THE Gentleman's Magazine: For SEPTEMBER 1762. Some Account of John and Jofeph Kello, and of the Forgery of a Draught for 10007. upon Me. Amyand, Staples, . and Mercer, Bankers, in the Name of Wm Partridge. OHN KELLO is 26 A years old, and Jofeph 24; John came over in partnership with a gentleman from Virginia about three years ago, as his brother Joseph B fwore at his trial, but it does not appear that this partnership produced him more than one remittance of 300l. in three years. From his coming over to his being apprehended he lived in Bloomsbury, and Jofeph was, during the fame time, clerk to Mr Charles More of Aldermanbury, and fwore that for the laft year and a half he fupported not only himself but his brother John, tho", when questioned by John at the tryal, it appeared he had received above 30 guineas of him to pay his debts. с Jofeph had before ferved an appren-D ticemip to Mr John Howell, a Blackwell hall factor, and, during that apprenticeship, he became acquainted with Mr Jofeph Cotton, who was alfo then apprentice to a packer,and ufed to be fent by his master to affift Kello. Mr Cotton, coming into hufinefs for himself, ftill continued his acquaintance with Kello, who used to be continually backwards & forwards at his house in Aldermanbury, where Kello alfo lived. Mr Cotton, at this time, did a good deal of bufinefs for Mr Partridge in the preffing and packing way, was converfant in his other branches of business, F and greatly trufted by him, fo that Kello had great opportunities of becoming acquainted with Mr Partridge's affairs, but did not know him perfonally. The two brothers being neceffitous conceived a design of obtaining money by forgery above a year ago, but could not determine in whofe name to pracrife the fraud. Jofeph's acquaintance with Mr Partridge's affairs, by Mr Cotton's means, at length determined them to practise it on him. With this view Jofeph took an opportunity to take a draft of Mr Partridge's from a file in his counting houfe, and from this draught he forged another, in the following words:" To Me. Amyand, Staples, and Mercer, He had before forged feveral others, all for a thousand pounds, but the refemblance was not thought fo great as in this. The 28th of Auguft, the day of the date of the note was a Saturday, and Jofeph Kelly had learnt of Mr Cotton, that Mr Partridge would, on that day, go to Harlow, and in his way dine at Woodford: He and his brother John, therefore, determining that this was an opportunity not to be loft, went together to the Red lion ale-house in Moorfields, where John Kello wrote the following letter in Mr Partridge's name to Mr Cotton : 396 Account of the Trial of Kello for Forgery. The letters, with the draft and bill, were then put into a cover, which they directed to Mr Cotton, at Mr Elliot's, in Aldermanbury; and as they could pro- A cure no wax at the ale-house, they went to a ftationer's in White-Chapple, where they bought a stick, and where they alfo borrowed the use of a seal, and fealed up their packet. It was now about five o'clock, and the business being thus far difpatched, B Jofeph Kello went immediately to Mr Cotton, whom he found at his warehouse contiguous to Mr Partridge's house; and foon after his brother John, with whom he had left the letter, fent it from the 'Change by a porter, as directed. When Cotton received the letter, JoJeph Kello was with him: He asked the porter whence he brought it, who anfwered, from a gentleman who gave it him in the street, and that it required no answer. When he had read the letter, and examined the draught and bill it contained, having no fufpicion of forgery, as the fimilitude was very great, he immediately fet about obeying Mr Partridge's orders. It was now about near the time when bankers shut up their fhops; for expedition's fake, therefore, Kello directed a blank cover to Mr Rous, with which Cotton ran to Mr Amyand's, taking with him the draught and bill: He happened to find Mr Mercer, one of the partners, who exprelled fome furprize at his coming fo late, but, however, gave him a bank note for 1000l. in exchange for the draught. C which he wrote, The letter for Mr Rou is at J. Cotton's, Aldermanbury: He then went home, where he found fofeph Kello ftill waiting, for he would not venture to call or fend for the letter till he knew Cotton was returned from the coffee-house. Kello asked him if he had left the letter; and he said, No, he was afraid. Kello then went to his brother, who. was waiting to know how matters went on, at Seymour's Coffee-House in Pope's Head Alley. It was there agreed that John fhould send a verbal message by a chairman to Cotton, from the Antigallican, defiring him to deliver to him the letter that was to have been left at Sam's for Mr Roufe. Kello then hafted back again to Cotten; and foon after the chairman came for the letter. Mr Cotton faid he would go along with him, and fee the gentleman to whom the letter was to be delivered; he did fo; and the mistress of the houfe told him the gentleman was gone, but would return in ten minutes for John Kello had the precaution not to stay in the houfe, but to Ꭰ watch the porter's return, and fee whether he came alone. E F This bank note