Chapter 2

The depositions of a number of officers, most of them wounded,
and several of the soldiers, having been taken, their evidence
substantiating the foregoing narrative, the prisoners were asked
whether they wished to say any thing? Cooper, and Davidson the
black, were the only ones who replied, and they merely appealed to
the officers and soldiers to say, whether they had not instantly
surrendered themselves. Ellis, the patrol, who received the murdered
body of his comrade Smithers in his arms, replied, that Davidson
had made the most resistance. At the moment when the lights were
extinguished, he had rushed out of the place, armed with a carbine, and
wearing white cross-belts. Ellis pursued him a considerable distance
along John-street; and, having caught him, they fell together, and in
the deadly struggle which ensued, Davidson discharged his carbine, but
without effect, and Ellis succeeded in securing him.

Captain Fitzclarence had seized and secured one or two of the prisoners
with his own hands, and he was not only much bruised, but his uniform
was almost torn to pieces.

We will here shortly digress, for the purpose of stating the immediate
circumstances which led to the frustration of the sanguinary plot, and
the arrest of its fiend-like authors.

It had been for some time well known to government, that Thistlewood,
forgetful of his narrow escape on the former occasion of an indictment
for High Treason[1], and, as it were, unconscious of the blessings
of that constitution, which in the equal and upright administration
of justice to all, gives to the accused party the advantage of the
conscientious doubts of the jury, and which beneficent feature in the
trial by a British Jury had alone saved him from condign punishment,
had never ceased to pursue his disloyal and traitorous designs, but
had still continued in darkness and obscurity, to hatch new plots,
as preposterous as diabolical, and to entrap new agents, as weak as
they were wicked, and as certain of being ultimately involved in the
same sacrifice to public justice, as he himself seemed devoted to by a
besotted perseverance in his horrid principles.

Conscious, however, as were the ministers that some dreadful scheme was
perfecting, and that a tremendous blow was about to be struck, they
were ignorant of the time or nature of the intended movement, until the
very day destined for its consummation, when a communication was made
to the Secretary of State for the Home Department, by Lord Harrowby,
who stated that he had that morning been stopped by a man, when riding
in St James’s-park, who delivered to him a letter, the contents of
which were, that a gang of assassins were to assassinate his Lordship
and the rest of the cabinet ministers, when assembled at his house on
the evening of that day at a cabinet dinner. His Lordship, although
he did not know the man, listened to his representation, in addition
to the contents of the letter, and afterwards consulted his brother
ministers upon the subject; and they immediately determined to postpone
the cabinet dinner.

The discovery, indeed, of the infamous wretches and their intended
diabolical act is next to a miracle, and is only to be attributed
to the determination and perseverance of the man who made the
communication to the earl of Harrowby: he called at his lordship’s
house, in Grosvenor-square, on Wednesday morning, (the 23d), between
eleven and twelve o’clock, and inquired of the porter if the noble
earl was at home? The porter replied in the negative. The man appeared
very anxious to see his lordship, but the porter did not give him any
hopes, as he refused to tell his business; the man, however, urged
the necessity of seeing his lordship, without loss of time; and at
length he observed, that if he did not see him, the porter would
not be sitting in his chair in the hall to-morrow. This observation
astonished the porter, and induced him to believe that the man really
had something of a serious and alarming nature to communicate to the
noble earl: he then told him that his lordship was riding on horseback
in the park, directed him to that part in which he was most likely to
find him, and described his groom and the livery he wore, _&c._ The
man hastened to the Park, and discovered the groom, as described by
the porter, hailed him, and asked him if the gentleman before was the
earl of Harrowby? The groom replied in the affirmative. The man then
told him, that he wanted and must speak with his lordship. The groom
informed his noble master, who immediately stopped his horse. The
man then presented a letter to him, which the earl opened and read.
The man having informed him that he had a deal more to communicate,
his lordship dismounted, and walked and talked with the man for some
time; and the result of their interview was the communication to the
secretary of state, of which we have just spoken.

