and particular circumstances tended to give in that a fatal result. This greater prevalence of the disease in the lower classes of a population, arises entirely from their habits of life. It is in those classes that gross intemperance abounds, which, united to aliment of inferior quality, small, close, ill-ventilated, crowded, and uncleanly dwellings, form a combination of all the circumstances inviting the attacks of the disease and aggravating its character. In addition to these, in the lower classes, almost without exception, the symptoms of the first stage are misunderstood and neglected, and they are placed under medical treatment only when the disease has assumed its most formidable aspect. It is from these causes,as more frequently existing in the inferior classes, that the poor suffer in greater numbers; but intemperance, imprudence, negligence, and inattention to cleanliness in any situation, among the rich or the poor, the high or the low, are equally predisposing to and excitative of the attacks of the disease. Another prolific cause subjecting the poorer classes in greater numbers to this terrible malady in its worst shape, is the constant necessity of labour for their subsistance. The exhaustion of fatigue especially induced by labour in the midday sun, is amongst the most common sources of the malady. In Montreal, we were informed by Dr. Robinson, "that masons, sawyers, and others exposed in their occupations to the open air suffered greatly. Men fell down with their hods on their shoulders." These facts indicate the propriety, during the prevalence of the epidemic influence, of suspending labour during the hours of greatest heat. The immense advantage, the almost absolute conservative power affording nearly complete immunity from the disease, derived from disciplinary regulation, was demonstrated by the exemption from the epidemic procured for the garrison of Quebec. The troops were stationed in fine lofty barracks in the upper town, and so far possessed the advantages of a salubrious situation. But detachments were daily posted in different positions both of the upper and lower town as guards and thus were exposed along with the citizens to the common causes of the disease. No soldier, however, was permitted, when not on guard, to leave the barracks, unless accompanied by a non commissioned officer, responsible for his conduct. Every precaution was taken to preserve the most perfect cleanliness, and to prevent excesses, or exposure to the imprudences of which soldiers are so commonly guilty. Every morning, the garrison, men, women, and children, were mustered and underwent an inspection and examination by the medical officers, so as to detect the first germs of complaint. Not a case of Cholera occurred in the barracks until Monday, June 2d, twenty-four days after the commencement of the epidemic. A sapper and miner of feeble constitution, who lodged in the citadel, was then attacked, and is the only case known to have occurred. Combining together in a general result the foregoing observations, we obtain the following summary of facts: 1st. The epidemic appeared almost simultaneously at Quebec and Montreal, and in a few days occupied with but few exceptions, the whole line of the St. Lawrence, from below Quebec to Prescott and Ogdensburgh on the river-and York and Kingston on Lake Ontario. 2d. A large body of emigrants had arrived at Quebec and Montreal previous to the breaking out of the disease, but who continued in health. 3d. That the circumstances in which these emigrants were placed, were precisely those that give in the highest degree, the predisposition to the disease, and are the most active of its exciting causes. 4th. That no emigrants had landed at Quebec or Montreal previous to the commencement of the disease, who had arrived in vessels on board of which cases of cholera had occurred during the passage. 5th. That the average duration of the voyages was from fifty to eighty days; while the period of incuba tion of the disease, or the time from exposure to its cause and the development of its symptoms, so far as ascertained by the history of the disease from its commencement to the present epoch, is from six to fourteen days. 6th. That the Carricks, the only vessel on board of which cases of Cholera had taken place before her arrival at Quebec, was, on the 8th of June, the day when the disease commenced its ravages in that city, actually in quarantine with her crew on board, and her passengers all perfectly exempt from disease, in the shed on Grosse Isle, thirty miles below the town. 7th. That the disease attacked on the same day, the emigrants and French Canadians, and singled out victims at points distant from each other, and who had no previous communication. 8th. That in Montreal, the English residents did not begin to suffer from the disease, until the 17th of June, a week from the time it first appeared. 9th. That in Montreal the Canadian population suffered more than the emigrant population, especially when it is taken into consideration, the unfavourable circumstances in which these latter were placed. 10th. That the native Indian population appeared to be strongly predisposed to the disease, which afflicted them with a dreadful mortality. 11th. That numerous causes existing in Quebec, and more particularly Montreal, concurred to occasion the rapid extension and propagation of the disease in those cities, and impressed on it the virulent aspect and malignant character it there manifested. 