The String of Pearls (1850), p. 545

of so doing; and consequently he was thrown upon the scanty resources that might present themselves to him in the prison.
That those resources would be few and limited enough, may be well imagined, for the most special instructions had been given by Sir Richard Blunt to prevent Todd from committing suicide; and since Mrs. Lovett had so disposed of herself despite the authorities, those precautions had been redoubled; so that Todd,

TODD S SECOND ATTEMPT AT SUICIDE IN THE CONDEMNED CELL AT NEWGATE.{Figure}

after two or three abortive attempts, and thinking the matter over in every way, saw that there was no chance for him in that way, and he made up his mind to abide his trial, with the hope that he might, during the course of it, be able to say enough to make Mrs. Lovett's conviction certain, while he felt certain that he could not possibly make his own situation worse than it was. He thought, too, that perhaps after conviction he might behave so cunningly