EUGENE ARAM.
The accounts of the life of this man have become of late so widely circulated, and the particulars respecting the murder of which he was the perpetrator so generally known, that any notice of him in this work would appear almost supererogatory, were it not that a charge of oversight and omission could, without injustice, be reasonably advanced against it, were we to slight over or leave unmentioned a name so notorious. We shall, therefore, give a summary of his history, commencing with an account of his family and early life, furnished by himself at the request of the two gentlemen who, at his own particular desire, attended him at his condemnation.
“I was born at Ramsgill, a little village in Netherdale, in 1704. My maternal relations had been substantial and reputable in that dale, for a great many generations: my father was of Nottinghamshire, a gardener, of great abilities in botany, and an excellent draughtsman. He served the right reverend bishop of London,Dr.Compton, with great approbation; which occasioned his being recommended to Newby, in this county, to Sir Edward Blackett, whom he served in the capacity of gardener, with much credit to himself, and satisfaction to that family, for above thirty years. Upon the decease of that baronet, he went, and wasretained in the service of Sir John Ingilby, of Ripley, Bart., where he died; respected when living, and lamented when dead. My father’s ancestors were of great antiquity and consideration in the county, and originally British. Their surname is local, for they were formerly lords of the town of Haram, or Aram, on the southern banks of the Tees, and opposite to Sockburn, in Bishopric; and appear in the records ofSt.Mary’s, at York, among many charitable names, early and considerable benefactors to that abbey. They, many centuries ago, removed from these parts, and were settled under the fee of the lords Mowbray, in Nottinghamshire, at Haram or Aram Park, in the neighborhood of Newark upon Trent; where they were possessed of no less than three knights’ fees in the reign of Edward the Third. Their lands, I find not whether by purchase or marriage, came into the hands of the present lord Lexington. While the name existed in the county, some of them were several times high sheriffs for the county; and one was professor of divinity, if I remember right, at Oxford, and died at York. The last of the chief of this family was Thomas Aram, Esq. of Gray’s inn, and one of the commissioners of the salt office, under queen Anne. He married one of the co-heiresses of Sir John Coningsby, of North Mimms, in Hertfordshire. His seat, which was his own estate, was at the Wild, near Shenley, in Hertfordshire, where I saw him, and where he died without issue.
“I was removed very young, along with my mother, to Skelton, near Newby; and thence, at five or six years old, my father making a little purchase at Bondgate, near Ripon, his family went thither. There I went to school; where I was made capable of reading the Testament, which was all I was ever taught, except, a long time after, for about a month, in a very advanced age for that, with the reverendMr.Alcock, of Burnsal.
“After this, about thirteen or fourteen years of age, I went to my father at Newby, and attended him inthe family there, till the death of Sir Edward Blackett. It was here my propensity to literature first appeared, for being always of a solitary disposition, and uncommonly fond of retirement and books, I enjoyed here all the repose and opportunity I could wish. My study at that time was engaged in the mathematics: I know not what my acquisitions were, but I am certain my application was intense and unwearied. I found in my father’s library there, which contained a very great number of books in most branches, Kersey’s Algebra, Leybourn’s Cursus Mathematicus, Ward’s Young Mathematician’s Guide, Harris’ Algebra, &c. and a great many more; but these being the books in which I was ever most conversant, I remember them the better. I was even then equal to the management of quadratic equations, and their geometrical constructions. After we left Newby, I repeated the same studies in Bondgate, and went over all parts I had studied before, I believe not altogether unsuccessfully.
“Being about the age of sixteen, I was sent for to London, being thought, upon examination byMr.Christopher Blackett, qualified to serve him as book-keeper in his counting-house. Here, after a year or two, I took the small-pox and suffered most severely under that distemper. I returned home again, and there with leisure on my hands, and a new addition of authors to those brought me from Newby, I renewed not only my mathematical studies, but began and prosecuted others, of a different turn, with much avidity and diligence. These were poetry, history, and antiquities; the charms of which quite destroyed all the heavier beauties of numbers in lines, whose applications and properties I now pursued no longer, except occasionally in teaching.
