such as are Devotees to St. Paris, it has other Sectaries, who are as senseless. For the rest, the two Nations may boast of having produced a great Number of good Men, as appears from the many good Books of Devotion and Morality, for which we are obliged to them. And as for Libertines, I think neither Nation has reason to reproach the other, and that there are as many at London as at Paris.
The English are run down for their Cruelty, but I know not for what Reason, unless it be, that in a Battle they do not readily give Quarter, and are apt to pursue their Advantage too far. I fansy it would be easy to prove, that other Nations, who charge the English with this Vice, are more cruel than they. For in short, the Barbarities committed in the Conquest of Mexico, the burning of the Palatinate, the Massacre of St. Bartholomew, the Sicilian Vespers, the Assassinations of the best of Kings, are Cruelties that are not to be matched in the History of England. We don’t hear of those Assassinations in this Country, that are committed elsewhere; and even the Highwaymen seem to be more humane here than Abroad; for they generally content themselves with what is given them, without shedding of Blood; and some of them are so generous, as to give Money to People whom other Highwaymen had stripped. ’Tis inconceiveable how many Stratagems these Rogues make use of to carry their Points. I have been told a great many Stories upon this Head, of which I give you the following, because I think ’twas very well contrived.
As a Nobleman was travelling in his Coach, the Roads were so extremely bad, that his Servants who were on Horseback, were forced to turn out of the High-Road into a By-Way. His Lordship came by Degrees into a Vale, where he met
with a Man on Horseback, who putting a Gun into the Coach, said to him, My Lord, this is a good Gun; ’tis worth a hundred Pieces between Friends; I would advise you to buy it. The Nobleman understood his Meaning, but being defenceless, he drew a hundred Guineas out of his Purse, which the Highwayman took, and gave him the Gun. The first Thing that my Lord did, was to present it at the Highwayman; but he told him, that he was not afraid of him; for, in short, the Gun was not charged, so that my Lord could not recover his Money.
As the Highwaymen are so artful in committing Robberies, they are much more so in escaping Justice. A Highwayman, who had also committed a Murder near London, some Years ago, rode fifty French Leagues that Day, upon the same Horse. When he came to the Place where he thought himself safe, he took out his Watch; and shewing it to the People of the Inn where he sat up, I call you to witness, said he, that at such an Hour I came hither, and I desire you to give me a Certificate of it in Writing. They gave him one accordingly, which Piece of Paper saved his Life; for when he was apprehended, his Judges being assured that he was the Murderer, were just going to condemn him, when he ask’d them, At what o’Clock the Murder was committed? The Judges having told him the Hour, How come you to think, said he, that ’twas possible for me so be guilty of the Crime of which you accuse me, when I was that very Day fifty Leagues from the Place where ’twas committed? The Judges, thinking it out of the Power of Man to be there, and so far off too, in that Time, set the Culprit at Liberty. Mean time, the President being persuaded that he was guilty, ask’d him privately how it was; and the Highwayman,
after having made him promise to keep the Secret, confessed the Fact.
I could tell you a Number of such Stories, not so much to convince you, that the English are not cruel, as to prove to you, that their Highwaymen are cunning. All the Laws here are mild, and not severe. There are no Tortures, nor are such made use of, even in Conspiracies. Nobody is condemned to die, if he be not found guilty before two Tribunals or Juries, composed of Persons who are, as near as can be, Men of equal Rank with the Party accused. The first Tribunal must consist of more than twelve Persons, but twelve is the Number by whom the Bill must be found. The second Tribunal consists precisely of twelve Jurymen, who must all be agreed in their Verdict, and be shut up together, without being allowed Victuals or Drink, till they are all of the same Opinion. There are but two Sorts of Execution known here, viz. Hanging and Beheading, of which the last is reserved only for such as are Peers of the Realm.
It seems to me, by what I have now told you, that the English are as humane, and more so, than we are, who refine upon Tortures and Executions; as if ’twere nothing to make a Man suffer, and that ’twas not enough to take that Life from him, which no Monarch in the World can prolong one Moment, much less restore to him from whom he has once taken it.
The Execution of Criminals here is a perfect Shew to the People, by Reason of the Courage with which most of ’em go to the fatal Tree. I lately saw five carried to the Gallows, who were dressed, and seemed to be as well pleased, as if they were going to a Feast. The Executions here are not performed with that terrible Apparatus as they are elsewhere. There is not that Number of
Halbardiers, nor all that Gravity, which sometimes strikes a greater Awe than the Execution itself. A Criminal goes to the Gallows here in a Cart. When he is directly under it, he is fastened to the Top of it, when a Smack of a Whip makes the Horses draw away the Cart, and the Criminal remains hanging. I am told, that his Friends or Neighbours pull him by the Feet, in order to dispatch him the sooner. They who die without Fainting, are always extolled to the Skies by the Populace, and the least of their Characters are, that they died like brave Gentlemen.