144 
surrounded by a wall twenty feet high: in this yard leading to 
the cell, the prisoner has the liberty of walking, provided the 
prisoners in the next cells are locked up. The cell itself is eight 
feet long and five feet broad, its entrance is low and small, and 
secured by a door and grate. The floor of the cell is of boards, 
the roof an arch which inclines outwardly, that the rain may run 
from it: a patent glass gives light to the prisoner. There are 
small apertures in the walls, in order to admit a current of air, 
and others to admit heated air during winter. Every cell has a 
water-closet, which is connected with the principal pipe, under 
the corridor, throughout all the length of the wings. They are 
not yet quite decided in what manner the prisoner is to sleep, 
whether in a bedstead or on a hammock. 
I do not now wish to enter upon the question whether it is ad¬ 
visable to abolish capital punishment altogether or not, but I 
maintain that this solitary confinement, in which the prisoner is 
prohibited from all human converse, without work, exercise, and 
almost without fresh air, is even worse than punishment by death. 
From want of exercise they will certainly become sickly; from 
the want of work they will become unaccustomed to labour, and 
perhaps lose what skill they may have possessed heretofore in 
their trades, so that when restored to the world, they will be 
useless for any kind of business, and merely drag out a miserable 
existence. No book is allowed them but the bible. It appears 
therefore to me perfectly possible, that this insulation of the 
prisoner will be injurious to his mind, and drive him to fana¬ 
ticism, enthusiasm, and even derangement. When Mr. Yaux 
asked my opinion of this prison, I could not refrain from answer¬ 
ing him that it reminded me of the Spanish inquisition, as de¬ 
scribed by Llorente. Mr. Vaux answered that it is only an 
experiment to ascertain whether capital punishment can be abo¬ 
lished; but notwithstanding this philanthropic view, the experi¬ 
ment appears to me to be an expensive one, because the building 
has already cost three hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and the 
state of Pennsylvania will have to expend annually for its sup¬ 
port, an immense sum. The first great object of a govern¬ 
ment ought to be to provide for the welfare of its good citizens, 
and not to oppress them with taxes; on the contrary, to relieve 
them as much as possible, as it is hard for the good citizens to 
have to maintain vagabonds, for the sake of deterring others by 
example, or to render convicts harmless. In this view it should 
be the object of the government to arrange the prisons so that 
convicts can maintain themselves. When once this is realized, 
then it is likewise easier to improve their moral principles. Con¬ 
tinued employment would answer both purposes. If it be possi¬ 
ble that the prisoner can earn a little surplus money, in order 
