to the same effect. She stated that she was well acquainted with the
prisoner's person, and that he had followed her, and talked to her in
language the most shocking and obscene. She had seen him four or five
different times. On that night when her sister was cut, she saw him
standing near the bottom of St. James's-street, and spying her, he
exclaimed, "O ho! are you there!" and immediately struck her a violent
blow on the side of the head. She then, as well as she was able, being
almost stunned, called to her sister to make haste, adding, "Don't you
see the wretch behind us?" Upon coming to their own door, the prisoner
rushed between them, and about the time he struck her sister, he also
rent the witness's gown.
It was proved further, that the prisoner, on his being pointed out by
Miss Porter, was followed by Mr. Coleman as far as South Molton-street,
where he entered a house, but being followed, his address was demanded.
He for some time declined complying with the request which was made, but
eventually said that he lived at No. 52, Jermyn-street. Mr. Coleman,
however, felt that he ought not to permit him to escape, and he
therefore compelled him to accompany him to Miss Porter's house. He at
first objected to doing so, on the ground of its being late, but force
being used, he was obliged to obey. On his arrival, Miss Anne and Miss
Sarah Porter fainted away, exclaiming, "Oh, my God! that is the wretch!"
Upon which the prisoner said, "The young ladies' conduct is very
strange. They don't take me for the monster who is advertised?" He was
assured, however, that he was known to be that person; and he was then
conveyed in custody before the magistrates, by whom he was committed for
trial. It was also proved that the wound which had been inflicted on
Miss Porter was of a very serious description. It was at the beginning,
and for two or three inches, only skin deep, but then it suddenly sunk
to the depth of four inches, gradually becoming more shallow towards the
end. Its length from the hip downwards was nine or ten inches.
The prisoner, being called upon for his defence, begged the indulgence
of the Court, in supplying the deficiency of his memory upon what he
wished to state from a written paper. He accordingly read as follows:--
"He stood," he said, "an object equally demanding the attention and
compassion of the Court. That, conscious of his innocence, he was ready
to admit the justice of whatever sufferings he had hitherto undergone,
arising from suspicion. He had the greatest confidence in the justice
and liberality of an English jury; and hoped they would not suffer his
fate to be decided by the popular prejudice raised against him. The hope
of proving his innocence had hitherto sustained him.
"He professed himself the warm friend and admirer of that sex whose
cause was now asserted; and concluded with solemnly declaring that the
whole prosecution was founded on a dreadful mistake, which he had no
doubt the evidence he was about to call would clear up to the
satisfaction of the Court."
He then called two witnesses, who gave him a good character; and who
stated that he was at work for his master, Mr. Mitchell, an artificial
flower maker, in Dover-street, Piccadilly, up to the hour of one o'clock
on the night in question.
Mr. Justice Buller summed up the case to the jury. Having commented upon
the evidence which had been produced, he said that he should reserve the
case for the opinion of the twelve judges, for several reasons: first,
because this was completely and perfectly a new case in itself; and
secondly, because this was the first indictment of the kind that was
ever tried. Therefore, although he himself entertained but little doubt
upon the first point, yet, as the case was new, it would be right to
have a solemn decision upon it. Upon the second point he owned that he
entertained some doubts. This indictment was certainly the first of the
kind that was ever drawn in this kingdom. It was founded upon the
statute of the 6th George I. Upon this statute it must be proved that it
was the intent of the party accused, not only to wound the body, but
also cut, tear, and spoil the garment:--one part of this charge was
quite clear, namely, that Miss Porter was wounded, and her clothes torn.
The first question, therefore, for the consideration of the jury would
be, whether this was done wilfully, and with intent to spoil the
garment, as well as to wound the body. That was a fact for the jury to
decide; and if they agreed upon this, then, whether the prisoner was the
man who did it. It should be observed, that here there was a wound
given, with an instrument that was not calculated solely for the purpose
of affecting the body, such, for instance, as piercing or stabbing, by
making a hole; but here was an actual cutting, and the wound was of a
very considerable length, and so was the rent in the clothes. It was for
the jury to decide whether, as both body and clothes were cut, he who
intended the end did not also intend the means. He left it to the jury
to say, upon the whole case, whether the prisoner was guilty or
innocent.
