preparatory to his trial, every means was adopted in order to procure
from him some further confirmation or contradiction of the statement
which he had made with respect to the disposal of the head and body of
Mr. Paas, the recovery of which, if they had not been really destroyed,
would naturally have afforded considerable satisfaction to the friends
of the deceased. All the efforts which were used, however, failed; and
the prisoner contented himself with persisting in the truth of the story
which he had already told. He answered all inquiries with the greatest
composure, and appeared fully aware that his fate in this world was
sealed. With regard to the money which he had taken from Mr. Paas, he
asserted that it amounted only to between 50_l._ and 60_l._, 30_l._ of
which was in notes, while the remainder of the amount was in sovereigns.
On Wednesday, August the 7th, the prisoner was put upon his trial at the
Leicester assizes, charged with the wilful murder of his victim. The
indictment alleged the murder to have been committed in various ways, in
order to meet all the circumstances of the case.
The prisoner, on being called upon to plead, confessed himself guilty of
the offence imputed to him. He declared that he was fully acquainted
with the effect of his plea, and declined to withdraw it.
Sentence of death was then immediately pronounced by the presiding
judge; and in order that the heinous nature of the crime of the prisoner
should be more especially marked, he ordered that his body should be
gibbeted in chains after his execution.
On the following Friday, 10th of August, the first part of the sentence
was carried into effect, the convict being hanged in front of the jail
at Leicester. His demeanour subsequent to his trial was in nowise
altered, but partook of the same degree of calmness for which it had
been previously remarkable. At his execution he was respectably attired
in a black coat and waistcoat, and white duck trowsers. He betrayed but
slight symptoms of emotion, and met his fate with becoming resignation.
Previously to his execution he made a confession of the circumstances of
the murder more in detail than those which he had previously delivered.
He said that he had had the murder in contemplation for a week before
its commission; and that the visit of Mr. Paas to his workshop on the
fatal 30th of May, was deemed by him to present a favourable opportunity
for completing his sanguinary design. When Mr. Paas entered his shop on
the evening of that day, he shut the door, and he then paid him the
amount of a small bill in which he was indebted to him. Mr. Paas had
receipted the bill, and, having risen from his seat at the table, was
examining the binding of a book which lay on the press, when he
conceived that the favourable moment had arrived. Taking up the
press-pin (a heavy iron instrument), he walked behind his victim, and
struck him a tremendous blow on the back of his head. The unfortunate
gentleman raised his hands to his head, and staggering towards the door,
cried out, "Murder" as loud as his voice, enfeebled by the attack which
had been made on him, would allow; but his assailant, now terror-struck,
followed up the blow which he had already dealt with others of equal
severity on the top of his head. The third stroke was sufficient; and
the unfortunate victim of his crime fell heavily to the ground. Turning
on his back, his arms were convulsed for a few moments, when they ceased
to move, and "all was over." His murderer now retired from the room, and
locked the door, but returned again at night to dispose of the body. On
his entering the workshop he stumbled over his victim, and his nerves
were dreadfully shaken by this circumstance, but speedily getting rid of
his alarm, he commenced the work of cutting up the body, and recovered
his usual firmness; and so completely was he restored, that he declared
that he could have continued the horrible occupation in which he was
engaged for a much longer time than he did, if he had deemed it
necessary to do so. He then declared, as a dying man, that he had
consumed by fire every particle of the body and clothes of the deceased
gentleman, except those parts which had been found; and he stated that
_pride_ had driven him to commit the crime, and that he was desirous of
procuring money, in order to embark for America. He alluded, with
seeming horror, to a connexion which he had formed with a society of
young men, who professed Deism, in Leicester, and at whose meetings the
works of Tom Paine, Carlile, and others, were read; and emphatically
added, "Until I got connected with these persons, attending as I did
some place of religious worship three times every Sunday, I considered
myself a moral young man; but my heart was changed by their example."
