It is a melancholy spectacle to behold the slothful man running on his career in sluggishness and lethargy: every day draws out its length and for ever expires, without being made subservient to one' good act. The morning awakes in splendour and beauty; and the virtuous and industrious man wipes away from his eyes the film of sleep, and plies himself to the engagements of his business in this period where is the idle man? Rocking on his bed of hateful indulgence, he lulls away the moment in torpor which otherwise would be felt too burthensome for his enervated mind to support. Those faculties with which heaven has endowed him are buried in sloth, and day by day passes by, without their being exerted and urged into action. The time of noon, is perhaps the time of his quitting bed, and then a favourite lounge or promenade serves to wile away a short period till dinner and feasting commences. The evening is only wished for, because it brings with it the din of company; the convivial merriment of the toper; the dry joke and facetious humour of the wassailer. The pampering couch is again sought when wine has annihilated reason and drunkenness turns the man into a beast. Listlessness and sluggishness succeed, and drown every attempt at exertion. The mind will not bear any spur that would goad it on to action. The limbs feel weak, and disease creeps through the young but healthless body. How widely different is the conduct of the industrious and sober man; and how much more is he to be envied and admired! He neglects not the duties of life, nor slights the commands of heaven. He remembers the voice of reason, and walks in the path of virtue and morality. He endeavours in all his conduct to draw honour and esteem towards himself, by effecting the happiness of those around him, and by discountenancing vice and shewing on all occasions a friendship towards those who practice goodness with sincerity. There is a surprising lethargy creeps through the person and mind of him whose hours are spent in inactivity and without exertion. A sensation runs through his frame which cannot be described; which annihilates every power of the body, and works with a paralysing hand upon the structure of his mind. He loathes every thing about him. Even his sensual and debasing pleasures be come tedious, and he does not follow them with accustomed alacrity. He cannot bear thought, because it renews the picture of his own condition. He shuns reading as it requires more attention than his sluggish faculties can be excited to shew. Beides, works of morality and virtue do not agree with the temper of his wishes: they condemn loose and debauched behaviour; they enjoin strictness in living, and the pursuit of temperance and sobriety. He does not meet one congenial expression in the pages of e moralist, and therefore heaves a the work that pampers not his follic The divine censures strongly what his conscience informs him he is guilty of committing; and consequently, the good man's strictures are, as it were, thrown away; for the unhappy sinner will not cherish them. Even writings which are not excellent in their tendency, and that have not virtue for their purport, wear an unseemly character in the eye of the slothful man. He may peruse here and there a striking passage, but it requires too great an application to read the book through. The powers have become dormant for want of regular action. They are inert and will not be stirred from their repose. The hour is gone over when they might have been brought back to a proper sense of decorum, but now they are impaired and have expended their whole energies. The day is felt weary by the lazy man, but he holds not the power to drive away its tediousness. Accustomed idleness engenders the most unbounded sloth: the passions become ungovernable, and though made sensible of their state by the repeated compunctions of conscience, fall into a stupor from which nothing can awaken them. It is impossible to arouse them: they have degenerated never to resume their vigour. Vice is also the offspring of an habitual idleness. It is well known that our nature is so very prone to do a wicked and obnoxious deed, in lieu of one of an opposite and stainless character, that it is obvious that the more time allotted to a person, the greater opportunity he will possess to gratify his inclinations. One hour comes, but it brings not with it any duty of which the blind and infatuated sluggard is sensible: he there fore finds it essential to submit tacitly to the irksomeness which preys upon his mind, or to work against his desires, and to take up some employment. 