who are under no chains or mechanical restraint whatever. It is very evident that the lives of the keepers would be at the mercy of the prisoners if the physical force of the latter could be brought into action: but the moral power is wanting. If it be asked, why are three hundred convicts in a body less powerful than ten keepers? the reply is, that the latter communicate freely with each other, act in concert, and have all the power of association; whilst the others, from the effects of silence, feel, in spite of their numerical force, all the weakness of solitary individuals. But supposing for a moment that such a body of coerced men had the least facility of verbal communication, then this order would be reversed; the re-combining of their knowledge, when extended by speech, would teach them the secret of their power, the first infraction of the law of silence would totally destroy the discipline.

and

Such are the modes of prison discipline now in practical operation in the older States of North America, and, from the experience of nearly twenty years, the best hopes have been formed as to the objects contemplated. In this country and France, model penitentiaries are nearly completed, to commence a trial of similar disciplinary means to the criminals of these two countries, in unison with the abolition of the punishment of death, which has nearly been achieved in most states of Europe. But the criminal class in each country are bitterly opposed to the introduction of the silent and solitary systems, and thus circulate the grossest falsehoods concerning them, even occasionally in the public press.

THE BEAUTIFUL SHORES OF THE CALM

WINDERMERE.

1.

FAR
away, far away, o'er the mountain and dell,
Where the white snows of winter are icy and cold—
Where the wild fox below, and the vulture above,

Look down from the high cliff so dizzy and old-
Where the flowers of the summer are wither'd and gone,
And the green mountain moss clings alone to the ground,—
Till ye come to a valley as lovely and lone

As the bright shining stars that are blinking around,
And the sweet voice of waters come full on the ear
From the beautiful shores of the calm Windermere.

2.

Oh Mary, dear Mary! the thought of that meeting
Comes over me now like a dream of the past;

And you'll deem it not strange that these sorrowful tears
Trickle down o'er my bosom so scalding and fast.

When think of the laddie that loves you so deeply,

you

How ye clung round his neck, and in whisperings half spoken,
Said, "Keep in remembrance of Mary this gold ring;
Her heart you should have—but her heart it is broken."
And I wiped from thine eyelid the hot gushing tear,
By the beautiful shores of the calm Windermere.

3.

And we walk'd by the side of those lullaby waters,
The broad lake before us so rosy and still;
Not a murmur awaken'd the silence so holy,
Save the song of the nightingale over the hill;
And ye look'd down so fondly, and told me so sweetly
That the softness around thee sank deep in thine heart—
That the dark hour was coming to sever asunder
The two loving bosoms that death should not part;
And we parted so often-still, still, clinging near
To the beautiful shores of the calm Windermere.

4.

Farewell to thy rocks, and thy mountains so cloudy!
Farewell to thy musical water and shore!
Farewell to the smile, and the blue eye's adoring!
Mine own shall behold you in rapture no more;
The cold hand of death presses heavily on me-
The warm blood of life from my body has gone-
The light of these dim eyes are fast, fastly fading-
Oh, when will the slumbers of darkness come on!
Yet the last lingering name shall be thine, Mary dear,
And the beautiful shores of the calm Windermere.

THOS. HERVY GLAMORGAN.

LINES WRITTEN ON THE banks of THE RIVER DEE,
NEAR CORWEN, NORTH WALES.

FIELDS of my childhood! thrice beloved scenes!
How many a lingering, many a tearful year-
How many thoughts, hopes promising, and dreams,
Have seared, since I was here.

I come, as comes a weak and sickly child
Back to the fondling of a mother's arms-
Back to a region, beautiful and wild

In God's and Nature's charms.

False hearts, false words, and falser friendliness—
The curling lip the contumely and sneer—
Love's tortured sigh—the anguish endlessness—
The curse and harlot leer,

Are things unknown to thee, and dire and strange,- ·
Sweet fountain, river, spring—whate'er thy name-
Thy waters rise and fall, and flow and change,
Yet ever are the same.

Why did I e'er forsake thy tranquil waters,
In search of softer, or a happier shore?

Why turn'd my countenance from thy fair daughters
In quest of earthlier love?

