Flanders as she heard her call'd (for she did not know her) gave the Bundle to her after they came out of the Shop, and bad her carry it Home. They ask'd her where this Mrs. Flanders was? But she could not produce her, neither could she give the least Account of me; and the Mercer's Men swearing positively that she was in the Shop when the Goods were stolen; that they immediately miss'd them, and pursu'd her, and found them upon her; thereupon the Jury brought her in Guilty, but the Court considering that she really was not the Person that Stole the Goods, and that it was very possible she could not find out this Mrs. Flanders, meaning me, tho' it would save her Life, which indeed was true; they allow'd her to be Transported, which was the utmost Favour she could obtain, only that the Court told her, if she could in the mean time produce the said Mrs. Flanders, they would intercede for her Pardon, that is to say, if she could find me out, and hang me, she should not be Transported: This I took care to make impossible to her, and so she was Shipp'd off in pursuance of her Sentence a little while after.
I must repeat it again, that the Fate of this poor Woman troubl'd me exceedingly; and I began to be very pensive, knowing that I was really the Instrument of her disaster; but my own Life, which was so evidently in Danger, took off my tenderness; and seeing she was not put to Death, I was easie at her Transportation, because she was then out of the way of doing me any Mischief whatever should happen.
The Disaster of this Woman was some Months before that of the last recited Story, and was indeed partly the Occasion of my Governess proposing to Dress me up in Men's Cloths, that I might go about unobserv'd; but I was soon tir'd of that Disguise, as I have said, for it expos'd me to too many Difficulties.
I was now easie, as to all Fear of Witnesses against me, for all those, that had either been concern'd with me, or that knew me by the Name of Moll Flanders, were either hang'd or Transported; and if I should have had the Misfortune to be taken, I might call myself any thing else, as well as Moll Flanders, and no old Sins could be plac'd to my Account; so I began to run a Tick again, with the more freedom, and several successful Adventures I made tho' not such as I had made before.
We had at that time another Fire happen'd not a great way off from the Place where my Governess liv'd, and I made an attempt there as before, but as I was not soon enough before the Crowd of People came in, and could not get to the House I aim'd at; instead of a Prize, I got a mischief, which had almost put a Period to my Life and all my wicked doings together; for the Fire being very furious, and the People inagreat Fright in removing their Goods, and throwing them out of Window; a Wench from out of a Window threw a Featherbed just upon me; it is true, the Bed being soft it broke no Bones: but as the weight was great, and made greater by the Fall, it beat me down, and laid me dead for a while: nor did the People concern themselves much to deliver me from it, or to recover me at all; but I lay like one Dead and neglected a good while; till some body going to remove the Bed out of the way, helped me up; it was indeed a wonder the People in the House had not thrown other Goods out after it, and which might have fallen upon it, and then I had been inevitably kill'd; but I was reserv'd for further Afflictions.
This Accident however spoil'd my Market for that time, and I came Home to my Governess very much hurt, and Frighted, and it was a good while before she could set me upon my Feet again.
It was now a Merry time of the Year, and Bartholomew Fair was begun; I had never made any Walks that Way, nor was the Fair of much Advantage to me; but I took a turn this Year into the Cloisters, and there I fell into one of the Raffling Shops: It was a thing of no great Consequence to me, but there came a Gentleman extreamly well Dress'd, and very Rich, and as 'tis frequent to talk to every Body in those Shops he singl'd me out, and was very particular with me; first he told me he would put in for me to Raffle, and did so; and some small matter coming to his Lot, he presented it to me, I think it was a Feather Muff: Then he continu'd to keep talking to me with a more than common Appearance of Respect; but still very civil and much like a Gentleman.
He held me in talk so long, till at last he drew me out of the Raffling Place to the Shop-Door, and then to take a walk in the Cloister, still talking of a Thousand things Cursorily without any thing to the purpose: at last hetold me that he was charm'd with my Company, and ask'd me if I durst trust myself in a Coach with him; he told me he was a Man of honour, and would not offer any thing to me unbecoming him: I seem'd to decline it a while, but suffer'd myself to be importun'd a little, and then yielded.
I was at a loss in my Thoughts to conclude at first what this Gentleman design'd; but I found afterward he had had some drink in his Head; and that he was not very unwilling to have some more: He carried me to the Spring Garden, at Knights-Bridge, where we walk'd in the Gardens, and he Treated me very handsomely; but I found he drank freely, he pressed me also to drink, but I declin'd it.
Hitherto he kept his Word with me, and offer'd me nothing amiss; we came away in the Coach again, and he brought me into the Streets, and by this time it was near Ten a Clock at Night, when he stop'd the Coach at a House, where it seems he was acquainted, and where they made no scruple to show us up Stairs into a Room with a Bed in it; at first I seem'd to be unwilling to go up, but after a few Words, I yielded to that too, being indeed willing to see the End of it, and in Hopes to make something of it at last; as for the Bed, &c., I was not much concern'd about that Part.
Here he began to be a little freer with me than he had promis'd; and I by little and little yielded to every thing, so that in a Word, he did what he pleas'd with me; I need say no more: All this while he drank freely too, and about One in the Morning we went into the Coach again: The Air, and the shaking of the Coach made the Drink get more up in his Head, and he grew uneasy, and was for acting over again, what he had been doing before; but as I thought my Game now secure, I resisted, and brought him to be a little still, which had not lasted five Minutes, but he fell fast asleep.
I took this opportunity to search him to a Nicety; I took a gold Watch, with a silk Purse of Gold, his fine full bottom Perrewig, and silver fring'd Gloves, his Sword, and fine Snuff-box, and gently opening the Coach-door, stood ready to jump out while the Coach was going on; but the Coach stopping in the narrow Street beyond Temple-Bar to let another Coach pass, I got softly out, fasten'd the Door again, and gave my Gentleman and the Coach the slip together.
