LETTER XXXI, ON PRISONS.

TEA* does our fancy aid,

Reprefs thofe vapours which the head invade;

And keep that palace of the foul ferene,
Fit on her birth-day to falute a Queen.
Sambrook Court,
Mr. URBAN,

July 23. HOWEVER irrelevant it may appear to introduce the fubject of Teat in this place, the obfervations of my Friend, on the prohibition of this exotic in Nantwich Workhoufe, in duce me to dwell a little on its quali ties in a medical point of view, and its effects on that of morality and temperance; efpecially as most of the Prifons in Chefhire are fo well conducted as to demand lefs animadver

fion, if we except Macclesfield, where one prifoner has been confined fix months for a debt of five Shillings and three pence! and another during the fame number of months, for a debt of nine pence! Whilft we glory in the freedom of the fubjects of this realm, a painful exception is afforded in the laws which were defigned to protect that freedom, that one fubject fhall be authorized to enflave a fellow fubject for the fpace of SIX MONTHS for the fum of nine pence, without bedding or even ftraw to lie upon! Well might Butler, in his Satire on the mifery and weaknefs of men, pathetically note,

"Make law and equity as dear "As plunder and free quarter are; "And fierce encounters at the bar "Undo as faft as thofe in war,"

But to return to a more grateful fubject;-as far as I have obferved, in the focial intercourfe among mankind, the moderate indulgence of Tea generally tends to diminifh the ufe of fpirits and other ftrong liquors, white it af fords a better menftruum of food than

any of them. That tirong infufions of very fine green tea, taken hot, and on an empty ftomach, may prove injurious to young or delicate perfons, may be admitted; but this affords no juft argument against the ufual mode of drinking Tea. Often am I led to Jament that, when Te is exploded,

Spirits are ufurped, and indulgence in the bottle longer protracted.

That Tea and Coffee do not difable even the laborious claffes from exercifing their mufcular ftrength, is confirmed by feveral teftimonies. In Fo reft's Voyage to New Guinea, he would not fuffer fermented liquors to make any part of his fiores; and throughout a long and perilous voyage, befides water, Tea and Coffee confituted the only fluid refreshments. My deceated friend, John Reinhold Forfter, the ingenious tranflator of Kalm's Travels, remarks, “ On my "travels through the defert plains "beyond the River Volga, I have had "feveral opportunities of making the "fame obfervations on Tea; and

every traveller in the fame circum. "ftances will readily allow them to "be very juft." (2d ed. vol. II. p. 141). Brydone in his Tour through Sicily and Malta (letter 20), makes a fimilar conclufion; and it may be hoped, that the refpectable gentlemen who fuperintend the Workhoufe at Nantwich, may be induced, upon due application, to grant that indulgence to the poor inmates, of the Ambro-, fia Afiatica, as Simon de Molinariist terms it, which every Englishman delights to partake of in the coffee-house,

Although numerous authors have written on Tea, and its effects, it has rarely been commemorated in poetie effufions. Petr. Petivi publifhed Carmen de Theâ, and Joh. Geo. Heinechin de The Encomiis, in 1685 §. Lately the ingenious author of Quabi (Mrs. Morton), in her poem of Beavecultivated in Georgia, where it was hill, thus informs us that Tea is introduced in 1770:

"Yet round thefe fhores prolific Plenty twines, (clustering vines ; "Stores the thick field, and fwells the "A thoufand groves their gloffy leaves unfold, [gold. "Where the rich orange rolls its ruddy "China's green fhrub, divine Magnolia's bloom, [perfume.",

"With mingling odours fling their high With reluctance I have thus trefpaffed on your valuable page; but the

§ Lugd. Bat. 4:0.

fub

fabject which has occafioned this digreffion has long appeared very intePeking in a political and moral view to J. C. LETT30M.

