The History of Burke and Hare Part 9

Much excitement consequently prevailed, but though disturbances were feared by the authorities, no serious breach of the public peace occurred until Sunday, 28th December. On that day a band of young men attacked Dr.

Knox's house in Minto Street, and they were only driven off by a strong force of police after they had broken a great quant.i.ty of window-gla.s.s.

CHAPTER XXV.

_Burke's Behaviour in Prison--Liberation of M'Dougal, and the Consequent Riot--Visitors at Burke's House in the West Port--Burke's Idea of the Obligations of Dr. Knox--His Confessions._

All through the trial Burke had seemed callous and indifferent, but when he was removed from the court-room to the lock-up he was considerably agitated. He threw himself on his knees on the floor of his cell and prayed to G.o.d, to whom he had long been a stranger, and to whose mercy the judge had so earnestly commended him. After this he appeared to be considerably relieved, and during the rest of the day he was comparatively cheerful. He spoke a good deal to the policeman who was beside him, and said he was pleased at the acquittal of M'Dougal. Without any hesitation he conversed freely about the murder of Docherty, who, he said, was not murdered by him in the way described by Hare. That individual was himself the murderer, though, he admitted, he had held the unfortunate woman's hands to prevent her from struggling. The policeman was a fair type of the public, as a question he put to Burke amply proved. He told Burke that he wondered above all things how he could imbrue his hands in the blood of Daft Jamie. That Burke was in a state of semi-delirium is shown by his answer--as he hoped to meet with mercy at the throne of grace, his hand was not concerned in that murder; Hare and his wife were the sole perpetrators of it, though he had decoyed the poor simpleton into their house. That his mind was in a strange state he admitted by adding, that after he was more composed he would make disclosures that would implicate several others besides Hare and his wife in crimes similar to that for which he was condemned; and if he could make sure of the hanging of Hare, he would die happy. How did he feel when pursuing his horrible vocation?

was the next query of the constable. In his waking moments he had no feeling, for he drank to deaden conscience, but when he slept he had frightful dreams. He also expressed a wish that one of his counsel should call on him that he might furnish him with notes of his life and adventures, as he desired his history to be published, whether for notoriety or as a warning to others, he did not say. In the course of that evening he read two chapters of the Bible, and afterwards retired to rest.

His sleep, however, was not peaceful. He awoke in a frantic state every now and then; but after a short time he became more composed, and fell asleep again.

At two o'clock on Friday morning he was removed quietly in a coach to the Calton Hill Prison, and placed in the condemned cell. Here the frenzy under which he had been labouring since his condemnation took another turn. He threw aside the semi-religious feeling which seemed to sway his mind the day before, and turned fiercely to the jailor--for there was always one beside him, as, before his trial, he had threatened self-destruction--and said: "This is a d----d cold place you have brought me till." The thirst for vengeance against Hare was still strong in him.

He sat thinking over their connection, and broke out every now and again into curses against his one-time a.s.sociate. Hare, he declared, was more guilty than he was. "Hare," he said, "murdered the first woman. He persuaded me to join him, and now he has murdered me; and I will regret to the last hour of my existence that he did not share the same fate." An officer said to him, "I think I could never wish to see that man forgiven who could murder that poor, harmless, good-natured idiot, Daft Jamie."

Burke replied with fierce earnestness:--"My days are numbered. I am soon to die by the hands of man. I have no more to fear, and can have no interest in telling a lie, and I declare that I am as innocent of Daft Jamie's blood as you are. He was taken into Hare's house and murdered by him and his wife. To be sure I was guilty so far, as I a.s.sisted to carry his body to Dr. Knox, and got a share of the money." Later in the day, he dropped into the frame of mind in which he was after his sentence, and willingly acknowledged to his jailors that he was guilty, though beyond that he declined to satisfy their curiosity. As the evening advanced he asked if he would be allowed to pray. There was, of course, no objection, and again he pet.i.tioned the Almighty for forgiveness, and specially mentioned Helen M'Dougal, that her heart might be touched and turned from evil.

