imagined that a notification which was given that no prosecution would
take place against Hare was received with no small degree of surprise. A
cry that he, like Burke, should be subjected to the punishment due to
his crimes, was raised, but was met by a positive refusal on the part of
the public prosecutor to permit any proceedings to be taken against him
of a criminal nature. Great excitement was created by this determination
being made known, but its propriety must be now, as indeed it was then
upon mature consideration, admitted. No one, we believe, will deny that
immense advantages would have been derived by society from the
visitation of condign punishment upon every one of the wretches, male
and female, who had disgraced the human form, by aiding and abetting the
perpetration of these unheard of atrocities; but it was felt that care
must be taken that in the anxiety which existed to visit the guilty with
the reward of their criminal acts, the great landmarks of conservative
law were not overthrown. Whatever the terms were upon which the evidence
of Hare was obtained, it behoved the public authorities of the country
to act upon them to their fullest extent; and although probably,
according to the strict rule, he would have been liable to be brought to
trial upon any one of those murders in which he had been engaged, except
that of Mrs. Campbell, the expediency of such a proceeding may well be
doubted. His arraignment for any offence, without the certainty of his
conviction, might have been to place the authorities in a position, in
which they would have been triumphed over by this ruffian. Who, we ask,
could have been produced as a witness to fix any crime upon him? His own
confession was taken for another purpose, and was a privileged
communication which could not be produced in evidence against him;--that
of Burke would be equally useless, for before any trial could take
place, he would be a "hanged man," and his statement being _ex parte_,
could not legally be laid before the jury. Mrs. M'Dougal, burning with
vengeance for the loss of her paramour, would be so prejudiced as to
render her testimony impossible to be believed, and Mrs. Hare could not
be examined as a witness against her own husband. The other witnesses on
the trial had deposed to facts and circumstances which were in
themselves vague and uncertain when stripped of the admissions,
positive and negative, of Hare and Burke, which alone served to flash
upon them the light of truth in a horrid and appalling glare, but which,
as we have already said, could not be used in any new inquiry. If a new
investigation had commenced in which Hare was the person charged, the
peace of the community might have been disturbed. Great excitement would
undoubtedly have been created, and it was deemed impolitic for the sake
of the character of the nation, when a conviction was uncertain, to
expose a wretch like this prisoner to popular outrage. Edinburgh had
already had her share of those commotions, in which the people had
snatched victims from the protection of the law, and wanted no other
sacrifice; and however all men would have rejoiced, if in due course of
law the whole of this band of wretches could have been punished by the
gibbet, all right-minded persons must have shrunk, even for such a
purpose, from straining the law to sharp interpretations. Hare,
therefore, it was felt, must be protected from the penal consequences of
his crimes, and permitted to live a little longer. Such a wretch,
however, could not have escaped with impunity. To a mind capable of
reflection death would have been comfort, compared with such a state of
existence as that to which he was doomed. With whom, now that Burke was
gone, could he associate? Where could he hide his head? The brand of
"murderer" was on his brow,--the finger of the Almighty was upon him, as
one for whom the chance of mercy was small and uncertain.
Notwithstanding these considerations, however, frequent reports were
circulated that the friends of Daft Jamie were determined to commence a
prosecution against his murderer; and a petition was actually presented
to the High Court of Justiciary in the name of his mother and sister,
for a warrant to detain the prisoner in jail to answer the charge; but
the court declined to interfere, as such a step would be unnecessary,
the right of prosecution lying in the hands of the Lord Advocate, who
was bound to take such steps as were proper and requisite.
In the meantime Mrs. M'Dougal having been again suffered to quit the
jail, succeeded in making her escape from Edinburgh unperceived. Upon
the night on which she was taken to the prison for security by the
police, she affected to be sensible of her condition, but assured the
officers that she was herself nearly falling a victim to the horrible
system in which Burke had been engaged. She then related a plausible
tale of her having overheard Burke and Hare come to a determination to
murder her in case of their wanting a subject. She stated, that one
night Burke and Hare were carousing in one of the apartments of Hare's
human shambles on the profit, of a recent murder. In the midst of their
unhallowed orgies, Hare raised his hand, and in a fit of fiendish
exultation, stated that they could never want money; for when they were
at a loss for a "shot"--a body for dissection--they would murder and
sell, first one and then the other of their own wives. Being in the
adjoining apartment, the females overheard, and were petrified by this
horrible resolution, as they had every reason to believe that the
monsters would certainly carry it into effect. A discussion of some
length ensued, and Hare finally succeeded in persuading Burke to
consent, that when the dreadful emergency did arrive, M'Dougal should be
the first victim. Upon her leaving the prison she was seen to go in a
direction as if she intended to quit the city of Edinburgh, and
unsought, and unasked for, she was never again seen within the limits of
the place which she had polluted by her presence.
