PRISON DISCIPLINE. 



703 



would have been avoided."* They so far suc- 

 ceeded as to impress upon the community the pro- 

 priety of commuting the system of punishment pre- 

 viously in use for imprisonment, excepting in the 

 case of a few of the most atrocious crimes, for 

 which death was still to be inflicted. For some 

 years this scheme was regarded as a triumph of 

 humanity. It saved the Jives of many, and the 

 infliction of a gross and unwise corporal punishment 

 upon more. It was at first much dreaded by the 

 criminals themselves ; and the labour, which was 

 intended to constitute part of their punishment, 

 was found to relieve the state from a great portion 

 of the expence which was anticipated, and had 

 been regarded as the greatest objection to the plan. 

 It extended gradually through most of the states of 

 the Union, and was, on all hands, applauded as a 

 cheap and efficient substitution of correctional dis- 

 cipline for cruel inflictions. After a time, how- 

 ever, it became apparent that the guilty were not 

 reformed ; the dread of the state prison wore off; 

 recommitments multiplied ; and from the facilities 

 of communication which existed among the pris- 

 oners, most of them came out worse than they went 

 in; while the system of stint and over-stint, by 

 which they were permitted to labour for their own 

 benefit, after performing a certain task for the 

 state, enabled them to leave the prison supplied 

 with the means of new roguery, or with a fund for 

 subsistence till the approach of winter, perhaps, 

 rendered it convenient to secure a comfortable 

 maintenance in confinement by the commission of 

 a state prison offence. As prisoners increased in 

 number, and became, by their mutual action, more 

 and more corrupt, and, by a natural influence upon 

 the character of many of the inferior officers, were 

 allowed more extended privileges, the expense of 

 these establishments increased, so as to become 

 greatly burdensome. It was generally acknow- 

 ledged that crime had not diminished ; it was 

 believed by many, and feared by most persons, that 

 the penitentiary system had failed. Still the public 

 mind revolted against recurring to the old system 

 of punishment, or relinquishing a scheme which, 

 for twenty years, had been the subject of general 

 encomium. There was, perhaps, a morbid sensi- 

 bility upon the subject, which was disposed to make 

 the condition of the guilty too desirable in many 

 respects ; but this served the purpose of stimulating 

 the efforts of tlie wise and discerning to produce 

 some plan which should combine a proper degree 

 of lenity with a just and necessary severity. Much 

 was written upon the subject ; many experiments 

 were tried, and the general current of opinion 

 seemed to be inclining to a system of strict solitary 

 confinement. On this idea, the construction of the 

 Auburn prison was begun in 1816; and in 1821, 

 an act was passed by the New York legislature for 

 subjecting convicts, either wholly or partially, to 

 solitary confinement, according to their degree of 

 depravity, and also requiring that each prisoner 

 should be lodged in a separate cell, as soon as there 

 was a sufficient number of cells. This was, per- 

 haps, the most important step in the introduction of 

 an improved prison discipline. It is, at least, one 

 which is indispensable wherever any attempt is 

 to be made towards the introduction of any valu- 

 able plan of correctional punishment. The means 

 of solitary confinement at night, and either of soli- 

 tary labour, or of labour in small classes together 

 during the day, are essential to the existence of 

 the system of prison discipline, which is now most 



* A Trentise on State Prison Punishments, by the lion. S. 



M. Hopkins. 



highly valued. Other things are also necessary, 

 but these lie at the foundation of the system. 



In the year 1824, Messrs Hopkins, Tibbets, and 

 Allen were appointed commissioners to visit the 

 state prisons of New York, to examine the state of 

 their discipline, and to report upon any improve- 

 ments, which, in their opinion, ought to be intro- 

 duced. The result of the wise labours of these 

 excellent men was the perfecting of a scheme of 

 prison discipline, which had been partially begun 

 already at Auburn, and which is substantially the 

 model on which the reforms attempted in most of 

 the other states have been conducted. It consists, 

 principally, of the solitary confinement of the con- 

 victs during the night, and the time of taking their 

 meals ; of labour during the day ; and of silence at 

 all times, except for the purposes of communication 

 with their keepers; they are never allowed to 

 address each other, not even by signs or looks. 

 The strictest supervision is, of course, necessary, 

 to secure uninterrupted and industrious labour, and 

 to prevent the evil communications which would 

 otherwise abound. The advantages of this system 

 are, that it affords opportunity alternately for silent 

 and solitary reflection, for the salutary action of the 

 mind upon itself, and for that mental activity upon 

 other objects, and that relaxation from the severer 

 task of thinking, which is at once necessary to pre- 

 serve the healthy state of the mind and body, and 

 to give efficacy to the meditation which is thus 

 encouraged. But this alternation of labour and 

 reflection is not the only, nor, perhaps, the greatest 

 advantage of the plan. The unaided thoughts of 

 the corrupt and hardened might recur to topics 

 which would be any thing but salutary ; but, in the 

 silence and darkness of night, the voice of religious 

 instruction is heard ; and if any circumstances can 

 be imagined calculated to impress the warning?, 

 the encouragements, the threats, or the hopes of 

 religion upon the mind, it must surely be those of 

 the convict in his cell, where he is unseen and 

 unheard, and where nothing can reach him but the 

 voice which must come to him, as it were, from 

 another world, telling him of things which, perhaps, 

 never before entered into his mind ; telling him of 

 God, of eternity, of future reward and future pun- 

 ishment, of suffering far greater than the mere 

 physical endurances of the present life, and of joy 

 infinitely beyond the pleasures he may have expe- 

 rienced. These instructions frequently discover to 

 the guilty tenant of the cell, what seems often not 

 to have occurred to him, the simple fact that he 

 has a spiritual nature, that he is not the mere 

 animal which his habits and hitherto uncontrolled 

 propensities would indicate. And this is a dis- 

 covery which, alone, may and does effect a great 

 change in a man's whole character. He feels that 

 he is a being superior to what he had thought 

 himself, and that he is regarded as one having 

 higher powers than he had supposed. This first 

 step in the path of improvement is a prodigious 

 one ; a new ambition is awakened, and the encou- 

 ragement of it is the principal thing now needed. 

 This encouragement it is part of the system to give. 

 The spiritual guide of this outcast flock must study 

 the character and previous circumstances of every 

 individual ; he must adapt himself and his instruc- 

 tions to their wants ; he must teach the ignorant, 

 arouse the careless, touch, if it be possible, the 

 impenitent, lead the willing, and be " all things to 

 all men, if by any means he may save some." 

 To the morning and evening services of devotion 

 are to be added the more direct and elalx>rate 

 instructions of the Sabbath, and the no less impor- 

 tant influences which may be effected in private 



