The Chronicles of Newgate, vol. 2/2Griffiths, Arthur
History
The Chronicles of Newgate, vol. 2/2
Griffiths, Arthur
Criminals -- Great Britain; Newgate (Prison : London, England); Prisons -- England; Punishment -- Great Britain
The Recorder's report generally reached Newgate late at night. Its
receipt was immediately followed by the promulgation of its contents to
the persons most closely concerned, which was done with a sort of
ceremony intended to be impressive. The whole of the convicts were
assembled together in one ward, and made to kneel down. To them entered
the chaplain or ordinary of Newgate in full canonicals, who in solemn
tones communicated to each in turn the fate in store for him. The form
of imparting the intelligence was generally the same. "So-and-so, I am
sorry to tell you that it is all against you;" or, "A. B., your case has
been taken into consideration by the king in council, and His Majesty
has been mercifully pleased to spare your life." The fatal news was not
always received in the same way. The men who were doomed often fell down
in convulsions upon the floor. Sometimes any who had had a narrow escape
fainted, but the bulk of those respited looked on with unfeeling
indifference. The concluding part of the ceremony was, for those who had
been pardoned, to recite a thanksgiving to God and the king.
It is satisfactory to be able to record that some consideration was
shown the capital convict actually awaiting execution. Even so severe a
critic as Mr. Wakefield states that "a stranger to the scene would be
astonished to observe the peculiar tenderness, I was going to add
respect, which persons under sentence of death obtain from all the
officers of the prison. Before sentence a prisoner has only to observe
the regulations of the gaol in order to remain neglected and unnoticed.
Once ordered to the cells, friends of all classes suddenly rise up; his
fellow-prisoners, the turnkeys, the chaplain, the keepers, and the
sheriffs all seem interested in his fate, and he can make no reasonable
request that is not at once granted by whomsoever he may address. This
rule has some, but very few, exceptions; such as where a hardened
offender behaves with great levity and brutality, as if he cared nought
for his life, and thought every one anxious to promote his death." Mr.
Wakefield goes on to remark that persons convicted of forgery "excited
an extraordinary degree of interest in all who approached them." This
was noticeable with Fauntleroy, who, on account of his birth and
antecedents, was allowed to occupy a turnkey's room, and kept altogether
separate from the other prisoners until the day of his death. It cannot
be denied, however, that the ordinary's treatment was somewhat
unfeeling, and in proof thereof I will quote an extract from the
reverend gentleman's own journal. He seems to have improved the occasion
when preaching the condemned sermon before Fauntleroy, by pointing a
moral from that unhappy man's own case. For this the chaplain was a few
days later summoned before the gaol committee of aldermen, and informed
that the public would not in future be admitted to hear the condemned
sermon. "I was also informed," writes Mr.
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