the army; and being determined that the inconsiderate officers should
not be thus ruined by the artifices of Charteris, they applied to the
Earl of Orkney, who was also in the army then quartered at Brussels,
representing the destruction that must ensue to young men serving in the
army, if Charteris were permitted to continue the line, of conduct which
he had adopted unchecked.
The Earl of Orkney, anxious for the credit of the army in general, and
his countrymen in particular, represented the state of the case to the
Duke of Marlborough, who gave orders that Charteris should be put under
arrest and tried by court-martial. The court was composed of an equal
number of English and Scotch officers, in order that the accused might
have no reason to complain of his trial; and after a full hearing of all
the circumstances against him, he was sentenced to return the money
which he had obtained by his guilty artifices, to be deprived of his
commission, and his sword having been broken, to be drummed out of the
regiment.
This sentence having been carried out to its fullest extent, the
degraded officer returned to Scotland; but there, by means of the most
servile submission and the use of the money which he possessed, he
procured for himself a new commission in a regiment of horse, in which
he was eventually advanced to the rank of colonel.
The lesson which he had received, one would have thought would have been
sufficient to deter him from a renewal of those artifices in the
employment of which he had been detected; but every day served to
furnish him with new victims among the young men of rank and fashion, to
whom, by his standing in the army, he contrived to procure
introductions. Nor was his character infamous only on account of the
dishonesty of his proceedings, but he soon obtained an unenviable
notoriety on account of the unprincipled boldness with which he
conducted his libidinous amours. Agents were employed, whose duty it was
to procure new subjects for the horrid desires of their master, and the
most extraordinary and unhallowed devices were employed by them to
secure the object which they had in view. Public disgust was excited in
the highest degree by the open daring with which these proceedings were
carried on, and at length the name and character of this abominable
libertine became so notorious as to render him the object of universal
detestation and disgust.
Among other unfortunate young women who fell into the hands of this
villain, was one whose name was Anne Bond. She was a girl of respectable
connexions, and being in search of employment as a servant, her bad
fortune threw her into the way of the agents of Charteris. She was
possessed of considerable personal attractions, and she was employed
under a representation that her master was a Colonel Harvey. A few days,
however, served to inform her of the name of the person into whose hands
she had fallen. Her master professed to behave towards her with great
kindness and consideration; but within a week after she had entered his
employment, he made to her a proposition of a most disgusting nature.
She repelled the foul temptation, and her fears being alarmed by the
circumstance, she was confirmed in a determination, at which she had
nearly arrived, to quit the service in which she was employed, by
hearing on the following day that her master was no other than the
Colonel Charteris of whose character she, in common with the world, had
heard so much. She therefore immediately acquainted the housekeeper with
her intention to leave the house; but the colonel having been informed
of the circumstance, he behaved towards her with great violence, and
threatened that if she dared to run away, he would shoot her. He then
ordered the other servants to take care that she did not escape, and on
the following day proceeded to the accomplishment of the design by
force, in which he had failed to succeed by stratagem. He ordered her to
be sent into the parlour by the clerk of the kitchen, and then desiring
her to stir the fire, he threw her down, and having stopped her mouth
with his nightcap, he completed an offence which subjected him to
capital punishment. The girl, on recovering her position, threatened to
prosecute him, and then he beat her most unmercifully with a horsewhip,
and calling the clerk of the kitchen, bid him turn her out of doors,
alleging that she had robbed him of thirty guineas. His orders having
been directly obeyed, the girl proceeded forthwith to prefer an
indictment for the assault which had been committed; but the Grand Jury
finding that the colonel had, in reality, been guilty of a capital
offence, they at once returned a true bill on that charge.
Colonel Charteris was immediately taken into custody for the crime
alleged against him and lodged in Newgate, where he was loaded with
heavy fetters; but having, through the instrumentality of his friends,
procured a writ of _habeas corpus_, he was admitted to bail.
