DE QUINCEY'S WORKS. I

VOLUME IV.

I It l I ~

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THE ENGLISH niAlL COACH

AND O'fHER WRITINGS

BY

TH011AS DE QUINCEY '

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EDINBURGH A DA~i AND CHARLES BLACK

'.MDCCCLXlII ,

[The right of Translalzon is reserved]

, .EXPLANATORY NOTICES.

THE series of papen:, published in tbi~ and the precedmg vol11me, were onginally \Vritten under one set of di&

-VI E'.\..PLANATORY NOTICES.

1 1 The paper on ''Murder as one of the Fine 1trl:s '' scen1ed to exact from me some account of W tlhams, the dreadful Loncl1>1i murderer of the last generation; not onl:1 becallSC tl1e amatetttii

l1ad. so roucl1 insISted on lus merit :is the supreme of arhsts for grandeur of design ancl breadtl1 of style, and becatISe, apa1 t from thIS momentary connection i\'lth my paper, the man hin1-"'elf mei'lted a iecord for his n1n.tchless audacity, combined" ith so much of snaky subtlety, and even insllltlating am1Libleness in l1is demeanour but also 1'ecause, apart from the man hun&elf, the u:orl"s of the man (tliose t1,-o of tl1em especiall:1 \\ lucli so profoundly impressed tlie nation ill 1812) \\'Cle ill themsel\ es, for dramatic effect, t11e most nnpress1ve on record 1 Southey pronolmced their p1e-effilnence, 1vl1en lie &'Utl to me, that they ranked amongst t11e few clomeshc e1ents i\lucl1, by the dcptl1 and the expansion of horror attending tl1em, had risen to t11e digmty of a national intere.;;t I may acld, t11at this intcre-.,,t benefited also by the mysteI'J' 1>luch in1ested the m1rrders, m;1stery as 1;o variot1s points, but especially as respectecl onti important question, Had tl1e murderer ai1y accomphce '1 * There was, therefore, reason enot1gh, both i11 the m'l1i's hell1i:l1 character, and in the ni;stery \\'hich sunotmded lum, for this

. Postscript to the or1gi11al paper 1 since, ill a lapse of forty-t110 'ecirs, both the man and lus deeds l1ad f,1decl a1\a:1 fro1n tl1e kno1vledge of tl1e present generat1011 , b11t still I n111 sens1b1o that my record IS far too diffuse Feeling tlllS at tl1e ,cry tlll1e

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" Upo a large o;e1 bnla11cc of 1irobali1l1t1cs, it 'vas, bo,;e1er, dt-fin1t11ely. greed amongst amateurs that '\'\T1ll1ams must l1a,e bec11 alone 1n tl ese atroc1t1cs l\reant1me, amongst the colourable prc-s11mpt1ons n the otl1e1 side, 1'a~ tl11s -Some l1011rs aftc1 the labt 1n11rde1 a an 1;as apprel1en

- EXPLANATORY !-ZOTICES \'JI

of 1v1itrng, I was ;}-e~ unable to correct 1t, so little self-control '"us I able to exercise undih- the affi1cting agitations, and tlie unconquerable impatience of my nervous malady.

2. With respect to' The Templars' Dialogues,'' it may po::.-s1bly be complmned, that this paper is m some measure a frag-111ent. My.answer is, that, although frat,rrnentary 111 relation to the entne systcnz of R1ca1do, and that prenous system will.ch he opposed, it is no fragment in ie1'1.tion to the radical principle concerned m those systems The confuchng systems are brougl1t under rene"\\ simply at the loczts of collision JUSt as the I~der

ma) ha>e seen the chen1ical theory of Dr Priestley, and t11e cot1nter-theo1-y of his antiphlogistic opponents, staterl within the 111n1ts of a smgle page If the pnnciple relied 011 by either party can be shown t-0 leacl mto ii1extncable self-contradiction, tl1at is enol1gh So much is accomphsl1ed in that case, as w,ts })roposed from the beginning :viz., not to exl1aust,the postliie eiements of thi::. system or that, bttt simply to settle tl1e central logic of their se,eral polelll.lcs ; to settle, ill fact, not the mattr of ,,hat is evolved, but SJmply the prrnc1ple of evolution

3 ''War.'' In this paper, f1om haVIDg faultily ac1Justed its \elt too br1efly and too feebly upon the capit.'11 interest at staI~e To .'.1.pp1y a co1Tect1on to some popular misreathngs of illstoIJr, to Ehow that the cr1m1na1 (be belo'v the occasion I

feel that far grander intere~ts are at stake ill flu5 contest Tl1e Pe.'lce Sociehes are falsely appreciated, "hen they are described as merely clefil to tbe lessons of C"'-'}Jerience, and as too'' romantic'' L"l tl1eir, expectations The Tery opposite is to my tb1nk111g t11c1r

VJll BXPLANATORY NOTICES.

criminal reproach. lie that IS romantic, eirs ust1nlly by too muc11

elevation. He violates the standard of reasonable expectation, by drawing too violently upon the nobilities of human nature. But, on the contrary, the Peace Societies would, rl their po,vcr kept pace with their gtulty purposes, work degradation for man by drawing upon his most effeminate and luxurious cravmgs for OOSL>. llfost heartily, and '\'\'1th my profoundest sympathy, do I go along with Wordsworth m lus grand l)Tical proclamation of

a truth not less dtvme than it is mystenous, not less tn11mphant tlian it IS sorrowful-viz , that amongst God's holiest instruments for the elevation of h11man nature, is ''mutual slaughter'' amongst men, yes, that 11 Carnage IS God's daughter.'' Not denvmg my O\Vll views m this matter from Wordsworth, not kno11wg even 11hether I hold tl1em on the"Same grounds, Since Wordsworth has left l11s grounds unexplaJned nevertheless I cite thetn m honour, as capable of the holiest JUStrucat1on. The 1nstr11ments rlSe m grandeur, ca1nage and mutual sla11ghter nsc in holiness, exactly as the motives ancl the interests nse on be-half of which such awful po,vers are invoked. F1ght1ng for truth m its last recesses of sanctity, for human dignity sJ'Ste-matically outraged, or for h11man rigl1ts mercilessly trodden under foot. champions of such mterests, men first of all descry, as from a summit sudrlenly revealed, the poSSible grandeur of bloodshed suffe.ied or 1nfucted Judas and Sllllon llfaccabreus

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in days of old, Gustavus Adolphus~ m modern daJs, fighting

The Tl11rty Yeari,' War, from 1618 to the Peace of \Vcstphal1n in 1648, was noto11ously the last, and the dec1s1ve, conflict between Popery and Protestantism; the result of tl1at war 1t ''as '' l11ch finally enlightened all the Pop1sl1 p11nces of Ch11stendom, as to tl1e imposs1l11l1ty of e' e1 supp1ess1ng the antagonist party by mere force of arms I am not meaning, 110,,e,er, to utter any opinion ,,J1at-ever on tl1e rel1g1ous }Jos1t1on of tl1e t\\ o great pa1 ties. It is suffi-

L1ent for ent11e SJmr:ithy 'v1th tl1e rojal s,, cde, tl1at he fougl1t for tl1e freedom of con&c1ence. Many an enl1gl1te11ed Roman Cathol1r1 &uppos1ng only tl1at he 'vere not a P ap1st, '''ould ha1e gt> en lus 11ope& and hJs confidence to the P1otestant king.

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tXPL..\XA'.J:ORY SOl"IOER.

f c;r the Tiobted rights of con..

hXI>J,AN,\TORY NOTlCFS.

has been aut1101ISed by t11e exp1ess >01ee of God. Sucl1 v. rc-1-erve cannot be dispensed with It belongs to t110 p11nc11)le o! r)rogress m n1an, that lie sho1tld for ever keep open a secret commerce m tl1e last resort mth the sp111t of ma1 tJclom on behalf of man's most samtly interests In proportion as tho instrurn'.ents for upholchng or retnevmg st1ch samtly mterests sl1oulcl co1ne to be di

1--xrL.\.~A.TOI~\- X1_)Tl('}..S.

!ainfitl it is to altl. tbnt this is tlie pi,nci111c upon l\'llich on!' ~1.ulr; neighbour~ t11e french 811Cffi to YaltlC 3. battle. '

To :iriy man \\ho. ll!~c my:o.:lf, aclmires tl1e high-toner], mnrn.ili n.t any point mth rri:-l1 ttal pr-~tc:is:io!'.s. .r.\. bJ.tlle is >nlueJ by them on the san1e ir inc.p1es, not better n.nd not \\01-se, as go;e1u our O\". n school-

1~0,:-::. >er: b.ttlo is -ieweJ. by the boj-s as a te.;;t a:pphe..'1 to tl1c J-t:rE'Jnal pro';\e.ss of e::i.cl1 iud1\iclu::.l soldier; nntl1 natm-.illy

,1r.J~r1i;,;t bo:;s, it \\Otlld. be the me1e:;t h:i11oc~7 to t.:i1:e any P!6UCl' gl'Olllltt. 11ttt umong,,t adt11 ts, ::tITl \eJ. at t11e fO\\er of

i~.:('t111g ::.nd comp.trit1f;, v.-c look for something noblc1. \\e r:i:1gli::h estimate '\Y!'ter1oo, not by its rimount. of killeJ and >;our1ded. bnt as tI1e battle ''!11ch tenninai:c.d a series of h::i.ttlc'S

l,'.J.,ing one co:n1nou obJ~"t nz , tl1e O\ertl1row of a f1i;htft1l r:;rnnn:-. ,,.\.. grc..:.t sepulclu-al illa{10\> rolled a,,;ay from the face of Clrit;;tcndom ns that clri,-s sttu -rrent do\\ n to 1us lest: f1)1,

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bJ.d the ~ucce;::;; b~eu le;::; nb~olute, ::tll Olll)Ol'l:tllllty \\ould h..1.\"C one.red ft)l' ncgot1:.i.t1on, and comequent1:- for n.n infin1t) of in-trigue:; througl1 tl1e feu

XJl EXPJ,,\.NATORY Nonc:cs.

anythmg: war Justifies itself To fight for the experunental purpose of trying the proportions of martial merit, bl1t (to spe;tlt frankly) for the purpose of pubhslung and reneWlllg to Europe

' the proclamation of French superiority tl1at IS tlie obJcct of French wars Like the Spartan of old, the F'renchman would hold that a state of peace, and not a state of war, is tl1e state which calls for apology ; and that already from the fust such an apology must wear a very suspicious aspect of paradox.

4 ''The English Mau-Coach'' Tlus httle paper, according t-0 my origmal mtention, fonned part of the '' Suspir1a de Pro-fundis, ''from which, for a momentary purpose, I did not scruple to detach it, and to pubhsl1 it apart, as sufficiently intelligible even 'vhen dislocated from its place m a larger whole To my surpr.se, however, one or two cntics, not carelessly in conversa-tion, but dehberately m pnnt, professed their inab1hty t-0 appre-hend the meanmg of the whole, or to follo'v the hnks of the con-nection between its several parts I am myself as httle able t-0

' understand 1\here the difficulty hes, or to detect any lurking obseunty, as those cntics found themsel,es to unravel my logic. Possibly I may not be an indllferent and neutral Judge m such a. case I will therefore sketch a bnef abstract of the httle paper according to my 01vn ongmal design, and then leave the reader to Judge how far tills design IS kept m sight through the actu,tl e;;:ecution '

Th1rLy-seven yea.""S ago, or rather more, accident made me, m the dead of mght, and of a night memorably solemn, the soht.1ry 'vitness to an appallmg scene, which threatened instant death in a shape the most ternfic to two young people, whom I had no means of assisting, except in so far as I was able to give them a most hurned warning of their danger ; but even tl1at not until they stood mth1n the very shadow of the catastrophe, bemg chvided from the most frightful of deaths by scarcely more, Jf more at all, than seventy seconds

Such was the scene, such in its outlme, from which the whole of this paper radiates as a natural expanSion Tlus scene ts

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EXPLANATORY NOTICFS. XIII

circumstantially narrated in Section the Second, entitled, 11 The Vision of Sudden Death.''

