The Sun.
London, England, 1825-01-12 00:00:00

STATE OV THE COUNTY cAor..

Mr. MADER LY submitted his motion for the better heating
the cells in their county gaol. He said that at the time of Mr.
O'Callaghan's case, his attention had been called to the state of
the cells for the confinement of persons on charges of felony
and misdemeanour, which he found, from the nature of the
brick-walls and stone floor, and the constant operation of wash-
ing for cleanliness, very liable to damps, which could not fail to
be injurious to the health of the prisoners. His only desire was
to institute an inquiry into the expediency of introducing steam
heat, which could easily be done, into these cells, for the pur-
pose of keeping them in a dry and healthy state. He had no
objection to have the subject referred to the consideration of the
visiting Magistrates.
Mr. TROWER objected to the motion, unless the Hon. Ma-
gistrate could show the existence of any evils under the present
system. If the object were to introduce comforts into a prison,
he must at once protest against it. A prison must, for the
purposes of law, be a place of severity. If health were in-
jured, the case would be different, but comforts must not be
sought for in prisons.
Sir T. T 1: RTON was quite astonished to hear his Worthy
Friend's remark about " comforts." Were there not innocent
persons as well as guilty confined in gaols ? And were they to
be absolutely excluded from all comforts, like those who were
condemned ? The idea was intolerable.—( Hear !)
Mr. Ho r.stE SIIKNER dissented front the motion alto-
gether. The Hon. Mover ought first to show that ill health
had been inflicted by the present mode of confinement ; then
he would not hesitate to send the inquiry into a Committee.
But this motion had no real foundation, for all the returns from
their prison-surgeons showed a clear and indeed surprising state
of improved health, considering the previous habits of the ge-
nerality of the prisoners, which was owing to the care and at-
tention of the officers, the cleanliness, ventilation, and whole-
some exercise of their prison discipline. He never concurred
in the sympathy of some persons for Mr. O'Callaghan ; on the
contrary, he ;Approved of his sentence, and thought it a whole-
some thing for him. The prisoners, in fact, were all improved
from being high fed.

Sir 'nib TURTOX.—.i6 High fed 1 upon bread and
water !"

Mr. H. SUMNER'—." I mean compared to their previous
diet."

Mr. PAL LME tt said, that they ought not to wait until the
disease arrived before they applied the remedy. He warmly
supported the motion, because he thought the improvement
necessary, knowing the humidity which was occasioned by the
constant washing of these cells to keep the prisoners clean.
Mr. MABEttLY hoped that his motion would be carried,
notwithstanding the opposition of the Hon. Member.
Mr. H. Su mNER appealed to the surgeon's report of the pre-
sent health of the prisoners in the jail, as an answer to this
motion. The cells, he thought, had at present sufficient heat,
and the prisoners had; in general more comfort within than they
usually enjoyed without.
Mr. liarscoE thought the jail being built in a morass was a
sufficient reason why this inquiry should go on. It certainly
was not required in the House of Correction.
Mr. MARERLY had no objection to limit the operation of
the motion to the jail only.
Mr. SPEER opposed the motion, from a persuasion that no
inconvenience had been sustained by prisoners from either cold
or damp.
Mr. RANDLT: JACKSON was anxious, by possibility, to
avoid the contagion of malady. He was for inquiry at all
events.

Mr. WILLIAMS and Mr. CRAWFORD opposed the motion,
as unnecessary.
Mr. LET'f concurred in the same opinion. If there had been
ground of complaint a year ago, the improved system of drain-
age would now remove-it.
The question was then put, when there appeared—
For Mr. Maberly's motion, 10 I Against it, 14 Majority, 4.
In presenting the report rom the Brixton House of Correc-
tion,-allusion was made to an inquiry- instituted by Mr. Secre-
tary Peel, in consequence of an unfounded report that a better
diet was ordered for the prisoners, in consequence of the sur-
geon's opinion that they had decreased in strength by the tread..
wheel exercise.
. THE TREAD-WHEEL FOR FEMALES.