When the body of the convict had hung the usual time after his
execution, it was cut down and conveyed back to the jail, in order that
the necessary preparations might be made to carry out that portion of
the sentence which directed his remains to be gibbeted in chains. The
head was shaved and tarred, to preserve it from the action of the
weather; and the cap in which he had suffered, was drawn over his face.
On Saturday afternoon his body, attired as at the time of his execution,
having been firmly fixed in the irons necessary to keep the limbs
together, was carried to the place of its intended suspension in
Saffron-lane, not far from the Aylestone Toll-gate, a short distance out
of the town of Leicester. A gallows, thirty-three feet in height, had
been already erected; and the horrible burden which it was intended to
bear was soon attached to it. On the following day, thousands of persons
were attracted to the spot, to view this novel but most barbarous
exhibition; and considerable annoyance was felt by persons residing in
the neighbourhood of the dreadful scene. Representations were, in
consequence, made to the authorities, and on the following Tuesday
morning, instructions were received from the Home Office, directing the
removal of the gibbet, and granting the remission of that portion of the
sentence, by which this exposure, the remnant only of a barbarous age,
was required. These orders were immediately obeyed; and the body was
subsequently buried in Leicester.
WILLIAM JOBLING.
EXECUTED FOR MURDER.
At the Durham assizes, on Wednesday the 1st of August 1832, William
Jobling was tried on an indictment charging him with the wilful murder
of Mr. Fairles, a magistrate, on the previous 11th of June. Mr. Fairles,
it appeared, had given offence to the colliers, from his spirited
exertions to suppress their riotous proceedings. On the day in question
he was returning from the Jarrow Colliery on his pony, when he was
overtaken by the prisoner and a man named Armstrong, who, having first
asked him for money, dragged him from his horse and beat him
unmercifully with a bludgeon, and also pelted him with stones as he lay
on the ground. Mr. Fairles was found in a state of insensibility, and,
on his recovery, swore distinctly to the prisoner and Armstrong, as the
persons by whom he had been attacked. He subsequently died of his
wounds. The prisoner was secured at Shields; Armstrong escaped; the
prisoner was found "Guilty," and received sentence to die on Friday--his
body to be hung in chains.
[Illustration: _Jobling and Armstrong attacking M^r. Fairles._
_P. 354_]
This sentence was carried out to its full extent, the body of the
criminal being suspended to a gibbet in the neighbourhood of the scene
of the murder.
This exhibition, however, gave great offence to the colliers; and after
the remains of the unhappy wretch had been exposed for several weeks,
they were, on Saturday the 8th of September, suddenly missed, having
been removed during the previous night. The deceased had been a collier;
and little doubt was entertained that his late companions and
fellow-workmen had done this service to his memory: all subsequent
efforts to discover the place of concealment of his body proved
unavailing. But although undoubtedly its unauthorised removal was a
serious breach of the law, there were few to be found who looked upon it
as matter for regret, or who did not view the circumstance as a
convincing proof of the impolicy of reviving a practice so barbarous as
the exposure of the bodies of executed criminals.
The law by which this exposure was authorised was enacted by the statute
2 and 3 W. 4, c. 75, s. 16. That act provides, "Whereas an act was
passed in the 9th year of the reign of his late majesty (9 Geo. 4, c.
31), for consolidating and amending the statutes in England relating to
offences against the person, by which latter act it is enacted, that the
body of every person convicted of murder shall, after execution, either
be dissected or hung in chains, as to the court who tried the offender
shall seem meet, and that the sentence to be pronounced by the court
shall express that the body of the offender shall be dissected or hung
in chains, whichsoever of the two the court shall order; Be it enacted,
that so much of the said last recited act as authorises the court, if it
shall see fit, to direct that the body of a person convicted shall,
after execution, be dissected, be and the same is hereby repealed; and
that, in every case of the conviction of any person for murder, the
court before which such prisoner shall have been tried shall direct such
prisoner either to be hung in chains or to be buried within the
precincts of the prison in which such prisoner shall have been confined
after conviction, as to such court shall seem meet; and that the
sentence to be pronounced by the court shall express, that the body of
such prisoner shall be hung in chains, or buried within the precincts of
the prison, whichsoever of the two the court shall order."
