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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8ffb7ee --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #50345 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/50345) diff --git a/old/50345-0.txt b/old/50345-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index aa3a798..0000000 --- a/old/50345-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,8511 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The History and Romance of Crime. -Chronicles of Newgate, Volume I (o, by Arthur Griffiths - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: The History and Romance of Crime. Chronicles of Newgate, Volume I (of 2) - From the twelfth to the eighteenth century - -Author: Arthur Griffiths - -Release Date: October 30, 2015 [EBook #50345] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHRONICLES OF NEWGATE, VOL I *** - - - - -Produced by Chris Curnow, Lisa Reigel, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - - -Transcriber's Notes: Words in italics in the original are surrounded -with _underscores_. Variations in spelling and hyphenation have been -left as in the original. Ellipses match the original. A complete list -of corrections follows the text. - - - - - The History and - Romance of - Crime - - FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES - TO THE PRESENT DAY - - - THE GROLIER SOCIETY - - LONDON - - -[Illustration: _Elizabeth Fry Reading to the Women Prisoners in -Newgate_ - - The sympathies of the Quaker lady, Elizabeth Fry, were - aroused by the sadly neglected condition of the women's - quarters in Newgate in 1813. She formed the Ladies' Committee - which secured many important reforms from Parliament. She was - a constant visitor to the old prison, where she brought hope - and comfort, and wrought great changes.] - - - - - Chronicles of Newgate - - FROM THE TWELFTH TO - THE EIGHTEENTH - CENTURY - - _by_ - - MAJOR ARTHUR GRIFFITHS - - _Late Inspector of Prisons in Great Britain_ - - _Author of - "The Mysteries of Police and Crime" - "Fifty Years of Public Service," etc._ - - In Two Volumes - - Volume 1 - - THE GROLIER SOCIETY - - - - - EDITION NATIONALE - - Limited to one thousand registered and numbered sets. - - NUMBER 307. - - - - -GENERAL INTRODUCTION - - -The combat with crime is as old as civilization. Unceasing warfare is -and ever has been waged between the law-maker and the law-breaker. -The punishments inflicted upon criminals have been as various as the -nations devising them, and have reflected with singular fidelity their -temperaments or development. This is true of the death penalty which in -many ages was the only recognized punishment for crimes either great -or small. Each nation has had its own special method of inflicting it. -One was satisfied simply to destroy life; another sought to intensify -the natural fear of death by the added horrors of starvation or the -withholding of fluid, by drowning, stoning, impaling or by exposing the -wretched victims to the stings of insects or snakes. Burning at the -stake was the favourite method of religious fanaticism. This flourished -under the Inquisition everywhere, but notably in Spain where hecatombs -perished by the _autos-da-fé_ or "trials of faith" conducted with great -ceremony often in the presence of the sovereign himself. Indeed, so -terrible are the records of the ages that one turns with relief to the -more humane methods of slowly advancing civilization,—the electric -chair, the rope, the garotte, and even to that sanguinary "daughter of -the Revolution," "la guillotine," the timely and merciful invention of -Dr. Guillotin which substituted its swift and certain action for the -barbarous hacking of blunt swords in the hands of brutal or unskilful -executioners. - -Savage instinct, however, could not find full satisfaction even in -cruel and violent death, but perforce must glut itself in preliminary -tortures. Mankind has exhausted its fiendish ingenuity in the invention -of hideous instruments for prolonging the sufferings of its victims. -When we read to-day of the cold-blooded Chinese who condemns his -criminal to be buried to the chin and left to be teased to death by -flies; of the lust for blood of the Russian soldier who in brutal glee -impales on his bayonet the writhing forms of captive children; of the -recently revealed torture-chambers of the Yildiz Kiosk where Abdul -Hamid wreaked his vengeance or squeezed millions of treasure from -luckless foes; or of the Congo slave wounded and maimed to satisfy the -greed for gold of an unscrupulous monarch;—we are inclined to think of -them as savage survivals in "Darkest Africa" or in countries yet beyond -the pale of western civilization. Yet it was only a few centuries ago -that Spain "did to death" by unspeakable cruelties the gentle races of -Mexico and Peru, and sapped her own splendid vitality in the woeful -chambers of the Inquisition. Even as late as the end of the eighteenth -century enlightened France was filling with the noblest and best of her -land those _oubliettes_ of which the very names are epitomes of woe: -La Fin d'Aise, "The End of Ease;" La Boucherie, "The Shambles;" and La -Fosse, "The Pit" or "Grave;" in the foul depths of which the victim -stood waist deep in water unable to rest or sleep without drowning. -Buoyed up by hope of release, some endured this torture of "La Fosse" -for fifteen days; but that was nature's limit. None ever survived it -longer. - -The _oubliettes_ of the Conciergerie, recently revealed by excavations -below the level of the Seine, vividly confirm the story of Masers -de Latude, long confined in a similar one in Bicêtre. He says: "I -had neither fire nor artificial light and prison rags were my only -clothing. To quench my thirst, I sucked morsels of ice broken off -from the open window; I was nearly choked by the effluvium from the -cellars. Insects stung me in the eyes. I had nearly always a bad taste -in my mouth, and my lungs were horribly oppressed. I endured unceasing -pangs of hunger, cold and damp; I was attacked by scurvy; in ten days -my legs and thighs were swollen to twice their ordinary size; my body -turned black; my teeth loosened in their sockets so that I could not -masticate; I could not speak and was thought to be dead." - -Perhaps the refinement of torture, however, had been reached under -the cowardly and superstitious Louis XI, whose iron cages were of such -shape and size that the prisoners could languish in them for years -unable either to stand upright or to stretch full length upon the -floor. One feels the grim humour of fate that condemned the Bishop of -Verdun, their inventor, to be the first to suffer in them. - -Life-long confinement under such conditions was the so-called -"clemency" of rulers desiring to be thought merciful. Supported -first by hope, then deadened by despair, men endured life in these -prisons for years only to leave them bereft of health or reason. The -famous names of those who languished in them is legion. Fouquet, the -defaulting minister of Louis XIV, whose magnificence had rivalled that -of the king himself, was punished by such captivity for twenty years. -The "Man with the Iron Mask," whose identity, lost for three centuries, -has been proved beyond a doubt after careful comparison of all -theories,—pined his life away in one of them, accused, like Dreyfus, -of having sold a secret of state. - -Records of like cruelty and indifference to human suffering blackened -the pages of English history until the merciful ministrations of John -Howard and of Elizabeth Frye aroused the slumbering pity of Great -Britain, and alleviated the conditions of prisoners all over the world. - -In all lands, in all ages, in all stages of civilization, man has -left grim records of vengeful passion. No race has escaped the stigma, -perhaps no creed. It would almost seem that nations had vied with each -other in the subtlety of their ingenuity for producing suffering. The -stoical Indian, the inscrutable Chinese, the cruel Turk, the brutal -Slav, the philosophic Greek, the suave and artistic Italian, the -stolid German, the logical and pleasure-loving French, the aggressive -English,—all have left their individual seal on these records of -"man's inhumanity to man." - -From the gloom of these old prisons have sprung many of the most -fascinating stories of the world,—stories so dramatic, so thrilling, -so pathetic that even the magic fiction of Dickens or Dumas pales -beside the dread realities of the Tower, the Bastile, the Spielberg, -the "leads" of the Palace of the Doges, the mines of Siberia, or the -Black Hole of Calcutta. - -What heroic visions history conjures for us! Columbus languishing in -chains in Spain; Savonarola and Jean d'Arc passing from torture to the -stake; Sir William Wallace, Sidney, Raleigh, Lady Jane Grey, Sir Thomas -More, irradiating the dim cells of London's Tower; Madame Roland, -Charlotte Corday, Marie Antoinette, beautifying the foul recesses of -the Conciergerie; gentle Madame Elizabeth soothing the sorrows of the -Temple; Silvio Pellico in the Spielberg; Settembrini and the Patriots -of the Risorgimento in the prisons of Italy; the myriad martyrs of -Russia in the dungeons of the Czar or the wilds of Siberia—all pass -before us in those magic pages, uttering in many tongues but in one -accord their righteous and eternal protest against the blind vengeance -of man. - - - - -INTRODUCTION - - -In antiquity and varied interest old Newgate prison, now passed away -before the ceaseless movement of London change, yields to no place -of durance in the world. A gaol stood on this same site for almost a -thousand years. The first prison was nearly as old as the Tower of -London, and much older than the Bastile. Hundreds of thousands of -"felons and trespassers" have from first to last been incarcerated -within. To many it must have been an abode of sorrow, suffering, -and unspeakable woe, a kind of terrestrial inferno, to enter which -was to abandon every hope. Imprisonment was often lightly and -capriciously inflicted in days before British liberties were fully -won, and innumerable victims of tyranny and oppression have been -lodged in Newgate. Political troubles also sent their quota. The gaol -was the half-way house to the scaffold or the gallows for turbulent -or short-sighted persons who espoused the losing side; it was the -starting-place for that painful pilgrimage to the pillory or whipping -post which was too frequently the punishment for rashly uttered -libels and philippics against constituted power. Newgate, again, was -on the highroad to Smithfield; in times of intolerance and fierce -religious dissensions numbers of devoted martyrs went thence to suffer -for conscience' sake at the stake. For centuries a large section of -the permanent population of Newgate, as of all gaols, consisted of -offenders against commercial laws. While fraudulent bankrupts were -hanged, others more unfortunate than criminal were clapped into gaol -to linger out their lives without the chance of earning the funds by -which alone freedom could be recovered. Debtors of all degrees were -condemned to languish for years in prison, often for the most paltry -sums. The perfectly innocent were also detained. Gaol deliveries -were rare, and the boon of arraignment and fair trial was strangely -and unjustly withheld, while even those acquitted in open court were -often haled back to prison because they were unable to discharge the -gaoler's illegal fees. The condition of the prisoners in Newgate -was long most deplorable. They were but scantily supplied with the -commonest necessaries of life. Light scarcely penetrated their dark -and loathsome dungeons; no breath of fresh air sweetened the fetid -atmosphere they breathed; that they enjoyed the luxury of water was due -to the munificence of a lord mayor of London. Their daily subsistence -was most precarious. Food, clothing, fuel were doled out in limited -quantities as charitable gifts; occasionally prosperous citizens -bequeathed small legacies to be expended in the same articles of -supply. These bare prison allowances were further eked out by the -chance seizures in the markets; by bread forfeited as inferior or of -light weight, and meat declared unfit to be publicly sold. All classes -and categories of prisoners were herded indiscriminately together: -men and women, tried and untried, upright but misguided zealots with -hardened habitual offenders. The only principle of classification -was a prisoner's ability or failure to pay certain fees; money could -purchase the squalid comfort of the master's side, but no immunity from -the baleful companionship of felons equally well furnished with funds -and no less anxious to escape the awful horrors of the common side of -the gaol. The weight of the chains, again, which innocent and guilty -alike wore, depended upon the price a prisoner could pay for "easement -of irons," and it was a common practice to overload a newcomer with -enormous fetters and so terrify him into lavish disbursement. The gaol -at all times was so hideously overcrowded that plague and pestilence -perpetually ravaged it, and the deadly infection often spread into the -neighbouring courts of law. - -The foregoing is an imperfect but by no means highly coloured picture -of Newgate as it existed for hundreds of years, from the twelfth -century to the nineteenth. The description is supported by historical -records, somewhat meagre at first, but becoming more and more ample -and better substantiated as the period grows less remote. It is this -actual Newgate, with all its terrors for the sad population which -yearly passed its forbidding portals, which I have endeavoured to -portray. - - - - -CONTENTS - - - CHAPTER PAGE - INTRODUCTION 5 - - I. MEDIÆVAL NEWGATE 13 - - II. NEWGATE IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 40 - - III. NEWGATE IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 71 - - IV. NEWGATE AFTER THE GREAT FIRE 90 - - V. THE PRESS-YARD 129 - - VI. NOTABLE EXECUTIONS 156 - - VII. REMARKABLE ESCAPES 210 - - VIII. NEWGATE IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 242 - - IX. LATER RECORDS 277 - - X. HIGHWAYMEN AND PIRATES 321 - - - - -List of Illustrations - - - ELIZABETH FRY READING TO THE WOMEN PRISONERS - IN NEWGATE _Frontispiece_ - - THE SESSIONS HOUSE, CLERKENWELL GREEN, - LONDON _Page_ 85 - - THE CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT, OLD BAILEY, - LONDON " 178 - - THE PRISON OF NEWGATE " 246 - - - - - CHRONICLES OF NEWGATE - - - - -CHAPTER I - -MEDIAEVAL NEWGATE - - Earliest accounts of Newgate prison—The New Gate, when - built and why—Classes of prisoners incarcerated—Brawlers, - vagabonds, and "roarers" committed to Newgate—Exposure - in pillory and sometimes mutilation preceded imprisonment—The - gradual concession of privileges to the Corporation—Corporation - obtains complete jurisdiction over Newgate—The sheriffs - responsible for the good government of prisons on appointment— - Forbidden to farm the prison or sell the post of keeper—The - rule in course of time contravened, and keepership became - purchasable—Condition of the prisoners in mediæval times— - Dependent on charity for commonest necessaries—A breviary - bequeathed—Gaol fell into ruin and was rebuilt by Whittington's - executors in 1422—This edifice two centuries later restored, - but destroyed in the great fire of 1666. - - -The earliest authentic mention of Newgate as a gaol or prison for -felons and trespassers occurs in the records of the reign of King -John. In the following reign, A. D. 1218, Henry III expressly -commands the sheriffs of London to repair it, and promises to reimburse -them for their outlay from his own exchequer. This shows that at that -time the place was under the direct control of the king, and maintained -at his charges. The prison was above the gate, or in the gate-house, as -was the general practice in ancient times. Thus Ludgate was long used -for the incarceration of city debtors. - -To the gate-house of Westminster were committed all offenders taken -within that city; and the same rule obtained in the great provincial -towns, as at Newcastle, Chester, Carlisle, York, and elsewhere. -Concerning the gate itself, the New Gate and its antiquity, opinions -somewhat differ. Maitland declares it to be "demonstrable" that Newgate -was one of the four original gates of the city; "for after the fire of -London in 1666," he goes on to say, "in digging a foundation for the -present Holborn bridge, the vestigia of the Roman military way called -Watling Street were discovered pointing directly to this gate; and this -I take to be an incontestable proof of an original gate built over the -said way in this place." - -Of that ancient Newgate, city portal and general prison-house combined, -but scant records remain. A word or two in the old chroniclers, a -passing reference in the history of those troublous times, a few brief -and formal entries in the city archives—these are all that have been -handed down to us. - -But we may read between the lines and get some notion of mediæval -Newgate. Foul, noisome, terrible, are the epithets applied to this -densely crowded place of durance.[15:1] It was a dark, pestiferous -den, then, and for centuries later, perpetually ravaged by deadly -diseases. - -Its inmates were of all categories. Prisoners of state and the most -abandoned criminals were alike committed to it. Howel, quoted by -Pennant, states that Newgate was used for the imprisonment of persons -of rank long before the Tower was applied to that purpose. Thus Robert -de Baldock, chancellor of the realm in the reign of Edward II, to -whom most of the miseries of the kingdom were imputed, was dragged to -Newgate by the mob. He had been first committed to the Bishop's Prison, -but was taken thence to Newgate as a place of more security; "but the -unmerciful treatment he met with on the way occasioned him to die -there within a few days in great torment from the blows which had been -inflicted on him." Again, Sir Thomas Percie, Lord Egremond, and other -people of distinction, are recorded as inmates in 1457. But the bulk -of the prisoners were of meaner condition, relegated for all manner -of crimes. Some were parlous offenders. There was but little security -for life or property in that old London, yet the law made constant -war against the turbulent and reckless roughs. Stowe draws a lively -picture of the state of the city at the close of the twelfth century. -One night a brother of Earl Ferrers was slain privately in London. The -king (Edward I) on hearing this "swore that he would be avenged on the -citizens." It was then a common practice in the city for "an hundred -or more in company of young and old to make nightly invasions upon the -houses of the wealthy, to the intent to rob them, and if they found any -man stirring in the city they would presently murder him, insomuch that -when night was come no man durst adventure to walk in the streets." -Matters at length came to a crisis. A party of citizens, young and -wealthy, not mere rogues, attacked the "storehouse of a certain rich -man," and broke through the wall. The "good man of the house" was -prepared and lay in wait for them "in a corner," and saw that they were -led by one Andrew Bucquinte, who carried a burning brand in one hand -and a pot of coals in the other, which he essayed to kindle with the -brand. Upon this the master, crying "Thieves!" rushed at Bucquinte and -smote off his right hand. All took to flight "saving he that had lost -his hand," whom the good man in the next morning delivered to Richard -de Lucy, the king's justice. The thief turned informer, and "appeached -his confederates, of whom many were taken and many were fled." One, -however, was apprehended, a citizen "of great countenance, credit, -and wealth, named John Senex, or John the Old, who, when he could not -acquit himself by the water dome, offered the king five hundred marks -for his acquittal; but the king commanded that he should be hanged, -which was done, and the city became more quiet." - -Long before this, however, Edward I had dealt very sharply with -evil-doers. By the suspension of corporation government following that -king's conflict with the city authority, "all kinds of licentiousness -had got leave to go forward without control." - -At length the frequency of robberies and murders produced the great -penal statute of the 13 Edward I (1287). By this act it was decreed -that no stranger should wear any weapon, or be seen in the streets -after the ringing of the _couvre-feu_ bell at St. Martin's-le-Grand; -that no vintners and victuallers should keep open house after the -ringing of the said bell under heavy fines and penalties; that "whereas -it was customary for profligates to learn the art of fencing, who were -thereby emboldened to commit the most unheard-of villainies, no such -school should be kept in the city for the future upon the penalty of -forty marks for every offence." Most of the aforesaid villainies were -said to be committed by foreigners who incessantly crowded into London -from all parts; it was therefore ordered that no person not free of the -city should be suffered to reside therein; and even many persons thus -avouched were obliged to give security for their good behaviour. - -The "Liber Albus," as translated by Riley, gives the penalties for -brawling and breaking the peace about this date. It was ordained that -any person who should draw a sword, _misericorde_ (a dagger with a thin -blade used for mercifully despatching a wounded enemy), or knife, or -any arm, even though he did not strike, should pay a fine to the city -of half a mark, or be imprisoned in Newgate for fifteen days. If he -drew blood the fine was twenty shillings, or forty days in Newgate; in -striking with the fist two shillings, or eight days' imprisonment, and -if blood was drawn forty pence, or twelve days. Moreover, the offenders -were to find good sureties before release, and those on whom the -offence was committed had still recovery by process of law. - -Nor were these empty threats. The laws and ordinances against prowlers -and vagabonds, or night-walkers, as they were officially styled, were -continually enforced by the attachment of offenders. Many cases are -given in the memorials of London. - -Thus Elmer de Multone was attached on indictment as a common -night-walker in the ward of Chepe; in the day, it was charged, he was -wont to entice persons and strangers unknown to a tavern and there -deceive them by using false dice. He was furthermore indicted "in -Tower ward for being a cruiser and night-walker against the peace, -as also for being a common 'roarer.'[18:1] Multone was committed -to prison. Others met with similar treatment. John de Rokeslee was -attached as being held suspected of evil and of beating men coming -into the city;" "Peter le Taverner, called Holer," the same, and for -going with sword and buckler and other arms; John Blome was indicted -"as a common vagabond for committing batteries and other mischiefs -in the ward of Aldresgate and divers other wards." "A chaplain," our -modern curate, Richard Heryng, was attached on similar charges, but -was acquitted. Not only were the "roarers" themselves indicted when -taken in this act, but also those who harboured them, like John Baronu, -mentioned in the same document as attached for keeping open house at -night, and receiving night-walkers and players at dice. The prohibition -against fencing-masters was also rigorously enforced, as appears by -the indictment of "Master Roger le Skirmisour, for keeping a fencing -school for divers men, and for enticing thither the sons of respectable -persons so as to waste and spend the property of their fathers and -mothers upon bad practices, the result being that they themselves -become bad men. Master Roger, upon proof to a jury that he was guilty -of the trespasses aforesaid, was committed to Newgate." - -Incarceration in Newgate, however, was meted out promptly for other -offences than those against which the last-mentioned legislation was -directed. Priests guilty of loose living, Jews accused rightly or -wrongly, now of infanticide, of crucifying children, now of coining -and clipping, found themselves in the gaol for indefinite periods. -People, again, who adulterated or sold bad food were incontinently -clapped into gaol. Thus William Cokke of Hesse (or Hayes) was charged -with carrying a sample of wheat in his hand in the market within -Newgate, and following one William, the servant of Robert de la Launde, -goldsmith, about from sack to sack, as the latter was seeking to buy -wheat, telling him that such wheat as the sample could not be got for -less than twenty-one pence per bushel, whereas on the same day and at -the same hour the same servant could have bought the same wheat for -eighteen pence. Cokke, when questioned before the mayor, recorder, -and certain of the aldermen, acknowledged that he had done this to -enhance the price of wheat to the prejudice of all the people. He -was in consequence committed to gaol, and sentenced also to have the -punishment of the pillory. The same fate overtook Alan de Lyndeseye -and Thomas de Patemere, bankers, who were brought before the bench at -Guildhall, and with them "bread they had made of false, putrid, and -rotten materials, through which persons who bought such bread were -deceived and might be killed." The fear of imprisonment, again, was -before the eyes of all who sought to interfere with the freedom of the -markets. Thus it is recorded in the ordinances of the cheesemongers, -that "whereas the hokesters (hucksters) and others who sell such wares -by retail do come and regrate such cheese and butter before prime rung, -and before that the commonalty has been served, may it be ordained that -no such hokesters shall buy of any foreigner before the hour of prime -on pain of imprisonment at the will of the mayor." Similar penalties -were decreed against "regrating" fish and other comestibles for the -London markets. - -In 1316 Gilbert Peny was bound in the third time in default for selling -bread deficient in weight. He had been twice drawn on the hurdle, and -it was therefore now adjudged that he should be drawn once more, and -should then forswear the trade of a baker in the city for ever. One -of many similar cases is that of William Spalyng, who, for selling -putrid beef at "les Stokkes," the stocks market near Walbrook, was put -upon the pillory, and the carcasses were burnt beneath. Another who -made shoes of unlawful material had them forfeited. Bakers who stole -dough from the moulding-boards of other bakers were exposed on the -pillory with the dough hung about their necks. Richard le Forester, for -attempting to defraud with a false garland or metal chaplet for the -head, was sentenced to stand in the pillory, and afterwards to forswear -the city for a year and a day. Traders convicted of having blankets -vamped in foreign parts with the hair of oxen and of cows were -punished, and the blankets were burnt under the pillory on Cornhill. -Similarly, false gloves, braces, and pouches were burnt in the High -Street of Chepe near the stone cross there. John Penrose, a taverner, -convicted of selling unsound wine, was adjudged to drink a draught -of the said wine, and the remainder was then poured out on his head. -Alice, wife of Robert de Cranstom, was put in the "thew," or pillory -for women, for selling ale by short measure; and so was Margery Hore -for selling putrid soles, the fish being burnt, and the cause of her -punishment proclaimed. Two servants of John Naylere were placed in the -stocks upon Cornhill for one hour, and their sacks burnt beside them, -for selling a deficient measure of charcoal, while their master's -three horses were seized and detained by the mayor's sergeant until -he (Naylere) came and answered for the aforesaid falsity and deceit. -William Avecroft having unsound wine, the sheriffs were ordered to pour -all the wine in the street and wholly make away with it, according to -the custom of the city. - -Interesting reference may also be made to the "Liber Albus" which -contains other ordinances against brawlers and loose livers. The -former, whether male or female, were taken to the pillory, carrying -a distaff dressed with flax and preceded by minstrels. The latter, -whether male, female, or clerics, were marched behind music to Newgate -and into the Tun in Cornhill.[23:1] Repeated offences were visited -with expulsion, and the culprits were compelled to forswear the city -for ever. The men on exposure had their heads and beards shaved, except -a fringe on their heads two inches in breadth; women who made the -penance in a hood of "rag" or striped cloth had their hair cut round -about their heads. Worse cases of both sexes were shaved, like "an -appealer," or false informer. The crime of riotous assembling was very -sharply dealt with, as appears from the proclamation made on the king's -(Edward III) departure for France. It was then ordained that "no one of -the city, of whatsoever condition he shall be, shall go out of the city -to maintain parties, such as taking leisure, or holding 'days of love' -(days of reconciliation between persons at variance), or making other -congregations within the city or without in disturbance of the peace of -our lord the king, or in affray of the people, and to the scandal of -the city." Any found guilty thereof were to be taken and put into the -prison of Newgate, and there retained for a year and a day; and if he -was a freeman of the city, he lost his freedom for ever. - -The city authorities appear to have been very anxious to uphold their -prerogatives, jealous of their good name, and to have readily availed -themselves of Newgate as a place of punishment for any who impugned it. -A certain John de Hakford, about the middle of the fourteenth century, -was charged with perjury in falsely accusing the chief men in the city -of conspiracy. For this he was remanded by the mayor and aldermen to -Newgate, there to remain until they shall be better advised as to -their judgment. A little later, on Saturday the morrow of St. Nicholas -(6 Dec., 1364), this judgment was delivered, to the effect that the -said John shall remain in prison for one whole year and a day, and the -said John within such year shall four times have the punishment of the -pillory, that is to say, one day in each quarter of the year, beginning -on the Saturday aforesaid, and in this manner: "The said John shall -come out of Newgate without hood or girdle, barefoot and unshod, with -a whetstone hung by a chain from his neck and lying on his breast, it -being marked with the words 'a false liar,' and there shall be a pair -of trumpets trumpeting before him on his way to the pillory, and there -the cause of this punishment shall be solemnly proclaimed, and the -said John shall remain in the pillory for three hours of the day, and -from thence shall be taken back to Newgate in the same manner, there -to remain until his punishment be completed in manner aforesaid." -This investiture of the whetstone was commonly used as a punishment -for misstatement;[25:1] for it is recorded in 1371 that one Nicholas -Mollere, servant of John Toppesfield, smith, had the punishment of the -pillory and whetstone for "circulating lies," amongst others that the -prisoners at Newgate were to be taken to the Tower of London, and that -there was to be no longer a prison at Newgate. - -A sharper sentence was meted out about the same date to William -Hughlot, who for a murderous assault upon an alderman was sentenced to -lose his hand, and precept was given to the sheriffs of London to do -execution of the judgment aforesaid. - -Upon this an axe was brought into court by an officer of the sheriffs, -and the hand of the said William was laid upon the block, there to be -cut off. Whereupon John Rove—the alderman aggrieved—in reverence of -our lord the king, and at the request of divers lords, who entreated -for the said William, begged of the mayor and aldermen that the -judgment might be remitted, which was granted accordingly. The culprit -was, however, punished by imprisonment, with exposure on the pillory, -wearing a whetstone, and he was also ordered to carry a lighted wax -candle weighing three pounds through Chepe and Fleet Streets to St. -Dunstan's Church, where he was to make offering of the same. - -However sensitive of their good name, the mayor and aldermen of those -times seem to have been fairly upright in their administration of the -law. The following case shows this: - -A man named Hugh de Beone, arraigned before the city coroner and -sheriff for the death of his wife, stood mute, and refused to plead, -so as to save his goods after sentence. For thus "refusing the law of -England," the justiciary of our lord the king for the delivery of the -gaol of Newgate, committed him back to prison, "there in penance to -remain until he should be dead." - -Long years elapsed between the building of Newgate and the date when -the city gained complete jurisdiction over the prison. King Henry III's -orders to repair the gaol at his own charge has been mentioned already. -Forty years later the same monarch pretended to be keenly concerned -in the good government of Newgate. Returning from Bordeaux when his -son Edward had married the sister of the King of Spain, Henry passed -through Dover and reached London on St. John's Day. The city sent -to congratulate him on his safe arrival, the messengers taking with -them a humble offering of one hundred pounds. The avaricious king was -dissatisfied, and, instead of thanking them, intimated that if they -would win his thanks they must enlarge their present; whereupon they -gave him a "valuable piece of plate of exquisite workmanship, which -pacified him for the present." But Henry was resolved to squeeze more -out of the wealthy burgesses of London. An opportunity soon offered -when a clerk convict, one John Frome, or Offrem,[27:1] charged with -murdering a prior, and committed for safe custody to Newgate, escaped -therefrom. The murdered man was a cousin of Henry's queen, and the -king, affecting to be gravely displeased at this gross failure in -prison administration, summoned the mayor and sheriffs to appear before -him and answer the matter. The mayor laid the fault from him to the -sheriffs, forasmuch as to them belonged the keeping of all prisoners -within the city. The mayor was therefore allowed to return home, but -the sheriffs remained prisoners in the Tower "by the space of a month -or more;" and yet they excused themselves in that the fault rested -chiefly with the bishop's officers, the latter having, at their lord's -request, sent the prisoner to Newgate, but being still themselves -responsible with the bishop for his safe-keeping. These excuses did -not satisfy the king, who, "according to his usual justice," says -Noorthouck, "demanded of the city, as an atonement of the pretended -crime, no less than the sum of three thousand marks." The fine was not -immediately forthcoming, whereupon he degraded both the sheriffs, and -until the citizens paid up the enormous sum demanded, he caused the -chief of them to be seized and clapped into prison. - -The city was ready enough, however, to purchase substantial privileges -in hard cash. Many of its early charters were thus obtained from -necessitous kings. In this way the Corporation ransomed, so to speak, -its ancient freedom and the right of independent government. - -In 1327 a further point was gained. The support of the citizens had -been freely given to Queen Isabella and her young son in the struggle -against Edward II. On the accession of Edward III a new charter, dated -in the first year of his reign, was granted to the city of London. -After confirming the ancient liberties, it granted many new privileges; -chief among them was the concession that the mayor of London should be -one of the justices for gaol delivery of Newgate, and named in every -commission for that purpose. The king's marshal might in future hold no -court within the boundary of the city, nor were citizens to be called -upon to plead, beyond them, for anything done within the liberties. No -market might be kept within seven miles of London, while the citizens -were permitted to hold fairs and a court of "pye powder" therein; -in other words, a court for the summary disposal of all offences -committed by hawkers or peddlers, or perambulating merchants, who have -_les pieds poudres_, or are "dusty-footed."[29:1] Other privileges -were obtained from the king during his reign. A second charter granted -them the bailiwick of Southwark, a village which openly harboured -"felons, thieves, and other malefactors," who committed crimes in -the city and fled to Southwark for sanctuary. Again, the election of -the mayor was established on a more settled plan, and vested in the -mayor and aldermen for the time being. Another charter conceded to the -Corporation the honour of having gold and silver maces borne before the -chief functionary, who about this period became first entitled to take -rank as lord mayor. The vast wealth and importance of this great civic -dignitary was to be seen in the state he maintained. The lord mayor -even then dispensed a princely hospitality, and one eminent citizen in -his reign, Henry Picard by name, had the honour of entertaining four -sovereigns at his table, viz., the Kings of England, France, Scotland, -and Cyprus, with the Prince of Wales and many more notables. This -Picard was one of the Guild of Merchant Vintners of Gascony, a Bordeaux -wine-merchant, in fact, and a Gascon by birth, although a naturalized -subject of the English king. The vintners gave the city several lord -mayors. - -Richard II was not so well disposed towards the city. Recklessly -extravagant, wasteful and profuse in his way of living, he was always -in straits for cash. The money needed for his frivolous amusements and -ostentatious display he wrung from the Corporation by forfeiting its -charters, which were only redeemed by the payment of heavy fines. The -sympathies of the city were therefore with Henry Bolingbroke in the -struggle which followed. It was able to do him good service by warning -him of a plot against his life, and Henry, now upon the throne, to show -his gratitude, and "cultivate the good understanding thus commenced -with the city, granted it a new charter." The most important clause -of Henry's charter was that which entrusted the citizens, their heirs -and successors, with the custody "as well of the gates of Newgate and -Ludgate, as all other gates and posterns in the same city." - -By this time the gate and prison had passed under the control of the -civic authorities, and they enjoyed the privilege of contributing to -its charges. This appears from an entry as far back as September, -1339, in the account of expenditure of Thomas de Maryus, chamberlain. -The item is for "moneys delivered to William Simond, sergeant of the -chamber, by precept of the mayor and aldermen, for making the pavement -within Newgate, £7 6_s._ 8_d._" How complete became the power and -responsibility of the Corporation and its officers is to be seen in the -account given in the "Liber Albus" of the procedure when new sheriffs -were appointed. They were sworn on appointment, and with them their -officers, among whom were the governor of Newgate and his clerk. After -dinner on the same day of appointment the old and new sheriffs repaired -to Newgate, where the new officials took over all the prisoners "by -indenture" made between them and the old.[31:1] They were also bound to -"place one safeguard there at their own peril," and were forbidden to -"let the gaol to fenn or farm." - -Other restrictions were placed upon them. It was the sheriffs' duty -also, upon the vigil of St. Michael, on vacating their office, to -resign into the hands of the mayor for the time being the keys of -Newgate, the cocket or seal of Newgate, and all other things pertaining -unto the said sheriffwick. All the civic authorities, mayor, sheriffs, -aldermen, and their servants, including the gaoler of Newgate, were -forbidden to brew for sale, keep an oven, or let carts for hire; -"nor shall they be regrators of provisions, or hucksters of ale, or -in partnership with such." Penalties were attached to the breach of -these regulations. It was laid down that any who took the oath and -afterwards contravened it, or any who would not agree to abide by the -ordinance, should be forthwith "ousted from his office for ever." It -was also incumbent upon the sheriffs to put "a man sufficient, and of -good repute, to keep the gaol of Newgate in due manner, without taking -anything of him for such keeping thereof, by covenant made in private -or openly." Moreover, the gaoler so appointed swore before the lord -mayor and aldermen that "neither he nor any of them shall take fine or -extortionate charge from any prisoner by putting on or taking off his -irons, or shall receive moneys extorted from such prisoners." He was -permitted to levy fourpence from each upon release, "as from ancient -time has been the usage, but he shall take fees from no person at his -entrance there;" indeed, he was warned that if he practised extortion -he would be "ousted from his office," and punished at the discretion of -the mayor, aldermen, and common council of the city. - -It will be made pretty plain in subsequent pages, that these wise and -righteous regulations were both flagrantly ignored and systematically -contravened. The rule against farming out the prison may have been -observed, and it cannot be clearly proved that the sheriffs ever took -toll from the gaoler. But the spirit of the law, if not its letter, -was broken by the custom which presently grew general of making the -gaolership a purchasable appointment. Thus the buying and selling of -offices, of army commissions, for instance, as we have seen practised -till recent years in England, at one time extended also to the -keeperships of gaols. It is recorded in the Calendar of State Papers -that one Captain Richardson agreed for his place as keeper of Newgate -for £3,000. A larger sum, viz., £5,000, was paid by John Huggins to -Lord Clarendon, who "did by his interest" obtain a grant of the office -of keeper of the Fleet Prison for the life of Huggins and his son. One -James Whiston, in a book entitled "England's Calamities Discovered, -or Serious Advice to the Common Council of London," denounces this -practice, which he stigmatizes as "bartering justice for gold." -"Purchased cruelty," the right to oppress the prisoners, that is to -say, in order to recover the sums spent in buying the place, "is now -grown so bold that if a poor man pay not extortionary fees and ruinous -chamber-rent, he shall be thrown into holes and common sides to be -devoured by famine, lice, and disease. I would fain know," he asks, -"by what surmise of common sense a keeper of a prison can demand a -recompense or fee from a prisoner for keeping him in prison? . . . Can -he believe that any person can deserve a recompense for opening the -door of misery and destruction? . . . But now such is the confidence of -a purchaser, that to regain his sum expended he sells his tap-house -at prodigious rates, . . . he farms his sheets to mere harpies, and his -great key to such a piece of imperious cruelty (presumably his chief -turnkey) as is the worst of mankind." Following the same line of -argument, he says: "It will perhaps be thought impertinent to dispute -a gaoler's demands for admitting us into his loathsome den, when even -the common hangman, no doubt encouraged by such examples, will scarce -give a malefactor a cast of his office without a bribe, demands very -formally his fees, forsooth, of the person to be executed, and higgles -with him as nicely as if he were going to do him some mighty kindness." -Eventually an act was passed specifically forbidding the sale of such -places. This statute affirms that "none shall buy, sell, let, or take -to farm, the office of undersheriff, gaoler, bailiff, under pain of -£500, half to the king and half to him that shall sue." - -Let us return to mediæval Newgate. Whatever the authority, whether -royal or civic, the condition of the inmates must have been wretched in -the extreme, as the few brief references to them in the various records -will sufficiently prove. The place was full of horrors; the gaolers -rapacious and cruel. In 1334 an official inquiry was made into the -state of the gaol, and some of the atrocities practised were brought to -light. It was found that prisoners detained on minor charges were cast -into deep dungeons, and there associated with the worst criminals. All -were alike threatened, nay tortured, till they yielded to the keepers' -extortions, or consented to turn approvers and swear away the lives -of innocent men. These poor prisoners were dependent upon the charity -and good-will of the benevolent for food and raiment. As far back as -1237 it is stated that Sir John Pulteney gave four marks by the year to -the relief of prisoners in Newgate. In the year 1385 William Walworth, -the stalwart mayor whose name is well remembered in connection with -Wat Tyler's rebellion, gave "somewhat" with the same good object. "So -have many others since," says the record. The water-supply of the -prison, Stowe tells, was also a charitable gift. "Thomas Knowles, -grocer, sometime mayor of London, by license of Reynold, prior of St. -Bartholomew's in Smithfield, and also of John Wakering, master of the -hospital of St. Bartholomew, and his brethren, conveyed the waste of -water at the cistern near unto the common fountain and Chapel of St. -Nicholas (situate by the said hospital) to the gaols of Ludgate and -Newgate, for the relief of the prisoners." - -In 1451, by the will of Phillip Malpas, who had been a sheriff some -twelve years previous, the sum of £125 was bequeathed to "the relief -of poor prisoners." This Malpas, it may be mentioned here, was a -courageous official, ready to act promptly in defence of city rights. -In 1439 a prisoner under escort from Newgate to Guildhall was rescued -from the officers' hands by five companions, after which all took -sanctuary at the college of St. Martin's-le-Grand. "But Phillip Malpas -and Robert Marshal, the sheriffs of London, were no sooner acquainted -with the violence offered to their officer and the rescue of their -prisoner, than they, at the head of a great number of citizens, -repaired to the said college, and forcibly took from thence the -criminal and his rescuers, whom they carried in fetters to the Compter, -and thence, chained by the necks, to Newgate." - -For food the prisoners were dependent upon alms or upon articles -declared forfeit by the law. All food sold contrary to the statutes -of the various guilds was similarly forfeited to the prisoners. The -practice of giving food was continued through succeeding years, and to -a very recent date. A long list of charitable donations and bequests -might be made out, bestowed either in money or in kind. A customary -present was a number of stones of beef. Some gave penny loaves, some -oatmeal, some coals. Without this benevolence it would have gone hard -with the poor population of the Gate-house gaol. It was not strange -that the prison should be wasted by epidemics, as when in 1414 "the -gaoler died and prisoners to the number of sixty-four;" or that the -inmates should at times exhibit a desperate turbulence, taking up -arms and giving constituted authority much trouble to subdue them, -as in 1457 when they broke out of their several wards in Newgate, -and got upon the leads, where they defended themselves with great -obstinacy against the sheriffs and their officers, insomuch that they, -the sheriffs, were obliged to call the citizens to their assistance, -whereby the prisoners were soon reduced to their former state. - -One other charitable bequest must be referred to here, as proving that -the moral no less than the physical well-being of the prisoners was -occasionally an object of solicitude. In the reign of Richard II a -prayer-book was specially bequeathed to Newgate in the following terms: - -"Be it remembered that on the 10th day of June, in the 5th year (1382), -Henry Bever, parson of the church of St. Peter in Brad Street (St. -Peter the Poor, Broad Street), executor of Hugh Tracy, chaplain, came -here before the mayor and aldermen and produced a certain book called -a 'Porte hors,' which the same Hugh had left to the gaol of Newgate, -in order that priests and clerks there imprisoned might say their -service from the same, there to remain so long as it might last. And so -in form aforesaid the book was delivered unto David Bertelike, keeper -of the gate aforesaid, to keep it in such manner so long as he should -hold that office; who was also then charged to be answerable for it. -And it was to be fully allowable for the said Henry to enter the gaol -aforesaid twice in the year at such times as he should please, these -times being suitable times, for the purpose of seeing how the book was -kept." - -We are without any very precise information as to the state of -the prison building throughout these dark ages. But it was before -everything a gate-house, part and parcel of the city fortifications, -and therefore more care and attention would be paid to its external -than its internal condition. It was subject, moreover, to the -violence of such disturbers of the peace as the followers of Wat -Tyler, of whom it is written that, having spoiled strangers "in most -outrageous manner, entered churches, abbeys, and houses of men of -law, which in semblable sort they ransacked, they also brake up the -prisons of Newgate and of both the Compters, destroyed the books, and -set the prisoners at liberty." This was in 1381. Whether the gaol -was immediately repaired after the rebellion was crushed does not -appear; but if so, the work was only partially performed, and the -process of dilapidation and decay must soon have recommenced, for -in Whittington's time it was almost in ruins. That eminent citizen -and mercer, who was three times mayor, and whose charitable bequests -were numerous and liberal, left moneys in his will for the purpose of -rebuilding the place, and accordingly license was granted in 1422, the -first year of Henry VI's reign, to his executors, John Coventre, Jenken -Carpenter, and William Grove, "to reëdify the gaol of Newgate, which -they did with his goods." This building, such as it was, continued to -serve until the commencement of the seventeenth century. - -I have been unable to ascertain any exact figure of this old Newgate, -either in its ancient or improved aspect. The structure, such as it -was, suffered so severely in the great fire of 1666 that it became -necessary to rebuild it upon new and more imposing lines. This may -be described as the third edifice: that of the twelfth century being -the first, and Richard Whittington's the second. Of this third prison -details are still extant, of which description will be given hereafter. - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[15:1] An entry in a letter book at Guildhall speaks of the "heynouse -gaol of Newgate," and its fetid and corrupt atmosphere. Loftie, "Hist. -of London," vol. i. 437. - -[18:1] The term "roarer," and "roaring boy," signifying a riotous -person, was in use in Shakespeare's day, and still survives in slang -(Riley). - -[23:1] A prison for night-walkers and other suspicious persons, and -called the Tun because the same was built somewhat in fashion of a Tun -standing on the one end. It was built in 1282 by Henry Walers, mayor. - -[25:1] Our ancestors, with a strong love for practical jokes and -an equally strong aversion to falsehood and boasting, checked an -indulgence in such vices when they became offensive by very plain -satire. A confirmed liar was presented with a _whetstone_ to jocularly -infer that his invention, if he continued to use it so freely, would -require sharpening.—Chambers's "Book of Days," ii. 45. - -[27:1] Noorthouck calls him John Gate. See "Hist. of London," p. 49. - -[29:1] Sir Edward Coke derives the title of the court from the fact -that justice was done in them as speedily as dust can fall from the -foot. - -[31:1] Sheriff Hoare (1740-1) tells us how the names of the prisoners -in each gaol were read over to him and his colleagues; the keepers -acknowledged them one by one to be in their custody, and then tendered -the keys, which were delivered back to them again, and after executing -the indentures, the sheriffs partook of sack and walnuts, provided by -the keepers of the prison, at a tavern adjoining Guildhall. Formerly -the sheriffs attended the lord mayor on Easter Eve through the streets -to collect charity for the prisoners in the city prison. Sheriffs were -permitted to keep prisoners in their own houses, hence the Sponging -Houses. The "Sheriffs' Fund" was started in 1807 by Sir Richard -Phillips, who, in his letter to the Livery of London, states that he -found, on visiting Newgate, so many claims on his charity that he could -not meet a tenth part of them. A suggestion to establish a sheriffs' -fund was thereupon made public and found general support. In 1867 the -fund amounted to £13,000. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -NEWGATE IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY - - Prison records meagre—Administration of justice and state - of crime—Leniency alternates with great severity—Criminal - inmates of Newgate—Masterless men—Robbery with violence— - Debtors—Conscience prisoners—Martyrs in reign of Henry VIII - —Religious dissidents: Porter, Anne Askew—Maryan persecutions - —Rogers—Bishop Hooper—Alexander, the cruel gaoler of Newgate - —Philpot—Underhill the Hot Gospeller in Newgate—Crime in - Elizabeth's reign—The training of young thieves—Elizabethan - persecutions: both Puritans and papists suffered—The seminary - priests—Political prisoners—Babington's conspiracy— - Conspiracies against the life of Elizabeth—Gaolers of the - period generally tyrants—Crowder, keeper of Newgate, called - to account. - - -The prison records of the sixteenth century are very meagre. No -elaborate system of incarceration as we understand it existed. The -only idea of punishment was the infliction of physical pain. The -penalties inflicted were purely personal, and so to speak final; such -as chastisement, degradation, or death. England had no galleys, no -scheme of enforced labour at the oar, such as was known to the nations -of the Mediterranean seaboard, no method of compelling perpetual toil -in quarry or mine. The germ of transportation no doubt was to be found -in the practice which suffered offenders who had taken sanctuary to -escape punishment by voluntary exile,[41:1] but it was long before the -plan of deporting criminals beyond seas became the rule. "In Henry -VIII's time," says Froude, "there was but one step to the gallows -from the lash and the branding-iron." Criminals did not always get -their deserts, however. Although historians have gravely asserted that -seventy-two thousand executions took place in this single reign, the -statement will not bear examination, and has been utterly demolished by -Froude. As a matter of fact offenders far too often escaped scot-free -through the multiplication of sanctuaries—which refuges, like that of -St. Martin's-le-Grand, existed under the very walls of Newgate—the -negligence of pursuers, and not seldom the stout opposition of the -inculpated. Benefit of clergy claimed and conceded on the most shadowy -grounds was another easy and frequent means of evading the law. Some -judges certainly had held that the tonsure was an indispensable proof; -but all were not so strict, and "putting on the book," in other words, -the simple act of reading aloud, was deemed sufficient. So flagrant -was the evasion of the law, that gaolers for a certain fee would assist -accused persons to obtain a smattering of letters, whereby they might -plead their "clergy" in court. It may be added that although the abuse -of the privilege was presently greatly checked, it was not until the -reign of William and Mary that benefit of clergy was absolutely denied -to burglars, pickpockets, and other criminal offenders. - -Yet there were spasmodic intervals of the most extraordinary severity. -Twenty thieves, says Sir Thomas More in his "Utopia," might then be -seen hanging on a single gibbet. Special legislation was introduced to -deal with special crimes. Although there was an appropriateness in the -retribution which overtook him, the sentence inflicted upon the Bishop -of Rochester's cook in 1531, under a new act passed for the purpose, -was ferociously cruel. This man, one Richard Rose or Rouse, was -convicted of having poisoned sixteen persons with porridge specially -prepared to put an end to his master. The crime had been previously -almost unknown in England, and special statutory powers were taken to -cope with it. An act was at once passed defining the offence to be -high treason, and prescribing boiling to death as the penalty. Rose -was accordingly, after conviction, boiled alive in Smithfield. It may -be added that this cruel statute, which may be read _in extenso_ in -Froude, was soon afterwards repealed, but not before another culprit, -Margaret Davy by name, had suffered under its provisions for a similar -offence. - -It is only a passing glimpse that we get of the meaner sort of criminal -committed to Newgate in these times. The gaol, as I have said, was but -the antechamber to something worse. It was the starting-point for the -painful promenade to the pillory. The jurors who were forsworn "for -rewards or favour of parties were judged to ride from Newgate to the -pillory in Cornhill with paper mitres on their heads, there to stand, -and from thence again to Newgate." Again, the ringleaders of false -inquests, Darby, Smith, and Simson by name, were, in the first year of -Henry VII's reign (1509), condemned to ride about the city with their -faces to their horses' tails, and paper on their heads, and were set on -the pillory at Cornhill. After that they were brought back to Newgate, -where they died for very shame. - -A few extracts will serve further to describe the criminal inmates of -Newgate in those times. The quotations are from the "Remembrancia," -1579-1664. Searches appear to have been regularly made for suspected -persons, who when caught were committed to ward. Thus, 1519, a search -was made in the house of William Solcocke in Holborne, and it was -found that one Christopher Tyllesley had lain there two nights. "He -has no master, and is committed to Newgate." Again, "in the house -of Christopher Arundell one Robert Bayley: has no master, and is -committed to Newgate." To Newgate were also committed any who were bold -enough to malign the great Cardinal Wolsey, in the plenitude of his -power, as was Adam Greene in June, 1523, a prisoner in Ludgate, who -repeated to the keeper what he had heard from a "bocher" (butcher), to -the effect that Wolsey had told the king that all London were traitors -to his Grace. Greene was warned to keep silent, but he said "he would -abide by it, for he had it from a substantial man who would also abide -by it." - -Instances of more serious crimes are recorded. In March, 1528, Stephen -reports to Thomas Cromwell that between the hours of six and seven, -"five thieves knocked at the door of Roderigo the Spaniard, which -dwelleth next the goldsmith against your door.[44:1] Being asked who -was there, they answered, 'one from the court, to speak with Roderigo.' -When the door was opened three of them rushed in and found the said -Roderigo sitting by the fire with a poor woman dwelling next to Mrs. -Wynsor. Two tarried and kept the door, and strangled the poor woman -that she should not cry. They then took Roderigo's purse, and killed -him by stabbing him in the belly, but had not fled far before two of -them were taken and brought to Newgate." - -Debtors were too small fry to be often referred to in the chronicles -of the times. Now and again they are mentioned as fitting objects -for charity, royal and private. In the king's book of payments is -the following entry, under date May, 1515: "Master Almoner redeeming -prisoners in Newgate, Ludgate, and the Compter, £20." The State Papers, -1581, contain a commission to the lord mayor, recorder, and sheriffs -of London, and many others, all charitable folk, and some sixty in -numbers, to compound with the creditors of poor debtors, at that time -prisoners in Newgate, Ludgate, and the two Compters of the city. -Although debtors in gaol who volunteered for service on shipboard were -discharged by proclamation from the demands of their creditors, as a -general rule committal to Newgate on account of monetary mismanagement -appears to have been more easily compassed than subsequent release. -The same volume of State Papers contains a petition from Richard Case -to Lord Burghley, to the effect that he had been committed to Newgate -"upon the unjust complaint of Mr. Benedict Spinola, relative to the -lease of certain lands and tenements in London." The petitioner further -"desires to be discharged from prison, and to have the queen's pardon," -but there is no allusion to his enlargement.[45:1] The impolicy of -confining debtors was not to be fully realized till three more -centuries had passed away. But as early as 1700 a pamphlet preserved in -the "Harleian Miscellany," and entitled "Labour in Vain," anticipates -modern feeling and modern legislation. The writer protests against -the imprisonment of debtors, which he compares to shutting up a cow -from herbage when she gives no milk. "In England we confine people to -starve, contrary to humanity, mercy, or policy. One may as reasonably -expect his dog," he says, "when chained to a post should catch a hare, -as that poor debtors when in gaol should get wherewithal to pay their -debts." - -Details of the incarceration and sufferings of prisoners for -conscience's sake, in an age when polemics were backed up by the -strong arm of the law, are naturally to be met with more frequently -in the partisan writings of the time. Throughout the reigns of Henry -VIII, Mary, and even in that of Elizabeth, intolerance stalked rampant -through the land, filling the prisons and keeping Smithfield in a -blaze. Henry was by turns severe on all creeds. Now Protestants, now -Catholics suffered. He began as an ardent champion of Romish doctrines, -and ended by denying the supremacy of the Pope. In the first stage -he persecuted so-called heretics, in the second he despoiled Church -property, and sent monks and priors to gaol and to the gallows. Foxe -gives a long and detailed list of the Protestant martyrs from first to -last. - -One of the most prominent was Richard Bayfield, a monk of Bury, who -became an inmate of Newgate. Foxe relates that a letter of inquiry was -issued by the Bishop of London to the lord mayor and sheriffs to be -present at St. Paul's on the 20th November, 1531, to receive the said -Richard Bayfield, alias Soundesam, "a relapsed heretic after sentence." -The sheriffs carried him to Newgate, whence they were commanded again -to bring him into Paul's upper choir, there to give attendance upon the -bishop. Later on they are ordered to have him into the vestry, and then -to bring him forth again in Antichrist's apparel to be degraded before -them. "When the bishop had degraded him," says old Foxe, "kneeling upon -the highest step of the altar, he took his crosier staff and smote him -on the breast, then he threw him down backwards and brake his head, so -that he swooned; and when he came to himself again he was led forth -through the choir to Newgate, and there rested about an hour in prayer, -and so went to the fire in his apparel manfully and joyfully, and there -for lack of a speedy fire was two quarters of an hour alive." - -Henry, was, however, impartial in his severity. In 1533 he suffered -John Frith, Andrew Hewett, and other Protestants, to the number of -twenty-seven, to be burned for heresy. The years immediately following -he hunted to death all who refused to acknowledge him as the head of -the Church. Besides such imposing victims as Sir Thomas More, and -Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, many priests suffered. In 1534 the prior -of the London Carthusians, the prior of Hexham, Benase, a monk of Sion -College, and John Haite, vicar of Isleworth, together with others, were -sentenced to be hanged and quartered at Tyburn. In 1538 a friar, by -name Forrest, was hanged in Smithfield upon a gallows, quick, by the -middle and the arm-holes, and burned to death for denying the king's -supremacy and teaching the same in confession to many of the king's -subjects. Upon the pile by which Forrest was consumed was also a wooden -image, brought out of Wales, called "Darvell Gatheren," which the -Welshmen "much worshipped, and had a prophecy amongst them that this -image would set a whole forest on fire, which prophecy took effect." - -The greatest trials were reserved for the religious dissidents who -dared to differ with the king. Henry was vain of his learning and of -his polemical powers. No true follower of Luther, he was a Protestant -by policy rather than conviction, and he still held many tenets of the -Church he had disavowed. These were embodied and promulgated in the -notorious Six Articles, otherwise "the whip with six tails," or the -Bloody Statute, so called from its sanguinary results. The doctrines -enunciated were such that many could not possibly subscribe to them; -the penalties were "strait and bloody," and very soon they were widely -inflicted. Foxe, in a dozen or more pages, recounts the various -presentments against individuals, lay and clerical, for transgressing -one or more of the principles of the Six Articles; and adds to the -aforesaid, "Dr. Taylor, parson of St. Peter's, in Cornhill; South, -parish priest of Allhallows, in Lombard Street; Some, a priest; Giles, -the king's beer-brewer, at the Red Lion, in St. Katherine's; Thomas -Lancaster, priest; all which were imprisoned likewise for the Six -Articles." "To be short," he adds, "such a number out of all parishes -in London, and out of Calais, and divers other quarters, were then -apprehended through the said inquisition, that all prisons in London, -including Newgate, were too little to hold them, insomuch that they -were fain to lay them in the halls. At last, by the means of good -Lord Audeley, such pardon was obtained of the king that the said Lord -Audeley, then Lord Chancellor, being content that one should be bound -for another, they were all discharged, being bound only to appear in -the Star Chamber the next day after All Souls, there to answer if they -were called; but neither was there any person called, neither did any -appear." - -Bonner, then Bishop of London, and afterwards one of the queen's -principal advisers, had power to persecute even under Henry. The -Bible had been set up by the king's command in St. Paul's, that -the public might read the sacred word. "Much people used to resort -thither," says Foxe, to hear the reading of the Bible, and especially -by one John Porter, "a fresh young man, and of a big stature," who was -very expert. It displeased Bonner that this Porter should draw such -congregations, and sending for him, the Bishop rebuked him very sharply -for his reading. Porter defended himself, but Bonner charged him -with adding expositions of the text, and gathering "great multitudes -about him to make tumults." Nothing was proved against Porter, but -"in fine Bonner sent him to Newgate, where he was miserably fettered -in irons, both legs and arms, with a collar of iron about his neck, -fastened to the wall in the dungeon; being there so cruelly handled -that he was compelled to send for a kinsman of his, whose name is also -Porter, a man yet alive, and can testify that it is true, and dwelleth -yet without Newgate. He, seeing his kinsman in this miserable case, -entreated Jewet, the keeper of Newgate, that he might be released out -of those cruel irons, and so, through friendship and money, had him up -among other prisoners, who lay there for felony and murder." Porter -made the most of the occasion, and after hearing and seeing their -wickedness and blasphemy, exhorted them to amendment of life, and "gave -unto them such instructions as he had learned of in the Scriptures; for -which his so doing he was complained, and so carried down and laid in -the lower dungeon of all, oppressed with bolts and irons, where, within -six or eight days, he was found dead." - -But the most prominent victim to the Six Articles was Anne Askew, -the daughter of Sir William Askew, knight, of Lincolnshire. She was -married to one Kyme, but is best known under her maiden name. She -was persecuted for denying the Real Presence, but the proceedings -against her were pushed to extremity, it was said, because she was -befriended in high quarters. Her story is a melancholly one. First, -one Christopher Dene examined her as to her faith and belief in a very -subtle manner, and upon her answers had her before the lord mayor, who -committed her to the Compter. There, for eleven days, none but a priest -was allowed to visit her, his object being to ensnare her further. -Presently she was released upon finding sureties to surrender if -required, but was again brought before the king's council at Greenwich. -Her opinions in matters of belief proving unsatisfactory, she was -remanded to Newgate. Thence she petitioned the king, also the Lord -Chancellor Wriottesley, "to aid her in obtaining just consideration." -Nevertheless, she was taken to the Tower, and there tortured. Foxe puts -the following words into her mouth: "On Tuesday I was sent from Newgate -to the Sign of the Crown, where Master Rich and the Bishop of London, -with all their power and flattering words, went about to persuade me -from God, but I did not esteem their glosing pretences. . . . Then -Master Rich sent me to the Tower, where I remained till three o'clock." -At the Tower strenuous efforts were made to get her to accuse others. -They pressed her to say how she was maintained in prison; whether -divers gentlewomen had not sent her money. But she replied that her -maid had gone abroad in the streets and made moan to the 'prentices, -who had sent her alms. When further urged, she admitted that a man in -a blue coat had delivered her ten shillings, saying it came from my -Lady Hertford, and that another in a violet coat had given her eight -shillings from my Lady Denny—"whether it is true or not I cannot -tell." "Then they said three men of the council did maintain me, and I -said no. Then they did put me on the rack because I confessed no ladies -or gentlemen to be of my opinion, and thereon they kept me a long time; -and because I lay still, and did not cry, my Lord Chancellor and Master -Rich took pains to rack me with their own hands till I was nigh dead. -Then the lieutenant (Sir Anthony Knevet) caused me to be loosed from -the rack. Incontinently I swooned, and then they recovered me again. -After that I sat two long hours, reasoning with my Lord Chancellor, -on the bare floor." At last she was "brought to a house and laid in a -bed with as weary and painful bones as ever had patient Job; I thank -my Lord God therefor. Then my Lord Chancellor sent me word, if I -would leave my opinion, I should want nothing; if I did not, I should -forthwith to Newgate, and so be burned. . . ." - -Foxe gives full details of her torture in the Tower. At first she was -let down into a dungeon, and the gaoler, by command of Sir Anthony -Knevet, pinched her with the rack. After this, deeming he had done -enough, he was about to take her down, but Wriottesley, the Lord -Chancellor, "commanded the lieutenant to strain her on the rack again; -which, because he denied to do, tendering the weakness of the woman, -he was threatened therefore grievously of the said Wriottesley, saying -he would signify his disobedience to the king. And so consequently -upon the same, he (Wriottesley) and Master Rich, throwing off their -gowns, would needs play the tormentors themselves. . . . And so, quietly -and patiently praying unto the Lord, she abode their tyranny till her -bones and joints were almost plucked asunder, in such sort as she was -carried away in a chair." Then the chancellor galloped off to report -the lieutenant to the king; but Sir Anthony Knevet forestalled by going -by water, and obtained the king's pardon before the complaint was made. -"King Henry," says Foxe, "seemed not very well to like of their so -extreme handling of the woman." - -Soon after this Mistress Askew was again committed to Newgate, whence -she was carried in a chair to Smithfield, "because she could not walk -on her feet by means of her great torments. When called upon to recant -she refused, as did the martyrs with her." Whereupon the lord mayor, -commanding fire to be put under them, cried, "Fiat Justitia," and they -were burned. - -The Maryan persecutions naturally filled Newgate. It would weary the -reader to give lengthened descriptions of the many martyrs who passed -through that prison to Smithfield. But a few of the victims stand -prominently forward. Two of the earliest were John Rogers, vicar of -St. Sepulchre and prebendary of St. Paul's, and Hooper, Bishop of -Gloucester. Rogers was the protomartyr—the first sacrificed to the -religious intolerance of Mary and her advisers. Foxe says that after -being a prisoner in his own house for a long time, Rogers was "removed -to the prison called Newgate, where he was lodged among thieves and -murderers for a great space." He was kept in Newgate "a full year," -Rogers tells us himself, "at great costs and charges, having a wife and -ten children to find for; and I had never a penny of my livings, which -was against the law." He made "many supplications" out of Newgate, -and sent his wife to implore fairer treatment; but in Newgate he lay, -till at length he was brought to the Compter in Southwark, with Master -Hooper, for examination. Finally, after having been "very uncharitably -entreated," he was "unjustly, and most cruelly, by wicked Winchester -condemned." The 4th February, 1555, he was warned suddenly by the -keeper's wife of Newgate to prepare himself for the fire, "who being -then found asleep, scarce with much shogging could be awakened." Being -bidden to make haste, he remarked: "If it be so, I need not tie my -points." "So was he had down first to Bonner to be degraded, whom he -petitioned to be allowed to talk a few words with his wife before his -burning"—a reasonable request, which was refused. "Then the sheriffs, -Master Chester and Master Woodroove, took him to Smithfield; and his -wife and children, eleven in number, ten able to go, and one at the -breast, met him as he passed. This sorrowful sight of his own flesh and -blood could nothing move him, but that he constantly and cheerfully -took his death with wonderful patience in the defence and quarrel of -Christ's gospel." - -While detained in Newgate, Master Rogers devoted himself to the service -of the ordinary prisoners, to whom he was "beneficial and liberal," -having thus devised "that he with his fellows should have but one meal -a day, they paying, notwithstanding, the charges of the whole; the -other meal should be given to them that lacked on the other (or common) -side of the prison. But Alexander their keeper, a strait man and a -right Alexander, a coppersmith, indeed . . . would in no case suffer -that." - -This Alexander Andrew or Alexander, as he is simply called, figures -in contemporary records, more especially in the writings of Foxe, as a -perfect type of the brutal gaoler. "Of gaolers," says Foxe, "Alexander, -keeper of Newgate, exceeded all others." He is described as "a cruel -enemy of those that lay there (Newgate) for religion. The cruel wretch, -to hasten the poor lambs to the slaughter, would go to Bonner, Story, -Cholmley, and others, crying out, 'Rid my prison! rid my prison! I -am too much pestered by these heretics.'" Alexander's reception of -an old friend of his, Master Philpot, when committed to Newgate, is -graphically told by the old chronicler. "'Ah, thou hast well done to -bring thyself hither,' he says to Philpot. 'I must be content,' replied -Philpot, 'for it is God's appointment, and I shall desire you to let me -have some gentle favour, for you and I have been of old acquaintance.' -'Well,' said Alexander, 'I will show thee great gentleness and favour, -so thou wilt be ruled by me.' Then said Master Philpot, 'I pray you -show me what you would have me to do.' He said, 'If you will recant I -will show you any pleasure I can.' 'Nay,' said Master Philpot, 'I will -never recant whilst I have my life, for it is most certain truth, and -in witness thereof I will seal it with my blood.' Then Alexander said, -'This is the saying of the whole pack of you heretics.' Whereupon he -commanded him to be set upon the block, and as many irons upon his legs -as he could bear, for that he would not follow his wicked mind. . . . -'But, good Master Alexander, be so much my friend that these irons -may be taken off.' 'Well,' said Alexander, 'give me my fees, and I -will take them off; if not, thou shalt wear them still.' Then Master -Philpot said, 'Sir, what is your fee?' He said four pounds was his fee. -'Ah,' said Master Philpot, 'I have not so much; I am but a poor man, -and I have been long in prison.' 'What wilt thou give me, then?' said -Alexander. 'Sir,' said he, 'I will give you twenty shillings, and that -I will send my man for, or else I will lay my gown to gage. For the -time is not long, I am sure, that I shall be with you, for the bishop -said I should be soon despatched.' Then said Alexander unto him, 'What -is that to me?' and with that he departed for a time, and commanded him -to be had into limbo. And so his commandment was fulfilled; but before -he could be taken from the block the clerk would have a groat. Then -one Willerence, steward of the house, took him on his back and carried -him down his man knew not whither. Wherefore Master Philpot said to -his man, 'Go to Master Sheriff, and show him how I am used, and desire -Master Sheriff to be good unto me;' and so his servant went straightway -and took an honest man with him. - -"And when they came to Master Sheriff, which was Master Ascham, and -showed him how Master Philpot was handled in Newgate, the sheriff, -hearing this, took his ring off his finger and delivered it unto that -honest man that comes with Master Philpot's man, and bade him go unto -Alexander the keeper and command him to take off his irons and handle -him more gently, and give his man again that which he had taken from -him. And when they came to the said Alexander and told their message -from the sheriff, Alexander took the ring, and said, 'Ah, I perceive -that Master Sheriff is a bearer with him and all such heretics as -he is, therefore to-morrow I will show it to his betters;' yet at -ten by the clock he went to Master Philpot where he lay and took off -his irons, and gave him such things as he had taken before from his -servant." - -Alexander's zeal must have been very active. In 1558 it is recorded -that twenty-two men and women were committed to Newgate for praying -together in the fields about Islington. They were two and twenty weeks -in the prison before they were examined, during which Alexander sent -them word that if they would hear a mass they should be delivered. -According to Foxe a terrible vengeance overtook this hard-hearted -man. He died very miserably, being so swollen that he was more like a -monster than a man. The same authority relates that other persecutors -came to a bad end. - -Bishop Hooper soon followed Rogers to the stake. The same Monday night, -February 4, 1555, the keeper of Newgate gave him an inkling that he -should be sent to Gloucester to suffer death, "and the next day -following, about four o'clock in the morning before day, the keeper -with others came to him and searched him and the bed wherein he lay, to -see if he had written anything, and then he was led to the sheriffs of -London and other their officers forth of Newgate, to a place appointed -not far from Dunstan's Church, Fleet Street, where six of the Queen's -Guards were appointed to receive him and to carry him to Gloucester, -. . ." where execution was to be done. - -We obtain a curious insight into the gaol at Newgate during Mary's -reign from the narrative of the "Hot Gospeller." Edward Underhill, a -yeoman of the Guard, was arrested in 1553 for "putting out" a ballad -which attacked the queen's title. Underhill was carried before the -Council, and there got into dispute with Bourne, a fanatic priest whom -he called a papist. "Sir John Mason asked what he meant by that, and he -replied, 'If you look among the priests of Paul's you will find some -mumpsimusses there.' This caused much heat, and he was committed to -Newgate." At the door of the prison he wrote to his wife, asking her to -send his nightgown, Bible, and lute, and then he goes on to describe -Newgate as follows: - -"In the centre of Newgate was a great open hall; as soon as it was -supper-time the board was covered in the same hall. The keeper, whose -name was Alexander, with his wife came and sat down, and half a dozen -prisoners that were there for felony, Underhill being the first that -for religion was sent into that prison. One of the felons had served -with him in France. After supper this good fellow, whose name was -Bristow, procured one to have a bed in his (Underhill's) chamber who -could play well upon a rebeck. He was a tall fellow, and after one of -Queen Mary's guard, yet a Protestant, which he kept secret, or else -he should not have found such favour as he did at the keeper's hands -and his wife's, for to such as loved the gospel they were very cruel. -'Well,' said Underhill, 'I have sent for my Bible, and, by God's grace, -therein shall be my daily exercise; I will not hide it from them.' -'Sir,' said he, 'I am poor; but they will bear with you, for they see -your estate is to pay well; and I will show you the nature and manner -of them, for I have been here a good while. They both do love music -very well; wherefore, you with your lute, and I to play with you on my -rebeck, will please them greatly. He loveth to be merry and to drink -wine, and she also. If you will bestow upon them, every dinner and -supper, a quart of wine and some music, you shall be their white son, -and have all the favour they can show you.'" - -The honour of being "white son" to the governor and governess of -Newgate was worth aspiring after, as it meant many privileges and much -favour. Underhill duly provided the desired entertainment. The governor -gave him the best room in the prison, with all other admissible -indulgences. - -"At last, however, the evil savours, great unquietness, with over many -draughts of air, threw the poor gentleman into a burning ague. He -shifted his lodgings, but to no purpose; the evil savours followed him. -The keeper offered him his own parlour, where he escaped from the noise -of the prison; but it was near the kitchen, and the smell of the meat -was disagreeable. Finally the wife put him away in her store closet, -amidst her best plate, crockery, and clothes, and there he continued -to survive till the middle of September, when he was released on bail -through the interference of the Earl of Bedford." - -There was a truce to religious persecution for some years after Mary's -death. Throughout Edward's reign and the better part of Elizabeth's it -was only the ordinary sort of criminal who was committed to the gaol of -Newgate. The offences were mostly coining, horse-stealing, and other -kinds of thefts. - -"One named Ditche was apprehended at the session holden at Newgate -on 4th December, 1583, nineteen times indicted, whereof he confessed -eighteen, who also between the time of his apprehension and the -said sessions impeached many for stealing horses, whereof (divers -being apprehended) ten were condemned and hanged in Smithfield on -the 11th December, being Friday and horse-market there."[62:1] The -"Remembrancia" gives a letter from Mr. Valentine Dale, one of the -masters of the Court of Requests, to the lord mayor, stating that -the wife of John Hollingshead had petitioned the queen to grant a -reprieve and pardon to her husband, a condemned felon, and directing -the execution to be stayed, and a full account of his behaviour and -offence forwarded to her Majesty. The lord mayor in reply says that -he had called before him the officers of Newgate, who stated that -Hollingshead had been for a long time a common and notorious thief. -This was the fourth time he had been in Newgate for felonies, and -upon the last occasion he had been branded with the letter T (thief). -Coiners were very severely dealt with. The offence was treason, and -punished as such. There are many cases on record, such as—"On the 27th -of January Phillip Meshel, a Frenchman, and two Englishmen were drawn -from Newgate to Tyburn, and there hanged. The Frenchman quartered who -had coined gold counterfeit; of the Englishmen, the one had clipped -silver, and the other cast testers of tin." "The 30th of May Thomas -Green, goldsmith, was drawn from Newgate to Tyburn, and there hanged, -beheaded, and quartered, for clipping of coin, both gold and silver." - -Towards the end of the reign, in spite of the stringent acts against -vagrancy, the country swarmed with rogues and beggars—vagabonds -who laid the farmers under contribution, and terrified all honest -folk out of their lives. In London crime was rampant. Even then it -had its organization; there were houses which harboured thieves, in -which schools were maintained for the education of young pickpockets. -Maitland tells us that in the spring of 1585, Fleetwood, the recorder, -with several other magistrates searched the town and discovered seven -houses of entertainment of felons. They found also that one Walton, a -gentleman born, once a prosperous merchant, "but fallen into decay," -who had kept an alehouse which had been put down, had begun a "new -business." He opened his house for the reception of all the cutpurses -in and about the city. In this house was a room to teach young boys to -cut purses. Two devices were hung up; one was a pocket, the other was a -purse. The pocket had in it certain counters, and was hung round with -hawk's bells, and over them hung a little sacring[63:1] bell. The purse -had silver in it, and he that could take out a counter without any -noise was allowed to be a public _foyster_; and he that could take a -piece of silver out of the purse without noise of any of the bells was -adjudged a clever _nypper_. These places gave great encouragement to -evil-doers in these times, but were soon after suppressed. - -In 1581 a fresh religious persecution began, happily without the -sanguinary accessories of that of Mary's reign. Elizabeth had no love -for the Puritans; she also began now to hate and fear the papists. -Orthodoxy was insisted upon. People who would not go to church were -sent first to prison, then haled before Sessions and fined a matter -of twenty pounds each. Still worse fared the adherents or emissaries -of Rome. In 1569 a man named John Felton had been drawn from Newgate -into Paul's Churchyard, and there hanged and quartered as a traitor for -affixing a bull of Pope Pius V on the gate of the Bishop of London's -palace. In 1578 it is recorded that "the papists are stubborn." So -also must have been the Puritans. "One Sherwood brought before the -Bishop of London behaved so stubbornly that the bishop will show -no more favour to those miscalled Puritans." Next began a fierce -crusade against the "seminary" priests, who swarmed into England like -missionaries, despatched _in partibus infidelium_ to minister to the -faithful few and bring back all whom they could to the fold. Newgate -was now for ever full of these priests. They adopted all manner of -disguises, and went now as soldiers, now as private gentlemen, now -openly as divines. They were harboured and hidden by faithful Roman -Catholics, and managed thus to glide unperceived from point to point -intent upon their dangerous business. But they did not always escape -observation, and when caught they were invariably laid by the heels and -hardly dealt with. Gerard Dance, _alias_ Ducket, a seminary priest, was -arraigned in 1581 at the Old Bailey before the queen's justices, and -affirmed that although he was in England, he was subject to the Pope -in ecclesiastical causes, and that the Pope had now the same authority -in England as he had a hundred years ago, and which he exercised at -Rome, "with other traitorous speeches, for which he was condemned to be -hanged, drawn, and quartered." The same year William Dios (a Spaniard), -keeper of Newgate, sent a certificate of the names of the recusants -now in Newgate, "viz., Lawrence Wakeman and others, . . . the two last -being of the precise sort." April 20, 1586, Robert Rowley, taken upon -seas by Captain Burrows going to Scotland, is committed first to -the Marshalsea, and from thence to Newgate. Next year, August 26th, -Richard Young reports to Secretary Walsyngham that he has talked with -sundry priests remaining in the prisons about London. "Some," he says, -"are very evil affected, and unworthy to live in England. Simpson, -alias Heygate, and Flower, priests, have justly deserved death, and -in no wise merit her Majesty's mercy. William Wigges, Leonard Hide, -and George Collinson, priests in Newgate, are dangerous fellows, as -are also Morris Williams and Thomas Pounde, the latter committed as -a layman, but in reality a professed Jesuit. Francis Tirrell is an -obstinate papist, and is doubted to be a spy." - -We read as follows in an intercepted letter from Cardinal John Allen, -Rector of the English College at Rheims, to Mr. White, seminary -priest in the Clink Prison, and the rest of the priests in Newgate, -the Fleet, and the Marshalsea. "Pope Sextus sends them his blessing, -and will send them over for their comfort Dr. Reynolds, chief Jesuit -of the college at Rheims, who must be carefully concealed," . . . with -others, . . . "whose discourses would be a great joy to all heretics. -They will bring some consecrated crucifixes, late consecrated by his -Holiness, and some books to be given to the chiefest Catholics, their -greatest benefactors." This letter was taken upon a young man, Robert -Weston, travelling to seek service, "who seems to have had considerable -dealings with recusants, and to have made very full confessions." - -It was easier for all such to get into Newgate, at that time, than -to obtain release. Henry Ash and Michael Genison, being prisoners -in Newgate, petition Lord Keeper Pickering for a warrant for their -enlargement upon putting in good security for their appearance; "they -were long since committed by Justice Young and the now Bishop of London -for recusancy, where they remain, to their great shame and utter -undoing, and are likely to continue, unless he extend his mercy." In -1598 George Barkworth petitions Secretary Cecil "that he was committed -to Newgate six months ago on suspicion of being a seminary priest, -which he is not; has been examined nine times, and brought up at -Sessions four times; begs the same liberty of the house at Bridewell -which was granted him at Newgate." - -Political prisoners were not wanting in Newgate in the Elizabethan -period. In 1585 instructions are given to the recorder to examine one -Hall, a prisoner in Newgate, charged with a design for conveying away -the Queen of Scots. This was a part of Babington's conspiracy, for -which Throgmorton also suffered. Other victims, besides the unfortunate -queen herself, were Babington, Tichbourne, and many more, who after -trial at the Old Bailey, and incarceration in Newgate, were hanged in -St. Giles's Fields. The execution was carried out with great barbarity; -seven of the conspirators were cut down before they were dead and -disembowelled. Another plot against Elizabeth's life was discovered -in 1587, the actors in which were "one Moody, an idle, profligate -fellow, then prisoner in Newgate, and one Stafford, brother to Sir -Edward Stafford." The great Queen Bess in these last days of her reign -went in constant terror of her life; and a third conspiracy to poison -her, originating with her own physician and Lopez, a Jew, led to their -execution as traitors. Again, Squires, a disbanded soldier, was charged -with putting poison on the pommel of her saddle, and although he -admitted his guilt upon the rack, he declared when dying that he was -really innocent. - -All this time within Newgate there was turbulence, rioting, disorders, -accompanied seemingly by constant oppression. The prisoners were -ready to brave anything to get out. General gaol deliveries were made -otherwise than in due course of law. Those that were fit to serve -in the sea or land forces were frequently pardoned and set free. A -petition to the Lord Admiral (1589) is preserved in which certain -prisoners, shut out from pardon because they are not "by law bailable," -beg that the words may be struck out of the order for release, -and state that they will gladly enter her Majesty's service. Many -made determined efforts to escape. "The 16th December, 1556," says -Holinshed, "Gregory, carpenter and smith, and a Frenchman born were -arraigned for making counterfeit keys wherewith to have opened the -locks of Newgate, to have slain the keeper and let forth the prisoners; -at which time of his arraignment, having conveyed a knife into his -sleeve, he thrust it into the side of William Whiteguts, his fellow -prisoner, who had given evidence against him, so that he was in great -peril of death thereby; for the which fact he was immediately taken -from the bar into the street before the justice hall, when, his hand -being first stricken off, he was hanged on a gibbet set up for the -purpose. - -"The keeper of Newgate was arraigned and indicted for that the said -prisoner had a weapon about him and his hands loose, which should have -been bound." - -Yet the keeper of Newgate and other gaolers were sometimes kept within -bounds. Two cases may be quoted in which these officials were promptly -brought to book. In 1555 the keeper of the Bread Street Compter, by -name Richard Husband, pasteler, "being a willful and headstrong man," -who, with servants like himself, had dealt hardly with the prisoners -in his charge, was sent to the gaol of Newgate by Sir Rowland Hill, -mayor, with the assent of a court of aldermen. "It was commanded to -the keeper to set those irons on his legs which were called widows' -alms; these he wore from Thursday till Sunday in the afternoon." On the -Tuesday he was released, but not before he was bound over in an hundred -marks to act in conformity with the rules for the managing of the -Compters. "All which notwithstanding, he continued as before: . . . the -prisoners were ill-treated, the prison was made a common lodging-house -at fourpence the night for thieves and night-walkers, whereby they -might be safe from searches that were made abroad." He was indicted -for these and other enormities, "but did rub it out, and could not -be reformed, till the prisoners were removed; for the house in Bread -Street was his own by lease or otherwise, and he could not be put from -it." A searching inquiry was also made into the conduct of Crowder, -the keeper of Newgate in 1580, or thereabouts. The State Papers contain -an information of the disorders practised by the officers of Newgate -prison, levying fines and taking bribes, by old and young Crowders, the -gaolers. "Crowder and his wife," says the report, "be most horrible -blasphemers and swearers." The matter is taken up by the lords of the -Council, who write to the lord mayor, desiring to be fully informed of -all disorders committed, and by whom. "They are sending gentlemen to -repair to the prison to inquire into the case, and requesting the lord -mayor to appoint two persons to assist them." Sir Christopher Hatton -also writes to the lord mayor, drawing attention to the charges against -Crowder. The lord mayor replies that certain persons had been appointed -to inquire, but had not yet made their report. The Court of Enquiry are -willing to receive Crowder, but he persists in refusing to explain. "He -would not come to their meeting, but stood upon his reputation." The -result, so far as can be guessed, was that Crowder was pensioned off. -But he found powerful friends in his adversity. His cause was espoused -by Sir Thomas Bromley, Lord Chancellor, who informs the lord mayor -that he thinks Crowder has been dealt with very hardly, and that his -accusers were persons unworthy of credit. - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[41:1] This abjuring the king's land was an act of self-banishment, -akin in its effects to the old Roman penalty of _aquæ et ignis -interdictio_. Any criminal who took sanctuary might escape the law, -provided that within forty days he clothed himself in sackcloth, -confessed his crime before the coroner, and after solemnly abjuring -the land, proceeded, cross in hand, to some appointed port, where he -embarked and left the country. If apprehended within forty days he was -again suffered to depart.—Note in Thom's "Stow," p. 157. - -[44:1] Cromwell's house was in the city in Throgmorton Street, close to -the site of the monastic house of the Austin Friars. - -[45:1] This Benedict Spinola must have been an Italian with some -influence. His personal relations with Burghley are manifest from a -letter of congratulation sent by him to Burghley on the safe arrival of -the Earl of Oxford at Milan. Other more or less confidential matters -are mentioned in connection with Pasqual and Jacob Spinola, Benedict's -brothers. - -[62:1] Friday continued the day of horse-market until the closing of -Smithfield as a market for live cattle. - -[63:1] The bell which was rung at mass on the elevation of the host. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -NEWGATE IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY - - Jesuit emissaries in Newgate—Richardson and others—Speaking - ill of king's sister entails imprisonment for life—Criminal - offenders—Condition of prisoners—Fanatical conduct of keeper - —Nefarious practices of turnkeys—They levy blackmail— - "Coney catching"—Arbitrary imprisonment imposed by House of - Lords on Richard Overton—Case of Colonel Lilburne, "Freeborn - John"—Royalists in gaol—Also prisoners of mark—Brother of - the Portuguese ambassador charged with murder, and executed. - - -The disturbing elements of society continued much the same in the early -part of the seventeenth century as in the years immediately preceding. -There were the same offences against law and order, dealt with in the -same summary fashion. Newgate was perpetually crowded with prisoners -charged with the same sort of crimes. Bigotry and intolerance continued -to breed persecution. All sects which differed from the faith professed -by those in power were in turn under the ban of the law. The Romish -priest still ventured into the hostile heretic land where his life -was not worth a minute's purchase; Puritans and Non-conformists were -committed to gaol for refusing to surrender their heterodox opinions: -these last coming into power were ruthlessly strict towards the openly -irreligious backslider. Side by side with these sufferers in the cause -of independent thought swarmed the depredators, the wrong-doers, whose -criminal instincts and the actions they produced were much the same as -they had been before and as they are now. - -The devoted courage of the Jesuit emissaries in those days of extreme -peril for all priests who dared to cross the channel claims for -them a full measure of respect. They were for ever in trouble. When -caught they met hard words, scant mercy, often only a short shrift. -Repeated references are made to them. In the State Papers, July, 1602, -is a list of priests and recusants in prison, viz., "Newgate—Pound -(already mentioned), desperate and obstinate; . . . in the Clink, -Marshalsea, King's Bench, are others; among them Douce, a forward -intelligence, Tichborne, Webster, perverter of youth," etc. They were -ever the victims of treachery and espionage. "William Richardson, a -priest of Seville College (the date is 1603), was discovered to the -Chief Justice by one whom he trusted, and arraigned and condemned at -Newgate for being a priest and coming to England. When examined he -answered stoutly, yet with great modesty and discretion, moving many -to compassionate him and speak against the Chief Justice, on whom he -laid the guilt of his blood." He was executed at Tyburn, hanged and -quartered, but his head and quarters were buried. "Such spectacles," -says the writer, Ant. Aivers, to Giacomo Creleto, Venice, "do -nothing increase the gospel. . . ." A further account says that William -Richardson, alias Anderson, was betrayed by a false brother, sent to -Newgate, and kept close prisoner over a week, no one being allowed -to see him. The Chief Justice, interrupting other trials, called for -him and caused him to be indicted of high treason for being a priest -and coming to England. All of which he confessed, and there being no -evidence against him, the Chief Justice gave his confession in writing -to the jury, who found him guilty. "He thanked God and told the Chief -Justice he was a bloody man, and sought the blood of the Catholics. He -denied that he was a Jesuit or knew Garnet.[73:1] . . ." - -Priests were subject to espionage even beyond the realm. A deposition -is given in the State Papers made by one Arthur Saul, to the effect -that he had been employed by Secretary Winwood and the Archbishop of -Canterbury to report what English were at Douay College, particulars -of priests who have returned to England, of their meeting-places and -conveyance of letters. - -These were days of widespread oppression, when Strafford, Laud, the -Star Chamber, and ecclesiastical courts gave effect to the king's eager -longings for arbitrary power. The following is from a half-mad fanatic -who has offended the relentless archbishop. "The petition of Richard -Farnham, a prophet of the most high God, a true subject to my king, and -a prisoner of my saviour Christ, in Newgate, to Archbishop Laud and the -rest of the high commissioners, whom he prays to excuse his plainness, -being no scholar. . . . Desires to know the cause of his being detained -so long in prison, where he has been kept a year next April without -coming to his answer. Thinks they have forgotten him. If he be a false -prophet and a blasphemer and a seducer, as most people report that he -is, the high commissioners would do well to bring him to trial. What he -wrote before he came into prison and what he has written since he will -stand to. . . . If he does not get his answer this summer he intends -to complain to the king, believing that it is not his pleasure his -subjects should suffer false imprisonment to satisfy the archbishop's -mind." Of the same year and the same character is this other petition -from William King, a prisoner in Newgate, "for a little treatise -delivered to Lord Leppington." Has remained in thraldom twenty-seven -months; expresses contrition and prays enlargement on bail, or that he -may be called to answer. - -Forty years more were to elapse before the passing of the Habeas -Corpus Act; but the foregoing will show how grievously this so-called -palladium of an Englishman's liberties was required. - -Pardons free or more or less conditional were, however, vouchsafed at -times. Release from prison was still, as before, and for long after, -frequently accompanied by the penalty of military service. This had -long been the custom. On declaration of war in the earlier reigns, it -was usual to issue a proclamation offering a general pardon to those -guilty of homicides and felonies on condition of service for a year -and a day. Even without this obligation prisoners in durance might -sue out a pardon by intercession of some nobleman serving abroad with -the king. But later on the release was distinctly conditional on -personal service. The lord mayor certifies to the king (1619) that -certain prisoners in Newgate, whose names and offences are given, are -not committed for murder; so they are reprieved, as being able-bodied -and fit to do service in foreign parts. Another certificate states -that William Dominic, condemned to death for stealing a purse, value -£4, is reprieved, "this being his first offence, and he an excellent -drummer, fit to do the king service." Again, the king requires the -keeper of Newgate to deliver certain reprieved prisoners to Sir Edward -Conway, Junior, to be employed in his Majesty's service in the Low -Countries. Recorder Finch reports that he has furnished "Conway's son -with seven prisoners fit for service; sends a list of prisoners now in -Newgate, but reprieved. Some have been long in gaol, and were saved -from execution by the prince's return [with Buckingham from Spain?] on -that day. They pester the gaol, which is already reported crowded, -this hot weather, and would do better service as soldiers if pardoned, -'for they would not dare to run away.'" A warrant is made out June -5, 1629, to the sheriffs of London to deliver to such persons as the -Swedish ambassador shall appoint, forty-seven persons, of whom one was -Elizabeth Leech (was she to be employed as a sutler or _vivandière_?), -being prisoners condemned of felonies, and remaining in the gaols of -Newgate and Bridewell, who are released "to the end that they may be -employed in the service of the King of Sweden"—Gustavus Adolphus, at -that time our ally. There are numerous entries of this kind in the -State Papers. - -Sometimes the prisoners volunteer for service. "John Tapps, by the -displeasure of the late Lord Chief Justice and the persecution of James -the clerk and one of the keepers, has been kept from the benefit of -the pardon which has been stayed at the Great Seal. Begs Lord Conway -to perfect his work by moving the lord keeper in his behalf, and in -the mean time sending some powerful warrant for his employment as a -soldier." Certain other convicted prisoners in Newgate, who had been -pardoned in respect of the birth of Prince Charles II, petitioned that -they are altogether impoverished, and unable to sue out their pardons. -They pray that by warrant they may be transported into the State of -Venice under the command of Captain Ludovic Hamilton. - -This document is endorsed with a reference to the Lord Chief Justice -of the Common Pleas to certify concerning these delinquents and their -crimes. - -George Gardener, a prisoner in Newgate, also petitions the king in -March, 1630, stating that he was committed by the council on the -information of James Ingram, deputy warden of the Fleet, to prevent -petitioner prosecuting the said Ingram for his notorious extortions. -He has remained in Newgate since April previous, and by Ingram's -procurement was shut up amongst felons in the common gaol, whereby -he might have been murdered, and prays that he may be allowed to go -abroad on security. Here is another petition; that of Bridget Gray -to the council. She states (July 19, 1618) that her grandson, John -Throckmorton, is a prisoner in Newgate for felony, and prays that he -may be discharged, this being his first offence, and Sir Thomas Smythe -being ready to convey him beyond seas. Upon this is endorsed an order -that if the mayor or recorder will certify that Throckmorton was not -convicted of murder, burglary, highway robbery, rape, or witchcraft, a -warrant may be made for his banishment. The certificate is forthcoming, -and is to the effect that Throckmorton's crime was aiding in stealing -a hat, value 6_s._, for which the principal, Robert Whisson, an old -thief, was hanged. - -The gaol calendar reflects the vicissitudes of these changing, -troublous times. There were many London citizens who, sharing the -patriotic spirit of Hampden and Pym, found themselves imprisoned for -refusing to submit to the illegal taxations of Charles I. In 1639, -"three citizens stand committed to Newgate, not because they refuse to -pay ship-money, but because they refuse to enter into bond to attend -the Board to answer their not paying the same. Divers others refused, -and were sent to Newgate; but upon better consideration they paid -their money, and were released again." The temper of the Government -as regards ship-money is further shown by the arrest and trial of the -keeper of Newgate for permitting a prisoner committed for non-payment -of this unlawful tax to go at large. It appears that the offender, -Richard Chambers, had been several times remanded to the same custody, -and had been allowed to escape. - -It was highly dangerous to speak lightly of dignities in these ticklish -times. The State trials give an account of the hard measure meted out -to one Edward Floyde for scandalizing the princess palatine, Elizabeth, -daughter of James I, and titular Queen of Bohemia. Floyde was charged -with having said, while he was a prisoner in the Fleet, "I have heard -that Prague is taken, and goodman Palsgrave and goodwife Palsgrave -have taken to their heels and run away." This puerile gossip seriously -occupied both houses of Parliament, and eventually the Lords awarded -and adjudged that Edward Floyde be deemed an infamous person, incapable -of bearing arms as a gentleman, whose testimony was not to be taken -in any court or cause. He was also sentenced to ride with his head to -his horse's tail from Westminster to the pillory in Cheapside; after -this to be whipped from the Fleet to Westminster, there again to stand -on the pillory. He was to pay a fine of £5,000 to the king, and be -imprisoned in Newgate during his life. - -There is nothing especially remarkable in the purely criminal cases of -this period; offences have a strong family likeness to those of our -own day. Culprits are "cast" for life for taking a chest of plate out -of a house; or for taking £100 from a gentleman and so forth. Now and -again appears a case of abduction, a common crime in those and later -days. Sarah Cox prays the king's pardon for Roger Fulwood, who was -convicted of felony for forcibly marrying her against her will. But -she begs at the same time for protection for person and estate from -any claims in regard to the pretended marriage. Knights of the road -have already begun to operate; they have already the brevet rank of -captain, and even lads of tender years are beguiled into adopting the -profession of highway robbery. Counterfeiting the king's or other great -seals was an offence not unknown. A Captain Farrar is lodged in Newgate -(1639), accused of counterfeiting his Majesty's signature and privy -signet. His method of procedure was simple. Having received a document -bearing his Majesty's privy seal for the payment of a sum of £190, he -removed the seal and affixed it to a paper purporting to be a license -from the king to levy and transport two hundred men beyond seas. This -he published as a royal license. When arraigned he admitted that the -charge was true, but pleaded that he had done the same according to the -king's commands. He was reprieved until further orders. - -The condition of the prisoners within Newgate continued very -deplorable. This is apparent from the occasional references to their -treatment. They were heavily ironed, lodged in loathsome dungeons, and -all but starved to death. Poor Stephen Smith, the fishmonger, who had -contravened the precautionary rules against the plague, petitions the -council that he has been very heavily laden with such intolerable bolts -and shackles that he is lamed, and being a weak and aged man, is like -to perish in the gaol. "Having always lived in good reputation and been -a liberal benefactor where he has long dwelt, he prays enlargement on -security." The prison is so constantly overcrowded that the prisoners -have "an infectious malignant fever which sends many to their long -home. The magistrates who think them unfit to breathe their native air -when living bury them as brethren when dead." All kinds of robbery and -oppression were practised within the precincts of the gaol. Inside, -apart from personal discomfort, the inmates do much as they please. -"There are seditious preachings by Fifth Monarchy men at Newgate," -say the records, "and prayers for all righteous blood." Some time -previous, when the Puritans were nominally the weakest, they also held -their services in the prison. Samuel Eaton, a prisoner committed to -Newgate as a dangerous schismatic, is charged with having conventicles -in the gaol, some to the number of seventy persons. He was, moreover, -permitted by the keeper to preach openly. The keeper was petitioned -by one of the inmates to remove Eaton and send him to some other part -of the prison, but he replied disdainfully, threatening to remove the -petitioner to a worse place. - -An instruction to the lord mayor and sheriffs in the State Papers -(Dec., 1649) directs them to examine the miscarriages of the under -officers of Newgate who were favourers of the felons and robbers there -committed, and to remove such as appear faulty. The nefarious practices -of the Newgate officers were nothing new. They are set forth with -much quaintness of diction and many curious details in a pamphlet of -the period, entitled the "Black Dogge of Newgate." There was a tavern -entitled the "Dogge Tavern in Newgate," as appears by the State Papers, -where the place is indicated by an informer for improper practices. The -pamphlet sheds a strong light upon the evil-doings of the turnkeys, -who appear to have been guilty of the grossest extortion, taking -advantage of their position as officers of the law to levy blackmail -alike on criminals and their victims. Of these swindling turnkeys or -bailiffs, whom the writer designates "coney-catchers," he tells many -discreditable tales. - -The term coney-catching had long been in use to define a species of -fraud akin to our modern "confidence trick," or, as the French call it, -the _vol à l'Americain_. Shakespeare, in the "Merry Wives of Windsor," -makes Falstaff call Bardolph, Nym, and Pistol "coney-catching rascals." -The fraud was then of but recent introduction. It is detailed at length -by Robert Greene in his "Notable Discovery of Cozenage," published in -1591. He characterizes it as a new art. Three parties were needed to -practise it, called respectively the "setter," the "verser," and the -"barnacle;" their game, or victim, was the "coney." The first was the -decoy, the second was a confederate who plied the coney with drink, -the third came in by accident should the efforts of the others to -beguile the coney into "a deceit at cards" have failed. In the end -the countryman was completely despoiled. Later on there was a new -nomenclature: the setter became the "beater," the tavern to which the -rogues adjourned was the "bush," and the quarry was the "bird." The -verser was the "retriever," the barnacle was the "pot-hunter," and the -game was called "bat-fowling." Greene's exposure was supposed to have -deprived the coney-catchers of a "collop of their living." But they -still prospered at their nefarious practices, according to the author -of the "Black Dogge." - -Plain symptoms of the approaching struggle between the king and -the commons are to be met with in the prison records. Immediately -after the meeting of the Long Parliament, orders were issued for the -enlargement of many victims of Star Chamber oppression. Among them was -the celebrated Prynne, author of the "Histriomatrix,"[83:1] who had -lost his ears in the pillory; Burton, a clergyman, and Bastwick, a -physician, who had suffered the same penalties—all came out of prison -triumphant, wearing ivy and rosemary in their hats. Now Strafford was -impeached and presently beheaded; Laud also was condemned. The active -interference of Parliament in all affairs of State extended to the -arrest of persons suspected of treasonable practices. There are many -cases of imprisonment more or less arbitrary in these troubled times. -Another petition may be quoted, that of Richard Overton, "a prisoner -in the most contemptible gaol of Newgate," under an order of the House -of Lords. Overton tells us how he was brought before that House "in -a warlike manner, under pretence of a criminal fact, and called upon -to answer interrogations concerning himself which he conceived to be -illegal and contrary to the national rights, freedoms, and properties -of the free commoners of England, confirmed to them by Magna Charta, -the Petition of Right, and the Act for the Abolishment of the Star -Chamber." Overton was therefore emboldened to refuse subjection to -the said House. He was adjudged guilty of contempt, and committed to -Newgate, where he was seemingly doomed to lie until their lordships' -pleasure should be further signified, which "may be perpetual if they -please, and may have their wills, for your petitioner humbly conceiveth -that he is made a prisoner to their wills, not to the law, except their -wills may be a law." On this account he appealed to the Commons "as -the most sovereign Court of Judicature in the land," claiming from -them, "repossession of his just liberty and freedom, or else that -he may undergo the penalty prescribed by the law if he be found a -transgressor." Whether Overton was supported by the Commons against the -Lords does not appear, but within three years the Lower House abolished -the House of Peers. - -[Illustration: _Sessions House, Clerkenwell Green, London_] - -Here is yet another petition from a better known inmate of Newgate, the -obstinately independent Colonel Lilburne, commonly called "Freeborn -John." Lilburne was always at loggerheads with the government of -the city. In 1637, when following the trade of a bookseller, he was -convicted by the Star Chamber for publishing seditious libels, and -sentenced to the pillory, imprisonment, and a fine of £5,000. In 1645 -he fell foul of the Parliament, and wrote a new treatise, calling -in question their power. Lilburne was eventually banished by the Rump -Parliament; but in 1653 he returned to England and threw himself upon -the tender mercies of the Protector. Cromwell would do nothing, and -left him to the law. Lilburne was then arrested, and committed to -Newgate. At the next sessions he was arraigned, but refused to plead -unless furnished with a copy of his indictment. He managed to put off -his trial by various expedients till the next sessions, when he was -acquitted by the jury. In Thurloe's State Papers it is stated that -"John Lilburne was five times at his trial at the Sessions House, where -he most courageously defended himself from the recorder's violent -assaults with his old buckler, the Magna Charta, so that they have -let him alone." "Freeborn John" was so popular with malcontents of -all shades of opinion, that the authorities, from Oliver Cromwell -downward, were really afraid of him. Oliver professed to be enraged -against him, and anxious for his punishment, yet he privately paid him -a pension equal to the pay of a lieutenant-colonel, and, as Thurloe -says, "thought the fellow so considerable, that during the time of his -trial he kept three regiments continually under arms at St. James'." -The jury which acquitted Lilburne were summoned to answer for their -conduct before the Council of State. Yet there is little doubt that -the court was overawed by the mob. For Thurloe says there were six or -seven hundred men at the trial, with swords, pistols, bills, daggers, -and other instruments, that, in case they had not cleared him, they -would have employed in his defence. The joy and acclamation were so -great after he was acquitted that the shout was heard an English mile. - -All this time prisoners of great mark were at times confined in -Newgate. That noted royalist, Judge Jenkins, was among the number. His -crime was publishing seditious books, and sentencing to death people -who had assisted against the Parliament. He was indeed attainted of -high treason under an ordinance passed by the House of Commons. A -committee was sent from "the Commons' House to Newgate, which was to -interview Judge Jenkins, and make the following offer to him—viz., -that if he would own the power of the Parliament to be lawful, they -would not only take off the sequestrations from his estates, amounting -to £500 per annum, but they would also settle a pension on him of -£1,000 a year." His reply was to the following effect: "Far be it from -me to own rebellion, although it was lawful and successful." As the -judge refused to come to terms with them, he remained in Newgate till -the Restoration. - -People of still higher rank found themselves in gaol. The brother of -the "Portugal" ambassador, Don Pantaleon Sa, is sent, with others, to -Newgate for a murder committed by them near the Exchange. It was a -bad case. They had quarrelled with an English officer, Gerard, who, -hearing the Portuguese discoursing in French upon English affairs, -told them they did not represent certain passages aright. "One of the -foreigners gave him the lie, and all three fell upon him, and stabbed -him with a dagger; but Colonel Gerard being rescued out of their hands -by one Mr. Anthuser, they retired home, and within one hour returned -with twenty more, armed with breastplate and head-pieces; but after -two or three turns, not finding Mr. Anthuser, they returned home that -night." Next day the Portuguese fell upon a Colonel Mayo, mistaking -him for Anthuser, wounded him dangerously, and killed another person, -Mr. Greenaway. The murderers were arrested in spite of the protection -afforded them by the Portuguese ambassador and committed to Newgate. -Don Pantaleon made his escape from prison a few days later, but he -was retaken. Strenuous efforts were then made to obtain his release. -His trial was postponed on the petition of the Portuguese merchants. -The Portuguese ambassador himself had an audience of Cromwell, the -Lord Protector. But the law took its course. Don Pantaleon pleaded his -relationship, and that he had a commission to act as ambassador in -his brother's absence; this was disallowed, and after much argument -the prisoners pleaded guilty, and desired "to be tried by God and the -country." A jury was called, half denizens, half aliens, six of each, -who, after a full hearing, found the ambassador's brother and four -others guilty of murder and felony. Lord Chief Justice Rolles then -sentenced them to be hanged, and fixed the day of execution; but by -the desire of the prisoners it was respited two days. This was the 6th -July, 1654. On the 8th, Don Pantaleon Sa had his sentence commuted to -beheading. On the 10th he tried to escape, without success, and on the -same day he was conveyed from Newgate to Tower Hill in a coach and six -horses in mourning, with divers of his brother's retinue with him. -There he laid his head on the block, and it was chopped off at two -blows. The rest, although condemned, were all reprieved, except one, an -English boy concerned in the murder, who was hanged at Tyburn. Their -first victim, Colonel Gerard, survived only to be executed on Tower -Hill the same year for conspiring to murder the Lord Protector. - -Other distinguished inmates, a few years later, were Charles Lord -Buckhurst, Edward Sackville, and Sir Henry Bellayse, K. B., who, being -prisoners in Newgate, petitioned the Lord Chief Justice, March 10th, -to be admitted to bail, one of them being ill of the smallpox. They -were charged seemingly with murder. Their petition sets forth that -while returning from Waltham to London, on the 8th February, they aided -some persons, who complained that they had been robbed and wounded -in pursuit of the thieves, and in attacking the robbers wounded one -who afterward died. Sir Thomas Towris, baronet, petitions the king -(Charles II) "not to suffer him to lie in that infamous place, where -he has not an hour of health, nor the necessaries of life. He states -that he has been four months in the Tower, and five weeks in Newgate, -charged with counterfeiting his Majesty's hand, by the malice of an -infamous person who, when Registrar Accountant at Worcester House, -sold false debentures." Sir Thomas wished to lay his case before his -Majesty at his first coming from Oxford, but was deceived, and the way -to bounty was thus stopped. - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[73:1] Chief of the Jesuits in England, afterwards executed (1608). - -[83:1] A homily against play-acting and masquerades. