to act upon them to their fullest extent; and although probably,
according to the strict rule, he would have been liable to be brought to
trial upon any one of those murders in which he had been engaged, except
that of Mrs. Campbell, the expediency of such a proceeding may well be
doubted. His arraignment for any offence, without the certainty of his
conviction, might have been to place the authorities in a position, in
which they would have been triumphed over by this ruffian. Who, we ask,
could have been produced as a witness to fix any crime upon him? His own
confession was taken for another purpose, and was a privileged
communication which could not be produced in evidence against him;--that
of Burke would be equally useless, for before any trial could take
place, he would be a "hanged man," and his statement being _ex parte_,
could not legally be laid before the jury. Mrs. M'Dougal, burning with
vengeance for the loss of her paramour, would be so prejudiced as to
render her testimony impossible to be believed, and Mrs. Hare could not
be examined as a witness against her own husband. The other witnesses on
the trial had deposed to facts and circumstances which were in
themselves vague and uncertain when stripped of the admissions,
positive and negative, of Hare and Burke, which alone served to flash
upon them the light of truth in a horrid and appalling glare, but which,
as we have already said, could not be used in any new inquiry. If a new
investigation had commenced in which Hare was the person charged, the
peace of the community might have been disturbed. Great excitement would
undoubtedly have been created, and it was deemed impolitic for the sake
of the character of the nation, when a conviction was uncertain, to
expose a wretch like this prisoner to popular outrage. Edinburgh had
already had her share of those commotions, in which the people had
snatched victims from the protection of the law, and wanted no other
sacrifice; and however all men would have rejoiced, if in due course of
law the whole of this band of wretches could have been punished by the
gibbet, all right-minded persons must have shrunk, even for such a
purpose, from straining the law to sharp interpretations. Hare,
therefore, it was felt, must be protected from the penal consequences of
his crimes, and permitted to live a little longer. Such a wretch,
however, could not have escaped with impunity. To a mind capable of
reflection death would have been comfort, compared with such a state of
existence as that to which he was doomed. With whom, now that Burke was
gone, could he associate? Where could he hide his head? The brand of
"murderer" was on his brow,--the finger of the Almighty was upon him, as
one for whom the chance of mercy was small and uncertain.

Notwithstanding these considerations, however, frequent reports were
circulated that the friends of Daft Jamie were determined to commence a
prosecution against his murderer; and a petition was actually presented
to the High Court of Justiciary in the name of his mother and sister,
for a warrant to detain the prisoner in jail to answer the charge; but
the court declined to interfere, as such a step would be unnecessary,
the right of prosecution lying in the hands of the Lord Advocate, who
was bound to take such steps as were proper and requisite.

In the meantime Mrs. M'Dougal having been again suffered to quit the
jail, succeeded in making her escape from Edinburgh unperceived. Upon
the night on which she was taken to the prison for security by the
police, she affected to be sensible of her condition, but assured the
officers that she was herself nearly falling a victim to the horrible
system in which Burke had been engaged. She then related a plausible
tale of her having overheard Burke and Hare come to a determination to
murder her in case of their wanting a subject. She stated, that one
night Burke and Hare were carousing in one of the apartments of Hare's
human shambles on the profit, of a recent murder. In the midst of their
unhallowed orgies, Hare raised his hand, and in a fit of fiendish
exultation, stated that they could never want money; for when they were
at a loss for a "shot"--a body for dissection--they would murder and
sell, first one and then the other of their own wives. Being in the
adjoining apartment, the females overheard, and were petrified by this
horrible resolution, as they had every reason to believe that the
monsters would certainly carry it into effect. A discussion of some
length ensued, and Hare finally succeeded in persuading Burke to
consent, that when the dreadful emergency did arrive, M'Dougal should be
the first victim. Upon her leaving the prison she was seen to go in a
direction as if she intended to quit the city of Edinburgh, and
unsought, and unasked for, she was never again seen within the limits of
the place which she had polluted by her presence.

On Wednesday the 28th of January, pursuant to his sentence, Burke
underwent the last penalty of the law. During the latter portion of his
confinement, he declared that his confession had tended materially to
relieve his mind; and he professed great contrition for his crimes. On
the day of his execution he was removed from the jail to the lock-up, at
the Court-house, where the scaffold had been erected, under a strong
escort of police. The crowd which had assembled to witness his final
exit from the scene of life was tremendous; and seats commanding a view
of the gallows were let at a large price. Upon his coming forth upon the
platform, he was assailed by the hideous yells of public execration,
with a species of ferocious exultation. The concluding moments of his
existence must have caused him the most acute suffering, for, stung to
madness by the horrible shrieks with which he was greeted, he appeared
anxious to hurry the executioner in the performance of his duty, as if
desirous to escape from that life which he had spent so ill. Very soon
after eight o'clock, he was tied up to the gallows in the usual way; and
he immediately gave the signal for the falling of the drop, by throwing
down his handkerchief. A short, but apparently a severe struggle
succeeded; and in less than two minutes he ceased to move. His body hung
suspended for half an hour, when it was cut down, and placed in a shell,
which had been brought to the scaffold for its reception. A struggle
took place among the officials present for scraps of the rope with which
he had been hanged, shavings of his coffin, and other relics of a
similar character; but by nine o'clock, the crowd had dispersed, and in
a few hours afterwards, all appearance of his execution had vanished.

The case of Hare was argued before the Scotch judges on the 5th of
February; and by a majority of four to two, they determined that the
public faith had been pledged to him, when his evidence was received
against Burke, that he should be borne harmless, and he was ordered to
be discharged. It was found, however, that by an ancient form of law he
might be detained for the costs of the suit, and his final deliberation
was therefore delayed; but on Thursday, the 12th of the same month, he
and his wife were set at liberty. They appear upon their discharge to
have parted company; for Mrs. Hare was nearly sacrificed to the fury of
the mob at Glasgow, to which place she wended her way, while her husband
proceeded by mail to Dumfries, where he was near meeting a similar fate.
The mail, it appears, landed him at about seven o'clock in the morning;
and although there was no intimation of his arrival, he was recognised
by the mob, who immediately assailed him with the bitterest execrations,
and with stones and other missiles. He succeeded in effecting his escape
from them into the King's Arms Inn, where he obtained a refuge; but a
crowd of persons surrounded the house, and demanded that he should be
given up to their fury. For a considerable time consequences of a
dangerous nature were apprehended; but night having arrived, the people
dispersed; and when all was quiet, Hare quitted the house, and made a
precipitate retreat from the town--whither, it was not known. The
subsequent history of this atrocious ruffian, and of his wife and Mrs.
M'Dougal, must, we believe, for ever remain a mystery. Their crimes and
their notoriety would be sufficient, to prevent their acknowledging
their names, or the fact of their being the participators in these
horrible transactions; and it is to be hoped, that when they quitted
the scene of their dreadful offences, they did so with sincere
thankfulness to the Almighty for the escape which they had had from a
sudden and ignominious death, and with a firm determination to make use
of that period which was granted them to live, to atone, by their
repentance, for their sins.

We cannot quit this subject without remarking upon the effects which
were produced by these revolting murders. It was on the 28th of January,
that Burke expiated his crimes upon the scaffold, and Parliament met on
the 5th of the ensuing month of February. On the 12th of the same month,
Mr. Warburton gave notice of his intention of bringing the whole subject
before the House of Commons. Rumours by this time had become general
throughout the metropolis that the same system which had been carried on
in Edinburgh had been discovered to exist in London; and the public,
whose fears were easily alarmed by such a statement, immediately
concluded that every report of a missing person confirmed that which now
became a pretty general belief. The daily papers were filled with
accounts of persons who had suddenly disappeared, and who were supposed
to have been "burked," the term now universally employed in the
description of the murders committed by the atrocious gang, whose
villanies had just been brought to light; and the universal alarm which
prevailed was rendered greater by the absurd practice of idle or drunken
fellows who stopped persons whom they met in lonely situations,
pretending to clap a plaister over their noses and mouths, with an
intention to suffocate them. Complaints were made to the police of the
system of creating alarm which was carried on, and their utmost
vigilance was called for to protect the public from absolute danger, as
well as from the terror which was everywhere excited. Accounts were
sometimes received of dead bodies having been discovered packed in brine
tubs, on their way to Edinburgh from London, and every case of this
description was tortured into proof of the existence of a scheme of
murder in the latter place, even more dreadful than that which had been
discovered in Scotland.

Owing to the long and most important discussions, which at this period
were carried on in both houses of parliament, upon the subject of the
claims of the catholics for relief, it was not until Thursday, the 12th
of March, that this subject could be brought under the attention of the
legislature. Mr. Warburton then moved in the House of Commons for leave
to bring in a bill to legalise and regulate the supply of dead bodies
for dissection. The honourable gentleman in stating to the house the
general grounds upon which he made his motion, said that his first
object would be, to confer a species of legality on the practice of
anatomy; and with this view he should propose--first, an enactment to
render anatomy lawful, both in its practice and as a mode of instruction
in all cities or towns corporate wherein there were schools which
conferred degrees in anatomy, or wherein there were hospitals which were
capable of receiving fifty patients at a time. The next difficulty to
surmount would be the obtaining a sufficient number of subjects for the
purposes of science and instruction. His project had for its basis the
practice of the French government in the city of Paris. He, therefore,
should propose that the overseers of the poor, in certain cases, and the
governors of hospitals, should be empowered by the bill to give up to
surgical examination the bodies of such persons as fell victims to
disease whilst in the hospital, and were not claimed within a certain
time after their decease. Here he begged that he should not be
understood to treat the feelings of the lower orders with the slightest
degree of disrespect by the present enactment. He begged them to take
this into their consideration, and also to reflect, that in the case of
the late disclosures of the horrid atrocities committed in order to
obtain a supply of subjects for dissection in Edinburgh, the lower
classes had in all cases been the victims. The motion of the hon. member
was fully approved of by the House, and a bill was on the same night
introduced, embodying the general principles which he had detailed. The
bill passed the House of Commons in the course of the same session, but
upon its reaching the House of Lords, so many noble individuals were
found who objected to its principle, by which, it was said, the poor
were subjected to what might be considered an evil, in which the rich
did not participate, that it was withdrawn.

