Eugene Aram
Eugene Aram
Thelife of this man is fraught with deep interest, and affords a striking moral. Though born in humble circumstances, and therefore only provided with the means of a narrow education, by the force of talent and industry he improved his mind and made himself master of a wide field of knowledge.
His station was now respectable in the eyes of the world, and he had all the requisite means to ensure happiness. One thing, only, did he lack; yet, that thing which is necessary to the preservation of every earthly good—virtue. In an evil hour he was tempted to the commission of a horrid crime. Though this was shielded by darkness; though years rolled away without suspicion or detection; though a fair outside was carefully preserved; though he left the scene of his depravity, and doubtless believed he had forever buried his guilt in oblivion—still the All-seeing Eye was upon him, and He who rules over events, as if to show how vain is human ingenuity in attempting to shelter the murderer, at last brought him to justice. On his trial he displayed wonderful powers of reasoning, but even these, now, only served to heighten his guilt in the eyes of mankind. How short-sighted is the man who attempts to attain happiness by unlawful means; which, even if successful, must make every cup of life bitter as gall; and, if unsuccessful, must bring judgment, and agony, and shame.
During the confinement of this remarkable person on the charge of murder, he wrote an account of his own life, from which we learn that one of his ancestors had been high sheriff of Yorkshire, in the reign of king Edward the third; but the family, having been gradually reduced, his father occupied a humble station in life. The son, however, was sent to a school near Ripon, where he perfected himself in writing and arithmetic, and then went to London to officiate as clerk to a merchant.
After a residence of two years in town, he was seized with the small-pox, which left him in so weak a condition, that he went back to Yorkshire for the recovery of his health. On his recovery, he found it necessary to do something for immediate subsistence; and, accordingly engaged himself as usher to a boarding-school; but, not having been taught the learned languages in his youth, he was obliged to supply by industry what he had failed to obtain from neglect. Thus, while teaching writing and arithmetic, by employing all his leisure hours in the most intense study, he at length became an excellent Greek and Latin scholar. In the year 1734, he engaged to officiate as steward of an estate belonging to Mr. Norton, of Knaresborough; and while in this station he acquired a competent knowledge of the Hebrew. At this period he married, but was far from being happy in his matrimonial connection.
We shall now relate the circumstances which led to the commission of the crime which cost Aram his life. DanielClarke, a shoemaker at Knaresborough, after being married a few days, circulated a report that his wife was entitled to a considerable fortune, which he should soon receive. Hereupon, Aram and Richard Houseman, conceiving hopes of making advantage of this circumstance, persuaded Clarke to make an ostentatious show of his own riches, to induce his wife’s relations to give him that fortune of which he had boasted.
Clarke was easily induced to comply with a hint so agreeable to his own desires; on which he borrowed and bought on credit, a large quantity of silver plate, with jewels, watches, rings, &c. He told the persons of whom he purchased, that a merchant in London had sent him an order to buy such plate for exportation; and no doubt was entertained of his credit till his sudden disappearance in February, 1745, when it was imagined that he had gone abroad or to London, to dispose of his ill-acquired property.
When Clarke was possessed of these goods, Aram and Houseman determined to murder him, in order to share the booty; and on the night of the 8th of February, 1745, they persuaded Clarke to walk with them in the fields, in order to consult with them on the proper method to dispose of the effects.
On this plan they walked into a field, at a small distance from the town, by the name ofSt.Robert’s Cave. When they came into this field, Aram and Clarke went over a hedge towards the cave, and when they had got within six or seven yards of it, Houseman (by the light of the moon) saw Aram strike Clarke several times, and at length beheld him fall, but never saw him afterwards. This was the state of the affair, if Houseman’s testimony on the trial is to be credited.
The murderers, going home, shared Clarke’s ill-gotten treasure, the half of which Houseman concealed in his garden for a twelvemonth, and then took it to Scotland, where he sold it. In the mean time Aram carried his share to London, where he sold it to a Jew, and then engaged himself as an usher at an academy in Piccadilly; where, in the intervals of his duty in attending to scholars, he made himself master of the French language, and acquired some knowledge of Arabic and other eastern tongues.
