The Sun.
London, England, 1863-12-05 00:00:00

The New Stables at Marlborough House.

The Prince of Wales's stud has been removed
from the Royal Mews to the stables re-
cently erected at Marlborough-house. The new
building stands upon the north-east side of the
mansion, assumes the form of a square block with
two wings, and is almost wholly built of yellow
bricks. In the centre of the block is the grand or
Royal entrance, leading into the gardens, which
skirt the promenade of St. James's-park and com-
municate with the entire interior of the structure.
On either side of the Royal entrance are two coach
houses, each divided into three divisions, and each
division capable of holding two carriages. The
quadrangle in front of these coach-houses
and of the Royal entrance is covered by
an enormous skylight, supported by light
iron columns, open upon its three bides, lighted with
gas, provided with clocks, manure pits ingeniously
constructed, and well-tapped drains. The stables—
some of which are upon a second tier reached by a
gradual ascent behind the east wing of the building
—include 45 stalls and 12 loose boxes, and will
be as perfect as modern resources can render them.
The fittings have been supplied by Mr. Barton, of
Oxford-street, and are of iron of a chocolate colour,
excepting the vitrified enamelled corn-bins. The
hay-racks are flush with the manger, flat and open
at the bottom for the escape of dust. These are
filled from time to time by hand, all upper supply
of fodder from lofts being avoided. The floorings
are of brick, laid edgeways, so placed as to carry
off through trapped drains all moisture. Ventila-
tion is supplied without draught, by open work
just beneath the open ceilings. No flanges or pro-
jections are detectable anywhere, and even the hay-
racks are provided with " an improved slip-back,"
to prevent the possibility of the horses' noses get-
ting caught between the apertures. In the front
of the corn-bin, hay-rack, and water-tank, com-
prising the man ger,a friction guard roller is placed,
which, besides being a most effective preventive
against crib-biting, is likewise, by its turning with
the slightest touch, a security against the horse in-
juring its legs by rearing on to the manger, and
" gives" to the contact of its haunches when it is
led round in its stall. The stalls are divided by
boarding, lead at a particular angle to insure the
greatest possible strength, and to prevent splinter-
ing by kicking. These divisions are surmounted
by " open ventilating Exhibition pattern" iron rail-
ings, terminated by handsome pillars, with stall
rings and chains, the latter gathering up in a some-
what elegant festoon when not in use. It being the
general opinion that ophthalmia in horses has been
aggravated, if not altogether induced, by the glare
and refraction of white tiles and other glazed sur-
faces, the whole of the skirting opposed to the
horses' vision is lined with Raviencioni marble
of a bluish-gray colour, from the works of Messrs.
Burke and Co., of Warwick-house, Regent-street,
which, while it absorbs the light, imparts an agree-
able effect upon the eye, and certainly gives a relief
and finish to the general appearance of the stables.
In some of the stables aro long rows of slate reser-
voirs for water, which, when closed, are converted
into seats for the attendants. The harness-rooms,
more particularly those with glass cases appropri-
ated to the State suits, are very attractive phases of
the establishment ; and those devoted to the ordi-
nary harness, fashioned to the form of the respec-
tive pieces of the bridle, &c., so that the shapes of
the latter when suspended aro preserved, and, the
air being admitted, all injury from damp or mildew
is prevented. The sitting-rooms, dormitories, &c.,
for the upper officers and their attendants, are
worthy of remark frum the manner, it is obvious,
their every requirement has been studied ; while
the luxury, not to say necessity, of ample bath
rooms is always within reach of the lowest of the
employes. The builders of this simple yet model
structure are Messrs. Smith and Taylor, the suc-
cessors of Messrs. Belk ; and the whole of the plans
and arrangements have been carried out by them
under the direct superintendence of Mr. Penne-
thorn°, his Royal Highness's architect.—Field.