Mr. BRISCOE rose to bring forward the motion of which be
had given notice at the late sessions at Kingston, to exempt
female prisonersfrom the punishment of the tread-wheel. He
said, that if on former occasions he had felt no small degree
of reluctance in requesting the attention of the Court to a sub-
ject on which he had the misfortune to differ from most of
his brother Magistrates of the county, he had now the satis-
faction of rising with different feelings, as he ventured to
hope, nay, with confidence to anticipate, that from the limited
nature of his present motion, he should receive the cordial sup-
port of those who would still have persevered in opposing his
views upon the more general question. In submitting the present
motion, he begged to assure his brother magistrates, that he
would strictly adhere to the intimation he had given, of confin-
ing his remarks to the very peculiar unfitness and obvious im-
propriety of the tread-wheel labour when applied to the cha-
racter and constitution of the female sex ; and more particu-
larly its inadequacy and ill-adaptation for conveying to that
class of society any useful acquirement of which they might af-
terwards avail themselves by their industry in the progress of
moral improvement. It was almost unnecessary for him to re-
mark in the present day, and before any enlightened assembly
of Englishmen, that in every civilized community in the ex-
isting state of the svorld, and more especially in every country
in which Christianity prevailed, a more mild treatment of wo-
men was practised, and a comparative relaxation of the law, and
mitigation of its severity, was obseyvable in their case, con-
trasted with the full measure of infliction which was dealt out
to the male offender. Not only did the character of the sex
point out this distinction, but the class of society from which the
prisons were filled—these poor people were more fit often for a

