infection than those hitherto appropriated for that purpose, which are now nearly completed. That they have also made alterations in the chapel, which were rendered necessary by the increased number of prisoners, and which is now made equal to the accommodation of all the prisoners, even when the prison is most full. That proper measures have been taken for affording separate beds for each male prisoner, according to the directions of the statute, placing three such beds in each cell in such of the wards as are most likely to require it. They further report, that by an order of the last Epiphany sessions they have increased the chaplain's salary from 50l. to 80l. per annum, and have required that the chaplain should be resident in or close to Lewes, but that the late chaplain, Mr. William Gwynne, not having complied with that requisition, and having for a considerable period previous to the last Midsummer sessions absented himself from his duty without any communication to the visiting magistrates or otherwise where he was to be found, they were under the necessity of removing him from his office, and they have since elected the reverend Anthony Nott as his successor. That Mr. Roberts, the late surgeon, having resigned his office, they have elected Mr. Richard Turner to succeed him. They further report, that the number of prisoners confined in the said house of correc tion immediately previous to the respective quarter-sessions held within the year, have been, In respect to the house of correction at Battle, | that at the late sessions held for the county of they report, that that prison is fit and sufficient Warwick the magistrates determined on a set for the purposes for which the same is directed of additional rules and regulations for the goto be applied by the order of Michaelmas quarter-vernment of the county prisons, which will be sessions, formerly transmitted to the office of submitted to the consideration of the justices of the secretary of state for the home department; gaol delivery at the next assizes. that every thing respecting it is orderly and regular, and that the number of prisoners therein confined immediately previous to the respective sessions is as follows:Epiphany Easter Midsummer Michaelmas (Signed) 6 all males. 10 T. PARTINGTON. They also accepted the resignation of the chaplain of the prisons, who retires on an annuity of 100%., and appointed a successor, with a salary of 250l. per annum. In the course of the last year the alterations in the gaol have been pretty nearly complet d according to the plan which was transmitted to you after the Michaelmas sessions. In consequence of the difficulties which were met with in getting possession of the ground and buildings required for the enlargement of the house of correction, I am sorry to say that nothing new has been done in that prison toSir, I have the honour to report to you, wards the proper classification of its inmates. No. 47. WARWICKSHIRE. The purchase which was contemplated as been effected, and the alterations and additional buildings are being proceeded in, in such a manner that I have every reason to expect that the whole will be completed and occupied in the course of the ensuing summer. I have, &c. G. SKIPWITH, &c. &c. &c. No. 48.-WESTMORLAND. Westmorland to wit.-At the General Quarter Sessions of the Peace of our Sovereign Lord the King, holden at Appleby, in and for the said County, on Monday, the 18th Day of October, in the Year of our Lord 1824, before the Reverend James Satterthwaite, D. D. Chairman, John Rippon, Joseph Milner, Thomas Bellas, Clerks, and others, their Associates, Justices of our said Lord the King, assigned to keep the Peace in the said County, and also to hear and determine divers Felonies, Trespasses, and other Misdemeanors in the said County committed, &c. Pursuant to the provisions contained in the act of parliament passed in the fourth year of the reign of his present majesty, intituled, " An "Act for consolidating and amending the laws "relating to the building, repairing, and regu"lating of certain gaols and houses of correction "in England and Wales," I do hereby certify the following general report, founded upon the several reports of the visiting justices, the chaplain, and the certificate of the keeper of the gaol or prison at Appleby, in and for the said county; viz. the visiting justices report, The chaplain reports, that both the felons and debtors are very regular in attending the chapel on the Sundays, and in reading the Bible on other days of the week; their conduct while at chapel very good; that there is only one debtor who had not attended divine service the two Sundays preceding the report; that the reverend Thomas Bellas, one of the visiting justices, and secretary to the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge at Appleby, had furnished four Bibles and six Common Prayerbooks for the use of the prisoners, which books the chaplain and governor of the prison pay particular attention are not abused. The governor of the gaol's report is hereunto annexed. JAMES SATTERTHWAITE, chairman. No. 49.