“I was, after some time employed in this manner, invited into Netherdale, my native air, where I first engaged in a school, and where, unfortunately enough for me, I married. The misconduct of the wife which that place afforded me, has procured me this prosecution, this prison, this infamy, and this sentence.
“During my marriage here, perceiving the deficiencies in my education, and sensible of my want of the learned languages, and prompted by an irresistible covetousness of knowledge, I commenced a series of studies in that way, and undertook the tediousness of the intricacies and the labor of grammar; I selected Lilly from the rest, all of which I got and repeated by heart. The task of repeating it all every day was impossible while I attended the school; so I divided it into portions; by which method it was pronounced thrice every week, and this I performed for years.
“I next became acquainted with Camden’s Greek Grammar, which I also repeated in the same manner,memoriter. Thus instructed, I entered upon the Latin classics, whose allurements repaid my assiduities and my labors. I remember to have, at first, overhung five lines for a whole day; and never, in all the painful course of my reading, left any one passage till I did, or thought I did, perfectly comprehend it.
“After I had accurately perused every one of the Latin classics, historians and poets, I went through the Greek Testament, first parsing every word as I proceeded; next I ventured upon Hesiod, Homer, Theocritus, Herodotus, Thucydides, and all the Greek tragedians: a tedious labor was this; but my former acquaintance with history lessened it extremely, because it threw light upon many passages, which without that assistance must have appeared obscure.
“In the midst of these literary pursuits a man and horse from my good friend William Norton, Esq., came for me from Knaresborough, bearing that gentleman’s letter inviting me thither; and accordingly I repaired there in some part of the year 1734, and was, I believe, well accepted and esteemed there. Here, not satisfied with my former acquisitions, I prosecuted the attainment of Hebrew, and with indefatigable diligence. I had Buxtorff’s grammar, but that being perplexed, or not explicit enough, at least in my opinion at that time, I collected no less than eight or ten different grammars and thus one very often supplied the omissions of theothers, and was, I found, of extraordinary advantage. Then I purchased the Bible in the original and read the whole Pentateuch, with an intention to go through the whole of it, which I attempted, but wanted time.
“In April, I think the 18th, 1744, I went again to London, and agreed to teach the Latin and writing, for theRev.Mr.Painblanc, in Piccadilly, which he, along with a salary, returned, by teaching me French; wherein I observed the pronunciation the most formidable part, at least to me, who had never before known a word of it. By continued application every night and every opportunity, I overcame this, and soon became a tolerable master of French. I remained in this situation two years and above.
“Some time after this I went to Hays, in the capacity of writing-master, and served a gentlewoman there, since dead; and stayed, after that, with a worthy and reverend gentleman. I continued here between three and four years. To several other places I then succeeded, and all that while used every occasion for improvement. I then transcribed acts of parliament to be registered in chancery; and after went down to the free-school at Lynn.
“From my leaving Knaresborough to this time is a long interval, which I had filled up with the farther study of history and antiquities, heraldry and botany; in the last of which I was very agreeably entertained, there being in that study so extensive a display of nature. I well knew Tournefort, Ray, Miller, Linnæus, &c. I made frequent visits to the botanic garden at Chelsea; and traced pleasure through a thousand fields: at last, few plants, domestic or exotic, were unknown to me. Amidst all this I ventured upon the Chaldee and Arabic; and, with a design to understand them, supplied myself with Erpenius, Chappelow, and others: but I had not time to obtain any great knowledge of the Arabic; the Chaldee I found easy enough, because of its connection with the Hebrew.
“I then investigated the Celtic, as far as possible, in all its dialects; began collections, and made comparisonsbetween that, the English, the Latin, the Greek, and even the Hebrew. I had made notes, and compared above three thousand of these together, and found such a surprising affinity, even beyond any expectation or conception, that I was determined to proceed through the whole of these languages, and form a comparative lexicon, which I hoped would account for numberless vocables in use with us, the Latins, and Greeks, before concealed and unobserved: this, or something like it, was the design of a clergyman of great erudition in Scotland; but it must prove abortive, for he died before he executed it, and most of my books and papers are now scattered and lost.”