The legislature appears to have duly estimated the extent of the disgust
created by the two exhibitions which have been referred to of the
remains of Cook and Jobling; and, by the 4 and 5 W. 4, c. 26, s. 1, the
provisions of the statute last mentioned are repealed, so far as they
relate to the hanging of criminals in chains. That act enacts (after
reciting the provisions of the statutes of 9 Geo. 4, and 2 and 3 W. 4),
"That so much of the said recited act, made and passed in the ninth year
of the reign of Geo. 4, as authorised the court to direct that the body
of a prisoner convicted of murder should, after execution, be hung in
chains, and also so much of the said recited act, made and passed in the
second and third year of the reign of W. 4 as provided, that in every
case of the conviction of any prisoner for murder, the court should
direct such prisoner to be hung in chains, should be and the same is
hereby repealed."
DENNIS COLLINS.
CONVICTED OF HIGH TREASON, IN THROWING A STONE AT KING WILLIAM IV.
This extraordinary attack on the person of his majesty took place at
Ascot Heath races, for many years the resort of the royal family. The
assault, for in common parlance it amounted to no more, appears to have
originated in nothing more than an insane desire on the part of the
person who was guilty of it to vent his anger on the king for a supposed
injury, inflicted on him in the forfeiture of a pension which had been
granted to him for past services in the navy.
It was on Thursday, the 19th of June 1832, that this attack was made.
His majesty, accompanied by his consort, had just reached the grand
stand on the race-course, and had advanced to the front window to
acknowledge the respectful greetings of his people, when two stones,
thrown in quick succession after each other, were seen to fly in the
direction of the window at which the royal party was stationed. The
first stone rebounded from the building to the ground below, but the
second entered the open window and struck his majesty a somewhat severe
blow on the front of the head. An instant alarm was raised, and a
thousand arms were extended to seize the individual by whom the attack
was made, whose act was attributed to an intention far more dangerous
than it eventually appeared the unfortunate man had had. His majesty was
much agitated, and retired to the inner part of the room, apparently in
alarm lest any further violence should be attempted, and was observed to
express considerable fear lest her majesty, or any of the females of the
suite, might receive injury; but in a few moments he regained his
self-possession, and presented himself at the window to assure the
public of his safety. His majesty had received a slight injury only,
owing to the stone having fallen upon his hat; and the royal party
appeared perfectly re-assured long before the alarm created in the minds
of those present had subsided, and they had become convinced that the
attack was not the subject of some deep laid and villanous plot.
The wretched author of the mischief, as we have already stated, had been
immediately secured, and he was now carried before Sir F. A. Roe, the
chief magistrate of Westminster, who was always in attendance upon his
majesty upon such occasions, and who held a species of court in a room
under the Grand Stand. Gardiner, the Bow-street officer, had the
prisoner in charge, and conducted him to the presence of the magistrate.
In a few moments the room where the examination was held was crowded
with persons in attendance on his majesty, or attached to the royal
suite, who were anxious to learn the particulars of this extraordinary
act, as well as to ascertain the station and occupation of the assailant
of the king.
The prisoner was found to be old and decrepit, with a wooden leg, and
wearing the tattered garb of a sailor. He gave his name Dennis Collins,
and surveyed the assembled throng with a calm composure, while, however,
there appeared to be considerable incoherence in the expressions which
he occasionally let fall, produced apparently indeed by the confusion in
which he was involved, consequential upon the somewhat rough treatment
which he had received from the mob before he had reached the custody of
the police-officers. The circumstances which have been already detailed
were now proved in evidence; and witnesses were examined who had seen
the prisoner on the race-course during the morning, and had remarked his
demeanour. He appeared to be occupied in begging, but an angry
resentment seemed to be exciting his mind. This had evidently reached
its height at the moment of his attack upon his majesty; but his
premeditation appeared to be exhibited beyond a doubt by his possession
of the missiles which he threw, which must have been brought from a
somewhat distant part of the ground.