After this he was usher at other schools in different parts of the kingdom; but as he did not correspond with his friends in Yorkshire, it was presumed that he was dead. The sudden disappearance of Clarke had long been forgotten; but, in the year 1758, as a man was digging for limestone nearSt.Robert’s Cave, he found the bones of a human body, and a conjecture hereupon arose that they were the remains of Clarke, who, it was now presumed, might have been murdered.
Houseman, having been seen in company with Clarke a short time before his disappearance, was apprehended on suspicion; and, on his examination, giving but too evident signs of his guilt, he was committed to York castle. The bones of the deceased being shown to him, he denied that they were those of Clarke, but directed to the precise spot where he said they were deposited, and where they were accordingly found. The skull, being fractured, was preserved, to be produced in evidence on the trial.
Soon after Houseman was committed to the castle of York, it was discovered that Aram lived at Lynn, in Norfolk; on which, a warrant was granted for taking him into custody; and, being apprehended while instructing some young gentlemen at a school, he was conveyed to York, and likewise committed to the castle. At the Lent assizes following, the prosecutors were not ready withtheir evidence; on which he was remanded till the summer assizes, when he was brought to trial.
When Houseman had given his evidence respecting this extraordinary affair, and all such collateral testimony had been taken as could be adduced on such an occasion, Aram was called on for his defence; but, having foreseen that the perturbation of his spirits would incapacitate him to make such a defence without previous preparation, he had written the following, which, by permission, he read incourt:—
“My Lord:—I know not whether it is of right, or through some indulgence of your lordship, that I am allowed the liberty at this bar to attempt a defence, incapable and uninstructed as I am, to speak. Since, while I see so many eyes upon me, so numerous and awful a concourse, fixed with attention, and filled with—I know not what expectancy, I labor not with guilt, my lord, but with perplexity. For having never seen a court but this—being wholly unacquainted with law—the customs of the bar, and all judiciary proceedings, I fear I shall be so little capable of speaking with propriety in this place, that it exceeds my hope if I shall be able to speak at all.
“I have heard, my lord, the indictment read, wherein I find myself charged with the highest crime—with an enormity which I am altogether incapable of—to the commission of which, there goes far more insensibility of heart, more profligacy of morals, than ever fell to my lot. And nothing possibly could have admitted a presumption of this nature, but a depravity not inferior to that imputed to me. However, as I stand indicted at your lordship’s bar, and have heard what is called evidence adduced in support of such a charge, I very humbly solicit your lordship’s patience, and beg the hearing of this respectable audience, while I, single and unskilful—destitute of friends, and unassisted by counsel, say something perhaps like argument in my defence. I shall consume but little of your lordship’s time. What I have to say, will be short, and this brevity, probably, will be the best part of it; however, it is offered with all possible regard, and the greatest submission to your lordship’s consideration, and that of this honorable court.
“First, my lord, the whole tenor of my conduct in life contradicts every particular of this indictment. Yet, I had never said this, did not my present circumstances extort it from me, and seem to make it necessary. Permit me here, my lord, to call upon malignity itself, so long and cruelly busied in this prosecution, to charge upon me any immorality of which prejudice was not the author. No, my lord, I concerted no scheme of fraud; projected no violence, injured no man’s person or private property; my days were honestly laborious, my nights intensely studious. And I humbly conceive my notice of this, especially at this time, will not be thought impertinent or unseasonable, but at least deserving some attention; because, my Lord, that any person, after a temperate use of life, a series of thinking and acting regularly, without one single deviation from sobriety, should plunge into the very depth of profligacy, precipitately, and at once, is altogether improbable and unprecedented, and absolutely inconsistent with the course of things. Mankind is never corrupted at once; villany is always progressive, and declines from right, step after step, till every regard of probity is lost, and every sense of all moral obligation totally perishes.
“Again, my lord, a suspicion of this kind, which nothing but malevolence could entertain and ignorance propagate, is violently opposed by my very situation at that time, with respect to health; for, but a little space before, I was confined tomy bed, and suffered under a very long and severe disorder, and was not able, for half a year together, so much as to walk. The distemper left me, indeed, yet slowly and in part; but so macerated, so enfeebled, that I was reduced to crutches; and so far from being well about the time I am charged with the fact, that I never, to this day, have perfectly recovered. Could then a person in this condition, take anything into his head so extravagant? I, past the vigor of my age, feeble and valetudinary, with no inducement to engage, with no ability to accomplish, no weapon wherewith to perpetrate such a feat; without interest, without power, without motive, without means.
