Star.
London, England, 1818-09-02 00:00:00

BANKRUPTCY ENLARGED.

October to, Samuel Abbott, late of New-court, St Swithin'i-
lane, London, merchant, at ten, at GuildhalL
October 16, Robert Lee, of Great Winchester-etreet, London,
underwtiter, dealer and Chapman, at ten, at Guildhall

BANKRUPTS.
John William Keith Mackennal, Litt of the Old South-Sea-
House, London, merchant, to surrender September 5,1?, and
October 13, at eleven, at Guildhall Attorney, Mr. D. H.

Richardson, Clement';-lane, Lombard-street.
Thomas Story, of South Blyth, Northumberland, ship-owner,
dealer and chapman, Sept. 19, 23, and October 13, at eleven,
at the George Inn Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Attornies, Mr.
Flexney, Gray's-Inn-square, London; or Mr. G. A. Lambert,
Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
Edward Saunders, of Feversharn, Kent, grocer. Sept. e, 210, and
October 13, at ten, at Guildhall Attornies, Messrs. Noy and
Ilardstone, Bell-court, Mincing-lane.
Thomas Stephens, of Torkington, Cheshire, dealer and Chap-
man, Sept. 14, 19, and October 13, at tensat the Spread Eagle
Inn, Manchester. Attornies, Messrs. LongdW and Butterfield,
Gray's Inn, London; or Mr. Dims, Manchester.
William Gook, of Chapel-street, New-road, Middlesex, grocer
and tea-dealer, Sept. 12, 19, and October 13, at twelve, at
Attornies, Messrs. Fielder and Bartlett, Duke-
street, Grosvenor-square.
William Davidson, of Little Saint Thomas Apostle, London,
wholesale eta:toner, dealer and chapman, Sept. 12,19, and
October 13, at twelve, at Guildhall. Attorney, Mr. James,
Bucklersbury.
Richard Thomas, of Northumberland-court, Strand, dealer and
Chapman, Sept. 2, 19, and October 13, at twelve, at Guild-
hall. Attorney, Mr. G. T. Taylor, Fethersten-buildings.
DI VIDE:NOS to be made at G Li I LDIIALL.
Sept. •.2.?, C. Bit top, High-street, Southwark, ifnen-draper, at
twelve. e-tel, r 31, G. Penny, arnford-court, Throgatorton.
street, much-u, at ten. &pt. Yfi, W. Lows, at Muck/4dd,

2, 1818..

druggist, at tea. Sept. 17, A. Keating, &mad, silversmith and
eweller, at eleven.
DIVIDENDS to be made in the COUNTRY.
Sept. INI, W.. Hewes', Hinckley, mercer, e eleven, at the
Ring's Hod, Coventry: Sept, 25, J. Saint, Lymington, Won-
founder, at twelve, at the Anchor and Hope Inn, Lymingtoo.
Sept. 25, Kisicpibtek, Liverpool, stealer and chapman, at ova
at the George, LiverpooL October I, J. Simpson. Braza-knump
Kingston.npah.Thill, ollenerchant, at eleven, e the Degasies.
a I
Duck Tavern, Hall. October J. Richardson, El
dal, haewearpenter, at siesta, at the King's Arms Inarkliebby
KendaL Sept. 24, W. Saushm Warwick, liquer.assenhant, et It,
at the Swan Hotel, Warwick. Sept. 22, A. !barna, areacallet
linen-drew, at eleven, at thi Ram Inn, Cirencester.

r. 19.

• CERTIFTC--- —_
D. daddy Isedi, hosier. F. Drown, Croydon,; grocer. T.
Moresby, Carpi" stock-broker. S. Shrubsoie, Liverpool,
userchemt, Y. Coat, Little Alle-street, Goodman's-fields, ur.
holder. D. Tucker, lirlitalt dealer.
sum tilt.—B. Owing, Little AU.-street, Goodmatiodeldh
upholder. J. Distrait, Old Bood.otreet, coachmiuker. B. South-
all, Leyden, Herdadakeetarrar. J. Harley, Gosport, asap-
manafestunr.

DISSOLUTION'S OF PARTNERSHIPS.
Tamald and Mason, Worcester, chemists. Harvey and Bei-
nalL O. and A. Murray, 3lanchester, cotton-spinners. Wren
and Bentley, Choriey, liquor-merchants. Parr and Poynton,
London, hardwan— Sandie, sm. and jun. Matdon. Wat-
Loner, ha
- •—•..urs. *Namara and Cud-

son Liverpool,
clihy, New Rose, provhdonmorchants. Taylor and Hargreaves,
Preston, Lancashire, nurserymen.

REPORT FROM THE COMMITTEE

an We
STATE OF PRISONS IY tHs METROPOLIS.

