move in a class that offers them as many opportunities for scanning and censuring, or applauding the conduct of their compeers, as are to be found in any petty coterie or village in the country. None, in their own estimation, are so vile as others; even Haynes, as he sat with his pipe surrounded and reproached, as he at first was, by his fellow-prisoners with perfidy of the blackest kind towards his companions, undertook with confidence the task of justification.

"Now," said he, finishing a draught of beer, "let's hear what this is all about. Out with it, don't be mealymouthed over it!"

"Well," replied the malefactor who had spoken to the sheriff, "there are ugly stories afloat about your 'peaching. Remember poor Long Tom, Owen Hag, Jack Hal, and Sandy Bill, besides

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Now stop, and hear my story about Sandy Bill. Somebody said just now, what's worse nor a nose? Why I'll tell ye. He who, after his pal puts him up to a good job, saves his life, grabs the swag, and then puts him in the hole. Now that's how Sandy Bill sarved me. But I'll tell you the story-all gospel, as safe as I means to drink this beer," holding out a quart-pot; "and when you're fly to the matter, you'll whistle a t'other side your mouth, Mr. Knowall! Poor Sandy! many's the mile I've padded with him when Oliver was not at home. He was the best pal to do business without a glim I ever knowed. He could almost see through a brick wall. I couldn't a-thought he'd serve me as he did. It happened once that three of my pals were all pulled up at once; two were topped, and t'other lagged. Now just at that time I was fly to a good job, but it wanted four hands; so I goes to Sandy and lets him into it, he agreeing to find the other two hands. Well, he brought them. The crib to be cracked was fourteen miles down north, where there was a barker to be silenced. So we starts one off first with nux vom. -grub to stach his noise; and then we other three, togged like costers, toddled after in a pea-drag, with sacks. Going along, we got a hundred of cabbages. One staid in a field with the drag, while I led with the other two. It was a swell crib, and I

thought would have taken longer than it did; but the job was got over pretty tidily enough, and a good swag of plate there was, with other things to stow in the drag. Sandy had got the last and best load on his back; while I, with the darky, was looking out behind to see if all remained quiet; for we had done the business so well, that none had been rousted out of their snoose. Presently I stagged a man between Bill and me; he had a gun, and was holding it in his hands as he dogged Bill, the same as if he was ready to fire. Ho, ho!" said I to myself; it's all up if I don't do something now! So I, to put an end on it, gets up close to him as he stopped against a tree, to watch how they were lumping the cabbages on over the swag, and quietly gives him a bit of cold steel. The b -y

busy fool turned out to be a gamekeeper's journeyman, who was going home to bed instead of minding the preserves. You may be sure we tipped the tit the whip after this.

Bill,' said I, after we had got into the highroad, the croker will lie still enough there till daylight, when we shall be safe at home; but as it's a heavy job, for certain there will be a great stink over it, you know as well as I do, crackmen should never know one another, let alone being seen together; so let one go home with the cabbages, and all part to find their way home by different

roads.'

"That's good!' cried Sandy; and I don't mind taking charge of the drag myself. Once through Holloway Gate, it'll be all right."

"Well, from that hour I never got a mag for my night's work. He meant to put me in the hole all along. Now was I right or wrong in 'peaching? If dog will eat dog, why shouldn't one have a dinner as well as another?"

"But about the croker?" called out one of his fellow-prisoners.

“Oh, the croker!” replied Haynes; "why 'twas he the reward was offered about; and what matters who did or who didn't do it; wasn't we all in it, and wasn't it for the good of all that the keeper's man was silenced ?" Most of the jury before whom this

case

was laid simultaneously exclaimed, " Putting a pal what does his duty in the hole is the wickedest

thing a man can do;" ergo, they settled it that it was worse than 'peaching. Besides," said one of the more logical reasoners of the party, “no man never has any excuse for putting his pal in the hole, while 'peaching may be a fair ground for taking revenge."

"How many were topped for that job" said one of those who had inveighed so much against Haynes.

"Only Sandy Bill," was the prompt reply.

"What then became of the others ?" said the querist.

