Review: The Trial of Count KÖnigsmarck
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X3000300315 |
| Date | 01 July 1930 |
| Published date | 01 July 1930 |
| Subject Matter | Review |
THE POLICE JOURNAL
REVIEWS
STRANGE
COMPANY. By S.
THEODORE
FELSTEAD.
1930.
12S.
6d
(Hutchinson).
HERE
we have yet another book of criminal exploits gathered, so the author
tells us, from various
C.LD.
officers of his own acquaintance.
The
stories
do not differ very much from others of the same type except that they cover
awider sphere of criminal activities, ranging as they do from confidence
tricksters to the more spectacular • Secret
Service'
adventurers so beloved
by all who read sensational literature.
Although it is the latter stories which are the most
spectacular-if
one
may use such a
word-the
tales about the doings of minor rogues who work
confidence tricks on the unsuspecting public are by far the most entertaining,
and, let it be said, the most convincing.
On the whole the book is very readable,
but
it is not very likely that a
police officer will find much to instruct him therein unless he is making a
study of contemporary criminological literature.
THE
TRIAL
OF
COUNT
KONIGSMARCK.
Edited by the HON.
EVELINE
GODLEY.
1930. 7s. 6d. (Peter Davies,
Ltd.,
London.)
IN the right transept of Westminster Abbey, and at the back of the organ,
there is a memorial of a recumbent figure with a cherub pointing to an
inscription which states that Thomas
Thynne
was barbarously murdered on
Sunday
rzth
February 1682. Below the figure is a plaque showing a coach
and pair with three horsemen round it, one of whom is thrusting ablunder-
buss through the open window.
The
trial was of considerable interest at the time, owing to the strained
relations between King Charles and his son. Some favour was shown towards
the principal defendant, Count Konigsmarck, which cast discredit upon
Court circles.
The
Count, who was only twenty-four years old at the time
of the crime, came of a famous Protestant family well known for its bravery
and gallantry in Europe. He had the distinction of being a Knight of Malta,
an honour never before granted to
anyone
not professing the Catholic faith.
He had boasted of furthering his fortunes by marriage with the greatest
heiress in England, Lady Elizabeth Ogle, who was, however, married off to
the unfortunate
Mr.
Thynne, acountry gentleman with great possessions
but
no title.
Three
retainers of Count Konigsmarck waylaid, and fatally
wounded, Thomas
Thynne
in Pall Mall at Waterloo Place.
Not
long before
the Duke of Monmouth had been in the coach with Squire Thynne.
The
evidence of the various witnesses reveals a curious picture of the
criminal underworld of the seventeenth century. Although the guilt of
the
Count was morally certain, it was not from a legal point of view clearly
established; and his retainers may have gone beyond their instructions.
Interest in the case is furthered by the part played by the Duke of
Monmouth in causing the arrests, and two of his • officers' arrestedthe Count,
who was only overcome after a struggle and, as one of the officers deposed,
•narrowly escaped being lynched by a crowd of water-side roughs.'
Although the three retainers were found guilty and afterwards executed,
Count Konigsmarck was acquitted, which served to avoid an awkward
To continue reading
Request your trial