"Twas the deluded hope, the scornful pride,
Of being bright as Heaven, or dark as Hell;
But I have suffered-and let none déride

The woes they cannot tell.

High aspirations, blighted, blasted, riven-
Renown turn'd madness-high illustrious deeds,-
These were the young seed sown-how have they thriven,
Behold the weeds!

But I have brought more than I took away,—
The knowledge of the mysteries of our kind,—
My soul hath learnt the darkness from the day
Of man, and of mankind.

The colder wisdom of the populous earth
Hath pall'd the unextinguishable fire,
Which glared within me from my very birth..
I cannot now aspire.

Oh for the days of childhood back again!
Oh for the infant sleeping, calm, and blest!
Oh for the power of Jesus to reclaim

Once more the infant's breast.

Fruitless lament-behold before thine eyes,
The glory, and the beauty, all which shrouds
Earth commingling with the starlight skies,
And moonlight clouds above.

There is within the midnight heavens a power,
Deep and eternal, above death and time;
Feelings and thoughts have birth within that hour,
Which make our dust divine.

The aspen bough right melancholy stooping
Above the fretful billows and the caves,
The willow in autumnal greenness drooping
Within the rippling waves.

The silent, lonely, and the echoless tread-
The ebon gloom-the stillness of the cloud
That lours above the living and the dead,
Alone or in the crowd:

The shadows of the vast and mountainous hills,
The stir and whisper of the pathless wood,
The voices, and the sound of Alpine rills,
Are languages understood.

Oh, rocks and vales, romantic and serene!
Oh, gently-rolling, pure, and pastoral river!
Here could I lay me down along thy stream,
And weep and weep for ever!

Yet why?-thou art too beautiful for tears
Too much is thine, sweet stream, of love and grace;
Heaven has redeem'd thee from the curse of years
Which blight the human race.

The cadence of thy waters, clear and cool,
Proclaim how happy, how adored thou art,
Stream of the doting visionary soul-

Stream of the poet's heart!

Let him whose life was poison'd at its source→
Let him whose mind is ulcer'd to its core,→→
Come here-the only one resource

For anguish long and sore !

Oh, long upon thy overflowing banks

Be seen the rustic maid, the fair, the young,

With prattling lips weave on their merry pranks
Where first they sprung!

Fairest of many waters, Cambrian Dee

Rocks, mountains, valleys, green herbs, leaves, and heather—
Mine eyes are fill'd with tears-I cannot see-

But breathe farewell for ever!

THOS. H. GLAMORGAN.

OUR MONTHLY CRYPT.

"As good almost to kill a man, as kill a good book: who kills a man, kills a reasonable creature, God's image; but he who destroys a good book, kills Reason itself, kills the image of God, as it were, in the eye. Many a man lives a burden to the earth; but a good book is the precious life-blood of a master-spirit, embalmed and treasured up on purpose to a life beyond life."

Landlord and Tenant: A Comprehensive and Popular View of the Laws of Landlord, Tenant, and Lodger. By JOHN PATER, Attorney-at-law. London: Stevens and Norton; Sherwood and Co.

THIS work on the laws of landlord and tenant is written in the form of question and answer; to each of which the legal authorities are given. It aims, however, principally at giving a knowledge of the r more general cases that occur in common life on the subject of landlord and tenant. It has not the fault of being voluminous; nor is it burdened with law technicalities. It is also supplied with a very useful appendage-a copious Index,-which renders the work still more agreeable. It may be considered a good manual for general use, from which even the professed lawyer may glean something to refresh his memory, and confirm his practice.

WILME'S Hand Book of Mapping and Engineering Drawing.

We have been favoured with a sight of the first number of "Wilme's Hand Book for Mapping and Engineering Drawing." We consider it a book much wanted in the profession, and invaluable to draughtsmen generally. We recommend the use of it in engineering schools and colleges. The plates are got up in the best manner, and for taste and originality we think every praise is due to the author.

The Visitor's Guide to the Sights of London, including the National
Exhibitions. London: Strange. 1841.

Is in every respect satisfactory.

The Visitor's Guide to the Watering Places. London: Strange. 1841. Amply answers its purpose.