It was not until the recurrence of events in the metropolis of London,
similar in character to those which we have just described,--the murders
committed by Bishop and Williams,--that the subject again received the
attention of parliament. In the session of 1831, Mr. Warburton once more
moved for leave to introduce a bill, the provisions of which, although
they were mainly the same as those of his former measure, differed from
it in some important respects. By the new bill, the consent of the party
whose body was to be submitted to dissection was required to be obtained
before his death, as a condition precedent to its being handed over to
the surgeons, and the whole system was to be placed under the
superintending direction of inspectors and commissioners appointed for
that purpose. This bill was introduced on Thursday, Dec. 15, and after
undergoing considerable discussion, it at length passed into a law in
the same session.

The act having been in operation during a period of upwards of eight
years, has been found to have been attended with the most advantageous
results, and the exertions of Dr. Southwood Smith, who holds a
responsible situation under its provisions, have tended in no small
degree to secure this admirable effect. The offence of body-snatching is
now no longer heard of; for the object of the crime having been removed,
the crime itself has ceased to be committed.

Happy would it have been for the interests of the community, if, before
these dreadful scenes were witnessed and brought to light, some similar
plan had met the approbation of the legislature.

EDWARD BARNETT.

EXECUTED FOR MURDER.

The dreadful murder for which this young man was executed, was scarcely
less frightful in its nature than that of the unfortunate Maria Marten.

It was on the morning of Sunday, September 28th, 1828, that this deed of
blood was discovered, when the murdered remains of a woman named Esther
Stevens were found in a house which she occupied in the town of
Monmouth. The wretched woman, it appeared, was born on the Kymin, a high
mountain near Monmouth, and from her being in the habit of frequenting
certain districts of the hill of her birth, she passed by the familiar
epithet of "Hall of the Kymin." At an early age she was married to a
man named Stevens, a bargeman, to whom in later years, however, she
appears to have exhibited considerable dislike. Stevens' employment
necessarily called him from home for considerable periods, and during
these absences, his unhappy wife formed acquaintances with other men, of
a criminal nature,--a step to which eventually she owed her murder.
Amongst these guilty companions of her adultery was a man named William
Davis, living at a village called Christchurch, near Carleon, on the
Newport road, to whom she represented herself as a single woman, and to
whom also she had promised marriage. A later connexion, however, was
formed by her with Barnett, who resided in Monmouth--the miserable
subject of this sketch.

Barnett, it appears, was strongly attached to Mrs. Stevens, and looked
with the most uncontrollable feelings of jealousy upon her connexion
with Davis. Immediately before the murder she had been living with Davis
under an assumed name at Carleon, during her husband's absence, and
Barnett discovering her position, quitted his mother's house, where he
resided, in order to endeavour to induce her to return to Monmouth. In
this effort he succeeded, and on Friday, 26th September, they quitted
Carleon together. Mrs. Stevens, however, passed that night in the great
wood on the Kymin, and Barnett was observed to leave her at the skirts
of the wood in the morning. He proceeded home again, and on his arrival
produced a loaded pistol from his pocket, and these circumstances,
coupled with the contents of a letter, sent by the unfortunate woman to
Davis, in which she stated that something dreadful was going to happen,
led to a supposition that a threat of murder was made by Barnett on that
night, in the event of her again joining her paramour at Christchurch.
On Saturday afternoon Barnett received a letter from Mrs. Stevens,
desiring an interview, and he quitted his home in order to obey the
request which she made. At this time he had in his possession a shot-bag
containing 30_l._ in notes, gold, and silver, and was attired in a
shooting jacket and laced boots. He did not again return home, and on
the following morning the wretched woman was found lying in her house,
brutally murdered.

Her husband was at first supposed to have been the author of this
revolting act, in revenge upon his discovering her perfidy to him; but
upon an attentive examination of the appearances which presented
themselves, and a due inquiry into the circumstances which had preceded
the murder, his innocence and the guilt of Barnett became evident. At
the time of the discovery of the murder, the door of the house was found
open, and some persons, led on by curiosity, upon going up stairs, were
horror-struck at perceiving the mangled remains of Mrs. Stevens lying on
the floor of the bedroom. Upon the constables of the place being
informed of the circumstance, they immediately proceeded to investigate
the affair. Upon inquiry of a man named Pearce, residing next door, they
found that in the course of the night Mrs. Stevens had been heard to go
up stairs, as if slip-shod, and directly afterwards they heard screams;
but as such events were common, as arising out of frequent quarrels
between the deceased and her husband, they took no notice of the
occurrence. From further inquiries, however, it was ascertained that
Stevens had not slept at home on that night, and from the discovery of
Barnett's shot-bag and money, his shooting coat and boots in the room,
it became obvious that he had been a partner in the unhappy woman's
bed, and having murdered her, had fled to avoid his apprehension. From
the statement of Pearce, and certain appearances which presented
themselves in the house, it was supposed that Mrs. Stevens had risen in
the night in order to prepare the lower room for the morning meal, as
the kettle was found full on the fire, and the usual utensils were laid
ready for use, and it was concluded that Barnett waking just as the
wretched woman was returning to the sleeping apartment, was excited by
some jealous apprehension of her having quitted his bed to meet some
other paramour, and had rushed upon her and murdered her.

The manner in which the fearful deed had been committed, was exhibited
by the discovery of a case-knife covered with blood, on the floor, near
the body of the deceased; and one tremendous gash across the throat was
evidently the cause of death. The deed must have been completed with
great rapidity, and the murderer, alarmed by his crime, appeared to have
run off only partially dressed, and without even wiping the gore from
his hands, as bloody finger-marks were distinctly visible on the stairs.
The deceased too was attired only in a portion of her clothes; her cap
was found lying under her head, saturated with blood, and her ear-rings,
which had fallen from her ears, were picked up close to her in the room.
The case-knife, with which the dreadful wound had been inflicted,
appeared to have been taken from a drawer of a table which was open,
close by the body.

Upon further search being made, it was found that Barnett could nowhere
be seen,--a circumstance which tended materially to confirm the
suspicions already excited against him. Evidence was also obtained of
his having been observed crossing the Wye, without his coat, hat, or
boots, and messengers were immediately despatched in every direction in
search of him.

The scene in the Jury-room where the inquest was held on the Tuesday
night was of the most affecting description. On the table lay the bloody
garments of the murdered woman, the instrument of death, and the
clothes, money, &c. of the murderer. Thirty-three witnesses were in
attendance to enter into sureties to attend and give evidence at the
Assizes. Amidst this group might be noticed the husband of the deceased,
who deeply felt the peculiarity of his situation. The mother of the
supposed murderer attracted universal attention--fast declining in
years, called on by the justice of her country to sign her deposition,
and to enter into recognizances against her son, her hand appeared to
refuse its office, and with the utmost difficulty could she make her
mark. And amidst the spectators might also be observed the father of the
deceased, whose care-worn face and anxiety of countenance bespoke the
inward workings of his mind for a guilty murdered child.

A verdict of wilful murder against Edward Barnett was returned by the
coroner's jury, and on Monday, the 6th of October, he was brought in
custody to Monmouth, by Fuller, an officer, by whom he had been
apprehended in Liverpool, and to whom he did not scruple to make a
general confession of his guilt.

Upon his being conveyed before the magistrates, he appeared to be about
twenty-three years of age, stout and well-made, with sandy hair. He had
on the trousers and waistcoat which he was supposed to have had with him
at the time of committing the murder, a pair of shoes which he was found
to have begged at the turnpike at Irenchester, and an old hat not worth
a penny. He was still without a coat; his shirt-sleeves, particularly
at the wristbands, very dirty; no neckerchief; his waistcoat of the
yellow plush kind, spotted, but no marks of blood were discernible on
any part of his dress. He appeared unmoved at the awfulness of his
situation, and his eyes were downcast; a slight hectic tinged his cheeks
when the inquisition was read over. The coroner informed him of the
verdict against him, and his intention of having all the depositions
read over in his hearing; and if he had any remark to make, or had a
wish to ask any witness a question, they should be sent for, the town
clerk cautioning him at the same time most earnestly not to say anything
which might tend to criminate himself. He gave a deep sigh on the
constable's producing his clothes, but did not evince the least emotion
on the production of the bloody knife. During the reading of the
depositions, he stood up in a firm and erect manner, fixing his eyes
intensely on the town-clerk, and did not betray any internal feeling;
with this exception, that when the husband's evidence was being read
over, there was a slight convulsion of the lower lip, accompanied by a
deep-drawn sigh. The evidence being gone through, he was asked by the
coroner if he had any remark to make. To this he gave no answer; and on
its being repeated by the town-clerk, he faintly answered, "No." He then
sat down with apparent exhaustion, which might have been produced by the
heat of a crowded room. His manner throughout was not that of a guilty
man, with the exception of his downcast eyes. His cast of features was
rather prepossessing, and a low smile was occasionally discovered. His
firmness and self-possession were the universal theme of remark.

The warrant for his commitment being made out, a post-chaise was
ordered, in which he was conveyed to the jail to await his trial at the
assizes.

It was not until the spring assizes of the following year that his trial
came on; and then the evidence of his guilt was so conclusive as to
leave the jury no alternative as to the verdict which they should
return.

Sentence of death was immediately passed upon him, and on Thursday 9th
of April, 1829, he underwent the extreme penalty of the law.

During the whole period of his confinement and on his trial he exhibited
the utmost firmness and self-possession, and his demeanour was in no way
altered upon the morning of his execution. He ascended the gallows with
an unhesitating step, and was turned off without exhibiting any sign of
remorse, or sense of the dreadful position in which he was placed.

ESTHER HIBNER, THE ELDER; ESTHER HIBNER, THE YOUNGER; AND ANN ROBINSON.

TRIED FOR THE MURDER OF A PARISH APPRENTICE.

In the case of these offenders we have to present our readers with a
murder, equal in atrocity to that committed by the notorious Brownrigg,
whose fate we have already related.

These unnatural women were indicted at the Old Bailey, on the 10th of
April, 1829, for the wilful murder of Frances Colpitt, aged ten years,
the parish apprentice of the elder Hibner.