This was the night on which M'Dougal was liberated. It was feared that the infuriated mob that paced the streets of the city after the close of the trial would tear her to pieces, and she had, as a matter of safety, been detained in the lock-up. Immediately on her liberation, she returned to her house in the West Port, and remained there unmolested until the next night. Then she went out to a shop in the neighbourhood for the purpose of purchasing some whisky--Burke's prayer had not yet been answered. The shop-keeper refused to supply her, and on her way home she was noticed by a number of boys, who, recognising her, raised the cry--"There's M'Dougal." Speedily a crowd a.s.sembled--a rough, tumultous crowd, strongly under the sway of Judge Lynch. Fortunately for her, the police came to her rescue, and, again for safety, took her to the watch-house in Wester Portsburgh. The infuriated mob endeavoured to prevent this, and sought to tear the woman from the grasp of the officers in order that they might execute summary justice upon her; but her guardians drew their staves, and by laying about them in a determined manner, attained their purpose. At last the watch-house was reached, but still M'Dougal was not safe. The crowd, which had grown to huge dimensions, attacked the place from every side, smashed the windows, and seemed so determined to gain admittance and work their will upon the unfortunate woman, that the officers, judging themselves unable to make sufficient stand, had her dressed in men's clothes, and she escaped by a back window un.o.bserved. A show of resistance was made for a short time to allow M'Dougal to reach a place of safety, and then it was announced to the mob that she was being detained in order to give evidence against Hare. This pacified the pa.s.sions of the people, for they were willing she should escape in the meantime if there was any chance of making sure that Hare would be punished, and they quietly dispersed. M'Dougal, though out of the office, was still under police protection, and on Sunday, 28th December, she was accompanied outside the city, on her way to Stirlings.h.i.+re, with, it was stated, between ten and twelve pounds in her possession.

Up till the Friday night following the trial, the house occupied by Burke and M'Dougal, in the West Port, was visited by great crowds of people, who wished, out of curiosity, to see the place where such foul crimes had been perpetrated. On that night, however, the person who had the key gave it up to the landlord, as he wished to escape the imputation cast upon him by some, that he had been making money by showing it off. On the following Sunday, also, the street was crowded by well-dressed people, all attracted to the scene by its evil reputation. Here is the description given by one of the Edinburgh newspapers of that period, of the houses occupied by Burke and his accomplice:--"The immediate entrance to it [Burke's house]

is appropriate--namely, through a dark pa.s.sage, where the women stood while the murder of the Irish woman was being perpetrated. The dwelling is one small room, an oblong square, which presents the exact appearance it had when the culprits were apprehended. There is still the straw at the foot of the bed, in which the murdered woman was concealed. Altogether, it has an air of the most squalid poverty and want of arrangement. On the floor is a quant.i.ty of wretched old shoes, of all sizes, meant by Burke, perhaps, to indicate his being a cobbler; but they are so wretchedly worn, that we cannot suppose they were left with him to be mended, or that he designed to improve their appearance, for the purpose of selling them. We incline to think that they belonged to some of his victims. The dwelling is most conveniently situate for the murderous trade he pursued--there being many obscure approaches to it from different directions. Hare's dwelling, also, has attracted many visitors. Its appearance is equally deplorable with that of Burke. It is on the ground-floor, consists of two apartments, and overlooks a gloomy close. Beside it is a sort of stable, used by Hare as a pig-stye, and secured with a large padlock. In this it is believed Hare and Burke committed many of their butcheries; and here, we are inclined to think, Daft Jamie encountered his fate."

But to return to Burke in the condemned cell. As the time pa.s.sed on, his mind appeared to be agitated for brief intervals, though in general he seemed resigned to the fate his crimes so richly deserved. On one occasion he broke out in a curious manner. He had been sitting quietly, apparently thinking over his past life, and of the near approach of its end, when he startled his attendant by saying--

"I think I am ent.i.tled, and ought to get that five pounds from Dr. Knox which is still unpaid on the body of Docherty."

"Why, Dr. Knox lost by the transaction, as the body was taken from him,"

was the reply of the amazed warder.

"That was not my business," said Burke. "I delivered the subject, and he ought to have kept it."

"But you forget that were the money paid, Hare would have the right to the half of it," argued the other.

"I have got a tolerable pair of trousers," explained Burke, musingly, "and since I am to appear before the public, I should like to be respectable. I have not a coat and waistcoat that I can appear in, and if I got that five pounds I could buy them."

