694 N E I 
grants and men-criminals: one fide is for women, and in 
the middle of their court is a bal'on of water for walking 
the linen of the houfe j and a large wooden horfe, to ride 
by way of punifhment. Their bed-rooms uniform, and 
in a range, fomething like Chelfea Hofpital; every range 
opens into a gallery, or lobby, which is open to the air 
of the court: the prifoner has a uniform clothing, with 
the number of his room. The work-rooms are on the 
ground-floor, and there were more than one hundred 
prifoners, with only one perl'on to l'uperintend them j he 
was at one end of the room, with a delk before him, and 
a large book, in which were entered the names of the 
prifoners, the crimes for which they were committed, the 
time of imprisonment, from one to twenty years, accord¬ 
ing to their crimes ; the day the work was begun, the day 
it was finilhed, the meafure of the piece, the talk deeper 
day, obfervations, fuch as fick, lame, &c. &c. and defi¬ 
ciency of talk, punifhment, &c. &c. &c. Though this 
room was fo crowded, not a word was fpoken by any of 
the prifoners during the time we infpe6ted it; no noife 
or confufion, all were filent and attentive to their work ; 
in fhort, it appeared a molt noble inllitution. A few 
years after, being at Ghent, I think in 1784, having no 
acquaintance there, I could not gain admiflion; but was 
told the manufactory was deftroyed, and the whole in a 
very bad fiate. At Bruges the prifon is on a much fmaller 
fcale ; l'ome were employed in making clothes, and others 
in making faddles, bridles, &c. &c. for the army. 
“ In 1780 I had the honour of the king’s commiflionin 
a corps of volunteer infantry, in which I was actively em¬ 
ployed till there was no further occafion for our fervices. 
In 1781 I vifited Warwick gaol, and in the dungeons 
caught the gaol fever, or diftemper. Mr. Roe, the keeper, 
was too ill to accompany me, and fent his turnkey: he 
died foon after; but his death was, I believe, accelerated 
by drinking. I did not recover for fome time. This 
ficknefs, and my young family, made me more cautious 
of entering dungeons, which had now become lefs ne- 
cefl'ary, from the labours of the immortal Howard, whofe 
vilits and inquiries comprehended every clafs of prifoners, 
whillt mine were particularly directed to the debtors : but 
I did not wholly abftain from making remarks on felons, 
particularly in the dungeons of the two prifons at Chefter 
and Liverpool. 
“ The a&s which palled in confequence of the benevo¬ 
lent Howard’s Reports, produced an immediate and ge¬ 
neral reform in prifon-police, by the abolition of taps. 
Several new gaols were built, in which folitary cells fup- 
plied the place of dungeons ; and, in many prifons, wo¬ 
men were not loaded with irons. From this period to 
1791 my vifits were lefs frequent, and extended to the 
country, as bufinefs would permit. 
“ This year I loft a moll amiable wife; my own health 
was rapidly on the decline, and my bufinefs increafed be¬ 
yond my abilities orpowerto manage. In. 1792, having 
only two foils to provide for, I retired from bufinefs with 
a very ample fortune ; and, as my health became reftored, 
re-commenced my prifon vifits and inquiries, reports of 
which (as far as related to debtors) I made regularly, at 
the meetings of the committee in Craven-ftreet. In 
1800, when the exceflive dearnefs of proviiions and the 
dilficulties of the poorer clafles of the people required an 
extraordinary relief, the neceflity of a general vifit and 
inquiry into the ftate of all the gaols ftruck me very for¬ 
cibly. The two-penny loaf in London, Auguft 1783, 
weighed 21 ounces: in March 1801, the two-penny loaf 
in London weighed only 6 ounces. 
“ In 1801, I publilhed my firft Account of Debtors, 
by which it appeared there were thirty-nine prifons in 
England and Wales wdiich didnot furnifh the debtor with 
any allowance whatever; and in thefe there were, in the 
month of April 1800, 427 perfons confined to this 
wretched ftate of captivity. Lord Romney, as prefident 
of our fociety, did me the honour of prefenting this book 
to the king, and his majefty was pleafed jnoft gracioully 
3 
L D. 
to receive it. The approbation with which it was ho¬ 
noured by the public, together with the very confiderable 
benefactions to the Society for Relief of Perfons impri- 
foned for Small Debts in confequence of it, induced me 
to publifli a new and more copious edition, in 1802, and 
likewile extend my vifits to Scotland and Wales. 
