Chapter I: Part 1

_A. Steele who was Admitted at King’s Evidence._ _B. Little
Harry._ _C. Iackson._ _D. Carter._ _E. Donner._ _F.
Richards._ _1. M^r. Galley._ _2. M^r. Chater._]

Smuggling & Smugglers in Sussex.

THE GENUINE HISTORY

OF THE INHUMAN AND

UNPARALLELED MURDERS

OF

MR. WILLIAM GALLEY,
A CUSTOM-HOUSE OFFICER, AND

MR. DANIEL CHATER,
A SHOEMAKER,

BY FOURTEEN NOTORIOUS SMUGGLERS,

WITH THE

TRIALS AND EXECUTION OF

SEVEN OF THE CRIMINALS AT CHICHESTER,

1748–9.

_Illustrated with Seven Plates, Descriptive of the Barbarous Cruelties._

ALSO THE

Trials of John Mills and Henry Sheerman; with an account of the
wicked lives of the said Henry Sheerman, Lawrence and Thomas
Kemp, Robert Fuller and Jockey Brown; and the Trials at large
of Thomas Kingsmill and other Smugglers for Breaking open the
Custom-house at Poole; with the Sermon preached in the Cathedral
Church of Chichester, at a Special Assize held there, by Bp.
Ashburnham; also an Article on “Smuggling in Sussex,” by William
Durrant Cooper, Esq., F.S.A. (Reprinted from Vol. X. of the
“Sussex Archæological Collections”), and other Papers.

W. J. SMITH, 41–43 NORTH STREET, BRIGHTON.

TO THE PUBLIC.

This History was first published in 1749, soon after the execution of Jackson, Carter, and other Smugglers, upon the Broyle, near Chichester. The writer in his Preface, says: “I do assure the Public that I took down the facts in writing from the mouths of the witnesses, that I frequently conversed with the prisoners, both before and after condemnation; by which I had an opportunity of procuring those letters which are hereinafter inserted, and other intelligence of some secret transactions among them, which were never communicated to any other person.” Its authenticity thus shewn, he further says: “Of all the monstrous wickedness with which the age abounds, nothing, I will be bound to say, can parallel the scenes of villainy that are here laid open. In all the Histories I have ever read, of all the barbarous stories I have heard related, never did I meet with an instance where cruelty was carried to such an excess as here. We have an instance of two men suffering the most cruel torments that malice itself could invent, without any provocation given, and for no other crime but a duty to serve their king and country.”

He also says: “When the facts were proved by undeniable evidence in the face of the Court, what horror and detestation appeared in the countenance of everyone present! Everyone shuddered when they heard the aggravating circumstances of the murders related, and how barbarously the villains handled their two wretched victims. The judges themselves declared on the bench, that in all their reading they never met with such a continued scene of barbarity, so deliberately carried on and so cruelly executed. The Council, Jury, and all present, were astonished and shocked, to hear proved beyond contradiction, facts of so monstrous a nature as the sufferings were of Mr. Galley and Mr. Chater.”

“But how monstrous and unnatural soever the facts here related appear, yet they are certainly true: everything is related just in the manner it was acted, without the least aggravation to set it off. I have set down nothing but what the witnesses themselves declared upon their oaths, except in some few circumstances which Steele declared on his first examination, but was not examined upon his trial. And therefore, upon the whole, I affirm that the following account is genuine and authentic.”

A reverend writer says: “In order to deter mankind from the perpetration of notorious crimes, nothing can be so effectual as to represent, in the most striking colours, the punishments that naturally attend them. The fear of shame as often preserves a person from the commission of a crime, as the expectation of a reward for his continuing in the paths of virtue.” Mr. Pope also says,

“Vice is a _Monster_ of such frightful mien,
As, to be hated, needs but to be seen.”

These authorities, it is hoped, will be a sufficient apology for reprinting the said History; and as the chief motive thereto is that of serving the community, the editor humbly hopes it will meet with due encouragement, more especially as such republication may justly be considered as one means (among many others) of checking that audacious spirit which now daily gains ground, by reminding those violators of the laws, that, like Jackson and the other miscreants mentioned in this work, they will most assuredly receive that just punishment their crimes merit, if they continue their unlawful and wicked practices. On the other hand, did they seriously consider the dreadful consequences which frequently follow, they would shudder to think of them; they would at once see and confess their own unworthiness; they would be thoroughly sensible, that to answer the purposes of their Great Creator, they should use their utmost endeavours to get an honest livelihood in the stations to which they may respectively be called; they would then be useful members of the community; and by such conduct would avoid those dreadful horrors and most bitter pangs which for ever haunt guilty minds.

The better to attain these most desirable and salutary ends, parents, guardians, and others who have the tuition of youth (we mean here the youth of the poor and the illiterate in general) should now and then take occasion to read, or cause to be read, to their servants, etc., divers passages of this true history; at the same time make such remarks and draw such inferences from them, as their own natural good sense and experience might point out; and more especially they should put them in mind that God, by the mouth of His servant Moses, expressly declares, “He who sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed.”

