Two blind beggars in Westminster

The man standing called himself a Frenchman (until the time of the French-British wars when suddenly he became Spanish). He wore about his neck a tin plate a portrait of marine who lost his sight at Gibraltar. The Frenchman inherited both tin plate and begging business when the blind marine died. Occasionally the Frenchman changed his appearance and voice and spent his days in the streets as a decrepit seller of matches.

The seated beggar lived in Westminster and generally spent the day seated by the wall of the Privy Garden. He never spoke nor solicited, just sat, hat held out.