ing them with teachers for their plantations, in providing houses of refuge for destitute children, in introducing infant schools, and schools of industry, &c. It has expended since its formation, four years since, about £2,000. Ladies' Negro Slave Relief Societies. There are twenty or thirty Societies of Ladies in England, formed to aid in the emancipation, particularly of female slaves, of whom there are 360,000 in the Colonies. "That the slaves may go with their young and with their old, with their sons and with their daughters, and that their little ones may go with them." TEMPERANCE SOCIETIES. AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR THE PROMOTION OF This Institution is a striking instance of the power of combined action when applied to moral subjects. Intemperance had not attained its frightful prevalence in our land, without calling forth many a note of remonstrance, and many individual efforts, to oppose its progress. But it was not, till recently, that virtuous zeal and solicitude led to the adoption of the plan of alliance for the purpose of total abstinence. The friends of morality now felt that the full time was come to concentrate their efforts, to deliver the land of a curse that was blasting every thing fair, and scattering woe, want, crime, and death. In worth of N. Y., Judge Thompson of the U. S. Court, and Chief Justice Parker of Mass. The Medical Societies of N. Hampshire, N. York, Vermont, and Connecticut have passed resolutions in accordance with the views and objects of the American Temperance Societies. The clergy, of all denominations, have made this cause their own, and are zealously opposing this gigantic evil, which has so long "defied the armies of the living God." The evils with which intemperance has deluged the country, are hideous and imfrom the enormous EXPENSE to which it has mense. We may attain some idea of them put the nation. 1. Expense of capital. The quantity of ardent spirit consumed in 1828 is calculated at 56,000,000 gallons, costing $28,000,000. Had no alteration taken place, the people of the U. States would have consumed their whole valuation in forty years from 1790. Add to this the loss which the commerce and manufactures of the country have sustained by the perversion of a large amount of capital employed in the making of this great alcoholic ocean. The American Temperance Society was instituted at Boston, Feb. 13, 1826. the two first years of its operations, agencies were performed by Drs. Edwards and Woodbridge, and by Rev. Mr. Hewit, Morton, Axtell, and Leavitt. On the first of January, 1828, Mr. Hewit commenced his labors as General Agent of the Society for the term of three years. About the time of the origin of the Society, Beecher's Sermons, which have gone through ten edi2. Expense of time. In 1828, our fellowtions, and Kittredge's Address, which is citizens, by swallowing such myriads of multiplied beyond calculation, came to gallons of intoxicating liquor, lost 1,344, help on the mighty work. Besides these,000,000 hours, which, at 4 cents an hour, about fifty publications, most of them from men of acknowledged worth and talents in the three learned professions, have followed in the same career. These publications, whose influence is widely and deeply felt, generally owe their origin to Temperance Associations, for whose celebra-200,000, and the maintenance of that part tions they were prepared. The Parent In- of them who are thrown upon the public stitution publishes an excellent and extenfor support, requires $7,500,000 a year. sively circulated weekly paper, under the title of "Journal of Humanity, and Herald of the American Temperance Society," devoted to this object; and the cause has gen erally been advocated by the periodical press. This righteous enterprise has been warmly befriended by executive, legislative, and judicial officers of several States. Among them are the Governors of Connecticut, Alabama and Ohio; the Legislatures of New York, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania; Chancellor Wal comes to $53,760,000; thus they spent an aggregate of more than 153,000 years.* 3. Expense of pauperism. Examination has shown, that three-fourths of the pauperism of the land is owing to intemperance. The whole number of paupers is 4. Expense of morals. This prime minister of depravity has caused three-fourths of all the crime in the land. Nearly every have sprung from this source; and of 20 case of felony Mr. Maxwell of N.Y.states to cases of murder, which, as a public officer, he had prosecuted, intemperance was concerned in them all. This is the testimony of many of the Judges in our criminal courts. It may be safely estimated that there are in the United States 60,000 persons who live by vice and crime. "The * Christian Almanac, 1829. expense of watching this army of crimi- | four times as large as that of Great Britain nals, of seizing and trying them, of main--it is sixty times as much as the aggretaining them in prison, and the losses sustained by their felonies, are unknown, but must be immense; and three-fourths of the whole must be set down to the account of intemperance.' 5. The expense of wretchedness and shame undergone by the 1,000,000 near relatives of our 120,000 drunkards, besides what falls to the share of the connexions of 300,000 occasional drunkards. 