penitentiary than a gaol, although from their want of proper
employment they became over and over again the successive in-
mates of a gaol. There were examples enough to show that fe-
males always resorted to a place of refuge where they could find
one, to seek that employment the want of which so often drove
them to prisons. Of this he had an example ; for, as he had
been informed, the first person who had been discharged, in a
state of retermation, by the excellent Society established last
year, under the auspices of the principal personages of the
county of Surrey, " for the employment and reformation of
offenders discharged from the county gaol, and from the House
of Correction at Brixton," was a female named Lydia Jones,
who had previously been sent nine successive times to the
punishment of the tread-wheel ; and whose name stood the
first in the printed letter which he had addressed to the Seers=
tary of State for the Home Department. The Prison Disci-
pline Society had also published these words on the subject—
" But the general employment of women at the tread-wheel is
liable to serious objections ; and as there are, even in the ab- .
sence of prison trades, other kinds of labour to be found for wo-
men in a gaol, that are congenial to the habits of their sex, the
practice of thus employing this class of offenders is not justified
by necessity." The report on Irish prisons also contained a •
similar observation, and pointed out the very beneficial results
which had attended the efibrts of Ladies' Committees, in Ire-
land, improviding suitable work for female prisoners. They
had also the authority of Mr. Harrison—and here he would
quote the words of their late excellent and lamented Chairman,
taken from his printed examination before the Committee of
the House of Lords in the year 1819, who, after stating to
their Lordships it was the intention of his brother Magistrates,
that in the new House of Correction the male prisoners were
" to ;rind their own flour, and do every thing they possibly
could do of real manual labour," afterwards said —." With re-
tweet to females, the plan which originated with Mrs. Fry, a
Newgate, we mean to put into execution as far as possible, co..-
ceiving great advantages will result from it." What were.
these advantages ? He would read them from the third Report
of the Prison Discipline Society, and they were described to bs . .
-" the progressive decrease in the number of female )-r!s noels.; •
recommitted, which has diminished, since the plan of Mrs. Fry,
no less 40 per cent." So much for the effect of so excellent ,:
an experiment, and why not adopt it in this county ? .
Although it would be easy to multiply facts to shew the •
necessity of this motion, yet that this degrading and inju-
rious punishment was not thought necessary for females by it
very large body of the magistracy of the country, he was pre- •
pared to shew by enumerating the houses of correction and
gaols where women were prohibited from working at the tread-
wheel ; and he had copied this list from the table of tread-
wheels
in the last report of the Prison Discipline Society.—
No female prisoners were worked at the mills in the old
and new houses of correction at Bedford. Reading, Cambridge,
Knutsford, Bodmin, Durham, Chelmsford, Glocester, Win-
chester, Newport, [fatten!, Lancaster, Kirton, Louth, SssatTs
ham,Wymondliam, Southwell, Stafford, Bury, Ipswich, Lewes,
Warwick, and Wakefield, in all twenty-four places, in support
of his proposition. With respect to the constitutions of female
prisoners, he would ask, were they not generally of that class
which had unfortunately become debilitated from vagrancy.
and misery, or from the effects of a vicious course of life ?
Were they not in general the least likely to bear excessive
labour from their previous debilitated habits ? Moreover it
ought to be remembered that in numerous instances, perhaps
in the far larger number, these wretched sufferers had been
guilty of no legal crime, but were the victims of neachery
and misfortune. Was it not, then, most unjust to cast them
upon the swine wheel with those convicted of outrageous of-
fences? He had much more to say on this subject, but he
was reluctant to trespass longer on their time at that hour of
the day. lie entreated the Court to adopt the on rim which
he submitted for their consideration. He had already pointed,
out to them that those members who were still of opinion the
tread-wheel was a useful and beneficial punishment for mall
offenders, might still most conscientiously, and in the avowed
spirit of distinction recognized both by mann:?rs and the law,
concede the exemption which he claimed in behalf of female pri-
soners. He appealed in this motion both to their reason and their
feelings ; policy and justice alike celled for the exemption ;
the tread-wheel was to females a punishment without object ; It
could harden anti destroy, but it could neither instruct nor re-
form. He knew he was liable to the presumption of instruct-
ing those who felt as men, as husbands. ard as parents—who
must feel consideration and compassion for the !alien and un-
fortunate class of the other sex who were laid :ow in misery
and distress. He implored of them, then, by what they owed
to themselves, to recognize, in the administr aim of their pu-
nishments, the principle by which they would govern their per-
sonal actions in all the private relations of life, :nd ,•Emindsti
them of the sound opinion of their late lamented Chairman
(Mr. Harrison)—an opinion unequivocally expressed, and Kn.
lemnly recorded—in f.vour of listening to the voice of hurnas
nity and mercy in b h,ll of that most helpless class of society
of which he (Mr. B isco-) was now so feeble an advocate—of
that sex to whom m n ow,d from his cradle to his gave an inn
delible obligat on. He concluded by imploring the Court to
give effect to an improved system of discipline towards female
prisoners, and by moving " that female prisoners be exempted
from working at the tread-wheel in the county of Surrey."
Sir THomAs Tt: RTON seconded :he motion.
Mr. WHITAKER declared, that Mr. Harrison was, up 00
the hour of Ifs death, an advocate fur the application of the
tread-wheel to females._( 'lsar !)
Mr. H. Straimrat. said, th t whatever reluctance the Hen.
Member (Mr. B scoe) had : vowed for bringing forward trio,
tions of thi, kind, he could not altogether give him credit for,
repeating the same motion time after time to the same body of
Magistrates by wi ich his proposition had been resisted on one
occasion by a m, jo ty um 't9 to 1. If the diminution of re,
commitments uneer Mrs. F,y's system was 40 per cent., the
tread-wheel di& ipline had cau:s•d a diminution of 200 per
cent. ; so that in the ,o ,•palsci the tread-wheel had worked
far better. The: efore, e en if they could get so benevo7e It and
effective a lady as .Nlr.. E•y n thei co Enty—ton r. re an in,
stance of abilities and philantlin.py to expect eve y day—tits 9
was no necessity of their resorting to the system of which stso
was the great authoress ; for the physiciens had positively des
monstrated that the females enjoy better health than the males
while employed in this manner—(hear).—and he had heard
a lady's physician say, that he had a number of patients on hil
hands who would not require medical aid to recruit they
health, if their husbands would set up small domestic treads
wheels in their private houses.--(Loud laughter.)—The coma'
deration of Mr. Briscoe's former motion involves that of tits
present, which, he repeated, was wholly unnecessary ; he shoul
of course oppose it.

