The Proceedings of the Old Bailey

THE ORDINARY of NEWGATE'S ACCOUNT of the Behaviour, Confession, & Dying Words Of the FOUR MALEFACTORS Who were executed at TYBURN On Monday the 16th of NOVEMBER, 1747.

BEING THE First EXECUTION in the MAYORALTY OF THE Right Honble Sir   Robert Ladbroke, Knt. LORD-MAYOR of the CITY of LONDON.

NUMBER I. For the said YEAR.

LONDON:

Printed for, and sold by T. PARKER, in Jewin-street, and C. CORBETT, over-against St. Dunstan's Church, in Fleet-street, the only authorised Printers of the Dying Speeches.

M.DCC.XLVII.

[Price Six-pence.]

THE ORDINARY of NEWGATE'S ACCOUNT of the Behaviour, Confession, &c.

BY Virtue of the King's Commission of the Peace, OYER, and TERMINER, and Goal-delivery of Newgate, held before the Right Honourable   WILLIAM BENN , Esq ; Lord-Mayor of the City of London ; the Worshipful   JOHN STRACEY , Esq ; Recorder , and others of his Majesty's Justices of OYER, and TERMINER, for the City of London, and Justices of Goal-delivery of Newgate, holden for the said City, and County of Middlesex, at Justice-Hall in the Old Baily, on Wednesday the 9th, Thursday the 10th, and Friday the 11th of September, in the 21st Year of his Majesty's Reign;   THOMAS PURYOUR, otherwise called, and known by the Name of   BLACKTOOTH, was capitally convicted, and received Sentence of Death accordingly.

And by Virtue of the King's Commission of the Peace, OYER, and TERMINER, and Goal-delivery of Newgate, held before the Right Honourable   WILLIAM BENN, Esq ; Lord-Mayor of the City of London ; the Right Honourable Sir   JOHN WILLES, Knt. Lord Chief-Justice of the Common-Pleas ; the Worshipful   JOHN STRACEY, Esq ; Recorder , and others of his Majesty's Justices of OYER, and TERMINER, for the City of London, and Justices of Goal-delivery of Newgate, holden for the said City, and County of Middlesex, at Justice-Hall in the Old Bailey, on Wednesday the 14th, Thursday the 15th, and Friday the 16th of October, in the 21st Year

of his Majesty's Reign;   GEORGE LANCASTER,   THOMAS FULLER, and   HOSEA YOUELL, were capitally convicted, and received Sentence accordingly.

As to the Behaviour of these unhappy People, that of   Richard Puryour and   Fuller has been very decent and orderly, becoming their melancholly Circumstances; shewing great Marks of Sorrow for their Offences, which have so provoked God, as to suffer them to be brought to this untimely and scandalous Death, Repentance has daily appeared in their Words and Actions.   Lancaster, soon after Conviction, before he had time to think seriously of his Condition, or to be advised of it, behaved in such a Manner as merited close Confinement for a few Days. But upon his Promise of good Deportment for the Future, he has had the same Liberty with his Fellow sufferers, and has appeared sensibly affected, and serious in his Devotion, as have also the two aforementioned.   Hosea Touell always desired to be admitted to go to Chappel with the rest, though a Jew , which has been indulged him. If his Attendance there has been of any Service to him, or any ways tended to the Furtherance of his Hopes of God's receiving his Soul, I should have Cause exceedingly to rejoice at it. However, it is my humble Opinion he could not be in any Place during his Confinement, where his Time might be less liable to be mispent, than in the Chappel, where Divine Service was performing, and Prayers offering up to God, for all Sorts and Conditions of Man.

On Wednesday the 4th Instant, the Report of the seven Malefactors was made by Mr. Recorder to his Majesty, when he was pleased to order the four following for Execution, viz.   Thomas Puryour,   George Lancaster,   Thomas Fuller, and   Hosea Youell, on Monday the 16th Instant.

1.   THOMAS PURYOUR, otherwise called and known by the Name of BLACK-TOOTH, was indicted for unlawfully, riotously, and feloniously assembling, with several others, to the Number of fifty Persons, at     Reculver, in the County of Kent, on the 30th of March, being armed with Fire-Arms, and other offensive Weapons, in order to be aiding and assisting in the running, landing, and carrying away uncustomed Goods, and Goods liable to pay Duties, which had not been pay'd or secured, against the Statut

2.   GEORGE LANCASTER, was indicted for feloniously causing, and procuring to be made, forged, and counterfeited, the Assignment of   George Price, of the Will of his Father   Hugh Price , with intent to defraud   John Girling, and for publishing the same, knowing it to be false, forged, and counterfeited, against the Statute, &c.June 12.

