so the "Paradiso" depicts the beatitude and crowning happiness of heaven. The three poems constitute an allegory of the onward and upward toils of the human soul towards the last rewards promised in its redemption; and their translations by Mr. Wright—although they do not acquit us of our gratitude to Cary may be placed high amongst the worthiest efforts of this kind we possess in our language.

–

Descending from this empyrean height, we have a poem by Charles Mackay, entitled the " Hope of the World"," from which much hope of the poet's future progress may be drawn. Mr. Mackay avows himself a disciple of that "simple, natural, and enduring school of poetry which has produced such writers as Pope, Goldsmith, Rogers, and Campbell." If Mr. Mackay had not written this sentence, we should have indulged ourselves in a higher estimate of his judgment; for who, before this sentence was put upon paper, ever committed the extravagant and gratuitous folly of asserting that Pope belonged to that "simple, natural, and enduring school," at the head of which he is placed by this gentleman? Mr. Mackay appears to have mistaken the regular flow and monotonous propriety of Pope for simplicity, and to have been cheated by his ear into the notion that the filigree verses of that exquisite artist were the pure outpourings of nature. Pope would have cracked his jaw with laughter, laughter being a very unusual exploit with him, could he have heard his poetry praised for nature and simplicity; for none knew better than Pope himself how thoroughly artificial it was, by what tortuous modes it was worked into form, and how far removed it was from that truthful and healthful spirit which Mr. Mackay really loves and faithfully cultivates. Happily for himself, he flatters Pope only by including him in this hasty catalogue, but no where imitating him in his poems, which are distinguished throughout by a fine sympathy for his fellow-men, a practical tone of Christianity, and a clear comprehension of the true interests of humanity. The general characteristics of the numerous pieces in his volume are the liberality and benevolence of the sentiments, and the correctness of the versification.

In a volume called the "Regrets of Memory 12," the reader is treated to a very curious exhibition of the most opposite moods of mind through which even a poet can be supposed to pass. The object of the first poem, written in ambitious heroics, is to show that every thing upon earth teems with sources of disappointment and sorrow, and that there is only one cheering vista for man, the promises of Christianity. In the minor poems that follow we have some of the most merry-hearted, hand-gallop verses that could have been committed by Pantaloon, such as "The Quill Driver;" "Written for Captain B, to present to a lady with a worsted kettle-holder;" "A Conversation which took place at the Ordinary during the Dorchester Races," the whole winding up with a gay, sprightly, dashing "Anacreontic." The poetical merits of these productions are of the slenderest kind; but, if we are to choose, give us the grotesque humours of the bagatelle verses, which, trivial as they are, contain more good sense in a single stanza than the whole essence of mawkish misery condensed into the "Regrets of Memory."

"The Vert-Vert" of Gresset 13, which was certainly not wanted in our tongue, has been translated by Mr. Montagu with much care and vivacity.

11 The Hope of the World, and other Poems. By CHARLES MACKAY. London: Richard Bentley.

1840.

12 The Regrets of Memory; a Poem. Wix. 1840.

With Minor Poems, Translations, &c. London: Henry

13 Vert-Vert: a Poem. In Four Cantos. Translated from the French of M. Gresset. With Illustratory Notes. By M. MONTAGU. London: Henry Starie. 1840.

As far as the translation is concerned, we think the translator has done well; but in his choice of a subject he has done ill. Much the same commentary will apply to a metrical tale, apparently executed by the same hand, entitled "Belfagor 14," and founded upon a well-known novella in the prose works of Machiavelli. The version is executed with considerable spirit; but we could have dispensed with a production, the looseness of which is but poorly atoned for by brisk versification and broad humour.

May thy lines fall in pleasant places, Moxon, thou angler in the pure well of English undefiled. The sight of the new "Beaumont and Fletcher 15," in two grand volumes, and of D'Israeli's" Miscellanies of Literature 16" restore us to the rejoicing images which surrounded us like rays of light, thickly laden with stars, when we bounded out an hour ago into the sequestered nooks and green depths of the wooded valleys, listening to the troutstreams and the music of birds, and the gushing falls of waters over the unseen rocks in the dells of the mountains. Why, these are books to linger over by the brink of a rivulet until the sun goes down and blots out the day, sending us home with a multitude of crowding fancies in our brain that rush between us and sleep. Every leaf is haunted by beauty, by human passion and love in its highest ecstasies; and flowers spring out of the rich margins, like violets peeping through their modest leaves; and the head and the heart, informed, elevated, and improved, gain fresh arguments on behalf of the fair earth, and the marvellous enchantments by which it is thronged, from the old poets and the modern gatherer of curiosities: and here, too, is George Darnley, himself a poet, discoursing of the brother dramatists, and soliciting the reader for indulgence in the task which has fallen to him; but he might have spared himself the superfluous deprecation, for he has discharged his functions with a becoming vigour and a fulness of knowledge and feeling that shed abundant graces over his introduction. We place these books apart from all the rest, to be taken down at still intervals, and reverently perused: - and having concluded our ramble, we shade our brows with both hands, and open the charmed volumes at the "Noble Gentleman," where the first line that catches our eyes expresses the whole sense of their merits :

"'Tis for tongues

Of blessed poets, such as Orpheus was,
To give their worth and praises !"

