Now, in 1796, Mr. Colquhoun gave, in his 'Police of the Metropolis,' an "Estimate of Persons who are supposed to support themselves in and near the metropolis by pursuits either criminal, illegal or immoral," and, dividing them into twenty-four classes, he made out the number to be 115,000, of whom 50,000 were prostitutes! The male population of London, within the Bills of Mortality, was then only from 150,000 to 120,000, after deducting children and aged persons. The official station of Mr. Colquhoun, at one time, gave great weight to his statements, and well were they calculated to keep up the country idea of London vice and roguery.

The proportion of known bad characters in the metropolis was 1 in 89, according to the table given above, which is a more favourable proportion than exists either at Liverpool, Bristol, Bath, Hull, or Newcastle. In London, this class fix themselves in particular districts. In the parish of St. George the Martyr, Southwark, the total number of notoriously bad characters, according to the Constabulary Commissioners' Report, was 692, or 1 in 65, or 1 to every 33 adults. "If," as it has been observed, "only three persons form the family or society of each of these characters, nearly 1 in every 20 of the population is thus rendered vicious, or is exposed to the contamination of a constant familiarity with profligacy and vice."* The Mint and the scarcely less notorious Kent Street are in this parish. The Mint was the scene of "the life, character, and behaviour" of Jack Sheppard; and within the same precincts, at the Duke's Head, still standing, in Redcross Street, his companion Jonathan Wild kept his horses. The Mint and its vicinity has been an asylum for debtors, coiners, and vagabonds of every kind ever since the middle of the sixteenth century. It is districts like these which will always furnish the population of the prisons, in spite of the best attempts to reform and improve offenders by a wise, beneficent, and enlightened system of discipline, until moral efforts of a similar nature be directed to the fountain-head of corruption. There are districts in London whose vicious population, if changed to-day for one of a higher and more moral class, would inevitably be deteriorated by the physical agencies by which they would be surrounded, and the following generation might rival the inhabitants of Kent Street or the Mint.

In London, it is not vice only which leads to distress, poverty, and absolute want, the general precursors of crime, but unavoidable misfortunes. The death of parents, the failure to obtain employment, may be the occasion of distress as well as vicious indulgence, indolence, or the loss of character. "It is lamentable,” says the chaplain to the Reformatory Prison at Parkhurst, "to observe how large a majority of the prisoners here consists of destitute or otherwise unfortunate children, suffering either from the loss, the negligence, or the vice of their relatives. For example, out of 131 prisoners, 13 only appear to have been brought up in any way approaching to decent and orderly habits; and but 14 are possessed of such connexions as afford them a prospect of a livelihood in future, so far as their native country is concerned. Of that number also 51 are either friendless, or with prospects even more wretched through the crimes of their relations." The " period of criminality," in the case of these 131 juvenile criminals, appears to have been as follows:-Pilfered early from parents and friends, 51; robbed out of doors for several years, 30; for one or two years, 26; for under a year, 7; little, or none professed, 17. If we had space, we should here trace the *Statistics of the Parish of St. George the Martyr, by the Rev. George Weight.

usual progress of the London thief, until, after having probably been several times an inmate of the gaol or house of correction, he is sent out of the country.

In 1796 there were 18 prisons in London, some of them of very ancient date. Newgate (the City gate) was a gaol in the reign of King John. The prisonhouse pertaining to one of the Sheriffs of London, called the Compter, in the Poultry, hath been there kept and continued, says Stow, time out of mind, "for I have not read of the original thereof." About 1804 the old Poultry Compter became too much out of repair to be used as a prison, but the night charges were still taken there. The Marshalsea and King's Bench were both very ancient prisons. In 1381, the rebels of Kent, says Stow, "brake down the houses of the Marshalsea and King's Bench in Southwark, took from thence the prisoners, brake down the house of Sir John Immorth, the marshal of the Marshalsey and King's Bench, &c." It was to the latter prison that Henry, Prince of Wales, afterwards Henry V., was confined by Judge Gascoigne, for striking him when on the bench. During Lord George Gordon's riots the King's Bench was thrown open, about 700 prisoners released, and the prison set on fire. The Marshalsea was so called from having been originally placed under the control of the Knight Marshal of the royal household. Its jurisdiction extended twelve miles round Whitehall, the City of London excepted. The persons confined there before its discontinuance in 1842 were pirates and debtors; and it contained 60 rooms and a chapel. This prison originally stood near King Street. The King's Bench originally stood near the spot occupied by the Marshalsea, in the Borough High Street. In Stow's time there was a prison in Southwark called the White Lion, on St. Margaret's Hill (now called the High Street), near St. George's Church: it was originally the county gaol for Surrey, before the one in Horsemonger Lane was built at the suggestion of Howard. It was called the White Lion, for that the same was a common hosterie for the receipt of travellers by that sign;" that is, it was probably built on the site of an inn so named. Stow says: "This house was first used as a gaol within these forty years last," and it was then the county gaol for Surrey. In the thirteenth century the postern of Cripplegate was used as a prison, "whereunto such citizens and others as were arrested for debt or common trespasses were committed, as they be now (says Stow) to the Compters." Speaking of Ludgate, he says: "This gate was made a 'free' prison in 1378;" and in 1382, "it was ordained that all freemen of this City should for debt, trespasses, accounts and contempts, be imprisoned in Ludgate; and for treasons, felonies, and other criminal offences, committed to Newgate." The munificence of Dame Agnes Foster to the prisoners of Ludgate has been noticed in a former part of this work. Bridewell was given by Edward VI. to the City in 1553, to be a workhouse for the poor and idle persons of the City. The Tower was the great state prison, from the middle ages down to the present times.