he inclosed in the cover directed by Joseph Kello, and borrowing a wafer in the fhop, fealed it, and went himfelf with it to Sam's *cortee-house, in Exchange-alley, being well acquainted with a gentleman whole name was Rous, who lived at G Hackney, and for whom he fuppofed the bank note was intended by Mr Partridge. He asked for the mafter or mistress of the house, but both were abroad; he then left the cover, with the note fealed up in it, at the bar, but did not 'leave the house. Having waited there three hours, and nobody coming for the letter, he took it back from the waiter, and.left a paper instead of it at the bar on H Cotton then fat down, waiting the return of the gentleman; and having ftay'd till near 12 o'clock, returned again back with the letter and note, leaving a billet at the coffee-house, purporting, that the letter should be delivered the next morning at Mr Roufe's at Hackney, by 10 o'clock. At his return, he found Jaf. Kello ftill waiting, who asked if he had left the parcel: He faid, No: Why, says Kello, Mr Partridge will be very angry; you don't know the confequence of not leaving it. Cotton, however, still continued firm in his intention of carrying it himself to Hackney, in the morning, and immediately wrote a letter to Mr Partridge, telling him what he had done, and what he intended to do; with which he and Kella both went to the Poft-Office; and it being patt twelve, Cotton gave fix-pence to have it received. fof Kello lay with Cotton that night; and in the morning he got up before fix, and went to his brother John, and acquainted him with what had happened, and with Cotton's intention of carrying the note to Hackney. It was then agreed that another let'ter fhould be written to Mr Cotton, as from Mr Partridge, to acquaint him that he had learnt by exprefs that he (Cotton) Account of the Trial of Kello for Forgery. (Cotton) had not acted agreeable to the direction in the first letter, and defiring that he would leave the note at Sam's without delay. Jofeph Kello leaving his brother to write and fend the letter, returned to Cotton, whom he found fetting out for Hackney, and fet out with him, A in order, if poffible, to find fome means of delay. Mr Cotton had propofed to call at the Sun at London Wall, and while they were drinking a pot of beer Kello pretended to have forgotten his handkerchief, and made an excuse to go back and fetch it. In Aldermanbury he was told by Mr Partridge's por- B ter, that there was a letter left for Mr Cotton, and he directed the porter to Parry it to London wall, where Cotton, till was, to whom he might deliver it. This ftratagem produced the defired effect. Mr Cotton, upon reading the contents, carried the letter with the bank note in it to the coffee-houfe, & returned to Aldermanbury to Kello,fhewing him the letter he had received,and telling him what he had done. As the body of the letter was written by John, and the name by Joseph, Jofeph took care to destroy it, and, after dining with Mr Cotton, he went and D acquainted John, that the note was left at the coffee-houfe, and that he might now receive it. This he prefently did, and then both went into the fields by Sadler's wells, where they opened the letter, and found the note. About fix they agreed to meet at John's lodgings, at the Crown coffee-house, Peter-freet, Bloomsbury,and there they talked of different ways of getting it exchanged. At length it was concluded that the prifoner fhould go to Briftal as the most eligible place, but, having no money, Jofeph borrowed ten guineas of a relation, and on Tuesday morning the prifoner fet out in a post-chaife for Brifol. E 397 his book; and he faid, John Hyndman, The prifoner, having new fucceeded to his with, instead of endeavour, ing to make his efcape, as he proba bly might have done from Brifol, returned to Westminster, to the house where one Phabe Lafkard lives, in Wood-freet. To this woman he gave both the money and the bills: The money, fealed up in a bag, he pretended to be half-pence, to the amount of about sl. and the bills, he said, was foreign bills, of no ufe to any body but himself: The bills the afterwards delivered to a porter that was fent for them, and the money was carelefly laid about at one time on the dreffer, and at another time in the window, till at length Sir John Fielding, having got fome information where the prifoner might be found, caufed him to be apprehended. The conftable who found him, found alfo the money in the bag, and when he was examined, the bills were found upon him. The particulars here related were all authentically proved upon his trial; and when he was called upon to make his defence, he endeavoured to throw the whole blame upon the brother, and appealed to the court, which had the appearance of moft guilt. The matter of the coffeehouse where he lived, gave him the character of an extreme fober man, but the jury paid no regard to his former character, but brought in their verdict, guilty, death. An Enquiry into the Defpotifm of Eaftern Norder to make the invifibility of I of the Supreme Being agree with a vifible emblem, they concealed their F dumb and fenfelefs idols in the fanctuary; they rendered the approaches to this fanctuary dreadful and difficult, to the vulgar: they made a fecret even of the name of the Divine Monarch; and prejudice and superftition very foon imagined that no mortal being could pronounce it, and live. On Friday, Sept. 3, Mr Culverwell, the landlord of the King's-Head, at Bridgwater, applied to Mr Baker, clerk to the general receiver for the county of Somerfet, for money for a 1000 l. G bank-note, and Mr Baker told out 888 guineas, and 2s. which, together with three small notes, one of 3ol. one of 251. and one of 10l. made the fum of 9971. 