Precautions were immediately taken at the secretary of state’s office,
for the discovery and apprehension of the villains. The first
intimation that was given of the affair at the office in Bow-street
was at past seven o’clock, when it was made known that a number of
officers, constables, and patrol, would be wanted. Ellis, who is a
conductor of a party of patrol, was ordered to leave his division, and
repair to the office with the men under his direction. The expedition
upon which they were to be sent was kept a secret till they started,
which was between half-past eight o’clock and nine. The place of
rendezvous of the assassins was in Cato-street, John-street, in the
Edgware-road, where the neighbours had become alarmed by a number of
strange men assembling in a stable, and a loft over it, after dark;
sacks being hung up on the inside of the windows to prevent detection.

In the course of the day inquiries had been made, and the result was,
that some desperate act was expected to take place. The ministers’
servants were armed with pistols, and two officers or constables
appointed to each residence. The Earl of Harrowby and Viscount
Castlereagh dined with the Earl of Liverpool; and at nine o’clock
they went to the secretary of state’s office for the home department,
at which time all the cabinet ministers assembled. Mr. Birnie, the
magistrate, was directed by Viscount Sidmouth to be in Cato-street,
and in readiness to act in case of emergency. A party of the guards,
under the command of Captain Fitzclarence, was ordered to march to
Cato-street, to assist the police, if necessary. Unfortunately,
however, they were not clearly directed, or they did not understand
where the place was, as they were at the contrary end of the street
when the assassins commenced their murderous attack upon the officers,
and it was only by the discharge of pistols that they found out where
the building was. When the police-officers arrived, they found two
sentinels at the door, armed with guns and swords. These opposed
their admittance without the pass-word. The officers, however, soon
overpowered and secured them. They then gave an alarm, and the officers
heard by the noise in the loft that several persons were up stairs.
They ascended to the loft by a ladder which the conspirators themselves
had used; when the contest, which we have already described, ending in
the arrest of most of the conspirators, took place.

The same sources of information which led to the detection of
the conspiracy enabled the magistrates to trace the hiding-place
of Thistlewood. Instead of returning to his own lodgings in
Stanhope-street, Clare-market, it was discovered that he had proceeded
to an obscure house, No. 8, White-street, Little Moorfields. Thither,
at nine o’clock on Thursday morning, the 24th of February, Lavender,
Bishop, Ruthven, Salmon, and six of the patrol, were despatched. On
arriving at the house, three of the latter were placed at the front,
and three at the back door, to prevent escape. Bishop observed a room
on the ground-floor, the door of which he tried to open, but found it
locked. He called to a woman in the opposite apartment, whose name
is Harris, to fetch him the key. She hesitated, but at last brought
it. He then opened the door softly. The light was partially excluded,
from the shutters being shut; but he perceived a bed in the corner,
and advanced. At that instant a head was gently raised from under the
blankets, and the countenance of Thistlewood was presented to his
view. Bishop drew a pistol, and presenting it at him, exclaimed, “Mr.
Thistlewood, I am a Bow-street officer; you are my prisoner:” and then,
“to make assurance doubly sure,” he threw himself upon him. Thistlewood
said, he would make no resistance. Lavender, Ruthven, and Salmon,
were then called, and the prisoner was permitted to rise. He had his
breeches and stockings on, and seemed much agitated. On being dressed,
he was handcuffed; in his pockets were found some ball-cartridges
and flints, the black girdle, or belt, which he was seen to wear in
Cato-street, and a sort of military silk sash.

A hackney-coach was then sent for, and he was conveyed to Bow-street.
In his way thither he was asked by Bishop, what he meant to do with the
ball-cartridges; he declined answering any questions. He was followed
by a crowd of persons, who repeatedly cried out, “Hang the villain!
hang the assassin!” and used other exclamations of a similar nature.

When he arrived at Bow-street, he was first taken into the public
office, but subsequently into a private room, where he was heard,
unguardedly, to say, that “he knew he had killed one man, and he only
hoped it was Stafford;” meaning Mr. Stafford, the chief clerk of the
office, to whose unremitting exertions in the detection of public
delinquents too much praise cannot be given.

