Star.
London, England, 1818-08-26 00:00:00

generally is such as meets with their approbation.—
The prison fare does not appear worse or more severe
Nan is consistent with such an establishment, or in-
larkuto the health of the prisoners. .
The attention of a former Committee was directed
the crowded state of Newgate, which at that time
is the place of confinement not only for criminals,
_ also for debtors. The New Prison in Whitecross-
stfeet has relieved Newgate of the debtors; yet, with
conviction of the importance of classification and
:partition, which your Committee cannot too fre-
nently or too strongly press on the attention of the
louse, they consider the accommodations of this pri-
m as still altogether inadequate.
When the local position of Newgate is considered,
id the great expense already incurred by the City
London, it cannot be expected that the present
col should be pulled down, and a better construc-
ted, mote commodious, and a more extended prison
erected in its place, which could only be effected at
most enormous expense. Your Committee, them.,
;e, must confine their suggestions of improvement
a change in 'the appropriation of the present build-
igs. It appears to your Committee, that very ma-
.vial improvement may be facilitated, without any
peat or unreasonable sacrifice. The regular and
unmediate removal of convicts after every Sessions,
Muhl give scope for many important alterations ;
.and provision'ought to be made for that purpose, by
establishment, where, instead of being in a state
filth and idleness, the convicts may be usefully
iployed. And they may further remark, that if
icenies were tried at the Quarter Sessions, as in
other counties, instead orbeing.tried at the Old Bai-
ley, a considerable influx of prisoners would be pre-
clued. But, if your Committee might venture to
sugr st, what appears to them the most expedient
trangement, they would recommend that Newgate,
attached to the Old Bailey, should be exclusively
liproprfated to prisoners for trial.
On a review, then, of the whole evidence con-
cerning Newgate, as well as from the observations
they were able to make while inspecting the prison,
;our Committee are clCeidedly of opinion, that the
public interest requires a speedy alteration in the
condition of Newgate. They impute no blame to
the present keeper (Mr. Brown) and the orders and
cgulations he has adopted under the sanction of the
;icy Magistrates, are a great improvement ; but the
want of sufficient room to classify the prisoners—the
wire absence, as far as the men and boys are con-
cerned, of all employmeat—the promiscuous assem-.
lageof persons of all descriptions, ages, and cha-
racters of crime, have deeply impressed your Com-:
-ittee with the opinion, that no one can enter the
walls of Newgate without going out from theice-,
acne depraved and corrupted than when first cem-;
matted thereto. And though the Magistrates of the
-lty of London have shewu a praise-worthy dispeisi-
on to remedy the grievances complained of in tor-
mer times, yet, from the over-crowded state of the.
?rison, and the confined accommodation for itsnu-
inerous inhabitants, the main and prominent evils
cannot be removed; and gin less would it be possi-
le so to regulate its interior arrangement as to, fit it
those purposes of reformatory punisl:ment which
the good of society requires.—( To be continued.)

LANCASHIRE AISSIZES, AUGUST2I;

