatest example of man's wickedness, when left to his idol, that has ever +appeared. + + + + +The Trial. + + +In November 1828, a citation was served upon William Burke and Helen +M'Dougal to appear before the High Court of Justiciary to be held at +Edinburgh, the 24th day of December, at 10 o'clock forenoon, to underlie +the law in the crime of murder, on three separate indictments. The first +comprehended the case of Mary Paterson, as having occurred in the +preceding month of April in the house of Constantine Burke; the +second--that of James Wilson, or Daft Jamie--in October of the same year +in Log's house, situated in Tanner's Close; and the third--that of Madgy, +Marjory, or Mary M'Gonegal or Duffie, or Campbell, or Docherty--in +November, in Burke's house, Portsburgh. The libel contained also a list of +a great number of articles of dress worn by the victims, and identified, +and, among others, Mrs Docherty's gown, and Daft Jamie's brass snuff-box +and spoon. + +The presiding judge of the Court at that time was the Lord Justice-Clerk +Boyle; the other judges, Lords Pitmilly, Meadowbank, and M'Kenzie; and the +prosecutor, Sir William Rae, Lord Advocate. The leading counsel for Burke +was the Dean of Faculty, that for M'Dougal, Henry Cockburn, James Tytler +being the Crown agent. The witnesses were fifty-five in number--the two +principal, Hare and his wife, received as king's evidence in the +characters of _socii criminis_. The panels having taken their places at +the bar in the midst of a crowded court, filled long before the opening of +the doors by people who had the privilege of influence, and whose numbers +were only as a trifle in comparison of the mass outside, Mr Patrick +Robertson, one of Burke's junior counsel, made a technical objection to +the reading of the indictment, which was overruled. A defence was then +lodged for Burke, and supported by the same counsel, on the ground that it +was contrary to the law of Scotland to combine in one libel so many +charges and two separate panels. The argument, which was a long one, +involving points of law and practice, was followed up by the Dean of +Faculty, and answered by the Lord Advocate, with this result, that the +judges, with the consent of the public prosecutor, agreed to limit the +charge to the case of Docherty, and thus limited, the proceedings went on. +The various witnesses, forming, however, a very small portion of the whole +fifty-five cited, appeared in succession to give their evidence. Every +word uttered by every one was caught by ears strung to the highest pitch +of sensibility; and throughout the entire day, the deep silence, more +like that of a death-chamber than a court, was as much the expression of +curiosity as of awe--reminding one, too, of the stillness of an audience +where the feelings are claimed by oppressed virtue with the encircling +meshes in which innocence is to be involved by death getting closer and +closer as the scenes succeed. The interest lay in the gradual development, +while the heart was affected by all the different passions which, changing +from pity for the victims to hatred of the murderers, were kept in +continual agitation. Over all, there was the oppressive awe inspired by +the presence of the fearful men and women, as if they had been demons of +monstrous forms and powers placed there under restraining bonds. At +several times,--and especially when Hare described the screigh of the +little old woman which preceded that ten minutes' agony in which she lay +under the pressure of Burke--Hare being all the while, according to his +lie, sitting coolly looking on,--you might have heard deep sighs escaping +from strong hearts, in spite of resolutions to restrain them. Even then +the grateful creature, who seemed to have trusted Burke alone, and +defended him in the preceding sham fight, was only "dead a wee," and the +process was to be resumed. But even this effect was transcended, if +possible, by the very manner in which the witness stated how the victim +was presently stripped, and after being bound neck and heel, was cast, +mangled and bloody, among the straw in the angle between the bed and the +wall. The dominant idea seemed to bring into light all the surrounding +objects--the table pushed aside, the old chairs, the squalid bed marked +with the blood of prior victims, the women listening with expectation in +the long dark passage, the two men panting after the struggle, and +bringing forth on the top of their long-drawn breath ribald jokes, and +even accomplishing a laugh,--all followed by the rush in of the women, and +the resumption of the drink, the song, and the dance. + +To the greater part of those assembled in the court, all this was +comparatively new, for great secrecy had been observed by the officials. +Yet the effect of the great scene did not diminish, or rather, it +increased, the interest in the particulars,--the suspicions of the +Grays--the restlessness of the murderers under the impression of impending +discovery--the lies about having turned the poor creature out because she +was too intimate with Burke--the start of Mrs Gray when she seized the arm +of the body among the straw--the lifting up of the head by her husband, +and the recognition of the features of the woman who had been dancing and +singing so short a time before--then the pressing down into the tea-chest, +and the sally forth of the whole gang to Surgeon's Square, from thence to +Newington for the price. And as in a tragedy we find collateral lights +thrown in by the scintillations of genius to increase the effect of the +stronger scenes, so here these were not wanting. How much the sympathy +for the little old woman was increased by the love and gratitude she +expressed for her benefactor, Burke, when contrasted with the savage eyes +that glared upon her as she lay under his death-grasp! Another of these +smaller traits going to the aid of the general effect, was the fact stated +by the prior witnesses, that when she met Burke, she was going about +seeking for her son; and this yearning had only given place for a little +to the new feeling of gratitude with which she strove to repay the +sympathy of him who had from the first made up his mind to slay her. It +was even whispered that that son was in the court listening to the fate of +his mother; and, whether true or not, it did not fail of its contribution. + +Nor was all this exclusive of that mingling of the grotesque with the +serious which the playwright, following nature, resorts to for deepening +his shadows. The face of Hare, as he stood in the witness-box, seemed +incapable of the expression of either seriousness or fear. The leer was +irrepressive, even had there been a wish within to repress it--and there +was none; and as for any effect from without, that seemed equally unfelt +by him, if the gloom and awe which pervaded the court did not rather +increase an inborn propensity to be humorous. He could not say seriously +that the woman was dead, only that she was "dead a wee,"--nor that he was +drunk, only "drunkish-ways;" and when asked if the word "shot" implied +murder amongst the crew, he answered, as impeaching Burke, "amongst him;" +so that if you took his looks and words together, you could not, if you +had read the accounts of the classic satyrs, avoid the impression that, +like these creations of the poets, he was condemned to an eternal grin of +self-satisfied sarcasm against the whole human race. Nor, strange as it +may seem, did he appear to consider this as incompatible with a wish to +produce the impression that while he could mix in and receive the price of +murders, he was only (as we have already said) an indolent and easy +spectator--a kind of lover of the play, but not an actor. It appeared, +indeed, evident that it required only an indication on the face of his +questioner to prompt him to laugh, and this was probably all that was +wanting to complete an exhibition which no one could ever forget. + +The appearance of his wife, who had a child in her arms, was scarcely less +impressive, but not from any characteristic indicating the successful +cunning displayed by the husband. She could scarcely contain herself. You +saw the bloated virago always appearing from under a bunchy and soft mass, +with small fiery eyes that peered about in every direction, as if she felt +she had come there to favour the judges, who were bound accordingly to +admire her. Like most of the famous examples of her sex renowned for +cruelty, it was clear she could be as mild as gentleness itself; and it +was only when she came to the great scene when she saw Burke lying on the +body of his victim, and "flew out of the house" because of her delicacy, +and stood in the passage "quite powerless," unable to "cry out," that you +could come to form a true estimate of that combination of the devilish and +the soft, which so much distinguishes the wicked of the one sex from those +of the other. She admitted that she knew very well that Burke was +murdering the woman, because she had seen "such tricks before;" yet she +had "no power to remove herself from the passage;" and whenever the +counsel or judge wished to know whether the victim screamed or shewed any +indication of violent suffering, her mouth would give out nothing but soft +words, so afraid was she to see anything "come upon the woman," all the +while that the fiery scintillations escaped from these small eyes. To the +next question, she admitted that she went for the tea-chest, trying to +save herself by the qualification that Burke said it was to hold old +shoes; and then, in a few minutes after, "she knew that the body was put +into that box." Nor was the audience less struck with the manner in which +she used the infant as an instrument to produce pity, and a mean of fence +against searching questions. The poor creature was under the influence of +hooping-cough, and as the long choking inspirations came every now and +then ringing through the court, they reminded the audience of the +strangling of the victims, and seemed to be intended by God as a +mysterious kind of sign. She was not only a woman but a mother; and should +not this produce sympathy even to one who had fought the fight of the +drunken virago in the street of Portsburgh, been art-and-part in a dozen +of murders, who had led the kind-hearted simpleton as a dumb lamb to the +slaughter, and had so often watched under the hush of breathless +expectation for the sign when the work was done, and then hung, like one +of those fabled creatures called "Furies," round the slayers and the +slain, to get her part of the prey? + +When the witnesses were all examined, there ran through the court a +whisper, "Where are the doctors?" and well there might, for in all that +crowd you could not have got half-a-dozen who did not think these men +nearly as culpable as the principal actors. It was known that their names +had been placed on the back of the indictment as witnesses, but a very +small amount of consideration might have satisfied any one that, whether +appearing for the prosecution or the defence, they would be exposed to the +danger either of self-crimination or falsehood. They could not have +appeared with any effect on the one side without swearing to marks of +violence, which would have proved their condemnation; nor on the other +without witnessing to the total absence of those signs, which would have +convicted them of premeditated lying. The indomitable leader had long +before settled the question of their appearance, by ruling them, as he +attempted to do the straightforward curator--the only person connected +with the Square who came forward--to the determination of being the mutes +of the tragedy; and there can be no doubt that his policy was the right +one, when it was found that they not only kept themselves scathless from +all but the Argive calumny, which, in their case, died away, but +afterwards rose to wealth and estimation. If they were ardent students of +the science of anatomy, it did not follow that they should also be ardent +students of that of justice; and then self-preservation is the first duty +of Nature--a keen-eyed deity, who is somewhat before her who is blind. But +all these things were not weighed and computed by the dissatisfied people +who were in the court that day, and they still looked for the doctors even +after the Lord Advocate had begun his speech to the judges and the jury. + +That speech was perhaps the best Sir William Rae had ever spoken; and it +was not without its delicacies and difficulties. He knew that if the +evidence of the Hares, which was, even on the face of it, a tissue of +lies, were disbelieved by the jury, he had no case; and he trembled under +the responsibility of satisfying an infuriated people, who, surrounding +the court-house with ominous faces, made themselves heard by shouts even +within the walls of the court. "I do not," he said, "present those +persons, Hare and his wife, to you as unexceptionable witnesses. Assuredly +they are great criminals; but the law has said that their testimony is +admissible, and thus pronounced it is not undeserving of all credit. It +is for you to judge of the degree of credit to which they are entitled. +You saw them examined, and will draw your own conclusions. I may be +prejudiced, but to me it did appear that, while the evidence of the wife +was in many points exceptionable, Hare himself spoke the truth. +Notwithstanding all the ability shewn in the cross-examination, I do not +remember one particular in which he was led to contradict himself, or +state what must be false. Doubtless there exist inconsistencies betwixt +his evidence and that of his wife; but these are not of a nature that +ought to induce you to withhold all credit from their testimony. Your +experience will tell you how difficult it is to find two individuals who, +however disposed to speak the truth, will concur in such particulars in +regard to an interview which occurred at the distance of two months. But +look to the situation in which these persons were placed. Look to the size +of the apartment in which all this occurred. Recollect that all present +were proved to have been nearly intoxicated at the time, and remember that +an act of foul murder was at the time committing. Is it possible that they +should not have been in a state of unusual excitement and alarm at the +time? And is it wonderful that their memories should have served them +differently in regard to such trifling particulars as those to which I +have alluded? If they had been at one in all these points, the only just +inference would have been that the story was entirely made up between +them, and their evidence, in consequence, not entitled to any credit. But +look to the main point of the case--the murder, and the mode in which it +was done. That was a fact sufficient to rivet attention, and render sober +any one, however inebriated. On this material point you find these +witnesses entirely concurring,--both describing the same mode of death, +and both describing a mode which corresponds completely with the +appearance of the body, and which, in the opinion of the medical men, +satisfactorily accounts for the death. That both Burke and Hare were +participant in the foul act, no one can doubt; and I need not state to you +that it matters not which was the principal aggressor in its execution. +They are both art-and-part guilty." + +The Dean of Faculty, for Burke, then spoke; and afterwards came Henry +Cockburn, for Helen M'Dougal, with that speech, so renowned among the +displays of forensic eloquence, as almost rivalling that of Jeffrey for +Mrs Smith. His point of attack was--the credibility of Hare and his wife. +"Our learned friend, who prosecutes here, has demonstrated by his conduct, +that he is satisfied you ought not to convict without the evidence of the +associates; and thus we are absolutely driven to consider what credit is +due to those witnesses. If you shall agree with me in thinking that it is +an absolute