Mr. Bolland (with whom was Mr. Alley) stated the case. He observed, that
the facts he had to lay before the jury must excite the greatest horror
in the minds of those who heard the dreadful narration; but he thanked
God that such a case as the present was of unfrequent occurrence in this
country. The deceased, who was only ten years of age, was a pauper, and
was apprenticed to the prisoner, Esther Hibner, the elder, who resided
at Platt Terrace, Pancras Road, by the overseers of St. Martin's parish,
to learn the business of fabricating tambour-work. She was apprenticed
on the 7th of April, 1828, and in the month of October following, a
system of the most cruel and unnatural treatment was commenced by the
prisoners towards the unfortunate deceased and the other children who
were placed under their care by St. Martin's and other parishes. They
were not allowed sufficient sustenance, were compelled to rise to begin
work at three and four in the morning, and were kept at work till eleven
at night, sometimes two in the morning, and sometimes all night. They
had scarcely any bed to lie on; and frequently during the most inclement
season their resting-place was the flooring, and their only covering was
an old rug. The prisoners and their family had good bedding and clothes,
and every comfort that they desired. The children were not permitted to
go out to obtain necessary air and exercise; and thus the cruel
treatment they had experienced had terminated fatally with three of
them. The child which was the subject of the present indictment had been
reduced to such a deplorable condition that her feet mortified; and
this, combined with the bursting of an abscess on the lungs, brought on
by the ill-treatment the child had experienced, occasioned her death.
The breakfast which was allowed the children, was a slice of bread and a
cup of milk; and if they were indulged with this luxury, they had no
more food all the day. Sometimes the elder Hibner said the deceased and
the other children had not earned their breakfast, and then a few
potatoes were given them in the middle of the day, and nothing more
afterwards till the following morning. Nine pounds of potatoes were
divided amongst the whole family, which consisted of twelve persons;
they were allowed meat only once a fortnight; and on Sundays they were
locked in the kitchen, the windows of which were closed. It would be
proved that the younger prisoner, Hibner, had taken the deceased from
the frame, and knocked her down on the floor; she had then taken the
deceased up, and knocked her down again. When the elder prisoner was
informed that the deceased was lying in the room ill, instead of
affording her that protection which she was bound to do, she replied,
"Let her lie there." The deceased, when in that state that she could
scarcely crawl about the house, was told by the younger Hibner to clean
the stairs; she attempted to do it, but fell exhausted, and was unable
to accomplish the task; the younger Hibner then took the deceased up
stairs, and flogged her with a cane and a rod, and afterwards sent her
down to finish the stairs; when she came down, she was unable, from
weakness, to go to the proper place to obey the calls of nature, and
wetted the stairs: when Hibner the younger discovered it, she rubbed the
child's nose and face in it, and afterwards plunged her head into a pail
of water; the prisoner Robinson, who was standing by, encouraged Hibner
to commit this violence, and said, "Curse her! do it again, and that
will finish her." The children often cried for food, and, to satisfy the
cravings of nature, had eaten the meat that was brought in for the dog,
and also some pieces of meat which they picked out of the wash that was
obtained for feeding the pig. It would be proved also, that all the
prisoners had beaten the deceased; sometimes with a cane, sometimes with
a rod, and sometimes with a shoe. The medical gentlemen who attended the
deceased before death, and examined her body afterwards, would prove
that they found large sores on the feet of the deceased, and her toes
were mortifying and falling off. After death they examined the body, and
found it in the most dreadful state, produced by the ill-treatment she
had experienced from the prisoners, and from the want of proper food and
nourishment. The case demanded the most serious attention of the Jury;
and he felt satisfied that they would give the circumstances the most
serious consideration before they arrived at their decision.

Evidence of the apprenticeship by the parish-officers, and of the
dreadful state in which the deceased was found, was then given, and
followed up by the testimony of three of the apprentices, who fully
confirmed the narrative given by Mr. Bolland.

Charles James Wright, a surgeon, said, he went to visit the deceased at
Mrs. Hibner's house; she had sores on her feet, and her toes were
mortifying and dropping off, she died on the 15th of March. After death,
he examined the body; he found that the lungs were nearly destroyed with
abscess--the viscera were inflamed, and the body was otherwise diseased;
there were also several bruises on the outside of the body; the
proximate cause of death was the abscess on the lungs, and mortification
on the feet. These were produced by the want of food and exercise, and
the improper treatment which the child had received. The immersion of
the child's head in cold water would, he considered, greatly accelerate
the complaint on the lungs.

Two other medical gentleman, named Gozna and Bellin, gave similar
evidence, and concurred in opinion that the treatment the deceased had
received had accelerated the complaint on the lungs, and caused death.

This closed the case for the prosecution, and the prisoners were called
upon for their defence.

The elder prisoner, Hibner, said she would leave her defence in the
hands of her daughter.

The daughter said that the children had sworn falsely. They had been
treated with the greatest kindness by her and her mother, since they had
been in their house, and there was not the slightest ground for the
accusation which had been preferred against them.

Robinson declared that what had been alleged against her was false. She
was engaged by the Hibners only to assist them in their business, and
went home every night at eight o'clock.

Mr. Baron Garrow then proceeded to sum up the case, and delivered a most
feeling and impressive address, in the course of which he entreated the
jury, however their feelings might have been excited by the horrible
narrative they had heard, to come to a calm and temperate decision on
the case. The elder prisoner was the person to whose protecting care
this unfortunate child was consigned. She had promised that it should
receive from her care and attention, and she was, therefore, bound to
protect it from violence. His lordship then read over the evidence to
the jury, and observed, that in deciding the case, the jury had to
consider, first, whether the general ill-treatment which the child had
received from the elder prisoner had caused its death: if that were
their opinion, the other two prisoners must be acquitted. If, on the
other hand, they believed that the immersion of the child's head in cold
water by the younger Hibner, in the presence of Robinson, had promoted
the consumption, and had been the principal cause of the child's
premature death, then they were bound to convict those two women and
acquit the elder prisoner.

The jury after some deliberation found the elder Hibner guilty, but
acquitted the other women.

The sentence of death was at once passed upon Mrs. Hibner, and she was
ordered for execution on the following Monday; while the other women
were directed to be detained, to be tried for the assault upon the
deceased.

During the trial Mrs. Hibner did not exhibit the slightest feeling of
remorse for her crimes, or of fear for the consequences of them; and
upon her being arraigned upon a second indictment, which charged her
with the diabolical murder of another of her apprentices, she pleaded
not guilty with all the firmness of conscious innocence, although as the
poor child's death had been the result of the same dreadful course of
treatment adopted towards Colpitt, there could be no doubt of her legal
and moral responsibility for the crime, which had hurried the wretched
being from the world. As a capital conviction had already been obtained
against the prisoner, it was thought unnecessary to obtain the verdict
of the jury upon this second indictment; and the horrid wretch was
conducted from the court to the condemned cell in the jail. Here her
conduct became violent in the extreme. She swore to Mr. Wontner, the
governor of the jail, that she would not be hanged, and became perfectly
outrageous because she was not allowed to have a mutton-chop for her
dinner. On Sunday, she had a last interview with her daughter; but it
produced no effect upon her hardened mind, and she parted from her
without a tear. She subsequently went into the yard; and it appearing to
the turnkey that there was something suspicious in her behaviour, he
sent some person after her who found her bleeding from a wound she had
inflicted in the front part of her neck with a knife, which, by some
means, she had obtained unknown to the attendants. From this time her
behaviour was so violent, that it was found absolutely necessary to
apply the strait waistcoat to prevent her from tearing the bandages off
the wound. She confessed, soon after her attempt at suicide, to Mr.
Wontner, that it was not her intention to kill herself, but merely to
wound herself severely; thinking, thereby, that she would be allowed to
live a few days longer.

When this was ascertained, Mr. Cotton offered his spiritual advice and
assistance to the wretched woman; but she refused them and said, "that
she knew enough of the Bible herself, and wanted no interpreter." Mr.
Cotton still persevered until a late hour, but all his efforts proved
useless. She listened to him with the most imperturbable patience, and
never gave expression to either assent or dissent.

A little before eight o'clock on Monday morning, the 13th of April, the
wretched malefactor was led from the condemned cell to the press-room.
She exhibited a dreadful appearance; her dress, a black gown, over which
was a white bed-gown, and the white cap on her head, contributed,
together with the sallowness of her complexion, to give her a most
unearthly aspect. The sad procession then set forward, the miserable
woman being carried by two men, as she absolutely refused to walk. On
her arrival at the scaffold, she was assailed with a loud volley of
yells from the people, particularly from the females, of which the crowd
was in a great measure composed.

Up to the last the culprit refused to receive any spiritual consolation,
and no clergyman attended her on the scaffold. The executioner proceeded
to perform the necessary duties, and a few minutes after eight the
unfortunate woman was carried to

    "That bourne from whence no traveller returns."

She did not make a single struggle, and appeared to die almost
instantaneously.

Her body was cut down, after hanging the usual time, and was delivered
to the surgeons for dissection.

Upon the same day on which this wretched being expiated her crimes upon
the scaffold, her daughter and her assistant Robinson were tried for the
minor offence of assaulting the miserable children entrusted to their
care as apprentices; and having been found guilty, were sentenced
respectively to twelve, and to four months' imprisonment in the House of
Correction.

JONATHAN MARTIN.

TRIED FOR ARSON.

The name of this wretched maniac will long be remembered from the
circumstance of the object of his offence being that of burning down
that venerable monument of antiquity--York Minster; an effort in which,
happily, he only partially succeeded.

The fire was discovered in a most remarkable manner. On the evening of
Sunday the 1st of February, 1829, one of the choristers, a lad named
Swainbank, was passing through the Minster-yard, when, setting his foot
on a piece of ice, he was thrown on his back, on the ground. Before he
had time to rise, he perceived smoke proceeding from the building before
him. He at once gave the alarm, and assistance was immediately procured;
but it was not until the choir, with its magnificent organ and its
beautiful roof, had been totally destroyed, that the flames could be
conquered. At first this national catastrophe was supposed to have been
the result of accident; but the discovery of one of the bell-pulls,
knotted so as to form a species of ladder, suspended from one of the
windows of the building, and of evidence of a light having been seen
moving about in the belfry after all the officers of the Minster had
retired, on the night of the fire, led to a conclusion that it was the
work of an incendiary. This belief was on the following week
strengthened by the apprehension of a person named Jonathan Martin, at
Leeds, with some portion of the velvet from the reading-desk in his
possession. He was examined before the magistrates, and at once
confessed that he had set fire to the building in obedience to the will
of the Lord communicated to him in two remarkable dreams. He was
committed to York Castle for trial, and it turned out that he had been
already twice in confinement as a madman, and that he had prophesied the
destruction of the Minster.

On Monday, the 30th of March, he took his trial at the York assizes and
was found by the jury to have been of unsound mind at the time of his
committing the offence charged against him.

