“_17, Princes-street, Drury-lane, Feb. 29._
_To Lord Viscount Sidmouth_, &c. &c.”
After being absent some time, the messenger who carried the letter
to his Lordship returned, and told her she must call again on the
following day for an answer. She then inquired where her father
was, and was informed that he had been examined that day before the
Privy-Council, and had been committed. She then left the office in
tears.
The next morning she waited at the office of the Home Department,
as she had been directed, for an answer to her application. She saw
Mr. Hobhouse, and was told by him, that she could not see her father
till after the following Friday; and, if she would call again on the
Saturday, she would probably have an order to see him. She waited in
the lobby until her father was brought out, after his examination
before the Privy-Council, and he looked very anxiously at her; but
they were not allowed to speak to each other. She had a bundle of
linen; and, when her father was conveyed to Tothill-fields prison, she
followed him, and gave the linen to the governor.
About this time WADDINGTON, the fellow who had been brought into some
notoriety, by his arrest for being the bearer of a placard, the object
of which was to create an unlawful assembly on Kennington Common,
appeared before Mr. Hicks, the sitting magistrate at Bow-street, and
with ridiculous effrontery, stated that the reason of his calling was
to say that the officers had seized his books and papers, which they
were very welcome to do, as he had nothing in his possession that he
was ashamed of, or that could lead to any charge. His landlady, who was
present when his place was searched for books and papers, told him that
the officers had left a message, desiring him to attend at the office,
as he was wanted there; and he consequently attended.
Mr. Hicks, the magistrate, professed himself unacquainted with the
affair; but desired that inquiries should be made, and it turned out
that some of the police-officers had searched his lodgings, and had
seized his books and papers; but they denied having left any message
for his appearance at the office, and there was no doubt but that it
was a mistake of his landlady in relating to him what had passed.
The magistrate informed him that he had no charge against him.
Waddington withdrew from the office, after telling the magistrate that
he might always be found when wanted.
We are happy, however, to announce that this man has since relinquished
politics, and taken up the more quiet occupation of porter to a
tallow-chandler. From his former enthusiasm in _the cause_, however,
it was supposed possible that he might have afforded shelter to some
of his quondam friends, and accordingly the officers were directed
to search his lodgings. They found no trace of radicalism, except a
whole-length portrait of himself, blowing a horn, carrying a large
bundle of twopenny trash under his arm, and in his hat a paper,
inscribed “Order, order! Public Meeting in Smithfield on Wednesday
next.” Underneath was written “Samuel Waddington, printer and publisher
to the Radical Union.”
Having had occasion to introduce the names of these men, who have
lately forced themselves on the notice of the Public by their absurd,
but highly mischievous, interference in politics, it may not be
thought altogether irrelevant if we introduce a description of the
_Radical Committee Room, at the White Lion, Wych-street_, this being
the rendezvous, or place of meeting, where these self-elected Radical
Committees held their nightly meetings.
The White Lion was a public-house, but has very properly been deprived
of its license by the Magistrates. It is situated a short distance from
Newcastle-street, towards the New Inn; the entrance to it from the
street is up a dark narrow passage, about thirty yards long. In the
tap-room, over the embers of an expiring fire, sat a set of suspicious,
ill-looking fellows, huddled close together; whilst at a small deal
table to the right sat Mr. ----, with a book and some papers and
printed bills before him; from the obscurity of the place, having no
light but what proceeded from a candle placed before Mr. ----, or from
that in the bar, a stranger coming in would not be able to recognise
any of the faces on seeing them afterwards elsewhere. On the right
hand, on entering the house, is a small parlour; here of an evening
a select committee assembled, and no others were admitted. This was
the room in which the most private transactions were carried on; Mr.
Thistlewood or Dr. Watson always came out into the passage to speak
to any person who called there on business. In a very large room up
stairs, and which is occasionally used as a school-room, upwards of a
hundred ill-looking persons have assembled of an evening; in it the
open committee and loose members of the society met; it had ranges of
forms all round and across the room, and had hardly ever more than two
or three candles to illuminate it. Here their processions, _&c._, were
arranged; their flags, _&c._, kept; whilst the more private business
was carried on below in the parlour.
We now resume our narrative of the proceedings previous to the final
commitment of the prisoners for trial.
