Part 24

"The Prosecutor was a Jew, and a common informer, in which character he had gone, on the above mentioned day, to the Fleet Prison, to serve the wife of Mr. Richards, with a notice to answer to an information for wearing hair powder without a licence. On his serving the Notice, Mr. Richards called him back, but he refusing to return, the other assaulted him, threw him down upon his back, said he knew him very well, that he was a damned informer, and that he should be pumped. Then the two Prisoners dragged him to the pump, and, with the assistance of others, kept pouring water upon him, for a quarter of an hour. A pail of water was afterwards thrown, by somebody, on his face. His clothes were all torn: and, when they let him go, he missed his money. Being asked by the Court if he could charge the Prisoners with having robbed him, he answered he could not; nor was the money found on them when apprehended. The Recorder then told the Jury, that as no charge was made out against the prisoners, they must acquit them.--_Not Guilty._"

"BASE COIN FINISHED AT NEWGATE.

"A very singular circumstance occurred a few days ago at the gaol of Newgate: One of the Magistrates of Police having received information that a person of the name of _Pullen_, a notorious offender who was sentenced to a year's imprisonment for dealing in base money, had been carrying on his former trade, while in confinement: that the base money of the similitude of a shilling, being previously prepared of blanched copper, with King William's head faintly impressed on one side, and plain on the other, was brought into the prison privately by Agents whom he employed: that after the Cells were locked up, this adroit Coiner prepared a liquid in which very thin pieces of silver were mixed, which, being rubbed upon the Copper shillings, instantly give them the appearance of worn down coin of the Mint: that he was assisted in the operation by several of the prisoners in the same ward, some of whom were his associates in iniquity, and convicted of offences against the Mint Laws: That his customers came regularly to the prison, and purchased the base money so finished at _two_ for _one_, paying sixpence for each shilling, although intrinsically not worth a halfpenny: that the dies, and some other implements for coining belonging to these delinquents, had been actually lodged in their trunks at Newgate, and they were brought there privately, on every alarm of danger from officers of justice, as a place of greater security. This information having been communicated to Sir William Staines, one of the present Sheriffs of London and Middlesex, with the zeal for the public good which characterises the active Magistrate, he went alone to Newgate, early in the morning, before the cells were unlocked, and caused the trunks, and boxes, belonging to the persons convicted of offences against the Mint Laws, to be searched; and, in a trunk concealed under _Pullen's_ bed, were found no less than £107, 2s. of base money, of the similitude of shillings, ready for circulation, and a machine for rounding, or milling, the edges of half crowns; and in another trunk belonging to an associate of _Pullen_, were found two plain dies, and two others for halfpence, and farthings. It would appear that some other dies for halfcrowns, and shillings, which had been deposited for some time in a trunk belonging to _Pullen_, were removed, together with the book he kept for entering the names of his customers who visited him, for the purpose of purchasing base money for the town, and country, circulation.... The Lord Mayor and Sheriffs have investigated the means by which these nefarious practices have been carried on, and, we are happy to learn, that it arose entirely from the arts, and devices, so familiar to criminals, without the knowledge, or privity, of the Turnkeys. The result is, that the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs are taking immediate steps for establishing such rules, as will probably prevent a repetition of the same evil."--(_Times, Nov. 29, 1796._)

PRIZE FIGHTING AND DUELS.

Prize fighting was beginning to develop into a fine art, and it was thought no more derogatory in a fine gentleman to assist, by his presence, at a "Mill," than to be present at a Cock fight. It was patronised by Royalty, as we see by the following Newspaper Cutting. Indeed, the Prince of Wales attended several prize fights, until a man was killed, and then he left the ring to itself.

"On Friday, a battle was fought at Blackheath between Crabbe, a Jew, and Oliver, commonly called _Death_; in which the former was victorious. All the great patrons, and distinguished professors of this _fine art_ were present, and many bets were laid. The battle was honoured, in particular, by the attendance of his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales."--(_Morning Post, April 18, 1788._)

Even those "feeble folk," those superfine gentlemen, the Macaronis, learned to use their fists, as we see by this illustration.

Any one caring for such particulars will well know that this was the golden age for pugilism. There were Tom Johnson, 1783-1791. Benjamin Brain (Big Ben), 1786-1791. Daniel Mendoza, a Jew, 1784-1820. Richard Humphries, "the Gentleman boxer," 1784-1790. John Jackson, 1788-1795. Bill Hooper (the Tin man), 1789-1797. Tom Owen, 1796-1799-1820. Tom Jones (Paddington Jones), 1786-1805. Bill Warr (of Bristol), 1787-1792. Will Wood, the Coachman, 1788-1804. George Ingleston, the Brewer, 1789-1793. Bob Watson, of Bristol, 1788-1791. Tom Tyne, "the Tailor," 1788-1792. Symonds (the Ruffian), 1791-1795. Jem Belcher, 1798-1809. This is the list of the Chief Gladiators of the period.