Such is the account Eugene Aram has given of himself, until the commission of the fatal act that brought down upon him the execration of the world and the last vengeance of the law. Of all the crimes man is capable of committing, there is none so offensive to Omnipotence as murder; and the Almighty, therefore, seems to be more intent to expose that heinous and accursed offence to mankind; to warn and admonish them, to show them that rocks cannot hide, nor distance secure them from the inevitable consequences of the violation of that law which nature dictates and man confirms. The extraordinary means by which this murder was brought to light, is one of the many instances of this divine interposition.
Daniel Clark was born at Knaresborough, of reputable parents, where he lived and followed the business of a shoemaker. About the month of January, 1744 or 5, he married, and became possessed of property to the amount of two or three hundred pounds. He was at that time in very good credit at Knaresborough, and it is supposed a scheme was then laid by Eugene Aram, at that time a schoolmaster in the town, and one Houseman, a flax-dresser, to defraud several tradesmen of great quantities of goods and plate, Clark having been chosen as the fittest person to carry their plan into execution; for, as he then lived in very good reputation, and, moreover, was lately married, he was theperson of all others best calculated to effect the intended purpose. Accordingly, Clark for some days went about to various tradesmen in the town, and under the pretext that, as he was just married, it was not altogether irrational to suppose that cloth, and table and bed-linen, would considerably contribute to his matrimonial comfort, he took up great quantities of linen and woollen-drapery goods; the worthy dealers of Knaresborough rendering up their commodities with the greatest zeal and expedition on so interesting an occasion. After this, he went to several innkeepers and others, desiring to borrow a silver tankard of one, a nicely-worked silver pint of another, and the like, alleging that he was to have company that night, and should be glad of the use of them at supper; and in order to give a color to his story, he procured of the innkeepers (of whom he had borrowed the plate) ale and other liquors to regale his visitors.
Some suspicious circumstances, however, appearing that night and the following morning, a rumor got wind that Clark had absconded; and upon inquiry, most certainly, he was not to be found. An active search was immediately made for the goods and plate with which he had provided himself, when some part of the goods was found at Houseman’s house, and another part dug up in Aram’s garden: but as no plate could be found it was concluded, somewhat naturally, that with them Clark had decamped. The strictest inquiry was instantly set on foot to discover his retreat; persons were despatched to all parts; advertisements describing his person inserted in all the papers; but to no purpose.
Eugene Aram being suspected to be an accomplice, a process was granted against him by the steward of the honor of Knaresborough to arrest him for a debt due to aMr.Norton, with a view to detain him till such time as a warrant could be obtained from the justice of the peace to apprehend him upon that charge. To the surprise of all, however, the money was instantly paid, and moreover, at the same time, a considerablemortgage upon his house at Bondgate was also discharged. Soon afterwards, Aram left the town, and was not heard of until the month of June, 1758, when the murder of Clark being traced to him, he was found residing at Lynn.
Upwards of thirteen years after Clark’s disappearance, it happened that a laborer employed in digging for stone to supply a lime-kiln, at a place called Thistle hill, near Knaresborough, striking about half a yard and half a quarter deep, turned up an arm bone and the small bone of the leg of a human skeleton. His curiosity being excited, he carefully removed the earth round about the place, and discovered all the bones belonging to a body, presenting an appearance, from their position, as though the body had been doubled at the hips, though the bones were all perfect. This remarkable accident being rumored in the town, gave rise to a suspicion that Daniel Clark had been murdered and buried there; for no other person had been missing thereabouts for sixty years and upwards. The coroner was instantly informed, and an inquest summoned.
