SCIENCE AND MAN 379 



observant and reflective man, possessed of wide experi- 

 ence gathered in various parts of the world and a thor- 

 ough student of the duties of his vocation. He told me 

 that the prisoners in his charge might be divided into 

 three distinct classes. The first class consisted of persons 

 who ought never to have been in prison. External acci- 

 dent, and not internal taint, had brought them within the 

 grasp of the law, and what had happened to them might 

 happen to most of us. They were essentially men of 

 sound moral stamina, though wearing the prison garb. 

 Then came the largest class, formed of individuals pos- 

 sessing no strong bias, moral or immoral, plastic to the 

 touch of circumstances, which could mold them into either 

 good or evil members of society. Thirdly came a class 

 happily not a large one whom no kindness could con- 

 ciliate and no discipline tame. They were sent into this 

 world labelled " incorrigible, " wickedness being stamped, 

 as it were, upon their organizations. It was an unpleas- 

 ant truth, but as a truth it ought to be faced. For such 

 criminals the prison over which he ruled was certainly not 

 the proper place. If confined at all, their prison should 

 be on a desert island, where the deadly contagion of their 

 example could not taint the moral air. But the sea itself 

 he was disposed to regard as a cheap and appropriate sub- 

 stitute for the island. It seemed to him evident that the 

 State would benefit if prisoners of the first class were lib- 

 erated; prisoners of the second class educated; and prison- 

 ers of the third class put compendiously under water. 



It is not, however, from the observation of individuals 

 that the argument against "free-will," as commonly under- 

 stood, derives its principal force. It is, as already hinted, 

 indefinitely strengthened when extended to the race. Most 