The following extracts from his defence at once showed that he was a
religious enthusiast:--

When called upon for his defence, he proceeded to say, in a Northern
dialect and with great energy--"Well, sir, the first impression that I
had about it was from a dream. And after I had written five letters to
these clergy, the last of which I believe was a very severe one, and all
of which I dated from my lodgings at No. 90, Aldwick, I was very anxious
to speak to them by word of mouth; but none of them would come near me.
So I prayed to the Lord, and asked him what was to be done. And I
dreamed that I saw a cloud come over the cathedral--and it rolled
towards me at my lodgings; it awoke me out of my sleep, and I asked the
Lord what it meant; and he told me it was to warn these clergymen of
England, who were going to plays, and cards, and such like: and the Lord
told me he had chosen me to warn them, and reminded me of the
prophecies--that there should in the latter days be signs in the
heavens. I felt so impressed with it, that I found the Lord had destined
me to show those people the way to flee from the wrath to come. Then I
bethought me that I could not do that job without being out all night,
and I considered whether I should let my wife know. I got everything
ready, and I took the ring from my wife's finger, and talked to her
about what I have mentioned--and I told her what I meant to do: she
grieved very much, and I had work to get off. I still staid a few days,
but I could get no rest whatever until I had accomplished the work. It
was a severe contest between flesh and blood--and then I bethought me
what would come of her and my son Richard, who I had at Lincoln. Then
the Lord said unto me, 'What thou does, do with all thy might.' I tore
from her and said, 'Well, well, Lord--Not my will but thine be done.' I
then left Leeds, taking twenty of my books with me; but I had no money,
and went into Tadcaster; there I got a gill of ale. [He then proceeded
to state the manner in which he travelled and supported himself to
York.] On Sunday (February 1st) I went to the cathedral service, and it
vexed me to hear them singing their prayers and amens. I knew it did not
come from the heart, it was deceiving the people. Then there was the
organ, buz! buz! and said I to mysen, I'll hae thee down to-night, thou
shot buz no more! well, they were all going out, and I lay me down by't
side of the Bishop's round by the pillar. [The prisoner concealed
himself behind a tomb, between which and the wall there was a space that
more than one person might lie down in.] I thought I heard the people
coming down from the bells; they all went out, and then it was so dark
that I could not see my hand. Well, I left this Bishop, and came out and
fell upon my knees, and asked the Lord what I was to do first; and he
said, Get thy way up the bell-loft; I had never been there, and I went
round and round; I had a sort of guess of the place from hearing the men
as I thought come down; I then struck a light with a flint and a razor
that I had got, and some tinder that I had brought from my landlord's. I
saw there were plenty of ropes--then I cut one, and then another; but I
had no idea they were so long, and I kept draw, draw, and the rope came
up. I dare say I had hundred feet. Well, thought I to myself, this will
make a man-rope, a sort of skaling rope, and I tied knots in it. Ay,
that's it, I know it well enough (pointing to the rope which lay upon
the table). So I went down to the body of the cathedral, and bethought
me how I should get inside. I thought if I did so, by throwing the rope
over the organ, I might set it _ganging_, and that would spoil the job.
So I made an end of the rope fast, and went hand over-hand over the
gates, and got down on the other side, and fell on my knees and prayed
to the Lord--and he told me, that do what I would, they would take me.
Then I asked the Lord what I was to do with velvet, and he told me, and
I thought it would do for my hairy jacket, that I have at Lincoln. I
have a very good seal-skin one there. I wish I had it with me, that I
might show it you. Then I got all ready. Glory to God, I never felt so
happy; but I had a hard night's work of it, particularly with a hungered
belly. Well, I got a bit of wax-candle, and I set fire to one heap, and
with the matches I set fire to the other. I then tied up the things that
the Lord had given me for my hire, in this very handkerchief that I have
in my hand. [The prisoner then went on to describe his escape by means
of the rope, nearly in the same terms as have been stated, and of his
proceeding to Hexham; that on the road the coaches passed him, but he
laid himself down, and was never seen.] While I was at Hexham (I think I
had been there two days) I had been to pray with a poor woman, and the
Hexham man came and tipped me on the shoulder." He concluded by saying,
"I's tired, or I'd tell you more."

The unfortunate man was ordered to be detained during his Majesty's
pleasure, and was afterwards conveyed to a lunatic asylum.

It appeared that this maniac was the brother of the painter, who, for
his magnificent productions, has attained so much celebrity. Up to the
time of this transaction, he had gained a precarious livelihood by
hawking books; having been, however, as we have before stated, once or
twice confined in a mad-house.

It is very remarkable that York Minster has repeatedly suffered from
fire. Its origin may be dated from A.D. 626. In 741 it was dreadfully
damaged by fire, and remained in that state till 767, when it was taken
down, rebuilt, and completed, and was consecrated in 780. Thus it stood
until 1069, when the Northumbrians, aided by the Danes, having besieged
the city of York, the garrison set fire to several houses in the
suburbs, which fire unfortunately extended further than they intended,
and, amongst other buildings, burnt the Minster to the ground. In 1137,
the same fire which burnt St. Mary's Abbey, St. Leonard's Hospital,
thirty-nine churches in the city, and one in the suburbs, again
destroyed the Minster; since which there had not been any damage done to
it by fire, excepting two trifling occurrences, which have taken place
through the neglect of the workmen, within the last sixty years, up to
the time of Martin's mad attempt. In the present year (1840), it has
again suffered severely from an accidental conflagration, which has
destroyed nearly the whole of that portion of the ancient building which
the former catastrophe had left standing.

JOHN STACEY, THE YOUNGER,

EXECUTED FOR MURDER; AND

JOHN STACEY, THE ELDER,

TRANSPORTED AS AN ACCESSORY AFTER THE FACT.

The murder of which the former of these diabolical criminals was guilty
very closely resembles that mention of which will be found in a
preceding part of our calendar, of Mr. Bird and his housekeeper, which
took place at Greenwich.

Mr. Langtrey, it appears, was a person nearly eighty years of age, and
of great bodily infirmity, residing in a small house in Prospect-row,
Portsmouth, to which he had retired, after he had amassed a considerable
fortune in his business as a brickmaker. His only servant, and the only
other inmate of the house, was a woman upwards of sixty years old, named
Christian Joliffe, who acted as housekeeper, but who was assisted in
procuring such comforts as the old man required, by a Mrs. Dyott, a
neighbour, living at an adjoining cottage. Mr. Langtrey was so feeble as
to be unable to quit his bed-room, which was situated on the first floor
of his house, and he was attended there by Mrs. Joliffe. He was known to
have saved a considerable sum of money, and he was reputed in the
neighbourhood to keep a very large amount (in notes and gold) in the
house. Amongst those who were observed to be particularly inquisitive
into his affairs, was a young man named Stacey, about twenty-one years
of age, an apprentice to a barber, living close by, who usually shaved
Mr. Langtrey,--an office which his infirmity prevented his performing
for himself.

On the morning of Monday the 2nd of March, 1829, the vicinity of the
dwelling of the unfortunate old man, was thrown into a state of the
utmost confusion and alarm, by the propagation of a report that he and
his housekeeper had, in the course of the previous evening, been
murdered in a most barbarous and cold-blooded manner. Inquiries were
instantly set on foot by the authorities of the town, and it proved that
the statement was true; the murders having been discovered by Mrs.
Dyott, the assistant of Mrs. Joliffe in her attendance upon her master.
Mrs. Dyott, it appeared, had repaired to Mr. Langtrey's house, in
accordance with her usual custom, on the previous evening, at a little
after six o'clock, to assist Mrs. Joliffe in preparing the old man's
bed; but was unable to procure admittance, although she made a
considerable noise at the door. Imagining, however, that the old people
were asleep, she took little notice of the circumstance; but upon
returning on the following morning, and finding the same silence
prevail, and the same inattention to her application for admission, she
became alarmed, and called in the aid of a neighbour. It was determined
by the latter instantly to force open the back door, and upon his
entering the house, he at once perceived the fearful crimes which had
been committed. Upon the floor of the lower room lay the body of the
aged housekeeper, frightfully mangled, and with the head nearly severed
from the trunk; while around her lay the instruments by which some of
the injuries had evidently been caused. A slater's hammer (smeared with
blood and brains), which was known to have belonged to Mr. Langtrey, was
lying at her feet; and near her were portions of a broken broom-handle,
which had been evidently employed in the desperate conflict which must
have taken place between the old woman and her assailant. The scull of
the deceased was found to have been completely smashed in, in several
places; and around her were pools of blood, extending over a space of
several feet. In the upper apartment a scene no less frightful presented
itself. The old man, whose age nor infirmities could protect him from
the assassin's blow, was found to have been murdered with equal
barbarity. His body lay upon the floor, dressed in his usual attire,
with his walking-stick by his side; but his scull had been frightfully
fractured by repeated blows from the same deadly weapon with which his
housekeeper had been assailed, and his blood and brains were scattered
over the apartment to a considerable distance.

A further alarm was immediately raised upon this dreadful discovery
being made, and the utmost consternation prevailed. Upon a minute
examination of the house, it became evident that plunder had been the
object of the assassin. The boxes and drawers had been rifled of their
contents, which lay strewed about the rooms; and money, deeds, papers,
and wearing apparel were scattered in indiscriminate confusion. The
murderer had been apparently disturbed in his work of robbery, probably
by Mrs. Dyott's knocking on the previous evening, and had left his work
unfinished, but a bag containing 600_l._ was found to have been stolen.

