Star.
London, England, 1829-11-21 00:00:00

t **

THE LIMIETRO, AT LISBON.

'that useful and meritorious periodical, " The Mirror,"
in giving a wood-cut, this morning, of the external look
of the Lt Meet RO at Lisbon, has the following horrible,
though interesting, description of the jail in which too
'alloy Englishmen have been immured—for what ?
attachment to their own constitutional institutions, and
for disaffection to the infamous—hated—and bloody
courses of the most detestable tyrant that ever was suf-
fpred to exist in the face of the earth—from NERO, in
former times, down to the. feudal GLENG &RAY in our
own times. We acknowledge our obligations to Mr.
Yu.; NO for information which we, ourselves, had no op-
roAnnity of acquirin; personally—though we have run
our head into the Lion's mouth; and we applaud the
cult and independence of " The Mirror" for giving its
wide and influential circulation to a flatement that may
tend, to give an estimate of Mu: crt.'s character—for
more truly than all the jesuitical pA:aph'.ets that daily and
weekly make their appearance pro and con on the same
subject. We now quote :
Locks, bolts, and bars ! what have we here ?—a view of the Ll-
motif°, or common jail, at Lisbon, whose horrors, without the fear
of Don Miguel in our hearts, we will endeavour to describe, though
lightly—merely in outline—since nothing can be more disagreeable
than the filling in.
For this purpose we might quote one of our correspondents, or
a host of travellers, and residents in the Portuguese capital; but
we give preference to Mr. W. Young, who had borne much of the
hard fare of the prison, and can accordingly speak mere fully of its
accommodations and privations.
Mr. Young is an Englishman, who married a Portuguese lady in
Leiria, and resided for several years in that town. He was arrested
in May. 1828, en suspicion of disaffection towards Don Miguel's
Gorernment. Nothing appears to have been proved against him,
and after having suffered much disagreeable treatment in different
jails in Leiria and Lisbon, he was discharged on the folio/ring Sep-
tember. on condition of leaving the country. He returned to Eng-
land, and lost no time in publishing a volume entitled " Portugal
in 18E8 ;" with " A Narrative of the Author's Residence there,
and of his Persecution and Confinement as a State Prisoner."
The prison (says Mr. Young) stands on the highest ground In St •
George's Castle, and is the first building on the south side toward*
the Tagus. Near the entrance it is divided internally as follows
&Leila (the small hall) ; Shila Livre (free hall), so called because
visitors are allowed to go in and see their friends except when the
jailer or intendant orders otherwise ; Salk Feat:do (the hall shut),
so called because no communication is allowed with the prisoners
in that hall ; Enchovia (the common prison), where thieves, mur-
derers, and vagabonds of every description, are confined. This last
eceptacle is a horrid place, and is often made use of as a punish-
ment for prisoners from other parts of the jail. Hither they are
sent when they commit any offence, for as many days as the jailor
may think proper, and are often put in irons during that time.
Besides these different prisons oat the ground floor, there are
eight dungeons in a line, an nearly alike in shape and size ; but
some are Superior to others as to light and air : and in proportion
to the.degree they wish to annoy the unfortunate victims, so are
these dungeons used. A few dollars never fail to procure a beans
light and air, when properly applied.
Three of done dungeons are about six feet higher than the other
five. There is a corridor in the front of them, which is always
shut when any one is vonfined in them, so that no one can ever ap-
proach the door of a dungeon. And to make this a matter of cer.
tainty. whenever the jailer or officers of the prison carry prisoners
their food, they lock the door of the corridor before they open that
of the dungeon.
The first of the lower five of these dungeons is in the passage
leading from the Salle Lien. and next door to the privy of the pri-
son ;so thririt is never used as a secret dungeon. The lower four
are enclosed as chose &boar, and are much darker than that in the
passage. This latter is claimed by the book-keeper as his property.
and I hired it of him to sleep in. and to be alone when I wished
to be so.
The dungeons are all bomb-proof, and over them is a terrace
thickly formed of brick and stone • still I could distinctly hear the
sentry walking corer my head when all was quiet at night.
The walls of these cells are shoat de feet thick, with bars inside
and out. The bars in the windows are three inches square, making
twelve inches. in circumference,. and being crossed they form
squaresof about eight inches; the windows differ very much in size,
