Indictment was very short; for, at the Judge's bidding, the Jury
acquitted me of trying to murder Corporal Foss before I had been ten
minutes in the dock. I did not understand the proceedings in the least
at that time; but I was told afterwards that the clever legal gentleman
who had drawn up the Indictment against me, while very particularly
setting down the parts of the body on which I might have struck Corporal
Foss, omitted to specify the one place, namely, his head, on which I did
hit him. Counsel for the Crown endeavoured, indeed, to prove that a
splinter from the broken demijohn had grazed the corporal's finger, but
the evidence for this fell dead. And, again, it coming out that I was
arraigned as John Danger, whereas I had given the name of John
Dangerous, to which I had perhaps no more right than to that of the Pope
of Rome, the Judge roundly tells the Jury that the Indictment is bad in
law, and I was forthwith acquitted as aforesaid.
But I was not scot-free. There was that other Indictment under the Black
Act; and in that, alas, there was no flaw. The Solemn Court freed
itself, to be sure, of the Mockery of finding a child under twelve years
Guilty of the attempted murder of a Grenadier six feet high; but no less
did the witnesses swear, and the Judge sum up, and Counsel for the Crown
insist, and my Counsel feebly deny, and the Jury at last fatally find
against me, that I had gone about armed and Disguised by night, and
wandered up and down in the King's Forests, and stolen his Deer, and
Goodness can tell what besides; and so, being found guilty, the middle
Judge puts on his black cap again, and tells me that I am to be hanged
on Monday week by the neck.
He did not say any thing about my youth, or about my utter loneliness,
or about the evil examples which had brought me to this Pass. Perhaps it
was not his Duty, but that of the Ordinary, to tell me so. The Hanging
was his department, the praying belonged to his Reverence. They led me
back to prison, feeling rather hot and sick after the words I had
listened to about being "hanged by the neck until I was dead," but still
not caring much; for I could not rightly understand why all these fine
gentlemen should be at the pains of Butchering me merely because I had
run away from school (being so cruelly entreated by Gnawbit), and, to
save myself from starvation, had joined the Blacks.
Being to Die, it seemed for the first time to occur to them that I was
not as the rest of the poor souls that were doomed to death, and that
it behoved them to treat me rather as a lamb that is doomed for the
slaughter than as a great overgrown Bullock to be knocked down by the
Butcher's Pole-axe. So they put me away from the rest of my companions,
and bestowed me in a sorry little chamber, where I had a truckle-bed to
myself. Dear old Mother Drum, being still under disgrace, was not
suffered to come near me. Her trial, with that of Cicely Grip, for
harbouring armed and disguised men, under the Black Act, which was
likewise a felony, was not to come on till the next session. I believe
that the Great Gentlemen at Whitehall were, for a long time after my
conviction, in a mind for Hanging me. 'Twas thought a small matter then
to stretch the neck of a Boy of Twelve, and children even smaller than I
had worn the white Nightcap, and smelt the Nosegay in the Cart. Indeed,
I think the Ordinary wanted me to be Finished according to Law, that he
might preach a Sermon on it, and liken me to one of the Children that
mocked the Prophet, and was so eaten up by the She-Bears that came out
of a Wood. When I think on the Reverend and Pious Persons who now attend
our Criminals in their last unhappy Moments, and strive to bring them to
a Sense of their Sins, it gives me the Goose-flesh to remember the
Profane and Riotous Parsons who, for a Mean Stipend, did the contemned
work of Gaol Chaplains in the days I speak of. Even while the Hangman
was getting into proper Trim, and fashioning his tools for the
slaughter, these callous Clergymen would be smoking and drinking with
the keepers in the Lodge, talking now of a Main at Cocks and now of him
who was to suffer on the Morrow, fleering and jesting, with the Church
Service in one sleeve of their cassock and a Bottle Screw or a Pack of
Cards in the other. And the Condemned persons, too, did not take the
matter in a much more serious light. They had their Brandy and Tobacco
even in their Dismal Hold, and thought much less of Mercy and
Forgiveness than of the ease they would have from their Irons being
stricken off, or the comfort they would gain from a last bellyful of
Meat. I have not come to be sixty-eight years of age without observing
somewhat of the Things that have passed around me; and one of the best
signs of the Times in which I live (and due in great part to the Humane
and Benignant complexion of his Majesty) is the falling off in
bloodthirsty and cruel Punishments. If a Dozen or so are hanged after
each Gaol Delivery at the Old Baily, and a score or more whipped or
burnt in the Hand, what are such workings of justice compared with the
Waste of Life that was used to be practised under the two last monarchs?
