THE SECRET TRIBUNAL.
Half an hour after the occurrences just related, a strange and terribly
romantic scene took place at the Gipsies' Palace in Saint Giles's.
The principal room on the ground-floor was lighted up with numerous
candles. At the head of the long table sate King Zingary, clad in a
black robe or gown, and wearing a black cap upon his head.
The gipsies, who had all dressed themselves in the interval which had
occurred since the alarm, were seated at the board,--the men on one
side, the women on the other.
Aischa alone was absent.
At the lower end of the table sat Margaret Flathers,--her countenance
deadly pale, and her eyes wildly glancing upon those around her, as if
to inquire the meaning of this solemn conclave.
Skilligalee was also present; but his looks were downcast and sombre.
Such an assembly, in the middle of the night, and succeeding so rapidly
upon the dread incidents which had already occurred, was enough to
strike terror to the soul of Margaret Flathers; for she knew that this
meeting, at which so much awful ceremony seemed to preside, bore some
reference to _herself_.
At length Zingary spoke.
"Margaret," he said, in a solemn tone, "you are now in the presence of
the secret tribunal of the united races of Zingarees. Our association,
existing by conventional rules and laws of its own making, and to a
certain degree independent of those which govern the country wherein we
dwell, has been compelled to frame severe statutes to meet extreme
cases. One of our customs is hospitality; and you have seen enough of us
to know that we ask but few questions of those who seek our charity or
our protection. It necessarily happens that persons who so come amongst
us, learn much of our mode of life and many of our proceedings. But the
basest ingratitude alone could reward our generous hospitality with a
treacherous betrayal of any matters, the communication of which might
militate against our interests. Although we have no sympathy and no
dealings with the thieves and rogues of this great metropolis, we never
refuse them the security of this establishment, when accident or
previous acquaintance with its existence leads them to seek the safety
of its walls. This conduct on our part has been pursued upon grounds of
generosity and policy;--generosity, because we believe that half the
criminals in existence are rather the victims of bad laws than of their
own perverse natures;--policy, because we wish to keep on good terms
with all orders and classes who live in violation of the law. It,
however, behoves us to adopt as much precaution as possible against
treachery, and to punish treachery where we detect it, and when the
perpetrator of it is in our power. With this view the secret tribunal
was instituted at the same time that this establishment was first
opened, more than a century ago. Margaret, you are now in the presence
of that tribunal, and you are accused of treachery and ingratitude of
the very blackest dye."
This address was delivered with a solemnity which made a deep impression
upon all present. No slang phrases, no low synonymes disfigured the
language of King Zingary. He spoke in a manner becoming the chief of a
vastly ramified association which had made laws for the protection of
its own interests.
Margaret surveyed the aged individual who thus addressed her, with wild
astonishment and vague alarm. But so confused were her ideas that she
could not make any reply.
"What are the facts of this case?" continued King Zingary, after a
pause: "you, Margaret, are discovered by us one morning, sleeping in the
open air, and nearly dead with the cold. You have a treasure with you,
which we might have appropriated altogether to ourselves, but a third of
which has been held at your disposal--yours at any time you might choose
to demand it. You come amongst us; you are treated by us with even more
than usual attention and kindness; and you are allowed to associate with
our wives and daughters without the least restraint. A fortnight
scarcely elapses, when you conduct a robber into my room, and point to
him the place where he may find the treasure belonging to the
association."
"Hear me--hear me!" ejaculated Margaret, now recovering the power of
speech; "hear me--and I will explain all."
"Speak," said the king.
"I am not guilty of premeditated ingratitude," continued the
Rattlesnake: "I awoke in the middle of the night, and found a fiend in
human shape hanging over me. That man was the one whom I had been so
anxious to avoid--of whom I was so afraid. I admit that I had robbed him
of the gold which you found with me; but I was not bound to tell you
_that_ before now. Well--I awoke, and he was hanging over me! How he
came into the house, you best know; how he knew that I was an inmate of
it, I cannot explain; how he discovered my room is also a mystery.
