(_From Fraser's Magazine._)
Although in the present day, notwithstanding the severity of the laws,
the different modes of committing crime are almost endless, the
principal actors in criminality may be classed under the following
heads:--
_Classification of Rogues._
Housebreakers _Vulgus_--Cracksmen, pannymen.
Highwaymen & } Grand-tobymen.
Footpads } Spicemen.
Coiners Bit-makers.
Utterers of base metal Smashers.
Pickpockets Buzzmen, clyfakers, conveyancers.
Stealers of goods and money from } Sneaks.
shops, areas, &c. &c. }
Shoplifters Shop-bouncers.
Snatchers of reticules, watches, } Grabbers.
&c. &c. from the person }
Horse and cattle stealers Prad-chervers.
Women and men who waylay }
inebriate persons for the } Ramps.
purpose of robbery }
Receivers of stolen goods Fences.
Forgers Fakers.
Embezzlers Bilkers.
Swindlers of every description, } Macers, duffers, and ring-droppers.
among which are }
Stealing from carts and } Dragsmen.
carriages of all kinds }
To which may be added, all kinds } Light-horsemen, heavy-horsemen,
of plundering on the river and } game watermen, do. lightermen,
its banks, on board shipping, } scuffle-hunters, copemen, &c.
barges, &c. }
The whole of these are carried on by confederacies of small parties,
and at other times by gangs, when their operations become more
extensive. The forger and the highwayman are exceptions; the latter
offence is generally committed by one or more, in a fit of need and
state of desperation, without any system or plan for carrying on the
practice; and it may be affirmed, that, in almost every case of this
nature, the criminal never committed the like offence before. There
have been some few instances of five or six individuals associating
for the purposes of committing forgeries, but the cases are rare.
_Boy Burglars._
I can name several boys now in custody, who have been actors in some
of the most complicated schemes of burglary, and from whom much on
this head might be elicited. One in particular, who began his career
by robbing a gentleman in Mark Lane of plate to a considerable amount;
and as it shows one method of committing a robbery, I will relate how
it was accomplished. The boy was under sentence of death when I got
the history of his life from him, he having been nine years in the
successful commission of crime; and although nearly eighteen years of
age, his appearance gave him credit for only being fourteen. Whilst in
custody, his constant theme of regret was that he had left the parties
in whose services he had been so long and securely employed, to join
some of his own age, embarking in business for themselves; by which he
was "nicked" (taken up). He was an orphan, and had been brought up in
the poor-house, whence he was apprenticed to a sweep in the city. He
was a remarkably sharp boy, which no doubt was noticed by those who
are always on the lookout for agents to aid them in their schemes. He
was met one morning early, with the soot-bag on his back, by a man who
pretended to be his uncle, and who gave him a half-crown piece, making
another appointment for a meeting; the result of which was, before he
had served sixteen months of his time he had given information by
which fifteen robberies had been committed. He, of course, had been
paid for his services, which soon made him disgusted with the sooty
business; and he made an agreement with the man who drew him into
crime, to leave his master's service, and to commit with him a robbery
on their private account before he left. The house fixed on was the
one above alluded to in Mark Lane. The premises had before been
surveyed, and deemed impregnable; that is to say, was considered too
well guarded to be robbed without detection. They, however, got
possession of the plate in the following manner:--The boy was a
favourite with the cook of the house, and she would have no other to
sweep her kitchen-chimney; a matter of business which was performed
the last Saturday in every month. It was concerted between the man and
the boy, that the former should dress himself in the character of a
sweep, and accompany the latter as his over-looker, or assistant. The
real sweep-over-looker, of course, must be kept out of the way; and
here laid all their difficulty. It cost the boy (to use his own
expression) six months' longer punishment as a sweep, and the man six
appearances, at an early hour of the morning, in the same character,
before the object could be carried, namely, to get rid of the real
sweep.
At length, one Saturday, by pretending to forget the job until all the
men were gone out about other work, the boy, affecting suddenly to
recollect it, persuaded the master to let him go alone, saying he
himself could perform the duty. It was five o'clock in the morning
when he and the disguised robber reached the house; the cook opened
the door, having nothing on save a blanket thrown over her shoulders.
The arch young rogue said, "It's only me and Harry; it's a very cold
morning; if you like to go to bed again, cookey, we will do it well,
and leave all clean, and shut the door fast after us." She went to
bed, and they went to the plate depository, which had been well noted
oft times before. They put the whole of its contents into the
soot-bag, and fearlessly walked through the streets with it on their
backs. The boy, a few hours afterwards, was so metamorphosed, being
dressed in the smartest manner, with cane in hand and fifty pounds in
his pocket, that he walked the streets in full confidence that not
even his master or his fellow-apprentices would know him.
_Pickpockets._
The qualifications for a pickpocket are a light tread, a delicate
sense of touch, combined with firm nerves. These boys may be known by
their shoes in the street; they generally wear pumps, or shoes of a
very light make, having long quarters. There is about their
countenance an affected determination of purpose, and they walk
forward, as if bent on some object of business: it is a rule with them
never to stop in the street. When they want to confer for a moment
they drop into some by-court or alley, where they will fix on an
object of attack, as the people pass down a main street; when they
start off in the same manner, the boy going first, to do what they
call "stunning," that is to pick the pocket. The first rate hands
never, on any occasion, loiter in the streets, unless at a procession
or any exhibition, when there is an excuse for so doing. Many have a
notion that instruments are used in disencumbering the pockets: this
is a false idea; the only instrument they use is a good pair of small
scissors, and which will always be found on the person of a pickpocket
when searched; these they use to cut the pocket and all off, when they
cannot abstract its contents.
To these qualifications they unite a quick sight, and a tact of
observing when the attention is engaged, or of devising some means to
engage it themselves, until the act is done. They are most busy in
foggy weather. When in prison, they will be heard to say on such days,
"What a shame to lose such a fine day as this!" On great public days,
when the streets are expected to be crowded, and much business is
anticipated, several parties of them will unite for the day, under
special contract, either to divide all gains between them, or for each
one to retain what he gets, agreeing, under every circumstance, to
mutually assist each other in the bustle of the crowd. The wary and
superior pickpocket, however, seldom runs this risk, but steadily
pursues his course, surveying every day the objects around him, and
sending off his emissaries to fetch in the plunder, or, by detection,
to be handed off to prison. Pickpockets are the least faithful to each
other of all known rogues, and are the most difficult of all biped
animals to tame, or make any thing of in the way of improvement when
caught.
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