A removal then of the officers, or at least the greatest part of them, is the first step towards a reformation; and the more effectually to eradicate the evil, as far as your power will extend, let them be replaced with men of moderate honesty and morality. Chuse them as you do other officers of less consequence, by ballot, election, &c. such a mode of choice will soon procure proper persons, and put the officers on a reputable footing. There is nothing dishonourable in the profession itself, more than in constable or any other minister of justice; the name of bailiff is become contemptible ONLY from a notion, that none are such but those totally destitute of every spark of humanity and honesty. Sheriffs themselves are royal officers of great dignity, taking place even of noblemen in the county during their sheriffalty. Can it then be supposed, that the immediate deputies of an officer, whom the law honours with a judicial and ministerial jurisdiction, almost to unlimited power, should be composed of men too infamous for any other employment, such {31} only as are excluded from all social and friendly societies of men? However it would be extremely unjust, and argue a want of candour and common charity, to indiscriminately confound the good with the bad, or make the whole answerable for the crimes of a part. Amidst such a body of men, it is to be hoped that exceptions are not wanting; but I will venture to say, that those exceptions will chiefly be found in the serjeants at mace, some of whom have been reputable tradesmen, and still retain a memory of their own misfortunes, which serves to keep the faculties of feeling and humanity in a proper circulation, and makes them view the precipice from which they fell through the miseries of others. But as it does not become my purpose or province to select the guilty from the innocent, I will leave them to stand justified by their own works, as they pass your more critical observation; all I contend for at present, is THE VERACITY OF THIS SHORT NARRATIVE, IN WHICH I HAVE NOT RELATED OR ALLUDED TO A SINGLE TRANSACTION BUT I CAN AUTHENTICATE WITH AGGRAVATING CIRCUMSTANCES. LET THEN THE PROOF OF PAST INJURIES BE MY TASK, A PREVENTION OF THE FUTURE YOURS. From the foregoing observations we may fairly conclude, that the present mode of holding the person of house-keepers in trade to bail, is no more beneficial to creditors than reputable to debtors, even supposing such arrest to be thoroughly consonant with the law of the land.