The Sun. — London, England, 1823-10-23 00:00:00

c.' ,‘v4. ~....~ . ?: Le, Le, '~;,r . qi • :i tt pmojjwit , • . . • , , • - . . , • ._,___;:_, ..... . . .., . ._t_•:,,,...,,.,.:.,...„ • Y /-* arawirtamisamitairrsaa - 4 1 . 4 . H 71,,,,,-i a -.., AM.. 11.160.110.1.101•0.11,01.1... //1 Tivmnim 9724. CONTR.-ICY' FOR 11.4.11.110CK5. Navy. Office, October 10, 1843 . . .THE PRINCIPAL OFFICERS and COI)f -, IVISSIONERS of HIS 31-4.lr,sirs NArr 4a. r i.re Nottce,' that on 7710728D:it,' the 30th of at 'One o'Clock, they will be ready to treat teith Rook Persums a* may be willing to Contract for supplying Afajesty's Yardi at Deptford and,H 7 oolwich with SACKING' 11431110CKS. 4 !bittern 'of the Ilainnwas, and n Toros of the Tender,: .1110 v be' seen at: this Office:" No 7'ender will be received op/ r (Me f !cl o a, Ott the Day of Treaty, nor any noticed *dem the Party, or an .4gent for him, attends. • Jtiery Tender must be accompanied 'by a Letter ad. 'Awed" thilitaby Board, trill iigntd by two responsible Ostrow, vigils - kg to become bound With the Person ten ihring, in the sum of £5OO for the due performance of the • r1CTU41.614' 4 10-orti ICI4 oat. a, 1 sea. COMIVISIOIYERS for. VIC7'U4L. AL ' LING flit MAJESTY'S N.ei FY, 4r.do hereby give *setae; that on nimbly, the 481 h instant, they will be 'roar to receive Tenders in writin g ' (sealed np), and treat "Welke supply of such articles of GLASS • WAILI3 as way be ,dinnaseded ,fir Me Serviu.e of the Medical Department of the 11 . arevAr Twelve Month:from the Ist Jascliar, 1644. Patterns of the different articles to be contracted for, and seleo the Conditions of the Contract, snag be *MN upon appli t maids at the Secretary's °free: Bash Tender must specify the Price in Words at length, end be delivered before One a' Clack on the day appointed ; find the Person who ;nahes the Tender, or some Person on his lohaV, must attend to answer when called for. imiLLER CLIFTOY. LiAST DAY BUT ONE, FRIDAY, 'Oc tober 31. . , . Tbe, Wheel contains the following Rich List of Capitals, *se whole of which must he drawn on FRIDAY, October $l, , soss4 November 14, the Last Day, 2 of /10,000 , • 10,000 1 00 t 2;O . e 6 SQO 6 3OO - 6 . 2OO Besides upwards of Five Thousand other Prises. Tickets and Shares, Warranted (Indrawn, are Selling at. %II the Licensed Offices, at the following Low Prices. Whole Ticket only , ,Zl9 19 0 .. R. MN .t 10 14 0 1 Eighth...., - At 14. n (aglitter 5 a 6 I Sixteenth 1 7 6 • TO ORGAN BUILDERS. FIE TRUSTEES appointed under the pro. visions of an Act of Parliament, for BUILDING TWO NICW CHURCHES or CHAPELS in the Parish of ST. MARY, Newington, Surrey, WILL MEET on TUESDAY, ere 11th day of November next, at Seven o'Clocic in the Even- 1 lig precisely, in their COIII3IITTEE.ROOM, at the NA TIONAL SCHOOLS, near the Fishmongers' Alms Honser„ Newington, to receive Proposals from persons desirous of con. treating to bola one or broth of the ORGANS for the two 411tnrefies dory erecting in the said perish. They are to be tiret-rate Orgivac and the Proposals are to contain detailed epeoificatione of the sine and capacity, and full descriptions of *IA Organ, at Well as the price for which they will be erected and completed. ,The '1 ruitegs will not be bound to accept the lowest Tender, .and the Contractor will be required to enter into a Bond, with tyro sufficient Securities in double the amount of the sum to be paid, for the due performance of the Contract. 4t will also be expected that the Tenders shall be worn iwObla with Testimonials of the parties offering, as to such Organs as they have already erected. Further particulars may be obtained by applying at the Office O Mews. Clutton and Cater, 411, High-street, Southwark. JOHN CLUTTON, Clerk to the Trustees. 4, High-street, Southwark, 0ct.14, 1823. PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. PENITENTIARY AT MILBANK. lIRFOIST OF THE SELECT COMMTTEL OF Till 10US$ 01? COMMONS. The following is an Official Copy of the Re. itort of the Select Committee appointed to in-' suils lat.° the present State of the Penitentiary at Milbank : Your 'Committee wish, in the first instance, to plies before iiiiiideration of the House the history of the Establish miens, into the state and management of which they have been APP9inted to inquire. As early es the 19th of she late King, apian was laid down in . a statute, c. 74, passed in that year, !Or the 'adoption of a system of penitentiary imprisonment, -"Mai ehould be calculated to reform offenders. The pream. We oe-that statute sets forth, " That whereas, if many of convicted of crimes for which transportation has been wsually inflicted, were erdereil to solitary imprisonment, ac eouipanisd by well-regulated labour and religious instruction, it might be the means, under Providence, not only of deter sing others from the commission of the like crimes, but also of reforming the individuals, and inuring them to habits of indus try." This Act was drawn up under the direction of Sir Wm. Blackstone, with the advice and concurrence of Mr. Howard. WV Measures vete, however, taken to carry this plan into ex. seeetion till the year 1794, when an Act passed (34 Geo. . 