It is a melancholy consideration that there is not some mode of restraining this vice, either by castration, or some other cogent preventative, without waiting for the completion of the offence, which enacts the penalty of death:—the moment it is discovered that the purposes of our creation are defeated, and that nature revolts from the ordinances of God, existence is uselessly lavished upon a being, more unworthy animation than a mandrake. To eradicate this evil, should Divine Vengeance resist to another fire, let the people of England devoutly pray, that the flames may extend to the Brimstonic part of Attornies, whose crimes cry equally loud for sulphurous purification.
That the reader may form some idea of the uncontrolable rage of this dreadful passion, Cook states, that a person in a respectable house in the city, frequently came to his sink of filth and iniquity, and stayed several days and nights together; during which time he generally amused himself with eight, ten, and sometimes a dozen different boys and men!—There can be no doubt of the truth of this assertion, for an explanation took place before some of the parties connected with him in business, when Cook sent to the house for a bill that the wretch owed him. It is said that this animal is now in a mad-house; which, in my apprehension, is the natural consequence of transactions which can only be produced by a temporary insanity.
In contemplating this calamitous vice, a charitable disposition would lead us to believe that it is the effect of a dreadful malignant malady, that assumes such an irresistible dominion over the faculties, that neither religion, philosophy, or the fear of death, can resist. Before I could give credit to a twentieth part of the account transmitted to me, I waited till Cook was discharged from his imprisonment, and then interrogated him, with all the art and force of reason that I was master of, as to the truth of his relation, more especially the identity of the persons whose names he mentioned; stating to him, that even an insinuation of so foul an imputation against an innocent man, would inevitably consign him to an infinitely worse punishment than that he had already suffered: but his answers were such, as left me no excuse to doubt the truth; and notwithstanding my full conviction upon the subject, I have not ventured to fasten the odium upon any respectable character, leaving a disclosure of that nature to be extorted from the parties themselves in a Court of Justice:—nor would I have sullied the idea of manhood with this history of human depravity upon the bare assertion of any man, or any ten men, who were within the possibility of being induced by some purpose to fabricate such an abominable story; but the statement of Cook cannot be subject to any such misrepresentation, for it is matter of record:—thirty of the parties he describes to be the constant frequenters of the house were apprehended by the Police officers, and that on a Sunday evening; they were all examined by the Magistrates, and their guilt established, though in different degrees: and the dreadful shocking consequences of their conviction ended in the execution of a sentence so disgraceful to humanity, so contrary to the punishment awarded by the laws of England, that the foulest page in the history of savage ferocity must blush at the relation of that ruffianly scene of human degradation; a scene that never could have disgraced the streets of London but in the Sheriffalty of Mr. Matthew Wood; and never can happen again, until Sheriffs and Pillories are made of the same materials.
Cook, under an idea that it would procure him a remission of the pillory, was desirous of disclosing the names of a great number of persons involved in the transactions: and a meeting took place, at the Secretary of State’s Office, upon the subject; but which produced no other effect, than an order to put Cook in the Pillory the next day, which was accordingly done; and, upon his return to Newgate, Suter, the head turnkey, said to him, “Cook, it was not intended you should have come back alive!”—There can be no doubt but that the Turnkey’s apprehensions were well founded.
It seems that Alderman Plomer, one of the Sheriffs who succeeded Messrs. Atkins and Wood, heard of the attempt made at the Secretary of States; and wishing to be satisfied of these facts, went to Cook in Newgate several times, and had him into the keeper’s parlour, where he conversed with him on the subject;—and on receiving a list of the names the Sheriff assured him that he had no hope of any remission of his sentence whatever, for he had offended persons too powerful to contend with; but that at the expiration of his imprisonment he would endeavour to do something for him; and befriend him;—but the Sheriff died before Cook’s time was out. Whatever my own opinion may be respecting the situation in life of the parties who opposed the remission of the sentence, or however well founded that opinion may be, I do not think myself safe in giving it publicity: I shall, therefore, only observe that it is an illustration of the old trite saying, the truth is not at all times to be spoken, nor indeed in all places!
