It is somewhat remarkable that it was on the morning of this day that the body was discovered. As a gentleman and his servant were crossing the fields at Marylebone, they observed something lying in a ditch, and, on going nearer to it, they perceived that it was some parts of a human body. Assistance being procured, the whole of the body was found except the head; and information of the circumstance was conveyed to Mr. Lambert at the very moment at which he was examining the prisoners. The suspicions which already existed were strengthened by this circumstance, and Mrs. Hayes was committed to Newgate for trial; the committal of Billings and Mrs. Springate, however, being deferred until the apprehension of Wood.

The latter soon after coming into town and riding up to Mrs. Hayes’ lodgings, was directed to go to the house of Mr. Longmore, where he was told he would find Mrs. Hayes; but the brother of Longmore standing at the door, he immediately seized him, and caused him to be carried before Mr. Lambert. He underwent an examination; but, refusing to make any confession, he was sent to Tothill-fields’ Bridewell. On his arrival at the prison he was informed that the body had been found: and, not doubting but that the whole affair would come to light, he begged that he might be carried back to the justice’s house. This being made known to Mr. Lambert, the prisoner was brought up, and he then acknowledged the particulars of the murder, and signed his confession. This wretched man owned that since the perpetration of the crime he had been terrified at the sight of every one he met, that he had not experienced a moment’s peace, and that his mind had been distracted with the most violent agitation.

His commitment to Newgate was immediately made out, and he was conducted to that prison under the escort of eight soldiers, with fixed bayonets, whose whole efforts were necessary to protect him from the violence of the mob. A Mr. Mercer visiting Mrs. Hayes in prison, she begged him to go to Billings and urge him to confess the whole truth, as no advantage, she said, could be expected to arise from a denial of that which was too clearly proved to admit of denial; and he being carried before Justice Lambert again, gave an account precisely concurring with that of Wood. Mrs. Springate, whose innocence was now distinctly proved, was set at liberty.

At the trial Wood and Billings confessed themselves guilty of the crime alleged against them; but Mrs. Hayes, flattering herself that as she had said nothing, she had a chance of escape, put herself upon her trial; but the jury found her guilty. The prisoners being afterwards brought to the bar to receive sentence, Mrs. Hayes entreated that she might not be burned, according to the then law of petty treason, alleging that she was not guilty, as she did not strike the fatal blow; but she was informed by the court that the sentence awarded by the law could not be dispensed with.

After conviction the behaviour of Wood was uncommonly penitent and devout; but while in the condemned hold he was seized with a violent fever, and, being attended by a clergyman to assist him in his devotions, he said he was ready to suffer death, under every mark of ignominy, as some atonement for the atrocious crime he had committed; but he died in prison, and thus defeated the final execution of the law. Billings behaved with apparent sincerity, acknowledging the justice of his sentence, and saying that no punishment could be commensurate with the crime of which he had been guilty. The behaviour of Mrs. Hayes was somewhat similar to her former conduct. Having an intention to destroy herself, she procured a phial of strong poison, which was casually tasted by a woman who was confined with her, and her design thereby discovered and frustrated. On the day of her death she received the sacrament, and was drawn on a sledge to the place of execution. Billings was executed in the usual manner, and hung in chains, not far from the pond in which Mr. Hayes’s body was found, in Marylebone Fields; but when the wretched woman had finished her devotions, in pursuance of her sentence an iron chain put round her body, with which she was fixed to a stake near the gallows. On those occasions, when women were burned for petty treason, it was customary to strangle them, by means of a rope passed round the neck, and pulled by the executioner, so that they were dead before the flames reached the body. But this woman was literally burned alive; for the executioner letting go the rope sooner than usual, in consequence of the flames reaching his hands, the fire burned fiercely round her, and the spectators beheld her pushing away the faggots, while she rent the air with her cries and lamentations. Other faggots were instantly thrown on her; but she survived amidst the flames for a considerable time, and her body was not perfectly reduced to ashes in less than three hours[5]. These malefactors suffered at Tyburn, May 9, 1726.

MARGARET DIXON.

EXECUTED FOR MURDER.

After her condemnation she behaved in the most penitent manner, confessed that she had been guilty of many sins, and even owned that she had departed from the line of duty to her husband; but she constantly and steadily denied that she had murdered her child, or had even formed an idea of so horrid a crime. She owned that the fear of being exposed to the ridicule of her neighbours had tempted her to deny that she was pregnant; and she said that, being suddenly seized with the pains of child-birth, she was unable to procure the assistance of her neighbours; and that a state of insensibility ensued, so that it was impossible she should know what became of the infant.

At the place of execution she persisted in her protestations of innocence, and Jack Ketch having performed his office, the body hung the usual time, and was then cut down and delivered to the friends of the deceased. By them it was put into a coffin, and sent in a cart to be buried at her native place; but the weather being sultry, the persons who had it in their care stopped to drink at a village called Peppermill, about two miles from Edinburgh. While they were refreshing themselves, one of them perceived the lid of the coffin move, and uncovering it, the woman sat upright, to the infinite alarm of the spectators. The mystery being soon explained; a fellow, who was present, had sufficient sagacity to bleed her; and in the course of the ensuing day she was sufficiently recovered to be able to walk home to her old residence at Musselburgh.

By the Scottish law, not only was she released by the execution from the consequences of the crime of which she had been found guilty, but from the bonds of matrimony also; but her husband having by this time returned from sea, he was publicly re-married to his old wife, within a few days after she had been hanged. A suit was subsequently brought by the Lord Advocate against the sheriff for omitting to perform his office; but as it turned out that the escape of the convict was not owing to any neglect on his part, but to some peculiar formation of the neck of the woman, the prosecution was abandoned.

The date of this transaction was the month of November, 1728; and the subject of this most remarkable escape was living in the year 1753, when it is due to her to state that she still persisted in her declarations of innocence.

JOHN GOW AND OTHERS.

EXECUTED FOR PIRACY.

