PENITENTIARY EFFECTS OF THE SYSTEM. 69 which they are elsewhere unaccustomed. It cannot be doubted that in America they have now gone to the extreme of leniency, in their criminal code, as we have to the extreme of severity; theirs is undoubtedly the side on which all humane persons would wish to err, but too much mercy to rogues is cruelty to society at large, and is therefore to be avoided if we would wish to attain to a perfect criminal system. Much may be done however to improve the prison discipline of the American penitentiaries, without properly speaking increasing the severity of the treatment.

In the one which I have just described there was not, so far as I could discover, any thorough classification. The males and females were indeed separated, a most essential point, but there appeared to be no farther distribution of the prisoners, excepting that which arose from the different arts at which they were employed. All those of one occupation were together, without any regard to whether they were young or old offenders, whether their term of imprisonment was short or long, whether the crimes which they had committed were trifling or enormous. Of mere boys or girls indeed I saw none, but I saw many who although not boys were very young men, and who ought by all means to have been subjected to a different course of discipline from that which was suitable for older transgressors.

There was also far too much facility for com

munication between one division of the establishment and another. There may be rules for aught I know to prevent criminals going about from their own department, but there were no doors to shut them up. The doors from the court to the different workshops were all open; so also were the windows, and there seemed to be nothing to prevent the occupants from free intercourse with each other. In this way each sees and hears so many around him, engaged exactly like himself, that even although there should not be a very great deal of communication, they cannot be said, during the working hours at least, to feel the confinement more than the workmen in our larger manufactories; and they are so constantly employed that they have not time for sober reflection, on their past life or future prospects. An equally obvious defect is the practice of allowing four of them to pass the night in the same apartment. The average time of their being employed is not much above twelve hours a day, and there cannot be a doubt that there is time during the other twelve for a great deal of useless, probably pernicious, conversation, without materially interfering with the hours of sleep. Were they kept completely apart, and left to the secret suggestions of their own consciences, it might be expected that while some would relent and probably amend their ways, all would feel much more severely the restraint upon their liberty and comforts.

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Another obstacle to the efficacy of the present system, is the lavish profusion with which pardons are granted. I believe that want of accommodation sometimes renders this necessary, since but for pardoning the older criminals, room could scarcely be found in the present buildings to accommodate the new ones; but whatever may be the cause, it is certain that be the term of imprisonment what it may, ten years, twenty years, or life, a criminal may almost count with certainty on being released in three, four, or five years, if he behave with any moderate degree of propriety. I have no document beside me stating the number of pardons granted annually in Boston, but from a printed account of the New York State Prison, it appears that the total number of prisoners in the year 1814 was 709; of which 29 died in the course of the year, 10 were discharged in consequence of the expiration of their sentences, and no less than 176 were pardoned. It is obvious that this system must be ruinous in its consequences, and that there must be some capital defect in the criminal discipline of the community where such a practice prevails. It sometimes happens that the same individual is imprisoned and pardoned several times over, for crimes which in Britain would at once send him either to Botany Bay or to the gallows, and thus rid society of him altogether. I do not think by any means that ours is the only alternative, nor do I suppose it possible by any expedient completely to prevent

the repetition of crimes by the same individual; but certainly to let loose upon society rogues who have been frequently guilty of flagrant outrages, and to have no means of intimidation powerful enough to deter them from a pretty frequent repetition of their crimes, proves that something yet remains to be done ere the criminal code of the United States can be considered perfect. While you divest yourself however of all thoughts as to the drawbacks connected with the Penitentiary system, as at present conducted, you certainly cannot contemplate the interior of this great manufactory without emotions of peculiar satisfaction. To see so many hands which were formerly active only in crime, now taught to be equally active in some useful art; to think of the humanity of the system as contrasted with that of Britain; and to witness the cleanliness, order, and regularity, which pervade the whole establishment, make you almost forget that you are in a receptacle for knaves or fondly believe that they are so no longer, and internally exclaim, "This must be a noble institution." 2

In all that has of late been written by benevolent individuals on the criminal code and jail economy of our native country, particular reference has been made to the penitentiaries of America, especially that of Philadelphia. A little additional information, therefore, to what has been communicated above, cannot be out of place here.

"The penitentiary system," says an intelligent and candid writer in the North American Review, "proposes to reform the criminal and restore him to society, penitent and useful. It proceeds upon an hypothesis favourable to human virtue, and to the effect of moral

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The state of Academical education in the United States is a matter respecting which much ignorance prevails in our native country. I hope hereafter to transmit a detailed account of the discipline of Yale College, in New Haven, in the mean time I am enabled to communicate a few particulars

intelligence. It rests for its efficacy upon the truth of the proposition, that reformation may be brought about by discipline and instruction; and that if the motives to an honest life are properly exhibited and enforced, there is good reason to expect that they will influence the conduct.-It cannot be denied that in respect to general design, the latter of these two systems (the European and the American) has greatly the preference. They have however both their respective advantages, nor is either without its peculiar disadvantages. Judging by the effects produced, neither of them has answered its original design. In England the sanguinary system of punishment has not diminished the number of criminals, and has begun to excite a disgust, which prevents its enforcement; while in the United States the practical operation of the penitentiary system has cooled the ardour of its friends, and excited doubts of its permanent utility. The warmest advocates of these institutions will probably admit that they have not in all respects corresponded to their wishes, but whoever contends that they have been wholly unproductive of benefit must surely be very little acquainted with their history.-The great source of disappointment is unreasonable expectation. More benefit has been anticipated than it was prudent to propose. The advocates of this improvement in humanity have been too ardent and sanguine. They have promised themselves too much, and injured their cause by the disappointment which has followed.-We do not believe in the empiricism which pretends, by a certain specific, to cure every possible evil. But we maintain that the regimen of the prison is, with the blessing of heaven, a mean of destroying a great mass of moral corruption, and diminishing those seeds of vice, from which spring the greatest harvest of misery. In the walls of the penitentiary will be found not only the incorrigible offender, but the inexperienced