WHEN I had receiv'd your Letter, wherein you are pleas'd to command me to give you the best Account I was able of the Villanous Practices of Bayliffs and their Assistants; the Irregulari­ties of Prisons in General, and the Miseries and Calamities of Poor Debtors in their respective Confinements, I must confess, my wounds be­gan to bleed a fresh, and truly at first sight I could not choose but think, but that your re­quest was very like that of Queen Dido to Aene­as, when she desir'd him to give her tho [...]s [...]d Re­lation of his Ten Years War, together with the destruction of his City and Countrey. But [...], this Notion from a very few second thoughts was soon superseded by another, which I since am sa­tisfied was far more agreeable both to your In­clination and Design. I quickly foresaw that a Person of your Extraordinary Character could not be guilty of the Barbarous Vanity, to Insult [Page 2] and play upon the Agonys of the Unfortunate, but rather that you had some good Design, after you were fully Instructed in these kind of mat­ters, to Propose an Expedient to your Honour­able House for the putting these Affairs in a better Posture. This is indeed a work well Becoming an English Gentleman, especially one of the great Representatives of the Nation; And truely 'tis a subject both of our wonder and sorrow, that it hath unluckily hap'ned to lie so long Unattempted. 'Tis pitty sure that Eng­land, that is the Mistress of the best Laws as well as the best Religion in the Christian world, should suffer such a dangerous Contagion to rage so long in her very Heart and Bowels, without Endeavoring by some means or other to suppress, or at least to curb the Distemper. Well, Sir, I am Mightily Affected with your Generous Design, and since you have been pleased to pitch upon me to give you this Ungrateful Relation, you may Depend upon't, I shall do it very fairly and Impartially, and only Declare to you the pure matters of Fact, and such other Occurrences that have fall'n within the Compass of my own dear bought Experience; but then Sir all this will be too much to be drawn into the narrow Compass of one letter; and therefore for method sake I'll Divide it into particulars, and so continue it from Post to Post till I have finish'd the whole.

BAYLIFFS in General are a sort of De­solute Wretches made up of the Dregs and Refuge of Mankind; they are commonly a kind of Beasts of Prey, that for their Iude and vitious behaviour are Banish'd from the sober Conversation of their fellow Creatures; and sure then 'tis great pitty that such vermine as these, which ought rather to be Chain'd up and driven out from the rest of the World, should be let at large, and withall Entrusted with a priviledg that Entitles them to a larger oppor­tunity then ordinary, to Transact and Propagate their Villanous Practices. Sir, I hope you will not mistake me; I am not Declaiming against or Arraigning the Office of a Bayliff, but the per­sons that Execute it. I confess 'tis highly Expedi­ent there should be such kind of Officers, and truely 'twould be morally Impossible for the Nation to Subsist without some body to Execute [Page 4] the Law in some Cases, but then 'tis very hard that none, or at least very few but Profligate Rogues and Canibals should be singl'd out for such an Employment. I'm confident (with Submission to better Advice) there might be a Medium found out to put the Management of this Affair into sober hands, which would not only be a very great advantage to poor Debtors, but likewise a Considerable ease to Creditors, and a Benefit to the whole Kingdom in General. Sir, I think it will be needless to trouble you with the strange kind of tricks, they use, and the cun­ning stratagems and devices they have to get Men into their Clutches; that's something For­reign to my Purpose, and therefore I will not Insist upon't; But rather proceed to shew you how Basely and Villanously they use them when they have once got them

To go on then, when the Master Bayliff, or Officer (as he terms himself) has got the Writt; why then according to the Nature of the person that is to be Arrested, he immediately whistles for two or three Dogs, or Followers, that are always Lurking about his House upon such occasions; and out he goes, and having bon'd or Nab'd this Defendant (as they call it) why then their next Business is to run him to a Spung­ing House, which is commonly one of their own; and having sixt him there, if they perceive he's a stranger to their Managements, and under any kind of fear or Apprehension of 'em, then they turn in to him a Kennel of deep mouth'd Hell Hounds, that eat and Drink upon him at Discretion; and in the interim another party of [Page 5] Curr's are sent out to hunt the Town to try if they can find any more Creditors that they can by any means Incline or seduce to enter their actions against him; and so having sufficiently gorg'd themselves, the Master of the Ceremonys call's for the Reckoning, which the poor Prisoner is forc'd to pay; be it what it will; and then under Pre­tence of removing him out of sight, &c. They Conduct him to one of their strong Rooms, which they have for such purposes. There the Wretch is left alone, and what's worse, if he call's for Pen, Ink & paper to send to any of his Friends, 'tis ten to one but they open his Letter, and send or not send it as they find it will best answer their Ends. Well, but he must not continue in this kind of Separation long neither, before one of the Gang is sent up to him, who under pretence of a great deal of Civility and Compassion to his misfortune, wheedles and Cajoles him into a Con­fession of his Circumstances: Which he directly Relates to a Cabal of Rogues below, who are all the while debating which way they may make the most of him. Having thus furnish'd themselves with the Nature of his Abilitys, &c▪ another of the surliest Curs in the whole Kennel is sent again to him to put him in mind of a Bar­barous Custom they have, i. e. Civility Money; this Gentleman, with a kind of Unmannerly Im­pudence, Represents to him the dismalness and charge of going to Prison, and withall let's him know that if he doth not Instantly Com­pound with the Officer for his liberty to stay there, That he will in a little time call a Coach and carry him away; and thus having work'd him [Page 6] up to the highest Pitch of Dispair and fear, he leaves him. After these two have Finish'd their Managements, the Officer in Chief soon makes his Appearance. Come Sir, says he, what do you intend to do? I dare not keep you, besides, if I durst, I must live by my business, I can't keep my Servants and my self to wait upon you for nothing. You know our Methods, and if you have a Design to stay here to night, why then let me see some Money from you. Here the poor Man is again forc'd, to speak in their own Dialect, to Lug out, and gives him what he has, or at least what this Unmercifull Governour is pleased to extort from him; upon which Consideration he's Admitted to the favour of being strongly Lock'd and Barrocaded up for that night in a Prison, which in all points is equall, and in some worse then that which according to Law, he ought to be carryed to; but still they have not done with him neither, the next that Attacks him is the good Mistress of the House, but she like an honest Conscientions Woman doth not want much of him, only six or seven Shillings which the Officers men have Drunk below, and two Shillings for his Bed, and then she'll lay on the sheet's; well there's no Remedy, but this must be pay'd too as well as the rest, or else after all, he must to Prison. Well Sir, to make as short of this sad Relation as I can, upon these and some other Terms of the like Nature, he's at last Lock'd up till the next morning, and then they begin to play the former Game over again, till at last finding that they have Wrack'd him as far as the Nature of the thing will bear, they then [Page 7] come to him, and in good Earnest tell him that there are other Actions against him, and that Ʋnless he can raise Money to remove himself to the Fleet or Kings Bench, he must after all pre­pare to go to Prison. From this short Account I Presume you will be able to Judg at the Miser­able Condition of those poor Wretches, whose Misfortunes have thrown them into the Jaws of these kind of Vermine. I shall therefore only trouble you with two or three lines more to shew you likewise how they abuse the Person's that Employ em, and so take my Leave till the next Post. And this they do Cheifly two ways. First, by taking Money to Arrest the Person that is the Debtor; and after, accepting a Bribe from the Creditor, &c. this is a Cheat so common among them; and so well known to every body, that hath been forc'd to make use of them, that I think I need not Enlarge upon it. 'Tis an Act that they pride themselves in, and look upon it as an Ex­traordinary point of Honesty and Civility; In­somuch that I have heard one of the Chiefest Masters of the Order, with a kind of vanity, acknowledg, that if he did not get more by Betray­ing the Creditor, then he did by Arresting the Deb­tor, he could not get bread by the Employment.