74.) for the building of a Penitentiary House for the con- Inetnent and employment of convicts ; and a contract 'was Intend Into with Mr. Jeremy Bentham for that purpose. So many difficulties, however, arose in the mode of carrying this measure into execution, that the contract was re-purchased, and the plan abondoned. A Committee of the House of Com nions sat in 1811, which entered fully into the merits of this iiiportant question, and they concluded their report by To:0m" making that'an arrangement should he made with Mr. Ben thain this purpose, which, in, fact, afterweide took place. Parliament, however, did not' lose sight of this momentous subject, and loud after the publication of this report, snd the inel settlement with Mr. Bentham, the foundation of the pre sot establishment WAS laid ; and a part of the building was epenedfor the reception of convicts in June; 1816. This esta blishment maybe considered RS now coMpleted, and contained; *hen your Committee visited 4t, eight hAndred and sixty:nine crisaneii, 666 males, and 303 females. Your Committe e examined,' with the greatest attention, into the details of the institirti?ai they saw every prisoner, and visited each person twice in the-Infirmary. arid sick wards. They made the mselves acquainted with the Internal discipline and arrangement of the Wastitation, and they wish to impresi upan the house thOr con. viatica, that on the whole it may fairly be considered ai being ably and successfully conducted. The attention of the Managing Committee appears to them to he sedulous and unremitting; the visitors and officers, diligent and attentive, and the whole arrange clients to have been contrived with great skill, and executed with regularity and 'attention. As might have been naturally expected., a system so novel in its nature, and to be applied to so many persons, varying. in character, age, and sex, could not obtain complete success at once; and those who had the teen tepid - and management of this great ciperiment on the penal law of the country, had not only so mething to learn from •ex e • • . perience themselves, but also much to teach to °theta, who ,under them, were to carry their arrangement, into execitiom—: . Difficulties have thus arisen from the choice of of f ieers the change of persons who had the direction of 'the Establish, menet from the altetations that have necessarily keen mails in the management of the prisoners ; from the nature of the labour to be introduced; snd from a variety ofOther causes, to • . . which the best managed institutions sire" at all exposed ; but your Committeeetre eit opinion, 'that these difficulties are almost all of them itutmounted, and that theEiteblishrnent bids fair to equal the expectations of its friends and supporters.— Among the improvements in the system lately adopted, your Committee think it not . 'the least important, that it has been thought proper to place at the head. of the Establishment in the prison as Governor a person of education and superior con dition of life; and they are of opinion that this office should always, in future, be held by a person of that description.— Steps - are now taken to remedy any defects which experience has found to exist in the rules and regulations of the Establish ment,. a better system of labour, both as to its productive and useful nature, is about to be established, and exercise ie to be more generally extended than heretofore to all classes of the prisoners. Your Committee, however, wish to express an opinion, that the 'monotony of a life of bodily labour, unaccompanied with any mental recreation, may have the effect, in some instances, of. injuring the faculties of persons of a highei order of intel lect than that which is generally possessed by the prisoners who are confined there. It is in evidence' before them that the chaplain alone has the power: of placing only those books in the handx of . prisoners, which- are its the collection of the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge: that list contaius few books that are otherwise then of'a serious and religious cast; and though your Committee are of opinion that ell the books placed in the hands of prisoners should hive,' even while they amused and ipetructed. a direct tendency to better the morals and correct the vices .or those•who read them, yet they, feel confident that, in some cases, a scleetien could be made of books not in the above-mentioned list, which might be read with the greatest advantage by prisoners. In the summer season, the prisoners have two or three hours daylight to employ in reading, after they retire to their cells; and there doss not appear any rational objection to thus occupy-, ing the time of the prisoners who are .in a condition to benefit by instruction ; to whatever class of life they belong, they will not be the worse on their discharge from prison, by having, whilst in Confinement, acquired the disposition to find amuse. merit in the occupation of their minds; they will, of course, be lees liable to those feelings of despair and weariness of thought, which imprieonMent for a long term of years is so calculated to produce, and when discharged, there may be every reason to hope, that along with the .recollection of the punishment to which they have been subjected, will attach the habit of seeking for amusement and mental relief, by other means than those which arise from the vises and passions of mankind. There is another subject which your Committee wish to press upon the consideration of the House, via . the species of labour which is taught is the Penitentiary. They called for a return upon that subject, by which it appears, that the principal trades Of there were those of tailor, shoemaker, and wearer t , Of the first, there were 90 operative workmen, not including -9 cutters and 13 instructors; 34 weavers and 18 