The good lady, who, it may be supposed, was not asleep at this
juncture, held the breeches in her hand, bound decently up in a
perfumed napkin, which the warden having opened, kissed them with
profound reverence; and having caused them to be kissed in like manner
by all who were in the room, he put them in the tabernacle he had
brought for that purpose, and gave the signal to his fraternity to
return in the same order.
The Fathers set forth in greater solemnity than before and, singing an
anthem, marched round the city accompanied by a great crowd, and then
placing the relic on the altar of their chapel, left it there as an
object of devotion. Ruggieri was zealous in promoting reverence for the
Order, and wherever he went he told of the miracle of the birch and
breeches of St. Griffon.
_A Boy Whipped for Destroying Women’s Apparel with Aquafortis._
Until severe examples were made of the actors in this kind of frolic
and fun, females often found their clothes drop to tatters, and such
as restricted themselves to mere muslin and chemise were frequently
dreadfully burnt in a way invisible and almost unaccountable. A set
of urchins, neither men nor boys, by way of a high game, procured
aquafortis, vitriol, and other corrosive fluids, and filling therewith
a syringe or bottle, would sally forth to give the girls a squirt. Of
this mischievous description we find Edward Beazley, who was convicted
of this unpardonable offence at the Old Bailey, the 11th of March,
1811. He was indicted for wilfully and maliciously injuring and
destroying the apparel of Anne Parker, by feloniously throwing upon the
same a certain poisonous substance called aquafortis, whereby the same
was so injured as to be rendered useless. He was also charged on two
other indictments for the like offence, on two other women.
It appears that the prisoner, a boy of thirteen, took it into his head
to sally into Fleet St. on the night of Sat. Feb. 16, and there threw
the same upon the clothes of several of the Cyprians who parade up
and down there. He was caught, carried before the magistrate at the
Guildhall, and fully committed on three charges.
Three ladies appeared and proved the facts, and the boy was found
guilty.
His master, Mr. Blades of Ludgate Hill, gave him a good character; he
never knew anything wrong of him before, but admitted he had access
to the chemicals. The court having a discretionary power, instead of
transporting him for seven years, only ordered him to be well whipped
in the jail and returned to his friends.
_Ill-Treatment of Female Pupils._
We frequently hear of the low-bred and licentious of our sex
ill-treating young helpless females; but to find a minister of the
gospel convicted of so base and unmanly an assault is a scandal to his
office, and an aggravated disgrace to human nature.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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