within so short a space of time as nine months, in which the officers of
the Crown should have fallen victims to the exertions which they were
compelled to make in the discharge of their duties. The male prisoner in
this case, William Johnson, was a native of Northamptonshire, where he
served his time to a butcher, and, removing to London, he opened a shop
in Newport Market; but business not succeeding to his expectation, he
pursued a variety of speculations, until at length he sailed to
Gibraltar, where he was appointed a mate to one of the surgeons of the
garrison. Having saved some money at this place, he came back to his
native country, where he soon spent it, and then had recourse to the
highway for a supply. Being apprehended in consequence of one of his
robberies, he was convicted, but received a pardon. Previously to this
he had been acquainted with Jane Housden, his fellow in crime, who had
been tried and convicted of coining, but had obtained a pardon; but who,
in September, 1714, was again in custody for a similar offence. On the
day that she was to be tried, and just as she was brought down to the
bar of the Old Bailey, Johnson called to see her; but Mr. Spurling, the
head turnkey, telling him that he could not speak to her till her trial
was ended, he instantly drew a pistol, and shot Spurling dead on the
spot, in the presence of the court and all the persons attending to hear
the trials, Mrs. Housden at the same time encouraging him in the
perpetration of this singular murder. The event had no sooner happened,
than the judges, thinking it unnecessary to proceed on the trial of the
woman for coining, ordered both the parties to be tried for the murder;
and there being many witnesses to the deed, they were convicted, and
received sentence of death. From this time to that of their execution,
which took place September 19th 1714, and even at the place of their
death, they behaved as if they were wholly insensible of the enormity of
the crime which they had committed; and notwithstanding the publicity of
their offence, they had the confidence to deny it to the last moment of
their lives: nor did they show any signs of compunction for their former
sins. After hanging the usual time, Johnson was hung in chains near
Holloway, between Islington and Highgate.
THE EARL OF DERWENTWATER, LORD KENMURE, THE EARL OF WINTON, AND OTHERS,
EXECUTED FOR TREASON.
The circumstances attending the crime of these individuals, intimately
connected as they were with the history of the Royal Family of England,
must be too well known to require them to be minutely repeated. On the
accession of George the First to the throne of Great Britain, the
question of the right of succession of King James the Third, as he was
termed, which had long been secretly agitated, began to be referred to
more openly; and his friends, finding themselves in considerable force
in Scotland, sent an invitation to him in France, where he had taken
refuge, to join them, for the purpose of making a demonstration, and of
endeavouring to assume by force, that which was denied him as of right.
The noblemen, whose names appear at the head of this article, were not
the least active in their endeavours to support the title of the
Pretender, by enlisting men under his standard; and their proceedings,
although conducted with all secrecy, were soon made known to the
government. The necessary steps were immediately taken for quelling the
anticipated rebellion; and many persons were apprehended on suspicion of
secretly aiding the rebels, and were committed to gaol.
Meanwhile the Earl of Mar, the chief supporter of the Pretender, was in
open rebellion at the head of an army of 3000 men, which was rapidly
increasing, marching from town to town in Scotland, proclaiming the
Pretender as King of England and Scotland, by the title of James III. An
attempt was made by stratagem to surprise the castle of Edinburgh; and
with this object, some of the king's soldiers were base enough to
receive a bribe to admit those of the Earl of Mar, who were, by means of
ladders of rope, to scale the walls, and surprise the guard; but the
Lord Justice Clerk, having some suspicion of the treachery, seized the
guilty, and many of them were executed.
The rebels were greatly chagrined at this failure of their attempt; and
the French king, Louis XIV., from whom they hoped for assistance, dying
about this time, the leaders became disheartened, and contemplated the
abandonment of their project, until their king could appear in person
among them.
They were aided, however, by the discontent which showed itself in
another quarter. In Northumberland the spirit of rebellion was fermented
by Thomas Forster, then one of the members of parliament for that
county; who, being joined by several noblemen and gentlemen, attempted
to seize the large and commercial town of Newcastle, but was driven back
by the friends of the government. Forster now set up the standard of the
Pretender, and proclaimed him the lawful king of Great Britain and
Scotland, wherever he went; and, eventually joining the Scotch rebels,
he marched with them to Preston, in Lancashire. They were there attacked
by Generals Carpenter and Wills, who succeeded in routing them, and in
making 1500 persons prisoners; amongst whom were the Earl of
Derwentwater and Lord Widrington, English peers; and the Earls of
Nithisdale, Winton, and Carnwarth, Viscount Kenmore, and Lord Nairn,
Scotch peers.
