When the statute 1st. Edward VI. c. 3. was made, which ordained, that
all idle vagabonds should be made _slaves_, and fed upon bread,
water or small drink, and refuse of meat; should wear a ring round their
necks, arms, or legs; and should be compelled, by beating, chaining, or
otherwise, to perform the work assigned them, were it ever so vile;--the
spirit of the nation could not brook this condition, even in the most
abandoned rogues; and therefore this statute was repealed in two years
afterwards, 3rd and 4th of Edward VI. c. 16.

P.T.W.

* * * * *


FINSBURY.

(For the _Mirror_.)


Fitzstephen, in his Description of London, 1282, gives the following
account of skating in Moor, or Finsbury Fields, which may afford
amusement to the inquisitive reader:--

"When that vast lake which waters the walls of the city towards the north
is hard frozen, the youths, in great numbers, go to divert themselves on
the ice--some, taking a small run for an increment of velocity, place
their feet at a proper distance, and are carried sideways a great
way; others will make a large cake of ice, and seating one of their
companions upon it, they take hold of one's hands, and draw him along,
when it happens that moving swiftly on so slippery a plane, they all