having been made upon innocent men? when he informed me, that the prosecutors he had heard of, so far from being innocent men, were all notorious Sodomites, of the worst description; and that he has known many instances of men being convicted for attempting to extort money under such threats, where the prosecutor has allowed the party an income sufficient to indulge them with every comfort during their confinement:—that one man is now in Newgate, who was sentenced to two years imprisonment, whose prosecutor regularly paid him a Guinea per week during the whole time! for it seems these wretches care not what it costs to convict, as, in their idea, it clears their character. I have a letter now before me, from a miserable creature in Newgate, sentenced to transportation, whose story is briefly this:— A gentleman, with whom he lived servant, discharged him without paying him his wages; upon which he wrote to his master, saying that if he did not pay him, he would go to Marlborough-street, the next day, and state his Sodomitical practices; upon which, the gentleman went himself to the office, and obtained a warrant, under the pretext of the man having threatened to charge him with Sodomy unless he gave him money:—he found means to convict the poor fellow, who had two witnesses, who would have proved the truth of his assertion; but they were kept out of the way by the master until the trial was over:—one of whom has since been with him in Newgate, and told him his master gave him _five pounds to keep out of the way_! A variety of similar convictions have taken place; for these fashionable miscreants must wipe off the imputation, no matter by what means. In fine, it seems to have come to this, _that if a young man will not submit to Sodomy and hold his tongue_, _he must be hanged_. I will now relate some remarkable instances that have come to my knowledge, some of them professionally. About thirty years ago, a handsome young man, named Donelly, an attorney’s clerk, was cursed with the importunities of the son of a noble earl, and from whom he received several sums of money; but his demands became too rapid for this sprig of nobility, who, from incapacity to answer them, was obliged to desist. Donelly, one evening, in Berkeley-square, met the elder brother, then Lord —, and mistaking him (from the great likeness) for his little paramour, addressed him in terms that induced the young nobleman to seize him, and take him before a magistrate:—he was capitally convicted, and ordered for execution. Under all these circumstances, he wrote to the noble Earl, the father, who instituted an inquiry into his son’s conduct; which caused the Earl immediately to apply to his Majesty for a free pardon for Donelly, which the Ordinary of Newgate communicated to him in the chapel, the Sunday previous to his intended execution.