victed of felony; 3d, prisoners convicted of misdemeanors; 4th, prisoners committed on charge or suspicion of felony; 5th, prisoners committed on charge or suspicion of misdemeanors, or for want of sureties.

In Houses of Correction;-1st, prisoners convicted of felony; 2d, prisoners convicted of misdemeanors; 3d, prisoners committed on charge or suspicion of felony; 4th, prisoners committed on charge or suspicion of misdemeanors; 5th, vagrants: such further classification is also to be adopted as the justices shall deem conducive to good order and discipline.

Female prisoners are in all cases to be attended by female officers.

A matron is to be appointed in every prison in which female prisoners shall be confined, who shall reside in the prison, and whose duty it shall be constantly to superintend the female prisoners.

Prayers are to be read at least every morning; and also portions of the scripture to the prisoners, when assembled for instruction.

Provision is to be made for the instruction of prisoners of both sexes in reading and writing.

No prisoner is to be put in irons by the keeper of any prison, except in case of urgent and absolute necessity.

Every prisoner is to be provided with suitable bedding, and every male prisoner with a distinct bed, hammock or cot, in a separate cell, if possible.

1

In altering, repairing, or rebuilding any gaol or house of correction under this Act, such plans shall be adopted as shall afford the most effectual means for the security, classification, health, inspection, employ

ment, and religious and moral instruction of the pri

It is necessary to remark that the operation of the new prison law is confined to a few city and borough prisons only, in addition to county-gaols. It was deemed advisable, in order to insure the execution of the Act, to render it obligatory in those instances only which admit of the possibility of introducing such classification and such arrangements for labour as the law prescribes. The consequence of this limitation is to exclude from the operation of the Act a considerable number of small prisons under local jurisdiction, which imperatively require the interference of the Legislature. It appears by a Statement which the Committee have prepared, (a copy of which is inserted in the Appendix,) that there are in England one hundred and seventy boroughs, cities, towns, and liberties, which possess the right of trying criminals for various offences. To these places are attached one hundred and sixty prisons, of various descriptions, in which upwards of sixteen thousand persons have been confined in one year; and to such prisons, with the exception

* As the Prison Act of the 4th Geo. IV. will render it necessary in most gaols, to re-model the regulations which have been hitherto adopted for their management, the Committee, with a view to assist the magistracy on this occasion, have published a code of "Rules for the Government of Gaols and Houses of Correction," founded on the new law; with an appendix, containing the various clauses methodically arranged; together with other information, calculated to facilitate its execution.

+ The places to which this Act extends, in addition to the counties at large, are the cities of London and Westminster, Bristol, Canterbury, Chester, Coventry, Exeter, Gloucester, Kingston-upon-Hull, Leicester, Lichfield, Lincoln, Liverpool, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Norwich, Nottingham, Portsmouth, Worcester, and York.

before stated, the beneficial provisions of the new Act do not extend. It is painful to enlarge on the evils which result from the deplorable condition of most of these prisons; arising, in a great measure, from the defective construction of the buildings, and inadequacy of the funds applicable to their support: there are, however, some striking peculiarities in their formation and management which deserve particular attention.

In many of these gaols the want of space is such as to render classification impracticable, and in some cases even to preclude the separation of the sexes, much less that of the tried from the untried, or debtors from felons. Several of these prisons have no division to separate males from females; and a still larger proportion (amounting to sixty) have only two classes for prisoners of all descriptions.* The importance of inspection, and the means of insuring constant superintendence, appear not to have been thought of in the construction of these buildings: this defect, which occasions great insecurity, requires increased attention on the part of the officers, but in several instances it is found that the keeper does not reside in the prison, and consequently that the prisoners are either locked up in their rooms and prevented from taking exercise, or that they are placed under additional

There is one class of prisoners on whom the evils of such defective classification operate with great severity. Debtors are imprisoned under legal process, in many local jurisdictions, for small sums, in some cases only for a few shillings. When in confinement, they are exposed to the same degree of suffering, as those who have been guilty of the highest criminality. Thus, the unfortunate, yet industrious tradesman, is often compelled to pass his days and nights in company with an atrocious felon; and the distressed but virtuous female may be compelled to associate with the abandoned prostitute.

restraint by the illegal punishment of irons. In several districts, the gaol consists of two or more rooms, forming part of another building, and situated in the market place or centre of a town, from the exposed position of which the safe custody of the prisoners is rendered hazardous, unless the most unjustifiable measures are resorted to for security. Many of these buildings are without yards, airing-courts, or day-rooms; and some, to which yards are attached, are so badly enclosed as to render them unsafe for the use of the prisoners, who are thus unmeritedly subjected to close and rigorous confinement.

With the exception of the larger gaols of this class, no employment is provided for the prisoners, who generally pass their time in entire idleness, and in mutual corruption. To a very small proportion only of these prisons is any chapel attached. It is seldom that any divine service is performed: no religious or moral instruction is provided, nor is any attempt made at reformation. The allowance of food is frequently scanty and insufficient; sometimes consisting of a small sum of money, the mode of expending which is improperly left to the choice of the prisoner who has not the means of applying it to the best advantage. In many districts, no clothing is provided for the destitute, and straw is substituted for bedding. The situation of the sick is also distressing, no provision being made for their relief, and no room set apart for the separate confinement of such as are afflicted with dangerous or infectious disorders: disease has, in fact, been frequently occasioned by the nature of the treatment received in these prisons. In addition to the evils which have arisen from defective construction,

the improper state of discipline in many of the local gaols may be attributed to the absence of any written or printed rules, framed under the sanction of the proper authorities, for the government and superintendence of the prisoners, as well as for the observance of the duties of officers.

It were easy to illustrate this general description, by reference to facts. At a prison in a county adjoining the metropolis, there is no effectual separation of the male from the female prisoners, the apartments being divided by an iron railing only: conversation, therefore, goes on uninterruptedly. There is but one very small yard, which the women are only allowed to enter when the men are locked up. The men's sleeping cells consist of four small rooms of which three are about fourteen feet long, and between five and six feet wide. There were lately eight persons crowded in each of the lower rooms; two on each bedstead, and the other four on bed-clothes placed upon the ground, as a third bedstead could not possibly be admitted. In one of the rooms is a large ring fixed to the floor to which every prisoner sentenced to death is chained until his execution or removal; for, in this instance, the corporation possess the power of trying capital offenders. There is no distinct apartment for the sick, nor for the tried and untried, nor for criminals and debtors;-all promiscuously congregate, as far as regards the men, who have the constant means of conversing with the women. Debtors are committed for debts above two shillings and under five pounds; the term of confinement being dependent on the amount. One debtor was imprisoned, at the time of this visit, for £3. 1s. and had to pass eighty days in the society of felons. There is no description of labour. For