Sir THOMAS TURTOR thought this motion was quits air
tinct from former motions made by the Hon. Magistrate. Tha
former applied to the principle of tread-wheel labour generallY+
of which he (Sir Thomas) most highly approved ; for in this
case of men, it sent them to prison to work harder than th,-:9
had ever worked before, instead of plotting fresh crimes; but
diffisrent was the case of females, who ought to he employed 0
a way more consonant to the habits and constitution of thi?lf
sex. The mixing of the merely unfortunate but not abandoned+
with the profiigate,.females was a great grievance. He though
the punishment ought to be exclusively confined to men, and h°
had no doubt that its application in this manner was most
jurious in every respect to women. Why not submit the motioll
for the inquiry of a Committee ?
Mr. BurscoE had no objection.
Mr. COURTENAY said that Mr. Briscoo had, during tb/
whole of his opposition to the tread-wheel, failed in establish'
ing a single case of injury arising from its action. He oughtn't,
to persevere in a course in which he was most certainly naislco'
Mr. CuamnEtts alluded to the defects in the report of the
Gaol Committee, and highly praised the moral discipline of ID"
tread-wheel for feMales, which he hoped would be continued
the county. He further bore testimony, on the authority
medical officers, to the healthful effect of thiS species of punisbi
meat, and the terror with which it had inspired offenders
every class. He certainly should have no objection to secitlcd
the time of work for females, to enable any Ladies' Comm itg4
to give them useful instruction, which would prevent their ';'';
turning, for want of any other occupation, to their fore:':
vicious course.
Mr. BARCHARD highly approved of the discipline of o'4
tread-wheel for females. As to the reform of Lydia Jonl
whose case was mentioned by Mr. Briscoe, she had been, afV
her discharge from the Reformatory Institution, about die
weeks ago, fined ss. f. 07 being drunk in the public streets.--1
laugh.)
Mr. BRISCOE inquired how long 'agohad that happmed ?
Mr. CHAMBERS said that about five weeks ago that
incorrigible Lydia Jones had been brought before him 1,3,1
Union-hall for being drunk, and an elderly man came forwss,
and paid the fine, p.omising that she should not repeat IP.
offence.
After some explanations from the Magistrates who 0(1
spoken, the que:ti.m was put upon Mr. Briscoe's motion, wile.
the number were—

For it, 4 I Against it, 12 1 Majority against it, 8.

. .
A motion of thanks to Mr. Iledg►er for his services while pe/:
forming the &Lies of Chairman on late occasions was then Al'
animously past. d.
Some other routine business was then disposed of, and th°
Court adjourned at 7 o'clock in the evening.

On Thursday last, a poor woman, residing 6/
Ferdwich, while standing at the washing-tut':
burst a blood-vessel in her leg, which occa•iouto
her death in a few hours. Her leg had been dif;
eased some time ; she has left a family of fo°
small children.

There was yesterday a report, which, if it should
confirmed by authentic intelligence, must be
jelly gratifying to every friend to peace, to the
nie:Pliudence of Nations, and. to the freedom of
"tankind. The report, which seems to have been
Keived with some degree of confidence, implied
hat the King of PORTUGAL had actually recog-
iked the independence of the Brazilian Em-
4res and that Sir CHARLES STUART, our late
risbassador at Paris, had been appointed Am-
laszador Extraordinary to the Brazilian Court.
Chit report derives probability from the
iteation of Portugal, which evidently can-

let • provide an armament adequate even to
Iffdrd the sligtqest.hope of her ever recovering
:e sovereignty of her former possessions. It
Pretild be unjust to suppose that Portugal does
lot pots es s Statesmen capable of perceiving that
Ll 4• reported measure is founded on the best
Paky, but it would be equally unjust to our own
Ciliverement if we did not infer that it has
had considerable influence with the Portuguese
COinet on this interesting and important °cell-
If* and that British Counsels have powerfully
QoutribAted towards promoting and accelerating
this-desirable event. The choice of Sir CIIARLas
Suez to assist in consolidating the amicable
"kV between Brazil and the Parent State is a
proof of ahe judgment of the Portuguese Ca-
binets while it is, at the same time, a compli..
ulegli-te this country. Sir CHARLES is an expe-
rienced politician ; and his long intercourse with
the.Feench Government must have furnished him
Itith a profound knowledge of the views and re.
latious of all the European Courts. He has the
canfidence of his own, and must have the
reepect of all other Countries. Far, therefore,
from attempting to throw any doubt upon the
report that Portugal has assented to so satisfac-
tory en arrangement, we hail it as a propitious
omen of great importance to Europe, and- to the
eirilized'world at large.

