302 Letter on Affairs in general. [Sepr. 
laxiness;” applies equally; both to *maleiand female ;”: but I suspeetithat 
the, ladies yhave formed; Mr..Owen’s chief difficulty) in his; plan.rgJ do 
think that, like the unskilful conjuror who raises the devil.in jhis:circle, 
and then cannot lay him again, our Doctor finds sometimes that he has 
got_more,within his parallellogram than he well knows how to: déalsiith, 
io There-cannot be»a greater mistake than to suppose ‘that the avorld, 
en masse,is'hard-hearted. On the contrary, I cannot find any: bodywho 
is not shocked/at'the slightest act of tyranny or ill-nature committéd’by 
his neighbour. Here it is not a fortnight ago, that all England com- 
bined to fight the battle of the boys whom Mr. Chamberlayne put 
into the tread-mill for stealing his apples; and, to-day again, no, less 
a personage than Lord Maryborough has been at Bow-street, ex- 
pressing the highest indignation that a particular old. woman should 
have been taken up as a mendicant’ under the. provisions of »ithe 
Vagrant Act. The truth is, this peculiar beggar was a protegée of 
the noble lord’s. As he always gave her money, her begging pro- 
duced no inconvenience to him, and, of course, it seemed to him the 
most inconceivable thing in the world, how that which produced no 
inconvenience to him, could be objectionable to any body else! For 
that, part of the statute, however, which makes a virtual asking of alms 
sufficient to constitute an act of vagrancy, without waiting for the literal 
demand :.I..confess I. see no objection to it; because whether you are 
tortured to bestow a penny, or to purchase a farthing’s worth of matches, 
the assault is just the same. ‘The vagrant act can only be justified at all, 
upon the supposition that, for those persons who require relief, an actual 
refuge is provided. That being the case, the fair question is upon the 
substantial, and not upon the formal act. People should not be baited 
as they go along the public street upon one pretence any more than upon 
another, , Now I think of it, I wonder if something could not be done, 
under this, act, for the benefit, of the box-keepers at, the . Haymarket 
theatre. For, if you change your seat ten times in a night, every rogue 
that opens a door to you asks, ‘If you don’t want a bill?” thatis to 
say; if you don’t mean to give him a shilling? And there are dogs among 
them, unless you rather ostentatiously display the elasticity of your 
right leg as you say “ No!” who would even venture to shut the door 
more loudly than a skip-kennel’s duty can warrant after you refuse. 
Lord W. Lennox and Lord Glengall have fought a duel, and no 
harm done. J don’t understand all this: I wish gentlemen—I beg par- 
don, I mean noblemen—would not fight, unless they mean to do one 
another a mischief. Vincentio Saviola (who, with all the quizzing of 
Shakspeare and Fletcher, was a smart fellow) holds that they ought 
not to do so. And he maintainsa good deal more’ too, which; as°I 
don’t wish to seem to be a promoter of strife, I. will not ‘tention. 
There tk translation if any of the higher classes should wish to read 
the book. 18 ‘Sairnty SOR 
, August 28th. Lord Maryborough has sent, his attorney doma,geain,to 
Bow, Street... There. is..something. about, that. old..woman, of his more 
than, about old women in general, that’s certain. od. natiicmited 
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