THE principal in this list of offenders was named John Gow, and was a native of one of the Orkney Islands. Having chosen a seafaring life, he was appointed second mate of a vessel going to Santa Cruz. Some complaints having been made before the vessel quitted port, of the insufficiency of the provisions given to the men, the captain took little notice of them; and it was not until he had quitted the shore some days, that he learned, too late, the mistake of which he had been guilty. The feelings of discontent which had been already exhibited were soon fanned into a flame, and at length it became necessary for the captain, chief mate, and surgeon to arm themselves. Gow, whose duties as second mate also included those of gunner, was ordered to clean the small-arms necessary for this purpose; but being a party to a conspiracy, which existed among his shipmates to seize the vessel, he communicated the order to his fellows, and it was determined to put their project into execution forthwith. Between nine and ten o’clock at night, the signal was given, and the conspirators going to the cabins of the chief mate, surgeon, and supercargo, cut their throats while they were asleep. The captain ran on deck to ascertain the cause of a noise which he heard, and was immediately seized, and, although he made a desperate resistance, was despatched in as short a time as his unfortunate brother officers had been. The bodies of the murdered men were then thrown overboard, and Gow was selected as the new captain. Assembling his associates on deck, their determination to commence pirates was soon formed; and some of the seamen who had hesitated to become parties to the diabolical murders of their officers, were forced to join the crew in their piratical proceedings on pain of death. A fellow named Williams, of a most brutal disposition, was chosen as lieutenant; and the name of the vessel, which had been the George Galley, was changed to the more bloody one of Revenge. Having mounted several guns, they steered towards Spain and Portugal, in expectation of making a capture of wine, in a supply of which they were greatly deficient. They soon made prize of an English vessel laden with fish, bound from Newfoundland to Cadiz; but having no use for the cargo, they took out the captain and four men, and sunk the ship.

One of the seamen whom they took from the captured vessel was named James Belvin, a man admirably calculated for their purpose, as he was by nature cruel, and by practice hardened in that cruelty; and being willing to turn pirate, he was thought a valuable acquisition to the crew, as several of the others appeared to act from motives of fear rather than of inclination.

The next vessel taken by the pirates was a Scotch ship bound to Italy with pickled herrings; but this cargo, like the former, being of no use to them, they sunk the vessel, having first taken out the men, arms, ammunition, and stores.

After having cruised about for a considerable time without any further successes, their supply of water ran so short, that they felt it absolutely necessary to procure a fresh stock. They sailed, therefore, to a Portuguese settlement; and, on their arrival, they sent some presents to the governor, intimating their wants. The governor treating the messengers with civility, proceeded on board the vessel, and he was there received by the pirates with every mark of respect and attention. The boat, which had been sent for supplies, however, not returning, the captain began to suspect that his men were not safe, and threatened to murder his visitors unless his demands were complied with. The governor was terrified at this threat; but soon procured his liberty by assenting to the wishes of his entertainer. They afterwards made several prizes, in one of which they sent away the Scotch captain and his crew; but shortly afterwards meeting with a French vessel of superior power, the captain refused to give chase to or to engage it. Williams, the lieutenant, upbraided him for what he termed his cowardice, and a violent quarrel taking place, the lieutenant endeavoured to shoot his captain. The crew agreeing in opinion with the latter as to the impropriety of fighting against a force so superior to their own, Williams was soon secured, and placed among the other prisoners. The French vessel was permitted to continue on her way; and soon afterwards meeting with a ship bound for Bristol, they robbed her of her stores and ammunition, and putting their prisoners and Williams on board of her, the latter of whom they directed to be given up to the British authorities, they allowed her to proceed on her voyage.

As soon as she had left them, Gow and his crew began to reflect on their situation. They were apprehensive that as soon as intelligence of their proceedings reached Portugal, some ships would be sent in pursuit of them; and they called a kind of council, in which every one gave his opinion.

Gow proposed to sail to the Isles of Orkney, on the north of Scotland, where he said, they might dispose of their effects, and retire and live on the produce; and in order to induce his people to comply with this proposal, he represented that they were much in want of water, and provisions of every kind; that their danger would be great if they continued longer on the high seas; and, above all, that it was highly necessary for them to repair their ship, which they could not do with any degree of safety in a southern port.

Convinced by these arguments, they proceeded northwards, and soon reached the Orkney Islands; and entering one of the bays there they proceeded, as well as they were able, to refit the ship. This step was, however, fatal to their enterprise; for one of their companions, who had unwillingly joined in the piratical proceedings of the crew, escaped, and gave information of all that had occurred. Ten others followed his example, and seized the long-boat; but reaching Edinburgh, they were confined on suspicion of being pirates.

Notwithstanding these alarming circumstances, Gow was so careless of his own safety, that he did not put immediately to sea, but resolved to plunder the houses of the gentlemen on the coast, to furnish himself with fresh provisions.

In pursuance of this resolution, he sent his boatswain and ten armed men to the house of Mr. Honeyman, high-sheriff of the county; and the master being absent, the servants opened the door without suspicion. Nine of the gang went into the house to search for treasure, while the tenth was left to guard the door. Mrs. Honeyman, running to the door, saw the man who stood guard there, whom she asked what could be the meaning of the outrage; to which he replied, that they were pirates, and had come thither only to ransack the house. Recollecting that she had a considerable quantity of gold in a bag, she returned and put it in her lap, and ran by the man at the door, who had no idea but that the wish to preserve her life occasioned her haste. The boatswain missing this part of the expected treasure, declared that he would destroy the family writings; but this being overheard by Miss Honeyman, she threw the writings out of the window, and, jumping out after them, escaped unhurt and carried them off. In the interim the pirates seized the linen, plate, and other valuable articles, and then walked in triumph to their boat, compelling one of the servants to play before them on the bagpipes. They afterwards carried off two women whom they met; and detaining them on board during two days, so ill-treated them, that one expired soon after they had put them on shore.

This atrocious offence was no sooner committed than they sailed to Calf-Sound, with an intention of robbing the house of Mr. Fea, who had been an old school-fellow with Gow. This house was the rather pitched upon, as Gow supposed that Mr. Fea could not have yet heard of the transactions at Mr. Honeyman’s; but in this he was mistaken, although Fea could not oppose him, on account of the indisposition of his wife.

