The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1859-01-18
rn. ouGEs.s pRIsoN
IRON TAO Loadoa patty rews ]

fRrom tao Lo0doa Daily NeWsl
The oaseas prissn pses.ass but o,. !, !. mo-,
many pears since Il containsd vi.nso ~ sor..
~. q uoisy, q naslsy, and ~ tmmose' CONF
nusity - soald probably - toono va" :
lar circsis 10 any quarter 81 soe 800 "a
yAra eAen Il 3 prison containing oay Isp
,.-ssss ,1eAsors) 10 which 10 fad process Of
aslorsl,s ssJon oosstsntiy goias on, aad men AID
voUnn. by Heightened sQjoarn "a ~ tsodsrea
Sssaily anAs for the resempAou o. tassf osssss
- -. .vsat Werld. when ouce man enters here.
v;es and temptation shoot 1t him ~ II be were .
tsrset: he has no means Of resistance, not any Of
reasess hut TO make terms With the enemy, and
10 time to become one OF hts devoted followers
This prison OF one hundrsd aud atty inea'es, Of
wbieh 100 81 port sthsmse'vss, coats tho eosntry
Is 900 year, OF Nhich the governor gets about
$1,000, the deputy-govsrnor f&0o0, the head
tareksy &f60, and the chaplain ESQ. To tho last
named ssa Gt0o has recently been added far
boass rent, tthis 10 IN lieu OF 90 official ress
dsocs within the jail, vhich has been other wise
dispossd Of II this II, 900 we're applied to the
rslsass Of psisoasrs. We question II doasn would
rsnst 70 ocsapy the uns OF IL numerous sssd
Of oElcials.
And then ~ ought also 10 consider the amount
ofhamAn degradation and misery which the main
tenauce Of this lass ray of absurd and cruel law
Involves. The annals Of the Queens Prison cou.
tain chapters far surpsssinS 10 interest those oil
the most exciting romance, and ~ this moment
sorrows are being suffered which, but that the pub
tcssion OF their details 10 for obvious
hibitsd, would astonish, while they would assur-
edly grieve, the public Two cases, bowever, we
may give without undlly obtruding or the pfiva-
CT OF distress, and ~ shoWing the way In which
Imprisonment fx debt stil works 10 the creation
Of human misery and mischief
Some yesrs since two maiden ladies, then young
and beautiful, and who hal just become heirs to q
considerable property, we're thrown Into the
Qsesns Prison BY legal process which, Of course,
shsy did not uaders.and. While there, ami help
lsss. they employed, one after another. such law
ysrs ~ we're 90 b obtained under the cireum-
STAGES, but the latter merely furnished them
with heavy bills Of coats, and took no further
trouble about their Affairs The masters 10 chan
esry, whose special duty 1t Is 70 redress such cases.
duly paid thsif visits--non'hly visiss seem to bs
san1eiens for.All the highly paid duties connected
WITH the Quesn's PrisoR-inquired arscsionateiy
- 70 the poor ladies' bsslsh, and thought no mere
Of them until che next month came round. This
vent On for severe. ys..: the s'Io%ns girl.
forgetting them or dyisg ca. aud their means
vastinE away, Until Providence At last brought
their case under the notice OF member of Par
hsnent, who, havisS known their father in youth,
lev, she moment he heard the case, with all the
ssal OF frisndship, 70 their relief Beias q law
yer himself he Of course kne " how to sweep away
all the legal sobvsbs 10 which they had been so
long samesbed, and Ia two months be procured
thsif enhancement aud restoration to their prop
srty, which 10 10 70 Be hoped they enjoying ut
Me present momsut. The name and residence Of
these ladies Interest no one, bat TO conceal !
MAT OF the Author Of benevolent action woatd |
- 70 deprive the world Of high moral s;ino- |
las. The gentleman who thus restored these two /
helpless women 70 liberty and fortune was Mr.. |
Hsta-ld, the honorable and learned member for |
ahstbeld.
Zoe second case 10 still more striking, although |
the end 10 not yet, nor is l: likely, unhappily to
have % favorable q termination. Just forty -four .
years since yousg Joiner lived with old sister /
10 village in the South OF England. The girl |
vss sedueed BY rich tradcsunan, butcher, In tbe
IL II ,sAA nA - 10 tstt
Dsanoe Of the brother, who was thsn an active,
70 ssrful young man, had him arrested on forged
obligation, and thrown into Winchester jail. Tas
>sisonsr vas poor, and within stone wallis, aud
sivsat bot tn he resoiutely refused to dsIsxins
md with truth, that he had owed no mon$S, and
hat 70 swear be did would be perjury. fine
9sns Oh; his prosecutors died miserah.y, but he I
- sui prisoner. There vasa iegsi firm TO be I
oDpiisd with, and without that he must remain
prisonsr Ill his lite. The prison authorities
AAsura.y Got vearisd with his Obstinacy and used
'sery means OF annoyance to subdue HE indomi-
able liberalization. Al one time he wss 6ar !
IeArs 10 solitary conRnsment, and az another, |
Whsn the prisoners were removed from the old |
70 the new Jail, he was taken from his
ssd, carried "a his shirt to his new quasA
'srs, and placed 10 = room go damp as to make bin
rheumatfe cripple for the rest Of his Life, al
Ieosxh is could not induce him to sign his name
70 o. debt which he did not owe During this toux
Incarceration he became q complete lavysrs cor.
responded with every Lord Oh suoeilor, from Lord
y don downward, and having suffered the pains at
lass GsgAn rather to enjoy the dixui,y Of martyr.
aom. At lAst he Sot a ''HAbeus,a ~ he calls il,
aud was removed to the Qaeso's Prison, after .hir.
ty-utns years "a Winchester JAIL and there be has
remained ior she last ave- yeArs bsiss torsy-iour
>Ars imprisonment ia all, and 10 likely to remain
FOR the rest OF his life, and hts determination
ASainst ack no Sledgng the false claim il As obs.iv
nate a. ever. The original demand was EI,O0A.
and In resisting IL he exhausted all his inca
We may presume, therefore, that during the a.
years his maintenance must have cost the coantry
$4,000, besides bis proportion of the IS 600
year witch the Gueen's Prison authorities get for
keeping hin and others in cafe custody but If
We add t"at this the ~ years of ssiilfui labor of
strong indus rious artisan, We shall then coms
bearer 70 practical estimate OF the public proat
Mis- ne rom imprisonment for debt.
The points which we uish to illustrate BIZ thu
foregoing statements are, first, that many Of the
sviis offmprlsonment f)r debt still fouri.a IN
fank iuxuriance, notwithstanding all the late
forms 10 Law; secondly, that the debtors r. re-
especially the Queens Prison, are cop Icons
oording to rules which let ia the y ucted &C,
frreguiarity and thirdly, that - ,st seanda.ous
q for the Chancellor of ihsp would be cheap.
the obligations of the lev -.xehequer to pay Of
bio TO the law, than who still remain smena'
tablishments SOLE % keep up such enormous es'
are only oblis> ~ in order that Governors who
mouth NJ I'd to inspect their dominiens once d
ESQ .uy enjoy comfortable incomes Of fEoal
- 81 600 year.