These noblemen, with about three hundred more rebels, were conveyed to
London; while the remainder, taken at the battle of Preston, were sent
to Liverpool, and its adjacent towns. At Highgate, the party intended
for trial in London was met by a strong detachment of foot-guards, who
tied them back to back, and placed two on each horse; and in this
ignominious manner were they held up to the derision of the populace,
the lords being conveyed to the Tower, and the others to Newgate and
other prisons.
The Earl of Mar, on the day of the battle, attempted to cross the Forth,
but was prevented by a squadron of the British fleet, which had anchored
off Edinburgh; and Sir John Mackenzie, on the part of the Pretender,
having fortified the town of Inverness, Lord Lovat, (at this time an
adherent of the reigning monarch, but subsequently a friend to the cause
of the Stuarts, for aiding whose rebellion in 1745 he was beheaded,)
armed his tenants, and drove him from his fortifications. The Pretender
subsequently managed to elude the vigilance of the British ships
appointed to prevent his landing, and crossing the Channel in a small
French vessel, disembarked in Scotland, with only six followers; but
having obtained the assistance of a few half-armed Highlanders, on the
9th of January 1716, he made a public entry into the palace of Scone,
the ancient place of coronation for the Scottish kings. He there assumed
the functions of a king, and so much of the powers of royalty as he was
able to secure, and issued a proclamation for his coronation. The Duke
of Argyle, at this time with his army in winter quarters at Stirling,
however, determined to attack the rebel forces, and advancing upon them,
they fled at his approach. The Pretender having been encouraged to rebel
by France, was in anticipation of receiving succour at the hands of the
French king, and in the hope of some aid reaching him, he proceeded to
Dundee, and thence to Montrose, where, soon rendered hopeless by
receiving no news of the approach of the foreigners, he dismissed his
adherents. The king's troops pursued and put several to death; but the
Pretender, accompanied by the Earl of Mar, and some of the leaders of
the rebellion, had the good fortune to get on board a ship lying before
Montrose; and, in a dark night, put to sea, escaped the English fleet,
and landed in France.
The unfortunate noblemen who had been secured were, meanwhile, committed
to the custody of the keeper of the Tower; and the House of Commons
unanimously agreed to impeach them, and expel Forster from his seat as
one of their members; while the courts of common law proceeded with the
trials of those of less note. The articles of impeachment being sent by
the Commons, the Lords sat in judgment; Earl Cowper, the Lord Chancellor
of England, being constituted Lord High Steward.
All the Peers who were charged, except the Earl of Winton, pleaded
guilty to the indictment, but offered pleas of extenuation for their
guilt, in hopes of obtaining mercy. In that of the Earl of Derwentwater,
he suggested that the proceedings in the House of Commons, in impeaching
him, were illegal.
Proclamation was then made, and the Lord High Steward proceeded to pass
sentence upon James Earl of Derwentwater, William Lord Widdrington,
William Earl of Nithisdale, Robert Earl of Carnwarth, William Viscount
Kenmure, and William Lord Nairn.
His lordship having detailed the circumstances attending their
impeachment, and having answered the argumentative matter contained in
their pleas, and urged in extenuation of their offences, proceeded to
say,--
"It is my duty to exhort your lordships to think of the aggravations as
well as the mitigations (if there be any), of your offences; and if I
could have the least hopes that the prejudices of habit and education
would not be too strong for the most earnest and charitable entreaties,
I would beg you not to rely any longer on those directors of your
consciences by whose conduct you have, very probably, been led into this
miserable condition (in allusion to their lordships being members of the
Roman Catholic church); but that your lordships would be assisted by
some of those pious and learned divines of the church of England, who
have constantly borne that infallible mark of sincere Christians,
universal charity.
"And now, my lords, nothing remains but that I pronounce upon you (and
sorry I am that it falls to my lot to do it) that terrible sentence of
the law, which must be the same that is usually given against the
meanest offender of the like kind.
