complied with in every thing which concerned his department. : And, thirdly, at the last general quarter sessions of the peace, held at Beccles aforesaid, on Monday the 12th day of July last, the aforesaid Henry Bence Bence, esquire, and Gunton Postle, clerk, two of the visitors appointed at the last sessions, made their report in writing, as to their inspection of the said house of correction at least three times within the quarter of the year, and always when occasion required; and examined the state and condition of the buildings; and had made inquiries respecting the conduct of the respective officers, and as to the treatment and condition of the prisoners, and into all other matters corresponding with their duties as visitors and also, that, in compliance with the orders of the last sessions, another reservoir for the reception of water had been added, the necessity of which was mentioned in the last report, and that the outside of the prison had been painted; that an additional wheel to the tread-mill, calculated to furnish labour for four men, was at that time erecting, and would be completed in the course of a few days; and they testified their approbation of the conduct of the respective officers, of the good treatment and condition of the prisoners, and of their observance of the rules established for the improvement of their morals, and for the discipline and labour of the prison, with the exception of one act of disobedience in refusing to attend the morning prayers. And at the same sessions the journal of the chaplain was laid before the justices for their inspection, and signed by the chairman, in proof of the same having been produced; in which were entered the times of his attendance in the performance of his duty, with observations on the attendance and conduct of the prisoners, which was in all respects orderly and good, with the exception of one case of disobedience referred to in the report of the visitors on the 19th of May, when the convicted felons became refractory, and refused to attend the gaoler to chapel. And at these sessions the keeper certified that the several rules and regulations had been complied with in every respect as regarded his department. Suffolk. At the general quarter sessions of the peace, holden at Beccles, in and for the county of Suffolk, on Monday the 18th day of October, 1824, before Thomas Sherlock Gooch, esquire, chairman, Henry Bence Bence, esquire, Matthias Kerrison, esquire, and others, justices assigned to keep the peace in and for the said county; and also, &c. this report was submitted to the justices assembled at the above sessions, and approved by them. the Clerk of the Peace, and submitted to the Justices assembled at their Michaelmas Quarter Sessions of the Peace, holden by adjourn ment at Woodbridge aforesaid, in and for the said County, on Wednesday the 20th Day of October, 1824, and approved by the Justices at the said Sessions, pursuant to an Act of Parliament passed in the Fourth Year of his present Majesty's Reign, intituled, “ An Act for con"solidating and amending the Laws relating 66 66 to the building, repairing, and regulating of "certain Gaols and Houses of Correction in "England and Wales." First, this report states, that the visitors ap pointed at the Michaelmas sessions, 1823, reported and certified to the chairman and magis. trates of the Epiphany quarter sessions of the peace, held by adjournment at Woodbridge, on Wednesday the 14th day of January, 1824, that they had personally visited the house of correction at least three times in the last quarter of the year, and at all times when occasion required, and had examined the state of the building; but that no additions or alterations had been made to the same, inasmuch as it was not capable of the extended classification required by the act without great expense, which it had not been deemed expedient to incur, in consequence of the county gaol, to which the division of Woodbridge is contributory, being within a short distance. And that they had examined into the beha viour and conduct of the keeper and those under him, and matron, and the treatment, behaviour, and condition of the prisoners, and into all other matters required of them as visitors, and were well satisfied with the same respectively; and in consequence of the ill state of health of the keeper, that he was unable to attend at the ses sions, and make the report required by the 14th section of the said act, or the certificate required by the 21st section thereof; but that from their personal inspection, they were fully satisfied that the several duties required to be performed by the keeper had been well executed, and that the rules and regulations for the government of the prison had been complied with. And this report further states, that at the said sessions the journal of the chaplain to the said house of cor. rection had been laid before the justices for their inspection, and was signed by the chairman, in proof of the same having been so produced; and in which were entered the times of his attendance in the performance of his duty, with such observations as occurred to him, and without any complaint of the conduct or behaviour of the prisoners. Secondly, at the general quarter sessions of the peace, holden by adjournment at Woodbridge (Signed) T. S. GooсH, chairman. aforesaid, on Wednesday the 28th day of April Suffolk. A General Report, founded upon last past, the visitors appointed at the former the Reports of Visiting Justices, and of the sessions reported, as in their former report, that Chaplain of the House of Correction at Wood-they had personally visited and inspected the bridge, in the County of Suffolk; prepared by house of correction at least