sporting with men's lives, and converting evidence into a +mockery, to give the slightest faith to anything these persons may say, +then we have the authority of the public accuser himself for holding that +you must acquit. Now, on what does these witnesses' claim to credit rest? +One of them is a professional body-snatcher, the other is his wife; so +that, independently altogether of the present transaction, they come +before you confessedly vitiated by the habits of the most corrupting and +disgusting employment which it is possible to be engaged in, and one of +which the chief corruption arises from its implying that he who practises +it has long been accustomed to set law, feeling, and character at +defiance. Then they both confess their direct accession to this particular +murder--a confession which, if it had been made at the bar, would have for +ever disqualified them from giving evidence in any court of justice; not +having been made at the bar, they are admissible. But, since they have +made the very same confession in the witness-box, their credit is as +completely destroyed in the one case as it would have been in the other. +Hare not only acknowledged his participation in this offence, but he +admitted circumstances which aggravated even the guilt of murder. He +confessed that he had sat coolly within two feet of the body of this +wretched old woman while she was expiring under the slow and brutal +suffering to which his associate was subjecting her. He sat there, +according to his own account, about ten minutes, during which her dying +agonies lasted, without raising a hand or a cry to save her. We who only +hear this told, shudder, and yet we are asked to believe the man who could +sit by and see it. Nor was this the only scene of the kind in which they +had been engaged. The woman acknowledged that she '_had seen other tricks +of this kind before_.' The man was asked about his accession on other +occasions, but at every question he availed himself of his privilege, and +virtually confessed _by declining to answer_. + +"But why does the law admit them? Why, just because after they are +admitted it is the province of you, gentlemen, to determine how far they +are to be believed. You are the absolute monarchs of their credibility. +But in judging of this, do not be misled by what juries are always told of +those who turn king's evidence, that they have no interest now but to +speak the truth. But it is notorious that there is nobody by whom this is +so universally forgotten as by those who make a bargain for saving +themselves by betraying their associates. These persons almost invariably +hurt the interests of their new master by the excess of their zeal in his +service. They exaggerate everything, partly by the desire of vindicating +themselves, and partly to merit the reward for which they have bargained. +And you will observe that, in this case, these persons stand in this +peculiar situation, that, so far as we know, they are still liable to be +tried for similar offences. There are other two murders set forth in this +very indictment, one of them committed in Hare's house, and if we may +judge from what these persons say, they have been engaged in other +transactions of the same kind. They came from the jail to this place +to-day, and they are in jail again. Do you think that it is very +improbable that when coming here they should feel that if this prosecution +failed, public indignation would require another victim, and that nothing +was so likely to stifle further inquiry as the conviction of those +persons? + +"The prosecutor seemed to think that they gave their evidence in a +credible manner, and that there was nothing in their appearance, beyond +what was to be expected in any great criminal, to impair the probability +of their story. I entirely differ from this; and I am perfectly satisfied +that so do you. A couple of such witnesses, in point of mere external +manner and appearance, never did my eyes behold. Hare was a squalid +wretch, in whom the habits of his disgusting trade, want, and profligacy, +seem to have been long operating in order to form a monster whose will as +well as his poverty will consent to the perpetration of the direst crimes. +The Lord Advocate's back was to the woman, else he would not have +professed to have seen nothing revolting in her appearance. I never saw a +face in which the lines of profligacy were more distinctly marked. Even +the miserable child in her arms, instead of casting one ray of maternal +softness into her countenance, seemed at every attack (of hooping-cough) +to fire her with intenser anger and impatience, till at length the infant +was plainly used merely as an instrument of delaying or evading whatever +question it was inconvenient for her to answer." + +The Lord Justice-Clerk then charged the jury, going over the evidence, and +at last directing his special attention to the case of M'Dougal:--"It is +not in evidence that she took any part in the actual perpetration of the +crime; but the question remains, and if answered in the affirmative, will +be equally fatal to her as if she had done so, namely, whether she was an +accessory, and, therefore, to be held in law as art-and-part guilty along +with the other prisoner. Accession to a crime may take place before the +fact as well as at the moment the crime is committing. It may likewise be +_inferred_ from the conduct of the party after the fact; and if you are to +believe the evidence which you have heard, I am much afraid there are but +too strong grounds for concluding that the female panel at the bar has +been guilty of accession to the crime under investigation, whether you +consider her conduct before or after the fact, or while it was +perpetrating. It is impossible to conceive for one moment that, under all +the circumstances of the case, the panel M'Dougal could be ignorant of the +purpose for which this wretched woman Docherty was brought to the house. +The state in which Burke and she appear to have lived, their brutal and +dissipated habits, make it impossible to believe that either of them kept +the woman in the house from the humane or charitable motives they +professed to feel, and affected to shew, towards that unfortunate +creature. On one occasion, it would appear, indeed, from the evidence of +Gray's wife, that M'Dougal actually opposed the proposition of the woman +going out of the house. The manner, too, in which she communicated the +fact to Mrs Hare, that they had got a shot in the house, shews distinctly +her complete knowledge of what was in view, and implicates her morally as +well as legally in the guilt that afterwards ensued. Again, as to her +accession during the perpetration of the crime, thus much appears, +according to the evidence of Hare and his wife, that both Mrs M'Dougal and +Mrs Hare were in the room, at least--whether in the bed, as Hare states, +or standing between the bed and the door, as his wife swears, seems +immaterial--when Burke placed himself on the body of the woman; and that +upon her hearing the first screech of the woman they both flew, as Mrs +Hare expresses it, to the passage, where they remained till the door was +opened. By this time the crime had been accomplished, and the body thrown +among the straw." + +Before the jury retired, and during the time they were enclosed, Burke +endeavoured to prepare the mind of M'Dougal for her fate, as, from the +address of the Lord Justice-Clerk, he supposed she would be found guilty. +He even gave her directions how to conduct herself, desiring her to look +at and observe him when the sentence was pronounced. The jury retired at +half-past eight in the morning, and after an absence of fifty minutes, +returned the following verdict:--"The jury find the panel William Burke +guilty of the third charge in the indictment; and find the indictment not +proven against the panel Helen M'Dougal." On hearing the words of the +foreman, Burke turned to M'Dougal, and coolly said, "Nelly, you are out of +the scrape." + +Thereafter, Lord Meadowbank proposed the sentence, prefacing at +considerable length:--"Your Lordships will, I believe, in vain search +through both the real and the fabulous histories of crime for anything at +all approaching this cold, hypocritical, calculating, and bloody murder. +Be assured, however, that I do not state this either for exciting +prejudices against the individual at the bar, or for harrowing up the +feelings with which, I trust, he is now impressed. But really, when a +system of such a nature is thus developed, and when the actors in this +system are thus exhibited, it appears to me that your Lordships are bound, +for the sake of public justice, to express the feelings which you +entertain of one of the most terrific and one of the most monstrous +delineations of human depravity that has ever been brought under your +consideration. Nor can your Lordships forget the glowing observations +which were made from the bar in one of the addresses on behalf of the +prisoners, upon the causes which, it is said, have in some measure led to +the establishment of this atrocious system. These alone, in my humble +opinion, seem to require that your Lordships should state roundly that +with such matters, and with matters of science, we, sitting in such +places, and deciding on such questions as that before us, have nothing to +do. It is our duty to administer the law as handed down to us by our +ancestors, and enacted by the legislature. But God forbid that it should +ever be conceived that the claims of speculation, or the claims of +science, should ever give countenance to such awful atrocities as the +present, or should lead your Lordships, or the people of this country, to +contemplate such crimes with apathy or indifference. With respect to the +case before us, your Lordships are aware that the only sentence we can +pronounce is the sentence of death." + +Then the Lord Justice-Clerk, putting on the black cap, said:--"William +Burke, you now stand convicted, by the verdict of a most respectable jury +of your country, of the atrocious murder charged against you in this +indictment, upon evidence which carried conviction to the mind of every +man that heard it, in establishing your guilt in that offence. I agree so +completely with my brother on my right hand, who has so fully and +eloquently described the nature of your offence, that I will not occupy +the time of the Court in commenting any further than by saying that one of +a blacker description, more atrocious in point of cool-blooded +deliberation and systematic arrangement, and where the motives were so +comparatively base, never was exhibited in the annals of this or of any +other court of justice. I have no intention of detaining this audience by +repeating what has been so well expressed by my brother; my duty is of a +different nature, for if ever it was clear beyond all possibility of a +doubt that the sentence of a criminal court will be carried into execution +in any case, yours is that one, and you may rest assured that you have now +no other duty to perform on earth but to prepare in the most suitable +manner to appear before the throne of Almighty God to answer for this +crime, and for every other you have been guilty of during your life. The +necessity of repressing offences of this most extraordinary and alarming +description, precludes the possibility of your entertaining the slightest +hope that there will be any alteration upon your sentence. In regard to +your case, the only doubt that has come across my mind is, whether, to +mark the sense which the Court entertains of your offence, and which the +violated laws of the country entertain respecting it, your body should not +be exhibited in chains, in order to deter others from the like crimes in +time coming. But taking into consideration that the public eye would be +offended by so dismal an exhibition, I am disposed to agree that your +sentence shall be put into execution in the usual way, but unaccompanied +by the statutory attendant of the punishment of the crime of +murder--viz., that your body should be publicly dissected and anatomised, +and I trust that if it ever is customary to preserve skeletons, yours will +be preserved, in order that posterity may keep in remembrance your +atrocious crimes. I would entreat you to betake yourself immediately to a +thorough repentance, and to humble yourself in the sight of Almighty God. +Call instantly to your aid the ministers of religion, of whatever +persuasion you are; avail yourself from this hour forward of their +instructions, so that you may be brought in a suitable manner urgently to +implore pardon from an offended God. I need not allude to any other case +than that which has occupied your attention these many hours. You are +conscious in your own mind whether the other charges which were exhibited +against you yesterday were such as might be established against you or +not. I refer to them merely for the purpose of again recommending you to +devote the few days that you are on earth to imploring forgiveness from +Almighty God." The written sentence was in conformity. + +Such was the sentence of Burke, sending very appropriately his body where +he had sent so many others. The people were so far pleased that they had +got an instalment;[14] but, in spite of the approbation bestowed on the +jury by Lord Boyle, the finding of "Not proven" against Helen M'Dougal was +looked upon as a mere bilking of justice. No man could have any doubt of +her guilt, as being art and part, and if ever a jury acted in defiance of +their consciences, it was in liberating this woman; nor do we believe that +they did not think the charge proven against her--they were simply +desirous that they should not afford an opportunity for the application of +an old law seldom put into execution. This motive might have been looked +upon as humane in an ordinary case, for assuredly the law of art and part +is apt to take on cruel forms, but to withdraw Helen M'Dougal from its +power was, at the very best, a squeamish and sickly humanity. So, too, +thought the public, and their anger rang through the city, even in the +midst of the satisfaction universally felt at having got, at least, an +instalment of justice. But were the other murderers also to get free? + + + + +The Jail. + + +We may find an interest in following this unexampled criminal to the +Lock-up, whither he was conveyed immediately after sentence, and where, +too, M'Dougal, for the sake of safety, was placed till an opportunity was +afforded of sending her away unknown to the mob. As for Hare and his wife, +they behoved to continue as prisoners. No sooner had Burke been removed to +the prison and placed in his separate apartment, than the old devil in him +broke out. "This is a d----d cold place you have brought me till." One of +the men rebuked him, but as yet it was of no use. The spirit of the man +had not been touched, and as yet he lay under the gloomy weight of anger +at having been betrayed, frequently bursting out in maledictions, and +saying that Hare was the more guilty of the two. "He murdered the first +woman," he continued. "He persuaded me to join him, and now he has +murdered me; and I will regret to the last hour of my existence that he +did not share the same fate." He then threw himself upon the stone bed, +and lay with clenched hands, occasionally starting, as if the desire to +wreak vengeance upon his betrayer had flashed through his mind, and nerved +his arms to his customary assaults. While in this fit, one of the +officers, not relishing the idea that he wished to excuse himself by +casting even more than his share upon his colleague, made the remark, "I +think I could never wish to see that man forgiven who could murder that +poor, harmless, good-natured idiot, Daft Jamie," whereupon the prostrate +man started, and said, "My days are numbered. I am soon to die by the +hands of man. I have no more to fear, and can have no interest in telling +a lie, and I declare that I