Nevertheless--he did find me out; and with dreadful threats of instant
death he made me lead him to your apartment to get back his gold. That
is the whole truth."
A smile of incredulity played upon the lips of Zingary.
"Why did you not give the alarm, when once you were in my chamber?" he
demanded. "Even if I am old and feeble, was not Morcar there? and could
you not in one moment have summoned the others to your aid, by touching
the bell-rope within your reach?"
"And, had I done so, that instant would have been my last. The fearful
man, whom I obeyed, would have shot me dead on the spot," answered the
Rattlesnake.
"And do you not know how to die rather than betray your companions?"
asked the king.
"I am but a woman--a weak woman," exclaimed Margaret; "and--oh!
no--no--I could not die so horrible a death!"
"Our women would die in such a cause," said Zingary; "and those who join
us and live with us must learn our customs and our habits."
"Remember how sudden was the appearance of that man--how awful were his
threats--in the middle of the night--and a knife, I may say, at my very
throat----"
"It is a most extraordinary thing, that the very man whom you so much
dreaded should have happened to seek our hospitality within a fortnight
after you had joined us. Am I wrong if I entertain a suspicion in that
respect? You knew that the bag, which every night was deposited beneath
my head, contained not only the greater part of the gold which you
brought us, but also the year's contributions from the tribes and
districts: you knew all this, because we had no secrets from you. Then,
perhaps, you were tired of our company; and you imagined that it would
be an easy thing to make your peace with that man whom you so much
feared, by putting him in possession of a larger treasure than the one
you plundered from him,--a treasure, too, which you might hope to share
with him."
"As I live, that was not the case!" cried the Rattlesnake,
energetically. "You know that I have never stirred out of this house
once since I first crossed the threshold: how, then, could I communicate
with that man?"
"Where there is a will, there generally is a way, Margaret," answered
the king. "Have you any thing further to urge in your defence?"
"I have told the truth," replied the woman; "what more can I say?"
"Then you may retire," said Zingary.
Two gipsy-men led her from the room; and those who remained behind
proceeded to deliberate upon the case.
The whole affair was viewed in an aspect most unfavourable to the
Rattlesnake; and when Skilligalee volunteered an argument in her
defence, he was reminded that he only sate at that board by sufferance,
because he was known to be faithfully attached to the Zingarees, but
that he was not one of either race.
When the question had been duly discussed by the Secret Tribunal, the
king put the point at issue to the vote--_Guilty_, or _Not Guilty_.
The decision of the majority was "Guilty."
The Rattlesnake was then ordered to be brought back to the room.
When she again stood in the presence of her judges, Zingary addressed
her in the following manner:--
"This tribunal, Margaret, has duly deliberated upon the case in which
you are so especially interested. The result of that deliberation is,
that you are found guilty of the blackest treachery and ingratitude. The
founders of this tribunal wisely ordained that it should only pronounce
one penalty in all cases which terminated in convictions; and that
penalty is one which does not enable the criminal to return to the world
to seek at the hands of the country's tribunals redress for what such
criminal might deem to be an injustice practised by this court. That
penalty is death!"
"Death!" wildly screamed Margaret Flathers: "oh, no--you would not,
could not murder me in cold blood!"
"Death," solemnly repeated Zingary;--"death in the usual manner,
according to the laws which this Tribunal was instituted to dispense."
"Death!" again cried the unhappy woman, scarcely believing what she
heard: "no--it is impossible! You will not kill me--you cannot cut me
off so soon! I am not prepared to die--I have led a wicked life, and
must have time to repent. Spare me! But--do not keep me in this dreadful
suspense! Oh! I can understand that you wish to strike me with
terror--to read me a terrible lesson. Well--you have succeeded! Expel me
from your society--thrust me out of your house; but----"
"Remove her," interrupted Zingary, firmly; but at the same time a tear
trickled down his countenance.
