_In the Preface to my former volume I endeavoured to give my readers
some idea of the English Crown Law, in order to shew how consistent it
was with right reason, how perfectly just, and at the same time how full
of mercy. In this, I intend to pursue the thread of that discourse, and
explain the methods by which Justice in criminal cases is to be sought,
and the means afforded by our Law to accuse the guilty and to prevent
punishment from falling on the innocent. In order to do this the more
regularly, it is fit we begin with the apprehension of offenders, and
shew the care of the Legislature in that respect._

_In sudden injuries, such as assaults on the highway, attempts to murder
or to commit any felony whatsoever, there is no necessity for any legal
officer to secure the person who is guilty, for every private man hath
sufficient authority to seize and bring such criminal, either to a
constable or to a Justice of the Peace, in order to have the fact
clearly examined and such course taken therein as may conduce to the
impartial distribution of Justice. And because men are apt to be
scrupulous of interesting themselves in matters which do not immediately
concern either their persons or their properties, so the Law hath
provided punishments for those who, for fear of risking their private
safety or advantage, suffer those who offend against the public to
escape unpunished; hence hundreds are liable to be sued for suffering a
robber to escape, and that method of pursuit which is called hue and cry
is permitted, if no probable way may be left for felons to escape. Now a
hue and cry is raised thus: the person robbed, for example, goes to the
constable of the next town, tells him the case, described the felon, and
the way he went. Whereupon the constable, be it day or night, is to take
the assistance of those in his own town, and pursue him according to
those directions immediately, at the same time sending with the utmost
expedition to the neighbouring towns, who are to make like pursuit, and
to send like notice until the felon be found._

_So desirous is our Law of bringing offenders to Justice, and of
preserving the roads free from being infested with these vermin. For the
better effecting of this, besides those means prescribed by the customs
of our ancestors, of later times rewards have been given to such as
hazarded their own persons in bringing offenders to justice, and of
these, as far as they are settled by Acts of Parliament and thereby
rendered certain and perpetual, I shall speak here; though not of those
given by proclamation, because they being only for a stated time, people
must hereafter have been misled by our account, when that time is
expired._

_Highwaymen becoming, some time after the Revolution, exceedingly bold
and troublesome, by an Act made in the reign of William and Mary, a
reward of forty pounds is given for apprehending any one in England or
Wales, and prosecuting him so as he be convicted; which forty pounds is
to be paid by the sheriff on a certificate of the judge or justices
before whom such a felon was convicted. And in case a person shall be
killed in endeavouring to apprehend or making pursuit after such
robbers, the said forty pounds shall be paid to the executors or
administrators of such persons upon the like certificate. Moreover,
every person who shall take, apprehend, or convict such a person, shall
have as a reward the horse, furniture, arms, money or other goods of
such robber as shall be taken with him, the right or title of his
Majesty's bodies politic or corporate, lords of manors, or persons
lending or letting the same to such robber notwithstanding; excepting
only the right of those from whom such horses, furniture, arms, money,
or goods were before feloniously taken._

_A like reward of forty pounds was, by another Act in the same reign,
given to such as shall apprehend any person convicted of any capital
crime relating to the coin of this land._

_By an Act also made in the reign of the late King William, persons who
apprehend and prosecute to conviction any who feloniously steal goods to
the value of five shillings, out of any house, shop, warehouse,
coach-house or stable, or shall assist, hire or command any person to
commit such offence; then such person so taking as aforesaid, shall have
a certificate gratis from the Judge or Justices, expressing the parish
or place where such felony was committed; which certificate shall be
capable of being once assigned over, and shall exempt its proprietor or
assignee from all parish and ward offices, in the parish or ward wherein
the felony was committed._

_By an Act made in the fifth year of the late Queen, persons
apprehending one guilty of burglary, or of feloniously breaking into a
house in the day-time, and prosecuting to conviction, shall receive over
and above the certificate before mentioned, the sum of forty pounds, as
in the case of apprehending an Highwayman._

_By an Act passed in the sixth year of the late King, whoever shall
discover, apprehend, or prosecute to conviction without benefit of
clergy, any person for taking money or other reward, directly or
indirectly, to help persons to their stolen goods (such persons not
having apprehended the felon who stole the same, and brought him to
trial, and given evidence against him) shall be entitled to a reward of
forty pounds for every offender so convicted, and shall have the like
certificate, and like payment without fee, as persons may be entitled to
for apprehending highwaymen._

