Part 60

A farmer in Essex, taken off his guard by the apparent plausibility of this high-sounding circular, complied with the requisitions, and got bills accepted by Coster, in the name of one of his firms, to the amount of two hundred pounds, in two bills, at three and four months. When they became due, the honest hood-winked bumpkin, relying on the apparent integrity of the party, remitted a hundred pounds, the amount of the bill, which fell with the nicest precision into the hands of the swindler, who, indeed, anticipated nothing less. This circumstance only got wind through the medium of a lawyer's letter to the drawer, who hastened with all possible expedition to town to learn the cause of such an unexpected application, when, as he had assured himself, the bill ought to have been in the hands of his accommodating friends, for the hundred pound equivalent which he had punctually forwarded to them for that purpose. His astonishment, however, was not diminished on his reaching Little Winchester-street, when he was plumply told by Coster himself that no such letter as the one to which he alluded, containing the money, had been received, and, in short, that it was all "a humbug." "That the firm of Young and Company, the acceptors of the bill, had recently been bankrupts, and had gone away, the Lord knew where." At such tidings, the poor farmer looked as sheepish as an Essex calf; and finding all his applications accompanied with the same uncompromising negative, he was glad, to prevent an exposure of circumstances, which might have been the means of ruining him, to beat a retreat to his native place; not, however, without the reflection of having purchased a hundred pounds' worth of common sense to direct his future conduct in the bill line.

This, however, is far from being a solitary instance of the success of our hero's schemes, or the uncompromising impudence and determination with which he proceeded in his machinations.

The variety of the names and residences of the firms of which he was the sole proprietor enabled him to carry on his trade with great plausibility and success. Thus, when a transaction was to be carried on by Messrs. Young and Co. of Little Winchester-street, Messrs. Brown and Co. of Cushion-court would be perfectly able to speak in the highest terms of the respectability of that firm, and the delivery of goods, or the handing over of bills of exchange to be discounted, as the case might be, was looked upon as being secure, and as being perfectly warranted, by the reference. It would be as useless as impossible to go through one tithe of the speculations of this vagabond, by which he gulled various persons engaged in trade. In one case he obtained the whole stock of a celebrated wine-grower in Germany, who was about to sell off, to be consigned to him; in another he procured the possession of a very large quantity of Dublin stout; while, in a third, he became the consignee of a valuable stock of timber; in neither of which transactions, however, did he ever pay one shilling of the purchase money. The number of his _aliases_, and the impossibility of identifying his person, secured him from the consequences of arrest; for in no transaction in which he engaged did he ever appear personally to complete the terms of his contract, or to give any security for re-payment. All was done through the medium of agents, whom he had bound to him by some tie of more than ordinary firmness, and who acted either as principal or agent, as purchaser or referee, as the necessities of the case might require their employment. To these persons, who were mostly decayed tradesmen, he behaved with little generosity. They were retained at salaries varying from ten to twenty shillings per week, according to the extent of their usefulness; and he scrupled not, whenever an opportunity presented itself, to cheat them of their stipulated share of the plunder which he might procure. At the time of his apprehension, Coster had four of these persons in his employment, one of whom, named Smith, had long been in his service, and was now destined to become his dupe, and to be liable to the same amount of punishment as his master.

It is to Alderman Sir Peter Laurie, and to his indefatigable exertions, that the public are indebted for the riddance of the city of this notorious swindler. Sir Peter had long been aware of his existence, and of the mischiefs which he produced, and the frauds which he committed, and he determined to suffer no exertion of his to be spared to secure his apprehension and conviction. He soon discovered his residence in New-street, and had him taken into custody, with his man Smith. Coster, it appears, had not latterly confined his business to the ordinary routine of swindling by procuring goods under pretence of the solvency of his firm, but he had added to it that of putting off forged notes. In the month of February 1833, he and Smith wrote letters to a person named Clarke, residing at Honiton, in Devonshire, desiring him to transmit a quantity of lace to Mr. W. Jackson, at No. 84, Bishopsgate-street (the Four Swans), and inclosing three 10_l._ notes to pay for it. Mr. Clarke discovered that the notes were forged, and transmitted them to the Bank of England solicitor (Mr. Freshfield), with an account of the manner in which they had reached his hands. A scheme was determined to be put in operation to secure Mr. Jackson, whoever he might be, and fictitious parcels were made up and sent to the Four Swans, purporting to be transmitted from Honiton. Smith applied to receive them, and they were handed over to him, upon which he was immediately taken into custody. Coster was soon after discovered to be at the head of the transaction and was also secured, and the letter containing the notes was found to be in his handwriting.