Mr. Birnie, having taken a short examination of the prisoner, sent
him to Whitehall to be examined by the Privy-Council. Here the crowd
was as great as that which had been collected in Bow-street. Persons
of the highest rank came pouring into the Home Office, to learn the
particulars of what had transpired.

The arrest of Thistlewood was heard with infinite satisfaction; he was
placed in a room on the ground-floor, and a vast number of persons
were admitted in their turn to see him. His appearance was most
forbidding. His countenance, at all times unfavourable, seemed now to
have acquired an additional degree of malignity. His dark eye turned
upon the spectators as they came in, as if he expected to see some of
his companions in guilt, who he had heard were to be brought thither.
He drank some porter that was handed to him, and occasionally asked
questions, principally as to the names of the persons who came to look
at him. Then he asked “to what gaol he should be sent?--he hoped not to
Horsham.” (This was the place in which he was confined, in consequence
of his conviction for sending a challenge to Lord Sidmouth.)

At two o’clock he was conducted before the Privy-Council. He was
still handcuffed, but mounted the stairs with alacrity. On entering
the council-chamber he was placed at the foot of the table. He was
then addressed by the Lord Chancellor, who informed him that he stood
charged with the twofold crime of treason and murder; and asked him
whether he had anything to say for himself? He answered, that “he
should decline saying any thing on that occasion.”

No persons were suffered to have access except those on business to the
public offices at Whitehall, nor was any individual allowed to hold
communication with the prisoner. About a dozen soldiers were in the
hall and adjoining lodge; they formed a part of the military escort
that accompanied the police-officers to the spot where Thistlewood
and his companions were first discovered. The soldiers had with them
the different articles and weapons found upon the party when taken,
among which were two small pistols, one of them loaded, and a bundle
of files, similar to those used in small brasswork. The points of such
files are always sharp, and the part of the file which goes into the
handle is necessarily pointed, to penetrate the hole made in the wood
for its reception; some of the files appeared, however, to have had the
handle-points brightened, and the ends made more fine, as if by being
whetted upon a stone. There were also in the hall two or three bags,
containing three bayonets and some ammunition, made up in both small
and large cartridges. The soldiers who had seized those articles were
examined before the Privy-Council. After his examination, Thistlewood
was taken back to the room in which he had been previously placed; his
commitment to Coldbath-fields was made out, and he was conveyed to that
prison under the care of six officers. There was a partial shouting and
groaning, as the carriage in which he was placed drove off.

The appearance of Thistlewood at this time was wretched in the extreme.
When in custody with Watson, Preston, and Hooper, on the charge for
high treason, he was a stout, active, cheerful-looking man, with
something of a fearless and determined cast of features. His deportment
at that time was free and unembarassed, with much of the air of a
sea-faring man. Within the six months previous to the present arrest,
his appearance had, in every respect, undergone a total change; he
had been seen constantly in the streets, dressed in a shabby manner;
his countenance squalid and emaciated, and his whole dress and the
expression of his features, denoting a man who was reduced to a state
of extreme indigence. He was generally observed walking or running
through the streets with eager impetuosity, and his shoes and an old
surtout coat, which he generally wore, bearing all the marks of the
poverty and distressed circumstances of the wearer.

When before the Privy-Council, his dress was an old black coat and
waistcoat, which were thread-bare, corduroy breeches very much worn,
and old worsted stockings. His general appearance indicated great
distress; his limbs were slender, and his countenance squalid and
somewhat dejected. There was nothing of agitation in his manner. He sat
with his eyes chiefly fixed on the ground, except when he occasionally
raised them to survey Members of the Privy-Council, as they passed
through the hall on their way to the Council-room.

The following Privy-Councillors were present at his examination:--The
Duke of Wellington, the Earls of Harrowby, Liverpool, and Westmoreland,
Lords Sidmouth, Castlereagh, and Melville, the Chancellor of the
Exchequer, Mr. Canning, Mr. Wellesley Pole, Sir William Scott, the
Chief Baron of Scotland, the ex-Attorney-general, (Sir S. Shepherd),
Mr. Bragge Bathurst, and other members of the cabinet.

