The Sun.
London, England, 1851-08-20 00:00:00

ivr TE

S TT N 3

WHAT SHALL BE Din•iE WITH

OUR CONVICT'S ?

LET Eit I.

TO THE RIGHT HON. Fie. GEORGE GREY, BART., M F.,
SECRETARY OF STATE ran THE HOME DEPARTMENT.

Sir,—Last year I bad the honour of addressing to
you a letter, containing an answer to this most im-
portant of social questions—What shall be done with
our convicts?—suggesting a plan which appeared,
and still appears to me, to offer the best practical
solution of Ta difficult political problem, and therefore
anxiously looked for -those'Parliamentary discussions
which were considered inevitable upon a subject so
deeply affecting the vital interests of this country.
But the session has passed away, and the Colonial-
office has, with the exception of a memorable declara-
tion of Earl Grey's, which I will presently examine,
not only studiously avoided giving to this country
and to the colonies any intimation of its intentions
respecting the future disposal of convicts, but has
upon two severai occasions wantonly insulted the
feelings of those colonists, who believe that the con-
tinued transmission of convicts into the country they
inhabit inflicts upon them an enormous social evil.
Those insults were of too marked and public a cha-
racter not to rankle in the minds of the colonists ;
adding another item to those which stud the records
of the Colonial-office, and to which Earl Grey appears
resolved to contribute his fair quota, although he
could not have adopted more injudicious conduct—
the only motive for which could have been to screen
aim from a confession that he was unable to give a
satisfactory reply to the question—What he proposed
should be done with our convicts ? _

•
It was most injudicious, as well as most insulting,
to have the House counted out upon the two several
occasions when the subject was brought forward by
independent Members, because discussion must have
elicited some plan of which the House might have
approved, and at any rate would have assured the
colonist that, if his wishes were not immediately com-
plied wi,h, the subject was one which was receiving
the anxious attention of the Legislature.
But Lord Grey, by having the House counted
out, and preventing all discussion, has in effect said—
I want none of your advice, none of your
opinions, for I have a plan of my own, which I have
already stated in the House of Lords, which I consider
sufficient to meet the views of all parties, and which
is redolent of the mind of a sagacious statesman, as
fully meeting the present evil, and avoiding future
calamity.
As, however, I entertain a very different opinion of
his Lordship's plan, I will carefully examine it in re-
lation, Ist, to its intrinsic properties, 2dly, to the pub-
lished opinion of one of acknowledged wisdom, and,
ally, to the facts we have derived from practical ex-
perience ; and if such plan will not stand either of
these tests, then the conclusion is inevitable—that it
was most injudicious, as well as most insulting, to
prevent discussion upon a subject which so deeply
affects the social condition of this country, which
cannot possibly adjust itself, but which must sooner
or later receive the attention of Parliament.
Earl Grey's plan is simply this :—" The colonists
arc in great want of shepherds, and therefore I propose
that the convicts shall be sent into the interior of the
country to serve as shepherds."
But, I must submit tout the intrinsic properties of
such plan are bad ; Ist, because from two to three
thousand convicts are annually sentenced to trans.
portation, and about as many hundreds would be a
sufficient supply of shepherds ; and, 2dly, on account
of the nature of the employment.
The proverb says—" The devil tempts all, but the
idle man tempts the devil," and the most idle occupa•
tion in the world is that of a shepherd, yet Lord
Grey seriously proposes such a life for the convict,
who, you, as Home Secretary, have, at considerable
care and expense, inured to constant work, at Mill-
hank, or Portland, or Dartmoor, and to whom such
work has almost ceased t) be irksome.

That man under a judicious system would pro-
b Ably have become a valuable member of society in
the colony. Does it require a prophet to fortel his
too•certain career under Lord Grey's plan, living
the idle life of a sh-Therd, in a remote district,
without the benefit of good example, beyond the con-
trol either of a master or a magistrate, and with no
other associates except those who have been equally
criminal with himself. Am I wrong, then, in de-
scribing his plan to be a bad one on account of its
intrinsic properties ? We shall see that it is even
worse when subject to the test of the opinion of wise
men, or the experience we have acquired.
I have the honour to remain, &c.,
RIGBY WASON.
Corwar, Aug. 18 1851.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
Sin,—Very many useful suggestions have I seen on
every thing appertaining to the Exhibition, but nothing
that meets my case, and the case of thousands similarly
situ.ted. _ _

I am a working man with eight children, and should
wish to take five of them to the Exhibition; this would
amount to 75., for them, my wife, and myself, to bcgin
and the loss of a day's work certain, besides other
necessary expenses, which would make 13s. or 14s. the
oay's loss. Now, what I think reasonable is this—that
a few dies should tie allowed for juveniles to be admitted
at huff price; we night then possibly be able to see our
children enjoy the holiday with us—at present almost
tinpos.lble. That you will insert this, and so be the
ait ups of drawing attention to the subject, is the earnest
wish of A tIARD. WORKING MAN.

