Posterity2, in calling over its muster-roll of famous men, has refused to fulfil this pious3 hope, and Charley Peace stands out as the one great personality among English criminals of the nineteenth century. In Charley Peace alone is revived that good-humoured popularity which in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries fell to the lot of Claude Duval, Dick Turpin and Jack5 Sheppard. But Peace has one grievance6 against posterity; he has endured one humiliation7 which these heroes have been spared. His name has been omitted from the pages of the "Dictionary of National Biography." From Duval, in the seventeenth, down to the Mannings, Palmer, Arthur Orton, Morgan and Kelly, the bushrangers, in the nineteenth century, many a criminal, far less notable or individual than Charley Peace, finds his or her place in that great record of the past achievements of our countrymen. Room has been denied to perhaps the greatest and most naturally gifted criminal England has produced, one whose character is all the more remarkable8 for its modesty9, its entire freedom from that vanity and vaingloriousness so common among his class.
The only possible reason that can be suggested for so singular an omission10 is the fact that in the strict order of alphabetical11 succession the biography of Charles Peace would have followed immediately on that of George Peabody. It may have been thought that the contrast was too glaring, that even the exigencies12 of national biography had no right to make the philanthropist Peabody rub shoulders with man's constant enemy, Peace. To the memory of Peace these few pages can make but poor amends13 for the supreme14 injustice15, but, by giving a particular and authentic16 account of his career, they may serve as material for the correction of this grave omission should remorse17 overtake those responsible for so undeserved a slur18 on one of the most unruly of England's famous sons.
From the literary point of view Peace was unfortunate even in the hour of his notoriety. In the very year of his trial and execution, the Annual Register, seized with a fit of respectability from which it has never recovered, announced that "the appetite for the strange and marvellous" having considerably19 abated20 since the year 1757 when the Register was first published, its "Chronicle," hitherto a rich mine of extraordinary and sensational21 occurrences, would become henceforth a mere22 diary of important events. Simultaneously23 with the curtailment24 of its "Chronicle," it ceased to give those excellent summaries of celebrated25 trials which for many years had been a feature of its volumes. The question whether "the appetite for the strange and marvellous" has abated in an appreciable26 degree with the passing of time and is not perhaps keener than it ever was, is a debatable one. But it is undeniable that the present volumes of the Annual Register have fallen away dismally27 from the variety and human interest of their predecessors28. Of the trial and execution of Peace the volume for 1879 gives but the barest record.
Charles Peace was not born of criminal parents. His father, John Peace, began work as a collier at Burton-on-Trent. Losing his leg in an accident, he joined Wombwell's wild beast show and soon acquired some reputation for his remarkable powers as a tamer of wild animals. About this time Peace married at Rotherham the daughter of a surgeon in the Navy. On the death of a favourite son to whom he had imparted successfully the secrets of his wonderful control over wild beasts of every kind, Mr. Peace gave up lion-taming and settled in Sheffield as a shoemaker.
It was at Sheffield, in the county of Yorkshire, already famous in the annals of crime as the county of John Nevison and Eugene Aram, that Peace first saw the light. On May 14, 1832, there was born to John Peace in Sheffield a son, Charles, the youngest of his family of four. When he grew to boyhood Charles was sent to two schools near Sheffield, where he soon made himself remarkable, not as a scholar, but for his singular aptitude30 in a variety of other employments such as making paper models, taming cats, constructing a peep-show, and throwing up a heavy ball of shot which he would catch in a leather socket31 fixed32 on to his forehead.
The course of many famous men's lives has been changed by what appeared at the time to be an unhappy accident. Who knows what may have been the effect on Charles Peace's subsequent career of an accident he met with in 1846 at some rolling mills, in which he was employed? A piece of red hot steel entered his leg just below the knee, and after eighteen months spent in the Sheffield Infirmary he left it a cripple for life. About this time Peace's father died. Peace and his family were fond of commemorating33 events of this kind in suitable verse; the death of John Peace was celebrated in the following lines:
"In peace he lived;
In peace he died;
Life was our desire,
But God denied."
Of the circumstances that first led Peace to the commission of crime we know nothing. How far enforced idleness, bad companionship, according to some accounts the influence of a criminally disposed mother, how far his own daring and adventurous34 temper provoked him to robbery, cannot be determined35 accurately36. His first exploit was the stealing of an old gentleman's gold watch, but he soon passed to greater things. On October 26, 1851, the house of a lady living in Sheffield was broken into and a quantity of her property stolen. Some of it was found in the possession of Peace, and he was arrested. Owing no doubt to a good character for honesty given him by his late employer Peace was let off lightly with a month's imprisonment37.