some not being half so large as others.
Besides these double bars, there is • shutter immensely strong
and close, so that when shut light is totally excluded ; the iron door
basa strung bolt and lock, and outside of this there Is a strong
wooden door ; in the front of the windows, and about six sect from
them, there is a high wall, so that in the best of those dungeons
there is only a reflected light.
These are aU the prisons on the ground-flour, and when full—
which they too often are—the wretched prisoners are forced to lie
at night in two rows, with their feet to the wall, and their heads to
the middle of the room ; this position they adopt on account of the
cold and damp of the stone walls ; they touch each other, and the
floor is completely covered. Nay, at times, so full is the jail, that
they are obliged to lie on the corridors, and even on the steps.
The Seletta will hold forty prisoners, the Sala Liere more than
sixty, the Sails Feehado one hundred, and the Enchovia near One
hundred and forty. When one prison becomes too full, they re.
move some of the victims to another, or send them to the forts, or
oa board the ships in the river.
The first floor is divided into two parts, officers' rooms, and the
Saila°, (saloon or large hall). This hall will hold about 150 persons,
when full. BMde the Saila° and officers' rooms on the first floor,
there lea room set apart for questioning people who are in the
dungeons. This room has an entrance from the street, and another
throtigh a passage from the dungeons, as well as one from the
officers' rooms.
The magistrate and his clerk enter from the street, and no one
in the prison sees them. The prisoner is taken up stairs from the
dungeon, and the jailer or book-keeper enters from the officers'
sparunentss Every* thing is done in the most secret manner. If
they cannot cause the prisoner to commit himself, by confessing to
the offence with which he is charged, they send him back spin to
the dungeon.
The gaol of St. George's has a second floor, tier of offices; but
that-Wongs to the governor and jailer; there are no prisoners
above the ground and the first floor.
None of the authorities ever inquire whether he has any means
of subsistence ; there is neither bed, blanket, nor even straw, unless
the prisoner can buy it, and then he must pay the guards to let it
pass to him.
Amongst the many thousands of unfortunate beings who are new
confined in Portugal, peat numbers of them are without money or
any other means' f subsistence ; and were it not for the charity of
people fit general, starvation would necessarily-ensue. •
The only authorities employed about the prison are a jailer, se-
cretary, and eight guards • of the latter three are always on duty k
one of them being stationed at the first iron gate at the entrance of
the prison, another at the second gate. and a third to attend the
interior, each with a binch of keys. in his hand, which serve for
nearly all the doors. The guards are relieved every night it nine
o'clock, when, the man who •is posted at the outer door car-
ries a strong trots rod, with. which he strikes every bar in the
windows and gates of the gad; and if any one of them does not
vibrate, or ring, he carefully inspects it to ascertain whether it has
heed cut with a saw, or corroded by any strong acid. This dismal
music lasts an hour. The whole expense of the prison to Govern-
ment does not exceed 165. per day, and the few officers and guard.,
when Mr. Young was there, manage upwards, of 400 prisoners.—
He was confined from June N. to Sept. 7, and his account of the
myriads of bugs, rats, mice, and ether vernsin,istruly disgusting.—
The reader will however readily credit this report when he has
been told of the revolting state of the city itself. Mrs. Baillie, in
her recent Letters on Lisbon. says," for three miles round Lisbon in
every direction, you cannot for a moment get clear of the disgusting
effluvia that issue from every house." Doctor Southey says "every
kind of vermin that exists to punish the nastiness and indolence of
man, multiplies in the heat and dirt of Lisbon." In addition to
mosquitoes, the scolopendra is not uncommonly found here, and
makes sometimes Intrude into the bedchamber A small media of
red ant likewise swarms over every thing sweet, and the Porto.
guess mangy is to send for the priest to camel,. them. The city,;
is still subject to shocks of earthquake; the state of the.police is hor,,,
rible;
.street-robbery ls common, and every thief is an assassin,.-3
The pocket-knife, which the French trrscsps ire said In have dreaded'
more than Meth.: has Olftt* of either the bpanish or the rortninesei-
is here the ready weapon of the amassits; and the. Tagus receives
many a cur* on stitch no inquest ever sits. The moral.. in feet,
of all classes in LiAmoti, appear to I.e to a dreadful state.