The other Trick that they use to Cheat the Creditor out of his money, and Sometimes out of his Debt too, is to Perswade him to lay his Action, notwithstanding he knows the Debtor is resolv'd to bring a Habeas Corpus; nay, I have known some Cunning Debtors my self in such a case, give a Bayliff a List of all the Creditors they were Apprehensive would give them any Trouble, [Page 8] with Directions to go to them and get them to enter their Actions against them, under the Notion, that when once they had made themselves Prisoners in the Fleet or Kings Bench, they would not then think them worth any further trouble. In short, the Villanous Devices, and the Base and Insolent Behaviour of these sort of People, have render'd 'em one of the Greatest Grievances of the Nation, but of this Town more Especially. Sir, I Appeal to your own and to the thoughts of every Considering Man, whether it be not a sad Prospect to see whole Herds of these kind of Creatures Ranging about the Town with Swords by their sides, exactly Answering the Devils Character, Going about seeking whom they may Devour.

To wind up this Unpleasant Narrative; 'Tis Doubtless a very Unlucky case that the Executive part of the Law should be committed to such Hangmen as these. Indeed I can give no other Reas­on for it, but that the Nation hath been yet Insensi­ble of the Inconveniency that attends upon it, or rather have thought it a trifle not worth their Notice. But Sir, since you have been so Gene­rously kind to Embark your self in the Matter, I will not at all question but you will soon bring it to a Happy Issue.

THE Bayliffs that belong to the Sheriff of Mid­dlesex are only permitted to execute the Kings Writts, &c. but then because they cannot hold a person to Bail for a debt under 10 l. they commonly joyn themselves with a brother belonging to the Marshalsea; and these two, together with the as­sistance of 2 or 3 Followers, are a compleat Sett to carry on the worthy Occupation.

Their chief business here (as in all other Counties in England, is to attend upon the She­riff or his Deputy at the Execution of Crimi­nals, as well as to serve his Warrants and levy his Executions; and for this formerly they had their setled Fees and Allowances; and withal, instead of their Swords and Battoons, which they march with now, were oblig'd to carry only a White Wand in their hands, to distinguish them from other persons. How this good Cu­stom came to be worn out and discontinued. I know not; but this I know, that for want of ha­ving [Page 10] their Fees and Dematds fixt, and some sort of means us'd to bridle their Insolence and Ex­travagance, the meaner sort of people are strangely insulted and impos'd upon by 'em.

Well Sir, when one of these sort have Ar­rested their Man, after they have manag'd him as I mentioned in my last, why then he must go to Newgate, which is the chief Goal belonging to the County of Middlesex: And here, Sir, I will beg your favour to stop a little, while I trouble you with a short description of that dis­mal place.

HAving, as I told you in my last, satisfy'd and discharg'd my Obligations to my re­spective Governours, I had still a Curiosity to inspect a little further into the Constitution and Rarities of this Famous Citadel; and according­ly to carry on my design, I took one of the Gen­tlemen of the body to the Tavern, and told him I had a great inclination to be a little more satis­fied in the Manners and Conditions of their House, and withal told him, that if he would do me the favour to shew me the Rest, I would greatify him for his paines; with this he readily compli'd, and immediately goes and fetches the Keys, and leads me first into the Common Side; where I must confess to you I was encounterd with so many dismal Objects, and so many amazing Scenes of horrid misery, that I cannot begin my Relation of 'em without the deepest Reluctancy and Concern. In one part lay an heap of Rogues and Theives, in another a Clump of Whores and Pick-Pockets, and in a [Page 16] Third a Strange Cluster of Whores and Rogues Jumbl'd together, and here and there a poor miserable Debtor was scatter'd amongst 'em, who for want of money to pay his Cham­ber Rent, was turn'd over from the other side. Some were almost naked, others almost starv'd; some were swearing, drinking and blaspheming, others howling and yelping, and lamenting their wretched condition, whilst others were laughing at 'em, and deriding 'em. In short, there was such a constant smoak, such an unwholesome and contagious smell; such a wild Herd of Rude Crea­tnres, and such an unaccountable confusion and dis­order among them, that I was forc'd to speak to my Guide to hasten me out from 'em as fast as he could. The next place he led me to was the Master Felons Apartment: This indeed was a lit­tle better than the former, and but a little; but hither none are admitted but those that have money. Here I confess they did not look quite so deplorable, but bad enough too, and I think their Manners and Behaviour, if possible, are worse than the other. Well, Sir, I had soon my belly full of all these kind of Curiosities; and so I de­sir'd him to let me have a short view of the Press-yard, and then I'd have done with him. When I came there, I must own I was something surpri­zed to find such a great alteration both in the place and persons. The place it self was well enough, only a little obnoxious by an ungrateful stink, which I suppose might be deriv'd to it from the Common Side: The persons had most of 'em the Looks and Carriage of Gentlemen; and, to give 'em their due, behav'd themselves with a [Page 17] great deal of Courtisie and Civility to me as a Stranger. My Guide would have shewed me the Lodgings and the Keeper's house; but these I thought were hardly worth my trouble, and so I desir'd him to go and take another Pint and I'd discharge him. While we were drinking our Pint, I ask'd him several Questions, but parti­cularly concerning the management of Prisoners that were under close Consinement; he told me that was good business indeed, and two or three for a time were enough to set up a Waiter in an Alehouse, but (said he) that's a Mystery we must not disclose, and so I press'd him no further. I ask'd him likewise the nature of their buying off their Fetters, and what might be the ordinary Charge of that? He told me, they always measured that by the Ability and Circumstance of the Person they were to deal with, and had Irons of several sorts and sizes for that purpose. I was puting some other Questions to him concerning the Fees of the Officers of their Family, their Way of Government, and Rules of ordering condemned Persons, &c. but here he smelt me, and so to avoid all future Discourse with some kind of Concern and Jealousie that I had drawn him too far into a Confession and Discovery of their Secrets, he left me.