2 7 MAR 1969 "Then it is that wickedness suggests itself for acceptation; and, as it probably appears in fascinating and lively colours, it is instantly snatched at as an apt panacea for a "diseased mind." The expiring embers of declining strength are, for a brief space, indulged and apparently pleased; but, alas! it is a pleasure which early fades of which he feels, as it were, enamoured, but transient are its delights and its charms look beautiful as a meteor in the sky that flashes -splendidly on the vision and drops for ever into unsearchable space. this attempt at being happy proves futile, the disappointed wretch turns his thoughts to other things, and will wade through fortune and money to reach his purpose: he heeds not infamy, or the reproach of the virtuous; he despises honour, and entails upon his rashness the odium of the world, and the displeasure of God. When It has been the decree of the Most High, that in the sweat of his brow man should eat his bread; or in other words, that without labour and industry he could not obtain the necessaries of life, and therefore it is fit and proper that he applies himself diligently to some creditable employment, whereby this end may be realized. The earth will not bring forth its produce without being tilled and cultivated; nor will any thing thrive or prove profitable without the talent and application of our race. I have spoken of the slothful man, who has money to pamper his inclinations, and fortune to keep him from the workhouse; but what must be the condition of him who is sluggish, and yet has not money to feed his wants? it must be a desperate and alarming state. Haggard poverty staring him in the face, and penury grinning over his woes. He feels unable to apply to such things as would relieve his distress; and will rather live on the bounty of his friends, or take up with crime and evil, than do that which is honourable for an honest livelihood. Industry, whilst it furnishes a means whereby to live, is conducive to making life more perfectly happy. Health springs from it; and without health what poor creatures we are. The mind, too, being always comfortably engaged, falls not into stupor and languor; but is always cheerful, happy, and light. New Books. TWO VOYAGES TO NEW SOUTH WALES AND VAN With a description of the present condition of that Colony: including Facts, &c. relative to the Management of Convicts of both Sexes, &c. &c. BY THOMAS REID, SURGEON, R. N. It is a pleasing feature in the criminal Law of this Country, that the sentence which it pronounces upon its violaters, is directed not so much to the punishment of the offence as to the reformation of the offender, and whenever this object is not accomplished (no matter from what cause) the benevolence of its spirit is entirely defeated. Under such circumstances every lover of his country, and every friend to humanity, who perceives the evil, and feels himself able to point out a remedy, considers it his duty so to act. It appears to us that the author's efforts in the above work are directed to this point; it contains an interesting account of the transportation and settlement of convicts, besides furnishing intelligence, of their immoral and debased state; by which improvements are suggested in the execution of this important part of our criminal code. Mr. Reid has had the advantage of two voyages, as Surgeon of the convict ships Neptune and Morley, the one conveying male and the other female prisoners, and is therefore enabled to give ocular testimony in reference to the means adopted for their benefit,the effects they produced, the state and discipline of the vessels, and the situation of the colony and colonists on their arrival. As our limits will not allow us to enter very minutely into the work before us, we trust our readers will be satisfied with a few interesting extracts. ९ After the author has made some preliminary remarks, he thus proceeds :-- "As the public may not, perhaps, be generally informed of the minor particulars of the preparations and reception of convicts, and the outfit necessary for the voyage, it may not be deemed out of place to set forth here the comforts provided for them during their conveyance to New South Wales, or Van Diemen's Land. Every convict received on board the ship which is to convey the number determined by Government for transportation, is provided with one suit of clothes and a change of linen, besides a flock-bed, pillow, and blanket; and the following weekly supply of provisions is regularly served out to a mess of six persons in each." Here follows a table; containing 28lbs bread, 12lbs flour, 16lbs beef, 6lbs pork, 12 pints of peas, 6 pints of oatmeal, with small quantities of butter, rice, sugar, raisins, suet, vinegar, and lemon juice. Besides this, each convict is allowed 120 gallons of water, and two gallons of wine, the latter to be distributed specially at the Surgeon's discretion, and under his immediate superintendence. The women are allowed wine in the same proportion as the male convicts, and subject to the same restriction in its use; they have also a like proportion of provisions, with an addition of 3lbs of muscovado sugar, and half a pound of black tea per week, for each mess of six women. sides a suit of clothes given to each prisoner on coming aboard, another is provided, which is intended to be given them on landing at their place of destination. Be Most of our readers are probably aware that before the convicts are sent off, the juvenile offenders are separated from the men, and no intercourse is allowed between them, in order, if possible, to effect a reformation. But the author's experience is decidedly opposed to the general opinion entertained on that subject. "The reasons advanced in