his black brethren, and were, upon the sale of estates, assigned to the purchasers with the other stock; their children, born to slavery, their only inheritance, being also included in the transfer.

Ignorance is as palpably evident in the construction of our ancient criminal laws, as in the circumstances which gave rise to them; and until the fifteenth century, the aristocracy were rude, uninformed, and barbarous; and the lower orders distinguished by little more intellectual development than the cattle they tended at the plough, may be presumed to have required a severe code of laws to check those passions, over which reason could have no control. We have now, however, arrived at an epoch of history, in which the magic wand of education has effected an important change. We have few semi-barbarians now- -the necessity for life-destroying statutes no longer exists--we have means of punishment falling short of, and far more effective than, annihilation—and last, though not least, we have amongst us men of humane and generous minds, whose feelings are outraged in consequence of the law forcing them into a jury box, and rendering them instrumental to the death, probably, of some poor guilty wretch, who never had one good moral precept instilled into his barren mind.

"The greatest attribute of heaven is mercy,

And 'tis the crown of justice and the glory,
Where it may kill with right, to save with pity."

Public decency cries aloud for the extinction of capital punishment, and the substitution of an efficient system of retributive justice, and I have no hesitation in declaring my opinion, that a perusal of the following case will lead my readers to the conclusion, that not only was public decency grossly outraged, but that every spark of humanity must have fled the breasts of those bungling officials who had the conduct and management of the execution of the culprits alluded to therein :-"On the 21st of January, 1844, Pendrell and Chitty underwent the extreme penalty of the law. The cap having blown from the head of each, through the negligence of the executioner, their convulsed features were exposed to the gaze of the terrified crowd; and the rope having broken, and Pendrell fallen to the ground unhurt, was again subjected to the terrible ordeal, having previously, in the most solemn and impressive manner, declared his innocence of the murder for which he was convicted."-Lloyd's Family Newspaper.

The antiquity of death punishment is no justification in the eyes of an enlightened community; but, on the contrary, a powerful reason for its abrogation, as I have endeavoured to shew. Yet, notwithstanding the fallacy of the plea, the antiquity of the belief in witchcraft appears to have strongly impressed the mind of Sir Mathew Hale with the necessity of administering severe punishment to those adjudged guilty of the crime; and this very clearly appears in the following extract from the Ipswich Express:— "It is said of that great luminary of the bar, that having condemned a woman to death for witchcraft, he took occasion to sneer at the rash innovators who then advocated a repeal of the statute, and falling on his knees, thanked God for being enabled to uphold one of the sagest enactments handed down to us by our venerable forefathers."

I will now endeavour to establish the fact, that crime is the offspring of ignorance and want. There is, undoubtedly, an innate knowledge of right and wrong; but, organic disease, I conceive, may exterminate and obliterate that gift of the Omnipotent disposer of events. In cases of self-destruction, it is usual to return verdicts of "mental derangement;" are there not also cases in which insanity has induced parties to attack and destroy others? The evidence of some of the greatest ornaments of the medical profession, adduced on the trial of Mc Naughton, leads to that conclusion. Had this ·lamented act occurred ere science had shed its refulgent light on the minds of the Faculty, a judicial murder would have been perpetrated. Who shall say many have not fallen victims to the law under such circumstances? Medical testimony establishes the fact, that a man, sane on all points save one, may become an unconscious, and, therefore, an irresponsible assassin! At the first blush this may appear a dangerous precedent; our apprehension, however, vanishes on reflection, that in order to maintain the plea of insanity, every feature of an individual deportment must be submitted to the medical test. There are, undoubtedly, cases in which this plea cannot, for one moment, be entertained; and I may instance that in which robbery is the primary object, and murder the result. What can be urged in behalf of the villain, who, to prevent identity, or immediate capture, destroys the life of the party he originally intended to despoil of his property? Who will plead for so great a monster? The circumstance that he would

risk capital punishment rather than banishment, carries conviction to the mind that the existing law urges to the commission of homicide, and must, therefore, be repealed.

Education teaches us to regulate our passions;, ignorance admits of no restraint, darkens the mind, hardens the heart, and finally crishes the embryo instinct, which education would have cherished and matured. Despair (engendered of want) kindles revenge in the hearts of the starving population, which too often hurries them into a labyrinth of crime, from which there is no receding; and eventually renders them amenable to laws which would probably never have been violated, had not the necessaries of life been denied them.

