had been stabbed in the upper part of her thigh by a man in Fleet
Street, and was even followed by him to a house in Johnson's Court, to
which she was going, and watched by him until she was let in. In May,
1789, a Mrs. Godfrey was similarly stabbed in Boswell Court, Fleet
Street; and another lady was left wounded at her door. In March, 1790,
a Mrs. Blaney, of Bury Street, was stabbed at her door after she had
knocked. Dr. Smith, seeing an account of this outrage in a newspaper,
inserted a notice in the _Morning Herald_, and that journal, having
made some severe remarks on the matter, public opinion began to be
awakened, and numerous letters were written, on the subject, to the
newspapers of the day. The thing began to be talked of in the higher
circles. A young lady named Porter had been stabbed whilst, in the
company of her sisters, returning from the Drawing Room at St.
James's, on the 18th of January, the Queen's Birthday; and since that
time, several people had been wounded by this miscreant, who,
fortunately, always failed in doing serious injury to his victims.
Mr. John Julius Angerstein (whose name will ever be associated with
the commencement of our National Gallery) was very active, and
inaugurated a subscription at Lloyd's, to which the guineas flowed
merrily, for the capture, and conviction of the "Monster." The police
began to bestir themselves, and they, too, issued placards. One will
serve as a type of all:--
"Public Office, Bow Street,
_Thursday, April 29, 1790_.
"One Hundred Pounds Reward.
"Several ladies having, of late, been inhumanly cut, and maimed,
by a person answering the following description, whoever will
apprehend him, or give such information to Sir Sampson Wright, at
the above office, as may be the means of his being apprehended,
shall immediately upon his committal to prison, receive fifty
pounds from Mr. Angerstein of Pall Mall, and the further sum of
fifty pounds upon his conviction. _N.B._--He appears to be about
thirty years of age, of a middle size, rather thin make, a little
pockmarked, of a pale complexion, large nose; light brown hair,
tied in a queue, cut short and frizzed low at the sides; is
sometimes dressed in black, and sometimes in a shabby blue coat;
sometimes wears straw-coloured breeches, with half boots, laced
up before: sometimes wears a cocked hat, and at other times a
round hat, with a very high top, and generally carries a Wangee
cane in his hand.
"All servants are recommended to take notice that if any man has
stayed at home without apparent cause, within these few days,
during the daylight. All washerwomen and servants should take
notice of any blood on a man's handkerchief, or linen, as the
wretch generally fetches blood when he strikes. All servants
should examine if any man carries sharp weapons about him, and if
there is any blood thereon, particularly tucks; and maid-servants
are to be told that a tuck is generally at the head of a stick,
which comes out by a sudden jerk. All cutlers are desired to
watch if any man answering the above description is desirous of
having his weapon of attack very sharp."
[Illustration: The MONSTER cutting a lady.--1790.]
All baker's men were asked to give notice at every house they called
at, of the above reward, and Mr. Angerstein promised twenty pounds to
any man by whose instrumentality the Monster was discovered.
Additional publicity was, moreover, given by other means. The _Morning
Herald_ of April 27th says:
"A new musical piece was produced last night at Astley's called The
Monster, and being brought forward at a time when the attention of all
London was engaged in discovering him, cannot fail of producing full
houses. Astley seems to have taken up the matter very seriously, as
the piece abounds with much satire against the Monster. The songs also
are well adapted: the chorus of one concluding as follows,
'When the Monster is taken in the fact
We'll have him tried by the Coventry Act,[16]
The Black Act
The Coventry Act,'
produced unbounded applause. This piece will certainly be a good
acquisition to Astley, who is said to be the author."
[Footnote 16: This Act, against cutting and maiming, owed
its name to Sir John Coventry, who, in Charles the Second's
time, was favourable to a motion, in the House of Commons,
to impose a tax on play-houses, which was opposed by the
Court. Sir John Birkenhead having remarked that the players
were the King's servants, and a part of his pleasure, Sir J.
Coventry asked "Whether the King's pleasure lie among the
men, or the women, that acted?" This was neither forgotten
nor forgiven, and Sir John was set upon whilst walking home,
by some ruffians. He defended himself desperately, and
wounded some of his assailants, but was overpowered, and his
nose slit to the bone, "for reflecting on the King." This
outrage excited great indignation at the time.]
