An Enquiry into the Causes of the Frequent Executions at Tyburn (1725) Part 1

An Enquiry into the Causes of the Frequent Executions at Tyburn (1725).

by Bernard Mandeville and Malvin R. Zirker.

INTRODUCTION

The _Enquiry into the Causes of the Frequent Executions at Tyburn_ was originally published as a series of letters to the _British Journal_.

The first letter appeared on February 27, 1725;[1] just twelve days before, Jonathan Wild, self-proclaimed "Thief-Catcher General of _Great Britain_ and _Ireland_," had been arrested and imprisoned in Newgate.

Thus the _Enquiry_ had a special timeliness and forms a part of the contemporary interest in the increasingly notorious activities of Wild.

Wild's systematic exploitation of the London underworld and his callous betrayal of his colleagues in criminality (he received 40 from the government for each capital conviction he could claim) had created public protest since at least 1718 when an act (which Mandeville cites in his Preface) directed against receivers of stolen goods was pa.s.sed, most probably with the primary intention of curtailing Wild's operations. Wild's notoriety was at its peak in 1724-5 after his successful apprehension of Joseph Blake ("Blueskin") and Jack Sheppard, the latter figure becoming a kind of national hero after his five escapes from prison (he was recaptured by Wild each time).[2]

The timeliness of Mandeville's pamphlet extends, of course, beyond its interest in Jonathan Wild, who after all receives comparatively little of Mandeville's attention. The spectacle of Tyburn itself and the civil and moral failures it represented was one which Londoners could scarcely ignore and which for some provided a morbid fascination. Mandeville's vivid description of the condemned criminal in Newgate, his journey to Tyburn, and his "turning off," must have been strikingly forceful to his contemporaries, who knew all too well the accuracy of his description.

"Tyburn Fair" was a holiday. Apprentices deserted their posts, pickpockets, dram-dealers and other free-lance caterers, prost.i.tutes, grub-street elegiasts armed with dying speeches or commemorative verses, went to theirs, to swell the enormous and unruly holiday mob, a mob given a certain tone by the presence of the respectable or aristocratic curious (Boswell says "I must confess that I myself am never absent from a public execution") who came in their coaches or even rode along with the condemned in his cart. The mob at Tyburn reached enormous proportions. Thirty thousand people witnessed an execution in 1776; eighty thousand an execution in Moorfields in 1767.[3] Richardson, in _Familiar Letters on Important Occasions_ (Letter CLX) refers to the "pressure of the mob, which is prodigious, nay, almost incredible."

When such popular madness was climaxed by the generally unrepentant criminal's drunken bravado (Richardson's criminals "grew most shamefully daring and wanton.... They swore, laugh'd and talked obscenely"[4]), and by their glorification by the mob (according to Fielding the criminal at Tyburn was "triumphant," and enjoyed the "compa.s.sion of the meek and tender-hearted, and ... the applause, admiration, and envy, of all the bold and hardened"[5]), serious-minded men rightly wondered what valid end the execution of the law served. And of course it was not merely that the criminal died unrepentant or that the spectators remained unedified and undeterred. The scene at Tyburn also reflected society's failure to utilize a significant portion of its "most useful members," a failure disturbing to the dominant mercantile att.i.tude of the time which valued "the bodies of men" as potential sources of wealth (Mandeville's concern with the usefulness of the lower cla.s.s is obvious throughout the first part of the _Fable of the Bees_ and in the _Essay on Charity, and Charity-schools_).

Mandeville's subject, then, was one familiar to his readers and one whose importance they recognized. His att.i.tude toward his subject was for the most part a thoroughly conventional one. For instance, his primary a.s.sumption that the penal code must be harsh since its function is to deter, not to reclaim, pervades eighteenth-century thought on the subject and is clearly reflected in the number of offences carrying the death penalty (160 when Blackstone wrote; 220 in the early nineteenth century). Its logical culmination may be found in arguments such as George Ollyffe presented in 1731. Ollyffe, noting that the frequency of the death penalty was not deterring criminals, suggests that more horrible forms of punishment be devised, such as breaking on the wheel, "by which the Criminals run through ten thousand thousand of the most exquisite Agonies ... during the unconceivable Torture of their bruised, broken, and disjointed Limbs," or "twisting a little Cord hard about their Arms or Legs," which would produce the "keenest Anguish."[6]

Ollyffe's public-spirited ingenuity should be a warning to modern readers who a.s.sume that Mandeville's att.i.tude is unusually harsh and unfeeling.