The aid of the London police was immediately obtained with a view to the
more speedy apprehension of the murderer, for it appeared as if one only
had been engaged in the diabolical acts; but several days passed before
any suspicion of a tangible nature could be said to attach to any one.
Stacey, the barber's apprentice, during the week had pursued his
ordinary avocations with his accustomed coolness; and, although the
murder had been made the subject of conversation in his presence, had
exhibited no agitation or feeling which could indicate that he viewed
the circumstance in any but the most ordinary light. On the Friday,
however, he complained of a sore hand, and claimed exemption from work;
and on the Monday following, he became very free with his money. His
wages as an apprentice amounted only to two shillings and sixpence per
week; but on this day he was observed to quit Portsmouth in a hired
chaise, with two women of the town, on a "lark" as he expressed himself.
Some suspicion in consequence attached to him, which was strengthened by
the discovery of a knife which corresponded in every particular with one
which was known to have belonged to him, at a short distance from the
scene of the murder, and in a direct line between that place and his
father's residence, smeared with blood and hair. The instrument with
which the throat of the unfortunate Mrs. Joliffe had been cut could
nowhere be found in the house; and it was at once concluded that the
weapon which had been discovered was that which had been used for that
horrid purpose. Upon inquiry, it turned out that young Stacey had been
absent from his master's house on the afternoon of the murder, with a
fellow-apprentice named Connamore, the brother-in-law of his master, and
had been at his father's house, in Charlotte-row, during a considerable
portion of that evening. It was, in consequence, thought advisable that
he should be at once apprehended; and the result proved the propriety of
the adoption of such a course. He was discovered by the constables at a
house at Porchester, in company with the females who had quitted
Portsmouth with him; and immediately on his perceiving that he was
pursued, he became agitated, and exclaiming, "I am done!" endeavoured to
conceal himself in a barn. He was soon discovered, however, and carried
back to Portsmouth, where he was examined before the magistrates. The
testimony of young Connamore proved to be most important. From his
statement, it appeared that Stacey had told him that old Langtrey had
desired him to purchase for him a tract called "The Book of Martyrs;"
that Stacey having no money, had requested him to advance the necessary
means for this purpose; and that he himself purchased the tract, and
handed it over to his companion. On the Sunday, the 1st of March, Stacey
and he went from their master's house to visit the father of the former,
taking the tract with them, which Stacey expressed his intention to
carry to the old man. They remained together during the greater part of
the day, but at about twenty minutes before six in the evening, young
Stacey went away, carrying the tract with him. It was nearly eight
o'clock before he returned, and then on his knocking at the door, the
witness let him in. He passed rapidly by him, and rushed up stairs, at
the same time calling to his father that he wanted him. The latter
directly followed him, and they remained in close conversation for a
considerable time. Shortly afterwards, Mrs. Stacey, who was young
Stacey's step-mother, joined them, and then Connamore heard something as
if some clothes were thrown into a tub of water and washed. Immediately
after this, old Stacey sent him off to a distant shop to purchase some
bread and cheese, and on his return, he found his fellow-apprentice
sitting by the fire, without his shirt, which his step-mother was drying
by the fire, after it had been apparently washed, and which was
subsequently ironed before he put it on. At about half-past nine
o'clock, he returned home with young Stacey, and on their way the latter
said that he had been fighting, and had got some blood about his
clothes. The witness examined his coat, and found that a portion of it
was so completely covered with blood as to require a knife to scrape it
off. It further appeared that a copy of the tract, called "The Book of
Martyrs," was found close by the bloody knife which had been discovered,
and the additional testimony of a witness having been obtained of the
prisoner having been seen getting over the railings of old Langtrey's
house on the night of the murder, he was committed for trial. His father
also, of whose knowledge of and acquiescence in the murder there could
be no doubt, was also secured, and committed to take his trial on the
minor charge of harbouring his son, at the same assizes.

In the interim the additional evidence of the identity of a glove which
had been found in the house of Mr. Langtrey, and which had been left
there by the murderer, was procured, from which it appeared that it was
one of a pair which had been given to young Stacey by a gentleman, and
both of which he wore on the day on which the murder was committed.

During his confinement, young Stacey exhibited little contrition; but
after having been visited by his three sisters, he appeared to become
sensible of the awful nature of his position, and confessed to a
fellow-prisoner that he was guilty of the crimes imputed to him, and
communicated the manner in which he had murdered the poor old people. He
said, that he had presented himself at the door with the tract in his
hand, and that having gained admission to the house, he seized Mrs.
Joliffe by the throat with an intention to strangle her, but that
finding she resisted, he took the candlestick which she held in her hand
from her, and beat her over the head with it until it was bent in all
directions. She at length fell down, and then he seized the handle of a
broom, with which he beat her, until she ceased to move, and he thought
she was dead, the broom, however, being broken in the struggle. He then
went up stairs to the old man, and seizing him by the collar, demanded
his money. He made some resistance, and struck him with his stick; upon
which he knocked him out of his chair; and taking up a tiling hammer,
which he saw in the room, he killed him. Returning down stairs, he
thought Mrs. Joliffe moved, and he struck her also repeated blows with
the hammer, and at last took out his knife and cut her throat. Whilst
engaged in this act, some one knocked at the door, and he became
terribly alarmed; but he heard the person go away, and then he commenced
his work of robbery. He was too hurried, however, to secure more than
the bag containing 600_l._; but before he took this, he cut the old
man's throat, in order to be certain that he was not watching him.

On the same day on which this most fearful detail of his crimes was made
by young Stacey, his father also made a confession, pointing out the
place in which he had concealed the bag of money. The turf had been cut
out, and the bag placed beneath it, in such a manner as to have rendered
it exceedingly doubtful that it would ever have been discovered, but for
its being pointed out. The whole of the money was recovered, with the
exception of about 30_l._, which had been spent by the younger prisoner
in the purchase of a watch and seals, and some articles of clothing.

The trial of the prisoners came on before Mr. Justice Burrough, at
Winchester, on Thursday the 30th of August, in the same year, when a
verdict of guilty was returned upon the facts which we have detailed
being proved in evidence.

The learned judge at once passed the sentence of death upon the younger
prisoner, who was ordered to be executed on the following Monday, and
his father was sentenced to be transported for life.

The day fixed for the execution being that upon which Magdalen Hill Fair
was held, the concourse of people assembled was immense. The wretched
criminal met his fate with sulky resolution, and declined the services
of the chaplain, whom he had dismissed on the previous day. His parting
from his father is related to have taken place without the smallest
exhibition of regret or feeling on either side; and the miserable parent
had so far overcome the ordinary sensations of paternal affection, as to
request to be permitted to witness his son's execution,--a request which
was granted; and of the accordance to which he took advantage. The
miserable youth appeared to suffer but little after he was turned off.
Upon the scaffold he declared that he was assisted in the murder by an
associate of his, whom he named; but who, subsequently, distinctly
proved his innocence.

The execution took place on Monday, the 2nd of September 1829, at
Winchester, opposite the jail.

RICHARD GIFFORD.

EXECUTED FOR FORGERY.

In the termination of the career of this unhappy young man, the direful
effects of dissipation are clearly evidenced. Having received an
education in Christ's Hospital, and backed by interest calculated to
procure for him advantages of a first-rate character, his weakness of
mind led him step by step from a position of respectability through the
various grades of dissipation, until it involved him in a system of
crime, for which his life was taken away by the laws of his country.

Gifford's father was originally a butler in the family of Mr. Abbott,
afterwards Speaker of the House of Commons, and finally Lord Colchester.
His mother was also a servant in the same family. On Mr. Gifford's
marriage, Mr. Abbott obtained for him a situation about the House of
Commons; and when they had a family, care was evinced for the welfare
and advancement of the children. Richard Gifford was the eldest son and
child, and when he arrived at an age fit to be sent to school, admission
into the admirable institution of Christ's Hospital was obtained for
him. After quitting the Blue Coat School, he had some occasional and
temporary occupation as a writer in the Parliament offices. Eventually,
through Lord Colchester's influence, a situation was procured for him in
the "National Debt Office;" and the death, advancement, or removal of
those above him were most favourable to him, and he rose rapidly. For
some time he gave satisfaction in his office; but, at last, the fatal
peculiarities which ruined him--the love of drink, and low and abandoned
company--broke out with undisguised violence, and he neglected both
office and home. His inattention to business led to three or four
several suspensions from his office; and it was only by the most
powerful and influential intercession that his friends could have him
restored: but, at length, his conduct was so outrageously bad, and his
absences so long and continued, that he was finally dismissed. It was
long before his friends could find him, and apprehensions began to be
entertained whether he was still in existence; however, at last his
mother (who was most tenderly attached to him) discovered his retreat.
Having found him, she succeeded in getting him out of his infamous den,
and in taking him home with her. On his part, contrition or concern
about the past was not visible, and though the kindest efforts were made
to keep him in the house, in the hope of estranging him from bad company
and diverting him from infamous ways, to succeed his parents were
obliged to keep him without hat or money, and almost without clothes.
Eventually, it was supposed, or hoped, that he was somewhat changed, and
that his disposition was a little mollified, which induced his mother,
in particular, to take him out occasionally. He, however, finally
absconded from his parents' roof, revengefully announcing, that "he
would make them remember their conduct to him--he would do for them
yet," and other such language. What became of him they knew not; at
last, he was heard of as living in a respectable style, appearing
well-dressed, at a house near the Waterloo-road. To account for the
change, he gave it out that he was married, and that his wife had money.
Almost the next thing heard of him was, his being before the Lord
Mayor, undergoing examination on charges of forgery on the Bank.

He was placed upon his trial at the Old Bailey sessions, in the month of
October 1829, when he pleaded guilty to an indictment charging him with
having personated William Green, of Crucifix-lane, brazier, and thereby
having obtained 125_l._, being the value of stock standing in his name
in the Bank-books. On the 6th of March the prisoner applied to Mr.
Linton, a stock-broker, in Shorter's-court, requesting him to sell out
the stock standing in the name of William Green. The broker declined
selling the stock, on the ground that he did not know the prisoner; upon
which he replied, "Your father knows me well, and has frequently seen me
at the National Debt Office." The broker's father was sent for, and on
seeing the prisoner, said that he recollected him somewhere, but could
not tell where. The broker was satisfied with this partial recognition,
and made out the necessary documents for the transfer. The receipt for
the transfer was signed by the prisoner in the name of Green, and on
comparing it with one which had been previously given on the receipt of
the dividend upon the same stock, the hand-writing was found to
correspond.

He also pleaded guilty to an indictment charging him with having
personated Richard Mann, and thereby obtained 27_l._, being the dividend
due on 300_l._ Consolidated Bank Annuities, of which Mann was the
proprietor. A few days after the fraud on Mr. Green, the prisoner went
to the Rotunda, in the Bank, and introducing himself to a broker as Mr.
Mann, requested him to witness his receipt of the dividend. The broker
asked for a reference, and the prisoner named Mr. Linton, who happening
to be close by, was instantly appealed to, and at once recognised the
prisoner as being the person who had imposed upon him in the name of
Green. The prisoner refused to withdraw his plea of guilty, although
advised by the judge to do so.