One lady (Mrs. R. Walpole) was fortunate enough to escape being
wounded, owing to her having an apple in her pocket: an incident which
gave rise to some poetic effusions:
"Eve, for an apple, lost immortal life:
From you an apple turn'd the Monster's knife!
Can greater proof, since Eve, be given
Of diabolic strife,
Or interposing Heaven?"
"The apple was, in days of yore,
An Agent to the Devil,
When Eve was tempted to explore
The sense of good and evil;
But present chronicles can give
An instance quite uncommon,
How that which ruined Mother Eve
Hath saved a Modern Woman."
The Monster was even made a party to Anti-slavery agitation, for at
the Westminster Forum in Panton Street, Haymarket, "by desire of
several ladies," was debated the question: "Which is the greater
disgrace to humanity, the ruffian who drags the female African from
her family, her kindred, and her native country, or the Monster who
has lately wounded, or terrified, many ladies in this metropolis?" The
result of this discussion is not handed down to posterity.
Still the Monster kept steadily at his work, and almost every day
brought its tale of some woman being stabbed: and, one being injured
in St. Pancras Parish, a meeting of the inhabitants was called at the
Percy Coffee House, on May 7th, and an association was formed "to
nightly patrol the streets of the south division of Saint Pancras,
from half-an-hour before sunset, till eleven at night, for the public
safety, and especially to guard that sex which a Monster, or Monsters,
in opposition to the dictates of nature, and humanity, have dared to
assault, and wound, with wanton, and savage, cruelty."
The idea that these outrages were not done single-handed, was on the
increase, and the indefatigable Mr. Angerstein again issued a placard,
and "informs the public, that from information he has received of the
person who, since Friday last, has assaulted and wounded several
women, there is great reason to fear that more than one of these
wretches infests the streets: it is therefore thought necessary to
give the following description of one, who, within this week, has
committed many acts of cruelty upon women," and gives four
descriptions of the man's dress, which would lead to the inference
that the Monster was in possession of a very extensive wardrobe.
People were now gradually getting into a state of ferment, and the
Monster was the engrossing topic of public interest. Of course, then
as now, the wrong people were arrested occasionally. One "Walter Hill,
was brought before the Magistrate at Litchfield Street on suspicion of
being one of the wretches who have cut several women; he was
apprehended in Windmill Street, Tottenham Court Road, near the place
where two women were cut, though Miss Porter, and several other
ladies, declared the prisoner was not the person who wounded them."
Nothing could be proved against him, and, ultimately, he was
discharged.
Even the light-fingered fraternity entered into the spirit of the
times, for _The World_ of May 11th has--"Public Office, Bow St.,
before Sir Sampson Wright. Yesterday evening, about half after seven
o'clock, a gentleman of family and fortune, was surrounded in Holborn
by a number of pickpockets, who, after hustling him, and robbing him
of his watch, money, and hat, called out: 'That is the Monster, he has
just cut a woman.' A vast number of people immediately pursued the
gentleman, some calling 'The Monster!' others, 'Stop thief,' till at
length he was knocked down, and surrounded by near a thousand people,
by whom he was very ill-treated, and, probably, would not have escaped
with life, had he not been, by some gentleman, taken into Gray's Inn
Coffee House; from whence he was conveyed to the Brown Bear, in Bow
Street, in a hackney-coach; where the mob were so exasperated that
they broke the windows of the house, and, could they have got at him,
would, no doubt, have massacred him: by stratagem he was, at nine
o'clock, brought to this office. When the above facts appeared, Sir
Sampson Wright lamented that it was not in his power to punish the
perpetrators of this daring, and alarming, assault, but did all he
could, by giving that gentleman his protection until the mob
dispersed."
Accounts of mock assaults were written to the papers, one of them
extremely circumstantial, telling how a courageous lady drew a pistol
"from her pocket and discharged it into the wretch's neck, immediately
under the ear, who instantly left her, uttering the most dreadful
imprecations." This, it is needless to say, was denied, and exposed
next morning.
Imposture, of course, took advantage of such a golden opportunity, and
we find that "the account which appeared in all the newspapers of Miss
B. of Marylebone Street, having been twice wounded by the Monster,
proves to be a fabrication, for the purpose of exciting compassion,
and money, and has, in some degree, answered the purpose. The above
discovery has been made, by an investigation of this business, by the
Select Vestry of Marylebone Parish. This is a new kind of Monster!"