winders; and 317 shoemakers ; and out of 462 male prisoners in the Peniten tiary, between the 30th of October and the 4th of June, 1823, 31.16 were employed in manufactures. It is in evidence, that the best class of work is not there taught, and that those who are brought up as tailors, can hardly hope to gain their daily bread at their discharge. Thus it may happen that persons who may have passed from ten to five years in the Penitentiary may be discharged from it without any means of gaining their subsistence, and may be thus exposed to temptations by which poverty and want are assailed, and which, perhaps, originally induced them to commit the crimes which had subjected them to punishment. In consequence of the extent of sickness which has, during the last winter and spring, prevailed in the ,Penitentiary, your Committee felt it their duty to examine minutely into the causes of the malady which has been so prevalent among the prisoners, and the medical treatment to which they have been subjected.: In the spring of 1822 it app4ars to have been the opinion of the principal inedicel officer, Dr. Hutchinson, as Well as of the Committee of the Penitentiary, that the dietary of the prisoners was greater than was conducive to their beside Symptoms of plethora were constantly showing themselves, though , principally among the female prisoners , and a general fullness of habit appeared to prevail among all the inmates of the Penitentiary. Accordingly, under the advice and upon the suggestion of Air. Morton Pitt, one• of the Committee, (in which the Committee concurred), 'll more reduced scale of food wits adopted. This recoinniendatioa was, founded upon the success of a similar system at Dorchester Gaol. The Manag ing Committee, however, felt it to be their duty .to submit the question to the consideration of Sir James Ill'Origor, who is at the •head of the Army Medical. Board. Sir James M‘Grigor was of opinion, that the old system of diet was too full, and he approved of the plan proposed. Accordingly, in July 1822, the old dietary, which was as follows, was abandoned, and the new one, which is here also eubjoimel, was substituted in its room. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 23, 1823. FORUM DI STAR r. - - - - DaILY.-411b. of bread, made of such meal as the Committee may from time to time direct, for every Male Prisoner above the age of 11) years ; 'and lib. for every other Prisoner.—But Boys under 13 may liars the full allowance of bread, if the Chaplain and Governor shall certify at the commence:lau of the week that their conduct has been meritorious during the week preceding. For Breakfast—.l pint of hot gruel or porriige. For Dinner—.-Sundays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays—Six ounces of clods, sticking', or other coarse pieces of beef (without bout, and after boiling) with half a pint of the broth made therefrom, and Ilb. of boiled potatoes. For Dinner—Mondeye, Wednesdays, Fridays—Ono quart of broth for the males, and one pint for the females, thickened with Scotch barley, rice, potatoes or pease, with the addition of cabbages. turnips, and other cheap vegetables, and llb. of boiled potatoes. For Supper—One pint of hot gruel or porridge. N.B. Prisoners may reserve such part of the provisions pre viously delivered out, as they please, for their suppe r. Salt and pepper, as the Committee shall from tune to time direct. The only liquor allowed to prisoners in health (except broth, gruel, or porridge) shall be water. Prist.ners confined to bread and water diet ftw punishment, shall be allowed such qnantity of bread as the Surgeon may think necessary. Prisoners employed in works of extraordinary labour, or un der circutnstances.which may render it necessary, may be al , lowed an addition to the quantity of their provisions, by the direction of the Committee. XrdOtteNrill st--Female prisoners , employed in the wash house shall be *Hurled an addition of half a pound of bread and an allowance of meat on washing days, until the further orders of the Committee. By Order of the Committee, A. MACI)ONALD. PR,ESINT DIETARY.-8111C1 JULY 12124 • In the lifOnstwo--:-Thret quartiri of 'a pound 'of bread and one pint of gruel, for the males t and nine ounces . of , bread and three quarters of a pint of gruel, for the females At Notm—Threeluarters of a pound of bread and one pint of soup, for the males ; and. nine ; ounces of bread and tlitee quarters of a pint of soup, Ibr Ehe females. In the EvEnnio—One pint of Jupip for the =deft Itutl three quartets of a pint for the fenutles.—(Litely gruel has been substituted fur soup : of an evening for the females.) The soup to be made with ox heads, in lieu of other meat, in the proportiecinfottaroxbead for about-100 male Prisoners,- and the same fur about 120 female prisoners t and to be thick ened with vegetables and pease, orbatley, alternately, either weekly or daily, as may be found, most convenient. The Committee to substitute, at their discretion, potatoes for bread, at the rate of one pound of potatoes for half a pound of bread. The only liquor allowed to prisoners in health (except broth or gruel) shall be water. Prisoners confined to bread and water diet for punishment, shall be allowed such quantity of bread u the . urgeou may think necessary, Pritioners employed itl. works of unman:Haat,. labour. or ender circumstances which may render it riecaliftrY, may be allowed an addition to the quantity of their previsions, by the direction of the Committee. . . Wardemen, and