6. Expense occasioned by the carelessness and mismanagement of intemperate agents; such as the destruction of life and property by fires, shipwrecks, casualties, and bad conduct of business. This extensive loss falls equally on the good and the bad. 7. Expense of life. Intemperance causes or hastens, directly or indirectly, between 30,000 and 40,000 deaths per annum. On this carefully estimated item adequate comment is impossible. We might allude to the result of intemperance in eternity; but it is a sight sufficiently painful to behold what desolations it hath made in time. 28,000,000 The people of the U. S. to Intemperance, Dr. 3. To the support of 150,000 4. To losses by depravity of 45,000 criminals 5. To the disgrace and misery of 1,000,000 persons, (relatives of drunkards) 6 & 7. To the ruin of at least 30,000, and probably 48, 000 souls annually 8. To loss by premature death of 30,000 persons in the prime of life 9. To losses from the carelessness & mismanagement of intemperate seamen, 53,760,000 gate income of all the_principal religious charitable societies in Europe and America—it would supply every family on earth with a Bible in eight months—it would support a missionary or teacher among every two thousand souls on the globe! How prosperous might this country be-what blessings might it confer upon the world— if it were only relieved from the curse of Intemperance!" What a countless sum of evil, affecting all our social institutions, is presented in this statement. What an oppressive burden of taxation-what a pitiless despotism is exercised by this single national vice. Here we have abundant proof, that "sin is a reproach" not only, but an overflowing scourge "to any people." What is the American Temperance Society! It is a combination of many of the truly great, and wise, and virtuous, in our country, "to make a vigorous, united, and persevering effort to produce a change of public sentiment and practice, with regard to the use of intoxicating liquors.' What has the Society accomplished? Why-its redeeming influence has pervad ed the great mass of the population; and in its second Annual Report of progress, it has told the world, that within two years "the consumption of ardent spirit has diminished one half in New England, and one third throughout the remainder of the land." Why may we not, by thanking God, and taking courage, hope that in two years more the triumph will be complete? incalculable—that ere long this root of evil may be extirpated, among the sons of the pilgrims, and that no portion of the country will be left behind them. The golden age of the republic will have fully come. 7,500,000 unknown, but immense infinite! 30,000,000 unknown, &c.) very great. Certain pecuniary loss, (in 120,000,000 TOTAL "Thus it appears that, independently of items which cannot be estimated, our country pays or loses at the rate of One Hundred and Twenty Millions of dollars per annum, by Intemperance! This sum is five times as large as the revenue of the United States' government-it would pay off our national debt in six months-it would build twelve such canals as the Grand Erie and Hudson Canal, every year-it would support a navy * See Christian Almanac, 1829. The state of the fund on the 31st of Dec. 1828, according to the Treasurer's Report, is as follows: Balance according to the account 6,887 68 $14,195 09 In the First Report, 1827, it is announced, that more than 30 Auxiliaries had been formed; in the Report for 1828, about 500 are enumerated. The work now took the descriptive name of TEMPERANCE REFOR MATION. It was also discovered that a door of hope was opened for a class of the vicious, who had heretofore been placed beyond the expectation of amendment. There is reason to believe, that, during that year, "the Reformation" had been a life-boat to full 500 persons who had lost their footing, and been swept away by the tide of intemform has gone on with increasing power. perance. During the present year, the reThe sales of distilled spirits have greatly diminished, and their market value fallen., has brought into close and energetic co-operation Christians of various denominations, men of all classes, characters, professions, and occupations; and we know that nothing so binds in one the charities of men, as union of effort in the enterprises of virtue and religion. HISTORY OF EFFORTS TO IMPROVE PRISONS. "The Prison Discipline Society" was, the reason, that they could there curse, and organized in Boston, June 30, 1825. The object of the Society is, "The Improvement of Public Prisons." Principal evils to be removed. 1. Bad officers. Statements of superintendents and directors of several prisons show, that cases of mal-practice frequently occur among keepers, contractors, and assistant keepers; such as intemperance, improper familiarity with convicts, furnishing them with forbidden articles, &c. 2. Great expense. The New Hampshire prison, in 1819, cost the State $4,235 61. The average number of prisoners does not exceed 70. The whole annual expense for food, clothing, bedding for the prison, salary for officers, and their board, for the year ending May 1, 1822, was $2,931 40. For what, then, was the remaining expense of $1,304 21 incurred? and what was done with the proceeds of the labor of the convicts? Massachusetts Years. Av.No.con. Tot. exp. Fr. 1814 to '24 incl. 303 $78,312 44 "1790 to 1826 100 214,611 38 36,577 50 "1817 to 1819 Annually swear, and fight, and do other unutterable abominations, without having it known to any one." "There probably has never been on earth a stronger emblem of the pit than the sleeping rooms of this prison, so filthy, so crowded, so inclined to evil, so unrestrained." In prison