three times in the cates of the Keepers of the Common Gaol and several Houses of Correction in the County of Surrey; prepared by the Clerk of the Peace, and submitted to and approved by the Justices of the Peace assembled at a General Quarter Session, holden by Adjournment on Saturday, the 4th Day of December, in the Year 1824, pursuant to an Act passed in the Fourth Year of his present Majesty's Reign, relating to Gaols and Houses of Correction. The County Gaol. last quarter of the year, and at all times when occasion required, and examined into the state of the building; but that no additions or alterations had been made, for the reasons stated in their last report. And that they had examined into the behaviour and conduct of the keeper and those under him, and matron, and the treatment, behaviour, and condition of the prisoners, and into all other matters required of them as visitors, and were well satisfied with the same respectively. But that notwithstanding, by the continuance of the keeper's illness, he was then again unable personally to attend the sessions It appears from the reports of the visiting and make his report, and deliver his certificate, justices of this prison, that they have, at each they were satisfied that the several duties re-quarter session during the year, uniformly required to be performed as keeper had been well ported that every thing relative to the prison executed, and the rules of the prison complied and its offices was in a state of cleanliness and with. And that in consequence of such inca- good order. pacity of the keeper, they recommended to the sessions that another keeper should be elected in his place, and that, in consideration of his services, an annuity proportioned to his merits might be granted to him, pursuant to the act. And at the same sessions the journal of the chaplain was laid before the justices for their inspection, and signed by the chairman, in proof of the same having been so produced; wherein were entered the times of his attendance in the performance of his duty, with such observations as occurred to him, and without any complaint as to the conduct or behaviour of the prisoners. It also appears, that the gaoler having represented that, in consequence of the late prison act having prohibited the putting any prisoner in irons, except in cases of urgent necessity, he considered the security of the gaol to be endangered, and particularly that the two airing courts in which felons were confined were not of sufficient height for securing the desperate characters usually placed there: that the visitors at the last Easter session reported that Mr. Maudsley, the engineer, had laid before them a plan which appeared to them calculated to render the airing courts secure ; namely, an iron barbed And, thirdly, at the general quarter sessions fence, erected on the division walls, and surof the peace, holden by adjournment at Wood-mounted with a chevaux-de-frise, which, being bridge aforesaid, on Wednesday the 14th day of July now last past, the visitors reported to the effect of their former reports at the two preceding sessions, expressing their perfect satisfaction of the behaviour and conduct of the assistants of the keeper and matron, and the treatment, behaviour, and condition of the priAnd at the same sessions, the journal of the chaplain was laid before the justices for their inspection, and signed by the chairman, in proof of the same having been produced; wherein were entered the times of his attendance in the performance of his duty, without any complaint as to the conduct and behaviour of the prisoners. soners. Suffolk.-At the general quarter sessions of the peace, holden by adjournment at Woodbridge, in and for the said county, on Wednesday the 20th day of October, 1824, before John Hindes Groome, clerk, chairman, William Carthew, esquire, and others, justices assigned, &c. this report was submitted to the justices assembled at the above sessions, and approved by them. (Signed) JOHN HINDES GROOME, No. 45.-SURREY. made to revolve, should strike on wires communicating with bells, if laid hold of by the prisoners in attempting to escape, and thereby give an alarm; and they had directed Mr. Maudsley's plan to be laid before the court for their opinion and order thereon. It also appears, that the gaoler having represented the crowded state of the debtors' wards, in consequence of the commissioners of the court of requests in Southwark being authorised, by an act then lately passed, to commit debtors to the common gaol; and also, that there being no receiving rooms, he was compelled to pass both male and female prisoners to their wards before they were examined by the surgeon; and that the surgeon having at the same session represented the necessity of having a ward in the infirmary for the reception of infectious fever cases, the visitors at the same session suggested several alterations and additions in the debtors' wards, in the entrance lodge, and in the infirmary, whereby greater accommodation might be afforded to the debtors, and reception rooms for male and female prisoners, and a fever ward, a laundry, bread room, and other accommodations might be provided; which several works, so recommended by the visitors, were approved by the court, and ordered to be carried into execution. It appears, that at the last Michaelmas quarter session, the chaplain reported that he had ~ to hope some good had been already frequent visits during the year at the prison, and minutely examined into the behaviour of the prisoners, their state of health, and moral improvement, the conduct of the officers, the amount of the earnings of the prisoners, and the cleanliness of the prison; and that they had at each quarter