A BEGGAR'S DIARY.

Evening Star, Issue 12094, 15 January 1904, Page 8

A BEGGAR'S DIARY.

A respectably dressed woman was committed for trial at . the London South Western Police Court on November 23, charged with begging and assaulting the female searcher at the Police Station. In the prisoner's house near Lavender Hill a note-book containing a daily record of her doings was'found, and revealed the fact that the prisoner had carried on a wholsesule system of mendicancy all over the country with great success. The following are a few characteristic extracts from the diaries:

" School ruffled me ;v,ery much; gave me nothing; made me swear." "Walked on to Petersham; lady teacher; glass of claret and cake. "Went to Worcester Park; lonely place; fot 5s at the Rectory. The Hbn.Mrs Shawtewart very kind to me; gave me a sovereign." When last before the Court abe had in her possession a letter from the Keeper of the late Queen's Privy Purse expressing regret at being unable to assist her on account of the many claims on Her Majesty's private bounty. The above, remarks a Home paper, is typical of many that from time to time have been brought to light by the police. Begging in England does not enjoy tha dignity of a guild as it does in certain parts of America, but it is a well-organised profession. There is a freemasonry among vagrants that is worth studying by those who wish to temper charity with discretion. If ever you have at your door, for example, a man or woman selling plants who does not attempt to beg clothes, reward him or her; they do not belong to the confederacy. If you have rewarded one man whose tale has reached your heart and he is not followed by a score with stories each more pitiful than the lust, you may have really done a kindness. But it is unlikely, as your charity organisation society will tell you. It is as true to-day as ever that honest poverty hides its humble head. The man wno begs a. crust at your door is making on' an average from 5s to 25s a day. The begging letter-writer is better rewarded still. One has at his elbow a facsimile of a document in which, on the half of a slip of notepaper/are jotted down sums totalling £29 odd collected upon one pretence by one of this latter class. Most of us have had experiences of the

beggmg-letter writer which would hare been worth repeating had one noted (hem at the; time. Mr G. W. E. Russell has preserved a treasure written to a, lady famous for -her splendid generosity! "As I know uiat it will- cost you only'a Scratch of the p«i to set this right; I make no apology for asking yon to do so,” wrote this tinknown applicant in a letter which explained. that he nad had the misfortune to overdraw his account at his bankers. It is a pity that in such, a case, one has not' the a certain philanthropic duke, a sturdy Protestant, to whom wrote a lady greatly interested in Roman Catholic misSl< ® S * JCnowing his wide benevolence, sho said, she had token the liberty of putting down his name for a hundred pounds forher fund "It is a curious coincidence,” the duke replied, “ that, just before I got your letter, I had put down your name for a like _ sum to the English Mission for converting Roman Catholics; so no money need pass between us.” Lord Playfair’ s he.jrt was too big, to admit of his ever withstanding a plausible appeal for assistance. It was literally tree of him that a man with a good story well told Could get the coat off the back qf King Edward’s mentor. One day, v.> en he had attained to fame, Playfair received a letter with an enclosure. The note ran •

- “yon may not' remember the ciroamstances, but manyyears ago I accosted w yon one night at the docks'at Liverpool and begged for, assistance.' : You found that you had no money, but you took off your coat and gave me yoiu waistcoat. Since then ! have made a fortune, and can nosy afford to repay you.” Accompanying the letter was . a postal order for 17s 6d. | When -one is dealing with people of the , class of the ingenious diarist already men* tipned. it is not often that ho gets the . better of the matter. The lata Lady Donooghmore used to tell of an encounter • of which she" was a witness between a geni i tleman with whom ■ she was walking and :i nasi-i. ; • ■ . ■

an Irish beggar woman. Charity was/not forthcoming. The casual looked for* a moment at the man, then burst but: "Ye've an awful ugly->face; I hope ye may die soon, but I pity the worms that'll have to.eat yen." \ But sometimes the boot is on the other leg. _lt was so in the case of a man importuned by a virago late at night who behaved violently, and said: "You must give mo money; you shaix, or Til say you're Jack the Ripper." The gentleman stepped quickly np to her and, m a sepulchral whisper, said "I .am." In two seconds there was only one person left in that street. It was not the woman.