other persons who were present at the affray; neither of which he did. In short, the magis trate had too great an honour for truth to suspect that she ever appeared in sordid apparel; nor did he ever sully his sublime notions of that virtue, by uniting them with the mean ideas of poverty and distress. There remained now only one prisoner, and that was the poor man himself, in whose defence the last mentioned culprit was engaged. His trial took but a very short time. A cause of battery and broken lantern was instituted against him, and proved in the same manner; nor would the justice hear one word in defence: but though his patience was exhausted, his breath was not; for against this last wretch he poured forth a great many vollies of menaces and abuse. The delinquents were then all dispatched to prison, under a guard of watchmen; and the justice and the constable adjourned to a neighbouring ale-house, to take their morning repast. CHAP. III. Containing the inside of a Prison. MR BOOTH (for we shall not trouble you with the rest) was no sooner arrived in the prison, than a number of persons gathered round him, all demanding garnish; to which Mr Booth not making a ready answer, as indeed he did not understand the word, some were going to lay hold of him, when a person of apparent dignity came up, and insisted that no one should affront the gentleman. This person then, who was no less than the master or keeper of the prison, turning towards Mr Booth, acquainted him, that it was the custom of the place for every prisoner, upon his first arrival there, to give something to the former prisoners to make them drink. This, he said, was what they called garnish; and concluded with advising his new customer to draw his purse upon the present occasion. Mr Booth answered, that he would very readily comply with this laudable custom, was it in his power; but that in reality he had not a shilling pocket, and what was worse, he had not a shilling in the world." Oho! if that be the case," cries the keeper, "it is another matter, and I have nothing to say." Upon which he immediately departed, and left poor Booth to the mercy of his companions, who, without loss of time, applied themselves to uncasing, as they termed it, and with such dexterity, that his coat was not only stripped off, but out of sight in a minute. in his Mr Booth was too weak to resist, and too wise to complain of this usage. As soon, therefore, as he was at liberty, and declared free of the place, he summoned his philosophy, of which he had no inconsiderable share, to his assistance, and resolved to make himself as easy as possible under his present circumstances Could his own thoughts indeed have suffered him a moment to forget where he was, the dispositions of the other prisoners might have induced him to believe that he had been in a happier place: for much the greater part of his fellow-sufferers, instead of wailing and repining at their condition, were laughing, singing, and diverting themselves with various kinds of sports and gambols. The first person who accosted him was called Blear-eyed Moll; a woman of no very comely appearance. Her eye (for she had but one) whence she derived her nick-name, was such as that nick-name bespoke: besides which, it had two remarkable qualities; for first, as if Nature had been careful to provide for her own defect, it constantly looked towards her blind-side; and secondly, the ball consisted almost entirely of white, or rather yellow, with a little grey spot in the corner, so small that it was scarce discernible. Nose she had none; for Venus, envious perhaps at her former charms, had carried off the gristly part; and some earthly damsel, perhaps from the same envy, had levelled the bone with the rest of her face: indeed it was far beneath the bones of her cheeks, which rose proportionally higher than is usual. About half a dozen ebony teeth fortified that large and long canal, which nature had cut from ear to ear, at the bottom of which was a chip, preposterously short, nature having turned up the bottom, instead of suffering it to grow to its due length. Her body was well adapted to her face; she measured full as much round the middle as from head to foot; for besides the extreme breadth of her back, her vast breasts had long since forsaken their native home, and had settled themselves a little below the girdle. I wish certain actresses on the stage, when they are to perform characters of no amiable cast, would study to dress themselves with the propriety with which Blear-eyed Moll was now arrayed. For the sake of our squeamish reader, we shall not descend to particulars. Let it suffice to say, nothing more ragged, or more dirty, was ever emptied out of the round-house at St Giles's. We have taken the more pains to describe this person, for two remarkable reasons; the one is, that this unlovely creature was taken in the fact with a very pretty young fellow; the other, which is more productive of moral lesson, is, that however wretched her fortune may appear to the reader, she was one of the merriest persons in the whole prison. Blear-eyed Moll then came up to Mr Booth with a smile, or rather grin on