Some facts will be interesting by way of illustration. It appears that out of, in round numbers, one hundred thousand committals, not less than eleven thousand four hundred were seventeen years of age-this is about eleven and a-half per cent. of the whole; a very large proportion at that early age, not less it is thought than half, being recommittals-about four thousand of them were known to be so; conclusive evidence this, that, unless a Reformatory course be substituted, in the case of the young, for the present practice of short imprisonments, they alone will furnish us with adult criminals at the rate of at least five or six thousand a year. Another fact which appeals most strongly to our sense of justice as well as to our pity, is, that the great majority of these lads had, as Mr. Clay of Preston observes, no chance of becoming anything but what they were. He found, that in seventy per cent. of the cases he investigated, the blame of their misconduct lay, unquestionably, at the door of their parents. In fifty-seven per cent. there had been habitual drunkenness, often accompanied by brutality, on the part of the father-a fact, we may observe in passing, which, taken in connection with the repeatedly and strongly expressed opinion of our judges, should mitigate the censures of those who denounce the Maine Liquor Law. If half the youthful criminals, and so large a proportion of the adult ones, are created by strong drink, those may, at least, be borne with, who, perhaps mistakenly, wish to expel it, even by force, from the country. Another eighteen per cent. of the cases Mr. Clay traced to habitual indifference and neglect. The same result was obtained by Mr. Adshead of Manchester; out of one hundred criminal children he found that sixty were born of dishonest and profligate parents -thirty of parents, profligate, though not of the criminal class-and ten only of parents both honest and industrious; how far, we may ask, might not the crimes of even these ten have been traced indirectly to the others, through association with the children of bad parents? Revolting as youthful vice and crime frequently appear, we can hardly conceive a stronger claim than that which these facts present. We are bound to treat such lads as moral but recoverable lunatics. Their moral faculties were repressed by parental wickedness, till they had no reasonable apprehension of even social duties; but the faculty is still there, and it may be awakened till the lad feels himself another being, respects himself, and rejoices in his own emancipation.

Not less conclusive is the evidence on the inutility of the general practice of short imprisonments. It has indeed been long shown by Lord Brougham, and others, to be rather a provocation, than a hindrance, to crime. The lad is in gaol just long enough to learn increased dexterity in the practices which have brought him there, and fresh arts for evading detection; he leaves with a character which deprives him of all hope of obtaining employment, since no one can guarantee his reformation under a process which rather guarantees the opposite-he is, therefore, driven to his old practices, almost for bread, and in the course of a short time is most frequently in the same place again, or, if not, it may be due to his greater skill in avoiding his enemies, the police. Baron Alderson, therefore, has justly observed, in a recent charge, that "to punish young offenders with short terms of imprisonment is a proceeding neither wise nor humane." He quoted, in proof of his observation, a table of figures, prepared by the Governor of Glasgow Bridewell thirty years ago, by which it appears, that of prisoners sentenced for the first time to fourteen days' confinement, there returned to goal for new offences seventy-five per cent.; of those sentenced to thirty days, sixty per cent.; forty days, fifty; sixty days, forty; three months, twenty-five; six months, ten; nine months, seven and a-half; twelve months, four; eighteen months, one; twenty-four months none; although in the ten years over which this

C

calculation extends, the number of those sentenced for twenty-four months was ninety-three, It is added that prisoners who came back two or three times went on returning at intervals for years, and that many of those committed for short periods on their first offence were afterwards transported or hanged. We may add another numerical statement almost as strong. In Reading Goal, October, 1852, it was found that out of two hundred and nine prisoners recommitted to separate confinement, eighty-nine were under seventeen years of age when first committed, and those eightynine had been in prison altogether four hundred and three times, or nearer five times than four times a-piece. Few of us, however, can have doubted the hopelessness of Reformation, or of deterring from crime, by the ordinary practice. Even if lads be kept in solitary confinement during their imprisonment, the difficulty would remain of providing them, on leaving, with honest employment. Probably no one will wonder at the well established result, that about one-half of the convicts in our prisons have belonged to the class of juvenile criminals.

With such facts before us, the object of chief interest is the prospect opened by the Reformatory system. No one will expect, in dealing with any class of human beings, to meet with uniform success, and least of all with the class in question. To us the schools appear, as hitherto worked, to have attained their end far beyond what could have been hoped for. From the celebrated institution at Mettray, under the care of M. de Metz, nearly ninety per cent. have turned out well, and of the eleven or twelve per cent. which have relapsed, about one quarter have been again reclaimed. Every one will remember the steady and admirable conduct of these lads during the late inundations of France. At Redhill, from which seven hundred and twenty boys have been discharged since its institution in 1849, seventy per cent. have been reclaimed; the emigrants having done best, the proportion of relapses having been smaller than among those at home. In the Glasgow House of Refuge, out of four hundred lads, eighty-five per cent. have been reclaimed. When we remember that the majority of these youths, but for the benevolent intervention of the school, would assuredly have taken the customary course-would have left the gaol with blighted character but increased cunning, have repeated their offences and been again imprisoned, and have gone forth again to commit yet more daring crimes, till sentenced to transportrtion for life, or to the gallows, it is impossible not to feel grateful for the result which has thus far been secured, and to desire the energetic extension of the Reformatory system.