The two gipsies who had before led the Rattlesnake from the room, now
dragged her forcibly away; while her piercing screams struck to the
hearts of those who heard them.
"When is the sentence to be executed?" inquired Skilligalee, in a
subdued and mournful tone.
"Within the hour," answered the king. "You may converse with her up to
the fatal moment."
Skilligalee bowed, and left the room.
"Let the Traveller be now introduced," said Zingary.
Crankey Jem,--against whom, the reader may remember, the Resurrection
Man had turned Crown evidence at the same sessions of the Central
Criminal Court at which Richard Markham and Eliza Sidney were tried and
condemned,--was now brought into the room.
"You have conducted yourself in a manner calculated to involve us all in
a most serious difficulty," said the king, addressing this individual;
"and we are compelled to rid ourselves of your presence without delay.
You have been treated with hospitality by us: reward us by maintaining
the most profound secresy relative to all you have seen or heard since
you have been our companion and guest. Depart--and may you always be
ready and willing to serve a Zingaree."
"I will--I will," answered Jem: "night and day--in any case--I will risk
my life for one of you. I do not blame you for expelling me; in fact, I
should have left you in the morning of my own accord. London is no place
for an escaped convict; and I shall not be sorry to leave it. But,
answer me one question before I go: is _that man_ dead?"
"We shall give you no information on that head," answered Zingary.
"Depart, my friend--and trouble us with your presence no longer. You
have gold--and may you prosper."
Crankey Jem bowed to the gipsies; and, having thanked them for their
hospitality and kindness towards him, took his departure from the
palace.
The gipsies retained their seats; but not a word was spoken by any one
present.
At length the great bell on the staircase was struck three times. At
this signal the king rose and walked slowly out of the room, followed by
the other gipsies.
The procession moved with solemn pace, and in dead silence, to the back
part of the house, where it descended a flight of stone steps into a
place used as a scullery. There Skilligalee, Margaret Flathers, and the
two gipsy-gaolers who had charge of the criminal, were waiting.
A single candle burned in the place, and its dim fitful light rather
augmented than diminished the gloom.
Margaret was absorbed in the most profound grief and terror; and her
mental sufferings were revealed in heart-rending sobs.
The nature of her doom had already been communicated to her!
Skilligalee's countenance was ashy pale; but, much as he felt, he knew
the Zingarees too well to undertake the vain task of imploring their
mercy on behalf of the culprit.
"Is every thing ready?" demanded the king.
"Every thing," answered one of the gipsy-gaolers.
With these words the man opened a massive door leading into a cellar, at
the end of which there was another door, affording admittance into a
second and smaller vault.
"Margaret," cried the king, in a loud tone, "your doom is prepared.
Brethren, take warning against treachery and ingratitude from this last
act of justice!"
The two gipsies who had been entrusted with the custody of the criminal,
raised her between them, and bore her through the first cellar into the
interior vault.
But she uttered not a scream--nor a sob: she had fallen into a state of
apathy bordering upon insensibility, the moment the rough hands of those
men had touched her.
Skilligalee's lips were compressed; and he evidently experienced immense
difficulty in restraining his feelings.
Margaret was deposited on a mattress in the inner cell: a loaf of bread
and pitcher of water had already been placed upon a shelf in one corner
of the dungeon.
The door was then closed and carefully bolted.
The door of the outer cellar was also shut; and thus was the wretched
woman entombed alive.
But as the procession of Zingarees turned to leave the vicinity of that
fearful scene of punishment, a faint shriek--though not the less
expressive of bitter agony in consequence of its indistinctness--fell
upon the ears of those who had witnessed the sepulture of a living
being.
EPILOGUE TO VOLUME I.
Thus far have we pursued our adventurous theme; and though we have
already told so much, how much more does there remain yet to tell!
Said we not, at the outset, that we would introduce our readers to a
city of strange contrasts? and who shall say that we have not fulfilled
our promise?
