An Enquiry into the Causes of the late Increase of Robbers/Section 6

by Henry Fielding

SECT. VI.

Of Laws relating to Vagabonds.

The other great Encouragement to Robbery, beside the certain Means of finding a Market for the Booty, is the Probability of escaping Punishment.

First, then, The Robber hath great Hopes of being undiscovered: And this is one principal Reason, why Robberies are more frequent in this Town, and in its Neighbourhood, than in the remoter Parts of the Kingdom.

Whoever indeed considers the Cities of London and Westminster, with the late vast Addition of their Suburbs; the great Irregularity of their Buildings, the immense Number of Lanes, Alleys, Courts and Byeplaces; must think, that, had they been intended for the very Purpose of Concealment, they could scarce have been better contrived. Upon such a View, the whole appears as a vast Wood or Forest, in which a Thief may harbour with as great Security, as wild Beasts do in the Desarts of Africa or Arabia. For by wandering from one Part to another, and often shifting his Quarters, he may almost avoid the Possibility of being discovered.

Here, according to the Method I have hitherto pursued, I will consider, what Remedy our Laws have applied to this Evil, namely, the wandering of the Poor, and whether, and wherein these Remedies appear defective.

There is no Part of our ancient Constitution more admirable than that which was calculated to prevent the Concealment of Thieves and Robbers. The Original of this Institution is given to Alfred, at the End of his Wars with the Danes, when the English were very much debauched by the Example of those Barbarians, and betook themselves to all Manner of Licentiousness and Rapine. These Evils were encouraged, as the Historians say, by the vagabond State of the Offenders, who, having no settled Place of Abode, upon committing any Offence, shifted their Quarters, and went where it was difficult to discover them. To remedy this Mischief, therefore, Alfred having limited the Shires or Counties in a better Manner than before, divided them into Hundreds, and these again into Tithings, Decennaries, or ten Families^[1].

Over every one of these Tithings or Decennaries, there was a Chief, called the Tithingham or Burghholder, who had a Power to call a Court, and to try small Offences; the greater being referred to that Court, which was in like manner established over every Hundred.

Every one of these Heads of Families were Pledges to each other for the Behaviour of all their Family; and were likewise reciprocally Pledges for each other to the Hundred.

If any Person was suspected of a Crime, he was obliged to find Security for his good Behaviour out of the same Hundred and Tithing. This if he could not find, he had Reason to apprehend being treated with great Severity; and if any accused Person, either before or after his finding Bail, had fled from Justice, the whole Tithing and Hundred should pay a Fine to the King.

In case of the Default of Appearance in a Decenner, his nine Pledges had one and thirty Days to bring the Delinquent forth to Justice. If this failed, then the Chief of those Decenners, by the Vote of that and the Neighbour Decennaries, was to purge himself both of the Guilt of the Fact, and of being parties to the Flight of the Delinquent. And if they could not do this, then they were by their own Oaths to acquit themselves, and to bind themselves to bring the Delinquent to Justice as soon as they could; and, in the mean time to pay the Damage out of the Estate of the Delinquent; and if that were not sufficient, then out of their own Estate^[2].

Every Subject in the Kingdom was registred in some Tithing; only Persons of the first Rank had the Privilege (says Mr. Rapin^[3]) that their single Family should make a Tithing, for which they were responsible. 'All Archbishops, Bishops, Earls, Barons, and all (says Bracton) who have Sok and Sah, Tol and Team, and these Kinds of Liberties, ought to have under the FRIDHBURG, all their Knights, Servants, Esquires; and if any of them prove delinquent, the Lord shall bring him to Justice, or pay his Fine^[4].'

The Master of the Family was answerable for all who fed at his Board, and were of his Livery, and for all his Servants of every Kind, even for those who served him for their Food only, without Wages. These were said to be of his Manupast; so were his Guests; and if a Man abode at any House but two Nights, the Master of that House was answerable for him^[5].

In a word, says Bracton, every Man, as well Freemen as others, ought to belong to some Frankpledge, (i.e. to some Decenna) unless he be a Traveller, or belong to the Manupast of some other; or unless he gives some countervailing Security to the Public, as Dignity, (viz. Nobility) Order, (Knighthood, or of the Clergy) or Estate, (viz. either Freehold in Land, or personal Effects (res immobiles) if he be a Citizen.