On Thursday, March 2d, the Lords of the Council met by appointment
at the Secretary of State’s office for the Home Department, at
twelve o’clock in the forenoon, to deliberate on the charges against
the prisoners, and to determine on the best and most proper mode
of proceeding against them without interrogating the prisoners or
examining any witnesses. The meeting was attended by the Cabinet
Ministers, the Marquis Camden, Viscount Palmerston, Mr. C. P.
Yorke, the chief Baron of the Court of Exchequer in Scotland, the
Hon. R. Ryder, Sir John Nicholl, Mr. R. Peel, Mr. W. Huskisson, the
Master of the Rolls, and Mr. S. Bourne. There were also present the
Attorney-General, the Solicitor-General, and Mr. Baker, the magistrate
belonging to the police-office in Marlborough-street, who signed
the warrant for entering the premises in Cato-street, and for the
apprehension of the gang. Their lordships continued in deliberation
till near half-past two o’clock.
In consequence of some mistake in the transmission of an order, a
number of the prisoners were brought up from Coldbath-fields prison, to
the Secretary of State’s office; but as their lordships had determined
not to enter into any examination of the prisoners themselves on this
day, they were sent back under an escort, a few minutes after their
arrival.
The next day another meeting of the lords of the council took place,
which was attended by the same persons as that on the previous day,
with the addition of Mr. Sheriff Rothwell, Sir William Curtis, and
other public characters.
Soon after eleven o’clock in the morning, Lavender, Salmon, and
other officers, arrived in three coaches at Coldbath-fields prison,
with orders from the Secretary of State, to bring the conspirators
to Whitehall, for examination before the Privy Council. Mr. Adkins,
the governor of the prison, immediately delivered over the following
prisoners into the care of the officers, _viz._, Thistlewood, Monument,
Wilson, Davidson, Tidd, Gilchrist, Ings, Bradburn, Shaw, Cooper, and
Brunt. They were immediately conveyed in the coaches provided for their
reception to Whitehall. The prisoners were all handcuffed to each other.
About the time that this detachment reached Whitehall, Mr. Nodder, the
Keeper of Tothill-fields prison, arrived at the same place in a coach,
with Preston, Simmonds, Harrison, Hall, and Firth, the keeper of the
loft in Cato-street.
The whole of the prisoners, on their arrival at Whitehall, were placed
in the first apartment. Those from the House of Correction were placed
in a line, handcuffed together, on the bench immediately facing the
entrance, and the Tothill-fields’ prisoners were seated on a bench at
the right-hand side of the room.
The appearance of the whole was wretched in the extreme, and one or
two of them seemed mere boys. Thistlewood appeared quite downcast,
his features every day undergoing an alteration for the worse; his
complexion had become quite jaundiced, and his general appearance
nerveless and emaciated; he wore the old brown surtout in which he
had been seen of late in the streets, and kept his eyes occasionally
gazing with indifference upon the strangers who thronged the room,
but mostly fixed on the ground. Davidson, the man of colour, seemed
perfectly at his ease, and talked cheerfully to the prisoner who sat
next him. Preston was not only quite composed, but enjoying a constant
smile of self-complacency at the inquisitiveness with which strangers
as they passed asked “Which is Preston?” “Which is Thistlewood?”
Preston seemed in his usual good spirits, and had not a little of the
appearance of having exhilarated them in the course of the morning by
a jolly draught. While the prisoners were in this room, a considerable
number of gentlemen were permitted to pass through the room, but none
to converse with them. The police-officers were stationed at the end of
each seat.
The Council being assembled, they were examined singly before their
lordships.
ARTHUR THISTLEWOOD was the first who was called in. The officers
immediately unlocked the handcuff of the prisoner, and conducted him to
the Council-chamber. He went up stairs with great alacrity, and being
introduced, he was placed at the end of the table, with an officer
on each side of him. The Lord Chancellor presided, and informed the
prisoner that he was about to be committed upon the double charge of
high treason and murder. He made no reply; but looked round at the
assembled ministers with a malignant scowl. This was all that passed,
and he was immediately re-conducted to his companions: he smiled as
he came back, and returned to his former seat. In a short time, as if
in contempt of the authority by which he was coerced, he put on his
hat, and assuming a look of defiance, remained in that state for the
remainder of the day. All the other prisoners were subsequently taken
up in the same manner. Monument and Simmonds were the last, and these
did not return for nearly half an hour. It appears that they, at this
time, endeavoured to make their peace by a disclosure of what they knew.