am as innocent of Daft Jamie's blood as you +are. He was taken into Hare's house, and murdered by him and his wife. To +be sure, I was guilty in so far, for I assisted to carry his body to Dr +Knox, and got a share of the money." And how often do we find even the +condemned, and how much more often the still successful criminal, +anointing with the saliva of their own lying tongues their own ears, ay, +even with the whine of self-sympathy! + +As the day advanced, the perturbations produced by revenge gradually +subsided, giving place to others more connected with the condition in +which he now found himself, and his state of mind was attempted to be +taken advantage of by the officers, always anxious to get their curiosity +gratified by confessions, which they know, too, will be welcome to their +superiors. But they were successful only so far that he no longer denied +his guilt, even going the length of admitting a general scheme of watching +poor and wretched strangers who were not likely to be inquired after by +friends. Beyond this he would not go, expressing even a determination to +withhold all particulars, unless counselled otherwise by his priest. Even +this shewed that a great change had come over him, and shortly there was +to be a still more undoubted sign, for, after remaining silent and +meditative, he inquired, with an appearance of humility, and even of that +politeness which was said to have formed a feature of his character at a +prior period of his life, whether he would be permitted to offer up a +prayer. And upon the permission having been given, this man who, only a +few hours before, had exhibited the same continued impenetrability of +heart manifested through the long period of his confinement, dropt upon +his knees, imploring forgiveness from Almighty God for the wicked life he +had led, and especially for that great crime for which he was to suffer on +the gibbet; entreating, also, that his wretched partner in guilt might be +brought to a full sense of her guilt--that she might repent and atone, as +far as it was in her power to do so in this world, by a life of quietness, +piety, and honest industry. On rising, he requested the officer to read to +him a part of the Scriptures; chapter after chapter, till they amounted to +six, were listened to, if not greedily accepted, with occasional remarks +of the applicableness of particular passages to his crimes. Withal he had, +as yet, indicated no fear--the first emotion after sentence having been +revenge, and that which followed, humility and resignation, which were to +remain as the prevailing condition of his mind up to the final day. + +Meanwhile, the usual anxiety as to the state of the criminal's soul +produced outside that conflict between the Calvinists and the Indifferents +which is so common in Scotland. The one party maintained the possibility +as well as the merits of the new birth, even up to the throwing away of +the handkerchief; the other did not consider it either possible or +probable: and while the one wished for, and waited for, the proof, the +other thought, and with some reason, that so easy a way of getting quit of +the consequences of the murders would not be very favourable to their +non-repetition. All this Burke settled in his own Roman way, by satisfying +himself that, if he wished, he could get to heaven through the ear of his +confessor but there was not much evidence to shew that he entertained any +strong wish on the subject, if he did not suspect that he was not a very +proper person to appear in heaven. We have no wish to be irreverent, but, +setting aside the old question as being inscrutable and insoluble, it is +all but certain that this man never shewed a trace of that anguish of +spirit under the mordacious fangs of remorse which can be accepted as the +only sign of an approach to the saving faith which is in Jesus. The +approvers founded upon a statement he was said to have made, that he would +not accept a pardon if it had been granted. If he had been tempted by an +offer, we would likely have had another tale; nor would he have been to +blame, unless we are to suppose that true conversion brings along with it +a predilection for being hanged, and that, while it prepares a man for +death, it incapacitates him for worthily continuing in life. Independently +of the total want of any signs of the real pathology of repentance, there +are positive proofs that his thoughts were continually recurring to earth. +He thought more of Helen M'Dougal than of a Saviour; and otherwise, we +have even a ludicrous example of his sublunary grovellings. On one +occasion, his mind seemed to one who was sitting by his bed to be occupied +by thoughts of eternity, as he lay silent and meditative. The omen was +propitious, and the pious assistant waited for the sign, which could not +be less than a burst of tears, not one of which he had yet shed, or had +ever been seen to shed. The sign came. + +"I think," said he, with a start, "I am entitled, and ought to get that +five pounds from Dr Knox which is still unpaid on the body of the woman +Docherty." + +"Why," replied the astonished pietist, "Dr Knox lost by the transaction, +as the body was taken from him." + +"That was not my business," said Burke sharply. "I delivered the subject, +and he ought to have kept it." + +"But you forget," said the other, "that were the money paid, Hare would +have the right to a half of it." + +And then came, after a little meditation, the explanation. + +"I have got a tolerable pair of trousers," he continued; "and since I am +to appear before the public, I should like to be _respectable_. I have not +a coat and waistcoat that I can appear in, and if I got the £5 I could buy +them." + +But it is to be admitted that while he shewed no real signs of penitence +in a Calvinistic sense,--so different these we suspect, from what are +found in a votary of the confessional,--he evinced none of the dogged +surliness of the hardened sinner, if his general mildness and continued +politeness were not remarkable. Indeed, as we have seen, these +characteristics were always, when he was not intoxicated, the prevailing +features of his demeanour, from which many inferred that he purposely +roused himself by large draughts of whisky to the fury which he found +necessary to the perpetration of his onslaughts. This would seem to +receive confirmation from the statement of a witness, who said that on +these occasions he did not drink out of an ordinary measure, but used a +strong-ale glass, which he would fill almost to the brim. Were this true, +it would be no abatement from the malignity and sternness of the sober +purpose which assuredly he must have entertained, while his external +aspect was still as composed, if not as mild, as it was said to be. As a +consequence of this placability, he gave way alternately to those +solicitations with which he was daily pursued to utter a confession. He +first made one and then another, but while these documents exhibit many +discrepancies, they shew, from their curtness and desultoriness, that they +were the result of a mere carelessness, only brought up to the point by +pestering solicitations. Ten lines are devoted to the whole story of the +murder of a human being, and if it had not been that circumstances came +out on all sides, often from unknown sources, no more would have ever been +known, at least as regards many of the victims, than simply that they +perished. Even for these the gaping mouth of curiosity, and not less the +hopeful heart of piety, was sufficiently thankful, while the hardened +sceptics still refused to see the sign of the new birth. + +Nor, as the short days passed to usher in the last morning, for which he +said "he would not greatly weary," was there any other more signal +appearance of a radical change. No doubt he received the visits of +clergymen, not caring much whether of one denomination or another, and +none of them were gratified with more than very ordinary manifestations of +regret. There always haunted him a desire to have Hare brought to trial, +yet he had art enough to place this, not to the account of revenge, but +that of _humanity_. Even Burke became a philanthropist, or, what is often +the same thing, could use the hackneyed words which are the fashionable +tribute paid by vice to virtue. If he was not thus unable to forget the +enormous debt due by his fearful associate, he was, and continued to the +end to be, not less mindful of his paramour. He sent his watch and what +money he possessed to her--"Poor thing, it is all I have to give to her; +it will be of some use to her, and I will not need it." Yet no moisture of +the eyes--the pity was only the bastard offspring of animal love. + +Withal, we are frank to admit that even the breaking down of the adamant, +to the extent of confession and regret, in a man like Burke, was a triumph +to religion. There is no natural way of accounting for that phenomenon of +which every man is doomed to feel the experience, that while death asserts +his power over the body, he extorts a contribution from the soul. Turn the +question in any way you please, your final cause is nowhere, unless it be +that the experience of agonised death-beds is the opportunity of virtue--a +poor back-handed way of making people better, and certainly bought at a +terrible expense. But even taking the advantage in this limited form, it +does not exhaust the conditions of the question; for while the dying +sinner is altogether unconscious that his agonies will go forth to the +world and be an example, his mind is in another direction. He looks +forward, and the more keenly, that he cannot look backwards. Where is the +final cause now? Try again, and we suspect you will find it only in +heaven. + + + + +Vejove. + + +We are so apt to take signs for things, and so glibly too do the one pass +into the other, that we find almost all descriptions of individuals +previous to execution very much the same; and so they must needs be, for +fate is the great man-tamer, and man only: the brutes merely feel the +stroke when it falls--man sees it coming, knows its necessity, and +therefore commits himself to resignation. Then, resignation is so grave an +affair that it is often mistaken for genuine seriousness, if not for +religious impression; but even here we have exceptions of men who could be +merry under the gibbet or the axe--strange beings these, and more often of +the virtuous than the vicious; for vice in the clutch is but a sorry +affair. This doomed man, who was represented as having behaved so +decently, could sing and dance the minute before he braced his cruel +sinews to the work of death; and if he had been consistent, he would have +acted Macpherson under the cross-beam; but the Highlander only stole +cattle, while the Irishman immolated human beings, and so we find him +grave and decorous because he was now to be throttled in his turn. + +At four o'clock on the morning of Tuesday the 27th,--that previous to the +day of execution,--he was taken off the _gad_ and removed to the Lock-up +in Liberton's Wynd. The reason of the early hour is evident, for the +excitement of the people was such that the authorities were not satisfied +that he would not be claimed by a furious mob, and dealt with as he had +dealt by so many others. Notwithstanding the long period he had been in +jail, there was no great change in his appearance, except a slight +paleness, which, with some weakness of body, was the result of a peculiar +external malady with which he had for a considerable time been +afflicted;[15] nor could the sharpest observation of Captain Rose, who +accompanied him, detect any diminution of that composedness, or, if you +please, insensibility, which had marked his demeanour all along. If there +was a flutter at all, it was when he was presented with his new suit of +black--either the passing feeling of the ominous dress, or satisfaction of +his wish to appear respectable. In the course of the day the Catholic +priests, Messrs Reid and Stewart, as well as the Protestant ministers, +Messrs Marshall and Porteous, paid him a visit, and were rewarded with the +usual amount of earthly regret; but with how much of remorse or faith in +the Redeemer, even they could not tell, immovable as he was, and +apparently unconcerned. Indeed the sole animating feeling was a desire to +have the business over. "Oh, that the hour were come that is to separate +me from the world!" but not a word of faith, and far less of hope. In the +morning, too, when the jailer took off his heavy fetters, and they fell +with a clank upon the floor,--"So may all earthly chains fall from me." + +At seven, and after having experienced a sound and unbroken rest for at +least five hours, Burke walked with a steady step into the keeper's room, +followed by the confessor; nor yet was there any appearance of agitation +or dismay. He took his seat in an arm-chair by the side of the fire, and +twice or thrice arrived at that point of distress which is marked by two +or three sighs. Then commenced the Catholic devotions, in which, as he had +done before, he engaged with an appearance of fervour. The Protestant +ministers followed up the Catholic service with some serious exhortations, +in the course of which, Mr Porteous having dwelt on the words, "You must +trust in the mercy of God," the doomed man exhibited symptoms of anguish; +but as for anything like that "awe which is illumined by hope," he seemed +to have a secret feeling that he was too deeply sunk in crime even to +think of the infinite mercy of Heaven. After this portion of the exercises +was gone through, he was on his way to an adjoining apartment when the +executioner met and stood before him. Even this apparition, generally so +fearful to a criminal when he first makes his appearance, did not dismay +him. "I am not ready for you yet," was the brief salutation; and in a +short time after, when he was pinioned, he bore the operation composedly, +and without uttering a word. He was now asked to take a glass of wine, and +having accepted the offer, he bowed to the company, and drank "Farewell to +all present, and the rest of my friends." The magistrates having now gone +out, returned in their robes, with their rods of office, and Burke, before +going forth, expressed his gratitude to the bailies and all the other +officials for the kindness and attention he had received at their hands. + +Meanwhile the crowd outside had attained its greatest density. At ten +o'clock on the previous night, the ceremony of setting up the scaffold had +commenced. This has always been a scene in Edinburgh, but now it was a +festival. The din of the workmen, and the clang of the hammers, were +mingled with the shouts of the assembled people to the amount of +thousands. Whenever an important part of the erection was completed in the +light of the torches, up rose the cheer, as if so much had been done +towards the satisfaction of their vengeance. When all was finished, and +the transverse beam looked so ready for its weight, the event was honoured +by three of these cheers so loud and prolonged that they were heard in +Princes Street. Even the services of the workmen, always averse as they +are to gallows-work, were on this occasion, and certainly never before, +volunteered with emulation. By this hour, two in the morning, the closes +and stairs near the spot were blocked up by masses of people, who had +resolved, at the expense of so many hours' watch, to secure a good view. +The inclemency of the weather drove them to any shelter that could be +obtained,--in very few cases homeward,--where the morning broke upon them +in gray dawn, but with the inspiration of hope. In addition to all this +confusion, a constant bustle was kept up by those who, either for favour +or for money,--and high prices were paid for good stances,--had procured +the envied windows. After this a solemn stillness pervaded the whole +scene, broken only by the splashing of the rain, which fell in torrents, +accompanied