have prepared the way for a final investigation of the universal arrangement of all these celestial bodies in space; but as I am still engaged in a series of observations for ascertaining a scale whereby the extent of the universe, as far as it is possible for us to penetrate into space, may be fathomed, I shall conclude this paper by pointing out some inferences which the continuation of the action of the clustering power enables us to draw from the observations that have been given.' The Doctor's last article relates to the breaking up of the milky Way; which he considers to be in a state of gradual dissolution. Such conjectures and hypotheses would certainly be rejected as chimerical, were they to proceed from a less celebrated observer than Dr. Herschel.

We hope to attend to Part II. in our next or the following Number.

[To be continued.]

ART. VIII. State of the Prisons in England, Scotland, and Wales, extending to various Places therein assigned, not for the Debtor only, but for Felons also, and other less criminal Offenders. Together with some useful Documents, Observations, and Remarks, adapted to explain and improve the Condition of Prisoners in general. By James Nield, Esq., one of his Majesty's Acting Justices of the Peace for the Counties of Buckingham, Kent, and Middlesex, &c. 4to. pp. 700. 21. 2s. Boards. Printed by Nichols

FE Ew of our readers are unacquainted with the name of Mr. Nield, who may be called the successor of the philanthropic Howard, in his benevolent attentions to the state of our prisons and the situation of their unfortunate tenants; and the public has learnt with regret that this worthy man has, within a few months, gone to obtain the reward of a well spent life. In recalling to mind his past labours, and lamenting that the world cannot profit by his future efforts, it occurred to us that we had overlooked his last important publication, on the subject so near to his heart *; and though we are sorry for our temporary neglect, we have satisfaction in even thus tardily discharging our duty, by now devoting to it the notice which it amply merits. Yet we greatly fear that many readers will turn over unread the pages which we allot to it, because it treats

*We must remark that the knowlege and circulation of this volume has been strangely and injudiciously obstructed, by its not being sold through the usual medium of a publisher, and by the usual allowaxce to booksellers being denied if they have orders to procure it. A more efficacious mode of rendering the publication nugatory could scarcely be contrived. It is keeping the work in prison, and rendering access to it difficult.

on

on a subject which can give them no pleasure, and which they do not feel themselves individually obliged to contemplate. They will perhaps say that they have no influence with any who are concerned in the management of prisons, and that it would therefore be useless for them to acquire information respecting their state: but how few can truly say this? A very numerous class of persons are in some manner or another concerned in the management of prisons:-all the members of both houses of parliament, the sheriffs, the gentlemen who are summoned on grand juries, and all the magistrates both of counties and of towns. Is there one among us who can be certain that he has no influence with any member of so numerous a body? If such an one should be found, still he cannot be sure that the information which he might acquire on the subject would be useless; because, if he can either inform or influence others who have access to any of the persons above enumerated, he may by that means produce as much effect as if his agency were more immediate.

It is certain-we hope it is certain-that, if it were universally known that dreadful sufferings are perpetually endured in a very great number of our gaols, which are not intended by the law, and which are equally inflicted on the innocent and on the guilty, the evil must be abolished. The humblest individual can spread this knowlege; and it may fall to the lot of any of us, by a word, to assist in relieving our fellow-creatures from miseries which would fill us with horror if they were fully brought before our minds.

Mr. Nield has twice travelled into every corner of our island, to ascertain the situation of our prisons: he twice inspected almost every gaol in the kingdom; and he published this volume in order to disseminate the result of his observations. Much good, we believe, has been the consequence of his virtuous exertions, but very much more remains to be effected. In many prisons, both debtors and persons charged with criminal offences suffer severely from noisome air, want of water, want of food, want of firing, want of bedding, and want of medical assistance; and, in most of these respects, the debtor undergoes much more than the criminal. In many prisons, also, no chaplain is appointed; the debtors are obliged to associate with the criminals of every description; and males and females, prisoners charged with criminal offences and those who have been convicted of them, slight and hardened offenders, are indiscriminately mixed together.