Most of Mandeville's specific proposals too may be paralleled in the many pamphlets of the time concerned with the criminal and the lower cla.s.s. To point out some of the similarities between Mandeville's and Fielding's proposals (which he states most fully in _An Enquiry into the late Increase of Robbers_, 1751) is not to posit direct influence but to suggest the uniformity of opinion on these matters during many years.

Both Mandeville and Fielding argue for closer control over receivers of stolen goods, against advertising in the paper to recover stolen goods, against the false compa.s.sion of the tender-hearted who fail to prosecute or of juries which fail to convict the guilty, against the indiscriminate imprisonment of young with old, hardened criminals with first offenders, men with women, and against frequent pardons. They agree in demanding that the condemned should meet his death, soberly, shortly after his conviction.[7]

Mandeville's suggestion that the bodies of the executed be turned over to surgeons for dissection is not to be found in Fielding's pamphlet. It does, however, become a part of the "Act for preventing the horrid Crime of Murder" (25 Geo. II. c. 37), an act for which Fielding is often given credit.[8] This suggestion, and that in Chapter VI to trade felons into slavery (which as far as I know is Mandeville's own), clearly stem from the impulse to increase the deterrent power of the law by making it more terrible.

What distinguishes Mandeville's pamphlet (in addition to the characteristically hard-headed bluntness of its author) is a quality present in one degree or another in all his work: an exuberant delight in creating scene. Throughout the _Fable of the Bees_, for example, but especially in the first part, the argument is punctuated by vivid scenes in which an idea is acted out or ill.u.s.trated. Invariably these scenes have a merit and interest beyond that owing to their function in the argument. They are lively, vivid, picturesque, humorous or touching in their own right. The reader can scarcely doubt that Mandeville enjoyed composing them--he admits as much in the Preface to the _Enquiry_ when he acknowledges, in defending the "lowness" of his subject, the "Pleasure there is in imitating Nature in what Shape soever."

The gusto and vitality of the description of the events at Tyburn well ill.u.s.trate Mandeville's art. He puts us on the scene, lets us see and hear the various actors, gives us telling detail: a bully rolling in the mire; a putrified wig; a drunken old woman on a bulk; refuse flying through the air; trollops in rags; a gin seller "squeez'd up in a corner"; carca.s.ses of dogs and cats. The scene is filled with objects and has movement as well: the mob is a torrent which "bursts through the gate," a "floating mult.i.tude." There is "jostling," "kicking dirt,"

"rolling"; peddlers "stir about," and one who has "ventured in the Middle of the Current" is "fluctuating in the irregular Stream." The air is filled with "oaths and vile expressions," and "loud laughter"; a peddler "tears his Throat with crying his commodity." Mandeville orders his scene spatially and chronologically, and he enforces its vividness by relating the action in the present tense. Its basic unity, however, is owing to the evaluation and control provided by the various tones of the narrator's voice, which is alternately scornful and disgusted ("abandoned Rakeh.e.l.ls") and almost playfully ironic ("he is the prettiest Fellow among them who is the least shock'd at Nastiness"; "their darling Cordial, the grand Preservative of Sloth, Jeneva").

For one reader at least Mandeville is eminently successful in capturing what must have been the appalling uproar and the dismaying quality of the events at Tyburn. His vivid, circ.u.mstantial realism sets the _Enquiry_ apart, as far as I know, from all other pamphlets dealing with this sorry subject. If his views for the most part are conventional, his style and technique are not, and in this respect the _Enquiry_ is best compared not with other pamphlets but with Hogarth's portrayal of the demise of the idle apprentice (Plate XI of the _Industrious and Idle Apprentice_, 1747), in which Hogarth represents visually many of the same details which Mandeville reports and in which he conveys a comparable sense of the violent and brutal activity of the Tyburn mob.