"Mendoza's terms for teaching are reasonable enough--eight lessons for a guinea."--(_Morning Post, May 26, 1788._)

* * * * *

"_Mendoza_ and _Ward_, finding that the blackguard exercise of boxing had fallen into disrepute, took up the _genteel_ trade of crimping, and became acting serjeants, at a house in St. George's Fields, until a stop was put to that nefarious business by authority. We are sorry to find that these notorious blackguards have since returned to their former occupation."--(_Times, April 16, 1795._)

Duels were of as common occurrence, as highway robberies, and need as much comment. Still, I give two, or three, instances to show on what trifles, men, then, ventured their lives.

The first is an ordinary duel between two officers, reported in the _Morning Post_ of 22nd June 1788--in which one of them was wounded in the thigh. This report brings a letter from some one, probably a second, who gives his version thus:--"Sir, in your account of the duel between Captains Tonge and Paterson, in your Paper of the 22nd, there is a mistake or two, which, for the sake of truth, I beg leave to correct. You say, 'that _Capt. T. wished to apologise for the injury he had done_.' The truth is, Captain T. being not quite himself when the affray happened, remembered very little of what had passed, except that, on some provocation, he had struck Capt. P. Considering himself, therefore, as having, _palpably_ broken the peace, he was ready to ask Capt. P.'s pardon.

"This was not deemed sufficient satisfaction, and the duel took place. You tell us, that _Capt. T.'s ball passed Capt. P._, thereby implying that Capt. T. actually fired at his antagonist. Now, Sir, I can positively affirm that Capt. T. was determined not to fire his pistol, and that it was involuntarily discharged, after he was wounded, and not levelled at Capt. P. You tell us then, that Capt. T., upon falling, declared that '_he had merited his fate, and begged Capt. P.'s pardon_.' His words were, _Are you satisfied? I fear I am dangerously wounded, I therefore advise you to fly._

"To enable the Public to judge properly of this affair, it is necessary they should be told, that the first offence was, Capt. T.'s treading accidentally on Capt. P.'s heel, who, though he saw Capt. T. was intoxicated, continued to follow him.

Rich. Weeks."

"Captain Parkhurst and a Mr. Kelly, are the names of the gentlemen who exchanged blows at the Opera House on Saturday evening."--(_Times, March 11, 1794._)

* * * * *

"On Sunday morning a duel was fought in Hyde Park between Mr. Parkhurst and Lieut. Kelly of the Navy. The dispute originated in some difference about places at the Opera pit on the preceding night. A brace of pistols was discharged, and the latter gentleman wounded in the shoulder. The seconds then interfered, and brought the matter to a termination."--(_Times, March 13, 1794._)

* * * * *

"Friday morning a duel was fought in a field on the Uxbridge Road, between Mr. Duke, surgeon, and Captain D----s, in consequence of an old dispute revived a few nights ago in the Haymarket Theatre. The parties discharged a brace of pistols without effect, but upon Mr. D. discharging his second pistol, a ball was lodged in Capt. D.'s arm--upon which the seconds interfered, and a reconciliation took place."--(_Times, Feb. 18, 1793._)

FRENCH EMIGRANTS.

We have seen how, at the outbreak of the French Revolution, the French came over here in thousands--escaping here as to a haven of refuge. For the most part they were of the better class; still there were, as in 1870, a large number of very suspicious characters (to use the mildest term) among them--and the government was compelled to keep a very jealous eye on their movements. Taken, however, as a whole, they behaved wonderfully well, and in no ways abused the asylum, and protection, they had sought.

"Government is ridding the country very fast of Jacobins: and in doing so, it is taking only a proper precaution during a time of war. Some hundreds have been already either expelled, or have quitted the country through apprehension; but many more still remain here: and we recommend very strongly to the notice of the Police Department, the general body of _French Dancing Masters_ practising in London, who are the veriest Jacobins in existence. An exportation of some of these Hop Merchants, and certain French Milliners, whom we could name, might be permitted without a drawback, and without doing any injury to the Revenue."--(_Times, Feb. 15, 1793._)

* * * * *

"The _Maitre d'Hotel_ of the _Duke of York_ was, on Saturday last, ordered to quit the country. We some time since remarked that there were several rank Jacobins in his Royal Highness's household."--(_Times, Feb. 16, 1793._)

He was sent out of the Country either for theft or embezzlement.

"The Jermyn-Street _Gun_, which is filled with combustible matter, should be unloaded, and spiked, or it may become more dangerous than it is even at present. A clause ought to be added to the _Alien Bill_, interdicting Frenchmen to meet, either in public, or private, houses, in a greater number than 5, at one and the same time. We cannot be too strict at this moment: and, being sojourners here, as objects of public bounty, they cannot complain of any regulations which Government may deem necessary to make."--(_Times, Feb. 16, 1793._)

* * * * *

"The French Emigrants.[17]

[Footnote 17: On March 6, there was a letter from the agents of the owners of the ship, putting a different complexion on the matter: the mutinous conduct of the emigrants being the cause of all the trouble.]