On Wednesday the 28th of January, pursuant to his sentence, Burke
underwent the last penalty of the law. During the latter portion of his
confinement, he declared that his confession had tended materially to
relieve his mind; and he professed great contrition for his crimes. On
the day of his execution he was removed from the jail to the lock-up, at
the Court-house, where the scaffold had been erected, under a strong
escort of police. The crowd which had assembled to witness his final
exit from the scene of life was tremendous; and seats commanding a view
of the gallows were let at a large price. Upon his coming forth upon the
platform, he was assailed by the hideous yells of public execration,
with a species of ferocious exultation. The concluding moments of his
existence must have caused him the most acute suffering, for, stung to
madness by the horrible shrieks with which he was greeted, he appeared
anxious to hurry the executioner in the performance of his duty, as if
desirous to escape from that life which he had spent so ill. Very soon
after eight o'clock, he was tied up to the gallows in the usual way; and
he immediately gave the signal for the falling of the drop, by throwing
down his handkerchief. A short, but apparently a severe struggle
succeeded; and in less than two minutes he ceased to move. His body hung
suspended for half an hour, when it was cut down, and placed in a shell,
which had been brought to the scaffold for its reception. A struggle
took place among the officials present for scraps of the rope with which
he had been hanged, shavings of his coffin, and other relics of a
similar character; but by nine o'clock, the crowd had dispersed, and in
a few hours afterwards, all appearance of his execution had vanished.
The case of Hare was argued before the Scotch judges on the 5th of
February; and by a majority of four to two, they determined that the
public faith had been pledged to him, when his evidence was received
against Burke, that he should be borne harmless, and he was ordered to
be discharged. It was found, however, that by an ancient form of law he
might be detained for the costs of the suit, and his final deliberation
was therefore delayed; but on Thursday, the 12th of the same month, he
and his wife were set at liberty. They appear upon their discharge to
have parted company; for Mrs. Hare was nearly sacrificed to the fury of
the mob at Glasgow, to which place she wended her way, while her husband
proceeded by mail to Dumfries, where he was near meeting a similar fate.
The mail, it appears, landed him at about seven o'clock in the morning;
and although there was no intimation of his arrival, he was recognised
by the mob, who immediately assailed him with the bitterest execrations,
and with stones and other missiles. He succeeded in effecting his escape
from them into the King's Arms Inn, where he obtained a refuge; but a
crowd of persons surrounded the house, and demanded that he should be
given up to their fury. For a considerable time consequences of a
dangerous nature were apprehended; but night having arrived, the people
dispersed; and when all was quiet, Hare quitted the house, and made a
precipitate retreat from the town--whither, it was not known. The
subsequent history of this atrocious ruffian, and of his wife and Mrs.
M'Dougal, must, we believe, for ever remain a mystery. Their crimes and
their notoriety would be sufficient, to prevent their acknowledging
their names, or the fact of their being the participators in these
horrible transactions; and it is to be hoped, that when they quitted
the scene of their dreadful offences, they did so with sincere
thankfulness to the Almighty for the escape which they had had from a
sudden and ignominious death, and with a firm determination to make use
of that period which was granted them to live, to atone, by their
repentance, for their sins.
