Part 1

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Transcriber's note:

Text in italics in the original are surrounded by underscores (_italics_).

A complete list of corrections follows the text.

THE STORY OF _ELIZABETH CANNING_ CONSIDERED.

By Dr. HILL.

THE STORY OF _ELIZABETH CANNING_ CONSIDERED

By Dr. HILL.

With REMARKS on what has been called, _A Clear State of her Case_, by Mr. FIELDING; and Answers to the several Arguments and Suppositions of that Writer.

_LONDON_:

Printed for M. COOPER, at the _Globe_ in _Pater-Noster-Row_. 1753.

[Price One Shilling.]

THE STORY OF _ELIZABETH CANNING_ CONSIDERED.

Before I speak any thing in support of that Truth, on the Evidence of which the Life of a most injur'd Person depends; I think it necessary, that I may not seem, under the Colour of public Information, to be acting an interested Part, and defending my own Conduct, to say, that I am convinced it needs no Defence. Whatsoever the Malice of little Adversaries may wish to propagate on this Head, I shall be at Ease in my own Mind, while conscious of the Honesty of my Intention; and I have Reason to be satisfied, with Regard to the Opinion of the World, while I have the Honour to be told, that he who is certainly the best Judge, and perhaps the best Person in it, says, that I have done as became a prudent Man.

No one will call it a Bad Action, that I have endeavoured to obtain the Truth, in a Case, where Humanity must have engaged any, who had the least Suspicion of Falshood, to wish the Secret known; it would have been a very imprudent one for him, who had no Authority to have taken that Confession which discovered it; and it has appeared to those who are better Judges, that it was most right, when the Preparation was made for that Confession, to apply to the supreme Magistrate of the Court, in which the Cause had been tried, to receive it. This is all I have done in the Matter.

I claim no Praise from it; that belongs to another; but neither can I regard those who shall think, that which I have done merits Censure.

Being disinterested, I may expect Credit; but there is yet a Reason why I shall speak less freely. 'Tis an unfortunate Circumstance, that with the Innocence of this Person, there is connected the Crime of another; if not the intentional, at least the effectual Crime: The Evidence that absolves the one accuses the other; and it is one of those Incidents, under which Humanity is wounded by the Means, while it glories in the End.

It will be found, however romantic, or however absurd, such Conduct may appear to many, that I have acted in this only on the Principle of real Honesty and public Utility; and as I have acted, I would wish to see others also act. But while I shall plead yet farther in the Cause of a Person who is innocent, whom I have not seen, nor do know that I ever shall see; and in whose Favour, I do avow in the Face of Almighty God, no Application whatsoever has been made to me; it will give me Pain to reflect that in every Argument I am wounding another; concerning whom I know nothing of Certainty, more than appears from this Evidence; nor can judge how far what so appears to be her Guilt, may admit of Palliation.

I know how improper, nay, how dishonest, it is in many Cases to prepossess the Public against those whom their Country has not yet found guilty of any Crime: No History can produce a greater Instance of it than is before us in the present Story; and I shall think the Obligation sacred that restrains my Hand upon every other Occasion: But here the Life of a Person, certainly innocent, is concern'd on the one Part; and not so much as the Life, even should the worst be proved, and the Laws put in their fullest Execution, of one, as certainly a Cause of the greatest Distress, and almost of Death to that Innocent, on the other. As this is the Case in the present Enquiry, the Particularity of the Circumstance may dispense with what would be faulty on a different Occasion.

I must the more think the doing of this necessary, and therefore justifiable, as mean Sophistry, and the Parade of Argument, have been employed on the other Side; and the Attempt of vindicating the Accuser, though but a secondary Consideration, has, with some Persons, altho' I hope with none of Consequence, prevailed against that Proof of Innocence on the Part of the Accused, which alone can prevent the Execution of a Sentence procured by a confess'd Perjury.

