d of offence, from the highest political crime to petty
larceny. The most heinous offenders are sent to the mines; those guilty
of minor delinquencies are settled in villages, or on farms; and
those guilty of having opinions different from those of the
government--statesmen, authors, and soldiers--are generally suffered to
establish themselves in little knots, where they spread refinement
through the country. The consequence is, that "all grades of society are
decidedly more intelligent than the corresponding grades in any other
part of the empire, and perhaps more so than in most parts of Europe."

Many of the exiles are now men of large income.--"The dwelling in which
we breakfasted to-day," says the traveller, "was that of a person who
had been sent to Siberia _against his will_. Finding that there was but
one way of bettering his condition, he worked hard, and behaved well. He
had now a comfortably furnished house and a well-cultivated farm, while
a stout wife, and plenty of servants, bustled about the premises. His
son had just arrived from St Petersburg, to visit his exiled father, and
had the pleasure of seeing him amid all the comforts of life, reaping an
abundant harvest, and with _one hundred and forty persons_ in his pay!"

He adds, "In fact, for the _reforming_ of the criminal, in addition to
the punishment of the crime, Siberia is undoubtedly the best
_penitentiary_ in the world. When not bad enough for the mines, each
exile is provided with an allotment of ground, a house, a horse, two
cows, agricultural implements, and, for the first year, with provisions.
For three years he pays no taxes whatever, and for the next ten, only
half the full amount. To bring fear as well as hope to operate in his
favour, he clearly understands, that his very first slip will send him
from his home and family, to toil in the mines. Thus does the government
bestow an almost paternal care on the less atrocious criminals."

Yet with this knowledge before the British Government,--for we must
presume that they had not overlooked the condition of the Russian
exiles; and with the still more impressive knowledge of the growth of
our Australian colonies, and the improvement of the convicts; the
new-fangled and most costly plan is now to be adopted of reforming our
criminals by keeping them at home! Thus we are to save the national
expenditure by building huge penitentiaries, which will cost millions of
money, and to secure society fro