Part 12
“The officers, with a resolution and courage which does them high honour, considering the desperation and determination of these characters, immediately ascended the ladder without securing the persons below. They merely gave directions to those who followed, to keep them secure, and they thought that would be enough, without actually confining them. The first man who went up was a person of the name of Ruthven, who will be called to you: he was followed by a man named Ellis: after whom came a man, of whom you have undoubtedly heard before, named Smithers, who met his death by the hand of Thistlewood.
“On Smithers ascending the ladder, either Ings or Davidson hallooed out from below, as a signal for them to be on their guard above, and upon Ruthven ascending the ladder, Thistlewood, who was at a little distance from the landing-place, and who was distinctly seen, for there were several lights in the place, receded a few paces, and the police-officers announced who they were, and demanded a surrender. Smithers unfortunately pressed forward in the direction in which Thistlewood had retreated, into one of the small rooms over the coach-house, when Thistlewood drew back his arm, in which there was a sword, and made a thrust at the unfortunate man, Smithers, who received a wound near his heart, and, with only time to exclaim, “Oh! God!” he fell a lifeless corpse into the arms of Ellis. Ellis, seeing this blow given by Thistlewood, immediately discharged a pistol at him, which missed its aim. Great confusion followed; the lights were struck out; the officers were forced down the ladder, which was so precipitous, being almost perpendicular, that they fell, and many of the party followed them.
“Thistlewood, among the rest, came down the ladder; and, not satisfied with the blood of one person, he shot at another of the officers as he came down the ladder, and pressed through the stable, cutting at all who attempted to oppose him, and made his escape out into John-street, the military not having yet arrived; and he was no more seen at that time, except with a sword in his hand in the Edgware-road. By the other persons an equally desperate resistance was made.
“Conscious of the evil purpose for which they had assembled, they waited not to know on what charge they were about to be apprehended; but instantly made a most desperate resistance. Ings, Davidson, and Wilson, were particularly desperate, each, I believe, firing at some of the officers or military, who had only come to the ground on hearing the report of the fire-arms, not having been previously directed to the exact spot.
“Notwithstanding the resistance, however, which they so desperately made, and in which resistance Thistlewood, Tidd, Davidson, Ings, and Wilson took a most active part, by attacking the officers and soldiers, the whole of the conspirators were, at length, fortunately overcome, and eventually eleven of them secured. Not on that night, however, for three out of the eleven for the time escaped, namely Thistlewood, Brunt, and Harrison. The officers, however, not only secured on that night the eight men, but various articles of fire-arms, numerous weapons, and certain combustibles.
“The prisoner Brunt, gentlemen, one of those who escaped, returned that night to his own house. He was accompanied by another man, and his own boots were in such a state, as not to fail to excite the attention of some persons in the house. His boy (an apprentice, named Hale) soon learned, from the conversation which passed between his master and the man, that they had just escaped from Cato-street, and Brunt expressed a belief that his person had not been discovered. The prisoner, gentlemen, remained home the whole of the night, but early on the morning following, he called to him the apprentice boy I have named, and asked him as to his knowledge of some street in the Borough, where he wanted to convey some baskets. These were all carefully packed up, and it is a remarkable circumstance, which will be spoken to in evidence, that so anxious was he for the concealment of its contents, that one of the baskets was secured with the apron of his wife! Gentlemen, the prisoner now thought all secure; but he had scarcely effected his plan, and retired into another room, previous to despatching the baskets, when the officers entered the house and seized him. This, you may suppose, was not a little surprising to Brunt; for, most material would it have been to him to have the baskets removed. Upon searching these, gentlemen, were found a number of hand-grenades, fire-balls, and other articles of destruction. Upon their discovery, Brunt for some time affected ignorance of the thing, but he was told it was of no use.
“The prisoner at the bar, Thistlewood, who also escaped on the night of the 23d, retired not to his own house, however, but to an obscure lodging in White-street, where he thought to conceal himself. Information, however, soon reached the police-office, Bow-street, of his retreat, and early the next morning, a strong party of officers, headed by Bishop, were sent to apprehend him. Upon their arrival at the place, every precaution was, of course, taken to prevent an alarm; while the officers, at the same time, knowing the desperate sort of character they had to contend with, were equally guarded to resist any attack which might be made upon them. They proceeded to search the house, beginning with the top and descending to the lower rooms. They then observed a small room on the ground-floor, the door of which was locked, and Bishop demanded the key, which he procured; and knowing from what had taken place, the determined desperation of this man, he opened the door as softly as he could, and perceived by some slight light that came through two or three holes in the window-shutters, the person of Thistlewood lying on a turn-down bed. The moment he opened the door, Thistlewood put his head up, and Bishop immediately discovered him, and he immediately threw himself upon him, to prevent mischief. He then said, he should make no resistance, and on being taken out of bed, it was discovered that he had been laying in his breeches and stockings. Gentlemen, by these means the prisoner at the bar was taken; and thus ends, in point of fact, the evidence which will be adduced before you.
