Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 6.djvu/67

 u s. vi. JULY 2o, i9i2.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

He travelled in France, Greece, Turkey, and Palestine. In September, 1832, he appeared in Canterbury as an unknown stranger, and resided at " The Rose Inn," giving his name as Count Moses Rothschild. After a few months passed in comparative retirement, he assumed another role, and announced himself as being Sir William Percy Honeywood Courtenay, Knight of Malta and King of Jerusalem. He contrived to become acquainted with some respectable families in Canterbury, and professed high Tory principles, although in Truro he had been a staunch reformer. He announced his intention to contest the city at the general election, 11-12 Dec., 1832, and in his election address pledged himself to

" annihilate for ever the tithers, taxation upon all the shopkeepers and productive classes, also upon knowledge ; the primogeniture law, chartered and corporate bodies, slavery, sinecures, and placemen, beginning from the very Throne to the meanest situation under Government."

He appeared on the hustings clad in a costume of crimson velvet and gold, with cloak, cap, and stockings of the same colour, and promised a reformation of the House of Commons, the abolition of tithes, and a return of the good old times when roast beef and ale were plentiful in the land. He was defeated, having obtained but 375 votes. Many people thought that if he had entered upon the contest a week earlier he would have been successful.

His eccentricity now became more pro- nounced than ever, and his absurd freaks afforded gossip over an ever-extending area. Having been called as a witness in a trial relative to a smuggling case, he appeared in court at Rochester clad in a gorgeous costume, with a scimitar suspended from his neck by a massive gold chain. He swore that he had witnessed some circumstances at a specified time and place ; but it was clearly proved that he was 30 miles distant at the moment, and, being convicted of perjury, 25 July, 1833, he was condemned to- three months' imprisonment and seven years' transportation. While in prison, without friends or money, he let fall some hints that led the authorities to com- municate with his friends in Truro. Mrs. Tom and Mr. Samuel Hugo, who was married to Mrs. Tom's sister, proceeded to Maidstone gaol, and procured a pardon for him ; he was transferred to the lunatic asylum at Barming Heath, where he remained until October, 1837.

Returning to Canterbury, he published a newspaper, The Lion, of which eight

numbers were issued, from 16 March to 4 May, 1838. In this publication he repre- sented himself as " happy and resigned to the will of Heaven, persecuted as he is for the poor's sake," and denounced corpora- tions as " cormorants who have been preying like bloodhounds on the sweat and toil of the artisan and labourer." He declared that

" the British Lion will be free. Heaven is his throne, and earth is his footstool. He spake, and it was done. He commanded, and it stood fast. Liberty, truth, bears off the victory, independence. Printed and declared by Sir W. Courtenay, K.M."

Then followed the last phase of his extra- ordinary career. He asserted that he was the Messiah, and showed punctures in his hands and feet, and a cicatrix in his side. He announced his intention of converting England, beginning at Canterbury, and excited the lower classes in the district by harangues against the. laws in general, and against the new Poor Law in particular. He declared that if they would place them- selves under his command, he would ensure them redress for their grievances, little work, and high wages. About sixty labourers and "hooligans" gathered around his white standard, armed with cudgels the only weapon he permitted ; but he himself carried a dagger and pistols, and boasted that he was invulnerable to steel and shot. Their headquarters were in Blean Wood. A constable named Nicholas Mears was sent to arrest the impostor, and Tom mortally wounded him. On 31 May, 1838, a company of the 45th Regiment of Foot, under Major Elliott Armstrong, was sent from the barracks at Canterbury to capture Tom. Reaching Bossenden Wood (of which, I believe, Blean Wood forms a part), near Harbledown, they soon came in sight of the rebels. Lieut. Bennett was about to strike the leader with his sword when Tom shot him. This so enraged the soldiers that, without waiting for the word of command, they fired, killing Tom and ten of his partisans.

P. JENNINGS.

St. Day, Scorrier.

MR. J. B. WAINE WRIGHT refers to Da vide ! Lazzaretti as an instance of a false Messiah ' who flourished in Italy in 1835. In this date he is a little too previous, as this Lazzaretti was a notorious person who roused the ignorant country-folk in the Tuscan hill- districts to wild excesses, and was shot by a carabineer as he headed a cavalcade of rustics on Monte Amiata, near Siena, in