the moment they saw there was no one passing, they went up to the stall, the eldest walking alongside the other, apparently to prevent his being seen, whilst the little one snatched an orange, and conveyed it under his pinafore, with all the dexterity of an experienced thief. The youngest of these children was not four years old, and the eldest, apparently, not above five; there was reason to believe this was not the first time these children had been guilty of stealing, though perhaps unknown to their parents, as I have found to be the case in other instances.

Another little boy in the school, a very fine child, whose mother kept a little shop, frequently brought money with him, as much as threepence at a time. On questioning the child how he came by it, he always said that his mother gave it to him, and I thought there was no reason to doubt the child's word, for there was something so prepossessing in his appearance, that, at that time, I could not doubt the truth of his story. But finding that the child spent a great deal of money in fruit, cakes, &c. and still had some remaining, I found it advisable to see the mother, and to my astonishment found it all a fiction, for she had not given him any, and we were both at a loss to conceive how he obtained it. The child told me, his mother gave it him; and he told his mother that it was given to him at school; but when he was confronted with us both, not a word would he say. It was evident therefore that he had obtained it by some unfair means, and we both determined to suspend our judgment, and to keep a strict eye on him in future. Nothing, however, transpired for some time; I followed him home several times, but saw nothing amiss. At length

I received notice from the mother, that she had detected him in taking money out of the till in her little shop. It then came out that there was some boy in the neighbourhood who acted as banker to him, and for every twopence which he received from the child, he was allowed one penny for taking care of it. It seems that the child was afraid to bring any more money to school, on account of being so closely questioned as to where he obtained it, and this, probably, induced him to give more to the boy than he otherwise would have done. Suffice it, however, to say, that both children at length were found out, and the mother declared that the child conducted her to some old boards in the wash-house, and underneath them there was upwards of a shilling, which he had pilfered at various times.

It would have been easy to multiply cases of juvenile delinquency, both those which have been brought under the cognizance of the law, and those which have come to my own knowledge, but I think enough have been related to show how early children may and do become depraved. I have purposely given most of them with as few remarks of my own as possible, that they may plead their own cause with the reader, and excite a desire in his bosom to enter with me in the next chapter into an enquiry as to the causes of such early depravity.

CHAPTER II.

REMARKS ON THE CAUSES OF JUVENILE DELINQUENCY.

"Why thus surpris'd to see the infant race Treading the paths of vice? Their eyes can trace Their parents' footsteps in the way they go:

What shame, what fear, then, can their young hearts know?" ANON,

GREAT as the effects of juvenile delinquency are, I think we may discover a principal cause for them in the present condition and habits of the adult part of the labouring classes. We shall find very frequently, that it is only the natural perpetuation of evil, by the infallible mode of precept and example. I do not mean to make the illiberal assertion, that many parents amongst the poor classes actually encourage their children in the commission of theft; we may indeed fear, that even this is sometimes the fact; as in the instance of the two little girls detected in shop-lifting, whose case we detailed in the preceding chapter; but still, I should hope that such cases are not frequent. If, however, they do not give them positive encouragement in dishonesty, the example they set is often calculated to deprave the heart of the child, and to induce dishonesty, amongst other evil consequences; whilst

in other cases we find, that from peculiar circumstances the child is deprived, during the whole day, of the controlling presence of a parent, and is exposed to all the poisonous contamination, both of precept and example, which the streets of large cities afford; and there cannot be a more obvious cause of the evil, than the wrong associations which children form, when, at an early age, they are suffered to pass their time in the streets, without any one to protect or control them. It is in this sphere they come in contact with maturer vice, and are won by its influence from the paths of innocence; we have shewn many instances, in our preceding pages, which will confirm and illustrate this fact. What resistance can the infant make to the insidious serpents, which thus, as it were, steal into its cradle, and infuse their poison into its soul. The guardians of its helplessness are heedless or unconscious of its danger, and, alas! it has not the fabled strength of the infant Hercules, to crush its venomous assailants. Surely such a view of the frequent origin of crime must awaken our commiseration for its miserable victims, and excite in us a desire to become the protectors of the unprotected.

It will, however, be inquired by some, "Where are the natural guardians of the child? Where are its parents? Are we to encourage their neglect of duty, by becoming their substitutes? It is their business to look after their children, and not ours." Frequently have I heard such sentiments put forth, and sometimes by persons in whom I knew it was rather a want of reflection than of philanthropy. But, a want of thought, or of feeling, one or the other, it must certainly be;

because, on no principle of reason or humanity. can we make the unnatural conduct of the fathers and mothers, a plea for withholding our protection and assistance from the helpless victims of their cruelty and neglect. If we do so, we not only neglect our duty toward such children, but are permitting the growth and extension of the evil. We must recollect that these children will not merely play their own wicked parts during their lives, but will likewise become the models to the next generation.

It should be remembered here, that I am treating of an evil which extends its bad consequences to all classes of society; I am appealing to the prudence of men, that they will, for their own sakes, investigate the cause of that evil; I shall hereafter appeal to them as philanthropists, and, still higher, as Christians, that they will examine the merits of the remedy I shall propose.

The culpability of many parents is beyond dispute. They not only omit to set their children good examples, and give them good advice, but, on the contrary, instil into their minds the first rudiments of wickedness, and lead them into the paths of vice. Their homes present scenes which human nature shudders at, and which it is impossible truly to describe. There are parents who, working at home, have every opportunity of training up their children "in the way they should go," if they were inclined so to do. Instead of this, we often find, in the case of the fathers, they are so lost to every principle of humanity, that as soon as they receive their wages, they leave their homes, and hasten with eager steps to the public-house; nor do they re-pass its accursed threshold, till the vice-fattening landlord has received the greater