But as yet we have only drawn the veil partially aside from the mighty
panorama of grandeur and misery which it is our task to display:--the
reader has still to be initiated more deeply into the MYSTERIES OF
LONDON.
We have a grand moral to work out--a great lesson to teach every class
of society;--a moral and a lesson whose themes are
WEALTH. | POVERTY.
For we have constituted ourselves the scourge of the oppressor, and the
champion of the oppressed: we have taken virtue by the hand to raise it,
and we have seized upon vice to expose it; we have no fear of those who
sit in high places; but we dwell as emphatically upon the failings of
the educated and rich, as on the immorality of the ignorant and poor.
We invite all those who have been deceived to come around us, and we
will unmask the deceiver;--we seek the company of them that drag the
chains of tyranny along the rough thoroughfares of the world, that we
may put the tyrant to shame;--we gather around us all those who suffer
from vicious institutions, that we may expose the rottenness of the
social heart.
Crime, oppression, and injustice prosper for a time; but, with nations
as with individuals, the day of retribution must come. Such is the
lesson which we have yet to teach.
And let those who have perused what we have already written, pause ere
they deduce therefrom a general moral;--for as yet they cannot
anticipate our design, nor read our end.
No:--for we have yet more to write, and they have more to learn, of the
MYSTERIES OF LONDON.
Strange as many of the incidents already recorded may be deemed,--wild
and fanciful as much of our narrative up to this point may appear,--we
have yet events more strange, and episodes more seemingly wild and
fanciful, to narrate in the ensuing volume.
For the word "LONDON" constitutes a theme whose details, whether of good
or of evil, are inexhaustible: nor knew we, when we took up our pen to
enter upon the subject, how vast--how mighty--how comprehensive it might
be!
Ye, then, who have borne with us thus far, condescend to follow us on to
the end:--we can promise that the spirit which has animated us up to
this point will not flag as we prosecute our undertaking;--and, at the
close, we feel convinced that more than one will be enabled to
retrospect over some good and useful sentiment which will have been
awakened in his soul by the perusal of "THE MYSTERIES OF LONDON."
END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.
P. P. THOMS, PRINTER, 12, WARWICK SQUARE, LONDON.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Booty, plunder.
[2] Secured.
[3] White Upper Coat: synonymous with "White Poodle."
[4] Handkerchief.
[5] Pocket.
[6] Strip.
[7] Pawn the coat.
[8] Gin.
[9] Stomach.
[10] Head.
[11] Judges.
[12] Transported.
[13] Barrister.
[14] Teeth.
[15] A thief who sneaks down areas to see what he can steal In
kitchens.
[16] Prison.
[17] Burglary.
[18] West-street, Smithfield.
[19] Gave him a share.
[20] Informer.
[21] Turnkey.
[22] The Hulks.
[23] Waistcoat-pocket.
[24] Hands.
[25] Stealing a lady's reticule from her pretty arm.
[26] The Burglar.
[27] Public-house.
[28] Gunpowder.
[29] A companion.
[30] Chaplain.
[31] The Gallows.
[32] Passing forged notes.
[33] Friends.
[34] Informed.
[35] Sixpence.
[36] Bad Meat.
[37] Dark lantern.
[38] Implements used by burglars.
[39] Receiver of Stolen Goods.
[40] Swell-mobites.
[41] Swell-mobites who affect to be dissenting ministers, and preach
in the open air in order to collect crowds, upon whose pockets their
confederates work.
[42] Common thieves.
[43] Thieves who steal pocket-handkerchiefs.
[44] Swell-mobites, who steal from the compters in shops, while their
confederates make some trifling purchase. These thieves often contrive
to empty the till.
[45] Persons who pass false money.
[46] Persons who pass forged bank-notes at races, fairs, etc.
[47] Common Cheats.
[48] Gentlemanly--agreeable.
[49] Hands.
[50] Hanging.
[51] Inform, give warning.
[52] Sovereigns.
[53] Flash houses.
[54] A thief who frequents theatres.
