At Luckau the sexes are rigorously separated, and lodged in different buildings. The men are divided into two classes, one of which is composed of the principal criminals and also of those who appear to be dangerous characters, whatever may be the degree of the offence which they are expiating at the time; the second class consists of those who are imprisoned for a comparatively short period, and who are not regarded as dangerous. In Rhenish Prussia classification of prisoners is still imperfect; at Cologne, the sexes are separated, but prisoners of the same sex are not classified. A separate locality has, however, been recently granted to those who exhibit signs of good conduct. An edict of 1811 ordains the separation of different species of convicts in the duchy of Nassau. An ordinance of 1813 prescribed the separation of the young from the old in the prisons of Holstein, but it had not been generally carried into effect in 1828. There does not appear to be any classification at Glückstadt, but the efficiency of the system of superintendance somewhat counterbalances this defect. At Freiburg, the sexes only are separated; at Mannheim, besides this division, the culprits form two classes, and at Kaiserslautern, three. In respect to the Labour which is executed by the culprits, the prisons of Germany deserve particular attention. The spinning and rasping which were formerly carried on in these establishments were doubly objectionable, as affording but little pecuniary profit, and being of little service to the prisoners on their liberation. It was the jealousy of the different trades and corporations which restricted the employments of the prisoners, and the same obstacle prevails, though to a much less extent, at present. The prisoners at Munich are employed in an excellent manufactory of cloth, and as tailors and shoemakers. The cloth alone, which is of the quality worn by the higher classes, produces a revenue to the government of more than 50,000 florins yearly. The prisoners in Holstein are still, for the most part, unemployed; but not so in Schleswig, particularly at Glückstadt, where each prisoner is bound to do a certain quantity of work, which if he neglects he is punished; if he does more than is required, he is paid for the surplus. The prisoners are employed in spinning, carding wool, knitting stockings, weaving, making pipes for fireengines, and sail-cloth. At Dresden the prisoners are employed in cleaving wood, breaking stones down to sand, and dragging coals through the town. The inhabitants can obtain the prisoners to do any sort of work for them, by paying five groschen per day to the establish ment. At Plessenburg there is a cloth manufactory and a bakehouse in the prison. The prisoners are allowed to work a little for themselves. The managers of the prison allow culprits who have been liberated to become the superintendants of the others when at work. At Mannheim the employments of the prisoners are dressing hemp, weaving, knitting, making clothes, shoes, and, lately, manufacturing list. The superintendants of the different kinds of works receive four hundred florins a year. Some of the prisoners are employed in making the furniture of the establishment, and others are employed by the inhabitants, at their own houses, to cleave wood. At Freiburg the prisoners are employed in stonecutting, weaving, carpenter's-work, and as masons, shoemakers, tailors, locksmiths, and clockmakers. At Cologne, a certain number of prisoners are without occupation, those, for instance, who are condemned to a short imprisonment, debtors, and those of the untried who are not likely to remain long. Trades of all sorts are carried on by the rest of the prisoners; amongst others, lithography. The following table shows the numbers of employed and unemployed in the prison of Aix-la-Chapelle, in 1828:— Men employed in weaving, carding, &c., or as tailors, mechanics, &c. Men employed in the kitchen, infirmary, and in the service of the establishment 763 55 818 43 87 - 162 Prisoners of a certain rank, and debtors Ditto condemned to pay a fine, or confined for a short period Total unemployed The number of women employed in knitting, weaving, &c., was Total employed Since 1826, a treadmill has been used in the house of correction at Hamburg. The diameter of the wheel is seven feet and a half; it has twenty-one steps; ten prisoners are employed at it eight hours a day; they are divided into two sections of five each, and relieve each other every five minutes; during this short space of time they have to mount four hundred and twenty steps. At Güstrow, several trades are exercised, and the object of employment is, not only to keep the prisoners occupied during their stay in the prison, but to teach them a useful vocation for the future. At Rudolstadt, in the duchy of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, the prisoners are employed in turning a wheel, the noise of which constrains them to silence; it sets in motion a machine for clothmaking. At Naugard, the object of the management has been, not to turn the prison into a manufactory, but to employ the prisoners in any occupation which they had previously been taught. At Kaiserslautern, the treadmill and several occupations have been introduced. Before we conclude this subject, we shall say a few words on the savings of prisoners, and on the produce of their labour in general. In Austria, the daily task allotted to each prisoner is such, that the very industrious have a little time to work for themselves. The half of what the prisoner earns for himself is set apart to be given him at his liberation; the other half he can spend in buying bread, beer, or broth. In order to appreciate this privilege, we must remember that the Austrian prisoner has, for three days of the week, only a pound of bread for all provision. At Naugard, the prisoner has first to pay for his support by his labour, before he receives anything extra. What he saves, is placed in the Savings'-bank at Stettin, and should he die in confinement, it goes to his heirs. On his quitting the prison, he not only receives his extra earnings, but he is duly recommended where he is likely to obtain employment. In respect to their gains, all the prisoners are put as much as possible on the same footing; and half is at their disposal for the purchase of provisions, a little brandy, and, on Sundays, of tobacco for chewing. At Dresden, the sum accruing from surplus labour is never placed at the prisoner's disposal until his liberation. At Hamburg, the system of surplus labour has not been adopted; but a part of what the prisoners earn reverts to them. The other German prisons resemble more or less the above, in the arrangements they have introduced respecting the employment of prisoners. At Coburg, half the gain is given weekly to the prisoners to spend; and the other half is retained until their discharge. At Mannheim, elementary instruction of a mutual kind has been introduced, by which reading, writing, and arithmetic are tanght; it takes place for an hour every day. On Sundays, one of the convicts reads portions of the Bible to the others. At Freiburg, the Sundays and holidays are devoted to the instruction of such prisoners as desire it, in reading, writing, and accounts. Of 6941 prisoners who were confined at Schweidnitz, from 1801 to 1826, 1500 learned to read, 1250 to write, and 970 to cast accounts. This establishment has a regular school master. At Naugard, a prisoner is charged provisionally with the elementary instruction of his companions; but only the better prisoners are taught to write, from a fear that they may abuse the acquisition. The following table shows the state of elementary instruction in those prisons to which the influence of the Rheno-Westphalian Prison Society had extended, two years after its formation. In the Stadt-Voigtei prison at Berlin, no measures have been taken to promote elementary instruction: the women only receive it, owing to the exertions of a committee of ladies. At Spandau, a school was established in 1824, where the prisoners are taught reading, writing and accounts; the schoolmaster has a salary of fifty dollars. At Brandenburg thirty or forty are chosen out of three or four hundred prisoners to receive elementary instruction thrice a week. At Prenzlau and at Potsdam, the young prisoners alone are instructed and are sent to school in the respective towns. At Luckau, Königsberg, Rawicz, Brieg, Munster, Werden, Aix-la-Chapelle, and Malmedy, there is religious, but no elementary instruction. At Lichtenburg, the clergyman is the schoolmaster, and at Treves, on Sundays and holidays, the prisoners are in structed in reading, writing, arithmetic and drawing; whilst the young Protestants go regularly to a school in the town. In the house of correction at Brauweiler there are a schoolmaster and a schoolmistress; the former has two hundred and sixty-two dollars, the latter, two hundred dollars, salary. The prisoners are taught spelling, reading, writing, the history of their country, arithmetic, drawing and singing, and natural history. In 1826, the school contained one hundred and sixty-two children of from five to sixteen, and twenty-one persons above that age. The boys learn the military exercise, during the hours of recreation, and form a well organised company, which has a commander, |