It is impossible to describe the anxiety and horror which pervaded the
countenances of thousands of persons who went to view the scene of
action the day after the arrest. Through the whole of the day, and till
very late in the evening, several persons of the highest consideration
in the country visited the place. A man no way authorized, took
possession of the place, and imposed on the public by demanding a
shilling from each person for admission.

The alarm in the neighbourhood, on hearing the report of fire-arms, and
the noise of contest on premises which they considered untenanted, may
be more easily conceived than described. It was heightened by every
circumstance of terror that the imagination could form to itself.
The house was surrounded with soldiers and police-officers--fighting
was heard within--officers were obscurely seen scaling a ladder and
entering the scene of battle, while their fate and the cause of the
combat were entirely unknown. Some of the persons belonging to the
public-house adjoining, after running to the spot, fled in dismay when
they heard the balls whistling about their ears.

Several of the inhabitants of Cato-street had observed, since the
preceding Monday, strange-looking men coming about the empty premises.
On the morning of Wednesday, (the day of the arrest) they saw
Davidson, the man of colour, and three others, watching at different
ends of the street, while some of their associates were heard nailing
up the windows within the loft. Before dusk Davidson again made his
appearance, with a sack on his back, which the neighbours at the time
supposed to contain carpenters’ tools for repairing or new-modelling
the interior of the building, but which had in fact conveyed the arms
with which they were to equip themselves for their daring enterprise.
After the arsenal was formed, the band arrived; and the people in the
public-house were surprised, if not alarmed, to see upwards of twenty
persons, entire strangers to the place, hovering about their premises,
and at last entering the den. Still they had no suspicion of what was
going forward, and no presentiment of what was in a short time to
occur. The police soon arrived, and the murderous struggle took place
which we have already described.

The body of Smithers, who was murdered, was removed to the Horse and
Groom public-house, opposite. He must have died instantly, and without
convulsion. He received only one wound, about an inch below his right
breast, and about an inch in width. His body was exposed in a room on
the first floor of the public-house, above-mentioned, in the dress
in which he was killed. His breast and neck were covered with blood,
but his countenance was as placid, and his features as composed, as
if their expression had been arrested, and life extinguished, during
a tranquil sleep. On his death being mentioned to Lord Sidmouth, his
Lordship expressed great regret at the event, and sympathy for his
surviving widow; saying, with great humanity, that, as he could not,
restore to her her husband, he would take care that she should not want
his assistance in a pecuniary point of view. The unfortunate man’s
sister, from Putney, was one of the first to view the dead body of her
brother, and deeply affected the spectators with the poignancy of her
sorrow.

The sword with which the murder of Smithers was perpetrated is of
foreign manufacture, and nearly a foot longer than those which we are
ordinarily in the habit of seeing.

A lady, of the name of Northmore, who lives in a street immediately
adjoining that in which the conspirators assembled, found a _sabre_ in
her yard, which had been thrown away by one of the gang, in his flight.
This also is a weapon of foreign manufacture, and, from its appearance,
had evidently been ground within a day or two. It was perfectly sharp
on both sides, and, in addition to its brass hilt, there was attached
to it a handkerchief, so disposed as to afford a sort of guard for the
arm. Mrs. Northmore, on finding the weapon, sent for a friend, who
advised her to transmit it to Bow-street. This was accordingly done;
and, extraordinary to relate, it was recognised by an active member of
that establishment as exactly representing one of two sabres, of which
a description had been given at the office, and which were known to
have been lately taken to a cutler, for the purpose of grinding.

The hand-grenades found in the loft, and produced in the examination,
are about the size of a large orange, made of cast-iron, filled with
combustibles; they have a round hole, in which is placed a fuse,
which, on being set fire to, is thrown by the hand, and when it
falls it explodes: the splinters caused by the explosion spread in
all directions, and one of them has been known to kill ten or twelve
persons. It was intended to explode these horrible instruments at the
Earl of Harrowby’s house.

After the committal of Thistlewood by the Privy-Council, the whole of
the prisoners underwent an examination, likewise by the Privy-Council;
and on their being re-committed, one of them proposed to become king’s
evidence, which offer was accepted.