And now, Sir, I have done with my lamen­table Description of that famous Prison, and yet but only given you a short insight of the Calamities of those unfortuuate Wretches that are forc'd into it. I don't doubt but there are many more aggravating Circumstances attend­ing upon it, sufficient to make it one of the [Page 18] most compleat and exalted Seats of solid and substantial Misery upon the Face of the Earth. However, I am very well assured that I have said enough to shew any sensible Man the Na­ture and Circumstance of the place, and to urge him, if he has any Bowels, to contribute his Assistance towards the Redress of it. But I know the Relation will fall into good hands; and therefore I shall not press it any further, but proceed to give you an Account much of the same kind with the former; which shall be the Substance of my next.

HAVING briefly laid before you the Character of Bailiffs in general, and par­ticularly of those belonging to the Sheriff of Middlesex, together with a short Description of Newgate, I proceed now, in conformity to your Commands, to give you an Account of [Page 19] the Behaviour and Practices of another sort of Vermine, i. e. the Bailiffs that belong to the Marshals Court. These are a sort of Crea­tures that are in all Respects as bad, and in some, a great deal worse than the former; and truly, considering every thing, have a great deal more Opportunity to be so. As to the original Constitution of this Court, I have no­thing to do to enquire into it; only, as I am told, this Court at the beginning was only appointed to determine Causes and Differences between the King's Servants; and that by little and little it hath crowded it self into the Pra­ctice it hath now got; and truly I am very much inclin'd to be of this Opinion, because I cannot find that there is any regular Method established for their Proceedings, especially in the great Case of taking of Bail, which is generally made to the Jaylor, and is so odd a kind of Practice, that it seems to me as if they were at a loss for some body to do this Office for them, and so were forc'd to make use of the Jaylor. What was the original Practice and Constitution of this Court, I con­fess, I am not Master of, neither doth it much matter as to my Purpose; but this I know by woful Experience, that there are more villa­nous Actions commited by the Bailiffs that belong to it than by half of the Kingdom beside.

'Tis a most incredible what a strange number there is of this sort of Creatures, some say Fifteen hundred, some a great many more; in truth, I believe there may be a thousand of [Page 20] them that are Commission Officers, besides Subal­terns and Cadres, viz. Followers and Setters. I have heard a Gentleman say, that hath been long acquainted with them, that if 'twere possible to bring 'em to a general Rondezvouze they could muster at least Three thousand chosen Men, able to draw Swords upon Occasion. Now Sir, who can reflect upon this strange Multitude, and withal consider that they are turn'd loose to prey upon the meaner sort of People only; (for they hare rarely any Business with any but such) but must soon imagine they must needs make a very strange Havock and Destruction among them. Sir, I'll trouble you with a short Relation that happen'd within the Compass of my own Experience: some time before my Misfortunes broke in upon me, the Person in whose house I lodge was seized by one of these Parties for a small Debt of about Thirty Shil­lings that was in dispute between him and a Neighbour; the Man was as honest a repu­table Man as any in the Street, and his Word I believe would have went for a hundred Pound in any part of the Town. Well, but for all this, these Sparks had got him, and the Constitu­tion of this worthy Court must not be broken upon any account; he must either pay the money together with the charge of the Writ and the Arrest, or give Bail, or go to Prison. Upon which he sent for me and another Friend, and so we sign'd a Bail-Bond of 5 l. to indemnify Mr. C—L —, who is the Mr. of the Goal. Their de­mands for the Bail-Bond, &c. tho I fill'd it up my self (for as I remember never a one of those could [Page 21] write) was 4 s. and 6 d. and 3 s. and 6 d. more, which they had suck'd up in the interim, made 8 s. for this Job: but what was worse, my Land­lord being unskill'd in these sort of Practices, & not Feeing an Attorney, according to the Rules of their Court, the very next Friday, which I think was but about 3 days after this Bail Bond was assign'd, and upon the Saturday morning fol­lowing, the former Partizan, with a stronger Detachment came and beat up all our Quarters. Here was my Landlord, his Friend and my self, all arrested at the Suit of Mr. C—L—, and kept in strict Durance for the weighty con­sideration of 30 odd shill. Well, to make up the matter, we sent for the Plantiff, who would have took his Money and given a Discharge, but that, it seems, would not do now, the Ta­bles were turn'd, Mr. Christophea Lowman was the Plantiff, and he must be comprehended in the Articles of Peace, or the War must go on▪ there were several new Fees to be paid, both to the Court and Prison, before we could come to a separate Treaty. In short, the Commander in Chief told us we must give good Guarrantees to answer the Damages that should be awarded against us, and that it was not in the Directions of his Commission to come to any other Terms. Well, there was no Remedy but we must send for some substantial Housekepers to give sepa­rate Bail to the Keeper's Actions, or else we must every one of us, in propria Persona, pre­pare to take a Turn over the Water. To make short of the Matter, we gave fresh Bail, which together with the Spunging, &c. amounted [Page 22] to about 14 s. more. Now Sir, I appeal to your self whether this be not a very hopeful mess of Law, when 6 or 7 Persons must be engag'd, nay, expos'd to such a barbarous Gang of Miscreants as these for the poor Sum of 30 s. But to finish my Relation, my Landlord told me, that beside the Debt, he was above 3 l. out of Pocket before he made a perfect end of the Bus'ness. It seems the Pretence of this Court at the Original was to recover small Debts at easie Rates, and to bring them to a speedy Issue, this 'tis true was the spe­cious pretence that this Court at firstgot a Re­putation by, and this they pretend still; but how well it answers those Ends, I think any man may judge from the Relation aforesaid, as well as from the Sequel of their Practice in Ge­neral; 'tis true, I think, their Writs for 99 s. cost but 2 s. 4 d. and those for 39 s. something less; but what then? they make them Returnable every Court-Day, which is once a Week, and commonly too they crowd in 3 or 4 Names into every one of them, so that when every thing is considered, the Charge of a Writ, and a Suit in that Court, is as expensive as in any Court in Westminster Hall in a Case of Debt. But, Sir, it doth not agree with my Design to give you a particular History of their whole Practice and Proceedings, but only some cursory Hints to let you see in short what a Cluster of Inconve­niencies attend it. As for their Bailiffs, I con­fess I cannot think of a Name bad enough to call 'em by; they are the very Sink and Outcast of Bailiffs themselves, a sort of Creatures so Rave­nous, Wild and Despicable, that some of the better [Page 23] sort of the Masters of this Order are ashamed to herd with 'em. And is not this then a very dismal thing, that such a prodigious Multitude of these intole­rable Vermine should be suffered to prey about among the poor People as they do, and to run in common with them, carrying about Lyes, and setting them upon little Quarrels, &c. that they may force their own Trade, and get an Opportu­nity to lay their Venomous Paws upon 'em; what a sad Object is it to see 4 or 5 of the Ver­mine luging and tearing a poor Wretch, first to the Spunging-house, and then to their Jayl, for an inconsiderable Debt of 10 or 20 s. per­haps leaving the miserable Wife and Children to beg or starve, or to be kept upon the Parish Charge in the Interim: This is the common pra­ctice of every Day; and indeed 'tis almost in­credible to be reported, how many honest Tradesmen and Labourers, poor Widows, aud the like, have been perpetually ruin'd and undone by their Villany. But, Sir, I believe my De­scription of these Matters will be as unpleasant and ungrateful for you to read as they are for me to write, and therefore I'll leave 'em in the Middle, and so carry you to their Prison and shew you a few of the Miseries there too, and then shut up till the next Opportunity.

