alluded to, published a pamphlet entitled, "Observations on the Act for
Preventing Clandestine Marriages." To this he prefixed his portrait. The
following passages are highly characteristic of the man:--
"'Happy is the wooing that is not long a-doing,' is an old proverb, and
a very true one; but we shall have no occasion for it after the 25th day
of March next, when we are commanded to read it backwards, and from that
period (fatal indeed to Old England!) we must date the declension of the
numbers of the inhabitants of England."--"As I have married many
thousands, and consequently have on those occasions seen the humour of
the lower class of people, I have often asked the married pair how long
they had been acquainted; they would reply, some more, some less, but
the generality did not exceed the acquaintance of a week, some only of a
day, half a day," &c.--"Another inconveniency which will arise from this
act will be, that the expense of being married will be so great, that
few of the lower class of people can afford; for I have often heard a
Fleet-parson say, that many have come to be married when they have but
had half-a-crown in their pockets, and sixpence to buy a pot of beer,
and for which they have pawned some of their clothes."--"I remember once
on a time, I was at a public-house at Radcliff, which then was full of
sailors and their girls; there was fiddling, piping, jigging, and
eating: at length, one of the tars starts up, and says, 'D--n ye, Jack,
I'll be married just now; I will have my partner, and....' The joke
took, and in less than two hours ten couple set out for the Fleet. I
staid their return. They returned in coaches, five women in each coach,
the tars, some running before, others riding on the coach-box, and
others behind. The cavalcade being over, the couples went up into an
upper room, where they concluded the evening with great jollity. The
next time I went that way I called on my landlord and asked him
concerning this marriage adventure. He at first stared at me, but
recollecting, he said those things were so frequent that he hardly took
any notice of them; for, added he, it is a common thing when a fleet
comes in, to have two or three hundred marriages in a week's time, among
the sailors." He humorously concludes, "If the present Act in the form
it now stands should (which I am sure is impossible) be of service to my
country, I shall then have the satisfaction of having been the occasion
of it, because the compilers thereof have done it with a pure design of
suppressing my _Chapel_, which makes me the most celebrated man in this
kingdom, though not the greatest."
The passing of the Marriage Act put a stop to the marriages at May Fair;
but the day before the Act came into operation (Lady-day 1754)[10]
sixty-one couple were married there.[11]
It would exceed the limits of this brief sketch were we to give the
_official_ history of the different scandalous ministers who thus
disgraced themselves, and impiously trifled with one of our most sacred
institutions. That some of these wretched adventurers were merely
pretended clergymen is certain; but it cannot be denied that many of
them were actually in holy orders.
Of this latter class were Grierson and Wilkinson, the subjects of our
present notice; and notwithstanding the heavy penalties imposed by the
statute, they were not to be deterred from continuing the dangerous and
unlawful traffic in which they had been engaged. Wilkinson, who was the
brother of a celebrated comedian of the day, it would appear, was the
owner of a chapel in the Savoy, and Grierson was his assistant; and
their proceedings having at length become too notorious to be passed
over, proceedings were instituted against them. Grierson was first
apprehended, and his employer sought safety in flight; but supposing
that he could not be deemed guilty of any offence, as he had not
actually performed the marriage ceremony, a duty which he left to his
journeyman, he returned to his former haunts. It was not long before he
was secured, however, and having been convicted with Grierson, they were
shipped off as convicts together to the colonies, in the year 1757.
WILLIAM PAGE.
EXECUTED FOR HIGHWAY ROBBERY.
