The Sun.
London, England, 1850-08-29 00:00:00

on one or two occasions, coif imented upon
a aimilar echeme for the severs• ice, by a like
channel, of the Isthmus of Suez. (Jr ;the enormous
advantages which would forthwit'n res ult from the
performance of these feats of enfsineering science, it
would be idle to attempt any explicit enumeration.
The benefits derivable from either acre sufficiently
obvious in themselves, removing all .necessity for the
perilous voyages now necessarily made round the
Cape of Good Hope and the southern shores
of Terra del Fuego. Of the practicability of
either scheme it would be se: truly less super-
fluous to speak in the way of demonstration,
that having been virtually acknowledged long since
by those acquainted with the r esources of modern
science. In testimony of this i‘t is only requisite to
refer to the intention, now for a considerable period
entertained, of carrying both ideas into actual opera-
tion. A number of practical men, not mere enthu-
siast, but m; n of practical sagacity, have from time
to time raised the project in reference to Panama.
NAPOLEON dreamed of running a ship-canal through
the sands of Suez. ManolucT ALT entertained the same
determination. Since their reigns the notion has not lost
any of its attractiveness ; on the contrary, it is now
none the whit less feasible, and, more than ever, the
object of fascination. Supposing the latter canal once
opened, an immediate and marvellous impulse would
be at once given to the trade between Great Britain
and the Red See, and the Persian Gulf and the east
coast of Africa. A transit trade of 305,714 tons
p-r annum each way, at a toll of seven shillings
per ton, would be sufficient to produce the
means essential to the carrying out of the
undertaking, namely, 214,2001. Of this gross re-
venue 64,200/. would be devoted to current ex-
penses and contingencies, leaving 150,0001. as the
dividend upon the necessary capital of 1,500,0001.
taken at 10 per cent. Such are the most rational
calculations yet made as to the project of a canal
between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean.
From the Bay of Tineh on the latter to Suez
on the former, the navigation would extend a
distance of eighty-five miles in length, with
a current running through the cut at the rate of from
two to three miles an hour, and always from the Red
Sea to the Mediterranean. By means alternately of
sailing vessels, steam-tugs, and screw-propellers this
line of communication might always be rendered
available in either direction. Having recalled this
matter once more to general recollection, we would
again impress upon all men of engineering science
and mercantile enterprise the importance to British
commerce of such canals across Suez and Panama.

* Mr. George Smith Brent, F.R.G S.L., in the first
section of his "Notes on a Map of the World. Fasci-
culus I. On the Configuration of Continents." Bvo.,
pp. 16. Brettell, London: 1850.

What is the object of penal laws? Is it that
society wishes to avenge itself on an offender, or that
it is desirable to prevent the repetition of similar prac-
tices ? If Sir SAMUEL RomILLT was right in
stating that it was " the protection and security of
the innocent, and that the punishment of the guilty
is resorted to only as the means of attaining that
end," there can be but little doubt as to the answer
that must be returned to that interrogatory. That
" prevention is better than punishment " has long been
received as a self-evident proposition. It may, how-
ever, be carried even to this extent—that, except
for the purpose of prevention, punishment cannot
possibly be justified. Tile entire spirit of the
Christian religion is opposed to the desire for revenge.
Its most sublime precepts are founded in the forgive.
ness of injuries. " Vengeance is mine, saith the LORD,
I will repay." And although the feeling is deeply
implanted in the human heart, it is at least but a
portion of our fallen nature that should be discouraged
as far as practicable.

