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London Lives 1690 to 1800
Crime, Poverty and Social Policy in the Metropolis
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Historical Background
The Project
London Lives Book
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ecured in that Prison is admitted, but that more than a
<
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</
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>
few, Compared with those who are confined in the Prisons
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
of the County, and tried at the Hicks-Hall Sessions, are
<
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</
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>
sent thither by the Justices, is absolutely denied. And
<
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</
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>
how fallacious that Method of Estimation must be, which
<
lb
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</
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represents the Prisoners sent to Newgate by the County,
<
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</
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as Two to One of the London Prisoners will appear by
<
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</
lb
>
the following State of Facts. The County have several
<
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>
</
lb
>
Goals, for the Delivery whereof they hold, eight Times a
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
Year, Sessions of their own; at those Sessions Petty Larce-
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lb
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</
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>
nies and Misdemeanors of all Kinds are tried, but the moe
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
atrocious Offences are tried at the
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Old Bailey
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; sometimes
<
lb
>
</
lb
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indeed Offenders of this latter King are committed, in the
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
first instance, to
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Newgate
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, where they remain till the
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Old
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Bailey
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Sessions begin, which likewise are held eight Times
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
a Year; but these are not One in Fifty, and much oftner
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
are they sent to
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New Prison
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,
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Bridewell
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, and the other
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
Prisons of the County,and there they remain, till, in Pur-
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
suance of an Order of the
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rs
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Old Bailey
</
rs
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Session, made in
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
May, 1726, doubtless for the Ease of the Court, they are
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
from Time to Time removed Six Days before the Session
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lb
>
</
lb
>
begins, to be ready for Trial; and, after Trial, very few
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
remain for any Length of Time in Newgate; Hence it
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
appears that the City have the Custody of
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Middlesex
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type
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Pri
<
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>
</
lb
>
soners, triable at the
<
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type
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Old Bailey
</
rs
>
<
interp
inst
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type
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value
=
"Old Bailey"
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</
interp
>
<
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inst
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type
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, for Six Days before, and
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
during every sessions, which very seldom hold a Week; Sup-
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
pose them we estimate their Time of keeping County Prisoners
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
at a Fortnight for each Sessions, it will follow that Four
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
Months in the Year is the utmost Time for which, with
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
Truth, the City may be said to have the Custody of Coun-
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
ty Prisoners, unless sometimes, by Accident, a few may
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
wait for Transportation, The Allegation of a Proportion
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
of Two to One against the City, would lead a Stranger to
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
the Belief that the County had no Goals of their own, and
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
that, all the Year through, and without any Intermission,
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
the Justices were sending in Prisoners to
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Newgate
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, in the
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
Proportion above mentioned, and that the City keep then
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
as long as they do their own Prisoners; The Facts above
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
stated are the Truth of the Case, and that Fallacy of the
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
City's Allegation is apparent.
</
p
>
<
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"129"
>
Here it may be observed, that that respectful Obedience
<
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>
</
lb
>
which the County have always paid to the Order of the
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
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>
Old Bailey
</
rs
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type
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=
"Old Bailey"
>
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type
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</
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Session, is what the Citizens Mean, when they
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
complain that the County Prisoners are Crowded into their
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
Goal.
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The
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County of Middlesex
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have two Prisons, besides
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Tothill-Fields Bridewell
</
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, which they built, and do main-
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
tain; and in these, though, except about Sessions Time,
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
they are generally full, no malignant Disease hath ever yet
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
appeared, and had the same Care been taken to prevent
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
the Accumulation of Filth in
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Newgate
</
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<
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"Newgate"
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, as had been exer-
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
cised in the County Prisons, that malignant Disease, of
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
which the Citizens so loudly complain, had very likely
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
never appeared among them.
