CAUSES OF EARLY CRIME.
_Degraded condition of parents--Dreadful effects of
drunkenness--Neglect of children inevitable and wilful--The tutorship
of wicked companions--Tricks of pantomimes injurious--Mischiefs
arising from sending children to pawnbrokers--Fairs demoralizing--All
Kinds of begging to be repressed_.
* * * * *
"Why thus surprised to see the infant race
Treading the paths of vice? Their eyes can trace
Their _parents_' footsteps in the way they go:
What shame, what fear, then, can their young hearts know?"
* * * * *
Appalling as the _effects_ of juvenile delinquency are, I think we may
discover a principal cause of them in the present condition and habits
of the adult part of the labouring classes. We shall find, very
frequently, that infant crime is the only natural produce of evil,
by the infallible means of precept and example. I do not intend to
assert, that the majority of parents amongst the poor, actually
encourage their children in the commission of theft; we may, indeed,
fear that some do; as in the instance of the two little girls detected
in shop-lifting, whose case was detailed in the preceding chapter; but
still, I should hope that such facts are not frequent. If, however,
they do not give them positive encouragement in pilfering, the example
they set is often calculated to deprave the heart of the child, and,
amongst other evil consequences, to induce dishonesty; whilst in other
cases we find, that from peculiar circumstances the child is deprived,
during the whole day, of the controling presence of a parent, and is
exposed to all the poisonous contamination which the streets of large
cities afford; and hence appears another cause of evil. Here children
come in contact with maturer vice, and are often drawn by its
influence from the paths of innocence; as we have already seen in
many instances. What resistance can the infant make to the insidious
serpents, which thus, as it, were, steal into its cradle, and infuse
their poison into its soul? The guardians of its helplessness are
heedless or unconscious of its danger, and, alas! it has not the
fabled strength of the infant Hercules to crush its venomous
assailants. Surely such a view of the frequent origin of crime must
awaken our commiseration for its miserable victims, and excite in us a
desire to become the defenders of the unprotected.
It will, however, be said by some, "Where are the natural guardians of
the child? Where are its parents? Are we to encourage their neglect
of duty, by becoming their substitutes? It is their business to look
after their children, and not ours." Frequently have I heard such
sentiments put forth, and sometimes by persons in whom I knew they
were rather owing to a want of reflection than of philanthropy. But a
want of thought, or of feeling, it must certainly be; because, on no
principle of reason or humanity can we make the unnatural conduct
of fathers and mothers, a plea for withholding our protection and
assistance from the helpless objects of their cruelty and neglect.
If we do so, we not only neglect our duty towards such children, but
permit the growth and extension of the evil. We must recollect that
they will not merely play their own wicked parts during their lives,
but will also become models to the next generation.
It should be remembered here, that I am treating of an evil which
extends itself to all classes of society; I am appealing to the
prudence of men, that they may, for their own sakes, investigate its
cause; I shall hereafter appeal to them as philanthropists, and, still
more urgently, as Christians, that they may examine the merits of the
remedy I shall propose.
The culpability of many parents is beyond dispute. They not only omit
to set their children good examples, and give them good advice, but,
on the contrary, instil into their minds the first rudiments of
wickedness, and lead them into the paths of vice. Their homes present
scenes which human nature shudders at, and which it is impossible
truly to describe. There are parents who, working at home, have every
opportunity of training up their children "in the way they should go,"
if they were inclined so to do. Instead of this, we often find, in
the case of the fathers, that they are so lost to every principle of
humanity, that as soon as they receive their wages, they leave their
homes, and hasten with eager steps to the public house; nor do they
re-pass its accursed threshold, till the vice-fattening landlord has
received the greater part of the money which should support their
half-fed, half-clothed wives and children; and till they have
qualified themselves, by intoxication, to act worse than brutes on
their return home. To men of this description it matters not whether
or not their children are proving themselves skilful imitators of
their evil example,--they may curse and swear, lie and steal,--so long
as they can enjoy the society of their pot companions, it is to them a
matter of total indifference.
During my superintendence of the first school, I had a painful
facility of examining these matters. Frequently, when I have inquired
the cause of the wretched plight in which some of the children were
sent to the school,--perhaps with scarcely a shoe to their feet,
sometimes altogether without,--I have heard from their mothers the
most heart-rending recitals of the husband's misconduct. One family in
particular I remember, consisting of seven children, two of whom were
in the school; four of them were supported entirely by the exertions
of the mother, who declared to me, that she did not receive a shilling
from their father for a month together; all the money he got he kept
to spend at the public-house; and his family, for what he cared, might
go naked, or starve. He was not only a great drunkard, but a reprobate
into the bargain; beating and abusing the poor woman, who thus
endeavoured to support his children by her labour.
