The Sun.
London, England, 1856-08-21 00:00:00

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whole subject on which so little light can be thrown. We
are working very much iu the dark ; wo have little ex-
perience ti appeal to; all estimates as to numbers have
hitherto been mere guesses, and those guesses differ from
one another as wid .ly its is possible. I speak with some
hesitation when I say that, when the reformatory system
comes fully into operation, I think you will not be suffi-
ciently prepared to meet all contingencies, unless you rec-
kon on a yearly influx of from 2,000 to 3,000 boys. The
term of detention being at the utmost five years, but two-
thirds of that time being the average, you might, according
to that estimate, have at one time about 10,00.) in process
of reclamation. I hope lam exaggerating the require-
ments of the case. Nevertheless, when I reflect that the
cost per head to the State of each criminal so reclaimed i‘
only 131. yearly, and that from this must be deducted the
sums recovered from the parents, I confess there appears
to me no danger of our burdening the finances with a de-
inand disproportionate to the importance of the object in
view. When we speak of the possible cost of reformatories,
it is well to remember the certain cost of crime. We are
too apt, in dealing with such subjects, to think only of the
taxes which we pay to Government, and to forget the
taxes which we pay to those whom it is the object of
Government to put down. It sounds almost incredible,
but it is on record (I quote it, valeat quantum) that a com-
mittee appointed by the authorities of Liverpool to inves
tigato losses caused by theft placed those losses at the sum
700,000/. Mr. Clay, of Preston, has assumed the average
income of a successful thief at 1001. yearly; and in the
Case of 14 prisoners whose history he investigated, he
found that besides the loss which their depredations might
have caused the average cost of their apprehension,
maintenance, prosecution; "'hand::. punishment was 521. a
piece. Similarly, Mr. Rushton, writing, in 1842, to the
corporation of Liverpool, referred to the ease of 14 prison-
ers, whom he estimated as having caused a dead leas to
the community of between 2,0001. and 3,0001. We have
heard of gaols costing 1501. or 200'. per cell ; there are some
which have far exceeded this estimate. We know how
little productive prison labour can be made ; and in esti-
mating the injury produced by crime, we must take into
account the annoyance, the fear, and the trouble caused,
which generally far exceed in importance to the sufferer
the pecuniary loss itself. Financiers have an axiom that
a little uncertainty in a tax is worse than a great deal of
inequality. Now, obviously, no tax is so uncertain, both
in amount and time of collection, none is so vexatious as
regards the manner of collecting, as that which falls upon
us in the shape of loss by robbery. Passing from the ques-
tion of numbers, let us consider whether there exists any
chance of juvenile crime decreasing through other agencies
than oars. We all know—we have hoard them again and
again—what are the principal causes of adult crime.
Early ignorance, vicious associations, habitual intemper-
ance (the most powerful demoralising agent of all), and
imperfection in police arrangements, whereby the example
is held out of offences committed without detection. Po-
verty and distress are also operatinrinfluences ; but to
what extent they operate is a question much disputed. The
specific agencies at work in creating juvenile criminality
have been anal] sod with great minuteness by Mr. Clay, of
Preston, than whom no man is better known in connection
with reformatory movements. He found that in 75 per
cent. of the oases investigated by him the fault of the chil-
dren lay unmistakeably at the door of the parents. In 57 per
cent. of these cases there had been habitual drunkenness,
often accompanied by brutality, on the part of the father ;
in the remaining 18 per cont. habitual indifference and
neglect,— that is to say, in three cases out of every four
of juvenile delinquency which came before .him the pri-
soner had had hardly a chance of becoming anything but
what he was. Mr. Clay's calculation is corroborated by
another which I extract from an able and useful pamphlet
by Mr. Adshead. He states that, from an inquiry made
into the oases of 100 criminal childrea at Manchester, in
1840, the following results were elicited :
pcirn of dishonest parents ft(ll
Parents profligate, but not of the criminal
class
30
Patents honest and industrious

the parent shall be made to pay the greater part at least of
the expense incurred by detention. That is not an empty
threat. Mr. Morgan, who is employed• by the Home-014e
to see it executed, states in a letter weice I have here,
that 69 persons have been summoned for the recovery of
contributions due. Of these 22 did not appear, and ten
cases, from insufficiency of evidence, were not preSse i. In
the remaining 47 orders have been made, and are psid iu
nearly every instance. This statement excludes altogether
paytrents made not under compulsion, of which the num-
ber is expected to be large. So much to show that this pro-
vision of the act is not, and will not be, a dead letter. Let
your school, your farm, your whole institution, in all its
°ranches, be so plain, so homely, so unattractive in its
outward aspect that the poerest cotteger may enter it, and
say, "My children are better off than these." Aed what
I say of externals applies in some degree, though in a less
degree, to the nature of the teaching given. You have no
right to hold out as the reward of juvenile crime a supe-
rior training to any trade requiring skill, a higher degree
of instruction, intellectual or mechanical, than that which
the common working man receives. The object in vidw is
not an intellectual object—it is a moral and industrial
ono. Cleanliness, temperance, honesty, hard work—
these are what you want your inmates to learn and to