14 Belfagor: a Tale.

London: Henry Starie. 1840.

15 The Works of Beaumont and Fletcher. Vols. London: Edward Moxon. 1840.

With an Introduction by GEORGE DARLEY. Two

16 Miscellanies of Literature. By the Author of " Curiosities of Literature." A New Edition, revised and corrected. London: Edward Moxon. 1840.

PROPOSED REMEDY FOR JUVENILE DELINQUENCY.

AMONGST the plans lately proposed for checking the rapid increase of juvenile delinquency, we have heard of one which appears to strike at the root of the evil. It is embodied in a bill that has been recently brought before the House of Lords by the Lord Chancellor. The chief object of this bill is to place children below fourteen years of age, on their first conviction, under the guardianship of the state for seven years; with a proviso, however, for shortening that term in certain circumstances, and by the recommendation of the proper authorities.

We are not aware of the minor details of the bill, if at present decided upon; but having been favoured with the sketch of a plan for the management and disposal of the young delinquents, who will thus be placed under the care of the government, we have been led to regard with much more of hope than apprehension this contemplated and important change in one branch of criminal legislation. From having at first considered the project exceedingly difficult of execution, we have been brought to believe it not only easy of accomplishment, but calculated to operate both as a remedy for and preventive of crime. Those tendencies, if not obvious at first sight, will become evident from a fuller consideration of the subject.

On the evils of sending children to prisons where an association with older offenders is to a certain extent unavoidable, it is hardly necessary to dwell. It is notorious that reformation is so rarely the result of imprisonment, that benevolent persons, who have suffered from the depredations of young thieves, have often been unwilling to prosecute, fearing to confirm the prisoner in his evil habits by a committal to prison, if assured that the offence in question was the first.

If evidence were wanting to establish the fact that criminal habits are frequently confirmed by a first residence in gaol, we find it in the following statement taken from the first report of the Constabulary Force Commission. It is part of a narrative collected by order of Mr. Chesterton, the Governor of Cold-bathfields Prison, from the account of the prisoners themselves.

"When a young thief is sent to prison for the first time, he, either by conversation and intercourse with more experienced thieves, becomes fixed and determined in that pursuit, or, by the discipline experienced, dread and terror are imprinted on his youthful mind, and he is reclaimed. If disposed to follow the pursuits of thieving, by imprisonment he forms so many acquaintances that he is never afterwards at a loss for a companion; he becomes acquainted with thieves more versed in the art than himself, who direct his attention to more lucrative pursuits; his emulation is spurred, and each time his term of imprisonment expires he enters society with a fresh stock of knowledge, and consequently becomes its more dangerous member. Love of fame forms no small proportion of a thief's composition. The estimation in which his character is held by his companions is determined by the number of times he has been in trouble, and the conduct he pursued on these occasions towards his pals,' or confederates: if he has once informed against them he is deemed unsafe to trust, and until the stain is removed by his hereafter staunch conduct, he does not rise in his profession."-P. 384.

It would not be difficult to show, from the returns of various prisons, that the proportion of boys "reclaimed" is comparatively small; but as there are no means of obtaining a perfectly accurate estimate of recommittals, we cannot attempt to state the precise number. Whatever it be, if dread

and terror alone are the motives by which reformation is induced, such intimidation might be used without the risk of intercourse with hardened offenders; but we are not believers in the reforming agency of intimidation, except on the most depraved, in whom its good effects are not more lasting than the immediate cause. The probability is, that those poor children who are termed "reclaimed," have committed crime in ignorance of its nature, or in obedience to the commands of parents, by whom they have been taught evil as sedulously as other parents wish to inculcate virtue. It is certain that many children have not the slightest idea of right and wrong, in connection with thieving, except as far as success ensures triumph. Since, in 1834, several young female criminals have been removed to the Asylum of the Children's Friend Society, at Chiswick, the managers of that institution have had frequent opportunities of discovering by conversation the state of the children's minds, their previous education, and general notions with regard to crime. The following dialogue took place between one of these children and a member of the committee of management. The girl, at the age of eleven, underwent a year's imprisonment at the Millbank Penitentiary, in a solitary cell, relieved by the occasional visits of the governor, of lady visiters, and of the matron: her offence was stealing sovereigns from a till in a shop where she was employed. On the expiration of the term she was received into the female asylum, belonging to the Children's Friend Society. After twelve months she was selected by the head matron to accompany her abroad as servant. Being asked what tempted her to commit the robbery, and whether any one persuaded her to take the money, "No, I did it myself," was her reply. "I do not remember my father or mother; my grandmother placed me in a shop at North-Shields, I saw a great deal of money in a drawer, and I took seven sovereigns.