The soldiers engaged in the affair were then called in, and desired
to look at the men whom they thought they could recognise. Sergeant
Legge and nine privates were present. They soon came forth, and said
they had no doubt as to the identity of the men they had assisted in
securing. All the arms and ammunition taken from the prisoners, and in
Cato-street, were deposited in an adjoining room under a guard.
When INGS returned from the Council-chamber, he resumed his seat
with great sullenness; and as soon as the officers had replaced his
handcuffs, he and Thistlewood entered into conversation with great
eagerness. Thistlewood spoke almost in a whisper; but Ings was more
loud; and, at the close of their conference, he ejaculated, as if
talking to himself, but loud enough to be heard by all in the room--“It
is want of food which has brought us here. Death--death would be a
pleasure to me--I would sooner be hanged this instant, than turned into
the street there; for I should not know where to get a bit of bread for
my family; and if I had fifty necks, I’d rather have them all broken,
one after the other, than see my children starve!”
PRESTON continued very talkative and lofty. He seemed bursting with
impatience to go before the Council; raising himself from his chair
every time the door opened, in hope of being the next called; then
sinking back into his seat with vexation and disappointment, and
exclaiming, “Oh! how I long to go up! My _genus_ is so great just now,
I don’t think there is any man alive has so great a _genus_ as mine is
at this moment.” Then he would pore upon the ground for a minute or
two in deep cogitation; and at length break out into the following
soliloquy:--“If it is the will of the Author of the World that I should
perish in the cause of freedom--his will, and not mine, be done! It
would be quite a triumph to me!--Quite a triumph to me!”--at the same
time throwing his arms about in a manner which savoured strongly of
insanity. It was not, however, his fate to be called before the council
at all at this time; though, when Thistlewood and some others expressed
regret that they had not applied to have their families admitted to see
them--he desired them very pompously to make themselves quite easy upon
that head, for he would take care to mention it in his speech to their
Lordships.
Immediately after the prisoners had all been called in, an express was
sent off to Captain J. H. Elrington, fort-major of the Tower of London,
directing him to prepare for the immediate reception of ten state
prisoners.
The whole of the examinations having been brought to a conclusion,
the council proceeded to deliberate upon the course which was to be
adopted with respect to each individual case. They remained thus
engaged for nearly two hours. During this interval the crowd in front
of the office greatly increased, and the most anxious entreaties were
made to be permitted to see the conspirators. These were in most cases
ineffectual. Only a few noblemen were permitted to enter, including
lord Westmoreland, lord Stair, and some others.
The prisoners being themselves pretty well apprized of the charges
which were to be preferred against them, became less equivocal in
their behaviour. Wilson, Davidson, and Tidd, who were linked together,
were most daring. They laughed in derision at the persons who came to
view them, and seemed to be little affected by the situation in which
they were placed. Brunt, in imitation of his captain, put on his
hat, and thus assumed the character which has been assigned him, of
being second in command. At half past four Mr. Day, the clerk of the
papers, was sent for by Mr. Hobhouse, the under secretary of state, who
communicated to him the orders of the council.
On Mr. Day’s return, he stated to Sir Nathaniel Conant and Mr. Baker,
who were remaining in his office, that eight of the prisoners were to
be forthwith committed to the Tower. He then produced the list, and
called over the names of the persons to whom he alluded. These were:
Thistlewood,
Monument,
Brunt,
Ings,
Wilson,
Harrison,
Davidson,
Tidd.
The men came forth as they were called, and were handcuffed two and
two. A short time now elapsed while the warrant to the constable of
the Tower was preparing, and until messengers were despatched to
obtain carriages, and require the presence of an escort of the Life
Guards. This period was occupied by the prisoners in a sort of confused
conversation. Harrison and Thistlewood at once threw off all reserve,
and shook hands. The others began to speak freely. Davidson said he
should like about a pound of beef-steak and a pot of porter, and
his companions agreed that it would be no bad finish to their day’s
amusements. Thistlewood said aloud, “I hear the Spaniards are getting
on famously!” Wilson answered, “Are they--a cursed good job!” “Aye,”
replied Thistlewood, “They’ll all have it in their turn; they may
scrag a few of us, but there is more going on than they are aware of.”