COLD RATR-FIELD6 PRISON.
(Continued from our yaper of yesterday.)
Work.—There is little or no work in this prison ;
whatever common indoor repairs are wanting are
performed by the prisoners. The females wash the
linen, and make the clothes which the county al-
lows. The principal employment of the male pri-
soners is the picking of oakum ; the value of that
labour during the last year was 347/. the number of
prisoners 8,667. It is stated to your Committee,
that about one-fifth of the prisoners do not work ;
and that there are besides between 12 and 1500
vagrants, whose labour is very small, though not
altogether to be put out of the account.
Your Committee consider the question of work as
one of the greatest importance. The law sentences
the convict-felons to hard labour, and the practice
under the law is, to supply nothing that can be called
labour ; here no habits of industry are formed, and
the convict is discharged at the end of his term of
imprisonment, corrupted by the prisoners with whom
he has been associated, debased and hardened by
punishment, corrected of no idle habit or wicked
propensity, and less than ever disposed eco earn his
living by labour, from the long continued idleness
,in'which he has indulged during his imprisonment.
The ,Keepor says, that there are various kinds of
'used lafinitt in which prisoners could be employed ;
and your Committee wish to Press strongly upon the
attention of the Magistrates, the immense importance
of this great subject. They have no doubt, under
proper management, the prisoners would be enabled
to do much by their labour towards their daily sup-
port; and your Committee are decidedly of opi,lion,
that plenty of plain food, such as good wheaten
bread, should.be furnished to the prisor.ers, but that
all indulgencies beyond that ought to be the result
of their own labour. In a pecuniary point' of view,
a material saving would hereby be made to the
county. But, looking on labour in a House of Cor-
rection as a moral remedy, they have no hesita-
tion to declare it to be their opinion, that without
regular and constant occupation being afforded to
each prisoner, no reasonable hope can be entertained
of his amendment.

Food.—The allowance of food is as follows :—onc
pound of the best wheaten bread a-day, a pint of
good water-gruel in the morning, and six ounces of
meat, when boiled, every other day ; and the days
.they have not meat, they have one- quart of soup
each : the bread is given out early in the morning,
the gruel at eight, and the meat or soup at two
o'clock. The prisoners are allowed to purchase po-
tatoes; which are cooked in the kitchen for them ;
and their friends are permitted to bring what food
they please, provided it is dressed; no malt liquor
is allowed, unless ordered by the Doctor, excepting
to the debtors and to the prisoners under re-examina-
tion. Yoiir Committee are informed, that this regu-
lation is strictly attended to ; but they cannot avoid
remarking, that the quantity consumed in the prison
is very great, supposing only the two classes of per-
sons above-mentioned are in the habit of purchasing
the same : the porter is brought into the prison three
puncheons at a time, and one of the turnkeys has the
sale of it, at the same price as out of doors, for the
profit of Mr. Shepherd, of Clerkenwell-green.
Hcapita la.—There are several hospitals in this pri-
son, and they appear to be clean, well ventilated,
and proper accommodation provided for the sick.—
On the male side, the infirmaries communicate with
the yard ; hence a free access is afforded to the fe-
lons who are confined below. The Surgeon informed
your Committee, that he endeavours to check this
irregular and inconvenient practice ; but the priso-
ners having a free communication, they cannot be
shut out. Your Committee found many of the pri-
soners on the staircase leading up to the infirmary,
the doors open, and the communication as unre-
strained as to one of the day-rooms ; there is no clas-
sification of prisoners in the hospital; and your Com-
mittee found there a prisoner, a coachman, who had
been committed for an assault, then a convalescent,
in the same ward with the convicted felons, and that
open to all the felons in the yard.
On the female division of the prison, a wooden
staircase has been made on the outside, by which
means all communication is closed, and the Surgeon
expresses a hope, in which your Committee join, that
if practicable, a similar arrangement may take place
in the infirmaries for the males.
Your Committee wish to remark here, that there
is no receiving pl.t.e in the prisuit, to which a pi!

PRICE SEVEN-PENCE.

goner, on his arrival, can be placed before he is eta-
mined by the Surgeon. At present the fines from
Newgate are, on their commitment, put In a yard
with caber prisoners ; a practice which, in the opinion
of your Committed, is highly objectionable. In the
lArst Sate, it is contrary to law; as inull Houses of
Coneetion • a receiving room or yard is expressly
con Landed by the 17 or Geo. 111. ch. 74, sec. 57 ;
sad, idly, the state in which prisoners are committed
from Newpte, ren. -.tkhw liable to introduce dis;
ease into 414 e prison.. The Surgeon says, " they are
ly in a filthy state ; indeed so much so, that
generally in a filthy state; indeed so much so, that
their iesh is so much grained in with filth, that we
are under the necessity of putting them into a hot
.bath or slip, and having them washed all over, other-
wise it would be impossible to discover whether they
had the itch, or any other disease upon them."
Your Committee have been informed, that the
nurse in each hoewital is a prisoner, who gives the
medicines which are prescribed ; one of these, a con-
vict, states, that in his hands are left drugs ; which,
to say the least, arc most hazardous to be so intrusted
to an ignorant man ; vitriolic acid and opium being
certainly medicines which persons, who are not me;
dical practitioners, are unqualified to prescribe.
On the female side of the prison, your Committee
think a matron ought to be appointed, who would
be a fitter person to direct the administration of the
medicines, than a female convict.

