The Sun.
London, England, 1856-04-10 00:00:00

MEETING OF "SWELL MOBSMEN."

A meeting was held on Monday evening last, at the
White Lion Tavern, Fashion-street, Brick lane, Spital-
fields, where there was an attendance of about 100 per-
sons, principally belonging to the class known as " Swell
Mobsnien."

The meeting was convened for the purpose of taking
the opinion of such characters with respect to the work-
ing of an institution which is intended to lend a helping
hand to those offenders who may be disposed to "square
amounts" with society, and to lead an honest life.
The room in which the meeting was held was well
lighted and comfortable. A free and easy manner pre-
vailed, but everything was carried on decently, the cries
of " order " and " chair" being immediately followed by
attentive silence.
A stranger would have had no suspicion that the men
there assembled ware at war with society. They one
and all appeared well fed, well clad, and at ease with
themselves. In the course of the evening several showily-
dressed youths, who were evidently the " aristocracy "
of the class, walked into the room. These were mostly
babited as clerks or young men in offices, some wearing
gold guard chains, others with pistol keys dangling from
their waistcoat pockets, and having oiamond pins in
their cravats. They were, however, all " mobsmen,"
as they are called—men who in some instances, we are
assured, are gaining their 10/. or even 201. a week, by
light-fingered operations. Indeed several present were
pointed out as " tip-top sawyers," "moving in the best
society, and doing a heavy business." Besides these there
were a few notorious " cracksmen" (housebreakers), and
one or two " fences" (receivers of stolen goods), who
were said to be worth their weight in gold.
On the entry of one who was unknown to the rest, a
cry was raised of " Only kenobes' there!" "No square
men in the room!" which being interpreted meant only
"nobs," or first-class thieves—none who are following as
honest course of life are to be present; whereupon it was
repreented to the stranger that the meeting was a pri-
vate one.