After undergoing several examinations at the Mansion House, the prisoners were committed to Newgate for trial; and on Tuesday, the 16th of April 1833, were convicted at the Old Bailey. This result to the investigation was principally secured by the testimony of two men, who had formerly been instruments in the hands of Coster, and who gave an extraordinary account of the success of the schemes of their late master.

At the conclusion of the same sessions Coster was sentenced to be transported for life; but his servant, Smith, was unable to attend the court, in consequence of severe ill health, and his judgment was respited. At a subsequent period, however, he also received sentence of transportation.

JOB COX.

TRANSPORTED FOR LETTER-STEALING.

The offence of which this young man was convicted, at the time of its commission subjected its perpetrator to capital punishment. The

## particular case is not remarkable for any peculiarity, but it is fit

that it should be mentioned in connexion with the observations made in allusion to the conduct of the learned recorder of the city of London, with reference to his neglect of the highly important duties entrusted to him. In the case of Hunton, who was convicted of forgery, it will be seen that the recorder, by a delay in conveying the result of his report upon the cases of capital felons to his majesty, suffered several wretched prisoners to remain in suspense as to their fate for many hours longer than was necessary. In the present instance, he actually signed a warrant for the execution of the convict, although at the privy council it had been determined that the life of the unhappy wretch should be spared.

Cox was a postman in the service of the General Post Office, and in the instance in which he was charged with abstracting a letter from those entrusted to him for delivery, and appropriating its contents to his own use, it appeared that on the 18th of March 1833, a Mr. Foreman, of No. 101, Grafton-street, Dublin, had sent a letter containing a 10_l._ bank note, addressed to his brother, Mr. H. Foreman, in Queen-street, Clerkenwell, which, however, never reached its destination. Inquiry being made at the post-office, Cox was found to have signed a book in the ordinary way as having received the letter, and it was subsequently ascertained that he had paid the same note to Mr. Lott, a publican in Lambeth, who had given him change for it. There were reasons to believe that Cox had been guilty of other offences of a similar character, and he was taken into custody.

At the ensuing sessions at the Old Bailey, held in the month of May 1833, the prisoner was tried and convicted of the offence imputed to him, and, on the 20th of the month he received sentence of death, in obedience to the requisites of the act of parliament.

At this time it was the practice of the recorder of London to report to his majesty in council the cases of the various prisoners in custody upon whom sentence of death had been passed. The case of Cox was reported, with others, as usual, and upon the return of the learned recorder to London, he caused it to be made known to the prisoner, that his execution was directed to take place. The unhappy wretch had looked forward with confidence to the result of the exertions of his friends in his favour, and received this intelligence with deep dismay. He was told to prepare for death, and the reverend ordinary of the jail proceeded to pay to him those attentions usually expected at his hands.

A blunder of a most extraordinary nature, however, was soon discovered to have been made. This discovery is thus described in a newspaper of Sunday, the 23rd of June:--

"On Thursday morning, Sir Thomas Denman, lord chief justice of the King's Bench, on casting his eyes on a newspaper, saw the paragraph representing the fact that Job Cox was ordered for execution on Tuesday. His lordship thought the statement had been published from false information, and he adverted to the circumstance in the presence of one of the under-sheriffs, as of a very mischievous nature. The under-sheriff, in some surprise, observed to his lordship that the paragraph was correct--that the recorder's warrant had been received on Wednesday evening, at half-past six o'clock, at Newgate--that the intelligence had been communicated to the unfortunate culprit--and that notices had been sent to the sheriffs and the other officials. 'What (said Sir Thomas Denman), Cox ordered for execution! Impossible! I was myself one of the privy council present when the report was made, and I know that no warrant for the execution of any one was ordered. Cox was ordered to be placed in solitary confinement, and to be kept to hard labour, previously to his being transported for life, to which penalty the judgment to die was commuted.'