"The others! Oh, poor fellows! they were put in the hole too, along with me. But when the proclamation was out, one was in prison at Norwich Castle, and t'other bolted, so I said nothing about them; 'cause that, you know, wouldn't have made the reward any more. But that was a funny business of them two I'm talking about, and shews the judges' sense up. Seeing as how they had been sarved, and hearing of the reward, they went into the country, poor fellows, to get out of the way; but having no master to put 'em up to proper work, they must go after cacklers, and one got grabbed."

The case to which this malefactor alluded, and described in his own way, will be better conveyed in the words of Sir Samuel Romilly, who mentioned it in the House of Commons, in answer to a speech delivered maintaining that the laws should be rendered severe to deter mankind from the commission of crime, while the extra ordina -the discretion of the judges, might in all cases, when they thought proper, mitigate their effect in practice:

"Not many years since," said Sir Samuel Romilly, *C upon the Norfolk circuit, a larceny was committed by two men in a poultry-yard, but only one of them was apprehended; the other, having escaped into a distant part of the country, had eluded all pursuit. At the next assizes, the apprehended thief was tried and convicted; but Lord Loughborough, before whom he was tried, thinking the offence a very slight one, sentenced him to only a few months' imprisonment.

"The news of this sentence having reached the accomplice in his retreat, he immediately returned and surrendered himself to take his trial at the next assizes. The next assizes came; but, unfortunately for the prisoner, it was a

different judge who presided; and still more unfortunately, Mr. Justice Gould, who happened to be the judge, though of a very mild and indulgent disposition, had observed, or thought he had observed, that men who set out with stealing fowls,

generally ended by committing the most

atrocious crimes; and building a sort of system upon this observation, had made it a rule to punish the offence with very great severity; he accordingly, to the great astonishment of this unhappy man, sentenced him to be transported.

"While one was taking his departure for Botany Bay, the term of the other's imprisonment had expired. What," exclaimed Sir Samuel Romilly, "must have been the notions which that little public who witnessed and compared these two examples formed of our system of criminal jurisprudence?"

Haynes's notion was, that the last judge was an amateur breeder of poultry, and had himself been pricked in his fancy.

"Never," said he, "touch a man's fancy goods; or if you expect mercy from a judge, never rob a judge. The galled jade will wince: that's what I always told the kids what's coming up in life.

"But now about Blinky's business, what happened at York. They have twitted me about that more nor t'others, but I can make that all right. Now listen."

The justification of this impeachment was cut off by the arrival of another doomed criminal, all the auditors instantly leaving the ward to see him, and hear the particulars of his case.

The newly-arrived had been condemned for a forgery of upwards of four thousand pounds, and came from a class far above the usual inmates of Newgate cells. Taking a hasty glance at the group to which he had been introduced, he turned his back towards them and sought seclusion under the wall.

"A sulky cove!" called out Haynes, loud enough to be heard by the person to whom he alluded. Others were about to pass their coarse gibes as the ordinary entered to pay his evening visit. Motioning them to assemble in the ward, he passed the forger unnoticed.

Whenever the ordinary observed a prisoner of apparent superior education seek seclusion, and separate himself from the others, he inferred

that reflection and self-examination were doing more than he could effect without these aids, and therefore was careful not to officiously obtrude himself. The turnkey, however, aware of the object of the minister's visit, intimated to the forger that his presence was expected amongst the others in the ward. On this hint he silently stole in, and seated himself in a corner with his head between his knees.

The minister, after dilating on the consequences resulting on a life of crime and sin, the efficacy of confession and repentance, exhorted them to join him in prayer, and was in the act of commencing, when he heard a voice distinctly pronounce, "Pii orant taciti!" This embarrassed him for a moment; but continuing his exhortation, he was again interrupted with the same words, more audibly and emphatically expressed. He then addressed the speaker-it was the forger:

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I sincerely hope," said he, "that you are one of those pious men.” "That is my concern," was the reply.

"The truly pious," retorted the minister, " are seldom obtrusive or rude. I cannot allow my sacred duties to be interrupted."