12th. That those circumstances do not exist in the city of Philadelphia, and with some degree of confidence, we may anticipate a mild visitation, and comparative exemption from its prevalence in the epidemic form; or should it appear, that it will be confined to the close lanes, alleys, and narrow streets, with crowded tenements, where ventilation and cleanliness cannot be procured. 13th. That a system of municipal regulations calculated for the preservation of the community, and a sanitary police perseveringly adhered to and rigidly enforced, are capable of guarding, to a great extent, against pestilential influences, and warding from the people the attacks of the epidemic, in the form when alone it is malignant and unmanageable. 14th. That individuals, by an adherence to a strict personal morality, by temperance in all the appetites, and moderation in all the passions; by cleanliness, and the exercise of a common prudence, may preserve themselves amidst the pestilence, perfectly exempted from a malignant attack, which is alone to be apprehended. The disease is thus placed in a great measure under individual control. 15th. That instruction in this important, and we believe universal fact, should be carried home to every individual of the community. This may be accomplished by a few simple rules and precepts, concisely and clearly expressed, published and largely distributed, placarded on the corners of the streets, alleys, and lanes; affixed to places of public resort; placed in a conspicuous position in all the taverns and boarding houses of the city; taught in the public and private schools as a portion of the public exercises; and above all, enlarged upon and enforced by the moral instructors and spiritual guides of the people, with all the eloquence and talent that adorn, and the holy reverence that surround the sacred desk. Part 2d. Medical Account of the Disease. I. So much has been written and published within the last two years on malignant cholera, under various designations, that it might be thought prudent and excusable, should we omit entirely to enter on any medical notice of the disease. The press has literally groaned beneath the weight of publication. Notwithstanding these numerous efforts, and this amount of labour, it must be confessed, that a corresponding progress in arriving at positive knowledge of the character, nature, and method of treating the disease, has not been accomplished- The evidence of this is presented in the discrepancies of opinion, and the discordancies of views that are earnestly maintained; the conflicting theories, the opposing numberless systems of treatment, all equally conjectural, uncertain, vacillating, vague, and unsatisfactory in results, that are daily promulgated and warmly advocated. Truth is simple, striking, and convincing. When once discovered, then rally around it unprejudiced inquirers, the candid in sentiment, the true lovers of knowledge, and a unanimity of opinion soon begins to prevail; for facts presented in their just light are seen alike and acknowledged by all. Diversities of opinion on the same subject are generally proofs of obscurity and ignorance, and numerous remedies for the same evil are conclusive evidence of the little utility of any. In this unsettled state of the question, we may be permitted, without hazarding the charge of presumption, to offer the results of our observation on this formidable epidemic. Before proceeding to speak of the disease, a few general observations on epidemic diseases will tend to illustrate some of its characters. A. Epidemic Influence or Constitution. The influence or remote cause giving rise to epidemic diseases is unknown. All that has been written on the subject is mere conjecture, and deserving no serious attention. It is probable certain information on this subject is not attainable, from the imperfection of our means of research, and the finite power of our senses. Though we may not penetrate the nature of final causes, yet we can seize on the phenomena they develope, we can determine by cautious observation the modes in which these are produced; we are enabled to appreciate their true character, and to unfold the laws by which they are governed. This is the only knowledge man can boast of as positive: it is that which he can alone render available for useful purposes in his present mode of existence. Epidemic diseases are to be studied on these principles. In a philosophical view they compose great problems, the solution of which will furnish the basis of sanitary municipal regulations for the community, and fortify the moral discipline of society. In this light they are to be regarded as important lessons to be studied as yielding wholesome instruction, and not in the light of vengeful acts to be deprecated, as inflictions for of fences with which they are unconnected. Some general principles in relation to epidemics may be considered as well settled. 1. They are partial, as pervading a city, district of country, or an entire continent; or universal, as sweeping over in succession, a zone of the earth. 2. The grand line of march of universal epidemics, is from the eastward to the westward, though they exhibit at the same time, an irregular and sometimes a diverging course. 