288 MEMOIR OF DR. HARVEY. 



might say, Are we not all tied and bound with the chains of our 

 sins, and often as unfit to utter that hymn as many of those poor 

 creatures ? 



I also visited the new prison on the silent and solitary system, 

 where none but the worst criminals are kept, and those only 

 for limited periods. The hall, from which radiate three wings 

 or corridors, is surrounded by a number of exercise yards. 

 Along the corridors are seventy cells, fifty-five of which were 

 occupied. Each cell, which is lofty, and fairly lighted from the 

 top, contains a table, chair, store, and shelf to hold books, bed, 

 washing materials, &c. The beds are rolled up by day. All is 

 kept beautifully clean. The men never see each other from 

 the time they enter till they leave, and are never allowed to 

 speak, except in case of great necessity, to the attendant, and 

 then only in whispers, all ordinary communication being carried 

 on by signs, as though they were deaf and dumb. Their food is 

 taken in through apertures in the doors. I heard of two brothers 

 who were confined for over a year in neighbouring cells — only 

 a wall between them. They marched to chapel every morning 

 and evening together, and sat there side by side, yet the 

 management is such that neither knew his brother to be his 

 fellow prisoner. When they leave the cells for chapel or 

 exercise, each man has a cap drawn over his face, and the 

 chapel seats are so arranged, that while all the countenances are 

 visible to the clergyman and an officer in charge, the convicts 

 can only behold these two faces, without obtaining a glimpse of 

 their fellow prisoners. It is thus during the whole of their 

 term. They are permitted one hour's solitary exercise each day. 

 Their fare is a half ration, without tea or tobacco. 1 erfect 

 silence prevails. The floors are of sandstone, but to prevent 

 footsteps from being heard, a carpet is laid along the centre of 

 the hall, which is kept lighted during the night, and there is 

 also a lamp in each cell. Through a spy-hole in every door the 

 officer can see the prisoner, without his being aware of the in- 

 spection. There is a library for the use of the inmates, which 

 consists chiefly of moral and religious books. We peeped into 

 a cell, and saw a man reading at his table. The severest 

 punishment inflicted is to lock up the delinquent in a dark cell, 

 which in a few hours generally brings the most refractory to 

 order. Some trades are allowed to be exercised, such as shoe- 