“Besides, it must need occur to every one, that an action of this atrocious nature is never heard of, but, when its springs are laid open, it appears that it was to support some indolence, or supply some luxury; to satisfy some avarice, or oblige some malice; to prevent some real or some imaginary want: yet I lay not under the influence of any of these. Surely, my lord, I may, consistently with both truth and modesty, affirm this much; and none who have any veracity, and know me, will ever question it.
“In the second place, the disappearance of Clarke is suggested as an argument of his being dead; but the uncertainty of such an inference from that, and the fallibility of all conclusions of such a sort, from such a circumstance, are too obvious and too notorious, to require instances; yet, superseding many, permit me to procure a very recent one, and that afforded by this castle.
“In June, 1757, William Thompson, for all the vigilance of this place, in open day-light, and double-ironed, made his escape; and, notwithstanding an immediate inquiry set on foot, the strictest search and all advertisement, was never seen or heard of since. If, then, Thompson got off unseen through all these difficulties, how very easy was it for Clarke, when none of them opposed him? But what would be thought of a prosecution commenced against any one seen last with Thompson?
“Permit me next, my lord, to observe a little upon the bones which have been discovered. It is said, which perhaps is saying very far, that these are the skeleton of a man. It is possible, indeed, they may; but is there any certain criterion, which incontestably distinguishes the sex in human bones? Let it be considered, my lord, whether the ascertaining this point ought not to precede any attempt to identify them.
“The place of their depositum, too, claims much more attention than is commonly bestowed upon it; for of all places in the world none could have mentioned any one, wherein there was greater certainty of finding human bones than a hermitage, except he should point out a church-yard; hermitages, in times past, being not only places of religious retirement, but of burial too. And it has scarce or never been heard of, but that every cell now known, contains or contained these relics of humanity, some mutilated and some entire. I do not inform, but give me leave to remind your lordship, that here sat solitary sanctity, and here the hermit or the anchoress, who hoped for that repose to their bones, when dead, which they here enjoyed when living.
“All the while, my lord, I am sensible this is known to your lordship and many in this court, better than to me. But it seems necessary to my case, that others who have not at all, perhaps, adverted to things of this nature, and may take an interest in my trial, should be made acquainted with it. Suffer me, then, my lord, to produce a few of many evidences, that these cells were used as repositories of the dead, and to enumeratea few in which human bones have been found, as it happened in this question; lest to some that accident might seem extraordinary, and, consequently, occasion prejudice.
“1st. The bones, as was supposed of the Saxon,St.Dubritius, were discovered buried in his cell, at Guy’s Cliff, near Warwick, as appears from the authority of Sir William Dugdale.
“2d.The bones, thought to be those of the anchoress Rosia, were but lately discovered in a cell at Royston, entire, fair, and undecayed, though they must have lain interred for several centuries, as is proved by Dr. Stukeley.
“3d.But my own country, nay, almost this neighborhood, supplies another instance, for, in January, 1747, were found, by Mr. Stovin, accompanied by a reverend gentleman, the bones in part of some recluse, in the cell at Lindholm, near Hatfield. They were supposed to be those of William of Lindholm, a hermit, who had long made this cave his habitation.
“4th. In February, 1744, part of Woburn abbey being pulled down, a large portion of a corpse appeared, even with the flesh on, which bore cutting with a knife; though it is certain this had lain above two hundred years, and how much longer is doubtful; for the abbey was founded in 1145, and dissolved in 1538 or 39.
“What would have been said, what believed, if this had been an accident to the bones in question?
“Farther, my lord, it is not yet out of living memory, that a little distance from Knaresborough, in a field, part of the manor of the worthy and patriotic baronet who does that borough the honor to represent it in parliament, were found, in digging for gravel, not one human skeleton only, but five or six, deposited side by side, with each an urn placed at its head, as your lordship knows was usual in ancient interments.
“About the same time, and in another field, almost close to this borough, was discovered also, in searching for gravel, another human skeleton; but the piety of the same worthy gentleman ordered both pits to be filled up again, commendably unwilling to disturb the dead.
