few of them having armed themselves, set out for Stanton; and as they
entered the yard, they saw his lordship, partly undressed, going towards
the stable, as if to take out a horse. One of them, named Springthorpe,
then advancing towards his lordship with a pistol in his hand, required
him to surrender; but the latter, putting his hand towards his pocket,
his assailant, imagining that he was feeling for some weapon of offence,
stopped short and allowed him to escape into the house. A great
concourse of people by this time had come to the spot, and they cried
out loudly that the earl should come forth. Two hours elapsed, however,
before anything was seen of him, and then he came to the garret window
and called out, "How is Johnson?" He was answered that he was dead; but
he said it was a lie, and desired that the people should disperse; but
then he gave orders that they should be let in and be furnished with
victuals and drink, and finally he went away from the window swearing
that no man should take him. The mob still remained on the spot, and in
about two hours the earl was descried by a collier, named Curtis,
walking on the bowling-green, armed with a blunderbuss, a brace of
pistols, and a dagger. Curtis, however, so far from being intimidated by
his bold appearance, walked up to him; and his lordship, struck with the
resolution he displayed, immediately surrendered himself, and gave up
his arms, but directly afterwards declared that he had killed the
villain, and gloried in the act. He was instantly conveyed in custody to
a public-house at Ashby, kept by a man named Kinsey; and a coroner's
jury having brought in a verdict of wilful murder against him, he was on
the following Monday committed to the custody of the keeper of the jail
at Leicester. Being entitled, however, by his rank to be tried before
his peers, he was in about a fortnight afterwards conveyed to London, in
his landau, drawn by six horses, under a strong guard; and being carried
before the House of Lords, he was committed to the custody of the Black
Rod, and ordered to the Tower, where he arrived at about six o'clock in
the evening of the 14th February. He is reported to have behaved, during
the whole journey and at his commitment, with great calmness and
propriety. He was confined in the Round Tower, near the drawbridge: two
wardens were constantly in the room with him, and one at the door; two
sentinels were posted at the bottom of the stairs, and one upon the
drawbridge, with their bayonets fixed; and from this time the gates were
ordered to be shut an hour sooner than usual.
During his confinement he was moderate both in eating and drinking; his
breakfast was a half-pint basin of tea, with a small spoonful of brandy
in it, and a muffin; with his dinner he generally drank a pint of wine
and a pint of water, and another pint of each with his supper. In
general his behaviour was decent and quiet, except that he would
sometimes suddenly start, tear open his waistcoat, and use other
gestures, which showed that his mind was disturbed.
Mrs. Clifford and the four young ladies, who had come up with him from
Leicestershire, took a lodging in Tower-street, and for some time a
servant was continually passing with letters between them: but
afterwards this correspondence was permitted only once a day.
Mrs. Clifford came three times to the Tower to see him, but was not
admitted; but his children were suffered to be with him some time.
On the 16th of April, having been a prisoner in the Tower two months and
two days, he was brought to his trial, which continued till the 18th,
before the House of Lords, assembled for that purpose; Lord Henley,
keeper of the great seal, having been created lord high steward upon the
occasion.
The murder was easily proved to have been committed in the manner we
have described; and his lordship then proceeded to enter upon his
defence.
He called several witnesses, the object of whose testimony was to show
that the earl was not of sound mind, but none of them proved such an
insanity as made him not accountable for his conduct. His lordship
managed his defence himself, in such a manner as showed an uncommon
understanding; he mentioned the fact of his being reduced to the
necessity of attempting to prove himself a lunatic, that he might not be
deemed a murderer, with the most delicate and affecting sensibility;
and, when he found that his plea could not avail him, he confessed that
he made it only to gratify his friends; that he was always averse to it
himself; and that it had prevented what he had proposed, and what
perhaps might have taken off the malignity at least of the accusation.
The peers having in the usual form delivered their verdict of Guilty,
his lordship received sentence to be hanged on Monday the 21st of April,
and then to be anatomized; but, in consideration of his rank, the
execution of this sentence was respited till Monday the 5th of May.
During this interval he made a will, by which he left one thousand three
hundred pounds to Mr. Johnson's children; one thousand pounds to each of
his four natural daughters; and sixty pounds a year to Mrs. Clifford for
her life; but this disposition of his property being made after his
conviction, was not valid; although it was said that the same, or nearly
the same provision was afterwards made for the parties named.