THE

PREFACE

The Design of this small Treatise, is to lessen if not prevent the common Practice of Thieving, and save many Lives of the loose and indigent Vulgar, of which now such great Numbers are yearly lavish'd away for Trifles. In order to this, I have endeavour'd to set in a true Light the destructive Consequences of _Theftbote_, and the Damage the Publick sustains from the Trade that is drove by Thiefcatchers, and the various ways now in vogue of compounding Felonies, by which the Safety as well as Maintenance of Thieves and Pilferers are industriously taken care of, and the Laws that enforce Prosecution altogether eluded.

To the same Purpose I have pointed at the Licentiousness and other Disorders of _Newgate_, arising from the wrong Method we have of treating common Felons in Prison. I have describ'd the Transactions of Execution Day, with the Procession to _Tyburn_, and demonstrated what small Advantage they are of, as well to the condemn'd themselves, whose grand Affair it is to prepare themselves for another World, as to their Companions who should be deterred, or the rest of the Spectators, who should be struck with the Awfulness of the Solemnity. I have likewise searched into the Origin of Courage, and the wrong Judgments that are differently pa.s.s'd on the dying Behaviour of Malefactors, shew'd the ill Consequences as well as Absurdity of our mistaking Drunkenness for Intrepidity, and a senseless Deportment for Undauntedness; and touch'd on the several Neglects and Mismanagements that are accessary, and one way or other contribute to the Encrease and Support of Felons, and consequently, the Frequency of Executions. Afterwards I have in a Chapter by it self offer'd some Proposals for a better Usage, and more proper Treatment of common Felons in Confinement, and made a Pathetical Representation of the good Effects we might probably expect from such wholesome Regulations. To these I have added a Discourse on Transportation, and a Method of rendering that Punishment not only more effectual on the Criminals, but likewise advantagious to the Publick in the most extraordinary manner.

I am not so vain as to place any Merit in the Performance, or promise my self the Applause of many: on the contrary, I expect to be censur'd, and perhaps deservedly, for the uncouth Decorations I have intermix'd with my Subject. Men of Taste and Politeness will think themselves very little oblig'd to me for entertaining them with the meanest and most abject part of low Life, for almost a whole Chapter together; and tell me that the Inside of _Newgate_, either on an Execution Day, or any other, is not a Scene they ought to be troubled with; and that the Exactness of a Picture among the Judicious is of little Worth where the n.o.ble manner is wanting. To this I could answer that, if I have trespa.s.sed against the Laws either of Elegance or Formality, I was forc'd to it by what is superior to all Laws, Necessity. When a Man is to inspire his Readers with an Aversion to what they are unacquainted with, he can never compa.s.s his End without furnis.h.i.+ng them first with a general Idea of the Thing against which he wou'd raise their Indignation: I could add that, when a Piece is lively and tolerably finish'd, the good-natured Critick will pardon the Meaness of the Design, for the sake of the Colouring and the Application of the Master.

But if neither of these Excuses are thought sufficient, I must plead guilty, and confess that the Pleasure there is in imitating Nature in what Shape soever is so bewitching, that it over-rules the Dictates of Art, and often forces us to offend against our own Judgment.

As there are in this City not a few Men of Business and good Understanding, whose Leisure allows them not to read much beyond the Publick News, and most of them are concern'd in the Contents of this Pamphlet, I caused the several Chapters of it to be Printed in as many Papers of the _British_ Journal; imagining that its having been dispers'd, and, as it were, advertis'd in that manner, could give no Offence to the more Curious, who would chuse to have it entire by it self, and peruse it in a Character less troublesome to the Eyes.

In the first Chapter I should have taken notice of a Clause in an Act of Parliament that was made in the Fourth Year of His present Majesty, and is call'd, _An Act for the further Preventing Robbery, Burglary, and other Felonies_, &c. The candid Reader I hope will pardon the Neglect, occasion'd by the small Acquaintance I have with the Law, and give me leave in this Place to repair that Omission. The Words are these.

And whereas there are several Persons who have secret Acquaintance with Felons, and who make it their Business to help Persons to their stollen Goods, and by that Means gain Money from them, which is divided between them and the Felons, where-by they greatly encourage such Offenders: Be it Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That whenever any Person taketh Money or Reward, directly or indirectly, under Pretence, or upon account of helping any Person or Persons to any stollen Goods or Chattels, every such Person so taking Money or Reward, as aforesaid (unless such Person doth apprehend, or cause to be apprehended such Felon who stole the same, and cause such Felon to be brought to his Trial for the same, and give Evidence against him) shall be guilty of Felony, and suffer the Pains and Penalties of Felony, according to the felony committed in stealing such Goods, and in such and the same manner, as if such Offender had himself stole such Goods and Chattels, in the manner and with such Circ.u.mstances as the same were stollen.