After his release Peace would seem to have devoted38 himself for a time to music, for which he had always a genuine passion. He taught himself to play tunes40 on a violin with one string, and at entertainments which he attended was described as "the modern Paganini." In later life when he had attained41 to wealth and prosperity the violin and the harmonium were a constant source of solace43 during long winter evenings in Greenwich and Peckham. But playing a one-stringed violin at fairs and public-houses could not be more than a relaxation44 to a man of Peace's active temper, who had once tasted what many of those who have practised it, describe as the fascination45 of that particular form of nocturnal adventure known by the unsympathetic name of burglary. Among the exponents46 of the art Peace was at this time known as a "portico47-thief," that is to say one who contrived48 to get himself on to the portico of a house and from that point of vantage make his entrance into the premises49. During the year 1854 the houses of a number of well-to-do residents in and about Sheffield were entered after this fashion, and much valuable property stolen. Peace was arrested, and with him a girl with whom he was keeping company, and his sister, Mary Ann, at that time Mrs. Neil. On October 20, 1854, Peace was sentenced at Doncaster Sessions to four years' penal50 servitude, and the ladies who had been found in possession of the stolen property to six months apiece. Mrs. Neil did not long survive her misfortune. She would seem to have been married to a brutal51 and drunken husband, whom Peace thrashed on more than one occasion for ill-treating his sister. After one of these punishments Neil set a bulldog on to Peace; but Peace caught the dog by the lower jaw52 and punched it into a state of coma53. The death in 1859 of the unhappy Mrs. Neil was lamented54 in appropriate verse, probably the work of her brother:
"I was so long with pain opprest
That wore my strength away;
It made me long for endless rest
Which never can decay."
On coming out of prison in 1858, Peace resumed his fiddling55, but it was now no more than a musical accompaniment to burglary. This had become the serious business of Peace's life, to be pursued, should necessity arise, even to the peril56 of men's lives. His operations extended beyond the bounds of his native town. The house of a lady living in Manchester was broken into on the night of August 11, 1859, and a substantial booty carried away. This was found the following day concealed58 in a hole in a field. The police left it undisturbed and awaited the return of the robber. When Peace and another man arrived to carry it away, the officers sprang out on them. Peace, after nearly killing59 the officer who was trying to arrest him, would have made his escape, had not other policemen come to the rescue. For this crime Peace was sentenced to six years' penal servitude, in spite of a loyal act of perjury60 on the part of his aged61 mother, who came all the way from Sheffield to swear that he had been with her there on the night of the crime.
He was released from prison again in 1864, and returned to Sheffield. Things did not prosper42 with him there, and he went back to Manchester. In 1866 he was caught in the act of burglary at a house in Lower Broughton. He admitted that at the time he was fuddled with whisky; otherwise his capture would have been more difficult and dangerous. Usually a temperate62 man, Peace realised on this occasion the value of sobriety even in burglary, and never after allowed intemperance63 to interfere64 with his success. A sentence of eight years' penal servitude at Manchester Assizes on December 3, 1866, emphasised this wholesome65 lesson.
Whilst serving this sentence Peace emulated66 Jack Sheppard in a daring attempt to escape from Wakefield prison. Being engaged on some repairs, he smuggled67 a small ladder into his cell. With the help of a saw made out of some tin, he cut a hole through the ceiling of the cell, and was about to get out on to the roof when a warder came in. As the latter attempted to seize the ladder Peace knocked him down, ran along the wall of the prison, fell off on the inside owing to the looseness of the bricks, slipped into the governor's house where he changed his clothes, and there, for an hour and a half, waited for an opportunity to escape. This was denied him, and he was recaptured in the governor's bedroom. The prisons at Millbank, Chatham and Gibraltar were all visited by Peace before his final release in 1872. At Chatham he is said to have taken part in a mutiny and been flogged for his pains.
On his liberation from prison Peace rejoined his family in Sheffield. He was now a husband and father. In 1859 he had taken to wife a widow of the name of Hannah Ward68. Mrs. Ward was already the mother of a son, Willie. Shortly after her marriage with Peace she gave birth to a daughter, and during his fourth term of imprisonment presented him with a son. Peace never saw this child, who died before his release. But, true to the family custom, on his return from prison the untimely death of little "John Charles" was commemorated69 by the printing of a funeral card in his honour, bearing the following sanguine70 verses:
"Farewell, my dear son, by us all beloved,
Thou art anxiously waiting to welcome us home."
