The Chronicles of Crime or The New Newgate Calendar. v. 1/2: being a series of memoirs and anecdotes of notorious characters who have outraged the laws of Great Britain from the earliest period to 1841.Pelham, Camden
History
The Chronicles of Crime or The New Newgate Calendar. v. 1/2: being a series of memoirs and anecdotes of notorious characters who have outraged the laws of Great Britain from the earliest period to 1841.
Pelham, Camden
Crime -- Great Britain; Criminals -- Great Britain; Newgate (Prison : London, England)
Having lain down here for about two hours, he once more proceeded down
stairs, and saw a gentleman take leave of the family and quit the house,
lighted by the servant; and as soon as the maid returned, he resolved to
venture at all hazards. In stealing down the stairs he stumbled against
a chamber door, but instantly recovering himself, he got into the
street.
By this time it was after twelve o'clock, and passing by the watch-house
of St. Sepulchre, he bid the watchman good night; and going up Holborn,
he turned down Gray's Inn Lane, and at about two in the morning, he got
into the fields near Tottenham Court Road, where he took shelter in a
cow-house, and slept soundly for about three hours. His fetters were
still on his legs, and he dreaded the approach of daylight lest he
should be discovered. His mind, however, was somewhat relieved for the
present, for at seven o'clock the rain began to fall in torrents, so
that no one ventured near his hiding-place. Night coming on, the calls
of hunger drove him to seek some refreshment, and going to Tottenham
Court Road, he ventured to purchase some bread and cheese and small-beer
at a chandler's shop. He had during the day been planning various means
to procure the release of his legs from the bondage of his chains, and
now having forty-five shillings in his possession, he attempted to
procure a hammer. His efforts, however, proved ineffectual, and he was
compelled to return to his shelter for the night. The next day brought
him no relief; and having again gone to the chandler's shop, he once
more went back to his place of concealment. The next day was Sunday, and
he now beat the basils of his irons with a stone, so that he might slip
them over his heels, but the master of the cow-house coming, interrupted
him, and demanded to know how he came there so confined by irons. The
answer given was, that he had escaped from Bridewell, where he had been
confined because he was unable to give security for the payment of a sum
of money for the maintenance of a child he had had sworn to him, and the
master of the house desiring him to be gone, then quitted him. A
shoemaker soon after coming near, Jack called him, and telling him the
same story, induced him, by a bribe of twenty shillings, to procure him
a hammer and a punch. They set to work together to remove the irons, and
his legs were at length freed from this encumbrance at about five
o'clock.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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