let us observe, has the good sense and tact to have brief and frequent services-there was a seriousness in their demeanour, a heartiness in their responses, an intelligence in their attention, rarely to be met with in large bodies of men and boys, either in or out of prison. The public worship, is, indeed, about the most distinctive thing in the Preston House of Correction as it now stands, and is the most convincing argument which can be used in support of Mr. Clay's theory of the advantages of worshipping in common. No partitions of any kind separate the prisoners; each man sits up to his fellow as in an ordinary church. They of course see each other and hear each other's voices. But there is no disturbance, no

attempt to communicate, no stirring about, no furtive glances directed towards the stranger's pew. We are assured that prison offences in chapel are almost unknown. It is said to be some time since any attempt to speak in chapel was made; and then, indeed, it was no very heinous sin. A new comer was placed next to a man who had been in for a petty offence several weeks; they were neighbours, and the latter was heard to ask the natural question,

"How was my wife when you saw her?" Of course he was punished, not for the question but the questioning, as Titus Manlius was, not for his valour but his breach of discipline. Such are said to be the only offences known in the chapel of Preston House of Correction; if so, it is indeed a model.

The success of this remarkable inroad into the separate system, suggests other innovations. The

prisoners also take exercise in common, but in silence. This part of the discipline is well considered and successful also. Two hours a-day the prisoners take walking and running exercise, not merely voluntary exercise, which is often pure idleness, but regular and compulsory. They are called out into the yards, and at a given signal, commence walking in circles of various radii, according to the physical strength of the parties, for a time at, say, four miles an hour; by-and-by another signal advises them to quicken the pace, and a third brings them to a regular trot. All this is in the open air; and the consequences are a remarkably healthy condition of the prison, and an entire absence—so far as a large number of promiscuous examinations indicated-of the mental lassitude, nervous headaches, and stupefaction common to nearly all the separation gaols.

The administrators of this gaol are strongly wedded to these two great innovations on the separate system. Nay, they have no objection to a common work-room, like the mat and rug-room at Coldbath-fields. Mat-making is being now introduced into the prison. Other useful trades may follow. We hope to see them soon.

The great problem which, even more than the merits of rival systems of discipline, perplexes the penal reformers of this age is, what to do with the criminal when he leaves the gaol-how transfer him from the cell to the world-how restore him to society and to honest courses. This great difficulty

does not seem to exist in Preston. Like the boy who had passed his period of probation at Mettrai, the criminal from this house of correction is said to find the mere fact of his imprisonment no bar to his getting work. Masters have so much faith in Mr. Clay and his system of treatment, that they do not object to take lapsed sinners again into their employ. If he have confidence in the integrity of their minds and in their altered behaviour, he gives them a sort of certificate, which, in fact, is to them a "character -a letter of credit, which has a commercial value. Of course much care is needed in such a proceeding; but Mr. Clay has had thirty years' experience of prisons, and no precautions can be necessary in his case. Should others take to imitating the example set, the strictest care will be needful; prisoners are a very cunning order of men, and get to a person's blind side with great dexterity. There are already built 168 cells, all full. total number of prisoners is 364, of which more than a third are Irish; although in the population of the district the Irish are only a very small fraction, not very much more numerous than the Scotch, of which nation there are only four! In the wool-picking room this fact was strikingly exhibited. Out of about thirty boys, vagrants and petty thefts, only one had a thoroughly English face and name. The rest were either Irish born or the children of Irish parents in Liverpool and Wigan. Under the old system of criminal association, some remnants of which we have still flourishing in Gilt

The

spur-street, Newgate, and Horsemonger-lane Gaol, these boys would assuredly have gone through a regular course of prison initiation into the worst practices of crime, and after each one costing the country in mere money-not to mention the harassing sense of insecurity caused by depredations on property, than which nothing wears and tears the mind so much-hundreds of pounds, would have ended his career at Norfolk Island or the gallows. But a change has marvellously come over the spirit of the dream. "Once in gaol, always in gaol," is only true, in its absolute sense, as a tradition. The arrangements of Mr. Clay and Colonel Martin, enable them to trace with some accuracy the subsequent career of every boy who comes under their notice. They keep histories of all their prisoners, some of which are intensely interesting and instructive. The result of their calculation, even if it be only taken as an approximation to the truth, is startling; they show that under the old system, out of every 100 boys who got into prison once, 56 were ultimately transported; while under the improved discipline, such an amendment now takes place, that only 4 come to be transported. The difference is immense. We have no faith in the statement as expressing a rule or a general proportion; but the change for the better must still be vast indeed, to cause such a variation to appear even in a very limited number of instances.

The researches of Mr. Clay have been directed largely to the causes of crime. His observations on

the subject have done not a little towards solving this great riddle. He principally refers it (see his reports, full of valuable facts, figures, and reflections) to drunkenness, ignorance, neglect of parents, and destitution. He demonstrates the awful ignorance of the criminal class. A large number of those committed to Preston House of Correction, have never heard the name of the sovereign; cannot tell the meaning of such words as "virtue," "vice;" are unable to count a hundred; and do not know the names of the month. Some few have the mechanical power of reading, but know the sense of what they read no more than if it were Sanskrit. One man could read fluently—he had been educated at the national school-but did not comprehend a word out of his own limited vocabulary. He was reading of the marriage in Cana with the rapidity of an elocutionist; but being asked what was the meaning of marriage, he stared blankly and replied, They did no' tell me ony o' th' meanings." And had he been told that marriage meant a hay-stack and Cana a wagon and horses, he would probably have been unable to detect the cheat. And this man was set down in the returns as able to read well!" '

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Every one is aware that the vocabulary of the uneducated is very limited; but few indeed fancy how limited. We once took some pains to ascertain the verbal stock of a family of peasants. Two hundred words appeared to be a large margin to allow. Mr. Clay's observation leads him to the con