“I have drawn it up in the way of a Narrative, as the best method of giving a full view of the whole affair. When that is over, I proceed to give an account of their Trials; after which I conclude with their lives, confessions, behaviour, and last dying words at the place of execution.

“I cannot omit to mention here, that Mr. Banks made a speech, exceedingly eloquent and judicious, which drew the attention of the whole court; and which he concluded with that wise saying of the wisest of men, ‘That the mercies of the wicked are cruelties’; the truth of which will evidently appear in the following pages.”

HISTORY OF THE SMUGGLERS.

In September, 1747, one John Diamond, otherwise Dymar, agreed with a number of smugglers to go over to the Island of Guernsey, to smuggle tea, where, having purchased a considerable quantity, on their return in a cutter, were taken by one Capt. Johnson, who carried the vessel and tea to the port of Poole, and lodged the tea in the Custom-house there.

The smugglers being very much incensed at this fatal miscarriage of their purchase, resolved not to sit down contented with the loss; but, on a consultation held among them, they agreed to go and take away the tea from the warehouse where it was lodged. Accordingly, a body of them, to the number of sixty, well armed, assembled in Charlton Forest, and from thence proceeded on their enterprise; to accomplish which, they agreed, that only thirty of them should go upon the attack, and that the remaining thirty should be placed as scouts upon the different roads, to watch the motions of the officers and soldiers, and to be ready to assist or alarm the main body, in case any opposition should be made.

In the night time, between the 6th and 7th of October, they went to Poole, about thirty only present, broke open the Custom-house, and took away all the said tea, except one bag about five pounds.

The next morning they returned with their booty through Fordingbridge, in Hampshire, where some hundreds of people were assembled to view the cavalcade. Among the spectators was Daniel Chater, a shoemaker (one of the unhappy persons murdered) known to Diamond, one of the gang then passing, as having formerly worked together in harvest time. Diamond shook hands with him as he passed along, and threw him a bag of tea.

His Majesty’s proclamation coming out with a promise of a reward for apprehending those persons who were concerned in breaking open the Custom-house at Poole, and Diamond being taken into custody at Chichester, on a suspicion of being one of them, and Chater saying in conversation with his neighbours, that he knew Diamond, and saw him go by with the gang, the day after the Custom-house at Poole was broken open, it came to the knowledge of Mr. Shearer, collector of the Customs at the port of Southampton, when, after some things had passed by letter, between him and Chater, he was ordered to send Mr. William Galley (the other unfortunate person murdered) with Chater, with a letter to Major Battin, a Justice of Peace for the county of Sussex, the purport of which was, to desire the justice to take an examination of Chater, in relation to what he knew of that affair; and whether he could prove the identity of Diamond’s person.

On Sunday, the 14th of February, they set out, and going for Chichester, they called at Mr. Holton’s, at Havant, who was an acquaintance of Chater’s; Holton asked Chater where they were going, and Chater told him they were going to Chichester, to carry a letter to Major Battin; when Mr. Holton told him the Major was at East Murden, near Chichester, and directed him and Galley to go by Stanstead, near Rowland’s Castle. Galley and Chater, pursuing their journey, and going through Leigh, in the parish of Havant, in their way to Rowland’s Castle, they called at the New Inn, and asking the nearest way, they saw Mr. George Austin, and Mr. Thomas Austin, two brothers, and their brother-in-law, Mr. Jenkes; when the elder brother, G. Austin, said they were going the same way, and would shew them; and they all set out together (Galley, Chater, and the rest being all on horseback); and about 12 at noon came to the White Hart at Rowland’s Castle, a house kept by one Elizabeth Payne, widow, who had two sons, both men grown, and blacksmiths, and reputed smugglers, in the same village. After calling for some rum, Mrs. Payne took Mr. George Austin aside, and told him she was afraid these two strangers were come with intent to do some injury to the smugglers. He replied he believed she need be under no such apprehension on that account, for they were only carrying a letter to Major Battin; and as he did not know the purport of it, he imagined it was only about some common business. The circumstance, however, of their having a letter for the Major, increased her suspicion; upon which she sent one of her sons who was then in the house, for William Jackson and William Carter, two of the murderers (as will appear hereafter), who lived within a small distance of her house. While her son was gone, Chater and Galley wanted to be going, and asked for their horses; but Mrs. Payne told them, that the man was gone out with the key of the stables, and would be at home presently, which words she said in order to keep them till Jackson and Carter came, who lived very near. As soon as Jackson came, who was there first, he ordered a pot of hot to be made, and while that was getting ready Carter came in; Mrs. Payne immediately took them aside, and told them her suspicions concerning Chater and Galley, and likewise the circumstance of a letter which they were carrying to Major Battin; and soon after advised George Austin to go away about his business, telling him, as she respected him, he had better go and not stay, lest he should come to some harm; upon which he went away, and left his brother Thomas and brother-in-law Mr. Jenkes there.