In the mean time a scaffold was erected under the gallows at Tyburn, and
part of it, about a yard square, was raised about eighteen inches above
the rest of the floor, with a contrivance to sink down upon a signal
given, in accordance with the plan now invariably adopted; the whole
being covered with black baize.
On the morning of the 5th May, at about nine o'clock, his lordship's
body was demanded of the keeper of the Tower, by the sheriffs of London
and Middlesex, and his lordship being informed of it, sent a message to
the sheriffs requesting that he might be permitted to be conveyed to the
scaffold in his own landau, in preference to the mourning-coach which
was provided for him. This being granted, his landau, drawn by six
horses, immediately drew up, and he entered it, accompanied by Mr.
Humphries, the chaplain of the Tower, who had been admitted to him on
that morning for the first time. On the carriage reaching the outer
gate, the earl was delivered up to the sheriffs, and Mr. Sheriff
Vaillant entered the vehicle with him, expressing his concern at having
so melancholy a duty to perform; but his lordship said "he was much
obliged to him, and took it kindly that he accompanied him." The earl
was attired in a white suit, richly embroidered with silver; and when he
put it on he said, "This is the suit in which I was married, and in
which I will die." The procession being now formed, moved forward
slowly, the landau being preceded by a considerable body of horse
grenadiers, and by a carriage containing Mr. Sheriff Errington, and his
under sheriff, Mr. Jackson, and being followed by the carriage of Mr.
Sheriff Vaillant, containing Mr. Nichols, his under sheriff, a
mourning-coach and six, containing some of his lordship's friends, a
hearse and six for the conveyance of his body to Surgeon's Hall after
execution, and another body of military. The pace at which they
proceeded, in consequence of the density of the mob, was so slow, that
his lordship was two hours and three quarters in his landau, but during
that time he appeared perfectly easy and composed, though he often
expressed his anxiety to have the whole affair over, saying "that the
apparatus of death, and the passing through such crowds, were worse than
death itself," and "that he supposed so large a mob had been collected
because the people had never seen a lord hanged before," He told the
sheriff that "he had written to the king to beg that he might suffer
where his ancestor, the Earl of Essex, had been executed; and that he
was in the greater hopes of obtaining that favour, as he had the honour
of quartering part of the same arms, and of being allied to his majesty;
but that he had refused, and he thought it hard that he must die at the
place appointed for the execution of common felons."
Mr. Humphries took occasion to observe, that the world would naturally
be very inquisitive concerning the religion his lordship professed, and
asked him if he chose to say anything upon that subject; and his
lordship answered that he did not think himself accountable to the world
for his sentiments on religion; but that he had always believed in and
adored one God, the maker of all things; that whatever his notions were,
he had never propagated them, or endeavoured to gain any persons over to
his persuasion; that all countries and nations had a form of religion by
which the people were governed, and that he looked upon any one who
disturbed them in it as an enemy to society. That he blamed very much my
Lord Bolingbroke for permitting his sentiments on religion to be
published to the world. That he never could believe what some sectaries
teach, that faith alone will save mankind; so that if a man, just before
he dies, should say only "I believe," _that_ alone will save him.
As to the crime for which he suffered, he declared "that he was under
particular circumstances--that he had met with so many crosses and
vexations, he scarce knew what he did:" and he most solemnly protested
"that he had not the least malice against Mr. Johnson."
When his lordship had got to that part of Holborn which is near
Drury-lane, he said "he was thirsty, and should be glad of a glass of
wine and water;" upon which the sheriffs remonstrating to him, "that a
stop for that purpose would necessarily draw a greater crowd about him,
which night possibly disturb and incommode him, yet, if his lordship
still desired it, it should be done," he most readily answered, "That's
true--I say no more--let us by no means stop."
When they approached near the place of execution, his lordship, pointing
to Mrs. Clifford, told the sheriff "that there was a person waiting in a
coach near there, for whom he had a very sincere regard, and of whom he
should be glad to take his leave before he died." The sheriff answered
that, "if his lordship insisted upon it, it should be so; but that he
wished his lordship, for his own sake, would decline it, lest the sight
of a person, for whom he had such a regard, should unman him, and disarm
him of the fortitude he possessed." His lordship, without the least
hesitation, replied, "Sir, if you think I am wrong, I submit:" and upon
the sheriff telling his lordship that if he had anything to deliver to
the individual referred to, or any one else, he would faithfully do it,
his lordship delivered to him a pocket-book, in which were a bank-note
and a ring, and a purse with some guineas, which were afterwards handed
over to the unhappy woman.
