Didactic fiction; Domestic fiction; England -- Fiction; Married women -- Fiction
The girl, being examined by the magistrate, spoke as follows:--
"Indeed, sir, an't please your worship, I am very sorry for what I
have done; and to be sure, an't please your honour, my lord, it must
have been the devil that put me upon it; for to be sure, please your
majesty, I never thought upon such a thing in my whole life before,
any more than I did of my dying-day; but, indeed, sir, an't please
your worship--"
She was running on in this manner when the justice interrupted her,
and desired her to give an account of what she had taken from her
master, and what she had done with it.
"Indeed, an't please your majesty," said she, "I took no more than two
shifts of madam's, and I pawned them for five shillings, which I gave
for the gown that's upon my back; and as for the money in my pocket,
it is every farthing of it my own. I am sure I intended to carry back
the shifts too as soon as ever I could get money to take them out."
The girl having told them where the pawnbroker lived, the justice sent
to him, to produce the shifts, which he presently did; for he expected
that a warrant to search his house would be the consequence of his
refusal.
The shifts being produced, on which the honest pawnbroker had lent
five shillings, appeared plainly to be worth above thirty; indeed,
when new they had cost much more: so that, by their goodness as well
as by their size, it was certain they could not have belonged to the
girl. Booth grew very warm against the pawnbroker. "I hope, sir," said
he to the justice, "there is some punishment for this fellow likewise,
who so plainly appears to have known that these goods were stolen. The
shops of these fellows may indeed be called the fountains of theft;
for it is in reality the encouragement which they meet with from these
receivers of their goods that induces men very often to become
thieves, so that these deserve equal if not severer punishment than
the thieves themselves."
The pawnbroker protested his innocence, and denied the taking in the
shifts. Indeed, in this he spoke truth, for he had slipt into an inner
room, as was always his custom on these occasions, and left a little
boy to do the business; by which means he had carried on the trade of
receiving stolen goods for many years with impunity, and had been
twice acquitted at the Old Bailey, though the juggle appeared upon the
most manifest evidence.
As the justice was going to speak he was interrupted by the girl, who,
falling upon her knees to Booth, with many tears begged his
forgiveness.
"Indeed, Betty," cries Booth, "you do not deserve forgiveness; for you
know very good reasons why you should not have thought of robbing your
mistress, particularly at this time. And what further aggravates your
crime is, that you robbed the best and kindest mistress in the world.
Nay, you are not only guilty of felony, but of a felonious breach of
trust, for you know very well everything your mistress had was
intrusted to your care."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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