system, which forms the peculiar feature of the Irish prisons, comes into play.* The maximum number of marks which each convict can obtain monthly is 9, but they are divided into three categories-viz., 3 for discipline, 3 for industry at school, and 3 for industry at work.

A convict can raise himself from the third class into the second in two months, by gaining 18 marks; into the first in six, by gaining 54; and into the A, or advanced class, by the acquisition of 108. In the first, laziness and bad conduct entail the return of the offender to the probationary class, so that he has all to begin again. The period of his detention in the ordinary prison, within the minimum term, depends on himself; and as he must pass a certain time in the intermediate prisons, ere obtaining his ticket of leave, he has every stimulus to self-control and industry. Those who have reached the advanced class are removed to a completely different part of the establishment, employed on special works, and treated with greater consideration. The idlers, on the other hand, are put in a class apart, on reduced diet; while the dangerous men (and there are such, who assault the warders) are withdrawn altogether from the other convicts, and kept upon the very lowest scale of food which the medical officer will permit-nay, if necessary, they are even put in irons-and this treatment is continued till, by their conduct, they prove they are entitled to return to the ordinary labour classes. Flogging is resorted to only in the last extremity. A twelvemonth's exemplary conduct in the advanced class, proved to be such by daily

* This system was, however, originated by Captain Maconochie, with this difference, that instead of a fine, a labour sentence was at once inflicted.

For the last three years and a half, it has been necessary to resort to this punishment.-Note of EDITOR.

reports, raises the prisoner to the intermediate stage, and transfers him to Lusk, to Smithfield, or to CamdenCarlysle, according to his aptitude for the labours carried on in these different establishments. There, in continual companionship with his fellow-convicts, he occupies an intermediate position between captivity and freedom, engaged in works of various descriptions, so as to test his fitness for conditional liberty. If.in the prison factory at Smithfield, he is frequently employed as a messenger in the city, or in special works outside the walls, which he does not re-enter till six or seven in the evening, unaccompanied by any officer. If he resists the temptations which naturally assail him under these circumstances, he is entrusted with the duty of making purchases and paying the bills of the establishment. These successive probations, which constitute the essential part of the system, have hitherto been so successful that, we are assured, not one instance of dishonesty, or even of irregularity, has occurred, though the most careful checks have been contrived to detect either, should they happen. In this stage there exists no classification, but the slightest fault, the least indication of idleness or disobedience, would at once exclude the prisoner from its ranks,* and send him back to a lower one. And here begins the practical apprenticeship of self-control, temperance, and economy. Except during the nine months of separate confinement, when he is allowed no gratuity whatever, the convict has been regularly accredited with a small portion of his earnings, which, however, has been laid aside for him to receive on his liberation, viz., 1d. a

* At Lusk, fifty men are employed in the cultivation of waste lands, with no control except that of a few officers, who, we are assured, act rather as foremen than as guards, with hard work and hard fare, yet any attempt at absconding is almost unknown.

week in the third class, 2d. in the second, 4d. in the first, and 7d. or 8d. in the advanced. Arrived at the intermediate stage, this gratuity is at once raised from 8d. to 2s., or for a first-rate workman 2s. 6d., and of this 6d. a week is placed in his own hands, with which he may purchase any little luxury he pleases, such as red herrings, tobacco,-anything, in short, save drink, which is strictly prohibited. When he has regularly laid this. 6d. by, and this is now generally done, to add to his savings, he is congratulated by the director, not only on this addition to his pecuniary resources, but on the empire he has acquired over himself.*

If he has spent the money on some object which will be of use to him on his discharge-a coat, or a pair of trousers, for instance—he also receives marks of approbation. In certain cases the director expresses his dissatisfaction, but without imposing any restraint on the liberty of the convict in the employment of that portion of his earnings allotted to him. One day Captain Crofton found that a prisoner had for several months past employed his 6d. per week in the purchase of tobacco. Without a word of reproach, he asked him what habit

*The gratuities in the Irish prisons are not above one-half as much as in the English. Thus the largest amount obtainable by a man of the best character, under a sentence of four years, having a claim to a licence, would be £4 12s., viz., after leaving separate confinement:-Two months in the third class, at 1d. per week, 8d.; six months in the second class, at 2d. per week, 4s. 4d.; twelve months in the first class, at 3d. per week the first six months, and 4d. the next, 15s. 2d.; the advanced class, six months at 9d. per week, 19s. 6d. ; the intermediate prison, five months, at 2s. 6d. per week, £2 12s. 6d.; together, £4 12s. 2d. The English gratuities are as much as £2 per annum. They are, however, paid in instalments, but the prisoner receives it all in six months; if the sentence be long, as much as £24.-1866.

had led him into crime. "Drunkenness," replied the man. Are you not afraid of relapsing into that vice on quitting this place?" "Oh, no! I have not drank for many years, and I do without it capitally." "But you were many years without smoking, and though at first you suffered considerably from this privation, you were convinced at length it did not affect your health. Now, as soon as you are permitted to purchase tobacco, you make use of that permission. If you are unable to resist the temptation of tobacco, how can you be sure of resisting that of drink?" This conversation made a serious impression on the poor fellow; and a subsequent inspection of his account-book showed that he had gradually diminished his dose of tobacco, till he had given it up altogether.

The studies commenced at Mountjoy, and continued at Spike Island, are carried on in a more advanced stage at Lusk, Smithfield, and Camden-Carlysle. The prisoners learn history, and their attention is peculiarly directed to the advantages of emigration, which is here reduced to a science. The principles of political economy are taught, especially those which concern the relations between employers and employed. Finally, Saturday evenings are devoted to a lecture delivered by Mr. Organ, lecturer to the prison, a truly philanthropic and large-minded man, whose heart and soul are in his work; and the convicts propose questions to each other, on subjects which have been treated during the week by their instructor, such as the results of strikes, the great sources of crime, the question of emigration, and similar subjects, all demanding considerable intelligence and powers of thought to answer in anything like a satisfactory manner. Thus we see the prisoners are not suddenly thrown on the world, after long seclusion from their

fellow-men, and from the possibility of temptation. They are gradually prepared for liberty.

The directors now set about obtaining work for those who, having gone through the probationary and intermediate stages in a perfectly satisfactory manner, are considered fit to quit the prison with a ticket of leave, which confers upon them provisional liberty. The convict, if at Dublin, is bound to present himself every fortnight to the inspector of police; if elsewhere, to report himself at the constabulary station on his arrival in the district, and subsequently on the first of each month. If he removes to a new district, he must obtain a new warrant, addressed to the police of that district, and he is informed that the slightest infringement of these rules, which are indeed appended to the licence itself, will entail its revocation, by exciting the suspicion that he is leading an idle and disreputable life. In this case he is sent back to the cellular prison, and has to go through all the probationary stages anew, beginning at the very first, till the term of his original sentence has expired; but it is rarely that this occurs. The supervision, combined as it is with careful registration, is so strict that it is scarcely possible for a ticket-of-leave man to escape detection if he infringes the condition of his licence, and Captain Crofton unhesitatingly declares that he does not know a single instance of any convict under such circumstances remaining at large. Yet this supervision is so managed as never to harass or annoy the ticket-holder; and we are assured, on the best authority, that, far from resenting it, they acknowledge its value, as a protection against temptation. Nor must it be forgotten that it is the certainty of this surveillance which alone induces manufacturers or others to take licence-holders into their employ, and the success of the whole system is mainly attributable to