I had read the Pamphlet in which these are us'd, as a Justification only of the Conduct of a Man, against whom I have no Resentment; and, as such, I could not desire to invalidate any thing that it contained: But though I had no Wish against its Success on that Account, I cannot see it aiming to overthrow that Justice and Compassion, which were growing up in the Minds of all Men, with Respect to the Object whom I had proposed to them as so worthy of those Emotions, without treating it with that Severity, and condemning it to that Ignominy which it deserves; without detecting its Misrepresentations, refuting its imagined Arguments, and pointing out to those, who have not already seen it, where they are to smile upon its Puerility.

If it be possible that I should by this Piece of Justice make that Man more my Enemy, than he is at present; I tell him, no Part of this is written with that immediate Design: But I shall also add, that the Importance of the Cause will compensate all that his pointless Arms can return upon the Occasion; and that, if I shall become conscious, I have been instrumental, tho' in ever so small a Degree, in saving the Life of an innocent Person, the Remembrance will make me enjoy the Outrages of all his little Followers.

But with the same Warmth, under which I shall feel this Pleasure, I must be sensible of the Pain which will attend the Consciousness, that what I say, may be so construed as to hurt the other. I beg to be believed that I have no Intent, for most assuredly I have none, to injure her: Perhaps I look upon what she has done, with less Severity than others. She may be able to prove that she was somewhere confined, though she was not at this Place: I hope she will prove it: But as many other Accounts may be given how a Person, less innocent, might have been employed, I must have leave to name some of these: I must have leave, till such a Fact is proved, to doubt the Truth of all; and to build the Testimony of the Convict's Innocence, in part, upon the Improbability of what at this Time appears her Story.

Whatsoever I shall advance on this Head, is alledg'd only as what might have happen'd, and I desire it may be understood as meaning no otherwise. I have no particular Knowledge of the Truth with Respect to _Canning_; and therefore can be positive only with Regard to those Proofs that appear of the Convict's Innocence. As this is the true Case, I beg that whatsoever I conjecture, may be received only as Conjecture, and may not hurt her in the Eye of the World.

When Truth is to be decided, Sophistry is impertinent; and when the Proofs are at hand, and are such that all may judge by them, they use a Freedom to which they have little Right, who attempt to guide and to direct Mankind in their Determination. Whatsoever lies within our Knowledge more than others have had Opportunities of acquainting themselves withal, it becomes a Duty to impart; but when that is done, by what Claim is it that we dictate? these or these Sirs! must be the Conclusions: We are to state the Case, the World is to determine.

'Tis hard for him who has engag'd, be it no more than his Opinion on one Part, to be disinterested with respect to the other; nay, if he were unbiass'd, such an one is still but a single Person; and he has little Candour, and less Modesty, if he supposes every Individual of the Publick is not as able as himself to judge upon that which he allows to be, or which he affects to call, clear Evidence.

As many things have come to my Knowledge in this strange Affair, with which the Public cannot have been acquainted; it may be indulged me to speak of them, without the Censure of Officiousness; and as I have already delivered something concerning an Enquiry into the Truth, which, as it appeared the Concern, so it has been the Study of some Persons to invalidate, it may be esteem'd a Duty in me to support that which has already so appeared; and to do this the more fully, I shall add to it what farther the Time, the Nature of the Proceedings, and the Respect to those under whose Cognizance the Whole now remains, may warrant me in disclosing.

I have ordered my Name to be put to this Pamphlet, that I may not be supposed the Writer of those many other Pieces, which Ingenuity, or its Parent Hunger, may hereafter obtrude upon the World; or of some Things that have already offer'd themselves to its Notice; the Motives to which, seem rather to lie in personal Resentment, than an Attachment to Justice. As the Original Papers will hereafter appear, what I shall now propose may stand as an Introduction to them: and it will answer also another Purpose; in that it will, I hope, prevent the imbibing of unjust Prejudices, and false Opinions, whether from the Deluded or the Designing, the Interested or the Ignorant.

