whelming sense of deprivation, and, for a moment, crushed affection may look in vain for reason or consolation for the loss. Appreciating all the excellence of character, and all the usefulness of the labours of our departed colleague, we comprehend something of what a mother must suffer in the death of such a son; but we know also that she who could have reared a son to such excellence of practical Christianity must have drawn her lessons from the teachings and examples of Him who will, in His own time, heal the wound that He has permitted.

On motion of William S. Perot, the memorial was approved, and the following resolution was adopted:

Resolved, That a Committee of five be appointed to convey the sincere sympathy of the members of the Acting Committee to the family of Mr. Randolph, for the afflicting loss they have met with, together with a copy of the proceedings of this meeting in relation to the death of PHILIP PHYSIC RANDOLPH.

James J. Barclay, Joseph R. Chandler, William S. Perot, Charles Ellis, and John J. Lytle, were appointed the Committee.

FOREIGN REPORTS.

We have received from London our copies of Reports from the Reformatories and Industrial Schools, in England, Wales, and Scotland; also the annual statement of the "Prisons of Scotland;" also "The Annual Report of the Directors of the Convict Prisons of Ireland;" all of them for the year terminating 31st December, 1868.

These elaborate Reports are deeply interesting to all in this country connected directly with the administration of public prisons, as they seem to illustrate in a considerable degree the effects of various kinds of discipline, and the character of labor that may be employed.

They more deeply interest those who, in the United States, seek to alleviate the miseries of public prisons, because in Great Britain and Ireland, as in France, the efforts at moral alleviation constitute a part of the administration of the prison, and hence come to be a part of the report of the directors, governors, or administra

tors.

We may add also, that these Reports are or ought to be of great interest to those who will, we hope, in a few months, hold official relations between the government of the penitentiaries and prisons, and the government of the Commonwealth, as "Commissioners of State Charities." This interest must be not alone in the minutia of the information presented by the prisons to the State authorities, but also and greatly to the mode and manner in which that information is conveyed.

The Reports are beautiful specimens of careful and instructive tabulation; perhaps in beauty and minuteness those of the French are first, but those now before us are such as should command the attention of the new commission, and as far as applicable they should be adopted as precedents.

We have this year felt called upon to make copious abstracts of these Reports. They show the state of this species of public institution, and they also throw some light upon plans that seem yet unsettled. The condi

tion of the prison question in this country is such that there is danger that a deep and overwhelming sense of the inefficacy of most systems of prison regulation in the country and the difference of opinion among those who have studied the question of prison discipline, will drive the uninformed, who may have power with the press or in the legislature, to some half measures, or in their attempts to escape the evils that exist, they will “fly to others they know not of."

IRELAND.

The fifteenth Annual Report of the Directors of Convict Prisons in Ireland, is deeply interesting, from the fact that the statements have reference to the "Irish System," so much talked of, and in part so valuable. We shall in our present abstract specially notice the statements or suggestions that refer to the specialties of the Irish System.

In 1868 there were 246 convicts sentenced to penal servitude in the prisons of Ireland, viz.: 172 males, and 72 females, and 245 discharged.

Of those convicts the ages varied from 15 to 60, and upward. The greatest number, 50, being between 30 and 40 years.

The sentences during the year were from one year to life. As the legislation of our State must, at the present session, have reference to the commutation of sen

tences, it may be well to give here a statement of the terms of all the convicts in Ireland, for the year 1868:

The sentences in England and Ireland are much heavier than in this country. On recurring to the table of the classification of crime on which conviction was had in Ireland, we notice that of 188 "larceny" brought 61 to the convict prison.

Of the 245 discharged in 1868, 82 completed the sentence and 163 were discharged on license (ticket-ofleave), that is, suffered to go out to work under the surveillance of the police. Of course these 245 discharged were from the conviction of previous years, as no person is sentenced to penal servitude for less than three (3) years.

Sixteen of these "ticket-of-leave" men returned to the prison. It is proper here to state that this apparent large number doing well in Ireland is only apparent, as we find in another table that in the time between

1856 and 1858, 219 of these convicts emigrated from

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one single "reception house." From those licensed convicts, or ticket-of-leave" (prison) graduates are derived the occupants of many of the cells of the prisons and penitentiaries of this country.

It is here eminently worthy of note that while, in the report of former years, it was stated that the demand in the factories and various industrial institutions in Ireland, for convicts licensed to go out, generally exceeded the ability of the prisons and refuges to supply—this year's (1868) reports have the following important statement, to which we invite the attention of our readers as sustaining some doubts which we formerly expressed:

"The prejudice of the public mind in Ireland against the employment of convicts in trades, is deeply rooted, and, until some change in the condition of things arises, the Directors can only employ convicts of the laboring class in producing articles for prison consumption."

Former reports set forth that there was a strong feeling in favor of the work of convicts. We know also that in this country there is an objection to convict work. While a large demand for any article exists, few trouble themselves, consumers or producers, how those articles reach the market. But when the market is glutted by convict labor, the honest artizan will denounce the system that invites him to be a rogue, or drives him away from competition with honest men, to make room for the production of felon labor.

The Irish Reports recommend that convicts be employed in making articles for cleaning purposes of all large government establishments.

The question of prison labor and its product is one