The miserable old man was considerably below the middle height, and the
general aspect which he presented was the reverse of pleasing, on
account of the want of cleanliness of his person. His countenance was by
no means ill-favoured, and a bright sparkling eye appeared to lend to it
an expression of considerable intelligence. He made no statement before
the magistrates, and was eventually committed to Reading jail for
re-examination on the following Wednesday.
On that day the necessary witnesses to his crime were called, and their
depositions formally taken, and the prisoner was then called upon for
his defence. His address to the magistrates was highly characteristic of
the old sailor, a station to which it appears the prisoner was entitled.
He said, "I own myself in a great fault for throwing these stones at his
Majesty. I was in Greenwich Hospital on the 16th of December last, as an
in-pensioner. I had been there eighteen months. The ward-keeper was
sweeping the place, and I told him he had no business to sweep it more
than once a-day; the boatswain's mate abused me, and I returned it. A
complaint was then made to Sir Richard Keats (the governor), and I was
expelled for life. I petitioned to the Lords of the Admiralty to have
the pension which I had before I went into the hospital restored to me.
I am entitled to that pension by an act passed in the reign of George
IV., which entitles a pensioner to have the same pension which he had
before he became an in-pensioner, unless he struck an officer, or
committed felony, or did anything of the kind, which I did no such
thing; on the 19th of last April I petitioned the king to have my
pension restored. He answered by sending the petition to the Lords of
the Admiralty, and Mr. Barrow, the secretary, sent a letter to me at the
public-house, the Admiral Duncan, with the same answer the king gave.
The answer was, that 'His Majesty could do nothing for me.' This was
part in writing, and part in print. I had neither workhouse nor overseer
to apply to, and had not broke my fast for three days; merely distress
drove me to it. His majesty never did me an injury, and I am exceedingly
sorry I threw a stone or anything else at his majesty. On the 17th of
the present month I went to Admiral Rowley's; he swore at me and kicked
me. I can only say I am very sorry for what I have done, and must suffer
the law. They had no right to take my pension from me, to which I was
entitled by Act of Parliament."
This was all the wretched man said, and he was then fully committed for
trial in the customary form, upon the charge of high treason.
His trial took place at Abingdon on Wednesday the 22d August, when he
was arraigned upon an indictment, charging him with assaulting his
majesty, with intent to kill and murder him,--with intent to maim and
disable him,--and with intent to do him some grievous bodily harm.
The prisoner pleaded not guilty, and the case was immediately
commenced. The evidence was conclusive as to the facts which we have
stated, and a verdict of "Guilty" upon the last count was returned.
The sentence awarded by the law to the offence of high treason was
immediately passed, the prisoner being ordered to be drawn and
quartered, in obedience to the ancient and long existing practice.
It was directly known that a sentence so severe would not be carried
into full effect upon a man whose only crime appeared to have been
insanity, although there was no distinct evidence by which this
supposition could be proved; and on the following Friday, a respite was
received at Abingdon jail, by which the punishment of death was removed
in the case of the wretched old convict.
Collins, at the time of his trial, was upwards of seventy years of age,
and, as his defence before the magistrates imported, he had served in
the navy for many years. His gallant conduct in an action was the cause
of his losing his leg, and he was compelled to quit the service. He
subsequently exerted himself to procure his admission to Greenwich
Hospital, and eventually he succeeded; but he was expelled for the
misconduct which he pointed out. From this time he appears to have
supported himself by begging, and he was well known at the various fairs
and race-courses, which, however, he had previously been in the habit of
frequenting in a similar character.
His sentence was eventually commuted to transportation for life, and he
was sent from this country to Van Dieman's Land. A short residence in
that colony ended his days. He died at Port Philip in the spring of the
year 1834.
WILLIAM KENNEDY AND WILLIAM BROWN.