session uniformly expressed their entire satisfaction with the conduct of the officers, the cleanliness of the prison, the health of the prisoners, and with their orderly conduct, except in one instance, which occurred in the month of November, 1823, when serious insubordination and disposition to violence were manifested immediately after, and occasioned, as they believe, by the visit of a magistrate of the county, and by his indiscreet conversation with the prisoners, and refusal to hear such explanation as the turnkey in attendance requested to be allowed to give with respect to the answers made by the prisoners to the questions put to them by such magistrate. consequence of the new regulations of the gaol, magistrates of this prison, that they had held so far as related to the moral habits and daily conduct of the prisoners during their confinement; but that the period of trial as yet had been too short to enable him to come to any certain conclusion, or to authorise any sanguine expectation respecting their real reform: that he had to regret that no opportunities had yet occurred for the administration of the sacrament to any of the prisoners, nor for catechising children or young persons: that he had explained the nature and obligations of the ordinance, and given notice at the proper seasons of his readiness to converse with and examine any of the prisoners who might be properly disposed to receive the sacrament, but only two individuals had hitherto offered themselves as candidates: that the reason of this would be obvious to the magistrates, who understood the difference between a penitentiary or house of correction, in which the prisoners are for a considerable time stationary, and a county gaol, where, in consequence of so many gaol deliveries and other causes, there are very few who remain longer than a month in the prison: that the same reason equally operates against any regular catechetical instruction; as a substitute for which he had assembled all the prisoners in the chapel once every week, read part of the church service, and some portion of the New Testament, containing some elementary and essential doctrine or duty of Christianity, on which he lectured in a familiar manner: that there were, in every class, Bibles, Testaments, Prayer-books, and other books and tracts suitable to the condition of the prisoners, with a few spelling-books for the boys and other persons who manifested any disposition to improve themselves in learning during their short stay in the prison: that he visited the sick in the different wards of the infirmary two or three times in the week, or every day in the week, as necessity required; and these to the sick patients, with other more private visits to individuals in the prison who were in mental trouble, were among the most satisfactory, and perhaps the most useful duties of the chaplain : that the behaviour of the male and female prisoners in the chapel was, in that seriousness and attention which appeared to be excited among them both by the prayers and the sermon, in many respects truly exemplary: that it was proper, however, to add, in conclusion, that the above observations referred to felons, fines, transports, &c.: respecting the debtors, the chaplain had no favourable report to make, except in the case of one or two individuals. It appears from the certificates of the governor, that the rules and regulations laid down for the government of the common gaol had been strictly complied with (with one exception, authorised by the visiting justices). House of Correction at Brixton. It appears, that in the report made to the last Epiphany session, the visitors state, that they were particularly gratified in being enabled to report that the number of prisoners had of late considerably decreased, the number being at that time as follows:-males 113, females 29, making a total of 142; of which 27 were soldiers or marines committed under sentence of courts martial, and 6 were persons committed by the aldermen of London as justices of the peace for the borough of Southwark only, neither of which descriptions of prisoners was contemplated as necessary to be provided for when the house of correction was built: that owing to the diminished number of prisoners, the earnings of the tread-mill during the last year had been less than those of the preceding year; plenty of grist had, however, been sent to the mill, and there was every reason to expect the continuance of an ample supply. It appears from the report of the visitors at the last Midsummer quarter session, that the earnings of the prisoners, up to the 5th of Ja nuary last, amounted to £282 8s. 3d., which had been paid over to the treasurer of the publie stock in aid of the county rate, and that the further earnings of the prisoners since that period, amounting to £124, had been left in the hands of the governor, as a fund out of which to pay the allowance directed to be made to the prisoners on their discharge. It appears from the report of the chaplain, at the last Michaelmas session, that the number of prisoners confined in the house of correction at Brixton was 192; that their conduct then was exceedingly regular and good, and was so during the early part of the year; but four or five months since a spirit of insubordination shewed itself, which appeared to have originated in the discussions respecting the propriety of using the tread-wheel as an instrument of prison disci. pline: it continued about two months, and then subsided, when that question went to rest: that with regard to the moral improvement of the great bulk of the prisoners, little that was satisfactory could be said; they were generally too far advanced in crime, and had indulged in vicious