Report of a committee appointed by the Society for the Prevention of Pauperism in the City of New York : on the expediency of erecting an institution for the reformation of juvenile delinquents.

  • Society for the Prevention of Pauperism in the City of New York.
Date:
1823
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report of a committee appointed by the Society for the Prevention of Pauperism in the City of New York : on the expediency of erecting an institution for the reformation of juvenile delinquents. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    book become more artificial, there is an obvious attem tion to the natural distinctions of crime; a more cautious inquiry into the quo animo—the nature and force of the temptation ; and more humanity in the retributions of legal justice. But the most important step in the enactment and administration of penal laws, is the full admission of the principle, that it is not revenge which stimulates society to the infliction of punish¬ ment, and arms the law with its severest denuncia¬ tions ;—that neither in the prescriptions of the Legis¬ lature, nor in the progress of juridical investigation and decision, are the vindictive passions to be allowed to operate :—but that the great ends of punishment are to deter others from crime, to prevent the aggressor from the repetition of his offences, and, if possible, to effect the moral reformation of all those who become amenable to the laws. It cannot but afford the highest gratification to every humane individual, to witness the solicitude which now prevails in relation to this subject. The zeal which is observable in various countries with respect to the improvement of prison discipline, to the reforma¬ tion of abuses, to the perfection of criminal laws, and to the more discreet and consistent treatment of those whom offended justice visits with its severe but need¬ ful inflictions, is an indubitable indication of that ex¬ pansive benevolence which is the genuine fruit of Christianity. It is creditable to this country, young as it was in experience, to have given to the world one of the first effective impulses in this new sphere of wise and charitable regulation—the Penitentiary System of Prison Discipline. Had that system been pursued