1S06.] 



Canms's Account of Ghent. 



227 



name of u lioufe *of bencficcifcc, on ac- 

 count ot" tl)o advantages which the uij- 

 happy peiloiis coUcttcd there derive t"ix)in 

 it. The Biidewclls of \'ihord and of 

 Gl)ent liave bsen built about forty years, 

 under the fonner guveniment of the Low 

 C'oinitnes, at tlie expence of tiie pro- 

 vinces, when they cleared them of vaga- 

 bonds, and of convicts condenuied for 

 tiieir crimes. Botli liand on tlie boidci's 

 of a canal, near water, fo uectlfary for 

 eliablkhments of this kind. The houfe 

 at \'llvord is in a very low lituation, lur- 

 rj^ninded with water, and often enveloped 

 in togs. 



Howard lias given an account of thefe 

 eflabliihments in his " State of ['rii'ons." 

 lie has furnithed a plan of the Loufe at 

 Ghent, which he prefers to that of \^il- 

 vord. He particularly praifes the obli- 

 gation to work introduced into each 

 iioufe ; and he laments the ditl'erence 

 which he difcovered on his fccond jour- 

 ney, from the cefl'ation of labour, after 

 the too rafli orders of the Emperor Jo- 

 feph H. 



The buildinr;s are large : tliat of \'il- 

 vord can contain two thouiand ; that of 

 Glient can receive nine hundred. They 

 arc not btiik on the fame plan. At \^il- 

 vord are two great fquare court*, fur- 

 rounded with buildings, from wliich they 

 command a view all over the courts, one 

 dellgned for men, the other for ^^ omen. 

 A leparate ward is rcferved for invalid 

 paupers. At Ghent the entrance is into 

 an octa;:onal court. No prifoner has a 

 liiiht of this court, nor is allowed the ufe 

 of it. It is a kind of arcii, which leads 

 to the main buildings, railed on each lide 

 of the o6t:igon, or, to fpeak more cor- 

 retfly, on li»e of its faces, for the other 

 tju'ee are not yet built on : each of tliefe 

 five piles of building has its own c9urt, 

 iurrounded withediticesu|)pr()priate to it. 



Kach houfe is well aired, well whiten- 

 ed, and kept clean. Both are furnitliod 

 witli large rooms for work, kitchens, fpa- 

 cious rcoms to e*t in, cells for the pri- 

 ibnerb to ilcep in, -anti iniirniaries for the 

 llek. At Ghent, mon over, there are 

 fliops forjoiners, a carpeiittu's yard, and 

 f.jri,es. At Ghent the prilbners lleep fe- 

 paratrlv ; each cell has a cloaths-prefs 

 <Jug out of the wall. The light ajid air 

 enter through an hole about five 

 jiiches made in the door of the cell. 

 This liol<! is fecured by bars, and is Ihul 

 l)y nifcans of a board, which, when the 

 >*icket is open, forms u table. The door 

 «»iid the Uuiv eoiiiiuunicate wUl» a wide 



gallery, the windows of which are {tq9 

 and open. At Vilvord the prilouers he 

 two in a cell, whicli has a high window, 

 that opens dne^tiy into tiie court. TJjo 

 cells allotted to two girls are fe|)arated 

 by a wide gallery open at each end • and 

 during the time which tim prifonei-s paf* 

 in the workshops, they open tiie doors 

 ajid windows of all the cells, that the air 

 may be completely renewed. Let me be 

 cxcufed repeatnig it, that the walls of 

 both thefe placds arc of a brijiter white 

 than tliofe of the belt hotels in Ir'aris. 



As to their actual dellination, tiiC 

 houfes of V'ilvord and of Ghent receive 

 the ciiminalb fentenced to imprilLiument 

 from nine united departments, and foine 

 neigUbouring ddtritts. They lend, he- 

 iides, to \ iUord, the indigent invalids of 

 the town of Brulfeis ; but they are under 

 a j)articular management, as in an afy- 

 lum open to the unfortunate, and not as 

 in a priibn. They have no commu)iica- 

 tion with the prifoners. They are per- 

 mitted to go in and out at any hour of 

 the day. I'hc •partmcnt for the men is 

 fepa rated from that for the women. They 

 are fed and clotlied at the expence of 

 the Government. On the 8th of \'en- 

 demiuire of tlie 1 1th year, there ,were at 

 Vilvord about three hundred invalid pau- 

 pers. I ihall fpea; no moie of this dif- 

 tinct apartment, but lliall confine myfelf 

 for the future to that of the pnfoners. 



On the 8th of X'eiidemiaire there were 

 at Vilvord eight hundred. On the 20th 

 of the fame month the p; ifoners at Giient 

 amounted to about fcveu bundled. The 

 buildings at Ghent aie larger, and more 

 divided. Not the fexcs only are fepara- 

 tcd, but they divide the prifoners into 

 different dalles, according to the caufe 

 and duration of theit- coniijiemcnt. 



In both houfes the labour and mainte- 

 nance are farmed ; that is to lav, Ibnie 

 one perfon, or a company, (the Bawens 

 at Ghent,) engage for the priviJciie of 

 putting the prifoners to work, aud of ha- 

 ving the profit of their labour, on condi- 

 tion of maintaining them, aud of paymg 

 them fuitable wages. 



Tiie diet of a prifoner who does not 

 work, is a Ibup made of roots, bread and 

 water. The daily exp(,"nce for a prilbner 

 in this Ihite, at Ghent, is 41 ccatimes. 

 But they we obliged to work when they 

 are able. Tiie punilhment tor refufal is 

 the dungeon • the recoinpence ibr work 

 is a gieatcr fupply of i'ood, and wages, 

 part ofwhich is referved till the difcJiurge 

 «f ih« pi'ifi>!ier from the Ijuufe. The food 

 > f 'i i* 



