Star.
London, England, 1826-04-25 00:00:00

THE HULKS.

The hulks were first established in 1776, when the
disturbances which had broken out in America had
interrupted the transportation of convicts to his Ma-
jesty's colonies in that quarter, as practised since the
year 1717. The vessels were first appointed as houses
of correction for the punishment of offenders at home;
they were afterwards regulated as temporary places of
confintment "for convicts about to be transported, and
ate now used indifferently for both these purposes.—
aie of the vessels, the Justi ia, now at Woolwich, has
been in use as a prison ship ever since the commence-
ment of the system; she was an old Indiaman when

first converted into a hulk. The Bellerophon, the only
vessel the expense of which is mentioned in the accounts
laid befo►e Parliament, cost 12,0311. The establish-
ment consists at present of nine vessels, on board of

which are distributed above 5000 convicted criminals.

Of late Years a material improvement has taken pl :ce
in the arrangement for lodging the convicts, viz, the
appropriation of a separate vessel to the confinement of
the boys under 14. who used formerly to be distributed
ind.fferently Stith those of matnrer years. Some of the
vessels are likewise set apart for the reception of the
moat depraved characters; thus the worst men are.
placed on board the Justitia at Woolwich, out of which
such as appear likely to behave well are removed into
other vessels, being liable to be lint back in case of
freili misconduct. As a farther inducement to the good
behaviour of the prisoners, it has been usual of late
years, for the Captain of every bulk to name to the
§ecretary of State, at the end of every quarter, two
convicts out of every hundred confined on board each
ship, for pardon ; the convicts so nominated being sr
lecteel from such of those sentenced for seven years as
have undergone one half of their punishment.
Those who have been sentenced for longer periods
may also have their time of confinetnent reduced in the
first instance, and afterwards come upon the list of
those recommended for pardon. Mr. Holford says he
has no means of knowing what number is annually re-
leased in consequence of the power of nomination here
mentioned ; but it appears from the Superintendent's
Report of January, 1825, that 542 convicts were dis-,
charged from the hulks in 1824 "by pardon or other-
wise." This privilege of naming a certain number of
prisoners for pardon has never been allowed to the
keepers of any other prisons in this country except in the
case of the Millbank Penitentiary, the Managing Com-
mittee of which may so recommend on the ground of
special merit. Contracts used to be entered into with
persons • who undertook to find the hulks in which the
convicts should be confined, to feed and clothe them,
and supply all their wants, spiritual and temporal;
and every officer and attendant on board was nominated
by the contractors. This mode of management was
found to be attended with many abuses, and In 1802
an Inspector was appointed by Government, and the
concern of the contractors limited to that of supplying
the provisions, clothing, and other necessaries for the
use of the ship. The price paid to the contractor per
bead, when they had the whole care of the prisoners,
was at one time 881. per annum. The hulks had not
any regular Chaplains attached to them when they
came under the management of the Inspector, Mr.
Graham, in 1802 ; but all the convict-ships, except
those at Woolwich, have now separate Chaplains. The 4
salaries-of the Chaplains are considerably lower than

those allowed to the Chaplains of county prisons. The
latter, where the prisons contain mere than 100 pri-
soners, are allowed about 1501. per annum; while,
though each of the convict ships must contain about
2110, it appeared-, by the Parliamertary inquiry in 1812,
that the Chaplains had not more than 1501. and 2501.
each.

ROYAL GEORGE INDIAMAN.
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