fearful trial for human soul than that. It is the trial of our age. Signs, however, of deliverance and calm are multiplying around us. Well for him who in the midst of the motion still feels the stillness; who has risen to the rest which from the beginning to the end remains in God. ART. III.-VOICES FROM THE PRISON. 'Return prepared by the Governor of the Prison of Edinburgh, under sanction of the Right Honourable the Lord Provost, at the request of the Honourable Joseph Hume, Esq., M.P. April, 1852.' BY Y the courtesy of Mr. Councillor Lewis, of Edinburgh, and of Mr. Smith, the governor of the gaol, we are favoured with this original and valuable prison return-a document which, having long answered its temporary object, may, as it seems to us, well be brought into prominence at this time to serve a much wider purpose-that of illustrating and confirming the principles of the United Kingdom Alliance, and this, both from its date and the circumstances of its origin, in an entirely independent and authoritative manner. The special ends for which it was procured were to throw light upon the results of granting spirit licences to grocers, and to gather the opinion of criminals as to the advisability of lessening the number of public-houses. This it did, and so very efficiently aided the agitation that procured the Forbes Mackenzie Act; but since it contains testimonies and instruction that go very much farther and deeper, we feel it to be our duty to present the public with a fuller analysis of it than has yet been given. A somewhat notorious member of Parliament-who, if he can hardly be called the 'wit' of the House of Commons, has certainly descended to play a lower rôle at the Licensed Victuallers' dinner at Nottingham-after designating the temperance people as 'teetotal curs,' and referring to the wicked will of the Alliance,' propounds for the consideration of that body of reformers a new theory of the cause of crime, and a new policy of agitation as to its cure. The theory has the conjoint merits of novelty and brevity, though we suspect that neither merit will entitle it to be regarded as either 'sweet' or sound. Mr. Bernal Osborne, then, having met in some obsure prison report with an ungrammatical and illogical sentence, expressing the opinion' of somebody that Intellectual and Moral Training of Prisoners. 313 it is bad female company, and not drink, which is the cause of so much crime,'-as if one cause negatived the other, and as if bad company and drink might not each be a cause of much crime,-proceeds to allege that since the ladies' are the cause of crime, the Alliance ought to agitate for a law ordaining that their faces and fascinations should be enveloped in thick and impervious veils. Perhaps the best excuse for this wonderful specimen of parliamentary reasoning is that derived from the circumstance and time of its delivery, namely, after dinner, and the fifth toast, with glasses charged to the brim. But since the Times and the Scotsman have chosen to give a large currency to the crotchet, we, upon the evidence of the manuscript return before us, may as well explode this passing absurdity. The theory, on the face of it, meets but half the problem, since, out of the 569 prisoners whose testimony is here presented, 321 were themselves females. To assert that 'bad females' made these 'females bad,' or that they made themselves bad,' is simply an absurd alternative in circular reasoning; is, in fact, not to reason at all. A wise sociologist would at once go to the criminals themselves, and, gaining their confidence, seek to ascertain their own history of their fall, and, from their experience, to gather sound views as to a remedy. The remark is very common, that no one expects a sound opinion as to drink from a teetotaler;' in fact, we noted the remark the other day in the Pall Mall Gazette. Now, how much wiser is that fashionable aphorism than this, its parallel : 'No one expects a sound opinion as to sin from a Christian man ?' Or than this: 'No one expects a sound opinion as to slavery from a man who has abandoned the practice of keeping slaves?' Or than this: No one expects a sound opinion as to theft from a man who no longer indulges in the vice?' When, we may ask, was it discovered that freedom from the bias of appetite, interest, and ancient prejudice, unfitted a man for forming an independent and trustworthy judgment? The evidence to which we have to appeal in this return, however, is not even exposed to this absurd objection, for it is the evidence of men and women removed as far as possible from the practical standpoint of the abstainer and the prohibitionist; and yet, as we shall demonstrate, it reaches theoretically their full conclusions. First, let us look at the intellectual and moral training to which these 569 prisoners had been subjected beyond their frequent and ordinary attendance at Divine service. Onefifth (107) were Romanists, and four-fifths (462) Protestants. Of the former, 9 only could read and write; of the latter, 346. 447 could read, while 355 could both read and write. Of those who could read, 201 males had been at school, on an average, four years and a month; and the 276 five years. Moreover, 398 had attended Sabbath schools; 145 men for an average of two years, and 253 women, three and a-half years. Here, then, one plain fact stands out, that, as regards the Protestant prisoners, they are not exceptionally ignorant, yet are criminal, for some other reason, in spite of their education, and not less criminal than their uneducated fellow prisoners of the Romish Church. Concerning the crime here extant, therefore, crime not prevented either by Protestant instruction, or Romish ignorance, the main question remains-What are the chiefest, and which is the chief, cause? We observe here that 228 of the offences are entered as 'Assaults' and 'Disorderly.' 