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diff --git a/old/55285-h/55285-h.htm b/old/55285-h/55285-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index 0127c5d..0000000 --- a/old/55285-h/55285-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,2466 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" - "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> - -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> - <head> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=ISO-8859-1" /> - <title> - Lives of Famous London Beggars, - By John Thomas Smith. - </title> - - <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> - - <style type="text/css"> - - body { - margin-left: 7%; - margin-right: 8%; - font-size: 110%; - } - - p { - margin-top: .5em; - text-indent: 1em; - text-align: justify; - margin-bottom: .5em; - line-height: 120%; - } - - h1 { - text-align: center; - clear: both; - font-weight: normal; - font-style: normal; - font-size: 150%; - line-height: 120%; - margin-top: 2.5em; - margin-bottom: 1em; - } - - h2 { - text-align: center; - clear: both; - font-weight: normal; - font-style: normal; - font-size: 120%; - line-height: 120%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 1em; - } - - /* styles for Transcriber's Note */ - #tnote { - background-color: #EEE; - color: inherit; - margin:2em 25%; - padding: 0.5em 1em; - border: 1px solid gray; - font-size: small; - } - #tnote p { - text-indent: 0; - text-align: left; - margin-bottom: .75em; - margin-top: .25em; - } - - /* styles for illustrations */ - .image-center { - margin: 1.5em auto; - text-align: center; - } - .image-center-plate { - page-break-before: always; - margin: 1.5em auto; - text-align: center; - } - .image-float-left { - float: left; - margin-right: 1em; - } - .caption { - font-size: small; - margin: 0.25em 0; - } - .caption p { - text-align: center; - text-indent: 0; - } - - /* styles for front matter */ - .front { - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 4em; - } - .front p { - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 2em; - text-indent: 0; - text-align: center; - line-height: 125%; - } - - /* style for page numbers */ - .pagenum { - position: absolute; - right: 1.5%; - font-size: small; - font-style: normal; - font-weight: normal; - text-align: right; - } - - /* styles for footnote */ - .fnanchor { - vertical-align: 15%; - font-size: x-small; - } - .footnote p { - margin-left: 3.5%; - margin-right: 3.5%; - font-size: small; - } - - /* styles for poetry */ - .poetry-container { - text-align: center; - } - .poetry { - display: inline-block; - text-align: left; - font-size: small; - } - .poetry .stanza { - margin: 0.5em auto; - } - .poetry .verse { - text-indent: -3em; - padding-left: 3em; - } - .poetry .quote { - text-indent: -3.5em; - } - .poetry .indent2 { - text-indent: -2em; - } - - /* style for block */ - .block { - display: inline-block; - width: 100%; - height: 1px; - margin: 1px; - } - - /* misc styles */ - .nodent { text-indent: 0; } - .center { text-indent: 0; text-align: center; } - .smcap { font-variant: small-caps; } - .uppercase { text-transform: uppercase; } - .small { font-size: small; } - .gap-above { margin-top: 2em; } - -@media screen, print { - img.drop-cap { - float: left; - margin: 0 0.5em 0.5em 0; - } - span.drop-cap1 { - margin-left: -1.0em; - color: transparent; - visibility: hidden; - } - span.drop-cap2 { - margin-left: -1.5em; - color: transparent; - visibility: hidden; - } - } - -@media handheld { - img.drop-cap { - display: none; - } - span.drop-cap1, span.drop-cap2 { - color: inherit; - visibility: visible; - margin-left: 0; - } - } - - </style> - </head> -<body> - - -<pre> - -Project Gutenberg's Lives of Famous London Beggars, by John Thomas Smith - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Lives of Famous London Beggars - With Forty Portraits of the Most Remarkable. - -Author: John Thomas Smith - -Release Date: August 7, 2017 [EBook #55285] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIVES OF FAMOUS LONDON BEGGARS *** - - - - -Produced by deaurider, cpinfield and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div id="tnote"> - -<p>Transcriber's Note.</p> - -<p>There are thirty plates, located at the end of the text, that depict -individuals described in it. They have been moved to follow the text -that describes them. They are annotated "London Published as the -Act directs [date] by J. T. Smith No. 4 Chandos St Covent Garden."</p> - -<p>Inconsistencies in hyphenation and spelling have been retained.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="image-center" style="max-width: 287px;"> - <img src="images/frontis.jpg" width="287" height="600" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p>ST MARTIN<br /> - <i>The Patron Saint of the Beggars. From a rare print in the possession - of Thos. Lloyd, Esq.</i></p> - </div> -</div> - -<div class="front"> - - <h1>LIVES OF FAMOUS<br /> - LONDON BEGGARS,</h1> - - <p><span class="small">WITH</span><br /> - FORTY PORTRAITS OF THE MOST REMARKABLE.</p> - - <p><span class="small">DRAWN FROM LIFE BY</span><br /> - JOHN THOMAS SMITH.</p> - -<div class="image-center"> - <img src="images/mark.jpg" width="63" height="75" alt="mark"/> -</div> - - <p><span class="smcap">London</span>:<br /> - DIPROSE <span class="small">AND</span> BATEMAN, SHEFFIELD STREET,<br /> - <span class="smcap">Lincoln's Inn Fields</span>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">{3}</a></div> - -<h2>PREFACE.</h2> - -<p class="small italic">Mr Granger, at the close of his Biographical History of England, says, "I shall conclude this volume with -observing, that Lord Bacon has somewhere remarked, that biography has been confined within too narrow limits; as -if the lives of great personages only deserved the notice of the inquisitive part of mankind. I have, perhaps, in the -foregoing strictures extended the sphere of it too far. I began with Monarchs, and have ended with Ballad-Singers, -Chimney-Sweepers, and Beggars. But they that fill the highest and the lowest classes of human life, seem, in many -respects, to be more nearly allied than even themselves imagine. A skilful anatomist would find little or no difference, in -dissecting the body of a king and that of the meanest of his subjects; and a judicious philosopher would discover a -surprising conformity, in discussing the nature and qualities of their minds."</p> - -<div class="gap-above"></div> - -<div> - <img class="drop-cap" src="images/drop-b.jpg" width="150" height="233" alt=""/> -</div> - -<p class="nodent"><span class="uppercase"><span class="drop-cap1">B</span>eggary</span>, -of late, particularly for the last six years, had -become so dreadful in London, that the more active -interference of the legislature was deemed absolutely -necessary; indeed, the deceptions of the idle and sturdy -were so various, cunning, and extensive, that it was in -most instances extremely difficult to discover the real -object of charity from the impostor.</p> - -<p>Concluding, therefore, from the reduction of the -metropolitan beggars, that several curious characters would -disappear by being either compelled to industry, or to -partake of the liberal parochial rates provided for them -in their respective workhouses, it occurred to the author -of the present publication, that likenesses of the most -remarkable of them, with a few particulars of their habits, -would not be unamusing to those to whom they have -been a pest for several years.</p> - -<p>In order to convince his readers that he does not stand alone as a delineator of -mendicants, he begs leave to observe, that several of the very first-rate artists have -studied from them.</p> - -<p>Michael Angelo Buonarotti often drew from beggars; and report says, that in the -early part of his life, when he had not the means of paying them in money, he would -make an additional sketch, and, presenting it to the party, desire him to take it to some -particular person, who would purchase it. Fuseli, in his life of Michael Angelo, says that -"a beggar rose from his hand the patriarch of poverty." The same artist, in one of his -lectures, delivered at the Royal Academy, also observes, that "Michael Angelo ennobled -his beggars into Patriarchs and Prophets, in the ceiling of the Sistini Chapel."</p> - -<p>Annibal Caracci frequently drew subjects in low life. His "Cries of Bologna," -etched by Giuseppe Maria Mitelli, pub. 1660, in folio, are evidently from real characters. -It will also be recollected, that some of the finest productions of Murillo, Jan Miel, and -Drogsloot, are beggars. Callot's twenty-four beggars are evidently from nature; and -among Rembrandt's etchings are to be found twenty-three plates of this description.</p> - -<p>Sir Joshua Reynolds frequently painted from beggars, and from these people have -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">{4}</a></span> -originated some of his finest pictures, particularly his "Mercury as a Pickpocket," and -"Cupid as a Link-boy." His Count Ugolino, was painted from a pavier, soon after he -had left St George's Hospital from a severe fever. Mr West painted the portrait of a -beggar, on the day when he became a hundred years old; and considered him as a -pensioner for several years afterwards. The same person was used also as a model by -Copley, Opie, &c. Who can forget the lovely countenance of Gainsborough's Shepherd's -Boy, that has once seen Earlom's excellent engraving from it? He was a lad well known -as a beggar to those who walked St James's Street thirty years ago. The model for the -celebrated picture of the Woodman, by the same artist, is now living in the Borough, at -the venerable age of 107.</p> - -<p>Mr Nollekens, in 1778, when modelling the bust of Dr Johnson, who then wore a -wig, called in a beggar to sit for the hair. The same artist was not equally fortunate in -the locks of another great character, for on his application to a beggar for the like -purpose, the fellow declined to sit, with an observation that three half-crowns were not -sufficient for the trouble.</p> - -<p>The late Mr Nathaniel Hone, in the year 1850, painted the portrait of James Turner, -a common beggar, who valued his time at a shilling an hour. Captain Baillie has made -an etching of this picture.</p> - -<p>That truly spirited painter, Mr Ward, made similar overtures to a lame sailor, who -thought fit to reject them and prefer his begging occupation.</p> - -<p>One of the many fine things produced by Flaxman, is a figure of a blind sailor, -Jack Stuart, mentioned in page 19 of this work. The artist has introduced him in a -beautiful monument, erected in Campsal Church, to the memory of Misses Yarborough.</p> - -<p>Beggars have not only been useful to artists as models, but serviceable to them in -other instances. Francis Perrier, who was born of poor parents, when a boy entered -into the service of a blind beggar, for the express purpose of getting from France to -Rome to pursue his studies in that city; and Old Scheemaker, the sculptor, Nollekens's -master, absolutely begged his way from Flanders to Rome for the same purpose.</p> - -<p>Though the biographical part of this publication exhibits some curious customs of -the London beggars which have fallen within the author's observations, and though it -may in some instances be deemed original, yet he confesses that he has adopted the usual -craft of the common vender, who invariably puts the best sample into the mouth of the -sack. Such, he needs not state the truly interesting Introduction to be; it was written -and presented to him by his honoured and valuable friend, <span class="smcap">Francis Douce</span>, Esq.</p> - -<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">{5}</a></div> - -<h2>INTRODUCTION.</h2> - -<div> - <img class="drop-cap" src="images/drop-t.jpg" width="150" height="151" alt=""/> -</div> - -<p class="nodent"><span class="uppercase"><span class="drop-cap1">T</span>he</span> present work is very far from being offered as a general view of that -peculiar branch of pauperism, which includes the many wandering classes -of mankind that are supported by the casual and irregular bounty of others, -or by means that have at least the appearance of industry or honourable -ingenuity; for that would be a task requiring the united efforts of the historian, the -legislator, and the antiquary. It may be deemed sufficient to submit to the reader's -notice, such accounts and gleanings as immediately relate to the particular characters -which are here once more embodied and presented to him by the aid of the graphic art. -In the mean time, a slight sketch of the state and progress of mendicity in former ages -may be neither unacceptable nor without its use.</p> - -<p>The Beggar's calling, if not one of the most respectable, may doubtless be regarded -as one of the most ancient. In every part of the globe where man is congregated, the -inequality of his condition, the too frequent indolence of his habits, or the shifts to which -human misery is occasionally reduced, will compel him to depend for his support on the -generosity of his fellow-creatures, and even sometimes lead him to prefer this disgraceful -state of existence. The sacred volume has supplied us with evidence of the mendicant -profession at an early period. King David, when imprecating curses on the head of his -enemy, prays that "his children be continually vagabonds, and <i>beg</i>;" -<span class="fnanchor"><a name="Ref_1" id="Ref_1" href="#Foot_1">[1]</a></span> -and the story of Ulysses and the beggar Irus, as related in one of the -oldest works extant, is known almost to every one.</p> - -<p>The state of mendicity among the Greeks and Romans is but obscurely recorded, -nor have any specific laws or regulations that they might have framed relating to that -subject been transmitted to us. The beggars in Horace, who lamented the death of the -musician Tigellinus, were probably of the common kind, though some have supposed -them to have been fortune-tellers or prophets. Their dress would be of the ragged sort, -the <i>mendicula impluviata</i> of Plautus. We learn from Seneca, that the beggars of his -time practised every species of imposture, and even amputated their limbs for the -purpose of exciting compassion.