Harrison laughed, and exclaimed, “Aye, time will show all things.”
A bustle outside now announced the approach of the Horse Guards, who
drew up in a double column in front of the office, under the command
of Captain Mayne. A hackney coach then drove up to the door, into
which Thistlewood and Brunt were put, accompanied by Mr. Ruff, one of
the king’s messengers, to whom the warrant was delivered, and by two
police-officers. The coach then drew off to a short distance, preceded
and followed by four of the Life Guards. A second carriage then came
up, into which Davidson and Ings were put; they were likewise guarded
by two officers. Ings, as he mounted the coach, exclaimed, “Hurra,
boys!” in expectation, no doubt, of having a cheer from the crowd
that was assembled. In this, however, he was disappointed; not a word
escaped from the lips of the by-standers at all in unison with the
principles of the conspirators--on the contrary, they seemed to be
viewed with feelings of strong disgust.
Wilson and Tidd were placed in the third hackney coach: they went out
laughing; but, previous to their departure, they turned round, and, in
common with all those who had been confined in Cold Bath Fields prison,
begged to return their grateful thanks to Mr. Adkins, the governor,
and to his assistants, for the humane and kind treatment which they
had received while under their care: they also were guarded by two
police-officers. The last who went out were Harrison and Monument. The
latter, whose diminutive size made him appear somewhat ludicrous when
placed beside his gigantic companion, was greatly depressed. These men
were in like manner guarded by two of the Bow-street patrol. The whole
four carriages being now in readiness, and a constable having mounted
each box, the cavalcade set off, completely surrounded by the Horse
Guards.
They proceeded over Westminster-bridge, and from thence by the
Westminster-road, through the Borough, and over London-bridge,
up Fish-street-hill, down Fenchurch-street, the Minories, across
Trinity-square to the Tower gate; and although followed all the way by
an immense throng, not one expression of commiseration was heard to
escape.
Ings’s conduct was most daring: he continued to exclaim against His
Majesty’s Ministers with the most undisguised abuse, using language of
the most revolting nature. He either knew, or affected to know, many
persons in the crowd, to whom he nodded, and some of whom gave him a
significant shake of the head in return.
Thistlewood made no observation: he seemed to be looking anxiously from
the coach window, as if to see if there were any persons passing whom
he could recognise.
Brunt looked extremely gloomy, but did not say any thing.
Davidson did not seem at all affected by his situation, and continued
in good humour.
Wilson and Tidd laughed, and looked out of the coach windows with
apparent indifference; and little Monument seemed to have sunk into a
state of despair: he said he supposed he was not long for this world.
On reaching the upper gate of the Tower, leading to the armoury, it was
found shut; but, on a regular summons being made, it was opened without
hesitation, and the prisoners and their guards admitted. Notice had
been sent off to the Tower, in the early part of the day, to prepare
rooms for the prisoners, but still it was with some difficulty that
secure apartments could be got in readiness; at last the necessary
accommodations were obtained, and the prisoners were left under the
care of the yeomen of the guard.
The warrant upon which they were received by the constable of the
Tower, was to the following effect:--
“You are hereby required to receive into your custody, Arthur
Thistlewood [then followed the names of the other prisoners] who stand
charged with high treason, and them safely to keep till discharged
by due course of law, for which this shall be your sufficient
authority.”--Then followed the names of the privy-council, commencing
with the Lord Chancellor, Earl Westmoreland, _&c._
This warrant was written on a sheet of foolscap paper, with a black
border, and bore the official seal. It was accompanied by a private
note to the constable, containing instructions as to the manner in
which the prisoners were to be treated.
They were accordingly received by Captain Elrington, the major of the
Tower, who, after some difficulty, from the shortness of the notice
which he had received, succeeded in finding them secure apartments.
Each prisoner was placed in a separate apartment; two warders armed in
the usual way, with cutlasses and halberds, were placed in each room;
and at each door was stationed a sentinel armed, to whose care was
intrusted the key of the room, with strict orders not to permit more
than one warder to be absent at a time, and that only for occasional
purposes.
Thistlewood was placed in the prison known by the name of the Bloody
Tower.
Davidson was in the prison over the waterworks.
Ings in a different room of the same prison.
Monument in the prison at the back of the Horse-armory.