It is of the happiest omen that there are no factions on this question. There are considerable differences of opinion, and differences decidedly and frankly expressed, but there is no party or sectarian alienation. All feel united by their common object, and by their sense of its vast importance. Each seems willing and even pleased that the other should make full trial of his own plan, and appears ready to profit by the varied experience. Oh, that it could yet be so in a yet higher province! On the relation of Government and legislation to the Reformatory effort, there is also a thoroughly good understanding. The Government feels that its interference or meddlesome control would ruin all, yet even voluntaries do not deny that schools for criminals are a legitimate object of Government support. Hence Government most wisely leaves the managers of each school to their own wisdom and benevolence, while it contributes five shillings each towards the support of the lads. The total cost is estimated at fifteen shillings per head. One very important object is, however, to make the parents themselves pay part of the expense of the lad's support, while he is detained in the school; this is requisite, not only as in the majority of cases a well-deserved penalty for parental neglect, or perhaps

dishonesty, but also to prevent parents inducing the children to commit crimes as a means of placing thom in a good school. With the same view, it seems essential that the Reformatory school should not be made use of to train lads to high intellectual or industrial acquirements; the effect of so doing must inevitably be to render the schools a desirable resort for all classes. The criminal children of criminal parents must not be placed in a better position than the children of the honest and industrious. All these ends would appear to be best attained by leaving these institutions, as at present, to the management of the voluntary associations which originate them, which must feel a personal and benevolent interest in their success, and which are guided by the mutual communication of opinion and experience in the manner recently illustrated by the Bristol conference.

BIOGRAPHY.

MR. WILLIAM WILSON.

MR. WILLIAM WILSON was born at Wakefield, on the 30th April, 1784. His parents kept the Royal Oak inn, King-street, in that town, of which they were also the proprietors. They were moral and religious, to the extent of regular attendance at the Wakefield parish church. As might be expected, however, from the nature of their avocation, the training of their children received but a moderate attention. William, who was the eldest son, was duly sent to the day-school, but as far as the Sabbath was concerned, he was left to himself, as may be inferred from the following incident. When not more than seven or eight years of age, he had been one day playing on the kitchen dresser, when suddenly turning round, he jumped off, most unfortunately, into a large pan of boiling water, which one of the servants had inadvertently placed there just before, he was seriously scalded, and laid up in consequence for some time. But the following Sunday, a gentleman called to see the little boy, and introduced himself to his astonished parents as William's teacher at the Sundayschool. He had been attending the Sabbath-school for some time, unknown to his parents, and this was the first occasion of his absence. Already had he commenced the formation of those habits which were to form the man, and fit him for future usefulness. It was shortly after this, at the age of nine years, that he was presented with a Bible in the same Sabbath-school, as a reward for committing to memory and reciting the Catechism of the Church of England. The Bible still bears this inscription:-“ The gift of Lord Wharton's Trustees to William Wilson, aged 9 years. M. Bacon, Vicar. Wakefield, 1793." This Bible became his companion for many years, and from its use he largely derived his knowledge of the inspired volume. At this time he regularly attended the parish church, prompted alone by his love of Divine worship, and reverence of the Sabbath. With the latter he would never allow secular duties to interfere. Its sanctity was kept inviolate. On one occasion, after he had cleaned his shoes on the Saturday evening, he went out to look at the progress of some new buildings his father was erecting immediately adjoining. To preserve his shoes clean for the Sabbath, he put on instead his sister's pattens. Shod in this uncertain manner, he walked over the joists of the new building; his foot slipped, and he was precipitated into the cellar below. Late in the evening he was discovered by his anxious father in a mass of stones, and taken up for dead. But a kind Providence had watched his fall, and he was preserved from death. His skull was fractured, and he lay insensible for two days, and when, at the end of that time, consciousness returned, memory had for the time lost its seat, For some time his life was despaired of, but he slowly

recovered; and a slight additional stiffness in the left knee, which he felt through life, was the only permanent injury inflicted. This interposition of Providence always excited his lively gratitude.

He had an inquiring mind, and his aptitude for instruction, and diligent application, enabled him to make much more rapid advances than the meagre tuition of that day was calculated to produce. When he left school, he did not bid farewell to learning, but only commenced a more diligent course of self-improvement. He became a clever arithmetician and mathematician, and by his own application and perseverance, fitted himself for the situation which he subsequently filled. Like all other boys he formed companionships: but he had one rule, which he since frequently impressed on the minds of the young; he selected them from those whom he regarded ́ as better than himself. Such companionships became mutual helps, exciting a cordial sympathy in all that was good, and stimulating to a lofty purpose and a noble effort. The closest of these friends was a youth of the name of Bell. With him he commenced attending the ministry of the Rev. Benjamin Rayson, Independent minister of Wakefield; and along with him and another companion, formed a class for mutual improvement, which met periodically at Mr. Rayson's house. When circumstances led to the separation of the friends, they still for some years kept up an annual meeting at Wakefield; and when that failed, carried on an interesting correspondence, till the death of one, and then another, closed its earthly character.