The truth is of Importance; and it will be laid open: Till that shall be fully effected, the same Principle which influenc'd me, as unconcerned as any Man could be in the whole Matter, and of all Men the least inclined to enter into Disputes and Quarrels, to undertake the Protection, so far as it lay in my scanty Power, of the Innocent, pleads with me, so far as my Opportunities may permit, and so far as may be consistent with that Character which every Man ought to hold sacred, to prevent farther Error.

There will be those who think me wrong from the Beginning; and were I actuated by their Sentiments only, I should agree with them. It was not prudent to engage unnecessarily, in a Cause that must become a Subject of Debate; but there are Motives superior even to Prudence, and these had, in the present Case, a Right to Attention; Honesty, Humanity, and Love of Justice: These, I hope, I shall always, although it be at the Expence of some Scandal, prefer to that cold Principle; inasmuch as I think it a greater Character to be an honest, than to be a wise Man.

Thus much it may have been necessary, though very unpleasing, to say, with Respect to those Motives which induced an unconcerned Person at all to meddle in this intricate Discovery; since those whose own Hearts do not acknowledge any Thought that has not Self for its Centre, may not (uninformed of the Difference) suppose it possible any others should have Place in the Breast of a Stranger. The Persons are all unknown to me, but the Story was interesting; and Humanity must have been unknown to him, who should have been let into so much of it, as had come to my Knowledge, and not have enquired farther. I could have no Interest in the Event farther than as one Creature of the same Species is concerned in the Welfare of another; nor was I of any Part, unless inclined to pity the miserable Convict; because she was poor, and a Stranger, and oppress'd, and innocent. Such, at least, I was, at that Time, inclin'd to believe her, and I am, by all that has pass'd since, the more confirm'd in that Opinion.

It will appear, that I have weighty, nay, that I have unanswerable and incontrovertible Evidence, that I ought to be so; whenever those sacred Proofs, which at this Time are in the Hands of that generous Magistrate who has obtained them, shall appear, and untill that Time come, perhaps it may not be thought singular in me to be persuaded of the Innocence of this Woman, from the very Attempts which have been made by those who espouse her Prosecutors, to prove they are not guilty.

I have proposed to consider the whole Story; and to preserve a Conduct answerable to that Intention, I shall begin with it somewhat earlier than those have thought it prudent to do, who have hitherto treated of the Matter. To judge truly of People's Actions, we should enquire into the Designs of them; and this is best done by attending to the earliest Notices.

Some few Days after that _first_ of _January_, on which this _little Child_, as those who despairing to convince the Judgment, attempt the Passions of Mankind, affect to call her, is said to have been carried away, I find the following Advertisement in the most Universal of the Daily Papers.

"_Whereas _Elizabeth Cannon_ went from her Friends between _Hounsditch_ and _Bishopsgate_, on _Monday_ last, the 1st Instant, between Nine and Ten o'Clock: Whoever can give any Account where she is, shall have Two Guineas Reward; to be paid by Mrs. _Cannon_, a Sawyer, in _Aldermanbury_ Postern, which will be a great Satisfaction to her Mother. She is fresh-colour'd, pitted with the Small-Pox, has a high Forehead, light Eye-brows, about five Foot high, eighteen Years of Age, well set, had on a Masquerade Purple Stuff Gown, a black Petticoat, a white Chip Hat, bound round with Green, a white Apron and Handkerchief, blue Stockings, and Leather Shoes._

"_Note, It is _supposed_ she was _forcibly taken away_ by some evil-disposed Person, as she was _heard to shriek out in a Hackney-Coach_ in _Bishopsgate-street_. If the Coachman remembers any thing of the Affair, by giving an Account as above, he shall be handsomely rewarded for his Trouble._"[15:A]

[15:A] Daily Advertiser, January 6.