“Is the invention of these bones forgotten, then, or industriously concealed, that the discovery of those in question may appear the more singular and extraordinary? whereas, in fact, there is nothing extraordinary in it. My lord, almost every place conceals such remains. In fields, in hills, in highway sides, in commons, lie frequent and unsuspected bones. And our present allotments for rest for the departed, are but of some centuries.
“Another particular seems not to claim a little of your lordship’s notice, and that of the gentlemen of the jury; which is, that perhaps no example occurs of more than one skeleton being found in one cell; and in the cell in question was found but one; agreeable, in this, to the peculiarity of every other known cell in Britain. Not the invention of one skeleton, but of two, would have appeared suspicious and uncommon.
“But it seems another skeleton has been discovered by some laborer, which was full as confidently averred to be Clarke’s as this. My lord, must some of the living, if it promotes some interest, be made answerable for all the bones that earth has concealed, and chance exposed? and might not a place where bones lay, be mentioned by a person by chance, as well as found by a laborer by chance? or is it more criminal accidentally to name where bones lie, than accidentally to find where they lie?
“Here, too, is a human skull produced, which is fractured; but was this the cause, or was it the consequence of death? wasit owing to violence, or was it the effect of natural decay? If it was violence, was it before or after death? My lord, in May, 1732, the remains of William, lord archbishop of this province, were taken up, by permission, in this cathedral, and the bones of the skull were found broken; yet certainly he died by no violence offered to him alive, that could occasion that fracture there.
“Let it be considered, my lord, that upon the dissolution of religious houses, and the commencement of the reformation, the ravages of those times affected both the living and the dead. In search after imaginary treasures, coffins were broken up, graves and vaults dug open, monuments ransacked, and shrines demolished; and it ceased about the beginning of the reign of queen Elizabeth. I entreat your lordship, suffer not the violences, the depredations, and iniquities of those times to be imputed to this.
“Moreover, what gentleman is ignorant that Knaresborough had a castle; which, though now a ruin, was once considerable, both for its strength and garrison? All know it was vigorously besieged by the arms of parliament; at which siege, in sallies, conflicts, flights, pursuits, many fell in the places round it, and where they fell, were buried; for every place, my lord, is burial earth in war; and many, questionless, of these, rest yet unknown, whose bones futurity shall yet discover.
“I hope, with all imaginable submission, that what has been said will not be thought impertinent to this indictment; and that it will be far from the wisdom, the learning, and the integrity of this place, to impute to the living, what zeal in its fury may have done; what nature may have done; what nature may have taken off, and piety interred; or what war alone may have destroyed, alone deposited.
“As to the circumstances that have been raked together, I have nothing to observe, but that all circumstances whatever, are precarious, and have too frequently been found lamentably fallible; even the strongest have failed. They may rise to the utmost degree of probability, yet they are but probability still. Why need I name to your lordship the two Harrisons, recorded by Dr. Howel, who both suffered upon circumstances, because of the sudden disappearance of their lodger, who was in credit, had contracted debts, borrowed money, and went off unseen, and returned a great many years after their execution? Why name the intricate affair of Jacques de Moulin, under king CharlesII., related by a gentleman who was counsel for the crown? and why the unhappy Coleman, who suffered innocent, though convicted upon positive evidence, and whose children perished for want, because the world uncharitably believed the father guilty? Why mention the perjury of Smith, incautiously admitted king’s evidence, who, to screen himself, equally accused Faircloth and Loveday of the murder of Dunn; the first of whom, in 1749, was executed at Winchester; and Loveday was about to suffer at Reading, had not Smith been proved to be perjured, to the satisfaction of the court, by the surgeon of the Gosport hospital?
“Now, my lord, having endeavored to show that the whole of this process is altogether repugnant to every part of my life; that it is inconsistent with my condition of health about that time; that no rational inference can be drawn that a person is dead who suddenly disappears; that hermitages were the constant repositories of the bones of the recluse; that the revolutions in religion, or the fortunes of war, have mangled or buried the dead; the conclusion remains, perhaps no less reasonably than impatiently wished for. I, at last, after a year’s confinement,equal to either fortune, put myself upon the candor, the justice, and the humanity of your lordship, and upon yours, my countrymen, gentlemen of the jury.”