_The next point after offenders are once apprehended, is to carry them
before a proper magistrate, viz., a Justice of the Peace, and this leads
us to say something of the nature and authority of that office. My Lord
Chancellor, or Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, the Lord High Steward of
England, the Lord Marshal, and the Lord High Constable, each of the
Justices of the King's Bench, and as some say, the Lord High Treasurer
of England, have, as incidental to their offices, a general authority to
keep the peace throughout the realm, and to award process for their
surety thereof, and to take recognizances for it. The Master of the
Rolls has also a like power, either incident to his office, or at least
by prescription. As to the ordinary constructors or Justices of the
Peace, they are constituted by the King's Commission, which is at
present granted on the same form as was settled by the Judges in the
33rd Year of Queen Elizabeth, by which they are appointed and assigned
every one of then jointly and separately to keep the King's peace in
such a county, and cause to be kept all statutes made for the good of
the peace and the quiet government of the Kingdom, as well within
liberties, as without, and to punish all those who shall offend against
the said statutes, and to cause all those to come before them, or any of
them, who threaten any people as to the burning their houses, in order
to compel them to be kept in prison until they shall find it. As to the
other powers committed to these justices, it would be too long for me to
explain them, and therefore after this general Act, I shall go on to
take notice of the manner in which the person accused is treated, when
brought before them._

_First the Justice of Peace examines as carefully as he can into the
nature of the offence, and the weight there is of evidence to persuade
him of the just ground there is for accusing the person before him; and
after he has thoroughly considered this, if the thing appear frivolous
or ill-grounded, he may discharge the person, or if he think the
circumstances strong enough to require it, he may take the bail of the
party accused, or if the nature of the crime be more heinous, and the
proof direct and clear, he is bound by an instrument under his hand and
seal called a_ Mittimus, _to commit the offender to safe custody until
he is discharged according to Law. In carrying to prison for any crime
whatsoever, if the party so carried escape himself, or if he be rescued
by others, he and they are guilty of a very high misdemeanor, and in
some cases, those who assist in making the rescue may be guilty of
felony or high treason. But if a prisoner be once committed to gaol for
felony, and afterwards break that prison and escape, such breach of
prison is felony, by the Statute_ De Frangentibus Prisonam, _and shall
be tried for the same as in other cases of felony, and suffer on
conviction. My readers will find mention made of a case of this nature
in respect to one Roger Johnson, who some years ago was tried for
breaking the prison of Newgate, while he remained a prisoner there under
a charge of felony, and making his escape; but so tender is the English
law that when there appeared a probability that one Fisher (not then
taken) broke down the wall of the prison and that Johnson took advantage
of that hole and made his escape, he was found not guilty, for want of
due proof that he actually did break that hole through which he
escaped._

_The prisoner being in safe custody, a bill is next to be preferred to
the grand jury of the county, in which the nature of the crime is
properly set forth, and after hearing the evidence brought by the
prosecutor to support the charge, they return the bill to the Court,
marked_ Billa Vera _or_ Ignoramus. _In the first case the prisoner is
required to be tried by the petit jury of twelve, and to abide their
verdict; in case of the latter, he is to be discharged and freed from
that prosecution. But the grand jury must find or not find the bill
entire, for a_ Billa Vera _to one part and an_ Ignoramus _to another
renders the whole proceeding void and is of the same use to the prisoner
as if they had returned an_ Ignoramus _upon the whole._

_Many without knowing the Law have taken occasion to be very free with
its precedents, and to treat them as things written in barbarous Latin,
in which an unreasonable, if not ridiculous nicety is sometimes
required. But when this comes to be thoroughly examined, we shall find
that their proceedings are exactly conformable to reason, for if care
and circumspection be necessary in deeds and writings relating to civil
affairs, ought it not a fortiori to be more so where the life, liberty,
reputation and everything that is dear and valuable to the subject is at
stake? Therefore, since there are technical words in all sciences,
surely the Law is not to be blamed for preserving certain words to which
they have affixed particular and determined meanings for the expressing
of such crimes as are made more or less culpable by the Legislature.
Thus_ Murdravit _is absolutely necessary in an indictment charging the
prisoner with a murder;_ Caepit _is the term made use of in indictments
of larceny._ Mayhemaivit _expresses the fact charged in an indictment of
maim;_ Felonice _is absolutely necessary in all indictments of felony of
what kind soever;_ Burglariter _is the Latin word made use of to express
that breaking which from particular circumstances our Law has called
burglary, and appointed certain punishment for those who are guilty
thereof._ Proditorie _expresses the Act in indictments of treason, and
even if these are not Latin words, justified by the usage of Roman
authors, the certainty which they give to those charges in which they
are used, and which could not be so well expressed by circumlocutions,
is a full answer to that objection, since the proceedings before a Court
aim not at elegancy, but at Justice. But let us now go on to the next
step taken to bring the offenders to Judgment._