Whether from a desire not to disappoint little John Charles, for some reason or other the next two or three years of Peace's career would seem to have been spent in an endeavour to earn an honest living by picture framing, a trade in which Peace, with that skill he displayed in whatever he turned his hand to, was remarkably73 proficient74. In Sheffield his children attended the Sunday School. Though he never went to church himself, he was an avowed75 believer in both God and the devil. As he said, however, that he feared neither, no great reliance could be placed on the restraining force of such a belief to a man of Peace's daring spirit. There was only too good reason to fear that little John Charles' period of waiting would be a prolonged one.
In 1875 Peace moved from Sheffield itself to the suburb of Darnall. Here Peace made the acquaintance—a fatal acquaintance, as it turned out—of a Mr. and Mrs. Dyson. Dyson was a civil engineer. He had spent some years in America, where, in 1866, he married.
Toward the end of 1873 or the beginning of 1874, he came to England with his wife, and obtained a post on the North Eastern Railway. He was a tall man, over six feet in height, extremely thin, and gentlemanly in his bearing. His engagement with the North Eastern Railway terminated abruptly76 owing to Dyson's failing to appear at a station to which he had been sent on duty.
It was believed at the time by those associated with Dyson that this unlooked-for dereliction of duty had its cause in domestic trouble. Since the year 1875, the year in which Peace came to Darnall, the domestic peace of Mr. Dyson had been rudely disturbed by this same ugly little picture-framer who lived a few doors away from the Dysons' house. Peace had got to know the Dysons, first as a tradesman, then as a friend. To what degree of intimacy77 he attained with Mrs. Dyson it is difficult to determine. In that lies the mystery of the case Mrs. Dyson is described as an attractive woman, "buxom78 and blooming"; she was dark-haired, and about twenty-five years of age. In an interview with the Vicar of Darnall a few days before his execution, Peace asserted positively79 that Mrs. Dyson had been his mistress. Mrs. Dyson as strenuously80 denied the fact. There was no question that on one occasion Peace and Mrs. Dyson had been photographed together, that he had given her a ring, and that he had been in the habit of going to music halls and public-houses with Mrs. Dyson, who was a woman of intemperate81 habits.
Peace had introduced Mrs. Dyson to his wife and daughter, and on one occasion was said to have taken her to his mother's house, much to the old lady's indignation. If there were not many instances of ugly men who have been notably82 successful with women, one might doubt the likelihood of Mrs. Dyson falling a victim to the charms of Charles Peace. But Peace, for all his ugliness, could be wonderfully ingratiating when he chose. According to Mrs. Dyson, Peace was a demon83, "beyond the power of even a Shakespeare to paint," who persecuted84 her with his attentions, and, when he found them rejected, devoted all his malignant85 energies to making the lives of her husband and herself unbearable86. According to Peace's story he was a slighted lover who had been treated by Mrs. Dyson with contumely and ingratitude87.
Whether to put a stop to his wife's intimacy with Peace, or to protect himself against the latter's wanton persecution88, sometime about the end of June, 1876, Dyson threw over into the garden of Peace's house a card, on which was written: "Charles Peace is requested not to interfere with my family." On July 1 Peace met Mr. Dyson in the street, and tried to trip him up. The same night he came up to Mrs. Dyson, who was talking with some friends, and threatened in coarse and violent language to blow out her brains and those of her husband. In consequence of these incidents Mr. Dyson took out a summons against Peace, for whose apprehension89 a warrant was issued. To avoid the consequences of this last step Peace left Darnall for Hull90, where he opened an eating-shop, presided over by Mrs. Peace.
But he himself was not idle. From Hull he went to Manchester on business, and in Manchester he committed his first murder. Entering the grounds of a gentleman's home at Whalley Range, about midnight on August 1, he was seen by two policemen. One of them, Constable91 Cock, intercepted92 him as he was trying to escape.
Peace took out his revolver and warned Cock to stand back. The policeman came on. Peace fired, but deliberately93 wide of him. Cock, undismayed, drew out his truncheon, and made for the burglar. Peace, desperate, determined not to be caught, fired again, this time fatally. Cock's comrade heard the shots, but before he could reach the side of the dying man, Peace had made off. He returned to Hull, and there learned shortly after, to his intense relief, that two brothers, John and William Habron, living near the scene of the murder, had been arrested and charged with the killing of Constable Cock.
If the Dysons thought that they had seen the last of Peace, they were soon to be convinced to the contrary. Peace had not forgotten his friends at Darnall. By some means or other he was kept informed of all their doings, and on one occasion was seen by Mrs. Dyson lurking94 near her home. To get away from him the Dysons determined to leave Darnall. They took a house at Banner Cross, another suburb of Sheffield, and on October 29 moved into their new home. One of the first persons Mrs. Dyson saw on arriving at Banner Cross was Peace himself. "You see," he said, "I am here to annoy you, and I'll annoy you wherever you go." Later, Peace and a friend passed Mr. Dyson in the street. Peace took out his revolver. "If he offers to come near me," said he, "I will make him stand back." But Mr. Dyson took no notice of Peace and passed on. He had another month to live.