The landau being now advanced to the place of execution, his lordship
alighted from it, and ascended the scaffold with the same composure and
fortitude of mind he had exhibited from the time he left the Tower. Soon
after he had mounted the scaffold, Mr. Humphries asked his lordship if
he chose to say prayers, which he declined; but, upon his asking him "if
he did not choose to join with him in the Lord's Prayer," he readily
answered "he would, for he always thought it a very fine prayer;" upon
which they knelt down together upon two cushions, covered with black
baize and his lordship, with an audible voice, very devoutly repeated
the Lord's Prayer, and afterwards, with great energy, ejaculated, "O
God, forgive me all my errors--pardon all my sins!"
His lordship, then rising, took his leave of the sheriff and the
chaplain; and, after thanking them for their many civilities, presented
his watch to Mr. Sheriff Vaillant, of which he desired his acceptance;
and requested that his body might be buried at Breden or Stanton, in
Leicestershire.
The executioner now proceeded to do his duty, to which his lordship,
with great resignation, submitted. His neckcloth being taken off, a
white cap, which he had brought in his pocket, being put upon his head,
his arms secured by a black sash, and the cord put round his neck, he
advanced by three steps to the elevated part of the scaffold, and,
standing under the cross-beam which went over it, which was also covered
with black baize, he asked the executioner "Am I right?" Then the cap
was drawn over his face, and, upon a signal given by the sheriff, (for
his lordship, upon being before asked, declined to give one himself,)
that part upon which he stood instantly sunk down from beneath his feet,
and he was launched into eternity May the 5th 1760.
From the time of his lordship's ascending upon the scaffold, until his
execution, was about eight minutes; during which his countenance did not
change, nor his tongue falter.
The accustomed time of one hour being past, the coffin was raised up,
with the greatest decency, to receive the body; and, being deposited in
the hearse, was conveyed by the sheriffs, with the same procession, to
Surgeons' Hall, to undergo the remainder of the sentence. A large
incision was then made from the neck to the bottom of the breast, and
another across the throat; the lower part of the belly was laid open,
and the bowels taken away. It was afterwards publicly exposed to view in
a room up one pair of stairs at the Hall; and on the evening of
Thursday, the 8th of May, it was delivered to his friends for interment.
The following verse is said to have been found in his apartment:--
"In doubt I lived, in doubt I die,
Yet stand prepared the vast abyss to try,
And, undismay'd, expect eternity."
THEODORE GARDELLE.
EXECUTED FOR MURDER.
This delinquent was a native of Geneva; and besides being a man of good
general education, was somewhat celebrated in his native city as a
painter on enamel. Unhappy in his domestic concerns, in the year 1760 he
repaired to London, and took lodgings in the house of a Mrs. King, who
lived in Leicester-fields, and who was the unfortunate subject of his
crime.
The circumstances attending the murder were as follow:--On Thursday,
19th February 1761, the servant-girl got up at about seven o'clock in
the morning, and being presently called by Gardelle, who occupied an
upper apartment, was desired to go on some errands for him.
The girl took the messages, and went to her mistress, who was still in
her bedroom, which was the back parlour, telling her what Gardelle had
desired her to do; to which her mistress replied, "Nanny, you can't go,
for there's nobody to answer at the street door." The girl being willing
to oblige Gardelle, answered "that Mr. Gardelle would come down, and sit
in the parlour until she came back;" and she then went again to
Gardelle, who, in obedience to her wish, proceeded into the front room
on the ground floor.
The girl went out, taking the key of the street-door with her to let
herself in again, Gardelle then having entered the room next to Mrs.
King's apartment.
Immediately after she was gone out, Mrs. King, hearing the tread of
somebody in the parlour, called out, "Who is there?" and at the same
time opened her chamber door, and saw Gardelle at a table very near the
door, who had just then taken up a book that lay upon it. He had some
time before drawn Mrs. King's picture, which she wanted to have made
very handsome, and had teased him so much about it, that the effect was
just contrary; and it happened unfortunately, that the first thing she
said to him, when she saw him walking about in the room, was something
reproachful about this picture. Provoked at the insult, as he spoke
English very imperfectly, for want of a better expression, he told her,
with some warmth, "that she was an impertinent woman."