3.   THOMAS FULLER, late of  Hawkhurst, was indicted, and the Indictment sets forth, that he together with   Samuel Austin, and divers others, upon the 5th Day of August, at the Parish of     Lyn, in the County of Kent, being there armed with Fire-Arms, and other

offensive Weapons, unlawfully, and feloniously carrying away uncustomed Goods, and Goods liable to pay Duties, which had not been paid, or secured to be paid, against the Statute in that Case made and provided.

4.   HOSEA YOUELL, was indicted, and the Indictment sets forth, that not having the Fear of God before his Eyes, and being moved by the Instigation of the Devil, on the 23d of September, did make an Assault upon   Joseph Johns, and with a certain Sword did strike, or stab, and give one mortal Wound, the Breadth of one Inch, and the Depth of nine Inches, of which Wound the said   Joseph Johns died.

  THOMAS PURYOUR, aged about 30 Years, was born in the Parish of     Green in Sussex, of Parents who are reported to have been honest, though poor: His Father was a Husband-man , or Labourer by Occupation, and the Son's Employ was constantly in the same Way for a long Time, 'till (unhappily for him in the Event of Things) falling in Company with a Set of People that were Smuggler s; and being made acquainted with the Sweets of their Labours, he was induced himself to be one of their Gang, and to take on with them in their illicit and pernicious Practices. He confesses indeed he followed it for some Years, and got a very good Livelyhood by it. The Reasons he gave for enlisting into this pernicious Service, was, that he got more Money, and earned it at an easier Rate, than in the Calling in which he was bred up. Being made sensible that hence arose his grand Misfortune, that making too much Haste to get Money, and that at the Risk and the Detriment of the public Revenues, and the common Interest and Trade of his Country, and not being content in that Station of Life, in which it had pleased God to place him, might be Reason sufficient to provoke the Almighty to suffer him to be cut off from the Earth in his Youth, by a sudden and shocking Death: He reply'd, he was heartily sorry for what he had done; and tho' he was to forfeit his Life for what he had not done, he received his Fate with all the Patience and Resignation that was in his Power. He declared to die in Charity with all Men, even such as prosecuted him unto his Death, though he never was, nor would be persuaded to own his having been at   Reculver at the Time mentioned in the Deposition against him at his Trial. And notwithstanding all that could be said to him, he further still persisted in declaring upon his Word, as he was a dying Man, and about to appear before him who knoweth the Secrets of all Hearts, that he left these evil Practices as soon as he was sensible of the Resentment which the Legislature expressed by some late Acts made, and Advertisements published against reputed and notorious Smugglers. Upon which I observed to him, that he was by his own Confession liable to the Censure of the Law, having been a Smuggler , and concerned in landing uncustomed Goods, in assisting and carrying them off, and of converting a Benefit and Share of them to

his own proper Use: To which he answered somewhat surlily, and in few Words, That indeed it was true; but little did he think, when about that Business, that ever he should be hanged for it, as it was so common a Practice, and a Thing so publickly done. I told him again, I hoped he was sensible of its being a Practice contrary to the Law of God in the eighth Commandment, the Sum of which is, that a Man must not hurt his own, nor yet his Neighbours Estate, but so far as he can procure the Good of both. Agreeable to which I moreover told him, was this present Law against Smuggling made, a Practice not tending to procure the real Good of either, but to hurt and ruin Trade in the fair Way of carrying it on, which only deserves the Encouragement of honest Men. Then he said, it is true, I have followed this Practice, which now proves my Ruin; I earnestly beg God to forgive me for this, and all other the Offences of my Life, committed against him or my Neighbour; I repent me of my former Sins, and if the Grace of God assist my present Resolutions, I shall die contentedly, and in Charity with all Men, relying on the Merits of my Saviour and Redeemer Jesus Christ for my Salvation.

