by beginning to write for the
stage. During the next nine years some eighteen of his plays
were produced. In 1748 he was appointed a justice of peace for
Westminster, and his writings on police and crime are of
interest to this day. "Amelia" was published in 1751, when its
author was a magistrate at Bow Street. In a dedicatory letter,
Fielding explained that the book was "sincerely designed to
promote the cause of virtue, and to expose some of the most
glaring evils, as well public as private, which at present
infest the country." The licentiousness of wealthy "men about
town," the corruption of justice, the abuses of the prison
system, the lack of honour concerning marriage--these are some
of the "glaring evils" exposed with all the great novelist's
power in "Amelia." In the characters of Dr. Harrison and
Amelia herself, the virtuous man and woman are drawn so
clearly that they inevitably win the reader's sympathy.
"Amelia" does not equal the genius of "Tom Jones," but it is
remarkable for being so largely devoted to the adventures of a
married couple, instead of ending at marriage. Fielding died
on October 8, 1754.

_I.--The Inside of a Prison_

On the first of April, in the year--, the watchmen of a certain parish
in Westminster brought several persons, whom they had apprehended the
preceding night, before Jonathan Thrasher, Esq., one of the justices of
the peace for that city.

Among the prisoners a young fellow, whose name was Booth, was charged
with beating the watchman in the execution of his office, and breaking
his lantern. The justice perceiving the criminal to be but shabbily
dressed, was going to commit him without asking any further questions,
but at the earnest request of the accused the worthy magistrate
submitted to hear his defence.

The young man then alleged that as he was walking home to his lodgings
he saw two men in the street cruelly beating a third, upon which he had
stopped and endeavoured to assist the person who was so unequally
attacked; that the watch came up during the affray, and took them all
four into custody; that they were immediately carried to the
round-house, where the two original assailants found means to make up
the matter, and were discharged by the constable, a favour which he
himself, having no money in his pocket, was unable to obtain. He utterly
denied having assaulted a