"Another result has been, placing out the children in situations where they can get a living, sometimes apprenticing them; and we have tried a few other efforts, such as Shoe-black efforts, that is, employing a certain number in cleaning shoes in the streets.

"I have been told frequently by the police, who ought to know well, that the neighbourhoods are much improved by the Ragged Schools, and the City Missionary, as well as the Scripture Reader, has often got admission to families in courts and dwellings where otherwise he would not have been admitted, by means of the children; Captain Hay, the Commissioner of Police, has told me so frequently, and so has Sir Richard Mayne."

Mr. Locke considers that while voluntary contributions should be an essential part of the means of support, that they ought to be "assisted from some fund, either parish or public; it would go far to stimulate the efforts of those engaged in the work, and aid them to a far greater extent in carrying it out." He also strongly urges the putting down of street begging by some such power as that exercised in Aberdeen, by which "children going about the streets, pretending to sell things, and yet begging or thieving," should be apprehended, and either the parents (who often send them out to beg, while earning sufficient to maintain them, but who spend their money in drink,) be compelled to support and send them to school; or else, if the parent could not be made to do so, keep possession of the child and send him to school. As to the power of Christian truth and love, the witness has such confidence in them that he has no objection to the reception of a boy into the schools who has been convicted four or five times. "We have rather studied from the first to take in the worst. Nothing can withstand the influence of affection and kindness, even in that very debased class." The "great principle kept in view" has been "kindness, Christian instruction, and teaching them their duty to their neighbours and their God, and making the Bible the theme of all our instruction. No other system, where moral training and Bible instruction are not given, will do any good." Mr. Locke thinks Ragged Schools far more efficient than those established under the Poor Law system, but considers that the latter might be so re-modelled as to receive a large class of those children who attend the Ragged Schools. The great deficiency in pauper schools he chiefly attributes to the want of voluntary teachers. He also indicates the remarkable diminution of juvenile crime in Edinburgh in the four years ending December, 1851, in consequence of the establishment of Ragged Schools. We must refer to the "Blue Book" for other points dwelt on, and for suggestions offered by the Honorary Secretary of our Union; as also to his Letter to the Chairman of the Committee, as to the causes of juvenile crime, and its remedies. Among the remedies proposed he would "compel all schools receiving aid from Government, and all parish schools or workhouse schools, to spend a half or a third of the teaching time on industrial training or household work.” He would also limit the number of licenses to public-houses, shut them up all the Sabbath-day, and increase the cost of licenses and duty on spirits, etc. He would "abolish fairs of every kind, as great social evils; also penny theatres, music and dancing saloons, etc." He would have Government or parishes "assist Ragged Schools in giving food and lodging to the most needy, and sending them abroad!" He would "extend education and moral training of the neglected poor by means

of free schools, workshops, lectures, reading-rooms, good books," and would fine "all publishers of immoral, debasing trash;" and last, not least, he would have the Government to "establish preventive and reformatory schools (such as Mettray and Red Hill) for young prisoners discharged from prison, and for young offenders convicted the first or second time." He would also "separate all inmates of union workhouses, in casual wards, so as to prevent contamination and evil communication." With these views most, if not all, our readers will entirely accord.

We have previously alluded to Mr. Macgregor as one of the witnesses examined before the Committee. The information given by him as to the operations of the "Shoe-black Society," is very interesting. So successful has it been that it is now entirely self-supporting. As to the extension of it, he says:—

"We could extend it indefinitely almost, but we cannot find individuals like ourselves who would undertake the management. It requires the personal superintendence of gentlemen, and that is given cheerfully every day; but we could not extend or increase our attention."

He adds, as to the moral results of the Society, coupled with its money value,

"To show the value of the different stations. That at the Duke's statue, near the Exchange, pays us about 21. 5s. a week; and I wish to give the Committee the following short deduction from our experience: that the actual nature of the occupation is comparatively unimportant, if industry is immediately rewarded, and not merely enforced; if permanent employment is held out in prospect; if good and bad conduct is made directly apparent to the other lads and to the managers; emulation promoted by classification; honesty, by constant money transactions, where trust is involved; economy, by daily saving; attention to respectability of appearance, by enforcing proper clothing; punctuality, by fixed hours; steadiness, by requiring prolonged attention to duties at a certain post; learning, by promoting to stations requiring it; love of home, by providing for those who would be otherwise without a shelter.” These results are all the more gratifying when we trace the effort to the Ragged School as its foster mother; "attendance at the Ragged School being the only qualification; and the masters being directed "to select boys between twelve and sixteen years of age, who had been known as boys of good character, known to be destitute, anxious to reform, active, healthy, attentive to their Sunday Schools, and without reference to their former career. Here is the true spirit of Him who never refused the worst who came to Him penitently and trustfully, and who, with the pardon of the sin, won the heart of the criminal by words of love, and bade him “go and sin no more.” The importance of the voluntary agency, as contrasted with "the agency of officials," is strongly urged, and its results are thus set forth :