The trial took place at the Old Bailey on the 25th of February, 1730,
when every effort was used to traduce the character of the prosecutrix,
with a view to destroy the force of her evidence; but, happily, her
character was so fair, and there was so little reason to think that she
had any sinister view in the prosecution, that every artifice failed,
and, after a long trial, in which the facts were proved to the
satisfaction of the jury, a verdict of guilty was returned, and the
Colonel received sentence to be executed in the customary form. The same
interest which had before been employed on behalf of this villain was
now again made use of; and upon the settlement of a handsome annuity
upon the prosecutrix, he received a pardon from the King. He soon found,
however, that London was no longer a place in which he could appear,
unless to be pointed at with the finger of scorn; and he retired to
Edinburgh, where, after a lapse of two years, he died in a miserable
manner, the victim of his own dissolute and hateful passions.
His vices were so notorious, that it was not without great difficulty
that his body was committed to the grave. The place appointed for the
reception of his remains was the family vault in the church of the
Greyfriars in Edinburgh; but the mob having assembled, they made a
violent effort to obtain possession of his coffin, with a view to tear
it and its contents to pieces, and committed a variety of other
irregularities, in honest contempt of the detestable character which he
bore. At the time of his death, he was possessed of very large estates
in England and Scotland, the produce of many usurious transactions, to
which he was a party during the latter portion of his life. He was
married to the daughter of Sir Alexander Swinton, of Scotland, by whom
he had one daughter, who was afterwards united to the Earl of Wemyss.
Soon after Charteris was convicted, a fine mezzotinto print of him was
published, representing him standing at the bar of the Old Bailey with
his thumbs tied; at the bottom of which was the following inscription:
Blood!---- must a colonel, with a lord's estate,
Be thus obnoxious to a scoundrel's fate?
Brought to the bar, and sentenced from the bench,
Only for ravishing a country wench?
Shall men of honour meet no more respect?
Shall their diversions thus by laws be check'd?
Shall they be accountable to saucy juries
For this or t'other pleasure?--hell and furies!
What man through villany would run a course,
And ruin families without remorse,
To heap up riches--if, when all is done,
An ignominious death he cannot shun?
A most severe but just description of the character of Charteris was
afterwards written by Dr. Arbuthnot, who published it in the form of an
epitaph, as follows:--
HERE LIETH THE BODY OF
COLONEL DON FRANCISCO,
WHO, WITH AN
INFLEXIBLE CONSTANCY,
AND INIMITABLE UNIFORMITY
OF LIFE, PERSISTED, IN SPITE OF
AGE AND INFIRMITY, IN THE PRACTICE OF
EVERY HUMAN VICE, EXCEPTING PRODIGALITY
AND HYPOCRISY; HIS INSATIABLE AVARICE EXEMPTING
HIM FROM THE FIRST, AND HIS MATCHLESS IMPUDENCE FROM
THE LATTER. NOR WAS HE MORE SINGULAR IN THAT UNDEVIATING
VICIOUSNESS OF LIFE THAN SUCCESSFUL IN ACCUMULATING WEALTH,
HAVING, WITHOUT TRUST OF PUBLIC MONEY, BRIBE, WORTH, SERVICE,
TRADE, OR PROFESSION, ACQUIRED, OR RATHER CREATED, A MINISTERIAL ESTATE.
AMONG THE SINGULARITIES OF HIS LIFE AND FORTUNE, BE IT LIKEWISE
COMMEMORATED, THAT HE WAS THE ONLY PERSON IN HIS TIME
WHO WOULD CHEAT WITHOUT THE MASK OF HONESTY;
WHO WOULD RETAIN HIS PRIMEVAL MEANNESS, AFTER
BEING POSSESSED OF 10,000 POUNDS A YEAR;
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.
THINK NOT, INDIGNANT READER, HIS LIFE USELESS TO MANKIND.
PROVIDENCE FAVOURED, OR RATHER CONNIVED AT, HIS
EXECRABLE DESIGNS, THAT HE MIGHT REMAIN, TO THIS
AND FUTURE AGES, A CONSPICUOUS PROOF AND
EXAMPLE OF HOW SMALL ESTIMATION
EXORBITANT WEALTH IS HELD IN
THE SIGHT OF THE ALMIGHTY,
BY HIS BESTOWING IT ON
THE MOST UNWORTHY OF ALL THE DESCENDANTS OF ADAM.
SARAH MALCOLM.
EXECUTED FOR MURDER.