.. • .
_... . . .
11111121111"-*1111111351161 C
. "1 REPORT FROM .2111 E CO:IMITTEE
1 , .., . ox Too • • - dm
1 STATE OF PRISONS r.i rtes mrritoPatz & 1
.1
.
, . ---
1 .i./ etieWOATE.-4Conenuee from our rarer of ytsterday.) to tl
4todeeeFormerly, the provision-allowance was one was
. .
• .
1 ' pound of beef, without bone, delivered twice a week, but
and cooked by the prieoners themselves at their own sues
time and pleasure', and daily 16 ounces of brown the
bread. The filth created by the cooking, and the im- scp:
preevidenee of she prisoners, added to a conviction of qne
the 'propriety of giving an. allowance of vegetables, not
Unlaced Ate courted' Aldermen to adopt a new sys- son
tern. 'A kitchen hes been provided, a cook appoint- s
ed, -and an alteration of . the diet established. The and
allowance now-is apint of good gruel for ineakfaet; of
for eineeie, alternately, hall a pound of beef (which, gees'
yhen cooked, weighs about six ounces), and a quart ted,
I & vim*, in which the meat was boiled the pievious erec
day, with barley, and a variety-of vegetables. This a mcivnge has been-of Zsrefftabenefit, and has been 'fore
gietteeally approved of. And your Committee, on Ito a
tWature deliberation, and availing themselves- of the ingi
, best-information they have been ala to 'ecquiiee•on- tem
glade the allowance and' description of food whole- gre
r
same tit AttaliWand sufficient in quantity Tor persons imr
ih itch circutlistences. Many of your Committee wet
have tasted_the bread, and several have tasted the and
shtipanditetel, and are perfectly satisfied that they an,
ire good of their kind. The bread, in particular, of
trhlclnis baked at Giltspur-street Compter, by a per- em,
On employed by the Court of Aldermen, was, when lan
die Committee visited the prison, of a good and oth
wholesome quality. . . ley;
Clothing.—As then is no prison dress adopted in 're°
IsTesigate, the observations of year Conimittee can RV
Only refer to the clothing belonging to the prisoners are
themselves; among these it appears that in various as
instances there has been very great deficiency of apt
clothing ; many are committed to prison half naked,
' others ate in the habit of selling their shoes and other eel
pacts of their dress; but for such as may net be the
guilty of such practices, and who are destitute, there Pi
does not appear to be any regular source from Pal
whence they can be relieved. There is what is
°1-
called the Sheriff's Fund, which is totally inade- the
, quate, and therefore from time to time-the Court of reE
Aldermen order a distribution of clothing. Your Com- CE
mittee cannot take upon them to recommend any wa
general regulation for clothing. Your Committee eill
I 1 having been assured that.there is no:ipdisposition on cc:
the pact of the Court of Aldermen to grant relief, and hl,'
trusting that they will order all cases of real necessity rat
to be reported to them, or to be relieved by their olli- mi
i '
f terra, it must zest with them to order the supplies, w2'
which must he reg-alated altogether by circumstances. me
Treatnteit.-0a this head there has been no corn- mi
plaint front any quarter which has reached the know- Ci
, .
1 ledee of your Committee. It is their duty to state a tic
0.
1 ' late improvement in this particular. It had been the m'
1 , invariable practice, up to the present year, to put the Pr
accused in itons immediately on their commitment m'
to Newgate; this was deemed necessary to guard ca
against escepe, and, had, .in eomeinstances, been the hi
means of detecting those attempting to escape indis- I_,°:
I guise. • The Jail Committee of Alolermen, however, In
We resolved on making e fair experiment of indul- •
ienCes; and having issued an order to exclude visi-
tors front the interior of the prison (with Certain hu-
.
pane eked reasonable exceptions), the irons have been
taken off from all the reitried ; and your Committee
• trust,, that a regulation so consonant with the situa- •ai
tion or an nriceevicted person may he fully justified It
by the result. • le
•beirmary.—Although liberal provision is made w
and the. utmost care and attention are paid to such Si
as in consequence of sickness are placed in the Idle- a,
unary, your Committee regret that litre, as in other tF
quarters, there is no distinction of persons. The un- tf.
tried,•the convicts, and even the condemned, are all j,
placed in the same ward, and this follows from the pi
1 same imperious cause, want of sufficient accommo- Sc
4 dation: when other improvements are made, this evil, sc
your Committee expect, cannot fail to be rectified. T
General Health.—lt is most gratifying _to yonr o
Committee to state, that although numbers are coin-
1, ) 1 mitted.to this prison in a state of_disease, yet, on re- tl
) fervhig to the lists 'in the surgeon's book, and corn- n
paring the numbers with the amount of those in con• sl
j finement, though the number of sick its the last year r
! . has been great, the proportion of deaths is much o
less than your Committee were prepared to expect. f
Great praise is due to Mr. Box for his attention and d
medical skill. Your Committee have to regret that s
great inconvenience has arisen from the crowded t
state of the Infirmary, both on the male and female i
. side, although considerable improvement has recently
' taken place. Your Committee observe, that there is 1
. no room appropriated for the reception of prisoners c
• I on their commitment, so that they may be inspected 1
by the surgeon, before they are mixed generally in 1
Cle yards ; and they suggest the propriety of no per- •
son being so admitted until he has been inspected by •
I ', the surgeoneas they remark that no less than sixteen
persons were admitted with fever during the seven
months of the year 1617. And they cannot help
• also observing, that a great inconvenience arises from
! . the Middlesex commitments being frequently so late
\ at night, that the surgeon has not the opportunity of
seeing the prisoners before they arc placed in the yards.
' • Religious Instruction.—Public service is performed
1 on Sundays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and private
ii, on other days, to the condemned. One service only
i was performed on Sundays; but the Court of Alder-
-1 men have caused their orders to be enforced, namely,
1 morning and evening service on Sundays, The Or-
dinary visits the prison daily, to give religious in-
struction 1 . to such persons who profess a desire to re-
-1 ceive it, and, by order of the Court of Aldermen, to
administer the sacrament once a month. Your Cum-
. i seam remark, that the Chapel is calculated to con-
tain 350 persm.s, while, during the period of your
CoMmittee's inquiry, no less than 400 prisoners were
at' one time in the prison. In order th,a to remedy
this inconvenience, they would suggest the propriety
of dividing the service on Sunday—the morning be:.
ing appropriated for the male, and the evening for
•
. . the female prisoners; and that no persons within the
, prison shall be permitted to absent themselves unless
their particular religion prevents them from attend-
-1 ance on the worship of the Church of England.
.
• On 44,:whale., therefore, it it .appears to your Corn.
i fnittee,'. afiti; in'far'as the Construction and extent ofl
Newgate will permit, thetreititten i of the prisoders 1
4 .
, . .
e .