five children, _not one of whom could read or write_!"

Another very cruel practice of these young delinquents is, to go
into some chandlers shop as slily as possible, and take the first
opportunity of stealing the till with its contents, there being always
some older thief ready to take charge of it, as soon as the child
removes it from the shop.[A] Many a poor woman has had to lament
the loss of her till, with its contents, taken by a child, perhaps,
scarcely six years of age. There is always a plan laid down for the
child to act upon. Should he be unable to obtain possession of the
till himself, he is instructed to pretend that he has missed his way,
and to inquire for some street near the spot; or, he will address
her with, "Please, ma'am, can you tell me what it is o'clock?" The
unsuspecting woman, with the greatest kindness possible, shews the
child the street he inquires for, or leaves the shop to ascertain the
hour, and for her civility, she is sure to find herself robbed, when
she returns, by some of the child's companions. Should he be detected
in actual possession of the property, he is instructed to act his part
in the most artful manner, by pretending that some man sent him into
the shop to take it, who told him that he would give him sixpence to
buy cakes.

[Footnote A: So complete is the science of pilfering rendered by its
perpetrators, that they have even a peculiar vocabulary of their own,
rendering their conversation, to those who may chance to overhear
them, as mysterious and incomprehensible as though they were
conversing in a foreign tongue; for instance, the scutcheons they
steal from the key holes are called _porcupines_; brass weights,
_lueys_; while purloining the contents of a till, is called _taking
the ding_. In short, they have a peculiar name for almost every