Mr. H. MATHEW, who bad convened the meeting,
opened the business of the evening by sayiag that he was
about to found a society for the purpose of assisting those
who reall and sincerely meant to help themselves. He was
aware that many of the men there wished to give up their
present courses, and that they would rejoice to see a way of
escape from the circumstances in which they were in-
volved. No doubt some of them liked their mode of life,
and took a pleasure in it; but others had been driven to it
by force of circumstances, by bad treatment at home, by
early neglect, and other degrading influences. He had
represented the case of such persons to benevolent
people, and had found many gentlemen ready to proffer
their assistance towards bettering the condition of the
well disposed among them—indeed he had already been
promised funds to a large amount immediately the offi-
cers of the society were appointed. It remained with
themselves to close with such offers, and honestly strive
to redeem their characters, and be upright in all their
dealings, as Englishmen and good citizens ought to be.
(Cheers.) Those who felt inclined to choose the better
way would be treated, not as wild animals, requiring a
cage, nor yet as children, to be kept in leading-strings,
but as full-grown, thinking men, who might be trusted
(for he knew there were many of them not insensible to
a feeling of honour), and who were capable of appre-
ciating sympathy and confidence. (Applause.) They
must, however, steadily bear in mind that if any
trickery or deception were practised by them towards
such a society, it must soon come to an end, so that it
behoved them each to act as a monitor to the other, and
prevent any imposition upon the funds of an institution
that every one of them should regard as his own. Mr.
Mayhew then recounted an instance in which he had
trusted a notorious thief at a public meeting with a sove-
reign, requesting him to get it changed, but intimating
that no prosecution would follow if he absconded with
the money. The man had brought back the silver, and
proved that an appeal to his better nature had not been
made in vain. He knew, be added, that many of the
men present were tracked by the police until they were
utterly weary of their lives. He wished to hold out to
such persons a hand of encouragement ; to siand between
the two great divisions of society—the comfortable and
the wretched, the rich and the poor—and, if possible, to
extricate some of the latter from their misery. He bad
occasionally found high virtues in what were called the
"dangerous classes ;" and he never lost faith in any man
in whom he could discern the germ of right feeling.
He hoped to be able to found a home and an industrial
asylum, as well as an emigration society, for such as
were tired of evil courses, and who sincerely wished to
retrieve the character they had lost in the world, and he
would be happy to learn how far the men present were
di-posed to embrace a proposal of such a nature.
After some little delay, a decently-dressed young man
stepped forward, and said that he wished to state a few
things about the " kehobe" life of which he, fur his part,
hid seen quite enough; They all knew that their way
of living was unsatisfactory ; they might get 10/. in a
day, and then go a fortnight without gaining a penny ;
or they might have six months of it in prison, which was
rather " a cooler." He for one wanted to be rescued
from such a life. He confessed he was a thief, but he
had seen no end of trouble, and he earnestly desired to
reform. If he could only get an honest living, he would
not be as he was then. ("Hear," and cheers.)
The next speaker was a returned convic', who had
come baok last September, and found work sometimes,
but failing that, said he was obliged to make up by
plunder. For three months he had been eurroyed in
the docks, but sinoe that time work had been scarce, and
when he was short of provisions he was driven to steal,
for starve be would not. But if he could obtain occu-
pation he would readily give up hid old habits.
The third speaker had been transported in 1839, and
had been five years in this country since his return. He
worked for a time at his trade, but when work was
scarce he took to thieving, and got again into trouble.
It was only two mouths since he was last in prison. He
was a tailor by trade, and if security ter 51. could be ob-
tained he could get employment.
A gentleman present promised the required guarantee
—an announcement which was followed by three rounds
of applause.
A very earnest and apparently well-disposed man next
addressed the meeting. Me sas well known to them all,
and had often been in trouble. (Hear.) He bast often
tried to alter his condition, and failed to do so. He was
a good tradesman, and if he could procure assistance he
would go to work, and he knew that many of them felt the
same. (Cheers.) His wages ought to be ss. a day,
but he would willingly work for 35., only he had no one
to recommend him. If hunger and want oppressed him,
he was driven to plunder ; but what could be do ? He
was not to starve in the streets. Still, he would rather
work for is. than steal for a pound. lie had often
walked about in hunger, cold, and destitution rather
than do that which was wrong. He wished to go to
work to-morrow morning if he could get it. He wished
the public to know that the men there really wanted to
work. In his opinion prisons, hulks, and convict gaols
were not places of reformation, but demoralisation.
The next speaker had a tale of grievance to record
against the police. He had come out of prison nine
months ago, and found occupation as a militia tailor, for
the articles ou which he worked were not saleable, or
else the authorities would not have trusted him with
thorn. Oue day he was coming home with two coats
tied up in a bundle. A policeman, who had known
him before, met him, and roughly accosted him with
" What have you got there ?" He was obliged to go
with the policeman to a public-house and exhibit the
contents of his bundle. He denounced such conduct
as tyrannical. He believed that nineteen out of twenty
among those present wished to get an honest living, but in
London it was impossible. The policeman would insult
them, and reproach them with being convicted thieves.
Nay, they would insult their wives, however virtuous
those wives might be. The " kenobe" life might be a
merry one while it lasted, but when they got into the
" Steel" (Coldbath fields Prison;, it was a very different
matter, and the horrors of transportation were truly
awful. Those who felt this were to be relied upon.
"Try us, gentlemen," he added, "and we will not de-
ceive you.'
Teo statement of the last speaker concerning the
police was corroborated by another, who observed that
" he had been a thief, but was now a custermoeger,
and worked hard; having to keep a wife and family.
He was going home with some groceries for his family,
when a policeman came up to him and used him in
a brutal manner. He wrote to Worship-street, and
then to Scotland-yard, to complain, whereupon an in-
spector came down and said, " So you have been com-
plaining, have you ? We know what you are."
He answered, "I am a man." " Yes, but what have
you been ?" said the inspector. "That is nothing to the
purpose," was the reply. " Oh, yes it is ; and you had
better say no more about •this matter, or you may be
knocked out of what you are, and be as you were before."
No more passed at the time ; but, continued the speaker,
"the policeman who had originally struck me came and
asked pardon for the assault,. begging me not to prose-
cute the inquiry."
The next person who addressed the meeting was de-
scribed as an "old fake." He had been, he said, "a
thief from his earliest childhood," or, as he expressed it
"from a pinafore," through the mistaken kindness of a
fond mother, who gave him halfpennies and encoutaed
him to spend money. He began by robbing his grand-
father, and " thieved instead of schooling." His mother,
finding that school.was neglected, put hitn to work early,
but he played truant from his master, and though he took
noine 18d. every Saturday night, yet the greater part of
his time was spent an stealing. If he saw anything
that wanted moving, he moved it. After various corn-
mittals and sundry escapes he was sent to the "Start"
(Newisate), and transported for seven years. The speaker
then gave a graphic description of his work in " irons"
at Portsmouth, and his ultimate transportation to Ber-
muda, where the governor, taking compassion on so
young au offender, sent him to the carpenter's shop, and
kept him working at that trade fur five years. He learnt
his trade there. Ou his returs to this country he worked

for a time, hut afterwards resumed his old hits. Still
he found this way of life too hard, and fur the last nine
years, he had been honest. Nevertheless the difficulties

were considerable, for the police had dogged his path,
and even turned him out of several situations by inform.
his masters that ho was an old offender.
In proof of the above statement, he called upon a shop.
mate who was in the room to come forward arid testify
to the fact. The ehopmate said in corroboration, " It's
all true. This man worked with me six months ago, and
got turned off by a policeman telling -the employer that
he was a convicted thief. _
At this period of the proceedings Mr. MantEw mere
fully explained the character of the proposed institution.
It was intended to establishlish a lodging-house, he said,
to receive the men immediately on their leaving prison.
If they had any money which they had earned during
their incarceration, they might deposit it in the savings
bank of the institution until an opportunity occurred for
advantageously using the amount. A register would be
kept of employers willing to give work to such aq were
disposed to reform, and an assurance given that the per