Later Leaves, Being the Further Reminiscences of Montagu Williams
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Ex Libris \ C. K. OGDEN THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES LATER LEAVES KEIXG THE FURTHER REMINISCENCES OF MONTAGU WILLIAMS, O.C LATER LEAVES THE FURTHER REMINISCENCES OF MONTAGU WILLIAMS, O.C. pontoon: MACMILLAN AND CO. AND NEW YORK 1S91 First Edition (demy %vd), printed January, 1S91. Second Edition (crown Svo), June, 1891. ——: K 50 A/W&7 LATER LEAVES. CHAPTER I. in mr. payne's court. — The scope of the book : introductory remarks —Mr. Payne " The Terror " of the Haymarket — An ingenious robbery described — How his lordship's watch was stolen —A little lecture from the Bench— Mr. Saunders and the small pickpocket—The burglary at my chambers How the culprit gained admission — My lost jewellery —Scenes in Court— Mr. Cooper and Mr. Warner Sleigh : a brisk passage of arms —The Court adjourned —Peace and order restored. It was my original intention to write a short book, treating merely of the East End of London and of metropolitan crime; but many friends urged me to continue the recital of my experiences at the Bar, and I ultimately resolved to increase the dimensions of my projected volume, and to act upon this suggestion. I propose, therefore, to commence these pages with some further reminiscences of my practising days, and then, taking the reader on from the point at which I left him in " Leaves of a Life," to relate my magisterial experiences dwelling more particularly on the state of the London poor their habits, sufferings, and claims for assistance—suggesting a few remedies for the amelioration of their miserable condition ; seeking to prove to them that their piteous wail, once heard, will not go entirely unheeded and without response ; and—in order, if possible, to bring about a happier and a better state of things —describing what I have actually seen, and am seeing day by day, in the midst of London squalor and London crime. As I have often stated, I do not pretend to be a writer of books. I am simply a narrator of facts, taking my reader, as it were, into my own chimney-corner, and telling him, plainly and without varnish, stories of things I have seen and heard. B 1059574 : 2 MR. PAYNE. Such is the programme of the new volume. Thus I launch my little boat upon the stormy waters of public criticism, and if it meets with as favourable a breeze upon its voyage, and reaches port laden with half as valuable a cargo, as its fore- runner, I certainly can speak for the captain, and I think I may speak for the charterer, and say that both will be more than satisfied. From the time that I commenced to practise till Sir W. Bodkin's death, the Second Court at the Middlesex Sessions was presided over by Mr. Payne, the Deputy-Assistant Judge. He was, in his way, a philanthropist. A great man at temper- ance meetings and ragged-school readings, he interested himself generally in the welfare of the poorer classes, with whom, in truth, he grew to be somewhat of a favourite. One of his principal delights was to recite to his youthful audiences doggerel of his own composition. In his time Mr. Payne had been a successful defender of prisoners, his clients being generally of the poorer sort. It was upon his practical retirement from the Bar that he received the appointment to the Clerkenwell Bench, at the hands of his old opponent, Mr. (afterwards Sir) William Bodkin. I used often to appear before Mr. Payne, and I particularly remember one case I had in his Court, in the year 1866. A man named Francis Jones was charged with wounding Georgina Evans with intent to do her grievous bodily harm. I was instructed to prosecute by the Society for the Protection of Women and Children. The accused—who was nicknamed the "Terror of the Haymarket "—was described as a man who got his living by bullying the women who haunted the vicinity of Her Majesty's Theatre. It appeared that they held him in great dread. One of the witnesses, an unfortunate named Morgan, deposed that she was in Waterloo Place on the morning of the 2 1 st of March, and that she saw the prisoner there quarrelling with a Spanish woman, who was endeavouring to get away from him. Georgina Evans, the prosecutrix, came up and remonstrated with the man, who at once caught her by the neck, threw her down, knelt on her, and cut her throat. The witness went on to say that she herself screamed out " Murder !" and " Help ! " whereupon the prisoner turned to her and said " If you come near me I'll rip you well open." He then rose to his feet and walked away, and the witness, after giving some attention to the prosecutrix, followed in pursuit of him. He TWO INGENIOUS ROBBERIES. 