Troduriul.

The Christmas Quarter-Sessions at Birmingham opened on Monday ; when Mr. Recorder Hill delivered a charge to the Grand Jury on the question that now engages so much of the public attention—" What 41211 we do with our criminals ? " There were only seventy prisoners for trial, and .Mr. Hill wished it were possible from this to infer the dirainution of crime. Within the last few months, however, crime has rapidly increased ; but there are causes in operation that lead to exaggerated inferences as to the recent extension of crime. The winter months are more fertile in crime than the summer months, and in the long nights violence is added to robbery. Now and then a particular year stands prominent for the number and turpitude of such outrages. The year 1850 was one of those. The Police Gazette furnishes the numbers of outrages in each month for the two years between September 1851 and September 1853. "January 1851, 20' 1852, 18. February 1851, 8; 1852, 10. March 1851, 8' 18.52, 14. April 1861, 6; 1852, 9. May 11151, 7; 1852, 8. June 1851, 4; 1852, 5. July 1851, 3; 1852, 3. August 1851,3; 1852, 4. September 1151, 8; 1852, 0. October 1851, 10; 1852, 4. November 1851, 13; 1852, 8. December 1851, 19 ; 1862, 8. Total-1851, 109; 1852, 91."

Yet whether crime be increasing or decreasing, the subject is one that fills reflecting men with anxiety and humiliation. We give too much time to the luxuries of society, unmindful of its necessaries. We have spasmodic fits of energy for the suppression of crime, and in these paroxysms we clamour for the discarded weapon of severity. In ordinary times we barely tolerate the gallows ; now it becomes an object of respect— forgetting that

barbarous inflictions have ever failed of their in effect. ' The true questions for consideration are—the causes of crime, and their remedy.At the head of the causes is the reluctance to inflict heavy punishments. Capital punishment has been limited to wilful murder ; gaols have been improved ; simple larceny, no matter what its amount, cannot be punished with more than two years' imprisonment with hard labour ; no series of convictions for simple larceny can be visited with transportation. "Penal servitude for ten years is the highest penalty which can be incurred ; and penal servitude, unless for life, necessarily involves the return of the criminal to liberty in this country. Never, then, let us forget, that the evil under which we are suffering is the discharge among us of unreformed criminals, and that the main cause of that evil is the unreflecting tendency of the public sentiment towards a mischievous leniency. Surely, then, all who give themselves the trouble of mastering the subject must feel, that what we have to aim at is to prevent criminals once caught and convicted from being so placed as that they have the power of offending again until we have some proof that their habits and dispositions are changed for the better. And if the necessary discipline in gaol to which they are subjected should fail to produce this effect, then i8 it not unquestionably right that their seclusion should continue, even if it last for life', such result being the consequence of their own obstinacy in resisting reformatory influences, or their own incapacity to keep in subjection propensities incompatible with public safety."

Some persons, for whom he has unfeigned respect, turn their eyes to transportation. If that were practicable, it would be better to employ convicts on public works, in the construction for instance of harbours of refuge, the paucity of which causes a large amount of shipwrecks—there were 1060 last year. "Why should we lose the produce of the labour of our criminals, and bestow it on some non-existent community which when it comes into being will repudiate all such assistance ? And as I am now on a question of pecuniary advantage, let me not forget to assure you, that whoever favours transportation by reason of its alleged economy has fallen into a grievous delusion. Let two items of expenditure on this 'head be laid before you. I find them in the Appendix to a Report of a Committee on Transportation appointed during the last session by the House of Lords. It appears that although transportation to Tasmania, or Van Diemen's Land, as it was formerly called, has ceased for years, yet 4000 convicts still remain, at an annual cost of 142,236/., which is 351. per man. In Western Australia, soon to be closed against us, we have 2000 convicts, at an annual cost of 82,111101., or 41/. per man. But waiving all objections to the revival of transportation, pray, gentlemen, let it be remembered, that to plant a colony is to plant a tree ; and that years of growth will be required before it arrive at maturity. What it will then bear remains to be seen—whether sound fruit, or the apples of Sodom filled with dust and ashes." Towards the close, Mr. Hill came to "that word of fear 'the ticket-ofleave,'" and described the present practice. "The practice is to indulge him in every species of misconduct short of committing another offence cognizable by the criminal law, when, of course, whether he had or had not a ticket-of-leave, he would be deprived of his liberty. That a document so dealt with is an absurd affair, must be admitted; and if it had been made the subject of ridicule, none could have been surprised, and no one ought to have been offended : but to make it a grave object of attack, is, according to my thinking, to emulate and even to go beyond the absurdity of treating its conditions as waste paper. Long before tickets-of-leave had ever been heard of, thousands of convicts sentenced to transportation had been set free at home, by unconditional discharge, on the expiration of half their sentence. Now they are set free on the nominal conditions to which I have adverted, at a period somewhat but very little shorter. To the extent of this difference,

let it be conceded that the change is of treatment against the public interest. On the other hand, it must in justice to the authorities be stated, that the encouragements to good conduct, while criminals are in confinement, are