William's parents had intended him for the woollen trade, and in due time he was sent to a person who had four looms and as many apprentices, to learn the trade. After being with him some time, thinking that a mercantile life would afford him more scope, he determined to leave his native place, and with his father's consent set out for Manchester, to start life on his own account.

It was the year 1802; a year memorable by the peace of Amiens, which hushed the stormy passions of Europe to a brief repose. With one or two letters of introduction from gentlemen in his native town, he walked to Manchester, and the next morning was engaged by the firm of Parker, Stocks, and Co., of Heaton Mersey, bleachers, dyers, calico-printers, spinners, manufacturers, and farmers. He entered the counting-house, where his character immediately won for him his position. His employers soon perceived that they had got no eye-servant, but one who made their interests his own, and when, a very short time after, the cashier left the establishment, to his great astonishment he was at once elevated to that position. His first act spoke the man. Over his desk, in large characters, he wrote and suspended that motto, which was to be his rule of action through life. "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might." He applied himself to his duties with an energy that defied fatigue, and a perseverance that triumphed over every difficulty. As an illustration, we may mention that it had been customary to pay the men's wages between eight and ten on the Saturday evening; and this was done in links, that is, the wages of two or three were paid in one sum, which necessitated a resort to the public-house for a division of claims. As may be imagined, it frequently happened that but a small portion of the wages reached the home of the operative, to be laid out in the Stockport market, distant two or three miles, at that late hour on the Saturday night. Against this practice he remonstrated; but no, neither time nor mode of payment could be improved. Mr. Wilson had not occupied his new post a fortnight, when every man had received his own wages before four o'clock on the Saturday afternoon. It was a boon for which he received, as he deserved, the grateful acknowledgments of many a family. His position and duties involved the closest confinement to business. There was no Ten Hours' Bill then, and often he was at work till midnight, and on market-days till four in the morning. He

nevertheless contrived opportunities for self-improvement. He commenced a diary, continued for a number of years, and maintained a considerable correspondence with relatives and old associates, a complete ledger account for some years being still preserved. He was fond of reading, and many an hour which business denied, he snatched from repose, and employed in acquainting himself, not with novelists, but the best authors within his reach,-poets and prose writers-history-philosophy-moral science-and religion. All this was done without any intrenchment on secular duties. His business, he made his business, and pleasure, physical or mental, was never suffered to interfere. "Duty" was his pole-star, and "duty," he frequently said, "never calls two ways at once." This high sense of duty, and this conscientiousness in its discharge, were his leading characteristics. It was their manifestation in every thing that led his employers to repose the most unbounded confidence in him. If any mission of trust was to be executed he was certain to be employed. At a time when police establishments were very different in their character from the present, he was frequently made a special constable. On one occasion he was despatched into Staffordshire with a warrant for the apprehension of four colliers, with power to engage such assistance as might be required from the local police. Without any assistance, he succeeded by his moral influence alone, in bringing the whole of the men along with him, and placed them in custody at Stockport. At another time he had to apprehend a man, whom after some search, he found mowing in a field. On producing his warrant the man attacked him with his scythe, and swore he would murder him. The constable fled, but the moment his pursuer stopped, he stopped also, and commenced reasoning with him on the folly and the danger of his conduct. The appeal was met by another attack, but Mr. Wilson persevered, and finally induced the man to lay down his weapon, and quietly allow himself to be taken into custody. Any resort to violence was foreign to his disposition; he would treat every man as a reasonable being.

His vigilance and promptitude of action were on one occasion eminently useful. He received information from the landlord of a public-house at Cheadle, that a box had been received there directed for him, "to be left till called for." On examining it he found it to contain a complete set of the most formidable burglary instruments. He saw at once how matters stood, made his arrangements, and the next day arrested two of the most notorious burglars of that time, one of whom (Hufton White) was afterwards executed for murder.

Such incidents not only illustrate the application of his sense of duty, but also indicate that both his moral and physical courage were of no mean order.

A branch of the Stockport Sunday-school was established in the village, and was chiefly supported by Mr. Wilson's employers-with this he connected himself, first as a teacher, and soon after as superintendent. He formed a very close attachment to it, and though not converted at this time, made himself exceedingly active and useful. So much were his services here appreciated, by the late Mr. Robert Parker, his senior employer, that on one occasion, when Mr. Wilson considering himself aggrieved, had given notice, that he should at the conclusion of his existing engagement leave their service, Mr. Parker sent for him to his house, and said, "Wilson, we might perhaps manage to do without you here, but we cannot spare you yonder," pointing to the Sunday-school, and immediately re-engaged him at an advanced salary. There was

As may be inferred, his character was solid, serious, earnest. nothing frivolous, or unbecomingly light.

The death of his old friend Mr. Bell from consumption, aged 25 years, in the spring of 1810, led to the entire consecration of his heart to God. He