The evil does not always stop here. Driven to the extreme of
wretchedness by her husband's conduct, the woman sometimes takes to
drinking likewise, and the poor babes are ten thousand times more
pitiable than orphans. I have witnessed the revolting sight of a
child leading home both father and mother from the public-house, in
a disgusting state of intoxication. With tears and entreaties I
have seen the poor infant vainly endeavouring to restrain them from
increasing their drunkenness, by going into the houses on their way
home; they have shaken off the clinging child, who, in the greatest
anxiety, waited without to resume its painful task; knowing, all the
time, perhaps, that whilst its parents were thus throwing away their
money, there was not so much as a crust of bread to appease its hunger
at home. Let it not be thought that this is an overcharged picture of
facts; it is but a faint, a very faint and imperfect sketch of reality
which defies exaggeration. Cases of such depravity, on the part of
mothers, I with much pleasure confess to be comparatively rare.
Maternal affection is the preventive. But what, let me ask, can be
hoped of the children of such parents? What are their characters
likely to become under such tuition? With such examples before their
eyes, need they leave their homes to seek contamination, or to learn
to do evil.
And here I must say, if I were asked to point out, in the metropolis,
or any large city, the greatest nuisance, the worst bane of society,
the most successful promoter of vice,--I should, without a moment's
hesitation, point to the first public-house or spirit dealer's
that met my view. Nor can I, in speaking of the causes of juvenile
delinquency, omit to say, I think these houses, indirectly, a very
great cause of it. Why I think so, my readers will readily conceive
from what I have already said. I am sure that Satan has no temple
in which he is so devoutly worshiped, or so highly honoured, as the
ale-house,--no priest is so devoted as its landlord,--no followers are
so zealous in his behalf as its frequenters.
Let any one in the evening visit the homes of the labouring class in
a poor neighbourhood, and he will find, in many cases, a
barely-furnished room, a numerous family of small children,--perhaps
forgetting the pangs of hunger in the obliviousness of sleep,--a wife,
with care-worn features, sitting in solitary wretchedness, ruminating
on wants she knows not how to supply--namely, clothes and food for
her children on the morrow, and on debts which she has no means of
discharging. But where is he who should be sharing her cares, bidding
her be of good cheer, and devising with her some means of alleviating
their mutual distress? Where is the father of the sleeping babes, the
husband of the watchful wife? Go to the public-house; you will see
him there with a host of his companions, of like character
and circumstances, smoking, drinking, singing, blaspheming,
gambling--ruining his health, spending his money; as jovial as though
he had no wretched wife, no starving babes at home! and as lavish of
money which should procure them food, as the man who is thriving on
his excesses could wish him to be.
I never look on a public-house without considering it as the abode of
the evil genius of the neighbourhood; the despoiler of industry, the
destroyer of domestic comfort; and heartily do I wish, that some means
could be devised for abolishing these resorts of wickedness; that some
legislative enactment may render it unlawful for any one to keep such
places. With respect to a peculiar sort of beverage, it has been
declared to be illegal to afford its purchasers accommodation for
drinking it on the premises. Why not extend it to other liquors? I
know this would be pronounced an infringement on English liberty! The
worst of men would raise this outcry against the measure. But surely
it should rather be called a preventive of English licentiousness. All
good men would consider it as such. I would not rob the labourer of
his daily allowance of a beverage which is believed by many to be of
essential service, when taken in moderation; but I would have him
drink it at home, that his wife and children may participate in his
enjoyment. Perhaps, it will be said, a man closely confined to labour
all day, needs some relaxation from domestic cares--that this can only
be found in change of scene, and in social company. I will concede
this. The plea of health, though often speciously advanced, cannot be
denied. But is it necessary for his health, that this change of scene
should be found in a close tap-room, within a few yards of his home,
where he drinks to a ruinous excess till a late hour,--breathing all
the while a hot atmosphere of tobacco-smoke? Is it not possible to
obtain the change of scene, and the relaxation of social converse, by
mutual visits amongst friends similarly situated,--by a ramble to the
suburbs,--or, in cases where the daily occupation affords too little
opportunity for exercise, are there not places established for
gymnastic exercises,--and might not others be formed for the like
purposes? Certain I am that the abolition of public-houses, in large
cities, as places of daily resort for the adult labouring poor, would
be attended with the most salutary consequences. I know of nothing
that must so certainly tend to their improvement both in character and
circumstances.
No man can witness the scenes, and doings, of many persons who attend
the new beer-houses, without pain and regret, that ever an act of
parliament was passed to legalize such places. I have visited some
hundreds of such, throughout the country, and can positively assert
that the demoralising tendency of too many is awful! Our magistrates
must be more careful in granting licences, or the efforts of the wise
and good will be neutralized, by the evils concocted at such places.
