tutes, nrisdemeanants and criminals, and for their children and friends. There have been as many as thirty women: we saw thirtyeight debtors, and Mr. Law, the Governor stated, when he was examined, that there might be about twenty children

On my first visit, the debtors were all collected together up stairs. This was their day-room, bed-room, workshop, kitchen, and chapel. On my second visit, they spent the day and the night in the room below; at the third, both the room above and that below were filled. The length of each of these rooms, exclusive of a recess, in which were tables and the fire-place, is twenty feet. Its breadth is three feet, six inches for a passage, and six feet for the bed. In this space twenty feet long, and six wide, on eight straw beds, with sixteen rugs, and a piece of timber for a bolster, twenty prisoners had slept side by side the preceding night: I maintained that it was physically impossible; but the prisoners explained away the difficulty by saying, they slept edgeways Amongst these twenty, was one in a very deplorable condition; he had been taken from a sick bed, and brought there; he had his mattress to himself, for none would share it; and indeed my senses convinced me that sleeping near him, must be sufficiently offensive.

I was struck with the appearance of one man, who seemed much dejected; he had seen better times, and was distressed to be placed in such a situation. He said he had slept next to the wall, and was literally unable to move, from the pressure. In the morning, the stench and heat were so oppressive, that he and every one else on waking, rushed, unclothed, as they must be, into the yard; and the turnkey told me, that "the smell on the first opening of the door, "was enough to turn the stomach of a horse."

I cannot reflect on the scene I witnessed without grief; almost every man looked ill, and almost every one who had been here any time, said he had had a severe illness; we were all immediately struck with their squalid appearance. It may perhaps be supposed, that we were duped by our imaginations; that observing the closeness, and want of exercise to which they were subjected, and ascribing to these causes their usual effect, we concluded without sufficient examination, that the prisoners must be unhealthy. The following fact, for the accuracy of which, I appeal to my respectable companions, will evince that I describe not merely what I expected to see, but what we actually saw. I called my friends together, and requested their attention: I then addressed myself to one of the pri soners at another part of the room, to whom we had not previously spoken, and said, "I perceive by your appearance, you have not been here long?"-" Only nine days," was his answer. To another, "I fear you have been here some time?" "Yes, Sir, three months" To another, "You have been here very long, I should suppose?" Nearly nine months." In fact, I pointed out five, and from their looks predicted nearly the period of their confinement, nor was I once deceived.

I have seen many hospitals and infirmaries, but never one, to the best of my belief, in which the patients-exhibited so much ill health. The following facts deserve attention: on my second visit there were

thirteen persons confined on criminal charges, of whom five were under the surgeon's hands, as cases of Typhus Fever. On my first visit we observed in one of the cells, a lad in bed, and seemingly very ill with Typhus Fever; the window was closed, and the reason given was, that the air would be dangerous to him; yet the preceding night two other prisoners had slept with him in a room seven feet by nine. The three were, James M'Intosh, charged with felony, Thomas Williams, with stealing a piece of gingham, Jeremiah Noble, with an assault: and no alteration was intended, neither was any possible.

We conceived that to place others, for the night, in this corrupt and infected air, close by the source of that infection, was inevitably to taint them with disease. This conjecture was unhappily verified; for at my next coming, I observed in the list of those who had been seized with fever, the names of Thomas Williams, and Jeremiah Noble. Now, mark the case of Jeremiah Noble : he is charged with an assault, and the law condemns him to a short imprisonment, preparatory to his trial. But the regulations of the city inflict on him, in addition, a disease very dangerous in its nature, very suffering in its progress, and very enfeebling in its consequences. The vigour of his constitution may surmount it, but all prisoners have not vigorous constitutions thus the most venial offence, which calls down the visitation of the law, a debt of one shilling, or a fraud to the amount of one penny, may be punished with a lingering and painful death.' pp. 18-23.

I fear I shall hardly be credited when I assure my readers, that as yet, I have not touched upon that point in this prison, which I consider the most lamentable; the proximity between the male debtors and the female prisoners. Their doors are about seven feet asunder, on the same floor; these are open in the day time, and the men are forbidden to go into the women's ward;-but after the turnkey left us, they confessed that they constantly went in and out; and there is no punishment for doing so. That this is the fact, appears by the evidence of the Governor before the Police Committee. Ques. Is it possible for the men to get into the sleeping wards of the women? Ans. I cannot say that it is impossible. Is any thing done to prevent them, if the parties consent? No.