_The bill having been found by the grand jury, the prisoner is brought
into the Court where he is to be tried, and set to the bar in the
presence of the judges who are to try him. Then he is usually commanded
to hold up his hand, but this being only a ceremony to make the person
known to the court it may be omitted, or the person indicted saying_ I
am here, _will answer the same end. Then the proper officer reads the
indictment which has been found against him, in English, and when he
hath so done, he demands of the prisoner whether he be guilty or not
guilty of the fact alleged against him, to which the prisoner answers as
he thinks fit, and this answer is styled his plea. That tenderness which
the English Law on all occasions expresses towards those who are to be
brought to answer for crimes alleged against them, requires that at his
arraignment, the prisoner be totally free from any pain or duress which
may disturb his thought and hinder his liberty of pleading as he thinks
fit, and for this reason, even in cases of high treason, irons are taken
off during the time the prisoner is at the bar, where he stands without
any marks of contumely whatsoever._

_But in case the prisoner absolutely refuses to answer, or in an
impertinent manner delay or trifle with the court, then he is deemed a
mute; but if he speaks not at all, nor gives any sign by which the Court
shall be satisfied that he is able to speak, then an inquest of
officers, that is of twelve persons who happen to be by, are to enquire
whether his standing mute arises from his contempt of the Court, or be
really an infirmity under which he labours from the hands of God. If it
be found the latter, then the Court, as counsel for the prisoner, shall
hear the evidence with relation to the fact, and proceed therein as if
the prisoner had pleaded not guilty; but if, on the contrary, the Court
or the inquest shall be satisfied that the prisoner remains a mute only
from obstinacy, then in some cases judgment shall be awarded against him
as if he had pleaded or were found guilty, and in others he shall be
remitted to his penance, that is to suffer what the Law calls_ Peine
forte et dure, _which is pressing, of which the readers will find an
account in the subsequent life of Burnworth_, alias _Frazier; and
therefore I shall not treat further of it here._

_If, from conviction of his own guilt and a consciousness that it may be
fully proved against him, the prisoner plead guilty to the indictment,
it is considered as the highest species of conviction, and as soon as it
is entered on record the Court proceeds to judgment without further
proceedings on the indictments. But if the prisoner plead not guilty,
and put himself for trial upon his country, then a jury of twelve men
are to pass upon the defendant, and upon their verdict he is either to
be acquitted or convicted._

_And with respect to this jury, the English Law appears again more
equitable than perhaps any other in the world, for in this case as the
jury comes severally to the Book to be sworn, to try impartially between
the King and the prisoner of the bar, according to the evidence that is
given upon the indictment, the prisoner is even then at liberty to
except against, or as the law term it, to challenge, twenty of the jury
peremptorily, and as many more as he thinks fit on showing just cause.
So also, if the prisoner be an alien, the jury are to be half aliens and
half English. So tender is our constitution, not only of the lives of
its natural born subjects, but, also of those who put themselves under
its protection, that it has taken every precaution which the wit of man
could devise to prevent prejudice, partiality, or corruption from
mingling in any degree with the sentences pronounced upon offenders, or
in the proceedings upon which they are founded._

_Last of all we are to speak of the evidence or testimony which is to be
given for or against the prisoner at the time of his trial. And first
with respect to the evidence offered for the Crown; if it shall appear
that the person swearing shall gain any great and evident advantage by
the event of the trial in which he swears, he shall not be admitted as a
good witness against the prisoner. Thus in the case of Rhodes, tried
some years ago for forging letters of attorney for transferring South
Sea Stock belonging to one Mr. Heysham, the prosecutor, Mr. Heysham, was
not admitted to swear himself against the prisoner because in case of
conviction six thousand pounds stock must have replaced to his account.
But to this, though a general rule, there are some exceptions on which
the compass of this discourse will not permit us to dwell. It is also a
rule that a husband or wife cannot be admitted to testify against the
prisoner, but to this also there are some exceptions, as in the Lord
Audley's case,[57] where he was charged with holding his lady until his
servant committed a rape upon her by his command. Also in marriages
contracted by force against the form of the Statute; in that case it is
provided that the woman, though a wife, may be admitted as evidence, as
also in some other cases which we have not room to mention._