habits too long, to be easily reclaimed: there had been a few cases, however, of individuals leaving their former course of life after their discharge, and becoming honest industrious members of society; the number of such cases appeared on the whole to increase. It appears from the certificates of the governor, that the rules and regulations for the government of the prison had been strictly enforced, except that prayers had been read on week days only on Tuesdays and Thursdays. House of Correction at Guildford. mer communication made by Mr. Jackson to the editor of a public print, they had felt it their duty peremptorily to restrict him in this and all future cases from making any reply to calls of any nature, except from the secretary of state, the houses of parliament, or the court of quartersession, unless by the special authority of the visiting magistrates for the time being: they had nevertheless felt it their duty to inform themselves of the facts of the cases alluded to, and for the guidance of their own future conduct in this respect to examine Mr. Jackson, not only as to these particular cases, but to require his opinion as to the effects likely to result from the infliction of labour on the wheel upon women similarly circumstanced; and lest the minds of any members of the court should have been influenced by the high-coloured and inflammatory misrepresentations thus exhibited to the public, or that the court should think it right to correct the false impression the statements made in these prints were calculated to (and, as it appeared to them, had for their object to) make upon the public mind, to the prejudice of this most efficient system of cor It appears from the reports of the visiting justices, that they had repeatedly visited the house of correction during each quarter of the year, and minutely inspected the wards, cells, and other buildings, and had invariably found the greatest cleanliness prevail throughout the whole prison: that the garden had been well cultivated and fully stocked for the use of the pri-rective punishment, they had prepared, and soners, and that the regulations established for the government of the prison had been strictly and beneficially enforced by the governor: that Mr. Jackson, the surgeon, had reported favourably of the general health of the prisoners, and continued to think that the system of discipline established did not appear to be productive of any particular disease or injury to those subjected to it: that the chaplain reported favour ably of the conduct of the prisoners at chapel. It appears that at the last Epiphany session the visiters reported, that they apprehended it could not have escaped the attention of the court that incessant efforts had been made, and were still making, to prejudice the public mind against the modern system of punishing criminals by labour on the tread-wheel: that in addition to and in support of the general clamour excited against the application of that system to the punishment of females, a strong and pathetic appeal had been lately made to the sympathies of a British public against the practice of subjecting women with infants at their breast to this discipline, and two cases of alleged cruelty had been held up to public execration, in which the conduct of the magistrates at the bench at Guildford, and of the visiting magistrates of that house, had been reprobated, and the higher authorities called on to interpose and liberate the sufferers from torture, and dismiss the committing magistrates from the future exercise of their functions; and a strong call was made upon the surgeon attached to that establishment to give, through the medium of the public press, explanatory particulars relative to the cases alluded to; that the visiters had not felt themselves amenable to calls made upon them through such channels; and having disapproved a for were ready to exhibit it if it should be the pleasure of the court to call for it, a supplementary report on the two cases, together with the opinion of the surgeon, especially as to them, and generally as to the application of work upon the wheel to women suckling infants. On their own behalf, however, they felt it due to themselves, and did not hesitate to declare, that the result of their inquiry had fully satisfied their own minds, that what has been done in the commitment and punishment of these women had not only been in strict conformity to the directions of the statute, but had violated no feeling of humanity, by which they were sensible it was their duty, as it was their inclination, to regulate their conduct in the execution of that statute; and so fully were they satisfied on this point, that till an alteration should be made in the law to restrict them from so doing, they should continue to execute its provisions in all cases where (as they thought of the present cases) nothing in the actual state of health or strength of the offenders would warrant the exercise of their discretion in mitigation of the severity they enjoined. Upon motion, it was ordered that the said report should be presented, which was read accordingly, as follows: The woman Loder was committed by the petty sessions at Guildford (the Rev. G. Walton Onslow, chairman), on the 11th of October last, on a charge, by the parish officer of Godalming, of having been delivered of a bastard child, and being then chargeable to that parish. It appeared that the said bastard was her third child by three several fathers; and the court considering her case too aggravated to admit of an entire remission of the punishment directed by the statute in such cases, and the overseer of rule 10, Mr. Richards had undertaken to esta blish a Sunday school, and to give his