The wife of Eugene Aram, who had frequently before given hints of her suspicions, was now examined. From her evidence, it appeared that Clark was an intimate acquaintance of Aram’s before the 8th of February, 1744-5, and they had had frequent transactions together, and with Houseman also. About two o’clock in the morning of the 8th of February, 1744-5, Aram, Clark, and Houseman came to Aram’s house and went up stairs, where they remained about an hour. They then went out together, and Clark being the last, she observed that he had a sack or wallet on his back. About four, Aram and Houseman returned, but without their companion. “Where is Clark?” she inquired; but her husband only returned an angry look in reply, and desired her to go to bed, which she refused, and told him, “she feared he had been doing something wrong.” Aram then went down stairs with the candle, and she being desirous to know what they were doing,followed them, and from the top of the stairs heard Houseman say, “She’s coming; if she does, she’ll tell.” “What can she tell, poor simple thing?” replied Aram; “she knows nothing. I’ll hold the door to prevent her coming.” “It’s of no use, something must be done,” returned Houseman; “if she don’t split now, she will some other time.” “No, no, foolish,” her husband said; “we’ll coax her a little till her passion is off, and then”—“What!” said Houseman sullenly.—“Shoot her,” whispered Aram, “shoot her!” Mrs. Aram, hearing this discourse, became very much alarmed, but remained quiet. At seven o’clock the same morning they both left the house, and she, immediately their backs were turned, went down stairs, and observed that there had been a fire below, and all the ashes taken out of the grate. She then examined the dunghill, and perceived ashes of a different kind lying upon it, and searching amongst them, found several pieces of linen and woollen cloth very nearly burnt, which had the appearance of wearing apparel. When she returned into the house, she found a handkerchief that she had lent to Houseman the night before, and a round spot of blood upon it about the size of a shilling. Houseman came back soon afterwards, and she charged him with having done some dreadful thing to Clark; but he pretended total ignorance, and added, “she was a fool, and knew not what she said.” From these circumstances, she fully and conscientiously believed that Daniel Clark was murdered by Houseman and Eugene Aram, on the 8th of February, 1744-5.
Several other witnesses were examined, all affirming that Houseman and Eugene Aram were the last persons seen with Clark, especially on the night of the 7th of February, being that after which he was missing. Upon hearing these testimonies, Houseman, who was present, was observed to become very restless, discovering all the signs of guilt, such as trembling, turning pale, and faltering in his speech. Few men guilty of the crime of murder have the strength of heart and self-command to conceal it: by some circumstance orother, the truth will out; a look, a dream, and not unfrequently, as in this case, their own unfaithful tongue, is the involuntary agent that brings at last the blackened culprit to that punishment which unerringly awaits the man that sheds his brother’s blood. Accordingly, upon the skeleton being produced, Houseman, taking up one of the bones, dropped this most unguarded expression: “This is no more Daniel Clark’s bone than it is mine.” “What?” remarked the coroner instantly—“what?—how is this? How can you be so sure that that is not Daniel Clark’s bone?” “Because I can produce a witness,” replied Houseman, in evident confusion—“because I can produce a witness, who saw Daniel Clark upon the road two days after he was missing at Knaresborough.” This witness was instantly summoned, and stated that he had never seen Clark after the 8th of February; a friend, however, had told him (and this only had he mentioned at first) that he met some one very like Clark; but, it being a snowy day, and the person having the cape of his great coat up, he could not say with the least degree of certainty who he was. This explanation, so far from proving satisfactory, increased the suspicion against Houseman; and accordingly a warrant was issued against him, and he was apprehended and brought before William Thornton, Esq., who, examining him, elicited a full acknowledgment of the fact of his having been with Clark on the night in question, on account of some money (twenty pounds) that he had lent him, and which he wanted at the time very pressingly. He further stated, that Clark begged him to accept the value in goods, to which proposition he assented, and was necessarily, therefore, several times to and fro between Clark’s house and his own, in order to remove the goods from one to the other. When he had finished, he left Clark at Aram’s house, with another man, whom he had never seen before. Aram and Clark, immediately afterwards, followed him out of the house of the former, and the stranger was with them. They then went in the direction of the market-place,which the light of the moon enabled him to see, and he lost sight of them. He disavowed most solemnly that he came back to Aram’s house that morning with Aram and Clark, as was asserted by Mrs. Aram; nor was he with Aram, but with Clark, at the house of the former on that night, whither he only went to see Clark in order to obtain from him the note.