This unhappy young woman, who at the period of her death was only
twenty-two years of age, was born of respectable parents, in the county
of Durham, in the year 1711; but her father having, through his
extravagance, spent the whole of the property which he possessed, she
was at length compelled to resort to what is commonly called
"servitude," for the means of subsistence. In this condition for several
years she conducted herself extremely well; but at length being employed
at the Black Horse, a low public-house in Boswell-court, near
Temple-bar, which up to the present day has been constantly the
notorious resort of persons of bad character, she formed connexions of
no very creditable class, by whom she was led on to her ruin. Having at
length quitted the Black Horse, she was recommended as a laundress to
take charge of chambers in the Inns of Court; and amongst those for whom
she there worked, was a Mrs. Lydia Duncomb, a lady nearly eighty years
of age, who occupied a set of chambers in the Temple; Elizabeth
Harrison, aged sixty, and Ann Price, aged seventeen, living with her in
the capacity of servants. This lady being reputed to be very rich, a
scheme was formed by Sarah Malcolm of robbing her chambers; her object
being, it was supposed, by the acquisition of wealth, to make herself a
fitting match for a young man named Alexander, who she hoped would marry
her.
The night of Saturday, 3d February, 1733, was fixed upon by her for the
commission of the robbery; and Martha Tracy, a woman of light character,
her paramour Alexander, and his brother, were to be her assistants in
the execution of the project. Malcolm, by means of her acquaintance with
the chambers, obtained possession of the keys of the outer door in the
course of the day, and at night the robbery was effected, but with it
the murder also of Mrs. Duncomb and her servants Harrison and Price. On
the Sunday morning some surprise was excited on its being observed that
none of Mrs. Duncomb's family were to be seen; and at length, as the day
advanced, great alarm was exhibited, and suspicions were entertained
that all was not right. Mrs. Love, Mrs. Rhymer, and Mrs. Oliphant,
friends of Mrs. Duncomb, assembled in the afternoon at the door of her
chambers, in obedience to an invitation which they had received to
dinner; but being unable to gain admittance by knocking, they at length
determined to force an entrance. One of the windows was resorted to for
this purpose, to which access was obtained from a neighbouring set of
chambers; and then, on Mrs. Oliphant going into Mrs. Duncomb's bed-room,
the old lady was found there strangled, while her servant Harrison was
discovered in an adjoining apartment also strangled, and the girl Price
was seen lying on her bed with her throat cut from ear to ear. The news
of this diabolical crime soon became published through the
neighbourhood; and the chambers of the deceased being examined, it was
found that they had been stripped of all the valuables which could be
easily carried away, consisting of money, silver plate, and other
articles of a similar description. In the course of the day some
circumstances transpired, tending to fix the suspicions of the police
upon the woman Malcolm; and upon her lodgings being searched, a silver
tankard, the handle of which was covered with blood, was found concealed
in a close-stool. She was in consequence taken into custody, and having
undergone an examination on the following day before the magistrates,
she was committed to Newgate. Upon her entering the jail, she was
searched by Johnson, one of the turnkeys, who took from her a
considerable sum of money in gold and silver coin, and she admitted to
him that it was Mrs. Duncomb's. "But," added she, "I'll make you a
present of it if you will say nothing of the matter." The jailer took
possession of the money, but produced it to his superior officers,
acquainting them with the conversation which had passed. In the course
of the subsequent imprisonment of the unhappy woman, she frequently
conversed with Johnson upon the subject of the murder, and admitted that
she had arranged the robbery, although she declared that she had had
nothing to do with putting Mrs. Duncomb and her servants to death. She
asserted that two men and a woman were concerned with her, and that she
watched on the stairs while they entered the chambers.
At her trial, when called on for her defence, she made a similar
declaration, and stated that Tracy and the two Alexanders were her
companions; but she still persisted in her allegation of her ignorance
of the murder, until its being discovered by Mrs. Oliphant on the day
after it was committed. A verdict of guilty was, however, returned, and
the wretched woman was ordered for execution.
After her conviction she evinced the most sincere penitence, but still
persisted in her refusal to confess herself guilty of the whole crime
with which, she was charged. Upon the bellman[6] coming to her in the
customary manner, she attended anxiously to what he said, and at the
conclusion of his address threw him a shilling to buy wine.
