StATt fAPfeRS. 



365 



or 16, many of wh6*fi have been 

 long practised in the commission 

 of various acts of fraud and crime. 

 No one but those who have wit- 

 nessed such painful exhibitions 

 can be aware of the pleasure which 

 the older thieves take in corrupt- 

 ing those who have just entere<l 

 into vicious courses, by the detail 

 of their exploits, the narrative of 

 hair-breadth escapeS; the teaching 

 of technical phrases ; all of Which 

 are great allurements to a youth- 

 ful mind, being the amusements 

 of the idle, and the resourcies of the 

 desperate, and serving to enliven 

 the solitude of a prison. In order 

 to (lenionstrate to what an extent 

 this intermixture of children is 

 carried, yb\ir donimittee observe, 

 that there W^re in Newgate, at the 

 commertcement of the last sessions, 

 84 bovs of all aares and oflFentes 

 confined together ; that in the 

 New Prison, Clei'kenwell, there 

 were, in May last, 13 boys con- 

 fined, four of whom awaited their 

 trial for burglary ; three were 

 committed for tossing up in the 

 street, and would be brought up 

 and dismissed the ne.xt sessions ; 

 one Was confined f6r an assuvilt ; 

 and (\\e were committed for re- 

 examination ; they Were all con- 

 fined in one yard with the tnd'n. 

 It is Scarcely possible that a boy 

 sliould be a single day in this pri- 

 son without being contaminated ; 

 and yet it is usual for boys to re- 

 main there until within a few days 

 of their trial, a period sometimes 

 of thice or four weeks. At the 

 House of Correction, Cold-bath- 

 lields, there were then 45 boys 

 confined, who were comiYiitted fur 

 misdemeanours, for'felo'ny, and for 

 re-cxamination ; the untHed and 

 convicted were confined in one 



yard. A boy was lately committed 

 and confined in this yard for offer- 

 ing for sale some numbers of a 

 work wFthout having a license ; 

 he was there three months ; the 

 only son of poor but reputable 

 parents. 



From a return which your com- 

 mittee have received, it a))pears 

 that in the New Prison, Clerken- 

 weTl, where young and old are <ill 

 mixed indiscriminately together, 

 and Where no classification ac- 

 cording to age or offences exists, 

 39!) bo)s under twenty w«re con- 

 fined for felonies in the last year, 

 of whom one was of nine, two 

 were of ten, seven of 11, 14 of 12, 

 and 52 of 13 years of age; 17 

 were for misdemeanours, 1 5 for 

 riots, and 5 1 for assaults : of which 

 last, three were of the ages of 11, 

 12, and 13. That of females, 92 

 were for felonies, 6 for misde- 

 meanoui s, 10 for riots, and 29 for 

 assaults. 



Your committee observe, that 

 it is in evidence that the most nu- 

 merous class of delinquents are 

 street pilferers, and for stealing 

 privately from the person ; many 

 of those bojs may be considered 

 as }ust commencing a course of 

 crime : the mode then in which 

 they are treated on apprehension 

 has a natural tendency to encou- 

 rage them in vicious practices, for 

 the greater niunber found guilty 

 of the former oFcnce are usually 

 committed for u short time to pri- 

 son, sometimes severely flogged, 

 and then, without a shilling in 

 their pockets, turned loose upon 

 the Vvorld more hardei>ed in cIki- 

 racter than ever. 'J"he condition 

 of these poor children is of all 

 others the most deplorable; rium- 

 beis are brought up to thieve as a 



trade, 