</p> - -<p>During the middle ages, we meet with a few legislative acts relating to the vagrant -classes. In a capitulary of the Emperor Charlemagne, beggars were prohibited from -wandering about the country; and another ancient law of the Franks is cited by Beatus -Rhenanus in his German chronicle, by which every city is ordered to maintain its own -poor, who are nevertheless to be compelled to manual labour, or otherwise not to be -entitled to relief; a vagrant life is also strictly prohibited. For a considerable time the -kingdom of France was much infested with a set of itinerant beggars, usually known by -the appellation of <i>Truands</i>, and their occupation by that of <i>Truandise</i>; from which -terms our own language has adopted an obvious word of much significance. These -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">{6}</a></span> -people likewise gave name to one of the streets of Paris, called <i>La Truanderie</i>; and, -under pretence of begging alms, committed the most atrocious crimes and excesses -practising every kind of fraud and imposture; so that the name gradually became the -representative of every thing that was bad and infamous. In later times they were -called <i>Argotiers</i>. They assumed the form of a regular government, elected a king, and -established a fixed code of laws, and a language peculiar to themselves, constructed -probably by some of the debauched and licentious youths who, abandoning their -scholastic studies, associated with these vagabonds. The facetious author of a poetical -life of the famous French robber Cartouche, has given a very humorous account of the -origin of the word <i>Argot</i>, which, at the expense of graver etymologists, he derives from -the ship Argos; contending that this <i>jargon</i>, a term that would perhaps have supplied -the real and perverted meaning of the other, was either invented by the navigators of -that celebrated vessel, for the purpose of deceiving his majesty of Colchos, or constructed -by Agamemnon at Argos, and transported afterwards to Troy, where the Greek generals -used it to harangue their soldiers. The same writer has likewise compiled a dictionary -of the language in question, which is given at the end of Cartouche's history. Their -king assumed the title of the <i>Great Chosroes</i>, in imitation of the Persian monarch of that -name, and his officers had their several cant denominations contrived with considerable -ingenuity. One of these sovereigns thought fit to prefer his own name, and was called -<i>Roi de Thunes</i>. This fellow used to be drawn triumphantly through the streets in a -little cart by two stout dogs, and at length finished his career on a gibbet at Bourdeaux. -The new members of this honourable fraternity were graciously received by the monarch, -and consigned to his officers for instruction. These taught them to counterfeit wounds, -sores, and ulcers, by means of the juice of celandine and other herbs; to make preparations -of grease, &c., for the purpose of hindering dogs from barking, and many other -tricks and contrivances essential to the profession of a beggar. The necessary qualifications -for an officer at court, was the possession of masks, rags, plaisters, bandages, -crutches, and other matters calculated to excite charity and compassion; a candidate for -the monarchy, which was elective, must have passed through one or more offices, and -have sported a limb in all appearance shockingly diseased, but curable in a day's time. -The royal habits were composed of a thousand bits of rag, of various colours. Every -year the king held a council of his officers and subjects, who reported their proceedings, -and paid him the legal and accustomed tribute money; offences were inquired into, and -summary punishment inflicted. Many of the above officers were runaway scholars and -debauched priests, who taught the novices the <i>Argot</i> language, and performed other -duties which exempted them from the usual tribute to the sovereign. These impostors -were divided into numerous classes, assuming various appellations. Those who counterfeited -maimed soldiers were called <i>Narquois</i>, corresponding with our Rufflers. The little -urchins, who before the establishment of regular hospitals were permitted to beg in -groups, and appeared as half-starved, were denominated <i>Orphelins</i>, or <i>Orphans</i>. Fellows -assuming the character of broken merchants and tradesmen, called themselves <i>Marcandiers</i> -and <i>Rifodés</i>; these, pretending to have been ruined by war, by fire, and other -calamities, made use of false certificates of their loss, and were frequently accompanied -by their wives and children. The <i>Malingreux</i> were the dropsical and otherwise diseased -impostors, who frequented the churches, and demanded alms to enable them to make -pilgrimages and perform masses to particular saints. The <i>Hubins</i> shewed certificates of -having been bitten by wolves or dogs, and placed themselves under St Hubert's protection. -The <i>Coquillarts</i> pretended to have made a pilgrimage to St James or St Michael, -and sold their cockle-shells even to those fools who had done so. The <i>Sabouleux</i> counterfeited -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">{7}</a></span> -demoniacs, by means of soap held in the mouth, with which they produced their -foam, and exhibited false wounds on their heads and bodies, which they pretended to -have inflicted on themselves during their fits. These last were the most faithful subjects -of the <i>Great Chosroes</i>, and paid him a much higher tribute than any of the rest. Besides -the above, there were the <i>Pietres</i>, the <i>Courtaux</i>, the <i>Polissons</i>, the <i>Capons</i>, the -<i>Francmitoux</i>, and a variety of others, all assuming different characters, to defraud the -unwary in every possible manner. These particulars have been collected together as -exhibiting a general view of the manners and practices of the begging tribe in the -kingdom of France, where the regulations concerning them appear to have been very -frequent and severe. In the reign of Francis I. many edicts of the court issued against -them, by some of which all the beggars in Paris were compelled to clear the city sewers -and ditches, and to assist in repairing the fortifications; and for this purpose the police -officers seized upon all that were able-bodied and competent to work. Many were -banished to the provinces, and if they continued to beg, and refused to assist in the -vintage, they were ordered to be hanged. Whipping was the more general punishment; -and where licensed, they were not suffered to go about in troops, but confined to travel -in Paris only, to prevent robberies and other mischief. Those who could not labour, on -account of infirmity, were maintained in hospitals, or by contributions at the churches, -where they were not permitted, as at present, to beg, under pain of whipping. In the -admirable Pictures of Paris by Mercier, there is an interesting article on the sturdy -beggars of that city, where their noisy orgies at their places of rendezvous, when they -have stripped themselves of their false limbs and hideous plasters, are eloquently -described. He mentions one cruel and wicked practice among these impostors, namely, -that when they steal other people's children for want of their own, they distort and even -dislocate the members of the unfortunate victims, to give them what they impiously -term the arms and legs of God Almighty.</p> - -<p>With respect to the vagabonds of Spain, who will be found to resemble, with small -difference, many of the classes above described, it will be sufficient to refer the reader to -those excellent novels, Lazarillo de Tormes, and Guzman de Alfarache. The manners of -the Italian mendicants and impostors are admirably depicted, with many entertaining -stories, in the very curious work of Rafael Frianoro, entitled, "Il vagabondo, overo sferzo -de bianti e vagabondi," <i>Viterbo</i>, 1620, 12mo, in which the catalogue of names of the -parties, and of the impostures practised, far exceeded those of any other country.</p> - -<p>Della Valle, in his travels to the East Indies, informs us, that the beggars there make -use of a trumpet to express their wants, frequently terrifying the people into charity by -their loud clamours. Of the Chinese mendicants, some particulars will be found in -explaining one of the plates of this work.</p> - -<p>It would amount to positive negligence, if, in the present sketch, those wanderers -that are usually known among ourselves by the appellation of Gypsies, and on the continent -by that of Bohemians, on account of their first appearance in that country, were -passed over without some notice; but their history has been so learnedly and copiously -detailed by M. Grellmann, that it may be thought sufficient on this occasion to advert to -the English translation of that excellent work by Mr Raper, published 1787, in quarto.</p> - -<p>Nor should the mention of the orders of mendicant friars be omitted, who, no doubt, -had their prototypes in the knavish priests of Cybele. Of these persons there were four -orders,—viz., the Augustinians, the Carmelites, the Dominicans, and the Minorites. They -wandered from place to place, professing poverty, and exciting the charity of others. -They had assumed and acquired an unlimited control over the consciences of the deluded -victims of their artifice, and at length became particularly odious to the monks and the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">{8}</a></span> -clergy in general, continuing nevertheless to maintain their power and influence, from -the marked favour and protection of the Roman Pontiffs, who regarded them as some of -their best friends and supporters. In our own country these people encountered a most -bitter and inveterate enemy in the celebrated Wickliffe, who, in his sermons and other -works, declaimed against them with much vehement eloquence as thieves, hypocrites, -and children of Judas Iscariot; telling them that Christ never commissioned any one to -appear in the character of a beggar; and that, although he preferred a state of poverty, -he never demanded alms himself, nor allowed of others doing it, but in cases of extreme -necessity.</p> - -<p>Another set of ecclesiastical mendicants were those pseudo-monks, who, among many -other irregularities, scrupled not to take to themselves wives, whilst their brethren contented -themselves with concubines. These were branded by the regular monks with the -appellation of <i>Beghards</i>, and are specially termed <i>sturdy beggars</i>, in a very bitter invective -against them by Felix Hammerlein, a civilian and canon of Zurich, in the fifteenth -century, who emphatically calls them the legitimate sons of Belial. Many other writers -declaimed against them with great acrimony, and some of the more rigid Papists seem to -have classed them among the <i>Lollards</i>, an appellation that has very much arrested the -attention of the learned in etymology, though without any certainty as to its origin.</p> - -<p>The records of our early history supply few, if any, materials that throw light upon -the subject before us; and the laws of the Saxons, as well as those of our British -ancestors, are entirely silent as to any regulation concerning vagrants or mendicants of -any kind. A curious incident however in the life of Edward the Confessor, as related -by his historian Alured of Rievaulx, is worthy of being mentioned. This sovereign is -said to have been remarkable for his benevolence to the poor, many of whom he privately -supported. Among these was one Ralph, a Norman, a miserable object, whose limbs -were shockingly contracted by disease. This man, scarcely able to creep along on his -knees, as was the usual practice with such persons, and urged by necessity, the mother -of invention, was the first who is reported as making use of a hollow vessel of wood, in -the form of a bason, in which he placed his hinder parts, guiding and supporting his -crippled limbs by means of his hands, and thus sailed along, as it were, upon the ground. -On the king's death he made a pilgrimage to his tomb, and addressing himself to the -monarch as if alive, was healed, as says the legend, of his disease.</p> - -<p>The next two centuries of English history are equally barren of incident to our purpose. -From that time, however, the statute laws of the kingdom furnish abundant -regulations concerning the vagrant classes, and it has therefore been thought worth while -to submit to the reader's notice the following extracts and abridgments.</p> - -<p>The statute of labourers, made in the 23d year of Edw. III., recites that there are -many sturdy beggars, who prefer a life of indolence to active labour, and commit theft -and other crimes; and therefore, with a view to discourage such practices, and compel -these persons to work for their living, it enacts that none, on pain of imprisonment, shall, -under colour of pity or of alms, give anything to those who are competent to labour, or -presume by such means to "<i>favour them towards their desires</i>."</p> - -<p>By Stat. xii. Rich. II. c. 6, every beggar who is able to work shall be put in the -stocks, and such as are unable to work shall abide in the cities and towns where they be -dwelling at the time of proclaiming this statute; and if the inhabitants shall not be able -to maintain them, then the said beggars shall withdraw themselves to other places within -the hundred, rape, or wapentake, or to the places of their nativity, within forty days as -above, and there continually abide during their lives; and all that go in pilgrimage as -beggars, but are able to work, shall be punished with the stocks, unless they have letters -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">{9}</a></span> -testimonial from a justice of the peace. The sheriffs and gaolers are also charged with -the custody of beggars, though it does not appear for what particular offence. Religious -persons and hermits who beg must have licence from their ordinaries, and scholars of the -universities from their chancellors, under the like penalties.</p> - -<p>The Stat. xix. Hen. VII., adverting to the rigour of the last-mentioned regulations, -and to the great expense of confining vagabonds and beggars in prison, enacts, that an -immediate discharge from the gaols shall take place, and all beggars be set in the stocks -for a day and a night, without other food than bread and water, and then sent to the -place of their nativity, or where they may have resided for the space of three years. It -also enacts, that such beggars as are not able to work be passed to their own towns, -where only they are to be allowed to beg.</p> - -<p>By Stat. xxii. Hen. VIII., persons unable to work are to be licensed by certificate -from mayors, sheriffs, bailiffs, or justices, to beg within certain districts; and if they be -found begging without such licence, they are to be set in the stocks for three days and -three nights, and fed only on bread and water, or else whipped, at the discretion of the -magistrate, who is afterwards to give the party a licence and dismiss him. Persons being -"whole and mighty in body, and able to labour," and found begging, are to be whipped -at the cart's tail till blood come, and then dismissed to their own district, receiving a -licence, stating their punishment, and authorising them to beg by the way. Scholars at -the universities begging without licence, to be punished as above. Persons wandering -about with unlawful games, and fortune-tellers of all kinds, to be punished for the first -offence by two days whipping; for the second, by like whipping, with subsequent pillory -and loss of one ear; for the third, the like punishment, with loss of the other ear. The -licence was in these words,—"Memorandum, that A. B. of Dale, for reasonable considerations, -is licensed to beg within the hundred of P. K. in the county of L.;" and the licence -after whipping is as follows,—"I. S., whipped for a vagrant strong beggar, at Dale, in the -county of L., according to the law, the 22 July, in the 23 year of King Henry the Eighth, -was assigned to pass forthwith and directly from thence to Sale, in the county of M., -where he saith he was born, or where he last dwelled by the term of three years, and he -is limited to be there within fourteen days next ensuing, at his peril," &c.