  THOMAS FULLER, aged 22 Years, was born in the Parish of   Lyn, near     Romney Marsh, in Kent. His Father is said to have been a substantial and notable Grasier in those Parts, who dying when this Youth was but twelve Years of Age, left several Children behind him, who have been well brought up, and educated for a large Family of such a Man, and are now in a good Way of Living. The unhappy Subject of this Account lived at   Lyn with the Family till within this six Years. Since when, he says, he came to live with a Brother-in-Law at   Hawkhurst for three Years. Since which Time he set up for himself as he termed it, and does not deny, but that he practised himself in this illegal and unjustifiable Practice of Smuggling , and dealing in unaccustomed Goods.

He confesses, that he has been concerned with that Set of People, who are through Length of that evil Practice, become to great a Nuisance to the Nation in general, but particularly to those Parts of England where they gather together in large Bodies in an offensive Manner, in Opposition to all Laws, and contrary to all Justice; but that tho' many Outrages have been committed by these lawless Men, no one could ever lay to his Charge any Share of that their ill Behaviour. I then took Occasion to observe to him, that he had been an Outlaw, and that for such an Imputation against him, there must be great Cause, or such Rigour would never have been prosecuted against him. In Answer to this he said, he had indeed been a Smuggler, but at the Time he was so exposed, and publish'd to the World, he had been ill of a violent Fever for eight Weeks before, of which he had Testimony sufficient to have offered, had he been tried upon the Outlawry, and which he imagined would have been the only Prosecution, and Indictment laid against him: Upon which I told him, that according to his own Account of himself, he was notwithstanding liable to the Censure of the Law, and therefore should think of resigning himself patiently, and without murmuring at his Fate: And he would not be persuaded at the last to own, that he was at the Place between   Lyn and   Old Romney, on the 5th of August, armed with Firearms, or other offensive Weapons, though I several Times repeated it to him to beware of telling a Falshood, in the Presence of that Being, who knoweth the Secrets of Hearts, and understandeth the Thoughts of Man.

And least any worldly Consideration might prevent and hinder him, declaring the Truth freely and openly, the Question was put to him: Whether he imagined People could be so wicked, and daring to come in the Face of a Court of Justice, and swear to a Man, and criminal Facts by him committed, which will take away his Life, without being fully convinced in their Consciences, that they had good Cause, and sufficient Grounds for it. At which he was silent for a while, and at last said, he would not charge any Body wrongfully, but that he had several Reasons to remember that he was at this Brother-in-Laws at   Hawkhurst, that Day, making, and carrying Hay, and that to his Knowledge, he was not in Company with any Smuggler for that Day. He declares to die in Charity with all Men, forgiving others as he hopes Forgiveness at the Mercy Seat of the Majesty on High.

This is the Purport of the whole Account, and Confession, and Behaviour of these Two unhappy poor Fellows: No more would they be persuaded to say, and these Things they frequently said, in the Course of several Conferences, and Examinations. And as 'tis my Business to Report no more than I gather from them, nor can Force them to say more, than they will, whatever may have been made appear in the Course of Evidence against them.

I hope the Reader may be satisfied with these my Endeavours, to bring them to a proper Sense of their Offences, and if they have not had their desired Effect, I have this to say for myself, I spared no Time nor Pains.

As I cannot too often repeat wholsome Advice, to Wretches whom Custom in Sin has so much harden'd, as to think they commit no Crime, when they violate the Laws of the Land, I hope the Inserting the following Lines, on the Subject of Smuggling, will prove acceptable.

The common People of England in general, fancy there is nothing in the Crime of Smuggling, but cheating the King of a small Part of his Revenue; and that there is no Harm done to the Community in general, or to the Properties of particular Persons: They think they have a Right to shun, as much as possible, paying any Duty for their Goods, and what they get by their Dexterity in that Manner is honest Gain, to be enjoyed as the Fruits of their Industry and Labour; but a little Consideration will teach them to think otherways, and convince them, that Smuggling is in itself a Crime of worse Consequence to Society, and more hurtful to particular Persons, than many other Crimes which Custom has taught them to look upon with great Abhorrence.

The Prejudice done the Society, and the Damage received by Individuals, next to the express Declaration of the divine Will, are the best Marks by which we can judge of the Degree of Immorality in any Action whatever; and if we judge of their Crime of Smuggling by this Criterion, we shall find it a Sin of deep Dye, and to deserve the Resentment of every Man, who pretends to any Share of moral Honesty.

