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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Untitled Article
^ ty be adopted . Put him into a cell but by no means a dungeon ; let it be clean and whofeome , with a free current of air , an iron bedstead , a straw mattress , and a l > lanket or two > according to the season ; l « t no stranger have access to him ; an ? l when the jailor gives him his victuals , let not a word be allowed to pass between them : by these means much evil may be avoided , for when we confine a delinquent in company with as great or greater criminals than
himself , what else can he expected but that he should be rendered more hardened , more villainous , and if any good instructions have teen given him when , a child , that tliese should be in a great measure effaced ? Philosophers may
tulk to us as much as th < y will , about the eternal distinctions between virtue and vice ; but this much we may learn from the history of mankind , that whatever is eternal , whatever is immutable in morals , much of our . perceptions of these qualities , depends on the
opinion of those around-us : on what other principle can we account for the Spartan youth glory - ing in theft , provided he escaped detection ? On what other principle can we account for the boasting of a man of honour after lie has killed his man ? Or on what other principle can we account fora Napoleon the First ,
covered with , the blood of thousands , rushing inflamed by success to the perpetration of new atrocities ; yet unabashed , yet exulting in the gory retrospect ; but he is a Hero ! apd if his , conscience does whisper , its fe £$ l $ y , oice is drowned in the torrent 6 T applause , To prevent the culprit , then , having communication with others of the same
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stamp , is a matter of th& greatest moment ; this seclusion oui > hr td be extended to his relations ; let him be perfectly isolated ; to one ma a only would I at all times throw his prison doors open ; let this man be a well-informed , judicious clergyman , who ought to be attached to the Institution . Let the diet of the prisoners be whole . some , but scanty ; and let their drink be only . water : if any one should
be obstinate , I think it would be better to starve , than whip , him in . to compliance ; for thi « last will be more likely by frequent repetition to render him callous , " whereas the other by weakening the bo . dy will produce corresponding
action and pliability in the mind * Criminals only of the deepest dye should be left unemployed , to thfc horrors of an accusing conscience ; other criminals ought to be kept to hard labour , and a report drawn up once a month or so , by tht chaplain , of their condition and behaviours such as behave well
and seem convinced of the greatness of ttjeir chime , may have a part of their sentence remitted by the king ; their earnings 'may go to the support of the Institution , or to the families of the criminals , as the magistrates shall think most proper . This mode of punishment too , allows- much better of
a just proportion to the crime than any other : thus , if death be made the punishment ^ of a man who waylays another and robs him ; how should he be punished , who before he robs a housey cuts the throats of its inhabitants , and then burns it to , prevent detection * But solitary confinement can he exactly proportioned to the atrocity of every crime , and may be remitted when the « nds of punish-
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 2, 1811, page 710, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2423/page/6/
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