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -NEWGATE AFTER THE GREAT FIRE - - Newgate refronted in 1638—Destroyed in great fire of 1666— - Suicides frequent—The gaoler Fells indicted for permitting - escapes—Crimes of the period—Clipping and coining greatly - increased—Enormous profits of the fraud—Coining within the - gaol itself deemed high treason—Heavy penalties—Highway - robbery very prevalent—Instances—Officers and paymasters - with the king's gold robbed—Stage-coaches stopped—Whitney— - His capture, and attempts to escape—His execution—Efforts to - check highway robbery—A few types of notorious highwaymen— - "Mulled Sack"—Claude Duval—Nevison—Abduction of heiresses— - Mrs. Synderfin—Miss Rawlins—Miss Wharton—Count Konigsmark— - The "German Princess"—Other criminal names—Titus Oates— - Dangerfield—The Fifth Monarchy men—William Penn—The two - bishops, Ellis and Leyburn. - - -Newgate was refronted and refaced in 1638, but no further change or -improvement was made in the building until a total reëdification became -inevitable, after the great fire in 1666. - -It is difficult to exaggerate the horrors of Newgate, the -mismanagement, tyranny, and lax discipline which prevailed at that -time. Its unsanitary condition was chronic, which at times, but only -for influential inmates, was pleaded as an excuse for release. -Luttrell tells us Lord Montgomery, a prisoner there in 1697, was -brought out of Newgate to the King's Bench Court, there to be bailed, -upon two affidavits, which showed that there was an infectious fever in -Newgate, of which several were sick and some dead. He was accordingly -admitted to bail himself in £10,000, and four sureties—the Duke of -Norfolk, the Earl of Yarmouth, Lord Carrington, and Lord Jeffereys—in -£5,000 each. An effort to secure release was made less successfully -some years later in regard to Jacobite prisoners of note, although the -grounds alleged were the same and equally valid. Some effort was made -to classify the prisoners: there was the master's side, for debtors and -felons respectively; the common side, for the same two classes; and the -press-yard, for prisoners of note. - -If a prisoner was hopelessly despondent, he could generally compass the -means of committing suicide. A Mr. Norton, natural son of Sir George -Norton, condemned for killing a dancing-master, because the latter -would not suffer him to take his wife away from him in the street, -poisoned himself the night before his reprieve expired. The drug was -conveyed to him by his aunt without difficulty, "who participated in -the same dose, but she is likely to recover." Nor were prisoners driven -to this last desperate extremity to escape from durance. Pepys tells -us in 1667, August 1, that the gates of the city were shut, "and at -Newgate we find them in trouble, some thieves having this night broken -open prison." - -Within the gaol all manner of evil communication went forward unchecked -among the prisoners. That same year Sir Richard Ford, the recorder, -states that it has been made appear to the court of aldermen "that the -keeper of Newgate hath at this day made his house the only nursery of -rogues, prostitutes, pickpockets, and thieves in the world, where they -were held and entertained and the whole society met, and that for the -sake of the sheriffs[92:1] they durst not this day commit him for fear -of making him let out the prisoners, but are fain to go by artifice -to deal with him." The keeper at this time was one Walter Cowday, -as appears from a State pardon "for seven prisoners ordered to be -transported by their own consent," which he endorses. Sharper measure -was dealt out to his successor, Mr. Fells, the keeper in 1696, who -was summoned to appear before the Lords Justices for conniving at the -escape of Birkenhead, _alias_ Fish, _alias_ South, East, West, etc., -one of the conspirators in Sir John Fenwick's business, and who lay in -prison "to be speedily tried." On examination of Fells, it was stated -that Birkenhead's escape had been effected by a bribe, whereupon the -sheriffs were instructed to find out the truth in order to displace -Fells. Fells was furthermore charged with showing favour to Sir -John Fenwick by suffering him to have pens, ink, and paper "alone;" -a little later he was convicted on two indictments before Lord Chief -Justice Holt at Guildhall, viz., for the escape of Birkenhead already -mentioned, and of another prisoner imprisoned for non-payment of fine. -Fell's sentence was postponed till the next term at the King's Bench -Bar; but he moved the court in arrest of judgment, a motion which the -King's Bench took time to consider, but which must have been ultimately -decided in his favour, as two years later Fells still held the office -of gaoler of Newgate. - -The crimes of the latter half of the seventeenth century are of -the same character as those of previous epochs. Many had, however, -developed in degree, and were more widely practised. The offence of -clipping and coining had greatly increased. The extent to which it -was carried seems almost astounding. The culprits were often of high -standing. A clipper, by name White, under sentence of death, was -reprieved by the king upon the petition of the House of Commons in -order that a committee of the House might examine him in Newgate as -to his accomplices and their proceedings. Accordingly, White made "a -large discovery" to the committee, both of clippers and coiners, and -particularly of Esquire Strode, who had been a witness at the trial of -the Earl of Bath (1697). Luttrell says, among twenty persons convicted -of coining was Atkinson, the beau who made such a figure in town about -eight years before, and spent an estate of £500 per annum in Yorkshire. -In the lodgings of a parson, by name Salisbury, who was arrested for -counterfeiting stamped paper, several instruments for clipping and -coining were found. University men were beguiled into the crime of -clipping; so were seemingly respectable London tradesmen. Goldsmiths -and refiners were repeatedly taken up for these malpractices. A -goldsmith in Leicester Fields and his servants are committed to Newgate -for receiving large quantities of broad money from Exeter to clip it. A -refiner's wife and two servants were committed to Newgate for clipping; -the husband escaped. Bird, a laceman, in custody for coining, escaped; -but surrendered and impeached others. Certain gilders committed to -Newgate petitioned therefrom, that if released they would merit the -same by a discovery of a hundred persons concerned in the trade. - -The numbers engaged in these nefarious practices were very great. In -1692, information was given of three hundred coiners and clippers -dispersed in various parts of the city, for several of whom warrants -were issued, some by the Treasury, others by the Lord Chief Justice. -The profits were enormous. Of three clippers executed at Tyburn in -1696, one, John Moore, "the tripe-man," was said to have got a good -estate by clipping, and to have offered £6,000 for his pardon. Three -other clippers arrested in St. James's St., and committed to Newgate, -were found to be in possession of £400 in clippings, with a pair of -shears and other implements. The information of one Gregory, a butcher, -who "discovered" near a hundred persons concerned in the trade, went to -prove that they made as much as £6,000 a month in counterfeit money. -"All their utensils and moulds were shown in court, the latter being -in very fine clay, which performed with great dexterity." The extent -of the practice is shown by the ingenuity of the machinery used. "All -sorts of material for coining was found in a house in Kentish town, -with stamps for all coins from James I." The work was performed "with -that exactness no banker could detect the counterfeit." So bold were -the coiners, that the manufacture went forward even within the walls -of Newgate. Three prisoners were taken in the very act of coining -in that prison. One of the medals or tokens struck in Newgate as a -monetary medium among the prisoners is still to be seen in the Beaufoy -Collection at Guildhall. Upon the obverse of the coin the legend is -inscribed: "Belonging to the cellar on the master's side, 1669;" on the -reverse side is a view of Newgate and the debtors' prison. - -The heaviest penalties did not check this crime. The offence was high -treason; men sentenced for it were hanged, drawn, and quartered, and -women were burnt. In 1683 Elizabeth Hare was burnt alive for coining -in Bunhill Fields. Special legislation could not cope with this crime, -and to hinder it the Lords of the Treasury petitioned Queen Mary -(in the absence of William III) to grant no pardon to any sentenced -for clipping unless before their conviction they discovered their -accomplices. - -Highway robbery had greatly increased. The roads were infested -with banditti. Innkeepers harboured and assisted the highwaymen, -sympathizing with them, and frequently sharing in the plunder. None -of the great roads were safe: the mails, high officials, foreigners -of distinction, noblemen, merchants, all alike were stopped and laid -under contribution. The following are a few of the cases which were -of constant occurrence. "His Majesty's mails from Holland robbed -near Ilford in Essex, and £5,000 taken, belonging to some Jews in -London." "The Worcester wagon, wherein was £4,000 of the king's -money, was set upon and robbed at Gerard's Cross, near Uxbridge, by -sixteen highwaymen. The convoy, being near their inn, went on ahead, -thinking all secure, and leaving only two persons on foot to guard it, -who, having laid their blunderbusses in the wagon, were on a sudden -surprised by the sixteen highwaymen, who took away £2,500, and left the -rest for want of conveniences to carry it." Two French officers (on -their way to the coast) were robbed by nine highwaymen of one hundred -and ten guineas, and bidden to go home to their own country. Another -batch of French officers was similarly dealt with on the Portsmouth -road. Fifteen butchers going to market were robbed by highwaymen, who -carried them over a hedge and made them drink King James's health. -The Portsmouth mail was robbed, but only of private letters; but the -same men robbed a captain going to Portsmouth with £5,000 to pay his -regiment with. Three highwaymen robbed the Receiver-General of Bucks -of a thousand guineas, which he was sending up by the carrier in a -pack; the thieves acted on excellent information, for although there -were seventeen pack-horses, they went directly to that which was laden -with the gold. Seven on the St. Alban's road near Pinner robbed the -Manchester carrier of £15,000 king's money, and killed and wounded -eighteen horses to prevent pursuit. The purser of a ship landed at -Plymouth and rode to London on horseback, with £6,000 worth of rough -diamonds belonging to some London merchants which had been saved out -of a shipwreck. Crossing Hounslow Heath, the purser was robbed by -highwaymen. "Oath was thereupon made before a justice of the peace," -says Luttrell, in "order to sue the Hundred for the same." The Bath -coach was stopped in Maidenhead thicket, and a footman who had fired -at them was shot through the head. The Dover stage-coach, with foreign -passengers, was robbed near Shooter's Hill, but making resistance, one -was killed. - -The western mail was robbed by the two Arthurs, who were captured -and committed to Newgate. They soon escaped therefrom, but were -again arrested at a tavern by Doctors' Commons, being betrayed by -a companion. They confessed that they had gone publicly about the -streets disguised in Grecian habits, and that one Ellis, a tobacconist, -assisted them in their escape, for which he was himself committed to -Newgate. John Arthur was soon afterwards condemned and executed. Henry -Arthur was acquitted, but soon after quarrelling about a tavern bill in -Covent Garden, he was killed in the _mêlée_. - -All manner of men took to the road. Some of the royal guards were -apprehended for robbing on the highway. Lifeguardsmen followed the -same gentlemanly occupation when off duty. Thompson, a lifeguardsman, -committed on suspicion of robbing Welsh drovers, was refused bail, -there being fresh evidence against him. Captain Beau, or Bew, -formerly of the Guards, was seized at Knightsbridge as a highwayman, -and afterwards poisoned himself. Seven of his gang were committed -to Newgate. Harris, the lifeguardsman tried at the Old Bailey for -robbing "on the black mare" and acquitted, was again tried a month -later, and condemned. He was then reprieved, and Sir William Penn -obtained the queen's pardon for him, with a commission as lieutenant -in the Pennsylvania militia, to which colony he was to transport -himself. Persons of good social status engaged in the perilous trade. -One Smith, a parson and a lecturer at Chelsea, when brought up at -Westminster for perjury, was found to be a confederate with two -highwaymen, with whom they had shared a gold watch, and planned to rob -Chelsea Church of its plate. Smith when arraigned appeared in court -in his gown, but he was "sent to Newgate, and is like to be hanged." -Disguised highwaymen were often detected in reputable citizens and -quiet tradesmen, who upon the surface seemed honest folk. A mercer of -Lombard Street was taken out of his bed and charged by a cheesemonger -as being the man that robbed him two years previously. Another mercer -was taken up near Ludgate on suspicion of being a highwayman, and -committed. Saunders, a butcher of St. James's market, was charged with -robbing the Hampton coach, and discovered three confederates, who were -captured on Sunday at Westminster Abbey. "Of two highwaymen taken near -Highgate, one was said to be a broken mercer, the other a fishmonger." -Two of Whitney's gang were said to be the tradesmen in the Strand—one -a goldsmith and one a milliner. - -Nothing could exceed the cool impudence with which reputed robbers -showed themselves in public places. They did not always escape capture, -however. "A noted highwayman in a scarlet cloak," says Luttrell, -"and coat laced with gold taken in Covent Garden." Another was taken -in the Strand and sent to Newgate. Five more were captured at the -Rummer, Charing Cross; three others, notorious highwaymen, taken at -the "Cheshire Cheeze." At times they fought hard for liberty. "One -Wake, a highwayman, pursued to Red Lion Fields, set his back against -the wall and faced the constables and mob. He shot the former, and -wounded others, but was at last taken and sent to Newgate." Whitney, -the famous highwayman, was taken without Bishopsgate, being "discovered -by one Hill, as he (Whitney) walked the street. Hill observed where -the robber 'housed,' and calling for assistance, went to the door." -Whitney defended himself for about an hour, but the people increasing, -and the officers of Newgate being sent for, he surrendered himself, but -not before he had stabbed Hill with a bayonet, "not mortal." He was -handcuffed and shackled with irons, and committed to Newgate. - -Whitney had done business on a large scale. He had been arrested before -by a party of horse despatched by William III, which had come up with -him lurking between St. Alban's and Barnet. He was attacked, but made a -stout defence, killing some and wounding others before he was secured. -He must have got free again very soon afterwards. His second arrest, -which has just been detailed, was followed by that of many others of -his gang. Three were seized near Chelsea College by some soldiers; two -more were in company, but escaped. On Sunday two others were taken; one -kept a livery stable at Moorfield's. Soon after his committal there -was a strong rumour that he had escaped from Newgate, but he continued -closely confined there, and had forty pounds weight of irons on his -legs. He had his tailor make him a rich embroidered suit with peruke -and hat, worth £100; but the keeper refused to let him wear them, -because they would disguise him. - -Whitney made many attempts to purchase pardon. He offered to discover -his associates, and those that give notice when and where the money is -conveyed on the roads in coaches and wagons. He was, however, put upon -his trial, and eventually convicted and sentenced to death. He went -in the cart to the place of execution, but was reprieved and brought -back to Newgate with a rope round his neck, followed by a "vast" crowd. -Next night he was carried to Whitehall and examined as to the persons -who hired the highwaymen to rob the mails. But he was again ordered -for execution, and once more sought to gain a reprieve by writing a -letter in which he offered, if he might have his pardon, to betray -a conspiracy to kill the king. His last appeal was refused, and he -suffered at Porter's Block, near Cow Cross, Smithfield. - -Determined efforts were made from time to time to put down these -robberies, which were often so disgracefully prevalent that people -hardly dared to travel along the roads. Parties of horse were quartered -in most of the towns along the great highways. Handsome rewards were -offered for the apprehension of offenders. A proclamation promised £10 -for every highwayman taken, and this was ere long increased to £40, to -be given to any one who might supply information leading to an arrest. -Horses standing at livery in and about London, whose ownership was at -all doubtful, were seized on suspicion, and often never claimed. It was -customary to parade before Newgate persons in custody who were thought -to be highwaymen. They were shown in their riding-dresses with their -horses, and all gentlemen who had been robbed were invited to inspect -this singular exhibition. But the robberies flourished in spite of all -attempts at repression. - -One or two types of the highwaymen of the seventeenth century may -here be fitly introduced. One of the earliest and most celebrated was -Jack Cottington, _alias_ "Mulled Sack," who had been a depredator -throughout the Commonwealth epoch, and who enjoyed the credit of having -robbed Oliver Cromwell himself on Hounslow Heath. His confederate in -this, Horne, once a captain in Downe's foot regiment, was overtaken, -captured, and hanged, but Cottington escaped. Jack Cottington began -as a chimney-sweep, first as an apprentice, then on his own account, -when he gained his soubriquet from his powers of drinking mulled -sack. From this he graduated, and soon gained a high reputation as -a pickpocket, his chief hunting-ground being churches and Puritan -meeting-houses, which he frequented demurely dressed in black with a -black _roquelaire_. He succeeded in robbing Lady Fairfax of a gold -watch set with diamonds, and a gold chain, as she was on her way to -Doctor Jacomb's lecture at Ludgate; and a second time by removing the -linchpin from her ladyship's carriage when on her way to the same -church, he upset the coach, and giving her his arm, relieved her of -another gold watch and seals. After this he became the captain of a -gang of thieves and night prowlers, whom he organized and led to so -much purpose that they alarmed the whole town. His impudence was so -great that he was always ready to show off his skill as a thief in any -public-house if he was paid for it, in a performance he styled "moving -the bung." He was not content to operate in the city, but visited the -Parliament House and Courts of Law at Westminster, and was actually -caught in the act of picking the Protector's pocket. He narrowly -escaped hanging for this, and on coming out of gaol took permanently -to the highway, where he soon achieved a still greater notoriety. With -half a dozen comrades he robbed a government wagon conveying money -to the army, and dispersed the twenty troopers who escorted it, by -attacking them as they were watering their horses. The wagon contained -£4,000, intended to pay the troops quartered at Oxford and Gloucester. -Another account states that near Wheatley, Cottington put a pistol to -the carrier's head and bade him stand, at which both carter and guard -rode off for their lives, fearing an ambuscade. The town of Reading he -laid under frequent contribution, breaking into a jeweller's shop in -that town and carrying off the contents, which he sported on his person -in London. Again at Reading, hearing that the Receiver-General was -about to send £6,000 to London in an ammunition wagon, he entered the -receiver's house, bound the family, and decamped with the money. Being -by this time so notorious a character, he was arrested on suspicion, -and committed for trial at Abingdon Assizes. There, however, being -flush of cash, he found means to corrupt the jury and secure acquittal, -although Judge Jermyn exerted all his skill to hang him. His fame was -now at its zenith. He became the burthen of street songs—a criminal -hero who laughed the gallows to scorn. But about this time he was -compelled to fly the country for the murder of Sir John Bridges, with -whose wife he had had an intrigue. He made his way to Cologne, to the -court of Charles II, whom he robbed of plate worth £1,500. Then he -returned to England, after making overtures to Cromwell, to whom he -offered certain secret papers if he might be allowed to go scot-free. -But he was brought to the gallows, and fully deserved his fate. - -Claude Duval is another hero whose name is familiar to all readers of -criminal chronology. A certain halo of romance surrounds this notorious -and most successful highwayman. Gallant and chivalrous in his bearing -towards the fair sex, he would spare a victim's pocket for the pleasure -of dancing a _corranto_ with the gentleman's wife. The money he levied -so recklessly he lavished as freely in intrigue. His success with the -sex is said to have been extraordinary, both in London and in Paris. -"Maids, widows, and wives," says a contemporary account, "the rich, -the poor, the noble, the vulgar, all submitted to the powerful Duval." -When justice at length overtook him, and he was cast for death, crowds -of ladies visited him in the condemned hold; many more in masks were -present at his execution. After hanging he lay in state in the Tangier -Tavern at St. Giles, in a room draped with black and covered with -escutcheons; eight wax tapers surrounded his bier, and "as many tall -gentlemen in long cloaks." Duval was a Frenchman by birth—a native of -Domfront in Normandy, once a village of evil reputation. Its curé was -greatly surprised, it is said, at finding that he baptized as many as -a hundred children and yet buried nobody. At first he congratulated -himself in residing in an air producing such longevity; but on closer -inquiry he found that all who were born at Domfront were hanged at -Rouen. - -Duval did not long honour his native country with his presence. On the -restoration of Charles II he came to London as footman to a person -of quality, but soon took to the road. Numerous stories are told of -his boldness, his address, and fertility of resource. One of the most -amusing is that in which he got an accomplice to dress up a mastiff in -a cow's hide, put horns on his head, and let him down a chimney, into a -room where a bridal merrymaking was in progress. Duval, who was one of -the guests, dexterously profited by the general dismay to lighten the -pockets of an old farmer whom he had seen secreting a hundred pounds. -When the money was missed it was supposed that the devil had flown away -with it. On another occasion, having revisited France, he ingratiated -himself with a wealthy priest by pretending to possess the secret of -the philosopher's stone. This he effected by stirring up a potful of -molten inferior metal with a stick, within which were enclosed a number -of sprigs of pure gold, as black lead is in a pencil. When the baser -metals were consumed by the fire, the pure gold remained at the bottom -of the pot. Overjoyed at Duval's skill as an alchemist, the priest made -him his confidant and bosom friend, revealing to him his secret hoards, -and where they were bestowed. One day, when the priest was asleep after -dinner, Duval gagged and bound him, removed his keys, unlocked his -strong boxes, and went off with all the valuables he could carry. Duval -was also an adroit card-sharper, and won considerable sums at play by -"slipping a card;" and he was most astute in laying and winning wagers -on matters he had previously fully mastered. His career was abruptly -terminated by his capture when drunk at a tavern in Chandos Street, -and he was executed, after ten years of triumph, at the early age of -twenty-seven. - -William Nevison, a native-born member of the same fraternity, may be -called, says Raine, "the Claude Duval of the north. The chroniclers of -his deeds have told us of his daring and his charities, for he gave -away to the poor much of the money he took from the rich." Nevison -was born at Pontefract in 1639, and began as a boy by stealing his -father's spoons. When chastised by the schoolmaster for this offence, -he bolted with his master's horse, having first robbed his father's -strong box. After spending some time in London thieving, he went to -Flanders and served, not without distinction, in a regiment of English -volunteers commanded by the Duke of York. He returned presently to -England, and took to the road. Stories are told of him similar to those -which made Duval famous. Nevison was on the king's side, and never -robbed Royalists. He was especially hard on usurers. On one occasion -he eased a Jew of his ready money, then made him sign a note of hand -for five hundred pounds, which by hard riding he cashed before the -usurer could stop payment. Again, he robbed a bailiff who had just -distrained a poor farmer for rent. The proceeds of the sale, which the -bailiff thus lost, Nevison restored to the farmer. In the midst of his -career, having made one grand _coup_, he retired from business and -spent eight years virtuously with his father. At the old man's death he -resumed his evil courses, and was presently arrested and thrown into -Leicester Gaol. From this he escaped by a clever stratagem. A friendly -doctor having declared he had the plague, gave him a sleeping draught, -and saw him consigned to a coffin as dead. His friend demanded the -body, and Nevison passed the gates in the coffin. Once outside, he -was speedily restored to life, and now extended his operations to the -capital. It was soon after this that he gained the soubriquet, "Swift -Nick," given by Charles II, it is said. There seems to be very little -doubt that Nevison was actually the hero of the great ride to York, -commonly credited to Turpin. The story goes that he robbed a gentleman -at Gadshill, then riding to Gravesend, crossed the Thames, and galloped -across Essex to Chelmsford. After baiting he rode on to Cambridge and -Godmanchester, thence to Huntingdon, where he baited his mare and slept -for an hour; after that, holding to the north road, and not galloping -his horse all the way, reached York the same afternoon. Having changed -his clothes, he went to the bowling-green, where he made himself -noticeable to the lord mayor. By and by, when recognized and charged -with the robbery at Gadshill, Nevison called upon the mayor to prove -that he had seen him at York; whereupon he was acquitted, "on the bare -supposition that it was impossible for a man to be at two places so -remote on one and the same day." - -Nevison appears to have been arrested and in custody in 1676. He was -tried for his life, but reprieved and drafted into a regiment at -Tangier. He soon deserted, and returning to England, again took to -the road. He was next captured at Wakefield, tried, and sentenced to -death; but escaped from prison, to be finally taken up for a trifling -robbery, for which he suffered at York. The depositions preserved by -the Surtees' Society show that he was the life and centre of a gang -of highway robbers who worked in association. They levied blackmail -upon the whole countryside; attended fairs, race meetings, and public -gatherings, and had spies and accomplices, innkeepers and ostlers, who -kept them informed of the movements of travellers, and put them in the -way of likely jobs to be done. Drovers and farmers who paid a tax to -them escaped spoliation; but all others were very roughly handled. The -gang had its headquarters at the Talbot Inn, Newark, where they kept a -room by the year, and met at regular intervals to divide the proceeds -of their robberies. - -Many instances are recorded of another crime somewhat akin to highway -robbery. The forcible abduction of heiresses was nothing new; but it -was now prosecuted with more impudence and daring than heretofore. -Luttrell tells us, under date 1st June, 1683, that one Mrs. Synderfin, -a rich widow, was taken out of her carriage on Hounslow Heath, by a -Captain Clifford and his comrades. They carried her into France to -"Calice" against her will, and with much barbarous ill-usage made her -marry Clifford. Mrs. Synderfin or Clifford was, however, rescued, and -brought back to England. Clifford escaped, but presently returning to -London, was seized and committed to custody. He pleaded in defence his -great passion for the lady, and his seeing no other way to win her. It -was not mere fortune-hunting, he declared, as he possessed a better -estate than hers. But the Lord Chief Justice charged the jury that they -must find the prisoners guilty, which they did, and all were sentenced -to imprisonment in Newgate for one year. Captain Clifford was also to -pay a fine of £1,000, two of his confederates £500 each, and two more -£100. In the same authority is an account how—"Yesterday a gentleman -was committed to Newgate for stealing a young lady worth £10,000, by -the help of bailiffs, who arrested her and her maid in a false action, -and had got them into a coach, but they were rescued." Again, a year or -two later, "one Swanson, a Dane, who pretends to be a Deal merchant, -is committed to Newgate for stealing one Miss Rawlins, a young lady of -Leicestershire, with a fortune of £4,000. Three bailiffs and a woman, -Swanson's pretended sister, who assisted, are also committed, they -having forced her to marry him. Swanson and Mrs. Bainton were convicted -of this felony at the King's Bench Bar; but the bailiffs who arrested -her on a sham action were acquitted, with which the court was not well -pleased. Swanson was sentenced to death, and executed. As also the -woman; but she being found with child, her execution was respited." - -A more flagrant case was the abduction of Miss Mary Wharton in 1690, -the daughter and heiress of Sir George Wharton, by Captain James -Campbell, brother to the Earl of Argyll, assisted by Sir John Johnson. -Miss Wharton, who was only thirteen years of age, had a fortune of -£50,000. She was carried away from her relations in Great Queen Street, -on the 14th November, 1690, and married against her will. A royal -proclamation was forthwith issued for the apprehension of Captain -Campbell and his abettors. Sir John Johnson was taken, committed to -Newgate, and presently tried and cast for death. "Great application was -made to the king and to the relations of the bride to save his life," -but to no purpose, "which was thought the harder, as it appeared upon -his trial that Miss Wharton had given evident proof that the violence -Captain Campbell used was not so much against her will as her lawyers -endeavoured to make it." Luttrell says, "Sir John refused pardon unless -requested by the friends of Mrs. Wharton. On the 23d December, he went -in a mourning coach to Tyburn, and there was hanged." No mention is -made of the arrest of Captain Campbell, whom we may conclude got off -the continent. But he benefited little by his violence, for a bill was -brought into the House of Commons within three weeks of the abduction -to render the marriage void, and this, although the Earl of Argyll -on behalf of his brother petitioned against it, speedily passed both -Houses. - -The affair of Count Konigsmark may be classed with the foregoing, as -another notorious instance of an attempt to bring about marriage with -an heiress by violent means. The lady in this case was the last of the -Percies, the only child and heiress to the vast fortune of Jocelyn, -the Earl of Northumberland. Married when still of tender years to the -Earl of Ogle, eldest son of the Duke of Newcastle, she was a virgin -widow at fifteen, and again married against her consent, it was said, -to Thomas Thynne, Esq., of Longleat;[112:1] "Tom of Ten Thousand," as -he was called on account of his income. This second marriage was not -consummated; Lady Ogle either repented herself of the match and fled -into Holland, or her relatives wished to postpone her entry into the -matrimonial state, and she was sent to live abroad. - -Previous to her second marriage, a young Swedish nobleman, Count -Konigsmark, when on a visit to England, had paid his addresses to her, -but he had failed in his suit. After his rejection he had conceived a -violent hatred against Mr. Thynne. - -The count was "a fine person of a man, with the longest hair I ever -saw, and very quick of parts. He was also possessed of great wealth -and influence;" "one of the greatest men," Sir John Reresby tells -us, "in the kingdom of Sweden; his uncle being at that time governor -of Pomerania, and near upon marrying the King of Sweden's aunt." -Konigsmark could command the devoted service of reckless men, and -among his followers he counted one Captain Vratz, to whom he seems to -have entrusted the task of dealing with Mr. Thynne. Vratz, although a -brave soldier, who had won his promotion at the siege of Mons, under -the Prince of Orange, and to whom the King of Sweden had given a -troop of horse, was willing to act as an assassin. The count came to -London, living secretly in various lodgings, as he declared to hide a -distemper from which he suffered, but no doubt to direct privately the -operations of his bravoes. Vratz associated with himself one Stern, -a Swedish lieutenant, and Boroski, "a Polander," who had arrived in -England destitute, and whom, it was subsequently proved, the count had -furnished with clothes and arms. The murderers, having set a watch for -their victim, attacked him at the corner of Pall Mall, about the spot -where Her Majesty's Theatre now stands, as he was riding on Sunday -night, the 21st February, 1681, in his carriage from the Countess of -Northumberland's house. One of them cried to the coachman, "Stop, you -dog!" and a second, Boroski, immediately fired a blunderbuss charged -with bullets into the carriage. Four bullets entered Mr. Thynne's body, -each of which inflicted a mortal wound. The murderers then made off. - -The unfortunate gentleman was carried dying to his own house, where -he was presently joined by the Duke of Monmouth, his intimate friend, -Lord Mordaunt, and Sir John Reresby, specially sent by King Charles, -who feared that some political construction would be put upon the -transaction and was anxious that the perpetrators of the crime should -be apprehended. Reresby, who was an active magistrate, granted warrants -at once against several suspected persons, and he himself, accompanied -by the Duke of Monmouth and others, made a close search, which ended -in the arrest of Vratz in the house of a Swedish doctor, in Leicester -Fields. His accomplices were also soon taken, and all three were -examined by the king in Council, when they confessed that they had done -the deed at the instigation of Count Konigsmark, "who was lately in -England." - -At the same time a Monsieur Foubert, who kept an Academy in London -which a younger brother of Count Konigsmark attended, was arrested as -being privy to the murder, and admitted that the elder brother had -arrived incognito ten days before the said murder, and lay disguised -till it was committed, which gave great cause to suspect that the -count was at the bottom of the whole bloody affair. The king despatched -Sir John Reresby to seize Konigsmark, but the bird had flown; he went -away early, on the morning of the day after the deed was perpetrated. -He went down the river to Deptford, then to Greenwich, and the day -after to Gravesend, where he was taken by two king's messengers, -accompanied by "Mr. Gibbons, servant to the Duke of Monmouth, and Mr. -Kidd, gentleman to Mr. Thynne." He was dressed "in a very mean habit, -under which he carried a naked sword." When seized he gave a sudden -start, so that his wig fell off, and the fact that he wore a wig, -instead of his own hair as usual, was remembered against him at his -trial, as an attempt at disguise. The count was carried to an inn in -Gravesend, where he expressed very great concern when he heard that -his men had confessed; declaring that it (the murder) was a stain upon -his blood, "although one good action in the wars, or lodging on a -counterscrap, would wash all that away." His captors received the £200 -reward, promised in the _Gazette_, and in addition the £500 offered by -Sir Thomas Thynne, Mr. Thynne's heir. - -They carried him at once to London, before the king in Council, where -he was examined, but the Council being unwilling to meddle on account -of his quality, as connected with the kingdom of Sweden, he was then -taken before Chief Justice Pemberton, who could, if he thought fit, -send him to gaol. He was examined again till eleven at night, and at -last, "much against the count's desire," was committed to Newgate. -He stood upon his innocency, and confessed nothing, yet "people are -well satisfied that he is taken." While in Newgate, Count Konigsmark -was lodged in the governor's house, and was daily visited by persons -of quality. Great efforts were now made to obtain his release. The M. -Foubert, already mentioned, came to Sir John Reresby, and offered him -any money to withdraw from the prosecution, but the overtures were -stoutly rejected, and his emissary was warned to be cautious "how -he made any offers to pervert justice." A more effectual attempt at -bribery was probably made on the jury, of whom the prisoner challenged -eighteen. He had their names on a list, and knew beforehand whom he -could or could not trust. The judge, Lord Chief Justice Pemberton, was -also clearly in his favour. The defence set up was that Vratz had taken -upon himself to avenge an affront offered by Mr. Thynne to his master, -and Count Konigsmark denied all knowledge of his follower's action. The -count tried to explain the privacy in which he lived, and his sudden -flight. But the counsel for the prosecution laid great stress on the -intimacy between him and the murderers; the absence of any object on -the part of the latter, unless instigated by the former. The Chief -Justice, however, summed up for the count, assuring the jury that a -master could not be held responsible for the acts of his servants, if -ignorant of them, and that if they thought the count knew nothing of -the murder till after it was done, they must acquit him, which they -did, "to the no small wonder of the auditory," as Luttrell says, "as -more than probable good store of guineas went amongst them." Konigsmark -was set at liberty at the end of the trial, but before his discharge -he was bound in heavy securities, in £2,000 himself, and £2,000 from -two friends, to appear at the King's Bench Bar the first day of the -following term. "Yet notwithstanding, the count is gone into France, -and it is much doubted whether he will return to save his bail." - -After his departure he was challenged by Lord Cavendish and Lord -Mordaunt, but no duel came off, Konigsmark declaring that he never -received the cartel till too late. His agents or accomplices, or -whatever they may be called, were convicted and executed. - -Count Konigsmark did not long survive Mr. Thynne, nor did he succeed -in winning Lady Ogle's hand. That doubly widowed yet virgin wife -presently married the Duke of Somerset, by whom she had two sons. As -for Konigsmark, according to the "Amsterdam Historical Dictionary," -quoted in Chambers's "Book of Days," he resumed the career of arms, and -was wounded at Cambray in 1683. He afterwards went to Spain with his -regiment, and distinguished himself on several occasions; after that -he accompanied an uncle Otto William to the Morea, where he was present -at the battle of Argas. In this action he so overheated himself that he -was seized with pleurisy, and died at the early age of twenty-seven, -within little more than four years of the murder of Mr. Thynne. It was -another Count Konigsmark, near relative of this one, Count Philip, -whose guilty intrigue with Sophia Dorothea, wife of George I, when -Elector of Hanover, led to his assassination in the electoral palace. - -In the foregoing the softer sex were either victims or the innocent -incentives to crime. In the case of that clever and unscrupulous -impostor Mary Moders, otherwise Carelton, commonly called the German -Princess, it was exactly the opposite. The daughter of a chorister in -Canterbury Cathedral, she first married a shoemaker; then, dissatisfied -with her lot, ran off to Dover and committed bigamy with a doctor. She -was apprehended for this, tried, and acquitted for want of evidence. -She next passed over to Holland, and went the round of the German -spas, at one of which she encountered a foolish old gentleman of large -estate, who fell in love with her and offered marriage. She accepted -his proposals and presents; but having cajoled him into entrusting her -with a large sum to make preparations for the wedding, she absconded to -Amsterdam and Rotterdam, where she took ship and came over to London. -Alighting at the Exchange Tavern, kept by a Mr. King, she assumed -the state and title of a princess, giving herself out as the ill-used -child of Count Henry Van Wolway, a sovereign prince of the empire. -John Carelton, a brother-in-law of her landlord, at once, "in the most -dutiful and submissive manner," paid his addresses to her, and she at -last condescended to marry him. Carelton was presently undeceived by an -anonymous letter, which proved his wife to be a cheat and impostor. - -The princess was arrested, committed to Newgate, and tried for polygamy -at the Old Bailey, but was again acquitted. On her release, deserted -by Carelton, she took to the stage, and gained some reputation, in -a piece especially written for her entitled the "German Princess." -Her fame spread through the town, and she was courted by numberless -admirers, two of whom she played off against each other; and having -fleeced both of several hundred pounds, flouted them for presuming to -make love to a princess. Another victim to her wiles was an elderly -man, worth about £400 per annum, who loaded her with gifts; he was -continually gratifying her with one costly present or another, which -she took care to receive with an appearance of being ashamed he should -heap so many obligations on her, telling him she was not worthy of so -many favours. One night when her lover came home in liquor, she got -him to bed, and when he was asleep rifled his pockets, securing his -keys and a bill on a goldsmith for a hundred pounds. Opening all his -escritoires and drawers, she stole everything, gold pieces, watches, -seals, and several pieces of plate, and then made off. After this -she led a life of vagabondage, moving her lodgings constantly, and -laying her hands on all she could steal. She was adroit in deceiving -tradesmen, and swindled first one and then another out of goods. At -last she was arrested for stealing a silver tankard in Covent Garden, -and committed again to Newgate. This time she was found guilty and cast -for death, but the sentence was commuted to transportation. She was -sent in due course to Jamaica, but within a couple of years escaped -from the plantations, and reappeared in England. By some means she -managed to pass off as a rich heiress, and inveigled a rich apothecary -into marriage, but presently robbed him of above £300 and left him. Her -next trick was to take a lodging in the same house with a watchmaker. -One night she invited the landlady and the watchmaker to go to the -play, leaving her maid, who was a confederate, alone in the house. -The maid lost no time in breaking open the watchmaker's coffers, and -stole therefrom thirty watches, with about two hundred pounds in cash, -which she carried off to a secure place in another part of the town. -Meanwhile the "princess" had invited her dupes to supper at the Green -Dragon Tavern in Fleet Street, where she managed to give them the -slip and joined her maid. This was one of the last of her robberies. -Soon afterwards fate overtook her quite by accident. The keeper of -the Marshalsea, in search of some stolen property, came to the house -where she lodged, in New Spring Gardens, and saw her "walking in the -two-pair-of-stairs room in a nightgown." He went in, and continuing his -search, came upon three letters, which he proceeded to examine. "Madam -seemed offended with him, and their dispute caused him to look at her -so steadfastly that he knew her, called her by her name, and carried -away both her and her letters." She was committed and kept a prisoner -till 16th January, 1673, when she was arraigned at the Old Bailey, as -the woman Mary Carelton, for returning from transportation. On the last -day of the Sessions she received sentence of death, "which she heard -with a great deal of intrepidity." - -She appeared more gay and brisk than ever on the day of her execution. -When the irons were removed from her on her starting for Tyburn, she -pinned the picture of her husband Carelton to her sleeve, and carried -it with her to the gallows. She discovered herself to a gentleman in -the crowd as a Roman Catholic, and having conversed with him for some -time in French, on parting said, "_Mon ami, le bon Dieu vous benisse_." -At the gallows she harangued the crowd at some length, and died as she -had lived, a reckless although undoubtedly a gifted and intelligent -woman. - -Prominent among the criminal names of this epoch is that of the -informer, Titus Oates, no less on account of the infamy of his conduct -than from the severe retribution which overtook him in the reign of -James II. The arraignment of Green, Berry, and Laurence Hill for the -trial of Sir Edmundbury Godfrey, who were brought for the purpose -"from Newgate to the King's Bench Bar," is a well-known judicial -episode of the year 1678. Oates was the principal witness against -them; but he was followed by Praunce, an approver, and others. After -much evidence for and against, and much equivocation, the Lord Chief -Justice Scroggs summed up the evidence strongly for conviction. When -the jury soon returned a verdict of guilty, the Lord Chief Justice -commended them, and said if it were the last word he had to speak -he would have pronounced them guilty. Sentence was then given, and -within a fortnight they were executed. These victims of the so-called -Popish Plot were, however, amply and ruthlessly avenged. Macaulay -tells the story. Oates had been arrested before Charles II's death for -defamatory words, and cast in damages of £100,000. He was then, after -the accession of James II, tried on two indictments of perjury, and it -was proved beyond doubt that he had by false testimony deliberately -murdered several guiltless persons. "His offence, though in a moral -light murder of the most aggravated kind, was in the eye of the law -merely a misdemeanour." But the tribunal which convicted made its -punishment proportionate to the real offence. Brutal Judge Jeffries -was its mouthpiece, and he sentenced him to be unfrocked and pilloried -in Palace Yard, to be led round Westminster Hall, with an inscription -over his head declaring his infamy; to be pilloried in front of the -Royal Exchange, to be whipped from Aldgate to Newgate, and after an -interval of two days to be whipped from Newgate to Tyburn. He was to -be imprisoned for life, and every year to be brought from his dungeon -and exposed in different parts of the capital. When on the pillory he -was mercilessly pelted, and nearly torn to pieces. His first flogging -was executed rigorously in the presence of a vast crowd, and Oates, a -man of strong frame, long stood the lash without a murmur. "But at last -his stubborn fortitude gave way. His bellowings were frightful to hear. -He swooned several times; but the scourge still continued to descend. -When he was unbound it seemed he had borne as much as the human frame -could bear without dissolution. . . . After an interval of forty-eight -hours Oates was again brought out from his dungeon. He seemed unable -to stand, and it was necessary to drag him to Tyburn on a sledge." He -was again flogged, although insensible, and a person present counted -the stripes as seventeen hundred. "The doors of the prison closed -upon him. During many months he remained ironed in the darkest hole -in Newgate." A contemporary account written by one of his own side -declares he received "upwards of two thousand lashes—such a thing was -never inflicted by any Jew, Turk, or heathen but Jeffries. . . . Had -they hanged him they had been more merciful; had they flayed him alive -it is a question whether it would have been so much torture."[124:1] - -Dangerfield, another informer of the Oates type, but of lesser guilt, -was also convicted and sentenced to be similarly flogged from Aldgate -to Newgate, and from Newgate to Tyburn. "When he heard his doom he went -into agonies of despair, gave himself up for dead, and chose a text -for his funeral. His forebodings were just. He was not indeed scourged -quite so severely as Oates had been; but he had not Oates's iron -strength of body and mind." On his way back to prison he was assaulted -by Mr. Francis, a Tory gentleman of Gray's Inn, who struck him across -the face with a cane and injured his eye. "Dangerfield was carried -dying into Newgate. This dastardly outrage roused the indignation -of the bystanders. They seized Francis, and were with difficulty -restrained from tearing him to pieces. The appearance of Dangerfield's -body, which had been frightfully lacerated by the whip, inclined many -to believe that his death was chiefly if not wholly caused by the -stripes which he had received." The Government laid all the blame on -Francis, who was tried and executed for murder. - -Religion and politics still continued to supply their quota of inmates. -The law was still cruelly harsh to Roman Catholics, Quakers, and all -Non-conformists. - -The Fifth Monarchy men in 1661, when discomfited and captured, were -lodged in Newgate, to the number of twenty or more. Venner, the -ringleader, was amongst them. The State Trials give the trial of one -John James, who was arraigned at the King's Bench for high treason. -He was found guilty of compassing the death of the king, and suffered -the cruel sentence then in force for the crime. James has left some -details of the usage he received in Newgate, especially in the matter -of extortion. Fees to a large amount were exacted of him, although a -poor and needy wretch, "originally a small coal-man." In the press-yard -he paid 16_s._ to the keeper Hicks for the use of his chamber, although -he only remained there three or four days. The hangman also came to -demand money, that "he might be favourable to him at his death," -demanding twenty pounds, then falling to ten, at last threatening, -unless he got five, "to torture him exceedingly. To which James said he -must leave himself to his mercy, for he had nothing to give him." Yet -at the execution, the report says the sheriff and the hangman were so -civil to him as to suffer him to be dead before he was cut down. After -that he was dismembered; some of the parts were burnt, but the head -and quarters brought back to Newgate in a basket, and exposed upon the -gates of the city. Venner and several others suffered in the same way. - -Many Quakers were kept in Newgate, imprisoned during the king's -pleasure for refusing to take the oaths of allegiance and supremacy. -Thus John Crook, Isaac Grey, and John Bolton were so confined, and -incurred a præmunire or forfeiture of their estates. But the most -notable of the Quakers were Penn and Mead. In its way this is a most -remarkable trial, on account of the overbearing conduct of the Bench -towards the prisoners. In 1670 these two, the first described as -gentleman, the second as linen-draper, were indicted at the Old Bailey -for having caused a tumultuous assembly in Gracechurch Street. The -people collected, it was charged, to hear Penn preach. The demeanour -of the prisoners in the court was so bold, that it drew down on them -the anger of the recorder, who called Penn troublesome, saucy, and so -forth. The jury were clearly in their favour, and brought in a verdict -of not guilty, but the court tried to menace them. The lord mayor, Sir -Samuel Stirling, was especially furious with Penn, crying, "Stop his -mouth; gaoler, bring fetters and stake him to the ground." At last the -jury, having refused to reconsider their verdict, were locked up; -while Penn and Mead were remanded to Newgate. Next day the jury came -up, and adhered to their verdict. Whereupon the recorder fined them -forty marks apiece for not following his "good and wholesome advice," -adding, "God keep my life out of your hands."[127:1] The prisoners -demanded their liberty, "being freed by the jury," but were detained -for their fines imposed by the judge for alleged contempt of court. -Penn protested violently, but the recorder cried, "Take him away!" and -the prisoners were once more haled to Newgate. Edward Bushell, one of -the above-mentioned jurors, who was committed to Newgate in default of -payment of fine, subsequently sued out a Habeas Corpus, and was brought -before Lord Chief Justice Vaughan, who decided in his favour, whereon -he and the other jurymen were discharged from gaol. - -There were Roman Catholics too in Newgate, convicted of participation -in the Popish Plot. Samuel Smith, the ordinary, publishes in 1679 an -account of the behaviour of fourteen of them, "late Popish malefactors, -whilst in Newgate." Among them were Whitehead, provincial, and Fenwick, -procurator, of the Jesuits in England, and William Harcourt, pretended -rector of London. The account contains a description of Mr. Smith's -efforts at conversion and ghostly comfort, which were better meant -than successful. - -After the revolution of 1688 there was an active search after Romish -priests, and many were arrested; among them two bishops, Ellis and -Leyburn, were sent to Newgate. They were visited in gaol by Bishop -Burnet, who found them in a wretched plight, and humanely ordered their -situation to be improved. Other inmates of Newgate at this troublous -period were the ex-Lord Chief Justice Wright and several judges. It -was Wright who had tried the seven bishops. Jeffries had had him made -a judge, although the lord keeper styled him the most unfit person in -the kingdom for that office. Macaulay says very few lawyers of the time -surpassed him in turpitude and effrontery. He died miserably in Newgate -about 1690, where he remained under a charge of attempting to subvert -the Government. - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[92:1] Who were responsible for the keeper and the prison generally. - -[112:1] Still the seat of the Thynnes; and the property of the head of -the family—the present Marquis of Bath. - -[124:1] Doctor Oates in the next reign was to some extent indemnified -for his sufferings. When quite an old man he married a young city -heiress with a fortune of £2,000; and a writer who handled this -"Salamanca wedding," as it was called, was arrested. Oates was in the -receipt of a pension of £300 from the Government when he died in 1705. - -[127:1] The practice of fining jurors for finding a verdict contrary -to the direction of the judge had already been declared arbitrary, -unconstitutional, and illegal. - - - - -CHAPTER V - -THE PRESS-YARD - - The press-yard described—Charges for admission—Extortionate - fees paid to turnkeys and governor—The latter's perquisites— - Arrival of Jacobite prisoners—Discussed by lower officials— - Preparations for them—Their appearance and demeanour—High - prices charged for gaol lodgings—They live royally—First - executions abate their gaiety—Escapes—Keeper superseded by - officials specially appointed by lord mayor—Strictness of new - _régime_—A military guard mounts—Rioting and revels among - the Jacobites once more checked by execution of members of the - party—Rumours of an amnesty—Mr. Freeman, who fired a pistol - in theatre when Prince of Wales was present, committed to - Press-yard—Freeman's violent conduct—Prisoners suffer from - overcrowding and heat—Pardons—Rob Roy in Newgate—Other - prisoners in press-yard—Major Bernardi—His history and long - detentions—dies in gaol after forty years' imprisonment. - - -The press-yard of the prison was intended especially for State -prisoners, or those incarcerated on "commitments of State," and was -deemed to be part and parcel of the governor's house, not actually -within the precincts of the prison. This was a pious fiction, put forth -as an excuse for exacting fees in excess of the amounts prescribed by -act of Parliament. A sum of twenty guineas was charged for admission -to this favoured spot; in other words, "for liberty of having room -enough to walk two or three of a breadth." "The gentlemen admitted here -are moreover under a necessity of paying 11_s._ each per week, although -two and sometimes three lie in a bed, and some chambers have three or -four beds in them." The act referred to specially provided that keepers -might not charge more than half a crown per week as rent for every -chamber. - -This rule the governor of Newgate—for this haughty commander-in-chief -over defenceless men was styled by the same name as the constable of -the Tower—entirely ignored, and the prisoner committed to his custody -had to decide between submitting to the extortion, or taking up his -abode in the common gaol, where he had thieves and villains for his -associates, and was perpetually tormented and eaten up by distempers -and vermin. - -The extortion practised about 1715 is graphically described by one who -endured it. The author of the "History of the Press-yard," after having -been mulcted on first arrival at the lodge for drink and "garnish," -was, although presumably a State prisoner, and entitled to better -treatment, at once cast in the condemned hold. In this gruesome place, -he lay "seized with a panic dread" at the survey of his new tenement, -and willing to change it for another on almost any terms. "As this -was the design of my being brought hither, so was I made apprized of -it by an expected method; for I had not bewailed my condition more -than half an hour, before I heard a voice from above crying out from -a board taken out of my ceiling, which was the speaker's floor, 'Sir, -I understand your name is ——, and that you are a gentleman too well -educated to take up your abode in a vault set apart only for thieves, -parricides, and murderers. From hence criminals after sentence of -death are carried to the place of execution, and from hence you may -be removed to a chamber equal to one in any private house, where -you may be furnished with the best conversation and entertainment, -on a valuable consideration.'" The speaker went on to protest that -he acted solely from good-will; that he was himself a prisoner, and -had suffered at first in the same manner, but had paid a sum to be -removed to better quarters, and which he thanked God he enjoyed to his -heart's content, wanting for nothing that a gaol could afford him. The -victim begged to know the terms, and to be put in communication with -the proper officer to make a contract for release. The other promised -accordingly, and a quarter of an hour afterwards "clang went the chain -of my door and bolts, and in comes a gentleman-like man of very smiling -aspect," who apologized profusely, swearing that those who had ill-used -a gentleman in such an unhandsome manner should be well trounced -for it. "He moreover excused the want of suitable entertainment for -persons of condition in prison-houses, and assured me that I should -be immediately conducted to the governor's house, who would take all -imaginable care of my reception. After this he very kindly took me by -the hand to lead me down into the lodge, which I rightly apprehended as -a motive to feel my pulse, and therefore made use of the opportunity -to clap two pieces, which he let my hand go to have a fast grip of, in -his." His deliverer was the head turnkey, by name Bodenham Rouse, whom -he accompanied to the lodge, and there again stood drink and was his -firm friend. - -The moment was one of considerable political excitement. The -Pretender's first attempt had collapsed in the north, and the -press-yard was about to be crowded with more eminent guests. Our -author is aroused one fine morning by loud joy-bells pealing from -the churches, and he immediately learns from his Jacobite companion -that the "king's affairs were ruined, and that the generals Willis -and Carpenter had attacked the Jacobite forces in Preston, and taken -all prisoners at discretion." Newgate is convulsed by the news. -Its officers are wild with delight, "calling for liquor after an -extravagant manner, and drinking to their good luck, which was to arise -from the ruin and loss of lives and fortunes in many good families." -In 1716 Mr. Pitt, the governor, appears upon the scene, accompanied -by other officials, to survey the rooms, and estimate the number of -new tenants that could be accommodated therein. All due preparations -made, a few days more brought to Newgate the unfortunate noblemen and -gentlemen who had surrendered at discretion, hoping thus, although -vainly, to save both life and estate. On their arrival in London they -were led in triumph through the streets to their respective places of -durance—viz., the Tower, the Marshalsea, Newgate, and the Fleet. The -prisoners on arrival at Highgate were met by Major-General Tarlton -with two battalions of Royal Foot Guards, completely armed. Cords were -also brought sufficient to pinion each prisoner after the manner of -condemned criminals, and to lead their horses, for each, from the lord -to the footman, was accommodated with a grenadier to that end. Thus -under safe conduct they marched from the Hill of Highgate to their -several places of confinement. The major-general led the way, being -"preceded by several citizens of more loyalty than compassion, who made -repeated huzzas to excite the mob to do the like." After the general -commanding came a company of the first regiment of Guards, who made a -very fine appearance. Then came the division for the Tower, two and -two, the Earl of Derwentwater and Lord Widdrington in the first rank, -the other lords and noblemen following with haltered horses, bound like -common malefactors, and reviled and hooted. - -Those for Newgate brought up the rear. They were civilly and humanely -treated on arrival there. The prison officers received them under the -gateway, and no sooner were the prisoners alighted from their horses -and their names called over, than their cords were immediately cut from -their arms and shoulders, and refreshment of wine brought to them. - -"Their number was about seventy," says our author. "And amongst them in -particular I could not but cast my eye upon one Mr. Archibald Bolair, -who in the sixteenth year of his age was said to have signalized his -courage, and have displayed as much skill and dexterity in feats -of arms in the battle of Preston as the oldest commander of them, -Brigadier Macintosh himself, though trained up in warlike affairs, not -excepted. What induced me to distinguish him from the rest was the -fearless way of expression he made use of when the clerk of the prison -cut his cords. 'By my soul, man,' said he, 'you should not have done -that, but kept it whole that I might either have been hanged with it, -or have it to show, if I escaped the gallows, how I had been led like a -dog in a string for twice two miles together.' Mr. Bolair then inquired -feelingly for his followers, who had been brought so many miles from -home out of observance of his orders, and he was anxious that they -should not want." Young Mr. Bolair was told off to the same room as our -author, in which two additional beds were placed, for the convenience -of the keeper, who by four beds in one room, filled each with three -tenants, got £6 per week, besides the sums paid as entrance money. - -The prisoners included many persons of note. Two of them—Mr. Forster, -who thought himself slighted and ill-used because, in consideration of -his seat in Parliament, he had not been imprisoned in the Tower; and -Francis Anderson, esquire, commonly called Sir Francis, a gentleman -of £2,000 per annum—had apartments in the governor's house at £5 per -head per week. There were also Colonel Oxborough, Brigadier Macintosh, -the two Talbots, the Shaftos, Mr. Wogan, and Captain Menzies, who with -their adherents and servants were thrust into the worst dungeons,—such -as "the lion's den" and the "middle dark,"—till for better lodgment -they had advanced more money than would have rented one of the best -houses in Piccadilly or St. James's Square. The fee or premium paid -by Mr. Forster and Sir Francis Anderson for being accommodated in the -governor's house was £60, and it cost the latter twenty-five guineas -more to keep off his irons. Mr. Widdrington, Mr. Ratcliffe, and others -paid twenty guineas apiece for the like favour at their first coming -in; and every one that would not be turned to the common side, ten -guineas, besides one guinea and ten shillings per man for every week's -lodging, although in some rooms the men lay four in a bed. As the -result of these extortions it was computed that Mr. Pitt cleared some -£3,000 or £4,000 in three or four months, besides "valuable presents -given in private, and among others a stone horse." - -Money was, however, plentiful among the incarcerated Jacobites, and so -far as was consistent with their situation, they lived right royally. -Sympathetic friends from without plied them with wines and luxurious -diet. They had every day a variety of the choicest eatables in season, -"and that too as early as the greatest and nicest ladies."[136:1] Forty -shillings for a dish of peas was nothing to their pockets, nor 13_s._ -for a dish of fish. These, "with the best French wine, was an ordinary -regale." They "lived in this profuse manner, and fared so sumptuously -through the means of daily visitants and helps from abroad." Money -circulated plentifully within the prison. While it was difficult to -change a guinea at any house in the street, nothing was more easy than -to have silver for gold in any quantity in Newgate. Nor did many of -them lack female sympathy. Ladies of the first rank and quality, even -tradesmen's wives and daughters, "made a sacrifice of their husbands' -and parents' rings and precious movables for the use of those whom the -law had appointed to be so many sacrifices themselves." "It is not to -be supposed that a champion so noted for the cause as Captain Silk -was neglected; for he had his full share of those treats which soon -made his clothes too little for his corpse." When not feasting and -chambering, the prisoners found diversion in playing shuttlecock, "at -which noble game the valiant Forster beat all who engaged him, so that -he triumphed with his feather in the prison though he could not do it -in the field."[137:1] - -"For long there was nothing among them but flaunting apparel, venison -pasties, hams, chickens, and other costly meats." But soon all their -jollity came abruptly to an end. The news of the sad fate of the two -peers Derwentwater and Kenmure, who had been brought to trial and -executed upon Tower Hill, abated their gaiety. They were yet more -unmistakably reminded of their perilous position by the notice which -now came to them to provide themselves with counsel and witnesses -for their own defence. Fresh committals, too, were made to Newgate; -prisoners were sent in from the Tower and the Fleet. Among them were -Mr. Howard, brother to the Duke of Norfolk, the Master of Nairn, Mr. -Baird Hamilton, "a gentleman who behaved with wonderful gallantry at -the action of Preston;" Mr. Charles Radcliffe, Lord Derwentwater's -brother, "a youth of extraordinary courage;" Mr. Charles and Mr. -Peregrine Widdington, "two gentlemen of diversion and pleasure, both -papists;" the two Mr. Cottons, father and son, "nonjurant Protestants, -and of great estate in Huntingdonshire;" Mr. Thomas Errington, "a -gentleman that had been in the French service, . . . with the laird of -Macintosh, Colonel McIntosh, and Major McIntosh, together with other -Scotch gentlemen." - -Brought thus face to face with their very pressing danger, all more -or less cast about them for some means of escape. Several desperate -attempts were made to break prison. Thus on the 14th March, 1717, it -was discovered that several had tried to get out by breaking through -the press-yard wall, "from which they were to be let down by a rope, -instead of being tucked up by one at Tyburn." For this several were -placed in irons. - -Some time later Mr. Forster got clean away, as did Brigadier Macintosh -and eight others. Mr. George Budden, formerly an upholsterer near Fleet -Bridge, also effected his escape; and last, but not least, Mr. Charles -Radcliffe, Lord Derwentwater's brother. After Mr. Forster's escape -the Government took greater precautions, and a lieutenant with thirty -men of the Foot Guards was ordered to do constant duty at Newgate. -Mr. Pitt, the keeper, was strongly suspected of collusion, and was -attached on a charge of high treason, being after arrested committed to -the custody of one Wilcox, a messenger, "who used him in a barbarous -manner, contrary, no doubt, to the instruction of the noble lord that -issued the warrant for his confinement." The city authorities, no doubt -exercised at the insecurity of their gaol, also roused themselves "to -look better after their prison of Newgate," and instead of leaving Mr. -Rouse chief turnkey in charge of the whole place, specially appointed -Mr. Carleton Smith, an officer of the lord mayor's, and with him Mr. -Russell, to take care of the rebels in the press-yard. These new -officials "performed their part so well," it is said, "by examining all -the visitors, debarring entrance to all riding-hoods, cloaks, and arms, -and by sitting up all night in the prison, each in his turn, that not -one man escaped from thence during their time." - -The new keepers appear to have stirred up much animosity from their -punctual discharge of their duties. Mr. Russell, we read, shortly after -his appointment was very much abused and threatened by Captain Silk and -some of the rebels, who surrounded him in the press-yard, but he made -his retreat without any harm. There must have been some in the reigning -monarch's service with secret sympathies for the Pretender; for it is -recorded, May 14th, that "an officer of the guards with two others -conversed with the rebels all day." They were, moreover, humoursome -and abusive to the new keepers because of their care in looking after -their prisoners; whereof Messrs. Carleton Smith and Russell complained -to the lord mayor, who thereupon ordered that no officer should be -permitted to visit the prisoners without the express permission of the -Secretary of State; and next day it is stated the officer in fault was -"submissive and sorry for his offence." This was not the first offence -of the kind. A few days previous to this the officer of the guard -went in, contrary to custom, with his sword on, to see the prisoners. -He continued with them for some hours, and whether heated with wine -or otherwise, beat one of the turnkeys as he brought in a rebel from -trial. This officer was placed in arrest, and another mounted guard in -his place, who "prevented the drunkenness and other irregularities of -the soldiers which might have given the prisoners an opportunity to -escape." - -Matters were not too comfortable for the military guard. The men at the -gate were liable to insults as on the 19th May, when they were reviled -by a Tory constable. They were also exposed to efforts to wean them -from their allegiance. One day Mr. Carleton Smith detected a prisoner, -Isaac Dalton,[140:1] in durance for libel, endeavouring to corrupt the -sentinels by giving them money to drink the Pretender's health. "But -he missed his aim." The soldiers heartily drank to King George in wine -supplied by Mr. Smith, and declared they would oppose the Pretender -to the last drop of their blood. All the guards were not equally -loyal, however. On another occasion the soldiers of the guard "had the -impudence to sing Captain Silk's dearly beloved tune, 'The king shall -have his own again,' for which their officer, Captain Reeve, a very -loyal gentleman, threatened them with imprisonment." - -The peril of the prisoners bred a certain reckless turbulence among -them. On the 29th May a mob collected in great numbers outside, -carrying oaken boughs on pretence of commemorating the restoration. The -guard was reinforced, lest the mob should attempt to break open the -gaol. Inside the rebels were very noisy, and insulted their keepers; -"but they were soon put out of a capacity of doing much harm, for by -way of precaution they were all locked up before ten o'clock." This -hour of early closing was continued, and greatly resented by them. A -few days later they made a great disturbance at the sound of a bell set -up by order of the lord mayor to ring them to their apartments at the -regular hour. They asked for the order. It was read to them, to their -manifest dissatisfaction, for it referred the recent escapes to the -unaccountable liberty of indulgence permitted them, and insisted that -upon the ringing of the bell in question all should betake themselves -to their apartments. Ten was the hour of retiring "at farthest;" -any infringement of the rule would be followed by the deprivation -of all freedom, and double irons for the offenders. Except Captain -Silk, however, all acquiesced in the order. He alone, "with his usual -impudence, bullied the keeper, and made many unbecoming reflections -upon the lord mayor and sheriffs." Nor did insubordination end here. A -day or two later the lord mayor's notice, which had been posted up in -the various press-yard rooms, was torn down by the rebels in contempt -of authority. - -A fresh and more serious riot soon occurred in the streets, on the -occasion of the thanksgiving on the anniversary of Preston fight. -Several visitors came to the rebels with rue and thyme in their hats -and bosoms in contempt of the day; but the new keepers made bold -to strip them of their badges and strew the floors with them, "as -more worthy to be trodden underfoot than be worn by way of insult on -that glorious day." About midnight brickbats were thrown from the -neighbouring houses upon the soldiers on guard; and the guard in -retaliation fired up at the places whence came the attack. Mr. Carleton -Smith whose turn it was to sit up, feared some attempt was being -made to break the gaol, and "leaping out to know the occasion of the -firing, searched several of the houses; in doing which he was like to -have been shot by a ball which came up to the room where he was." But -the attachment of the rebels to their cause was not to be checked. It -broke out again on the 10th June, the anniversary of the Pretender's -birth. "Captain Booth, whose window looked into Phœnix Court, was so -insolent as to put out a great bunch of white roses at his window," and -several visitors of both sexes came wearing the same rebellious badges. -But again the keepers pulled them out and threw them on the floor. - -In all these disturbances Captain Silk was a ringleader. He is -continually ready to make a noise. Now he swears revenge upon the -keeper for not allowing supper to be carried in to him and his -"conrogues" after 10 P. M.; now he incites other prisoners to -riot. "They are for the most part very drunk and rude, so that it was -with great difficulty that they were got to their rooms by one o'clock -in the morning." Next day Captain Silk continues his insolence. He -threatens Mr. Smith for refusing to pass in visitors after regulated -hours. Again he and his companions are drunk and insolent, and cannot -be got to their rooms till the same late hour. A night or two later -they crowded about the doors when they were opened, cursing and -assaulting the person who rang the night-bell. Captain Silk, as before, -encouraged them, and to provoke them further, when the bell sounded -cried out, "Get up, ye slaves, and go." - -Sadder moments soon supervened. The trials were proceeding, and already -the law had condemned several. Among the first to suffer were Colonel -Oxborough and Mr. Gascoigne: the latter was offered his pardon on -conditions which he rejected, and both began to make great preparations -for "their great change." Colonel Oxborough, who lay in the condemned -hold, behaved with an astonishing serenity of mind; and when his -friends expressed their concern in tears, he gravely rebuked them, -showing an easiness very unaccustomed in the bravest minds under such -a sentence. Next an order of the court came down for the execution -of twenty-four more who had been condemned, and "universal sorrow" -prevailed in the gaol. Parson Paul,[144:1] one of the number, was -"so dejected he could not eat;" most of the other prisoners retired -to their apartments to vent their grief, and a vast number of their -friends in tears came to condole with them. After this all were busy -with petitions to the court. Some were immediately successful. Handsome -young Archibald Bolair was discharged, "at which Lady Faulconbridge, -his supposed benefactress, went out with a smiling countenance." Next -night he returned in his kilt to visit his friends, but was denied -entrance. That same midnight there were great shouts of joy in the -prison: a reprieve had come down for all but Parson Paul and Justice -Hall,[144:2] both of whom were led next day to Tyburn. Neither would -admit the ministrations of the ordinary, to whom they "behaved rudely," -and they were attended at the place of execution by priests of their -own stamp in a lay habit. The condemned were hardened to the highest -degree, says their implacable opponent, and gave free vent to their -treason in seditious speeches at the gallows. - -Great consternation prevailed after these executions. It was greatly -increased by the known displeasure of the Government at the demeanour -of some of the condemned at Tyburn. But the king (George I) was now -gone on a visit to Hanover; and the Prince of Wales, as regent, was -pleased to put an end to the further effusion of blood. Rumours of an -Act of Indemnity were spread abroad, and abundance of visitors came to -congratulate the prisoners on their approaching release. But the happy -day being still postponed, the Jacobites became turbulent once more; -Mr. Pitt, the old governor, who had been tried for neglect in allowing -Mr. Forster and others to escape, had been acquitted, upon which the -lord mayor and sheriffs recalled Messrs. Carleton Smith and Russell. -The latter delivered up their charge, "having performed it so well that -not one prisoner had escaped." But Mr. Pitt was again unfortunate; and -suffering another man (Flint) to escape, the court of aldermen resolved -to reinstate Smith and Russell. This gave great dudgeon to the rebels -in the press-yard, who soon proved very refractory, refusing to be -locked up at the proper time. Then they made bitter reflections on the -advice given to the new keepers in the _Flying Post_, a Whiggish organ, -who were, as the author of the "Secret History" observes sarcastically, -"so inhuman, that they would let none of the rebels make their escape, -either in the habits of women, footmen, or parsons." It was difficult -for the keepers not to give cause of offence. Their prisoners were -angry with them because they would not sit down and drink with -them, as did their former keepers, even upon the bribe offered when -the indemnity loomed large, of swallowing a bumper to King George. -Captain Silk was troublesome as ever. One Sunday he cursed and swore -prodigiously because the doors had been shut during divine service, and -his roaring companions could not have access to him. Another time the -prisoners insulted the keepers, asking them why they carried arms? The -Jacobites declared they could not endure the sight since the battle of -Preston. - -Another prisoner added greatly to the trials of the keepers about this -period. This was Mr. Freeman, who was committed for firing a pistol -in the playhouse when the prince was present. Freeman was continually -intoxicated when in gaol. He was also very mischievous, and kept a -burning candle by him the greater part of the night, to the danger of -the prison, especially when in his mad freaks. "He is a lusty, strong, -raw-boned man, has a stern, dogged look, is of an obstinate temper -when vexed, but fawning and treacherous when pleased." In a day of -two Freeman showed the cloven foot. He flew into a violent passion, -and beat one of the female servants of the prison, shutting the door -against the keepers, after he had wounded one of them with a fork -which he held in one hand, having a knife and pistol in the other. He -was overpowered, and carried to the condemned hold, where he was put -in irons. His villainous designs there appeared by his setting his -handkerchief alight, and concealing it in his hat near his bed, and -it was suspected that he wished to set the gaol on fire, so that the -prisoners might have the opportunity to escape. A day later Mr. Freeman -"regretted that he had not murdered his keeper in the last scuffle;" -and the same day Mr. Menzies and Mr. Nairn did honestly tell the -keepers that the prisoners meant to injure them, Freeman's disturbance -having been raised "chiefly to that end, and that the female servant he -only pretended to assault, so as to make her cry out murder before she -was in the least hurt." - -Royal clemency was still delayed, and the advancing summer of 1717 was -intensely hot. The close confinement of so many persons in a limited -space began to tell seriously on the prisoners. A spotted fever, -which had before shown itself with evil effects, reappeared. It had -proved fatal to Mr. Pitcairn the previous August, and in the winter -Mr. Butler had died of the same. Now it carried off Mr. Kellet, Sir -Francis Anderson's man. Mr. Thornton was also attacked, but through the -care of his doctors recovered. The following month Mr. David Drummond -died, and Mr. Ratcliffe was indisposed. It was generally feared that -the distemper would become contagious; whereupon some of the principal -inmates, among them Mr. Ratcliffe, the two Mr. Widdingtons, Mr. Murray, -and Mr. Seaton, "who is styled by them the Earl of Dumferline," -petitioned the prince regent and Council for enlargement to more -commodious prisons. The king's physicians were accordingly despatched -to the prison to inquire into its sanitary condition. Their report was -that no contagious distemper existed. The matter was therefore ordered -to stand until his Majesty's pleasure should be known at his arrival -from Hanover. George I soon afterwards returned, and signified his -orders for an Act of Grace, which duly passed both Houses of Parliament. - -The news of an amnesty was joyfully received in the press-yard. One -of the first acts of the prisoners so soon to be set free was to get -in a poor fiddler, "whom they set to play tunes adapted to their -treasonable ballads; . . . but this was so shocking to the keepers that -they turned the fiddler out." Next the prisoners had a badger brought -in, and baited him with dogs. Other already pardoned rebels came and -paid ceremonious visits, such as Mr. Townley, who appeared with much -pomp and splendour after his discharge from the Marshalsea. Several -clergymen also visited, and a noted common council man, whose friends -stood a bowl of punch that night in Captain Silk's room. The State -prisoners were soon "very busy in getting new rigging, and sending -away their boxes and trunks; so that they looked like so many people -removing from their lodgings and houses on quarter-day." - -On July 4th a member of Parliament came to assure Mr. Grierson that -the Act of Indemnity would surely pass in a few days. This occasioned -great joy. A fortnight later the pardon was promulgated, and all the -prisoners remaining were taken to Westminster to plead the Act, "where -many were so very ungrateful that they refused to kneel or speak out in -asking the king's pardon till they were forced to it." - -According to this last-quoted writer, the rebels in Newgate were not -of exemplary character. Their daily practice in prison was profane -swearing, drunkenness, gluttony, gaming, and lasciviousness. That such -was permitted speaks volumes as to the shameful negligence of prison -rule in those unsettled times. - -There were other rebel prisoners, who do not seem to have benefited -by this Act of Grace, and who remained much longer in prison. It is -recorded in the _Weekly Journal_, of January 24th, 1727, that George -I had pardoned another batch of Jacobites, who had been capitally -convicted in the first year of his reign for levying war against -him. The pardoned traitors were Robert Stuart, of Appin; Alexander -Macdonald, of Glencoe; Grant, of Glenmorrison; Maclimmin, of that -Ilk; Mackenzie, of Fairburn; Mackenzie, of Dachmalnack; Chisholm, of -Shatglass; Mackenzie, of Ballumakie; MacDougal, of Lorne; and two -others, more notable than all the rest, "James, commonly called Lord, -Ogilvie," and "Robert Campbell, _alias_ Macgregor, commonly called Rob -Roy." They had been under durance in London, for it is added that "on -Tuesday last they were carried from Newgate to Gravesend, to be put on -shipboard for transportation to Barbadoes." Rob Roy marching handcuffed -to Lord Ogilvie through the London streets from Newgate to the prison -barge at Blackfriars, and thence to Gravesend, is an incident that has -escaped the notice of Walter Scott, and all of Rob's biographers. The -barge-load of Highland chiefs, and of some thieves, seems, however, to -have been pardoned, and allowed to return home. - -Before leaving the press-yard some reference must be made to certain -political "suspects" who were lodged therein for terms varying from -nineteen to forty years. Their case is remarkable, as being the last -instance of the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act in England, -with the full knowledge and sanction of Parliament, and in spite of -repeated strongly urged petitions from the prisoners for release. -Their names were John Bernardi, Robert Cassilis, Robert Meldrum, -Robert Blackburne, and James Chambers. Of these, the first-named, Major -Bernardi, has told his own story in a volume penned in Newgate, and -"printed by J. Newcomb, in the Strand, for the benefit of the author, -1729." Macaulay is disposed to discredit the version given by Bernardi, -although there is a certain air of truthfulness in the prisoner's -narrative. Bernardi begins at the beginning. He was of Italian -extraction, he tells us. His ancestors had been in the diplomatic -service. Count Philip de Bernardi, his grandfather, came to England -with a Genoese embassy. Francis Bernardi, son of the former, and father -of Major John, was also accredited to Charles II on the restoration, -but when replaced as resident, being English born, he preferred to -live and die in the land of his birth. According to his son, he was a -stern parent, ready to award him penal treatment, with imprisonment for -trifles, "in a little dark room or dungeon, allowing only bread and -small beer when so confined." By and by John ran away from home, and -through the favour of Lady Fisher was employed as a "listed soldier" in -a company at Portsmouth when barely fifteen years of age. A year or two -later his godfather, Colonel Anselme, took him to the Low Countries, -where by gallant conduct in the wars he gained an ensigncy from the -Prince of Orange. At the siege of Maestricht he lost an eye, and was -badly wounded in the arm. When scarcely twenty he was promoted to a -lieutenancy, and eight years later obtained a company in Colonel Monk's -regiment. He was now, by his own account, arrived "at a high pitch of -fortune." He was a captain at twenty-seven in an established service, -was personally well known to the Prince of Orange (afterwards William -III), had married well, and was, with his wife's fortune, in the -receipt of "a considerable income." - -James II, on coming to the throne, summoned home all English officers -in the service of the States. Among the few who obeyed was Major -Bernardi, and he then gave up, as he says, a certainty for an -uncertainty. Very soon his former chief, the Prince of Orange, replaced -James upon the throne, and Bernardi, unfortunately for himself, -thereafter espoused the wrong side. He refused to sign the "association -put about by General Kirk," under which all officers bound themselves -to stand by William "against all persons whomsoever," and proceeded to -France to throw in his lot with the exiled king. When James embarked -for Ireland, Bernardi followed in command of a party of newly organized -adherents. He was at several of the engagements in that island, and -was presently commissioned major. After that he went to the Highlands -with Seaforth Mackenzie on a special mission, and on his return had the -honour of dining at the same table with King James. A second mission -to Scotland followed, after which Bernardi made his way south, and -escaping great perils by the way, reached London, meaning, when he -had disposed of horses and effects, to cross over to Flanders. At -Colchester, however, from which he hoped to reach easily a port of -embarkation, he was seized and committed on suspicion, first to the -town gaol, then to that of Chelmsford. After being much harassed he at -length obtained his release, only to be soon involved in still greater -trouble. - -To his great misfortune he now fell in with one Captain Rookwood. It -was about the time of the discovery of the assassination plot, of which -Major Bernardi declares that he was in absolute ignorance till he heard -of it like the rest of the world. He was by chance in the company of -Captain Rookwood at a tavern, and was with him arrested on suspicion -of being "evil-minded men." While in the Compter Rookwood incautiously -revealed his own identity, and was lost. Rookwood seems at the same -time to have unintentionally betrayed Bernardi, whose name had, it -appears, and in spite of his protestations of perfect innocence, been -included in a proclamation. The inference is that the Government was in -the possession of certain information that Bernardi was mixed up in the -plot.[153:1] Both men were carried before the Council, and committed -close prisoners to Newgate, "loaded with heavy irons, and put into -separate dismal, dark, and stinking apartments." Rookwood was speedily -condemned and executed at Tyburn. Bernardi remained in prison without -trial, until after Sir John Fenwick had suffered. Then with his fellow -prisoners he was taken to the Old Bailey to be bailed out, but at the -instance of the Treasury solicitor, who "whispered the judges upon -the bench," they were relegated to Newgate, and a special act passed -rapidly through the House to keep them for another twelvemonth on the -plea of waiting for further evidence against them. A second act was -passed prolonging the imprisonment for another year; then a third, -to confine them during the king's pleasure. On the death of the king -(William III), a fresh act extended the imprisonment during the reign -of Queen Anne. During this long lapse of time repeated applications -were made to judges, but the release of the prisoners was always -bitterly opposed by the law officers. Bernardi's doctors certified that -imprisonment was killing him; he was said to suffer from fits and the -constant trouble of an old wound. Nevertheless he lived on; and when -in his sixty-eighth year he married, in Newgate, a second, "virtuous, -kind, and loving wife, who proved a true helpmeet," supporting him -by her good management, and keeping his heart from breaking in the -"English Bastile." Bernardi had ten children born in Newgate of this -second wife. The imprisonment continued through the reigns of George I -and II. Frequent petitions were unheeded, and finally Bernardi died in -Newgate in 1736, the last survivor, after forty years' incarceration, -and aged eighty-two. - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[136:1] "Secret History of the Rebels in Newgate: giving an account of -their daily behaviour from their commitment to their gaol delivery." -Taken from "the diary of a gentleman in the same prison"—one who was -evidently no particular admirer of theirs. - -[137:1] It will be remembered that Mr. Forster's want of generalship -lost the battle of Prestonpans. - -[140:1] For this Dalton was convicted and fined fifty marks, with -imprisonment for one year, also to find security for three more years. - -[144:1] Parson Paul was the Rev. William Paul, M. A., vicar of -Orton-on-the-Hill, in Leicestershire. He met the rebels at Preston, -and performed service there, praying for the Pretender as King James -the Third. When the royal troops invested Preston, Mr. Paul escaped -"in coloured clothes, a long wig, a laced hat, and a sword by his -side." He came to London, and was recognized in St. James's Park by a -Leicestershire magistrate, who apprehended him, and he was committed to -Newgate. - -[144:2] One of the Halls of Otterburn, Northumberland, and a magistrate -for the county. He joined the Pretender early, and was one of his most -active and staunch supporters. - -[153:1] According to the deposition of Harris, the informer, Bernardi -came with Rookwood to London on purpose to meet Barclay, the chief -conspirator. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -NOTABLE EXECUTIONS - - Reasons for legal punishments—Early forms—Capital punishment - universal—Methods of inflicting death—Awful cruelties—The - English custom—Pressing to death—Abolition of this punishment - —Decapitation and strangulation—The guillotine and gallows— - Smithfield, St. Giles, Tower Hill, Tyburn—Derivation of Tyburn - —An execution in 1662—Fashionable folk attend—George Selwyn - —Breakfast party at Newgate—Ribald conduct of the mob at - executions—Demeanour of condemned: effrontery, or abject - terror—Improper customs long retained—St. Giles's Bowl— - Saddler of Bawtry—Smoking at Tyburn—Richard Dove's bequest— - The hangman and his office—Resuscitation—Sir William Petty's - operation—Tyburn procession continues—Supported by Doctor - Johnson—The front of Newgate substituted as the scene of - execution. - - -The universal instinct of self-preservation underlies the whole theory -of legal punishments. Society, from the earliest beginnings, has -claimed through its rulers to inflict penalties upon those who have -broken the laws framed for the protection of all. These penalties have -varied greatly in all ages and in all times. They have been based on -different principles. Many, especially in ruder and earlier times, have -been conceived in a vindictive spirit; others, notably those of Mosaic -law, were retaliatory, or aimed at restitution. All, more or less, were -intended to deter from crime. The criminal had generally to pay in his -person or his goods. He was either subjected to physical pain applied -in degrading, often ferociously cruel ways, and endured mutilation, or -was branded, tortured, put to death; he was mulcted in fines, deprived -of liberty, or adjudged as a slave to indemnify by manual labour those -whom he had wronged. Imprisonment as practised in modern times has -followed from the last-named class of punishments. Although affecting -the individual, and in many of its phases with brutal and reckless -disregard for human suffering, it can hardly be styled a purely -personal punishment, as will be shown from a closer examination of the -various methods of corporeal punishment. - -In sharp contrast with the privations and terrible discomforts of the -poorer sort was the wild revelry of the aristocratic prisoners of the -press-yard. They had every luxury to be bought with money, freedom -alone excepted, and that was often to be compassed by bribing dishonest -officials to suffer them to escape. - -Taking first the punishments which fell short of death, those most -common in England, until comparatively recent times, were branding, -mutilation, dismemberment, whipping, and degrading public exposure. -Branding was often carried out with circumstances of atrocious -barbarity. Vagabonds were marked with the letter V, idlers and -masterless men with the letter S, betokening a condemnation to slavery; -any church brawler lost his ears, and for a second offence might be -branded with the letter F, as a "fraymaker" and fighter. Sometimes -the penalty was to bore a hole of the compass of an inch through the -gristle of the right ear. Branding was the commutation of a capital -sentence on clerk convicts, or persons allowed benefit of clergy, and -it was inflicted upon the brawn of the left thumb, the letter M being -used in murder cases, the letter T in others. In the reign of William -and Mary, when the privilege of benefit of clergy was found to be -greatly abused, an act was passed, by which the culprit was branded or -"burnt in the most visible part of the left cheek nearest the nose." - -Mutilation was an ancient Saxon punishment, no doubt perpetuating the -Mosaic law of retaliation which claimed an eye for an eye, a tooth -for a tooth, a limb for a limb. William the Conqueror adopted it in -his penal code. It was long put in force against those who broke the -forestry laws, coiners, thieves, and such as failed to prove their -innocence by ordeal. Although almost abandoned by the end of the -sixteenth century, the penalty of mutilation, extending to the loss -of the right hand, still continued to be punishment for murder and -bloodshed within the limits of a royal residence. The most elaborate -ceremonial was observed. All the hierarchy of court officials attended; -there was the sergeant of the wood-yard, the master cook to hand the -dressing-knife, the sergeant of the poultry, the yeoman of the scullery -with a fire of coals, the sergeant farrier, who heated and delivered -the searing irons, which were applied by the chief surgeon after the -dismemberment had been effected. Vinegar, basin, and cloths were handed -to the operator by the groom of the salcery, the sergeant of the ewry, -and the yeoman of the chandrey. "After the hand had been struck off and -the stump seared, the sergeant of the pantry offered bread, and the -sergeant of the cellar a pot of red wine, of which the sufferer was to -partake with what appetite he might." Readers of Sir Walter Scott will -remember how Nigel Olifaunt, in the "Fortunes of Nigel," was threatened -with the loss of his hand for having committed a breach of privilege -in the palace of Greenwich and its precincts. Pistols are found on his -person when he accidentally meets and accosts James I. For the offence -he may be prosecuted, so Sir Mungo Malagrowther complacently informs -him, _usque ad mutilationem_, "even to dismemberation." - -The occasion serves the garrulous knight to refer to a recent -performance, "a pretty pageant when Stubbs, the Puritan, was sentenced -to mutilation for writing and publishing a seditious pamphlet against -Elizabeth. With Stubbs, Page, the publisher, also suffered. They lost -their right hands," the wrist being divided by a cleaver driven through -the joint by the force of a mallet. - -"I remember," says the historian Camden, "being then present, that -Stubbs, when his right hand was cut off, plucked off his hat with his -left, and said with a loud voice, 'God save the queen.' The multitude -standing about was deeply silent, either out of horror of this new -and unwonted kind of punishment, or out of commiseration towards the -man. . . ." The process of mutilation was at times left to the agonized -action of the culprit: as in the brutal case of one Penedo, who in -1570, for counterfeiting the seal of the Court of Queen's Bench, was -twice put in the pillory on market-day in Cheapside. The first day -one of his ears was to be nailed to the pillory in such a manner that -he should be compelled "by his own proper motion" to tear it away; -and on the second day he was to lose his other ear in the same cruel -fashion. William Prynne, it will be remembered, also lost his ears on -the pillory, but at the hands of the executioner. The Earl of Dorset, -in giving the sentence of the Star Chamber Court, asked his fellow -judges "whether he should burn him in the forehead, or slit him in -the nose? . . . I should be loth he should escape with his ears; . . . -therefore I would have him branded in the forehead, slit in the nose, -and his ears cropt too." Having suffered all this on the pillory, he -was again punished three years later, when he lost the remainder of his -ears, and was branded with the letters S. L. (seditious libeller) on -each cheek. Doctor Bastwick and others were similarly treated. Doctor -Bastwick's daughter, Mrs. Poe, after his ears were cut off, called for -them, put them in a clean handkerchief, and carried them away with her. -Prynne was a voluminous writer, and is said to have produced some two -hundred volumes in all. A contemporary, who saw him in the pillory at -Cheapside, says that they burned his huge volumes under his nose, which -almost suffocated him. - -Although mutilations and floggings were frequently carried out at the -pillory, that well-known machine was primarily intended as a means of -painful and degrading exposure, and not for the infliction of physical -torture. The pillory is said to have existed in England before the -Norman Conquest, and it probably dates from times much more remote. -The ετηλη of the Greeks, the pillar on which offenders were publicly -exhibited, seems to have been akin to the pillory, just as the κυφων, -or wooden collar, was the prototype of the French _carcan_ or iron -circlet which was riveted around the culprit's neck, and attached by a -chain to the post or pillory. In England the pillory or "stretch neck" -was at first applied only to fraudulent traders, perjurers, forgers, -and so forth; but as years passed it came to be more exclusively the -punishment of those guilty of infamous crimes, amongst whom were long -included rash writers who dared to express their opinions too freely -before the days of freedom of the press. Besides Prynne, Leighton, -Burton, Warton, and Bastwick, intrepid John Lilburne also suffered, -under the Star Chamber decree, which prohibited the printing of any -book without a license from the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishop -of London, or the authorities of the two universities. Daniel Defoe, -again, was pilloried in 1703 for his pamphlet, "The Shortest Way -with the Dissenters." Defoe gave himself up, and was pilloried first -in Cheapside, and afterwards in the Temple. The mob so completely -sympathized with him, that they covered him with flowers, drank his -health, and sang his "Ode to the Pillory" in chorus. Doctor Shebbeare -was pilloried in 1759, for his "Letters to the People of England." But -he found a friend in the under-sheriff, Mr. Beardmore, who took him to -the place of penitence, in a stage-coach, and allowed a footman in rich -livery to hold an umbrella over the doctor's head, as he stood in the -pillory. Beardmore was afterwards arraigned for neglect of duty, found -guilty, and sentenced to fine and imprisonment. - -In 1765, Williams, the publisher, who reprinted Wilkes's _North -Briton_, stood in the pillory in Palace Yard for an hour. For the -moment he became popular. He arrived in a hackney-coach numbered -45,[162:1] attended by a vast crowd. He was cheered vociferously -as he mounted the pillory with a sprig of laurel in each hand; and -a gentleman present made a collection of two hundred guineas for -him in a purple purse adorned with orange ribbons. In front of the -pillory the mob erected a gallows, and hung on it a boot, with other -emblems, intended to gibbet the unpopular minister Lord Bute. Williams -was conducted from the pillory amid renewed acclamations, and the -excitement lasted for some days. Lampoons and caricatures were widely -circulated. Several street ballads were also composed, one of which -began: - - "Ye sons of Wilkes and Liberty, - Who hate despotic sway, - The glorious Forty-Five now crowns - This memorable day. - And to New Palace Yard let us go, let us go." - -Lord Dundonald in 1814 was actually sentenced to the pillory, but the -Government shrank from inflicting the punishment upon that much wronged -naval hero. The pillory ceased to be a punishment, except for perjury, -in 1815, but was not finally abolished until 1837, and as late as 1830 -one Doctor Bossy suffered on it for perjury. - -The earliest form of pillory was simply a post erected in a cross-road -by the lord of the manor, as a mark of his seigneury.[164:1] It bore -his arms, and on it was a collar, the _carcan_ already mentioned, by -which culprits were secured. This was in course of time developed, -and the pillory became a cross-piece of wood fixed like a sign-board -at the top of a pole, and placed upon an elevated platform. In this -cross were three holes, one for the head, the other two for the wrists. -The cross-piece was in two halves, the upper turning on a hinge to -admit the culprit's head and hands, and closed with a padlock when the -operation of insertion was completed. A more elaborate affair, capable -of accommodating a number of persons, is figured in mediæval woodcuts, -but this sort of pillory does not appear to have been very generally -used. The curious observer may still see specimens in England of this -well-known instrument of penal discipline: one is preserved in the -parish church of Rye, Sussex, another is in the museum at Brighton. - -The stocks served like the pillory to hold up offenders to public -infamy. The first authentic mention of them is in a statute of Edward -III, by which they were to be applied to unruly labourers. Soon after -this they were established by law in every village, often near the -parish church. They were the punishment for brawling, drunkenness, -vagrancy, and all disorderly conduct. Wood-stealers or "hedge-tearers" -were set in the stocks, about the year 1584, for a couple of days with -the stolen wood in front of them. - -The story goes that Cardinal Wolsey, when a young parish priest, -was put in the stocks at Lymington by Sir Amyas Poulett, for having -"exceeded" at a village feast. The old "Chap" books contain numerous -references to the stocks of course. Welch Taffy, "the unfortunate -traveller," was put into the stocks for calling a justice of the peace -a "boobie;" and "Simple Simon," when he interfered in a butter-woman's -quarrel, was adjudged to be drunk and put into the stocks between the -two viragoes, who scolded him all the time. The story of Lord Camden -is probably well known. When a young barrister he had a desire to try -the stocks, and was left in them by an absent-minded friend, for the -greater part of the day. The last stocks in London were those of St. -Clement's Dane's in Portugal Street, which were removed in 1826, to -make way for local improvements. As late as 1860 one John Gambles of -Stanningly was sentenced to sit in the stocks for six hours for Sunday -gambling, and actually endured his punishment.[165:1] Stocks were last -to be seen at Heath near Wakefield, Painswick in Gloucestershire, and -other places. In all cases the physical discomfort of the stocks, no -less than that of the pillory, was generally aggravated by the rude -horse-play of a jeering and actively offensive mob. A reference to -the inconvenient attentions of the bystanders at such an exhibition -will be found in an old "Chap" book, entitled "The True Trial of the -Understanding," in which among other riddles the following is given: - - "Promotion lately was bestowed - Upon a person mean and small: - Then many persons to him flowed, - Yet he returned no thanks at all. - But yet their hands were ready still - To help him with their kind good-will." - -The answer is, a man pelted in the pillory. - -Worse sometimes happened, and in several cases death ensued from -ill-usage in the pillory. Thus when John Waller, _alias_ Trevor, was -pilloried in 1732, in Seven Dials, for falsely accusing innocent men, -so as to obtain the reward given on the conviction of highwaymen, so -great was the indignation of the populace that they pelted him to -death. The coroner's inquest returned a verdict of wilful murder, but -against persons unknown. In 1763 a man who stood in the pillory at Bow, -for an unnatural crime, was killed by the mob. Ann Marrow, who had been -guilty of the strange offence of disguising herself as a man, and as -such marrying three different women, was sentenced to three months' -imprisonment, and exposure on the pillory, at Charing Cross. So great -was the resentment of the populace, principally those of the female -sex, that they pelted her till they put out both her eyes.[167:1] - -No account of the minor physical punishments formerly inflicted -would be complete without reference to the methods of coercing -ill-conditioned females. These were mostly of the same character as the -pillory and stocks. Chief among them was the ducking or cucking-stool, -a scourge for scolds, and once as common in every parish as the -stocks. Other varieties of it were known under the names of tumbrel, -the gumstole, the triback, the trebucket, and the reive. It may be -described briefly as consisting of a chair or seat fixed at the end of -a long plank, which revolved on a pivot, and by some simple application -of leverage upset the occupant of the chair into a pond or stream. Mr. -Cole, 1782, describes one which was hung to a beam in the middle of a -bridge. The Leominster stool, which is still preserved, is a plank upon -a low substantial framework, having the seat at one end, and working -like an ordinary seesaw: that at Wooton Basset was of the tumbrel -order, and was a framework on a pair of wheels, with shafts at one end, -the stool being at the other. In this, as in the Leicester "scolding -cart," and other forms of tumbrels, the culprit was paraded through -the town before immersion. The punishment was primarily intended for -scolds, shrews, and "curst queens," but it was also applied to female -brewers and bakers who brewed bad ale, and sold bad bread. It was -inflicted pursuant to sentence in open court, but in some parts the -bailiffs had the power within their own jurisdictions, and the right -of gallows, tumbrel, and pillory was often claimed by lords of the -manor. The greatest antiquity is claimed for this sort of punishment. -Bowine declares that it was used by the Saxons, by whom it was called -"Cathedra in qua rixosæ mulieres sedentes aquæ demergebantur." No doubt -the ducking was often roughly and cruelly carried out. We have in the -frontispiece of an old "Chap" book, which relates how "an old woman -was drowned in Ratcliffe highway," a pictorial representation of the -ceremony of ducking, and it is stated that she met her death by being -dipped too often or too long. That the instrument was in general use -through the kingdom is proved by numerous entries in ancient records. -Thus Lysons, in his "Environs of London," states that at a court of the -Manor of Edgware in 1552 the inhabitants were presented for not having -a tumbrel and a ducking-stool as laid down by law. In the Leominster -town records the bailiff and chamberlains are repeatedly brought up and -fined either for not providing "gumstoles" or not properly repairing -them, while in the same and other records are numerous statements of -bills paid to carpenters for making or mending these instruments. The -use of them, moreover, was continued to very recent times. A woman -was ducked under Kingston Bridge in 1745 for scolding. At Manchester, -Liverpool, and other Lancashire towns the stool was in use till the -commencement of this century. So it was at Scarborough, where the -offender was dipped into the water from the end of the old pier. But -the latest inflictions seemingly were at Leominster, where in 1809 a -woman named Jenny Pipes was paraded and ducked near Kerwater Bridge, -while another, Sarah Leeke, was wheeled round the town in 1817, but not -ducked, the water being too low. - -The ducking-stool was not always an effectual punishment. It appears -from the records of the King's Bench that in the year 1681 Mrs. -Finch, a notorious scold, who had been thrice ducked for scolding, -was a fourth time sentenced for the same offence, and sentenced to be -fined and imprisoned. Other measures were occasionally taken which -were deemed safer, but which were hardly less cruel. The "branks," -or bridle, for gossips and scolds, was often preferred to the -ducking-stool, which endangered the health, and, moreover, gave the -culprit's tongue free play between each dip. - -The branks was a species of iron mask, with a gag so contrived as to -enter the mouth and forcibly hold down the unruly member. It consisted -of a kind of crown or framework of iron, which was locked upon the -head and was armed in front with a gag,—a plate or a sharp-cutting -knife or point. Various specimens of this barbarous instrument are -still extant in local museums, that in the Ashmolean at Oxford being -especially noticeable, as well as that preserved in Doddington Park, -Lincolnshire. The branks are said to have been the invention of agents -of the Spanish Inquisition, and to have been imported into England from -the Low Countries, whither it had travelled from Spain. - -The brutality of the stronger and governing to the weaker and subject -sex was not limited to the ducking-stool and branks. It must be -remembered with shame in this more humane age that little more than -a hundred years ago women were publicly whipped at the whipping-post -near the stocks, or at any cart's tail. The fierce statute against -vagrants of Henry VIII's and Elizabeth's reign made no distinction -of sex, and their ferocious provisions to the effect that offenders -"should be stripped naked from the middle upwards, and whipped till -the body should be bloody," long continued in force. Men with their -wives and children were flogged publicly, and sometimes by the order -of the clergyman of the parish. Girls of twelve and thirteen, aged -women of sixty, all suffered alike; women "distracted," in other words -out of their minds, were arrested and lashed; so were those that had -the smallpox, and all who walked about the country and begged. On the -first introduction of the treadwheel in the early decades of the last -century, its use was not restricted to males, and women were often -made to suffer this punishment. Whipping females was not abolished -till 1817. The constable's charge for whipping was fourpence, but the -sum was increased latterly to a shilling. The whipping-post was often -erected in combination with the stocks. A couple of iron clasps were -fixed to the upright which supported the stocks, to take the culprit's -hands and hold him securely while he was being lashed. A modification -of this plan has long been used at Newgate for the infliction of -corporal punishment, and it may still be seen in the old ward at the -back of the middle yard. - -Ferocious as were most of the methods I have detailed of dealing -with offenders against the law, they generally, except by accident, -fell short of death. Yet were there innumerable cases in those -uncompromising and unenlightened ages in which death alone would be -deemed equal to the offences. Rulers might be excused, perhaps, if they -were satisfied with nothing less than a criminal's blood. - -As Maine says, "The punishment of death is a necessity of society in -certain stages of the civilizing process. There is a time when an -attempt to dispense with it balks two of the great instincts which lie -at the root of all penal law. Without it the community neither feels -that it is sufficiently revenged on the criminal, nor thinks that the -example of his punishment is adequate to deter others from imitating -him." Hence all penal legislation in the past included some form of -inflicting the death sentence. These have differed in all ages and -in all climes: about some there was a brutal simplicity; others have -been marked by great inventiveness, great ingenuity, much refinement -of cruelty. Offenders have been stoned, beaten, starved to death; they -have been flayed alive, buried alive, cast headlong from heights, torn -to pieces by wild animals, broken on the wheel, crucified, impaled, -burnt, boiled, beheaded, strangled, drowned. They have been killed -outright or by inches, enduring horrible agonies;[172:1] after death -their bodies have been dismembered and disembowelled, as a mark of -degradation. Irresponsible tyrants went further than lawgivers in -devising pains. The Sultan Mechmed cut men in the middle, through the -diaphragm, thus causing them to die two deaths at once. It is told of -Crœsus that he caused a person who had offended him to be scratched -to death by a friller's carding-combs. What the Vaivod of Transylvania -did to the Polish leader, George Jechel, may be read in the pages of -Montaigne. The frightful barbarity to which he and his followers were -subjected need not be repeated here. - -The tender mercies of continental nations towards criminals may be -realized by a reference to one or two of their contrivances for the -infliction of death. The Iron Coffin of Lissa, for example, wherein the -convicted person lay for days awaiting death from the fell pressure of -the heavily weighted lid, which slid down slowly, almost imperceptibly, -upon his helpless frame; or the Virgin of Baden Baden, the brazen -statue whose kiss meant death with frightful tortures, the unhappy -culprit being commanded to prostrate himself and kiss the statue, but -as he raised his lips a trap-door opened at his feet, and he fell -through on to a spiked wheel, which was set in motion by his fall. -There was the _chambre à crucer_, a short hollow chest lined with -sharp stones, in which the victim was packed and buried alive; or the -"bernicles," a mattress which clutched the sufferer tight, while his -legs were broken by heavy logs of wood; or the long lingering death in -the iron cages of Louis XI, the occupant of which could neither sit, -stand, nor lie down. Again, the devilish tortures inflicted upon the -murderers Ravaillac and Damiens caused a shudder throughout Europe. -Ravaillac was burnt piecemeal, flesh was torn from him by red-hot -pincers, scalding oil and molten lead were poured upon his bleeding -wounds, he was drawn and dismembered by horses while still alive, and -only received his _coup de grace_ from the sticks and knives of the -hellish bystanders, who rushed in to finish more savagely what the -executioner had been unable to complete. As for Damiens, the process -followed was identical, but the details preserved of an event nearer -our own time are more precise and revolting. He was fastened down -upon a platform by iron gyves, one across his breast, the other just -above his thighs; his right hand was then burnt with brimstone, he -was pinched with red-hot pincers, after which boiling oil, molten -wax, rosin, and lead were poured upon his wounds. His limbs were next -tightly tied with cords, a long and protracted operation, during which -he must have suffered renewed and exquisite torture; four stout, young, -and vigorous horses were attached to the cords, and an attempt made -to tear his limbs asunder, but only with the result of "extending his -joints to a prodigious length," and it was necessary to second the -efforts of the horses by cutting the principal sinews of the sufferer. -Soon after this the victim expired. Then his body was burnt and the -ashes scattered to the winds. - -In this country the simpler forms of executions have generally -obtained. The stake was no doubt in frequent use at certain periods -for particular offences, but the axe and the rope were long the most -common instruments of despatch. Death was otherwise inflicted, however. -Drowning is mentioned by Stowe as the fate of pirates, and a horrible -method of carrying out capital punishment remained in force until 1772. -Pressing to death, or the _peine forte et dure_, was a development -of the ancient prison _forte et dure_, the punishment of those who -refused "to stand to the law;" in other words, stood mute, and refused -to plead to a charge. Until the reign of Henry IV such persons were -condemned to penance and perpetual imprisonment, but the penance meant -confinement in a narrow cell and absolute starvation. Some evaded -the dread consequences, and therefore a more awful form of torture -was introduced with the object of compelling the silent to speak. An -accused person who persistently stood mute was solemnly warned three -times of the penalty that waited on his obstinacy, and given a few -hours for consideration. If the prisoner continued contumacious, the -following sentence was passed upon him, or her: - -"That you be taken back to the prison whence you came to a low dungeon, -into which no light can enter; that you be laid on your back on the -bare floor with a cloth round your loins, but elsewhere naked; that -there be set upon your body a weight of iron as great as you can -bear—and greater; that you have no sustenance, save on the first day -three morsels of the coarsest bread, on the second day three draughts -of stagnant water from the pool nearest the prison door, on the third -day again three morsels of bread as before, and such bread and such -water alternately from day to day till you die." - -The press was a form of torture with this difference that, when once -applied, there was seldom any escape from it. The practice of tying the -thumbs with whipcord was another form of torture inflicted to oblige -an accused person to plead, and in force as late as the reign of Queen -Anne. - -Regarding the _peine forte et dure_ Holinshed says, that when accused -felons stood mute of malice on arraignment they were pressed to death -"by heavy weights laid upon a board that lieth over their breasts and -a sharp stone under their backs, and these commonly hold their peace -thereby to save their goods unto their wives and children, which if -they were condemned should be confiscated to the prince." There are -continual references to the _peine forte et dure_ in the legal records -throughout the fifteenth to the seventeenth centuries. In 1605 Walter -Calverly, Esq., of Calverly in Yorkshire, who was arraigned for the -murder of his wife and two children, stood mute, and was pressed to -death in York Castle. Another notable instance of the application of -this fearful punishment was in the case of Major Strangways, who was -arraigned in February, 1657-58, for the murder of his brother-in-law -Mr. Fussell. He refused to plead unless he was assured that if -condemned he might be shot as his brother-in-law had been. In addition -he said that he wished to preserve his estate from confiscation. Chief -Justice Glyn reasoned with him at length, but could not alter his -decision, and he was duly sentenced to the _peine forte et dure_. The -sentence ran that he was to be put into a mean room where no light -could enter, and where he was to be laid upon his back with his body -bare; his legs and arms were to be stretched out with cords, and then -iron and stone were to be laid upon him "as much as he could bear—and -more;" his food the first day was to be three morsels of barley bread, -and on the second day he was "to drink thrice of water in the channel -next to the prison, but no spring or fountain water—and this shall be -his punishment till he dies." - -Strangways suffered in Newgate. He was attended to the last by five -pious divines, and spent much of his time in prayer. On the day of -execution he appeared all in white "waistcoat, stockings, drawers, and -cap, over which was cast a long mourning-cloak," and so was "guarded -down to a dungeon in the press-yard, the dismal place of execution." -On his giving the appointed signal, "his mournful attendants performed -their dreadful task. They soon perceived that the weight they laid on -was not sufficient to put him suddenly out of pain, so several of them -added their own weight, that they might sooner release his soul." He -endured great agonies. His groans were "loud and doleful," and it was -eight or ten minutes before he died. After death his body was exposed -to view, and it was seen that an angle of the press had been purposely -placed over his heart, so that he might the sooner be deprived of life, -"though he was denied what is usual in these cases, to have a sharp -piece of timber under his back to hasten execution." - -In 1721, Nathaniel Hawes, who had come to be what we should to-day -call an habitual criminal, and who had been frequently in Newgate, -took to the road. After various successful adventures, he stopped a -gentleman on Finchley Common, who was more than his match and made him -prisoner. He was conveyed to London and committed to Newgate. When -brought to the bar of the Old Bailey he refused to plead, giving as his -reason that he meant to die as he had lived, like a gentleman. When he -was seized, he said he had on a fine suit of clothes, which he intended -to have gone to the gallows in, but they had been taken from him. -"Unless they are returned, I will not plead," he went on, "for no one -shall say that I was hanged in a dirty shirt and a ragged coat." He was -warned what would be the consequences of his contempt of the law, but -he obstinately persevered, and was accordingly sentenced to the press. -He bore a weight of 250 pounds for about seven minutes, and then gave -in, being unable any longer to bear the pain. On return to court he -pleaded "Not guilty," but was convicted and sentenced to death. - -Two years later, William Spiggot and Thomas Phillips, arraigned for -highway robbery, refused to plead, and were also sentenced to the -press. Phillips, on coming into the press-yard, was affrighted by the -apparatus, and begged that he might be taken back to court to plead, "a -favour that was granted him; it might have been denied him." Spiggot, -however, remained obdurate, and was put under the press, where he -continued half an hour with a weight to the amount of 350 pounds on his -body; "but, on addition of the fifty pounds more, he likewise begged to -plead." Both were then convicted and hanged in the ordinary course of -law. - -[Illustration: _Central Criminal Court at the Old Bailey, London_ - - From an old engraving representing a session at the Old - Bailey, the principal criminal court in all England, which - has been the scene of many sensational and historic trials - and is connected with history of London from the earliest - times.] - -Again, Edward Burnworth, the captain of a gang of murderers and robbers -which rose into notoriety on the downfall of Wild, was sentenced to -the press at Kingston in 1726, by Lord Chief Justice Raymond and Judge -Denton. He bore the weight of 1 cwt. 3 qrs. 2 lbs. on his breast for -the space of an hour and three minutes, during which time the high -sheriff who attended him used every argument to induce him to plead, -but in vain. Burnworth, all the time, was trying to kill himself by -striking his head against the floor. At last he was prevailed on to -promise to plead, was brought back to court, and duly sentenced to -death. - -The last instance in which the press was inflicted was at Kilkenny in -Ireland. A man named Matthew Ryan stood mute at his trial for highway -robbery, and was adjudged by the jury to be guilty of "wilful and -affected dumbness and lunacy." He was given some days' grace, but -still remaining dumb, he was pressed to death in the public market -of Kilkenny. As the weights were put upon him the wretched man broke -silence and implored that he might be hanged, but the sheriff could not -grant his request. - -In 1731 a new press was made and fixed in the press-yard, for the -punishment of a highwayman named Cook, but it was not used. At length, -in 1772, the law on this head was altered and judgment was awarded -against mutes as though convicted or they had confessed. In 1778 one -so suffered at the Old Bailey. Finally, it was provided that the court -should enter a plea of "Not guilty" when the prisoner refused to plead. - -The principal forms of capital punishment, however, as the derivation -of the expression implies, have dealt with the head as the most -vulnerable part of the body. Death has been and still is most generally -inflicted by decapitation and strangulation. The former, except in -France, where it came to be universal, was the most aristocratic -method; the latter was long applied only to criminals of the baser -sort. Until the invention of the guillotine, culprits were beheaded by -sword or axe, and were often cruelly mangled by a bungling executioner. -It is asserted by the historian that the executioner pursued the -Countess of Salisbury about the scaffold, aiming repeated blows at -her, before he succeeded in striking off her head. This uncertainty in -result was only ended by the ingenious invention of Doctor Guillotin, -the prototype of which existed in the time of the Scotch "Maiden." The -regent Morton, who introduced this instrument into Scotland, and who -himself suffered by it, is said to have patterned it after the Halifax -Gibbet.[181:1] Guillotin's machine was not altogether original, but it -owed more to the Italian "Mannaïa" than to the "Maiden." Nor, according -to Sanson, the French headsman, was he the actual inventor of the -notorious instrument guillotine, which bears his name. The guillotine -was designed by one Schmidt, a German engineer and artificer of musical -instruments. Guillotin enthusiastically adopted Schmidt's design, which -he strongly recommended in the assembly, declaring that by it a culprit -could not suffer, but only feel a slight freshness on the neck. Louis -XVI was decapitated by the guillotine, as was the doctor, its sponsor -and introducer. - -Strangulation, whether applied by the bowstring, cord, handkerchief, -or drop, is as old as the hills. It was inflicted by the Greeks as an -especially ignominious punishment. The "sus per coll." was not unknown -in the penal law of the Romans, who were in the habit also of exposing -the dead convict upon the gibbet, "as a comfortable sight to his -friends and relations." - -In London various places have been used for the scene of execution. -The spot where a murder had been committed was often appropriately -selected as the place of retribution. Execution Dock was reserved -for pirates and sea-robbers, Tower Hill for persons of rank who were -beheaded. Gallows for meaner malefactors were sometimes erected on the -latter place, the right to do so being claimed by the city. In the -reign of Edward IV, however, there was a conflict of authority between -the king and the Corporation on this point. The king's officer set -up a scaffold and gallows on Tower Hill, whereupon the mayor and his -brethren complained to the king, who replied, that he had not acted in -derogation of the city liberties, and caused public proclamation to be -made that the city exercised certain rights on Tower Hill. Executions -also took place, according to Pennant, at the Standard in Chepe. Three -men were beheaded there for rescuing a prisoner, and in 1351 two -fishmongers for some unknown crime. Smithfield had long the dismal -honour of witnessing the death-throes of offenders. Between Hozier and -Cow Lanes was anciently a large pool called Smithfield Pond or Horse -Pool, "from the watering of horses there;" to the southwest lay St. -John's Court, and close to it the public gallows on the town green. -There was a clump of trees in the centre of the green, elms, from which -the place of execution was long euphemistically called "The Elms." It -was used as such early in the thirteenth century, and distinguished -persons, William Fitzosbert, Mortimer, and Sir William Wallace -suffered here. - -About 1413 the gibbet was removed from Smithfield and put up at the -north end of a garden wall belonging to St. Giles's Leper Hospital, -"opposite the Pound where the Crown Tavern is at present situate, -between the end of St. Giles High Street and Hog Lane." But Smithfield -must have been still used after the transfer of the gallows to St. -Giles. In 1580 another conflict of jurisdiction, this time between the -city and the Lieutenant of the Tower. A gibbet was erected in that year -in East Smithfield, at Hog Lane, for the execution of one R. Dod, who -had murdered a woman in those parts. "But when the sheriff brought the -malefactor there to be hanged Sir Owen Hopton, the Lieutenant of the -Tower, commanded the sheriff's officers back again to the west side -of a cross that stood there," and which probably marked the extent of -the liberties of the Tower. Discussion followed. The sheriffs with -their prisoner accompanied the lieutenant into a house to talk it over, -"whence after a good stay they all departed." The city gave way—the -gibbet was taken down, and the malefactor carried to Tyburn in the same -afternoon, where he was executed. - -The gallows were no doubt all ready for the business, for Tyburn had -been used for executions as long as Smithfield. There were elms also -at Tyburn, hence a not uncommon confusion between the two places of -execution. Tyebourne has been ingeniously derived from the two words -"Tye" and "bourne," the last a bourne or resting-place for prisoners -who were taken bound. Pennant gives the derivation "Tye," the name of a -brook or "bourne" which flowed through it. - -In Loftie's "History of London" he points out that the Tyburn of -earliest times was a bleak heath situated at the end of the Marylebone -Lane as we know it, and which, as it approached the town, had two -branches. He suggests that the brook or "bourne" also divided into -two, hence the name "Teo Burne," or two streams. Mr. Waller gives the -same derivation, and in one of the earliest mentions of the Tyburn, an -ancient chapter at Westminster, dated 951, it is called Teoburne. - -There were many Tyburns, however, and as in London the gallows were -moved farther and farther westward of the building of houses, so the -name of Tyburn travelled from Marylebone Lane to Edgeware Road. As time -passed on it came to be the generic name for all places of execution, -and was used at York, Liverpool, Dublin, and elsewhere. Tyburn was a -kind of Golgotha, a place of infamy and disgrace. When Colonel Blood -seized the Duke of Ormond in St. James's Street it was with the avowed -intention of carrying him to Tyburn, there to be hanged like a common -criminal. - -The exact position of the Tyburn gallows has been a matter of some -controversy. Mr. Robins places the Elms Lane as the first turning -to the right in the Uxbridge Road after getting into it from the -Grand Junction Road opposite the Serpentine. In Smith's "History of -Marylebone," he states that the gallows stood on a small eminence at -the corner of the Edgeware Road near the turnpike. Other authorities -fix the place in Connaught Square; because in a lease of one of the -houses, No. 49, granted by the Bishop of London, the fact that the -gallows once stood on the site is expressly mentioned in the parchment. -It was commonly reported that many human bones were exhumed between -Nos. 6 and 12, Connaught Place, as well as in the garden of Arklow -House, which stands at the southwest angle of the Edgeware Road. But -Mr. Loftie states as a matter of fact that no such discovery was ever -made. A careful but fruitless search at the time Connaught Place was -built produced a single bone, probably part of a human jaw-bone, but -nothing more. As to Arklow House, the report is distinctly denied by -the owner himself. It is, however, pretty certain that at a later date -the gallows were kept at a house at the corner of Upper Bryanston -Street and the Edgeware Road, in front of which they were erected when -required. - -A detailed account has been preserved of the execution of Colonel John -Turner in 1662, which presents a strange picture of the way in which -the extreme penalty of the law was carried out in those days. The scene -of the execution was not Tyburn but a place in Leadenhall Street at -Lime Street end, a spot near the place where the deed for which Turner -suffered was perpetrated. An immense crowd had gathered, as usual, to -witness the convict's death. Pepys was there of course, as he tells -us; "and after sending my wife to my Aunt Wright's, to get a place to -see Turner hanged, I to Change." On his way he met people flocking to -the place of execution, and mingling with the crowd, somewhere about -St. Mary Axe, "got to stand upon the wheel of a cart for a shilling in -great pain above an hour before the execution was done: he delaying the -time by long discourses and prayers one after another in hopes of a -reprieve, but none came." - -Turner was drawn in a cart from Newgate at eleven in the morning, -accompanied by the ordinary and another minister with the sheriffs, -keeper of the gaol, and other officials in attendance. On coming to -the gibbet he called the executioner to him, and presented him with -money in lieu of his clothes, which his friends desired to keep. Then -standing in the cart, he addressed the crowd with great prolixity. -He dwelt on the cardinal sins; he gave a circumstantial account of -his birth, parentage, family history; he detailed his war services as -a loyal cavalier, with his promotions and various military rewards. -With much proper feeling he sought to lessen the blame attached to his -accomplices in the murder, and to exonerate the innocent accused. At -intervals in this long discourse he was interrupted now by the sheriffs -with broad hints to despatch, now by the ordinary as to the irrelevance -and impropriety of such remarks from a man about to die. Again the -keeper of Newgate taxed him with other crimes, saying, for example, -"Pray, Colonel Turner, do you know nothing of a glass jewel delivered -to the Countess of Devonshire in room of another?" or "How about the -fire in Lothbury, or the mysterious death of your namesake Turner, who -died in your house?" - -The condemned man discoursed at great length upon these various points, -and was again and again reminded that it would be better for him to -prepare for his approaching end. Still he continued his harangue and -took a new departure when he remembered the condition of the condemned -hold of Newgate, into which he had been cast after coming from the -sessions. This hole, as it was called, he characterizes as "a most -fearful, sad, deplorable place. Hell itself in comparison cannot be -such a place. There is neither bench, stool nor stick for any person -there; they lie like swine upon the ground, one upon another, howling -and roaring—it was more terrible to me than this death. I would humbly -beg that hole may be provided with some kind of boards, like a court of -guard, that a man may lie down upon them in ease; for when they should -be best prepared for their ends they are most tormented; they had -better take them and hang them as soon as they have their sentence." -This aspersion, however, on this part of his gaol the keeper tried to -refute by stating that seventeen out of the nineteen poor wretches -confined in the hole managed to escape from it. - -But the reprieve for which Turner looked in vain still tarried. He was -obliged now to fall to his prayers. These, by the Christian charity of -the officials, he was permitted to spin out as long as he pleased. Then -he went through the ceremony of distributing alms-money for the poor, -money for his wife, to be passed on to his young son's schoolmaster. At -last he directed the executioner to take the halter off his shoulders, -and afterwards, "taking it in his hands, he kissed it, and put it on -his neck himself; then after he had fitted the cap and put it on, he -went out of the cart up the ladder." The executioner fastened the -noose, and "pulling the rope a little, says Turner, 'What, dost thou -mean to choke me? Pray, fellow, give me more rope—what a simple fellow -is this! How long have you been executioner, that you know not how to -put the knot?'" At the very last moment, in the midst of some private -ejaculations, espying a gentlewoman at a window nigh, he kissed his -hand, saying, "Your servant, mistress," and so he was "turned off," -as Pepys says of him, "a comely-looking man he was, and kept his -countenance to the last. I was sorry to see him. It was believed there -were at least twelve or fourteen thousand people in the street." - -There was nothing new in this desire to gloat over the dying agonies -of one's fellow creatures. The Roman matron cried "habet," and turned -down her thumb when the gladiator despatched his prostrate foe. Great -dignitaries and high-born dames have witnessed without a shudder -the tortures of an _auto da fé_; to this day it is the fashion for -delicately nurtured ladies to flock to the Law Courts, and note the -varying emotions, from keenest anguish to most brutal _sang-froid_, -of notorious murderers on trial. It is not strange, then, that in -uncultivated and comparatively demoralized ages the concourse about -the gallows should be great, or the conduct of the spectators riotous, -brutal, often heartless in the extreme. There was always a rush to -see an execution. The crowd was extraordinary when the sufferers were -persons of note or had been concerned in any much-talked-of case. Thus -all London turned out to stare at the hanging of Vratz, Boroski, and -Stern, convicted of the murder of Mr. Thynne, of which Count Konigsmark -had been acquitted. The execution took place in 1682 on the gallows -which had been set up in Pall Mall, the scene of the crime. "Many -hundreds of standings were taken up by persons of quality and others." -The Duke of Monmouth, one of the most intimate friends of the murdered -man, was among the spectators in a balcony close by the gallows, and -was the cynosure of every eye, fixing the glance of even one of the -convicts, Captain Vratz, who stared at him fixedly till the drop fell. - -The fashion of gazing at these painful exhibitions grew more and more -popular. Horace Walpole satirizes the vile practice of thus glorifying -criminals. "You cannot conceive," he says to Sir Horace Mann, "the -ridiculous rage there is of going to Newgate, the prints that are -published of the malefactors, and the memoirs of their lives set forth -with as much parade as Marshal Turrenne's." George Selwyn, chief among -the wits and beaux of his time, was also conspicuous for his craving -for such horrid sights. He was characterized by Walpole as a friend -whose passion it was to see coffins, corpses, and executions. Judges -going on assize wrote to Selwyn, promising him a good place at all the -executions which might take place on their circuits. Other friends -kept him informed of approaching events, and bespoke a seat for him, -or gave full details of the demeanour of those whose sufferings he had -not been privileged to see. Thus Henry St. John writes to tell him of -the execution of Waistcott, Lord Huntington's butler, for burglary: -which he attended, with his brother, at the risk of breaking their -necks, "by climbing up an old rotten scaffolding, which I feared would -tumble before the cart drove off with the six malefactors." St. John -goes on to say that he had a full view of Waistcott, "who went to the -gallows with a white cockade in his hat as an emblem of his innocence, -and died with some hardness, as appeared through his trial." Another -correspondent, Gilly Williams, gives additional particulars. "The dog -died game: went in the cart in a blue and white frock . . . and the -white cockade. He ate several oranges on his passage, inquired if his -hearse was ready, and then, as old Rowe would say, was launched into -eternity." Again George Townshend, writing to Selwyn from Scotland of -the Jacobites, promises him plenty more entertainment on Tower Hill. -The joke went round that Selwyn at the dentist's gave the signal for -drawing a tooth by dropping his handkerchief, just as people did to the -executioner on the scaffold. He would go anywhere to see men turned -off. He was present when Lord Lovat was decapitated, and justified -himself by saying that he had made amends in going to the undertaker's -to see the head sewn on again. So eager was he to miss no sight worth -seeing, that he went purposely to Paris to witness the torture of the -unhappy Damiens. "On the day of the execution," Jesse tells us, "he -mingled with the crowd in a plain undress suit and bob wig; when a -French nobleman, observing the deep interest he took in the scene, and -imagining from the plainness of his attire that he must be a person -in the humbler ranks of life, resolved that he must infallibly be a -hangman. 