As the time went on Burke was induced to make a confession of his crimes.

On the 3rd of January, 1829, he dictated a confession before Sheriff Tait, the Procurator-Fiscal, and the a.s.sistant Sheriff-Clerk; and on the 22nd of the same month he supplemented it by a short statement, made in the presence of the same parties, with the addition of the Rev. Wm. Reid, a Roman Catholic priest. Application was made to the Lord Advocate by an Edinburgh gentleman to obtain admission to Burke's cell to receive a confession from the criminal, but this was refused; and on an appeal being made to the Home Secretary the refusal was confirmed. On the 21st of January, however, the condemned man made another and fuller confession, but this time unofficial, and this doc.u.ment had such a curious history that an account of it must be reserved until the proper time. Between his condemnation and execution Burke was visited by Protestant and Roman Catholic clergymen, and he received the ministrations of both without preference.

CHAPTER XXVI.

_"The Complicity of the Doctors"--Numerous Disappearances--Dr. Knox and David Paterson--Paterson Defends Himself--"The Echo of Surgeon's Square"--The Scapegoat._

As time went on the excitement among the public increased, and the newspapers, thoroughly roused to the importance of the West Port murders, and freed from restraint by the decision of the court, spoke out fearlessly. "The complicity of the doctors," as it was called, came in for a large share of attention and severe comment; while rumours as to the action the authorities intended to take regarding Hare and his wife were eagerly canva.s.sed. It was stated that Hare, after the trial, made important disclosures, confessing to having been concerned in no less than twelve different acts of murder, in some of which he was the princ.i.p.al, in others an accessory; and that he knew of another, though he was not in any way a party to the commission of it. Then it was said that Burke had confessed to having sold some thirty or thirty-five uninterred bodies during the previous two years, and it was argued that these could only have been obtained by murder, notably the murder of unfortunate women, large numbers of whom had mysteriously disappeared in that time, no one knew how. Natural deaths had become very rare among that cla.s.s, and for some time the interment of one of them was a thing almost unknown. This, it was argued, showed that a gigantic conspiracy to murder, for the purpose of obtaining subjects for dissection, had been going on in Edinburgh, and it was suspected that the gang was larger than it really was. A medical man informed a journalist that in the autumn of 1828 the body of a woman was offered for sale by some miscreants--"probably of Burke's gang," was the opinion hazarded--to the a.s.sistant of an eminent teacher of anatomy in Edinburgh. The a.s.sistant did not know them, for they were not regular resurrectionists--he knew _them_ well enough--but as he required a subject, he told them to bring the body, and if it were suitable he would purchase it. The body was conveyed to the dissecting-room the same evening, and on being turned out of the sack the a.s.sistant was startled to see it was that of a woman of the town, with her clothes and shoes and stockings on. He carefully examined the body, and found there was an enormous fracture on the back of the head, and a large portion of the skull driven in, as if by the blow of a hammer. With an oath he asked them where and how they got the body, and one of them coolly replied that it was the body of an unfortunate who had been _popped_ in a brawl in Halkerston's Wynd. The "subject" was refused, and the merchants had to take it elsewhere.

This and many similar stories naturally gave rise to a demand for a searching investigation alike in the public interest and in the interests of the teachers of anatomy themselves. It was advocated that all the anatomical teachers, and others who used _cadavera_ for their cla.s.ses, both in and out of the university, ought to be examined as to the manner in which they were accustomed to receive their subjects. In particular, the a.s.sistants and students of Dr. Knox during the two previous sessions ought to undergo an examination as to the quarter whence bodies were procured, the state in which they were received, and the manner in which they were dissected. Without such a complete and thorough examination, it was argued, the public could have no guarantee that every anatomical teacher in Edinburgh had not a Burke in his pay; for it seemed to be the impression in the minds of the people "that one gentleman stands in the same relation to Burke that the murderer of Banquo did to Macbeth."