By the Laws of Edward the Confessor, every Person, of the Age of 12 Years, ought to be sworn in a View of Frankpledge, That he will neither become a Thief himself, nor be anywise accessary to Theft.

This Court, Briton^[6] tells us, was to be holden twice a Year, which was afterwards reduced to once a Year by Magna Charta; and no Man, says the Mirror, was, by an ancient Ordinance, suffered to remain in the Kingdom, who was not enrolled in Decenna, and had Freemen for his Pledges^[7].

Such was this excellent Constitution, which even in Alfred's Time, when it was in its Infancy, wrought so admirable an Effect, that Ingulphus says, a Traveller might have openly left a Sum of Money safely in the Fields and Highways, and have found it safe and untouched a Month afterwards^[8]. Nay, William of Malmsbury tells us, the King ordered Bracelets of Gold to be hung up in the Cross-ways, as a Proof of the Honesty of his People, none ever offering to meddle with them^[9].

But this Constitution would have been deficient, if it had only provided for the incorporating the Subjects, unless it had confined them to the Places where they were thus incorporated.

And therefore by the Laws of Alured or Canute, it was rendered unlawful for any of the Decenners to depart from their Dwelling, without the Consent of their Fellow-Pledges; nor were they at Liberty to leave the Country, without the Licence of the Sheriff or Governor of the same^[10].

And if a Person, who fled from one Tithing, was received in another, the Tithing receiving him should answer for his Deed (i.e. by Amercement) if he was there found^[11].

'Before this Order was established,' says Rapin, 'the meaner Sort of People might shift their Quarters, by reason of their Obscurity, which prevented them from being taken Notice of. But it was impossible for them to change their Habitation, after they were obliged to bring a Testimonial from their Tithing, to enable them to settle and be registred in another^[12].'

Whilst this antient Constitution remained entire, 'Such Peace,' says Lord Coke, 'was preserved within the Realm, as no Injuries, Homicides, Robberies, Thefts, Riots, Tumults or other Offences, were committed; so as a Man, with a white Wand, might safely have ridden, before the Conquest, with much Money about him, without any Weapon, through England^[13].' Nay even in the tumultuous Times of William the Conqueror, the Historians tell us, there was scarce a Robber to be found in the Kingdom.

This View of Frankpledge remained long after the Conquest: for we find it twice repeated in one Chapter of Magna Charta^[14]; and there particularly it is said, Fiat autem visus de Frankpleg' sic videlicet QUOD PAX NOSTRA TENEATUR. Nay, Bracton, who wrote after that Time, and Fleta after him, speak of Frankpledge as then subsisting.

The Statute of Marlborough likewise, which was made the 52d of Henry III. mentions the same Court; as doth Briton, who wrote still later, in many Places. And in the 17th of Edward II. An Act was made, called, The Statute for the View of Frank-pledge^[15].

Nay, in the Reign of Henry IV. we find an Amercement for not coming to a View of Frankpledge; and there the whole Court of King's Bench were of Opinion, that every Man, as well Masters as Servants, were obliged to repair to this Court^[16]; tho' then possibly it was degenerated, and become little more than Form.

But in Process of Time, this Institution dwindled to nothing; so that Lord Coke might truly say, Quod vera institutio illius curiæ evanuit & velat umbra ejusdem adhuc remanet; and a little after, speaking of the Frankpledge, the Decennarii, and the Decenna, he says, 'They are Names continued only as Shadows of Antiquity^[17].' Nay, this great Man himself (if, after a most careful and painful Perusal of all he hath writ, as well here as in his 4th Institute, and other Places on the Subject, I may be allowed to say so) seems to have no very clear Idea concerning them; and might have fairly owned, of the Original of the Leet and Frankpledge, what one of the Sages doth of an Hundred, in the Book of Henry VII. 'That a Hundred had existed above a hundred Years; and therefore, as to the true Definition of a Hundred, and whether it was composed of a hundred Towns, or a hundred Lordships, and whether it had anciently more or less Jurisdiction, he frankly owned that he knew nothing of the Matter^[18].'

