Mr Laird bears testi soon learn to tread with ease and profit. mony, in the most explicit terms, to the civility, gentleness, and honesty of the natives on the banks of the Quorra; and subsequent experience has fully confirmed the good opinion which he formed of them. His words are, 'I can safely assert that, as far as my experience goes, European traders will be received with open arms by all the inhabitants of the interior; that no hostility, but, on the contrary, every kindness and respect will be shown to them; that their property and life will be as safe (excepting from the effects of climate) upon the Nigir as upon the Thames; and that nothing prevents the Eboes and other nations in the interior trading direct with the Europeans upon the coast, but the terror ́that a white man's name carries with it—a terror which is artfully kept up by the chiefs upon the coast, and the disorganized state of the country produced by the slave-trade.'-(Vol. ii. p. 407.) It is not easy to estimate too highly the benefit accruing to the human race from the means thus discovered of bringing nations so long sequestered into immediate and active communication with European civilisation. The whole human family must benefit by the improvement of so considerable a branch of it; but those who benefit most by all such improvements and discoveries, are the industrious and manufacturing nations, to whom markets are better than gold mines, and consumers are the most faithful allies. Since commerce and science are equally interested in the extension of our acquaintance with the habitable globe, it may appear to many surprising, that the systematic prosecution of geographical discoveries should not be reckoned among the duties of an enlightened governement. But, in truth, there is some difficulty in dealing pratically with so vague an object. Plans of discovery founded on enlarged views, and aiming at ulterior benefits, are not always brilliant enough to attract attention. Those, on the other hand, which have for their object the unravelling of geographical mysteries, long and loudly debated, are welcome to the public for the sake of their excitement; and if they involve great preparation and expense, they awaken on that account a livelier interest. Enormous sums, it is well known, have been expended by the British Government in endeavouring to solve geographical problems which puzzled our ancestors-not because the solution of them promised any useful results-but because the willingness of Government to promote discovery in general was acted upon by influential individuals, whose views were limited to some favourite schemes. Thus we have surveyed a portion of the northern coasts of America at a cost exceeding perhaps a hundredfold what the Russians have paid for the survey of the frozen shores of Siberia. Had a tithe of the sums expended on the northwest passage been devoted to the gradual exploration of inhabited countries, where the paths are open, the results would by this time have swelled into great importance. In like manner, large sums were wasted on African discovery, in subordination to views rather speculative than practical; till at last, in searching for the Nigir, the discovery was arrived at circuitously, we might almost say reluctantly, that the Quorra flows into the bight of Benin. But if African discoveries are to be prosecuted, it may be asked where are we to commence, or whither are we to direct our steps? We reply, that wherever there is commerce there is sure to be a beaten road, more or less secure; and the object should be to explore these roads patiently and unobtrusively, as far as care for safety will permit, in the confidence that use and intercourse will daily enlarge the bounds of safe traffic. If Timbuctú be still an object of curiosity, it may be approached securely by the Quorra, where British merchants will soon become familiar and welcome visiters; or it might be reached from Cape Coast Castle through Ashantee, on the friendship of the king of which country we may at the present time securely rely. There are some points on the western side of Africa, where a short exploration might be productive of valuable results—as, for example, Nourse's river, in lat. 17° 40' S. That river, though barred, may be easily entered by small vessels; and from the nature of the country through which it flows, it is likely that the stream will not be found to diminish for a long way up. It is probably the Cunene (or Great river) of the Portuguese maps, which is represented as flowing towards the south from the hills in the interior of Benguela. The native tribes, near its source, are said to be numerous and industrious. Those who Occupy the western face of the mountains, between Benguela and Cape Negro, appear to have escaped, in some degree, the disorganization arising from the slave-trade. They cultivate the soil with great care, forming terraces, which are irrigated with watercourses. They have had hitherto scarcely any intercourse with Europeans. An intelligent observer, landing at Walvisch bay. might possibly collect there some useful information at little cost; but a spot so sterile has certainly no peculiar claims to attention. All expeditions to explore the interior, from the Cape of Good Hope, are liable to a formidable objection-namely, that 1000 or 1500 miles of desert, or monotonous plains, are to be crossed before the tra veller reaches what can be called new ground: his spirits are wearied, and his purse drained before his discoveries have well begun. The eastern coast of Africa offers a fairer and more interesting field. It is remarkable that in the seventeenth century, Isaac Vossius had already arrived at the opinion that the easiest access to the interior of the African continent is from the eastern coast; and he tells us that the Portuguese were very busy exploring in that quarter. We are not acquainted, however, with any attempt made by them, previous to the last century, to penetrate the country northward of the Zembési, except in the instance of Fonseca, who ascended the river Ozy eleven (or according to De Barros, only five) days' journey. The ex-Sultan of Patta, who dwells on an island about fifteen miles up that river, ascended the stream a few years back, to a distance of two months' journey, and was desirous to unite with a British officer in an attempt to cross the African continent. The caravan route from the interior of the Somanly country to the shores of Borbora, in the gulf of Aden, has been trodden from the commencement of