Brunt and Harrison occupied separate apartments in the prison over the
Stone-kitchen.
Tidd was secured in the Seven-gun Battery prison, and Wilson in the
prison over the parade.
The prisoners were permitted to have, by the indulgence of the law,
what is called state allowance, for their daily maintenance, which,
to such wretched poverty as theirs, must have made even their awful
situation, as compared with their confinement in Coldbath-fields, a
change for the better.
The number of warders sufficient to do the ordinary duty of the Tower
is ten; but, as soon as the command for preparing the prisons reached
the proper quarter, directions were given to increase the number of
warders to sixty.
The iron gate at the east end of the Tower was closed on the arrival of
the prisoners as usual upon such occasions.
Immediately after the departure of the delinquents charged with the
crime of high treason, from the Secretary of State’s office, Mr.
Adkins, the Keeper of the House of Correction, in Coldbath-fields,
was informed that six of the remaining prisoners were to be consigned
to his custody, namely--Bradburn, Strange, Firth, Gilchrist, Hall,
and Cooper. These men were then brought out, and escorted to
Coldbath-fields prison, under circumstances precisely similar to
those which had attended those who had gone to the Tower. They were
accompanied by Mr. Silvester, a King’s Messenger, to whom the warrant
for their commitment, similar to the one addressed to the Constable of
the Tower, was intrusted, and several officers of the police, and by an
escort of the Life-Guards.
Mr. Adkins, the Governor of the House of Correction, was asked if he
had got the Coroner’s warrant for the commitment of the men pronounced
by the Coroner’s Jury to have been guilty of the wilful murder of
Smithers? He answered in the negative. No such warrant had been
transmitted to him by Mr. Stirling. A messenger was then despatched to
the coroner, who had omitted to make out the warrant, and he waited
while it was prepared in the usual form.
Simmonds, the footman, and Preston, were remanded to the custody of
Mr. Nodder, the governor of Tothill-fields prison, and were taken
there in a hackney-coach; and thus ended the final examination of the
conspirators by the Privy-Council.
In addition to the gang taken at Cato-street, and the subsequent
arrests which we have already recorded, a young man, named ROBERT
GEORGE, was apprehended, who was with good reason, suspected of being
one of that gang, and whose discovery and apprehension arose out of the
following extraordinary circumstances:
At the time the coroner’s inquest was sitting on the body of the
murdered Smithers, Perry, the conductor of the patrol, who was then
in attendance, was called out by two soldiers, who informed him, that
on that day they had been informed by a boy, that he had discovered a
depository of fire-arms and deadly weapons in an extraordinary way,
by his having been at play in Chapel-street, Paddington, and losing a
marble behind some building in that street. He went behind the house
of Mr. George, a haberdasher and tailor, in search of the marble, and
seeing in a closet some fire-arms, a sword, _&c._, he mentioned it to
the soldiers.
Upon this intimation Perry hastened to the spot as soon as possible,
and found a narrow passage leading to the back of Mr. George’s
premises, and also a closet fastened by a staple, situate under a
staircase, which answered the description of the information he had
received where the fire-arms and deadly weapons were deposited. Perry
inquired to whom the closet belonged, and was informed that it belonged
to Mr. George, the tailor and haberdasher. Mrs. George soon appeared,
of whom Perry also inquired how the closet became fastened, when Mrs.
George informed him that she had fastened it in consequence of the wind
blowing it open. He desired her to produce the instrument with which
she had fastened the staple, which, on being produced, resembled a
hammer, and with which she also unfastened it.
On the door being opened, Perry discovered a musket, a bayonet, a
pistol, sword, powder, and balls. He then inquired if those articles
belonged to them, and the mother denied that they did. The daughter,
who was present during the investigation, wrung her hands, and appeared
greatly distressed. Perry then proceeded into the house, and found
Mr. George employed in his business of a tailor, who also denied any
knowledge of the fire-arms and deadly weapons, and admitted that his
son occupied a house on the opposite side of the street, and might have
deposited the fire-arms, _&c._, in that place.
On inquiry it was ascertained, that the son had absconded since the
night of the meeting in Cato-street. Perry desired that Mr. George
would attend at the office, and he himself accompanied Mrs. George and
her daughter. On their arrival at the office, they underwent private
examinations before Mr. Birnie, but nothing appeared which could
criminate any of them; but strong suspicions existed that their son,
Robert George, was present at the Cato-street meeting, at the time
Thistlewood murdered Smithers.
