treat each other with that mutual respect and kindness which become gentlemen and friends, and cultivate an ardent zeal to promote the best interests of the institution. No spirituous liquors, strong beer or ale, are ever to be used by any officer or guard, in or about the prison.

Assistant keepers are also to refrain from all conversation with each other, or with the contractors, when on duty, except such as may be absolutely necessary in the discharge of such duty.

They are forbidden to say any thing in respect to the police of the prison, in the presence of convicts, unless it be in the way of directing them in their duty, or admonishing them for delinquencies; nor are they to hold common-place conversation with convicts, or allow them to speak to them on any subject except their necessary business.

The assistant keepers are allowed and required to punish convicts, for violations of duty, by stripes, which are to be inflicted with a raw-hide whip, and applied to the back, in such a manner as not to expose the head, face, eyes, or in any way to put the convicts health or limbs in danger. The use of a stick, or cane, or any other weapon, or of the fist or feet, is strictly forbidden, except in cases of self-defence.

As this is a high and delicate trust, these officers are often admonished to exercise it with humanity and discretion, without passion, and in such a temper of mind as will convince the offender that the chastisement is given solely for his good, and as an example to others, and that it is a most painful duty for the officer to perform.

In aggravated cases, a cat, made of several strans of small twine, is applied to the bare back, under the direction of the principal keeper, or deputy.

In every case where an assistant keeper has occasion to punish a convict, he is required, in a reasonable time thereafter, to make a formal report of it, in writing, to the keeper or deputy, stating the convict's name, the nature of the offence, and the number of stripes inflicted. This regulation, in connexion with the constant secret supervision of the shops from the avenue, through which the keeper, deputy, or some assistant keeper, as well as visiters is passing, unseen and unheard, at all hours of the day, with a full view of the shops, affords the best check against any abuse of the power of punishment, that the circumstances of the case will admit, and it is believed to be effectual. No assistant keeper, who values his reputation, or wishes to retain his place, will be likely to run such a risk, as he would in these circumstances, of losing both, by an abuse of this power; or if he should be disposed to venture it, it would be impossible to escape detection any length of time; and when detected, the agent and keeper would deem it his duty immediately to suspend the offending officer, and lay the case before the Board of Inspectors.

Duties of the Guard.

To four of the guard is assigned the duty of sentinels upon the walls. Two are constantly on duty here during the day, one upon

the north and the other upon the south side of the prison, and are relieved by the other two every hour.

One is stationed at the north gate, the passage for teams; one at the front or centre gate; and one in the keepers' hall, to tend the doors leading thence into the interior of the prison.

One has the care of the north wing and the hospital during the day, and relieves in the kitchen.

Four are on the night patrol in the shops and yards, two on duty at a time, every other night, alternately. They also perform some other duty as reliefs, in the day time.

Two do night duty in the south wing every night, taking turns in watching and sleeping.

One is on duty every night in the north wing, from ten o'clock till four, as a relief to the assistant keepers.

The others are either employed in the interior, conducting visiters through the prison, relieving or going on errands.

All, excepting those who perform night duty elsewhere, are required to take their turns, (two at a time, relieving each other,) in doing night duty in the keepers' hall.

Duties of Convicts.

The duty of convicts in this prison is, to obey orders, and labor diligently in silence. They are not to speak to each other, on any pretence, except by special direction of a keeper, nor communicate by signs, except so far as is absolutely necessary about their work. They may not sing, whistle, dance, run, jump, or do any thing which will have the least tendency to disturb or alarm the prison. Their every movement and whole demeanor are to be in strict ac cordance with the most perfect order, and the situation in which they are placed. They are not to leave their places without permission from a proper officer, nor to look off from their work to see spectators, or gaze at them when unemployed. They are never to speak to persons who do not belong to the prison, nor receive from them any letter, paper, tobacco, or other article whatever. They are not even to speak to their officers on ordinary topics; and when it becomes necessary to address them in relation to their business or their wants, they are to approach them with deference, and make their business known in few words, and in a respectful manner.

No convict is wilfully or negligently to injure his work, tools, wearing apparel or bedding; nor is he to make the articles care lessly or badly on which he is at work, when he has ability to make them well.

For the wilful or repeated neglect or violation of these or other rules, chastisement is inflicted in the manner before mentioned.

It is easy to perceive that the most unceasing vigilance is requi site, on the part of the officers, to enforce these regulations, and that they must occasion a vast variety of particular rules and practices which cannot easily be described.

Shop Regulations.

Besides the officers who patrol the avenues, there must be at least one assistant keeper to each mechanic department, and, if practicable, one who is sufficiently acquainted with the business pursued in it, to instruct the new convicts, and judge whether the old make good work. He is allowed, in some instances, to place a faithful and experienced convict by the side of a raw hand, if h can keep them under his eye, to instruct him in the business, which is done chiefly by showing, without speaking.

Except in a few instances where the contractors employ citizen mechanics as foremen, to oversee their business, the assistant keeper in each mechanic department examines and directs the management of all raw materials, and prevents their waste; carefully inspects all manufactured articles, and in all cases sends them to the proper places of deposit, with a bill thereof for the contractors, every day. He also keeps an account himself of all the articles manufactured, with the prices, and enters them in a book, to be transferred to the books of the clerk. He also makes weekly and monthly returns, to the clerk, of all the work done in his shop. Though he has the superintendence of all the work in the shop, he is clothed with no more power than the other assistant-keepers, not mechanics, who assist in governing the shops.