Mr. Fea’s house was situated near the sea-shore; he had only six servants at home when the pirates appeared off the coast; and these were by no means equal to sustain a contest. It may not be improper to remark, that the tide runs so high among these islands, and beats with such force against the rocks, that the navigation is frequently attended with great danger. Gow, who had not boats to assist him in an emergency, and was unskilled in the navigation of these seas, made a blunder in turning into the bay of Calf-Sound; for, standing too near the point of a small island called the Calf, the vessel was in the utmost danger of being run on shore. Having cast his anchor too near the shore, so that the wind could not bring him off, he sent a boat with a letter to Mr. Fea, requesting that he would lend him another boat, to assist him in heaving off the ship, by carrying out an anchor; and assuring him that he would not do the least injury to any individual.

As Gow’s messenger did not see Mr. Fea’s boat, the latter gave him an evasive answer; and on the approach of night ordered his servants to sink his own boat, and hide the sails and rigging. While they were obeying this order five of the pirates came on shore in the boat, and proceeded, doubly armed, towards the house. Mr. Fea advanced towards them with an assurance of friendship, and begged they would not enter the house, for that his wife was exceedingly ill; and the sight of them might probably deprive her of life. The boatswain replied that they had no design to terrify Mrs. Fea, or any other person; but that the most rigorous treatment must be expected if the use of the boat was denied them. Mr. Fea represented how dangerous it would be for him to assist them, on account of the reports circulated to their discredit; but he offered to entertain them at an adjacent ale-house; and they accepted the invitation, as they observed that he had no company. In the mean while, Mr. Fea ordered his servants to call him hastily out of the company; and these orders being exactly complied with, when he had left the pirates, he directed six men, well armed, to station themselves behind a hedge; and that if they observed him to come alone with the boatswain, instantly to seize his companion; but if he came with all the five desperadoes, he would walk forward, so as to give them an opportunity of firing at them without their wounding him.

He then returned to the company, whom he invited to his house, on the promise of their behaving peaceably, and said he would make them heartily welcome. They expressed a readiness to attend him, in the hope of getting the boat; but he told them he would rather have the boatswain’s company first, and would afterwards send for his companions.

This being agreed to, the boatswain set forward with two brace of pistols, and walking with Mr. Fea till they came to the hedge where the men were concealed, that gentleman seized him by the collar, while the others took him into custody before he had time to make any defence. The boatswain called aloud for his men; but Mr. Fea forcing a handkerchief into his mouth, bound him hand and foot, and then left one of his own people to guard him, while he and the rest went back to the public-house.

There being two doors to the house, they went some to the one, and some to the other; and rushing in at once made prisoners of the other four men before they had time to have recourse to their arms for defence. The pirates being thus in custody, were sent to an adjacent village, and separately confined; and in the interim Mr. Fea sent messengers round the island to acquaint the inhabitants with what had been done; to desire them to haul their boats on the beach, that the pirates should not swim to and steal them; and to request that no person would venture to row within reach of the pirates’ guns.

The vessel now got into a position of still greater difficulty, and in order to get it out to sea some assistance was absolutely requisite. Gow’s greatest efforts were therefore made to induce Mr. Fea to render him some aid; and the latter, by holding out promises of assistance, eventually succeeded in getting the whole of the piratical crew on shore, and in securing them. They were subsequently conveyed to London, where, on their being examined, five of them were admitted as witnesses, while the rest were committed for trial, along with their old associate Williams, who had been conveyed to England by the master of the Bristol ship. Gow, Williams, and six others, were convicted and received sentence of death; while the remainder, who appeared to have been the victims, rather than the companions of the others, escaped.

The behaviour of Gow from his first commitment was reserved and morose. He considered himself as an assured victim to the justice of the laws, nor entertained any hope of being admitted an evidence, as Mr. Fea had hinted to him that he might be. When brought to trial he refused to plead, in consequence of which he was sentenced to be pressed to death in the usual manner. When the officer, however, was about to inflict this punishment, he begged to be taken back to the bar, and having there pleaded Not Guilty, he was convicted on the same evidence as his accomplices.

Gow, Williams, and six others, were hanged at Execution Dock, on the 11th of August, 1729.

COLONEL FRANCIS CHARTERIS.

CONVICTED OF RAPE.

The Earl of Orkney, anxious for the credit of the army in general, and his countrymen in particular, represented the state of the case to the Duke of Marlborough, who gave orders that Charteris should be put under arrest and tried by court-martial. The court was composed of an equal number of English and Scotch officers, in order that the accused might have no reason to complain of his trial; and after a full hearing of all the circumstances against him, he was sentenced to return the money which he had obtained by his guilty artifices, to be deprived of his commission, and his sword having been broken, to be drummed out of the regiment.

This sentence having been carried out to its fullest extent, the degraded officer returned to Scotland; but there, by means of the most servile submission and the use of the money which he possessed, he procured for himself a new commission in a regiment of horse, in which he was eventually advanced to the rank of colonel.

The lesson which he had received, one would have thought would have been sufficient to deter him from a renewal of those artifices in the employment of which he had been detected; but every day served to furnish him with new victims among the young men of rank and fashion, to whom, by his standing in the army, he contrived to procure introductions. Nor was his character infamous only on account of the dishonesty of his proceedings, but he soon obtained an unenviable notoriety on account of the unprincipled boldness with which he conducted his libidinous amours. Agents were employed, whose duty it was to procure new subjects for the horrid desires of their master, and the most extraordinary and unhallowed devices were employed by them to secure the object which they had in view. Public disgust was excited in the highest degree by the open daring with which these proceedings were carried on, and at length the name and character of this abominable libertine became so notorious as to render him the object of universal detestation and disgust.