From that time the officers had used every vigilance in endeavouring
to trace him out. Ruthven and Salmon received information of his being
concealed at a house in Goswell-street, whither they repaired, but were
unsuccessful in finding him. They nevertheless had discovered that
his anxiety to leave this country was so great, that he had offered
himself to be engaged in any capacity whatever, in any vessel going
to the East-Indies; they also learned that, having before been a
seafaring man, he had succeeded in engaging himself as a servant on
board an Indiaman; and their exertions were so great, that they gained
intelligence, on which they could rely, that the last place he would
be at, previous to leaving London, would be the Dundee Arms, Wapping,
near the Commercial Road, where they went and waited, having no doubt
but he would be there to start by the boat for Gravesend on Sunday, the
5th of March, from which latter place the Indiamen were to sail on the
following day. They waited there till about seven o’clock, at which
time Robert George entered the house. He inquired for the Gravesend
boat, and was informed that it had sailed a few minutes previous.
On receiving that information, he appeared extremely agitated and
disappointed: he called for some brandy and water, and seated himself.
During this time Ruthven and Salmon had satisfied themselves beyond a
doubt of his identity, and having had reason to believe that he would
be fully prepared with arms for a desperate resistance, Salmon watched
an opportunity, when he instantly rushed upon him, and, presenting a
pistol to his head, exclaimed, “If you offer to stir, I will fire.”
Ruthven then handcuffed and properly secured him. On searching him
they, however, found that he was not prepared with any arms, and his
luggage consisted only of his clothes. The officers placed him in a
hackney-coach, and lodged him in Covent-garden watch-house.
During the following day they made diligent inquiry as to the manner in
which he had disposed of his time since his escape from Cato-street,
when they learned that a lodging had been procured for him in
Earl-street, Bricklane. They also traced out his brother, who lived in
that neighbourhood, who denied any knowledge of his place of residence;
but the officers discovered that the brother had actually procured
the said lodging for him, and in his possession they found a large
thick stick, at the bottom of which was a thick iron ferrule, about two
inches long, which was hollow at one end, and appeared calculated to
receive a pike or dagger, which he acknowledged to have received of his
brother George, on his parting with him on Sunday evening, previous to
his entering the Dundee Arms.
On searching Robert George’s lodgings in Earl-street, they did not
discover any thing of a serious or dangerous nature. The prisoner
underwent a private examination before Mr. Birnie, which was reported
to the Secretary of State’s office for the Home Department; no
orders were, however, sent for his conveyance there, and therefore a
commitment was made out for the prisoner, Robert George, to the House
of Correction, on a charge of high treason, whither he was conveyed in
a hackney-coach, in the custody of Mr. Atkins, the governor of that
prison, Perry, who was originally in the pursuit of him, and one of the
patrol.
Before entering on the trial of the notorious ARTHUR THISTLEWOOD, for
the double crime of high treason and murder, for which we have traced
his commitment on the clearest and most satisfactory evidence possible,
we shall present the reader with a brief sketch of his early life, and
some particulars of his conduct after his arrest.
Thistlewood was a native of Horncastle, in Lincolnshire, and was born
in the year 1770; his father was land-steward to an ancient family in
that neighbourhood; he was placed at an early period of life with an
eminent English school-master, to be educated as a land-surveyor. This
pursuit in life he afterwards declined following, and at the age of
twenty-one became a lieutenant in a militia regiment; soon after this,
he married a young lady, of the name of Bruce, residing near Bawtry,
in Yorkshire, who was possessed of property amounting to 300_l._ per
annum. Thistlewood resigned his commission in the militia, and obtained
another in a marching regiment, with which he went, at the commencement
of the revolutionary war, to the West Indies, where he soon gave up his
commission in it, and afterwards proceeded to America; there he resided
for some time, when he obtained a passport for France, and arrived
there shortly after the downfall of Robespierre. He became initiated
in all the doctrines and sentiments of the French Revolutionists, and
at the peace of Amiens returned to England, when he became acquainted
with the disaffected in his native country; since which his whole life,
it seems, has been spent in seeking opportunities to overthrow its
constitution.