practia; and, although no one who has the capm&ty to
excel should be restrained from so doing, yet I will go so
far as to affirm, that, viewed with reference to the
general effect of these schools, it is not to be desired
----it is rather to be deprecated—that many of those who
pass through them should rise above the level of the
class from which they are taken. Don't misunderstand
me. There are no other educational establishments in ex-
istence concerning which I would hold that language ; but
the one peril which most constantly besets us—the one
peril to guard against which no recaps must be left untried
—.is that of leading the poor and the ignorant to say—
" We are neglected as long as we behave properly ; if we
break the law and become troublesome to society, then we
and our children are Looked ater." These two rules, then,
I lay down emphatically ; the first concerns Government
only —" Make the parent pay wherever You can." The se-
cond concerns all who have anything to do with reforms-
! tories—" Don't let theta be show-places; don't try, to edu-
cate the pupils highly ; you are doing all that you need
do—all that you have a right to do, considering the condi-
tion of innocent children—if you qualify these to earn
their daily bread by their daily labour." Having dwelt
on the necessity of adopting what had been called
the "family system"—that is, of keeping the inmates
of each house so few in number as to be all under
the direct and personal supervision of the teacher—the
noble lord next urged the propriety of encouraging compe-
tition by giving rewards to the most industrious of the
children, and, after glancing cursorily at the question of
the exclusion or non-exclusion of the penal element from
the reformatory process, on which ho pronounced no de-
cided opinion, he called attention to the relation in which
reformatory schools stood to the executive, and, while ad-
mitting that it was a fair question to consider whether the
present rate of Government allowance might not be advan-
tageously raised, ho expressed himself as totally averse to
a proposal that Government should undertake the entire
coat of the schools, leaving nothing for private subscribers
to do. He then continued—With respect to the inquiry
what were they to do with the boys when they reached
man's estate ? that, no doubt, was a perplexing question,
but fortunately it did not press, for there were many out-
lets—emigration, the army and navy, and private employ-
latent, as far as possible from disreputable relatives. Mr.
Baker had found no trouble in disposing of the boys who
had left his institution. The noble lord then continued—
We may be told, no doubt, that by soliciting employment
for these youths we are driving honest men's sons out of
the labour market. But in the actual state of the labour
market I attach slight weight to that objection. There is
ample employment and good pay for all who will and can
work. Then, if work is not found for the reformed offender,
what hope is there of his reforinatioa lasting ? He must
live; the only question is whether he shall pay honestly
for his living or not. And if on no other grounds, still on
the ground of the greater difficulty which those who have
broken the law experience in finding the means of liveli-
hood, I think we may justify, both to ourselves arid to so-
ciety, a ieasonable amount of interference such as we pro-
pose. Well, gentlemen, we have now reached a point at
which we may pause, and look back'on the ground we have
traversed. We have examined the statistics of adult and ju-
venile crime; we have touched briefly on its causes; we have
glanced at the history of the reformatory movement in our
own and other countries ; we have shown that this under-
taking of outs is necessary; that it is not on general grounds
hopeless ; and, practically, that where it has had a fair
trial it has succeeded. We have noticed the objections
raised to it, and the answers by which they might be met
—the errors which may impede its progress, and the method
of avoiding them. We have seen that the interference of
the State is on the one hand necessary; and, on the other
hand, that the assistance of the State is best given by
leaving a large discretion in the hands of, and exorcising
only a general supervision over, those who are intrusted
with the management of reformatory schools. We have
adverted to the great efforts made of late in support of this
movement—to the two societies established for its promo-
tion. —and we are, I think, agreed that those who act with
us, though not being of us, are not rivals—or, if rivals,
are so only in the sense of a friendly and generous emula-
tion. We have considered, and to-morrow we shall con-
sider In fuller detail, the various suggestions for the regu-
lation and management of reformatories, which come to
.ti‘sitaitessweeoznrnended by ys4fit experience or proposed for
present trial. Lastly, weebaiNs venterbd to look forward
into the future, and have investigated the mu red of dis-
posing of the youths whom, after a period of probetiou, it
is our charge to send forth into the world. It remains
only to see how, why, and in what sense the aiding of this
work is possible, and is a duty to each and all of us, I
say, first, that it is possible for almost all to be helpers.
There are few enterprises which admit of assistance being
offered in a larger variety of forms. Is any rich ?—lot him
give of his abundance. Is any able to influence others by
tongue or you ?—let him undergo the we:alit:less, and even,
if need be, incur the ridicule, of reiterating again and
again the utterance of those truths which we wish to im-
press. But it may be objected how small is the number
of those who possess such power, either in the material
boyr
whichint service may be e
intellectual form. Irerpindeytrhed to the
ereareothcearumser ifns
only those who possess it have the will to give them-
selves up to a repulsive and difficult task. The refor-
mation of 'nen can never become a mechanical process.