This is a Circumstance, forgot by the disinterested; and pass'd over, not imprudently, by those who espouse the Girl; but I must declare, that with me it has great Weight. Why supposed to be taken forcibly away? Are these Transactions common? or was there any Thing in the present Case to authorise such an Imagination? To what Purpose should she be forced away! She is not handsome; so that the Design could not be upon her Person; and certainly the Dress that is described so largely, could not tempt any one to carry her off to rob her; nor was it necessary, for that might have been done where she was seized; nay, and in the latter Accounts we are told it was done there.

Who heard her shriek! or what is become of the Hackney-Coach Part of the Story, no Syllable has been since uttered of it. Who should know the Voice of a Servant of no Consideration, calling in a strange Part of the Town from a Coach? What must the Ruffians have been doing who suffer'd her to shriek! or who that heard such a Voice, and did, or that did not know the Person, would not have stopped the Carriage! How came he who heard so much not to call Persons to assist him? there are enough in the Streets at Ten o'Clock; or, where's the Coachman, for Coaches do not drive themselves, and certainly he might be found to justify the Story.

If a Coach carried her, where therefore is the Driver of it? or, if she was dragged along, how did the People, who were taking all this Pains, and running all this Hazard, to no Sort of Purpose, get her undiscovered through the Turnpikes? The Public will judge of this early Advertisement as they think proper; to me the Determination that should be grounded on it appears too obvious; and, perhaps, in due time it will be found supported.

From the Day of this Publication, by which the World was informed that such a Girl was carried off by Ruffians, (a fine Preparative for what has follow'd!) we hear no more of her till her Return at the End of Eight-and-twenty Days; when she tells her absurd, incredible, and most ridiculous Story. A Piece of contradictory Incidents, and most improbable Events; a waking Dream; the Reverie of an Idiot: A Relation that could not be allowed a Face of Likelihood; and that would have taken no hold on any, but as it pleaded to their Compassion.

It was not on the Credit of this Story that the unhappy Creature, in whose Case all these Endeavours have been us'd, was condemn'd. Let us not imagine Courts of Justice swallow such Relations. 'Twas on the most full Account, given by one, who declared that she had seen the whole Transaction of which the Court was concerned to judge. One, who being a Stranger to the Accuser, and a Friend of the Persons accused, declared she saw the Robbery. This was an Evidence which must have been allowed by any Jury of judicious and unbiass'd Men. Now that we are convinced of the Innocence of the Persons who were condemned upon the Credit paid to this Evidence, we must acknowledge, that human Wisdom could not, at that Time, have discovered, nay scarce could have suspected it was false; and that while unsuspected, it had been Injustice not to have done exactly as was done upon the Trial.

We are now reviewing that Account in a very different Light: we have now been let into the Secret of its Origin; we have seen her since voluntarily declare, that it was false and forg'd: not in part false, but in the Whole, and that it was the Off-spring only of her Terrors: and tho' actuated from the Influence of the same Apprehensions, she confirmed it at the Trial, she now declares it, freely and voluntarily declares it, to have been all a Perjury.

She has confessed her Motive to the doing this, and that is it was such an one, as might well have Effect upon an ignorant Creature: This I shall consider at large when I come presently to treat of her Informations. She has declared this to have been her only Motive; and those who are most concerned, do acknowledge, that she was very unwilling to give it; and was very difficultly brought to it. What Reason could she have to contradict it? None! To this no one can speak with more Authority than I: and I declare she had none. It was to myself she promis'd the Confession. I had no Advantages to offer to her, nor any Power to terrify: nor was this done privately; so that there are Witnesses who know how free and perfectly 'twas voluntary. I applied to the Lord Mayor, whom, 'till that Time, I never saw, to receive her Confession: She was sent for; she made it; and the Consequences are natural.

The Lord Mayor had at that Time Proofs in his own Hands, as strong as even this Confession, of the perfect Innocence of the miserable Convict; and he has since received innumerable more; all more precise, and punctual; more firm and more convincing. It can be no Reflection on a Court, in which the Determination is made from Evidence, to plead the Cause of that Innocency, which is proved by the after-discover'd Falsity of such Evidence: Shame on the Folly or Malice that pretends it can, even though you, _Fielding_, have pretended it: nor has any thing been yet publish'd, more than what passed publickly; for the Examinations before the Lord-Mayor have not been made in Corners.