Being then asked if he would sign this examination, he said he would rather waive it for the present, for he might have something to add, and therefore desired to have time to consider of it. The magistrate then committed him to York castle, when, expressing a wish to explain more fully, he was again brought beforeMr.Thornton, and in his presence made the following confession:—That Daniel Clark was murdered by Eugene Aram, late of Knaresborough, a schoolmaster, and, as he believed, on Friday the 8th of February, 1744-5; for that Eugene Aram and Daniel Clark were together at Aram’s house early that morning, and that he (Houseman) left the house and went up the street a little before, and they called to him, desiring he would go a short way with them; and he accordingly went with them to a place calledSt.Robert’s cave, near Grimble bridge, where the two former stopped, and there he saw Aram strike Clark several times over the breast and head, and saw him fall as if he were dead; upon which he came away and left them; but whether Aram used any weapon or not to kill Clark, he could not tell, nor did he know what he did with the body afterwards, but believed that Aram left it at the mouth of the cave; for that, seeing Aram do this, lest he might share the same fate, he made the best of his way to the bridge-end, where, looking back, he saw Aram coming from the cave-side, (which is in a private rock adjoining the river,) and could discern a bundle in his hand, but did not know what it was: upon this he hastened away to the town, without either joining Aram or seeing him again till the next day, and from that time he had never had discourse with him. He stated, however, afterwards, that Clark’s body was buried inSt.Robert’s cave, and that he was sure it was there, but desired it might remain till such time as Aram was taken. He added further, that Clark’s head lay to the right, in the turn at the entrance of the cave.
Proper persons were instantly appointed to examineSt.Robert’s cave, when, agreeably to Houseman’s confession, the skeleton of a human body (the head lying as he had described) was found. A warrant was instantly issued to apprehend Eugene Aram, who was discovered to be living at Lynn in the capacity of usher at a school. He confessed before the magistrate that he was well acquainted with Clark, and, to the best of his remembrance, about or before the 8th of February, 1744-5, but utterly denied any participation in the frauds which Clark stood charged with at the time of his disappearance. He also declared that he knew nothing of the murder, and that the statements made by his wife were without exception false: he, however, declined to sign his examination, on the same plea preferred by Houseman, that he might recollect himself better, and lest any thing should be omitted which might afterwards occur to him. On being conducted to the castle, he desired to return, and acknowledged that he was at his own house when Houseman and Clark came to him with some plate, of which Clark had defrauded his neighbors. He could not but observe that the former was very diligent in assisting; in fact, it was altogether Houseman’s business; and there was no truth whatever in the statement that he came there to sign a note or instrument. All the leather which Clark had possessed himself of, amounting to a considerable value, was concealed under flax at Houseman’s house, with the intention of disposing of it little by little, to prevent any suspicion of his being concerned in the robbery. The plate was beaten flat inSt.Robert’s cave. At four o’clock in the morning, they, thinking that it was too late to enable Clark to leave with safety, agreed that he should stay there till the next night, and he accordingly remained there all the following day. In order, then, the better to effect hisescape, they both went down to the cave, Houseman only entering, while he watched without, lest any person should surprise them. On a sudden he heard a noise, and Houseman appeared at the mouth of the cave, and told him that Clark was gone. He had a bag with him, containing plate, which he said he had purchased of Clark, money being much more portable than such cumbersome articles. They then went to Houseman’s house, and concealed the property there, he fully believing that Clark had escaped. He never heard any thing of Clark subsequently, and was as much surprised to hear there was a suspicion of his being murdered, as that he (Eugene Aram) should be considered to be the murderer. Notwithstanding this surprise, however, his examination having been signed, he was committed with his companion to York castle, there to await the assizes.
On the third of August, 1759, they were both brought to the bar. Houseman was arraigned on the former indictment, acquitted, and admitted evidence against Aram, who was thereupon arraigned. Houseman was then called, and deposed to the same effect as that which has already appeared in his own confession. Several witnesses were called, who gave evidence as to finding several kinds of goods buried in Aram’s garden, Aram’s knowledge of the fact of Clark’s possessing two hundred pounds, and to show that they both had been seen together on the evening of the 7th of February. After which the skull was produced in court; on the left side there was a fracture, from the nature of which it was impossible to have been done but by the stroke of some blunt instrument. The skull was beaten inwards, and could not be replaced but from within. The surgeon gave it as his opinion, that no such breach could proceed from natural decay; that it was not a recent fracture made by the spade or axe by which it might have been dug up; but seemed to be of some years’ standing.
