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"Look at this group at a street corner. Hulking, idle, slouching young men ... foul-spoken, repulsive wretches. The young Ruffians of London molest quiet people to an extent that's hardly credible. The throwing of stones in the streets has become a dangerous and destructive offence. The throwing of stones at the windows of railway carriages is an act of wanton wickedness. And the blaring use of the very worst language possible, in our public thoroughfares is a disgrace.
When a Ruffian gets a police-constable down and kicks him helpless for life, it’s because that constable once did his duty in bringing him to justice. When he rushes into the bar of a public-house and scoops an eye out, or bites his ear off, it's because the man he maims gave evidence against him."
(Charles Dickens – The Uncommercial Traveller, 1860)