Since the Printing of these Chapters, in the Paper aforesaid, I have likewise been inform'd; that, as receiving Money for a.s.sisting others in the Recovery of their stolen Goods, is by this Act made Felony; so by the known Rules of Law, whoever is aiding and a.s.sisting thereto is of Course guilty as an Accessary, and to incurr the same Punishment as the Princ.i.p.al: and it cannot be doubted; but that he, who pays Money on such an Occasion, is accessary to the Receiving of it; which well deserves the Reflection of those who make no Scruple of redeeming the Goods that had been stolen from them; as likewise does another Thing, which is, that if he who takes Money for stolen Goods is a princ.i.p.al Felon, and that he who pays it is a Felon, as being accessary, then he who by publick Advertis.e.m.e.nts with Promises of Secrecy, and that no Questions shall be asked, invites others to commit Felony, is guilty of a great Misdemeanour, tho' it produce no Effect; but, if it do, the Person publis.h.i.+ng such Advertis.e.m.e.nt will be an Accessary likewise.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

CHAP. I.

_Of_ THEFTBOTE; _or, the Crime of Compounding of Felony._

The Mult.i.tude of unhappy Wretches, that every Year are put to Death for Trifles in our great Metropolis, has long been afflicting to Men of Pity and Humanity; and continues to give great Uneasiness to every Person, who has a Value for his Kind. Many good Projects have been thought of to cure this Evil, by sapping the Foundation of it: A Society has been set up to reform our Manners; and neither Workhouses, nor Discipline on small Crimes, have been wanting: An Act has been made against prophane Cursing and Swearing; and many Charity Schools have been erected. But the Event has not answer'd hitherto the good Design of those Endeavours.

This City abounds as much with loose, lazy, and dishonest Poor; there is as much Mischief done by ordinary Felons; and Executions for Theft and Burglary are as frequent, at least, as ever: Nay, it is believed, that _London_ is more pester'd with low Villany than any other Place whatever, the Proportion of Bigness between them not left unconsider'd.

As there is no Effect without a Cause, so something must be the Reason of this Calamity. I have long and carefully examined into this Matter, and am forced to ascribe the Mischief complained of to two palpable Evils, distinct from those we have in common with other large overgrown Cities. One regards Prosecutions; the other the Treatment that is given to Malefactors after they are taken. I shall begin with the first: I mean the Neglect of them, occasion'd by our shameful Negotiations with Thieves, or their Agents, for the Recovery of stolen Goods, by which, in Reality, we become Aiders and Abetters to them.