Among other unfortunate young women who fell into the hands of this villain, was one whose name was Anne Bond. She was a girl of respectable connexions, and being in search of employment as a servant, her bad fortune threw her into the way of the agents of Charteris. She was possessed of considerable personal attractions, and she was employed under a representation that her master was a Colonel Harvey. A few days, however, served to inform her of the name of the person into whose hands she had fallen. Her master professed to behave towards her with great kindness and consideration; but within a week after she had entered his employment, he made to her a proposition of a most disgusting nature. She repelled the foul temptation, and her fears being alarmed by the circumstance, she was confirmed in a determination, at which she had nearly arrived, to quit the service in which she was employed, by hearing on the following day that her master was no other than the Colonel Charteris of whose character she, in common with the world, had heard so much. She therefore immediately acquainted the housekeeper with her intention to leave the house; but the colonel having been informed of the circumstance, he behaved towards her with great violence, and threatened that if she dared to run away, he would shoot her. He then ordered the other servants to take care that she did not escape, and on the following day proceeded to the accomplishment of the design by force, in which he had failed to succeed by stratagem. He ordered her to be sent into the parlour by the clerk of the kitchen, and then desiring her to stir the fire, he threw her down, and having stopped her mouth with his nightcap, he completed an offence which subjected him to capital punishment. The girl, on recovering her position, threatened to prosecute him, and then he beat her most unmercifully with a horsewhip, and calling the clerk of the kitchen, bid him turn her out of doors, alleging that she had robbed him of thirty guineas. His orders having been directly obeyed, the girl proceeded forthwith to prefer an indictment for the assault which had been committed; but the Grand Jury finding that the colonel had, in reality, been guilty of a capital offence, they at once returned a true bill on that charge.

Colonel Charteris was immediately taken into custody for the crime alleged against him and lodged in Newgate, where he was loaded with heavy fetters; but having, through the instrumentality of his friends, procured a writ of habeas corpus, he was admitted to bail.

The trial took place at the Old Bailey on the 25th of February, 1730, when every effort was used to traduce the character of the prosecutrix, with a view to destroy the force of her evidence; but, happily, her character was so fair, and there was so little reason to think that she had any sinister view in the prosecution, that every artifice failed, and, after a long trial, in which the facts were proved to the satisfaction of the jury, a verdict of guilty was returned, and the Colonel received sentence to be executed in the customary form. The same interest which had before been employed on behalf of this villain was now again made use of; and upon the settlement of a handsome annuity upon the prosecutrix, he received a pardon from the King. He soon found, however, that London was no longer a place in which he could appear, unless to be pointed at with the finger of scorn; and he retired to Edinburgh, where, after a lapse of two years, he died in a miserable manner, the victim of his own dissolute and hateful passions.

His vices were so notorious, that it was not without great difficulty that his body was committed to the grave. The place appointed for the reception of his remains was the family vault in the church of the Greyfriars in Edinburgh; but the mob having assembled, they made a violent effort to obtain possession of his coffin, with a view to tear it and its contents to pieces, and committed a variety of other irregularities, in honest contempt of the detestable character which he bore. At the time of his death, he was possessed of very large estates in England and Scotland, the produce of many usurious transactions, to which he was a party during the latter portion of his life. He was married to the daughter of Sir Alexander Swinton, of Scotland, by whom he had one daughter, who was afterwards united to the Earl of Wemyss.

Soon after Charteris was convicted, a fine mezzotinto print of him was published, representing him standing at the bar of the Old Bailey with his thumbs tied; at the bottom of which was the following inscription:

A most severe but just description of the character of Charteris was afterwards written by Dr. Arbuthnot, who published it in the form of an epitaph, as follows:—

HERE LIETH THE BODY OF
C O L O N E L   D O N   F R A N C I S C O,
WHO, WITH AN
INFLEXIBLE CONSTANCY,
AND INIMITABLE UNIFORMITY
OF LIFE, PERSISTED, IN SPITE OF
AGE AND INFIRMITY, IN THE PRACTICE OF
EVERY HUMAN VICE, EXCEPTING PRODIGALITY
AND HYPOCRISY; HIS INSATIABLE AVARICE EXEMPTING
HIM FROM THE FIRST, AND HIS MATCHLESS IMPUDENCE FROM
THE LATTER. NOR WAS HE MORE SINGULAR IN THAT UNDEVIATING
VICIOUSNESS OF LIFE THAN SUCCESSFUL IN ACCUMULATING WEALTH,
HAVING, WITHOUT TRUST OF PUBLIC MONEY, BRIBE, WORTH, SERVICE,
TRADE, OR PROFESSION, ACQUIRED, OR RATHER CREATED, A MINISTERIAL ESTATE.
AMONG THE SINGULARITIES OF HIS LIFE AND FORTUNE, BE IT LIKEWISE
COMMEMORATED, THAT HE WAS THE ONLY PERSON IN HIS TIME
WHO WOULD CHEAT WITHOUT THE MASK OF HONESTY;
WHO WOULD RETAIN HIS PRIMEVAL MEANNESS, AFTER
BEING POSSESSED OF 10,000 POUNDS A YEAR;
AND WHO, HAVING DONE EVERY DAY OF
HIS LIFE SOMETHING WORTHY OF
A GIBBET, WAS ONCE CONDEMNED
TO ONE FOR WHAT HE
HAD NOT DONE.

THINK NOT, INDIGNANT READER, HIS LIFE USELESS TO MANKIND.
PROVIDENCE FAVOURED, OR RATHER CONNIVED AT, HIS
EXECRABLE DESIGNS, THAT HE MIGHT REMAIN, TO THIS
AND FUTURE AGES, A CONSPICUOUS PROOF AND
EXAMPLE OF HOW SMALL ESTIMATION
EXORBITANT WEALTH IS HELD IN
THE SIGHT OF THE ALMIGHTY,
BY HIS BESTOWING IT ON
THE MOST UNWORTHY OF ALL THE DESCENDANTS OF ADAM.

SARAH MALCOLM.

EXECUTED FOR MURDER.

THIS unhappy young woman, who at the period of her death was only twenty-two years of age, was born of respectable parents, in the county of Durham, in the year 1711; but her father having, through his extravagance, spent the whole of the property which he possessed, she was at length compelled to resort to what is commonly called “servitude,” for the means of subsistence. In this condition for several years she conducted herself extremely well; but at length being employed at the Black Horse, a low public-house in Boswell-court, near Temple-bar, which up to the present day has been constantly the notorious resort of persons of bad character, she formed connexions of no very creditable class, by whom she was led on to her ruin. Having at length quitted the Black Horse, she was recommended as a laundress to take charge of chambers in the Inns of Court; and amongst those for whom she there worked, was a Mrs. Lydia Duncomb, a lady nearly eighty years of age, who occupied a set of chambers in the Temple; Elizabeth Harrison, aged sixty, and Ann Price, aged seventeen, living with her in the capacity of servants. This lady being reputed to be very rich, a scheme was formed by Sarah Malcolm of robbing her chambers; her object being, it was supposed, by the acquisition of wealth, to make herself a fitting match for a young man named Alexander, who she hoped would marry her.