The _Edinburgh Weekly Chronicle_ was especially outspoken in respect to Dr. Knox. "With regard to Dr. Knox," this journal said, "too much delicacy and reserve have been maintained by a part of the press. When the atrocities in question first transpired, it was stated that Knox conducted himself with the utmost civility towards the police officers who went to his house in search of the body, when the fact is, he swore at them from his window, and threatened to blow their brains out; and it was only upon their proceeding to force the door of his lecture-room, that it was opened by one of the keepers." From Knox, the _Chronicle_ pa.s.sed on to Paterson, his curator or porter, who, that journal a.s.serted, "actually offered Docherty for sale to a respectable gentleman in the profession before she was despatched; he saw her in Burke's house immediately after the spark of life had been extinguished; and he then again offered her for fifteen pounds to the same gentleman, who indignantly ordered him out of his house." The _Caledonian Mercury_ was equally plain, and would give no countenance to the idea that Knox and his a.s.sistants had been imposed upon by Burke and Hare, and gave all its weight in favour of the "complicity"

idea. It also repeated the story of the supposed negotiations between Paterson and "the most respectable teacher of anatomy" as to the sale of Docherty's body for fifteen pounds, with this addition that he stated to the gentleman in question, on his second visit, "that the body he wished to dispose of was the body of a woman; and that he had 'a desperate gang'

in his pay, through whom he could procure as many subjects as he wished for."

Knox remained silent under all these charges, but Paterson could not, and he wrote a letter on the 15th January to the editor of the _Caledonian Mercury_. He contended that he had been shamefully wronged by "the many false and cruel accusations made against him," and stated that he had "only kept silence by advice of Dr. Knox, as he was, according to promise, to espouse my cause, and clear my innocence; but which I now find he has cruelly failed to perform. And I now most solemnly protest, and can prove, that throughout all the services rendered by me to Dr. Knox, I acted entirely under his own guidance and direction." He also denied a statement to the effect that he had absconded, and had been dismissed from Dr. Knox's service; and he called upon the authorities, if they conceived him in any way guilty in the transaction, to bring him to a public trial, and either let him be found guilty or have the benefit of an honourable acquittal. To this letter the editor of the _Mercury_ appended some questions, but these will be best explained by a quotation from a letter from Paterson, dated 17th January, 1829, in reply to them. He says:--"After the publication of my letter to you in this day's paper, I observe you have inserted the following queries:--First, whether it be true or the reverse, that about one o'clock on the morning of 1st November last, I, in conjunction with another individual whom I well know, offered the body of a woman for sale to a highly-respectable lecturer on anatomy?

My answer is simply, No. Secondly, whether or not I asked fifteen pounds for the subject, stating at the same time, that Dr. Knox would give only twelve?--Answer, No. Thirdly, whether I did not say, that I wished to have no further dealings with the Doctor, because he had handed us over to his (the Dr.'s) a.s.sistants? My answer is, No. And lastly, whether the body so offered was or was not the body of the woman Docherty? To this I answer, that having no body to offer, the transaction could not take place."

Paterson proceeded to explain, however, that about three weeks before the murder of Docherty a friend of the "most respectable anatomist," referred to by the _Mercury_, called on him and asked where the individuals lived that were in the habit of supplying Dr. Knox with subjects. He did not know, so he could not give any information, but as the sum of fifteen pounds was offered for a subject he promised that the next time he saw the resurrectionists he would mention the matter to them, provided, always, that Dr. Knox was supplied. Paterson again gave a most emphatic denial to the statement of his dismissal, which the _Mercury_ had reported upon the authority of Dr. Knox himself, and he enclosed a copy of a letter from that gentleman, dated the 11th January, asking him to return to his employment.

Again the _Mercury_ returned to the charge, and said:--"Now this is not a question of probability but of _fact_; and we again ask him (Paterson), _whose_ was the corpse he confessedly offered for sale an hour or an hour and a-half _after_ Burke had, according to his own evidence in the witness-box, told him he had 'something for the doctor, which would be ready in the morning.'" Paterson replied to this on the 23rd January, and complained that he was being made "the scape-goat for a personage in higher life." As his letter is not only interesting in itself, but also because there is introduced in it an account of a transaction with Andrew Merrilees--the Merry Andrew of an early chapter of this work--it is worth quoting pretty fully.