The Law of _England_ is so tender of Mens Lives, that whoever justly prosecutes, and convicts a Person of a Capital Crime, has nothing to answer for to his Conscience, but, on the contrary, has done a Service to his Country, without Offence to G.o.d, or the least Breach of Charity to his Neighbour. But as every Body has not Strength of Mind and Resolution enough to perform Duties that are repugnant to his Nature, so, making Allowances for Human Frailties, I could excuse the Backwardness of a meek home-bred Person, who should complain, That to appear in open Court, and speak before a Judge, are terrible Things to him. But I think it unpardonable, that a Man should knowingly act against the Law, and by so doing powerfully contribute to the Increase, as well as Safety and Maintenance, of Pilferers and Robbers, from no other Principle, than a criminal Selfishness, accompany'd with an utter Disregard to the Publick: Yet nothing is more common among us.[9] As soon as any Thing is missing, suspected to be stolen, the first Course we steer is directly to the Office of Mr. _Jonathan Wild_. If what we want is a Trinket, either enamel'd, or otherwise curiously wrought; if there is Painting about it; if it be a particular Ring, the Gift of a Friend; or any Thing which we esteem above the real Value, and offer more for it than Mr. _Thief_ can make of it, we are look'd upon as good Chaps, and welcome to redeem it. But if it be plain Gold or Silver, we shall hardly see it again, unless we pay the Worth of it. Some Years ago, it is true, a Man might, for half a Piece, have fetch'd back a Snuff-Box that weigh'd twenty or thirty s.h.i.+llings: But this was in the Infancy of the Establishment. Now they are grown wiser, and calculate exactly what such a Thing will melt down for: To offer less is thought unreasonable; and unless Mr. _Thief-catcher_ stands your Friend indeed, if you have it, you will seldom save any Thing but the Fas.h.i.+on. If in this Place you can hear no Tidings of your Goods, it is counted a Sign, that they are in the Hands of irregular Pract.i.tioners, that steal without Permission of the Board. In this Case we immediately put in an Advertis.e.m.e.nt in some News-Paper or other, with a Promise, that such a Reward will be given, and no Questions asked. I own, that in the Printing of these short Epistles there is no manner of Harm, if we abstract the Act itself from the Concern the Publick has in it. The Tenor of them is rather benevolent than injurious: And a Panegyrist on the present Times might justly say of them, That in no Performances the true Spirit of Christianity was so conspicuous as in these: That they were not only free from Calumny and ill Language, but likewise so void of Reproach, that speaking to a Thief, we never call'd him so in those charitable Addresses: That in them the very Catalogues of Injuries receiv'd, were penn'd with as little Heat, or Resentment, as ever Tradesman shew'd in a Bill of Parcels directed to his best Customer: That here we are so far from hating our Enemy, that we proffer him a Recompence for his Trouble, if he will condescend to let us have our own again; and leaving all Revenge to G.o.d, to shew that we are willing to forgive and forget, we consult, in the most effectual Manner, the Safety of a Person that deserves Hanging for the Wrong he has done us.

Yet, notwithstanding the kind Constructions that may be put on these Civil Offers, they all tend to the _Compounding of Felony_, and are the Occasion of a double Mischief: They invite the Indigent and Lazy to pick Pockets, and render the Negligent more careless than probably they would be, was this Practice abolish'd. A Pocket-Book, or Memorandum, may be stole from a Man that is of vast Concern to him, and yet of no Use but to the Owner: If this be taken by a regular Thief, a listed Pilferer, it is easily recover'd for a small Reward. I don't suppose any one so silly, that therefore he would go to Places, and into Companies, on Purpose to have his Pocket pick'd; but I can't help thinking, that if those Things were never to be heard of again, and the Loss irretrievable, many young Rakes, and other loose Reprobates, would be under greater Apprehensions, and more upon their Guard, at least when they had such a Charge about them, than the Generality of them now are.

And again, if nothing could be made of Letters, Papers, and Things of that Nature, such as have no known Worth, and are not readily turned into Money, the numbers of Wh.o.r.es and Rogues, young and old, that are employ'd in the Diving Trade, would decrease considerably; many of them, from a Principle of Prudence, refusing to meddle with any Thing else.

For as on most of the Things now spoke of, no real Value can be set, the Punishment would be inconsiderable, if any, should the Things be found upon them, or themselves be taken in the Fact. Most Men will agree to all this, whilst unconcern'd; but when private Interest is touch'd, it soon stifles these Considerations. I should be a Fool, says one, when a Thing of Value is stolen from me, not to get it back, if I can, for a Trifle. If I lose a Sword, or a Watch, I must have another; and to save the Fas.h.i.+on in these Things is considerable: It is better to lose the Half than the Whole. I have nothing to do with the Thief, says another, if I have my own again, it is all I want: What Good would it do to me to have a poor Fellow hang'd? A Third, more compa.s.sionate, will tell us, that if he knew the Thief, he would not meddle with him; and that he would lose ten times the Value of what has been taken from him, rather than be the Occasion of a Man's Death. To these I reply, that the Legislators seem to have known how the Generality of Men would argue, and what Excuses they would make; they had an Eye on the Frailty of our Nature; consider'd, that all Prosecutions are troublesome, and often very expensive; that most Men preferred their own Interest, their Ease and Pleasure, to any Regard of the Publick; and therefore they provided against our Pa.s.sions with so much Severity. _Compounding of Felony_ is not prohibited under a small Penalty, or attoned for by a little Fine; it is next to Felony; and the most creditable Citizen, that is convicted of it, ceases to be an honest Man.