In the first Place, the fair Trader is injured in his Property by their kind of illicit Trade: He pays honestly the Duties and Taxes charged upon his Commodity at his Entry, which in some Cases amounts to near as much as the prime Cost of his Goods at the first Market; this he must charge upon the Consumer, with a living Profit for his Riske, Trouble and Out-lay of his Money; but the Smuggler, who buys his Goods at the same Market, and perhaps at a lower Price, as he chuses the worst Sort upon running them, is able to undersell the fair Dealer at least one Third, and for that Reason is, by the greedy Retailer, preferred, though the Commodity he deals in is worse in Quality. Is not this robbing the honest Merchant of his real Profit, and forcing him either to sell below what his Goods cost, or leave off a Branch of Trade, to which perhaps, he has served an Apprenticeship, and built extraordinary Hopes upon, of being a Support to him or his Family? I appeal to every thinking Man, if there is any material Difference betwixt ruining a Man by robbing him on the Highway, and this Method of beggaring him and his Family by Smuggling? If there is any Difference in Point of Immorality, it must lie on the Side of Smuggling, as the Evil attending it is more universal, and reaches farther. Few Men carry their All in their Pocket; and not one Man in a Thousand is ruined, by what is taken from him by the Highwayman: But there is not a Ship of Goods run upon our Coast but injures Hundreds; perhaps not immediately, but in Process of Time it certainly has that Effect. Not only the Parts adjacent, and the Dealers near the Smuggling Port suffer by this Means, but the most distant Corners of the Kingdom are affected by it in a few Weeks, in Proportion as it lowers the Price of the Commodity, and diminishes the publick Revenue. But it is this lowering the Price which is the great Temptation; the Cheapness of the Smugglers Goods tempts the Retailer to prefer him to the fair Trader, from a mistaken Notion that it is his peculiar Interest to buy as cheap as he can, and consequently he encourages, conceals, and connives at all the Villainies of this Set of People. But if such a Retailer should give himself Time to think, I believe he might easily persuade himself, that he is robbing Peter to pay Paul; that what he gets upon one Article, he loses on another.

It is evident, Taxes must be paid to support the Expences of the Government; and that every Subject, as he enjoys the Benefit of Government, is obliged to contribute his Proportion to that Expence. It is likewise evident, that if the Duties laid upon one Commodity does not answer the Sum charged upon it, that the Deficiency must be charged upon some other. Thus: Suppose the Duties charged upon Teas, Brandy, &c. falls short 100,000 l. of the Sum allotted to be raised upon these Commodities, is it not evident that this 100,000 l. must be charged upon Soap, Candles, Leather, Sand, or some other Branch? Suppose then a Dealer, by dealing with the Smuggler, saves about half the Duty payable to the King, or, which is the same thing, buys it so much cheaper from him than he would from the fair Trader, and that his Gains upon this Article amounts to ten or twenty Pounds a Year, I mean his illicit Gains, or the Difference between the trading Price and smuggling Price; now, as it is evident, that every twenty Pounds gained this Way lessens the Revenue forty Pounds, he or somebody else must re-place this Sum in the Treasury, by a Tax upon another Commodity; from whence it is as clear as the Sum; that instead of gaining twenty Pounds by his smuggling Dealer, he really loses twenty Pounds upon the Ballance. I own, he may not chuse to deal so largely in these other Articles, as to bring it to this Ballance, but some of his Neighbours may. And as much Money as they pay towards making up this Deficiency, occasioned by the Smuggler; just so much does the Person, who deals with such People, rob out of the Pocket of his Neighbour.

If I was to charge several People, who make no scruple for the Lucre of Profit, to buy Goods which they know to be run, with as foul a Crime as Robbery, or even that of cheating their Neighbour, they would be apt to treat me with some Severity, and think I much injured their Reputation: Yet, upon serious considering the Circumstance attending this Practice, they must at last own, they deserve no better Character than that of a Highwayman and Cheat.

Thus it is plain that Smuggling is a Crime of the most dangerous Nature, both against the Community and private Persons, and as such subject to the Divine Displeasure, as much as any other Felony. It is not only a Sin destructive to Society, and contrary to human Laws enacted for the Peace, Protection, and Subsistence of the State, but is a Sin against the literal Precepts, as well as the Meaning and Intent of Christianity: We are commanded Obedience to Government for Conscience sake; we are commanded to pay Tribute to whom Tribute is due. Our Saviour gave that Answer to the Jews, though that People had as much Reason as any People on Earth, to look upon the Romans as Tyrants, and having no Right to that Tribute, but what they founded upon the superior Force of their Arms; but how much stronger is the Christian Obligation, to pay towards the Support of a Government established? Not by Force or Fraud, butby the Consent of a free People, and conducted by all the Arts of prudent Policy conducing to their Happiness, both in their Religious and Civil Capacities.

