the rules applicable to large Prisons, as to separation, &c., are hardly applicable. With the Jail of Hamilton county I am not acquainted. The average number confined in the Cleveland Prison is 14; but the accumulation at each term of the court is considerable. These are distributed in three cells, each about 10 feet by 15, and two rooms above, each about 18 feet square. The rooms are regarded somewhat insecure, and the cells are filled until they will contain no more. The walls of the cells are of squared stone, two feet thick. There is neither window nor fireplace. The aperture of the door-way is closed by two grated doors, which admit the only air, light, or heat, which the apartment receives from without. There are two single bunks below, and two double ones above, filled with loose straw, changed about once in two months. There are no beds. Blankets are used in the bunks, benches for seats, and a large tub, emptied when full, or about once a week. The upper rooms are provided with vaults, which are offensive, except when cleansed by rain. This Jail is kept as cleanly and as well as its construction admits, but it is a grossly improper place of confinement. It is unhealthy from its crowded condition and the impossibility of ventilation. It is so dark, that when the cell door is closed, reading would be difficult in the outer, and impossible in the centre cell; and it admits of no separation of prisoners, of young and old, the hardened and the novice. The people of that county should never rest until these evils are cured.

"The other County Jails may be divided into two classes-those provided by the newly-organized counties, as temporary, designed to serve until the finances of the county admit a larger expenditure, and those intended to be permanent. Among the counties I have visited, 9 are of the first, and 14 of the last class. The temporary Jails are built of squared logs, generally unplastered, heated by stoves, and rarely provided with a yard; the large rooms cold, the small, ill ventilated and unhealthy; and the whole insecure, without the use of fetters.

A description of one of this class will answer as a specimen : "No. 10-built about 15 years ago. It is a log building, 24 feet square, two stories high, standing alone in a lot, without a yard. The lower story is made of two thicknesses of logs, each a foot square, with an interval between them of six inches, filled with stones. The outside door is double, and opens into a lobby 8 feet wide, extending across the whole front of 24 feet. Opposite to the outside door is the door of the first cell, which occupies half the remaining space, or 16 feet by 9. This cell is lighted and ventilated by a diamond in the door, 6 inches square, and by a window in the side, 10 inches by 8, before which stand a few palisades, which exclude all view without. The two walls have settled unequally, so that the opening for the window in one does not correspond with the opening in the other wall, and little light can penetrate. I think a person could not read in this cell, unless by the diamond while the outer door was open. Within this first cell, a close door opens to the second cell, of the same size, but having no light except what shines through a circular window. In the second story is a large room, above these cells, 16 feet by 24, with two grated and sashed windows, and a stove; but the open cracks

above and beneath, and on every side, forbid all hope of a comfortable temperature in cold weather. There is another small room above, from the end of the lobby, 6 feet by 6, with a bed on the floor, and no light except what streams through the chinking. In the room up stairs is a bed, a coarse bedstead, and some chairs: below there is no furniture, except a bed on the floor, and a broken door. This Jail has been often broken, and fetters are constantly used, there being no safety without, and little with them.

"I will describe a Jail of a more permanent kind:

"No. 17-a well-constructed house, built of brick, except the lower story of the Jail side is of cut stone. The north half is devoted to prisoners, and is separated from the family apartments by a passage through the house. In the centre of the passage, a double door, one grated and one close, opens to another passage, 18 feet long and 5 feet wide, which gives access to four cells, two on each side, each 12 feet by 9. Each cell has a window about seven feet from the floor, large enough to admit three panes of 7 by 9 glass. Each cell has a stove, and a straw bed on a bedstead made by stretching coarse canvass on a frame, and laying it in trestles. The division in the second story is similar, except that each cell contains a common-sized grated window. The whole interior is whitewashed, and looks cleanly. The only fault I discover in its construction is, the absence of a yard, and the want of ventilation in its lower story.

"I believe there is no reason for complaint of the food of prisoners, at any of our County Jails in this state. It is ordinarily furnished from the table of the jailer, and in most cases thrice a day.