We cannot quit this subject without remarking upon the effects which
were produced by these revolting murders. It was on the 28th of January,
that Burke expiated his crimes upon the scaffold, and Parliament met on
the 5th of the ensuing month of February. On the 12th of the same month,
Mr. Warburton gave notice of his intention of bringing the whole subject
before the House of Commons. Rumours by this time had become general
throughout the metropolis that the same system which had been carried on
in Edinburgh had been discovered to exist in London; and the public,
whose fears were easily alarmed by such a statement, immediately
concluded that every report of a missing person confirmed that which now
became a pretty general belief. The daily papers were filled with
accounts of persons who had suddenly disappeared, and who were supposed
to have been "burked," the term now universally employed in the
description of the murders committed by the atrocious gang, whose
villanies had just been brought to light; and the universal alarm which
prevailed was rendered greater by the absurd practice of idle or drunken
fellows who stopped persons whom they met in lonely situations,
pretending to clap a plaister over their noses and mouths, with an
intention to suffocate them. Complaints were made to the police of the
system of creating alarm which was carried on, and their utmost
vigilance was called for to protect the public from absolute danger, as
well as from the terror which was everywhere excited. Accounts were
sometimes received of dead bodies having been discovered packed in brine
tubs, on their way to Edinburgh from London, and every case of this
description was tortured into proof of the existence of a scheme of
murder in the latter place, even more dreadful than that which had been
discovered in Scotland.
Owing to the long and most important discussions, which at this period
were carried on in both houses of parliament, upon the subject of the
claims of the catholics for relief, it was not until Thursday, the 12th
of March, that this subject could be brought under the attention of the
legislature. Mr. Warburton then moved in the House of Commons for leave
to bring in a bill to legalise and regulate the supply of dead bodies
for dissection. The honourable gentleman in stating to the house the
general grounds upon which he made his motion, said that his first
object would be, to confer a species of legality on the practice of
anatomy; and with this view he should propose--first, an enactment to
render anatomy lawful, both in its practice and as a mode of instruction
in all cities or towns corporate wherein there were schools which
conferred degrees in anatomy, or wherein there were hospitals which were
capable of receiving fifty patients at a time. The next difficulty to
surmount would be the obtaining a sufficient number of subjects for the
purposes of science and instruction. His project had for its basis the
practice of the French government in the city of Paris. He, therefore,
should propose that the overseers of the poor, in certain cases, and the
governors of hospitals, should be empowered by the bill to give up to
surgical examination the bodies of such persons as fell victims to
disease whilst in the hospital, and were not claimed within a certain
time after their decease. Here he begged that he should not be
understood to treat the feelings of the lower orders with the slightest
degree of disrespect by the present enactment. He begged them to take
this into their consideration, and also to reflect, that in the case of
the late disclosures of the horrid atrocities committed in order to
obtain a supply of subjects for dissection in Edinburgh, the lower
classes had in all cases been the victims. The motion of the hon. member
was fully approved of by the House, and a bill was on the same night
introduced, embodying the general principles which he had detailed. The
bill passed the House of Commons in the course of the same session, but
upon its reaching the House of Lords, so many noble individuals were
found who objected to its principle, by which, it was said, the poor
were subjected to what might be considered an evil, in which the rich
did not participate, that it was withdrawn.
It was not until the recurrence of events in the metropolis of London,
similar in character to those which we have just described,--the murders
committed by Bishop and Williams,--that the subject again received the
attention of parliament. In the session of 1831, Mr. Warburton once more
moved for leave to introduce a bill, the provisions of which, although
they were mainly the same as those of his former measure, differed from
it in some important respects. By the new bill, the consent of the party
whose body was to be submitted to dissection was required to be obtained
before his death, as a condition precedent to its being handed over to
the surgeons, and the whole system was to be placed under the
superintending direction of inspectors and commissioners appointed for
that purpose. This bill was introduced on Thursday, Dec. 15, and after
undergoing considerable discussion, it at length passed into a law in
the same session.
The act having been in operation during a period of upwards of eight
years, has been found to have been attended with the most advantageous
results, and the exertions of Dr. Southwood Smith, who holds a
responsible situation under its provisions, have tended in no small
degree to secure this admirable effect. The offence of body-snatching is
now no longer heard of; for the object of the crime having been removed,
the crime itself has ceased to be committed.
Happy would it have been for the interests of the community, if, before
these dreadful scenes were witnessed and brought to light, some similar
plan had met the approbation of the legislature.
EDWARD BARNETT.
EXECUTED FOR MURDER.
The dreadful murder for which this young man was executed, was scarcely
less frightful in its nature than that of the unfortunate Maria Marten.