“ As I kept a diary, fo I wrote to my benevolent friend 
Dr. Lettl'om an account of the molt ftriking occurrences 5 
and to his fuggeftions alone the publilhing my prifon-re¬ 
marks owe their origin. It had been my conftant practice 
in my various prifon-excurfions, during a period of thirty 
years, to wait upon the magiftrates, particularly of cities 
and boroughs, and refpeCtfully to reprefent what I law 
amifs in their gaols. I was always received with cordiality 
and kindnefs; and, as they were ftruck with compaflion 
at the recital, reform was determined upon, and refolu- 
tions entered into; but, after a lapfe of eight or ten years, 
guel's my furprife, when I found nothing done! So total 
and general a negleCt mull be produced by fome caufe. I 
inquired into it; and found many who were magiftrates, 
from local fituations, and before they were acquainted 
with its duties, were out of thecommiflion; others, whofe 
aCtive fituations in commerce denied them time; fome, 
who had large families, were afraid to venture infide of 
the prifon; and many were numbered with the dead. 
Under thefe difcouraging circumftances I had almoll de- 
fpaired, when Providence raifed up a man, by whofe la¬ 
bour the cloud was difpelled ; and that life, hitherto fpent 
ufelefsly, became fruitful. If Howard owed any thing to 
Fothergill, I arn in a ten-fold degree indebted to Dr. John 
Coakley Lettfom. He firft fuggefted, nay, requefted per- 
miflion to publifli fome of thole crude remarks, which I 
had fent for his perufal, and by which communication I 
had found a fenfible relief: they were begun and conti¬ 
nued without defign; written in the hours of fatigue, 
laflitude, licknefs, and the buftle of inns; little calculated 
to appear before the public, except in matters of faCl. 
Thei'e remarks on prifons were introduced with a pre¬ 
face, which caufed a general fenfation, and brought a 
degree of celebrity on the Vilitor of Prifons he neither 
delired or deferved ; whilft it enriched his funds as trea- 
furer to the Society for Small Debts, in the fum of 328/. 2 s. 
9 d. evidently occafioned by the reading the Gentleman’s 
Magazine, in which they were inferted. 
“ The benevolence of my friend did not reft here; for, 
as he was no ftranger to the infide of the prifon-lioufe, 
fo did he frequently accompany me to thofe abodes of 
guilt and mifery, and fuggeft what his profeflionalfkill fo 
well enabled him to do, to my great advantage, and the 
prifoners’ comforts. Many new gaols are now (1806) 
building; and, from the alterations and improvements 
which have been making thefe four years, and are now 
daily making, the particulars of which my ‘ State of 
Prifons’ will notice, my vifits will become lefs neceflary. 
As foon as this work is publilhed, and I can provide for 
my neceflary abfence, I propofe viliting Ireland: and 
happy will thelhort remaining period of my life be fpent, 
if I can fuggeft to a brave and generous people any im¬ 
provements in their prifon-police, and of which I am in¬ 
formed there is much need.” 
The Memoir here terminates, but not fo the benevo¬ 
lent labours of Mr. Neild. His health did not, however, 
allow him to vifit Ireland as he intended; but he con¬ 
tinued to infpeCt the various prifons of England, Scot¬ 
land,and Wales,and to fuggeft numerous improvements, 
both in regard to the conltruCtion of the wards, and the 
internal management of thefe eftablilhments. In 1812 
he publilhed the “ State of Prifons,” above alluded to, 
in a large and very elegant quarto volume, with a portrait 
of the author. It is a work teeming with valuable infor¬ 
mation. Yet upon fome occalions the author leems to 
have been actuated with a defire to find fault, and diiih- 
genuoully to conceal faCts. An inftance is given in the 
Gent. Mag. for Nov. 1805. p. 1019. 
Mr. Neild continued his exertions, as treafurer of the 
Society 