This Jayl is almost of the same Nature with Newgate, & considering 'tis a common Receptacle for Felons & Pyrates as well as Debtors, you must believe 'tis seldom without good store of Guest. For my part when I saw it, I must own I was much amaz'd at the Multitude that was there, which, as one of the Prisoners told me, was [Page 24] about 160, and near 100 of 'em for small Debts under 5 l.

Whilst I was making my Observations, I was accosted by one of the most deplorable Objects I ever beheld, a Woman almost naked and perish'd, who, as she told me, had been kept in there 17 months, for only calling▪ Mr. B.... the Bailiffs Wife Whore Here they live all together promiscuously all Day, till at Night the Keepers drive 'em into their respective Holes and Caverns. As near as I remember, ther's no Allowance at all for Debtors that are brought in by the Marshals Writs, so that unless they have Money to subsist themselves, they must inevita­bly be starv'd to death. Just as I was making my Exit one of their Partymen brought in an Old Gentlewoman, whereby I had the oppor­tunity of seeing the Garnish Ceremony perform'd. I think they demanded in the whole 6 s. i. e. 1 for Footing, the other 5 for Garnish; but what was worse, it seems she had been a Fort­night at the Bailiffs House before, who had not left her a Farthing to help her self; so that the poor Matron begg'd heartily of her Fellow Prisoners to be excused in that Point, but all would not do, they call a Jury immediately upon her, and from a very shor Consideration bring her in Guilty to the Value of 6 s. and that unless the Master of the Cellar would take her Word she must prepare to strip, &c. But, Sir, I would not tire you with these melancholy Curiosities neither; I have said enough, I pre­sume to let you see what kind of Court and Government this is; there are, indeed, abun­dance [Page 25] of other things that might be mention'd, viz. the extravagant Fees and Demands of the Jaylor and Turn-Keys, and the Tricks and De­vices of the Waitors to extort Money from the poor Prisoner, &c. But I have detain'd you too long already; and therefore I'll take my leave for to night.

SErjeants are generally a sort of over grown Bayliffs, and in their Nature and Practice the very same as they are: Indeed they pretend to a Kind of Superiority, both in their Morals and Honesty, beyond the rest of the Brotherhood; but truly in the course of my Misfortunes I al­ways found them to be Creatures exactly of the same Temper and Species. Their business is chief­ly to attend upon the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs at their Respective Courts at Guild-Hall, at the Sessions House in the Old Bayly, and at the time of Execution of Criminals, and at all other times [Page 26] and places, according as they are commanded; in consideration of which they have a Gown, and some other Fees and Immunities allowed 'em; but this, tho it was Originally the chief business for which they were intended, is become now but only the Shell and Husk of the Office: the Sweet and Profit of it consists in the Execution of Actions and Detachments, and 'tis by the Ex­orbitant Demands and Advantages they make from thence that several of 'em get considerable Estates in a few years. I knew one of them inti­mately, that in less then 12 years purchased 200 l. per ann. Land of Inheritance; How he got it, I need not inform you; but it seems there was some Grumbling in his Gizzard afterwards; for, in a deep Disgust and Dissatisfaction, he quitted the Worthy Occupation, and turn'd Quaker, and in a little time became one of the powerfullest Holders forth in the whole Town. These Gentle­men commonly buy their places of the Mayor or Sheriffs, and so do the Yeomen too, which are a sort of Under Vermine that are joyn'd to 'em to help 'em in their Managements, &c. They generally march out in small Bodies, seldom more than two in a Party, viz. a Serjeant and a Yeoman, unless it be upon great Expeditions; such as are the Storming of a Shop, or the Bom­barding of a Warehouse, or as it was in former Days before a Peace was concluded between them and their Old Enemies the Alsatians. Now I think there's none but the Knights Templers hold out against them, and there truly I saw t'other day a strong Party of 'em handled very scurvily. The manner of it was thus; It seems [Page 27] they had undertaken upon very large Considerations to lay violent Hands upon a certain Gentleman that had thrown himself into the Temple to secure his best [...] Effects, and accordingly finding him in a place where they thought they might make their Attacks upon him with least hazzard, they fell on with a great deal of Fury and Resolution, but truly the Gentle­man perceiving the Enemy upon the Walls, and withal knowing how dangerous it was for him to quit his Fastness, immediately gives the Alarm, the Sentinels soon took it, and in a very few minutes a strong Party from the Garrison came to his Relief; the Fight at first was very bloody and obstinate, and several swinging Bastinadoes were exchanged on both sides, but then the later being every moment recruited with fresh Forces, the former were forc'd to retreat with a runing Fight and leave their Booty behind 'em, and what was worse, two of 'em were taken Prisoners, which according to an ancient Cu­stom in that Garrison were forthwith taken to the Pump, and from thence to the House of Office, and there I'll leave them and go on with my Rela­tion. These Sparks are indeed a limited Num­ber, and withal, are prohibited to arrest any Freman for any Debt under 40 s. They have a Court of Conscience in the City of London for such purposes, where small matters are determined with a great deal of Ease and Moderation; but then for the Foreigners they have no Regard to them, one of them rather than fail may be bon'd and held to Bail for 9 d. and what's worse, be forc'd to give the Gentle­man that does him this Kindness, 5 s. for his [Page 28] Reward, or else he'll put him in the Compter. 'Tis true, the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs do often take 'em in Considertion, and sometimes displace them for their Villany and Extortion; but for all that, I'm confident they generally want to be new regulated as much as those that belong either to the Marshalsea or to the Sheriff of Middlesex. They have their Pretences and Artifices to wrack and screw Money from their Prisoners, under the Notion of Civility as well as they; they have their Spunginghouses and Spungers too, as they have: they can betray the Creditor, and trappan and deceive the Debtor as they can; in brief, they can Swear, Lye, Hector, Domineer and Cheat as well as the best of 'em all, and are in the main a very lewd, dissolute and disorderly Gang. Sir, I would not seem in the least partial, or to repre­sent Men and Things wors' than they are: I must confess there are divers of 'em, that, abstracted from their Office, as Times go now, may pass Muster well enough; but then consider them in their Function, and there's ne'er a Barrel the better Herring, they're all of 'em of a Peice; Money's the grand Game they all Hunt, and have it they will, and they matter not which Way. As to the Rules of their Courts and their Methods of Proceedings, I must own, they are in a great many Particulars very Regu­lar and Expeditions, and withal, I believe, formerly a Suit might be commenc'd and carried quite thorow for a very small Charge, but then they have well improv'd the Business here of late, and drawn up the Fees of their Respective [Page 29] Offices to that unaccountable height, that a small Debt is intirely swallowed up before the Cause is half determined. There are several things which upon a general Enquiry will require a Regulation; but for peace sake I won't men­tion 'em, only these two I cannot pass, viz. their Juries, and their Foreign Pleas. As to their Juries, I cannot help being a little out of humour with some of 'em, especially with their Causecatchers. I mean those Worthy Citizens that have got Estates by being Jurymen, and attend upon it as their ordinary Employment: I'm affraid in­deed there's very often some Daubing in those Cases, and that too many of them know which Way the Case will go before they hear either the Court or the Evidence. I'm told there's a a particular Set of 'em, who to make Matters easie and equal among themselves have wisely agreed, that each should have his Case in his turn. This would be worth enquiring into upon Oc­casion, but at present 'tis out of my Road. And then for their Foreign Pleas, 'tis a barbarous thing, that they should wink at, or rather in­cline Persons to enter their Actions, fee Attor­neys, and perhaps run through the whole charge of their Courts, notwithstanding they know that if the Defendant joins Issue, and pleads that his Debt was contracted out of the Verge of their Jurisdiction, the Plantiff must be nonsuit, and so not only loose all his own Charges, but likewise be obliged to pay his Adversary's too. Well Sir, to make as short of these Matters as I can, they are an equal Composition of good and bad, and if their Rates were reduc'd to their [Page 30] Ancient Custom, we might e'en let 'em rest un­der the Umbrage of an Old Proverb, that when the Old is gone seldom comes a better. But then in the second Place, for their Prisons, there indeed ther's Work enough both for Pity and Regulation: Indeed they are not so often inter­rupted with Thieves and Highwaymen as they are at Newgate and other Jayls, but ex­cepting that, I see very little Difference; their Fees are very extravagant, and their Turnkeys and Ʋnder Officers strangely insolent and unmer­ciful; and for their Common Side, which the poorer Sort are consin'd to, 'tis as fulsom and nauseous, and their Beds and Lodgings as loath­som and wretched as any of the rest, Newgate itself not excepted: 'Tis true, if a Man has Money he may be furnish'd with a tolerable good Lodging in either of the Compters, and so he may in any other Prison about Town; but if his hard Circumstances turn him in common among those that are exposed to live upon the Charity and Customs of the House, why then, were it lawful to wish the Misery and Destruction of an Enemy, we could not consine him to a place better adapted for this purpose than the Com­mon Side in one of these Jayls. Beside the two Compters, there is another Prison belonging to the City of London, i. e. Ludgate; but thither none but Freemen and Clergymen are admitted. This is the best Prison about London, both in Regard to its Endowment and Government, and yet here too, as I'm told, they have lately swell'd their Fees to a very strange Bigness. In short, the Jayls all over England want to be [Page 31] surveyed, and to have their Fees and Demands fix'd, their Endowments restor'd, and their Ancient Customs and Immunities new settled and restablisht.