It was on the morning of Sunday, September 28th, 1828, that this deed of
blood was discovered, when the murdered remains of a woman named Esther
Stevens were found in a house which she occupied in the town of
Monmouth. The wretched woman, it appeared, was born on the Kymin, a high
mountain near Monmouth, and from her being in the habit of frequenting
certain districts of the hill of her birth, she passed by the familiar
epithet of "Hall of the Kymin." At an early age she was married to a
man named Stevens, a bargeman, to whom in later years, however, she
appears to have exhibited considerable dislike. Stevens' employment
necessarily called him from home for considerable periods, and during
these absences, his unhappy wife formed acquaintances with other men, of
a criminal nature,--a step to which eventually she owed her murder.
Amongst these guilty companions of her adultery was a man named William
Davis, living at a village called Christchurch, near Carleon, on the
Newport road, to whom she represented herself as a single woman, and to
whom also she had promised marriage. A later connexion, however, was
formed by her with Barnett, who resided in Monmouth--the miserable
subject of this sketch.
Barnett, it appears, was strongly attached to Mrs. Stevens, and looked
with the most uncontrollable feelings of jealousy upon her connexion
with Davis. Immediately before the murder she had been living with Davis
under an assumed name at Carleon, during her husband's absence, and
Barnett discovering her position, quitted his mother's house, where he
resided, in order to endeavour to induce her to return to Monmouth. In
this effort he succeeded, and on Friday, 26th September, they quitted
Carleon together. Mrs. Stevens, however, passed that night in the great
wood on the Kymin, and Barnett was observed to leave her at the skirts
of the wood in the morning. He proceeded home again, and on his arrival
produced a loaded pistol from his pocket, and these circumstances,
coupled with the contents of a letter, sent by the unfortunate woman to
Davis, in which she stated that something dreadful was going to happen,
led to a supposition that a threat of murder was made by Barnett on that
night, in the event of her again joining her paramour at Christchurch.
On Saturday afternoon Barnett received a letter from Mrs. Stevens,
desiring an interview, and he quitted his home in order to obey the
request which she made. At this time he had in his possession a shot-bag
containing 30_l._ in notes, gold, and silver, and was attired in a
shooting jacket and laced boots. He did not again return home, and on
the following morning the wretched woman was found lying in her house,
brutally murdered.
Her husband was at first supposed to have been the author of this
revolting act, in revenge upon his discovering her perfidy to him; but
upon an attentive examination of the appearances which presented
themselves, and a due inquiry into the circumstances which had preceded
the murder, his innocence and the guilt of Barnett became evident. At
the time of the discovery of the murder, the door of the house was found
open, and some persons, led on by curiosity, upon going up stairs, were
horror-struck at perceiving the mangled remains of Mrs. Stevens lying on
the floor of the bedroom. Upon the constables of the place being
informed of the circumstance, they immediately proceeded to investigate
the affair. Upon inquiry of a man named Pearce, residing next door, they
found that in the course of the night Mrs. Stevens had been heard to go
up stairs, as if slip-shod, and directly afterwards they heard screams;
but as such events were common, as arising out of frequent quarrels
between the deceased and her husband, they took no notice of the
occurrence. From further inquiries, however, it was ascertained that
Stevens had not slept at home on that night, and from the discovery of
Barnett's shot-bag and money, his shooting coat and boots in the room,
it became obvious that he had been a partner in the unhappy woman's
bed, and having murdered her, had fled to avoid his apprehension. From
the statement of Pearce, and certain appearances which presented
themselves in the house, it was supposed that Mrs. Stevens had risen in
the night in order to prepare the lower room for the morning meal, as
the kettle was found full on the fire, and the usual utensils were laid
ready for use, and it was concluded that Barnett waking just as the
wretched woman was returning to the sleeping apartment, was excited by
some jealous apprehension of her having quitted his bed to meet some
other paramour, and had rushed upon her and murdered her.
The manner in which the fearful deed had been committed, was exhibited
by the discovery of a case-knife covered with blood, on the floor, near
the body of the deceased; and one tremendous gash across the throat was
evidently the cause of death. The deed must have been completed with
great rapidity, and the murderer, alarmed by his crime, appeared to have
run off only partially dressed, and without even wiping the gore from
his hands, as bloody finger-marks were distinctly visible on the stairs.
The deceased too was attired only in a portion of her clothes; her cap
was found lying under her head, saturated with blood, and her ear-rings,
which had fallen from her ears, were picked up close to her in the room.
The case-knife, with which the dreadful wound had been inflicted,
appeared to have been taken from a drawer of a table which was open,
close by the body.