"We have Industrial Classes, and 1,500 children are employed in Ragged Schools in London in these classes. We have Adult Classes for the children when they become older; we have Mothers' Classes, where mothers attend with their children in their arms; we have Libraries for the young and for adults; we have Lectures at stated intervals; Sick Funds for those who are ill; Clothing Funds, Savings' Banks, Prayermeetings, (I attended one lately in Field Lane, where 80 criminal and destitute people were present;) Social Meetings, by which good people are interested in the welfare of the destitute, and become trustees for their benefit; Night Refuges, Emigration Committees, Public Meetings, by which people are largely interested in the criminal and destitute; Baths, Lodging Houses, and a Public Nursery in one case,

where little girls take care of the children of the poor, at the same time receiving instruction themselves; a systematic visitation of the parents of the children attending these schools at their own home. All these managed willingly by a committee of voluntary teachers."

With this "voluntary agency," however, the witness would connect a system of reformation supported by the State imposing local rates, and detaining juveniles; and further, he would establish "preventive schools," supported by private funds, to which "juveniles should be sent by magistrates and courts of law, and a certain allowance be paid by the parish, district, union, or county, leaving a quota to be defrayed by private benevolence." Separate (not solitary) confinement is also urged; and the witness thinks that the discipline of prisons should be partly penal and partly reformatory."

We are quite unable, from want of space, to dwell further on Mr. Macgregor's evidence, or to present extracts from the testimony of other eminent witnesses, of which that of the Chaplains of Parkhurst prison and Preston jail, the Recorder of Birmingham, Serjeant Adams, Miss Carpenter, and Alexander Thompson, Esq., are worthy of special attention. We must, however, not forget the evidence of Mr. John Ellis, a London shoemaker-a man worthy of all honour, who has devoted himself with zeal and success to the reformation of juveniles. Mr. Ellis was for a time the conductor of the Industrial Classes of the Brook Street Ragged schools. He testifies that the want of employment is a great cause of crime in boys; that the communication of religious knowledge is essential; that the teacher must associate himself with the boy in every way; and that, under the Divine blessing, no child, however wicked, need be despaired of who has a heart to feel and a mind to be convinced." Sir Peter Laurie, Mr. Ellis shows by the results of his class, was wrong for once, when he said, sceptically and scoffingly, that "he would walk twenty miles to see a reformed thief!" We need go no further for proof than to the case of "M-M-," who was examined before the Committee, himself a "reformed thief," and " an apprentice to Mr. Ellis," possessing the entire confidence of his

master.

And now what is "the conclusion of the whole matter?" Why, that, bad as matters are, but for Ragged Schools, and their auxiliary influences, they would be far worse; that instead of despairing or fainting, voluntary teachers should press onward in the self-sacrificing work, and that many more should enrol themselves in this noble regiment of "The Great Unpaid; " that those who cannot teach, but who God has blessed with means, should contribute to our cause with more cheerful and enlarged liberality than ever; that "the might of gentleness is irresistible;" that brute force and compulsion are useless, nay, are hardening in their results; and that it is Christianity alone, in its direct and indirect action, can save the masses of our juvenile population from ruin. With all this we unite the expression of our conviction that "correction, and not destruction,"-a penal reformation, and not "penal ruin,"-prevention rather than cure will henceforth largely influence the Government and the Legislature in dealing with criminals under sentence, both at home and abroad.

PRISONS NOT REFORMATORIES-WHY?

THE "producers of crime and misery" enumerated in the last three numbers of this periodical are all at work in society at large; but there are others operating within our prisons, PRODUCING THE VERY EFFECT THEY WERE INTENDED TO PREVENT increasing crime instead of diminishing it. These may be more easily dealt with than the former, for they have been produced by laws enacted; and by the same means they can be cured, when once the public mind is satisfied the change ought to be made.

(1.) In the first round of legislative mistakes on the subject of criminals we may place the having made our prisons far too comfortable places of abode. Not a few of our prisons look, at a short distance, like the dwellings of our wealthiest nobles. The interior is lighted, and warmed, and ventilated by all the appliances of modern science. The prisoner is lodged, and fed, and clad as he never was before, and never will be again, until he return to the same abode. A troop of well-drilled servants wait upon him; he has a very moderate amount of work prescribed to him, he has daily exercise, and his supply of interesting books, if he can read them; and the whole is enlivened and made more pleasant by frequent visits from governors and warders; and, finally, he has short periods of instruction from chaplains and teachers. In fact, the complete separation of the prisoners from each other, and the regular employment of chaplains and teachers, are the only thoroughly commendable features in the present system. The separation puts an end to the risk, or rather the certainty, of mutual contamination; and whatever man can do to eradicate evil and implant virtuous principle, is faithfully done by the prison chaplains; they are most of them enthusiasts in their laborious profession, and bring to the discharge of their duties much Christian zeal and much love for perishing souls.