At home 'twas all pressing to death those who would not plead, hanging,
drawing, and quartering (how often have I sickened to see the
pitch-seethed members of my Fellow-creatures on the spikes of Temple Bar
and London Bridge!), taking out the entrails of those convict of Treason
(as witness Colonel Towneley, Mr. Dawson, and many more unfortunate
gentlemen on Kennington Common), to say nothing of the burning alive of
women for petty treason,--and to kill a husband or coin a groat were
alike Treasonable,--the Scourging of the same wretched creatures in
Public till the blood ran from their shoulders and soaked the knots of
the Beadle's lash; the cartings, brandings, and dolorous Imprisonments
which were then inflicted for the slightest of offences. Why, I have
seen a man stand in the Pillory in the Seven Dials (to be certain, he
was a secure scoundrel), and the Mob, not satisfied, must take him out,
strip him to the buff, stone him, cast him down, root up the pillory,
and trample him under foot, till, being Rescued by the constables, he
has been taken back to Newgate, and has died in the Hackney Coach
conveying him thither. Oh, 'tis woe to think of the Horrors that were
then done in the name of the Law and Justice, not only in this country
but in Foreign Parts,--with their Breakings on the Wheel, Questions
Ordinary and Extraordinary, Bastinadoes, Carcans, Wooden horses, Burning
alive too (for vending of Irreligious Books), and the like Barbarities.
Let me tell you likewise, that, for all the evil name gotten by the
Spanish and Portuguese Inquisitions,--for which I entertain, as a
Protestant, due Detestation and Abhorrence,--the darkest deeds ever done
by the so called Holy Office in their Torture Chambers were not half so
cruel as those performed with the full cognisance and approbation of
authority, in open places, and in pursuance of the sentence of the Civil
Judges. But a term has come to these wickednesses. The admirable Mr.
Howard before named (whom I have often met in my travels, as he, good
man, with nothing but a Biscuit and a few Raisins in his pocket, went up
and down Europe Doing Good, smiling at Fever and tapping Pestilence on
the cheek),--this Blessed Worthy has lightened the captive's fetters,
and cleansed his dungeon, and given him Light and Air. Then I hear at
the Coffee House that the great Judge, Sir William Blackstone, has given
his caveat against the Frequency of Capital Punishment for small
offences; and as His Majesty is notoriously averse from signing more
than six Death Warrants at once (the old King used to say at council, in
his German English, "Vere is de Dyin' speech man dat hang de Rogue for
me?" meaning the Recorder with his Report, and seeming, in a sort, eager
to despatch that awful Business, of which the present Prince is so
Tender), I think that we have every cause to Bless the Times and Reign
we live in. For surely 'tis but affected Softness of Heart, and Mock,
Sickly Sentiment, to maintain that Highwaymen, Horse-stealers, and other
hardened villains, do not deserve the Tree, and do not righteously
Suffer for their misdeeds; or that wanton women do not deserve bodily
correction, so long as it be done within Bridewell Walls, and not in
front of the Sessions House, for the ribald Populace to stare at. Truly
our present code is a merciful one, although I do not hold that the
Extreme Penalty of the law should be exacted for such offences as
cutting down growing trees, forging hat-stamps, or stealing above the
value of a Shilling, or even of forty; nevertheless crime must be kept
under, that is certain.[N]
At all events, they didn't hang John Dangerous. For a time, as I have
said, the Great Gentlemen at Whitehall hesitated. I have heard that
Justice Blackcap, being asked to intercede for me, did, with a scurril
jest, tell Mr. Secretary that I was a young Imp of the Evil One, and
that a little Hanging would do me no harm. Five, indeed, of my miserable
companions were put to death, at different points on the borders of
Charlwood Chase, and one, the unlucky Chaplain, met his fate before the
door of the Stag o' Tyne. The rest of the Blacks, of whom, to my joy, I
shall have no further occasion to speak, were sent to be Slaves in the
American Plantations.
I had lain in Gaol more than a month after my Sentence, when Mr.
