jects is undeniable; but, when criminals are
brought before it, this is not the duty which is then most prominent.
This is a duty which ought to have been performed before--it is a duty
which ought not to be forgotten then; but there is another function
which comes into operation, which is typified by the judge, not by the
schoolmaster.

We observe that Captain Maconochie confirms, from his own experience,
the opinion already expressed by many others upon the policy of solitary
confinement. For a short period the effect is good; but, if prolonged,
it leads either to stupid indifference or moroseness of temper, if it
does not conduct even to insanity. It is, manifestly, an expedient to be
cautiously used. We should, before any appeal to experience, and judging
only from the nature of the human mind, have confidently predicted this
result. And, indeed, has not the effect of solitary confinement been
long ago understood and powerfully described? In that delightful tale of
the Arabian Nights, where the poor fisherman draws up a jar from the
bottom of the sea, and, on opening it, gives escape to a confined spirit
or genie, this monster of ingratitude immediately draws a huge sabre,
with the intention of decapitating his deliverer. Some parley ensues;
and the genie explains that he is only about to fulfil a vow that he had
made while incarcerated in the jar--that, during the first thousand
years of his imprisonment--and, to an immortal genie, a thousand years
may reckon as about two calendar months with us--he promised to his
deliverer all imaginable blessings; but, during the second thousand
years, he vowed that he would _kill_ the man who should release him!
Could there possibly be a better illustration of the effect of solitary
confinement?

But on the peculiar modifications of prison discipline, it is not our
purpose here to enlarge. This must be reserved to some future occasion.
We must content ourselves with observing, that we have little confidence
in novelties, and little wish to prompt the invention of our legislators
in this direction. We are as little disposed to advocate the silent as
the solitary system. Such a demeanour as any reflective man would
naturally expect to find in a place of public correction, is all that we
should require to be preserved. All boisterous mirth, all obstreperous
laughter, all loud talking, would, by every efficient governor of such
an institution, be systematically repressed. The labo