2Ist May SIR—Note that the public attention is roused to
the injurious s■ stem of secondary punishment by Transpertat ion, (for wide!: tee are getully indelte,1 to
the able and lucid statements hrd before both I by sir
WILLtA31 Mom:swot:Tit and the Archbishop of shoving that the clip:Omuta, after fit't -three.' years trio!, lots failtal,) I t g to lay liefore yogr readers a conclusive statement of the I:eft:Irate system, Os now conducted will: success in the United States.
The Set :trate system is partially used in this country. It was commenced expetimentidly sonic forty years since at (1Mucester ; and it is now in opera- tion at the "kelt:well, eith success. The litsp etor's lit ;tot t moat the latter prison states, that it clIers great cheenragement for the ho ri her :te,-,•Mitnutitt of princieles %%lab lure at present ehiy partially carried Mt o e ;net, ft oat the s: ant of a sufficient number of cells to ,..i.forec ...eparate rnalinottent. It yr:urs that those imprisoned fin' leog peritals, say twelve or eighteen montl., seldom re- turn a second time. But it is ill the United States, front the 1.lasture, part of Philadcli his, that solitary eontinennot has obtained its repute ; for it has only been recently introdliee d into the State Prisons ut. New Jersey and
into the County Gaols in Penns Nw tivania and e York.
At Philadelphia, the prisoner is placed in a 1.tr;.;,.,ell-warmed and vemilztted cell, in which he remelt,: foryems, perhaps lin' life, it t bout seeing any human M- ing except the inspectors, warder.;. and oeiCerS 'Phis solitude is accompanied by fat nor, which is it th .r granted as it favour than a task. By these means, the object iselatien we effect eally tained ; and all conolot- nicatinn, and censetilte nt mutual et rruptioo of prisoners, rendered physically impossible. Bearing in mind that the object of imprisonment bet wee', cum.
mitment and trial safe curl cay only, Ste Live 110 right to indict on the prisoner in that inlet al ;Illytl in,t t etratiental tither iu :Moil tar Italy. Now communication It ill: Inter Fris( 1:crs is morally it' ttriMIS to him, and is cense-
gtueuih evil tonl,ithitt uc out warranted in c•I'mg : n:nrcover, future recognition as having 1;0.11 it prisoner may pre jedice his p:t.spects lit lire. 1 hope that when the revision of the Gaol Acts flare, the first ha- prorement will be to trale provision for the sc.,,aration of the untried, to the end that the innocent may lie restored to society, and the guilty may pass their time in a st.tte of decent preparation for t sentence that awaits them. There can be little doubt that the great Into 1.1' offehtlers, it' they Ilati their choice, would prefer silence in association to I,,Mg :,eparated entirely front their fellow prisoners. There is a solace iii being surrounded by fellaw work- men, which is a material alleviation of the isolation of siienee, to a class desti- tute of moral energy, it hose relaxed frame of mind dreads nothing so much as to be driven by solitude to its own reflections. Those who are accustomed to an active life—soldiers, for instance—would rather endure the utmost corporal punishment than pass a few weeks in solitude. AVithout labour, it is so terrible a punishment that it can only be used fur a short period ; but com- bined with hard labour, and deitrived of the earnings of that labour, as %cell as the poster of receiving letters, it is a rigorous infliction. Isolate the prisoner, as at Philadelphia, from even the contemplation of leis associates in guilt ; give him ample means of learning his duty towards (10d and man, and or supplying the deficiencies of his previous education ; and let him be inured to labour, that he may form the habit of living by the sweat of his brow, Ills sot - tude should not be Lroken ee en by allowing him to attend divine worship : the Chaplain should attend Lim alone in his cell. I will shortly trespass upon your readers with a plan of Separate confine- ment, and the outlay, for the erection of cells of suitable dimensions.
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