HAving in my former Letters given you a cursory Account of the base Practices of the Bailiffs and Serjeants in general, and hinted to you some of the most common and material Miscarriages of the London Prisons, I shall now lead you a little further, and briefly expose to you another Sort of Viperous Creatures, which, if possible, are of a Nature and Disposition more venomous and dangerous than the former. These are a kind of Vermin that pass upon the World under the Character of Sollicitors, and usually derive their Original from Superannua­ted Bailiffs, or from other Outcast Wretches, that in Knavish Suits and contentious Wrang­lings have consumed their Estates, and so, are [Page 32] forc'd to turn Rogues and Trappanners to get their last Bread; the Places of their Rendezvous were formerly the Mint and Fryars, but those Constitutions being happily dissolved, they have since been forc'd to Range at venture about Town. The chief Places they frequent now are the Kings-Bench Walk in the Temple, where they ply constantly, but in Term-time especially, that they may be ready to help an honest Client upon Occasion; or at the Grates of the Compters, Marshalsea, Newgate, and other Jayls, where under Pretence of a great deal of Knowledge in the Tricks and Turns of the Law, they inveigle poor Wretches that are ready to ca [...]ch at every Deceitful Twig for Liberty, to fix their Confi­dence and Dependance upon 'em. Sir, it would be the Work of a Volume to descend into Parti­culars, and trace these Varlets through the whole Course of their Villanous Practices, I will only therefore, as in all my former, take notice of a few of their most practical and no­torious Rogueries, from whence you may well enough judge of all the rest. Their chief Busi­ness is Perjury, and this they do to an Hairs breadth; for so much an Oath, they'll swear you through a whole Cause, and, what to an honest Man looks a little strange, do it so nicely and exactly, and withal join the Circumstances and Evidence so well together that I defy the best Counsel of 'em all to catch or trap 'em in it; but then the Person that uses them had best take care too, for if he stops his Hand and does not feed 'em on, or gives 'em any Disgust, 'tis ten to one but they turn Tayl, join the contrary [Page 33] Party, and by some Knavish Stratagem or other come off from what they swore before, and im­pudently turn a Witness on the other side.