"Some of the papers have circulated very idle reports relative to the arrival, in London, of 140 French soldiers; the story is precisely as follows: These unfortunate Emigrants, most of them descended from opulent, and illustrious, families in France, having saved themselves, with the French Princes, from the daggers of assassins, were necessitated, at the end of the campaign, to enter the service of Spain. They embarked, on the 4th Dec., at _Bois le Duc_, for _Rotterdam_, and from thence, they sailed in the ship _David and Abraham_, commanded by Captain _Riendirk_. It would be impossible to describe the bad usage they received on board. Obliged to lay upon the bare deck, without a bed, and fed with mouldy biscuit, and beer, mixed with salt water; in this lamentable situation they remained five weeks. These miserable men were covered with vermin, most of them, dreadfully galled with sores, and ulcers. Some had not changed their linen for two years and an half: others had no linen of any kind, and the clothes of the whole troop were in tatters. There is reason to believe that the Captain of the vessel proposed to sell them as malefactors, to be sent to Batavia. The ship, however, was driven on our coast, and as soon as our Government was apprized that these poor men were at anchor in Sheerness, they took every measure to soften the rigour of their fate. Two of their countrymen were dispatched to bring them to London. The barbarous inhumanity of the Dutch Captain was notoriously conspicuous, and we hope some measures will be taken to bring him to justice, and make him an example to others, to avoid similar acts of inhumanity."--(_Times, Feb. 28, 1793._)

* * * * *

"It is said that Lord Moira, notwithstanding the strange part he acts in domestic politics, distributes the amount of £10,000 annually amongst the French Emigrants, who are only known to him by their distresses."--(_Times, Dec. 27, 1797._)

* * * * *

"A French Emigrant was, yesterday, examined before Mr. Ford, at the Duke of Portland's Office, on a charge of being a Spy. The circumstances adduced were on the information of a Journeyman Shoemaker, against his Master, a Mr. Deboo, for making a pair of boots with a Cavity between the Soles; covered with sheet lead to prevent the wet perforating, for letters of a secret nature. After a long examination, it was proved that he was employed by the Duke d'Harcourt, on a mission to the officers of his corps in Germany, and, his papers containing nothing improper, he was discharged: but, the maker of the boots having been, for some time, considered a disaffected person, is to be sent out of the Kingdom under the Alien Bill."--(_Times, Jan. 6, 1798._)

* * * * *

"In order to obtain a correct information of all the Foreigners who reside in this vast metropolis, and whose numbers are said to amount to 80,000, and upwards, Government has ordered the parish Officers to go from house, to house, and to take down the name of any foreigner who resides in the parish. This measure, we conceive, would become still more efficacious, if every landlord, or tenant, of a house, who lets out lodgings, were obliged to inform the Justice of the Peace, of every Foreigner who comes to lodge in his house, or leaves it. None but suspicious persons will have to complain of the severity of these measures."--(_Times, March 11, 1797._)

POLITICAL.

With Politics I had no intention of dealing, but the book would be incomplete if there were no indication of the party strife of the period, so that I have been tempted to make a few extracts principally of 1793-4, when party spirit ran very high. The revelations as to Elections, will, probably, somewhat astonish the next generation.

"The Marquis of Lansdowne's carriage conveyed the whole phalanx of opposition, in the house of Lords, to their respective homes, after the debate of Friday night: and even then, one corner of the coach was unoccupied.

"The opposition in the Commons, who are a little more numerous, were all bundled into Mr. Fox's coach, and that of Michael Angelo Turner, with the assistance of a hackney-coach for Jack Courtney, and Jekyll.

"Opposition, sunk to a minority that is insignificant in the extreme, was afraid to try the question, on Friday, in either House, well knowing that they could not reckon more than a dozen, in the Commons, and three in the House of Lords. Must not this convince the French of the unanimity of the people of England?"--(_Times, Feb. 4, 1793._)

* * * * *

"All the Members of the Opposition, in both Houses of Parliament, are to have a grand civic feast on Saturday next. Dinner is bespoke for FOURTEEN!!!"--(_Times, Feb. 5, 1793._)

* * * * *

"The Irish papers are full of information of indictments on the part of the Crown, against the printers of newspapers in Ireland. Thirty or forty names are mentioned in one of the latest Gazettes from thence."--(_Times, Feb. 6, 1793._)

COUNTY OF LEICESTER.--Dec. 19, 1792.