If we consider ourselves as several Members united in one Society for our mutual Peace and Protection, we must conclude it the highest Piece of Injustice in us to refuse or evade by Force or Fraud to pay our Contingent of the Expence incurred for such valuable Purposes, as the securing our Religion and Liberties.

If the Government was to make any Infringement upon the Properties of Individuals, or aim at lessening the Freedom of the Constitution, how would the Smuggler and his Friends rail and exaggerate the mighty Grievance? Yet at the same Time grudge to pay their Quota, and take all Means in their Power by Deceit or Violence to cheat the Government of what enables them to preserve Order and Peace in the Community.

I have hitherto had my Eye only on one Branch of Smuggling, viz. The Running of Prohibited Goods from abroad, which is chiefly carried on from the Coast of France to Kent, Sussex, and the neighbouring Counties round about, and from Holland to some Parts of Yorkshire; but there is another not less pernicious to the Commonwealth, viz. Running of unwrought Wool from England to France. The Damage done the industrious Clothier in all Parts of the Kingdom, is too glaring to need any Exaggeration. If we only consider what a Number of Hands are employ'd in Manufacturing a Ship-load of Wool, who must all starve when that Wool is exported to our Rivals in Trade, and Enemies to our Interest. This Trade employs the Poor among the French, strengthens their Hands, increases their Treasure, and enables them to vye with us at foreign Markets in our Staple Commodities. A few Mecenary Masters of Sheep-Walks may gain by this pernicious Trade, but how many Thousands, nay, Millions of Poor have Reason to Curse the Ill-gotten Wealth; and what a prodigious Increase does this Article alone make in all the Parish Rates in the Cloathing Counties of England: Not only the Industrious Poor sit idle and starve, but they become a Burthen to the wretched Remainder, and the Contagion spreads like a Plague, and infects with Poverty the whole Island. These Considerations alone are sufficient to awaken the Conscience of the Guilty in this Way, and to hinder us from affording them an unseasonable Compassion; but there yet remains some other Circumstances to blacken the Blackness of their Crime. These are the Manner in which they go about to execute their Smuggling Purposes.

They go in Companies together, armed with all Manner of offensive Weapons, and escorted by the most profligate Wretches they can pick up: They employ none in their Service but Fellows who have given Instances that their Consciences are Proof against all Checks of Morality, Religion or Law, and whose Courage is equal to the most daring Attempts upon thePeace of the Society. By these Men Perjury amongst others, is looked upon as a venial Transgression, beneath the Conscience of a Gentleman Smuggler to be troubled with. Murder, Rapes, and Robberies are with them but as frequent, as they conduce to their Interest. Their Character, their Cruelty, and Numbers has given them another Source of Encouragement, and a new set of Allies. For Numbers of the Country People who perhaps abhor their Practice, from the Dread they have justly conceived of their Power, find themselves obliged, tho' against their Wills, to connive at or conceal, and even to assist them, and when they are not willing, they are compelled to lend their Aid. For when a Smuggling Vessel touches on the Coast, those concerned or their Associates meet at a Place of Rendezvous, and press all the Horses they meet with for their Service, which they sometimes return, and sometimes not, just as their Business requires, and the Owners dare not complain for fear of having their Throats cut, or their Houses set on Fire: Not only single Houses, but whole Villages and trading Boroughs are kept in this slavish Dependence upon them, out of real Apprehension of Danger, without any Regard to Profit in dealing with them.