MACCLESFIELD PRISON. Maurice Jones, Gaoler; keeps a public-houfe, the fign of the Eagle and Child. Sakiry, none. He pays a rent of 267. and all taxes; fees 7s. 6d. ; garnish 2s. 6d. This prifon is for the liberty of the hundred, manor, and foreft of Macclesfield, in the piufold or pound for that hundred, is the propery of the Earl of Derby, who hobis a Court twice a year, April and October. Debtors are committed to this prifon for One Shilling to any amount, and cannot obtain their fixpences before the next court. The Keeper told me, a man lay here fix months for nine pence; and that one Ifaac Wylde was confined here fix mouths for 5s. 3d. No allowance. The court-yard 24 feet by 18. Two fooms on the ground floor about three yards and a half fquare, and two above, two yards fquare; but no bedding or even ftraw allowed. The Gaoler furwishes debtors with a day-room, bedchamber, and fire, at 3s. 6d. per week each. The dungeon, down feven fteps (11 feet by 9), lighted by a window fix inches (quare, and where deferters were formerly confined, I found at my laft vifit (1805) totally in ruins, and fix inches deep in mud. Debtors 30th March, 1800, one. 17th Feb. 1802, one. 15th Sept. 1805, one.

This morning, before Divine Service,

foticed fome monuments of excellent feulpture in the old chapel adjoining the church at this place, and, among other curious things, the Pope's pardon to Elizabeth Legh. It is in old English, engraved on a brafs plate, and reprefents the lady kneeling with fix of her children, and to fay-"A damnatione perpetuâliberanos, Domine;" to which a figure reprefenting the Pope, who is looking up to a Crucifix, replies. The pardon for faying five Pu ter nofters, and five Ares, and a Creed, is 26,000 years, and 26 days of pardon. At the bottom,

"Orate pro Roger Legh and Elizabeth his wife. Roger died 9th Nov. anno Domini 1566. Elizabeth died 15th Oct. anno Domini 1489."

MIDDLEWICH, Chefhire, COUNTY HOUSE OF CORRECTION. Gaoler, William Harrison, now Samuel Whitaker; falary 150l.; fees none. For the conveyance of prifoners to Kautsford (nine miles) quarter fellions,

Midfummer and Michaelmas, and to Chefter quarter feffions (20 miles), Chrillmas and Lady-day, 2s. 6d. each. Chaplain, Rev. Geo. Leigh; falary 25l; duty, fermon on Sunday; prayers, Wednelday and Friday. Surgeons, Meff. Beckett and Son; falary, none, make a bill. Allowance to pritoners: fix pounds of best wheat bread, fent from the baker's in loaves of that weight every Thursday; and one-fixth of the value in bread to be given in potatoes each week and 18%. per annum in coals, which now (1805) will purchafe 29 ton.

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Remarks. The entrance to this prifon is from a narrow street called Dog-lane; and the fmall court in front is about 64 feet by 21, well flagged with broad, ftones. The Keeper's houfe is fituate in the centre, between No, 1 and 2, with a window to each yard, by which he has a full view of all the male prifoners, and also of the cells, and the women's court, No. 4, for old offenders. No. 1. On the North-welt fide of the Keeper's house is a yard for male prifoners, about 47 feet by 40, well flagged on an inclined plane, in which are two day or workrooms, with fire-places and glazed windows, and in one of them are four looms for prifoners to work at; over thefe are two fleeping-rooms with iron bedsteads, fraw in facking, a holster, and three blankets, the upper one brown. In the centre of the court is a pump, fupplied from a fpring.

No. 2. On the South-eat fide the Keeper's houfe is another yard, 72 feet by 36, likewife for male prifoners, with three fleeping-rooms on the ground floor, which is flagged, and oak barrack bedfieads, railed about two feet from the floor, with loofe firaw and four blankets to two perfons, ventilated by an iron grating about two feet fquare, within fide fhutters: each room will contain nine prifoners. Over thefe rooms is the Infirmary, which is lofty and airy, with oppofite windows for free circulation. At the top of the yard, near the Keeper's houfe, is a day or work-room, about 30 feet by 21, at the end of which is a shop or flore-room; and over these is a lodging-room for prifoners that are allowed a bed, for which they pay 2s. per week each. At the bottom of the yard is a room formerly ufed as a chapel, now a work-room, over which is a laundry for the Keeper's ufe: there is alfo a lead ciftern in this yard (but it

is

is too small, and frequently without water in dry weather), with a pump, fupplied from a well of excellent water in Dog-lane. This laft-mentioned yard is about two thirds of it partitioned by a brick wall feven feet high, with caft metal palifades nine feet long, on the top of which are iron fpikes projecting about three feet. This is a judicious contrivance for keeping the court and houfe both airy and healthy: the other part of the fence is brick 15 feet high, coped with ftone and iron fpikes.