with gusts of wind which whistled and moaned through the long +closes. + +As the morning advanced, the groups were seen hastening to their windows, +and about five, the people generally began to pour in, taking their +stations in front of the gallows, and upwards towards the Castlehill, +while large parties of policemen and patrols successively arrived, to be +posted in a strong line in front of the railing--the space left free being +much larger than ordinary. Nor were the crowd on this occasion in their +ordinary humour of annoying or retarding the constables in the execution +of their duty, which they rather viewed as a common cause. From six to +seven the concourse increased, thronging every avenue to the High Street, +and hurrying in from every quarter, till the whole space, from the Tron to +the Bow, threatened to be too small to hold them. Nor were the masses +entirely composed of the class that usually attend such scenes. There were +included, especially about the windows, not only of the dingy houses of +the Lawnmarket, but also of the County Buildings, great numbers of +well-dressed ladies, imparting a variety, scarcely to have been expected, +to the scene, already otherwise picturesque. After seven, and when the +rain, which had been excessive some hours before, began to cease, the +crowd became rapidly larger still, and at eight, the entire area between +the two points we have mentioned presented the aspect of an immense and +closely-wedged mass of human beings, all still and watchful, never before +seen there, except, perhaps, on the occasion of the King's visit. All +round the scaffold you saw the crowd was composed of men--gradually +outwards giving place to women, many of whom, being pressed by the dense +mass around them, sent forth screams of distress; and where the pressure +got less, chiefly about the circumference, the numbers of that sex were +still considerable--the entire assemblage, as is the case where density is +great, being moved, as it seemed, all throughout by the same impulse, +coming from whatever direction. The numbers at this time were computed at +20,000 or 30,000. But there was one feature of this crowd which was more +extraordinary than its extent or composition. In ordinary cases, at least +in Scotland, there is usually manifested sympathy for the sufferer, or at +least a sedate and solemn manner, as if the occasion were melancholy and +instructive. All this was changed now. There was on every face an +expression of something approaching to joy, as if the heart felt it was to +get quit of a painful feeling of revenge, and that the relief was near. It +is now eight,--St Giles's rolls forth the sounds, and every noise is +stilled. + +Precisely at the hour Burke was on his feet, eager to be dead, and the +procession moved. He was supported by the two Catholic priests, more from +the difficulty he experienced in walking with his arms so closely +pinioned, than from any weakness or faltering of step. In the progress +towards and up Liberton's Wynd he shewed even increased coolness and +self-possession, turning from side to side in conversation, and at one +part, where the ground was wet, carefully picking his steps; but at the +head of the entry, where he was to get a view of the crowd, he winced, and +half-closing his eyes, hurried on, as if more eager still to be out of the +roar of that terrible assemblage. Nor was that roar long delayed. Upon +Bailies Crichton and Small issuing from the wynd, the shout was raised in +one long-continued yell, and when Burke himself was seen ascending the +stair, the roar was repeated with double intensity, mixed with articulated +execrations,--"Burke him!" "Choke him!" "No mercy, hangie!" Yet amidst +all, Burke walked with steady step, and stood coolly below the apparatus +of death. If he was much moved at all, it was to cast a look at the crowd +of fierce and desperate defiance, as if he could have felt it in his heart +to repeat upon every one of them his old experiment, and we suspect that +he would have done it if he had had the liberty and the power. + +Having taken his station in front of the drop, he kneeled with his back +towards the spectators, his confessor on his right hand, and the other +Catholic clergyman on the left, and repeated a form of prayer dictated by +one of these reverend gentlemen. Mr Marshall, meanwhile, offered up a +supplication on his behalf, the bailies and other officials joining in the +devotions, with the exception of the executioner (Williams) and his +assistant, who stood at the back of the drop. During all this time there +was silence. On rising from his kneeling posture, Burke was observed to +lift a silk handkerchief, on which his knees had rested, and put it into +his pocket. There was now some hesitation in his manner, as if loath to +mount; and one of the persons who assisted him to ascend, having, perhaps +inadvertently, pushed him somewhat roughly to a side, that he might be +placed exactly on the spot, he looked round with a withering scowl. He +then _ran_ up the steps, as if he hurried to death, to get beyond the +reach of these terrible howls. Some further delay took place, from the +circumstance of Williams, who stood behind him, endeavouring to loose his +handkerchief, in which he found some difficulty. "The knot is behind," +said Burke,--the only words not devotional uttered by him on the scaffold. +When Williams succeeded in removing the neckcloth, he proceeded to fasten +the rope round his neck, pulling it tightly, and, after adjusting and +fixing it, he put upon his head a white cotton night-cap, but without +pulling it over his face. While this was going on, the yells became +fiercer and fiercer, mixed with the ejaculations, "Where's Hare? Hang him, +too." "Don't waste rope on him." "You ----, you will see Daft Jamie in a +minute." The Rev. Mr Reid then advanced, and conversed with him shortly, +but earnestly, and directed him to say the Creed, which he did. As he +muttered the words, his face was pale and livid, but he was still +composed, unflinching, and motionless. The next act was the advance of +Williams to draw the cap over his face. He manifested a repugnance to +this, as if he would brave the yelling crowd even to the last extremity, +and it was with some difficulty this was accomplished. Everything is now +ready. He utters an ejaculation to his Maker, imploring mercy, and throws +away the handkerchief with a jerk of impatience, the bolt is drawn, and +Burke swings in the air amidst the deafening roar of thirty thousand +people.[16] But Burke was not yet dead. He must be dead before that crowd +is satisfied. From the limited length of the fall, there had been no +dislocation; and for five minutes the body hung motionless, except from +the impetus given by the fall, when a convulsive motion of the feet, and a +general heaving, indicated a still lingering vitality. Upon observing +this, the crowd raised another cheer. Twice these motions were renewed, +and twice again rose the shout. + +Generally, the scene of an execution is soon deserted; people give a +shudder, and run away, like one who has been obliged to obey a feeling +which is not pleasant, and yet is inevitable, and who enjoys a relief from +the emotion. This did not occur on this occasion. The people shewed no +disposition to disperse. They seemed desirous of prolonging their +gratification by gloating on the ghastly spectacle, as, driven by the +wind, it swung to and fro. At five minutes to nine, the bailies again came +up Liberton's Wynd, still in their robes, and with their rods, and stood +round the scaffold. Williams then mounted and lowered the body, and this, +the last act, was celebrated by the finishing yell. The crowd then +separated. + +The public prints got immediately into a discussion as to the propriety of +these demonstrations of feeling among a civilised people. It was by one +party represented as barbarous and shocking, opposed to Christian +forgiveness, and indicative of a fierce and relentless nature. The crowd +was described as if made up of the _diables_, _diablesses_, and +_diabletons_ of the old dramas, and their cries got the name of +hell-yells. There are people who, their throats being safe and their +bellies well filled, look upon sin, even in its most devilish form of +cruelty, as something to be dandled and conciliated into virtue like their +own by sugar-plums. Those who feel no natural detestation of cruelty are +not far from those that could be cruel. But supposing that these good +people were as great haters of cruel men as those who shouted in the +crowd, but that they felt their feeling satisfied by the arm of the law, +they could only say that these people felt more satisfied than they, and +that, in place of concealing their satisfaction, they expressed it openly, +if you like, noisefully; and if this satisfaction must be held to be in +the ratio of detestation, they were better haters of sin than those who +impeached them with barbarity. So the good people get into a metaphysical +net, out of which it is not very easy to get. But the question was very +well settled by the _Times_, who took and shook the simperers, telling +them that virtue has two sides, like everything else--one, a love for the +good, and another, a hatred of what is evil, neither of which can exist +without the other, and that the roused hearts of those who made the welkin +ring with their roar, were just the hearts from which one might expect +indications of pity for the miserable victims of that man's cruelty. It +may be well for us to remember, amidst all the affected refinement of our +times, that the churlishness of the honest man is the impatience of +shuffling deceit and hypocrisy. When we get behind the frieze veil of the +sanctuary of his affections, we often find kindness sanctified by +trust,--a generosity which does not see itself, and is too often cheated +by its object, and a pity, which is the more beautiful, that it wells from +the stern rock of honesty and justice. + + + + +The Exhibition. + + +The earthly destiny of this marvellous man was not yet finished--the +celebration of justice did not terminate by the dispersion of the thirty +thousand who had assembled in the hall of the goddess Nature's own arena. +They had more to do. They knew that the goddess had other forms than that +in which she sends down her fiery-eyed priestess Nemesis, even that in +which she despatches her moral retributions, and works them through her +votaries, and that, too, wherein she is called poetical Justice, and +wherein she relaxes the stern brow, and smiles with a little satire upon +her beautiful lips. It is in this last form she is best loved by the +imaginative; yea, and even those who, cultivating the muses, have yet a +spice of humour, not inconsistent with the gravity of virtue. Had not this +man sent a score of human beings to the dissecting-room? Let it be that +they served the purpose of a physical science, might not he serve also the +purpose of a moral cult? + +During the whole of Wednesday the College was surrounded by hundreds, +whose curiosity prompted them to see once more him who had immolated so +many of their kind; but Dr Monro did not choose to run the risk of losing +his subject, and the authorities were still afraid of a seizure, and so it +was not till Thursday morning that the body was removed from the Lock-up +to the dissecting-rooms of the College. At an early hour, several men +dedicated to science, and among the rest Mr Liston, Mr George Combe, and +his opponent Sir Wm. Hamilton, and Mr Joseph, the eminent sculptor, went +to have the advantage of an examination, before the rush of the students +should put that out of their power. Mr Joseph took a cast for a bust, and +several amateur students gratified their curiosity by sketches. The body +was that of a thick-set muscular man, with a bull-neck, great development +about the upper parts, with immense thighs and calves, so full as to have +the appearance of globular masses. The countenance, as we saw it, was very +far from being placid, as was commonly represented, if you could not have +perceived easily that there remained upon it the bitter expression of the +very scorn with which he had looked upon that world which pushed him out +of it, as having in his person defaced the image of his Maker.[17] Laid +upon the table, the body became the subject of a lecture by the +professor, and, in order to implement the sentence of the court, without +so much mutilation as would interfere with the object of future +inspection, the investigation was limited to the brain, laid open by +removing the upper part of the cranium; the part sawed off to be +subsequently replaced, so that the division could scarcely be noticed. + +So far, all had proceeded in peace and with decorum; but the College was, +by and by, to be the scene of a renewed excitement. About half-past two, a +body of young men, consisting chiefly of students, assembled in the area, +and becoming clamorous for admission, it was found necessary to send for +the police,--a class of men of whose interference within the walls of the +College these assertors of scholastic liberty have always shewn themselves +impatient. Indignant at the opposition they had met with in the rooms, and +still more angry at the conduct of the police, they made several sorties, +in which they nearly succeeded in overpowering the opposition arrayed +against them, at the same time that they smashed the windows at either +side of the entry to the anatomical theatre. The police, finding +themselves hard pressed, retreated, merely brandishing their batons; but +blows received by several of them raised, in its turn, their anger, and +the official weapon was used with more vigour than the magistrates, and +especially the Lord Provost, who was present, seemed to relish. That +dignitary accordingly got up to harangue the inflamed youths,--a liberty +which could be brooked still less than the use of the batons, and amidst +the cries of most opprobrious epithets, he, and along with him Bailie +Small, were obliged to fly. Attempts were now made by the police to cross +the square and seize prisoners; and so far they succeeded, but it was only +to be left to witness the captured _élèves_ reclaimed, and carried off +amidst shouts of triumph. Even some, whom the police got conveyed to Dr +Monro's rooms, were searched for, and pulled out into liberty, adding, in +their turn, to the shouts of the liberators. It was then attempted to make +a dash, and clear the area of the assembled collegians by a promiscuous +pell-mell, but the police again found themselves overmatched, and could +not even retain their own ground in the open area. The contest was renewed +more than once with varying success, and no man could tell how long the +battle would last, as time, in place of moderating the passion of the +students, served only to increase it, and every sortie and shout +threatened some issue involving life. One or two of the police were +carried off wounded, amidst cries of victory, and the battle, which had +now lasted from half-past two to four, threatened even worse consequences +than had yet resulted, when the professors got alarmed. Dr Christison at +length made his appearance with the olive, and intimated to the youths +that he had made arrangements whereby they would be admitted to see the +body of Burke in fifties, giving his personal guarantee for their good +conduct. + +This intimation, which was in fact a victory,--achieved, too, with a +compliment to their honour,--was received with loud cheers of "Hurrah for +Christison!" and "Burke's our own!" and presently all their fury subsided +amidst the returning hilarity of loud laughter. But matters were not at +all satisfactory outside in the street. The people had been restless all +day. The sight of the hanging, in place of allaying their passion against +Burke, seemed to have inflamed them into a desire to gloat their eyes on +his remains; and many intimated their design, in the event of