Perhaps the tendency of meetings, of speeches, of Go-
vernment grants, is to render it too much so, or to treat it
as if it were so. But, for the management of the reforma-
tory you must have personal zeal, enthusiasm, love of the
cause strong enough to produce even a feeling of love for
the wretched objects of your aid ; without this work can-
not be effectually done ; and to me it seems that if any
man wished to take up a work of pure patriotism and be-
nevolence, with nothing to gratify the taste, nothing to
flatter the intellect, nothing in it pleasing except the bare
sense of duty done and service rendered to mankind—this
more than any other is his natural sphere of usefulness.
But again, I am raked, are all persons qualified for such a
task ? I don't shy they are ; but this feet I would dwell ,

praotice which we have established, or of being allowed
to find a new outlet for convicts which will not interfere
with the claims of some growing community. Be that as
it may, we have for some time past had to contemplate the
probable alternative of being compelled to keep all our dis.
charged prisoners at home. It was a natural result of that
position that people should begin to say, " Siuce you can't
got rid of your criminals you must reform them." But re-
form whom ? Adults ? That was felt to b), I don't sey a
hopeless, but an arduous and unpromising task. Then fel'
lowed the inquiry, " When do these men turn criminals,
in youth, or in later life?" Tho answer is sutfieiently given
in our criminal tables, and in • the evidence taken before
Parliament in the years 1852-53. It is aresrtaino I that
from one-third to one-half of the convicts in our prisons
have belonged to the class of juvenile offenders. It is proved
by a concurrence of testimony such as one rarely finds on
any social question admitting of dispute, that short impri-
sonment—the average of all imprisonments in England is
50 days—are not reformatory in their effect, that they are
seldom even deterring; that, usually, they send back the
offender more hardened than when he went in. The dim-
eulty is not to find witnesses on this point, but to choose
them. I believe there is not a governor of a gaol, not a
chaplain, not a judge, not a chairman of quarter sessions
who is not hare of one mind. "To punish young offenderi
with short terms of imprisonment," says Baron Alderson
in a recent charge, "is neither a wise nor a humane
proceeding." And be quotes a table of figures prepared
30 years back by the Governor of Glasgow Bride-
well, which is so conclusive that I cannot refrain from in-
serting it here. Of prisoners sentenced for the first time
to 14 days confinement, there returned to gaol for now
offences 75 per cent. ; of those sentenced to 30 days, 60
per cent. ; 40 days, 50; 60 days, 40; 3 mouths, 25 ; 6
mouths, 10 ; 9 months, 7i ; 12 months, 4 ; 18 months, 1 ;
24 months, none ; although in the 10 years over which
this calculation extends the number of those sentenced for I
24 months was 93. It is added that prisoners who came
back two or three times went on returning at intervals for
years, and that many of those committed for short periods
on their first offence were afterwards transported or
hanged. I select one other piece of evidence out of the
blue book of 1853, not as the strongest, but as the first on
which my oyes chanced to fall while re-examining it for
this meeting. In Reading Gaol, Oct., 1852, it was found
that out of 209 prisoners recommitted to separate confine-
ment, 8l were under 17 years of age when first committed,
and those 89 had been in prison altogether 403 times, or
nearer five times than four times a-piece. Even statistical
proof is scarcely necessary to make out the case for which
we contend. Does it stand to reason that a fortnight or a
month in prison can improve the moral character of a boy,
almost a child ? If allowed to mix with others, ho is cor-
rupted to a certainty. If kept separate, as ho ought to
be, still the question remains, what is he to do when he
comes out ? His character is gone ; his friends, probably,
disown him; he is forced into the society of those whose
case is like his own; and ho is exposed to those debasing
influences with little prospect of getting work, and with.
out time having been allowed for any really reformatory
agency to take effect upon him. If questioned, then, as to
tho necessity of this reformatory movement, I answer thus
—that nationally important as it is at all times, circum-
stances have made it doubly important now—we cannot
dispose of our criminals, we mast reclaim them—we have
comparatively little hope of reclaiming adults—we deal,
thereforo, preferentially with the young; and, as regards
the young, we have it established that the existing sys-
tems of attempted reformation have broken down. I
ask whether on that score our vindication can be more com-
pletely made out ? But then follows the expression, often
openly expressed, still mere often felt where it is not ex-
pressed, " Can you really reform a depraved character?
