hended more than twenty times; all became confirmed criminals except one, who had left the neighbourhood, and whose history was unknown. Ten of the fourteen were transported. Putting together the various expenses attendant upon the apprehensions, imprisonments, and prosecutions of these wretched beings, they made an average of 637. 8s. each, while in the case of the ten transported, another sum of 821. must be added. He hoped that this calculation, which though long before the public, had never been impugned, would show even those who made the virtue and happiness of their fellow-creatures a pure question of pounds, shillings, and pence, at what a much lower figure coercion would stand in the "price current" than persuasion. Mr. Hill was followed by Mr. Hubback, Mr. Power, the Rev. T. Osborn, Mr. Monckton Milnes, the Rev. Sydney Turner, Mr. Sclinger Symons, the Rev. E. Chapman, Mr. Whitmore, and the Rev. J. Clay, who gave several interesting particulars of the results of their personal experience. The resolutions were put to the Conference and unanimously agreed to. A public meeting was held in the evening, upon which occasion the resolutions were again put, and passed unanimously. In concluding his speech at the evening meeting, Mr. Hill announced that a lady, whose name he was not at liberty to mention,—and he was grieved that he was debarred from conferring upon their proceedings the high sanction that name would lend to them,-had authorised him to offer "a prize of 2001. for the best essay, the object of which shall be to prove that there is a two-fold duty which society owes to children, to parents, to the State, and to itself; first, to save the young, as far as it is possible, from the contamination of sin; secondly, from the depraving consequences of sin after its commission; and to show that the fulfilment of this duty is of such vital importance to the progress of civilisation and Christianity, and that its neglect would breed evils and dangers so formidable, that it ill becomes a nation which has given millions to emancipate another race, and spent millions in purposes of little or no value to human welfare, to consider this duty wholly or even principally on an economical ground: to show also that

public opinion requires to be elevated and enlightened on this subject, in order that proper means may be provided for removing the barbarism and degradation of our countrymen, caused by leaving children to beg or steal, exposed to every species of evil temptation, and even to be trained in the schools of crime to become the accomplices of the adult criminal: also to point out the means whereby the objects above specified may be most economically and efficiently attained."

This kind and seasonable offer leads us to notice one of the most interesting facts connected with this Conference. There was none of that talk there which is usually heard when ladies form a portion of the audience, as if it were incumbent upon men to address them as beings of an inferior capacity to themselves. At the present meeting it was known to all that amongst the ladies who attended were some who had given long and anxious attention to the subject, who understood it philosophically as well as practically, and who had come to the Conference not to be flattered or amused, but to aid earnestly in the great work in which all present had engaged. Would that this feeling were more general, and that the world would not so obstinately deprive itself as it does of half of the intellectual power which has been sent into it by God.

Since the Conference took place we perceive that a deputation has waited upon the Home Secretary. We understand that Sir George Grey received them favourably, and stated that, although the Government had no measure in contemplation with respect to the treatment of juvenile offenders, he would give his attention to any details which might be furnished to him carrying out the objects of the Conference; and we believe that a Committee is now sitting in London for that purpose, and also for the purpose of preparing a memorial to the Committee of the Privy Council, praying for a grant in aid of free industrial schools.

We trust that in preparing these details the Committee will take care to insist upon the principle of parental responsibility. It was put prominently forward in the circular convening the Conference, as well as in the addresses of

many of the speakers. The correctional and reformatory school need not, and must not, be allowed to operate as a premium upon crime. The parents should in all cases where it is possible be made to answer for the crime committed by their child, and if others take the parents' place and support and train their child, it must only be upon the terms that the parents be made to contribute, so far as they can, to that child's maintenance.

Local responsibility should also be insisted on.