Aram was tried by Judge Noel, who, having remarked that this defence was one of the most ingenious pieces of reasoning that had ever fallen under his notice, summed up the evidence to the jury, who gave a verdict of guilty; in consequence of which he received sentence of death.
After conviction, a clergyman was appointed to attend him, and to exhort him to an ample confession. Aram appeared to pay proper attention to what was said, but after the minister had retired, he formed the resolution of destroying himself; and when the morning appointed for his execution arrived, the keeper, on proceeding to take him out of his cell, was surprised to find him almost expiring through loss of blood, having cut his left arm, above the elbow and near the wrist, with a razor. A surgeon being sent for, stopped the bleeding; but when he was taken to the place of execution, he was so very weak as to be unable to join in devotion with the clergyman who attended him.
On the table in his cell was found the following paper, containing his reasons for attempting to commit suicide:—“What am I better than my fathers? To die is natural and necessary. Perfectly sensible of this, I fear no more to die than I did to be born. But the manner of it is something which should, in my opinion, be decent and manly. I think I have regarded both these points. Certainly nobody has a better right to dispose of man’s life than himself; and he, not others, should determine how. As for any indignities offered to my body, or silly reflections on my faith and morals, they are, as they always were, things indifferent to me. I think, though contrary to the common way of thinking, I wrong no man by this, and hope it is not offensive to the eternal Being that formed me and the world: and as by this, I injure no man, no man can reasonably be offended. I solicitously recommend myself to the eternal and almighty Being, the God of nature, if I have done amiss. But perhaps I have not; and I hope this thing will never be imputed to me. Though I am now stained by malevolence, and suffer by prejudice, I hope to rise fair and unblemished. My life was not polluted, my morals were irreproachable, and my opinions orthodox. I slept sound till three o’clock, awaked, and wrote theselines:—
“Come, pleasing rest, eternal slumber, fall,Seal mine, that once must seal the eyes of all;Calm and composed my soul her journey takes,No guilt that troubles, and no heart that aches;Adieu! thou sun, all bright like her arise;Adieu! fair friends, and all that’s good and wise.”
“Come, pleasing rest, eternal slumber, fall,Seal mine, that once must seal the eyes of all;Calm and composed my soul her journey takes,No guilt that troubles, and no heart that aches;Adieu! thou sun, all bright like her arise;Adieu! fair friends, and all that’s good and wise.”
“Come, pleasing rest, eternal slumber, fall,
Seal mine, that once must seal the eyes of all;
Calm and composed my soul her journey takes,
No guilt that troubles, and no heart that aches;
Adieu! thou sun, all bright like her arise;
Adieu! fair friends, and all that’s good and wise.”
In some of the accounts published of Aram’s trial, a letter is quoted, as written to one of his friends, confessing his guilt; but this document is understood to have been forged for the purpose of pleasing the illiterate jurymen who condemned him, and who were incapable of appreciating the admirable reasoning contained in his defence. He was executed near York, on the 6th of August, 1759, and afterwards hung in chains in Knaresborough forest.
“A littleword in kindness spoken,A motion or a tear,Has often healed the heart that’s broken,And made a friend sincere.A word, a look, has crushed to earthFull many a budding flower,Which, had a smile but owned its birth,Would bless life’s darkest hour.Then deem it not an idle thing,A pleasant word to speak;The face you wear, the thoughts you bring,A heart may heal, or break.”
“A littleword in kindness spoken,A motion or a tear,Has often healed the heart that’s broken,And made a friend sincere.A word, a look, has crushed to earthFull many a budding flower,Which, had a smile but owned its birth,Would bless life’s darkest hour.Then deem it not an idle thing,A pleasant word to speak;The face you wear, the thoughts you bring,A heart may heal, or break.”
“A littleword in kindness spoken,
A motion or a tear,
Has often healed the heart that’s broken,
And made a friend sincere.
A word, a look, has crushed to earthFull many a budding flower,Which, had a smile but owned its birth,Would bless life’s darkest hour.
A word, a look, has crushed to earth
Full many a budding flower,
Which, had a smile but owned its birth,
Would bless life’s darkest hour.
Then deem it not an idle thing,A pleasant word to speak;The face you wear, the thoughts you bring,A heart may heal, or break.”
Then deem it not an idle thing,
A pleasant word to speak;
The face you wear, the thoughts you bring,
A heart may heal, or break.”