Whatever the other motives95 of Peace may have been—unreasoning passion, spite, jealousy96, or revenge it must not be forgotten that Dyson, by procuring97 a warrant against Peace, had driven him from his home in Sheffield. This Peace resented bitterly. According to the statements of many witnesses, he was at this time in a state of constant irritation98 and excitement on the Dyson's account. He struck his daughter because she alluded99 in a way he did not like to his relations with Mrs. Dyson. Peace always believed in corporal chastisement100 as a means of keeping order at home. Pleasant and entertaining as he could be, he was feared. It was very dangerous to incur101 his resentment102. "Be sure," said his wife, "you do nothing to offend our Charley, or you will suffer for it." Dyson beyond a doubt had offended "our Charley." But for the moment Peace was interested more immediately in the fate of John and William Habron, who were about to stand their trial for the murder of Constable Cock at Whalley Range.
The trial commenced at the Manchester Assizes before Mr. Justice (now Lord) Lindley on Monday, November 27. John Habron was acquitted103.
The case against William Habron depended to a great extent on the fact that he, as well as his brother, had been heard to threaten to "do for" the murdered man, to shoot the "little bobby." Cock was a zealous104 young officer of twenty-three years of age, rather too eager perhaps in the discharge of his duty. In July of 1876 he had taken out summonses against John and William Habron, young fellows who had been several years in the employment of a nurseryman in Whalley Range, for being drunk and disorderly. On July 27 William was fined five shillings, and on August 1, the day of Cock's murder, John had been fined half a sovereign. Between these two dates the Habrons had been heard to threaten to "do for" Cock if he were not more careful. Other facts relied upon by the prosecution105 were that William Habron had inquired from a gunsmith the price of some cartridges106 a day or two before the murder; that two cartridge107 percussion108 caps had been found in the pocket of a waistcoat given to William Habron by his employer, who swore that they could not have been there while it was in his possession; that the other constable on duty with Cock stated that a man he had seen lurking near the house about twelve o'clock on the night of the murder appeared to be William Habron's age, height and complexion109, and resembled him in general appearance; and that the boot on Habron's left foot, which was "wet and sludgy" at the time of his arrest, corresponded in certain respects with the footprints of the murderer. The prisoner did not help himself by an ineffective attempt to prove an alibi110. The Judge was clearly not impressed by the strength of the case for the prosecution. He pointed111 out to the jury that neither the evidence of identification nor that of the footprint went very far. As to the latter, what evidence was there to show that it had been made on the night of the murder? If it had been made the day before, then the defence had proved that it could not have been Habron's. He called their attention to the facts that Habron bore a good character, that, when arrested on the night of the murder, he was in bed, and that no firearms had been traced to him. In spite, however, of the summing-up the jury convicted William Habron, but recommended him to mercy. The Judge without comment sentenced him to death. The Manchester Guardian112 expressed its entire concurrence113 with the verdict of the jury. "Few persons," it wrote, "will be found to dispute the justice of the conclusions reached." However, a few days later it opened its columns to a number of letters protesting against the unsatisfactory nature of the conviction. On December 6 a meeting of some forty gentlemen was held, at which it was resolved to petition Mr. Cross, the Home Secretary, to reconsider the sentence. Two days before the day of execution Habron was granted a respite114, and later his sentence commuted115 to one of penal servitude for life. And so a tragic116 and irrevocable miscarriage117 of justice was happily averted118.
Peace liked attending trials. The fact that in Habron's case he was the real murderer would seem to have made him the more eager not to miss so unique an experience. Accordingly he went from Hull to Manchester, and was present in court during the two days that the trial lasted. No sooner had he heard the innocent man condemned119 to death than he left Manchester for Sheffield—now for all he knew a double murderer.
It is a question whether, on the night of November 28, Peace met Mrs. Dyson at an inn in one of the suburbs of Sheffield. In any case, the next morning, Wednesday, the 29th, to his mother's surprise Peace walked into her house. He said that he had come to Sheffield for the fair. The afternoon of that day Peace spent in a public-house at Ecclesall, entertaining the customers by playing tunes on a poker120 suspended from a piece of strong string, from which he made music by beating it with a short stick. The musician was rewarded by drinks. It took very little drink to excite Peace. There was dancing, the fun grew fast and furious, as the strange musician beat out tune39 after tune on his fantastic instrument.