3. They are confined to zones comprehending a certain number of degrees of latitude. The influenza of last winter did not reach as far north as Montreal, and it does not prevail at the same period, in both hemispheres. The dengue which travelled as an epidemic the circuit of the globe a few years past, was limited to the southern latitudes of the northern hemisphere. As yet the most southern point of the present epidemic has been the Mauritius. 4. The duration of the epidemic influence or constitution varies, being prolonged from a few months to several years. The influenza seldom continues longer than three or four months in any one place; it travels rapidly, and generally completes the circuit of the globe in about twelve months. The eruptive diseases when epidemic, as small-pox, scarlet fever, and measles, are slower in their movements. Small-pox and measles ge The nerally prevail from one to three years; scarlet fever from three to five years, and they occupy from ten to twelve years in their circumterraneous course. present epidemic has occupied fifteen years in its progress from Bengal to the continent of America. An epidemic constitution that gave rise to yellow fever, high bilious remittent, and intermittent fevers, commenced about 1790, in the United States, and continued to 1805. During this period, every summer, cases of yellow fever occurred, and it was at times epidemic. This constitution disappeared until 1819, when it again returned, acquired its acme in 1825, and has since declined. While the epidemic influence endures, the disease it generates continues to recur at different intervals, until the epidemic constitution is exhausted. It is not improbable, from all appearances, that malignant Cholera, may for a time present this character, 5. The epidemic influence is not confined to the human race. All organized beings suffer from its operation. The epidemics of animals, or epizootics, have become an interesting subject of inquiry, and throw much which affect plants very extensively, are epidemics light on epidemic diseases generally. The blights amongst vegetables. The whole of the forest vegetation was remarkably backward in Canada, and exhibited an extreme langour, while an immense number of the trees killed by the winter cold. Yet this seems rather doubthad perished. It was generally supposed they had been ful of the hardy forest trees. 6. The epidemic influence or constitution is essential for each particular epidemic. No one epidemic can be taken as a standard by which the others are to be compared, examined, and judged of, but each must be in vestigated in reference to its own phenomena. The epidemic influence or constitution appears to act on certain organs, and affect certain functions of the economy, disordering or disturbing their natural or physiological phenomena, and altering their natural mode of being, and thus producing an especial predisposition to a certain form or class of diseases, in preference to any other. 7. The epidemic influence or constitution is essential to the prevalence of any disease in the epidemic form; even of diseases notedly contagious. Small-pox, measles, and scarlet fever, are contagious diseases, and at the same time are epidemic or sporadic, according_as the epidemic influence may be existing or absent. Before the introduction of the practice of innoculation for small-pox, it prevailed epidemically at intervals of twelve or more years. After innoculation became geed in society, but the disease did not assume the epineral, individuals affected with small-pox always existdemic character, except at certain epochs. There was something wanted, which was the epidemic influence, imparting the predisposition. Since the abandonment of the practice of innoculation and the substitution of vaccination, small-pox now presents its original character. It disappears for a series of years, or manifests itself only in the sporadic shape. This circumstance from being misunderstood, led to a belief for a time, that vaccination had actually exterminated small-pox. But this pleasing delusion was dissipated by its recurrence, accompanied by its modified congener varioloid, in the epidemic form, when its specified period arrived. This has now become the settled habit of the disease. The same observations are applicable to all the eruptive contagious epidemic febrile diseases. They are equally true with respect to other febrile epidemics. During the influence that imparts the predisposition to yellow, bilious, and intermittent fevers, putrid effluvia, marsh exhalations, moral commotions of the intelligence, indiscretions in habits of life, and numerous other causes, which, at other periods would be innocuous or cause a slight degree of disorder in some function or organ, now becomes exciting causes, developing those greater maladies. The same facts ap plied to other epidemic affections, and particularly to the present reigning disease, which is excited into action by the same causes that before produced former epidemic diseases. 