Upon this sentence of death was at once passed; and upon the recorder's
report being made to his Majesty, the unhappy prisoner was ordered for
execution.

Monday the 19th of October, was the day upon which the sentence was
directed to be executed, and the convict upon being led out from his
cell was totally unnerved, and glanced about him with a fearful and
hurried look. He appeared deeply and bitterly to repent his crimes; and
the wretched course of life he had adopted, in spite of the anxious
solicitude of his parents.

He was executed with two other men, who had been convicted of
house-breaking, in the twenty-sixth year of his age, on the 19th of
October, 1829.

JAMES BELL.

TRANSPORTED FOR BURGLARY.

The great singularity of the offence, as well as of the apprehension of
this fellow, induces us to lay their short particulars before our
readers. The prisoner was of that class called "Resurrection men," and
the crime of which he was convicted was committed by him and three of
his associates in this horrible traffic.

Bell on the 17th December, 1829, was placed at the bar at the Maidstone
Assizes before Mr. Baron Garrow, under a charge of burglariously
breaking and entering the dwelling-house of Daniel Redday, at Deptford,
and stealing therein a shirt, a worsted comforter, and the body of a
black man whose name was unknown.--It appeared that Daniel Redday was a
lodging-house keeper at Deptford; an unfortunate black man had come to
lodge in his house shortly before the 20th of November, and on the 19th
died suddenly. His body was laid out in a back room with the shirt on,
and the comforter round his head, until a coroner's jury could sit on
him. In the course of the night of the 20th the prosecutor was alarmed
by a noise in the room of the dead man. Not choosing to examine into the
cause from within, he went out of the house, and soon perceived a ladder
placed up against the window of the room in which the corpse was
deposited, and four men, of whom the prisoner was one, on the ladder. In
his hurry to apprehend them he ran against the ladder, and the whole
four, with the corpse, the comforter, and the shirt, came to the ground.
Three of the four men made a successful retreat, but the prisoner was
taken into custody.--The jury found him Guilty, and Mr. Baron Garrow,
after having commented upon the heinous nature of his crime, aimed as it
was at the best interests of society, sentenced him to be transported
for life.

WILLIAM BANKS.

EXECUTED FOR BURGLARY.

We do not recollect that we have ever met with an instance of a burglary
having been committed attended with greater violence or atrocity, than
that for which this man underwent the punishment of death.

The Reverend William Warrington, it appears, was a gentleman of large
property, residing at Grove Cottage, West Moulsey, in the vicinity of
that well-known spot, Moulsey Hurst, Surrey; and on the night of
Wednesday, 19th of November, 1828, his house was entered by four
burglars, and a great quantity of valuable property carried off. Mr.
Warrington's house adjoined that of Mr. Jeffs, a magistrate of the
county, and a ladder, which had been accidentally left in the garden of
the latter gentleman, was employed by the thieves in effecting an
entrance to the house, which they had determined to rob. The
circumstances attending the burglary are as follows:--

Between one and two o'clock on Wednesday morning, Mrs. Warrington was in
her bed-chamber engaged in writing, and Mr. Warrington was in the same
room in bed, asleep, when the former was terrified by hearing some
persons at the back part of the house attempting to force a window on
the first floor, which opened to a staircase and to a passage leading to
the bed-room. Before she had time to alarm her husband, the fastenings
of the window were wrenched off, without breaking the glass, and as she
opened her bed-room door, she beheld four men, who had entered at the
window by means of the ladder before-mentioned, in the act of ascending
the stairs and approaching her chamber. Her fears were so excessive,
that she was struck speechless for a few seconds. When she recovered,
she shrieked, and exclaimed, "Good God, we shall be murdered; there are
thieves in the house." Her husband was awoke instantly by her cries, and
he had just time to leap from his bed and proceed in his shirt to the
mantelpiece, on which he constantly kept a loaded pistol, before the
four villains entered the chamber. He seized the pistol, levelled it at
one of the thieves, and fired, but without effect. The first man who
entered the room, a dark, ferocious-looking fellow, however, in turn
drew from under his coat a pistol, and presented it at Mr. Warrington.
The villain pulled the trigger, but the powder did not ignite. He
recocked it, and pulled it a second time, and it flashed in the pan.
Mrs. Warrington fell upon her knees, and in the most earnest and
affecting manner implored the villains not to murder her husband, but to
take all the property without interruption. The thieves then produced
some cords (which they had stolen from Mr. Jeffs' garden), and tied Mr.
and Mrs. Warrington's hands and feet. Their hands they tied fast behind
their backs, and cautioned them to be silent as they valued their lives.
They left Mr. and Mrs. Warrington in their bed-room for a few minutes,
and proceeded up stairs to the servants' sleeping apartments, and there
they bound two female servants (the only persons in the house beside Mr.
and Mrs. W.) with cords, in the same manner in which they had previously
bound the others. After they had bound them, the four robbers carried
them down stairs to a vault which was under the house, and fastened them
in that cold place, with scarcely any covering. The villains then
returned to Mr. Warrington's bed-room, searched his clothes, and broke
open his desks and drawers, and, in truth, ransacked the house
completely. They took cash to the amount of about 30_l._, and jewels and
plate of considerable value, with which they decamped. The servants had
been confined for several hours in the vault, when one of them, after
much exertion, released one of her hands from the cord, and forced her
way through the door of the vault. After ascending the steps, she found
another door fastened, and she had to break through that before she
could assist her master and mistress, who were in the most deplorable
state of agitation. She unloosed the cords which secured them, and
having released her fellow-servant also, they alarmed Mr. Jeffs' family
and the other neighbours. Mr. Warrington found that not only all his
portable property of value was carried off, but that the villains had
actually stolen a horse, value 80 guineas, from the stable, and had
taken his phaeton from his chaise-house, and by these means had carried
off their booty. Mr. Warrington sent information of the robbery to Mr.
Cooke, constable of Kingston, who set off in pursuit of the robbers. He
was able to trace the phaeton and horse and two of the robbers from the
house of Mr. Warrington, by a very circuitous route, to Walton-bridge,
and from thence through several by-roads to Knightsbridge.

[Illustration: _The Burglars._

_P. 202._]

On the same day Mr. Warrington also gave information of the robbery at
Bow-street, and Ellis, Ruthven, and Bishop, were directed to institute
an investigation with a view to the apprehension of the thieves.

Upon the arrival of the officers at the house of Mr. Warrington various
minute circumstances transpired, which induced a strong belief in their
minds that the robbery had not been committed by experienced thieves;
and that it had been "put up," or sanctioned by some person in the
house. The clumsy manner in which the boxes and drawers had been opened
seemed to point to the first impression, and the undoubted circumstance
of six buck-shot having been withdrawn from Mr. Warrington's pistol
which had been lying on the mantelpiece during several days, led to the
latter conclusion. Suspicion seemed to attach to one of the female
servants, who had been familiarly accosted by her name, "Fanny," by one
of the robbers, and who had been the first to secure her escape from the
cords by which she had been confined, and she was taken into custody.
After a few days' imprisonment, however, the officers declared
themselves unable to produce any positive evidence against her, and she
was discharged.

From this time the most anxious exertions were made by the
police-officers to secure the robbers. Every means in their power was
tried; but although they succeeded in tracing them by witnesses to
London, where Mr. Warrington's carriage and horse were found, they were
unable to discover who were the persons by whom the burglary had been
perpetrated.

In the month of July 1829, however, the long-pending mystery was solved.
A man named Barnett, a Jew, had been convicted of a burglary in the
house of Mr. Colebatch, in Thames-street, for which he had been
sentenced to transportation for life; but anxious to save himself from
the infliction of this punishment, he tendered information as to the
parties who had composed "The Moulsey Gang," as they were now called,
upon condition of his liberty being restored to him. The proposition was
at once accepted, and he immediately impeached Banks, and four other men
named John Smith, William Johnson, James Taylor, and William Potts,
_alias_ Emery. The officers instantly set about endeavouring to procure
the apprehension of these persons, and Cragg, a resolute officer of
Bow-street, was directed to proceed in search of Banks. This fellow was
a notorious thief, and was suspected to have been concerned in many
robberies which had recently been committed; but Cragg had heard that he
had frequently declared his resolution not to be taken alive. The
officer, however, was determined in his object, and attiring himself in
the garb of a butcher, he proceeded in search of him. Many days elapsed
before he could find him, but at length meeting with him, he rushed at
him, and presenting a pistol at his head, called upon him to surrender
himself a prisoner. Banks appeared astounded at this salutation and made
no resistance, but exclaimed, "I am a dead man." On his person being
searched, a loaded pistol was found in his pocket, and on his back was a
coat, which was a part of the produce of a robbery in which he had been
recently before concerned, in the house of Mr. Campion, at Waltham
Cross.

The other prisoners were apprehended nearly at the same time; and Potts
was proved to have pawned a pair of shoes which had also been stolen
from Mr. Campion's. Upon their examination before the magistrates at
Bow-street, Banks' participation in both burglaries was clearly proved,
and he was committed for trial. Both Mr. and Mrs. Warrington identified
him as one of the persons who had entered their house, but pointed him
out as having acted with some degree of humanity, strongly protesting
against the exercise of any cruelty by his companions.

Banks alone was committed for trial upon the charge of burglary at Mr.
Warrington's, the evidence against the other prisoners not being
sufficiently conclusive to warrant their being indicted, and was found
guilty, and sentenced to death at the succeeding Surrey assizes.

After his conviction, he professed himself to be perfectly willing to
meet his fate, as he knew nothing of a state hereafter, declaring that
all he cared about being hanged was for the pain it would cause him. He
refused to receive any consolation from the chaplain, and was perfectly
unmoved up to the time of his being pinioned.

He was hanged at Horsemonger-lane jail on the 11th of January, 1830.

ROBERT EMOND.

EXECUTED FOR MURDER.

The crime which subjected this criminal to condign punishment was that
of the murder of an aged widow and her daughter, to whom he was related
by the ties of marriage.

Mr. Franks, at the time of the murders lately deceased, was gamekeeper
to the late Lord Elcho; and when age, and consequently frailty, rendered
him incompetent to the prompt discharge of his duties, his lordship made
such arrangements as enabled his old and respected servant to subsist in
an humble but comfortable independence. On the 26th of July, 1829, Mr.
Franks was consigned to the grave, and he left the hapless subjects of
this notice--a widow, nearly fifty, and a daughter of fifteen years of
age--to lament his death.