On the morning of execution, March 7, 1733, she appeared more composed
than she had been for some time past, and seemed to join in prayers with
the Ordinary, and another gentleman who attended, with much sincerity.
When in the cart, she wrung her hands and wept most bitterly.
At the place of execution, near Fetter-lane, she behaved with the utmost
devoutness and resignation to the Divine will; but when the Ordinary, in
his prayers, recommended her soul to God, she fainted, and with much
difficulty recovered her senses. On the cart driving off, she turned
towards the Temple, crying out, "Oh! my mistress, my mistress! I wish I
could see her!" and then, casting her eyes towards heaven, called upon
Christ to receive her soul.
CAPTAIN JOHN PORTEOUS.
CONVICTED OF MURDER, AND MURDERED BY THE MOB.
The case of this offender has attracted considerable attention, from the
scene of his death being described with accurate fidelity in Sir Walter
Scott's novel of "The Heart of Mid-Lothian."
John Porteous was born of indigent parents near the city of Edinburgh;
and he served his time as an apprentice to a tailor. Having worked at
his trade for some time, he was married to the cast mistress of the late
Lord Provost of Edinburgh, who settled upon them a sum of 500_l._; but
our hero, being a man addicted to the pursuit of pleasure, soon ran
through his money, and his wife was in consequence obliged to apply to
her old friend, the provost, to make some other provision for them. In
Edinburgh there were three companies of men, in number twenty-five each,
who were employed to keep the peace, and perform the general duties of a
police force. An officer was appointed to each of these companies (whom
they styled captain) with a salary of eighty pounds a year, and a suit
of scarlet uniform; and a vacancy happening by the death of one of these
captains, the provost immediately appointed Porteous to fill up the
place. The latter soon distinguished himself by a show of great daring;
and if a riot occurred in the city, he was generally chosen by the
magistrates to suppress it. On these occasions, however, he would
frequently behave with great violence and cruelty, so that he failed in
obtaining that respect and attention which were so peculiarly necessary
for a person in his situation.
The circumstances attending the condemnation and death of Porteous were
as follows:--Two fellows named Wilson and Robertson, who were daring
smugglers, having been found guilty of a very serious breach of the
revenue laws, were sentenced to die; and a strong feeling existing in
their favour among the people, it was apprehended that it was very
possible that an attempt might be made to rescue them from custody.
Robertson, however, made his escape before the period arrived for his
execution, by taking advantage of an opportunity afforded, by a custom
which then prevailed, of taking the condemned criminals to church under
the care of the city guards; and although Porteous was instantly
despatched in search of him, his inquiries were in vain, and the
criminal afterwards made good his flight to Holland. On the following
Wednesday the execution of Wilson was appointed to take place, and a
temporary gallows was erected in the Grass-market, the prisoner being
ordered to be conducted there by fifty men, under the command of
Porteous. Upon the representations of the latter, five companies of the
Welch Fusileers were ordered to be in readiness in the Lawn-market to
prevent any sudden outbreak; but no disturbance arising, the prisoner
finished his devotions, ascended the ladder, and after having been
turned off, continued hanging the usual time. The hangman then went up
the ladder to cut him down; but a stone struck him on the nose, and
caused it to bleed. This stone was immediately followed by many others;
at which Porteous was so much exasperated, that he instantly called out
to his men, "Fire, and be d----d!" discharging his own piece at the
same time, and shooting a young man, who was apprentice to a
confectioner, dead on the spot. Some of the soldiers more humanely fired
over the heads of the people, but unfortunately killed two or three
persons who were looking out at the windows; while others of them
wantonly fired amongst the feet of the mob, by which many were so
disabled as to be afterwards obliged to suffer amputation. Porteous now
endeavoured to draw off his men, as the mob grew exceedingly outrageous,
throwing stones, and continuing to press on the soldiers; but having
gone some distance, he turned about with two of his men and fired,
killing three more of the people.
Porteous, being assisted by the Fusileers, at last conducted his men to
the guard; when being sent for by the provost, he passed a long
examination, and was committed to prison in order to take his trial for
murder.
On the 6th of July, 1736, the trial came on before the lords of
justiciary previously to which Porteous made a judicial confession,
that the people were killed as mentioned in the indictment, but pleaded
self-defence. His counsel then stated the following point of law, to be
determined by the judges previously to the jury being charged with the
prisoner:--
"Whether a military officer, with soldiers under his command, who, being
assaulted by the populace, should fire, or order his men to fire, was
not acting consistently with the nature of self-defence, according to
the laws of civilised nations?"