_Persons convicted of perjury, forgery, etc., are not to be admitted as
legal witnesses, but that the record of their contrition must be
produced at the time the objection is made, for the Court mil take no
notice of hearsay and common fame in such respect. An infidel, also,
that is one who believes neither the Old nor New Testament, cannot be a
witness, and some other disabilities there are which being uncommon, we
shall not dwell upon here Yet it is necessary to take notice that
whatever is offered as proof against the defendant, shall be heard
openly before him, that he may have an opportunity of falsifying it, if
he be able; and as in all cases, except high treason, no council is
permitted to the prisoner except in matters of law, because every man is
supposed to be capable of defending himself as to matters of fact, yet
the Court is always council for the prisoner and never fails of
instructing and informing him of whatever may conduce to his benefit or
advantage; and if any difficult points of Law arise, council are
assigned him, and are permitted to argue in his behalf with the same
freedom that those do who are appointed by the Crown._

_From this succinct account of the method in use in England, of doing
justice in criminal cases, I flatter myself my readers will very clearly
see how valuable those privileges are which we enjoy as Englishmen; how
equitable the proceedings of our Courts of Justice; and how well
constructed every part of our constitution is for the preservation of
the lives and liberties of its subjects. If there remained room for us
to compare the judicious proceedings in use here with those slight,
rigorous and summary methods which are practised in other countries, the
value of these blessings which we enjoy would be considerably enhanced.
But as this Preface already exceeds its intended length, we must refer
this to a more proper opportunity, and conclude with putting our readers
in mind that by the careful perusal of this and the Preface to the First
Volume, they will have competent notion of the Crown Law, the reasons on
which it is founded, the method in which it is prosecuted, and the
judgments on criminals which are inflicted thereby; matters highly
useful in themselves, as well as absolutely necessary to be known, in
order to a proper understanding of the following pages._

FOOTNOTES:

[57] This was Mervyn, Lord Audley, 2nd Earl of Castlehaven, a
man of loathsome profligacy, who was tried by his peers on
charges of unnatural offences, and executed, in 1631.




The Life of WILLIAM SPERRY, Footpad and Highwayman


There is not anything more extraordinary in the circumstances of those
who from a life of rapine and plunder come to its natural catastrophe, a
violent and ignominious death, than that some of them from a life of
piety and religion, have on a sudden fallen into so opposite a
behaviour, and without any stumbles in the road of virtue take, as it
were, a leap from the precipice at once.

This malefactor, William Sperry, was born of parents in very low
circumstances, who afforded him and his brother scarce any education,
until having reached the age of fourteen years, he and his younger
brother before mentioned, were both decoyed by one of the agents for the
plantations, to consent to their being transported to America, where
they were sold for about seven years.[58] After the expiration of the
term, William Sperry went to live at Philadelphia, the capital of
Pennsylvania, one of the best plantations the English have in America,
which receives its name from William Penn, the famous Quaker who first
planted it. Here, being chiefly instigated thereto by the great piety
and unaffected purity of morals in which the inhabitants of that colony
excel the greater part of the world, Sperry began with the utmost
industry to endeavour at retrieving his reading; and the master with
whom he lived favouring his inclinations, was at great pains and some
expense to have him taught writing. Yet he did not swerve in his
religion, nor fall into Quakerism, the predominant sect here, but went
constantly to the Church belonging to the religion by Law established in
England, read several good books, and addicted himself with much zeal to
the service of God. Removing from the house of his kind master to that
of another planter, he abated nothing in his zeal for devotion, but went
constantly from his master's house to church at West Chester, which was
near five miles from his home.

Happening, not long after, to have the advantage of going in a trading
vessel to several ports in America, he addicted himself with great
pleasure to this new life. But his happiness therein, like all other
species of human bliss, very shortly faded, for one morning just as the
day began to dawn, the vessel in which he sailed was clapped on board,
and after a very short struggle taken by Low, the famous pirate.[59]
Sperry, being a brisk young lad, Low would very fain have taken him into
his crew, but the lad having still virtuous principles remaining,
earnestly entreated that he might be excused. On the score of his having
discovered to Low a mutinous conspiracy of his crew, the generosity of
that pirate was so great that, finding no offer he could make made any
impression, he caused him to be set safe on shore in the night, on one
of the Leeward Islands.