The number of the metropolitan prisons is now only thirteen. The Fleet Prison and the Marshalsea were discontinued in 1842, and the prisoners (debtors) were transferred to the Queen's Bench, now called the Queen's Prison. It is situated at the bottom of the Borough Road, Southwark, contains 224 rooms, and the number of debtors has often exceeded 500. The new Act for its regulation abolishes the day-rules. The old practice was for the "rulers" to pay ten

guineas for the first 1007., and five guineas for each succeeding 1007. for which they were in custody. Liberty to go out of the prison for three days was purchased at the rate of 4s. 2d. for the first day, 3s. 10d, for the second, and 3s. 10d. for the third. These days were specified on the " liberty tickets." Of course, good security was given to the Marshal that the "rulers" should not decamp. The emoluments of this officer in 1813 were stated to be 35907. a-year, of which 8721. arose from the sale of beer, and 28231. from the rules. The regulations of the prison are in future to be framed by one of the Secretaries of State; and the Act provides for the classification of the prisoners. Some notice of the characteristics of a debtor's prison has already been given, and to it we must at present refer the reader.* The Borough Compter, removed to Mill Lane, Tooley Street, is now used exclusively for debtors from the Borough of Southwark; the prison in Whitecross Street is also exclusively a debtors' prison for London and Middlesex. Debtors are also confined in the Surrey County Gaol, Horsemonger Lane; and in the Westminster Bridewell, Tothill Fields; both likewise prisons for criminals. Debtors were confined in Newgate and Giltspur Street before the prison in Whitecross Street was built. The late Sir Richard Phillips, in a letter on the 'Office of Sheriff,' published in 1808, said: "The very circumstance of being committed for debt to Newgate has a tendency to degrade an unfortunate individual, more than confinement from the same cause in any other prison."

It is very probable that the majority of the prisons will never be seen by the casual visitor to London; but this is not the case with Newgate, and its use is at once apparent, for there is not a more characteristic edifice in London, and it is admirable both in spirit and design. Old Newgate prison, built after the fire of 1666, was pulled down and rebuilt between 1778 and 1780; but during Lord George Gordon's riots in the latter year it was broken open, the prisoners were released, and the rioters set fire to the prison and to the keeper's house, which were destroyed. At the commencement of the present century nearly eight hundred prisoners were confined at one time in Newgate, and in consequence of its crowded state a contagious fever broke out. Many improvements have been made since this period. In 1810, in consequence of the strenuous exertions of Sir Richard Phillips, a committee of the Common Council passed a resolution for building a new prison for debtors, and in 1815 Newgate ceased to be a debtors' prison, the debtors being transferred to Giltspur Street Compter. This latter place ceased to be a debtors' prison in consequence of the erection of Whitecross Street prison. In 1811 public attention was strongly directed to the subject of penitentiary houses, and some attempts were made at a classification of the prisoners in Newgate. Still it has often been stigmatised as one of the worst managed of the large prisons of England. The duties of the chaplain of Newgate thirty years ago, in return for an income of above 300l. a year, are thus described in a Parliamentary Report of 1814:-" Beyond his attendance in chapel and on those who are sentenced to death, Dr. Forde feels but few duties to be attached to his office. He knows nothing of the state of morals in the prison; he never sees any of the prisoners in private; though fourteen boys and girls from nine to thirteen years old were in Newgate in April last, he does not consider attention to them a point

* No. LXXVIII. 'Fleet Prison,' vol. iv.