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A considerable difference is found in our Jails, as to personal cleanliness. In most cases, water for washing, and a towel, are provided every morning, and shaving and changing of linen once a week. In most cases, the weekly washing of clothes is done in the jailer's family, without additional charge; but in some counties, such a charge is paid by the county. I believe that necessary clothing and medical attendance for destitute prisoners are provided by the county. But I find in some counties, that no regard is paid by the jailer to the weekly change of clothing. In one county, the jailer informed me he did not furnish water for daily ablutions, because the statute did not direct it to be done.

"It is the general usage of our county jailers to admit the counsel of the prisoners at all reasonable times, without restraint; and to permit the visits of prisoners' friends, at convenient times, in the presence of the jailer.

"The interests of humanity must excuse plain speaking upon another subject. Various means are adopted of providing for the prisoners' necessities. In a few of the permanent Jails are vaults within the house. I am informed the use of these is abandoned in the best-constructed Prisons, from the difficulty of suppressing bad smells, and preserving them clean without chloride of lime, or other precautions not likely to be used. In some of our Jails, large tubs are employed, and emptied when full; these infect the whole house, and are always objectionable. In others, smaller vessels, sometimes covered, and sometimes open, and daily cleaned. There is much room for

reform in this respect, by providing a night-bucket for each prisoner, partly filled with water, to be emptied by him daily, or oftener.

"The ordinary use of fetters, as a security from escape, is general in the poorer Jails, and not unfrequent in all. They may be permitted to enforce the observance of Prison rules, and perhaps in some extraordinary cases; but to subject all persons to their annoyance, adds greatly and unnecessarily to the evils of confinement.

"There is not much complaint of vermin, yet traces of them are found in most of them. In the old log Jails, bed-bugs seem to be the natural inhabitants; fleas are found in most places; and in one I heard of lice. Most of the permanent Jails, however, are washed and scrubbed at convenient intervals, and kept in tolerable tidiness. There is no regular whitewashing; in most cases it is neglected too much; some have been left without this means of purification for a dozen years. No one reform is more needed than a law requiring it, at least twice a year.

"I believe that, in none of our County Prisons, lights are furnished in the evening, unless at the expense of the prisoner.

"The beds are filled with straw; sheets are not usual; beds are found in about half the Jails.

"In the 23 Jails I have visited, I found Bibles in five only. In four of them, I find that books, tracts, and newspapers are provided, with some degree of system; and in some others, their keepers have assured me, that such would be furnished, if asked for. In seven only have I found that clergymen and religious people have visited prisoners. When capital offences are committed, the clergy of the neighborhood, especially of the denomination in which the criminal has been educated, usually give their attention; in other cases, the prisoner is left to himself.

"I cannot refrain from again expressing my surprise at the neglect of this benevolence by good men. The opportunity of rendering a thousand good offices to the destitute, the rapturous delight and earnest gratitude with which the prisoner accepts every thing which diversifies the monotony of confinement, would be a rich reward for the trouble. But humanity demands that the community should maintain such an oversight of the Prison-house as will insure to the destitute a supply for his common wants, and prevent the infliction of unnecessary suffering, and repress the disposition, which unwatched men often feel, to tyrannize over those within their power. Besides, Christian duty rarely presents itself in a more pressing form; for the poor outcast, friendless and humiliated, frequently possesses susceptibilities which may be ripened into permanent reform; and the youthful offender, or the novice in crime, may be restored to society a good man, under judicious Christian effort.

"You ask me to name such evils as I conceive admit of correction. I have so little knowledge or experience upon this subject, that I cannot rely much upon any plan of reform which I can frame. At the risk of being deemed officious, I will venture to propose,

"1st. That the commissioners be required to provide, in each county, a Prison, safe without the use of fetters; capable of being warmed and ventilated; large enough to admit classification, by sepa

rating young from old, the untried from the convict; with a yard, to prevent unauthorized visits, and to admit some degree of exercise.

"2d. That the legislature frame (or cause to be prepared) a plan of treatment of prisoners in County Jails, embracing the points of food, drink, clothing, and medicine, for the destitute, and all matters relating to cleanliness and internal management.