This was an Adventure indeed unlook'd for, and perfectly undesign'd by me; tho' I was not so past the Merry part of Life, as to forget how to behave, when a Fop so blinded by his Appetite should not know an old Woman from a young: I did not indeed look so old as I was by ten or twelve Year; yet I was not a young Wench of Seventeen, and it was easie enough to be distinguish'd: There is nothing so absurd, so surfeiting, so ridiculous as a man heated by Wine in his Head, and a wicked Gust in his Inclination together; he is in the possession of two Devils at once, and can no more govern himself by his Reason than a Mill can Grind without Water; Vice tramples upon all that was in him that had any good in it; nay, his very Sense is blinded by its own Rage, and he acts Absurdities even in his View; such is Drinking more, when he is Drunk already; picking up a common Woman, without any regard to what she is, or who she is; whether Sound or Rotten, Clean or Unclean; whether Ugly or Handsome, Old or Young, and so blinded, as not really to distinguish; such a Man is worse than Lunatick; prompted by his vicious Head he no more knows what he is doing, than this Wretch of mine knew when I pick'd his Pocket of his Watch and his Purse of Gold.
These are the Men of whom Solomon says, they go like an Ox to the slaughter, till a Dart strikes through their Liver; an admirable Description, by the way, of the foul Disease, which is a poisonous deadly Contagion mingling with the Blood, whose Center or Fountain is in the Liver; from whence, by the swift Circulation of the whole Mass, that dreadful nauceous Plague strikes immediately thro' his Liver, and his Spirits are infected, his Vitals stab'd thro' as with a Dart.
It is true this poor unguarded Wretch was in no Danger from me, tho' I was greatly apprehensive at first, what Danger I might be in from him; but he was really to be pityed in one respect that he seem'd to be a good sort of a Man in himself; a Gentleman that had no harm in his Design; a Man of Sense, and of a fine Behaviour; a comely handsome Person, a sober and solid Countenance, a charming beautiful Face, and every thing that cou'd be agreeable; only had unhappily had some Drink the Night before; had not been in Bed, as he told me when we were together; was hot, and his Blood fir'd with Wine, and in that Condition his Reason as it were asleep, had given him up.
As for me, my Business was his Money, and what I could make of him, and after that if I could have found out any way to have done it, I would have sent him safe home to his House, and to his Family, for 'twas ten to one but he had an honest virtuous Wife, and innocent Children, that were anxious for his Safety, and would have been glad to have gotten him Home, and taken care of him, till he was restor'd to himself; and then with what Shame and Regret would he look back upon himself? how would he reproach himself with associating himself with a Whore? pick'd up in the worst of all Holes, the Cloister, among the Dirt and Filth of the Town? how would he be trembling for fear he had got the Pox, for fear a Dart had struck through his Liver, and hate himself every time he look'd back upon the Madness and Brutality of his Debauch? how would he, if he had any Principles of Honour, abhor the Thought of giving any ill Distemper, if he had it, as for ought he knew he might, to his Modest and Virtuous Wife, and thereby sowing the Contagion in the Life-Blood of his Posterity?
Would such Gentlemen but consider the contemptible Thoughtswhich the very Women they are concern'd with, in such Cases as these, have of them, it wou'd be a surfeit to them: As I said above, they value not the Pleasure, they are rais'd by no Inclination to the Man, the passive Jade thinks of no Pleasure but the Money; and when he is as it were drunk in the Extasies of his wicked Pleasure, her Hands are in his Pockets for what she can find there; and of which he can no more be sensible in the Moment of his Folly, than he can fore-think of it when he goes about it.
I knew a Woman that was so dexterous with a Fellow, who indeed deserv'd no better usage, that while he was busie with her another way, convey'd his Purse with twenty Guineas in it out of his Fob pocket, where he had put it for fear of her, and put another Purse with guilded Counters in it into the room of it: After he had done, he says to her, now han't you pick'd my Pocket? she jested with him, and told him she suppos'd he had not much to loose; he put his Hand to his Fob, and with his Fingers felt that his Purse wasthere, whichfully satisfy'dhim, and so she brought off his Money; and this was a Trade with her, she kept a sham Gold Watch, and a Purse of Counters in her Pocket to be ready on all such Occasions; and I doubt not practis'd it with Success.
I came Home with this last Booty to my Governess, and really when I told her the Story, it so affected her, that she was hardly able to forbear Tears, to think how such a Gentleman run a daily Risque of being undone, every Time a Glass of Wine got into his Head.
But as to the Purchase I got, and how entirely I strip'd him, she told me it pleased her wonderfully; nay, Child, says she, the Usage may, for ought I know, do more to reform him, than all the Sermons that ever he will hear in his Life, and if the Remainder of the Story be true, so it did.
I found the next Day she was wonderful Inquisitive about this Gentleman; the Description I gave her of him, his Dress, his Person, his Face, all concurr'd to make her think of a Gentleman whose Character she knew; she mus'd awhile, and I going on in the Particulars, says she, I lay a Hundred Pound I know the Man.
I am sorry if you do, says I, for I would not have him expos'd on any Account in the World; he has had Injury enough already, and I would not be instrumental to do him any more: No, no, says she, I will do him no Injury, but you may let me satisfy my Curiosity a little, for if it is he, I warrant you I find it out: I was a little startled at that, and I told her with an apparent Concern in my Face, that by the same Rule he might find me out, and then I was undone: She return'd warmly, Why, do you think I will betray you, Child? No, no, says she, not for all he is worth in the World; I have kept your Counsel in worse Things than these, sure you may trust me in this: So I said no more.
She laid her Scheme another way, and without acquainting me with it, but she was resolv'd to find it out; so she goes to a certain Friend of hers who was acquainted in the Family that she guess'd at, and told her she had some extraordinary Business with such a Gentleman, (who by the way was no less than a Baronet, and of a very good Family) and that she knew not how to come at him without somebody to introduce her: Her Friend promis'd her readily to do it, and accordingly goes to the House to see if the Gentleman was in Town.