"It appearing to be the unanimous opinion of all true friends of the Constitution, that, in order to prevent the mischievous consequences attending a misrepresentation of their sentiments, either at home, or abroad, some public avowal of their principles is become necessary; We, whose names are hereunto subscribed, adopting the resolutions of the Society, at the Saint Alban's Tavern, do hereby declare, that we are unanimously, and decidedly, of opinion, that, for the security and happiness of all classes of our fellow-subjects, for the maintenance of our own rights, and liberties, and, for the dearest interests of our posterity, it is, in the present moment, incumbent upon us to give to the Executive Government, a vigorous, and effectual, support, in counteracting the numerous efforts of sedition, in detecting, and bringing to legal punishment, the persons concerned therein, and in suppressing, in their beginning, all tumults, or riots, on whatever pretence they may be excited: do hereby publicly declare our determination to take all such steps for these purposes, as are within the limits of our duty, in the several stations in which the Constitution of our country has placed us, and to afford, by our individual exertions, that active assistance to the authority of the lawful Magistrate, and to the maintenance of the Established Government, which is at all times due from the subject of this realm; but which we feel to be more particularly necessary, under the circumstances of the present time.

"For these purposes, and to this intent, we are resolved, and do declare--

1. "That we will jointly, and individually, use our utmost endeavours to discover the Authors, Publishers, and Distributors, of all Seditious Writings, which shall be published, and distributed, within the County of Leicester, and particularly, all persons who shall be engaged in any illegal Associations, or Conspiracies, for the Publication, and Distribution, of such writings, or for the exciting Tumults, and Riots, within the said County.

2. "That, in order to carry the above resolutions into effect, we do hereby, mutually, bind ourselves to each other, that whenever it shall come to our Knowledge, that any person, or persons, have, within the said County, Published, or Distributed, Seditious Writings, or engaged themselves in such Associations, or Conspiracies, for the purposes aforesaid, we will do our utmost endeavours to put the laws strictly in force against him, or them.

3. "That we will, on every occasion, exert ourselves, on the first appearance of Tumult, or Disorder, to maintain the public peace, and to act in support of the civil authority, for suppressing all Riots, and for bringing the promoters of them to legal punishment.

"Those who agree in the principles here stated, are invited to set their names to this Declaration--Copies of which will be sent, for that purpose, to every town, and village, in the county, at the Banks of Boultbee & Co., and Bensley & Co., in Leicester, and at the Post Offices, in the several Market Towns of the county, Subscriptions will be received, from such persons, as may be willing to contribute, towards defraying the expenses, which may be incurred in carrying into execution the measures here stated, and in counteracting the mistaken, and pernicious, notions which are so industriously circulated."--(_Times, Feb. 7, 1793._)

* * * * *

"ST. MARY, ISLINGTON, Mitre Tavern, opposite the Church, Jan. 23. We, the undersigned, being PUBLICANS within this Parish, from a sense of duty we owe to the present Constitution, and Government of this country; and, having a desire to preserve to the utmost of our Power, Peace, and Good Order, by preventing the assembling of Persons as Societies, or Clubs, for seditious purposes, in our several Houses--have this day met, and resolved, and, by this, do pledge ourselves, to give immediate Information to the Committee appointed at the Church, on the 8th Day of Dec. last, for the preservation of the Public Peace, &c., of any Person, or Persons, making use of disloyal Expressions or otherwise offending against the Peace of the Parish, whereby he, or they, may be brought to Punishment for the same. Agreed, That this Resolution be signed by as many Publicans within this Parish, as shall approve the same, and that it may be advertised in the daily Papers.

"_N.B._--The signatures contain the whole Number of Publicans in this Parish."--(_Times, Feb. 7, 1793._)

* * * * *

"It is rather extraordinary, that the Whig Club should forget to drink the Duke of Portland's health last Tuesday, and the House of Cavendish. There was a time, when the Whig Club was respectable; but that is over, and perhaps never to return. The last meeting was _a-la-mode D'Egalité_."--(_Times, Feb. 7, 1793._)

* * * * *

"As the Members of the National Convention are so very fond of _Pain_, it cannot be deemed _unfeeling_ to express a sincere wish that they all felt it."--(_Times, Feb. 7, 1793._)

* * * * *

"Lady Dover's house, it is confidently said, was set on fire by a _Frenchman_. The person's name has been publicly mentioned. What may, and must, surprise a number of Britons is, that in most of the late Opposition families of eminence, the principal servants are Frenchmen:--and it is necessary to make public, that these foreigners, under the roofs of those who give them bread, utter the most treasonable blasphemies against the present Government of this country. As some new tax may be requisite, to assist the necessary resources of Government, a most heavy impost on French servants would be extremely popular. The Steward, the Butler, the Cook, the Valet, and the rest of the principal servants in one of the first families of Opposition, are French. Does this accord with national friendship?"--(_Times, Feb. 8, 1793._)

* * * * *