But a movement of horror, and of spontaneous recoil from tlus dreadful scene, naturally ca1ned the whole of that scene, raJsed and idealised, into my dreams, and very soon into a rolling suc-cc.."Slon of dreams The actual scene, as looked do\vn upon from

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i:he box of the mail, ,\as transformed into a dream, as tumultuous and changing as a n1usical fugue. This troubled dream IS cir-cumstantially reported m Section the Tlnrd, entitled, 11 Dream-Fugue upon i:he Theme of Sudden Death.'' 1'1bat I had beheld from my seat upon the mail , the scenic.'tl stnf e of action and paFsion, of anguish and fear, as I had there witnessed them movmg in ghostly silence ; thIS duel between hfe and def.Ith narrowing itself to a point of such exquISite evanescence as the

colhSion neared; all these elements of the scene blended, under . the law of association, with the previous and permanent features of dIStu1ction mvesting the matl itSe1 : "\\ruch features at that tune lay 1st, in velocity unprecedented ; 2dly, in the power and beauty of the horses; 3dly, in the official connection mth the govern!llent of a great nation; and, 4thly, in the function, almost a consecrated function, of publishrng andchff11sing tlirough the land the great political events, and especially the great battles during a confuct of unparalleled grandeur. These honor-ary d1sbnctions are all descnbPd circumstantially in the FrnsT ' or introductory section (' 1 The Glory of Motion''). The three first were dIStinctions maintained at all times , but the fourtl1 and grandest belonged exclusr\'ely to the war with Napoleon; and thIS it was willch most naturally introduced Waterloo into the dream. Waterloo, I lmderstood, was the particular feature of the ''Dream-Fugue'' which my censors were least able t-0 account ior. Yet surely "\Vaterloo, willch, in common with every 9ther great battle, it had been our special pri,'llege to publish over all the land, most naturally entered the Dream under the license of our privilege. If not il there be anythrng nmif.'S let the Dream be responroble. The Dre:1.ip is a }aw to

\lV EXPJ,ANATORY NOTICES.

11J,e tf and as well quaITel with a ra1hbow for shomng, or for ' not showing, a secondary arcl1 So fill' as I know, every elcrueitt

1n tl1e slufting movements of the Dream denved itself either. pnmanly from the incidents of t11e actual scene, or from second-ary features associated with the mail For example, the cathedral

'aisle denved'1tself from the m1m1c combination of features which grouped themselves together at the pomt of approaclll.ng col-l1s1on-viz., an aITow-hke section of the road, six l1undred yards long, under the solemn lights descnbed, with lofty trees meeting overhead in arches The guard's horn, agam-a h11mblemstru-ment m itself was yet glorified as the organ of pubhcat1on for so many great national events And the mc1dent of the Dying Trumpeter, wl10 nses from a marble bas-relief, and carries .1 marble ,trumpet to Ins marble lips for the purpose of warni11g

, the female mfant, 'vas doubtless secretly suggested by my o,,.n imperfect effort to seize the guard's horn, and to blow a warmng ])]a.st But the Dream knows best , and the Dream, I say agru11 1& the respollSlble party

CONTENTS. f

ON ?lfunDER, CoN!IPERED .AS osn OF TB E F1~-r: ARTS . . ...

REVOLT OF nJl} TARTARS; OR, FLIGHT OF THE 1tA:ti.\lUCK J.Uus A.h1l ms PEOPLn rno:u THE RussllN TEn.Rrtom:cs

TO Tai: FRONTIERS OF CmxA

DrALOGUEs OF THREE Tfilll'LARS ON PoLIT!c.u, EcoNO'.l.rr,

CHIEFLY !S RELATION TO Tiii: l'RCTCIPLES o'J!' ?llR

Paga 1

Ill

RICARDO,,. , 176

ON WAR. . ...... 25S '

Tm.: ENGLISH J'Luu-CoAcn -SECTION I.-Tee GLORY oF 1\iono:s 287 SEcnoN rr-Tae V1s10N oF sunnEN DE.Ant a20

SEC'I'ION III-DREA..].tFUGUE .. .... 342

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ON MURDER, CONSIDERED .AS ON.E OF THE FINE ARTS

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,\DVERTIS:C:r.IID.'T OF A J.\fAN MORBIDLY VIRTUOUS

~IosT of us, who read books, have probably heard of n Society for the Prpmotion of Vice, of the IIell-Fire Club, founded in the last century by Sir Francis Dashwood, &c. At B1ighton I think it was, that a Society was formed for tl1e Suppression of Virtue. That society was itself sup-pressed ; but I am sorry to say that another exists in London, of a character still more atrocious. In tendency1 it may be clenominated a Society fo1 the Encouragemer,t of l\Iurder , but, according to their own. delicate dit

.A-TV.

2 ?i'lURDBR

to describe the sp111t of tl1e1r pioceed1ngs, as t11c i eadcr ,nu collect tlzat much better fiom one of tl1e i\Ionthlv Le devised a mode of a.11thoi -

?.rURD:ER. 3

1s1ng n1urcler apnrt from '' a1, and i11 defiance of law; nnd t11e demanc1c; of taste (volnptac;) nre DO\\ becon1e t11e same nc; those of a1Jnnt1011ed guilt.'' Let tl1e Society of Gentlemen .Amntetirs conc;ider t11is ; nnd let me call il1ei1 es11ee1al at-te11tion to the last se11t1>nce, 'vl1icl1 is so "eigl1ty, t110.t I sl1all attempt to convey it in English: '' N O\V, if mc1ely to be present at a m11rder fas tens on a man tl1e cl1aracter of an accomplice; 1f barely to be a spectator involves us i11 one common guilt "ith the per1)etrator, it f ollo\\'S, of ne-cessity, that, in these m11rcle1s of the am1)h1tl1ealre, the l1n11d v;l1ich inflicts the fatal blow is not more deeply imbrued in bloocl tl1an his ''ho passively looks on; neitl1er can lie be clear of blood 'vho l1as countenanced its sl1edding;

nor t11at man seem other tl1an a pa1t1ci1)ator in n1urder, wl10 gives his applause to t11e mu1derc1, a11d calls f 01 prizes on l1is lJehalf.'' The '' prw1iia post11lai:1t'' I 11a,e not yet heard cl111rged upon tl1e Ge11tlcn1cn ..1\.1nateurs of London, though undoubted!)~ tl1eir proceedings tend to t11nt; 1Jut the '' inteifectori fi1v1t'' is i111plied i11 t11e ve1y title of t11is association, and expressed m every line of the lecture "11icl1 follows. X. Y. Z.

LECTURE. Gt:}.-rr.E-..11:~, I have 11ad the 11onour to be appointed

by )011r committee to the tr)ing tnsk of rend111g tl1c \Yil-liams' Lecture on :i\lt1rder, consicle1ed us 011e of t11c Fine Arts; n task which might be enc:y eno11gl1 tl1rcc or four centuries ago, "lien tl1c nrt ,,ns little n11clcrstood. n11d fc,1 great 1nodels hncl been c~l11lJited ; but i11 tl11s ngc, wl1en mn-;terilicces of excclle11cc hn1c been cxec11tccl llj' profes-sional men, it m11i.-t be evident, t11nt in il1e st,;lc of criti r.isru n1)pl1cd to them, tl1c pttblic '\'ill look fo1 son1cll1i11f; of

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4 l\tUJtUJ~K

a cor1esponding improvement. Practice at1d t11eory n1ust advance pa1 i 11assu. People 1Jeg1n to see that someth111g n1ore go~s to the composition of a fine m11rder than t\\ o blockheads to kill and be 1(1lled a l(nife a purse and a dark lane. Design, gentlemen, gionping, 11gl1t and sl1ade, poetry, sentiment, are no\v deemed indispensable to attempts of this nature ]\,f1 Williams has exalted the ideal of murder to all of us; and to me, tl1e~ef 01e, in particular, bas deepened the a1duousness of my task. Lil\e 1Eschylus or 1\f1lton i11 poetry, like 1\ficl1ael Angelo in painti11g, he bas carried 11is art to a point of colossal subl1m1ty, and, as Mr W ords,vorth observes, has in a manner '' created t11e taste by which lie is to be enJoyed.'' To skctcl1 tl1c history of the ait, and to examine its princi1Jles critically, now re-mains as a duty for the cor1noisse11r, and for judges of quite another stamp from his J\fajesty's Judges of Assize.

Before I begin, let me say a word or t,,.o to certuin prigs, who affect to speak of Oli1 society as if it \Vere m some degree immoral in its tendency. Imn1oial t Jupiter protect me, ge11tlemen, what is it that people mean? I

, am for morality, and always shall lJe, a11d fo1 virtue, and all that, and I do affirm, and al,vays shall (let '''hat '\\'Ill come of it), t11at murder is an improper line of conduct,

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higl1ly impio1Jer; and I do not stick to asse1t, that any man "ho deals in murder, must have very incorrect '\\"ays of th111king, and truly Inaccurate principles; and so far from a1d1ng and abetting him by pointing out 11is victim's h1cling-place, as a' great mo1alist"' of Germany declared it to be every good man's duty to do, I '\\'ould subscribe one

" Kr..nt-'l'rho carried his demands of uncond1t1onal 'crac1ty to so cJ..travagant a length a~ to affirm, tl1at, if 11 n1an '\ere to see an r11-11ot ent person escape from a murderer, it" ould be his duty, en be111g questioned b:v the 1nu1dercr, to tell t11e truth, and to point

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:.runnEn. "' 0

shilling and sixpence to have him apprehended, wl11cl1 is more by eighteenpence than the most eminent moralists hn.ve hitherto subscribed for that purpose. But what tl1en? Everything in this world has two handles Mu1der, fo1 in-stance, may be laid hold of by its moral handle( as it generally is in the pulpit, and at the Old Bailey); and tliat, I confess, is its weak side; or it may also be treated mstltet1cally. as the Germans call it that is, in relation to good taste.

To illustrate this, I will urge the authoiity of three eminent persons ; viz ? S. T. Coleridge, .Aristotle, and Mr Ho'Yship the1Surgeon. To begin with S T. C. One night, ma11y ~ea1s ago, I was drinking tea with him in Berners Street (v>'hich, by the way, for a short street, ha~ been un-commonly fruitful in men of genius). Otl1ers were theie besides myself, and, amidst some ca1nal co11side1ations of tea and toast, we "rere all imbibing a d1sseitation on Plo-tinus from the .Attic lips of s. T. c. Su'ddenly a cry al'OSe of, '' Fire -:fire!'' upon which all of us, master and d1sci1Jles. Plato and. ot 7rEpl rov IIAarc.>va, rush eel out, eager for the spectacle The fire was in Oxford St1eet, at a pianoforte-maker's; and, as it promised to be a conflagration of me11t, I was sorry that my engagements forced me away fiom Mr Coleridge's party, before matters had come to a c1isis. Some days after, meeting with my Platonic host, I reminded him of the case, and begged to kno'v how that ve1y promis-

ing exhibition had terminated. '' Oh, sir,'' said he, ''it , . turned out so ill that we damned it unanimously.'' Now, does any man suppose that Mr Coleridge 'vho, for a11 lie is too fat to be a person of active virtue, is undoubteclly a

out the retreat of the innocent person, under any ce1 ta1nty of caus-ing murder. Lest this doctrine should be s11ppc1sed to have escnpeu him in any heat of dispute, on being taxed w>th it by a cel~brnte.d French writer, lie solemnly r'-0'-uffirmed it, '' ith his l eas':>n.."l.

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~ortl1y 0111 if;lin11 t11ni t l1is goorl S. T. C., I ~nj, '\\'n~ ni1 inccncJ1111j, or cn11nl)lc of \\ ic::l1i111r n11y ill to tl1c })Oor ti1n11 !::> nnd 11is pin11ot'o1t cc; (111n11)' of tl1e111, clo11 l1t le1:

1'1Ul{DER, '1

charms, endea\ours to banish them from the Co11nty of .Jiiddlesex. But the t1uth is, that, howe\er obJectionalile

' per se, yet, relatively to others of their class, both a thief and an ulcer may have infinite degrees of me1it. The)' are both impe1fect1ons, it is true; but, to lJe imperfect being, their essence, the very greatness of the11 1mpe1fect1on be-comes their perfection. Spa1 tam nactltS es, lzanc exo1 na. .A. thief 11l~e Autolycus or the once famo11s Geo1ge Bar1mgton, and a g11m phagedrenic ulcer, supel.,bly defined, and run11ing regl1larly through all its natu1al stages, may no less Justly lJe regarded as ideals after tl1ez1 kind, than the most fault-less moss-1ose amongst fiowe1s, in its p1og1e:.:s from lJud to ''bright consummate fio,,e1 ;'' or, amongst 11uman flowers, the most magnificent young female, appa1elled rn the pomp of womanhood. And thus not only the ideal of an inkstand may be imaginecl (as nir Coleridge illustrated m his cele-b1ated correspondence with :fi'[r Blackwood), i11 ,,}1icl1, bythe way, tl1ere is not so much, beca11se an inkstand is a laudable so1t of thing, and a valuable member of society; but e'en imperfection itself may have its ideal or pe1fect state.