The detail of the whole of the circumstances immediately attending this
part of the transaction of necessity could not fall within the knowledge
or observation of any witness, and it is therefore derived from a
statement drawn up by Gardelle while in custody; but having stated the
facts already mentioned, he says that this insult threw Mrs. King into a
transport of rage, and she gave him a blow with her fist on the breast,
so violent that he could not have thought it could have been given by a
woman. As soon as the blow was struck she drew a little back; and at the
same instant he laid his hand on her shoulder, and pushed her from him,
rather in contempt than anger, or with a design to hurt her; but her
foot happening to catch in the floor-cloth, she fell backwards, and her
head came with great force against the corner of the bedstead. The blood
immediately gushed from her mouth, not in a continued stream, but as if
by different strokes of a pump, and he instantly ran to her, expressing
his concern at the accident; but she pushed him away, and threatened,
though in a feeble and interrupted voice, to punish him for what he had
done. He was terrified at the thought of being condemned for a criminal
act upon her accusation, and again attempted to assist her by raising
her up, as the blood still flowed from her mouth in great quantities;
but she exerted all her strength to keep him off, and still cried out,
mixing threats with her screams. He then seized an ivory comb, with a
sharp taper point continued from the back for adjusting the curls of her
hair, which lay upon her toilet, and threatened her in his turn to
prevent her crying out; but she still continuing to scream, though with
a voice still fainter and fainter, he struck her with this instrument,
probably in the throat, upon which the blood poured from her mouth in
yet greater quantities, and her voice was quite stopped. He then drew
the bed-clothes over her to prevent her blood from spreading on the
floor, and to hide her from his sight; and he stood some time motionless
by her, and then fell down by her side in a swoon. When he came to
himself he perceived the maid was come in, and he therefore went out of
the room without examining the body to see if the unhappy woman was
quite dead; and his confusion was then so great that he staggered
against the wainscot, and hit his head so as to raise a bump over his
eye.
It appears that he subsequently sent the girl away, informing her that
he had her mistress's orders to dismiss her, and paid ten shillings for
her wages; and the latter having been unable to find either her mistress
or Gardelle on her first returning to the house, and knowing the former
to be a woman of light character, concluded that they must have been in
bed together, and that her mistress being ashamed to meet her,
determined to get rid of her. Her suspicions were not at all raised
therefore, and she went away, informing Gardelle that Mr. Wright, who
lodged in the house, but had been out of town, would return that evening
with his servant. On her departure, the first thing that Gardelle did
was to go into the chamber to Mrs. King, whom, upon examination, he
found quite dead. He therefore took off the blankets and sheets with
which he had covered her, stripped off the shift, and laid the body
quite naked upon the bed. Before this, he said, his linen was not
stained; but it was much discoloured by his removing the body. He then
took the two blankets, the sheets, the coverlet, and one of the
curtains, and put them into the water-tub in the back wash-house to
soak, they being all much stained with blood. Her shift he carried up
stairs, and putting it into a bag, concealed it under his bed. His own
shirt, now bloody, he pulled off, and locked it up in a drawer of his
bureau.
When all this was done, he went and sat down in the parlour, and soon
after, it being about nine o'clock, Mr. Wright's servant, whose name was
Pelsey, came in without his master, who had changed his mind, and was
gone to a gentleman's house in Castle-street. He went up into his room,
the garret, and sat there till about eleven o'clock, when he came down,
and finding Gardelle still in the parlour, he asked if Mrs. King was
come home, and who must sit up for her? Gardelle said she was not come
home, but that he would sit up for her. In the morning, Friday, when
Pelsey came down stairs, he again asked if Mrs. King was come home, and
Gardelle told him that she had been at home, but was gone again; and he
subsequently said that she was gone to Bath or Bristol. The demeanour of
Gardelle was soon observed by Pelsey to be much changed, and fancying
that it was in consequence of the absence of Mrs. King, he went into the
Haymarket, and procured a girl of unfortunate character named Walker to
go and stay in the house with him. A Mrs. Pritchard was also engaged as
charwoman, and still, no suspicions being entertained, all the parties
continued to live in the house. On the Saturday morning, Gardelle first
took steps to dispose of the body of the deceased woman, and no plan
struck him as being so readily to be carried out as that of a gradual
destruction of its members by fire. He accordingly proceeded to light a
fire in the garret, whither he carried the bones, from which he had
previously scraped the flesh, and burned them. All went on well until
the Tuesday morning, when Pelsey, who was going up to his master's room,
smelt something offensive, and asked Gardelle, who was pushing up the
sash of the window on the staircase, what it was? Gardelle replied,
somebody had put a bone in the fire. At night Pelsey renewed his
inquiries after Mrs. King, and Gardelle answered, with a seeming
impatience, "Me know not of Mrs. King; she give me a great deal of
trouble, but me shall hear of her on Wednesday or Thursday."