On Sunday, the 25th of October, according to custom, they attended the
Rev. Mr. Hogg's chapel, and, no doubt, they had very little suspicion
that it was for the last time. The house in which they resided near
Haddington was about one hundred yards from the village of Abbey, in
East Lothian, and with the garden was enclosed by a wall above six feet
in height. The village youth never once thought of stealing fruit from
people so warmly beloved, and consequently the garden-door stood always
open. On that night they were brutally murdered. His plans carefully
matured, the murderer deliberately fastened the garden-door, so that the
escape of the intended victims, and any attempts at resistance, were
rendered exceedingly difficult. He then scaled the wall, and proceeded
to the awful work of homicide. His first attempt to gain admittance was
at a window in front of the house. He broke two panes of glass; but the
inside shutters were too securely fastened to yield to his efforts.
Baffled and disappointed, he had recourse to another window in the same
room; and after breaking two panes of glass, and using great exertion,
the keeper gave way, and the monster obtained admission. He passed
deliberately through the room, through a sinuous passage, through the
kitchen, and then burst into the bedroom of Mrs. Franks and her
daughter. The unfortunate ladies had been alarmed by the noise the
villain made in breaking into their sanctuary. The mother had time to
throw her gown over a petticoat; but the daughter, a stranger to the
crimes of the world, and naturally possessing a more tranquil mind, and
being more soundly asleep, had barely time to clothe herself with the
gown she had on at church, ere she was in the grasp of her ruthless
murderer. Dread, desperation, and the potent instinct of
self-preservation naturally incited a resolute resistance; but the
well-prepared and determined murderer prevailed. In the vain and
delusive hope of escape the wretched mother fled from the appalling
scene of death, and ran to the garden-door, expecting to reach the
village; but there she was stopped by the cool and fiendish deliberation
of her destroyer. Having despatched the daughter, he followed the
mother, seized her at the garden-door, and with one of her own
table-knives, ended her life, by nearly severing the head from her body.
He then threw the bleeding corpse into a hogsty, which was only ten
yards distant; and the marks of the ruffian's gory hands were observable
on the entry-door. The bloody tragedy being finished, the scarcely less
important consideration next came--that of plunder. He coolly locked the
kitchen-door inside, turned out the contents of the drawers, and
ransacked all the repositories; indeed, so minute and persevering was
the search, that a considerable breadth of plaster was torn from the
roof of a room in the attic story, where there had previously been a
small aperture, in expectation, no doubt, that money was concealed in
that unusual place. The rings were torn from the ears of Mrs. Franks;
three gold rings, it is said, were taken from her finger, which were
carried off, along with a silver watch. Having completed his unhallowed
undertaking, and secured all the plunder that suited his purpose, the
ruffian retired, as he had entered, by the window.

Neither on the Monday nor Tuesday following was Mrs. Franks or her
daughter observed; but this excited no surprise, as it was concluded by
those by whom they were missed, that they were absent on a friendly
visit to the sister of the former at North Berwick. On Wednesday
morning, a woman requested a young man to make his way over the
garden-wall, and ascertain if a pig that belonged to Mrs. Franks had any
provision. He promptly obeyed; and on looking into the hogsty, was
horrified by the sight of the widow's mangled remains. He gave an
involuntary but vehement scream, and his employer, Mr. Dudgeon, a
miller, and a number more, promptly repaired to the spot. The body was
taken out, and, to their inexpressible horror, they discovered that the
throat was cut from ear to ear. Alarming suspicions flashed across their
minds; they instantly ran to the house, and having obtained an entrance,
they discovered the daughter--pale, dead, lying amidst a quantity of
blood, and the brain protruding from her skull.

Suspicions of the guilt of Emond from circumstances which became known
to the authorities were at once excited; and efforts were made to secure
his apprehension. He had resided for some time at North Berwick, and was
married to that very sister of Mrs. Franks, whom it was supposed she had
gone to visit; and repeated expressions of dislike on his part towards
his sister-in-law, and of threatened revenge for her interference in his
family quarrels, were deemed sufficient to justify the course which was
taken. In the course of a few days he was apprehended; but it was not
until the 8th of February 1830 that he was brought to trial. The
investigation took place before the High Court of Justiciary at
Edinburgh, and the wretched criminal was pronounced guilty amidst a
tumultuous burst of execration, and was ordered for execution on the
17th of March.

Immediately after his trial the convict confessed that he had committed
the dreadful crimes imputed to him, under the circumstances which we
have narrated. He appeared, however, to view his murder of Mrs. Franks
as an act which her previous conduct towards him justified; but when he
alluded to the death of her daughter, he appeared struck with remorse
and despair, exclaiming wildly, "Innocent blood calls for vengeance."

On the appointed day the prisoner underwent the punishment due to his
crimes, at the end of Libberton's Wynd. On the Friday before his death
he was visited by his wife, for the first time during his imprisonment.
On being informed she was come, he exclaimed, "Oh, God, how can I meet
her--how can I see her!" She refused to proceed farther than the cell
door, and on seeing her husband, said, "Oh, Robert, Robert, you see what
you have brought yourself to!" He used some soothing expressions, and
going as far as his chains would permit, said, "Mary, will you not shake
hands with me?" but she shrunk back, saying, "Oh, no, no; how can I
touch you?" However, by the persuasion of the clergyman, she did shake
hands with him. He then wished to impress on her, that he always loved
her affectionately; but she replied, "Oh, Robert, ye ken your conduct
didna look like that." They were beginning to recriminate, when it was
thought best to finish the interview. She was again asked to shake hands
at parting, but at first refused, exclaiming, "Oh, no, no--I cannot
touch him;" but being advised to extend her hand, which he held firmly,
she shuddered and shrieked out, "Oh that hand, that hand!" On being told
that a Mrs. Cron was with his wife, he said, "I would to God that
infernal woman had been in place of the girl (meaning Magdalene Franks).
Were I as free as ever, I would be hanged this night, this instant, if I
had her here, and had my revenge." The criminal accused this woman of
fomenting differences between him and his wife.

At six o'clock in the morning of the day fixed for the execution, the
Rev. Mr. Porteous, who had been unwearied in his attentions to the
unhappy man, arrived and performed the religious exercises. About seven
o'clock, he was pinioned in the usual form.

The morning was cloudy and drizzling; but at an early hour the crowd
began to collect from all quarters, and a perfect stream of people
passed up the High-street for nearly two hours. The street, windows,
terraces, and chimney-tops, were densely peopled. Some hundreds of
persons from Haddington, North Berwick, and the adjacent villages
attended.

A few minutes past eight the culprit ascended the scaffold. His
appearance elicited a huzza from the boys among the crowd, but no
grown-up person joined in the unseemly and appalling shout. He was
attended by his brother, who joined him with the reverend gentleman, in
psalm-singing and prayer. The unhappy man remained firm and composed
throughout, but changed colour frequently when the executioner proceeded
to do his duty. He then shook hands with his brother, and the official
attendants said he was now ready, and bade them all farewell. After a
few moments in private prayer, the signal was dropped, and the platform
instantly fell. His struggles were unusually long and violent, and it
was apparently four or five minutes before the vital spark had fled.
Emond was a man of short stature, with ill-proportioned features, and
had, on the whole, a very unprepossessing look. After hanging the usual
time, the body was lowered down into the shell, and conveyed to the
Lock-up House, whence it was afterwards taken to the College for public
dissection.

CAPTAIN WILLIAM MOIR.

EXECUTED FOR MURDER.

This unhappy gentleman was a native of Forfarshire, in Scotland, where
he was born of a family of the highest respectability, in the year 1794.
At the age of nineteen he entered the British army; and during a period
of seventeen years served with great credit in the fourteenth,
thirty-seventh, and fortieth regiments of foot, in France, Spain, and
America. In the course of his sojourn in the latter country, (in the
year 1816,) he was united to a young lady of exceedingly amiable
disposition, who at that time had only reached her fourteenth year; and
upon his return to England, he resided with his wife in the vicinity of
London. Here he became acquainted with many families of high standing in
society; but tired of an idle life, he determined to devote his time to
the occupation of farming, and at Michaelmas 1829 he entered on the
possession of Shell-haven Farm, consisting of about four hundred acres
of land, and situated near Stanford-le-Hope, in the vicinity of Barking,
in Essex. At this time he had three children, respectively of the ages
of twelve, ten, and seven years, and there appeared every prospect of a
continuance of that happiness which he had so long enjoyed with his
family, when by an act, attributable rather to passion or insanity than
to preconceived deliberation, he subjected himself to the infliction of
the severest penalty of the law.

It would appear that Captain Moir was in the habit of pursuing a strict
line of discipline with regard to trespassers upon his farm, and was
considerably annoyed by the constant appearance of fishermen upon his
lands, who resorted thither for the purpose of dragging a portion of the
river which passed through them, and which was supposed to contain an
abundance of fish of a superior quality and size.

On Wednesday, the 24th of March, 1830, a poor man named Malcolm,
residing at Hammersmith, quitted home, in a boat, accompanied by his
apprentice, and a brother fisherman, named Duke, for the purpose of
fishing. They proceeded to Shell-haven Creek, where Malcolm threw out
his nets. In a short time Captain Moir made his appearance, armed with a
knife, and accompanied by a servant named Raven, and ordered the nets to
be removed. Malcolm offered some observations of abuse towards him, and
reluctantly retired; but he was proceeding across Captain Moir's
meadows, intending to go to the house of a man named Baker, when he was
called back, and ordered to go round by the sea-wall. He directed some
further abuse towards the captain, and took off his jacket, as if to
fight him, but at length he went away. Captain Moir then returned to his
house, and Malcolm and his assistants went to Baker's cottage; but they
had not been there more than an hour and a half, when they went back to
the Creek, where Malcolm's boat was lying. At this time Malcolm had a
boat-hook over his shoulder, to which was suspended a basket of
potatoes, which he had obtained from Davis, and the party was again
crossing Captain Moir's premises, Malcolm being about seven yards in
advance, when the captain and his servant were seen riding furiously
towards them. The former exclaimed that he thought he had ordered them
not to trespass upon his lands; and Malcolm answered that he would go,
or that he might go and be d--d, the precise observation not having been
distinctly heard; and then Captain Moir suddenly presenting a pistol,
discharged it at him. Malcolm exclaimed, that his arm was broken, and
dropped his boat-hook; and the captain threatened his companions, to
serve them in the same manner, if they did not instantly retire.

