what is the typical fate of the infants whose mothers beg for sustenance, according to the narrator at the outset of the essay ?

From the text:

These mothers instead of being able to work for their honest livelihood, are forced to employ all their time in stroling to beg sustenance for their helpless infants who, as they grow up, either turn thieves for want of work, or leave their dear native country, to fight for the Pretender in Spain, or sell themselves to the Barbadoes.