During this time, Mrs. Payne’s other son came in, and finding there were grounds to suspect that the two strangers were going to make information against the smugglers, he went out and fetched in William Steel (who was one of the King’s witnesses upon trial), and Samuel Downer, otherwise Samuel Howard, otherwise Little Sam, Edmund Richards, Henry Sheerman, otherwise Little Harry, all smugglers, and all belonging to the same gang, and were indicted for the murder of Mr. Galley, but not then taken.

After they had drank a little while, Jackson took Chater into the yard, and asked him how he did, and where Diamond was; Chater said he believed he was in custody, but how he did he did not know; but that he was going to appear against him, which he was sorry for, but he could not help it. Galley soon after came into the yard to them, to get Chater in again, suspecting that Jackson was persuading Chater not to persist in giving information against the smugglers, and upon Galley’s desiring Chater to come in, Jackson said, “G--d d--n your b--d, what is that to you?” strikes him a blow in the face and knocks him down, and set his nose and mouth a-bleeding; after which they all came into the house, Jackson abusing Galley; when Galley said he was the King’s officer, and could not put up with such usage; then Jackson replied, “You a King’s officer! I’ll make a King’s officer of you; and for a quartern of gin I’ll serve you so again;” and some time after offering to strike him again, one of the Paynes interposed, and said, “Don’t be such a fool, do you know what you are doing?”

Galley and Chater began to be very uneasy, and wanted to be going; upon which Jackson, Carter, and the rest of them persuaded them to stay and drink more rum, and make it up, for they were sorry for what had happened; when they all sat down together, Mr. Austin and Mr. Jenkes being present. After they had sat a little while, Jackson and Carter wanted to see the letter which Galley and Chater were carrying to Major Battin; but they refused to show it; upon which they both made a resolution they would see it. They then drank about pretty plentifully, and made Galley, Chater, and Thomas Austin fuddled; when they persuaded Galley and Chater to go into another room where there was a bed, and lie down; which they did, and fell asleep; and then the letter was taken out of one of their pockets, and brought into the kitchen, where Carter or Kelly read it; and the contents of it being plainly a design to promote an information against some of their gang, they immediately entered into consultation what course to take on this occasion. Some proposed one thing, some another; but all agreed in this, that the letter should be first destroyed, and then they would consider what to do with the men, in order to prevent their giving the intended information.

Before this, one John Race (who was also one of the King’s witnesses) and Richard Kelly came in, when Jackson and Carter told them that they had got the old rogue the shoemaker of Fordingbridge, who was going to give an information against John Diamond, the shepherd, who was then in custody at Chichester. Then they all consulted what was best to be done with him and Galley, when William Steel proposed to take them both to a well, a little way from the house, and to murder them and throw them in.

At this consultation were present only these seven smugglers; namely, William Jackson, William Carter, William Steel, John Race, Samuel Downer, Edmund Richards, and Henry Sheerman, and this proposal was disagreed to, as they had been seen in their company by the Austins, Mr. Jenkes, Mr. Garrat, Mr. Poate, and others who came into Payne’s house to drink. This being disagreed to, another proposal was made, which was, to take them away, and send them over to France; but that was objected against, as there was a possibility of their coming over again, and then they should be all known. At these consultations Jackson and Carter’s wives were both present, and who both cried out “Hang the dogs, for they came here to hang us.” Then another proposition was made, which was that they should take them and carry them to some place where they should be confined, till it was known what would be the fate of Diamond, and in the mean time each of them to allow threepence a week to subsist Galley and Chater; and that whatever Diamond’s fate was, they determined that theirs should be the same.

Galley and Chater continued all this while asleep upon the bed; then Jackson went in and began the first scene of their cruelty; for having first put on his spurs, he got upon the bed and spurred their foreheads to awake them, and afterwards whipped them with a horsewhip, so that when they came out into the kitchen, Chater was as bloody as Galley. This done, all the abovesaid smugglers being present, they took them out of the house, when Richards with a pistol cocked in his hand, swore he would shoot any person through the head that should mention anything of what was done, or what they had heard.

When they were all come out of the house, Jackson returned with a pistol in his hand, and asked for a belt, a strap, or string: but none of the people in the house presumed to give him either; upon which he returned to the rest of the gang, who were lifting Galley on a horse, whose legs they tied under the horse’s belly; then they lifted Chater on the same horse, and tied his legs under the horse’s belly, and then tied their four legs together.

All this time John Race was with them; but when they began to set forward, Race said, “I cannot go with you for I have never a horse,” and so stayed behind.