her countenance, and asked him for a dram of gin; and when Booth assured her that he had not a penny of money, she replied," D-n your eyes, I * thought by your look you had been a clever fellow, and upon the snaffling lay at least: but d-n your body and eyes, I find you are some sneaking budget rascal." She then launched forth a volley of dreadful oaths, interlarded with some language not proper to be repeated here, and was going to lay hold on poor Booth, when a tall prisoner, who had been very earnestly eyeing Booth for some time, came up, and taking her by the shoulder, flung her off at some distance, cursing her for a b-h, and bidding her let the gentleman alone. This person was not himself of the most inviting aspect. He was long-visaged, and pale, with a red beard of about a fortnight's growth. He was attired in a brownish black coat, which would have shewed more holes than it did, had not the linen which appeared through it, been entirely of the same colour with the cloth. This gentleman, whose name was Robinson, addressed himself very civilly to Mr Booth, and told him he was sorry to see one of his appearance in that place: "For as to your being without your coat, sir," says he, "I can easily account for that; and indeed dress is the least part which distinguishes a gentleman." At which words he cast a significant look on his own coat, as if he desired they should be applied to himself. He then proceeded in the following manner: "I perceive, sir, you are but just arrived in this dismal place, which is, indeed, rendered more detestable by the wretches who inhabit it, than by any other circumstance; but even these a wise man will soon bring himself to bear with indifference: for what is, is; and what must be, must be. The knowledge of this, which, simple as it appears, is in truth the height of all philosophy, renders a wise man superior to every evil which can befal him. I hope, sir, no very dreadful accident is the cause of your coming hither; but whatever it was, you may be assured it could not be otherwise: for all things happen by an inevitable fatality; and a man can no more resist the impulse of fate, than a wheelbarrow can the force of its driver." Besides the obligation which Mr Robinson had conferred on Mr Booth, in delivering him from the insults of Blear-eyed Moll, there was something in the manner of Robinson, which, notwithstanding the meanness of his dress, seemed to distinguish him from the crowd of wretches who swarmed in those regions; and above all, the sentiments which he had just declared, very nearly coincided with those of Mr Booth. This gentleman was what they call a free-thinker; that is to say, a Deist; or, perhaps, an Atheist; for though he did not absolutely deny the ex istence of a God, yet he entirely denied his providence: a doctrine which, if it is not downright atheism, hath a direct tendency towards it; and, as Dr Clarke observes, may soon be driven into it. And as to Mr Booth, though he was in his heart an extreme well-wisher to religion (for he was an honest man), yet his notions of it were very slight and uncertain. To say truth, he was in the wavering condition so finely described by Claudian: -labefacta cadebat Religio, causæque viam non sponte sequebar Alterius; vacuo quæ currere semina motu Affirmat; magnumque novas per inane figuras Fortuna, non arte, regi; quæ numina sensu Ambiguo, vel nulla putat, vel nescia nostri. This way of thinking, or rather of doubting, he had contracted from the same reasons which Claudian assigns, and which had induced Brutus, in his latter days, to doubt the existence of that virtue which he had all his life cultivated. In short, poor Booth imagined, that a larger share of misfortunes had fallen to his lot than he had merited; and this led him, who (though a good classical scholar) was not deeply learned in religious matters, into a disadvantageous opinion of providence. A dangerous way of reasoning, in which our conclusions are not only too hasty, from an imperfect view of things; but we are likewise liable to much error from partiality to ourselves; viewing our virtues and vices as through a perspective, in which we turn the glass always to our own advantage, so as to diminish the one, and as greatly to magnify the other. From the above reasons, it can be no wonder that Mr Booth did not decline the acquaintance of this person, in a place which could not promise to afford him any better. He answered him, therefore, with great courtesy, as indeed he was of a very good and gentle disposition; and after expressing a civil surprise at meeting him there, declared himself to be of the same opinion with regard to the necessity of human action; adding, however, that he did not believe men were under any blind impulse or direction of fate; but that every man acted merely from the force of that passion which was uppermost in his mind, and could do no otherwise. A discourse now ensued between the two gentlemen, on the necessity arising from the im pulse of fate, and the necessity arising from the impulse of passion, which, as it will make a pretty pamphlet of itself, we shall reserve for some future opportunity. When this