Really, gentlemen, I beg parclon for so much }Jh1losophy at one tIIDe; and now let me apply it. When a mu1der is in the paulo-post-futurum tense not clone, not even (ac-cording to modern pm1sm) being done, but only going to Le done and a iumour of it comes to ou1 ea1s, by all means let us treat it morally, But suppose it 01er and done, and that you can say of it, TeTA.eurai, It is fi111sbed, or ' (in that adamantine mo loss us of niedea) EtpyauTa1, Done it is:

- it 13 a fazt accompl.i; suppose the poor murdered man to be out of his pain, and the rascal that did it off like a shot, nobolly knows whither; suppose, lastly, that we have done om best, by puttmg out our legs, to trip up t11e fell ow m his flight, but n.11 to no purpose-'' abiit. e1asit. excessit.

8 MURDER. '

11rup1t,'' &c why, then, I say, what's the use of any mo1e

virtue '2 Enough has been given to morality; no'v comes the turn of Taste and the Fine .A.its. A sad tl1ing it 'vas, no doubt, very sad; but we can't mend it. Theief 01e let us make the best of a bad matter ; ai1d, as it is impossible to hammer anything out of it fo1 moral purposes, let Ufl treat 1t. resthetically, and see 1f it '''111 tuin to account in that way. Such is the logic of a sensible mai1, and \\'l1at

follo\vs 'l We dry up our teais, and l1ave the satisfaction, perl1aps, to discove1 that a transaction, which, morally con-sidered, was shocking, and i,vithout a leg to stand upon, when tiied by principles of Taste, tuins out to be a very mei1tor1ous peiformance. Thus all the 'vo1ld is pleased; the old proverb is Justified, that it' is an ill '''1nd 'vhich blows nobody good; the amateur, f1om looking bilious and sulky, by too close an attentioi1 to virtue, begins to pick up his c1umbs; and geneial'h1la11ty p1eva1ls. V1itue lias had her day; and henceforward, Vzitz!, so nearly the same thing as to differ only by a single letter (\vl1ich surely is not wortl1 l1aggling or h1ggling about) Vz1 tu, I iepeat, and Connoisseuisl1ip, have leave to provide for themselves. Upon this principle, gent.lemen, I propose to guide your studies, from Cain to J\fr Thurtell. Tl1iough this great

gall~ry of murder, theiefore, togetl1er let us wander hand in hand, in delighted admi1ation; "'111le I endeavou1 to }Joint your attention to the obJects of p1ofitable criticism .

The first murder is fa mi liar to you all. As the inventor . '

of murder, and the fathe1 of the art, Cain must 11ave been a man of first-1ate genius. All the Cains weie men of

-genius. Tubal Cain :invented tubes, I think, or so1ne such thing. But, whatever might be tl1e originality and genius of the artist. eveiy art was tl1en in its infaucv. arid the works

1\IURDER. 9

turned out from each several stuclio, must lJe critic1sed mth a recollectio11 of the-~ fuct ET"en T11bal's work would probably be little a1.1proved at this day in Sheffield; and therefore of Cain (Cain senior, I mean) it is no clisparage-ment to say, that his performance was but so-so. Milton, however, is supposed to haT"e thought diffeiently. By hifl "ay of ielatmg the case, it should seem to haT"e been rathe1 a pet muider with l1im, for he retouches it "-ith an appa1ent enxiety 'for its picturesque effect:-

'' \Vnereat be inly raged , hnd, as they talk'd, Smote b1m into the m1dr1ff '' itb a stone That beat out life he fell; and, deadly pale, Groan'd out his soul u,1tl1 gushing blood effused''

Par. Lost, B xi.

Upon this, Richardso11 the painter, who had un eye for effect, remarks as follows, in his ''Notes on Paradise Lont,'' p. 497 : ''It has been thought,'' says he, ''that Cain beat (as the common saying is) the'breath out of his b1other's body with a great stone; Milton gives in to this, "ith the addition, however, of a large wound.'' In this place it "'as a judicious acldit1on; for the rudeness of the weapon, unless ra1~ed and enriched by a warm, sangu111ary colou1ing, has too much of the naked air of the savage school; as if the deed were lJerpetrated by a Polypheme without science, premeditation, or anything but a mutton bone. Ho,,eve1, I am chiefly pleased "ith the improvement, as it Implies that Milton "as an amateur. .A.s to Shakspere, there never was a better; witness his desc11ption of the murde1ed Duncan, Banquo, &c.; ai1d above all, witness his incomparable min-iature, in ''Henry VI.," of the murdered Gloucester. -i: ----__::.'-------------------

* The passage occurs 1n the second pnrt (net 3) of ''Henry VI,., nnd is do1ibl,: remarkable-first, for its critical fidelity to natu1e, were t11e descr1pt1on meant only for poetic effect; but, secondlJ, for tha 1udic1al value impressed upon it \\'l1en offered (a'> here it zs of-

-

'

'

10 .l\lURD:Cl?

'rho foundutio11 of the n1 t 11u,ing been once ln1d, it is piti.1ble to see ho\\' it slt11nbc1ed '' itl1011t 1n1p10,e1nc11t for ages. In fact, I sl1all 110\v be obliged to lenp ovc1 nll mu1clc1s, snc1ed and }Jrofune, as utte11)' u11\\0l t11y of i1ot1cc, until long uftc1 the Cl11ist1n11 era G1ccce, eve11 in tl1e ngo of Pe11cles, }JI'oduced no mu1dcr, or at lenst 11one is ie-corded, of tl1c sl1gl1test merit, anc1 Ron1e 11ntl too l1ttlo fcrcd) 'n silent co11obo1at10n legallj of 11 clrcadf111 '\l11s1icr, nil nt once u1,s1ng, tl1at fo11l pl.tj' l1nd bce11 denl111g '\ 1tl1 n g1c'lt i1r1nee, clotl1cd \\ 1t!1 an oflic1nl st11te cl1a1ncte1. It 1s the D111.c of Glo11ecq-tcr, fn1tl1f11l g11arcl1nn u11d lo\ 1ng 11nclc of tl1c s11111ilc :111\l 1mbec1lc .ki11g, '' 110 !ins bec11 fo1111d clcad 111 l11s bed Ilo\\ sl1all tl11s C\ c11t be intc1p1cted? Ifacl l1e died 11ndcr some nnt11rnl \1~1tnt1011 of P10\1-denee, or by' 1olence f1om I11s enemies? Tl1c t\\ o co11rt f11ct1ons rend t!1c c1rcum~tnnt111l 1nd1catlOllS of tile case llltO Op!lO'ltC COil struct1ons Tl1c nffcct1onnte n11cl 11ffi1cted J 011ng l.111g, 11l1osc11os1t1011 almost plcclges l111n to nel1trnl1tj, cn1i11ot, nc' c1 tl1eless, Ll1,g111sc 111s o'c1 \vl1el1111ng s11spic1ons of 11cll1sl1 eonsp1racy 111 tl1e bneJ,.g1011nd. Upon tl11s, '1. lender of tl1c opposite faction e11clcn\ oti1:, to b1enl;: tl1c force of tl11s ro.} al fra11lness, co11ntcrs1g11c\l n11cl CLl1occl n1ost 1ni-

p1cs~1' el)' li) Loi~ ''r a1\\1cl '''''lint t11~ta11cc,' lie nsl,s-n1e11n1ng b) instance 11ot e:xai11ple or ill11strat1on, as tl1011gl1tless co1nme11tntors hn,e constnntl) sup1ioscd, b11t in tlie eo1n1non scl1olnstic se11se-\\ lint 1nstant1a, \\lint p1ess11rc of nrg11me1it, ''lint ui ge11t 11lcn, cn11 Lord ''raf\\Ick put for\\ aid in s11pport of his ''d1cnrll11l oatl1 ''-nn oath namcl.}, tl1at, as s11rcly as 11c l1opes for tl1c life etcr11nl, so s11rcl.}

''I do believe tl1at 1olent bands'' ere 111id Upon tl1e life of tl1is tl111co famed d11l;:c ''

Ostensibly t11e challenge is to ,,-nr\' 1ck, but substnnt111llj 1t I~ 1ncnnt for the k111g And the reply ofWnf\>1ck, tl1e nrg11ment on \\l11cl1

' he b111lds, lies in n solemn nrra) of nll tl1e el1nnges '' 01 kcd 1n tl10 duke's features by death, ns ir1cconc1lcable '' 1tl1 any otl1cr ll)lJO thesis tl1an tl1at this dentl1 h11d bce11 n ''1olent oue "\Vl1at ,1igun1c1it have I that Glo11ccstcr died i1ndc1 tl1e bands of i1111i dcrcrs? ''rl1y the following roll-call of n\\ ful cl1anges, nflect1ng 11ead, face, no~t11ls, C)'Cs, l1nnds, &e, '';h1ch do not belong ind1lferc11tly to any n1ode of d~nth, b11t exclusively to n death by '1olence -

'\ ''But ~cc, 111s face is black nnd fttll of blood; His C) cbnlls fartl1er out tlinn "lic11 l1e li' ed ~tn1 ,nJ.! fttll gl1a~tlv. 111..e u ~tranc:Icd tn!lll

1110ltDFill. 11

1)t'iginality of genius in any of the arts to st1cceed v. here her model failed her."" In fact, tbe Latin language sinks under the very idea of murder. ''The man was murclered;'' -how "tll this sound in Latin? Inteljecttts est, t''nte1 e1J1jJlt1s est which sim1)ly exp1esscs a homic1c1e; and hence t11e Cl1r1stian Latin1ty of the middle ages '''as ob1Igec1 to i11tro-dt1ce a new word, i;uch as the feelJleness of classic concep-tions never ascended to. J.liu1dratus est, says the sulJl1mer d1nlect of Gothic ages. Meantime, the Je\\isl1 school of

His l1a1r nprcar'd, 111s nostrils strctcl1'

12 :'ltURDElt.

murder kept alive whatever '\\as )et l~nO\\'n in the nrt. and gradually transferred it to tl1e Western W 011\]. Indeed, the J e\\'1Sh school 'ras al 'l'rays 1cspectnble, even in its me-dieval stages, as the case of Hugh 9f Lincoln sho'l'rs, '' l1ich was honoured \v1th the approbation of Chat1cer, on occasion of anotl1er performance f1 om tl1e same scl1001, '1l1icl1, in l1is Cantc1 bury Tales, be puts 1ntotl1c moutboftl1e Lally 1\.bbess.

