The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1871-08-07
cnpfc,slons of - SaSnb0Hu.

In the reports OF Va9fancy pieHehiou "
par lament III the year 1919, there occuls
thr notice of the case oil George A'A.n'
49, ncrl,aus one OF the most eXtraoro',
s,rr published. Brine was educated
-, Tho charity School of Sherb"rnc, IN Dor
.at.hirc. and subsequently apPrcnllceu 10
- hatcher in that lie soop, now,
nrnr rc,inouislcd his trade, and adopted
mnndiroucv as his entire mode oil living.
To usrd TO boast that whenever he
n.ont.d q home he could 90 TO his to"h-
rnnS.-Dorcbcster jill. 1t occurred W
nnn ~ m. secretaries ofthc Charity organ
iz,tion Society in London that II thls ulah
were still alive, and could be hunted up,
his life and experience would prove most
valuable in shedding some ngnt upon Tue
thorny question Of ragrancy. After m'ich
dificlltv. It was discovered that Brine was
uoaiu back mt S%hcrborne, and that ne n;lu
bccn in the Union OF that town Tor the iast
twcIvcmonth. According to information
received. he has, "since the building OF
the new workhul>e there, apparently sc'-
TOD down" He says. however, that ne
shall takc another ",trnIl" when the late
master ofthe Shcrborne Union, VINO hasJust
oi,tajned another situation, II scttled. ne
proposcS, apparently, to call IN Inc character
of a vagrant upon his ola Iricnd, aiio 10 Slat
with him. but at the expense OF the district
in winch he resides. Brine, although he
has been Il vagrant for upward Of forty
wears. has kept up Il constant corrcSpOn-
drncc with his tamily-and his letters,
though probably i'm most cases written from
his urisou, were generally dated from
some Grand place in the town where be
was forced 10 S%Qjolirn. He was also very
fond of telling Of the arlStocratIc com,
many he had been in at the races and
other public gatherings which he used
Ia,,.rt ILL., lnttprs fn his relatives
are written in an admirable hand, with
scarcely a single fault in the spelling, ana
generally end with Il few lines Ct poetry
either of his own composition or often a
quotation from some unhackneyed author
like OuarlrS, Sc. II he wanted 10 get to
nuy particular place, and it by chance hap
pened to be the seat of The county Jail, he
would break windows on the road, and
thus be conveyed so far on his way at pun
lie expense. Here is his own story, briefly
told, which will speak for itself. lie is now
tiltY-ninc years OF age, and ii may without
eXag.cratlon be said that he has been sup
ported tor fifty Of those wears by the pub
lic-eitlcr in the wUrkhouSe or the Jail:
Gully 3, 1871.
IIonored Sir, -AnolOgizing lor not having
replied to your courteous note carrier,
bc- TO answer some of Mr.. Il. T.'sinqulrles
respecting ne. In the first place, Mr.. Is.
Il. desires to know what induced me 10
adopt such Il mode Of livelihood seconu-
", how | have supported myself in my
wanderings; thirdly, the CASUAL wards L
have visited, and my OPINION OF Iheni ;
and fourthly, the jailS IN whlch nave oeeh
incarccratcd, with the cause OF theSc IN
generations. Now, in reply to the first
ourstion. I Jeff Sheridan to seek employ
ment at inv trade that of a butcher), and,
not succeeding for n time, ] soon dis
covered that more money could he got
withou, work than with 1t. What knowl-
edge I lacked was soon lnstllled into my
mind by professional Migrants.
Secondly-How have supported myself
during my wandcrin"s! Now, | mean to
make Il clean breast of IT. will candtdly
declare | have stuck ut nothing. | have
worked (but very little) ut my trade | have
heen a cattle-drover l have been 4 sales
man with three different cheap Jacks |
have been a pOt-hawker; | have been a
vender OF pens, papers. razors peter Pin
dar's), spectacles, laces, &C.; have been u
distributor of religious tracts l have been
in the employ Qor two years toeether) of
mountaineering quuck doctors-lour dill
ferent ones. am more ashamed OF this
than of any other of my ~follies, for the mn
jority OF them are not robbers only, but
homicides.) l have sold cards at all the
principal racesm England. l also attended
for MANY years all the principal prize
fights. I have been u "shalloW cove y
q. e., a member of the land navy
also u "high.flyer"-t. r., b~egying-lettel
impostor-a I" lurker," one who is forty
different trades and master Of none. My
~favorite "lurk" was butcher, tallow-
chandler, or currier, and, TO crown all, |
have been preacher! This game pays well
in remote village streets on Sunday even
inss, provided you ;re well stocked with
tracts but l was not fit tor it my risi-
bility is too easily tickled and once when
i WAS invited to "hold forth" in u small
chapel | was in no little danger OF grinnine
in the pulpit at my WI rosuery. This was
at RothbuIy, Northumberland. ] must also
tell you, in short, 1 have been II rogue, i'm
poster, and vagabond of each and every
denomination. | say this because it is
true, and because l am 10 heartily
ashamed of it..
Thirdly-Mr. r. T. wants to know my
opinion Of the casual wards | have visited.
Now, l have visited but very few think
/ could swear that l never was in twenty
different ones during the twenty-five years
/ was r~ambling-but l am fully convinced
that they all tend to foster vagrancy. Even
such places as Oxford, Cambridge, Bath,
harmt than good for out OF every ten tramps
there are nine impostOrs or professional
Hramps. You may think this is saying too
much, but | am sure it is the truth. If
there was no relief to be had there would
be no yasrants. The difficulty lies in
distinguishing between the honest working
man and the rogue. Now, the distributors
of Watts Charity In Rochester seem TO
pride themselves upon their own sa2acity
on this point. | have been a recipient OF
Watts's no less than eight times SO | leave
you to guess whether they relieved a de-
serving customer in he or otherwise. In
Norwich, ut st. Andrews Hall. it is the
same. l once gave my ticket, which 1 had
obtained there, to u poor blacksmith who
had been refused one. The reason he had
been refused was because he was not so
consumate a liar ns l was. This is truth. |
II he had been a trading liar be would have |!
gotten his bread. cheese, beer, and bed, |
valued ut eightpence. L
Again. MIR. X. Il. and his colleagues will !
never deal etfectually with vagrancy unless
they begin ut the right end. Let them, or
the Legislature, suppress two-thirds of the
common ''padding kens" or low lodging |
houses. These are the great receptacles of
vice in its most repulsive aspect. 1t is there
the supply of Migrants Is manufactured
aye, In the very womb. 1t Is there they |
dispose OF their ill-gotten gains for great
numbers OF them are regular "tencing-
crlos, ana great numbers of them will not
lodge a workingman ut all if they know it, |
lest he should diyulge their secrets. Aud
all io~dS.as-nouses ought to be under
stricter police surveillance. Again, sir, YOU
know, Or ought TO kaow, that the greater
the william the more plausible is his tale.
and the more assured. inylncible .impu.