and was chiefly vifited by gentlemen : the maid came a few days only before Mr. Wright was removed.

On Thursday the 19th of February in the morning, the maid got up about feven o'clock and opened the fore-parlour windows. There

is a fore-parlour and a back-parlour, both have a door into the paffage from the street door, and there is alfo a door that goes out of one into the other the back-parlour was Mrs. King's bed-chamber, and the door which entered it from the paffage was secured on the infide by a drop-bolt, and could not be opened on the outfide when locked, tho' the drop-bolt was not down, because on the outfide there was no key-hole. The door into the foreparlour was alfo fecured on the infide by Mrs. King when he went to bed, and the door of the foreparlour into the paffage was left open; when the maid had entered the fore-parlour by this door, and opened the windows, fhe went to the paffage door of the back-parlour where Mrs. King was in bed, and knocked, in order to get the key of the street-door, which Mrs. King took at night into her room. Mrs. King drew up the bolt, and the maid went in; fhe took the key of the treet-door which fhe faw lie upon the table by a looking-glass; and her mistress then fhut the paffage-door and dropped the bolt, and ordered the maid to open the door that communicated with the foreparlour, which he did, and went out; fhe then kindled the fire in the fore-parlour that it might be ready when her mistress arofe, and about eight o'clock went up into Gardelle's room, where the found him in a red and green night gown at work. He gave her two letters,

a fnuff-box, and a guinea, and defired her to deliver the letters, one of which was directed to one Mozier in the Hay-market, and the other to a person who kept a fnuff-fhop at the next door, and to bring him from thence a penny-worth of fnuff.

The girl took the meffages, and went again to her miftreis, telling her what Gardelle had defired her to do, to which her mift efs replied, Nanny, you can't go, for here is nobody to answer at the fireet-door; the girl being willing to oblige Gardelle, or being for fome reason defirous to go out, anfwered, That Mr. Gardelle would come down and fit in the parlour till he came back. She then went again to Gardelle, and told him what objection her mistress had made, and what she had faid to remove it. Gardelle then faid he would come down, as he had propofed, and he did come down accordingly.

The girl immediately went on his errand, and left him in the parlour, fhutting the street door after her, and taking the key to let herself in when fhe came back.

Immediately after the girl was gone out, Mrs. King, hearing the tread of fomebody in the parlour, called out, Who is there? and at the fame time opened her chamber door. Gardelle was at a table, very near the door, having juft then taken up a book that lay upon it, which happened to be a French grammar; he had fome time before drawn Mrs. King's picture, which fhe wanted to have made very handfome, and had teized him fo much about it, that the effect was just contrary. It happened unfortunately that the first thing fhe faid to him, when the faw it was he whom the had heard walking about in the room, was fomething reproachful E 4

about

about this picture: Gardelle was provoked at the infult, and as he fpoke English very imperfectly, he, for want of a lefs improper expreffion, told her, with fome warmth, That he was an impertinent woman. This threw her into a tranfport of rage, and he gave him a violent blow with her filt on the breaft, fo violent, that, he fays, he could not have thought fuch a blow could have been given by a woman. As foon as the blow was ftruck, the drew a little back, and at the fame inftant, he fays, he laid his hand on her fhoulder and pushed her from him, rather in contempt than anger, or with a defign to hurt her; but her foot happening to catch in the floor cloth, fhe fell backwards, and her head came with great force against the corner of the bedfead; the blood immediately gushed from her mouth, not in a continued ftream, but as if by different ftrokes of a pump; he inftantly ran to her and flooped to raife her, expreffing his concern at the accident; but the pufhed him away, and threatened, though in a feeble and interrupted voice, to punith him for what he had done; he was, he days, terrified exceeding ly at the thought of being condemned for a criminal act upon her accufation, and again attempted to affift her by raifing her up, as the blood fill gufhed from her mouth in great quantities; but the fill exerted all her ftrength to keep him off, and still cried out, mixing threats with her fcreams; he then feized an ivory comb with a fharp taper point continued from the back, for adjufting the curls of her hair, which lay upon her toilet, and threatened her in his turn to prevent her crying out; but the fill continuing to cry out, though with a voice ftill fainter

and fainter, he ftruck her with this inftrument, probably in the throat, upon which the blood flowed from her mouth in yet greater quantities, and her voice was quite ftopped : he then drew the bed-cloaths over her, to prevent her blood from fpreading on the floor, and to hide her from his fight; he ftood, he fays, fome time motionless by her, and then fell down by her fide in a fwoon. When he came to himself, he perceived the maid was come in, he therefore went out of the room without examining the body to fee if the unhappy wretch was quite dead, and his confufion was then fo great, that he ftaggered against the wainfcot, and hit his head, fo as to raife a bump over his eye. As no perfon was in the houfe but the murdered and the murderer while the fact was committed, nothing can be known about it but from Gardelle's own account; the circumftances related above, contain the fenfe of what he related both in his defence, and in the account which he drew up in French to leave behind him, taken together as far as they are confiftent; for there are in both feveral inconfiftencies and ab. furdities, which give reason to fufpect they are not true.