"The under-sheriff repeated the extraordinary information to his lordship, who instantly requested that he would forthwith apply at the secretary of state's office, when he would be re-assured of the fact, and receive an order in contradiction of the learned recorder's warrant. It is needless to say, that the under-sheriff, who was very glad to be the bearer of such good tidings to a poor unhappy fellow-creature, very speedily executed his mission. He found that the correction of Sir Thomas Denman was accurate, according to Mr. Capper's books, in which the allotted punishment was regularly entered; and Lord Melbourne, immediately upon being informed of the mistake under which they laboured at Newgate, sent thither an authority to countermand the warrant with the black seal, signed 'Newman Knowlys.' Cox had just twenty-two hours previously been told, in the usual solemn way, to prepare for death; and as he had calculated largely and correctly upon the merciful character of the administration, he received the awful news as if he had been struck to the earth with lightning. The mistake, upon being mentioned to him, it is unnecessary to state, gave full relief to his heart."

Mr. Knowlys, who at this time filled the office of recorder, was immediately called upon to explain to the Common Hall of the City of London the circumstances attending the very remarkable error into which he had fallen, but having heard from him whatever excuse he had to urge, on Monday 24th of June, they came to the following resolutions:--

"Resolved unanimously, That this Common Hall has learnt with feelings of the deepest horror and regret, that the life of Job Cox, a convict under sentence of death in Newgate, had well-nigh been sacrificed by the act of the recorder of London, in sending down a warrant for his execution, notwithstanding his majesty in privy council had, in the gracious exercise of his royal prerogative of mercy, been pleased to commute his sentence for an inferior punishment.

"Resolved unanimously, That the mildest and most charitable construction which this Common Hall can put upon this conduct of the recorder is, that it was the result of some mental infirmity incident to his advanced age; but contemplating with alarm the dreadful consequences which, though happily averted in the present instance, may possibly ensue from such an infirmity in that important public functionary, this Common Hall feels it an imperative duty to record the solemn expression of its opinion, that the recorder ought forthwith to retire from an office, the vitally important duties of which he is, from whatever cause, incompetent to discharge."

The recorder, who was present, was received with deep groans. The resolutions of the Common Hall were followed by a Resolution of the Court of Aldermen, announcing the receipt of a communication from the recorder, that from his advanced age, ill-health, and debility consequent upon a late very severe fit of illness, he had felt himself bound, after serving the city for more than forty-seven years, upwards of thirty as common-serjeant and recorder, to resign the office of recorder.

The Hon. C. Ewan Law, son of the late Lord Ellenborough, was subsequently elected to fill the office which Mr. Knowlys had occupied, and the duties of which he has ably discharged up to the present period.

The useless form of reporting the cases of felons sentenced to death has since been removed, and the capital penalty in cases of letter-stealing has also been taken away, and the less severe punishment of transportation substituted for it.

THE CALTHORPE-STREET RIOT.

This affair, which produced much bitterness of feeling between the people and the Metropolitan Police, occurred on Monday the 13th of May 1833. For some time before, the streets of London had been placarded with bills announcing the intention of certain parties to hold a meeting in a place called the Calthorpe Estate, at the back of the Cold Bath Fields Prison, its professed object being to adopt measures preparatory to a National Convention being held; and in consequence, a government proclamation was issued, declaring a meeting for that purpose to be illegal, and warning all persons to abstain from attending it or taking any part in its proceedings.

This proclamation, there is little doubt, tended in a very material degree to produce the very evil which it was intended to repress. The intention to hold the meeting was little known, for the party by which it was called was an obscure though violent political sect; but the effect of the government notification was to excite the curiosity of many who were driven to the spot, to which otherwise they would have had no attraction, for the purpose of witnessing whatever might take place. Precautions were taken by the government to secure the public peace, which, had they been adopted in a proper spirit, would have been most praiseworthy. The very consequence, however, of the extensive preparations which were made, was to attract fresh curiosity, and to draw new observers to the scene of the proposed meeting.

The assemblage was appointed to take place at two o'clock; but long before that hour several hundreds of persons had collected upon the spot indicated as the place of convocation. Groups of idlers were to be observed dispersed in different directions, among which women and children were intermingled to a very considerable extent; and there were not wanting among them the partisans of the disaffected, to amuse them with declamations on the sufferings of the people, and the necessity of their taking strong measures to obtain redress.

The police force of the metropolis, in the meantime, were to be seen marching from all quarters of town towards the scene of action. Between two and three thousand men were placed on duty, all of whom were distributed at certain appointed places of rendezvous, under the orders of their superintendants and inspectors, while Viscount Melbourne, the Home Secretary, and Messrs. Rowan and Mayne, the commissioners of police, with a considerable number of police magistrates, sat as a species of council to direct their future movements, at the White Hart tavern, in Gray's Inn-lane. The formidable appearance of the police on their march created new food for curiosity, and they were followed by hundreds of persons anxious to ascertain the inducement for such an assemblage; and the numbers of the mob collected were thus every moment increased.

