The Sun.
London, England, 1844-04-16 00:00:00

o produce insinity ; he therefore thought it would be

give it up nit:gether.

Sir ,f.-GRAIIANI said he was bound to state to
;lid- Hon. Gentleman and to the Committee that if.
:his rote was to be viewed as one- of e*ehditure

alone he was not prepared to defend it on that ground.
A considerable porti,,n or the vote was not for the

maintenance of the prisoners but fur the maintenance
of the edifice. Ile thought the Hon. Gentleman had
exaggerated the expenses per head. •He believed the
expenses per head for each prisoner in the railihur4
prison was 24/..and in theNntotiville priSon 301.

The report of the Pentonville Coznalisbfoners had

been had on the table of the House only that day.
He was sorry it was not in the handsof lion. Gentle-

men so that they could become 'acquainted.s%ith its

contents before the present vote came on Consider-

big the nature of the statements and 'the- autho-
rity on which they were made, .he was - sure
a more satisfactory report could not be
presented to the consideration of- the House.
He would read the conclusion of the Commissioners'
report to the House, whereby they would be enabled
to see the result of the experiment. He was sure the
names of 'the Commissioners were a guarantee that
every confidence might be ..placed in the report.
They were—Lord IVharncliffe and the 'Puke of
Richmond, the Earl of Devon, Lord Chichester, Lord
John Russell, the Right Honourable Charles Shaw
Lefevre, Speaker of the HoUse, Sir Benjamin Brodie,
Dr. Ferguson, Major Jebb, and Mr. 'Richard
Russell. They stated that under all the circum-
stances they thought themselves fully justified in coming
to the conclusion that the system of separate:confine-
ment, as adopted in Pentonville prison, hid been ex-
posed to a severe test, and that nothing had-'occurred
to induce them to believe that the system •might not
safely be carried into effect. The rate 'tlf.lnortality
was low, and there was a moral and, 'religious im-
provement in the prisoners, amongst Whom a cheerful
spirit prevailed; whilst those benefits had •been con-
ferred on them, discipline had been strictly main-
tained, and the penal character of the prison had not
been sacrificed to the object of reformation ;: and, on
the whole, they had no hesitation in expressing their
atisfaction at the results, and they were. of opinion
that the adoption of the system of separate confine-
ment, as adopted in Pentonville prison, was well cal-
culated to deter, correct, and reform offenders. That

was the conclusion to which the Commissioners had
come. Then, with respect to the cour.e of instruc-
tion adopted, the following results-appeared with re-
spect to 525 prisoners confined from 31st December,
1842, to 31St December, 1843 ; he would give the de-
tails, under the heads of reading, writin7, and scrip-
tural knowledge. On the admission of those 525,
there were 169 of them who could read well, and
70 who could not read at 211. At the end of the
year 343 could read wall, and there was not a single
prisoner that could not read at all. On their
a4tnission, there were 263 who could write
well, and 327 who could not write at all.
At the end of the year there were 304 who could
write well, and only 262 who could not Write at all.
With respect to the higher rulcs of arithMetic, there
were 27 versed in them, and 363 who knew nothing
at all about them. At the end of the year there were
522 well instructed in those higher rules, and only
six not versed in them at all. Then,- with_ regard. to

scriptural knowledge ; there were at their admission
66 who had a considerable knovdedge of Scripture,
and 287 who hail none at all. At the end-of the year
341 had become intimately acquainted with the
Scripture, and not one was totally ignorant of it.
Thus, on those cardinal points, at all events, the re-
port was satisfactory. With regard to the trades in
which they were instructed, he reminded the House
of the decision that had been come to with respect to
those prisons, that no one confined in them should be

