"No person," says Sir Astley Cooper "has greater hostility to dram drinking than myself, insomuch that I never suffer any ardent spirits in my house—thinking them evil spirits!—and if the poor could witness the white livers, the dropsies, the shattered nervous systems which I love seen as the consequence of drinking, they would be aware that spirits and poisons were synonymous terms."
Institutions; it will advance, and what the legislature may never be able to accomplish, the spirit of improvement eventually will.
But having considered those cases, in which wilful neglect and bad example may be charged upon the parents, we should not forget to tell those who object to our interference in the duty of a child's natural protectors, that it is not, in every instance, from wilful neglect on their part, that their children are left unprotected in the streets. The circumstances of the labouring classes are such, in many cases, that they are compelled to leave their children either wholly unprotected, or in the charge of some one who frequently becomes a betrayer instead of a defender. The father, perhaps, goes to his daily labour in the morning, before the children are out of bed, and does not return till they are in bed again at night. The mother goes out in like manner, the earnings of the husband being insufficient for the maintenance of the family, and the children are intrusted throughout the day to the care of some girl, whose parents are as poor as themselves, and are glad to let her earn something towards her support. Numbers of little girls thus go out before they are twelve years old, and teach the little children all they know,—commonly to be deceitful, and not unfrequently to be dishonest. The parents, careless or unsuspecting, only make inquiry when they return home if the children have been good and quiet, and of course receive an answer in the affirmative. In the course of a few years the evil consequences begin to show themselves, and then the good folks wonder how or when the seeds of such depravity could have been sown. Many I know will be inclined to smile at the insignificancy of the cause pointed out. I can only say, it is from such springs, however regarded, that the great stream of vice is supplied; and what we laugh at now, for its insignificant origin, will hereafter, in its maturity, laugh at us for our impotence, in vainly endeavouring to stem it. What are parents to do with their children, situated as those are of whom we have just spoken? And very many are so situated. Is it possible for them to perform their duty, as protectors of their children? It requires all their time to labour for their support, and they therefore leave them, unavoidably, either in such hands as we have described, or to take care of themselves; to range the streets, and form such associations as may there happen to fall in their way. They get into company with older delinquents, and become first their instruments, and then their associates; till at length they find their way into a gaol.
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 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 should try their prowess in carrying off a shoulder of mutton from a butcher's shop,—a loaf from a baker,—or lighter articles from the pastry-cools, fruiterer, or linen-draper? For, having seen the dexterity of the clown, in these cases, they will not be at a loss for methods to accomplish, by sleight of hand, their several purposes. In my humble opinion, children cannot go to a better place for instruction in these matters, or to a place more calculated to teach them the art of pilfering to perfection, than to the theatre, when pantomimes are performed. To say that the persons who write and introduce these pieces are in want of sense, may not be true; but I must charge them with a want of sufficient thought, right feeling and principle, in not calculating on their baneful effects on the rising generation, for whose amusement it appears they are chiefly produced. Many unfortunate persons, who have heard sentence of death passed upon them, or who are now suffering under the law, in various ways, have had to lament that the first seeds of vice were sown in their minds while viewing the pilfering tricks of clowns in pantomimes. Alas! too little do we calculate on the direful effects of this species of amusement on the future character of the young. We first permit their minds to be poisoned, by offering them the draught, and then punish them by law for taking it. Does not the wide world afford a variety of materials sufficient for virtuous imitation, without descending to that which is vicious? It is much easier to make a pail of pure water foul, than it is to make a pail of foul water pure. It must not be supposed that I wish to sweep off every kind of amusement from the juvenile part of society, but I do wish to sweep off all that has a pernicious tendency. The limits which I have prescribed to myself will not allow me to enter more at large into this subject; otherwise I could produce a number of facts which would prove, most unquestionably, the propriety of discontinuing these exhibitions.
A conversation which I once heard between some boys who were playing at what is called pitch-in-the-hole, will prove the truth of my assertions. "Bill," said one of the boys to the other, "when did you go to the play last?" "On Monday night," was the reply. "Did you see the new pantomime?"—"Yes." "Well, did you see any fun?"—"Yes, I believe I did too. I saw the clown bone a whole hank of sausages, and put them into his pocket, and then pour the gravy in after them. You would have split your sides with laughing, had you been there. A.B. and C.D. were with me, and they laughed as much as I did. And what do you think A.B. did the next night?"—"How should I know."—"Why," replied the other, "he and C.D. boned about two pounds of sausages from a pork shop, and we had them for supper." This conversation I heard from a window, which looked into a ruinous place where boys assembled to toss up for money, and other games. This fact alone, without recording any more, is sufficient to show the evil of which I have been speaking. And I do most sincerely hope that those persons who have any influence over the stage, will use their utmost endeavours, speedily, to expunge every thing thus calculated to promote evil inclinations in the minds of children, and vicious habits in the lives of men.