455 of the prisoners were Scottish, 80 Irish, 25 English, and 9 foreign. The following is part of the table or summary at folio 32: Cause of first falling into crime : It can hardly be needful formally to remind our readers that it is the drink, most frequently of all causes known, which creates bad company,' and that eight-tenths of the cases of 'destitution' are also the consequences of drinking. 233 of the unhappy female criminals directly assign their fall to drink, which is even a larger proportion than that of the males. As respects the efficiency of punishment, we note that one man had been in prison 140 times; that 23 males had been in gaol above six times, and not less than 57 females, 41 of these last being for disorderly conduct. Each prisoner was asked the question-What would be the effect of lessening the number of public-houses? and only two or three 'cannot say.' On turning to their 'age,' we find they were mere girls of 15, without reflection or experience. Many of the replies, however, are significant in the extreme, and give a concrete vitality to the mere figures. The answers to the question are, almost universally, Good, very good;' but 75 of the prisoners (35 males and 40 females) volunteer a further declaration that there should be no public drinkinghouses at all. Prohibition is virtually recommended as the cure. A few samples may be cited from the men : No. No. 8: Good. I wish there was none at all; or that it (whisky) sold at a guinea a gallon.' [It was then about half.] No. 10: Good; better if there were none.' No. 17: Good. Should be at a guinea a gallon.' No. 44: If there was no drink to be got, it would be a benefit.' No. 55: There should be none; it is the ruin of thousands.' No. 57: If there were fewer of them (drink-shops), there would not be so many poor creatures taken to prison.' No. 59: Good. If there were no public-houses, we would be perfectly sober.' The answer given by No. 70 is very noteworthy : The effect would be morally grand, if they were totally abolished, and the distillery fires for ever extinguished.' It is a reflection upon the indifference of the general Christian public that they have no adequate conception of the 'morally grand' issues of prohibition, so clearly seen by these poor victims. No. 77 says:-' I hope I will never more taste whisky.' Alas! when the poor victim goes out, his wishes give way before the temptations which the State sets up. No. 89: Should not only be reduced (for that would lead to a monopoly), but completely abolished.' The same person -a clerk-adds, "There should be no whisky either made or sold, more especially by the grocer, placing the temptation in the way of the frail and the vicious, who, when once they have touched it, will go on, suppose they have to go to the top of Ben Nevis for it.' No. 110: Good. They are perfect man-traps.' No. 167: 'There would be no need for gaols, if there was none.' No. 168: Good for all my acquaintances.' No. 191: 'It would be a great blessing to the community if there were none.' No. 197: Good. We can easily want spirits and spiritshops.' This could not be said of bread and beef-shops. No. 232: 'It would be well if there was no whisky sold.' No. 235: Good. Can easily be spared. No need for one of them.' No. 236: 'Should be all done away with, and I would never more be here.' Such, on this head of inquiry, is the testimony and verdict of the male prisoners. It completely dissipates the fallacy recently propounded by the Scotsman, that the powers of a Permissive Bill for the removal of drink-shops from a locality would would be unworkable where most needed. The exact contrary is plainly the case, since the victimised working classes would be the readiest to remove the temptations from which they suffer. This agrees with the old adage, that they who feel the pinch most will be the first to cry out. But even if the fact were as alleged, the inference would be quite invalid; for the stupidity of the vile and ignorant, content to perpetuate their own vices, is surely the worst of reasons for refusing the power of protection to those who are wise and virtuous enough to avail themselves of it. The testimony of the females is, if possible, still more uniform and emphatic, both as respects the cause and cure of crime. Drink and bad company' is the most frequent cause assigned; and not bad company rather than drink,' as in the formula adopted by Mr. Bernal Orborne. In the very first case, that of a servant, aged 23, we have'Drink leads to ruin;' and the special ruin here was followed by the birth of a child. No. 13, a girl of 18, says: Drink ruined my father, who was a very respectable man.' No. 51: Good (to reduce the drink-shops). There would not be so many ruined.' No. 64: If none, there would be much less sin.' No. 74, age 38: 'Drink-public-houses have been my ruin.' No. 119, a woman of 24, says :- Good; there would not be so many girls driven to the street.' No. 121 answers:-'There would be less temptation, less crime, and fewer bad women.' It is clear that the drink must make those women bad, before they can become 'bad company;' a slight consideration which Mr. Osborne omits from his philosophy. No. 157, a married woman of 48, says: drinking have ruined me.' - Spirit-shops and No. 163, a woman of 31, says: There would not be so many boys and girls led astray.' me. No. 176, a single woman, aged 28, says of the selling of drink and groceries together: Very bad custom: ruined Persons ashamed to go into a public-house can easily go in there.' The same is true of the wine-shops introduced by Mr. Gladstone, which are vitiating many of the servants and wives of England; and the glaring evils of which dictate to all sensible Christians and temperance people the duty of declining to purchase groceries at a drink-shop. No. 185: Very good (to reduce drink-shops). Were there none, less dissipation.' No. 188, a girl of 20, says: Drink and bad company brought |