The New Bailey and the Old.

Otautau Standard and Wallace County Chronicle, Volume II, Issue 101, 9 April 1907, Page 5

The New Bailey and the Old.

(By Ciias. L. Caskt.)

The opening, by the King, of tbe New Bailey, the new Palace of justice for the ( administration of tho criminal law m Lon- 1 don, recently announced by cable, awakens j interesting, if sombre, memories, as it stands , on the site originally occupied by Newgate Prison ahd tbe adjoining Old Bailey Court- 1 house. The latter, officially known as tbe . c Central Criminal Court, was situated m the r Old Bailey, a broad thoroughfare leading c from Newgate street to Ludgate Hill. In this somewhat dingy looking edifice the ( most famous criminal trials for the last two 1 'centuries were held. One curious feature of this Court was that there always was j placed on the bench alongside of the judge -i a huge bouquet of flowers. This was a relic of the times before the efforts of Howard had t caused a reform of some of the evils of the £ old prison system, when gaol continually raged m Newgate, often cheating the hang- | man, and occasionally spreading to the adjoining Court, where tho occupants of Bench, « Bar and jury box at times fell victims to it. The flowers were placed m the Court as a i disinfectant, the only one probably known m these times. Far greater latitude m the way they conducted their case was allowed * to barristers than m any. other court, and i tbe license that ' was allowed them was [ enough to make some members of the New j Zealand Bar green with envy.. On the stone wall of the prison adjoining the Court could * be seen, up to tbe time of demolition a few \ years ago, a doorway about 20 feet from the ground. Up to the time of: the abolition of , public executions m 186G, the scaffold used to be erected "outside this door, and on ' the morning of the execution a seething ( mass of all that is worst and niost repulsive * m tbe population of a great city used to . block up the street beneath.' So great was the concourse of 'degraded and criminal humanity that many used to get trampled ' to death, although wooden barriers were j placed across the road at intervals to prevent j the surging of the crowd In those " good old times," a phrase that must have been ' invented by the privileged class, for they ' were very bad times for everyone else, the - shopkeepers on the other side of the road used to reap a rich harvest by letting th« rooms that had windows commanding a good view of the scaffold to people with more < money than humanity to view the hideous and revolting spectacle. The night before ( was usually passed m a baccanalian fostival, and readers of the Ingolsby Legends will remember that owing to the potency of the champagne, Lord Tomnoddy and his friends were all asleep when the execution they had come to witness took place — a, perhaps, not j uncommon occurrence. In these days, when London is throngeJ with mushroom millionaires and the rich lower class generally, thirsting for a new sensation, what a price these rooms would have fetched! The gaol of Newgate occupied a commanding position at the corner of Newgate Street and the Old Bailey, from which it frowned across the declevety known asT3olborn Hill, now bridged by the handsome Holborn viaduct. In medieval times it was a pleasant valley, at the bottom of which a crook ran down to join tho Thames at Blackfriars. This has long ago been cov•ered m, and m the slums that had grown up m the vicinity, and which were demolished when the viaduct was built, Mr Fagiri kept the seminary, where Oliver "Twist made the acquaintance of the Artful Dpdger and Bill Sykes. Newgate was sometimes known as the Bastille of London, and m one way the term was appropriate, as it was sacked by the mob (Gordon riotei s) and the prisoners liberated m 1780, nine years before a like fate befell its French prototype. Within its walls have- passed the last days not only of the most famous criminals, but also of many unfortunate victims of regal animosity, particularly during the reigns of the last two Stewarts. There is, however, one faot connected with it that ahvays .gives mo intense pleasure when I think of it. The infamous Jeffries, the brutal, and bloodthirsty tool of ' that cowardly, treacherous and relentless tyrant,- James 11, died a prisoner m one of its dungeons, suffering agony from an unknown'internal complaint. ■Iri the chapel of the. g.iol there was a large pew immediately bdow tho pulpit, with a table m front of the _ seat. This was tbe " condemn^ tt*-/." im/| i.11./ iCiillj/.L-.i „. Wi.., „..L'.l - UJ, il.l.i o.i lHi table m front of thorn. Such wore tlle pleasant methods of tho " good old times " ; and, moreover, let it be remembered that many who were executed had often ootniijiti ted offences of such a trivial nature that thoy

to last f-pn'ury the executions did not take place at Newgate, b;it at. Tyburn, then open country sonu; /ivo tni!( : s distant, and now one of tho pleasantcst districts of iho west end of London, still known as Tyburnia, where I was born. Tlio condemned used to be driven thence m a cart, accompanied by the hangman, and when they reached their destination they were driven under the gallows, !ho roco put round their necks— there was often a dozen of them— and the cart driven away. Amongst those who made this dismal journey tfere Jonathan Wild, tho exBow Street officer, who from b'eihg a triotft vigilant official and a terror to evil doers, became himself a highwayman. He met his doom at Tyburn m 1720 amidst the boisterous expressions of delight of the friends of those he had beon instrumental m bringing to the same place. The two "Knights of the road," who havo been immortalised by Lytton and Ainsworlh, Jack Sheppard and Dick Turpin also ended their days thpre. In the museum, formerly at Newgate, and now at New Scotland yard, are to be seen the fetters broken by the latter when lie escaped from Newgate, and also those made for him of unusual strength when be was recaptured. After a highwayman was hanged, the law had not done with him m those days. As soon as tbe body was cut down, it was turned over, some bands of iron fastened round it, and over the head a ring was placed. It was then taken to the scsre of the crime, and bung by a chain fastened to the ring to a gibbet, and there it swung m the breeze with an ominous creaking noise, an object lesson to evil doers, until dissolution set m, and the bones fell m fragments to the ground. When I was a boy at Wimble; don, 1 knew old people who could remember when tbe highwayman mentioned m Jacob Faithful was still hanging there. His name was Jerry Abershaw. The annals of Newgate are not, however, entirely occupied with people of this sort. Doctor Dodds, leading dignitary of the Church of England, and the most fashionable preacher of his day, was executed for forgery m 1774, notwithstanding the most strenuous efforts of the nobility to obtain his reprieve. The historic stubborness of the King, that cost Engl nnd an F^p-lm roof, tf m y,]^ -p^. Tb* l)-i.'< vriit;!! by him m Ncwgnt-* - l.)i.d 'Y It.Yu.i Tli.-.Higiiir- - is still well-known, lie was an intimaie friend of Dr. Samuel Johnson, who wrote a latin speech for him to deliver from tbe gallows. It was,, however, nuver u-ed, tho unfortunate man probably realising tlie incongruity of addressing an audience of footpads and pickpockets m Johnsonian periods m the latin tongue Fauntleroy, the great banker, whose receptions m London, nnd at Moiden Hall (now, a school) m Surrey, were on a scale of almost princely magnificence, also suffered the last penalty of the law for the same offence.