ved in this colony (1829) with sixty
other lads; of whom, on their embarkation, not one in twenty could
repeat the Lord's prayer.[206] It was stated by a Lord Mayor of London,
that nothing could be kinder than to transport juvenile offenders to a
country where their labor would be useful and their prosperity sure. It
may be presumed, that in this spirit a girl and two boys were committed
to take their trial for stealing some wood, valued at twopence, the
property of the crown.[207] These acts of severity forcibly contrast
with the happier fortunes of other classes. It is said of George III,
that he arrested two Eton boys in the act of poaching: they took him for
a keeper, and offered their pocket-money as a bribe. He threatened to
inform their master; but next day sent them a present, requesting them
to cease their depredations. They were peers when the monarch told the
story, and he observed that they were most rigorous preservers of their
game--"according to the old proverb, set a thief to catch a thief," said
the king! A better authenticated anecdote was given by Lord Eldon, of
his juvenile adventures; such as a rigorous magistrate might have turned
to a very different account.[208] By what construction of equity the
poor man's son, or the orphan, could deserve to be branded with an
indelible stigma for no heavier crimes, it would be in vain to ask.
Infractions of the law cannot be tolerated in any age, yet its
administration has been often both partial and unmerciful.

Most of these young convicts had been first imprisoned a short period,
and then turned on the world to obtain, by greater crimes, more lasting
protection; or sometimes accused, but not convicted, they waited amidst
moral pestilence the long delays of justice. A lad, fourteen years of
age, was charged with stealing a hat: twelve months after, he was
acquitted. What wonder that, dismissed a hardened criminal, he returned
to be transported for life.[209] Such was the education of many, who
might fairly adopt the language of Howard to the German emperor--"It is
not in the power of your majesty to make reparation for the injury they
have suffered." No subsequent care could atone for the long slumber of
protective justice.

It is refreshing to find that kindness and coercion were united in the
discipline of Point Puer: an oasis in the desert of penal
government--unless viewed from the woolsack. Captain Booth was prompt in
subduing rebellion and enforcing i