"How did you spend them?"

"I did not spend all I bought something to eat, and some clothes."

"Were you hungry when you did this?”`

"I do not remember."

"How were you found out?"

"A man asked me where I got the money, and I told him.”

"What happened afterwards?"

"A policeman came and took me to some place, and then I was put on board a ship and brought to the Penitentiary."

"Is your grandmother alive?”

"I do not know I have never heard any thing of her since."

"Have you any other friends?"

"No."

It is evident that a child of such a disposition only requires to be placed in circumstances more favourable to the growth of character; but as children cannot be taken out of a pernicious moral atmosphere until the first commission of crime affords proof that they have suffered from the contagion, the question is, how they should be dealt with on the first conviction, When removed from a possibility of intercourse with hardened offenders, there is a fair chance of reformation for the young delinquent, hitherto but little experienced in the practice of crime; but a lesson is first to be unlearnt and though, from the total change of scene and circumstances, a very marked improvement is frequently soon observed in demeanour, time must be given

;

It is not believed that this child knew the different value of sovereigns and sixpences, or that she was more culpable in taking the one coin than the other. Yet the law judges an infant according to the relative value of money, and not according to the dishonesty of the act. A short time ago a young man, under twenty-one, who destroyed himself, was not considered by the law as guilty of felo de se, because of his minority; while children under fourteen are treated as adult crimi, nals for acts of theft, of the guilt of which they are scarcely conscious.

to strengthen the newly-acquired habit, and to fix the principle by which subsequent temptation may be resisted. They who are familiar with education under the most favourable auspices, know with what care motives must be instilled, and conduct watched, before the permanent regulation of character can be relied on: how much, then, is the necessity for time and patience increased by the peculiar circumstances of criminal children!

On this consideration, the practice of convicting for a short period is highly objectionable; such convictions are in fact worse than none at all. A child is placed under correction, the justice of which, even admitting it to be just, could not be fully apprehended by himself till after he had made some progress towards reform, but which is not persevered in for a sufficient time to allow any such progress to be made; he is then returned to his former temptations and associates, either with feelings of aggravated bitterness towards those who have made him suffer, and an utter unconsciousness of his guilt, or in the not less pitiable condition of having an awakened conscience and a desire to amend, without the power of escape from contamination. In either case the character is deteriorated; for the habit of committing crime, knowing its unlawfulness, is as great an evil as the vindictive disposition generated by a sense of wrong.

We repeat, that before correction can produce its effect on character, its justice must be acknowledged; but how can this be the case, when retributive instead of reformatory treatment is pursued? In the great majority of cases, retribution cannot be fairly proportioned to deserts; if it be in any instance so proportioned, its justice cannot, under the circumstances, be appreciated by the criminal.

The new bill on the subject of Juvenile Delinquents proposes that they should be placed under the guardianship of the state for seven years; and the treatment contemplated, as likely to induce reformation, is described in the following sketch of a plan for the management and disposal of the juvenile delinquents, male and female, who may be brought under the care of the state by the proposed enactment.

It is proposed to establish three male and three female penitentiaries, houses of correction, and training schools.

The first to be rather penal in its character and strict in detention. The second, one of greater liberty and more variety of employment. The third, to wear the aspect of a school of industry and agricultural training.

There shall also be two vessels fitted up as transports, but to be organised in school fashion, with carefully selected masters and crews, school-master, matron, school-mistress, and chaplain one for the males, the other for young females. These ships will be prepared to receive such of the wards, as, from character and circumstances, shall be recommended to be placed as apprentices in the British colonies. Guardian committees and legal commissioners shall be appointed by the governors in the colonies, and under their superintendence, to receive, place out, and watch over the apprentices according to the plan pursued by the Children's Friend Society.

It is also proposed that a governor and inspector of all the establishments, male and female, shall be appointed, with authority to choose his male officers, Parkhurst being his head quarters:that a lieutenant-governor shall be appointed to take the command there when the governor shall be absent upon tours of inspection.

That the management of the female department shall be vested in a committee of twelve ladies, subject only to the control of the secretary of state, the inspection of the governor, and the occasional visits of a government educational inspector.