"3d. That the grand jury of each county, at each term of the court, be required to visit the Jail.

"If a good design of a Prison-house, embracing modern improvements, and costing between $6,000 and $10,000, could be prepared, I think it would be often adopted in our counties.

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Our County Jails are likewise used as places of confinement for the insane. I find, in seven counties, 18 insane persons have been kept during this year, whose collective time is 107 weeks. It is hoped that the State Lunatic Asylum will soon be in readiness to receive all such patients; for they can receive no proper medical aid in Jail, and I fear cruelties are sometimes inflicted upon them, both in neglect, and in more active forms, under the name of correction, such as is little suspected by the public.

"With my most earnest wishes for the success of the plan you have undertaken, and my thanks for the opportunity you have given me of contributing to it,

"I am, with great respect, your ob't serv't,

"Messrs. W. H. CHANNING,

JAS. H. PERKINS,

E. LANE.

Cincinnati."

5. HOUSES OF REFUGE.

In addition to those now in operation in Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, in which about 500 youth and children are in a constant course of education and training for apprenticeship, the following extracts show that something more is contemplated. The governor of New York, in his last message, says,

"The success which has crowned the benevolent efforts of the founders of the House of Refuge, has induced an opinion that it would be profitable to establish a similar institution in the western part of the state, where the subjects of its discipline could be maintained at much less expense than in the city of New York."

Dr. Collins, of Baltimore, also, who distinguished himself so much in the legislature of Maryland, in behalf of the insane poor of Maryland, appeared again in an able speech before the citizens of Baltimore, on the evening of the 30th of November last, in favor of a Manual Labor School for Indigent Boys. The following extract from an article in the Baltimore Patriot of December 8, 1840, shows the design of the movement:

"After the Charter of the institution was read, Dr. COLLINS offered the following resolution,

"Resolved, That the effort now being made to establish, in the vicinity of Baltimore, a Manual Labor School for Indigent Boys has, in an eminent degree, claims on the consideration and coöperation of the Christian, the Philanthropist, and the Patriot;

"And supported the resolution with an address:

"MR. PRESIDENT: Your kind partiality, with that of the other benevolent gentlemen engaged in this noble charity, has selected me as an advocate of the orphan and the indigent. Conscious of my inability to do justice to the subject, I respectfully ask this audience not to allow the feebleness of my advocacy to prejudice my cause.

"On the 16th December, 1839, a number of gentlemen met and appointed a committee to report on this subject. The committee made their report to a public meeting on the 17th of March, 1840 – "That it is expedient to establish, in the neighborhood of Baltimore, a Manual Labor School for Indigent Boys.'

"Since then, the public mind has been intensely excited by the political questions which have agitated this country from the St. John to the Sabine; and it was not deemed expedient to jeopard the success of the plan, by calling for public aid during the existence of those allabsorbing political discussions. But now, sir, the storm has ceased to agitate the bosotn of the ocean, which has subsided into its wonted repose; and this large and highly-respectable assemblage of citizens of Baltimore has convened, this evening, for the purpose of hearing the claims of this institution enforced; and then, if it receives their approbation, to contribute for its establishment.

"The design of the board of directors is, to purchase a farm in the vicinity of the city, where they will be able to accommodate indigent boys, who are exposed to all the evils arising from want of culture and from vicious associations; and, by combining mental cultivation with manual labor, cause them to contribute to their own support, while, at the same time, they will become qualified to obtain a future subsistence. The charities of the institution will first be extended to indigent orphans; and then, as far as their means will avail, to other destitute boys, whose parents cannot, or will not, extend them the protection and care which belong to the relation. The principal expense to the community will exist in the organization of the institution, and during the first year. After that period, the proceeds of the labor of the beneficiaries will nearly, if not altogether, support the establishment."

6. IMPRISONMENT FOR DEBT.

New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, and Tennessee, have abolished it. In other states the business has been curtailed ; in Massachusetts, for instance, about two thirds, or 2000 annually; and in Pennsylvania a man cannot now be found impris