those who come under the periods of life denominated "childhood and boyhood."

Implicit reliance, however, cannot be placed upon the Precocity. mere age of a child, nor can we be expected to abide too strictly by legal distinctions or accurate definitions. Our notions of the age of a child taken from the middle or upper classes will be utterly inapplicable to that of a child brought up to vagrant habits, or that has received a street education. "The education of the costermongers' children is only such as the streets afford, and the streets teach them for the most part, and in greater or less degrees, acuteness, a precocious acuteness, in all that concerns their immediate wants, business, or gratifications; a patient endurance of cold and hunger; a desire to obtain money without working for it; a craving for the excitement of gambling; an inordinate love of amusement; an irrepressible repugnance to any settled in-door industry. To use the words of one of the class-" These young ones are as sharp as terriers, and learns every dodge of business in less than half no time. There's one I knows about three feet high, that's up to business as clever as a man of thirty. Though he's only twelve years old, he'll chaff down a peeler so uncommon severe, that the only way to stop him is to take him in charge."* In every attempt to deal with this class of children, it is obvious, to be successful, we must regard them as diminutive men. The following graphic, but melancholy, description by the same writer will place this matter beyond all doubt. In reference to a girl but eight years old, he a little giri? states "I did not know how to talk with her. At first I treated her as a child, speaking on childish subjects; I asked her about her toys and her games, but the look of amazement that met me soon put an end to any attempt

"London Labour and London Poor."

State of juvenile depravity.

6

at fun on my part. The Parks?' she replied in
wonder, 'where are they? Would they let such as me
go there just to look?' All her knowledge seemed to begin
and end with watercresses and what they fetched: she
would often sigh. When some hot dinner was offered to
her, she would not touch it, because, if she ate too much,
'it made her sick,' she said, and she wasn't used to
meat only on a Sunday.' Talking of Farringdon Market
she said, 'We children never play down there, 'cos we're
thinking of our living. No people never pities me in
the streets excepting one gentleman, and he says, says
he, "What do you do out so soon in the morning?" but
he gave me nothink, he only walked away.' Another said,
'I ain't a child, and I shan't be a woman till I'm twenty,
but I'm past eight, I am. I don't know nothing about
what I earns during the year, I only know how many
pennies goes to a shilling, and two ha'pence goes to a
penny, four fardens goes to a penny; I knows, too, how
many fardens goes to tuppence-eight: that's as much as
I wants to know for the markets.'

§ 3. Another preliminary question of great interest is, Is juvenile crime on the increase or the decrease?' Here we can give simply our impressions on the subject, for conflicting are the opinions advanced and defended by writers ranged on each side of the question; and yet it is a question that will seriously affect the great majority of those whom we would enlist in a holy crusade against the fearful evils that beset the path of the children of our country. If juvenile depravity continues to increase, notwithstanding existing institutions designed to root it out of the soil, then there are some who will be discouraged from further attempts. Few will be persuaded to regard that increase as the result, either of extraordinary circumstances, or of the woful inadequacy of the means hitherto employed. Very few, we fear, will be of the order of

mind, or be possessed of that strength of principle which will rouse them to more strenuous efforts to grapple with the monster evil. But if it be shown that it is gradually yielding to the ameliorating influence of Christian men who have already entered the field, then, while a few may, with guilty indolence, withhold the help still urgently demanded, we have faith enough in the patriotism and Christianity of our countrymen to think that the encouragement thus afforded will dissipate the fears of some and redouble the energy of all. But neither the dread of incurring the former evils, nor the hope of realizing the latter favourable results, must lead us to hide from ourselves the real state of things.

opinion.

On consulting the opinions of various writers on the Conflicting subject, we shall find that contending theories might be somewhat reconciled with one another. Too great stress has been laid by a writer of a highly accomplished mind and a heart under the influence of Christian principles,* on the statistics of juvenile crime. Others have overlooked the essential difference between juvenile depravity and juvenile crime. The increase of the former, if admitted, would awaken the deepest feelings of sorrow and alarm, unless it can be shown, first, that the term is unfairly and harshly used: secondly, that the cause of that increase is of easy explanation; and thirdly, that it is owing to culpable neglect on the part of society at large. On the other hand, the increase of juvenile crime may be viewed, when the real circumstances of the case are understood, with little necessary alarm.

statistics.

In an elaborate work on juvenile crime, abounding Value of with statistics, accompanied with powerful reasoning, we find the following sensible remarks on the subject, viewed simply as a question of statistics :-" Respect for life and

* The Rev. H. Worsely, M.A. See his work on "Juvenile Depravity; a Prize Essay."

Criminal

calendar

morality.

property is so essential to the well-being and almost the existence of a community, that the degree in which the criminal calendar of any country measures that respect, is regarded as a principal and important criterion by which to estimate its civilization and morality. It may admit, however, of grave doubt, whether the criterion by itself is of much value. To judge of a nation's morality by its criminal calendar alone, is to judge of it by the small and national fraction of what is bad, and to throw out of the scale the great mass of what is good. It is only another form of the old fallacy of judging a whole by a small part." The social and industrial condition of the community has been within the last half century completely revolutionized. Mr. Worsley has entered largely on this important subject. That change, it must be observed, is precisely of that "kind which has rendered more active all the temptations and facilities to crime." Had it not been for some retarding influence, crime must have been accelerated at an appalling rate. But that we have reason to persevere will be evident from glancing at the following tables :*—

Crime retarded.

Progress of education

Proportion of Daily
Scholars to Popula-

tion.

compared with that of crime.

One in 17

By comparing the above table with the one that follows, it will be manifest, that as education has increased, so the progress of crime has been retarded :

:

view.

"The whole structure of society has tended to multiply a favourable the seductions which assail the middle and upper classes, and the good things which tempt the honesty of the more dependent operative classes. The resort of the vicious. classes to the secluded lanes and courts of the large towns has multiplied the corrupting influences, always rife in the midst of wealth and luxury, whilst the isolation of the operative classes in great masses from the other ranks of society has tended to weaken those good moral influences, which, descending from the upper strata of society, penetrate all below;" yet crime has not progressed at the rate that might have been anticipated without the counteracting influence of education.

With special reference to juvenile crime, the following tables will be regarded with interest :

ment.

"The demonstration," says the compiler, "is again complete that juvenile crime has not increased since 1842, Encouragebut, on the contrary, has decreased, the decrease being greatest in the manufacturing counties. As it is clear that if in these the decrease is greater than on the average of all England, the remaining counties must fall below the average decrease of all England.

From the next table, which is of peculiar interest, we may infer the disastrous extent to which juvenile crime would have proceeded but for some salutary influence exerted simultaneously with the development of a system favourable to the increase of juvenile crime.