The Sun.
London, England, 1859-06-20 00:00:00

REPORTED ABDUCTION FROM NEW-

CASTLE.

On Friday a gentleman, giving the name of Mr.
George Rochester, of Sunderland, waited upon us,
and made a. statement which led us to believe that
he had discovered a gross system of procuration, by
which several girls had been induced to leave their
parents in Newcastle and adopt an infamous course
of life in Edinburgh. He stated that on Tuesday
last, at half-past six in the morning, he was walk-
ing along the Canongate, Edinburgh, and observed
a young female with a short tartan petticoat. Her
appearance induced him to speak to her, and he in-
quired whether she would sit as a model to an
artist. She expressed her willingness, and told
him where she was living. Some hours afterwards,
having followed her thither, and availed himself
of the opporrunity of further conversation, it came
out that the girl belonged to Newcastle, and had
been induced to leave her native place by
a woman
whose name did not transpire. Mr. Rochesteran
stated that this person had offered the girl employ-
ment, and thus induced her to go to Edinburgh
she subsequently- abandoned her. 011 r
forruant made further inquiries, and learned that
another girl from Newcastle was in a houseo return
f
repute in Edinburgh, and was desirous to
home. Mr. Rochester induced the first-named to
return, and she is now with her father.
we were le ft in no
douFombrtthate
thMrs
.tate
going on, by which in-
nocent young Rochestermen statement
rnbelieved
that an infamous
system of procuration was
females were
in e
entrappedireums
tabnyepesrowmhiesrees
of employment, and placed a
virtuous life was almost
impossible. We felt it
our duty, therefore, carefully to investigate the
matter, so that the dreadful facts should stand ex-
posed, if true.
Having ascertained the reputed residence of the
girl's father, we went thither. A few barefooted and
ragged children, the elder of them with a baby in
his arms, were sitting on the doorless step of a
house in a poor district of the town. We entered
a dark passage, and ascended a still darker stair-
case, which had been built for wealthier inhabitants
in days bygone. Arriving at the uppermost land-
ing somewhat out of breath, one of four or five
doors was pointed to us as the residence of the
family for which we were inquiring. Having
knocked, a man of about 50 years of age opened the
door to us cautiously, and inquired our errand. A
word or two sufficed to obtain entrance. The large
square room, with a chapel-like window badly
fitting in its frame, contained two ricketty
wooden
chairs, a small oblong wooden table of shaky ap-
pearance, a fourpost bed, two or three ragged and
shoeless children, a stout-looking girl of 17, and the
implements of an artist, whose oil painting of a
steamer leaving Tynemouth hung upon the wall.
The story of the family was a sad one indeed. The
father is a house painter, with some notions of art ;
his wife had taken to drinking, and having set a
bad example to the children, had been convicted for
receiving goods stolen by her son.
and his mother are now undergoing the
pun
The young man
punish-
ment to which they were sentenced. The
j eldest
girl commenced her course of dissipation by joining
the dancing parties at the low publichouses, to ore
of which she was accustomed to go for some time
before her mother's
imprisonment,
she met the person named as ~Pollyi and at which
rs woman seems," who induced
her finally to go to Edinburgh. This
to have been about the same age as the female

brought home by Mr. Rochester, and to have re-
presented that she had means of getting an easy
livelihood in Edinburgh; she induced the subject
of this narrative to leave the town without much
compunction, and without many promises except
those of gay companionship. In Edinburgh the
two girls parted, and the Newcastle female appears
to have reconciled herself to her mode of life, for she
never wrote home herself or endeavoured to get
get others to do so, though one of her companions
found means to communicate with her friends. Her
father was not aware of her having left the town
till two or three days after her departure, which
affords a glimpse of the kind of life she had been
previously leading. The young woman, however,
seemed penitent and thoughtful, and it is to be
hoped may have seen enough of the miseries of an
infamous life to abandon it.—Newcastle Chronicle.