Star.
London, England, 1822-12-06 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF THE STAR.

SIR-1 scarcely ever meet a beggar in the streets,
but I feel my risible muscles strongly excited, as /
mentally exclaim, " That woman is an excellenum-
tt oedian ; or, " That man is a very clever low cone-
durn." The character which the fraternity bore in
the days of Homer, the oldest heathen Poet on re-
cord, they have maintained ever since:
'4 A surly vagrant of the giant kind,
The stain of manhood, of a coward mind;
From feast to feast insatiate to devour
He dew, atundant on the genial hour!"
rotes MUM.

Such as was Homer's Irus, such was Shakspeare's
Bedlam Beggar, and the same description may
serve those of the present day. If ever Shaksreare's
maxim, that All the Worlds a Stage,' was exempli-
fied, it is to be found among the mendicant tribes,
who Proteus like, assume every shape, gesture, and
tone of voice, that may incite to pity, and some even
extort charity by tales of horror, and exposure of self-
inflicted wounds, horrible and ghastly to the ,fight.
The tragic actress, with a couple of borrowed chil-
dren, and a plaintive tale ; the hale vagrant, with his
borrowed grey hairs, his artificially-furrowed face,
and his story of having seen better days, and being
reduced by fire, flood, or any other moving accident,
are very natural performers. However frequently
we may be offended with an ill-dressed character—
an unappropriate costume, we seldom see a mendi-
cant who does not suit his dress to his assumed cha-
racter, and his voice and gesture to the tenour of his
tale. This is an invariable rule with them, as their
success chiefly depends on the observance of it.
One of the tatters of a beggar's patched coat got
entangled in a Gentleman's button, as they happened
to be passing each other in the street, and (as is ge-
nerally the case when the weak come into contact
with the strong) the beggar's coat got the worst of it,
and some of the tatters fell to the ground. The Gen-
tleman expressed his regret at the accident. " Bless
your Honour—no consequence; only I must not lose
it: 'tis a little bit of my property," said the beggar,
stooping to pick up the dismembered fiagment.---
" You shall have another suit," said the Gentleman.
" Your Honour's all goodness, but that would be my
ruin. Every rag about me, at a moderate compu-
tation, is worth a guinea." This shews that 'eats
are still of some value ! The life of a beggar is,
therefore, not that extreme of wretchedness, neither
is it so poor a trade as a casual observer niay ima-
gine. On the contrary, they have their enjoyments,
nay, their luxuries! The late new invention of the
Tread-mill is a terrible check upon the genius of these
sporters upon the miseries of human life. He could
have been no friend to the stage, who could have the
heart to conceive the idea of- making the principal
-performers tread the wheel cf hard labour; and upon
the remark being made to an eld mumper, he teel-
ingly exclaimed—" May he reap the fruits of his in-
genuity for his pains !" In short, there is no employ-
ment in life in which one man does nut tread upon the
heels of another, beggars and authors not-excepted.

1)IRD.
Oct. 24, at Richmond, Virginia, in the prime of life, Mr. John
Alien, formerly of Byker, near Newcastle.
Nov. 9, at Dundee, Dr. Andrew Roes, physician, aged 71.
Nov.. 25, at South Shields, Mr. Thompson Pearson, si.T-
wriest, inventor and patentee of the sliding rudder.
At York, lately, aged 6s, Mrs. Harrison. Her death wzs
caused by a pin running into her thumb, whilst washing, which
brought on a mortification.
At Penrith, Mr. Thomas Lewis, Bailiff to the Duke of Devon-
shire, for the Hopour of Penrith, aged 70.
At Recleston, near Garstang, Cumberland, Thomas Bartow,
Rau. R. A. aged $4, formerly a portrait painter of great
in the metropolis.

HIG H. W ATZIt at LONDON II ILIDGN TO- MOM tt.o
Morning . . 7 minutes altar
Afternoon .t6 usinutes due

LoN DON rniArd and pubbAhreltql Lion k-11,44at
Ow, "limple-lac.