This is very ordinary amongst 'em, and to be a good proficient in this useful Art of Changing of Sides, they esteem among them­selves to be one of the most profitable and commendable Qualifications belonging to their Order. Another Inhuman piece of Knavery they have (as I mentioned before) is to cheat and deceive poor Prisoners: If they can once pass the Gates and get in among 'em, they'r safe enough; and first, to initiate themselves, they put on the Looks and Behaviour of Hypocrites, pray and cant nay, rather than fail, shed some Crocodiles Tears which they'r always provided with to colour their Villany. When they have drawn any of the poor Wretches into a Con­ference, why, then the first thing they en­tertain 'em with is, the mighty things they have done for Prisoners in Distress, and all, as they insinuate, in pure Pity and Commiseration to their Condition, without the least Reward or Expectation of Profit or Advantage. Here they pretend they have such a Judge that is their particular Friend and never denies 'em any thing, such an Attorney is their Relation, and will do their Business almost for nothing; such a Judge's Clerk they have obliged by several Kindnesses and Services, and that the Marshal of the Kings Bench and Warden of the Fleet are so much their Slaves and Vassals that they dare not oppose any thing they request of 'em. By such kind of Lyes and Shams as these, back'd by their Hypo­critical [Page 34] Cants and Formalities, 'tis great Odds but some of 'em are catcht. Well, when he finds he has a Bite, he first gives him a little more Line that he may have time enough to pouch the Bait, and when he perceives he's sufficiently hamper'd he prepares by little and little to draw him to Land. Here he must be call'd aside forsooth, and enjoined Secrecy under the For­feiture of his Kindness, and withal, solemnly conjured to make an ample and true Discovery of all his Concerns, by Vertue of which he gets fully Instructed which way to steer his Manage­ments with the most Advantage; when he has sounded him to the very Bottom and finds that his Estate or Effects will answer, he proposes in consideration of some small Matter, which they won't fall out about, to procure him Bail. This he can do well enough, for they have always belonging to their Gang some honest charitable Housekeepers that for a valuable Consideration will bail a man at any time; what if they are not in Strictness of Law worth double the Debt? 'tis all one they'll swear they are, and then there's no refusing, but their Bail must be taken. And here their Came begins, when they have Bail'd the Person, and got him intirely into their own Clutches, then Mr. Solicitor opens the Nature of the Case to him. Sir, says he, you see what we have done for you, you are now at Liberty, and free from the Dismalness and Expence of a Prison and let loose again into the World, and all this is done for you by perfect Strangers; but then, says he, I know you are a man of Sence and Gratitude, and so I need not trouble you with the [Page 35] Nature of the Obligation: Here he calls him aside and directs him what kind of Offers he should make to 'em; if he says he hath no Money, says he, you must raise what you can, and give 'em your Note for the rest; well, when this is complied with, then one of his Worthy Bail begins his part in the Management; Sir, says he, we find you are a very honest civil Gentle­man, and you may depend upon it, that if you should at any time fall into any sort of trouble, if you send for us we'll come and deliver you imme­diately: That we will, says the other Cannibal, but then, considering the Gentleman's an abso­lute Stranger, I think he ought to give us some kind of Security to indemnify us; this is agreed to without doubt, and so a Bond and Judgment, without either Limitation or Defeasance, are forthwith Sign'd and Sealed, and then they have done with him for the present; but still the worst part is behind; 'tis ten to one but by some Villanous Stratagem or other they get themselves arrested upon his Account, and then they have a good Pretence to fall upon him with their Judgment and sweep away all he has, and so the poor Man is ruin'd and undone for ever. But in the second place, when this cruel Varlet finds the Circumstances of the Prisoner too bad, and dangerous for him to be Bail'd, and that there's nothing to be made of him by that experiment, then he tryes another, and advises him to bring a Habeas Corpus, and remove himself to the Fleet or Kings Bench, and he'll go and compound with the Marshall or Warden (both which he perswades him he has at his [Page 36] beck) for his Liberty, and withal, rather than fail, urges him to sell or pawn his Goods, Cloaths, or Working Instruments to raise Mo­ney to defray the Charge. When he has brought this Habeas Corpus, for which he exacts com­monly twice as much as the real Expence of the thing is, and hath fix'd him in one of these Places, he certainly leaves him there to get his Liberty how he can, unless he finds he can make a clandestine Bargain, and cheat him out of 2 or 3 Guineas more by some new sort of Artifice: But then, in the third place, if he find the Prisoner too poor and too far in Debt to be Bail'd, and that his Condition is so very miserable and low that he cannot by any manner of means raise Money to remove himself, then he possesses him that the Action is wrong laid, and if he will summons the Plaintiff before a Judge, by Virtue of a particular Interest there, he need not question but he'll have him discharg'd; upon which Motive the poor Wretch parts with all that he has in the World that should assist him in his miserable Consine­ment, and gives it to him to encourage him to hasten the Business, which when he has once got into his perfidious Paws, 'tis a thousand to one if ever he comes near him any more. Well, when by such kind of Tricks as these they have render'd themselves so hateful and ob­noxious to all the Prisons about Town, that they dare not come near any of 'em for fear of their Pumps or Houses of Office; then they steer to the Old Baily, and endeavour to crowd themselves into the Company of condemned Cri­minals [Page 37] or their Friends and Relations, and tell 'em that if they can raise any Money, they can make an Interest at Court to get their Friend a Pardon or at least a Re­prieve sine Die; this has been a very useful part of their Practice formerly; indeed 'tis a little blown upon at present, and truly I am af­fraid that many a miserable Creature hath been deceived not only out of his Money but his Soul too by it. Sir, their Tricks and Villanies are numberless, and 'twould amuse a sober Man to think what exalted Lying and Impudence they impose upon the World; how strangely and mysteriously they twist themselves into the Secrets and Affairs of poor Debtors, and then how barbarously and perfidiously they sell and betray them to their Creditors. 'Tis methinks one of the greatest Riddles that this Town affords, how so many thousands of 'em do to subsist. I'm confident I have seen a hun­dred at a time scouring among their Clients, the Whores and Thieves at Hicks's Hall, at a Sessions, and some of them in pretty good Habits too. Well Sir, I will trouble you with them no lon­ger. In short, you see that each of these Preten­ded Solicitors is a Composition of Solid and Substantial Villany, a Wretch so compendiously wicked, dangerous and despicable, that in my Opinion the Suppressing of them would be a Work of equal if not greater Consequence, than that of Bailiffs and the Regulation of Jayls.