Thft Paris Papers of Sunday do not contain
any thing of interest to the English reader, except
tlae expression of their sentiments respecting the
recognition by this Country of the South American
States, which appears to have quite astounded the
Parisians. The Etoile blames ; the Quotidienne
states that the represensatives of the Holy
Alliance at Paris had met together in conclave on
Saturday morning, and dispatched a note to the
Cabinet of St. James ; and the Journal des
Dads takes occasion from it to vent its
indignation against M. de VILLELE in the
folinwing article, evidently written by his
political rival M. de CIiATEAUBRIA ND. The
French Minister is reproached with being a
Worse player in the game of politics than Mr.
CA.Ntrl;ro, and owing to the former's mis-manage-
toent of affairs iu Spain, by which the suc-
eitses of the French army there are nullified,
Mr.: CANNING is said to have now done what he
lieveLwould have dared to do when the French

Were first triumphant in Spain—that is, we pre-
slime, when. M. de CuATEAuun.IAND was Mini-
ster for Foreign Affairs.

( From the Journal des D6batt. )

Pants, JAN. is certain that England will conclude ,
treaties of commerce with Colombia and Mexico, the basis of
which will be the recognition of the independence of these Co-
lonies ; for contracts are not entered into with dependent
Powers, which could have no authority to sign and maintain
their treaties. The consequences of this measure will be very
important. What part will Continental Europe take? What
part will France take ? And yet it is at this moment that an
indemnity, otherwise so sacred, is to be proposed, when
to realise the project OD which it is founded, at least five
years of. peace will be required ! And it is at this
moment that our Minister speaks of converting stock,
creating new stock, and of disturbing the financial order
of the Kingdom, risking the fortunes of every man in an enor-
mous gambling speculation Mr. Canning plays better than
we do. When we had triumphed in Spain—when our credit
was strengthened by the loss of the project for the conversion
of the Rcntes, he took care not to decide a question in which
we might so effectually interfere ; but when he saw how little
we profited by our success in Spain, and by the glory of the
Dauphin, when he saw us begin again our disastrous opera-
tions on our finances, he was convinced that the moment to act
bad arrived. And M. de Villele, what has he done ? From
the very nature of the Ministerial projects of law, it ix evident
that ho has foreseen nothing, has adopted no system, and has
taken no pact as to foreign affairs.
CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES.—SITTtoro 0? JAN. 8.

M. Benjamin Constant and M. Dupont (de I'E:ore) were pre-
sent, and took their seats as before, on the left side. M. de
Cases brought up a Report of the Committee on Petitions.
Some discussion took place on a petition presented by M. Pascal
Larnarre„" that he might share in the indemnity to be granted,
he having purchased some confiscated property, and since the re-
turn of the owner had again given him some money to quiet his
own conscience, and enjoy his property unmolested." After
some discussion, not at all interesting to the English reader,
the recommendation of the Report that the Petition should be
referred to the Committee appointed to examine the Project of
the Indemnity Law, was carried. Some discussion afterwards
took place on a Petition of M. Isambert, requiring that the
men of colour transported from Martinique to Senegal should
be set at liberty. This Petition, after some discussion in which
M. B. Constant and General Foy exposed the arbitrariness of
the proceedings according to which these men were transport-
ed, and the hardships they had suffered at Brest, was also re-
jected ; and the Chamber passed to the Order of the Day, a. 4
recommended by the Committee under the sanction of a large
majority. Some Reports were then presented on the Civil
List, and on some laws relative to individuals, and the Cbainber
adjourned.

Madrid Gazettes to the 3lst ultimo arrived
his morning, from which the following are

extracts

MADRID, DEC. 30.