8th. Epidemic influences of constitutions recur periVodically at different intervals. Influenza recurs at intervals of six or seven years; small-pox, measles, and scarlet fever, re-appear at periods of from twelve to fifteen years. The various forms of epidemic gastroenterites, yellow, remittent, bilious intermittent fevers, and the same diseases with typhoid characters, have manifested periods of from fifteen to seventeen years. These periods are stated not as positively accurate, but as approximations to the truth. More time than is at our disposal, and a reference to numerous works would be requisite to establish the exact intervals and periods of each epidemic. The preceding views are the result of the recollections of general reading and observation, and may be liable to some inexactness, though the principle will be found correct. II. The Prevailing Epidemic. The present reigning epidemic having ravaged Asia, and over-run the great portion of the European continent in its desolating march, has reached our shores and threatens to carry its devastations into every portion of our country. out of season, occasionally occurred, and one fatal case In Philadelphia, every one the least observant, has been conscious of an unusual and peculiar condition of his economy, during the last three or four weeks, chiefly displayed in the disordered state of the stomach and bowels. It is probably no exaggeration to assert that two-thirds of our population have experienced feelings of this kind. This derangement of the functions of those viscera, is not confined to our district of country. Letters from medical gentlemen in various sections of the country, as far south as North Carolina, announce the existence of the same phenomena. Of the fact of a geThe generic name of Cholera first given to it in Ben-neral epidemic predisposition, there can exist no mangal, has been universally adopted, though a variety of special appellations has been bestowed on it. The term has most probably been unhappy. The disease is certainly very distinct from common cholera morbus, though it presents some features analogous to that af fection. It bears, however, analogies quite as strong to other diseases. The name too has led most probably to treatment very generally based upon the usual remedial proceedings adapted to common cholera, but the propriety of which may be well questioned. Many discordant opinions have been advanced, each of which has been more or less earnestly advocated, respecting the proper character and true nature of this formidable and ever peculiar disease. They may be approached probly more nearly by an analytical exmination of its distinguishing features. Malignant Cholera, the name that at present may be adopted as the least objectionable, exhibits very distinctly different stadia or periods, each possessing its peculiarities, constituting perfectly distinct, and in some of them dissimilar states, requiring different modes of proceeding in the treatment. Four or even five periods may be distinguished, and will be the best understood by treating of them separately. A. The period of Predisposition originating in the Epidemic Influence or Constitution. Every epidemic, it has been seen in our general observations, depends on the agency of some unknown cause, disposing at the same period, numbers of individuals on whom other causes perturbative of the operations of their economy shall exercise their influence, to be seized with a particular array of symptoms or attacks of a disease, in preference to any other set of symptoms or disThis remote cause is often widely diffusive, acting at once over a wide space. It gradually advances in intensity, reaches its climax, and then as slowly disappears. ease. ner of doubt. It remains then to inquire first, the symptoms of this state, and second, the condition of organs in which it consists. 1st. Symptoms of the Epidemic Constitution. They are chiefly disturbance in the healthful feeling of the stomach and bowels, and the regular exercise of their offices. Digestion is impaired; food that formerly caused no disorder of these viscera, produce a sense of tumefaction and distention of the stomach and abdomen, or bring on attacks of colics or diarrhea. A sentiment of heat in the belly is not unusual, and slight dysenteric symptoms are present. The tongue in most persons is furred, and not unfrequently pasty. Thirst is generally more urgent than usual. This array of symptoms so generally experienced, is clearly indicative that the epidemic cause or influence affects primarily and principally the mucous tissue of the alimentary canal. It would appear to be its starting point. 2d. The condition or mode of being of this tissue as indicated by the symptoms, is that of an extensive irritation, occupying not a single zone of this extended sured in this period of the disease, have the closest analoface, but its whole extent. The phenomena manifestgy to the phenomena resulting from small doses of an irritating or drastic cathartic; not sufficient to ensure a free and copious evacuation, but tormenting the bowels with their irritating impression, disturbing their offices, and worrying with irregular operations. The treatment adapted to this period and to these symptoms, is chiefly dietary. While the symptoms are strongly marked, solid food should be omitted. Mutton or chicken broth; rice or barley water; rice or hominy, for a few days should constitute the food. Black tea made by boiling so as to form a strong decoction, possessing slight astringent and tonic properties, diluted with cream or milk, forms the best breakfast and supper. Bread should be stale. At the same time, quiet and rest should be observed. The patient should keep to the house, or remain in bed, and maintain the body in a comfortable temperature, erring as to heat rather than cold. In the present epidemic, this character is strikingly displayed. Wherever the disease has prevailed, it was preceded by a disorderly condition of the gastric and intestinal functions, with slightly augmented nervous irritability. And during its continuance, those who es- For medicine a few drops of spirits of