William Page was the son of a respectable farmer at Hampton, and being a
lad of promising parts he was sent to London to be educated under the
care of his cousin, a haberdasher. His early life, by the superstitious
believers of old sayings, would be adduced as proof positive of the
truth of the old adage, that "a man who is born to be hanged will never
be drowned;" and although we cannot put much faith generally in such
notions, we cannot help in this instance pointing out some peculiarities
in the adventures of our hero, which might have been considered by him
as a sufficient indication of his fate. The early chronicler of his life
says, that, during the hard frost in the winter of 1739, Page was
sliding with other boys on the canal in St. James's Park, when the ice
broke under him, and he sank; and the ice immediately closing over him,
he must have perished; but just at this juncture the ice again broke
with another boy near him, and Page arose precisely at the vacancy made
by the latter, and was saved, although his companion was drowned. The
second instance of the intervention of his good fortune occurred in the
summer following this singular escape. Page was then trying to swim with
corks in the Thames, when they slipped from under his arms, and he sank;
but a waterman got him up, and he soon recovered. On the third occasion
he was going up the river on a party of pleasure, about five years
afterwards, with several other young fellows, when the boat overset with
them in Chelsea Reach, and every one in the boat was drowned except
Page. But his fourth and last escape from a watery grave was even more
miraculous than any of those which preceded it. About eighteen months
after that which is last related he was on a voyage to Scotland. The
ship in which he sailed foundered in Yarmouth Roads, and most of the
people on board perished; but another vessel, observing their distress,
sent out a long-boat, by the help of which Page and a few others saved
their lives.
To return, however, to the ordinary events of his life. It appears, that
his cousin having given him employment in his shop, his vanity prevented
him from bestowing that attention on his business to which it was
entitled; and his extravagance being checked by his relation, who
stopped his pocket-money in order to curb his refined notions, he had
recourse to plunder to supply his necessities. Money being repeatedly
missed from the till, and all attempts to discover the thief among the
servants having failed, suspicion at length rested on our hero; and his
guilt having been distinctly proved he was dismissed from his situation
forthwith. An effort which he made to conciliate his relation after this
proved ineffectual; and his father, who had learned the nature of his
irregularities, having refused to render him any assistance, he at
length journeyed to York, and there joined a company of strolling
players. His exertions in his new capacity were not unsuccessful; but at
length attempting to play Cato while in a state of intoxication, his
character in the play and his condition of person were found to agree so
badly, that he was compelled to be carried from the stage, and was
dismissed from his engagement. He afterwards went to Scarborough, where
his necessities compelled him to accept a situation as livery-servant
with a gentleman; but his master having been robbed on his way to town,
he formed a notion that highway robbery was an easy and profitable mode
of living; and determined that so soon as he should have the means of
starting in the profession, he would become a "gentleman of the road."
Quitting his master at the end of twelve months, he became acquainted
with a woman of abandoned character, in conjunction with whom he took
lodgings near Charing Cross, and he then commenced highwayman. His first
expedition was on the Kentish road; and meeting the Canterbury stage
near Shooter's-hill, he robbed the passengers of watches and money to
the amount of about thirty pounds; and then riding through great part of
Kent to take an observation of the cross-roads, he returned to London.
He now took lodgings near Grosvenor-square, and frequenting
billiard-tables won a little money, which, added to his former stock,
prevented his having recourse to the highway again for a considerable
time; but at length he met with a gambler who was more expert than
himself, and stripped him of all his money. He then again sought the
road as a means of subsistence. His exertions were for some time
fruitless; but at length meeting with a handsome booty, he was
emboldened by his success; and taking handsome lodgings he soon gained
the friendship of some young men of fashion. His next object was to
improve his mind and person; and having gained some knowledge, by dint
of impudence and through a pleasing exterior he got introduced into
decent society.
By this time, he had drawn, from his own observation and for his private
use, a most curious map of the roads twenty miles round London; and,
driving in a phaeton and pair, he was not suspected for a highwayman.
In his excursions for robbery he used to dress in a laced or embroidered
frock, and wear his hair tied behind; but when at a distance from
London, he would turn into some unfrequented place, and, having
disguised himself in other clothes, with a grizzle or black wig, and
saddled one of his horses, he would ride to the main road, and commit a
robbery. This done, he hastened back to the carriage, resumed his former
dress, and drove to town again. He was frequently cautioned to be on his
guard against a highwayman, who might meet and rob him: "No, no," said
he, "he cannot do it a second time, unless he robs me of my coat and
shirt, for he has taken all my money already."