those employed in the kitchen and bake house, shall be allowed half a, pound of bread extre, dellY• Female prisoner' emetloyeado, jurwir, aließ be ellovred It one pouod and a half off 'fired , del e With a doublaallowesce of aoup'et 03.urter rind suPpere on . tle dory its which they are empleyed in. washing, viz. lildudies . , Tuesdays, awl Wed nesilays. ' AVardswornen 'end those employed in the kitchen shall be allowed lilb. of bread daily. The Report of the Physicians, Drs. Rnget and Latham, dated Bth of April, 1823, sets forth, that the ado .p ion of this new sys tem was soon followed by a general dEcay of health and strength, which "hewed itself principally among the female prisoners. The officers of the Establishment soon perceived the evils with which the prisoner* were threatened, and it is in evidence from the journal of Mr. Pratt, the surgeon, and the untie/oily of the matron, that their attention was directed to the subject during the whole of the autumn, and the early 'part of the winter. This question was - repeatedly brought under the view of the Visitors and 31 imaging Committee; they referred it to the principal medical officer, and acted upon his opinion. le is stated in a minute of the 11th of February. 1813, that the superintending Committee were alarmed at the unusual degree of sickness among the female prisoners; but it is ex pressly declared in that document, that the disease could not be attributable to any particular cause. It is, however, in evi. 'knee, that the first symptoms of scurvy appeared in a patient early in January, 1823, and the illness among the prisoners exceeded greatly the amount of any former year; between that period and the beginning of February, several cases of scurvy occurred; sickness wrorgaining ground among all classes of the prisoners ; and the Committee directed a letter to be writ. ten to Sir James 111'Grigor on the ilth of February, drawing hie attention to the prevailing illness, and especially requesting his opinion of the effecte of the new dietary. Sir Jas. M'Origor made his visit on the 14th of February, and his report is dated the 17th of the same. month. It sets forth, " that !teeing seen the whole of the female, and many of the male prisoners, he found them not in an unhealthy state ; and from a minute in. spection of the infirmnries, he ascertained that while the pro. portion of the sick was small for the season, the diseases were not, except in a very few instances, of a serious character, and not attributable to diet or confinement." This Report calmed the apprehensions of the Committee; and no steps were taken, either by their order, or under the direction of the principal medical officer, to ascertain by minute personal inspection, the bodily health of every prisoner. Within a few days, however, the citswe so rapidly gained ground, having increased from 53 to 1111 patients, between the 14th and 28th of the month, that the Committee determined to call in other medical advice, and accordingly summoned Drs. Roca and Latham to give their opinion of the nature or the disease, and whether it could be ascribed to the new dietary, These Physicians visited the Penitentiary on the let of March, and found no less than 110 patients in the infirmaries; viz-4.4 males add 56 females. On the 3d of March they, ac. imperiled by the principal medical officer, went round the different pentagons, examined the person of each twisoner ; andel+, result of their examination was, that out of between 858 and 880 prisoners, 448 were afflicted with disease,. The report of the Physicians has been laid before the House; and your Committee refer to it, to, express their approbation of the clear and luminous statement of the origin and progress of the disease, and they wish to draw the attention of Parliament to the manner in which It affected the different sexes, fallingwith increased severity on those who had suffered long itnpri soa. went. " With regent to the extent of this disease," say the Physicians, " we found more than one half of the whole num ber of prisoners affected by it, in er) or other, or in all its forms; but the proportion was not the cams among the pri soners of different sexes, or belonging to different classes. The women were affected much more extensively than the men ; and of both men and women, the second class, which is composed , of those who have been longest in confine ment, was affected in a much larger proportion than the first class, which comprises those who have been more recently imprisoned. Of the women, about two thirds were ill of the dictate; of the men, rather less than one half. Of the women in the first class, one half were ill; of those in the second class, tive.seveeths. Of the men in the first class, above one-thini were ill ; of those In the second class, rather more than one half." (a) Your Committee entirely concur in the opinion expressed in this Report,- which is further supported by the testimony of all the medical authorities they examined, with the exception of Sir James APGrigor, that the main cause of the production of .this disease is attributable to the new dietary. It is evident that the situation of the prison could not have occasioned the disease, for it never appeared before the last winter; 2dly, the inhabitants of the immediate vicinity were not attacked with any disease at all similar ; idly, the . prison is remarkly dry, as / our Committee minutely examined it and there did not exist the smallest trace of damp in the building; and