The night of Saturday, 3d February, 1733, was fixed upon by her for the commission of the robbery; and Martha Tracy, a woman of light character, her paramour Alexander, and his brother, were to be her assistants in the execution of the project. Malcolm, by means of her acquaintance with the chambers, obtained possession of the keys of the outer door in the course of the day, and at night the robbery was effected, but with it the murder also of Mrs. Duncomb and her servants Harrison and Price. On the Sunday morning some surprise was excited on its being observed that none of Mrs. Duncomb’s family were to be seen; and at length, as the day advanced, great alarm was exhibited, and suspicions were entertained that all was not right. Mrs. Love, Mrs. Rhymer, and Mrs. Oliphant, friends of Mrs. Duncomb, assembled in the afternoon at the door of her chambers, in obedience to an invitation which they had received to dinner; but being unable to gain admittance by knocking, they at length determined to force an entrance. One of the windows was resorted to for this purpose, to which access was obtained from a neighbouring set of chambers; and then, on Mrs. Oliphant going into Mrs. Duncomb’s bed-room, the old lady was found there strangled, while her servant Harrison was discovered in an adjoining apartment also strangled, and the girl Price was seen lying on her bed with her throat cut from ear to ear. The news of this diabolical crime soon became published through the neighbourhood; and the chambers of the deceased being examined, it was found that they had been stripped of all the valuables which could be easily carried away, consisting of money, silver plate, and other articles of a similar description. In the course of the day some circumstances transpired, tending to fix the suspicions of the police upon the woman Malcolm; and upon her lodgings being searched, a silver tankard, the handle of which was covered with blood, was found concealed in a close-stool. She was in consequence taken into custody, and having undergone an examination on the following day before the magistrates, she was committed to Newgate. Upon her entering the jail, she was searched by Johnson, one of the turnkeys, who took from her a considerable sum of money in gold and silver coin, and she admitted to him that it was Mrs. Duncomb’s. “But,” added she, “I’ll make you a present of it if you will say nothing of the matter.” The jailer took possession of the money, but produced it to his superior officers, acquainting them with the conversation which had passed. In the course of the subsequent imprisonment of the unhappy woman, she frequently conversed with Johnson upon the subject of the murder, and admitted that she had arranged the robbery, although she declared that she had had nothing to do with putting Mrs. Duncomb and her servants to death. She asserted that two men and a woman were concerned with her, and that she watched on the stairs while they entered the chambers.

At her trial, when called on for her defence, she made a similar declaration, and stated that Tracy and the two Alexanders were her companions; but she still persisted in her allegation of her ignorance of the murder, until its being discovered by Mrs. Oliphant on the day after it was committed. A verdict of guilty was, however, returned, and the wretched woman was ordered for execution.

After her conviction she evinced the most sincere penitence, but still persisted in her refusal to confess herself guilty of the whole crime with which, she was charged. Upon the bellman[6] coming to her in the customary manner, she attended anxiously to what he said, and at the conclusion of his address threw him a shilling to buy wine.

On the morning of execution, March 7, 1733, she appeared more composed than she had been for some time past, and seemed to join in prayers with the Ordinary, and another gentleman who attended, with much sincerity. When in the cart, she wrung her hands and wept most bitterly.

At the place of execution, near Fetter-lane, she behaved with the utmost devoutness and resignation to the Divine will; but when the Ordinary, in his prayers, recommended her soul to God, she fainted, and with much difficulty recovered her senses. On the cart driving off, she turned towards the Temple, crying out, “Oh! my mistress, my mistress! I wish I could see her!” and then, casting her eyes towards heaven, called upon Christ to receive her soul.

CAPTAIN JOHN PORTEOUS.

CONVICTED OF MURDER, AND MURDERED BY THE MOB.

John Porteous was born of indigent parents near the city of Edinburgh; and he served his time as an apprentice to a tailor. Having worked at his trade for some time, he was married to the cast mistress of the late Lord Provost of Edinburgh, who settled upon them a sum of 500l.; but our hero, being a man addicted to the pursuit of pleasure, soon ran through his money, and his wife was in consequence obliged to apply to her old friend, the provost, to make some other provision for them. In Edinburgh there were three companies of men, in number twenty-five each, who were employed to keep the peace, and perform the general duties of a police force. An officer was appointed to each of these companies (whom they styled captain) with a salary of eighty pounds a year, and a suit of scarlet uniform; and a vacancy happening by the death of one of these captains, the provost immediately appointed Porteous to fill up the place. The latter soon distinguished himself by a show of great daring; and if a riot occurred in the city, he was generally chosen by the magistrates to suppress it. On these occasions, however, he would frequently behave with great violence and cruelty, so that he failed in obtaining that respect and attention which were so peculiarly necessary for a person in his situation.

The circumstances attending the condemnation and death of Porteous were as follows:—Two fellows named Wilson and Robertson, who were daring smugglers, having been found guilty of a very serious breach of the revenue laws, were sentenced to die; and a strong feeling existing in their favour among the people, it was apprehended that it was very possible that an attempt might be made to rescue them from custody. Robertson, however, made his escape before the period arrived for his execution, by taking advantage of an opportunity afforded, by a custom which then prevailed, of taking the condemned criminals to church under the care of the city guards; and although Porteous was instantly despatched in search of him, his inquiries were in vain, and the criminal afterwards made good his flight to Holland. On the following Wednesday the execution of Wilson was appointed to take place, and a temporary gallows was erected in the Grass-market, the prisoner being ordered to be conducted there by fifty men, under the command of Porteous. Upon the representations of the latter, five companies of the Welch Fusileers were ordered to be in readiness in the Lawn-market to prevent any sudden outbreak; but no disturbance arising, the prisoner finished his devotions, ascended the ladder, and after having been turned off, continued hanging the usual time. The hangman then went up the ladder to cut him down; but a stone struck him on the nose, and caused it to bleed. This stone was immediately followed by many others; at which Porteous was so much exasperated, that he instantly called out to his men, “Fire, and be d——d!” discharging his own piece at the same time, and shooting a young man, who was apprentice to a confectioner, dead on the spot. Some of the soldiers more humanely fired over the heads of the people, but unfortunately killed two or three persons who were looking out at the windows; while others of them wantonly fired amongst the feet of the mob, by which many were so disabled as to be afterwards obliged to suffer amputation. Porteous now endeavoured to draw off his men, as the mob grew exceedingly outrageous, throwing stones, and continuing to press on the soldiers; but having gone some distance, he turned about with two of his men and fired, killing three more of the people.

