1751. Two fhocking Instances of VAGABONDS. be unanswerable, and that is the lofs of our gin drinkers: Since, fhould the drinking this poifon be continued in its prefent height during the next 20 years, there will, by that time, be very few of the common people left to drink it. In the 3d he confiders gaming among the vulgar, and the laws we have against this deftructive vice, and fhews, that even our noblemen who are guilty of it, can never come within the defcription of a vir bonus, or good man, as given us by the Latin poet. 65 our antient Saxon regulations with regard to tithings or decennariés. Then he gives an abstract of the ma. ny laws we have against vagabonds, obferves their feveral defects, and gives us the two following remarkaA ble anecdotes; the first of which he had from Mr. Welch, high constable of Holbourn, and the other, as ap pears, he was an eye-witness to, viz. B In the 4th he confiders the laws that relate to the provifion for the poor, fhews where they are defective, and hints at fome methods for remedying those defects, and for enforcing the execution of our laws for the C employment of the poor, and punishment of the idle. In the 5th he confiders the punishment of receivers of stolen goods, and begins with fhewing the pernicious confequence of advertisements to bring the goods fo left to fome certain place, where the perfon who brings them is to receive a reward and no queftions afked; which fort of advertisements ought, he fays, to be prevented by an effectual law. He then points out the defects of our laws for the punishment of receivers, particularly that of its being necessary to convict the thief before we can convict the receiver, which of course prevents the former from ever being a witness against the latter; and therefore he afks, why may not the receiving ftolen goods, knowing them to be ftolen, be made an original offence; and pawnbrokers, &c. reputed to be fuch offenders, if they buy or take fuch goods to pawn, unless they can prove by a credible witness to the tranfaction, that they had good caufe to regard the feller or pawner as the real owner. In the 6th he confiders the laws relating to vagabonds, upon which fubject he gives a fuccinct account of February, 1751. D E F G "That in the parish of St. Giles's, there are great numbers of houfes fet a-part for the reception of idle perfons and vagabonds, who have their lodgings there for two-pence a night: That in the above parish, and in St. George's, Bloomsbury, one woman alone occupies seven of these houses, all properly accommodated with miferable beds from the cellar to the garret, for fuch two penny lodgers: That in these beds, feveral of which are in the fame room, men and women, often ftrangers to each other, lie promifcuously, the price of a double bed being no more than three-pence, as an encouragement to them to lie together: That as thefe places are thus adapted to whoredom, fo are they no lefs provided for drunkennefs, gin being fold in them all at a penny a quartern; fo that the fmalleft fum of money ferves for intoxication: That in the execution of fearch warrants, Mr. Welch rarely finds lefs than twenty of thefe houses open for the receipt of all comers at the latest hours: That in one of thefe houfes, and that not a large one, he hath numbered 58 perfons of both fexes, the ftench of whom was fo intolerable, that it compelled him in a very fhort time to quit the place." After this account from Mr Welch, he says, " Nay, I can add, what I myself once faw in the parish of Shoreditch, where two little houfes were emptied of near 70 men and women; amongst whom was one of the prettiest girls I had ever feen, who had been carried off by an Irishman, to confummate I her 66 Conviction, Execution, &c. of FELONS. her marriage on her wedding-night, Among other mischiefs attending C In the 7th he treats of apprehend ing the perfons of felons, and explains the feveral laws and cuftoms we D have for this purpose, with their several defects. After which he endeavours to give us a high opinion of thief-catchers, whom he compares to Pompey, Hercules, Thefeus, and other the heroes of old ; and we should join with him, if our E modern thief-catchers undertook the bufinefs, merely for the fake of the publick, and not for the fake of lucre. Let gentlemen of fortune generously undertake the bufinefs, and give the reward to the poor of the parish; and we warrant, they will F be as highly honoured by the people, as the heroes of old; at leaft fo far as our religion permits. In the 8th he treats of the diffi. culties which attend profecutions, and imputes the remiffness of profecutors to their being fo fearful as to G be intimidated by the threats of the gang; or too delicate to appear in a publick court; or too indolent to give themfelves the trouble of a Feb. profecution; or too avaritious to undergo the expence; or too tenderhearted to take away the life of a man; or laftly, too neceffitous to afford the colt and lofs of time. Upon every one of thefe heads, he gives very good advice; and he concludes with propofing, that the publick should bear the whole charge of all fuch profecutions, and allow witneffes against criminals their charges. In the 9th he treats of the trial and conviction of felons, when after fhewing how difficult it is to convict a criminal, he proposes, that the fingle evidence of an accomplice fhould be made fufficient for putting the prifoner upon his defence, and obliging him to controvert the fact by proving an alibi, or to produce fome reputable perfon to his character; and that the utmoft care and ftrictnefs fhould be used in examining the prisoner's witneffes, as perjury is a common act of Newgate friendship. In the 10th he confiders the encouragement given to robbers by fre quent pardons, and concludes with a quotation from Machiavel, that examples of juftice are more merciful than