Recurring, ho\\ C\'e1, fo1 one n1ome11t. to cla"s1cal anti-q11ity, I cannot but think tl1at Cat1lii1e, Clodius, and ~ome of that cot:e1ie, would have made fi1st-rnte artists; nnd it is

on all accounts to be regretted, tl1at t11e priggism of Cicero iol)bed bis country of the only cl1a11ce sl1e 11ad fo1 d1e been t1t1ly d1ve1ti11g to 11a>e listenecl to 11im; and satisfied I am, gentle1nen, tl1nt he \\"Ottld have p1ef erred the 11t1le of cree1Jir1g i11to a closet, or e>en into a cloaca, to the ,/1onestum of facing tl1e lJold artist

To come now to the dark ages (lJy whicl1 'vc that s1Jeak with p1 ec1s1on mean, par excelle1zce, tl1e tcntl1 cent111y as n mer1d1an hue, and the two centu1ies immecl1ately before a11d after, full midnight being from AD. 888 to ~\. D llll)-tl1ese ages ought natu1ally to be favourable to the art of murder, as tl1ey were to church arcl11tectui e, to stainccl glas'l, &c.; and, acc;ord1ngly, about the latter end of 1hiR period, there arose a great character in our art, I mean the Old }tfan of the Mountains He was a shUI111g l1gl1t,'

indeed, and I need not tell you, that the ve1y 'vord '' assassin'' is deduced from hinl. So keen nn amateu1 was he, that on one occasion, when his own 11f c was attempted by a favou11tc assass1n, he was so mucl1 pleased \v1th t11e

t~lent shown, tl11it. iiot\vitbstandiI1g the failu1 c of tl1e n1 tlhi,

MU'RDER. 13

be created him a duke upon the spot, with remainder to tl1e female line, and settled a pension on him for three hres. Assassination is a branch of the art which demands a separate notice; and it is possible that I may devote an entire lectu1e to it. Meantime, I shall only observe ho" odd it is, that this branch of the art has flourished by in-termitting fits It never rains, but it pours. Our own age can boa.st of some fine specimens, such, for instance, as Bellingham's affair "rith the prime minister Percival, the Due de Berri's case at the Parl.fian Opera Honse, the l\fa1echal Bessieres' case at Avignon; and about two and a half centuries ago, there was a most b1illiant constella-tion of murders in this class. I need hardly say, that I allude especially to those seven splendid works the assas-

sinations of Wilham I., of Orange ; of the three French Henries) viz. Henri, Duke of Guise, that had a fancy for the throneof France; of Henri ill., last p1ince in the line of \T alo1s, who then occupied that throne; ancl finally of Henri IV., his brother-in-law, who succeeded to that th1one as first prince in the line of Bourbon; not eighteen years later came tl1e 5th on the ioll1 viz., that of our Duke of

Bucl~ingl1am (''hich you will find excellently described in the letters pl1blisl1ecl by Sir I-Ienry Ellis, of the British l\Iuseum), Gtbl)r of Gustavus Adolphus, and 7thly of \\r allenstein. \Vl1at a glorious Pleiad of murders ! And it increases one's admiration that this bright constellation of a1t1stic displays, comprehendmg 3 l\fajesties, 3 Serene IIigbnesses, and 1 Excellency, all lay within so narrow !'1 field of time as 11et"een A.D. 1588 and 1635. The King of s"eden's as-sassination, by the by, is doubted by many \Vrite1s, I-Iarte amongst others; but they are \\ rong. He was mnrllered: a11d I consider his murder unique in its excellence ; f'or be "as mnrderea at noon-day, aT:.d on the field of battle a

14 l\IURD:CR.

featn1e of origi11al conception, "'h1cl1 occurs in no otl1er worl;: of art that I remember. To co11ceive tl1e iclcn of a secret mt11

llmRDER 15 ,

~e except Bacon and Galileo) was Des Ca1ies, and if ever one could say of a man that he was all but murtiered mm-dered within an inch one mt1st sa;r it of him. The case

was this, as 1eported lJy Baillet in his ''Vie De M. Des Cartes,'' tom. I ll 102-3. In the year 1621, when Des Ca1ies might be about twenty-sL""r years old, he -nras tour~ ing about as us11al (for he was as restless as a hyena); and. coming to the Elbe, either at Glt1ckstac1t or at Hamburgh, he tooksl1ipp1ng for East Friezland. 1'Tbat he could want in East Friezland no man has ever discovered; and per-haps he took this into consideration himself; for, on reach-ing EmlJden, he resolved to sail instantly for West Fiiez-Iand; and being very impatient of delay, he 11ired a bark, with a few marine1s to navigate it. No sooner had he got out to sea, than he made a pleasing discovery, viz., that he bad shut himself up in a den of mt1rderers. His crew, says M. Baillet, he soon found out to be '' des scele1ats '' not amateztrs, gentlemen, as we are, but i1rofessional men the height of whose amlJit1on at that moment was to cut bis indiric1ual throat But the story is too pleasing to be abiidged; I shall give it, therefore, accurately, from tQ.e French of his lJiographer: '' M. Des Cartes had no com-pany lJut that of his servant, with whom he was convers-ing in French. 'l'l1e sailors, who took him for a foreig11 merchant, rather than a cavalier, concluded that he mui::t have money about him. Accordingly, they came to a re-solution by no means ac1vantageous to his purse. Ther( is this difference, however, between sea-robbers and the roblJers in forests, tl1at the latter may, without hazard, spare the lives of their victims ; whereas the others cannot, put a passenger on sl101e in such a case without running the risk of being aJJprehended. The crew of M. Des/ Carte

I

16 J\TUitDLlt

that sort. T11ey ollse1vr

17

a trice, assrrmed a stern countenance that these cravens l1:id never looked for, and, addressing tl1em in tl1eir own Ian~ gnage, threatened to run them through on the spot if they dared to give him any insult 1' Certainly, gentlemen, this would have been an honour far a}1ove the merits of such inconsiderable "l'asca1s to be spitted bke la1'1is upon ~ Cartesian sword; and therefore I am glad 1.I. Des Cartes did not rob the gallows by executing I1is tl1rcat, especially as he could not possibly have brought his vessel to port, after he had murdered his crew; so that he must ha:re continued to cruise for ever in the Zuyder Zee, a11d would probably have been mistaken by sailors for tJ1e Flying Dutchman, homeward bound. '' The spirit; nhich l\I. Des Cartes manifested,'' suys his biographer, ''had the effect of magic on these wretches. The suc1denness of thei1 con-sternation struck their minds with a conf11sion which blinded them to their advantage, and they conveyed him to 11is destination as peaceably as he could deSI1e.'1

Possibly, gentlemen, you may fancy that, on the model of Cresar's address to his poor fer1ymfill '' C

18 l'lURDER,

I cannot sny, but a less tl1ing l1ns s11fficed to smash n p111io-sopl1er, and the next great })1111osop11er of Eu1ope un~ doubtedly ivas murdered. Tlus '''as Spinosa.

I kno\v very well the common opi11ion abo11t l1im is, tl1nt he c1ied in his bed. Perl1a1ls he did, bt1t l1e was murdcrc

!llURDER.

b.ry, befo1e it was ch11rcb time, Spinosa came down stairs, and conversed with the maste1 and mistress of the house.'' At tb1s time, the1efore, perhaps ten o'clock on Sunday morning, yol1 see that Spinosa was alive, and p1etty well. But it seems ''he had summoned fron1 Amsterdam a ce1tain physician, whom,'' says the biographer, ''I shall not other~ \vise point out to notice tl1an by these two letters, L. 2.f.'' 'fhis L. M. had directed the people of the house to purchase ''an ancient cock,'' and to have him boiled forthwith, in order that Spinosa might take some broth about noon;

'

which in fact he did ; and ate some of the old cock with a good appetite, after the landlord and his wife had returned from church.

'' In the afternoon, L. 1\i. staid alone with Spinosa, the people of the house having returned to churcl1; on coming out from which, they learned, with much su1prise, that Spinosa l1ad died about three o'clock, in the presence of L. M., who took his departure for Amsterdam that same evening, by the night~boat, without paying the least atten-tion to the deceased,'' and probably without paying very much attention to the payment of his own little account

'

'' No doubt he was the readier to dis1Jense with these duties -a.s he had possessed himself of a ducatoon, and a small quantity of silver, together with a silver-hafted kmfe, and had absconded with ills pil}.age.'' Here you see, gentle-men, the murder is plain, aud the manner of it. It was L. ~f. who murdered Spinosa for his money. Poor Spinosa was an invalid, meagre and weak: as no blood was observed, L. M. no doubt threw him down, and smothered him with pillows the poor man being already half suffocated by 11is mfernal dinner. After masticating that ''ancient cock,'' which I take to mean a cock of the p1eceding century, in what condition could tile noor invnlid find himself for n

'

20 MURDElt.

stand-l1p fight with L. M.? But 'vl10 1''as L !1. 7 It surely never could be Lindley Mui ray, for I sn\\' l111n tit York in 1825 ; and, besides, I do not think lie \VOt1ld do such o. th1i1g at least, not to a biother grammnrinn : for )011 know, gentlemen, that Spu1osa ,,1ote a very iespcctablo Hebrew grammar

Hobbes but why, or on 'vhat principle, I never co11ld understand was not mu1dered. This '''as a ca1)1tnl over-

~igl1t of the professional men in the scvcntcentl1 cc11tury; because in every light he was a fine sul)JCCt for 1n11rdc1, except, indeed, that he was Iea11 and skinny ; for I can prove that he had money, and ('''lint is vci'.)' funny) lie had no right to make the least resistance, since, acco1d111g to l1imself, irresistible po,ver creates the ve1y highest species of right, so that it is rebellion of the blackest cl.)e to ieft1se to be murdered, when a competent force appears to m11rder you However, gentlemen., though he1'as not muidered, I am happy to assure you that (by his own account) he '''as three times very near being muideied, which is consolatoiy. The first time was in the spring of 1 G4.0, 'vhe1i he pretends to have crrcula,ted a httle l\IS. on the king's behalf against the Parliament; he never could produce this l\IS., by the by; but he says, that, '' Had not His 1'1aJesty dissolved the Parliament'' (1n May), ''it had brought him into danger of his bfe.'' Dissoltlng the Pailiament, however, was of no use~ for in November of the same yea1 the Long Par-liament ssembled, and Hobbes, a second tune fearing he should be urdered, ran away to France. This looks hkc the madnes. of John Dennis, who thought that Louis XIV

'

would neve make peace with Queen Anne, unless he (Den1Iis to w1~) 'vere given up to French vengeance; and actually ian away f1om the sea-coast under that belief

' In France, I-Io~bes managed to take ca1c of Ins thro'!.t

21

pretty "ell for ten years; but at tl1e end of that time, by wny of pa;ing cou1t to C1omwoll, he 1Jublis11cd l1is ''Le-rlathan '' The old cov. ard nov. began to ''funk'' 11orribly for t11e tb1rd time; 11e fancied t11e s'' ords of the cavaliers were constantly at his tl11oat, 1ccollecting how they hacl se1 "Ved the Parliament ambassadors at the Hague and Madrid. '' 1-'um,'' says he, i11 his dog-Latin life of himself,

''Tum en1t in mentcm m1l11 Dorislnus ct Aschnm; Tanqunm proscr1pto terror ub1que ndernt ''

And ace'ordingly lie ran home to England. Nov., certain!), it is very true tl1at a in an deserred a cudgelli11g for'' 11ting '' Le,iathan ;'' and two or three cudgellings for ''riling a pcntamete1 endmg so "Vtllanously ns ''ter1or ubique adcrat!'' But no mun ever thought 11im v.01tl1y of, unytl1ing be;o11d c11dgelling. And, in fact, tl1e v.hole story is a bo1111ce of his own. Fo1, in a most abusi,e lette1 ,,l1ich he 1\-iote ''to a learned pc1 son'' (meaning Wallis tl1e matl1en1aiician), he gi"Ves quite another account of the matter, and sa;s (p. 8), he ran 11ome '' because lie ivould not trust his safety ,,ith the French clergy;'' insin11at1ng that he was likely to be murdered fo1 his religion, whicl1 v.011ld hn'i"e been a liigh joke indeed Tom's being 1Jroug11t to the stake for religion.