Thus the male debtors reside, (without any partition but an open space of seven feet), close by females sent there for debt, for assaults, for misdemeanors, and for prostitution. Am I not warranted in saying, that the regulations of this prison encourage licentiousFor what is to prevent promiscuous intercourse, and public acts of obscenity, except the directions of the jailer at a distance, or the virtue of those females who are imprisoned for the want of it. Females are sometimes accused of offences, of which they afterwards demonstrate their innocence. Maid servants, in respectable families, of hitherto unblemished reputation, may be, and are, often charged in error, with purloining small articles belonging to their master or mistress. Imagine an innocent girl, who had hitherto been shielded from even allusions to vice, brought to this prison, and placed at once within the view and within the range of this unbridled

harlotry. Can her mind escape pollution? Can she shut her eyes and her ears to the scenes which are passing around her? Is not residence in this place, (however innocent she may have been of the imputed crime), an eternal stain upon her character? The law is justly jealous of female reputation; but here, as if forgetful of its own principles, it robs the unprotected, and often innocent girl of her fair name, exposes her virtue to temptation, and places before her eyes, vice in its worst and most degrading realities. To answer to all this, that those who come here, cannot be made worse, is to say, that female debtors are always prostitutes, and that accusation is proof. I can well conceive that where prisoners are guilty of some petty offence alledged against them, yet that they may not be utterly depraved; a girl, for the gratification of her vanity, may secrete an article of dress: she is very wrong, but because she has descended one step in the scale of vice, it does not follow inevitably, that she has fallen to its lowest abominations.' pp. 24-26.

In fact, Mr. Buxton declares his opinion, that if invention had been racked to discover methods of corrupting female virtue, nothing more ingeniously effectual could have been discovered, than the practice of the Borough Compter." The allowance of food is now, fourteen ounces of bread per day, and one pound of the clods and stickings of beef' twice per week. The consequence of this still inadequate allowance, is, that those who have only the prison allowance, gradually decline in health.... No provision of labour is appointed.

At my first visit to the debtors, by the kindness of the jailer, some were employed in making shoes and clothes, and expressed their gratitude, for the ease to their minds, and the relief to their families, which this labour afforded; one, the father of a large family, was engaged in repairing his children's shoes. But when I next went, the crowded state of the prison rendered work impossible. As I stood in the yard, instead of hearing as I have elsewhere heard, the sounds so grateful in a prison, the rap of the hammer, and the vibrations of the shuttle, our ears were assailed with loud laughter, and the most fearful curses; when we entered, we saw three separate parties at cards, one man reading a novel, and one sitting in a corner intent upon his Bible. P. 29.

The jailer told me "that in an experience of nine years he had never known an instance of reformation; he thought the prisoners grew worse, and that he was sure, that if you took the first boy you met with in the streets, and placed him in his prison, by the end of a month, he would be as bad as the rest, and up to all the roguery of London ;" half his present prisoners have been there before, and upon an average he thinks if one hundred are let out, he shall soon have from twenty to thirty back again, besides those who go to other jails.

I will not trouble my reader with any further observations upon this prison, but he must determine for himself, whether crime and misery are produced or prevented in the Borough Compter.' pp. 30-31.

The prison to which Mr. Buxton next introduces his reader, is Tothill fields Bridewell, Westminster. Through this prison, about two thousand are estimated to pass, in the course of a year. The average numbers of the commitments, during the years from 1798 to 1810 inclusive, were, according to Mr. Nield's account, about 66 debtors, and 1045 criminals. The allowance to debtors, is none; to criminals, one pound of bread per day. Straw, and a blanket for two men, is the allowance of bedding.