The jury immediately, without hesitation, found the prisoner guilty.
Mr. Justice Buller then ordered the judgment in this case to be
arrested, and the recognizances of the persons bound to prosecute to be
respited until the December sessions.
At the commencement of the sessions at the Old Bailey, on the 10th of
December 1790, Judge Ashurst addressed the prisoner nearly in the
following terms:--"You have been capitally convicted, under the statute
6 George I., of maliciously tearing, cutting, spoiling, and defacing the
garments of Anne Porter, on the 18th of January last. Judgment has been
arrested on two points,--one that the indictment is informal, the other
that the statute does not reach the crime. Upon solemn consideration,
the judges are of opinion that both the objections are well founded:
but, although you are discharged from this indictment, yet you are
within the purview of the common law. You are therefore to be remanded
to be tried for a misdemeanor."
He was accordingly, on the 13th of the same month, tried at Hicks's Hall
for the misdemeanor, in making an assault on Miss Anne Porter.
The trial lasted sixteen hours: there were three counts in the
indictment; viz. for assaulting with intent to kill, for assaulting and
wounding, and for a common assault.
The same witnesses were then called in support of the charge as appeared
on the trial at the Old Bailey; and they gave very clear, correct, and
circumstantial evidence, positively swearing to the person of the
prisoner.
The prisoner produced two witnesses, Miss Amet and Mr. Mitchell, who
attempted to prove an _alibi_, and the credit of their testimony was not
impeached by any contradiction. The question therefore was, to which the
jury would give credit; for the evidence on both sides was equally fair
and unexceptionable, and the prisoner was acquitted.
The prisoner was again put to the bar at ten o'clock the next morning,
and tried on the remaining indictments, on three of which he was found
guilty; when the Court sentenced him to two years' imprisonment in
Newgate for each, and at the expiration of the time to find security for
his good behaviour, himself in two hundred pounds, and two sureties in
one hundred pounds each.
EDWARD LOWE AND WILLIAM JOBBINS.
EXECUTED FOR ARSON.
These prisoners were indicted at the Old Bailey sessions for feloniously
setting fire to the house of Francis Gilding, in Aldersgate-street, on
the 16th of May 1790.
From the evidence of the apprentice of Mr. Gilding, who was an
accomplice in the wicked deed, it appeared that he was acquainted with
the two prisoners, who were persons of bad character; and that it was
determined among them that Mr. Gilding's house, which was the Red Lion
Inn, should be set on fire, in order that they might plunder it.
Accordingly at about twelve o'clock on the night of Saturday, 16th May,
they met in the inn-yard, and Lowe got up into the hay-loft, and placing
some combustibles there, set them alight with a pipe, which he was
smoking. The fire soon blazed out, and the prisoners were very active in
carrying off the goods, which they took away in a cart. The witness was
in the act of carrying away a chest of drawers when he was stopped by
Lucie, a constable, upon whose evidence he was convicted. He
subsequently, however, on condition of his being pardoned, consented to
give evidence against the prisoners. This testimony being confirmed by
that of other witnesses, the jury returned a verdict of guilty against
the prisoners, and on the 2nd November they were brought up to receive
judgment. The learned Recorder then addressed them in the following
terms: "I hardly know how to find words to express the abhorrence that I
feel, or that the public entertains, of the crime of which you stand
convicted.--The setting fire to houses in the dead of night, for the
purpose of plunder, at the risk of the lives of the inhabitants of a
great city, is a crime not yet to be met with upon the records of
villany that have been brought forward in this court. As the crime is
singular, so the punishment must be marked: I take it it will be so
marked, and hope the example will be such, that, if there should be left
any persons of the same wicked intentions, they will take example from
your fate. As your crime is singular and novel, I hope it will be the
only one brought into this court of the same description. You therefore
must prepare to die, and consider yourselves as men without hope in this
world.--And, give me leave to assure you, that it is my decided opinion
that, for an offence so very atrocious as yours, you can never expect
salvation in the world to come, unless you will make some reparation to
your injured country, and to God, whom you have offended, by a sincere
confession of all the offences of which you have been guilty, and by a
disclosure of the names of all persons who either have engaged, or are
about to engage in crimes so detestable as that of which you stand
convicted;--nothing therefore remains, but that I should pray to
Almighty God, and it is now my earnest prayer to Him, that you may all
obtain forgiveness and remission of your sins."