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

TlmEs.—Whatever be done next Session, there is
one thing which the House of Commons cannot by
any possibility escape—we mean, of course, the die-
cussion of the question of Secondary Punishments.
Though our columns are not, as during this time
last year, filled with the complaints and terrors of
persons who have been, or believe they are going
to be, garotted or knocked down by " knuckle-
dusters" and " life-preservers," the question has lost
none of its importance and little of its interest. It
has undergone a thorough and searching discussion,
and has now arrived at the stage when decisive
action is imperatively called for. The leading ob-
jections to oar present Secondary Punishments may
be briefly stated to be that so much of the punish-
ment as is inflicted in places like Portland is greatly
wanting in severity. The food is too good, the
treatment too pleasant, to inspire terror into hard-
ened offenders. The second objection is that the
system of tickets of leave has in practice broken
down. The surveillance of the police has been found
impracticable, and there is, in truth, no tangible
distinction between a ticket of leave holder and a
prisoner whose sentence has been remitted alto-
gether. A third objection is, that remissions of sen-
tence for good conduct arc little more than a pre-
mium.upon hypocrisy, and are often obtained by the
most hardened and desperate offenders, to the tedium
of whose imprisonment it is an agreeable relief, in
the absence of more exciting employment, to "gam-
mon the chaplain." Fourthly, it is complained
that after subjecting our criminals to a process
which does very little for their improvement, we
turn them adrift upon a society which they have
already wronged, to commence a new career of out-
rage. The commissioners recommend that we should
remedy these evils in the following manner. They do
not propose to make the treatment of convicts labour-
ing on public works more severe, but to commence it
with nine months of separate imprisonment, and not
to recognise sentences of penal servitude for a less
period than seven years. They do not propose to
make the diet worse, or the restraint more severe ;
they propose to send all who are fit for hard labour
during the latter part of their sentence to Western
Australia, and that those who are unfit for trans-
portation should be set at large under superinten-
dence at home. No propositions could less corres-
pond to the reasonable expectations of the public
than these. They leave untouched almost every
provision to which exception has been taken, ex-
cept the non-removal of prisoners from this country,
and they propose transportation in such a. shape as
to make it a reward for crime if practicable, and to
enlist all the strongest feelings of the colonists of
Australia against its adoption. Three persons have
come forward to propose amendments on this plan.
The first is the Chief Justice of England, who gives
his opinion distinctly against the system of remis-
sions and tickets of leave, nod proposes, we think
with the very general conssiit of the public, that the
sentence as pronounced by the Judge shall be lite-
rally executed in all cases, excel.:t, where her
Majesty shall be pleased to exercise the p 17ogative
of mercy. Lord Carnarvon and the Haraps-s'dre
magistrates have devised a plan for greater severity
of punishment, and for remissions not based upon
good conduct, but upon the amount of labour per-
formed, those remissions being rather in the severity
than in the duration of the punishment. Lastly,
Mr. Adderley has expounded in our columns his own
views of the subject, which seem to consist in keep-
ing separate the ideas of reformation and punish-
ment, in doing away, as the Did Justice proposes,
with remissions or tickets of leave, and leaving the
expatriation or future employment of the prisoner
when his sentence has expired to private agency
assisted by the State. Such is the position of the
question at this moment. We subscribe at once to
the sound logic of the argument which requires that
the sentence as pronounced by the judge should be
carried into complete effect ; but at the same time we
cannot help feeling that this, like many other perfectly
logical propositions, involves very considerable diffi-
culty in practice. Mankind must, be governed either by
hope or fear, and, it' hope be removed, we have
nothing left to trust to in our prison discipline, but
the number of our warders and the strictness of our
regulations. We might abandon without a sigh
the supposed reformatory effects of remissions, in
which we have no great faith, but we confess that
we should give up with regret the hope of making
the prisoners contribute in some degree to the
preservation of good order and discipline. We may
perhaps be driven to such a course, but it would be
with great regret—with diffidence as to the possi-
bility of maintaining it, and the prospect of a heavy
increase to the public burdens by maintaining
s in
every prison a force sufficient to do by
that which is now obtained by hope. As
country
g
of leave, the institutions and habits, f _cofomrpion
tickets
s to their effi-
offer, as it seems to us, fatal obstacc
ciency. The surveillance which the Commissioners
recommend will never practically be enforced, an;
,ickets of leave, therefore, lr_com., rev-1-3" co ;fling
but unacknowledged remissions of existing rien.