They had not gone above a hundred yards, before Jackson called out “Whip them, cut them, slash them, damn them”; and then all fell upon them except the person who was leading the horse, which was Steel; for the roads were so bad that they were forced to go very slow.

They whipped them till they came to Wood’s Ashes, some with long whips and some with short, lashing and cutting them over the head, face, eyes and shoulders, till the poor men, unable any longer to bear the anguish of their repeated blows, rolled from side to side, and at last fell together with their heads under the horse’s belly; in which posture every step the horse made, he struck one or the other of their heads with his feet. This happened at Wood’s Ashes, which was more than half a mile from the place where they began their whipping, and had continued it all the way thither. When their cruel tormentors saw the dismal effects of their barbarity, and that the poor creatures had fallen under it, they sat them upright again in the same position as they were before, and continued whipping them in the most cruel manner over the head, face, shoulders, and everywhere, till they came beyond Goodthorpe Dean, upwards of half a mile farther, the horse still going a very slow pace; where they both fell again as before, with their heads under the horse’s belly, and their heels up in the air.

Now they found them so weak that they could not sit upon the horse at all, upon which they separated them, and put Galley behind Steel, and Chater behind Little Sam, and then whipped Galley so severely, that the lashes coming upon Steel, he desired them to desist, crying out himself that he could not bear it, upon which they desisted accordingly. All the time they so continued to whip them, Jackson rode with a pistol cocked, and swore as they went along through Dean, if they made any noise he would blow their brains out. They then agreed to go up with them to Harris’s Well near Lady Holt Park, where they swore they would murder Galley; accordingly they took him off the horse and threatened to throw him into the well. Upon which the poor unhappy man desired them to dispatch him at once, or even throw him down the well, to put an end to his misery. “No, G--d d--n your blood,” says Jackson, “if that’s the case, we must have something more to say to you”; and then put him on a horse again, and whipped him over the Downs till he was so weak that he fell.

Was ever cruelty like this! To deny a miserable wretch, who was half dead with their blows and bruises, the wretched favour of a quick dispatch out of his tortures! Could the devil himself have furnished a more execrable invention to punish the wretched victims of his malice, than to grant them life only to prolong their torments!

Poor Galley not being able to sit on horseback any longer, Carter and Jackson took him up and laid him across the saddle, with his breast over the pommel, as a butcher does a calf, and Richards got up behind him to hold him, and after carrying him in this manner above a mile, Richards was tired of holding him, so let him down by the side of the horse; and then Carter and Jackson put him upon the grey horse that Steel had before rode upon; they set him up with his legs across the saddle, and his body over the horse’s mane; and in this posture Jackson held him on for half a mile, most of the way the poor man cried out “Barbarous usage! barbarous usage! for God’s sake shoot me through the head”; Jackson all the time squeezing his private parts.

After going on in this manner upwards of a mile, Little Harry tied Galley with a cord, and got up behind him, to hold him from falling off; and when they had gone a little way in that manner, the poor man, Galley, cried out “I fall, I fall, I fall”; and Little Harry, giving him a shove as he was falling, said, “Fall and be d----d”; upon which he fell down, and Steel said that they all thought he had broke his neck, and was dead; but it must be presumed he was buried alive, because when he was found, his hands covered his face, as if to keep the dirt out of his eyes.

Poor unhappy Galley! who can read the melancholy story of thy tragical catastrophe without shedding tears at the sorrowful relation? What variety of pains did thy body feel in every member of it, especially by thy privy parts being so used? What extremity of anguish didst thou groan under, so long as the small remains of life permitted thee to be sensible of it! And after all, to be buried while life was yet in thee, and to struggle with death even in thy wretched grave, what imagination can form to itself a scene of greater horror, or more detestable villainy? Sure thy murderers must be devils incarnate! for none but the fiends of Hell could take pleasure in the torments of two unhappy men, who had given them no offence, unless their endeavouring to serve their king and country may be deemed such. This indeed was the plea of these vile miscreants; but a very bad plea it was to support as bad a cause. But such is the depravity of human nature, that when a man once abandons himself to all manner of wickedness, he sets no bounds to his passions, his conscience is seared, every tender sentiment is lost, reason is no more, and he has nothing left him of the man but the form.

We forgot to mention in its proper place that in order to make their whipping the more severely felt, they pulled off Galley’s great coat, which was found in the road next morning all bloody.

They, supposing Galley was dead, laid him across a horse, two of the smugglers, one on each side, holding him to prevent his falling, while the third led the horse, and as they were going up a dirty lane, Jackson said, “Stop at the swing gate beyond the water till we return, and we will go and seek for a place to carry them both to;” when he and Carter went to the house of one Pescod, who had been a reputed smuggler, and knocked at the door. The daughter came down, when they said they had got two men whom they wanted to bring to the house. The girl told them her father was ill, and had been so for some time, and that there was no conveniency for them, nor any body to look after them; and they insisting that she should go up and ask him, she did, and brought down word that her father would suffer nobody to be brought there, be they who they would; upon which they returned to the rest.

