be sufficient to counteract the cause of crime, or to prevent its evil effects, yet, nevertheless, they must certainly check its progress, and oppose its farther extension; and that, if there be many offenders in spite of these institutions, there would, doubtless, be many more if they were not in existence;-to revile or neglect them, therefore, is little worthy of good sense or good feeling. It is not my purpose in the present Chapter to dwell on the existence of crime generally, but of that of juvenile delinquency in particular; neither shall I here stop to point out, or to expatiate on, the remedy for the evil, which it is the purpose of the succeeding chapters to propose and explain. I will, previously to doing so, bring before the eyes of the public a collection of facts, some of which were obtained at considerable personal hazard and inconvenience, shewing the alarming nature and extent of juvenile delinquency.

It is said by Dr. Pole, in his Observations on Infant Schools (p. 17), that in the year 1819, in London alone, the number of boys who procured a considerable part of their subsistence by pocketpicking, and thieving in every possible form, was estimated to be from eleven to fifteen hundred. One man whom he mentions, living in Wentworth Street, near Spitalfields, had forty boys in training to steal and pick pockets, who were paid for their exertions with a part of the plunder; fortunately, however, for the public, this notable tutor of thieves was himself convicted of theft and transported. This system of tutorage is by no means uncommon, nor is it confined to the male sex. I remember reading some time back in the Police Reports, of a woman who had entrapped eight or ten children from their parents; had trained

them up, and sent them out thieving; nor was it until one of these infantile depredators was taken in the act of stealing, that the affair was made known, and the children restored to their homes. In this case, we see, owing probably to the negligence of their fathers or mothers, eight or ten children, enticed away no doubt by the promise of a few cakes, or other trifling reward, were in a fair way of becoming confirmed thieves, had not a providential discovery of their situation taken place; and we know not how many children may have been won to evil practices in like manner.

Facts of this nature, if no other arguments could be adduced, would be sufficient to shew the utility, indeed I may say, the necessity, of providing some means, more efficient than those at present in existence, for the protection and improvement of the infant poor; that they may not thus, from the negligence of their parents, fall into the hands of those evil and designing wretches. who make a living by encouraging the children of the poor to commit crimes, of the produce of which they themselves take the greatest part.

The younger the children are, the better they suit the purpose of these vile miscreants; because, if such children are detected in any dishonest act, they know well, that few persons would do more than give the child or children a tap on the head, and send them about their business. The tenth part of the crimes committed by juvenile offenders never come under public view, because should any person be robbed by a child, and detect him in the act, he is silenced by the bystanders, with this remark,-" Oh! he is but a child, let him go this time, perhaps the poor thing has done it from necessity, being in want of bread."

Thus the child is almost sure to escape, and instead of being punished, is not unfrequently rewarded for the adventure, as was the case in the following instance. Having had occasion to walk through Shoreditch, some time since, I saw a number of persons collected together round a little boy, who, it appeared, had stolen a brass weight from the shop of a grocer. The account the shopman gave was as follows: He stated, that three boys came into the shop for half-an-ounce of candied horehound, and that while he was get. ting down the glass which contained it, one of the boys contrived to purloin the weight in question. Having some suspicion of the boys, from the circumstance of having recently lost a number of brass weights, he kept his eyes upon them, when he saw one of them put his hand into a box that was on the counter, take out the largest weight, and then run out of the shop, followed by the other two boys. The boy who stole it, slipped the weight into the hand of one of the others; but the shopman, having observed this manoeuvre, followed the boy who had the weight, who, being the youngest of the three, could not run very fast; he, finding himself closely pursued, threw away the weight into the road, and when he was taken, declared it was not he who took it. The man wished to take the child back to the shop, in order that his master might do with him as he thought proper, but the by-standers, with a charitable zeal which evinced little knowledge, prevented him; one man in particular seemed to interest himself much in the boy's behalf, stating that he knew the child very well, and that he had neither father nor mother. The child immediately took up the plea, that he had no father or mother, adding to it

that he had had no victuals all day. The individual before-mentioned then gave him one penny, and his example was followed by many more, till I think the boy obtained nearly a shilling. I put several questions to the child, but was checked by this fellow, who told me, that as I had given the child nothing, I had no right to ask so many questions; and, after a great deal of abuse, ended by telling me, that if I did not "take myself off," he would "give me something for myself." Feeling a great desire to sift further into this mystery, I feigned to withdraw, but kept my eye upon the boy, and followed him for nearly two hours, until I saw him join two other boys, one of whom I had not seen before, and who had a bag with something very heavy in it, which, I have every reason to believe, were weights, or something which they had obtained in a similar manner. Wishing to ascertain the fact, I approached the boys, but they no sooner perceived me, than the little fellow who had been principal actor in the affair, called out, " Nose, Nose," a signal-word, no doubt, agreed upon amongst them,-when they all ran down some obscure alleys. I followed, but was knocked down, as if by accident, by two ill-looking fellows, who continued to detain me with apologies till the boys had got safely away. I have little doubt that this was an instance of that organized system of depredation of which I have before spoken, and that the man who took so active a part at the first was at the bottom of the business,-was, in fact, the tutor and employer of the predacious urchins. His activity in preventing the boy from being taken back to the shop-his anxiety to promote a subscription for the boy,-and lastly, his threat of

personal violence if I interfered in the matter, by questioning the child,-all these circumstances confirm me in this opinion.

It is only by the knowledge of this fact-the association of infant offenders with those of maturer and hardened habits-that we can account for such strange cases as the following. On the 17th of July, 1823, a child only seven years old, was brought before the magistrate at Lambethstreet office, charged with frequently robbing his mother, and was ordered to be locked up all night in the gaol-room. In the evening, however, when his mother returned, he forced his way out of the room, and behaved with such violence that they were obliged to iron both his hands and legs! There can be no doubt that this child had been for a long time under the instruction and evil influence of some old and hardened offender; he must have undergone much training before he could have arrived at such a pitch of hardihood, as to make it necessary to handcuff and fetter a child of so tender an age; and to enable him to hold even the magistrates, officers, and his own parent, in defiance.

The two following cases afford further proof of the same lamentable truth; the first is extracted from a morning paper of the 20th of September, 1824. "A little boy, not more than six years of age, was brought before the Lord Mayor at the Mansion House, on Saturday, the 18th instant, having been found in a warehouse, where he had secreted himself for the purpose of thieving. At a late hour on Friday night a watchman was going his round, when, on trying a warehouse in which there was much valuable property, to see whether it was safe, he heard the little prisoner