At six o'clock the same evening a thin, grey-haired, insignificant-looking man in an evident state of unusual excitement called to see the Rev4. Mr. Newman, Vicar of Ecclesall, near Banner Cross. Some five weeks before, this insignificant-looking man had visited Mr. Newman, and made certain statements in regard to the character of a Mr. and Mrs. Dyson who had come to live in the parish. The vicar had asked for proof of these statements. These proofs his visitor now produced. They consisted of a number of calling cards and photographs, some of them alleged121 to be in the handwriting of Mrs. Dyson, and showing her intimacy with Peace. The man made what purported122 to be a confession123 to Mr. Newman. Dyson, he said, had become jealous of him, whereupon Peace had suggested to Mrs. Dyson that they should give her husband something to be jealous about. Out of this proposal their intimacy had sprung. Peace spoke124 of Mrs. Dyson in terms of forgiveness, but his wrath125 against Dyson was extreme. He complained bitterly that by taking proceedings126 against him, Dyson had driven him to break up his home and become a fugitive127 in the land. He should follow the Dysons, he said, wherever they might go; he believed that they were at that moment intending to take further proceedings against him. As he left, Peace said that he should not go and see the Dysons that night, but would call on a friend of his, Gregory, who lived next door to them in Banner Cross Terrace. It was now about a quarter to seven.
Peace went to Gregory's house, but his friend was not at home. The lure128 of the Dysons was irresistible129. A little after eight o'clock Peace was watching the house from a passageway that led up to the backs of the houses on the terrace. He saw Mrs. Dyson come out of the back door, and go to an outhouse some few yards distant. He waited. As soon as she opened the door to come out, Mrs. Dyson found herself confronted by Peace, holding his revolver in his hand. "Speak," he said, "or I'll fire." Mrs. Dyson in terror went back. In the meantime Dyson, hearing the disturbance130, came quickly into the yard. Peace made for the passage. Dyson followed him. Peace fired once, the shot striking the lintel of the passage doorway131. Dyson undaunted, still pursued. Then Peace, according to his custom, fired a second time, and Dyson fell, shot through the temple. Mrs. Dyson, who had come into the yard again on hearing the first shot, rushed to her husband's side, calling out: "Murder! You villain132! You have shot my husband." Two hours later Dyson was dead.
After firing the second shot Peace had hurried down; the passage into the roadway. He stood there hesitating a moment, until the cries of Mrs. Dyson warned him of his danger. He crossed the road, climbed a wall, and made his way back to Sheffield. There he saw his mother and brother, told them that he had shot Mr. Dyson, and bade them a hasty good-bye. He then walked to Attercliffe Railway Station, and took a ticket for Beverley. Something suspicious in the manner of the booking-clerk made him change his place of destination. Instead of going to Beverley that night he got out of the train at Normanton and went on to York. He spent the remainder of the night in the station yard. He took the first train in the morning for Beverley, and from there travelled via Collingham to Hull. He went straight to the eating-house kept by his wife, and demanded some dinner. He had hardly commenced to eat it when he heard two detectives come into the front shop and ask his wife if a man called Charles Peace was lodging133 with her. Mrs. Peace said that that was her husband's name, but that she had not seen him for two months. The detectives proposed to search the house. Some customers in the shop told them that if they had any business with Mrs. Peace, they ought to go round to the side door. The polite susceptibility of these customers gave Peace time to slip up to a back room, get out on to an adjoining roof, and hide behind a chimney stack, where he remained until the detectives had finished an exhaustive search. So importunate134 were the officers in Hull that once again during the day Peace had to repeat this experience. For some three weeks, however, he contrived to remain in Hull. He shaved the grey beard he was wearing at the time of Dyson's murder, dyed his hair, put on a pair of spectacles, and for the first time made use of his singular power of contorting his features in such a way as to change altogether the character of his face. But the hue135 and cry after him was unremitting. There was a price of L100 on his head, and the following description of him was circulated by the police:
"Charles Peace wanted for murder on the night of the 29th inst. He is thin and slightly built, from fifty-five to sixty years of age. Five feet four inches or five feet high; grey (nearly white) hair, beard and whiskers. He lacks use of three fingers of left hand, walks with his legs rather wide apart, speaks somewhat peculiarly as though his tongue were too large for his mouth, and is a great boaster. He is a picture-frame maker29. He occasionally cleans and repairs clocks and watches and sometimes deals in oleographs, engravings and pictures. He has been in penal servitude for burglary in Manchester. He has lived in Manchester, Salford, and Liverpool and Hull."
