To this general account we shall add a few particulars : Bibles, and other books of practical religion, have been provided for the use of the prison; the clergy of the different denominations in the city and suburbs, perform divine service once a week, commonly on Sunday mornings, and other edifying persons have at all times access to the prisoners; a regular course of labour is kept up in various branches of industry, from which there are a number of persons daily supplied with flax, prepared in its best state; rope-makers, ship-chandlers, and carpenters, are served in the pounding of hemp, and picking large quantities of oakum; plaster of paris is prepared for manure and the use of mill-stone manufacturers; hatters and dyers are supplied with chipped logwood, and the women spin flax; solitary cells have been constructed, calculated for the safe keeping and proper correction of the obstinate; and the security of the gaol is improved by the addition of lamps, and watchmen who go the rounds during the night.

From the experiments already made, we have reason to congratulate our fellow citizens on the happy reformation of the penal system. The prison is no longer a scene of debauchery, idleness, and profanity; an epitome of human wretchedness; a seminary of crimes destructive to society; but a school of reformation and a place of public labour. We hope, by the blessing of Divine Providence, that the community of rational beings may be preserved, without the deplorable necessity of cutting off evil members by a sanguinary process, of exposing them on whipping-posts to the painful sympathy of the humane, and the barbarous mockery of brutal mobs. This hope is confirmed by the singular fact, that of the many who have received the governor's pardon, not one has been returned a convict.

By Order of the Board,

Philadelphia, Dec. 7, 1791.

GEORGE MEADE, Chairman.

No. II.

AN ACCOUNT of the Alteration and Present State of the Penal Laws of Pennsylvania, &c. by CALEB LOWNES. First published at Philadelphia in 1793.

INTRODUCTION.

ENQUIRIES are frequently made by citizens as well as by strangers, about the interior management of the gaol and penitentiary house of Philadelphia: and as I have frequently been requested by respectable characters in other, states, who wished a change in their system, to furnish some account of the means that led to the present regulations of our prison, and the effects produced by them, connecting this account with the Enquiry, &c.* may be as proper a mode as any that can be adopted for giving them the desired information. I have therefore made the attempt, and if any assistance in my power can contribute to promote a work of so much importance to mankind as that of reforming the system of criminal jurisprudence, I shall freely afford it. The many improvements, both in government and the arts, which have been produced in our time, afford pleasing prospects to liberal and enlarged minds, and have been a great encouragement to those who have ventured to combat ancient prejudices, and to attempt improvements, in a science hitherto so little attended to, and of so great importance in every system of legislation.

It is true, society has not been without information upon this interesting subject. Montesquieu, Beccaria, Lofft, and others, have thrown considerable light upon it. The benevolent Howard greatly sympathised with the wretched pri

* Mr. Bradford's Enquiry respecting the Punishment of Death, &c.

soner; he has largely displayed the errors in principle, and the cruelties in practice, of the criminal laws of most countries in Europe; and having laboured with uncommon zeal to alleviate the evils which they have produced, died in the prosecution of this important service; but a system founded upon the clear and unquestionable rights and duties of citizens of a mild and well ordered government, has not yet met the public eye: Pennsylvania has gone the farthest in the formation of such a system, of any government that has come to my knowledge, and from the exertions of the present legislature, we have reason to hope that she will be the first to place the fair "key-stone to the arch of this benevolent work."

A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE ALTERATION OF THE PENAL LAWS OF PENNSYLVANIA.

THE distresses of the prisoners, and disorders in the prison, in this city, had long engaged the sympathetic attention of many of the inhabitants. Occasional relief was often afforded; but the first attempt, essentially to remove these evils, was made a few years before the revolution; when a society was formed for that purpose. The war put an end to the society.

In the year 1776, the convention of Pennsylvania directed a reform of the penal laws, and the introduction of public hard labour, as a punishment for offences. This was attended to by the Legislature; and an essay was made in the year 1786, by a law which directed, that the convicts should be employed in cleaning the streets, repairing the roads, &c. have their heads shaved, and be distinguished by an infamous habit. This was literally complied with, but however well meant, was soon found to be productive of the greatest evils: and had a very opposite effect from what was contemplated by the framers of the law. The disorders in society, the robberies, burglaries, breaches of prison, alarms in town and country; the drunkenness, profanity and indecencies of the prisoners in the streets, must be in the memory of most.

With these disorders, the numbers of the criminals encreased to such a degree as to alarm the community with fears, that it would be impossible to find a place either large or strong enough to hold them. The severity of the law, and disgraceful manner of executing it, led to a proportionate degree of depravity and insensibility, and every spark of morality appeared to be destroyed. The keepers were armed with swords, blunderbusses, and other weapons of destruction. The prisoners, secured by cumberous iron collars and chains, fixed to bomb-shells. Their dress was formed with every mark of disgrace. The old and hardened offender daily in the practice of begging and insulting the inhabitants, collecting crouds of idle boys, and holding with them the most indecent and improper conversation. Thus disgracefully treated, and heated with liquor, they meditated, and executed, plans of escape-and when at liberty, their distress, disgrace, and fears, prompted them to violent acts, to satisfy the immediate demands of nature. Their attacks upon society were well known to be desperate, and to some they proved fatal!

In this situation of things, the minds of the citizens were variously affected; some were concerned for the condition to which the laws had doomed them indiscriminately; others were affected with the scenes which the streets of the city exhibited-Scenes which were a disgrace to any people! Whatever were the motives, exertions were used to alleviate the sufferings of the prisoners, and, if possible, to apply a remedy for these great and growing evils.

The magnitude of these sufferings and disorders, at length induced the attempt of forming a society for that purpose, which was effected under the title of "The Philadelphia Society for alleviating the Miseries of Public Prisons."-lt soon became large and respectable, and from subscriptions and donations early possessed funds equal to its object.

They appointed a committee of six members to visit the prisons; furnish bread when necessary; clothe the naked ; accommodate differences; discharge those confined for small debts; and generally to mitigate the sufferings inseparable

from such places of confinement. At the time they visited, the disorders out of prison equally attracted their attention, and excited a more particular enquiry into the causes of these complicated evils. They were well assured that the funds of the society would be distributed to little effect, unless some means were used to discover the cause and to remedy the evil. A firm conviction was soon produced, that the severity of the laws, with the disgraceful mode of carrying them into effect, joined to a want of government in the prison; the admission of all kinds of characters to a free communication with the prisoners; the unlimited use of spirituous liquors; the indiscriminate mixture of all descriptions of prisoners, without regard to character, sex, or condition, and idleness in the house, were among the principal causes of the evils complained of: to remedy which, the society, in conjunction with the corporation, made an application to the legislature for an alteration in the penal system, to place the prison under the inspection of some of the citizens; to erect solitary cells; and to form a plan for its government. This was complied with, and inspectors were directed to be chosen; who were empowered, with the approbation of the mayor, two aldermen, and two judges of the supreme court, or two of the judges of the common pleas of Philadelphia county, to make rules and regulations for the government of all convicts confined in the said prison, &c. The first care of the inspectors was to remove the debtors into another house, entirely distinct from the convicts' prison; to put a stop to all improper out-door communications; to separate the sexes; to suppress the use of spirituous liquors of all kinds; to introduce a system of labour, suited to their situation, trades, and strength; to frame a plan of government for the house, and directions for the officers; and generally to introduce order, decency, economy, and industry.

The business before them was laborious, but the necessity and importance of the work encouraged them to exertions, which, for a time, were arduous, and attended with many unpleasant circumstances; but a steady perseverance overcame many long-established injurious customs, and pro