“Gentlemen, I have now to state to you, at the suggestion of a learned friend, a fact which I had almost forgotten. It is material for you to know, that on the 22d February, the conspirators held a consultation at the house of Brunt. Every thing was, on this occasion considered as finally arranged. I have already told you, it was their plan to set fire to various parts of the metropolis, and among other places, the barracks in King-street were fixed upon, not only because troops would be there, but because Harrison, who had been, I am sorry to say, in his Majesty’s service, was acquainted with the situation of the building, and pointed out the means by which it could be easily fired; and thus the soldiers, who would have retired to rest, would be unable to accoutre themselves or their horses. But this is not all, gentlemen; for at this very consultation, Thistlewood sat down and wrote two proclamations, in anticipation of the success of his diabolical schemes, and which proclamations were upon that success to be issued. But you will observe, gentlemen, it was not considered by the prisoner duly official to write these proclamations on paper, and Hale (the apprentice of Brunt) was sent in search of parchment. This being procured, he wrote an address to the following effect, intended for the people generally:--
PROCLAMATION.
“YOUR TYRANTS ARE DESTROYED!
“_The Friends of liberty are desired to come forward and support the Provisional Government, which is now sitting._”
“So that, Gentlemen, if any doubt could be entertained of these men’s ulterior designs not being confined to the destruction of his Majesty’s Ministers, this proclamation, written by Thistlewood, would put it beyond all doubt. He wrote two or three of these. He read them aloud to the party assembled, and told them that they were to be stuck up where the houses were on fire, that the people might see it. Afterwards he sat down, and endeavoured to compose another proclamation, which was to be issued to the soldiers, and that contained an offer to the soldiers, calling on them to join the friends of Liberty; promising them twenty pounds each to carry them home, and that they should be rewarded with full pay and a pension for life!! These proclamations, Gentlemen, were read aloud by Thistlewood to the conspirators, and they were unanimously approved. Some of them, I should tell you, were to be posted as convenient as possible to every barrack or public place which might be set fire to or destroyed. Thistlewood himself carried the proclamations from the house of Brunt to Cato-street.
“And now, Gentlemen, having stated these facts, let me pause to ask you, whether, if I prove them in evidence, you can come to any other conclusion than that the prisoner who stands before you, is guilty? What answer, I will ask, can be given to such evidence as this, and if no answer can be given in evidence, what answer can be given in reason? It may be urged, in a general sense, that such schemes and such plans as the facts I have related to you disclose, ought scarcely to be credited in a Court of Justice. This may be inferred from the circumstance of heated men with heated passions conceiving and proposing the adoption of plans, wild and visionary, and in fact wholly impracticable. In this case, however, such a principle did not exist; for here were long laid regular plans, extensive schemes, and the most abundant preparations, to effect a wicked purpose. And will not desperate and designing men, infuriated by their passions either influence others to the accomplishment of such plans, or be worked upon by them themselves. Look then, Gentlemen, to the facts of the case yourselves. You will view them as calm and sober men, and in doing so, you will perceive such a system and such an adroitness towards the execution of that system, that their object requires but little solution.
“Gentlemen, it is not your duty to consider whether the schemes in question were wild and visionary, but whether they had for their object an illegal or wicked purpose; and if illegal, and that towards the execution of their plans they took but one step, they have then done that which renders them amenable to the offended laws of their country. If these arguments, Gentlemen, won’t avail, what then may not be urged for the prisoner? But you will also be told that accomplices are not to be believed on their oath in a Court of Justice. I contend, however, that they should; and if it was not permitted to accomplices in guilt to give evidence for the purposes of justice, then the blackest and foulest crimes would be daily committed, and go unpunished. But it is not the law of England, alone, to hear the evidence of an accomplice. It is the law of reason also, and has been the law of all ages and nations. I admit that you should watch with the greatest caution and jealousy the testimony of an accomplice. You should weigh his story well, and see whether it be confirmed by the more indifferent witnesses. Not confirmed in every part, for then his evidence would not be required at all: but in certain collateral parts which may be found to correspond with the other testimony. If therefore, Gentlemen, an accomplice is produced before you, and you believe a part of what he relates, you are bound in a great measure to believe that the whole of what he tells you is true.