Porteous, being assisted by the Fusileers, at last conducted his men to the guard; when being sent for by the provost, he passed a long examination, and was committed to prison in order to take his trial for murder.

On the 6th of July, 1736, the trial came on before the lords of justiciary previously to which Porteous made a judicial confession, that the people were killed as mentioned in the indictment, but pleaded self-defence. His counsel then stated the following point of law, to be determined by the judges previously to the jury being charged with the prisoner:—

“Whether a military officer, with soldiers under his command, who, being assaulted by the populace, should fire, or order his men to fire, was not acting consistently with the nature of self-defence, according to the laws of civilised nations?”

The counsel for the prosecution being ordered to plead to the question, the court pronounced as their opinion, “That if it was proved that Captain Porteous either fired a gun, or caused one or more to be fired, by which any person or persons was or were killed, and if the said firing happened without orders from a magistrate properly authorised, then it would be murder in the eye of the law.”

Thus the question being decided against him and the jury empanelled, forty-four witnesses were examined for and against the prosecution.

The prisoner being then called on for his defence, his counsel insisted that the magistrates had ordered him to support the execution of Wilson, and repel force by force; and that being apprehensive of a rescue, powder and ball had been given to his men for the said purpose, with orders to load their pieces. They said, also, that he only meant to intimidate the people by threats, and actually knocked down one of his own men for presenting his piece; that finding the men would not obey orders, he drew off as many as he could; that he afterwards heard a firing in the rear contrary to his directions; that in order to know who had fired, he would not suffer their pieces to be cleaned till properly inspected; and that he never attempted to abscond, though he had the greatest opportunity, and might have effected his escape with the utmost ease. They farther insisted, that, admitting some excesses had been committed, it could not amount to murder, as he was in the lawful discharge of his duty; neither could it be supposed to be done with premeditated malice.

In answer to this the counsel for the crown argued, that the trust reposed in the prisoner ceased when the execution was over; that he was then no longer an officer employed for that purpose for which the fire-arms had been loaded; and that the reading of the Riot Act only could justify his firing in case a rescue had been actually attempted.

The prisoner’s counsel replied, that the magistrates, whose duty it was to have read the Act, had deserted the soldiery, and taken refuge in a house for their own security; and that it was hard for men to suffer themselves to be knocked on the head, when they had lawful weapons in their hands.

The jury having been charged, after sometime occupied in consideration, found the prisoner guilty, and he was sentenced to death; but the King being then at Hanover, the Queen, by advice of her council, granted a respite to the prisoner. The subsequent execution of the sentence was prevented by the measures taken by the mob, by whom a scheme of revenge such perhaps as is unprecedented, was planned and carried out.

On the 7th of September, between nine and ten o’clock in the evening, a large body of men entered the city, and seized the arms belonging to the guard; they then patrolled the streets, crying out, “All those who dare revenge innocent blood, let them come here;” and they closed the gates, and placed guards at each, so as to prevent ingress or egress.

The main body of the mob, all disguised, marched in the mean time to the prison; when finding some difficulty in breaking open the door with hammers, they immediately set fire to it, taking great care that the flames should not extend beyond their proper bounds. The outer door was hardly consumed before they rushed in, and ordering the keeper to open the door of the captain’s apartment, cried out, “Where is the villain Porteous?” He replied, “Here I am; what do you want with me?” To which they answered, that they meant to hang him in the Grass-market, the place where he had shed so much innocent blood. His expostulations were all in vain; they seized him by the legs and arms, and dragged him instantly to the place of execution. On their arrival they broke open a shop to find a rope suitable to their purpose, which they immediately fixed round his neck; and then, throwing the other end over a dyer’s pole, they hoisted him up. He endeavoured to save himself, and fixed his hands between the halter and his neck; but this being observed by some of the mob, one of them struck him with an axe, and this obliging him to quit his hold, they soon put an end to his life.

When they were satisfied that he was dead, they immediately dispersed to their several habitations, unmolested themselves, and without molesting any one else.

Upon this circumstance being made known, a royal proclamation was issued, offering a large reward for the apprehension of the offenders; and the magistrates of Edinburgh were summoned to answer for their neglect in not quelling the riot, were fined, and rendered incapable of acting again in any judicial capacity. The circumstance of the death of Porteous, however, appeared to have afforded the people so much satisfaction, that no further attempt was made to discover the leaders of the fray.

JOHN RICHARDSON AND RICHARD COYLE.

EXECUTED FOR PIRACY AND MURDER.

