wherever they go. These
firmans are entrusted
to the charge of a peculiar race of beings, commonly
called officers to the sheriff. There is something
exceedingly interesting in the ceremonious attendant
upon the execution of one of these potent fiats:
the manner is as follows. Having received the
orders of “John Doe and Richard Roe,”
they proceed to the residence of their intended captive,
and with consummate skill, like the Eastern tellers
of tales, commence their business by the repetition
of some ingenious story (called in the language of
the captured,
lie), wherein the Bumme Bayllyffe
(such is their title) artfully represents himself
“as a cousin from the country,” an “uncle
from town,” or some near and dear long expected
and anxiously-looked-for returned-from-abroad friend.
Should their endeavours fail in procuring the desired
interview, they frequently have resort to the following
practice. With the right-hand finger and thumb
they open a small aperture in the side of a species
of garment, generally manufactured from drab broadcloth,
in which they encase their lower extremities, and having
thrust their hand to the very bottom of the said opening,
they produce a peculiarly musical sound by jingling
various round pieces of white money, which so entrances
the feelings of the domestic with whom they are discoursing,
that his eyes become fixed upon the hand of the operater
the moment the sound ceases and it is withdrawn.
The Bumme Bayllyffe then winketh his right eye, and
with great rapidity depositeth a curious-looking coin,
of the value of five shillings, in the hand of the
domestic, who thereupon pointeth with his dexter thumb
over his left shoulder to a small china closet, in
which the enemy of John Doe and Richard Roe is found,
his Wellington boots sticking out of the hamper, under
the straw in which the rest of his person is deposited.
The Bumme Bayllyffe having called him loudly by his
name, showeth his writ, steppeth up, and tappeth him
once gently upon the shoulder, whereupon the ceremony
is completed, and the future inmate of the Fleet departeth
with the Bumme Bayllyffe.
The first thing that attracts the attention of the
captured of John Doe and Richard Roe is the great
care with which the entrance to his new country is
guarded. Four officials of the warden or minister
of the said John and Richard alternately remain in
actual possession of that interesting pass, to each
of whom the new-comer submits his face and figure
for actual and earnest inspection, for the reason that
should the said new arrival by any means pass their
boundary, they themselves would suffer much disgrace
and obliquy; having undergone this inspection, he
then proceeds to the interior of these strange domains.
Walls! walls!! walls!!! meet him on every side; and
by some strange manner of judging the new-comer is
immediately known as such.
The costume of the natives differs widely from the
usually sported habiliments of more extended nations;
caps worn by small boys in other climes here decorated
the heads of the most venerable elders, and peculiarly-cut
dressing-gowns do duty for the discarded broadcloth
of a Stultz, a Nugee, or a Willis.