Sl« Paupers. [Part II. 



his hat, and beins; seated, puUefl out a larg;e parcel of 

 papers, amongst which was a certificate from the Secre- 

 tartj of State of His Majestij the King of- Sardinia, 

 duly signed and countersigned, and sealed with a seal 

 having the armorial bearings of that sovereign. Along 

 'with this respectable ])aper was an English translation 

 of it, done at New York, and authenticated by the Mayor 

 and a Notary Public, with all due formality. All the 

 time these papers were opening, I was wondering what 

 this gentleman could be. I read, and stared, and read 

 again. I was struck not less by the novelty than the 

 audacity of the thing. " So then," said I, breaking 

 silence, " your sovereign, after taxing you to your ruin, 

 " has been graciously pleased to give you credentials 

 *' to show, that he autkorizes you to beg in America; 

 '' and, not only for yourself but for others; so that you 

 *' are an accredited ambassador from the beggars in 

 *^ Sardinia!" He found he was got into %crony hands: 

 and endeavoured to put an end to the negociation at 

 once, by observing, that I was not forced to give, and 

 that my simple negative was enough. *' I beg your 

 ♦' pardon. Sir," said I, " yo« have submitted your case 

 " to me ; you have made an appeal to me ; your state- 

 " ment contains reasons for my giving ; and that gives 

 '•' me a right to shew, if I can, why I ought not to give."' 

 He then, in order to prevent all reasoning, opened his 

 Subscription, or Begging-book, and said : " you see, 

 ♦' Sir, others give !" " Now," said I, " You reason, but 

 " your reasoning is defective; for, if you were to shew 

 *' me, that you had robbed all my neighbours without 

 " their resenting it, would it follow that I must let you 

 " rob me too?" " Ah! par bleu" said he, snatchino^ 

 up his credentials, " je vois que vous ites un avare." 

 — Ah ! by Old Nick, I see you are a Miser. — And off 

 he went ; not, however, before I had time to tell him 

 to be sure to give my best respects to the king of Sar- 

 dinia, and to tell His Majesty to keep his beggars at 

 home. 



395. I afterwards found, that cases like this are by 

 no means rare ; and that, in Pennsylvania, in particular, 

 they have accredited beggars from «11 parts of the con- 

 tinent of Europe This may be no unuseful hint for the 



