"4. Prisoners holding tickets-of-leave in a colony may by continued good conduct become eligible for a conditional pardon, after the lapse of certain periods from the time of landing in the colony, proportioned to the respective terms of transportation. Such pardon will restore them to liberty, on condition of their not returning to this country during the term of their original sentence, unless one special condition is attached to the pardon. These periods will be proportioned to the respective sentences, according to the following scale :

"5. Prisoners, however, will be required to pay a certain sum to the Government in the colony before such conditional pardon is granted. This sum will have to be reckoned as follows:-A certain rate of annual payment to be made by prisoners will be named in the colony, which will not be less than L.3 nor more than L.5 a-year; and the whole sum to be paid by each prisoner may then be calculated from the above scale, viz.

"6. The privilege of holding a probationary ticket-of

leave, or other remission from penal labour, may be forfeited by misconduct on the voyage."

The prisoner becomes entitled to the indulgences

granted by these regulations after having undergone twelve months' "separate confinement," and a further period of imprisonment with associated labour, in accordance with the following scale, in which both species of punishment are included:

It is to be borne in mind, that the relative terms of the preceding punishments are regulated according to the moral or physical condition of the prisoner. The period passed in "separate confinement" is abridged if the health of the body or mind has been observed to suffer, or it is extended beyond the average time if the conduct of the prisoner affords ground for believing that the moral cffect of such a mode of punishment has not been accomplished. Throughout both periods the utmost possible attention is bestowed on his religious and moral training. It is impossible to imagine any position better adapted for the attainment of these objects than the solitude of a cell. Here, alone with God and a wounded conscience, the unhappy man is forced to exercise his powers of reflection, and thus acquires a command over his sensual impulses which will probably exert a permanent influence. This opinion is founded not only on natural deductions, but also on the experience derived from observation of the character and conduct of the prisoners in the "Pestonjee Bomanjee."

The impression of a person unacquainted with the facts

is, that a body of men composed of criminals of the worst kind will continually display, in the irregularity of their behaviour, the same dispositions which previously conducted to crime. No belief can, however, be more erroneous; for in those comprising the compliment of a convict transport, we find the same motives existing, and the same regard of consequences, which exert an influence over any other class of men. Indeed, in their subdued manners, and anxiety to recommend themselves to notice by correct conduct, there was discovered even a greater solicitude to merit approbation than would have been observed amongst men differently situated. This appears justly due to the admirable system of discpline to which they have been subjected, and to the zealous and judicious labours of the prison instructors. No one can be sanguine enough to believe that these invariably change the moral character; but if they have constructed a condition of matters, where virtuous manifestations are viewed with respect, and where vicious conduct is regarded with aversion, when the opposites could only have been expected, the result must be considered a most beneficial one. That this has been more than accomplished, is, I am persuaded, the conviction of any person who has had the opportunity of observing the character of those men who have passed through government prisons. Besides, if we examine individuals, we cannot fail to find proportionally a large number who appear deeply impressed with the truths of religion, and others who, although not so fervently religious, still possess an awakened sense of their moral obligations, which will probably guard them from future evil.

No one can, however, shut his eyes to the facts thata few hardened in guilt have received no favourable im

pressions from the punishments undergone or lessons of virtue repeatedly inculcated, and that others are still vibrating between virtue and vice- their crude convictions being rudimentary and apt to crumble before habitual enemies, until trial and temptation have consolidated them. As it is impossible for any one personally acquainted with these different classes to avoid feeling a high degree of sympathy for them, so, to the individual entrusted with their entire management, they possess, in proportion to his responsibility, a greater amount of interest. He feels the infinite importance of directing correctly or incorrectly the minds of those who must be regarded, while in a convict ship, as still in a probationary state, and as taking the first step between prison seclusion and public life—the most important and hazardous they will probably have to encounter. These considerations will induce him anxiously to aid and direct those who are adventuring on an unknown path, and at the same time give him resolution firmly to check the career of others who are stumbling on the brink of an abyss.

For these purposes he will endeavour so to act as to produce a conviction that no crime can escape punishment, nor any virtuous scintillation its merited reward. In this way is established a conviction of the immutability of the law of retribution, which governs the moral world. Every action is observed to contract its own consequences, and the criminal no longer regards his punishment as legal vengeance, but as the natural result of crime. Being thus taught to understand that his sufferings are not caused by the cruelty of his fellow-men, there is no danger of exciting a sense of resistance, to what prejudice might represent as unmerited oppression; but, on the contrary, he

submits with resignation to the self-inflicted misery of his position. This is the result of the wise administration of convict discipline; but if punishments are inflicted disproportionally to the offence, the culprit is either rendered apathetic, or the evil of his nature is stimulated to fresh vigour, thus overwhelming the tender sensibility of conscience. It hence becomes a matter of the greatest consequence to discriminate correctly when true contrition begins, for, to carry punishment farther, converts submission into rebellion, or crushes the development of that mental constitution, on which our hopes of reformation are based. Besides, if punishment has produced in the mind of the prisoner that true contrition, which is accompanied by a resolution to act virtuously, the just intention has been fulfilled, and there is no excuse for carrying it farther. It is probably impossible, from the varying nature of the materials, ever to measure out correctly the just amount of suffering, but it is not less certain that the endeavour to do so should be a regulating principle.

However important the moral effects of punishment may be, there is little doubt but that the hope of reward exerts still greater. The anticipation of future happiness constitutes the impelling principle by which our nature is chiefly moved. The power of regulating this, if properly directed, is of paramount importance in the government of convicts. The monotony of their existence may be enlivened by the conviction that every act is pregnant, not only with present, but future consequences. In this way the most trifling marks of distinction for good conduct are regarded, not in accordance with their intrinsic value, but in relation to prospective benefits. In confirmation of these views, it is proper to mention that distinctive badges were given in the Pestonjee Bomanjee to