The next Day, she comes to my Governess and tells her, that Sir – was at Home, but that he had met with a Disaster and was veryill, and there was no speaking to him; what Disaster, says my Governess hastily, as if she was surpriz'd at it? Why, says her Friend, he had been at Hampstead to Visit a Gentleman of his Acquaintance, and as he came back again he was set upon and Robb'd! and having got a little Drink too, as they suppose, the Rogues abus'd him, and he is very ill: Robb'd! says my Governess, and what did they take from him; why, says her Friend, they took his Gold Watch, and his Gold Snuff-box, his fine Perriwig, and what Money he had in his Pocket, which was considerable to be sure, for Sir – never goes without a Purse of Guineas about him.
Pshaw! says myold Governess Jeering, I warrant you, he has got Drunk now and got a Whore, and she has pick'd his Pocket, and so he comes Home to his Wife and tells her he has been robb'd; that's an old Sham, a thousand such Tricks are put upon the poor Women every Day.
FYE, says her Friend, I find you don't know Sir –, why, he is as Civil a Gentleman, there is not a finer man, nor a soberer, modester Person in the whole City; he abhors such things, there's no Body that knows him will think such a thing of him: Well, well, says my Governess, that's none of my Business, if it was, I warrant I should find there was something of that in it; your modest Men in common Opinion are sometimes no better than other People, only they keep a better Character, or if you please, are the better Hypocrites.
No, no, says her Friend, I can assure you Sir – is no Hypocrite, he is really an honest, sober Gentleman, and he has certainly been Robb'd: Nay, says my Governess, it may be he has, it is no Business of mine I tell you; Ionly want to speak with him, my Business is of another Nature; but, says her Friend, let your Business be of what nature it will, you cannot see him yet, for he is not fit to be seen, for he is very ill, and bruis'd very much: Ay, says my Governess, nay then he has fallen into bad Hands to be sure; and then she ask'd gravely, pray where is he bruised? Why in his Head, says her Friend, and one of his Hands, and his Face, for they us'd him barbarously. Poor Gentleman, says my Governess, I must wait then till he recovers, and adds, I hope it will not be long.
Away she comes to me and tells me this story, I have found out your fine Gentleman, and a fine Gentleman he was, says she, but, Mercy on him, he is in a sad Pickle now, I wonder what the D – l you have done to him; why you have almost kill'd him: I look'd at her with disorder enough; I kill'd him! says I, you must mistake the Person, I am sure I did nothing to him, he was very well when I left him, said I, only drunk and fast asleep; I know nothing of that, says she, but he is in a sad pickle now, and so she told me all that her Friend had said: Well then, says I, he fell into bad Hands after I left him, for I left him safe enough.
About ten Days after, my Governess goes again to her Friend, to introduce her to this Gentleman; she had enquir'd otherways in the mean time, and found that he was about again, so she got leave to speak with him.
She was a Woman of an admirable Address, and wanted no Body to introduce her; she told her Tale much better than I shall be able to tell it for her, for she was Mistress of her Tongue, as I said already: She told him that she came, tho' a Stranger, with a single design of doing him a Service, and he should find she had no other End in it; that as she came purely on so Friendly an Account, she beg'd a promise from him, that if he did not accept what she should officiously propose, he would not take it ill that she meddl'd with what was not her Business; she assur'd him that as what she had to say was a Secret that belong'd to him only, so whether he accepted her offer or not, it should remain a Secret to all the World, unless he expos'd it himself; nor should his refusing her Service in it, make her so little show her Respect, as to do him the least Injury, so that he should be entirely at liberty to act as he thought fit.
He look'd very shy at first, and said he knew nothing that related to him that requir'd much secresie; that he had never done any Man any wrong, and car'd not what any Body might say of him; that it was no part of his Character to be unjust to any Body, nor could he imagine in what any Man cou'd render him any Service; but that if it was as she said, he could not take it ill from any one that should endeavour to serve him; and so, as it were, left her at liberty either to tell him, or not to tell him, as she thought fit.
She found him so perfectly indifferent, that she was almost afraid to enter into the point with him; but however, after some other Circumlocutions, she told him, that by a strange and unaccountable Accident she came to have a particular knowledge of the late unhappy Adventure he had fallen into; and that in such a manner, that there was no Body in the World but herself and him, that were acquainted with it, no not the very Person that was with him.
He look'd a little angrily at first, what Adventure? said he; why Sir, said she, of your being Robb'd coming from Knightsbr–, Hampstead, Sir I should say, says she: be not surpris'd, Sir, says she, that I am able to tell you every step you took that Day from the Cloyster in Smithfield, to the Spring-garden at Knightsbridge, and thence to the – in the Strand, and how you were left asleep in the Coach afterwards; I say let not this surprize you, for Sir I do not come to make a Booty of you, I ask nothing of you, and I assure you the Woman that was with you knows nothing who you are, and never shall; and yet perhaps I may serve you farther still, for I did not come barely to let you know, that I was inform'd of these things, as if I wanted a Bribe to conceal them; assure your self, Sir, said she, that whatever you think fit to do or say to me, it shall be all a secret as it is, as much as if I were in my Grave.
He was astonish'd at her Discourse, and said gravely to her, Madam, you are a Stranger to me, but it is very unfortunate, that you should be let into the Secret of the worst action of my Life, and a thing that I am justly a sham'd of, in which the only satisfaction I had was, that I thought it was known only to God and my own Conscience: Pray, Sir, says she, do not reckon the Discovery of it to me, to be any part of your Misfortune; it was a thing, I believe, you were surprised into, and perhaps the Woman us'd some Art to prompt you to it; however, you will never find any just Cause, said she, to repent that I came to hear of it; nor can your Mouth be more silent in it than I have been, and ever shall be.
Well, says he, but let me do some Justice to the Woman too, whoever she is, I do assure you she prompted me to nothing, she rather declin'd me; it was my own Folly and Madness that brought me into it all, ay and brought her into it too; I must give her her due so far: As to what she took from me, I cou'd expect no less from her in the condition I was in, and to this Hour I know not whether she Robbed me or the Coachman; if she did it I forgive her, I think all Gentlemen that do so, should be us'd in the same manner; but I am more concern'd for some other things, than I am for all that she took from me.