-WILTSHIRE. The General Report of the Justices of the County of Wilts, prepared by the Clerk of the Peace of the said County, founded on the several Reports of the Visiting Justices, on the Reports of the Chaplains, and on the Certificates of the Keepers of the Gaol of Fisherton Anger, the House of Correction at Devizes, and the Bridewells of Devizes and Marlborough, in the said County, delivered in at Michaelmas Quarter Sessions, 1824, in pursuance of an Act of Parliament, passed in the Fourth Year of the Reign of his present Majesty, for consolidating and amending the Laws relating to the building, repairing, and regulating of certain Gaols and Houses of Correction in England. The justices of the peace of the county of Wilts have, within the last fifteen years, built a new county gaol at Fisherton Anger, and a new house of correction at Devizes; and they have much satisfaction in stating, that after some alterations shall have been made in the new county gaol (and which are now nearly completed) those prisons will be well adapted to the classification of prisoners directed by the act, and according to the system ordered by the justices of the Michaelmas sessions, 1823. That the number of wards in the county gaol at Appleby is so small that it has hitherto been impossible to comply with the requisitions of the act with respect to the classification of the prisoners; they have the satisfaction, however, to state, that additions and alterations are now in progress, which, when completed, will enable the magistrates of the county of Westmorland to enforce a strict observance of the act, both with respect to the classification and employment of the prisoners. Arrangements have been made for the introduction of steel mills, by means of which they hope to be able to give constant employment to the prisoners, however small or In the house of correction at Devizes a treadgreat the number; and at the Michaelmas ses- mill was erected about twelve months ago, in sions, 1825, the visiting magistrates will pro-addition to a mill worked by crank handles, and bably be able to report, that the alterations and additions are completed. The prisoners in the gaol and house of correction who have been sentenced to hard labour are now employed in the breaking of stones for the road, a species of employment which they find very suitable for those prisoners who are strong enough to undertake it; and that every possible care is taken to prevent immoralities and vice in the prison. The two bridewells at Devizes and Marlborough remain as they were, and are used principally for confinement of prisoners before trial. used for grinding corn at that prison; and the prisoners are further employed in working a machine for raising water to supply the prison and offices. In the county gaol at Fisherton Anger the justices have erected a machine for raising water for the use of the prison, on which such prisoners as are committed to hard labour are employed. The female prisoners are employed in wash ing, ironing, and other labour suitable to the sex. The respective visiting justices report the several prisons under their care to be clean, the conduct of the prisoners orderly, and the discipline at such prisons properly attended to; and that the keepers and other officers have been attentive in their respective offices. The visiting justices of the house of correction at Devizes report, that since the erection of the tread-mill there, a very great decrease has taken place in the number of commitments for misdemeanors, particularly of poachers, of whom there were ten at the corresponding period in 1823, and at Michaelmas, 1824, only one; and recommitments to this prison now seldom occurring, they are induced to believe that such improvement arises from the adoption of this mode of labour. The several chaplains report the general good. state and condition of the prisoners confined in the respective prisons, and the conduct of the governors in regard to their observance of the prison rules and orders of the visiting justices, to be satisfactory. The chaplain of the house of correction and bridewell at Devizes having entered rather fully on the subject of prison discipline, the justices think it proper to send a copy of his reports herewith, although they beg to state that they do not entirely agree with him in the opinion he entertains on the subject of public whipping, and are inclined to think that, on a more minute inquiry, he will find that the circumstance of two or three persons having been hanged, as therein alluded to, must have been communicated to him by persons unacquainted with the The justices further report, that the several surgeons have reported the state and condition of the several prisons to be clean, and the pri soners healthy, there being but few cases of illness, and none of a serious nature. The surgeon of the house of correction at Devizes in his report adds, that having unifomly paid very particular attention to, and examined every prisoner, both before and during the time of his being employed on the tread. mill in that prison, for the last twelve months, he can confidently affirm that he has never known illness occasioned thereby; but, on the contrary, he thinks the health of the prisoners generally, and of the felons in particular, bene fited by its operation. The justices of Wilts, on reading the several reports and certificates before alluded to, and on examining the several governors and keepers of the several prisons of that county thereon, do thereupon report to his majesty's secretary of state their satisfaction with the general good conduct of the several officers, and that the rules and regulations of each prison are