PRINCIPLES OF PUNISHMENT. 59 



The matter is one of so much difficulty and so great import 

 ance, so nearly connected with the progress of Christianity 

 and civilized law, and the plan of a new prison is so often to 

 be discussed and established among our thirty states and 

 thousand counties, that I must beg my readers to carefully 

 examine the new system of punishment that they propose, 

 and I urge it the more, because, so far as I know, it has, 

 up to this time, entirely escaped the attention of the Ameri 

 can press. 



But first let us distinctly recall to mind what is most un 

 satisfactory and clearly defective in our present prisons and 

 system of criminal punishment. 



There are two general principles with regard to the punish 

 ment of crime that have been theoretically received and ap 

 proved of in the minds of all enlightened and Christian people, 

 and yet to which there is much in our present system that is 

 practically false and repugnant. We say &quot;necessarily so,&quot; 

 and that this necessity is one of the awful results of crime or 

 sin. God knows if we are right. If not, we are terribly 

 wrong. 



The principles or rules with regard to punishment, to which 

 I refer, are these : that it should not be vindictive or revenge 

 ful, that it is not the business of human jurisprudence to 

 satisfy the abstract claims of justice, &quot; Vengeance is mine, saith 

 the Lord ;&quot; that, on the other hand, it should be our purpose, 

 in the treatment of criminals, so far as may be consistent with 

 the good of society, to do them good, to make them better, 



K. II : J. Ollivier, Pall Mall, London. &quot; Crime and Punishment,&quot; by Cap 

 tain Maclionocliie : J. Hatchard & Son, London. An &quot; Essay on Crimi 

 nal Jurisprudence,&quot; by Marmaduke B. Sampson : Highley & Son, London. 

 These works may all be obtained through the agency of the publisher of 

 this book, and will be found to contain (especially the last) some most 

 valuable hints and suggestions applicable to other matters besides prison 

 discipline. Their cost is trifling. 



