and Auburn, had never known a liberally-educated convict in prison." He then states, that of 100 convicts who came to the prison, the usual proportion is not more than 8 who can read, write, and cypher, 75 in 100 acknowledged themselves to be habitual drunkards; and 44 in 100 admitted that they had committed their crimes while under the excitement of liquor; while there was not a single convict among all the number, who before his conviction could read and write, was of temperate habits, and followed a regular trade.

This last fact is as important as any that has been stated, and deserves especial notice, as well as the concluding paragraph of Mr. Pilsbury's reply, which seems to remove altogether the erroneous impression created, of an increase of crime corresponding to an increased extension of education. He says,

"Since the prison has been established in this place, some seven or eight years ago, the number of convicts has considerably increased, and hence, the French commissioners and English gentlemen may have naturally inferred, that there must have been an increase of crime in equal proportion. But the truth of this matter seems to lie here. As soon as the new prison was built, the criminal code was revised, and alterations made so as to punish a larger number of offences with confinement in the State prison. Besides, because the discipline of the prison was thought to have a strong tendency to reform those who came under its influence, and as such economy was used as to make the labour of the convicts more thar. meet the expenses of the whole establishment, the courts in the different counties were more than ever before inclined to sentence individuals to the State prison for the same offences. For some time past there has been a very manifest decrease in this State in the instances both of crime and convictions. Ever since last January there has been a diminution of at least twenty in the number of convicts."

Who is there, after this mass of evidence, as to ignorance and intemperance being the chief causes of crime, that will not admire and commend the rulers and legislators of America for doing their utmost to promote education and temperance; and at the same time lament that Great Britain, with all the superior advantage of centuries of previous civilization, should be behind her own daughter, America, in this respect?

Many will remember the difficulty with which the comparatively small sum of 20,000l. was wrung from the ministry of England, for the building of schoolhouses, wherever the population of the district would furnish an equal amount to that which they required from the public funds; while in the State of New York alone, the amount of the Common School fund is nearly two millions of dollars, of which nearly one million is paid yearly for teachers' wages, and the rest expended in the erection of school-houses, purchases of books, and supplies of fuel.

Many persons will also remember the opposition. made by the government of England even to the appointment of a Committee of Inquiry as to the evils inflicted on the country by intemperance; and the ridicule attempted to be thrown on every proposition for restricting the number of spirit-sellers, or placing the traffic under such restraints as would lessen its evils to the poorer classes of society; while in America, the legislatures of Tennessee and Massachusetts have already passed laws prohibiting entirely the sale of ardent spirits in any quantities less than fifteen gallons to one person at a time, by which all tippling-houses and dram-shops are extin

guished at a single blow; and the traffic restricted only to the dealers in large quantities, by which more than half the evils occasioned by intemperance are removed, and the example of these States will, it is believed, be speedily followed by others.

In connexion with the state of education in Albany, it should be mentioned, that in addition to an ample number of the Common Schools, for the general intruction of the humbler classes, and Sunday Schools attached to every church in the city, there are two first-rate institutions: one called "the Albany Academy," for the education of male youths only: and the other called, "The Albany Female Academy."

The Albany Academy was first instituted by the municipal body of the city, about the year 1813; and the munificent grant of 100,000 dollars, was made from the city funds, for the purpose of erecting the building. This is a large and substantial edifice of stone, with a centre and two wings, occupying a front of 90 feet, of three stories in height; the centre is surmounted by a turret or small steeple, and the whole is surrounded by an open space of green lawn. Its position is advantageous and commanding, occupying a portion of the hill on the north, while the Capitol occupies a corresponding site on the same hill on the south, with the great avenue of Washington Street running between them.

The Mayor and Recorder of the city are trustees, ex-officio, to whom are added others from the gentry and clergy of the city, to the number of sixteen in all and these constitute the governing body of the institution.

The faculty consists of the principal, a professor

of Latin and Greek, a professor of mathematics and natural philosophy, a professor of English literature, and a professor of modern languages; to which are added, the assistants and tutors in each department, and these are bound to adhere to the printed statutes, of which a copy is put into the hands of every student on entering.

The students are admitted from the age of six years and upwards, and are taught such branches of learning as their parents or guardians may prescribe. For this purpose, the course of tuition is divided into four branches. In the fourth class or department, the one into which the pupil first enters, he is taught reading, writing, arithmetic, grammar, geography, natural history, and general history. In the third class are taught the higher branches of geography, and grammatical construction of style, in prose and verse -the belles lettres, and elements of criticism, and exercises in composition and declamation. In the second class are taught the higher branches of arithmetic, book-keeping, algebra, mathematics, natural philosophy, architecture, mathematical geography, and drawing. In the first class are taught Latin and Greek, Roman and Grecian antiquities, mythology, ancient history, and biography.

The expense of each pupil, of which there are now about 300, in the several classes, is as follows: 28 dollars per annum for the first class; 20 dollars per annum for the second and third class; and 16 dollars per annum for the fourth class; and, as the building was provided by the funds of the State, it is found that this low scale of expense, from £3. 3s. to £5. 12s. per annum, is quite sufficient to remunerate

handsomely the principal, the professors, and the tutors, besides admitting the gratuitous education of a certain number of the best scholars of the Common or district schools, who are selected from year to year, according to their merit, by the trustees of the institution.

The Albany Female Academy, was commenced about the year 1817. The funds for its establishment were raised in shares of proprietors, amounting to 30,000 dollars; with this, a very fine and commodious building was erected in North Pearl Street, where its noble projecting portico, of the Ionic order, the pillars of which are about 6 feet in diameter, and 50 feet in height, add greatly to the architectural beauty of the street. This institution was intended to give to female youths all the advantages of the best classical and mathematical