"I will now give you," says Paterson, "what I trust the public will consider a _satisfactory_ explanation of the transaction alluded to in your paper of the 22nd, which will at the same time answer the queries in the _Caledonian Mercury_ of the 17th. About three weeks before the murder of Docherty, a Mr. ---- called upon me, who was very intimate (or appeared to be so) with Dr. ----. During the conversation, in a walk along the Bridges, the topic turned upon the scarcity of subjects amongst the lecturers. I was asked how Dr. ---- was supplied; and after informing him to the best of my knowledge, he, Mr. ----, said he understood that Dr.

---- could not get one, and that he had offered him fifteen pounds if he could get one for him. My answer was, that I thought there was nothing more easy, as there were plenty of resurrection men came about Dr. ----'s rooms, who might procure one for him. He then requested me to accompany him to Dr. ----'s house, and he would ascertain if Dr. ---- had got one. I did so. Dr. ---- and Mr. ---- talked for some time on various matters, when the discourse turned upon the matter in question. I heard Dr.

----offer fifteen pounds for a subject, as he was in great straits. _I took no part in the conversation, nor made any remark_; but after we had left Dr. ----, Mr. ---- strongly urged me to allow a subject to go to Dr.

----'s rooms, when any should arrive, without the knowledge of Dr. ----, for which no doubt _I was to receive a remuneration for my trouble_. Dr.

----about that time had fifteen subjects, and I did resolve to allow one to Dr. ---- at the first opportunity. Shortly after this time, Burke and Hare brought a subject, but not having an opportunity of speaking to them that night, resolved to do so when I next saw them, or any _other_ of the resurrectionists. A few days after a notorious resurrectionist called at the rooms and informed me that he was going to the country upon business, and inquired if the Dr. was in want of goods. I replied that possibly he might, but that I wanted one for a friend, and would pay him when he returned. The bargain was struck, and he received earnest and a trunk, saying he had two customers before me, and it might be eight or ten days before he could supply me, as the grounds were strictly watched. This pa.s.sed over, and on Friday evening, the 31st October, a person brought a letter addressed to Mr. ----, Surgeon's Square. This turned out to be from Andrew M----s (or Merry Andrew, as he was styled). The following is a literal copy:--

"'OCT. 29.

"'Doctor am in the east, and has been doin little busnis, an short of siller send out abot aught and twenty s.h.i.+lins way the carer the thing will bee in abot 4 on Sat.u.r.day mornin its a shusa, hae the plase open.

"'AND. M----S.'

Just after I received this letter I went with Mr. ---- to spend the evening, and returned home about twelve o'clock. I found Burke knocking at the door of my lodgings.... After my return from Burke's, which was only a few minutes past twelve o'clock, I went to bed: the letter had escaped my memory. I slept none: the suspicions I had entertained of Burke and Hare, and the determination I had come to _to examine the body of the subject they were to send_, and a retrospective view of their late conduct, pa.s.sed before me. The letter now came into my mind; it was between _three and four o'clock_: I went to Dr. ----; did say I expected a subject from his friend: _did not say what place_. The Doctor desired it to be sent to his lecture-rooms, as his a.s.sistants were or would be in waiting. He did not refuse it, as has been alleged. The Doctor did not receive it, however, as Mr. Andrew M----s thought proper to address it to another quarter--a very common trick with him, especially if he received part in advance.... I confess that the circ.u.mstance of the subject coming from the east at the nick of time Docherty was murdered looks rather suspicious. But when I inform you that I have seen three subjects at the same time of day sent to the lecture-room from different quarters, your suspicions will cease." For the third time he denied that he had been dismissed by Dr. Knox, and said that since his last letter the Doctor had sent for him, expressing the most friendly intentions towards him.

But a more serious charge than that was made against David Paterson in a communication from Dr. Knox's princ.i.p.al a.s.sistants, also published in the _Caledonian Mercury_. These gentlemen, after declaring that Paterson was not "keeper of the museum belonging to Dr. Knox," though he was cited and gave his evidence at the trial of Burke as such, said:--"With regard to his connexion with Burke and Hare, he was so far a.s.sociated with them, that he was on the eve of entering into an agreement with one of these miscreants to accompany him to Ireland, that they might (as he said) procure a greater supply of subjects, and at less price, the people being poorer there." Whether this was the case or not was never made clear; but it was certainly stated by Burke in his _Courant_ confessions that such a project was on foot, though he did not state who the other party was.