The Offence in our Law is call'd THEFTBOTE; of which my Lord Chief Justice _c.o.ke_ says, "That it is an Offence beyond Misprision of Felony; for that is only a bare Concealment of his bare Knowledge: But that it is THEFTBOTE when the Owner not only knows of the Felony, but takes of the Thief his Goods again, or Amends for the same to favour or maintain him, that is, not to prosecute him, to the Intent he may escape. The Punishment of THEFTBOTE is Ransom and Imprisonment." THEFTBOTE (as described by Act of Parliament) _est emenda furti capta absque consideratione curiae domini regis_. Sir _Matthew Hale_, in his _Pleas of the Crown_, says, "That THEFTBOTE is more than a bare Misprision of Felony, and is, where the Owner doth not only know the Felony, but takes his Goods again, or other Amends, not to prosecute."

This Rigour of the Legislature is a full Demonstration, that they thought it a Crime of the most pernicious Consequence to the Society; yet it is become familiar to us; and our Remissness in several Matters, relating to Felons, is not to be parallell'd in any other civiliz'd Nation. That Rogues should be industriously dispers'd throughout the City and Suburbs; that different Hours and Stations should be observ'd among them, and regular Books kept of stollen Goods; that the Superintendent in this hopeful Oeconomy should almost every Sessions, for a Reward, betray, prosecute, and hang one or more of this his Acquaintance, and at the same Time keep on his Correspondence amongst the Survivors, whom, one after another, he sends all to their Triangular Home; that Magistrates should not only know and see this, but likewise continue to make use of such a Person for an Evidence, and in a manner own that they are beholden to him in the Administration of Justice; That, I say, all these Things should be Facts, is something very extraordinary, in the Princ.i.p.al City, and the Home Management of a Kingdom, so formidable abroad, and of such Moment in the Balance of _Europe_, as that of _Great Britain_.

The Mischief that one Man can do as a Thief, is a very Trifle to what he may be the Occasion of, as an Agent or Concealer of Felons. The longer this Practice continues, the more the Number of Rogues must hourly encrease; and therefore it is high Time that regular Book-keeping of stolen Goods should cease, and that all Gangs and Knots of Thieves should be broke and destroy'd as much as is possible, at least, none of them suffer'd to form themselves into Societies that are under Discipline, and act by Order of a Superior. It is highly criminal in any Man, for Lucre, to connive at a Piece of Felony which he could have hinder'd: But a profess'd Thief-Catcher, above all, ought to be severely punish'd, if it can be proved that he has suffer'd a known Rogue to go on in his Villany, tho' but one Day, after it was in his Power to apprehend and convict him, more especially if it appears that he was a Sharer in the Profit.

CHAP. II.

_Of the ill Consequences of_ THEFTBOTE, _and the Licentiousness of Felons in Newgate._

Often, when I have spoke against _Theftbote_, after the same manner as now I have been writing, I have heard Men of Worth and good Sense come into my Sentiments, who yet, after all, would tell me, That if I had lost any Thing myself, they believ'd that I would be glad to have it again with as little Cost and Trouble as I could. This I never denied, and am still willing to own. We are all partial and unfit Judges in our own Cause; but the most that can be made of this, is, That in that Case neither I nor any Body else, that has had any Thing stolen from him, ought to be consulted about the Matter: We are ill qualified, and therefore incapable of determining any Thing rightly concerning it. I have another Reason why this ought to be referred rather to those who never lost any Thing by Thieves and Pilferers, than others who have been Sufferers that Way: Rogues, it is true, have a thousand Stratagems, and a Person may be very careful, and yet have his Pocket pick'd, if ever he appears in the Street, or a Crowd: Yet, if we divide Mankind into two Cla.s.ses, that the one will be more exempt from those Misfortunes than the other, is undeniable. A Man, who is always upon his Guard in the Streets, and suspects all Crowds; that is temperate in his Liquor; avoids, as much as is possible, unseasonable Hours; never gives Ear to Night-walkers; a Man that abroad is always watchful over himself, and every Thing about him, and at home takes Care of his Doors and Bolts, his Shutters, Locks, and Bars; such a one, I say, is in less Danger than others, who are unthinking, and never mind what Companies they thrust themselves into; or such as will be drunk, go home late in the dark unattended, and scruple not to talk and converse with lewd Women, as they meet them; or that are careless of themselves as well as of the securing and fastening of their Houses. It is evident then which Cla.s.s would yield the most proper Judges; whom if it was left to, I don't question but the sober, careful, and wiser Part of the Nation would agree, that the Practice in vogue, and Method made use of to recover stolen Goods, even tho' there was no express Law against it, is, on many Accounts, mischievous to the Publick, and visibly destructive to the Interest of honest Property, and our Security in the Enjoyment of it.

