The Sun.
London, England, 1864-08-12 00:00:00

The Weather—Sun Office, Aug. 12, 1864.

THERMOMETER
This day at Two o'clock
_ _

Barometer-30.26 .
WrND--S.W. ; moderate breeze, and cloudy.

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.
Tsui D.A.Y.—horsing, Bs. 10m.—Afternoon, 4.5 m.
£O-xo vaow.-Morning, Oh. 26m.—Afternoon, 10i2. 24 u.

, SUIT

LONDON, FRIDAY, AUGUST 12, 1861.

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The wasaing of the splendour of our flower gar-
dens is amelog the regular signs of the passing away
of summer; and the autumnal months, though
lighting the monarchs of the woods with tints and
shades which some think eclipse even the fresh ver-
a;ure of the spring, are only lookedio by the hurnb:e
ft),-iculturist as bringing the first signs of decay and
deso:ation. The limited gardens in the metropolis
and its vicinity generally give early evidence of the
change, perhaps because their owners are in the
habit of taking flight themselves early in autumn,
and are therefore indifferent to the appearance of
their gardens and conservatories when the reign of
the rose is over. There is very little doubt that,
with proper care in the selection of plants, and a
due regard to their natural seasons for flowering, a
garden even in this climate may be induced to pre-
serve a cheerful appearance through the greater
part of the year. This is the fact which Sir JOSEPH
PAXTON, no mean authority in the art of external
decoration, has taken the opportunity of bringing
tinder public notice in a letter addressed to the
aaaistant secretary of the Royal Horticultural So-
ciety. Now the din of Parliamentary battle is for
awhile suspended, and argument, lamentation, and
recrimination have been well nigh exhausted about
the Danish Duchies—while the American war goes
on its endless round, and we have no more exciting
subject to divert our attention than murders and
suicides, experiments at Shoeburyness, and madmen
in railway carriages, Sir JOSEPH PAXTON pro-
bably supposes that his remarks on the principles
of horticulture generally are less likely to pass un.
heeded than in the earlier days of the season. Per-
haps he thought, too, that the moral of his story
would receive a better illustration now than when
flawers abound on every side, and botanic shows
and exhibitions are the order of the day. It is with
regard to the merits and defects of these exhibitions
that Sir JOSEPH PAXTON has written his letter,
having been requested to give his opinion as to the
nature and character of the exhibitions which it is
most desirable that the Royal Uorticultural Society
should encourage for " the true advancement of
horticulture and its accompanying sciences. In the
first place, Sir JOSEPH is by no means satisfied
with the existing state of things, notwithstand-
ing the gorgeous array visible at some of our
flower shows. The general condition of our
horticulture is he considers artificial and unnatural,
and he attributes this principally to the arrange-
ment of our exhibitions. They have, be considers,
been advantageous in encouraging improvements in
the culture and management of plants, but the
good which they have effected has not been unmixed.
Owing to the time of the year in which they a-,e
held, the efforts of cultivators are exclus'.vely
directed to the production of such plants as will
bloom at the Lon4on season, to the toted disregard
of ad other periods. Some plants are forced, others
are artificially kept back, so that all may flower
together, thus crowding into a month or two the
ornaments of the year, and entirely neglect"
ing those plants which will not submit to
such meddlesome interference, Some years ago,
the critic tells us, he called to see a first class Lone
don garden of great repute. It was an exhibition
day, and so only a few ,
lonely plants were visible.
Again he called later in the season,
but tbe show
days were altogether over, So there was no more to
be seen, for the training system had begun, and all
w, s in preparation for the next year's competition.
If the efforts of the Horticultural Society are
directed to securing the greatest number and most
beautiful display of Pl4llB in the halfelozen exhi-
bition days of the London season they are certainly
successful, but if their object is rather to en-
courage horticulture as a science, then
these " spasmodic efforts," as Sir JOSEPH
PAXTON terms them, which leave a great
part of the year unemployed and unproductive, are
not altogether satisfactory. The exhibition system
has certainly sucznded in producing a wonderful