lastly, the of. beers of the prison were exempt from the disease, and all those who were in the kitchen, and thus had access to a greater ex tent of food, were free from all attack. In respect to the situa tion in which the Penitentiary is built, your Committee are unable to form tiny opiniowadverse to its salubrity; it is situ ated on a tide river, thus having the advantage or a fresh cur rent of air twice a day, and its vicinity is by no mesas coasi. dered unwholesome. Your Committee felt it their duty to inquire not only into the cause of the disease so long prevalent, but also into the medical treatment of it, and more particularly so in comm. quencs of a difference of opinioh being held spun this impor tant subject by the .surgeotut and physicians they called-before them. They did not, however, do this from their entertaining the least suspicion of the talent,Negrnent, and skill of the me. dical officers of the establishment, Drs. Reget and Latham ; but when a contrariety of opinion was held upon a subject, in which the lives of hunireila of human beings might ultimately depend, who had no choice but to submit to the treatment which their medicel adviser' might prescribe ; your Commit tee considered themselves imperiously called upon to refer the subject to the best medical authorities the country could pro duce ; aceortlingly, a deputation ( "at the College of Flip& dens visited the Penitent dry', and their Repo rt, which of Drs. his he re subjoined,subjoined, sets, in the opinion of your Commutee, the question R io t rest, aanndLafutllyto.oirrns the propriety of t " Whitehall, June 13,11123. " Sta.—ln rousequenee othe illness which has long pre ic, apply , . 1 am induced to request 'railed at the Penetentiery, a nd the.differemees or opinion. which has been expressed by medical men of considerable eminence, with respect to the causes of the disorder, and the nature of the remedies which it is p roper and that you will hare the goodness to that you will bring the s ubject Under. the enaeld erst i on Q t the 4 CAmmuttee for the College of Phsiciane purPose ot visit move the appointme nt itif Wit the Penitentiary, and of reporting to ins their opinion upon the nature of the disorder which prevails in that ema. blishment ' and Ilion the peobable efficacyhavef O the present course . " I &. of medical treatment. , iSignetl) " li. PEEL." Sir H. HALronn, ltart'' (f r c et;lte . s ) t of tht Might rim Seers,. • tarp men " i e l be r n li s l eam tn ,a te P a li c f a i t ii rn t ir e i l t t ki tra ll oF; pi l ? o e L2 a t „..A r i t lo m f iy a t t ine _.L t i e w tc e wp t o ne uiegsu nn eso : ot arsi nps hos ysi ed dans, have visited the„ enitentiary „11filhank, rzim i ne d th , state of the patients there, heard tnelwenunts given b y the ebe. dirt' attendants, and do report sub mitted to oar itecstig Won, la wi , tti to ria the detsi m the ugi tes v r o ori ott Y rom ot t iy h , e by m , th ed e ic i a , l ati n en ffi ti r e th rC ent gotz ittiv i e red or the foriner stages ,o t4l:filotta_lNZlthot rortonifitshem, that the disorder bas borne a Wok" . !fi anict er• Dot lig , halts to observe, that the patient , al now fire ad'vetteed - towards reio very, and that the severer alOP t4 " which distinguish dysea- tory prevail no longer. Many, however, 'still continue ill of a niilder complaint of the bowels. Upon the.second question tv2 report, that the treatment by mercury, adopted in this disoase, appears to have been very successful. • • (Signed) " Hrtrur Tharonn, "W. G. MATON. President . of the Coll. " THOMAS TURNER. " RICHEY Amur. " PELHAM WAIMEN. " EDHARD Asa. " Colleen( Physicians, June ?a, 1021." .On the 16th of May, the annexed list was given in by Doctor Roget, Physician to the Establishment : PlttillOVElte UNDER. MEDICAL THEAT MINT OM THEIST', Better . - Well - - Other Complaints - MAY. Man. Women. Total. 44 RI - 136 • . 60 • - 61 ............ 343 Total . 104 Diarrhoea. Stationary Better r w_ wen Other Complaints - Total Station:try Improving Wail - Other Complaints - Total %LAY IS, 10;3, Men. WOMat. Total. OS - 48 . 101 4 11 14 S* .11 — its - 101 3171111 11, 1823. Men. Womtn. - 78 33 - 8Q - 38 • 81 - an 34 - . 01•••••••• SO6 - SU Total. 1 WI 1114 170 62 Notwithstanding this appareatly unfavourable account, all the medical authorities examined declared the disease to be abating, and, though spread over a larger surface, to be muck diminished in the severity of its character (6). Your Coin 'Muse directed their inquiry to the important fact, whether the disease could be considered as contagious. All the medical practitioners whom they examined, with the exception of Mr. White, considered it to be so in no degree; yet your Com. mina°, though of course lot inclined, to contest the opinions of medical men of such science and eminence, cannot : avoid re. marking, that recently some of the inferior o fficers of the prison have been attacked with the prevailing diarrhtea ; and of the fifty-nine males and four females. who have been received into the Penitentiary since the 3d of March, twenty males and one female have been ill of the same complaint. On areview, then, of all the eireurnsumees which induced the Managing Com mittee of the Penitentiary to adopt the new dietary, and to con tinue its use during a period of eight months, vie. from July 11112 to the beginning of March 1023, your Committee are of opinion, thatthey are warranted, upon the advice they received from the Medical Superintendent, to change tho system of dietary