TRIED FOR A MURDER COMMITTED ON THE RIVER THAMES.
This unfortunate case produced a deep sensation throughout the
metropolis, and for a considerable space of time tended, in a very
material degree, to prevent persons attached to the exercise of rowing
on the river Thames from pursuing their favourite sport. The
circumstances of the death of the deceased are singular, and deserve to
be related.
It appears, that Mr. William Wilkinson was the managing clerk to Messrs.
Williams, Jacob, and Co., merchants, of Hare-court, Aldersgate-street,
and at the time of his death had reached his twenty-fifth year. He was
fond of the sports of the river, and frequently enjoyed the exercise of
rowing, either alone or in company with a friend. On the evening of
Tuesday the 17th of July, accompanied by a Mr. Smales, a stationer, of
No. 36, Aldersgate-street, he proceeded to the yard of Mr. Hodges, near
Blackfriars-bridge, and there hired a boat for the purpose of proceeding
up the river. They had reached Vauxhall-bridge, when through the falling
shades of night they saw two boats advancing upon them, and as they
supposed dogging or following them. They did not immediately take any
notice of the circumstance, but pulling on through the bridge they
reached a spot near to the lock or opening of the Grosvenor Canal. They
found that the boats were still in their vicinity, and were drawing
nearer to them: and Mr. Wilkinson remarked, that he did not like their
appearance. At this moment Mr. Smales drew his watch from his pocket to
see what time it was, and he found that it was ten o'clock. Mr.
Wilkinson suggested that they could pull on for ten minutes longer, and
then return with the tide and take a glass of ale at the Spread Eagle
tavern, a much frequented waterside house. While this conversation was
going on, one of the boats which had been chasing them passed, and they
had just taken their sculls in their hands to resume their progress, and
had pulled a few strokes, when they found that they had come in contact
with the boat. Mr. Wilkinson exclaimed, "We are foul of a boat here, let
us shove her off," and proceeded to clear the funny in which he was from
the other boat; but he found that his efforts were unavailing, and that,
notwithstanding his exertions, the boat came alongside. There were two
persons in it, and one of them, whose appearance was remarkable from his
wearing a blue and white night-cap, made a snatch at the coats of Mr.
Wilkinson and Mr. Smales, which were lying at the feet of the former in
the funny. He was successful in reaching them and drawing them into his
own boat, which was a light skiff, and he and his companion then
directly shoved off and rowed away with all speed. Mr. Smales raised his
scull and endeavoured to strike the leading offender in this impudent
robbery; and at the same moment, Mr. Wilkinson sprung from his own boat
and seized the gunwale of the receding skiff. The second boat at this
moment was observed to be rowed away with great speed, and Mr. Smales'
attention was directed to his friend, who, holding the antagonist boat,
was immersed in the river. He saw that his hands were pushed away from
their hold by the same man who had before been active in the robbery,
and then the same man and his companion struck him repeatedly and
violently over the head and hands with their sculls. Mr. Smales cried
"Murder," at perceiving the imminent danger in which his friend was
placed, and exerted himself to save him by throwing to him two of the
sculls in his boat. His efforts were, however, futile, and he saw Mr.
Wilkinson sink, apparently overpowered by the blows which he had
received. The boat in which their assailants were now rowed away as
quickly as possible, and the waiter and jack-in-the-water at the Spread
Eagle, alarmed by the outcry, put off to the assistance of Mr. Smales.
He acquainted them with what had passed, and urged them to endeavour to
save his friend, but they were unable to render any effectual aid, and
were compelled to give up their search after a useless attempt to
recover the body of Mr. Wilkinson. Fresh assistance from the shore was
procured, and drags were employed, but to no purpose.
Mr. Smales, on his proceeding on shore, at once gave information of what
had occurred to two friends whom he accidentally met at the Spread
Eagle, and accompanied by them he secured the co-operation of Mitchell,
a surveyor of the Thames Police, in endeavouring to secure the
originators of the attack upon him and his friend, and the death of the
latter.