The Monster was even made a party to Anti-slavery agitation, for at the Westminster Forum in Panton Street, Haymarket, "by desire of several ladies," was debated the question: "Which is the greater disgrace to humanity, the ruffian who drags the female African from her family, her kindred, and her native country, or the Monster who has lately wounded, or terrified, many ladies in this metropolis?" The result of this discussion is not handed down to posterity.
Still the Monster kept steadily at his work, and almost every day brought its tale of some woman being stabbed: and, one being injured in St. Pancras Parish, a meeting of the inhabitants was called at the Percy Coffee House, on May 7th, and an association was formed "to nightly patrol the streets of the south division of Saint Pancras, from half-an-hour before sunset, till eleven at night, for the public safety, and especially to guard that sex which a Monster, or Monsters, in opposition to the dictates of nature, and humanity, have dared to assault, and wound, with wanton, and savage, cruelty."
The idea that these outrages were not done single-handed, was on the increase, and the indefatigable Mr. Angerstein again issued a placard, and "informs the public, that from information he has received of the person who, since Friday last, has assaulted and wounded several women, there is great reason to fear that more than one of these wretches infests the streets: it is therefore thought necessary to give the following description of one, who, within this week, has committed many acts of cruelty upon women," and gives four descriptions of the man's dress, which would lead to the inference that the Monster was in possession of a very extensive wardrobe.
People were now gradually getting into a state of ferment, and the Monster was the engrossing topic of public interest. Of course, then as now, the wrong people were arrested occasionally. One "Walter Hill, was brought before the Magistrate at Litchfield Street on suspicion of being one of the wretches who have cut several women; he was apprehended in Windmill Street, Tottenham Court Road, near the place where two women were cut, though Miss Porter, and several other ladies, declared the prisoner was not the person who wounded them." Nothing could be proved against him, and, ultimately, he was discharged.
Even the light-fingered fraternity entered into the spirit of the times, for The World of May 11th has—"Public Office, Bow St., before Sir Sampson Wright. Yesterday evening, about half after seven o'clock, a gentleman of family and fortune, was surrounded in Holborn by a number of pickpockets, who, after hustling him, and robbing him of his watch, money, and hat, called out: 'That is the Monster, he has just cut a woman.' A vast number of people immediately pursued the gentleman, some calling 'The Monster!' others, 'Stop thief,' till at length he was knocked down, and surrounded by near a thousand people, by whom he was very ill-treated, and, probably, would not have escaped with life, had he not been, by some gentleman, taken into Gray's Inn Coffee House; from whence he was conveyed to the Brown Bear, in Bow Street, in a hackney-coach; where the mob were so exasperated that they broke the windows of the house, and, could they have got at him, would, no doubt, have massacred him: by stratagem he was, at nine o'clock, brought to this office. When the above facts appeared, Sir Sampson Wright lamented that it was not in his power to punish the perpetrators of this daring, and alarming, assault, but did all he could, by giving that gentleman his protection until the mob dispersed."
Accounts of mock assaults were written to the papers, one of them extremely circumstantial, telling how a courageous lady drew a pistol "from her pocket and discharged it into the wretch's neck, immediately under the ear, who instantly left her, uttering the most dreadful imprecations." This, it is needless to say, was denied, and exposed next morning.
Imposture, of course, took advantage of such a golden opportunity, and we find that "the account which appeared in all the newspapers of Miss B. of Marylebone Street, having been twice wounded by the Monster, proves to be a fabrication, for the purpose of exciting compassion, and money, and has, in some degree, answered the purpose. The above discovery has been made, by an investigation of this business, by the Select Vestry of Marylebone Parish. This is a new kind of Monster!"
The Oracle of May 17th tells the following little story:—"Tuesday, about nine o'clock, as Mr. Heather was crossing Tower Hill, he observed a well-dressed woman upon the ground: when he went to her, she said a very tall man had just wounded her with some sharp instrument, and begged his assistance to get to the Minories to a coach, which he readily complied with, upon observing blood in several places upon her gown and apron. However, the coach had not been gone ten minutes, before he found she had picked his pocket of his watch, and about three guineas."
Although there was now a cessation of real attacks by the Monster, the public feeling rose to very fever height. As one newspaper remarked: "The Monster is now a mischief of more than common magnitude. Inhuman himself, the villainy is visited upon all who are of the same sex: alike the source of apprehension, terror, and flight. It is really distressing to walk our streets towards evening. Every woman we meet regards us with distrust, shrinks sidling from our touch, and expects a poignard to pierce what gallantry, and manhood, consider as sacred. There must be a very criminal supineness somewhere, or these execrable villains would, with greater speed, expiate with their lives, the insulted humanity of being."
As an example of the pitch to which the excitement was wrought, the following case may be taken. A man met a girl, and went with her into a public-house. They sat down, and he showed her an artificial bouquet, or nosegay, as it was then called, which he had in his hand, and begged her to accept it. The girl, in taking hold of it, felt something prick her, and it made her hand bleed. She went away, and told the story to some of her friends, who immediately insisted that it must be the Monster, and that a dagger was certainly concealed in the nosegay. The man was in consequence arrested, and kept all night in the watch-house. On enquiry in the morning, it was found that the girl's hand had only been pricked by the wire used to bind the flowers together, and the poor man was, of course, discharged.