being +defeated, of forcing an entry into the anatomical theatre, and dragging +the body out, to tear it in pieces. To this, the news of the success of +the students inflamed them the more, but as it was now getting dark, and +several scouts sent among them by the authorities having circulated the +report that the magistrates and Dr Monro would make arrangements for +general admission to the anatomical theatre next day, the crowd began to +separate, but each carrying away the determination, which they growled out +as they went, that unless the terms were adhered to, their purpose would +be executed on the morrow. + +On Friday the arrangements were made for a grand public exhibition. The +body of the hanged man was placed on the black marble table of the +theatre, so as to be seen by the visitors as they passed from one door to +another, from which they could get exit in another direction. The news +meanwhile had spread through both the Old and New Towns that the body of +Burke was to be seen by all and sundry, and the commotion throughout all +ranks, high and low, was only equalled by that of the day of execution. +The Old Town presented the appearance of a holiday. Thousands took their +way to the College, where they found the doors open and the exhibition +begun, but as the stream of entrants was necessarily narrow, and of slow +movement, the street and the area inside soon presented an appearance +scarcely less crowded than on the day previous. The programme was very +soon understood, and was indeed so simple and easily wrought, however +tedious as regards time, that the people had only to try to get into the +moving stream when they were pushed forward quietly and orderly enough to +the envied scene. There on the table lay the victim naked, with the part +of the scull which had been sawed off so artistically restored that the +mark of the junction could scarcely be observed. The spectacle was +sufficiently ghastly to gratify the most epicurean appetite for horrors. +There was as yet no sign of corruption, so that the death pallor, as it +contrasted with the black marble table, shewed strongly to the inquiring +and often revolting eye; but the face had become more blue, and the shaved +head, with marks of blood not entirely wiped off, rather gave effect to +the grin into which the features had settled at the moment of death. +However inviting to lovers of this kind of the picturesque the broad chest +that had lain with deadly pressure on so many victims--the large thighs +and round calves, indicating so much power--it was the face, embodying a +petrified scowl, and the wide-staring eyes, so fixed and spectre-like, to +which the attention was chiefly directed. + +As the stream moved on with recurring pauses, when some, more intent than +others, held back to have a moment or two's more time, it was curious to +view the ever-varying emotions of the spectators. Many were there who +could not in any other circumstances have looked upon a corpse at all, and +you might have seen some half-irresolute adventurers who, as they neared, +feared the sight, and would have backed out but that they were compelled +to proceed, when the unsteady eye, anxious to avert itself, was caught by +the horrible charm and fixed. No one, so far as we could see, however +nervous, either shut the eyes or turned them away altogether; nor could +you detect a single trace of pity--the prevailing expression, a malign +satisfaction, strangely and staringly returned, as it were, by the grin of +the corpse, which had the advantage of eternal persistency. Extraordinary +as all this moving scene was,--and certainly nothing of the kind had ever +been witnessed in Edinburgh before,--it was rendered more so by the +occurrence among the close stream of a few women, amounting in all, we +understood, to seven or eight, who, having made their way up-stairs, not +perhaps with the intention of going altogether forward, were moved on and +could not escape. The caught virgins, true to their nature, struggled so +well in the net of their curiosity, that you would have said they were +really anxious to get back, and yet somehow their struggles seemed +unaccountably rather to help them on; but at any rate it was certain they +were modest, and shrank at the thought of the coming sight, for they held +down their heads to avoid the stare of the men, and when they arrived at +the point, only looked with a squint, sufficient at once for entire +gratification as well as for immunity from the charge of not being +feminine and delicate. It is doubtful, notwithstanding, however influenced +by the sense of the _nil dulcius quam omnia scire_, whether they would +venture again upon such another Junonian venture; for the males, who +reserve to themselves the exclusive right of witnessing such spectacles, +bestowed on them such and so many tokens of indignation as might have +cured them for ever of their original sin. + +The numbers who supplied this continued stream may be judged of when it is +mentioned that by actual enumeration it was found that upwards of sixty +per minute passed the corpse. This continued from ten in the morning till +darkening, and as the crowd, when we saw it at three o'clock, was still +increasing, as one told another of what he had seen, we cannot compute the +numbers at less than twenty-five thousand persons; add to this those who +had a private interview, and we arrive again at the number present at the +execution, thirty thousand--a greater number than ever visited royalty +lying in state, at least within the kingdom of Scotland. Nor did the +entire day suffice for the satisfaction of this curiosity. As many were +ready for the following day; but, to the disappointment of these, it was +announced that all further ingress would be denied. Next day, Saturday, +the front of the College again presented a scene of confusion. Another +crowd had collected--growling at the conduct of the officials--crying for +the opening of the anatomical theatre; and long after they had ascertained +that no further exhibition would be permitted, the people stood and +continued to gaze at the College walls, till, exhausted of their patience, +they reluctantly departed, leaving fresh arrivals, which continued during +the entire day to occupy their places.[18] + +One might have thought that the excitement, at least in so far as regarded +Burke--for the other culprits were a precious reserve, whose fortunes +might fill a volume of great interest--would have thus ended; but at that +time the science of phrenology was in its zenith, the Combe-and-Hamilton +controversy in full vigour; and so, next came the battle of the +phrenologists and the old Scotch school of mental philosophers. Burke's +head, so ingenious in devising a new species of murder, which should bear +his immortal name, as well as in discovering a new estimate of the value +of the human body, was measured and mapped into philoprogenitiveness, +veneration, destructiveness, and all the rest, so as to be in all time +coming the example and test of the character possessed by the genuine _à +priori_ and _à posteriori_ murderer. And it was a solemn occasion. The +measurements were recorded and published. The accuracy of the mere figures +was not denied, but the inferences were disputed with such acrimony that +the scientific battle commenced. Everywhere there was a measuring of +craniums, and even wise people, who never had any doubt of the smallness +of their destructiveness, were startled into the conviction that they +required not only to take care of themselves, but to be taken care of by +others. Mr Combe bade fair to be the only man who was to be benefited by +the labours of Burke. A considerable number of people, who were not sure +of their harmlessness, notwithstanding they were very timid, and to others +and themselves very innocent, waited upon him to ascertain what they in +reality were; and if you had stood at his door, you might have judged by +the faces of his consultors how much they were above or below the fatal +6·125--the most marvellous bump that had ever been seen on the head of man +since the days of that great man-killer Hercules. It was in vain that the +Hamiltonians brought forward the measurements of men scarcely less famous +in their philanthropic way than Howard. The great development of +destructiveness had in their cases been accompanied by _inactivity_, and +the examples went for nought; and so, in like manner, the examples of +other murderers who could not boast of more than 5·4, were satisfactorily +set aside for the reason of _activity_. The Hamiltonians pushed their +advantage, and demanded a return to the old doctrines and common sense; +but the Combeans would not admit the demand. The frying-pan sued for could +not be returned or paid for--1st, Because it was an old one with holes in +it; 2dly, Because it was returned long before; and, 3dly, Because it was +never borrowed. If one thing won't do, another will: if you drive us out +of size, we fall back upon activity; if from activity, we flee to size. +Burke, in addition to all his other achievements, thus killed a science. +Having wrought so assiduously for anatomy, he ended by burking +phrenology. + + + + +The Prosecution against Hare. + + +The public had got only an instalment; and the fingering of the money +produced only desire for more, to make up the debt to justice. Whatever +might become of the women, Hare must be hanged, dissected, and exhibited +in the same way as Burke, otherwise the peace of the city would be again +in jeopardy. He was the greater criminal of the two, and the people had no +moral vision to comprehend how the Lord Advocate could bargain with, and +feel himself bound to keep honour with, one who, having lost the form and +features of the sacred "image," was beyond the pale of humanity. You don't +think of the moral obligation to refrain from killing a tiger merely +because he left in your way another cruel animal, which, for want of a +lamb eaten by the more rapacious, you found it convenient to dine off. + +After his examination, and when the officers were removing Hare from the +court-house to the Calton Jail, they were struck with dismay to find that +he had been seized with a fit of glee, which, for want of an epithet +derived from humanity, we may term diabolical; but the officers were +simple, and so was he: they should have known the man, and he knew +himself--a creature in whom there being no good to produce the variety +which constitutes character, there could be nothing but pure and unmixed +evil. If the devil is not a simpleton,--father of lies and master of +devices as he is,--it is just because having once known the good he could +hate it. Hare never knew even that, and could not be said to hate what he +could not understand. Yet he laughed, not heartily, that would be a +misnomer, but hepatically, from the liver, because he fancied that he had +escaped from justice at the expense of the life of his accomplice. The +public, much as they cried for his blood, were simple too, in so far as +they believed that while in jail he shunned the public gaze, and muffled +himself up in the bed-clothes when visited by the authorities; whereas the +man, instead of thinking he had done anything shameful or even wrong, was +rather proud of his ingenuity, not only amusing himself in the public +ground attached to the ward, but exhibiting rather satisfaction at being +looked at.[19] Nor, while in the very height of his effrontery, did he +construe the marked dislike of the prisoners, every one of whom shrank +from his touch or even approach, into anything short of spite because he +was now free--being only there as under the protection of the +authorities--and his companions poor bond devils. So far we may believe; +but there might have been a small tax on the credulity of the time, when +it was believed that he construed in the same way the conduct of those +companions when, upon the occasion of there being more onlookers from +without than the shame of the jail-birds relished, they were in the habit +of hitching him forward as a great spectacle, by the attraction of whom +their merely comparative merits might be overlooked. + +By and by, as the vengeful feeling of the public against the man +increased, and nothing for a time was heard but the stifled groans for the +second victim, it came out that the public prosecutor, having procured +Hare's co-operation as a _socius criminis_ to convict Burke, and all the +information which was necessary to bring home to the latter the three +charges in the indictment, the Crown was pledged in honour not to proceed +against him on any one of these counts. This was, in effect, to say that +he was free whenever he could get out of the hands of the infuriated +people; because, in so far as regarded the other cases, there was no +evidence independently of his, and he would take precious care to withhold +every word to criminate himself. It is needless to say that the most +sensible of the editors, and all the thinking and honourable of the +people, considered this statement of the authorities as reasonable and +proper. They would stand upon the honour of the Crown and the dignity of +human nature, even at the expense of giving liberation to a man who, by +his own confession, was a murderer. They would therefore leave the vulgar +to the _charum lumen_ of their prejudices, and so they were left. But, +while thus taking this high and dignified ground against those whom a +natural hatred of atrocity was said to make low, some ingenious one of +their ranks struck out the idea that, though the Crown was shut up to let +Hare off, some relative of one of the murdered persons might prosecute for +assythment, or a compensation for the loss of life; and immediately it was +found that Daft Jamie's mother, Mrs Wilson, with his sister, Janet Wilson, +would be willing, if not anxious, to take the post of prosecutor--a piece +of intelligence which pleased the public wondrously. + +This proposition was brought to bear by an application presented to the +Sheriff on the part of the Wilsons, praying for liberty to precognosce +witnesses with a view to the prosecution of Hare; on the deliverance upon +which progress was being rapidly made in the examination of several +persons, when immediately there was presented to his lordship a petition +for Hare, craving to be set at liberty. On the 21st of January, the +Sheriff pronounced an interlocutor refusing the prayer of Hare's petition, +on the ground that there was no decision finding that the right of the +private party to prosecute is barred by any guarantee or promise of +indemnity given by the public prosecutor; but, in consequence of the +novelty of the case, he superseded further progress with the +precognitions, in order that Hare might have an opportunity of applying to +the Court of Justiciary. + +This judgment was accordingly brought under review of the High Court by +what is technically called a bill of advocation, suspension, and +liberation--the meaning of which is simply that Hare tried another chance +for freedom by applying to the highest tribunal. The Lord Justice-Clerk, +who saw at once that the question was so far new, and of the first +importance, not only in its merits, but viewed in relation to the state of +the public mind, wished to have it judged of by all the Lords, and he +therefore called upon the public prosecutor to answer the request of Hare. +The Lord Advocate, who, no doubt, felt himself placed in a delicate +position, but still determined to stand by the law and the dignity of the +Crown, accordingly presented his answer; and long pleadings, called +informations, having been lodged, the case came to be tried before the +Court on the 2d February. The celebrated Jeffrey appeared for Mrs Wilson, +and Duncan M'Neill for Hare. It was maintained on the part of Hare, said +Mr Jeffrey, that the public prosecutor was entitled to make a compact, to +which compact their Lordships were bound to give effect; that their +Lordships had