This description was altered later and Peace's age given as forty-six. As a matter of fact he was only forty-four at this time, but he looked very much older. Peace had lost one of his fingers. He said that it had been shot off by a man with whom he had quarrelled, but it was believed to be more likely that he had himself shot it off accidentally in handling one of his revolvers. It was to conceal57 this obvious means of identification that Peace made himself the false arm which he was in the habit of wearing. This was of gutta percha, with a hole down the middle of it into which he passed his arm; at the end was a steel plate to which was fixed a hook; by means of this hook Peace could wield136 a fork and do other dexterous137 feats138.
Marked man as he was, Peace felt it dangerous to stay longer in Hull than he could help. During the closing days of the year 1876 and the beginning of 1877, Peace was perpetually on the move. He left Hull for Doncaster, and from there travelled to London. On arriving at King's Cross he took the underground railway to Paddington, and from there a train to Bristol. At the beginning of January he left Bristol for Bath, and from Bath, in the company of a sergeant139 of police, travelled by way of Didcot to Oxford140. The officer had in his custody141 a young woman charged with stealing L40. Peace and the sergeant discussed the case during the journey. "He seemed a smart chap," said Peace in relating the circumstances, "but not smart enough to know me." From Oxford he went to Birmingham, where he stayed four or five days, then a week in Derby, and on January 9th he arrived in Nottingham.
Here Peace found a convenient lodging at the house of one, Mrs. Adamson, a lady who received stolen goods and on occasion indicated or organised suitable opportunities for acquiring them.
She lived in a low part of the town known as the Marsh142. It was at her house that Peace met the woman who was to become his mistress and subsequently betray his identity to the police. Her maiden143 name was Susan Gray.
She was at this time about thirty-five years of age, described as "taking" in appearance, of a fair complexion, and rather well educated. She had led a somewhat chequered married life with a gentleman named Bailey, from whom she continued in receipt of a weekly allowance until she passed under the protection of Peace. Her first meeting with her future lover took place on the occasion of Peace inviting144 Mrs. Adamson to dispose of a box of cigars for him, which that good woman did at a charge of something like thirty per cent. At first Peace gave himself out to Mrs. Bailey as a hawker, but before long he openly acknowledged his real character as an accomplished145 burglar. With characteristic insistence146 Peace declared his passion for Mrs. Bailey by threatening to shoot her if she did not become his. Anxious friends sent for her to soothe147 the distracted man. Peace had been drowning care with the help of Irish whiskey. He asked "his pet" if she were not glad to see him, to which the lady replied with possible sarcasm148: "Oh, particularly, very, I like you so much." Next day Peace apologised for his rude behaviour of the previous evening, and so melted the heart of Mrs. Bailey that she consented to become his mistress, and from that moment discarding the name of Bailey is known to history as Mrs. Thompson.
Life in Nottingham was varied149 pleasantly by burglaries carried out with the help of information supplied by Mrs. Adamson. In the June of 1877 Peace was nearly detected in stealing, at the request of that worthy150, some blankets, but by flourishing his revolver he contrived to get away, and, soon after, returned for a season to Hull. Here this hunted murderer, with L100 reward on his head, took rooms for Mrs. Thompson and himself at the house of a sergeant of police. One day Mrs. Peace, who was still keeping her shop in Hull, received a pencilled note saying, "I am waiting to see you just up Anlaby Road." She and her stepson, Willie Ward, went to the appointed spot, and there to their astonishment151 stood her husband, a distinguished152 figure in black coat and trousers, top hat, velvet153 waistcoat, with stick, kid gloves, and a pretty little fox terrier by his side. Peace told them of his whereabouts in the town, but did not disclose to them the fact that his mistress was there also. To the police sergeant with whom he lodged154, Peace described himself as an agent. But a number of sensational and successful burglaries at the houses of Town Councillors and other well-to-do citizens of Hull revealed the presence in their midst of no ordinary robber. Peace had some narrow escapes, but with the help of his revolver, and on one occasion the pusillanimity155 of a policeman, he succeeded in getting away in safety. The bills offering a reward for his capture were still to be seen in the shop windows of Hull, so after a brief but brilliant adventure Peace and Mrs. Thompson returned to Nottingham.
Here, as the result of further successful exploits, Peace found a reward of L50 offered for his capture. On one occasion the detectives came into the room where Peace and his mistress were in bed. After politely expressing his surprise at seeing "Mrs. Bailey" in such a situation, one of the officers asked Peace his name. He gave it as John Ward, and described himself as a hawker of spectacles. He refused to get up and dress in the presence of the detectives who were obliging enough to go downstairs and wait his convenience. Peace seized the opportunity to slip out of the house and get away to another part of the town. From there he sent a note to Mrs. Thompson insisting on her joining him. He soon after left Nottingham, paid another brief visit to Hull, but finding that his wife's shop was still frequented by the police, whom he designated freely as "a lot of fools," determined to quit the North for good and begin life afresh in the ampler and safer field of London.