was end A cant term for robbery on the high-way. + Another cant term for pilfering. ed, they set forward to survey the gaol, and the prisoners, with the several cases of whom Mr Robinson, who had been some time under confinement, undertook to make Mr Booth ac quainted. CHAP. IV. Disclosing further Secrets of the Prison-house. THE first persons whom they passed by were three men in fetters, who were enjoying themselves very merrily over a bottle of wine and a pipe of tobacco. These, Mr Robinson informed his friend, were three street-robbers, and were all certain of being hanged the ensuing sessions. "So inconsiderable an object," said he, "is misery to light minds, when it is at any distance." Á little farther they beheld a man prostrate on the ground, whose heavy groans, and frantic actions, plainly indicated the highest disorder of mind. This person was, it seems, committed for a small felony; and his wife, who then layin, upon hearing the news, had thrown herself from a window two pair of stairs high, by which means he had, in all probability, lost both her and his child. A very pretty girl then advanced towards them, whose beauty Mr Booth could not help admiring the moment he saw her; declaring at the same time, he thought she had great innocence in her countenance. Robinson said she was committed thither as an idle and disorderly person, and a common street-walker. As she passed by Mr Booth, she damn'd his eyes, and discharged a volley of words, every one of which was too indecent to be repeated. They now beheld a little creature sitting by herself in a corner, and crying bitterly. This girl, Mr Robinson said, was committed, because her father-in-law, who was in the grenadier guards, had sworn that he was afraid of his life, or of some bodily harm, which she would do him, and she could get no sureties for keeping the peace: for which reason Justice Thrasher had committed her to prison. A great noise now arose, occasioned by the prisoners all flocking to see a fellow whipt for petty-larceny, to which he was condemned by the court of quarter-sessions; but this soon ended in the disappointment of the spectators: for the fellow, after being stript, having advanced another sixpence, was discharged untouched. This was immediately followed by another bustle. Blear-eyed Moll, and several of her companions, having got possession of a man who was committed for certain odious unmanlike practices, not fit to be named, were giving him various kinds of discipline, and would probably have put an end to him, had he not been rescued out of their hands by authority. When this bustle was a little allayed, Mr Booth took notice of a young woman in rags sitting on the ground, and supporting the head of an old man in her lap, who appeared to be giving up the ghost. These, Mr Robinson informed him, were father and daughter; that the latter was committed for stealing a loaf, in order to support the former, and the former for receiving it, knowing it to be stolen. 66 we A well-drest man then walked surlily by them, whom Mr Robinson reported to have been committed on an indictment found against him for a most horrid perjury; "but," says he, " expect him to be bailed to-day."-" Good Heaven!" cries Booth, I can such villains find bail, and is no person charitable enough to bail that poor father and daughter?"-"Oh! sir," answered Robinson, "the offence of the daughter, being felony, is held not to be bailable in law; whereas perjury is a misdemeanour only; and therefore, persons who are even indicted for it, are, nevertheless, capable of being bailed. Nay, of all perjuries, that of which this man is indicted is the worst: for it was with an intention of taking away the life of an innocent person by form of law. As to perjuries in civil matters, they are not so very criminal."—"They are not," said Booth: "and yet even these are a most flagitious offence, and worthy the highest punishment."-"Surely they ought to be distinguished," answered Robinson, "from the others: for what is taking away a little property from a man, compared to taking away his life and his reputation, and ruining his family into the bargain?-I hope there can be no comparison in the crimes, and I think there ought to be none in the punishment. However, at present, the punishment of all perjury is only pillory, and transportation for seven years; and, as it is a traversable and bailable offence, methods are often found to escape any punishment at all." Booth expressed great astonishment at this, when his attention was suddenly diverted by the most miserable object that he had yet seen. This was a wretch almost naked, and who bore in his countenance, joined to an appearance of honesty, the marks of poverty, hunger, and disease. He had, moreover, a wooden leg, and two or three scars on his forehead. "The case of this poor man is, indeed, unhappy enough," said Robinson. "He hath served his country, lost his limb, and received several wounds at the siege of Gib By removing the indictment, by certiorari, into the King's-Bench, the trial is so long postponed, and the costs so highly encreased, that the prosecutors are often tired out, and some incapacitated