Wherever

a number of persons are gathered together, so as to form a ocmmunity, whether in a village or a town, it is their Christian duty to take care that none of their younger members are growing up untrained, and therefore under circumstances favourable to their becoming criminal; and if such be their duty, the consequences of its breach should fall upon those who commit it, and upon no others. An infant puts his finger into the flame and suffers pain: he is taught thereby to avoid doing so for the future. If another suffered the pain, what profit, from experience, would the little creature gain? A child tells a falsehood: on that account he is not believed by his parents upon some occasion when, above all things, he wishes his word to be credited. By thus suffering the consequences of his falsehood he will probably try to avoid that vice for the future. The inhabitants of a town are reduced by fever, and are thus taught to adopt sanitary measures, so as to avoid a recurrence of the pestilence which has been so destructive to them. What if one district had to bear the effects of the bad drainage of another? Crime is a moral pestilence; its causes we are beginning to understand; and if each district had to bear the burden of the crime committed within it, the inhabitants of that district would be induced to take steps to prevent its commission. ancestors were wiser in their legislation in this respect than we have been. By the old law of frank-pledge, the existence of which has been traced nearly to King Alfred's time, the freeholders of a tithing were sureties, or free pledges, to the king for the good behaviour of each other, and if any offence were committed in their district they were bound to have the offender forthcoming; and therefore anciently no man

Our

was suffered to abide in England forty days unless he were enrolled in some tithing or deanery. (Black. Com. vol. i. p. 114.) The law which still prevails, by which a remedy is given against the hundred to the owner of property riotously destroyed by a mob, is a familiar instance of the same principle.

Lastly, we would caution the Committee to avoid any provision handing over the proposed schools to Government management. Whatever pecuniary aid may be found necessary in order to strengthen voluntary effort, Government inspection, not management, should be the terms upon which that aid should be furnished. The work of reformation must be entrusted to those who not only feel its deep importance, but who, from thought and experience, are qualified to carry it on. What use is it to establish and furnish a hospital unless its medical officers are qualified to treat and cure disease? A reformatory school is a moral hospital; its inmates are there to be cured; the physician who is needed is a physician of the soul, and he must be, at the least, as skilful as one who restores the body to healthy action.

It is not the least of the good results that have attended the efforts of the last few years that men and women have been trained as teachers in our industrial and ragged schools who are fitted for the task of reforming the young criminal, not by insisting upon military discipline and outward order, but by stooping down to their pupils, thereby gaining their love and confidence, and thus leading them to appreciate and govern themselves by the precepts of that religion the blessed influences of which they daily see in practice around them. "I never forget," said the master of an industrial school, who has reformed many of the young London thieves, "that our Saviour at one time stilled the storm, and at another washed his disciples' feet, and therefore whilst I teach these boys my trade and their duty, I am generally first up in the morning to prepare their breakfast for them." Success in the treatment of juvenile offenders will follow the efforts of such men.

ART. X.-COMPULSORY ENFRANCHISEMENT OF

COPYHOLDS.

1. Report from the Select Committee on Enfranchisement of Copyholds' Bill, together with the Proceedings of the Committee on Minutes of Evidence. Ordered to be printed 17th July, 1851.

2. A Bill (No. 3.), as amended by the Select Committee, to extend the Provisions of the Acts for the Commutation of Manorial Rights and for the gradual Enfranchisement of Copyhold and Customary Tenure. Ordered to be printed 17th July, 1851.

COPYHOLDS are doomed. If any one has a doubt about the justice of the sentence, they can consult our previous volumes on the subject. At present the only point which, as it appears to us, need be discussed is, in what manner the complete abolition of this tenure can be most speedily accomplished. The materials for arriving at a just conclusion as to this are to be found at the head of this Article; first in the evidence taken by a very able and careful Committee, and next in the Bill which was prepared at their request, and which was afterwards faithfully revised by the Committee, and more particularly by the following members: — Mr. Aglionby, Mr. Mullings (who had both brought in Bills on the subject), Mr. Henley, Lord Robert Grosvenor, Mr. Sotheron, and Mr. Freshfield.

The following witnesses were examined on behalf of the several interests concerned :

Professor Richard Jones, Copyhold Commissioners.

Mr. Blamire,

Mr. James Stewart, Secretary and Counsel to the Commission.