It may not be considered a digression from the subject, if I here furnish the names of a few philanthropists who have, by will, bequeathed their property to the needy, in order to save them from transgressing the law:

1843, Josh. Ridgway, of Ridgmont, for charitable and educational purposes.... £26,000

Miss M. Waybridge, stamford Hill,

James eir, Esq., to be invested for the Sunday School, Dewsall, Herts.....

. 20,916 3,500 ... 55,000 12,000 100

The foregoing is a summary of such bequests as have come under my immediate notice, and, of course, forms but a small portion of the amount actually devoted to the removal of those powerful incentives to crime, poverty and ignorance; and it is a gratifying fact that £4000 were collected at one meeting in Dr. Halley's Chapel, in Mosley Street, Manchester, in February last, for the advancement of education. I may also add, on the authority of Mr. Mc Culloch,-"That at this moment the income of estates and other property left for educational purposes, would amount, if properly managed, to £400,000 per annum.'

It will be found, by the following extracts, that ignorance and vice are almost inseparable companions:

From the commencement of 1843, to the present time, 700 names have appeared on the calendar of prisoners for trial, 240 of whom could neither read nor write, and 396 but imperfectly.Worcester Journal, January 14th, 1844.

The calendar for the Hundred of Salford contains the names of 65 persons committed for felony, and 6 for misdemeanor; of whcm 28 can neither read or write, and 37 but imperfectly.— Manchester Guardian, February, 1844.

It appears from a return made to the visiting Justices of the House of Correction, Coldbath Fields, that out of 1094 prisoners confined therein, on the 13th inst., 318 could only read and write a little, 379 could read a little, and 279 could neither read nor write.-Lloyd's News, January, 1844. In the Essex Assize Calendar the names of 48 prisoners appear, of whom 2 only can read and write well, 13 imperfectly, 11 can read a little, and 22 can neither read or write, which circumstance induced Lord Denman, in his charge to the grand jury, to express his opinion that education is the best antidote to the progress of crime.-Essex Herald, March, 1844.

In twelve months, ending at a recent date, 844 criminals passed through Newcastle gaol, of ⚫ whom 273 could neither read nor write, 124 could only read imperfectly, 441 could read and write imperfectly, and only 6 could read and write well.-Lloyd's Newspaper, April 28th, 1844.

It is a necessary result of the above inquiry, that a vast amount of ignorance remains for the schoolmaster to remove; yet I firmly believe that mental culture has advanced rapidly, and effected a considerable reduction in crime.

Having enunciated my opinion that education and temporal prosperity are alone calculated to eradicate the seeds of vice from society, it devolves on me to point out a remedy for the evil so generally complained of, (i. e.) capital punishment, and this I shall proceed to do, aided by the views and suggestions of men who have zealously applied themselves to the subject, and whose names carry weight with their opinions.

Mr. Andrews, (for offences against property,) recommends penitentiary imprisonment, and Rowland Hill, home colonization. Drs. Lushington and Whateley, strenuously advocate the same mode of punishment, and Dr. Beckwith, (late of Yorkshire,) left £5000 towards the erection of a penitentiary.in that county. To me it appears that the system adopted at the model prison, Pentonville, which public opinion has long since condemned, as operating too severely upon the class of prisoners subjected to incarceration therein, is peculiarly suitable to those criminal offences which the existing law visits with the extreme penalty. On the admission of a felon into this establishment, the enormity of his offence is fully impressed upon his mind, and the advantages of future amendment pointed out to him; he is then confined to his cell, which he never leaves but to attend divine worship, or to avail himself of the short period allotted to

exercise, in a yard of limited dimensions. Under no pretence can he obtain an interview with a friend, or fellow-prisoner, nor dare he speak to the only individual of whom he obtains a momentary glance, namely, the gaoler. Let us suppose a murderer subjected to this species of punishment, and speculate on the result. He finds himself shut out for ever from all worldly intercourse, a prey to that inward monitor, conscience! Aroused from the dark slumber of ignorance by the persuasive eloquence of the chaplain, the agency of books, or the train of reflection to which solitude gives birth, he feels the full weight of his offence, sees the magnitude of his crime in all its odious colours, and becomes painfully sensible of the peril of his soul; his mind's eye reverts to the avalanche of divine wrath impending over his head, and in an agony of grief he confesses his guilt to Him whose ear is never turned from the truly penitent. He learns of his minister the path to mercy, and seeks, by repentant tears, to obtain that pardon in a better world, which is promised to all who diligently exert themselves to merit it.