John Richardson was a native of New York in America, where, at the age of fourteen years, he entered on board a vessel commanded by his uncle. After a single voyage, he took a dislike to the sea, and, loath again to trust himself upon salt water, he procured an engagement in the service of a carpenter, by whom he was employed for five years, when an intimacy having commenced with his master’s daughter which was likely to produce unpleasant consequences, he ran off, and once again selected the sea as the scene of his future exploits. The vessel on board which he entered was bound for Jamaica, and there our hero was pressed and put on board a man-of-war, by which he was carried to England. He subsequently attained the rank of boatswain on board a vessel trading to the Baltic; but having, by means of a forged letter, obtained the sum of one hundred rix-dollars from a merchant of Riga, he decamped to Amsterdam. At that place he formed an acquaintance with a woman whose husband was a mate on board an East India vessel, with whom he cohabited during a period of eight months. His innamorata then informed him that he must retire in favour of her husband, whose return she daily expected; but he could not make up his mind to give up his connexion without procuring some substantial proof of his good fortune, and he did not venture to depart until he had secured to himself booty of the value of about 250l. in goods and money. Rotterdam was the next point to which he proceeded; but from thence he almost immediately departed for New England. On his arrival there, he deposited the wares of which he had possessed himself in a commodious storehouse, and assuming the character of a merchant, he began to look out for a wife, with whom he hoped to procure a fortune sufficient to enable him to live with respectability. As Christmas approached, he became intimate with his neighbours, and he was induced to keep the festival with a Mr. Brown, who had a family of three daughters and four maid-servants. A prolonged visit at the house of his host enabled him to ingratiate himself so far with the young women as to procure from them more than ordinary favours; and he did not quit the agreeable society with which he met, until more than one or two of his fair friends had reason to regret the intimacy which had subsisted between them. Not long after this, he addressed himself to a young lady, the daughter of a magistrate, whose hand he solicited in marriage; and her father making no objection to the celebration of the nuptials, the banns were published in the parish church, in accordance with the usual custom. On the first day no objection was made; but upon the publication taking place the second time, there appeared no less than seven injured women, who forbade the ceremony proceeding any further. The time which had elapsed since the intended bridegroom had obtained the consent of the young lady and her father to the proposed match, had been quite sufficient to enable him to work himself into the good graces of the former; and thinking it now quite time to depart, he packed up what few moveables he still possessed, and proceeded to New York. His residence there, however, was soon discovered by his proposed father-in-law; and overtures having been made by the old gentleman, he consented to return and marry the girl, whom he had debauched, upon the receipt of 300l. The ceremony had no sooner been performed, than his re-appearance at Boston having been discovered by the friends of the other girls, his apprehension was secured at their instance, in order that he might be compelled to give security for the maintenance of the progeny to which they were about to give birth. His father-in-law at once undertook that he should be forthcoming when wanted, and upon this assurance he regained his liberty; but he had hardly obtained the possession of the promised dower, when he once again bade adieu to his Boston friends, and returned to New York.

His improvidence speedily reduced him in that city to a condition of the most abject misery and want, and he was at length compelled to accept employment in the yard of a quaker shipbuilder. He was treated with the greatest kindness, by his master, but the attention which he received appeared to excite only ingratitude in his mind: for he not only found means to become intimate with his mistress, but he at length absconded, carrying with him about 70l., which he procured by breaking open a chest in his master’s house. He now proceeded to Philadelphia, which place he conceived would be well calculated for the concealment of his past iniquities, and a renewal of his schemes upon the unwary. A widow and her two daughters were the next new victims to his diabolical lusts. Having become intimate with the mother, he subsequently, in turn, found means to seduce the daughters. The widow was outrageous at the discovery of this treble act of duplicity, and insisted that he should afford the only reparation which remained in his power. A difficulty, however, arose, for it became obvious that he could not marry them all three; but at length a satisfactory adjustment took place, an arrangement being made, by which one of the daughters was married to a former lover, the other being committed to the tender mercies of our hero, with a dower of 600l. and some plate. Affairs were no sooner settled in this way, however, than Richardson, already weary of his wife, absconded to South Carolina, and there he obtained employment on board a vessel trading between that place and Jamaica. He was soon engaged in another intrigue with the daughter of his commander, and having added a third wife to his list, he started upon a new expedition to Barbadoes. But this voyage proved unfortunate, for the vessel being wrecked, he lost all that he possessed. Being picked up, he was carried to St. Kitt’s; and from thence he proceeded to Jamaica, to Carthagena, Vera Cruz, and finally to England. The port at which he arrived was Chatham, and chance threw him once again into a situation, in which he was enabled to impose upon the good-nature of strangers. Putting up at the house of a publican named Ballard, his host became possessed of an idea that he was no other than a brother of his, who had gone to sea several years before, but had never returned; and Richardson, taking advantage of the good-natured credulity which the other exhibited, declared himself to be his long-lost relation. Great rejoicings took place upon the supposed discovery being made, and our hero went the round of his newly-found friends, permitting his good-nature to be imposed upon by the payment to him of a legacy alleged to have been left by his deceased parents. But his villanies did not rest there; for, being introduced to two sisters named Knowlding, he so far ingratiated himself with one of them, as to obtain possession of the title-deeds of the small estate which she possessed, which he mortgaged at Gravesend for 800l., and then immediately sailed for Venice with the proceeds.

It was not long before, in that city of splendour, he succeeded in disposing of his ill-gotten spoil, and then he went to Ancona, where he became acquainted with Captain Benjamin Hartley, for whose murder he was eventually executed. Capt. Hartley, it appears, had sailed to that place with a cargo of pilchards, and having discharged his lading, he was about to proceed to Turkey upon a new trip. Being in want of a carpenter, he prevailed upon Richardson to accompany him in that capacity. On board the vessel, Coyle, the fellow-sufferer with Richardson, was employed as mate. The vessel proceeded in one course to Turkey, where having taken in a cargo of corn, she sailed to Leghorn. She had not advanced many leagues upon her voyage, however, before a plot for the murder of the captain and the seizure of the vessel was put into execution. Coyle, it appears, was the instigator of this foul conspiracy, and having obtained the assistance of Richardson and a man named Larson, they all three proceeded to the performance of their horrid project. On the first night of the voyage, they went to the captain’s cabin at about midnight, determined to despatch him as he lay in his hammock; but Hartley being alarmed at their presence, sprang upon deck and ran up the shrouds. His pursuers were not far behind him, and he was rapidly followed by Richardson and Larson; but, driven to desperation by the dreadful situation in which he was placed, he flung himself from a fearful height upon the deck. Here Coyle was in waiting to receive him, and raising a blunderbuss to his shoulder, he attempted to shoot him. The captain, however, avoided the discharge, and, rushing to his antagonist, he wrested the blunderbuss from him, and threw it overboard. By this time the crew had gained intelligence of what was passing on deck, and, rushing through the hatchway, Capt. Hartley perceived from their looks that they were too little disposed to assist him in opposition to the attack which had been made upon him. He at once gave himself up for lost; and, being stunned by a blow which he received from Coyle, he was directly hove overboard.