camphor, or caped the explosion of the disease, all suffered in vary-spirits of camphor with laudanum or black drops (noting degrees from affections of this nature. withstanding the formal prohibition of this combination) are useful. If there be diarrhea or pain, the opiate is essential. Calomel or blue pill, with opium and ipecac, in this are also serviceable. The external irritation of the skin by salt or by foot baths, pitch plaisters, spice plaisters, daily frictions of the body are exceedingly servicable, and these constitute excellent prophylatic means. Purgative medicine must be avoided entirely in the delicate, feeble, and nervous, and in the robust, strong ly constituted and phlegmatic, be used with great discretion and caution. The saline purgatives are particularly obnoxious to this complaint. Many fatal attacks have been developed by them. The bowels are intolerant of purgation. The symptoms of this state are easily controlled, and hence arise the numerous remedies extolled as specifics in Cholera. The cures have been in cases of this slight nature, apparently augmented, by timidity of charac-tertained, as well as acknowledged improvements sug ter in some, and the nervous temperament of others, exaggerating symptoms, without increasing their danger. The most certain, the most efficient remedies are diet, rest, repose and warmth. In a great majority of a population, the epidemic influence proceeds no further in the production of disease, especially in the temperate, and those of good constitution and sound organs. To the explosion of the disease in its aggravated character, an exciting cause is necessary, and this cause may be any circumstance making a strong, powerful and sudden impression on the economy, no matter what may be its nature. Hence it is that all situations where unwholsome and offensive effluvia, exhalations, miasmata, are generated-where malaria exists-errors of diet, passions, strong doses of medicine, and a thousand other circumstances are observed to bring on sudden attacks of the disease. (To be continued.) From the National Gazette of 1829. No. II. To the Legislature of Pennsylvania. Having discussed at length the propriety of capital infliction, I come now to the subject of penitentiary discipline. This, at the first glance, may seem less important than the former topic; but a very slight reflection will discover its incalculable moment. It is a subject, too, peculiarly interesting to the feelings, the character, and the moral prospects of Pennsylvania. I shall not now dilate upon the effects of erroneous ideas in reference to prison regimen, as this will be admitted in the abstract; but endeavour to demonstrate that false notions prevail at Auburn, the plan which its defenders are so desirous to have transported hither-that it has been as extravagantly praised as it is lamentably defective-that it is unsuited to this meridian-and every way calculated to mislead those whose minds have not been seriously and for a long time turned to the subject. After this I shall submit to a full and rigorous examination, the theory of solitude with labour, denominated Pennsylvanian-lay it bare to public scrutiny, and challenge the keenest ingenuity of its adversaries to sustain their objections. thropists, she grew tired of waiting the slow but sure operations of truth and experience-became captivated with the Maison de Force of the Netherlands-and abandoning her former guide,-placed herself under this new instructress. Whatever may be the comparative merits of the Ghent Prison, and the other European establishments, is not a question I mean to agitate; indeed I may concede, from the successive testimonies of the illustrious Howard and Buxton, and the Prison Society of London, that it has superior claims to preference. But when we consider the state of crime, and the sanguinary notions of punishments prevalent in Europe on the one hand, and the more humane ideas engested here on the other, it is not a matter of ineffable surprise that Pennsylvania should disdain an obsequious regard to transatlantic projects; and when it is universally admitted, that the end of retributive justice should be no less to reclaim than to punish the culprit, it is only rational that she should turn her eyes from a scheme whose leading object is declared to be profil. The lat ter is distinctly avowed in the sixth report of the London Society: "Profit being the leading object of the establishment, it has been found more advantageous to confine large numbers together, with a view to the facilities of manufacture, than to subdivide them into classes," &c. But whatever excuse, whether aggrandizement, fickleness, or impatience, may have prompt. ed New York to the adoption of the Maison de Force,both that prison and its servile imitator have fallen far short of what is known to be the certain destination of the Pennsylvania system. Let the comparative merits of the plan be what they may, so long and ardently the themes of indiscriminating panegyric-looking to European penitentiaries as the standards of excellence-its absolute demerits and total unfitness, are glaring and palpable. The beauty of the internal economy of Auburn had been so often repeated in our ears, with all the heat of sectarian feeling and uninformed prejudice, that benevolent individuals have thought it worth the trouble of a personal visit; and all who are in any way connected with the Prison Society, or who have given any attention to the characters