The _Oracle_ of May 17th tells the following little story:--"Tuesday,
about nine o'clock, as Mr. Heather was crossing Tower Hill, he
observed a well-dressed woman upon the ground: when he went to her,
she said a very tall man had just wounded her with some sharp
instrument, and begged his assistance to get to the Minories to a
coach, which he readily complied with, upon observing blood in several
places upon her gown and apron. However, the coach had not been gone
ten minutes, before he found she had picked his pocket of his watch,
and about three guineas."
Although there was now a cessation of real attacks by the Monster, the
public feeling rose to very fever height. As one newspaper remarked:
"The Monster is now a mischief of more than common magnitude. Inhuman
himself, the villainy is visited upon all who are of the same sex:
alike the source of apprehension, terror, and flight. It is really
distressing to walk our streets towards evening. Every woman we meet
regards us with distrust, shrinks sidling from our touch, and expects
a poignard to pierce what gallantry, and manhood, consider as sacred.
There must be a very criminal supineness somewhere, or these execrable
villains would, with greater speed, expiate with their lives, the
insulted humanity of being."
As an example of the pitch to which the excitement was wrought, the
following case may be taken. A man met a girl, and went with her into
a public-house. They sat down, and he showed her an artificial
bouquet, or nosegay, as it was then called, which he had in his hand,
and begged her to accept it. The girl, in taking hold of it, felt
something prick her, and it made her hand bleed. She went away, and
told the story to some of her friends, who immediately insisted that
it must be the Monster, and that a dagger was certainly concealed in
the nosegay. The man was in consequence arrested, and kept all night
in the watch-house. On enquiry in the morning, it was found that the
girl's hand had only been pricked by the wire used to bind the flowers
together, and the poor man was, of course, discharged.
But Nemesis was at hand. One of his victims--that Miss Porter, who was
stabbed after the Drawing Room, on the Queen's birthday--was walking
with Mr. John Coleman, in St. James's Park, on Sunday, June 13th, and
the Monster passed her. She at once recognised him, and, her agitation
being remarked by Mr. Coleman, she said, "There is the wretch who
wounded me." Mr. Coleman left her in charge of her friends, and
followed the man, who walked very fast--evidently feeling he had been
noticed, and endeavoured to dodge about from Spring Gardens, to
Admiralty Passage, back again to Spring Gardens, and up Cockspur
Street, to Pall Mall: thence to St. James's Street, and Bolton Street,
where he knocked at the door of a house, and was let in. He stayed
there about five minutes, and then went to Piccadilly, and St. James's
Street, where he knocked at another house, and asked the servant some
question. Leaving there, he went to Bond Street, Mr. Coleman
endeavouring to insult him, by walking before and behind him, and
staring him in the face. He then went to Oxford Street--then called
Oxford Road--and Vere Street, where he knocked at an empty house.
Then Mr. Coleman spoke to him, and asked him what was the use of
knocking so violently at a house palpably empty; and he replied that
he knew the people of the house, named Pearce, and knocked again for
three or four minutes. He then crossed to South Molton Street, knocked
at a house, and was admitted. Mr. Coleman asked the master of the
house, Mr. Smith, for information as to the man, but he refused to
give any, unless some reason was assigned. Mr. Coleman replied that
the other had insulted some ladies under his protection, and that he
demanded satisfaction. The Monster offered to meet him at any
coffee-house, and gave his address as Fifty-two Jermyn Street. Mr.
Coleman then let him go, but upon second thoughts hurried back, and
again met him in St. James's Street; and looking at him, told him he
did not think he was what he described himself, and asked him to come
with him to Mr. Porter's house, which was not far off. He consented,
and on seeing him, two of the Miss Porters immediately fainted, but
upon recovery unhesitatingly declared him to be "the wretch." He
turned to Mr. Coleman and asked: "Do the ladies suspect me to be the
person advertised? Am I suspected?"
He was given into custody, and on the 15th of June, the newspapers
gave full accounts of his capture and examination.
He proved to be a native of Wales, named Renwick (or Rhynwick)
Williams, aged about twenty-three, who was sent young to London, where
he was bound apprentice to Sir John Gallini, with a view to his
becoming a dancer on the stage. A misunderstanding, as to the
disappearance of a watch, severed this connection, and he then led a
very loose life. For some little time, about two months, he was a
lawyer's clerk, but this employment being only temporary, he was
reduced to difficulties, until he met with Mr. Aimable Michell, of
Dover Street, who taught him artificial-flower making, and with whom
he remained until his arrest.