Can you eradicate early habits so that they will not re-
turn? Can you be sure that the good you do will last,
that the apparent change for the better is anything more
than a mask worn for a temporary and interested pur-
pose ?" Well, that is a grave doubt, and deserves to be
fully considered. I answer it, first, by pointing again to
that statement of Mr. Clay's respecting the causes of juve-
nile crime--a statement, observe, which does not stand
alone, which is in the main corroborated by most persons
who have had anything to do with prisoners and prisons.
Mr. Clay tells you that three-fourishs of the young offenders
who come into his bands have been made such by parental
misconduct in one form or another. Some, one may sup-
pose, have been directly urged by parents into the commis-
sion of crime. Some, oven though not so urged, are the
children of mon and women living habitually by dishonest; means—children who have no ieepeetable protects r, and
scarcely a ohrsnee of gutting elliploymeht in any luteluels.
Otbeyre, whose parents may not themselves be dishonest,
have grown up in mere brutal ignorance, and are entice I
into mischief by other lads, knowing literally nothing of
duty or morality, of credit or disgrace, of what society ap-
proves or what it eosidenies, A few are driven into vice
by actual ill-treatitleat, by hunger, by cold, by the fear of
startration, and by the fear of blows. Now, of all who
come under these four heads—those whose parents teach
them to stea!—those whose parents set them the example of
etoaling—those who have been taught nothing at home, and
theee who have been left or turned adrift to shift for them-
*elves—one may say, without exaggeration, that their guilt
is the result of cirentnetaneas, and not of (choice. Clearly,
therefore, they at least are not to be given up as hopeless.
They aro worse than others, not because their inclinations
a:o worse, but because the option of good or evil hes never
'Peen placed fairly before them. And these, I believe, form
the groat billk of our juvenile offenders. There remains a
class, I admit, with regard to which one cannot speak with
So much eonfidenee, I alma the deem met with both
among 6dults and grown persona, in whom the tendency
le, commit criminal eels appears to arise rather out of a
morbid action of the mind than out of any external cow-
;ailing cause. Even in these lees hopeful oases the morbid
tendency often appears to be connected with the physical
organisation, and disappears or diminishes ender the coin-
bin d influences of example, of teaching, and of healthy
bodily training. On that last ohauce I don't dwell,
though a good deal might be said touching the connexion
of some forms of edit:Juan sy with unnoticed cerebral dis-
t ; I sin centent to acknowledge the fact that in certain
instances the propensity to crime appears dee to organisa-
tion and not to social accidents; all I contend for is—first,
that this class forms a minority, and probably a small
one; next, that ogee here a sere may sometimes be
effected. Where the intellect is weak good lull sencs will
\voile Up,* it, at least, meeting with little active resieta
Lance ; where it is acute, the disgrace, the outlawry, the
misery of a life of crime may commonly be made intelli-
gible; end thus in neither case is there reason for absolute
despair. Thad is still a third class with whom us tnagete
of reformatories will have ooceeioually to deal, rieugh
perhepe it semil ibe better that they should not-4 moan
the elan' of castled r,ffin are—of youths who have' been led
irate what the law designates as crime on some single occa-
sion, but whose general teneenaies and habit. ara good, and
with regard to whom the process of reformation ii com-
paratively easy. I name these only b.estik the mention
of them gives me an opportunity of suggesting, for the
consideration of law reformers, an improved el rs.ifieeti
of offencen. To have been in gmyt in .England is a serious
thing; the stigma clings to a man for life. No allowance,
or very little, is made for youth, for te,eptation, faf igno-
rance; self-respect is destroyed, and, once destroyed, it is
not easily created anew. Now, lam not come here with a
settled plan, but it seems to me that in case of vary small
offences we might use fines as a puniAlattent more than we
do--they aro felt as a very real puulsbnunt, though not a
disgraceful one in the same sense in which it is (Degrader&
to be sent to gaol, taking (Lire that a etift.2lent term were
allowed for the payment of the fine, or allowing it to be
paid bydogrees, so that it might not become imprisonment
under another name. This by the veep. Well, then, what
is it that reformatories can do for their inmates, sand with
what hope of Success ? They can do this. They call remove
the boy from contaminating associetioes, they can teach
him habits of cleanliness, temperance, industry ; they San
give him what in 99 cases out of 100 he has never had be•
f, re—a chance in life—a fair start in the world. They can
insure his having addressed to him, probably for the first
time, words of judiciot's kindness, They can show him
what is the social state of those who live in violation of the
law; so that if, in later years, he chooses that Career, he
does it with full knowledge of the consequence to himself.
They render impossible henceforth that reproach to law and
to society which wises whoa a cont toted criminal can say
with truth to his judges, " You punish me, but you naves'
taught me." " Be," I may be told, " some part of pig
work will always be wasted; there must be utterly hope•
less cases." 'nippers() there will be; but, even as regards
these, is there no gain ? You can't mend them ; admit
the fact. But at least you keep them from corrupting
others, as well as from plundering in their own persons.
