out of divisions, to be governed by superintendants, inspectors,
serjeants, and privates in their various grades, constant communication
being kept up throughout the metropolis, by day as well as by night,
between each division. The advantages to be derived from a scheme so
comprehensive in its details, and so complete in its organisation, must
be at once obvious to the mind of every person; and it is needless to
point out to our readers the vast variety of instances in which its
effects would be attended with the very best results. It was felt,
however, by Mr. Peel, that so large and general a measure could not be
carried into operation with immediate success, and that much delay must
take place before a universal scheme of rural police could effectually
be established. He was yet convinced of the great utility which would be
produced, even from its partial adoption; and he lost no time in
proposing a bill in parliament, which should have for its object the
immediate appointment of a body of men capable of performing all the
police duties of the metropolis. The proposition was at once assented to
by both houses of the legislature; and on Tuesday the 29th September,
1829, the "new policemen" first entered upon their duties. Their dress,
their supposed military character, and the extreme jealousy with which
all classes of Englishmen view anything which may be supposed to
derogate from their rights and privileges, long conspired to make this
most useful force in the highest degree unpopular. Epithets of the most
odious character were heaped upon them, attacks both abusive and violent
were levelled at them from all quarters, and a few instances of
irregularity amongst their numbers were eagerly seized hold of, as
arguments to be employed against the general body; but at length the
increased safety obtained for the community, the quiet and orderly
manner of the men themselves, as well as the improvement in the general
conduct of the lower classes, obtained for them a reputation of the
very highest description, which those who were originally the most
strongly opposed to their introduction now seek, by their most strenuous
exertions, to raise. The system which, first, was confined to the limits
of the metropolis, has been joyfully extended to all large towns, and to
manufacturing neighbourhoods; and so anxious have even the most remote
rural districts become for this new safeguard for their property and
their lives, that almost every month sees the adoption of the plan in
some new quarter. The improvement of the morals of the lower orders is
no less than that which has taken place in their manners; and many of
the crimes by which society was formerly so frequently disgraced, have,
through their activity, now happily disappeared from the dreadful
catalogue which the life of degraded man presents.
The offence of which we are about to enter into a description, there can
be no doubt was in some degree attributable to that feeling of hatred
for the police which was so peculiarly exemplified among the lower
orders of the people. Long, the unfortunate object of the attack of this
determined murderer, was a police-constable, No. 43, of the G division,
and occupied a beat in Gray's-inn lane. On the night of Monday the 16th
of August, 1830, he was engaged in the performance of his duty when, at
about half-past twelve o'clock, he observed three men of suspicious
appearance lurking about the vicinity. Entertaining an apprehension of
their intention to commit a burglary, he communicated his opinions to a
brother constable on the adjoining beat; and it was determined that the
men should be watched. They remained within Long's district of duty; and
he followed them as far as the burial-ground of St. Andrew's parish,
which is situated at the back of Mecklenburgh-square. Here they stopped
and remained in conversation for some time, and Long, believing this to
be a favourable opportunity for convincing them of his intention to
prevent the success of any marauding schemes which they might have in
view, warned them to retire. The words had scarcely escaped the lips of
the unfortunate man, ere he was violently seized by the arm by two of
the party, while the third stabbed him to the heart. So desperate was
the wound, that the murderer was unable to withdraw the weapon with
which it was inflicted; but in his effort to do so, he pulled away the
handle, and then all three ran off. This diabolical act was witnessed by
more than one person, and several individuals instantly rushed to the
spot. Long had fallen to the ground, with an exclamation that he was "a
dead man;" and upon his head being raised upon the knee of one of the
witnesses, he immediately expired. Newton, the constable to whom the
unfortunate man had communicated his suspicions, in the mean time had
followed the assassins, and Smith was secured by him, having run a
considerable distance, and being in a state of the greatest agitation
and alarm. Two other persons were also taken into custody; but it turned
out that they were unconnected with the dreadful occurrence, and were
again set at liberty. The truth of the suspicions of the constable was
amply exhibited by the discovery of a number of housebreaking implements
near the spot, which it was evident the thieves had intended to employ,
but had thrown away in their flight. The handle of the knife was also
discovered lying in the road at about one hundred yards from the spot
where the murder was committed.