The Statute of Marlborough^[19] had perhaps given a fatal Blow to the true and ancient Use of the View of Frankpledge; of which as Lord Coke says^[20], the Sheriffs had made an ill Use: for, in the 3d Year of the succeeding King^[21], we find the Legislature providing against notorious Felons, and such as be openly of evil Fame, that they shall not be admitted to Bail; and, in the 13th, the Statute of Winchester entirely altered the Law, and gave us a new Constitution on this Head.

1. By this Act the whole Hundred is made answerable in Case of Robberies.

2. In order to prevent the Concealment of Robbers in Towns, it is enacted, 1. That the Gates of all walled Towns shall be shut from Sun setting to Sun-rising. 2. A Watch is appointed, who are to arrest all Strangers. 3. No Person is to lodge in the Suburbs, nor in any Place out of the Town, unless his Host will answer for him. 4. The Bailiffs of Towns shall make Enquiry once within 15 Days at the farthest, of all Persons lodged in the Suburbs, &c. and of those who have received any suspicious Persons.

3. To prevent the Concealment of Robbers without the Towns, it is enacted, That the Highways leading from one Market-Town to another, shall be enlarged, and no Bushes, Woods, or Dykes, in which Felons may be concealed, shall be suffered therein.

4. Felons are to be pursued by Hue and Cry.

This Statute, says Lord Coke, was made against a Gang of Rogues then called Roberdsmen, that took their Denomination of one Robin Hood, who lived in Yorkshire in the Reign of Richard I. and who, with his Companions, harbouring in Woods and Desarts, committed a great Number of Robberies and other Outrages on the Subject. From this Arch-thief a great Number of idle and dissolute Fellows, who were called Drawlatches, Ribauds, and Roberdsmen, took their Rise, and infested this Kingdom for above a Century, notwithstanding the many Endeavours of the Legislature from time to time to suppress them.

In all these Laws, the principal Aim visibly was, to prevent idle Persons wandering from Place to Place, which, as we have before seen, was one great Point of the Decennary Constitution.

Thus by a Law made in the 34th Year of Edward III. A Labourer departing from his Service into another Country was to be burned in the Forehead with the Letter F. And by the same Statute, if a Labourer or Servant do fly into a City or Borough, the Chief Officer, on Request, was to deliver him up.

Again, in the 7th Year of Richard II. the Justices of Peace are ordered to examine Vagabonds; and, if they have no Sureties for their good Behaviour, to commit them to Prison.

In the 11th Year of Henry VII. it was enacted, That Vagabonds and idle Persons should be set on the Stocks three Days and three Nights, and have no other Sustenance but Bread and Water, and then shall be put out of the Town; and whosoever gave such idle Persons Relief, forfeited 12d.

By 22 Henry VIII. Persons calling themselves Egyptians shall not come into the Realm, under Penalty of forfeiting their Goods; and, if they do not depart within 15 Days after they are commanded, shall be imprisoned.

By the 1 and 2 Philip and Mary^[22], Egyptians coming into the Kingdom, and remaining here a Month, are made guilty of Felony without Benefit of Clergy.

And those who bring them into the Realm, forfeit 40l.

By the 5 Eliz. the Crime of Felony without Clergy is extended to all who are found in the Company of Egyptians, or who shall counterfeit, transform, or disguise themselves as such.

By 22 Henry VIII. A Vagabond taken begging shall be whipped, and then sworn to return to the Place of his Birth, or last Abode for three Years, there to put himself to Labour.

By 27 Henry VIII. A valiant Beggar, or sturdy Vagabond, shall be whipped for the first Offence, and sent to the Place of his Birth, &c. for the second, the upper Part of the Gristle of his right Ear cut off; and if after that he be taken wandering in Idleness, &c. he shall be adjudged and executed as a Felon.

I shall mention no more Acts (for several were made) between this and the 39th Elizabeth, when the former Acts concerning Vagabonds were all repealed, and the several Provisions against them were reduced to one Law.

This Act, which contained many wholesome Provisions, remained in Force a long TIme, but at length was totally repealed by the 12th of Queen Anne; as this was again by the 13 George II. which last mentioned Statute stands now repealed by another made about Six years ago^[23].