It is the boy, not the man, who has roost influence on the
younger boy. I heard of a single lad in a reformatory not
far from here, who, before being sent there, had
trained eight expert thieves. Think what a few such
youths at largo may do, and the ss. a:week of their
keep looks very small in comparison. One caution be-
fore I leave this part of the subject. Don't let there
be any, even the slightest, confusion between the refor-
mation of the young and the attempted reformation of
grown-up men and women. I say nothing as to the feasibi-
lity of the lad, attempt; I assert only that the two things
differ not only in degree, but in kind. A man of ripe age
cannot plead utter ignorance. He knows at least what the
world thinks of his doings. In the majority of instances
his habits are formed. In the majority of instances his in-
clinations, whatever they were at first, have become as
guilty as his acts. To change is for him most difficult.
Honour to threw who endeavour to help him,
but failures
they must expect, and for their failures we cannot be, we
aro not, held accountable. Turning to experience, such as
we have, the result appears fully as favourable as theory
would load us to expect. At Mettray ,e 5 par cent by one
account, 89 per cent. by another, of the inmates rent out
into the world are doing well. Those percentsges aro taken
from reports of last year (1855), when 1,00 youths had
passed through the institution. Of the 11 per cent., who
had relapsed (vagrancy being reckoned as a relapse, with-
out proof of actual crime) one fourth, or about 2et per
cent., bad recovered their lost position. At Red-hill, where
70 boys have been discharged since the opening of the
school in 1549 228 being inmates at the present time
Mr. Turner state.; that 70 per cent. have been reclaimed,
adding that, of all who have left there, the emigrants have
done beet, and that the proportion of relapses among these
is lower than among those who &ay at house. In the Glas-
gow /louse of Refuge, out of 400 85 per cent, have been
reclaimed. I ain afraid these are the only authentic facts
which I can give. The continental reformatories, except
Nlettray, do not supply precedents, because most of them
appear to take in vagrant and destitute as well as positivel3
criminal children. With respect.to the danger of encourag-
ing parents to put their children in the way of admission to
reformatories, by holding out advantages which the inno
cent do not possess—of course, if that result follows, you
will be doing more harm than good. The precautions b 3
which that danger may be averted are two—first, the lay-
ing down, as has been done, of a stringent rule, and the
enforcing it, as is Wills douo,by every possible UMW, that'

In addition to the usual attraction at these gardens
the proprietor had male arrangements to give increased
inducement to visitors yesterday. Oae of these was a
horticultural show, which indeed had beer. commenced
on the previous day. The flimers to be exhibited were
confined chiefly to hollyhocks and dahlias, and was de•
signated the Metropolitan Eichioition of these flexure.
Although the xpeciniens displayed were, iii many in-
stances, of a superior kind, they were not equal, either
in number or variety, to what might have been expected,
whether as regarded the occasion or the splendid pavi-
lion in which they were shown. They were, however,
well worthy the attention of connei,..sNirs for the rich-
ness of their colours, and fn. those other qualities
which form the characteristias of times ant:mind orna-
I of the garien. At the eose of the show last
evening tho przis obtained by tilt) successful exhibit:its
were awardcil to them, and many of the visitors were
presented with smile the beet soecimens in the pavi-
lion. The great attraction of the eveninz, however,
was the presentation of the prizes to the successful
competitors at the Thames National Regatta, which
;sad been brought to an issue at Putney yesterday
afternoon. This interesting cenmiony took place in
the cirque, und.r the auspices of t3ir James Duke, M.P.,
Mr. Alderman and Sheriff Rose, tad the committee of
the rootta. The honourable taronet and his friends
entered tho building, which was. t I st&ully fitted
up tor the octias-ion, shortly after nine o'clock. T,ge
• massive sliver cup and the other costly Drizea were ar-
ranged ore a platform in the area of the building, and
had a most imposing appearance. Notv.ithstancling the
miserable state of the weather there was a good attend.
ance of the rovers and their friends present to witness
the ceremony of the presentation.
Sir JAIIES DUKE opened the proccEalinzrs of the even-
irg by expressing the gratification which he felt, at an
old sailor, at having been selec;ed by the Lord Mayor,
the patron of the ThaMes Nation it 11,,gatta, to give
away the Ariz as on that occasion. He was in ,st friendly
to such displays as he had witnessed at Putney that day,
as they kept up that spirit amongst the watermen of the
flames which made them ever ready t, uphold the.
honour of England, when their services were required
for that purpose. (Cheers.) _

on—that intellectual ability is not a primary, is scarcely
even an important requisite. What we want, in the rirst
instance, is a kind heart, a strong will, e heathy, not
ti lions taste, and, ab all, siagleuess of purpo',o. For
most purposes, carry intelle,tna/ competition as far :Ind as
high as you will; it is seldom au error, it is often a Ile.

