98 report — 1877. 



stereoscopic lenses to be almost as effectual andf ar handier than the boxes sold in 

 shops. 



In illustration of what I have said about photographic portraits, I will allude to 

 some recent experiences of my own in a subject that I have still under considera- 

 tion. In previous publications I have treated of men who have been the glory of 

 mankind ; I would now call your attention to those who are its disgrace. The 

 particular group of men I have in view are the criminals of England, who have 

 been condemned to long terms of penal servitude for various heinous offences. 



It is needless to enlarge on the obvious fact that many persons have become con- 

 victs who, if they had been afforded the average chances of doing well, would have 

 lived up to a fair standard of virtue. Neither need I enlarge on the other equally 

 obvious fact, that a very large number of men escape criminal punishment who in 

 reality deserve it quite as much as an average convict. Making eveiy allowance 

 for these two elements of uncertainty, no reasonable man can entertain a doubt 

 that the convict class includes a large proportion of consummate scoundrels, and 

 that we are entitled to expect to find in any large body of convicts a prevalence of 

 the truly criminal characteristics, whatever these may be. 



Criminality, though not very various in its development, is extremely complex 

 in its origin ; nevertheless certain general conclusions are arrived at by the best 

 writers on the subject, among whom I would certainly rank Prosper Despine. The 

 ideal criminal has three peculiarities of character : his conscience is almost deficient, 

 his instincts are vicious, and his power of self-control is very weak. As a conse- 

 quence of all this he usually detests continuous labour. This statement applies to 

 the criminal classes generally — the special conditions that determine the descrip- 

 tion of crime being the character of the instincts, and the fact of the absence of 

 self-control being due to ungovernable temper, or to passion, or to mere imbecility. 

 The deficiency of conscience in criminals, as shown by the absence of genuine 

 remorse for their guilt, appears to astonish all who first become familiar with the 

 details of prison life. Scenes of heartrending despair are hardly ever witnessed 

 among prisoners ; their sleep is broken by no uneasy dreams — on the contrary, it 

 is easy and sound; they have also excellent appetites. But hypocrisy is a 

 very common vice ; and all my information agrees in one particular, as to the 

 utter untruthfulness of criminals, however plausible their statements may appear 

 to be. 



The subject of vicious instincts is a very large one : we must guard ourselves against 

 looking upon them as perversions, inasmuch as they may be strictly in accordance 

 with the healthy nature of the man, and, being transmissible by inheritance, may 

 become the normal characteristics of a healthy race, just as the sheep-dog, the 

 retriever, the pointer, and the bull-dog have their several instincts. There can be 

 no greater popular error than the supposition that natural instinct is a perfectly 

 trustworthy guide, for there are striking contradictions to such an opinion in indi- 

 viduals of every description of animal. All that we are entitled to say is, that 

 the prevalent instincts of each race are trustworthy, not those of every individual. 

 A man who is counted as an atrocious criminal by society, and is punished as such 

 by the law, may nevertheless have acted in strict accordance with his instincts. 

 The ideal criminal is deficient in qualities that oppose his vicious instincts ; he has 

 neither the natural regard for others which lies at the base of conscience, nor has 

 he sufficient self-control to enable him to consider his own selfish interests in the 

 long run. He cannot be preserved from criminal misadventure, either by altruistic 

 or by intelligently egoistic sentiments. 



It becomes an interesting question to know how far these peculiarities may be 

 correlated with physical characteristics and features. Through the cordial and 

 ready assistance of Sir Edmimd Du Cane, the Surveyor-General of Prisons, who 

 has himself contributed a valuable memoir to the Social Science Congress on the 

 subject, I was enabled to examine the many thousand photographs of criminals that 

 are preserved for purposes of identification at the Home Office, to visit prisons and 

 confer with the authorities, and lastly to procure for my own private statistical 



