One of the most beautiful hoaxes ever perpetrated was one for which
Swift was responsible. He caused a broad-sheet to be printed and
circulated which purported to be the “last dying speech” of one
Elliston, a street robber, in which the condemned thief was made to
say: “Now as I am a dying man, I have done something which may be of
use to the public. I have left with an honest man--the only honest man
I was ever acquainted with--the names of all my wicked brethren, the
places of their abode, with a short account of the chief crimes they
have committed, in many of which I have been their accomplice, and
heard the rest from their own mouths. I have likewise set down names of
those we call our setters, of the wicked houses we frequent, and all
of those who receive and buy our stolen goods. I have solemnly charged
this honest man, and have received his promise upon oath, that whenever
he hears of any rogue to be tried for robbery or housebreaking, he
will look into his list, and if he finds the name there of the thief
concerned, to send the whole paper to the Government. Of this I here
give my companions fair and public warning, and hope they will take
it.” So successful, we are told, was the Dean’s ruse that, for many
years afterwards, street robberies were almost unknown.