The fact that death was the penalty for almost all serious violations of the law gave an additional zest to crime.  The criminal looked upon himself, and was looked upon by others, as a brave man, and even those who abhorred the crime retained a certain admiration for the courage which they thought involved in its commission.  Felons sat erect and proud in the cart which carried them to execution.  Their great ambition was to die like “gentlemen,” and they saw no disgrace in death by “the ladder and the cord,” so long as it was borne with bravado.  Criminals are frequent and prominent characters in contemporary fiction.  The period contributed more than any other to the romance of crime, and a glamour has been cast over the most infamous careers which has made them celebrated to the present day.  The famous highwayman Dick Turpin, and one Parsons, the son of a baronet, educated at Eton, attained a public interest and admiration, in which the greatness of their crimes was forgotten in the dangers they incurred and the boldness with which they defied justice.  When Jack Sheppard, the burglar, was finally captured after two remarkable escapes from Newgate,[145] he became a popular hero.  Great numbers of people visited him in prison and gave him presents of money.  Several lives were written of him.

But the most remarkable criminal career, and that which best illustrates the inefficiency of the law and the impunity and ferocity of criminals, is that of Johnathan Wild, surnamed the Great.[146] This man spent some time in Newgate, and having become acquainted with the secrets and methods of its inhabitants, married a notorious woman who was well versed in similar knowledge.  He then set up an establishment for receiving stolen goods, and organized thieves into regular bands.  Some were to rob churches, others to pick pockets at theatres and fairs, others to rob on the streets and highways.  He even divided the country into districts, and appointed a special gang to work in each.  All these thieves were obliged to account to him for what they stole, and he disposed of it in London, or if that seemed too dangerous, he sent it abroad in a ship of his own.  He attained over lesser criminals the most rigid authority and absolute power.  His lieutenants were chosen among transported convicts who had returned before the expiration of their terms.  These were legally incapable of giving evidence against Wild, but he could send them to the gallows at a moment’s notice, if suspicious of their fidelity, by information to the authorities.  Over the common thieves he had nearly the same power.  Those whom he suspected of retaining part of their booty, or whom he feared as witnesses against himself, were at once sent to the gallows by private information to the magistrates.  On the other hand, a thief who was in danger of arrest, if useful and faithful, was taken into Wild’s own house, protected, fed, and employed in counterfeiting or other in-door occupation.  When a law was passed