</
p
>
<
p
n
=
"131"
>
The great Stress which is said on the Circumstance of a
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
malignant Disease, makes it necessary to revert to Fact
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
that it is extremely fitting the Public should be acquainted
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
with. On the 27th of April, 1750. a great Number of
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
Persons, attending the
<
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Old Bailey
</
rs
>
<
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type
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=
"Old Bailey"
>
</
interp
>
<
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type
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"type"
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=
"undefined"
>
</
interp
>
Sessions, in a Crowed
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
Court, and uncommonly warm Weather, were seized
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
with a Fever, Communicated, as is generally supposed, by
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
the infection of the Newgate Prisoners, of which Disease
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
to the Number of about Forty Persons, among whom
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
were two of the King's Judges, and the Mayor of London
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
lost their Lives. The late
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>
Sir
</
rs
>
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type
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value
=
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>
</
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<
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id
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>
Michael Foster
</
rs
>
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type
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"given"
value
=
"Michael"
>
</
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>
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"Foster"
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type
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, one of the
<
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>
</
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>
Judges of the
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Court of King's Bench
</
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, has thought fit to
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
perpetuate this disastrous Event, in a Volume of Reports,
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
published by himself; and enquiring into the Causes of it,
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
Assigns for one, the Filthiness of the Goal, and the Avenues
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
to it.}
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
These
</
p
>
<
p
n
=
"132"
>
The Residue of this Paragraph goes to the real Merits of
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
the Question, between the City and the County of Mid-
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
dlesex, and there the City will Gladly meet them,
</
p
>
<
p
n
=
"133"
>
It is amitted, that County Prisoners are Secured in
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
this Prison, but it is said, that there is a Fallacy in the
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
City's Allegation, that the Proportion of the County
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
Prisoners to London Prisoners, is as Two to One.-If the
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
City should be mistaken in the Proportin, they will be
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
glad to be set right. They desire nothing more them that
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
the true Proportion may appear, but they are well assured,
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
their Calcution is Just.
</
p
>
<
p
n
=
"134"
>
The County say, they will make out the Fallacy of the
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
City's Allegation, by a State of Facts. Without following
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
the County into the Detail of their Facts, which is very
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
carelefsly penned, and wherein there are very great Mis-
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
takes, it will be a full Answer to their Argumentative
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
Proof of a Fallacy, to say the City too have their Goal and
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
their Sessions. That the London Prisoners are sent to
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
<
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>
Newgate
</
rs
>
<
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</
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<
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</
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, in the same Manner as the
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Middlesex
</
rs
>
<
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</
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<
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=
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>
</
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>
Prisoners,
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
viz. The Most atrocious Offenders are committed their in
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
the first Instance, other are sent from the Compters six Days
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
before the Session, under the same Order of the
<
rs
type
=
"placeName"
id
=
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>
Old Bailey
</
rs
>
<
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type
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value
=
"Old Bailey"
>
</
interp
>
<
interp
inst
=
"LMSMPS50547_geo127"
type
=
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value
=
"undefined"
>
</
interp
>
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
Sessions, made in the Year 1726, and the City keep them
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
just as long as they do the
<
rs
type
=
"placeName"
id
=
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>
Middlesex
</
rs
>
<
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inst
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value
=
"Middlesex"
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</
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>
<
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=
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=
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=
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>
</
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>
Prisoners, and no
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
longer.
</
p
>
<
p
n
=
"135"
>
If Fact,the Time for which the City have the
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
Custody of the County Prisoners (which is
<
rs
type
=
"occupation"
id
=
"LMSMPS50547_occ56"
>
very ingeni-
</
rs
>
<
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inst
=
"LMSMPS50547_occ56"
type
=
"occupation"
value
=
"very ingeni-"
>
</
interp
>
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
ously but a little too necely Calculated, in the opposite
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
Column, at four Months in the Year only) rather in-
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
creases the Proportion against the City, and the County will
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
Probably admit this, and not their State of Facts, to be
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
the Truth of the Case, when it occurs to them that they
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
had quite forgot that there are
<
rs
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"placeName"
id
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Middlesex
</
rs
>
<
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<
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</
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>
Debtors to be
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
taken into the Account, of whom there have been in
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
Custody in this Goal, in the Course of the last ten Years,
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
a Thousand and Fifty-fix, and only Forty-fix from London:
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
There remain in the City's Custody all the Year through,
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
without any Intermission and therefore swell the Propor-
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
tion, as has been observed, against the City,
</
p
>
<
p
n
=
"136"
>
It is somewhat extraordinay, that the County should so
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
entirely have forgot their Debtors, for whom there is no
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
other Goal but Newgate, when they were collecting the
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
whose Truth of a Case, in order to detect a Fallacy in the
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
City's Allegation.