then in use, for the reasons assigned ; but your Com mittee regret that the opinion' of medical persons, conversant with the management of prisons, and the state of health of pri soners, liable es it is to be affected by so many moral causes, had not been previously taken. It is in evidence before your Committee, that Dr. Hutchin son, while he recommended some alteration, proposed a change less decisive than the one adopted ; and he accompanied has recommendation with the advice, that the judgment of some of the principal physicians in the kingdom should be taken upon the question. Mr. Morton Pitt has, however, stated, that Dr. Hutchinson never formally approved of the now plan ; yet it is equally clear froln the same evidence, that the Committee were induced, by the above witness, to. believe he had so done, and that Dr. Hutchinson not only never gave the least intimation that he considered the sickness of the mi. eon in any way attritintable to the diminished quantity of food, but up to the middle of February his opinion remained the same as that of Sir Jas. APGrigor ; and it was only towards the end of that month that he became convinced that the real rause of the disease was the change of the dietary. It is true that Mr.. Pratt, the resident medical officer, and the matron, nurses, and officers of the establishment, uniformly opposed the sew . syeterite yet that very circumstance rendered their evidence of its effects: liable to suspicion ; and when, accord in to the Concurrent testimony of all, no material alteration took place in the general look of th e prisoners, your Cem mittee does not feel disposed to blame any of the parties con cerned for any inattentiou in the exercise of their respective duties. Much conflicting testimony has been given upon the subject of the Dietary ; and in general the best medical in opinions ap pear to consider the plan adopted as not only deficient in quan tity, . but injurious the mode in which At was administered. 'The satire quantity of animal matter, given in a solid form twice a week, would, however, in the opinion of some, have been sufficient nutriment; and examples have been cited from other prison" in England and in France to demonstrate the truth of this statement. This is a, question which, in the opinion of your Committee, is of very difficult solution. There are circumstances in all the prisons referred to, which altogether unfit diem to be com pared to the Penitentiary. In France; except in those cases where bread and water are the punishment for idleness, the prisoners almost universally enjoy the practical privilege of purchasing additional food. In England, the mere fact of the weight of the prisOners being increased by confinement, .ie • of itself, no proof that their strength is not diminished : the body may increase in sin and• bulk, but the fibre may be reduced, and that which may be taken for health, may be a proof of real debility. In all these prisons, the moral causes so peculiarly operative in the Penitentiary, do not exist in the same force. In France, the general intermixture of all prisoners; the young with the old, the dissipation and lien tiousbess of their lives, the free enjoyment of all amuse ment consistent with safe custody, preserve the minds of those who are confined there from the irksome monotony which a well-regulated prison is so calculated to produce; and thus the health of prisoners may be better preserved under a less quan tity of food than when, they are subjected to a severe moral dis cipline, in these places of confinement, noise and tumultuous gaiety drive away care and thought; yet while their morals are vitiated, the Minds of the prisoners May be amused,. anti thus kept from sinking under the pressure of f'eelinge of sorrow and remore. A prison so managed, whatever msy belts effects on the manners said habits of its inmates, is yet calculated to preserve than from the inroads of the disesteem which arise Irons the moral causes above refered to. It was evidently under these impressions that lidr. Howard remarke, ".that persons iii prison require more food than those who are free;' that is to say, the ineral causes which excite depression of spirits, and consequently, when king continued, a decay of health, tan only be lessened by propping up the strength of the pri sonere and enabling him, through a full prison diet, to resist the effects of the mind ripen the body. The prisoners in the Penitentiary are, in the opinion of your Committee, peculiariy liable to the operation of moral causes : the strict discipline of the place ; the silence anti so. litude ;levelling there; the Will absence of amesements of all kinds; the rigorous observance of the rules laid down to check all demonstration even of natural gaiety ; the fact, that nearly one half of the prisoners are almest in a state of per petual seclusion, except for a short period in the 24 hours, when they walk with measured steps round a court; the long and certain confinement to which they are sentenced, varying from ten to five years; the feelings of remorse, which the ab sence of all other thoughts is so calculated to produce the monotony of their existence; the remembrance al better days, of their homes, and their families ; and that weariness of life, which is the result of long imprisonment; alt these cauncii molt peculiarly diepote the inlothitapte of the Penitentiary to the in roads of disease. For three reason'', your Committee consider it essential to the health of the. prieosers