,
abate one hole in the Dodger's coat, or one scrap of curl-paper in Nancy's
dishevelled hair. I had no faith in the delicacy which could not bear to look
upon them. I had no desire to make proselytes among such people. I had no
respect for their opinion, good or bad; did not covet their approval; and did
not write for their amusement.
    It has been observed of Nancy that her devotion to the brutal house-breaker
does not seem natural. And it has been objected to Sikes in the same breath -
with some inconsistency, as I venture to think - that he is surely overdrawn,
because in him there would appear to be none of those redeeming traits which are
objected to as unnatural in his mistress. Of the latter objection I will merely
remark, that I fear there are in the world some insensible and callous natures,
that do become utterly and incurably bad. Whether this be so or not, of one
thing I am certain: that there are such men as Sikes, who, being closely
followed through the same space of time and through the same current of
circumstances, would not give, by the action of a moment, the faintest
indication of a better nature. Whether every gentler human feeling is dead
within such bosoms, or the proper chord to strike has rusted and is hard to
find, I do not pretend to know; but that the fact is as I state it, I am sure.
    It is useless to discuss whether the conduct and character of the girl seems
natural or unnatural, probable or improbable, right or wrong. IT IS TRUE. Every
man who has watched these melancholy shades of life, must know it to be so. From
the first introduction of that poor wretch, to her laying her blood-stained head
upon the robber's breast, there is not a word exaggerated or over-wrought. It is
emphatically God's truth, for it is the truth He leaves in such depraved and
miserable breasts; the hope yet lingering there; the last fair drop of water at
the bottom of the weed-choked well. It involves the best and worst shades of our
nature; much of its ugliest hues, and something of its most beautiful; it is a
contradiction, an anomaly, an apparent impossibility; but it is a truth. I am
glad to have had it doubted, for in that circumstance I should find a sufficient
assurance (if I wanted any) that it needed to be told.
    In the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty, it was publicly