On Tuesday night he told Walker he would sit up till Mrs. King came
home, though he had before told her she was out of town, and desired her
to go to bed; and as soon as she was gone, he renewed his horrid
employment of cutting the body to pieces, and disposing of it in
different places. The bowels he threw down the necessary; and the flesh
of the body and limbs, cut to pieces, he scattered about in the
cock-loft, where he supposed they would dry and perish without
putrefaction.
Wednesday passed like the preceding days; and on Thursday he told his
female companion that he expected Mrs. King home in the evening, and
therefore desired that she would provide herself a lodging, giving her
at the same time two of Mrs. King's shifts; and being thus dismissed,
she went away.
Pritchard, the charwoman, still continued in her office, and through her
means the murder was discovered. The water having failed in the cistern
on the Tuesday, she had recourse to that in the water-tub in the back
kitchen. Upon pulling out the spigot a little water ran out; but, as
there appeared to be more in, she got upon a ledge, and putting her hand
in, she felt something soft. She then fetched a poker, and pressing down
the contents of the tub, she got water in a pail. She informed Pelsey of
the circumstance, and they agreed the first opportunity to see what the
things in the water-tub were; yet so languid was their curiosity, and so
careless were they of the event, that it was Thursday before the tub was
examined. They found in it the blankets, sheets, and coverlet, that
Gardelle had put in to soak; and after spreading, shaking, and looking
at them, they put them again into the tub; and the next morning, when
Pelsey came down, he saw the curtain hanging on the banisters of the
kitchen stairs. Upon looking down, he saw Gardelle just come out at the
wash-house door, where the tub stood. When Pritchard the charwoman came,
he asked her if she had been taking the curtain out of the tub, and she
said "No." She then went and looked in the tub, and found the sheets had
been wrung out. Upon this the first step was taken towards inquiring
after the unhappy woman, who had now lain dead more than a week in the
house. Pelsey found out the maid whom Gardelle had dismissed, and
suspicions being excited that Mrs. King had been unfairly dealt with,
the aid of the police was obtained. Gardelle was then apprehended, and
his answers to the questions put to him being of a very equivocal
nature, a search was made in the house, and the remains of the body
being discovered, disposed of as we have already mentioned, as well as
the linen of the deceased, and of the prisoner, stained with blood, his
guilt was considered to be fully established, and he was committed to
Newgate for trial. While in that prison he made two attempts to destroy
himself by taking laudanum, and by swallowing halfpence to the number of
twelve; but although he was considerably injured by the latter attempt,
he failed in securing his object. He afterwards showed strong marks of
penitence and contrition, and behaved with great humility, openness, and
courtesy, to those who visited him.
On Thursday, the 2d of April, he was tried at the Old Bailey; and, in
his defence, he insisted only that he had no malice to the deceased, and
that her death was the consequence of the fall. He was convicted, and
sentenced to be executed on Saturday, the 4th of the same month. The
account which he wrote in prison, and which is mentioned in this
narrative, is dated the 28th of March, though he did not communicate it
till after his trial. The night after his condemnation, his behaviour
was extravagant and outrageous; but the next morning he was composed and
quiet, and said he had slept three or four hours in the night. When he
was asked why he did not make his escape, he answered that he feared
some innocent person might then suffer in his stead.
He was executed April the 4th 1761, amidst the shouts and hisses of an
indignant populace, in the Haymarket, near Panton-street, to which he
was led by Mrs. King's house, where the cart made a stop. His body was
hung in chains upon Hounslow Heath.
JOHN M'NAUGHTON, ESQ.
EXECUTED FOR MURDER.