Many of the wards, in which the prisoners sleep, are sunk below the level of the ground, and this level is considered to be below high water mark. The up-stairs rooms of the Governor's house are much affected with damp; hearing this from himself, I could not suspect the truth of the statements of the prisoners, who complained bitterly of the cold and moisture of these cells. To obviate these inconveniences, as many as possible crowd together at night into the same cell;-how injurious this must be to health, can be conceived by the statement of the jailer, who told me that having occasion lately to open one of the doors in the night, the effluvia was almost intolerable. My readers will naturally ask-what is the result of these precautions against health? I will answer by facts. We saw a woman lying in one of the wards, who seemed very ill. The apothecary happened to come in at this moment; upon examining her, he said to the keeper-" she is ill just like the rest." We asked what is her complaint?-Acute rheumatism.-What is the cause? -The dampness.-Is it a common complaint here?—Yes.-Elsewhere?-No.-Out of every hundred, how many here, upon an average, are seized with acute rheumatism?-About ten.-Are you surprised at the largeness of the proportion?-Not at all, I often wonder it is not larger-How many pass through this prison in a year? -About two thousand. Is it possible, that a complaint not easily removed by all the remedies which opulence can procure, and very painful in its attacks, is thus annually inflicted, (to take the lowest computation) on upwards of one hundred persons? In the infirmary 1 saw a veteran sailor, who had landed troops at the battle of Bunker's Hill, and had fought with Nelson at the battle of Trafal gar; he had, he said, never had an hour's illness till he came here.' pp. 32-33.

Two or three short paragraphs will put the reader in possession of facts relative to the jails at St Alban's and Guilford

House of Correction, generally for persons sentenced to hard labour-There is no salary for a clergyman, and no provision of labour as for correction, therefore, these prisoners are left to im. prove themselves; with no other assistance than the conversation and examples of their associates. One pound and a-half of bread is the daily allowance to each individual, and no firing. The room in which they pass the day, cook their victuals, and sleep at night, was very close, and emitted a very offensive smell. The necessary is in a closet in the same room. The bed consisted of straw on the

loor, with four blankets and two rugs, for five men; one of them ooked exceedingly ill. There is no infirmary, no clothes are alowed, and all were very ragged. I asked the jailer, Do you think the prisoners' morals improve by coming here? "No, Sir, quite the contrary, they do one another mischief; they go out worse than they come in, and so it must be, till old offenders are separated from the others, and till they are employed."

The Jail for the Liberty of St. Albans.-No fire; one pound and a-half of bread per day. I asked the jailer if this was sufficient? Some, he said, could eat double as much. No separation, except between men and women. The men's sleeping room is without air or light, except what may be received through a grating, which opens into a passage, which opens into the day-room, which communicates with the yard. The building is an old fortification, and into this room there is one of the loop-holes, which are common in such buildings; but this was stopped to exclude the cold air. When the door was open, it was so dark, that we hesitated about entering, being unable to perceive whether there was or was not a step. We were informed there was a load of straw, which we never saw one blanket and some straw is the bedding allowed. The men are employed in making straw hats, baskets, &c. A manufacture of straw has been introduced by the kindness of a neighbouring gentleman, and the prisoners expressed their pleasure in having the employment, as it filled up their time, and they earned something: all had learnt this except one cripple. Women have no work at all. In the absence of the keeper, we asked the men to tell us truly, whether they were worse or better for being there. A decent looking man answered,-in truth, Sir, we all grow worse,-I confess I have.

I asked the jailer the same question; his answer was—" If I must say the truth, they do all grow worse; they go out more corrupted than they come in; it must be so. There are in that yard all manner of offenders. That boy," mentioning a lad of about 20, "robbed his master in London, and was committed to Newgate, and condemned to be hanged. He was saved by the intercession of his father, who is a very respectable and opulent man; he robbed his father to a great extent, and he is sent here for eighteen months for another robbery. Now he is such a desperate wicked character, as to be sufficient to corrupt all the boys, and men too, that come here in that time; he knows all the practices of London, and has told them to his companions. In the same yard are several boys for poaching, for keeping sporting dogs, and slight offences." pp. 37-39.

In Guildford gaol, the prisoners complained of much cold. The day-room for all of them, amounting at the time of Mr. Buxton's visit to thirty-five, and at one period for a short time to not less than a hundred, is nine feet ten inches, by nine feet six ; eight feet three inches high. It is evidently impossible for them, therefore, whether in snow, rain, or frost, to obtain shelter or warmth. There is no infirmary. There is no chapel. There is no work. There is no classification.

'No prison dress is allowed, and nearly half were without shirts, or