'Eh bien, monsieur,' he said, 'Etes vous arrivé pour voir ce -spectacle?' 'Oui, monsieur.' 'Vous êtes bourreau?' 'Non, monsieur,' -replied Selwyn, 'je n'ai pas l'honneur; je ne suis qu'un amateur.'" - -It was in these days, or a little later, when Newgate became the scene -of action, that an execution was made the occasion of a small festivity -at the prison. The governor gave a breakfast after the ceremony to some -thirteen or fourteen people of distinction, and his daughter, a very -pretty girl, did the honours of the table. According to her account, -few did much justice to the viands: the first call of the inexperienced -was for brandy, and the only person with a good appetite for her -broiled kidneys, a celebrated dish of hers, was the ordinary. After -breakfast was over the whole party adjourned to see the cutting down. - -That which was a morbid curiosity among a certain section of the upper -classes became a fierce hungry passion with the lower. The scenes -upon execution days almost baffle description. Dense crowds thronged -the approaches to Newgate and the streets leading to Tyburn or other -places of execution. It was a ribald, reckless, brutal mob, violently -combative, fighting and struggling for foremost places, fiercely -aggressive, distinctly abusive. Spectators often had their limbs -broken, their teeth knocked out, sometimes they were crushed to death. -Barriers could not always restrain the crowd, and were often borne down -and trampled underfoot. All along the route taken by the procession -people vented their feelings upon the doomed convicts: cheering a -popular criminal to the echo, offering him nosegays or unlimited drink; -railing and storming, on the other hand, at those they hated or, worse -still, despised. When Earl Ferrers was hanged in 1760 the concourse was -so great that the procession took three hours to travel from Newgate -to Tyburn. Lord Ferrers told the sheriff that passing through such a -multitude was ten times worse than death itself. The same brutality -was carried to the foot of the gallows. The mob surged around the cart -conversing with the condemned: now encouraging, now upbraiding, anon -making him a target for all manner of missiles, and this even at the -last awful moment, when the convict was on his knees wrapped in prayer. -A woman named Barbara Spencer was beaten down by a stone when actually -in supplication upon her knees. When Jack Sheppard, that most popular -but most depraved young criminal, was executed, an incredible number of -persons was present. The crowd was unruly enough even before execution, -but afterwards it grew perfectly frantic. When the body had hung the -appointed time, an undertaker ventured to appear with a hearse to -carry it off, but being taken for a surgeon's man about to remove Jack -Sheppard to the dissecting-room, he incurred the fierce displeasure of -the mob. They demolished the hearse, then fell upon the undertaker, -who with difficulty escaped with life. After that they seized the -body and carried it off, throwing it from hand to hand, until it was -covered with bruises and dirt. It was taken as far as the Barley Mow in -Long Acre, where it lay some hours, and until it was discovered that -the whole thing was a trick devised by a bailiff in the pay of the -surgeons, and that the body had been forcibly taken from a person who -really intended to bury it. The mob was now excited to frenzy, and a -serious riot followed. The police being quite inadequate to quell it, -the military were called in, and with the aid of several detachments -of Guards the ringleaders were secured. The body was given over to a -friend of Sheppard's to bury, the mob dispersed to attend it to St. -Martin's Fields, where it was deposited under a guard of soldiers and -eventually buried. - -While these wild revels were kept up both before and after the -execution the demeanour of the doomed partook too often of the -general recklessness. The calendars are full of particulars of the -manner in which condemned convicts met their fate. Many awaited the -extreme penalty and endured it with callous indifference or flippant -effrontery. Only now and again did their courage break down at the -eleventh hour, and so prove that it was assumed. A few notable examples -may be cited as exhibiting their various moods. Paul Lewis, once a -lieutenant in the royal navy, but an irreclaimable scoundrel, who -took eventually to the road, and was sentenced to death for highway -robbery, was boldly unconcerned after sentence. In Newgate he was -the leader of the revels: they dubbed him captain, like Macheath; he -sat at the head of the table, swore at the parson, and sang obscene -songs. It was not until the warrant of execution arrived at the prison, -that all bravado evaporated, and he became as abject as he had before -appeared hardened. John Rann the highwayman, better known as Sixteen -String Jack, had a farewell dinner-party after he was convicted, and -while awaiting execution: the company included seven girls; "all were -remarkable cheerful, nor was Rann less joyous than his companions." -Dick Turpin made elaborate preparations for his execution; purchased -a new suit of fustian and a pair of pumps to wear at the gallows, -and hired five poor men at ten shillings per head, to follow his -cart as mourners, providing them with hat-bands and mourning-bands. -Nathaniel Parkhurst, who, when in the Fleet for debtors, murdered a -fellow prisoner, demolished a roast fowl at breakfast on the morning -of his execution, and drank a pint of liquor with it. Jerry Abershaw -was persistently callous from first to last. Returning from court -across Kennington Common, he asked his conductors whether that was the -spot on which he was to be twisted? His last days in the condemned -cell he spent in drawing upon the walls with the juice of black -cherries designs of the various robberies he had committed on the -road. Abershaw's _sang-froid_ did not desert him on the last day. -He appeared with his shirt thrown open, a flower in his mouth, and -all the way to the gallows carried on an incessant conversation with -friends who rode by his side, nodding to others he recognized in the -crowd, which was immense. The season was the summer, and on the Sunday -following the execution, London was like a deserted city; hundreds of -thousands went out to see him hanging in chains. - -Still more awful was the conduct of Hannah Dagoe, a herculean Irish -woman, who plied the trade of porter at Covent Garden. In Newgate -while under sentence she was most defiant. She was the terror of her -fellow prisoners, and actually stabbed a man who had given evidence -against her. When the cart was drawn in under the gallows she got -her arms loose, seized the executioner, struggled with him, and gave -him so violent a blow on the chest that she nearly knocked him down. -She dared him to hang her, and tearing off her hat, cloak, and other -garments, the hangman's perquisites, distributed them among the crowd -in spite of him. After a long struggle he got the rope around her -neck. This accomplished, she drew her handkerchief from round her head -over her face, and threw herself out of the cart before the signal was -given with such violence that she broke her neck and died instantly. -Many ancient customs long retained tended to make them more hardened. -Chief among these was the offer of strong drink by the way. When the -gallows stood at St. Giles it was the rule to offer malefactors about -to be hanged a great bowl of ale, "as the last refreshment they were to -receive in this life." This drink was long known as the "St. Giles's -Bowl." The practice of giving drink was pretty general for years later -and in many parts of the country. In Yorkshire at Bawtry, so the story -runs, a saddler was on his way to be hanged. The bowl was brought out, -but he refused it and went on to his death. Meanwhile his reprieve was -actually on the road, and had he lingered to drink time sufficient -would have been gained to save him. Hence came the saying that "the -saddler of Bawtry was hanged for leaving his ale." Other convicts are -mentioned in an uncomplimentary manner because they dared to smoke on -their road to the gallows. "Some mad knaves took tobacco all the way -as they went to be hanged at Tyburn." This was in 1598, when the use -of the weed introduced by Sir Walter Raleigh was still somewhat rare. -A hundred years later the misbehaviour was in "impudently calling -for sack" and drinking King James's health; after which the convicts -affronted the ordinary at the gallows, and refused his assistance. - -There were few who behaved with the decency and self-possession of -Lord Ferrers, who went to his shameful death in a suit of white and -silver, that, it is said, in which he had been married. He himself -provided the white cap to be pulled over his face, and the black silk -handkerchief with which his arms were to be bound. His last words were, -"Am I right?" and immediately the drop fell. In his case there had been -an unseemly wrangle upon the gallows between the executioner and his -assistant. Lord Ferrers had given the latter, in mistake for his chief, -a fee of five guineas, which the head executioner claimed, and the -assistant would not readily surrender. Some were in abject terror till -the last act commenced. Thus John Ayliffe, a forger, was in the utmost -agonies the night preceding his execution; his agitation producing an -intolerable thirst, which he vainly sought to allay by copious draughts -of water. Yet his composure quite returned on his road to Tyburn, and -he "behaved with decency at the fatal tree." It was just the reverse -with Mrs. Meteyard, who with her daughter murdered a parish apprentice. -She was in a fit when put into the cart, and she continued insensible -all the way to Tyburn. Great efforts were made to restore her, but -without avail, and she was in an unconscious state when hanged. - -It may be questioned whether that close attention was paid to the -spiritual needs of the condemned which is considered indispensable -in these more humane days. No doubt many rejected the offers of -the ordinary, refusing to attend chapel, pretending to belong to -out-of-the-way persuasions, and still declining the ministrations -of clergymen of any creed; others pretended, like Dean Swift's Tom -Clinch, that they went off with a clear conscience and a calm spirit, -without prayer-book or psalm. But very probably this indifference to -the ordinary and his ghostly counsels arose from a suspicion that he -was not very earnest in what he said. The Newgate ordinary, although -a sound Protestant, was a father confessor to all criminals. Not the -least profitable part of his emoluments came from the sale of his -account of the execution of convicts, a species of gaol calendar which -he compiled from information the condemned men themselves supplied. -That the ordinary attached great value to this production is clear -from the petition made by one of them, the Reverend Paul Lorraine, to -the House of Commons, that his pamphlet might be exempted from the -tax levied upon paper. It is easy to understand that the ordinary -might have been better employed than in compiling these accounts, -however interesting they may be, as illustrating the crime of the -last century. It is also pretty certain that, although, doubtless, -blameless and exemplary men, Newgate chaplains were not always -over-zealous in the discharge of their sacred office in regard to the -condemned. There were many grim jokes among the prisoners themselves -as to the value of the parson's preaching. Thus in the Reverend Mr. -Cotton's time as ordinary, convicts were said to go out of the world -with their ears stuffed full of cotton; and his interpretation of any -particular passage in Scripture was said to go in at one ear and -out at the other.[200:1] Hence the intrusion, which must have seemed -to them unwarrantable, of dissenting and other amateur preachers, or -well-meaning enthusiasts, who devoted themselves with unremitting -vigour to the spiritual consolation of all prisoners who would listen -to them. It is impossible to speak otherwise than most approvingly of -the single-minded, self-sacrificing devotion of such men as Silas Told, -the forerunner of Howard, Mrs. Fry, the Gurneys, and other estimable -philanthropists. Nevertheless unseemly polemical wrangles appeared to -have been the result of this interference, which was better meant than -appreciated by the authorized clerical officer. Doctor Doran, referring -to the execution of James Sheppard (Jacobite Sheppard, not Jack), -gives an account of a conflict of this kind. "Sheppard's dignity," he -says, "was not even ruffled by the renewed combat in the cart of the -Newgate chaplain and the nonjuror. Each sought to comfort and confound -the culprit according to his way of thinking. Once more the messengers -of peace got to fisticuffs, but as they neared Tyburn the nonjuror -kicked Paul (the ordinary) out of the cart, and kept by the side of -Sheppard till the rope was adjusted. There he boldly, as those Jacobite -nonjurors were wont, gave the passive lad absolution for the crime for -which he was about to pay the penalty; after which he jumped down to -have a better view of the sorry spectacle from the foremost ranks of -spectators." - -It was no doubt on account of the insufficiency of the spiritual -consolations offered to the condemned that led old Richard Dove, -or Dow, to make his endowment for tolling the prisoner's bell. He -bequeathed fifty pounds a year for ever, so Stowe tells us, for this -philanthropic purpose. - -When condemned prisoners were being "drawn to their executions at -Tyburn," a man with a bell stood in the churchyard by St. Sepulchre's, -by the wall next the street, and so to put them in mind of their death -approaching. Later on these verses took the form of exhortation, of -which the following is the substance: - -"You prisoners that are within, who for wickedness and sin, after many -mercies shown you, are now appointed to die to-morrow in the forenoon: -give ear and understand that to-morrow morning the greatest bell of -St. Sepulchre's shall toll for you, in form and manner of a passing -bell, as used to be tolled for those who are at the point of death, -to the end that all godly people hearing that bell, and knowing it is -for you going to your death, may be stirred up heartily to pray to -God to bestow His grace and mercy upon you whilst you live. I beseech -you, for Jesus Christ His sake, to keep this night in watching and -prayer for the salvation of your own souls, whilst there is yet time -and place for mercy; as knowing to-morrow you must appear before the -judgment-seat of your Creator, there to give an account of all things -done in this life, and to suffer eternal torments for your sins, -committed against Him, unless upon your hearty and unfeigned repentance -you find mercy, through the merits, death, and passion of your only -Mediator and Advocate, Jesus Christ, who now sits at the right hand of -God, to make intercession for as many of you as penitently return to -Him." - -In times when scaffold and gallows were perpetually crowded, the -executioner was a prominent if not exactly a distinguished personage. -The office might not be honourable, but it was not without its uses, -and the man who filled it was an object of both interest and dread. In -some countries the dismal paraphernalia—axe, gibbet, or rack—have -been carried by aristocratic families on their arms. The Scotch -Dalziels bear sable, a hanged man with his arms extended; a Spanish -hidalgo has in his coat armour a ladder with gibbet; and various -implements of torture have been borne by German families of distinction. - -In France the post of executioner was long hereditary, regularly -transmitted from father to son, for many generations, and enjoyed -eventually something of the credit vouchsafed to all hereditary -offices. With us the law's finisher has never been held in great -esteem. He was on a par rather with the Roman _carnifex_, an odious -official, who was not suffered to live within the precincts of the -city. The only man who would condescend to the work was usually a -condemned criminal, pardoned for the very purpose. Derrick, one of the -first names mentioned, was sentenced to death, but pardoned by Lord -Essex, whom he afterwards executed. Next to him I find that one Bull -acted as executioner about 1593. Then came Gregory Brandon, the man -who is generally supposed to have decapitated Charles I, and who was -commonly addressed by his Christian name only. Through an error Brandon -was advanced to the dignity of a squire by Garter, king at arms, and -succeeding executioners were generally honoured with the same title. -Brandon was followed by his son; young Brandon by Squire Dun, who gave -place in his turn to John Ketch, the godfather of all modern hangmen. -Many of the immediate successors of Brandon above-mentioned were called -Gregory. Jack Ketch did not give entire satisfaction. It is recorded -in Luttrell that Ketch was dispossessed in favour of Pascal Roose, a -butcher, who served only a few months, when Ketch was restored. After -Ketch, John Price was the man, a pardoned malefactor, who could not -resist temptation, and was himself executed for murder by some one -else. Dennis, the hangman at the Lord George Gordon riots, had also -been sentenced to death for complicity, but obtained forgiveness on -condition that he should string up his former associates. - -They did their work roughly, these early practitioners. Sometimes the -rope slipped or the drop was insufficient, and the hangman had to add -his weight, assisted by that of zealous spectators, to the sufferer's -legs to effect strangulation. Now and again the rope broke, and the -convict had to be tied up a second time. This happened with Captain -Kidd, the notorious pirate, who was perfectly conscious during the -time which elapsed before he was again tied up. The friends of another -pirate, John Gow, were anxious to put him out of his pain, and pulled -his legs so hard, that the rope broke before he was dead, necessitating -the repetition of the whole ceremony. Even when the operation had been -successfully performed, the hanged man sometimes cheated the gallows. - -There are several well-authenticated cases of resuscitation after -hanging, due doubtless to the rude and clumsy plan of killing. To -slide off a ladder or drop from a cart might and generally did produce -asphyxia, but there was no instantaneous fracture of the vertebral -column as in most executions of modern times. The earliest case on -record is that of Tiretta de Balsham, whom Henry III pardoned in 1264 -because she had survived hanging. As she is said to have been suspended -from one morning till sunrise the following day, it is difficult to -believe the story, which was probably one of many mediæval impostures. -Females, however, appear to have had more such escapes than males. -Doctor Ploto gives several instances; one, that of Anne Green, who -in 1650 came to when in the hands of the doctors for dissection; -another of Mrs. Cope, hanged at Oxford in 1658, who was suspended -for an unusually long period, and afterwards let fall violently, yet -she recovered, only to be more effectually hanged next day. A third -substantiated case was that of half-hanged Maggie Dickson, who was -hanged at Edinburgh in 1728, and whom the jolting of the cart in -which her body was removed from the gallows recovered. The jolting -was considered so infallible a recipe for bringing to, that it was -generally practised by an executed man's friends in Ireland, where -also the friends were in the habit of holding up the convict by his -waistband after he had dropped, "so that the rope should not press upon -his throat," the sheriff philanthropically pretending not to see. - -Sir William Petty, the eminent surgeon in Queen Anne's time, owed -his scientific fame to his having resuscitated a woman who had been -hanged. The body had been begged, as was the custom, for the anatomical -lecture; Petty finding symptoms of life, bled her, put her to bed -with another woman, and gave her spirits and other restoratives. She -recovered, whereupon the students subscribed to endow her with a small -portion, and she soon after married and lived for fifteen years. The -case of half-hanged Smith was about the date 1705. He was reprieved, -but the reprieve arrived after he had been strung up; he was taken -down, bled, and brought to. Smith afterwards described his sensations -minutely. The weight of his body when he first dropped caused him -great pain; his "spirits" forced their way up to his head and seemed -to go out at his eyes with a great blaze of light, and then all pain -left him. But on his resuscitation the blood and "spirits" forcing -themselves into their proper channels gave him such intolerable -suffering "that he could have wished those hanged who cut him down." -William Duell, hanged in 1740, was carried to Surgeon's Hall, to be -anatomized; but as his body was being laid out, one of the servants -who was washing him perceived that he was still alive. A surgeon bled -him, and in two hours he was able to sit up in his chair. Later in -the evening he was sent back to Newgate, and his sentence changed to -transportation. In 1767, a man who had hanged for twenty-eight minutes -was operated on by a surgeon, who made an incision into the windpipe. -In less than six hours the hanged man revived. It became a constant -practice for a condemned man's friends to carry off the body directly -it was cut down to the nearest surgeon's, who at once operated on it -by bleeding, and so forth. The plan was occasionally, but rarely, -successful. It was tried with Doctor Dodd, who was promptly carried to -an undertaker's in Tottenham Court Road and placed in a hot bath; but -he had been too well hanged for recovery. A report was long current -that Fauntleroy the banker, who was executed for forgery, had been -resuscitated, but it was quite without foundation. - -The Tyburn procession survived till towards the end of the eighteenth -century. It had many supporters, Doctor Johnson among the number. -"Sir," he told Boswell, when Tyburn had been discontinued, "executions -are intended to draw spectators. If they do not draw spectators they -do not answer their purpose. The old method was most satisfactory to -all parties: the public was gratified by a procession, the criminal -is supported by it. Why is all this to be swept away?" The reason is -given by the sheriffs in the year 1784, and it is convincing. In a -pamphlet published that year it is set forth that the procession to -Tyburn was a hideous mockery on the law; the final scene had lost its -terrors; it taught no lesson of morality to the beholders, but tended -to the encouragement of vice. The day of execution was deemed a public -holiday to which thousands thronged, many to gratify an unaccountable -curiosity, more to seize an opportunity for committing fresh crimes. -"If we take a view of the supposed solemnity from the time at which -the criminal leaves the prison to the last moment of his existence, it -will be found to be a period full of the most shocking and disgraceful -circumstances. If the only defect were the want of ceremony, the -minds of the spectators might be supposed to be left in a state of -indifference; but when they view the meanness of the apparatus, the -dirty cart and ragged harness, surrounded by a sordid assemblage of the -lowest among the vulgar, their sentiments are inclined more to ridicule -than pity. The whole progress is attended with the same effect. Numbers -soon thicken into a crowd of followers, and then an indecent levity is -heard." The crowd gathered as it went, the levity increased, "till on -reaching the fatal tree it became a riotous mob, and their wantonness -of speech broke forth in profane jokes, swearing, and blasphemy." The -officers of the law were powerless to check the tumult; no attention -was paid to the convict's dying speech—"an exhortation to shun -a vicious life, addressed to thieves actually engaged in picking -pockets." The culprit's prayers were interrupted, his demeanour if -resigned was sneered at, and only applauded when he went with brazen -effrontery to his death. "Thus," says the pamphlet, "are all the ends -of public justice defeated; all the effects of example, the terrors of -death, the shame of punishment, are all lost." - -The evils it was hoped might be obviated "were public executions -conducted with becoming form and solemnity, if order were preserved -and every tendency to disturb it suppressed." Hence the place of -execution was changed in 1784 from "Tyburn to the great area that has -lately been opened before Newgate." The sheriffs were doubtful of their -power to make alterations, and consulted the judges, who gave it as -their opinion that it was within the sheriffs' competence. "With this -sanction, therefore," the sheriffs go on to say, "we have proceeded, -and instead of carting the criminals through the streets to Tyburn, the -sentence of death is executed in the front of Newgate, where upwards of -five thousand persons may easily assemble; here a temporary scaffold -hung with black is erected, and no other persons are permitted to -ascend it than the necessary officers of justice, the clergyman, and -the criminal, and the crowd is kept at a proper distance. During the -whole time of the execution a funeral bell is tolled in Newgate, and -the prisoners are kept in the strictest order." - -The horrors of executions were but little diminished by the -substitution of the Old Bailey as the scene. Seventy-four years were -to elapse before the wisdom of legislators and the good sense of the -public insisted that the extreme penalty of the law should be carried -out in strictest privacy within the walls of the gaol. - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[162:1] No. 45 of the _North Briton_ charged the king with falsehood, -and was the basis of the prosecutions; forty-five became in consequence -a popular number with the patriots. Tradesmen called their goods -"forty-five;" and snuff so styled was sold in Fleet Street for many -years. Horne Tooke declares that the Prince of Wales aggravated his -august father, when the latter was flogging him, by shouting "Wilkes -and forty-five for ever!" - -[164:1] Lords of Leet were obliged to keep up a pillory or tumbrel, on -pain of forfeiture of the leet; and villages might also be compelled to -provide them. - -[165:1] "Punishments in the Olden Time," by William Andrews, F. R. H. -S., to which I am indebted for many of my facts. - -[167:1] This was not an uncommon offence. One Mary Hamilton was married -fourteen times to members of her own sex. A more inveterate, but a more -natural, bigamist was a man named Miller, who was pilloried, in 1790, -for having married thirty different women on purpose to plunder them. - -[172:1] Bernardo Visconti, Duke of Milan, in the 14th century, made a -capital punishment, or more exactly the act of killing, last for forty -days. - -[181:1] By "Halifax law" any thief who within the precincts of the -liberty stole thirteen pence could on conviction before four burghers -be sentenced to death. The same law obtained at Hull, hence the -particular prayer in the thieves' Litany, which ran as follows: "From -Hull, Hell, and Halifax, good Lord, deliver us." - -[200:1] The negligence and perfunctory performance of duty of the -ordinary, Mr. Forde, is strongly animadverted upon in the "Report of -Commons' Committee in 1814." - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -REMARKABLE ESCAPES - - Escapes from Newgate mostly commonplace—Causes of escapes— - Mediæval prison breaking—Scheme of escape in a coffin—Other - methods—Changing clothes—Setting fire to prison—Connivance - of keepers—Ordinary devices—Quarrying walls, taking up - floors, cutting of fetters—Jack Sheppard—His escapes from - Newgate—His capture—Special instructions from Secretary of - State for his speedy trial and execution—Burnworth's attempt - —Joshua Dean—Daniel Malden's two escapes—His personal - narrative and account of his recapture—Stratagem and disguise - —Female clothing—Mr. Barlow the Jacobite detected in a - woman's dress and taken to the Old Bailey—General Forster's - escape—Mr. Pitt the governor suspended and suspected of - complicity—Brigadier Macintosh and fifteen other Jacobites - escape—Some retaken—Mr. Ratcliffe gets away—Again in trouble - and executed in 1745. - - -Escapes from Newgate have been numerous enough, but except in a few -cases not particularly remarkable. They miss the extraordinary features -of celebrated evasions, such as those of Casanova Von Trenck and -Latude. The heroes of Newgate, too, were mostly commonplace criminals. -There was but little romance about their misdeeds, and they scarcely -excite the sympathy which we cannot deny to victims of tyrannical -oppression immured under the Piombi of Venice or in the Bastile. They -lacked aptitude, moreover, or perhaps opportunity, to weave their -stories into thrilling narratives, such as have been preserved from -the pens of more scholarly prisoners. Hence the chronicle of Newgate -is somewhat bald and uninteresting as regards escapes. It rings the -changes upon conventional stratagems and schemes. All more or less -bear testimony to the cunning and adroitness of the prisoners, but -all equally prove the keepers' carelessness or cupidity. An escape -from prison argues always a want of precaution. This may come of mere -neglectfulness, or it may be bought at a price. Against bribery there -can be no protection, but long experience has established the watchful -supervision, which to-day avails more than bolts and bars and blocks -of stone. A prisoner can sooner win through a massive wall than elude -a keen-eyed warder's care. Hence in all modern prison construction the -old idea of mere solidity has been abandoned, and reliance is placed -rather upon the upright intelligence of that which we may term the -prison police. The minute inspection of cells and other parts occupied -by prisoners; the examination of the prisoners themselves at uncertain -times; above all, the intimate acquaintance which those in authority -should have of the movements and doings of their charges at all -seasons—these are the best safeguards against escapes. - -In early days attempts to break prison were generally rude and -imperfect. Now and again a rescue was accomplished by force, at risk, -however, of a levée of the citizens in vindication of the law. This -was the case in 1439, when Phillip Malpas and Robert Marshall, the -sheriffs of London, recovered a prisoner who had been snatched from -their officers' hands. Sometimes the escape followed a riotous upheaval -of the inmates of Newgate, as when two of the Percies and Lord Egremond -were committed to Newgate for an affray in the North Country between -them and Lord Salisbury's sons. Soon after their committal these -turbulent aristocrats "broke out of prison and went to the king; the -other prisoners took to the leads of the gate, and defended it a long -while against the sheriffs and all their officers," till eventually the -aid of the citizens had to be called in. In 1520 a prisoner who was -so weak and ill that he had to be let down out of Newgate in a basket -broke through the people in the Sessions Hall, and took sanctuary in -Grey Friars Church. The rest of the story, as told by Holinshed, states -that after staying six or seven days in the church, before the sheriffs -could speak with him, "because he would not abjure (the country) and -asked a crowner, they took him hence, with violence, and cast him again -into prison, but the law served not to hang him." - -In the "Calendar of State Papers," under date 1593, there is a -reference to a more ingenious method of compassing the enlargement of -a prisoner. The scheme was to convey a living body out of Newgate in -a coffin, instead of the dead one for which it had been prepared. The -prisoner was a member of the congregation or secret conventicle, and -the coffin had been made by subscription of the whole society, at a -cost of four and eightpence. The State Papers give the examination of -one Christopher Bowman, a goldsmith, on the subject, but unfortunately -gives few details as to the meditated escape. The idea was to write -a wrong name on the coffin-lid, and no doubt to trust to a corrupt -officer within the prison for the substitution of the bodies. I find -another curious but brief reference to escapes in the State Papers -about this date. It is the endorsement of "the examination of Robert -Bellamy, of the manner of his escape from Newgate, from thence to -Scotland, and then over to Hamburgh. His arrest in the Palsgrave's -country, and his conveyance to Duke Casimir." - -As time passed the records become fuller, and there is more variety in -the operations of the prisoners in their efforts towards freedom. In -1663 a man escaped by his wife changing clothes with him, and got into -a hole between two walls in Thomas Court; "but though he had a rug and -food, yet the night being wet he wanted beer, and peeping out, he was -taken, is brought back prisoner, and will, it is thought, be hanged." -Sometimes the prisoners rose against their keepers, and tried to set -the prison on fire, hoping to get out during the confusion. This was -repeatedly tried. In 1615, for instance, and again in 1692, when the -prison was actually alight; but the fire was discovered just as certain -of the prisoners were in the act of breaking open the prison gates. -Sometimes no violence was used, but the prisoner walked off with the -connivance of his keeper. This was what occurred with Sir Nicholas -Poyntz, who escaped between Newgate and the King's Bench, on the road -to the latter prison, to which he was being transferred. The references -to this case throw some light upon the interior of Newgate in the year -1623. Poyntz had been arrested for killing a man in a street brawl. -He had been committed first to the King's Bench, whence, on pretence -of his having excited a mutiny in that prison, he was transferred to -Newgate, and lodged in a dungeon without bed or light, and compelled -to lie in a coffin. All this he sets forth in a petition to the high -and mighty prince, George, Duke of Buckingham, for whose use he paid -the sum of £500 to Sir Edward Villiers, and prays that he may have -leave to sue out his Habeas Corpus, or have back his money. No notice -having been taken of this appeal, he made shift for himself in the -manner described. He was soon afterwards retaken, as appears from -other petitions from the under-sheriffs, against whom actions had been -commenced for allowing the escape. - -Another somewhat similar case is reported in 1635, where the deputy -keeper of Newgate, Edward James by name, was attached and committed to -the Fleet for allowing Edward Lunsford, a prisoner in his custody, to -go at large. Lunsford was concerned with Lewis and others in a foul -attempt to kill Sir Thomas Pelham, on a Sunday going to church, and -committed under an order of the Star Chamber to Newgate, where he lay -for a year. His imprisonment was from time to time relaxed by James: -first that he might prosecute his suit to a gentlewoman worth £10,000; -and afterwards on account of the prosecutions against him in the Star -Chamber; ultimately on account of his lameness and sickness James gave -him liberty for the recovery of his health, and he was allowed to -lodge out of prison, his father being his surety, and promising that -he should be produced when required. But he abused his kindness, and -instead of showing himself at regular periods to the keeper, made off -altogether. All this is stated in a petition from James, who prays -for enlargement on bail that he may pursue and recapture Lunsford. -"Lunsford is so lame that he can only go in a coach, and though it -is reported that he has been at Gravelines and Cologne, yet he had -been seen in town within ten days." This petition, which is in the -State Papers, is underwritten that the Attorney-General be directed to -prosecute the petitioner in the Star Chamber, and upon it are Secretary -Windebank's notes; to the effect that James had received a bribe -of £14 to allow Lunsford and his companions to go abroad without a -warrant, and one of them to escape. Various sentences were proposed. -Lord Cottington suggested that James should pay a fine of £1,000 to the -king, imprisonment during pleasure, to be bound to good behaviour when -he comes out, and acknowledgments. Secretary Windebank added that he -should be put from his place; the earl marshal suggested standing with -a paper in Westminster Hall, and prosecution of the principal keeper; -Archbishop Laud concluded with whipping, and that the chief keeper -should be sent for to the Council Board. - -The ordinary methods of attempting escape were common enough in -Newgate. Quarrying into the walls, breaking up floors, sawing through -bars, and picking locks were frequent devices to gain release. In 1679 -several prisoners picked out the stones of the prison walls, and seven -who had been committed to Newgate for burglary escaped. No part of the -prison was safe from attack, provided only the prisoners had leisure -and were unobserved, both of which were almost a matter of course. Now -it is a passage through the back of a chimney in a room occupied by the -prisoner, now a hole through a wall into a house adjoining the prison. -Extraordinary perseverance is displayed in dealing with uncompromising -material. The meanest and seemingly most insufficient weapons served. -Bars are sawn through like butter;[217:1] prisoners rid themselves of -their irons as though they were old rags; one man takes a bar out of -the chapel window, climbs through, and gets away over the house-tops; -a gang working in association saw through eight bars, "each as thick -as a man's wrist, leaving enough iron to keep the bars together, and -fitting up the notches with dirt and iron-rust to prevent discovery;" -but they are detected in time, and for proper security are all chained -to the floor. Another lot are discovered "working with large iron -crows," meaning to get through the floor. On this occasion "a great lot -of saws, files, pins, and other tools" were found among the prisoners, -plainly revealing the almost inconceivable license and carelessness -prevailing. Again, two men under sentence of death found means to -break out of Newgate "through walls six feet in thickness." They were -brothers, and one of them being ill, he was out of humanity removed -from his cell to an upper room, where the other was suffered to attend -him. As they were both bricklayers by trade, they easily worked through -the wall in a night, and so escaped. They were, however, retaken and -hanged. The ease with which irons are slipped is shown repeatedly. One -man having attempted to escape was as usual chained to the floor, -yet he managed to get himself loose from an iron collar in which his -neck was fastened and his hands extended. This man, when disengaged -from the floor, had the resolution to wring the collar from his neck -by fixing it between two of the bars of the gaol window, and thus by -main strength he broke it in two. Others cut through their handcuffs -and shackles two or three times in succession with the ease of the -Davenport brothers freeing themselves from bonds. - -Jack Sheppard's escapes from Newgate are historical, although much -embellished by the novelist's art. Sheppard's success was really -marvellous, but it may be explained to some extent by his indomitable -pluck, his ingenuity, and his personal activity. As he was still quite -a lad when he was hanged in 1724, he could have been barely twenty-two -at the time of his escapes. In the proclamation for his apprehension -after his second escape, he is described as about twenty-two years -of age, five feet four inches in height, very slender, of a pale -complexion, having an impediment or hesitation in his speech and -wearing a butcher's blue frock with a greatcoat over it; a carpenter -or house-joiner by trade. Twenty guineas reward was offered to any who -might discover or apprehend him. From his early apprenticeship to a -carpenter he had much skill and knowledge in the handling of tools. He -first became celebrated as a prison-breaker by his escapes from the -St. Giles's Round House and from the New Prison. His first escape, -from the condemned hold of Newgate, where he lay under sentence of -death, was more a proof of ingenuity than of prowess. The usual neglect -of proper precautions allowed two female visitors to have access to -him and to supply him with tools, probably a file and saw. With these -he partly divided a spike on the top of the hatch which led from the -condemned hold. - -Upon a second visit from his fair friends he broke off the spike, -squeezed his head and shoulders through the opening, the women then -pulling him through. How he got past the lodge where the turnkeys were -carousing is not recorded, but it was probably in female disguise. -His second escape, following his recapture, and a second sentence -of death, was much more remarkable. This escape was, however, only -rendered possible by the negligence of his keepers. They visited him -at dinner-time, and after a careful examination of his irons, having -satisfied themselves that he was quite secure, left him for the day. -Released thus from all surveillance, time was all that Sheppard needed -to effect his escape. - -He had been chained to the floor by heavy irons, which were riveted -into a staple fixed in the ground. Various fancy sketches exist of the -means of restraint employed, but none can be relied upon as accurate -or authentic. Some irons still in existence at Newgate may be akin to -those by which Sheppard was secured, but they are hardly the identical -fetters. Sheppard was also handcuffed. He is said to have rid himself -of these by holding the connecting chain firmly between his teeth, -squeezing his fingers as small as possible, and drawing the manacles -off. "He next twisted the gyves,[220:1] the heavy gyves, round and -round, and partly by main strength, partly by a dexterous, well-applied -jerk, snapped asunder the central link by which they were attached -to the padlock." He was now free to move about, but the basils still -confined his ankles, and he dragged at every step the long connecting -chain. He drew up the basils on his calf, and removing his stockings, -used them to tie up the chains to his legs. He first attempted to -climb up the chimney, but his upward progress was impeded by an iron -bar that crossed the aperture. He descended, therefore, and from the -outside, with a piece of his broken chain set to work to pick out the -stones and bricks so as to release the bar. This he accomplished and -thus obtained an implement about an inch square and nearly a yard long, -which was of the utmost service to him in his further operations. -The room in which he had been confined was a part of the so-called -"castle;" above it was the "Red-room," and into this he effected an -entrance by climbing the chimney and making a fresh hole on the level -of the floor above. In the "Red-room" he found a rusty nail, with which -he tried to pick the lock, but failing in this, he wrenched off the -plate that covered the bolt and forced the bolt back with his fingers. -This Red-room door opened on to a dark passage leading to the chapel. -There was a door in it which he opened by making a hole in the wall -and pushing the bolt back, and so reached the chapel. Thence he got -into an entry between the chapel and the lower leads. "The door of -this entry was very strong,[221:1] and fastened with a great lock. -What was worse, the night had now overtaken him, and he was forced to -work in the dark. However, in half an hour, by the help of the great -nail, the chapel spike, and the iron bar, he forced off the box of the -lock and opened the door which led him to another yet more difficult, -for it was not only locked, but barred and bolted. When he had tried -in vain to make this lock and box give way, he wrenched the fillet -from the main post of the door and the box and staples came off with -it. . . . There was yet another door betwixt him and the lower leads; -but it being bolted within side he opened it easily, and mounting to -the top of it he got over the wall and so to the upper leads." All that -remained for him to do was to descend. There was a house adjoining, -that of Mr. Bird, a turner, on to which he might drop, but he deemed -the leap too dangerous, and coolly resolved to retrace his steps to the -prison chamber, from whence he had so laboriously issued, and secure -his blanket. Having accomplished this risky service, he returned to the -leads, made fast his blanket, slid down it, entered the turner's house -by a garret window, and eventually, after some delay and no little -danger of detection, got away down into the street. - -Mr. Austin, the Newgate turnkey, who was specially in charge of -Sheppard, and who, on unbolting the castle strong room next morning, -found that his prisoner was gone, was amazed beyond measure. The whole -of the prison warders ran up, and at sight of the cart-loads of rubbish -and débris "stood like men deprived of their senses." After their first -surprise they got their keys to open the neighbouring strong rooms, -hoping that he might not have got entirely away. It was not difficult -to follow his track. Six great doors, one of which it was said had not -been opened for seven years, had been forced, and their massive locks, -screws, and bolts lay broken in pieces, and scattered about the gaol. -Last of all they came to the blanket hanging pendent from the leads, -and it was plain that Sheppard was already far beyond pursuit. - -It may be interesting to mention here that he was recaptured, mainly -through his own negligence and drunkenness, within a fortnight of -his escape. In the interval, after ridding himself of his irons, he -had committed several fresh robberies, the most successful being a -burglary at a pawnbroker's, where he furnished himself with the fine -suit, sword, and snuff-box he possessed at the time of his arrest. -"When he was brought back to the gaol," says a contemporary account, -"he was very drunk, carry'd himself insolently, defy'd the keepers -to hold him with all their irons, art, and skill." He was by this -time quite a notorious personage. "Nothing contributes so much to -the entertainment of the town at present," says another journal of -the time, "as the adventures of the house-breaker and gaol-breaker, -John Sheppard. 'Tis thought the keepers of Newgate have got above -£200 already by the crowds who daily flock to see him." "On Wednesday -several noblemen visited him." He sat for his portrait to Sir James -Thornhill, the eminent painter,[223:1] and the likeness was reproduced -in a mezzotint which had a large circulation. Seven different histories -or narratives of his adventures were published and illustrated with -numerous engravings. His importance was further increased by the -special instructions issued to the Attorney-General to bring him to -immediate trial. A letter from the Duke of Newcastle, then Secretary of -State, is preserved in the Hardwicke MSS., wherein that great official -condescends to convey the king's commands to Sir Philip Yorke that -Sheppard, having made two very extraordinary escapes, and being a very -dangerous person, should be forthwith brought to trial, "to the end -that execution may without delay be awarded against him." This letter -is dated the 6th November; he was arraigned on the 10th, found guilty, -and sentenced the same day. His execution took place on the 16th -November, just one month after his escape. He exhibited great coolness -and effrontery during his trial. He told the court that if they would -let his handcuffs be put on he by his art would take them off before -their faces. The largest crowds ever seen in London paid testimony to -his notoriety as he passed through the streets; and Westminster Hall -had not been so densely thronged in the memory of man as at the time of -his trial. No pains were spared to ensure his safe custody in Newgate. -He was chained to the floor in the condemned hold, and constantly -watched night and day by two guards. - -But up to the last Sheppard entertained schemes for eluding justice. -He had obtained a penknife by some means or other, and he had intended -to cut his cords while actually in the cart going to Tyburn, throw -himself in amongst the crowd at a place called Little Turnstile, and -run for his life through the narrow passage, along which the mounted -officers could not follow him. But this plan was nullified by the -discovery of the knife on his person just before he left Newgate. It -is said that he had also hopes of resuscitation, and that friends had -agreed to cut him down promptly, and to apply the usual restoratives. -This scheme, if it had ever existed, was probably rendered abortive by -the proceedings of the mob after the execution. - -Sheppard had many imitators, but few equals. Possibly the ease with -which he broke prison led to an increase in precautions, and I can -find no other cases of evasion in Jack Sheppard's manner. There are -several instances of attempted escapes by the reverse process, not over -the walls, but through them or along the sewers. Burnworth, while in -Newgate in 1726, projected a plan of escape. He got an iron crow, and -assisted by certain prisoners, pulled stones out of the walls, while -others sung psalms to put the turnkeys off their guard. Next day the -officers came to remove five convicts awaiting execution, but found the -room so full of stones and rubbish that some hours elapsed before the -prisoners could be got out, and Burnworth was still in durance. Joshua -Dean, capitally convicted in 1731 for counterfeiting stamps, formed -a design with seven other prisoners awaiting transportation to the -plantations to break gaol. They found means to get down into the common -sewer, no doubt by taking up the floor. Thence four of them reached a -vault under a house in Fleet Lane, and so into the shop, through which -three got off, but the fourth was secured and carried back to Newgate. -The fate of two at least of the remaining three was not known till -long afterwards. In 1736, a certain Daniel Malden, who had already -escaped once, again got out of Newgate, by sawing his chains near the -staple with which they were fastened to the wall of the condemned hold -and getting through the brickwork and dropping into the common sewer. -"Several persons were employed to search after him, but to no purpose, -though the chains about him weighed nearly a hundred pounds." Malden -was not discovered, but the searchers came upon "the bodies of two -persons who had been smothered in trying to escape." These were no -doubt two of those mentioned above. This method of evasion continued to -be practised till long afterwards. In 1785 two convicts cut a hole in -the floor of their cell, and got into the common sewer to make their -escape. "But wading till they were almost suffocated, they at length -reached the gully-hole, and calling for help, were taken out alive, but -too weak to walk, and carried to their former quarters." - -Daniel Malden, who twice in successive years escaped from the -condemned hold in Newgate, in a manner little less surprising, although -less notorious, than Jack Sheppard, had been a man-of-war's man, and -served on several of his Majesty's ships. After his discharge he took -to burglary and street-robberies, for which he was presently arrested -and sentenced to suffer death. While lying in the condemned hold, on -the very morning of his execution he effected his escape. A previous -occupant of the same cell in the condemned hold had told him that -a certain plank was loose in the floor, which he found to be true. -Accordingly, between ten and eleven on the night of October 21, 1736, -before execution, he began to work, and raised up the plank with the -foot of a stool that was in the cell. He soon made a hole through the -arch under the floor big enough for his body to pass through, and so -dropped into a cell below from which another convict had previously -escaped. The window-bar of this cell remained cut just as it had been -left after this last escape, and Malden easily climbed through with -all his irons still on him into the press-yard. When there he waited -a bit, till, seeing "all things quiet," he pulled off his shoes and -went softly up into the chapel, where he observed a small breach in -the wall. He enlarged it and so got into the penthouse. Making his way -through the penthouse, he passed on to the roof. At last, using his -own words, "I got upon the top of the cells by the ordinary's house, -having made my way from the top of the chapel upon the roofs of the -houses, and all round the chimneys of the cells over the ordinary's -house;" from this he climbed along the roofs to that of an empty house, -and finding one of the garret windows open, entered it and passed down -three pairs of stairs into the kitchen, where he put on his shoes -again, "which I had made shift to carry in my hand all the way I came, -and with rags and pieces of my jacket wrapped my irons close to my legs -as if I had been gouty or lame; then I got out at the kitchen window, -up one pair of stairs into Phœnix Court, and from thence through the -streets to my home in Nightingale Lane." - -Here he lay till six o'clock, then sent for a smith, who knocked off -his irons, and took them away with him for his pains. Then he asked for -his wife, who came to him; but while they were at breakfast, hearing a -noise in the yard, he made off, and took refuge at Mrs. Newman's, "the -sign of the Black-boy, Millbank; there I was kept private and locked up -four days alone and no soul by myself." - -Venturing out on the fifth day, he heard they were in pursuit of him, -and again took refuge, this time in the house of a Mrs. Franklin. -From thence he despatched a shoemaker with a message to his wife, and -letters to two gentlemen in the city. But the messenger betrayed him to -the Newgate officers, and in about an hour "the house was beset. I hid -myself," says Malden, "behind the shutters in the yard, and my wife -was drinking tea in the house. The keepers, seeing her, cried, 'Your -humble servant, madam; where is your spouse?' I heard them, and knowing -I was not safe, endeavoured to get over a wall, when some of them -espyed me, crying, 'Here he is!' upon which they immediately laid hold -of me, carried me back to Newgate, put me into the old condemned hold -as the strongest place, and stapled me down to the floor." - -Nothing daunted by this first failure, he resolved to attempt a second -escape. A fellow prisoner conveyed a knife to him, and on the night of -June 6, 1737, he began to saw the staple to which he was fastened in -two. His own story is worth quoting. - -"I worked through it with much difficulty, and with one of my irons -wrenched it open and got it loose. Then I took down, with the -assistance of my knife, a stone in front of the seat in the corner of -the condemned hold: when I had got the stone down, I found there was a -row of strong iron bars under the seat through which I could not get, -so I was obliged to work under these bars and open a passage below -them. To do this I had no tool but my old knife, and in doing the work -my nails were torn off the ends of my fingers, and my hands were in a -dreadful, miserable condition. At last I opened a hole just big enough -for me to squeeze through, and in I went head foremost, but one of my -legs, my irons being on, stuck very fast in the hole, and by this -leg I hung in the inside of the vault with my head downward for half -an hour or more. I thought I should be stifled in this sad position, -and was just going to call out for help, when, turning myself up, I -happened to reach the bars. I took fast hold of them by one hand, and -with the other disengaged my leg to get it out of the hole." - -When clear he had still a drop of some thirty feet, and to break his -fall he fastened a piece of blanket he had about him to one of the -bars, hoping to lower himself down; but it broke, and he fell with -much violence into a hole under the vault, "my fetters causing me to -fall very heavy, and here I stuck for a considerable time." This hole -proved to be a funnel, "very narrow and straight; I had torn my flesh -in a terrible manner by the fall, but was forced to tear myself much -worse in squeezing through." He stuck fast and could not stir either -backward or forward for more than half an hour. "But at last, what with -squeezing my body, tearing my flesh off my bones, and the weight of my -irons, which helped me a little here, I worked myself through." - -The funnel communicated with the main sewer, in which, as well as he -could, he cleaned himself. "My shirt and breeches were torn in pieces, -but I washed them in the muddy water, and walked through the sewer as -far as I could, my irons being very heavy on me and incommoding me -much." Now a new danger overtook him: his escape had been discovered -and its direction. Several of the Newgate runners had therefore been -let into the sewer to look for him. "And here," he says, "I had been -taken again had I not found a hollow place in the side of the brickwork -into which I crowded myself, and they passed by me twice while I -stood in that nook." He remained forty-eight hours in the sewer, but -eventually got out in a yard "against the pump in Town Ditch, behind -Christ's Hospital." Once more he narrowly escaped detection, for a -woman in the yard saw and suspected him to be after no good. However, -he was suffered to go free, and got as far as Little Britain, where he -came across a friend who gave him a pot of beer and procured a smith to -knock off his fetters. - -Malden's adventures after this were very varied. He got first to -Enfield, when some friends subscribed forty-five shillings to buy him -a suit of clothes at Rag Fair. Thence he passed over to Flushing, -where he was nearly persuaded to take foreign service, but he refused -and returned to England in search of his wife. Finding her, the two -wandered about the country taking what work they could find. While at -Canterbury, employed in the hop-fields, he was nearly discovered by a -fellow who beat the drum in a show, and who spoke of him openly as "a -man who had broken twice out of Newgate." Next he turned jockey, and -while thus employed was betrayed by a man to whom he had been kind. -Malden was carried before the Canterbury justices on suspicion of being -the man who had escaped from Newgate, and a communication was sent to -the authorities of that prison. Mr. Akerman and two of his officers -came in person to identify the prisoner, and, if the true Malden, to -convey him back to London. But Malden once more nearly gave his gaolers -the slip. He obtained somehow an old saw, "a spike such as is used for -splicing ropes, a piece of an old sword jagged and notched, and an old -knife." These he concealed rather imprudently upon his person, where -they were seen and taken from him, otherwise Mr. Akerman, as Malden -told him, "would have been like to have come upon a Canterbury story" -instead of the missing prisoner. However, the Newgate officers secured -Malden effectually, and brought him to London on the 26th of September, -1737, which he reached "guarded by about thirty or forty horsemen, -the roads all the way being lined with spectators." "Thus was I got -to London," he says in his last dying confession, "handcuffed, and my -legs chained under the horse's belly; I got to Newgate that Sunday -evening about five o'clock, and rid quite up into the lodge, where I -was taken off my horse, then was conveyed up to the old condemned hole, -handcuffed, and chained to the floor." - -On Friday, the 15th October, the last day of Sessions, Malden was -called into court and informed that his former judgment of death must -be executed upon him, and he was accordingly hanged upon the 2d -November following. - -Stratagem and disguise in some shape or other were, however, the -most favourite and generally the most successful forms of escape. -Extraordinary and quite culpable facilities for changing clothes -were given by the lax discipline of the prison. The substitution of -persons, devoted wife or friend, taking the place of the accused, as -in the story of Sydney Carton, as told by Dickens; or the well-known -exchange between Lord and Lady Nithsdale, which occurred at Newgate. -George Flint, an imprisoned journalist, who continued to edit his -objectionable periodical from the prison, got away in the costume of -a footman. His wife was suffered to live with him, and helped him -to the disguise. She concealed the escape for two or three days, -pretending that her husband was dangerously ill in bed, and not fit to -be disturbed; for which fidelity to her husband, who was now beyond -the seas, having made the most of the time thus gained, Mrs. Flint -was cast into the condemned hold, and "used after a most barbarous -manner to extort a confession." Another very similar and unsuccessful -case was that of Alexander Scott, a highwayman suspected of robbing -the Worcester and Portsmouth mails. Scott attempted to get out in the -"habit" of an oyster-woman, whom his wife had persuaded to favour their -design. The change was made, and the lodge bell rung to give egress to -Scott. Unfortunately for the prisoner the gatekeeper was dilatory. -Meanwhile, an assistant turnkey, missing Scott, conjectured that he -had escaped, and seeing the oyster-woman standing at the gate, began -to question her, and insisted upon looking at her face. Scott being -at once detected, he struck the turnkey a blow in the face, hoping to -knock him down. A scuffle ensued, the turnkey proved the strongest, and -Scott was secured. - -Female disguise was one of the many methods employed by the imprisoned -Jacobites to compass escape, but it was not always successful. Among -others Mr. Barlow of Burton Hall tried it. In the first instance a -crazy woman, Elizabeth Powell, well known in Westminster Market, -came to Mr. Barlow with a whole suit of female apparel, but "he, -fearing it might be a trick, or that he might fail in the attempt, -discovered her." A week or two later, as if inspired by the proposal, -Mr. Barlow did make the attempt. Close shaved and neatly dressed in -female clothes, he came to the gate with a crowd of ladies who had -been visiting their Jacobite friends, hoping to pass out unobserved -with the others. But the turnkey—escapes had been very frequent, -and all officials were on the alert—caught hold of him, turned him -about, and in the struggle threw him down. The rest of the women cried -out in a lamentable tone, "Don't hurt the poor lady; she is with -child;" and some of them cried, "Oh, my dear mother!" whereupon the -turnkey, convinced he had to do with a lady, let him go. Mr. Barlow, -says the account, acted the part to the life. He was padded, his -face was painted red and white, and he would certainly have made his -escape had not Mr. Carleton Smith, one of the special commissioners -appointed to ensure the safe custody of the rebels, strictly examined -the would-be fugitive and detected his disguise. Mr. Barlow offered -Smith ten guineas to let him go, but instead of accepting the bribe, -Mr. Smith carried his prisoner just as he was, in female disguise, -before the court then sitting at the Old Bailey. Mr. Barlow declared -that the clothes had been brought him by his wife. "The court," says -the account, "was very well pleased to see him thus metamorphosed, but -ordered him to be put in heavy irons, and the clothes to be kept as a -testimony against him." - -The circumstances under which Mr. Pitt, the governor of Newgate, was -superseded in his functions have been described in a previous chapter. -Mr. Pitt was so strongly suspected of Jacobite leanings that he was -tried for his life. No doubt escapes were scandalously frequent -during his régime, and it is just possible that they were due to the -governor's complicity, although Mr. Pitt was actually acquitted of -the charge. More probably they owed their success to the ingenuity of -desperate men easily triumphing over the prevailing carelessness of -their keepers. The first escape which made a considerable noise was -that of Mr. Forster, commonly known as General Forster, who headed -the Northumbrian rising in 1715, and lost the battle of Preston Pans. -Mr. Forster was allowed considerable liberty, and lodged in apartments -in the keeper's house. One afternoon, when Forster and another were -drinking "French wine" with Mr. Pitt, Mr. Forster sent his servant to -fetch a bottle of wine from his own stock to "make up the treat." The -servant on pretence of going to the vault left the room. Being long -away, Mr. Forster pretended to be very angry, and followed him out. -Meanwhile the servant had sent the governor's black man, a species -of hybrid turnkey, down to the cellar for the wine, and had locked -him up there. The black thus disposed of, Forster's servant returned -and waited for his master just outside Mr. Pitt's parlour door. Being -an adept at the locksmith's art, as well as a smart and intelligent -fellow, the servant had previously obtained an impression in clay of -Mr. Pitt's front door key, and had manufactured a counterfeit key. -Directly Mr. Forster appeared, the front door was unlocked, master and -servant passed through and went off together, first taking care to -lock the door on the outside and leave the key in the lock to prevent -their being readily pursued. Mr. Forster got to Prittlewell in Essex -by four o'clock next morning, with two more horsemen that had been -waiting to attend them. From Prittlewell, they hastened on to Leigh, -where a vessel was provided, in which they made a safe voyage to -France. "By this it appears," says the chronicler, evidently a stout -Whig, "that Mr. Forster was much better skilled in contriving an escape -than leading an army, which shows the weakness of the Pretender and -his council, who put so great a trust in the hands of a person who was -altogether unfit for it, and never made other campaign than to hunt a -fox and drink down his companions." - -The next attempt was on a larger scale. It was planned by Brigadier -Macintosh, with whom were Mr. Wogan, two of the Delmehoys, Mr. James -Talbot, and the brigadier's son, with several others, to the number of -fifteen in all. The prime mover was the brigadier, who, having "made a -shift to get off his irons, and coming down with them in his hand under -his gown, caused a servant to knock at the gaol door outside, himself -sitting close by it." As soon as the door was opened he pushed out -with great violence, knocking down the turnkey and two or three of the -sentinels. One of the soldiers made a thrust at him with his bayonet; -but the brigadier parried the charge, seized the piece, unscrewed the -bayonet, and "menaced it at the breast of the soldier, who thereupon -gave way and suffered him and fourteen more to get into the street." -Eight of the fugitives were almost immediately recaptured, but the -other gentlemen got clean off. One of them was Mr. James Talbot, -who, unhappily, fell again into the hands of the authorities. He was -discovered by the chance gossip of a garrulous maid servant, who, -chattering at an ale-house in Windmill Street, near the Haymarket, -said her master had a cousin come to see him who had the whitest hands -she ever saw in her life. This caused suspicion, and suspicion brought -discovery. A reward of £500 had been offered by proclamation for the -arrest of any fugitives, except the brigadier, who was valued at -£1,000, and Talbot was given up. - -The escapes did not end here. The next to get away was Mr. George -Budden, an upholsterer, who had a shop near Fleet Bridge, a Jacobite, -but not in the rebellion of 1715. He effected his escape at the time -when Mr. Pitt was himself a prisoner, suspected of collusion in the -previous evasions. Mr. Budden's plan was simple. He was possessed of -money, and had friends who could help to convey him away could he but -get out of Newgate. One night as he sat drinking with the head turnkey, -Mr. Budden purposely insulted the officer grossly, and even went so -far as to strike him. The turnkey was furious, and carried off his -prisoner to the lodge, there to be heavily ironed, Mr. Budden trusting -that either on the way there or back he might contrive to escape. On -reaching the lodge Mr. Budden apologized and "made atonement to the -good-natured keeper, who was a little mellower than ordinary," and was -led back to his former apartment; on the way he turned up the keeper's -heels and made off through the gate. Once outside, Budden ran into -Newgate Market, and thence by many windings and turnings out of London, -riding post-haste seventy miles to the coast, and so across to France. - -There were other attempts, such as that of Mr. Robertson, who tried to -make off in a clergyman's habit, but was discovered and stopped before -he had passed one of the doors; and of Mr. Ramsay, who escaped with -the crowd that came to hear the condemned sermon. Now and then there -was the concerted action of a number, as when the prisoners thronged -about the gates in order to make their escape. Trouble, again, was only -prevented by timely warning that there was a design to convey large -iron crows to the rebels, by which they might beat open the gaol and -escape. The most important and about the last of the rebel escapes was -that of Mr. Ratcliffe, brother of the unfortunate Lord Derwentwater. -This was effected so easily, indeed, with so much cool impudence, that -connivance must assuredly have been bought. Mr. Ratcliffe seized his -opportunity one day when he was paying a visit to Captain Dalziel and -others on the master's side. At the gate he met by previous agreement -a "cane-jobber," or person who sold walking-sticks, and who had once -been an inmate of Newgate himself. Mr. Ratcliffe paused for a time and -bargained for a cane, after which he passed under the iron chain at the -gate, and upon the cane-seller's saying that he was no prisoner, the -turnkey and guard suffered Ratcliffe to get off. The author of the -"History of the Press-yard" says that Mr. Ratcliffe bribed the officer, -"which," as another writer adds, "must be owned to be the readiest way -to turn both lock and key." - -Mr. Ratcliffe, thirty years later, paid the penalty to the law which -he had escaped on this occasion. A warm adherent of the Pretender, he -embarked from France for Scotland to take part in the Jacobite rising -in 1745. The French ship was captured, and Ratcliffe sent as a prisoner -to the Tower. He was presently arraigned at the bar of the King's -Bench for having escaped from Newgate in 1716, when under sentence of -death for high treason. Ratcliffe at first refused to plead, declaring -that he was a subject of the French king, and that the court had no -jurisdiction over him. Then he denied that he was the person named -in the record produced in court, whereupon witnesses were called to -prove that he was Charles Ratcliffe. Two Northumbrian men identified -him as the leader of five hundred of the Earl of Derwentwater's men, -remembering him by the scar on his face. They had been to see him in -the Tower, and could swear to him; but could not swear that he was the -same Charles Ratcliffe who had escaped from Newgate prison. A barber -who had been appointed "close shaver" to Newgate in 1715, and who -attended the prison daily to shave all the rebel prisoners, remembered -Charles Ratcliffe, Esq., perfectly as the chum or companion of Basil -Hamilton, a reputed nephew of the Duke of Hamilton; but this barber, -when closely pressed, could not swear that the prisoner at the bar -was the very same Charles Ratcliffe whom he had shaved, and who had -afterwards escaped out of Newgate. No evidence indeed was forthcoming -to positively fix Mr. Ratcliffe's identity; but "a gentleman" was -called who deposed that the prisoner had in the Tower declared himself -to be the same Charles Ratcliffe who was condemned in the year 1716, -and had likewise told him, the witness, that he had made his escape -out of Newgate in mourning, with a brown tie wig, when under sentence -of death in that gaol. Upon this evidence the judge summed up against -the prisoner, the jury found a verdict of guilty, and Ratcliffe was -eventually beheaded on Tower Hill. - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[217:1] The most ingenious and painstaking attempt of this kind was -that made by some Thugs awaiting sentence in India, who sawed through -the bars of their prison with packthread smeared with oil and coated -with fine stone-dust. - -[220:1] Taken from the text of Ainsworth's novel, which gives a clear -and picturesque account. It is also accurate, and based on the best -accounts extant. - -[221:1] Quoted from the "Tyburn Calendar," the wording of which is -copied in all other accounts. - -[223:1] The following stanzas were written at the time, and appeared in -the _British Journal_ of Nov. 28, 1724: - - "Thornhill, 'tis thine to gild with fame - The obscure and raise the humble name; - To make the form elude the grave, - And Sheppard from oblivion save. - Tho' life in vain the wretch implores, - An exile on the farthest shores, - Thy pencil brings a kind reprieve, - And bids the dying robber live. - - . . . . . . . - - Apelles Alexander drew, - Cæsar is to Aurelius due, - Cromwell in Lilly's works doth shine, - And Sheppard, Thornhill, lives in thine." - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -NEWGATE IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY - - Newgate Calendars—Their editors and publishers—All based - on sessions' papers—Demand for this literature fostered - by prevalence of crime—Brief summary of state of crime - in the first half of the 18th century—State of the - metropolis—Street-robberies—Burglaries—Henry Fielding on - the increase of robbers—The Thieves' Company—The Resolution - Club—Defiance in the Law Courts—Causes of the increase of - crime—Drunkenness—The Gin Act—Gaming universal—Faro's - daughters—State Lotteries—Repression of crime limited - by hanging—No police—The "Charlies" or watchmen—Civil - power lethargic—Efforts made by private societies for - reformation of manners—Character of crimes—Murders, duels, - and affrays—Richard Savage, the poet, in Newgate for murder - —Major Oneby commits suicide—Marquis de Paleoti committed - for murder—Colonel Charteris sentenced to death, but pardoned - —Crime in high place—The Earl of Macclesfield, Lord - Chancellor, convicted of venal practices—Embezzlement by - public officials. - - -Prison calendars obviously reflect the criminal features of the age -in which they appear. Those of Newgate since the beginning of the -eighteenth century are numerous and voluminous enough to form a -literature of their own. To the diligence of lawyers and publishers -we owe a more or less complete collection of the most remarkable -cases as they occurred. These volumes have been published under -various titles. The "Newgate Calendar," compiled by Messrs. Knapp -and Baldwin, attorneys at law, is one of the best known. This work, -according to its title-page, professes to contain "interesting memoirs -of notorious characters who have been convicted of outrages on the -law of England; with essays on crimes and punishments and the last -exclamations of sufferers." There are many editions of it. The first -was undoubtedly published by Nuttall, Fisher, and Dixon, of Liverpool; -a later edition issued from the Albion Press, Ivy Lane, London, under -the auspices of J. Robins and Co. But another book of similar character -had as its compiler "George Theodore Wilkinson, Esq.," barrister at -law. It was published by Cornish and Co. in 1814, and the work was -continued by "William Jackson, Esq.," another barrister, with Alexander -Hogg, of Paternoster Row, and by Offor and Sons of Tower Hill as -publishers. Early and perfect editions of these works are somewhat -rare and curious, fondly sought out and carefully treasured by the -bibliophile. But all of them were anticipated by the editors of the -"Tyburn Calendar," or "Malefactor's Bloody Register," which appeared -soon after 1700 from the printing-office of G. Swindells, at the -appropriate address of Hanging Bridge, Manchester. The compilers of -these volumes claimed a high mission. They desired "to fully display -the regular progress from Virtue to Vice, interspersed with striking -reflections on the conduct of those unhappy wretches who have fallen -a sacrifice to the injured laws of their country. The whole tending -to guard young minds from allurements of vice and the paths that lead -to destruction." Another early work is the "Chronicle of Tyburn, or -Villainy displayed in all its branches," which gave the authentic lives -of notorious malefactors, and was published at the Shakespeare's Head -in 1720. Yet another, dated 1776, and printed for J. Wenman, of 144 -Fleet Street, bears the title of "The Annals of Newgate," and claims, -upon the title-page, that by giving the circumstantial accounts of -the lives, transactions, and trials of the most notorious malefactors -it is "calculated to expose the deformity of vice, the infamy, and -punishments naturally attending those who deviate from the paths of -virtue; and is intended as a beacon to warn the rising generation -against the temptations, the allurements, and the dangers of bad -company." - -All Newgate calendars have seemingly a common origin. They are all -based primarily upon the sessions' papers, the official publications -which record the proceedings at the Old Bailey. There is a complete -early series of these sessions' papers in the Library of the British -Museum, and another in the Home Office from the year 1730, including -the December sessions in 1729. The publisher, who is stated on the -title-page to be "T. Payne, at the corner of Ivy Lane, near Paternoster -Row," refers in his preface to an earlier series, dating probably from -the beginning of the century, and a manuscript note in the margin of -the first volume of the second series also speaks of a preceding folio -volume. These sessions' papers did not issue from one publisher. As the -years pass the publication changes hands. Now it is "J. Wilford, behind -the Chapter House, St. Paul's;" now "I. Roberts at the Oxford Arms -in Warwick Lane." Ere long "T. Applebee in Bolt Court, near the Leg -Tavern," turns his attention to this interesting class of periodical -literature. He also published another set of semi-official documents, -several numbers of which are bound up with the sessions' papers already -mentioned, and like them supplying important data for the compilation -of calendars. These were the accounts given by the ordinary of Newgate -of the behaviour, confessions, and dying words of the malefactors -executed at Tyburn, a report rendered by command of the mayor and -Corporation, but a private financial venture of the chaplain's. As -the ordinary had free access to condemned convicts at all times, and -from his peculiar duties generally established the most confidential -relations with them, he was in a position to obtain much curious and -often authentic information from the lips of the doomed offenders. -Hence the ordinary's account contained many criminal autobiographies, -and probably was much patronized by the public. Its sale was a part -of the reverend gentleman's perquisites; and that the chaplains looked -closely after the returns may be gathered from the already mentioned -application made by the Rev. Mr. Lorraine, chaplain in 1804, who -petitioned Parliament to exempt his "execution brochure" from the paper -tax. - -[Illustration: _Newgate_ - - The most notorious prison in England and the most interesting - because intimately connected with the early annals of London. - Chancellor's Gate to the City of London, originally called - Westgate, was rebuilt in the reign of Henry I and named - Newgate. When the county of Middlesex was added to the - territory of London, Newgate was first used as a place of - detention for prisoners from that county.] - -In the advertisement sheets of these sessions' papers are notices -of other criminal publications, proving how great was the demand -for this kind of literature. Thus in 1731 is announced "The History -of Executions: being a complete account of the thirteen malefactors -executed at Tyburn for robberies, price 4_d._," and this publication -is continued from year to year. In 1732 "T. Applebee and others" -published at 3_s._ 6_d._ the "Lives of the Most Remarkable Criminals," -a volume containing as a frontispiece the escape of Jack Sheppard from -Newgate. In the description of this book the public is assured that the -volume contains a first and faithful narration of each case, "without -any additions of feigned or romantic adventures, calculated merely -to entertain the curiosity of the reader." Jack Sheppard had many -biographers. Seven accurate and authentic histories were published, all -purporting to give the true story of his surprising adventures, and -bequeathing a valuable legacy to the then unborn historical novelist, -Mr. Harrison Ainsworth. Again, Rich, the manager of the Lincoln's -Inn Theatre, brought out "Harlequin Jack Sheppard" in the year -of that desperado's execution, an operatic pantomime founded upon -his exploits. A little before this another dramatic performance, the -"Beggar's Opera," having a criminal for its hero, had taken the town -by storm; and many strongly and with reason condemned the degradation -of national taste which could popularize the loves of "Polly Peachum" -and "Captain Macheath." Besides these books and plays there was a -constant publication of broad sheets and chap-books of a still lower -type, intended to pander to the same unwholesome taste, while a great -novelist like Fielding did not hesitate to draw upon his personal -acquaintance with crime, obtained as a police magistrate, and write the -life of Jonathan Wild. - -The demand was no doubt fostered by the extraordinary prevalence -of crime in England. Criminal records would probably be read with -avidity at times when ruffianism was in the ascendant, and offences -of the most heinous description were of daily occurrence. New crimes -cropped up daily. The whole country was a prey to lawlessness and -disorder. Outrages of all kinds, riots, robberies, murders, took place -continually. None of the high-roads or by-roads were safe by night or -day. Horsemen in the open country, footpads in or near towns, harassed -and pillaged wayfarers. Armed parties ranged the rural districts -attacking country-houses in force, driving off cattle and deer, and -striking terror everywhere. - -The general turbulence often broke out into open disturbance. The -Riot Act, which was a product of these times, was not passed before -it was needed. Riots were frequent in town and country. The mob was -easily roused, as when it broke open the house of the Provost Marshal -Tooley in Holborn, to whom they owed a grudge for impressing men to -sell as recruits to Flanders. They burned his furniture in the street, -and many persons were killed and wounded in the affray. Now political -parties, inflamed with rancorous spirit, created uproars in the "mug -houses;" now mutinous soldiers violently protested against the coarse -linen of their "Hanover" shirts; again the idle flunkies at a London -theatre rose in revolt against new rules introduced by the management -and produced a serious riot. In the country gangs of ruffians disguised -in female attire, the forerunners of Rebecca and her daughter, ran -amuck against turnpike gates, demolishing all they found. There were -smuggling riots, when armed crowds overpowered the customs officers -and broke into warehouses sealed by the Crown; corn riots at periods -of scarcity, when private granaries were forced and pillaged. A still -worse crime prevailed—that of arson. I find in "Hardwicke's Life," -reference to a proclamation offering a reward for the detection of -those who sent threatening letters "to diverse persons in the citys of -London, Westminster, Bristol, and Exeter, requiring them to deposit -certain sums of money in particular places, and threatening to set -fire to their houses, and to burn and destroy them and their families -in case of refusal, some of which threats have accordingly been carried -into execution." - -Other threats were to murder unless a good sum was at once paid down. -Thus Jepthah Big was tried in 1729 for writing two letters, demanding -in one eighty-five guineas, in the other one hundred guineas from -Nathaniel Newnham, "a fearful old man," and threatening to murder both -himself and wife unless he got the money. Jepthah Big was found guilty -and sentenced to death. - -The state of the metropolis was something frightful in the early -decades of the eighteenth century. Such was the reckless daring of -evil-doers that there was but little security for life and property. -Wright, in his "Caricature History of the Georges," says of this -period: "Robbery was carried on to an extraordinary extent in the -streets of London even by daylight. Housebreaking was of frequent -occurrence by night, and every road leading to the metropolis was -beset by bands of reckless highwaymen, who carried their depredations -into the very heart of the town. Respectable women could not venture -in the streets alone after nightfall, even in the city, without -risk of being grossly insulted." In 1720 ladies going to court were -escorted by servants armed with blunderbusses "to shoot at the -rogues." Wright gives a detailed account of five and twenty robberies -perpetrated within three weeks in January and February of the year -above mentioned. A few of the most daring cases may be quoted. Three -highwaymen stopped a gentleman of the prince's household in Poland -Street, and made the watchman throw away his lantern and stand quietly -by while they robbed and ill-used their victim. Other highwaymen the -same night fired at Colonel Montague's carriage as it passed along -Frith Street, Soho, because the coachman refused to stand; and the -Dutchess of Montrose, coming from court in her chair, was stopped -by highwaymen near Bond Street. The mails going out and coming into -London were seized and rifled. Post-boys, stagecoaches, everybody -and everything that travelled, were attacked. A great peer, the Duke -of Chandos, was twice stopped during the period above mentioned, but -he and his servants were too strong for the villains, some of whom -they captured. People were robbed in Chelsea, in Cheapside, in White -Conduit Fields, in Denmark Street, St. Giles. Wade, in his "British -Chronology," under the head of public calamities in 1729, classes -with a sickly season, perpetual storms, and incessant rains, the -dangerous condition of the cities of London and Westminster and their -neighbourhoods, which "proceeded from the number of footpads and -street-robbers, insomuch that there was no stirring out after dark for -fear of mischief. These ruffians knocked people down and wounded them -before they demanded their money." Large rewards were offered for the -apprehension of these offenders. Thief-catchers and informers were -continually active, and the law did not hesitate to strike all upon -whom it could lay its hands. Yet crime still flourished and increased -year after year. - -The Englishman's house, and proverbially his castle, was no more secure -then than now from burglarious inroads. Housebreakers abounded, working -in gangs with consummate skill and patience, hand and glove with -servants past and present, associated with receivers, and especially -with the drivers of night coaches. Half the hackney-coachmen about this -time were in league with thieves, being bribed by nocturnal depredators -to wait about when a robbery was imminent, and until it was completed. -Then, seizing the chance of watchmen being off their beat, these useful -accomplices drove at once to the receiver with the "swag." - -Towards the middle of the century, Henry Fielding, the great novelist, -and at that time acting magistrate for Westminster, wrote:[251:1] "I -make no doubt but that the streets of this town and the roads leading -to it will shortly be impassable without the utmost hazard; nor are -we threatened with seeing less dangerous groups of rogues amongst us -than those which the Italians call banditti. . . ." Again, "If I am to -be assaulted and pillaged and plundered, if I can neither sleep in -my own house, nor walk the streets, nor travel in safety, is not my -condition almost equally bad whether a licensed or an unlicensed rogue, -a dragoon or a robber, be the person who assaults and plunders me?" -Those who set the law at defiance organized themselves into gangs, and -coöperated in crime. Fielding tells us in the same work that nearly -a hundred rogues were incorporated in one body, "have officers and a -treasury, and have reduced theft and robbery into a regular system." -Among them were men who appeared in all disguises and mixed in all -companies. The members of the society were not only versed in every -art of cheating and thieving, but they were armed to evade the law, -and if a prisoner could not be rescued, a prosecutor could be bribed, -or some "rotten member of the law" forged a defence supported by -false witnesses. This must have been perpetuated, for I find another -reference later to the Thieves or Housebreaker's Company which had -regular books, kept clerks, opened accounts with members, and duly -divided the profits. According to the confession of two of the gang who -were executed on Kensington Common, they declared that their profits -amounted on an average to £500 a year, and that one of them had put by -£2,000 in the stocks, which before his trial he made over to a friend -to preserve it for his family. Another desperate gang, Wade says, were -so audacious that they went to the houses of the peace officers, and -made them beg pardon for endeavouring to do their duty, and promise -not to molest them. They went further, and even attacked and wounded a -"head borough" in St. John's Street in about forty places, so that many -of the threatened officers had to "lie in Bridewell for safety." - -In Harris's "Life of Lord Hardwicke" is a letter from the solicitor -to the Treasury to Sir Philip Yorke, referring to "the gang of -ruffians who are so notorious for their robberies, and have lately -murdered Thomas Bull in Southwark, and wounded others. Their numbers -daily increase, and now become so formidable that constables are -intimidated by their threats and desperate behaviour from any endeavour -to apprehend them." One of these ruffians was described in the -proclamation offering rewards for their apprehension as "above six feet -high, black eyebrows, his teeth broke before;" another had a large scar -under his chin. - -Still worse was the "Resolution Club," a numerous gang, regularly -organized under stringent rules. It was one of their articles, that -whoever resisted or attempt to fly when stopped should be instantly cut -down and crippled. Any person who prosecuted, or appeared as evidence -against a member of the club, should be marked down for vengeance. -The members took an "infernal oath" to obey the rules, and if taken -and sentenced to "die mute." Another instance of the lawlessness of -the times is to be seen in the desperate attack made by some forty -ruffians on a watch-house in Moorfields, where an accomplice was kept a -prisoner. They were armed with pistols, cutlasses, and other offensive -weapons. The watchman was wounded, the prisoner rescued. After this -the assailants demolished the watch-house, robbed the constables, -"committed several unparalleled outrages, and went off in triumph." The -gang was too numerous to be quickly subdued, but most of the rioters -were eventually apprehended, and it is satisfactory to learn that they -were sentenced to imprisonment in Newgate for three, five, or seven -years, according to the part they had played. - -The contempt of the majesty of the law was not limited to the lower -and dangerous classes. A gentleman's maid servant, having resisted the -parish officers who had a distress warrant upon the gentleman's house -for unpaid rates, was committed by the magistrates to Newgate. "The -gentleman," by name William Frankland, on learning what had happened, -armed himself with a brace of pistols, and went to the office where the -justices were then sitting, and asked which of them had dared to commit -his servant to prison. "Mr. Miller," so runs the account, "smilingly -replied, 'I did,' on which the gentleman fired one of his pistols -and shot Mr. Miller in the side, but it is thought did not wound him -mortally. He was instantly secured and committed to Newgate." At the -following Old Bailey Sessions, he was tried under the Black Act, when -he pleaded insanity. This did not avail him, and although the jury -in convicting him strongly recommended him to mercy, he was sentenced -to death. Another case of still more flagrant contempt of court may -fitly be introduced here. At the trial of a woman named Housden for -coining at the Old Bailey in 1712, a man named Johnson, an ex-butcher -and highwayman by profession, came into court and desired to speak to -her. Mr. Spurling, the principal turnkey of Newgate, told him no person -could be permitted to speak to the prisoner, whereupon Johnson drew out -a pistol and shot Mr. Spurling dead upon the spot, the woman Housden -loudly applauding his act. The court did not easily recover from its -consternation, but presently the recorder suspended the trial of the -woman for coining, and as soon as an indictment could be prepared, -Johnson was arraigned for the murder, convicted, and then and there -sentenced to death; the woman Housden being also sentenced at the same -time as an accessory before and after the fact. - -Various causes are given for this great prevalence of crime. The long -and impoverishing wars of the early years of the century, which saddled -England with the national debt, no doubt produced much distress, and -drove thousands who could not or would not find honest work into -evil ways. Manners among the highest and the lowest were generally -profligate. Innumerable places of public diversion, ridottos, balls, -masquerades, tea-gardens, and wells, offered crowds a ready means for -self-indulgence. Classes aped the habits of the classes above their -own, and the love of luxurious gratification "reached to the dregs -of the people," says Fielding, "who, not being able by the fruits of -honest labour to support the state which they affect, they disdain -the wages to which their industry would entitle them, and abandoning -themselves to idleness, the more simple and poor-spirited betake -themselves to a state of starving and beggary, while those of more art -and courage became thieves, sharpers, and robbers." - -Drunkenness was another terrible vice, even then more rampant and -wildly excessive than in later years. While the aristocracy drank deep -of Burgundy and port, and every roaring blade disdained all heel-taps, -the masses fuddled and besotted themselves with gin. This last-named -pernicious fluid was as cheap as dirt. A gin-shop actually had on its -sign the notice, "Drunk for 1_d._; dead drunk for 2_d._; clean straw -for nothing," which Hogarth introduced into his caricature of Gin Lane. -No pencil could paint, no pen describe the scenes of hideous debauchery -hourly enacted in the dens and purlieus of the town. Legislation was -powerless to restrain the popular craving. The Gin Act, passed in -1736 amidst the execrations of the mob, which sought to vent its rage -upon Sir Joseph Jekyll, the chief promoter of the bill, was generally -evaded. The much-loved poisonous spirit was still retailed under -fictitious names, such as "Sangree," "Tow Row," the "Makeshift," and -"King Theodore of Corsica." It was prescribed as a medicine for colic, -to be taken two or three times a day. Numberless tumults arose out of -the prohibition to retail spirituous liquors, and so openly was the law -defied, that twelve thousand persons were convicted within two years of -having sold them illegally in London. Informers were promptly bought -off or intimidated, magistrates "through fear or corruption" would not -convict, and the act was repealed in the hope that more moderate duty -and stricter enforcement of the law would benefit the revenue and yet -lessen consumption. The first was undoubtedly affected, but hardly the -latter. - -Fielding, writing nearly ten years after the repeal of the act, says -that he has reason to believe that "gin is the principal sustenance -(if it may be so called) of more than a hundred thousand people in the -metropolis," and he attributed to it most of the crimes committed by -the wretches with whom he had to deal. "The intoxicating draught itself -disqualifies them from any honest means to acquire it, at the same time -that it removes sense of fear and shame, and emboldens them to commit -every wicked and desperate enterprise." - -The passion for gaming, again, "the school in which most highwaymen -of great eminence have been bred," was a fruitful source of immoral -degeneracy. Every one gambled. In the _Gentleman's Magazine_ for 1731 -there is the following entry: "At night their Majesties played for -the benefit of the groom porter, and the king (George II) and queen -each won several hundreds, and the Duke of Grafton several thousands -of pounds." His Majesty's lieges followed his illustrious example, -and all manner of games of chance with cards or dice, such as hazard, -Pharaoh, basset, roly-poly, were the universal diversion in clubs, -public places, and private gatherings. The law had thundered, but -to no purpose, against "this destructive vice," inflicting fines on -those who indulged in it, declaring securities won at play void, with -other penalties, yet gaming throve and flourished. It was fostered and -encouraged by innumerable hells, which the law in vain strove to put -down. Nightly raids were made upon them. In the same number of the -_Gentleman's Magazine_ as that just quoted it is recorded, that "the -High Constable of Holborn searched a notorious gaming-house behind -Gray's Inn Road; but the gamesters were fled, only the keeper was -arrested and bound over for £200." Again, I find in Wade's "Chronology" -that "Justice Fielding, having received information of a rendezvous -of gamesters in the Strand, procured a strong party of the Guards, -who seized forty-five of the tables, which they broke to pieces, and -carried the gamesters before the justice. . . . Under each of the broken -tables were observed two iron rollers and two private springs, which -those who were in the secret could touch and stop the turning whenever -they had flats to deal with." No wonder these establishments throve. -They were systematically organized, and administered by duly appointed -officers. - -There was the commissioner, who checked the week's accounts and -pocketed the takings; a director to superintend the room; an operator -to deal the cards, and four to five _croupiers_, who watched the -cards and gathered in the money of the bank. Besides these there were -"puffs," who had money given them to decoy people to play; a clerk and -a _squib_, who were spies upon the straight dealings of the puffs; a -flasher to swear how often the bank was stripped; a dunner to recover -sums lost; a waiter to snuff candles and fill in the wine; and an -attorney or "Newgate solicitor." A flash captain was kept to fight -gentlemen who were peevish about losing their money; at the door was a -porter, "generally a soldier of the foot-guards,"[259:1] who admitted -visitors after satisfying himself that they were of the right sort. -The porter had aides-de-camp and assistants—an "orderly man," who -patrolled the street and gave notice of the approaching constables; -a "runner," who watched for the meetings of the justices and brought -intelligence of the constables being out; and a host of link-boys, -coachmen, chair-men, drawers to assist, with "common-bail affidavit" -men, ruffians, bravos, and assassins for any odd job that might turn up -requiring physical strength. - -As the years passed the vice grew in magnitude. Large fortunes were -made by the proprietors of gaming-houses, thanks to the methodized -employment of capital (invested regularly as in any other trading -establishment), the invention of E. O. tables, and the introduction -of the "foreign games of _roulet_ and _rouge et noir_. Little short -of a million must have been amassed in this way," individuals having -acquired from £10,000 to £100,000 apiece. - -The number of the gambling establishments daily multiplied. They were -mounted regardless of expense. Open house was kept, and free luxurious -dinners laid for all comers. Merchants and bankers' clerks entrusted -with large sums were especially encouraged to attend. The cost of -entertainment in one house alone was £8,000 for eight months, while the -total expenditure on all as much as £150,000 a year. The gambling-house -keepers, often prize-fighters originally, or partners admitted for -their skill in card-sharping or cogging dice, possessed such ample -funds that they laughed at legal prosecutions. Witnesses were suborned, -officers of justice bribed, informers intimidated. Armed ruffians and -bludgeon men were employed to barricade the houses and resist the -civil power. Private competed with public hells. - -Great ladies of fashion, holding their heads high in the social world, -made their drawing-rooms into gambling-places, into which young men -of means were enticed and despoiled. This was called "pidgeoning," -probably the first use of the expression. The most noted female -gamesters were Lady Buckinghamshire, Lady Archer, Lady Mount Edgecombe, -a trio who had earned for themselves the soubriquet of "Faro's -Daughters." Their conduct came under severe reprehension of Lord -Kenyon, who, in summing up a gambling case, warned them that if they -came before him in connection with gambling transactions, "though they -should be the first ladies of the land," they should certainly exhibit -themselves in the pillory. This well-merited threat was reproduced -in various caricatures of the day, under such heads as, "Ladies of -Elevated Rank;" "Faro's Daughters, Beware!" "Discipline _à la_ Kenyon." - -The Government itself was in a measure responsible for the diffusion -of the passion for gambling. The pernicious custom of public lotteries -practically legalized this baneful vice. State lotteries began in -the reign of Elizabeth, and existed down to 1826. They brought in a -considerable revenue, but they did infinite mischief by developing -the rage for speculation, which extended to the whole community. The -rich could purchase whole tickets, or "great goes;" for the more -impecunious the tickets were sub-divided into "little goes." Those -who had no tickets at all could still gamble at the lottery insurance -offices by backing any particular number to win. The demoralization was -widespread. It reached a climax in the South Sea Bubble, when thousands -and thousands were first decoyed, then cruelly deceived and beggared. -But lotteries lingered on till the Government at length awoke to the -degradation of obtaining an income from such a source. - -While crime thus stalked rampant through the land, the law was nearly -powerless to grapple and check it. It had practically but one method -of repression—the wholesale removal of convicted offenders to another -world. Prevention as we understand it had not yet been invented. The -metropolis, with its ill-paved, dimly lighted streets, was without -police protection beyond that afforded by a few feeble watchmen, the -sorely tried and often nearly useless "Charlies." The administration -of justice was defective; the justices had not sufficient powers; they -were frequently "as regardless of the law as ignorant of it," or else -were defied by pettifoggers and people with money in their pockets. A -mob of chair-men or servants, or a gang of thieves, were almost too -big for the civil authority to repress; and the civil power generally, -according to Fielding, was in a lethargic state. - -The private enterprise of citizens had sought for some time past -to second the efforts of the State, and various societies for the -reformation of manners laboured hard, but scarcely with marked -success, to reduce crime. The first of these societies originated -in the previous century by six private gentlemen, whose hearts were -moved by the dismal and desperate state of the country "to engage in -the difficult and dangerous enterprise;" and it was soon strengthened -by the addition of "persons of eminency in the law, members of -Parliament, justices of the peace, and considerable citizens of London -of known abilities and great integrity." There was a second society -of about fifty persons, tradesmen, and others; and a third society of -constables, who met to consider how they might best discharge their -oaths; a fourth to give information; while other bodies of householders -and officers assisted in the great work. These in one year, 1724, had -prosecuted over twenty-five hundred persons, and in the thirty-three -years preceding nearly ninety thousand; while in the same period they -had given away four hundred thousand good books. However well meant -were these efforts, it is to be feared that they were of little avail -in stemming the torrent of crime which long continued to deluge the -country. - -The character of offences perpetrated will best be understood by -passing from the general to the particular, and briefly indicating -the salient points of a certain number of typical cases, all of which -were in some way or other connected with Newgate. Crime was confined -to no one class; while the lowest robbed with brutal violence, members -of the highest stabbed and murdered each other on flimsy pretences, -or found funds for debauchery in systematic and cleverly contrived -frauds. Life was held very cheap in those days. Every one with any -pretensions carried a sword, and appealed to it on the slightest -excuse or provocation. Murderous duels and affrays were of constant -occurrence. So-called affairs of honour could only be washed out in -blood. Sometimes it was a causeless quarrel in a club or coffee-house -ending in a fatal encounter. Richard Savage, the poet, was tried -for his life for a murder of this kind in 1727. In company with two -friends, all three of them being the worse for drink, he forced his way -into a private room in Robinson's coffee-house, near Charing Cross, -occupied by another party carousing. One of Savage's friends kicked -down the table without provocation. "What do you mean by that?" cried -one side. "What do _you_ mean?" cried the other. Swords were drawn, and -a fight ensued. Savage, who found himself in front of one Sinclair, -made several thrusts at his opponent, and ran him through the body. -Lights were put out, and Savage tried to escape, but was captured in a -back court. He and his associates were committed first to the gatehouse -and thence to Newgate. Three weeks later they were arraigned at the -Old Bailey, found guilty of murder, and cast for death. The king's -pardon was, however, obtained for Savage through the intercession of -influential friends, but contrary, it is said, to the expressed wish of -his mother. Savage was tried before Sir Francis Page, commonly known as -"the hanging judge." He afterwards admitted that he had been anxious to -hang Savage. In his old age, when his health was inquired after, he is -reported to have replied, "I keep hanging on, hanging on." Savage was -the illegitimate child of the Countess of Macclesfield, the fruit of a -guilty intrigue with Captain Richard Savage, afterwards Earl Rivers. -Lady Macclesfield was divorced, and subsequently married Earl Rivers; -but she conceived a violent hatred for the child, and only consented -to settle an annuity of £50 upon him when grown to man's estate, under -threat of exposure in the first publication of Savage's poems. Savage, -after his release from Newgate, retired into Wales, but he continued in -very distressed circumstances, and being arrested for debt, lingered -for the remainder of his days in Bristol Gaol. - -The case of Major Oneby is still more typical of the times. He was a -military officer who had served in Marlbro's wars, and not without -distinction, although enjoying an evil reputation as a duellist. When -the army lay in winter quarters at Bruges, he had been "out," and had -killed his man; again in Jamaica he had wounded an adversary who -presently died. After the Peace of Utrecht Major Oneby was placed on -half-pay, and to eke out his narrow means he became a professional -gambler, being seldom without cards and dice in his pocket. He was -soon known as a swaggerer and a bully, with whom it was wisest not -to quarrel. One night in 1727, however, he was at play in the Castle -Tavern in Drury Lane, when a Mr. Gower and he fell out about a bet. -Oneby threw a decanter at Gower, and Gower returned the fire with a -glass. Swords were drawn, but at the interposition of others put up -again. Gower was for making peace, but Oneby sullenly swore he would -have the other's blood. When the party broke up he called Gower into -another room and shut the door. A clashing of swords was heard within, -the waiter broke open the door, and the company rushed in to find Oneby -holding up Gower with his left hand, having the sword in his right. -Blood was seen streaming through Gower's waistcoat, and his sword lay -upon the floor. Some one said to Oneby, "You have killed him;" but -the major replied, "No, I might have done it if I would, but I have -only frightened him," adding, that if he had killed him in the heat -of passion the law would have been on his side. But his unfortunate -adversary did actually die of his wound the following day, whereupon -Major Oneby was apprehended and locked up in Newgate. He was tried the -following month at the Old Bailey, but the jury could not decide as to -the exact measure of the major's guilt, except that it was clear he -had given the first provocation, while it was not denied he had killed -the deceased. - -A special verdict was agreed to, and the case with its various points -referred to the twelve judges. The prisoner, who had hoped to escape -with a conviction of manslaughter, was remanded to Newgate, and -remained there in the State side without judgment for the space of two -years. Becoming impatient, he prayed the Court of King's Bench that -counsel might be heard in his case, and he was accordingly brought -into court before the Lord Chief Justice Raymond, when his counsel and -those for the Crown were fully heard. The judge reserved his judgment -till he had consulted his eleven brethren; but the major, elated at the -ingenious arguments of his lawyer, fully counted upon speedy release. -On his way back to gaol he entertained his friends at a handsome dinner -given at the Crown and Anchor Tavern.[267:1] He continued to carouse -and live high in Newgate for several months more, little doubting the -result of the judges' conference. They met after considerable delay in -Sergeant's Inn Hall, counsel was heard on both sides, and the pleadings -lasted a whole day. A friend called in the evening, and told him when -he was making merry over a bowl of punch that eleven of the judges had -decided against him. This greatly alarmed him; next day the keeper -of Newgate (Mr. Akerman) came to put irons on him, unless he was -prepared to pay for a special keeper to occupy the same room. Oneby was -indignant, but helpless. He felt the ground slipping from under his -feet, and he was almost prepared for the judgment delivered in open -court that he had been guilty of murder, his threat that he would have -Gower's blood having had great weight in his disfavour. - -Oneby spent the days before execution, in 1729, in fruitless efforts -to get relations and friends to use their influence in obtaining -pardon for him. But he was so overbearing that his relations would not -visit him in Newgate, and his friends, if he had any, would not stir a -finger to help him. His last moments seem to have been spent between -laughing at the broad jokes of his personal gaoler, who now never -left him, one John Hooper, afterwards public executioner,[268:1] and -fits of rage against those who had deserted him in his extremity. He -was further exasperated by a letter from an undertaker in Drury Lane, -who, having heard that the major was to die on the following Monday, -promised to perform the funeral "as cheap and in as decent a manner as -any man alive." Another cause of annoyance was the publication of a -broad sheet, entitled "The Weight of Blood, or the Case of Major John -Oneby," the writer of which had visited the prisoner, ostensibly to -offer to suppress the publication, but really as an "interviewer" to -obtain some additional facts for his catchpenny pamphlet. The major -was so indignant that he laid a trap for the author by inviting him to -revisit Newgate, promising himself the pleasure of thrashing him when -he appeared, but the man declined to be caught. On the Saturday night -before execution Oneby, learning that a petition had been presented and -rejected, prepared to die. He slept soundly till four in the morning, -then calling for a glass of brandy and writing materials, he wrote his -will. It was brief, and to the following effect: - -"Cousin Turvill, give Mr. Akerman, for the turnkey below stairs, half -a guinea, and Jack Hooper, who waits in my room, five shillings. The -poor devils have had a great deal of trouble with me since I have been -here." After this he begged to be left to sleep; but a friend called -about seven: the major cried feebly to his servant, "Philip, who is -that?" and it was found that he was bleeding to death from a deep gash -in his wrist. He was dead before a surgeon could be called in. - -In these disastrous affrays both antagonists were armed. But reckless -roisterers and swaggering bobadils were easily provoked, and they -did not hesitate, in a moment of mad passion, to use their swords -upon defenceless men. Bailiffs and the lesser officers of justice -were especially obnoxious to these high-tempered bloods. I read in -"Luttrell," under date February, 1698, "Captain Dancy of the Guards -killed a bailiff in Exeter Street, and is committed to Newgate." -Again, in 1705, "Captain Carlton, formerly a justice of the peace for -Middlesex, is committed to Newgate for running a marshal's man through -the body who endeavoured to arrest him on the parade by the Horse -Guards in St. James's Park, of which wound it is thought the man will -die." I can find no mention of the fate which overtook these murderers; -but the "Calendars" contain a detailed account of another murder of -much the same kind; that perpetrated by the Marquis de Paleoti upon -his servant, John Niccolo, otherwise John the Italian, in 1718. The -marquis had come to England to visit his sister, who had married the -Duke of Shrewsbury in Rome, and had launched out into a career of wild -extravagance. The duchess had paid his debts several times, but at -length declined to assist him further. He was arrested and imprisoned, -but his sister privately procured his discharge. After his enlargement, -being without funds, the marquis sent Niccolo to borrow what he could. -But "the servant, having met with frequent denials, declined going, -at which the marquis drew his sword and killed him on the spot." The -marquis seems to have hoped to have found sanctuary at the Bishop of -Salisbury's, to whose house he repaired as soon as Niccolo's body was -found. But he was arrested there after having behaved so rudely, that -his sword, all bloody with gore, had to be taken from him, and he was -conveyed to Newgate. His defence was weak, his guilt clear, and much to -his surprise, he was sentenced to be hanged. He declared that it was -disgraceful "to put a nobleman to death like a common malefactor for -killing a servant;" but his plea availed little, and he suffered at -Tyburn five weeks after the murder. - -Forty years later an English nobleman, Earl Ferrers, paid the same -extreme penalty for murdering his steward. His lordship was tried by -his peers, and after sentence until his execution was lodged in the -Tower, and not in Newgate. His case is sufficiently well known, and has -already been briefly referred to. - -Another aristocratic miscreant, whose crimes only fell short of -murder, was Colonel Francis Charteris. Well born, well educated, well -introduced into life, he joined the army under Marlborough in the Low -Countries as a cornet of horse, and soon became noted as a bold and -dexterous gambler. His greed and rapacity were unbounded; he lent -money at usurious rates to those whom he had already despoiled of -large sums by foul play, and having thus ruined many of his brother -officers, he was brought to trial, found guilty of disgraceful conduct, -and sentenced by court martial to be cashiered. On his way back to -Scotland, by falsely swearing he had been robbed at an inn, he swindled -the landlord out of a large sum of money as an indemnity, and does -not seem to have been called to account for his fraud. In spite of -his antecedents, Charteris obtained a new commission through powerful -friends, and was soon advanced to the grade of colonel. Moving in the -best society, he extended his gambling operations, and nearly robbed -the Duchess of Queensbury of £3,000 by placing her near a mirror, so -that he could see all her cards. Escaping punishment for this, he -continued his depredations till he acquired a considerable fortune -and several landed estates. Fate overtook him at last, and he became -the victim of his own profligacy. Long notorious as an unprincipled -and systematic seducer, he effected the ruin of numbers, by means -of stratagems and bribes, but was at length arrested on a charge of -criminal assault. He lay in Newgate on the State side, lightly ironed, -and enjoying the best of the prison until the trial at the Old Bailey -in February, 1730. He was convicted and sentenced to die, but through -the strenuous exertions of his son-in-law, the Earl of Wemyss, obtained -the king's pardon. He died two years later, miserably, in Edinburgh, -whither he had retired after his release. He was long remembered with -obloquy. Doctor Arbuthnot, who wrote his epitaph, has best depicted -his detestable character, as a villain, "who with an inflexible -constancy and inimitable impunity of life persisted, in spite of age -and infirmity, in the practice of every human vice except prodigality -and hypocrisy, his insatiable avarice exempting him from the first, and -his matchless impudence from the latter, . . . and who, having done -every day of his life something worthy of a gibbet, was once condemned -to one for what he had not done." Doctor Arbuthnot appears from this -to have dissented from the verdict of the jury by which Charteris was -tried. - -In times of such general corruption it was not strange that a -deplorable laxity of morals should prevail as regards trusts, -whether public or private. Even a Lord Chancellor was found guilty -of venal practices—the sale of offices, and the misappropriation -of funds lodged in the Chancery Court. This was the twelfth Earl of -Macclesfield,[273:1] who sought thus dishonestly to mend his fortunes, -impaired, it was said, by the South Sea Bubble speculations. He was -tried before his peers, found guilty, and declared for ever incapable -of sitting in Parliament, or of holding any office under the Crown; and -further sentenced to a fine of £30,000 with imprisonment in the Tower -until it was paid. - -Lord Macclesfield promptly paid his fine, which was but a small part -of the money he had amassed by his speculations, and was discharged. -"To the disgrace of the times in which he lived," says the biographer -of Lord Hardwicke, "the infamy with which he had been thus covered -debarred him neither from the favour of the great nor even from that of -his sovereign." - -Various cases of embezzlement by public officials previous to this are -mentioned by Luttrell. Frauds upon the Exchequer, and upon persons -holding Government annuities, were not infrequent. The first entry in -"Luttrell" is dated 1697, May, and is to the effect that "Mr. Marriott, -an underteller in the Exchequer, arrested for altering an Exchequer -bill for £10 to £100, pleaded innocency, but is sent to Newgate;" -others were implicated, and a proclamation was issued offering a reward -for the apprehension of Domingo Autumes, a Portuguese, Robert Marriott, -and another for counterfeiting Exchequer bills. A little later another -teller, Mr. Darby, is sent to Newgate on a similar charge, and in that -prison Mr. Marriott "accuses John Knight, Esq., M. P., treasurer of -customs, who is displaced." - -Marriott's confession follows: "He met Mr. Burton and Mr. Knight at -Somerset House, where they arranged to get twenty per cent. by making -Exchequer bills specie bills; they offered Marriott £500 a year to -take all upon himself if discovered. It is thought greater people are -in it to destroy the credit of the nation." Following this confession, -bills were brought into the House of Commons charging Burton, Knight, -and Duncombe with embezzlement, but "blanks are left for the House to -insert the punishment, which is to be either fine, imprisonment, or -loss of estates." Knight was found guilty of endorsing Exchequer bills -falsely, but not of getting money thereby. Burton was found guilty; -Duncombe's name is not mentioned, and Marriott was discharged. But this -does not end the business. In the May following "Mr. Ellers, master -of an annuity office in the Exchequer, was committed to Newgate for -forging people's hands to their orders, and receiving a considerable -sum of money thereon." Again in October, "Bellingham, an old offender, -was convicted of felony in forging Exchequer bills; and a Mrs. Butler, -also for forging a bond of £20,000, payable by the executors of Sir -Robert Clayton six years after his death." Later on (1708) I find an -entry in "Luttrell" that Justice Dyot, who was a commissioner of the -Stamp-office, was committed to Newgate for counterfeiting stamps, which -others whom he informed against distributed. Of the same character -as the foregoing was the offence of Mr. Lemon, a clerk in the Pell -office of the Exchequer, who received £300 in the name of a gentlewoman -deceased, and kept it, for which he was turned out of his place. Other -unfaithful public servants were to be found in other departments. -Robert Lowther, Esq., was taken into custody on the 25th October, -1721, by order of the Privy Council, for his tyrannical and corrupt -administration when governor of the Island of Barbadoes. Twenty years -later the House of Commons fly at still higher game, and commit the -Solicitor of the Treasury to Newgate for refusing to answer questions -put to him by the secret committee which sat to inquire into Sir Robert -Walpole's administration. This official had been often charged with -the Prime Minister's secret disbursements, and he was accused of being -recklessly profuse. - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[251:1] "An inquiry into the causes of the late increase of robbers," -etc. London, 1751. - -[259:1] Soldiers in the Guards, after long and faithful service, were -granted leave of absence from military duty in order to take civil -situations which did not monopolize all their time. By this means they -eked out their scanty pay. - -[267:1] Thornbury, in his "Old Stories Retold," calls it the King's -Arms, on what authority he does not say. - -[268:1] "What do you bring this fellow here for?" Oneby had cried -to the keeper of Newgate when he appeared with Hooper. "Whenever I -look at him I shall think of being hanged." Hooper had a forbidding -countenance, but he was an inimitable mimic, and he soon made himself -an agreeable companion to the condemned man. - -[273:1] The husband of the Lady Macclesfield who was mother to Richard -Savage. - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -LATER RECORDS - - Crimes more commonplace, but more atrocious—Murder committed - by Catherine Hayes and her accomplices—She is burned alive - for petty treason—Sarah Malcolm, the Temple murderess—Other - prominent and typical murders—Wife murderers—Theodore - Gardelle, the murderer of Mrs. King—Two female murderers— - Mrs. Meteyard—Her cruelty to a parish apprentice—Elizabeth - Brownrigg beats Mary Clifford to death—Governor Wall—His - severe and unaccommodating temper—Trial of Sergeant Armstrong - —Punished by drumhead court martial and flogged to death— - Wall's arrest and escape to the Continent—Persons of note - charged with murder—Quin, the actor, kills Williams in - self-defence—Charles Macklin kills Hallam, a fellow actor at - Drury Lane—Joseph Baretti, author of the "Italian Dictionary," - mobbed in the Haymarket, defends himself with a pocket-knife, - and stabs one of his assailants. - - -Returning to meaner and more commonplace offenders, I find in the -records full details of all manner of crimes. Murders the most -atrocious and bloodthirsty; robberies executed with great ingenuity -and boldness by both sexes; remarkable instances of swindling and -successful frauds; early cases of forgery; coining carried out with -extensive ramifications; piracies upon the high seas, long practised -with strange immunity from reprisals. - -Perhaps the most revolting murder ever perpetrated, not excepting -those of later date, was that in which Catherine Hayes assisted. The -victim was her husband, an unoffending, industrious man, whose life -she made miserable, boasting once indeed that she would think it no -more sin to murder him than to kill a dog. After a violent quarrel -between them she persuaded a man who lodged with them, named Billings, -and who was either her lover or her illegitimate son, to join her in -an attempt upon Hayes. A new lodger, Wood, arriving, it was necessary -to make him a party to the plot, but he long resisted Mrs. Hayes's -specious arguments, till she clenched them by declaring that Hayes was -an atheist and a murderer, whom it could be no crime to kill; moreover -that at his death she would become possessed of £1,500, which she would -hand over to Wood. - -Wood at last yielded, and after some discussion it was decided to do -the dreadful deed while Hayes was in his cups. After a long drinking -bout, in which Hayes drank wine, probably drugged, and the rest beer, -the victim dragged himself to bed and fell on it in a stupor. Billings -now went in, and with a hatchet struck Hayes a violent blow on the head -and fractured his skull; then Wood gave the poor wretch, as he was -not quite dead, two more blows and finished him. The next job was to -dispose of the murdered man's remains. - -To evade identification Catherine Hayes suggested that the head -should be cut off, which Wood effected with his pocket-knife. She then -proposed to boil it, but this was overruled, and the head was disposed -of by the men, who threw it into the Thames from a wharf near the -Horseferry at Westminster. They hoped that the damning evidence would -be carried off by the next tide, but it remained floating near shore, -and was picked up next day by a watchman, and handed over to the parish -officers, by whom, when washed and the hair combed, it was placed on -the top of a pole in the churchyard of St. Margaret's, Westminster. -Having got rid of the head, the murderers next dealt with the body, -which they dismembered, and packed the parts into a box. This was -conveyed to Marylebone, where the pieces were taken out, wrapped in an -old blanket, and sunk in a pond. - -Meanwhile the exposed head had been viewed by curious crowds, and at -last a Mr. Bennet, an organ-builder, saw a resemblance to the face of -Hayes, with whom he had been acquainted; another person, a journeyman -tailor, also recognized it, and inquiries were made of Catherine as to -her husband. At first she threw people off the scent by confessing that -Hayes had killed a man and absconded, but being questioned by several -she told a different story to each, and presently suspicion fell upon -her. As it had come out that Billings and Wood had been drinking with -Hayes the last time he was seen, they were included in the warrant, -which was now issued for the apprehension of the murderers. The woman -was arrested by Mr. Justice Lambert in person, who had "procured the -assistance of two officers of the Life Guards," and Billings with her. -One was committed to the Bridewell, Tothill Fields, the other to the -Gatehouse. Catherine's conduct when brought into the presence of her -murdered husband's head almost passes belief. Taking the glass bottle -in which it had been preserved into her arms, she cried, "It is my -dear husband's head," and shed tears as she embraced it. The surgeon -having taken the head out of the case, she kissed it rapturously, and -begged to be indulged with a lock of his hair. Next day the trunk -and remains of the corpse were discovered at Marylebone without the -head, and the justices, nearly satisfied as to the guilt of Catherine -Hayes, committed her to Newgate. Wood was soon after captured, and -on hearing that the body had been found confessed the whole crime. -Billings shortly did the same; but Mrs. Hayes obstinately refused to -admit her guilt. This atrocious creature was for the moment the centre -of interest; numbers visited her in Newgate, and sought to learn her -reasons for committing so dreadful a crime; but she gave different and -evasive answers to all. - -At her trial she pleaded hard to be exempted from the penalty of -petty treason, which was at that time burning, alleging that she was -not guilty of striking the fatal blow. The crime of petty treason -was established when any person out of malice took away the life of -another to whom he or she owed special obedience—as when a servant -killed his master, a wife her husband, or an ecclesiastic his superior. -The wife's accomplices in the murder of a husband were not deemed -guilty of petty treason. She was told the law must take its course. -Billings and Wood hoped they might not be hung in chains, but received -no answer. Wood actually died in prison before execution; Billings -suffered at Tyburn, and was hung in chains near the pond in Marylebone. -Mrs. Hayes tried to destroy herself, but failed, and was literally -burnt alive. The fire reaching the hands of the hangman, he let go the -rope by which she was to have been strangled, and the flames slowly -consumed her, as she pushed the blazing fagots from her, and rent -the air with her agonized cries. Her execution, which took place on -9th May, 1726, was not the last of its kind. In November, 1750, Amy -Hutchinson was burnt at Ely, after a conviction of petty treason, -having poisoned a husband newly married, whom she had taken to spite -a truant lover. In 1767, again, Ann Sowerly underwent the same awful -sentence at York. She also had poisoned her husband. Last of all, on -the 10th March, 1788, a woman was burnt before the debtors' door of -Newgate. Having been tied to a stake and seated on a stool, the stool -was withdrawn and she was strangled. After that she was burnt. Her -offence was coining. In the following year, 1789, an act was passed -which abolished this cruel custom of burning women for petty treason. - -Sarah Malcolm was another female monster, a wholesale murderess, whose -case stands out as one of peculiar atrocity even in those bloodthirsty -times. She was employed as a laundress in the Temple, where she waited -on several gentlemen, and had also access in her capacity of charwoman -to the chambers occupied by an aged lady named Mrs. Duncombe.