10s, and 55. per hundred, to ruit, 21. 10s. for exchange, compleated the whole fum of 1000l. Mr Culverwell examined the cash, and the prifoner appeared as the owner of the note, and received the money as it was retold. Mr Baker asked the prifoner his name, that he might enter it in H In order that the ceremonials might agree with the appearance of the great judge, which was originally expected only at the end of time, but was at length degenerated into a fuppofed periodical vifitation, at the end of a certain aftronomical and aftrological period; they feigned vifible defcents of this awful Being into his fan&tuary, regularly at the end of a certain num. ber 398 Continuation of the Enquiry into Oriental Defpotifm. ber of years, and other stated and fabbatical revolutions: They then carried his fymbols in proceffion from the temple, fometimes behind veils, fome times in an artificial obfcurity, and fometimes furrounded with terrifying attributes, but always with circumftances that afforded only an imperfect glimpse of them to the common people. In order alfo to reconcile the immateriality of the Supreme Being with the groinefs of the fymbols in which it was pretended he refided, or came to refide at certain times, metamorphofes, metempsycofes, and incarnations were invented, and mysterious conjunctions, equally impious and abfurd, of a God, with material beings, with animals, and with men and wo men. had funk under the oppofition of pow erful enemies, but that, after their death, which had been cruel, they had triumphed over the grave by a glorious refurrection, Theocracy, by rendering man an idolator, rendered him allo a fave, barbarous and favage. However subFime a government might appear, which had heaven for its model, it had a very bad effect upon earth. Among many other innumerable falfe opinions, which took their rife from TheBocracy, there were two, which, tho diametrically oppofite, equally contributed to destroy the happinefs of man As ignorance very foon confounded C every religious cuffom with the commemorative customs which made a part of religion, and as the reprefentations of the ancient ftate of human nature, all fymbolical alfo, were regulated by the fame periods as the ceremonial Theocracy, and all that D had relation to the facred doctrines, new deviations and new fables foon followed. E All the different fymbols ufed in thefe commemorations of the history of nature were infenfibly converted into illuftrious perfonages, to whom great atchievements were attributed, in which they were fuppofed to have experienced a mixture of good and evil, greatness and mifery, because the anecdotes of the ruin and restoration of the world took a new appear. ance, and almot neceffarily became their legends: the interest which men F took in the fate of thefe perfonified emblems, made them very foon confound them with the emblems of the great Judge, who was at length loft in The crowd. By thefe new mistakes, the life of the divine Monarch, and of the fupreme Judge, were at length decorated with all the hiftorical particulars of the commemorative feafts; and thus the Sun extinguished and restored, the world deftroyed and re-established, became the objects of divine worship, under the names of Ofiris, Atys, Adonis, Bacchus, and many others; and a notion was conceived, that thefe deities, having come down to the earth to civilize mankind, and give them laws for their conduct, had paffed through great varieties of fortune; that they G H kind. The idea which they had formed of the felicity of the celeftial reign gave rife to falle ideas of liberty, equality and independance; and, on the other fide, the idea of a divine Monarch, fo great, fo elevated, reduced mere mortals almost to nothing in the comparison, and infpired them with conrempt of themfelves, and voluntary felf-abafement. By thefe two extremes, the fentiment and difpofition neceffary to the felicity of mankind, were equally deftroyed: One part of mankind wifhed to be more than they either could or ought to be upon earth, and the other was degraded below their natural eftate: Man indeed was no longer to be feen; but, in his ftead, a lawless favage in one place, and an abject flave in another. By the abufe of liberty on the part of the people, and of power on the part of the king, the happy mediocrity of government was deftroyed in all the western world; liberty degenerated into the licentioufnefs of free-booters, and fociety was broken into hords of wandering favages; and, in the caft, life and property were furrendered, without referve, to an arbitrary and capricious tyrant." The hiftory of the Eaft, and the character of the Orientals, concur to . render it probable, that the Theocracy was, from the firft, in these climates lefs corrupted by the abufe of liberty in the people, than by the tyranny of their miniiters: The fymbols, coffres, and idols, by which the fupreme Judge was reprefented, were nothing; but the officers to whom they were intrusted were mere men, and not cœleftial beings, incapable of abufing an administration which invested them with unlimited power. Altho' the deity was the fole monarch, yet as there could be no compact made, nur сол Continuation of the Enquiry into Oriental Defpatifm. 