</p> - -<p>By this act, persons delivered from gaol, or acquitted of felonies, who could not pay -the usual fees, were to be licensed by the keeper to raise such fees by begging for the -space of six weeks, on pain of whipping for default of such licence.</p> - -<p>By the 27th Hen. VIII., further provisions were made for the labour and employment -of vagabonds and beggars. Churchwardens to gather alms for supporting the poor -on Sundays and holidays. Begging children, between the ages of five and fourteen -years, to be placed under masters of husbandry; and those between the ages of twelve -and sixteen to be whipped for running away. Beggars offending again after the first -punishment, to be marked by cutting off the upper gristle of the right ear; and if found -still loitering in idleness, to be indicted as felons at the quarter sessions, and on conviction -to suffer death. The mendicant friars are specially excepted in this act, which provides -many additional supports for the poor besides the vast donations from the still existing -monasteries, and the almshouses and hospitals.</p> - -<p>At the commencement of the reign of Edw. VI., a most severe and extraordinary -statute was made for the punishment of vagabonds and relief of poor persons. It does -not appear who were the contrivers of this instrument, the preamble and general spirit -of which were more in accordance with the tyrannical and arbitrary measures of the -preceding reign, than with the mild and merciful character of the infant sovereign, who -is well known to have taken a very active part in the affairs of government. It repeals -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">{10}</a></span> -all the former statutes on this subject, and enacts, that if any beggar or other person, -not being lame or impotent, and after loitering or idly wandering for the space of three -days or more, shall not offer himself to labour, or being engaged in any person's service -shall run away or leave his work, it shall be lawful for the master to carry him before a -justice of peace, who, on proof of the offence, shall cause the party to be marked with a -hot iron with the letter V on the breast, and adjudge him to be his master's slave for -the space of two years, who shall feed him "on bread and water, or, at his discretion, on -refuse of meat, and cause the said slave to work, by beating, chaining, or otherwise, in -such work or labour (how vile soever it be) as he shall put him unto." If the slave -should run away, or absent himself for a fortnight without leave, the master may pursue -and punish him by chaining or beating, and have his action of damage against any one -who shall harbour or detain him. On proof before the justice of the slave's escape, he -is to be sentenced to be marked on the forehead or ball of the cheek with a hot iron -with the letter S, and adjudged to be his master's slave for ever; and for the second -offence of running away, he is to be regarded as a felon and suffer death. The children -of beggars to be taken from them, and, with other vagrant children, to be apprenticed -by the magistrate to whoever will take them; and if such children so apprenticed run -away, they are to be retaken, and become slaves till the age of twenty in females, and -twenty-four in males, and punishment by chains, &c., and power to the master to let, -sell, or bequeath them, as goods and chattels, for the term aforesaid. If any slave -should maim or wound the master in resisting correction, or conspire to wound or -murder him, or burn his house or other property, he is to suffer death as a felon, unless -the master will consent to retain him as a slave for ever; and if any parent, nurse, or -bearer about of children, so become slaves, shall steal or entice them away from the -master, such person shall be liable to become a slave to the said master for ever, and the -party so stolen or enticed away restored. If any vagrant be brought to a place where -he shall state himself to have been born, and it shall be manifest that he was not so -born there, for such lie he shall be marked in the face with an S, and become a slave to -the inhabitants or corporation of the city for ever. Any master of a slave may put a -ring of iron about his neck, arm, or leg, for safe custody; and any person taking or -helping to take off such ring, without consent of the master, shall forfeit the sum of ten -pounds.</p> - -<p>This diabolical statute, after remaining for two years, was repealed, on the ground -that, from its extreme severity, it had not been enforced, and instead of it the xxii. -Hen. VIII. was revived. The taking apprentices the children of beggars was, however, -continued; but instead of slavery for the offence of running away, the punishment of -the stocks was substituted. In the last year of King Edward's reign, further provisions -for supporting the poor were made, by gathering alms at church by the parish officers, -who were "gently to ask and demand of every man and woman what they of their -charity will be contented to give weekly toward the relief of the poor, and the same to -be written in a register or book." The collectors are empowered to make such of the -poor labour as they shall think fit; but none are permitted "to go, or sit openly, <i>a -begging</i>."</p> - -<p>The last statute that it will be necessary to refer to, is that of the xxxix. Eliz. c. 4, -for the punishment and suppression of rogues, vagabonds, and sturdy beggars, by which -houses of correction are for the first time established; and all persons calling themselves -scholars, and going about begging, fellows pretending losses by sea, persons using -unlawful games, fortune-tellers, procurers, collectors for gaols and hospitals, fencers, -bearwards, common players of interludes, minstrels (except such players as are licensed -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">{11}</a></span> -by any baron of the realm), jugglers, tinkers, pedlars, common labourers able in body -but begging and refusing labour for reasonable wages, persons delivered from gaol and -begging for fees, all persons whatever that beg in any manner as wanderers, and all -gypsies or pretending to be so, shall be adjudged rogues, vagabonds, and sturdy beggars, -and be liable to the punishment of whipping till the blood come, and passed to their -respective parishes, and committed to the house of correction until further provision by -work, or placing in almshouses. If any of the above persons shall appear to be dangerous -to the inferior sort of people, or will not otherwise be reformed, they shall be -committed to the house of correction or county gaol, and at the quarter-sessions, if -necessary, banished from the kingdom to such places as shall be assigned by the privy -council, or otherwise be sent to the galleys of the kingdom for life, with pain of death -on returning from banishment. No vagabonds or beggars to be imported from Ireland, -Scotland, or the Isle of Man, or, if already here, to be sent back to their respective -countries. No diseased poor persons to be suffered to repair to the baths of Bath or -Buxton for cure, unless they forbear to beg, and are licensed by two justices; and that -the above cities be not charged with finding relief for such persons. This statute not to -extend to children under seven years old, nor to <i>glassmen</i> of good behaviour, travelling -with licence, and forbearing to beg.</p> - -<p>It is impossible to look upon a more finished picture of the general manners of the -begging classes, a little before the Reformation, than in the following extract from the -once deservedly celebrated satire entitled the <i>Ship of Fools</i>. Although of foreign -construction, it is not the less calculated for the meridian of England; and indeed the -translator has in some degree adapted it to his own country. The author thus addresses -the parties in question:—</p> - -<p>"All vacabondes and myghty beggers, the whyche gothe beggynge from dore to dore, and -ayleth lytell or nought, with lame men and crepylles, come unto me, and I shall gyve you an -almesse saluberryme and of grete vertue. The mendycans be in grete nombre, wherfore I wyll -declare unto you some of theyr foolysshe condycyons. These fooles, the whiche be founde in theyr -corporal bodyes, wyl nourysh and kepe dyvers chyldren. The monkes have this myschefe and the -clerkes also, the whiche have theyr coffers ful of grete rychesses and treasoures. Nevertheles yet -they applye themselfe in the offyce of the mendycans, in purchasyng and beggynge on every syde. -They be a grete sorte replenysshed with unhappynes, saynge that they lede theyr lyves in grete -poverte and calamyte; and therefore, they praye evry man to gyve them theyr good almesse, in -release of theyr payne and myserye. And yet they have golde and sylver grete plentye, but they -will spende nothinge before the comyn people. Somtyme the cursed taketh the almesse of the -poore indygente. I fynde grete fautes in the abbottes, monkes, pryours, chanons, and coventes, -for all that they have rentes, tenementes, and possessyons ynough, yet, as folkes devoyde of sense -and understondynge, they be never satysfyed with goodes. They goo from vyllage to vyllage and -from towne to towne, berynge grete bagges upon theyr neckes, assemblynge so moche goodes that -it is grete mervayle, and whan they be in theyr relygyous cloysters, they make them byleve that -they have had lytell gyven them or nothynge; for God knoweth they make heven chere in the -countre. There is another sort of pardoners, the which bereth relyques aboute with them, in -abusynge the pore folkes; for and yf they have but one poore peny in theyr purses they must have -it. They garde togyder golde and sylver in every place, lyke as yf it grewe. They make the poore -folkes byleve moche gay gere. They sel the feders of the Holy Ghoost. They bere the bones of -some deed body aboute, the which, paraventure, is damned. They shewe the heer of some old hors, -saynge that it is of the berde of the Innocentes. There is an innumerable syght of suche folkes -and of vacabondes in this realme of Englonde, the which be hole of all theyr membres and myghte -wynne theyr lyves honestly. Notwithstondynge they go beggynge from dore to dore, because they -wyll not werke, and patcheth an olde mautell or an olde gowne with an hondred colours, and -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">{12}</a></span> -byndeth foule cloutes aboute theyr legges, as who say they be sore. And oftentymes they be more -rycher than they that gyveth them almesse. They breke theyr chyldrens membres in theyr -youthe, because that men sholde have the more pyte of them. They go wepynge and wryngynge -of theyr handes, and counterfettynge the sorrowfull, praynge for Goddes sake to gyve them an -almesse, and maketh so well the hypocrytes that there is no man the whiche seeth them but that he -is abused, and must gyve them an almesse. There is some stronge and puysaunt rybaudes, the -whiche wyll not laboure, but lyve, as these beggers, without doynge ony thynge, the whiche be -dronke oftentymes. They be well at ease to have grete legges and bellyes eten to the bonis; for -they wyll not put noo medycynes therto for to hele them, but soner envenymeth them, and dyvers -other begylynges of which I holde my pease. O poore frantyke fooles, the whiche robbeth them -that hathe no brede for to ete, and by adventure dare not aske none for shame, the auncyent men, -poore wedowes, lazars, and blynde men. Alas! thynke thereon, for truely ye shall gyve accomptes -before Hym that created us."</p> - -<p>In the year 1566, Thomas Harman, Esq., probably a justice of peace, published a -very singular and amusing work, entitled, "A Caveat, or Warning for Common Cursetors -(runners) vulgarely called Vagabones;" in which he has described the several sorts of -thieving beggars and other rogues with considerable humour, and has collected together -a great number of words belonging to what he humorously calls the "leud lousey language -of these lewtering luskes and lazy lorrels, wherewith they bye and sell the common -people as they pas through the countrey." He says they term this language <i>Pedlar's -French</i>, or, <i>Canting</i>, which had not then been invented above thirty years. As the book -has lately been reprinted, it will be proper, on this occasion, to use it more sparingly, and -to mention only such of Harman's vagabonds as fall under the begging class. These are -1. The <i>Rufflers</i>; particularly mentioned in the Stat. xxvii. Henry VIII. against vagabonds, -as fellows pretending to be wounded soldiers. These, says Harman, after a year or two's -practice, unless they be prevented by twined hemp, become,—2. <i>Upright Men</i>; still pretending -to have served in the wars, and offering, though never intending, to work for -their living. They decline receiving meat or drink, and take nothing but money by way -of charity, but contrive to steal pigs and poultry at night, chiefly plundering the farmers. -Of late, says the author, they have been much whipped at fairs. They attack and rob -other beggars that do not belong to their own fraternity, occasionally admitting or -installing them into it by pouring a quart of liquor on their pates, with these words, "I -do stall thee, W. T., to the rogue, and that from henceforth it shall be lawful for thee to -cant for thy living in all places." All sorts of beggars are obedient to them, and they -surpass all the rest in pilfering and stealing. 3. <i>Hookers</i>, or <i>Anglers</i>; these knaves beg -by day, and pilfer at night, by means of a pole with a hook at the end, with which they -lay hold of linen, or any thing hanging from windows or elsewhere. The author relates -a curious feat of dexterity practised by one of them at a farm house, where, in the dead -of the night, he contrived to hook off the bed-clothes from three men who were lying -asleep, leaving them in their shirts, and when they awoke from cold, supposing, to use -the author's words, "that Robin Goodfellow had bene with them that night." 4. <i>Rogues</i>; -going about with a white handkerchief tied round the head, and pretending to be lame. -These people committed various other frauds and impostures, in order to obtain charity. -5. <i>Pallyards</i>; with patched garments, collecting, by way of alms, provisions, or whatever -they could get, which they sold for ready money; they are chiefly Welshmen, and make -artificial sores by applying spearwort to raise blisters on their bodies, or else arsenic or -ratsbane to create incurable wounds. 