But however that be, all was quict when the maid returned, which, fhe fays, was in a quarter of an hour. She went first into the parlour where Gardelle had promifed to wait till fhe came back, and faw nobody. She had paid 3 s. and 9d. out of the guinea at the fnuff fhop, where the delivered one of the letters, to the other she had no answer; and fhe laid the change and the fnuffbox with the fnuff the had fetched in it upon the table; then she went up into Gardelle's room and found

nobody, and by turns fhe went into every room in the house, except her miftrefs's chamber, whither fie never went, but when fhe was called, and found nobody. She then made fome water boil in the kitchen, made a bit of toast, and fat down to breakfast. In a fhort time fhe heard fomebody walk over head in the parlour, or paffage, and go up ftairs, but did not go to fee who it was. When she had breakfasted she went and stirred up the fire in the parlour against her mistress got up, and perceived that the fnuff and change had been taken from the table; fhe then went up ftairs again to Gardelle's room, to clean and fet it to rights as she used to do, and it was now between ten and eleven o'clock. Soon after, Gardelle came down from the garret into his bed-chamber, which fomewhat furprized her, as he could have no bufinefs that fhe knew of in the garret. When fhe firft faw him, which was about an hour afterwards, fhe fays, he looked confounded, and blushed exceedingly, and the perceived the bump over his eye, which had then a black patch upon it as big as a fhilling; he had also changed his dress, and had written another letter, with which he fent her into Great Suffolkftreet, and ordered her to wait for an answer; fhe went directly, and when the returned, which was in a quarter of an hour, the found him fitting in the parlour, and told him the gentleman would be there in the evening. He then told her that a gentleman had been in the room with her miftrefs, and that fhe was gone out with him in a hackney coach. It appears, by this, that Gardelle knew the maid was acquainted with her miftrefs's character. The maid, however, tho' fhe

might have believed this ftory at another time, could not believe it now; fhe was not abfent above a quarter of an hour; fhe had left her mistress in bed, and the time would not have permitted her receiving a gentleman there, her being dreffed, a coach being procured, and her having gone out in it; befides, when he came back, fhe knew Gardelle was in her chamber. This gave her fome fufpicion, but it was of nothing worfe than that Gardelle and her mistress had been in bed together. She went, however, and looked at the door of the chamber, which opened into the parlour, and which fhe had opened by her miftrefs's order, and found it again locked. About one o'clock Mr. Wright's fervant, Thomas Pelfey, came and told the maid at the door that the beds must be got ready, because his mafter intended to come thither in the evening, but did not go in. The maid ftill wondered that her miftress did not rife; and fuppofed that knowing fhe came in from her errand while Gardelle was yet in her chamber, fhe was afhamed to fee her. Gardelle, in the mean time, was often up and down stairs; and about three o'clock he fent her with a letter to one Brofhet, at the Eagle and Pearl in Suffolk-street. As he knew that it would be extremely difficult to conceal the murder, if the maid continued in the houfe, he determined that he would, if poffible, difcharge her: but as the girl could not write, and as he was not fufficiently acquainted with our language to draw a proper receipt, he requefted Mr. Brochet, in this letter, to write a receipt for him, and get the maid to fign it, directing her to deliver it to him when he paid her;

he

he did not however acquaint her with his defign. When Mr. Brofhet had read the letter, he asked her if the knew that Mr. Gardelle was to difcharge her; fhe faid No. Why, faid he, Mrs. King is gone out, and has given Mr. Gardelle orders to discharge you; for fhe is to bring a woman home with her: at this the girl was surprised, and fmiled, telling Brofhet, that the knew her mistress was at home. The girl was now confirmed in her first thought, that her mistress was a fhamed to fee her again; and thus the accounted for the manner of her difmiffion. She returned between three and four to Gardelle, whom the found fitting in the parlour with a gentleman whofe name fhe did not know: fhe continued in the house till between fix and feven o'clock in the evening, and then Gardelle paid her fix thillings for a fortnight and two days wages, and gave her five or fix fhillings over, upon which the delivered him the receipt that Brofhet had written, took her box and went away. As fhe was going out, Mr. Wright's fervant came again to the door, and fhe told him that she was discharged, and going away; that her mistress had been all day in her bed-room, without either victuals or drink, and that if he ftayed a little after she was gone, he might fee her come out : the man, however, could not stay, and Gardelle about feven o'clock was thus left alone in the house.