At one o'clock between six and seven hundred persons had assembled; and this crowd, comparatively insignificant considering the parade which had been made, kept gradually swelling until three, when a van was driven up at the end of Calthorpe-street, which a young man named Lee, who was afterwards taken into custody, mounted, together with three or four other shabby-looking persons. At almost the very moment of the van taking its station, however, the driver appeared to become alarmed, and, notwithstanding the entreaties of Lee and his companions, drove off. Mr. Lee and the others were in consequence compelled to quit their intended rostrum, and to adopt one somewhat less convenient, namely, a paling which stood on the spot. Lee was soon raised upon this new pulpit, and after a few prefatory remarks, he proposed that Mr. Mee should take the chair. It had been stated that, "The National Union of the Working Classes," a society of men bound together for the purpose of procuring the achievement of certain political objects, would attend the meeting; and their committee was known to be assembled at a neighbouring public-house, called "The Union," engaged in arranging the programme of the proceedings of the day. Mr. Mee was recognised as an active member of the Union, and he was immediately elected by acclamation as chairman.

Mr. Mee then got upon the paling, and after thanking the meeting for the honour which they had conferred upon him, proceeded to address them upon the objects with which they had been called together. He declared that he was thankful to the ministry for having given the meeting an air of importance, which, but for their proceedings it would have wanted; but the question which they had to consider was, whether, as they had met under such disadvantages as surrounded them they should go on, or whether they should adjourn to a more favourable opportunity? (Cries of "No, no! go on!") He was, he said, but a working man with a family, and if they were not prepared to give his family one-tenth of their earnings they should not cry "go on." He might fall a martyr in the cause, and in that case, he should expect his family to be supported. (Cries of "Yes! yes!")

The "Union," which had been expected every moment, and for which an anxious look-out was maintained, at this time appeared in sight. The procession, into which it was formed, consisted of about one hundred and fifty persons, and they carried among them eight banners. The most conspicuous of these was one which bore the motto, "Liberty or Death," with a skull and cross-bones on a black ground with a red border: others bore mottoes of "Holy Alliance of the Working Classes;" "Equal Rights and Equal Justice;" while there were also to be seen among them a tri-coloured flag, the flag of the American republic, and a pole bearing at its head the Cap of Liberty. The procession with these ensigns walked in good order to the spot at which the speakers had assembled; but they had scarcely taken up their position, when a body of police marched into Calthorpe-street with the greatest order and precision. Their formidable appearance seemed to make a momentary impression on the mob, but a person pointing to the flag bearing the motto, "Liberty or Death," cried out, "Men, be firm!" and shouts of "Go on! go on!" instantly resounded from all sides. The police had now reached the middle of the street, the crowd clearing the way for them to advance; and staves in hand they pressed forward to a man who was still addressing the mob. As they advanced near what may be termed the platform, however, they met with much resistance; a conflict ensued, and under circumstances respecting which the evidence was of the most contradictory nature, one policeman, named Robert Cully, No. 95 of the C division, received a mortal wound from a dagger and died instantly; and two others, Serjeant Brooks of the C division, and constable Redwood of the C division, were wounded, with the same or a similar instrument.

In the course of the afternoon a great number of persons were taken into custody, who had been observed to be active in the proceedings of the day, and all the flags were captured; and by six o'clock the whole of the mob had been dispersed, and quiet was restored.

Pursuant to the instructions of Viscount Melbourne, the prisoners who had been secured were taken to Bow-street on the same evening to be examined before Sir F. A. Roe, the chief magistrate. The whole street was filled with persons interested in the fate of the prisoners, and the proceedings excited a vast degree of interest. The result of the examinations taken on that night was the remand of a person named Robert Tilly, on suspicion of having been concerned in the murder of Cully, a charge, however, which subsequently proved unfounded; and of a man named Fursey, on the charge of stabbing Redwood and Brooks; while a great number of others were held to bail, or fined for the various offences of assault, or rioting, preferred against them.

On Thursday, Fursey was fully committed on the capital charge of stabbing Redwood and Brooks; and on the next day, a true bill was returned against him by the Grand Jury.