Several examinations of the prisoner subsequently took place before the
magistrates at Hatton-garden, and witnesses were called, who swore
positively that his was the hand by which the wound was given which had
caused the death of the deceased. During his imprisonment, he continued
firm in his denial of his participation in the murder, and maintained a
sullen silence as to his occupation in life, as well as his connexions.
He appeared to associate with none of his fellow-prisoners, except
Sheen, the murderer of his child, to whose case we have already alluded,
and who was again in confinement on a charge of felony; with whom he was
observed to hold frequent and earnest conversations, the result of which
did not transpire.
His trial took place at the Old Bailey sessions, on Friday the 17th of
September, when it turned out that his name was Sapwell, and that he was
a baker by trade. He still protested his innocence; but the evidence of
the witnesses being of the most conclusive description, a verdict of
guilty was returned, and he was sentenced to be executed on the
following Monday.
On the day after his conviction he was visited by his wife and his six
children, to whom, as well as to the officers of the jail, he continued
loud in his declarations of his having been wrongfully convicted. He
asserted that he had been to the Bedford Tea-gardens, at Camden Town, on
the night of the murder, and that on his way home he heard a cry of
"Stop thief," and had joined in the pursuit of four men whom he saw
running away, when he was himself taken into custody. He was exhorted by
the Rev. Mr. Cotton, the ordinary of the prison, to whose humane advice
he paid some attention; but he declined to receive the sacrament. In the
course of the following day (Sunday) he also received a visit from the
Sheriff (Ward), to whom he made no secret of his having intended to
commit suicide, if an opportunity had occurred, and with whom he argued
against the sinfulness of such a mode of terminating his life. He
instanced the cases of Sir Samuel Romilly, Mr. Whitbread, and other
distinguished individuals, who he said were perfectly justified in
depriving themselves of existence when it became irksome to them.
On the morning of his execution (the 20th of September, 1830,) he
entered freely into conversation with Sheriff Ward, and with new
asseverations that he was not guilty of the crime for which he was about
to suffer, declared, in an imaginary dialogue with the Almighty, that on
his arrival at the gates of heaven, he should be unable to account for
his standing there, and that the Almighty would give him admission;
protesting, however, that he ought not to have been sent there so soon.
He appeared sensible of his situation, and requested that the
proceedings on the scaffold might occupy as little time as possible. He
was turned off at the usual hour, and his remains were given to the
directors of St. George's Hospital for dissection.
The wretched man occupied the greater part of Saturday and Sunday,
previous to his death, in drawing up statements of the manner in which
he was by mistake drawn into the situation in which he stood, which
amounted simply to a repetition of the story he had related to his
family. He appears to have been very illiterate, his letters being both
ill-spelt and ill-written, and he expressed none of those fears usually
exhibited by persons in his situation.
[Illustration: _Smith stabbing a Policeman._
_P. 212._]
Long, the constable, appears to have been a man of excellent character,
having for a considerable time occupied a situation as watchman before
he entered the police. He left a wife and several children, for whom a
liberal public subscription was afterwards raised.
AGRICULTURAL RIOTS.
The agricultural riots which occurred at the close of the year 1830 will
long be remembered in the southern districts of England, to which they
were confined. The revolutionary disturbances which, during the year,
had marked the progress of events on the Continent, were not without
their effect upon the agricultural, as well as the manufacturing
population of Great Britain; and interested demagogues were easily to be
found, willing and ready to fan the feeling of dissatisfaction which
prevailed among the labouring classes, and to produce discontent where
none already existed, with a view to the excitement of dislike for the
higher ranks of society, and of insurrection against the government of
the day. The poverty of the lower orders had done much to produce that
hatred to property which induced these riots, and the inattention to
their wants was urged by them as a sufficient justification for the
mistaken and guilty course which they adopted.
The outrages, which commenced in the county of Kent, where undoubtedly
the agricultural labourers were in a state of the very greatest misery,
soon extended themselves through the whole of the southern counties of
England, and the progressive march of incendiarism was as much feared as
that of an invading army. Bodies of men proceeded through the whole line
of country which we have pointed out, making converts to their atrocious
principles, and their track was testified by the devastating effects
which were produced. Stacks of grain and farm buildings were everywhere
burned and consumed; and so determined were the monsters in the work of
destruction, that none dared to oppose them, or to raise their hands to
stop the dreadful deeds which every hour brought to light. Day after day
bodies of men were seen passing from farm to farm, breaking all the
machinery on the premises, the employment of which they looked upon as
the cause of all their distress; and night after night, the secret
incendiary plied his dreadful occupation, with a success which promised
to produce the most dreadful desolation.