"The most ignominious and painful parts of it are usually remitted, by
the grace of the crown, to persons of your quality; but the law, in this
case, being deaf to all distinctions of persons, requires I should
pronounce, and accordingly it is adjudged by this court,
"That you, James earl of Derwentwater, William lord Widdrington, William
earl of Nithisdale, Robert earl of Carnwarth, William viscount Kenmure,
and William lord Nairn, and every of you, return to the prison of the
Tower, from whence you came; from thence you must be drawn to the place
of execution; when you come there, you must be hanged by the neck, but
not till you be dead; for you must be cut down alive; then your bowels
must be taken out, and burnt before your faces; then your heads must be
severed from your bodies, and your bodies divided each into four
quarters; and these must be at the king's disposal. And God Almighty be
merciful to your souls."
After sentence thus passed, the lords were remanded to the Tower, and on
the 18th of February orders were sent to the lieutenant of the Tower,
and the sheriffs, for their execution. Great solicitations were made in
favour of them, which not only reached the court, but the two houses of
parliament, and petitions were delivered in both, which being supported,
occasioned debates. That in the House of Commons went no farther than to
occasion a motion for adjournment, so as to prevent any farther
interposition there; but the matter in the House of Peers was carried on
with more success, where petitions were delivered and spoke to, and it
was carried by nine or ten voices that they should be received and read.
The question was also put, whether the King had power to reprieve, in
case of impeachment; and this being carried in the affirmative, a motion
was made to address his majesty to desire him to grant a reprieve to the
lords under sentence; but the movers only obtained this clause, viz.,
"To reprieve such of the condemned lords as deserved his mercy; and that
the time of the respite should be left to his majesty's discretion."
The address having been presented, his majesty replied:--
"That on this, and other occasions, he would do what he thought most
consistent with the dignity of his crown, and the safety of his people."
The great parties which had been made by the rebel lords, as was said,
by the means of money, and the rash expressions too common in the mouths
of many of their friends, as if the government did not dare to execute
them, did not a little contribute to hasten their execution; for on the
same day that the address was presented, the 23rd of February, it was
resolved in council, that the Earl of Derwentwater and the Lord Kenmure
should be beheaded on the next day; and the Earl of Nithisdale,
apprehending he should be included in the warrant, succeeded in making
his escape on the evening before, in a woman's riding-hood, supposed to
have been conveyed to him by his mother on a visit.
On the morning of the 24th of February, three detachments of the life,
guards went from Whitehall to Tower-hill, and, having taken their
stations round the scaffold, the two lords were brought from the Tower
at ten o'clock, and, being received by the sheriffs at the bar, were
conducted to the transport-office on Tower-hill. At the expiration of
about an hour, the Earl of Derwentwater sent word that he was ready; on
which sir John Fryer, one of the sheriffs, walked before him to the
scaffold, and, when there, told him he might have what time he pleased
to prepare himself for death.
His lordship desired to read a paper which he had written, the substance
of which was, that he was sorry for having pleaded guilty; that he
acknowledged no king but king James the Third, for whom he had an
inviolable affection: that the kingdom would never be happy until the
ancient constitution was restored, and he wished that his death might
contribute to that end. His lordship professed to die in the Roman
Catholic faith, and said at the end of the speech which he delivered,
that "if that Prince who then governed had given him life, he should
have thought himself obliged never more to take up arms against him." He
then read some prayers, and kneeled to see how the block would fit him;
and having told the executioner that he forgave him, as well as all his
enemies, he desired him to strike when he should repeat the words "SWEET
JESUS" the third time. He immediately proceeded to prepare himself for
the blow of the axe, and having placed his neck so that it might be
fairly struck, he said, "Sweet Jesus, receive my spirit! Sweet Jesus, be
merciful unto me! Sweet Jesus----" and was proceeding in his prayer,
when his head was severed from his body at one blow. The executioner
then took it up, and carrying it to the four corners of the scaffold,
said, "Behold the head of a traitor.--God save King George."
The body was directly wrapped in black baize, and being carried to a
coach, was delivered to the friends of the deceased: and the scaffold
having been cleared, fresh baize was put on the block, and new saw-dust
strewed, so that no blood should appear. Lord Kenmure was then conducted
to the place of execution.