On the morning of the 20th of November these incendiaries were brought
out of Newgate, and placed on a high seat, which had been fixed in the
cart to render them more conspicuous to the spectators. They were then
conveyed, attended by the Sheriffs and other City officers, to
Aldersgate-street, where a temporary gallows was erected opposite the
spot where stood the house of Mr. Gilding, to which they had set fire.
They arrived at the fatal tree about a quarter before nine o'clock,
when Mr. Villette, the Ordinary, went into the cart, and prayed with
them for about twenty minutes, after which they were turned off. They
both confessed to Mr. Villette the facts for which they had so justly
suffered.
Jobbins had been educated at St. Paul's school, was bred a surgeon, and
was only nineteen years of age when he suffered. Lowe was about
twenty-three years of age.
A boy named Mead was on the 31st August in the ensuing year executed for
a similar offence in firing the house of his master, Mr. Walter
Cavardine, a publican, in Red Lion-street.
JOSEPH WOOD AND THOMAS UNDERWOOD,
EXECUTED FOR ROBBERY.
The whole parties in this case may be literally called children, the
malefactors being but fourteen years of age each; and the prosecutor no
more than twelve!
Though of this tender age, yet were they convicted as old and daring
depredators. So often had they already been arraigned at that bar, where
they were condemned, that the judge declared, notwithstanding their
appearance, (they were short, dirty, ill-visaged boys,) it was
necessary, for the public safety, to cut them off, in order that other
boys might learn, that, inured to wickedness, their tender age would not
save them from an ignominious fate.
The crime for which they suffered was committed with every circumstance
of barbarity. They forcibly took away a bundle, containing a jacket,
shirt, and waistcoat, from a little boy, and then fell upon him, and
would probably have murdered him, had they not been secured. They had
long belonged to a most desperate gang of pickpockets and footpads; but
so hardened and obstinate were they, that they would not impeach their
companions, though the hopes of mercy were held out to them, on making a
confession, so that the villains might have been apprehended.
They were executed at Newgate, July 6th, 1791, apparently insensible of
their dreadful situation.
WILLIAM GADESBY,
EXECUTED FOR ROBBERY.
In recording the case of this culprit, a Scotch newspaper says, "He was
one of the most notorious villains that has figured in the line of
roguery in this country for many years; and though only twenty-eight
years of age, his criminal exploits appear, both in variety and number,
to equal, if not to exceed, the achievements of the most dextrous and
grey-headed offender."
As this fellow lived, so he determined to die--with notoriety.
He was brought to the gallows at Edinburgh, February the 20th, 1791,
dressed in a suit of white cloth, trimmed with black. The awful
ceremony, the dreadful apparatus of death, the surrounding multitude of
spectators, appeared not to shake his frame, nor to agitate his mind. He
mounted the platform of death with a firm step, and stood with great
composure till the apparatus was adjusted; and then, in a collected
manner, and in an audible voice, gave a brief account of his life.
He said that the first robbery he committed was in a stationer's shop,
where he purloined a pocket-book. The success of this childish theft
encouraged him to commit others: and in a short time he gave himself
wholly up to thieving, never letting an opportunity slip of possessing
himself of money or goods, by fraud or force, until the day he was
committed to jail. He said that he often escaped in hackney-chairs, and
advised the officer on guard at the Castle to search all such vehicles.
He declared most solemnly that three miserable men, who had been
executed two years before at the place where he then stood, of the names
of Falconer, Bruce, and Dick, were innocent, for that he himself had
committed the robberies for which they were condemned!