confined there, that they should he fed upon a full prison, diet, earried according t o th e suggestion of sow) of the medical practitioners who have been examined before them; and ,that some means should be devised, by which every prisoner in the Establishment should be employed in active exercise for some portion of the dax VOW' Committee have also inquired into, the causes of the disraimil of the late medical snperintentleele as well la,Lnto, the accusations! preferred 4p . illistitol in .May sod June , 10-.43° Site; pert or the oUbject, your Cominattie think it their aiILY observe,thet thetiestiniouyot - lathe attnikent of the Mameging Committee, who have two eatienined,,apeake most thrown* of the skill, kiniiness,, mud attention 0(414 officer he has receive& also, pewee oldie highest rank in his profemien e evtkoonialti of c,liarsieter the mist f lattering; yet to the same tune there dose appeartp futyttirptert,,inoveanikun and - the Menagerie of the tonifilithment, differences which, for the good of the Matieution, tendered his continuance in the situ.. PAlc,ll SZVENTitIiCS• odors he tilled ineXpili'At:' Ybiir Coninittee give no oPinion on the came of these differences; but .the mere fact of.their existence is to them a sufficient proof that the panic% could nee go ou together amicably,: or with that cordial union end coal dence which their reepective situations of oeceaslty demand. In reference to the either accusations, pot Cenionittse have deemed it expedient to inquire into the complaints'Prefrared againit the conduct of Dr. Ilutchineon in May 18 1 24, and which aro alluded to in documents already before the nooi4 , 4piift a due consideratiori of the evidence tendered to thetii3Oey are of the following opinion ; first, that the Committee : of ate Peni tentiary were fully justified its the'meaeures they took in reapect to accusation* sd materially affecting the character - and credo of the establishment; arid, secondly; though there SOPertrs.frents the evidence before them to have been considerable irritation of manner on the'pririef lir. fititchinson,'Yet they acquit hint of the charge of inebriety; ,at the sole time they do not see'odca siOn to unpute any intentioned misrepeesentation on the part of the oaken of Ui e establiehinert. Your Comt e rtes hid brought under their consideration the 1)4.1 . 44 of punislunent to which persons are serstericedintint Penitentiary ; thoise who have been capitally convicted;, ry iinprieorted (or 10 pion ; those who are sentenced .to 14 years transportation, for 7 ; and all 7 yeitra easel, tot 6l' thine; 7615 the maximum, and 6 years the. mininuint ofslui Venus Anton finament. Qpthe 26th of AI:v.1021, there were 1160 prisonene ,seresi s eo . slow tri on years .o totrp 1 1 life, b e ie na ll, oc 67 en , d en justlte far' i In Y l i iri n ef il li p l on sen b to r . 7 l l:l l for the: 6 tw o i t ►at 6 : : t . " d i e]; o r t cn. c e rI 1 don el/ " ass i a e I i i a ta fa l r 4. 4lll Y ere ou n r i 4. !ll ,!o t ti i ?in u ftre lj e lli a la rr inclined to to believe that the sinalloit terewes selected il% conformity to an opinion expressed by Mr. Hewett', 'vis. that 6 years sen tence should be the minimum of imprisooment, on the Peni tentiary system. The question of term of imprisooment, is one of great diifi cult,' it the point* to he aimed at are evidently, lst, the sejec don of a scale of punishment which may Strike terror in evil doers, and operate by example in the prevention of crime; Itchy, -the term of confinement should be sufficiently long to in sure a change being effected in the evil habiti and opinion* of the ;ointment ; thus uniting the exaniple of Ahe'piiitishment to the reformation' of the 'offender. Thete an the rational .6h jects of penal punishment. The evils to be *voided are,.-the making the persons under confinement objects of general sym pathy, diverting the censueo of the public from the prisoner, to the law that punishes him ; and, secondly, the length'ef im prisonment; thus subjecting the prisoner to alonger period' of mental and bodily punishment than is necessary either for his reformation or the example of others. Whether the term in the last instance is too long, your Cont mittee will not take upon themselves to determine; yet they cannot avoid suggesting the propriety of a reconsideration of the subject, and perhaps on a reviewof the whole ' question its advantages and its evils, it may be fecund by experience question, ' long imprisonment is unnecessary for, any puniehment, either regarding it as exemplary or reformatory, and a reduction of the scale may produce all the salutary ends the legislature by the former enactment* had in its centemplation to :edict. • It appears to your Committee, that the class of pereons Dupes fitted for this Establishment are these, whose misfortunes, more than their moral turpitude, or eonfirmed habits of crime, had subjected them to. the. sentence of the law. Young persona of both sexes (c), offenders fur the first time, the victims to artifice and seduction, and ell the various oliadee of early guilt, which the severity of the law punishes with the same sentence , as more hardened criminality ; offenders of thit description should find here a prison in which habits of industry might be leant, moral and religious feelings inculcated, site; at the expiration of their terms of confinement, the prisoners might be returned to their friends and relations corrected and reclaimed, oe if destitute of both, they msy have acquired within