COURT CIRCULAR.
OSBORNE, TUESDAY, AuG. 19.
TE.e Queen and Prince Albert walked in the grounds
early yesterday morning.
Tbe royal children also took their usual exercise.
Four Chinese, three ladies and a gentleman, dressed in
the costume of their country, arrived at Osborne yes-
terday morning, from London. They were accompa-
nied by an interpreter and their attendants, and had the
honour of being introiuced io her Majesty and his Royal
ig ness.
At a quarter past five o'clock in the afternoon, the
Queen, Prince Albert, and the youthful Princesses em-
barked on board the royal yacht Fairy, attended by the
suite, and accompanied by the Earl of Liverpool (who
has arrived o❑ a visit), and proceeded nearly to the
Needles, to witness the regatta of the Royal Yacht
Squadron.
The Fairy returned to Osborne at a quarter past
seven o'clock.

Madsme Castellon, Sigtor Mario, and Herr Formes
had the honour of singing before her Majesty and his
Royal Highness in the evening. M. Costs accompanied
on the pianoforte.
The rot al dinner party included the Earl of Liver-
pool, Colonel and Lady [Catherine Harcourt, and Sir
Hamilton aid Lady Seymour, who have arrived on a
visit. Lady Caroline and Mis,s Barrington, and the Hon.
Colonel and Mrs. Phipps had the honour of receiving
invitations in the evening.

His Royal Highness Prince Albert, accompanied by
Dr. Lyon Playfair, and attended by Lieutenant• Colonel
the lion. A. Gordon, left Osborne at eight o'clock yes-
terday morning, to preside at a meeting of the Royal
Commission for the pr. motion of the Exhibition of the
Works of Industry of all Nations, at the Exhibition
Building in Hyde-park.
His Royal Highness crossed in the royal yacht Fairy
to Gosport, where a special train was in waiting to con-
vey the Prince to the Vauxhall station of the South-
Western Railway, from whence his Royal Highness pro-
ceeded direct to the Exhibition Building, arriving there
at hall-past eleven o'clock.
The Commission met at twelve o'clock. The Com-
missioners present were his Royal Highness Prince Al-
bert, Earl Granville, Lord John Russell, the Right Hon.
Henry Labouchere, the Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone,
Ms. Charles Barry, Mr. Bsz-ley, Mr. Cobden, M.P.,
Mr. William Cahill, Sir Cbarlea Eastlake, Mr, Thomas
F. Gibson, Mr. John Gott, Mr. Pusey, M.P., Mr. Robert
Stephenson, M.P., Mr. John Shepherd, and Mr. Hop-
kins. Dr. Lyon Playfair, Special Commissioner ; Col.
Lloyd, Special Commissioner; Lieutenant-Colonel Reid,
Chairman of the Executive Committee; Mr. alike, and
Mr. Cole were also present.
Sir Stafford Northcote, Mr. Scott Russell, and Mr.
Edger Bowring, secretaries, were in attendance.
The meeting did not break up till four o'clock, at
which hour his Royal Highness Prince Albert, attended
by Lient.• Colonel the Hun. A Gordon, left the Exhibi-
tion Building on his return to Osborne. His Royal
aighness proceeded to the Vauxhall station of the
South-Western Railway, where a special train was in
readiness to convey the Prince to Gosport.
Previous to the assembling of the Royal Commis-
sioners, a meeting of the Finance Committee was held in
the Exhibition building.

hER 'MAJESTY'S VISIT TO SCOTLAND.
We understand that her Majesty, who will leave Os-
borne on Wednesday, has expressed her intention to ar-
rive at the King's-cross stration of the Great Northern
Railway at half-past one o'clock in the afternoon. Her
Majesty will take luncheon at the station, and depart
thence at two o'clock. At Lincoln her Majesty will,
without leaving her carriage, receive an address from
the corporation of that city. The royal train will reach
Doncaster station at about half-past six. Here her Ma-
jesty will leave the royal carriego, and proceed to the
Angel Hotel, which has been engaged for her accommo-
dation, and where she will remain during
the night. At
nine o'clock on the following morning ber Majesty gill
journey on to flolyrood, between which place and Don-
caster the royal train will stop only for the engine to
take in water. A temporary station is to be provided at
Holyrood to enable her Majt.sty to cross over to Holy-
rood Home, without going through the city. Her Ma-
jesty will sleep at Holyrood, and on the following morn-
ing return to the railway through the temporary station
aid proceed to Stonehaven, which has this year been se-
lected in preference to Cupar Angus, as the terminal
point of her Majesty's railway journey, in consequence
of the route from Stone-haven to Balmoral being better
than that from Cupar Angus to the latter place. The
royal carriage of the Great Northern Railway will run
through to Stonehaven.

Father Ignatius, according to a contemporary, has
gone to Germany, the necessity for recruiting his health
being the cause assigned for his expatriation; but that the
real fact is, his simplicity or his eccentricities were. causing
too much trouble to the heads of the Fog,sh clique in West-
minster.—/Horning Paper.