cessity to do so ; but for personal influence of mind oa
mind, of charactor on character, and that especially when
you have to deal with capacities often feeble and always
undeveloped, the qualities which I have named aro the
most valuable. But there is yet another form of aid pus-
eible to those who can neither contribute, nor speak, nor
write, nor give their personal service as teachers ie the
schools. Employers of labour in almost any shape may
assist us materially by taking charge of even one lad ou
the expiration of his term. Nay, even those who are not
duiployors, who are themselves in the receipt of employ-
Mont, might help, by expressing their willingness to re-
ceiVel, sad look after as fellow-labourers or subordinates,
those whom, without some such guarantee, the landlord,
the farmer, or the tradesman might be unwilling to have
anything to do with. In I14)1110 one of these various forms
there are few who, if their will be strong enough, may
not contrive to make themselves of use. tio much for the
possibility; ono closing word as regards the duty. In
the first place, I say it is a duty which we owe to
civilisation and to society. I touch on that aspect of
the question because it is one often neglected. We are
so surrounded with the appliances of civilised life—so used
to them from childhood—they are to us so much a matter
of course—that we forget that there is no one of them—
our constitution, our laws, our police, the means of transit
through space, which have brought us here in such num-
bers, the industrious habits of our people—more than all,
that high standard of opinion which so powerfully aids
and supplements individual inerality ;—I say we forget
that there is none of theo evidences and means of social
progress, mechanical or meni.ll, which is not the product
of human labours—of labours filiquently ill-requited or
not at all—of labours in many cases unselfishly given,
without hope or prospect of reward, for the satisfaction of
conscience, and for the lasting benefit of man_liind. Re-
membering that fact, it appears that, just as a tenant is
bound to hand over to his successor the house which he
has inhabited in good and tenantable condition, so each
generation lice tinder an obligation to transmit to the
next, institution, laws, anti customs which shall as nearly
as possible embody in practice the highest ideas which en-
lightened mon have formed respecting existing social ques-
Coos. Bach age has its own wants to supply, and its own [Anvaansawarr.l Scour AND HEARING SPECTACLES,
work to do; the care of each should be to provide "that POWERFUL TELESCOPES, OPERA, Rees, AND Psespeoriva
there be lid armor of improvements to make up; that new Geasses.—Mesers. S, and H. Solemous, opticians, 39, Alba-
controversies, whet they arise, may find those who suc- merle-street, Piccadilly. Observe—opposite the York Hotel.
ceed us free to give to theca their entire energies, not ham- By ker Majesty's Royal - Letters Patent for valuable and
pared by having on hand the task which ought to have been extraordinary improvements in the most powerful and
accomplished half a century before. I atiirm again, this brilliant Telescopes, Camp, Racecourse, Opera, and Per.
is a national cause; and I lay emphasis on the fact, be- epectivo Glasses, to know the distances. These telescopes
canes I can well doll,CeiYe that there may be many to whose possess such extraordinary powers that some three and a-half
sympathies it appeals onl, or chiefly, when considered in inches, with an extra eye-piece, will show distinctly Jupiter's
that light. The idea cf clime and of the criminal i epels us; moons, Saturn's rind, and the double stars. With t
miles ands
it is not in all minds that reaooti prevails over impulse, or telescope can be seen a person's counteuence
thrml`he; are of
that compassion will conquer thei• disgust ; but none— half distant, and an object from 16 to COT miles.ceordingly..-1 h
think or feel as they may respecting ttie individual offend. larger iind.ail Envie, with increasing pwolv
c-invented, vory small:
er—can deem it a, slight matter to have affied, in however Royal Exhibition,
1851.
Vdjuabite4onusixoYof a walnut, by which
small a degree, to promote the moral health, the social powerful waiste"t"T"l'at glairibisl ,
1 miles distant; they answer
stability, the internal well-being, of this vast empire,— a person can be seen and ken..coo-,urse
, and at the opera houses
an empire mighty in the present, fir mightier in the fa- every purpose on then
and ships aro clearly seen at 8 to 10 miles'
tare,—an empire whose language is epoken, and whose country scet.
y'a for shootine, deer-stalking, yachtine, tc,
laws prevail in every quarter of the globe, PO of the 1.11- They are invaluable
gentleman gamekeepere, and tourists. ()
crease of whose dominion there appears no end, until the sportsiueo,
c.p,
and perspective glasses, with lie
'
waste places of the earth shall be filled up. We may have lace-course, camp, Spectacle Lenses of the wonderful
great-
class divisions, we may have rivalries of sects, we mss power. , tpower. The '
est transparent
..
sn valuable aarautaee derived
have diversities of political opinion—these things must that vi • be • ° f n this invention is,mon coming impaired is
exist—but I believe that among no ancient or modern •rtn •and strengthened, and ‘
,ervea very aged persons are
people is the spirit of patriotism more innate, or the obli- Po,' ~ 4 to employ their sight at the most minute cecus
gation which each citizen owes to the community more °Jar,: can see with Om le f uses o a much less magnify.
