Smuggling—An exciting smuggling adventure—The Brighton fishermen
and the Excise—“Body-snatching”—“Benefit of Clergy”—Tyburn
tickets—Death the penalty for many crimes—“Last dying Speech”—The
“condemned pew” at Newgate—Horrible execution at Jersey—The new
drop—An impenitent criminal.
THE OFFENCE of Smuggling, now all but died out, was common enough,
and people in very good positions in life thought it no harm to, at
least, indirectly participate in it. The feats of smugglers were of
such every-day occurrence, that they were seldom recorded in the
papers, unless there were some peculiar circumstances about them, such
as shooting an excise man, or the like. In one paper, however, the
_Morning Post_, September 3, 1801, there are two cases, one only of
which I shall transcribe. “A singular circumstance occurred on Tuesday
last, at King Harry Passage, Cornwall. A smuggler, with two ankers of
brandy on the horse under him, was discovered by an exciseman, also on
horseback, on the road leading to the Passage. The smuggler immediately
rode off at full speed, pursued by the officer, who pressed so close
upon him, that, after rushing down the steep hill to the Passage,
with the greatest rapidity, he plunged his horse into the water, and
attempted to gain the opposite shore. The horse had not swam half way
over, before, exhausted with fatigue, and the load on his back, he was
on the point of sinking, when the intrepid rider slid from his back,
and, with his knife, cut the slings of the ankers, and swam alongside
his horse, exerting himself to keep his head above water, but all to no
purpose; the horse was drowned, and the man, with difficulty, reached
the shore. The less mettlesome exciseman had halted on the shore, where
he surveyed the ineffectual struggle, and, afterwards, with the help of
the ferryman, got possession of the ankers.”
Sometimes it was done wholesale, see the _Morning Herald_, February
17, 1802: “Last Thursday morning, the Brighton fishermen picked up at
sea, and brought to shore, at that place, upwards of five hundred casks
of Contraband spirits, of which the Revenue officers soon got scent,
and proceeded, very actively, to unburden the fishermen. This landing
and seizing continued, with little intermission, from six to ten, to
the great amusement of upwards of two thousand people, who had became
spectators of the scene. When the officers had loaded themselves with
as many tubs as they could carry, the fishermen, in spite of their
assiduity, found means to convey away as many more, and by that means
seemed to make a pretty equal division. The above spirits, it appeared,
had been thrown overboard by the crew of a smuggling vessel, when
closely chased by a Revenue Cutter.”
We may claim that one detestable offence, then rife, is now extinct. I
allude to “Body-snatching.” It is true that anatomists had, legally, no
way of procuring subjects to practise on, other than those criminals
who had been executed, and their bodies not claimed by their friends;
but, although the instances on record are, unfortunately numerous,
I have already written of them in another book, and once is quite
sufficient.
Of one or two legal curiosities now extinct, I may mention “Benefit of
Clergy,” an institution established in our early history, in order to
screen a clerk, or learned man, from the consequences of his crime.
In case of felony, one had but to plead ability to read, and prove it,
and the sentence was commuted to branding the hand with a hot iron. It
was a privilege much abused, but it lingered on until 1827, when it was
abolished by the Act, 7 and 8 Geo. IV. cap. 28.
Another curious custom, now also done away with, we meet with, in
an advertisement in the _Morning Herald_, March 17, 1802: “WANTED,
one or two Tyburn Tickets, for the Parish of St. George’s, Hanover
Square. Any person or persons having the same to dispose of, may hear
of a purchaser,” &c. These tickets were granted to a prosecutor who
succeeded in getting a felon convicted, and they carried with them
the privilege of immunity from serving all parochial offices. They
were transferable by sale (but only once), and the purchaser enjoyed
its privileges. They were abolished in 1818. They had a considerable
pecuniary value, and in the year of their abolition, one was sold for
£280!
“Tyburn” reminds us of the fearful numbers sentenced to death at that
time. The law sadly wanted reformation in this respect; besides murder,
coining, forgery, &c., many minor offences were punishable with death,
although all convicted and sentenced were not executed; some being
reprieved, and punished with transportation. George III. had a great
dislike to capital punishment, and remitted the sentence to as many as
he could. Take as an example of the awful severity of the law, only one
sessions at the Old Bailey, ending September 24, 1801: “Sentence of
death was then passed upon _Thomas Fitzroy_, alias _Peter Fitzwater_,
for breaking and entering the dwelling-house of James Harris, in the
daytime, and stealing a cotton counterpane. _Wm. Cooper_ for stealing a
linen cloth, the property of George Singleton, in his dwelling-house.
