145 
that when he returns to society he may be in possession of a 
small sum for his pressing necessities, I believe it would be much 
better than any philanthropic experiment.* 
The county jail contains prisoners who are waiting for trial; 
they are, however, seldom confined longer than one month 
before they receive sentence. The house consists of a principal 
building and two wings; the one for males, the other for females. 
In the centre building are the offices, dwellings of the keepers 
and watch, as well as the infirmary, where the patients have good 
bedding, and are carefully nursed. In the wings are long corri¬ 
dors, with rooms on each side, which are closed during the night 
with iron doors. About eight prisoners sleep in one room, they 
sleep on the floor, and have only two blankets, to sleep upon and 
cover themselves. The floor is of boards, and 1 was delighted 
at the great cleanliness prevailing through the whole house. At 
the end of each wing is a yard where the prisoners walk, and in 
each yard there is a shed under which they work. The men I 
found busy pulling horse-hair, and most of the females at their 
usual domestic occupations. Even here we perceived the great 
distinction between the white and coloured races. 
The number of female prisoners of both colours was nearly 
equal, and the coloured were not permitted to sit on the same bench 
with the white; the coloured were separated to the left! I procured 
a sight of the register, and was astonished to see that in this free 
country a magistrate has the right to imprison a person for two 
days, for cursing in the streets, as I found in the book. There 
are also in the county jail several cells for solitary confinement, 
narrow dark holes, in which it must be insupportably hot during 
the summer. Those who are of savage behaviour are confined in 
these cells, and kept there till they become civil. 
Of the charitable institutions, we visited first, the Orphan Asy¬ 
lum, and then the hospital for widows, which stand near each other. 
They owe their origin to the donation of a lady, which has been in¬ 
creased by voluntary contributions, and is now under the direc¬ 
tion of a board of ladies, mostly Friends, who are aided by the ad¬ 
vice of a few select gentlemen. In the Orphan Asylum were 
ninety children of both sexes, who remain till they are twelve 
years of age, and are then bound out to learn a trade. They are 
educated in the same way as the orphans at New York. During 
the hours of recess, the children run about in a garden; the house 
is very cleanly, the bed-rooms are spacious, and each contain 
twenty beds; nevertheless, two children have to sleep in one bed, 
* [Both sides of this question are warmly and ably defended by philanthro¬ 
pists of high character and unquestionable benevolence. The reader will find 
in the late correspondence between Roscoe and Mr. Roberts Yaux, of Philadeh 
phia, the arguments urged for and against the system.]— 1 Trans, 
Vol. I. 19 