6. <i>Abraham Men</i>; pretending to be lunatics, -who have been a long time confined in Bedlam or some other prison, where they have -been unmercifully used with blows, &c. They beg money or provisions at farmers' -houses, or bully them by fierce looks or menaces. 7. <i>Traters</i>; or fellows travelling about -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">{13}</a></span> -the country with black boxes at the girdle, containing forged briefs, or licences to beg -for hospitals. Some have clouts bound round their legs, and walk as if lame, with staves -in their hands. 8. <i>Freshwater Mariners</i>, or <i>Whipjacks</i>; whose ships, says the witty -author, were drowned in Salisbury Plain. These counterfeit great losses at sea by shipwreck -and piracy, and are chiefly Irishmen, begging with false licences, under the supposed -seal of the Admiralty, so artfully constructed as to deceive even the best lawyers. -9. The <i>Counterfeit Crank</i>; who is described at large, with a figure, in another part of this -work. 10. <i>Dommerars</i>; chiefly Welshmen, pretending to be dumb, and forcibly keeping -down their tongues doubled, groaning for charity, and keeping up their hands most -piteously, by which means they procure considerable gains. 11. <i>Demanders for glymmar</i>; -who are chiefly women that go about with false licences to beg, as sufferers from fire,—glymmar, -in pedlars' language, signifying that element. Many other classes are enumerated -in this curious volume, as—priggars of prauncers, swadders, jarkman, patricos, bawdy -baskets, autem morts, walking morts, doxies, dells, kynchin morts, and kynchin coes; but -all these are rather pilferers than beggars.</p> - -<p>As every trade or profession had its patron saint, so the beggars made choice of St -Martin, who appears to have had a great regard for them. This person was originally a -soldier of rank in the armies of the Emperors Constantius and Julian, but preferring a -religious life, he applied to Saint Hilary, of Poitou, who appointed him his sub-deacon; -and soon afterwards becoming a saint himself, he of course acquired the power of working -miracles, many of which, with much other legendary matter, have been related by his -credulous but elegant historian, Sulpitius Severus, and transferred, with due additions -and improvements, into that grand repertory of pious frauds, the Golden Legend, and -some other works of similar authority. It is related of him, that when a soldier, as he -passed by one of the gates of Amiens in winter time, he met a poor naked man, on whom -none would bestow alms. Martin drew out his sword, and cutting his mantle asunder in -the middle, gave one half to the poor man, having nothing else to bestow on him, contenting -himself with the remainder to keep him from the cold. On the ensuing night he -saw the Saviour of the world in heaven, clothed with that part which he had given to -the poor man, and exclaiming to the angels that surrounded him, "Martin, yet new in -the faith, hath covered me with this vesture." Ever afterwards he became particularly -attached to beggars and poor people. The cripples and lepers seem, however, to have -made exclusive choice of St Giles for their patron, to whom the hospitals and other places -for their relief were usually dedicated. So the parish church of Cripplegate was -dedicated to him; and the ward itself, named after a very ancient gate to which the -crippled beggars particularly resorted. There would be some difficulty to account for -their preference of this Saint, as he does not appear to have been either lame or leprous. -He was a noble Christian, born at Athens, a man of singular charity, giving largely to -the poor, and on one occasion doing more than St Martin, by giving the <i>whole</i> of his coat -to a diseased and naked beggar, who is said to have been immediately healed on putting -it on.</p> - -<p>As an exemplification of the legend of Saint Martin might be acceptable to many -readers, it has been thought fit to select, as an appropriate embellishment, one of the -oldest figures of the Saint that remain, and to place it before the title of the work. This -print has been copied with scrupulous fidelity from an ancient engraving in copper, in -the truly valuable collection of Thomas Lloyd, Esq., by a German artist, whose name -unfortunately has not been preserved, and who probably executed it between the years -1460 and 1470. In this instance the story has not been correctly adhered to, for the -designer of the print has there introduced a <i>couple</i> of beggars; an error that is sufficiently -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">{14}</a></span> -compensated by the variety it affords of the mendicant costume, one of these fellows -making use of a creeper and dish, the other of a crutch. A later print of this subject, -and of extreme curiosity on all accounts, may likewise be consulted. It is from a design -by Jerom Bosche, an artist of grotesque celebrity, and represents Saint Martin in a boat -full of beggars, with crowds of others on shore, in every possible form and attitude. It -is accompanied with the following inscription, in the Flemish language: "The good Saint -Martin is here represented among the crippled, nasty, wretched tribe, distributing to -them his cloak, instead of money; the miserable crew contending for the spoil."</p> - -<p>In the year 1741, a spirited presentment to the Court of King's Bench was made by -the Grand Jury of Middlesex, against the unusual swarms of sturdy and clamorous -beggars, as well as the many frightful objects exposed in the streets; in which they state, -that notwithstanding a very strong presentment to the same effect had been made by a -former jury in 1728, they had found the evil rather increased than remedied. This they -ascribe to negligence in the proper officers, and trust that a proper remedy will be applied, -and themselves not troubled with the poor, at the same time that they are every day -more and more loaded with taxes to provide for them; and that his Majesty's subjects -may have the passage of the streets, as in former happy times, free and undisturbed, and -be able to transact the little business to which the decay of trade has reduced them, -without molestation.</p> - -<p>In the last session of the present Parliament, the matter has been again taken up -with a degree of skill and vigour that reflects great honour on its conductors; and we -may indulge a hope to see the streets of the Metropolis freed from the many public and -disgusting nuisances that have increased with its population, and the real objects of -charity and compassion humanely and properly cherished and protected, as well as the -vast and oppressive expense of supporting them reduced.</p> - -<p>Already we perceive the alarm has been taken by the members of the mendicant -tribes; and it may not be too much to add, that the interest and curiosity of the present -work are likely to augment, in proportion as the characters that have led to its composition -shall decrease in numbers. That they should entirely disappear, may be more than -can be reasonably expected.</p> - -<div class="image-center"> - <img src="images/14.jpg" width="265" height="300" alt=""/> -</div> - -<p class="small">The figure above represents an English Beggar about the middle of the fifteenth century, and has been copied -from a Pontifical among the Lansdowne MSS. in the British Museum, on one of the margins of which the -illuminator has rather strangely introduced it.</p> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="nodent"><a name="Foot_1" id="Foot_1" href="#Ref_1">[1]</a> -Psal. cix. 10. The passage in 1 Samuel ii. 8, "He lifteth up the <i>beggar</i> from the dunghill," has not been -used, because the original word does not seem to mean a common beggar. Strictly rendered, it signifies a <i>poor -person</i>, or one in want.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">{15}</a></div> - -<h2>MENDICANT WANDERERS THROUGH THE<br /> - STREETS OF LONDON.</h2> - -<div> - <img class="drop-cap" src="images/drop-s.jpg" width="150" height="168" alt=""/> -</div> - -<p class="nodent"><span class="uppercase"><span class="drop-cap1">S</span>ailors</span>, -according to the old adage, find a -port in every storm. The appeal of "My -worthy heart, stow a copper in Jack's -locker,—for poor Jack has not had a quid -to-day," is as piercingly felt by the lowly -cottager as the British Admiral.</p> - -<p>Who can recollect Bigg's pathetic picture -of the "Shipwrecked Sailor-boy," or -Mrs Ludlam's charming poem of "The Lost -Child," without shedding the tear of -sympathy?</p> - -<p>The public are not, however, to conclude, -that because a fellow sports a jacket -and trousers, he must have been a seaman; -for there are many fresh-water sailors, -who never saw a ship but from London -Bridge. Such an impostor was Jack Stuart, -Flaxman's model, whose effigy is attached -to the capital letter of this page. Jack's latter history is truly curious. After lingering -for nearly three months, he died on the 15th of August 1815, aged 35. His funeral was -attended by his wife and faithful dog, Tippo, as chief mourners, accompanied by three -blind beggars in black cloaks; namely, John Fountain, George Dyball, and John Jewis. -Two blind fiddlers, William Worthington and Joseph Symmonds, preceded the coffin, -playing the 104th Psalm. The whimsical procession moved on, amidst crowds of spectators, -from Jack's house, in Charlton Gardens, Somers Town, to the churchyard of St -Pancras, Middlesex. The mourners afterwards returned to the place from whence the -funeral had proceeded, where they remained the whole of the night, dancing, drinking, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">{16}</a></span> -swearing, and fighting, and occasionally chaunting Tabernacle hymns; for it must be -understood, that most of the beggars are staunch Methodists. The person from whom -these particulars were obtained, and who was one of the party, thought himself extremely -happy that he came off with a pair of black eyes <i>only</i>. The conduct of this man's -associates in vice was however powerfully contrasted by the extraordinary attachment -and fidelity of Jack's cur, Tippo, his long and stedfast guide, who, after remaining three -days upon his master's grave, refusing every sort of food, died with intermitting sighs -and howling sorrow. The dog of Woollett, the engraver, died nearly a similar death.</p> - -<p>The following plate exhibits Stuart's pupil, George Dyball, a fellow of considerable -notoriety. He sometimes dresses as a sailor, in nankeen waistcoat and trousers; but -George, like his master, never was a seaman. Stuart taught him to maund, by allowing -him to kneel at a respectful distance, and repeat his supplications.</p> - -<p>Dyball was remarkable for his leader, Nelson, whose tricks displayed in an extraordinary -degree the sagacity and docility of the canine race. This dog would, at a word -from his master, lead him to any part of the town he wished to traverse, and at so quick -a pace, that both animals have been observed to get on much faster than any other streetwalkers. -His business was to make a response to his master's "<i>Pray pity the Blind</i>" by -an impressive whine, accompanied with uplifted eyes and an importunate turn of the -head; and when his eyes have not caught those of the spectators, he has been seen to -rub the tin box against their knees, to enforce his solicitations. When money was thrown -into the box, he immediately put it down, took out the contents with his mouth, and, -joyfully wagging his tail, carried them to his master. After this, for a moment or two, -he would venture to smell about the spot; but as soon as his master uttered "<i>Come, Sir</i>," -off he would go, to the extent of his string, with his tail between his legs, apprehensive -of the effects of his master's corrective switch. This animal was presented to Dyball by -Joseph Symmonds, the blind fiddler, who received him of James Garland, another blind -beggar, who had taught him his tricks. Unfortunately for Dyball, this treasure has -lately been stolen from him, as is supposed by some itinerant player, and he is now -obliged to depend on a dog of inferior qualifications, though George has declared him to -"<i>Shew very pretty for tricks</i>."</p> - -<p>This custom of teaching dogs to beg with cans in their mouths is not new. A few -years since, there was such an animal in a booth at Bartholomew Fair, who made his -supplications in favour of an Italian rope-dancer. The practice is indeed very ancient, as -appears in a truly curious illuminated copy of the Speculum Humanć Salvationis, written -in the early part of the fifteenth century, in the possession of a friend of the author.</p> - -<div class="image-center-plate" style="max-width: 337px;"> - <img src="images/pl-01.jpg" width="337" height="600" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p>PLATE I.</p> - <p>George Dyball, a blind beggar of considerable notoriety, and his dog Nelson.</p> - </div> -</div> - -<p>The next plate is of a beggar well known at fairs near the Metropolis. He is certainly -blind, and perhaps one of the most cunning and witty of his tribe; for in order -that his blindness may be manifest, he literally throws up his eyeballs, as if desirous of -exemplifying the following lines in Hudibras:—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse quote">"As men of inward light are wont</div> - <div class="verse">To turn their optics in upon't."</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>He is a foreigner, and probably a Frenchman; at all events he professed to be so on -the commencement of the war; but having acquired a tolerable stock of English, and -perhaps not choosing to return home, he now declares himself "<i>A poor Spaniard Man</i>."</p> - -<p>Sometimes he will, by an artful mode of singing any stuff that comes into his head, -and by merely sounding the last word of a line, so contrive to impose upon the -waggoners and other country people, as to make them believe that he fought in the -field of Waterloo.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">{17}</a></span> -"Poor fellow," exclaimed a spectator, "he has been in the battle of Waterloo." -"<i>Yes, my belove friends</i>," returned the mendicant, "<i>De money de money go very low -too</i>."</p> - -<p>However, this fellow is now and then detected, in consequence of a picture, which -is painted on a tin plate and fastened to his breast, being the portrait of and worn many -years ago by a marine, who had lost his sight at Gibraltar. His hair, which is sometimes -bushy, is now and then closely put under his hat, or tied in a tail; and when he alters his -voice, he becomes a different character—the form of a decrepit vender of matches. The -seated beggar in this plate is frequently to be seen at the wall of Privy Chambers; he -never asks charity, nor goes any great distance from Westminster, where he resides.