The limited exhibition of the ordinary constabulary force had no effect
in checking the progress of these riots, and it was not until the
yeomanry and finally the military were called out, that the fearful
proceedings of the enraged mob were stopped. Meanwhile through Kent,
Sussex, Surrey, Middlesex, Suffolk, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire,
Wiltshire, Hampshire, Somersetshire, Dorsetshire, Devonshire, and
Cornwall, had the work of destruction proceeded; and where the general
body had not shown itself, local discontent had been sufficient to
change the character of the simple labourer to that of the midnight
incendiary. Notice was usually given of the intention to fire in
threatening letters, signed "Swing," and the determination expressed
seldom failed of being carried out.
In the course of several months, during which these outrages continued,
many rioters were apprehended and lodged in jail, and the eventual firm
proceedings of the magistrates did much to check the mischievous
progress of wilful devastation. In many instances, small villages gave
up their peaceful character, and assumed the appearance of military
encampments, so long as the fear of danger remained in their vicinity,
and not unfrequently the alehouse or the justice's mansion was converted
into a temporary lodging for the prisoners. The first convictions which
took place for these atrocious acts of violence were at the quarter
sessions for the county of Kent, held at Canterbury on the 24th
November, when many prisoners were tried and convicted upon charges of
machine-breaking and riot. For the former offence a man named Reid, who
had previously suffered imprisonment for lead-stealing, was sentenced to
transportation for life; while John Stannard, William Siddars, William
Stone, Thomas Strood, Henry Andrews, and Henry Halke were sentenced to
seven years' banishment from the scene of their offences. Other
prisoners, who were convicted only of assault and riot, were ordered to
be imprisoned for terms varying from six months to two years; and the
discovery by the labourers thus of the responsibility to which they
subjected themselves did much towards quelling the disturbances, which
even yet had not ceased.
Proclamations were subsequently issued offering rewards for the
apprehension of all offenders, and before the conclusion of the year a
vast number of prisoners had been taken into custody.
At the succeeding assizes these persons were brought to trial, and in
Wiltshire, Hampshire, Buckinghamshire, and other counties, where the
disturbances had assumed the most serious character, the prisoners were
tried under a special commission.
Our space prevents our going into the particulars of one tithe of the
cases which were tried, or even of those where the malefactors were
ordered for execution. Of the latter the number was small as compared
with the whole amount in custody, but many of their cases were attended
with circumstances of great atrocity. At the assizes at Maidstone,
Lewes, and other places on the circuits within the jurisdiction of which
these occurrences had taken place, a great number of prisoners were
convicted and sentenced to death. Many of the wretched men ascribed
their guilt to their having paid attention to the lectures or the
writings of Mr. Cobbett; and it is a remarkable fact that few of these
rioters stated that they had been driven to the commission of crime by
their poverty.
At the Hampshire special commission, held at Winchester, the offences
which were brought under the consideration of the learned judges who
presided, were those of machine-breaking, arson, extorting money by
threats with intent to procure an increase of wages,--and near 300
prisoners were found guilty. On Thursday, the 30th December, 1830, Mr.
Baron Vaughan, as the senior judge, proceeded to pass sentence on those
who had been convicted. In the dock there were twenty prisoners, in rows
of five each; and the other prisoners were so disposed in the jury-box
and elsewhere as to hear all that passed.
The judges having put on their black caps, James Thomas Cooper, Henry
Elridge, and John Gilmour, were called to the bar. The first two were
found guilty of destroying the machinery employed in the manufactory of
hemp and flax, the property of Messrs. Thompson, at Earl Mill, in the
parish of Fordingbridge; and the latter for destroying the machinery
employed in the foundry of Messrs. Robert and William Tasker, in the
parish of Upper Clatford; to which the law affixed the punishment of
death. Cooper had been particularly active as the captain or leader of
the rioters, and was mounted on a horse giving the word of command. He
was called Captain Hunt.