Popular belief was that it was Paterson.

Paterson had taken another method of repelling the allegations brought against him. This was a pamphlet, in the form of a letter to the Lord Advocate, under the t.i.tle of "An Echo from Surgeon's Square." The _Courant_ of Thursday, 22nd January, gave an account of this doc.u.ment, and taking it all in all, after making allowance for the prejudice the paper exhibited in common with the great ma.s.s of the public against the man, it is a fair indication of its contents. The statement, it said, had for its object the vindication of Mr. D. Paterson, the late a.s.sistant of Dr. Knox, and of course threw the blame on others. The pamphlet contained a good deal of irrelevant matter, and sundry details as to the means of procuring subjects for the anatomical schools which were not of great interest, and rather calculated to do injury. It contained, however, "information of greater importance, if it can be depended on, which we have no doubt will be eagerly sought after in the present general excitation." The doc.u.ment stated that D---- P---- was first in the employment of Dr. ---- in the year 1824 or 1825, for about one year, and, on his return from the army at the close of 1827, he applied to Dr. ---- for his former situation, and was engaged in the beginning of February, 1828, as museum keeper; his salary was very small, but from the fees paid him by the students, he contrived to make a very comfortable livelihood. He had nothing whatever to do with the subjects (or bodies) brought to the lecture room; his sole duty was to keep the museum. At that time he did not know how the doctor obtained his subjects. Shortly after he saw Burke and Hare (Burke was called John, and Hare, William), and understood from a conversation that pa.s.sed between them and one of the a.s.sistants that they had been in the habit of supplying subjects previous to that time. He threw the blame of negociating with these two men on one of Dr. Knox's a.s.sistants, and said that once, after he began to be suspicious of the true nature of the calling of these two men, he asked Burke where he got the body he was then offering. The man replied sternly--"If I am to be catechised by you where and how I get subjects, I will inform the doctor of it, and if he allows you to do so, I will bring no more to him, mind that." In other respects the "Echo" was very similar to the letter by Paterson already quoted.

But before concluding this part of the subject it will be proper to give Leighton's opinion of Paterson's position in the dispute. Writing in 1860 on the complicity of the doctors, he gives this calm testimony in Paterson's favour:--"As for the curator, who is still a respectable inhabitant of Edinburgh, and upon whom the short-lived blind fury of some newspapers of the time fell, with much surprise to himself, and much indignation elsewhere, he was, of all the parties concerned, the most free from blame; nor did any one but himself come forward and a.s.sist the authorities in the prosecution. Nay, it is understood that, under a pa.s.sing reflection that the number of apparently unexhumed bodies brought by these men required explanation; he mentioned the circ.u.mstance to his princ.i.p.al, and that gentleman silenced him at once by the statement that they had long known of the practice of sale and purchase, and so the suspicion pa.s.sed away." Viewing the whole matter after the lapse of fully half a century, there seems no reason to doubt that Paterson, though certain of his acts were, to say the least of it, shady, and morally reprehensible, if not legally punishable, was made, as he himself said, "the scape-goat for a personage in higher life."

CHAPTER XXVII.

_The Legal Position of Hare and his Wife--Gossip about Burke--Mrs.

Hare and her Child--Constantine Burke--Anatomical Instruction--Mrs.

Docherty's Antecedents._

But in addition to this outcry against Paterson, the public mind was, as has already been indicated, agitated by the rumours that no further action was to be taken against Hare, and that he and his wife were to be liberated. The _Caledonian Mercury_ was greatly exercised over the following pa.s.sage in the charge given to the jury at the trial by the Lord Justice-Clerk:--"They (the jury) had been told of the Hares being concerned in the murders. With what murders they might be chargeable, he did not know; but to a certainty they could not be libelled on either of the charges contained in the indictment now under trial, and which had not been sent to the jury." The _Mercury_ argued, and quoted legal authorities, too, that Hare and his wife were liable to be tried for the murders of Mary Paterson and Daft Jamie, regarding which they had not given evidence; and that the protection of the court only extended to any self-crimination in the case in which they had given evidence. "The public prosecutor," it was contended, "has discharged all t.i.tle to molest them in regard to the murder of Docherty, the only part of the libel against Burke which went to trial, because they gave evidence and criminated themselves in regard to the crime; but he has not discharged this t.i.tle to pursue them for the murder of Paterson or Daft Jamie; and, accordingly, when Mr.