we find "a community of villains, a school of vice, teachers of uncommon experience and corruption." The arts of counterfeiting bills and coin, of picking locks and pockets, are brought to great perfection. Here "a horrible offence is committed between wretches, who are alike destitute of moral sentiment, and without the reach of physical restraint. Nature and humanity cry aloud for redemption from this dreadful degradation. Better even that the laws were written in blood than that they should be executed in sin." 4. Imprisonment of youth and children.The following table shows the proportion, in different prisons, under 21 years of age: WholeNo. Und.21. Prop. 116 22 1 to 5 In Maine 603 381,302 32 In Vermont 70 148 1 to 6 At Auburn, whole t'm 997 201 30 1 to 7 4,000 00 30,000 00 3. Unrestrained intercourse. The prisoners, during the day, are scattered about in different shops and apartments, with little or no inspection, and may be found in groups in various parts of the establishment, or walking in pairs in free and earnest conversation, during working hours. Under such circumstances, it must require nearly as many keepers as prisoners, to prevent the latter from devising mischief, and perpetrating wickedness of almost every description. And if this be true in re-iquity.' gard to the shops and other places about the yard in broad day-light; what must be the fact, when these degraded beings at night, in numbers from four to thirty-two persons, locked together in cells which are not subject to official inspection," as is the case in most of our Penitentiaries! or when they are immured in dungeons, as at Newgate in Connecticut. In these "dungeons, seventy feet under ground, former-utterable abominations." ly used as night rooms, some of the prisoners volunteered to return to them, as places of confinement at night, and assigned as "From the above table it appears, that the proportion of those committed to prison under twenty one years of age, in all the prisons mentioned, is one-seventh part at least, and in some much more.""It is sufficiently apparent, from the disclosure of vices existing in prisons, how great is the evil of bringing so great a proportion of young offenders within the corrupting influence of this wretched community. About 300 youth are continually in a course of education in these high schools of in 66 are "Children have been found in some of our prisons, under 12 years of age, who have been many months, and some of them more than a year, intimately associated with the most profligate and vile of the human race. The loathsome skin, the distorted features, the unnatural eyes of some of these boys, indicate, with a clearness not to be misapprehended, the existence of un 5. Imprisonment of Lunatics. In 1827, considerable effort had been made to obtain data, from which to ascertain the whole of number of lunatics in jail in the United "The following statement of the number States; by which it appers, that the num- persons committed for trial in the Brideber, in all probability, exceeds three hun- well prison of New York, on accusations dred. These unfortunate beings, in addi- for crimes and misdemeanors, extracted tion to the mental agony they endure by from Mr. Livingston's celebrated work on this awful visitation of their Maker, are the Prison Discipline-also of the numbers acsubjects of extreme suffering from cold and quitted, condemned, and discharged withnakedness; from dark and poorly ventilat-out trial, will satisfactorily demonstrate the ed rooms; from want of comfortable accommodations, and from neglect; and from being exposed to the ridicule or abuse of other prisoners. One or two instances, out of many equally heart-rending and appalling, must suffice to give an idea of the misery of these wretched sufferers. enormity of the evil here presented to the public view."- "Who can think, without horror and indignation, of the incarceration of above six thousand persons in four years, some perhaps for months, against whom, at the time appointed for trial, there appeared no accuser!" 1822 1825 "The instance has occurred, in which a young clergyman, who was educated at one of our most respectable theological seminaries, became deranged, and was found, by his friends, imprisoned in Bridewell, New 1824 York, in the common receptacle of misfortune, disease, and guilt. As soon as the keeper knew who his friends were, information concerning him was communicated; and as soon as his friends knew that he was there, they procured his release." "In Massachusetts, in the Prison, or House of Correction, so called, in which were ten lunatics, two were found, about 70 years of age, a male and female, in the same apartment of an upper story. The female was lying on a heap of straw, under a broken window. The snow, in a severe storm, was beating through the window, and lay upon the straw around her withered body, which was partially covered with a few filthy and tattered garments. The man was lying in a corner of the room in a similar situation, except that he was less exposed to the storm. The former had been in this apartment six, and the latter twenty-one years." 6. Delay of trials. "In one room, in the jail in Washington City, were seven persons; three women and four children. This room was only eight feet square. All the women were released from this room, at the Jail Delivery, in January 1825, no bill having been found against them. One of the women had been detained in this wretched place four months, as a witness." 