"the hazards I have encountered."-Such were the last words of Howard. ()-We have learnt to venerate his name: we have done every justice to his opinions his grateful country has raised a statue to his memory; but it stands near to the unaltered prison which he so forcibly condemned.

Under the impression that the punishment of death and the improvement. of prison discipline are subjects deserving consideration: with the consciousness of what many prisons are,() and the conviction of what all prisons might be; with the remembrance of the prediction of an English judge, "that if the "plan of Penitentiary-houses be properly executed, "and its defects timely supplied, there is reason to

hope that such a reformation may be effected in "the lower classes of mankind, and such a gradual "scale of punishment affixed to all gradations of "guilt, as may in time supersede the necessity of capi"tal punishment except for very atrocious crimes."() this second volume of facts, of the opinions of eminent men, and of the laws of other countries, has

(d) See the conclusion of his work on Prisons, page 469.

(e) The misery suffered in some gaols is not half their evil; they are filled "with every sort of corruption that poverty and wretchedness can generate; "with all the shameless and profligate enormities that can be produced by "the impudence of ignominy, the rage of want, and the malignity of despair. "In a prison the check of the public eye is removed; and the power of the "law is spent. There are few fears, there are no blushes. The lewd inflame "the more modest; the audacious harden the timid. Every one fortifies him. "self as he can against his own remaining sensibility; endeavouring to prac. "tise on others the arts that are practised or himself; and to gain the applause "of his worst associates by imitating their manners." (f) Blackstone, vol. iv. page 371..

been collected, and, with the persuasion that it may be productive of good, without the possibility of evil, is submitted to public consideration by a society (*)

(*) In the formation of a society of this nature there appear to be three subjects deserving of consideration:

1st, Whether it is desirable that such a society should be formed?

2dly, Whether it is attainable?

3dly, Supposing it to be desirable and attainable, with what evils is it unavoidably attended?

That the formation of such a society is desirable and attainable may be inferred from considering-1st, That these evils exist only because they are not known. It cannot be expected that the generality of mankind should enter into these sorrows: and, so great are the miseries, so lamentable are the depravities of prisons, that few even of the benevolent have charity or humanity enough to visit them, or, visiting them, to do more than pass on with a kind and transient pity.-2dly, The difficulty and expense of collecting facts are too great for an individual to encounter. (What praise is due to the unwearied exertions of Mr. Neild on behalf of prisoners for debt. Many years cannot pass away before he will see the work which he has made, and see that it is good.)— 3dly, the frailties of individuals may be supplied by a conjunction of labours, and error prevented by soundness of direction. A society of this nature was form. ed in Pennsylvania, and in Bradford's pamphlet there is a concise explanation of its origin, plan, and progress. He says, "The distresses of the prisoners, and the disorders in the prisons of Philadelphia had long engaged the sympa. thetic attention of the inhabitants.*—Occasional relief was often afforded; but the magnitude of the sufferings and disorders at length induced the attempt of forming a society, under the title of the Philadelphia Society for alleviating the Miseries of public prisons.—It soon became large and respectable, and from subscriptions and donations, early possessed funds equal to its object."

Howard expressed his anxiety that a similar society should be formed in his own country. In his work on Lazarettos, he says, "Should the plan take place during my life, of establishing a permanent charity under some such "title as that of Philadelphia, viz. A society for alleviating the miseries of public prisons,

*See Howard on Prisons, 36.

If half the misery that is felt by some were seen by others, it would shock them with horror.

The prosperous turn away their eyes from the miserable, not through insensibility, but because the sight is an interruption of their gaiety.

formed for the diffusion of knowledge upon the punishment of death, and the improvement of prison discipline.

"prisons, and annuities be engrafted thereupon for the abovementioned pur

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pose, I would most readily stand at the bottom of a page for 5001. or if such "society shall be constituted within three years after my death, this sum shall "be paid out of my estate."