Cf. 'Vicar of
Wakefield', 1706, ii. 122:--'Our possessions are paled up with
new edicts every day, and hung round with gibbets to scare every
invader'; and 'Citizen of the World', 1762, ii. 63-7. Johnson,
who wrote eloquently on capital punishment in 'The Rambler' for
April 20, 1751, No. 114, also refers to the ceaseless executions
in his 'London', 1738, ll. 238-43:--
Scarce can our fields, such crowds at Tyburn die,
With hemp the gallows and the fleet supply.
Propose your schemes, ye senatorian band,
Whose ways and means support the sinking land:
Lest ropes be wanting in the tempting spring,
To rig another convoy for the king.
l. 326. -----
"Where the poor houseless shivering female lies".
Mitford compares Letter cxiv of 'The Citizen of the World',
1762, ii. 211:--'These 'poor shivering females' have once seen
happier days, and been flattered into beauty.
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