64 AN AMERICAN FARMER IN ENGLAND. 



CHAPTER IX. 



A HIT. THE DEBTORS PRISON. UTTER CLEANLINESS. &quot; CITY&quot; AND &quot; TOWN.&quot; 



&quot; DOWN&quot; AND &quot; UP.&quot; HEREFORD CATHEDRAL. CHURCH AND STATE. 



THE PUBLIC PROMENADE. 



I MUST not forget two incidents of our visit to the jail. 

 Punishment is inflicted by withholding food ; also, I imagine, 

 for slight offences, in other ways. An officer w T ith us noticed 

 some untidiness of dress upon one of the prisoners, and, point 

 ing to it, said, &quot; You are an Englishman : / don t want to 

 treat you as an Irishman&quot; As we entered a certain apart 

 ment, our conductor said, &quot; This is the debtors prison.&quot; 



One of us remarked, &quot; We have generally abolished im 

 prisonment for debt in the United States.&quot; 



The officer, quietly, &quot; It s a pity that you have.&quot; 



The quarters of the debtors were not cells, but decent 

 rooms, and there was a large hall common to them. Every 

 thing here, though, as every where else, was dreadfully clean, 

 dreary, and mathematical, like a gone-mad housekeeper s 

 idea of heaven. I should expect that the prisoners would 

 long, more than any thing else, to have one good roll in the 

 gutter, and an unmeasured mouthful of some perfectly indi 

 gestible luxury. It was a relief, after being but an hour 

 within the walls, to step out once more into the good old 

 mud and clouds and smells of Nature again. 



Among the debtors, one was pointed out to us as a well- 

 educated lawyer, formerly having a large and respectable 