Notwithstanding that Sperry did not at that time comply with the
instigations of the pirate, yet his mind was so much poisoned by the
sight of what passed on board, that from that time he had an itching
towards plunder and the desire of getting money at an easier rate than
by the sweat of his brow. While these thoughts were floating in his
head, he was entertained on board one of his Majesty's men-of-war, and
while he continued in the Service, saw a pirate vessel taken; and the
men being tried before a Court of Admiralty in New England, every one of
them was executed except five, who manifestly appeared to have been
forced into the pirates' service. One would have thought this would have
totally eradicated all liking for that sort of practice, but it seems it
did not. For as soon as Sperry came home into England and had married a
wife, by which his inclinations were chained, though he had no ability
to support her, and falling into very great necessities, he either
tempted others or associated himself with certain loose and abandoned
young men, for as he himself constantly declared, he was not led into
evil practices by the persuasions of any. However it were, the deeds he
committed were many, and he became the pest of most of the roads out to
the little villages about London, particularly towards Hampstead,
Islington and Marylebone, of some of which as our papers serve we shall
inform you.

Sperry and four more of his associates hearing that gaming was very
public at Hampstead,[60] and that considerable sums were won and lost
there every night, resolved to share part of the winnings, let them
light where they would. In order to this, they planted themselves in a
dry ditch on one side of the foot-road just as evening came on,
intending when it was darker to venture into the coach road. They had
hardly been at their posts a quarter of an hour before two officers came
by. Some were for attacking them, but Sperry was of a contrary opinion.
In the meanwhile they heard one of the gentlemen say to the other,
_There's D---- M----, the Gamester, behind us, he has won at least sixty
guineas to-night._ Sperry and his crew had no further dispute whether
they should rob the gentlemen in red or no, but resolved to wait the
coming of so rich a prize.

It was but a few minutes before M---- appeared in sight. They
immediately stepped into the path, two before him, and two behind, and
watching him to the corner of a hedge, the two who were behind him
caught him by the shoulders, turned him round, and hurrying him about
ten yards, pushed him into a dry ditch. This they had no sooner done,
but they all four leaped down upon him and began to examine his pockets,
M---- thought to have talked them out of a stricter search by pretending
he had lost a great deal of money at play, and had but fifty shillings
about him, which with a silver watch and a crystal ring he deemed very
ready to deliver; and it very probably would have been accepted if they
had not had better intelligence, but one of the oldest of the gang,
perceiving after turning out all his pockets that they could discover
nothing of value, began to exert the style of a highwayman upon an
examination, and addressed the gamester in these terms.

_Nobody but such a rogue as you would have given gentlemen of our
faculty so much trouble. Sir, we have received advice by good hands from
Belsize that you won sixty guineas to-day at play. Produce them
immediately, or we shall take it for granted you have swallowed them;
and in such a case, Sir, I have an instrument ready to give us an
immediate account of the contents of your stomach._

M----, in a dreadful fright, put his hand under his arm, and from thence
produced a green purse with a fifty pound bank-note and eighteen
guineas. This they had no sooner taken than, tying him fast to a hedge
stake, they ran across the fields in search of another booty. They spun
out the time, being a moonlight night, until past eleven, there being so
much company on the road that they found it impossible to attack without
danger.

As they were returning home, they heard the noise of a coach driving
very hard, and upon turning about saw it was that of Sir W---- B----,
himself on the box, two ladies of pleasure in the coach, and his
servants a great way behind. One of them seized the horse on one side,
and another on the other, but Sir W---- drove so very hard that the pull
of the horses brought them both to the ground, and he at the same time
encouraging them with his voice and the smack of his whip. So he drove
safe off without any hurt, though they fired two pistols after him.

About three weeks after this they were passing down Drury Lane, and
observing a gentleman going with one of the fine ladies of the Hundreds
into a tavern thereabouts, one of the gang who knew him, and that he had
married a lady with a great fortune to whom his father was guardian, and
that they lived altogether in a great house near Lincoln's Inn Fields,
immediately thought on a project. They slipped into an alehouse, where
he wrote an epistle to the old gentleman, informing him that they had a
warrant to apprehend a lewd woman who was with child by his son, but
that she had made her escape, and was now actually with him at a certain
tavern in Drury Lane, wherefore being apprehensive of disturbance, and
being unwilling to disgrace his family, rather than take rougher
methods, they had informed him, in order that by his interposition the
affair might be made up.

