misconducted themselves as to shame even
routine into better judgment; and the only
result of them seems to be what Sir Richard
Mayne said, "to give them (the men holding
them) opportunities to commit crime which they
might not otherwise have." "Statistic returns
have often been brought before the public," says
Miss Carpenter, "showing only the small number
of relapses which have occurred with the
ticket-of-leave holders." But Sir Richard Mayne's
answer to this is, "I should state that these
returns are very imperfect, because the police
have no certain means of knowing whether the
parties are ticket-of-leave or not; after three
years of penal servitude a man generally comes
out looking fatter, and it is then difficult to
recognise him; the police have, in fact, a great deal
of difficulty in recognising them, and they are
strictly cautioned not to speak to a man unless
they can certainly identify him." Yet, in 1863,
there were twenty-eight hundred and forty-
eight male prisoners received, and out of these
six hundred and forty-four were reconvicted,
either after or during the currency of their
former sentence; and eighty-three had
"revocation of license" against them. A ticket-of-
leave man, the leader of a desperate gang of
burglars before his conviction, and carrying on
the same game after his release; a ticket-of-
leave man transported for forgery—the time
being fifteen years but released in three, his
license revoked for two years, and then again
let loose to swindle and defraud all who come
in his way; another taken for burglary, and the
two constables who took him getting their
heads broken for their pains; "a dangerous
fellow;" "a daring thief;" "murderous attack
by a burglar upon police constables;" these
are a few of the instances loosely selected out
of the thousands lying to hand in the police
and prison reports; and they are but feeble
indications of the utter unsoundness of the
whole system, from beginning to end; from
the luxurious dietary to the routine ticket-of-
leave.

The converse of this English system of ours
is that which goes by the name of the Irish
system—the system which Captain Maconochie
inaugurated, and which Sir Walter Crofton has
completed; so far, that is, as can be under the
present condition of the criminal law. The
substitution of task sentences for time sentences,
represented by so many Marks which could be
earned only by the combination of industry,
self-denial, frugality, and good moral conduct,
was the distinctive feature of Captain
Maconochie's system; the institution of intermediate
establishments between the prisons and the
outer world, of places where men are trusted
with liberty—not absolutely endowed—and a
watch kept over them to see if they are fitted
for their trust or not, the chief characteristic of
Sir Walter Crofton's; and for the eleven years,
during which it has been tried, the results have
been in every way satisfactory. One anecdote
alone will show how far Sir Walter has gone in
the true way of reforming crime, by giving the
men a chance of self-respect in the power of
winning the respect of others. "A carpenter
having been required at the Model Prison for
some time, I have tried the experiment, if I may
so term it, of sending one of these men every
morning to this work, through the city, nearly
two miles off, and back again, to return to the
lecture in the evening; he has done this for
nearly two months, every day, by himself, no
warder with him; and, passing by the public-
houses, he returns regularly, and performs the
day's work both to the good of the public
service, and to the satisfaction of the governor
of the prison where he is working. I have sent
down other prisoners with messages from one
prison to another, and they have returned;
many men, a week or a fortnight before the time
of their discharge, I have allowed to go out to
purchase their tools, so that they may not be
out of work for any want of that kind, also their
clothes; they have returned punctually. I have
found no appearance of anything like drink on
them, or of any irregularity whatever."

In the Irish system a man's hoard is fluctuating
according to his industry and self-
command He is entitled to a small sum out of his
earnings; but, by extra industry, he can
considerably increase this, and further, have the
option of spending on himself, on anything he
fancies save intoxicating drinks, sixpence a week
if he will. If he prefers to save the sixpence and
not to spend it, he is so much the gainer both in
money and the habit of self-command; with the
additional gain of feeling that what he has is
his own by the double right of labour and
denial.

The Irish modus operandi has been already
described in this journal.* Its success has been
proved up to this time by the small number of
recommitments and the gradual absorption of
the criminal population among the honest and
virtuous. A fact which cannot be too earnestly
insisted on at this time, at the eve as we
are of the great battle of the systems. The
men are made in a manner their own moral
warders; the rules are strictly defined while the
will is left free to better influences. It is the
healthful and natural system of making men
co-operate in their own improvement; of
substituting realities for appearances, and moral
advancement for sensual bribes; it makes work
honourable and not merely punitive; it keeps
up a strict surveillance while granting moral
freedom; it makes a return to society progressive,
and to be earned when worthy, not granted
as a matter of course fitted or unfitted; and it
accustoms a man to the exercise of free will and
to the presence of temptation, while still means
can be taken to thwart his evil designs or brace
up his weakness, should he be unequal to the
task. It is the very reverse of the highly drilled,
machinist, and pampered system in favour
among ourselves, where the great endeavour
seems to be to keep the prisoners in good
humour, so that there may be no prison