no discretion, but that it rested entirely with the Lord +Advocate to enter into such compact, and to extend immunity to any number +of cases, without the control of the judge; in short, that the Lord +Advocate possessed the uncontrolled power of exercising the royal +prerogative. And this he might do, not merely in respect of the particular +crime as to which a _socius criminis_ was to be used as a witness, but +might, if he chose, extend it to all other crimes of which he might have +been guilty. Whenever the Lord Advocate stipulated an immunity, it seemed +to be maintained, on the other side, that a sufferer by housebreaking, +fire-raising, and other crimes, was to be deprived of his right, as a +private party, to prosecute the guilty perpetrator of the wrong, and that +the Lord Advocate had a power to enter into a compact by which he could +grant immunity for offences, past or future, known or unknown. Such a +prerogative would be to invest the public prosecutor with a power of +pardon which only belonged to the Crown, and this, too, without a tittle +of authority, amounting to an assumption of the authority of Parliament; +and so forth. But all the eloquence of Jeffrey would not do. The judges +had, long before this day of judgment, been down in the deep wells of +authority, and, as one of the enraged people said, came up drunk with +law, and kicked sober justice out of court. Certainly, if such a profane +expression could be used, these learned men might have been in that state, +for seldom had they appeared so surcharged with authorities. They seem to +have rummaged every corner of the Advocates' Library and the +Register-Office to find out the origin of the law of king's evidence, and +to have hunted out every decision bearing upon the case, so that, it would +seem, Hare should be rendered as famous for settling a great and hitherto +doubtful point of law, as Burke was destined to be for putting an end to a +science. After all, the judges who decided for Hare were found to be +right; and, indeed, any one looking at the subject, could not fail to see +that, as the Lord Advocate represented the king, and the king, as the +great public protector of his subjects and prosecutor of their wrongs, +represented his people, and Mrs Janet Wilson and her daughter among the +rest, the immunity promised by his lordship to Hare really included an +immunity implied as given by Mrs Wilson and her daughter. + +While the case was going on, and Hare anxious to get out, he founded his +hope on an extraordinary delusion, which could have occurred to nobody but +himself. He understood well enough the meaning of the long word +assythment, and asked his agent, with one of his leers, what was the value +of Daft Jamie. The price given by the doctors, he said, was too much, +because, if he had been offered alive to any one, he would not have been +bought at any price, so that his mother had no claim, and the judges were +just trifling away both their time and their brains about a thing of no +value. Incredible as this may seem,--and doubtless many reports passed +that were not true,--it is not unlike the man; for it never was asserted, +by those who had access to him, that he had the slightest notion of having +done anything that was wrong. He was, indeed, one of those men, not so +uncommon as the optimists may think, or so impossible as the Christian +philosophers maintain, whose consciences are entirely turned round about, +and who, when they come to think seriously, find the worm gnawing on the +wrong side. Their pain is for any good they may have been tempted to do, +their relief for any evil they have been fortunate enough to perpetrate, +so true is it that nature is jealous of man's having it in his power to +say that any proposition is absolutely true, and without an exception. But +such phenomena, which, after all, are so uncommon as to deserve the name +of monstrosities, need not flutter the faith of such men as Chalmers, who +found upon the universality of the law of conscience as proving the +goodness, if not also the existence, of God. It is only a matter of +curiosity that, while such advocates recognise and explain alone the +exceptional cases, where there is simply a _want_ of the faculty, they do +not seem to think that there can occur, or ever could have occurred, a +case where its decrees are absolutely reversed. But, after all, we have to +keep in view that the whole conditions, even of Hare's nature, were not +exhausted. For aught we know, if he had been condemned to die, Providence +would have vindicated her rule even as to him, and the faculty been +observed to right itself. Hare was, at any rate, declared at liberty. + + + + +The Hunt Out. + + +We take up the end of the thread of our last chapter, and say, that as the +potential developments of a man's heart cannot be exhausted except by +death, we cannot pronounce, until that issue arrives, of God's purpose +with him. We have known many men who, by a redundancy of the oil of +self-satisfaction, have kept the lamp of jovial humour, or light +recklessness, or flippant egotism, burning for a long period of years, and +indulging all the while in the boast of an indomitable persistiveness. +There are many such, but we suspect they are generally mere actors; and we +are the more satisfied of the hollowness of their pretensions when we +learn the account of them from those who have access to their privacy, and +are apt to verify the saying that, as no man is a hero to his valet, so no +jolly fellow, _pococurante_, or devil-darer is always such to his wife, +children, servants, or friends. Even were it so, we would still say that +the conditions have not been exhausted by some calamity which _may_ come, +or by death, who _must_ come; and as there are worse evils than even +death, the power of holding out is only an inverse mode of expressing the +power of what is held out against. These remarks occur to us as we are now +to follow the fortunes of the remaining three of the quaternity. + +Hare was still Hare up to the hour of his freedom, and that freedom, for +which he had sacrificed the life of the man whom he had taught the trade +of murder, was to be the test to try his obduracy, and prove the ruin of +that persistency in evil which had mocked the ghosts of a score of +murdered beings. He was let loose only to flee, and to flee under the only +terror he felt--the uplifted hands of an avenging people. At a little past +eight on the Thursday night, after the decision of the High Court of +Justiciary, he was relieved from his cell in the Calton Hill Jail. It was +a night of bitter frost, just such a one as Vejove would select for +sending a Cain-marked murderer out upon the world. After being muffled up +in an old camlet cloak, he walked, in company with the head turnkey, as +far as the Post-office in Waterloo Bridge without meeting with the +slightest molestation. At this point his companion called a coach, and +conveyed him to Newington, where the two waited till the mail came up. The +guard's edition of the story varies thus far, that he took up an unknown +passenger in Nicolson Street, where he was ordered to blow the horn. But +the difference is immaterial, and might easily arise from Hare's state of +mind. Be this as it may, he got safely seated on the top of the coach +without challenge and without suspicion. In the way-bill he figured as a +Mr Black--not an inappropriate name--and the tall man who came to see him +off, exclaimed, when the guard cried, "All's right," "Good-bye, Mr Black, +and I wish you well home."[20] At Noble-house, the second stage on the +Edinburgh road, twenty minutes were allowed for supper; and when the +inside passengers alighted and went into the inn, Hare was infatuated +enough to follow their example. At first he sat down near the door, behind +their backs, with his hat on, and his cloak closely muffled about him. But +this backwardness was ascribed to his modesty, and one of the passengers, +by way of encouraging him, asked if he was not perishing with cold. Hare +replied in the affirmative, and then, moving forward, took off his hat, +and commenced toasting his paws at the fire--a piece of indiscretion which +can only be accounted for by his characteristic recklessness, not yet +cured; and little, indeed, was he aware that Mr Sandford, advocate, one of +the counsel employed against him in the prosecution at the instance of +Daft Jamie's relations was then standing almost at his elbow. A single +glance served all the purpose of the fullest recognition, and, as Hare +naively enough remarked, "He shook his head at me," somewhat after the +fashion, we suppose, of the ghost in Macbeth. + +On the horn being blown, he contrived, after the manner of the Greek +slayer, who was always ahead of the three Furies, to be first at the coach +door, and finding an empty seat inside, he actually occupied it. "Take +that fellow out," cried the indignant counsel, and out accordingly he was +taken, and transferred to the top, whereupon Mr Sandford, eager, perhaps, +to justify what had the appearance of cruelty on so bitter a night, +revealed to his fellow-travellers what, perhaps, he ought not to have +done. A secret is like gas, it spreads without burning, and at Beattock, +the guard as well as the driver, knew all. They were only obliged to +conceal it because there was no one to tell it to; but on the arrival of +the coach at Dumfries, the servants who attended to take the inside +passengers' luggage, got the hint, and the news flew like a fire-flaught. +Meanwhile, Hare had slunk into the coach-office of the King's Arms. People +were seen hurrying thither from every direction, crying, "Hare's in the +King's Arms!" By eight o'clock, a large crowd had collected, and by ten it +was perfectly overwhelming. You might have walked over the heads of a mass +of people in the High Street and Buccleuch Street, amounting to 8000, +reminding us of a great fair, when the country empties itself into the +town. Their object they did not tell, nor was it necessary, except in so +far as having known that he was for Port-Patrick, they proposed to do the +great man honour _in their own way_. If Hare had got among these people, +he would assuredly have been sacrificed, for the dissatisfaction at his +release was not confined to the metropolis. Meantime, the man, considering +himself safe inside, and having from the first been surrounded by a knot +of coachmen and guards, who handed him part of their ale, he clattered +away, drinking absurd toasts, such as "Bad luck to bad fortune," and not +denying his identity: "No use for that now;" but all questions about his +crimes he evaded; "he had said enough before;" "he had done his duty in +Edinburgh." Yet we suspect that the light talk was the effect of the ale, +for, to a gentleman who visited him, with a view to know something of his +early history, he complained that he had no money, and when a guinea was +handed to him, "he burst into tears." Yes, the time had come, or was +approaching, when the hitherto maintained conditions of insensibility were +to be broken, not for penitence, not even for remorse, but for regret, if +not despair. + +When this visitor retired, the people forced the door, and in an instant +Hare was squeezed into a corner, reminding one of a hunted fox when, +getting into a _cul de sac_, he turns round, shews his teeth, and vainly +attempts to keep the jowlers at bay. In the absence of the police, his +situation was far from being free from peril. The torrent of imprecations +was fearful, and "Burke him!" came so savagely from so many throats, that +he seemed on the very eve of being laid hold of and torn asunder. It is +reported that one old woman was not only wonderfully emphatic and +ferocious in her gestures, but strove to get forward to strike "the +villain" with the end of her umbrella. And lucky it was that she did not +get in the front, for mischief, like fire, needs only a beginning, and if +one individual had lifted a hand, his fate would have been sealed. When +the police arrived, the room was cleared, and Hare conveyed to a safer +place till the Galway mail should start. With a view to this the inn-yard +was closed with difficulty, the horses put too, and the coach brought out. +But the mob, with rather more eyes than the old watcher, had previously +taken their plans, as if by instinct, and their aspect appeared so +threatening that it was impossible to drive the mail along the High Street +with the "fearful man" either inside or out. The coach accordingly started +perfectly empty, two passengers having been sent forward a few miles in a +gig. The crowd opened and recoiled--the tremendous rush, the appalling +waves on waves of people, heaving to and fro; and now the coach is again +surrounded, amidst yells the doors opened, the interior exposed, even the +boot examined. The people were still more exasperated because their plan +was defeated--no other than to stop the mail at the middle of the bridge, +and precipitate Hare from the parapet down into the river. Failing in +this, they had determined to waylay the coach at Cassylands toll-bar, and +there execute their purpose in another way, and as a preparation they had +forcibly barricaded the gates. The crowd now rolled back in one continuous +wave; and when the fact became known that he was still in the room of the +inn, he was again broken in upon, forced to sit and stand in all positions +and postures, turned round and back again, so that cool, insensate, and +apathetic as he was, he was now stimulated into terror. Amidst all this +the imprecations were repeated, and another woman, after having exhausted +her ingenuity in words, seized him by the collar, and tugged so manfully +that he was nearly strangled. At one moment the voice of a sturdy ostler +got ascendancy over the noise:--"Whaur are ye gaun, man? or whaur can ye +gang to? Hell's ower gude for ye. The very deevils, for fear o' mischief, +wadna daur to let ye in; and as for heaven, that's entirely oot o' the +question." Others, who wanted to drive matters to extremity, pretended to +take his part, and urged him on. The old spirit came again, and he called +out, "to come on, and give him fair play;" but this was a spurt, for +despair was extending over him her dark wings, and so crucified was he, +that he started, took his bundle, determined to "let the mob tak their +will o' him"--a resolution in which he was checked by a medical man. + +The innkeeper, Mr Fraser, in the meantime, apprehensive for the safety of +his premises, was anxious to eject his dangerous customer. The entire town +was, in short, so completely convulsed that it was impossible to tell +what would happen next, and, after deliberation, the magistrates, who had +a very onerous duty to perform, hit upon an expedient for getting quit of +him, which, though successfully executed, had ten chances to one against +it. Betwixt two and three, a chaise and pair were brought to the door of +the King's Arms, a trunk buckled on, and a great fuss made; and while +these means were employed as a decoy-duck, another chaise was got ready +almost at the bottom of the back entry, and completely excluded from the +view of the mob. The next step was to clear the room, and, after this, to +get Hare to clamber, or, rather, jump out of the window of his prison, and +crouch, cat-like, along the wall facing the stables. The task was well +executed: the moment he got to the bottom and sprang into the chaise, the +doors were closed and the whip cracked. Never before did a chaise rattle +so furiously along the streets of Dumfries. To pass Mr Rankin's and round +the corner of Richardson's brewery occupied only moments; but here the +turn was taken so sharply that the chaise ran for a time on two side +wheels. Had it upset, Hare was doomed; but the driver recovered the +position of the coach, and away again at even a more rapid rate. The mob +by this time had become suspicious of a manoeuvre, and, as the driver had +a considerable round to