The Mysteries of London, v. 3/4Reynolds, George W. M. (George William MacArthur)
General
The Mysteries of London, v. 3/4
Reynolds, George W. M. (George William MacArthur)
London (England) -- Fiction; Penny dreadfuls
Mr. Miles, in his Report (from which we have previously quoted) says,
"In considering the subject of juvenile delinquency, it is requisite
to take into account the various causes which compel them to be
vicious; and though we must condemn, still we must regret that no
efficient means have been adopted to prevent this lamentable evil.
Young thieves have often confessed to me, that their first attempts at
stealing commenced at apple stalls, and that having acquired
confidence by a few successful adventures, they have gradually
progressed in crime, allured by others, and in their turn alluring.
They find companions to cheer them and instruct them, girls to share
their booty and applaud them, and every facility to sell their daily
booty. There is, moreover, a kind of lottery adventure in each day's
life; and as these excitements are attainable at so easy a rate, is it
strange that these children are fascinated with and abandon themselves
to crime? Imprisonment to a young urchin who steals and has no other
means of subsistence is no punishment; for it is indifferent to him
where he exists, so long as he has food and raiment. It is in prison
that boys form acquaintances, more mischievous than themselves. Many
lads have owned to me that they had learned more in a gaol than out of
one. I once asked a lad if there was any school where boys were taught
to pick pockets? Upon which he significantly observed, 'No occasion
for one, sir: the best school for that sort of thing is HERE!'
alluding to the prison in which I saw him."
Footnote 15:
We cannot allow the readers to attribute to _our_ imagination a fact
so disgusting as this. We received the information from a
police-officer who was an eye-witness of such a scene, and from whom
(as stated in a previous note in this Series) we have gleaned many
remarkable facts relative to the lowest orders.
Footnote 16:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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