The Gazette of this date contains an official article, to the
effect that on the representation of D. Pedro Moreno Altu-
zaia, Master of the English frigate Lord Lyndoch, soliciting I
payment for the passage of some Spanish officers who have I
emigrated from South America, the King has decided, by
the advice of the Supreme Council of War, that all persons
belonging to the army or navy, and the widows or others men-
tioned in the Royal Order of 26th May, 1818, and the cap-
tains and masters of merchantmen, to whom the Royal
treasury owes the passage from America to the Peninsula,
or from the ports of the parts of America in a state of
insurrection to other ports of the same countries which
obey the Spanish Government of his Majesty, shall be paid the
amount out of the treasury, though they performed these
voyages durinc, the existence of the Constitution now abolished.
All persons who shall henceforth present themselves as enti-
' grants shall prove by documents that they were compelled to
leave the ports they occupied, otherwise the soldier shall suffer
the penalty to which he is liable by the law ; and the Captain
of the vessel shall not be indemnified for the passage of the per-
son whom he had improperly brought with him.
The Commander of the French squadron at Cadiz has in-
formed the Governor of that city, by a letter of 13th December,
that his Majesty's frigate the Amazon, under his command,
having received orders to go to Mahon to convey several Spanish
ships, which had performed quarantine there, eight of those
ships had sailed from that port, of which one went to Alicant,
one with recruits to Carthagena, two from the Havannah to
Malaga, and four to Cadiz. The value of the convoy exceeds
three millions.

Their Majesties and the Royal Family, with their illustrious
guests, Prince Maximilian and Princess Amelia of Saxony,
went on the 27th to visit the Royal Museum of Natural His.
tory, in the street Alcala, where they were received by
D. Francis Zea Bermudez, Chief Secretary of State, who is
at the head of the Royal establishment. The professors
of Mineralogy and Zoology drew the attention of the august
visitors to the most remarkable among the innumerable curio-
sities in the Museum. They particularly admired a specimen of
Gold and another of Platina, much larger than any other in
Europe ; a vast collection 4:;f exquisite marbles from the several
provinces of Spain, and above all the enormous skeleton of the
Megaterium, the only known specimen in the world.

Last night we received Brussels Papers to
Monday. The following is au extract

BRUSSELS, JAN. 8.
Yesterday there passed through this city a British Cabinet
Messenger, sent from Vienna by Mr. Stratford• Canning with
dispatches, said to be important, for the English Cabinet.
The Second Chamber of the States General after four Sit-
tings, employed in discussing the project of law for some
changes in the Tariff of Customs, adopted it yesterday by a
majority of 72 to 23. In these debates the distress of agricul-
ture was frequently mentioned, and several members expressed
a wish for measures of reprisal against the French commerce.
While a subject of such interest to our country was debating
with equal judgment and patriotism, M. de St. Cricq, Presi-
dent of the Board of Commerce and Colonies in France, pro-
posed to the Chamber of Deputies in its Sitting of Jan. 9, some
changes in the Tariff of Customs. In the exposition of the
grounds for this measure, we observe following phrase :—" The
best commercial legislation is that which most effectually pro-
tects the agriculture and the manufactures of the country, and
this protection ought to go so far as to insure to them in the
home market a great preference above foreign agriculture and
manufactures. het uS, however, not forget that foreign com-
merce is also a mean of acquiring riches, that exchanges are
the aliment of it, and that we must provide that exchanges
may be made on reasonable terms."-

NEW BRAZILIAN LOAN.—The small amount
of this new Loan has attracted the public atten-
tion, owing to the Brazilian Government having
no debt but the loan of one million last con-
tracted for. 'Ye understand the list is already
filled, and that the applications at N. AL
ROTHSCHILD'S Office this morning for subscrip-
tions to the above Loan amounted to nearly four
times the sum contracted for.

The Metropolis is expected to be extremely
full in the course of a few days, as several Peers
and Members of the House of Commons are al-
ready arrived in town, previously to the meeting
of Parliament, which it is expected his MAJESTY
will open in person.
Yesterday afternoon, at four o'clock, the Duke
of YORK held a levee, as Commander in Chief, at
his office in the Horse Guards, which was attend-
ed by between forty and fifty Military Officers.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER came to
town yesterday morning from Beckenham.
A Board of the Lords of the Treasury was
held at the Treasury Chambers yesterday.
CALLINoTON.—The influence in this Borough
has, for many years, been managed and directed
by Mr—Tucxv.n. There is no truth, in a recent
remark, that Mr. POINTE is connected with it,
otherwise than that Lord CLINTON married Mr.
Potwrz7s daughter.