We feel justified then in asserting that the "sole
object of punishment is to deter from a repetition of
the crime." ‘Vhenever it fails to attain that end,
remedies of a different character must be applied.
It d)es not follow that those remedies should be
more stringent than those formerly in operation.
Experience has proved that the extreme penalty ot death
did not prevent the commission of larcenies and other
comparatively minor offences; for which the perpetra-
tors forfeited their lives in "the good old times." All
right-minded persons were horrified at the constant
repetition of the revolting spectacles of human beings
in the full vigour and strength of their existence being
strangled on the gallows. The penal laws have been
materially altered during the last quarter of a century.
They no longer emulate the Draconic code, which
might be said to be written in letters of blood, con-
demning every offender to be cut off from rmong the
people, and yet crime has not increased! Since
the tenour of the punishment has been abated
new measures of precaution have been adopted.
Persons do not rely for the protection
of their property merely on " fear ;" they are
obliged to guard it with greater vigilance, so that
the chances of success are diminished, while those of
"detection," and if so, of "punishment," are greatly
increased. Numbers of criminals having been suf-
fered to escape altogether in the olden time, rather
than be exposed to such disproportionate punishment,
as excited the sympathies of the people in favour of
the offender, rather than of the law he had violated.
Tried by this test, then, it cannot be denied that
the practice of summary convictions, and inflicting
corporal punishment on juvenile offenders, has failed
to attain its object. When once a youth has entered
upon a course of " thieving " as a profession he can-
not be retrieved merely by flogging, or imprisonment
with hard labour. Something more must be at-
tempted if any effort is to be made for his redemp-
tion; he must be separated from his evil companions
and in structed in the mode of earning an honest
livelihood by his.own industry. Under the present
system an unfortunate child, without friends or relatives
to shelter or protect him, is detected in some
paltry theft, brought before the magistrates,
summarily convicted, and sentenced to a few
days' imprisonment, and to be " well whipped." He
is discharged ; but nothing is done to divert his infant
mind into a better direction. He has no means of ob-
taining the common necessaries of life ; no one will
employ him with a blasted character, and he must
" thieve" in order to gain his livelihood. Again and
again the same thing occurs. He becomes familiar
with every House of Correction, and indifferent to the
lash. He is unquestionably tortured a great deal,
but he preys upon society, and costs far more, to
use no higher argument, than would have done to
direct him into the paths of industry, if adequate
measures were taken for that purpose when his
destitute condition first became known to the autho-
rities. At length he is convicted, after numerous
trials, of some offence that justifies a sentence of
transportation, and then, but not till then, he is sent
to Parkhurst, and steps are taken to reclaim him,
who by that time has become a hardened and expe-
rienced thief.

A strong illustration was afforded of such a case
at Hickb's Hall, on Tuesday. Two boys were convicted
of picking pockets in St. James's Park, on the lith
instant, during the prorogation of Parliament. The
following history was given of one of them, aged
fourteen years :

" Lockyer, one of the officers of the Westminster
House of Correction, replied that he could give the
Court the history of the boy Durkin, which, he added,
was rather an eventful one. It was as follows:—On the
19th of May, 1848, he was committed for two days, and
was well whipped. On the 3d of June following he was
committed for four days, and was well whipped. On the
221 of the same mon h he was again committed for two
days, and was well whipped. Oa the 31 of July sue-
needing he was committed for 14 days, and was whipped.
On the 9th of March, 1849, he was committed for three
months, and was again whipped. Oa the 10. h of Novem-
ber, in the same 3 ear, he was committed for ten days.
On the 29th of that month he was committed for one
month; on the 6th of April, 1850, he was once more
committed for one month, and was well whipped. On the
llth of May, having been out of pris,.n but five days, he
was committed for two months• which term Of imprison-
ment expired on the 11th of July, and, basing come out
from his confinement, on that very day he was again
convicted of picking pockets, when he was for the tenth
time sentenced to imprisonment for the period of one
month, and to be v ell at hipped. From that imprisobT
ment the boy was released on the 11th of the present
month, and four days afterwards, namely, on the 'lsth,
he was apprehended upon the present charge."
What chance, we ask, was there for that wretched
lad during any portion of that time ? What advanr
tage was derived from the various summary convic-
tions—the repeated floggings to which he was sen-
tenced ? Would it not have been far better if he bad,
on the 19th of May, 1848, been brought before a
jury and then sent to Parkhurst? We believe no
person who reads the above melancholy narrative
will differ from that opinion, and will not concur