from pursuing. Verbum sapienti. raltar. When he was discharged from the hospital abroad, he came over to get into that of Chelsea, but could not immediately, as none of his officers were then in England. In the meantime, he was one day apprehended, and committed hither, on suspicion of stealing three herrings from a fishmonger. He was tried several months ago for this offence, and acquitted; indeed, his innocence manifestly appeared at the trial; but he was brought back again for his fees, and here he hath lain ever since." Booth expressed great horror at this account, and declared, if he had only so much money in his pocket he would pay his fees for him; but added, that he was not possessed of a single farthing in the world. Robinson hesitated a moment, and then said, with a smile, "I am going to make you, sir, a very odd proposal after your last declaration; but what say you to a game at cards? it will serve to pass a tedious hour, and may divert your thoughts from more unpleasant speculations." I do not imagine Booth would have agreed to this for though some love of gaming had been formerly amongst his faults; yet he was not so egregiously addicted to that vice, as to be tempted by the shabby plight of Robinson, who had, if I may so express myself, no charms for a gamester. If he had, however, any such inclinations, he had no opportunity to follow them; for, before he could make any answer to Robinson's proposal, a strapping wench came up to Booth, and, taking hold of his arm, asked him to walk aside with her; saying, "What a pox, are you such a fresh cull that you do not know this fellow? why, he is a gambler, and committed for cheating at play. There is not such a pickpocket in the whole quad."* A scene of altercation now ensued between Robinson and the lady, which ended in a bout at fisticuffs, in which the lady was greatly superior to the philosopher. While the two combatants were engaged, a grave-looking man, rather better dressed than the majority of the company, came up to Mr Booth, and, taking him aside, said, "I am sorry, sir, to see a gentleman, as you appear to be, in such intimacy with that rascal, who makes no scruple of disowning all revealed religion. As for crimes, they are human errors, and signify but little; nay, perhaps, the worse a man is by nature, the more room there is for grace. The spirit is active, and loves best to inhabit those minds where it may meet with the most work. Whatever your crime be, therefore, I would not have you despair; but rather rejoice at it: for perhaps it may be the means of your being called." He ran on for a considerable time with this cant, without waiting for an answer, and ended with declaring himself a methodist. Just as the methodist had ended his discourse, a beautiful young woman was ushered into the gaol. She was genteel and well-dressed, and did not in the least resemble those females whom Mr Booth had hitherto seen. The constable had no sooner delivered her at the gate, than she asked, with a commanding voice, for the keeper; and, when he arrived, she said to him, "Well, sir, whither am I to be conducted? I hope I am not to take up my lodging with these creatures." The keeper answered, with a kind of surly respect, Madam, we have rooms for those who can afford to pay for them." At these words, she pulled a handsome purse from her pocket, in which many guineas chinked, saying, with an air of indignation, That she was not come thither on account of poverty. The keeper no sooner viewed the purse, than his features became all softened in an instant; and, with all the courtesy of which he was master, he desired the lady to walk with him, assuring her that she should have the best apartment in his house. 66 Mr Booth was now left alone; for the methodist had forsaken him, having, as the phrase of the sect is, searched him to the bottom. In fact, he had thoroughly examined every one of Mr Booth's pockets; from which he had conveyed away a penknife, and an iron snuff-box, these being all the moveables which were to be found. Booth was standing near the gate of the prison, when the young lady above mentioned was introduced into the yard. He viewed her features very attentively, and was persuaded that he knew her. She was, indeed, so remarkably handsome, that it was hardly possible for any who had ever seen her to forget her. He enquired of one of the under-keepers, if the name of the prisoner lately arrived was not Matthews; to which he was answered, that her name was not Matthews but Vincent, and that she was committed for murder. The latter part of this information made Mr Booth suspect his memory more than the former: for it was very possible that she might have changed her name; but he hardly thought she could so far have changed her nature as to be guilty of a crime so very incongruous with her former gentle manners: for Miss Matthews had both the birth and education of a gentlewoman. He concluded, therefore, that he was certainly mistaken, and rested satisfied, without any further enquiry. * A cant word for a prison. CHAP. V. Containing certain Adventures which befel Mr THE remainder of the day Mr Booth spent in melancholy