Though this Pescod was (as I have observed) a reputed smuggler, and therefore these fellows supposed he would give them harbour upon this occasion, yet it does not appear that he had gone such lengths as the rest of them had done; for if he had, he would not have refused admitting them at any hour of the night, notwithstanding his illness; but he imagining they were upon some villainous expedition, resolved to have no hand in it, or have his name brought in question on that account. But to proceed.

By this time it was between one and two in the morning, when they agreed to go to one Scardefield’s at the Red Lion at Rake, which was not far from them. When they came there, they knocked at the door, but the family being all in bed, Scardefield looked out of the window, and asked who was there. Carter and Jackson told him who they were, and desired him to get up, for they wanted something to drink, and there were more company coming; Scardefield refused several times, but they pressing him very hard, he put on his clothes and came down, and let them in after many times refusing.

As soon as he was down, and had let Steel, Jackson, Carter and Richards in, he made a fire in the parlour, and then went to draw some liquor, while he was doing which he heard more company come in; and he going into the brewhouse saw something lie upon the ground like a dead man. They then sent him to fetch them some rum and some gin, and while he was gone for the same, they had got poor Chater into the parlour, and on his bringing the liquor, they refused to let him in; but he saw a man, he says, stand up very bloody, whom he supposed to be Chater. They told him, Scardefield, that they had an engagement with some officers, and had lost their tea, and were afraid that several of their people were killed; which they probably said, as well to conceal their murder of Galley, as to account for Chater’s being bloody.

All this time poor Mr. Chater was in expectation every moment of being killed, and indeed, when I am speaking of it, my heart bleeds for his sufferings; but they sent him now out of the way, for Jackson and Little Harry carried him down to Old Mills’s, which was not far off, and then returned again to the company.

After they had drank pretty plentifully, they all went out, taking Galley, or his corpse, if he was quite dead, with them; when Carter and Richards returned to Scardefield’s, and asked him if he could find the place out where they had some time before lodged some goods; and he said he believed he could, but could not go then. But Richards and Carter insisted he should; and then Carter took a candle and lantern, and borrowed a spade, and they went together, and had not gone far when they came to the rest, who were waiting; and then Scardefield saw something lie across a horse, which he thought looked like the dead body of a man; and then Little Sam having a spade, began to dig a hole, and it being a very cold morning, he helped, but did not know what it was for; and in this hole they buried poor Mr. Galley.

They then returned to Scardefield’s, and sat carousing the best part of Monday, having, as Jackson told them, secured Chater.

This Scardefield was formerly thought to have been concerned with the smugglers; and as he kept a public-house, they thought they might take any liberties with him. And it seems evident, by what they did after they had gained admission, that they only wanted a convenient place to consult at leisure what course to pursue on this occasion. They had two prisoners, one of whom they supposed they had already murdered, whose body they must dispose of in some manner or other. The other, though yet living, they resolved should undergo the same fate, but by what means it does not appear they had yet agreed. The better to blind Scardefield, whom they did not care to let into the secret of their bloody scheme, and likewise to give some colourable pretence for what his own eyes had been witness to (a dead corpse in his brewhouse, and a man all over blood standing in his parlour), they tell him a plausible story of an engagement they had with the king’s officers. Now whether Scardefield gave entire credit to what they told him, or whether he really suspected what they were upon, did not appear from the evidence. This, however, is certain, that he went with them to the place, and assisted them in burying the body of Galley; and therefore one would imagine he could not be entirely ignorant of what they were doing. But as he was one of the witnesses by which this iniquity was brought to light, and as he was likewise a person of fair character, we shall forbear saying any thing that may seem to throw a slur on his reputation.

But now we must return to the melancholy story of the unfortunate man, unhappy in the hands of the most cruel wretches surely ever breathing.

While they were sitting at Scardefield’s, consulting together what they were to do next, Richard Mills came by; this Richard was the son of old Richard Mills, to whose house they had conveyed Chater for his better security, till they had resolved what to do with him. When they saw young Mills they called him in, and related to him in what manner they had treated Chater, who was going to make information against their friend Diamond, the shepherd, and that in their way they came by a precipice thirty feet deep. To this Mills made answer, that if he had been there he would have called a council of war, and thrown him down headlong. So it seems as if cruelty was the ruling principle among the whole body of smugglers, and that nothing less than death or destruction of all those they deemed their adversaries--that is, all such as endeavoured to prevent or interrupt them in the pernicious trade of smuggling--would content them.

They continued drinking at Scardefield’s all that day, which was Monday, Chater being chained all the while by the leg, with an iron chain about three yards long, in a place belonging to old Mills, called a skilling, which is what they lay turf up in, and looked after by little Harry and old Mills; and in the dead of that night they agreed to go home separately, and to rally up some more of their gang, and to meet at Scardefield’s on Wednesday.

