did very ill acts and plundered poor honest
people, to indulge themselves in their debaucheries; that they would do
well to think of amending before the Justice of their country fell upon
them; and that after such warning they must not expect any assistance
from him, in case they should fall under any misfortune. The next thing
that followed after this fine harangue was that they were put into the
information of some of Jonathan's creatures; or the first fresh fact
they committed and Jonathan was applied to for the recovery of the
goods, he immediately set out to apprehend them, and laboured so
indefatigably therein that they never escaped him. Thus he not only
procured the reward for himself, but also gained an opportunity of
pretending that he not only restored goods to the right owners, but also
apprehended the thief as often as it was in his power. As to instances,
I shall mention them in a proper place.

I shall now go on to another observation, viz., that in those steps of
his business which was most hazardous, Jonathan made the people
themselves take the first steps by publishing advertisements of things
lost, directing them to be brought to Mr. Wild, who was empowered to
receive them and pay such a reward as the person that lost them thought
fit to offer; and in this capacity Jonathan appeared no otherwise than
as a person on whose honour these sort of people could rely; by which,
his assistance became necessary for retrieving whatever had been
pilfered.

After he had gone on in this trade for about ten years with success, he
began to lay aside much of his former caution, and gave way to the
natural vanity of his temper; taking a larger house in Old Bailey than
that in which he formerly lived; giving the woman who he called his
wife, abundance of fine things; keeping open office for restoring stolen
goods; appointing abundance of under-officers to receive goods, carry
messages to those who stole them, bring him exact intelligence of the
several gangs and the places of their resort, and in fine, for such
other purposes as this, their supreme governor, directed. His fame at
last came to that height that persons of the highest quality would
condescend to make use of his abilities, when at an installation, public
entry, or some other great solemnity they had the misfortune of losing
watches, jewels, or other things, whether of great real or imaginary
value.

But as his methods of treating those who applied to him