“No man, or set of men, who had ever conceived such plans as I have laid before you, could have so conceived them without an intention of pursuing them. The plans, therefore, at least for some time, could be known only to themselves and to their God. I say then that the evidence of an accomplice is not only highly necessary, but even laudable; for if you resist such a principle, the more dark will be the crime, the more secret the scheme, and the more wicked the purpose. As I told you before, Gentlemen, it has long been the law of England to receive the evidence of an accomplice, and even in cases of murder, it has proved most salutary in the administration of justice.
“I will call a witness before you,Gentlemen, named Adams, an accomplice, as you will find, and he being in the full confidence of the conspirators, will prove to you the nature of all their proceedings from time to time, and of the different plans and communications which were made between him and them. I will call another man to you, Gentlemen, who was the first to make known the diabolical plans of the conspirators, to my Lord Harrowby; but this man was not much known to them, nor did he therefore rank high in their councils.
“This man in fact, when he heard the dreadful plan related of visiting his Majesty’s ministers with destruction and death, his heart shuddered, his conscience smote him, and he could hold out no longer. Some men, you know, have very strong minds, and are not to be deterred from the most wicked purpose. Others are less firm, and more easily shaken in the accomplishment of a cruel or immoral design. The witness whom I shall produce to you, Gentlemen, and whose name is Hiden, is one of this description.
“A third witness I shall produce to you, is an individual who was rather more in confidence with the conspirators. His name is Dwyer, and you will find that Thistlewood and Davidson applied to him for his advice and assistance towards the execution of their murderous purpose. You will even find that they solicited his aid on the very day in which that purpose was to be put into execution. This witness, however, horror-struck at the intended massacre, and feeling it to be his bounden duty, ran almost instantly and communicated the fact to others. He first communicated it to his wife, and next to an officer in the army, named James, with a view that it might be immediately conveyed to his Majesty’s ministers. This, under the special order of Providence, was done.
“And now let me again ask you, Gentlemen, is this testimony to be rejected? Surely it never can by enlightened men such as you are. But this even does not furnish my case for the prosecution; for I assure you it does not rest upon the testimony of Adams, Hiden, and Dwyer; but there are facts in this case which, I fear, the prisoner will not be able to answer. Why, I would ask, were these men assembled in Cato-street, and why at night? There were none of them related to each other, yet they were all armed with deadly weapons, and found in close deliberation in an obscure stable. There were also found there a quantity of destructive grenades and fire-balls, together with a large portion of ammunition. But this is not all. At the houses of two others of the conspirators, namely, Brunt and Tidd, there were found similar articles of destruction, particularly ammunition. The weight found of the latter, gentlemen, amounted to between eleven and twelve hundred pounds; and I would ask, in the name of God, what object could these men have had in the possession of such a quantity of ammunition? Surely it could not even be for an individual murder! No, gentlemen, it was the destruction of his Majesty’s ministers in the first place, the burning and levelling of public barracks and edifices in the next, and finally, the establishment of a revolution, and the appointment of a Provisional Government.
“These men, Gentlemen, could never have been unfriendly towards ministers as individuals. It must have been a hatred of them in the character of their office alone, and their design was more particularly levelled at Lord Harrowby, because his Lordship was President of the Council. Can you doubt, that after this dreadful blow was made, and it had succeeded, that it was the intention of these conspirators to have established a provisional government, and thus spread anarchy and confusion around. In fact, that was the eventual blow meant to be carried into execution. I say, therefore, that even if the learned counsel for the prisoners were to contend most successfully against the evidence of the accomplices, the facts I shall produce to you by other testimony, will answer the purposes of this just and necessary prosecution.
“What was the conduct of the prisoners when they were discovered in Cato-street? I want not, Gentlemen, by a repetition of this term, to inflame your minds: but it will be extremely important for you to remember, that when the officers entered the loft there, and said, ‘we are officers,’ they submitted not to their authority, but resisted them even in the most ferocious manner, and one officer, as you have before heard, unfortunately lost his life. The prisoner at the bar, however, is not under trial for that offence, nor should the fatal circumstance operate in the present case against him. But I must again ask you, what became of the prisoner on the 23d, the intended night of blood and slaughter? Why he flies from the desperate scene, not to his own home, as you have already been told, but to an obscure place of concealment. These, then, Gentlemen, are the facts of this momentous case; and once more I ask you, what possible conclusion can you draw from such facts, if they be supported in evidence?