Bounce 01 not 1Jounce, hov.ever, certain it is that HolJbes, to the end of his life, fea1ed that somebody v. oulc1 mu1der hiin. This is i)101cd by the story I nm going to tell )'OU: it 1s not from a manusc1i1)t, but (ns Mr Coleridge SO.) s) it is ns good ns manuscri1>t; for it comes from a bool;.: no,, e11-t1rely forgotten, 1iz., ''The Creed of 1'Ir Ilobbes Examined: tn n Conference lJetv.een l1in1 n11d n Student in Di' in it'''

{p11bl1shec1 about ten yea1s before Iloubcs's dcntl1). '!'lie bool;.: is anonyn1ous, but it 'vns w1ilten lly Ter111i.-:011. tl1e snn1e ''ho, nbo11t tl1irly )cars nftcr, s11ccccdct1 T1llotso11 ns .. ~rcl1bisho1l of Cnntc1 bury. Tl1e i11troll11ctory u11cc1lotc 13

22 !JUitDER

ns follows: ''A certain d1vi11e'' (no do11bt Ten111son him-self) ''took an a11nual tou1 of one montl1 to d11Tcrent parts of the island.'' In one of these excursions (1670), lie visited the Peak in Derb)'Shi1e, partly i11 consequence of IIobbcs's desc1 ipt1on of it. Being in that neighbourl1ood, he could not but pay a visit to Buxton; and at tl1e Yery moment of his ar1i val, he was f 01 tunnte enough to find a paity of gentlemen dismounting nt the mn-door, amongst wl1om was a long thin fello'\\', who turned out to be no less a per-son than ~Ir Hobbes, who probably 11ad iidden O\Cr from Chatsworth. t Meeting so great a hon, a tourist, in searcl1 of the picturesque, could do no less than present himself in the cl1aracter of bore. And luckily for this sel1eme, t'\\ o of Mr Hobbes's companions were suddenly summoned a'\\'ay by express ; so that, for the rest of bis stay at Bux-ton, he haq Leviatb.:i.n entirely to himself, and 11ad the honour of bowsing with him m the evening I-Iobbes, it c;eems. at first showed a good deal of stiffness, for he "as

-hy of divines, but thlS wore off, and he became very sociable and funny, and they agreed to go mto the batl1 together. How Tennison could venture to gambol m the same water with Leviathan, I cannot explam ; bt1t so 1t was : they frolicked about like two dolphins, though Hobbes must have been as old as the hills ; and ''in those mtervals 'vhere1n they abstained f1om S'\\'llllming and plkg111g themselves'' (i.e., fuvmg), ''they 'discoursed of

I ma~y things relating to the baths of the Ancients, and * Chatsworth 'vns then, as now, tl1e superb sent of the Cn,endishes

in th~ir highest brnnch-In those days En1l, at present D11ke, of. Devonshire It IS to the honour of this family tl1nt, tl11011gl1 t" o

' generations, they gave an asylum to Hobbes. It 1s noticeable that Hobbes'\'~'ns born in the yeat of the Spanish Armada, t e, in I ~SS: such, at ~east, is my belief And, therefore, at this meeting w1th '!'cnnison ID 1670, he must have been about S2 yea1s old

'

"

)TUR.DER

the Origi11e of Spnngs. When they hall in this manner passed away an hour, they stepped out of the bath; anc1,

ha-ring dried and cloathed themselves, they sate clown in expectation of such a supper as the place afforded; design-ing to refresh themselves like the De1JJnosoplz1stro, and rathe1 to reason than to drink prof onndly. But in this innocent intention they i'tere interrupted by the disturbance arising from a little quarrel, in which,some of the ruder people in the house were for a short time engaged. At this M1 Hobbes seemed much concer11ed, though he was at some distance from the persons.'' And 1''hy was he conce1ned, gentlemen 'l No doubt, you fancy, from some benign ancl clisinterested love of peace, worthy of an old man and n.

. philosopher. But listen ''For a1'hile he was not com-posed, but related it once or twice as to himself, 1'1th a low and careful, i.e., anxious, tone, how Sextus Rosciuq

'

was murthered after supper by the Balnere Palatinre. Of such gene1al extent is that iemark of Cicero, in relation to Epicurus the Atheist, of whom he observed, that he of all

. men dreaded most those things which he contemned-, Death and the Gods.'' Merely because it was supper time,

and in tte neighbourhood of a bath, Mr Hobbes ml1st l1ave the fate of Sextus Roscius. He must be murthered, lJecause Sextus Roscius was murtlzer"ed. What logic was there in this, unless to a man who was always dreammg of murder? Here was Leviathan, no longer afraid of the daggers of English cavahers or F1encl1 clergy, but '' f11.;htened from his propriety'' by a row in an alehouse between some honest clod-hoppers of Derbyshire, whom his o\vn gaunt scarecrow of a person, that belonged to quite another century, wonld have frightened out of their wits.

1

1

Malebranche, it will give you pleas~re to hear, 1'as n1urdered. The man who murdered 11im is well kno1'n:

,

'

'

!!ORDER. '

it was Bishop Berkeley. The story is fam1l1ar, thougl1 ' hitherto not put in a proper l1ght. Berkeley, when a

young man, went to Paris, and called on Pe1e Malebranche. If e found him in his cell cool{1ng Cooks have ever been a genus irritabile; autho1s still more so : 1\Ialebranche was both: a dispute arose; the old father, warm already, be-came "armer; culii1ary and metaphysical i111tatior1s united to derange lus hver. he took to his bed, and died. Sucl1 is the common version of the story . '' So the 'vhole ea1 'Jf Denma1k is abused." The fact is, tl1at the matte1 "as hushed up, out of consideration for ,Be1keley, ''ho (as Pope justly observes) had ''every vrrtue under heaven:'' else it was well known that Berlteley, feeling himself nettled by

' the \vasp1sbness of the old F1enchman, squa1ed at him; a turn-up ''as the consequence . ~1alebranche '''as floored in the first round,; the conceit was wholly taken out of hin1 ,

'

and he would perhaps have given in, but Berlteley's blood was now up, and he insisted on the old Fiencl1mai1's re-tracting his doctrine of Occasional Causes The vanity of the man was too great for this, and he fell a sacrifice to the impetuosity of Irish youth, combmed with 11is o'vn ab-surd obstinacy.

Leibnitz, being every way superior to J\1alebranche, one , might, ort1ori, have counted on his being murdered; which,

however, was not the case. I believe he was nettled at this negle t, and felt himself insulted by the secu1ity in \vh1ch he pa sed his days. In no other way can I explain l1is conduct the latter end of Ins 11f e, when he chose to grow very av ricious, and to hoard up large sums of' gold, \vhich he kept in his own house. Th1s was tLt Vienna, where he died; nd letters are still in existence, desci1b1ng the imm'eo.surabl anxiety which he entertainedfo1 his tl110.it. Still l1is ambition, for being atte?npt"A, at least, was so great~

'

MOJ?DER. 25

t11at lie would not forego the danger. A late English nedagogue? 'of Birmingham manl!facture viz., D1 Pa11-took a more selfish course u11der the same circumstance He had amassed a considerable quantity of gold and s1lT'er

. . -p1atc, which was for so1ue time deposited in bis bedroom al his par~onage hon~e. Hatton. But gro\ving eT'ery day more afraid of being mn1dered, "hi~h lie knew that he could not

- stand (ancl to which, i1ideed, he 11ever had the slightest pre-, tensions), he transferred the whole to the Hatton blach-smitl1; conceiT'ing, no doubt, that the murc1er of a black-smith would fall more lightly on the salus re11J1tblicre, than that of a pedagogue. But I have heard this greatly disputed; and it seems now generally agreec1, that one good horse-shoe is worth about two and a quarter Spital se11nons. *'

As J_,ezlJnitz, though not murdered, may be said to J1ave died, pa1ily of the fear that he should be mu1dered, and partly of vexation that he v:as not, Kant, on the othe1 hand who manifested no amlJition in that way bad a narro"er escape f1om a murderer than any ,man.we read of, except Des Cartes So absurdly does fortune thro" '

I

al)out her fa,'ours ! The case is told, I think, in an ano-nymous life of this very great man. For health's sake, Ka1it i1nposcd upon himself, at one time, a wa1k of sLx miles eT'erJ day along a high-road. This fact becoming known to. a man ''ho had his private reasons for com-rn1tting mi1rder, at the third ~ilestone from Konigsberg,

-

, "''' :Spital Sermons. ''-Dr Parr's chief public appearances ns nn at1thor, after his original appearance in the fu1nou-; Latin p1 efuce to 1lellendt11us (don't SU}' Bellendenus) occnrred,1n certain Sermons at periodic 111tcnals, del1,ered on behalf of sdrne bosp1tul (I reall.1 forget'\"\l1at),,hich retained for.its official designation the old \\OIL S11ital, and thus It happened that the Setmons themsel' cs ''er<

J:Cnerall~ kno\rn b7 the Title of Spital Si:rmons. B-I"\'

26 llIUltDbR.

lie ;vaited for bis ''intended,'' "110 ca1ne t1p to timl' n'> 1iuly as a ma1l-concl1. .

But for an ucc1dent, Kn11t "as n dead man. T111s ncci-de11t lay in the sc111p11lo11s, or "hat l\I1s Q11icl(ly ,,oul

'

' '

l\IORDEI{ 27

Jf mere politirn.l or partisan murde1s, tho1oughly wanting in tl1e mu1derous animus, I exhort tl1e society to d.is-cot1ntenance In fact, this notion is a.ltogetber baseless, . and arose in pu1e Protesta11t fanaticis.m. Sir Edmoncl-bury 11ad not d.istingmshed 11imself amongst the Londqn magi:;trates by any seve1ity against the Papists, or in

' favounng tl1e attempts of zealots to enfo1ce the penal la\\s ngainst individuals. He had not armed against him~elf tl1e animosities of any religions sect "hateve1. A11d as to the dro1Jpings of "ax lights upon the dress of the corpse "hen first discovered in a ditch, from which it "as inferred at the time that the priests attached to the Pop1sh Queen's

' Chapel had been co11cerned in the murder, either these were mere fraudulent artifices de\rised lJy those 'vho wished to fiA. the suspicion upon the Papists, or else tbe whole alle-gation 'vnx-d1oppings, ancl the suggested cause of the (1101Jpings might be a bom1ce or fib of Bishop Bu1net ; who, as the Duchess of Portsmouth used to say, was tl1e one great master of fibbing and romancing in the seventeenth century. At tl1e same time,,it must be observed that the quantity of murde1 was not great in Sir Edmondbury's century, at least amongst our onrn a1tists; '\hich, perhaps, is att11l1utable to the want of enl1ghte11ed patronage. Sznt J.llrece11r1tes, non llee1u1it, Flacce, J.1Iarone.Y. Consulting Grant's

'

'' Obserf'ations on the Bills of, .l\'fortality'' (4th edition, O.~ford, 1665), I find, that, out of 229,250, who died in I,ondon di11ing one period of t'renty years in the seven-

~enth centm-y, not mo1e than eighty-six were murdered; thnt i.::, about 'four three-tenths per annum. A sn1all 11i1mber this, gentlemen, to found an academy ~pon; and certainly, where tl1e quantity is so small, v:e have a right to expect that the quality sho11ld be first-rate. Perhaps

t was ; yet still I am of opinion that the best artist in this '

.28 ?>flJRDER. -

century was not equal to the best j11 that wl1ich f ollo'\\ecl. },or instance, 11owever pia1se\>01tl1y the case of Sir Edmond-bury Goclfrey may be (a1id nobody can be more sensible of its me1its than I am), still, I cannot consent to place it on :: level ;vith that of ~frs R11scomlJe of Diistol, either as to originality of design, or boldness and breadth of st)'le. This good lady's mui dei took place early i11 the reign of George III. a ieign which "'as notoriously favourable to the arts generally. She lived in College Green, '''Ith a sn1gle ma1d-servar1t, neither of t11em having any pretension to the notice of history but \vhat they derived from the great artist \vl1ose workmansl1ip I am recording. One fine mo1n1ng, ;vhen all B1istol "'as alive and in motion, some suspicion a11s1ng, tl1e neighbours forced an entrance into the house, a11d found Mis R11scombe murdered iii her bedroom, a11d tl1e ser>ant murde1ed on the stairs: this was at noon; and, not m0ie tha11 t"'O hours before, both mistress and servant had been seen alive. To the best of my remembrance, this "as in 1764; U}J\vards of sixty years, therefore, ha>e now elapsed, and yet tl1e artist is still undiscovered. The susp1c1ons of

' posterity have settled upon t;vo pretender~ a baker and ' ' a ch~mney-sweeper But posterity is wro11g, no unprac-

t1sed\ art1st could have conceived so bold an idea as that of a noonday murder in the hea1 t of a great city. It "as 110

' obscut'e bali:er, gentlemen, or anonymous cl11m11ey-s"ee1ler, be assuied, that executed tl1is woik 1 l\:11ow "'110 it "'as.

