Autograph Draft by George Combe on the "leading object" of the punishment of offenders in prison, 19th century (before 1858)

The final text reads: "but until a certain sum be redeemed by the labour, attended by the good conduct, of the prisoner. The leading object should be to cultivate habits of moral & intellectual activity, & self-restraint, by an appeal to the interest & understanding of the offender, - rather than by regulations enforced merely by the lash or other forms of suffering, leaving the will unmoved, or in a state of hostility to the discipline imposed."