of men depraved by vicious indulgence, view it as a scheme, accordant perhaps with the notions popular in past times, but by no means creditable to the advanced intelligence and humanity of the present day. Omitting all others, the testimony of the Hon. Edward Livingston, of Louisiana, an able jurist, and intimately conversant with penal philosophy, acquired by study, long intercourse with prisons, and a deep and intense reflection on the evils springing out of present and former errors, is uniquivocal, decisive, and strong. His letter to Mr. Roberts Vaux, of Philadelphia, furnishes a host of arguments against the scheme-arguments suggested by a careful inspection of the prison-and some reasons why Pennsylvania cannot, without vacillancy and exposure to ridicule, consent to its adoption. The system pursued at Auburn is not the native It is deeply to be deplored, that while Pennsylvania growth of New York, but an exotic transplanted from a was engaged in her onward march of criminal improvedistant country, and altogether unsuited to the Ameri- ment, attracting to herself the attention of the other can soil. But the good people of our sister state seem states, and even several of the more liberal nations of to prefer the introduction of plans derived from others, Europe, who admired the practical philosophy, the to striking out a theory for themselves, the fruit of close calm benevolence, and the enduring patience, with which attention and patient experiments. The truth is, less she proceeded; while every thing was beginning to prozeal has been devoted to Penitentiary discipline in New mise a more refined and philosophical theory of prison York than in Pennsylvania: they boast no institution discipline, which would confer on the Union distinsimilar to our Prison society, whose untiring benevo-guished moral benefits, and be received by each state lence has subjected them to the labour of projecting expedients, of proving them, and from time to time of submitting to the public the result of their investigations. Prior to the introduction of her present system, she leaned upon Pennsylvania for support, defended her penitentiary improvements, and adopted, with little But it is time distinctly to exhibit what the discipline of examination, what the latter had found to be beneficial. Auburn proposes to accomplish. In a word, it is calcu But instead of continuing her adherence, and acquies-lated to make money; but it professes to do no more. cing in the wise dictation of our enlightened philan-Its friends all agree that it subdues the spirit, teaches with approbation-that New York, dazzled by a foreign glare-by a dim light emitted from adjacent darknessshould throw difficulties in her way, and by taking a retrograde step herself, obstruct the fondly anticipated consummation. obedience to the laws, and effects ultimate amendment. their fellow prisoners, if all the instances were recorded. But how is this amendment produced; for we can under- The path of moral aberration, experience shows, is not stand without explication, the manner it which its les. abrupt in its descent, but gently declivitous. If the sons of subordination and humility are inculcated? In unhappy wanderer be alone, he may be long in his the same way that the former are taught? It is pre- downward journey, without advancing far in its intri sumed so; for the only difference between the boasted cacies; he may find it rough, solitary, surrounded by discipline of Auburn, and that adopted so early as 1794 gloom, and wish to return;-but give him a companion in Pennsylvania, and now to be altered, and, it is be- who will entertain him by the way, who will teach him lieved, to be improved, consist in severe public castiga- how to appreciate its delights, who will flatter him with tion, and separate confinement at night. Of the latter the hope of escaping its dangers, and he goes on equal entirely approve, since it is only an approximation to to all its asperities, and reckless of ruin, till at last he the Pennsylvania theory; but of whipping, to tame the finds himself in a labyrinth from which he wants the spirit or enforce penitentiary rules, I must express my will and the power of extrication. In the face of all decided disapprobation and abhorrence. It is odious as these truths, whose reception is now become universal, an infliction, revolting to human nature as a punish is the Auburn system established, and its friends moment;-degrading her with the brutes-hardening to destly ask of the world to invert the natural order of the feelings of the sufferer; and extinguishing in him ev- things, and eulogize their theory as one prolific of ery spark of manly sentiment or personal independence. moral benefit. Whatever reasons may be urged for the propriety and I am aware it is urged that the prisoners, though tonecessity of discreet flagellation in the case of a child,gether, are prevented from both oral and ocular interto expiate filial disobedience or maintain scholastic go- course. Ridiculous! To attempt to restrain the glances vernment, they cannot apply to an adult, whose soul is of vision, under any circumstances, is preposterous; but rendered too infuriate by the degradation. Anger the to control both the eyes and the tongue, under those at most desperate and lasting, and vengeance the most de- Auburn, is absurd and impossible. This language is termined and diabolical, must invariably arise from sub- not used without due reflection, for though the system