Furl and Lighic.—The allowance of coals it stated
by the keeper to your Committee to be ample; no
regular quantity is apportioned to each tire, but t'Ae
prisoners have as much as they can burn ; at the sante
time your Committee think it their duty .0) stsl!e,
they heard from the prisoners some complaints of t:le
want of fuel, And that they suffered severely from
cold. The prisoners are shut up in their respective
cells, in the winter at four o'clock, and in the sum-
mer at eight o'clock in the evening; they are not
permitted to have the use of candles in their cells ;
none are furnished, and they lia;•e no liberty to buy
any ; the lights arc all put out, except those in the
Infirmaries and the Officers' rooms, as soon as the
prisoners are shut up.
Cleanliness.—The general appearance of the prison
is remarkably dean the interior well ventilated. The
small number of sick and the little mortality demon-
strates the healthiness of the situation ; the good
di;-
cipline of the e%;ablishment ; and the result is highly
creditable to the medical treatment of the house.

Clothing.—The convict prisoners are all clothed at
the expense of the County : the males have a jacket,
breeches, shoes, stockings, and shirt; the lemalci,
jacket, blue petticoat outside, flannel petticoat un-
derneath, shoes, stockings, and shift. The linen is
changed weekly: 17. is allowande of clothing is given
to all prisoners who come in for more than seven or
fourteen days: if those who are thus committed,
er-
ceptingthe felon convicts, have good clothing anti
linen, they have vrmis,•ion to wear them, and their
linen is washed for them in the prison.

Irons.--Noe are ironed except those who are tom•
mined for re-examination on capital charges: your
Committee olj!-ct to this practice of putting men in
irons who arc not even committed for trial ; the
of fetters can only be justified when necessary for the
purposes of safe custody ; and in a prison where the
felon-convicts arc it ;Toned, the fettering prisoners
who arc under examin .•ion is, in the opinion of your
Committee, unwarrantable.

Visiting Magistrates.—A Committee of Magis-
trates meet on Thursday previous to the Sessions, and
the Thursday next but one after them ; they assem-
ble seventeen times a-year ; six or nine generally
meet, and they go round the prison, personally in-
specting it; at other times, individual Magistrates
visit the prison ; a journal is kept, but observations
are hardly ever made in it. The Committee's meet-
ing often, and the remarks, are entered in a book,
which is in the possession of the Clerk of the Peace.
Religious Attendance.—The Chaplain (Mr. Buell)
performs Divine Service once on Sunday, Wednes-
day, and Friday; he generally attends himself two
days in the week, and his cntate one; he states to your
Committee, that he goes round the jail once a week
at least; he attends also the school, catechizes and
hears the boys read. Your Committee wish to ob-
serve, that in their opinion it would be expedient to
provide a schoolmaster to take charge of the boys;
at is of importance that he be a person ofirreproach-
able character, and on no account a prisoner for any
offence. The establishment of a general school in
the prison would also to their mind be a salutary
measure. The Chaplain circulates among the pri-
soners religious tracts, and there are several Bibles in
each yard ; he keeps a journal, in which he enters
the time of the performance of Divine Service, and
he makes, sometimes, remarks on the conduct of the
prisoners : a copy of this journal is laid quarterly be-
fore the Magistrates. Though the attendance of the
Chaplain is thus regular, and the performance of his
various duties highly meritorious, yet, in the opinion
of your Committee, the Sabbath-day is by no means
well employed in this prison. The service begins soon
after nine o'clock, and, of course, is over before
twelve ; from that hour till night the prisoners have
neither religious nor moral instruction ; they are left
entirely to themselves; and the Chaplain states that
he has never on that day gone round the yards. Yo-,:r
Committee think it would he expedient to perform
the service twice on Sundays ; and that if a school.
master was appointed, some portion of the day which
is now spent in idleness, and in loose and unprofit-
able conversation, might be more beneficially em-
ployed. The Chaplain informed your 'Committee,
that here also he has never administered the Sacra-
ment, nor has he ever proposed it to the sick or the
dying ; but visits once a week the infirmaries, and if
wanted is sent for.
John Wright, the surgeon's assistant, informed your
Committee, that of the 20 persons who have died
there dating the fifteen months he has been-a prise..
uer, the Chaplain visited and prayed with only eight
or nine. T. be contiaratl.)