My Governess now began to come into the whole matter, and he open'd himself freely to her; first, she said to him, in answer to what he had said about me, I am glad Sir you are so just to the Person that you were with; I assure you she is a Gentlewoman, and no Woman of the Town; and however you prevail'd with her as you did, I am sure 'tis not her Practice; you run a great venture indeed, Sir, but if that be part of your Care, you may be perfectly easie, for I do assure you no Man has touch'd her, before you, since her Husband; and he has been dead now almost eight Year.
It appear'd that this was his Grievance, and that he was in a very great fright about it; however, when my Governess said this to him, he appeared very well pleas'd; and said, well, Madam, to be plain with you, if I was satisfy'd of that, I should not so much value what I lost; for as to that, the Temptation was great, and perhaps she was poor and wanted it: If she had not been poor Sir says she, I assure you she would never have yielded to you; and as her Poverty first prevail'd with her to let you do as you did, so the same Poverty prevail'd with her to pay her self at last, when she saw you was in such a Condition, that if she had not done it, perhaps the next Coachman or Chairman might have done it more to your Hurt.
Well, says he, much good may it do her; I say again, all the Gentlemen that do so, ought to be us'd in the same manner, and then they would be cautious of themselves; I have no more concern about it, but on the score which you hinted at before: Here he entred into some freedoms with her on the Subject of what pass'd between us, which are not so proper for a Woman to write, and the great Terror that was upon his Mind with relation to his Wife, for fear she should have receiv'd any Injury from me, and should communicate it farther; and ask'd her at last if she cou'd not procure him an opportunity to speak with me; my Governess gave him farther assurances of my being a Woman clear from any such thing, and that he was as entirely safe in that respect, as he was with his own Lady; but as for seeing me, she said it might be of dangerous Consequence; but however, that she would talk with me, and let him know; endeavouring at the same time to perswade him not to desire it, and that it cou'd be of no Service to him; seeing she hop'd he had no desire to renew the Correspondence, and that on my account it was a kind of putting my Life in his Hands.
He told her, he had a great desire to see me, that he would give her any assurances that were in his Power, not to take any Advantages of me, and that in the first place he would give me a general release from all Demands of any kind; she insisted how it might tend to farther divulging the Secret, and might be injurious to him, entreating him not to press for it, so at length he desisted.
They had some Discourse upon the Subject of the things he had lost, and he seem'd to be very desirous of his Gold Watch, and told her if she cou'd procure that for him, he would willingly give as much for it, as it was worth; she told him she would endeavour to procure it for him and leave the valuing it to himself.
Accordingly the next Day she carried the Watch, and he gave her 30 Guineas for it, which was more than I should have been able to make of it, tho' it seems it cost much more; he spoke something of his Perriwig, which it seems cost him three-score Guineas, and his Snuff-box, and in a few Days more, she carried them too; which oblig'd him very much, and he gave her Thirty more, the next Day I sent him his fine Sword, and Cane gratis, and demanded nothing of him, but had no mind to see him, unless he might be satisfy'd I knew who he was, which he was not willing to.
Then he entered into a long Talk with her of the manner how she came to know all this matter; she form'd a long Tale of that part; how she had it from one, that I had told the whole Story to, and that was to help me dispose of the Goods; and this Confident brought Things to her, she being by Profession a Pawn-Broker; and she hearing of his Worship's disaster, guess'd at the thing in general; that having gotten the Things into her Hands, she had resolv'd to come and try as she had done: She then gave him repeated Assurances that it should never go out of her Mouth, and tho' she knew the Woman very well, yet she had not let her know, meaning me, any thing of who the Person was, which by the way was false; but however it was not to his Damage, for I never open'd my Mouth of it to any Body.
I had a great many Thoughts in my Head about my seeing him again, and was often sorry that I had refus'd it; I was perswaded that if I had seen him, and let him know that I knew him, I should have made some Advantage of him, and perhaps have had some Maintenance from him; and tho' it was a Life wicked enough, yet it was not so full of Danger as this I was ingag'd in: However those Thoughts wore off, and I declin'd seeing him again, for that Time; but my Governess saw him often, and he was very kind to her, giving her something almost every time he saw her; one time in particular she found him very Merry, and as she thought he had some Wine in his Head then, and he press'd her again to let him see that Woman, that, as he said, had bewitch'd him so that Night; my Governess, who was from the Beginning for my seeing him, told him, he was so desirous of it, that she could almost yield to it, if she could prevail uponme; adding that if he would please to come to her House in the Evening, she would endeavour it, upon his repeated Assurances of forgetting what was past.
Accordingly she came to me and told me all the Discourse; in short, she soon byass'd me to consent, in a Case which I had some regret in my Mind for declining before; so I prepar'd to see him; I dress'd me to all the Advantage possible I assure you, and for the first time us'd a little Art, I say for the first Time, for I had never yielded to the baseness of Paint before, having always had Vanity enough to believe I had no need of it.
At the Hour appointed he came; and as she observ'd before, so it was plain still, that he had been drinking, tho' very far from what we call being in Drink: He appear'd exceeding pleas'd to see me, and enter'd into a long Discourse with me, upon the old Affair; I beg'd his Pardon very often, for my Share of it, protested I had not any such Design when first I met him, that I had not gone out with him, but that I took him for a very civil Gentleman, and that he made me so many Promises of offering no Uncivility to me.
He alledg'd the Wine he drank, and that he scarce knew what he did, and that if it had not been so, he should never have taken the freedom with me he had done: He protested to me that he never touch'd any Woman but me, since he was marry'd to his Wife, and it was a Surprize upon him; Complimented me upon being so particularly agreeable to him, and the like, and talk'd so much of that kind, 'till I found he had talk'd himself almost into a Temper to do the thing again: But I took him up short, I protested I had never suffer'd any Man to touch me since my Husband died, which was near eight Year; he said he believ'd it; and added, that Madam, had intimated as much to him, and that it was his Opinion of that part which made him desire to see me again; and since he had once broken in upon his Virtue with me, and found no ill Consequences, he could be safe in venturing again; and so in short he went on, to what I expected, and to what will not bear relating.
