and prisoners
were put to the severest labour in all sorts of weather, so that most of
them soon succumbed to the extreme hardships which they suffered; this
was supposed to be beneficial in some ways, inasmuch as it put the
country to less expense for the maintenance of its criminal class; but
the growth of luxury had induced a relaxation of the old severity, and a
sensitive age would no longer tolerate what appeared to be an excess of
rigour, even towards the most guilty; moreover, it was found that juries
were less willing to convict, and justice was often cheated because there
was no alternative between virtually condemning a man to death and
letting him go free; it was also held that the country paid in
recommittals for its over-severity; for those who had been imprisoned
even for trifling ailments were often permanently disabled by their
imprisonment; and when a man had been once convicted, it was probable
that he would seldom afterwards be off the hands of the country.

These evils had long been apparent and recognised; yet people were too
indolent, and too indifferent to suffering not their own, to bestir
themselves about putting an end to them, until at last a benevolent
reformer devoted his whole life to effecting the necessary changes. He
divided all illnesses into three classes--those affecting the head, the
trunk, and the lower limbs--and obtained an enactment that all diseases
of the head, whether internal or external, should be treated with
laudanum, those of the body with castor-oil, and those of the lower limbs
with an embrocation of strong sulphuric acid and water.

It may be said that the classification was not sufficiently careful, and
that the remedies were ill chosen; but it is a hard thing to initiate any
reform, and it was necessary to familiarise the public mind with the
principle, by inserting the thin end of the wedge first: it is not,
therefore, to be wondered at that among so practical a people there
should still be some room for improvement. The mass of the nation are
well pleased with existing arrangements, and believe that their treatment
of criminals leaves little or nothing to be desired; but there is an
energetic minority who hold what are considered to be extreme opinions,
and who are not at all disposed to rest contented until the principle
lately admitted has been carried further.

I was at some pains to discover the opinions of these men, and their
reasons for entertaining the