The old inkeepers had a character, and capital at stake. The new
beerhouse-keepers, I should say, a majority of them at least, have
neither, and consequently are less cautious, having less to lose.
Whatever the end of the legislature might have been in enabling the
poor to procure a good and cheap article more easily, to be drunk on
or off the premises, the thing has not answered the end, and no one
can deny, who will take the trouble to visit such places in different
counties, that the _Act_ has been a miserable failure, and has been
the fruitful source of crime and immorality. What a lesson is this for
speculative, short sighted legislators?
Another measure should then be adopted, I would say--destroy the
facility of spirit-drinking, by laying on a heavy duty. It is in vain
that interested sophistry would plead its benefits in particular
cases--such, for instance, as the ludicrous plea of the needfulness
of drams for market-women on wet and frosty mornings.[A] Set these
specious benefits against the dreadful results to men's health and
pockets, from the present low price of spirits, and their consequent
enormous consumption; and then let common sense and honesty deliver
its judgment.
I have spoken thus candidly and at length upon the subject in the
present chapter, though somewhat out of place, because my feelings
would not allow me to be less plain or more brief, or to postpone
the matter to "a more convenient season." Perhaps in talking of
legislative alterations I have been wandering upon forbidden ground;
if so, in returning to my proper path, I will comfort myself with this
thought:--the progress of improvement, however slow, is sure, and it
is certainly advancing in this country; I require no other assurance
than the establishment of Infant Schools and Mechanic's.
[Footnote A: Some conception of the fearful height which drunkenness
has attained, may be gathered from the fact, that in 1829, the
quantity of distilled spirits on which the duty was paid in the three
kingdoms, amounted to 23,000,000 of gallons. To form a due estimate,
however, of the actual consumption, an immense quantity must be added,
obtained by smuggling. Of the rum imported for home consumption,
allowing for that re-exported, the quantity was 5,000,000 of gallons.
Of brandy and other articles imported, 1,500,000 gallons; making a
total, with the omission of all on which the duty was evaded, of
30,000,000 of gallons of ardent spirits consumed in the year.
Five millions of revenue grew out of this, but it cost the people
15,000,000_l_. sterling, a which would have paid half-a-year's
interest of the national debt.]
"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.
It is not impossible that scenic exhibitions might be made a most
powerful means of instruction to the young, and tend to promote virtue
and happiness, as well as be a means of rational amusement, but as
they now exist, their extirpation is desirable.
As I have had much experience from being brought up in London, I am
perfectly aware of the evil impressions and dangerous temptations that
the children of the poor are liable to fall into; and therefore most
solemnly affirm that nothing in my view would give so much happiness
to the community at large, as the taking care of the affections of the
infant children of the poor.
There is, moreover, a practice very prevalent among the poor, which
does greater mischief than the people are generally aware of, and that
is, sending their children to the _pawnbrokers_. It is well known that
many persons send children, scarcely seven years of age, to these
people, with pledges of various sorts, a thing that cannot be too
severely condemned. I know an instance of a little boy finding a shawl
in the street; and being in the habit of going to the pawnbroker's
for his mother, instead of taking the shawl home to his parents, he
actually pawned it and spent all the money, which might never have
been known by his parents, had not the mother found the duplicate in
his pocket. It is evident, then, that many parents have no one but
themselves to blame for the misconduct of their children; for had this
child not been accustomed to go to such a place _for his parents_, he
would never have thought of going there _for himself_; and the shawl
most likely would have been carried home to _them_. Indeed, there
is no knowing where such a system will end, for if the children are
suffered to go to such places, they may in time pledge that which does
not belong to them; and so easy is the way of turning any article
into money, that we find most young thieves, of both sexes, when
apprehended, have some duplicates about them. Those persons,
therefore, who take pledges of children (contrary to the act of
parliament, whether they know it or not,) ought to be severely
reprimanded; for I am persuaded, that such conduct is productive of
very great mischief indeed.
Taking children to _fairs_, is another thing which is also productive
of much harm. At the commencement of the first school, seventy or
eighty children were frequently absent whenever there was a fair near
London; but the parents were afterwards cured of this, and we seldom
had above twenty absentees at fair-time. Several of the children have
told me that their parents wished to take them, but they requested to
be permitted to come to school instead. Indeed the parents, finding
that they can enjoy themselves better without their children, are very
willing to leave them at school.
It is a difficult matter to persuade grown persons of the impropriety
of attending fairs, who have been accustomed to it when children;
but children are easily persuaded from it; for if they are properly
entertained at school, they will not have the least desire to go to
such places.
