Spirit of the times. [volume] (Ironton, Ohio) 1853-1858, 1854-05-09
Tho Prison-the Schoel-the Hearth.

6he columns oil the Journal the follow.
ing excellent article from the PhiIadel.
phia Publ; Ledger:
Atths foundation OF every government
lie three things, the prison, tho school
and the hearth. Without these, social
srdcr could not be maintained for a
twelve month. In proportion, also, as
the people are free does the influence of
The first decline, and that Of the two last
Increase. Austria md Russia rule by
the terror cf the dungeon. Tic United
States is governed by the people them.
selves, educated to that end intellcctu.
ally al the school, and morally at the
hearth. If ever the time should come
when the world will see q perfect go.
vernment, the prison will disapper alto.
gelher, and only tho school and the
fircside remain.
The prison is, indeed. the rulest Of
oil the agencies designed for the i'm
provement Of the human race. In fact,
it is practically rather an engine for vim.
dictve punishment, than n means for
successfully leading the vicious back TO
virtue. Few who onco enter Jail come
out permanently reformed. The majori.
ty, perhaps. are reall made worse. For
the last hundred years philanthropy has
exhausted ever resource to render pris.
ons places Of reformation; but though q
few criminals, in that interval, have
been restored to society, the number has
been vastly exceeded by that of,he con.
vic,s hopclessly dcprovel. There is, in
truth, something in the very nature OF
prison which, while it strikes terror,
rouses the anger OF the victim against
society. Incarceration calls up whatever
there is Of the tiger in the heart. In short
to seek 10 make people better by immur.
ing them in dungeons, is beginning a,
c the wrong end. Prisons restrain, but
rarely reform men.
If our race is to be improved, we mus,
depend less on the prison ..and more or
the school and the hearth. III othe
words, we must rely less on fear as ap
piled to the grown up criminal, am
= more on the diffusion Of of:ntelIigcnce nn'
good morals among the yet unperverte'
4 young. Statistics show that in proper
" ton 10 the increase Of education Grim
diminishes. As n class, the men VIII
o cannot read are more brutal in thei
tastes than the men who can. They drinl
more, are apt 10 get more frequently in
to afrays, and are continually offend
: ing the laws. As general rule, also
Just in proportion as men are more high
= y educated, are they better members c
society. Where there is ono Pfofesso
Webster. there are scores Of Lang(cldt
y and Springs. Every commonwealth
therefore, shoul have good schools
Every wise statesman will look 10 tn
school house, not only as a prcvenliv
Of crime, but as mental gymnasium j
which TO train up competent voters an
legislators. An ignorant people nay b
o. made the dupes Of demagosues, or tn
Of slaves OF a military dictator, much cas-
er than a we'll instructed one. A M
poleon, for example, is as impossible e
re America, as Washington would I
=. perhaps for France.
90 But the school is still not tlN mo
powerful engine in recuperaing socie,
or One may discipline the intellect and il
n. form the mind, but unless the principl
are cultivated also, one half the work
done. In fact the mental qualities a
tho agents OF good and evil, exactly
pure or impure motives preponderare
O. a man. The Memphislo philes Of Goet|
conceded to be the very incarnation
wickedncss, is the idea fpassionless j
tellect devoted TO unmixed evil. Il
Io' Lucifer OF Milton has generous qualiti
'a amid his depravity. Tho Mcphistophil
-, is merely cold, sneerins fcnd. b
~ nowhere can moral truth be impartt
or so cffectually as at the fireside. 1t is n
he at the school that men acquire the
81. habits OF reclitude, but at the mothe
knee, btnca'h the peaceful love Of Il
parental hearth. For the teachers ia
'id is principally to inform the mind, wh
os. tie mission of the home is to impro
ar. the heart. Every honest teacher lab'
II. indeed to educate the moral character
w. his or her pupils; but character is +
VI formed in the mass, and the child, mo
over, is absent from tho school at
Id, very hours most favorable for moral j
ON provemen,. 1t is in the privacy Of
family that the failings Of the ch
quickest betray themselves, and that
peculiarities OF its character conseque
ny iy become most evident. 1t is there
so that the infant heart opens it,
at readiest to the voice OF affection.
arv In reality, children who have
~. homes, in tho true sense Of that VIC
e"s rarely become good citizens. tits n
admitted, by all persons familiar v
'wd the subject. that not only the crimir
las. but even the vagsbond portion Of so'
er's ty, is chiefly bred in the dens Of
). idle, degraded and lawless. There i
. common wealth Of vice that perpetui
rlsn itself within the social fabric, as
maego,s generate themselves in nun
subjects victims Of the Hcrodian disc
and Let a man be born in the family q
Tex. thief, and the probability is that
six keeps company with thieves, that
lous grows up 70 be thief himself. But
+, or him FIRST see the light in househ
hsse whore the exsmple he sees, and
has merely the advice he receives, is {
XII = 4 Il