personal attendance for one hour on each Sunday, for the instruction of prisoners under twenty years of age. the parish, by direction of the vestry, request-child, was seldom, if ever, in a day consumed: ing an example to be made, sentenced her to the children of each woman were on the laps the mitigated term of three months' confinement of the women at rest, during the time the to work in the house of correction. She was mothers were respectively employed on the put upon the wheel on the 13th; but on account wheel. of the feeble and emaciated state in which she It appears that at the Easter session the appeared at that period, which she represented visiters reported, that it having been observed as the effect of poverty and insufficiency of food, that no service was performed by the governor having, as she stated, had none but potatoes for on the days on which the chaplain's attendance many days prior and three days subsequent to the was not required by the regulations of the birth of her child, and of her insufficient supply prison, agreeably to the enactment of rule 9, of milk for the nourishment of her infant, the s. 10, in the new prison act, Mr. Richards, the preservation of whose life was considered very chaplain, had undertaken to select from the precarious by the surgeon, she was not put upon liturgy such prayers as he thought proper to be the wheel again for the next fourteen or fifteen | read daily by the governor, in his absence; and days of her imprisonment, nor till extra allow-that with a view to give effect to requisition of ance of food for her, and twelve ounces of bread and an ounce of sugar per diem, for pap for the child, had insured the life of the child, and so far recruited the mother's strength, that at her own desire, as being a preferable state to remaining alone all day in her ward, she desired to go to work with the other women upon the wheel. Her hours of actual work upon the wheel were from half past eight or nine to twelve in the forenoon, and from half past one to four in the afternoon; her periods of work upon the wheel never exceeded fifteen minutes, nor the remission ever less than ten, and frequently fifteen minutes, when the numbers at work admitted of it. She was weighed on the 31st of October, after four or five days of work, and then weighed eight stone two pounds, and again on the 13th of December, having worked through the whole of that interval, and was found to have gained nine pounds weight: on the 15th of December she took cold, and was by the surgeon's order confined to her ward; and between that day and the 2d of January, the period of her liberation, lost two and a half pounds weight. She has declared she was better fed, and had more care taken of her, and was altogether more comfortable, during her imprisonment, than she had ever been before; that she had gained health and strength during the time she was subject to work on the wheel; and on her leaving the prison expressed much apprehension that she should not fare so well on her return home. -The woman Hall, a vagrant, was in robust health when committed by the Rev. Mr. Onslow, and continued so during the month's imprisonment to which she was sen'tenced; and so far from her or her child failing in health during that period of regular work on the wheel with other women, the exuberance of her milk, beyond what her infant could consume, was such, that to relieve her from the pressure of it, during the greatest part of her stay there, she prayed to be permitted to suckle Loder's child, and did so to the end of her confinement. Hall needed none, and had no extra allowance of food for herself, and her child was so abundantly nourished from her breast, that the allowance of bread and sugar, for pap for her It appears that at the Midsummer session the visiters reported, that they had examined the chaplain as to the conduct of the prisoners, which, as far as respected his department, he reported to have been invariably decorous and attentive in chapel, and respectful to himself during his intercourse with them for the purpose of conveying religious instruction to their minds; and that he had observed with pleasure an eagerness among such of them as could read to pass the unemployed hours of the Sabbath in reading the Holy Scriptures, and such tracts as he submitted to their perusal; and that the existing regulations of the house not requiring him to preach more than one sermon in a week, Mr. Richards had proffered his services to read prayers in the chapel more often than he was required to do. And they further report, that they had examined Mr. Jackson, the surgeon, as to the general state of health of the prisoners, and particularly as to the effects of the discpline of the wheel upon their constitutions; and had much satisfaction in observing, that while his journal exhibited an uncommonly small proportion of patients in the infirmary (cosidering the liability to disease in this class of persons), the proportion of those on extra allow ance of food was greatly and progressively dimnished among the males, and among the females only two had been in the infirmary, and not one on extra food during the last five months: that Mr. Jackson reported, that every additional month's experience served to confirm the opinion he had before expressed to the court, and to his majesty's principal secretary of state for the home department, that no effects predicial to the health or strength of the prisoners of either sex had resulted from the labour o the tread-wheel; and judging from the more general increase of weight of the female prisoners when subject to this discipline, and their appearing to require extra food in fewer stances, he was inclined to draw the conclusion |