Shapcott, a good Quaker Gentleman of the place (who had suffered much
for Conscience' sake, and was very Pitifully inclined to all those who
were in Affliction), began to take some interest in my unhappy Self;
calling me a strayed Lamb, a brand to be snatched from the burning, and
the like. And he, by the humane connivance of the Mayor and other
Justices, was now permitted to have access unto me, and to conciliate
the Keeper, Mrs. Macphilader, by money-presents, to treat me with some
kindness. Also he brought me many Good Books, in thin paper covers; the
which, although I could understand but very little of their Saving
Truths, yet caused me to shed many Tears, more Sweet than Bitter, and to
acknowledge, when taxed with it in a Soothing way, that my former Manner
of Life had been most Wicked. But I should do this good man foul
injustice, were I to let it stand that his benevolence to me was
confined to books. He and (ever remembered) Mistress Shapcott, his Meek
and Pious Partner, and his daughter, Wingrace Shapcott (a tall and
straight young woman, as Beautiful as an Angel), were continually
bringing me Comforts and Needments, both in Raiment and Food. It churns
my Old Heart now to think of that Beautiful Girl, sitting beside me in
my dank Prison Room, the tears streaming from her mild eyes, calling me
by Endearing names, and ever and anon taking my hand in hers, and
sinking on her knees to the sodden floor (with no thought of soiling her
kirtle), while with profound Fervour she prayed for the conversion of
errant Me. Sure there are Hearts of Gold among those Broadbrims and
their fair strait-laced Daughters. Many a Merchant's Money-bags I have
spared for the sake of Mr. Barzillai Shapcott (late of Aylesbury). Many
a Fair Woman have I intermitted from my Furious Will in remembrance of
the good that was shown me, in the old time, by that pale, strait-gowned
Wingrace yonder, with her meek Face and welling Eyes. Of my deep and
grievous Sins they told me enow, but they forbore to Terrify me with
Frightful Images of Unforgiving Wrath; speaking to me of Forgiveness
alway, rather than of Torment. And once, when I had gotten, through
favour of the Keeper, Mr. Dredlincourt his book on Death (and had half
frightened myself into fits by reading the Apparition of Mrs. Veal),
these good people must needs take it from me, telling me that such
strong meat was not fit for Babes, and gave me in its place a pretty
little chap-book, called "Joy for Friendly Friends." But that I am old
and battered, and black as a Guinea Negro with sins, I would go join
the Quakers now. Never mind their broad-brims, and theeing and thouing.
I tell you, man, that they have hearts as soft as toast-and-butter, and
that they do more good in a day than my Lord Bishop (with his
coach-horses, forsooth!) does in a year. And oh, the pleasure of
devalising one of these Proud Prelates, as I--that is some of my
Friends--have done scores of times!
Nothing would suit the good Shapcotts but that I should write in mine
own hand a Petition to the King's Majesty. The Magistrates, who now
began to take some interest in me, were for having it drawn up by their
Town Clerk, and me only to put my Mark to it; for they would not give a
poor little Hangdog of a Black any credit of Clergy. But being told that
I could both read and write, after a Fashion, it was agreed that I was
to have myself the scrivening of the Document; they giving me some Forms
and Hints for beginning and ending, and bidding me con my Bible, and
choose such texts as I thought bore on my Unhappy Condition. And after
Great Endeavours and many painful days, and calling all my little
Scholarship under my Grandmother, the kind old schoolmistress of
Foubert's Passage, Gnawbit (burn him!), and Captain Night, I succeeded
in producing the following. I give it word for word as I wrote it,
having kept a copy; but I need not say that, as a Gentleman of Fortune,
my Style and Spelling are not now so Barbarous and Uncouth.
This was my Petition to His Majesty:
"The Humble Pettyshon of Jon Dangerous now a prisinner
under centense off Deth in His Maggesty's Gayle at
Alesbury to his Maggesty Gorge by the grease of God
King of Grate Briton Frans and Eyearland Deffender
off the Fathe Showeth That yore Petetioner which I
am Unfortunate enuff to be mixed up in this
business Me and the others wich have suffered was
Cast by the Jewry and Justis Blackcapp he ses that
as a Warming and Eggsample i am to be Hanged by the
Nek till you are Ded and the Lord have Mercy upon
his Soul Great Sur your Maggesty the Book ses that
wen the wicked man turneth away from his Wickedness
wich he have committed and doeth that wich is
Lawful and Rite he shall save his Sole alive
Therefore deer Great Sur wich a repreive would fall
like Thunder upon a Contrite Hart and am most
sorrowful under the Black Act wich it is true I
took the deere but was led to it Deere Sur wich
Mungo and others was repreeved at the Tree and sent
to the Plantations but am not twelve yeeres old And
have always been a Prottestant Great Sur i shall be
happy to serve his Maggesty by see or land and if
the Grannydeere he had not Vexed me but had no
other way being in a Korner and all Fiting and so i
up with the demmyjon which i hoap he is better And
your Petishioner will ever pray your Maggesty's
loving Subject and Servant
JON DANGEROUS.
My Granmother was a Lady of Quality and lived in
her own House in Hannover Squair and was used after
her Deth very cruelly by one Mistress Tallmash and
Kadwallader which was the Stoard and was sent in a
Waggin like a Beggar Deere Sur Mr. Gnawbit he used
me shameful wich I was Blak and Blue and the Old
Gentleman he ses you Run away ses he into Charwood
chaise and join the Blaks Deere Sur this is All
which Captain Nite would sware but as eloped I am
now lying here many weekes Deere Sur I shood like
to be hanged in Wite for I am Innocent leastways of
meaning to kill the Grannydeere."
