242 

 COLERIDGE. 



EXTRACT FROM A LETTER IN WHICH THE LATE MR. COLERIDGE 

 SPEAKS OF LORD BYRON. 



" I was once in his" (Lord Byron's) " company, 

 for half an hour. He has the sweetest countenance 

 that I ever beheld — his eyes are really portals of the 

 sun, things for light to go in and out of." 



We subjoin an autograph of our highly gifted countryman, 

 copied from a letter addressed to his son. 



STATE PRISON AT AUBURN, NORTH AMERICA. 



A SPACE of ground, 500 feet square, is inclosed by a very 

 lofty external wall, 35 feet high within. The great building of 

 the prison, about 100 feet from these walls, is three-sided; the 

 front 276 feet long, and 45 feet deep, and the sides 242 by 45. 

 It contains the keeper's house, and necessary offices, — the eating- 

 hall, hospital, chapel, kitchens, and wash-rooms, and the cells, 

 which are 7 feet long, 3^ wide, and 7 feet high. The windows 

 in each, 4 feet by 6, are glazed, and secured by a strong iron- 

 grating. The only opening from the cell, except the ventilator, 

 is the door, in the upper end of which is an iron-grate, 18 by 20 

 inches. The bars of this grate are round iron, three-fourths of 

 an inch in diameter, placed about 2 inches asunder, leaving 

 orifices smaller than a man's hand. Through this grate, all the 

 light, heat, and air, are admitted to the cells. The ventilator, 

 which is about three inches in diameter, extends from the back of 

 the cell to the roof of the building. The door of the cell, of which 

 the grate is a part, closes on the inner edge of the wall, two feet 

 deep. This recess in front of each door increases the difficulty of 

 conversation and communication between the prisoners, prevents 

 them from seeing into the galleries, and furnishes a convenient 

 place for an officer of the prison to converse with the prisoner, 

 without being seen or heard by those in the adjoining cells. The 