7. Want of religious instruction. On this subject the christian community have been inattentive. "It is a general fact, that the Prisons, in the Atlantic States south of the Potomac, are not visited at all by ministers or Christians. Of course they have no religious service on the Sabbath; no Sabbath Schools for the instruction of young convicts; and no attention from the philanthropist and Christian, to prevent abuses which may possibly exist in these miserable places. And in all our Prisons this important subject has been too much neglected. This is one great means of reformation, the desirable end of all punishment. 8. Colored Population. The facts, which are gathered from the Penitentiaries, to show how great a proportion of the convicts are colored, even in those States, where the colored population is small, show most strikingly, the connexion between ignorance and vice. The following table shows in regard to several States, the whole population, the colored population, the whole number of convicts, the number of colored convicts, proportion of convicts to the whole population, proportion of colored convicts. 7,000 314 50 1 to 74 1 to 6 275,000 8,000 1,372,000 39,000 New Jersey 277,000 20,000 Pennsylvania Expenses for the support of Colored Convicts. In Massachusetts "Connecticut in 10 years "New York improvement in regard to health, reformation, and other particulars. $17,734 Houses of Refuge for juvenile delin37,166 quents have been established in New York 109,166 and Boston. The whole number of subjects received into the latter institution, $164,066" from its commencement, Sept. 20, 1826, to April 30, 1828, was 143; of whom 26 ed, 26 have been apprenticed; from nearly were girls. Of the whole number receivall of whom favorable returns have been ber received has died.". received; and not one of the whole num"The whole in 15 years in 27 years Total Such was the fact in 1827, concerning the degraded character of the colored population. The white convicts are remaining nearly the same, or are diminishing while the colored convicts are increasing. At the same time the white population is increasing in the Northern States much faster than the colored population. It is manifest that the great cat se of the frequency and increase of crime is, neglecting to raise the character of the colored population. An argument is derived in favor of education from these facts. $164, 000 expended, in so short a time, for the purposes of education, among a population of only 54,000 souls, would very soon raise their character to a level with that of the whites. The last Report of "The Prison Discipline Society shows that encouraging progress has been made towards remedying these evils. To prevent evil communications in prisons. In several prisons arrangements have been made to lodge the convicts at night, in solitary cells. Order, silence, and close inspection during the day. number received into the institution in New York, from Jan. 1, 1825, to Jan. 1, 1828, was 377; of whom 107 were girls. and 38 girls remained in the Refuge, Jan. Of the whole number received, 123 boys, 1, 1828.-118 boys, and 50 girls, have been apprenticed; from whom, with very few have been received; only one has died. exceptions, the most gratifying returns The Refuge, in Philadelphia, is expected soon to be in operation. Considerable interest has been excited in regard to lunatics; and it is to be hoped, provided with other accommodations than the time is not distant, when they will be prisons. made, and the evils which call loudly for In many prisons no reform has been remedy, still exist. The receipts of this Society have been $6,103 08. 540 FOREIGN COUNTRIES. To provide for and communicate proper instruction. Religious service on the Sabbath, reading the Scriptures and prayer; tion 8 years. Its Seventh Report contains The London Society has been in operamorning and evening, and Sabbath School instruction, are some of the privileges enpages. Its attention is directed princijoyed by the convicts in several of the pris-pally to the prisons in Great Britain. The expenses of the Soc. last year, (1827,) were $11,959,which exceeded its receipts $4,120. ons. ons. To diminish the current expenses of prisFacts show, that, under proper regulations, these institutions can support themselves. The new prison, containing 97 convicts, at Wethersfield, Conn., the Directors say, in their Report to the Legislature, April 10, 1828, "has earned for six months ending on the 31st of March, 1828, the sum of $1,017,16, over and above the expenses of its management and support, which may be considered as profits." Contrast this with Newgate. The average annual expense of this prison, from its establishment (in 1791) to the first of April 1826, has exceeded $5,680, which amounts during the whole period, to $204,480. In the prison at Auburn, N. Y., the earnings of the convicts, 550 in number, in October, 1827, $2,792,28, which being continued at the same rate for one year, would amount to $33,307,36.-Similar to this is the new prison at Sing Sing; while the amount appropriated by the Legislature, in eight of the most costly years, for current expenses in the old State prison in New York, was $224,965,18. There is also much In Scotland no benevolent association has been formed. In Ireland there is an association at Dub lin, for the improvement of prisons and prison discipline. Statement of the number of Criminal Offenders, committed for trial in the several Jails in England, Wales, and Ireland, in 1823; also the Population. |