The counsel for the prosecution being ordered to plead to the question,
the court pronounced as their opinion, "That if it was proved that
Captain Porteous either fired a gun, or caused one or more to be fired,
by which any person or persons was or were killed, and if the said
firing happened without orders from a magistrate properly authorised,
then it would be murder in the eye of the law."
Thus the question being decided against him and the jury empanelled,
forty-four witnesses were examined for and against the prosecution.
The prisoner being then called on for his defence, his counsel insisted
that the magistrates had ordered him to support the execution of Wilson,
and repel force by force; and that being apprehensive of a rescue,
powder and ball had been given to his men for the said purpose, with
orders to load their pieces. They said, also, that he only meant to
intimidate the people by threats, and actually knocked down one of his
own men for presenting his piece; that finding the men would not obey
orders, he drew off as many as he could; that he afterwards heard a
firing in the rear contrary to his directions; that in order to know who
had fired, he would not suffer their pieces to be cleaned till properly
inspected; and that he never attempted to abscond, though he had the
greatest opportunity, and might have effected his escape with the utmost
ease. They farther insisted, that, admitting some excesses had been
committed, it could not amount to murder, as he was in the lawful
discharge of his duty; neither could it be supposed to be done with
premeditated malice.
In answer to this the counsel for the crown argued, that the trust
reposed in the prisoner ceased when the execution was over; that he was
then no longer an officer employed for that purpose for which the
fire-arms had been loaded; and that the reading of the Riot Act only
could justify his firing in case a rescue had been actually attempted.
The prisoner's counsel replied, that the magistrates, whose duty it was
to have read the Act, had deserted the soldiery, and taken refuge in a
house for their own security; and that it was hard for men to suffer
themselves to be knocked on the head, when they had lawful weapons in
their hands.
The jury having been charged, after sometime occupied in consideration,
found the prisoner guilty, and he was sentenced to death; but the King
being then at Hanover, the Queen, by advice of her council, granted a
respite to the prisoner. The subsequent execution of the sentence was
prevented by the measures taken by the mob, by whom a scheme of revenge
such perhaps as is unprecedented, was planned and carried out.
On the 7th of September, between nine and ten o'clock in the evening, a
large body of men entered the city, and seized the arms belonging to the
guard; they then patrolled the streets, crying out, "All those who dare
revenge innocent blood, let them come here;" and they closed the gates,
and placed guards at each, so as to prevent ingress or egress.
The main body of the mob, all disguised, marched in the mean time to the
prison; when finding some difficulty in breaking open the door with
hammers, they immediately set fire to it, taking great care that the
flames should not extend beyond their proper bounds. The outer door was
hardly consumed before they rushed in, and ordering the keeper to open
the door of the captain's apartment, cried out, "Where is the villain
Porteous?" He replied, "Here I am; what do you want with me?" To which
they answered, that they meant to hang him in the Grass-market, the
place where he had shed so much innocent blood. His expostulations were
all in vain; they seized him by the legs and arms, and dragged him
instantly to the place of execution. On their arrival they broke open a
shop to find a rope suitable to their purpose, which they immediately
fixed round his neck; and then, throwing the other end over a dyer's
pole, they hoisted him up. He endeavoured to save himself, and fixed his
hands between the halter and his neck; but this being observed by some
of the mob, one of them struck him with an axe, and this obliging him to
quit his hold, they soon put an end to his life.
When they were satisfied that he was dead, they immediately dispersed to
their several habitations, unmolested themselves, and without molesting
any one else.
Upon this circumstance being made known, a royal proclamation was
issued, offering a large reward for the apprehension of the offenders;
and the magistrates of Edinburgh were summoned to answer for their
neglect in not quelling the riot, were fined, and rendered incapable of
acting again in any judicial capacity. The circumstance of the death of
Porteous, however, appeared to have afforded the people so much
satisfaction, that no further attempt was made to discover the leaders
of the fray.
JOHN RICHARDSON AND RICHARD COYLE.
EXECUTED FOR PIRACY AND MURDER.