I have taken this short View of these repealed Laws, in order to enforce two Considerations. 1st, That the Removal of an Evil, which the Legislature have so often endeavoured to redress, is of great Importance to the Society. 2dly, That an Evil which so many subsequent Laws have failed of removing, is of a very stubborn Nature, and extremely difficult to be cured.

Here I hope to be forgiven, when I suggest, that the Law hath probably failed in this Instance, from Want of sufficient Direction to a single Point. As on a former Head, the Disease seems to be no other than Idleness, so here Wandering is the Cause of the Mischief, and that alone to which the Remedy should be applied. This, one would imagine, should be the chief, if not sole Intent of all Laws against Vagabonds, which might, in a synonymous Phrase, be called Laws against Wanderers. But as the Word itself hath obtained by vulgar Use a more complex Signification, so have the Laws on this Head had a more general View than to extirpate this Mischief; and by that means, perhaps, have failed of producing such an Effect.

I will therefore confine myself, as I have hitherto done on this Head, to the single Point of preventing the Poor from Wandering, one principal Cause of the Increase of Robbers; as it is the chief Means of preserving them from the Pursuit of Justice. It being impossible for any Thief to carry on his Trade long with Impunity among his Neighbours, and where not only his Person, but his Way of Life, must be well known.

Now to obviate this Evil, the Law, as it now stands, hath provided in a twofold manner. 1st By way of Prevention; and, 2dly, By way of Remedy.

As to the first, the Statute of Elizabeth declares^[24], That no Person retained in Husbandry, or in any Art or Science in the Act mentioned^[25], after the Time of his Retainer is expired, shall depart out of any City, Parish, &c. nor out of the County, &c. to serve in any other, unless he have a Testimonial under the Seal of the City or Town Corporate, or of the Constable or other Head-Officer, and two other honest Housholders of the City, Town or Parish, where he last served, declaring his lawful Departure, and the Name of the Shire and Place where he served last. This Certificate is to be delivered to the Servant, and registred by the Parson for 2d. and the Form of it is given in the Act.

And no Person is to be retained in any other Service, without shewing such Testimonial to the Chief Officer of the Town Corporate, and in every other Place to the Constable, Curate, &c. on Pain of Imprisonment, till he procure a Testimonial, and if he cannot procure such Testimonial within 21 Days, he shall be whipped and treated like a Vagabond; so shall he be if found with a forged Testimonial. And those who receive him without shewing such Testimonial as aforesaid, forfeit 5l.

As to the 2d, the Law hath been extremely liberal in its Provisions. These are of two Sorts, 1. Simply compulsory; and, 2. Compulsory with Punishment. Under the former Head may be ranged the several Acts of Parliament relating to the Settlement, or rather Removal of the Poor.

As these Statutes, tho' very imperfectly executed, are pretty generally known, (the Nation having paid some Millions to Westminster-Hall for their Knowledge of them) I shall mention them very slightly in this Place.

The Statute of Elizabeth, together with the wise Execution of it, having made the Poor an intolerable Burden to the Public, Disputes began to arise between Parishes to whose Lot it fell to provide for certain Individuals: for the Laws for confining the Poor to their own Homes, being totally disregarded, these used to ramble wherever Whim or Conveniency invited them. The Overseers of one Parish were perhaps more liberal of the Parochial Fund than in another; or sometimes probably the Overseer of the Parish A was a Friend or Relation of a poor Person of the Parish of B, who did not choose to work. From some such Reason, the Poor of one Parish began to bring a Charge on another.

To remedy such Inconveniencies, immediately after the Restoration^[26], a Statute was made, by which if any poor Man, likely to be chargeable, came to inhabit in a foreign Parish, unless in a Tenement of 10l. a Year, the Overseers might complain to one Justice within 40 Days, and then two Justices were to remove the poor Person to the Place of his legal Settlement.

By a second Act^[27], the 40 Days are to be reckoned after Notice given in Writing to the Churchwarden or Overseer by the poor Person, containing the Place of his Abode, Number of his Family, &c.

But by the same Statute, the executing a public annual Office during a Year, or being charged with, and paying to the public Taxes, &c. or (if unmarried and not having a Child) being lawfully hired into any Parish, and serving for one Year, or being bound Apprentice by Indenture, and inhabiting, &c. are all made good Settlements without Notice.