degree of perfection in those kinds of flowers which
are exhibited, and they have also rgiv en a stimulus
to the culture of foliage plants which preserve a
garden from the desolation of winter, still there
remains a good deal more to be done before the
objects of the society are tally att wined. The true
object of horticulture, accorilinl to Sir JOSEPH
PAXTON'S view, is "to increase the enjoyment des
rivable from it, and to diffuse it as widely as poet.
Bible ; to enable the owners of gardens to get the
greatest amount of pleasure and satisfaction
from their possessions, and to enable the
general public to procure the greatest number
of fruit, flowers, and vegetables, in the greatest
quantity, of the best kinds, and at the cheapest
pricts." These are certainly all matters of public
concern, and, indeed, since the new fashion of
choosing suburban residences has been so exten-
sively followed, great numbers are interested in the
consideration of the best method of gardening, who
of old scarcely gave a thought to the matter. It is
one of the most graceful of sciences, while the cul-
ture of these beautiful works of nature is among
the most innocent and healthful of recreations for
the mind and exhausted energies. Its tendency is
soothing and refining, and is to be by no means
despised as a means of diffusing taste and cultiva-
tion. Let us see how Sir JOSEPH PAXTON
proposesto encourage this taste. There should,
he thinks, be something like a continuous
exhibition, so that gardeners should have
no interest in forcing their plants into
flower at unnatural seasons, nor should they
be induced to neglect those which blossom at un
fashionable times of the year. At one time the
Horticultural Society had fortnightly shows at
their great room in Regent-street, where nursery-
men brought their new plants or fruits, or any
unusually beautiful specimens at any time of the
year. This was, Sir JOSEPH thinks, a very bene-
ficial practice, and he proposes that something of
the kind should be restored. During the spring
and summer months he would have the exhibitions
weekly, and nave them held in a place where they
might be suffered, when owned by nurserymen, to
remain all the time they were in flower. This
woald be independent of the great exhibitions
which are too beautiful and too fashionable to be
altogether abandoned, but some supplementary
effort of the kind es ould probably do great good.
Weekly or fortnightly exhibitions would probably
be too frequent at least at first, but monthly or
quarterly shows might with advantage be este-
btished. At all events the question is sufficiently
interesting to deserve attentive consideration.

