existence, between which and the brain there is, in many important respects, an intimate community of interest. MAN, in short, is our object; and man, being a compound being, must be studied in his compound nature, otherwise our knowledge will remain too partial and incomplete ever to afford a solid basis for directing his progress, and adding to his happiness; and with this conviction before us, it would be a display of folly, for which few would thank us, were we to withhold from our pages important practical truths, bearing strongly, though indirectly, upon our subject, merely because they are not commonly included under the title of our science.

ARTICLE II.

THOUGHTS ON SECONDARY PUNISHMENTS, IN A LETTER TO EARL GREY. BY RICHARD WHATELY, D. D., Archbishop of Dublin. With an Appendix. 8vo. pp. 204. London 1832.

OUR readers are already acquainted with our high estimate of the talents of Archbishop Whately. In his Lectures on Political Economy, noticed in Volume VII. p. 321 of this Journal, we discovered a profound, clear, and comprehensive intellect, combined with moral sentiments of the highest order. They give to his writings a force and energy of reasoning, a warmth of benevolent purpose, and a bold unhesitating reliance on the power of truth to vindicate itself and lead to good, which render them at once instructive and delightful. We are well pleased to meet him again in a very interesting field of inquiry, that of criminal legislation, and shall briefly notice the views which he brings to light.

Reports were made from select committees of the House of Commons on criminal commitments and convictions, and on secondary punishments, in 1828, 1831, and 1832. From these and the minutes of evidence and documents on which they are founded, and from certain works lately published on the subjects of transportation and the punishment of death, a clear and instructive view is presented in the volume before us, of the condition of convicts in the hulks, in New South Wales, and in the penitentiaries of England,-and of the effects of these as punishments; and suggestions are offered for an improvement of secondary punishments. The appendices consist of articles

The chief works are, Two Years' Residence in New South Wales, by P. Cunningham, Surgeon R. N. Second Edition, 1827; and Tracts relating to the punishment of death in the metropolis, by Edward Gibbon Wakefield, 1831.

first published in the London Review and Law Magazine, part only of which are written by Archbishop Whately. In the following pages we shall select information from the whole of these series indiscriminately, and present it in as condensed a form as possible.

"I found myself," says the Archbishop, "long since, as a parish minister, inculcating moral conduct under circumstances unfairly disadvantageous; when the law afforded not only no adequate discouragement to crime, but even, in many instances, a bounty on it. When I met with instances in my own immediate neighbourhood, on the one hand, of persons of the best character not only refusing to proceed against depredators, but labouring in every way to promote the escape of the guilty, because the law denounced death against the offences, and they could not bring themselves to incur even the remote and almost imaginary risk of exposing a thief to that fate;—and, on the other hand, of persons receiving letters from relatives who had been transported, exhorting them to find some means of coming out to join them, and depicting the prosperity of their condition in such terms, as naturally to excite the envy of the honest and industrious labourers whom they had left at home, struggling for a poor subsistence :—when all this, I say, came under my own observation, I could not feel and teach that government answered its end of being for the punishment of evil-doers, and for the praise of them that do well,' while its enactments produced, on the contrary, rather a terror to the good than to the evil. And I could not but feel that, not only as a member of the community, but as a minister of the Gospel, I had a right to complain of this counteraction of my endeavours to diffuse morality." He therefore conceives himself justified, nay, called on, to endeavour to diffuse correct views of the subject. It appears to us that a clergyman can never be better employed than in investigating points of practical morality which involve the welfare of society.

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Crime continues to increase in this country with alarming rapidity, even after allowing for the increase of population and the greater efficacy with which offences are now detected and punished.

In England and Wales the following were the numbers of persons charged with crime:

For 10 criminals at the first period there were 17 at the second, and 24 at the third; and crime has thus more than doubled in 14 years! The report of the Committee observes,

that there was nothing in the political or commercial state of the country to account for such a change.

Within the last two years 172,000 persons, exclusive of debtors, have passed through the prisons of England and Wales ! "It is almost impossible, it is said, for any but the most degraded criminal to be confined, even for a short period, within the walls of any prison as at present regulated, without injury to his morals; the most virtuously constituted mind would find it difficult to escape contamination; but where moral and religious principles are but feebly implanted, their total overthrow may be expected."

"In England a prisoner is frequently confined before trial for a longer period than that to which he is sentenced after conviction!" and should he be acquitted no reparation is or can be made to him for the restraint and degradation to which he is subjected. In London the period of confinement before trial cannot exceed six weeks; in the Home Circuit it may amount to five months; and in other parts of the country it may extend to seven or eight months!

The absurd practice of retaining capital punishments on the statute book, which the feelings of society prevent being put in force, is strongly illustrated.

The persons sentenced to death in England and Wales were,

There is great mockery of reason and trifling with human feeling in such a system of punishment. No procedure can be more mischievous than passing sentence of death where there is no intention of carrying it into effect.