the walla of the prison, such habits and ways of industry us may enable thane to gain their livelihood, and secure them from falling a prey to the pressure of want l or the arts of the fraudulent turd designing. Upon a review then, generally, of the Penitentiary system as here established, your Committee are decidedly of opinion, that the vest cue; that has been incurred has not been spent In vain ; that this place of confinement, theugh one of very 1111141* punishment, reforms while it corrects ; and•that its pivepot plication is to also claws of prisoners, whose offences have broiled them tinder the puniehment of the law, but whose heaern,enw not hardened by guilt, and whore characters are not destroy l ed by the repeated perpetration of crime. Your Committee have learned widetnuels satiotsction.from his Mejesty's Principal Secretary of State, that in coriseqoeoce of the punialunent having "been intierieed by the disease now prevailing in the Penitentiary, and which has affected measly every prisoner within its walls, his illejeaty has signified his gracious intention of granting a remission of the terms of im prisonment to the prisoners now confined- In the Penitentiary, according to the following scale; to those. originally confined for five years, a remission will be . geisnted of one year; to those confined tint seven years, a re mission of one year and are half; and of two years to those confined for ten yenta.' • t In consequence of the verdict of an inquest on the bodiof Cherie* Thompson, deceased, in the. Penitentiary, which set forth, " That the said Charles Thonnsion being a prisoner li' the said Geueral.Penitentiary, on the 2dth of June 111133; then departed this life from tho efficts of solitary eenfinettient; and the want of the Common necessaries of life during ,his residence in the 114111 prison' sines the 2ifth of Juni 1822 ;-' -.4114 Coin. mittee thought lit to summon the Coroner :did Foreman of Jury before them, as well es the Surgeon and other offices of the Penitentiary. From the evidence of the Foremen, it spears that the Jury was unanimous in the fi nding Of the verd ict; that they considered the deceased to have died in conseqtants of his confinement in January last, mid of a disease breaght on by insufficiency of food. , The Foremen, however, expressly'. declated, the Jury had no reason to complain of the conduct of any of the officers otthe prison, and they did not mean by their yerdict to criminate any body ; he further stated, aim they found . the verdict,, he cause they believed the mother and brother of the deceesed who repeated to theta the testimony of the deemed es Web; Catlin of his death. , The Jury made, however, no inquiries es to the quantity of food given to the deceased when 'out of , the hospital; 'rear `ember of his diet while be wits ix it, nor as to the state of .his health witch released from confinement in shimmy hat ; nor did ehei examine any officers of the •Eitablishment to cbrfiriii Or Wow any of the statements detailed in the evidence of the IMMO and; brother. The gate of the case than i$ at, foilowitath l e de ceased, Charles Thompson, was admitted into the p e p ep ee . nary, from the iitilkii, in Juno, 1822, in au ernecireereitie Art .healtht during the abate of that year, 1001 on .thrWellie evidence that he made any complabit of defiseieney of ,foeoS . lit# the surgeon, teskinaster,'and turnkey, expretalyAilitm„ woe , fact he made none; and that during the While et that ' pail he was never efilicted with sickness. In January last, for Iti. offc nee against the rules of the prisien, newel/, dtloctlitl had secreting a portion of his work, arid solemnly delving tt..,tke was sent to the dark cell, Where helms (loaned en 'bread rend water for five days, having sixteen outwit of bread each ths , f; and he was visited daily by the surgeon, governor , . and nudt master ; he . never complained' that he wits 'ill ; arid en his le !nee he was :moulded to his cell, where ho resiinied'his'eeorlf, and laboured at the crank-mill, as before his confinement. -La the month of 'March following, he was attacked with the 412). ease then prerailing in the Eettetaiithmeht, and Ite repainted ailing, et times mending and . then relepsing„ being out of the infirmary from them 2dth .March to the 3cl of May, uotitthe last week, when he was seised with three fits of apTleay 'of the * effects of which he 'died. • . (a) The fine ekes ON) nel.4 or, their who lire 441111 . woritiby themselves, and are sonsidersti to be to is state 04: problifttstmr The rule is, thrit'priioneri vet-pain this class bAlf thefi scot tude ; but-they May be vetboved at an .tiarltet Thildd tinned gaol conduct. The second elssfro work ih boroplitlyr lost sleep in the upper gaiter x ; it is Nom this thfst the ws . sde.. men and servtrnts in the kitthen are taken. • (t) Write this Report was d rawn u p, a retu rn , or t'hil`kvt.. boners under medical treatment en the ;`.ld Jul', 1023, Ma boss fliven lit to thi Coinrnittee,l4 Which it appears that the tliike.,oe it rividly on the declitre t , thi hek, who are c4sidtertl las sta. tionaryi).teing,reduged font 100 to c prilsosititS 1101 AINDIC4I. T.II,X4v4ISMT . 4 44 t1h . Wom; - 21 ' 70 87 , ,114 179 'spa 8 22 ' lO Atittiottary Corriftslobfo,?i Weil- Tll of otters eliamors - 1 v. •• -: :439- t ' (ey to itirinde 'personkttrukerthk ttgliof this description, it having been found eiptfrietice `trill the confinement and discipline of the Penitentiary nee not csku. lilted for boys anti girls.