nversations with the prisoners but
I did not elicit from them any thing worth narrating. There is,
however, a great deal to be gained from the conversation which I have
recorded. It must be remembered, that observations made by one
prisoner, which struck me as important, if not made by others, were put
as questions by me; and I found that the opinions of the most
intelligent, although differently expressed, led to the same result--
that the present system of the Philadelphia penitentiary was the best
that had been invented. As the schoolmaster said, if it did no good, it
could do no harm. There is one decided advantage in this system, which
is, that they all learn a trade, if they had not one before; and, when
they leave the prison, have the means of obtaining an honest livelihood,
if they wish so to do themselves, _and are permitted so to do by
others_. Here is the stumbling-block which neutralises almost all the
good effects which might be produced by the penitentiary system. The
severity and harshness of the world; the unchristianlike feeling
pervading society, which denies to the penitent what individually they
will have to plead for themselves at the great tribunal, and which will
not permit that punishment, awarded and suffered, can expiate the crime;
on this point, there is no hope of a better feeling being engendered.
Mankind have been, and will be, the same; and it is only to be hoped
that we may receive more mercy in the next world than we are inclined to
extend toward our fellow-creatures in this.

As I have before observed, I care little for the observations or
assertions of directors or of officers entrusted with the charge of the
penitentiaries and houses of correction; they are unintentionally
biased, and things that appear to them to be mere trifles are very often
extreme hardships to the prisoners. It is not only what the body
suffers, but what the mind suffers, which must be considered; and it is
from the want of this consideration that arise most of the defects in
those establishments, not only in America, but everywhere else.

During my residence in the United States, a little work made its
appearance, which I immediately procured; it was the production of an
American, a scholar, once in the best society, but who, by intemperance,
had forfeited his claim to it. He wrote the very best satirical poem I
ever read by an American, full of force, and remarkable for energetic
versification; but int