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ergy and astuteness, in those who are appointed to look out for them.

We are not prepared to say what modifications may be needful, (except that when a rogue is caught, he shall be held fast till he has satisfied the demands of justice,) but we think it revelant to allude to a suggestion of the chief magistrate of Birmingham, (Eng.,) which has occasioned no little discussion in that country.

At the opening of the sessions, October 19, 1850, Mr. Hill, the Recorder of the borough, in addressing the grand jury, propounded a scheme for the effectual repression of crime. It is notorious, he said, to all the world, that a numerous class exists among us, known individually to the officers of justice as persons who follow crime as a calling, and who have no other means of subsistence than the remuneration which belongs to their nefarious course of life. For a time, not unfrequently extending over several years, they follow this calling with impunity, because no opportunity has been found to bring home to them any particular act of crime. That they must of necessity commit offences daily, is just as well known to the police, as it is known to us that the passengers whom we meet in the streets, must daily eat and drink, although we do not follow them to their homes, and are not able to aver that they have taken food of any particular kind, or at any particular moment. The question for consideration is, whether the period has not arrived, when the knowledge thus possessed by the officers of justice may be made available to the breaking up of those gangs which hold us in a state of miserable fear, and which, by the example of their impunity, obtain recruits, and spread abroad a moral pestilence. Probably, you will be of opinion that no Englishman has much cause to be afraid that he will at this day, be exposed to wilful oppression in our courts. If, then, he can be secured from embarrassment in his defence, no ground will remain why we should forbear from calling on a party to defend himself against a charge arising out of a course of conduct any more than from a charge arising out of a particular act or acts. And this object, I think, may be accomplished, as I will proceed to explain. But I shall probably make myself better understood, if I call your attention to an instance in our law in which the principle in view has been acted upon, or, at all events, very closely approached. There is a statute on the books by which a reputed or suspected thief, by frequenting streets and certain places therein described which are supposed to furnish greater opportunities for plunder than others, may, if the magistrate before whom he is brought infer from such frequenting, that his intent was to commit a felony, be adjudged to be a rogue, and be punished with imprisonment. Here, then, we see that, by the law of England, a person, under given circumstances, may be treated as a criminal, and deprived of his liberty, without proof against him that he has committed any act which

of itself is of a criminal nature. This provision, which is now nearly a century old, is no doubt a wide departure from the general principal of our jurisprudence, to which I have adverted. No complaints, however, have arisen out of the exercise of this authority, open to abuse as it certainly would appear to be. What I would propose is, that when by the evidence of two or more creditable witnesses, a jury has been satisfied that there is good ground for believing, and that the witnesses do actually believe, that the accused party is addicted to robbery or theft, so as to deserve the appellation of thief, he shall be called upon in defence, to prove himself in possession of means of subsistence, lawfully obtained, either from his property, his labor, or from the assistance of his friends. On the failure of such proof, let him be adjudged a reputed thief, and put under high recognisances to be of good conduct for some limited period, or in default of responsible bail, let him suffer imprisonment for the same term. And, as in matters of such moment, it is always advisable to proceed with great cantion, I would, until the experiment has been tried and found successful, confine the operation of the law to persons who have already been convicted of a felony, or of such a misdemeanor as necessarily implies dishonesty in the guilty party, as for instance, obtaining money or goods under false pretenAs the testimony against the accused would only amount to a presumption of guilt, so it should seem but reasonable that such testimony might be met by a counter-presumption, arising out of the fact that his wants did not place him under any overwhelming temptation to commit the crimes, in which he was supposed to be engaged. By this course of proceedings, he would be relieved from the danger of undue embarrassment in his defence. A party in the enjoyment of an honest means of subsistence, can have little difficulty in proving the fact. Doubtless a law so framed, would leave some thieves still at large, because it would be too much to assume that none are in the habit of stealing who have other sources of maintenance; yet it would argue very little knowledge of the predatory class, not to see that such a provision would enable the ministers of justice to withdraw from society nine-tenths of the criminals who now roam at large.

ces.

We are not prepared to say how far such a provision as Recorder Hill suggests, would accomplish the purpose he has in view, nor indeed, how far it would prove practicable if attempted. Inasmuch, however, as arrests are difficult,-escapes easy, prosecutions expensive,-convictions (of the guilty parties) often defeated, and pardons not rare, it would seem the dictate of wisdom, to apply checks, and counteracting agencies, to the criminal intent, tendency, or position of the party. As a general thing, an idle, able-bodied poor man, has no right to complain, if the eye of the police follows him wherever he roams or rests. His very idleness is an offence against all

social laws. He wrongs somebody, and only wants a faint impulse to push him into a league with burglars and incendiaries, or to turn his hand to the more sedentary employment of forging and counterfeiting. It seems a pity that he should be left in this predicament till he becomes a master of iniquity, when perhaps, by the interposition of some mild but timely restraint, his course of life might be entirely changed. Our own impression is, that if half the pains were taken to divert men from these criminal courses, which we take in their pursuit and conviction, when they have fairly entered upon such courses, society would be a large gainer.

CIRCULAR.

RHODE ISLAND NORMAL SCHOOL.