The first thing he did was to go into the chamber to the body, which, upon examination, he found quite dead; he therefore took off the blankets and fheets with which he had covered it, ftripped off the shift, and laid the body quite

naked upon the bed; before this, he faid, his linen was not ftained; but it was much stained by his removing the body. He then took the two blankets, the fheets, the coverlet, and one of the curtains, and put them into the water-tub in the back wash-house, to foak, they being all much stained with blood; her fhift he carried up ftairs, and putting it in a bag, concealed it under his bed; his own fhirt, now bloody, he pulled off, and locked it up in a drawer of his bureau.

When all this was done, he went and fat down in the parlour, and foon after, it being about nine o'clock, Mr. Wright's fervant came in without his mafter, who had changed his mind, and was gone to a gentleman's house in Castle-street. He went up into his room, the garret, and fat there till about eleven o'clock; then he came down, and finding Gardelle ftill in the parlour, he afked if Mrs. King was home, and who must fit up for her: Gardelle faid he was not come home, but that he would fit up for her.

come

In the morning, Friday, when Pelfey came down ftairs, he again asked if Mrs. King was come home, and Gardelle told him that she had been at home, but was gone again. He then asked how he came by the hurt on his eye; and he faid he got it by cutting fome wood to light the fire in the morning. Pelsey then went about his mafter's business, and at night was again let in by Gardelle, who, upon being asked, faid he would fit up for Mrs. King that night also.

In the morning, Saturday, Pelfey enquired again after Mrs. King; and Gardelle, though he had pro

feffed

feffed to fit up for her but the night before, now told him fhe was gone to Bath or Bristol; yet, ftrange as it may feem, no fufpicions of murder appear yet to have been conceived.

On Saturday, Mozier, an acquaintance of Gardelle's, who had been alfo intimate with Mrs. King, and had spent the evening with her the Wednesday before the murder, came by appointment about two or three o'clock, having promifed to go with her that evening to the opera. He was let in by Gardelle, who told him that Mrs. King was gone to Bath or Bristol, as he had told Pelfey. This man, and another of Gardelle's acquaintance, observing him to be chagrined and difpirited, feem to have imagined that Mrs. King's abfence was the cause of it, and that if they could get him another girl they fhould cure him they were therefore kind enough to procure for him on this occafion; and having picked up a prostitute in the Hay-market, they brought her that very Saturday to Gardelle at Mrs. King's. worthy, whose name is not known, told her Mrs. King was gone into the country, and had difcharged her fervant. Gardelle made an apology for the confufion in which the houfe appeared, and Mozier, or Muzard, as he is sometimes called, asked her if she would take care of the house: she readily confented; and Gardelle acquiefcing, they left her with him. He asked her what her bufinefs was; fhe faid fhe worked plain-work; he then told her he had some shirts to mend, and that he would fatisfy her for her trouble.

The

All this while the body continued as he had left it on Thursday night, nor had he once been into the room

fince that time. But this night the woman and Pelfey being in bed, he first conceived a design of concealing or deftroying the dead body by parts, and went down to put it in execution; but the woman, whofe name is Sarah Walker, getting out of bed and following him, he returned up ftairs, and went to bed with her. In the morning, Sunday, he got up between feven and eight, and left Walker in bed, faying, it was too soon for her to rife; fhe fell afleep, and flept till ten; it is probable that in the mean time, he was employed on the body, for when fhe came down between ten and eleven, he was but beginning to light the parlour fire. He had fpoke to her the night before to get him a chair woman, and he was in fo much confufion that he did not ask her to stay to breakfaft; she went out therefore and hired one Pritchard as a chair-woman, at one fhilling a day, victuals and drink: in the afternoon fhe brought Pritchard to the house, and found with Gardelle two or three men and two women : Gardelle went up with her and stayed by her while fhe made his bed, then the company all went out together. The chair-woman kept houfe, and about ten o'clock they returned and fupped in Gardelle's room. She was then difmiffed for the night, and ordered to come the next morning at eight. The next morning, Monday, the chairwoman was ordered to tell Pelfey the footman, that Walker was a relation of Mrs. King's, who was come to be in the house till Mrs. King returned; but Pelfey knew that the and Gardelle had but one bed, for when he came down on Monday morning, Gardelle's chamber-door flood open, and looking in, he faw

fome