far better devised, and more efficiently carried into operation than heretofore, and are in course of still further improvement ; so that the chance of re formation, however small, is greater than in former days. On the whole, comparing the two regulations for the discharge of prisoners at home, I have no hesitation in stating my belief, that the present, although grievously defective, is a valuable improvement on that which preceded it. The true evil to us, let me repeat it, is, that since the stoppage of transportation, our convicts are discharged at our doors, keeping us in constant alarm ; whereas we formerly sent them to persecute our friends on the other side of the globe. If, gentlemen, we choose to alter the English language, and call every prisoner discharged at home a ticket-of-leave man, so be it; and then, as

it has been well said., 'whether an unreformed ticket-of-leave man is dis

charged with or without a ticket-of-leave he becomes an insufferable nuisance.' Very soon shall we practically feel the proof of this assertion. Next year the convicts adjudged to penal servitude will begin to be dis charged' and the stream having once begun to flow will never be dried up, and, if I mistake not, we shall find ourselves no gainers by the absence of the ticket. Knowing that their term of confinement would not be shortened by good conduct, the penal-servitude-men have already, according to the evidence of the prison-officers before the Transportation Committee, become lazy and mutinous ; so that we may expect the ticket-of-leave men of the present day to be reinforced by criminals whom the gaol has made Werse, much Worse, than it found them: I told you, gentlemen, I could point out a course that could be taken at once which would greatly alleviate our present condition with respect to criminals at large. The step which I propose is simply to make the conditions indorsed on the ticket-of-leave a truth instead of a fiction—to carry into effect the following resolution of the Transportation Committee of the House of Commons : That to render this system of ticketsof-leave adapted both for the reformation of offenders and the interests of the public, the conditions indorsed upon the tickets-of-leave ought to be enforced more strictly than appears to have hitherto been the ease.' Many ticket-of-leave men who are misconducting themselves are well known to the police, and these are probably the worst and most dangerous of their class. Many others, by reason of no means having been adopted to enable the police to learn their names and become acquainted with the persons of ticket-of-leave men in their respective districts, cannot be identified, and must therefore remain as if they had received a perfect and absolute discharge; an omission which the Committee, by another resolution, altogether disapproved, and recommended should be supplied, as I trust it will be in future. Still, much might be done tending for the present to still the agitation which has been produced by the manner in which the Ticket-ofleave Act has been carried into operation. The proposed measure, however, is but a palliative ; and I therefore trust that the next session of Parliament will not be suffered to pass away without our witnessing a thorough revision. of the whole system of our treatment of criminals."

The inhabitants of Gloucester held a second Anti-Income-tax meeting in their Town-hall on Monday ; the Mayor presiding. Both the City Members were present; and resolutions, substantially the same as those so hostile to the tax passed on a previous occasion, were again adopted. Admiral Berkeley set himself to vindicate the Government.

It is said that the Government would be guilty of such a dirty action as to take advantage of the lapse of twenty-eight days over the financial year to impose the double Income-tax for ano; her year. "It is even said that such is the intention of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, as we all know, is a very hard taskmaster ; it is his business to make a bargain for the country, and it is his business also to stand, by it when it is made. But the Chancellor of the Exchequer has a master over him hi the Prime Minister. Now, I will venture to contradict all those who have said that it is the intention of the Government to take this advantage of the people. Let me not be mistaken : I do not say this upon authority, but I say it as a subordinate of that Government. I do not believe that it would be capable of taking such an advantage. And why. do I say so ? Look at the antecedents—look at the character the noble Lord the Member for Tiverton, who is now at the head of the Government, has established for himself. His is no sneaking policy, is not to attempt to obtain anything by a quibble that he can obtain by asking for honourably and honestly of the representatives of the nation. Therefore do I say, wait till the time comes. I will not believe it till I see it ; and I, for one, would not be a party to it. * * • * Take care how you fall into the trap of doing away with direct to restore indirect taxation. Something has been said of the representatives by whose votes this tax was imposed : but look who it was that consented to the tax, and see whether they were not what is called the friends of the people' ; and look at those who opposed the vote, and you will find that it was the men who throughout their lives had been the bolsterers of monopoly."

The Admiral urged the necessity of maintaining our land and sea forces at a pitch equal to any sudden emergency.

Stroud has memorialized its Member, Mr. Horsman, against the Income-tax. The Town-Council of Bath, at a special meeting, held on Tuesday, resolved that the war ninepence should be taken off in April next ; "and that such portion of the tax as may be retained shall undergo revision, with the view to a more equitable distribution of it among the various classes of taxpayers."

Barnstaple, in public meeting assembled, its Mayor presiding and its Member Colonel Buck being present, resolved on 1 uesday, that the existing Income-tax ought to be repealed ; and pledged itself "to use every legitimate means to procure its repeal, and cause a moderate tax on property to be substituted in its stead."

Another element of bitterness has been thrown into the cauldron of Southampton politics : Mr. T. Falvey, Stamp Distributor there, has been suspended from his office by the Board of Inland Revenue, for interfering in the Southampton election, by speaking at public meetings in favour of Mr. Richard Andrews, one of the candidates for the representation of the borough. It is said that Mr. Falvey acted under legal advice. His suspension has called forth considerable "sympathy."