There is no greater Encouragement for Men to follow any Labour or Handicraft, than that they are paid as soon as they have done their Work, without any further Trouble. It is from such a Consideration as this, that to encrease the publick Security, the Law not only punishes Stealing, but likewise makes it Felony, knowingly to buy stolen Goods; and moreover perpetuates honest Property, and renders the Right of it inalienable from the injured Owner, who seizes his Goods in what Hands soever he finds them. These two additional Precautions are of admirable Use in hampering common Villains, and strengthening the Law against Theft. From the first, a Rogue, after he has made himself liable to be hang'd, may be still disappointed, and miss his chief Aim; for as Money is what he wants, if no Body will purchase what he offers, he is never the nearer. The Second makes that he is never safe, tho' he is rid of the Goods, and the Money in his Pocket; for tho' they are gone through half a Dozen Hands, as soon as the Right Owner lays Claim to the Things stole, every one is oblig'd to discover where he had them; and by this Means it is seldom difficult to find out the Thief, or the Receiver of stolen Goods. To leap these two Barriers, and free himself at once of the Trouble there is in finding a safe Purchaser, and all Apprehensions of future Danger, a Rogue could not wish or imagine any Thing more effectual than that he might lodge what he has stole in the Hands of the Owner himself, and so receive a Reward for his Pains, and, at the same Time, a Pardon for his Crime, of him, whose Prosecution was the only Thing he had to fear. It is evident then, that the friendly Commerce, and amicable Negotiations, now in vogue, between Thieves and those that are robb'd by them, are the greatest Encouragement of low Villany that can be invented, and as sure a Way to keep up the Breed of Rogues, and promote the Interest of them, as either our Fishery or the Coal Trade are constant Nurseries for Sailors.

I am not ignorant, that in the present Conjuncture, as Cases might be stated, it would be very harsh, and seem to be the Height of Injustice, if we should hinder People from redeeming stolen Goods on all Emergencies whatever. A Man may be vigilant and careful, and his Servants the same, and yet, their Eyes being one Moment turn'd from the Counter, a Shop-Book may be s.n.a.t.c.hed, and carried off, perhaps, a Month before _Christmas_. This may put a Tradesman of good Business in great Distress: Must he lose it? I say, Yes, if the Publick is to be preferr'd to a private Interest. In the mean time, I know very well what every Body would do in that Case: But that the Whole suffers by the Redemption, I prove thus: Let us say, that this Year twelve Shop-Books are stole, that are all recover'd for two or three Guineas apiece got for them, and no Body punish'd. You may expect that next Year you will have forty or fifty stole, and in a few Years nothing will be more common. And again, let us suppose that last Year an hundred Shop-Books were stole; but, by vertue of some effectual Law for that Purpose, not one redeemed. The Consequence, in all Probability, would be, that the next Year you would hardly have ten Shop-Books stole; and if, thro' the strict Observance of the Law, none of them likewise should be redeem'd, you would hear no more of that Practice.

Besides, when a Man steals what is of no Value but to me, and can have no other View than that I should redeem it, and be his Pay-Master myself, the Felony becomes, in a manner, a compound Action, in which, as soon as I comply, I join with the Thief: And if we consider that the changing of Property from one Man to another, is seldom of any Consequence to the Publick, and that all the Mischief that can befal it from Theft, that is, the Loss of Goods that Way sustain'd by private Persons, consists in this, That those who committed it, gain their Point, and come off with Impunity, let who will be the Thief, or the Receiver; if, I say, we consider these two Things, it will appear, that in the Case I have mentioned, myself, who for my own Ends a.s.sisted the Thief with Money, and secured him from Prosecution, had the greatest Share in the Transaction, and consequently was, of the two, the most injurious to the civil Society. Without me the Rogue would not only have been disappointed, but likewise, whilst he continued in Possession of the Thing stole, remained in the perpetual Dread of being prosecuted for what he never had any Benefit from; and it is not probable that a Man who had been twice so served, would ever make such another Attempt.