Mr. Baron Vaughan addressed these men with great eloquence, and in the
most feeling manner, on the enormity of their offences and the necessity
in their persons of making a severe example with the view of deterring
others from the commission of similar offences hereafter. Having pointed
out the aggravated character of the conduct of the prisoners, he
forewarned them that their fate was fixed, and there remained for them
no hope of mercy on this side the grave. His lordship then passed the
awful sentence of death.
Cooper and Elridge were deeply affected--the latter nearly fainted; but
Gilmour behaved with the most stoical apathy.
Robert Holdaway, James Annalls, and Henry Cooke were then placed at the
bar. They had been convicted--Holdaway of demolishing, with others, the
poor-house belonging to the parishes of Headly, Bramshot, and
Kingley.--James Annalls, of robbery from the person of William Courtnay,
of Barton Stacey; and Henry Cooke, of robbery from the person of Thomas
Dowden. These were all cases of peculiar aggravation, and as in the case
of the three previous convicts, the prisoners were told to prepare for
death, from which no hope of reprieve was to be entertained. In alluding
to the crimes of these men, Mr. Baron Vaughan made the following
important remarks:--"I believe that there are a little short of a
hundred persons whose lives are now forfeited to the state for their
participation in the guilt of these transactions. It is my firm and
decided conviction, that many persons engaged in them under a delusion,
and instigated by the practices of artful and evil-designing men. I
state publicly, that in the course of these trials we have found few
instances--and I am not certain that I could lay my finger upon one--in
which the pinching spur of necessity has compelled the offenders to the
commission of their offence. They are, in general, persons of a
different character and description. We find among them carpenters,
blacksmiths, sawyers, and others, whose wages are admitted to be
adequate to their wants, and who yet take an active part in perpetrating
these outrages. Not only persons in the handicraft trades which I have
just mentioned, but occupiers of land, gardeners, and others who labour
under no necessity and suffer no want, have been found strenuously
engaged in stimulating those who were in more want than themselves to
the commission of those crimes. I am happy, however, to observe, that
there are but few, if there are any, instances in which downright want
has proved the cause of the commission of offence."
Many other prisoners were also sentenced to death with an understanding
that the extreme punishment would not be inflicted, but that they would
be transported for life; and the remainder were ordered to undergo
various terms of transportation and imprisonment.
The trials of the persons charged with committing outrages in the county
of Berks commenced on Tuesday, 28th December, at Reading. The prisoners
who were first placed at the bar were W. Oakley, W. Smith, _alias_
Winterburne, D. Bates, and Edmund Steele. They were charged with robbing
J. Willis, Esq. of five sovereigns. It appeared that on the 22nd of
November, two large mobs assembled in the neighbourhood of Hungerford
and Kintbury, and after demolishing the windows of several houses,
proceeded to the Town-hall of Hungerford. A deputation from each mob, of
which the prisoners were the leading characters, was then admitted into
the magistrates' room. They demanded twelve shillings per week wages,
the destruction of machines, and a reduction of house-rent. Oakley, in a
violent manner, demanded 5_l._; and Bates, who had a sledge-hammer in
his hand, flourished it, and struck it on the ground, saying, with an
oath, "We will have the 5_l._ or blood." Others cried out, "We will have
blood for blood." The mob, which was about 400 in number, also became
exceedingly clamorous, and the magistrates then gave them 5_l._--The
jury found all the prisoners Guilty.
D. Hawkins, W. Chitter, J. Pullen, W. Haynes, D. Yarlick, G. Rosier, J.
Field, J. Cope, C. Smith, J. Dobson, W. Oakley, W. Winterborne, J.
Watts, T. May, J. Tuck, E. Steel, and D. Bates, were then tried for
rioting and destroying machinery belonging to Richard Gibbons, at
Hungerford. On the 22nd November, a mob, consisting of about 400
persons, went to Mr. Gibbons' manufactory; they had sledge-hammers,
bludgeons, hand-hammers, sticks, &c. They rushed into the factory and
broke the machinery, which was worth about 260_l._--The jury found all
the prisoners Guilty, except Haynes and Smith.
