This is no delusive way of accounting for the matter,—­it is a solution which experience and observation have taught and established.  I have traced the progress of delinquency, in actual life, from its earliest stages,—­from the little trembling pilferer of the apple-stall, not more than four or five years old, to the confirmed thief of nine or ten years—­who had been in gaol three or four times, and was as proud of his dexterity in thieving, and hardihood under punishment, as he could have been of the most virtuous accomplishment, or the most becoming fortitude.  The infant thief, conscious of shame, and trembling with fear, will tell you on detection, that “Tommy,” or “Billy,” some older associate, set him to do it; you let him go:  he joins his companions, who laugh at the story he tells, ridicule him for his fears, praise him for his dexterity, and rejoice in his escape.  It will be very easy to imagine how, under a course of such treatment, the young offender so soon dismisses both shame and fear; and learns to forget everything but the gain and glory of his crimes.

It is no small matter of credit with older thieves—­(by older thieves I still mean boys of nine or ten years old)—­to have under their tuition two or three pupils.  I have seen in my walks as many as seven or eight sallying forth from the alleys in the neighbourhood of Spitalfields, under the command, as it were, of a leader, a boy perhaps not more than nine or ten years old.  I have watched their plans, and have noticed that it was usual to send first the youngest boy to attempt the theft—­perhaps the object to be obtained was only a bun from the open window of a pastry-cook’s shop; if he failed, another was sent, whilst the rest were lurking at the corner of some court, ready to flee in case their companion was detected; and I have sometimes seen, that after all the rest had failed, either from want of skill, or the too great vigilance of the shop-keeper, the boy who acted as leader has started out, and by a display of superior dexterity, would have carried off the prize, had it not happened that some one was thus purposely watching his conduct.  When detected, if an old offender, he will either look you in tire face with the greatest effrontery and an expression of defiance, or he will feign to cry, and tell you he was hungry, has no father nor mother, &c.; though frequently, on further inquiry, I have found the whole story to be false.

Alas! there is one class of children, with whom I know not how to deal, I mean those without the natural protectors.  The man can for a more trifle get rid of all responsibility, though in general, most able to bear it, the woman has the dead weight, which often proves the destruction of her offspring, and herself, suicide and murder are the first-fruits frequently to her, but she loves her offspring, and perhaps he who deceived her, and for both their sakes fights the battle against fearful odds; for a few years at least, she will not last long, at length