Commencing a prayer, he was a third time annoyed with the exclamation, "Pi orant taciti." Accustomed to annoyances and even insults, as the divine had been, it had never once crossed his mind that he should derive any advantage by causing coercive restrictions to be imposed on those whose ignorance or despair prompted them to dispute his authority as a teacher, or to cavil at the ordinances of religion, however rudely expressed. Haynes, taking advantage of the interruption, exclaimed,

"What's the use of making a row about it; don't we know that we are to be hanged, and what can you tell us more?"

last; who, as the command was given, assumed an attitude of determined disputativeness, when the ordinary commenced the following dialogue, which may afford the reader another opportunity of judging of the state of mind in which men even of education plunge into crime, and also of the difficulties a minister has to compete with who undertakes the task of awakening their sensibilities to religious truths :

"I am not," said the ordinary, "about to reproach you, although you have interrupted me in a sacred duty. I am ever prepared to make allowance for persons in your state of mind. My office in this place is to heal, not to plant thorns in the side of one already stricken by the awful sentence of death. If, however, I neglected to inform you, even thus early after your entrance into this place, that your case appears to be one in which the execution of the law will be carried out, I should abandon my duty. Mind you, it is only my opinion, offered in a spirit of kindness—namely, that you have no hope as regards this world!"

"Umph! you are at least candid. You parsons pretend to see a long way. What is your opinion, then, as regards the next? I know your motive for hovering about here. Come, out with it!"

"There is always hope there; that is, if it be sought for in a proper spirit."

Are

"Any man may hope, without inspiration-ay, for the realisation of the most palpable and preposterous chimeras. I want certainty. you authorised, if I listen to you, to give me a passport to the state of felicity, the prospects of which, I know, it is your intention to amuse me with? If you cannot, you will be of no use to me. Nor do I see why you should be allowed to torment those poor ignorant wretches that have just gone to their dens of misery with idle and speculative

matter."

"Let us confine ourselves to your own case. You ask whether I can give you a passport to the realms of blessedness? I can do thus much for you, I can inform you where you may hope to obtain a passport."

"Pshaw! why talk of things of which you know nothing? Why pretend to be a light to others, who are in darkness yourself?"

"I know that you are one of God's creatures, whom he cares for; one, too, that has lost his favour, by abandoning the guide he gave you --I mean your reason-and allowing one only passion to master you." "What passion?"

"Love of gain,-a passion that has driven you into crime. You have lost yourself under the influence of this passion; but you are not the only man I have seen foundered on one only passion."

"But if the love of gain be such a fatal passion, you, in common with all men, are ruled by it. Why else are you here now to torment us with dogmas? What but for hire?-for pay, for gain, or lucre, call it what you may.

He who receives wages for hire, for services rendered, obtains money honestly; but he whose desire of gain is so inordinate as to seek it dishonestly offends both the laws of God and man, thereby bringing both his body and soul into peril. You may urge that the world's troubles prompted you to the commission of the offence; but such a plea will be no justification when you appear, as you soon must, before the highest tribunal. You have dared the laws of man, be careful how you act towards your God. Believe me that man has a soul to be saved: the concentrated wisdom of all ages have agreed in this. And if you will allow the spiritual impressions to influence you, proofs are at hand to convince you that the soul may be saved, even late as it is with you. As yet you are ignorant of the efficacy of all saving grace."

"Figments of the brain - ima

ginary matters beyond the compass of reason!"

"No, the proofs lie in every man's breast- -even in yours; but you are unwilling to read them. It is not often I meet with one in this place so well qualified to read them as yourself. You are not ignorant, but only wilfully blind. All I need ask of you is to open your intellectual eyes. I cannot expect to be of any further use to you than to warn you that you are approaching a precipice, and caution you against falling into it unprepared."

"You are pleased to compliment me, sir; but with regard to the precipice I am approaching, you know all the roads of life lead to the same abyss, and all that go along them fall into it. There it is that man parts with all his troubles. It is the finale to a mysterious existence. Nothing worse-perhaps nothing better-can happen to a man than death. relieves us from the tyranny of our fellow-men, and such as your craft labour to impose on the mind."

