THE Jews, in the streets, while acting as costermongers, never "worked a barrow," nor dealt in the more ponderous and least profitable articles of the trade, such as turnips and cabbages. They however, had, at period, the chief possession of a portion of the trade which the "regular hands" do not consider proper costermongering, and which is now chiefly confined to the Irish—viz.: orange selling.

The trade was, not many years ago, confined almost entirely to the Jew boys, who kept aloof from the vagrant lads of the streets, or mixed with them only in the cheap theatres and concert-rooms. A person who had had great experience at what was, till recently, of the greatest "coaching inns," told me that, speaking within his own recollection and from his own observation, he thought the sale of oranges was not so much in the hands of the Jew lads until about years back. The orange monopoly, so to speak, was established by the street-Jews, about , or or years previous to that date, when recruiting and local soldiering were at their height, and when a great number of the vagabond or "roving" population, who in capacity or other now throng the streets, were induced to enlist. The young Jews never entered the ranks of the army. The streets were thus in a measure cleared for them, and the itinerant orange-trade fell almost entirely into their hands. Some of the young Jews gained, I am assured, at least a year in this traffic. The numbers of country people who hastened to London on the occasion of the Allied Sovereigns' visit in —many wealthy persons then seeing the capital for the time— afforded an excellent market to these dealers.

Moreover, the perseverance of the Jew orange boys was not to be overcome; they would follow a man who even looked encouragingly at their wares for a mile or . The great resort of these Jew dealers—who eschewed night-work generally, and left the theatre-doors to old men and women of all ages—was at the coaching inns; for year by year, after the peace of , the improvement of the roads and the consequent increase of travellers to London, progressed.

About , as nearly as my informant could recollect, these keen young traders began to add the sale of other goods to their oranges, pressing them upon the notice of those who were leaving or visiting London by the different coaches. So much was this the case, that it was a common remark at that time, that no could reach or leave the metropolis, even for the shortest journey, without being expected to be in urgent want of oranges and lemons, blacklead pencils, sticks of sealing-wax, manybladed pen-knives, pocket-combs, razors, strops, braces, and sponges. To pursue the sale of the last-mentioned articles—they being found, I presume, to be more profitable—some of the street-Jews began to abandon the sale of oranges and lemons; and it was upon this, that the trade was "taken up" by the wives and children of the Irish bricklayers' labourers, and of other Irish work-people then resident in London. The numbers of Irish in the metropolis at that time began to increase rapidly; for years ago, they resorted numerously to England to gather in the harvest, and those who had been employed in contiguous counties during the autumn, made for London in the winter. "I can't say they were well off, sir," said man to me, "but they liked bread and herrings, or bread and tea—better than potatoes without bread at home." From to , I was informed, the Irish gradually superseded the Jews in the fruit traffic about the coaching-houses. reason for this was, that they were far more eloquent, begging pathetically, and with many benedictions on their listeners. The Jews never begged, I was told; "they were merely traders." Another reason was, that the Irish, men or lads, who had entered into the fruit trade in the coachyards, would not only sell and beg, but were ready to "lend a hand" to any over-burthened coach-porter. This the Jews never did, and in that way the people of the yard came to encourage the Irish to the prejudice of the Jews. At present, I understand that, with the exception of or in the city, no Jews vend oranges in the streets, and that the trade is almost entirely in the hands of the Irish.

Another reason why the Irish could supersede and even undersell the Jews and regular costermongers was this, as I am informed on ex-

I inquired what might be the number of the Jews plying, so to speak, at the coaching inns, and was assured that it was less numerous than was generally imagined. man computed it at individuals, all under ; another at only ; perhaps the mean, or , might be about the mark. The number was naturally considered greater, I was told, because the same set of street traders were seen over and over again. The Jews knew when the coaches were to arrive and when they started, and they would hurry, after availing themselves of a departure, from inn—the Belle Sauvage, , for instance—to take advantage of an arrival at another—say the Saracen's Head, . Thus they appeared everywhere, but were the same individuals.

I inquired to what calling the youthful Jews, thus driven from their partially monopolized street commerce, had devoted themselves, and was told that even when the orange and hawking trade was at the best, the Jews rarely carried it on after they were or , but that they then resorted to some more wholesale calling, such as the purchase of nuts or foreign grapes, at public sales. At present, I am informed, they are more thickly than ever engaged in these trades, as well as in new avocations, that have been established within these few years,—the sale of the Bahama pineapples and of the Spanish and Portuguese onions.

About the , Jew boys still hawk pencils, etc., but the number engaged in this pursuit throughout London is not, as far as I can ascertain, above -—if an — of what it was even years ago.