My old Governess had foreseen it, as well as I, and therefore led him into a Room which had not a Bed in it, and yet had a Chamber within it, which had a Bed, whither we withdrew for the rest of the Night, and in short, after some time being together; he went to Bed, and lay there all Night, I withdrew, but came again undress'd before it was Day, and lay with him the rest of the Time.
Thus you see having committed a Crime once, is a sad Handle to the committing of it again; all the Reflections wear off when the Temptation renews itself; had I not yielded to see him again, the corrupt Desire in him had worn off, and 'tis very probable he had never fallen into it, with any Body else, as I really believe he had not done before.
When he went away, I told him I hop'd he was satisfy'd he had not been robb'd again; he told me he was fully satisfy'd in that Point; and putting his Hand in his Pocket gave me five Guineas, which was the first Money I had gain'd that way for many Years.
I had several Visits of the like Kind from him, but he never came into a settled way of Maintenance, which was what I would have been best pleas'd with: Once, indeed, he ask'd me how I didtolive, I answer'd him pretty quick, that I assur'd him I had never taken that Course that I took with him; but that indeed I work'd at my Needle, and could just Maintain my self, that sometimes it was as much as I was able to do, and I shifted hard enough.
He seem'd to reflect upon himself, that he should be the first Person to lead me into that, which he assur'd me he never intended to do himself; and it touch'd him a little, he said, that he should be the Cause of his own Sin, and mine too: He would often make just Reflections, also upon the Crime itself, and upon the particular Circumstances of it, with respect to himself; how Wine introduc'd the Inclinations, how the Devil led him to the Place, and found out an Object to tempt him, and he made the Moral always himself.
When these Thoughts were upon him, he would go away, and perhaps not come again in a Months time or longer; but then as the serious Part wore off, the lewd Part would wear in, and then he came prepar'd for the wicked Part; thus we liv'd for some Time; tho' he did not KEEP, as they call it, yet he never fail'd doing things that were handsome, and sufficient to maintain me without Working, and which was better, without following my old Trade.
But this Affair had its End too; for after about a Year, I found that he did not come so often as usual, and at last he left it off altogether without any Dislike, or bidding adieu; and so there was an End of that short Scene of Life, which added no great Store to me, only to make more Work for Repentance.
During this Interval, I confin'd my self pretty much at Home; at least being thus provided for, I made no Adventures, no not for a Quarter of a Year after; but then finding the Fund fail, and being loath to spend upon the main Stock, I began to think of my old Trade, and to look abroad into the Street; and my first Step was lucky enough.
I had dress'd myself up in a very mean Habit, for as I had several Shapes to appear in, I was now in an ordinary Stuff Gown, a blue Apron and a Straw Hat; and I plac'd myself at the Door of the three Cups Inn in St. John's-street: There were several Carriers us'd the Inn, and the Stage Coaches for Barnet, for Toteridge, and other Towns that Way, stood always in the Street, in the Evening, when they prepar'd to set out; so that I was ready for any thing that offer'd: The Meaning was this, People come frequently with Bundles and small Parcels to those Inns, and call for such Carriers, or Coaches as they want; to carry them into the Country; and there generally attends Women, Porter's Wives or Daughters, ready to take in such things for the People that employ them.
It happen'd very odly that I was standing at the Inn-Gate, and a Woman that stood there before, and which was the Porter's Wife belonging to the Barnet Stage Coach, having observ'd me, ask'd if I waited for any of the Coaches; I told her yes, I waited for my Mistress, that was coming to go to Barnet; she ask'd me who was my Mistress, and I told her any Madam's Name that came next me; but it seem'd I happen'd upon a Name, a Family of which Name liv'd at Hadly near Barnet.
I said no more to her, or she to me a good while, but by and by, some Body calling her at a Door a little way off, she desir'd me that if any Body call'd for the Barnet Coach, I would step and call her at the House, which it seems was an Ale-house; I said yes, very readily, and away she went.
She was no sooner gone; but comes a Wench and a Child, puffing and sweating, and asks for the Barnet Coach, I answer'd presently, here. Do you belong to the Barnet Coach? says she. Yes, Sweetheart, said I, What do you want? I want Room for two Passengers, says she. Where are they Sweetheart? said I. Here's this Girl, pray let her go into the Coach, says she, and I'll go and fetch my Mistress; make haste then Sweet-heart, says I, for we may be full else. The Maid had a great Bundle under her Arm; so she put the Child into the Coach; and I said, you had best put your Bundle into the Coach too; No, said she, I am afraid some Body should slip it away from the Child; give it me then, said I; take it then, says she, and be sure you take care of it; I'll answer for it, said I, if it were Twenty Pound vallue. There take it then, says she, and away she goes.
As soon as I got the Bundle, and the Maid was out of Sight, I goes on towards the Ale-house, where the Porter's Wife was, so that if I met her, I had then only been going to give her the Bundle and to call her to her Business, as if I was going away, and could stay no longer; but as I did not meet her I walk'd away, and turning into Charter-house-Lane, made off thro' Charter-house-Yard, into Long-Lane, then into Bartholomew-Close, so into Little Britain, and thro' the Blue-Coat-Hospital, to Newgate-Street.
To prevent being known, I pull'd off my blue Apron, and wrapt the Bundle in it, which was made up in a Piece of painted Callico; I also wrapt up my Straw Hat in it, and so put the Bundle upon my Head; and it was very well, that I did thus, for coming thro' the Blue-Coat-Hospital, who should I meet but the Wench, that had given me the Bundle to hold; it seems she was going with her Mistress, who she had been to fetch to the the Barnet Coaches.
I saw she was in hast, and I had no Business to stop her; so away she went, and I brought my Bundle safe to my Governess; there was no Money, Plate, or Jewels in it; but a very good Suit of Indian Damask, a Gown and Petticoat, a lac'd Head and Ruffles of very good Flanders Lace, and some other Things, such as I knew very well the Value of.