He had once an escape of a very remarkable kind:--Having robbed a
gentleman near Putney, some persons came up at the juncture, and pursued
him so closely that he was obliged to cross the Thames for his security.
In the interim, some haymakers crossing the field where Page's carriage
was left, found and carried off his gay apparel; and the persons who had
pursued him, meeting them, charged them with being accomplices in the
robbery. A report of this affair being soon spread, Page heard of it,
and throwing his clothes into a well, he went back almost naked, claimed
the carriage as his own, and declared that the men had stripped him, and
thrown him into a ditch. All the parties now went before a justice of
the peace; and the maker of the carriage appearing, and declaring that
it was the property of Mr. Page, the poor haymakers were committed for
trial; but obtained their liberty after the next assizes, as Page did
not appear to prosecute.
After this, he made no farther use of the phaeton as a disguise for his
robberies; but it served him occasionally on parties of pleasure, which
he sometimes took with a girl whom he had then in keeping.
Page was passionately fond of play, and his practice this way was
occasionally attended with good fortune. One night he went to the
masquerade with only ten guineas, but joining a party at cards, he won
above five hundred pounds; but this money was no sooner in his
possession, than a lady, most magnificently dressed, made some advances
to him, on which he put the most favourable construction. After some
conversation, she told him that her mother was a widow who would not
admit of his visits; but that possibly he might prevail on her
attendant, whose husband was a reputable tradesman, to give them
admission to her house.
Page, who had repeatedly heard the other address her by the title of "My
lady," became very importunate with the good woman to grant this favour;
and at length, all parties having agreed, the servants were called. Page
handed the lady and her attendant into a coach, on which was the coronet
of a viscountess. Two footmen with flambeaux got up behind, and the
coachman was ordered to drive home. The "home" which they reached,
however, was a brothel; and on the lady quitting him in the morning, he
found that she had been dexterous enough to rob him of his pocket-book
and its contents, which no doubt more than compensated her for the
favour which she had bestowed upon him.
The road and the gaming-table were now his only means of support, and he
found a fitting companion in his proceedings in the person of an old
schoolfellow named Darwell, in conjunction with whom, in the course of
three years, he committed upwards of three hundred robberies. At length,
however, their iniquitous proceedings caused an active search to be made
for them; and Darwell being apprehended, "peached" upon his companion,
and disclosed the places where it was most likely that he would be
found.
The consequence was, that Page was apprehended at the Golden Lion, near
Hyde Park, when three loaded pistols were found on him, with powder,
balls, a wig to disguise himself, and the correct map of the roads round
London which we have already mentioned.
He was sent to Newgate, and an advertisement inserted in the papers,
requesting such persons as had been robbed to attend his re-examination
but he denied all that was alleged against him; and, as he was always
disguised when he committed any robbery, no person present could
identify his person.
He was tried at length on suspicion of robbing Mr. Webb in Belfourd
Lane, but acquitted for want of evidence; and after this he was tried at
Hertford, but again acquitted for a like reason.
From Hertford he was removed to Maidstone jail, and being tried at
Rochester for robbing Captain Farrington on Blackheath, he was capitally
convicted, and received sentence of death. After conviction he
acknowledged his guilt, yet exerted himself in the most strenuous manner
to procure a pardon. He wrote to a nobleman with this view, and also
sent a letter to a gentleman with whom he had lived as a servant,
begging his interest that he might be sent to America as a foot-soldier;
but his endeavours proved fruitless, and he was ordered for execution.
This extraordinary malefactor suffered at Maidstone on the 6th of April,
1758.
EUGENE ARAM.
EXECUTED FOR MURDER.