Their design in this was, that they might appear at their own homes on Tuesday morning early, so that their neighbours might have no suspicion of what they had been about, or of what they had in hand still to do, and likewise to consult with the rest of the gang what was best to be done.

They all met at Scardefield’s on Wednesday evening according to appointment; that is, William Jackson, William Carter, William Steel (one of the king’s witnesses), Edmund Richards, of Long Coppice, in the parish of Walderton, in the County of Sussex, and Samuel Howard, otherwise Little Sam, of Rowland’s Castle, in the county of Hants, who were five of the six concerned in the murder of Galley, as has been before related. Also John Cobby, William Hammond, Benjamin Tapner, Thomas Stringer, of the city of Chichester, cordwainer, Daniel Perryer, otherwise Little Daniel, of Norton, and John Mills, of Trotton, both in the county of Sussex, and Thomas Willis, commonly called the Coachman, of Selbourne, near Liphook, in the county of Hants, Richard Mills, jun., and John Race (another King’s witness), being fourteen in number; Richard Mills, sen., and Henry Sheerman, alias Little Harry, stayed at home to take care of Chater, in whose custody they had left him. They dropped in one after another, as if by accident, so that it was late in the night before they were all got together. Being all of them at last come in, they entered upon the business for which they were then met, namely, to consult coolly and sedately what was to be done with Chater, that is, how to dispatch him in such a manner as would be least liable to discovery; for that he must be destroyed, had been already unanimously determined, as the only method they could think of to prevent his telling tales about Galley. Thus, when a course of villainy is once begun, it is impossible to say where it will end; one crime brings on another, and that treads on the heels of a third, till at length both the innocent and the guilty are swept away into the gulf of destruction.

I cannot pass in silence, without making mention of the readiness old Mills shewed when they brought poor Chater first down to his house; for he fetched them victuals and drink, and they all eat and drank, except Chater, who could not eat, but vomited very much.

After they had debated the matter some time among them, Richard Mills, jun., proposed this method: “As Chater is already chained to a post, let us,” said he, “load a gun with two or three bullets, lay it upon a stand, with the muzzle of the piece levelled at his head, and, after having tied a long string to the trigger, we will all go to the butt end, and, each of us taking hold of the string, pull it together; thus we shall be all equally guilty of his death, and it will be impossible for any one of us to charge the rest with his murder, without accusing himself of the same crime; and none can pretend to lessen or mitigate their guilt by saying they were only accessories, since all will be principals.” But some, more infernally barbarous than the rest (but who, the witness Steel could not recollect), objected to this proposal as too expeditious a method of dispatching him, and that it would put him out of his misery too soon; for they were resolved that he should suffer as much and as long as they could make his life last, as a terror to all such informing rogues (as they termed it) for the future.

This proposal being rejected, another was offered and agreed to, and that was--to go to old Major Mills, and fetch him away from thence, and carry him up to Harris’s Well, near Lady Holt Park, and throw him in there, as they intended to have done with Galley, as the most effectual method to secrete the murder from the knowledge of the world; forgetting that the eye of Providence was constantly upon them, watched all their motions, and would certainly, one day or other, bring to light their deeds of darkness; and that Divine Justice never forgets the cries of the oppressed, but will, in due time, retaliate the cruelties exercised on the innocent, on the heads of their inexorable tormentors.

All this while the unhappy Chater remained in the most deplorable situation that ever miserable wretch was confined to; his mind full of horror, and his body all over pain and anguish with the blows and scourges they had given him, and every moment in expectation of worse treatment than he had yet met with, without any sustenance to support his wretched life, than now and then a little bread and water, and once some pease porridge. Besides all this, he was continually visited by one or other of them, not to comfort or relieve him with words of kindness, or promises of better usage; not to refresh him with cordials or agreeable nourishment, but to renew their cruel exercise of beating and abusing him, and to swear and upbraid him in the vilest terms and the most scurrilous language that their tongues could utter.