3 turned round and again threatened her, saying that he would cut her throat. It appeared that while this second threat was being uttered, a policeman came upon the scene. Seeing the prisoner drop a blood-stained razor, the officer at once took him into custody. After the jury had returned a verdict of "Guilty," and just as Mr. Payne was about to pass sentence, Sergeant Appleton, a very active officer of the C division, interposed with a few remarks. He said he had known the prisoner for a long time. He was a very desperate character, and one of the devices he adopted to obtain money from the poor creatures was to threaten to indict the houses in which they lived. He had, the officer added, been repeatedly convicted for assaulting women of the unfortunate class. I shall never forget Payne's face when I remarked that something further was known about the prisoner. His lordship cried : " I think I've heard quite enough. I can only regret that it is not in my power to punish him so severely as I should " like." Then, turning to the culprit, he added : I sentence you to two years' imprisonment with hard labour, and I do so with the greatest of pleasure." Another case tried before Mr. Payne, at about the same time, was that of a woman named Jane Helher, who was charged with stealing ^"7 from the person of James Harrison. This was one of the most ingenious robberies that I ever heard of. The prisoner engaged the man in conversation in the street, took his purse from his pocket, and, after abstracting its contents, coolly put it back again. This feat, of which the victim was quite oblivious, was said to have been performed in the space of half a minute. I defended the prisoner, and, upon some one commenting upon the skill that had been displayed, I remarked that this was not the only ingenious robbery that had been committed lately, going on to observe that it must have been a very expert thief who, a few days betore, had stolen his lordship's watch. This allusion delighted the old gentleman very much, and, in subsequently summing up, he explained to the jury how, in his opinion, the robbery from his person had been perpetrated. Having drawn a chain from his waistcoat pocket, and pointed out that the bow of his stolen watch was still attached to it. he explained that this gave them the clue to the situation. B 2 ; 4 MR. SAUNDERS AND THE PICKPOCKET. " There is a slight and skilful turn of the wrist— so," he said, suiting the action to the word ; " the watch is snapped off at the bow, and with all speed the offender decamps." While the Judge was giving this little lecture on street robberies, the prisoner—who, by-the-bye, was an excellent type of the London female pickpocket—leant forward in the dock, and listened with great interest. Observing this, the occupant of the bench, addressing her, said : " I am not giving these particulars for your edification for, after the evidence we have heard, I have little doubt you understand such things far better than I do." " Really, my lord, that is a most unfair observation," I ventured to remark, though with a guilty feeling that, in alluding to the Judge's watch, I had brought it upon myself. Payne chuckled and rubbed his hands with glee, imagining that, by this side-wind, he had convicted the prisoner. But a disappointment was in store for him ; for, after a short delibe- ration, the jury pronounced a verdict of " Not Guilty." Payne's case is not the only one I remember of a dispenser of justice being the victim of a robbery. About two years ago, the late Mr. Saunders, after sitting for me one day at Worship Street, had the misfortune, as he was proceeding homewards across Finsbury Square, to excite the zeal of a small pick- pocket. The young rascal, doubling himself up, ran full-tilt against the somewhat infirm body of my brother magistrate, and, having eased that astonished gentleman of a valuable watch, swiftly departed down a side-street. The watch was never heard of again by its lawful owner. But this is not the worst that I have to tell. About ten years ago I was the victim of a robbery myself. At that time I lived in St. James's Palace Chambers, and it happened one Saturday, after a hard week's work, that I left town, not to return until late on Monday, which was a Bank Holiday. During my career I have received many little presents from grateful clients ; and, as a consequence, at the period of which I am writing, the mantelshelf and a side-table in my sitting-room were studded with ash-trays, cigar-cases, and various articles of bijouterie in gold, silver, and other metals.