[282:1] -Sarah's cupidity was excited by the chance sight of her mistress's -hoarded wealth, both in silver plate and broad coins, and she resolved -to become possessed of it, hoping when enriched to gain a young man of -her acquaintance named Alexander as her husband. Mrs. Duncombe had two -other servants, Elizabeth Harrison, also aged, and a young maid named -Ann Price, who resided with her in the Temple. One day (Feb. 2, 1733) a -friend coming to call upon Mrs. Duncombe was unable to gain admittance. -After some delay the rooms were broken into, and their three occupants -were found barbarously murdered, the girl Price in the first room, with -her throat cut from ear to ear, her hair loose, hanging over her eyes, -and her hands clenched; in the next lay Elizabeth Harrison on a press -bed, strangled; and last of all, old Mrs. Duncombe, also lying across -her bed, quite dead. The strong box had been broken open and rifled. - -That same night one of the barristers, returning to his chambers late, -found Sarah Malcolm there kindling a fire, and after remarking upon -her appearance at that strange hour, bade her begone, saying, that no -person acquainted with Mrs. Duncombe should be in his chambers till the -murderer was discovered. Before leaving she confessed to having stolen -two of his waistcoats, whereupon he called the watch and gave her into -custody. After her departure, assisted by a friend, the barrister made -a thorough search of his rooms, and in a cupboard came upon a lot of -linen stained with blood, also a silver tankard with blood upon the -handle. The watchmen had suffered Sarah to go at large, but she was -forthwith rearrested; on searching her, a green silk purse containing -twenty-one counters was found upon her, and she was committed to -Newgate. There, on arrival, she sought to hire the best accommodation, -offering two or three guineas for a room upon the Master Debtors' side. -Roger Johnston, a turnkey, upon this searched her, and discovered -"concealed under her hair," no doubt in a species of a chignon, "a bag -containing twenty moidores, eighteen guineas, and a number of other -broad pieces." This money she confessed had come from Mrs. Duncombe; -but she stoutly denied all complicity with the murder, or that she -had done more than contrive the robbery. She charged two brothers, -named Alexander, one the man she desired to marry, and a woman, Mary -Tracy, with the greater crime. Upon her information they were arrested -and confronted with her. She persisted in this line of defence at her -trial, but the circumstantial evidence against her was so strong that -the jury at once found her guilty. She herself had but little hope of -escape, and had been heard to cry out on her first commitment, "I am a -dead woman." She was duly executed at Tyburn. The Alexanders and Tracy -were discharged. - -I have specially instanced these foul murders as exhibiting -circumstances of atrocity rarely equalled in the records of crime. -Catherine Hayes and Sarah Malcolm were unsexed desperadoes, whose -misdeeds throw into the shade those of the Mannings and Kate Websters -of later times. But women had no monopoly of assassination, in those -days when life was held so cheap. Male murderers were still more -numerous, and also more pitiless and bloodthirsty. The calendars are -replete with homicides, and to refer to them in anything like detail -would both weary and disgust the reader. I shall do no more, therefore, -than briefly indicate here a certain number of the more prominent cases -remarkable either from the position of the criminals, the ties by -which they were bound to their victims, or the horrible character of -the crime. - -The hangman figures among the murderers of this epoch. John Price, -who filled the office in 1718, and who rejoiced in the usual official -soubriquet of "Jack Ketch," was a scoundrel rendered still more -callous and cruel by his dreadful calling. He had begun life well, as -an apprentice, but he absconded, and entering the navy, "served with -credit on board different kings' ships for eighteen years." On his -discharge, seeking employment, he obtained the situation of public -executioner. He might have lived decently on the hangman's wages and -perquisites, but he was a spendthrift, who soon became acquainted -with the interiors of the debtors' prisons for Middlesex. Once he was -arrested on his way back from Tyburn after a good day's work, having in -his possession, besides fees, the complete suits of three men who had -just been executed. He gave up all this to liquidate the debt, but the -value being insufficient, he was lodged in the Marshalsea. - -When released, in due course he returned to his old employment, but -was soon arrested again, and on a serious charge—that of a murderous -assault upon a poor woman who sold gingerbread through the streets. -He had shamefully attacked her, and maddened by her resistance, had -ill-used her terribly. "He beat her so cruelly," the account says, -"that streams of blood issued from her eyes and mouth; he broke one -of her arms, knocked out some of her teeth, bruised her head in a most -shameful manner, and forced one of her eyes from the socket." - -One account says that he was taken red-handed close to the scene of -his guilt; another, the more probable, that he was arrested on his way -to Tyburn with a convict for the gallows. In any case his unfortunate -victim had just life left in her to bear testimony against him. Price -was committed to Newgate, and tried for his life. His defence was, -that in crossing Moorfields he found something lying in his way, which -he kicked and found to be the body of a woman. He lifted her up, but -she could not stand on her legs. The evidence of others was too clear, -and the jury did not hesitate to convict. After sentence he abandoned -himself to drink, and obstinately refused to confess. But on the day -before his execution he acknowledged that he had committed the crime -while in a state of intoxication. He was hanged in Bunhill Fields, and -his body afterwards exhibited in chains in Holloway near the scene of -the murder. - -Wife-murder was of common occurrence in these reckless times. The -disgraceful state of the marriage laws, and the facility with which -the matrimonial knot could be tied, often tempted unscrupulous people -to commit bigamy.[286:1] Louis Houssart was of French extraction, -settled in England, who married Ann Rondeau at the French church in -Spitalfields. After about three years "he left his wife with disgust," -and going into the city, passed himself off as a single man. Becoming -acquainted with a Mrs. Hern, he presently married her. He had not been -long married before his new wife taxed him with having another wife. -He swore it was false, and offered to take the sacrament upon it. She -appeared satisfied, and begged him to clear his reputation. "Do not be -uneasy," he said; "in a little time I will make you sensible I have no -other wife." He now resolved to make away with the first Mrs. Louis -Houssart, otherwise Ann Rondeau, and reopened communications with her. -Finding her in ill-health, one day he brought her "a medicine which had -the appearance of conserve of roses, which threw her into such severe -convulsive fits that her life was despaired of for some hours; but at -length she recovered." This attempt having failed, he tried a simpler -plan. Dressed in a white coat, with sword and cane, he went one evening -to the end of Swan Alley, where his wife lived with her mother, and -finding a boy, gave him a penny to go and tell Mrs. Rondeau that a -gentleman wanted to speak to her in a neighbouring public-house. When -she left the house, Houssart went in, found his wife alone, and cut her -throat with a razor. - -Thus murdered she was found by her mother on her return, after -inquiring in vain for the gentleman who was said to be waiting for her. -Suspicion fell on Houssart, who was arrested and tried, but for want -of the boy's evidence acquitted of the murder. But he was detained in -Newgate to take his trial for bigamy. While waiting sentence, the boy, -a lad of thirteen, who knew of the murder and arrest, and who thought -he would be hanged if he confessed that he had carried the message to -Mrs. Rondeau, came forward to give evidence. He was taken to Newgate -into a room, and identified Houssart at once among seven or eight -others. The brother of the deceased, Solomon Rondeau, as heir, now -lodged an appeal, in the names of John Doe and Richard Roe (an ancient -form of legal procedure), against Houssart, who was eventually again -brought to trial. Various pleas were put forward by the defence in bar -of further proceedings, among others that there were no such persons as -John Doe and Richard Roe, but this plea, with the rest, was overruled, -the fact being sworn to that there was a John Doe in Middlesex, a -weaver, also a Richard Roe, who was a soldier, and the trial went on. -The boy's evidence was very plain. He remembered Houssart distinctly, -had seen him by the light of a lantern at a butcher's shop; he wore -a whitish coat. The boy also recognized Mrs. Rondeau as the woman to -whom he gave the message. Others swore to the white coat which Houssart -had on; but the most damning evidence was that of a friend whom he had -summoned to see him in Newgate, and whom he asked to swear that they -had been drinking together in Newgate Street at the time the murder was -committed. Houssart offered this witness a new shirt, a new suit of -clothes, and twenty guineas to swear for him. The prisoner, however, -owned that he did give the boy a penny to call the old woman out, and -that he then went in and gave his wife "a touch with the razor, but did -not think of killing her." The prisoner was found guilty and hanged at -the end of Swan yard in Shoreditch. - -Vincent Davis was another miscreant who murdered his wife, under much -the same conditions. He had long barbarously ill-used her; he kept -a small walking-cane on purpose to beat her with, and at last so -frightened her by his threats to kill her that she ran away from him. -She returned one night, but finding that he had put an open knife by -the bedside, she placed herself under the protection of the landlady, -who advised her to swear the peace against him and get him imprisoned. -Next day the brutal husband drove her out of the house, declaring -she had no right to be in his company, as he was married to "Little -Jenny." But she implored him to be friends, and having followed him -to an ale-house seeking reconciliation, he so slashed her fingers with -a knife that she came back with bleeding hands. That same night, when -his wife met him on his return home, he ordered her to light him to his -room, then drawing his knife, stabbed her in the breast. The poor woman -bled to death in half an hour. Davis after the deed was done was seized -with contrition, and when arrested and on his way to Newgate, he told -the peace officer that he had killed the best wife in the world. "I -know I shall be hanged," he added; "but for God's sake don't let me be -anatomized." This man is said to have assumed an air of bravado while -he lay under sentence of death, but his courage deserted him as the -time for execution approached. He had such a dread of falling into the -hands of the surgeons that he wrote to several friends begging them to -rescue his body if any attempt should be made at the gallows to remove -it. He was hanged at Tyburn on the 30th April, 1725; but the calendar -does not state what happened to his corpse. - -George Price, who murdered his wife in 1738, had an analogous motive: -he wished to release himself from one tie in order to enter into -another. He was in service in Kent, his wife lived in lodgings in -Highgate, and their family increased far more rapidly than he liked. -Having for some time paid his addresses to a widow in Kent, he at -length resolved to remove the only obstacle to a second and more -profitable marriage. With this infernal object in view he went to -Highgate, and told his wife that he had secured a place for her at -Putney, to which he would himself drive her in a chaise. She was -warned by some of his fellow servants against trusting herself alone -with him, but "she said she had no fear of him, as he had treated her -with unusual kindness." They drove off towards Hounslow. On the way -she begged him to stop while she bought some snuff, but he refused, -laughingly declaring she would never want to use snuff again. When they -reached Hounslow Heath it was nearly ten o'clock at night. The time -and place being suitable, he suddenly threw his whip-lash round his -wife's throat and drew it tight. As the cord was not quite in the right -place he coolly altered it, and disregarding her entreaties, he again -tightened the rope; then finding she was not quite dead, pulled it with -such violence that it broke, but not till the murder was accomplished. -Having stripped the body, he disfigured it, as he hoped, beyond -recognition, then left it under a gibbet on which some malefactors were -hanging in chains, and returned to London with his wife's clothes, part -of which he dropped about the street, and part he gave back to her -landlady, to whom they belonged. Being seen about, so many inquiries -were made for his wife that he feared detection, and fled to Portsmouth. - -Next day he heard the murder cried through the streets by the bellman, -and found that it was his own case, with an exact description of his -appearance. He at once jumped out of the window—the inn was by the -waterside—and swam to another part of the shore. Thence he made his -way into the country and got chance jobs as a farm-labourer. At Oxford -he found that he was advertised in the local paper, and he again -decamped, travelling on and on till he reached his own home in Wales. -His father gave him refuge for a couple of days, but a report of his -being in the house got about, and he had to fly to Gloucester, where -he became an ostler at an inn. In Gloucester he was again recognized -as the man who had killed his wife on Hounslow Heath, by a gentleman -who promised not to betray him, but warned him that he would be taken -into custody if he remained in town. "Agitated by the momentary fear of -detection, Price knew not how to act," and he resolved at length to go -back to London and give himself up to justice. He called first on his -former master, was apprehended, and committed to Newgate. He took his -trial in due course, and was, on "the strongest circumstantial evidence -ever adduced against an offender," cast for death, but fell a victim to -the gaol-fever in October, 1738. - -Mention of two more heinous cases of wife-murder may be made. The -second marriage of Edward Joines, contracted at the Fleet, was not -a happy one. His wife had a violent temper, and they continually -disagreed. A daughter of hers lived with them, and the two women -contrived to aggravate and annoy Joines to desperation. He retaliated -by brutal treatment. On one occasion he pushed his wife into the grate -and scorched her arm; frequently he drove her out-of-doors in scanty -clothing at late hours and in inclement weather. One day his anger was -roused by seeing a pot of ale going into his house for his wife, who -was laid up with a fractured arm. He rushed in, and after striking the -tankard out of her hand, seized her by the bad arm, twisted it till -the bone again separated. The fracture was reset, but mortification -rapidly supervened, and she died within ten days. The coroner's jury -in consequence brought in a verdict of wilful murder against Joines. -He was in due course convicted of murder, although it was difficult to -persuade him that he had had a fair trial, seeing that his wife did not -succumb immediately to the cruel injury she had received at his hands. -In December, 1739, he was executed. - -The second wife of John Williamson received still more terrible and -inhumane treatment at his hands. This ruffian within three weeks after -his marriage drenched his wife with cold water, and having otherwise -ill-used her, inflicted the following diabolical torture. Having -fastened her hands behind with handcuffs, he lifted her off the ground, -with her toes barely touching it, by a rope run through a staple. -She was locked up in a closet, and close by was placed a small piece -of bread and butter, which she could just touch with her lips. She -was allowed a small portion of water daily. Sometimes a girl who was -in the house gave the poor creature a stool to rest her feet on, but -Williamson discovered it, and was so furious that he nearly beat the -girl to death. The wretched woman was kept in this awful plight for -more than a month at a time, and at length succumbed. She died raving -mad. Williamson when arrested made a frivolous defence, declaring his -wife provoked him by treading on a kitten and killing it. In 1760 he -was found guilty and executed. - -The victim of Theodore Gardelle was a woman, although not his wife. -This murder much exercised the public mind at the time. The perpetrator -was a foreigner, a hitherto inoffensive miniature painter, who was -goaded into such a frenzy by the intolerable irritation of the woman's -tongue, that he first struck and then despatched her. He lodged with a -Mrs. King in Leicester Fields, whose miniature he had painted, but not -very successfully. She had desired to have the portrait particularly -good, and in her disappointment gave the unfortunate painter no peace. -One morning she came into the parlour which he used, and which was -_en suite_ with her bedroom, and immediately attacked him about the -miniature. Provoked by her insults, Gardelle told her she was a very -impertinent woman; at which she struck him a violent blow on the -chest. He pushed her from him, "rather in contempt than anger," as he -afterwards declared, "and with no desire to hurt her;" her foot caught -in the floor-cloth, she fell backward, and her head came with great -force against a sharp corner of the bedstead, for Gardelle apparently -had followed her into her bedroom. The blood immediately gushed from -her mouth, and he at once ran up to assist her and express his concern; -but she pushed him away, threatening him with the consequences of his -act. He was greatly terrified at the thought of being charged with a -criminal assault; but the more he strove to pacify the more she reviled -and threatened, till at last he seized a sharp-pointed ivory comb which -lay upon her toilet-table and drove it into her throat. The blood -poured out in still greater volume and her voice gradually grew fainter -and fainter, and she presently expired. Gardelle said afterwards he -drew the bedclothes over her, then, horrified and overcome, fell by her -side in a swoon. When he came to himself he examined the body to see if -Mrs. King were quite dead, and in his confusion staggered against the -wainscot and hit his head so as to raise a great bump over his eye. - -Gardelle now seems to have considered with himself how best he might -conceal his crime. There was only one other resident in the house, a -maid servant, who was out on a message for him at the time of his -fatal quarrel with Mrs. King. When she returned she found the bedroom -locked, and Gardelle told her her mistress had gone into the country -for the day. Later on he paid her wages on behalf of Mrs. King and -discharged her, with the explanation that her mistress intended to -bring home a new maid with her. Having now the house to himself, he -entered the chamber of death, and stripped the body, which he laid in -the bed. He next disposed of the blood-stained bedclothes by putting -them to soak in a wash-tub in the back wash-house. A servant of an -absent fellow lodger came in late and asked for Mrs. King, but Gardelle -said she had not returned, and that he meant to sit up for her and let -her into the house. Next morning he explained Mrs. King's absence by -saying she had come late and gone off again for the day. - -This went on from Wednesday to Saturday; but no suspicion of anything -wrong had as yet been conceived, and the body still lay in the same -place in the back room. On Sunday Gardelle began to put into execution -a project for destroying the body in parts, which he disposed of by -throwing them down the sinks, or spreading in the cockloft. On Monday -and Tuesday inquiries began to be made for Mrs. King, and Gardelle -continued to say that he expected her daily, but on Thursday the -stained bedclothes were found in the wash-tub. Gardelle was seen -coming from the wash-house, and was heard to ask what had become of -the linen. This roused suspicion for the first time. The discharged -maid servant was hunted up, and as she declared she knew nothing of -the wash-tub or its contents, and as Mrs. King was still missing, the -neighbours began to move in the matter. Mr. Barron, an apothecary, -came and questioned Gardelle, who was so much confused in his answers -that a warrant was obtained for his arrest. Then Mrs. King's bedroom -was examined, and that of Gardelle, now a prisoner. In both were -found conclusive evidence of foul play. By and by in the cockloft and -elsewhere portions of the missing woman were discovered, and some -jewelry known to be hers was traced to Gardelle, who did not long deny -his guilt. When he was in the new prison at Clerkenwell he tried to -commit suicide by taking forty drops of opium; but it failed even to -procure him sleep. After this he swallowed halfpence to the number of -twelve, hoping that the verdigreese would kill him, but he survived -after suffering great tortures. He was removed then to Newgate for -greater security, and was closely watched till the end. After a fair -trial he was convicted and cast for death. His execution took place in -the Haymarket near Panton Street, to which he was led past Mrs. King's -house, and at which he cast one glance as he passed. His body was -hanged in chains on Hounslow Heath. - -Women were as capable of fiendish cruelty as men, and displayed -greater and more diabolical ingenuity in devising torments for their -victims. Two murders typical of this class of crime may be quoted here. -One was that committed by the Meteyards, mother and daughter, upon -an apprentice girl; the other that of Elizabeth Brownrigg, also on -an apprentice. The Meteyards kept a millinery shop in Bruton Street, -Berkeley Square, and had five parish apprentices bound to them. One was -a sickly girl, Anne Taylor by name. Being unable to do as much work as -her employers desired, they continually vented their spite upon her. -After enduring great cruelty Anne Taylor absconded; she was caught, -brought back to Bruton Street, and imprisoned in a garret on bread and -water; she again escaped, and was again recaptured and cruelly beaten -with a broom-handle. Then they tied her with a rope to the door of a -room so that she could neither sit nor lie down, and she was so kept -for three successive days, but suffered to go to bed at night-time. On -the third night she was so weak she could hardly creep upstairs. On the -fourth day her fellow apprentices were brought to witness her torments -as an incentive to exertion, but were forbidden to afford her any kind -of relief. On this, the last day of her torture, she faltered in speech -and presently expired. The Meteyards now tried to bring their victim -to with hartshorn, but finding life was extinct, they carried the body -up to the garret and locked it in. Then four days later they enclosed -it in a box, left the garret door ajar, and spread a report through -their house that "Nanny" had once more absconded. The deceased had a -sister, a fellow apprentice, who declared she was persuaded "Nanny" was -dead; whereupon the Meteyards also murdered the sister and secreted -the body. Anne's body remained in the garret for a couple of months, -when the stench of decomposition was so great that the murderesses -feared detection, and after chopping the corpse in pieces, they burnt -parts and disposed of others in drains and gully-holes. Four years -elapsed without suspicion having been aroused, but there had been -constant and violent quarrels between mother and daughter, the former -frequently beating and ill-using the latter, who in return reviled her -mother as a murderess. During this time the daughter left her home to -live with a Mr. Rooker as servant at Ealing. Her mother followed her, -and still behaved so outrageously that the daughter, in Mr. Rooker's -presence, upbraided her with what they had done. He became uneasy, and -cross-questioned them till they confessed the crime. Both women were -arrested and tried at the Old Bailey, where they were convicted and -sentenced to death. The mother on the morning of her execution was -taken with a fit from which she never recovered, and she was in a state -of insensibility when hanged. - -Elizabeth Brownrigg was the wife of a plumber who carried on business -in Flower de Luce Court, Fleet Street. She practised midwifery, and -received parish apprentices, whom she took to save the expense of -keeping servants. Two girls, victims of her cruel ill-usage, ran -away, but a third, Mary Clifford, bound to her by the parish of -Whitefriars, remained to endure still worse. Her inhuman mistress -repeatedly beat her, now with a hearth-broom, now with a horsewhip -or a cane. The girl was forced to lie at nights in a coal-hole, with -no bed but a sack and some straw. She was often nearly perished with -cold. Once, after a long diet of bread and water, when nearly starved -to death, she rashly broke into a cupboard in search of food and was -caught in the act. Mrs. Brownrigg, to punish her, made her strip, and -while she was naked repeatedly beat her with the butt end of a whip. -Then fastening a jack-chain around her neck she drew it as tight as -possible without strangling, and sent her back to the coal-hole with -her hands tied behind her back. Mrs. Brownrigg's son vied with his -mother in ill-treating the apprentices, and when the mistress was -tired of horse-whipping, the lad continued the savage punishment. -When Mary Clifford complained to a French lodger of the barbarity -she experienced, Mrs. Brownrigg flew at her and cut her tongue in -two places with a pair of scissors. Other apprentices were equally -ill-used, and they were all covered with wounds and bruises from the -cruel flagellations they received. - -At length one of the neighbours, alarmed by the constant moaning and -groanings which issued from Brownrigg's house, began to suspect that -"the apprentices were treated with unwarrantable severity." It was -impossible to gain admission, but a maid looked through a skylight into -a covered yard, and saw one of the apprentices, in a shocking state of -filth and wretchedness, kept there with a pig. One of the overseers -now went and demanded Mary Clifford. Mrs. Brownrigg produced another, -Mary Mitchell, who was taken to the workhouse, but in such a pitiable -state that in removing her clothes her bodice stuck to her wounds. -Mary Mitchell having been promised that she should not be sent back to -Brownrigg's, gave a full account of the horrid treatment she and Mary -Clifford had received. A further search was made in the Brownriggs' -house, but without effect. At length, under threat of removal to -prison, Mrs. Brownrigg produced Clifford from a cupboard under a -buffet in the dining-room. "It is impossible," says the account, "to -describe the miserable appearance of this poor girl; nearly her whole -body was ulcerated." Her life was evidently in imminent danger. Having -been removed to St. Bartholomew's Hospital, she died there within a -few days. The man Brownrigg was arrested, but the woman and son made -their escape. Shifting their abode from place to place, buying new -disguises from time to time at rag-fairs, eventually they took refuge -in lodgings at Wandsworth, where they were recognized by their landlord -as answering the description of the murderers of Mary Clifford, and -arrested. Mrs. Brownrigg was tried and executed; the men, acquitted of -the graver charge, were only sentenced to six months' imprisonment. -The story runs that Hogarth, who prided himself on his skill as a -physiognomist, wished to see Mrs. Brownrigg in Newgate. The governor, -Mr. Akerman, admitted him, but at the instance of a mutual friend -played a trick upon the painter by bringing Mrs. Brownrigg before him -casually, as some other woman. Hogarth on looking at her took Akerman -aside and said, "You must have two great female miscreants in your -custody, for this woman as well as Mrs. Brownrigg is from her features -capable of any cruelty and any crime." This story, although _ben -trovato_, is apocryphal. At the time of this alleged visit to Newgate -Hogarth was not alive. - -I pass now to murders of less atrocity, the result of temporary and -more or less ungovernable passion, rather than of malice deliberate and -aforethought. In this class must be included the case of Mr. Plunkett, -a young gentleman of Irish extraction, who murdered a peruke-maker, -when asked an exorbitant price for a wig. Brown had made it to order -for Mr. Plunkett, and wanted seven pounds for it. After haggling he -reduced it to six. Plunkett offered four, and on this being refused, -seized a razor lying handy and cut Brown's throat. - -A somewhat similar case was that of Mr. Edward Bird, a well-born youth, -who had been educated at Eton, and after making the grand tour had -received a commission in a regiment of horse. Unfortunately he led a -wild, dissolute life, associating with low characters. One morning, -after spending the night in a place of public resort, he ordered a -bath. One waiter deputed the job to another, the latter went to Bird -to apologize for the delay. Bird, growing furious, drew his sword, and -made several passes at the waiter, who avoided them by holding the door -in his hand, and then escaped down-stairs. Bird pursued, threw the man -down, breaking his ribs. On this the master of the house and another -waiter, by name Loxton, tried to appease Bird, but the latter, frantic -at not having the bath when ordered, fell upon Loxton and ran him -through with his sword. Loxton dropped and died almost instantaneously. -Bird was arrested, committed to Newgate, and eventually tried for -his life. He was convicted and received sentence of death, but great -interest was made to get it commuted to transportation. His powerful -friends might have obtained it but for the protests of Loxton's -representatives, and Bird was ordered for execution. The night before -he first tried poison, then stabbed himself in several places, but -survived to be taken the following morning to Tyburn in a mourning -coach, attended by his mother and the ordinary of Newgate. At the -gallows he asked for a glass of wine and a pinch of snuff, which -"he took with apparent unconcern, wishing health to those who stood -near him. He then repeated the Apostle's Creed and was launched into -eternity." - -The military were not overpopular at times, when party disputes ran -high, and the soldiery were often exposed to contumely in the streets. -It must be admitted too that they were ready enough to accept any -quarrel fastened upon them. Thus William Hawksworth, a guardsman, while -marching through the park with a party to relieve guard at St. James's, -left the ranks to strike a woman who he thought had insulted his cloth. -It was not she, however, but her companion who had cried, "What a stir -there is about King George's soldiers!" This companion, by name Ransom, -resented the blow, and called Hawksworth a puppy, whereupon the soldier -clubbed his musket and knocked the civilian down. Hawksworth marched -on with his guard; Ransom was removed to the hospital with a fractured -skull, and died in a few hours. But a bystander, having learned the -name of the offender, obtained a warrant against Hawksworth, who was -committed to Newgate. He was ably defended at his trial, and his -commanding officer gave him an excellent character. But the facts were -so clearly proved that conviction was imperative. For some time he was -buoyed up with the hope of reprieve, but this failed him at the last, -and he went to Tyburn solemnly declaring that Ransom hit him first; -that he had no malice against the deceased, and he hardly remembered -leaving the ranks to strike him. - -Two cases may well be inserted here, although belonging to a somewhat -later date. Both were murders committed under the influence of strong -excitement: one was the fierce outburst of passionate despair at -unrequited love; the other the rash action of a quick-tempered man -who was vested for the moment with absolute power. The first was -the murder of Miss Reay by the Rev. James Hackman, the second the -flogging to death of the Sergeant Armstrong by order of Colonel Wall, -Lieutenant-Governor of Goree. - -Mr. Hackman had held a commission in the 68th Foot, and while employed -on the recruiting service at Huntingdon, had been hospitably received -at Hinchingbroke, the seat of Lord Sandwich. At that time a Miss Reay -resided there under the protection of his lordship, by whom she had had -nine children. Hackman fell desperately in love with Miss Reay, and the -lady did not altogether reject his attentions. A correspondence between -them, which bears every appearance of authenticity, was published after -the murder under the title of "Love and Madness," and the letters on -both sides are full of ardent protestations. Hackman continued to -serve for some time, but the exile from the sight of his beloved became -so intolerable that he sold out, took orders, and entered the Church, -obtaining eventually the living of Wiverton in Norfolk. - -He had determined to marry Miss Reay if she would accept him, and one -of the last letters of the correspondence above quoted proves that -the marriage arrangements were all but completed. On the 1st March, -1779, he writes: "In a month or six weeks at farthest from this time I -might certainly call you mine. Only remember that my character now I -have taken orders renders exhibition necessary. By to-night's post I -shall write into Norfolk about the alterations at _our_ parsonage." But -within a few weeks a cloud overshadowed his life. It is only vaguely -indicated in a letter to a friend, dated the 20th March, in which he -hints at a rupture between Miss Reay and himself. "What I shall do I -know not—without her I do not think I can exist." A few days later he -wrote to the same friend: "Despair goads me on—death only can relieve -me. . . . What then have I to do, who only lived when she loved me, but -cease to live now she ceases to love?" - -At this period it is evident that the idea of suicide only occupied -his overwrought brain. He wrote on the 7th April: "When this reaches -you I shall be no more. . . . You know where my affections were placed; -my having by some means or other lost hers (an idea which I could not -support) has driven me to madness." So far he does not appear to have -contemplated any violence against Miss Reay, for in his letter he -commends her to the kind offices of his friend. He spent that day in -self-communing and in reading a volume of Doctor Blair's sermons. In -the evening he went from his lodgings in Duke's Court, St. Martin's -Lane, towards the Admiralty, and saw Miss Reay drive by to the Covent -Garden Theatre. He followed her into the theatre and gazed at her for -the last time. Then, unable to restrain the violence of his passion, he -returned to his lodgings, and having loaded two pistols, returned to -Covent Garden, where he waited in the piazza till the play was over. -When Miss Reay came out he stepped up with a pistol in each hand. One -he fired at her, and killed her on the spot; the other he discharged -at himself, but without fatal effect. He was at once arrested, and -when his wound had been dressed, was committed by Sir John Fielding to -Tothill Fields, and afterwards to Newgate. He wrote from prison to the -same friend as follows: - -"I am alive——and she is dead. I shot her, shot her, and not myself. -Some of her blood and brains is still upon my clothes. I don't ask you -to speak to me, I don't ask you to look at me, only come hither and -bring me a little poison, such as is strong enough. Upon my knees I -beg, if your friendship for me ever was sincere, do, _do_ bring me -some poison." - -Next day he was more composed, and declared that nothing should tempt -him to escape justice by suicide. "My death," he writes, "is all the -recompense I can make to the laws of my country." He was tried before -Mr. Justice Blackstone of the Commentaries, and convicted on the -clearest evidence. A plea of insanity was set up in his defence, but -could not be maintained. His dignified address to the jury had nothing -of madness in it, and it is probable that he had no real desire to -escape the just punishment for his crime. This is shown by his answer -to Lord Sandwich, who wrote: - - 17th April, 1779. - - "TO MR. HACKMAN IN NEWGATE - - "If the murderer of Miss —— wishes to live, the man he has - most injured will use all his interest to procure his life." - -To this Hackman replied: - - THE CONDEMNED CELL IN NEWGATE, - 17th April, 1779. - - "The murderer of her whom he preferred, far preferred to - life, respects the hand from which he has just received such - an offer as he neither desires nor deserves. His wishes are - for death, not life. One wish he has. Could he be pardoned - in this world by the man he has most injured—oh, my lord, - when I meet her in another world enable me to tell her (if - departed spirits are not ignorant of earthly things) that - you forgive us both, that you will be a father to her dear - infants! - - "J. H." - -The condemned man continued to fill many sheets with his reflections -in the shape of letters to his friend. But they are all rhapsodical to -the last degree. The 19th April was the day fixed for his execution, -and on that morning he rose at five o'clock, dressed himself, and spent -some time in private meditation. About seven o'clock he was visited by -Mr. Boswell and some other friends, with whom he went to the chaplain -and partook of the sacrament. During the procession to Tyburn he seemed -much affected, and said but little. After having hung the usual time -his body was carried to Surgeon's Hall. He appears to have written a -few last words in pencil at Tyburn while actually waiting to be turned -off. - - "My dear Charlie," he wrote, "farewell for ever in this - world. I die a sincere Christian and penitent, and everything - I hope you can wish me. Would it prevent my example's having - any bad effect if the world should know how I abhor my former - ideas of suicide, my crime? —— will be the best judge. Of - her fame I charge you to be careful. My poorly will . . . - - "Your dying H." - -Miss Reay was buried at Elstree, Herts., where her grave is still -pointed out. - -Twenty years elapsed between the commission of the murder with which -Governor Wall was charged and his trial and atonement. The date of his -execution was 1802, a date which would bring the story within the scope -of a later rather than the present chapter. But while postponing the -particulars of the execution, I propose to deal here with the offence, -as it falls naturally into this branch of my subject. Colonel Wall -was governor and commandant of Goree, a small island off the coast of -Africa close to Cape Verde, and now in the possession of the French. It -was mainly dependent upon England for its supplies, and when these ran -short, as was often the case, the troops received a money compensation -in lieu of rations. A sum was due to them in this way on one occasion -when both the governor and paymaster were on the point of leaving the -island for England, and a number of men, anxious for an adjustment -of their claims, set off in a body to interview the paymaster at -his quarters. They were encountered en route by the governor, who -reprimanded them, and ordered them to return to their barracks. An hour -or two later a second party started for the paymaster, at the head -of which was a certain Sergeant Armstrong. The governor met them as -before, and addressing himself to Sergeant Armstrong, again ordered the -men back to their quarters. - -Upon the nature of this demonstration the whole of the subsequent -proceedings hinged. Governor Wall and his witnesses declared it was -a tumultuous gathering, seventy or eighty strong; other testimony -limited the number to about a dozen. Governor Wall alleged that the -men with Armstrong were armed and menacing; others that they comported -themselves in a quiet, orderly manner. It was sworn that Armstrong, -when spoken to by the governor, came up to him submissively, hat -in hand, addressed him as "Your Excellency," used no disrespectful -language, and withdrew, with his comrades, without noise or -disturbance. This view was supported by the evidence of several -officers, who swore that they saw no appearance of a mutiny on the -island that day; on the other hand, the governor urged that the men had -declared they would break open the stores and help themselves if they -were not settled with at once; that they prevented him from going to -the shore, fearing he meant to leave the island in a hurry; and that -they forced the main guard and released a prisoner. It is difficult to -reconcile statements so widely divergent; but the fact that Governor -Wall left the island next day, and took with him three officers out -of the seven in the garrison; that he made no special report of the -alleged mutiny to the military authorities in London, and did not even -refer to it in minute returns prepared and forwarded at the time, -must be deemed very detrimental to Governor Wall's case, and no doubt -weighed with the jury which tried him. The only conclusion was that no -mutiny existed, but one was assumed merely to screen the infliction of -an unauthorized punishment. - -To return to the events on the island. It is pretty certain that -Governor Wall's mind must have been thrown off its balance after he -had dismissed the party headed by Armstrong. He was either actually -apprehensive for the safety of his command, or was momentarily blinded -by passion at the seeming defiance of discipline, and he felt that he -must make an example if his authority was to be maintained. Although -many old comrades of high rank bore witness at his trial to his great -humanity and good temper, there is reason to fear that to those under -his command he was so severe and unaccommodating as to be generally -unpopular, and this no doubt told against him at his trial. He was -not a strong, self-reliant commander. It is nearly certain that he -gave trifles exaggerated importance, and was only too ready to put in -practice the severest methods of repression he had at hand. In this -instance, however, he did not act without deliberation. It was not -until six in the evening that he had resolved to punish Armstrong -as the ringleader of the mutiny. By that time he had fully laid -his plans. The "long roll" was beat upon the drums, the troops were -assembled hurriedly as in the case of alarm, and a gun-carriage was -dragged into the centre of the parade. The governor then constituted a -drumhead court martial, which proceeded to try Armstrong for mutiny, -convict, and sentence him without calling upon him to plead to any -charge, or hearing him in his defence; so that he was practically -punished without a trial. He was ordered eight hundred lashes, which -were forthwith inflicted, not as in ordinary cases by the regimental -drummers, whom the governor thought were tinged with insubordination, -but by the black interpreters and his assistants; nor was the -regulation cat-of-nine-tails used, as the governor declared they had -all been destroyed by the mutineers, but a very thick rope's end, -which, according to the surgeon's testimony, did more mischief than -the cat. Armstrong's punishment was exemplary. It was proved that the -governor stood by, threatening to flog the blacks themselves unless -they "laid on" with a will, and crying again and again, "Cut him to -the heart! cut him to the liver!" Armstrong begged for mercy, but he -received the whole eight hundred lashes, twenty-five at a time; and -when he was cast loose, he said that the sick season was coming on, -which with the punishment would certainly do for him. A surgeon was -present at the infliction, but was not called upon to certify as to -Armstrong's fitness or otherwise for corporal punishment, nor did -he enter any protest. Armstrong was taken at once to hospital, and -his back was found "as black as a new hat." From the moment of his -reception the doctors had no hope of his recovery; he gradually grew -worse and worse, and presently died. - -The day after the punishment Governor Wall left Goree and came to -England, where he arrived in August, 1782. The news of Armstrong's -death followed him, and various reports as to the governor's conduct, -which were inquired into and dismissed. But in 1784 a more detailed -and circumstantial account came to hand, and two messengers were -despatched to Bath by Lord Sidney, then Secretary of State, to arrest -Wall. They apprehended him and brought him as far as Reading, in a -chaise and four, where they alighted at an inn. While the officers -were at supper he gave them the slip and got over to France, whence -he wrote promising to surrender in the course of a few months. His -excuse for absconding was that many of those who would be the principal -witnesses were his personal enemies. He continued abroad, however, for -some years, residing sometimes in Italy, more constantly in France, -"where he lived respectably and was admitted into good company." He -affected the society of countrymen serving in the French army, and -was well-known to the Scotch and Irish Colleges in Paris. In 1797 he -returned to England and remained in hiding, occupying lodgings in -Lambeth Court, where his wife, who was a lady of good family, regularly -visited him. He is described as being unsettled in mind at this time, -and even then contemplating surrender. His means of subsistence were -rather precarious, but he lived at the time of delivering himself up in -Upper Thornhaugh St., Bedford Square. In October, 1801, he wrote twice -to Lord Pelham, stating that he had returned to England for the purpose -of meeting the charge against him. It was generally supposed that, had -he not thus come forward voluntarily, the matter had nearly passed out -of people's memory, and he would hardly have been molested. He was, -however, arrested on his own letter, committed to Newgate, and tried at -the Old Bailey for the murder of Benjamin Armstrong at Goree in 1782. -He was found guilty and sentenced to death. After several respites -and strenuous exertions to save his life, he was executed in front of -Newgate on the 28th January, 1802. The whole of one day was occupied by -the judges and law officers in reviewing his case, but their opinion -was against him. - -Three persons of note and superior station found themselves in Newgate -about but rather before this time upon a charge of murder. The first -was James Quin, the celebrated actor, the popular diner-out and _bon -vivant_, who went to the west coast of England to eat John Dory in -perfection, and who preferred eating turtle in Bristol to London. He -made his first hit as Falstaff in the "Merry Wives of Windsor." He -had understudied the part, but Rich, manager of the Theatre Royal, -Lincoln's Inn Fields, substituted him for it in an emergency with great -reluctance. His next hit was as Cato, in which, with many other parts, -he succeeded Booth. Quin was modest enough on his first appearance as -Cato to announce that the part would be attempted by Mr. Quin. The -audience were, however, fully satisfied with his performance, and after -one critical passage was applauded with shouts of "Booth outdone!" It -was through this, his great part of Cato, that he was led into the -quarrel which laid him open to the charge of murder. One night in 1769 -an inferior actor named Williams, taking the part of messenger, said, -"Cæsar sends health to Cato," but pronounced Cato "Keeto." Quin, much -annoyed, replied instantly with a "gag"—"Would that he had sent a -better messenger."[316:1] Williams was now greatly incensed, and in the -Green Room later in the evening complained bitterly to Quin that he had -been made ridiculous, that his professional prospects were blighted, -and that he insisted upon satisfaction or an apology. Quin only laughed -at his rage. Williams, goaded to madness, went out into the piazza -at Covent Garden to watch for Quin. When the latter left the theatre -Williams attacked him with his sword. Quin drew in his defence, and -after a few passes ran Williams through the body. The ill-fated actor -died on the spot. Quin surrendered himself, was committed, tried, found -guilty of manslaughter, and sentenced to be burned in the hand. - -Another well-known actor, Charles Macklin, was no less unfortunate -in incurring the stain of blood. He was a hot-headed, intemperate -Irishman, who, when he had an engagement at Drury Lane Theatre, -quarrelled with another actor over a wig. Going down between the pieces -into the scene-room, where the players warmed themselves, he saw a Mr. -Hallam, who was to appear as Sancho in the "Fop's Fortune," wearing a -stock wig which he (Macklin) had on the night before. He swore at him -for a rogue, and cried, "What business have you with my wig?" The other -answered that he had as much right to it as Macklin, but presently went -away and changed it for another. Macklin still would not leave the man -alone, and taking the wig, began to comb it out, making grumbling and -abusive remarks, calling Hallam a blackguard and a scrub rascal. Hallam -replied that he was no more a rascal than Macklin was; upon which the -latter "started from his chair, and having a stick in his hand, made -a full lunge at the actor, and thrust the stick into his left eye;" -pulling it back again he looked pale, turned on his heel, and in a -passion threw the stick on the fire. Hallam clapped his hand to his eye -and said the stick had gone through his head. Young Mr. Cibber, the -manager's son, came in, and a doctor was sent for; the injured man was -removed to a bed, where he expired the following day. Macklin was very -contrite and concerned at his rash act, for which he was arrested, and -in due course tried at the Old Bailey. Many of the most renowned actors -of the day, Rich, Fleetwood, Quin, Ryan, and others, bore testimony to -his good character and his quiet, peaceable disposition. He also was -found guilty of manslaughter only, and sentenced to be burnt in the -hand. - -The third case of killing by misadventure was that of Joseph Baretti, -the author of the well-known Italian and English dictionary. Baretti -had resided in England for some years, engaged upon this work; he was -a middle-aged, respectable man, of studious habits, the friend and -associate of the most noted literary men and artists of the day. He was -a member of the club of the Royal Academicians at that time (1769), -lodged in Soho, and went there one afternoon after a long morning's -work over his proofs. Finding no one at the club, he went on to the -Orange coffee-house, and returning by the Haymarket to the club, -was madly assaulted by a woman at the corner of Panton Street. Very -unwisely he resented her attack by giving her a blow with his hand, -when the woman, finding by his accent he was a foreigner, cried for -help against the cursed Frenchman, when there was at once a gathering -of bullies, who jostled and beat Baretti, making him "apprehensive -that he must expect no favour nor protection, but all outrage and -blows." There was, generally, a great puddle at the corner of Panton -Street, even when the weather was fine, and on this particular day -it had rained incessantly, and the pavement was very slippery. -Baretti's assailants tried hard to push him into the puddle, and at -last in self-defence he drew his pocket-knife, a knife he kept, as he -afterwards declared, to carve fruit and sweetmeats, and not to kill his -fellow creatures with. Being hard pushed, "in great horror, having such -bad eyes," lest he should run against some, and his pursuers constantly -at him, jostling and beating him, Baretti "made a quick blow" at one -who had knocked off his hat with his fist; the mob cried, "Murder, he -has a knife out," and gave way. Baretti ran up Oxenden Street, then -faced about and ran into a shop for protection, being quite spent with -fatigue. Three men followed him; one was a constable, who had called -upon Baretti to surrender. Morgan, the man whom he had stabbed, three -times, as it appeared, "the third wound having hurt him more than the -two former," was fast bleeding to death. Baretti was carried before -Sir John Fielding; his friends came from the club and testified to -his character, among others Sir Joshua Reynolds himself, but he was -committed to prison. It was urged in Baretti's defence that he had -been very severely handled; he had a swollen cheek, and was covered -with bruises. Independent witnesses came forward, and swore that they -had been subjected to personal outrage in the neighbourhood of the -Haymarket. A number of personal friends, including Sir Joshua Reynolds, -Doctor Johnson, Mr. Fitz-Herbert, and Mr. Edmund Burke, spoke in the -highest terms of Mr. Baretti as a "man of benevolence, sobriety, -modesty, and learning." In the end he was acquitted of murder or -manslaughter, and the jury gave a verdict of self-defence. - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[282:1] As barristers often preferred to do business at their own -homes, chambers in the Temple were rather at a discount just then, and -their landlords, "preferring tenants of no legal skill to no tenants at -all, let them out to any that offered, . . ." consequently many private -people creep about the Inns of Court.—"Newgate Calendar," i. 470. - -[286:1] "Beau" Fielding, who was tried at the Old Bailey in 1706 for -committing bigamy with the Duchess of Cleveland, is one of the most -remarkable instances of this. See "Celebrated Trials," iii. 534. Also -see the trial of the Duchess of Kingston, "Remarkable Trials," 203. She -was tried by the House of Lords, found guilty, but pleaded her peerage -and was discharged. - -[316:1] Quin could not resist the chance of making a sharp speech. When -desired by the manager of Covent Garden to go to the front to apologize -for Madame Rollau, a celebrated dancer, who could not appear, he said, -"Ladies and gentlemen, Madame Rollau cannot dance to-night, having -dislocated her ankle—I wish it had been her neck." - - - - -CHAPTER X - -HIGHWAYMEN AND PIRATES - - Chronic dangers and riots in the London streets—Footmen's - riot at Drury Lane—James Maclane, a notorious knight of the - road, has a lodging in St. James's Street—Stops Horace - Walpole—Hanged at Maidstone—John Rann, _alias_ Sixteen-string - Jack—Short career ends on the gallows—William Parsons, a - baronet's son, turns swindler and is transported to Virginia— - Jonathan Wild, the sham thief-taker and notorious criminal— - Captain Kidd—English peers accused of complicity—Kidd's - arrest, trial, and sentence—John Gow and his career in the - _Revenge_—His death at Execution Dock. - - -Inoffensive persons were constantly in danger, day and night, of being -waylaid and maltreated in the streets. Disturbance was chronic in -certain localities, and a trifling quarrel might at any moment blaze -into a murderous riot. On execution days the mob was always rampant; -at times, too, when political passion was at fever-heat, crowds of -roughs were ever ready to espouse the popular cause. Thus, when the -court party, headed by Lord Bute, vainly strove to crush the demagogue -John Wilkes, and certain prisoners were being tried at the Old Bailey -for riot and wounding, a crowd collected outside the Mansion House -carrying a gibbet on which hung a boot and a petticoat. The mayor -interfered and a fray began. Weapons were used, some of the lord -mayor's servants were wounded, and one of the prisoners was rescued by -the mob. Sometimes the disturbance had its origin in trade jealousies. - -An especially turbulent class were the footmen, chair-men, and -body-servants of the aristocracy. The Footmen's Riot at Drury Lane -Theatre, which occurred in 1737, was a serious affair. It had long been -the custom to admit the parti-coloured tribe, as the licensed lackeys -are called in contemporary accounts, to the upper gallery of that -theatre gratis, out of compliment to their masters on whom they were -in attendance. Then, when established among "the gods," they comported -themselves with extraordinary license; they impudently insulted the -rest of the audience, who, unlike themselves, had paid for admission, -and "assuming the prerogative of critics, hissed or applauded with the -most offensive clamour." Finding the privilege of free entrance thus -scandalously abused, Mr. Fleetwood, the manager, suspended the free -list. This gave great offence to the footmen, who proceeded to take -the law into their own hands. "They conceived," as it was stated in -_Fog's Weekly Journal_, "that they had an indefeasible hereditary right -to the said gallery, and that this expulsion was a high infringement -of their liberties." Accordingly, one Saturday night a great number -of them—quite three hundred, it was said—assembled at Drury Lane -doors, armed with staves and truncheons, and "well fortified with -three-threads and two-penny."[323:1] The night selected was one when -the performance was patronized by royalty, and the Prince and Princess -of Wales, with other members of the royal family, were in the theatre. -The rioters attacked the stage door and forced it open, "bearing down -all the box-keepers, candle-snuffers, supernumeraries, and pippin -women that stood in the way." In this onslaught some five and twenty -respectable people were desperately wounded. Fortunately Colonel de -Veil, an active Westminster justice, happened to be in the house, and -at once interposed. He ordered the Riot Act to be read, but "so great -was the confusion," says the account, "that they might as well have -read Cæsar's 'Commentaries.'" Colonel de Veil then got the assistance -of some of the guards, and with them seized several of the principal -rioters, whom he committed to Newgate. - -These prisoners were looked upon as martyrs to the great cause, -and while in gaol were liberally supplied with all luxuries by the -subscription of their brethren. They were, however, brought to trial, -convicted of riot, and sentenced to imprisonment. This did not quite -end the disturbance. Anonymous letters poured into the theatre, -threatening Fleetwood and vowing vengeance. The following is a -specimen: - - "SIR:—We are willing to admonish you before we - attempt our design; and provide you use us civil and admit - us into your gallery, which is our property according to - formalities, and if you think proper to come to a composition - this way you'll hear no further; and if not, our intention is - to combine in a body, incognito, and reduce the playhouse to - the ground. Valuing no detection, we are - - INDEMNIFIED." - -The manager carried these letters to the Lord Chamberlain and appealed -to him for protection. A detachment of the guards, fifty strong, was -ordered to do duty at the theatre nightly, and "thus deterred the saucy -knaves from carrying their threats into execution. From this time," -says the "Newgate Calendar," "the gallery has been purged of such -vermin." - -The footmen and male servants generally of this age were an idle, -dissolute race. From among them the ranks of the highwaymen were -commonly recruited, and it was very usual for the gentleman's -gentleman, who had long flaunted in his master's apparel, and imitated -his master's vices, to turn gentleman on the road to obtain funds for -the faro-table and riotous living. A large proportion of the most -famous highwaymen of the eighteenth century had been in service -at some time or other. Hawkins, James Maclane, John Rann, William -Page, had all worn the livery coat. John Hawkins had been butler in -a gentleman's family, but lost his place when the plate chest was -robbed, and suspicion fell upon him because he was flush of money. -Hawkins, without a character, was unable to get a fresh place, and he -took at once to the road. His operations, which were directed chiefly -against persons of quality, were conducted in and about London. He -stopped and robbed the Earl of Burlington, Lord Bruce, and the Earl of -Westmoreland, the latter in Lincoln's Inn Fields. When he got valuable -jewels he carried them over to Holland and disposed of them for -cash, which he squandered at once in a "hell," for he was a rash and -inveterate gambler. - -Working with two associates, he made his headquarters at a public-house -in the London Wall, the master of which kept a livery-stable, and -shared in the booty. From this point they rode out at all hours and -stopped the stages as they came into town laden with passengers. One -of the gang was, however, captured in the act of robbing the mail -and executed at Aylesbury. After this, by way of revenge, they all -determined to turn mail-robbers. They first designed to stop the -Harwich mail, but changed their mind as its arrival was uncertain, -being dependent on the passage of the packet-boat, and determined to -rob the Bristol mail instead. They overtook the boy carrying the bags -near Slough, and made him go down a lane where they tied him to a tree -in a wet ditch, ransacked the Bath and Bristol bags, and hurried off by -a circuitous route to London, where they divided the spoil, sharing the -bank-notes and throwing the letters into the fire. Soon after this, the -post-office having learned that the public-house in the London Wall was -the resort of highwaymen, it was closely watched. One of Hawkins's gang -became alarmed, and was on the point of bolting to Newcastle when he -was arrested. He was hesitating whether or not he should confess, when -he found that he had been forestalled by an associate, who had already -given information to the post-office, and he also made a clean breast -of it all. The rest of the gang were taken at their lodgings in the -Old Bailey, but not without a fight, and committed to Newgate. Hawkins -tried to set up an alibi, and an innkeeper swore that he lodged with -him at Bedfordbury on the night of the robbery; but the jury found him -guilty, and he was hanged at Tyburn, his body being afterwards hung in -chains on Hounslow Heath. - -The defence of an alibi was very frequently pleaded by highwaymen, -and the tradition of its utility may explain why that veteran and -astute coachman, Mr. Weller, suggested it in the case of "Bardell -_v._ Pickwick." In one genuine case, however, it nearly failed, and -two innocent men were all but sacrificed to mistaken identity. -They had been arrested for having robbed, on the Uxbridge road, a -learned sergeant-at-law, Sir Thomas Davenport, who swore positively -to both. His evidence was corroborated by that of Lady Davenport, and -by the coachman and footman. Also the horses ridden by the supposed -highwaymen, one a brown and the other a gray, were produced in the Old -Bailey courtyard, and sworn to. Yet it was satisfactorily proved that -both the prisoners were respectable residents of Kentish town; that -one, at the exact time of the robbery, was seated at table dining at -some club anniversary dinner, and never left the club-room; that the -other was employed continuously in the bar of a public-house kept by -his mother. It was proved too that the prisoners owned a brown and a -gray horse respectively. The judge summed up in the prisoners' favour, -and they were acquitted. But both suffered severe mental trouble from -the unjust accusation. A few years later the actual robbers were -convicted of another offence, and in the cells of Newgate confessed -that it was they who had stopped Sir Thomas Davenport. - -A very notorious highwayman, who had also been in service at one time -of his varied career, was James Maclane. He was the son of a dissenting -minister in Monaghan, and had a brother a minister at The Hague. -Maclane inherited a small fortune, which he speedily dissipated, after -which he became a gentleman's butler, lost his situation through -dishonesty, determined to enlist in the Horse Guards, abandoned the -idea, and turned fortune-hunter. He was a vain man, of handsome -exterior, which he decked out in smart clothes on borrowed money. He -succeeded at length in winning the daughter of a respectable London -horse-dealer, and with her dowry of £500 set up in business as a -grocer. His wife dying early, he at once turned his stock in trade into -cash, and again looked to win an heiress, "by the gracefulness of his -person and the elegance of his appearance." He was at last reduced to -his last shilling, and being quite despondent, an Irish apothecary, -who was a daring robber, persuaded him to take to the highway. One -of his earliest exploits was to stop Horace Walpole when the latter -was passing through Hyde Park. A pistol went off accidentally in this -encounter, and the bullet not only grazed Walpole's cheek-bone, but -went through the roof of the carriage. At this time Maclane had a -lodging in St. James's Street, for which he paid two guineas a week; -his accomplice Plunkett lived in Jermyn Street. "Their faces," says -Horace Walpole, "are as well known about St. James's as any gentleman's -who lives in that quarter, and who perhaps goes upon the road too." - -Maclane accounted for his style of living by putting out that he had -Irish property worth £700 a year. Once when he had narrowly escaped -capture he went over to his brother in Holland for safety, and when -the danger was passed he returned and recommenced his depredations. He -made so good a show that he was often received into respectable houses, -and was once near marrying a young lady of good position; but he was -recognized and exposed by a gentleman who knew him. Maclane continued -to rob, with still greater boldness, till the 26th June, 1750. On this -day he and Plunkett robbed the Earl of Eglinton on Hounslow Heath. -Later in the day they stopped and rifled the Salisbury stage, and -among the booty carried off two portmanteaus, which were conveyed to -Maclane's lodgings in St. James's. Information of this robbery was -quickly circulated, with a description of the stolen goods. Maclane had -stripped the lace off a waistcoat, the property of one of his victims, -and recklessly offered it for sale to the very laceman from whom it -had been purchased. He also sent for another salesman, who immediately -recognized the clothes offered as those which had been stolen, and -pretending to go home for more money, he fetched a constable and -apprehended Maclane. He made an elaborate defence when brought to -trial, but it availed him little, and he was sentenced to death. While -under condemnation he became quite a popular hero. "The first Sunday -after his trial," says Horace Walpole, "three thousand people went to -see him. He fainted away twice with the heat of his cell. You can't -conceive the ridiculous rage there is for going to Newgate; and the -prints that are published of the malefactors, and the memoirs of their -lives, set forth with as much parade as Marshal Turenne's." Maclane -suffered at Tyburn amidst a great concourse. - -William Page did a better business as a highwayman than Maclane. Page -was apprenticed to a haberdasher, but he was a consummate coxcomb, who -neglected his shop to dress in the fashion and frequent public places. -His relations turned him adrift, and when in the last stage of distress -he accepted a footman's place. It was while in livery that he first -heard of what highwaymen could do, and conceived the idea of adopting -the road as a profession. His first exploits were on the Kentish road, -when he stopped the Canterbury stage; his next near Hampton Court. When -he had collected some £200 he took lodgings in Lincoln's Inn Fields and -passed as a student of law. He learnt to dance, frequented assemblies, -and was on the point of marrying well, when he was recognized as -a discharged footman, and turned out-of-doors. He continued his -depredations all this time, assisted by a curious map which he had -himself drawn, giving the roads round London for twenty miles. His -plan was to drive out in a phaeton and pair. When at a distance from -town he would turn into some unfrequented place and disguise himself -with a grizzle or black wig and put on other clothes. Then saddling -one of his phaeton horses, he went on to the main road and committed -a robbery. This effected, he galloped back to his carriage, resumed -his former dress, and drove to London. He was often cautioned against -himself; but laughingly said that he had already lost his money once -and could now only lose his coat and shirt. He was nearly detected on -one occasion, when some haymakers discovered his empty phaeton and -drove it off with his best clothes. He had just stopped some people, -who pursued the haymakers with the carriage and accused them of being -accomplices in the robbery. Page heard of this, and throwing the -disguise into a well, went back to town nearly naked, where he claimed -the carriage, saying the men had stripped him and thrown him into a -ditch. The coach-builder swore that he had sold him the carriage, and -they were committed for trial, but Page did not appear to prosecute. -Page after this extended his operations, and in company with one -Darwell, an old schoolfellow, committed more than three hundred -robberies in three years. He frequented Bath, Tunbridge, Newmarket, and -Scarbro', playing deep everywhere and passing for a man of fortune. -Darwell and he next "worked" the roads around London, but while the -former was near Sevenoaks he was captured by Justice Fielding. He -turned evidence against Page, who was arrested in consequence at the -Golden Lion near Hyde Park, with a wig to disguise him in one pocket -and his map of the London roads in another. He was remanded to Newgate -and tried for a robbery, of which he was acquitted; then removed to -Maidstone and convicted of another, for which he was hanged at that -place in 1758. - -John Rann was first a helper, then postboy, then coachman to several -gentlemen of position. While in this capacity he dressed in a peculiar -fashion, wearing breeches with eight strings at each knee, and was -hence nicknamed Sixteen-string Jack. Having lost his character he -turned pickpocket, and then took to the road. He was soon afterwards -arrested for robbing a gentleman of a watch and some money on the -Hounslow road. The watch was traced to a woman with whom Rann kept -company, who owned that she had had it from him. Rann denied all -knowledge of the transaction, which could not be brought home to him. -He appeared in court on this occasion in an extravagant costume. His -irons were tied up with blue ribbons, and he carried in his breast a -bouquet of flowers "as big as a broom." He was fond of fine feathers. -Soon afterwards he appeared at a public-house in Bagnigge Wells, -dressed in a scarlet coat, tambour waistcoat, white silk stockings, -and laced hat. He gave himself out quite openly as a highwayman, and -getting drunk and troublesome, he was put out of the house through a -window into the road. Later on he appeared at Barnet races in elegant -sporting style, his waistcoat being blue satin trimmed with silver. On -this occasion he was followed by hundreds who knew him, and wished to -stare at a man who had made himself so notorious. At last he stopped -Dr. Bell, chaplain to the Princess Amelia, in the Uxbridge Road, and -robbed him of eighteen pence and a common watch in a tortoise-shell -case; the latter was traced to the same woman already mentioned, and -Rann was arrested coming into her house. Dr. Bell swore to him, and -his servant declared that he had seen Rann riding up Acton Hill twenty -minutes before the robbery. Rann was convicted on this evidence and -suffered at Tyburn, in 1774, after a short career of four years. It was -not the first time he had seen the gallows. A short time previously he -had attended a public execution, and forcing his way into the ring kept -by the constables, begged that he might be allowed to stand there, as -he might some day be an actor in the scene instead of a spectator. - -The road was usually the last resource of the criminally inclined, the -last fatal step in the downward career which ended abruptly at the -gallows. Dissolute and depraved youths of all classes, often enough -gentlemen, undoubtedly well-born, adopted this dangerous profession -when at their wit's ends for funds. William Butler, who did his work -accompanied by his servant Jack, was the son of a military officer. -Kent and Essex was his favourite line of country, but London was his -headquarters, where they lived in the "genteelest lodgings, Jack -wearing a livery, and the squire dressed in the most elegant manner." - -A baronet, Sir Simon Clarke, was convicted of highway robbery at -Winchester assizes, with an associate, Lieutenant Robert Arnott; -although the former, by the strenuous exertions of his country friends, -escaped the death penalty to which he had been sentenced. A very -notorious highwayman executed in 1750 was William Parson, the son of a -baronet, who had been at Eton, and bore a commission in the Royal Navy. -He had hopes of an inheritance from the Duchess of Northumberland, who -was a near relative, but her Grace altered her will in favour of his -sister. He left the navy in a hurry, and, abandoned by his friends, -became quite destitute, when his father got him an appointment in -the Royal African Company's service. But he soon quarrelled with the -governor of Fort James on the Gambia, and returned to England again -so destitute that he lived on three halfpence for four days and drank -water from the street pumps. His father now told him to enlist in -the Life Guards, but the necessary purchase-money, seventy guineas, -was not forthcoming. He then, by personating a brother, obtained an -advance on a legacy which an aunt had left the brother, and with these -funds made so good a show that he managed to marry a young lady of -independent fortune, whose father was dead and had bequeathed her a -handsome estate. His friends were so delighted that they obtained him -a commission as ensign in a marching regiment, the 34th. He immediately -launched out into extravagant expenditure, took a house in Poland -Street, kept three saddle-horses, a chaise and pair, and a retinue of -servants. He also fell into the hands of a noted gambler and sharper, -who induced him to play high, and fleeced him. Parsons was compelled to -sell his commission to meet his liabilities, and still had to evade his -creditors by hiding under a false name. - -From this time he became an irreclaimable vagabond, put to all sorts -of shifts, and adroit in all kinds of swindles, to raise means. -Having starved for some time, he shipped as captain of marines on -board a galley-privateer. He returned and lived by forgery and fraud. -One counterfeit draft he drew was on the Duke of Cumberland for -£500; another on Sir Joseph Hankey & Co. He defrauded tailors out of -new uniforms, and a hatter of 160 hats, which he pretended he had -contracted to supply to his regiment. He also robbed a jeweller, by a -pretended marriage, of a wedding and several valuable diamond rings. -In the '45 he borrowed a horse from an officer intending to join the -rebels, but he only rode as far as Smithfield, where he sold the nag, -and let the officer be arrested as a supposed traitor. He was arrested -for obtaining money on a false draft at Ranelagh, tried at Maidstone, -sentenced to transportation, and despatched to Virginia. There, "after -working as a common slave about seven weeks," a certain Lord F. -rescued him and took him as a guest into his house. Parsons robbed Lord -F. of a horse and took the highway. With the proceeds of his first -robbery he got a passage back to England. On arriving at Whitehaven, -he represented himself as having come into a large estate, and a -banker advanced him seventy pounds. With this he came on to London, -took lodgings in the West End, near Hyde Park corner, and rapidly got -through his cash. Then he hired a horse and rode out on to Hounslow -Heath to stop the first person he met. - -This became his favourite hunting-ground, although he did business also -about Kensington and Turnham Green. Once having learnt that a footman -was to join his master at Windsor with a portmanteau full of notes and -money, he rode out to rob him, but was recognized by an old victim. -The latter let him enter the town of Hounslow, then ordered him to -surrender. He might still have escaped, but the landlord of the inn -where he lodged thought he answered the description of a highwayman who -had long infested the neighbourhood. Parsons was accordingly detained -and removed to Newgate. He was easily identified, and his condemnation -for returning from transportation followed as a matter of course. His -father and his wife used all their interest to gain him a pardon, but -he was deemed too old an offender to be a fit object for mercy. - -Paul Lewis was another reprobate, who began life as a king's officer. -He was the son of a country clergyman, who got him a commission in the -train of artillery; but Lewis ran into debt, deserted from his corps, -and took to the sea. He entered the Royal Navy, and rose to be first -midshipman, then lieutenant. Although courageous in action, he was -"wicked and base;" and while on board the fleet he collected three -guineas apiece from his messmates to lay in stores for the West Indian -voyages, and bolted with the money. He at once took to the road. His -first affair was near Newington Butts, when he robbed a gentleman in -a chaise. He was apprehended for this offence, but escaped conviction -through an alibi; after this he committed a variety of robberies. He -was captured by a police officer on a night that he had first stopped a -lady and gentleman in a chaise, and then tried to rob a Mr. Brown, at -whom he fired. Mr. Brown's horse took fright and threw him; but when -he got to his feet he found his assailant pinned to the ground by Mr. -Pope, the police officer, who was kneeling on his breast. It seemed -the lady and gentleman, Lewis's first victims, had warned Pope that a -highwayman was about, and the police officer had ridden forward quickly -and seized Lewis at the critical moment. Lewis was conveyed to Newgate, -and in due course sentenced to death. "Such was the baseness and -unfeeling profligacy of this wretch," says the Newgate Calendar, "that -when his almost heart-broken father visited him for the last time in -Newgate, and put twelve guineas into his hand to repay his expenses, -he slipped one of the pieces of gold into the cuff of his sleeve by a -dexterous sleight, and then opening his hand, showed the venerable and -reverend old man that there were but eleven; upon which his father took -another from his pocket and gave it him to make the number intended. -Having then taken a last farewell of his parent, Lewis turned round to -his fellow prisoners, and exultingly exclaimed, 'I have flung the old -fellow out of another guinea.'" - -Pope's capture of the highwayman Lewis was outdone by that of William -Belchier, a few years previous, by William Norton, a person who, -according to his own account of himself, kept a shop in Wych Street, -and who "sometimes took a thief." Norton at the trial told his story -as follows. "The chaise to Devizes having been robbed two or three -times, as I was informed, I was desired to go into it, to see if I -could take the thief, which I did on the third of June, about half an -hour after one in the morning. I got into the post-chaise; the post-boy -told me the place where he had been stopped was near the half-way -house between Knightsbridge and Kensington. As we came near the house -the prisoner (Belchier) came to us on foot and said, 'Driver, stop.' -He held a pistol and tinder-box to the chaise, and said: 'Your money -directly, you must not stop; this minute, your money.' I said, 'Don't -frighten us, I have but a trifle—you shall have it.' Then I said to -the gentlemen,—there were three in the chaise,—'Give your money.' I -took out a pistol from my coat pocket, and from my breeches pocket a -five-shilling piece and a dollar. I held the pistol concealed in one -hand and the money in the other. I held the money pretty hard. He said, -'Put it in my hat.' I let him take the five-shilling piece out of my -hand. As soon as he had taken it I snapped my pistol at him. It did not -go off. He staggered back and held up his hands, and said, 'Oh, Lord! -oh, Lord!' I jumped out of the chaise; he ran away, and I after him -about six or seven hundred yards, and then took him. I hit him a blow -on his back; he begged for mercy on his knees. I took his neckcloth off -and tied his hands with it, and brought him back to the chaise. Then I -told the gentlemen in the chaise that was the errand I came upon, and -wished them a good journey, and brought the prisoner to London." - -No account of the thief-taking or of the criminality of the eighteenth -century would be complete without some reference to Jonathan Wild. -What this astute villain really was may be best gathered from the -various sworn informations on which he was indicted. It was set forth -that he had been for years the confederate of highwaymen, pickpockets, -burglars, shoplifters, and other thieves; that he had formed a kind of -corporation of thieves of which he was head, or director, and that, -despite his pretended efforts at detection, he procured none to be -hanged but those who concealed their booty or refused him his share. -It was said that he had divided the town and country into districts, -and had appointed distinct gangs to each, who accounted to him for -their robberies; that he employed another set to rob in churches -during divine service, and other "moving detachments to attend at -court on birthdays and balls, and at the Houses of Parliament." His -chosen agents were returned transports, who lay quite at his mercy. -They could not be evidence against him, and if they displeased him he -could at any time have them hanged. These felons he generally lodged -in a house of his own, where he fed and clothed them, and used them in -clipping guineas or counterfeiting coin. Wild at last had the audacity -to occupy a house in the Old Bailey, opposite the present Sessions -House. He himself had been a confederate in numerous robberies; in -all cases he was a receiver of the goods stolen; he had under his -care several warehouses for concealing the same, and owned a vessel -for carrying off jewels, watches, and other valuables to Holland, -where he had a superannuated thief for a factor. He also kept in his -pay several artists to make alterations and transform watches, seals, -snuff-boxes, rings, so that they might not be recognized, which he used -to present to people who could be of service to him. It was alleged -that he generally claimed as much as half the value of all articles -which he pretended to recover, and that he never gave up bank-notes or -paper unless the loser could exactly specify them. "In order to carry -out these vile practices, and to gain some credit with the ignorant -multitude, he usually carried a short silver staff as a badge of -authority from the government, which he used to produce when he himself -was concerned in robbing." Last of all he was charged with selling -human blood; in other words, of procuring false evidence to convict -innocent persons; sometimes to prevent them from giving evidence -against himself, and at other times for the sake of the great reward -offered by the government. - -Wild's career was brought to an abrupt conclusion by the revelations -made by two of his creatures. He absconded, but was pursued, captured, -and committed to Newgate. He was tried on several indictments, but -convicted on that of having maintained a secret correspondence with -felons, receiving money for restoring stolen goods, and dividing it -with the thieves whom he did not prosecute. While under sentence of -death he made desperate attempts to obtain a pardon, but in vain, and -at last tried to evade the gallows by taking a large dose of laudanum. -This also failed, and he was conveyed to Tyburn amidst the execrations -of a countless mob of people, who pelted him with stones and dirt all -the way. Among other curious facts concerning this arch-villain, it is -recorded that when at the acme of his prosperity, Jonathan Wild was -ambitious of becoming a freeman of the city of London. His petition -to this effect is contained among the records of the town clerk's -office, and sets forth that the petitioner "has been at great trouble -and charge in apprehending and convicting divers felons for returning -from transportation from Oct. 1720 . . . that your petitioner has never -received any reward or gratuity for such his service, that he is very -desirous of becoming a freeman of this honourable city. . . ." The names -follow, and include Moll King, John Jones, etc., "who were notorious -street robbers." The petition is endorsed as "read Jan. 2d, 1724," but -the result is not stated. - -Before closing this chapter I must refer briefly to another class of -highway robbers—the pirates and rovers who ranged the high seas in -the first half of the eighteenth century. There were sometimes as many -as sixty or seventy pirates at a time awaiting trial in Newgate, about -this period. In those days there was no efficient ocean police, no -perpetual patrolling by war-ships of all nations to prevent and put -down piracy as a crime noxious to all. Later, on the ascendency of -the British navy, this duty was more or less its peculiar province; -but till then every sea was infested with pirates sailing under -various flags. The growth of piracy has been attributed, no doubt with -reason, to the narrow policy of Spain with regard to her transatlantic -colonies. To baffle this colonial system the European powers long -tolerated, even encouraged these reckless filibusters, who did not -confine their ravages to the Spanish-American coast, but turned their -hands, like nautical Ishmaels, against all the world. The mischief -thus done was incalculable. About 1720, one notorious rover, Captain -Roberts, took four hundred sail. They were as clever in obtaining -information as to the movements of rich prizes on the seas as were -highwaymen concerning the traffic along the highroads. They were -particularly cunning in avoiding war-ships, and knew exactly where to -run for supplies. As Captain Johnson tells us, speaking of the West -Indies in the opening pages of his "History of Pirates," "they have -been so formidable and numerous that they have interrupted the trade -of Europe in those parts; and our English merchants in particular have -suffered more by their depredations than by the united force of France -and Spain in the late war." - -Pirates were the curse of the North American waters when Lord Bellamont -went as Governor of New England in 1695, and no one was supposed to -be more in their secrets at that time, or more conversant with their -haunts and hiding-place, than a certain Captain John Kidd, of New -York, who owned a small vessel, and traded with the West Indies. Lord -Bellamont's instructions were to put down piracy if he could, and -Kidd was recommended to him as a fitting person to employ. For some -reason or other Kidd was denied official status; but it was pointed -out to Lord Bellamont that, as the affair would not well admit delay, -"it was worthy of being undertaken by some private persons of rank -and distinction, and carried into execution at their own expense, -notwithstanding public encouragement was denied to it." Eventually -the Lord Chancellor, Lord Somers, the Duke of Shrewsbury, the Earl -of Romney, the Earl of Oxford, with some others, subscribed a sum of -£6,000 to fit out an expedition from England, of which Kidd was to have -the command; and he was granted a commission by letters patent under -the great seal to take and seize pirates, and bring them to justice. -The profits of the adventure, less a fifth, which went to Kidd and -another, were to be pocketed by the promoters of the enterprise, and -this led subsequently to a charge of complicity with the pirates, which -proved very awkward, especially for Lords Orford and Somers. - -Kidd sailed for New York in the _Adventure_ galley, and soon hoisted -the black flag. From New York he steered for Madeira, thence to the -Cape of Good Hope, and on to Madagascar. He captured all that came -in his way. French ships, Portuguese, "Moorish," even English ships -engaged in legitimate and peaceful trade. Kidd shifted his flag to one -of his prizes, and in her returned to the Spanish main for supplies. -Thence he sailed for various ports of the West Indies, and having -disposed of much of his booty, steered for Boston. He had been -preceded there by a merchant who knew of his piratical proceedings, and -gave information to Lord Bellamont. Kidd was accordingly arrested on -his arrival in New England. - -A full report was sent home, and a man-of-war, the _Rochester_, -despatched to bring Kidd to England for trial. As the _Rochester_ -became disabled, and Kidd's arrival was delayed, very great public -clamour arose, caused and fed by political prejudices against Lord -Bellamont and the other great lords, who were accused of an attempt to -shield Kidd. It was moved in the House of Commons that the "letters -patent granted to the Earl of Bellamont and others respecting the goods -taken from pirates were dishonourable to the king, against the law of -nations, contrary to the laws and statutes of the realm, an invasion -of property, and destructive to commerce." The motion was opposed, but -the political opponents of Lord Somers and Lord Orford continued to -accuse them of giving countenance to pirates, while Lord Bellamont was -deemed no less culpable. The East India Company, which had suffered -greatly by Kidd's depredations, and which had been refused letters of -marque to suppress piracy in the Indian Ocean, joined in the clamour, -and petitioned that Captain Kidd "might be brought to speedy trial, and -that the effects taken unjustly from the subjects of the Great Mogul -may be returned to them as a satisfaction for their losses." - -It was ruled at last that Kidd should be examined at the bar of the -House of Commons, with the idea of "fixing part of his guilt on the -parties who had been concerned in sending him on his expedition." Kidd -was accordingly brought to England and lodged first in the Marshalsea, -the prison of the Admiralty Court, and afterward committed to Newgate. -It was rumoured that Lord Halifax, who shared the political odium of -Lord Somers and Orford, had sent privately for Kidd from Newgate to -tamper with him, but "the keeper of the gaol on being sent for averred -that it was false." It is more probable that the other side endeavoured -to get Kidd to bear witness against Lord Somers and the rest; but at -the bar of the House, where he made a very contemptible appearance, -being in some degree intoxicated, Kidd fully exonerated them. "Kidd -discovered little or nothing," says Luttrell. In their subsequent -impeachment they were, notwithstanding, charged with having been Kidd's -accomplices, but the accusation broke down. - -Kidd in the meantime had been left to his fate. He was tried with his -crew on several indictments for murder and piracy at the Admiralty -Sessions of the Old Bailey, and hung in 1701. He must have prospered -greatly in his short and infamous career. According to Luttrell, his -effects were valued at £200,000, and one witness alone, Cogi Baba, a -Persian merchant, charged him with robbing him in the Persian Gulf -of £60,000. No case was made out against the above mentioned peers. -Lord Orford set up in his defence that in Kidd's affair he had acted -legally, and with a good intention towards the public, though to -his own loss; and Lord Somers denied that he had ever seen or known -anything of Kidd. Hume sums up the matter by declaring that "the -Commons in the whole course of the transaction had certainly acted from -motives of faction and revenge." Other ventures are of interest. - -John Gow, who took the piratical name of Captain Smith, was second mate -of the _George_ galley, which he conspired with half the crew to seize -when on the voyage to Santa Cruz. On a given signal, the utterance of -a password, "Who fires first?" an attack was made on the first mate, -surgeon, and supercargo, whose throats were cut. The captain, hearing -a noise, came on deck, when one mutineer cut his throat, and a second -fired a couple of balls into his body. The ship's company consisted of -twenty: four were now disposed of, eight were conspirators, and of the -remaining eight, some of whom had concealed themselves below decks and -some in the shrouds, four had joined the pirates. The other four were -closely watched, and although allowed to range the ship at pleasure, -were often cruelly beaten. The ship was rechristened _The Revenge_; -she mounted several guns, and the pirates steered her for the coast -of Spain, where several prizes were taken—the first a ship laden -with salted cod from Newfoundland, the second a Scotch ship bound to -Italy with a cargo of pickled herrings, the third a French ship laden -with oil, wine, and fruit. The pirates also made a descent upon the -Portuguese coast and laid the people under contributions. - -Dissensions now arose in the ship's company. Gow had a certain amount -of sense and courage, but his lieutenant was a brutal ruffian, often -blinded by passion, and continually fermenting discord. At last he -attempted to shoot Gow, but his pistol missed fire, and he was wounded -himself by two of the pirates. He sprang down to the powder-room and -threatened to blow up the ship, but he was secured, and put on board -a vessel which had been ransacked and set free, the commander of it -being desired to hand the pirate over to the first king's ship he -met, to be dealt with according to his crimes. After this the pirates -steered north for the Orkneys, of which Gow was a native, and after -a safe passage anchored in a bay of one of the islands. While lying -there one of his crew, who had been forced into joining them, escaped -to Kirkwall, where he gave information to a magistrate, and the sheriff -issued a precept to the constables and others to seize _The Revenge_. -Soon afterwards ten more of the crew, also unwilling members of it, -laid hands on the long-boat, and reaching the mainland of Scotland, -coasted along it as far as Leith, whence they made their way to -Edinburgh, and were imprisoned as pirates. Gow meanwhile, careless -of danger, lingered in the Orkneys, plundering and ransacking the -dwelling-houses to provide himself with provisions, and carrying off -plate, linen, and all valuables on which they could lay hands. - -Arriving at an island named Calf Sound, Gow planned the robbery of -an old schoolmate, a Mr. Fea, whom he sought to entrap. But Mr. Fea -turned the tables upon him. Inviting Gow and several of the crew to -an entertainment on shore, while they were carousing Mr. Fea made -his servants seize the pirates' boat, and then entering by different -doors, fell upon the pirates themselves, and made all prisoners. The -rest, twenty-eight in number, who were still afloat, were also captured -by various artifices, and the whole, under orders of the Lord Chief -Justice, were despatched to the Thames in H. M. S. _Greyhound_, for -trial at the Admiralty Court. They were committed to the Marshalsea, -thence to Newgate, and arraigned at the Old Bailey, where Gow refused -to plead, and was sentenced to be pressed to death. He pretended that -he wished to save an estate for a relation; but when all preparations -for carrying out the sentence were completed, he begged to be allowed -to plead, and "the judge being informed, humanely granted his request." -Gow and six others were eventually hanged at Execution Dock. - -Pirates who fell in with ships usually sought to gain recruits among -the captured crews. The alternative was to walk the plank or to be -set adrift in an open boat, or landed on an uninhabited island. For -those who thus agreed under compulsion a still harder fate was often -in store. Captain Massey was an unfortunate instance of this. While -serving in the Royal African Company he was for some time engaged in -the construction of a fort upon the coast with a detachment of men. -They ran short of food, and suffered frightfully from flux. When at the -point of death a passing ship noticed their signals of distress, and -sent a boat on shore to bring them on board. The ship proved to be a -pirate. Captain Massey did not actually join them, but he remained on -board while several prizes were taken. However, he gave information at -Jamaica, the pirate captain and others were arrested and hanged, and -Captain Massey received the thanks of the governor, who offered him an -appointment on the island. But Massey was anxious to return to England, -whither he proceeded armed with strong letters of recommendation to -the lords of the Admiralty. To his intense surprise, "instead of being -caressed he was taken into custody," tried, and eventually executed. -His case evoked great sympathy. "His joining the pirates was evidently -an act of necessity, not choice," and he took the earliest opportunity -of giving up his involuntary associates to justice—a conduct by which -he surely merited the thanks of his country, and not the vengeance of -the law. - -From the foregoing account it is easy to draw conclusions concerning -the state of public morals and manners in the eighteenth century. Both -the atrocity of the crimes and the barbarity of the punishments surpass -everything the twentieth century can show, while to the populace -generally the highwayman and the bully were heroes. Though our century -is by no means free from crime, we may congratulate ourselves that -we have advanced beyond the eighteenth, at least so far as crimes of -violence are concerned. - - -END OF VOLUME I. - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[323:1] Cant names of the period for drinks. - - - - -TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES: - - -The following corrections have been made to the original text: - - Page 56: perfect type of the brutal gaoler[original has - "goaler"] - - Page 63: In London crime was rampant[original has "rampart"]. - - Page 75: Another certificate states that William[original has - "Wililam"] Dominic - - Page 77: a warrant may be made for his banishment.[period - missing in original] - - Page 82: the "verser," and the "[quotation mark missing in - original]barnacle;" - - Page 99: when brought up at Westminster[original has - "Westminister"] for perjury - - Page 99: charged by a cheesemonger[original has - "chesemonger"] as being the man - - Page 137: [quotation mark missing in original]"For long there - was nothing among them - - Page 154: On the death of the king (William[original has - "Wililam"] III) - - Page 159: found on his person when he accidentally[original - has "acidentally"] meets - - Page 186: execution was done: he[original has "He"] delaying - the time - - Page 199: calm spirit, without prayer-book or psalm.[original - has extraneous quotation mark] - - Page 209: the prisoners are kept in the strictest - order."[quotation mark missing in original] - - Page 220: well-applied jerk, snapped asunder[original has - "assunder"] the central link - - Page 249: Housebreaking was of frequent occurrence[original - has "ocurence"] by night. - - Page 253: duty, and promise not to molest them.[original has - a comma] - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The History and Romance of Crime. -Chronicles of Newgate, Volume I (o, by Arthur Griffiths - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHRONICLES OF NEWGATE, VOL I *** - -***** This file should be named 50345-0.txt or 50345-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/0/3/4/50345/ - -Produced by Chris Curnow, Lisa Reigel, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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- } - -@media print, handheld -{ - h2 { - page-break-before: always; - } - - p { - margin-top: .75em; - text-align: justify; - margin-bottom: .75em; - } -} - -@media handheld -{ - body { - margin-left: 2%; - margin-right: 2%; - margin-top: 1%; - margin-bottom: 1%; - } -} - - </style> - </head> -<body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The History and Romance of Crime. -Chronicles of Newgate, Volume I (o, by Arthur Griffiths - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: The History and Romance of Crime. Chronicles of Newgate, Volume I (of 2) - From the twelfth to the eighteenth century - -Author: Arthur Griffiths - -Release Date: October 30, 2015 [EBook #50345] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHRONICLES OF NEWGATE, VOL I *** - - - - -Produced by Chris Curnow, Lisa Reigel, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/seriestitle.jpg" width="485" height="800" alt="History and Romance of Crime" /> -</div> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="newchapter" /> -<p class="seriestitle"> -The History and<br /> -Romance of<br /> -Crime</p> -</div> - -<p class="tpsubtitle">FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES<br /> -TO THE PRESENT DAY</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/colophon_small.jpg" width="25" height="25" alt="colophon" /> -</div> - -<p class="tppublisher">THE GROLIER SOCIETY</p> - -<p class="tppublisher">LONDON</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="newchapter" /> -<div class="figcenter"> - <a name="frontispiece" id="frontispiece"></a><img src="images/frontispiece.jpg" width="800" height="501" alt="" /> - <p class="caption"><i>Elizabeth Fry Reading to the Women Prisoners in -Newgate</i></p> -</div> - - <div class="blockquot"> -<p>The sympathies of the Quaker lady, Elizabeth Fry, were -aroused by the sadly neglected condition of the women's -quarters in Newgate in 1813. She formed the Ladies' Committee -which secured many important reforms from Parliament. She was -a constant visitor to the old prison, where she brought hope -and comfort, and wrought great changes.</p> - </div> -</div> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="newchapter" /> -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/newgate_vol1.jpg" width="477" height="800" alt="Chronicles of Newgate Vol. 1 title page" /> -</div> -</div> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="newchapter" /> -<div class="title"> -<h1>Chronicles of Newgate<br /> - -<small>FROM THE TWELFTH TO<br /> -THE EIGHTEENTH<br /> -CENTURY</small></h1> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="tpauthor"><i>by</i><br /> - -MAJOR ARTHUR GRIFFITHS<br /> - -<i>Late Inspector of Prisons in Great Britain</i></p> - -<p class="tpother"><i>Author of<br /> -"The Mysteries of Police and Crime"<br /> -"Fifty Years of Public Service," etc.</i></p> - -<p class="tpvolume">In Two Volumes<br /> - -Volume 1</p> - -<p class="tppublisher">THE GROLIER SOCIETY</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="newchapter" /> -<p class="sectctr">EDITION NATIONALE</p> -</div> - -<p class="sectctr">Limited to one thousand registered and numbered sets.</p> - -<p class="center">NUMBER 307.</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="newchapter" /> -<p><!-- Page v --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[v]</a></span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak"><a name="GENERAL_INTRODUCTION" id="GENERAL_INTRODUCTION"></a>GENERAL INTRODUCTION</h2> -</div> - -<p>The combat with crime is as old as civilization. Unceasing warfare is -and ever has been waged between the law-maker and the law-breaker. -The punishments inflicted upon criminals have been as various as the -nations devising them, and have reflected with singular fidelity their -temperaments or development. This is true of the death penalty which in -many ages was the only recognized punishment for crimes either great -or small. Each nation has had its own special method of inflicting it. -One was satisfied simply to destroy life; another sought to intensify -the natural fear of death by the added horrors of starvation or the -withholding of fluid, by drowning, stoning, impaling or by exposing the -wretched victims to the stings of insects or snakes. Burning at the -stake was the favourite method of religious fanaticism. This flourished -under the Inquisition everywhere, but notably in Spain where hecatombs -perished by the <i lang="pt" xml:lang="pt">autos-da-fé</i> or "trials of faith" conducted with great -ceremony often in the presence of the sovereign himself. Indeed, so -<!-- Page vi --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[vi]</a></span>terrible are the records of the ages that one turns with relief to the -more humane methods of slowly advancing civilization,—the electric -chair, the rope, the garotte, and even to that sanguinary "daughter of -the Revolution," "la guillotine," the timely and merciful invention of -Dr. Guillotin which substituted its swift and certain action for the -barbarous hacking of blunt swords in the hands of brutal or unskilful -executioners.</p> - -<p>Savage instinct, however, could not find full satisfaction even in -cruel and violent death, but perforce must glut itself in preliminary -tortures. Mankind has exhausted its fiendish ingenuity in the invention -of hideous instruments for prolonging the sufferings of its victims. -When we read to-day of the cold-blooded Chinese who condemns his -criminal to be buried to the chin and left to be teased to death by -flies; of the lust for blood of the Russian soldier who in brutal glee -impales on his bayonet the writhing forms of captive children; of the -recently revealed torture-chambers of the Yildiz Kiosk where Abdul -Hamid wreaked his vengeance or squeezed millions of treasure from -luckless foes; or of the Congo slave wounded and maimed to satisfy the -greed for gold of an unscrupulous monarch;—we are inclined to think of -them as savage survivals in "Darkest Africa" or in countries yet beyond -the pale of western civilization. Yet it was only a few centuries ago -that Spain "did to death" by unspeakable cruelties the gentle races of -Mexico <!-- Page vii --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[vii]</a></span>and Peru, and sapped her own splendid vitality in the woeful -chambers of the Inquisition. Even as late as the end of the eighteenth -century enlightened France was filling with the noblest and best of her -land those <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">oubliettes</i> of which the very names are epitomes of woe: -La Fin d'Aise, "The End of Ease;" La Boucherie, "The Shambles;" and La -Fosse, "The Pit" or "Grave;" in the foul depths of which the victim -stood waist deep in water unable to rest or sleep without drowning. -Buoyed up by hope of release, some endured this torture of "La Fosse" -for fifteen days; but that was nature's limit. None ever survived it -longer.</p> - -<p>The <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">oubliettes</i> of the Conciergerie, recently revealed by excavations -below the level of the Seine, vividly confirm the story of Masers -de Latude, long confined in a similar one in Bicêtre. He says: "I -had neither fire nor artificial light and prison rags were my only -clothing. To quench my thirst, I sucked morsels of ice broken off -from the open window; I was nearly choked by the effluvium from the -cellars. Insects stung me in the eyes. I had nearly always a bad taste -in my mouth, and my lungs were horribly oppressed. I endured unceasing -pangs of hunger, cold and damp; I was attacked by scurvy; in ten days -my legs and thighs were swollen to twice their ordinary size; my body -turned black; my teeth loosened in their sockets so that I could not -masticate; I could not speak and was thought to be dead."</p> - -<p><!-- Page viii --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">[viii]</a></span> -Perhaps the refinement of torture, however, had been reached under -the cowardly and superstitious Louis XI, whose iron cages were of such -shape and size that the prisoners could languish in them for years -unable either to stand upright or to stretch full length upon the -floor. One feels the grim humour of fate that condemned the Bishop of -Verdun, their inventor, to be the first to suffer in them.</p> - -<p>Life-long confinement under such conditions was the so-called -"clemency" of rulers desiring to be thought merciful. Supported -first by hope, then deadened by despair, men endured life in these -prisons for years only to leave them bereft of health or reason. The -famous names of those who languished in them is legion. Fouquet, the -defaulting minister of Louis XIV, whose magnificence had rivalled that -of the king himself, was punished by such captivity for twenty years. -The "Man with the Iron Mask," whose identity, lost for three centuries, -has been proved beyond a doubt after careful comparison of all -theories,—pined his life away in one of them, accused, like Dreyfus, -of having sold a secret of state.</p> - -<p>Records of like cruelty and indifference to human suffering blackened -the pages of English history until the merciful ministrations of John -Howard and of Elizabeth Frye aroused the slumbering pity of Great -Britain, and alleviated the conditions of prisoners all over the world.</p> - -<p><!-- Page ix --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix">[ix]</a></span> -In all lands, in all ages, in all stages of civilization, man has -left grim records of vengeful passion. No race has escaped the stigma, -perhaps no creed. It would almost seem that nations had vied with each -other in the subtlety of their ingenuity for producing suffering. The -stoical Indian, the inscrutable Chinese, the cruel Turk, the brutal -Slav, the philosophic Greek, the suave and artistic Italian, the -stolid German, the logical and pleasure-loving French, the aggressive -English,—all have left their individual seal on these records of -"man's inhumanity to man."</p> - -<p>From the gloom of these old prisons have sprung many of the most -fascinating stories of the world,—stories so dramatic, so thrilling, -so pathetic that even the magic fiction of Dickens or Dumas pales -beside the dread realities of the Tower, the Bastile, the Spielberg, -the "leads" of the Palace of the Doges, the mines of Siberia, or the -Black Hole of Calcutta.</p> - -<p>What heroic visions history conjures for us! Columbus languishing in -chains in Spain; Savonarola and Jean d'Arc passing from torture to the -stake; Sir William Wallace, Sidney, Raleigh, Lady Jane Grey, Sir Thomas -More, irradiating the dim cells of London's Tower; Madame Roland, -Charlotte Corday, Marie Antoinette, beautifying the foul recesses of -the Conciergerie; gentle Madame Elizabeth soothing the sorrows of the -Temple; Silvio Pellico in the Spielberg; Settembrini and the <!-- Page x --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_x" id="Page_x">[x]</a></span>Patriots -of the Risorgimento in the prisons of Italy; the myriad martyrs of -Russia in the dungeons of the Czar or the wilds of Siberia—all pass -before us in those magic pages, uttering in many tongues but in one -accord their righteous and eternal protest against the blind vengeance -of man.</p> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="newchapter" /> -<p><!-- Page 5 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak"><a name="INTRODUCTION" id="INTRODUCTION"></a>INTRODUCTION</h2> -</div> - - -<p>In antiquity and varied interest old Newgate prison, now passed away -before the ceaseless movement of London change, yields to no place -of durance in the world. A gaol stood on this same site for almost a -thousand years. The first prison was nearly as old as the Tower of -London, and much older than the Bastile. Hundreds of thousands of -"felons and trespassers" have from first to last been incarcerated -within. To many it must have been an abode of sorrow, suffering, -and unspeakable woe, a kind of terrestrial inferno, to enter which -was to abandon every hope. Imprisonment was often lightly and -capriciously inflicted in days before British liberties were fully -won, and innumerable victims of tyranny and oppression have been -lodged in Newgate. Political troubles also sent their quota. The gaol -was the half-way house to the scaffold or the gallows for turbulent -or short-sighted persons who espoused the losing side; it was the -starting-place for that painful pilgrimage to the pillory or whipping -post which was too frequently the punishment for rashly uttered -libels and philippics against constituted power. Newgate, <!-- Page 6 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span>again, was -on the highroad to Smithfield; in times of intolerance and fierce -religious dissensions numbers of devoted martyrs went thence to suffer -for conscience' sake at the stake. For centuries a large section of -the permanent population of Newgate, as of all gaols, consisted of -offenders against commercial laws. While fraudulent bankrupts were -hanged, others more unfortunate than criminal were clapped into gaol -to linger out their lives without the chance of earning the funds by -which alone freedom could be recovered. Debtors of all degrees were -condemned to languish for years in prison, often for the most paltry -sums. The perfectly innocent were also detained. Gaol deliveries -were rare, and the boon of arraignment and fair trial was strangely -and unjustly withheld, while even those acquitted in open court were -often haled back to prison because they were unable to discharge the -gaoler's illegal fees. The condition of the prisoners in Newgate -was long most deplorable. They were but scantily supplied with the -commonest necessaries of life. Light scarcely penetrated their dark -and loathsome dungeons; no breath of fresh air sweetened the fetid -atmosphere they breathed; that they enjoyed the luxury of water was due -to the munificence of a lord mayor of London. Their daily subsistence -was most precarious. Food, clothing, fuel were doled out in limited -quantities as charitable gifts; occasionally prosperous citizens -bequeathed small legacies to be expended in the <!-- Page 7 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span>same articles of -supply. These bare prison allowances were further eked out by the -chance seizures in the markets; by bread forfeited as inferior or of -light weight, and meat declared unfit to be publicly sold. All classes -and categories of prisoners were herded indiscriminately together: -men and women, tried and untried, upright but misguided zealots with -hardened habitual offenders. The only principle of classification -was a prisoner's ability or failure to pay certain fees; money could -purchase the squalid comfort of the master's side, but no immunity from -the baleful companionship of felons equally well furnished with funds -and no less anxious to escape the awful horrors of the common side of -the gaol. The weight of the chains, again, which innocent and guilty -alike wore, depended upon the price a prisoner could pay for "easement -of irons," and it was a common practice to overload a newcomer with -enormous fetters and so terrify him into lavish disbursement. The gaol -at all times was so hideously overcrowded that plague and pestilence -perpetually ravaged it, and the deadly infection often spread into the -neighbouring courts of law.</p> - -<p>The foregoing is an imperfect but by no means highly coloured picture -of Newgate as it existed for hundreds of years, from the twelfth -century to the nineteenth. The description is supported by historical -records, somewhat meagre at first, but becoming more and more ample -and better <!-- Page 8 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span>substantiated as the period grows less remote. It is this -actual Newgate, with all its terrors for the sad population which -yearly passed its forbidding portals, which I have endeavoured to -portray.</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="newchapter" /> -<p><!-- Page 9 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak"><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS</h2> -</div> - - -<table summary="Table of Contents" border="0"> - <tr> - <th>CHAPTER</th> - <th> </th> - <th>PAGE</th> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdlefthangsc">Introduction</td> - <td class="tdpage"><a href="#INTRODUCTION">5</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright">I.</td> - <td class="tdlefthangsc">Mediæval Newgate</td> - <td class="tdpage"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">13</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright">II.</td> - <td class="tdlefthangsc">Newgate in the Sixteenth Century</td> - <td class="tdpage"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">40</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright">III.</td> - <td class="tdlefthangscpad">Newgate in the Seventeenth Century</td> - <td class="tdpage"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">71</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright">IV.</td> - <td class="tdlefthangsc">Newgate after the Great Fire</td> - <td class="tdpage"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">90</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright">V.</td> - <td class="tdlefthangsc">The Press-yard</td> - <td class="tdpage"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">129</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright">VI.</td> - <td class="tdlefthangsc">Notable Executions</td> - <td class="tdpage"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">156</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright">VII.</td> - <td class="tdlefthangsc">Remarkable Escapes</td> - <td class="tdpage"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">210</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright">VIII.</td> - <td class="tdlefthangsc">Newgate in the Eighteenth Century</td> - <td class="tdpage"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">242</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright">IX.</td> - <td class="tdlefthangsc">Later Records</td> - <td class="tdpage"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">277</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdright">X.</td> - <td class="tdlefthangsc">Highwaymen and Pirates</td> - <td class="tdpage"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">321</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p><!-- Page 10 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span></p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="newchapter" /> -<p><!-- Page 11 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak"><a name="List_of_Illustrations" id="List_of_Illustrations"></a>List of Illustrations</h2> -</div> - - -<table summary="List of Illustrations" border="0"> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthangscpad">Elizabeth Fry reading to the women prisoners - in Newgate</td> - <td class="tdpage"><i><a href="#frontispiece">Frontispiece</a></i></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthangsc">The Sessions House, Clerkenwell Green, - London</td> - <td class="tdpage"><i>Page</i> <a href="#SessionsHouse">85</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthangsc">The Central Criminal Court, Old Bailey, - London</td> - <td class="tdpage"><i>Page</i> <a href="#CriminalCourt">178</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlefthangsc">The Prison of Newgate</td> - <td class="tdpage"><i>Page</i> <a href="#Newgateprison">246</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p><!-- Page 12 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span></p> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="newchapter" /> -<p><!-- Page 13 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span></p> -<p class="firsttitle">CHRONICLES OF<br /> -NEWGATE</p> - - - - -<hr class="newchapter" /> -<h2 class="nobreak"><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I<br /> - -<small>MEDIAEVAL NEWGATE</small></h2> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p class="hang">Earliest accounts of Newgate prison—The New Gate, when -built and why—Classes of prisoners incarcerated—Brawlers, -vagabonds, and "roarers" committed to Newgate—Exposure -in pillory and sometimes mutilation preceded -imprisonment—The gradual concession of privileges to the -Corporation—Corporation obtains complete jurisdiction over -Newgate—The sheriffs responsible for the good government of -prisons on appointment—Forbidden to farm the prison or sell -the post of keeper—The rule in course of time contravened, -and keepership became purchasable—Condition of the prisoners -in mediæval times—Dependent on charity for commonest -necessaries—A breviary bequeathed—Gaol fell into ruin and -was rebuilt by Whittington's executors in 1422—This edifice -two centuries later restored, but destroyed in the great fire -of 1666.</p> -</div> - - -<p>The earliest authentic mention of Newgate as a gaol or prison for -felons and trespassers occurs in the records of the reign of King -John. In the following reign, <span class="allcapsc">A. D.</span> 1218, Henry III expressly -commands the sheriffs of London to repair it, and promises to reimburse -them for their outlay from <!-- Page 14 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span>his own exchequer. This shows that at that -time the place was under the direct control of the king, and maintained -at his charges. The prison was above the gate, or in the gate-house, as -was the general practice in ancient times. Thus Ludgate was long used -for the incarceration of city debtors.</p> - -<p>To the gate-house of Westminster were committed all offenders taken -within that city; and the same rule obtained in the great provincial -towns, as at Newcastle, Chester, Carlisle, York, and elsewhere. -Concerning the gate itself, the New Gate and its antiquity, opinions -somewhat differ. Maitland declares it to be "demonstrable" that Newgate -was one of the four original gates of the city; "for after the fire of -London in 1666," he goes on to say, "in digging a foundation for the -present Holborn bridge, the vestigia of the Roman military way called -Watling Street were discovered pointing directly to this gate; and this -I take to be an incontestable proof of an original gate built over the -said way in this place."</p> - -<p>Of that ancient Newgate, city portal and general prison-house combined, -but scant records remain. A word or two in the old chroniclers, a -passing reference in the history of those troublous times, a few brief -and formal entries in the city archives—these are all that have been -handed down to us.</p> - -<p>But we may read between the lines and get some notion of mediæval -Newgate. Foul, noisome, terrible, are the epithets applied to this -densely <!-- Page 15 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span>crowded place of durance.<a name="FNanchor_15:1_1" id="FNanchor_15:1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_15:1_1" class="fnanchor">[15:1]</a> It was a dark, pestiferous -den, then, and for centuries later, perpetually ravaged by deadly -diseases.</p> - -<p>Its inmates were of all categories. Prisoners of state and the most -abandoned criminals were alike committed to it. Howel, quoted by -Pennant, states that Newgate was used for the imprisonment of persons -of rank long before the Tower was applied to that purpose. Thus Robert -de Baldock, chancellor of the realm in the reign of Edward II, to -whom most of the miseries of the kingdom were imputed, was dragged to -Newgate by the mob. He had been first committed to the Bishop's Prison, -but was taken thence to Newgate as a place of more security; "but the -unmerciful treatment he met with on the way occasioned him to die -there within a few days in great torment from the blows which had been -inflicted on him." Again, Sir Thomas Percie, Lord Egremond, and other -people of distinction, are recorded as inmates in 1457. But the bulk -of the prisoners were of meaner condition, relegated for all manner -of crimes. Some were parlous offenders. There was but little security -for life or property in that old London, yet the law made constant -war against the turbulent and reckless roughs. Stowe draws a lively -picture of the state of the city at the close of the twelfth <!-- Page 16 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span>century. -One night a brother of Earl Ferrers was slain privately in London. The -king (Edward I) on hearing this "swore that he would be avenged on the -citizens." It was then a common practice in the city for "an hundred -or more in company of young and old to make nightly invasions upon the -houses of the wealthy, to the intent to rob them, and if they found any -man stirring in the city they would presently murder him, insomuch that -when night was come no man durst adventure to walk in the streets." -Matters at length came to a crisis. A party of citizens, young and -wealthy, not mere rogues, attacked the "storehouse of a certain rich -man," and broke through the wall. The "good man of the house" was -prepared and lay in wait for them "in a corner," and saw that they were -led by one Andrew Bucquinte, who carried a burning brand in one hand -and a pot of coals in the other, which he essayed to kindle with the -brand. Upon this the master, crying "Thieves!" rushed at Bucquinte and -smote off his right hand. All took to flight "saving he that had lost -his hand," whom the good man in the next morning delivered to Richard -de Lucy, the king's justice. The thief turned informer, and "appeached -his confederates, of whom many were taken and many were fled." One, -however, was apprehended, a citizen "of great countenance, credit, -and wealth, named John Senex, or John the Old, who, when he could not -acquit himself by the water dome, offered the king five <!-- Page 17 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span>hundred marks -for his acquittal; but the king commanded that he should be hanged, -which was done, and the city became more quiet."</p> - -<p>Long before this, however, Edward I had dealt very sharply with -evil-doers. By the suspension of corporation government following that -king's conflict with the city authority, "all kinds of licentiousness -had got leave to go forward without control."