The Report of the Directors of Convict Prisons is
now published, and its contents are sure to attract
attention at this juncture, since so much excitement
has prevailed on the subject for some time, and
during the past session so much pains was taken to
effect some desirable changes in the department re-
lating to convict discipline. It was time that the
question again underwent revision, for grievous
errors had crept into the management, and if no•
thing of a remedial nature had been done it is diffi-
cult to say at what point the evil would have
stopped, and at all events it would have been more
tedious to make a change. The greatest care and
attention appears generally to be exercised by the
authorities whose special duty it is to have the
supervision of these unhappy outcasts ; but it is a
very difficult thing to determine which is the best
mode of treatment, and after the mature delibera-
tions of experienced men of all kinds, the matter
has to be left to the test of practice. That test has I
shown us that the latest attempt to temporise with
crime, as it were, has been an utter failure. Stern
and vigorous treatment i 3 the only right coarse to
pursue; it is useless to adopt a line of action which
may make the working of the prison routine more
easy and successful for the time, but infallibly res
salts in the production of serious evils, both to the
men themselves and society at large. Two causes
of the late plan pursued of rendering the term of
imprisonment so easy to pass and SO shorn of the
terrors of the law tended to swell the lists of returned
prisoners. In the first place, the notion of penal ser-
vitude was in a great measure divested of its horrors
by the facile manner in which the prisoners were
treated ; and, secondly, the easy life passed in their
bondage did not improve the check that a course of
salutary discipline would most probably have
Effected. On all accounts it is very satisfactory to
know that a change has come over the spirit of this
dream of utopian convict life, for the reaction would
have been great after co much false laxity and
moderation had been shown. The plans now pro-
posed are but simple modifications of the system,
but they are begun in the right spirit, and if not
found to be sufficiently stringent, it will be easy to
make still more severe regulations. The Directors
have made a most elaborate statement, and been at
great pains to present a fair estimate of the state
of each prison. It will be seen that the ticket-of.
leave system was in want of some change
in consequence of the number of re-convictions.
The number of the female prisoners who were re-
convicted has hitherto been much less than that of
the males, hut of late years there has been a great
increase. The cause of this unhappy augmentation
has been said to be the " comparatively short sen-
tences of recent years, the want of means for
assisting and supervising them on discharge, and
in some degree, perhaps, from defective prison
arrangements." Doubtless the short sentences that
have been passed of late years have done great
harm, for in the cases of the most desperate
assaults it has often happened that a most inade-
quate term for confinement has been apportioned.
It is a most unwise thing, for the ends of justice
are not answered by this means, and all reports
agree in denouncing the practice. The criminals
come to consider the whole affair of the trial, sen-
tence, and imprisonment, as a sort of farce, and one
merely to be got through as quick as possible.
The question of providing shelter and employment
for the discharged prisoners, especially the female
ones, is a very serious consideration. It is a pain.
ful picture which the returns present to us of these
fallen creatures, driven from one place to another,
till in sheer desperation they are often compelled to
take refuge with their old associates. Besides, the
prisoners who show every desire to become reformed
members of society, the wavering and even evil dis-
posed might often be reclaimed if the right means
were at hand on a timely opportunity. It is im-
possible to define a limit to the number who would
be induced to change their ways, if immediately
after they emerge from the quiet and comparative
innocence of their course in prison some fitting em-
ployment were ready for them. This again proves the
desirability of sending convicts who are sentenced
for long periods to Western Australia. Their removal
would leave more scope for their con feds rates in crime
whose shorter sentences send them out again on the
world after a brief period of detention. In the
contemplation of reports many only look to the ste.
tisticai part of the affair, as to how many suffered
imprisonment, for whet cause they were convicted,
and how often they were re-convic ed ; but apart
from these established facts there are grave matters
to reflect upon concerning the inner details of those
lives of which we are furnished with the broad out-
lines. Until some important change has been
effected in that branch of prison management which
refers to the career of the prieeoe: after he has

left prison, there will always be much to deplore
and lament in the returns presented to notice every
successive year.. Some very desirable changes have
been made at Millbank, in pursuance of the advice
tendered by the Commission of 1863. The period
of separate confinement which each convict has to
undergo at the commencement of his term
of imprisonment has been rendered more in
accordance with the spirit of such a sentence, than
only the latter, as has hitherto been too much the
case, and already some beneficial changes have been
observed. It has also been agreed upon to alter the
dietary in the prisons, and in consequence of this
revolution an amended form has been instituted,
which involves a very large reduction in the old
scale of diet. Nearly one day's food in the week
has been struck off the aggregate allowance. This
is a very wise alteration, and it is to be hoped that
the same coarse will be pursued in all prisons, and
persisted in notwithstanding any temporary out-
. breaks or disturbances that may result therefrom.
It stands to reason that the old fashion of pamper.
ing prisoners was a very impolitic one, and likely
to be productive of the worst effects as regarded
discipline, and involving a salutary change in the
lives and dispositions of these men. The arrange-
ments have also been altered regarding the
public work prisons, and more strict rules laid
down. The sub-divisions made will make
separation between the prisoners more than has
hitherto been the case, and this again will doubtless
operate to effect a salutary change, it having been
shown that there were " evils attendant on the
massing together of such large bodies of convicts
as are assembled on the public works." A very
satisfactory account is given of the successes met
with by the Prisoners' Aid Society. It is stated
that no less than five hundred and odd cases were
undertaken by it in one year, and the large majo•
city of these were satisfactorily provided for. At
the conclusion of this report a very proper tribute
is paid to the memory of Sir JOSHUA JEBB, With•
out doubt he rendered great and important services
to the State by the zeal and ability which he dis-
played in the conduct of the intricate affairs which
he was called upon to manage, and it is truly stated
here that, whatever changes recent experience may
deem desirable, "no one conversant with the state
of the hulks and English prisons when he was called
on by the Government to undertake their manage-
ment, can fail to acknowledge the debt of gratitude
that is due to the late Sir JOSUHA JEBB."