Great Britain -- Social life and customs -- 18th century
‘Aram’s sentence was a just one, and he submitted to it with that
stoicism he so much affected; and the morning after he was condemned,
he confessed the justness of it to two clergymen (who had a licence
from the judge to attend him), by declaring that he murdered Clark.
Being asked by one of them what his motive was for doing that
abominable action, he told them, ‘he suspected Clark of having an
unlawful commerce with his wife; that he was persuaded at the time,
when he committed the murder, he did right, but, since, he had thought
it wrong.’
‘After this, pray,’ said Aram, ‘what became of Clark’s body, if
Houseman went home (as he said upon my trial) immediately on seeing him
fall?’
One of the clergymen replied, ‘I’ll tell you what became of it. You
and Houseman dragged it into the cave, stripped and buried it there;
brought away his clothes, and burnt them at your own house.’
To which he assented. He was asked whether Houseman did not earnestly
press him to murder his wife, for fear she should discover the business
they had been about. He hastily replied,
‘He did, and pressed me several times to do it.’
Aram’s wife lived some years after his execution; indeed, she did not
die until 1774. She lived in a small house near Low Bridge, within
sight of her husband’s gibbet; and here she sold pies, sausages, &c.
It is said that she used to search under the gibbet for any of her
husband’s bones that might have fallen, and then bury them.
Aram, by his wife, had six children, who survived their
childhood--three sons and three daughters. All these children, save
one, Sally, took after their mother; but Sally resembled her father,
both physically and mentally. She was well read in the classics, and
Aram would sometimes put his scholars to the blush, by having Sally in
their class. Her father was very fond of her, and she was living with
him at Lynn when he was arrested, and she clung to him when in prison
at York. On his death, she went to London, and, after a time, she
married, and, with her husband, kept a public-house on the Surrey side
of Westminster Bridge.
Houseman went back to Knaresborough, where he abode until his death.
He was naturally mobbed, and never dared stir out in the day time, but
sometimes slunk out at night. Despised and detested by all, his life
must have been a burden to him, and his punishment in this world far
heavier than Aram was called upon to bear.
REDEMPTIONERS.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account