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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posterity
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pious
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jack
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humiliation
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| n.省略，删节；遗漏或省略的事物，冗长 | |
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11
alphabetical
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| adj.字母（表）的，依字母顺序的 | |
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12
exigencies
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| n.急切需要 | |
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13
amends
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| n. 赔偿 | |
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14
supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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15
injustice
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| n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利 | |
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16
authentic
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| a.真的，真正的；可靠的，可信的，有根据的 | |
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17
remorse
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| n.痛恨，悔恨，自责 | |
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18
slur
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| v.含糊地说；诋毁；连唱；n.诋毁；含糊的发音 | |
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19
considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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20
abated
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| 减少( abate的过去式和过去分词 )； 减去； 降价； 撤消（诉讼） | |
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21
sensational
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| adj.使人感动的，非常好的，轰动的，耸人听闻的 | |
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22
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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23
simultaneously
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| adv.同时发生地，同时进行地 | |
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24
curtailment
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| n.缩减，缩短 | |
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25
celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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26
appreciable
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| adj.明显的，可见的，可估量的，可觉察的 | |
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27
dismally
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| adv.阴暗地，沉闷地 | |
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28
predecessors
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| n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 )；前辈；（被取代的）原有事物；前身 | |
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29
maker
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| n.制造者，制造商 | |
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30
aptitude
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| n.(学习方面的)才能，资质，天资 | |
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31
socket
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| n.窝，穴，孔，插座，插口 | |
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32
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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33
commemorating
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| v.纪念，庆祝( commemorate的现在分词 ) | |
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34
adventurous
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| adj.爱冒险的；惊心动魄的，惊险的，刺激的 | |
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35
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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36
accurately
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| adv.准确地，精确地 | |
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37
imprisonment
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|
| n.关押，监禁，坐牢 | |
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38
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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39
tune
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| n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整 | |
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40
tunes
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| n.曲调，曲子( tune的名词复数 )v.调音( tune的第三人称单数 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调 | |
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41
attained
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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42
prosper
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| v.成功，兴隆，昌盛；使成功，使昌隆，繁荣 | |
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43
solace
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|
| n.安慰；v.使快乐；vt.安慰(物)，缓和 | |
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44
relaxation
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| n.松弛，放松；休息；消遣；娱乐 | |
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45
fascination
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| n.令人着迷的事物，魅力，迷恋 | |
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46
exponents
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| n.倡导者( exponent的名词复数 )；说明者；指数；能手 | |
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47
portico
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| n.柱廊，门廊 | |
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48
contrived
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| adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的 | |
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49
premises
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| n.建筑物，房屋 | |
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50
penal
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| adj.刑罚的；刑法上的 | |
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51
brutal
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| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
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52
jaw
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| n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训 | |
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53
coma
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| n.昏迷，昏迷状态 | |
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54
lamented
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|
| adj.被哀悼的，令人遗憾的v.（为…）哀悼，痛哭，悲伤( lament的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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55
fiddling
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| 微小的 | |
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56
peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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57
conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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58
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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59
killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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60
perjury
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| n.伪证；伪证罪 | |
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61
aged
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| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
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62
temperate
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| adj.温和的，温带的，自我克制的，不过分的 | |
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63
intemperance
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| n.放纵 | |
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64
interfere
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| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
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65
wholesome
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|
| adj.适合；卫生的；有益健康的；显示身心健康的 | |
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66
emulated
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|
| v.与…竞争( emulate的过去式和过去分词 )；努力赶上；计算机程序等仿真；模仿 | |
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67
smuggled
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| 水货 | |
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68
ward
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| n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开 | |
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69
commemorated
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|
| v.纪念，庆祝( commemorate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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70
sanguine
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|
| adj.充满希望的，乐观的，血红色的 | |
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71
mansions
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| n.宅第，公馆，大厦( mansion的名词复数 ) | |
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72
bosom
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|
| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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73
remarkably
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|
| ad.不同寻常地，相当地 | |
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74
proficient
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|
| adj.熟练的，精通的；n.能手，专家 | |
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75
avowed
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|
| adj.公开声明的，承认的v.公开声明，承认( avow的过去式和过去分词) | |
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76
abruptly
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|
| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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77
intimacy
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|
| n.熟悉，亲密，密切关系，亲昵的言行 | |
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78
buxom
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|
| adj.（妇女）丰满的，有健康美的 | |
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79
positively
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|
| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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80
strenuously
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|
| adv.奋发地，费力地 | |
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81
intemperate
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|
| adj.无节制的，放纵的 | |
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82
notably
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|
| adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地 | |
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83
demon
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|
| n.魔鬼，恶魔 | |
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84
persecuted
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|
| （尤指宗教或政治信仰的）迫害(~sb. for sth.)( persecute的过去式和过去分词 )； 烦扰，困扰或骚扰某人 | |
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85
malignant
|
|
| adj.恶性的，致命的；恶意的，恶毒的 | |
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86
unbearable
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|
| adj.不能容忍的；忍受不住的 | |
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87
ingratitude
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| n.忘恩负义 | |
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88
persecution
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|
| n. 迫害,烦扰 | |
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89
apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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90
hull
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|
| n.船身；(果、实等的)外壳；vt.去(谷物等)壳 | |
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91
constable
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| n.(英国)警察，警官 | |
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92
intercepted
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|
| 拦截( intercept的过去式和过去分词 )； 截住； 截击； 拦阻 | |
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93
deliberately
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|
| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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94
lurking
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| 潜在 | |
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95
motives
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|
| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
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96
jealousy
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|
| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
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97
procuring
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| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的现在分词 )；拉皮条 | |
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98
irritation
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|
| n.激怒，恼怒，生气 | |
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99
alluded
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| 提及，暗指( allude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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100
chastisement
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|
| n.惩罚 | |
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101
incur
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|
| vt.招致，蒙受，遭遇 | |
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102
resentment
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|
| n.怨愤，忿恨 | |
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103
acquitted
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| 宣判…无罪( acquit的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（自己）作出某种表现 | |
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104
zealous
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| adj.狂热的，热心的 | |
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105
prosecution
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| n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营 | |
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106
cartridges
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| 子弹( cartridge的名词复数 )； （打印机的）墨盒； 录音带盒； （唱机的）唱头 | |
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107
cartridge
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| n.弹壳，弹药筒；(装磁带等的)盒子 | |
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108
percussion
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| n.打击乐器；冲突，撞击；震动，音响 | |
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109
complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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110
alibi
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| n.某人当时不在犯罪现场的申辩或证明；借口 | |
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111
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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112
guardian
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| n.监护人；守卫者，保护者 | |
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113
concurrence
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| n.同意；并发 | |
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114
respite
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| n.休息，中止，暂缓 | |
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115
commuted
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| 通勤( commute的过去式和过去分词 )； 减（刑）； 代偿 | |
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116
tragic
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| adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的 | |
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117
miscarriage
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| n.失败，未达到预期的结果；流产 | |
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118
averted
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| 防止，避免( avert的过去式和过去分词 )； 转移 | |
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119
condemned
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|
| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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120
poker
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| n.扑克；vt.烙制 | |
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121
alleged
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| a.被指控的，嫌疑的 | |
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122
purported
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|
| adj.传说的，谣传的v.声称是…，（装得）像是…的样子( purport的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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123
confession
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| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
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124
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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125
wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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126
proceedings
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| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
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127
fugitive
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| adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者 | |
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128
lure
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| n.吸引人的东西，诱惑物；vt.引诱，吸引 | |
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129
irresistible
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| adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的 | |
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130
disturbance
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| n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调 | |
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131
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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132
villain
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| n.反派演员，反面人物；恶棍；问题的起因 | |
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133
lodging
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| n.寄宿，住所；(大学生的)校外宿舍 | |
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134
importunate
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| adj.强求的；纠缠不休的 | |
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135
hue
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| n.色度；色调；样子 | |
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136
wield
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| vt.行使，运用，支配；挥，使用(武器等) | |
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137
dexterous
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| adj.灵敏的；灵巧的 | |
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138
feats
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| 功绩，伟业，技艺( feat的名词复数 ) | |
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139
sergeant
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| n.警官，中士 | |
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140
Oxford
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| n.牛津（英国城市） | |
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141
custody
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| n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留 | |
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142
marsh
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| n.沼泽，湿地 | |
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143
maiden
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| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
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144
inviting
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| adj.诱人的，引人注目的 | |
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145
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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146
insistence
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| n.坚持；强调；坚决主张 | |
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147
soothe
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| v.安慰；使平静；使减轻；缓和；奉承 | |
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148
sarcasm
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| n.讥讽，讽刺，嘲弄，反话 （adj.sarcastic） | |
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149
varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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150
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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151
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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152
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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153
velvet
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| n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的 | |
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154
lodged
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| v.存放( lodge的过去式和过去分词 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属 | |
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155
pusillanimity
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| n.无气力，胆怯 | |
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