The trials were continued up to the succeeding Tuesday, and a great
number of men were convicted of offences of a similar character, marked
by different degrees of aggravation; the greater part of whom were
sentenced to transportation for seven years.
On the latter day, however, the commission was brought to a close, and
Oakley, Winterburne, and a man named Darling, were left for execution;
but the sentence was carried out only in the case of Winterburne.
At Salisbury, the commission was opened on Friday, 31st December; and
its proceedings did not terminate until Monday, 10th January. On that
day such of the prisoners as had not received sentence at the time of
the conclusion of their trials were brought up. Peter Withers and James
Lush were severally sentenced to death, amidst a most distressing and
heart-rending scene in the court. Lush appeared to be dreadfully
sensible of his situation, and during the whole period occupied by the
address of the learned judge, lay on the bar in a state of dreadful
anguish, crying with the most piteous groans for mercy.
It would be useless to follow the course of these dreadful proceedings
through the country, or to attempt adequately to describe the scenes of
misery and wretchedness produced to the families of the misguided men,
who were in custody by their dreadful acts. At Dorchester, Exeter, and
the other assize-towns in the west of England, scenes such as we have
alluded to occurred, and in almost every place some miserable wretches
were left to expiate their offences upon the scaffold, while others were
doomed to suffer transportation from the scene of their former happiness
and of their crimes.
Notwithstanding these events, however, it was long before the country
assumed that position of peace and quietude for which its agricultural
districts had always been remarkable.
On the 17th August, 1836, it was announced in the House of Commons by
Lord John Russell, that of 246 persons sentenced to be transported for
their participation in the offences of this period, all but ten, who
were suffering punishment for crimes committed in the colonies, had been
pardoned.
JOHN ST. JOHN LONG.
CONVICTED OF MANSLAUGHTER.
The extraordinary investigation touching the offence of which Mr. Long
was guilty attracted to him more than ordinary public attention. The
manslaughter of which he was convicted was the effect of a system of
treatment which he adopted towards a young lady named Cashin, who had
been placed under his medical care by her mother. But without offering
any comments, either upon the death of the young lady or its cause, we
shall proceed at once to detail the circumstances which were proved at
the various inquiries which took place upon the subject.
It appears that about the month of August 1830, a lady named Cashin, of
great respectability and considerable fortune, with her two daughters,
came to London from Dublin, where they resided, for the purpose of
procuring medical assistance for one of the young ladies, who was
labouring under consumption. The ladies took up their abode in the house
of a Mrs. Roddis, in Mornington Place, Hampstead-road; and Mrs. Cashin
having heard much of the wonderful cures effected by Mr. St. John Long,
determined to seek his advice and aid for her daughter. Mr. Long, it
seems, had not been regularly educated as a surgeon, but he had acquired
considerable celebrity for a line of practice which he had adopted, and
occupied a house in Harley-street, Cavendish-square. Thither Mrs. Cashin
repaired; and a short attendance upon the young lady, who was only
sixteen years of age, was sufficient to confirm the melancholy fears of
her mother, that all human exertions in her behalf would be of no avail.
The insidious nature of the disease by which she was affected was known
and acknowledged by Mrs. Cashin, and a desponding apprehension seized
upon her mind, that her eldest daughter might also be attacked with this
dreadful disorder. A new application on her behalf was therefore decided
upon to Mr. St. John Long, who was requested to devise some means by
which the impending mischief might be prevented. Mr. Long participated
in the fears of the young lady's mother, and acknowledged the prudence
of the course which she had adopted; and, bidding them at once give up
their fears, he assured them of his perfect ability to attain the object
which they so anxiously had in view. Miss Cashin at this time was
twenty-four years of age, and in the full enjoyment of health; but,
notwithstanding the absence of any necessity to take any active steps in
her case, Mr. Long determined upon employing his line of treatment
towards her. The general nature of this treatment may be simply stated
to be this:--in cases of internal disease, it was proposed, by creating
an external wound and a discharge, to carry off the malady. In a few
days the external wound was produced in the case of Miss Cashin, by what
means did not appear, as the general mode of treatment was kept secret
by the quack; and the effect was of the most dreadful description. The
wound daily increased, and appearances soon presented themselves which
so alarmed Mrs. Roddis, the landlady, that she felt herself called upon
to adopt measures on behalf of the young lady.