pork, and excellent bread, but no other drink than
good water; those employed as smiths never work-
ed at the trade till they came to Sing Sing

, and the
neatness and excellence of their work in making the
doors and locks for the cells, are really astonishing.
The mason work appears to be done in the best man-
ner—the men all have a chain about fifteen pounds.
Their first work was to erect sheds with pine boards,
to lodge in at night; they are not allowed to speak
to each other, of course, the whole work is quietly
conducted, without the least noise or confusion; they
have enjoyed remarkable good health, and though
the summer was uncommonly hot, and they had to
work exposed to the sun, yet, I think, only two have
been sick; they never missed working every day, and
but one has escaped. Six men, each with a musket,
are stationed at equal distances from each other—the
river in the front, serves also to prevent an escape.
When the prison is finished, all the convicts in the
New York state prison in this city, about five to six
hundred, are to be removed, and it is intended to
employ them in making lime, and preparing marble
in various ways to be transported to the city, to be
used for purposes of ornament, building, &c. The
work is admirably calculated to promote good health,
and so simple, that every man can be employed; all
the marble they can send to this city, and to Albany,
and other places on the Hudson River, will meet
with an immediate sale, and considerable will be
exported to the Southern states. Order, and conse-
quently the important work of reformation, will be
far more certain, than if various trades were pursued.
And here, permit me to observe, that I think thy
remark, that each convict should learn some trade,
does not apply to this country so much as it may to
England. Some of our convicts have been brought
up to trades, but most of them have been employed
at farming and as labourers. If they are willing to
work, they may readily get employment in the city