this acknowledged evil, it was sometimes the practice to place these victims in the hospital, amid the diseased and the dying, in order to save them from the moral infection that prevailed among their companions in prison.

The next statement of the condition of Newgate is to be found in the Second Police Report of the last session; and Mr. Poinder, who gives this valuable evidence, must be well known to you all, as fully qualified to speak correctly upon the subject, he having. filled the office of under-sheriff for three years. You will judge from his account also if the over-crowding the prisoners was the only defect of the prison; and you will not forget, that the passage in his evidence to which I refer you, is a copy of a Report which he made officially to the sheriffs, and that it bears the date of 1816. This valuable witness speaks with becoming horror of the remarkable corruption of the metropolitan prison:

"The indiscriminate visiting of the prison of Newgate by all persons, whether male or female, who claim any relationship with the prisoners, is altogether opposed to the moral improvement of those who are confined, and to the due regulation of the interior. The following reasons may serve to show, that this opinion is well founded.

"First. One object of confinement is the withdrawing the criminal for a time from the companions of his former life, and from the evil courses to which he has been addicted, in order that, by such retirement, leisure and opportunity may be afforded for an alteration of conduct. Upon the present system, he associates with the same companions, talks the same language, and enjoys the same vices to which he has been accustomed in the world. So far, therefore, as the criminal is concerned, he remains the same character still. Nor is the general aggregate of crime lessened by his confinement, since it can be proved, that, from the facility of intercourse which subsists between the interior and exterior of Newgate, some of the worst and most extensive burglaries have been plotted in that prison. Forged notes have been both fabricated and passed there, and coining itself has been carried on within its walls.

tem.

"Secondly. The introduction of spirituous liquors, and their ordinary use through the prison, is inevitable upon the present sysThe fact is notorious, that, in spite of public acts of parliaments, and the regulations of the court of aldermen, spirituous liquors may be procured by all the prisoners, not excepting those under sentence of death, who are frequently under the sensible influence of liquor (though not in a state of intoxication) from the time of the report coming down to the period of their execution. A search of visitors, particularly of females, is indeed professed to be made by the turnkeys; but whoever has had an opportunity

of observing the manner in which this is done, must be sensible, that it is little else than a matter of form. A trifling bribe will purchase the right of passing without too strict an inquiry; and, although convictions have occasionally taken place of persons for carrying liquor into the prison, such cases are usually only those . in which a proper understanding has not subsisted between the turnkeys and the offenders: and the practice does undoubtedly prevail to a very large extent: nor will it be possible to prevent it, so long as the unrestrained influx of visitors is permitted.

Thirdly. The principal evil, perhaps, which is consequent upon the present system of visiting, is the constant introduction into the prison of the most profligate and abandoned females who are to be found in the metropolis. A woman has only to state herself to be the wife of a prisoner, and although she may be well known as a common street-walker by every turnkey, she must pass; she is admitted without farther inquiry. In this way every man in Newgate is visited by any woman who chooses to inquire for him; and the mere mention of his name is in the same way permitted to pass all those women who choose to apply for admission for the purposes of general prostitution. It is hardly necessary to enter into any detail of the consequences of such a system, nor to advert to the gross scenes which must have been observed in open daylight, by every one who has been much in the habit of frequenting the prison. But this is not all, nor perhaps the worst. It is certain that females are not excluded at the time of locking up the prison for the night; but every woman, who chooses to remain through the night, may do so upon the small fee of one shilling being paid for this permission. This perquisite of the turnkeys is technically called the bad money, and is divided between them. It is easier to conceive than to describe the horrid profligacy and indecency attending such a system as this, in wards, each containing several beds, most of which are not separated from each other even by a single curtain. Nor is there, perhaps, any circumstance which calls more loudly for reform and correction than this, nor one which more clearly marks the evil of indiscriminate female visiting; since, whatever rules may be made, which are intended to be obligatory either on the keeper or the turnkeys, the practice of visiting, on the part of the females in general, can never be subjected to regulation so long as it is permitted to exist at all. If an alteration were once to take place in this particular, and to be acted upon with firmness, incalculable improvement in the condition of the prison and the character of the prisoners could not fail to be the result. At present, the depravity of the metropolitan prison is proverbial. The cases of venereal disease, always to be found in the infirmary, are for the greater part, if not altogether, contracted in the prison; and, in short, a more deplor

able state of society cannot be imagined than that which is consequent upon the unlicensed intercourse which subsists between the prison and public."

Mr. Poinder was asked by the Committee, if he ever complained to the keeper of Newgate of the detection of women in the prison after the lock-up hours. He answered, that he had done so frequently; but that Mr. Newman denied any knowledge of the fact. The witness had no doubt of the truth of the statement; and it had been repeatedly told him by criminals about to be executed. In confirmation, of this evidence, I declare, that I entertain no doubt, from the various communications that have been made to me, that the circumstances detailed by Mr. Poinder were of

common occurrence.