We have not room to give an account of all the wretchedness which Mr. Nield has here exposed to our view: but, if we shew in how many of the prisons, under the first four letters of his. alphabetical list, some of the worst of the above-mentioned evils

are

are to be found, it will give our readers an idea of the quantity of misery with which they would become acquainted, if they pursued the inquiry to the end. We shall advert more particularly to the situation of the debtors; because, though the state of the criminals in various gaols is a reproach to the country, that of the debtors is even more deplorable.

No allowance is made for Food to the debtors at Appleby, Banbury, Barnstaple, Bath, Bridgewater, Boston, Bristol city and county-gaol, Castle-town, (Isle of Man,) Cardigan, Croydon, Chesterfield, Dover-castle and Dover town-gaol. If any per sons suppose that the Lords' act, which subjects the creditor to make his debtor an allowance while he detains him in prison, must prevent him from enduring the extremity of want, we request them to turn to Mr. Nield's introductory Observations on the Law of Civil Imprisonment, (page 13.) where they will see how inefficacious the act is, and that it is often so abused as to increase instead of lessening the hardships of the debtor. They will find, too, when they read the book, that the debtors would often perish through want if they were not relieved by casual charity, by the humanity of the gaoler, or by the sympathy of their fellow-prisoners; and that, even with these resources, they often leave their prison in a fitter state for a hospital than for labour.

No Coals are supplied, even in the extremity of winter, to the debtors at Aberdeen, Annan, Ayr, Banff, Barnstaple, Beaumaris county-gaol, Berwick-upon-Tweed, Birmingham court-prison, Bradford, Borough-compter, Carnarvon, Cambridge-castle, Cardigan, Chester city-gaol, Castle-town, Devizes, Dolgelly, Dumfries, and Dundee.

No Bedding is given to the debtors at Aberdeen, Annan, Appleby, Ayr, Banbury, Banff, Bradford, Bath, Boroughcompter, Beaumaris, Bridgewater, Brecon county-gaol, Brecon town-gaol, Bristol city and county-gaol, Coventry, Cambridge town-gaol, Cardiff county-gaol, Cardigan, Carlisle city and county-gaol, Chelmsford, Castle-town, Chesterfield, Colchester, Devizes, Dover town-gaol, Dolgelly, Dover-castle, Dumfries, Dunbar, Dundee. In some of these places, straw is allowed, but in most of them no covering whatever.

In a great number of prisons, no Water is accessible to any of the prisoners, and they feel excessively the want of it; in some instances, they are obliged even to purchase their little pittance. We give a few extracts to shew the sufferings produced by want of Air:

Bristol, City and County-gaol. (Page 78.)- The men-felons" dungeon, to which you descend by eighteen steps, is seventeen feet in diameter, and eight feet six inches high. This dreary place is close and offensive, with only a very small window whose light is merely sufficien

5

sufficient to make darkness visible. In the year 1801 I remember it was chiefly appropriated to convicts under sentence of transportation. Seventeen prisoners are said to have slept here every night! The turnkey told me that in a morning when he unlocked the door, he was so affected by the putrid steam issuing from the dungeon that it was enough to strike him down.-When turnkeys are thus affected by only opening the doors, what must the pitiable wretches suffer confined through the whole night in such fetid hotbeds of disease!'

The

Dundee Town-gaol. (Page 176.) - By a descent of sixteen steps are sunk three loathsome dungeons. One, which is generally used for prisoners, is almost wholly dark, measures eight feet by seven and six high, without ventilation. The gaoler told me that sometimes four or five vagrants had been confined here for seven days together.' Salisbury, Country-gaol, and Bridewell. (Page 518.) — prisoners in the felons' gaol are lodged in very damp cells, and when let out for air it is but for one hour out of the twenty-four. I happened to be there during that hour in the wintry month of January 1802. There was a heavy fall of sleet, snow, and rain, it was extremely cold, and yet upon opening their door, the prisoners (seventeen felons and seven for misdemeanors) rushed out into the midst of it, eagerly gasping as it were for a mouthful of fresh vital air.'

