fesses, and the pulpit has not learned how to
instil the Divine law of love, while the college cares nothing about
it.

Society itself is _criminally indifferent_, and barbarously cruel. Its
only thought in reference to its debased members is not their lost
condition, and how to redeem them, but how to punish them revengefully
for their evil deeds, in imitation of the Divine Demon whom orthodox
theology recognizes as its model. Until society has enough of
benevolence or enough of practical sagacity to get rid of this common
impulse of brute life, we shall continue to have an energetic,
skilful, and formidable army of criminals, spread all over the land,
levying an immense tax upon respectable citizens, and requiring an
increasing army of police to restrain them.

The best discourse that has yet been preached in a Boston pulpit was
once delivered in Trinity Church by the assistant minister, Mr. Allen,
a few weeks since, which was made the basis of an admirable article on
"our prisoners" in the _Banner of Light_ of April 2. Mr. Allen treated
this subject in the spirit of the "New Education," showing that our
penal system, instead of reforming criminals, educates and perfects
them in crime, under which system crime is continually and alarmingly
increasing, the statistics which he gives being of the same terrible
character as those presented in the "New Education," showing that our
demoralization is progressing beyond that of any other country. His
statistics, which I have not examined in detail, show that there were
more than eight times as many prisoners in this country in 1880 as
there were in 1850. In Massachusetts, and especially in Boston, the
proportion of criminal population was still greater.

England, having adopted a reformatory system, has kept the criminal
population in check,--brought it down to one in 18,000, while we have
one to every 837, because our prisons are colleges of crime instead of
houses of reformation. A criminal population of 5,000 in Massachusetts
is kept under this debasing system, excepting about 700 in the
reformatory at Concord and the women's prison at Sherburne. Our
criminals are held for punishment amid evil influences, and turned out
only qualified to prey upon society again, since they have the brand
of shame upon them.

The only proper and wholesome view of this subject, the only view
compatible with ethical or religious principles, is that our
unfortunate criminal brethren need