Malcolm was soon afterwards carried back to Davis' cottage, where he was
attended by Mr. Dodd, a surgeon, at the direction of Captain Moir, and
was found to be in a position of so great danger as to render his
immediate removal necessary. The poor man was subsequently attacked with
lock-jaw, and died after the lapse of two or three days. A conversation
took place between Captain Moir and Mr. Dodd upon the subject, upon the
day of the occurrence, when the former justified his conduct, declared
that his land was his castle, and that he would do the same again on the
next day, under similar circumstances.

A coroner's inquest having been held upon the body of the deceased
fisherman, a verdict of Wilful Murder was returned, and Captain Moir was
committed to Chelmsford jail, to take his trial at the ensuing assizes.

The case came on for investigation at Chelmsford before Lord Tenterden,
on Friday the 30th July, when every exertion was used on behalf of the
accused, but to no purpose, and a verdict of Guilty was returned upon
the capital charge. The prisoner urged the absence of all malice on his
part towards the deceased, and alleged that he had been compelled to
retain loaded pistols constantly in his house, in consequence of the
desperate characters by which his neighbourhood was surrounded. All,
however, was of no avail, and sentence of death was passed in the usual
terms.

After his conviction, a strong and urgent appeal was made on his behalf
to the government, founded upon the suggestion that there was little
doubt that the act on the part of the unhappy man had been dictated by
insanity. It was declared, however, that it was too late to hope for
mercy upon any such grounds, which ought to have been made the subject
of inquiry at the trial, where, had they proved well founded, they would
have relieved the prisoner from all criminal responsibility. To this
answer the obstinacy of the unfortunate gentleman, who refused to offer
any extenuating circumstances in his own favour to the jury, which
should subject him to perpetual imprisonment, was replied, but all was
of no avail, and the sentence of the law was directed to take its
course.

In the mean time, the wretched prisoner, unconscious of the measures
which were taken by his friends with a view to secure his safety,
diligently applied himself to the only duty remaining for him to perform
on earth,--that of making his peace with the Almighty. He attended
divine service in the chapel of the jail on Sunday, and was afterwards
visited by his wife, then only twenty-eight years of age, his mother,
his sister, and some friends, of whom he took a most affectionate
farewell. At about seven o'clock on Monday morning he received the
sacrament, and expressed himself perfectly resigned to his fate,
declaring at the same moment, that he had not the smallest degree of
animosity against the ill-fated man whose death he had caused, and whom
he had had no intention to kill. Throughout the dreadful concluding
scene of his life, he conducted himself in the calmest manner. He
ascended the scaffold, declaring that he was at peace with all mankind,
and repeatedly denied that he had had any feeling of unkindness towards
Malcolm. At nine o'clock, the fatal bolt was drawn, and the ill-fated
gentleman died instantaneously. His body was subsequently delivered over
to the surgeons for dissection; but after such an anatomical process as
was sufficient to fulfil the terms of the sentence, it was humanely sent
to his disconsolate widow for interment.

Captain Moir at the time of his execution, which it will be seen took
place on the 2nd of August, 1830, was only thirty-six years of age. He
was a remarkably fine man, and stood upwards of six feet in height. He
was brother-in-law to Sir James G. Baird (a near relative to the gallant
Sir David Baird), and was first-cousin to Sir William Rae, at the time
of his execution the Lord Advocate for Scotland. He was descended on his
grandmother's side from the heroic Bruce, and was also connected with
the distinguished families of Blair of Blair, the Stewarts, and the
Butes.

The unfortunate man who was the victim of his crime was of the same age
with himself, and left a wife and six children. He had long been known
upon the Essex coast as a fisherman, and had frequented the spot for
several years where he unfortunately met his death.

JOHN SMITH, _alias_ WILLIAM SAPWELL.

EXECUTED FOR THE MURDER OF A POLICEMAN.

The cold-blooded and atrocious murder of which this man was convicted,
showed him to merit most fully the awful punishment which befel him.

The object of the dreadful crime of which he was guilty, was a constable
of the G division of the Metropolitan Police Force, then only recently
established in London and its vicinity; and in laying before our readers
the circumstances of this case, it will not perhaps be considered out of
place if we shortly recite the manner in which that most admirable body
was first called into existence and operation.

The necessity of some improvement in the police of the metropolis had
long been felt; and the utter inadequacy of the few Bow-street patrol
hitherto employed to guard the streets of London by day, and of the
watchmen, upon whom the same duty devolved by night, had for a
considerable time attracted the attention of the public and of
parliament. Committees of the House of Commons sat for the purpose of
receiving evidence upon the subject, and a vast number of suggestions
were thrown out upon the subject of the proper measures which should be
taken with a view to obviate the existing difficulty. Statements were
published in many of the newspapers, in which the faults of the system
were pointed out, and partial remedies suggested; but it was universally
felt that no amendment of the plan then in operation could be sufficient
to secure the object in view, and that a general and complete alteration
and re-organisation of the whole police of the metropolis was
requisite. A plan of this description was long and ably advocated in a
weekly journal of large sale (Bell's Life in London), the Editor of
which had turned a great portion of his attention to a subject so nearly
connected with the most minute interests of the community. A series of
articles appeared in that newspaper, upon which there can be no doubt
that the new police system, now so deservedly popular for its competency
and for its admirable effects in securing our common safety, was
founded. Mr. Peel, at that time Secretary of State for the Home
Department, in the session of parliament of the year 1829, introduced a
bill to the House of Commons, founded upon principles directly in
consonance with those supported in the journal in question--principles
which were eventually adopted with the almost unanimous consent of the
legislature. The general scheme which was put forth as being most
desirable to be carried into effect, was that of making a police
throughout England, the centre and focus of which was to be fixed in
London, while the great towns throughout the kingdom would act as
corresponding agents for the diffusion of that intelligence, the rapid
and regular transmission of which was properly looked upon as so
important to the success of any system of this description. In London,
again, a smaller focus was to be formed under a board of commissioners,
who would have daily communication with every division of the metropolis
in which the police should be established, as well as with those country
districts to which we have already alluded.

The minor details of the measure were to be carried out by the marking
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.

She wrote to Mr. Long, and in a day or two he called. Mrs. Roddis
humanely urged that danger might arise from symptoms which appeared so
violent; but the doctor laughed at her apprehensions, declared that the
wound was going on remarkably well, and that he would give a hundred
guineas if he could produce similar favourable signs in some other of
his patients. It was represented to him, that the wound had wrought a
disease upon the young lady of another description,--she was unable to
retain anything upon her stomach. For this, he said, he had a remedy
with him if he chose to apply it. He was an enemy, however, to
physic,--the sickness was a favourable symptom, and the young lady would
find relief from its disagreeable effects by taking mulled port wine.
This, however, like everything else, was ejected from the stomach. Mr.
Long called again; in vain were certain angry appearances about the
wound pointed out to him; he remained positive in his declared opinion,
and refused to take any new measures for the young lady's immediate
relief.

Every day brought new symptoms, which were looked upon by Mrs. Cashin as
unfavourable and dangerous; and at length Mr. Brodie, of Saville Row,
was called in. This eminent surgeon took every step possible for Miss
Cashin; but all his efforts were useless, and the very morning after his
assistance had been obtained, the young lady expired. Mr. Long was
acquainted with the circumstance of new aid having been procured, but he
assured Mrs. Cashin that this was quite unnecessary, and he never
afterwards called.

Circumstances of so remarkable a character were not likely to pass
unnoticed or unquestioned, and on Saturday the 21st of August, 1830, a
Coroner's jury was summoned to inquire into the cause of the death of
the deceased young lady. The investigation created much interest, and
professional gentlemen attended on behalf of Mr. Long, as well as of
Mrs. Cashin, to watch the proceedings.

Mrs. Roddis was the first witness examined, and she deposed to the
circumstances which are above detailed. Upon her cross-examination by
Mr. Long's solicitor, it was attempted to be elicited from her, that the
deceased had eaten a great quantity of plums; but this was distinctly
denied; and Mrs. Roddis asserted, that ten days before her death, the
young lady was in perfect health. The younger Miss Cashin, she added,
had died on that very morning.

Mr. Brodie's evidence was conclusive as to the cause of the death of the
deceased. He said that he had been called in to attend the deceased
young lady, and found a wound on her back, with considerable sloughing.
He saw but slight hopes of her recovery, but applied such remedies as he
deemed fit. On the next morning he found that she was dead. Mr. Brodie
added that he had no knowledge of the manner in which the wound had been
produced; but there was no doubt that it was that which had caused the
sickness complained of, and which had also been the cause of death. He
was at a loss to imagine how the production of such a wound could be
supposed to have any effect in curing a patient of consumption, or in
preventing such a disease.

At this point of the inquiry it was determined that the body of the
deceased lady should undergo a post-mortem examination, and the further
investigation of the case was, therefore, postponed until the following
Monday.

On that day the inquest was resumed, new advocates appearing for the
respective parties.

Sir Francis Burdett then came forward to speak to the mode of treatment
adopted by Mr. Long with some of his patients, which he did not think
dangerous; by his recommendation two persons had put themselves under
Mr. Long's care. He did not know the nature of the application used by
Mr. Long; he had used it on his hand for the gout, but it did neither
good nor harm. He had waited on him, understanding he could cure the tic
douloureux, and he wished to have some information on the subject, with
the view of apprising his friend, the Marquess of Anglesea, who was
affected occasionally with that disease.

Dr. Alexander Thompson, who had examined the body of the deceased, was
called, but he could form no positive opinion of the cause of death, as
he was not permitted by the family to inspect the spine and head.--In
this state of things, it was resolved that Dr. Thompson should pursue
the examination of the body, and for that purpose was requested to have
it exhumed from the burial-ground in Moorfields, where it had been
interred.

On Wednesday the Coroner and Jury again assembled, when Dr. Alexander
Thompson, Mr. Thomas King, surgeon, Mr. Wildgoose, surgeon, Dr. John
Hogg, Dr. Thomas Goodeve, Dr. James Johnson, Mr. John Maclean, and Mr.
Thomas Evans, who had all been present at the last opening of the body,
and examination of the spine and head, were examined. They all concurred
that it was a perfectly healthful subject--beautiful in form, and free
from all disease, save that occasioned by the wound in the back. Few
people could recover after such a local injury, which appeared to them
perfectly unjustifiable. A notion was entertained by some that it was