THE Fleet and Kings-Bench are the two Chief Prisons in England, and provided with several eminent Priviledges and Ad­vantages above the rest. The Fleet in parti­cular, is a well built convenient House, accom­modated with good Water, a Conduit, a Chappel where there is constantly Prayers twice a day, handsom Lodgings and Appart­ments, and so many other Conveniencies that at first Sight it appears to a Stranger rather like a College than a Jayl. The Kings Bench is much of the same Kind, enjoys the Benefit of large Rules, good Rooms and a Bowling-Green, &c. So that if things were honestly and sincerely managed, an Unfortunate Man might wade through his Consinement with a great deal of Comfort and Satisfaction in either of them. I suppose indeed, it was the Origi­nal design in granting these Prisons so many [Page 39] Immunities beyond others, to fit 'em for San­ctuaries for such Persons whose Misfortunes had deprived 'em of their Liberty; but then, here's the Misfortune on't, the Government of 'em too often falls into ill Hands, and then all these Advantages signifie nothing. As to the Governors themselves they're commonly Gentlemen, and Men of Parts, and I dare en­gage for one or two of 'em, they're above a little Kravish Trick or Design; but then they're pester'd with so many devouring Officers, Pre­tenders and Hangers on, that if the Prisoner be not first instructed in the Nature and Tem­per of the Vermine, 'tis ten to one but they devour him. I was once intimately acquainted with the Chief Person that had the Manage­ment of the Fleet; and truly I took the Free­dom to tell him my Sentiments concerning the Irregularity of his House, and what a noise it made, and how it was resented in the World; upon which he frankly told me he was very sensi­ble there were several things transacted that ought not to be, and what was worse, as Cases stood then, it was out of his Power to remedy them; and withal, he told me with some con­cern, that amongst all that great Herd he had constantly depending and preying upon him, there was not two that he knew, upon whose Honesty and Integrity he might absolutely rely, and indeed I found his Words true; for in a little time after, he narrowly escaped being eat up by his own Dogs: but Sir, this is a little Foreign to your Question, and so, if you please to pardon the short Digression, I'll go on with [Page 40] your Design. When a Prisoner hath brought his Habeas Corpus, and is removed from an In­feriour Prison, to the Fleet or Kings Bench, the Waiter or Tipstaff, that receives him from the Jaylor at the Judges Chamber, carries him di­rectly to one of these Places, or at least to some Place near, if he has a mind to compound for his Liberty, without going into the Gates; when this Ceremony of Compounding is over, and he hath given Bond and Judgment to In­demnifie the Warden or Marshal, and Security if he has any; why then, he's honour'd with a little bit of Paper, which first delivers him out of the Talons of the Scoundrel that waits upon him, and withal allows him the Liberty to walk into the Rules, alias whither he pleases; but yet for all his haste, there's something else for him to do before he must march; next comes the Gentleman of the Papers, and he must have 25 s. for the Fees of the Servants of the House, & 44 s. more for his Commitment Fee, and then he may move, and yet 'tis very hard if Mr. Waiter parts with him without half a Piece for his Attend­ance; no, no, that must be done too, or else that Gentleman's highly displeased, and God Dam him, he'll be even with him; and so he certainly will, for they are the cursedst Vermin in the whole Gang; but I intend to have a Touch with 'em all by and by, and so I'll let him alone till I come at him among the rest.

But now the Prisoner hath past all these Pikes he may go home, and how long must he stay there? why, till he's arrested again, or till the Officers in Chief, or some of the Subalterns [Page 41] want to speak with him, and then a Runner is dispatcht to him, to bring him along with him, with Instructions to tell him there's a Declarati­on come, or that there has been a Plaintiff threat­ning to sue the Office, and they must understand him a little better, and have better Security, or else he must go into the House. To make short of the Story, 'tis Ten to One but this is all a Device and Contrivance between a Waiter and some little pretending Officer, to get half a Piece, or a Guinea, to equip him at Night with a little Wine and a Supper. But then if they find he will be terrified by such kind of Projects, for the future, they'll suck him with a venge­ance, and take their Rounds till every One hath had his snack of him. In short, Sir, as Cases stand now, I cannot see what kind of Liberty this can be they pretend to allow a Prisoner. If his Debt be upon Main Process, why then he may be Arrested again, and so must be forc'd to bring a New Habeas Corpus, or go to another Jayl. If he be under Execution, why then if the Creditor meets him out of the Rules, he pre­sently falls upon the Office for an Escape, and the Office consequently upon the Security; and then 'tis some odds but there's 2 or 3 undone in­to the bargain. But as Cases stand with me, I must not dive too deep into their Secret Hi­story: I know enough to serve my own turn: and I suppose I have said enough too to let any Rational Person see the Expence and Danger he's expos'd to from this kind of Freedom. In­deed I cannot tell how far it may suit with some Persons Circumstances and Conveniency more [Page 42] than others: however, in the main, I am very confident there must be more Cost than Wor­ship, and that the Advantage in general, can never answer the Charge.

And now I wou'd have done with 'em, but that I have forgot to pay my Respects to a few honest Gentlemen, that perhaps wou'd take it in dudgeon, if I should miss 'em, I mean their Worthy Waiters. These are, 'tis true, but the Fag-end of the Corporation; but for all that, they'r Persons of Considerable Power now and then. I would not spend much time upon 'em neither, and therefore I'll have done with 'em as soon as I can. The business of these Gentle­men is to wait upon Prisoners when they go out upon their Day-Rules, and to fetch in those that are Escap'd, if they can catch 'em, and to run of Errands, &c. These are indeed the uses they are design'd for; but truly the Gentlemen being sensible of their own high Qualifications and Merit, have wisely found out some other Employments: some set up for Wardens and Marshals, some for Tipstaves, some for one sort of business, and some for another: so that in short, they have almost drawn in all the Second hand matters of both the Prisons into their own hands. One of the worthy Knights of this Order, not long since, did me the honour of his Company, once a Fortnight, for a considera­ble time together, and, as he said, came every time with directions from the Warden to bring me into the House; but for half a Crown and a Quartern of Brandy, we still made up the mat­ter, and parted good Friends. Well, Sir, to sum [Page 43] up this Relation, The Fleet and Kings Bench, with all these Inconveniencies, are still the best Prisons in the Kingdom: And truly, if a man finds his Circumstances are like to continue him a Prison­er for any considerable time, I think he cannot lay out 40 or 50 s. better than to remove himself to one of 'em; here he'll be secure to find good Company, good Lodging, and the Opportunity of a Chappel, and indeed every thing conveni­ent, with a little prudent Management, to sweeten the bitter Draught, and make the Nan­seous Consinement go down a little the more easily.