make, they rushed in a twinkling and in prodigious +masses to intercept him at the middle of the sands. A rush down Bank +Street like the letting out of waters, and from the opposite side of the +river, numbers, suspecting the cause, hurried with such fury over the old +bridge that the driver seemed destined to be outflanked and surrounded; +nor could he have avoided this had it not been for the mettle of his +horses and the willing arm that urged them on. Once again his charge is +saved from instant death. + +Even yet the flight was far from being accomplished. At every instant, he +was intercepted and threatened, and, though he cowered down, stones +threatened him on every side. Some stood still from inability to run, but +others immediately supplied their places, filling up with almost the speed +of thought the wake of the careering coach. An impression now prevailed +that the driver meant to gallop out the Galloway road, and a rush was made +to the western angle of the new bridge--a mistake which operated as a +diversion in favour of the driver--nor were the few moments gained +misemployed. The sharp corner of Dr Wood's laboratory was cleared almost +at a single bound, and as he had now a broad street before him, nothing +could exceed the fury with which he drove up to the jail door. Mr Hunter +had previously received his cue, and, though a strong chain was placed +behind the door, an opening was left to admit the fugitive. A spring over +the gulf, and Hare is again safe. + +His escape enraged the mob still more. As the numbers increased, they +laid regular siege to the place of safety, preventing all ingress or +egress. From four to eight, all was clamour and execration, and at +nightfall, for reasons of their own, they smashed and extinguished the +neighbouring lamps. A ponderous piece of iron was used as a battering-ram, +aided by heavy stones, the rebound of which was so incessant and +long-continued, that every fear was entertained they would succeed in +forcing the jail. It was next proposed to apply tar barrels and peats for +the purpose of forcing the door. By this time the magistrates were +thoroughly roused. The militia staff and police had done their best +without avail, and it was not till one hundred special constables were +sworn in and marched to the spot, with batons, that the peace of the city +was restored. Still the streets were in commotion, and it was afterwards +ascertained that the mob still retained the intention of forcing the +prison; but as the night waxed, their resolution waned, and at one o'clock +on Saturday morning not an individual was seen in Buccleuch Street. As the +opportunity was too good to be lost, Hare was roused from his bed, where +he had so long shivered, and ordered to prepare. While putting on his +clothes, he trembled violently, yet inquired eagerly for his cloak and +bundle; but as these articles were not at hand, he was told he must go +without them. As the whole population of Galloway were in arms, and as the +mail had been surrounded and searched at Crocketford toll-bar, and +probably at every other stage betwixt Dumfries and Port-Patrick, it would +have been madness to send him across the bridge, and he was recommended to +take another route. At three o'clock he was seen by a boy passing Dedbeck, +and must have been beyond the border by the break of day. The driver of +the mail reported that he saw him at a quarter-past five sitting on a heap +of stones within two miles of Carlisle. It seems he had been again +recognised, and told that the people of Carlisle were prepared to kill +him; and although he appeared completely done up, he turned by the +Newcastle road, and doubtless made his bed in the open fields. Little more +was ever heard of Hare. If the Almighty, as Mr M'Diarmid added, when He +appeared specially in the affairs of the world, left Cain to wander +hopeless on the face of the earth, why should not Hare have been subjected +to the same species of punishment? and, without wishing to refine too far, +we may say, as the Roman said long ago, "Everything must bow to the +majesty of the law; and that, from the weightiest circumstance down to the +smallest, there is a medium course--a middle path--beyond which no +rectitude and no safety to mortals can exist." + +As for Mrs Hare, she was liberated as soon after the trial as safety would +permit; but almost immediately upon her release, a crowd collected round +her. It was a cold, snowy day. She was pelted with snow-balls and stones, +and had some commiseration not been felt for the child she carried, she +would, in all probability, have fallen a victim to the violence of the +mob. Rescued by the police, she was conveyed to the Police-office, where +she found shelter and protection. She afterwards escaped, and wandered +about the country, not knowing whither to betake herself. At length she +turned up in Glasgow, in the hope of getting a steamer for Ireland. For +this purpose she was obliged to wait, and at night she ventured out to the +Broomielaw to get information. Next morning she repeated her venture, and +in Clyde Street was recognised by a woman, who cried out, "Hare's +wife--Burke her!" and threw a large stone at her. The signal was enough. A +crowd soon gathered, and pursuing her into the Calton offered her every +indignity, nor can it be known how far they would have proceeded if she +had not been taken from their hands by the police. It was described as +truly pitiful to see her stretched on the guard bed of the cell, with her +child clasped to her breast, weeping bitterly, and imploring the officers +not to allow her to be made a show of. She was entirely ignorant of the +fate of Hare, with whom she said she would never live again. All she +wanted was to get to Ireland, and end her miserable life in some retired +part of the country with penitence. She afterwards left Glasgow in the +Fingal, and nothing more was ever heard of Mrs Hare.[21] + +Some traces were also got of Helen M'Dougal.[22] Upon her release from the +lock-up house, she had the audacity or folly to repair to her old haunts +in the West Port, and even to appear in the street. She was recognised in +an instant, and at once surrounded by a mob threatening to seize her, but +fortunately the proximity of the district office insured protection, and +with difficulty she was lodged. Yet this was only the sign for an uproar. +The mob increased to an alarming size for the slender force, and the +officers were obliged to resort to an expedient to prevent an assault. A +ladder was placed at a back window, by which it was pretended that she had +got down, and the mob having dispersed, probably to pursue her, she was +conveyed, under an escort, to the head-office. Again venturing out, she +was repeatedly exposed to similar dangers, till, finding it impossible to +put out her head in Edinburgh, she left secretly for Redding in +Stirlingshire. She afterwards left that village, no doubt to be a +wanderer, like the others, and with as little hope of rest to her feet as +of peace to her soul. + + + + +The Final Cause. + + +There are one or two considerations connected with the history we have +given which, though having something of a philosophical look, are yet +sufficiently practical to be appreciated by the ordinary observer of human +nature and the ways of God with His creatures. It is doubtful if, from the +beginning, the actors in this drama were ever sufficiently understood; if +it is not more true to say, that the people, eager to conserve the +prestige of man's dignity, have been inclined, after the manner of +purists, to set off exceptions to the general laws of human nature as the +foil of some heaven-born exemption from crime. They have uniformly mixed +contempt with their hatred of these strange men. They have not thought +them entitled to be objects of consideration, far less study. They have +represented them as something so far below their kind, that their deeds +can no more enter as elements into a lesson than those of maniacs, or of +the lower animals, who are exempted from the laws of responsibility, and +so they have shewn an inclination to cast them out of the wide province +of history; or, if they would allow them to remain within the precincts of +annals, they would consign them to the grotesque page of _monstra +horrenda_. + +It is no doubt beneficial for man to think well of the good, but it is not +advantageous for him to think lightly of the evil potentialities of his +nature. We cannot deny that these men and women were sane; and we have +higher authority than a wish-born logic or a self-gratifying rhetoric to +satisfy us that "the heart of man is deceitful above all things and +desperately wicked." The authority is from heaven, and there is no want of +verifying examples upon earth; nay, if we abate the "putrid coruscations," +or what have been called "the blue lights of necromancy" that play round +these sordid murders, and which are at least nourished by the fancy, we +may find every day cases scarcely less cruel and scarcely less sordid,--if +we might not even say that it requires some analysis to find the +difference in mere turpitude between a man who murders for the money that +is about the body and one who slays for that which the body will bring. +Then the repetition adds nothing to the atrocity of the individual act, +while the premeditation is as signal in the slouching highwayman as in him +who wiles the victim to the fatal den. In short, we may make what parade +we please of the gradations of atrocity and the shades of our feelings, +but we must always come back to the beginning, that there are no degrees +of wickedness in those who have renounced God. + +Not only, however, were these individuals sane; one among them, and the +leader, was intelligent, had wit and humour, could feel the superficial +sentiment of a pathetic lyric, and, above all, possessed ingenuity to the +extent of inventing a new crime which has gone, with his name, over the +world. The women, too, were intelligent and apt; nor has it been said that +Mrs Hare did not feel the yearnings of a mother, or that M'Dougal was +false to the affection, however low, which bound her to the tyrant who +enslaved her. Even Hare was not a fool--a character inconsistent with a +will-power which could govern a woman of his wife's acknowledged +adroitness, and lead, if not rule, a man such as Burke, so that we may say +that, so far as regards mere intelligence, the quaternity were a fair +enough specimen of the people of their class, in which certain parts of +our city abound; while Burke may be safely pronounced as being +considerably above the average of uncultivated minds, left as a waste for +the culture of the devil. But not only in this aspect were they worthy of +study--they were perfect in their moral organisation as embodiments of +evil, with no scruples, no misgivings, no backcomings of penitence, no +fear of the future, and no remorse for the past. They were not only "clear +grits"--they were "crystals." They were, out of millions, creatures suited +to the work they did--the work was suited to them, and they did it with +all that concentration of purpose and uniformity of action which proclaim +the being under alienation from the Almighty. + +In what we here venture to say we have a sufficient apology for +disinterring these people and their deeds, as constituting the great +lesson, that it is the _occasion_ that tests the man; even as it is true +what the proverb says, that a man is never known till he is invested with +power. As an abstract aphorism, that proverb has but little influence; it +is only when we see it reduced to the concrete that we feel its truth and +lay it up in our hearts; and this we are the more ready to do that, while +we are well penetrated by that horror which is fear, we are not the less +under the influence of that other horror, which is hatred. And here we +insist for a distinction which may silence those who indulge in the fancy, +that it is not useful or good to pander to an appetite for details which, +while they harrow the heart, are yet, by some strange peculiarity in our +nature, not without a grim charm calculated to fascinate and yet not to +deter. The fault here lies at the door of the chronicler, for it is he who +holds the wand, and it requires only the mode of using it to change the +appetite into a revulsion, and to make the horror which is hatred +paramount for good. It is only man who is false to nature, never nature to +herself. Such deeds she exhibits in their true colours, and he who +interprets her can only be true to his office when he produces those +emotions which she produced in him uncoloured by the lights of a +factitious fancy. + +We may thus, even without going further, find a final cause in these +terrible acts done by creatures made after the image of God. We have no +more right to inquire why evil should be made to deter from evil, than to +investigate into the origin of evil itself. Enough if we know and +experience that the wages of sin is death; but we have here even more to +consider. While we can have no doubt that the tragedy of Burke and Hare is +calculated to deter not only from that sin which it involves, but from all +those lesser ones which follow from the temptations of mammon, we have to +recollect that it put an end to a pre-existing evil of gigantic magnitude, +and which all the adjurations of a distressed people were not able +otherwise to effect. That evil, as we have seen, was body-snatching. No +sooner were the murders which the temptations of that practice induced +brought to light, than our legislators took to their powers and duties, +and righted the nation. They saved the affections of the heart without +annulling the aspirations of the intellect, served the purpose of science +in its remedial application to physical ills, without desecrating the +temple where burned the light of the spirit, and through which these ills +are felt. + + +BALLANTYNE AND COMPANY, PRINTERS, EDINBURGH + + + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Scotland, with her open church-yards in secluded places, groaned under +this infliction for centuries. See "An Account of the most horrid and +unchristian actions of the Grave-makers in Edinburgh, their raising and +selling of the dead, abhorred by Turks and heathens, found out in this +present year, 1711, in the month of May." We offer an extract:-- + + "Methink I hear the latter trumpet sound, + When emptie graves into this place is found, + Of young and old, which is most strange to me, + What kind of resurrection this may be. + I thought God had reserved this power alone + Unto Himself, till He erect'd His throne + Into the clouds with His attendants by, + That He might judge the world in equity; + But now I see the contrair in our land, + Since men do raise the dead by their own hand." + +The price was known too, as a fixed thing apparently-- + + "As I'm inform'd the chirurgeons did give + Forty shillings for each one they receive." + +[2] Take this specimen of his self-esteem:--"Gentlemen, I may mention that +I have already taught the science of anatomy to about 5000 medical men now +spread over the surface of the earth, and some of these have turned out +most remarkable for their knowledge, genius, and originality, for they now +occupy some of the most conspicuous and trying positions in Europe. As a +piece of curious testimony to my capabilities of communicating to you +knowledge, I may venture to mention to you an interesting fact which took +place last summer while on a visit to my distinguished friend and pupil, +the Right Honourable the Earl of Breadalbane, at his beautiful and +picturesque seat of Taymouth Castle, in the shire of Perth. At a large +party given by the noble Earl to the leading nobility and gentry of +Scotland, where, to use the beautiful language of Byron, + + 'A thousand hearts beat happily, and when + Music arose with its voluptuous swell, + And all went merry as a marriage-bell;' + +I, who was there as the Earl's