So far we see only the bright side of the picture; the reverse is not so exhilarating. The mere fact of bringing together in this way a mass of juvenile rascality, without adequate means of restraint, was to open the door to mutinous combinations and defiant conduct. Over and above the buoyancy of spirits natural to youth, which tempts every schoolboy to mischief, there was present among the inmates of this juvenile ward an amount of innate depravity, due to early training and general recklessness of life, which soon led them to the most violent excesses. Within a week or two of the opening of the ward under the brightest auspices, the governor recorded that already they exhibited strong tendencies to run riot. They used threatening language to their officers, were continually at loggerheads with each other, and their quarrels soon ended in blows. Presently one made a violent attack on his warder, and kicked his shins; but for this he was incontinently flogged, and for a time the lightheartedness of the ward was checked. But only for a time; within a week the bickering recommenced, and there were half a dozen fights in less than half a dozen days. Appeal was now made to the birch-rod, also for a time effectual. But the temptation to misconduct in marching to and fro from drill, exercise, or chapel was too strong for these young ragamuffins, and their next feat was to put out the gas as they went, then lark along the passages. The governor prayed for more power to punish them. “By their refractory and insolent conduct,” he says, “they wear out the patience of every officer set over them, and turn him into an object of ridicule and contempt.”