This was not indeed, my own Invention, but was given me by one that had practis'd it with Success, and my Governess lik'd it extreamly; and indeed, I try'd it again several times, tho' never twice near the same Place; for the next time I try'd in White Chappel, just by the corner of Petti-Coat-Lane, where the Coaches stand that go out to Stratford and Bow, and that Side of the Country; and another time at the Flying-Horse without Bishopsgate, where the Cheston Coaches then lay, and I had always the good Luck to come off with some Booty.
Another time I placed myself at a Warehouse by the Water-side, where the Coasting Vessels from the North come, such as New-Castle upon Tyne, Sunderland, and other Places; here the Warehouse, being shut, comes a young Fellow with a Letter; and he wanted a Box, and a Hamper that was come from New-Castle upon Tyne, I ask'd him if he had the Marks of it, so he shows me the Letter, by Vertue of which he was to ask for it, and which gave an Account of the Contents, the Box being full of Linnen, and the Hamper full of Glass-Ware; I read the Letter, and took Care to see the Name, and the Marks, the Name of the Person that sent the Goods, and the Name of the Person they were sent to; then I bad the Messenger come in the Morning, for that the Warehouse-Keeper would not be there any more that Night.
Away went I, and wrote a Letter from Mr. John Richardson of New-Castle to his dear Cousin Jemy Cole, in London, with an Account that he had sent by such a Vessel (for I remembered all the Particulars to a Tittle), so many Pieces of Huckaback Linnen, and so many Ells of Dutch Holland, and the Like, in a Box, and a Hamper of Flint-Glasses from Mr. Henzill's Glass-house; and that the Box was marked I.C. No. 1., and the Hamper was directed by a Label on the Cording.
About an hour after, I came to the Warehouse, found the Warehouse-Keeper, and had the Goods deliver'd me without any Scruple; the Value of the Linnen being about 22 Pound.
I could fill up this whole Discourse with the Variety of such Adventures, which daily Invention directed to, and which I manag'd with the utmost Dexterity, and always with Success.
At length, as when does the Pitcher come safe Home that goes so often to the Well, I fell into some Broils, which tho' they could not affect me fatally, yet made me known, which was the worst thing next to being found Guilty, that could befal me.
I had taken up the Disguise of a Widow's Dress; it was without any real Design in View, but only waiting for any thing that might offer, as I often did: It happen'd that while I was going along a Street in Covent-Garden, there was a great Cry of stop Thief, stop Thief; some Artists had it seems put a Trick upon a Shop-keeper, and being pursued, some of them fled one way, and some another; and one of them was, they said, dress'd up in Widow's Weeds, upon which the Mob gather'd about me, and some said I was the Person, others said no, immediately came the Mercer's Journey-man, and he swore aloud I was the Person, and so seiz'd on me; however, when I was brought back by the Mob to the Mercer's Shop, the Master of the House said freely that I was not the Woman; and would have let me go immediately; but another fellow said gravely, pray stay till Mr. –, meaning the Journeyman, comes back, for he knows her; so they kept me near half an Hour; they had call'd a Constable, and he stood in the Shop as my Jayler; in talking with the Constable I enquir'd where he liv'd, and what Trade he was; the Man not apprehending in the least what happen'd afterwards, readily told me his Name, and where he liv'd; and told me as a Jest, that I might be sure to hear of his Name when I came to the Old-Bayly.
The Servants likewise us'd me saucily, and had much ado to keep their Hands off me, the Master indeed was civiler to me than they; but he would not let me go, tho' he own'd I was not in his Shop before.
I began to be a little surly with him, and told him I hop'd he would not take it ill, if I made my self amends upon him another time; and desir'd I might send for Friends to see me have right done: No, he said, he could give no such liberty, I might ask it when I came before the Justice of Peace, and seeing I threaten'd him, he would take care of me in the mean time, and would lodge me safe in Newgate: I told him it was his time now, but it would be mine by and by, and govern'd my Passion as well as I was able, however, I spoke to the Constable to call me a Porter, which he did, and then I call'd for Pen, Ink, and Paper, but they would let me have none; I ask'd the Porter his Name, and where he liv'd, and the poor Man told it me very willingly; I bad him observe and remember how I was treated there; that he saw I was detain'd there by Force; I told him I should want him in another Place, and it should not be the worse for him to speak; the Porter said he would serve me with all his Heart; but, Madam, says he, let me hear them refuse to let you go, then I may be able to speak the plainer.
With that, I spoke aloud to the Master of the Shop, and said, Sir, you know in your own Conscience that I am not the Person you look for, and that I was not in your Shop before, therefore I demand that you detain me here no longer, or tell me the reason of your stopping me; the Fellow grew surlier upon this than before, and said he would do neither till he thought fit; very well, said I to the Constable and to the Porter, you will be pleas'd to remember this, Gentlemen, another time; the Porter said, yes, Madam, and the Constable began not to like it, and would have perswaded the Mercer to dismiss him, and let me go, since, as he said, he own'd I was not the Person; Good Sir, says the Mercer to him Tauntingly, are you a Justice of Peace, or a Constable? I charg'd you with her, pray do your Duty: The Constable told him a little mov'd, but very handsomely, I know my duty, and what I am, Sir; I doubt you know hardly what you are doing; they had some other hard words, and in the mean time the Journey-men, impudent and unmanly to the last degree, used me barbarously, and one of them, the same that first seiz'd upon me, pretended he would search me, and began to lay Hands on me: I spit in his Face, call'd out to the Constable, and bad him take notice of my usage; and pray, Mr. Constable, said I, ask that Villain's Name, pointing to the Man; the Constable reprov'd him decently, told him that he did not know what he did, for he knew that his Master acknowledg'd I was not the Person; and says the Constable, I am afraid your Master is bringing himself and me too into Trouble, if this Gentlewoman comes to prove who she is, and where she was, and it appears that she is not the Woman you pretend to; Dam her, says the Fellow again, with an impudent harden'd Face, she is the Lady you may depend upon it, I'll swear she is the same Body that was in the Shop, and that I gave the pieces of Satin that is lost into her own Hand, you shall hear more of it when Mr. William and Mr. Anthony, those were other Journeymen, come back, they will know her again as well as I.