,

(He1 e tl1tre was a gene1 al buzz, wl1zclz at le11gth b1 ol~e 011t into \ .

open apJ?Za11se; upon 1vhzclz tlze lectztrer blusl1ed, and went 011 wz?h m1~1 earnestness) For beave11's sake, gentlemen, do aot mista 'e me; it "'as not I that did it. I have not the vanity to ink myself equal to any such achievement, be

:L~sured th t you greatly overrate my poor talents; l\f 1 s l: usco1nbe's hffair 'vas far beyo11d iny slender abilities. })ut

\

-' 2!l !tlURD:CR. -

I came to h-now who the artist was, from a celebrated sur-geon who assisted at his dic:section. Tl1is gentleman had a JJril'ate muse11m i11 the "l\ay of his profession, one corner of which was occupied by a cast from a man of rema1kably fine proportions. '

'' That,'' saicl the surgeon,,'' is a cast from the celebrated Lancashire higl1wayman. who concealed his profession for some time from his neighbours, by d1a'\\ing woollen stock-ii1gs Ol'er his hoi se's legs, and in that "l\ay muffling the clatter, '\\hich he must else 11a\e made in riding up a flagged alley that led to his stable. At the time of his execution for highway robbery, I \l'as studying under C1u1c.kshanl : and the man's figure was so uncommonly fine, that no money or exertion was spared to get into possession of him \nth the least possible delay. By tl1e conni\ance of the 11nder-she11ff, he was cut down within the legal time, and instantly put into a chaise-and-four; so that, when 11e reached Cruickshank's, he was pos1ti\ely not dead. nI1 --, a young student at that time, had tl1e honour of gir--ing him the coup de g1 ace, and finishing the sentence of the law.'' This iemarkable anecdote, which seemed to imply that all the gentlemen in the dissecting-1oom ,,-e1e amatems of our class, struck me a good deal; and I was repeat1ng it one day to a Lancashire lady, who thereupon informed me, that she had herself lied in the neighbourhood of that

' highwayman, and well remembered two circumstances .

"l\hich combined, in the op1uion of all his neighbours, to fix upon him the credit of Mrs Ruscombe's affair. One "\\as, the fact of his absence for a whole fortnight at the period of tl1at murder; the other, that1 within a very little time after, the neighbon1bood of this highwayman -was deluged filth dollais: now, l\lrs Ruscombe was known to ba>e hoarded about two thousand of that coin. Be the

'

JU MLnDFI!.

artist, l10,,e"re1, 'vl10 he m1gl1t., the nffui1 iemni11s n c1ttrnlJle monl1ment of I1is ge11ius; fo1 sucl1 "'ns tl1c in1r>1csc;io11 of awe, ancl t11e sense of powc1 left bcl1i11c1, lJy tl1e strength of co11cept1on ma111fcsted in tl11s murder, t11nt no tenn11t (as 1 was told in 1810) hnd been fol1nd 11p to tl1nt time fo1 l\Irs ltuscombc's 11011se

But, wl11lst I thus eulogise tl1e Ruscombinn cn~e. let me not be supposed to ovcrloolr t11e ninny otl1er spcci1ncns of extrao1dmnry n1er1t sp1ead over the fl.tee of tl11s cent11ry. Such cases, indeed, as t11at of l\ItbS Bln11d, or of Cn1>tn1r1 Donnellan, and 811 Thcopl1il11s Bougl1ton, sl1nll ne\cr have .lny counte11nnce front n1e1 Fie 011 tl1ese dealers in poison, say I: can tl1ey not lrecp to tl1e old l1011est "'ny of c11tti11g throats, "'1tl1011t introducing such abominable mno,at1ons f1om Italy'"' I consider all t11esc poisoning cases, co1npurcd mth the leg1t1mate style, as no lJctter t11n11 "'n'\.-"'ork lJy tl1e side of sculptu1c, or a l1tl1ogrnpl11c pr111t by t11e side of a fine Volpnto. But, d1sm1ss1ng \l1cse, t11ere ren1n111 n1u11y excelle11t \vorks of a1 t In n Jlt1re st) le, s11cl1 as nobocly need be asl1nmed to own ; and this every candid connoisseur 'v1ll admit. Cand1cl, observe, I say ; for g1ent n1lowa11ccs n1ust be made in tl1ese cases , 110 n1tist can ever be sure of ca11ying t11rougl1 11is own 'fine p1econceptio11. A "'kwnrd d1stu1bances "111 a11se; peo1Jle ,viJl i1ot sulJm1t to 11ave

their tl1ronts cut quietly ; t11ey "'11 run, they ''111 };:1ck, tl1ey "'111 bite; and '''h1lst the po1trn.1t painter often 11ns to

, complain Of too IDllCh torpOl' ID 1118 SllbJeCt, tbe artist in 'our line is gene!ally embar1ac:;sed by too much ammatio11 At the same time, 11owever disag1eeable to tl1c artist, this tendency in murder to excite and ir1itate tl1e subject is certa1nly one of its advantages to the world in gene1nl, wl11ch we ought not to overlook, since 1t favours the de-

,

velopment of latent talent. Je1emy Taylor notices witl1

llt'"TIDI:R. 31

ar1miratio11 the e:xtraorl1i11ary Jenps 1rbic11 peo1)1e "ill tttl\e u11der the influence of fear. Tl1ere "as a st1il.;:1ng 1n$\ance

of this in the recent cac;e of tl1e i\I'Kcans : tl1e boy clea1ed a l1eight, sucl1 :ls lie ,viii nc1er clear again to l1is dying day. Talentsnlso of tl1e most b1illia11t ciec:cnption for thumping, 1:111c1, indeed. fo1 all t11e g3-n111ac;t1c cxerc1scs: liavc sometimes been developed b) tbe pa111c 11l1ich accon1pa11ies ou1 artists; talents else bu1ied and 11id u11der a bt1sl1cl, to the po::sessors, as much as to their f1iends. I ren1ember an interesting il-lustration of this fact, in a case '\\l1ich I learned in Gcrmany.

Riding 011c cln)- in the neigl1bon1 l1oocl of .;\f un1cJ1, I over-took a disti11gnished amate111 of our society, whose nan1e,

for obno11s reasons, I sl1all conceal. Tl1is gent1ema11 informed me tl1at, findi11g 11i1nself wearied \\'Ith t11e f11g1d

' pleas11res (such lie esteemecl tl1en1) of mere nmate111shi11, J1e had quitted England fo1 the Continent meaning to practise a little prof css1onally. For this p111po"e lie re-so1 ted to German), conceiving tl1e police in that part of Europe to lJe more heai"y and c1rO\\'FY than e1se,v11ere IIis deb11t as a i)ract1tio11cr took place at 1'Ia1111l1eim; and. knowing me to 1Je a brother an1atenr, 11e f1eely commu11i-

, catec1 tl1e whole of his maide11 ad>ent111 e. ''Opposite to my lodging,'' saicl l1e, ''lived a baker: be 1-ras someTI1hat ,,f a miser. and live cl quite alone \\rhether \it were his gica t expanse of c11alk)' face. 01 wl1at else, I know iiot, but tl1e fact was, I 'fancied' him, and resolved to commence busi-ness upon bis th1 oat, TIli1ch, by the way, he alTIays carrie0 ba1 e a fashiou- ~bich is \ery ir1itating to my desi1es .

. P1ecisely at eight o'clock in t11e eT"en1ng, I obser1ed that lie regularly shut up bis i''indows. One nigl1t I watchecl , 11im when th11s engaged bolted in after him locked tlic door and, addressing him with great suavity, ucqu,11nt01l birn \\ith the nature of my errand at tl1e same time ad-

'

82

vising l1im to ma lee no Iesistnnce, wl1icl1 '' 011ld be mutnn lly a11pleasant. So saying, I drew 011t my tools; nnrl 'rns pro-ceeding to operate. Bt1t nt tl1is spectacle tl1c bnl;:cr, ,, 110 seemed to 11a,c l)ce11 st111cl~ l)y catalepsy at my first nn-nounce1ne11t, awol;:e i11to tremcn(1onci ngitntion. 'I \rill not be murdered l' 11e sl1r1el;:ed aloud ; ' \vl1nt for "ill I' (mea11i11g sl1all I) 'lose n1y precious tl11oat?' '\\TJ1at for 7' said I ; ' if for no otl1er reason, for tl1ii:: tl1nt yo11 put alum into )'Our ])rend. But no matter, nlt1m or no nlun1 (for I was resolved to f Drec;tall nny argt1mcnt 011 that point), kno\v tl1at I nm 11 virtuoc;o in tl1e nrt of m11rcler-am desiro11c; of 11npro1ing Dlj'self in its details n11d nm ennmo111 ec1 of )'our vast surface of throat, to '' l1icl1 I nm determined to be a customer,, 'Is it so 'l' i:nt(1 he, 'but I'll fi11d you a cuc;tomer i11another11110 ;' n11d so saying, he tl1rcw himself i11to a boxing nttituclc Tl1e 'Very idcn. of l11s lloAing struclc me as 111d1cro11s. It is t1 tie, n London bal;:e1 had distingtished himself i11 tl1c ring, nnd 1Jccnme k110'\\n to fame un

-

MURD:CR. I 33 -

''Round I 9th. The baker came ll}J i)!J_Jing. n11r1 111a1ufestly the wo1se f 01 "'ea1. Bis geomet1ical exploits in the fol1r last ioands l1acl clone 11im no good. Howe\er, he showed some sh.'111 in stopping a message which I was sencl1ng to lus cadave1ol1s mug; in del1\er1ng which, my foot slipped, and I went down.

'' llound 20th. Surve)ing the baker, I became ashamed 'of ha\i11g been so muc)1 bothered by a shapeless mass of dough; and I "ent in fiercely, and adm1n1ste1ed some serere , punishment. A rally took place both went do\vn baker unde1most ten to tl1ree on an1ateur.

''Round 21st. The baker jumped up with surprising agility; indeed, he managed his pins capitally, and fougl1t v.-onde1fully, considering that he was d1encJ1ed in pe1sp1ra-t1on; but the sl1i11e was no\\' taken out of him, and his game \\as the mere effect of pa11ic. It was now clear that

' he could not la

S1 'rrc;rtnt:n.

1iumcd tlinf, )'Ott nccor111)Jic.,l1rcl yo111 p111po"c.'' '' 1p tt1 nrl right,'' sn1(l he, n1il

35

it is ti1ne to wa1lc 011t of t11e world or not.'' (Book 11i., Colle1s' T1ans1ation.) No sort of kno"leclge being rarer t11an this, surely tl1at man must be a most philanthropic character, ~tho undertakes to ir1st1uct people in this brancl1 of knowledge g1atis, and at no little 11azard to himself. All this, however, I throw out only i11 the way of spect1-lat1on to :.'.'1ture moralists; declaiing in the meantime my o''rn })l'ivate conviction, that very fe,, men commit murder upon philanthropic/ or pat1iotic principles, and repeating wl1at I 11ave already said 011ce at least that, as to tl1e ma.Jority of mu1de1ers. they are ve1y incorrect cl1aracters.

With respect to the \'\r1lliams' mu1cle1s, the sublimest anc1 most entire in their excellence that e'\'er ''e1e committed, I shall not allow myself to speak incidentally. Nothing less than an entire lecture, or e1en an e11t1re course of lectu1es, would suffice to expound t11e1r merits ,_ But one cu1ious fact connected with his case I shall mentio11, because it seems to

I

' imply that the blaze of bis genius absolutely dazzlecl the eye of c11minal justice. You all ie1nember, I doubt not, that the instruments ''ith wluch be exec11ted 11is fi1st g1 cat work (the murder of the Marrs) were a sl11p-carpente1's mallet and a knife. Now, the mallet belonged to an old Swede, one John Peterson, and bore his initials. This inst1 ument Williams left behmd him in ~farr's house, and it fell into the hands of the magistrates. But, gentlemen, it is a fact that the publication of this circ11mstance of the initials led imme-diately to the apprehension of Williams, and, lf made earlier, ''ould have p1 e1ented lus second great "ork (the murder of the W1lliamsons), "l1ieh took place precisely twel,e dnys after. Yet the magistrates kept buck t11is fact from tlie

_ public for the entire tTIelve days, and until that second -

'

~ See the Postscrzp~ ?.t tli.e end of tl11s paper.

'

86 i\ITIBDI~l"t. (

wo1k was accon1plisl1ed. Tl1nt fir1ishec1, t11ey IJUblished it, appa1ently feeling tl1at '7\T1ll1nn1s 11ac1 now done c11011gl1 for his fame, and tl1at l11s glory "'as at length placed beyond

tl1e reach of acciclent. As to J\f1 'l'J111itell's case, I know i1ot "lint to say.