As soon as they had written this letter, they dispatched one of their
number to carry it and deliver it, as if by mistake, to the young
gentleman's wife. This had the desired effect, for in less than half an
hour came the father, the wife, and another of her trustees, who
happened to be paying a visit there when the letter came. They no sooner
entered the tavern but hearing the voice of the gentleman they asked
for, without ceremony they opened the door, and finding a woman there,
all was believed, and there followed a mighty uproar. Two of the rogues
who were best dressed, had slipped into the next room and called for
half a pint. As if by accident they came out at the noise, and under
pretence of enquiring the occasion, took the opportunity of picking the
gentleman's pockets of twenty-five guineas, one gold watch, and two
silver snuff-boxes, which it is to be presumed were never missed until
the hurry of the affair was over.

The last robbery Sperry committed was upon one Thomas Golding, not far
from Bromley, who not having any money about him, Sperry endeavoured to
make it up by taking all his clothes. Being apprehended for this, at the
next sessions at the Old Bailey he was convicted for this offence, and
having no friends, could not entertain the least hopes of pardon. From
the time that he was convicted, and, indeed, from that of his
commitment, he behaved like a person on the brink of another world,
ingenuously confessing all his guilt, and acknowledging readily the
justice of that sentence by which he was doomed to death. His behaviour
was perfectly uniform, and as he never put on an air of contempt towards
death, so, at its nearest approach he did not seem exceedingly terrified
therewith, but with great calmness of mind prepared for his dissolution.

On the day of his execution his countenance seemed rather more cheerful
than ordinarily, and he left this world with all exterior signs of true
penitence and contrition, on Monday, the 24th of May, 1725, at Tyburn,
being then about twenty-three years of age.

FOOTNOTES:

[58] There was great competition to secure white labour in the
American plantations. Infamous touts circulated amongst the
poor, and any who were starving or wished for personal reasons
to emigrate engaged themselves with a ship-master or an
office-keeper to allow themselves to be sold for a term of years
in return for their passage money. On arrival at their
destination these poor wretches were sent to the plantations and
lived as slaves until the term for which they had contracted had
expired. In Virginia and Maryland, where most of them went, they
were driven to work on the tobacco fields with the negroes, and
were worse treated than the blacks, as being only leasehold
property whereas the negroes were freehold.

[59] Captain Edward Low was one of the bloodied of the pirates.
He served under Lowther until 1722, when he smarted on his own
account. After many atrocities he was taken by the French and
hanged, some time in 1724. A full account of him is given in my
edition of Johnson's _History of the Pirates_, issued in the
same series as the present volume.

[60] Belsize House was opened as a place of amusement, about
1720, by a certain Howell, who called himself the Welsh
Ambassador. At first it was a fashionable resort, but it soon
became the haunt of gamblers and harpies of both sexes.




The Life of ROBERT HARPHAM, a Coiner


In my former volume I have taken occasion, in the life of Barbara
Spencer, to mention the laws against coining as they stand at present in
this kingdom. I shall not, therefore, detain my readers here with the
unnecessary introduction, but proceed to inform them that a multitude of
false guineas being talked of--the natural consequence of a few being
detected--great pains were taken by the officers belonging to the Mint
for detecting those by whom such frauds had been committed.

It was not long before information was had of one Robert Harpham and
Thomas Broom, who were suspected of being the persons by whom such false
guineas had been made. Upon these suspicions search warrants were
granted, and a large engine of iron was discovered at Harpham's house,
with other tools supposed to be made use of for that purpose. On this,
the mob immediately gave out that a cart-load of guineas had been
carried from thence, because those instruments were so cumberous as to
be fetched in that manner; though the truth, indeed, was that no great
number of false guineas had been coined, though the instruments
undoubtedly were fitted and made use of for that purpose. Harpham, who
well knew what evidence might be produced against him, never flattered
himself with hopes after he came to Newgate, but as he believed he
should die, so he prepared himself for it as well as he could.

At his trial the evidence against him was very full and direct. Mr.
Pinket deposed flatly that the instruments produced in Court, and which
were sworn to be taken from the prisoner's house, could not serve for
any other purpose than that of coining. These instruments were an iron
press of very great weight, a cutting instrument for forming blanks, an
edging tool for indenting, with two dies for guineas and two dies for
half-guineas. To strengthen this, William Fornham deposed in relation to
the prisoners' possession, and Mr. Gornbey swore directly to his
striking a half-guinea in his presence. Mr. Oakley and Mr. Tardley
deposing further, that they flatted very considerable quantities of a
mixed metal for the prisoner, made up of brass, copper, etc., sometimes
to the quantity of 30 or 40 pound weight at a time.