We are now arrived at that period which brings to our view perhaps the
most remarkable trial in our whole Calendar. The offender was a man of
extraordinary endowments and of high education, and therefore little to
be suspected of committing so foul a crime as that proved against him.
Much has been written upon the subject of this murder, and attempts have
been made, even of late years, to show the innocence of Aram. The
contents of the publications upon the subject would be sufficient of
themselves to fill our volumes; and it would be useless to republish
arguments, which, having had due circulation and due consideration, have
failed in their object, which was to convince the world that this
offender was the victim of prejudice, and fell an innocent sacrifice to
the laws of his country. We shall, therefore, abstain from giving this
case greater space in our Calendar than that to which it is entitled, as
well on account of the peculiarity of its nature, as of the great
interest which its mention has always excited. The peculiarities of the
case are twofold; first, the great talents of the offender, and
secondly, the extraordinary discovery of the perpetration of the murder,
and of the evidence which led to the conviction of the murderer. On the
former point, indeed, some seem to have entertained a doubt; for about
thirty years after his execution, his name being inserted among the
literary characters of the country, in the "Biographia Britannica," and
his high erudition being mentioned, a pamphlet was put forth,
complaining of this step on the part of the editors of that work, and
accusing them of a want of impartiality in affording their meed of
praise to Aram, and withholding it from Bishop Atherton, who also met
with an ignominious death. The charge was, however, answered more ably
than it was made; and as it may prove interesting to our readers, we
shall subjoin the refutation to the complaint, which appears distinctly
to support Aram's right to the character which was originally given to
him. It is said:--
"Objections are made to the admission of Eugene Aram into the Biographia
Britannica, and the exclusion of Bishop Atherton; but it appears to me
that the remarks on this subject are far from being just. The insertion
of Aram is objected to because he was a man of bad principles, and
terminated his life on the gallows; but it should be remembered that it
was never understood that in the Biographia Britannica the lives of
virtuous men only were to be recorded. In the old edition are the lives
of several persons who ended their days by the hands of the executioner.
Bonner was not a virtuous man, and yet was very properly inserted, as
well as Henry Cuff, who was executed at Tyburn in the reign of Queen
Elizabeth. As to Eugene Aram, it is truly said of him in the Biographia
Britannica, in the article objected to, that the progress he made in
literature, allowing for the little instruction he had received, may
justly be considered as astonishing; and that his powers of mind were
uncommonly great cannot reasonably be questioned. Eugene Aram possessed
talents and acquisitions that might have classed him among the most
respectable of human characters, if his moral qualities had been equal
to his intellectual. It was certainly the extraordinary talents and
acquirements of Eugene Aram which occasioned his introduction into the
Biographia; and I know that by persons of undoubted taste and judgment,
the account of him in that work has been thought a curious and
interesting article. His singular defence alone was well worthy of being
preserved in such a work.
"With respect to Bishop Atherton, he never had the least claim to
insertion in such a work as the Biographia Britannica, and was therefore
very properly omitted in the new edition. He was not in the least
distinguished for genius or learning; his merely being a bishop could
give him no just pretensions, and still less the unnatural crime for
which he suffered. The friends of Bishop Atherton say that his
reputation was suspected to have been destroyed, and his catastrophe
effected, more by the contrivance of a party than by the aggravated
guilt with which he was charged. If this were perfectly just, which
however may be reasonably questioned, it would not give Bishop Atherton
the least claim to insertion in the Biographia Britannica. Aram was
inserted on account of his uncommon talents and learning; but Atherton,
who was not distinguished for either, never had the least pretension to
be recorded in such a work."
The talents and abilities of this criminal, therefore, seem to be
undoubted; but that a man possessing powers of intellect so great should
have been guilty of such a crime as that which he committed, seems most
extraordinary.
