ago; several Saws and Instruments proper for such a Design being found about his Bed. He is since confined in an Apartment called the Stone Room, kept close, and sufficiently Loaded with Irons to prevent his Designs for the future." Defoe had probably no intercourse with Sheppard until shortly before the escape from the Condemned Hold, on the evening of the 31st of August; an event which seems to have electrified the whole of the Metropolis. I have no doubt that, as Mr. Applebee, Defoe visited Sheppard after his condemnation; and seconded the efforts of the reverend Ordinary to impress his mind with a proper sense of religion. I come to this conclusion from the fact that the prisoner seems never to have known Defoe by any other name. Five days after his escape, he wrote a Letter to the Hangman, to which he added as a postscript, "Pray my Service to Mr. Ordinary, and Mr. Applebee." Defoe went immediately to Newgate after the escape, examined the place, enquired into the particulars, and published an account of the transaction in Applebee's Journal of the 5th of September.

From this time, to the 16th of November,-when he was executed, Sheppard and his exploits, were in everybody's thoughts; and the theme of conversation,-in the palace, the drawing-room, the Courts of Law, the Coffee-houses, the Exchange, and the markets;-in the Streets, by the firesides of rich and poor, and in the haunts of the houseless and criminal population. Applebee's Journal contains no less than sixteen articles respecting him, and every other Newspaper and Journal, a like proportion. He was recaptured at Finchley on the 10th of September, and the same evening was visited by a Divine and several Gentlemen, to whom he related his escape, and his adventures afterward. I have little doubt that Defoe was one of these, as a full account of the same by him was printed in Applebee's Journal of the 12th. This Account is continued, in the most graphic manner, in the Journal of the following week. During these interviews Defoe obtained the information and materials for a pamphlet; but, while it was in the hands of the printers, Sheppard outdid all his former exploits, by his escape from the Castle of Newgate, through six strong Rooms, over the top of the Gaol, and thence to the roof of a house, from which he passed into the street, and obtained his

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385

liberty. The relation of this, in Applebee's Journal of the 17th of October, is much more circumstantial than that of any of the other Papers, and was evidently written after an examination of the premises.

On the 19th of October, the pamphlet above referred to was published, entitled, "The History of the remarkable Life of JOHN SHEPPARD; containing a Particular Account of his many Robberies and Escapes, &c. &c. Including his last Escape from the Castle at Newgate. London. Printed and Sold by John Applebee, in Black fryers. 1724. Price one Shilling." This publication, having been already in the press, could contain no further reference to the last Escape than the bare mention thereof. The Journal of the following Saturday published a long sensational Advertisement of the book, which passed through three editions in as many weeks. The following, from Applebee's Journal of October 31st, is important, as showing, that some person connected with Applebee was well acquainted with Sheppard's handwriting; that it was one who had won, equally with the clergyman mentioned, the affectionate esteem of the culprit; that there had been an arrangement for a further publication, of the nature of a Dying Speech; and the postscript proves, that notwithstanding the apparent cheerfulness of the writer, he had fears that he would be recaptured, in which case, he still wished the person whom he called Mr. Applebee, to write an Account that should be published immediately after his death:-" The following Letter was brought on Saturday last, (Oct. 24,) about Eleven o'clock, to Mr. Applebee's House in Black-Fryers, by a Person like an Ostler; and is well known to be in the Hand-Writing of John Sheppard. The Original whereof is now to be seen at Mr. Applebee's.

"MR. APPLEBEE,

"This with my Kind Love to you, and pray give my Kind Love to Mr. Wagstaff; hoping these lines will find you in good Health, as I am at present; but I must own you are the Loser for want of my Dying Speech; But to make up your Loss, if you think this Sheet worth your while, pray make the best of it. Though they do say that I am taking among the Smugglers, and put in Dover Castle, yet I hope

VOL. I.

C C

I am among Smugglers still. So no more, but

Servant,

your humble

"JOHN SHEPpard.

"And I desire you would be the Post Man to my last Lodging. "So farewell now, I quit the English Shore. "Newgate Farewell."

Then follows, a Letter to Mr. Austin, the Keeper of Newgate, and a copy of Verses composed and subscribed by Sheppard.

The wretched fugitive, who had displayed so much ingenuity and perseverance in obtaining his liberty, exhibited no prudence in preserving it; and was therefore again apprehended on the 31st of October, reconveyed to his old lodgings in Newgate, and loaded with 300 pounds weight of iron. Defoe gives a very characteristic account of all the details, in Applebee's Journal of the 7th of November, concluding,-"On Monday last, several Noblemen and Persons of Distinction went to Newgate to see the famous John Sheppard. We hear that his Majesty has been pleased to send for the two Prints of Sheppard, shewing the Manner of his being chained to the Floor in the Castle of Newgate, and describing the Manner in which he made his Escape from thence on the 15th of October.” The Papers all give accounts of the great numbers of people of rank crowding to see the prisoner; and the British Journal says that in the first week of November, the Keepers of Newgate received above two Hundred Pounds as presents. Sir James Thornhill, the King's History Painter, took a full-length draught of him. Hogarth also went and painted his portrait; while Defoe was engaged in committing to writing the substance of a more complete account than that previously published; and which should be brought down to the end of his life.