deeply felt. And if among us questions of internal social Pa '
„‘ :77er- _and they do not ' require the frequent changes
improvement have been too much and too long neglected. Lug r to the da ~eerons effects of further powerful assistance.
it has not been from indifference to the national f a-tapes, Persons can he
suited at the most remote part of the world,
but rather from an imperfect perception of the trutb, that .
if
by sending one l the glasses out of their spectacles in a
whatever affects the inaividual members of the community
letter,and stating tile distance from
. the eles they eau read
affects tbe State as a whole. But this question of crimiaal
small newspaper print, with it; and those who have
reformation is not merely one that concerns society iu the
not made 11.52 of spectacles by stating their age.—Deaf-
aggregate, or England iu particular ; it has also a real,
Ne Discorely. The Organic Vibrator, ex-
- teen, and pressing interest for every one of us personally. nese. w seevery.
an
fir
You know' how much talk there has been of late years on traordinary powerful, small, newly-inventedt instrumentany -
happy matters ; most of you know what was (I am deafness, entirely different from all others,
Nu surpasscan 3:
happy to think it is no longer) the apathy of the general thing of the kind that has been ,or prottbea
'%e:viesrnot pbeer-
public, bow people used to say. " I keep my
.own house produced. Being of the same colouhreaasr the Cain,
at church
lean ;if infection exists I don't contribute to it • and if ceptible ;it enables deaf persons to distinctlyt.
my neighbours are worse off than I the fault is their own.' end at public assemblies; the
unpleasant sense ion of singing
and itfaffords all the
noises in the ears is entirely
Well, that sounded likeeood commonaense ; but unluckily
removed;uldbe desired.-39, Albcrnarles
tessistssuce that possibly co
for those who held suchhblanguage it wan found not to ,be
P Axed Piccadilly. Obserio--o to
_e Q
. / pp* Us Yrk Hotels -

The Hon. Baronet then 'presented the several prizes,
amidst the cheers of the persons asssmbled. Amongst
the prizes were a c,:at and badge, Which were won by
a "Jolly Young Waterman," who seemed proud of the
the
ing
gd7i
wayvsTte
The proceedings
was
isro
ka he b
Sir
inr
d James
yaad n
mobe
ss earnedobserved
fi)
uekde Duke, who
terminatedin ho mbi
y:y el, a
boweds itrhrr
hie
which
James
s e
cheers
eepk e
orusokbwebyl.
ee
dg-
ments.

It was to be regretted that the state of the weather
prevented many thousands of persons from enjoying the
festivities prt pared for them at this highly popular place
of public amusement.

On 'Monday a Grand Gala will be given, at which the
ncvelty of a balloon race wi'l be introduced.

'Y
-~~`;~

~iv ~
. r'+. .

, ...err:,
in , irdatieevvith the laws which IN at-lire -r,,, ',,,, Nee, '.l
* -.. , ,e..
„et*,
Nattiii, if you examine well her working, t OR 'eel' i
making us benevolent; even from a prudent.
.e.ime4ll, A
own interests. She has laid it down as a rul' eieliii—eeeel, 'ee
physical contagion, that if one household oieeeeeenefele..4l44e/
bourhood neglect the duty of cleanliness. and if &lose heel.
,C'Le•e.
thence generated, that disease nosy, and probabVi.willetre e-w
spread far and wide, striking many besides those who e
were the means of introducing it in the first instance. In
a word, in sanitary science it is an axiom, that, as the
neglect or the folly of one may injure all, so the health
of very one (so far as it is affected by causes within 1...
human control) must, as a matter of self-interest, bo
thei care of all. Well, that axiom I transfer from • ..,
material to moral science. I say it applies to guilt es
unihrsally, as certainly, as it does to disease. Mind acts .• up mind, character forms character, with en
.influence t
mo tly imperceptible, but not the less real. It is certain
the our notions of right and wi-ong, of what we are ex- '
pee to do, and what we are expected to leave
linden°,
are really modified by the tone of thought which prevails
in
id
r age and country. It is certain that the aggregate
morality of the whole is, so to speak, made up of an ave-
rage
of that which prevails in each class. It is certain
tha the morality of every class is affected, advantageou,ly '
or i jariously as the case may be, by the conduct mid eht,- +
ara rof every individual in it. If these three proposi-
tionlbe admitted, and I think they cannot well be denied,
the conclusion follows clearly. Don t let us fancy that :
criminals form a set of men apart, who exercise no influ-
encel on the rests: Whence are their ranks recruited, ex-
cept from among the innocent? And don't let us fanagine
that though their existence may lower the tone and deeling .
among the poor, we, the wealthier portion of loci, ty, re-
mai* unaffected. It is nut so—it cannot be so. To hear
of crime—to read of it—to see it round us—if it hur'is us in
no other way, yet lessens the resneet, the sympathy, the
fellow-feeling as Englishmen, which we might oth nwise
eutettain towards the working part of the populsti, )n. I
cannot treat this subject here, it would require a a olume
rather than a few sentences at the end of a long disc curse :
but I aFsert this as a truth, confident that, if need • were, I
could prove it by argument,—that the purity of the, moral
atmosphere in which we live exercises over us a a influ-
ence as real as the purity of the physical atinosi 'here—
that this influence is felt irrespective of class, of :habits,
or of occupation ' • that the parallel between the in: faction
of disease and the infection of crime holds st rictly ;
and that if we suffer pollution to remain uncl abused
in the hovel it will take its revenge on the ' palace.
