The Sun.
London, England, 1805-09-13 00:00:00

r~ TAI R CAN 31.-TRISPIZ Liff,",..-JE,.

WHATEVEri inay be the inerits of the litnerie.in
Criminal code in other respe6ts, there is- one prin-
ciple at least which is highly desirable for adoption
in our's : namely, that- of endeavatting to 74firrm as:
Well as punish the-criminal whoSe life the law Spares,
and to leave him without excuse for future disho-
nesty, by obliging him, while in prison, to learn some
handicraft trade, if he has not one before; by ;Ins
industry in which he may not only, be kept out- of,
idleness and Profligacy while -in prison, and obliged'
to earn his own subsistence with Out expence to' the
industrious community, but placed in the means of-
gaining an honest livelihood when restorectto fiber
ty. The punishment•of death is there never intliet,.
ed but where murder is the crime : and, indeed, :to
the generality of criminals, two; three, or four years
Imprisonment at hard labour is.almoSt as formidable,
as death Eut iniprisunment before- and after con 7
vialion, without any sort of employment to occupy
the mind, as in English gaols,'is but a means to with-
draw the mind from all'industrionshabits, and dir(a
it to new systems of fraud and villainy. This is con-
tinually illustrated by the number of hardened
vif-
lains that crowd to our criminal tribunals, and from:
infancy to manhood spend more than half their lives,
in gaols.
A ludicrous occurrence took place some time
since, at Philadelphia, tor- spew, in one Striking in-
stance at least, the good eifeds of the American
Code.

. .
A young Irishman, of respelable
,and
nexions in his own country, but bred Up to no Useful.
pursuit, habits of idleness naturally followed by. ek-
travagance and dissipation, led him;into somefau2'7:-
pas in his own, country, *which rendered his
.per-
sonal safety rather precariouS, A Lientenantcy was
obtained for him, by his friends, in a keginient going
to the West Indies, where, however,•rooted liabits.
were not abandoned ; and uftr evincing but .very
loose and confused notions of the difference between
nyunt and ham, he was at length' obliged, by the
contempt and detestation shewn by his brother-6th?
cers, to sell out, when he retired to America, where
he hoped for a. wider field for •the exercise of his
talents.

A trivial mistake, in writing the'name of a friend,
instead of his own, to a bill'of achinge, soon in-
volved him in the labyrinth of .a Pittiacielphian pri-
son. Such ingenious expedients not being tolerated
by the American laWs, he was conviaed,.and ,sen-
tenced to two years imprtsonment, and must vi
course undergo some practical leettires for the im-
provement of hiS manners. On entering the prison
he was asked, as usual, by, the Governor, what trade
hp was bred to. Astonished at the vulgar imperti-
nence of such a question, he' answered, was a
Jontleman, and scorned the meanness a a mecha-
nical trade.
_

- The Governor told him the indispensible neces-
sity of learning_a trade, as he could not be supported
there in idleness, at the expence of the honest and
•industrious i he must" therefo're either, earn his food,
or Starve. The Jontleman 'answered, he scorned to
depend 'on their support; -he did not wish to learn a
trade, and that the best way to settle the business,
was to enlarge hini. • ,
The Governor, however, differed in opinion,
,and
told him. since he declined a 'choice, ohe must be
Made for bim, which, after trial,'he might change if
he thought fit. The novice was accordingly stripped,.
placed in a cistern, on the Dittch into
which water flowed on all sides, and soon steeped
him up to the. chili, and hi's only alternative from
drowning was to work constantly at a pump, which
by constant exertion enabled him to keep the intin,
daticin an. inch or two below his mouth ; and thus;
by reversing 'the fate of Tantalus, he remained for
eight hours;
.when his first day's work. ended. He
was then 'taken out, and asked if he liked his occu7.
patiOn,n4 wished to continue 'it two years.
Heartily sick of his first' lesson, the hero answered,.
" By rily dear, you may put me to any. trade
at all at but that ; fox' if I work two, years at it
I'll die in ajbanight." The having thus
succeeded,for regulating his t;,,te, he was by choice
enrolled arrtont the corp.; ,r,'s;!ioe-utakers, bemme in
a s!tort time an, experi worktn:in, returned to hiS
tive cohntry on the tCrroilut ion c.it his itnprisoranent,
and is now an eminent shoc-unker at Curk..

On Friday and—Thursday marched from North-
,ampton,'on their ,route to Coventry, the two divi.
sions of the German, Legion which _have- been sta-
tioned there the three last N,,veki.
On Friday seinnight the Second Battalion of the
36th Regiment of Foot marchd into. Cork from Cove,
where they arrived from England a few days since.