With exultation he continued to say--that the sums he had acquired by
thieving and cheating did not amount to less than two thousand pounds,
besides the fortune of an unhappy woman whom he seduced and ruined. It
was high time to stop the monster's speech, and the platform was
therefore dropped, while yet he was exulting in his sins!
"Scotland," says the paper from which we extract this unparalleled case,
"seems to be in an improving state: the following ingenious contrivance
was lately practised at Glasgow:--While a merchant in King-street was
counting some money and bank-notes on a counter, a staff or small rod,
overlaid with birdlime, was suddenly thrust in at the door, which having
touched the notes, two of them were thereby carried off; and, before the
merchant could pursue, the ingenious actor had made his escape."
THE BIRMINGHAM RIOTS.
These riots were of a nature very similar to those which broke out in
London in the year 1780. The outbreak appears to have been occasioned by
no immediate cause, but rather by a general feeling of discontent which
pervaded the minds of the people in this great manufacturing town, aided
by the celebration of the anniversary of the French Revolution, and a
seditious hand-bill, which had been previously circulated.
The riot was commenced by an attack being made upon a tavern, in
Temple-lane, in which eighty or ninety persons had sat down to a dinner
provided on Thursday, the 14th July 1791, in order to celebrate the
event referred to, when, notwithstanding the personal interference of
the magistrates, the windows in front of the house were demolished, and
many of the company were assaulted. The popular anger being thus
excited, the mob proceeded to destroy Dr. Priestley's meeting-house, and
the old meeting-house, the first of which they set on fire, while they
contented themselves with burning the furniture of the latter in the
burial-ground. Dr. Priestley's house at Fair Hill, together with his
valuable collection of apparatus for philosophical experiments, was also
destroyed, and the mob then dispersed for the night. On the next
morning, however, they again assembled, and being unopposed by any civil
or military force, they proceeded to the commission of new outrages.
Many were armed with bludgeons and weapons of offence, and shouting
"Church and King," they attacked the houses of all who were obnoxious
to them, or opposed to the principles which they professed. The mansion
of Mr. John Ryland, at Easy Hill, was the first object to which they
directed their fury, but many of them having got into the cellars, got
so drunk with the wine which they found there, as to be unable to effect
their escape, while their associates without, unmindful of their safety,
set fire to the house, and they were buried beneath its ruins.
Bordesley Hall, the residence of John Taylor, Esq., shared a similar
fate, the mob refusing to listen to any proposition to induce them to
retire; and on the same night the house of Mr. Hutton in the town was
completely stripped. A number of special constables were in the mean
time sworn in, and attacked the mob with some determination; but being
far inferior in numbers, and quite undisciplined, they were compelled to
retire. Saturday only dawned to exhibit fresh ravages; Mr. Hutton's
house at Washwood Heath, three miles from the town, Mr. Humphery's
mansion at Spark Brook, Mr. W. Russell's house at Shewell Green, Mr. T.
Hawkes's house at Moseley Wake Green, and Moseley Hall, the seat of the
Dowager Countess of Carhampton, were in turn attacked, and were all in
flames at the same time. Business was brought to a stand, and no
military force arriving, the mob continued their acts of lawless
atrocity undisturbed. At night many of them levied contributions from
the inhabitants of the town of meat and money, and on the following day
they pursued the same course in the outskirts in reference to all
persons they met. The Sabbath even did not restrain them in their
diabolical proceedings, for on that day they burned two dissenting
meeting-houses, and the ministers' dwellings, situated at about six
miles from Birmingham.
At night, soon after ten o'clock, three troops of the 15th Light
Dragoons arrived amid the acclamations of the inhabitants, whose hopes
and fears had been depicted through the day in every countenance, as
reports of the near approach of the soldiery were spread and
contradicted. The town was immediately illuminated, and before morning
every thing was tolerably quiet; but the rioters were still continuing
their depredations in the country. They exhausted the cellars at each
place, and received various sums of money to prevent their proceeding to
further violence.
They were in great force at the time the troops arrived, of which they
no sooner had intimation than they began to slink off in small parties;
and the peasantry, taking courage, put the rest to flight in various
directions.