The defence he made was very weak and trifling, and after a very short
consideration the jury brought him in guilty of the indictment, and he,
never entertaining any hopes of pardon, bent all his endeavours in
making his peace with God. Some persons in the prison had been very
civil to him, and one of them presuming thereon, asked him wherein the
great secret of his art of coining lay? Mr. Harpham thanked him for the
kindnesses he had received of him, but said that he should make a very
bad return for the time afforded him by the law of repentance, if he
should leave behind him anything of that kind which might farther
detriment his country. Some instances were also made to him that he
should discover certain persons of that same profession with himself,
who were likely to carry on the same frauds long after his decease. Mr.
Harpham, notwithstanding the answer he had made to the other gentleman,
refused to comply with this request; for he said that the instruments
seized would effectually prevent that, and he would not take away their
lives and ruin their families, when he was sure they were incapacitated
from coining anything for the future. However, that he might discharge
his conscience as far as he could, he wrote several pathetic letters to
the persons concerned; earnestly exhorting them for the sake of
themselves and their families to leave off this wicked employment, and
not hazard their lives and their salvation in any further attempt of
that sort.

Having thus disengaged himself from all worldly concerns, he dedicated
the last moments of his life entirely to the service of God; and having,
received the Sacrament the day before his execution, he was conveyed
the next noon to Tyburn in a sledge, where he was not a little
disturbed, even in the agonies of death, by the tumult and insults the
mob offered to Jonathan Wild, which he complained much of and seemed
very uneasy at. He suffered on the same day with the last mentioned
malefactor, appealing to be about two- or three-and-forty years of age.




The Life of the famous JONATHAN WILD, Thief-Taker


As no person in this collection ever made so much noise as the person we
are now speaking of, so never any man, perhaps, in any condition of life
whatever had so many romantic stories fathered upon him in his life, or
so many fictitious legendary accounts published of him after his death.
It may seem a low kind of affectation to say that the memoirs we are now
giving of Jonathan Wild are founded on certainty and fact; and that
though they are so founded, they are yet more extraordinary than any of
those fabulous relations pushed into the world to get a penny, at the
time of his death, when it was a proper season for vending such
forgeries, the public looking with so much attention on his catastrophe,
and greedily catching up whatever pretended to the giving an account of
his actions. But to go on with the history in its proper order.

Jonathan Wild[61] was the son of persons in a mean and low state of
life, yet for all that I have ever heard of them, both honest and
industrious. Their family consisted of three sons and two daughters,
whom their father and mother maintained and educated in the best manner
they could from their joint labours, he as carpenter, and she by selling
fruit in Wolverhampton market, in Staffordshire, which in future ages
may perhaps become famous as the birth place of the celebrated Mr.
Jonathan Wild. He was the eldest of the sons, and received as good an
education as his father's circumstances would allow him, being bred at
the free-school to read and write, to both of which having attained to a
tolerable degree, he was put out an apprentice to a buckle-maker in
Birmingham.

He served his time with much fidelity, and came up to town in the
service of a gentleman of the long robe, about the year 1704, or perhaps
a little later. But not liking his service, or his master being not
altogether so well pleased with him, he quitted it and retired to his
old employment in the country, where he continued to work diligently for
some time. But at last growing sick of labour, and still entertaining a
desire to taste the pleasures of London, up hither he came a second
time, and worked journey-work at the trade to which he was bred. But
this not producing money enough to support those expenses Jonathan's
love of pleasure threw him into, he got pretty deeply in debt; and some
of his creditors not being endued with altogether as much patience as
his circumstances required, he was suddenly arrested, and thrown into
Wood-street Compter.

Having no friends to do anything for him, and having very little money
in his pocket when this misfortune happened, he lived very hardly there,
scarce getting bread enough to support him from the charity allowed to
prisoners, and from what little services he could render to prisoners of
the better sort in the gaol. However, as no man wanted address less than
Jonathan, so nobody could have employed it more properly than he did
upon this occasion; he thereby got so much into the favour of the
keepers, that they quickly permitted him the liberty of the gate, as
they call it, and he thereby got some little matter for going on
errands. This set him above the very pinch of want, and that was all;
but his fidelity and industry in these mean employments procured him
such esteem amongst those in power there, that they soon took him into
their ministry, and appointed him an under-keeper to those disorderly
persons who were brought in every night and are called, in their cant,
"rats."