ever again thrown upon society, but should be trans-
ported to a penal colony. That decision 'might, per-
haps, be deemed a harsh one, but it was most salutary
for society here, and it involved the para Mount duty,
even at some cost of money, of providing for those
criminals to be thus transported, the means of earn-
ing an honest livelihood in the colonies to which they
were to be sent. They were accordingly instructed
in the various handicrafts most in dethand in the
penal colonies, viz. those of carpenters, coopers,
wheelwrights, weavers, basket-makers, shoemakers,
tailors—in short, in all those arts of skill and labour,
which are most requisite for the distant colonies.
When such advantages were derivable from the expe-
riment, he could not think that 40,0001. a-year was
an excessive sum for the reformation of 1,0,50 crimi-
nals annually ; at all events, he entreated the House
not to mar a great experiment which was only in its
infancy, but which promised so well.
After a few words from Mr. WILI:IAMS,
Mr. ESTCOURT inquired if the Right Hon.
Gentleman was aware that persons who had not been
convicted, but who were only confined for trial, were
subected to separate confinement.
Sir J. GRAIIAM said, that no prisoner was
sent to those prisons, to which the present vote ap-
plied, but those rho were sentenced to transportation
for at least seven years. And as to other prisons, he
was not aware that separate confinement, if adopted
without any accompanying circumstances of degrada-
tion, was contrary to law in the case of untried
prisoners. •
Mr. AGLIONBY said, it appeared to him that the
lower the price of labour the greater would be the
competition.
Sir J. GRAIIAM read an extract from the Report
of the Poor-law Commissioners, ;for the purpose of
shewing that the prisoners sent to these prisons were
mostly unacquainted with any trade.
The vote was then agreed to.
20,3641. was voted to defray the expenses of the
Pentonville prison.
47,6891. was voted to defray the expenses of the
Millbank prison.
3,972/. was voted to defray the expenses of confia •
ing criminal lunatics in Bethlehem hospital.
6,5001. was voted to pay the salaries and expenses
of the inspectors of prisons, and the salary of the Se-
cretary of the Prison Board in Scotland.
63,9351. was voted to defray the law expenses in
Scotland.
62,109/. was voted to defray the expenses of crimi-
nal prosecutions and other law charges in Ireland.
30,000/. was voted to defray the 'expenses of the
metropolitan police in Dublin.
6,3371. was voted to defray the expenses of building
prisons and convict depots.
A vote of 27,0901. was agreed to for defraying the
expenses of maintaining convict and hulk establish-
ments at home and abroad, and
The sum of 300,0001. was voted for the support of
the Convict establishments in New South Wales, and
Van Diemen's Land. •
The House then resumed, and the Chairman ob.
tained leave to sit at again Friday.
COUNTY COURTS BILL.

Sir JAMES GRAHAM said he , would with the
permission of the House, move that the County Courts
Bill be then read a second time. In the early part of
the evening, he had stated that he did not anticipate
that there would be any objection to the principle of
the Bill, and, to suit the convenienee:of both gentle-
men, particularly the: Hon. Member for Lambeth,
who wished to discuss certain portions of the Bill, he
would fix Friday for the committal of the Bill.
After a few words from Mr. CHRISTIE,
Mr. HAWES said he would offe:r:no opposition to
the second reading of the Bill, but tqlie the discussion
upon it on the first clause in committee.
Sir J. GRAHAM knew that there was consi-
derable anxiety with respect to this Bill, and he
ETO
toN,
thought it would be better if it was read a second
time now.
rh
Arfteernaillfe
wasw w orredasdfraomselctofiri.dß4o:l:H
R ordered be
committed on Friday next—on that :day to take pre-
cedence.

NEW WRIT.
On thed oo writs
motion
in °
ordered
f Sir THOMAS__FREMANTLE
to be issued, for the borough
e room of Mr. Thesiger, now ap-
pointed her Majesty's Solicitor-General.The other orders of the day were then disposed of,
tor
and the House adjourned at a Quarter before Twelve.
oafn Woodstock,

IMPORTANT DECISIONS BY MR: 'JUSTICE MAULE.
—At the Chester assizes just concluded, two decisions were
giehvaerngebaym,ll,iitrh stealing . BstaroninMaule, whiCh appear to be deserving of
prominent notice. In the cases. of a person named Walker,
leather, and Taylpr, charged with th-
loniously uttering a forged acceptance, each prisoner had
made declarations before committed for trial, being first' (as
the usual phraseology runs) "duty cautioned;" and which
statements were offered to be read as parts of the case for the
prosecution. It appeared that in each case the caution
amounted to this, that " the Statement :will be used in evi-
dence at the trial, to make for or againstyou as the case may
be." The note as taken in one of the cases is as follows:
" The Learned Judge laid down the lar?, and cited the case
Rex r. Drew.' He said 110 had se ruled in several cases of
the South Wales circuit, that a statement made by a pri-
soner before the magistrate isdnadmissihle as evidence at the
trial, when the caution by the magistrate to the prisoner is
as follows Whatever you say wlll be. taken down cp.
writing and used against you at the trial,' or, will be used
for or against you at the trial.' Or, be used at the
trial.' He said that the caution should. be as follows
Whatever you say will be taken down!mawritingused and
for or may
be used against you at the trial. Or, "y be
against you.' Or, may be used:at this trial.' The principle
of the rule is, that when the wotets of tlie caution amount to
a positive promise that the statement will be used at the
trial, the promise is an inducement to' the prisoner to make
the statement; and that, therefore, it is not voluntary, which
it ought to be, to make it admissible, at the trial."—Chester
Chronicle.
THORWALDSEN.—According to an account from.
Copenhagen, contained in the Hope Journal, Thorwaldseas
was the son of an Icelandic sailor, Nelio:1 was also a carver et"
those rude wooden figures which are placed at the heads of
vessels. He was born at sea, while his mother was passing
from Raisciavik in Iceland, to Copenhagen, in 1769. At an
early period he lost both his parents. Being admitted a pu-
pil in the class of design of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts
at Copenhagen, lie carried oft; in 1794; the great prize with
which a pension is given of 2,400 francs for four years, is
order to enable the successful candidate to complete his studies
in Roma

y. J

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