“The father was asked where he had got the handkerchiefs?  He replied, that he had bought them from a pedlar for half-a-crown a piece at his door.  However, his eldest daughter contradicted him by acknowledging that her sister had stolen them from the shop of Mr. Watt.  He became dreadfully agitated, and then said—­’What could I say?  Surely I was not to criminate my own children!’

“Mr. Allen observed, that there was a clear case against the two children, but after consulting with the other magistrates, he was of opinion that the youngest child should be given up into the charge of the parish officers of Newington, as she was too young to go into a prison, and desired that the other girl should be remanded, in order to have some of the pledged goods produced.  The father was committed in default of bail for receiving stolen goods.  The child has since been found guilty.  The prosecutor stated that the family consisted of five children, not one of whom could read or write!”

Another very cruel practice of these young delinquents is, to go into some chandlers shop as slily as possible, and take the first opportunity of stealing the till with its contents, there being always some older thief ready to take charge of it, as soon as the child removes it from the shop.[A] Many a poor woman has had to lament the loss of her till, with its contents, taken by a child, perhaps, scarcely six years of age.  There is always a plan laid down for the child to act upon.  Should he be unable to obtain possession of the till himself, he is instructed to pretend that he has missed his way, and to inquire for some street near the spot; or, he will address her with, “Please, ma’am, can you tell me what it is o’clock?” The unsuspecting woman, with the greatest kindness possible, shews the child the street he inquires for, or leaves the shop to ascertain the hour, and for her civility, she is sure to find herself robbed, when she returns, by some of the child’s companions.  Should he be detected in actual possession of the property, he is instructed to act his part in the most artful manner, by pretending that some man sent him into the shop to take it, who told him that he would give him sixpence to buy cakes.

[Footnote A:  So complete is the science of pilfering rendered by its perpetrators, that they have even a peculiar vocabulary of their own, rendering their conversation, to those who may chance to overhear them, as mysterious and incomprehensible as though they were conversing in a foreign tongue; for instance, the scutcheons they steal from the key holes are called porcupines; brass weights, lueys; while purloining the contents of a till, is called taking the ding.  In short, they have a peculiar name for almost every thing.]

It is not uncommon for these young offenders to stop children, whom they may meet in the street unprotected, and either by artifice or violence, take from them their hats, necklaces, &c., thus initiating themselves, as it were, into the desperate crime of assault and highway robbery.