Here then I conclude. I have tried to show yea that,
besides its obvious benefits to social order, this move-
ment is one which we are bound to promote—lee end by
the debt we owe to civilisation, by our duty to Ei, „gland, ,
by regard even to our own metal well-being. elan,' - ---
motives lead here to one end. The philanthropist lot ,ks to
the welfare of the individual whom he assists; the pa triot
to the elevation of England among the nations; the labile-
sopher to the future progress of mankind. All are alik o ins
terested in the disappearance from the face of society rof a
class professedly livieee in violation of its laws. To a, lode.
rate that disappearance is our object; the means whi de we
employ have been well considered and partially tries s . we
desire now, in accordance with the expressed will .of the -
Legislature, to try them on a larger scale ; with tb art view
we have appealed to the community of England, and our
first such appeal is that which I now make to yor e (Loud
cheers.)
Mr. G. H. HASTINGS then read the report e,f the gem•
ral committee.
It glanced at the history of the reformatory,' movement,
the origin and objects of the society, and the operations
which it had already carried on, and, after alb Kling to the
difficulties with which it had. had to contend. at its outset,
not tile least serious of which was the unfortunate discus.
sion within its own ranks on the subj,,ct of religious educa-
tion, stated that nothipg should even-induce the committee
. to conduct the National Reformatory Union in a spirit less
comprehensive than that in which it wali orii ;inally founded.
The report then' went on to _state that:, shortly after the
formal establishment of the society, the, committee ob-
tained the consent of Lord'Brougham to a ct as president,
and entered into arrangements with the La w Amendment
society for the joint use of the rooms and for a share in
their weekly journal. They also appointed sub-committees
to consider various questions of practical deeail, 'arid set
themselves to work to carry out the four Brea t objets for
which the Union was established : , . To collect and dif-
fuse information bearing on the reformation of youthful
'offenders. 2. To promote the practical development of the . . •
reformatory system. 3. To consider and promote 'such -
legisletive measures as are still required for the better care
and reformation of juvenile offenders. 4. To assist in
placing out, and the subsequent guardianship and pro-
tection of, young persons leaving reformatory institutions. '
Towards each of these objects they were making eatisfa2tory
progress. They had succeeded in accumulat leg avast amount
•f valuable and iuteresting information on matters relating
to the reclamation 'of juvenile offendeis, end their inquiriec and experience were conclusive -,s to the ease-with wilds
places were at present obtainee for the reformed inmates of
the certified schools. The time for difficulty on that head,
if it were ever, to come, had not yet arrived, but there
seemed to be a general feeling that a central office for
information under the management of the society
would prove vary useful. At that office the names
of those willing to receive in their service the late
inmates of reformatories would be registered, while
another list of those anxious for situations would be con-
stantly open. The statistics furnishe tby the reformatory
schools which had been long at work were of the most gra-
tifying nature. The Glasgow House of Refuge had been in -
-. existence for 22 years, and numbered nearly 400 inmates,
and outof the total numberadmitted since its establishment
85 per cent. were stated to have done well. Out of 99 cases
supplied by the manager of the Home in the East44had done
well, 24 were known to have done ill, and the remaining 31.
had not been traced. Out of 137 oases from the Glasgow
Female House of Refuge, 69 had done well, 30 wer• bad or doubtful, mud 38 were either dead or unknown. Out of 31
from the Hardwicke-court, Mr. Barwick Baber described 17
as doing well, 9 as going on unsatisfactorily, but not
recommitted, 5 recommitted, and 3 absconded. Mr.
Challoner said, of the boys who had left the Berwick and
Nowcastle School, that 23 were doing well, 3 bad returned
,_., _
. , ... 6i-crime, -and 11' were 'unknown. The 'report concluded ..
with the expression of a hope that the consequeuca of the
present meeting in a city which had taken so prominent a
part in the reformatory movement would he the formation
of a numerous Bristol and West of Englend branch, to be
followed by the establishment of similar branches iu all
parts of the United Kingdom. -
Tho report was adopted on the motion of Lord R. CECIL,
M.P., and, after some further routine business, the meeting
adjourned. • ,
ROYAL CREgORNE GARDENS.