the unbounded exercise of pity. And lastly, in the 11th fection, our author confiders the manner of execution, whereupon he fhews, that our executions, in the manner they are performed, are rather objects of pity, and approbation of the behaviour of the criminal, than of terror to the spectators; therefore he fays, and gives good reasons for faying, that the execution fhould be as foon as poffible after the commiffion and conviction of the crime; and that it fhould be in fome degree private, and in the highest degree folemn. For these reasons he proposes, that the court at the Old-Bailey should, at the end of the trials, be adjourned during four days; that against the adjournment day, a gallows fhould be erected in the area before the court; 2 1751. Remarks on a Bull of Pope CLEMENT VI. court; that the criminals fhould be all brought down on that day to receive fentence; and that it fhould be executed the very moment after being pronounced, in the fight and prefence of the judges. He then obferves, that if the first A four fections of this treatise fhould raife any attention in the legislature, fo as effectually to put a stop to the luxury of the lower people, to force the poor to industry, and to provide for them when induftrious, the latter part of his labour would be of very little use; and concludes with faying, that upon the whole, fomething fhould be, nay, muft be done, or much worfe confequences than have hitherto happened, are very foon to be apprehended, &c. &c. A LETTER from a Librarian of SIR, B 67 You were ftruck, you fay, with the fingularity of this brief; and one caufe of your furprize is the general filence of our controverfists, who feem to have been entirely ignorant of it. It does not appear that any one had made ufe of it against the Roman church, altho it had been published near a century +. You add, that this bull would deferve to be made better known, and that you do not think what M. de la Chapelle has faid of it incidently, is fufficient. You alfo defire me to tell you what I think of it, and even to be pretty large upon it. It would not be difficult to make an ample commentary upon this bull, had one a mind to reprove all that is offensive C in it. But many people believe, that as to these fort of pieces, a bare mention of the substance of them is fufficient to excite all the indignation they deserve. However, to fatisfy you, I will enter into fome detail, were it only to have the pleaDfure of your correfpondence. You Y have been reading M. de la JOU acquaint me, that you You fay, that all in this act has Chapelle's treatife on the neceffity furprifed you, both its fingularity of publick worship. Among your and the obfcurity in which it has remarks on this reading, you tell lain to this time. I will tell you, me, that you were extremely fur- first of all, that it was far from prifed at a difpenfation, feen amongst making the fame impreffion upon me, the vouchers at the end of the work, E because I had known of this piece granted by Clement VI. in the year near 30 years, at least in fubftance; 1351, to John king of France, and and in this manner. Having the to queen Joan his fecond wife; honour, at London, one day to dine which brief or bull gives to the king's at Dr. Burnet's, bishop of Salisbury, and the queen's confeffor, a power five or fix months before his death, to abfolve them both for the past and with fome men of learning, and afor the future, from all their engage mongst others the famous Dr. Hoadments and contracts, tho' backed by ley, bishop of Bagnor, the bishop, at an oath, if they could not keep them whose house we were, acquainted us without fome inconveniency. This with this extraordinary bull. favour is not only for them, but also told us the contents of it, and quoted for their fucceffors in perpetuity, to us as his Warrant Dom Luke on condition only, that their con- d'Acheri, who has related it entire. feffor fhall commute thefe oaths into G When I returned into my own counfuch works of piety as he shall think try, I fearched for this piece in the proper. F I 2 He Bene • Furamenta per vos præftita, & per vos & eos præftanda in pofterum, quæ vos & illi ferSee the Spicilegium of Dom Luke d'Acheri, ar Paris, 40 are commodè non poffetis, som 4, P. 275. -68 What the Heathen, &c. thought of an Oath. Benedictines large collection, but did not know where to find it. Do not be furprised: It is, as it were, buried and ftifled amongst a heap of ufeleís things collected together in the volume where it is inferted. This, probably, is the reafon why it has efcaped our controverfists. Rightly to judge of this difpenfation to K. John, it will not be useJefs to stop fome moments, to see what mankind in general have thought of an oath. A Feb. decifive, that of Regulus. Never man by keeping his oath could have expected more terrible confequences, He knew the cruel torments which were preparing for him at Carthage. Nevertheless, he does not hesitate to return thither, because he had engaged himself by oath to do it. I believe, Sir, I ought here to put you in mind of a reflection which Cicero makes in the fame book of his Offices: Which is, that after this extraordinary event, they were not even very much ftruck at Rome with the magnanimity of this great man ; the common fentiment was, that he had done no more than he ought to do. His action did not begin to be be very much noticed, till the corruption of the following ages. It C was among the Romans therefore an opinion generally received, that rather than break one's oath, one ought to be ready to brave all that is dreadful in banifliment, imprisonment and The antient heathen always look- B ed upon the promises made with an oath as inviolable. Thefe engagements were facred to them, and they were religious observers of them. Ít is true, they wifely diftinguished the promifes with an oath which had been