He was dressed very respectably, in a blue coat, lined, and edged,
with buff, buff waistcoat, and black satin breeches.
He was fully identified by the Misses Porter, Miss Frost, Miss
Baughan, and Mrs. Franklin, whilst numerous ladies who had been
wounded could not identify him. He was of course, remanded. Royalty,
in the person of the Duke of Cumberland (afterwards King of Hanover),
was present at his examination, and great difficulty was experienced
in preserving the prisoner from the fury of the exasperated mob.
On the 16th of June he was again brought up, was identified by two
more ladies, and confronted with others, who could not be sure he was
the man who had wounded them. The Dukes of York, and Cumberland, and
Prince William of Gloucester, besides several peers, were present.
He was brought before the magistrates once more, when another lady
identified him, and he was committed for trial.
[Illustration: Renwick Williams.--1790.]
Owing to the novelty of the crime, great difficulty was experienced as
to his indictment, but it was at last settled that he should be tried
under the statute 6th Geo. I. c. 23, s. 11, which made it felony,
punishable with transportation, for seven years, to assault any person
in the public streets, with intent to tear, spoil, cut, burn, or
deface, the garments, or clothes, of such person, or persons, provided
the act be done in pursuance of such intention.
On Thursday, the 8th of July, Williams was tried at the Old Bailey,
before Mr. Justice Buller, charged with making an assault upon Ann
Frost, spinster, on the 9th of November last, in Jermyn Street, St.
James's, and wickedly, wilfully, and maliciously, tearing, and
spoiling, her garments, to wit, the gown, petticoats, and shift, of
the said Ann, against the statute in that case provided.
He was also indicted for the commission of a similar offence in
Holborn, on the 5th of May, on Sarah, the wife of John Davis. The same
on Sarah, the wife of John Godfrey, on the 13th of May, in St.
Marylebone. The 26th of September, on Mary Forster, in Maxwell Street.
The 6th of December, on Elizabeth Baughan, in Parliament Street. For a
like act, on the same day, in the same street, on Frances Baughan. For
a like act, on Ann Porter, on the 18th of January, in St. James's
Street.
He pleaded not guilty, and was defended by counsel. The case of Miss
Porter was then gone into, and the evidence, as already detailed, was
adduced. For the defence, he called his master, Mr. Michell, who swore
that he was at work till twelve, on the night of the 18th of January,
and did not quit his house till after supper at half-past twelve,
which was also substantiated by the witness of his sister, Miss
Michell, Catherine, and Molly Harmond, and two of the workwomen,
besides a customer: and ten witnesses were called as to character. The
judge summed up very favourably for the prisoner, but the jury,
without hesitation, found him guilty. The judge said, as this was a
new case, and he had some doubts as to the indictment, he would
respite judgment until he had laid the case before the twelve judges.
So this, and the other indictments, were put off until the December
Sessions.
There were many accounts of the trial, and numerous portraits were
published of Williams, who was by no means bad-looking, thin and pale,
with powdered hair "en queue."
The caricaturists took the matter up, and treated the matter as a
joke, recommending ladies to have copper petticoats, &c.
But the most awful picture is that of "The Monster going to take his
afternoon luncheon," where he is depicted as a terrible being about to
devour a pretty girl--but the caricaturist shows us, kindly, "the
Monster disappointed of his afternoon luncheon," in which engraving,
he has a double shot--one at the somewhat delicate subject of the
"dress improver" of the day, and the other, how this fashion might be
utilised to baffle the Monster of his intended meal.
There was the usual newspaper correspondents' wrangle, in which, of
course, it was unpopular to advance any argument in favour of the
Monster. Indeed, _The World_, of October 16th, says: "Writing a
defence of the Monster carries with it more serious consequences than
people are at first aware of, because it would appear as if publishing
accounts, in the newspapers, or otherwise, could really justify
atrocious acts. As Junius has said: 'The people at large are never
mistaken in their sentiments, and, if they have formed an opinion,
there is no taking them out of it by misrepresentation.'" That there
was an opinion in his favour is not only evidenced by this, but at the
City Debates, Capel Court, Bartholomew Lane, the question was debated
on July 12: "Did the late extraordinary conduct ascribed to Renwick
Williams (commonly called the Monster) originate in an unfortunate
insanity, a diabolical inclination to injure the fair part of the
creation, or the groundless apprehension of some mistaken females?"