During the attendance of Mr. Birnie upon the Privy-Council on
Thistlewood’s examination, the officers arrived at Bow-street, with all
the persons found in the house where Thistlewood had been apprehended,
and Mr. J. E. CONANT, the magistrate, proceeded with their examination;
they consisted of the landlady of the house, Mrs. Hill, a lodger, and
Lewis Casper, a man who did not lodge in it.

ELIZABETH HARRIS, the landlady, stated, that her husband worked at the
letter-foundry of Messrs. Caslon and Catherwood, in Chiswell-street,
Moorfields. On Wednesday, the 23d of February, she had a bill in
her window to let her lodgings, when in the morning, between ten
and eleven o’clock, Thistlewood came into her house, and inquired
about the lodging: she told him it was only half a bed with her
nephew. Thistlewood agreed for the half bed, for which he was to pay
two shillings and sixpence a week, and was to take possession of
it that night. She at first said, that she had a slight knowledge
of Thistlewood, but denied it afterwards. It was supposed she was
concealing him, as he was locked up in the room. This she explained,
by saying the door flew open, and she could not keep it shut without
locking it. She said Thistlewood arrived at her house between ten and
eleven o’clock on Wednesday night: he observed that he was late; she
replied he was late, and she had almost given him up. He then went to
bed. Her street-door standing open only by a latch, the officers had
entered and searched the upper part before she knew they were there,
when they asked her to unlock the door where Thistlewood was in bed,
which she instantly did. She did not know Lewis Casper had been in her
house till she found him in the coach with her when they were brought
away.

LEWIS CASPER stated himself to be a watch-finisher, residing in
Union-street, Bishopsgate, and accounted for his being in the house by
saying he was with Mrs. Hill, the lodger, who washed for him, and he
appointed his little boy to call for a key there.

This man was detained till it was ascertained if he was the man he
represented himself to be. Mrs. Harris and Mrs. Hill were discharged
for the present.

In the course of Thursday, the 24th of February, the following persons
were arrested as concerned in the conspiracy:--

BRUNT, who was to have been second in command to Thistlewood. He was
a shoemaker; an excellent workman, and earned between forty and fifty
shillings a week. He was taken in bed. He had previously provided
himself with a sword and a brace of pistols, in case of need, but he
did not make use of them on this occasion. He was apprehended at his
lodgings in Fox-court, Gray’s-inn-lane; in his room a vast quantity of
hand-grenades, and other combustibles, were found. These were charged
with powder, pieces of old iron, and other materials, calculated upon
explosion to produce the most horrible consequences. A great number of
pike-blades, or stilettoes, such as were discovered in Cato-street, and
a number of fire-arms, were likewise found. The whole of these were
taken to Bow-street. He was afterwards sent to Whitehall, and then
committed to Coldbath-fields.

FIRTH, the person by whom the stable was let to Harris. He admitted
that he has attended some of the Radical meetings, but denied any
knowledge of the conspiracy.

COOPER, a shoemaker, living in Garden-court, Baldwin’s-gardens: he was
apprehended in the middle of the day.

SIMMONS, a footman, living with a respectable family in
Seymour-street. He underwent an examination before the secretary of
state for the home department, and another before the magistrates at
Bow-street, was ultimately committed to Tothill-fields’ prison.