The Rhode Island Normal School for ladies and gentlemen, will be opened in the ante.rooms of the Second Universalist Church, nearly opposite the City Hotel, Broad-street, Providence, on Monday, November 1st, at 9 o'clock, A. M.

The School will continue for two terms of eleven weeks each, or twenty-two weeks in all.

Courses in Reading, Elocution, English Literature and Rhetoric, will be given by Prof. William Russell, late Principal of the Merrimack Normal Institute.

Instruction in Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry and Geography, will be given by Dana P. Colburn, Esq., late of the Bridgewater Normal School, and instructor in the Massachusetts State Institutes.

Lectures on the art of teaching, and instruction in Grammar and the analysis of the English language, will be given by S. S. Greene, Superintendent of Public Schools in Providence, and Professor of Didactics in Brown University.

Lectures on Chemistry and Physiology, by Prof. G. I. Chace, and on Physical Geography, by Prof. A. Guyot, may be expected, if the enterprise meets with sufficient encouragement.

The members of the School will have access to the large and valuable library of the University.

It is the design of this school to fit teachers for the practical duties of the school room. It will, therefore, be the aim of each of the instructors to give lessons on the best methods of teaching the various departments of the common branches, rather than to survey new

fields of study. The members of the school will be expected to attend especially to the best methods of imparting instruction, not overlooking, however, the best methods of acquiring knowledge.— It is expected, therefore, that none will seek for admission to the school but those who can sustain a fair examination in the common branches.

It is earnestly hoped that those who enter the school will remain through the entire course of twenty-two weeks; and no one will be allowed to enter for a shorter time than one term.

By the liberality of several gentlemen, citizens of Providence, all the incidental expenses of the school have been defrayed, so that the instructors are able to put the tuition at the low rate of $8 per single quarter, or $15 for the entire course, without additional charge. At the end of each quarter the school will undergo an examination by a committee consisting of the following gentlemen:

His Excellency Gov. ALLEN.

Hon. E. R. POTTER, Commissioner of Public Schools.
Hon. A. C. BARSTOW, Mayor of Providence.

THE COMMITTEE ON QUALIFICATIONS, of the Providence
Rev. A. H. DUMONT, Newport.

Rev. JOHN BOYDEN, Woonsocket.

[Schools.

All communications concerning the School should be addressed to SAMUEL S. GREENE, Providence.

PUBLIC HEALTH.

Atten

In the year 1849, the State of Massachusetts appointed a Commission, consisting of Dr. Shattuck and others, to report a plan for a sanitary survey of the State. This commission made a report in 1850, which is full of the most valuable information. They enter into the consideration of all the various causes which affect public health; and the greater part of the topics are of as much importance to the people of Rhode Island as to those of Massachusetts. tion is given to the effects of crowded lodging houses, public squares, sickness in schools, burials, quarantine laws, public baths, refuse and sewerage of cities, adulteration of food, and quack medicines. One subject is introduced, which is, perhaps, of more importance here than it is in Massachusetts. It is the effect of mill-ponds, reservoirs and stagnant waters, in producing sickness. We have always thought this a subject deserving of the deepest consideration. Yet it is very seldom thought of as a source of disease. The whole report is interesting, and ought to be generally circulated and known."

From the Boston Traveller, August 20. 1852.

NEW ENGLAND NORMAL INSTITUTE.

The preparatory arrangements connected with the seminary edifices and boarding accomodations of this institution, are now we understand, in progress, with a view to opening early in May, in the town of Lancaster, in this State, the inhabitants of which have liberally secured to the establishment a central and advantageous as well as beautiful location.

The new Seminary, though designed as a strictly professional School for Teachers, of both sexes, and intended to be conducted in the form of a Teachers' Institute in permanent session, yet differs, in several important points, from those excellent establishments, the Normal Schools of the State. It is to be open to teachers from all the States of New England, or from any part of the Union. Being a private undertaking, it will lay no restriction on its graduates, as to where they shall teach, subsequently to their course of professional study. It will admit persons intending to teach private as well as those who wish to teach public schools, and is designed for such as are desirous of becoming competent to give instructions in the higher seminaries of learning, as well as for the training of those who are preparing for the duties of elementary teaching. As a school of departments, each under a separate principal teacher, it affords to its students the opportunity of selecting particular branches, to be pursued exclusively, at the option of individuals, according to their expective wants, It thus, at the same time, allows those who need only this partial course of prepration, to complete it in a shorter period of time than is consistent with the uniform prescribed course of the State normal schools, which is justly adapted to persons commencing a full and extended course of professional study.

The Institute will embrace in its arrangements a series of graded model schools, including a primary, a grammar, and a high school; each under the care of a permanent instructor, teaching under the superintendence of the heads of departments in the Institute. To these schools pupils will be admitted on examination, and classified according to their previous attainments.

The general affairs of the Institute will be under the direction of Mr. William Russell, formerly editor of the American Journal of Education, and principal of the Merrimac Normal Institute. The gentlemen who are to take charge of the various branches of instruction in the classes of the Institute are principally the same who are occupied during the spring and autumn months as instructors in the Massachusetts State In

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