This was a Curious kind of Schoolboy letter. Different I take it from
those one gets from a Brother, asking for a Crown, a Pony, or a
Plumcake. But my Schools had been of the hardest, and this was _my_
Holiday letter.
When the Mayor read it, he burst out a-laughing, and says that no such
Thieves' Flash must be sent to the Foot of the Throne. But Mr. Shapcott
told him that he would not have one word altered; that he would not even
strike out the paragraph where I had been irreverent enough to quote a
Text (and spell it badly); and that what I had written, and naught else,
should go to the King. He took it to London himself, and his Majesty
being much elated by some successes in Germany, and the Discovery of a
Jacobite Plot, and moved moreover by the intercession of a Foreign Lady,
that was his favourite, and who vowed that the little Deer-Stealer's
Petition was Monstrous Droll, and almost as good as a Play,--His Majesty
was graciously pleased to remit my Sentence, on condition of my
transporting myself for life to His Majesty's Plantations in North
America.
As to my transporting "myself," that was a Fiction. I was henceforth as
much a Slave to my own Countrymen as I was in after days to the Moors.
The Shapcotts would willingly have provided me with the means of going
to the uttermost ends of the World, but that was not the way the thing
was to be done. Flesh and Blood were bought and sold in those days, and
it did not much matter about the colour. By that strange Laxity which
then tempered the severity of the Laws, I was permitted, for many days
after my Fate was settled, to remain in a kind of semi-Enlargement. I
suppose that Mr. Shapcott gave bail for me; but I was taken into his
Family, and treated with the most Loving Kindness, till the fearful
intelligence came that I, with two hundred other Convicts, had been
"Taken up" for Transportation by Sir Basil Hopwood, a rich Merchant and
Alderman of London, who paid a certain Sum a head for us to the King's
Government for taking us to America, where he might make what profit he
pleased, by selling our wretched Carcasses to be Slaves to the Planters.
Oh, the terrible Parting! but there was no other Way, and it had to be
Endured. My kind friends made me up a packet of Necessaries for the
Voyage, and with a Heavy Heart I bade them farewell. These good people
are all Dead; but their woman-servant, Ruth, a pure soul, of great
Serenity of Countenance, still lives; and every Christmas does the
Carrier convey for me to Aylesbury a Hamper full of the Good Things of
this Life, and Ten Golden Guineas. And I know that this Good and
Faithful Servant (who has been well provided for) just touches the
Kissing-crust of one of the Pies my Lilias has made for her, and that
she goes straight with the rest, Money and Cates, to the Gaol, and
therewith relieves the Debtors (whom Heaven deliver out of their
Captivity!). And it is more seemly that she rather than I should do
this thing, seeing that there are those who will not believe that after
a Hard Life a man can keep a fleshy heart, and who would be apt to dub
me Hypocrite if these Doles came from me directly.
END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.
FOOTNOTE:
[N] Captain Dangerous, it will be seen, was, in regard to our criminal
code, somewhat in advance of the ideas of his age, but he was scarcely
on a level with those of our own, and, I think, would have perused with
some surprise the speeches of Mr. Ewart and the _Vacation Thoughts on
Capital Punishments_ of the late Mr. Commissioner Phillips.--ED.
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Transcriber's Notes:
Obvious punctuation errors repaired.
Page xix, "85" changed to "87"
Page xix, "124" changed to "126"
Page 10, "ha" changed to "had" (Dangerous had suffered)
Page 10, "nee" changed to "need" (was no need)
Page 11, "le" changed to "let" (a mercy to let)
Page 48, "inkeepers" changed to "innkeepers" (the innkeepers were used)
Page 48, "achievments" changed to "achievements" (achievements of his
arms)
Page 121, "corse" changed to "corpse" (corpse of my)
Page 144, "wont" changed to "won't" (I won't tell him)
Page 193, word "to" inserted into text. (he whispered to his)
Page 221, "bring" changed to "being" (being a poor)
Page 247, "recal" changed to "recall" (can scarcely recall)
Page 295, "Beneh" changed to "Bench" (Bench and confers)
Varied hyphenation was retained. antechambers, ante-chambers; atop,
a-top; cheesecakes, cheese-cakes; Cockpit, Cock-pit; Footguards,
Foot-guards; Gatehouse, Gate-house; nowadays, now-a-days; Shrovetide,
Shrove-tide.
The text also uses servants' hall and servant's hall.