Eugene Aram’s defence, which he read, was marked with an undoubted manifestation of very considerablepowers. It was learned and argumentative; and in some passages, glowing and eloquent. He attempted to show, that no rational inference can be drawn that a person is dead who suddenly disappears;—that hermitages such asSt.Robert’s cave were the constant repositories of the bones of the recluse; that the proofs of this were well authenticated; and, that therefore the conclusion that the bones found were those of some one killed in battle, or of some ascetic, remained no less reasonably than impatiently expected by him. A verdict of guilty was however returned, and he was condemned to be hanged accordingly.
On the morning after his condemnation, he confessed the justice of his sentence to the two gentlemen who attended him, and acknowledged that he had murdered Clark. He told them, also, that he suspected Clark of having an unlawful commerce with his wife; and that at the time of the murder he felt persuaded he was acting right, but since, he had thought otherwise.[4]
It was generally believed, as he promised to make a more ample confession on the day he was executed of every thing prior to the murder, that the whole would have been disclosed; but he put an end to any farther discovery, by an attempt upon his own life. When he was called from his bed to have his chains taken off, he refused, alleging that he was very weak. On moving him, it was found that he had inflicted a severe wound upon his arm, from which the blood was flowing copiously. He had concealed a razor in the condemned hold some time before. By proper and prompt applications he was brought to himself, and though weak from loss of blood, conducted to Tyburn in York, where, being asked if he had any thing to say, he answered, “No.” He was then executed, and his body conveyed to Knaresborough Forest, and hung in chains, pursuant to his sentence.
That Eugene Aram murdered Clark is beyond all question, since we have his confession; that he committed the murder actuated by the cause he alleges, is open to great suspicion. The strange solicitude which all men, even the most vicious, manifest to leave behind a memory mingled with some little good, prompted him, doubtless, to give his crime the ennobling, or, at least, mitigatory motive to which he attributes it. Whether the perpetration of a murder can be justified, even urged by the wrong Aram states himself to have suspected, may be left to the consideration of the casuist; but whether the dreadful act can be extenuated by as deliberate and foul attack on the virtue and character of an innocent and industrious woman, whom he upon all occasions treated with infamous barbarity, is a question we can confidently leave to the judgment and moral sense of every man. That Eugene Aram was leagued with Clark and Houseman in their fraud at Knaresborough, there can be little doubt; that he plundered his unhappy victim after he had murdered him, there can be less; that no sense of domestic injury would urge a man to rob another who had wronged him after he had slain him, needs only to be mentioned to be admitted; and therefore, believing conscientiously from these facts that the charge against his wife was not maintainable, a double indignation is entailed upon the wretch who could add to the measure of his crime this gratuitous calumny.
Notwithstanding these facts and the inferences that every attentive reader must inevitably draw from them, Eugene Aram has been deemed a fit hero for a popular novel; and the execration with which he should have been consigned to posterity has been attempted to be converted into a sentimental commiseration for a gentle student who beats out his friend’s brains on philosophical principles, and converts his property to his own use purely with a view to the interests of science and the intellectual progression of the world at large.
FOOTNOTES:[4]It is generally believed, and upon good grounds, we imagine, that Aram possessed himself of all the money Clark had received for his wife’s dower, (about one hundred and sixty pounds,) and there were strong circumstances to substantiate it; but it was thought unnecessary, sufficient proof having been adduced without it.
[4]It is generally believed, and upon good grounds, we imagine, that Aram possessed himself of all the money Clark had received for his wife’s dower, (about one hundred and sixty pounds,) and there were strong circumstances to substantiate it; but it was thought unnecessary, sufficient proof having been adduced without it.
[4]It is generally believed, and upon good grounds, we imagine, that Aram possessed himself of all the money Clark had received for his wife’s dower, (about one hundred and sixty pounds,) and there were strong circumstances to substantiate it; but it was thought unnecessary, sufficient proof having been adduced without it.