From the period of his release after his former indictment for high
treason, the Government had taken care to have all his actions watched,
and his movements traced; but even with all this precaution, it is
possible that the diabolical scheme, of which he was evidently the
author and chief mover, would have been carried into effect, had it
not been for the remorse of the man who made the disclosure to Lord
Harrowby.
One night, during his confinement in Coldbath-fields prison, the
following remarkable occurrence took place in the cell of Thistlewood.
In the course of the evening, Mr. Adkins, the governor, sat with him
a short time, and conversed with him on general topics. He was very
communicative on the subject of the different prisons in which he had
been confined. He spoke of Horsham as being extremely strict, and
observed, that the rules laid down for the management of the prison
were observed to the letter, without any reference to the rank of
the party confined. He gave the preference to the Tower as a place of
incarceration. The usual hour for locking up having arrived, he was
left to the society of his usual companions. He soon retired to rest.
His mind seemed restless, but, after some time, he fell into a profound
sleep--thus he continued awhile, when he became evidently agitated--at
last he exclaimed, with a sort of convulsive shriek, “Ha! I’ve got
you now!” and then, becoming more strangely disturbed, he awoke in a
sort of phrensy: for a moment he did not seem to recollect where he
was; but, on seeing his companions with their eyes fixed upon him, he
affected to laugh, and said, “What strange things one thinks of in
one’s sleep.” He remained awake for a considerable time, and, at length
sunk again into an unquiet slumber.
On the subject of his arrest he spoke freely before his final
commitment, declaring that he knew the man by whose instrumentality
he was taken, and that he was with him that morning, and was the only
man who knew of his retreat. He added that but for the people in the
house, the patrol who arrested him in White-street, and his brother
officers should have fallen. His companions said, “Why you had no arms;
how could you have effected their destruction?” “Ah!” he replied, “they
thought they were very cunning; but cunning as they were, they were not
cunning enough.”
This was but a vain boast; for, at the moment the officer seized him,
he was evidently paralized. He shewed no disposition to resist. No arms
were found in the room, with which he could defend himself, and when he
was carried off to Bow-street, six officers were left behind to search
every hole and corner in the house. This they did, and found nothing
to warrant an opinion that he was capable of making a formidable
resistance.
It is, however, rather a suspicious circumstance, that while the
officers were engaged in securing their prisoner, the landlady, Mrs.
Harris, slipped out, and gave an intimation of what was occurring to
her husband, who was a type-founder in the manufactory of Messrs.
Caslon. From that time he has been “out of the way.” It was ascertained
that he was the manufacturer of all the bullets found upon the
conspirators. A warrant was issued for his apprehension.
The officers are satisfied that the arms which Thistlewood had in
Cato-street have not been found, and imagine that he deposited them
with some friend. It is a matter of surprise, that in getting rid of
these evidences of his guilt, he should have kept in his possession the
black belt which was seen round his waist in the loft, and which, with
some ball cartridges, was found in his pocket in White-street.
Up to the time of his last appearance before the Privy-Council, he made
no inquiries respecting his family, but was particular in his questions
as to the persons who had been arrested. Among others, he mentioned the
name of Palin, for whose apprehension a reward of two hundred pounds
had been offered, and again describing in the most minute manner the
person of Brunt, with an evident intention to avoid mentioning his
name, he asked if he was arrested? Upon these heads he received no
satisfactory answer.
Mrs. Thistlewood is a smart, genteel little woman, dresses well, and
from the first seemed perfectly alive to the situation of her husband,
in whose political sentiments she heartily concurs. On the officers
going to search her lodgings, she did not manifest any of that alarm
which, in a female, might be considered natural. She received them
with calmness, accompanied by a certain air of dignity, and demanded
their authority for searching her premises. Being satisfied on this
head, she permitted the search to be made without further hindrance.
She has a son, who seems a genteel ingenious youth. When she obtained
permission to visit her husband, the interview always took place in
the presence of an officer, and her person was scrupulously searched,
even to the removal of her stays and cap, and these precautions were
continued from first to last.
