Twenty Years' Recollections of an Irish Police MagistratePorter, Frank Thorpe
History
Twenty Years' Recollections of an Irish Police Magistrate
Porter, Frank Thorpe
Crime -- Ireland; Criminals -- Ireland; Ireland -- Social life and customs; Porter, Frank Thorpe, 1801-1882
I shall revert to old Skinner Row in reference to the career of an
individual which may be said to have commenced there about the year
1782. The incidents which I shall detail are not of an amatory or very
sentimental nature, but nevertheless, truly extraordinary. To a Dublin,
or even an Irish reader, it is unnecessary to offer an assurance of
their truth, or to mention the individual's name. Only one error in
reference to him has had currency, and that to a very limited extent. It
arose, in all probability, from envy or malice, and consisted in
describing him as a person of very imperfect education, of plebeian
manners and disposition, and of almost menial avocations. He might have
been truly described as well-informed, unaffectedly courteous,
unobtrusive of his own opinions, and tolerant of the opinions of others,
whilst his business transactions were marked by diligence, integrity,
and intelligence. The proprietor of a very extensive establishment in a
central situation in Dublin, where bookselling and auctions of libraries
were carried on, had advertised for an assistant; and the situation
attracted the attention of many competitors, of whom the individual
alluded to was one. He was young and active, and sought a personal
interview with Mr. V. the advertiser. He was informed that the latter
had gone up to Skinner Row, to my father's house, where he would be
engaged for upwards of an hour. The applicant hurried off to the narrow,
crowded, and inconvenient locality. The footway was disproportionally
raised above the carriage road, and at the very door of the house to
which he was going, he accidentally slipped and fell. In a disabled
condition, he was raised and carried in, and it was ascertained that his
ankle was dislocated. His sufferings excited great sympathy. He was
conveyed to a bedroom, and surgical aid was procured. Mr. V. manifested
great interest in the young man, and came frequently to see him. After
several weeks elapsed his cure was effected, and the situation which he
sought was given to him. He expressed the deepest gratitude to my father
for the kindness he had experienced, and the acquaintance which
commenced in the painful accident referred to, ripened ultimately into a
very close intimacy. He gained the confidence of Mr. V., who conferred
many marks of his esteem, and on the retirement of that gentleman from
business, he became, to a great extent, his successor. All his
undertakings prospered, and he acquired the reputation of being
extremely wealthy. A rumour was circulated that, between the leaves of
some books which he had purchased, he had found several bank notes of
considerable value, but that report was groundless. In addition to
extensive bookselling, he had formed a connection with the house of Bish
and Co., of Cornhill, by which he was enabled to do a profitable
business in bills on London amongst the Dublin traders, for at that time
the facilities of letters of credit were very little known. He also
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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