“Gentlemen, I repeat it, that this is a momentous and important case, and if these plots of the conspirators, and of the prisoner in
## particular, be proved to have existed--if the means had been used which
I have described to you for effecting the nefarious and diabolical plans they had formed, then I call upon you, in the name of justice, to give that verdict which will best satisfy the laws of your country, and tend to protect the lives of your fellow-creatures. Commiseration (if I may use the term) towards a prisoner, I never should withhold; and God forbid, Gentlemen, that you should not give to the man at the bar the advantage of every, even the slightest, circumstance of doubt which may arise in his favour. If these doubts also should predominate, it will be your duty to acquit the prisoner; but if, on the other hand, the facts which I have laid before you be substantiated, and you feel in your consciences that the charge is made out, it will then become your painful but bounden duty to convict him. Should these facts, I say, for the last time, be brought home to the prisoner, it will then be your duty, as men, as citizens, and as fathers--as men desirous of maintaining the laws, and of acting under the solemn obligation of your oaths, to pronounce him guilty.”
The learned gentleman’s speech occupied the attention of the Jury for nearly two hours.
Before the first witness for the prosecution was put into the box, all the prisoners named in the indictment were brought up, with the view, we suppose, of having an opportunity of hearing the evidence, it being principally the same which is to be adduced against most of them. They entered the Court with much apparent indifference.
Davidson and Ings were particularly remarked for the calm indifference with which they surveyed the Bench and the spectators around them.
During the examination of Adams, some of the prisoners whispered together. Thistlewood throughout preserved the most perfect composure.
The first witness called was
ROBERT ADAMS, examined by the Solicitor-General.--I live at No. 4, in Hole-in-the-Wall-passage, Brooks’-market. I am a shoemaker. I was in the Royal Regiment of Horse Guards. It is 18 years last Christmas since I left them. I knew Brunt at Cambray, in France, he went then by the name of Thomas Morton, it is 18 years ago since I first knew him. I know Thistlewood. I knew him first on the 16th of January last. He then lived in Stanhope-street, Clare-market. I was introduced to him by Brunt and Ings. I saw him at his own place. We had some conversation together.
Here Mr. Adolphus objected to the witness mentioning any thing of the conversation which passed on that occasion. The crime against the prisoner was charged in the reign of his present Majesty, and against his crown and dignity, and no act of the prisoners in the late reign ought to be adduced.
Lord Chief-Justice Abbot said, the Court might hear of the commencement of the transaction, as connected with what had occurred in the present reign.
The examination of the witness was continued.
When I went in, Brunt said to Thistlewood, This is the man I was speaking to you about. Thistlewood said, “You were once in the Life-Guards?” I said, “No, I was not, I originally belonged to the Blues.” Thistlewood said, “You are a good swordsman?” I said, “I could use a sword to defend myself; but I could not use it very expert, as I had not used any arms for a long time.” Thistlewood said, there was no one who was worth 10_l._ who was worth any thing for the good of his country. As to the shopkeepers of London, they were all a set of aristocrats together, and were all working under the same system of government. He should glory to see the day that all the shops were shut up, and well plundered. He then alluded to Mr. Hunt, and said, he (Hunt) was a d----d coward, and were he (Thistlewood) to go to Whitehall, he was sure he would find his (Hunt’s) name there, as a spy to government. He then turned the conversation to Cobbett, and said, he was equally the same as Hunt, and for all his writings, he had no doubt he was also a spy. This ended the conversation then. I was afterwards confined for debt in Whitecross-street Prison. The next interview I had with Thistlewood was on the 16th, at the White Hart public-house. It was in a room in the back yard. Thistlewood was present, and Ings, Brunt, and Hall, and before they broke up, Tidd. On the 17th I went to prison, and remained fourteen days there. I came out on Sunday, the day after the death of the King. I saw Thistlewood on the Monday evening following. I saw him in the same floor in the house where Brunt lived, in a back room. This was in Fox-court, Gray’s Inn-lane. There were Brunt, Ings, Hall, and Davidson, present. There was nothing particular took place that night. To the best of my recollection, I met them next on the Wednesday, (by them he meant Thistlewood, Brunt, Davidson, Harrison, and Ings,) I had a conversation--
Mr. Curwood here objected to the witness speaking to what then occurred, as no over-act was set forth in the indictment on that day. It merely referred to a meeting on the 16th, and at divers other times.
Lord Chief-Justice Abbott observed, that the present mode was the invariable form of such indictments, and no objection was ever made to it. If all the particulars of overt-acts were set forth, it would occasion a great prolixity.--The objection was over-ruled.