Naturally, I have every disposition to tl1111]{ h1gl1ly of my ' predecessor in tlie chair of tl1is society; and I acl~110\\'ledge

that his lectu1es ,,ere u11exce1Jt1onalJle. But, s1Jeaking in-genuo11sly, I do 1eally tl1ink that l1is p1incipal }Je1fo1mnnce, as,an ~rtist, has been mucl1 overratecl. I adn11t, tl1at at first I was myself ca1r1ed away by the general enthu~iasm. Oi1 tl1e morning \\"hen the murder was made 1~11o"'n iii Lonclon, there was the fullest meeting of amateurs tl1at I ha,'e e\er kno1vn since tlie days of 1'71lliams; old bec111dden connois-seurs, "ho 11acl got into a }Jeevish way of snee1ing n11rl complaining ''that there was nothing doing,'' now hobbled r1o'vn to our club-1oom such hilarity, s11ch benign cxp1es-sion of general satisfaction, I 11avc ra1ely 'vitncsscd. On every side you saw }Jeople shaking bands, congratulating each other, and forming d111ner }Ja1t1es fo1 tl1e evcni11g; a11d noth111g il"us to be hea1 d but triumphant challenges of-'' Well ' mil tl1zs do?'' ''Is this the rigl1t tl1ing 'l '' '' A1 e you satisfied at Inst 'l'' But, in the 1niddle of the ro", I remember, we all grew silent, on hearing tl1e old cynical amateur L. S stumping along with his wooden leg; he cnteied the room 'vith his usual scowl; ai1d, us he ad-vanced, he continued to growl and stutter the wl1ole way -'' li!ere plagiarism base plagiaiism from hints that I tl11cw out! Besides, his style is as ha1sl1 as .AJbe1 t D11rer,

f'.ud as coarse as Fusel1.'' lifany t11ought tl1at this TI'as 'lllere jealousy, and gene1al waspishness; but I confess that,

'vhen the first glow of enthusiasm had subsided, I have fo11nd most judicious c1itics to agree that the1e was some-

'

}[ffi{DER 37

thing fillsetto in the style of Thurtell. The fact is, he was a member of our society, which naturally gave a frienclly lJias to our juclgments ; and his i)erson was universally familiar to the ''fancy,'' which gave l11m, with tl1e whole

1 London pubhc, a tempo1ary popularity, that his preten-;;1ons a1e not capable of suppo1ting; for opinion1tm comme11ta delet clz"es, natu1ce ;ud1c1a confi1-mat There was, however, a11 unfinished design of Thurtell's for the murder of a n1an , mth a pair of dumb-bells, which I admi1ed greatly; it 1\as

,

s mere outline, that he never .filled in; b11t to my mi11d it _ teemed every way superior to bis chief work I remembez that there 1ras great regret exp1essed by some amate11rs that this sketch should ha1e been left in an unfinished state: but the1e I cannot agree with t11em; for tl1e f1agments a11d fi1st bold outlines of 01iginal artists ha\e often a felicit) about them \\bich is apt to \anish in the management of the details .

The case of _the M'Keans >t- I cohsider far bey on cl the Yaunted performance of Tbu1tell i11deecl, abo\e all praise;

and bea1ing that relation. in fact, to the immortal 1rorl~s of Williams, 1';hich the '' 1Ene1d '' bears to the '' Ihad ''

But it is no1v time that I should say a fe1v words about t11e p1inciples of murde1, not "ith a view to iegu1ate your practice, bnt your judgment : as to olcl "\i"on1en, and the n1ob of ne1,spaper reade1s,t11ey are pleased "\i-itl1 aJ1ytl1ing, pro1ided it is bloody enough. Bt1t the mind of SbJ.sib1l1ty requires something 1no1e. Fir st, then, let us speak of the kincl of per1;on who is aclapted to the purpose of the mur-derer; secondly, of the place "here; th11 dly, of the ti1ne "Ii hen, and othe1 little circumstances.

As to the pe1son, I suppose it is ende11t t11at be ougl1t .

.. Sec tl1c Posts:;rivt.

39

everybody looked scornfully 'at me, as though I had pre-tended to ha"\"'e playecl at b1llin1ds with Prester John, or to l1a>e bad an affair of honour with tl1e Pope. And, l)y the way, tl1e Pope would l)e a \ery 1mproper person to m':rder:

for he bas such a Tirtual ubiquity as t11e father of Ch1isten-dom. and, like tbe c11ckoo, is so often heard but ne\er seen, that I suspect most peo1lle regard liim also as an abstract

idea. Where, indeed, a public man is in the habit of gi,-inz din11ers, ' "ith e\e1y clelicacy of the season,'' the casr; is \erydifferent: e\err person i~ satisfied that lze is no ab stract 1c1ea; and, theref 01e, there can be no imp1opr1et): in mu1d.ering l1im ; only that b1s murder will fall ir1to the c1ass of assassillations, wl1ich I ba"\"'e not yet treatec1.

Tl1i1 dl!J. The subject chosen ought to be in good healt11 : ' for it is absolutely ba1barous to murder a sick.,person, wl10 , i usually q11ite unable to l)ear it. On this p1inciple, Po tailor 011gl1t to be chosen 1vl10 is above t'venty-:fi:re, for after that age he is sure to be clyspephc. Or at least, if a man 'I\ ill l111nt in that warren, he ''ill of course think it bis duty, on tl1e old established equation, to murder some n1ultiple of 9 say 18, 27, or 36. Ancl he1e, in this llenign atten-tion to' the comfort of sick people, you will obser\e the usual effect of a fine art to soften .and refine the feelings.

u

Tl1e world in general, gentlemen, are Yery l)Ioocly-minded; nnd all they want in a murder is a copious effusion of lllood, gaudy displayi11 this point is enough fo1 tl1em. Bt1t the enlightened connoisseur is more refined 1n bis taste; and fron1 Otlr art. as from all the other libc1al arts "'hen thoroughly mastered, the result is, to humanise t11e hea1 t so true is it. that

,

'' Jngenuns did1c1sse fideliter n!tes. Emoll1t mores, nee si1t1t cssc feros ''

A philosophic friend, "ell l~11own for 11is f1n1lanthr1'PY

4t ~URDI:R.

and genc1al benignity, Sltggcc;ts that the s11bjcct cl101:en vnght a1so to' haYe a f.1n1ily of )our1g childre11 '\ 11011) cle-pendent on l1is exertions, by ,,ay of dccpe11ing tl1e putl1os. And, nndoubtedl), tl1is IS a' Jt1d1cious caution. Y ct I" oulcl not i11c;1st too keenly on s11ch a co11dition. ScY-cre gooc.l taste unq11estionab1y suggests it, but still, wl1ere the i11a11 ,,as otl1e1 'l\1se' unobjechonable in point of n1orals a11cl health, I wo11ld not look "ith too curio1is a jcnlo11s) to a rest1 ict1on '' hich might 11ay-e tl1c effect of narro'' ing the a1tist's spl1c1e.

So much fo1 the person. As to tl1e time, t11e J>ln.cc, nnd the tools, I ha,e mnny t11ings to sny, '' 111cl1 ut i>1ec;cnt I have no room for. 'l'he good se11se of tl1e i)ractit1011er 11us usually clirected him to 11ight and priY-acy. Yet tl1erc have not been ,,a11t111g cases ,,here this i 11lc '' o. depa1 tecl fron1 '''ith excellent effect. In rcs1)ect to ti111e, :\Irs R tIS-combe's case is a beautiful except1011, '' 111ch I 11a\e already 11oticed, and in respect l)otl1 to ti1ne and plac~, there 1s a fi1,1e exception In the annals of Edinburgh ()car 181)3 ), familiar to e>ery child in Eer attetU}lted any murder In n1y life, exce1lt in the )'ea1 1801, _upo11 the bod) of a ton1~ 1a~, and t/1at turned out d1[e1 e11tly f1 om my inteut1ou.

MURDE;fl_

41

My purpose, I O\rn, was downright murder. ''Semper ego auditor tan~nm ?'' said I, '' nunquamne reponam ?'' Ancl I went down-stairs in search of Tom at one o'clock on a dark night, with the '' animus,'' and no doubt with the fienclish looks, of a murderer. But when I found him, he was in the act of plundering the pantry of bread and other thmgs. Now this gave a new turn to the affair; for the time being one of general scarcity, when ev~n Christiane; were reduced to the use of potato-bread, rice-bread, and

. all sorts of things, it was downright treason in a tom-cat to be wasting good wheaten-bread in the way Le was doing. It instantly became a patriotic duty to put him to death ; and, as I raised aloft and shook the glittering steel, I fancied

-

myself rising, hke B1utus, effulgent from a crowd of pa-triots, and, as I stabbed him, I

'' Call'd aloud on -Tully's name, And bade the father of his country hail!''

Since then, what wandering thoughts I may have had of attempting the hfe of an ancient ewe, of a superannuated hen, and such '' small deer,'' are locked up in the secrets of my own breast; but, for the higher departments of the .art, I confess myself to be utterly unfit. My ambition does not rise so high. No, gentlemen, in the words of Ho1ace,

'' Fnngar '"lee cons, acntnm Beddere qnre fe1111m ,-alet, exsors ipsa secandi.''

B2 -

.lfURDER. 41

1\f y put'Pose, I own, was downright murder. ''Semper ego auditor tantum '1'' said I,, '' 11unquamne reponam ?'' .And I \vent do\vn-staus in search of Tom at one o'clock

'

on a c1ark night, with the '' animus,'' and no doubt 'vith the fiendish looks, of a murde1e1. Ilut when I found him,

' he was in the act of plundering the pantry of bread and othe1 things. Now this gave a new tu1n to the affa11; for the time being one of general scarcity, when ev~n Christians were reduced to the use of potato-bread, rice-b1ead, and

, all so1'ts of things, it was downright treason in a tom-cat to be wasting good wheaten-bi ead in the way he was doing. It instantly became a patriotic duty to put him to death ; arid, as I 1aised aloft and shook the glittering steel, I fancied myself rising, like B,rutus, effulgent f1om a crowd of pa-triots, and, as I stabbed him, I

'' Call'd aloud on 'Tully's name, .And bade the father of his count1y hail!''

Since then, wl1at wande1ing thoughts I may have had of attemptmg the life of an ancient ewe, of a superannuated hen, and such ''small dee1,'' are locked up in the secrets of my own breast; but, for the higher depa1tments of the art, I confess myself to be utterly unfit. My ambition does not rise so high. No, gentlemen, in the words of Ho1ace,

'

'' Fungar vice cotis, ac11t11m Reddere qu::e fer1um \alet, exsors ip~a secandi.''

SUPPLEMENTARY PAPER ON MURDER, ' CONSIBERED AS ONE OF THE FINE ARTS.