_J. Davies_ for a burglary. _Richard Emms_ for breaking into the
dwelling-house of Mary Humphreys, in the daytime, and stealing a pair
of stockings. _Richard Forster_ for a burglary. _Magnus Kerner_ for a
burglary, and stealing six silver spoons. _Robert Pearce_ for returning
from transportation. _Richard Alcorn_ for stealing a horse. _John
Nowland_ and _Rd. Freke_ for burglary and stealing four tea spoons, a
gold snuff-box, &c. _John Goldfried_ for stealing a blue coat. _Joseph
Huff_, for stealing a lamb, and _John Pass_ for stealing two lambs.”
[Illustration: THE CONDEMNED SERMON. NEWGATE.]
In fact, the “Tyburn tree” was kept well employed, and yet, apparently,
the punishment of death hardly acted as a deterrent. A sad, very sad
street cry, yet one I have often heard, was of these poor wretches;
true, it had been made specially to order, in Catnach’s factory for
these articles, in Monmouth Court, Seven Dials; but still it was the
announcement of another fellow-creature having been done to death.
The executions which would arise from the batch of sentences I have
just recorded, would take place at Newgate. The last person hanged at
Tyburn, having suffered, November 7, 1783, and the above illustration
shows in a peculiarly graphic manner, the _condemned sermon_, which
was preached to those about to die on the morrow. To make the service
thoroughly intelligible to them, and to impress them with the reality
of their impending fate, a coffin was set in the midst of the
“condemned pew.”
[Illustration: THE LAST DYING SPEECH AND CONFESSION.]
Crowds witnessed the executions, which took place in the front of
Newgate, and on one occasion, on the 23rd of February, 1807, an
accident occurred, by the breaking of the axle of a cart, whereon many
people were standing; they were not only hurt, but the crowd surged
over them, and it ended in the death of twenty-eight people, besides
injuries to many more.
We have seen, in February, 1885, a murderer reprieved, because the
drop would not act; but in the following instance, the criminal did
suffer, at all events, actual pain. It happened at Jersey, on the 11th
of May, 1807, and is thus chronicled in the _Annual Register_ for that
year: “After hanging for about a minute and a half, the executioner
suspended himself to his body; by whose additional weight the rope
extended in such a manner that the feet of the criminal touched the
ground. The executioner then pulled him sideways, in order to strangle
him; and being unable to effect this, got upon his shoulders; when, to
the no small surprise of the spectators, the criminal rose straight
upon his feet, with the hangman upon his shoulders, and loosened the
rope from his throat with his fingers. The Sheriff ordered another rope
to be prepared; but the spectators interfered, and, at length, it was
agreed to defer the execution till the will of the magistrates should
be known. It was subsequently determined that the whole case should
be transmitted to His Majesty, and the execution of the sentence was
deferred till His Majesty’s pleasure should be known.”
A platform which suddenly disappeared from under the criminal seems
to have been invented in 1807, for we read under 27th of July of that
year, that John Robinson was executed at York “on the new drop,” but
something of the same kind had certainly been used in 1805.
As a rule, the poor creatures died creditably; but there is one case
to the contrary, which is mentioned in the _European Magazine_, vol.
xlvii. pp. 232-40. A man named Hayward was to be hanged for cutting and
maiming another. The scene at the execution is thus described: “When
the time for quitting the courtyard arrived, Hayward was called to a
friend to deliver him a bundle, out of which he took an old jacket, and
a pair of old shoes, and put them on. ‘Thus,’ said he, ‘will I defeat
the prophecies of my enemies; they have often said I should die in my
_coat_ and _shoes_, and I am determined to die in neither.’ Being told
it was time to be conducted to the scaffold, he cheerfully attended the
summons, having first ate some bread and cheese, and drank a quantity
of coffee. Before he departed, however, he called out, in a loud voice,
to the prisoners who were looking through the upper windows at him,
‘Farewell, my lads, I am just a going off; God bless you!’ ‘We are
sorry for you,’ replied the prisoners. ‘I want no more of your pity,’
rejoined Hayward; ‘keep your snivelling till it be your own turn.’
Immediately on his arrival upon the scaffold, he gave the mob three
cheers, introducing each with a ‘Hip, ho!’ While the cord was preparing
he continued hallooing to the mob.
“It was found necessary, before the usual time, to put the cap over
his eyes, besides a silk handkerchief, by way of bandage, that his
attention might be entirely abstracted from the spectators.... He then
gave another halloa, and kicked off his shoes among the spectators,
many of whom were deeply affected at the obduracy of his conduct.”
[Illustration]
[Illustration]