  GEORGE LANCASTER, aged 21 Years, was born in     Hatton Garden, Holborn, of Parents who lived there in good Reputation, and brought him up in a handsome genteel Manner: He was at the Age 14 Years, bound Apprentice to an Attorney at Law , with whom he lived not a long Time, but being of an unsettled fickle Disposition, left his Master, and retuned home again to his Parents: He says, 'twas a considerable Time, e're they could persuade him to go in any Way, whereby he might be supposed to be provided for, and to get his living for the Time to come, till at last he was persuaded to go to Sea , and was in one Service, abroad, for near 7 Years: When I talked with him at first, concerning the Crime he was convicted of, he seemed to make light of it, as but a small Matter that a Man should lose his Life for it, and some, who pretended to be Friends, though really not so, had persuaded him, what he did, had been frequently done, and that it would not touch his Life. I endeavoured by such Arguments, as I was Master of, to to persuade him to think the Contrary, which indeed was no difficult Task to bring him too: I observed to him that (as for the Excuse he pleaded, viz. It is a small Thing, and he did not think so much ado would have been made about so little a Matter) the more wicked and abject Sinner he, that would corrupt himself for so small a Thing as seemed to be in his Eye: Though at the same Time I told him, it was looked upon by every Body else, to be a very iniquitous Scheme, he had laid, to defraud a poor Orphan, and frustrate the Purposes of the poor deceased Parent, who had ventured his Life for the Support of his Family; and that he who will rack and corrupt the Conscience for a Triffle, will never stick to do five Times worse, for a Matter of

Weight: I said God had forbid to take and divest to another Use, any Man's Goods, that by doing so, he had highly offended God, and that besides, the Punishment inflicted by the Laws of his Country, without hearty Repentance, to the Hurt of his own Soul in the World to come.

Upon this he appeared to be pretty much struck with Surprize, and said he had indeed been an idle loose Person, profligate and extravagant: Being off from the Ship he belonged to, he says, for near a Twelvemonth e'er this atrocious Crime, of Forgery, was committed, he had spent a great deal of Money idly, that he had almost ruined his unhappy Mother, who had indulged him with all she could get, and more than she could well spare.

At last Money growing scant, and his Wife lying-in, more was wanting; and having this Will of   Hugh Price's in his Custody, he took the Methods related in the Sessions Papers for October, to bring about his Criminal Intentions, in so clandestine a Manner, that it became extreamly difficult to find him out: At last, the whole Scene of wickedly concerted Villainy was laid open, and appeared in as dark Colours, as have been blended together, and exposed to the World for some Time past: He pretended to say, that when he was transacting this Affair, he thought no more of the Matter, than that he was at present doing for his Family, and helping to supply his then narrow Circumstances, finding himself and Family in want of Necessaries; and that if he was called upon for the Will by the Executor, he could but pay it then, and might be better able to spare it. But being advised, that even a Breach of Trust, the purloyning others Property, and offering to convert to his own Use, what he knew was not his own, was directly contrary to the Laws of God, and Man, and that therefore he could plead nothing in his own Favour, whatever his Necessities, or that of his Family were; he was content to own his Fault, and to look upon it in a much worse Light, than he had seen it in before. His Friends had now forsaken him, his Follies and Extravagancies had removed him far out of their Sight, and he had none to help him: Being young, and imprudent, and thinking to help himself, by unjust and iniquitous Methods, he made an Enemy of that great Being, who is alone able to help Men out in the greatest Straits and Necessities, who gave him up to his own Lusts, and let him follow his own Imaginations.

On Friday Morning last, there came a Woman to   Lancaster, in Newgate, with a Letter from her Husband in Fetter-lane, Setting forth: Whereas, her Husband was robbed 7 Years ago, who not having discovered, who committed the Fact, suspected him, and desired to know, if Lancaster was concerned, and knew who committed that Robbery. I talked to him about it, and he Vows, he never heard of the Matter before, nor was any way concerned: What Reason there was to suspect him, he says, he knows not; unless that when he was a Boy living in   Hatton Garden, he and his School Fellows rambling about the Neighbourhood,

in the Hours of play, some of them living in or near Fetter-lane, used at Times to divert themselves there; and he wished heartily (indeed not without sufficient Reason) that Evil had been since as much a Stranger to him, as it was at that Time.

He acknowledges the Crime, for which he suffers, in all its aggravating Circumstances; and though he still entertained Hopes of a Respite or Pardon, to be obtained by Means of some Friends, he supposed he had in the World, who would endeavour to save his Life; yet he told me several Times, that but for the Sake of his Wife and Child, he was very willing to dye, and and expressed his Sentiments of his Condition, in these Words, or Words to this Effect.

'That were he to live

'longer, and go into the World, he

'might not be better prepared to meet

'his End, in whatever Shape Death

'might appear to him hereafter.'