[55] Pulpit
[56] A Jew fence: a receiver of stolen goods.
[57] 1s. 6d.
[58] The drop.
[59] A watch seal.
[60] Served to deceive the unwary.
[61] Pocket book.
[62] Watch.
[63] Jack Ketch.
[64] Utterer of false sovereigns.
[65] A convict returned from transportation before his time.
[66] Hanged.
[67] A juvenile thief.
[68] Privately whipped in prison.
[69] This song is entirely original.
[70] Burst it open.
[71] Surgeon.
[72] The author begs it to be fully understood that his own sentiments
relative to courts and court etiquette, &c., must not be identified
with the opinions of these ladles who are now conversing together.
[73] Four-penny piece.
[74] "We have not gone to bed."
[75] The causes which produce prostitution are as follows:
I. Natural causes:--1. Licentiousness of inclination. 2. Irritability
of temper. 3. Pride and love of dress. 4. Dishonesty, and desire of
property. 5. Indolence.
II. Accidental causes:--1. Seduction. 2. Inconsiderate and ill-sorted
marriages. 3. Inadequate remuneration for female work. 4. Want of
employment. 5. Intemperance. 6. Poverty. 7. Want of proper looking
after their servants on the part of masters and mistresses. 8.
Ignorance. 9. Bad example of parents. 10. Harsh and unkind treatment
by parents and other relations. 11. Attendance on evening dancing
schools, and dancing parties. 12. Theatre going. 13. The publication
of improper works, and obscene prints. 14. The countenance and reward
given to vice. 15. The small encouragement given to virtue.
The proportions amongst those females who have deviated from the path
of virtue may be quoted as follows:--
1. One-fourth from being servants in taverns and public-houses, where
they have been seduced by men frequenting these places of dissipation
and temptation.
2. One-fourth from the intermixture of the sexes in factories, and
those employed in workhouses, shops, &c.
3. One-fourth by procuresses, or females who visit country towns,
markets, and places of worship, for the purpose of decoying
good-looking girls of all classes.
4. One-fourth may be divided into four classes:--1. Such as being
indolent, or possessing bad tempers, leave their situations. 2.
Those who are driven to that awful course by young men making false
promises. 3. Children who have been urged by their mothers to become
prostitutes for a livelihood. 4. Daughters of clergymen, half-pay
officers, &c., who are left portionless orphans.
[76] "The process of parliamentary reporting, and the qualifications
of those by whom the task is performed, cannot be adequately described
within the narrow limits of this article; but it is hoped that the
reader may be enabled to form some idea of both from the following
brief outline. Every publication not copying from, or abridging
any other, but giving original reports, keeps one of a series of
reporters constantly in the gallery of the lords, and another in
the commons. These, like sentinels, are at stated periods relieved
by their colleagues, when they take advantage of the interval to
transcribe their notes, in order to be ready again to resume the duty
of note-taking, and afterwards that of transcription for the press.
A succession of reporters for each establishment is thus maintained;
and the process of writing from their notes is never interrupted until
an account of the whole debates of the evening has been committed to
the hands of the primer. There are only seven publications for which
a reporter is constantly in attendance; and these include the London
morning papers, from which all others that give debates are under
the necessity of copying or abridging them. The number of reporters
maintained by each varies from ten or eleven to seventeen or eighteen.
They are for the most part gentlemen of liberal education--many
have graduated at the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh,
Glasgow, or Dublin; and they must all possess a competent knowledge
of the multifarious subjects which come under the consideration of
Parliament. The expedition and ability with which their duties are
performed must be admitted by every one who attends a debate and
afterwards reads a newspaper, while the correctness and rapidity with
which their manuscript is put in type and printed, has long been a
subject of surprise and admiration."--_The Parliamentary Companion._
[77] Commencement of Book V.
[78] The French terms for the various steps and features of the
ballet-dance are--_jetés_, _balances_, _rondes de jambes_, _fouettes_,
_cabrioles_, _pirouettes sur le coude-pied_, _sauts de basques_, _pas
de bourrés_, and _entre-chats à quatre_, _à six_, and _à huit_.