duly and properly observed. They further report, that they have every reason to be satisfied with the beneficial effects of the tread-mill, and are convinced that sach labour is by no means injurious to the health or limbs of the prisoners. Michaelmas Sessions, 1824. They cannot conclude their report without observing, that the time and attention of the tion at Devizes. clerk of the peace was so fully employed at the Report of the Chaplain of the House of CorrecMichaelmas sessions, 1824, when the several reports directed by the act were delivered into the court, according to the directions of the act, as to prevent his drawing up and presenting this report at that sessions, and the same was necessarily deferred till the January sessions, 1825; and, though this may not be within the strict letter of the law, the justices hope it will be considered within the spirit of it, and that the delay will cause no inconvenience to his majesty's secretary of state, to whom they beg most respectfully to submit the propriety of extending the time for making up the general annual report to the January sessions, in case it should be necessary further to amend the act of parliament. JOHN SWAYNE, clerk of the peace. The chaplain is happy in being able to make a favourable report of the general good conduct of the prisoners during the past twelve months, and he has reason to hope his labour has not been altogether unavailing. The chaplain is much indebted to the visiting justices for the facility with which he is able to instruct the felons, since permission was granted him to assemble them, a ward at a time, in the schoolroom; he was induced to propose the plan from having found much benefit to arise from the practice of it in the infirmary, and he is happy to say he has not yet seen any reason to wish for an alteration in the system; the men, on the whole, conduct themselves with great attention and propriety. The mere teaching them to read is not so much an object with the chaplain as making them apply what they hear or read to their own particular case; for this purpose he This report was submitted to the justices as- makes use of Doddridge's Expositor, and reads sembled, and was by them approved. T. G. BUCKNALL ESTCOURT, chairman. Michaelmas Sessions, 1824. The Report of the Chaplain of Devizes Prison. The prison having been under repair the whole of the preceding quarter, the chaplain was requested by the governor not to read prayers during the week days, for fear of accidents. The chaplain has great reason to be pleased with the general good conduct of the prisoners during the last twelve months, as far as regards himself; and the judicious way in which the chapel has been altered will improve the discipline in that place very materially. But all the labours of the chaplain must and will be thrown away as long as such unrestrained communication is permitted among prisoners previous to trial. Those who are jealous of the liberty of the subject, consider it would be an infringement of those rights which are deservedly dear to every Englishman, to keep men in solitary confinement previous to trial; but permit me to ask, what greater injury can be done a man than to put him in the way of imbibing the worst of principles, by a necessary association with bad characters? Could a moderate solitary confinement be once substituted for the present plan, the best results might be expected. The chaplain is convinced that men would very rarely return to prison a second time, and there would be a much greater chance of their again becoming good members of society; a prison would then be in reality, what indeed it is intended to be a school for improvement, instead of what it is most certainly in many cases at present a step to the gallows. (Signed) Exhibited in court. J. MAYO, chaplain. T. G. B. ESTCOURT, chairman. out of it at the end of every ten or more verses, in this manner taking them through the New Testament at the rate of five or six chapters a day. The chaplain flatters himself that much good may arise from this plan, as those who can read are obliged to make a good use of their books, and those who cannot read have the same opportunity of learning their duty with those that can. They then repeat Crossman's Catechism, and the chaplain concludes with reading a portion of some book which he judges most likely to benefit them. The strictest discipline is kept up in the school-room, and not the slightest communication takes place during the time they are assembled. The men on the misdemeanant's side, being few in number, and fully occupied with the necessary work of the prison, receive no instruction of any kind except on the Sunday, and being confined for short periods, they would comparatively derive but little benefit. But there are two evils connected with prison discipline, which as long as they exist will always prove a bar to the general improvement of prisoners; viz. public whippings, and the too frequent intercourse of prisoners previous to trial. It can be proved by the prison books, that in almost every instance, those who are sentenced to be publicly whipped immediately before liberation, uniformly return to prison in a short time; and it has happened within the last twelve months, that two or three have been hanged under similar circumstances. The chaplain has very attentively studied the feelings of men previous to this public