On the 10th of November, Sheppard was taken to Westminster for legal identification, before he could be executed; and Applebee's Journal, of the following Saturday, gives an admirably vivid account, by our author, of the whole proceedings. I cannot resist quoting two or three sentences, which seem to set the peculiarities of Sheppard's natural disposition before the reader; combining a strange admixture of childish simplicity, vanity, tender-heartedness, and even religious feeling,

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with total inability to resist evil. Being asked by the Judges, "how he came to repeat his Crimes after his Escapes, he pleaded Youth and Ignorance, and withal his Necessities; saying he was afraid of every Child and Dog that looked at him, as being closely pursued; and had no opportunity to obtain his Bread in an honest Way." The Judges were incredulous as to the possibility of his last Escape without treacherous connivance, and held out to him hope of his Majesty's clemency, if he would confess who assisted him. "He averred, that he had not the least Assistance from any Person, but God Almighty." He seems indeed to have thought that the ease with which he could liberate himself, extenuated, if it did not justify, what he had done. "He told the Court, that if they would let his Handcuffs be put on, he, by his Art, would take them off, before their Faces."

On the above occasion, and also that of his Execution on Monday the 16th Nov., the crowds of people in the streets of London were said to have been greater than had ever been known, and many persons were seriously injured. The following remarkable circumstance is stated to have occurred at the place of execution:-" Before Sheppard's death, he sent for Mr. Applebee, a printer, into the Cart, and, in view of several thousands of People, delivered to him a Pamphlet, entitled, A Narrative of all his Robberies and Escapes." Read's Journal says, "At the place of Execution he behaved very gravely, spoke very little, gave a Paper to a Friend; and, after some small Time allow'd for Devotion, he was turned off." It must be admitted that something of the kind took place; but it can scarcely be doubted that any person connected with Read's Journal must have personally known Mr. Applebee, and would have given his name, had he been there. Applebee's Journal is entirely silent upon the subject, and yet such an occurrence was certainly a striking advertisement of the work Defoe had written, which was actually in print at the time,—and the whole edition sold off the following day. He to whom the Paper was given was the person whom Sheppard knew as Mr. Applebee, and from what has been already stated, the conclusion seems to be, that this formal delivery of the document, professedly written by Sheppard, into the hands of its real author, was a preconcerted arrangement, gratifying to the vanity

of the departing malefactor; and a compliance, on the part of Defoe, with the request, "I desire you would be the Postman to my last Lodging."

The pamphlet in question is entitled, " A Narrative of all the Robberies, Escapes, &c., of JOHN SHEPPARD: Giving an Exact Description of the manner of his wonderful Escape from the CASTLE in Newgate, and of the Methods he took afterwards for his Security. Written by himself during his Confinement in the Middle Stone Room, after his being retaken in Drury Lane. To which is Prefix'd, a true Representation of his Escape from the Condemn'd Hold, curiously engraven on a Copper Plate. The whole Publish'd at the particular Request of the Prisoner. London: Printed and sold by John Applebee, a little below Bridewell Bridge in Black-Fryers. 1724. Price Six Pence." The rapidity with which this book sold is probably unparalleled. On the 21st of November, only five days after the Execution, the fifth Edition was published, and it reached a seventh Edition on the 12th of December. It is now exceedingly rare, but the British Museum contains a copy of the third Edition.

Notwithstanding the length of this notice, I cannot quit the above pamphlet, without a few remarks on the natural and simple manner in which the whole story is related. There is such an air of candour and truthfulness, pervading all the details of the most minute circumstances, as only Defoe could impart to any narrative, whether real or imaginary. This is especially the case in the description of the last Escape from Newgate; in relating which, his mind seems to linger with a feeling of gratitude towards the Iron Bar " of about two feet and a half in length, and an inch square," which did him so good service; and he pronounces it "a most notable Implement." The relation of this part is told with the same spirit as the ingenious and successful contrivances of Crusoe; and the attention of the reader is so concentrated, as to lose sight of the Criminal, and to think only of the Man, struggling for liberty and life. Throughout the story there is perceptible, continuous alternations of mind, between expressions of sincere penitence dictated by conscience; and the irrepressible vanity of his exploits, which was a predominant feature of his character. The following illustrates these changes:-" Blue