399 condition ftipulated with God. The ocrafy was, by the very nature of inftitution, a government abfolutely defpotic, of which the fupreme Judge was the invifible Sultan, and all the priefts were the viziers and minifters; or, in other words, fo many several tyrants exercifing defpotic power. Of all the political vices of Theocracy, this was the greatest and most fatal, and prepared the way for the Oriental defpotism, and the horrid flavery which it produced. A lawless and cruel proceedings of which they are the victims; the Turks, in particular, have to this hour a notion that the Grand Seignior may, without fin, put to death fourteen perfons every day; and they are perfuaded, that when their tyrants command any of his fubjects to be put to death, he only follows the particular infpiration of providence, which none can resist without guilt. By this corruption of the Theocratic form of government, the priests naturally became the first fovereigns of the world, and disposed of the property, the honour, and the life of mankind as they pleafed: After a time, they ceafed to adminifter juffice to the people; they led a life of violence and rapine, they appropriated the victims, which were brought as Cofferings to the divine monarch, to their own ufe; and they violated the women who came to worship at the temple. This last act of wickedness, which has been palliated by a great variety of fables, had more extensive confequences than any other; for hy this criminal commerce, which they had the infolence to cover with the mantle of their God, a new race of creatures was produced, who knew no other father than the Son, or fome other deity, nor any other motherthan the wretched victims, or the guilty affociates of facerdotal incontinence. The world was thus foon re-. plenished with demi-gods and heroes, whofe illuftrious birth, and glorious exploits, induced mankind (who were weary of the infupportable yoke im-pofed by the minifters of the Theocracy) to change thoir ancient government, and to fubftitute for the Gods, whom they had never feen, their pretended children, who went D But although Theocracy was in its B nature defpotic, it is probable that it was abused by flow and imperceptible degrees; the vifible minifters were, without doubt, for fome time worthy their mafter, and the benefits that accrued from their administration accuftomed the people to confider them as the inftruments of a fupreme and divine power: By the wisdom of their firft ordinances, and the utility of their first councils, an habit of obedience was produced, and every one fubmitted readily and chearfully to their oracles and revelations; by little and little, extreme confidence produced extreme credulity; mankind being prepoffeffed with the notion that it was God himfelf who spoke by them, that it was a Being perfect and immutable, who thus revealed his will and difpenfed his commands, necessarily fell into the notion, that they ught never to refift the fuppofed organs of Divinity, even when they difpenfed evil. When, by this gradation, mankind had fo far miltaken their ftate, their nature, and their dignity, and were thus overwhelmed with mifery, they did not dare to lift up their eyes to heaven, and yet lefs to their tyrants upon earth; a blind fanaticifm rendered them flaves, and they at length thought of honouring God and their king only by debafing and almost annihilating themselves. E F These fatal prejudices formed the bafe of all the fentiments and difpofitions which we find at prefent among the people of the East, towards their G fovereigns. They imagine that the crown confers a divine right of doing good and evil, and that those who wear it fhould meet with no obstacle to the execution of their will. If they fuffer under the cruel oppreffion of a capricious and inhuman tyrant, they H fubmit to the views of an impenetrable providence, and by a thoufand devout and myfterious interpretations, they endeavour to account for the in and out before them. This was a very fingular and extraordinary event, by which the incontinence of the priests at length fet lords over them, and put an end to the cœleftial reign. The age of demi-gods then commenced, which all ferious hiftory has hitherto fuppofed ought to be retrenched from the annals of the world. The tranfition from Theocracy to the form of government which imme diately followed, happened among different people at different times, and the events which led to it were differently modified and circumstanced; but the demi-god was ftill confidered as the reprefentative and inftrument of the Supreme Being, as is implied by |