guest, and knew personally none of the +noble Earl's distinguished personages of the party, happened to fall +accidentally into conversation with a noble lord--an adjoining proprietor +of our generous host's--on the subject of the breeding of cattle; and, +although our conversation originated in the slightest possible +observation, it went on naturally enough, until, by imperceptible degrees, +I was forced to open up the whole extensive stores of my anatomical and +physiological knowledge, (especially the comparative departments of these +subjects,) and before I had addressed myself to the noble lord for ten +minutes continuously, for I actually felt myself inspired by my situation, +the whole beauty and fashion of the large suite of rooms were surrounding +me, and seemed entranced with the deep thought that poured from my lips. I +naturally felt somewhat abashed that I had drawn upon myself so much +observation, but the direct and indirect compliments that were paid to +knowledge and eloquence amply compensated for this painful sensation. +Among other things, I shall never forget the observation of an old, +fashionable, and distinguished dame, evidently belonging to the middle +portion of the last century, in these memorable words, 'He's a cunning +loon that, he would wile the lav'rock frae the lift,' for her quaint +remark seemed to embody, in few words, the entire sentiment of the large +and distinguished company, all illustrating the adage of Bacon, that +knowledge is power; and, when brought to bear with eloquence and +propriety, it affects equally all conditions of life with its mighty +overwhelming strength." + +[3] The following, extracted from the MS. notes of a student, may be taken +as a specimen of Knox's mode of dealing with his brethren:-"Before +commencing to-day's lecture, I am compelled by the sacred calls of duty to +notice an extraordinary surgical operation which has this morning been +performed in a neighbouring building by a gentleman [Mr Liston] who, I +believe, regards himself as the first surgeon in Europe. A country +labourer from the neighbourhood of Tranent came to the Infirmary a few +days ago with an aneurism of considerable extent, connected with one of +the large arteries of the neck; and, notwithstanding of its being obvious +to the merest tyro that it was an aneurism, the most distinguished surgeon +in Europe, after an apparently searching examination, pronounced it to be +an abscess. Accordingly, this professional celebrity--who, among other +things, plumes himself upon the wonderful strength of his hands and arms, +without pretension to head, and is an amateur member of the ring--plunged +his knife into what he thus foolishly imagined to be an abscess; and the +blood, bursting forth from the deep gash in the aneurismal sac, the +patient was dead in a few seconds. This notable member of the profession +is actually an extra-academical lecturer on surgery in this great +metropolis; and on this occasion was assisted by a gentleman similarly +constituted, both intellectually and physically, who had been trained up +under the fostering care of a learned professor in a certain university, +who inherited his anatomical genius from his ancestors, and who has +recently published a work on the anatomy of the human body, in which, +among other notabilities, no notice is taken of the pericardium. Tracing +the assistant of our distinguished operator further back, I have +discovered that he had been originally apprenticed to a butcher of this +city, but that he had been dismissed from this service for stealing a +sheep's head and trotters from his employer's shambles. It is surely +unnecessary for me to add that a knowledge of anatomy, physiology, +pathology, and surgery, is neither connected with nor dependent upon brute +force, ignorance, and presumption; nor has it anything to do with an utter +destitution of honour and common honesty."--(Roars of applause, mixed with +a few hisses.) + +[4] However little connexion there seems between our indifference as to +what becomes of the body and our belief in the immortality of the soul, it +is, nevertheless, certain that believers and unbelievers do not view the +subject in the same light. The ancients, in spite of Aristotle, (as we +find him construed by Pomponatius,) were greater _natural_ believers in +the doctrine of the soul's immortality, than the moderns, in spite of Des +Cartes. And see how they venerated the dead! The Athenians put to death +six generals who had achieved for them the greatest of their victories, +because they had omitted to bury those who had been killed. When Alcyoneus +took the head of Pyrrhus to his father Antigonus, that king struck the +bearer with a staff, covered his eyes, and wept, and ordered that the dead +body and the head should be honourably put on the pyre. The rabbinical +fable of the _Luz_, or little bone of the size of a grain, which could not +be destroyed even by fire, and from which _nostrum corpus animate +repullulascet_, seems to have spread beyond Judea. We need not speak of +Egypt and its sacred mummies. + +[5] If, in these narratives, it may be found that I depart in some details +from the discrepant confessions of Burke, I have to plead such authority +as I possess, in a collection of notes taken at the time by one who +intended to use them in a fuller account than that comprised in the two +pamphlets published by Buchanan. + +[6] She had been once a lodger in Log's house. + +[7] On examining the animal, the knackers found that many old sores become +hollows had been filled up with tow, and then plastered over with a thin +skin. + +[8] They are fully described, for the first time we believe, in +"Curiosities of Crime in Edinburgh." + +[9] We adopt this version in preference to another, which substitutes +Burke. + +[10] It was never believed that the cases confessed to by Burke exhausted +the real list. One in particular, that of a little Italian boy, Ludovico, +who went about with white mice, was a favourite story which could not be +doubted, when it was known that the people of Tanner's Close saw, for +years afterwards, the two little animals haunting the dark recesses, where +their young master had been sacrificed. And many other visions were seen +there besides those of the white mice. But, apart from these +superstitions, it is certain that there was found in Hare's house a cage +with the mice's turning-wheel in it, which clearly had belonged to one of +these Italian wanderers. The silence of Burke on the subject is of no +importance, for his confessions did not agree, and, besides, it was +properly asked, might not poor Ludovico have been the subject which Hare +managed "on his own hook" unknown to Burke? Like the others, he would be +mourned, but it would be far away in some little hamlet among the +Apennines. + +[11] A subscription was raised for Gray. He had saved the lives of +probably a score of men and women; but so poorly was he remunerated, that +he did not get a pound a head for these _lives_, or a tenth of that got by +Burke for his _bodies_. + +[12] The fury against the doctors ran so high not only in Edinburgh, but +in Dumfries, that they were exposed to the risk of the fate they +experienced under Cato the Censor:--"Romani quondam, sub Catone Censorio, +medicos omnes et urbe tota et tota Italia pepulerunt eorum funesta +mendacia crudelitatemque aversati."--_Agrippa de Van. Scien._ cap. 83. +See, too, Montaigne:--"Les Romains avaient este six cens ans avant que de +recevoir la médecine; mais après l'avoir essayée, ils la chassèrent de +leur ville par entremise de Caton le Censeur." This proscription of +doctors lasted to the time of the first emperors; but even if they had +been tolerated, the national reverence for the dead would have been an +effectual bar to such practices as Scotland groaned under for centuries. +We are not left to wonder how they contrived to keep the body right in +these ancient times, for we know that Cato purged his household; and +Horace lets us up to the knowledge the old women had of simples. + +[13] The allusion is to Knox. His house was afterwards surrounded by a +furious mob, who smashed his windows, and he was obliged to secrete +himself for a time. + +[14] The entire Parliament Square rang as by the echoes of a jubilee. + +[15] The story that the cancerous affection arose from the saliva of Daft +Jamie, communicated by a bite, was resolutely held to by the people. + +[16] "He struggled a good deal," says an eye-witness, who was very near, +"and put out his legs as if to catch something with his feet; but some of +the undertaker's men, who were below the drop, took him by the feet, and +sent him spinning round,--a motion which was continued until he was drawn +up above the level of the scaffold." + +[17] An eye-witness, whose notes we have, says, "He (Burke) was one of the +most symmetrical men I ever saw, finely-developed muscles, and +finely-formed, of the athlete class." + +[18] "After this exhibition," says an eye-witness, "Burke was cut up and +put in pickle for the lecture-table. He was cut up in quarters, or rather +portions, and salted, and, with a strange aptness of poetical justice, put +into barrels. At that time an early acquaintance and school-fellow was +assistant to the professor, and with him I frequently visited the +dissecting-room, when calling on him at his apartments at the College. He +is now a physician in the Carse of Gowrie. He shewed me Burke's remains, +and gave me the skin of his _neck_ and of the right arm. These I had +_tanned_--the neck brown, and the arm white. The white was as pure as +white kid, but as thick as white sheepskin; and the brown was like brown +tanned sheepskin. It was curious that the mark of the rope remained on the +leather after being tanned. Of that neck-leather I had a tobacco-doss +made; and on the white leather of the right arm I got Johnston to print +the portraits of Burke and his wife, and Hare, which I gave to the noted +antiquarian and collector of curiosities, Mr Fraser, jeweller, and it was +in one of his cases for many years--may be still, if he is alive." + +[19] The portraits of Burke and M'Dougal were got by the artist's having +been introduced into the judges' private room, behind the bench. To +complete the group, Mr Johnston, the engraver, managed through the +governor to get an artist into the passage between the airing-grounds, +when Hare was taking his walk. Hare saw the party sketching, came right up +to the iron grating, and stood like a soldier at attention, until the +sketch was completed. He then said, "Now, sir, peetch me a shilling for +that." + +[20] For much of what follows of Hare's flight we are indebted to the +pencil-pen of Mr M'Diarmid of the _Dumfries Courier_. + +[21] We might, perhaps, say, except till now. Not long ago, we were told +by a lady, who was in Paris about the year 1859, that, having occasion for +a nurse, she employed a woman, apparently between sixty and seventy years +of age. She gave her name as Mrs Hare, and upon being questioned whether +she had been ever in Scotland, she denied it, stating that she came from +Ireland. Yet she often sung Scotch songs; and what brings out the +suspicion that she was the real Mrs Hare the more is, that she had a +daughter, whose age, over thirty, agrees perfectly with that of the infant +she had in her arms when in court. In addition to all this, the woman's +face was just that of the picture published at the time. + +[22] After Burke's execution, M'Dougal is said to have made a wonderful +revelation. One night, when the two men were deep in an orgy, Burke put +the question, "What they would do when they could get no more bodies?" to +which Hare answered, "That they could never be absolutely at a loss while +their two wives remained, but that would only be when they were hard up." +The conversation had been overheard by one of the women. + + + + +POPULAR WORKS BY ALEXANDER LEIGHTON, + +AUTHOR OF "THE COURT OF CACUS," &C. + + +Second Edition, crown 8vo, cloth extra, price 3s. 6d., + +CURIOUS STORIED TRADITIONS OF SCOTTISH LIFE. + +BY ALEXANDER LEIGHTON. + +CONTENTS:-- + + The White Scalp. + The Ten of Diamonds. + Sergeant Davies' Ghost. + The Chance Question. + The Woman with the White Mice. + The Knife-thrust in the Dark. + The Scored Back. + The Long Slipper. + The Diamond Eyes. + The Lord Advocate's Warrant. + +"Mr Leighton, in this volume, has collected nine or ten stories, and has +told them very clearly and effectively.... Some of the stories relate +incidents of a curious kind, that have formed the subject of inquiry in +criminal courts of justice.... The volume makes an excellent whole."--_The +Saturday Review._ + +"In the story of the 'Woman with the White Mice,' we have a graphic +account of the extraordinary trial of Mrs S----of D----; a case of murder +in which Jeffrey performed his greatest feat of oratory and power over a +jury.... Besides being characterised by variety of incident, vigorous +thought, and simplicity of expression, these tales have a noble purpose to +serve."--_The Literary Gazette._ + +"All the tales are remarkably well told, and, in some instances, wrought +up to a climax of no ordinary excitement."--_The Leader._ + +"An admirable book for the fireside; and those who love excitement will +find it in these pages without stint."--_The Weekly Dispatch._ + +"A very entertaining volume, evincing no ordinary powers of +characterisation and description, caustic humour, and varied +knowledge."--_Scottish Press._ + +"This volume is one to which Mr Leighton may be proud to prefix his name +as its author."--_Northern Ensign._ + +"The 'Ten of Diamonds' is one of the most exciting tales ever +written."--_Morning Star._ + +"The wild weird interest of some of these stories is almost supernaturally +intense."--_Caledonian Mercury._ + + +Price 3s. 6d., crown 8vo, cloth extra, + +A SECOND VOLUME OF CURIOUS STORIED + +TRADITIONS OF SCOTTISH LIFE. + +BY ALEXANDER LEIGHTON. + +Author of "The Court of Cacus," &c. + +CONTENTS:-- + + The Amateur Robbery at Muttonhole. + The Dowser of Arthur's Seat. + The College Porter of St Andrews. + The House in Bell's Wynd. + The Cradle of Logie. + The Bride of Bell's Tower. + Swinton House and its Fairy. + The Murder in the King's Park in 1715. + +"We defy any one who loves a tale to sit down to one of these and not to +be nailed to his chair till the 'charm's wound up.'"--_Athenæum._ + +"To those who love good tales of terror and crime, the present volume will +be delightful."--_Spectator._ + +"The stories are told with great dramatic skill."--_Westminster Review._ + +"This volume will be welcome to a very large circle of readers."--_Glasgow +Citizen._ + +"In this volume a great amount of ingenuity is employed, and an even +greater amount of odd out-of-the-way reading is indicated.... The volume +is curious and interesting."--_The Scotsman._ + +"The Story of the 'House in Bell's Wynd' is almost tremendous in its +gathering climax, the breathless terror evolved by the main leading +feature not in any degree suffering from the quieter termination of the +narrative. The other stories are of a startling order, and, for the +fireside, with the muttering winds and the falling snows without, we do +not know of a more fascinating volume."--_Weekly Dispatch._ + +"Mr Leighton has a power of vivid description, and an art of interpolating +mysterious thoughts and reflections, which makes him unrivalled in the +recital of a tale of mystery or murder; and in certain portions, where the +awful story arrives at its climax, he seems to revel in his description of +the details."--_Glasgow Herald._ + +"Mr Leighton is one of the best story-tellers of our time. He puts in his +shadows so very deep and dark as sometimes to make the feeling of horror, +although romantic, too intense to be agreeable; but he never fails +strongly to interest one, which is the sure test of success in this sort +of writing."--_Dundee Advertiser._ + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41642 *** |