To those who would urge, as an objection to this mode of punishment, the probable expense of supporting such criminals, I would answer, that few arrive at the age of manhood without having acquired a trade, and in such establishments, employment, suited to every capacity, would be found, and the inmates maintained at a trifling cost; whereas the expence of transportation is enormous, the average per annum for each convict being thirty pounds.

A very general argument in favour of capital punishment is its universal adoption; a position, however, which I must oppose as untenable. I have not yet to learn that executions are of common occurrence in Russia, or that the Siberian mines entomb wretches whose only hope is to throw off mortality—neither can I escape the fact, that even in that despotic region, education is exerting its benign influence to soften the rigour of law, ordinary punishments being now less severe than at any period subsequent to the era of the Empress Elizabeth, who, on ascending the throne, pledged herself never to inflict death on any of her subjects, which pledge she failed not to observe.

In France, the guillotine still performs its office, but not to the extent it has done, and it is to be observed, there is scarcely a peasant or mechanic in that country who has not carried arms and been engaged in scenes of blood and cruelty, the dreadful auxiliaries of civil war, and consequently imbibed a feeling of indifference to human suffering, yet even under these unfavourable circumstances, a recollection of the horrors connected with the Bastile, would doubtless call up a blush on the cheek of a Frenchman, who would not fail to breathe a sigh for those who have fallen victims to Inquisitorial agency, and hence, I infer, that humanity will assert its empire eventually in the breasts of our ancient opponents.

There is no intermediate stage between death and acquittal with that rude and primitive race, the Aborigines of Chili; but in Otahiete, (a degree higher in the scale of civilization,) murder and treason are the only capital offences, and to ensure conviction in either case, two witnesses are necessary; which fact favours the conclusion, that sanguinary laws are the offspring of ignorance.

Such was the severity of the Algerine law, till within a very recent period, that if a native ventured to threaten a Turk, he was first deprived of his right hand, and finally his life. This fact, however, forms no plea for the continuance of death punishment in enlightened Europe, but should rather excite our indignation and teach us to hold the Turkish character in contempt; for it appears that the Turks, from the Levant, first visited Algiers in the character of traders, and having settled there and increased in ambition, in proportion to their increased numbers, they wrested the government from the original owners of the soil; enacted barbarous laws to secure their treacherously acquired possessions, and became not only a terror to those whom they had subjected to their yoke, but also to the whole mercantile world, by their piratical and merciless depredations on the ocean.

In scrutinizing the pages of history, a mingled sensation of surprise and disgust is awakened in our breasts, on being introduced to such monsters as Lycurgus, "the bloody Spartan," who essayed to thin population by waging war on his own countrymen; but we need not go into the history of other nations for examples of cruel deeds, sufficient being recorded in our domestic annals to turn the current of indignation to our own shores; nor is it to be concealed from the reflective portion of the community, that the criminal code has been framed for the punishment of the poorer classes, and is still upheld by men who feel no sympathy for their distresses, and whose circumstances

place them above their operation; the rich being exempt from the pangs of hunger, under the influence of which the poor man steals a loaf of bread, and thereupon is branded with the name of felon. The wealthy man having it in his power to break a policeman's limbs, and set the law at defiance by rendering pecuniary compensation to the injured party; the poor man interfering in a case of apparent injustice on the part of the police, being dragged through the streets, taken before a magistrate, and committed to prison for obstructing an officer, and his wife and family deprived of their only support, left to starve during the period of his incarceration. The rich man being fined for wrenching off knockers and bell pulls, or driving his horse over some unfortunate being, in what he may please to term "a drunken spree," the poor outcast sinking on the step of a door through sheer exhaustion, being sent, as a houseless vagabond, to associate with felons in a prison-and lastly, the former being allowed to commit honourable murder in a duel, the poor man being restrained from inflicting merited chastisement on the wealthy ruffian, who may, nnder "the influence of wine," grossly insult his wife or daughters.

The principle upon which we deprive an illiterate fellow-creature of existence, who never received any of those advantages so splendidly enjoyed by the wealthy framers of the law, is as weak as the philosophy of the natives of New Zealand, who dispose of offenders by knocking them on the head, in order "that they may not offend again," as experience tells us in language not to be misunderstood, that the only effect of capital punishment is to prevent a repetition of the criminal act in the same party, but as an example tending to deter others from entering the broad path of guilt, it is a decided failure; and this opinion I conceive to have been held by those who framed the “declaration of rights," in the reign of William III., declaring "that cruel punishments should no longer be inflicted."