He keeps on his desk a list of all the convicts in his charge; puts down, opposite the name of each, the kind and amount of work done by him, and requires him to do all he can reasonably perform, according to his ability, without stint-work. He soon discovers what a convict ought to perform, and compels him to do it; and when in health, he is not suffered to be idle a single moment, or have any particular favor or allowance for any thing that might be called over-work.

He also keeps another list of his men's names, with the number of each one's cell opposite, in order that he may know, at the time of locking up, whether any one be missing, and if so, who it is.

In all the shops the convicts are arranged, as far as possible, in such a way as not to face each other, and to have their work entirely separate.

There are convicts selected in each shop for waiters or tenders, to distribute materials, take out ware, keep tools in order, remove rubbish, sweep the shops, hand drink, &c. under the direction and observation of the assistant keeper, and chiefly by signs, so that the laborers need not leave their work. In this way, a shop, with the business of a hundred men, is so managed, that hours together will frequently pass without a word being spoken.

The shops are often scrubbed, and occasionally white-washed. All the convicts are shaved once a week by convict barbers, and their hair kept short. They are also required to wash their face and hands night and morning, their feet often, and, in the warm season, to bathe frequently in one of the large reservoirs of water in the yard.

There are, at convenient places and suitable distances along the side of the shops, a sufficient number of small necessaries, built upon the outside of the shop, but entered from within, and furnished with suitable tubs, which are taken by a convict selected for that business, and emptied into a vault, and cleansed, so often as not to become in the least offensive in the shop.

Only one convict is allowed to enter the necessary at a time; and he must take with him a certain stick, which at other times hangs in a conspicuous place in the shop, that it may be known by looking there, whether any one is in the necessary. There is the same regulation in the yards where men are employed, and also for the kitchen and wash-room.

Receiving new Convicts.

When a new convict arrives at this prison, he generally appears serious, and evinces pretty strong apprehensions in regard to his reception and treatment. After having his manacles removed, and submitting in silence to a thorough, and of course pretty severe, ceremony of ablution, performed by convicts under the direction of the keeper, he is clad in a clean prison dress, and brought to the clerk's office, where the description of his person, former employment, age, &c. is taken, and entered by the clerk in the prison register.

The Agent and keeper then, after ascertaining, as nearly as he can, by the sheriff who brings him, and by questioning the convict himself, his habits of life, temper, prevailing passions, &c. addresses to him a few remarks, calculated to impress his mind with a sense of his guilt and degradation, the justness of his punishment, and the importance of improving the period of his seclusion from the world, by serious reflection upon the folly of his past conduct, and by deep repentance and resolutions of future amendment.

He is then instructed in a few plain, general rules for the government of his conduct, relating to obedience, silence and industry, to which he is by this time prepared to listen with fixed attention. He is told that the most strict and humble obedience will be required, which will be no less his interest than his duty; that we possess, and readily apply, the most ample means of coercion, to which, however, it is always painful to resort, but which, when necessary, are promptly put in requisition; that so long as he behaves well, he will be exposed to as little bodily suffering as the nature of the case will allow; and that there are many convicts who go through with a long term of imprisonment, without receiving a blow or a harsh word, and which will surely be his case, if he complies with the rules of the prison.

If the convict have a trade that is pursued in the prison, (which is rarely the case,) he is put to that business; otherwise the keeper, judging from the aptitude, capacity, &c. of the convict, with usually some regard to his wishes, selects such trade for him to learn as he deems most suitable. He is then taken to the shop, and put in the custody of that assistant keeper who superintends the branch of business he is to learn; is then further instructed by his

keeper in the minutia of those shop, table, marching and cell rules and regulations which are required to be observed; and then commences his labor, and the course of his apprenticeship.

Opening the prison in the morning, and the proceedings of the day.

The hours of labor vary according to the season. In long days, they commence at half past five in the morning, and close at six in the evening; and in short days, the hours are so fixed as to embrace all the day light.

Half an hour before opening the prison, the guard on night duty in the keepers' hall rings a bell hung over the front gate, for the officers to assemble; and in about fifteen minutes after, the officer on night duty in each of the wings rings a small bell, as a signal for the convicts to rise, dress, and prepare to come out. At the end of the half hour, at another signal given at the front gate, the deputy keeper looks at the roster, or duty-board, to see whether all the pins standing opposite the several officers' names are removed from "absent" to "present," which they are required to do as they come in, to signify that they are present; when the assistant keepers, having previously taken their keys from the key-room, immediately proceed to their respective galleries, and unlock the convicts, who form in a line and march out with their night-tubs, wa ter-cans and mush-kids; the two last of which they leave in the kitchen, through which they pass, and then proceed through the yard, empty their tubs in the vault, rinse them at the pumps, partly fill them with water to prevent them from falling to pieces and from becoming offensive, and place them in rows in the yard, and then enter their shops and commence the labor of the day.

Breakfast.

At from seven to eight in the morning, according to the season, a large bell, hung in the centre of the interior yard, is rung as a signal for breakfast; when the convicts form again in a line in the shops, and are marched by their respective keepers through the yard, and enter the dining hall, or mess room, at two different doors, seat themselves at the tables as fast as they come in, and, at a given signal, after all are seated, commence their meals, which have previously been divided and distributed equally upon the ta bles by the cook.

But as some eat more and some less, according to the state of their health and the nature of their employment, convict waiters, furnished with large vessels, pass along constantly between the tables, taking food from those who raise their right hand, in token that they have it to spare, and giving to those who raise their left hand, to signify they want more.

This regulation will readily be seen to be an important one. The difference in the appetites of the convicts is very great. The blacksmiths or coopers, for instance, require in general, double the quantity of food that the shoemakers or tailors do. Were there only an equal distribution of the food, instead of this accommodation of