Just as the insolent Rogue was talking thus to the Constable, comes back Mr. William and Mr. Anthony, as he call'd them, and a great Rabble with them, bringing along with them the true Widow that I was pretended to be; and they came sweating and blowing into the Shop, and with a great deal of Triumph dragging the poor Creature in a most butcherly manner up towards their Master, who was in the back Shop, and they cry'd out aloud, here's the Widow, Sir, we have catched her at last; what do you mean by that, says the Master, why we have her already, there she sits, and Mr.–– says he can swear this is she: The other Man who they call'd Mr. Anthony reply'd; Mr.–– may say what he will, and swear what he will, but this is the Woman, and there's the Remnant of Sattin she stole, I took it out of her Cloaths with my own Hand.
I now began to take a better Heart, but smil'd and said nothing; the Master look'd Pale; the Constable turn'd about and look'd at me; let 'em alone, Mr. Constable, said I, let' em go on; the Case was plain and could not be denied, so the Constable was charg'd with the right Thief, and the Mercer told me very civily he was sorry for the Mistake, and hop'd I would not take it ill; that they had so many Things of this nature put upon them every Day, that they could not be blam'd for being very sharp in doing themselves Justice: Not take it ill, Sir, said I; how can I take it well? if you had dismiss'd me when your insolent Fellow seiz'd on me in the Street, and brought me to you; and when you yourself acknowledg'd I was not the Person, I wou'd have put it by, and not have taken it ill, because of the many ill things I believe you have put upon you daily; but your Treatment of me since has been unsufferable, and especially that of your Servant, I must and will have Reparation for that.
Then he began to parly with me, said he would make me any reasonable Satisfaction, and would fain have had me told him what it was I expected; I told him I should not be my own Judge, the Law should decide it for me, and as I was to be carried before a Magistrate, I should let him hear there what I had to say; he told me there was no occasion to go before the Justice now, I was at liberty to go where I pleased, and calling to the Constable told him, he might let me go, or I was discharg'd; the Constable said calmly to him, Sir, you ask'd me just now, if I knew whether I was a Constable or a Justice, and bad me do my Duty, and charg'd me with this Gentlewoman as a Prisoner; now Sir, I find you do not understand what is my Duty, for you would make me a Justice indeed; but I must tell you it is not in my Power: I may keep a Prisoner when I am charg'd with him, but 'tis the Law and the Magistrate alone that can discharge that Prisoner; therefore 'tis a Mistake Sir, I must carry her before a Justice now, whether you think well of it or not: The Mercer was very high with the Constable at first; but the Constable happening to be not a hir'd Officer, but a good, Substantial kind of Man, I think he was a Corn-chandler, and a Man of good Sense stood to his Business, would not discharge me without going to a Justice of the Peace, and I insisted upon it too: When the Mercer see that; well, says he to the Constable, you may carry her where you please, I have nothing to say to her; but Sir, says the Constable, you will go with us, I hope, for 'tis you that charg'd me with her; no not I, says the Mercer, I tell you, I have nothing to say to her: But pray Sir do, says the Constable, I desire it of you for your own sake, for the Justice can do nothing without you: Prithee Fellow, says the Mercer, go about your Business, I tell you I have nothing to say to the Gentlewoman, I charge you in the King's Name to dismiss her: Sir, says the Constable, I find you don't know what it is to be a Constable, I beg of you don't oblige me to be rude to you: I think I need not, you are rude enough already, says the Mercer: No, Sir, says the Constable, I am not rude, you have broken the Peace in bringing an honest Woman out of the Street, when she was about her lawful Occasions, confining her in your Shop, and ill using her here by your Servants; and now can you say I am rude to you? I think I am civil to you in not commanding you in the King's Name to go with me, and charging every Man I see, that passes your Door, to aid and assist me in carrying you by Force; this you know I have power to do, and yet I forbear it, and once more entreat you to go with me: Well, he would not for all this, and gave the Constable ill Language: However, the Constable kept his Temper, and would not be provok'd; and then I put in and said, come, Mr. Constable let him alone, I shall find ways enough to fetch him before a Magistrate, I don't fear that; but there's that Fellow, says I, he was the Man that seized on me, as I was innocently going along the Street, and you are a Witness of his Violence with me since, give me leave to charge you with him, and carry him before a Justice; yes, Madam, says the Constable; and turning to the Fellow, come young Gentleman, says be to the Journeyman, you must go along with us, I hope you are not above the Constable's Power, tho' your Master is.
The Fellow look'd like a condemn'd Thief, and hung back, then look'd at his Master, as if he cou'd help him; and he, like a Fool, encourag'd the Fellow to be rude, and he truly resisted the Constable, and push'd him back with a good Force when he went to lay hold on him, at which the Constable knock'd him down, and call'd out for help, immediately the Shop was fill'd with People, and the Constable seiz'd the Master and Man, and all his Servants.
The first ill Consequence of this Fray was, that the Woman, who was really the Thief, made off, and got clear away in the Crowd; and two others that they had stop'd also, whether they were really Guilty or not, that I can say nothing to.
By this time some of his Neighbours having come in, and seeing how things went, had endeavour'd to bring the Mercer to his Senses; and he began to be convinc'd that he was in the wrong; and so at length we went all very quietly before the Justice, with a Mob of about 500 People at our Heels; and all the way we went I could hear the People ask what was the matter? and others reply and say, a Mercer had stop'd a Gentlewoman instead of a Thief, and had afterwards taken the Thief, and now the Gentlewoman had taken the Mercer, and was carrying him before the Justice; this pleas'd the People strangely, and made the Crowd encrease, and they cry'd out as they went, which is the Rogue? which is the Mercer? and especially the Women, then when they saw him they cryed out, that's he, that's he; and every now and then came a good dab of Dirt at him; and thus we march'd a good while, till the Mercer thought fit to desire the Constable to call a Coach to protect himself from the Rabble; so we Rode the rest of the way, the Constable and I, and the Mercer and his Man.