Jonathan now came into a comfortable subsistence, having learnt how to
get money of such people by putting them into the road of getting
liberty for themselves. But there, says my author, he met with a lady
who was confined on the score of such practices very often, and who went
by the name of Mary Milliner; and who soon taught him how to gain much
greater sums than in this way of life, by methods which he until then
never heard of, and will I am confident, to this day carry the charms of
novelty to most of my readers. Of these the first she put upon him was
going on what they call the "twang," which is thus managed: the man who
is the confederate goes out with some noted woman of the town, and if
she fall into any broil, he is to be at a proper distance, ready to come
into her assistance, and by making a sham quarrel, give her an
opportunity of getting off, perhaps after she has dived for a watch or a
purse of guineas, and was in danger of being caught in the very act.
This proved a very successful employment to Mr. Wild for a time. Moll
and he, therefore, resolved to set up together, and for that purpose
took lodgings and lived as man and wife, notwithstanding Jonathan then
had a wife and a son at Wolverhampton and the fair lady was married to a
waterman in town.

By the help of this woman Jonathan grew acquainted with all the
notorious gangs of loose persons within the bills of mortality, and was
also perfectly versed in the manner by which they carried on their
schemes. He knew where and how their enterprises were to be gone upon,
and after what manner they disposed of their ill-got goods, when they
came into their possession. Having always an intriguing head Wild set up
for a director amongst them, and soon became so useful to them that
though he never went out upon any of their lays, yet he got as much or
more by their crimes as if he had been a partner with them, which upon
one pretence or other he always declined.

He had long ago got rid of that debt for which he had been imprisoned in
the Compter, and having by his own thought projected a new manner of
life, he began in a very little time to grow weary of Mrs. Milliner, who
had been his first instructor. What probably contributed thereto was the
danger to which he saw himself exposed by continuing a bully in her
service; however, they parted without falling out, and as he had
occasion to make use of her pretty often in his new way of business, so
she proved very faithful and industrious to him in it, though she still
went on in her old way.

'Tis now time, that both this and the remaining part of the discourse
may be intelligible, to explain the methods by which thieves became the
better for thieving where they did not steal ready money; and of this we
will speak in the clearest and most concise manner that we can.

It must be observed that anciently when a thief had got his booty he had
done all that a man in his profession could do, and there were
multitudes of people ready to help them off with whatever effects he had
got, without any more to do. But this method being totally destroyed by
an Act passed in the reign of King William, by which it was made felony
for any person to buy goods stolen, knowing them to be so, and some
examples having been made on this Act, there were few or no receivers to
be met with. Those that still carried on the trade took exorbitant sums
for their own profit, leaving those who had run the hazard of their
necks in obtaining them, the least share of the plunder. This (as an
ingenious author says) had like to have brought the thieving trade to
naught; but Jonathan quickly thought of a method to put things again in
order, and give new life to the practices of the several branches of the
ancient art and mystery called stealing. The method he took was this.

As soon as any considerable robbery was committed, and Jonathan received
intelligence by whom, he immediately went to the thieves, and instead of
offering to buy the whole or any part of the plunder, he only enquired
how the thing was done, where the persons lived who were injured, and
what the booty consisted in that was taken away. Then pretending to
chide them for their wickedness in doing such actions, and exhorting
them to live honestly for the future, he gave it them as his advice to
lodge what they had taken in a proper place which he appointed them, and
then promised he would take some measures for their security by getting
the people to give them somewhat to have them restored them again.
Having thus wheedled those who had committed a robbery into a compliance
with his measures, his next business was to divide the goods into
several parcels, and cause them to be sent to different places, always
avoiding taking them into his own hands.

Things being in this position, Jonathan, or Mrs. Milliner went to the
persons who were robbed, and after condoling the misfortune, observed
that they had an acquaintance with a broker to whom certain goods were
brought, some of which they suspected to be stolen, and hearing that the
person to whom they thus applied had been robbed they said they thought
it the duty of one honest body to another to inform them thereof, and to
enquire what goods they were they lost, in order to discover whether
those they spoke of were the same or no. People who had such losses are
always ready, after the first fit of passion is over, to hearken to
anything that has a tendency towards recovering their goods. Jonathan or
his mistress therefore, who could either of them play the hypocrite
nicely, had no great difficulty in making people listen to such terms;
in a day or two, therefore, they were sure to come again with
intelligence that having called upon their friend and looked over the
goods, they had found part of the goods there; and provided nobody was
brought into trouble, and the broker had something in consideration of
his care, they might be had again. He generally told the people, when