Charles Somerville, writing of the lower strata of society, that he
calls the “underworld,” says:
Its inhabitants are not so altogether different from you and
me. More wilful in their weaknesses, certainly, they are; more
hysterical in their hilarities; blinder in their loves and
bitterer in their hatreds; supinely subject to all emotions,
good or bad, undoubtedly.... I remember so well the first time
I saw a burglar in flesh and blood. His black mask was off, his
revolver was in the possession of the police; he had just been
sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment and was saying good-by
to his wife and three little children. He was wholly like any
other grief-stricken human being. His sob was the same. He was
a sandy-haired man with rather large, foolish blue eyes. It
was hard to imagine those same large blue eyes looking very
terrible, even behind a black mask. (Text.)
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