I cannot quit this subject without relating one or two more very bad
habits to which children are addicted, and which are, perhaps, fit
subjects for the consideration of the _Mendicity Society_. As it is
the object of that society to clear the streets of beggars, it would
be well if they would put a stop to those juvenile beggars, many of
whom are children of respectable parents, who assemble together
to build what they call a GROTTO; to the great annoyance of all
passengers in the street. However desirous persons may be of
encouraging ingenuity in children, I think it is doing them much harm
to give them money when they ask for it in this way. Indeed it would
appear, that some of the children have learned the art of begging so
well, that they are able to vie with the most experienced mendicants.
Ladies in particular are very much annoyed by children getting before
them and asking for money; nor will they take the answer given them,
but put their hats up to the ladies' faces, saying, "Please, ma'am,
remember the grotto;" and when told by the parties that they have
no money to give, they will still continue to follow, and be as
importunate as any common beggar. However innocent and trifling this
may appear to some, I am inclined to believe that such practices tend
to evil, for they teach children to be mean, and may cause some of
them to choose begging rather than work. I think that the best way to
stop this species of begging is, never to give them any thing. A fact
which came under my own observation will shew that the practice may
be productive of mischief. A foreign gentleman walking up Old Street
Road, was surrounded by three or four boys, saying, "Please, sir,
remember the grotto."--"Go away," was the reply, "I will give you
none." To this followed, "Do, pray sir, remember the grotto." "No, I
tell you, I will give you nothing." "Do, sir, only once a-year." At
length, I believe, he put something into one of their hats, and thus
got rid of them; but he had scarcely gone 200 yards, before he came
to another grotto, and out sallied three more boys, with the same
importunate request: he replied, "I will give you nothing; plague have
you and your grotto." The boys however persevered, till the gentleman,
having lost all patience, gave one of them a gentle tap to get out of
the way, but the boy being on the side of the foot-path fell into the
mud, which had been scraped off the road, and in this pickle followed
the gentleman, bellowing out, "That man knocked me down in the mud,
and I had done nothing to him." In consequence, a number of persons
soon collected, who insulted the gentleman very much, and he would
certainly have been roughly handled, had he not given the boy
something as a recompence. He then called a coach, declaring he could
not walk the streets of London in safety.
Those who know what mischief has arisen from very trifling causes,
will, of course, perceive the necessity of checking this growing evil;
for this man went away with very unfavourable impressions concerning
our country, and would, no doubt, prejudice many against us, and make
them suppose we are worse than we are.
Nearly allied to this is, "Pray remember poor Guy Faux;" which not
only teaches children the art of begging, but is frequently the means
of their becoming dishonest, for I have known children break down
fences, and water-spouts, and, in short, any thing that they could lay
their hands upon, in order to make a bonfire, to the great danger of
the inhabitants near it, without producing one good effect. Yet how
easily might this practice be put down. The ill effects of it are so
self-evident, that there can be no need for further enlargement.
I also disapprove of children going about begging at Christmas; this
practice is calculated to instil into the children's minds a principle
of meanness not becoming the English character, and the money they
get, seldom, if ever, does them any good. If persons choose to give
children any thing at this time of the year, there can be no objection
to it, but I dislike children going about to ask for money like common
beggars; it cannot be proper, and should be generally discountenanced.
All these things, to some men, may appear trifling, but to me and
others they are of consequence; for if we mean to improve the general
character of the labouring population, there is nothing like beginning
in time; and we should, amongst other things, get rid of all mean and
improper customs.
Before concluding this chapter I would hint to travellers not to give
children money for running after a coach. I have seen children of both
sexes run until their breath failed, and, completely exhausted, drop
down on the grass; merely because some injudicious persons had thrown
halfpence to them. I have also seen little boys turn over and over
before the horses, for the purpose of getting money, to the danger of
their own lives and of the passengers; and I recollect an instance of
one boy being, in consequence, killed on the spot. In some counties
children will, in spring and summer, run after a carriage with flowers
upon a long stick, thrusting it in the coach or the faces of the
travellers, begging halfpence, which habit had been taught them by the
same injudicious means.
The most virtuous and pious of men, on looking back to their early
lives, have almost invariably confessed that they owe the first
seeds of what is excellent in them, to the blessing of God, on the
instruction and example of their parents, and those around them in the
years of their childhood.
Reflections like these ought to make us humble and thankful for the
advantages we have enjoyed, and cause us to look with an eye of pity,
charity, and commiseration on the vices and delinquencies of the poor,
rather than to judge them with harsh and cruel severity. Had we been
in their places, might not--would not--our character and conduct have
been as theirs?--Still further, ought not such thoughts as these to
touch our hearts with deep compassion for them, and excite us to
strenuous endeavours to remedy these lamentable evils, by the most
powerful and effective measures that can be found; and more especially
to strive if possible to rescue the rising generation from the
contamination of surrounding vice and misery.