</p> - -<div class="image-center-plate" style="max-width: 356px;"> - <img src="images/pl-02.jpg" width="356" height="600" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p>PLATE II.</p> - <p>A blind beggar well known at fairs near the metropolis; declares himself - "<i>a poor Spaniard man</i>."</p> - </div> -</div> - -<p>The following plate of a walking beggar, attended by a boy, was taken from a drawing -made in West Smithfield. The object of it is well known about Finsbury Square -and Bunhill Row; sometimes he stands at the gates of Wesley's meeting-house. His cant -is, "Do, my worthy, tender-hearted Christians, remember the blind; pray pity the stone -dark blind." The tricks of the boy that attended this man when the drawing was made, -brought to mind the sportive Lazarillo De Tormes, when he was the guide of a beggar; -from which entertaining history there are two very spirited etchings by Thomas Wyck,—the -one, where he defrauds his master when partaking of the bunch of grapes; and the -other, where he revenges a thrashing received from his master by causing him to strike -his head against a pillar, and tumble into a ditch that he was attempting to leap.</p> - -<div class="image-center-plate" style="max-width: 327px;"> - <img src="images/pl-03.jpg" width="327" height="600" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p>PLATE III.</p> - <p>Blind beggar attended by a boy. From a drawing made in West Smithfield. Well - known about Finsbury Square and Bunhill Row. His cant is, "Do, my worthy tender-hearted - Christians, remember the blind; pray, pity the stone-dark blind."</p> - </div> -</div> - -<p>The next subject is a tall blind man, with a long staff, with which he strikes the -curbstones. He is seldom to be seen in any particular place, and was drawn when he -stood against the wall of Mr Whitbread's brewhouse.</p> - -<p>He is frequently a vender of the penny religious tracts, dispersed by a society of -Methodists, though perhaps with little use, for they are often purchased by people who -are actually going to the gin-shop. It is here stated, on credible authority, that there are -no less than 27,000 of the Methodist and 21,500 of the Evangelical Magazines published -every month; and it is also reported, that not less than 800 Methodistical meeting-houses -have been erected in England within the last year.</p> - -<div class="image-center-plate" style="max-width: 331px;"> - <img src="images/pl-04.jpg" width="331" height="600" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p>PLATE IV.</p> - <p>Tall blind beggar, with a long staff, with which he strikes the - curb-stones. Drawn while standing against the wall of Whitbread's - Brewery.</p> - </div> -</div> - -<p>The beggar portrayed in the next -plate is a blind man, who remains for many hours successively with his legs in one -position. He observes a profound silence when on his stand, but makes noise enough -when he attends the Tabernacle Walk on the Sabbath; on the week days, however, he -is frequently heard singing obscene songs. He is introduced, with his wife, in the background -of George Dyball's plate.</p> - -<div class="image-center-plate" style="max-width: 320px;"> - <img src="images/pl-05.jpg" width="320" height="600" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p>PLATE V.</p> - <p>Blind beggar, who observes a profound silence when on his stand, but - makes noise enough when he attends the Tabernacle Walk on the Sabbath.</p> - </div> -</div> - -<p>The next plate affords a remarkable instance of sobriety in a blind man, who never -tasted gin in his life. He was some years since to be found on the historically and -beggarly-famed road of Bethnal Green, and obtained an honest livelihood by trafficking -in halfpenny ballads.</p> - -<div class="image-center-plate" style="max-width: 334px;"> - <img src="images/pl-06.jpg" width="334" height="600" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p>PLATE VI.</p> - <p>Blind man, who never tasted gin in his life. Frequented Bethnal Green - Road, and obtained an honest livelihood by trafficking in halfpenny ballads.</p> - </div> -</div> - -<div class="image-float-left"> - <img src="images/18a.jpg" width="265" height="300" alt=""/> -</div> - -<p>The ensuing etching is of Charles Wood, a blind man, with an organ and a dancing -dog, which he declares to be "<i>The real learned French dog, Bob</i>," and extols his tricks by -the following never-failing address, "<i>Ladies and Gentlemen, this is the real learned -French dog; please to encourage him; throw any thing down to him, and see how -nimbly he'll pick it up, and give it to his poor blind master. Look about, Bob; be sharp; -see what you're about, Bob.</i>" Money being thrown, Bob picks it up, and puts it into his -master's pocket. "<i>Thank ye, thank ye, my good masters; should any more Ladies and -Gentlemen wish to encourage the poor dog, he's now quite in the humour; he'll pick it up -almost before you can throw it down.</i>" It is needless to add, that this man, whose station -is against Privy Garden Wall, makes what is called "<i>a pretty penny</i>" by his learned -French friend.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">{18}</a></span> -This little animal is of so interesting a nature, that it has been thought worth while to -give a side view of him, in order to exhibit the true cut of his tail.</p> - -<div class="block"> </div> - -<div class="image-center-plate" style="max-width: 328px;"> - <img src="images/pl-07.jpg" width="328" height="600" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p>PLATE VII.</p> - <p>Charles Wood, a blind man, with an organ and a dancing dog. "The real - learned French dog, Bob." Money being thrown, Bob picks it up, and puts - it into his master's pocket.</p> - </div> -</div> - -<p>The two succeeding plates are of a class that must ensure -attention from the gaping multitude, and are commonly termed -industrious beggars.</p> - -<p>The female figure is that of Priscilla, an inhabitant of St -James, Clerkenwell, who is often to be seen in the summer -seated against the wall of the Reservoir of the New River -Water-works, Spa-fields, and employed in the making of patchwork -quilts. She threads her own needle, cuts her own -patches, and fits them entirely herself.</p> - -<div class="image-center-plate" style="max-width: 319px;"> - <img src="images/pl-08.jpg" width="319" height="600" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p>PLATE VIII.</p> - <p>Priscilla, an inhabitant of St James, Clerkenwell, seated against the - wall of the New River Water Works, Spa-fields, and employed in the - making of patchwork quilts.</p> - </div> -</div> - -<p>The other plate exhibits the portrait of Taylor, a blind shoemaker, who lost -his sight eighteen years since by a blight. This harmless man, -who lives at No. 6 Saffron Hill, maintains a family by his attention to his stands, which -are sometimes at Whitehall, and the wall by Whitfield's Chapel, Tottenham Court Road. -This meritorious pair may be justly regarded as true objects of compassion, as they never -associate with the common street-beggars.</p> - -<div class="image-center-plate" style="max-width: 336px;"> - <img src="images/pl-09.jpg" width="336" height="600" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p>PLATE IX.</p> - <p>Taylor, a blind shoemaker, at the wall by Whitefield's Chapel, Tottenham - Court Road.</p> - </div> -</div> - -<p>The next plate, which will close the series of blind beggars, exhibits the portrait of -William Kinlock. He was employed many years ago to turn a wheel for a four-post -bedstead turner in Oxford Street, but afterwards lost his sight at Gibraltar, under the -great Lord Heathfield. His stands are at Furnival's Inn and Portugal Street, near which -latter place he resides.</p> - -<div class="image-center-plate" style="max-width: 342px;"> - <img src="images/pl-10.jpg" width="342" height="600" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p>PLATE X.</p> - <p>William Kinlock, a blind beggar, who lost his sight at Gibraltar.</p> - </div> -</div> - -<div> - <img class="drop-cap" src="images/drop-in.jpg" width="150" height="187" alt=""/> -</div> - -<p class="nodent"><span class="uppercase"><span class="drop-cap2">In</span>dustrious</span> -beggars are sometimes confounded with -sturdy impostors. Of the latter description is the -man whose figure is given in the next plate. His -employment is to cut a chain out of a piece of ash, -which chain he calls "Turkish Moorings."</p> - -<p>After this fellow had agreed to accept two shillings -for half an hour's sitting for the present work, -he had not been seated in the kitchen ten minutes -before he began to nestle, and growled a hope that he -might not be detained long, adding that he could get -twice the money in less time either at Charing Cross -or Hyde Park Corner. In order to soften the brute, -he had the offer of bread, cheese, and small beer. He -said he never took any. At this moment the servant -being employed in making a veal pie, he was asked -whether he would accept of a steak, and take it to a public-house for his lunch. After -slowly turning his head, without giving the least motion of his body, he sneeringly -observed, that the veal had no fat.</p> - -<p>It was then determined to keep him the full time; and after a few close questions, -he observed, that no one dared to keep him in prison; that he worked with tools, and was -not a beggar. True it was, indeed, that his hat was on the ground; and if people would -put money into it, surely it was not for him to turn it out. As to his chains, few persons -would give him his price; they were five shillings a yard; nor did he care much to sell -them, for if he did he should have nothing to show. After turning his money over -several times, and for which he did not condescend to make the least acknowledgement, he -exclaimed on leaving the house, "<i>Now that you have draughted me off, I suppose you'll -make a fine deal of money of it</i>."</p> - -<div class="image-center-plate" style="max-width: 329px;"> - <img src="images/pl-11.jpg" width="329" height="600" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p>PLATE XI.</p> - <p>Chain maker, who said he was not a beggar; and if people would put money - into his hat, surely it was not for him to turn it out.</p> - </div> -</div> - -<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">{19}</a></div> - -<div class="image-float-left"> - <img src="images/19.jpg" width="150" height="192" alt=""/> -</div> - -<p>The annexed representation is of a fellow whose figure was recently copied in -Holborn, and although he was so scandalously intoxicated in the middle of the day that -it was with the greatest difficulty he could stand, yet -many people followed to give him money, because the -inscription on his hat declared him to be "<span class="smcap">Out of -Employment</span>." Such are the effects of imposture, -and the mischief of ill-directed benevolence. As a -contrast to the two preceding characters, see the next -plate, which affords the portraits of two truly industrious -persons, Joseph Thake and his son. These -people are natives of Watford, in Hertfordshire, who -finding it impossible to procure work, and being determined -not to beg, employed themselves in making -puzzles. The boy learned the art when under a shepherd -in Cambridgeshire. These specimens of ingenuity -are made of pieces of willow, which contain -small stones, serving for children's rattles, or as an -amusement for grown persons who, unacquainted -with the key, after taking them to pieces are puzzled -to put them together again. When honest Thake and his son had filled a sack, they -trudged to the great City, where they took their station in St Paul's Churchyard, vending -their toys at the moderate price of sixpence a piece.</p> - -<p>Their rustic simplicity quickly procured them customers; among whom the author's -friend, Mr Henry Pocknell, after purchasing a few specimens of their handy-work, procured -for him the pleasure of imitating his example.</p> - -<p>The worthy parent transferred the money to his son, who requested that he might -have the satisfaction of presenting his benefactor with a bird.</p> - -<div class="image-center-plate" style="max-width: 356px;"> - <img src="images/pl-12.jpg" width="356" height="600" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p>PLATE XII.</p> - <p>Joseph Thake and his son, who made rattle puzzles, and sold them in St Paul's - Churchyard at sixpence a piece.</p> - </div> -</div> - -<p>The succeeding plate displays the effigy of Joseph Johnson, a black, who in consequence -of his having been employed in the merchant service only, is not entitled to the -provision of Greenwich. His wounds rendering him incapable of doing further duty on -the ocean, and having no claim to relief in any parish, he is obliged to gain a living on -shore; and in order to elude the vigilance of the parochial beadles, he first started on -Tower Hill, where he amused the idlers by singing George Alexander Stevenson's "Storm." -By degrees he ventured into the public streets, and at length became what is called a -"Regular Chaunter." But novelty, the grand secret of all exhibitions, from the Magic -Lantern to the Panorama, induced Black Joe to build a model of the ship Nelson, to -which, when placed on his cap, he can, by a bow of thanks, or a supplicating inclination -to a drawing-room window, give the appearance of sea-motion. Johnson is as frequently -to be seen in the rural village as in great cities; and when he takes a journey, the kindhearted -waggoner will often enable him in a few hours to visit the marketplaces of -Staines, Romford, or St Albans, where he never fails to gain the farmer's penny, either -by singing "The British Seaman's Praise," or Green's more popular song of "The Wooden -Walls of Old England."</p> - -<div class="image-center-plate" style="max-width: 363px;"> - <img src="images/pl-13.jpg" width="363" height="600" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p>PLATE XIII.</p> - <p>Joseph Johnson, a black sailor, with a model of the ship <i>Nelson</i> on his cap.</p> - </div> -</div> - -<p>The following plate presents the portrait of another black man -of great notoriety, Charles M'Gee, a native of Ribon, in Jamaica, born in 1744, and whose -father died at the great age of 108. This singular man usually stands at the Obelisk, at -the foot of Ludgate Hill. He has lost an eye, and his woolly hair, which is almost white, -is tied up behind in a tail, with a large tuft at the end, horizontally resting upon the cape -of his coat. Charles is supposed to be worth money. His stand is certainly above all -others the most popular, many thousands of persons crossing it in the course of the day. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">{20}</a></span> -He has of late on the working-days sported a smart coat, presented to him by a city -pastry-cook. On a Sunday he is a constant attendant at Rowland Hill's meeting-house, -and on that occasion his apparel is appropriately varied.</p> - -<div class="image-center-plate" style="max-width: 326px;"> - <img src="images/pl-14.jpg" width="326" height="600" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p>PLATE XIV.</p> - <p>Charles M'Gee, a notorious black man, whose father died at the age of 108. He - usually stood at the Obelisk, at the foot of Ludgate Hill.</p> - </div> -</div> - -<p>This man's portrait, when in -his 73d year, was drawn on the 9th of October 1815, in the parlour of a public-house, the -sign of the Twelve Bells, opposite to the famous well of St Brigit, which gave name to the -ancient palace of our kings, Bridewell; but which has, ever since the grant of Edward -VI., been a house of correction for vagabonds, &c. It is a truly curious circumstance, that -this establishment gave name to other prisons of a similar kind; for instance, Clerkenwell -Bridewell, and Tothill-fields' Bridewell. Over the entrance of the latter, the following -inscription has been placed:—</p> - - <p class="gap-above center">HERE ARE SEVERAL SORTS OF WORK<br /> - FOR THE POOR OF THIS PARISH OF ST.<br /> - MARGARET'S, WESTMINSTER;<br /> - AS ALSO THE COUNTY, ACCORDING TO<br /> - LAW, AND FOR SUCH AS WILL BEG, AND<br /> - LIVE IDLE IN THIS CITY AND LIBERTY<br /> - OF WESTMINSTER, ANNO 1655.</p> - -<p>Black people, as well as those destitute of sight, seldom fail to excite compassion. -Few persons, however humble their situation, can withhold charity from the infant -smiling upon features necessarily dead to its supplications, and deeply shrouded from the -prying eyes of the vulgar by the bonnet, placarded with</p> - -<div> - <img class="drop-cap" src="images/drop-p.jpg" width="150" height="179" alt=""/> -</div> - -<p class="nodent"><span class="drop-cap1">P</span>RAY -PITY THE BLIND AND FATHERLESS!</p> - -<p class="gap-above">A lady, on seeing this woodcut, composed the following -lines:—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse">Lo! yonder Widow, reft of sight,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A Mother, who ne'er knew</div> - <div class="verse">The joys which Parents' eyes delight</div> - <div class="verse indent2">When first their Babes they view.</div> - </div> - - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse">Close to her breast, with cherub smile,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The cherish'd Infant lies;</div> - <div class="verse">And t'wards those darkened orbs the while</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Lifts its unconscious eyes.</div> - </div> - -<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">{21}</a></div> - - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse">Then, Stranger, pause, and yield a gift</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To Misery's Children due;</div> - <div class="verse">Lo! e'en yon grasping Miser's thrift</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Now drops like hallowed dew. M. P.</div> - </div> - - </div> -</div> - -<p>Doctor Johnson, who generally gave to importunate beggars, never failed to relieve -the silent blind.</p> - -<p>Black men are extremely cunning, and often witty; they have mostly short names, -such as Jumbo, Toby, &c., but the last seems of late to be the most fashionable, for it has -not only been used by the master of Mr Punch, the street-strolling puppet, as a name for -that merry little fellow's dog, but by the proprietor of the Sapient Pig.</p> - -<p>The last negro beggar called Toby, was a character well known in this Metropolis. -He was destitute of toes, had his head bound with a white handkerchief, and bent himself -almost double to walk upon two hand-crutches, with which he nearly occupied the width -of the pavement. Master Toby generally affected to be tired and exhausted whenever -he approached a house where the best gin was to be procured; and was perhaps of all the -inhabitants of Church Lane, St Giles's, the man who expended the most money in that -national cordial.</p> - -<p>But this man was nothing when compared with a Lascar, who lately sold halfpenny -ballads, and whose gains enabled him to spit his goose, or broil a duck; for it is well -known, that upon an average he made not less than fifteen shillings per day.</p> - -<p>The author of this little work sincerely regrets the loss of a sketch that he made from -a black man, whose countenance and figure were the most interesting of any of the tribe. -He was nearly six feet in height, rather round in the shoulders, and usually wore a -covering of green baize; indeed altogether he brought to recollection that exquisite statue -of Cicero, in the Pomfret collection of marbles at Oxford, so beautifully engraved by -Sherwin. This fellow, who had often been taken up, has not been seen for several -months.</p> - -<div class="image-float-left"> - <img src="images/21.jpg" width="100" height="67" alt=""/> -</div> - -<p>Go-cart, Billies in bowls, or Sledge-beggars, are denominations for those cripples -whose misfortunes will not permit them to travel in any other -way; and these are next presented to the reader's notice.</p> - -<p>Men of this class are to be found in every country. The -little fellow above depicted in the cart is copied from Luca -Carlevarij's 100 Views in Venice, a set of long quarto plates, most -spiritedly etched, and published in 1703.</p> - -<p>Hogarth, whose active eye caught Nature in all her garbs, has introduced in his -Wedding of the Industrious Apprentice, a cripple well known in those days under the -appellation of Philip in the Tub, a fellow who constantly attended weddings, and retailed -the ballad of "Jesse, or the Happy Pair."</p> - -<p>Dublin has ever been famous for a Billy in the Bowl. A very remarkable fellow of -this class, well known in that city, and who thought proper to leave Ireland on the -Union, was met in London by a Noble Lord, who observed, "So you are here too!" -"Yes, my Lord," replied the beggar, "the Union has brought us all over."</p> - -<p>The back view of the person exhibited in the following plate, is that of Samuel -Horsey, who, in December 1816, had been a London beggar for thirty-one years. Of -this man there are various opinions, and it is much to be doubted if the truth can be -obtained even from his own mouth. He states that Mr Abernethy cut off his legs in St -Bartholomew's Hospital, but he does not declare from what cause; so that being deprived -of the power of gaining a subsistence by labour, he was forced to become a beggar. By -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">{22}</a></span> -some persons he is styled the King of the Beggars, but certainly without the least foundation. -He says that no one has been less acquainted with beggars than himself; and as -for his having the command of a district, that he utterly denies. His walks, or rather -movements, are not always confined; on some days he slides to Charing Cross, but is -oftener to be seen at the door of Mr Coutts's banking-house, perhaps with an idea that -persons just after they have received money are more likely to bestow charity.</p> - -<p>Of all other men, Horsey has the most dexterous mode of turning, or rather swinging -himself, into a gin-shop. He dashes the door open by forcibly striking the front of his -sledge and himself against it.</p> - -<p>He was once seen in a most perilous situation, when he lodged in a two-pair of stairs -back room, in Wharton's Court, Holborn. He had placed himself on the window-sill, in -order to clean the outside upper panes, and was attached as usual to his sledge, when -unfortunately he broke a square. On this occasion he let loose the volley of oaths which -at other times he can so forcibly discharge; nor did his rage subside after he had launched -himself into the room again; indeed he was heard at intervals to vociferate in this way -for several hours.</p> - -<div class="image-center-plate" style="max-width: 336px;"> - <img src="images/pl-15.jpg" width="336" height="600" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p>PLATE XV.</p> - <p>Samuel Horsey, a London beggar for more than thirty-one years. Frequented the - neighbourhood of Charing Cross and Coutts's Bank.</p> - </div> -</div> - -<p>The very extraordinary torso etched in the next plate is that of John Mac Nally, of -the county of Tyrone. This poor fellow lost the use of his legs by a log, that crushed -both his thighs, when an apprentice at Cork.</p> - -<p>His head, shoulders, and chest, which are exactly those of Hercules, would prove -valuable models for the artist.</p> - -<p>Mac, who is well known about Parliament Street, Whitehall, and the Surrey foot of -Westminster Bridge, after scuttling along the streets for some time upon a sledge, discovered -the power of novelty, and trained two dogs, Boxer and Rover, to draw him in a -truck, by which contrivance he has increased his income beyond all belief.</p> - -<p>Though this man's dogs when coupled have occasional snarlings, particularly when -one scratches himself with an overstrained exertion, the other feeling at the same time -an inclination to dose, yet, when their master has been dead drunk, and become literally -a log on his truck, they have very cordially united their efforts to convey him to his -lodgings in St Ann's Lane, Westminster, and perhaps with more safety than if he had -governed them, frequently taking a circuitous route during street repairs in order to -obtain the clearest path.</p> - -<div class="image-center-plate" style="max-width: 333px;"> - <img src="images/pl-16.jpg" width="333" height="600" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p>PLATE XVI.</p> - <p>John MacNally, of Tyrone County, with his two dogs Boxer and Rover, who - drew him in a truck. Well known about Parliament Street and Whitehall.</p> - </div> -</div> - -<p>The figure in the box is that of a Jew mendicant, who has unfortunately lost the use -of his legs, and is placed every morning in the above vehicle, so that he may be drawn -about the neighbourhood of Petticoat Lane, and exhibited as an object of charity. His -venerable appearance renders it impossible for a Jew or a Christian to pass without giving -him alms, though he never begs but of his own people; a custom highly creditable to the -Jews, and even more attentively observed by that truly honourable Society of Friends, -vulgarly called Quakers, who neither suffer their poor to beg, nor become burthensome to -any but themselves.</p> - -<div class="image-center-plate" style="max-width: 349px;"> - <img src="images/pl-17.jpg" width="349" height="600" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p>PLATE XVII.</p> - <p>A Jew Beggar, who has lost the use of his legs, and was drawn in a box - about the neighbourhood of Petticoat Lane.</p> - </div> -</div> - -<p>About forty-eight years ago, when the sites of Portland Place, Devonshire Street, -&c., were fields, the famous Tommy Lowe, then a singer at Mary-le-bone Gardens, raised -a subscription to enable an unfortunate man to run a small chariot, drawn by four -muzzled mastiffs, from a pond near Portland Chapel—called Cockney Ladle, which supplied -Mary-le-bone Basin with water—to the Farthing Pie-house, a building remaining at -the end of Norton Street, and now the sign of the Green Man, in order to accommodate -children with a ride for a halfpenny. And it is rather extraordinary, that the son of that -very man, a few years since, and after the death of his wife, harnessed a spaniel to a -small cart, but large enough to hold his infant, which the animal drew after the father -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">{23}</a></span> -from lamp to lamp through the very streets above mentioned. The dog became so accustomed -to his task, that as soon as he heard his master cover a lamp, away he would -scamper to the next, and there wait the arrival of the ladder.</p> - -<p>Street-crossing sweepers next make their appearance; the first on the list being -William Tomlins, whose stand is very productive, as it includes both Albemarle and St -James Streets. Of this man there is nothing further remarkable, beyond his attention -to his pitch, for so the beggars and ballad-singers call their stands. He appears to be -alive to the receipt of every penny, and will not suffer himself by any means to be -diverted from his solicitations; as a strong proof of which, he refused to hold the horse -of a gentleman who called to him for that purpose, and from this it may be inferred that -he thought begging a better occupation.</p> - -<div class="image-center-plate" style="max-width: 376px;"> - <img src="images/pl-18.jpg" width="376" height="600" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p>PLATE XVIII.</p> - <p>William Tomlins, a crossing-sweeper, who stood at Albemarle and St - James's Streets.</p> - </div> -</div> - -<p>The next character portrayed is a constant sweeper of the crossing at the top of -Ludgate Hill. This man finds it his interest to wear a cloth round his head, as he is on -that account frequently noticed by elderly maiden city dames, who mistake him for one -of their own sex.</p> - -<div class="image-center-plate" style="max-width: 344px;"> - <img src="images/pl-19.jpg" width="344" height="600" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p>PLATE XIX.</p> - <p>Sweeper of the crossing at the top of Ludgate Hill.</p> - </div> -</div> - -<p>The crossing from Charles Street to Rathbone Place is swept by Daniel Cropp, as -filthy a looking fellow as any of his tribe. In order to render himself noticed, he -literally combs his hair with his opened fingers. He at present differs from the etching, -by wearing a fireman's jacket.</p> - -<div class="image-center-plate" style="max-width: 339px;"> - <img src="images/pl-20.jpg" width="339" height="600" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p>PLATE XX.</p> - <p>Daniel Cropp, sweeper of the crossing from Charles Street to Rathbone - Place.</p> - </div> -</div> - -<p>The next plate represents a lad who occasionally sweeps -the crossing at the end of Princes Street, Hanover Square, and wears a large waistcoat, -surmounted by a soldier's jacket.</p> - -<div class="image-center-plate" style="max-width: 361px;"> - <img src="images/pl-21.jpg" width="361" height="600" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p>PLATE XXI.</p> - <p>Lad who swept the crossing at the end of Princes Street, Hanover Square.</p> - </div> -</div> - -<p>At the time he was drawn, he was so sickly that his -person was not recognised as a vender of matches, in which character he had two years -before been selected as a subject for this work, and whose portrait as such is given in the -following plate. The boy occasionally sings the old match song, and at certain hours -finds it his interest to exercise his broom at the above station.