Is it reasonable to expect that such prisons as we now have can be regarded with terror-that the thought of entering them should deter from crime? Such a feeling may exist in those who have never been there; but one short imprisonment breaks the spell and dissipates the alarm for ever.

In fact, with the sole exception that he cannot get out, we know not what there is in a modern model prison which a culprit can desire and has not. To such an extent is this carried, that it is actually considered by some as a reproach to the governor of a prison, if his men do not increase in weight from month to month. Nay, instances are known to have occurred where a petty crime has been committed for the purpose of procuring the gratuitous cure of disease with more comfort than in an hospital.

It is not enough, however, to look only at the treatment of the prisoner We must look at it in comparison with the lot of the honest hard-working artisan or labourer. Is it right for the State to make the wages of iniquity in every way (excepting personal liberty) higher and better than those of honest industry? This is precisely what our present prison system does. If a poor man commits a theft, he is indeed deprived of his freedom; but in every other respect, he finds himself, during his imprisonment, far more comfortable than he was at home.

No one would propose to make our prisons unhealthy or filthy, or to deprive the inmates of sufficient food and clothing; but certainly, they need not be pampered as they are at present; and with fewer luxuries, and harder labour, and yet with all due regard to health, our prisons might be made places to which it would be a punishment, not a pleasure, to return from time to time.

Take the case of one of Lord Shaftesbury's little outcasts-scarcely covered by his rags-accustomed to sleep at night in the dry arch of a railway, or inside a garden roller, or under a gravestone; and suppose him guilty of theft, and convicted. He is sentenced by the judge-with many goodly admonitions and warnings-to what? To spend the next month or two of

his life in a most comfortable dwelling, to be well cared for. If this treatment deter from prison, and scare away from crime, it is truly marvellous.

A large proportion of our re-commitments are caused by our prisons having no terrors to the delinquents.

The

(2.) Another very serious prison evil arises from short sentences. object of imprisonment ought to be twofold-punishment and reformation. That our prisons are scarcely punitive, has just been shown,-short sentences make it impossible for them to be reformatory.

What can the best of chaplains do in three days, or even in three months, to instruct and reclaim a youth whose mind has never received the smallest trace of instruction, and whose heart is hard as the nether millstone-whose kindly feelings are deadened, and whose active feelings are all depraved? Nothing but a long course of training can have any effect on such a person. There is, however, decided positive injury done him, for, by committing him to prison, the felon mark is put upon him, and thus, by a short imprisonment, from which he derives no good, the brand of a felon is so effectually burnt as it were into him, that the longest life of honesty may prove insufficient altogether to erase it.

Thus, it is not clemency or kindness it is rather positive cruelty—to the culprit, to pass a short instead of a long sentence upon him.

This is no light matter. The world justly draws a strong and well-marked line of distinction betwixt those who have been in prison and those who have not, and it does not make minute inquiries as to circumstances of guilt or the number of offences; but when once a boy has been in prison, most of the doors of admission to respectable industry and labour are shut and barred against him for ever, and he is placed in such circumstances that he must either steal or starve. Masters fear to employ him, apprentices and journeymen refuse to associate with him, the moral jail-fever is upon him, and they dread being brought into contact with him. Nor are they much to be blamed on account of this feeling-it is a popular tribute to virtue, and in this way no small protection to society against crime; but it does render the return of the convict to the paths of virtue doubly difficult; and it makes it imperative on the State to take care that the felon mark be not rashly put on any one. On looking at prison records, it will be found that a large proportion of the juveniles are committed for periods under two months; and it will also be found, that of the inmates of a prison, from 50 to 70 per cent. are re-commitments.

As a proof of the effect of longer sentences, the Governor of the Edinburgh prison stated, in a Report in 1847, that of those who were sentenced for the first time to six months or upwards, only 20 per cent. were re-committed. So little terror have short imprisonments, that some spend no small portion of their lives in undergoing them. Some few years ago, there was in Edinburgh jail a woman imprisoned for the 110th time; another in Dundee, under twenty-six years of age, who had been 34 times in Dundee jail, and 28 times in Edinburgh jail, making 62 commitments in all; and other prisons furnish similar cases.

Short sentences are long enough to blast the character for ever; they are too short to do any real good-the oftener they are inflicted the more do they harden the offender. It is high time to try if something better cannot be devised.

(3.) Mischief arises from the forms of cur criminal procedure in trifling cases. In them the whole pomp and dignity of judges, and counsel, and jury, tend not to raise but to lower the majesty of the law-to exalt the little culprit to the honour of a hero or a martyr, and nothing can have a worse effect upon his mind. There seems no occasion for the trial by jury of juvenile offenders. They ought all to be summarily disposed of by the magistrates, even although the case be aggravated by previous conviction; the employment of juries on such occasions is not needful for the protection of the offender, and it is a heavy tax on the time of the jurors.