she sinks! she dies! where, oh! where! is the guardian for her child!  Reader, there are many thousands of such!  What becomes of them?  But there are other mothers of this class, more ignorant, have less of feeling, no education, no training, they advance from bad to worse, until they have five or six children, here are circumstances for children to come into the world grievously against them.  What becomes of these?  To avoid painful details I will answer the question, they become a pest to society, each a demoralizer of others, living upon the public—­as tramps, begging impostors, thieves, teachers of thieves, and cost the country more than five times their number born under other and better circumstances.  God grant that spiritual light, philosophical light, and scientific light united, may enable us to find the remedy!

The two grand causes of juvenile delinquency, we have seen then, to be the evil example of parents themselves; and the bad associations which children form at an early age, when, through neglect, they are suffered to be in the streets.  In the first instance, the parents of the children are wholly without excuse; in the second, though in some cases we may blame them, in others we cannot justly do so; but must admit, as an exculpation, the unfortunate circumstances of their condition in life.

It would be easy to shew, by a multitude of instances, the evil effects produced on children of a tender age by street associations.  But I think enough has been said to convince every reflecting mind that it is highly necessary that we should interfere in behalf of children so situated; and I shall conclude the present chapter by some remarks on the various habits and practices of the poor classes, which have at least an injurious tendency on the character of the rising generation.

As children are such imitative beings, I cannot help making a few observations on the tricks which are usually introduced into our pantomimes.  It is well known that those of the clown form a principal part of the entertainment.  It is also equally well known, that the pantomimes are particularly designed to amuse children, for which reason they are generally represented during the Christmas holidays, If, however, they were merely intended to amuse them, they who have introduced them have, perhaps, gained their object; but what kind of instruction they afford, I shall here attempt to shew.  I do not recollect to have seen a pantomime myself without pilfering being introduced under every possible form, such as shop lifting, picking pockets, &c. &c.  Can it then be for a moment supposed improbable that children, after having witnessed these exhibitions, should endeavour to put the thing into practice, whenever an opportunity offers, and try whether they cannot take a handkerchief from a gentleman’s pocket with the same ease and dexterity as the clown in the play did; or, if unsuccessful in this part of the business, that they