</p> - -<p>At length the frequency of robberies and murders produced the great -penal statute of the 13 Edward I (1287). By this act it was decreed -that no stranger should wear any weapon, or be seen in the streets -after the ringing of the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">couvre-feu</i> bell at St. Martin's-le-Grand; -that no vintners and victuallers should keep open house after the -ringing of the said bell under heavy fines and penalties; that "whereas -it was customary for profligates to learn the art of fencing, who were -thereby emboldened to commit the most unheard-of villainies, no such -school should be kept in the city for the future upon the penalty of -forty marks for every offence." Most of the aforesaid villainies were -said to be committed by foreigners who incessantly crowded into London -from all parts; it was therefore ordered that no person not free of the -city should be suffered to reside therein; and even many persons thus -avouched were obliged to give security for their good behaviour.</p> - -<p>The "<span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Liber Albus</span>," as translated by Riley, gives the penalties for -brawling and breaking the peace <!-- Page 18 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span>about this date. It was ordained that -any person who should draw a sword, <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">misericorde</i> (a dagger with a thin -blade used for mercifully despatching a wounded enemy), or knife, or -any arm, even though he did not strike, should pay a fine to the city -of half a mark, or be imprisoned in Newgate for fifteen days. If he -drew blood the fine was twenty shillings, or forty days in Newgate; in -striking with the fist two shillings, or eight days' imprisonment, and -if blood was drawn forty pence, or twelve days. Moreover, the offenders -were to find good sureties before release, and those on whom the -offence was committed had still recovery by process of law.</p> - -<p>Nor were these empty threats. The laws and ordinances against prowlers -and vagabonds, or night-walkers, as they were officially styled, were -continually enforced by the attachment of offenders. Many cases are -given in the memorials of London.</p> - -<p>Thus Elmer de Multone was attached on indictment as a common -night-walker in the ward of Chepe; in the day, it was charged, he was -wont to entice persons and strangers unknown to a tavern and there -deceive them by using false dice. He was furthermore indicted "in -Tower ward for being a cruiser and night-walker against the peace, -as also for being a common 'roarer.'<a name="FNanchor_18:1_2" id="FNanchor_18:1_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_18:1_2" class="fnanchor">[18:1]</a> Multone was <!-- Page 19 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span>committed -to prison. Others met with similar treatment. John de Rokeslee was -attached as being held suspected of evil and of beating men coming -into the city;" "Peter le Taverner, called Holer," the same, and for -going with sword and buckler and other arms; John Blome was indicted -"as a common vagabond for committing batteries and other mischiefs -in the ward of Aldresgate and divers other wards." "A chaplain," our -modern curate, Richard Heryng, was attached on similar charges, but -was acquitted. Not only were the "roarers" themselves indicted when -taken in this act, but also those who harboured them, like John Baronu, -mentioned in the same document as attached for keeping open house at -night, and receiving night-walkers and players at dice. The prohibition -against fencing-masters was also rigorously enforced, as appears by -the indictment of "Master Roger le Skirmisour, for keeping a fencing -school for divers men, and for enticing thither the sons of respectable -persons so as to waste and spend the property of their fathers and -mothers upon bad practices, the result being that they themselves -become bad men. Master Roger, upon proof to a jury that he was guilty -of the trespasses aforesaid, was committed to Newgate."</p> - -<p>Incarceration in Newgate, however, was meted out promptly for other -offences than those against which the last-mentioned legislation was -directed. <!-- Page 20 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span>Priests guilty of loose living, Jews accused rightly or -wrongly, now of infanticide, of crucifying children, now of coining -and clipping, found themselves in the gaol for indefinite periods. -People, again, who adulterated or sold bad food were incontinently -clapped into gaol. Thus William Cokke of Hesse (or Hayes) was charged -with carrying a sample of wheat in his hand in the market within -Newgate, and following one William, the servant of Robert de la Launde, -goldsmith, about from sack to sack, as the latter was seeking to buy -wheat, telling him that such wheat as the sample could not be got for -less than twenty-one pence per bushel, whereas on the same day and at -the same hour the same servant could have bought the same wheat for -eighteen pence. Cokke, when questioned before the mayor, recorder, -and certain of the aldermen, acknowledged that he had done this to -enhance the price of wheat to the prejudice of all the people. He -was in consequence committed to gaol, and sentenced also to have the -punishment of the pillory. The same fate overtook Alan de Lyndeseye -and Thomas de Patemere, bankers, who were brought before the bench at -Guildhall, and with them "bread they had made of false, putrid, and -rotten materials, through which persons who bought such bread were -deceived and might be killed." The fear of imprisonment, again, was -before the eyes of all who sought to interfere with the freedom of the -<!-- Page 21 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span>markets. Thus it is recorded in the ordinances of the cheesemongers, -that "whereas the hokesters (hucksters) and others who sell such wares -by retail do come and regrate such cheese and butter before prime rung, -and before that the commonalty has been served, may it be ordained that -no such hokesters shall buy of any foreigner before the hour of prime -on pain of imprisonment at the will of the mayor." Similar penalties -were decreed against "regrating" fish and other comestibles for the -London markets.</p> - -<p>In 1316 Gilbert Peny was bound in the third time in default for selling -bread deficient in weight. He had been twice drawn on the hurdle, and -it was therefore now adjudged that he should be drawn once more, and -should then forswear the trade of a baker in the city for ever. One -of many similar cases is that of William Spalyng, who, for selling -putrid beef at "les Stokkes," the stocks market near Walbrook, was put -upon the pillory, and the carcasses were burnt beneath. Another who -made shoes of unlawful material had them forfeited. Bakers who stole -dough from the moulding-boards of other bakers were exposed on the -pillory with the dough hung about their necks. Richard le Forester, for -attempting to defraud with a false garland or metal chaplet for the -head, was sentenced to stand in the pillory, and afterwards to forswear -the city for a year and a day. Traders convicted of having blankets -vamped in foreign <!-- Page 22 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span>parts with the hair of oxen and of cows were -punished, and the blankets were burnt under the pillory on Cornhill. -Similarly, false gloves, braces, and pouches were burnt in the High -Street of Chepe near the stone cross there. John Penrose, a taverner, -convicted of selling unsound wine, was adjudged to drink a draught -of the said wine, and the remainder was then poured out on his head. -Alice, wife of Robert de Cranstom, was put in the "thew," or pillory -for women, for selling ale by short measure; and so was Margery Hore -for selling putrid soles, the fish being burnt, and the cause of her -punishment proclaimed. Two servants of John Naylere were placed in the -stocks upon Cornhill for one hour, and their sacks burnt beside them, -for selling a deficient measure of charcoal, while their master's -three horses were seized and detained by the mayor's sergeant until -he (Naylere) came and answered for the aforesaid falsity and deceit. -William Avecroft having unsound wine, the sheriffs were ordered to pour -all the wine in the street and wholly make away with it, according to -the custom of the city.</p> - -<p>Interesting reference may also be made to the "Liber Albus" which -contains other ordinances against brawlers and loose livers. The -former, whether male or female, were taken to the pillory, carrying -a distaff dressed with flax and preceded by minstrels. The latter, -whether male, female, or clerics, were marched behind music to Newgate -<!-- Page 23 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span>and into the Tun in Cornhill.<a name="FNanchor_23:1_3" id="FNanchor_23:1_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_23:1_3" class="fnanchor">[23:1]</a> Repeated offences were visited -with expulsion, and the culprits were compelled to forswear the city -for ever. The men on exposure had their heads and beards shaved, except -a fringe on their heads two inches in breadth; women who made the -penance in a hood of "rag" or striped cloth had their hair cut round -about their heads. Worse cases of both sexes were shaved, like "an -appealer," or false informer. The crime of riotous assembling was very -sharply dealt with, as appears from the proclamation made on the king's -(Edward III) departure for France. It was then ordained that "no one of -the city, of whatsoever condition he shall be, shall go out of the city -to maintain parties, such as taking leisure, or holding 'days of love' -(days of reconciliation between persons at variance), or making other -congregations within the city or without in disturbance of the peace of -our lord the king, or in affray of the people, and to the scandal of -the city." Any found guilty thereof were to be taken and put into the -prison of Newgate, and there retained for a year and a day; and if he -was a freeman of the city, he lost his freedom for ever.</p> - -<p>The city authorities appear to have been very anxious to uphold their -prerogatives, <!-- Page 24 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span>jealous of their good name, and to have readily availed -themselves of Newgate as a place of punishment for any who impugned it. -A certain John de Hakford, about the middle of the fourteenth century, -was charged with perjury in falsely accusing the chief men in the city -of conspiracy. For this he was remanded by the mayor and aldermen to -Newgate, there to remain until they shall be better advised as to -their judgment. A little later, on Saturday the morrow of St. Nicholas -(6 Dec., 1364), this judgment was delivered, to the effect that the -said John shall remain in prison for one whole year and a day, and the -said John within such year shall four times have the punishment of the -pillory, that is to say, one day in each quarter of the year, beginning -on the Saturday aforesaid, and in this manner: "The said John shall -come out of Newgate without hood or girdle, barefoot and unshod, with -a whetstone hung by a chain from his neck and lying on his breast, it -being marked with the words 'a false liar,' and there shall be a pair -of trumpets trumpeting before him on his way to the pillory, and there -the cause of this punishment shall be solemnly proclaimed, and the -said John shall remain in the pillory for three hours of the day, and -from thence shall be taken back to Newgate in the same manner, there -to remain until his punishment be completed in manner aforesaid." -This investiture of the whetstone was commonly used as a punishment -for <!-- Page 25 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span>misstatement;<a name="FNanchor_25:1_4" id="FNanchor_25:1_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_25:1_4" class="fnanchor">[25:1]</a> for it is recorded in 1371 that one Nicholas -Mollere, servant of John Toppesfield, smith, had the punishment of the -pillory and whetstone for "circulating lies," amongst others that the -prisoners at Newgate were to be taken to the Tower of London, and that -there was to be no longer a prison at Newgate.</p> - -<p>A sharper sentence was meted out about the same date to William -Hughlot, who for a murderous assault upon an alderman was sentenced to -lose his hand, and precept was given to the sheriffs of London to do -execution of the judgment aforesaid.</p> - -<p>Upon this an axe was brought into court by an officer of the sheriffs, -and the hand of the said William was laid upon the block, there to be -cut off. Whereupon John Rove—the alderman aggrieved—in reverence of -our lord the king, and at the request of divers lords, who entreated -for the said William, begged of the mayor and aldermen that the -judgment might be remitted, which was granted accordingly. The culprit -was, however, punished by imprisonment, with exposure on the pillory, -wearing a whetstone, and he was also <!-- Page 26 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span>ordered to carry a lighted wax -candle weighing three pounds through Chepe and Fleet Streets to St. -Dunstan's Church, where he was to make offering of the same.</p> - -<p>However sensitive of their good name, the mayor and aldermen of those -times seem to have been fairly upright in their administration of the -law. The following case shows this:</p> - -<p>A man named Hugh de Beone, arraigned before the city coroner and -sheriff for the death of his wife, stood mute, and refused to plead, -so as to save his goods after sentence. For thus "refusing the law of -England," the justiciary of our lord the king for the delivery of the -gaol of Newgate, committed him back to prison, "there in penance to -remain until he should be dead."</p> - -<p>Long years elapsed between the building of Newgate and the date when -the city gained complete jurisdiction over the prison. King Henry III's -orders to repair the gaol at his own charge has been mentioned already. -Forty years later the same monarch pretended to be keenly concerned -in the good government of Newgate. Returning from Bordeaux when his -son Edward had married the sister of the King of Spain, Henry passed -through Dover and reached London on St. John's Day. The city sent -to congratulate him on his safe arrival, the messengers taking with -them a humble offering of one hundred pounds. The avaricious king was -dissatisfied, and, instead <!-- Page 27 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span>of thanking them, intimated that if they -would win his thanks they must enlarge their present; whereupon they -gave him a "valuable piece of plate of exquisite workmanship, which -pacified him for the present." But Henry was resolved to squeeze more -out of the wealthy burgesses of London. An opportunity soon offered -when a clerk convict, one John Frome, or Offrem,<a name="FNanchor_27:1_5" id="FNanchor_27:1_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_27:1_5" class="fnanchor">[27:1]</a> charged with -murdering a prior, and committed for safe custody to Newgate, escaped -therefrom. The murdered man was a cousin of Henry's queen, and the -king, affecting to be gravely displeased at this gross failure in -prison administration, summoned the mayor and sheriffs to appear before -him and answer the matter. The mayor laid the fault from him to the -sheriffs, forasmuch as to them belonged the keeping of all prisoners -within the city. The mayor was therefore allowed to return home, but -the sheriffs remained prisoners in the Tower "by the space of a month -or more;" and yet they excused themselves in that the fault rested -chiefly with the bishop's officers, the latter having, at their lord's -request, sent the prisoner to Newgate, but being still themselves -responsible with the bishop for his safe-keeping. These excuses did -not satisfy the king, who, "according to his usual justice," says -Noorthouck, "demanded of the city, as an atonement of the pretended -<!-- Page 28 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span>crime, no less than the sum of three thousand marks." The fine was not -immediately forthcoming, whereupon he degraded both the sheriffs, and -until the citizens paid up the enormous sum demanded, he caused the -chief of them to be seized and clapped into prison.</p> - -<p>The city was ready enough, however, to purchase substantial privileges -in hard cash. Many of its early charters were thus obtained from -necessitous kings. In this way the Corporation ransomed, so to speak, -its ancient freedom and the right of independent government.</p> - -<p>In 1327 a further point was gained. The support of the citizens had -been freely given to Queen Isabella and her young son in the struggle -against Edward II. On the accession of Edward III a new charter, dated -in the first year of his reign, was granted to the city of London. -After confirming the ancient liberties, it granted many new privileges; -chief among them was the concession that the mayor of London should be -one of the justices for gaol delivery of Newgate, and named in every -commission for that purpose. The king's marshal might in future hold no -court within the boundary of the city, nor were citizens to be called -upon to plead, beyond them, for anything done within the liberties. No -market might be kept within seven miles of London, while the citizens -were permitted to hold fairs and a court of "pye powder" therein; -in other words, a court <!-- Page 29 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span>for the summary disposal of all offences -committed by hawkers or peddlers, or perambulating merchants, who have -<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">les pieds poudres</i>, or are "dusty-footed."<a name="FNanchor_29:1_6" id="FNanchor_29:1_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_29:1_6" class="fnanchor">[29:1]</a> Other privileges -were obtained from the king during his reign. A second charter granted -them the bailiwick of Southwark, a village which openly harboured -"felons, thieves, and other malefactors," who committed crimes in -the city and fled to Southwark for sanctuary. Again, the election of -the mayor was established on a more settled plan, and vested in the -mayor and aldermen for the time being. Another charter conceded to the -Corporation the honour of having gold and silver maces borne before the -chief functionary, who about this period became first entitled to take -rank as lord mayor. The vast wealth and importance of this great civic -dignitary was to be seen in the state he maintained. The lord mayor -even then dispensed a princely hospitality, and one eminent citizen in -his reign, Henry Picard by name, had the honour of entertaining four -sovereigns at his table, viz., the Kings of England, France, Scotland, -and Cyprus, with the Prince of Wales and many more notables. This -Picard was one of the Guild of Merchant Vintners of Gascony, a Bordeaux -wine-merchant, in fact, and a Gascon by birth, although a naturalized -subject of the <!-- Page 30 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span>English king. The vintners gave the city several lord -mayors.</p> - -<p>Richard II was not so well disposed towards the city. Recklessly -extravagant, wasteful and profuse in his way of living, he was always -in straits for cash. The money needed for his frivolous amusements and -ostentatious display he wrung from the Corporation by forfeiting its -charters, which were only redeemed by the payment of heavy fines. The -sympathies of the city were therefore with Henry Bolingbroke in the -struggle which followed. It was able to do him good service by warning -him of a plot against his life, and Henry, now upon the throne, to show -his gratitude, and "cultivate the good understanding thus commenced -with the city, granted it a new charter." The most important clause -of Henry's charter was that which entrusted the citizens, their heirs -and successors, with the custody "as well of the gates of Newgate and -Ludgate, as all other gates and posterns in the same city."</p> - -<p>By this time the gate and prison had passed under the control of the -civic authorities, and they enjoyed the privilege of contributing to -its charges. This appears from an entry as far back as September, -1339, in the account of expenditure of Thomas de Maryus, chamberlain. -The item is for "moneys delivered to William Simond, sergeant of the -chamber, by precept of the mayor and aldermen, for making the pavement -within Newgate, <!-- Page 31 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span>£7 6<i>s.</i> 8<i>d.</i>" How complete became the power and -responsibility of the Corporation and its officers is to be seen in the -account given in the "Liber Albus" of the procedure when new sheriffs -were appointed. They were sworn on appointment, and with them their -officers, among whom were the governor of Newgate and his clerk. After -dinner on the same day of appointment the old and new sheriffs repaired -to Newgate, where the new officials took over all the prisoners "by -indenture" made between them and the old.<a name="FNanchor_31:1_7" id="FNanchor_31:1_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_31:1_7" class="fnanchor">[31:1]</a> They were also bound to -"place one safeguard there at their own peril," and were forbidden to -"let the gaol to fenn or farm."</p> - -<p>Other restrictions were placed upon them. It <!-- Page 32 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span>was the sheriffs' duty -also, upon the vigil of St. Michael, on vacating their office, to -resign into the hands of the mayor for the time being the keys of -Newgate, the cocket or seal of Newgate, and all other things pertaining -unto the said sheriffwick. All the civic authorities, mayor, sheriffs, -aldermen, and their servants, including the gaoler of Newgate, were -forbidden to brew for sale, keep an oven, or let carts for hire; -"nor shall they be regrators of provisions, or hucksters of ale, or -in partnership with such." Penalties were attached to the breach of -these regulations. It was laid down that any who took the oath and -afterwards contravened it, or any who would not agree to abide by the -ordinance, should be forthwith "ousted from his office for ever." It -was also incumbent upon the sheriffs to put "a man sufficient, and of -good repute, to keep the gaol of Newgate in due manner, without taking -anything of him for such keeping thereof, by covenant made in private -or openly." Moreover, the gaoler so appointed swore before the lord -mayor and aldermen that "neither he nor any of them shall take fine or -extortionate charge from any prisoner by putting on or taking off his -irons, or shall receive moneys extorted from such prisoners." He was -permitted to levy fourpence from each upon release, "as from ancient -time has been the usage, but he shall take fees from no person at his -entrance there;" indeed, he was warned that if he practised <!-- Page 33 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span>extortion -he would be "ousted from his office," and punished at the discretion of -the mayor, aldermen, and common council of the city.</p> - -<p>It will be made pretty plain in subsequent pages, that these wise and -righteous regulations were both flagrantly ignored and systematically -contravened. The rule against farming out the prison may have been -observed, and it cannot be clearly proved that the sheriffs ever took -toll from the gaoler. But the spirit of the law, if not its letter, -was broken by the custom which presently grew general of making the -gaolership a purchasable appointment. Thus the buying and selling of -offices, of army commissions, for instance, as we have seen practised -till recent years in England, at one time extended also to the -keeperships of gaols. It is recorded in the Calendar of State Papers -that one Captain Richardson agreed for his place as keeper of Newgate -for £3,000. A larger sum, viz., £5,000, was paid by John Huggins to -Lord Clarendon, who "did by his interest" obtain a grant of the office -of keeper of the Fleet Prison for the life of Huggins and his son. One -James Whiston, in a book entitled "England's Calamities Discovered, -or Serious Advice to the Common Council of London," denounces this -practice, which he stigmatizes as "bartering justice for gold." -"Purchased cruelty," the right to oppress the prisoners, that is to -say, in order to recover the sums spent in buying the place, "is now -grown so bold that if a poor man pay not <!-- Page 34 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span>extortionary fees and ruinous -chamber-rent, he shall be thrown into holes and common sides to be -devoured by famine, lice, and disease. I would fain know," he asks, -"by what surmise of common sense a keeper of a prison can demand a -recompense or fee from a prisoner for keeping him in prison? . . . Can -he believe that any person can deserve a recompense for opening the -door of misery and destruction? . . . But now such is the confidence of -a purchaser, that to regain his sum expended he sells his tap-house -at prodigious rates, . . . he farms his sheets to mere harpies, and his -great key to such a piece of imperious cruelty (presumably his chief -turnkey) as is the worst of mankind." Following the same line of -argument, he says: "It will perhaps be thought impertinent to dispute -a gaoler's demands for admitting us into his loathsome den, when even -the common hangman, no doubt encouraged by such examples, will scarce -give a malefactor a cast of his office without a bribe, demands very -formally his fees, forsooth, of the person to be executed, and higgles -with him as nicely as if he were going to do him some mighty kindness." -Eventually an act was passed specifically forbidding the sale of such -places. This statute affirms that "none shall buy, sell, let, or take -to farm, the office of undersheriff, gaoler, bailiff, under pain of -£500, half to the king and half to him that shall sue."</p> - -<p>Let us return to mediæval Newgate. Whatever <!-- Page 35 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span>the authority, whether -royal or civic, the condition of the inmates must have been wretched in -the extreme, as the few brief references to them in the various records -will sufficiently prove. The place was full of horrors; the gaolers -rapacious and cruel. In 1334 an official inquiry was made into the -state of the gaol, and some of the atrocities practised were brought to -light. It was found that prisoners detained on minor charges were cast -into deep dungeons, and there associated with the worst criminals. All -were alike threatened, nay tortured, till they yielded to the keepers' -extortions, or consented to turn approvers and swear away the lives -of innocent men. These poor prisoners were dependent upon the charity -and good-will of the benevolent for food and raiment. As far back as -1237 it is stated that Sir John Pulteney gave four marks by the year to -the relief of prisoners in Newgate. In the year 1385 William Walworth, -the stalwart mayor whose name is well remembered in connection with -Wat Tyler's rebellion, gave "somewhat" with the same good object. "So -have many others since," says the record. The water-supply of the -prison, Stowe tells, was also a charitable gift. "Thomas Knowles, -grocer, sometime mayor of London, by license of Reynold, prior of St. -Bartholomew's in Smithfield, and also of John Wakering, master of the -hospital of St. Bartholomew, and his brethren, conveyed the waste of -water at the cistern near unto the common <!-- Page 36 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span>fountain and Chapel of St. -Nicholas (situate by the said hospital) to the gaols of Ludgate and -Newgate, for the relief of the prisoners."</p> - -<p>In 1451, by the will of Phillip Malpas, who had been a sheriff some -twelve years previous, the sum of £125 was bequeathed to "the relief -of poor prisoners." This Malpas, it may be mentioned here, was a -courageous official, ready to act promptly in defence of city rights. -In 1439 a prisoner under escort from Newgate to Guildhall was rescued -from the officers' hands by five companions, after which all took -sanctuary at the college of St. Martin's-le-Grand. "But Phillip Malpas -and Robert Marshal, the sheriffs of London, were no sooner acquainted -with the violence offered to their officer and the rescue of their -prisoner, than they, at the head of a great number of citizens, -repaired to the said college, and forcibly took from thence the -criminal and his rescuers, whom they carried in fetters to the Compter, -and thence, chained by the necks, to Newgate."</p> - -<p>For food the prisoners were dependent upon alms or upon articles -declared forfeit by the law. All food sold contrary to the statutes -of the various guilds was similarly forfeited to the prisoners. The -practice of giving food was continued through succeeding years, and to -a very recent date. A long list of charitable donations and bequests -might be made out, bestowed either in money or in kind. A customary -present was a number of stones of <!-- Page 37 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span>beef. Some gave penny loaves, some -oatmeal, some coals. Without this benevolence it would have gone hard -with the poor population of the Gate-house gaol. It was not strange -that the prison should be wasted by epidemics, as when in 1414 "the -gaoler died and prisoners to the number of sixty-four;" or that the -inmates should at times exhibit a desperate turbulence, taking up -arms and giving constituted authority much trouble to subdue them, -as in 1457 when they broke out of their several wards in Newgate, -and got upon the leads, where they defended themselves with great -obstinacy against the sheriffs and their officers, insomuch that they, -the sheriffs, were obliged to call the citizens to their assistance, -whereby the prisoners were soon reduced to their former state.</p> - -<p>One other charitable bequest must be referred to here, as proving that -the moral no less than the physical well-being of the prisoners was -occasionally an object of solicitude. In the reign of Richard II a -prayer-book was specially bequeathed to Newgate in the following terms:</p> - -<p>"Be it remembered that on the 10th day of June, in the 5th year (1382), -Henry Bever, parson of the church of St. Peter in Brad Street (St. -Peter the Poor, Broad Street), executor of Hugh Tracy, chaplain, came -here before the mayor and aldermen and produced a certain book called -a 'Porte hors,' which the same Hugh had left to the gaol of Newgate, -in order that priests and <!-- Page 38 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span>clerks there imprisoned might say their -service from the same, there to remain so long as it might last. And so -in form aforesaid the book was delivered unto David Bertelike, keeper -of the gate aforesaid, to keep it in such manner so long as he should -hold that office; who was also then charged to be answerable for it. -And it was to be fully allowable for the said Henry to enter the gaol -aforesaid twice in the year at such times as he should please, these -times being suitable times, for the purpose of seeing how the book was -kept."</p> - -<p>We are without any very precise information as to the state of -the prison building throughout these dark ages. But it was before -everything a gate-house, part and parcel of the city fortifications, -and therefore more care and attention would be paid to its external -than its internal condition. It was subject, moreover, to the -violence of such disturbers of the peace as the followers of Wat -Tyler, of whom it is written that, having spoiled strangers "in most -outrageous manner, entered churches, abbeys, and houses of men of -law, which in semblable sort they ransacked, they also brake up the -prisons of Newgate and of both the Compters, destroyed the books, and -set the prisoners at liberty." This was in 1381. Whether the gaol -was immediately repaired after the rebellion was crushed does not -appear; but if so, the work was only partially performed, and the -process of dilapidation and decay must soon have recommenced, for -<!-- Page 39 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span>in Whittington's time it was almost in ruins. That eminent citizen -and mercer, who was three times mayor, and whose charitable bequests -were numerous and liberal, left moneys in his will for the purpose of -rebuilding the place, and accordingly license was granted in 1422, the -first year of Henry VI's reign, to his executors, John Coventre, Jenken -Carpenter, and William Grove, "to reëdify the gaol of Newgate, which -they did with his goods." This building, such as it was, continued to -serve until the commencement of the seventeenth century.</p> - -<p>I have been unable to ascertain any exact figure of this old Newgate, -either in its ancient or improved aspect. The structure, such as it -was, suffered so severely in the great fire of 1666 that it became -necessary to rebuild it upon new and more imposing lines. This may -be described as the third edifice: that of the twelfth century being -the first, and Richard Whittington's the second. Of this third prison -details are still extant, of which description will be given hereafter.</p> - - -<hr class="footnotes" /> -<p class="sectctrfn">FOOTNOTES:</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15:1_1" id="Footnote_15:1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15:1_1"><span class="label">[15:1]</span></a> An entry in a letter book at Guildhall speaks of the -"heynouse gaol of Newgate," and its fetid and corrupt atmosphere. -Loftie, "Hist. of London," vol. i. 437.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_18:1_2" id="Footnote_18:1_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18:1_2"><span class="label">[18:1]</span></a> The term "roarer," and "roaring boy," signifying a -riotous person, was in use in Shakespeare's day, and still survives in -slang (Riley).</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_23:1_3" id="Footnote_23:1_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23:1_3"><span class="label">[23:1]</span></a> A prison for night-walkers and other suspicious -persons, and called the Tun because the same was built somewhat in -fashion of a Tun standing on the one end. It was built in 1282 by Henry -Walers, mayor.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_25:1_4" id="Footnote_25:1_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25:1_4"><span class="label">[25:1]</span></a> Our ancestors, with a strong love for practical jokes -and an equally strong aversion to falsehood and boasting, checked an -indulgence in such vices when they became offensive by very plain -satire. A confirmed liar was presented with a <em>whetstone</em> to jocularly -infer that his invention, if he continued to use it so freely, would -require sharpening.—Chambers's "Book of Days," ii. 45.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_27:1_5" id="Footnote_27:1_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27:1_5"><span class="label">[27:1]</span></a> Noorthouck calls him John Gate. See "Hist. of London," -p. 49.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_29:1_6" id="Footnote_29:1_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29:1_6"><span class="label">[29:1]</span></a> Sir Edward Coke derives the title of the court from the -fact that justice was done in them as speedily as dust can fall from -the foot.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_31:1_7" id="Footnote_31:1_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31:1_7"><span class="label">[31:1]</span></a> Sheriff Hoare (1740-1) tells us how the names of the -prisoners in each gaol were read over to him and his colleagues; the -keepers acknowledged them one by one to be in their custody, and then -tendered the keys, which were delivered back to them again, and after -executing the indentures, the sheriffs partook of sack and walnuts, -provided by the keepers of the prison, at a tavern adjoining Guildhall. -Formerly the sheriffs attended the lord mayor on Easter Eve through -the streets to collect charity for the prisoners in the city prison. -Sheriffs were permitted to keep prisoners in their own houses, hence -the Sponging Houses. The "Sheriffs' Fund" was started in 1807 by Sir -Richard Phillips, who, in his letter to the Livery of London, states -that he found, on visiting Newgate, so many claims on his charity that -he could not meet a tenth part of them. A suggestion to establish a -sheriffs' fund was thereupon made public and found general support. In -1867 the fund amounted to £13,000.</p></div> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="newchapter" /> -<p><!-- Page 40 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak"><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II<br /> - -<small>NEWGATE IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY</small></h2> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p class="hang">Prison records meagre—Administration of justice and state -of crime—Leniency alternates with great severity—Criminal -inmates of Newgate—Masterless men—Robbery with -violence—Debtors—Conscience prisoners—Martyrs in reign of -Henry VIII—Religious dissidents: Porter, Anne Askew—Maryan -persecutions—Rogers—Bishop Hooper—Alexander, the cruel -gaoler of Newgate—Philpot—Underhill the Hot Gospeller -in Newgate—Crime in Elizabeth's reign—The training of -young thieves—Elizabethan persecutions: both Puritans -and papists suffered—The seminary priests—Political -prisoners—Babington's conspiracy—Conspiracies against -the life of Elizabeth—Gaolers of the period generally -tyrants—Crowder, keeper of Newgate, called to account.</p> -</div> - - -<p>The prison records of the sixteenth century are very meagre. No -elaborate system of incarceration as we understand it existed. The -only idea of punishment was the infliction of physical pain. The -penalties inflicted were purely personal, and so to speak final; such -as chastisement, degradation, or death. England had no galleys, no -scheme of enforced labour at the oar, such as was known to the nations -of the Mediterranean seaboard, no method of compelling perpetual toil -in quarry or mine. The germ of transportation no doubt was <!-- Page 41 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span>to be found -in the practice which suffered offenders who had taken sanctuary to -escape punishment by voluntary exile,<a name="FNanchor_41:1_8" id="FNanchor_41:1_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_41:1_8" class="fnanchor">[41:1]</a> but it was long before the -plan of deporting criminals beyond seas became the rule. "In Henry -VIII's time," says Froude, "there was but one step to the gallows -from the lash and the branding-iron." Criminals did not always get -their deserts, however. Although historians have gravely asserted that -seventy-two thousand executions took place in this single reign, the -statement will not bear examination, and has been utterly demolished by -Froude. As a matter of fact offenders far too often escaped scot-free -through the multiplication of sanctuaries—which refuges, like that of -St. Martin's-le-Grand, existed under the very walls of Newgate—the -negligence of pursuers, and not seldom the stout opposition of the -inculpated. Benefit of clergy claimed and conceded on the most shadowy -grounds was another easy and frequent means of evading the law. Some -judges certainly had held that the tonsure was an indispensable proof; -but all were not so strict, and "putting on the book," in other words, -the simple act of reading aloud, <!-- Page 42 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span>was deemed sufficient. So flagrant -was the evasion of the law, that gaolers for a certain fee would assist -accused persons to obtain a smattering of letters, whereby they might -plead their "clergy" in court. It may be added that although the abuse -of the privilege was presently greatly checked, it was not until the -reign of William and Mary that benefit of clergy was absolutely denied -to burglars, pickpockets, and other criminal offenders.</p> - -<p>Yet there were spasmodic intervals of the most extraordinary severity. -Twenty thieves, says Sir Thomas More in his "Utopia," might then be -seen hanging on a single gibbet. Special legislation was introduced to -deal with special crimes. Although there was an appropriateness in the -retribution which overtook him, the sentence inflicted upon the Bishop -of Rochester's cook in 1531, under a new act passed for the purpose, -was ferociously cruel. This man, one Richard Rose or Rouse, was -convicted of having poisoned sixteen persons with porridge specially -prepared to put an end to his master. The crime had been previously -almost unknown in England, and special statutory powers were taken to -cope with it. An act was at once passed defining the offence to be -high treason, and prescribing boiling to death as the penalty. Rose -was accordingly, after conviction, boiled alive in Smithfield. It may -be added that this cruel statute, which may be read <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">in extenso</i> in -Froude, was soon afterwards repealed, but not before another culprit, -<!-- Page 43 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span>Margaret Davy by name, had suffered under its provisions for a similar -offence.</p> - -<p>It is only a passing glimpse that we get of the meaner sort of criminal -committed to Newgate in these times. The gaol, as I have said, was but -the antechamber to something worse. It was the starting-point for the -painful promenade to the pillory. The jurors who were forsworn "for -rewards or favour of parties were judged to ride from Newgate to the -pillory in Cornhill with paper mitres on their heads, there to stand, -and from thence again to Newgate." Again, the ringleaders of false -inquests, Darby, Smith, and Simson by name, were, in the first year of -Henry VII's reign (1509), condemned to ride about the city with their -faces to their horses' tails, and paper on their heads, and were set on -the pillory at Cornhill. After that they were brought back to Newgate, -where they died for very shame.</p> - -<p>A few extracts will serve further to describe the criminal inmates of -Newgate in those times. The quotations are from the "Remembrancia," -1579-1664. Searches appear to have been regularly made for suspected -persons, who when caught were committed to ward. Thus, 1519, a search -was made in the house of William Solcocke in Holborne, and it was -found that one Christopher Tyllesley had lain there two nights. "He -has no master, and is committed to Newgate." Again, "in the house -of Christopher Arundell one Robert Bayley: has no <!-- Page 44 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span>master, and is -committed to Newgate." To Newgate were also committed any who were bold -enough to malign the great Cardinal Wolsey, in the plenitude of his -power, as was Adam Greene in June, 1523, a prisoner in Ludgate, who -repeated to the keeper what he had heard from a "bocher" (butcher), to -the effect that Wolsey had told the king that all London were traitors -to his Grace. Greene was warned to keep silent, but he said "he would -abide by it, for he had it from a substantial man who would also abide -by it."</p> - -<p>Instances of more serious crimes are recorded. In March, 1528, Stephen -reports to Thomas Cromwell that between the hours of six and seven, -"five thieves knocked at the door of Roderigo the Spaniard, which -dwelleth next the goldsmith against your door.<a name="FNanchor_44:1_9" id="FNanchor_44:1_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_44:1_9" class="fnanchor">[44:1]</a> Being asked who -was there, they answered, 'one from the court, to speak with Roderigo.' -When the door was opened three of them rushed in and found the said -Roderigo sitting by the fire with a poor woman dwelling next to Mrs. -Wynsor. Two tarried and kept the door, and strangled the poor woman -that she should not cry. They then took Roderigo's purse, and killed -him by stabbing him in the belly, but had not fled far before two of -them were taken and brought to Newgate."</p> - -<p>Debtors were too small fry to be often referred <!-- Page 45 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span>to in the chronicles -of the times. Now and again they are mentioned as fitting objects -for charity, royal and private. In the king's book of payments is -the following entry, under date May, 1515: "Master Almoner redeeming -prisoners in Newgate, Ludgate, and the Compter, £20." The State Papers, -1581, contain a commission to the lord mayor, recorder, and sheriffs -of London, and many others, all charitable folk, and some sixty in -numbers, to compound with the creditors of poor debtors, at that time -prisoners in Newgate, Ludgate, and the two Compters of the city. -Although debtors in gaol who volunteered for service on shipboard were -discharged by proclamation from the demands of their creditors, as a -general rule committal to Newgate on account of monetary mismanagement -appears to have been more easily compassed than subsequent release. -The same volume of State Papers contains a petition from Richard Case -to Lord Burghley, to the effect that he had been committed to Newgate -"upon the unjust complaint of Mr. Benedict Spinola, relative to the -lease of certain lands and tenements in London." The petitioner further -"desires to be discharged from prison, and to have the queen's pardon," -but there is no allusion to his enlargement.<a name="FNanchor_45:1_10" id="FNanchor_45:1_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_45:1_10" class="fnanchor">[45:1]</a> The impolicy of -<!-- Page 46 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span>confining debtors was not to be fully realized till three more -centuries had passed away. But as early as 1700 a pamphlet preserved in -the "Harleian Miscellany," and entitled "Labour in Vain," anticipates -modern feeling and modern legislation. The writer protests against -the imprisonment of debtors, which he compares to shutting up a cow -from herbage when she gives no milk. "In England we confine people to -starve, contrary to humanity, mercy, or policy. One may as reasonably -expect his dog," he says, "when chained to a post should catch a hare, -as that poor debtors when in gaol should get wherewithal to pay their -debts."</p> - -<p>Details of the incarceration and sufferings of prisoners for -conscience's sake, in an age when polemics were backed up by the -strong arm of the law, are naturally to be met with more frequently -in the partisan writings of the time. Throughout the reigns of Henry -VIII, Mary, and even in that of Elizabeth, intolerance stalked rampant -through the land, filling the prisons and keeping Smithfield in a -blaze. Henry was by turns severe on all creeds. Now Protestants, now -Catholics suffered. He began as an ardent champion of Romish doctrines, -and ended by denying the supremacy of the Pope. In the first stage -he persecuted so-called heretics, in the second he despoiled Church -property, <!-- Page 47 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span>and sent monks and priors to gaol and to the gallows. Foxe -gives a long and detailed list of the Protestant martyrs from first to -last.</p> - -<p>One of the most prominent was Richard Bayfield, a monk of Bury, who -became an inmate of Newgate. Foxe relates that a letter of inquiry was -issued by the Bishop of London to the lord mayor and sheriffs to be -present at St. Paul's on the 20th November, 1531, to receive the said -Richard Bayfield, alias Soundesam, "a relapsed heretic after sentence." -The sheriffs carried him to Newgate, whence they were commanded again -to bring him into Paul's upper choir, there to give attendance upon the -bishop. Later on they are ordered to have him into the vestry, and then -to bring him forth again in Antichrist's apparel to be degraded before -them. "When the bishop had degraded him," says old Foxe, "kneeling upon -the highest step of the altar, he took his crosier staff and smote him -on the breast, then he threw him down backwards and brake his head, so -that he swooned; and when he came to himself again he was led forth -through the choir to Newgate, and there rested about an hour in prayer, -and so went to the fire in his apparel manfully and joyfully, and there -for lack of a speedy fire was two quarters of an hour alive."</p> - -<p>Henry, was, however, impartial in his severity. In 1533 he suffered -John Frith, Andrew Hewett, and other Protestants, to the number of -twenty-seven, <!-- Page 48 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span>to be burned for heresy. The years immediately following -he hunted to death all who refused to acknowledge him as the head of -the Church. Besides such imposing victims as Sir Thomas More, and -Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, many priests suffered. In 1534 the prior -of the London Carthusians, the prior of Hexham, Benase, a monk of Sion -College, and John Haite, vicar of Isleworth, together with others, were -sentenced to be hanged and quartered at Tyburn. In 1538 a friar, by -name Forrest, was hanged in Smithfield upon a gallows, quick, by the -middle and the arm-holes, and burned to death for denying the king's -supremacy and teaching the same in confession to many of the king's -subjects. Upon the pile by which Forrest was consumed was also a wooden -image, brought out of Wales, called "Darvell Gatheren," which the -Welshmen "much worshipped, and had a prophecy amongst them that this -image would set a whole forest on fire, which prophecy took effect."</p> - -<p>The greatest trials were reserved for the religious dissidents who -dared to differ with the king. Henry was vain of his learning and of -his polemical powers. No true follower of Luther, he was a Protestant -by policy rather than conviction, and he still held many tenets of the -Church he had disavowed. These were embodied and promulgated in the -notorious Six Articles, otherwise "the whip with six tails," or the -Bloody Statute, so called <!-- Page 49 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span>from its sanguinary results. The doctrines -enunciated were such that many could not possibly subscribe to them; -the penalties were "strait and bloody," and very soon they were widely -inflicted. Foxe, in a dozen or more pages, recounts the various -presentments against individuals, lay and clerical, for transgressing -one or more of the principles of the Six Articles; and adds to the -aforesaid, "Dr. Taylor, parson of St. Peter's, in Cornhill; South, -parish priest of Allhallows, in Lombard Street; Some, a priest; Giles, -the king's beer-brewer, at the Red Lion, in St. Katherine's; Thomas -Lancaster, priest; all which were imprisoned likewise for the Six -Articles." "To be short," he adds, "such a number out of all parishes -in London, and out of Calais, and divers other quarters, were then -apprehended through the said inquisition, that all prisons in London, -including Newgate, were too little to hold them, insomuch that they -were fain to lay them in the halls. At last, by the means of good -Lord Audeley, such pardon was obtained of the king that the said Lord -Audeley, then Lord Chancellor, being content that one should be bound -for another, they were all discharged, being bound only to appear in -the Star Chamber the next day after All Souls, there to answer if they -were called; but neither was there any person called, neither did any -appear."</p> - -<p>Bonner, then Bishop of London, and afterwards one of the queen's -principal advisers, had power to persecute even under Henry. The -Bible had <!-- Page 50 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span>been set up by the king's command in St. Paul's, that -the public might read the sacred word. "Much people used to resort -thither," says Foxe, to hear the reading of the Bible, and especially -by one John Porter, "a fresh young man, and of a big stature," who was -very expert. It displeased Bonner that this Porter should draw such -congregations, and sending for him, the Bishop rebuked him very sharply -for his reading. Porter defended himself, but Bonner charged him -with adding expositions of the text, and gathering "great multitudes -about him to make tumults." Nothing was proved against Porter, but -"in fine Bonner sent him to Newgate, where he was miserably fettered -in irons, both legs and arms, with a collar of iron about his neck, -fastened to the wall in the dungeon; being there so cruelly handled -that he was compelled to send for a kinsman of his, whose name is also -Porter, a man yet alive, and can testify that it is true, and dwelleth -yet without Newgate. He, seeing his kinsman in this miserable case, -entreated Jewet, the keeper of Newgate, that he might be released out -of those cruel irons, and so, through friendship and money, had him up -among other prisoners, who lay there for felony and murder." Porter -made the most of the occasion, and after hearing and seeing their -wickedness and blasphemy, exhorted them to amendment of life, and "gave -unto them such instructions as he had learned of in the Scriptures; for -which his so doing he was <!-- Page 51 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span>complained, and so carried down and laid in -the lower dungeon of all, oppressed with bolts and irons, where, within -six or eight days, he was found dead."</p> - -<p>But the most prominent victim to the Six Articles was Anne Askew, -the daughter of Sir William Askew, knight, of Lincolnshire. She was -married to one Kyme, but is best known under her maiden name. She -was persecuted for denying the Real Presence, but the proceedings -against her were pushed to extremity, it was said, because she was -befriended in high quarters. Her story is a melancholly one. First, -one Christopher Dene examined her as to her faith and belief in a very -subtle manner, and upon her answers had her before the lord mayor, who -committed her to the Compter. There, for eleven days, none but a priest -was allowed to visit her, his object being to ensnare her further. -Presently she was released upon finding sureties to surrender if -required, but was again brought before the king's council at Greenwich. -Her opinions in matters of belief proving unsatisfactory, she was -remanded to Newgate. Thence she petitioned the king, also the Lord -Chancellor Wriottesley, "to aid her in obtaining just consideration." -Nevertheless, she was taken to the Tower, and there tortured. Foxe puts -the following words into her mouth: "On Tuesday I was sent from Newgate -to the Sign of the Crown, where Master Rich and the Bishop of London, -with all their power and flattering words, went about to <!-- Page 52 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span>persuade me -from God, but I did not esteem their glosing pretences. . . . Then -Master Rich sent me to the Tower, where I remained till three o'clock." -At the Tower strenuous efforts were made to get her to accuse others. -They pressed her to say how she was maintained in prison; whether -divers gentlewomen had not sent her money. But she replied that her -maid had gone abroad in the streets and made moan to the 'prentices, -who had sent her alms. When further urged, she admitted that a man in -a blue coat had delivered her ten shillings, saying it came from my -Lady Hertford, and that another in a violet coat had given her eight -shillings from my Lady Denny—"whether it is true or not I cannot -tell." "Then they said three men of the council did maintain me, and I -said no. Then they did put me on the rack because I confessed no ladies -or gentlemen to be of my opinion, and thereon they kept me a long time; -and because I lay still, and did not cry, my Lord Chancellor and Master -Rich took pains to rack me with their own hands till I was nigh dead. -Then the lieutenant (Sir Anthony Knevet) caused me to be loosed from -the rack. Incontinently I swooned, and then they recovered me again. -After that I sat two long hours, reasoning with my Lord Chancellor, -on the bare floor." At last she was "brought to a house and laid in a -bed with as weary and painful bones as ever had patient Job; I thank -my Lord God therefor. Then my Lord Chancellor sent me <!-- Page 53 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span>word, if I -would leave my opinion, I should want nothing; if I did not, I should -forthwith to Newgate, and so be burned. . . ."</p> - -<p>Foxe gives full details of her torture in the Tower. At first she was -let down into a dungeon, and the gaoler, by command of Sir Anthony -Knevet, pinched her with the rack. After this, deeming he had done -enough, he was about to take her down, but Wriottesley, the Lord -Chancellor, "commanded the lieutenant to strain her on the rack again; -which, because he denied to do, tendering the weakness of the woman, -he was threatened therefore grievously of the said Wriottesley, saying -he would signify his disobedience to the king. And so consequently -upon the same, he (Wriottesley) and Master Rich, throwing off their -gowns, would needs play the tormentors themselves. . . . And so, quietly -and patiently praying unto the Lord, she abode their tyranny till her -bones and joints were almost plucked asunder, in such sort as she was -carried away in a chair." Then the chancellor galloped off to report -the lieutenant to the king; but Sir Anthony Knevet forestalled by going -by water, and obtained the king's pardon before the complaint was made. -"King Henry," says Foxe, "seemed not very well to like of their so -extreme handling of the woman."</p> - -<p>Soon after this Mistress Askew was again committed to Newgate, whence -she was carried in a chair to Smithfield, "because she could not walk -<!-- Page 54 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span>on her feet by means of her great torments. When called upon to recant -she refused, as did the martyrs with her." Whereupon the lord mayor, -commanding fire to be put under them, cried, "Fiat Justitia," and they -were burned.</p> - -<p>The Maryan persecutions naturally filled Newgate. It would weary the -reader to give lengthened descriptions of the many martyrs who passed -through that prison to Smithfield. But a few of the victims stand -prominently forward. Two of the earliest were John Rogers, vicar of -St. Sepulchre and prebendary of St. Paul's, and Hooper, Bishop of -Gloucester. Rogers was the protomartyr—the first sacrificed to the -religious intolerance of Mary and her advisers. Foxe says that after -being a prisoner in his own house for a long time, Rogers was "removed -to the prison called Newgate, where he was lodged among thieves and -murderers for a great space." He was kept in Newgate "a full year," -Rogers tells us himself, "at great costs and charges, having a wife and -ten children to find for; and I had never a penny of my livings, which -was against the law." He made "many supplications" out of Newgate, -and sent his wife to implore fairer treatment; but in Newgate he lay, -till at length he was brought to the Compter in Southwark, with Master -Hooper, for examination. Finally, after having been "very uncharitably -entreated," he was "unjustly, and most cruelly, by wicked Winchester -condemned." The <!-- Page 55 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span>4th February, 1555, he was warned suddenly by the -keeper's wife of Newgate to prepare himself for the fire, "who being -then found asleep, scarce with much shogging could be awakened." Being -bidden to make haste, he remarked: "If it be so, I need not tie my -points." "So was he had down first to Bonner to be degraded, whom he -petitioned to be allowed to talk a few words with his wife before his -burning"—a reasonable request, which was refused. "Then the sheriffs, -Master Chester and Master Woodroove, took him to Smithfield; and his -wife and children, eleven in number, ten able to go, and one at the -breast, met him as he passed. This sorrowful sight of his own flesh and -blood could nothing move him, but that he constantly and cheerfully -took his death with wonderful patience in the defence and quarrel of -Christ's gospel."</p> - -<p>While detained in Newgate, Master Rogers devoted himself to the service -of the ordinary prisoners, to whom he was "beneficial and liberal," -having thus devised "that he with his fellows should have but one meal -a day, they paying, notwithstanding, the charges of the whole; the -other meal should be given to them that lacked on the other (or common) -side of the prison. But Alexander their keeper, a strait man and a -right Alexander, a coppersmith, indeed . . . would in no case suffer -that."</p> - -<p>This Alexander Andrew or Alexander, as he is <!-- Page 56 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span>simply called, figures -in contemporary records, more especially in the writings of Foxe, as a -perfect type of the brutal gaoler. "Of gaolers," says Foxe, "Alexander, -keeper of Newgate, exceeded all others." He is described as "a cruel -enemy of those that lay there (Newgate) for religion. The cruel wretch, -to hasten the poor lambs to the slaughter, would go to Bonner, Story, -Cholmley, and others, crying out, 'Rid my prison! rid my prison! I -am too much pestered by these heretics.'" Alexander's reception of -an old friend of his, Master Philpot, when committed to Newgate, is -graphically told by the old chronicler. "'Ah, thou hast well done to -bring thyself hither,' he says to Philpot. 'I must be content,' replied -Philpot, 'for it is God's appointment, and I shall desire you to let me -have some gentle favour, for you and I have been of old acquaintance.' -'Well,' said Alexander, 'I will show thee great gentleness and favour, -so thou wilt be ruled by me.' Then said Master Philpot, 'I pray you -show me what you would have me to do.' He said, 'If you will recant I -will show you any pleasure I can.' 'Nay,' said Master Philpot, 'I will -never recant whilst I have my life, for it is most certain truth, and -in witness thereof I will seal it with my blood.' Then Alexander said, -'This is the saying of the whole pack of you heretics.' Whereupon he -commanded him to be set upon the block, and as many irons upon his legs -as he could bear, for that he would <!-- Page 57 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span>not follow his wicked mind. . . . -'But, good Master Alexander, be so much my friend that these irons -may be taken off.' 'Well,' said Alexander, 'give me my fees, and I -will take them off; if not, thou shalt wear them still.' Then Master -Philpot said, 'Sir, what is your fee?' He said four pounds was his fee. -'Ah,' said Master Philpot, 'I have not so much; I am but a poor man, -and I have been long in prison.' 'What wilt thou give me, then?' said -Alexander. 'Sir,' said he, 'I will give you twenty shillings, and that -I will send my man for, or else I will lay my gown to gage. For the -time is not long, I am sure, that I shall be with you, for the bishop -said I should be soon despatched.' Then said Alexander unto him, 'What -is that to me?' and with that he departed for a time, and commanded him -to be had into limbo. And so his commandment was fulfilled; but before -he could be taken from the block the clerk would have a groat. Then -one Willerence, steward of the house, took him on his back and carried -him down his man knew not whither. Wherefore Master Philpot said to -his man, 'Go to Master Sheriff, and show him how I am used, and desire -Master Sheriff to be good unto me;' and so his servant went straightway -and took an honest man with him.</p> - -<p>"And when they came to Master Sheriff, which was Master Ascham, and -showed him how Master Philpot was handled in Newgate, the sheriff, -hearing <!-- Page 58 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span>this, took his ring off his finger and delivered it unto that -honest man that comes with Master Philpot's man, and bade him go unto -Alexander the keeper and command him to take off his irons and handle -him more gently, and give his man again that which he had taken from -him. And when they came to the said Alexander and told their message -from the sheriff, Alexander took the ring, and said, 'Ah, I perceive -that Master Sheriff is a bearer with him and all such heretics as -he is, therefore to-morrow I will show it to his betters;' yet at -ten by the clock he went to Master Philpot where he lay and took off -his irons, and gave him such things as he had taken before from his -servant."</p> - -<p>Alexander's zeal must have been very active. In 1558 it is recorded -that twenty-two men and women were committed to Newgate for praying -together in the fields about Islington. They were two and twenty weeks -in the prison before they were examined, during which Alexander sent -them word that if they would hear a mass they should be delivered. -According to Foxe a terrible vengeance overtook this hard-hearted -man. He died very miserably, being so swollen that he was more like a -monster than a man. The same authority relates that other persecutors -came to a bad end.</p> - -<p>Bishop Hooper soon followed Rogers to the stake. The same Monday night, -February 4, 1555, the keeper of Newgate gave him an inkling that he -<!-- Page 59 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span>should be sent to Gloucester to suffer death, "and the next day -following, about four o'clock in the morning before day, the keeper -with others came to him and searched him and the bed wherein he lay, to -see if he had written anything, and then he was led to the sheriffs of -London and other their officers forth of Newgate, to a place appointed -not far from Dunstan's Church, Fleet Street, where six of the Queen's -Guards were appointed to receive him and to carry him to Gloucester, -. . ." where execution was to be done.</p> - -<p>We obtain a curious insight into the gaol at Newgate during Mary's -reign from the narrative of the "Hot Gospeller." Edward Underhill, a -yeoman of the Guard, was arrested in 1553 for "putting out" a ballad -which attacked the queen's title. Underhill was carried before the -Council, and there got into dispute with Bourne, a fanatic priest whom -he called a papist. "Sir John Mason asked what he meant by that, and he -replied, 'If you look among the priests of Paul's you will find some -mumpsimusses there.' This caused much heat, and he was committed to -Newgate." At the door of the prison he wrote to his wife, asking her to -send his nightgown, Bible, and lute, and then he goes on to describe -Newgate as follows:</p> - -<p>"In the centre of Newgate was a great open hall; as soon as it was -supper-time the board was covered in the same hall. The keeper, whose -name was Alexander, with his wife came and sat down, <!-- Page 60 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span>and half a dozen -prisoners that were there for felony, Underhill being the first that -for religion was sent into that prison. One of the felons had served -with him in France. After supper this good fellow, whose name was -Bristow, procured one to have a bed in his (Underhill's) chamber who -could play well upon a rebeck. He was a tall fellow, and after one of -Queen Mary's guard, yet a Protestant, which he kept secret, or else -he should not have found such favour as he did at the keeper's hands -and his wife's, for to such as loved the gospel they were very cruel. -'Well,' said Underhill, 'I have sent for my Bible, and, by God's grace, -therein shall be my daily exercise; I will not hide it from them.' -'Sir,' said he, 'I am poor; but they will bear with you, for they see -your estate is to pay well; and I will show you the nature and manner -of them, for I have been here a good while. They both do love music -very well; wherefore, you with your lute, and I to play with you on my -rebeck, will please them greatly. He loveth to be merry and to drink -wine, and she also. If you will bestow upon them, every dinner and -supper, a quart of wine and some music, you shall be their white son, -and have all the favour they can show you.'"</p> - -<p>The honour of being "white son" to the governor and governess of -Newgate was worth aspiring after, as it meant many privileges and much -favour. Underhill duly provided the desired entertainment. The governor -gave him the best <!-- Page 61 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span>room in the prison, with all other admissible -indulgences.</p> - -<p>"At last, however, the evil savours, great unquietness, with over many -draughts of air, threw the poor gentleman into a burning ague. He -shifted his lodgings, but to no purpose; the evil savours followed him. -The keeper offered him his own parlour, where he escaped from the noise -of the prison; but it was near the kitchen, and the smell of the meat -was disagreeable. Finally the wife put him away in her store closet, -amidst her best plate, crockery, and clothes, and there he continued -to survive till the middle of September, when he was released on bail -through the interference of the Earl of Bedford."</p> - -<p>There was a truce to religious persecution for some years after Mary's -death. Throughout Edward's reign and the better part of Elizabeth's it -was only the ordinary sort of criminal who was committed to the gaol of -Newgate. The offences were mostly coining, horse-stealing, and other -kinds of thefts.</p> - -<p>"One named Ditche was apprehended at the session holden at Newgate -on 4th December, 1583, nineteen times indicted, whereof he confessed -eighteen, who also between the time of his apprehension and the -said sessions impeached many for stealing horses, whereof (divers -being apprehended) ten were condemned and hanged in Smithfield on -the 11th December, being Friday and <!-- Page 62 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span>horse-market there."<a name="FNanchor_62:1_11" id="FNanchor_62:1_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_62:1_11" class="fnanchor">[62:1]</a> The -"Remembrancia" gives a letter from Mr. Valentine Dale, one of the -masters of the Court of Requests, to the lord mayor, stating that -the wife of John Hollingshead had petitioned the queen to grant a -reprieve and pardon to her husband, a condemned felon, and directing -the execution to be stayed, and a full account of his behaviour and -offence forwarded to her Majesty. The lord mayor in reply says that -he had called before him the officers of Newgate, who stated that -Hollingshead had been for a long time a common and notorious thief. -This was the fourth time he had been in Newgate for felonies, and -upon the last occasion he had been branded with the letter T (thief). -Coiners were very severely dealt with. The offence was treason, and -punished as such. There are many cases on record, such as—"On the 27th -of January Phillip Meshel, a Frenchman, and two Englishmen were drawn -from Newgate to Tyburn, and there hanged. The Frenchman quartered who -had coined gold counterfeit; of the Englishmen, the one had clipped -silver, and the other cast testers of tin." "The 30th of May Thomas -Green, goldsmith, was drawn from Newgate to Tyburn, and there hanged, -beheaded, and quartered, for clipping of coin, both gold and silver."</p> - -<p>Towards the end of the reign, in spite of the <!-- Page 63 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span>stringent acts against -vagrancy, the country swarmed with rogues and beggars—vagabonds -who laid the farmers under contribution, and terrified all honest -folk out of their lives. In London crime was rampant. Even then it -had its organization; there were houses which harboured thieves, in -which schools were maintained for the education of young pickpockets. -Maitland tells us that in the spring of 1585, Fleetwood, the recorder, -with several other magistrates searched the town and discovered seven -houses of entertainment of felons. They found also that one Walton, a -gentleman born, once a prosperous merchant, "but fallen into decay," -who had kept an alehouse which had been put down, had begun a "new -business." He opened his house for the reception of all the cutpurses -in and about the city. In this house was a room to teach young boys to -cut purses. Two devices were hung up; one was a pocket, the other was a -purse. The pocket had in it certain counters, and was hung round with -hawk's bells, and over them hung a little sacring<a name="FNanchor_63:1_12" id="FNanchor_63:1_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_63:1_12" class="fnanchor">[63:1]</a> bell. The purse -had silver in it, and he that could take out a counter without any -noise was allowed to be a public <em>foyster</em>; and he that could take a -piece of silver out of the purse without noise of any of the bells was -adjudged a clever <em>nypper</em>. These places gave great encouragement to -<!-- Page 64 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span>evil-doers in these times, but were soon after suppressed.</p> - -<p>In 1581 a fresh religious persecution began, happily without the -sanguinary accessories of that of Mary's reign. Elizabeth had no love -for the Puritans; she also began now to hate and fear the papists. -Orthodoxy was insisted upon. People who would not go to church were -sent first to prison, then haled before Sessions and fined a matter -of twenty pounds each. Still worse fared the adherents or emissaries -of Rome. In 1569 a man named John Felton had been drawn from Newgate -into Paul's Churchyard, and there hanged and quartered as a traitor for -affixing a bull of Pope Pius V on the gate of the Bishop of London's -palace. In 1578 it is recorded that "the papists are stubborn." So -also must have been the Puritans. "One Sherwood brought before the -Bishop of London behaved so stubbornly that the bishop will show -no more favour to those miscalled Puritans." Next began a fierce -crusade against the "seminary" priests, who swarmed into England like -missionaries, despatched <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">in partibus infidelium</i> to minister to the -faithful few and bring back all whom they could to the fold. Newgate -was now for ever full of these priests. They adopted all manner of -disguises, and went now as soldiers, now as private gentlemen, now -openly as divines. They were harboured and hidden by faithful Roman -Catholics, and managed thus to glide unperceived from point <!-- Page 65 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span>to point -intent upon their dangerous business. But they did not always escape -observation, and when caught they were invariably laid by the heels and -hardly dealt with. Gerard Dance, <em>alias</em> Ducket, a seminary priest, was -arraigned in 1581 at the Old Bailey before the queen's justices, and -affirmed that although he was in England, he was subject to the Pope -in ecclesiastical causes, and that the Pope had now the same authority -in England as he had a hundred years ago, and which he exercised at -Rome, "with other traitorous speeches, for which he was condemned to be -hanged, drawn, and quartered." The same year William Dios (a Spaniard), -keeper of Newgate, sent a certificate of the names of the recusants -now in Newgate, "viz., Lawrence Wakeman and others, . . . the two last -being of the precise sort." April 20, 1586, Robert Rowley, taken upon -seas by Captain Burrows going to Scotland, is committed first to -the Marshalsea, and from thence to Newgate. Next year, August 26th, -Richard Young reports to Secretary Walsyngham that he has talked with -sundry priests remaining in the prisons about London. "Some," he says, -"are very evil affected, and unworthy to live in England. Simpson, -alias Heygate, and Flower, priests, have justly deserved death, and -in no wise merit her Majesty's mercy. William Wigges, Leonard Hide, -and George Collinson, priests in Newgate, are dangerous fellows, as -are also Morris Williams and Thomas Pounde, the <!-- Page 66 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span>latter committed as -a layman, but in reality a professed Jesuit. Francis Tirrell is an -obstinate papist, and is doubted to be a spy."</p> - -<p>We read as follows in an intercepted letter from Cardinal John Allen, -Rector of the English College at Rheims, to Mr. White, seminary -priest in the Clink Prison, and the rest of the priests in Newgate, -the Fleet, and the Marshalsea. "Pope Sextus sends them his blessing, -and will send them over for their comfort Dr. Reynolds, chief Jesuit -of the college at Rheims, who must be carefully concealed," . . . with -others, . . . "whose discourses would be a great joy to all heretics. -They will bring some consecrated crucifixes, late consecrated by his -Holiness, and some books to be given to the chiefest Catholics, their -greatest benefactors." This letter was taken upon a young man, Robert -Weston, travelling to seek service, "who seems to have had considerable -dealings with recusants, and to have made very full confessions."</p> - -<p>It was easier for all such to get into Newgate, at that time, than -to obtain release. Henry Ash and Michael Genison, being prisoners -in Newgate, petition Lord Keeper Pickering for a warrant for their -enlargement upon putting in good security for their appearance; "they -were long since committed by Justice Young and the now Bishop of London -for recusancy, where they remain, to their great shame and utter -undoing, and are likely to continue, unless he extend his mercy." In -1598 <!-- Page 67 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span>George Barkworth petitions Secretary Cecil "that he was committed -to Newgate six months ago on suspicion of being a seminary priest, -which he is not; has been examined nine times, and brought up at -Sessions four times; begs the same liberty of the house at Bridewell -which was granted him at Newgate."</p> - -<p>Political prisoners were not wanting in Newgate in the Elizabethan -period. In 1585 instructions are given to the recorder to examine one -Hall, a prisoner in Newgate, charged with a design for conveying away -the Queen of Scots. This was a part of Babington's conspiracy, for -which Throgmorton also suffered. Other victims, besides the unfortunate -queen herself, were Babington, Tichbourne, and many more, who after -trial at the Old Bailey, and incarceration in Newgate, were hanged in -St. Giles's Fields. The execution was carried out with great barbarity; -seven of the conspirators were cut down before they were dead and -disembowelled. Another plot against Elizabeth's life was discovered -in 1587, the actors in which were "one Moody, an idle, profligate -fellow, then prisoner in Newgate, and one Stafford, brother to Sir -Edward Stafford." The great Queen Bess in these last days of her reign -went in constant terror of her life; and a third conspiracy to poison -her, originating with her own physician and Lopez, a Jew, led to their -execution as traitors. Again, Squires, a disbanded soldier, was charged -with putting poison on the <!-- Page 68 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span>pommel of her saddle, and although he -admitted his guilt upon the rack, he declared when dying that he was -really innocent.</p> - -<p>All this time within Newgate there was turbulence, rioting, disorders, -accompanied seemingly by constant oppression. The prisoners were -ready to brave anything to get out. General gaol deliveries were made -otherwise than in due course of law. Those that were fit to serve -in the sea or land forces were frequently pardoned and set free. A -petition to the Lord Admiral (1589) is preserved in which certain -prisoners, shut out from pardon because they are not "by law bailable," -beg that the words may be struck out of the order for release, -and state that they will gladly enter her Majesty's service. Many -made determined efforts to escape. "The 16th December, 1556," says -Holinshed, "Gregory, carpenter and smith, and a Frenchman born were -arraigned for making counterfeit keys wherewith to have opened the -locks of Newgate, to have slain the keeper and let forth the prisoners; -at which time of his arraignment, having conveyed a knife into his -sleeve, he thrust it into the side of William Whiteguts, his fellow -prisoner, who had given evidence against him, so that he was in great -peril of death thereby; for the which fact he was immediately taken -from the bar into the street before the justice hall, when, his hand -being first stricken off, he was hanged on a gibbet set up for the -purpose.</p> - -<p><!-- Page 69 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span> -"The keeper of Newgate was arraigned and indicted for that the said -prisoner had a weapon about him and his hands loose, which should have -been bound."</p> - -<p>Yet the keeper of Newgate and other gaolers were sometimes kept within -bounds. Two cases may be quoted in which these officials were promptly -brought to book. In 1555 the keeper of the Bread Street Compter, by -name Richard Husband, pasteler, "being a willful and headstrong man," -who, with servants like himself, had dealt hardly with the prisoners -in his charge, was sent to the gaol of Newgate by Sir Rowland Hill, -mayor, with the assent of a court of aldermen. "It was commanded to -the keeper to set those irons on his legs which were called widows' -alms; these he wore from Thursday till Sunday in the afternoon." On the -Tuesday he was released, but not before he was bound over in an hundred -marks to act in conformity with the rules for the managing of the -Compters. "All which notwithstanding, he continued as before: . . . the -prisoners were ill-treated, the prison was made a common lodging-house -at fourpence the night for thieves and night-walkers, whereby they -might be safe from searches that were made abroad." He was indicted -for these and other enormities, "but did rub it out, and could not -be reformed, till the prisoners were removed; for the house in Bread -Street was his own by lease or otherwise, and he could not be put from -it." A <!-- Page 70 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span>searching inquiry was also made into the conduct of Crowder, -the keeper of Newgate in 1580, or thereabouts. The State Papers contain -an information of the disorders practised by the officers of Newgate -prison, levying fines and taking bribes, by old and young Crowders, the -gaolers. "Crowder and his wife," says the report, "be most horrible -blasphemers and swearers." The matter is taken up by the lords of the -Council, who write to the lord mayor, desiring to be fully informed of -all disorders committed, and by whom. "They are sending gentlemen to -repair to the prison to inquire into the case, and requesting the lord -mayor to appoint two persons to assist them." Sir Christopher Hatton -also writes to the lord mayor, drawing attention to the charges against -Crowder. The lord mayor replies that certain persons had been appointed -to inquire, but had not yet made their report. The Court of Enquiry are -willing to receive Crowder, but he persists in refusing to explain. "He -would not come to their meeting, but stood upon his reputation." The -result, so far as can be guessed, was that Crowder was pensioned off. -But he found powerful friends in his adversity. His cause was espoused -by Sir Thomas Bromley, Lord Chancellor, who informs the lord mayor -that he thinks Crowder has been dealt with very hardly, and that his -accusers were persons unworthy of credit.</p> - - -<hr class="footnotes" /> -<p class="sectctrfn">FOOTNOTES:</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_41:1_8" id="Footnote_41:1_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_41:1_8"><span class="label">[41:1]</span></a> This abjuring the king's land was an act of -self-banishment, akin in its effects to the old Roman penalty of <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">aquæ -et ignis interdictio</i>. Any criminal who took sanctuary might escape the -law, provided that within forty days he clothed himself in sackcloth, -confessed his crime before the coroner, and after solemnly abjuring -the land, proceeded, cross in hand, to some appointed port, where he -embarked and left the country. If apprehended within forty days he was -again suffered to depart.—Note in Thom's "Stow," p. 157.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_44:1_9" id="Footnote_44:1_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_44:1_9"><span class="label">[44:1]</span></a> Cromwell's house was in the city in Throgmorton Street, -close to the site of the monastic house of the Austin Friars.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_45:1_10" id="Footnote_45:1_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_45:1_10"><span class="label">[45:1]</span></a> This Benedict Spinola must have been an Italian with -some influence. His personal relations with Burghley are manifest from -a letter of congratulation sent by him to Burghley on the safe arrival -of the Earl of Oxford at Milan. Other more or less confidential matters -are mentioned in connection with Pasqual and Jacob Spinola, Benedict's -brothers.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_62:1_11" id="Footnote_62:1_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_62:1_11"><span class="label">[62:1]</span></a> Friday continued the day of horse-market until the -closing of Smithfield as a market for live cattle.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_63:1_12" id="Footnote_63:1_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_63:1_12"><span class="label">[63:1]</span></a> The bell which was rung at mass on the elevation of the -host.</p></div> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="newchapter" /> -<p><!-- Page 71 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak"><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III<br /> - -<small>NEWGATE IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY</small></h2> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p class="hang">Jesuit emissaries in Newgate—Richardson and others—Speaking -ill of king's sister entails imprisonment for life—Criminal -offenders—Condition of prisoners—Fanatical conduct -of keeper—Nefarious practices of turnkeys—They levy -blackmail—"Coney catching"—Arbitrary imprisonment imposed -by House of Lords on Richard Overton—Case of Colonel -Lilburne, "Freeborn John"—Royalists in gaol—Also prisoners -of mark—Brother of the Portuguese ambassador charged with -murder, and executed.</p> -</div> - - -<p>The disturbing elements of society continued much the same in the early -part of the seventeenth century as in the years immediately preceding. -There were the same offences against law and order, dealt with in the -same summary fashion. Newgate was perpetually crowded with prisoners -charged with the same sort of crimes. Bigotry and intolerance continued -to breed persecution. All sects which differed from the faith professed -by those in power were in turn under the ban of the law. The Romish -priest still ventured into the hostile heretic land where his life -was not worth a minute's purchase; Puritans and Non-conformists were -committed to gaol for refusing to surrender their heterodox opinions: -these last coming into power <!-- Page 72 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span>were ruthlessly strict towards the openly -irreligious backslider. Side by side with these sufferers in the cause -of independent thought swarmed the depredators, the wrong-doers, whose -criminal instincts and the actions they produced were much the same as -they had been before and as they are now.</p> - -<p>The devoted courage of the Jesuit emissaries in those days of extreme -peril for all priests who dared to cross the channel claims for -them a full measure of respect. They were for ever in trouble. When -caught they met hard words, scant mercy, often only a short shrift. -Repeated references are made to them. In the State Papers, July, 1602, -is a list of priests and recusants in prison, viz., "Newgate—Pound -(already mentioned), desperate and obstinate; . . . in the Clink, -Marshalsea, King's Bench, are others; among them Douce, a forward -intelligence, Tichborne, Webster, perverter of youth," etc. They were -ever the victims of treachery and espionage. "William Richardson, a -priest of Seville College (the date is 1603), was discovered to the -Chief Justice by one whom he trusted, and arraigned and condemned at -Newgate for being a priest and coming to England. When examined he -answered stoutly, yet with great modesty and discretion, moving many -to compassionate him and speak against the Chief Justice, on whom he -laid the guilt of his blood." He was executed at Tyburn, hanged and -quartered, but his head and quarters <!-- Page 73 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span>were buried. "Such spectacles," -says the writer, Ant. Aivers, to Giacomo Creleto, Venice, "do -nothing increase the gospel. . . ." A further account says that William -Richardson, alias Anderson, was betrayed by a false brother, sent to -Newgate, and kept close prisoner over a week, no one being allowed -to see him. The Chief Justice, interrupting other trials, called for -him and caused him to be indicted of high treason for being a priest -and coming to England. All of which he confessed, and there being no -evidence against him, the Chief Justice gave his confession in writing -to the jury, who found him guilty. "He thanked God and told the Chief -Justice he was a bloody man, and sought the blood of the Catholics. He -denied that he was a Jesuit or knew Garnet.<a name="FNanchor_73:1_13" id="FNanchor_73:1_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_73:1_13" class="fnanchor">[73:1]</a> . . ."</p> - -<p>Priests were subject to espionage even beyond the realm. A deposition -is given in the State Papers made by one Arthur Saul, to the effect -that he had been employed by Secretary Winwood and the Archbishop of -Canterbury to report what English were at Douay College, particulars -of priests who have returned to England, of their meeting-places and -conveyance of letters.</p> - -<p>These were days of widespread oppression, when Strafford, Laud, the -Star Chamber, and ecclesiastical courts gave effect to the king's eager -longings for arbitrary power. The following is from a half-mad <!-- Page 74 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span>fanatic -who has offended the relentless archbishop. "The petition of Richard -Farnham, a prophet of the most high God, a true subject to my king, and -a prisoner of my saviour Christ, in Newgate, to Archbishop Laud and the -rest of the high commissioners, whom he prays to excuse his plainness, -being no scholar. . . . Desires to know the cause of his being detained -so long in prison, where he has been kept a year next April without -coming to his answer. Thinks they have forgotten him. If he be a false -prophet and a blasphemer and a seducer, as most people report that he -is, the high commissioners would do well to bring him to trial. What he -wrote before he came into prison and what he has written since he will -stand to. . . . If he does not get his answer this summer he intends -to complain to the king, believing that it is not his pleasure his -subjects should suffer false imprisonment to satisfy the archbishop's -mind." Of the same year and the same character is this other petition -from William King, a prisoner in Newgate, "for a little treatise -delivered to Lord Leppington." Has remained in thraldom twenty-seven -months; expresses contrition and prays enlargement on bail, or that he -may be called to answer.</p> - -<p>Forty years more were to elapse before the passing of the Habeas -Corpus Act; but the foregoing will show how grievously this so-called -palladium of an Englishman's liberties was required.</p> - -<p>Pardons free or more or less conditional were, <!-- Page 75 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span>however, vouchsafed at -times. Release from prison was still, as before, and for long after, -frequently accompanied by the penalty of military service. This had -long been the custom. On declaration of war in the earlier reigns, it -was usual to issue a proclamation offering a general pardon to those -guilty of homicides and felonies on condition of service for a year -and a day. Even without this obligation prisoners in durance might -sue out a pardon by intercession of some nobleman serving abroad with -the king. But later on the release was distinctly conditional on -personal service. The lord mayor certifies to the king (1619) that -certain prisoners in Newgate, whose names and offences are given, are -not committed for murder; so they are reprieved, as being able-bodied -and fit to do service in foreign parts. Another certificate states -that William Dominic, condemned to death for stealing a purse, value -£4, is reprieved, "this being his first offence, and he an excellent -drummer, fit to do the king service." Again, the king requires the -keeper of Newgate to deliver certain reprieved prisoners to Sir Edward -Conway, Junior, to be employed in his Majesty's service in the Low -Countries. Recorder Finch reports that he has furnished "Conway's son -with seven prisoners fit for service; sends a list of prisoners now in -Newgate, but reprieved. Some have been long in gaol, and were saved -from execution by the prince's return [with Buckingham from Spain?] on -that day. They pester the gaol, <!-- Page 76 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span>which is already reported crowded, -this hot weather, and would do better service as soldiers if pardoned, -'for they would not dare to run away.'" A warrant is made out June -5, 1629, to the sheriffs of London to deliver to such persons as the -Swedish ambassador shall appoint, forty-seven persons, of whom one was -Elizabeth Leech (was she to be employed as a sutler or <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">vivandière</i>?), -being prisoners condemned of felonies, and remaining in the gaols of -Newgate and Bridewell, who are released "to the end that they may be -employed in the service of the King of Sweden"—Gustavus Adolphus, at -that time our ally. There are numerous entries of this kind in the -State Papers.</p> - -<p>Sometimes the prisoners volunteer for service. "John Tapps, by the -displeasure of the late Lord Chief Justice and the persecution of James -the clerk and one of the keepers, has been kept from the benefit of -the pardon which has been stayed at the Great Seal. Begs Lord Conway -to perfect his work by moving the lord keeper in his behalf, and in -the mean time sending some powerful warrant for his employment as a -soldier." Certain other convicted prisoners in Newgate, who had been -pardoned in respect of the birth of Prince Charles II, petitioned that -they are altogether impoverished, and unable to sue out their pardons. -They pray that by warrant they may be transported into the State of -Venice under the command of Captain Ludovic Hamilton.</p> - -<p><!-- Page 77 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span> -This document is endorsed with a reference to the Lord Chief Justice -of the Common Pleas to certify concerning these delinquents and their -crimes.</p> - -<p>George Gardener, a prisoner in Newgate, also petitions the king in -March, 1630, stating that he was committed by the council on the -information of James Ingram, deputy warden of the Fleet, to prevent -petitioner prosecuting the said Ingram for his notorious extortions. -He has remained in Newgate since April previous, and by Ingram's -procurement was shut up amongst felons in the common gaol, whereby -he might have been murdered, and prays that he may be allowed to go -abroad on security. Here is another petition; that of Bridget Gray -to the council. She states (July 19, 1618) that her grandson, John -Throckmorton, is a prisoner in Newgate for felony, and prays that he -may be discharged, this being his first offence, and Sir Thomas Smythe -being ready to convey him beyond seas. Upon this is endorsed an order -that if the mayor or recorder will certify that Throckmorton was not -convicted of murder, burglary, highway robbery, rape, or witchcraft, a -warrant may be made for his banishment. The certificate is forthcoming, -and is to the effect that Throckmorton's crime was aiding in stealing -a hat, value 6<i>s.</i>, for which the principal, Robert Whisson, an old -thief, was hanged.</p> - -<p>The gaol calendar reflects the vicissitudes of these <!-- Page 78 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span>changing, -troublous times. There were many London citizens who, sharing the -patriotic spirit of Hampden and Pym, found themselves imprisoned for -refusing to submit to the illegal taxations of Charles I. In 1639, -"three citizens stand committed to Newgate, not because they refuse to -pay ship-money, but because they refuse to enter into bond to attend -the Board to answer their not paying the same. Divers others refused, -and were sent to Newgate; but upon better consideration they paid -their money, and were released again." The temper of the Government -as regards ship-money is further shown by the arrest and trial of the -keeper of Newgate for permitting a prisoner committed for non-payment -of this unlawful tax to go at large. It appears that the offender, -Richard Chambers, had been several times remanded to the same custody, -and had been allowed to escape.</p> - -<p>It was highly dangerous to speak lightly of dignities in these ticklish -times. The State trials give an account of the hard measure meted out -to one Edward Floyde for scandalizing the princess palatine, Elizabeth, -daughter of James I, and titular Queen of Bohemia. Floyde was charged -with having said, while he was a prisoner in the Fleet, "I have heard -that Prague is taken, and goodman Palsgrave and goodwife Palsgrave -have taken to their heels and run away." This puerile gossip seriously -occupied both houses of Parliament, <!-- Page 79 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span>and eventually the Lords awarded -and adjudged that Edward Floyde be deemed an infamous person, incapable -of bearing arms as a gentleman, whose testimony was not to be taken -in any court or cause. He was also sentenced to ride with his head to -his horse's tail from Westminster to the pillory in Cheapside; after -this to be whipped from the Fleet to Westminster, there again to stand -on the pillory. He was to pay a fine of £5,000 to the king, and be -imprisoned in Newgate during his life.</p> - -<p>There is nothing especially remarkable in the purely criminal cases of -this period; offences have a strong family likeness to those of our -own day. Culprits are "cast" for life for taking a chest of plate out -of a house; or for taking £100 from a gentleman and so forth. Now and -again appears a case of abduction, a common crime in those and later -days. Sarah Cox prays the king's pardon for Roger Fulwood, who was -convicted of felony for forcibly marrying her against her will. But -she begs at the same time for protection for person and estate from -any claims in regard to the pretended marriage. Knights of the road -have already begun to operate; they have already the brevet rank of -captain, and even lads of tender years are beguiled into adopting the -profession of highway robbery. Counterfeiting the king's or other great -seals was an offence not unknown. A Captain Farrar is lodged in Newgate -(1639), accused of counterfeiting his Majesty's signature <!-- Page 80 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span>and privy -signet. His method of procedure was simple. Having received a document -bearing his Majesty's privy seal for the payment of a sum of £190, he -removed the seal and affixed it to a paper purporting to be a license -from the king to levy and transport two hundred men beyond seas. This -he published as a royal license. When arraigned he admitted that the -charge was true, but pleaded that he had done the same according to the -king's commands. He was reprieved until further orders.</p> - -<p>The condition of the prisoners within Newgate continued very -deplorable. This is apparent from the occasional references to their -treatment. They were heavily ironed, lodged in loathsome dungeons, and -all but starved to death. Poor Stephen Smith, the fishmonger, who had -contravened the precautionary rules against the plague, petitions the -council that he has been very heavily laden with such intolerable bolts -and shackles that he is lamed, and being a weak and aged man, is like -to perish in the gaol. "Having always lived in good reputation and been -a liberal benefactor where he has long dwelt, he prays enlargement on -security." The prison is so constantly overcrowded that the prisoners -have "an infectious malignant fever which sends many to their long -home. The magistrates who think them unfit to breathe their native air -when living bury them as brethren when dead." All kinds of robbery and -oppression were practised within the precincts of the gaol. Inside, -apart from <!-- Page 81 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span>personal discomfort, the inmates do much as they please. -"There are seditious preachings by Fifth Monarchy men at Newgate," -say the records, "and prayers for all righteous blood." Some time -previous, when the Puritans were nominally the weakest, they also held -their services in the prison. Samuel Eaton, a prisoner committed to -Newgate as a dangerous schismatic, is charged with having conventicles -in the gaol, some to the number of seventy persons. He was, moreover, -permitted by the keeper to preach openly. The keeper was petitioned -by one of the inmates to remove Eaton and send him to some other part -of the prison, but he replied disdainfully, threatening to remove the -petitioner to a worse place.</p> - -<p>An instruction to the lord mayor and sheriffs in the State Papers -(Dec., 1649) directs them to examine the miscarriages of the under -officers of Newgate who were favourers of the felons and robbers there -committed, and to remove such as appear faulty. The nefarious practices -of the Newgate officers were nothing new. They are set forth with -much quaintness of diction and many curious details in a pamphlet of -the period, entitled the "Black Dogge of Newgate." There was a tavern -entitled the "Dogge Tavern in Newgate," as appears by the State Papers, -where the place is indicated by an informer for improper practices. The -pamphlet sheds a strong light upon the evil-doings of the turnkeys, -who appear to have been guilty of <!-- Page 82 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span>the grossest extortion, taking -advantage of their position as officers of the law to levy blackmail -alike on criminals and their victims. Of these swindling turnkeys or -bailiffs, whom the writer designates "coney-catchers," he tells many -discreditable tales.</p> - -<p>The term coney-catching had long been in use to define a species of -fraud akin to our modern "confidence trick," or, as the French call it, -the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">vol à l'Americain</i>. Shakespeare, in the "Merry Wives of Windsor," -makes Falstaff call Bardolph, Nym, and Pistol "coney-catching rascals." -The fraud was then of but recent introduction. It is detailed at length -by Robert Greene in his "Notable Discovery of Cozenage," published in -1591. He characterizes it as a new art. Three parties were needed to -practise it, called respectively the "setter," the "verser," and the -"barnacle;" their game, or victim, was the "coney." The first was the -decoy, the second was a confederate who plied the coney with drink, -the third came in by accident should the efforts of the others to -beguile the coney into "a deceit at cards" have failed. In the end -the countryman was completely despoiled. Later on there was a new -nomenclature: the setter became the "beater," the tavern to which the -rogues adjourned was the "bush," and the quarry was the "bird." The -verser was the "retriever," the barnacle was the "pot-hunter," and the -game was called "bat-fowling." Greene's exposure was <!-- Page 83 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span>supposed to have -deprived the coney-catchers of a "collop of their living." But they -still prospered at their nefarious practices, according to the author -of the "Black Dogge."</p> - -<p>Plain symptoms of the approaching struggle between the king and -the commons are to be met with in the prison records. Immediately -after the meeting of the Long Parliament, orders were issued for the -enlargement of many victims of Star Chamber oppression. Among them was -the celebrated Prynne, author of the "Histriomatrix,"<a name="FNanchor_83:1_14" id="FNanchor_83:1_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_83:1_14" class="fnanchor">[83:1]</a> who had -lost his ears in the pillory; Burton, a clergyman, and Bastwick, a -physician, who had suffered the same penalties—all came out of prison -triumphant, wearing ivy and rosemary in their hats. Now Strafford was -impeached and presently beheaded; Laud also was condemned. The active -interference of Parliament in all affairs of State extended to the -arrest of persons suspected of treasonable practices. There are many -cases of imprisonment more or less arbitrary in these troubled times. -Another petition may be quoted, that of Richard Overton, "a prisoner -in the most contemptible gaol of Newgate," under an order of the House -of Lords. Overton tells us how he was brought before that House "in -a warlike manner, under pretence of a criminal fact, and called upon -to answer interrogations concerning himself which he conceived to be -illegal and contrary to the national rights, <!-- Page 84 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span>freedoms, and properties -of the free commoners of England, confirmed to them by Magna Charta, -the Petition of Right, and the Act for the Abolishment of the Star -Chamber." Overton was therefore emboldened to refuse subjection to -the said House. He was adjudged guilty of contempt, and committed to -Newgate, where he was seemingly doomed to lie until their lordships' -pleasure should be further signified, which "may be perpetual if they -please, and may have their wills, for your petitioner humbly conceiveth -that he is made a prisoner to their wills, not to the law, except their -wills may be a law." On this account he appealed to the Commons "as -the most sovereign Court of Judicature in the land," claiming from -them, "repossession of his just liberty and freedom, or else that -he may undergo the penalty prescribed by the law if he be found a -transgressor." Whether Overton was supported by the Commons against the -Lords does not appear, but within three years the Lower House abolished -the House of Peers.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><a name="SessionsHouse" id="SessionsHouse"></a> - <img src="images/i_085.jpg" width="600" height="375" alt="" /> - <p class="caption"><i>Sessions House, Clerkenwell Green, London</i></p> -</div> - -<p>Here is yet another petition from a better known inmate of Newgate, the -obstinately independent Colonel Lilburne, commonly called "Freeborn -John." Lilburne was always at loggerheads with the government of -the city. In 1637, when following the trade of a bookseller, he was -convicted by the Star Chamber for publishing seditious libels, and -sentenced to the pillory, imprisonment, and a fine of £5,000. In 1645 -he fell foul of the Parliament, <!-- Page 85 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span>and wrote a new treatise, calling -in question their power. Lilburne was eventually banished by the Rump -Parliament; but in 1653 he returned to England and threw himself upon -the tender mercies of the Protector. Cromwell would do nothing, and -left him to the law. Lilburne was then arrested, and committed to -Newgate. At the next sessions he was arraigned, but refused to plead -unless furnished with a copy of his indictment. He managed to put off -his trial by various expedients till the next sessions, when he was -acquitted by the jury. In Thurloe's State Papers it is stated that -"John Lilburne was five times at his trial at the Sessions House, where -he most courageously defended himself from the recorder's violent -assaults with his old buckler, the Magna Charta, so that they have -let him alone." "Freeborn John" was so popular with malcontents of -all shades of opinion, that the authorities, from Oliver Cromwell -downward, were really afraid of him. Oliver professed to be enraged -against him, and anxious for his punishment, yet he privately paid him -a pension equal to the pay of a lieutenant-colonel, and, as Thurloe -says, "thought the fellow so considerable, that during the time of his -trial he kept three regiments continually under arms at St. James'." -The jury which acquitted Lilburne were summoned to answer for their -conduct before the Council of State. Yet there is little doubt that -the court was overawed by the mob. For Thurloe says there were six or -<!-- Page 86 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span>seven hundred men at the trial, with swords, pistols, bills, daggers, -and other instruments, that, in case they had not cleared him, they -would have employed in his defence. The joy and acclamation were so -great after he was acquitted that the shout was heard an English mile.</p> - -<p>All this time prisoners of great mark were at times confined in -Newgate. That noted royalist, Judge Jenkins, was among the number. His -crime was publishing seditious books, and sentencing to death people -who had assisted against the Parliament. He was indeed attainted of -high treason under an ordinance passed by the House of Commons. A -committee was sent from "the Commons' House to Newgate, which was to -interview Judge Jenkins, and make the following offer to him—viz., -that if he would own the power of the Parliament to be lawful, they -would not only take off the sequestrations from his estates, amounting -to £500 per annum, but they would also settle a pension on him of -£1,000 a year." His reply was to the following effect: "Far be it from -me to own rebellion, although it was lawful and successful." As the -judge refused to come to terms with them, he remained in Newgate till -the Restoration.</p> - -<p>People of still higher rank found themselves in gaol. The brother of -the "Portugal" ambassador, Don Pantaleon Sa, is sent, with others, to -Newgate for a murder committed by them near the Exchange. It was a -bad case. They had <!-- Page 87 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span>quarrelled with an English officer, Gerard, who, -hearing the Portuguese discoursing in French upon English affairs, -told them they did not represent certain passages aright. "One of the -foreigners gave him the lie, and all three fell upon him, and stabbed -him with a dagger; but Colonel Gerard being rescued out of their hands -by one Mr. Anthuser, they retired home, and within one hour returned -with twenty more, armed with breastplate and head-pieces; but after -two or three turns, not finding Mr. Anthuser, they returned home that -night." Next day the Portuguese fell upon a Colonel Mayo, mistaking -him for Anthuser, wounded him dangerously, and killed another person, -Mr. Greenaway. The murderers were arrested in spite of the protection -afforded them by the Portuguese ambassador and committed to Newgate. -Don Pantaleon made his escape from prison a few days later, but he -was retaken. Strenuous efforts were then made to obtain his release. -His trial was postponed on the petition of the Portuguese merchants. -The Portuguese ambassador himself had an audience of Cromwell, the -Lord Protector. But the law took its course. Don Pantaleon pleaded his -relationship, and that he had a commission to act as ambassador in -his brother's absence; this was disallowed, and after much argument -the prisoners pleaded guilty, and desired "to be tried by God and the -country." A jury was called, half denizens, half aliens, six of each, -who, after a full hearing, <!-- Page 88 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span>found the ambassador's brother and four -others guilty of murder and felony. Lord Chief Justice Rolles then -sentenced them to be hanged, and fixed the day of execution; but by -the desire of the prisoners it was respited two days. This was the 6th -July, 1654. On the 8th, Don Pantaleon Sa had his sentence commuted to -beheading. On the 10th he tried to escape, without success, and on the -same day he was conveyed from Newgate to Tower Hill in a coach and six -horses in mourning, with divers of his brother's retinue with him. -There he laid his head on the block, and it was chopped off at two -blows. The rest, although condemned, were all reprieved, except one, an -English boy concerned in the murder, who was hanged at Tyburn. Their -first victim, Colonel Gerard, survived only to be executed on Tower -Hill the same year for conspiring to murder the Lord Protector.</p> - -<p>Other distinguished inmates, a few years later, were Charles Lord -Buckhurst, Edward Sackville, and Sir Henry Bellayse, K. B., who, being -prisoners in Newgate, petitioned the Lord Chief Justice, March 10th, -to be admitted to bail, one of them being ill of the smallpox. They -were charged seemingly with murder. Their petition sets forth that -while returning from Waltham to London, on the 8th February, they aided -some persons, who complained that they had been robbed and wounded -in pursuit of the thieves, and in attacking the robbers wounded one -who afterward died. Sir <!-- Page 89 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span>Thomas Towris, baronet, petitions the king -(Charles II) "not to suffer him to lie in that infamous place, where -he has not an hour of health, nor the necessaries of life. He states -that he has been four months in the Tower, and five weeks in Newgate, -charged with counterfeiting his Majesty's hand, by the malice of an -infamous person who, when Registrar Accountant at Worcester House, -sold false debentures." Sir Thomas wished to lay his case before his -Majesty at his first coming from Oxford, but was deceived, and the way -to bounty was thus stopped.</p> - - -<hr class="footnotes" /> -<p class="sectctrfn">FOOTNOTES:</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_73:1_13" id="Footnote_73:1_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_73:1_13"><span class="label">[73:1]</span></a> Chief of the Jesuits in England, afterwards executed -(1608).</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_83:1_14" id="Footnote_83:1_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_83:1_14"><span class="label">[83:1]</span></a> A homily against play-acting and masquerades.</p></div> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="newchapter" /> -<p><!-- Page 90 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak"><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV<br /> - -<small>NEWGATE AFTER THE GREAT FIRE</small></h2> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p class="hang">Newgate refronted in 1638—Destroyed in great fire of -1666—Suicides frequent—The gaoler Fells indicted for -permitting escapes—Crimes of the period—Clipping -and coining greatly increased—Enormous profits of -the fraud—Coining within the gaol itself deemed -high treason—Heavy penalties—Highway robbery very -prevalent—Instances—Officers and paymasters with the king's -gold robbed—Stage-coaches stopped—Whitney—His capture, -and attempts to escape—His execution—Efforts to check -highway robbery—A few types of notorious highwaymen—"Mulled -Sack"—Claude Duval—Nevison—Abduction of heiresses—Mrs. -Synderfin—Miss Rawlins—Miss Wharton—Count Konigsmark—The -"German Princess"—Other criminal names—Titus -Oates—Dangerfield—The Fifth Monarchy men—William Penn—The -two bishops, Ellis and Leyburn.</p> -</div> - - -<p>Newgate was refronted and refaced in 1638, but no further change or -improvement was made in the building until a total reëdification became -inevitable, after the great fire in 1666.</p> - -<p>It is difficult to exaggerate the horrors of Newgate, the -mismanagement, tyranny, and lax discipline which prevailed at that -time. Its unsanitary condition was chronic, which at times, but only -for influential inmates, was pleaded as an excuse for <!-- Page 91 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span>release. -Luttrell tells us Lord Montgomery, a prisoner there in 1697, was -brought out of Newgate to the King's Bench Court, there to be bailed, -upon two affidavits, which showed that there was an infectious fever in -Newgate, of which several were sick and some dead. He was accordingly -admitted to bail himself in £10,000, and four sureties—the Duke of -Norfolk, the Earl of Yarmouth, Lord Carrington, and Lord Jeffereys—in -£5,000 each. An effort to secure release was made less successfully -some years later in regard to Jacobite prisoners of note, although the -grounds alleged were the same and equally valid. Some effort was made -to classify the prisoners: there was the master's side, for debtors and -felons respectively; the common side, for the same two classes; and the -press-yard, for prisoners of note.</p> - -<p>If a prisoner was hopelessly despondent, he could generally compass the -means of committing suicide. A Mr. Norton, natural son of Sir George -Norton, condemned for killing a dancing-master, because the latter -would not suffer him to take his wife away from him in the street, -poisoned himself the night before his reprieve expired. The drug was -conveyed to him by his aunt without difficulty, "who participated in -the same dose, but she is likely to recover." Nor were prisoners driven -to this last desperate extremity to escape from durance. Pepys tells -us in 1667, August 1, that the gates of the city were shut, "and at -Newgate we find them <!-- Page 92 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span>in trouble, some thieves having this night broken -open prison."</p> - -<p>Within the gaol all manner of evil communication went forward unchecked -among the prisoners. That same year Sir Richard Ford, the recorder, -states that it has been made appear to the court of aldermen "that the -keeper of Newgate hath at this day made his house the only nursery of -rogues, prostitutes, pickpockets, and thieves in the world, where they -were held and entertained and the whole society met, and that for the -sake of the sheriffs<a name="FNanchor_92:1_15" id="FNanchor_92:1_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_92:1_15" class="fnanchor">[92:1]</a> they durst not this day commit him for fear -of making him let out the prisoners, but are fain to go by artifice -to deal with him." The keeper at this time was one Walter Cowday, -as appears from a State pardon "for seven prisoners ordered to be -transported by their own consent," which he endorses. Sharper measure -was dealt out to his successor, Mr. Fells, the keeper in 1696, who -was summoned to appear before the Lords Justices for conniving at the -escape of Birkenhead, <em>alias</em> Fish, <em>alias</em> South, East, West, etc., -one of the conspirators in Sir John Fenwick's business, and who lay in -prison "to be speedily tried." On examination of Fells, it was stated -that Birkenhead's escape had been effected by a bribe, whereupon the -sheriffs were instructed to find out the truth in order to displace -Fells. Fells was furthermore charged with <!-- Page 93 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span>showing favour to Sir -John Fenwick by suffering him to have pens, ink, and paper "alone;" -a little later he was convicted on two indictments before Lord Chief -Justice Holt at Guildhall, viz., for the escape of Birkenhead already -mentioned, and of another prisoner imprisoned for non-payment of fine. -Fell's sentence was postponed till the next term at the King's Bench -Bar; but he moved the court in arrest of judgment, a motion which the -King's Bench took time to consider, but which must have been ultimately -decided in his favour, as two years later Fells still held the office -of gaoler of Newgate.</p> - -<p>The crimes of the latter half of the seventeenth century are of -the same character as those of previous epochs. Many had, however, -developed in degree, and were more widely practised. The offence of -clipping and coining had greatly increased. The extent to which it -was carried seems almost astounding. The culprits were often of high -standing. A clipper, by name White, under sentence of death, was -reprieved by the king upon the petition of the House of Commons in -order that a committee of the House might examine him in Newgate as -to his accomplices and their proceedings. Accordingly, White made "a -large discovery" to the committee, both of clippers and coiners, and -particularly of Esquire Strode, who had been a witness at the trial of -the Earl of Bath (1697). Luttrell says, among twenty persons <!-- Page 94 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span>convicted -of coining was Atkinson, the beau who made such a figure in town about -eight years before, and spent an estate of £500 per annum in Yorkshire. -In the lodgings of a parson, by name Salisbury, who was arrested for -counterfeiting stamped paper, several instruments for clipping and -coining were found. University men were beguiled into the crime of -clipping; so were seemingly respectable London tradesmen. Goldsmiths -and refiners were repeatedly taken up for these malpractices. A -goldsmith in Leicester Fields and his servants are committed to Newgate -for receiving large quantities of broad money from Exeter to clip it. A -refiner's wife and two servants were committed to Newgate for clipping; -the husband escaped. Bird, a laceman, in custody for coining, escaped; -but surrendered and impeached others. Certain gilders committed to -Newgate petitioned therefrom, that if released they would merit the -same by a discovery of a hundred persons concerned in the trade.</p> - -<p>The numbers engaged in these nefarious practices were very great. In -1692, information was given of three hundred coiners and clippers -dispersed in various parts of the city, for several of whom warrants -were issued, some by the Treasury, others by the Lord Chief Justice. -The profits were enormous. Of three clippers executed at Tyburn in -1696, one, John Moore, "the tripe-man," was said to have got a good -estate by clipping, and to have offered £6,000 for his pardon. <!-- Page 95 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span>Three -other clippers arrested in St. James's St., and committed to Newgate, -were found to be in possession of £400 in clippings, with a pair of -shears and other implements. The information of one Gregory, a butcher, -who "discovered" near a hundred persons concerned in the trade, went to -prove that they made as much as £6,000 a month in counterfeit money. -"All their utensils and moulds were shown in court, the latter being -in very fine clay, which performed with great dexterity." The extent -of the practice is shown by the ingenuity of the machinery used. "All -sorts of material for coining was found in a house in Kentish town, -with stamps for all coins from James I." The work was performed "with -that exactness no banker could detect the counterfeit." So bold were -the coiners, that the manufacture went forward even within the walls -of Newgate. Three prisoners were taken in the very act of coining -in that prison. One of the medals or tokens struck in Newgate as a -monetary medium among the prisoners is still to be seen in the Beaufoy -Collection at Guildhall. Upon the obverse of the coin the legend is -inscribed: "Belonging to the cellar on the master's side, 1669;" on the -reverse side is a view of Newgate and the debtors' prison.</p> - -<p>The heaviest penalties did not check this crime. The offence was high -treason; men sentenced for it were hanged, drawn, and quartered, and -women were burnt. In 1683 Elizabeth Hare was burnt <!-- Page 96 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span>alive for coining -in Bunhill Fields. Special legislation could not cope with this crime, -and to hinder it the Lords of the Treasury petitioned Queen Mary -(in the absence of William III) to grant no pardon to any sentenced -for clipping unless before their conviction they discovered their -accomplices.</p> - -<p>Highway robbery had greatly increased. The roads were infested -with banditti. Innkeepers harboured and assisted the highwaymen, -sympathizing with them, and frequently sharing in the plunder. None -of the great roads were safe: the mails, high officials, foreigners -of distinction, noblemen, merchants, all alike were stopped and laid -under contribution. The following are a few of the cases which were -of constant occurrence. "His Majesty's mails from Holland robbed -near Ilford in Essex, and £5,000 taken, belonging to some Jews in -London." "The Worcester wagon, wherein was £4,000 of the king's -money, was set upon and robbed at Gerard's Cross, near Uxbridge, by -sixteen highwaymen. The convoy, being near their inn, went on ahead, -thinking all secure, and leaving only two persons on foot to guard it, -who, having laid their blunderbusses in the wagon, were on a sudden -surprised by the sixteen highwaymen, who took away £2,500, and left the -rest for want of conveniences to carry it." Two French officers (on -their way to the coast) were robbed by nine highwaymen of one hundred -and ten guineas, and bidden to go home to their own country. Another -<!-- Page 97 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span>batch of French officers was similarly dealt with on the Portsmouth -road. Fifteen butchers going to market were robbed by highwaymen, who -carried them over a hedge and made them drink King James's health. -The Portsmouth mail was robbed, but only of private letters; but the -same men robbed a captain going to Portsmouth with £5,000 to pay his -regiment with. Three highwaymen robbed the Receiver-General of Bucks -of a thousand guineas, which he was sending up by the carrier in a -pack; the thieves acted on excellent information, for although there -were seventeen pack-horses, they went directly to that which was laden -with the gold. Seven on the St. Alban's road near Pinner robbed the -Manchester carrier of £15,000 king's money, and killed and wounded -eighteen horses to prevent pursuit. The purser of a ship landed at -Plymouth and rode to London on horseback, with £6,000 worth of rough -diamonds belonging to some London merchants which had been saved out -of a shipwreck. Crossing Hounslow Heath, the purser was robbed by -highwaymen. "Oath was thereupon made before a justice of the peace," -says Luttrell, in "order to sue the Hundred for the same." The Bath -coach was stopped in Maidenhead thicket, and a footman who had fired -at them was shot through the head. The Dover stage-coach, with foreign -passengers, was robbed near Shooter's Hill, but making resistance, one -was killed.</p> - -<p>The western mail was robbed by the two <!-- Page 98 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span>Arthurs, who were captured -and committed to Newgate. They soon escaped therefrom, but were -again arrested at a tavern by Doctors' Commons, being betrayed by -a companion. They confessed that they had gone publicly about the -streets disguised in Grecian habits, and that one Ellis, a tobacconist, -assisted them in their escape, for which he was himself committed to -Newgate. John Arthur was soon afterwards condemned and executed. Henry -Arthur was acquitted, but soon after quarrelling about a tavern bill in -Covent Garden, he was killed in the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">mêlée</i>.</p> - -<p>All manner of men took to the road. Some of the royal guards were -apprehended for robbing on the highway. Lifeguardsmen followed the -same gentlemanly occupation when off duty. Thompson, a lifeguardsman, -committed on suspicion of robbing Welsh drovers, was refused bail, -there being fresh evidence against him. Captain Beau, or Bew, -formerly of the Guards, was seized at Knightsbridge as a highwayman, -and afterwards poisoned himself. Seven of his gang were committed -to Newgate. Harris, the lifeguardsman tried at the Old Bailey for -robbing "on the black mare" and acquitted, was again tried a month -later, and condemned. He was then reprieved, and Sir William Penn -obtained the queen's pardon for him, with a commission as lieutenant -in the Pennsylvania militia, to which colony he was to transport -himself. Persons of good social status engaged in the perilous trade. -<!-- Page 99 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span>One Smith, a parson and a lecturer at Chelsea, when brought up at -Westminster for perjury, was found to be a confederate with two -highwaymen, with whom they had shared a gold watch, and planned to rob -Chelsea Church of its plate. Smith when arraigned appeared in court -in his gown, but he was "sent to Newgate, and is like to be hanged." -Disguised highwaymen were often detected in reputable citizens and -quiet tradesmen, who upon the surface seemed honest folk. A mercer of -Lombard Street was taken out of his bed and charged by a cheesemonger -as being the man that robbed him two years previously. Another mercer -was taken up near Ludgate on suspicion of being a highwayman, and -committed. Saunders, a butcher of St. James's market, was charged with -robbing the Hampton coach, and discovered three confederates, who were -captured on Sunday at Westminster Abbey. "Of two highwaymen taken near -Highgate, one was said to be a broken mercer, the other a fishmonger." -Two of Whitney's gang were said to be the tradesmen in the Strand—one -a goldsmith and one a milliner.</p> - -<p>Nothing could exceed the cool impudence with which reputed robbers -showed themselves in public places. They did not always escape capture, -however. "A noted highwayman in a scarlet cloak," says Luttrell, -"and coat laced with gold taken in Covent Garden." Another was taken -in the Strand and sent to Newgate. Five more were <!-- Page 100 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span>captured at the -Rummer, Charing Cross; three others, notorious highwaymen, taken at -the "Cheshire Cheeze." At times they fought hard for liberty. "One -Wake, a highwayman, pursued to Red Lion Fields, set his back against -the wall and faced the constables and mob. He shot the former, and -wounded others, but was at last taken and sent to Newgate." Whitney, -the famous highwayman, was taken without Bishopsgate, being "discovered -by one Hill, as he (Whitney) walked the street. Hill observed where -the robber 'housed,' and calling for assistance, went to the door." -Whitney defended himself for about an hour, but the people increasing, -and the officers of Newgate being sent for, he surrendered himself, but -not before he had stabbed Hill with a bayonet, "not mortal." He was -handcuffed and shackled with irons, and committed to Newgate.</p> - -<p>Whitney had done business on a large scale. He had been arrested before -by a party of horse despatched by William III, which had come up with -him lurking between St. Alban's and Barnet. He was attacked, but made a -stout defence, killing some and wounding others before he was secured. -He must have got free again very soon afterwards. His second arrest, -which has just been detailed, was followed by that of many others of -his gang. Three were seized near Chelsea College by some soldiers; two -more were in company, but escaped. On Sunday two others were taken; one -kept a livery <!-- Page 101 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span>stable at Moorfield's. Soon after his committal there -was a strong rumour that he had escaped from Newgate, but he continued -closely confined there, and had forty pounds weight of irons on his -legs. He had his tailor make him a rich embroidered suit with peruke -and hat, worth £100; but the keeper refused to let him wear them, -because they would disguise him.