New-York daily tribune., 1843-08-23

Child was then EdltoT--a circumstance Lot Ia
vorab!e to their obtaining that general pernsai
and appreciation which their merits deserve
They are not local, not partisan, IN character,
but the collected observations of all acute!y OBJ
serving mind the oyeraowings Of deeply human
neart. Mrs Child Is IN the truest, broacest sense
q Philanthropist, actively sympathizlng with al
gnfTering loving all Humanity, trusting IN la0o'
ng for every unsel7si effort for the advancement
and elevation of the Race. She Visi'eo ai' wv
Prisons Benevolent Institutions, dc. within OF
around our City, with almost every other locality
,,1or. Human Nature is to be studied Or Misery
,oosoled. and has frightened each with the sun
,gbt of her intellect, and warmed 1t with the fer
vor of her own true and loving spirit. We must
find room for one extract, which better expresses
what we have many times attempted 70 act forth
would that we could give place to dozen
sach We extract this from her account Of
visit to the City Penitcntiary, &c. on Blackwclls
Island
"Manv more than half the inmates OF the
oenitentiaTy were women ; and OF course d large
,oropor:Ion Of them were taken up as street
wsikers.' The men vino made them such, who,
perchancc caused the love OF human heart to
be it's ruin, and changed tenderness INTO sensu-
ality and crimc--these men live IN the celcd
houses of Broadway, and sit IN council IN the
City Hall, and pass regulations TO clear the
streets they have filled with SIN. And DO you
suppose their poor victims do not feel the mus
tce of society thus regulated Think you they
respect the iaa1s? Vicious they are, ard they
IL ,nJ ol,sI,. Iuf
llss they are too wise to respect such laws Their
whole being cries out that it is a mockcry; all
their experience proves that society is a game OF
chance, where the cunning slip through, and the
strong leap over. The criminal feels this, even
when incapable Of rcasoning upon 1t. The laws
do not secure his reverence, because he secs that
their operation is unjust. The secrets of prisons,
80 far as they are revealed, all tend to show that
the prevailing feeling OF criminals, OF all grades
is that they arc mronged What we call juStice
they regard as an unlucky chance; and whose
ever looks calmly and wisely into the foundations
on which society rolls and tumbles, q cannot
say on which it rests, for its foundations hcave
siko the sea- will perceive that they victims
Of chance.
"For instance, every thing in school-books,
social remarks, domestic conversation literature
public festivals, legislative proceedings, and popu
ur honors, all teach The young soul that 1t is
DE to retaliatc mean to forgive an insult, and /
mmanly not to resent a wrong. Animal IN
,tincts instead of being broughtinto subcction to
the higher powers of the soul, are thus cherished
INTO more than natural activity. OF three men |
thus educated, one enters the army, kills a hun
drcd Indians, hangs their scalps tree, Is made
major general, and considered fitting candidate
for the presidency. The second goes to the
Southwest TO reside; some roarer' calls HIM a
rascal--a phrase not nlsapplled. perhaps, but
to be resented he egrees to settle the
question of honor at ten PAGES, shoots hls nsulter
through the heart, and is hailed by society as a
brave man. The third lives in New York a
man enters his Office, aud, true untrue, calls
him knavc. He fights, kills his adversary, is
tried by the laws of the land and hung. These
shree men INDUCED the same passion, acted from
the same motives. and illustrated the same educa-
ton; yet how different their fate.
s'With regard TO dishonesty, too-the maximso
trade, the customs of society, and the general
unreHectng tone of public conversation, all tend
to promote it. The man who has made good
bargains is wealthy and honored vet the details
Of those bargains few would dare to pronounce
good. Of two young men nurtured under such
influences, one becomes successful merchant
takes mortgage on house worth twenty thou
sand dollars: in the absence of the owner, when
sales are very dull he offers the house for salc to
pav his mortgage; he bids 1t IN himself, for four
thousand dollars; and afterwards persecutes and
imprisons his debtor for the remaining thousand.
Society calls him a shrcwd business man, and
pronounces his dinners excellent the chance IS.
he will be magistrate before he dics.--The other
young man is unsuccessful; his necessities are
great; he borrows some money from his employ
ers drawer, perhaps resolving restore the same
the loss is discovered before he has a chance TO
sefund it; and society sends him to Blackwell's
ISLAND, to hammer stone with highway robbers.
Society made both these men thieves; but pun
1shed the one, while she rewarded the other.
That criminals so universally tsei themselves
victims of injustice, is one strong proof that it is
true for impressions entirely without foundation
arc not apt TO become universal. II society does
make It's own criminals, how shall she cease to
do it Ii can be done only b a change in the
structure of society, that will diminish the temp.
tahons to VICE, and increase the encouragements
10 virtue. II we can abolish porertY we Shall
have taken the greatest step toward the abolition
of crime; and this will be the final triumph of
fhe gospel of Christ Diverstes of gifts will
doubtless always exist for the law written on
WV "o iii'i''Si' iIiIillltt Dut
when the kingdom of God comes on earth as it
lis IN heaven, there will not be found in any cor
:ner of II that poverty which hardens the heart
under the severe pressure of physical suffering
and stultties the intellect with toll for mere AMI
NAL wants. When public opinion regards wealth
as means, and not as an end, men will no
longer deem penltennaries necessary evil; for
society will then cease to be u great school for
crime. In the meantime, do penitentiaries and
prisons increase or diminish the evils they are
intended to remedy
1.-The superintendent at Backwes Island told
me, unasked, that ten years experience had con-
vinced him that the whole system tended to tn
4crenSc crirnc He said nf the Lads uhn camethe-.,