ity waistcoat; one accordingly
was shown him, but they not at all agreeing in the price, Neeves on a
sudden turned towards the door, and having with some earnestness cursed
the prosecutor, snatched up a coat and ran away. Upon which Mr. Lawrence
followed him, crying out, _Stop Thief!_ which Neeves himself also bawled
out as loud as he could until he was taken. Upon this evidence the jury
found him guilty.

Under sentence of death his behaviour was much of a piece with what it
was before. As to his confession, he would make none, saying he would
give no occasion for books or ballads to be made about him. Even in
chapel he behaved himself so rudely that he occasioned great
disturbance, and put the keepers under a necessity of treating him with
more severity than was usual to persons under his miserable condition.
When alone in his cell he expressed great diffidence of the mercy of
God, seemed to be in a slate of despair, and though he was often pressed
to declare whether depositions he had given against the afore-mentioned
street robbers were true or not, he either waived making an answer, or
used so much evasion or equivocation that it still remained doubtful
whether he swore truth or no.

As his end drew yet nearer, he appeared more and more confused and
uneasy, but not a bit more penitent or ready to confess, notwithstanding
that several persons, and some of them of distinction had applied to him
in the cells and earnestly exhorted him to that purpose. He also drank
excessively, though so near his end, and his conscience so loaded with
such a weight of horrible offences.

Yet it is very probable that he would have been much more tractable in
his temper and ingenuous in his confessions, if he had not been
continually visited and kept warm by a certain bad woman he at that time
owned for his wife. This wretched creature was employed by some persons
who thought themselves in danger if Neeves should once become truly
penitent, to keep him full of idle thoughts and delusive promises to the
very hour of his death, in which (from the temper of the fellow), they
flattered themselves his cowardice would make them safe. In which wicked
design both they and she succeeded but too well, for he continued
careless, obstinate and impenitent to the last moment of his life, and
at the place of execution staggered and was scarce able to stand,
bawling out to a man in a coach who was to carry away his body, until
the Ordinary reprimand