c.o.c.kburn proposed to interrogate Hare in his cross-examination, concerning his connection with the latter crime, the Court interposed, by telling the witness that he was ent.i.tled to decline answering such a question as tending to criminate himself, and as beyond the reach of the protection afforded him for his evidence in the case of Docherty. It was frequently stated from the bench, that his answering the question put by Mr. c.o.c.kburn would implicate himself in the crime. And how else could he have been ent.i.tled to decline answering it? As a protected _socius_, he was bound to answer every question that should be asked him within the compa.s.s of that protection; and if it had extended to and included the murder of Jamie, which was included in the same charge, the obligation to answer would, of course, have been co-extensive with the protection." The _Edinburgh Weekly Chronicle_ lamented "the acquittal of the fiend M'Dougal," and said there had been some very painful suspicions that the investigation of these murders was not to be further prosecuted. "We happen to know," they said, "that a certain public functionary (not the Lord Advocate, whose zeal in forwarding the late trial is beyond all praise) remarked the other day that _they_ were perfectly sick of the business, and were resolved to stir no further in it, lest it should bring shame on the city!... In the present state of the public mind, no Lord Advocate will dare to say, 'Thus far--(to the death of Burke)--shall the tide of public vengeance flow, and no farther.'... It is satisfactory to reflect, however, that our law has wisely restricted the Lord Advocate's prerogative, so that, even were he disposed, he cannot screen a murderer from justice, if the deceased's relations incline to prosecute him. The law says that murder shall not go unavenged, if either the public, represented by the Lord Advocate, or those who have been deprived by it of a near relative, insist for punishment. Will not, then, the friends of some of the butchered individuals, whose blood calls to Heaven for retribution, be roused to prosecute the butchers? No one can doubt that money would be liberally provided by the inhabitants to defray all expenses."

The rumours which so alarmed these newspapers, and, it must also be said, a large portion of the public, had foundation in fact. After Hare and his wife had given evidence against Burke, they were recommitted to jail under a warrant of the Sheriff. This was done, probably, to allow the Lord Advocate time to consider in what relations.h.i.+p he stood towards them--whether he could try them on the first two charges in the indictment, or whether he was bound to release them, they having turned King's evidence. He seems to have come to the conclusion that he must liberate them, and, accordingly, on the 19th of January, the commitment was withdrawn. This was a wise decision, notwithstanding all that was said to the contrary at the time in the public prints and elsewhere. If the Crown could not gain a conviction against Burke of the murder of Docherty without the aid of two of his accomplices, it was not at all likely that it would be able to convict Hare and his wife without similar evidence.

Thus, so far as the public prosecutor was concerned, the two informers were free; but proceedings of another kind were taken against Hare, who was detained in prison pending their settlement, though his wife was liberated on the 19th of January.

Other matters were also attracting the attention of the people, for every issue of the newspapers gave circulation to gossipy stories about Burke or his accomplices, or relating to circ.u.mstances bearing in some way or other upon the subject which was causing such universal interest. It was stated, for instance, that at one time Burke made considerable sums of money among the unlettered inhabitants of the West Port by writing begging pet.i.tions, and that while working at the construction of the Union Ca.n.a.l he for the first time engaged in the trade of a resurrectionist. Whatever truth there may have been in the first part of this statement, there is good reason to believe that the latter part was founded upon mere idle rumour. It was also alleged that in the course of the preceding summer Burke made an attack upon an unfortunate girl in St. Cuthbert's Entry, at the head of the West Port, evidently with murderous intent. She escaped from his grasp, and ran to the watch-house, where she gave a particular description of her a.s.sailant to the police, who would certainly have been able to apprehend him had he not judiciously left the city for a time until the hue and cry was given up. It is difficult to believe that Burke would have acted so incautiously--that he should have sought to dispense with that drugging with whisky which so often did half his work for him.