He declares himself to be in Charity with all Men, asking Pardon of such as he had offended, or injured, he professes to be sorry he can't make Restitution, but begs of God to do good to them for the evil he has done them; and having made use of such Methods and Means, as are prescribed for a Man to make his Peace with God, he has Hopes to be saved through the Merits of Christ Jesus.

  HOSEA YOUELL, aged 18 Years, as he reported, was born in   Creed-Church Lane, Leaden-hall Street, of Parents, who are Jews . He was very ignorant and illiterate , not being able to read English, nor the Jewish, or Hebrew Language, so as to understand it, nor yet to write. Religion of all Kinds, even the Jewish, he was an utter Stranger to, and had no more to say about it, but that he loved to hear the Name of God. When I offered to lay before him the happy and glorious Advantages of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, how many and how superior to all the Mosaic Dispensation, had Title to; he said he had heard of such Things, but having been a Jew by Birth, and bred that Way, he would live and die such. All he said was attended with Hesitation, as if not willing to give a ready and direct Answer, and it was easy to observe his Spirit of prevaricating; so I forbore Converse with him some two or three Days before he suffered, and left him to one of his own People, as he desired, to teach him, if he was capable of receiving Instruction, in his Duty either to God or Man, which, I fear, he had no Knowledge of before. Ever since his Conviction, as he did at his Trial, he has obstinately persisted in Denial of the Murder of   Joseph Johns. He was bred to no Business , though sometimes he says, he was used to work with a Chocolate-Maker ; at other Times, he was wont to go to Rag-Fair, and bought old Cloaths , and other Things, and among the rest, this merciless Sword, which did the Fact in all Appearance, and which, he says, he sold to one Hart. I asked him one Day, what could induce him to confess the Murder, to own himself guilty of a Fact for which he knew he must lose

his Life; which he certainly did, when he was first apprehended. If he was not guilty, how he could declare he was, contrary to his own Knowledge and Conscience? And now, on the other Hand, as he refused to own he knew any thing at all of the Matter, but positively denied all, what he imagined the World would think of him? One Way or other, I told him, he must have given his Conscience up, and the Man that is once come to that Pass, no Wickedness can fall in his Way, but he is a Match for it. To all this he made no other Reply, but he knew nothing at all of the Matter; that he sold the Sword to Hart, and never saw him after he sold it; which is again a Thing absolutely contrary to what he had before declared, viz. That Hart was the Man that gave the Blow, and that for his own Part he was forced into it; that he was forced to assist in the Robbery, Hart running after him with a Knife, and threatning to stab him if he would not go a robbing with him. It is evident, however, here is a barbarous Murder committed, which has been proved upon   Youell, as far as the Nature of the Case would bear; and this Proof, backed by the thus violently injured Party's asserting upon Oath, and often declaring Youell to be the Villain that stabbed him.

Murder is a Thing so hateful to God, that in the Levitical Law he commands, that if a Beast slay a Man, he must be slain, and his Flesh not eaten. Now if God would have a Beast thus stoned that slays a Man, although he have neither Law nor Reason to guide him, much more those who are worse than Beasts, who having God's Commandment and human Reason to hold them back from Villainy and Barbarity, yet by these Restraints cannot be kept in from violating the Commands of their God, and spoiling the Life of a Man: Besides, they have seen or heard how ill Murderers have always been treated; for Instance only in Cain, what a Curse, what a Brand did God set on him, that he was always a Runagate and a Vagabond, and could find no Rest upon the Earth. And again in the Levitical Law it is declared, that a Land is defiled by Blood, and cannot be made pure, but by the Death of him that was the Murderer.