WELL, Sir, to draw as fast as I can to­wards a Conclusion of this Unplea­sant Task: I shall in this only trouble you with a few short Reflections upon what I have said in my former, together with a hasty View of the Miseries and Oppressions of poor Priso­ners in their Consinements in Countrey Jayls. As to what I have said in general, you may depend upon it for Truth; most of these un­happy Occurrences are Matters that I have ei­ther Experienc'd my self, or been an Eye-Witness of in others. I well knew your Design, in giving your self and me this Ungrateful Trouble, would not admit of Trifles, and therefore I only singled out some of the most material Passages, and leapt over all the rest that I thought were any ways Trivial or Imper­tinent. In my Expressions, I confess, I have [Page 45] now and then us'd a little Freedom and Inde­cency; but then it was no where but when I had a Wretch, or some base Action to de­scribe, that I wanted a Name or Title to call 'em by. And for my Method, 'twas the best I could think of upon such short warning. Besides, I consider'd I was to write Letters, and not Books, and so confin'd to comprehend what I had to say in as narrow a compass as I could. Sir, I will not trouble you with very ma­ny Apologies. I have given you, in as few Lines and Words as I thought the Nature of my Relation would bear, a Dismal Account of the Sufferings of poor Prisoners; first from the Tyrannick and Insolent Usage they are expos'd to from Bayliffs in general; and then laid be­fore you some of the Grievances and Hardships, and but some of them neither, which they are forc'd to under go in their Respective Jayls and Confinements belonging to this Town. And now, Sir, I will only make a short turn into the Country, and take a transitory View of the State of the Prisons and Prisoners there, and then trouble you no further upon the Subject. The Villanies of Bayliffs and Jaylors is an E­pidemick Distemper, and hath unhappily spread it self over the whole Nation; and truly I think, when every thing is considered, rages with as much Violence in the Country as it does here in Town. In the Country the Bayliffs have Commenc'd the Villainous Methods of Spung­ing, and Civility-money; Nay, they have Im­prov'd the Practice of betraying the Creditor, and bringing the Debtor under Contribution: [Page 46] There they Ride Lords and Masters, Insult and Hector even the Gentry and Clergy, and the Common People, especially. Those that are in Debt are their very Slaves and Vassals, and stand in more awe of 'em than they do of their Justices of the Peace. There they live at large, have no body to curb or inspect their Insolence; but are in a manner let loose, like Mad Dogs, or rather like Wolves and Vultures, to snap at and prey upon every thing they come nigh. There the poor Prisoners are forc'd to bear the severe U­sage and Hardships of their Keepers and Jay­lors, and have no body to pity or hear their Complaints, or at least no body to redress their Grievances, or to comfort or support them in their Agonies: There's no Judge there, nor no Tipstaff in the Country to take these mer­ciless Wretches into Custody; but they are lest intirely to the Guidance of their own Pride, ill Nature and Avarice, to Insult and Domineer, Fetter, Confine, Cheat and Impose upon their wretched Captives how they please: And truly their Behaviour in general is inhuman and bar­barous enough; and what's the greatest Mis­fortune of all too, their distance from London, hath render'd their Removal by Habeas Corpus almost impracticable. Sir, I have been a little Curious in these Affairs, and, as Occasion offer'd, have now and then made it my Business to pry into these unpleasant Mysteries, and indeed thro the whole Course of my Observations I never found any thing that could distinguish the Pra­ctices of Bailiffs and Jaylors and the ill Manage­ment of Prisons in the Country from these in [Page 47] Town, unless it be that the former are attended with greater Hardships and Severities.

And now, Sir, I have done with the Subject, and shall only put you in mind of One Thing more, and take my leave. The Crys and Groans of these Miserable Wretches have al­ready taken Wing, and dispers'd themselves o­ver the Face of the whole Kingdom: Whether they'll stop here or no, I cannot tell; but this I know, That if there is not some sudden means used to redress their Grievances, in all pro­bability, they will assail Heaven too, and call as loud for Vengeance from thence, as they do for Pity and Assistance here.

AND now, Sir, I am come to the conclu­ding Part of your Commands, viz. to give you my Sentiments how these great E­vils may be Redrest and Rectify'd. And here indeed I must own my Insufficiency; This is the greatest work of all: And to speak my Thoughts of the Matter, seems rather to re­quire the Judgment of a whole Nation than the Single Opinion of a private Person. Sir, all that I can do in this great Affair is only this, to give you my poor Thoughts how both the Debtor and Creditor may best fence and defend themselves against the Frauds and Violence of these kind of Vermine; and then in answer to what you are pleas'd to urge, add my short Sentiments how the whole may be put in a better Posture.

[Page 49] First, therefore, for the Creditor, when things are come to that unhappy pass that he's forc'd to use Extremity, I passionately advise him never to deliver the Writ out of his hands or suffer the Bailiff out of his Sight till he has done his Business; for if he does, 'tis ten to one but he's betrayed, and at once looseth both his Debt and Charge. The Writ is the general Basis upon which they build their conse­quent Rogueries; when they once get that, they are thorowly equip'd either to betray the Cre­ditor or compound with the Debtor, and they may both depend upon it that for a shilling advantage they'll be false to either Party. And then for the Debtor, let him take this with him too, that altho by a large Bribe and Promise or something like it, he dearly purchases their Forbearance for once or twice, whenever he slacks his hand the Peace is broke and all the former Kindnesses are forgot, and the Word is then, according to the common Cry, Bail, Jayl or Money.

In the second place, when they have got him into their Clutches, I caution him as a Friend not to be decoy'd by 'em into a Spunging-house, but if he finds he can't comprehend the Busi­ness in a very short time, to repair directly to Prison, for tho that be a very melancholy Re­medy 'tis the lesser Evil of the two and conse­quently the better to be chosen. They may pre­tend that this will expose him to disgrace and to the rest of his Creditors, and put him to Charge and what not, but this is all but a Kna­vish Blind and a Trick. They make it their [Page 50] Business to do that for him as soon as they have got him. Besides he's no longer welcom with them than his Money lasts, and when they have wrack'd him out of what he has, he must march to Jayl after all. The only Objection that I know of, is the extravagant Fees of the Jaylor, and can there be no remedy found out to regu­late it? That's strange indeed! I know the grand Pretence is, That their Prisoners are very numerous, and that they are forc'd to keep a great many Servants, &c. but then, must this be all thrown upon the Wretched and Unfortu­nate? Why, where's the Justice and Humanity of that? For my own part I tremble to think of these things, and certainly they must be the Subject of a great deal of Wonder and Sorrow to any body that will give himself the Trouble to Reflect upon 'em. Well Sir, to give you my hasty▪ Thoughts of the whole Matter; This infections Distemper spreads it self so fast that unless Care be taken, and proper Medicines apply'd to suppress it, it will at length swell into a general Contagion. But then how this may be done, is the great Query. Why, very easily certainly; Let but the Fees of the Bayliffs be setled, let them be prohibited under severe Penalties, to detain any person in their Custody above such a time; Let their Swords be taken from their sides, and their Battoons out of their hands, and their White Wands restor'd in their places: Let their Number be restrain'd and li­mited, and honest men put into the Office; and that part of the great Work's done, And then for Prisons, let there be but a general Survey [Page 51] made, their Ancient Liberties and Immunities restor'd, and Commissioners appointed to inspect into their Indowments, and inquire into their Irregularities in general, let their Fees be Esta­blisht, and a Copy of 'em fixt continually upon each of their Gates, I'm confident a great many of the Miseries of these unfortunate Wretches, would vanish in an instant; and good Old Hos­pitable England lie no longer under the ungrate­ful Reflection of being the most severe and mer­cyless to her Prisoners, of any other Nation in the Christian World. But, Sir, you have be­gun the business, and I don't doubt but your Pi­ety and Charity will urge you on till you have happily brought it to an end, which will at once entitle you to the blessings of both Worlds, to the Prayers of the Prisoners and Captives, to the Thanks and Praises of the Debtors and Creditors, and to the good Wishes and Commendations of all, but especially of,