On Monday the town appeared in perfect security, but as much crowded as
during the three preceding days, in viewing the military; the mob
keeping at such a distance as to render all accounts of them dubious; at
one time being said to be at Alcester, the next hour at Bromsgrove, &c.
On Tuesday there were flying rumours of depredations near Hagley, Hales
Owen, &c.; and in the evening certain information was received that a
party of rioters were then attacking Mr. Male's, of Belle Vue. A few of
the Light Dragoons immediately went to his assistance; but the rioters
had been previously overpowered by a body of people in that
neighbourhood, and ten of them were confined at Hales Owen.
On Wednesday morning the country round, for ten miles, was scoured by
the light horse, but not one rioter was to be met with, and all the
manufactories were at work, as if no interruption had taken place. Three
troops of the 11th Light Dragoons marched in this morning, and more
soldiers soon after making their appearance, the whole neighbourhood
was soon restored to tranquillity.
At the ensuing assizes held at Warwick on the 22d August, a great number
of the persons concerned in these outrages were put upon their trial,
before Mr. Baron Perryn. They were indicted under the Black Act, and
although in several cases the jury appear to have acted in a manner
somewhat extraordinary, in declaring the prisoners not guilty, many were
convicted and received sentence of death. Two of them, however, were
pardoned, but the remainder expiated their offences on the scaffold.
THE MUTINY OF THE BOUNTY.
The case of the mutineers of the Bounty has always attracted
considerable attention. The Bounty was an armed vessel, commanded by
Capt. Bligh, which quitted England in the autumn of 1789, for the
purpose of making discoveries, and of trading among the Southern
Islands; and having visited the Friendly and the Otaheitan Islands in
the South Pacific Ocean, in the month of May 1790, she set sail on her
way back to England. On the 27th of that month they lost sight of land;
and up to that time there had been nothing in the conduct of the crew or
petty officers which could induce a supposition that any disorder was
likely to take place. The mid watch was duly relieved; but at daybreak
on the following morning the cabin of the captain was forcibly entered
by the officer of the watch, Fletcher Christian, who held the rank of
master's mate, and who had previously been considered a good and
faithful seaman, aided by three others, who dragged their commander on
deck, threatening instant death if he dared to speak. The captain
exerted all his eloquence to bring back the mutineers to their duty, but
his exertions were of no avail, and he soon afterwards found the
peaceful part of the crew and the officers brought upon deck and
pinioned. The mutineers told them that they need hope for no escape by
employing violence, for that all the muskets were charged; and they
corroborated their assertions by exhibiting an armed body of their own
number with muskets and fixed bayonets. The captain at once perceived
that he was in the power of his men; and his doubts as to his fate were
speedily put an end to by his seeing the long-boat lowered over the
side, which he and his fellows, to the number of eighteen, were
commanded to enter, no other nourishment being afforded them but about
one hundred and forty pounds of bread, thirty pounds of meat, a gallon
and a half of rum, an equal quantity of wine, and a few gallons of
water. A compass and quadrant were seized by the captain as his
unfortunate companions were entering the boat; and as soon as he had
taken his place, the mutineers gave three cheers, and stood away, as
they said, for Otaheite.
Captain Bligh on taking muster of the remains of his crew left to him,
found that he had in his boat the boatswain, the carpenter, the gunner,
the surgeon's-mate, two midshipmen, and one master's-mate, with Mr.
Nelson the botanist, and a few inferior officers. After a short
consultation, it was deemed expedient to put back to the Friendly
Islands; and having reached the coast of one of them, they landed, in
hopes of improving their stock of provisions. For several days they
continued unmolested; but at length, on the 30th of April, they were
attacked by the natives with such violence
[Illustration: _The Mutiny of the Bounty._
_p. 329_]
that one man was killed, and several wounded. They were, therefore,
compelled immediately to sheer off; and it became now the subject of
inquiry and deliberation as to what should be their next place of
destination. Otaheite was proposed, as it was supposed that the natives
would be friendly to them; but the apprehension of falling in with the
Bounty determined them against this course; and with one assent they
made up their minds to shape their course for Timor, a settlement
belonging to the Dutch.