The Adventures of Roderick Random

The Landlord Unravels the Mystery

The pair inform their landlord of the robbery they suffered, and he reveals they were targeted by a criminal “money-dropper” and his accomplices, who trick strangers into accompanying them to isolated locations to be robbed, and recounts other cases of similar fraud and violence in London. When they tell the landlord about their failed attempt to seek help from Member of Parliament Mr. Cringer, the landlord explains that MPs require bribes to assist constituents, and their servants expect payment for granting access. He advises the narrator to bribe Cringer’s footman a shilling the next time he visits to ensure he is admitted.

Bribing the Footman

The next morning, the narrator follows the landlord’s advice, slipping a shilling to Cringer’s footman when he presents his letter of introduction from Mr. Crab. The bribe works immediately: the footman lets him in and takes his letter, telling him to wait in a cold side passage for a response. The narrator waits 45 minutes in the unheated space, watching several other Scottish men he knows from home pass freely into Cringer’s audience chamber, while he hides his face to avoid being recognised in his shabby, unfashionable clothing.

A Disappointing Interview with Cringer

When Cringer finally emerges, he is greeting the wealthy, well-dressed Squire Gawky warmly, shaking his hand and inviting him to dinner. When he turns to the narrator, he pretends to struggle to remember his name, then dismisses his request for a surgeon’s mate warrant by claiming there is already a large crowd of Scottish surgeons waiting at the Navy Office for the next vacancy, and that the commissioners have even requested a guard for protection. He vaguely promises to help when new ships are commissioned, leaving the narrator deeply mortified at the cold, dismissive reception from the former footman of his grandfather’s household, who has risen to become a wealthy MP.