The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1819-02-26 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

MOINF OF LOMA, Tnumanifiv. FellatlAßT 25.

T° • Dok• ,•( NORTITVIIRTRLAND, and Lord HOWARD
of Elfinghiso th. -nib% nsigt their sew...
%1E4001114, FROM TILE COMMONS.

Adminil FRANK• •nd Where from tke Howie of COM.
mow. ',,oneht np Owe MII. f.,r the anorinting •od repit,
hug of certniis Road* therein mentioned.

STATE OF THE GAOLS.
bold Sir/Mile in fn.. mad said. that the Home
boil now 14,i50, it returns fr virinses gaols arid
penitentiary busses throughout the kingdom, ehew-
iota the Pale of their regulations, their internal
and the general condition of their un-
fortunate inmates. 711,1 were ebtained by the
ngency of the Sheriffs of e. ties Slid Chief Ma-
gistiates of fowls., and would be (Mind as full and
as satisfactory as was desired by the Noble Mar-
tinis oponsite (Laosslown). If any deficiencies
se,we discovered in them, he should be extremely
happy if they were pointed out, to apply his best
rinfravoors to have them correeiril. The return,
fro... the several parts of Etigland and %Vales were
romiil«ted ; from Scotland Dhow live-sixths were
received ; but (ruin Ireland thew were as yet very
few. The accounts, however, alp ad) /refine the
110lisee were in his nand, 1.11 frlul,lit to induce
their Lordships to refer the entire' matter iiiii wet-
erl with them to a Committee. There were also on
the table accounts shewii.g the members of persons
committed to vsini charged nods pr oaf offences,
in 1.11 the routines, except Midriff rwx, limn the
year 1,405, the ',mod its which regist..os were first
used with regard to them ; but so London and
Dlidillesex, front ihr year 1749 In the year IS lII.
nm comps:mon of these :Ironton', it wits Wis..
I..c,.biy for him to be enabled In state, that the
mind), r of commitments within the last y or were
Goer than in the year preeerliog. The difference
ea- not considerable, but even the iltraelire of an
itiereroe furnished .nine cause for congratulation.—
/ liear, hcor.)—Woli respect to the county of
Altddlear x and London, it was satisfactory to per-
celer, that the proportion of the increase of
errives within them Burins; the last seven years,
Was I .4 than In any other comities, with the
exe litho) of lintlanil anti Glamorgan. It had
beets renowned by some persons, that the state
of toe prisons diroirefrou, the country sod in the
metropolis had chiefly contributed to the increase
of crime ; while others, ohs she contraty, had be-
het,ii that the bid sate of the prison., had been
caused by the iovreus. ell off-tiers. To his 'snood, it
Iller!litil that lif se whM attranstefl tlw increase of
crimes to the but aisle of the gaols. left 4.ut of their
view :f-the •tilijeci the vas, • mprovements which
1)01 ni late years been happily int•oiluestl in the
system of prisoir discipline; it was trio mooch, there-
I. 1., to *my, flint in II system sit which liftrlnt mriit
hail been great, alai was st,,l tang ii s i ire, the growth
of er me had I I an accelerating
Indeed lie f.lt 1011% cnnyi iced, lhat It the "),":0111,
were pLerfl in the best possible stale, still, ut.di r
tie cloy imistancen of the country, as they hail
thl:CLlrre,l ...ming the few late years, there would
have hurts i vast increase of crime.—(bear, hear.)
The atte,•tion of their 41411 W had of en 'nen
painfully drawn to the 41i,ire.ord condition of the
people ; u was itnposs.lile for th-em to stint their
eyes in the high price or prisviinons, to she d minish-
td rate of wages, to the want of employment, and
to the simultaneous rliseliarre of a large portion of
the rimy and navy, *lnch must have consider:4llly
ii2gt.avarted the other misfmtunes. The combined
tuarratiots of these sari causes must have added
In the general mass of misery, and indirectly contri-
buted to the increase of crimes. With such cruises,
therefore, he (lid riot doubt that offroces would
have nicreased in a great degree, even though the
prisons of the country had hero brought to /I stale
of theoretic perfection.—(lleue, hear.)—By the
accumulation of prisoners, the state of the gaols
was alPcted, in such a manner as to prevent the
classification of crime, and impede the improve-
ment of prison disciplitie. Before the House,
therefore, could hope to ameliorate the state
of the gaols to any efficient purpose, it would
be necessary to ascertain the cause, for the
inctease of crime, sod endeavour to arrest their
progress. The state of punishment too should
lot in an important part of their investigation. There
were Iwo complaints osually urged against the
existing system of Crittrioal Law, or rather against
the node-in which it was tufo:red. Our was, that
the law itself was much too sanguinary, and the
toner, tb tt Govermut sit had acted on a principle of
set erity. To refute these objections let the House
look at the Returns, in which it would be found,
that from the year 1746 to 1756 the age Hum-
ber of executions was forty-three, while in the last
ten years the average number amounted only to
nineteen. This :.firmed a sufficient answer to this
objection. To this, host I vet., moodier objection was
added of a direr by contrary nature, oraniely, that
the laws were executed with too much lenity in re-
gard to what might be considered the secondary
punishments. No doubt the apprehension and
dread of the panisliment of transportation had of
late years been much diminished, which could be
accounted for solely by the increased number of per-
sons on whom of late years that pirssishment had
betel inflicted, and which was so west as to pre-
vent the fassibilily, Ms their arrival in New
South Wales, of providing proper places for
their rinploynient, classification, and instruction.
It was indeed very desirable that means should be
'dolma tlnre, not may or separating the depraved
convicts front those who were less hardened in guilt,
but more particularly for separating the convict. 11l
gene's! from the free inhabitants of the colony.—
( flew, hear./—lit the hulks. be was happy to
state, the system pursued there was greatly unprov-
ed. The prisoners were classed according to age
and habits—they obtained religious insttuction—
und, what was of no less importance, were kept to
constant and hard labour. This discipline had
been attended with the most sslutary effects. There
were also regular returns made to the Office of the
11 l)epartmetit every six timidly, signed by the
C.pioins, the Clergymen, amid Overseers, stating
the conduct of the convicts; and in cases where,
from their exemplary behaviour, any of the pri.
Goners were deemed worthy of having mercy ex-
tended to them, they were discharged—net, how.
ever, until a kind of security was given that they
would not become burdensome or injurious to
society: sod few were the tartness in which those

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