This is a Digression, but the Insinuations of bad Men have made it necessary. I shall return to the Relation. The pretty Innocent, such we should take her to be from the Story, tells us she was tempted strongly: she was promis'd _fine Cloaths_, if she would _go their Way_. This is the Account; and in the Name of Reason let us consider it. The Phrase is an odd and unnatural one; and the fine Cloaths were to be given. By whom? By one who hardly had a Covering for herself, and in a Place where every thing spoke Beggary: Unnatural, ridiculous, and absurd!

There can be no Cause assigned, why Men should drag her many Miles, or why Women lock her up to perish, without the least Advantage, or the least Prospect of Advantage. I wish it could be said there appears no End for which all this might be pretended; although there could be none for which it should be done.

Did the prophetic Spirit of her Virtue foresee exactly the Length of her Confinement? How came she else to proportion, for it's plain she did proportion, her Eating to it? There is, indeed, no Reason why she should not have foreseen it, since the Duration was at her own Pleasure. There appears no Cause why she did not make that Escape the first Night, which she effected on the last Day at Four in the Afternoon: and as it has been thought strange that no one opposed the Persons in the Night in carrying her thither; I shall add, that I think it still more strange no one was let into the Story on her Return. Her Weakness might have made her complain; her Terror speak, and even her Countenance must have occasioned Question. People could not be wanting to this Purpose; for she that could set out in the Afternoon to walk from _Enfield-Wash_ to _London_, must be met, over-taken, or seen, by many Hundred Persons: her Figure was singular enough to have drawn the Attention of some of these, her Aspect (as you describe it) of them All: The Story has been enough spoken of to bring such People to attest it, had there been any such; but if any have appeared, it has not come to my Knowledge.

Acts of Cruelty have been practis'd by Ruffians: I grant you so much, mighty Reasoner! but there has been a Motive, the worst of them have never done it otherwise: Their own Safety is the Common Cause, and Cowards are to a Proverb cruel. But here Men endanger'd, and not secur'd their Safety, by the doing it; and had no End to answer when it was done. On the same Principle, before we can believe the Women (who has been condemned) would have run the Hazard of her Confinement, when they knew an Escape so practicable, we must expect to find some Motives to their doing it.

The Cant of the Subscription was her _Virtue_, but there must have been a Face to stamp the Price on That: without it the Commodity's not marketable: Naked Virtue is of no Value unto the Sort of People these have been represented. Besides, had there been even this Temptation, the Gipsey, who is charged with the Crime, could not have any Intent to answer in the obtaining of the Sacrifice. She did not keep the House; and it could not be in Friendship to Mrs. _Wells_, for they were Strangers.

The poor Girl left her Mother plump: This, Sir, is your Account, and this the Partridge-Phrase by which you express it. She returned you say emaciated and black; this was on the 29th of _Jan._ and, on the 1st of _February_, she went down to _Enfield_ again: as you say, again. Never were Transitions so quick, as have been those of this miraculous Girl; for she was not black at this Time, upon this 1st of _February_. A Day or two had made an amazing Change; for those who were present tell me, she was at that Time red and white like other People.

There was a Time, when even the warmest Advocates for the pretended Injur'd, gave up all Expectation of Credit from the Nature of the Story, and rested it upon the Weight of Evidence. I think, Sir, you was of the Number, and, for the Credit of your Understanding, I hope you were: That Weight is taken off: that Evidence, it is confess'd, was Perjury. The Story now, therefore, stands on the Footing of its own Credibility; and those who are the most violent in its Favour, have, in Effect, if not in Words, given it up as false: I hope they will do this in every Sense. Humanity, tho' mistaken in its Object, was a Plea sufficient in her Favour when they first countenanc'd her; but Humanity now changes Sides, and the Wretch, who pines under the Sentence, claims its Offices.