history. The jealousy of the natives, which for ages excluded Europeans from their ports, has been latterly diminished by the presence of the cruisers of the East India Company on the Somanly coasts. This intercourse began in hostility, and has terminated in friendly habits. In 1833, when a caravan of 6000 persons descended to the annual fair near the seashore, one of the Somanly chiefs offered to take a volunteer of the Palinurus into the interior. In like manner, the people of Breva and the adjacent coasts have recently relaxed in their hostility to strangers; and have even invited the supercargoes of English merchant vessels to visit their country. It is a fact not much known, that extensive territories on the eastern coast of Africa were offered for sale to Queen Elizabeth by some Portuguese merchants, who warranted them to abound in gold, and to belong to nobody but the natives! The Portuguese ambassador interfered with a, remonstrance, or rather a supplication, and the Queen magnanimously declined the capivating offer. At present, British merchants are actively engaged and well received along these coasts, and now the spirit of Elizabeth would proudly smile on their enterprise, and gladly aid them in establishing an intercourse with newly-discovered nations. VOL. LXVI. NO. CXXXIV. 2 A ART. IV.-1. Report from the Select Committee on Metropolis Police Offices, with the Minutes of Evidence, Appendix, and Index. Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed 29th June, 1837. 2. Extracts from the Second Report of the Inspectors of Prisons for the Home District, with Circular of the Right Hon. the Secretary of State for the Home Department to the Magistrates assembled at Quarter Sessions of the Peace, and to the Justices of Boroughs. By Authority. 8vo. London : 1837. THE HE branch of Criminal Justice to which it is our present design to advert, is that commonly known under the name of Police, which is, or ought to be, a methodized system for the prevention and detection of crime. The influence of police establishments upon the morals of society is generally admitted to be extensive, whether for good or for evil, and exceeds that which can ever be exercised immediately by judicial institutions; because it is the office of police, rightly understood, not only to arrest crime in its growth, but to prevent offences from taking root in the social soil. Infinitely more important is it to the well-being of a state, to check the opening path of the novice in wickedness -to block up the entrance of that wide way which leads to destruction-than to cut short the career of the hardened criminal by making him a terrible example of the vengeance of the law. It has always appeared to us that the permanent diminution of crime is attainable only by the removal of its primary causesignorance and poverty; and by the diffusion of moral and religious instruction, in connexion with a well-regulated system of police, and of secondary punishments: and, highly as we value the recent mitigations which have taken place in our criminal jurisprudence, we are disposed to think improvement, at present, needed even more urgently in preventive than in executive justice. We therefore claim for the subject before us, if not for our own remarks, the earnest attention of criminal law reformers. In addition to its office in apprehending offenders, the police of civilized society, and especially of large towns, is charged unavoidably with the execution of many duties, not strictly belonging to preventive justice, but contributing materially to the health, security, and convenience of the public. In France, Prussia, and other continental states, as is well known, the interference of the police in the ordinary actions of life, is carried to such an extent, that no citizen can consider himself as living otherwise than under its immediate surveillance. But we are not about to recommend the indiscriminate imitation of foreign systems, comprising, as they do, many regulations inappropriate to our institutions, and which would needlessly restrain individual liberty in this island, where there are, happily, no political reasons or pretences for their adoption. We are well aware that it is no easy matter to draw the line to which the interference of a preventive police may properly be carried. Whatever can be considered in any shape an encroachment upon individual liberty, requires much caution and delicacy in its enforcement; and it will not do to apply hastily to this country regulations which may work well in France, but to which the French have been accustomed, perhaps for centuries. The French police often interferes very minutely, and at the same time very uselessly; and our belief is that its excellence has been greatly exaggerated. But it is plain that, at least in crowded cities, a power ought to exist for the suppression of tumult, noise and disorder-the regulation of locomotion and traffic-the correction of indecency-and the prevention of a numerous class of annoyances and impositions, which can only be restrained by being taken cognizance of at the instant. To these may be added a number of petty disputes, the immediate settlement of which tends materially to the preservation of the public peace. Over such subjects as these, it is obviously for the general advantage that the police should have a summary control; and any apprehension of danger to the liberty of the subject, can only be founded on its abuse, and not upon its proper exercise. The organization of the present metropolitan police force was effected under the direction of Sir Robert Peel, who held the Seals of the Home Department in 1829, when the act of the 10th Geo. IV. cap. 44, was put into execution. That act was founded on the recommendation of the Select Committee of the Commons in 1828, which, indeed, embodied the suggestions of several former Committees; particularly those of 1816, 1817, 1818 and 1822. The miserable inefficiency of the local functionaries of the parishes-the absence of every thing like union, or regular control over them-and the progressive increase of crime in London, had for some years past aroused the attention both of the Legislature and the public; but no remedy whatever was applied until the act of the 10th Geo. IV. came into operation. The peace of the city was preserved on every occasion of real or apprehended tumult, by the display of a military force; and the civil power was rarely seen in action, unless in cases of some very flagrant violation of the public tranquillity, or some deep |