Coyle and Richardson now assumed the respective offices of master and mate of the vessel; and, after a long consultation, it was determined that they should bear up for the island of Foviniano, where it was hoped they would be able to procure supplies. Here, however, their piratical proceedings were communicated to the authorities of the place by two boys, who escaped from the vessel during the night; and the crew, discovering the dangerous position in which they were placed, immediately set sail in the long-boat for Tunis. On their arrival at that place, they were carried before the English consul, to whom they represented themselves to be the crew of a vessel which had been lost off Sardinia, but having been supplied with money, Coyle, while in a state of intoxication, spoke so freely of their adventures, that he was immediately placed under arrest. Richardson, however, escaped to Tripoli, and from thence to Malta and Sicily; but on his going to Messina, he was taken into custody on the representations of a friend of the deceased Capt. Hartley. Having remained in prison during a period of nine months, he procured his liberation by representing to the king of Naples that he had been a servant to his father; and he then travelled to Rome and Civita Vecchia, where he was finally apprehended and sent to England. Coyle had only just before reached London, and they were immediately both indicted for the murder of their commander. The evidence against them consisted of the declarations made by the two boys, to whom we have already alluded; and having been found guilty, they received sentence of death. The wretched man Coyle, who was respectably connected in Devonshire, appeared sensible of the enormity of the crime of which he had been guilty, and professed the greatest penitence; while Richardson, on the other hand, exhibited an extraordinary degree of recklessness. They were hanged at Execution Dock on the 25th of January, 1738.

GEORGE PRICE.

CONVICTED OF MURDER.

The offence of the prisoner was that of the murder of his wife, a crime which he perpetrated on Hounslow Heath, in a gig, within view of the gibbets which formerly stood there, by strangling her with the thong of his whip. He was apprehended upon suspicion of the crime, and was found guilty, and sentenced to death, but before the law could be executed upon him he died in Newgate, of the jail fever, on the 22d October, 1738. The following account of this malignant fever, shows the peculiar circumstances under which it first exhibited itself. It appears that it was always attended with a degree of malignity, in proportion to the closeness and stench of the place.

The assize held at Oxford in the year 1577, called the “Black Assize,” was a dreadful instance of the deadly effects of the jail fever. The judges, jury, witnesses, and in fact nearly every person except the prisoners, women, and children, in court, were killed by a foul air, which at first was thought to have arisen out of the bowels of the earth; but that great philosopher, Lord Bacon, proved it to have come from the prisoners, taken out of a noisome jail, and brought into court to take their trials; and they alone, being subject to the inhaling foul air, were not injured by it.

“Baker’s Chronicle,” a work of the highest authenticity, thus speaks of the Black Assize:—“The Court were surprised with a pestilent savour, whether arising from the noisome smell of the prisoners, or from the damp of the ground, is uncertain; but all that were present within forty hours died, except the prisoners, and the women and children; and the contagion went no farther. There died Robert Bell, Lord Chief Baron, Robert de Olie, Sir William Babington, the high sheriff of Oxfordshire, some of the most eminent lawyers, the jurors, and three hundred others, more or less.”

Some attributed the cause of the sudden mortality at Oxford to witchcraft, the people in those times being very superstitious. In “Webster’s Display of Witchcraft,” a work of some authenticity as to the relation of circumstances as they occurred, we find the following account of the Black Assize, which we insert as a matter of curiosity:—

“The 4th and 5th days of July, 1559, were holden the assizes at Oxford, where was arraigned and condemned one Rowland Jenkes, for his seditious tongue, at which time there arose such a damp, that almost all were smothered. Very few escaped that were not taken at that instant. The jurors died presently; shortly after died Sir Robert Bell, Lord Chief Baron, Sir Robert De Olie, Sir Wm. Babington, Mr. Weneman, Mr. De Olie, high sheriff, Mr. Davers, Mr. Harcourt, Mr. Kirle, Mr. Pheteplace, Mr. Greenwood, Mr. Foster, Sergeant Baram, Mr. Stevens, &c. There died in Oxford three hundred persons; and sickened there, but died in other places, two hundred and odd, from the 6th of July to the 12th of August, after which day died not one of that sickness, for one of them infected not another, nor any one woman or child died thereof. This is the punctual relation according to our English annals, which relate nothing of what should be the cause of the arising of such a damp just at the conjuncture of time when Jenkes was condemned, there being none before, and so it could not be a prison infection; for that would have manifested itself by smell, or operating sooner. But to take away all scruple, and to assign the true cause, it was thus: It fortuned that a manuscript fell into my hands, collected by an ancient gentleman of York, who was a great observer and gatherer of strange things and facts, who lived about the time of this accident happening at Oxford, wherein it is related thus:—

“That Rowland Jenkes, being imprisoned for treasonable words spoken against the queen, and being a popish recusant, had, notwithstanding, during the time of his restraint, liberty some time to walk abroad with the keeper; and that one day he came to an apothecary, and showed him a receipt which he desired him to make up; but the apothecary, upon viewing of it, told him that it was a strong and dangerous receipt, and required some time to prepare it; also asking to what use he would apply it. He answered, ‘To kill the rats, that since his imprisonment spoiled his books;’ so being satisfied, he promised to make it ready. After a certain time he cometh to know if it were ready, but the apothecary said the ingredients were so hard to procure that he had not done it, and so gave him the receipt again, of which he had taken a copy, which mine author had there precisely written down, but did seem so horribly poisonous, that I cut it forth, lest it might fall into the hands of wicked persons. But after, it seems, he had it prepared, and against the day of his trial had made a wick of it, (for so is the word,—that is, so fitted it that like a candle, it might be fired,) which as soon as ever he was condemned he lighted, having provided himself with a tinder-box and steel to strike fire. And whosoever should know the ingredients of that wick or candle, and the manner of the composition, will easily be persuaded of the virulency and venomous effect of it.”

In the year 1730, the Lord Chief Baron Pengelly, with several of his officers and servants; Sir James Sheppard, sergeant-at-law; and John Pigot, Esq., high sheriff for Somersetshire, died at Blandford, on the Western Circuit of the Lent assize, from the infected stench brought with the prisoners from Ilchester jail to their trials at Taunton, in which town the infection afterwards spread, and carried off some hundred persons.

In 1754 and 1755 this distemper prevailed in Newgate to a degree which carried off more than one-fifth of the prisoners.