Volume IV
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innocent, were executed at Tyburn, 17th of January, 1776, for Forgery brothers, and though their offence was forgery -- striking at the very root of trade -- yet such was the mer- cantile opinion on the peculiar hardship of the fate of Robert that seventy-eight of the leading bankers and merchants in London signed a petition for mercy, and presented it to the King, only two days previous to his execution. His miserable wife, accompanied by her three children, dressed in deep mourning, on their knees presented a petition to the Queen, imploring her to save the husband and the father. Such a picture of distress was seldom seen. The Queen was greatly affected, and her interest would have succeeded in a case less heinous in the eyes of the law- perhaps, indeed, in any, save forgery; for it has been long considered too dangerous to come within the scope of mercy, when once convicted of the fatal crime. The brothers appear to have been the dupes of an artful woman, Margaret Catharine Rudd, who cohabited with Daniel. Robert Perreau, at any rate, was thought to have been, by her art, implicated in the crime for which they both suffered, while she escaped justice, for want of sufficient evidence. When apprehended, Daniel kept an elegant house in Harley Street, Cavendish Square, London, wherein Mrs Rudd passed as his wife ; and Robert was a surgeon of eminence in Golden Square. From the evidence given on their trial there is every reason to believe that Mrs Rudd forged a bond for seven thousand, five hundred pounds in the name of William Adair, Esq., then a well-known agent, which was given by Daniel to Robert, upon which to raise money. This fatal instrument the latter presented, for that purpose, to Messrs Drummond, the bankers, who sus- pected its validity, and the brothers and Mrs Rudd were apprehended for forgery. Robert made a long and ingenious defence; and though many were of opinion that he was ignorant of the instru- ment being a forgery, yet the jury convicted him of uttering it, knowing it to be such. Daniel solemnly declared that he received the bond from Mrs Rudd as a true bond, and both urged the truth of their assertions from the proof that she had pretended some acquaintance with Mr Adair. They called many witnesses of the first respectability, who testified to their unblemished character, among whom was Lady Littleton, who, being asked if she believed that Robert, on whose behalf she appeared, could be capable of such a crime, answered that she supposed she could have done it herself as soon. The unhappy brothers lay in prison, after conviction, seven months before the warrant was signed for their execution. This delay of executing the sentence of the law arose from giving time for the trial of Mrs Rudd, in order thereby to ascertain whether anything material to the case of the Perreaus might be brought to light; but no evidence could reach the part she took in the transaction, and she was accordingly acquitted. The day fixed for their execution was Wednesday, the 17th of January, 1776, at which the multitude of spectators outnumbered any within the memory of man on such an occasion, being computed at thirty thousand. They went to Tyburn in a mourning-coach. When they quitted the coach they ascended the cart from which they were to be launched into eternity with manly fortitude and bowed respectfully to the sheriffs, who, in return: bowed their heads as a final adieu. They were dressed exactly alike, in deep mourning. After the customary devotions they crossed their hands, joining the four together, and in this manner were launched into eternity. They had not hung more than half-a-minute when their hands dropped asunder, and they appear to have died without pain. Each of them delivered a paper to the ordinary of New- gate, which declared their innocence, and ascribed the blame of the whole transaction to the artifices of Mrs Rudd; and, indeed, thousands of people gave credit to their asser- tions, and a great majority of the public thought Robert wholly innocent. On the Sunday following, the bodies were carried from the house of Robert, in Golden Square, and, after the usual solemnities, deposited in the vault of St Martin's Church. The coffins were covered with black cloth and nails, and a black plate on each, with their names, the day of their death and their ages (forty-two) inscribed. They were carried in separate hearses, their friends attending in mourning- coaches. The crowd was so great that the company could with difficulty get into the church. |