Having at length concluded what to do with their poor unhappy prisoner, they all went down to Old Mills’s, where they immediately opened a fresh scene of barbarity. For as soon as they came in, Tapner, Cobby, and some others of them, went directly into the turf-house, where they found Chater in the most piteous condition, enough to melt a heart not made of stone into compassion; but was so far from moving the pity of these merciless bloodhounds, that it only served them as a fresh motive to renew their cruelties, and aggravate his afflictions. Tapner, in particular, immediately pulled out a large clasp knife, and expressed himself in this horrible manner: “G--d d--n your b--d, down on your knees and go to prayers, for with this knife I will be your butcher.” The poor man being terrified at this dreadful menace, and expecting that every moment would be his last, knelt down upon a turf, as he was ordered, and lifted up his heart and hands to Heaven, in the best manner that his pains and anguish would suffer him; and while he was thus piously offering up his prayers to God, Cobby got behind him, and kicked him, and with the most bitter taunts, upbraided him for being an informing villain. Chater suffered all his torments with great patience and resignation; and though there was scarce a limb or a joint of him free from the most excruciating pains, yet in the midst of all he did not forget his friend Galley, and believing that he was either dead or very near it, he begged they would tell him what they had done with him. Tapner replied, “D--n you, we have killed him, and we will do so by you”; and then, without more ado, or any other provocation, drew his knife aslant over his eyes and nose, with such violence, that he almost cut both his eyes out, and the gristle of his nose quite through. Poor Chater was absolutely at his mercy, for it was not in his power to make any resistance; his great and only comfort was that he suffered in a righteous cause, and supported with this consideration, he resigned himself to the will of heaven, which he was persuaded took cognizance of his sufferings, and would reward his tormentors according to their demerits.

Tapner, however, not satisfied with this wanton act of cruelty, in another fit of frenzy, aimed another stroke at his face, designing to cut him again in the same wound; but happening to strike a little higher, made a terrible gash across his forehead, from which the blood flowed in abundance. What a lamentable figure must the poor creature make! His face deeply furrowed with the most ghastly wounds, his eyes cut almost out of his head, and the blood running down in torrents upon the rest of his body. What a spectacle was here! yet not miserable enough to move the compassion of these bloodthirsty tigers! Old Mills, however, not from any pity, or that his heart relented at the terrible condition of this deplorable object, but apprehending bad consequences to himself, in case he should die under their hands, and under his roof, said to them, “Take him away, and do not murder him here, but murder him somewhere else.”

It is surprising that this poor miserable man, who was far advanced in years, had strength and vigour enough to sustain such a variety of torments, which were inflicted upon him, almost without intermission, for several days successively; yet even after this last act of barbarity, he had more severe trials to come before he was suffered to part with his wearisome life. And as the last scene of this woful tragedy appears more astonishing and more monstrous than anything they had hitherto transacted, we shall give a very particular and circumstantial account of everything that was done on this sad occasion. Being all agreed in the measures they were about to take, they mounted Chater on a horse, and set out together for Harris’s Well. Mills, however, and his two sons, stayed behind, desiring to be excused, because their horses were not in the way; or they would readily have borne them company on the occasion if they could, for they were as hearty in the same cause as the best of them. Besides, there was no great necessity for their assistance, since there were enough of them, as the Mills’s said, to kill one man; and as Harris’s Well lay just in their way homewards, the execution would be little or no hindrance to them in their journey.

Everything being now settled, they proceeded towards the well. Tapner, however, more cruel, if possible than the rest, fell to whipping poor Chater again over his face and eyes, and made his wounds, which he had before given him with his murdering knife, bleed afresh; and, what was still more amazing, swore, “That if he blooded his saddle” (for it seems Chater was set upon his horse) “he would destroy him that moment and send his soul to Hell:” which is such an unparalleled instance of barbarity, that one would think it impossible that there should be a creature living, that pretends to reason, and would be ranked among men, could be guilty of. What! to threaten to murder a man for a thing which was not in his power to avoid, and which the villain himself was the sole occasion of! Horrible, shocking wickedness! but let us proceed in our melancholy story.

At last poor Chater, in this disfigured lamentable condition, is brought to the well. By the time they got there, it was the very dead of night, and so near the middle of it, that it was uncertain whether it was Wednesday night or Thursday morning. The well was between twenty and thirty feet deep, without water, and paled round at a small distance to keep the cattle from falling in. Being come up to the pales, they dismounted Chater, and Tapner, taking a cord out of his pocket which he had brought for that purpose, made a noose in it and then fastened it round his neck. This being done, they bade him get over the pales to the well. The poor man observing a small opening, where a pale or two had been broken away, made an attempt to go through; but that was a favour too great to be allowed to so heinous an offender, as it seems poor Chater was in their opinion; and therefore one of them swore he should get over in the condition he was and with the rope about his neck, all over blood, his wounds gaping and himself extremely weak and ready to faint through loss of blood; yet in this miserable plight these cruel executioners obliged him to get over the pales as well as he could.

With a great deal of difficulty he got over the pales, when he found himself just upon the brink of the well, the pales standing very near to it. Being over, Tapner took hold of the rope which was fastened to Chater’s neck, and tied it to the rail of the pales where the opening was, for the well had neither kerb, lid nor roller. When the rope was thus fixed to the rail, they all got over to him and pushed him into the well; but the rope being of no great length, would not suffer his body to hang lower than knee-deep in it; so that the rest of his body, from his knees upwards, appeared above the well, bending towards the pales, being held in that position by the rope that was tied to the rail. But as in this posture he hung leaning against the side of the well, the weight of his body was not of sufficient force to strangle him presently. For his inhuman executioners, whether wearied with tormenting him so long or whether they wanted to get home to their several places we cannot say, but they seemed now resolved to dispatch him as soon as they could.