By a third Statute^[28], Persons bringing a Certificate signed by the Overseers, &c. and allowed by two Justices, cannot be removed till they become chargeable.

By a fourth^[29], no such Certificate Person shall gain a Settlement by any other Act, than by bona fide taking a Lease of a Tenement of 10l. per Annum, or by executing an annual Office.

By a fifth^[30], no Apprentice or hired Servant of Certificate Person shall, by such Service or Apprenticeship, gain any Settlement. By a sixth^[31], no Person by any Purchase, of which the Consideration doth not bona fide amount to 30l. shall gain any Settlement longer than while he dwells on such Purchase.

So much for these Laws of Removal, concerning which there are several other Acts of Parliament and Law Cases innumerable.

And yet the Law itself is, as I have said, very imperfectly executed at this Day, and that for several Reasons.

1. It is attended with great trouble: for as the Act of Ch. 2d very wisely requires two Justices, and the Court of King's Bench requires them both to be present together, (tho' they seldom are so) the Order of Removal is sometimes difficult to be obtained, and more difficult to be executed; for the Parish to which the Party is to be removed (perhaps with a Family) is often in a distant County; nay, sometimes they are to be carried from End of the Kingdom to another.

2. It is often attended with great Expence, as well for the Reason aforesaid, as because the Parish removing is liable to an Appeal from the Parish to which the Poor is removed. This Appeal is sometimes brought by a wealthy and litigious Parish against a poor one, without any Colour of Right whatever.

3. The Removal is often ineffectual: for as the Appeal is almost certain to be brought, if an Attorney lives in the Neighbourhood; so is it almost as sure to succeed, if a Justice lives in the Parish. And as for Relief in the King's Bench, if the Justices of Peace will allow you to go thither, (for that they will not always do) the Delay as well as the Cost is such, that the Remedy is often worse than the Disease.

For these Reasons, it can be no wonder that Parishes are not very forward to put this Law in Execution. Indeed, in all Cases of Removal, the Good of the Parish, and not of the Public, is consulted; nay, sometimes the Good of an Individual only; and therefore the poor Man, who is capable of getting his Livelihood by his Dexterity at any Handicraft, and likely to do it by his Industry, is sure to be removed with his Family; especially if the Overseer, or any of his Relations, should be of the same Occupation; but the idle Poor, who threaten to rival no Man in his Business, are never taken any notice of, till they become actually chargeable; and if by Begging or Robbing they avoid this, as it is no Man's Interest, so no Man thinks it his Duty to apprehend them.

It cannot therefore be expected, that any Good of the Kind I am contending for, should be effected by this Branch of the Law; let us therefore, in the second Place, take a View of that which is expressly levelled at Vagrants, and calculated, as it appears, for the very Purpose of suppressing Wanderers.

To survey this Branch will be easy, as all the Laws concerning Vagrants are now reduced into one Act of Parliament; and it is the easier still, as this Act is very clearly penned, and (which is not always the Case) reduced to a regular and intelligible Method.

By this Act then three Degrees of Offences are constituted:

First, Persons become idle and disorderly within the Act, by, 1. Threatning to run away and to leave their Wives or Children to the Parish. 2. Unlawfully returning to the Place from whence they have been legally removed by the Order of two Justices, without bringing a Certificate, &c. 3. Living idle without Employment, and refusing to work for usual and common Wages. 4. By begging in their own Parishes.

Secondly, Persons by, 1. Going about as Patent-Gatherers, or Gatherers of Alms under Pretence of Loss by Fire, or other Casualty; or, 2. Going about as Collectors for Prisons, Goals, or Hospitals. 3. Being Fencers and Bearwards. 4. Or common Players of Interludes, &c. 5. Or Minstrels, Jugglers. 6. Pretending to be Gypsies, or wandering in such Habit. 7. Pretending to Physiognomy, or like crafty Science, &c. 8. Using any subtle Craft to deceive and impose on any of his Majesty's Subjects. 9. Playing or sitting at unlawful Games. 10. Running away, and leaving Wives or Children, whereby they become chargeable to any Parish. 11. Wandering abroad as petty Chapmen or Pedlars, not authorized by Law. 12. Wandering abroad and lodging in Alehouses, Barns, Outhouses, or in the open Air, not giving a good Account of themselves. 13. Wandering abroad and begging, pretending to be Soldiers, Mariners, seafaring Men, or pretending to go to wok at Harvest. 14. Wandering abroad and begging, are to be deemed Rogues and Vagabonds.

