Four of the Irish convicts who were found guilty of
preparing dynamite for use in the conspiracy against the British Government, have been set at liberty on the ground of ill-health, and one of them, Whitehead, and perhaps also another, is said to be so unhinged by the long imprisonment that he i3 incapable of understanding the situation and of looking after himself. Indeed it is stated that Whitehead has escaped from his own home in Skibbereen, and is wandering about in Ireland, possessed by the belief that he is pursued by agents of the Government. Of course there is a great outcry against the system of imprisonment which brings about these miserable consequences, and it seems not unlikely that the eatery will go as far as insisting that, whatever the crime may be of which a man is fairly convicted, he ought to be exempted from any punishment which may possibly or probably bring about alienation of mind. That really means that our prisons should be made cheerful, or at least not disagreeable, abodes for all the convicts with long sentences,—a course which would certainly result in a considerable indifference to long sentences, and perhaps in a not inconsiderable desire to incur them. We know of no treatment for serious crime which would be at once universally disliked, and yet un- likely to prey on the nerves of men whose nervous system was not robust. Would it be desirable in the interest of the public at large to diminish greatly the dread of the prison discipline for serious Crimea?
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