216 
CHAPTER XXVIII. 
Stay in England , and return to Ghent . 
AMONG the gentlemen who shortly* after my arrival in Liver¬ 
pool favoured me with a visit, was the American consul, Mr. 
Maury. He is a native of Virginia, about eighty years of age, 
and a school-mate of President Jefferson. He is the American 
consul who, after the treaty of Versailles, came to England with 
credentials signed by Washington. 
The gloomy and smoky appearance of the city of Liverpool, 
as well as its many narrow. and partly angular streets, had no 
pleasant effect upon me. However, I found the pavements much 
better than in America. I visited several splendid porcelain 
shops, which article is made in the vicinity and in Staffordshire. 
The chinaware is very fine, the painting and gilding good, and 
this ware also is very durable. In these stores one likewise finds 
Wedgewood white and blue crockery, and the so called stone- 
china, representing landscapes and all kinds of figures, and in 
solidity much resembling the porcelain of Tournay. 
I afterwards visited the House of Correction, which was built 
seven years ago, and is a mile and a half distant from the city. 
This institution is the central prison of Lancastershire, and con¬ 
tains prisoners whose time of imprisonment does not exceed three 
years. Those who have to undergo a more severe punishment, 
are generally transported to New South Wales. I had a written 
permission from a magistrate to visit the establishment, through 
which I was accompanied by the governor; the building stands 
on a rising ground, enjoys a free circulation of air, and can ac¬ 
commodate eight hundred prisoners; at this period they amount¬ 
ed to six hundred and fifty. 
The prisoners are divided into twenty-one classes, thirteen for 
the men and eight fc>r the women, according to the extent of their 
crimes and ages. Those who are prisoners for the first time are 
dressed in gray and yellow garments; those incarcerated for the 
second time, in blue and red; and those requiring particular at¬ 
tention are dressed in complete suits of blue or gray. The treat¬ 
ment observed towards women and children is pretty much the 
same, for even the children are divided into different classes, and 
entirely separated from the grown persons. 
For food the prisoners have daily either meat or fish. On 