It

"Believe me, there is no slavery on earth so hard to endure as that which sin imposes on mankind. It is sin that has inclosed you within these walls. Listen to me, and I will endeavour to put you in the way of emancipating yourself."

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Emancipation from these walls!

You !"

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Yes; you may emancipate yourself from all the bonds that fetter the soul, which are worse than the chains that confine the body."

"Can I escape from the sentence of death ?"

"No! All men lie under that sentence, as you have yourself just stated. But after death-what then? I will not ask you whether such a consideration has not occupied your mind; for it is the peculiar nature of man that he cannot dispossess himself of reflections on the question of death and the prospects of a future state of existence. It also belongs to his nature that the remembrance of his own bad actions shall most frequently obtrude themselves and haunt the mind, when it is that the cultivation of false notions distracts and renders men incapable of the enjoyment of happiness. He that reflects (and reflection in man is innate) on his own powers, and will not be so far ra

tional as to make a right use of his understanding, must needs stand selfcondemned:

"It is not from his form, in which we trace

Strength join'd with beauty, dignity with

grace,

That man, the master of the globe, derives His right of empire over all that lives.'

It is the mind that distinguishes him; which is a magazine of undiscovered things till the surface is broken, when appear the wonderful treasures that lie idle beneath. Submit yourself to self-examination, and acquire a knowledge of your own mind, and you cannot fail of beholding bright prospects beyond the vale of death, which are attainable by all that seek them in a proper spirit. If you will accept of any assistance I can render you, I shall not waste your time in discussing nice distinctions of faith, but shall endeavour to conduct you into the narrow but straight path that leads to salvation."

The forger struck his forehead violently with his hand, and remained silent for some time.

"This day," resumed the ordinary, "has lowered on your worldly prospects; let it open your eyes to brighter prospects for the future. But you must need rest. Remember your own words,- Pi orant taciti. You can do more for yourself than any other persons can do for you."

You have surprised me," exclaimed the malefactor, after a long pause, during which he had evidently struggled with himself, or the obstinacy with which he thought he was armed: "I did not expect so much of open-mindedness and liberal treatment in a prison minister. Whatever may be my conduct here, I will at once inform you that there shall from this hour be no admixture of intended rudeness towards you in it. Good night, sir. Accept my thanks for the time you have devoted to me."

The prisoner was then led to a cell, in which he was locked up alone; being the only educated malefactor sent to the cell-yard that session.

When the faculties of the soul are not wholly deadened by a long course of crime--that is so far deadened as

is always hope, under judicious treatment, of awakening condemned criminals to a sense of religion, and decency of behaviour towards those who are employed in the execution of the laws. On the other hand, a vast majority of the criminals that have occupied the cells of Newgate have been found totally incapable of religious impressions. The induration of their minds had been the work of a long course of crime; it would, therefore, necessarily require a long period of imprisonment, and a peculiar mode of treatment, to restore them to mental healthfulness--a period that is rarely allowed between the sentence of the judge and the execution of the law.

A question, however, may arise, though seldom mooted, whether the condition of mind in which a condemnation of death places a man is one in which healthful mental feelings for beneficial religious purposes are attainable? -a question that we will not pause to discuss in this place, though it is one which demands the serious consideration of all Christians who manifest a desire to provide for the salvation of the souls of mankind. The experience of those who have had the best opportunity of forming a correct judgment on this question leaves it in considerable doubt.

The ordinary's tact brought the forger to indulge in a rational hope of pardon from his God; and made him an active agent in endeavouring to resuscitate the spiritual energies of his more brutal fellow-sufferers, but, unhappily, without any beneficial effect.

The forger, the approver, and his associate in crime, together with one of the burglars that expressed his abhorrence of being executed with an impeacher, were the malefactors ordered for to suffer on the scaffold. As they were brought out to undergo the most trying part of the ceremony, preparatory to the last, namely, the pinioning, three out of the four sufferers met their fate in sullen insensibility, seeming to glory in defying the law to inflict a punishment on them.

Every animal of the brute creation offers resistance to those who attempts its life, and uses the means given it