TADD, a shoemaker, of whom the following account was given at the
period of his arrest. He is a man of the age of 49, and lived with
his wife and family in a small and miserable dwelling situated in
the Hole-in-the-Wall-passage, leading from Baldwin’s-gardens to
Torrington-street. His family consists of one daughter, and two orphan
children, whom he had taken under his care. Tadd has been esteemed
among his neighbours, and by those who have employed him in his trade,
as an industrious sober man, and an excellent workman. He has earned
by his own hands forty shillings a week, and very often even a greater
sum. During the whole course of his life, he was never known to neglect
his work, or become inebriated; but within the last week he had been
in a drunken state, and his family had been at a loss to account for
the extraordinary change in his conduct. On Wednesday night, three men
came to Tadd while in such a state of drunkenness as scarcely to be
able to keep his legs, and forced him away, notwithstanding the earnest
entreaties and remonstrances of his wife and family. Nothing was said
by the men who took him away, as to their object, either to the wife
or any one in the house; and during the whole night, and the greater
part of the next day, they were in total ignorance of the circumstances
since disclosed, and were at a loss to account for the absence of
Tadd. In the morning (Thursday), between seven and eight o’clock, two
men came to the house, laden with a box of a considerable size, and,
putting it down on the floor, said, “they would call in a few minutes
for it.” The men refused to answer the interrogatories put to them as
to their object in leaving the box, and only repeated, that, they
would call in a short time, and take it away. Very soon afterwards,
two more men came with a large bundle of sticks, some of them of the
thickness of a man’s wrist. These were left in a similar manner, and
the men also refused to answer any questions, saying only, that they
would call again for them in a few minutes. Ten minutes had not elapsed
before two police-officers entered the house, and seized the box and
sticks. When opened, the box was discovered to contain a great number
of pike-heads, sharpened ready for use. The sticks were also seized,
and carried away by the officers. It would appear, from this statement,
that Tadd was taken by the three men whom we have described to the
stable in Cato-street, where he was subsequently apprehended, and
carried to Bow-street, together with several others.

ROBERT ADAMS, living in a miserable hovel in Brooks’-market, Holborn,
and working as a shoemaker. He some time since was a private in the
Royal Horse-guards, in which regiment he served for five years. He very
much resembles Thistlewood in his person, but has a cast in his left
eye.

In addition to these arrests, several warrants were issued, among which
was one against a native of France.

The lodgings of Thistlewood, and of all the others who were taken into
custody, were searched, and several important papers, and quantities of
arms, were discovered and seized. Among those found in Thistlewood’s
apartment was a copy of the bill furnished to Dr. WATSON by Mr. Ottley,
owner of the Crown and Anchor Tavern, in the Strand, for the expenses
of the dinner given to Hunt, on his return from Manchester. Judging
from his former connexions, it may be considered as fortunate for the
Doctor that he was not able to liquidate this debt, being at the time
of the arrests an inmate of Whitecross-street prison on account of
this bill, and thus saved from the temptation of joining his former
associates.

It is a singular fact, that when Thistlewood was arrested, he had not a
farthing of money in his possession. The same observation may be made
with respect to his comrades, all of whom were in the most wretched
state of poverty.

We will here suspend for a time the particulars of the proceedings
against the Conspirators, for the purpose of recording the proceedings
of the CORONER’S INQUEST on the body of RICHARD SMITHERS, the
unfortunate Bow-street officer, who was murdered, as before stated,
when in the execution of his duty, in Cato-street. The inquest was
held on Friday the 25th February, at the Horse and Groom public-house,
John-street, Edgeware-road, which is situated but a few yards from the
spot where the atrocious deed was perpetrated. In the course of the
day great numbers of persons visited the miserable building which the
Conspirators had selected as the scene of their deliberations, and one
universal feeling of horror and detestation against Thistlewood and his
infamous associates appeared to actuate the multitude.

The Coroner for the county of Middlesex, THOMAS STIRLING, Esq., having
arrived, and proclamation having been made by the beadle of the parish
of St. Mary-le-bone, that the Jury summoned should proceed to inquire
“when, how, and by what means, Richard Smithers came by his death,” the
Jury were sworn.

The foreman of the jury observed to the coroner, that he and his
fellow-jurors wished to inspect the body in the presence of the
surgeon, in order that he might be ready to answer any question that
might arise on the moment. This suggestion was complied with; and on
the return of the jury from viewing the body,

Mr. FISHER, the surgeon, was sworn, and deposed as follows:--I am
surgeon to the Police establishment in Bow-street. I was called upon
for the first time, this day, to examine the body of the deceased. I
found an external wound under the right breast. It was two inches in
length, and half an inch broad. I opened the body to ascertain the
depth and direction of the wound, and I discovered that some sharp
instrument had penetrated between the fifth and sixth ribs, wounded
the outward surface of the right lobe of the liver, passed through the
diaphragm into the chest, lacerated the pericardium, penetrated the
right ventricle of the heart, wounded the left lobe of the lungs, and
struck against the ribs on the left side.