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STEALING FRUIT FROM ORCHARDS.

This offence is only punishable by the act of 43 Eliz. c. 7, by compelling the party to refund the value of the fruit stolen, or, in default, suffer the punishment of whipping; which never takes place, as the small value of the fruit detected is always paid. It is probable at that early period fruit was not a species of property of much consequence; the case is, however, different at the present time; and surely it would not be thought too severe to place this offence on the same footing as stealing cabbages, turnips, &c. Colquhoun.

STEALING PRIVATELY.

See FELONY, LARCENY, and PICKPOCKETS.

We shall here give an account of MARY YOUNG, familiarly called Jenny Diver, who suffered for this offence.

This extraordinary woman was a native of the north of Ireland, and having lost her parents while in a state of infancy, she was taken into the family of an antient gentlewoman, who had known her father and mother, and who caused her to be instructed in reading, writing, and needle-work.

When she had attained to her fifteenth year, a young man, servant to a gentleman who lived in the same neighbourhood; made pretensions of love to her; but the old lady, being apprized of his views, declared that she would not consent to their marriage, and positively forbade him to repeat his visits at her house.

Notwithstanding the great care and tenderness w th which she was treated, Mary formed the reso

lution of leaving her generous benefactress, and of directing her course towards the metropolis of England; and the only obstacle to this design was the want of money for her support till she could follow some honest means of earning a subsistence.

She had no very strong prepossession in favour of the young man who had made a declaration of love to her; but she, determining to make his passion subservient to the purpose she had conceived, promised to marry him, on condition of his taking her to London. He joyfully embraced this proposal, and immediately engaged for a passage in a vessel bound for Liverpool.

A short time before the vessel was to sail, the young man robbed his master of a gold watch and eighty guineas, and then joined the companion of his flight, who was already on board the ship, vainly imagining that his infamously acquired booty would contribute to the happiness he should enjoy with his expected bride. The ship arrived at the destined port in two days; and Mary being indisposed in consequence of her voyage, her companion hired a lodging, in the least frequented part of the town, where they lived a short time under the characters of man and wife, but avoiding all intercourse with their neighbours, the man being apprehensive that measures would be pursued for rendering him amenable to justice.

When Mary had recovered her health, they agreed for a passage in a waggon that was to set out for London in a few days. On the day preceding that fixed for their departure, they accidentally called at a public house; and the man being observed by a messenger dispatched in pursuit of him from Ireland, he was immediately taken into custody. Mary, who, a few hours before his apprehension

prehension, had received ten guineas from him, voluntarily accompanied him to the mayor's house, where he acknowledged himself guilty of the crime alleged against him, but without giving the least intimation that she was an accessary in his guilt. He being committed to prison, Mary sent him all his clothes and part of the money she had received from him, and the next day took her place in the waggon for London. In a short time, her companion was sent to Ireland, where he was tried and condemned to suffer death; but his sentence was changed to that of transportation.

Soon after her arrival in London, Mary contracted an acquaintance with one of her countrywomen, named Anne Murphy, by whom she was invited to partake of a lodging in Long-Acre. Here she endeavoured to obtain a livelihood by her needle; but not being able to procure sufficient employment, in a little time her situation became truly deplorable.

Murphy intimated to her that she could introduce her to a mode of life that would prove exceedingly lucrative; adding that the most profound secrecy was required. The other expressed an anxjous desire of learning the means of extricating herself from the difficulties under which she laboured, and made a solemn declaration that she would ne

ver divulge what Murphy should communicate. In the evening, Murphy introduced her to a number of men and women assembled in a kind of club, near St. Giles's. These people gained their living by cutting off women's pockets, and stealing watches, &c. from men in the avenues of the theatres, and at other places of public resort; and, on the recommendation of Murphy, they admitted Mary a member of the society.

After

After her admission, they dispersed, in order to pursue their illegal occupation; and the booty obtained that night consisted of eighty pounds in cash and a valuable gold watch. As Mary was not yet acquainted with the art of thieving, she was not admitted to an equal share of the night's produce, but it was agreed that she should have ten guineas, She now regularly applied two hours every day in qualifying herself for an expert thief, by attending to the instructions of experienced practitioners; and in a short time she was distinguished as the most ingenious and successful adventurer of the whole gang.

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A young fellow of genteel appearance, who was a member of the club, was singled out by Mary as a partner of her bed; and they cohabited for a considerable time as husband and wife.

In a few months, she became so expert in her profession, as to acquire great consequence among her associates, who distinguished her by the appellation of Jenny Diver, on account of her remarkable dexterity.

Mary, accompanied by one of her female accom. plices, joined the crowd at the entrance of a place of worship in the Old Jewry, where a popular divine was to preach; and observing a young gentleman with a diamond ring on his finger, she held out her hand, which he kindly received, in order to assist her; and at this juncture she contrived to get possession of the ring, without the knowledge of the owner: after which, she slipped behind her companion, and heard the gentleman say, that as there was no probability of gaining admittance, he would return. Upon his leaving the meeting, he missed his ring, and mentioned his loss to the persons who were near him, adding that he suspected

it to be stolen by a woman whom he had endeavoured to assist in the crowd; but as the thief was unknown, she escaped.

The above robbery was considered as such an extraordinary proof of Mary's cleverness, that her associates determined to allow her an equal share of all their booties, even though she was not present when they were obtained.

In a short time after the above exploit, she procured a pair of false hands and arms to be made; and concealing her real ones under her clothes, and putting something beneath her stays, to make herself appear as if in a state of pregnancy, she repaired on a Sunday evening to the place of worship above-mentioned, in a sedan chair, one of the gang going before, to procure a seat among the genteeler part of the congregation, and another attending in the character of a footman.

Being seated between two elderly ladies, each of whom had a gold watch by her side, she conducted herself with great seeming devotion; but when the service was nearly concluded, she seized the oppor tunity, while the ladies were standing up, of stealing their watches; which she delivered to an accomplice in an adjoining pew.

She practised a variety of felonies of a similar nature in different parts of the metropolis and it's adjacencies; till, by the accounts in the newspa pers, it was deemed impolitic to repeat them; and therefore the gang resolved to go to Bristol, in search of adventures during the fair which is held in that city every summer; but being unacquainted with the place, they unanimously consented to admit into their society a man who had long subsisted there by villainous practices.

Here, Mary Young and Anne Murphy assumed

the

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