No. 3. On the other fide the last mentioned yard are fix folitary cells, with a well-flagged court, 43 feet by 21, and an excellent bath lined with lead, fix feet loug, three feet fix inches wide, and five feet deep, fupplied from the cistern. Each cell has a finall area (15 feet by 7), and is 7 feet 10, by 6 feet 8, and 8 feet high, lined with ftrong oak planks two inches thick; and the bedstead is raifed 18 inches from the floor by the fame means. No. 4. At the upper end of the court, adjoining No. 2 and 3, is a yard for women prifoners who are old offenders about 56 feet long, and 18 feet wide, with a day or work-room 24 feet by 18, at the end of which is a dungeon or fleeping-room on the ground floor, with an iron-grated window and infide fhutter; it contains three bedsteads, and will accommodate nine prifoners. Over thefe are three rooms, generally made ufeoffor fick women, with fire-places and glazed windows. In the court is a pump and fewer. No 5. On the South fide the prifon is a yard for women, 61 feet by 44, with a large work or day-room, over which two fleeping-rooms with glazed windows, and in the centre of the court a pump, fupplied with fpring water by pipes, or wooden layers; and at the end of this yard is the chapel, about 44 feet by 22, with a gallery for the women, very neat and airy; the men fit at the bottom on forins or benches; but the fexes are not out of light of each other during Divine Service: the Chapel is likewife made ufe of for the Petty Sellions for the Hundred of Northwich,

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put on; his own cloaths washed and boiled in alum and water, and mended before he goes out. The whole prifon is whitewashed at least twice every year, the fleeping and day-rooms oftener, and good water at all times ae cellible. The Keeper is both intelligent and active, and feems well calculated for the fituation. Every part of the prifon very clean; fcales and weights are provided by the county, and I found the loaves full weight. Every attention is paid by the confiderate Magiftrates which the forrows and fufferings of confinement require, Prifoners 20th Nov. 1801: male felons. 9, petty offenders 6; female felons 5, petty offenders 1; total 21. 13h OK, 1805 18 men, 8 women; total 26. Average number ofannual commitments from 1785 to. 1795, 137. From 1797 to October 1805, 178. The humane and attentive Conftable of Chester Caf tle was many years the keeper of this prifon; and his faithful conduct has railed him to the important truft be now meritorioufly difcharges: excellent example to his fucceffors. All the courts are well flagged, on an inclined plane, fo that they are foon dry in wet weather, and easily kept clean,

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NANTWICH PRISON for DEBTORS, Humphrey Topham, Gaoler and She riff's Officer. Salary none. He pays rent 61. and all taxes. This prifon, for the manor or barony of Wich Maibank, otherwife Nantwich, is the property of Lord Cholmondeley. It confifts of four rooms in the keeper's house, and a work-fhop; there is a court-yard infecure, and a pump with excellenc water in it. The keeper informed me no debtor had been confined there these twenty years. At my vifit, the 30th October, 1802, there were three lunatics here, one of whom, a poor woman, was raving mad, and chained to her bed and on the 29th October, 1805, two lunatics.

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NANTWICH TOWN GOAL. Henry Robinson, gaoler. Salary 81. a fuit of cloaths, a hat, fhoes, and a load of coals, This prifon, called the round houfe, was built by the county, in 1782, It confits of two rooms and a kitchen for the keeper. For prifoners a room, arched with brick, 12 feet 3 inches by 10 feet 2, with a barrack bedstead and ftraw, an iron-grated widow, about 36 inches by 18, no fireplace: down eleven fleps are two duu, geons, the largett. 17 fest by 10, the other 12 feet by 19, with iron-grated

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100. Milner's Ecclefiaftical History Reviewed, and the Origin of Calvinifm Confidered. A Difcourfe, preached at the Vifitation of the Archdeacon of Northampton, on Thurfday, May 30, 1805. By the Rev. T. Wilkinfon, M.A. Rector of Great Houghton.