A GOOD many years ago, the reader may remembe1 that I came for\vard in t11e character of a dilettante in murde1 Perhaps dilettante is too strong a word. Co1212oisseur is better suited to the sci uples and infirilllty of public taste I suppose there is no ha1m in t11at, at least A man 1s not bound to put 111s eyes, ears, and understanding mto his

' breeches-pocket when he meets mth a murder. If he is not in a down1ight comatose state, I suppose he must see that one murder is better 01 wo1se than another, Ill point of good taste. Murde1s have their little diffe1ences and shades of merit, as well as statues, IJictUies, oratorios, cameos, intaglios, or what not. Yon may be angry with the man for talking too much, or too publicly (as to the too much, that I deny a man can never cultivate his taste

,

too highly); but you must allow hrm to thmk. at any rate Well, would you believe it? all my neighbou1s came to hear of tl1at little rosthetic essay ,vluch I had published; and, unfo1 tunately, hea1ing at the very same time of a club that I was connected with, ancl a dinner at which I p ci~ded-both tending to the same little object as the ec;say, v a I,he d1ffus1on of a just taste among Rei' l\faJesty's - fe,

" MaJesty -In the lecture, l1av1ng occasion to refer to the anc. tc1g ovcre1gn, I said 'Ht~ il[,i3esty , for at that time W1ll11111

'

M.l.JRDER. 43 ' '

>

' '

44 MURDER.

wished to argue for your satisfaction. The truth 1s, l am

a ve1y }Jart1cular man in eve1yth1ng ielating to rnu1de1 , and perhaps I carry my delicacy too fa1. The Stag11it~ most justly, a11d possibly with a vie'v to my case, placed vn tue in the ro .iCTov, 01 m1cldle point bet,veen t'vo extremes . .A. golden mean is ce1ta1nly what every n1a11 shoulcl aim at. But it is easier tall~ing than doing ; and, my infi1mity being notoriously too much m1llaness of hea1 t, I fi11d 1t difficult to maintain that steady equator1nl l1r1e bet,veen the two poles of too much murde1 on the one 11and, and too little on the othe1. I am too soft a11d }Jeople get excused through me nay, go through life \\ithout an attempt made upon them, that ought not to be excused. I bel1eve, 1f l had the management of things, tl1ere ~voald hardly be a 1nu1de1 f1om yea1 's end to yea1's e11d. 111 facti I'm f 01 peace, and ql11et11ess, and fa\vn1ngness, and \Vhat may be styled knoc!..z11g-itnde111ess. .A. man came to me as a can &date for the place of iny se1vant, jt1st then vacant. He had the ieputat1on of having dabbled a little in ou1 art, some said, not mthout n1er1t. What sta1 tled ine, ho\\'eve1, was,_ that he s11pposec1 tl1is a1 t to be part of h1$ iegular duties 1n my sei vice, and talkecl of havii1p, it co11sldered in his wages. Now, that was a thing I would not allo\v; so I saicl at once, '' R1cba.1cl (01 Jan1es, as tl1e case m1gl1t be), you m1sunc1erstand my cba1actei. If a n1an 'vill a11tl must practise this difficult (ancl allow me to add, d:1nge1ous) branch of ait if he has an ove11 ul1ng ge111us for 1t, \vhy, 1n that case, all I say 1s, that lie in1gl1t as \VQll 1)11i st1e his studies 'vbilst living i11 my se1vice :1s i11 a11otl1e1 's. And also, I may obseive, that it can do no l1aru1 eitbe1 to him-s lf 01 to tl1e subject on '''born be 01Jeiates, tl1at l1e sl1ould be O'u1c1ec1 by men of mo1 e taste tl1an !1i1uself Ge11ius

e ' ma do m11ch. but long study of tl1e a1t 1t1t1st al1rays en-

MURDER. 45

title a man to offer advice. So far I will go gene1.-1.l p11nciples I mll suggest But as to any po.rt1cular case, once fo1 all I \Vill have nothmg to do \\1th it Ne-re1 tell me of any special wo1k of a1t you a1e meditating I set my fa~ against it 21i toto. Fo1, If once a man indulgi;s liimsel\. in mlllde1, ve1y soon he comes to thmk little of r1Jbb1ng; and from iobbing he comes next to d1il1king and

Sabbath-brpaking, ancl f1om that to incivility anu pro-c1ast1nat1on. Once begin upon this downi,.a1d patl1, you never lmow _ whe1e you are to stop. Many a man has dated h1s ruin f1om some murder or othe1 thn.t pe1haps he tl1ought httle of at the time. P11nczpz1s obsta that's my tule.'' Such was my srieech) and I have al\Yays acted uri to it; so, if tl1at is not being vutuous, I should be glad to kitO\V 1vl1at is. But now about the dinne1 and the club. The club was not pa1ticularly of my c1eat1on; it arose pretty n1uch as othe1 similar associations, f 01 the propa-gation of truth and tl1e commuuicat1on of new ideas;' iather f1om the necessities of tl1111gs, than upoi1 any 011e man's st1ggest1on As to the din11e1, if any man wo1e than t1n-other could be held responsible fo1 that, it was a membe1 known amongst us by the name of Toad-z1i-tl1e-lzole. Ile

was so called f1om his gloomy m1santh1opicnl dispositio1i, which led him into constant d1spa1agements of all modern murders as vicious abo1tions, belonging to no autl1e11tic school of a1t. The finest pe1f 01mances of our o'vn age lie sna1led at cynically; and at lengtl1 this qt1errtlous humour grew D})Oll him so much, a11d he became so noto1ious as a.

la1tdato1 te1111101zs acti, tl1at fe,\' people cared to seek 111s society This made him still more fierce a!ld trt1culent. He went about mt1tte11ng a11cl g10'\\l1ng; whelevc1 you met b11n, lie \Vas sol1loquis1ng, nncl sayi11g, '' des1>ical)le prete11de1 '' ithout "'l'Oupin

'

48 llIUilD:Cil. '

criticism might be, 11e often saill tl111t ''olt1mes migl1t lie written 011 cuch cuse for itself, a11cl he even proposed to publish in qt1111to on tl1e subJcct.

l\Ieant1me, ho\v had 'road-i11-tl1e-l1olo ht1p1>cncd to hear of this great work of a1 t so early i11 tl1e 1Uor11i11g 'l Ile

, had icccived a11 accou11t by e:x1)rcss, clcspatcbecl by a corrc-s1Jonde11t in Lont1on, 'vl10 \\ atcl1ccl tl1e 111 ogress of itrt on Toad's b,ehalf, \\'1th a gc11erul com1niss1011 to send ofr' a s1>e-c1al ex1)rcss, at \vl1atcve1 coc;t, iI1 tl1e eve11t of a11y cst11uuble wo1l;:s U}J}Jea1 i11g. 'l'he ex111css a1 l ivetl 1u the 11igl1t-ti111e, Toad-ii1-the-l1ole '''11s tl1c11 go110 to bed; 110 l1nu been mutte1i11g ancl gt 11111bl111g fo1 hot11s, bt1t of course he \\'as callecl tip. 011 icacl1ng tl10 accou11t, lie tl11e\V l1is arms iounu tl1e e)..1>rcss, dcclo.1 ctl him l1is b1 otl1cr and his pl c-se1 ve1, aucl cx1Jrcsscd l11s iegrct at 11ot bn." i11g it in his po,vct to hi11gl1t 11i111 1'r c, ui11n.tct11s, huvi11g 11ea1d tbiit he \Vas abroacl, and tl1e1cf01 c had 11ot 11u1igccl l1imsclf, made sure of soo11 seeing him a111011gst tis. Accor cl111gly he soon ur1ivecl; sci4cd every n1un's hu11d us lie 1)assed l111U-\\'I'ung tt almost fru11t1cully, n11d l1:ept eJUCt1lati11g, '' "\"\rhy, no\v, be1e's sometl1111g like a u111rclcr t this is t11e 1 cal tl1i11g-this is ger111i11e tliis is ''hut )rou can UJ1})l'O\'C, ca11 l ecom-mend to a fric11cl : tl11s-sa)s C\'c1y 1111111, on 1eflcct1011-this is the thii1g tl1ut ot1gl1t to bet Sucl1 '' orls u1c c11011gh

' to muk tis all yo1111g.'' A11d i11 fact the gc11cri1l opi11io11 is, that To cl-1n-tl1e-l1olc \\'011lcl l1.1.\c died lJ11t fo1 tl11s 1egcnc1-at1on of u1t, \vl1ich lie cullccl u. sccoi1ll age of Leo the Tenth; a d it '''as 0111 tl11t), 110 sn1d, solc11111lj' to cornu1e-mo1ate it., At Jll'csc11t, a11cl e1i atte11da11t, 11e }llOllOScc1 that the club sh6uld n1cet and dii1c togetl1e1. A

It!.

50 '!IIU!lf>r11.

Toad-1n-the-l1ole, I ougl1t to i11c11ti1J11, n.l>out 11i11c ,; 1..11r~ }Jcfore, lvl1cn au express fLon1 l~111gl1tl1ood, cuclcu.\011rcd t(> B111kc him; in consec1uence of\\'h1cl1 l1c \'t.ts IJ11t t11to :L:,trn1t-\Vaistcoat. Aud tl1at '''as the i c:1so11 \\'C l1au 110

51

''Ye'-, )'CJ.'' i11tcrrt111tctl 'l'oall-111-tl1c-l1olc>, ', .. on Tfun1 11.t1re it \\ill i11tcrcEt )vtl :111 t') 11ei1r tl1at tl10 11s~a~::ins, 1111cie11t U'> tl1c: \I crct 1111J .1 r.!i..\!

of i1ri..(lccl:-Eors i11 tl1u 'er) l:'nt11c cou11tr,:. _\.JI O\ 1..:1 S: ~ iJ, llut partic11J:1rl) i111'~1lt:'ltiue1 l1t11i11g tlic i::11rJ; )c.ir:. vt tl1 .E1:1y)t:rur X

,

'

!11UUDLlt

pos:>il)il1t.y of finding out \\'110 it \Vas tl111t gti\c the !Jlo\.-, thCj' mingled \vith mol)s cvery\\here ; part1ct1l11rly at tl1e gre~t

1

paschal feast in Jerusalem; ,,liere tl1ey actuo.11)' l1utl t!ic au-c10.c1ty, as J osep11us assures ui:;, to pt cc:s irito il1c tcn1plc-antl \'r 11om ~hot1lcl t11ey choose f 01 opcrati11g lll)On b11t Jona-tl1a11 himself, tlie Pont1fex ::\Ial.i1nus 'I 'l'l1cy m111llc1cd I1im, gcntlc111en, as l.Jeaut1f ully us if they 11atcd 'l'oad-111-thc-l1olc, '' '11ron est z11ientus.''' Anr1 tl1cn, in spite of 'all I coul(l do or i;ay, t11e 01cl1estra opened, autl tl1c ,,l10Ic compnt1)' lJegar1 ''Et interrogatum est n 'l'oa(1-i11-tl1c-l101e Ub1 e

:\IUltD:CR. 53

-the wtlderness Je1usalem in the distance an a1n1}' of murderers in the f oreg1.'ound ! ''

The next toast was ''To the further impro"1>e1nent of Tooling, and thanks to the Committee for their ser\'Ices.'

:llr L , on behalf of the Committee who had ieporteu on that subject, returned thanks. lle made an interesting extract f1 om the report, by which 1t appeared how ve1y much st1ess had been la1cl formerly 011 the inode of tooling by the fathers, both Greeli: and Lat111. In confi1mat1on of this pleasing .fact, he made a very st1iking statement in re-fe1ence to the earliest wo1li: of antediluvian art. Father ::..\Iersenne, that learned F1ench Roman Catholic, in page one thousand four hundred and th11ty-one""' of his ope1ose Commenta1y on Geriesis1 mentions, on the autho11ty of beveral iabbis, that the c1ua11el of Ca,in \\ith ~\..bel was about

,a young woman; that, accordillg to Tanous accounts, ( 1ain

'

had toolecl 1v1th his teeth (A.belem f11isse n1ors1bus d1lacera-tum a Cam); according to many othe1::., \Vith the Ja\v-bone of an ass, which is the tooling adopted by most painters. But it is pleasing to tlie mind of sens1bihty to kno~"- that, as science expanded, sounde1 views 1ve1e adopted. One autho1 contends for a pitcl1fork, St Chrysostom for a SiVord, Irenreus fo1 a scythe, and Prudentius, the Christian poet of the fourth centu1y, for a hedging-bill. This last 1vr1ter delivers his opinion thus :-

'Frater, probatre sanct1tatis remulus, Gern1ana cuno calla f1angit sarculo. ''

i.e., his brothe1, Jealous of his attesteu sanctity, f1actures his fra.ter11al thro:!.t 1'"1.th a curved bedgi~g-btll. '' .A.11 \Vhich is respecttally submitted by you1 coifim1ttee, not, so much as decisive of the c1ueshon (for it ,1is not), but in

I '

'' l~age one thot1

!14 ~llJJLI>Ell.

01der to '1mp1eqs 11por1 t110 )'outbf11l 1nintl tl10 i1111>01tn11cc 'vhich l1n.s eve1 been attncl1cc1 to tl1c c1ual1ty of tl1e, tool111g by suC(h men ns Cl1rysostom a.11

3IUilDER. -

f.1ct no Pancirollus has ever enume1atccl this u1ancl1 of ~irt 1\'l1cn w1iting de rebus depe1 dztzs. Still, I have ascer-tained that, the essential principle of tl1is va11ety i11 tl1e a1t 1ias kno\rn to the ancients; although, hke the a1t of pa1nt1ng ltpon glass, of making the myrrhine rups, &c, it '''as lost in the