422° - Zimmermann.—Amfterdam Houfe of Correction. 
that one every other was included. When 
happinefs is fied, what remains but that 
life which will foon ceafeé to be a burden ? 
Such, fir, are the refle&tions J have fie- 
quently had occafion to make; and thefe 
have now arifen from reading, in an ac- 
count of the literary writings of the cele- 
brated Zimmermann, an extract from an 
Efffy on Solitude, exhibited, no doubt, 
tor the purpofe of producing a very dif- 
ferent effect. Speaking ot a beloved 
daughter, who died within two years 
after his removal to Hanover, the Doétor 
fays, ‘‘ Difiident of her own powers, fhe 
littened to the precepts of a fond parent.— 
She had been the iubmiffive victim of ill 
health from her earlieft infancy; her ap- 
petite was almoft gone when we left Swit- 
zerland, a trefidence which fhe quitted 
with her ufual fweetnefs of temper, and 
without difcovering the finalleft regret, 
although a young man, as handfome in 
his perfon as he was amiable in the qua- 
lities of his mind, the objeé& of her arit, 
of her only affection, a few weeks after- 
wards put an end to his exiftence in de- 
fpair.”” . It is unneceflary fo fay in what 
light this ftruck me. 
That Zimmermann was aman of fine 
feeling and poignant fenfibility, and that 
he tenderly Joved his daughter, cannot be 
doubted; but it is known to al] Europe, 
that he was alfo vain and ambitious; and 
except, Mr. Editor, fome of your cor- 
refpondents, whole information may 
enable them, will take the trouble to in- 
ftru& me better, I fhall continue to be- 
lieve that this beloved daughter and ami« 
able yeung man, were facrificed to the 
vanity and ambition of Zimmermann. 
May 8th; 1797. Q. 
Ta the Editor of the Monthly Magaztne. 
SIR, i 
GEEING in your latt half-yearly Sup- 
S plement, a detfcription of the Marine 
Schoo] at Ainfterdam, extracted from the 
MfS. journal of ‘the travels of M. 
THowrn, into Belgium and Holland, I 
am induced te hope that the following 
account of the houie of ‘correétion at 
Amfterdam, drawn from the fame fource, 
will prove equally acceptable to your 
readers. 
~The Amfterdam houfe of corre€tion is, 
from the employment of the prifoners con- 
fined in it, calied the Rap/buys (Rafping- 
Houle), and is deftined to the reception 
of fuch malefacters, “chicfy thieves, 
whofe crimes do not amount toa capital 
offence. ‘Their puntfhment cannot fo 
properly be denominated folitary confine- 
ment as a fequeftration from faciety dur- 
ing a limited term of years. The build- 
ing is fituated in a part of the fuburbs to 
the north eaft of the city. The exterior 
has nothing remarkable, neither with 
refpect to form or extent. It is detached 
from the ftreet by a “fpacious court, 
which contains the keeper’s lodge, toge- 
ther with apartments for the different 
fervants belonging to the eftablifhment. 
Over the gate, which opens frem this 
court into the prifon, are placed two 
ftatues, as large as life, reprefenting two 
men in the act of fawing a piece of log- 
wood, 
The inner court is in the form of a 
fquare, round which are arranged the 
apartments of the prifoners, together 
withthe neceffary warehoufes. One part 
of the ground ftory is divided into differ- 
ent chambers; the other ferves as a depot 
for the logwood, and the implements em- 
ployed in its preparation, 
' The keeper, whofe countenance, con- 
trary to the general cuftom of perfons of 
his profeflion, was ftrongly indicative of 
urbanity and gentlenefs, introduced M, 
THOUIN into an apartment where two 
prifoners were at work in fawing a large 
log of Campeachy wood. The faw 1s 
compofed of four blades, joined together, 
with very ftrong, large and fharp teeth, 
which make a fciffure in the wood of 
nearly two inches.in breadth. ‘The ope- 
ration is repeated, till the pieces become 
too fmall to undergo the faw, when they 
are ground in naills peculiarly conftructed 
for this purpofe. : 
This employment requires an extraor- 
dinary exertion of {trength, and is, at firt, 
_a fevere penance even to robaft perfons : 
- but habit, addrefs, and practice, foon 
render it eafy; and the prifoners, in a 
fhort time, become competent to furnith, 
without painful exertion, their weekly 
contingent of zoelb. weight of fawed 
pieces. After completing this tafk, they 
every find time to fabricate a variety of 
little articles in wood and ftraw, which 
“they fel! to thofe who vifit the prifon, or 
difpofe of, by means of agents, in the 
town. 
M. THOUIN next infpected thsee 
apartments of different dimenfions, which 
opened into the inner court. ‘The one 
was inhabited by four, the fecond by fix, 
and the third by ten. prifoners. The 
furniture of the rooms confifted in ham- 
mocks, with a matrafs, a blanket, anda 
coverlid to each, tables, chairs, and ftools, 
glafs, &ce. earthen vefiels, and various 
other articles of convenience. Every 
th ing 