After they had waited about a quarter of an hour, and perceiving by the struggles he made that he would be a considerable time in dying, they altered the method of his execution. Thomas Stringer therefore, with the assistance of Cobby and Hammond, pulled his legs out of the well, and Tapner untying the cord that was fastened to the rail, his head fell down upon the ground, and then, bringing it round to the well, put it in. Then Stringer, who had hold of his legs, assisted by Cobby and Hammond, let them go, and the body fell head foremost into the well.

Now one would think they had entirely finished this tragedy and that this miserable creature was quite out of his misery, and beyond the reach of any further injury. No, he had yet some further remains of life in him, and while he had any sense left, he must feel the exercise of their cruelty.

After they had thrown the body into the well, they stood by it some time; and it being the dead of night and every thing still, they heard him breathe or groan, and from thence being assured that he was still alive, and that if they should leave him in that condition somebody accidentally passing that way might possibly hear him; and in that case if the man should be relieved and brought to life again, the consciousness of their own horrid crimes and the enormous barbarities they had exercised upon him and Galley, told them that they would certainly be discovered, and then they knew they were dead men.

Upon which they immediately came to a resolution to procure a ladder that should reach to the bottom of the well, and one of them would go down by it and dispatch him at once. Accordingly they went to William Combleach, a gardener, who lived but a little way off, and knocked him up, telling him that one of their companions was fallen into Harris’s Well and begged the favour he would lend them a ladder and a rope to get him out again. Combleach knowing nothing more of the matter but what they had told him, lent them the ladder, and they carried it to the well. Having brought it to the pales, whether through the surprise and confusion they were in or the dread and horror that might have seized their minds from the consideration of the dreadful work they were about, or from what other cause is uncertain, they had not all of them power sufficient to raise the ladder high enough to get it over the pales, it being a very long one, though there were six of them employed in doing it, namely, Stringer, Steel, Perryer, Hammond, Cobby and Tapner.

When they had tried some time, and found all their efforts ineffectual to raise the ladder, they left it upon the ground, and went again to the well side to listen, and hearing the poor man still groaning, they were at a stand what they should do to put a quick end to the life of the miserable creature. But recollecting themselves, they hunted about for something heavy to throw in upon him, and found two logs of wood that had been gate-posts, which they threw into the well; and being resolved to do the business effectually, got together as many great stones as they could find, and threw them in likewise. And now they thought they had done his business, and they were undoubtedly right in their guess, for on listening again they could hear nothing of him; and therefore, concluding he was dead, as most certainly he was, they mounted their horses and went to their respective homes.

Thus are we brought to the fatal and final catastrophe of the unhappy Chater, and whoever seriously reflect on the cause for which he suffered, the torments he underwent, the variety of punishments with which he was continually exercised, from the time he set out from Rowland’s Castle till he finished his miseries in Harris’s Well, which was from Sunday afternoon to the dead of the night between the Wednesday and Thursday following, must feel their hearts melt with compassion, and in some measure be sensible of the variegated pains and tortures with which the poor creature was constantly racked and torn during this time. But who can think on his tormentors without horror and detestation? Bloody villains! had you thought that his death was absolutely necessary to secure your own lives, could you not have dispatched him at once, without exercising such a variety of merciless cruelties upon him? It is true, even in this case you would not have been excused, because you would have slain him while he was actually discharging his duty to his country, that is, endeavouring to detect and to bring to punishment wretches that live only by rapine and the plunder of the public. I say, had this been the case, and upon meeting him on the road you had shot him through the head, merely to prevent his bringing you to that righteous judgment which your country has since passed upon you, it might have been some mitigation of your crime; but to torture and to destroy a man by inches, to be constantly afflicting and lacerating his body for so many days together with every cruelty that malice itself could suggest; this surely must convince mankind that some malicious demon had taken possession of your souls, and banished every sentiment of humanity from your hardened hearts.

But let us now proceed to those other matters which we promised to give an account of. The first thing we shall mention ought indeed to have been taken notice of before, but we were not willing to interrupt the story of Chater till we had brought him to the last stage of his sufferings, and his final destruction in this world.

When these miscreants had brought their unhappy victim within about two hundred yards of the well, Jackson and Carter stayed behind and bid Tapner, Cobby, Stringer, Steel, Perryer and Hammond go forward and do their business. “You,” says Jackson, “go and do your duty and kill Chater, as we have done ours in killing Galley, and then there will be a final end of the two informing rogues”; for Hammond, Stringer, Cobby, Tapner and Perryer were neither of them concerned in the murder of Galley, who was killed on Sunday night, or early on Monday morning, as before mentioned, of which they were entirely ignorant, till informed by Jackson, Carter, Little Harry, Richards, Steel and Little Sam.