</p> - -<p>Whitney made many attempts to purchase pardon. He offered to discover -his associates, and those that give notice when and where the money is -conveyed on the roads in coaches and wagons. He was, however, put upon -his trial, and eventually convicted and sentenced to death. He went -in the cart to the place of execution, but was reprieved and brought -back to Newgate with a rope round his neck, followed by a "vast" crowd. -Next night he was carried to Whitehall and examined as to the persons -who hired the highwaymen to rob the mails. But he was again ordered -for execution, and once more sought to gain a reprieve by writing a -letter in which he offered, if he might have his pardon, to betray -a conspiracy to kill the king. His last appeal was refused, and he -suffered at Porter's Block, near Cow Cross, Smithfield.</p> - -<p>Determined efforts were made from time to time to put down these -robberies, which were often so disgracefully prevalent that people -hardly dared to travel along the roads. Parties of horse were quartered -in most of the towns along the great <!-- Page 102 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span>highways. Handsome rewards were -offered for the apprehension of offenders. A proclamation promised £10 -for every highwayman taken, and this was ere long increased to £40, to -be given to any one who might supply information leading to an arrest. -Horses standing at livery in and about London, whose ownership was at -all doubtful, were seized on suspicion, and often never claimed. It was -customary to parade before Newgate persons in custody who were thought -to be highwaymen. They were shown in their riding-dresses with their -horses, and all gentlemen who had been robbed were invited to inspect -this singular exhibition. But the robberies flourished in spite of all -attempts at repression.</p> - -<p>One or two types of the highwaymen of the seventeenth century may -here be fitly introduced. One of the earliest and most celebrated was -Jack Cottington, <em>alias</em> "Mulled Sack," who had been a depredator -throughout the Commonwealth epoch, and who enjoyed the credit of having -robbed Oliver Cromwell himself on Hounslow Heath. His confederate in -this, Horne, once a captain in Downe's foot regiment, was overtaken, -captured, and hanged, but Cottington escaped. Jack Cottington began -as a chimney-sweep, first as an apprentice, then on his own account, -when he gained his soubriquet from his powers of drinking mulled -sack. From this he graduated, and soon gained a high reputation as -a pickpocket, his chief hunting-ground <!-- Page 103 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span>being churches and Puritan -meeting-houses, which he frequented demurely dressed in black with a -black <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">roquelaire</i>. He succeeded in robbing Lady Fairfax of a gold -watch set with diamonds, and a gold chain, as she was on her way to -Doctor Jacomb's lecture at Ludgate; and a second time by removing the -linchpin from her ladyship's carriage when on her way to the same -church, he upset the coach, and giving her his arm, relieved her of -another gold watch and seals. After this he became the captain of a -gang of thieves and night prowlers, whom he organized and led to so -much purpose that they alarmed the whole town. His impudence was so -great that he was always ready to show off his skill as a thief in any -public-house if he was paid for it, in a performance he styled "moving -the bung." He was not content to operate in the city, but visited the -Parliament House and Courts of Law at Westminster, and was actually -caught in the act of picking the Protector's pocket. He narrowly -escaped hanging for this, and on coming out of gaol took permanently -to the highway, where he soon achieved a still greater notoriety. With -half a dozen comrades he robbed a government wagon conveying money -to the army, and dispersed the twenty troopers who escorted it, by -attacking them as they were watering their horses. The wagon contained -£4,000, intended to pay the troops quartered at Oxford and Gloucester. -Another account states that near Wheatley, Cottington put a <!-- Page 104 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span>pistol to -the carrier's head and bade him stand, at which both carter and guard -rode off for their lives, fearing an ambuscade. The town of Reading he -laid under frequent contribution, breaking into a jeweller's shop in -that town and carrying off the contents, which he sported on his person -in London. Again at Reading, hearing that the Receiver-General was -about to send £6,000 to London in an ammunition wagon, he entered the -receiver's house, bound the family, and decamped with the money. Being -by this time so notorious a character, he was arrested on suspicion, -and committed for trial at Abingdon Assizes. There, however, being -flush of cash, he found means to corrupt the jury and secure acquittal, -although Judge Jermyn exerted all his skill to hang him. His fame was -now at its zenith. He became the burthen of street songs—a criminal -hero who laughed the gallows to scorn. But about this time he was -compelled to fly the country for the murder of Sir John Bridges, with -whose wife he had had an intrigue. He made his way to Cologne, to the -court of Charles II, whom he robbed of plate worth £1,500. Then he -returned to England, after making overtures to Cromwell, to whom he -offered certain secret papers if he might be allowed to go scot-free. -But he was brought to the gallows, and fully deserved his fate.</p> - -<p>Claude Duval is another hero whose name is familiar to all readers of -criminal chronology. A certain halo of romance surrounds this notorious -<!-- Page 105 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span>and most successful highwayman. Gallant and chivalrous in his bearing -towards the fair sex, he would spare a victim's pocket for the pleasure -of dancing a <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">corranto</i> with the gentleman's wife. The money he levied -so recklessly he lavished as freely in intrigue. His success with the -sex is said to have been extraordinary, both in London and in Paris. -"Maids, widows, and wives," says a contemporary account, "the rich, -the poor, the noble, the vulgar, all submitted to the powerful Duval." -When justice at length overtook him, and he was cast for death, crowds -of ladies visited him in the condemned hold; many more in masks were -present at his execution. After hanging he lay in state in the Tangier -Tavern at St. Giles, in a room draped with black and covered with -escutcheons; eight wax tapers surrounded his bier, and "as many tall -gentlemen in long cloaks." Duval was a Frenchman by birth—a native of -Domfront in Normandy, once a village of evil reputation. Its curé was -greatly surprised, it is said, at finding that he baptized as many as -a hundred children and yet buried nobody. At first he congratulated -himself in residing in an air producing such longevity; but on closer -inquiry he found that all who were born at Domfront were hanged at -Rouen.</p> - -<p>Duval did not long honour his native country with his presence. On the -restoration of Charles II he came to London as footman to a person -of quality, but soon took to the road. Numerous <!-- Page 106 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span>stories are told of -his boldness, his address, and fertility of resource. One of the most -amusing is that in which he got an accomplice to dress up a mastiff in -a cow's hide, put horns on his head, and let him down a chimney, into a -room where a bridal merrymaking was in progress. Duval, who was one of -the guests, dexterously profited by the general dismay to lighten the -pockets of an old farmer whom he had seen secreting a hundred pounds. -When the money was missed it was supposed that the devil had flown away -with it. On another occasion, having revisited France, he ingratiated -himself with a wealthy priest by pretending to possess the secret of -the philosopher's stone. This he effected by stirring up a potful of -molten inferior metal with a stick, within which were enclosed a number -of sprigs of pure gold, as black lead is in a pencil. When the baser -metals were consumed by the fire, the pure gold remained at the bottom -of the pot. Overjoyed at Duval's skill as an alchemist, the priest made -him his confidant and bosom friend, revealing to him his secret hoards, -and where they were bestowed. One day, when the priest was asleep after -dinner, Duval gagged and bound him, removed his keys, unlocked his -strong boxes, and went off with all the valuables he could carry. Duval -was also an adroit card-sharper, and won considerable sums at play by -"slipping a card;" and he was most astute in laying and winning wagers -on matters he had <!-- Page 107 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span>previously fully mastered. His career was abruptly -terminated by his capture when drunk at a tavern in Chandos Street, -and he was executed, after ten years of triumph, at the early age of -twenty-seven.</p> - -<p>William Nevison, a native-born member of the same fraternity, may be -called, says Raine, "the Claude Duval of the north. The chroniclers of -his deeds have told us of his daring and his charities, for he gave -away to the poor much of the money he took from the rich." Nevison -was born at Pontefract in 1639, and began as a boy by stealing his -father's spoons. When chastised by the schoolmaster for this offence, -he bolted with his master's horse, having first robbed his father's -strong box. After spending some time in London thieving, he went to -Flanders and served, not without distinction, in a regiment of English -volunteers commanded by the Duke of York. He returned presently to -England, and took to the road. Stories are told of him similar to those -which made Duval famous. Nevison was on the king's side, and never -robbed Royalists. He was especially hard on usurers. On one occasion -he eased a Jew of his ready money, then made him sign a note of hand -for five hundred pounds, which by hard riding he cashed before the -usurer could stop payment. Again, he robbed a bailiff who had just -distrained a poor farmer for rent. The proceeds of the sale, which the -bailiff thus lost, Nevison restored to the farmer. In the midst of his -career, having made one grand <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">coup</i>, <!-- Page 108 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span>he retired from business and -spent eight years virtuously with his father. At the old man's death he -resumed his evil courses, and was presently arrested and thrown into -Leicester Gaol. From this he escaped by a clever stratagem. A friendly -doctor having declared he had the plague, gave him a sleeping draught, -and saw him consigned to a coffin as dead. His friend demanded the -body, and Nevison passed the gates in the coffin. Once outside, he -was speedily restored to life, and now extended his operations to the -capital. It was soon after this that he gained the soubriquet, "Swift -Nick," given by Charles II, it is said. There seems to be very little -doubt that Nevison was actually the hero of the great ride to York, -commonly credited to Turpin. The story goes that he robbed a gentleman -at Gadshill, then riding to Gravesend, crossed the Thames, and galloped -across Essex to Chelmsford. After baiting he rode on to Cambridge and -Godmanchester, thence to Huntingdon, where he baited his mare and slept -for an hour; after that, holding to the north road, and not galloping -his horse all the way, reached York the same afternoon. Having changed -his clothes, he went to the bowling-green, where he made himself -noticeable to the lord mayor. By and by, when recognized and charged -with the robbery at Gadshill, Nevison called upon the mayor to prove -that he had seen him at York; whereupon he was acquitted, "on the bare -supposition that it was <!-- Page 109 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span>impossible for a man to be at two places so -remote on one and the same day."</p> - -<p>Nevison appears to have been arrested and in custody in 1676. He was -tried for his life, but reprieved and drafted into a regiment at -Tangier. He soon deserted, and returning to England, again took to -the road. He was next captured at Wakefield, tried, and sentenced to -death; but escaped from prison, to be finally taken up for a trifling -robbery, for which he suffered at York. The depositions preserved by -the Surtees' Society show that he was the life and centre of a gang -of highway robbers who worked in association. They levied blackmail -upon the whole countryside; attended fairs, race meetings, and public -gatherings, and had spies and accomplices, innkeepers and ostlers, who -kept them informed of the movements of travellers, and put them in the -way of likely jobs to be done. Drovers and farmers who paid a tax to -them escaped spoliation; but all others were very roughly handled. The -gang had its headquarters at the Talbot Inn, Newark, where they kept a -room by the year, and met at regular intervals to divide the proceeds -of their robberies.</p> - -<p>Many instances are recorded of another crime somewhat akin to highway -robbery. The forcible abduction of heiresses was nothing new; but it -was now prosecuted with more impudence and daring than heretofore. -Luttrell tells us, under date 1st June, 1683, that one Mrs. Synderfin, -a rich <!-- Page 110 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span>widow, was taken out of her carriage on Hounslow Heath, by a -Captain Clifford and his comrades. They carried her into France to -"Calice" against her will, and with much barbarous ill-usage made her -marry Clifford. Mrs. Synderfin or Clifford was, however, rescued, and -brought back to England. Clifford escaped, but presently returning to -London, was seized and committed to custody. He pleaded in defence his -great passion for the lady, and his seeing no other way to win her. It -was not mere fortune-hunting, he declared, as he possessed a better -estate than hers. But the Lord Chief Justice charged the jury that they -must find the prisoners guilty, which they did, and all were sentenced -to imprisonment in Newgate for one year. Captain Clifford was also to -pay a fine of £1,000, two of his confederates £500 each, and two more -£100. In the same authority is an account how—"Yesterday a gentleman -was committed to Newgate for stealing a young lady worth £10,000, by -the help of bailiffs, who arrested her and her maid in a false action, -and had got them into a coach, but they were rescued." Again, a year or -two later, "one Swanson, a Dane, who pretends to be a Deal merchant, -is committed to Newgate for stealing one Miss Rawlins, a young lady of -Leicestershire, with a fortune of £4,000. Three bailiffs and a woman, -Swanson's pretended sister, who assisted, are also committed, they -having forced her to marry him. Swanson and Mrs. Bainton were convicted -of this <!-- Page 111 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span>felony at the King's Bench Bar; but the bailiffs who arrested -her on a sham action were acquitted, with which the court was not well -pleased. Swanson was sentenced to death, and executed. As also the -woman; but she being found with child, her execution was respited."</p> - -<p>A more flagrant case was the abduction of Miss Mary Wharton in 1690, -the daughter and heiress of Sir George Wharton, by Captain James -Campbell, brother to the Earl of Argyll, assisted by Sir John Johnson. -Miss Wharton, who was only thirteen years of age, had a fortune of -£50,000. She was carried away from her relations in Great Queen Street, -on the 14th November, 1690, and married against her will. A royal -proclamation was forthwith issued for the apprehension of Captain -Campbell and his abettors. Sir John Johnson was taken, committed to -Newgate, and presently tried and cast for death. "Great application was -made to the king and to the relations of the bride to save his life," -but to no purpose, "which was thought the harder, as it appeared upon -his trial that Miss Wharton had given evident proof that the violence -Captain Campbell used was not so much against her will as her lawyers -endeavoured to make it." Luttrell says, "Sir John refused pardon unless -requested by the friends of Mrs. Wharton. On the 23d December, he went -in a mourning coach to Tyburn, and there was hanged." No mention is -made of the arrest of <!-- Page 112 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span>Captain Campbell, whom we may conclude got off -the continent. But he benefited little by his violence, for a bill was -brought into the House of Commons within three weeks of the abduction -to render the marriage void, and this, although the Earl of Argyll -on behalf of his brother petitioned against it, speedily passed both -Houses.</p> - -<p>The affair of Count Konigsmark may be classed with the foregoing, as -another notorious instance of an attempt to bring about marriage with -an heiress by violent means. The lady in this case was the last of the -Percies, the only child and heiress to the vast fortune of Jocelyn, -the Earl of Northumberland. Married when still of tender years to the -Earl of Ogle, eldest son of the Duke of Newcastle, she was a virgin -widow at fifteen, and again married against her consent, it was said, -to Thomas Thynne, Esq., of Longleat;<a name="FNanchor_112:1_16" id="FNanchor_112:1_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_112:1_16" class="fnanchor">[112:1]</a> "Tom of Ten Thousand," as -he was called on account of his income. This second marriage was not -consummated; Lady Ogle either repented herself of the match and fled -into Holland, or her relatives wished to postpone her entry into the -matrimonial state, and she was sent to live abroad.</p> - -<p>Previous to her second marriage, a young Swedish nobleman, Count -Konigsmark, when on a visit to England, had paid his addresses to her, -but he had failed in his suit. After his rejection <!-- Page 113 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span>he had conceived a -violent hatred against Mr. Thynne.</p> - -<p>The count was "a fine person of a man, with the longest hair I ever -saw, and very quick of parts. He was also possessed of great wealth -and influence;" "one of the greatest men," Sir John Reresby tells -us, "in the kingdom of Sweden; his uncle being at that time governor -of Pomerania, and near upon marrying the King of Sweden's aunt." -Konigsmark could command the devoted service of reckless men, and -among his followers he counted one Captain Vratz, to whom he seems to -have entrusted the task of dealing with Mr. Thynne. Vratz, although a -brave soldier, who had won his promotion at the siege of Mons, under -the Prince of Orange, and to whom the King of Sweden had given a -troop of horse, was willing to act as an assassin. The count came to -London, living secretly in various lodgings, as he declared to hide a -distemper from which he suffered, but no doubt to direct privately the -operations of his bravoes. Vratz associated with himself one Stern, -a Swedish lieutenant, and Boroski, "a Polander," who had arrived in -England destitute, and whom, it was subsequently proved, the count had -furnished with clothes and arms. The murderers, having set a watch for -their victim, attacked him at the corner of Pall Mall, about the spot -where Her Majesty's Theatre now stands, as he was riding on Sunday -night, the 21st February, 1681, in his carriage from <!-- Page 114 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span>the Countess of -Northumberland's house. One of them cried to the coachman, "Stop, you -dog!" and a second, Boroski, immediately fired a blunderbuss charged -with bullets into the carriage. Four bullets entered Mr. Thynne's body, -each of which inflicted a mortal wound. The murderers then made off.</p> - -<p>The unfortunate gentleman was carried dying to his own house, where -he was presently joined by the Duke of Monmouth, his intimate friend, -Lord Mordaunt, and Sir John Reresby, specially sent by King Charles, -who feared that some political construction would be put upon the -transaction and was anxious that the perpetrators of the crime should -be apprehended. Reresby, who was an active magistrate, granted warrants -at once against several suspected persons, and he himself, accompanied -by the Duke of Monmouth and others, made a close search, which ended -in the arrest of Vratz in the house of a Swedish doctor, in Leicester -Fields. His accomplices were also soon taken, and all three were -examined by the king in Council, when they confessed that they had done -the deed at the instigation of Count Konigsmark, "who was lately in -England."</p> - -<p>At the same time a Monsieur Foubert, who kept an Academy in London -which a younger brother of Count Konigsmark attended, was arrested as -being privy to the murder, and admitted that the elder brother had -arrived incognito ten days before the said murder, and lay disguised -till it was <!-- Page 115 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span>committed, which gave great cause to suspect that the -count was at the bottom of the whole bloody affair. The king despatched -Sir John Reresby to seize Konigsmark, but the bird had flown; he went -away early, on the morning of the day after the deed was perpetrated. -He went down the river to Deptford, then to Greenwich, and the day -after to Gravesend, where he was taken by two king's messengers, -accompanied by "Mr. Gibbons, servant to the Duke of Monmouth, and Mr. -Kidd, gentleman to Mr. Thynne." He was dressed "in a very mean habit, -under which he carried a naked sword." When seized he gave a sudden -start, so that his wig fell off, and the fact that he wore a wig, -instead of his own hair as usual, was remembered against him at his -trial, as an attempt at disguise. The count was carried to an inn in -Gravesend, where he expressed very great concern when he heard that -his men had confessed; declaring that it (the murder) was a stain upon -his blood, "although one good action in the wars, or lodging on a -counterscrap, would wash all that away." His captors received the £200 -reward, promised in the <cite>Gazette</cite>, and in addition the £500 offered by -Sir Thomas Thynne, Mr. Thynne's heir.</p> - -<p>They carried him at once to London, before the king in Council, where -he was examined, but the Council being unwilling to meddle on account -of his quality, as connected with the kingdom of Sweden, he was then -taken before Chief Justice <!-- Page 116 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span>Pemberton, who could, if he thought fit, -send him to gaol. He was examined again till eleven at night, and at -last, "much against the count's desire," was committed to Newgate. -He stood upon his innocency, and confessed nothing, yet "people are -well satisfied that he is taken." While in Newgate, Count Konigsmark -was lodged in the governor's house, and was daily visited by persons -of quality. Great efforts were now made to obtain his release. The M. -Foubert, already mentioned, came to Sir John Reresby, and offered him -any money to withdraw from the prosecution, but the overtures were -stoutly rejected, and his emissary was warned to be cautious "how -he made any offers to pervert justice." A more effectual attempt at -bribery was probably made on the jury, of whom the prisoner challenged -eighteen. He had their names on a list, and knew beforehand whom he -could or could not trust. The judge, Lord Chief Justice Pemberton, was -also clearly in his favour. The defence set up was that Vratz had taken -upon himself to avenge an affront offered by Mr. Thynne to his master, -and Count Konigsmark denied all knowledge of his follower's action. The -count tried to explain the privacy in which he lived, and his sudden -flight. But the counsel for the prosecution laid great stress on the -intimacy between him and the murderers; the absence of any object on -the part of the latter, unless instigated by the former. The Chief -Justice, however, summed up for the count, assuring the <!-- Page 117 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span>jury that a -master could not be held responsible for the acts of his servants, if -ignorant of them, and that if they thought the count knew nothing of -the murder till after it was done, they must acquit him, which they -did, "to the no small wonder of the auditory," as Luttrell says, "as -more than probable good store of guineas went amongst them." Konigsmark -was set at liberty at the end of the trial, but before his discharge -he was bound in heavy securities, in £2,000 himself, and £2,000 from -two friends, to appear at the King's Bench Bar the first day of the -following term. "Yet notwithstanding, the count is gone into France, -and it is much doubted whether he will return to save his bail."</p> - -<p>After his departure he was challenged by Lord Cavendish and Lord -Mordaunt, but no duel came off, Konigsmark declaring that he never -received the cartel till too late. His agents or accomplices, or -whatever they may be called, were convicted and executed.</p> - -<p>Count Konigsmark did not long survive Mr. Thynne, nor did he succeed -in winning Lady Ogle's hand. That doubly widowed yet virgin wife -presently married the Duke of Somerset, by whom she had two sons. As -for Konigsmark, according to the "Amsterdam Historical Dictionary," -quoted in Chambers's "Book of Days," he resumed the career of arms, and -was wounded at Cambray in 1683. He afterwards went to Spain with his -regiment, and distinguished himself on several <!-- Page 118 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span>occasions; after that -he accompanied an uncle Otto William to the Morea, where he was present -at the battle of Argas. In this action he so overheated himself that he -was seized with pleurisy, and died at the early age of twenty-seven, -within little more than four years of the murder of Mr. Thynne. It was -another Count Konigsmark, near relative of this one, Count Philip, -whose guilty intrigue with Sophia Dorothea, wife of George I, when -Elector of Hanover, led to his assassination in the electoral palace.</p> - -<p>In the foregoing the softer sex were either victims or the innocent -incentives to crime. In the case of that clever and unscrupulous -impostor Mary Moders, otherwise Carelton, commonly called the German -Princess, it was exactly the opposite. The daughter of a chorister in -Canterbury Cathedral, she first married a shoemaker; then, dissatisfied -with her lot, ran off to Dover and committed bigamy with a doctor. She -was apprehended for this, tried, and acquitted for want of evidence. -She next passed over to Holland, and went the round of the German -spas, at one of which she encountered a foolish old gentleman of large -estate, who fell in love with her and offered marriage. She accepted -his proposals and presents; but having cajoled him into entrusting her -with a large sum to make preparations for the wedding, she absconded to -Amsterdam and Rotterdam, where she took ship and came over to London. -Alighting at the <!-- Page 119 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span>Exchange Tavern, kept by a Mr. King, she assumed -the state and title of a princess, giving herself out as the ill-used -child of Count Henry Van Wolway, a sovereign prince of the empire. -John Carelton, a brother-in-law of her landlord, at once, "in the most -dutiful and submissive manner," paid his addresses to her, and she at -last condescended to marry him. Carelton was presently undeceived by an -anonymous letter, which proved his wife to be a cheat and impostor.</p> - -<p>The princess was arrested, committed to Newgate, and tried for polygamy -at the Old Bailey, but was again acquitted. On her release, deserted -by Carelton, she took to the stage, and gained some reputation, in -a piece especially written for her entitled the "German Princess." -Her fame spread through the town, and she was courted by numberless -admirers, two of whom she played off against each other; and having -fleeced both of several hundred pounds, flouted them for presuming to -make love to a princess. Another victim to her wiles was an elderly -man, worth about £400 per annum, who loaded her with gifts; he was -continually gratifying her with one costly present or another, which -she took care to receive with an appearance of being ashamed he should -heap so many obligations on her, telling him she was not worthy of so -many favours. One night when her lover came home in liquor, she got -him to bed, and when he was asleep rifled his pockets, securing his -<!-- Page 120 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span>keys and a bill on a goldsmith for a hundred pounds. Opening all his -escritoires and drawers, she stole everything, gold pieces, watches, -seals, and several pieces of plate, and then made off. After this -she led a life of vagabondage, moving her lodgings constantly, and -laying her hands on all she could steal. She was adroit in deceiving -tradesmen, and swindled first one and then another out of goods. At -last she was arrested for stealing a silver tankard in Covent Garden, -and committed again to Newgate. This time she was found guilty and cast -for death, but the sentence was commuted to transportation. She was -sent in due course to Jamaica, but within a couple of years escaped -from the plantations, and reappeared in England. By some means she -managed to pass off as a rich heiress, and inveigled a rich apothecary -into marriage, but presently robbed him of above £300 and left him. Her -next trick was to take a lodging in the same house with a watchmaker. -One night she invited the landlady and the watchmaker to go to the -play, leaving her maid, who was a confederate, alone in the house. -The maid lost no time in breaking open the watchmaker's coffers, and -stole therefrom thirty watches, with about two hundred pounds in cash, -which she carried off to a secure place in another part of the town. -Meanwhile the "princess" had invited her dupes to supper at the Green -Dragon Tavern in Fleet Street, where she managed to give them the -slip and joined her maid. <!-- Page 121 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span>This was one of the last of her robberies. -Soon afterwards fate overtook her quite by accident. The keeper of -the Marshalsea, in search of some stolen property, came to the house -where she lodged, in New Spring Gardens, and saw her "walking in the -two-pair-of-stairs room in a nightgown." He went in, and continuing his -search, came upon three letters, which he proceeded to examine. "Madam -seemed offended with him, and their dispute caused him to look at her -so steadfastly that he knew her, called her by her name, and carried -away both her and her letters." She was committed and kept a prisoner -till 16th January, 1673, when she was arraigned at the Old Bailey, as -the woman Mary Carelton, for returning from transportation. On the last -day of the Sessions she received sentence of death, "which she heard -with a great deal of intrepidity."</p> - -<p>She appeared more gay and brisk than ever on the day of her execution. -When the irons were removed from her on her starting for Tyburn, she -pinned the picture of her husband Carelton to her sleeve, and carried -it with her to the gallows. She discovered herself to a gentleman in -the crowd as a Roman Catholic, and having conversed with him for some -time in French, on parting said, "<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Mon ami, le bon Dieu vous benisse</i>." -At the gallows she harangued the crowd at some length, and died as she -had lived, a reckless although undoubtedly a gifted and intelligent -woman.</p> - -<p><!-- Page 122 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span> -Prominent among the criminal names of this epoch is that of the -informer, Titus Oates, no less on account of the infamy of his conduct -than from the severe retribution which overtook him in the reign of -James II. The arraignment of Green, Berry, and Laurence Hill for the -trial of Sir Edmundbury Godfrey, who were brought for the purpose -"from Newgate to the King's Bench Bar," is a well-known judicial -episode of the year 1678. Oates was the principal witness against -them; but he was followed by Praunce, an approver, and others. After -much evidence for and against, and much equivocation, the Lord Chief -Justice Scroggs summed up the evidence strongly for conviction. When -the jury soon returned a verdict of guilty, the Lord Chief Justice -commended them, and said if it were the last word he had to speak -he would have pronounced them guilty. Sentence was then given, and -within a fortnight they were executed. These victims of the so-called -Popish Plot were, however, amply and ruthlessly avenged. Macaulay -tells the story. Oates had been arrested before Charles II's death for -defamatory words, and cast in damages of £100,000. He was then, after -the accession of James II, tried on two indictments of perjury, and it -was proved beyond doubt that he had by false testimony deliberately -murdered several guiltless persons. "His offence, though in a moral -light murder of the most aggravated kind, was in the eye of the law -merely a misdemeanour." <!-- Page 123 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span>But the tribunal which convicted made its -punishment proportionate to the real offence. Brutal Judge Jeffries -was its mouthpiece, and he sentenced him to be unfrocked and pilloried -in Palace Yard, to be led round Westminster Hall, with an inscription -over his head declaring his infamy; to be pilloried in front of the -Royal Exchange, to be whipped from Aldgate to Newgate, and after an -interval of two days to be whipped from Newgate to Tyburn. He was to -be imprisoned for life, and every year to be brought from his dungeon -and exposed in different parts of the capital. When on the pillory he -was mercilessly pelted, and nearly torn to pieces. His first flogging -was executed rigorously in the presence of a vast crowd, and Oates, a -man of strong frame, long stood the lash without a murmur. "But at last -his stubborn fortitude gave way. His bellowings were frightful to hear. -He swooned several times; but the scourge still continued to descend. -When he was unbound it seemed he had borne as much as the human frame -could bear without dissolution. . . . After an interval of forty-eight -hours Oates was again brought out from his dungeon. He seemed unable -to stand, and it was necessary to drag him to Tyburn on a sledge." He -was again flogged, although insensible, and a person present counted -the stripes as seventeen hundred. "The doors of the prison closed -upon him. During many months he remained ironed in the darkest hole -in Newgate." <!-- Page 124 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span>A contemporary account written by one of his own side -declares he received "upwards of two thousand lashes—such a thing was -never inflicted by any Jew, Turk, or heathen but Jeffries. . . . Had -they hanged him they had been more merciful; had they flayed him alive -it is a question whether it would have been so much torture."<a name="FNanchor_124:1_17" id="FNanchor_124:1_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_124:1_17" class="fnanchor">[124:1]</a></p> - -<p>Dangerfield, another informer of the Oates type, but of lesser guilt, -was also convicted and sentenced to be similarly flogged from Aldgate -to Newgate, and from Newgate to Tyburn. "When he heard his doom he went -into agonies of despair, gave himself up for dead, and chose a text -for his funeral. His forebodings were just. He was not indeed scourged -quite so severely as Oates had been; but he had not Oates's iron -strength of body and mind." On his way back to prison he was assaulted -by Mr. Francis, a Tory gentleman of Gray's Inn, who struck him across -the face with a cane and injured his eye. "Dangerfield was carried -dying into Newgate. This dastardly outrage roused the indignation -of the bystanders. They seized Francis, and were with difficulty -restrained from tearing him to pieces. The appearance of Dangerfield's -body, which had been frightfully lacerated by the <!-- Page 125 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span>whip, inclined many -to believe that his death was chiefly if not wholly caused by the -stripes which he had received." The Government laid all the blame on -Francis, who was tried and executed for murder.</p> - -<p>Religion and politics still continued to supply their quota of inmates. -The law was still cruelly harsh to Roman Catholics, Quakers, and all -Non-conformists.</p> - -<p>The Fifth Monarchy men in 1661, when discomfited and captured, were -lodged in Newgate, to the number of twenty or more. Venner, the -ringleader, was amongst them. The State Trials give the trial of one -John James, who was arraigned at the King's Bench for high treason. -He was found guilty of compassing the death of the king, and suffered -the cruel sentence then in force for the crime. James has left some -details of the usage he received in Newgate, especially in the matter -of extortion. Fees to a large amount were exacted of him, although a -poor and needy wretch, "originally a small coal-man." In the press-yard -he paid 16<i>s.</i> to the keeper Hicks for the use of his chamber, although -he only remained there three or four days. The hangman also came to -demand money, that "he might be favourable to him at his death," -demanding twenty pounds, then falling to ten, at last threatening, -unless he got five, "to torture him exceedingly. To which James said he -must leave himself to his mercy, for he had nothing to give him." Yet -at the execution, the report says <!-- Page 126 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span>the sheriff and the hangman were so -civil to him as to suffer him to be dead before he was cut down. After -that he was dismembered; some of the parts were burnt, but the head -and quarters brought back to Newgate in a basket, and exposed upon the -gates of the city. Venner and several others suffered in the same way.</p> - -<p>Many Quakers were kept in Newgate, imprisoned during the king's -pleasure for refusing to take the oaths of allegiance and supremacy. -Thus John Crook, Isaac Grey, and John Bolton were so confined, and -incurred a præmunire or forfeiture of their estates. But the most -notable of the Quakers were Penn and Mead. In its way this is a most -remarkable trial, on account of the overbearing conduct of the Bench -towards the prisoners. In 1670 these two, the first described as -gentleman, the second as linen-draper, were indicted at the Old Bailey -for having caused a tumultuous assembly in Gracechurch Street. The -people collected, it was charged, to hear Penn preach. The demeanour -of the prisoners in the court was so bold, that it drew down on them -the anger of the recorder, who called Penn troublesome, saucy, and so -forth. The jury were clearly in their favour, and brought in a verdict -of not guilty, but the court tried to menace them. The lord mayor, Sir -Samuel Stirling, was especially furious with Penn, crying, "Stop his -mouth; gaoler, bring fetters and stake him to the ground." At last the -jury, having refused to <!-- Page 127 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span>reconsider their verdict, were locked up; -while Penn and Mead were remanded to Newgate. Next day the jury came -up, and adhered to their verdict. Whereupon the recorder fined them -forty marks apiece for not following his "good and wholesome advice," -adding, "God keep my life out of your hands."<a name="FNanchor_127:1_18" id="FNanchor_127:1_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_127:1_18" class="fnanchor">[127:1]</a> The prisoners -demanded their liberty, "being freed by the jury," but were detained -for their fines imposed by the judge for alleged contempt of court. -Penn protested violently, but the recorder cried, "Take him away!" and -the prisoners were once more haled to Newgate. Edward Bushell, one of -the above-mentioned jurors, who was committed to Newgate in default of -payment of fine, subsequently sued out a Habeas Corpus, and was brought -before Lord Chief Justice Vaughan, who decided in his favour, whereon -he and the other jurymen were discharged from gaol.</p> - -<p>There were Roman Catholics too in Newgate, convicted of participation -in the Popish Plot. Samuel Smith, the ordinary, publishes in 1679 an -account of the behaviour of fourteen of them, "late Popish malefactors, -whilst in Newgate." Among them were Whitehead, provincial, and Fenwick, -procurator, of the Jesuits in England, and William Harcourt, pretended -rector of London. The account contains a description of Mr. Smith's -efforts <!-- Page 128 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span>at conversion and ghostly comfort, which were better meant -than successful.</p> - -<p>After the revolution of 1688 there was an active search after Romish -priests, and many were arrested; among them two bishops, Ellis and -Leyburn, were sent to Newgate. They were visited in gaol by Bishop -Burnet, who found them in a wretched plight, and humanely ordered their -situation to be improved. Other inmates of Newgate at this troublous -period were the ex-Lord Chief Justice Wright and several judges. It -was Wright who had tried the seven bishops. Jeffries had had him made -a judge, although the lord keeper styled him the most unfit person in -the kingdom for that office. Macaulay says very few lawyers of the time -surpassed him in turpitude and effrontery. He died miserably in Newgate -about 1690, where he remained under a charge of attempting to subvert -the Government.</p> - - -<hr class="footnotes" /> -<p class="sectctrfn">FOOTNOTES:</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_92:1_15" id="Footnote_92:1_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_92:1_15"><span class="label">[92:1]</span></a> Who were responsible for the keeper and the prison -generally.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_112:1_16" id="Footnote_112:1_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_112:1_16"><span class="label">[112:1]</span></a> Still the seat of the Thynnes; and the property of the -head of the family—the present Marquis of Bath.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_124:1_17" id="Footnote_124:1_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_124:1_17"><span class="label">[124:1]</span></a> Doctor Oates in the next reign was to some extent -indemnified for his sufferings. When quite an old man he married a -young city heiress with a fortune of £2,000; and a writer who handled -this "Salamanca wedding," as it was called, was arrested. Oates was in -the receipt of a pension of £300 from the Government when he died in -1705.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_127:1_18" id="Footnote_127:1_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_127:1_18"><span class="label">[127:1]</span></a> The practice of fining jurors for finding a verdict -contrary to the direction of the judge had already been declared -arbitrary, unconstitutional, and illegal.</p></div> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="newchapter" /> -<p><!-- Page 129 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak"><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V<br /> - -<small>THE PRESS-YARD</small></h2> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p class="hang">The press-yard described—Charges for admission—Extortionate -fees paid to turnkeys and governor—The latter's -perquisites—Arrival of Jacobite prisoners—Discussed -by lower officials—Preparations for them—Their -appearance and demeanour—High prices charged for gaol -lodgings—They live royally—First executions abate their -gaiety—Escapes—Keeper superseded by officials specially -appointed by lord mayor—Strictness of new <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">régime</i>—A -military guard mounts—Rioting and revels among the -Jacobites once more checked by execution of members of the -party—Rumours of an amnesty—Mr. Freeman, who fired a pistol -in theatre when Prince of Wales was present, committed to -Press-yard—Freeman's violent conduct—Prisoners suffer from -overcrowding and heat—Pardons—Rob Roy in Newgate—Other -prisoners in press-yard—Major Bernardi—His history and long -detentions—dies in gaol after forty years' imprisonment.</p> -</div> - - -<p>The press-yard of the prison was intended especially for State -prisoners, or those incarcerated on "commitments of State," and was -deemed to be part and parcel of the governor's house, not actually -within the precincts of the prison. This was a pious fiction, put forth -as an excuse for exacting fees in excess of the amounts prescribed by -act of Parliament. A sum of twenty guineas was charged <!-- Page 130 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span>for admission -to this favoured spot; in other words, "for liberty of having room -enough to walk two or three of a breadth." "The gentlemen admitted here -are moreover under a necessity of paying 11<i>s.</i> each per week, although -two and sometimes three lie in a bed, and some chambers have three or -four beds in them." The act referred to specially provided that keepers -might not charge more than half a crown per week as rent for every -chamber.</p> - -<p>This rule the governor of Newgate—for this haughty commander-in-chief -over defenceless men was styled by the same name as the constable of -the Tower—entirely ignored, and the prisoner committed to his custody -had to decide between submitting to the extortion, or taking up his -abode in the common gaol, where he had thieves and villains for his -associates, and was perpetually tormented and eaten up by distempers -and vermin.</p> - -<p>The extortion practised about 1715 is graphically described by one who -endured it. The author of the "History of the Press-yard," after having -been mulcted on first arrival at the lodge for drink and "garnish," -was, although presumably a State prisoner, and entitled to better -treatment, at once cast in the condemned hold. In this gruesome place, -he lay "seized with a panic dread" at the survey of his new tenement, -and willing to change it for another on almost any terms. "As this -was the design of my being brought hither, so was I made apprized of -it by an expected method; for <!-- Page 131 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span>I had not bewailed my condition more -than half an hour, before I heard a voice from above crying out from -a board taken out of my ceiling, which was the speaker's floor, 'Sir, -I understand your name is ——, and that you are a gentleman too well -educated to take up your abode in a vault set apart only for thieves, -parricides, and murderers. From hence criminals after sentence of -death are carried to the place of execution, and from hence you may -be removed to a chamber equal to one in any private house, where -you may be furnished with the best conversation and entertainment, -on a valuable consideration.'" The speaker went on to protest that -he acted solely from good-will; that he was himself a prisoner, and -had suffered at first in the same manner, but had paid a sum to be -removed to better quarters, and which he thanked God he enjoyed to his -heart's content, wanting for nothing that a gaol could afford him. The -victim begged to know the terms, and to be put in communication with -the proper officer to make a contract for release. The other promised -accordingly, and a quarter of an hour afterwards "clang went the chain -of my door and bolts, and in comes a gentleman-like man of very smiling -aspect," who apologized profusely, swearing that those who had ill-used -a gentleman in such an unhandsome manner should be well trounced -for it. "He moreover excused the want of suitable entertainment for -persons of condition in prison-houses, and assured <!-- Page 132 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span>me that I should -be immediately conducted to the governor's house, who would take all -imaginable care of my reception. After this he very kindly took me by -the hand to lead me down into the lodge, which I rightly apprehended as -a motive to feel my pulse, and therefore made use of the opportunity -to clap two pieces, which he let my hand go to have a fast grip of, in -his." His deliverer was the head turnkey, by name Bodenham Rouse, whom -he accompanied to the lodge, and there again stood drink and was his -firm friend.</p> - -<p>The moment was one of considerable political excitement. The -Pretender's first attempt had collapsed in the north, and the -press-yard was about to be crowded with more eminent guests. Our -author is aroused one fine morning by loud joy-bells pealing from -the churches, and he immediately learns from his Jacobite companion -that the "king's affairs were ruined, and that the generals Willis -and Carpenter had attacked the Jacobite forces in Preston, and taken -all prisoners at discretion." Newgate is convulsed by the news. -Its officers are wild with delight, "calling for liquor after an -extravagant manner, and drinking to their good luck, which was to arise -from the ruin and loss of lives and fortunes in many good families." -In 1716 Mr. Pitt, the governor, appears upon the scene, accompanied -by other officials, to survey the rooms, and estimate the number of -new tenants that could be accommodated therein. All due preparations -made, a <!-- Page 133 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span>few days more brought to Newgate the unfortunate noblemen and -gentlemen who had surrendered at discretion, hoping thus, although -vainly, to save both life and estate. On their arrival in London they -were led in triumph through the streets to their respective places of -durance—viz., the Tower, the Marshalsea, Newgate, and the Fleet. The -prisoners on arrival at Highgate were met by Major-General Tarlton -with two battalions of Royal Foot Guards, completely armed. Cords were -also brought sufficient to pinion each prisoner after the manner of -condemned criminals, and to lead their horses, for each, from the lord -to the footman, was accommodated with a grenadier to that end. Thus -under safe conduct they marched from the Hill of Highgate to their -several places of confinement. The major-general led the way, being -"preceded by several citizens of more loyalty than compassion, who made -repeated huzzas to excite the mob to do the like." After the general -commanding came a company of the first regiment of Guards, who made a -very fine appearance. Then came the division for the Tower, two and -two, the Earl of Derwentwater and Lord Widdrington in the first rank, -the other lords and noblemen following with haltered horses, bound like -common malefactors, and reviled and hooted.</p> - -<p>Those for Newgate brought up the rear. They were civilly and humanely -treated on arrival there. The prison officers received them under the -gateway, <!-- Page 134 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span>and no sooner were the prisoners alighted from their horses -and their names called over, than their cords were immediately cut from -their arms and shoulders, and refreshment of wine brought to them.</p> - -<p>"Their number was about seventy," says our author. "And amongst them in -particular I could not but cast my eye upon one Mr. Archibald Bolair, -who in the sixteenth year of his age was said to have signalized his -courage, and have displayed as much skill and dexterity in feats -of arms in the battle of Preston as the oldest commander of them, -Brigadier Macintosh himself, though trained up in warlike affairs, not -excepted. What induced me to distinguish him from the rest was the -fearless way of expression he made use of when the clerk of the prison -cut his cords. 'By my soul, man,' said he, 'you should not have done -that, but kept it whole that I might either have been hanged with it, -or have it to show, if I escaped the gallows, how I had been led like a -dog in a string for twice two miles together.' Mr. Bolair then inquired -feelingly for his followers, who had been brought so many miles from -home out of observance of his orders, and he was anxious that they -should not want." Young Mr. Bolair was told off to the same room as our -author, in which two additional beds were placed, for the convenience -of the keeper, who by four beds in one room, filled each with three -tenants, got £6 per week, besides the sums paid as entrance money.</p> - -<p><!-- Page 135 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span> -The prisoners included many persons of note. Two of them—Mr. Forster, -who thought himself slighted and ill-used because, in consideration of -his seat in Parliament, he had not been imprisoned in the Tower; and -Francis Anderson, esquire, commonly called Sir Francis, a gentleman -of £2,000 per annum—had apartments in the governor's house at £5 per -head per week. There were also Colonel Oxborough, Brigadier Macintosh, -the two Talbots, the Shaftos, Mr. Wogan, and Captain Menzies, who with -their adherents and servants were thrust into the worst dungeons,—such -as "the lion's den" and the "middle dark,"—till for better lodgment -they had advanced more money than would have rented one of the best -houses in Piccadilly or St. James's Square. The fee or premium paid -by Mr. Forster and Sir Francis Anderson for being accommodated in the -governor's house was £60, and it cost the latter twenty-five guineas -more to keep off his irons. Mr. Widdrington, Mr. Ratcliffe, and others -paid twenty guineas apiece for the like favour at their first coming -in; and every one that would not be turned to the common side, ten -guineas, besides one guinea and ten shillings per man for every week's -lodging, although in some rooms the men lay four in a bed. As the -result of these extortions it was computed that Mr. Pitt cleared some -£3,000 or £4,000 in three or four months, besides "valuable presents -given in private, and among others a stone horse."</p> - -<p><!-- Page 136 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span> -Money was, however, plentiful among the incarcerated Jacobites, and so -far as was consistent with their situation, they lived right royally. -Sympathetic friends from without plied them with wines and luxurious -diet. They had every day a variety of the choicest eatables in season, -"and that too as early as the greatest and nicest ladies."<a name="FNanchor_136:1_19" id="FNanchor_136:1_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_136:1_19" class="fnanchor">[136:1]</a> Forty -shillings for a dish of peas was nothing to their pockets, nor 13<i>s.</i> -for a dish of fish. These, "with the best French wine, was an ordinary -regale." They "lived in this profuse manner, and fared so sumptuously -through the means of daily visitants and helps from abroad." Money -circulated plentifully within the prison. While it was difficult to -change a guinea at any house in the street, nothing was more easy than -to have silver for gold in any quantity in Newgate. Nor did many of -them lack female sympathy. Ladies of the first rank and quality, even -tradesmen's wives and daughters, "made a sacrifice of their husbands' -and parents' rings and precious movables for the use of those whom the -law had appointed to be so many sacrifices themselves." "It is not to -be supposed that a champion so noted for the cause as Captain Silk -was neglected; for he had his full share of those <!-- Page 137 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span>treats which soon -made his clothes too little for his corpse." When not feasting and -chambering, the prisoners found diversion in playing shuttlecock, "at -which noble game the valiant Forster beat all who engaged him, so that -he triumphed with his feather in the prison though he could not do it -in the field."<a name="FNanchor_137:1_20" id="FNanchor_137:1_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_137:1_20" class="fnanchor">[137:1]</a></p> - -<p>"For long there was nothing among them but flaunting apparel, venison -pasties, hams, chickens, and other costly meats." But soon all their -jollity came abruptly to an end. The news of the sad fate of the two -peers Derwentwater and Kenmure, who had been brought to trial and -executed upon Tower Hill, abated their gaiety. They were yet more -unmistakably reminded of their perilous position by the notice which -now came to them to provide themselves with counsel and witnesses -for their own defence. Fresh committals, too, were made to Newgate; -prisoners were sent in from the Tower and the Fleet. Among them were -Mr. Howard, brother to the Duke of Norfolk, the Master of Nairn, Mr. -Baird Hamilton, "a gentleman who behaved with wonderful gallantry at -the action of Preston;" Mr. Charles Radcliffe, Lord Derwentwater's -brother, "a youth of extraordinary courage;" Mr. Charles and Mr. -Peregrine Widdington, "two gentlemen of diversion and pleasure, both -papists;" the two Mr. Cottons, father and son, "nonjurant Protestants, -<!-- Page 138 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span>and of great estate in Huntingdonshire;" Mr. Thomas Errington, "a -gentleman that had been in the French service, . . . with the laird of -Macintosh, Colonel McIntosh, and Major McIntosh, together with other -Scotch gentlemen."</p> - -<p>Brought thus face to face with their very pressing danger, all more -or less cast about them for some means of escape. Several desperate -attempts were made to break prison. Thus on the 14th March, 1717, it -was discovered that several had tried to get out by breaking through -the press-yard wall, "from which they were to be let down by a rope, -instead of being tucked up by one at Tyburn." For this several were -placed in irons.</p> - -<p>Some time later Mr. Forster got clean away, as did Brigadier Macintosh -and eight others. Mr. George Budden, formerly an upholsterer near Fleet -Bridge, also effected his escape; and last, but not least, Mr. Charles -Radcliffe, Lord Derwentwater's brother. After Mr. Forster's escape -the Government took greater precautions, and a lieutenant with thirty -men of the Foot Guards was ordered to do constant duty at Newgate. -Mr. Pitt, the keeper, was strongly suspected of collusion, and was -attached on a charge of high treason, being after arrested committed to -the custody of one Wilcox, a messenger, "who used him in a barbarous -manner, contrary, no doubt, to the instruction of the noble lord that -issued the warrant for his confinement." The city authorities, no doubt -exercised at the <!-- Page 139 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span>insecurity of their gaol, also roused themselves "to -look better after their prison of Newgate," and instead of leaving Mr. -Rouse chief turnkey in charge of the whole place, specially appointed -Mr. Carleton Smith, an officer of the lord mayor's, and with him Mr. -Russell, to take care of the rebels in the press-yard. These new -officials "performed their part so well," it is said, "by examining all -the visitors, debarring entrance to all riding-hoods, cloaks, and arms, -and by sitting up all night in the prison, each in his turn, that not -one man escaped from thence during their time."</p> - -<p>The new keepers appear to have stirred up much animosity from their -punctual discharge of their duties. Mr. Russell, we read, shortly after -his appointment was very much abused and threatened by Captain Silk and -some of the rebels, who surrounded him in the press-yard, but he made -his retreat without any harm. There must have been some in the reigning -monarch's service with secret sympathies for the Pretender; for it is -recorded, May 14th, that "an officer of the guards with two others -conversed with the rebels all day." They were, moreover, humoursome -and abusive to the new keepers because of their care in looking after -their prisoners; whereof Messrs. Carleton Smith and Russell complained -to the lord mayor, who thereupon ordered that no officer should be -permitted to visit the prisoners without the express permission of the -Secretary of State; and next day <!-- Page 140 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span>it is stated the officer in fault was -"submissive and sorry for his offence." This was not the first offence -of the kind. A few days previous to this the officer of the guard -went in, contrary to custom, with his sword on, to see the prisoners. -He continued with them for some hours, and whether heated with wine -or otherwise, beat one of the turnkeys as he brought in a rebel from -trial. This officer was placed in arrest, and another mounted guard in -his place, who "prevented the drunkenness and other irregularities of -the soldiers which might have given the prisoners an opportunity to -escape."</p> - -<p>Matters were not too comfortable for the military guard. The men at the -gate were liable to insults as on the 19th May, when they were reviled -by a Tory constable. They were also exposed to efforts to wean them -from their allegiance. One day Mr. Carleton Smith detected a prisoner, -Isaac Dalton,<a name="FNanchor_140:1_21" id="FNanchor_140:1_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_140:1_21" class="fnanchor">[140:1]</a> in durance for libel, endeavouring to corrupt the -sentinels by giving them money to drink the Pretender's health. "But -he missed his aim." The soldiers heartily drank to King George in wine -supplied by Mr. Smith, and declared they would oppose the Pretender -to the last drop of their blood. All the guards were not equally -loyal, however. On another occasion the soldiers of the guard "had the -<!-- Page 141 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span>impudence to sing Captain Silk's dearly beloved tune, 'The king shall -have his own again,' for which their officer, Captain Reeve, a very -loyal gentleman, threatened them with imprisonment."</p> - -<p>The peril of the prisoners bred a certain reckless turbulence among -them. On the 29th May a mob collected in great numbers outside, -carrying oaken boughs on pretence of commemorating the restoration. The -guard was reinforced, lest the mob should attempt to break open the -gaol. Inside the rebels were very noisy, and insulted their keepers; -"but they were soon put out of a capacity of doing much harm, for by -way of precaution they were all locked up before ten o'clock." This -hour of early closing was continued, and greatly resented by them. A -few days later they made a great disturbance at the sound of a bell set -up by order of the lord mayor to ring them to their apartments at the -regular hour. They asked for the order. It was read to them, to their -manifest dissatisfaction, for it referred the recent escapes to the -unaccountable liberty of indulgence permitted them, and insisted that -upon the ringing of the bell in question all should betake themselves -to their apartments. Ten was the hour of retiring "at farthest;" -any infringement of the rule would be followed by the deprivation -of all freedom, and double irons for the offenders. Except Captain -Silk, however, all acquiesced in the order. He alone, "with his usual -impudence, bullied the keeper, and made many <!-- Page 142 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span>unbecoming reflections -upon the lord mayor and sheriffs." Nor did insubordination end here. A -day or two later the lord mayor's notice, which had been posted up in -the various press-yard rooms, was torn down by the rebels in contempt -of authority.</p> - -<p>A fresh and more serious riot soon occurred in the streets, on the -occasion of the thanksgiving on the anniversary of Preston fight. -Several visitors came to the rebels with rue and thyme in their hats -and bosoms in contempt of the day; but the new keepers made bold -to strip them of their badges and strew the floors with them, "as -more worthy to be trodden underfoot than be worn by way of insult on -that glorious day." About midnight brickbats were thrown from the -neighbouring houses upon the soldiers on guard; and the guard in -retaliation fired up at the places whence came the attack. Mr. Carleton -Smith whose turn it was to sit up, feared some attempt was being -made to break the gaol, and "leaping out to know the occasion of the -firing, searched several of the houses; in doing which he was like to -have been shot by a ball which came up to the room where he was." But -the attachment of the rebels to their cause was not to be checked. It -broke out again on the 10th June, the anniversary of the Pretender's -birth. "Captain Booth, whose window looked into Phœnix Court, was so -insolent as to put out a great bunch of white roses at his window," and -several visitors of both sexes came wearing the same rebellious badges. -But <!-- Page 143 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span>again the keepers pulled them out and threw them on the floor.</p> - -<p>In all these disturbances Captain Silk was a ringleader. He is -continually ready to make a noise. Now he swears revenge upon the -keeper for not allowing supper to be carried in to him and his -"conrogues" after 10 <span class="allcapsc">P. M.</span>; now he incites other prisoners to -riot. "They are for the most part very drunk and rude, so that it was -with great difficulty that they were got to their rooms by one o'clock -in the morning." Next day Captain Silk continues his insolence. He -threatens Mr. Smith for refusing to pass in visitors after regulated -hours. Again he and his companions are drunk and insolent, and cannot -be got to their rooms till the same late hour. A night or two later -they crowded about the doors when they were opened, cursing and -assaulting the person who rang the night-bell. Captain Silk, as before, -encouraged them, and to provoke them further, when the bell sounded -cried out, "Get up, ye slaves, and go."</p> - -<p>Sadder moments soon supervened. The trials were proceeding, and already -the law had condemned several. Among the first to suffer were Colonel -Oxborough and Mr. Gascoigne: the latter was offered his pardon on -conditions which he rejected, and both began to make great preparations -for "their great change." Colonel Oxborough, who lay in the condemned -hold, behaved with an astonishing serenity of mind; and when his -friends <!-- Page 144 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span>expressed their concern in tears, he gravely rebuked them, -showing an easiness very unaccustomed in the bravest minds under such -a sentence. Next an order of the court came down for the execution -of twenty-four more who had been condemned, and "universal sorrow" -prevailed in the gaol. Parson Paul,<a name="FNanchor_144:1_22" id="FNanchor_144:1_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_144:1_22" class="fnanchor">[144:1]</a> one of the number, was -"so dejected he could not eat;" most of the other prisoners retired -to their apartments to vent their grief, and a vast number of their -friends in tears came to condole with them. After this all were busy -with petitions to the court. Some were immediately successful. Handsome -young Archibald Bolair was discharged, "at which Lady Faulconbridge, -his supposed benefactress, went out with a smiling countenance." Next -night he returned in his kilt to visit his friends, but was denied -entrance. That same midnight there were great shouts of joy in the -prison: a reprieve had come down for all but Parson Paul and Justice -Hall,<a name="FNanchor_144:2_23" id="FNanchor_144:2_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_144:2_23" class="fnanchor">[144:2]</a> both of whom were led next day to <!-- Page 145 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span>Tyburn. Neither would -admit the ministrations of the ordinary, to whom they "behaved rudely," -and they were attended at the place of execution by priests of their -own stamp in a lay habit. The condemned were hardened to the highest -degree, says their implacable opponent, and gave free vent to their -treason in seditious speeches at the gallows.</p> - -<p>Great consternation prevailed after these executions. It was greatly -increased by the known displeasure of the Government at the demeanour -of some of the condemned at Tyburn. But the king (George I) was now -gone on a visit to Hanover; and the Prince of Wales, as regent, was -pleased to put an end to the further effusion of blood. Rumours of an -Act of Indemnity were spread abroad, and abundance of visitors came to -congratulate the prisoners on their approaching release. But the happy -day being still postponed, the Jacobites became turbulent once more; -Mr. Pitt, the old governor, who had been tried for neglect in allowing -Mr. Forster and others to escape, had been acquitted, upon which the -lord mayor and sheriffs recalled Messrs. Carleton Smith and Russell. -The latter delivered up their charge, "having performed it so well that -not one prisoner had escaped." But Mr. Pitt was again unfortunate; and -suffering another man (Flint) to escape, the court of aldermen resolved -to reinstate Smith and Russell. This gave great dudgeon to the rebels -in the press-yard, who soon proved very refractory, refusing to be -<!-- Page 146 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span>locked up at the proper time. Then they made bitter reflections on the -advice given to the new keepers in the <cite>Flying Post</cite>, a Whiggish organ, -who were, as the author of the "Secret History" observes sarcastically, -"so inhuman, that they would let none of the rebels make their escape, -either in the habits of women, footmen, or parsons." It was difficult -for the keepers not to give cause of offence. Their prisoners were -angry with them because they would not sit down and drink with -them, as did their former keepers, even upon the bribe offered when -the indemnity loomed large, of swallowing a bumper to King George. -Captain Silk was troublesome as ever. One Sunday he cursed and swore -prodigiously because the doors had been shut during divine service, and -his roaring companions could not have access to him. Another time the -prisoners insulted the keepers, asking them why they carried arms? The -Jacobites declared they could not endure the sight since the battle of -Preston.</p> - -<p>Another prisoner added greatly to the trials of the keepers about this -period. This was Mr. Freeman, who was committed for firing a pistol -in the playhouse when the prince was present. Freeman was continually -intoxicated when in gaol. He was also very mischievous, and kept a -burning candle by him the greater part of the night, to the danger of -the prison, especially when in his mad freaks. "He is a lusty, strong, -raw-boned man, has a stern, dogged look, is of an obstinate temper -when vexed, <!-- Page 147 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span>but fawning and treacherous when pleased." In a day of -two Freeman showed the cloven foot. He flew into a violent passion, -and beat one of the female servants of the prison, shutting the door -against the keepers, after he had wounded one of them with a fork -which he held in one hand, having a knife and pistol in the other. He -was overpowered, and carried to the condemned hold, where he was put -in irons. His villainous designs there appeared by his setting his -handkerchief alight, and concealing it in his hat near his bed, and -it was suspected that he wished to set the gaol on fire, so that the -prisoners might have the opportunity to escape. A day later Mr. Freeman -"regretted that he had not murdered his keeper in the last scuffle;" -and the same day Mr. Menzies and Mr. Nairn did honestly tell the -keepers that the prisoners meant to injure them, Freeman's disturbance -having been raised "chiefly to that end, and that the female servant he -only pretended to assault, so as to make her cry out murder before she -was in the least hurt."</p> - -<p>Royal clemency was still delayed, and the advancing summer of 1717 was -intensely hot. The close confinement of so many persons in a limited -space began to tell seriously on the prisoners. A spotted fever, -which had before shown itself with evil effects, reappeared. It had -proved fatal to Mr. Pitcairn the previous August, and in the winter -Mr. Butler had died of the same. Now it carried <!-- Page 148 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span>off Mr. Kellet, Sir -Francis Anderson's man. Mr. Thornton was also attacked, but through the -care of his doctors recovered. The following month Mr. David Drummond -died, and Mr. Ratcliffe was indisposed. It was generally feared that -the distemper would become contagious; whereupon some of the principal -inmates, among them Mr. Ratcliffe, the two Mr. Widdingtons, Mr. Murray, -and Mr. Seaton, "who is styled by them the Earl of Dumferline," -petitioned the prince regent and Council for enlargement to more -commodious prisons. The king's physicians were accordingly despatched -to the prison to inquire into its sanitary condition. Their report was -that no contagious distemper existed. The matter was therefore ordered -to stand until his Majesty's pleasure should be known at his arrival -from Hanover. George I soon afterwards returned, and signified his -orders for an Act of Grace, which duly passed both Houses of Parliament.</p> - -<p>The news of an amnesty was joyfully received in the press-yard. One -of the first acts of the prisoners so soon to be set free was to get -in a poor fiddler, "whom they set to play tunes adapted to their -treasonable ballads; . . . but this was so shocking to the keepers that -they turned the fiddler out." Next the prisoners had a badger brought -in, and baited him with dogs. Other already pardoned rebels came and -paid ceremonious visits, such as Mr. Townley, who appeared with much -pomp and <!-- Page 149 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span>splendour after his discharge from the Marshalsea. Several -clergymen also visited, and a noted common council man, whose friends -stood a bowl of punch that night in Captain Silk's room. The State -prisoners were soon "very busy in getting new rigging, and sending -away their boxes and trunks; so that they looked like so many people -removing from their lodgings and houses on quarter-day."</p> - -<p>On July 4th a member of Parliament came to assure Mr. Grierson that -the Act of Indemnity would surely pass in a few days. This occasioned -great joy. A fortnight later the pardon was promulgated, and all the -prisoners remaining were taken to Westminster to plead the Act, "where -many were so very ungrateful that they refused to kneel or speak out in -asking the king's pardon till they were forced to it."</p> - -<p>According to this last-quoted writer, the rebels in Newgate were not -of exemplary character. Their daily practice in prison was profane -swearing, drunkenness, gluttony, gaming, and lasciviousness. That such -was permitted speaks volumes as to the shameful negligence of prison -rule in those unsettled times.</p> - -<p>There were other rebel prisoners, who do not seem to have benefited -by this Act of Grace, and who remained much longer in prison. It is -recorded in the <cite>Weekly Journal</cite>, of January 24th, 1727, that George -I had pardoned another batch of Jacobites, who had been capitally -convicted in the first year <!-- Page 150 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span>of his reign for levying war against -him. The pardoned traitors were Robert Stuart, of Appin; Alexander -Macdonald, of Glencoe; Grant, of Glenmorrison; Maclimmin, of that -Ilk; Mackenzie, of Fairburn; Mackenzie, of Dachmalnack; Chisholm, of -Shatglass; Mackenzie, of Ballumakie; MacDougal, of Lorne; and two -others, more notable than all the rest, "James, commonly called Lord, -Ogilvie," and "Robert Campbell, <em>alias</em> Macgregor, commonly called Rob -Roy." They had been under durance in London, for it is added that "on -Tuesday last they were carried from Newgate to Gravesend, to be put on -shipboard for transportation to Barbadoes." Rob Roy marching handcuffed -to Lord Ogilvie through the London streets from Newgate to the prison -barge at Blackfriars, and thence to Gravesend, is an incident that has -escaped the notice of Walter Scott, and all of Rob's biographers. The -barge-load of Highland chiefs, and of some thieves, seems, however, to -have been pardoned, and allowed to return home.</p> - -<p>Before leaving the press-yard some reference must be made to certain -political "suspects" who were lodged therein for terms varying from -nineteen to forty years. Their case is remarkable, as being the last -instance of the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act in England, -with the full knowledge and sanction of Parliament, and in spite of -repeated strongly urged petitions from the prisoners for release. -Their names were John Bernardi, <!-- Page 151 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span>Robert Cassilis, Robert Meldrum, -Robert Blackburne, and James Chambers. Of these, the first-named, Major -Bernardi, has told his own story in a volume penned in Newgate, and -"printed by J. Newcomb, in the Strand, for the benefit of the author, -1729." Macaulay is disposed to discredit the version given by Bernardi, -although there is a certain air of truthfulness in the prisoner's -narrative. Bernardi begins at the beginning. He was of Italian -extraction, he tells us. His ancestors had been in the diplomatic -service. Count Philip de Bernardi, his grandfather, came to England -with a Genoese embassy. Francis Bernardi, son of the former, and father -of Major John, was also accredited to Charles II on the restoration, -but when replaced as resident, being English born, he preferred to -live and die in the land of his birth. According to his son, he was a -stern parent, ready to award him penal treatment, with imprisonment for -trifles, "in a little dark room or dungeon, allowing only bread and -small beer when so confined." By and by John ran away from home, and -through the favour of Lady Fisher was employed as a "listed soldier" in -a company at Portsmouth when barely fifteen years of age. A year or two -later his godfather, Colonel Anselme, took him to the Low Countries, -where by gallant conduct in the wars he gained an ensigncy from the -Prince of Orange. At the siege of Maestricht he lost an eye, and was -badly wounded in the arm. When scarcely twenty <!-- Page 152 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span>he was promoted to a -lieutenancy, and eight years later obtained a company in Colonel Monk's -regiment. He was now, by his own account, arrived "at a high pitch of -fortune." He was a captain at twenty-seven in an established service, -was personally well known to the Prince of Orange (afterwards William -III), had married well, and was, with his wife's fortune, in the -receipt of "a considerable income."</p> - -<p>James II, on coming to the throne, summoned home all English officers -in the service of the States. Among the few who obeyed was Major -Bernardi, and he then gave up, as he says, a certainty for an -uncertainty. Very soon his former chief, the Prince of Orange, replaced -James upon the throne, and Bernardi, unfortunately for himself, -thereafter espoused the wrong side. He refused to sign the "association -put about by General Kirk," under which all officers bound themselves -to stand by William "against all persons whomsoever," and proceeded to -France to throw in his lot with the exiled king. When James embarked -for Ireland, Bernardi followed in command of a party of newly organized -adherents. He was at several of the engagements in that island, and -was presently commissioned major. After that he went to the Highlands -with Seaforth Mackenzie on a special mission, and on his return had the -honour of dining at the same table with King James. A second mission -to Scotland followed, after which Bernardi made <!-- Page 153 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span>his way south, and -escaping great perils by the way, reached London, meaning, when he -had disposed of horses and effects, to cross over to Flanders. At -Colchester, however, from which he hoped to reach easily a port of -embarkation, he was seized and committed on suspicion, first to the -town gaol, then to that of Chelmsford. After being much harassed he at -length obtained his release, only to be soon involved in still greater -trouble.</p> - -<p>To his great misfortune he now fell in with one Captain Rookwood. It -was about the time of the discovery of the assassination plot, of which -Major Bernardi declares that he was in absolute ignorance till he heard -of it like the rest of the world. He was by chance in the company of -Captain Rookwood at a tavern, and was with him arrested on suspicion -of being "evil-minded men." While in the Compter Rookwood incautiously -revealed his own identity, and was lost. Rookwood seems at the same -time to have unintentionally betrayed Bernardi, whose name had, it -appears, and in spite of his protestations of perfect innocence, been -included in a proclamation. The inference is that the Government was in -the possession of certain information that Bernardi was mixed up in the -plot.<a name="FNanchor_153:1_24" id="FNanchor_153:1_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_153:1_24" class="fnanchor">[153:1]</a> Both men were carried before the Council, and committed -close prisoners to Newgate, "loaded with heavy <!-- Page 154 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span>irons, and put into -separate dismal, dark, and stinking apartments." Rookwood was speedily -condemned and executed at Tyburn. Bernardi remained in prison without -trial, until after Sir John Fenwick had suffered. Then with his fellow -prisoners he was taken to the Old Bailey to be bailed out, but at the -instance of the Treasury solicitor, who "whispered the judges upon -the bench," they were relegated to Newgate, and a special act passed -rapidly through the House to keep them for another twelvemonth on the -plea of waiting for further evidence against them. A second act was -passed prolonging the imprisonment for another year; then a third, -to confine them during the king's pleasure. On the death of the king -(William III), a fresh act extended the imprisonment during the reign -of Queen Anne. During this long lapse of time repeated applications -were made to judges, but the release of the prisoners was always -bitterly opposed by the law officers. Bernardi's doctors certified that -imprisonment was killing him; he was said to suffer from fits and the -constant trouble of an old wound. Nevertheless he lived on; and when -in his sixty-eighth year he married, in Newgate, a second, "virtuous, -kind, and loving wife, who proved a true helpmeet," supporting him -by her good management, and keeping his heart from breaking in the -"English Bastile." Bernardi had ten children born in Newgate of this -second wife. The imprisonment <!-- Page 155 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span>continued through the reigns of George I -and II. Frequent petitions were unheeded, and finally Bernardi died in -Newgate in 1736, the last survivor, after forty years' incarceration, -and aged eighty-two.</p> - - -<hr class="footnotes" /> -<p class="sectctrfn">FOOTNOTES:</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_136:1_19" id="Footnote_136:1_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_136:1_19"><span class="label">[136:1]</span></a> "Secret History of the Rebels in Newgate: giving -an account of their daily behaviour from their commitment to their -gaol delivery." Taken from "the diary of a gentleman in the same -prison"—one who was evidently no particular admirer of theirs.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_137:1_20" id="Footnote_137:1_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_137:1_20"><span class="label">[137:1]</span></a> It will be remembered that Mr. Forster's want of -generalship lost the battle of Prestonpans.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_140:1_21" id="Footnote_140:1_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_140:1_21"><span class="label">[140:1]</span></a> For this Dalton was convicted and fined fifty marks, -with imprisonment for one year, also to find security for three more -years.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_144:1_22" id="Footnote_144:1_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_144:1_22"><span class="label">[144:1]</span></a> Parson Paul was the Rev. William Paul, M. A., vicar -of Orton-on-the-Hill, in Leicestershire. He met the rebels at Preston, -and performed service there, praying for the Pretender as King James -the Third. When the royal troops invested Preston, Mr. Paul escaped -"in coloured clothes, a long wig, a laced hat, and a sword by his -side." He came to London, and was recognized in St. James's Park by a -Leicestershire magistrate, who apprehended him, and he was committed to -Newgate.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_144:2_23" id="Footnote_144:2_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_144:2_23"><span class="label">[144:2]</span></a> One of the Halls of Otterburn, Northumberland, and a -magistrate for the county. He joined the Pretender early, and was one -of his most active and staunch supporters.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_153:1_24" id="Footnote_153:1_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_153:1_24"><span class="label">[153:1]</span></a> According to the deposition of Harris, the informer, -Bernardi came with Rookwood to London on purpose to meet Barclay, the -chief conspirator.</p></div> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="newchapter" /> -<p><!-- Page 156 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak"><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI<br /> - -<small>NOTABLE EXECUTIONS</small></h2> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p class="hang">Reasons for legal punishments—Early forms—Capital -punishment universal—Methods of inflicting death—Awful -cruelties—The English custom—Pressing to death—Abolition -of this punishment—Decapitation and strangulation—The -guillotine and gallows—Smithfield, St. Giles, Tower -Hill, Tyburn—Derivation of Tyburn—An execution in -1662—Fashionable folk attend—George Selwyn—Breakfast -party at Newgate—Ribald conduct of the mob at -executions—Demeanour of condemned: effrontery, or abject -terror—Improper customs long retained—St. Giles's -Bowl—Saddler of Bawtry—Smoking at Tyburn—Richard Dove's -bequest—The hangman and his office—Resuscitation—Sir -William Petty's operation—Tyburn procession -continues—Supported by Doctor Johnson—The front of Newgate -substituted as the scene of execution.</p> -</div> - - -<p>The universal instinct of self-preservation underlies the whole theory -of legal punishments. Society, from the earliest beginnings, has -claimed through its rulers to inflict penalties upon those who have -broken the laws framed for the protection of all. These penalties have -varied greatly in all ages and in all times. They have been based on -different principles. Many, especially in ruder and earlier times, have -been conceived in a vindictive spirit; <!-- Page 157 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span>others, notably those of Mosaic -law, were retaliatory, or aimed at restitution. All, more or less, were -intended to deter from crime. The criminal had generally to pay in his -person or his goods. He was either subjected to physical pain applied -in degrading, often ferociously cruel ways, and endured mutilation, or -was branded, tortured, put to death; he was mulcted in fines, deprived -of liberty, or adjudged as a slave to indemnify by manual labour those -whom he had wronged. Imprisonment as practised in modern times has -followed from the last-named class of punishments. Although affecting -the individual, and in many of its phases with brutal and reckless -disregard for human suffering, it can hardly be styled a purely -personal punishment, as will be shown from a closer examination of the -various methods of corporeal punishment.</p> - -<p>In sharp contrast with the privations and terrible discomforts of the -poorer sort was the wild revelry of the aristocratic prisoners of the -press-yard. They had every luxury to be bought with money, freedom -alone excepted, and that was often to be compassed by bribing dishonest -officials to suffer them to escape.</p> - -<p>Taking first the punishments which fell short of death, those most -common in England, until comparatively recent times, were branding, -mutilation, dismemberment, whipping, and degrading public exposure. -Branding was often carried out with circumstances of atrocious -barbarity. <!-- Page 158 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span>Vagabonds were marked with the letter V, idlers and -masterless men with the letter S, betokening a condemnation to slavery; -any church brawler lost his ears, and for a second offence might be -branded with the letter F, as a "fraymaker" and fighter. Sometimes -the penalty was to bore a hole of the compass of an inch through the -gristle of the right ear. Branding was the commutation of a capital -sentence on clerk convicts, or persons allowed benefit of clergy, and -it was inflicted upon the brawn of the left thumb, the letter M being -used in murder cases, the letter T in others. In the reign of William -and Mary, when the privilege of benefit of clergy was found to be -greatly abused, an act was passed, by which the culprit was branded or -"burnt in the most visible part of the left cheek nearest the nose."</p> - -<p>Mutilation was an ancient Saxon punishment, no doubt perpetuating the -Mosaic law of retaliation which claimed an eye for an eye, a tooth -for a tooth, a limb for a limb. William the Conqueror adopted it in -his penal code. It was long put in force against those who broke the -forestry laws, coiners, thieves, and such as failed to prove their -innocence by ordeal. Although almost abandoned by the end of the -sixteenth century, the penalty of mutilation, extending to the loss -of the right hand, still continued to be punishment for murder and -bloodshed within the limits of a royal residence. The most elaborate -ceremonial was observed. All the hierarchy of court officials attended; -there was the sergeant of <!-- Page 159 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span>the wood-yard, the master cook to hand the -dressing-knife, the sergeant of the poultry, the yeoman of the scullery -with a fire of coals, the sergeant farrier, who heated and delivered -the searing irons, which were applied by the chief surgeon after the -dismemberment had been effected. Vinegar, basin, and cloths were handed -to the operator by the groom of the salcery, the sergeant of the ewry, -and the yeoman of the chandrey. "After the hand had been struck off and -the stump seared, the sergeant of the pantry offered bread, and the -sergeant of the cellar a pot of red wine, of which the sufferer was to -partake with what appetite he might." Readers of Sir Walter Scott will -remember how Nigel Olifaunt, in the "Fortunes of Nigel," was threatened -with the loss of his hand for having committed a breach of privilege -in the palace of Greenwich and its precincts. Pistols are found on his -person when he accidentally meets and accosts James I. For the offence -he may be prosecuted, so Sir Mungo Malagrowther complacently informs -him, <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">usque ad mutilationem</i>, "even to dismemberation."</p> - -<p>The occasion serves the garrulous knight to refer to a recent -performance, "a pretty pageant when Stubbs, the Puritan, was sentenced -to mutilation for writing and publishing a seditious pamphlet against -Elizabeth. With Stubbs, Page, the publisher, also suffered. They lost -their right hands," the wrist being divided by a cleaver driven through -the joint by the force of a mallet.</p> - -<p><!-- Page 160 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span> -"I remember," says the historian Camden, "being then present, that -Stubbs, when his right hand was cut off, plucked off his hat with his -left, and said with a loud voice, 'God save the queen.' The multitude -standing about was deeply silent, either out of horror of this new -and unwonted kind of punishment, or out of commiseration towards the -man. . . ." The process of mutilation was at times left to the agonized -action of the culprit: as in the brutal case of one Penedo, who in -1570, for counterfeiting the seal of the Court of Queen's Bench, was -twice put in the pillory on market-day in Cheapside. The first day -one of his ears was to be nailed to the pillory in such a manner that -he should be compelled "by his own proper motion" to tear it away; -and on the second day he was to lose his other ear in the same cruel -fashion. William Prynne, it will be remembered, also lost his ears on -the pillory, but at the hands of the executioner. The Earl of Dorset, -in giving the sentence of the Star Chamber Court, asked his fellow -judges "whether he should burn him in the forehead, or slit him in -the nose? . . . I should be loth he should escape with his ears; . . . -therefore I would have him branded in the forehead, slit in the nose, -and his ears cropt too." Having suffered all this on the pillory, he -was again punished three years later, when he lost the remainder of his -ears, and was branded with the letters S. L. (seditious libeller) on -each cheek. Doctor Bastwick and others <!-- Page 161 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span>were similarly treated. Doctor -Bastwick's daughter, Mrs. Poe, after his ears were cut off, called for -them, put them in a clean handkerchief, and carried them away with her. -Prynne was a voluminous writer, and is said to have produced some two -hundred volumes in all. A contemporary, who saw him in the pillory at -Cheapside, says that they burned his huge volumes under his nose, which -almost suffocated him.</p> - -<p><!-- Page 162 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span> -Although mutilations and floggings were frequently carried out at the -pillory, that well-known machine was primarily intended as a means of -painful and degrading exposure, and not for the infliction of physical -torture. The pillory is said to have existed in England before the -Norman Conquest, and it probably dates from times much more remote. -The ετηλη of the Greeks, the pillar on which offenders were publicly -exhibited, seems to have been akin to the pillory, just as the κυφων, -or wooden collar, was the prototype of the French _carcan_ or iron -circlet which was riveted around the culprit's neck, and attached by a -chain to the post or pillory. In England the pillory or "stretch neck" -was at first applied only to fraudulent traders, perjurers, forgers, -and so forth; but as years passed it came to be more exclusively the -punishment of those guilty of infamous crimes, amongst whom were long -included rash writers who dared to express their opinions too freely -before the days of freedom of the press. Besides Prynne, Leighton, -Burton, Warton, and Bastwick, intrepid John Lilburne also suffered, -under the Star Chamber decree, which prohibited the printing of any -book without a license from the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishop -of London, or the authorities of the two universities. Daniel Defoe, -again, was pilloried in 1703 for his pamphlet, "The Shortest Way -with the Dissenters." Defoe gave himself up, and was pilloried first -in Cheapside, and afterwards in the Temple. The mob so completely -sympathized with him, that they covered him with flowers, drank his -health, and sang his "Ode to the Pillory" in chorus. Doctor Shebbeare -was pilloried in 1759, for his "Letters to the People of England." But -he found a friend in the under-sheriff, Mr. Beardmore, who took him to -the place of penitence, in a stage-coach, and allowed a footman in rich -livery to hold an umbrella over the doctor's head, as he stood in the -pillory. Beardmore was afterwards arraigned for neglect of duty, found -guilty, and sentenced to fine and imprisonment.</p> - -<p>In 1765, Williams, the publisher, who reprinted Wilkes's <cite>North -Briton</cite>, stood in the pillory in Palace Yard for an hour. For the -moment he became popular. He arrived in a hackney-coach numbered -45,<a name="FNanchor_162:1_25" id="FNanchor_162:1_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_162:1_25" class="fnanchor">[162:1]</a> attended by a vast crowd. He was <!-- Page 163 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span>cheered vociferously -as he mounted the pillory with a sprig of laurel in each hand; and -a gentleman present made a collection of two hundred guineas for -him in a purple purse adorned with orange ribbons. In front of the -pillory the mob erected a gallows, and hung on it a boot, with other -emblems, intended to gibbet the unpopular minister Lord Bute. Williams -was conducted from the pillory amid renewed acclamations, and the -excitement lasted for some days. Lampoons and caricatures were widely -circulated. Several street ballads were also composed, one of which -began:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Ye sons of Wilkes and Liberty,</div> - <div class="line i1 indentq">Who hate despotic sway,</div> - <div class="line indentq">The glorious Forty-Five now crowns</div> - <div class="line i1 indentq">This memorable day.</div> - <div class="line indentq">And to New Palace Yard let us go, let us go."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>Lord Dundonald in 1814 was actually sentenced to the pillory, but the -Government shrank from inflicting the punishment upon that much wronged -naval hero. The pillory ceased to be a punishment, except for perjury, -in 1815, but was not finally abolished until 1837, and as late as 1830 -one Doctor Bossy suffered on it for perjury.</p> - -<p>The earliest form of pillory was simply a post erected in a cross-road -by the lord of the manor, as <!-- Page 164 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span>a mark of his seigneury.<a name="FNanchor_164:1_26" id="FNanchor_164:1_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_164:1_26" class="fnanchor">[164:1]</a> It bore -his arms, and on it was a collar, the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">carcan</i> already mentioned, by -which culprits were secured. This was in course of time developed, -and the pillory became a cross-piece of wood fixed like a sign-board -at the top of a pole, and placed upon an elevated platform. In this -cross were three holes, one for the head, the other two for the wrists. -The cross-piece was in two halves, the upper turning on a hinge to -admit the culprit's head and hands, and closed with a padlock when the -operation of insertion was completed. A more elaborate affair, capable -of accommodating a number of persons, is figured in mediæval woodcuts, -but this sort of pillory does not appear to have been very generally -used. The curious observer may still see specimens in England of this -well-known instrument of penal discipline: one is preserved in the -parish church of Rye, Sussex, another is in the museum at Brighton.</p> - -<p>The stocks served like the pillory to hold up offenders to public -infamy. The first authentic mention of them is in a statute of Edward -III, by which they were to be applied to unruly labourers. Soon after -this they were established by law in every village, often near the -parish church. They were the punishment for brawling, drunkenness, -vagrancy, and all disorderly conduct. <!-- Page 165 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span>Wood-stealers or "hedge-tearers" -were set in the stocks, about the year 1584, for a couple of days with -the stolen wood in front of them.</p> - -<p>The story goes that Cardinal Wolsey, when a young parish priest, -was put in the stocks at Lymington by Sir Amyas Poulett, for having -"exceeded" at a village feast. The old "Chap" books contain numerous -references to the stocks of course. Welch Taffy, "the unfortunate -traveller," was put into the stocks for calling a justice of the peace -a "boobie;" and "Simple Simon," when he interfered in a butter-woman's -quarrel, was adjudged to be drunk and put into the stocks between the -two viragoes, who scolded him all the time. The story of Lord Camden -is probably well known. When a young barrister he had a desire to try -the stocks, and was left in them by an absent-minded friend, for the -greater part of the day. The last stocks in London were those of St. -Clement's Dane's in Portugal Street, which were removed in 1826, to -make way for local improvements. As late as 1860 one John Gambles of -Stanningly was sentenced to sit in the stocks for six hours for Sunday -gambling, and actually endured his punishment.<a name="FNanchor_165:1_27" id="FNanchor_165:1_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_165:1_27" class="fnanchor">[165:1]</a> Stocks were last -to be seen at Heath near Wakefield, Painswick in Gloucestershire, and -other places. In all cases the physical discomfort of the stocks, no -less than that of the pillory, was generally aggravated by the <!-- Page 166 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span>rude -horse-play of a jeering and actively offensive mob. A reference to -the inconvenient attentions of the bystanders at such an exhibition -will be found in an old "Chap" book, entitled "The True Trial of the -Understanding," in which among other riddles the following is given:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Promotion lately was bestowed</div> - <div class="line i1 indentq">Upon a person mean and small:</div> - <div class="line indentq">Then many persons to him flowed,</div> - <div class="line i1 indentq">Yet he returned no thanks at all.</div> - <div class="line indentq">But yet their hands were ready still</div> - <div class="line indentq">To help him with their kind good-will."</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>The answer is, a man pelted in the pillory.</p> - -<p>Worse sometimes happened, and in several cases death ensued from -ill-usage in the pillory. Thus when John Waller, <em>alias</em> Trevor, was -pilloried in 1732, in Seven Dials, for falsely accusing innocent men, -so as to obtain the reward given on the conviction of highwaymen, so -great was the indignation of the populace that they pelted him to -death. The coroner's inquest returned a verdict of wilful murder, but -against persons unknown. In 1763 a man who stood in the pillory at Bow, -for an unnatural crime, was killed by the mob. Ann Marrow, who had been -guilty of the strange offence of disguising herself as a man, and as -such marrying three different women, was sentenced to three months' -imprisonment, and exposure on the pillory, at Charing Cross. So great -was the resentment of <!-- Page 167 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span>the populace, principally those of the female -sex, that they pelted her till they put out both her eyes.<a name="FNanchor_167:1_28" id="FNanchor_167:1_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_167:1_28" class="fnanchor">[167:1]</a></p> - -<p>No account of the minor physical punishments formerly inflicted -would be complete without reference to the methods of coercing -ill-conditioned females. These were mostly of the same character as the -pillory and stocks. Chief among them was the ducking or cucking-stool, -a scourge for scolds, and once as common in every parish as the -stocks. Other varieties of it were known under the names of tumbrel, -the gumstole, the triback, the trebucket, and the reive. It may be -described briefly as consisting of a chair or seat fixed at the end of -a long plank, which revolved on a pivot, and by some simple application -of leverage upset the occupant of the chair into a pond or stream. Mr. -Cole, 1782, describes one which was hung to a beam in the middle of a -bridge. The Leominster stool, which is still preserved, is a plank upon -a low substantial framework, having the seat at one end, and working -like an ordinary seesaw: that at Wooton Basset was of the tumbrel -order, and was a framework on a pair of wheels, with shafts at one end, -the stool being at the other. In this, as in the Leicester "scolding -cart," and other forms of tumbrels, the <!-- Page 168 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span>culprit was paraded through -the town before immersion. The punishment was primarily intended for -scolds, shrews, and "curst queens," but it was also applied to female -brewers and bakers who brewed bad ale, and sold bad bread. It was -inflicted pursuant to sentence in open court, but in some parts the -bailiffs had the power within their own jurisdictions, and the right -of gallows, tumbrel, and pillory was often claimed by lords of the -manor. The greatest antiquity is claimed for this sort of punishment. -Bowine declares that it was used by the Saxons, by whom it was called -"Cathedra in qua rixosæ mulieres sedentes aquæ demergebantur." No doubt -the ducking was often roughly and cruelly carried out. We have in the -frontispiece of an old "Chap" book, which relates how "an old woman -was drowned in Ratcliffe highway," a pictorial representation of the -ceremony of ducking, and it is stated that she met her death by being -dipped too often or too long. That the instrument was in general use -through the kingdom is proved by numerous entries in ancient records. -Thus Lysons, in his "Environs of London," states that at a court of the -Manor of Edgware in 1552 the inhabitants were presented for not having -a tumbrel and a ducking-stool as laid down by law. In the Leominster -town records the bailiff and chamberlains are repeatedly brought up and -fined either for not providing "gumstoles" or not properly repairing -them, while in the same and other records are <!-- Page 169 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span>numerous statements of -bills paid to carpenters for making or mending these instruments. The -use of them, moreover, was continued to very recent times. A woman -was ducked under Kingston Bridge in 1745 for scolding. At Manchester, -Liverpool, and other Lancashire towns the stool was in use till the -commencement of this century. So it was at Scarborough, where the -offender was dipped into the water from the end of the old pier. But -the latest inflictions seemingly were at Leominster, where in 1809 a -woman named Jenny Pipes was paraded and ducked near Kerwater Bridge, -while another, Sarah Leeke, was wheeled round the town in 1817, but not -ducked, the water being too low.</p> - -<p>The ducking-stool was not always an effectual punishment. It appears -from the records of the King's Bench that in the year 1681 Mrs. -Finch, a notorious scold, who had been thrice ducked for scolding, -was a fourth time sentenced for the same offence, and sentenced to be -fined and imprisoned. Other measures were occasionally taken which -were deemed safer, but which were hardly less cruel. The "branks," -or bridle, for gossips and scolds, was often preferred to the -ducking-stool, which endangered the health, and, moreover, gave the -culprit's tongue free play between each dip.</p> - -<p>The branks was a species of iron mask, with a gag so contrived as to -enter the mouth and forcibly hold down the unruly member. It consisted -of a kind of crown or framework of iron, which was <!-- Page 170 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span>locked upon the -head and was armed in front with a gag,—a plate or a sharp-cutting -knife or point. Various specimens of this barbarous instrument are -still extant in local museums, that in the Ashmolean at Oxford being -especially noticeable, as well as that preserved in Doddington Park, -Lincolnshire. The branks are said to have been the invention of agents -of the Spanish Inquisition, and to have been imported into England from -the Low Countries, whither it had travelled from Spain.</p> - -<p>The brutality of the stronger and governing to the weaker and subject -sex was not limited to the ducking-stool and branks. It must be -remembered with shame in this more humane age that little more than -a hundred years ago women were publicly whipped at the whipping-post -near the stocks, or at any cart's tail. The fierce statute against -vagrants of Henry VIII's and Elizabeth's reign made no distinction -of sex, and their ferocious provisions to the effect that offenders -"should be stripped naked from the middle upwards, and whipped till -the body should be bloody," long continued in force. Men with their -wives and children were flogged publicly, and sometimes by the order -of the clergyman of the parish. Girls of twelve and thirteen, aged -women of sixty, all suffered alike; women "distracted," in other words -out of their minds, were arrested and lashed; so were those that had -the smallpox, and all who walked about the country and begged. On the -first <!-- Page 171 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span>introduction of the treadwheel in the early decades of the last -century, its use was not restricted to males, and women were often -made to suffer this punishment. Whipping females was not abolished -till 1817. The constable's charge for whipping was fourpence, but the -sum was increased latterly to a shilling. The whipping-post was often -erected in combination with the stocks. A couple of iron clasps were -fixed to the upright which supported the stocks, to take the culprit's -hands and hold him securely while he was being lashed. A modification -of this plan has long been used at Newgate for the infliction of -corporal punishment, and it may still be seen in the old ward at the -back of the middle yard.</p> - -<p>Ferocious as were most of the methods I have detailed of dealing -with offenders against the law, they generally, except by accident, -fell short of death. Yet were there innumerable cases in those -uncompromising and unenlightened ages in which death alone would be -deemed equal to the offences. Rulers might be excused, perhaps, if they -were satisfied with nothing less than a criminal's blood.</p> - -<p>As Maine says, "The punishment of death is a necessity of society in -certain stages of the civilizing process. There is a time when an -attempt to dispense with it balks two of the great instincts which lie -at the root of all penal law. Without it the community neither feels -that it is sufficiently revenged on the criminal, nor thinks that the -example of his punishment is adequate to deter others <!-- Page 172 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span>from imitating -him." Hence all penal legislation in the past included some form of -inflicting the death sentence. These have differed in all ages and -in all climes: about some there was a brutal simplicity; others have -been marked by great inventiveness, great ingenuity, much refinement -of cruelty. Offenders have been stoned, beaten, starved to death; they -have been flayed alive, buried alive, cast headlong from heights, torn -to pieces by wild animals, broken on the wheel, crucified, impaled, -burnt, boiled, beheaded, strangled, drowned. They have been killed -outright or by inches, enduring horrible agonies;<a name="FNanchor_172:1_29" id="FNanchor_172:1_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_172:1_29" class="fnanchor">[172:1]</a> after death -their bodies have been dismembered and disembowelled, as a mark of -degradation. Irresponsible tyrants went further than lawgivers in -devising pains. The Sultan Mechmed cut men in the middle, through the -diaphragm, thus causing them to die two deaths at once. It is told of -Crœsus that he caused a person who had offended him to be scratched -to death by a friller's carding-combs. What the Vaivod of Transylvania -did to the Polish leader, George Jechel, may be read in the pages of -Montaigne. The frightful barbarity to which he and his followers were -subjected need not be repeated here.</p> - -<p>The tender mercies of continental nations towards criminals may be -realized by a reference to <!-- Page 173 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span>one or two of their contrivances for the -infliction of death. The Iron Coffin of Lissa, for example, wherein the -convicted person lay for days awaiting death from the fell pressure of -the heavily weighted lid, which slid down slowly, almost imperceptibly, -upon his helpless frame; or the Virgin of Baden Baden, the brazen -statue whose kiss meant death with frightful tortures, the unhappy -culprit being commanded to prostrate himself and kiss the statue, but -as he raised his lips a trap-door opened at his feet, and he fell -through on to a spiked wheel, which was set in motion by his fall. -There was the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">chambre à crucer</i>, a short hollow chest lined with -sharp stones, in which the victim was packed and buried alive; or the -"bernicles," a mattress which clutched the sufferer tight, while his -legs were broken by heavy logs of wood; or the long lingering death in -the iron cages of Louis XI, the occupant of which could neither sit, -stand, nor lie down. Again, the devilish tortures inflicted upon the -murderers Ravaillac and Damiens caused a shudder throughout Europe. -Ravaillac was burnt piecemeal, flesh was torn from him by red-hot -pincers, scalding oil and molten lead were poured upon his bleeding -wounds, he was drawn and dismembered by horses while still alive, and -only received his <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">coup de grace</i> from the sticks and knives of the -hellish bystanders, who rushed in to finish more savagely what the -executioner had been unable to complete. As for Damiens, the process -followed was identical, but the <!-- Page 174 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span>details preserved of an event nearer -our own time are more precise and revolting. He was fastened down -upon a platform by iron gyves, one across his breast, the other just -above his thighs; his right hand was then burnt with brimstone, he -was pinched with red-hot pincers, after which boiling oil, molten -wax, rosin, and lead were poured upon his wounds. His limbs were next -tightly tied with cords, a long and protracted operation, during which -he must have suffered renewed and exquisite torture; four stout, young, -and vigorous horses were attached to the cords, and an attempt made -to tear his limbs asunder, but only with the result of "extending his -joints to a prodigious length," and it was necessary to second the -efforts of the horses by cutting the principal sinews of the sufferer. -Soon after this the victim expired. Then his body was burnt and the -ashes scattered to the winds.</p> - -<p>In this country the simpler forms of executions have generally -obtained. The stake was no doubt in frequent use at certain periods -for particular offences, but the axe and the rope were long the most -common instruments of despatch. Death was otherwise inflicted, however. -Drowning is mentioned by Stowe as the fate of pirates, and a horrible -method of carrying out capital punishment remained in force until 1772. -Pressing to death, or the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">peine forte et dure</i>, was a development -of the ancient prison <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">forte et dure</i>, the punishment of those who -refused "to stand to the law;" in other <!-- Page 175 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span>words, stood mute, and refused -to plead to a charge. Until the reign of Henry IV such persons were -condemned to penance and perpetual imprisonment, but the penance meant -confinement in a narrow cell and absolute starvation. Some evaded -the dread consequences, and therefore a more awful form of torture -was introduced with the object of compelling the silent to speak. An -accused person who persistently stood mute was solemnly warned three -times of the penalty that waited on his obstinacy, and given a few -hours for consideration. If the prisoner continued contumacious, the -following sentence was passed upon him, or her:</p> - -<p>"That you be taken back to the prison whence you came to a low dungeon, -into which no light can enter; that you be laid on your back on the -bare floor with a cloth round your loins, but elsewhere naked; that -there be set upon your body a weight of iron as great as you can -bear—and greater; that you have no sustenance, save on the first day -three morsels of the coarsest bread, on the second day three draughts -of stagnant water from the pool nearest the prison door, on the third -day again three morsels of bread as before, and such bread and such -water alternately from day to day till you die."</p> - -<p>The press was a form of torture with this difference that, when once -applied, there was seldom any escape from it. The practice of tying the -thumbs with whipcord was another form of torture inflicted <!-- Page 176 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span>to oblige -an accused person to plead, and in force as late as the reign of Queen -Anne.</p> - -<p>Regarding the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">peine forte et dure</i> Holinshed says, that when accused -felons stood mute of malice on arraignment they were pressed to death -"by heavy weights laid upon a board that lieth over their breasts and -a sharp stone under their backs, and these commonly hold their peace -thereby to save their goods unto their wives and children, which if -they were condemned should be confiscated to the prince." There are -continual references to the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">peine forte et dure</i> in the legal records -throughout the fifteenth to the seventeenth centuries. In 1605 Walter -Calverly, Esq., of Calverly in Yorkshire, who was arraigned for the -murder of his wife and two children, stood mute, and was pressed to -death in York Castle. Another notable instance of the application of -this fearful punishment was in the case of Major Strangways, who was -arraigned in February, 1657-58, for the murder of his brother-in-law -Mr. Fussell. He refused to plead unless he was assured that if -condemned he might be shot as his brother-in-law had been. In addition -he said that he wished to preserve his estate from confiscation. Chief -Justice Glyn reasoned with him at length, but could not alter his -decision, and he was duly sentenced to the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">peine forte et dure</i>. The -sentence ran that he was to be put into a mean room where no light -could enter, and where he was to be laid upon his back with his body -bare; his legs <!-- Page 177 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span>and arms were to be stretched out with cords, and then -iron and stone were to be laid upon him "as much as he could bear—and -more;" his food the first day was to be three morsels of barley bread, -and on the second day he was "to drink thrice of water in the channel -next to the prison, but no spring or fountain water—and this shall be -his punishment till he dies."</p> - -<p>Strangways suffered in Newgate. He was attended to the last by five -pious divines, and spent much of his time in prayer. On the day of -execution he appeared all in white "waistcoat, stockings, drawers, and -cap, over which was cast a long mourning-cloak," and so was "guarded -down to a dungeon in the press-yard, the dismal place of execution." -On his giving the appointed signal, "his mournful attendants performed -their dreadful task. They soon perceived that the weight they laid on -was not sufficient to put him suddenly out of pain, so several of them -added their own weight, that they might sooner release his soul." He -endured great agonies. His groans were "loud and doleful," and it was -eight or ten minutes before he died. After death his body was exposed -to view, and it was seen that an angle of the press had been purposely -placed over his heart, so that he might the sooner be deprived of life, -"though he was denied what is usual in these cases, to have a sharp -piece of timber under his back to hasten execution."</p> - -<p>In 1721, Nathaniel Hawes, who had come to be <!-- Page 178 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span>what we should to-day -call an habitual criminal, and who had been frequently in Newgate, -took to the road. After various successful adventures, he stopped a -gentleman on Finchley Common, who was more than his match and made him -prisoner. He was conveyed to London and committed to Newgate. When -brought to the bar of the Old Bailey he refused to plead, giving as his -reason that he meant to die as he had lived, like a gentleman. When he -was seized, he said he had on a fine suit of clothes, which he intended -to have gone to the gallows in, but they had been taken from him. -"Unless they are returned, I will not plead," he went on, "for no one -shall say that I was hanged in a dirty shirt and a ragged coat." He was -warned what would be the consequences of his contempt of the law, but -he obstinately persevered, and was accordingly sentenced to the press. -He bore a weight of 250 pounds for about seven minutes, and then gave -in, being unable any longer to bear the pain. On return to court he -pleaded "Not guilty," but was convicted and sentenced to death.</p> - -<p>Two years later, William Spiggot and Thomas Phillips, arraigned for -highway robbery, refused to plead, and were also sentenced to the -press. Phillips, on coming into the press-yard, was affrighted by the -apparatus, and begged that he might be taken back to court to plead, "a -favour that was granted him; it might have been denied him." Spiggot, -however, remained obdurate, and <!-- Page 179 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span>was put under the press, where he -continued half an hour with a weight to the amount of 350 pounds on his -body; "but, on addition of the fifty pounds more, he likewise begged to -plead." Both were then convicted and hanged in the ordinary course of -law.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><a name="CriminalCourt" id="CriminalCourt"></a> - <img src="images/i_178.jpg" width="600" height="371" alt="" /> - <p class="caption"> - <i>Central Criminal Court at the Old Bailey, London</i> - </p> - <div class="blockquot"> - <p>From an old engraving representing a session at the Old - Bailey, the principal criminal court in all England, which - has been the scene of many sensational and historic trials - and is connected with history of London from the earliest - times.</p> - </div> - </div> - -<p>Again, Edward Burnworth, the captain of a gang of murderers and robbers -which rose into notoriety on the downfall of Wild, was sentenced to -the press at Kingston in 1726, by Lord Chief Justice Raymond and Judge -Denton. He bore the weight of 1 cwt. 3 qrs. 2 lbs. on his breast for -the space of an hour and three minutes, during which time the high -sheriff who attended him used every argument to induce him to plead, -but in vain. Burnworth, all the time, was trying to kill himself by -striking his head against the floor. At last he was prevailed on to -promise to plead, was brought back to court, and duly sentenced to -death.</p> - -<p>The last instance in which the press was inflicted was at Kilkenny in -Ireland. A man named Matthew Ryan stood mute at his trial for highway -robbery, and was adjudged by the jury to be guilty of "wilful and -affected dumbness and lunacy." He was given some days' grace, but -still remaining dumb, he was pressed to death in the public market -of Kilkenny. As the weights were put upon him the wretched man broke -silence and implored that he might be hanged, but the sheriff could not -grant his request.</p> - -<p><!-- Page 180 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span> -In 1731 a new press was made and fixed in the press-yard, for the -punishment of a highwayman named Cook, but it was not used. At length, -in 1772, the law on this head was altered and judgment was awarded -against mutes as though convicted or they had confessed. In 1778 one -so suffered at the Old Bailey. Finally, it was provided that the court -should enter a plea of "Not guilty" when the prisoner refused to plead.</p> - -<p>The principal forms of capital punishment, however, as the derivation -of the expression implies, have dealt with the head as the most -vulnerable part of the body. Death has been and still is most generally -inflicted by decapitation and strangulation. The former, except in -France, where it came to be universal, was the most aristocratic -method; the latter was long applied only to criminals of the baser -sort. Until the invention of the guillotine, culprits were beheaded by -sword or axe, and were often cruelly mangled by a bungling executioner. -It is asserted by the historian that the executioner pursued the -Countess of Salisbury about the scaffold, aiming repeated blows at -her, before he succeeded in striking off her head. This uncertainty in -result was only ended by the ingenious invention of Doctor Guillotin, -the prototype of which existed in the time of the Scotch "Maiden." The -regent Morton, who introduced this instrument into Scotland, and who -himself suffered by it, is said to have <!-- Page 181 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span>patterned it after the Halifax -Gibbet.<a name="FNanchor_181:1_30" id="FNanchor_181:1_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_181:1_30" class="fnanchor">[181:1]</a> Guillotin's machine was not altogether original, but it -owed more to the Italian "Mannaïa" than to the "Maiden." Nor, according -to Sanson, the French headsman, was he the actual inventor of the -notorious instrument guillotine, which bears his name. The guillotine -was designed by one Schmidt, a German engineer and artificer of musical -instruments. Guillotin enthusiastically adopted Schmidt's design, which -he strongly recommended in the assembly, declaring that by it a culprit -could not suffer, but only feel a slight freshness on the neck. Louis -XVI was decapitated by the guillotine, as was the doctor, its sponsor -and introducer.</p> - -<p>Strangulation, whether applied by the bowstring, cord, handkerchief, -or drop, is as old as the hills. It was inflicted by the Greeks as an -especially ignominious punishment. The "sus per coll." was not unknown -in the penal law of the Romans, who were in the habit also of exposing -the dead convict upon the gibbet, "as a comfortable sight to his -friends and relations."</p> - -<p>In London various places have been used for the <!-- Page 182 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span>scene of execution. -The spot where a murder had been committed was often appropriately -selected as the place of retribution. Execution Dock was reserved -for pirates and sea-robbers, Tower Hill for persons of rank who were -beheaded. Gallows for meaner malefactors were sometimes erected on the -latter place, the right to do so being claimed by the city. In the -reign of Edward IV, however, there was a conflict of authority between -the king and the Corporation on this point. The king's officer set -up a scaffold and gallows on Tower Hill, whereupon the mayor and his -brethren complained to the king, who replied, that he had not acted in -derogation of the city liberties, and caused public proclamation to be -made that the city exercised certain rights on Tower Hill. Executions -also took place, according to Pennant, at the Standard in Chepe. Three -men were beheaded there for rescuing a prisoner, and in 1351 two -fishmongers for some unknown crime. Smithfield had long the dismal -honour of witnessing the death-throes of offenders. Between Hozier and -Cow Lanes was anciently a large pool called Smithfield Pond or Horse -Pool, "from the watering of horses there;" to the southwest lay St. -John's Court, and close to it the public gallows on the town green. -There was a clump of trees in the centre of the green, elms, from which -the place of execution was long euphemistically called "The Elms." It -was used as such early in the thirteenth century, and distinguished -persons, William <!-- Page 183 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span>Fitzosbert, Mortimer, and Sir William Wallace -suffered here.</p> - -<p>About 1413 the gibbet was removed from Smithfield and put up at the -north end of a garden wall belonging to St. Giles's Leper Hospital, -"opposite the Pound where the Crown Tavern is at present situate, -between the end of St. Giles High Street and Hog Lane." But Smithfield -must have been still used after the transfer of the gallows to St. -Giles. In 1580 another conflict of jurisdiction, this time between the -city and the Lieutenant of the Tower. A gibbet was erected in that year -in East Smithfield, at Hog Lane, for the execution of one R. Dod, who -had murdered a woman in those parts. "But when the sheriff brought the -malefactor there to be hanged Sir Owen Hopton, the Lieutenant of the -Tower, commanded the sheriff's officers back again to the west side -of a cross that stood there," and which probably marked the extent of -the liberties of the Tower. Discussion followed. The sheriffs with -their prisoner accompanied the lieutenant into a house to talk it over, -"whence after a good stay they all departed." The city gave way—the -gibbet was taken down, and the malefactor carried to Tyburn in the same -afternoon, where he was executed.</p> - -<p>The gallows were no doubt all ready for the business, for Tyburn had -been used for executions as long as Smithfield. There were elms also -at Tyburn, hence a not uncommon confusion between <!-- Page 184 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span>the two places of -execution. Tyebourne has been ingeniously derived from the two words -"Tye" and "bourne," the last a bourne or resting-place for prisoners -who were taken bound. Pennant gives the derivation "Tye," the name of a -brook or "bourne" which flowed through it.</p> - -<p>In Loftie's "History of London" he points out that the Tyburn of -earliest times was a bleak heath situated at the end of the Marylebone -Lane as we know it, and which, as it approached the town, had two -branches. He suggests that the brook or "bourne" also divided into -two, hence the name "Teo Burne," or two streams. Mr. Waller gives the -same derivation, and in one of the earliest mentions of the Tyburn, an -ancient chapter at Westminster, dated 951, it is called Teoburne.</p> - -<p>There were many Tyburns, however, and as in London the gallows were -moved farther and farther westward of the building of houses, so the -name of Tyburn travelled from Marylebone Lane to Edgeware Road. As time -passed on it came to be the generic name for all places of execution, -and was used at York, Liverpool, Dublin, and elsewhere. Tyburn was a -kind of Golgotha, a place of infamy and disgrace. When Colonel Blood -seized the Duke of Ormond in St. James's Street it was with the avowed -intention of carrying him to Tyburn, there to be hanged like a common -criminal.</p> - -<p>The exact position of the Tyburn gallows has been a matter of some -controversy. Mr. Robins <!-- Page 185 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span>places the Elms Lane as the first turning -to the right in the Uxbridge Road after getting into it from the -Grand Junction Road opposite the Serpentine. In Smith's "History of -Marylebone," he states that the gallows stood on a small eminence at -the corner of the Edgeware Road near the turnpike. Other authorities -fix the place in Connaught Square; because in a lease of one of the -houses, No. 49, granted by the Bishop of London, the fact that the -gallows once stood on the site is expressly mentioned in the parchment. -It was commonly reported that many human bones were exhumed between -Nos. 6 and 12, Connaught Place, as well as in the garden of Arklow -House, which stands at the southwest angle of the Edgeware Road. But -Mr. Loftie states as a matter of fact that no such discovery was ever -made. A careful but fruitless search at the time Connaught Place was -built produced a single bone, probably part of a human jaw-bone, but -nothing more. As to Arklow House, the report is distinctly denied by -the owner himself. It is, however, pretty certain that at a later date -the gallows were kept at a house at the corner of Upper Bryanston -Street and the Edgeware Road, in front of which they were erected when -required.