Two

In a number of prisons, heavy irons are unnecessarily used: Kingston-on-Thames House of Correction. (Page 316.) women were chained together for a month by a horse-lock round the leg of each with three feet length of chain, and fastened by another chain at night to two iron staples fixed in the floor at six feet distance.'

At Carnarvon and Brecon county-gaols, Mr. Nield found women in double irons.

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Edinburgh, City-Tolbooth. (Page 193.) In three of the felons" rooms are stocks fixed on the floors, the upper part of which lifts up to receive the leg of the prisoner who must lie on his back till released, and in these stocks they have been confined night and day. After sentence of death, the criminal is taken to the condemned cell; here a smith fixes an iron strap to his leg fastened again to a ring which encircles a strong iron bar running across the room; so that In this situation the he cannot lift up that foot from the floor. wretched sufferer has been sometimes detained during six weeks, until the execution of his awful sentence.'

Hertford, County-gaol, and Bridewell. (Page 272.) - Prisoners for even comparatively committed to the felons' gaol (and some of them trivial offences, and before a trial,) are here immediately put in irons, and at night are fastened, two together, down to the flooring of their cells by a chain passed through the main link of each man's fetter, and padlocked to a strong iron staple in the floor, and with this additional aggravation of their daily misery are left to pass the hours destined by nature to ease and refreshment upon loose straw only scattered on the floor. A man may thus suffer six months' imprisonment under the bare suspicion of a crime, from which at the end of

that

that dreary term his country may perhaps honourably acquit him. Under circumstances of this kind I saw four prisoners here, September 1808.'

Taunton, County-Bridewell. (Page556.) I found many of the prisoners in irons, and amongst them a very little boy committed for two months had heavy irons on him.'

We must now make room for a few instances of the want of Medical Assistance.

In the county-prison for debtors at Exeter, no surgeon allowed:

The debtors have neither bedding nor straw. Two were sick in bed, another had the jaundice, and a fourth was in the last stage of a consumption at my visit in 1803 without any medical assistance. The gaoler said no magistrate ever came there without being sent for.

It is difficult to conceive the extreme wretchedness and misery here exhibited. The debtors, for the most part mechanics and labourers, seem to be more unfortunate than criminal, and have an abundant claim to pity and relief.'

At Carmarthen-castle, a surgeon is appointed; but, says Mr. Nield, (page 91.) several of the prisoners I found here ill; and one in particular could not turn herself in bed; yet they told me the surgeon had not for two months either seen any of them himself, or sent his assistant, though frequently applied to.'

These specimens may be sufficient to convince our readers that, in many of our gaols, the extremity of human misery is inflicted. Let us not boast too much, then, that torture is abolished in our land. Perhaps a wretch who was broken on the wheel might suffer less than one who, for many months, is put to the slow torture of hunger and thirst, of cold or semi-suffocation. In our long winters, how often does a prisoner lie on the damp floor with only his ragged clothes to cover him, and without fire; hunger and cold uniting to rob him of his vital warmth! When summer comes, it brings to him, not as to us new life and joy, but pestilential air and intolerable stench; evils almost as terrible as the bitter cold which he so long endured before. it be remembered, also, that this misery is heaped on persons who have not been found guilty, and who in fact often are innocent. Let it be recollected, too, that the law orders no such punishment even to the most guilty. Where can a law be found, condemning a criminal to hunger and thirst, to cold and suffocation? These inflictions are illegal as well as barbarous. In every case, either they are an unintended and accidental consequence of the law, or they are owing to neglect in those whose duty it is to superintend the prisons; or to carelessness, idleness, or cruelty on the part of the gaoler. In

Let