His lordship was a Protestant, and was attended by two clergymen. He
declined saying much to them, however, telling one of them that he had
prudential reasons for not delivering his sentiments; which were
supposed to arise from his regard to Lord Carnwarth, who was his
brother-in-law, and who was then interceding for the royal mercy. Lord
Kenmure having finished his devotions, declared that he forgave the
executioner, to whom he made a present of eight guineas. He was attended
by a surgeon, who drew his finger over that part of the neck where the
blow was to be struck; and being executed as Lord Derwentwater had been,
his body was delivered to the care of an undertaker.
George, Earl of Winton, not having pleaded guilty with the other lords,
was brought to his trial on the 15th of March, when the principal matter
urged in his favour was that he had surrendered at Preston, in
consequence of a promise from General Wills to grant him his life: in
answer to which it was sworn that no promise of mercy was made, but that
the rebels surrendered at discretion.
The circumstances of the Earl of Winton having left his house with
fourteen or fifteen of his servants well mounted and armed, his joining
the Earl Carnwarth and Lord Kenmure, his proceeding with the rebels
through the various stages of their march, and his surrendering with the
rest, were fully proved: notwithstanding which, his counsel moved in
arrest of judgment; but the plea on which this motion was founded being
thought insufficient, his peers unanimously found him guilty. The Lord
High Steward then pronounced sentence on him, after having addressed him
in forcible terms, in the same manner as he had sentenced the other
peers.
The Earls of Winton and Nithisdale afterwards found means to escape out
of the Tower; and Messrs. Forster and M'Intosh escaped from Newgate: but
it was supposed that motives of mercy and tenderness in the Prince of
Wales, afterwards George the Second, favoured the flight of all these
gentlemen.
This rebellion occasioned the untimely death of many other persons.
Five were executed at Manchester, six at Wigan, and eleven at Preston;
but a considerable number was brought to London, and, being arraigned in
the Court of Exchequer, most of them pleaded guilty, and suffered the
utmost rigour of the law.
JAMES SHEPPARD.
EXECUTED FOR HIGH TREASON.
This is a very singular case of treason; for though the crime for which
Sheppard suffered was committed three years after the rebellion was
quelled, yet the same misjudged opinions urged this youth to enthusiasm
in the cause of the Pretender as those which actuated the former
offenders. It is still more singular that he, neither being a Scotchman
born, nor in any way interested in the mischiefs which he contemplated,
should, unsolicited, volunteer in so dangerous a cause.
James Sheppard was the son of Thomas Sheppard, glover, in Southwark; but
his father dying when he was about five years of age, he was sent to
school in Hertfordshire, whence his uncle, Dr. Hinchcliffe, removed him
to Salisbury, where he remained at school three years. Being at
Salisbury at the time of the rebellion, he imbibed the principles of his
school-fellows, many of whom were favourers of the Pretender; and he was
confirmed in his sentiments by reading some pamphlets which were then
put into his hands.
When he quitted Salisbury, Dr. Hinchcliffe put him apprentice to Mr.
Scott, a coach-painter in Devonshire-street, Bishopsgate; and he
continued in this situation about fourteen months, when he was
apprehended for the crime which cost him his life.
Sheppard, having conceived the idea that it would be a praiseworthy
action to kill the king, wrote a letter, which he intended for a
nonjuring minister of the name of Leake; but, mistaking the spelling, he
directed it "To the Rev. Mr. Heath." The letter was in the following
terms:--
"Sir,--From the many discontents visible throughout this kingdom, I
infer that if the prince now reigning could be by death removed, our
king being here, he might be settled on his throne without much loss of
blood. For the more ready effecting of this, I propose that, if any
gentleman will pay for my passage into Italy, and if our friends will
entrust one so young with letters of invitation to his majesty, I will,
on his arrival, smite the usurper in his palace. In this confusion, if
sufficient forces may be raised, his majesty may appear; if not, he may
retreat or conceal himself till a fitter opportunity. Neither is it
presumptuous to hope that this may succeed, if we consider how easy it
is to cut the thread of human life; how great confusion the death of a
prince occasions in the most peaceful nation; and how mutinous the
people are, how desirous of a change. But we will suppose the
worst--that I am seized, and by torture examined. Now, that this may
endanger none but myself, it will be necessary that the gentlemen who
defray my charges to Italy leave England before my departure; that I be
ignorant of his majesty's abode; that I lodge with some whig; that you
abscond; and that this be communicated to none. But, be the event as it
will, I can expect nothing less than a most cruel death; which, that I
may the better support, it will be requisite that, from my arrival till
the attempt, I every day receive the Holy Sacrament from one who shall
be ignorant of the design.