</p> - -<p>A detailed account has been preserved of the execution of Colonel John -Turner in 1662, which presents a strange picture of the way in which -the extreme penalty of the law was carried out in those days. The scene -of the execution was not Tyburn <!-- Page 186 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span>but a place in Leadenhall Street at -Lime Street end, a spot near the place where the deed for which Turner -suffered was perpetrated. An immense crowd had gathered, as usual, to -witness the convict's death. Pepys was there of course, as he tells -us; "and after sending my wife to my Aunt Wright's, to get a place to -see Turner hanged, I to Change." On his way he met people flocking to -the place of execution, and mingling with the crowd, somewhere about -St. Mary Axe, "got to stand upon the wheel of a cart for a shilling in -great pain above an hour before the execution was done: he delaying the -time by long discourses and prayers one after another in hopes of a -reprieve, but none came."</p> - -<p>Turner was drawn in a cart from Newgate at eleven in the morning, -accompanied by the ordinary and another minister with the sheriffs, -keeper of the gaol, and other officials in attendance. On coming to -the gibbet he called the executioner to him, and presented him with -money in lieu of his clothes, which his friends desired to keep. Then -standing in the cart, he addressed the crowd with great prolixity. -He dwelt on the cardinal sins; he gave a circumstantial account of -his birth, parentage, family history; he detailed his war services as -a loyal cavalier, with his promotions and various military rewards. -With much proper feeling he sought to lessen the blame attached to his -accomplices in the murder, and to exonerate the innocent <!-- Page 187 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span>accused. At -intervals in this long discourse he was interrupted now by the sheriffs -with broad hints to despatch, now by the ordinary as to the irrelevance -and impropriety of such remarks from a man about to die. Again the -keeper of Newgate taxed him with other crimes, saying, for example, -"Pray, Colonel Turner, do you know nothing of a glass jewel delivered -to the Countess of Devonshire in room of another?" or "How about the -fire in Lothbury, or the mysterious death of your namesake Turner, who -died in your house?"</p> - -<p>The condemned man discoursed at great length upon these various points, -and was again and again reminded that it would be better for him to -prepare for his approaching end. Still he continued his harangue and -took a new departure when he remembered the condition of the condemned -hold of Newgate, into which he had been cast after coming from the -sessions. This hole, as it was called, he characterizes as "a most -fearful, sad, deplorable place. Hell itself in comparison cannot be -such a place. There is neither bench, stool nor stick for any person -there; they lie like swine upon the ground, one upon another, howling -and roaring—it was more terrible to me than this death. I would humbly -beg that hole may be provided with some kind of boards, like a court of -guard, that a man may lie down upon them in ease; for when they should -be best prepared for their ends they are most tormented; they had -better take them and hang <!-- Page 188 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span>them as soon as they have their sentence." -This aspersion, however, on this part of his gaol the keeper tried to -refute by stating that seventeen out of the nineteen poor wretches -confined in the hole managed to escape from it.</p> - -<p>But the reprieve for which Turner looked in vain still tarried. He was -obliged now to fall to his prayers. These, by the Christian charity of -the officials, he was permitted to spin out as long as he pleased. Then -he went through the ceremony of distributing alms-money for the poor, -money for his wife, to be passed on to his young son's schoolmaster. At -last he directed the executioner to take the halter off his shoulders, -and afterwards, "taking it in his hands, he kissed it, and put it on -his neck himself; then after he had fitted the cap and put it on, he -went out of the cart up the ladder." The executioner fastened the -noose, and "pulling the rope a little, says Turner, 'What, dost thou -mean to choke me? Pray, fellow, give me more rope—what a simple fellow -is this! How long have you been executioner, that you know not how to -put the knot?'" At the very last moment, in the midst of some private -ejaculations, espying a gentlewoman at a window nigh, he kissed his -hand, saying, "Your servant, mistress," and so he was "turned off," -as Pepys says of him, "a comely-looking man he was, and kept his -countenance to the last. I was sorry to see him. It was believed there -<!-- Page 189 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span>were at least twelve or fourteen thousand people in the street."</p> - -<p>There was nothing new in this desire to gloat over the dying agonies -of one's fellow creatures. The Roman matron cried "habet," and turned -down her thumb when the gladiator despatched his prostrate foe. Great -dignitaries and high-born dames have witnessed without a shudder -the tortures of an <i lang="pt" xml:lang="pt">auto da fé</i>; to this day it is the fashion for -delicately nurtured ladies to flock to the Law Courts, and note the -varying emotions, from keenest anguish to most brutal <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">sang-froid</i>, -of notorious murderers on trial. It is not strange, then, that in -uncultivated and comparatively demoralized ages the concourse about -the gallows should be great, or the conduct of the spectators riotous, -brutal, often heartless in the extreme. There was always a rush to -see an execution. The crowd was extraordinary when the sufferers were -persons of note or had been concerned in any much-talked-of case. Thus -all London turned out to stare at the hanging of Vratz, Boroski, and -Stern, convicted of the murder of Mr. Thynne, of which Count Konigsmark -had been acquitted. The execution took place in 1682 on the gallows -which had been set up in Pall Mall, the scene of the crime. "Many -hundreds of standings were taken up by persons of quality and others." -The Duke of Monmouth, one of the most intimate friends of the murdered -man, was among the <!-- Page 190 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span>spectators in a balcony close by the gallows, and -was the cynosure of every eye, fixing the glance of even one of the -convicts, Captain Vratz, who stared at him fixedly till the drop fell.</p> - -<p>The fashion of gazing at these painful exhibitions grew more and more -popular. Horace Walpole satirizes the vile practice of thus glorifying -criminals. "You cannot conceive," he says to Sir Horace Mann, "the -ridiculous rage there is of going to Newgate, the prints that are -published of the malefactors, and the memoirs of their lives set forth -with as much parade as Marshal Turrenne's." George Selwyn, chief among -the wits and beaux of his time, was also conspicuous for his craving -for such horrid sights. He was characterized by Walpole as a friend -whose passion it was to see coffins, corpses, and executions. Judges -going on assize wrote to Selwyn, promising him a good place at all the -executions which might take place on their circuits. Other friends -kept him informed of approaching events, and bespoke a seat for him, -or gave full details of the demeanour of those whose sufferings he had -not been privileged to see. Thus Henry St. John writes to tell him of -the execution of Waistcott, Lord Huntington's butler, for burglary: -which he attended, with his brother, at the risk of breaking their -necks, "by climbing up an old rotten scaffolding, which I feared would -tumble before the cart drove off with the six malefactors." St. John -goes on to say that he had a full view of <!-- Page 191 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span>Waistcott, "who went to the -gallows with a white cockade in his hat as an emblem of his innocence, -and died with some hardness, as appeared through his trial." Another -correspondent, Gilly Williams, gives additional particulars. "The dog -died game: went in the cart in a blue and white frock . . . and the -white cockade. He ate several oranges on his passage, inquired if his -hearse was ready, and then, as old Rowe would say, was launched into -eternity." Again George Townshend, writing to Selwyn from Scotland of -the Jacobites, promises him plenty more entertainment on Tower Hill. -The joke went round that Selwyn at the dentist's gave the signal for -drawing a tooth by dropping his handkerchief, just as people did to the -executioner on the scaffold. He would go anywhere to see men turned -off. He was present when Lord Lovat was decapitated, and justified -himself by saying that he had made amends in going to the undertaker's -to see the head sewn on again. So eager was he to miss no sight worth -seeing, that he went purposely to Paris to witness the torture of the -unhappy Damiens. "On the day of the execution," Jesse tells us, "he -mingled with the crowd in a plain undress suit and bob wig; when a -French nobleman, observing the deep interest he took in the scene, and -imagining from the plainness of his attire that he must be a person -in the humbler ranks of life, resolved that he must infallibly be a -hangman. 'Eh bien, monsieur,' he said, 'Etes vous arrivé <!-- Page 192 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span>pour voir ce -spectacle?' 'Oui, monsieur.' 'Vous êtes bourreau?' 'Non, monsieur,' -replied Selwyn, 'je n'ai pas l'honneur; je ne suis qu'un amateur.'"</p> - -<p>It was in these days, or a little later, when Newgate became the scene -of action, that an execution was made the occasion of a small festivity -at the prison. The governor gave a breakfast after the ceremony to some -thirteen or fourteen people of distinction, and his daughter, a very -pretty girl, did the honours of the table. According to her account, -few did much justice to the viands: the first call of the inexperienced -was for brandy, and the only person with a good appetite for her -broiled kidneys, a celebrated dish of hers, was the ordinary. After -breakfast was over the whole party adjourned to see the cutting down.</p> - -<p>That which was a morbid curiosity among a certain section of the upper -classes became a fierce hungry passion with the lower. The scenes -upon execution days almost baffle description. Dense crowds thronged -the approaches to Newgate and the streets leading to Tyburn or other -places of execution. It was a ribald, reckless, brutal mob, violently -combative, fighting and struggling for foremost places, fiercely -aggressive, distinctly abusive. Spectators often had their limbs -broken, their teeth knocked out, sometimes they were crushed to death. -Barriers could not always restrain the crowd, and were often borne down -and trampled underfoot. All along the route taken by <!-- Page 193 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span>the procession -people vented their feelings upon the doomed convicts: cheering a -popular criminal to the echo, offering him nosegays or unlimited drink; -railing and storming, on the other hand, at those they hated or, worse -still, despised. When Earl Ferrers was hanged in 1760 the concourse was -so great that the procession took three hours to travel from Newgate -to Tyburn. Lord Ferrers told the sheriff that passing through such a -multitude was ten times worse than death itself. The same brutality -was carried to the foot of the gallows. The mob surged around the cart -conversing with the condemned: now encouraging, now upbraiding, anon -making him a target for all manner of missiles, and this even at the -last awful moment, when the convict was on his knees wrapped in prayer. -A woman named Barbara Spencer was beaten down by a stone when actually -in supplication upon her knees. When Jack Sheppard, that most popular -but most depraved young criminal, was executed, an incredible number of -persons was present. The crowd was unruly enough even before execution, -but afterwards it grew perfectly frantic. When the body had hung the -appointed time, an undertaker ventured to appear with a hearse to -carry it off, but being taken for a surgeon's man about to remove Jack -Sheppard to the dissecting-room, he incurred the fierce displeasure of -the mob. They demolished the hearse, then fell upon the undertaker, -who with difficulty escaped with <!-- Page 194 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span>life. After that they seized the -body and carried it off, throwing it from hand to hand, until it was -covered with bruises and dirt. It was taken as far as the Barley Mow in -Long Acre, where it lay some hours, and until it was discovered that -the whole thing was a trick devised by a bailiff in the pay of the -surgeons, and that the body had been forcibly taken from a person who -really intended to bury it. The mob was now excited to frenzy, and a -serious riot followed. The police being quite inadequate to quell it, -the military were called in, and with the aid of several detachments -of Guards the ringleaders were secured. The body was given over to a -friend of Sheppard's to bury, the mob dispersed to attend it to St. -Martin's Fields, where it was deposited under a guard of soldiers and -eventually buried.</p> - -<p>While these wild revels were kept up both before and after the -execution the demeanour of the doomed partook too often of the -general recklessness. The calendars are full of particulars of the -manner in which condemned convicts met their fate. Many awaited the -extreme penalty and endured it with callous indifference or flippant -effrontery. Only now and again did their courage break down at the -eleventh hour, and so prove that it was assumed. A few notable examples -may be cited as exhibiting their various moods. Paul Lewis, once a -lieutenant in the royal navy, but an irreclaimable scoundrel, who -took eventually to the road, and was <!-- Page 195 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span>sentenced to death for highway -robbery, was boldly unconcerned after sentence. In Newgate he was -the leader of the revels: they dubbed him captain, like Macheath; he -sat at the head of the table, swore at the parson, and sang obscene -songs. It was not until the warrant of execution arrived at the prison, -that all bravado evaporated, and he became as abject as he had before -appeared hardened. John Rann the highwayman, better known as Sixteen -String Jack, had a farewell dinner-party after he was convicted, and -while awaiting execution: the company included seven girls; "all were -remarkable cheerful, nor was Rann less joyous than his companions." -Dick Turpin made elaborate preparations for his execution; purchased -a new suit of fustian and a pair of pumps to wear at the gallows, -and hired five poor men at ten shillings per head, to follow his -cart as mourners, providing them with hat-bands and mourning-bands. -Nathaniel Parkhurst, who, when in the Fleet for debtors, murdered a -fellow prisoner, demolished a roast fowl at breakfast on the morning -of his execution, and drank a pint of liquor with it. Jerry Abershaw -was persistently callous from first to last. Returning from court -across Kennington Common, he asked his conductors whether that was the -spot on which he was to be twisted? His last days in the condemned -cell he spent in drawing upon the walls with the juice of black -cherries designs of the various robberies he had committed on the -road. Abershaw's <!-- Page 196 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span><i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">sang-froid</i> did not desert him on the last day. -He appeared with his shirt thrown open, a flower in his mouth, and -all the way to the gallows carried on an incessant conversation with -friends who rode by his side, nodding to others he recognized in the -crowd, which was immense. The season was the summer, and on the Sunday -following the execution, London was like a deserted city; hundreds of -thousands went out to see him hanging in chains.</p> - -<p>Still more awful was the conduct of Hannah Dagoe, a herculean Irish -woman, who plied the trade of porter at Covent Garden. In Newgate -while under sentence she was most defiant. She was the terror of her -fellow prisoners, and actually stabbed a man who had given evidence -against her. When the cart was drawn in under the gallows she got -her arms loose, seized the executioner, struggled with him, and gave -him so violent a blow on the chest that she nearly knocked him down. -She dared him to hang her, and tearing off her hat, cloak, and other -garments, the hangman's perquisites, distributed them among the crowd -in spite of him. After a long struggle he got the rope around her -neck. This accomplished, she drew her handkerchief from round her head -over her face, and threw herself out of the cart before the signal was -given with such violence that she broke her neck and died instantly. -Many ancient customs long retained tended to make them more hardened. -Chief among these was the offer of strong drink <!-- Page 197 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span>by the way. When the -gallows stood at St. Giles it was the rule to offer malefactors about -to be hanged a great bowl of ale, "as the last refreshment they were to -receive in this life." This drink was long known as the "St. Giles's -Bowl." The practice of giving drink was pretty general for years later -and in many parts of the country. In Yorkshire at Bawtry, so the story -runs, a saddler was on his way to be hanged. The bowl was brought out, -but he refused it and went on to his death. Meanwhile his reprieve was -actually on the road, and had he lingered to drink time sufficient -would have been gained to save him. Hence came the saying that "the -saddler of Bawtry was hanged for leaving his ale." Other convicts are -mentioned in an uncomplimentary manner because they dared to smoke on -their road to the gallows. "Some mad knaves took tobacco all the way -as they went to be hanged at Tyburn." This was in 1598, when the use -of the weed introduced by Sir Walter Raleigh was still somewhat rare. -A hundred years later the misbehaviour was in "impudently calling -for sack" and drinking King James's health; after which the convicts -affronted the ordinary at the gallows, and refused his assistance.</p> - -<p>There were few who behaved with the decency and self-possession of -Lord Ferrers, who went to his shameful death in a suit of white and -silver, that, it is said, in which he had been married. He himself -provided the white cap to be pulled over his <!-- Page 198 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span>face, and the black silk -handkerchief with which his arms were to be bound. His last words were, -"Am I right?" and immediately the drop fell. In his case there had been -an unseemly wrangle upon the gallows between the executioner and his -assistant. Lord Ferrers had given the latter, in mistake for his chief, -a fee of five guineas, which the head executioner claimed, and the -assistant would not readily surrender. Some were in abject terror till -the last act commenced. Thus John Ayliffe, a forger, was in the utmost -agonies the night preceding his execution; his agitation producing an -intolerable thirst, which he vainly sought to allay by copious draughts -of water. Yet his composure quite returned on his road to Tyburn, and -he "behaved with decency at the fatal tree." It was just the reverse -with Mrs. Meteyard, who with her daughter murdered a parish apprentice. -She was in a fit when put into the cart, and she continued insensible -all the way to Tyburn. Great efforts were made to restore her, but -without avail, and she was in an unconscious state when hanged.</p> - -<p>It may be questioned whether that close attention was paid to the -spiritual needs of the condemned which is considered indispensable -in these more humane days. No doubt many rejected the offers of -the ordinary, refusing to attend chapel, pretending to belong to -out-of-the-way persuasions, and still declining the ministrations -of clergymen of any creed; others pretended, like Dean Swift's Tom -<!-- Page 199 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span>Clinch, that they went off with a clear conscience and a calm spirit, -without prayer-book or psalm. But very probably this indifference to -the ordinary and his ghostly counsels arose from a suspicion that he -was not very earnest in what he said. The Newgate ordinary, although -a sound Protestant, was a father confessor to all criminals. Not the -least profitable part of his emoluments came from the sale of his -account of the execution of convicts, a species of gaol calendar which -he compiled from information the condemned men themselves supplied. -That the ordinary attached great value to this production is clear -from the petition made by one of them, the Reverend Paul Lorraine, to -the House of Commons, that his pamphlet might be exempted from the -tax levied upon paper. It is easy to understand that the ordinary -might have been better employed than in compiling these accounts, -however interesting they may be, as illustrating the crime of the -last century. It is also pretty certain that, although, doubtless, -blameless and exemplary men, Newgate chaplains were not always -over-zealous in the discharge of their sacred office in regard to the -condemned. There were many grim jokes among the prisoners themselves -as to the value of the parson's preaching. Thus in the Reverend Mr. -Cotton's time as ordinary, convicts were said to go out of the world -with their ears stuffed full of cotton; and his interpretation of any -particular passage in Scripture was said to go in at one ear <!-- Page 200 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span>and -out at the other.<a name="FNanchor_200:1_31" id="FNanchor_200:1_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_200:1_31" class="fnanchor">[200:1]</a> Hence the intrusion, which must have seemed -to them unwarrantable, of dissenting and other amateur preachers, or -well-meaning enthusiasts, who devoted themselves with unremitting -vigour to the spiritual consolation of all prisoners who would listen -to them. It is impossible to speak otherwise than most approvingly of -the single-minded, self-sacrificing devotion of such men as Silas Told, -the forerunner of Howard, Mrs. Fry, the Gurneys, and other estimable -philanthropists. Nevertheless unseemly polemical wrangles appeared to -have been the result of this interference, which was better meant than -appreciated by the authorized clerical officer. Doctor Doran, referring -to the execution of James Sheppard (Jacobite Sheppard, not Jack), -gives an account of a conflict of this kind. "Sheppard's dignity," he -says, "was not even ruffled by the renewed combat in the cart of the -Newgate chaplain and the nonjuror. Each sought to comfort and confound -the culprit according to his way of thinking. Once more the messengers -of peace got to fisticuffs, but as they neared Tyburn the nonjuror -kicked Paul (the ordinary) out of the cart, and kept by the side of -Sheppard till the rope was adjusted. There he boldly, as those Jacobite -nonjurors were wont, gave the passive lad absolution for the crime for -which he was about to pay the <!-- Page 201 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span>penalty; after which he jumped down to -have a better view of the sorry spectacle from the foremost ranks of -spectators."</p> - -<p>It was no doubt on account of the insufficiency of the spiritual -consolations offered to the condemned that led old Richard Dove, -or Dow, to make his endowment for tolling the prisoner's bell. He -bequeathed fifty pounds a year for ever, so Stowe tells us, for this -philanthropic purpose.</p> - -<p>When condemned prisoners were being "drawn to their executions at -Tyburn," a man with a bell stood in the churchyard by St. Sepulchre's, -by the wall next the street, and so to put them in mind of their death -approaching. Later on these verses took the form of exhortation, of -which the following is the substance:</p> - -<p>"You prisoners that are within, who for wickedness and sin, after many -mercies shown you, are now appointed to die to-morrow in the forenoon: -give ear and understand that to-morrow morning the greatest bell of -St. Sepulchre's shall toll for you, in form and manner of a passing -bell, as used to be tolled for those who are at the point of death, -to the end that all godly people hearing that bell, and knowing it is -for you going to your death, may be stirred up heartily to pray to -God to bestow His grace and mercy upon you whilst you live. I beseech -you, for Jesus Christ His sake, to keep this night in watching and -prayer for the salvation of your own souls, whilst there is yet time -and <!-- Page 202 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span>place for mercy; as knowing to-morrow you must appear before the -judgment-seat of your Creator, there to give an account of all things -done in this life, and to suffer eternal torments for your sins, -committed against Him, unless upon your hearty and unfeigned repentance -you find mercy, through the merits, death, and passion of your only -Mediator and Advocate, Jesus Christ, who now sits at the right hand of -God, to make intercession for as many of you as penitently return to -Him."</p> - -<p>In times when scaffold and gallows were perpetually crowded, the -executioner was a prominent if not exactly a distinguished personage. -The office might not be honourable, but it was not without its uses, -and the man who filled it was an object of both interest and dread. In -some countries the dismal paraphernalia—axe, gibbet, or rack—have -been carried by aristocratic families on their arms. The Scotch -Dalziels bear sable, a hanged man with his arms extended; a Spanish -hidalgo has in his coat armour a ladder with gibbet; and various -implements of torture have been borne by German families of distinction.</p> - -<p>In France the post of executioner was long hereditary, regularly -transmitted from father to son, for many generations, and enjoyed -eventually something of the credit vouchsafed to all hereditary -offices. With us the law's finisher has never been held in great -esteem. He was on a par rather with the Roman <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">carnifex</i>, an odious -official, who was not <!-- Page 203 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span>suffered to live within the precincts of the -city. The only man who would condescend to the work was usually a -condemned criminal, pardoned for the very purpose. Derrick, one of the -first names mentioned, was sentenced to death, but pardoned by Lord -Essex, whom he afterwards executed. Next to him I find that one Bull -acted as executioner about 1593. Then came Gregory Brandon, the man -who is generally supposed to have decapitated Charles I, and who was -commonly addressed by his Christian name only. Through an error Brandon -was advanced to the dignity of a squire by Garter, king at arms, and -succeeding executioners were generally honoured with the same title. -Brandon was followed by his son; young Brandon by Squire Dun, who gave -place in his turn to John Ketch, the godfather of all modern hangmen. -Many of the immediate successors of Brandon above-mentioned were called -Gregory. Jack Ketch did not give entire satisfaction. It is recorded -in Luttrell that Ketch was dispossessed in favour of Pascal Roose, a -butcher, who served only a few months, when Ketch was restored. After -Ketch, John Price was the man, a pardoned malefactor, who could not -resist temptation, and was himself executed for murder by some one -else. Dennis, the hangman at the Lord George Gordon riots, had also -been sentenced to death for complicity, but obtained forgiveness on -condition that he should string up his former associates.</p> - -<p><!-- Page 204 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span> -They did their work roughly, these early practitioners. Sometimes the -rope slipped or the drop was insufficient, and the hangman had to add -his weight, assisted by that of zealous spectators, to the sufferer's -legs to effect strangulation. Now and again the rope broke, and the -convict had to be tied up a second time. This happened with Captain -Kidd, the notorious pirate, who was perfectly conscious during the -time which elapsed before he was again tied up. The friends of another -pirate, John Gow, were anxious to put him out of his pain, and pulled -his legs so hard, that the rope broke before he was dead, necessitating -the repetition of the whole ceremony. Even when the operation had been -successfully performed, the hanged man sometimes cheated the gallows.</p> - -<p>There are several well-authenticated cases of resuscitation after -hanging, due doubtless to the rude and clumsy plan of killing. To -slide off a ladder or drop from a cart might and generally did produce -asphyxia, but there was no instantaneous fracture of the vertebral -column as in most executions of modern times. The earliest case on -record is that of Tiretta de Balsham, whom Henry III pardoned in 1264 -because she had survived hanging. As she is said to have been suspended -from one morning till sunrise the following day, it is difficult to -believe the story, which was probably one of many mediæval impostures. -Females, however, appear to have had more such escapes than <!-- Page 205 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a></span>males. -Doctor Ploto gives several instances; one, that of Anne Green, who -in 1650 came to when in the hands of the doctors for dissection; -another of Mrs. Cope, hanged at Oxford in 1658, who was suspended -for an unusually long period, and afterwards let fall violently, yet -she recovered, only to be more effectually hanged next day. A third -substantiated case was that of half-hanged Maggie Dickson, who was -hanged at Edinburgh in 1728, and whom the jolting of the cart in -which her body was removed from the gallows recovered. The jolting -was considered so infallible a recipe for bringing to, that it was -generally practised by an executed man's friends in Ireland, where -also the friends were in the habit of holding up the convict by his -waistband after he had dropped, "so that the rope should not press upon -his throat," the sheriff philanthropically pretending not to see.</p> - -<p>Sir William Petty, the eminent surgeon in Queen Anne's time, owed -his scientific fame to his having resuscitated a woman who had been -hanged. The body had been begged, as was the custom, for the anatomical -lecture; Petty finding symptoms of life, bled her, put her to bed -with another woman, and gave her spirits and other restoratives. She -recovered, whereupon the students subscribed to endow her with a small -portion, and she soon after married and lived for fifteen years. The -case of half-hanged Smith was about the date 1705. He was reprieved, -but the reprieve arrived after he had <!-- Page 206 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a></span>been strung up; he was taken -down, bled, and brought to. Smith afterwards described his sensations -minutely. The weight of his body when he first dropped caused him -great pain; his "spirits" forced their way up to his head and seemed -to go out at his eyes with a great blaze of light, and then all pain -left him. But on his resuscitation the blood and "spirits" forcing -themselves into their proper channels gave him such intolerable -suffering "that he could have wished those hanged who cut him down." -William Duell, hanged in 1740, was carried to Surgeon's Hall, to be -anatomized; but as his body was being laid out, one of the servants -who was washing him perceived that he was still alive. A surgeon bled -him, and in two hours he was able to sit up in his chair. Later in -the evening he was sent back to Newgate, and his sentence changed to -transportation. In 1767, a man who had hanged for twenty-eight minutes -was operated on by a surgeon, who made an incision into the windpipe. -In less than six hours the hanged man revived. It became a constant -practice for a condemned man's friends to carry off the body directly -it was cut down to the nearest surgeon's, who at once operated on it -by bleeding, and so forth. The plan was occasionally, but rarely, -successful. It was tried with Doctor Dodd, who was promptly carried to -an undertaker's in Tottenham Court Road and placed in a hot bath; but -he had been too well hanged for recovery. A report was long current -that <!-- Page 207 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</a></span>Fauntleroy the banker, who was executed for forgery, had been -resuscitated, but it was quite without foundation.</p> - -<p>The Tyburn procession survived till towards the end of the eighteenth -century. It had many supporters, Doctor Johnson among the number. -"Sir," he told Boswell, when Tyburn had been discontinued, "executions -are intended to draw spectators. If they do not draw spectators they -do not answer their purpose. The old method was most satisfactory to -all parties: the public was gratified by a procession, the criminal -is supported by it. Why is all this to be swept away?" The reason is -given by the sheriffs in the year 1784, and it is convincing. In a -pamphlet published that year it is set forth that the procession to -Tyburn was a hideous mockery on the law; the final scene had lost its -terrors; it taught no lesson of morality to the beholders, but tended -to the encouragement of vice. The day of execution was deemed a public -holiday to which thousands thronged, many to gratify an unaccountable -curiosity, more to seize an opportunity for committing fresh crimes. -"If we take a view of the supposed solemnity from the time at which -the criminal leaves the prison to the last moment of his existence, it -will be found to be a period full of the most shocking and disgraceful -circumstances. If the only defect were the want of ceremony, the -minds of the spectators might be supposed to be left in a state of -indifference; but <!-- Page 208 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[208]</a></span>when they view the meanness of the apparatus, the -dirty cart and ragged harness, surrounded by a sordid assemblage of the -lowest among the vulgar, their sentiments are inclined more to ridicule -than pity. The whole progress is attended with the same effect. Numbers -soon thicken into a crowd of followers, and then an indecent levity is -heard." The crowd gathered as it went, the levity increased, "till on -reaching the fatal tree it became a riotous mob, and their wantonness -of speech broke forth in profane jokes, swearing, and blasphemy." The -officers of the law were powerless to check the tumult; no attention -was paid to the convict's dying speech—"an exhortation to shun -a vicious life, addressed to thieves actually engaged in picking -pockets." The culprit's prayers were interrupted, his demeanour if -resigned was sneered at, and only applauded when he went with brazen -effrontery to his death. "Thus," says the pamphlet, "are all the ends -of public justice defeated; all the effects of example, the terrors of -death, the shame of punishment, are all lost."</p> - -<p>The evils it was hoped might be obviated "were public executions -conducted with becoming form and solemnity, if order were preserved -and every tendency to disturb it suppressed." Hence the place of -execution was changed in 1784 from "Tyburn to the great area that has -lately been opened before Newgate." The sheriffs were doubtful of their -power to make alterations, and consulted the judges, <!-- Page 209 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[209]</a></span>who gave it as -their opinion that it was within the sheriffs' competence. "With this -sanction, therefore," the sheriffs go on to say, "we have proceeded, -and instead of carting the criminals through the streets to Tyburn, the -sentence of death is executed in the front of Newgate, where upwards of -five thousand persons may easily assemble; here a temporary scaffold -hung with black is erected, and no other persons are permitted to -ascend it than the necessary officers of justice, the clergyman, and -the criminal, and the crowd is kept at a proper distance. During the -whole time of the execution a funeral bell is tolled in Newgate, and -the prisoners are kept in the strictest order."</p> - -<p>The horrors of executions were but little diminished by the -substitution of the Old Bailey as the scene. Seventy-four years were -to elapse before the wisdom of legislators and the good sense of the -public insisted that the extreme penalty of the law should be carried -out in strictest privacy within the walls of the gaol.</p> - - -<hr class="footnotes" /> -<p class="sectctrfn">FOOTNOTES:</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_162:1_25" id="Footnote_162:1_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_162:1_25"><span class="label">[162:1]</span></a> No. 45 of the <cite>North Briton</cite> charged the king with -falsehood, and was the basis of the prosecutions; forty-five became in -consequence a popular number with the patriots. Tradesmen called their -goods "forty-five;" and snuff so styled was sold in Fleet Street for -many years. Horne Tooke declares that the Prince of Wales aggravated -his august father, when the latter was flogging him, by shouting -"Wilkes and forty-five for ever!"</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_164:1_26" id="Footnote_164:1_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_164:1_26"><span class="label">[164:1]</span></a> Lords of Leet were obliged to keep up a pillory or -tumbrel, on pain of forfeiture of the leet; and villages might also be -compelled to provide them.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_165:1_27" id="Footnote_165:1_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_165:1_27"><span class="label">[165:1]</span></a> "Punishments in the Olden Time," by William Andrews, -F. R. H. S., to which I am indebted for many of my facts.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_167:1_28" id="Footnote_167:1_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_167:1_28"><span class="label">[167:1]</span></a> This was not an uncommon offence. One Mary Hamilton -was married fourteen times to members of her own sex. A more -inveterate, but a more natural, bigamist was a man named Miller, who -was pilloried, in 1790, for having married thirty different women on -purpose to plunder them.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_172:1_29" id="Footnote_172:1_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor_172:1_29"><span class="label">[172:1]</span></a> Bernardo Visconti, Duke of Milan, in the 14th century, -made a capital punishment, or more exactly the act of killing, last for -forty days.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_181:1_30" id="Footnote_181:1_30"></a><a href="#FNanchor_181:1_30"><span class="label">[181:1]</span></a> By "Halifax law" any thief who within the precincts -of the liberty stole thirteen pence could on conviction before four -burghers be sentenced to death. The same law obtained at Hull, hence -the particular prayer in the thieves' Litany, which ran as follows: -"From Hull, Hell, and Halifax, good Lord, deliver us."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_200:1_31" id="Footnote_200:1_31"></a><a href="#FNanchor_200:1_31"><span class="label">[200:1]</span></a> The negligence and perfunctory performance of duty of -the ordinary, Mr. Forde, is strongly animadverted upon in the "Report -of Commons' Committee in 1814."</p></div> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="newchapter" /> -<p><!-- Page 210 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[210]</a></span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak"><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII<br /> - -<small>REMARKABLE ESCAPES</small></h2> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p class="hang">Escapes from Newgate mostly commonplace—Causes of -escapes—Mediæval prison breaking—Scheme of escape in a -coffin—Other methods—Changing clothes—Setting fire to -prison—Connivance of keepers—Ordinary devices—Quarrying -walls, taking up floors, cutting of fetters—Jack -Sheppard—His escapes from Newgate—His capture—Special -instructions from Secretary of State for his speedy trial -and execution—Burnworth's attempt—Joshua Dean—Daniel -Malden's two escapes—His personal narrative and account of -his recapture—Stratagem and disguise—Female clothing—Mr. -Barlow the Jacobite detected in a woman's dress and taken -to the Old Bailey—General Forster's escape—Mr. Pitt the -governor suspended and suspected of complicity—Brigadier -Macintosh and fifteen other Jacobites escape—Some -retaken—Mr. Ratcliffe gets away—Again in trouble and -executed in 1745.</p> -</div> - - -<p>Escapes from Newgate have been numerous enough, but except in a few -cases not particularly remarkable. They miss the extraordinary features -of celebrated evasions, such as those of Casanova Von Trenck and -Latude. The heroes of Newgate, too, were mostly commonplace criminals. -There was but little romance about their misdeeds, and they scarcely -excite the sympathy which we cannot <!-- Page 211 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[211]</a></span>deny to victims of tyrannical -oppression immured under the Piombi of Venice or in the Bastile. They -lacked aptitude, moreover, or perhaps opportunity, to weave their -stories into thrilling narratives, such as have been preserved from -the pens of more scholarly prisoners. Hence the chronicle of Newgate -is somewhat bald and uninteresting as regards escapes. It rings the -changes upon conventional stratagems and schemes. All more or less -bear testimony to the cunning and adroitness of the prisoners, but -all equally prove the keepers' carelessness or cupidity. An escape -from prison argues always a want of precaution. This may come of mere -neglectfulness, or it may be bought at a price. Against bribery there -can be no protection, but long experience has established the watchful -supervision, which to-day avails more than bolts and bars and blocks -of stone. A prisoner can sooner win through a massive wall than elude -a keen-eyed warder's care. Hence in all modern prison construction the -old idea of mere solidity has been abandoned, and reliance is placed -rather upon the upright intelligence of that which we may term the -prison police. The minute inspection of cells and other parts occupied -by prisoners; the examination of the prisoners themselves at uncertain -times; above all, the intimate acquaintance which those in authority -should have of the movements and doings of their charges at all -seasons—these are the best safeguards against escapes.</p> - -<p><!-- Page 212 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[212]</a></span> -In early days attempts to break prison were generally rude and -imperfect. Now and again a rescue was accomplished by force, at risk, -however, of a levée of the citizens in vindication of the law. This -was the case in 1439, when Phillip Malpas and Robert Marshall, the -sheriffs of London, recovered a prisoner who had been snatched from -their officers' hands. Sometimes the escape followed a riotous upheaval -of the inmates of Newgate, as when two of the Percies and Lord Egremond -were committed to Newgate for an affray in the North Country between -them and Lord Salisbury's sons. Soon after their committal these -turbulent aristocrats "broke out of prison and went to the king; the -other prisoners took to the leads of the gate, and defended it a long -while against the sheriffs and all their officers," till eventually the -aid of the citizens had to be called in. In 1520 a prisoner who was -so weak and ill that he had to be let down out of Newgate in a basket -broke through the people in the Sessions Hall, and took sanctuary in -Grey Friars Church. The rest of the story, as told by Holinshed, states -that after staying six or seven days in the church, before the sheriffs -could speak with him, "because he would not abjure (the country) and -asked a crowner, they took him hence, with violence, and cast him again -into prison, but the law served not to hang him."</p> - -<p>In the "Calendar of State Papers," under date 1593, there is a -reference to a more ingenious <!-- Page 213 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[213]</a></span>method of compassing the enlargement of -a prisoner. The scheme was to convey a living body out of Newgate in -a coffin, instead of the dead one for which it had been prepared. The -prisoner was a member of the congregation or secret conventicle, and -the coffin had been made by subscription of the whole society, at a -cost of four and eightpence. The State Papers give the examination of -one Christopher Bowman, a goldsmith, on the subject, but unfortunately -gives few details as to the meditated escape. The idea was to write -a wrong name on the coffin-lid, and no doubt to trust to a corrupt -officer within the prison for the substitution of the bodies. I find -another curious but brief reference to escapes in the State Papers -about this date. It is the endorsement of "the examination of Robert -Bellamy, of the manner of his escape from Newgate, from thence to -Scotland, and then over to Hamburgh. His arrest in the Palsgrave's -country, and his conveyance to Duke Casimir."</p> - -<p>As time passed the records become fuller, and there is more variety in -the operations of the prisoners in their efforts towards freedom. In -1663 a man escaped by his wife changing clothes with him, and got into -a hole between two walls in Thomas Court; "but though he had a rug and -food, yet the night being wet he wanted beer, and peeping out, he was -taken, is brought back prisoner, and will, it is thought, be hanged." -Sometimes the <!-- Page 214 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[214]</a></span>prisoners rose against their keepers, and tried to set -the prison on fire, hoping to get out during the confusion. This was -repeatedly tried. In 1615, for instance, and again in 1692, when the -prison was actually alight; but the fire was discovered just as certain -of the prisoners were in the act of breaking open the prison gates. -Sometimes no violence was used, but the prisoner walked off with the -connivance of his keeper. This was what occurred with Sir Nicholas -Poyntz, who escaped between Newgate and the King's Bench, on the road -to the latter prison, to which he was being transferred. The references -to this case throw some light upon the interior of Newgate in the year -1623. Poyntz had been arrested for killing a man in a street brawl. -He had been committed first to the King's Bench, whence, on pretence -of his having excited a mutiny in that prison, he was transferred to -Newgate, and lodged in a dungeon without bed or light, and compelled -to lie in a coffin. All this he sets forth in a petition to the high -and mighty prince, George, Duke of Buckingham, for whose use he paid -the sum of £500 to Sir Edward Villiers, and prays that he may have -leave to sue out his Habeas Corpus, or have back his money. No notice -having been taken of this appeal, he made shift for himself in the -manner described. He was soon afterwards retaken, as appears from -other petitions from the under-sheriffs, against whom actions had been -commenced for allowing the escape.</p> - -<p><!-- Page 215 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[215]</a></span> -Another somewhat similar case is reported in 1635, where the deputy -keeper of Newgate, Edward James by name, was attached and committed to -the Fleet for allowing Edward Lunsford, a prisoner in his custody, to -go at large. Lunsford was concerned with Lewis and others in a foul -attempt to kill Sir Thomas Pelham, on a Sunday going to church, and -committed under an order of the Star Chamber to Newgate, where he lay -for a year. His imprisonment was from time to time relaxed by James: -first that he might prosecute his suit to a gentlewoman worth £10,000; -and afterwards on account of the prosecutions against him in the Star -Chamber; ultimately on account of his lameness and sickness James gave -him liberty for the recovery of his health, and he was allowed to -lodge out of prison, his father being his surety, and promising that -he should be produced when required. But he abused his kindness, and -instead of showing himself at regular periods to the keeper, made off -altogether. All this is stated in a petition from James, who prays -for enlargement on bail that he may pursue and recapture Lunsford. -"Lunsford is so lame that he can only go in a coach, and though it -is reported that he has been at Gravelines and Cologne, yet he had -been seen in town within ten days." This petition, which is in the -State Papers, is underwritten that the Attorney-General be directed to -prosecute the petitioner in the Star Chamber, and upon it are Secretary -Windebank's notes; to the <!-- Page 216 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[216]</a></span>effect that James had received a bribe -of £14 to allow Lunsford and his companions to go abroad without a -warrant, and one of them to escape. Various sentences were proposed. -Lord Cottington suggested that James should pay a fine of £1,000 to the -king, imprisonment during pleasure, to be bound to good behaviour when -he comes out, and acknowledgments. Secretary Windebank added that he -should be put from his place; the earl marshal suggested standing with -a paper in Westminster Hall, and prosecution of the principal keeper; -Archbishop Laud concluded with whipping, and that the chief keeper -should be sent for to the Council Board.</p> - -<p>The ordinary methods of attempting escape were common enough in -Newgate. Quarrying into the walls, breaking up floors, sawing through -bars, and picking locks were frequent devices to gain release. In 1679 -several prisoners picked out the stones of the prison walls, and seven -who had been committed to Newgate for burglary escaped. No part of the -prison was safe from attack, provided only the prisoners had leisure -and were unobserved, both of which were almost a matter of course. Now -it is a passage through the back of a chimney in a room occupied by the -prisoner, now a hole through a wall into a house adjoining the prison. -Extraordinary perseverance is displayed in dealing with uncompromising -material. The meanest and seemingly most insufficient weapons served. -Bars <!-- Page 217 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[217]</a></span>are sawn through like butter;<a name="FNanchor_217:1_32" id="FNanchor_217:1_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_217:1_32" class="fnanchor">[217:1]</a> prisoners rid themselves of -their irons as though they were old rags; one man takes a bar out of -the chapel window, climbs through, and gets away over the house-tops; -a gang working in association saw through eight bars, "each as thick -as a man's wrist, leaving enough iron to keep the bars together, and -fitting up the notches with dirt and iron-rust to prevent discovery;" -but they are detected in time, and for proper security are all chained -to the floor. Another lot are discovered "working with large iron -crows," meaning to get through the floor. On this occasion "a great lot -of saws, files, pins, and other tools" were found among the prisoners, -plainly revealing the almost inconceivable license and carelessness -prevailing. Again, two men under sentence of death found means to -break out of Newgate "through walls six feet in thickness." They were -brothers, and one of them being ill, he was out of humanity removed -from his cell to an upper room, where the other was suffered to attend -him. As they were both bricklayers by trade, they easily worked through -the wall in a night, and so escaped. They were, however, retaken and -hanged. The ease with which irons are slipped is shown repeatedly. One -man having attempted to escape was <!-- Page 218 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[218]</a></span>as usual chained to the floor, -yet he managed to get himself loose from an iron collar in which his -neck was fastened and his hands extended. This man, when disengaged -from the floor, had the resolution to wring the collar from his neck -by fixing it between two of the bars of the gaol window, and thus by -main strength he broke it in two. Others cut through their handcuffs -and shackles two or three times in succession with the ease of the -Davenport brothers freeing themselves from bonds.</p> - -<p>Jack Sheppard's escapes from Newgate are historical, although much -embellished by the novelist's art. Sheppard's success was really -marvellous, but it may be explained to some extent by his indomitable -pluck, his ingenuity, and his personal activity. As he was still quite -a lad when he was hanged in 1724, he could have been barely twenty-two -at the time of his escapes. In the proclamation for his apprehension -after his second escape, he is described as about twenty-two years -of age, five feet four inches in height, very slender, of a pale -complexion, having an impediment or hesitation in his speech and -wearing a butcher's blue frock with a greatcoat over it; a carpenter -or house-joiner by trade. Twenty guineas reward was offered to any who -might discover or apprehend him. From his early apprenticeship to a -carpenter he had much skill and knowledge in the handling of tools. He -first became celebrated as a prison-breaker by his escapes from the -St. Giles's Round House and from <!-- Page 219 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[219]</a></span>the New Prison. His first escape, -from the condemned hold of Newgate, where he lay under sentence of -death, was more a proof of ingenuity than of prowess. The usual neglect -of proper precautions allowed two female visitors to have access to -him and to supply him with tools, probably a file and saw. With these -he partly divided a spike on the top of the hatch which led from the -condemned hold.</p> - -<p>Upon a second visit from his fair friends he broke off the spike, -squeezed his head and shoulders through the opening, the women then -pulling him through. How he got past the lodge where the turnkeys were -carousing is not recorded, but it was probably in female disguise. -His second escape, following his recapture, and a second sentence -of death, was much more remarkable. This escape was, however, only -rendered possible by the negligence of his keepers. They visited him -at dinner-time, and after a careful examination of his irons, having -satisfied themselves that he was quite secure, left him for the day. -Released thus from all surveillance, time was all that Sheppard needed -to effect his escape.</p> - -<p>He had been chained to the floor by heavy irons, which were riveted -into a staple fixed in the ground. Various fancy sketches exist of the -means of restraint employed, but none can be relied upon as accurate -or authentic. Some irons still in existence at Newgate may be akin to -those by which Sheppard <!-- Page 220 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[220]</a></span>was secured, but they are hardly the identical -fetters. Sheppard was also handcuffed. He is said to have rid himself -of these by holding the connecting chain firmly between his teeth, -squeezing his fingers as small as possible, and drawing the manacles -off. "He next twisted the gyves,<a name="FNanchor_220:1_33" id="FNanchor_220:1_33"></a><a href="#Footnote_220:1_33" class="fnanchor">[220:1]</a> the heavy gyves, round and -round, and partly by main strength, partly by a dexterous, well-applied -jerk, snapped asunder the central link by which they were attached -to the padlock." He was now free to move about, but the basils still -confined his ankles, and he dragged at every step the long connecting -chain. He drew up the basils on his calf, and removing his stockings, -used them to tie up the chains to his legs. He first attempted to -climb up the chimney, but his upward progress was impeded by an iron -bar that crossed the aperture. He descended, therefore, and from the -outside, with a piece of his broken chain set to work to pick out the -stones and bricks so as to release the bar. This he accomplished and -thus obtained an implement about an inch square and nearly a yard long, -which was of the utmost service to him in his further operations. -The room in which he had been confined was a part of the so-called -"castle;" above it was the "Red-room," and into this he effected an -entrance by climbing the chimney and making <!-- Page 221 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[221]</a></span>a fresh hole on the level -of the floor above. In the "Red-room" he found a rusty nail, with which -he tried to pick the lock, but failing in this, he wrenched off the -plate that covered the bolt and forced the bolt back with his fingers. -This Red-room door opened on to a dark passage leading to the chapel. -There was a door in it which he opened by making a hole in the wall -and pushing the bolt back, and so reached the chapel. Thence he got -into an entry between the chapel and the lower leads. "The door of -this entry was very strong,<a name="FNanchor_221:1_34" id="FNanchor_221:1_34"></a><a href="#Footnote_221:1_34" class="fnanchor">[221:1]</a> and fastened with a great lock. -What was worse, the night had now overtaken him, and he was forced to -work in the dark. However, in half an hour, by the help of the great -nail, the chapel spike, and the iron bar, he forced off the box of the -lock and opened the door which led him to another yet more difficult, -for it was not only locked, but barred and bolted. When he had tried -in vain to make this lock and box give way, he wrenched the fillet -from the main post of the door and the box and staples came off with -it. . . . There was yet another door betwixt him and the lower leads; -but it being bolted within side he opened it easily, and mounting to -the top of it he got over the wall and so to the upper leads." All that -remained for him to do was to descend. There was a house adjoining, -that of Mr. Bird, a turner, on to which he might drop, but <!-- Page 222 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[222]</a></span>he deemed -the leap too dangerous, and coolly resolved to retrace his steps to the -prison chamber, from whence he had so laboriously issued, and secure -his blanket. Having accomplished this risky service, he returned to the -leads, made fast his blanket, slid down it, entered the turner's house -by a garret window, and eventually, after some delay and no little -danger of detection, got away down into the street.</p> - -<p>Mr. Austin, the Newgate turnkey, who was specially in charge of -Sheppard, and who, on unbolting the castle strong room next morning, -found that his prisoner was gone, was amazed beyond measure. The whole -of the prison warders ran up, and at sight of the cart-loads of rubbish -and débris "stood like men deprived of their senses." After their first -surprise they got their keys to open the neighbouring strong rooms, -hoping that he might not have got entirely away. It was not difficult -to follow his track. Six great doors, one of which it was said had not -been opened for seven years, had been forced, and their massive locks, -screws, and bolts lay broken in pieces, and scattered about the gaol. -Last of all they came to the blanket hanging pendent from the leads, -and it was plain that Sheppard was already far beyond pursuit.</p> - -<p>It may be interesting to mention here that he was recaptured, mainly -through his own negligence and drunkenness, within a fortnight of -his escape. In the interval, after ridding himself of his irons, <!-- Page 223 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[223]</a></span>he -had committed several fresh robberies, the most successful being a -burglary at a pawnbroker's, where he furnished himself with the fine -suit, sword, and snuff-box he possessed at the time of his arrest. -"When he was brought back to the gaol," says a contemporary account, -"he was very drunk, carry'd himself insolently, defy'd the keepers -to hold him with all their irons, art, and skill." He was by this -time quite a notorious personage. "Nothing contributes so much to -the entertainment of the town at present," says another journal of -the time, "as the adventures of the house-breaker and gaol-breaker, -John Sheppard. 'Tis thought the keepers of Newgate have got above -£200 already by the crowds who daily flock to see him." "On Wednesday -several noblemen visited him." He sat for his portrait to Sir James -Thornhill, the eminent painter,<a name="FNanchor_223:1_35" id="FNanchor_223:1_35"></a><a href="#Footnote_223:1_35" class="fnanchor">[223:1]</a> and the likeness was <!-- Page 224 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[224]</a></span>reproduced -in a mezzotint which had a large circulation. Seven different histories -or narratives of his adventures were published and illustrated with -numerous engravings. His importance was further increased by the -special instructions issued to the Attorney-General to bring him to -immediate trial. A letter from the Duke of Newcastle, then Secretary of -State, is preserved in the Hardwicke MSS., wherein that great official -condescends to convey the king's commands to Sir Philip Yorke that -Sheppard, having made two very extraordinary escapes, and being a very -dangerous person, should be forthwith brought to trial, "to the end -that execution may without delay be awarded against him." This letter -is dated the 6th November; he was arraigned on the 10th, found guilty, -and sentenced the same day. His execution took place on the 16th -November, just one month after his escape. He exhibited great coolness -and effrontery during his trial. He told the court that if they would -let his handcuffs be put on he by his art would take them off before -their faces. The largest crowds ever seen in London paid testimony to -his notoriety as he passed through the streets; and Westminster Hall -had not been so densely thronged in the memory of man as at the time of -his trial. No pains were spared to ensure his safe custody in Newgate. -He was chained to the floor in the condemned hold, and constantly -watched night and day by two guards.</p> - -<p><!-- Page 225 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[225]</a></span> -But up to the last Sheppard entertained schemes for eluding justice. -He had obtained a penknife by some means or other, and he had intended -to cut his cords while actually in the cart going to Tyburn, throw -himself in amongst the crowd at a place called Little Turnstile, and -run for his life through the narrow passage, along which the mounted -officers could not follow him. But this plan was nullified by the -discovery of the knife on his person just before he left Newgate. It -is said that he had also hopes of resuscitation, and that friends had -agreed to cut him down promptly, and to apply the usual restoratives. -This scheme, if it had ever existed, was probably rendered abortive by -the proceedings of the mob after the execution.</p> - -<p>Sheppard had many imitators, but few equals. Possibly the ease with -which he broke prison led to an increase in precautions, and I can -find no other cases of evasion in Jack Sheppard's manner. There are -several instances of attempted escapes by the reverse process, not over -the walls, but through them or along the sewers. Burnworth, while in -Newgate in 1726, projected a plan of escape. He got an iron crow, and -assisted by certain prisoners, pulled stones out of the walls, while -others sung psalms to put the turnkeys off their guard. Next day the -officers came to remove five convicts awaiting execution, but found the -room so full of stones and rubbish that some hours elapsed before the -prisoners could be got out, and Burnworth was still <!-- Page 226 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[226]</a></span>in durance. Joshua -Dean, capitally convicted in 1731 for counterfeiting stamps, formed -a design with seven other prisoners awaiting transportation to the -plantations to break gaol. They found means to get down into the common -sewer, no doubt by taking up the floor. Thence four of them reached a -vault under a house in Fleet Lane, and so into the shop, through which -three got off, but the fourth was secured and carried back to Newgate. -The fate of two at least of the remaining three was not known till -long afterwards. In 1736, a certain Daniel Malden, who had already -escaped once, again got out of Newgate, by sawing his chains near the -staple with which they were fastened to the wall of the condemned hold -and getting through the brickwork and dropping into the common sewer. -"Several persons were employed to search after him, but to no purpose, -though the chains about him weighed nearly a hundred pounds." Malden -was not discovered, but the searchers came upon "the bodies of two -persons who had been smothered in trying to escape." These were no -doubt two of those mentioned above. This method of evasion continued to -be practised till long afterwards. In 1785 two convicts cut a hole in -the floor of their cell, and got into the common sewer to make their -escape. "But wading till they were almost suffocated, they at length -reached the gully-hole, and calling for help, were taken out alive, but -too weak to walk, and carried to their former quarters."</p> - -<p><!-- Page 227 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[227]</a></span> -Daniel Malden, who twice in successive years escaped from the -condemned hold in Newgate, in a manner little less surprising, although -less notorious, than Jack Sheppard, had been a man-of-war's man, and -served on several of his Majesty's ships. After his discharge he took -to burglary and street-robberies, for which he was presently arrested -and sentenced to suffer death. While lying in the condemned hold, on -the very morning of his execution he effected his escape. A previous -occupant of the same cell in the condemned hold had told him that -a certain plank was loose in the floor, which he found to be true. -Accordingly, between ten and eleven on the night of October 21, 1736, -before execution, he began to work, and raised up the plank with the -foot of a stool that was in the cell. He soon made a hole through the -arch under the floor big enough for his body to pass through, and so -dropped into a cell below from which another convict had previously -escaped. The window-bar of this cell remained cut just as it had been -left after this last escape, and Malden easily climbed through with -all his irons still on him into the press-yard. When there he waited -a bit, till, seeing "all things quiet," he pulled off his shoes and -went softly up into the chapel, where he observed a small breach in -the wall. He enlarged it and so got into the penthouse. Making his way -through the penthouse, he passed on to the roof. At last, using his -own words, "I got upon the top of the cells by the ordinary's <!-- Page 228 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[228]</a></span>house, -having made my way from the top of the chapel upon the roofs of the -houses, and all round the chimneys of the cells over the ordinary's -house;" from this he climbed along the roofs to that of an empty house, -and finding one of the garret windows open, entered it and passed down -three pairs of stairs into the kitchen, where he put on his shoes -again, "which I had made shift to carry in my hand all the way I came, -and with rags and pieces of my jacket wrapped my irons close to my legs -as if I had been gouty or lame; then I got out at the kitchen window, -up one pair of stairs into Phœnix Court, and from thence through the -streets to my home in Nightingale Lane."</p> - -<p>Here he lay till six o'clock, then sent for a smith, who knocked off -his irons, and took them away with him for his pains. Then he asked for -his wife, who came to him; but while they were at breakfast, hearing a -noise in the yard, he made off, and took refuge at Mrs. Newman's, "the -sign of the Black-boy, Millbank; there I was kept private and locked up -four days alone and no soul by myself."</p> - -<p>Venturing out on the fifth day, he heard they were in pursuit of him, -and again took refuge, this time in the house of a Mrs. Franklin. -From thence he despatched a shoemaker with a message to his wife, and -letters to two gentlemen in the city. But the messenger betrayed him to -the Newgate officers, and in about an hour "the house was beset. I hid -<!-- Page 229 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[229]</a></span>myself," says Malden, "behind the shutters in the yard, and my wife -was drinking tea in the house. The keepers, seeing her, cried, 'Your -humble servant, madam; where is your spouse?' I heard them, and knowing -I was not safe, endeavoured to get over a wall, when some of them -espyed me, crying, 'Here he is!' upon which they immediately laid hold -of me, carried me back to Newgate, put me into the old condemned hold -as the strongest place, and stapled me down to the floor."</p> - -<p>Nothing daunted by this first failure, he resolved to attempt a second -escape. A fellow prisoner conveyed a knife to him, and on the night of -June 6, 1737, he began to saw the staple to which he was fastened in -two. His own story is worth quoting.</p> - -<p>"I worked through it with much difficulty, and with one of my irons -wrenched it open and got it loose. Then I took down, with the -assistance of my knife, a stone in front of the seat in the corner of -the condemned hold: when I had got the stone down, I found there was a -row of strong iron bars under the seat through which I could not get, -so I was obliged to work under these bars and open a passage below -them. To do this I had no tool but my old knife, and in doing the work -my nails were torn off the ends of my fingers, and my hands were in a -dreadful, miserable condition. At last I opened a hole just big enough -for me to squeeze through, and in I went head foremost, but one of my -legs, <!-- Page 230 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[230]</a></span>my irons being on, stuck very fast in the hole, and by this -leg I hung in the inside of the vault with my head downward for half -an hour or more. I thought I should be stifled in this sad position, -and was just going to call out for help, when, turning myself up, I -happened to reach the bars. I took fast hold of them by one hand, and -with the other disengaged my leg to get it out of the hole."</p> - -<p>When clear he had still a drop of some thirty feet, and to break his -fall he fastened a piece of blanket he had about him to one of the -bars, hoping to lower himself down; but it broke, and he fell with -much violence into a hole under the vault, "my fetters causing me to -fall very heavy, and here I stuck for a considerable time." This hole -proved to be a funnel, "very narrow and straight; I had torn my flesh -in a terrible manner by the fall, but was forced to tear myself much -worse in squeezing through." He stuck fast and could not stir either -backward or forward for more than half an hour. "But at last, what with -squeezing my body, tearing my flesh off my bones, and the weight of my -irons, which helped me a little here, I worked myself through."</p> - -<p>The funnel communicated with the main sewer, in which, as well as he -could, he cleaned himself. "My shirt and breeches were torn in pieces, -but I washed them in the muddy water, and walked through the sewer as -far as I could, my irons being very heavy on me and incommoding me -much." <!-- Page 231 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[231]</a></span>Now a new danger overtook him: his escape had been discovered -and its direction. Several of the Newgate runners had therefore been -let into the sewer to look for him. "And here," he says, "I had been -taken again had I not found a hollow place in the side of the brickwork -into which I crowded myself, and they passed by me twice while I -stood in that nook." He remained forty-eight hours in the sewer, but -eventually got out in a yard "against the pump in Town Ditch, behind -Christ's Hospital." Once more he narrowly escaped detection, for a -woman in the yard saw and suspected him to be after no good. However, -he was suffered to go free, and got as far as Little Britain, where he -came across a friend who gave him a pot of beer and procured a smith to -knock off his fetters.</p> - -<p>Malden's adventures after this were very varied. He got first to -Enfield, when some friends subscribed forty-five shillings to buy him -a suit of clothes at Rag Fair. Thence he passed over to Flushing, -where he was nearly persuaded to take foreign service, but he refused -and returned to England in search of his wife. Finding her, the two -wandered about the country taking what work they could find. While at -Canterbury, employed in the hop-fields, he was nearly discovered by a -fellow who beat the drum in a show, and who spoke of him openly as "a -man who had broken twice out of Newgate." Next he turned jockey, and -while thus employed was betrayed by a man to whom he had <!-- Page 232 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[232]</a></span>been kind. -Malden was carried before the Canterbury justices on suspicion of being -the man who had escaped from Newgate, and a communication was sent to -the authorities of that prison. Mr. Akerman and two of his officers -came in person to identify the prisoner, and, if the true Malden, to -convey him back to London. But Malden once more nearly gave his gaolers -the slip. He obtained somehow an old saw, "a spike such as is used for -splicing ropes, a piece of an old sword jagged and notched, and an old -knife." These he concealed rather imprudently upon his person, where -they were seen and taken from him, otherwise Mr. Akerman, as Malden -told him, "would have been like to have come upon a Canterbury story" -instead of the missing prisoner. However, the Newgate officers secured -Malden effectually, and brought him to London on the 26th of September, -1737, which he reached "guarded by about thirty or forty horsemen, -the roads all the way being lined with spectators." "Thus was I got -to London," he says in his last dying confession, "handcuffed, and my -legs chained under the horse's belly; I got to Newgate that Sunday -evening about five o'clock, and rid quite up into the lodge, where I -was taken off my horse, then was conveyed up to the old condemned hole, -handcuffed, and chained to the floor."</p> - -<p>On Friday, the 15th October, the last day of Sessions, Malden was -called into court and informed that his former judgment of death must -be executed <!-- Page 233 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[233]</a></span>upon him, and he was accordingly hanged upon the 2d -November following.</p> - -<p>Stratagem and disguise in some shape or other were, however, the -most favourite and generally the most successful forms of escape. -Extraordinary and quite culpable facilities for changing clothes -were given by the lax discipline of the prison. The substitution of -persons, devoted wife or friend, taking the place of the accused, as -in the story of Sydney Carton, as told by Dickens; or the well-known -exchange between Lord and Lady Nithsdale, which occurred at Newgate. -George Flint, an imprisoned journalist, who continued to edit his -objectionable periodical from the prison, got away in the costume of -a footman. His wife was suffered to live with him, and helped him -to the disguise. She concealed the escape for two or three days, -pretending that her husband was dangerously ill in bed, and not fit to -be disturbed; for which fidelity to her husband, who was now beyond -the seas, having made the most of the time thus gained, Mrs. Flint -was cast into the condemned hold, and "used after a most barbarous -manner to extort a confession." Another very similar and unsuccessful -case was that of Alexander Scott, a highwayman suspected of robbing -the Worcester and Portsmouth mails. Scott attempted to get out in the -"habit" of an oyster-woman, whom his wife had persuaded to favour their -design. The change was made, and the lodge bell rung to give egress to -<!-- Page 234 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[234]</a></span>Scott. Unfortunately for the prisoner the gatekeeper was dilatory. -Meanwhile, an assistant turnkey, missing Scott, conjectured that he -had escaped, and seeing the oyster-woman standing at the gate, began -to question her, and insisted upon looking at her face. Scott being -at once detected, he struck the turnkey a blow in the face, hoping to -knock him down. A scuffle ensued, the turnkey proved the strongest, and -Scott was secured.</p> - -<p>Female disguise was one of the many methods employed by the imprisoned -Jacobites to compass escape, but it was not always successful. Among -others Mr. Barlow of Burton Hall tried it. In the first instance a -crazy woman, Elizabeth Powell, well known in Westminster Market, -came to Mr. Barlow with a whole suit of female apparel, but "he, -fearing it might be a trick, or that he might fail in the attempt, -discovered her." A week or two later, as if inspired by the proposal, -Mr. Barlow did make the attempt. Close shaved and neatly dressed in -female clothes, he came to the gate with a crowd of ladies who had -been visiting their Jacobite friends, hoping to pass out unobserved -with the others. But the turnkey—escapes had been very frequent, -and all officials were on the alert—caught hold of him, turned him -about, and in the struggle threw him down. The rest of the women cried -out in a lamentable tone, "Don't hurt the poor lady; she is with -child;" and some of them cried, "Oh, my dear mother!" whereupon the -turnkey, <!-- Page 235 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[235]</a></span>convinced he had to do with a lady, let him go. Mr. Barlow, -says the account, acted the part to the life. He was padded, his -face was painted red and white, and he would certainly have made his -escape had not Mr. Carleton Smith, one of the special commissioners -appointed to ensure the safe custody of the rebels, strictly examined -the would-be fugitive and detected his disguise. Mr. Barlow offered -Smith ten guineas to let him go, but instead of accepting the bribe, -Mr. Smith carried his prisoner just as he was, in female disguise, -before the court then sitting at the Old Bailey. Mr. Barlow declared -that the clothes had been brought him by his wife. "The court," says -the account, "was very well pleased to see him thus metamorphosed, but -ordered him to be put in heavy irons, and the clothes to be kept as a -testimony against him."</p> - -<p>The circumstances under which Mr. Pitt, the governor of Newgate, was -superseded in his functions have been described in a previous chapter. -Mr. Pitt was so strongly suspected of Jacobite leanings that he was -tried for his life. No doubt escapes were scandalously frequent -during his régime, and it is just possible that they were due to the -governor's complicity, although Mr. Pitt was actually acquitted of -the charge. More probably they owed their success to the ingenuity of -desperate men easily triumphing over the prevailing carelessness of -their keepers. The first escape which made a considerable noise was -that of Mr. Forster, <!-- Page 236 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[236]</a></span>commonly known as General Forster, who headed -the Northumbrian rising in 1715, and lost the battle of Preston Pans. -Mr. Forster was allowed considerable liberty, and lodged in apartments -in the keeper's house. One afternoon, when Forster and another were -drinking "French wine" with Mr. Pitt, Mr. Forster sent his servant to -fetch a bottle of wine from his own stock to "make up the treat." The -servant on pretence of going to the vault left the room. Being long -away, Mr. Forster pretended to be very angry, and followed him out. -Meanwhile the servant had sent the governor's black man, a species -of hybrid turnkey, down to the cellar for the wine, and had locked -him up there. The black thus disposed of, Forster's servant returned -and waited for his master just outside Mr. Pitt's parlour door. Being -an adept at the locksmith's art, as well as a smart and intelligent -fellow, the servant had previously obtained an impression in clay of -Mr. Pitt's front door key, and had manufactured a counterfeit key. -Directly Mr. Forster appeared, the front door was unlocked, master and -servant passed through and went off together, first taking care to -lock the door on the outside and leave the key in the lock to prevent -their being readily pursued. Mr. Forster got to Prittlewell in Essex -by four o'clock next morning, with two more horsemen that had been -waiting to attend them. From Prittlewell, they hastened on to Leigh, -where a vessel was provided, in which they made a safe <!-- Page 237 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[237]</a></span>voyage to -France. "By this it appears," says the chronicler, evidently a stout -Whig, "that Mr. Forster was much better skilled in contriving an escape -than leading an army, which shows the weakness of the Pretender and -his council, who put so great a trust in the hands of a person who was -altogether unfit for it, and never made other campaign than to hunt a -fox and drink down his companions."</p> - -<p>The next attempt was on a larger scale. It was planned by Brigadier -Macintosh, with whom were Mr. Wogan, two of the Delmehoys, Mr. James -Talbot, and the brigadier's son, with several others, to the number of -fifteen in all. The prime mover was the brigadier, who, having "made a -shift to get off his irons, and coming down with them in his hand under -his gown, caused a servant to knock at the gaol door outside, himself -sitting close by it." As soon as the door was opened he pushed out -with great violence, knocking down the turnkey and two or three of the -sentinels. One of the soldiers made a thrust at him with his bayonet; -but the brigadier parried the charge, seized the piece, unscrewed the -bayonet, and "menaced it at the breast of the soldier, who thereupon -gave way and suffered him and fourteen more to get into the street." -Eight of the fugitives were almost immediately recaptured, but the -other gentlemen got clean off. One of them was Mr. James Talbot, -who, unhappily, fell again into the hands of the authorities. He was -discovered by the chance gossip <!-- Page 238 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[238]</a></span>of a garrulous maid servant, who, -chattering at an ale-house in Windmill Street, near the Haymarket, -said her master had a cousin come to see him who had the whitest hands -she ever saw in her life. This caused suspicion, and suspicion brought -discovery. A reward of £500 had been offered by proclamation for the -arrest of any fugitives, except the brigadier, who was valued at -£1,000, and Talbot was given up.</p> - -<p>The escapes did not end here. The next to get away was Mr. George -Budden, an upholsterer, who had a shop near Fleet Bridge, a Jacobite, -but not in the rebellion of 1715. He effected his escape at the time -when Mr. Pitt was himself a prisoner, suspected of collusion in the -previous evasions. Mr. Budden's plan was simple. He was possessed of -money, and had friends who could help to convey him away could he but -get out of Newgate. One night as he sat drinking with the head turnkey, -Mr. Budden purposely insulted the officer grossly, and even went so -far as to strike him. The turnkey was furious, and carried off his -prisoner to the lodge, there to be heavily ironed, Mr. Budden trusting -that either on the way there or back he might contrive to escape. On -reaching the lodge Mr. Budden apologized and "made atonement to the -good-natured keeper, who was a little mellower than ordinary," and was -led back to his former apartment; on the way he turned up the keeper's -heels and made off through the gate. Once <!-- Page 239 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[239]</a></span>outside, Budden ran into -Newgate Market, and thence by many windings and turnings out of London, -riding post-haste seventy miles to the coast, and so across to France.</p> - -<p>There were other attempts, such as that of Mr. Robertson, who tried to -make off in a clergyman's habit, but was discovered and stopped before -he had passed one of the doors; and of Mr. Ramsay, who escaped with -the crowd that came to hear the condemned sermon. Now and then there -was the concerted action of a number, as when the prisoners thronged -about the gates in order to make their escape. Trouble, again, was only -prevented by timely warning that there was a design to convey large -iron crows to the rebels, by which they might beat open the gaol and -escape. The most important and about the last of the rebel escapes was -that of Mr. Ratcliffe, brother of the unfortunate Lord Derwentwater. -This was effected so easily, indeed, with so much cool impudence, that -connivance must assuredly have been bought. Mr. Ratcliffe seized his -opportunity one day when he was paying a visit to Captain Dalziel and -others on the master's side. At the gate he met by previous agreement -a "cane-jobber," or person who sold walking-sticks, and who had once -been an inmate of Newgate himself. Mr. Ratcliffe paused for a time and -bargained for a cane, after which he passed under the iron chain at the -gate, and upon the cane-seller's saying that he was no prisoner, the -turnkey and guard suffered <!-- Page 240 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[240]</a></span>Ratcliffe to get off. The author of the -"History of the Press-yard" says that Mr. Ratcliffe bribed the officer, -"which," as another writer adds, "must be owned to be the readiest way -to turn both lock and key."</p> - -<p>Mr. Ratcliffe, thirty years later, paid the penalty to the law which -he had escaped on this occasion. A warm adherent of the Pretender, he -embarked from France for Scotland to take part in the Jacobite rising -in 1745. The French ship was captured, and Ratcliffe sent as a prisoner -to the Tower. He was presently arraigned at the bar of the King's -Bench for having escaped from Newgate in 1716, when under sentence of -death for high treason. Ratcliffe at first refused to plead, declaring -that he was a subject of the French king, and that the court had no -jurisdiction over him. Then he denied that he was the person named -in the record produced in court, whereupon witnesses were called to -prove that he was Charles Ratcliffe. Two Northumbrian men identified -him as the leader of five hundred of the Earl of Derwentwater's men, -remembering him by the scar on his face. They had been to see him in -the Tower, and could swear to him; but could not swear that he was the -same Charles Ratcliffe who had escaped from Newgate prison. A barber -who had been appointed "close shaver" to Newgate in 1715, and who -attended the prison daily to shave all the rebel prisoners, remembered -Charles Ratcliffe, Esq., perfectly as the <!-- Page 241 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[241]</a></span>chum or companion of Basil -Hamilton, a reputed nephew of the Duke of Hamilton; but this barber, -when closely pressed, could not swear that the prisoner at the bar -was the very same Charles Ratcliffe whom he had shaved, and who had -afterwards escaped out of Newgate. No evidence indeed was forthcoming -to positively fix Mr. Ratcliffe's identity; but "a gentleman" was -called who deposed that the prisoner had in the Tower declared himself -to be the same Charles Ratcliffe who was condemned in the year 1716, -and had likewise told him, the witness, that he had made his escape -out of Newgate in mourning, with a brown tie wig, when under sentence -of death in that gaol. Upon this evidence the judge summed up against -the prisoner, the jury found a verdict of guilty, and Ratcliffe was -eventually beheaded on Tower Hill.</p> - - -<hr class="footnotes" /> -<p class="sectctrfn">FOOTNOTES:</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_217:1_32" id="Footnote_217:1_32"></a><a href="#FNanchor_217:1_32"><span class="label">[217:1]</span></a> The most ingenious and painstaking attempt of this -kind was that made by some Thugs awaiting sentence in India, who sawed -through the bars of their prison with packthread smeared with oil and -coated with fine stone-dust.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_220:1_33" id="Footnote_220:1_33"></a><a href="#FNanchor_220:1_33"><span class="label">[220:1]</span></a> Taken from the text of Ainsworth's novel, which gives -a clear and picturesque account. It is also accurate, and based on the -best accounts extant.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_221:1_34" id="Footnote_221:1_34"></a><a href="#FNanchor_221:1_34"><span class="label">[221:1]</span></a> Quoted from the "Tyburn Calendar," the wording of -which is copied in all other accounts.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_223:1_35" id="Footnote_223:1_35"></a><a href="#FNanchor_223:1_35"><span class="label">[223:1]</span></a> The following stanzas were written at the time, and -appeared in the <cite>British Journal</cite> of Nov. 28, 1724:</p> - -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="line">"Thornhill, 'tis thine to gild with fame</div> - <div class="line indentq">The obscure and raise the humble name;</div> - <div class="line indentq">To make the form elude the grave,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And Sheppard from oblivion save.</div> - <div class="line indentq">Tho' life in vain the wretch implores,</div> - <div class="line indentq">An exile on the farthest shores,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Thy pencil brings a kind reprieve,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And bids the dying robber live.</div> - <div class="line indentq poemellipsis">. . . . . . .</div> - <div class="line indentq">Apelles Alexander drew,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Cæsar is to Aurelius due,</div> - <div class="line indentq">Cromwell in Lilly's works doth shine,</div> - <div class="line indentq">And Sheppard, Thornhill, lives in thine."</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="newchapter" /> -<p><!-- Page 242 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[242]</a></span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak"><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII<br /> - -<small>NEWGATE IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY</small></h2> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p class="hang">Newgate Calendars—Their editors and publishers—All based -on sessions' papers—Demand for this literature fostered -by prevalence of crime—Brief summary of state of crime -in the first half of the 18th century—State of the -metropolis—Street-robberies—Burglaries—Henry Fielding on -the increase of robbers—The Thieves' Company—The Resolution -Club—Defiance in the Law Courts—Causes of the increase of -crime—Drunkenness—The Gin Act—Gaming universal—Faro's -daughters—State Lotteries—Repression of crime limited -by hanging—No police—The "Charlies" or watchmen—Civil -power lethargic—Efforts made by private societies for -reformation of manners—Character of crimes—Murders, -duels, and affrays—Richard Savage, the poet, in Newgate -for murder—Major Oneby commits suicide—Marquis de Paleoti -committed for murder—Colonel Charteris sentenced to death, -but pardoned—Crime in high place—The Earl of Macclesfield, -Lord Chancellor, convicted of venal practices—Embezzlement -by public officials.</p> -</div> - - -<p>Prison calendars obviously reflect the criminal features of the age -in which they appear. Those of Newgate since the beginning of the -eighteenth century are numerous and voluminous enough to form a -literature of their own. To the diligence of lawyers and publishers -we owe a more or less <!-- Page 243 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[243]</a></span>complete collection of the most remarkable -cases as they occurred. These volumes have been published under -various titles. The "Newgate Calendar," compiled by Messrs. Knapp -and Baldwin, attorneys at law, is one of the best known. This work, -according to its title-page, professes to contain "interesting memoirs -of notorious characters who have been convicted of outrages on the -law of England; with essays on crimes and punishments and the last -exclamations of sufferers." There are many editions of it. The first -was undoubtedly published by Nuttall, Fisher, and Dixon, of Liverpool; -a later edition issued from the Albion Press, Ivy Lane, London, under -the auspices of J. Robins and Co. But another book of similar character -had as its compiler "George Theodore Wilkinson, Esq.," barrister at -law. It was published by Cornish and Co. in 1814, and the work was -continued by "William Jackson, Esq.," another barrister, with Alexander -Hogg, of Paternoster Row, and by Offor and Sons of Tower Hill as -publishers. Early and perfect editions of these works are somewhat -rare and curious, fondly sought out and carefully treasured by the -bibliophile. But all of them were anticipated by the editors of the -"Tyburn Calendar," or "Malefactor's Bloody Register," which appeared -soon after 1700 from the printing-office of G. Swindells, at the -appropriate address of Hanging Bridge, Manchester. The compilers of -these volumes claimed a high mission. They desired "to <!-- Page 244 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[244]</a></span>fully display -the regular progress from Virtue to Vice, interspersed with striking -reflections on the conduct of those unhappy wretches who have fallen -a sacrifice to the injured laws of their country. The whole tending -to guard young minds from allurements of vice and the paths that lead -to destruction." Another early work is the "Chronicle of Tyburn, or -Villainy displayed in all its branches," which gave the authentic lives -of notorious malefactors, and was published at the Shakespeare's Head -in 1720. Yet another, dated 1776, and printed for J. Wenman, of 144 -Fleet Street, bears the title of "The Annals of Newgate," and claims, -upon the title-page, that by giving the circumstantial accounts of -the lives, transactions, and trials of the most notorious malefactors -it is "calculated to expose the deformity of vice, the infamy, and -punishments naturally attending those who deviate from the paths of -virtue; and is intended as a beacon to warn the rising generation -against the temptations, the allurements, and the dangers of bad -company."</p> - -<p>All Newgate calendars have seemingly a common origin. They are all -based primarily upon the sessions' papers, the official publications -which record the proceedings at the Old Bailey. There is a complete -early series of these sessions' papers in the Library of the British -Museum, and another in the Home Office from the year 1730, including -the December sessions in 1729. The publisher, who <!-- Page 245 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[245]</a></span>is stated on the -title-page to be "T. Payne, at the corner of Ivy Lane, near Paternoster -Row," refers in his preface to an earlier series, dating probably from -the beginning of the century, and a manuscript note in the margin of -the first volume of the second series also speaks of a preceding folio -volume. These sessions' papers did not issue from one publisher. As the -years pass the publication changes hands. Now it is "J. Wilford, behind -the Chapter House, St. Paul's;" now "I. Roberts at the Oxford Arms -in Warwick Lane." Ere long "T. Applebee in Bolt Court, near the Leg -Tavern," turns his attention to this interesting class of periodical -literature. He also published another set of semi-official documents, -several numbers of which are bound up with the sessions' papers already -mentioned, and like them supplying important data for the compilation -of calendars. These were the accounts given by the ordinary of Newgate -of the behaviour, confessions, and dying words of the malefactors -executed at Tyburn, a report rendered by command of the mayor and -Corporation, but a private financial venture of the chaplain's. As -the ordinary had free access to condemned convicts at all times, and -from his peculiar duties generally established the most confidential -relations with them, he was in a position to obtain much curious and -often authentic information from the lips of the doomed offenders. -Hence the ordinary's account contained many criminal autobiographies, -and probably <!-- Page 246 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[246]</a></span>was much patronized by the public. Its sale was a part -of the reverend gentleman's perquisites; and that the chaplains looked -closely after the returns may be gathered from the already mentioned -application made by the Rev. Mr. Lorraine, chaplain in 1804, who -petitioned Parliament to exempt his "execution brochure" from the paper -tax.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><a name="Newgateprison" id="Newgateprison"></a> - <img src="images/i_246.jpg" width="600" height="381" alt="" /> - <p class="caption"><i>Newgate</i></p> - - <div class="blockquot"> - <p>The most notorious prison in England and the most interesting - because intimately connected with the early annals of London. - Chancellor's Gate to the City of London, originally called - Westgate, was rebuilt in the reign of Henry I and named - Newgate. When the county of Middlesex was added to the - territory of London, Newgate was first used as a place of - detention for prisoners from that county.</p> - </div> -</div> - -<p>In the advertisement sheets of these sessions' papers are notices -of other criminal publications, proving how great was the demand -for this kind of literature. Thus in 1731 is announced "The History -of Executions: being a complete account of the thirteen malefactors -executed at Tyburn for robberies, price 4<i>d.</i>," and this publication -is continued from year to year. In 1732 "T. Applebee and others" -published at 3<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i> the "Lives of the Most Remarkable Criminals," -a volume containing as a frontispiece the escape of Jack Sheppard from -Newgate. In the description of this book the public is assured that the -volume contains a first and faithful narration of each case, "without -any additions of feigned or romantic adventures, calculated merely -to entertain the curiosity of the reader." Jack Sheppard had many -biographers. Seven accurate and authentic histories were published, all -purporting to give the true story of his surprising adventures, and -bequeathing a valuable legacy to the then unborn historical novelist, -Mr. Harrison Ainsworth. Again, Rich, the manager of the Lincoln's -Inn Theatre, brought out "Harlequin Jack Sheppard" <!-- Page 247 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[247]</a></span>in the year -of that desperado's execution, an operatic pantomime founded upon -his exploits. A little before this another dramatic performance, the -"Beggar's Opera," having a criminal for its hero, had taken the town -by storm; and many strongly and with reason condemned the degradation -of national taste which could popularize the loves of "Polly Peachum" -and "Captain Macheath." Besides these books and plays there was a -constant publication of broad sheets and chap-books of a still lower -type, intended to pander to the same unwholesome taste, while a great -novelist like Fielding did not hesitate to draw upon his personal -acquaintance with crime, obtained as a police magistrate, and write the -life of Jonathan Wild.</p> - -<p>The demand was no doubt fostered by the extraordinary prevalence -of crime in England. Criminal records would probably be read with -avidity at times when ruffianism was in the ascendant, and offences -of the most heinous description were of daily occurrence. New crimes -cropped up daily. The whole country was a prey to lawlessness and -disorder. Outrages of all kinds, riots, robberies, murders, took place -continually. None of the high-roads or by-roads were safe by night or -day. Horsemen in the open country, footpads in or near towns, harassed -and pillaged wayfarers. Armed parties ranged the rural districts -attacking country-houses in force, driving off cattle and deer, and -striking terror everywhere.</p> - -<p><!-- Page 248 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[248]</a></span> -The general turbulence often broke out into open disturbance. The -Riot Act, which was a product of these times, was not passed before -it was needed. Riots were frequent in town and country. The mob was -easily roused, as when it broke open the house of the Provost Marshal -Tooley in Holborn, to whom they owed a grudge for impressing men to -sell as recruits to Flanders. They burned his furniture in the street, -and many persons were killed and wounded in the affray. Now political -parties, inflamed with rancorous spirit, created uproars in the "mug -houses;" now mutinous soldiers violently protested against the coarse -linen of their "Hanover" shirts; again the idle flunkies at a London -theatre rose in revolt against new rules introduced by the management -and produced a serious riot. In the country gangs of ruffians disguised -in female attire, the forerunners of Rebecca and her daughter, ran -amuck against turnpike gates, demolishing all they found. There were -smuggling riots, when armed crowds overpowered the customs officers -and broke into warehouses sealed by the Crown; corn riots at periods -of scarcity, when private granaries were forced and pillaged. A still -worse crime prevailed—that of arson. I find in "Hardwicke's Life," -reference to a proclamation offering a reward for the detection of -those who sent threatening letters "to diverse persons in the citys of -London, Westminster, Bristol, and Exeter, requiring them to deposit -certain sums of money in <!-- Page 249 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[249]</a></span>particular places, and threatening to set -fire to their houses, and to burn and destroy them and their families -in case of refusal, some of which threats have accordingly been carried -into execution."</p> - -<p>Other threats were to murder unless a good sum was at once paid down. -Thus Jepthah Big was tried in 1729 for writing two letters, demanding -in one eighty-five guineas, in the other one hundred guineas from -Nathaniel Newnham, "a fearful old man," and threatening to murder both -himself and wife unless he got the money. Jepthah Big was found guilty -and sentenced to death.</p> - -<p>The state of the metropolis was something frightful in the early -decades of the eighteenth century. Such was the reckless daring of -evil-doers that there was but little security for life and property. -Wright, in his "Caricature History of the Georges," says of this -period: "Robbery was carried on to an extraordinary extent in the -streets of London even by daylight. Housebreaking was of frequent -occurrence by night, and every road leading to the metropolis was -beset by bands of reckless highwaymen, who carried their depredations -into the very heart of the town. Respectable women could not venture -in the streets alone after nightfall, even in the city, without -risk of being grossly insulted." In 1720 ladies going to court were -escorted by servants armed with blunderbusses "to shoot at the -rogues." Wright gives a detailed account of five and twenty robberies -perpetrated <!-- Page 250 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[250]</a></span>within three weeks in January and February of the year -above mentioned. A few of the most daring cases may be quoted. Three -highwaymen stopped a gentleman of the prince's household in Poland -Street, and made the watchman throw away his lantern and stand quietly -by while they robbed and ill-used their victim. Other highwaymen the -same night fired at Colonel Montague's carriage as it passed along -Frith Street, Soho, because the coachman refused to stand; and the -Dutchess of Montrose, coming from court in her chair, was stopped -by highwaymen near Bond Street. The mails going out and coming into -London were seized and rifled. Post-boys, stagecoaches, everybody -and everything that travelled, were attacked. A great peer, the Duke -of Chandos, was twice stopped during the period above mentioned, but -he and his servants were too strong for the villains, some of whom -they captured. People were robbed in Chelsea, in Cheapside, in White -Conduit Fields, in Denmark Street, St. Giles. Wade, in his "British -Chronology," under the head of public calamities in 1729, classes -with a sickly season, perpetual storms, and incessant rains, the -dangerous condition of the cities of London and Westminster and their -neighbourhoods, which "proceeded from the number of footpads and -street-robbers, insomuch that there was no stirring out after dark for -fear of mischief. These ruffians knocked people down and wounded them -<!-- Page 251 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[251]</a></span>before they demanded their money." Large rewards were offered for the -apprehension of these offenders. Thief-catchers and informers were -continually active, and the law did not hesitate to strike all upon -whom it could lay its hands. Yet crime still flourished and increased -year after year.</p> - -<p>The Englishman's house, and proverbially his castle, was no more secure -then than now from burglarious inroads. Housebreakers abounded, working -in gangs with consummate skill and patience, hand and glove with -servants past and present, associated with receivers, and especially -with the drivers of night coaches. Half the hackney-coachmen about this -time were in league with thieves, being bribed by nocturnal depredators -to wait about when a robbery was imminent, and until it was completed. -Then, seizing the chance of watchmen being off their beat, these useful -accomplices drove at once to the receiver with the "swag."</p> - -<p>Towards the middle of the century, Henry Fielding, the great novelist, -and at that time acting magistrate for Westminster, wrote:<a name="FNanchor_251:1_36" id="FNanchor_251:1_36"></a><a href="#Footnote_251:1_36" class="fnanchor">[251:1]</a> "I -make no doubt but that the streets of this town and the roads leading -to it will shortly be impassable without the utmost hazard; nor are -we threatened with seeing less dangerous groups of rogues amongst us -than those which the Italians call banditti. . . ." Again, "If I am to -be assaulted and pillaged and <!-- Page 252 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[252]</a></span>plundered, if I can neither sleep in -my own house, nor walk the streets, nor travel in safety, is not my -condition almost equally bad whether a licensed or an unlicensed rogue, -a dragoon or a robber, be the person who assaults and plunders me?" -Those who set the law at defiance organized themselves into gangs, and -coöperated in crime. Fielding tells us in the same work that nearly -a hundred rogues were incorporated in one body, "have officers and a -treasury, and have reduced theft and robbery into a regular system." -Among them were men who appeared in all disguises and mixed in all -companies. The members of the society were not only versed in every -art of cheating and thieving, but they were armed to evade the law, -and if a prisoner could not be rescued, a prosecutor could be bribed, -or some "rotten member of the law" forged a defence supported by -false witnesses. This must have been perpetuated, for I find another -reference later to the Thieves or Housebreaker's Company which had -regular books, kept clerks, opened accounts with members, and duly -divided the profits. According to the confession of two of the gang who -were executed on Kensington Common, they declared that their profits -amounted on an average to £500 a year, and that one of them had put by -£2,000 in the stocks, which before his trial he made over to a friend -to preserve it for his family. Another desperate gang, Wade says, were -so audacious that they went to the houses of the peace officers, and -<!-- Page 253 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[253]</a></span>made them beg pardon for endeavouring to do their duty, and promise -not to molest them. They went further, and even attacked and wounded a -"head borough" in St. John's Street in about forty places, so that many -of the threatened officers had to "lie in Bridewell for safety."</p> - -<p>In Harris's "Life of Lord Hardwicke" is a letter from the solicitor -to the Treasury to Sir Philip Yorke, referring to "the gang of -ruffians who are so notorious for their robberies, and have lately -murdered Thomas Bull in Southwark, and wounded others. Their numbers -daily increase, and now become so formidable that constables are -intimidated by their threats and desperate behaviour from any endeavour -to apprehend them." One of these ruffians was described in the -proclamation offering rewards for their apprehension as "above six feet -high, black eyebrows, his teeth broke before;" another had a large scar -under his chin.</p> - -<p>Still worse was the "Resolution Club," a numerous gang, regularly -organized under stringent rules. It was one of their articles, that -whoever resisted or attempt to fly when stopped should be instantly cut -down and crippled. Any person who prosecuted, or appeared as evidence -against a member of the club, should be marked down for vengeance. -The members took an "infernal oath" to obey the rules, and if taken -and sentenced to "die mute." Another instance of the lawlessness of -the times is to be seen in the desperate attack made by <!-- Page 254 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[254]</a></span>some forty -ruffians on a watch-house in Moorfields, where an accomplice was kept a -prisoner. They were armed with pistols, cutlasses, and other offensive -weapons. The watchman was wounded, the prisoner rescued. After this -the assailants demolished the watch-house, robbed the constables, -"committed several unparalleled outrages, and went off in triumph." The -gang was too numerous to be quickly subdued, but most of the rioters -were eventually apprehended, and it is satisfactory to learn that they -were sentenced to imprisonment in Newgate for three, five, or seven -years, according to the part they had played.</p> - -<p>The contempt of the majesty of the law was not limited to the lower -and dangerous classes. A gentleman's maid servant, having resisted the -parish officers who had a distress warrant upon the gentleman's house -for unpaid rates, was committed by the magistrates to Newgate. "The -gentleman," by name William Frankland, on learning what had happened, -armed himself with a brace of pistols, and went to the office where the -justices were then sitting, and asked which of them had dared to commit -his servant to prison. "Mr. Miller," so runs the account, "smilingly -replied, 'I did,' on which the gentleman fired one of his pistols -and shot Mr. Miller in the side, but it is thought did not wound him -mortally. He was instantly secured and committed to Newgate." At the -following Old Bailey Sessions, he was tried under the Black Act, when -<!-- Page 255 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[255]</a></span>he pleaded insanity. This did not avail him, and although the jury -in convicting him strongly recommended him to mercy, he was sentenced -to death. Another case of still more flagrant contempt of court may -fitly be introduced here. At the trial of a woman named Housden for -coining at the Old Bailey in 1712, a man named Johnson, an ex-butcher -and highwayman by profession, came into court and desired to speak to -her. Mr. Spurling, the principal turnkey of Newgate, told him no person -could be permitted to speak to the prisoner, whereupon Johnson drew out -a pistol and shot Mr. Spurling dead upon the spot, the woman Housden -loudly applauding his act. The court did not easily recover from its -consternation, but presently the recorder suspended the trial of the -woman for coining, and as soon as an indictment could be prepared, -Johnson was arraigned for the murder, convicted, and then and there -sentenced to death; the woman Housden being also sentenced at the same -time as an accessory before and after the fact.</p> - -<p>Various causes are given for this great prevalence of crime. The long -and impoverishing wars of the early years of the century, which saddled -England with the national debt, no doubt produced much distress, and -drove thousands who could not or would not find honest work into -evil ways. Manners among the highest and the lowest were generally -profligate. Innumerable places of public diversion, ridottos, balls, -masquerades, tea-gardens, <!-- Page 256 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[256]</a></span>and wells, offered crowds a ready means for -self-indulgence. Classes aped the habits of the classes above their -own, and the love of luxurious gratification "reached to the dregs -of the people," says Fielding, "who, not being able by the fruits of -honest labour to support the state which they affect, they disdain -the wages to which their industry would entitle them, and abandoning -themselves to idleness, the more simple and poor-spirited betake -themselves to a state of starving and beggary, while those of more art -and courage became thieves, sharpers, and robbers."</p> - -<p>Drunkenness was another terrible vice, even then more rampant and -wildly excessive than in later years. While the aristocracy drank deep -of Burgundy and port, and every roaring blade disdained all heel-taps, -the masses fuddled and besotted themselves with gin. This last-named -pernicious fluid was as cheap as dirt. A gin-shop actually had on its -sign the notice, "Drunk for 1<i>d.</i>; dead drunk for 2<i>d.</i>; clean straw -for nothing," which Hogarth introduced into his caricature of Gin Lane. -No pencil could paint, no pen describe the scenes of hideous debauchery -hourly enacted in the dens and purlieus of the town. Legislation was -powerless to restrain the popular craving. The Gin Act, passed in -1736 amidst the execrations of the mob, which sought to vent its rage -upon Sir Joseph Jekyll, the chief promoter of the bill, was generally -evaded. The much-loved poisonous spirit was still retailed under -fictitious <!-- Page 257 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[257]</a></span>names, such as "Sangree," "Tow Row," the "Makeshift," and -"King Theodore of Corsica." It was prescribed as a medicine for colic, -to be taken two or three times a day. Numberless tumults arose out of -the prohibition to retail spirituous liquors, and so openly was the law -defied, that twelve thousand persons were convicted within two years of -having sold them illegally in London. Informers were promptly bought -off or intimidated, magistrates "through fear or corruption" would not -convict, and the act was repealed in the hope that more moderate duty -and stricter enforcement of the law would benefit the revenue and yet -lessen consumption. The first was undoubtedly affected, but hardly the -latter.</p> - -<p>Fielding, writing nearly ten years after the repeal of the act, says -that he has reason to believe that "gin is the principal sustenance -(if it may be so called) of more than a hundred thousand people in the -metropolis," and he attributed to it most of the crimes committed by -the wretches with whom he had to deal. "The intoxicating draught itself -disqualifies them from any honest means to acquire it, at the same time -that it removes sense of fear and shame, and emboldens them to commit -every wicked and desperate enterprise."</p> - -<p>The passion for gaming, again, "the school in which most highwaymen -of great eminence have been bred," was a fruitful source of immoral -degeneracy. Every one gambled. In the <cite>Gentleman's <!-- Page 258 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[258]</a></span>Magazine</cite> for 1731 -there is the following entry: "At night their Majesties played for -the benefit of the groom porter, and the king (George II) and queen -each won several hundreds, and the Duke of Grafton several thousands -of pounds." His Majesty's lieges followed his illustrious example, -and all manner of games of chance with cards or dice, such as hazard, -Pharaoh, basset, roly-poly, were the universal diversion in clubs, -public places, and private gatherings. The law had thundered, but -to no purpose, against "this destructive vice," inflicting fines on -those who indulged in it, declaring securities won at play void, with -other penalties, yet gaming throve and flourished. It was fostered and -encouraged by innumerable hells, which the law in vain strove to put -down. Nightly raids were made upon them. In the same number of the -<cite>Gentleman's Magazine</cite> as that just quoted it is recorded, that "the -High Constable of Holborn searched a notorious gaming-house behind -Gray's Inn Road; but the gamesters were fled, only the keeper was -arrested and bound over for £200." Again, I find in Wade's "Chronology" -that "Justice Fielding, having received information of a rendezvous -of gamesters in the Strand, procured a strong party of the Guards, -who seized forty-five of the tables, which they broke to pieces, and -carried the gamesters before the justice. . . . Under each of the broken -tables were observed two iron rollers and two private springs, which -those who were in the <!-- Page 259 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[259]</a></span>secret could touch and stop the turning whenever -they had flats to deal with." No wonder these establishments throve. -They were systematically organized, and administered by duly appointed -officers.</p> - -<p>There was the commissioner, who checked the week's accounts and -pocketed the takings; a director to superintend the room; an operator -to deal the cards, and four to five <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">croupiers</i>, who watched the -cards and gathered in the money of the bank. Besides these there were -"puffs," who had money given them to decoy people to play; a clerk and -a <em>squib</em>, who were spies upon the straight dealings of the puffs; a -flasher to swear how often the bank was stripped; a dunner to recover -sums lost; a waiter to snuff candles and fill in the wine; and an -attorney or "Newgate solicitor." A flash captain was kept to fight -gentlemen who were peevish about losing their money; at the door was a -porter, "generally a soldier of the foot-guards,"<a name="FNanchor_259:1_37" id="FNanchor_259:1_37"></a><a href="#Footnote_259:1_37" class="fnanchor">[259:1]</a> who admitted -visitors after satisfying himself that they were of the right sort. -The porter had aides-de-camp and assistants—an "orderly man," who -patrolled the street and gave notice of the approaching constables; -a "runner," who watched for the meetings of the justices and brought -intelligence of the <!-- Page 260 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[260]</a></span>constables being out; and a host of link-boys, -coachmen, chair-men, drawers to assist, with "common-bail affidavit" -men, ruffians, bravos, and assassins for any odd job that might turn up -requiring physical strength.</p> - -<p>As the years passed the vice grew in magnitude. Large fortunes were -made by the proprietors of gaming-houses, thanks to the methodized -employment of capital (invested regularly as in any other trading -establishment), the invention of E. O. tables, and the introduction -of the "foreign games of <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">roulet</i> and <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">rouge et noir</i>. Little short -of a million must have been amassed in this way," individuals having -acquired from £10,000 to £100,000 apiece.</p> - -<p>The number of the gambling establishments daily multiplied. They were -mounted regardless of expense. Open house was kept, and free luxurious -dinners laid for all comers. Merchants and bankers' clerks entrusted -with large sums were especially encouraged to attend. The cost of -entertainment in one house alone was £8,000 for eight months, while the -total expenditure on all as much as £150,000 a year. The gambling-house -keepers, often prize-fighters originally, or partners admitted for -their skill in card-sharping or cogging dice, possessed such ample -funds that they laughed at legal prosecutions. Witnesses were suborned, -officers of justice bribed, informers intimidated. Armed ruffians and -bludgeon men were employed <!-- Page 261 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[261]</a></span>to barricade the houses and resist the -civil power. Private competed with public hells.</p> - -<p>Great ladies of fashion, holding their heads high in the social world, -made their drawing-rooms into gambling-places, into which young men -of means were enticed and despoiled. This was called "pidgeoning," -probably the first use of the expression. The most noted female -gamesters were Lady Buckinghamshire, Lady Archer, Lady Mount Edgecombe, -a trio who had earned for themselves the soubriquet of "Faro's -Daughters." Their conduct came under severe reprehension of Lord -Kenyon, who, in summing up a gambling case, warned them that if they -came before him in connection with gambling transactions, "though they -should be the first ladies of the land," they should certainly exhibit -themselves in the pillory. This well-merited threat was reproduced -in various caricatures of the day, under such heads as, "Ladies of -Elevated Rank;" "Faro's Daughters, Beware!" "Discipline <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">à la</i> Kenyon."</p> - -<p>The Government itself was in a measure responsible for the diffusion -of the passion for gambling. The pernicious custom of public lotteries -practically legalized this baneful vice. State lotteries began in -the reign of Elizabeth, and existed down to 1826. They brought in a -considerable revenue, but they did infinite mischief by developing -the rage for speculation, which extended to the whole community. The -rich could purchase whole tickets, or <!-- Page 262 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[262]</a></span>"great goes;" for the more -impecunious the tickets were sub-divided into "little goes." Those -who had no tickets at all could still gamble at the lottery insurance -offices by backing any particular number to win. The demoralization was -widespread. It reached a climax in the South Sea Bubble, when thousands -and thousands were first decoyed, then cruelly deceived and beggared. -But lotteries lingered on till the Government at length awoke to the -degradation of obtaining an income from such a source.</p> - -<p>While crime thus stalked rampant through the land, the law was nearly -powerless to grapple and check it. It had practically but one method -of repression—the wholesale removal of convicted offenders to another -world. Prevention as we understand it had not yet been invented. The -metropolis, with its ill-paved, dimly lighted streets, was without -police protection beyond that afforded by a few feeble watchmen, the -sorely tried and often nearly useless "Charlies." The administration -of justice was defective; the justices had not sufficient powers; they -were frequently "as regardless of the law as ignorant of it," or else -were defied by pettifoggers and people with money in their pockets. A -mob of chair-men or servants, or a gang of thieves, were almost too -big for the civil authority to repress; and the civil power generally, -according to Fielding, was in a lethargic state.</p> - -<p>The private enterprise of citizens had sought for <!-- Page 263 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[263]</a></span>some time past -to second the efforts of the State, and various societies for the -reformation of manners laboured hard, but scarcely with marked -success, to reduce crime. The first of these societies originated -in the previous century by six private gentlemen, whose hearts were -moved by the dismal and desperate state of the country "to engage in -the difficult and dangerous enterprise;" and it was soon strengthened -by the addition of "persons of eminency in the law, members of -Parliament, justices of the peace, and considerable citizens of London -of known abilities and great integrity." There was a second society -of about fifty persons, tradesmen, and others; and a third society of -constables, who met to consider how they might best discharge their -oaths; a fourth to give information; while other bodies of householders -and officers assisted in the great work. These in one year, 1724, had -prosecuted over twenty-five hundred persons, and in the thirty-three -years preceding nearly ninety thousand; while in the same period they -had given away four hundred thousand good books. However well meant -were these efforts, it is to be feared that they were of little avail -in stemming the torrent of crime which long continued to deluge the -country.</p> - -<p>The character of offences perpetrated will best be understood by -passing from the general to the particular, and briefly indicating -the salient points of a certain number of typical cases, all of which -<!-- Page 264 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[264]</a></span>were in some way or other connected with Newgate. Crime was confined -to no one class; while the lowest robbed with brutal violence, members -of the highest stabbed and murdered each other on flimsy pretences, -or found funds for debauchery in systematic and cleverly contrived -frauds. Life was held very cheap in those days. Every one with any -pretensions carried a sword, and appealed to it on the slightest -excuse or provocation. Murderous duels and affrays were of constant -occurrence. So-called affairs of honour could only be washed out in -blood. Sometimes it was a causeless quarrel in a club or coffee-house -ending in a fatal encounter. Richard Savage, the poet, was tried -for his life for a murder of this kind in 1727. In company with two -friends, all three of them being the worse for drink, he forced his way -into a private room in Robinson's coffee-house, near Charing Cross, -occupied by another party carousing. One of Savage's friends kicked -down the table without provocation. "What do you mean by that?" cried -one side. "What do <em>you</em> mean?" cried the other. Swords were drawn, and -a fight ensued. Savage, who found himself in front of one Sinclair, -made several thrusts at his opponent, and ran him through the body. -Lights were put out, and Savage tried to escape, but was captured in a -back court. He and his associates were committed first to the gatehouse -and thence to Newgate. Three weeks later they were arraigned at the -Old Bailey, found guilty of <!-- Page 265 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[265]</a></span>murder, and cast for death. The king's -pardon was, however, obtained for Savage through the intercession of -influential friends, but contrary, it is said, to the expressed wish of -his mother. Savage was tried before Sir Francis Page, commonly known as -"the hanging judge." He afterwards admitted that he had been anxious to -hang Savage. In his old age, when his health was inquired after, he is -reported to have replied, "I keep hanging on, hanging on." Savage was -the illegitimate child of the Countess of Macclesfield, the fruit of a -guilty intrigue with Captain Richard Savage, afterwards Earl Rivers. -Lady Macclesfield was divorced, and subsequently married Earl Rivers; -but she conceived a violent hatred for the child, and only consented -to settle an annuity of £50 upon him when grown to man's estate, under -threat of exposure in the first publication of Savage's poems. Savage, -after his release from Newgate, retired into Wales, but he continued in -very distressed circumstances, and being arrested for debt, lingered -for the remainder of his days in Bristol Gaol.</p> - -<p>The case of Major Oneby is still more typical of the times. He was a -military officer who had served in Marlbro's wars, and not without -distinction, although enjoying an evil reputation as a duellist. When -the army lay in winter quarters at Bruges, he had been "out," and had -killed his man; again in Jamaica he had wounded an adversary <!-- Page 266 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[266]</a></span>who -presently died. After the Peace of Utrecht Major Oneby was placed on -half-pay, and to eke out his narrow means he became a professional -gambler, being seldom without cards and dice in his pocket. He was -soon known as a swaggerer and a bully, with whom it was wisest not -to quarrel. One night in 1727, however, he was at play in the Castle -Tavern in Drury Lane, when a Mr. Gower and he fell out about a bet. -Oneby threw a decanter at Gower, and Gower returned the fire with a -glass. Swords were drawn, but at the interposition of others put up -again. Gower was for making peace, but Oneby sullenly swore he would -have the other's blood. When the party broke up he called Gower into -another room and shut the door. A clashing of swords was heard within, -the waiter broke open the door, and the company rushed in to find Oneby -holding up Gower with his left hand, having the sword in his right. -Blood was seen streaming through Gower's waistcoat, and his sword lay -upon the floor. Some one said to Oneby, "You have killed him;" but -the major replied, "No, I might have done it if I would, but I have -only frightened him," adding, that if he had killed him in the heat -of passion the law would have been on his side. But his unfortunate -adversary did actually die of his wound the following day, whereupon -Major Oneby was apprehended and locked up in Newgate. He was tried the -following month at the Old Bailey, but the jury could not decide as to -<!-- Page 267 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[267]</a></span>the exact measure of the major's guilt, except that it was clear he -had given the first provocation, while it was not denied he had killed -the deceased.</p> - -<p>A special verdict was agreed to, and the case with its various points -referred to the twelve judges. The prisoner, who had hoped to escape -with a conviction of manslaughter, was remanded to Newgate, and -remained there in the State side without judgment for the space of two -years. Becoming impatient, he prayed the Court of King's Bench that -counsel might be heard in his case, and he was accordingly brought -into court before the Lord Chief Justice Raymond, when his counsel and -those for the Crown were fully heard. The judge reserved his judgment -till he had consulted his eleven brethren; but the major, elated at the -ingenious arguments of his lawyer, fully counted upon speedy release. -On his way back to gaol he entertained his friends at a handsome dinner -given at the Crown and Anchor Tavern.