exposure; and he is inclined to think it has a decidedly bad effect; and that much good might have resulted from the previous imprisonment, if that part of the sentence had been remitted. That in order to conform as nearly as possible to the enactments contained in the 4th Geo. IV. in regard to the arrangement and classification of the prisoners, the visiting magistrates had fitted up fifty-two beds in the upper rooms of the several buildings, by which means the gaoler was enabled to provide a separate bed for each prisoner. With regard to the other evil, the chaplain begs to state thus much as his opinion, deliberately formed upon nearly two years' experience: That all the labour bestowed by the legislature in framing laws, and by the justices in putting them in force, will be comparatively of little avail as long as prisoners before trial are allowed such unrestrained intercourse. The greatest possible mischief arises from it, and the That a facility of inspection of the prisoners too frequent recommitment of prisoners may be in the day-room had been given by means of mainly attributed to it; and it frequently hap-loop-holes in the walls of three of the wards, pens that men are found to commit burglaries and others were directed to be made; that two and highway robberies soon after their libera- ventilators had been erected in the upper wards. tion from prison, in company with those very which had had the effect of rendering them per. persons whom they had formed an intimacy fectly free from disagreeable effluvia, and that with before trial. the iron railings of the yards had been entirely completed. There is one more circumstance the chaplain begs to state to the court, and he thinks much good might result from it: that the chaplain and governor might be permitted once a year to recommend one or two prisoners, who may have conducted themselves in an exemplary manner, to the attention of the court for a remission of sentence. (Signed) J. MAYO, chaplain. No. 50.-WORCESTERSHIRE. The Report of George Hill, of the City of Worcester, Gentleman, the Deputy Clerk of the Peace for the County of Worcester, in pursuance of the 24th Section of an Act of Parliament, passed in the Fourth Year of the Reign of his present Majesty, intituled, "An "Act for consolidating and amending the "Laws relating to the building, repairing, "and regulating of certain Gaols and Houses "of Correction in England and Wales." By the reports of the visiting magistrates of the gaol of the county of Worcester aforesaid, from Michaelmas, 1823, to and including the present sessions, it appears, that under the provision of the 16th sec. of the act, the visiting magistrates earnestly recommended to the notice of the court the case of Margaret Williams, as one which they conceived to be deserving of royal mercy. This woman was convicted of stealing at the Easter sessions, 1821, and sentenced to seven years' transportation; she had four children, the eldest of whom was then nine years of age, and the youngest was born in the gaol four months after her conviction: her conduct in the prison had been so uniformly orderly, quiet, and industrious, as to make the visiting magistrates confidently hope she might become an useful member of society. That the visiting magistrates had congratulated the court on the satisfactory circumstance, that in all the important regulations contained in the recent act, namely, classification, the provision of labour, the instruction of the prisoners in reading (so far as such instruction had been deemed expedient), and the appointment of female officers, the enactments of that humane law had been anticipated in that prison. That the system of ventilation of the upper wards, commenced the last quarter, had been completed throughout the prison with manifest advantage, and that the inspection of the pri soners had been facilitated by the adoption of the most improved slides to each of the day. rooms, by means of which the prisoners could be overlooked without their seeing the inspec tor; that the conduct of the governor, matron, and other officers had deserved their approba tion, and the discipline and employment of the prisoners had been steadily enforced under the regulations of the 4th Geo. IV. and the rules founded thereon. That from the report of the reverend William Faulkner, chaplain to the gaol of Worcester, to the present Michaelmas sessions, it appears that divine service was performed in the gad every Wednesday and Friday, on mornings and evenings on Sundays, and examination and anstruction of the prisoners in the catechism, and the duties and doctrines of Christianity; and that the chaplain also visits the prison and prisoners two or three times at least every week. That from the certificate of John Nelson Lavender, the keeper of the said gaol, sworn at the present Michaelmas sessions, it further ap pears that the whole of the rules and regulations of the 4th Geo. IV. c. 64, had been comphed with in the said gaol, except part of rule ten, which relates to writing. GEORGE HILL, deputy clerk of the peace of the county of Worcester. Worcestershire, Michaelmas sessions 1824, approved by the justices. PLYMOUTH, chairman. No. 51.-YORKSHIRE. At a Court of Gaol Sessions for the County of General Report of his Majesty's Gaol, the Castle of York. The buildings and area composing the gol consist of five yards for men, and one yard for |