Proceedings of Public Societies. [Feb. 1, 



It induces moderate crime. In cafses, indeed, where earn- 



68 



ficial to health, 



and uniform exeriion, in an erect and 

 unrestrained position of the body ; 

 weight, not force, being requisite in 

 the operation. The prisoners are 

 usually at work in the prison-yards, 

 deriving the benefit of the open air 

 while under exercise. Much, however, 

 of the efficacy of the punishment will 

 depend on the judicious arrangement 

 of the machinery, and the attention 

 that is paid to tlie degree in which the 

 labour is enforced. Thus, if the revo- 

 lutions of the wheel are performed 

 too slowly, or if the number of prison- 

 ers, as relays, form too large a pro- 

 portion to those on tiie wheel, the 

 labour to every prisoner may become 

 so slight, as entirely to fail of its in- 

 tended effect. With regard to the 

 motion of the wheel, the rate imposed 

 on a prisoner at Brixton is about from 

 forty-five to fifty steps per minute. 

 The proportion of prisoners resting to 

 those on the wheel ought not to exceed 

 one-third. An error in this respect 

 may often be committed in crowded 

 prisons ; and, in such cases, the disci- 

 pline to the whole body of prisoners is 

 rendered altogether nugatory. In or- 

 der to regulate the portion of labour 

 to each prisoner with the greatest 

 equality, the Committee refer to the 

 simple expedient which is adopted at 

 Edinburgh Bridewell, — a contrivance 

 worthy of imitation. As the benefits 

 arising from the treadmill become 

 gradually known, the Committee feel 

 persuaded that this, or some similar 

 description of hard labour, will be re- 

 garded as indispcn.=able in houses of 

 correction. In these prisons there is 

 usually a large number of offenders, 

 whose periods of confinement are too 

 short to allow of their labour being 

 directed with effect to such manufac- 

 tures as require previous instruction. 

 For the stepping-wheel, however, no 

 tuition is needed, and the effect of 

 such discipline, for one month only, is 

 calculated to deter offenders in their 

 early career of crime, in a more power- 

 ful manner than a much longer term of 

 ordinary confinement. 



On the subject of affording assist- 

 ance to prisoners, who on their libera- 

 tion are destitute, and whose conduct 

 during confinement has been satisfac- 

 tory, the Committee humanely remark, 

 that tlie period of discharge is one of 

 great difficulty to the criminal, when a 

 small sum is much needed, and is often 

 essential to preserve faim from want or 



ings are not allowed, S(jme pecuniary 

 aid, as a substitute, on liberation, is 

 often absolutely indispensable. At 

 Durliam the magistrates provide the 

 prisoners with a sum necessary to take 

 him home. If, at the expiration of six 

 months, he can produce a satisfactory 

 certificate from the minister and 

 churchwardens of his parish, he re- 

 ceives, from a fund raised for this 

 purpose, the sum of two guineas ; and 

 a similar certificate, produced at the 

 end of the following six months, in- 

 sures him an additional reward. 



Much of the efficacy of i»rison-laws 

 will ever depend on the eiiaracter of 

 those whom the magistracy select for 

 the government of gaols. The Com- 

 mittee are happy to observe that the 

 situation of keeper of a gaol is daily 

 acquiring, in public estimation, in- 

 creased importance and respectability. 

 His station in society is honourable : 

 the nature of his charge arduous and 

 responsible. To him is delegated a 

 peculiar trust, and the upright per- 

 formance of his duties entitles him to 

 the esteem and gratitude of the com- 

 munity. The security of his charge, 

 although the first, is not the only, 

 object of his care. He is a moral 

 functionary, in whose exertions are 

 involved the interests of society, and 

 the welfare of the most wretched of 

 mankind. In his general conduct, — 

 in the exercise of his power, — the cn- 

 couragenscntof the orderly, — the con- 

 trol of the refractory, in these, as well 

 as in the discharge of other duties, his 

 arrangements should be methodical, 

 his temper uniform, and his justice 

 apparent. 



At Newgate, the Ladies' Associa- 

 tion, for the improvement of the female 

 prisoners, persevere in their arduous 

 and important labours. Constantwork 

 is provided, and the prisoners arc 

 uniformly instructed in religions and 

 moral duty. The schools are in ex- 

 cellent order. For the last twenty 

 months the ladies have kept an ac- 

 count of the number of convicted 

 women, who, on being placed under 

 their care, were found to have re- 

 ceived some degree of education. 

 From this useful register it appears, 

 that, of 119 prisoners, (being the whole 

 number who were able to read,) not 

 one had attended a school on the Bri- 

 tish system, and one only had entered 

 a National School : in the latter case, 

 the individual confessed that she had 

 remained 