The Manner of   Youell's being taken, or rather surrendring himself came to our Hands, and something very extraordinary which occasioned the publishing of it. Having been charg'd by his Acquaintance as well as others as one of the Persons guilty of the Robbery and Stabbing Captain   Johns, he utterly denied it, and thinking to prove his Innocence, determined to surrender himself, and accordingly went to   Woodstreet Compter with that intent, but not knowing to whom to address himself, after staying some Time about the Gate, and no body taking Notice of him, he went to the   Poultry Compter, staid a considerable Time there, till he was at length observed, and ask'd what he wanted, he reply'd to clear himself, being ask'd of what, he began his Tale, told them he was a Jew , and that he was so often charg'dby his Acquaintance with being guilty of Robbing and Stabbing the Gentleman near   Bishopsgate, that he could bear it no longer, and was come resolv'd to prove the Accusation false; the Persons to whom he thus told his plausible Story, not knowing what to do, or how to act in this extraordinary Affair, desired him to walk in, and in the mean Time dispatch'd a Messenger for the Church-Wardens of Bishopsgate, where the unfortunate Gentleman lay dangerously ill of the Wound he had received from the Villains who robbed him; when the Church-wardens came, they examined Youell afresh, and perceiving by his telling the Story, that he must know somewhat of the Matter, notwithstanding his Protestations of Innocency, sent for a proper Officer, and charg'd him on Suspicion, and directly carried him before a worthy Magistrate of this City, who examined him very closely, and by his Answers had so much reason to believe him guilty, that he remanded him into safe Custody, while he went himself to the     Dolphin-Inn in Bishopsgate-Street, where Captain Johns lay ill, and telling him the whole Account, desired to know if the Captain could bear the Sight of a Villain who had done him so much Injury, should he prove the same, the Captain reply'd, yes, he could, and should know him again; accordingly Youell was brought, and being placed at the Foot of the Bed, and the Curtains undrawn, the Captain after looking stedfastly on him for some Time, desired him to turn to the Light, which he did, he then bid him slap his Hat, which he likewise did, and lastly, order'd him to say D - n your Eyes! Which he did not care to do, till urged by the Persons present, he uttered it with a faint Voice, but the Company insisting he should do it in his natural Voice, he at length complied, and spoke those words, and the instant he had so done, the Captain said, as I am a dying Man, and have but a few Hours to live, that is the very Villain who stabb'd me. Which words being put into writing, the Captain sign'd them, and in a short Time expired.

The Manner of the Robbery's being committed was as follows.

Wednesday, Sept. 23d. About Ten at Night, as Capt.   Joseph Johns was going Home, he was attacked by two Fellows in     Cavendish Court, near   Devonshire-Square, Bishopsgate , who knocked him down, and almost cut off his Nose, robbed him of his Watch and two Seals, and then made off, upon which the Captain called out Stop Thief, and immediately one of the Villains return'd, stabb'd him in the Right Breast with a Sword, which went thro' his Body and stuck in his Back Bone and broke. The Captain made shift to get out of the Court, and calling for help was carried to the   Dolphin-Inn, when Dr. Hart, Mr. Wathen and another eminent Surgeon were sent for, who examined the Wound, and found part of the Sword covered in his Body, which stuck so fast, that a Man was obliged to pull it out with a pair of Pincers, it measured

Nine Inches one quarter. The next Night one   John Basden a Constable , with some Watchmen being in pursuit of some Persons suspected to be concerned in this Robbery, was shot into the Body with two Slugs in a dark Passage in   Petticoat Lane; Mr. Richardson, the City Marshall being informed of the above Accident, assembled a number of Watchmen, and surrounded several suspected Houses in and near Petticoat Lane, and had several Pieces fired at him. Nevertheless he secured several suspected Persons, all this Time the poor unfortunate Gentleman lay in the extremest Agony and Torture till Saturday, September 26th, when he expired as above related.

At the PLACE of EXECUTION.

ABout Nine o'Clock in the Morning,   Thomas Puryour,  George Lancaster, and   Thomas Fuller went in one Cart, and   Hosea Youel in another from Newgate to the Place of Execution, attended by Captain Prideaux's Company of the Third Regiment of Guards, commanded by Lieutenant Holt. The three former, when they were come there, having receiv'd the Sacrament in the Morning, read such Prayers as they were directed to do, in all Appearance in a devout Manner to themselves, and afterwards joined in Prayer to God to hear their Cry, and to receive them to his Mercy.   Hosea Youel was attended by a Person, who in the Jewish Manner and Language read Service to him for some Time. He frequently calling to the People, desired all young Men to take Care, how they went into Company with others, without knowing what manner of Persons they were; still positively denying the Fact, and declaring he was innocent of the Murder.

Lancaster had nothing more to add than the Account given above. Puryour, and Fuller, tho' I put the Question to them more than once, and begg'd of them to remember they were in a short Space of Time going, where they had no more room for Repentance, but that Judgment must proceed against them agreeable to the Condition they left the World in, and that if they lied unto God, the eternal Punishment of the World to come must be their doom, still declared as aforementioned.

This is all the Account given by me,   JOHN TAYLOR, Ordinary of Newgate .