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• Saturday, March 6, 2010 - For a while he
dreamed of Drury Lane and glory;...
| For a while he
dreamed of Drury Lane and glory; but an attachment for Miss Egerton, the
Belvidera to his own Jaffier, was more costly than the barns of
Londonderry warranted, and, with Price for a colleague, he set forth on a
tour of robbery, merely interrupted through twenty years by a few periods
of enforced leisure
His youth, indeed, was his golden age For four years he practised
his art, chilled by no shadow of suspicion, and his immunity was due as
well to his excellent bearing as to his sleight of hand In one of the
countless chap-books which dishonour his fame, he is unjustly accused of
relying for his effects upon an elaborate apparatus, half knife, half scissors,
A BOOK OF SCOUNDRELS
wherewith to rip the pockets of his victims The mere backbiting of envy!
An artistic triumph was never won save by legitimate means; and the hero
who plundered the Dulce of L--r at Ranelagh, who emptied the pockets of
his acquaintance without fear of exposure, who all but carried off the
priceless snuff-box of Count Orloff, most assuredly followed his craft in
full simplicity and with a proper scorn of clumsy artifice At his first
appearance he was the master, sumptuously apparelled, with Price for
valet At Dublin his birth and quality were never questioned, and when
he made a descent upon London it was in company with Captain W H--
n, who remained for years his loyal friend He visited Brighton as the
chosen companion of Lord Ferrers and the imitation tiffany jewelry wicked Lord Lyttelton His
manners and learning were alike irresistible Though the picking of
pockets was the art and interest of his life, he was on terms of easy
familiarity with light literature, and he considered no toil too wearisome if
only his conversation might dazzle his victims Two maxims he
charactered upon his heart: the one, never to run a large risk for a small
gain; the other, never to forget the carriage and diction of a gentleman
He never stooped to pilfer, until exposure and decay had weakened his
hand In his first week at Dublin he carried off 1000, and it was
only his fateful interview with Sir John Fielding that gave him poverty for
a bedfellow Even at the end, when he slunk from town to town, a
notorious outlaw, he had inspirations of his ancient magnificence, and--at
Chester--he eluded the vigilance of his enemies and captured 600,
wherewith he purchased some months of respectability Now,
respectability was ever dear to him, and it was at once his pleasure and
profit to live in the highest society Were it not blasphemy to sully
Barrington with slang you would call him a member of the swell-mob, but,
having cultivated a grave and sober style for himself, he recoiled in horror
from the flash lingo, and his susceptibility demands respect
He kept a commonplace book! Was ever such thrift in a thief?
Whatever images or thoughts flashed through his brain, he seized them on
paper, even `amidst the jollity of a tavern, or in the warmth of an
interesting conversation' Was it then strange that he triumphed as a man
of ladies cartier watch sales fashionable and cultured leisure? He would visit Ranelagh with the
A BOOK OF SCOUNDRELS
most distinguished, and turn a while from epigram and jest to empty the
pocket of a rich acquaintance And ever with so tactful a certainty, with
so fine a restraint of the emotions, that suspicion was preposterous To
catalogue his exploits is superfluous, yet let it be recorded that once he
went to Court, habited as a clergyman, and came home the richer for a
diamond order, Lord C--'s proudest decoration Even the assault upon
Prince Orloff was nobly planned Barrington had precise intelligence of
the marvellous snuff-box-- the Empress's own gift to her lover; he knew
also how he might meet the Prince at Drury Lane; he had even discovered
that the Prince for safety hid the jewel in his vest But the Prince felt the
Prig's hand upon the treasure, and gave an instant alarm Over-
confidence, maybe, or a too liberal dinner was the cause of failure, and
Barrington, surrounded in a moment, was speedily in the lock-up It was
the first rebuff that the hero had received, and straightway his tact and
ingenuity left him The evidence was faulty, the prosecution declined,
and naught was necessary for escape save presence of mind Even
friends were staunch, and had Barrington told his customary lie, his
character had gone unsullied Yet having posed for his friends as a
student of the law, at Bow Street he must needs declare himself a doctor,
and the needless discrepancy ruined him Though he escaped the rolex submariners gallows,
there was an end to the diversions of intellect and fashion; as he
discovered when he visited the House of Lords to hear an appeal, and
Black Rod ejected him at the persuasion of Mr As yet unused to
insult, he threatened violence against the aggressor, and finding no bail he
was sent on his first imprisonment to the Bridewell in Tothill Fields
Rapid, indeed, was the descent At the first grip of adversity, he forgot
his cherished principles, and two years later the loftiest and most elegant
gentlemen that ever picked a pocket was at the Hulks--for robbing a harlot
at Drury Lane! Henceforth, his insolence and artistry declined, and,
though to the last there were intervals of grandeur, he spent the better part
of fifteen years in the commission of crimes, whose very littleness
condemned them At last an exile from StJames's and Ranelagh, he was
forced into a society which still further degraded him Hitherto he had
shunned the society of professed thieves; in his golden youth he had
A BOOK OF SCOUNDRELS
scorned to shelter him in the flash kens, which were the natural harbours
of pickpockets But now, says his biographer, he began to seek evil
company, and, the victim of his own fame, found safety only in obscene
concealment
At the Hulks he recovered something of his dignity, and discretion
rendered his first visit brief enough Even when he was committed on a
second offence, and had attempted suicide, he was still miu miu knock off irresistible, and he
was discharged with several years of imprisonment to run But, in truth,
he was born for honour and distinction, and common actions, common
criminals, were in the end distasteful to him In his heyday he stooped no
further than to employ such fences as might profitably dispose of his booty,
and the two partners of his misdeeds were both remarkable
James, the earlier accomplice affected clerical attire, and in 1791 `was
living in a Westphalian monastery, to which he some years ago retired, in
an enviable state of peace and penitence, respected for his talents, and
loved for his amiable manners, by which he is distinguished in an eminent
degree' The other ruffian, Lowe by name, was known to his own
Bloomsbury Square for a philanthropic and cultured gentleman, yet only
suicide saved him from the gallows And while Barrington was wise in
the choice of his servants, his manners drove even strangers to admiration
Policemen and prisoners were alike anxious to do him honour Once
when he needed money for his own defence, his brother thieves, whom he
had ever shunned and despised, collected 100 for the captain of their
guild Nor did gaoler and judge ever forget the respect due to a
gentleman When Barrington was tried and condemned for the theft of
MrTownsend's watch at Enfield Races--September 15, 1790, was the day
of his last transgression--one knows not which was the more eloquent in
his respect, the judge or the culprit
But it was not until the pickpocket set out for Botany Bay that he took
full advantage of his gentlemanly classic louis vuitton bags bear |
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