The prisoners all standing fully committed on the clearest and most
satisfactory evidence, the preparations for their trial commenced,
and on the 8th of March the following Special Commission of Oyer and
Terminer was issued by the Crown:--
GEORGE the FOURTH, by the grace of God, of the united kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland, King, defender of the Faith,
to our most dear cousin, William Henry Duke of Portland; our
well-beloved and faithful Councillors, Sir Charles Abbott, knight,
Chief-Justice, assigned to hold Pleas before us; Sir Robert
Dallas, knight, Chief-Justice of our Court of Common Pleas; Sir
Richard Richards, knight, Chief-Baron of our Court of Exchequer;
our beloved and faithful Sir William Garrow, knight, one of the
Barons of our said Court of Exchequer; Sir William Draper Best,
knight, one of the Justices assigned to hold Pleas before us; Sir
John Richardson, knight, one of the Justices of our said Court
of Common Pleas; Sir John Silvester, baronet; Newman Knowlys,
Francis Const, Charles Bosanquet, Charles Trelawny Brereton,
James Clitherow, James Ferguson, Edmond Alexander Howard, Richard
Paul Joddrell, Samuel Purkis, Thomas Wood, and Peregrine Dealtry,
Esqrs., greeting.
+Know ye+ that we have assigned you, and any two or more of
you (of whom one of you, the aforesaid Sir Charles Abbot, Sir
Robert Dallas, Sir Richard Richards, Sir William Garrow, Sir
William Draper Best, and Sir John Richardson, we will shall be
one) our Justices and Commissioners to inquire by the oath of good
and lawful men of our county of Middlesex, of all High Treasons
and misprisions of High Treason, (other than such as relate to
the coin), and of the murder of one Richard Smithers, deceased,
and of any other crime or offence touching the death of the
said Richard Smithers; and of any offence or offences against,
touching, or concerning the persons of Frederick Fitzclarence,
William Legge, James Ellis, John Surman, William Westcoatt,
William Charles Brooks, John Muddock, and Benjamin Gill, or any
of them, contrary to the form of an Act made and passed in the
forty-third year of the reign of our late royal father, King
George the Third, entitled “An Act for the further prevention of
malicious shooting, and attempting to discharge loaded fire-arms,
stabbing, cutting, wounding, poisoning, and the malicious using of
means to procure the miscarriage of women; and also the malicious
setting fire to buildings;” and also for repealing a certain
Act made in England, in the twenty-first year of the late King
James the First, entitled, “An Act to prevent the destroying and
murdering of bastard children;” and also an Act made in Ireland in
the sixth year of the late Queen Anne, also entitled, “An Act to
prevent the destroying and murdering of bastard children, and for
making other provisions in lieu thereof;” and also the accessories
of them, or any of them, within our county aforesaid, as well
within liberties as without, by whomsoever and in what manner
soever done, committed, or perpetrated, when, how, and after what
manner; and of all other articles and circumstances concerning
the premises, and every or any of them, in any manner whatsoever;
and the said treasons and other the premises according to the
laws and customs of England for this time to hear and determine;
and therefore we command you, that at a certain day and place,
which you or any two or more of you (of whom one of you, the said
Sir Charles Abbott, Sir Robert Dallas, Sir Richard Richards, Sir
William Garrow, Sir William Draper Best, and Sir John Richardson,
we will shall be one), shall for this purpose appoint, you make
diligent inquiries into the premises, and that you do hear and
determine all and singular the premises aforesaid, and do cause
to be done therein what to justice appertains, according to the
laws and customs of England; saving to us the amerciaments, and
other things from thence to us accruing. We do also command all
and every our officers, ministers, and subjects, by virtue of
these presents, that they attend, advise, obey, and assist you in
the execution of the premises, in all things as it behoves them.
And we do also command, by these presents, our sheriff of our said
county of Middlesex, that at such certain day and place, as you,
or any two or more of you, (of whom one of you, the aforesaid
Sir Charles Abbott, Sir Robert Dallas, Sir Richard Richards, Sir
William Garrow, Sir William Draper Best, and Sir John Richardson,
we will shall be one), shall make known to him, he do cause to
come before you, or any two or more of you (of whom one of you,
the aforesaid Sir Charles Abbott, Sir Robert Dallas Sir Richard
Richards, Sir William Garrow, Sir William Draper Best, and Sir
John Richardson, we will shall be one), such and so many good
and lawful men of our said county, as well within liberties as
without, by whom the truth of the matter in the premises may be
better known and inquired into. In witness whereof, we have caused
these our letters to be patent. Witness ourself at Westminster,
the eighth day of March, in the first year of our reign.