ndures. His charity to
the poor, and his gallantry and respect for women, have made him the
pre-eminent thief of all the world.

Among English thieves of a later date, who has not heard of Claude Duval,
Dick Turpin, Jonathan Wild, and Jack Sheppard, those knights of the road
and of the town, whose peculiar chivalry formed at once the dread and the
delight of England during the eighteenth century? Turpin's fame is unknown
to no portion of the male population of England after they have attained
the age of ten. His wondrous ride from London to York has endeared him to
the imagination of millions; his cruelty in placing an old woman upon a
fire, to force her to tell him where she had hidden her money, is regarded
as a good joke; and his proud bearing upon the scaffold is looked upon as
a virtuous action. The Abbe le Blanc, writing in 1737, says he was
continually entertained with stories of Turpin--how, when he robbed
gentlemen, he would generously leave them enough to continue their
journey, and exact a pledge from them never to inform against him, and how
scrupulous such gentlemen were in keeping their word. He was one day told
a story with which the relator was in the highest degree delighted.
Turpin, or some other noted robber, stopped a man whom he knew to be very
rich, with the usual salutation--"Your money or your life!" but not
finding more than five or six guineas about him, he took the liberty of
entreating him, in the most affable manner, never to come out so ill
provided; adding that, if he fell in with him, and he had no more than
such a paltry sum, he would give him a good licking. Another story, told
by one of Turpin's admirers, was of a robbery he had committed upon a Mr.
C. near Cambridge. He took from this gentleman his watch, his snuff-box,
and all his money but two shillings, and, before he left him, required his
word of honour that he would not cause him to be pursued or brought before
a justice. The promise being given, they both parted very courteously.
They afterwards met at Newmarket, and renewed their acquaintance. Mr. C.
kept his word religiously; he not only refrained from giving Turpin into
custody, but made a boast that he had fairly won some of his money back
again in an honest way. Turpin offered to bet with him on some favourite
horse, and Mr. C. accepted the wager with as good a grace as he could have
done from the best gentleman in England. Turpin lost his bet and paid it
immediately, and w