The Sun.
London, England, 1864-10-26 00:00:00

which could result from tho harslaitiVrisitatles of
human jurisprudence, It, theii, thehanieS which.
have been lately made are such as to promote his
reformation and ensure his persistence in the right
path after it has been recovered, true and genuino
mercy will be far from receiving any shoek by what
has been done, And this, I humbly believe, will be
the consequence should the new spirit breathed into
the treatment of criminals permanently actuate all
who take part in giving effect to our laws. Yon
must have been struck, gentlemen, with the com-
plete change of principle on which remission is
henceforth to be granted. Passive obedience to
prison rules, however indispensable it may be to
good order, has little tendency to reform the
character, and will therefore do little to ensure an
honest course of life, after discharge. Industry i 5
the ground on which we must build, and, in order
that industry practised in the gaol may continue
after the prisoner is at large, it must be will.
ing industry, and hence the value of the remission
which is held up to him as its reward. Whereas
industry produced by feer of punishment, even
in the comparatively few instances where it is
so produced, will, by the painful associations
with which all memory of it must be secorwr
periled, relax itself and fall into desuetude when, by
regaining his liberty, the convict has left his fears
behind him. The extended duration of his bens
tesce will afford him a sufficient time to make his
industry habitual, and it is to confirmed habits we
must mainly look to protect him against relapse.
Thus we see that the interest of the criminal has
been as carefully considered as the interest of
society ; both moving onwards hand in hand. But
the benefit to each do not—leat-ikeser.7fterrireurair

discharge arrives, and the well-disposed prisoner,
having now to meet his greatest peril, is not aban-
doned. He takes his gratuity, which preserves hint
for a time at least from the overwhelming tempta•
Lion produced by want. He has to report himself
to the head of the police in the district to which he
resorts, and he thereby establishes a relation be-
tween himself and a public officer, who, both by
duty, and, speaking from experience, I will say, also
by inclination, will befriend him, so long as his con-
duct deserves it, and who will exercise over his
actions the powerful influences of hope and fear. It
is often assumed that the vigilance which it is the
duty of the police to exercise over discharged offen-
ders is necessarily of a hostile character; but that
is not so. A ticket-ofideave man, when his ticket
becomes what it ought always to have been, a testi.
menial that the holder is a person who has given
earnest desire to do well, and of his possessing the
requisite qualifications for pursuing a honest course
of life,will find the head of the police in his district
a protector against ill-founded suspicion, to which
an ex-convict is naturally ever obnoxious ; and
when, in addition to the testimonial which the
ticket-of-leave man brings from his prison, he can.
safely refer to the police for a eertificate that ho has
continued to deserve the remission which has been.
granted to him, surely he must thus obtain facilities
for procuring employment which will constitute a
new and valuable privilege; while, on the other
hand, his consciousness that any breach of the con-
ditions on which he holds his license to be at large
will, the moment it becomes known, ensure his
being forthwith deprived of his liberty, must give
additional force to his good resolutions. The inters
val then between his discharge on ticket of leave,
and the expiration of the sentence pronounced upon.
him by the judge, is made a season of regulated re-
sponsibility. It is an additional stage of probation,
furnishing motives to good conduct which will only
cease to act when, such probation being fully ac-
complished, he regains the footing of his neighbours,
who have never fallen into that miserable adversity
which is the offspring of crime. Gentlemen, the
circular to which I have drawn your attention offers
many other topics for observation, but I have al-
ready occupied much of your time, and the duties
you are now about to commence will detain you
from your homes and your pursuits longer than
may be convenient to you. I therefore now
conclude.