Star.
London, England, 1818-08-27 00:00:00

provided for 'every prisoner each day; soup or greet
is also given occasionally to the prisoners, partly at
the expense of the County, and partly from the pri-
vate benevolence of the Keeper ; every prisoner is 4t
liberty to purchase what food he requires, as well as
a reasonable allowance of malt liquor.
Hospitals,There are two hospitals in this prisod,
one for the males and the other for the females ; that
on the male side is on the ground floor, and opens
into the yards; it is 19 feet long by 11 wide, and
seven feet ten inches in height ; a wooden barrack or
soldiers' bedstead extends all round the room, and on
which the sick ire laid : a straw mattress and blan-
kets are also provided. The Keeper stated, that since
he had been there, that place had been occupied by
nine patients and a sick %yardman. The unfitness of
the accommodation here, and the general deficiency
of this part of the prison, your Committee wish to
demonstrate by the fullowieg esesuples—A person
hipthe name of John Burdon was committed to chit
frients" in October last ; he was in a diseased and
'emaciated state, and the surgeon informed your Com-
mittee that he wished to place him in the Infirmary
but he was in so diseased and isasty.a condition, and
so offensively bad, as to be a nuisance, and as such
he could not remove him from his ward to the hos-
pital ; he was thus left in his own room, stretched on
the hare boards; the size of that room is 26 feet by
11, and in the same. apartment 2.5 persons slept.
—Your Committee refrain from any comment on this
circumstance; the verdict of the Coroner's Inquest
was, that the unfortunate man had died from want
of proper nourishment and medical aid. Your Com-
mittee have subjoined a copy of the information so
taken, and they have examined the keeper and the
surgeon upon the subject ; it does not, however, *,
pear to them that any criminality attaches to either
the one or the other.; and though the want of proper
accommodation in the prison itself is most discredita-
ble to those whose duty it is to proVide it, and though
the hospital is deficient in almost every thing which
it ought to possess, yet neither in this case nor in any
other that has come under their examination„are they
satisfied that either the keeper or the surgeon. have
been negligent or remiss in the execution of their re-
spective duties. On the female side of the prison the
hospital is over the first floor, and is tolerably-airy;
it looks however into the street, and an easy comm.:-
nication can be held with every passenger.
Fuel.—The allowance of coal is very scanty ; it
does not commence till the Bth of November, sod
seven chaldrons and a half are given for the use of
the prisonthroughotit the year. The keeper reports-
this allowance to be small ; the prisoners are com-
pelled to purchase coal, a. stfecies of garnish itchy.;
levied on each other for that object; and from Val
small quantity supplied by the •cennty, the keeper
i*ives one bushel per week for each ward.
t'sr, .7 "4""44411
the keeper has seen any very distressed object, lie lias
purchased him the necessaries that were wanted, and
charged them to the sick allowances ; but the sur-
geon says-they have no authority for so doing : ".a
man died lately in the hospital, and they had not a •
shirt to give him, and many are there without a single
rag besides those they have on."
Health of the Ain:rem—The surgeon represents
this prison to be remarkably healthy ; he states, how-
ever, that it is cold and damp. the allowance of food.
and fuel inadequate, and 'that from 5 to 6 per cent
of the persons confined there are afflicted by then-
matism. The number of sick for the last three yea,,
your Committee have no means of ascertaining, as
no account is kept ;but the surgeon assures thorn that
the number is small, and that he considers this prison
the most healthy in the metropolis.
Irons.—No one is ironed here except those who are
committed under felonious charges for re-examination.
Visiting Magistrates.—llis prison is visited by
Committee of Magistrates, who inspect it the week
preceding each Sessions; occasionally too, a Magis-
trate visits it individually ; but no book is kept In
which the observations of the visitors are minuted.
Religious Attendance.—Divine service is performed
I once every Sunday, and a sermon preached ; but
there are no prayers on the week days ; the chaplain
however often attends there, to visit the prisoners ;
he keeps a book, into which he records his visits, and.
any occurrences that may happen. Bibles and prayer
books are kept in the Governor's house, and given
to the men and women when they go into Chapel ;
but it did not appear to the Committee that any were
in common-use among the prisoners. The attendance
in the Chapel is tolerably regular, the Chaplain says
that the prisoners all conduct themselves orderly ;
but as no cleik is appointed, great inconvenience is
found in the performance of the service, there being
no one to make the regular responses. Me Chap-
lain informed the Committee that lie *never admini-
stered the sacrament, and that no request has ever
been made to him by the prisoners so to do ; the re;
ligious impression of this unfortunate and guilty class
of men must of necessity be very weak ; but your
Committee can entertain no doubt, that where pri.
soners are confined for two years, if the moral and
religious discipline of the prison was what it ought to
be, it would be most advisable to give the penitent•
an opportunity of assisting in the solemn site of the
sacrament. •
Oa a review of the whole state and condition of
this prison, your Committee are decidedly of opinion,
that it is insufficient and inadequate, and they are
happy to find it has been so presented by the Grand
Jury in March last. Independently of the bodily suf
fering inflicted on each individual committed to this
prison by the want of necessary food; the over.
crowding of many persons in one small room ; the
mirture of prisoners of all habits together, the de. .
ceased with the healthy, the dirty with the' clean,
debtors with felons ; the moral evils are, in the minds
of your Committee, more distressing than the phy.
sical ; and they are of opinion, that it is unbecoming
and unseemly, in a civilized sold Christian country, 4
to have in the heart of its metropolis a prison, which
should annually contain within- its walls 2,6 per.