ment is in so great a state of forwardness as to be
nearly ready for the reception of suitable objects. It
is to be denominated the House of Refuge, and youth,
not exceeding sixteen or seventeen years of age, are
to be committed there by the criminal courts, instead
of being sent to the City Penitentiary, or State Prison,
as has heretofore been the practice. At night they
are to lodge in separate cells, and during the day, to
be employed in some useful labour; they are to be
instructed in reading, writing, and arithmetic. The
utmost degree of cleanliness is to be strictly observed,
throughout every part of the building; and in the
persons of the boys, good morals and decent beha-
viour, are to be rigidly maintained; the careful and
frequent reading of the Holy Scriptures is to be en-
forced. The trustees are empowered to bind them
as apprentices, to the sea-service, to a trade, or to
farmers. A similar establishment might be formed
at Albany

, to serve for Troy and other towns on the
North River, and the state might be divided into con-
venient districts, and one establishment of this
nature erected in each district.

A distinct and separate building should be erected on
the premises attached to the state prison, for the confine-
ment of adults, males and females, such as common
drunkards, prostitutes, those who keep houses of ill
fame, or gambling-houses, or for those guilty of small
petty thefts, or vagrants. This prison should be divi-
ded into cells about the size of six feet by four.

A single magistrate should be vested with power to
commit persons to this prison from three to thirty days.
Each prisoner should be obliged to wash his face and
hands every morning. Rigid care should be taken
to have each cell well ventilated, and kept perfectly
clean; and this care should be extended, as far as pos-
sible, to their clothes and personal appearance. He
should be confined in a separate cell, and fed only on
bread and water, have no work, and no bed, except
a single blanket. The prisoners should be allowed