Note 78 — Chapter IX

On the 11th of May, 1750, the Sessions began at the Old Bailey, and continued for some days, in which time a great number of malefactors were tried; and there was present in the court a great multitude of persons to hear the trial of Captain Clarke for killing Captain Innes, both officers in the Navy. It was generally supposed that the air was at first tainted from the bar, by some of the prisoners, then ill of the gaol distemper; and the poisonous quality of the atmosphere was considerably increased by the heat and closeness of the court, occasioned by the great number of persons penned up for the most part of the day, without breathing the free air, or receiving any refreshment. The Bench consisted of six persons, Sir Samuel Pennant, then Lord Mayor; Lord Chief Justice Lee; Sir Thomas Abney, Justice of the Common Pleas; Baron Clarke; and Sir Daniel Lambert, Alderman and M.P. for London, whereof four died, together with two or three of the counsel, one of the Under-Sheriffs, several of the Middlesex jury, and others present, to the amount of above forty in the whole. This event is noticed by Lady Huntingdon, in one of her letters, in which she laments the death of an intimate friend, Stanhope Otway, Esq., barrister-at-law, whose sudden decease was improved by Mr. Whitefield at Ashby, before a numerous congregation. A narrative of the awful circumstances connected with the Black Sessions at the Old Bailey was drawn up by Dr. Pringle, afterwards Sir John Pringle, son-in-law of Dr. Oliver, of Bath, the particular friend of Lady Huntingdon. (See Pringle’s “Observations on the Diseases of the Army.”)