favour of this separation seemed to me at first view so plausible, that I unhesitatingly gave the measure my warm approbation. It has fallen to me, however to witness its pernicious effects, and to know that nothing can be contrived to injure them more, both in health and morals, than that very regulation; that, so far from being corrupted by an intercourse with the men, they are more likely to be checked and improved by their society. With this conviction on my mind, I would, in all deference to superior authority, presume to advise, that on board a male convict ship there should be no separate prisons for boys. Any person acquainted with the general depravity which characterizes most of the boys who are banished after a few months confinement in prison, will not hesitate to acknowledge that they are usually more corrupt and vicious than many of the grown up, and display traits of acuteness and refinement in knavery sufficient to astonish older adepts. These boys in general are very deeply conversant with immorality and turpitude; and the boys on board the Neptune, according to information I received which left no room for doubt, exhibited this disposition in a manner at once shocking to delicacy, and subversive of every principle of virtue." It appears from Mr. Reid's account that the conduct of the crew during one of the voyages was most atrocious, and even shocking to decency to hear their beastly language, which was much too gross for expression even in writing ;" and that they would not permit the vessel to proceed to her destination, until they had involved some of the unfortunate females in crime. Immediately on their landing, they are conveyed to prison, and a description is taken of their persons. name, and age, together with the nature of the employment for which each person is qualified. The superintendent of convicts is thus apprised of every thing requisite for directing a just and satisfactory assignment of the pri soners. The author thus proceeds : "About one-half of the female prisoners were disposed of in Sydney and its neighbourhood, and the remainder were kept in a separate place in the gaol, until an opportunity should offer for removing them to Parramatta, whither the Governor had directed they should be sent by water, to prevent improper conversation with straggling prisoners of the other sex, who are continually infesting the roads. It is to be remarked, however, that those whose behaviour or disposition had most frequently incurred cen. sure on the voyage, and consequently least merited favourable report, were singled out as the fittest objects for assignment, while many of those whose conduct had been uniformly deserving of approbation, whose names also were conspicuous for excellent character, were left to be transmitted to the Factory! "Connexions too spring up unexpectedly between the female convicts and pretended relatives by whom they are recognized, as it were, on their landing. This practise had grown to such mischievous extent in former years, that it was found necessary to order that no person from the shore should be allowed to visit the ship, or hold communication with the prisoners, without permission signified in writing and now a guard boat is commonly stationed in the Cove, to prevent any unauthorized persons from approaching a convict ship after her arrival, until the prisoners are disembarked. Previously to this order, it was usual for persons from the shore to go along side those ships, and even on board, and choose from among the female prisoners, wives, sisters, or other relatives, as circumstances would suit, for themselves and others; and these claims they used afterwards to substantiate on oath; on which the prisoners were accordingly assigned them. "In most of these cases, it is well known, no relationship whatever exists, the parties having never before, perhaps, known or heard of each other." The details of the picture are equally distressing to humanity. The author, among other things, says, On visiting the gaol in Sydney, the morning after the prisoners had been landed, I found that many of them spent the night in noise and indecent revelry, occasioned by beer and spirits which had been introduced, and that could not have been done without the knowledge of the keepers. Here then is a lamentable source of mischief to the convict on the very threshold of her exile. In the population of such a town as Sydney, the mass of which is formed of persons transported for their crimes, much moral turpitude may be supposed to prevail, which not all the existing regulations, however excellent they be, even were they maintained with exactness, are sufficient to repress. The number of houses licensed for the sale of beer and spirits, besides those where the like are vended clandestinely, by feeding the bad passions with dangerous incentive, retard the growth of moral reserve, and that rectitude of principle necessary to the existence of a well-ordered community." Parramatta is infinitely worse: "Four days (continues Mr. Reid) elapsed before the wind became favourable for conveying the remaining women to Parramatta, a water passage of about twenty miles, where I took occasion to