eredit, to his character, for three days, within which time he might, by means of an advertisement, be viewed by numbers who have been lately robbed? some such have been, I know, confined upon an old statute, as persons of evil fame, with great emolument to the public. But I come to the second head, namely, of vagabonds; and here I must observe, that wandering is of itself made no offence: so that unless such wandering be either a petty chapman, or a beggar or lodger in alehouses, &c. he is not within the act of parliament. Now, however useful this excellent law may be in the country, it will by no means serve the purpose in this town; for though most of the rogues who infest the public roads and streets, indeed almost all the thieves in general, are vagabonds in the true sense of the word, being wanderers from their lawful place of abode, very few of them will be proved vagabonds within the words of this act of parliament. These vagabonds do indeed, get their livelihood by thieving, and not as petty beggars or petty chapmen; and have their lodging not in ale-houses, &c. but in private houses, where many of them resort together, and unite in gangs, paying each 2d. per night for their beds. The following account I have had from Mr. Welch the high constable of Holborn; and none who know that gentleman, will want any confirmation of the truth of it. That in the parish of St. Giles's there are great numbers of houses set apart for the reception of idle persons and vagabonds, who have their lodgings there for two pence a night; that in the above parish, and in St. George, Bloomsbury, one woman alone occupies seven of these houses, all properly accommodated with miserable beds from the cellar to the garret, for such two-penny lodgers; that in these beds, several of which are in the same room, men and women, often strangers to each other, lie promiscuously; the price of a double bed being no more than three-pence, as an encouragement to them to lie together; but as these places are thus adapted to whoredom, so are they no less provided for drunkenness, gin being sold in them all at a penny a quartern; so that the smallest sum of money serves for intoxication; that in the execution of search-warrants Mr. Welch rarely finds less than twenty of these houses open for the receipt of all comers at the latest hours; that in one of these houses, and that not a large one, he hath numbered fifty-eight persons of both sexes, the stench of whom was so intolerable that it compelled him in a very short time to quit the place. Nay, I can add, what I myself once saw in the parish of Shoreditch, where two little houses were emptied of near seventy men and women; amongst whom was one of the prettiest girls I had ever seen, who had been carried off by an Irishman, to consummate her marriage on her wedding night in a room where several others were in bed at the same time. If one considers the destruction of all morality, decency, and modesty; the swearing, whoredom, and drunkenness, which is eternally carrying on in these houses on the one hand, and the excessive poverty and misery of most of the inhabitants on the other, it seems doubtful whether they are more the objects of detestation or compassion; for such is the poverty of these wretches, that, upon searching all the above number, the money found upon all of them (except the bride, who, as I afterwards heard, had robbed her mistress) did not amount to one shilling; and I have been credibly informed, that a single loaf hath supplied a whole family with their provisions for a week. Lastly, if any of these miserable creatures fall sick (and it is almost a miracle that stench, vermin, and want, should ever suffer them to be well) they are turned out in the streets by their merciless host or hostess, where, unless some parish officer of extraordinary charity relieves them, they are sure miserably to perish, with the addition of hunger and cold to their disease. This picture, which is taken from the life, will appear strange to many; for the evil here described is, I am confident, very little known, especially to those of the better sort. Indeed this is the only excuse, and I believe the only reason, that it hath been so long tolerated; for when we consider the number of these wretches, which, in the outskirts of the town, amounts to a great many thousands,* it is a nuisance which will appear to be big with every moral and political mischief. Of these the excessive misery of the wretches themselves, oppressed with want, and sunk in every species of debauchery, and the loss of so many lives to the public, are obvious and immediate consequences. There are some more remote, which, however, need not be mentioned to the discerning. Among other mischiefs attending this wretched nuisance, the great increase of thieves must necessarily be one. The wonder in fact is that we bave not a thousand more robbers than we have; indeed, that all these wretches are not thieves must give us either a very high idea of their honesty, or a very mean one of their