</p> - -<div class="image-center-plate" style="max-width: 340px;"> - <img src="images/pl-22.jpg" width="340" height="600" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p>PLATE XXII.</p> - <p>Vendor of matches.</p> - </div> -</div> - -<p>The subjects of the next two plates are unfortunate mendicants. The first is a -silver-haired man, of the name of Lilly, who lost his leg in some repairs at Westminster. -Poets' Corner, in the Abbey, is the place where he is mostly to be seen.</p> - -<div class="image-center-plate" style="max-width: 323px;"> - <img src="images/pl-23.jpg" width="323" height="600" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p>PLATE XXIII.</p> - <p>"Lilly," who lost his leg in some repairs at Westminster. Mostly to be - seen at Poets' Corner in the Abbey.</p> - </div> -</div> - -<p>The second plate is the portrait of William Frasier, deprived of both his hands in the -field of battle. His allowance as a maimed soldier not being sufficient to maintain his -large family, he is obliged to depend on the benevolence of such of the public who purchase -boot-laces of him. When this poor fellow's portrait was taken, he lodged in Market -Lane, in the house formerly occupied by Torre, the print-seller, who was the original fireworker -at Mary-le-bone Gardens.</p> - -<div class="image-center-plate" style="max-width: 328px;"> - <img src="images/pl-24.jpg" width="328" height="600" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p>PLATE XXIV.</p> - <p>William Frasier, deprived of both his hands in the field of battle. - Maintains his family by the sale of boot-laces.</p> - </div> -</div> - -<p>London has of late been gradually losing many of its old street customs, particularly -that pleasing one of the milkmaid's garland, so richly decorated with articles of silver -and bunches of cowslips. The garland was of a pyramidal form, and placed upon a horse -carried by two chairmen, adorned with ribbons and tulips. The plate consisted of pint -mugs, quart tankards, and large dishes, sometimes to the value of five hundred pounds, -hired of silversmiths for the purpose. The milkwoman and her pretty maids, in their -Nancy Dawson petticoats, would dance to the fiddler's jigs of "Paddy O'Rafferty," or "Off -she goes," before the doors of their customers; but now, instead of this innocent scene of -May-day gaiety, the streets are infested by such fellows as the one exhibited in the -adjoining plate, who have been dismissed, perhaps for their indecent conduct, from the -public places of entertainment. These men hire old dresses, and join the Chimney -Sweeper's, Cinder-sifter's, or Bunter's Garland, or Jack in the Green, &c., and exhibit all -sorts of grimace and ribaldry to extort money from their numerous admirers.</p> - -<div class="image-center-plate" style="max-width: 327px;"> - <img src="images/pl-25.jpg" width="327" height="600" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p>PLATE XXV.</p> - <p>May-Day Gaiety.—These men hire old dresses, and join the - Cinder-sifter's or Bunter's Garland, or Jack in the Green, &c., and - exhibit all sorts of grimace and ribaldry, to extort money from their - numerous admirers.</p> - </div> -</div> - -<p>Few persons, particularly those in elevated life, can witness, or even entertain a true -idea of the various modes by which the lowest classes gain a livelihood. It is scarcely to -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">{24}</a></span> -be believed that some few years ago a woman, of the name of Smith, regularly went over -London early in the morning, to strike out the teeth of dead dogs that had been stolen -and killed for the sake of their skins. These teeth she sold to bookbinders, carvers, and -gilders, as burnishing tools.</p> - -<p>There are women who, on Sunday mornings when there are no carts about, frequent -Thames Street, and the adjoining lanes inhabited by Lisbon merchants, to pick up from -the kennels the refuse of lemons, after they have been squeezed for their juice. These -they sell to the Jew distillers, who extract a further portion of liquor, and thus afford -them the means of selling, at a considerably reduced price, lemon drops to the lower order -of confectioners.</p> - -<p>It is seldom that the common beggars eat the food given to them; and it is a well-known -fact, that they sell their broken bread to the lowest order of the biscuit bakers, -who grind it for the purpose of making "tops and bottoms," &c.</p> - -<p>This was also the practice in former days, as appears in an old ballad, from which -the following is an extract:—</p> - - <p class="gap-above center">THE BEGGAR'S WEDDING;<br /> - <span class="small">OR, THE JOVIAL CREW.</span><br /> - <i>Printed with allowance, October 19, 1676.</i></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> - <div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse quote">"Then Tom a Bedlam winds his horn at best,</div> - <div class="verse">Their trumpet 'twas to bring away their feast;</div> - <div class="verse">Pickt marybones they had, found in the street,</div> - <div class="verse">Carrots kickt out of kennels with their feet;</div> - <div class="verse">Crusts gathered up for bisket, twice so dry'd;</div> - <div class="verse">Alms-tubs, and olla podridas, beside</div> - <div class="verse">Many such dishes more; but it would cumber</div> - <div class="verse">Any to name them, more than I can number.</div> - <div class="verse">Then comes the banquet, which must never fail,</div> - <div class="verse">That the town gave, of whitebread and strong ale.</div> - <div class="verse">All were so tipsie, that they could not go,</div> - <div class="verse">And yet would dance, and cry'd for music hoe:</div> - <div class="verse">With tonges and gridirons they were play'd unto,</div> - <div class="verse">And blind men sung, as they are us'd to do.</div> - <div class="verse">Some whistled, and some hollow sticks did sound,</div> - <div class="verse">And so melodiously they play around:</div> - <div class="verse">Lame men, lame women, manfully cry advance,</div> - <div class="verse">And so, all limping, jovially did dance."</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>Some women gain a living by going from house to house and begging phials. They -pretend that they have an order for medicines at the dispensary, for their dear husband, -or only child, but know not in what way to get it without a bottle, as they are obliged -to take one of their own; at the same time, some will beg white linen rags to dress -wounds with. These they soon turn into money at the old iron shops,—the "dealers in -marine stores."</p> - -<p>Those who beg old shoes, such as Grannee Manoo, make as much as six or seven -shillings a day. They sell them to the people who live in cellars in Monmouth Street, or -stalls in Food and Raiment Alley, Rosemary Lane, &c. These persons give them new -soles, and are called Translators. In Mountsorrel, Leicestershire, a cobbler of the name of -Bates styles himself a translator.</p> - -<p>The plate of two Bone-pickers is the next to be described. The physiognomy of the -fellow who is stitching patches together to tack to his coat, which consists of some -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">{25}</a></span> -hundreds of bits of old velvet, carpets, &c., would baffle the skill of either Lavater or -Spurzheim; it has the mixture of the idiot, the goat, and the bull-dog. Such a visage -might have been useful to Spagnolet, or his pupil Salvator. In order to discover a few -of the habits of this character, he was followed for several hours through many streets, -alleys, and courts, in the parish of St Martin's in the Fields. On his arrival at Moor's Yard, -which is said to have been a place for the execution of public criminals in early times, he -was accused of stealing door mats, and with some difficulty extricated his tatters from -the tugs of a couple of dogs. In Hartshorn Lane, in the Strand, at one time the residence -of Ben Jonson, he was seen to take up a brick, and throw it at two curs fighting for a -bone, which he picked up and put into his bag. These bones are bought by the burners -at Haggerstone, Shoreditch, and Battlebridge, at two shillings per bushel, in which half -a bushel is given over, that being bone measure.</p> - -<div class="image-center-plate" style="max-width: 342px;"> - <img src="images/pl-26.jpg" width="342" height="600" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p>PLATE XXVI.</p> - <p>Two bone-pickers, one of them stitching patches together to tack to his - coat.</p> - </div> -</div> - -<p>Bill Row and John Taylor, two grubbers, are introduced in the next plate. These -men, with Stephen Lloyd, form the sum total of their description in London. They -procure a livelihood by whatever they find in grubbing out the dirt from between the -stones with a crooked bit of iron, in search of nails that fall from horse-shoes, which are -allowed to be the best iron that can be made use of for gun-barrels; and though the -streets are constantly looked over at the dawn of day by a set of men in search of sticks, -handkerchiefs, shawls, &c., that may have been dropped during the night, yet these grubbers -now and then find rings that have been drawn off with the gloves, or small money that -has been washed by the showers between the stones. These men are frequently employed -to clear gully-holes and common sewers, the stench of which is so great that their breath -becomes pestilential; and its noxious quality on one occasion had so powerful an effect -on a man of the name of Dixie, as to deprive him of two of his senses, smelling and -tasting, and yet Ned Flowers followed this calling for forty years.</p> - -<div class="image-center-plate" style="max-width: 385px;"> - <img src="images/pl-27.jpg" width="385" height="600" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p>PLATE XXVII.</p> - <p>Bill Row and John Taylor, two grubbers.</p> - </div> -</div> - -<p>But there is still a -more wretched class of beings than the grubbers, who never know the comfort of dry -clothes,—they are, like the leech, perpetually in water. The occupation of these draggle-tail -wretches commences on the banks of the Thames at low water. They go up to their -knees in mud, to pick up the coals that fall from the barges when at the wharfs. Their -flesh and dripping rags are like the coals they carry in small bags across their shoulders, -and which they dispose of, at a reduced price, to the meanest order of chandler-shop -retailers.</p> - -<p>The environs produce characters equally curious with those of London, particularly -among that order of people called Simplers, whose business it is to gather and supply the -city markets with physical herbs. Such an innocent instance of rustic simplicity is -William Friday, whose portrait is exhibited in the following plate. This man starts from -Croydon, with champignons, mushrooms, &c., and is alternately snail-picker, leech-bather, -and viper-catcher.</p> - -<div class="image-center-plate" style="max-width: 329px;"> - <img src="images/pl-28.jpg" width="329" height="600" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p>PLATE XXVIII.</p> - <p>William Finley,—is alternately snail-picker, leech-bather, and - viper-catcher.</p> - </div> -</div> - -<p>The man whose portrait is given in the succeeding plate, mimics the notes of the -common English birds by means of a folded bit of tin, similar to that used by Mr Punch's -orator, and which is held between the teeth; but in order to engage the attention of the -credulous, he pretends, as his lips are nearly closed, to draw his tones from two tobacco-pipes, -using one for the fiddle, the other for the bow, and never fails to collect an -attentive audience, either in the street or tap-room.</p> - -<div class="image-center-plate" style="max-width: 331px;"> - <img src="images/pl-29.jpg" width="331" height="600" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p>PLATE XXIX.</p> - <p>Street musician, who mimics the notes of the common English birds by - means of a folded bit of tin, which is held between the teeth; but in - order to engage the attention of the credulous, he pretends to draw his - tones from two tobacco pipes.</p> - </div> -</div> - -<p>Musicians of this description were -at one time very numerous. Gravelot, when he kept a drawing-school in the Strand, -made sketches of several. One particularly picturesque, was of a blind chaunter of the -old ballads of "There was a wealthy Lawyer," or "O Brave Nell," and has been admirably -etched by Miller. This man accompanied his voice by playing upon a catgut string -drawn over a bladder, and tied at both ends of a mop-stick; but the boys continually -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">{26}</a></span> -perplexing him by pricking his bladder, and a pampered prodigal having with a sword -let out all his wind, he fortunately hit upon a mode of equally charming the ear by substituting -a tin tea-canister.</p> - -<div class="image-center-plate" style="max-width: 325px;"> - <img src="images/pl-30.jpg" width="325" height="600" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p>PLATE XXX.</p> - <p>A blind chaunter of the old ballads, who accompanied his voice by - playing upon a catgut string drawn over a tea canister, and tied at both - ends of a mop stick.</p> - </div> -</div> - -<p>Thomas King, a most excellent painter of conversation-scenes, -who lived at the time of Hogarth, and assisted him in his large pictures of Paul -before Felix in Lincoln's Inn Hall, and the Good Samaritan in Bartholomew's Hospital, -has left portraits of several of these singular beings,—such as Maddox, the balancer of a -straw; but particularly that of Matthew Skeggs, who played a concerto upon a broomstick, -in the character of Signor Bumbasto, at the little theatre in the Haymarket. These -portraits have been engraved by Houston. That of Skeggs was published by himself, at -the sign of the Hoop and Bunch of Grapes, in St Alban's Street, now a part of Waterloo -Place. Since their time, Mr Meadows, the comedian, has been particularly famous for -his imitations of birds; and some of the lowest description of street vagabonds have -produced tones by playing upon their chins with their knuckles. Another hero of the -knuckle, was the famous Buckhorse, the friend of Ned Shuter, and who formerly sold -sticks in Covent Garden. This fellow grew so callous to the blow of the knuckle, as to -place his head firmly against a wall, and suffer, for a shilling, any wretch to strike him -with his doubled fist, with all his strength, in his face, which became at last more like a -Good-Friday bun than any thing human. Of this man there are many portraits.</p> - -<p>Of Scottish, Welsh, and Irish mendicants there are now very few in London; perhaps -their full number does not exceed fifty, unless by including that lower order of street-musicians -who so frequently distract the harmonious ear with their droning bag-pipes, -screaming clarionets, and crazy harps. These people, with match, tooth-pick, and cotton-ball -venders, may be considered but as one remove from beggary.