[Illustration: Protection from the MONSTER.]
But the man kept up the feeling against him, by his own conduct, and
could not be quiet in prison. _The Oracle_, of August the 20th, has
the following account of "The Monster's Ball":--"The depravity of the
times was manifested last week, in an eminent degree, in Newgate. The
Monster sent cards of invitation to about twenty couple, among whom
were some of his alibi friends, his brother, sisters, several of the
prisoners, and others, whom we shall take a future opportunity to
notice.
"At four o'clock the party sat to tea; this being over, two violins
struck up, accompanied by a flute, and the company proceeded to
exercise their limbs. In the merry dance, the cuts, and entrechats, of
the Monster were much admired, and his adroitness in that amusement
must be interesting, from the school in which he acquired this branch
of his accomplishments.
"About eight o'clock the company partook of a cold supper, and a
variety of wines, such as would not discredit the most sumptuous gala,
and about nine o'clock departed, that being the usual hour for
locking the doors of the prison."
Williams gradually faded away from public notice until early in
November, when eleven of the judges met in Serjeants' Inn Hall, and
consulted on his case, which had been reserved. The questions were:
First, whether his having an intention to cut the person of Miss
Porter, and, in carrying that intention into execution, cutting the
garments of that lady, is an offence within the statute of 6th Geo. I.
c. 23, s. 11, on which he was convicted; the jury having, in their
verdict, found that in cutting her person he had thereby an intention
to cut her garments? Secondly, whether the statute being in the
conjunctive, "that if any person shall assault with an intent to cut
the garment of such person, then the offender shall be guilty of
felony," and the indictment, in stating the intention, not having
connected it with the act by inserting the words that he "then and
there" did cut her garment, could be supported in point of form?
Nine out of the eleven judges were of opinion that the offence,
notwithstanding the finding of the jury, was not within the statute,
and that the indictment was bad in point of law.
This decision reduced the Monster's crime to a misdemeanour.
On Monday, December 13th, he was brought to trial at the Sessions
House, Clerkenwell Green, and, as a proof of the interest it created,
even the names of the jury are recorded. The trial began at ten, A.M.,
and was inaugurated by the prisoner reading a paper declaring his
innocence. He was indicted for assaulting Miss Porter, with intent to
kill, and murder her: there was a second count which stated, that he,
"holding a knife in his right hand, did wilfully give the said Ann
Porter a dreadful wound, of great length and depth on the right thigh
and hip; to wit, of the length of nine inches, and the depth of four."
A third count charged him with a common assault. The evidence was
similar to that in the former trial, and, after a trial, lasting
thirteen hours, he was found guilty.
He was afterwards found guilty of other assaults, and was finally
sentenced to two years' imprisonment in Newgate, for each assault on
Miss Porter, Elizabeth Davis, and Miss E. Baughan, and at the end of
the six years, he was to find bail for good behaviour for seven years,
himself in the sum of two hundred pounds, and two sureties in one
hundred pounds each.
What finally became of him is not known. Mr. Angerstein offered the
reward to Miss Porter, as it was by her instrumentality that the
Monster was captured, but she refused it.
The recollection of _the Monster_, did not quickly fade away, for we
read in the _Times_, 20 Dec. 1799, "Another new _Monster_ on
Wednesday, made his appearance in town. His passion is for _biting_
the Ladies' _toes_ and _finger ends_. They say his name is _Frost_."
* * * * *
Food riots, the natural outcome of an almost starving and ignorant
population were rife; but, in the following paragraph, there is a
curious allusion, that _the grain was intended to be shipped to
France_, with which nation we were then at war.
"Several towns in Cornwall were last week visited by large bodies
of Miners, from the different works, in search of concealed corn,
which they insist upon is intended for exportation to France. At
Wadebridge, they found about 25,000 bushels in store, which they
obliged the Owners to sell at reduced prices. At Looe upwards of
6000 bushels of grain were stopped by them from being shipped,
but we do not hear of their committing any other outrage. Part of
the first regiment of dragoons is gone from Devonshire, to assist
the magistrates in restoring peace."--(_Times, Feb. 6, 1793._)