Besides the above, there were the _Pietres_, the _Courtaux_, the _Polissons_, the _Capons_, the _Francmitoux_, and a variety of others, all assuming different characters, to defraud the unwary in every possible manner. These particulars have been collected together as exhibiting a general view of the manners and practices of the begging tribe in the kingdom of France, where the regulations concerning them appear to have been very frequent and severe. In the reign of Francis I. many edicts of the court issued against them, by some of which all the beggars in Paris were compelled to clear the city sewers and ditches, and to assist in repairing the fortifications; and for this purpose the police officers seized upon all that were able-bodied and competent to work. Many were banished to the provinces, and if they continued to beg, and refused to assist in the vintage, they were ordered to be hanged. Whipping was the more general punishment; and where licensed, they were not suffered to go about in troops, but confined to travel in Paris only, to prevent robberies and other mischief. Those who could not labour, on account of infirmity, were maintained in hospitals, or by contributions at the churches, where they were not permitted, as at present, to beg, under pain of whipping. In the admirable Pictures of Paris by Mercier, there is an interesting article on the sturdy beggars of that city, where their noisy orgies at their places of rendezvous, when they have stripped themselves of their false limbs and hideous plasters, are eloquently described. He mentions one cruel and wicked practice among these impostors, namely, that when they steal other people's children for want of their own, they distort and even dislocate the members of the unfortunate victims, to give them what they impiously term the arms and legs of God Almighty. With respect to the vagabonds of Spain, who will be found to resemble, with small difference, many of the classes above described, it will be sufficient to refer the reader to those excellent novels, Lazarillo de Tormes, and Guzman de Alfarache. The manners of the Italian mendicants and impostors are admirably depicted, with many entertaining stories, in the very curious work of Rafael Frianoro, entitled, "Il vagabondo, overo sferzo de bianti e vagabondi," _Viterbo_, 1620, 12mo, in which the catalogue of names of the parties, and of the impostures practised, far exceeded those of any other country. Della Valle, in his travels to the East Indies, informs us, that the beggars there make use of a trumpet to express their wants, frequently terrifying the people into charity by their loud clamours. Of the Chinese mendicants, some particulars will be found in explaining one of the plates of this work.