Upon further search being made, it was found that Barnett could nowhere
be seen,--a circumstance which tended materially to confirm the
suspicions already excited against him. Evidence was also obtained of
his having been observed crossing the Wye, without his coat, hat, or
boots, and messengers were immediately despatched in every direction in
search of him.
The scene in the Jury-room where the inquest was held on the Tuesday
night was of the most affecting description. On the table lay the bloody
garments of the murdered woman, the instrument of death, and the
clothes, money, &c. of the murderer. Thirty-three witnesses were in
attendance to enter into sureties to attend and give evidence at the
Assizes. Amidst this group might be noticed the husband of the deceased,
who deeply felt the peculiarity of his situation. The mother of the
supposed murderer attracted universal attention--fast declining in
years, called on by the justice of her country to sign her deposition,
and to enter into recognizances against her son, her hand appeared to
refuse its office, and with the utmost difficulty could she make her
mark. And amidst the spectators might also be observed the father of the
deceased, whose care-worn face and anxiety of countenance bespoke the
inward workings of his mind for a guilty murdered child.
A verdict of wilful murder against Edward Barnett was returned by the
coroner's jury, and on Monday, the 6th of October, he was brought in
custody to Monmouth, by Fuller, an officer, by whom he had been
apprehended in Liverpool, and to whom he did not scruple to make a
general confession of his guilt.
Upon his being conveyed before the magistrates, he appeared to be about
twenty-three years of age, stout and well-made, with sandy hair. He had
on the trousers and waistcoat which he was supposed to have had with him
at the time of committing the murder, a pair of shoes which he was found
to have begged at the turnpike at Irenchester, and an old hat not worth
a penny. He was still without a coat; his shirt-sleeves, particularly
at the wristbands, very dirty; no neckerchief; his waistcoat of the
yellow plush kind, spotted, but no marks of blood were discernible on
any part of his dress. He appeared unmoved at the awfulness of his
situation, and his eyes were downcast; a slight hectic tinged his cheeks
when the inquisition was read over. The coroner informed him of the
verdict against him, and his intention of having all the depositions
read over in his hearing; and if he had any remark to make, or had a
wish to ask any witness a question, they should be sent for, the town
clerk cautioning him at the same time most earnestly not to say anything
which might tend to criminate himself. He gave a deep sigh on the
constable's producing his clothes, but did not evince the least emotion
on the production of the bloody knife. During the reading of the
depositions, he stood up in a firm and erect manner, fixing his eyes
intensely on the town-clerk, and did not betray any internal feeling;
with this exception, that when the husband's evidence was being read
over, there was a slight convulsion of the lower lip, accompanied by a
deep-drawn sigh. The evidence being gone through, he was asked by the
coroner if he had any remark to make. To this he gave no answer; and on
its being repeated by the town-clerk, he faintly answered, "No." He then
sat down with apparent exhaustion, which might have been produced by the
heat of a crowded room. His manner throughout was not that of a guilty
man, with the exception of his downcast eyes. His cast of features was
rather prepossessing, and a low smile was occasionally discovered. His
firmness and self-possession were the universal theme of remark.
The warrant for his commitment being made out, a post-chaise was
ordered, in which he was conveyed to the jail to await his trial at the
assizes.
It was not until the spring assizes of the following year that his trial
came on; and then the evidence of his guilt was so conclusive as to
leave the jury no alternative as to the verdict which they should
return.
Sentence of death was immediately passed upon him, and on Thursday 9th
of April, 1829, he underwent the extreme penalty of the law.
During the whole period of his confinement and on his trial he exhibited
the utmost firmness and self-possession, and his demeanour was in no way
altered upon the morning of his execution. He ascended the gallows with
an unhesitating step, and was turned off without exhibiting any sign of
remorse, or sense of the dreadful position in which he was placed.
ESTHER HIBNER, THE ELDER; ESTHER HIBNER, THE YOUNGER; AND ANN ROBINSON.
TRIED FOR THE MURDER OF A PARISH APPRENTICE.
In the case of these offenders we have to present our readers with a
murder, equal in atrocity to that committed by the notorious Brownrigg,
whose fate we have already related.
These unnatural women were indicted at the Old Bailey, on the 10th of
April, 1829, for the wilful murder of Frances Colpitt, aged ten years,
the parish apprentice of the elder Hibner.