</
p
>
<
p
n
=
"137"
>
Now they are put in Mind of them, it is to be hoped
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
they will attend a Moment to their wretched Situation, in
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
a Place little better than a Dungeon, on the North Side of
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
<
rs
type
=
"placeName"
id
=
"LMSMPS50547_geo130"
>
Newgate
</
rs
>
<
interp
inst
=
"LMSMPS50547_geo130"
type
=
"placeName"
value
=
"Newgate"
>
</
interp
>
<
interp
inst
=
"LMSMPS50547_geo130"
type
=
"type"
value
=
"undefined"
>
</
interp
>
.
</
p
>
<
p
n
=
"138"
>
This Observation, which is repeated in another Part of
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
the Case, is not warranted by the Work crowded, in the
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
Sense in which that Word is used in the City's Petition, where
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
it is applied to the whole Number of Prisoners of
<
rs
type
=
"placeName"
id
=
"LMSMPS50547_geo131"
>
London
</
rs
>
<
interp
inst
=
"LMSMPS50547_geo131"
type
=
"placeName"
value
=
"London"
>
</
interp
>
<
interp
inst
=
"LMSMPS50547_geo131"
type
=
"type"
value
=
"undefined"
>
</
interp
>
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
and
<
rs
type
=
"placeName"
id
=
"LMSMPS50547_geo132"
>
Middlesex
</
rs
>
<
interp
inst
=
"LMSMPS50547_geo132"
type
=
"placeName"
value
=
"Middlesex"
>
</
interp
>
<
interp
inst
=
"LMSMPS50547_geo132"
type
=
"type"
value
=
"undefined"
>
</
interp
>
, taken together, and not to the County
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
Prisoners only, and therefore will not admit of this Con-
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
struction.
</
p
>
<
p
n
=
"139"
>
The
<
rs
type
=
"placeName"
id
=
"LMSMPS50547_geo133"
>
City of London
</
rs
>
<
interp
inst
=
"LMSMPS50547_geo133"
type
=
"placeName"
value
=
"City of London"
>
</
interp
>
<
interp
inst
=
"LMSMPS50547_geo133"
type
=
"type"
value
=
"undefined"
>
</
interp
>
will not be provoked by the most
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
ungenerous Treatment, to say any Thing harsh; but they
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
must insist that the County claim a Merit in respect of the
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
Management of their Prisons, which they are not intitled
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
to. It is a Fact, that the same malignant Disease which
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
the City so loudly complain of, hath frequently appeared
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
in the prisons refer'd to, and hath frequently been com-
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
municated from those Prisons to
<
rs
type
=
"placeName"
id
=
"LMSMPS50547_geo134"
>
Newgate
</
rs
>
<
interp
inst
=
"LMSMPS50547_geo134"
type
=
"placeName"
value
=
"Newgate"
>
</
interp
>
<
interp
inst
=
"LMSMPS50547_geo134"
type
=
"type"
value
=
"undefined"
>
</
interp
>
, and it deserves
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
Consideration, whether it would not be prudent and a
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
wife Measure among the Arrangements to be hereafter made
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
in the Goals, to prevent that Communication altogether.
</
p
>
<
p
n
=
"140"
>
For the rest.bet the Compiler of this Case indurge his
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
Petulance at the Expence of the City, if he pleases.But
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
it is barbarous to revive the Memory of that unhappy Ac-
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
cident which happened at the
<
rs
type
=
"placeName"
id
=
"LMSMPS50547_geo135"
>
Old Bailey
</
rs
>
<
interp
inst
=
"LMSMPS50547_geo135"
type
=
"placeName"
value
=
"Old Bailey"
>
</
interp
>
<
interp
inst
=
"LMSMPS50547_geo135"
type
=
"type"
value
=
"undefined"
>
</
interp
>
, to would many
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
Families, whose Relations, Friends, and Connections were
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
involved in that Calamity, only for the sake of an ill-natured
<
lb
>
</
lb
>
Comment
</
p
>
<
p
n
=
"141"
>
Through
</
p
>
</
div1
>
View as Text
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