a sad tendency to debase
the comparatively good.

We miss, too, in the prison, another essential element of a reformatory
institution. Reformation in individual cases may take place under the
most adverse circumstances; but an institution cannot be called
reformatory unless its prevailing moral sentiment is actively,
vigorously, and always, on the side of progress and virtue. This moral
influence must proceed from the officers of the institution; but it
should be increased and strengthened by the sympathy and support of the
inmates. This can hardly be expected of the prison. The number of adult
persons experienced in crime and hardened by its penalties is usually so
large, that the moral sentiment of the officers, and the weak
resolutions of the small class of prisoners, who, under favorable
circumstances, might be saved, are insufficient to give a healthy tone
to the whole institution. The prison is a battle-field of vice and
virtue, with the advantage of position and numbers on the side of vice.
Indeed, there can hardly be a worse place for the young or the
inexperienced in crime. This is the testimony of reason and of all
experience; yet the public mind is slow to accept the remedy for the
evil. It is a privilege to believe that the worst scenes of prison life
are not found in the United States. Consider this case, reported in an
English journal, _The Ragged-School Magazine_:

"D. F., aged about fourteen. Mother dead several years; father a
drunkard, and deserted him about three years ago. Has since lived as he
best could,--sometimes going errands, sometimes begging and thieving.
Slept in lodging-houses when he had money; but very often walked the
streets at night, or lay under arches or door-steps. Has only one
brother; he lives by thieving. Does not know where he is; has no other
friend that he knows; never learnt to read; was badly off; picked a
handkerchief out of a gentleman's pocket, and was caught by a policeman;
sent to Giltspur-street Prison; was fed on bread and water; instructed
every day by chaplain and schoolmaster; much impressed with what the
chaplain said; felt anxious to do better; behaved well in prison; _was
well flogged the morning he left; back bruised, but not quite bleeding_;
was then turned into the street, ragged, barefooted, friendless,
homeless, penniless; walked about the streets till afternoon, when he
received a penny from a gentleman to buy a loaf; met, next day, some
expert thieves i