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

degree of perfection in those kinds of flow ers which
are exhibited, and they have also given a stimulus
to the culture of foliage plants which preserve a
garden from the desolation of winter, eta: there.
remains a good deal more to be done before the
objects of the society are fully attained. Tb e true
object of horticulture, according to Sir JOSEPH
PAXTON'S view, is "to increase the enjoyment de■
rivable from it, and to diffuse it as widely as pos.
sible ; to enable tha owners of gardens to get the
greatest amount of pleasure and sat►sfaction
from their possessions, and to' enable the
general public to procure the greates c number
of fruit, flowers, and vegetables, in tne greatest
quantity, of the best kinds, and at the cheapest
prices." These are certainly all matters of public
concern, and, indeed, since the new fashion of
choosing suburban residences bas 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 oZ 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
proposesito 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 JOSEFH 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 have them held in a place where they
might be suffered, when owned by nurserymen, to
remain all the time they were in flower. This
would be independent of the great exhibitions
which are too beautiful and too fashionable to be
altogether abandoned, but some supplementary
effort of the kind would 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 esta-
blished. 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 wouid 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 teat has
shown us that the latest attempt to temporise with
crime, as it were, has been an utter failure. Stern
and vigorous treatment is 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 re.
sults 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 ECI much false laxity and
moderation had been shown. The plans now pro-
posed are but simple modifications of the system,
bat they are begun in the right spirit, and if not
four.d 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 leans, 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 lung periods to Western Australia. Their removal
would leave more ecope for their confederates 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 sta.
tistical part of the affair, as to how many suffered
imprisonment, for what cause they were convicted,
and hove often they were re-convicted ; 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 on te
lines. Until some important change has been
effected in that branch of prison management which
zefers to the career of the prisoner atter he has