Thirdly, 1. End-gatherers offending against the 13 George I. entitled, An Act for the better Regulation of the Woollen Manufactures, &c. being convicted of such Offence; 2. Persons apprehended as Rogues and Vagabonds escaping, or, 3. refusing to go before a Justice, or, 4. refusing to be examined on Oath, or, 5. refusing to be conveyed by a Pass, or, 6. on Examination giving a false Account of themselves after Warning of the Punishment. 7. Rogues and Vagabonds escaping out of the House of Correction, &c. or, 8. those who having been punished as Rogues and Vagabonds, shall offend again as such, are made incorrigible Rogues.

Now as to the first of these three Divisions, it were to be wished, that Persons who are found in Alehouses, Nighthouses, &c. after a certain Hour at Night, had been included; for many such, tho' of very suspicious Characters, taken up at Privy Searches, fall not under any of the above Descriptions. Some of these I have known discharged, against whom capital Complaints have appeared, when it hath been too late. Why might not the Justice be entrusted with a Power of detaining any suspicious Person, who could produce no known Housekeeper, or one of Credit, 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 Wanderer 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 tho' most of the Rogues who infest the Public Roads and Streets, indeed almost all the Thieves in general, are 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 Alehouses, &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 Holbourn; and none who know that Gentleman, will want any Confirmation of the Truth of it.

'That in the Parish of St. Giles there are great Numbers of Houses set apart for the Reception of idle Persons and Vagabonds, who have their Lodgings there for Twopence 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 Twopenny 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 Threepence, as an Encouragement to them to lie together: That 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 58 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 Out-skirts of the Town, amounts to a great many Thousands^[32], 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 have 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.

Notes

1. 'By these ten Families (says the Annotator to Rapin) we are not to understand ten Housekeepers, but ten Lords of Manors, with all their Vassals, Tenants, Labourers, and Slaves; who, though they did not all live under their Lord's Roof, were all counted Part of his Family. As there were no little Freeholders in those Times, nor for long after, ten such Families must occupy a large Space of Ground, and might well constitute a rural Tithing.' But this rural Tithing would be larger than the Hundred itself; and the very Name and Office of a Tithingman continued in Parishes to this Day, shews that Lords of Manors could not be here meant.
2. Bacon's Histor. Dise. p. 43.
3. Dissertation on the Government of the Anglo-Saxons.
4. Bract. L. 3. De Corona, chap. 10.
5. Bract. ubi sup. Brit. 19 b.
6. Brit. 36 b.
7. Mirr. chap. 1. sect. 17. & chap. 5. sect. 1.
8. Script. post Bedam, p. 870.
9. Ib. p. 44.
10. Bacon, p. 4.
11. Brit. ubi supra.
12. Rapin, ubi sup.
13. 2 Instit. 73.
14. Chap. 33.
15. But this Matter was before that transferred from the Decennary Court to the Leets and Sheriff's Town.
16. Hi. 3. H. IV. Pl. 19.
17. 2 Inst. 72, 73.
18. 8 H. VII. 3 b.
19. Chap. 24. By which Justices in Eyre are forbidden to amerce Townships, because all of twelve Years old were not sworn.
20. 2 Instit. 147.
21. Westminster, 1. chap. 15.
22. Chap. 4.
23. 17 Geo II. c. 5.
24. Eliz. c. 4. sect. 10. in Force though not in Use.
25. i.e. in almost every Trade
26. 13 and 14 Car. II. c. 12.
27. 3 and 4 W. and M. c. 11. See 1 Jac. II. c. 17.
28. 8 and 9 W. III. c. 30.
29. 9 and 10 W. III. c. 11.
30. 12 Anne, c. 18.
31. Geo. I. c. 7.
32. Most of these are Irish, against the Importation of whom a severe Law was made in the Reign of Hen. VI. and many of the repealed Vagrant Acts contained a Clause for the same Purpose.