The Reverend Dr. Biekersteth was formally elected Bishop of Ripon, at a Chapter in Ripon Cathedral, on Tuesday. Dr. Bickerateth will be confirmed in York Minster on the 17th instant, and consecrated at Bishopsthorpe, near York, on the 18th.

The Arctic ship Resolute is now the property of the British Government. The ceremony of transference took place on Tuesday. At one o'clock the Victory saluted the American flag with twenty-one guns, and when the last gun had been fired, the Stars and Stripes were hauled down and the Union Jack floated alone at the peak ; British ensigns wen?, also hoisted at each mast-head. Then Captain Hartstein, standing bareheaded on the quarter-deck, addressed Captain Seymour, the son and Flag-Captain of the Commander-in-chief, with thanks for the hospitalities shown to his officers and crew. He expressed "a hope that, long after every timber in her sturdy frame shall have perished, the remembrance of the old Resolute will be cherished by the people of the respective nations. I now," he said, "with a pride totally at variance with our professional ideas, strike any flag, and to you, Sir, give up this ship." Captain Seymour having replied in a similar spirit to his "brother seaman," a party of marines took possession of the ship ; and the British officers present once more shared the hospitalities of Captain Hartstein. Captain Hartstein and his officers then went on board the Sprightly ; and as she quitted the harbour for Southampton Water, the crews of the Victory and Pembroke showed themselves and cheered. The American officers and crew were carried to the United States mail-packet Washington ; which on Wednesday, attended as far as the Channel by the Sprightly, sailed for New York.

Mansell, the soldier convicted at Maidstone of the murder of a corporal, has been respited, in order that a writ of error may be issued to test the legality of his conviction. It will be recollected that, in forming the jury to try Mansell, a contest arose out of an endeavour to obtain one of Maidstone people, as the townsfolk are behoved to have a strong feeling against capital punishment. The prisoner's counsel disputed the right of the Crown to go through the list of jurors a second time to make up a jury ; but Mr. Bares Bramwell ruled in favour of the Crown counsel's plan. The Attorney-General has granted his consent for the issue of a writ of error to decide the disputed point. If it is ruled in the prisoner's favour, he will be liberated, and thus escape all punishment for the murder.

John Hannah, who murdered his quondam mistress, Jane Benham a dancer, at Armley near Leeds, was hanged at York on Saturday. According to his last statements, the murder was the result of a personal quarrel begun by himself.

Dedea Redanies, the Servian soldier who murdered the two sisters Back, near Folkston°, was hanged at Maidstone on Thursday. It is said that he was a Mahometan until within the last year or two, when a Roman Catholic priest persuaded him to profess the Christian religion. Ile seems not to have viewed his execution as a punishment—he said he eared not for death, for "in a few moments I shall be in the arms of my dear Caroline," one of his victims. To the last, says the reporter, he did not " appear to consider that he had committed any crime : his idea seemed to be, that being fondly attached to Caroline Back, and fearing she was about to become connected with another man, he resolved to destroy her to prevent such a result ; knowing that the consequence would be the loss of his own life, but at the same time believing that he should at once rejoin his beloved one in the other world. In fact, death to him was the prelude to everlasting bliss, and with such ideas evidently fully impressed upon his mind he went to the scaffold as to a marriage-bed." On the scaffold he exhibited calmness and fortitude. After the execution, a man who was employed in removing the scaffold fell from a considerable height upon his head, and he was killed on the instant.

John Aplin and Thomas Nation, both labourers, after drinking together at a village in Somersetshire, went off in Aplin's cart. Nation saw five sovereigns in the possession of his comrade. On the way home he killed him with a knife, jumped out of the cart, started the horse, and went home. The body was found in the cart; Nation was arrested, "rod-handed," and four sovereigns were found in his possession. A Coroner's Jury found a verdict of "Wilful murder" against him. The inquest nearly resulted in a great disaster. It was held in the Town-hall of Wiveliscombe. While the Coroner was summing up, and before he had proceeded far with the evidence, the cast-iron girder supporting the cross-timbers of the floor of the hall suddenly snapped asunder with a loud report. The court was crowded, and terror and dismay were depicted in every face ; many who were themselves trembling with apprehensive nervousness called out to the people to keep quiet; and at length, through the coolness and presence of mind of the Magistrates, who requested those in fear to retire slowly by six at a time, the court was cleared of all except the parties officially connected with the inquiry. The floor was kept up by the timbers themselves in some manner, and beyond the fright no personal hurt was sustained.

Two garotte robberies are reported this week in the streets of Derby, both during the evening; and the victim in each case was an invalid.

William Mitchell, a young man, has met with a dreadful death in a sawmill near Bradford in Yorkshire. He improperly got among the works under a flooring, to sleep on some sawdust; in attempting to escape detection, his clothes Mlle in contact with a revolving shaft—he was caught, whirled round and round, dashed against a wooden pillar, and crushed to an almost irrecognizable mass.