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HIS is one of the most effectual though concife refutations of Calvinifin, and the artifices of thofe who with to propagate its pernicious doctrines. It frikes at the root, by few ing that, whether it has or has not been introduced into the Articles of the Church of England, it was not in thofe of the Church of Chrift before St. Auguftin.

"The late multiplication of Fcclefiaftical Hiftories naturally prompts us to enquire for the caufe, which, however, will be found, without great difficulty, by an attentive perufal of them. They may, in general, be far more aptly termed Apologies for the profeffion of peculiar opinions than Hiftories. To thofe which have not ftruggled into notice, no attention is requifite. But Mr. Milner's Hiftory ftrongly demands it, from the manner in which this fubject is treated, the induftry used to force it on the publick, and the incredible exertions at prefent made in fupport of Calvinism. The following Difcourfe is confined to the time intervening between the Apoftles and Augufting from which, I truft, it will appear, that the Church never before the latter entertained thefe doctrines. And as feveral have expreffed a wifh for reading what they had heard, to render the defign more complete, I will here make a few concife obfervations on that part of Mr. Milner's Hiftory which precedes the above period, confining myfelf to the more important points of our fubject, and overlooking feveral inftances affording fair matter for criticiim and difpute.

"Now, in the offset, I cannot but deem as novel his idea of the ordinary operations of the Holy Spirit. (See vol. I. pp. 3, 4, of Milner's Ecclefiaftical Hiftory.) If I understand him aright, and his language is often ambiguous, he would have us fuppofe that at certain feafons there are outpourings of the Spirit of God, that each must be made to ferve for a certain time, and then when it pleafes Providence, another is vouchfafed. Thus the firft is dated at the Day of Pentecoft, A. D. 34, and the fecond in Auguftin's time, about the year 400. (See p. 323, vol. II) That God, to correct the vices or fchifms of his creatures, at fundry times raifes up then endowed with a larger fhare of divine affiftance than their contemporaries GENT. MAG. July, 1806.

or predeceffors, is a fact which every Chriftian allows. Such fuperior affiftance was undoubtedly granted to many before Auguftin. But that he had greater aid from the Holy Spirit than Gregorius, Thaumaturgus, Athanafius, and Chryfoftom, none, except his avowed partizans, will affert. Nay, does it not depend upon the truth or falfehood of his doctrines, whether darknefs rather than light did not at that period overfpread the Chriftian World? But what idea are we to form of the first outpouring of the Spirit being exhaufted, dried up, or spent, as a refervoir filled by the torrents of Winter fcarcelyfuffices the neighbourhood through the year?

The felf-righteousness attributed to the Jewish converts is another fubject that demands our notice. We may obferve every Calviniftic writer declaiming upon it with a peculiar complacency. It is frequently alluded to in this Hiftory, as if many were now guilty of the fame error, and as equivalent to teaching that good works are a neceffary condition of falvation. (See pp. 22, 23, 29, and par ticularly p. 178, vol. I.) Connected with thefe is a paffage in p. 149, fo defignedly ambiguous that it deferves our attention. The words are as follow: It is not to be 'wondered at, that, with fuch low ideas of the Redeemer's perfon, the Ebionites 'denied the virtue of his atoning blocd, and laboured to establish juftification by the works of the Law. Their rejection of the divine authority of St. Paul's Epiftles, and accufation of him as an 'Antinomian, naturally arife from their fyftem. Tertullian tells us, this was a 'Jewish Sect; and their obfervance of Jewish rites demonftrates that he was

right in the obfervation. By the work of the Law, either moral or ceremonial works may be intended. By the term Antinomian is now understood one who denies the obligation of the Moral Law upon Chriftians. The Ebionites were a Judaico-Chriftian Sect. Acknowledging part of the Gofpel of St. Matthew, they were thoroughly attached to the ceremo nial law of Mofes, and therefore objected to St. Paul becaufe he fo vigorously oppofed it. That they were peculiarly attached to the moral law, or diftinguifhed themfelves by infifting on good works as a neceffary condition to falvation to Chuiftians, there appears neither proof nor affertion. One error of theirs, and at the fame time the great mistake of all the Jewish converts, was, the idea of the permanency of the Mofaic ceremonial law, which was never finally eradicated but by the deftruction of Jerufalem, and the total difperfion of the Jews. We cannot

wonde