The Sun.
London, England, 1865-08-01 00:00:00

Religious Instruction in Prisons.

The discussions on the Prison Ministers Bill give
some interest to the reports of the inspectors of
prisons on the subject of religious instruction within
the walls of the borough and county gaols. From
the reports of the inspectors for the northern dis-
trict just issued, we take the following extracts :
The report from Chester county gaol states
" The chaplain performs the usual daily and weekly
services, and assembles the prisoners three times a
week for religious instruction ; examines and ad-
monishes prisoners on admission and discharge ;
visits the sick daily ; superintends the schools and
the distribution of books to the prisoners. The
schoolmaster and schoolmistress give instruction to
the prisoners daily, both in class and in their cells.
Prisoners who do not belong to the Established
Church have ample opportunities for seeing a mini-
ster of their own denomination." At the Chester
city gaol there is no schoolmaster ; and the chaplain
observes :—" Not much has been done in the school
for the last 12 mouths, owing to the large number of
prisoners requiring the entire attention of all the
officers." There is a sufficient supply of books. The
Roman Catholic priest attends occasionally to visit
prisoners of that denomination.

At Carlisle the number of Roman Catholic pri-
soners is small ; they are visited by a minister of
their own denomination when they desire it. Other
prisoners of a religious persuasion differing from the
Established Church receive instruction from the
chaplain and schoolmaster.
At Derby a Roman Catholic minister visits the
prison weekly, and sees all prisoners of his denomi-
nation who desire to see him.
At Kirkdale, the county prison of Lacashire, a
room has been fitted up for the services of the
1
Roman Catholic Church, and a chaplain has been
appointed to give religious instruction to the pri-
soners of that denomination. At Lancaster Castle
a Roman Catholic minister visits the prisoners of
that persuasion who desire it. Prisoners of all other
denominations attend the prison chapel.
At the Liverpool borough gaol there is a Roman

...... ____ _
Catholic chaplain, an extract of whose report is
given. He says :—" The system adopted here, in
conformity with the Prison Ministers Act has
worked admirably, and given general satisfaction.
For this 1 have to express my gratitude to the
governor and chaplain, who arranged the details to
carry out the spirit of the act, and who have in their
daily intercourse shown towards me the greatest
kindness and courtesy. I feel deeply interested in
the work in which I am engaged, and so far the
results of my labours have afforded me much con-
solation. In referring to the total number of com-
mitments for the year, it will be found that 3,083
Roman Catholic females %were committed, against
1,812. Protestants, thus giving a majority of 1,271.
Liverpool affords few openings for female labour in
proportion to its population, so that the destitute
and friendless girl is readily allured into the path of
crime. A large seaport like this not only attracts,
but it becomes the general refuge of the vicious
and fallen. The number of Catholic prosti-
titutes is so great, and the means of helping those
who wish to abandon the streets so limited, that I
give the numbers in full." From the figures given
by the rev. gentleman, it appears that, in the months
from January to September, 605 Protestants, and
931 Romanists of the class in question were col