contemplation on his present condition. He was destitute of the common necessaries of life, and consequently unable to subsist where he was; nor was there a single person in town to whom he could, with any reasonable hope, apply for his delivery. Grief, for some time, banished the thoughts of food from his mind; but, in the morning, nature began to grow uneasy for want of her usual nourishment: for he had not ate a morsel during the last forty hours. A penny loaf, which is, it seems, the ordinary allowance to the prisoners in Bridewell, was now delivered him; and, while he was eating this, a man brought him a little packet sealed up, informing him, that it came by a messenger who said it required no answer. Mr Booth now opened his packet, and, after unfolding several pieces of blank paper successively, at last discovered a guinea, wrapt with great care in the innermost paper. He was vastly surprised at this sight, as he had few, if any friends, from whom he could expect such a favour, slight as it was; and not one of his friends, as he was apprized, knew of his confinement. As there was no direction to the packet, nor a word of writing contained in it, he began to suspect that it was delivered to the wrong person; and, being one of the most untainted honesty, he found out the man who gave it to him, and again examined him concerning the person who brought it, and the message delivered with it. The man assured Booth that he had made no mistake; saying, "If your name is Booth, sir, I am positive you are the gentleman to whom the parcel I gave you belongs." The most scrupulous honesty would, perhaps, in such a situation, have been well enough satisfied in finding no owner for the guinea; especially when proclamation had been made in the prison, that Mr Booth had received a packet without any direction, to which, if any person had any claim, and would discover the contents, he was ready to deliver it to such claimant. No such claimant being found, (I mean none who knew the contents; for many swore that they expected just such a packet, and believed it to be their property,) Mr Booth very calmly resolved to apply the money to his own use. The first thing, after redemption of the coat, which Mr Booth, hungry as he was, thought of, was to supply himself with snuff, which he had long, to his great sorrow, been without. On this occasion, he presently missed that iron box which the methodist had so dexterously con veyed out of his pocket, as we mentioned in the last chapter. He no sooner missed this box, than he immediately suspected that the gambler was the person who had stolen it; nay, so well was he assured of this man's guilt, that it may, perhaps, be improper to say he barely suspected it. Though Mr Booth was, as we have hinted, a man of a very sweet disposition, yet was he rather over-warm. Having, therefore, no doubt concerning the person of the thief, he eagerly sought him out, and very bluntly charged him with the fact. The gambler, whom, I think, we should now call the philosopher, received this charge without the least visible emotion either of mind or muscle. After a short pause of a few moments, he answered, with great solemnity, as follows: "Young man, I am entirely unconcerned at your groundless suspicion. He that censures a a stranger, as I am to you, without any cause, makes a worse compliment to himself than to the stranger. You know yourself, friend; you know not me. It is true, indeed, you heard me accused of being a cheat and a gamester; but who is my accuser? Look at my apparel, friend; do thieves and gamesters wear such clothes as these? Play is my folly, not my vice; it is my impulse, and I have been a martyr to it. Would a gamester have asked another to play, when he could have lost eighteen pence, and won nothing? However, if you are not satisfied, you may search my pockets; the outside of all but one will serve your turn, and in that one, there is the eighteen pence I told you of." He then turned up his clothes; and his pockets entirely resembled the pitchers of the Belides. Booth was a little staggered at this defence. He said, the real value of the iron box was too inconsiderable to mention; but that he had a capricious value for it, for the sake of the person who gave it him: "For though it is not," said he, "worth sixpence, I would willingly give a crown to any one who would bring it me again." Robinson answered, “If that be the case, you have nothing more to do but to signify your intention in the prison; and I am well convinced you will not be long without regaining the possession of your snuff-box." This advice was immediately followed, and with success, the methodist presently producing the box; which, he said, he had found, and should have returned it before, had he known the person to whom it belonged; adding, with uplifted eyes, that the Spirit would not suffer him knowingly to detain the goods of another, however inconsiderable the value was. "Why so, friend?" said Robinson. "Have I not heard you often say, the wickeder any man was the better, provided he was what you call a believer?"" You mistake me," cries Cooper, (for that was the name of the methodist,) "no man |