225. 



Obfena lions on Mr. Alinons lute. 



[Oct. I, 



is takrn in the eating-room, from whence 

 tliey £'» into the courts to take the air, 

 and rct'rc-di thcnifelves. 



At (iril they executed, Ht \'ilvord, cu- 

 rious pieces of dimity, and other woven- 

 arliclcs. 'J"liele goods, it mull be ac- 

 knowledged, wcie not ;;dapted to the 

 workmen employed, nor fuitod for ;i 

 f]uick f;ilc. They confine tlicmfelvcs, at 

 prclenl, to coarl'e clolli-., and linen ; and 

 }('t they are fonietimcs overftocked with 

 this kind of merchundi/e. 



j^t(Jhent nothing curious is fabrica- 

 ted ; hut they perform all forts of work 

 in iron, in' wood, in Ipinnintj by ma- 

 oliines, and in weaving with a flying 

 fliuttlc. Hero it was that MclVrs. Bav- 

 «iis made the firft attempts to fpin flax 

 witli a machine. 



Every workihnp, every room of labour, 

 is under the care of two infpeclors ; 

 one of work, the other of police, Tlie 

 labourers are ranged in t\vo or three 

 rows. Sil(;nce and order pervade the 

 whole. The general |3olice is enlruited 

 to a chief, who i* called the Command- 

 ant, and has iijldiers with him. 'I'hey 

 who keep guard at Vilvord are drawn 

 from the battalions llationed at Bruf- 

 fcls. Tlie men who fupply thcl'e liatta- 

 lions arc changed, as they are in other 

 military polls, after a certain number of 

 days. At Ghent the guard is fixed, com- 

 poi'ed of forty-one men, to whom it is 

 feldom permitted to go into the town. I 

 cannot give a more precife idea of l^lc 

 ftrieM and CNuct police of tliis hoiife, than 

 by apptalin<j; to the fecurity with "hich 

 tlity Irult to the convicts iron and wood, 

 and all kinds of tools. I have teen more 

 than thirty fniiths in one Ihop, working 

 the iron with as miicli hherty as they 

 xvould have done in the iiiop of a mafter. 

 I cannot give a more favourable idea of 

 the manner in which they arc treated in 

 this houfe, than by rt-lating a fact which 

 happened a few days before I vilited it. 

 Two prifoners made their elca]ie. On 

 the fecond day after their flight, one of 

 them returned to alk forgivenels. He 

 was reftored to his cell, and to his place 

 at work, 



'J'his part of my journey was printed 

 off, wh.en I received fiom Ghent a dc- 

 fcription of the Houfe of Confinement, 

 more particular and more intcreiiing than 

 that which was given by Hazard. It is 

 iniitled "■ A JVIemoir on the Means of 

 Kefortning Beggars and Malefactors, and 

 of rendering tliem Ufcful to the State ; 

 propofed to the AlVembly of Deputies of 

 Vifcount \'ilain XIV., and prefeuted to 



the Corporations and Adminiftrations of 

 the States of Flanders, in the year 1775." 

 Ghent, Goefm, 1 vol. 4to. It contains- 

 plans of the ground-plot and elevation of 

 the houfe ; its rules ; fpeciniens of its 

 account-books, dating the munber and 

 names of the prifoners, their work, the 

 objects on which they are employed, the 

 receipts and dilbm-femeiits. It is one of 

 the tineft monuments of benciiccncc and' 

 philanthropy. 



Vihord, if the houfe at Ghetit did not 

 exift, would be a model for houfes of 

 contincnient. The houfe at Ghent ex- 

 ceeds all tiiat T have ever read of or feeii. 



Tiie reliilt of tliefe two ellablifhmeuts, 

 conltdered witli rcfpeA to the advantages 

 vhicli fociety derives from thcui, is,— 

 1. 'I'liatthe lioufcs of Ghent and X'ilvorct 

 furnii'h to commerce two ^WAt maiuifac- 

 tories, peopled vvith about fifteen hun- 

 dred workmen, who are in continual rtc- 

 tivity. — 2. That every year, allowing five' 

 years for the conuuon period of confine- 

 n-icnt, a hundred perfons leave thefe 

 houfes, who entered into them withouti 

 having the power of gaining a iivelihoofl 

 by lav. ful nieans, or who had loll thofi^' 

 means by idlcncfs, beggary,- and vice. 

 They return to fociety formed to jabom', 

 with an ability to fupport exillcnce by 

 honcft and virtuous earnings, pcrfccfed in 

 the arts which they hj\d begun to ])rac- 

 tife, and deriving from the iavings which 

 had been made fi^r them, refources for the 

 tirlt purfhaii: of materials and tools. 

 Happy country ! wliere to pimilh is to 

 Itenctit ; ivhere correction confilts only 

 in the application of the means by which 

 a man is rendered ufcful to himfelf and 

 others. 



To the Editcr of the Monthly Magazine^ 

 sin, 



MUCH as the puV)!ic may be grati- 

 fied iiy the late very curious edi- 

 tion of the Letters of Junius, yet I may 

 perhaps bo excufed for oHTering a few re- 

 n-iarks on the arguments by which Mr. 

 Almon enricavours to prove that they are 

 the produ( liiius of Boyd ; and for ha- 

 zarding, in my turn, a conjefture, which, 

 though it is liable to uncertainty, imty 

 perhaps appear to be probable, 



Ainidfl the variety of curious jnatter 

 introduced by Mr. Almon, it cafinot be 

 expeded that I Ihould notice every tri- 

 fling remark or circumflance : I fliall 

 merely examine a few of the raoft ftrik- 

 ing arguments which appear in favour of 

 his ojiinion, mid fliall leave the more mi- 

 nute part of iiis evidence to be anfweied 



