The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-11-13

tree to the prisoner. He courted and
 married within its walls, and his wife was in every way 2 helpmeet to him. She bore him 10 children. Bernardi was en- titled to all the liberty the prison officials
 could allow him.
 But there were some prisoners who were rogues of the deepest dye to whom privi-
 leges were accorded that seem almost in-
 credible in these days. Tn not few n-
 stances men convicted of capital offenses
 were allowed to hold leeves and to well
 come any number of friends. A notable example of this was the notorious Claude Duval.
 Duval was handsome rascal, and, be- ing Frenchman, he had a degree of po- liteness that helped rather than hindered him in his calling. In no sense, however, was he the "honest rogue of the Rob Roy type. He would rob men on Houns-
 low Heath to the last penny; but he was
 gallant in a way and should a lady so far forget her terror as to dance with
 him she was permitted to pass on without further molestation, and with the greater
 part, If not all, of her money DuvaPs
 name stood first in the list in an old proclamation against highwaymen. But 1t
 was not an era of detectives, and the old
 watchmen were terror to no one. More
 over, Claude Duval was quick at fence
 and a sure and steady hand with the
 pistol So long, therefore, as he attended
 strictly to his business he was safe. He
 was in danger only when in search of pleasure. And so 1t happened that the highwayman was caught one night when overcome with wine In a tavern. When
 he came to his senses he was In Newgate. Some curious sentences were carried out , in this historic prison house, and this was
 particularly the case in regard to pen
 ni f<,. I,.I4
 There was the pillory for the merchant
 whose sample was of better quality than
 his consignment, and for the shopkeeper
 who sold unwholesome meat. But there
 was more than the pillory for the tavern
 keeper whose supplies would not stand
 the test of good quality He was com
 peiled, in addition. to take bath in his
 own liquor.
 On one occasion @ citizen accused the
 civic authorities of conspiracy, and for
 this offense he was condemned to appear
 in the pillory four times in the year. and
 to wear chain around his neck, from
 which dangled @ whetstone with the n-
 scription False liar" The whetstone was
 supposed to mean that an untruthful
 tongue required sharpening or that a man who was liar must improve in his art,
 seeing that as he had been found out no one was likely to believe him when he
 spoke the truth Penalties of this nature seem generally to have been vigorously enforced, but frequently when the sen tence involved more serious conseuuencs
 tn prisoner managed to secure a pardon It Jared well with one William Dominic who should have been hanged for steal Ing 94. but being "an excellent drummer, | fit to do the King service,' he was quick ly reprieved and pardoned, another req | son for his lucky escape being that it 6fcf AHf A,,n, ,or1
 fit to do the Kings service had the doors opened to them, and occasionally | culprits would obtain their liberty on con- senting to go abroad. Men enough to form a company of soldiers, with a wom- an to serve as g. vivlandiere, marched
 out of Newgate in 1929 Ito the end that
 they be employed in the service of the | King of Sweden"
 l Money and influence would generally help man out of most serious scrapes in those prison days. Captain Campbell, l a brother of the Macallum More of the | time, abducted in 1890 a girl of 16 who l had fortune of 950O0, and married the | girl. The captains family name was his passport to liberty, but Sir John Johnson, who had helped to carry off the girl. was | hanged for his share in the transaction. l The marriage was declared void by act of 1 parliament.
 l It is only within 100 years or so that the horrors of Newgate and other jais | In England have ceased to exist. Much that was wrong in prison management has only been remedied in our time The l system of the present. day is to pay the | governor of a prison as other public off, l ficials are paid. The old style was to | give the governorshp of a jail to the highest bidder. At one time many jail | CTS had obtained their appointments by | the payment of huge sums. They be-
 came. as 1t were, the heads of penal l boarding houses. The poverty-stricken offender got little or nothing to eat and l led worse than a dogs life in jail. The
 man who had money at his command | fared better but 1t was at a heavy cost. i There were "select' parts of Newgate, | for admission to which fee of 20 guineas was extracted. Beds had to be paid for | in addition. Enormous sums were charged for specially cooked meals. One 1 governor is said to have cleared fl000 a
 month from the office, and as every un- 1 der jailer exacted fees, it will be inferred ! that imprisonment after the old style in England not only deprived man of his l liberty, but was apt to reduce him to beg |