capacity and courage. Where then is the redress? Is it not to hinder the poor from wandering, and this by compelling the parish and peace officers, to apprehend such wanderers or vagabonds, and by empowering the magistrate effectually to punish and send them to their habitations? Thus if we cannot discover, or will not encourage any cure for idleness, we shall at least compel the poor to starve or beg at home; for there it will be impossible for them to steal or rob without being presently hanged or transported out of the way. SECTION VII. Of apprehending the persons of felons. I COME now to a third encouragement which the thief Batters bimself with; viz. in his hopes of escaping from being apprehended. Nor is this hope without foundation: how long have we known highwaymen to reign in this kingdom after they Most of these are Irish, against the importation of whom a severe law was made in the reign of Henry VI. and many of the repealed vagrant acts contained a clause for the same purpose. have been publicly known for such? Have not some of these committed robberies in open day-light, in the sight of many people, and have afterwards rode solemnly and triumphantly through the neighbouring towns without any danger or molestation? This happens to every rogue who is become eminent for his audaciousness, an 1 is thought to be desperate; and is, in a more particular manner, the case of great and numerous gangs, many of which have, for a long time, committed the most open outrages in defiance of the law. Officers of justice have owned to me, that they have passed by such with warrants in their pockets against them without daring to apprehend them; and, indeed, they could not be blamed for not exposing themselves to sure destruction; for it is a melancholy truth, that, at this very day, a rogue no sooner gives the alarm, within certain purlieus, than twenty or thirty armed villains are found ready to come to his assistance. On this head the law may seem not to have been very defective in its cautions; First, by vesting not only the officers of justice, but every private man, with authority for securing these miscreants, of which authority it may be of service to the officers, as well as to the public in general, to be more particularly informed. First, by *Westminster 1. Persons of evil fame are to be imprisoned without bail. By the statute of Winchestert suspicious night-waikers are to be arrested and detained by the watch. A statute made in ‡5 Edw. IIl. reciting that many manslaughters, felonies, and robberies, had been done in times past, enacts, that if any person have an evil suspicion of such offenders, they shall be incontinently arrested by the constable, and shall be delivered to the bailiff of the franchise, or to the sheriff, to be kept in prison till the coming of the justices. The 34 § Edw. III. gives power to the justices of the peace, inter alia, to inquire of wanderers, and such as will not labour, and to arrest and imprison suspicious persons, and to take *Westm. I. chap. xv. + Winton, chap. iv. 34 Edw. lil. c. i. sureties of the good behaviour of persons of evil fame. to the intent,' says the statute, that the people be not by such rioters, &c. troubled nor endamaged nor the peace blemished, nor merchants nor others passing by the highways of the realm disturbed, nor put in peril by such offenders.' Secondly, by the common law every person who hath committed a felony may be arrested and secured by any private man present at the said fact, though he hath no general nor particular authority, i e. though he be no officer of justice, nor have any writ or warrant for so doing; and such private man may either deliver the felon to the constable, secure him in a jail, or carry him before a magistrate. And if he refuses to yield, those who arrest may justify beating him; or, in case of absolute necessity, killing him * Nor is this arrest merely allowed; it is enjoined by law, and the omission, without some good-excuse, is a misdemeanor punishable by amercement or fine and imprisonment.§ Again, every private man may arrest another on suspicion of felony, though he was not present at the fact.|| But then, if the party arrested should prove innocent, two circumstances are necessary to justify the arrest. 1st, A felony must be actually committed; and, 2dly, there must be a reasonable cause of suspicion; T and common fame hath been adjudged to be such cause. ** But in this latter case my lord Hale advises the private person, if possible, to have recourse to the magistrate and óbtain his warrant, and the assistance of the †† constable for this arrest is not required by law, nor is the party punishable for neglecting it; and should the person arrested, or endeavoured to be arrested, prove innocent, the party *Hale's Hist. P. C. vol. I. 587. vol II. 77. Hale's Hist. vol. I. 588. + Pult. 10. a. Hale, vol. I. 588. vol. II. 76, 77. Lamb. I. ii. c. 3. D t. 403. Hale, vol. I. 588. 3 Hen. VII. c. i. Hale's Hist. vol. II. 80. ** Dalt. 397. 5 H. VII. 4. 5. ++ Hale's Hist. vol. ii. 76. |