Having stated sufficient to lay the foundation of an inquiry in a Court of Justice into the truth of Cook’s relation, I shall in this place only ask a few questions of the parties implicated; and that, too, without raising a pretence to prate about libels: in doing which it may be sufficient only to enlarge upon a sagacious and judicious remark of a worthy Magistrate, viz. How came a man of fortune and fashion to such a house?—I, therefore, shall repeat the question—What possible business could a man of rank, or respectable merchant, or clergyman, or any other man in the character of a gentleman, have, or what reasonable excuse can he make, for such frequent attendance at a low, dirty public house, in the filthy avenues of Clare Market—the common and exclusive resort of the persons I have described: and that, too, on a Sunday, which was the general, and grand day of rendezvous! and to render their excuse the more entangled and doubtful, some of the parties came a great distance, even so much as thirty miles, to join the festivity and elegant amusements of grenadiers, footmen, waiters, drummers, and all the Catamite brood, kneaded into human shape, from the sweepings of Sodom, with the spawn of Gomorrah.
It may naturally be supposed that this vice is more expensive than any other, and is the vortex that engulphs the property of men, whose acquaintance are astonished at the mode of their getting rid of their fortunes. I remember a man, who had a place of great emolument, a considerable sum of ready money, and thirty thousand pounds, the fortune of an ill-fated woman whom he married; all of which vanished, without a trace of its destination;—he was reduced to the necessity of continually raising small sums by the most unworthy means: but I am now satisfied of the means by which he squandered away his property.—I think he is dead, as I observe another gentleman filling his situation; his memory and his crimes shall never be disturbed by me: and there cannot be any doubt but that many men under the same circumstances are brought to beggary by similar pursuits.
The reader will recollect that I declared myself an advocate for the oppressed of every description; a declaration I shall elucidate in the close of these pages, and which will be found to originate in Cook’s anxiety to expose the parties implicated in the atrocious scenes related: and it must be lamented, that in this instance, as in all others where indigence has to combat with wealth, this man has raised a host of powerful enemies; for there is scarcely any description of men, but some individual is comprehended in the associates of this vice; even men in the sacerdotal garb have descended from the pulpit to the gully-hole of breathing infamy in Vere-street, and other places for similar vice: but I must spare myself and my readers the ungracious task of pursuing, in detail, circumstances that almost chill the blood to think of, and afflict me with the same sensation that a crimping knife on my side would create.—I will therefore briefly consider the origin and progress of this crime, which is so detestable, that the law of England blushes to name it; and in all legal process, treats it as a crime not fit to be named among Christians; a silence, which is also preserved by the edict of Constantius, and others. Indeed, the express law of God dooms the offender to death; and of the verity of this Divine declaration we have a signal instance, long before the Jewish dispensation, by the destruction of two cities by fire from heaven, so that this is a universal, and not a provincial or local precept; and our ancient laws seem implicitly to have followed this divine decree, by commanding such miscreants to be burnt to death; though Fleta says they should be buried alive:—both these punishments were inflicted by the ancient Goths.
Reading a foreign history, the locality of which I do not remember, I found the description of another punishment, called the Embrace;—which put an end to the criminal’s existence, by a machine constructed in the form of a beautiful woman, and so contrived, that the miserable victim was pressed to death by being folded in her arms. This crime, however detestable, has certainly spread itself, and tainted the whole face of the creation; and it is an erroneous notion entertained by the people of this country, that it is tolerated in Italy, and some parts of the continent; for the laws against it are pretty general in every country, though, perhaps, like ours, they relax in the necessary severity.
The Arabs, indeed, make very light of the offence, especially when committed with a beast; the Mahometans, also, are much addicted to the crime, (at least by the testimony of some travellers); yet I cannot see how that agrees with the account they give of the Upas tree of Java, which they affirm sprung up as a punishment for that sin; as appears by the following passage in the new Alcoran.