There he got an acquaintance with a man, while he drank some beer, who laid a scheme to rob him of his life. Kidden was complaining how poor he was, and how glad he should be to be employed; upon which his new acquaintance told him, he would give him a day's work, and provided him a lodging in one of the bad alleys in that neighbourhood, where he was, backwards and forwards, from the Friday night till the Monday morning following. On that unfortunate morning, January the seventh, his new acquaintance called him up very early in the morning, in order to go upon this jobb he had promised poor Kidden; and a sad jobb it proved to him. When the whole of the affair, as represented by the poor youth himself, and declared by him to the last moment of his life, to be the truth of the matter, is set forth, his fate will extort the pity and compassion of every humane breast; which I shall here give the reader, as deliver'd to me, by him, a short time before execution.

The unhappy case of Joshua Kidden< no role > , now under sentence of death in Newgate .

I By chance got acquainted with a person, at the Castle , in Chick-lane , the bottom of Saffron-hill , and being just come out of the country, from my relations, near Lambourne , in Berkshire , I was complaining for want of business. I was bred to the seas , and was willing to do any servile business, as a porter Etc. This person I got acquainted with, told me he had got a jobb to do at Tottenham , to remove some goods for a gentleman, who was afraid they would be seized on for rent: Accordingly we went on the appointed day, and going from one alehouse to another, till evening came on, was at last told by my companion, who pretended to see for the gentleman, that he had seen him, and it was too late to remove tonight, but he had given me eighteen-pence for my trouble, and that we must come on another day, Etc. Going home we met with a chaise with a man and woman in it, at a place called the Seven Sisters , on this side Tottenham , where the woman was set down from the chaise, and walked up the road, and I, as I past by her, said, Are you a going to London ? It was now about seven o'clock at night, she answered yes, and I passed on. This companion of mine, unknown by name, behind. called, What do you walk so fast for? My answer was, To get to London; but turning about, saw him robbing the woman. He then ran after me, and said, Here, I have got some money, and would have forced half a crown into my hand; but I refused it. Then he said, Josh, don't leave me; I must step into the ditch, and ease myself. And walking gently on, to wait for my companion, up starts one Mac Donald, thief-catcher, and collars me, and said, You are my prisoner. He carried me directly to a justice, before whom the woman swore, that I, with a person unknown, robbed her of five and