When we came to the Justice, which was an ancient Gentleman in Bloomsbury, the Constable giving first a summary account of the Matter, the Justice bad me speak, and tell what I had to say; and first he asked my Name, which I was very loath to give, but there was no remedy, so I told him my Name was Mary Flanders, that I was a Widow, my Husband being a Sea Captain, dyed on a Voyage to Virginia; and some other Circumstances I told, which he cou'd never contradict, and that I lodg'd at present in Town, with such a Person, naming my Governess; but that I was preparing to go over to America, where my Husband's Effects lay, and that I was going that Day to buy some Cloaths to put my self into second Mourning, but had not yet been in any Shop, when that Fellow, pointing to the Mercer's Journeyman came rushing upon me with such fury, as very much frighted me, and carried me back to his Master's Shop; where tho' his Master acknowledg'd I was not the Person; yet he would not dismiss me, but charg'd a Constable with me.
Then I proceeded to tell how the Journeymen treated me; how they would not suffer me to send for any of my Friends; how afterwards they found the real Thief, and took the Goods they had Lost upon her, and all the particulars as before.
Then the Constable related his Case; his Dialogue with the Mercer about Discharging me, and at last his Servants refusing to go with him, when I had Charg'd him with him, and his Master encouraging him to do so; and at last his striking the Constable, and the like, all as I have told it already.
The Justice then heard, the Mercer and his Man; the Mercer indeed made a long Harangue of the great loss they have daily by the Lifters and Thieves; that it was easy for them to Mistake, and that when he found it, he would have dismiss'd me, &c. as above, as to the Journeyman he had very little to say, but that he pretended other of the Servants told him, that I was really the Person.
Upon the whole, the Justice first of all told me very courteously I was discharg'd; that he was very sorry that the Mercer's Man should in his eager pursuit have so little Discretion, as to take up an innocent Person for a guilty; that if he had not been so unjust as to detain me afterwards; he believ'd I would have forgiven the first Affront; that however it was not in his Power to award me any Reparation, other, than by openly reproving them, which he should do; but he suppos'd I would apply to such Methods as the Law directed; in the mean time he would bind him over.
But as to the Breach of the Peace committed by the Journeyman, he told me he should give me some satisfaction for that, for he should commit him to Newgate for Assaulting the Constable, and for Assaulting of me also.
Accordingly he sent the Fellow to Newgate, for that Assault, and his Master gave Bail, and so we came away; but I had the satisfaction of seeing the Mob wait upon them both, as they came out, Holooing, and throwing Stones and Dirt at the Coaches they rode in, and so I came Home.
After this hustle, coming home, and telling my Governess the Story, she falls a Laughing at me; Why are you so merry, says I? the Story has not so much Laughing room in it, as you imagine; I am sure I have had a great deal of Hurry and Fright too, with a Pack of ugly Rogues. Laugh, says my Governess, I laugh Child to see what a lucky Creature you are; why this Jobb will be the best Bargain to you, that ever you made in your Life, if you manage it well: I warrant you, you shall make the Mercer pay 500l. for Damages, besides what you shall get of the Journeyman.
I had other Thoughts of the Matter than she had; and especially, because I had given in my Name to the Justice of Peace; and I knew that my Name was so well known among the People at Hicks's-Hall, the Old Baily, and such Places, that if this Cause came to be try'd openly, and my Name came to be enquir'd into, no Court would give much Damages, for the Reputation of a Person of such a Character; however, I was oblig'd to begin a Prosecution in Form, and accordingly my Governess found me out a very creditable sort of a Man to manage it, being an Attorney of very good Business, and of good Reputation, and she was certainly in the right of this; for had she employ'd a petty Fogging hedge Solicitor, or a Man not known, I should have brought it to but little.
I met this Attorney, and gave him all the particulars at large, as they are recited above; and he assur'd me, it was a Case, as he said, that he did not Question, but that a Jury would give very considerable Damages; so taking his full Instructions, he began the Prosecution, and the Mercer being Arrested, gave Bail; a few Days after his giving Bail, he comes with his Attorney to my Attorney, to let him know, that he desir'd to Accomodate the matter, that it was all carried on in the Heat of an unhappy Passion; that his Client, meaning me, had a sharp provoking Tongue, and that I us'd them ill, gibbing at them, and jeering them, even while they believed me to be the very Person, and that I had provok'd them, and the like.
My Attorney manag'd as well on my Side; made them believe I was a Widow of Fortune, that I was able to do myself Justice, and had great Friends to stand by me too, who had all made me promise to Sue to the utmost, if it cost me a Thousand Pound, for that the Affronts I had receiv'd were insufferable.
However they brought my Attorney to this, that he promis'd he would not blow the Coals, that if I enclin'd to an Accommodation, he would not hinder me, and that he would rather perswade me to Peace than to War; for which they told him he should be no looser, all which he told me very honestly, and told me that if they offer'd him any Bribe, I should certainly know it; but upon the whole he told me very honestly that if I would take his Opinion – he would Advise me to make it up, with them; for that as they were in a great Fright, and were desirous above all things to make it up, and knew that let it be what it would, they must bear all the Costs; he believed they would give me freely more than any Jury would give upon a Trial: I ask'd him what he thought they would be brought to; he told me he could not tell, as to that; but he would tell me more when I saw him again.
Some time after this, they came again, to know if he had talk'd with me: He told them he had, that he found me not so Averse to an Accommodation as some of my Friends were, who resented the Disgrace offer'd me, and set me on; that they blow'd the Coals in secret, prompting me to Revenge, or to do myself Justice, as they call'd it; so that he could not tell what to say to it; he told them he would do his endeavour to persuade me, but he ought to be able to tell me what Proposal they made: They pretended they could not make any Proposal because it might be made use of against them; and he told them, that by the same Rule he could not make any offers, for that might be pleaded in Abatement of what Damages a Jury might be inclin'd to give: However, after some Discourse and mutual Promises that no Advantage should be taken on either Side, by what was transacted then, or at any other of those Meetings, they came to a kind of a Treaty; but so remote, and so wide from one another, that nothing could be expected from it; for my Attorney demanded 500l. and Charges, and they offer'd 50l.
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