Within the second peculiarity of the case will very properly come the
narrative of the life of its hero, as well as the circumstances
attending the commission of the crime and the discovery of its
perpetrator. A succinct description of the case will probably be more
intelligible than a detail of all the exceedingly minute circumstances
by which it was surrounded.
Eugene Aram was born at the village of Netherdale, in Yorkshire, in the
year 1704, of an ancient and highly respectable family; but although it
is shown by the chronicles that one of his ancestors served the office
of high sheriff in the reign of Edward the Third, it appears that at the
time of the birth of Eugene, the vicissitudes of fortune had so far
reduced its rank, that his father was compelled to support himself and
his children by working as a gardener in the house of Sir Edward
Blackett; although in that situation he was well employed and highly
respected. In his infancy, Aram's parents removed to the village of
Shelton, near Newby, in the same county; and when about six years old,
his father, having saved a small sum of money out of his weekly
earnings, purchased a small cottage at Bondgate, near Rippon. The first
indications of that singular genius which afterwards displayed itself in
so remarkable a manner in our hero, were given while his father was in
the service of Sir Edward. Eugene was employed as an attendant upon that
gentleman, and he early displayed a taste for literature, which was
fostered and supported by his indulgent master. His disposition was
solitary, and every leisure hour which presented itself to him was
devoted to retirement and study; and in the employment which good
fortune had bestowed upon him, ample opportunities were afforded him of
following the bent of his inclinations. He applied himself chiefly to
mathematics, and at the age of sixteen he had acquired a considerable
proficiency in them; but his kind and indulgent master dying about this
time, he was employed by his brother, Mr. Christopher Blackett, a
merchant in London, who took him into his service as book-keeper. This
was an occupation ill suited to his desires, and an attack of the small
pox having rendered his return to Yorkshire necessary, he did not
afterwards resume his employment in London, but at the invitation of his
father he remained at Newby, to pursue his studies. He now found that
the study of mathematics possessed but few charms; and the politer
subjects of poetry, history, and antiquities, next engaged his
attention. Every day served to increase the store of knowledge which he
possessed, and his fame as a scholar having now extended to his native
place, he was invited to take charge of a school there. The means of
study and of profit appeared to him to be thus united, and he
immediately accepted the offer which was made; and after a short time he
married a young woman of the village, to whom he appeared tenderly
attached. To this marriage, however, which proved unhappy, he attributed
all his subsequent misfortunes; but whether with truth or not, the
course of the narrative does not distinctly disclose. His deficiency in
the learned languages now struck him, and he immediately set about
conquering the difficulties which presented themselves in this new field
of research; and so rapid was his progress, that ere a year had passed,
he was able to read with ease the less difficult of the Latin and Greek
historians and poets. In the year 1734 an opportunity was afforded him
of adding a knowledge of the Hebrew language to his list of
acquirements; for in that year Mr. William Norton, of Knaresborough, a
gentleman of great talents, who had conceived a strong attachment
towards him, invited him to his house, and afforded him the means
necessary for pursuing its study. He continued in his situation in
Yorkshire until the year 1745, when he again visited London, and
accepted an engagement in the school of the Rev. Mr. Plainblanc, in
Piccadilly, as usher in Latin and writing; and, with this gentleman's
assistance, he acquired the knowledge of the French language. He was
afterwards employed as an usher and tutor in several different parts of
England; in the course of which, through his own exertions, he became
acquainted with heraldry and botany; and so great was his perseverance,
that he also learned the Chaldaic and Arabic languages. His next step
was to investigate the Celtic in all its dialects; and, having begun to
form collections, and make comparisons between the Celtic, the English,
the Latin, the Greek, and the Hebrew, and found a great affinity between
them, he resolved to proceed through all those languages, and to form a
comparative lexicon. But, amid these learned labours and inquiries, it
appears that he committed a crime which could not naturally have been
expected from a man of so studious a turn, as the inducement which led
him to it was merely the gain of wealth, of which the scholar is seldom
covetous.