[79] The Dietary Table of Clerkenwell New Prison, already quoted at
page 190, is as follows:--
+------------+-----------+------------+-----------+-----------+
| | Soup. | Gruel. | Meat. | Bread. |
| +-----------+------------+-----------+-----------+
| | _Pints._ | _Pints._ | _Ounces._ | _Ounces._ |
| | | | | |
|Monday | .. | 2½ | .. | 20 |
|Tuesday | .. | 1½ | 6 | 20 |
|Wednesday | .. | 2½ | .. | 20 |
|Thursday | .. | 2½ | .. | 20 |
|Friday | 1 | 1½ | .. | 20 |
|Saturday | .. | 1½ | 6 | 20 |
|Sunday | 1 | 1½ | .. | 20 |
| +-----------+------------+-----------+-----------+
|Total Weekly| | | | |
| Allowance | 2 | 13½ | 12 | 140 |
+------------+-----------+------------+-----------+-----------+
[80] It is too frequently the habit to throw the blame of the
diabolical nature of some of the clauses of the New Poor Law upon
the masters of workhouses: whereas the whole vituperation should
be levelled against the guardians who issue the dietary-tables,
from the conditions of which the masters dare not deviate. We have
no doubt that there are many masters of workhouses who are humane
and kind-hearted men. Indeed, having inspected several of those
establishments for the purpose of collecting information to aid us
in the episode to which this note is appended, we have been enabled
to ascertain that such is really the fact. Amongst others, we must
signalize the Edmonton and Tottenham Union House, the master of which
is Mr. Barraclough. This gentleman is a man of a most benevolent
heart, and exerts himself in every way to ameliorate the condition
of those entrusted to his charge. The guardians of that particular
Union are, moreover, worthy, liberal-minded and considerate men, who
sanction and encourage Mr. Barraclough in his humane endeavours to
make the inmates of the workhouse as little sensible of their degraded
condition as possible. Would that all boards of guardians merited the
same encomium!
[81] The products of ordinary combustion are sufficiently poisonous.
The gases produced by the decomposition of the dead are partially
soluble in water; and a fatty pellicle is instantly formed in large
quantities. The wood, saturated with these dissolved gases, and used
as fuel (a frequent occurrence in poor neighbourhoods, and in the
vicinity of metropolitan grave-yards), must diffuse, in addition to
the exhalations constantly given off from bodies in vaults, and on
the earth's surface, vast volumes of gaseous poison. Hence many of
those maladies whose source, symptoms, and principles defy medical
experience either to explain or cure.
[82] In case the reader should doubt the accuracy of any of the
statements relative to the employment of the youth of both sexes
in the English coal-mines, which he may find in this chapter, we
beg to refer him to the "_Report_ and _Appendix to the Report_, of
the Children's Employment Commission, presented to Both Houses of
Parliament by command of Her Majesty, in 1842."
[83] "Explosions of carbonated hydrogen gas, which is usually called
by the miners 'sulphur,' sometimes prove very destructive, not only
by scorching to death, but by the suffocation of foul air after the
explosion is over, and also by the violence by which persons are
driven before it, or are smothered by the ruins thrown down upon
them."--_Appendix to First Report._
[84] "Amongst the children and young persons I remarked that some of
the muscles were developed to a degree amounting to a deformity; for
example, the muscles of the back and loins stood from the body, and
appeared almost like a rope passing under the skin."--_Report._
[85] See _Report_, page 43, section 194.
[86] Secured the money.
[87] Informer--spy.
[88] In prison.
[89] St. Giles's.
[90] Coal-mine.
[91] Rum-punch.
[92] Wife.
[93] Take something to drink.
[94] Beggar with Matches.
[95] Soldiers.
[96] Treasury
[97] Smoking a pipe.
[98] Drinking mug.
[99] Drinking
[100] The porter.