Idleness, lewd women and bad company are the sum total of those excuses
urged by criminals when they come to be punished, even for the most
flagrant offences. With just reason Richard Hughs exclaimed on them all,
for from youth upwards he had ever addicted himself to laziness and a
dislike to that business to which he was bred, viz., that of a
bricklayer. Following loose women was the thing in which he took most
delight, and was probably the occasion of his subsequent misfortunes.
The immediate cause of them was his acquaintance with William Sefton
before-mentioned, with whom he joined in a confederacy to rob on the
highway, a thing to which his necessities in some measure drove him,
since he had squandered all he had in the world on those abandoned women
with whom he conversed, and had contracted so bad a reputation that he
found it hard to be employed in his business.
Into this wretched confederacy entered also the other offender, Bryan
Macguire, an Irishman born in the county of Wicklow. He had been bred a
sawyer, but was never very well pleased with the trade which required so
much hard labour. However, he worked at it some time after he came to
England, but some of his countrymen persuading him that it was much
easier to live by sharping, a practice they very well understood, he
readily fell into their sentiments and soon struck out a new method of
cheating, which brought them in more and with less hazard than any of
the ways pursued by his associates. The artifice was this: by repeated
practice he found a way to pull his tongue so far back into his throat
that he really appeared to have none at all, and by going to
coffee-houses and other places of public resort for the better sort of
people, he, by pretending to be dumb and then opening his mouth and
showing them what looked only like the root of a tongue, obtained large
charities. He had great success in this cheat for a long time, but at
last was discovered by a gentleman's blowing some snuff into his throat,
which, by setting him a-coughing, detected the imposture.
Then, being very straitened, he fell in with Sefton and Hughs with whom
having cheated and tricked for a little space, they at last came all to
an agreement of going together upon the highway and sharing their booty
equally amongst them. However, their partnership was of no very long
continuance, for in nine or ten days they were all apprehended and
brought to condign punishment. Hughs had been a soldier as well as
Sefton, and had quitted the Army to go upon the highway, which was a
very luckless occasion for him. Being quickly apprehended he was charged
with five several capital indictments, to all of which, when he came to
be arraigned, he resolutely pleaded guilty; and when admonished by the
Court that the crimes with which he was charged were felonies without
benefit of clergy, he persisted therein, saying that he would not give
the judge nor the gentlemen of the jury unnecessary trouble.
Macguire was indicted on four of the indictments which had been
preferred against Hughs, and capitally convicted upon them all. He was
no sooner under sentence than he declared himself to be of the communion
of the Church of Rome. However, he attended constantly at the chapel,
seemed to listen earnestly to what was said there, and made responses
very regularly to the several prayers, a thing which Papists very seldom
comply with. However, Bryan appeared to be a very reasonable man in this
respect, saying that he hoped God would be satisfied with that imperfect
atonement which he was able to make for his offences, and would not
impute it to him as a sin that he had taken all occasions which offered
of presenting his petitions for remission. In this disposition he
continued until the day of his execution, when both he and Hughs
appeared very composed and penitent, desiring the prayers of those who
were witnesses of their death, submitting thereto with all exterior
marks of proper resignation, on the 26th day of June, 1728; Hughs being
twenty-four and Macguire twenty-eight years of age or thereabouts.