<a name="FNanchor_267:1_38" id="FNanchor_267:1_38"></a><a href="#Footnote_267:1_38" class="fnanchor">[267:1]</a> He continued to carouse -and live high in Newgate for several months more, little doubting the -result of the judges' conference. They met after considerable delay in -Sergeant's Inn Hall, counsel was heard on both sides, and the pleadings -lasted a whole day. A friend called in the evening, and told him when -he was making merry over a bowl of punch that eleven of the judges had -decided against him. This greatly alarmed him; next day <!-- Page 268 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[268]</a></span>the keeper -of Newgate (Mr. Akerman) came to put irons on him, unless he was -prepared to pay for a special keeper to occupy the same room. Oneby was -indignant, but helpless. He felt the ground slipping from under his -feet, and he was almost prepared for the judgment delivered in open -court that he had been guilty of murder, his threat that he would have -Gower's blood having had great weight in his disfavour.</p> - -<p>Oneby spent the days before execution, in 1729, in fruitless efforts -to get relations and friends to use their influence in obtaining -pardon for him. But he was so overbearing that his relations would not -visit him in Newgate, and his friends, if he had any, would not stir a -finger to help him. His last moments seem to have been spent between -laughing at the broad jokes of his personal gaoler, who now never -left him, one John Hooper, afterwards public executioner,<a name="FNanchor_268:1_39" id="FNanchor_268:1_39"></a><a href="#Footnote_268:1_39" class="fnanchor">[268:1]</a> and -fits of rage against those who had deserted him in his extremity. He -was further exasperated by a letter from an undertaker in Drury Lane, -who, having heard that the major was to die on the following Monday, -promised to perform the funeral "as cheap and in as decent a manner as -any man alive." Another cause of <!-- Page 269 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[269]</a></span>annoyance was the publication of a -broad sheet, entitled "The Weight of Blood, or the Case of Major John -Oneby," the writer of which had visited the prisoner, ostensibly to -offer to suppress the publication, but really as an "interviewer" to -obtain some additional facts for his catchpenny pamphlet. The major -was so indignant that he laid a trap for the author by inviting him to -revisit Newgate, promising himself the pleasure of thrashing him when -he appeared, but the man declined to be caught. On the Saturday night -before execution Oneby, learning that a petition had been presented and -rejected, prepared to die. He slept soundly till four in the morning, -then calling for a glass of brandy and writing materials, he wrote his -will. It was brief, and to the following effect:</p> - -<p>"Cousin Turvill, give Mr. Akerman, for the turnkey below stairs, half -a guinea, and Jack Hooper, who waits in my room, five shillings. The -poor devils have had a great deal of trouble with me since I have been -here." After this he begged to be left to sleep; but a friend called -about seven: the major cried feebly to his servant, "Philip, who is -that?" and it was found that he was bleeding to death from a deep gash -in his wrist. He was dead before a surgeon could be called in.</p> - -<p>In these disastrous affrays both antagonists were armed. But reckless -roisterers and swaggering bobadils were easily provoked, and they -did not hesitate, in a moment of mad passion, to use their <!-- Page 270 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[270]</a></span>swords -upon defenceless men. Bailiffs and the lesser officers of justice -were especially obnoxious to these high-tempered bloods. I read in -"Luttrell," under date February, 1698, "Captain Dancy of the Guards -killed a bailiff in Exeter Street, and is committed to Newgate." -Again, in 1705, "Captain Carlton, formerly a justice of the peace for -Middlesex, is committed to Newgate for running a marshal's man through -the body who endeavoured to arrest him on the parade by the Horse -Guards in St. James's Park, of which wound it is thought the man will -die." I can find no mention of the fate which overtook these murderers; -but the "Calendars" contain a detailed account of another murder of -much the same kind; that perpetrated by the Marquis de Paleoti upon -his servant, John Niccolo, otherwise John the Italian, in 1718. The -marquis had come to England to visit his sister, who had married the -Duke of Shrewsbury in Rome, and had launched out into a career of wild -extravagance. The duchess had paid his debts several times, but at -length declined to assist him further. He was arrested and imprisoned, -but his sister privately procured his discharge. After his enlargement, -being without funds, the marquis sent Niccolo to borrow what he could. -But "the servant, having met with frequent denials, declined going, -at which the marquis drew his sword and killed him on the spot." The -marquis seems to have hoped to have found sanctuary at the Bishop of -Salisbury's, to whose <!-- Page 271 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[271]</a></span>house he repaired as soon as Niccolo's body was -found. But he was arrested there after having behaved so rudely, that -his sword, all bloody with gore, had to be taken from him, and he was -conveyed to Newgate. His defence was weak, his guilt clear, and much to -his surprise, he was sentenced to be hanged. He declared that it was -disgraceful "to put a nobleman to death like a common malefactor for -killing a servant;" but his plea availed little, and he suffered at -Tyburn five weeks after the murder.</p> - -<p>Forty years later an English nobleman, Earl Ferrers, paid the same -extreme penalty for murdering his steward. His lordship was tried by -his peers, and after sentence until his execution was lodged in the -Tower, and not in Newgate. His case is sufficiently well known, and has -already been briefly referred to.</p> - -<p>Another aristocratic miscreant, whose crimes only fell short of -murder, was Colonel Francis Charteris. Well born, well educated, well -introduced into life, he joined the army under Marlborough in the Low -Countries as a cornet of horse, and soon became noted as a bold and -dexterous gambler. His greed and rapacity were unbounded; he lent -money at usurious rates to those whom he had already despoiled of -large sums by foul play, and having thus ruined many of his brother -officers, he was brought to trial, found guilty of disgraceful conduct, -and sentenced by court martial to be <!-- Page 272 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[272]</a></span>cashiered. On his way back to -Scotland, by falsely swearing he had been robbed at an inn, he swindled -the landlord out of a large sum of money as an indemnity, and does -not seem to have been called to account for his fraud. In spite of -his antecedents, Charteris obtained a new commission through powerful -friends, and was soon advanced to the grade of colonel. Moving in the -best society, he extended his gambling operations, and nearly robbed -the Duchess of Queensbury of £3,000 by placing her near a mirror, so -that he could see all her cards. Escaping punishment for this, he -continued his depredations till he acquired a considerable fortune -and several landed estates. Fate overtook him at last, and he became -the victim of his own profligacy. Long notorious as an unprincipled -and systematic seducer, he effected the ruin of numbers, by means -of stratagems and bribes, but was at length arrested on a charge of -criminal assault. He lay in Newgate on the State side, lightly ironed, -and enjoying the best of the prison until the trial at the Old Bailey -in February, 1730. He was convicted and sentenced to die, but through -the strenuous exertions of his son-in-law, the Earl of Wemyss, obtained -the king's pardon. He died two years later, miserably, in Edinburgh, -whither he had retired after his release. He was long remembered with -obloquy. Doctor Arbuthnot, who wrote his epitaph, has best depicted -his detestable character, as a villain, "who with an inflexible -<!-- Page 273 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[273]</a></span>constancy and inimitable impunity of life persisted, in spite of age -and infirmity, in the practice of every human vice except prodigality -and hypocrisy, his insatiable avarice exempting him from the first, and -his matchless impudence from the latter, . . . and who, having done -every day of his life something worthy of a gibbet, was once condemned -to one for what he had not done." Doctor Arbuthnot appears from this -to have dissented from the verdict of the jury by which Charteris was -tried.</p> - -<p>In times of such general corruption it was not strange that a -deplorable laxity of morals should prevail as regards trusts, -whether public or private. Even a Lord Chancellor was found guilty -of venal practices—the sale of offices, and the misappropriation -of funds lodged in the Chancery Court. This was the twelfth Earl of -Macclesfield,<a name="FNanchor_273:1_40" id="FNanchor_273:1_40"></a><a href="#Footnote_273:1_40" class="fnanchor">[273:1]</a> who sought thus dishonestly to mend his fortunes, -impaired, it was said, by the South Sea Bubble speculations. He was -tried before his peers, found guilty, and declared for ever incapable -of sitting in Parliament, or of holding any office under the Crown; and -further sentenced to a fine of £30,000 with imprisonment in the Tower -until it was paid.</p> - -<p>Lord Macclesfield promptly paid his fine, which was but a small part -of the money he had amassed by his speculations, and was discharged. -"To the disgrace of the times in which he lived," says the <!-- Page 274 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[274]</a></span>biographer -of Lord Hardwicke, "the infamy with which he had been thus covered -debarred him neither from the favour of the great nor even from that of -his sovereign."</p> - -<p>Various cases of embezzlement by public officials previous to this are -mentioned by Luttrell. Frauds upon the Exchequer, and upon persons -holding Government annuities, were not infrequent. The first entry in -"Luttrell" is dated 1697, May, and is to the effect that "Mr. Marriott, -an underteller in the Exchequer, arrested for altering an Exchequer -bill for £10 to £100, pleaded innocency, but is sent to Newgate;" -others were implicated, and a proclamation was issued offering a reward -for the apprehension of Domingo Autumes, a Portuguese, Robert Marriott, -and another for counterfeiting Exchequer bills. A little later another -teller, Mr. Darby, is sent to Newgate on a similar charge, and in that -prison Mr. Marriott "accuses John Knight, Esq., M. P., treasurer of -customs, who is displaced."</p> - -<p>Marriott's confession follows: "He met Mr. Burton and Mr. Knight at -Somerset House, where they arranged to get twenty per cent. by making -Exchequer bills specie bills; they offered Marriott £500 a year to -take all upon himself if discovered. It is thought greater people are -in it to destroy the credit of the nation." Following this confession, -bills were brought into the House of Commons charging Burton, Knight, -and Duncombe with <!-- Page 275 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[275]</a></span>embezzlement, but "blanks are left for the House to -insert the punishment, which is to be either fine, imprisonment, or -loss of estates." Knight was found guilty of endorsing Exchequer bills -falsely, but not of getting money thereby. Burton was found guilty; -Duncombe's name is not mentioned, and Marriott was discharged. But this -does not end the business. In the May following "Mr. Ellers, master -of an annuity office in the Exchequer, was committed to Newgate for -forging people's hands to their orders, and receiving a considerable -sum of money thereon." Again in October, "Bellingham, an old offender, -was convicted of felony in forging Exchequer bills; and a Mrs. Butler, -also for forging a bond of £20,000, payable by the executors of Sir -Robert Clayton six years after his death." Later on (1708) I find an -entry in "Luttrell" that Justice Dyot, who was a commissioner of the -Stamp-office, was committed to Newgate for counterfeiting stamps, which -others whom he informed against distributed. Of the same character -as the foregoing was the offence of Mr. Lemon, a clerk in the Pell -office of the Exchequer, who received £300 in the name of a gentlewoman -deceased, and kept it, for which he was turned out of his place. Other -unfaithful public servants were to be found in other departments. -Robert Lowther, Esq., was taken into custody on the 25th October, -1721, by order of the Privy Council, for his tyrannical and corrupt -administration when governor of the Island of <!-- Page 276 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[276]</a></span>Barbadoes. Twenty years -later the House of Commons fly at still higher game, and commit the -Solicitor of the Treasury to Newgate for refusing to answer questions -put to him by the secret committee which sat to inquire into Sir Robert -Walpole's administration. This official had been often charged with -the Prime Minister's secret disbursements, and he was accused of being -recklessly profuse.</p> - - -<hr class="footnotes" /> -<p class="sectctrfn">FOOTNOTES:</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_251:1_36" id="Footnote_251:1_36"></a><a href="#FNanchor_251:1_36"><span class="label">[251:1]</span></a> "An inquiry into the causes of the late increase of -robbers," etc. London, 1751.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_259:1_37" id="Footnote_259:1_37"></a><a href="#FNanchor_259:1_37"><span class="label">[259:1]</span></a> Soldiers in the Guards, after long and faithful -service, were granted leave of absence from military duty in order to -take civil situations which did not monopolize all their time. By this -means they eked out their scanty pay.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_267:1_38" id="Footnote_267:1_38"></a><a href="#FNanchor_267:1_38"><span class="label">[267:1]</span></a> Thornbury, in his "Old Stories Retold," calls it the -King's Arms, on what authority he does not say.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_268:1_39" id="Footnote_268:1_39"></a><a href="#FNanchor_268:1_39"><span class="label">[268:1]</span></a> "What do you bring this fellow here for?" Oneby had -cried to the keeper of Newgate when he appeared with Hooper. "Whenever -I look at him I shall think of being hanged." Hooper had a forbidding -countenance, but he was an inimitable mimic, and he soon made himself -an agreeable companion to the condemned man.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_273:1_40" id="Footnote_273:1_40"></a><a href="#FNanchor_273:1_40"><span class="label">[273:1]</span></a> The husband of the Lady Macclesfield who was mother to -Richard Savage.</p></div> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="newchapter" /> -<p><!-- Page 277 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[277]</a></span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak"><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX<br /> - -<small>LATER RECORDS</small></h2> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p class="hang">Crimes more commonplace, but more atrocious—Murder -committed by Catherine Hayes and her accomplices—She is -burned alive for petty treason—Sarah Malcolm, the Temple -murderess—Other prominent and typical murders—Wife -murderers—Theodore Gardelle, the murderer of Mrs. King—Two -female murderers—Mrs. Meteyard—Her cruelty to a parish -apprentice—Elizabeth Brownrigg beats Mary Clifford to -death—Governor Wall—His severe and unaccommodating -temper—Trial of Sergeant Armstrong—Punished by drumhead -court martial and flogged to death—Wall's arrest and escape -to the Continent—Persons of note charged with murder—Quin, -the actor, kills Williams in self-defence—Charles Macklin -kills Hallam, a fellow actor at Drury Lane—Joseph Baretti, -author of the "Italian Dictionary," mobbed in the Haymarket, -defends himself with a pocket-knife, and stabs one of his -assailants.</p> -</div> - - -<p>Returning to meaner and more commonplace offenders, I find in the -records full details of all manner of crimes. Murders the most -atrocious and bloodthirsty; robberies executed with great ingenuity -and boldness by both sexes; remarkable instances of swindling and -successful frauds; early cases of forgery; coining carried out with -extensive ramifications; piracies upon the high seas, long practised -with strange immunity from reprisals.</p> - -<p><!-- Page 278 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[278]</a></span> -Perhaps the most revolting murder ever perpetrated, not excepting -those of later date, was that in which Catherine Hayes assisted. The -victim was her husband, an unoffending, industrious man, whose life -she made miserable, boasting once indeed that she would think it no -more sin to murder him than to kill a dog. After a violent quarrel -between them she persuaded a man who lodged with them, named Billings, -and who was either her lover or her illegitimate son, to join her in -an attempt upon Hayes. A new lodger, Wood, arriving, it was necessary -to make him a party to the plot, but he long resisted Mrs. Hayes's -specious arguments, till she clenched them by declaring that Hayes was -an atheist and a murderer, whom it could be no crime to kill; moreover -that at his death she would become possessed of £1,500, which she would -hand over to Wood.</p> - -<p>Wood at last yielded, and after some discussion it was decided to do -the dreadful deed while Hayes was in his cups. After a long drinking -bout, in which Hayes drank wine, probably drugged, and the rest beer, -the victim dragged himself to bed and fell on it in a stupor. Billings -now went in, and with a hatchet struck Hayes a violent blow on the head -and fractured his skull; then Wood gave the poor wretch, as he was -not quite dead, two more blows and finished him. The next job was to -dispose of the murdered man's remains.</p> - -<p>To evade identification Catherine Hayes <!-- Page 279 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[279]</a></span>suggested that the head -should be cut off, which Wood effected with his pocket-knife. She then -proposed to boil it, but this was overruled, and the head was disposed -of by the men, who threw it into the Thames from a wharf near the -Horseferry at Westminster. They hoped that the damning evidence would -be carried off by the next tide, but it remained floating near shore, -and was picked up next day by a watchman, and handed over to the parish -officers, by whom, when washed and the hair combed, it was placed on -the top of a pole in the churchyard of St. Margaret's, Westminster. -Having got rid of the head, the murderers next dealt with the body, -which they dismembered, and packed the parts into a box. This was -conveyed to Marylebone, where the pieces were taken out, wrapped in an -old blanket, and sunk in a pond.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile the exposed head had been viewed by curious crowds, and at -last a Mr. Bennet, an organ-builder, saw a resemblance to the face of -Hayes, with whom he had been acquainted; another person, a journeyman -tailor, also recognized it, and inquiries were made of Catherine as to -her husband. At first she threw people off the scent by confessing that -Hayes had killed a man and absconded, but being questioned by several -she told a different story to each, and presently suspicion fell upon -her. As it had come out that Billings and Wood had been drinking with -Hayes the last time he was seen, they were included in the warrant, -<!-- Page 280 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[280]</a></span>which was now issued for the apprehension of the murderers. The woman -was arrested by Mr. Justice Lambert in person, who had "procured the -assistance of two officers of the Life Guards," and Billings with her. -One was committed to the Bridewell, Tothill Fields, the other to the -Gatehouse. Catherine's conduct when brought into the presence of her -murdered husband's head almost passes belief. Taking the glass bottle -in which it had been preserved into her arms, she cried, "It is my -dear husband's head," and shed tears as she embraced it. The surgeon -having taken the head out of the case, she kissed it rapturously, and -begged to be indulged with a lock of his hair. Next day the trunk -and remains of the corpse were discovered at Marylebone without the -head, and the justices, nearly satisfied as to the guilt of Catherine -Hayes, committed her to Newgate. Wood was soon after captured, and -on hearing that the body had been found confessed the whole crime. -Billings shortly did the same; but Mrs. Hayes obstinately refused to -admit her guilt. This atrocious creature was for the moment the centre -of interest; numbers visited her in Newgate, and sought to learn her -reasons for committing so dreadful a crime; but she gave different and -evasive answers to all.</p> - -<p>At her trial she pleaded hard to be exempted from the penalty of -petty treason, which was at that time burning, alleging that she was -not guilty of striking the fatal blow. The crime of petty treason -was <!-- Page 281 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[281]</a></span>established when any person out of malice took away the life of -another to whom he or she owed special obedience—as when a servant -killed his master, a wife her husband, or an ecclesiastic his superior. -The wife's accomplices in the murder of a husband were not deemed -guilty of petty treason. She was told the law must take its course. -Billings and Wood hoped they might not be hung in chains, but received -no answer. Wood actually died in prison before execution; Billings -suffered at Tyburn, and was hung in chains near the pond in Marylebone. -Mrs. Hayes tried to destroy herself, but failed, and was literally -burnt alive. The fire reaching the hands of the hangman, he let go the -rope by which she was to have been strangled, and the flames slowly -consumed her, as she pushed the blazing fagots from her, and rent -the air with her agonized cries. Her execution, which took place on -9th May, 1726, was not the last of its kind. In November, 1750, Amy -Hutchinson was burnt at Ely, after a conviction of petty treason, -having poisoned a husband newly married, whom she had taken to spite -a truant lover. In 1767, again, Ann Sowerly underwent the same awful -sentence at York. She also had poisoned her husband. Last of all, on -the 10th March, 1788, a woman was burnt before the debtors' door of -Newgate. Having been tied to a stake and seated on a stool, the stool -was withdrawn and she was strangled. After that she was burnt. Her -offence was coining. In the <!-- Page 282 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[282]</a></span>following year, 1789, an act was passed -which abolished this cruel custom of burning women for petty treason.</p> - -<p>Sarah Malcolm was another female monster, a wholesale murderess, whose -case stands out as one of peculiar atrocity even in those bloodthirsty -times. She was employed as a laundress in the Temple, where she waited -on several gentlemen, and had also access in her capacity of charwoman -to the chambers occupied by an aged lady named Mrs. Duncombe.<a name="FNanchor_282:1_41" id="FNanchor_282:1_41"></a><a href="#Footnote_282:1_41" class="fnanchor">[282:1]</a> -Sarah's cupidity was excited by the chance sight of her mistress's -hoarded wealth, both in silver plate and broad coins, and she resolved -to become possessed of it, hoping when enriched to gain a young man of -her acquaintance named Alexander as her husband. Mrs. Duncombe had two -other servants, Elizabeth Harrison, also aged, and a young maid named -Ann Price, who resided with her in the Temple. One day (Feb. 2, 1733) a -friend coming to call upon Mrs. Duncombe was unable to gain admittance. -After some delay the rooms were broken into, and their three occupants -were found barbarously murdered, the girl Price in the first room, with -her throat cut from ear to ear, her hair loose, hanging over her eyes, -and her <!-- Page 283 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[283]</a></span>hands clenched; in the next lay Elizabeth Harrison on a press -bed, strangled; and last of all, old Mrs. Duncombe, also lying across -her bed, quite dead. The strong box had been broken open and rifled.</p> - -<p>That same night one of the barristers, returning to his chambers late, -found Sarah Malcolm there kindling a fire, and after remarking upon -her appearance at that strange hour, bade her begone, saying, that no -person acquainted with Mrs. Duncombe should be in his chambers till the -murderer was discovered. Before leaving she confessed to having stolen -two of his waistcoats, whereupon he called the watch and gave her into -custody. After her departure, assisted by a friend, the barrister made -a thorough search of his rooms, and in a cupboard came upon a lot of -linen stained with blood, also a silver tankard with blood upon the -handle. The watchmen had suffered Sarah to go at large, but she was -forthwith rearrested; on searching her, a green silk purse containing -twenty-one counters was found upon her, and she was committed to -Newgate. There, on arrival, she sought to hire the best accommodation, -offering two or three guineas for a room upon the Master Debtors' side. -Roger Johnston, a turnkey, upon this searched her, and discovered -"concealed under her hair," no doubt in a species of a chignon, "a bag -containing twenty moidores, eighteen guineas, and a number of other -broad pieces." This money she <!-- Page 284 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[284]</a></span>confessed had come from Mrs. Duncombe; -but she stoutly denied all complicity with the murder, or that she -had done more than contrive the robbery. She charged two brothers, -named Alexander, one the man she desired to marry, and a woman, Mary -Tracy, with the greater crime. Upon her information they were arrested -and confronted with her. She persisted in this line of defence at her -trial, but the circumstantial evidence against her was so strong that -the jury at once found her guilty. She herself had but little hope of -escape, and had been heard to cry out on her first commitment, "I am a -dead woman." She was duly executed at Tyburn. The Alexanders and Tracy -were discharged.</p> - -<p>I have specially instanced these foul murders as exhibiting -circumstances of atrocity rarely equalled in the records of crime. -Catherine Hayes and Sarah Malcolm were unsexed desperadoes, whose -misdeeds throw into the shade those of the Mannings and Kate Websters -of later times. But women had no monopoly of assassination, in those -days when life was held so cheap. Male murderers were still more -numerous, and also more pitiless and bloodthirsty. The calendars are -replete with homicides, and to refer to them in anything like detail -would both weary and disgust the reader. I shall do no more, therefore, -than briefly indicate here a certain number of the more prominent cases -remarkable either from the position of the criminals, <!-- Page 285 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[285]</a></span>the ties by -which they were bound to their victims, or the horrible character of -the crime.</p> - -<p>The hangman figures among the murderers of this epoch. John Price, -who filled the office in 1718, and who rejoiced in the usual official -soubriquet of "Jack Ketch," was a scoundrel rendered still more -callous and cruel by his dreadful calling. He had begun life well, as -an apprentice, but he absconded, and entering the navy, "served with -credit on board different kings' ships for eighteen years." On his -discharge, seeking employment, he obtained the situation of public -executioner. He might have lived decently on the hangman's wages and -perquisites, but he was a spendthrift, who soon became acquainted -with the interiors of the debtors' prisons for Middlesex. Once he was -arrested on his way back from Tyburn after a good day's work, having in -his possession, besides fees, the complete suits of three men who had -just been executed. He gave up all this to liquidate the debt, but the -value being insufficient, he was lodged in the Marshalsea.</p> - -<p>When released, in due course he returned to his old employment, but -was soon arrested again, and on a serious charge—that of a murderous -assault upon a poor woman who sold gingerbread through the streets. -He had shamefully attacked her, and maddened by her resistance, had -ill-used her terribly. "He beat her so cruelly," the account says, -"that streams of blood issued from her eyes and <!-- Page 286 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[286]</a></span>mouth; he broke one -of her arms, knocked out some of her teeth, bruised her head in a most -shameful manner, and forced one of her eyes from the socket."</p> - -<p>One account says that he was taken red-handed close to the scene of -his guilt; another, the more probable, that he was arrested on his way -to Tyburn with a convict for the gallows. In any case his unfortunate -victim had just life left in her to bear testimony against him. Price -was committed to Newgate, and tried for his life. His defence was, -that in crossing Moorfields he found something lying in his way, which -he kicked and found to be the body of a woman. He lifted her up, but -she could not stand on her legs. The evidence of others was too clear, -and the jury did not hesitate to convict. After sentence he abandoned -himself to drink, and obstinately refused to confess. But on the day -before his execution he acknowledged that he had committed the crime -while in a state of intoxication. He was hanged in Bunhill Fields, and -his body afterwards exhibited in chains in Holloway near the scene of -the murder.</p> - -<p>Wife-murder was of common occurrence in these reckless times. The -disgraceful state of the marriage laws, and the facility with which -the matrimonial knot could be tied, often tempted unscrupulous people -to commit bigamy.<a name="FNanchor_286:1_42" id="FNanchor_286:1_42"></a><a href="#Footnote_286:1_42" class="fnanchor">[286:1]</a> Louis <!-- Page 287 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[287]</a></span>Houssart was of French extraction, -settled in England, who married Ann Rondeau at the French church in -Spitalfields. After about three years "he left his wife with disgust," -and going into the city, passed himself off as a single man. Becoming -acquainted with a Mrs. Hern, he presently married her. He had not been -long married before his new wife taxed him with having another wife. -He swore it was false, and offered to take the sacrament upon it. She -appeared satisfied, and begged him to clear his reputation. "Do not be -uneasy," he said; "in a little time I will make you sensible I have no -other wife." He now resolved to make away with the first Mrs. Louis -Houssart, otherwise Ann Rondeau, and reopened communications with her. -Finding her in ill-health, one day he brought her "a medicine which had -the appearance of conserve of roses, which threw her into such severe -convulsive fits that her life was despaired of for some hours; but at -length she recovered." This attempt having failed, he tried a simpler -plan. Dressed in a white coat, with sword and cane, he went one evening -to the end of Swan Alley, where his wife lived with her mother, and -finding a boy, gave him a penny to go and tell Mrs. Rondeau that a -gentleman wanted to speak to her <!-- Page 288 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[288]</a></span>in a neighbouring public-house. When -she left the house, Houssart went in, found his wife alone, and cut her -throat with a razor.</p> - -<p>Thus murdered she was found by her mother on her return, after -inquiring in vain for the gentleman who was said to be waiting for her. -Suspicion fell on Houssart, who was arrested and tried, but for want -of the boy's evidence acquitted of the murder. But he was detained in -Newgate to take his trial for bigamy. While waiting sentence, the boy, -a lad of thirteen, who knew of the murder and arrest, and who thought -he would be hanged if he confessed that he had carried the message to -Mrs. Rondeau, came forward to give evidence. He was taken to Newgate -into a room, and identified Houssart at once among seven or eight -others. The brother of the deceased, Solomon Rondeau, as heir, now -lodged an appeal, in the names of John Doe and Richard Roe (an ancient -form of legal procedure), against Houssart, who was eventually again -brought to trial. Various pleas were put forward by the defence in bar -of further proceedings, among others that there were no such persons as -John Doe and Richard Roe, but this plea, with the rest, was overruled, -the fact being sworn to that there was a John Doe in Middlesex, a -weaver, also a Richard Roe, who was a soldier, and the trial went on. -The boy's evidence was very plain. He remembered Houssart distinctly, -had seen him by the light of a lantern <!-- Page 289 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[289]</a></span>at a butcher's shop; he wore -a whitish coat. The boy also recognized Mrs. Rondeau as the woman to -whom he gave the message. Others swore to the white coat which Houssart -had on; but the most damning evidence was that of a friend whom he had -summoned to see him in Newgate, and whom he asked to swear that they -had been drinking together in Newgate Street at the time the murder was -committed. Houssart offered this witness a new shirt, a new suit of -clothes, and twenty guineas to swear for him. The prisoner, however, -owned that he did give the boy a penny to call the old woman out, and -that he then went in and gave his wife "a touch with the razor, but did -not think of killing her." The prisoner was found guilty and hanged at -the end of Swan yard in Shoreditch.</p> - -<p>Vincent Davis was another miscreant who murdered his wife, under much -the same conditions. He had long barbarously ill-used her; he kept -a small walking-cane on purpose to beat her with, and at last so -frightened her by his threats to kill her that she ran away from him. -She returned one night, but finding that he had put an open knife by -the bedside, she placed herself under the protection of the landlady, -who advised her to swear the peace against him and get him imprisoned. -Next day the brutal husband drove her out of the house, declaring -she had no right to be in his company, as he was married to "Little -Jenny." But she implored him to be friends, and <!-- Page 290 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[290]</a></span>having followed him -to an ale-house seeking reconciliation, he so slashed her fingers with -a knife that she came back with bleeding hands. That same night, when -his wife met him on his return home, he ordered her to light him to his -room, then drawing his knife, stabbed her in the breast. The poor woman -bled to death in half an hour. Davis after the deed was done was seized -with contrition, and when arrested and on his way to Newgate, he told -the peace officer that he had killed the best wife in the world. "I -know I shall be hanged," he added; "but for God's sake don't let me be -anatomized." This man is said to have assumed an air of bravado while -he lay under sentence of death, but his courage deserted him as the -time for execution approached. He had such a dread of falling into the -hands of the surgeons that he wrote to several friends begging them to -rescue his body if any attempt should be made at the gallows to remove -it. He was hanged at Tyburn on the 30th April, 1725; but the calendar -does not state what happened to his corpse.</p> - -<p>George Price, who murdered his wife in 1738, had an analogous motive: -he wished to release himself from one tie in order to enter into -another. He was in service in Kent, his wife lived in lodgings in -Highgate, and their family increased far more rapidly than he liked. -Having for some time paid his addresses to a widow in Kent, he at -length resolved to remove the only obstacle to a second <!-- Page 291 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[291]</a></span>and more -profitable marriage. With this infernal object in view he went to -Highgate, and told his wife that he had secured a place for her at -Putney, to which he would himself drive her in a chaise. She was -warned by some of his fellow servants against trusting herself alone -with him, but "she said she had no fear of him, as he had treated her -with unusual kindness." They drove off towards Hounslow. On the way -she begged him to stop while she bought some snuff, but he refused, -laughingly declaring she would never want to use snuff again. When they -reached Hounslow Heath it was nearly ten o'clock at night. The time -and place being suitable, he suddenly threw his whip-lash round his -wife's throat and drew it tight. As the cord was not quite in the right -place he coolly altered it, and disregarding her entreaties, he again -tightened the rope; then finding she was not quite dead, pulled it with -such violence that it broke, but not till the murder was accomplished. -Having stripped the body, he disfigured it, as he hoped, beyond -recognition, then left it under a gibbet on which some malefactors were -hanging in chains, and returned to London with his wife's clothes, part -of which he dropped about the street, and part he gave back to her -landlady, to whom they belonged. Being seen about, so many inquiries -were made for his wife that he feared detection, and fled to Portsmouth.</p> - -<p>Next day he heard the murder cried through <!-- Page 292 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[292]</a></span>the streets by the bellman, -and found that it was his own case, with an exact description of his -appearance. He at once jumped out of the window—the inn was by the -waterside—and swam to another part of the shore. Thence he made his -way into the country and got chance jobs as a farm-labourer. At Oxford -he found that he was advertised in the local paper, and he again -decamped, travelling on and on till he reached his own home in Wales. -His father gave him refuge for a couple of days, but a report of his -being in the house got about, and he had to fly to Gloucester, where -he became an ostler at an inn. In Gloucester he was again recognized -as the man who had killed his wife on Hounslow Heath, by a gentleman -who promised not to betray him, but warned him that he would be taken -into custody if he remained in town. "Agitated by the momentary fear of -detection, Price knew not how to act," and he resolved at length to go -back to London and give himself up to justice. He called first on his -former master, was apprehended, and committed to Newgate. He took his -trial in due course, and was, on "the strongest circumstantial evidence -ever adduced against an offender," cast for death, but fell a victim to -the gaol-fever in October, 1738.</p> - -<p>Mention of two more heinous cases of wife-murder may be made. The -second marriage of Edward Joines, contracted at the Fleet, was not -a happy one. His wife had a violent temper, and they <!-- Page 293 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[293]</a></span>continually -disagreed. A daughter of hers lived with them, and the two women -contrived to aggravate and annoy Joines to desperation. He retaliated -by brutal treatment. On one occasion he pushed his wife into the grate -and scorched her arm; frequently he drove her out-of-doors in scanty -clothing at late hours and in inclement weather. One day his anger was -roused by seeing a pot of ale going into his house for his wife, who -was laid up with a fractured arm. He rushed in, and after striking the -tankard out of her hand, seized her by the bad arm, twisted it till -the bone again separated. The fracture was reset, but mortification -rapidly supervened, and she died within ten days. The coroner's jury -in consequence brought in a verdict of wilful murder against Joines. -He was in due course convicted of murder, although it was difficult to -persuade him that he had had a fair trial, seeing that his wife did not -succumb immediately to the cruel injury she had received at his hands. -In December, 1739, he was executed.</p> - -<p>The second wife of John Williamson received still more terrible and -inhumane treatment at his hands. This ruffian within three weeks after -his marriage drenched his wife with cold water, and having otherwise -ill-used her, inflicted the following diabolical torture. Having -fastened her hands behind with handcuffs, he lifted her off the ground, -with her toes barely touching it, by a rope run <!-- Page 294 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[294]</a></span>through a staple. -She was locked up in a closet, and close by was placed a small piece -of bread and butter, which she could just touch with her lips. She -was allowed a small portion of water daily. Sometimes a girl who was -in the house gave the poor creature a stool to rest her feet on, but -Williamson discovered it, and was so furious that he nearly beat the -girl to death. The wretched woman was kept in this awful plight for -more than a month at a time, and at length succumbed. She died raving -mad. Williamson when arrested made a frivolous defence, declaring his -wife provoked him by treading on a kitten and killing it. In 1760 he -was found guilty and executed.</p> - -<p>The victim of Theodore Gardelle was a woman, although not his wife. -This murder much exercised the public mind at the time. The perpetrator -was a foreigner, a hitherto inoffensive miniature painter, who was -goaded into such a frenzy by the intolerable irritation of the woman's -tongue, that he first struck and then despatched her. He lodged with a -Mrs. King in Leicester Fields, whose miniature he had painted, but not -very successfully. She had desired to have the portrait particularly -good, and in her disappointment gave the unfortunate painter no peace. -One morning she came into the parlour which he used, and which was -<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">en suite</i> with her bedroom, and immediately attacked him about the -miniature. Provoked by her insults, Gardelle told her she was a very -impertinent <!-- Page 295 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[295]</a></span>woman; at which she struck him a violent blow on the -chest. He pushed her from him, "rather in contempt than anger," as he -afterwards declared, "and with no desire to hurt her;" her foot caught -in the floor-cloth, she fell backward, and her head came with great -force against a sharp corner of the bedstead, for Gardelle apparently -had followed her into her bedroom. The blood immediately gushed from -her mouth, and he at once ran up to assist her and express his concern; -but she pushed him away, threatening him with the consequences of his -act. He was greatly terrified at the thought of being charged with a -criminal assault; but the more he strove to pacify the more she reviled -and threatened, till at last he seized a sharp-pointed ivory comb which -lay upon her toilet-table and drove it into her throat. The blood -poured out in still greater volume and her voice gradually grew fainter -and fainter, and she presently expired. Gardelle said afterwards he -drew the bedclothes over her, then, horrified and overcome, fell by her -side in a swoon. When he came to himself he examined the body to see if -Mrs. King were quite dead, and in his confusion staggered against the -wainscot and hit his head so as to raise a great bump over his eye.</p> - -<p>Gardelle now seems to have considered with himself how best he might -conceal his crime. There was only one other resident in the house, a -maid servant, who was out on a message for him at the <!-- Page 296 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[296]</a></span>time of his -fatal quarrel with Mrs. King. When she returned she found the bedroom -locked, and Gardelle told her her mistress had gone into the country -for the day. Later on he paid her wages on behalf of Mrs. King and -discharged her, with the explanation that her mistress intended to -bring home a new maid with her. Having now the house to himself, he -entered the chamber of death, and stripped the body, which he laid in -the bed. He next disposed of the blood-stained bedclothes by putting -them to soak in a wash-tub in the back wash-house. A servant of an -absent fellow lodger came in late and asked for Mrs. King, but Gardelle -said she had not returned, and that he meant to sit up for her and let -her into the house. Next morning he explained Mrs. King's absence by -saying she had come late and gone off again for the day.</p> - -<p>This went on from Wednesday to Saturday; but no suspicion of anything -wrong had as yet been conceived, and the body still lay in the same -place in the back room. On Sunday Gardelle began to put into execution -a project for destroying the body in parts, which he disposed of by -throwing them down the sinks, or spreading in the cockloft. On Monday -and Tuesday inquiries began to be made for Mrs. King, and Gardelle -continued to say that he expected her daily, but on Thursday the -stained bedclothes were found in the wash-tub. Gardelle was seen -coming from the <!-- Page 297 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[297]</a></span>wash-house, and was heard to ask what had become of -the linen. This roused suspicion for the first time. The discharged -maid servant was hunted up, and as she declared she knew nothing of -the wash-tub or its contents, and as Mrs. King was still missing, the -neighbours began to move in the matter. Mr. Barron, an apothecary, -came and questioned Gardelle, who was so much confused in his answers -that a warrant was obtained for his arrest. Then Mrs. King's bedroom -was examined, and that of Gardelle, now a prisoner. In both were -found conclusive evidence of foul play. By and by in the cockloft and -elsewhere portions of the missing woman were discovered, and some -jewelry known to be hers was traced to Gardelle, who did not long deny -his guilt. When he was in the new prison at Clerkenwell he tried to -commit suicide by taking forty drops of opium; but it failed even to -procure him sleep. After this he swallowed halfpence to the number of -twelve, hoping that the verdigreese would kill him, but he survived -after suffering great tortures. He was removed then to Newgate for -greater security, and was closely watched till the end. After a fair -trial he was convicted and cast for death. His execution took place in -the Haymarket near Panton Street, to which he was led past Mrs. King's -house, and at which he cast one glance as he passed. His body was -hanged in chains on Hounslow Heath.</p> - -<p>Women were as capable of fiendish cruelty as <!-- Page 298 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[298]</a></span>men, and displayed -greater and more diabolical ingenuity in devising torments for their -victims. Two murders typical of this class of crime may be quoted here. -One was that committed by the Meteyards, mother and daughter, upon -an apprentice girl; the other that of Elizabeth Brownrigg, also on -an apprentice. The Meteyards kept a millinery shop in Bruton Street, -Berkeley Square, and had five parish apprentices bound to them. One was -a sickly girl, Anne Taylor by name. Being unable to do as much work as -her employers desired, they continually vented their spite upon her. -After enduring great cruelty Anne Taylor absconded; she was caught, -brought back to Bruton Street, and imprisoned in a garret on bread and -water; she again escaped, and was again recaptured and cruelly beaten -with a broom-handle. Then they tied her with a rope to the door of a -room so that she could neither sit nor lie down, and she was so kept -for three successive days, but suffered to go to bed at night-time. On -the third night she was so weak she could hardly creep upstairs. On the -fourth day her fellow apprentices were brought to witness her torments -as an incentive to exertion, but were forbidden to afford her any kind -of relief. On this, the last day of her torture, she faltered in speech -and presently expired. The Meteyards now tried to bring their victim -to with hartshorn, but finding life was extinct, they carried the body -up to the garret and <!-- Page 299 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[299]</a></span>locked it in. Then four days later they enclosed -it in a box, left the garret door ajar, and spread a report through -their house that "Nanny" had once more absconded. The deceased had a -sister, a fellow apprentice, who declared she was persuaded "Nanny" was -dead; whereupon the Meteyards also murdered the sister and secreted -the body. Anne's body remained in the garret for a couple of months, -when the stench of decomposition was so great that the murderesses -feared detection, and after chopping the corpse in pieces, they burnt -parts and disposed of others in drains and gully-holes. Four years -elapsed without suspicion having been aroused, but there had been -constant and violent quarrels between mother and daughter, the former -frequently beating and ill-using the latter, who in return reviled her -mother as a murderess. During this time the daughter left her home to -live with a Mr. Rooker as servant at Ealing. Her mother followed her, -and still behaved so outrageously that the daughter, in Mr. Rooker's -presence, upbraided her with what they had done. He became uneasy, and -cross-questioned them till they confessed the crime. Both women were -arrested and tried at the Old Bailey, where they were convicted and -sentenced to death. The mother on the morning of her execution was -taken with a fit from which she never recovered, and she was in a state -of insensibility when hanged.</p> - -<p>Elizabeth Brownrigg was the wife of a plumber <!-- Page 300 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[300]</a></span>who carried on business -in Flower de Luce Court, Fleet Street. She practised midwifery, and -received parish apprentices, whom she took to save the expense of -keeping servants. Two girls, victims of her cruel ill-usage, ran -away, but a third, Mary Clifford, bound to her by the parish of -Whitefriars, remained to endure still worse. Her inhuman mistress -repeatedly beat her, now with a hearth-broom, now with a horsewhip -or a cane. The girl was forced to lie at nights in a coal-hole, with -no bed but a sack and some straw. She was often nearly perished with -cold. Once, after a long diet of bread and water, when nearly starved -to death, she rashly broke into a cupboard in search of food and was -caught in the act. Mrs. Brownrigg, to punish her, made her strip, and -while she was naked repeatedly beat her with the butt end of a whip. -Then fastening a jack-chain around her neck she drew it as tight as -possible without strangling, and sent her back to the coal-hole with -her hands tied behind her back. Mrs. Brownrigg's son vied with his -mother in ill-treating the apprentices, and when the mistress was -tired of horse-whipping, the lad continued the savage punishment. -When Mary Clifford complained to a French lodger of the barbarity -she experienced, Mrs. Brownrigg flew at her and cut her tongue in -two places with a pair of scissors. Other apprentices were equally -ill-used, and they were all covered <!-- Page 301 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[301]</a></span>with wounds and bruises from the -cruel flagellations they received.</p> - -<p>At length one of the neighbours, alarmed by the constant moaning and -groanings which issued from Brownrigg's house, began to suspect that -"the apprentices were treated with unwarrantable severity." It was -impossible to gain admission, but a maid looked through a skylight into -a covered yard, and saw one of the apprentices, in a shocking state of -filth and wretchedness, kept there with a pig. One of the overseers -now went and demanded Mary Clifford. Mrs. Brownrigg produced another, -Mary Mitchell, who was taken to the workhouse, but in such a pitiable -state that in removing her clothes her bodice stuck to her wounds. -Mary Mitchell having been promised that she should not be sent back to -Brownrigg's, gave a full account of the horrid treatment she and Mary -Clifford had received. A further search was made in the Brownriggs' -house, but without effect. At length, under threat of removal to -prison, Mrs. Brownrigg produced Clifford from a cupboard under a -buffet in the dining-room. "It is impossible," says the account, "to -describe the miserable appearance of this poor girl; nearly her whole -body was ulcerated." Her life was evidently in imminent danger. Having -been removed to St. Bartholomew's Hospital, she died there within a -few days. The man Brownrigg was arrested, but the woman <!-- Page 302 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[302]</a></span>and son made -their escape. Shifting their abode from place to place, buying new -disguises from time to time at rag-fairs, eventually they took refuge -in lodgings at Wandsworth, where they were recognized by their landlord -as answering the description of the murderers of Mary Clifford, and -arrested. Mrs. Brownrigg was tried and executed; the men, acquitted of -the graver charge, were only sentenced to six months' imprisonment. -The story runs that Hogarth, who prided himself on his skill as a -physiognomist, wished to see Mrs. Brownrigg in Newgate. The governor, -Mr. Akerman, admitted him, but at the instance of a mutual friend -played a trick upon the painter by bringing Mrs. Brownrigg before him -casually, as some other woman. Hogarth on looking at her took Akerman -aside and said, "You must have two great female miscreants in your -custody, for this woman as well as Mrs. Brownrigg is from her features -capable of any cruelty and any crime." This story, although <i lang="it" xml:lang="it">ben -trovato</i>, is apocryphal. At the time of this alleged visit to Newgate -Hogarth was not alive.</p> - -<p>I pass now to murders of less atrocity, the result of temporary and -more or less ungovernable passion, rather than of malice deliberate and -aforethought. In this class must be included the case of Mr. Plunkett, -a young gentleman of Irish extraction, who murdered a peruke-maker, -when asked an exorbitant price for a wig. Brown had made it to order -for Mr. Plunkett, and wanted seven <!-- Page 303 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[303]</a></span>pounds for it. After haggling he -reduced it to six. Plunkett offered four, and on this being refused, -seized a razor lying handy and cut Brown's throat.</p> - -<p>A somewhat similar case was that of Mr. Edward Bird, a well-born youth, -who had been educated at Eton, and after making the grand tour had -received a commission in a regiment of horse. Unfortunately he led a -wild, dissolute life, associating with low characters. One morning, -after spending the night in a place of public resort, he ordered a -bath. One waiter deputed the job to another, the latter went to Bird -to apologize for the delay. Bird, growing furious, drew his sword, and -made several passes at the waiter, who avoided them by holding the door -in his hand, and then escaped down-stairs. Bird pursued, threw the man -down, breaking his ribs. On this the master of the house and another -waiter, by name Loxton, tried to appease Bird, but the latter, frantic -at not having the bath when ordered, fell upon Loxton and ran him -through with his sword. Loxton dropped and died almost instantaneously. -Bird was arrested, committed to Newgate, and eventually tried for -his life. He was convicted and received sentence of death, but great -interest was made to get it commuted to transportation. His powerful -friends might have obtained it but for the protests of Loxton's -representatives, and Bird was ordered for execution. The night before -he first tried poison, then stabbed himself in <!-- Page 304 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[304]</a></span>several places, but -survived to be taken the following morning to Tyburn in a mourning -coach, attended by his mother and the ordinary of Newgate. At the -gallows he asked for a glass of wine and a pinch of snuff, which -"he took with apparent unconcern, wishing health to those who stood -near him. He then repeated the Apostle's Creed and was launched into -eternity."</p> - -<p>The military were not overpopular at times, when party disputes ran -high, and the soldiery were often exposed to contumely in the streets. -It must be admitted too that they were ready enough to accept any -quarrel fastened upon them. Thus William Hawksworth, a guardsman, while -marching through the park with a party to relieve guard at St. James's, -left the ranks to strike a woman who he thought had insulted his cloth. -It was not she, however, but her companion who had cried, "What a stir -there is about King George's soldiers!" This companion, by name Ransom, -resented the blow, and called Hawksworth a puppy, whereupon the soldier -clubbed his musket and knocked the civilian down. Hawksworth marched -on with his guard; Ransom was removed to the hospital with a fractured -skull, and died in a few hours. But a bystander, having learned the -name of the offender, obtained a warrant against Hawksworth, who was -committed to Newgate. He was ably defended at his trial, and his -commanding officer gave him an excellent character. But the facts <!-- Page 305 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[305]</a></span>were -so clearly proved that conviction was imperative. For some time he was -buoyed up with the hope of reprieve, but this failed him at the last, -and he went to Tyburn solemnly declaring that Ransom hit him first; -that he had no malice against the deceased, and he hardly remembered -leaving the ranks to strike him.</p> - -<p>Two cases may well be inserted here, although belonging to a somewhat -later date. Both were murders committed under the influence of strong -excitement: one was the fierce outburst of passionate despair at -unrequited love; the other the rash action of a quick-tempered man -who was vested for the moment with absolute power. The first was -the murder of Miss Reay by the Rev. James Hackman, the second the -flogging to death of the Sergeant Armstrong by order of Colonel Wall, -Lieutenant-Governor of Goree.</p> - -<p>Mr. Hackman had held a commission in the 68th Foot, and while employed -on the recruiting service at Huntingdon, had been hospitably received -at Hinchingbroke, the seat of Lord Sandwich. At that time a Miss Reay -resided there under the protection of his lordship, by whom she had had -nine children. Hackman fell desperately in love with Miss Reay, and the -lady did not altogether reject his attentions. A correspondence between -them, which bears every appearance of authenticity, was published after -the murder under the title of "Love and Madness," and the letters on -<!-- Page 306 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[306]</a></span>both sides are full of ardent protestations. Hackman continued to -serve for some time, but the exile from the sight of his beloved became -so intolerable that he sold out, took orders, and entered the Church, -obtaining eventually the living of Wiverton in Norfolk.</p> - -<p>He had determined to marry Miss Reay if she would accept him, and one -of the last letters of the correspondence above quoted proves that -the marriage arrangements were all but completed. On the 1st March, -1779, he writes: "In a month or six weeks at farthest from this time I -might certainly call you mine. Only remember that my character now I -have taken orders renders exhibition necessary. By to-night's post I -shall write into Norfolk about the alterations at <em>our</em> parsonage." But -within a few weeks a cloud overshadowed his life. It is only vaguely -indicated in a letter to a friend, dated the 20th March, in which he -hints at a rupture between Miss Reay and himself. "What I shall do I -know not—without her I do not think I can exist." A few days later he -wrote to the same friend: "Despair goads me on—death only can relieve -me. . . . What then have I to do, who only lived when she loved me, but -cease to live now she ceases to love?"</p> - -<p>At this period it is evident that the idea of suicide only occupied -his overwrought brain. He wrote on the 7th April: "When this reaches -you I shall be no more. . . . You know where my affections <!-- Page 307 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[307]</a></span>were placed; -my having by some means or other lost hers (an idea which I could not -support) has driven me to madness." So far he does not appear to have -contemplated any violence against Miss Reay, for in his letter he -commends her to the kind offices of his friend. He spent that day in -self-communing and in reading a volume of Doctor Blair's sermons. In -the evening he went from his lodgings in Duke's Court, St. Martin's -Lane, towards the Admiralty, and saw Miss Reay drive by to the Covent -Garden Theatre. He followed her into the theatre and gazed at her for -the last time. Then, unable to restrain the violence of his passion, he -returned to his lodgings, and having loaded two pistols, returned to -Covent Garden, where he waited in the piazza till the play was over. -When Miss Reay came out he stepped up with a pistol in each hand. One -he fired at her, and killed her on the spot; the other he discharged -at himself, but without fatal effect. He was at once arrested, and -when his wound had been dressed, was committed by Sir John Fielding to -Tothill Fields, and afterwards to Newgate. He wrote from prison to the -same friend as follows:</p> - -<p>"I am alive——and she is dead. I shot her, shot her, and not myself. -Some of her blood and brains is still upon my clothes. I don't ask you -to speak to me, I don't ask you to look at me, only come hither and -bring me a little poison, such as is strong enough. Upon my knees I -beg, if your <!-- Page 308 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[308]</a></span>friendship for me ever was sincere, do, <em>do</em> bring me -some poison."</p> - -<p>Next day he was more composed, and declared that nothing should tempt -him to escape justice by suicide. "My death," he writes, "is all the -recompense I can make to the laws of my country." He was tried before -Mr. Justice Blackstone of the Commentaries, and convicted on the -clearest evidence. A plea of insanity was set up in his defence, but -could not be maintained. His dignified address to the jury had nothing -of madness in it, and it is probable that he had no real desire to -escape the just punishment for his crime. This is shown by his answer -to Lord Sandwich, who wrote:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p class="letterdate">17th April, 1779.</p> - -<p class="center">"TO MR. HACKMAN IN NEWGATE</p> - -<p>"If the murderer of Miss —— wishes to live, the man he has -most injured will use all his interest to procure his life."</p> -</div> - -<p>To this Hackman replied:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p class="letterdate"><span class="smcap">The Condemned Cell in Newgate</span>,<br /> -<span class="line2">17th April, 1779.</span></p> - -<p>"The murderer of her whom he preferred, far preferred to -life, respects the hand from which he has just received such -an offer as he neither desires nor deserves. His wishes are -for death, not life. <!-- Page 309 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[309]</a></span>One wish he has. Could he be pardoned -in this world by the man he has most injured—oh, my lord, -when I meet her in another world enable me to tell her (if -departed spirits are not ignorant of earthly things) that -you forgive us both, that you will be a father to her dear -infants!</p> - -<p class="author">"J. H."</p> -</div> - -<p>The condemned man continued to fill many sheets with his reflections -in the shape of letters to his friend. But they are all rhapsodical to -the last degree. The 19th April was the day fixed for his execution, -and on that morning he rose at five o'clock, dressed himself, and spent -some time in private meditation. About seven o'clock he was visited by -Mr. Boswell and some other friends, with whom he went to the chaplain -and partook of the sacrament. During the procession to Tyburn he seemed -much affected, and said but little. After having hung the usual time -his body was carried to Surgeon's Hall. He appears to have written a -few last words in pencil at Tyburn while actually waiting to be turned -off.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>"My dear Charlie," he wrote, "farewell for ever in this -world. I die a sincere Christian and penitent, and everything -I hope you can wish me. Would it prevent my example's having -any bad effect if the world should know how I abhor my former -ideas of suicide, my crime? —— will be <!-- Page 310 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[310]</a></span>the best judge. Of -her fame I charge you to be careful. My poorly will . . .</p> - -<p class="author">"Your dying H."</p> -</div> - -<p>Miss Reay was buried at Elstree, Herts., where her grave is still -pointed out.</p> - -<p>Twenty years elapsed between the commission of the murder with which -Governor Wall was charged and his trial and atonement. The date of his -execution was 1802, a date which would bring the story within the scope -of a later rather than the present chapter. But while postponing the -particulars of the execution, I propose to deal here with the offence, -as it falls naturally into this branch of my subject. Colonel Wall -was governor and commandant of Goree, a small island off the coast of -Africa close to Cape Verde, and now in the possession of the French. It -was mainly dependent upon England for its supplies, and when these ran -short, as was often the case, the troops received a money compensation -in lieu of rations. A sum was due to them in this way on one occasion -when both the governor and paymaster were on the point of leaving the -island for England, and a number of men, anxious for an adjustment -of their claims, set off in a body to interview the paymaster at -his quarters. They were encountered en route by the governor, who -reprimanded them, and ordered them to return to their barracks. An hour -or two later a second party started for the paymaster, at <!-- Page 311 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[311]</a></span>the head -of which was a certain Sergeant Armstrong. The governor met them as -before, and addressing himself to Sergeant Armstrong, again ordered the -men back to their quarters.</p> - -<p>Upon the nature of this demonstration the whole of the subsequent -proceedings hinged. Governor Wall and his witnesses declared it was -a tumultuous gathering, seventy or eighty strong; other testimony -limited the number to about a dozen. Governor Wall alleged that the -men with Armstrong were armed and menacing; others that they comported -themselves in a quiet, orderly manner. It was sworn that Armstrong, -when spoken to by the governor, came up to him submissively, hat -in hand, addressed him as "Your Excellency," used no disrespectful -language, and withdrew, with his comrades, without noise or -disturbance. This view was supported by the evidence of several -officers, who swore that they saw no appearance of a mutiny on the -island that day; on the other hand, the governor urged that the men had -declared they would break open the stores and help themselves if they -were not settled with at once; that they prevented him from going to -the shore, fearing he meant to leave the island in a hurry; and that -they forced the main guard and released a prisoner. It is difficult to -reconcile statements so widely divergent; but the fact that Governor -Wall left the island next day, and took with him three officers out -of the seven in the garrison; that he made no <!-- Page 312 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[312]</a></span>special report of the -alleged mutiny to the military authorities in London, and did not even -refer to it in minute returns prepared and forwarded at the time, -must be deemed very detrimental to Governor Wall's case, and no doubt -weighed with the jury which tried him. The only conclusion was that no -mutiny existed, but one was assumed merely to screen the infliction of -an unauthorized punishment.</p> - -<p>To return to the events on the island. It is pretty certain that -Governor Wall's mind must have been thrown off its balance after he -had dismissed the party headed by Armstrong. He was either actually -apprehensive for the safety of his command, or was momentarily blinded -by passion at the seeming defiance of discipline, and he felt that he -must make an example if his authority was to be maintained. Although -many old comrades of high rank bore witness at his trial to his great -humanity and good temper, there is reason to fear that to those under -his command he was so severe and unaccommodating as to be generally -unpopular, and this no doubt told against him at his trial. He was -not a strong, self-reliant commander. It is nearly certain that he -gave trifles exaggerated importance, and was only too ready to put in -practice the severest methods of repression he had at hand. In this -instance, however, he did not act without deliberation. It was not -until six in the evening that he had resolved to punish Armstrong -as the <!-- Page 313 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[313]</a></span>ringleader of the mutiny. By that time he had fully laid -his plans. The "long roll" was beat upon the drums, the troops were -assembled hurriedly as in the case of alarm, and a gun-carriage was -dragged into the centre of the parade. The governor then constituted a -drumhead court martial, which proceeded to try Armstrong for mutiny, -convict, and sentence him without calling upon him to plead to any -charge, or hearing him in his defence; so that he was practically -punished without a trial. He was ordered eight hundred lashes, which -were forthwith inflicted, not as in ordinary cases by the regimental -drummers, whom the governor thought were tinged with insubordination, -but by the black interpreters and his assistants; nor was the -regulation cat-of-nine-tails used, as the governor declared they had -all been destroyed by the mutineers, but a very thick rope's end, -which, according to the surgeon's testimony, did more mischief than -the cat. Armstrong's punishment was exemplary. It was proved that the -governor stood by, threatening to flog the blacks themselves unless -they "laid on" with a will, and crying again and again, "Cut him to -the heart! cut him to the liver!" Armstrong begged for mercy, but he -received the whole eight hundred lashes, twenty-five at a time; and -when he was cast loose, he said that the sick season was coming on, -which with the punishment would certainly do for him. A surgeon was -present at the infliction, but was not called upon <!-- Page 314 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[314]</a></span>to certify as to -Armstrong's fitness or otherwise for corporal punishment, nor did -he enter any protest. Armstrong was taken at once to hospital, and -his back was found "as black as a new hat." From the moment of his -reception the doctors had no hope of his recovery; he gradually grew -worse and worse, and presently died.</p> - -<p>The day after the punishment Governor Wall left Goree and came to -England, where he arrived in August, 1782. The news of Armstrong's -death followed him, and various reports as to the governor's conduct, -which were inquired into and dismissed. But in 1784 a more detailed -and circumstantial account came to hand, and two messengers were -despatched to Bath by Lord Sidney, then Secretary of State, to arrest -Wall. They apprehended him and brought him as far as Reading, in a -chaise and four, where they alighted at an inn. While the officers -were at supper he gave them the slip and got over to France, whence -he wrote promising to surrender in the course of a few months. His -excuse for absconding was that many of those who would be the principal -witnesses were his personal enemies. He continued abroad, however, for -some years, residing sometimes in Italy, more constantly in France, -"where he lived respectably and was admitted into good company." He -affected the society of countrymen serving in the French army, and -was well-known to the Scotch and Irish Colleges in Paris. In 1797 he -returned to England and <!-- Page 315 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[315]</a></span>remained in hiding, occupying lodgings in -Lambeth Court, where his wife, who was a lady of good family, regularly -visited him. He is described as being unsettled in mind at this time, -and even then contemplating surrender. His means of subsistence were -rather precarious, but he lived at the time of delivering himself up in -Upper Thornhaugh St., Bedford Square. In October, 1801, he wrote twice -to Lord Pelham, stating that he had returned to England for the purpose -of meeting the charge against him. It was generally supposed that, had -he not thus come forward voluntarily, the matter had nearly passed out -of people's memory, and he would hardly have been molested. He was, -however, arrested on his own letter, committed to Newgate, and tried at -the Old Bailey for the murder of Benjamin Armstrong at Goree in 1782. -He was found guilty and sentenced to death. After several respites -and strenuous exertions to save his life, he was executed in front of -Newgate on the 28th January, 1802. The whole of one day was occupied by -the judges and law officers in reviewing his case, but their opinion -was against him.</p> - -<p>Three persons of note and superior station found themselves in Newgate -about but rather before this time upon a charge of murder. The first -was James Quin, the celebrated actor, the popular diner-out and <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">bon -vivant</i>, who went to the west coast of England to eat John Dory in -perfection, and who preferred eating turtle in Bristol to London. He -made <!-- Page 316 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[316]</a></span>his first hit as Falstaff in the "Merry Wives of Windsor." He -had understudied the part, but Rich, manager of the Theatre Royal, -Lincoln's Inn Fields, substituted him for it in an emergency with great -reluctance. His next hit was as Cato, in which, with many other parts, -he succeeded Booth. Quin was modest enough on his first appearance as -Cato to announce that the part would be attempted by Mr. Quin. The -audience were, however, fully satisfied with his performance, and after -one critical passage was applauded with shouts of "Booth outdone!" It -was through this, his great part of Cato, that he was led into the -quarrel which laid him open to the charge of murder. One night in 1769 -an inferior actor named Williams, taking the part of messenger, said, -"Cæsar sends health to Cato," but pronounced Cato "Keeto." Quin, much -annoyed, replied instantly with a "gag"—"Would that he had sent a -better messenger."<a name="FNanchor_316:1_43" id="FNanchor_316:1_43"></a><a href="#Footnote_316:1_43" class="fnanchor">[316:1]</a> Williams was now greatly incensed, and in the -Green Room later in the evening complained bitterly to Quin that he had -been made ridiculous, that his professional prospects were blighted, -and that he insisted upon satisfaction or an apology. Quin only laughed -at his rage. Williams, goaded <!-- Page 317 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[317]</a></span>to madness, went out into the piazza -at Covent Garden to watch for Quin. When the latter left the theatre -Williams attacked him with his sword. Quin drew in his defence, and -after a few passes ran Williams through the body. The ill-fated actor -died on the spot. Quin surrendered himself, was committed, tried, found -guilty of manslaughter, and sentenced to be burned in the hand.</p> - -<p>Another well-known actor, Charles Macklin, was no less unfortunate -in incurring the stain of blood. He was a hot-headed, intemperate -Irishman, who, when he had an engagement at Drury Lane Theatre, -quarrelled with another actor over a wig. Going down between the pieces -into the scene-room, where the players warmed themselves, he saw a Mr. -Hallam, who was to appear as Sancho in the "Fop's Fortune," wearing a -stock wig which he (Macklin) had on the night before. He swore at him -for a rogue, and cried, "What business have you with my wig?" The other -answered that he had as much right to it as Macklin, but presently went -away and changed it for another. Macklin still would not leave the man -alone, and taking the wig, began to comb it out, making grumbling and -abusive remarks, calling Hallam a blackguard and a scrub rascal. Hallam -replied that he was no more a rascal than Macklin was; upon which the -latter "started from his chair, and having a stick in his hand, made -a full lunge at the actor, and thrust the stick into his left eye;" -pulling it back again he <!-- Page 318 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[318]</a></span>looked pale, turned on his heel, and in a -passion threw the stick on the fire. Hallam clapped his hand to his eye -and said the stick had gone through his head. Young Mr. Cibber, the -manager's son, came in, and a doctor was sent for; the injured man was -removed to a bed, where he expired the following day. Macklin was very -contrite and concerned at his rash act, for which he was arrested, and -in due course tried at the Old Bailey. Many of the most renowned actors -of the day, Rich, Fleetwood, Quin, Ryan, and others, bore testimony to -his good character and his quiet, peaceable disposition. He also was -found guilty of manslaughter only, and sentenced to be burnt in the -hand.</p> - -<p>The third case of killing by misadventure was that of Joseph Baretti, -the author of the well-known Italian and English dictionary. Baretti -had resided in England for some years, engaged upon this work; he was -a middle-aged, respectable man, of studious habits, the friend and -associate of the most noted literary men and artists of the day. He was -a member of the club of the Royal Academicians at that time (1769), -lodged in Soho, and went there one afternoon after a long morning's -work over his proofs. Finding no one at the club, he went on to the -Orange coffee-house, and returning by the Haymarket to the club, -was madly assaulted by a woman at the corner of Panton Street. Very -unwisely he resented her attack by giving her a blow with his hand, -when the woman, finding by his accent he was <!-- Page 319 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[319]</a></span>a foreigner, cried for -help against the cursed Frenchman, when there was at once a gathering -of bullies, who jostled and beat Baretti, making him "apprehensive -that he must expect no favour nor protection, but all outrage and -blows." There was, generally, a great puddle at the corner of Panton -Street, even when the weather was fine, and on this particular day -it had rained incessantly, and the pavement was very slippery. -Baretti's assailants tried hard to push him into the puddle, and at -last in self-defence he drew his pocket-knife, a knife he kept, as he -afterwards declared, to carve fruit and sweetmeats, and not to kill his -fellow creatures with. Being hard pushed, "in great horror, having such -bad eyes," lest he should run against some, and his pursuers constantly -at him, jostling and beating him, Baretti "made a quick blow" at one -who had knocked off his hat with his fist; the mob cried, "Murder, he -has a knife out," and gave way. Baretti ran up Oxenden Street, then -faced about and ran into a shop for protection, being quite spent with -fatigue. Three men followed him; one was a constable, who had called -upon Baretti to surrender. Morgan, the man whom he had stabbed, three -times, as it appeared, "the third wound having hurt him more than the -two former," was fast bleeding to death. Baretti was carried before -Sir John Fielding; his friends came from the club and testified to -his character, among others Sir Joshua Reynolds himself, but he was -committed <!-- Page 320 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[320]</a></span>to prison. It was urged in Baretti's defence that he had -been very severely handled; he had a swollen cheek, and was covered -with bruises. Independent witnesses came forward, and swore that they -had been subjected to personal outrage in the neighbourhood of the -Haymarket. A number of personal friends, including Sir Joshua Reynolds, -Doctor Johnson, Mr. Fitz-Herbert, and Mr. Edmund Burke, spoke in the -highest terms of Mr. Baretti as a "man of benevolence, sobriety, -modesty, and learning." In the end he was acquitted of murder or -manslaughter, and the jury gave a verdict of self-defence.</p> - - -<hr class="footnotes" /> -<p class="sectctrfn">FOOTNOTES:</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_282:1_41" id="Footnote_282:1_41"></a><a href="#FNanchor_282:1_41"><span class="label">[282:1]</span></a> As barristers often preferred to do business at their -own homes, chambers in the Temple were rather at a discount just then, -and their landlords, "preferring tenants of no legal skill to no -tenants at all, let them out to any that offered, . . ." consequently -many private people creep about the Inns of Court.—"Newgate Calendar," -i. 470.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_286:1_42" id="Footnote_286:1_42"></a><a href="#FNanchor_286:1_42"><span class="label">[286:1]</span></a> "Beau" Fielding, who was tried at the Old Bailey in -1706 for committing bigamy with the Duchess of Cleveland, is one of the -most remarkable instances of this. See "Celebrated Trials," iii. 534. -Also see the trial of the Duchess of Kingston, "Remarkable Trials," -203. She was tried by the House of Lords, found guilty, but pleaded her -peerage and was discharged.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_316:1_43" id="Footnote_316:1_43"></a><a href="#FNanchor_316:1_43"><span class="label">[316:1]</span></a> Quin could not resist the chance of making a sharp -speech. When desired by the manager of Covent Garden to go to the -front to apologize for Madame Rollau, a celebrated dancer, who could -not appear, he said, "Ladies and gentlemen, Madame Rollau cannot dance -to-night, having dislocated her ankle—I wish it had been her neck."</p></div> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="newchapter" /> -<p><!-- Page 321 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[321]</a></span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak"><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X<br /> - -<small>HIGHWAYMEN AND PIRATES</small></h2> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p class="hang">Chronic dangers and riots in the London streets—Footmen's -riot at Drury Lane—James Maclane, a notorious knight -of the road, has a lodging in St. James's Street—Stops -Horace Walpole—Hanged at Maidstone—John Rann, -<em>alias</em> Sixteen-string Jack—Short career ends on the -gallows—William Parsons, a baronet's son, turns swindler -and is transported to Virginia—Jonathan Wild, the sham -thief-taker and notorious criminal—Captain Kidd—English -peers accused of complicity—Kidd's arrest, trial, and -sentence—John Gow and his career in the <i>Revenge</i>—His death -at Execution Dock.</p> -</div> - - -<p>Inoffensive persons were constantly in danger, day and night, of being -waylaid and maltreated in the streets. Disturbance was chronic in -certain localities, and a trifling quarrel might at any moment blaze -into a murderous riot. On execution days the mob was always rampant; -at times, too, when political passion was at fever-heat, crowds of -roughs were ever ready to espouse the popular cause. Thus, when the -court party, headed by Lord Bute, vainly strove to crush the demagogue -John Wilkes, and certain prisoners were being tried at the Old Bailey -for riot and wounding, a crowd <!-- Page 322 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[322]</a></span>collected outside the Mansion House -carrying a gibbet on which hung a boot and a petticoat. The mayor -interfered and a fray began. Weapons were used, some of the lord -mayor's servants were wounded, and one of the prisoners was rescued by -the mob. Sometimes the disturbance had its origin in trade jealousies.</p> - -<p>An especially turbulent class were the footmen, chair-men, and -body-servants of the aristocracy. The Footmen's Riot at Drury Lane -Theatre, which occurred in 1737, was a serious affair. It had long been -the custom to admit the parti-coloured tribe, as the licensed lackeys -are called in contemporary accounts, to the upper gallery of that -theatre gratis, out of compliment to their masters on whom they were -in attendance. Then, when established among "the gods," they comported -themselves with extraordinary license; they impudently insulted the -rest of the audience, who, unlike themselves, had paid for admission, -and "assuming the prerogative of critics, hissed or applauded with the -most offensive clamour." Finding the privilege of free entrance thus -scandalously abused, Mr. Fleetwood, the manager, suspended the free -list. This gave great offence to the footmen, who proceeded to take -the law into their own hands. "They conceived," as it was stated in -<cite>Fog's Weekly Journal</cite>, "that they had an indefeasible hereditary right -to the said gallery, and that this expulsion was a high infringement -of their liberties." Accordingly, one Saturday <!-- Page 323 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[323]</a></span>night a great number -of them—quite three hundred, it was said—assembled at Drury Lane -doors, armed with staves and truncheons, and "well fortified with -three-threads and two-penny."<a name="FNanchor_323:1_44" id="FNanchor_323:1_44"></a><a href="#Footnote_323:1_44" class="fnanchor">[323:1]</a> The night selected was one when -the performance was patronized by royalty, and the Prince and Princess -of Wales, with other members of the royal family, were in the theatre. -The rioters attacked the stage door and forced it open, "bearing down -all the box-keepers, candle-snuffers, supernumeraries, and pippin -women that stood in the way." In this onslaught some five and twenty -respectable people were desperately wounded. Fortunately Colonel de -Veil, an active Westminster justice, happened to be in the house, and -at once interposed. He ordered the Riot Act to be read, but "so great -was the confusion," says the account, "that they might as well have -read Cæsar's 'Commentaries.'" Colonel de Veil then got the assistance -of some of the guards, and with them seized several of the principal -rioters, whom he committed to Newgate.</p> - -<p>These prisoners were looked upon as martyrs to the great cause, -and while in gaol were liberally supplied with all luxuries by the -subscription of their brethren. They were, however, brought to trial, -convicted of riot, and sentenced to imprisonment. This did not quite -end the disturbance. Anonymous letters poured into the theatre, -threatening <!-- Page 324 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[324]</a></span>Fleetwood and vowing vengeance. The following is a -specimen:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>"<span class="smcap">Sir</span>:—We are willing to admonish you before we -attempt our design; and provide you use us civil and admit -us into your gallery, which is our property according to -formalities, and if you think proper to come to a composition -this way you'll hear no further; and if not, our intention is -to combine in a body, incognito, and reduce the playhouse to -the ground. Valuing no detection, we are</p> - -<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Indemnified</span>."</p> -</div> - -<p>The manager carried these letters to the Lord Chamberlain and appealed -to him for protection. A detachment of the guards, fifty strong, was -ordered to do duty at the theatre nightly, and "thus deterred the saucy -knaves from carrying their threats into execution. From this time," -says the "Newgate Calendar," "the gallery has been purged of such -vermin."</p> - -<p>The footmen and male servants generally of this age were an idle, -dissolute race. From among them the ranks of the highwaymen were -commonly recruited, and it was very usual for the gentleman's -gentleman, who had long flaunted in his master's apparel, and imitated -his master's vices, to turn gentleman on the road to obtain funds for -the faro-table and riotous living. A large proportion of the most -famous highwaymen of the eighteenth <!-- Page 325 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[325]</a></span>century had been in service -at some time or other. Hawkins, James Maclane, John Rann, William -Page, had all worn the livery coat. John Hawkins had been butler in -a gentleman's family, but lost his place when the plate chest was -robbed, and suspicion fell upon him because he was flush of money. -Hawkins, without a character, was unable to get a fresh place, and he -took at once to the road. His operations, which were directed chiefly -against persons of quality, were conducted in and about London. He -stopped and robbed the Earl of Burlington, Lord Bruce, and the Earl of -Westmoreland, the latter in Lincoln's Inn Fields. When he got valuable -jewels he carried them over to Holland and disposed of them for -cash, which he squandered at once in a "hell," for he was a rash and -inveterate gambler.</p> - -<p>Working with two associates, he made his headquarters at a public-house -in the London Wall, the master of which kept a livery-stable, and -shared in the booty. From this point they rode out at all hours and -stopped the stages as they came into town laden with passengers. One -of the gang was, however, captured in the act of robbing the mail -and executed at Aylesbury. After this, by way of revenge, they all -determined to turn mail-robbers. They first designed to stop the -Harwich mail, but changed their mind as its arrival was uncertain, -being dependent on the passage of the packet-boat, and determined to -rob the Bristol mail instead. <!-- Page 326 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[326]</a></span>They overtook the boy carrying the bags -near Slough, and made him go down a lane where they tied him to a tree -in a wet ditch, ransacked the Bath and Bristol bags, and hurried off by -a circuitous route to London, where they divided the spoil, sharing the -bank-notes and throwing the letters into the fire. Soon after this, the -post-office having learned that the public-house in the London Wall was -the resort of highwaymen, it was closely watched. One of Hawkins's gang -became alarmed, and was on the point of bolting to Newcastle when he -was arrested. He was hesitating whether or not he should confess, when -he found that he had been forestalled by an associate, who had already -given information to the post-office, and he also made a clean breast -of it all. The rest of the gang were taken at their lodgings in the -Old Bailey, but not without a fight, and committed to Newgate. Hawkins -tried to set up an alibi, and an innkeeper swore that he lodged with -him at Bedfordbury on the night of the robbery; but the jury found him -guilty, and he was hanged at Tyburn, his body being afterwards hung in -chains on Hounslow Heath.</p> - -<p>The defence of an alibi was very frequently pleaded by highwaymen, -and the tradition of its utility may explain why that veteran and -astute coachman, Mr. Weller, suggested it in the case of "Bardell -<i>v.</i> Pickwick." In one genuine case, however, it nearly failed, and -two innocent men were <!-- Page 327 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[327]</a></span>all but sacrificed to mistaken identity. -They had been arrested for having robbed, on the Uxbridge road, a -learned sergeant-at-law, Sir Thomas Davenport, who swore positively -to both. His evidence was corroborated by that of Lady Davenport, and -by the coachman and footman. Also the horses ridden by the supposed -highwaymen, one a brown and the other a gray, were produced in the Old -Bailey courtyard, and sworn to. Yet it was satisfactorily proved that -both the prisoners were respectable residents of Kentish town; that -one, at the exact time of the robbery, was seated at table dining at -some club anniversary dinner, and never left the club-room; that the -other was employed continuously in the bar of a public-house kept by -his mother. It was proved too that the prisoners owned a brown and a -gray horse respectively. The judge summed up in the prisoners' favour, -and they were acquitted. But both suffered severe mental trouble from -the unjust accusation. A few years later the actual robbers were -convicted of another offence, and in the cells of Newgate confessed -that it was they who had stopped Sir Thomas Davenport.</p> - -<p>A very notorious highwayman, who had also been in service at one time -of his varied career, was James Maclane. He was the son of a dissenting -minister in Monaghan, and had a brother a minister at The Hague. -Maclane inherited a small fortune, which he speedily dissipated, after -which he <!-- Page 328 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[328]</a></span>became a gentleman's butler, lost his situation through -dishonesty, determined to enlist in the Horse Guards, abandoned the -idea, and turned fortune-hunter. He was a vain man, of handsome -exterior, which he decked out in smart clothes on borrowed money. He -succeeded at length in winning the daughter of a respectable London -horse-dealer, and with her dowry of £500 set up in business as a -grocer. His wife dying early, he at once turned his stock in trade into -cash, and again looked to win an heiress, "by the gracefulness of his -person and the elegance of his appearance." He was at last reduced to -his last shilling, and being quite despondent, an Irish apothecary, -who was a daring robber, persuaded him to take to the highway. One -of his earliest exploits was to stop Horace Walpole when the latter -was passing through Hyde Park. A pistol went off accidentally in this -encounter, and the bullet not only grazed Walpole's cheek-bone, but -went through the roof of the carriage. At this time Maclane had a -lodging in St. James's Street, for which he paid two guineas a week; -his accomplice Plunkett lived in Jermyn Street. "Their faces," says -Horace Walpole, "are as well known about St. James's as any gentleman's -who lives in that quarter, and who perhaps goes upon the road too."</p> - -<p>Maclane accounted for his style of living by putting out that he had -Irish property worth £700 a year. Once when he had narrowly escaped -capture <!-- Page 329 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[329]</a></span>he went over to his brother in Holland for safety, and when -the danger was passed he returned and recommenced his depredations. He -made so good a show that he was often received into respectable houses, -and was once near marrying a young lady of good position; but he was -recognized and exposed by a gentleman who knew him. Maclane continued -to rob, with still greater boldness, till the 26th June, 1750. On this -day he and Plunkett robbed the Earl of Eglinton on Hounslow Heath. -Later in the day they stopped and rifled the Salisbury stage, and -among the booty carried off two portmanteaus, which were conveyed to -Maclane's lodgings in St. James's. Information of this robbery was -quickly circulated, with a description of the stolen goods. Maclane had -stripped the lace off a waistcoat, the property of one of his victims, -and recklessly offered it for sale to the very laceman from whom it -had been purchased. He also sent for another salesman, who immediately -recognized the clothes offered as those which had been stolen, and -pretending to go home for more money, he fetched a constable and -apprehended Maclane. He made an elaborate defence when brought to -trial, but it availed him little, and he was sentenced to death. While -under condemnation he became quite a popular hero. "The first Sunday -after his trial," says Horace Walpole, "three thousand people went to -see him. He fainted away twice with the heat of his cell. You <!-- Page 330 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[330]</a></span>can't -conceive the ridiculous rage there is for going to Newgate; and the -prints that are published of the malefactors, and the memoirs of their -lives, set forth with as much parade as Marshal Turenne's." Maclane -suffered at Tyburn amidst a great concourse.</p> - -<p>William Page did a better business as a highwayman than Maclane. Page -was apprenticed to a haberdasher, but he was a consummate coxcomb, who -neglected his shop to dress in the fashion and frequent public places. -His relations turned him adrift, and when in the last stage of distress -he accepted a footman's place. It was while in livery that he first -heard of what highwaymen could do, and conceived the idea of adopting -the road as a profession. His first exploits were on the Kentish road, -when he stopped the Canterbury stage; his next near Hampton Court. When -he had collected some £200 he took lodgings in Lincoln's Inn Fields and -passed as a student of law. He learnt to dance, frequented assemblies, -and was on the point of marrying well, when he was recognized as -a discharged footman, and turned out-of-doors. He continued his -depredations all this time, assisted by a curious map which he had -himself drawn, giving the roads round London for twenty miles. His -plan was to drive out in a phaeton and pair. When at a distance from -town he would turn into some unfrequented place and disguise himself -with a grizzle or black wig and put on other clothes. Then <!-- Page 331 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[331]</a></span>saddling -one of his phaeton horses, he went on to the main road and committed -a robbery. This effected, he galloped back to his carriage, resumed -his former dress, and drove to London. He was often cautioned against -himself; but laughingly said that he had already lost his money once -and could now only lose his coat and shirt. He was nearly detected on -one occasion, when some haymakers discovered his empty phaeton and -drove it off with his best clothes. He had just stopped some people, -who pursued the haymakers with the carriage and accused them of being -accomplices in the robbery. Page heard of this, and throwing the -disguise into a well, went back to town nearly naked, where he claimed -the carriage, saying the men had stripped him and thrown him into a -ditch. The coach-builder swore that he had sold him the carriage, and -they were committed for trial, but Page did not appear to prosecute. -Page after this extended his operations, and in company with one -Darwell, an old schoolfellow, committed more than three hundred -robberies in three years. He frequented Bath, Tunbridge, Newmarket, and -Scarbro', playing deep everywhere and passing for a man of fortune. -Darwell and he next "worked" the roads around London, but while the -former was near Sevenoaks he was captured by Justice Fielding. He -turned evidence against Page, who was arrested in consequence at the -Golden Lion near Hyde Park, with a wig to disguise him in one <!-- Page 332 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[332]</a></span>pocket -and his map of the London roads in another. He was remanded to Newgate -and tried for a robbery, of which he was acquitted; then removed to -Maidstone and convicted of another, for which he was hanged at that -place in 1758.</p> - -<p>John Rann was first a helper, then postboy, then coachman to several -gentlemen of position. While in this capacity he dressed in a peculiar -fashion, wearing breeches with eight strings at each knee, and was -hence nicknamed Sixteen-string Jack. Having lost his character he -turned pickpocket, and then took to the road. He was soon afterwards -arrested for robbing a gentleman of a watch and some money on the -Hounslow road. The watch was traced to a woman with whom Rann kept -company, who owned that she had had it from him. Rann denied all -knowledge of the transaction, which could not be brought home to him. -He appeared in court on this occasion in an extravagant costume. His -irons were tied up with blue ribbons, and he carried in his breast a -bouquet of flowers "as big as a broom." He was fond of fine feathers. -Soon afterwards he appeared at a public-house in Bagnigge Wells, -dressed in a scarlet coat, tambour waistcoat, white silk stockings, -and laced hat. He gave himself out quite openly as a highwayman, and -getting drunk and troublesome, he was put out of the house through a -window into the road. Later on he appeared at Barnet races in elegant -sporting style, his waistcoat being blue <!-- Page 333 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[333]</a></span>satin trimmed with silver. On -this occasion he was followed by hundreds who knew him, and wished to -stare at a man who had made himself so notorious. At last he stopped -Dr. Bell, chaplain to the Princess Amelia, in the Uxbridge Road, and -robbed him of eighteen pence and a common watch in a tortoise-shell -case; the latter was traced to the same woman already mentioned, and -Rann was arrested coming into her house. Dr. Bell swore to him, and -his servant declared that he had seen Rann riding up Acton Hill twenty -minutes before the robbery. Rann was convicted on this evidence and -suffered at Tyburn, in 1774, after a short career of four years. It was -not the first time he had seen the gallows. A short time previously he -had attended a public execution, and forcing his way into the ring kept -by the constables, begged that he might be allowed to stand there, as -he might some day be an actor in the scene instead of a spectator.</p> - -<p>The road was usually the last resource of the criminally inclined, the -last fatal step in the downward career which ended abruptly at the -gallows. Dissolute and depraved youths of all classes, often enough -gentlemen, undoubtedly well-born, adopted this dangerous profession -when at their wit's ends for funds. William Butler, who did his work -accompanied by his servant Jack, was the son of a military officer. -Kent and Essex was his favourite line of country, but London was his -headquarters, where they lived in the "genteelest lodgings, Jack -<!-- Page 334 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[334]</a></span>wearing a livery, and the squire dressed in the most elegant manner."</p> - -<p>A baronet, Sir Simon Clarke, was convicted of highway robbery at -Winchester assizes, with an associate, Lieutenant Robert Arnott; -although the former, by the strenuous exertions of his country friends, -escaped the death penalty to which he had been sentenced. A very -notorious highwayman executed in 1750 was William Parson, the son of a -baronet, who had been at Eton, and bore a commission in the Royal Navy. -He had hopes of an inheritance from the Duchess of Northumberland, who -was a near relative, but her Grace altered her will in favour of his -sister. He left the navy in a hurry, and, abandoned by his friends, -became quite destitute, when his father got him an appointment in -the Royal African Company's service. But he soon quarrelled with the -governor of Fort James on the Gambia, and returned to England again -so destitute that he lived on three halfpence for four days and drank -water from the street pumps. His father now told him to enlist in -the Life Guards, but the necessary purchase-money, seventy guineas, -was not forthcoming. He then, by personating a brother, obtained an -advance on a legacy which an aunt had left the brother, and with these -funds made so good a show that he managed to marry a young lady of -independent fortune, whose father was dead and had bequeathed her a -handsome estate. His friends were so delighted that they <!-- Page 335 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[335]</a></span>obtained him -a commission as ensign in a marching regiment, the 34th. He immediately -launched out into extravagant expenditure, took a house in Poland -Street, kept three saddle-horses, a chaise and pair, and a retinue of -servants. He also fell into the hands of a noted gambler and sharper, -who induced him to play high, and fleeced him. Parsons was compelled to -sell his commission to meet his liabilities, and still had to evade his -creditors by hiding under a false name.</p> - -<p>From this time he became an irreclaimable vagabond, put to all sorts -of shifts, and adroit in all kinds of swindles, to raise means. -Having starved for some time, he shipped as captain of marines on -board a galley-privateer. He returned and lived by forgery and fraud. -One counterfeit draft he drew was on the Duke of Cumberland for -£500; another on Sir Joseph Hankey & Co. He defrauded tailors out of -new uniforms, and a hatter of 160 hats, which he pretended he had -contracted to supply to his regiment. He also robbed a jeweller, by a -pretended marriage, of a wedding and several valuable diamond rings. -In the '45 he borrowed a horse from an officer intending to join the -rebels, but he only rode as far as Smithfield, where he sold the nag, -and let the officer be arrested as a supposed traitor. He was arrested -for obtaining money on a false draft at Ranelagh, tried at Maidstone, -sentenced to transportation, and despatched to Virginia. There, "after -working as a common <!-- Page 336 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[336]</a></span>slave about seven weeks," a certain Lord F. -rescued him and took him as a guest into his house. Parsons robbed Lord -F. of a horse and took the highway. With the proceeds of his first -robbery he got a passage back to England. On arriving at Whitehaven, -he represented himself as having come into a large estate, and a -banker advanced him seventy pounds. With this he came on to London, -took lodgings in the West End, near Hyde Park corner, and rapidly got -through his cash. Then he hired a horse and rode out on to Hounslow -Heath to stop the first person he met.</p> - -<p>This became his favourite hunting-ground, although he did business also -about Kensington and Turnham Green. Once having learnt that a footman -was to join his master at Windsor with a portmanteau full of notes and -money, he rode out to rob him, but was recognized by an old victim. -The latter let him enter the town of Hounslow, then ordered him to -surrender. He might still have escaped, but the landlord of the inn -where he lodged thought he answered the description of a highwayman who -had long infested the neighbourhood. Parsons was accordingly detained -and removed to Newgate. He was easily identified, and his condemnation -for returning from transportation followed as a matter of course. His -father and his wife used all their interest to gain him a pardon, but -he was deemed too old an offender to be a fit object for mercy.</p> - -<p><!-- Page 337 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[337]</a></span> -Paul Lewis was another reprobate, who began life as a king's officer. -He was the son of a country clergyman, who got him a commission in the -train of artillery; but Lewis ran into debt, deserted from his corps, -and took to the sea. He entered the Royal Navy, and rose to be first -midshipman, then lieutenant. Although courageous in action, he was -"wicked and base;" and while on board the fleet he collected three -guineas apiece from his messmates to lay in stores for the West Indian -voyages, and bolted with the money. He at once took to the road. His -first affair was near Newington Butts, when he robbed a gentleman in -a chaise. He was apprehended for this offence, but escaped conviction -through an alibi; after this he committed a variety of robberies. He -was captured by a police officer on a night that he had first stopped a -lady and gentleman in a chaise, and then tried to rob a Mr. Brown, at -whom he fired. Mr. Brown's horse took fright and threw him; but when -he got to his feet he found his assailant pinned to the ground by Mr. -Pope, the police officer, who was kneeling on his breast. It seemed -the lady and gentleman, Lewis's first victims, had warned Pope that a -highwayman was about, and the police officer had ridden forward quickly -and seized Lewis at the critical moment. Lewis was conveyed to Newgate, -and in due course sentenced to death. "Such was the baseness and -unfeeling profligacy of this wretch," says the Newgate Calendar, "that -when his almost heart-broken <!-- Page 338 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[338]</a></span>father visited him for the last time in -Newgate, and put twelve guineas into his hand to repay his expenses, -he slipped one of the pieces of gold into the cuff of his sleeve by a -dexterous sleight, and then opening his hand, showed the venerable and -reverend old man that there were but eleven; upon which his father took -another from his pocket and gave it him to make the number intended. -Having then taken a last farewell of his parent, Lewis turned round to -his fellow prisoners, and exultingly exclaimed, 'I have flung the old -fellow out of another guinea.'"</p> - -<p>Pope's capture of the highwayman Lewis was outdone by that of William -Belchier, a few years previous, by William Norton, a person who, -according to his own account of himself, kept a shop in Wych Street, -and who "sometimes took a thief." Norton at the trial told his story -as follows. "The chaise to Devizes having been robbed two or three -times, as I was informed, I was desired to go into it, to see if I -could take the thief, which I did on the third of June, about half an -hour after one in the morning. I got into the post-chaise; the post-boy -told me the place where he had been stopped was near the half-way -house between Knightsbridge and Kensington. As we came near the house -the prisoner (Belchier) came to us on foot and said, 'Driver, stop.' -He held a pistol and tinder-box to the chaise, and said: 'Your money -directly, you must not stop; this minute, your money.' I said, <!-- Page 339 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[339]</a></span>'Don't -frighten us, I have but a trifle—you shall have it.' Then I said to -the gentlemen,—there were three in the chaise,—'Give your money.' I -took out a pistol from my coat pocket, and from my breeches pocket a -five-shilling piece and a dollar. I held the pistol concealed in one -hand and the money in the other. I held the money pretty hard. He said, -'Put it in my hat.' I let him take the five-shilling piece out of my -hand. As soon as he had taken it I snapped my pistol at him. It did not -go off. He staggered back and held up his hands, and said, 'Oh, Lord! -oh, Lord!' I jumped out of the chaise; he ran away, and I after him -about six or seven hundred yards, and then took him. I hit him a blow -on his back; he begged for mercy on his knees. I took his neckcloth off -and tied his hands with it, and brought him back to the chaise. Then I -told the gentlemen in the chaise that was the errand I came upon, and -wished them a good journey, and brought the prisoner to London."</p> - -<p>No account of the thief-taking or of the criminality of the eighteenth -century would be complete without some reference to Jonathan Wild. -What this astute villain really was may be best gathered from the -various sworn informations on which he was indicted. It was set forth -that he had been for years the confederate of highwaymen, pickpockets, -burglars, shoplifters, and other thieves; that he had formed a kind of -corporation of thieves of which he was head, or director, and that, -despite <!-- Page 340 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[340]</a></span>his pretended efforts at detection, he procured none to be -hanged but those who concealed their booty or refused him his share. -It was said that he had divided the town and country into districts, -and had appointed distinct gangs to each, who accounted to him for -their robberies; that he employed another set to rob in churches -during divine service, and other "moving detachments to attend at -court on birthdays and balls, and at the Houses of Parliament." His -chosen agents were returned transports, who lay quite at his mercy. -They could not be evidence against him, and if they displeased him he -could at any time have them hanged. These felons he generally lodged -in a house of his own, where he fed and clothed them, and used them in -clipping guineas or counterfeiting coin. Wild at last had the audacity -to occupy a house in the Old Bailey, opposite the present Sessions -House. He himself had been a confederate in numerous robberies; in -all cases he was a receiver of the goods stolen; he had under his -care several warehouses for concealing the same, and owned a vessel -for carrying off jewels, watches, and other valuables to Holland, -where he had a superannuated thief for a factor. He also kept in his -pay several artists to make alterations and transform watches, seals, -snuff-boxes, rings, so that they might not be recognized, which he used -to present to people who could be of service to him. It was alleged -that he generally claimed as much as half the value of all articles -which he <!-- Page 341 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[341]</a></span>pretended to recover, and that he never gave up bank-notes or -paper unless the loser could exactly specify them. "In order to carry -out these vile practices, and to gain some credit with the ignorant -multitude, he usually carried a short silver staff as a badge of -authority from the government, which he used to produce when he himself -was concerned in robbing." Last of all he was charged with selling -human blood; in other words, of procuring false evidence to convict -innocent persons; sometimes to prevent them from giving evidence -against himself, and at other times for the sake of the great reward -offered by the government.</p> - -<p>Wild's career was brought to an abrupt conclusion by the revelations -made by two of his creatures. He absconded, but was pursued, captured, -and committed to Newgate. He was tried on several indictments, but -convicted on that of having maintained a secret correspondence with -felons, receiving money for restoring stolen goods, and dividing it -with the thieves whom he did not prosecute. While under sentence of -death he made desperate attempts to obtain a pardon, but in vain, and -at last tried to evade the gallows by taking a large dose of laudanum. -This also failed, and he was conveyed to Tyburn amidst the execrations -of a countless mob of people, who pelted him with stones and dirt all -the way. Among other curious facts concerning this arch-villain, it is -recorded that when at the acme of his prosperity, Jonathan Wild was -ambitious of <!-- Page 342 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[342]</a></span>becoming a freeman of the city of London. His petition -to this effect is contained among the records of the town clerk's -office, and sets forth that the petitioner "has been at great trouble -and charge in apprehending and convicting divers felons for returning -from transportation from Oct. 1720 . . . that your petitioner has never -received any reward or gratuity for such his service, that he is very -desirous of becoming a freeman of this honourable city. . . ." The names -follow, and include Moll King, John Jones, etc., "who were notorious -street robbers." The petition is endorsed as "read Jan. 2d, 1724," but -the result is not stated.</p> - -<p>Before closing this chapter I must refer briefly to another class of -highway robbers—the pirates and rovers who ranged the high seas in -the first half of the eighteenth century. There were sometimes as many -as sixty or seventy pirates at a time awaiting trial in Newgate, about -this period. In those days there was no efficient ocean police, no -perpetual patrolling by war-ships of all nations to prevent and put -down piracy as a crime noxious to all. Later, on the ascendency of -the British navy, this duty was more or less its peculiar province; -but till then every sea was infested with pirates sailing under -various flags. The growth of piracy has been attributed, no doubt with -reason, to the narrow policy of Spain with regard to her transatlantic -colonies. To baffle this colonial system the European powers long -<!-- Page 343 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[343]</a></span>tolerated, even encouraged these reckless filibusters, who did not -confine their ravages to the Spanish-American coast, but turned their -hands, like nautical Ishmaels, against all the world. The mischief -thus done was incalculable. About 1720, one notorious rover, Captain -Roberts, took four hundred sail. They were as clever in obtaining -information as to the movements of rich prizes on the seas as were -highwaymen concerning the traffic along the highroads. They were -particularly cunning in avoiding war-ships, and knew exactly where to -run for supplies. As Captain Johnson tells us, speaking of the West -Indies in the opening pages of his "History of Pirates," "they have -been so formidable and numerous that they have interrupted the trade -of Europe in those parts; and our English merchants in particular have -suffered more by their depredations than by the united force of France -and Spain in the late war."</p> - -<p>Pirates were the curse of the North American waters when Lord Bellamont -went as Governor of New England in 1695, and no one was supposed to -be more in their secrets at that time, or more conversant with their -haunts and hiding-place, than a certain Captain John Kidd, of New -York, who owned a small vessel, and traded with the West Indies. Lord -Bellamont's instructions were to put down piracy if he could, and -Kidd was recommended to him as a fitting person to employ. For some -reason or other Kidd was denied official <!-- Page 344 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[344]</a></span>status; but it was pointed -out to Lord Bellamont that, as the affair would not well admit delay, -"it was worthy of being undertaken by some private persons of rank -and distinction, and carried into execution at their own expense, -notwithstanding public encouragement was denied to it." Eventually -the Lord Chancellor, Lord Somers, the Duke of Shrewsbury, the Earl -of Romney, the Earl of Oxford, with some others, subscribed a sum of -£6,000 to fit out an expedition from England, of which Kidd was to have -the command; and he was granted a commission by letters patent under -the great seal to take and seize pirates, and bring them to justice. -The profits of the adventure, less a fifth, which went to Kidd and -another, were to be pocketed by the promoters of the enterprise, and -this led subsequently to a charge of complicity with the pirates, which -proved very awkward, especially for Lords Orford and Somers.</p> - -<p>Kidd sailed for New York in the <i>Adventure</i> galley, and soon hoisted -the black flag. From New York he steered for Madeira, thence to the -Cape of Good Hope, and on to Madagascar. He captured all that came -in his way. French ships, Portuguese, "Moorish," even English ships -engaged in legitimate and peaceful trade. Kidd shifted his flag to one -of his prizes, and in her returned to the Spanish main for supplies. -Thence he sailed for various ports of the West Indies, and having -disposed of much of his booty, steered for <!-- Page 345 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[345]</a></span>Boston. He had been -preceded there by a merchant who knew of his piratical proceedings, and -gave information to Lord Bellamont. Kidd was accordingly arrested on -his arrival in New England.</p> - -<p>A full report was sent home, and a man-of-war, the <i>Rochester</i>, -despatched to bring Kidd to England for trial. As the <i>Rochester</i> -became disabled, and Kidd's arrival was delayed, very great public -clamour arose, caused and fed by political prejudices against Lord -Bellamont and the other great lords, who were accused of an attempt to -shield Kidd. It was moved in the House of Commons that the "letters -patent granted to the Earl of Bellamont and others respecting the goods -taken from pirates were dishonourable to the king, against the law of -nations, contrary to the laws and statutes of the realm, an invasion -of property, and destructive to commerce." The motion was opposed, but -the political opponents of Lord Somers and Lord Orford continued to -accuse them of giving countenance to pirates, while Lord Bellamont was -deemed no less culpable. The East India Company, which had suffered -greatly by Kidd's depredations, and which had been refused letters of -marque to suppress piracy in the Indian Ocean, joined in the clamour, -and petitioned that Captain Kidd "might be brought to speedy trial, and -that the effects taken unjustly from the subjects of the Great Mogul -may be returned to them as a satisfaction for their losses."</p> - -<p><!-- Page 346 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">[346]</a></span> -It was ruled at last that Kidd should be examined at the bar of the -House of Commons, with the idea of "fixing part of his guilt on the -parties who had been concerned in sending him on his expedition." Kidd -was accordingly brought to England and lodged first in the Marshalsea, -the prison of the Admiralty Court, and afterward committed to Newgate. -It was rumoured that Lord Halifax, who shared the political odium of -Lord Somers and Orford, had sent privately for Kidd from Newgate to -tamper with him, but "the keeper of the gaol on being sent for averred -that it was false." It is more probable that the other side endeavoured -to get Kidd to bear witness against Lord Somers and the rest; but at -the bar of the House, where he made a very contemptible appearance, -being in some degree intoxicated, Kidd fully exonerated them. "Kidd -discovered little or nothing," says Luttrell. In their subsequent -impeachment they were, notwithstanding, charged with having been Kidd's -accomplices, but the accusation broke down.</p> - -<p>Kidd in the meantime had been left to his fate. He was tried with his -crew on several indictments for murder and piracy at the Admiralty -Sessions of the Old Bailey, and hung in 1701. He must have prospered -greatly in his short and infamous career. According to Luttrell, his -effects were valued at £200,000, and one witness alone, Cogi Baba, a -Persian merchant, charged him with robbing him <!-- Page 347 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">[347]</a></span>in the Persian Gulf -of £60,000. No case was made out against the above mentioned peers. -Lord Orford set up in his defence that in Kidd's affair he had acted -legally, and with a good intention towards the public, though to -his own loss; and Lord Somers denied that he had ever seen or known -anything of Kidd. Hume sums up the matter by declaring that "the -Commons in the whole course of the transaction had certainly acted from -motives of faction and revenge." Other ventures are of interest.</p> - -<p>John Gow, who took the piratical name of Captain Smith, was second mate -of the <i>George</i> galley, which he conspired with half the crew to seize -when on the voyage to Santa Cruz. On a given signal, the utterance of -a password, "Who fires first?" an attack was made on the first mate, -surgeon, and supercargo, whose throats were cut. The captain, hearing -a noise, came on deck, when one mutineer cut his throat, and a second -fired a couple of balls into his body. The ship's company consisted of -twenty: four were now disposed of, eight were conspirators, and of the -remaining eight, some of whom had concealed themselves below decks and -some in the shrouds, four had joined the pirates. The other four were -closely watched, and although allowed to range the ship at pleasure, -were often cruelly beaten. The ship was rechristened <i>The Revenge</i>; -she mounted several guns, and the pirates steered her for the coast -of Spain, where several <!-- Page 348 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">[348]</a></span>prizes were taken—the first a ship laden -with salted cod from Newfoundland, the second a Scotch ship bound to -Italy with a cargo of pickled herrings, the third a French ship laden -with oil, wine, and fruit. The pirates also made a descent upon the -Portuguese coast and laid the people under contributions.</p> - -<p>Dissensions now arose in the ship's company. Gow had a certain amount -of sense and courage, but his lieutenant was a brutal ruffian, often -blinded by passion, and continually fermenting discord. At last he -attempted to shoot Gow, but his pistol missed fire, and he was wounded -himself by two of the pirates. He sprang down to the powder-room and -threatened to blow up the ship, but he was secured, and put on board -a vessel which had been ransacked and set free, the commander of it -being desired to hand the pirate over to the first king's ship he -met, to be dealt with according to his crimes. After this the pirates -steered north for the Orkneys, of which Gow was a native, and after -a safe passage anchored in a bay of one of the islands. While lying -there one of his crew, who had been forced into joining them, escaped -to Kirkwall, where he gave information to a magistrate, and the sheriff -issued a precept to the constables and others to seize <i>The Revenge</i>. -Soon afterwards ten more of the crew, also unwilling members of it, -laid hands on the long-boat, and reaching the mainland of Scotland, -coasted along it as far as Leith, <!-- Page 349 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">[349]</a></span>whence they made their way to -Edinburgh, and were imprisoned as pirates. Gow meanwhile, careless -of danger, lingered in the Orkneys, plundering and ransacking the -dwelling-houses to provide himself with provisions, and carrying off -plate, linen, and all valuables on which they could lay hands.</p> - -<p>Arriving at an island named Calf Sound, Gow planned the robbery of -an old schoolmate, a Mr. Fea, whom he sought to entrap. But Mr. Fea -turned the tables upon him. Inviting Gow and several of the crew to -an entertainment on shore, while they were carousing Mr. Fea made -his servants seize the pirates' boat, and then entering by different -doors, fell upon the pirates themselves, and made all prisoners. The -rest, twenty-eight in number, who were still afloat, were also captured -by various artifices, and the whole, under orders of the Lord Chief -Justice, were despatched to the Thames in H. M. S. <i>Greyhound</i>, for -trial at the Admiralty Court. They were committed to the Marshalsea, -thence to Newgate, and arraigned at the Old Bailey, where Gow refused -to plead, and was sentenced to be pressed to death. He pretended that -he wished to save an estate for a relation; but when all preparations -for carrying out the sentence were completed, he begged to be allowed -to plead, and "the judge being informed, humanely granted his request." -Gow and six others were eventually hanged at Execution Dock.</p> - -<p><!-- Page 350 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">[350]</a></span> -Pirates who fell in with ships usually sought to gain recruits among -the captured crews. The alternative was to walk the plank or to be -set adrift in an open boat, or landed on an uninhabited island. For -those who thus agreed under compulsion a still harder fate was often -in store. Captain Massey was an unfortunate instance of this. While -serving in the Royal African Company he was for some time engaged in -the construction of a fort upon the coast with a detachment of men. -They ran short of food, and suffered frightfully from flux. When at the -point of death a passing ship noticed their signals of distress, and -sent a boat on shore to bring them on board. The ship proved to be a -pirate. Captain Massey did not actually join them, but he remained on -board while several prizes were taken. However, he gave information at -Jamaica, the pirate captain and others were arrested and hanged, and -Captain Massey received the thanks of the governor, who offered him an -appointment on the island. But Massey was anxious to return to England, -whither he proceeded armed with strong letters of recommendation to -the lords of the Admiralty. To his intense surprise, "instead of being -caressed he was taken into custody," tried, and eventually executed. -His case evoked great sympathy. "His joining the pirates was evidently -an act of necessity, not choice," and he took the earliest opportunity -of giving up his involuntary associates to justice—a conduct by <!-- Page 351 --><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">[351]</a></span>which -he surely merited the thanks of his country, and not the vengeance of -the law.</p> - -<p>From the foregoing account it is easy to draw conclusions concerning -the state of public morals and manners in the eighteenth century. Both -the atrocity of the crimes and the barbarity of the punishments surpass -everything the twentieth century can show, while to the populace -generally the highwayman and the bully were heroes. Though our century -is by no means free from crime, we may congratulate ourselves that -we have advanced beyond the eighteenth, at least so far as crimes of -violence are concerned.</p> - - -<p class="sectctr">END OF VOLUME I.</p> - - -<hr class="footnotes" /> -<p class="sectctrfn">FOOTNOTES:</p> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a name="Footnote_323:1_44" id="Footnote_323:1_44"></a><a href="#FNanchor_323:1_44"><span class="label">[323:1]</span></a> Cant names of the period for drinks.</p></div> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="newchapter" /> -</div> -<div class="notebox"> -<p class="tnhead">TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES:</p> - - -<p>Pages 10 and 12 are blank in the original.</p> - -<p>Variations in spelling and hyphenation have been left as in the -original.</p> - -<p>Ellipses match the original.</p> - -<p>The following corrections have been made to the original text:</p> - -<div class="tnblock"> -<p>Page 56: perfect type of the brutal gaoler[original has -"goaler"]</p> - -<p>Page 63: In London crime was rampant[original has "rampart"].</p> - -<p>Page 75: Another certificate states that William[original has -"Wililam"] Dominic</p> - -<p>Page 77: a warrant may be made for his banishment.[period -missing in original]</p> - -<p>Page 82: the "verser," and the "[quotation mark missing in -original]barnacle;"</p> - -<p>Page 99: when brought up at Westminster[original has -"Westminister"] for perjury</p> - -<p>Page 99: charged by a cheesemonger[original has -"chesemonger"] as being the man</p> - -<p>Page 137: [quotation mark missing in original]"For long there -was nothing among them</p> - -<p>Page 154: On the death of the king (William[original has -"Wililam"] III)</p> - -<p>Page 159: found on his person when he accidentally[original -has "acidentally"] meets</p> - -<p>Page 186: execution was done: he[original has "He"] delaying -the time</p> - -<p>Page 199: calm spirit, without prayer-book or psalm.[original -has extraneous quotation mark]</p> - -<p>Page 209: the prisoners are kept in the strictest -order."[quotation mark missing in original]</p> - -<p>Page 220: well-applied jerk, snapped asunder[original has -"assunder"] the central link</p> - -<p>Page 249: Housebreaking was of frequent occurrence[original -has "ocurence"] by night.</p> - -<p>Page 253: duty, and promise not to molest them.[original has -a comma]</p> -</div> -</div> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The History and Romance of Crime. -Chronicles of Newgate, Volume I (o, by Arthur Griffiths - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHRONICLES OF NEWGATE, VOL I *** - -***** This file should be named 50345-h.htm or 50345-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/0/3/4/50345/ - -Produced by Chris Curnow, Lisa Reigel, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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