Before I refer to the alterations and improvements that have taken place in Newgate since Sir Richard Phillips first published his Letter, and the attention of Parliament was directed to the subject by the present Lord Auckland, I wish to draw your attention to the condition of that prison in May, 1817, seven years after the Common Council passed sundry resolutions recommending various measures of improvement; and two years after the debtors had been moved to their new prison, which, according to your magistrates and representatives, was the great desideratum, and which event in itself would remedy all the objections which were made to their mode of managing their prisons. I do not know where I can find a more detailed account than is contained in the evidence I gave before the Police Committee last year; and, though it be already before the public, I reprint it here, that you may have the progress of the improvement in Newgate; and when I show you, which I shall shortly do, its pretent state, you may be able clearly to see what yet remains to be done.

"I wish to state to the Committee the result of the observations that I have had an opportunity of making upon the general subject of the Police of the metropolis; and, in order to be able to speak precisely upon the condition of the different prisons of London, I have lately minutely examined them in detail.

"I visited Newgate in the beginning of the month of May, 1817, and went round, first, the female side of the Prison. Í had been there a few weeks before, and found it, as usual, in the most degraded and afflicting state. The women were then mixed all together, young and old; the young beginner with the old of fender; the girl for the first offence, with the hardened and drunken prostitute; the tried with the untried; the accused with the condemned; the transports with those under sentence of death; all were crowded together, in one promiscuous assemblage, noisy, idle, and profligate; clamorous at the gratings, soliciting money,

and begging at the bars of the prison, with spoons attached to the ends of sticks.

"In little more than one fortnight the whole scene was changed, through the humane and philanthropic exertion of Mrs. Fry, the wife of a banker in the city, assisted by others of the Society of Friends; and it is but justice to add, seconded by the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and Sheriffs of London. In the first yard I visited were seventy-eight women, fines and transports together; the fines being persons under sentence of imprisonment for short terms; sixty-five of these were employed in needle-work, which had been procured for them: there were also with these women seventeen children. Of the seventy-eight, sixty-four were under sentence of transportation, and fourteen for short terms of imprisonment; twenty-two of them slept in one room, which was only twenty-four feet by eighteen. In one fortnight, the work done was three hundred and forty-four shirts, and sixty-four shifts, fifty-nine aprons, and two hundred and fifty pinbefores. The women were divided into seven classes; and they earned, on an average, about three-pence a day each individual: part of which is weekly paid, and part set aside, to be paid on leaving the prison: the materials for work were given in this instance; but, if they were to be paid for, would cost about two-pence in the shilling. Among these seventy-eight persons were six old women, from fifty to fifty-eight years of age, four of whom were capital convicts for coining. The appearance of this part of the prison is also greatly changed; it had been newly painted and fitted up, and a work-room set apart for the matron. On the walls hung the rules, which I subjoin.

"RULES.

"First. That a matron be appointed for the general superintendence of the women.

"Second. That the women be engaged in needle-work, knitting, or any other suitable employment.

"Third. That there be no begging, swearing, gaming, cardplaying, quarrelling, or immoral conversation: that all novels, plays, and other improper books be excluded, and that all bad words be avoided and any default in these particulars be reported to the

matron.

:

"Fourth. That there be a yard-keeper chosen from amongst the women, to inform them when their friends come; to see that they leave their work with a monitor when they go to the grating; and that they do not spend any time there except with their friends: if any woman be found disobedient in these respects the yardkeeper is to report the case to the matron.

"Fifth. That the women be divided into classes of not more than twelve, and that a monitor be appointed to each class.

"Sixth. That the monitors be chosen from amongst the most orderly of the women, that can read, to superintend the work and conduct of the others.

"Seventh. That the monitors not only overlook the women in their own classes, but, if they observe any others disobeying the Rules, that they inform the monitor of the class to which such persons may belong, who is immediately to report to the matron, and the deviations to be set down on a slate.

"Eighth. That if any monitor be found breaking the Rules, she be dismissed from her office, and the most suitable in the class selected to take her place.

"Ninth. That the monitors be particularly careful to see that the women come with clean hands and face to their work, and that they are quiet during their employment.

"Tenth. That at the ringing of the bell at nine o'clock in the morning, the women collect in the work-room to hear a portion of Scripture read by one of the visitors or the matron; and that the mouitors afterwards conduct the classes from thence to their respective wards in an orderly manner.

"Eleventh. That he women be again collected for reading at six o'clock in the evening, when the work shall be given in charge to the matron by the monitors.

"Twelfth. That the matron keep an exact account of the work done by the women, and of their conduct."

"No stranger has here admission without special leave, and a check has been put to the entrance of the men prisoners, who were employed as workmen, and who used to have a free and almost unrestrained intercourse with the females. Though this part of the prison is, however, much improved, yet there is still no separate place for washing and cooking, and the sewers are very offensive. There are yet no proper means for classification and arrangement of the prisoners; but the change in their appearance was most striking the bold, hardened look of guilt was gone; the impudent system of begging had ceased; all were busy and cheerful, and all at least looked contented and happy. I asked, in all the rooms of the prisoners, if they preferred occupation to idleness, and if they approved of the change? The answer was unanimously 'Yes;' and several, with tears in their eyes, said, If we had had any means of gaining our bread we should not have been here.'

"In the other yard, this excellent system had not been adopted. There were in it twenty-five women and six children, eleven being for trial, and fourteen tried; eight of whom were transports, and six fines. Here also was the school, which was attended by fifteen children and twelve young women. In the long room on this side (which is of a dimension entirely unequal to contain them), seventy NO. XXII. VOL. XI.

Pam.

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