extorted by force, from thofe which they had made freely. It was also a principle with them, that they could not engage themselves by an oath in any thing but what was good and commendable, and if the engagement they had entered into was bad in itfelf, from thence they look. D ed upon it as null. In thofe cafes, far from being obliged to keep their word, they declared without evafion that they were obliged to break it. In confequence of this rule Cicero, in his Offices, affirms that Agamem non was doubly guilty, both for en- E gaging himself by an oath to facrifice his daughter Iphigenia, and for having facrificed her by virtue of that engagement *. Excepting these cafes, they highly condemned all the pretences to authorife perjury. One of the first F fubterfuges for this infidelity, is the inconveniency, the damage, one may fuffer by keeping his word, the promises que commode feruare non poffetis, as expressed in the brief. But the wife heathen decided, that, in any cafe, not only the inconve- G niency, but the damage, how great ioever it might be, could not justify a breach of faith. They alledged an inftance, which feemed to them torments. The Jews having much founder ideas of the Deity, have alfo had a very great respect for an oath. I defire you, Sir, only to read over again the 15th Pfalm, where David fets forth the character of the good man, who may hope to enjoy the effects of the love of God both in this life and in the other. "Lord, fays he, who is he who fhall dwell in thy tabernacle?" He answers, " He, whose life is upright and whofe actions are juft. If he has fworn, were it to his damage, he will not change any thing of his promife." After we have ften what the heathen and the Jews have thought of an oath, to compare it with the loofe brief of Clement VI. we might fhew, that the chriftians, who have much more fublime ideas of the perfections of God than the others, ought also to carry their respect for an oath much farther. But, Sir, not to infift upon fuch a known fubject, I shall content myself with op • De Offic, lib. 3. pofing 1751. An excellent Paffage from the Abbé du Guet. pofing to the fcandalous difpenfation of this pope, a fine leffon, which the Abbé du Guet gives in his Inftitution of a prince. '69 prohibition of perjury in the third commandment, but that they even turn it against those who would hinder the prince from making himself "An oath is a laft remedy to put guilty of perjury, and diffuade him an end to contefts, fays he, to af- from the thought of making use of fure ourselves of the heart of men, A a difpenfation fo diametrically opand of their intentions, to fix all the pofite to the law of God? For the doubts which inconftancy or infin- brief concludes with threatning with cerity may create, to fubject kings the wrath of God and that of the to the fupreme Judge who alone can bleffed apostles Peter and Paul, those judge them, and to keep in duty who shall be so rafh as to attempt to all human majefty, by making it infringe this conceffion +. appear before the majesty of God, B Fancy to yourfelf, pray now, that in regard to whom it is nothing. a wife counfellor of king John had To violate a treaty therefore, con- undertaken to difuade him from firmed by an oath, would be eter- taking the advantage of this difpennizing diffidences and wars, taking fation from the pope, and that feeaway all means of coming to peace ing him ready to violate a treaty fupby ferious treaties, leaving a door ported by an oath, he had awakened always open to furprizes, rendering C his confcience upon the enormity of the fituation of kingdoms floating the perjury; here that pious minister and uncertain, abufing what religion ftands anathematized for that very has of the most facred and the moft thing. And who is he then who has formidable, and falling into a ma- pronounced this fentence? It is that nifeft impiety, by defpifing at the pretended head of the church, who fame time the prefence, the truth, takes the title of God's lieutenant the justice and the power of God."D upon earth. Pray hear likewife what this wife author fays of those who infinuate to a prince, that he may fometimes difpenfe with keeping treaties, tho' accompanied with an oath. "A man must be, I will not fay very bold, adds he, but very blind and very corrupt, to dare to advise a prince to make himself liable to the eternal wrath of God, and to draw down vengeance upon his own head, and upon the heads of the whole nation, by converting an oath into perjury, and by defpifing the irrevocable threatning annexed in the decalogue to the prohibition of fo great a crime." E It was not enough for this worthy vicar of Jefus Chrift to have altered the morality of the gospel, so far as to permit and to authorise perjury for any temporal intereft; it was not enough for him to be the author of this pevarication, but heaven muft go halves with him in it. It was already a great deal to dare to fuppofe in the Divinity a connivance at this wicked action; but he must be made an accomplice in it as well as the apostles, and threaten_with F heavenly wrath those who fhould think of preventing this crime by wife counfels. This difpenfation of the pope, therefore, ought to be looked upon as entirely contrary to good faith, and altogether pernicious; but the manner in which it concludes ftill exceeds the body of the bull: In cauda venenum. Yet, after all, it is highly probable that this Abbé never knew of this fcandalous difpenfation. What would he not have faid, had he known that G they not only defpife in it the irrevocable threatning annexed to the Here Inflitution of a prince, tom. 1, p. 304. ↑ Nulli ergo bominum liceat banc paginam noftræ conceffionis infringere, vel ei aufu temerario contraire. Si quis autem attentare præfumferit indignationem omnipotentis Dei & beatorum Petri & Pauli apoftolorum ejus fe noverit incurfurum. |