"In all cases where death is not inflicted in consequence of the sentence of a court of justice, the punishment is either1. Transportation to the colonies for life, or for a term of years; 2. Imprisonment, with or without hard labour; or, 3. Fine." The two great punishments, therefore, are transportation and imprisonment. It appears, that for 200 sent to the Penitentiary, 1000 are sent to the Hulks, and 4000 to the Colonies.

An original or commuted sentence of transportation, either for life or a term of years, may mean any one of three things: viz. transportation to the colonies, imprisonment in the hulks, or imprisonment in the penitentiary.

In reference to the Penitentiary at Millbank, the Committee state that

"As a place of punishment, it possesses one great advantage over any other of this country, in being generally dreaded for the strictness of the discipline, and irksomeness of the con

finement. There was, however, till very lately, much to be desired in the way of improvement. It was the rule of the establishment to divide the prisoners into two classes; on their entrance into the prison, they were confined in the first class; after remaining in which, from eighteen months to two years, they were removed to the second. During the first period, separation was always strictly enforced (except when the prisoners were at work in the crank-mills and water-machine for a short time each day); and it appears that, generally speaking, a decided improvement in their deportment and conduct took place. But, on being removed to the second class, and being allowed to associate with their fellow-prisoners during the day, the consequences, as described by the governor and chaplain, were such as might have been expected; any progress towards reformation, effected by the discipline of the first class, being frequently followed by a relapse when removed to the second. Your committee, however, are given to understand, that new regulations have lately been adopted, that there is no longer a distinction between the classes, and that it is intended to subject the convicts in future to the discipline of the first class during the whole period of their sentence, from which it is expected that hopes of permanent amendment may be entertained, and that a shorter period of punishment will be found sufficient."

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"The committee express their unqualified disapprobation of the whole system pursued on board the Hulks,' and adduce considerable evidence in support of this conclusion. With respect to the labour on board the hulks, the committee state that

66 6 During the day, the convicts are employed in the arsenals and dock-yards, but there is nothing in the nature or severity of their employment which deserves the name of punishment or hard labour. They are supposed to work from eight to ten hours per day, according to the season; but so much time is lost in the repeated musters which it is necessary to make, when going to, or returning from labour, that the number of hours' work actually performed does not exceed eight and three quarters in summer, and six and a half in winter. As a common labourer usually works ten hours per day, and when at task-work, or during harvest-time, much longer, the committee fully agree with the opinion expressed, that the convicts do no more work than is sufficient to keep them in health and exercise; and ' that the situation of a convict cannot be considered penal; that it is a state of restriction, but hardly of punishment. Indeed, three out of four convicts examined by your committee, admitted that the labour is not more than sufficient to keep them regularly employed, and less severe than the daily occupation of a labourer.

"This short sketch of the manner in which a criminal sentenced to transportation for crimes to which the law affixes

the penalty of death, passes his time, which pourtrays him wellfed, well-clothed, indulging in riotous enjoyment by night, with moderate labour by day, will prepare the house for readily believing that confinement on board the hulks fails to excite a proper feeling of terror in the minds of those who are likely to come under its operation. The minutes of evidence furnish ample testimony, that the hulks are not dreaded ; 'that the life in them is considered a pretty jolly life;' and that if a criminal can conquer the sense of shame, which such degradation is calculated to excite, he is in a better situation than a large portion of the working-classes, who have nothing but their daily labour to depend on for subsistence. Indeed, so far is this punishment from operating as a preventive to crime, that your committee have evidence, that the situation of a convict has been regarded with envy by the free-labourers who see him at his daily work; and in the words of Mr Lang, the master shipright of Woolwich dockyard, under whose superintendence all the convicts in that yard are placed, many labourers would be glad to change places with him, and would be much better off than they were before.'

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TRANSPORTATION is thus described :

“When it is finally determined that a criminal is to be transported to New South Wales, he is moved in a caravan, under a proper guard, to the coast, in order to be embarked in a convict ship. This necessity of moving prisoners to long distances from the place of their confinement is, of itself, an evil and an expense, and, in times of disturbance, might become a matter of serious difficulty. However, among the evils of the entire system, this holds a very subordinate place. From the evidence of Dr Rutherford, who has sailed seven times to New South Wales as surgeon of convict ships, it appears that about 200 convicts go out together; that mutinies are not frequent; that the convicts enjoy generally good health, are well fed, are not ironed, do little work, have free intercourse with each other, and (as may easily be expected) their conduct is reckless and careless; they amuse themselves with the stories of their past life, and glory in the remembrance of their misdeeds: the natural consequence of which is, that any stray remnants of virtue and good feeling which some of the crew may possess at starting, are effectually eradicated before the ship reaches its destination. When so large a body of criminals are crowded indiscriminately into so small a space for so many months, without being forced to work, and having no diversion except conversation with each other, a much less proportion of depraved and reprobate persons than is commonly to be found in such a number of convicts, would be sufficient to leaven the whole mass with one uniform taint of depravity.

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