In concluding this article I venture to express the hope, that whatever difference of opinion exists between myself and those who may favour it with a fair and patient perusal, (on minor points,) we shall mutually condemn death punishment as unsuited to the present enlightened age,―inefficient in operation-barbarous in its infliction-an outrage on public decency, and a great moral stain on society. Unsuited to the age by reason of its foundation in ignorance and cruelty-inefficient in operation as an antidote to crime, not only on account of the natural antipathy of juries to risk the shedding of innocent blood, but also of the fact that there are men so lost to every good feeling, and entertaining such vague notions of futurity, that they would prefer the risk of a speedy termination of their sufferings, rather than the certain and continuous punishment of transportation, or penitentiary imprisonment-barbarous in its infliction, inasmuch as it involves an outrage on the image of God-offensive to public decency by reason of the vast concourse of persons who throng the streets on the occasion of an execution, and by brutal and disorderly conduct, pain the feelings of the better disposed, whose business transactions may lead them in proximity with the scene, or whose residences may be in the locality-finally, it is a moral stain, inasmuch as we stand unrivalled in literary resources, and pre-eminently great in intellectual acquirements; our country being the vaunted advocate of humanity, the protector of the slave, the champion of the oppressed, and the example to surrounding nations, should therefore, "temper justice with mercy," and aim at the reformation, rather than annihilation, of a criminal. Orphans' Home Lodge, Vauxhall. H. L. BURTON.

FAREWELL TO MY CHILDHOOD.

FAREWELL to my childhood! its pleasures are flown,
From the reach of my grasp, to a desert unknown;
Its season of joy I can never retrace-

There now lies betw een us an infinite space.

My spirits were light as the breath of my bower,
My face, like an angel's, as fair as the flower;
On all sides caressed by the friends of my heart,
But, ah! from those joys I was bound to depart.

Farewell to my boyhood, its glee and its mirth,
That period when innocent follies had birth;
Farewell to its sports and its happy ambition,
Farewell to that charming and thoughtless condition.
From boyhood to frolicsome youth did I steer
My barque, which was now on the world to appear;
No more could I visit with rapturous glee

The haunts which had long been endeared unto me.

From youth, unto manhood, I grew up apace,
And the ladies, fair creatures, I long'd to embrace;
Their beauty I learn'd to appreciate soon,
And I thought them as fair as the sun is at noon.

I ran to and fro, and I clasped to my breast
Those angels of earth whom I fondly caressed;
And swore to each one my affection was pure,
And burned like a torch, where the flame is secure.

So thus I ran on, and defied all the art
Of Cupid, that god of the tenderest part,
And I thought of the proverb, in spite of his snares,
If wedlock has wheat, it has also its tares.

But Cupid cried out,-"Though now hard is thy heart,
I will make thee my vassal before we do part,
So come to Glenalvan, that beautiful town,
Where maidens are fairer than flattering renown."

I followed his counsel, with confidence arm'd,
And by the fair sight I was certainly charm'd;
But my heart was as whole as it ever had been,
And I thought that poor Cupid was now in a spleen.

I wandered about through the streets all the day,
And gazed at each scene which was lively and gay;
I at length was fatigued and determined to rest,
So I enter'd a shop, where my senses were blest.

With heavenly radiance a sight I espied,―

A lady, who of her fair sex was the pride;

On her shoulder sat Cupid, with bow and with dart,—
He pointed the shaft, and it enter'd my heart.

I thought I should die, but soon saw the god aiming
At Bronwen, sweet girl, whom indeed he was claiming;
He
gave me the friend of my bosom, and never
Shall aught from my heart that beloved one sever.

MAB HANNAH O'R GLASPORT, P. G.

Briton's Mechanic Lodge, Llanelly District.

THE ODD FELLOWS' CHRONICLE.

ODD FELLOWSHIP AT DEVIZES.-The celebration of the "Loyal Independent," and "Providential Dolphin" Lodges, at Devizes, took place on Tuesday, May 7th, 1844, under very peculiar circumstances-1 -the churches at Devizes being closed against the brotherhood-the Rector denouncing the society from the pulpit-forbidding his bells to ring, and his choir to attend Potterne church to sing the hymns which they had