apartments, and are not suffered to come out,
or to
have communication with other prisoners, but are
constantly watched by keepers day and night. Expe-
rience will
evince, that among any given number of
convicts, one tenth part may
be fairly considered as
desperate and hardened villains, who appear
incor-
rigible; and, it is of importance that such should be
carefully selected and separated from the rest, as it
is more
probable they may, by proper management,
be reformed.
As another means of reformation, attention is paid
to their
religious and moral instruction.
A large room in the prison, very neatly finished, is
set apart for
the purpose of divine worship. This
room, and the gallery round it,
will accommodate
about six hundred persons.
In this place the prisoners are assembled on the
first day of each
week, when one of their number
reads a sermon and prayers, and the
rest join in sing-
ing psalms.
It is expected that the public preachers of the gos-
pel in the city
will cheerfully devote a small portion
of their time to the service
of these unhappy beings,
who have so much need of their
instruction, and of
the counsel of the truly good and
benevolent.
As no distinction of sect exists in this great work
of charity and
benevolence, it is hoped that religious
characters of every
Christian denomination will feel
it their duty to visit them on the
day set apart for
divine worship; since it is obvious that a due
atten-
tion to this important duty must produce the most
salutary effects on the minds and conduct of the pri-
soners, and
most powerfully promote the great plan
of reformation.*
* As rational and immortal
beings, we owe this to them, nor can any
criminality of
theirs justify our neglect in this particular.
HOWARD
Connected with this scheme of punishment and
reformation, is another
object, which, though of infe-
rior importance in a moral view, is
yet deserving of