</p> - -<p>The lowest class of the Scotch are bakers' men; the women are laundresses. The -Welshmen, of whom London never had many, are principally employed by the potters of -Lambeth, at which place they have an old established house of worship. It is a cheerful -sight to behold their women, who are remarkable for their cleanliness, and, like the -Scotch, are generally pictures of vigorous health. These will go in trains of twenty or -thirty persons, from Hammersmith to Covent Garden Market, joining in one national -melody, and perfuming the air with their baskets of ripe strawberries.</p> - -<p>Of all people the poor Irish are the most anxious to gain employment, and are truly -valuable examples of industry. They sleep less than other labourers; for at the dawn of -day they assemble in flocks at their usual stands for hire,—namely, Whitechapel, Queen -Street, Cheapside, and on the spot formerly occupied by St Giles's pound, at the ends of -Oxford Street and Tottenham Court Road. The most laborious of them are chairmen, -paviers, bricklayers' labourers, potato-gatherers, and basket-men; and, to the eternal -disgrace of the commonalty of the English, these people, as well as the Scotch and Welsh, -are guilty of very few excesses, particularly in that odious practice of drinking, a vice so -much increased by the accommodation of seats in gin-shops, which are the first opened -and last shut in London.</p> - -<p>The Irish carry immense loads. A hod of bricks, weighing one hundred and ten -pounds, is carried one hundred and twenty times at least in the course of the day, and -sometimes up a ladder of the height of five stories, and all for two shillings and ninepence -per day. The pavier's rammer, of more than half a hundred weight, is raised not fewer -than two thousand times in the course of the day. <i>What Englishman could do this?</i> -With respect to loads on the head, the Irish surpass all others. Leary makes nothing of -carrying two hundred weight from the Fox under the Hill, near the Adelphi, to Covent -Garden, many times on a market morning; and yet, extraordinary as this may appear, -his feats have been more than equalled by a female. A man of the name of Eglesfield, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">{27}</a></span> -who has sold flowers in Covent Garden for the last thirty-six years, knew an Irish girl -who would often walk under the weight of two hundred pounds. He declares that she -brought a load of one hundred and a half from Newgate Market to Covent Garden on -her head, without once pitching, though it must be observed that this was not potato-weight, -which has always one hundred and twenty-six pounds to the hundred.</p> - -<p>The following woodcut represents the humane manner in which cripples are conveyed -from door to door in many parts of Ireland. The following description has been -kindly furnished to the Author by a friend, who has frequently assisted in the conveyance, -and takes no ordinary interest in the condition of the poor.</p> - -<div class="image-center"> - <img src="images/27.jpg" width="362" height="400" alt=""/> -</div> - -<p>In the country parts of Ireland, beggars are treated with great tenderness and pious -hospitality. Many of them are recognised as descended from ancient and powerful septs, -which decayed in the revolutions of property and influence. During many years after the -invasion of King Henry, the houses of hospitality (so amply described in Sir John Davis's -Tracts) which were established by the Chiefs for their poor relations and the traveller, -were still kept open; and to this hour, some gentry and farmers provide the itinerant -beggars with a bed as well as food. The alms are generally given in meal, flax, wool, -milk, or potatoes, but seldom in money, except in cities or towns. After receiving a night's -lodging or alms, long and devout prayers are distinctly uttered at the door of the benefactor. -Like the players in Hamlet, they are the brief chronicles of the times, and their -praises of the good frequently contribute to matrimonial connections. In some parts of -the country the beggars have a particular day in the week for appearing abroad, when -they are plentifully supplied for the remaining six; and those who, from loss of limbs, or -other infirmity, are unable to walk, are seated upon barrows, and carried or wheeled from -door to door, by the servants of each house or the casual passenger, an act of piety which -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">{28}</a></span> -is not unfrequently performed by members of respectable families. The beggars are seen -in crowds near places of Catholic worship, or pilgrimage, and many of them are distinguished -for great piety and temperance. The English traveller is sometimes surprised -at seeing a venerable figure, clothed in a hair-cloth shirt or tunic, repeating his orisons -on the side of a road, with naked shivering limbs, and a beard which for years has been -unconscious of a razor. Yet in Ireland, as in other places, there are pretended objects, and -beggars who misapply the benefactions of the charitable. They receive no interruption -from the police, except in Dublin, where a large close cart frequently returns to the workhouse -full of discontented mendicants, who have an extraordinary aversion to restraint -upon their freedom, or compulsion to attend the established worship, which is generally -different from their own.</p> - -<p>This class of the Irish are by no means unacquainted with the use of wit and -waggery. The celebrated Dr O'Leary used to entertain his friends with some instances -of their ingenuity. As he was riding to Maynooth College, a beggar accosted him for -alms, declaring that he had not received a farthing for three days. The good Doctor gave -him some silver, and being accosted on his return, in the evening, with a similar story, he -upbraided the petitioner with his falsehood, telling him that he was Dr O'Leary. "Oh, -long life to your reverence," said the beggar, "who would I tell my lies to, except my -clargy?"</p> - -<p>The parts in and near London mostly inhabited by the Irish poor, are Calmel -Buildings, Orchard Street; Petty France, Westminster; Paddy's Land, near Plaistow; -forty houses on the Rumford Road; and in the parish of St Giles in the Fields. This -latter place, which is their principal residence, is called their colony, and is styled by -them "The Holy Land;" in the centre of it there is a mass of building called "Rats' -Castle."</p> - -<p>In the time of Queen Elizabeth, St Giles's was the rendezvous of the beggars; for in -"A Caveat, or Warning, for Common Cursitors, vulgarely called Vagabones, set forth by -Thomas Harman, Esquire," 1567, it appears that Nicoles Genynges, the cranke, went over -"the water into St George's fields," and not, according to the expectation of Mr Harman, -who caused him to be dogged, toward Holborn, or St Giles's in the Fields.</p> - -<p>It appears from a very early plan of St Giles's in the Fields, in the possession of Mr -Parton, vestry clerk of that parish, that the lowest class of its inhabitants live on a -portion of sixteen acres formerly called "Pittaunce Croft" (the allowance), which extended -from a large mansion called Tottenhall, the fragments of which were of late supposed to -have been parts of a palace of King John; they have been recently taken down. This -house of Tottenhall was formerly inhabited by a Prebendary of St Paul's; it stood on the -north side of that part of the road called "Tottenham Court," leading from the north end -of Tottenham Court Road to Battle Bridge. The sixteen acres commenced from the above -house, and went on southerly to St Giles's Church, and from thence easterly along the -north side of the High Street to Red Lion Fields (now Red Lion Square).</p> - -<p>The streets, lanes, alleys, and courts, forming the nest of houses inhabited by thieves, -beggars, and the poor labouring Irish, are encompassed by a portion of the south side of -Russell Street, formerly called Leonard Street, commencing from Tottenham Court Road, -parts of the west sides of Charlotte and Plumtree Streets, and a part of the north and -round the east of High Street to the first mentioned station of Russell Street. To the -honour of Scotland, not one Scotch beggar is to be found in the dregs or lees of St Giles's. -However wretched and depraved the inhabitants of this spot may now be, they certainly -were worse fifty years ago, for it appears that there was then no honour among thieves; -the sheets belonging to the lodging-houses, where a bed at that time was procured for -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">{29}</a></span> -twopence, having the names of the owners painted on them in large characters of red -lead, in order to prevent their being bought if stolen,—as for instance,</p> - - <p class="center">JOHN LEA,<br /> - LAWRENCE LANE.<br /> - STOP THIEF.</p> - -<p>At the same period, the shovels, pokers, tongs, gridirons, and purl pots of the public-houses, -particularly those of the Maidenhead Inn, in Dyott Street (now changed to George -Street), and which was then kept by a man of the name of Jordan, were all chained to -the fire-place. At this house the beggars, after a good day's maunding, would bleed the -dragon, a large silver tankard so called, and which was to be filled with punch only. -There is now a house, the sign of the Rose and Crown, in Church Lane, which was -formerly called the Beggars' Opera; and there was another house so denominated, the -sign of the Weaver's Arms, in Church Lane, Whitechapel.</p> - -<p>The last cook-shop where the knives and forks were chained to the table, was on the -south side of High Street. It was kept about forty years ago by a man of the name of -Fussell.</p> - -<p>Perhaps the only waggery in public-house customs now remaining, is in the -tap-room of the Apple Tree, opposite to Cold Bath Fields Prison. There are a pair of -handcuffs fastened to the wires as bell-pulls, and the orders given by some of the -company, when they wish their friends to ring, are, to "agitate the conductor."</p> - -<p>Most of the kitchens in High Street, from St Giles's Church to the entrance of -Holborn, were sausage, sheep's head, roley poley pudding, pancake, and potatoe cellars. -The last heroine of the frying-pan exhibited a short nose and shining red face, and was -known by the appellation of "Little Fanny." She had fried and boiled for Mrs -Markham, now living in the same house, thirty-three years. Her face had become so -ardent by frequent wipings, that for many years it would not bear a touch.</p> - -<p>It was the opinion of Sir Nathaniel Conant, when that able and active magistrate -attended the Committee of the House of Commons, that extensive as mendicity has been -of late, it is by no means to be compared with what it was thirty years ago.</p> - -<p>It is very obvious that since the proceedings of the Committee for inquiring into the -state of mendicity, the common beggars have decreased considerably in their numbers; -and although they are still extremely numerous, it appears that where our wonderful -Metropolis is molested with one beggar, there are twenty to be met with in almost every -capital on the continent.</p> - -<p>England, justly claiming the palm for the encouragement of every art and science, -has ever been foremost in almsgiving, not only to her own people, but to those of almost -every part of the globe. Nor can any other country boast such parochial poorhouses. -The vast improvements of the streets and public edifices, great as they are, by no means -keep pace with them either as to comfort or expense, of which Marylebone and Pancras -are examples; and to the honour of these parishes, as well as that of St James, their -concerns are regulated, examined, and audited by independent characters of the highest -integrity.</p> - -<p>Notwithstanding the great benefit of these asylums for the destitute, and the laws -for the punishment of beggars, the sympathetic heart of the true Christian, a character -unpolluted by the cant of crafty sectarists, is ever open to the tale of the distressed, from -a respect for that excellent doctrine of St Paul, that</p> - - <p class="center">CHARITY NEVER FAILETH.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">{30}</a></span> -The following eulogium on this virtue, is extracted from Mr Hamilton's appeal in -behalf of a religious community which had been deprived of its property during the -French Revolution:—</p> - -<div> - <img class="drop-cap" src="images/drop-qc.jpg" width="150" height="173" alt=""/> -</div> - -<p class="nodent"><span class="uppercase"><span class="drop-cap2">"C</span>harity</span> -is an emanation from the choicest attribute of -the Deity; it is, as it were, a portion of the Divinity -engrafted upon the human stock; it cancels a -multitude of transgressions in the possessor, and gives -him a foretaste of celestial joys. It whetted the pious -Martin's sword, when he divided his garment with -the beggar; and swelled the royal Alfred's bosom, -while a pilgrim was the partner of his meal. It -influenced the sorrowing widow to cast her mite into -the treasury; and held a Saviour on the Cross, when -he could have summoned Heaven to his rescue. Its -practice was dictated by the law, its neglect has been -censured by the prophets; and when the Lord of the -vineyard sent his only Son, he came not to destroy -the law, but to fulfil it. Other virtues may have a -limit here, but Charity extends beyond the grave. Faith may be lost in endless certainty, -and Hope may perish in the fruition of its object, but Charity shall live for countless -ages, for ever blessing and for ever blessed!"</p> - -<p class="gap-above center">THE END.</p> - -<div class="image-center" style="max-width: 394px;"> - <img src="images/31.jpg" width="394" height="600" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p><i>A Soap-eater, copied from a rare print of the time of Queen Elizabeth</i></p> - <p><i>A Tom of Bedlam copied from an Old Drawing of the time of Edw. 6th. - in the possession of Fran. Douce Esq.</i></p> - <p><i>Copied from a Drawing of the time of Henry VII<sup>th</sup> in the - possession of Francis Douce, Esq.</i></p> - </div> -</div> - -<div class="image-center-plate" style="max-width: 345px;"> - <img src="images/pl-31.jpg" width="345" height="600" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p>PLATE XXXI.</p> - <p>Beggars leaving town for their workhouse.</p> - </div> -</div> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Lives of Famous London Beggars, by -John Thomas Smith - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIVES OF FAMOUS LONDON BEGGARS *** - -***** This file should be named 55285-h.htm or 55285-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/5/2/8/55285/ - -Produced by deaurider, cpinfield and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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