"JAMES SHEPPARD."
Having carried it to Mr. Leake's house, he called again for an answer,
but he was apprehended, and carried before Sir John Fryer, a magistrate.
When he was brought to his trial, he behaved in the most firm and
composed manner; and, after the evidence was given, and the jury had
found him guilty of high treason, he was asked why sentence should not
be passed on him according to law, when he said "He could not hope for
mercy from a prince whom he would not own." The Recorder then proceeded
to pass sentence on him; in pursuance of which, he was executed at
Tyburn on the 17th March, 1718. He was attended by a nonjuring clergyman
up to the time of his execution, between whom and the ordinary the most
indecent disputes arose, extending even up to the time of his arriving
at the scaffold, when the latter quitted the field and left the other to
instruct and pray with the malefactor as he might think proper.
THE MARQUIS DE PALEOTTI,
EXECUTED FOR THE MURDER OF HIS SERVANT.
This nobleman was at the head of a noble family in Italy, and was born
at Bologna. In the reign of Queen Anne he was a Colonel in the imperial
army. The Duke of Shrewsbury, being at Rome, fell in love with and paid
his addresses to the sister of the Marquis; and the lady having been
married to him in Germany, they came to England. The Marquis quitting
the army at the peace of Utrecht, visited England to see his sister; and
being fond of an extravagant course of life, and attached to gaming, he
soon ran in debt for considerable sums. His sister paid his debts for
some time, till she found it would be a burdensome and endless task; and
she therefore declined all further interference. The habits of the
Marquis, however, were in nowise changed, and being one day walking in
the street, he directed his servant, an Italian, to go and borrow some
money. The servant, having met with frequent denials, declined going: on
which the Marquis drew his sword and killed him on the spot.
He was instantly apprehended, and committed to prison; and being tried
at the next sessions, was convicted on full evidence, and received
sentence of death. The Duke of Shrewsbury being dead, and his duchess
having little interest or acquaintance in England, it appears that no
endeavours were used to save him from the punishment which awaited him,
and he was executed at Tyburn on the 17th of March, 1718.
Italian pride had taken deep root in the mind of this man. To his last
moment it was predominant. He petitioned the sheriffs that his body
should not be defiled by touching the unhappy Englishmen doomed to
suffer with him, and that he might die before them, and alone. The
sheriffs, in courtesy to a stranger, granted this request, and thus, in
his last struggle, he maintained the superiority of his rank.
JOHN PRICE.
COMMONLY CALLED JACK KETCH, EXECUTED FOR MURDER.
Although the circumstances attending the crime of this malefactor do not
present any features of general interest, the fact of the offender
having filled the office of public executioner, and of his being
deprived of life on that very scaffold on which he had exercised the
functions of his revolting office, render the case not a little
remarkable. It would appear that the prisoner was born of decent
parents, in the parish of St. Martin's-in-the-Fields, London; and that
his father, who was in the service of his country having been blown up
at the demolition of Tangiers, he was put apprentice to a rag merchant.
His master dying, he ran away and went to sea, and served with credit on
board different ships in the navy, for the space of 18 years; but at
length was paid off and discharged from further service.
The office of public executioner becoming vacant, it was given to him,
and but for his extravagance, he might have long continued in it, and
subsisted on its dreadfully-earned wages. On returning from an
execution, however, he was arrested in Holborn for debt, which he
discharged, in part, with the wages he had that day earned, and the
remainder with the produce of three suits of clothes, which he had taken
from the bodies of the executed men; but soon afterwards he was lodged
in the Marshalsea prison for other debts, and there he remained for want
of bail; in consequence of which one William Marvel was appointed in his
stead. He continued some time longer in the Marshalsea, when he and a
fellow-prisoner broke a hole in the wall, through which they made their
escape. It was not long after this that Price committed the offence for
which he was executed. He was indicted on the 20th April, 1718, for the
murder of Elizabeth, the wife of William White, on the 13th of the
preceding month.