visit them at the Factory on the morning after their arrival. It would indeed be a difficult task to give an adequate notion of the miserable state in which I found them. They all collected around me, and for several minutes not one of them could utter a word; but their streaming eyes and sobs sufficiently expressed the state of their feelings. Some of them gave a shocking account of the manner in which the last night had been spent. On their arrival the preceding evening, they had not got within the Factory before they were surrounded by hordes of idle fellows, convicts, who came provided with bottles of spirits some, and others with provisions, for the purpose of forming a banquet according to custom, which they assured themselves of enjoying without interruption, as a prelude to excesses which decency forbids to mention. They calculated, it seems, on this security, in consequence of a guilty understanding between themselves and the constables, whom they found little difficulty of reconciling to remissness on such an occasion. "At first I was unwilling to credit the account which these women gave of this strange and disorderly visit of the convicts; but they soon convinced me by pointing out several of these half-naked, half-starved, miserable-looking wretches, who were still lurking around this receptacle of misery, the well-known theatre of imfamous excesses. Several of the women, whose dispositions had been particularly improved on the voyage, and who still retained a strong sense of propriety, exclaimed with tears of anguish, O God! Sir, we are all sent here to be destroyed." They declared it to be quite impossible to remain virtuous amidst the concentrated immorality, and the various forms in which temptation was presented to them. I endeavoured to support their resolution with every argument against despair, which was evidently seizing on their minds, and tried to recall to their recollection the lessons they had heard so often during the voyage; but they again burst into tears, and with one voice declared, "Were angels from heaven placed here as we are, they would in three nights be corrupted." The writer concludes with the following observations : First. If the object of transportation to New South Wales be only the punishment of the criminal, it is seldom effected in the proportion contemplated by the law; as many of those deserving the most rigorous treatment live there much more comfortably than they could have done at home, and realize large fortunes: while others, with not a tenth of their turpitude, are consigned to misery and ruin. Secondly.In the case of Females, the merited quantum of punishment is equally uncertain in its infliction, though always excessively severe, owing to their abandoned mode of life. Lastly. But if the scope of transportation be, what it ought to be,— the reformation of the offender; it has, with the greater number of males, been unsuccessful; and with regard to females, it has very rarely indeed been attained. consummated. The investigation of the causes which led to this calamity would be a noble subject for an essay; but we are not prepared to entertain it even cursorily, and Mr. Townley has not entered upon it. Individual man, it has been said, cannot unknow what he has known; and yet there must have been an aggregate, as it were, of this unknowing process, before princes, prelates, and people, were plunged into ignorance, and forgot en masse the intelligence of their progenitors. Canons were promulgated against priests who were incapable of performing their duties; and Withred, King of Kent, in 693, made his mark to a charter (pro ignorantia literarum) because he could not write so much as to sign his own name, and had no carved plate of it, like Theodoric the Goth. Archbishops and bishops often did the same, and hence the word signing, as they signed with the cross, instead of subscribing. Those who could scrawl a little, often subscribed for their brethren, as we see stated in many deeds. "I, subscribed by the hands of have be cause I cannot write ;" or "-- -- Bishop' of having said that he could not write, I whose name is underwritten have subscribed for him." Towards the close of the century, the number of books even in the principal libraries was amazingly diminished. Immense prices were consequently given, and the richest of the Roxburghe Club might be staggered at 800 acres of land being paid for one volume of Cosmography, as Henry (History of Great Britain) informs us was done by Alfred, King of Northumberland, in 690, to Bishop Bercop * the founder of Wearmouth monastery. All the literature that did exist was confined to Cloisters; and it became common, at least in the East, to forbid the reading of the Scrip. tures by the laity. In the West, and especially among our Saxon ancestors, there was a glimmering of more light and learning. Theodore, Bishop of Canterbury, and Adrian, the African monk, not only publicly expounded the sacred writings, but brought many valuable Greek and Latin Classics (including Homer, Josephus, &c.) to this country. Caedmon He is said to have brought glaziers from France for this building, their art being then unknown in England. |