of his duty; he never knows that any have been sick till he gets a warning to attend their funeral; and does not go to the infirmary, for it is not in his instructions." The duties of the chaplain are now of course performed with as much zeal as in any other prison. In Dr. Forde's time the attendance of the prisoners at chapel was entirely voluntary! Gambling and drinking, and tales of villainy and debauchery were the only occupations. The old prisoners instructed the younger ones in the deftest feats of robbery. The want of classification, and the entire idleness in which the prisoners spent their time, rendered Newgate a positive institution for the encouragement of vice and crime. The casual offender, committed on some slight charge which scarcely affected his moral character, was thrust into the companionship of beings scarcely human, men transformed into demons by the vilest passions and a life nurtured from infancy in the lowest depth of vice and infamy; the young were placed with the old, the healthy with the sick, the clean with the filthy, and even the lunatic was there the sport or the fear of the prison. From the contaminating nature of such association there was no escape, and the young offender came out of prison fit for any desperate scheme of villainy. "I scruple not to affirm," says Howard, "that half the robberies committed in and about London are planned in the prisons by that dreadful assemblage of criminals and the number of idle people who visit them." Should the uninitiated in crime at first shrink from intercourse with the prison rabble, he was subjected to every species of annoyance until, openly at least, he was compelled to embrace the brotherhood. His contumacy, so long as it lasted, became the subject of mock trials, in which generally the oldest and most dexterous thief acted as judge, with a towel tied in knots hung on each side of his head for a wig; and he was in no want of officers to put his sentences into execution. "Garnish," or "footing," or "chummage" (for it was called by all the three names), was demanded of all new prisoners. "Pay or strip," was the order, and the prisoner without money was obliged to part with a portion of his scanty apparel to contribute towards the expense of a riotous entertainment, the older prisoners adding something to the "garnish" paid by the new-comer. The practice of the prisoners cooking their own food had not been long discontinued in 1818. Among other objectionable practices were the profits which the wardsmen derived from supplying prisoners with various articles, so that often they benefited by means which tended to promote disorder. The difficulty of introducing a proper classification of prisoners in Newgate led the Parliamentary Committee on Metropolitan Gaols in 1818, to propose the classification of the prisons themselves, as Newgate for felonies, before trial; and other prisons for different classes of convicted offenders. It is now nearly thirty years since Mrs. Fry commenced her well-known attempts to improve the female prisoners in Newgate. In 1808, according to Sir Richard Phillips, the number of women in Newgate was usually from one hundred to one hundred and thirty. The breadth allotted to each in their sleepingroom was only eighteen inches! The untried were mixed with the convicted, the young and repentant offender with the hardened and profligate transgressor. When Mrs. Fry commenced her benevolent task, the female wards were a scene of uproar and confusion which defies description. The occupations and amusements of the place, as Mrs. Fry states, were "swearing, gaming, fighting, singing, dancing, drinking, and dressing up in men's clothes." Some, however, were destitute of

clothing, and unfit to be seen. One girl spent ten shillings in one day for beer, obtained in the name of other prisoners. Some of the women had scarcely sufficient food to support existence, while others enjoyed delicacies sent in by their friends. There was no certain supply of soap, and towels were not provided.

Notwithstanding that gradually a number of improvements have taken place in the discipline and administration of Newgate, it is still defective, and radically so, for the present building does not admit of the application of a proper system of discipline. In 1836 the Inspectors of Prisons justly found fault with the evils of gaol-contamination which prevail within its walls. The prisoners were enabled to amuse themselves with gambling, card-playing and draughts. They could obtain, by stealth it is true, the luxury of tobacco and a newspaper. Sometimes they could get drunk. Instruments to facilitate prison-breaking were found in the prison. Combs and towels were not provided, and the supply of soap was insufficient. In 1838 the Inspectors reported, that "this great metropolitan prison, while it continues in its present state, is a fruitful source of demoralization." In their last Report (the Seventh), dated 5th April, 1843, the Inspectors say :-" It has been our painful duty again and again to point attention to the serious evils resulting from gaol association and consequent necessary contamination in this prison. The importance of this prison in this point of view is very great. As the great metropolitan prison for the untried, it is here that those most skilled in crime of every form, those whom the temptations, the excesses, and the experience of this great city have led through a course of crime to the highest skill in the arts of depredation and to the lowest degradation of infamy, meet together with those who are new to such courses, and who are only too ready to learn how they may pursue the career they have just entered upon, with most security from detection and punishment, and with greater success and indulgence. The numbers committed, nearly 4000 per annum, which have rapidly increased, and are still increasing, render this a subject of still greater moment. Of this number about one-fifth are acquitted; many of these return to their associates with increased knowledge and skill in crime; with lost characters; with more hardened dispositions from their association here with others worse than themselves; and with their sense of shame and self-respect sadly diminished, if not utterly destroyed, by exposure to others, and by increased gaol acquaintances. Many others are sentenced to short terms of imprisonment, and in like manner soon get back again to their former courses and companions; and each of these becomes a source of greater mischief to the public, and of danger and seduction to the unwary and inexperienced. We most seriously protest against Newgate as a great school of crime. Associated together in large numbers and in utter idleness, frequently moved from ward to ward, and thereby their prison acquaintance much enlarged, we affirm that the prisoners must quit this prison worse than they enter it. It is said that prisoners are here but for a short time, and therefore that much mischief cannot be done. Many of them are here for three weeks and more, and are locked up together in numbers from three to twenty, for twenty out of twenty-four hours, without the restraining presence even of an officer, without occupation or resource, without instruction, except that afforded by the daily chapel service, and by the short visits which a chaplain can pay from ward to ward in so large a prison, and by the books which are