jection to such an ignominy. Whether, then, a pun- be abominable, it has been the singular good fortune of ishment ordinarily producing these effects can, when the establishment to possess, as superintendents, men inflicted at the option of an arbitrary keeper, or at the whose vigilance, alertness, and rigour are equal to what mercy of an unrelenting deputy, on the bare back, by is not physically impossible, and they have been unable thongs, and in the presence of the assembled prisoners, to prevent a full intercommunication of ideas, and the who witness the disgrace, be followed by any conse- freest interchange of looks. It is entirely immaterial quences but the fostering of malignant passions and the what the infatuated advocates of the system may allege, most deplorable hardihood, is placed beyond the un- but it is a truth well ascertained, on unexceptionable certainty of conjecture. Pennsylvania repealed the authority, by the disclosures of the criminals thempower to inflict corporal beating in 1795, though it was selves, that their minds are unburthened to each other before discontinued in practice, as not only subversive with ease and freedom. Where, then, is the boasted of the ultimate end of punishment, but because it was re- superiority of Auburn-a superiority which, if it ever pugnant to the humane principles of her penal policy, possessed over the old theory pursued in prisons, is not and opposed to the genius of her institutions. attributable to its own and intrinsic efficacy, but to the individuals who have happened to be intrusted with its management. But flagellation is not the only bad feature in the Auburn discipline; another and even a stronger objection remains, which is, of joint labor during the day. Association in prisons is destructive of the primary object which legislatures have in view in confining the body, and of a vital principle which they are supposed always to have in contemplation. In the absence of every other reason, it is a positive gratification to the criminals. Men who have preyed upon their species, by abducting or otherwise injuring their property or lives, should be deprived of the enjoyment of social intercourse, which not only takes away the bitterness of confinement, but constitutes, under any circumstances, the greatest pleasure of civil existence. Nor is subtraction from punishment the only bad consequence of intercourse: it entirely and for ever prevents the return of the unhappy participators to an honorable course of life. As their infamy is notorious, efforts to reform re. quire more courage and perseverance than generally fall to the lot of the tenants of our penitentiaries. Nor is it probable that in a place surrounded by profligacy so abandoned, depravity so confirmed and diversified, many attempts at reformation will be made, or many virtuous resolutions formed. The spark is extinguished before it warms, the plant is killed before it shows indications of a flower. The regularity and order which, it is pretended, prevail in every department of the prison, are dwelt upon with peculiar earnestness and fervor. The general economy of the building, and the different employments of the prisoners, are recorded with minute precision-the hours of rising, refection, and retiring, noted as matters of infinite moment-even the nighttub, water-can, mush-kid, closed files, reigning silence, and turnkeys with woollen socks, are brought in with the utmost solemnity to swell the description. It must be amusing to observe the consummate address, the adroit dexterity, with which the prisoner learns to convey his meaning to his companions, in despite of the vigilance of the keepers, and the antic tricks which are occasionally played before their eyes. Little aid from fancy is required to conceive the suppressed merriment, the sportive behavior, and inclination to ridicule on the part of the wags of the fraternity, on the grave occasions of the prisoners forming in lines, marching out of their shops to take up their tubs, and in performing the other important ceremonies which the police of the prison enjoins. Many a laughable farce, no doubt, is carried on under the nose of the superintendent-laughable indeed to those engaged in the sport, But association in prisons not only prevents the and to an observant, unreflecting spectator-but solemn growth of virtue, but is productive of positive and to the philanthropist, to the philosopher, to all who lamentable evil. Prisons are moral lazar-houses, the have the reformation of these unfortunate creatures, repositories of the worst men in the community, whose and the henefit of society, at heart. It will indeed be assemblage must be attended with a shocking inter-worthy of devout thankfulness, if the convicts should change of opinions and sentiments. The old offenders are conducted still deeper into the mysteries of iniquity -the young are initiated by competent instructors, who blight, as by a mildew, every germ of virtuous sensibility; and all are entertained with histories of former adventures, and anticipations of future exploits. Frightful would be the catalogue of outlaws, rendered so by confine themselves to comic operations, and not, by the influence of those causes to which I have adverted, rise, by common consent upon their keepers, and commit a horrible tragedy. But passing for a moment the peculiar demerits of its police regulation, it would be well for the legisla. ture before they adopt the plan of Auburn, seriously to |