freeholders, or voters, in 1825, was 3066, as stated in the following statistical table. The number in 1811 was only 2429. In 1796, the number of real voters in the Scottish counties was estimated at 1390. In two counties, there were only three real voters in each, and in seven not more than ten. The nominal and fictitious voters were said to amount to 1202. The number of persons who actually voted at the elections of the boroughs was very inconsiderable, consisting, in general, of the magistrates and town council, amount

Counties.

ing to only twenty in each burgh, or, in all the sixty-six burghs, to 1320. By the late reform act, five members are added to the representation of Scotland; and the representation is now distributed as follows: To the thirty-three counties, twenty-eight members; to Edinburgh and Glasgow, two each; to Aberdeen, Dundee, Greenock, Leith and Paisley, one each; and to thirteen districts of boroughs, one each; total, fifty. The right of voting is also placed on the same footing as in England.

-See, further, the Extraordinary Black Book (2d ed., 1832), and Key to both Houses of Parliament (1 vol., 8vo., 1832). -The old parliament has just been dissolved, and the writs for new elections issued; but the results are yet unknown to us. But we subjoin, in a note, a document which will show our readers what is understood by reform, by at least some of the English reformers. It is from an address of the national political union in England to the electors of the United Kingdom, on

* "The pledges that candidates should be required to give seem to be, 1. Parliamentary reform. This includes, first, shortening the duration of parliaments; second, voting by ballot. If the whole nation were divided into electoral districts, and the votes taken by ballot, parliament could not be too short, nor the right of voting too extensive. At present, the duration of parliament should be limited to three years.-2. Law reform. This includes a thorough revision of all lawscommon, statute, civil, criminal, ecclesiastical, local, parliamentary and municipal; the abolition of ali arbitrary jurisdictions; the abridgment, as much as may be possible, of vexation, delay and expense; the detection of crimes, and the certainty of speedy punishment; abolition of barbarous and cruel punishments; and the adoption of such punishments only as are commensurate with offences.-3. Financial reform. This includes reduction of taxes to the greatest possible extent; reduction of all over-paid salaries and pensions, as well as payment of every kind, from the highest office in the state to the lowest; the total abolition of all sinecures, all useless offices, and all unearned pensions. It is advisable that indirect taxes, and especially those which press heaviest on trade, manufactures, commerce, and the comforts of the people, should be repealed in prefer ence to direct taxes. Had there been none but direct taxes, the public never would have submitted to be taxed to one half the amount they are at present taxed.-4. Trade reform. This includes

the pledges to be required from candidates for parliament.

PATTERSON, William, a governor of New Jersey, and one of the associate judges of the supreme court of the U. States, was born in that state, and graduated in its college in 1763. In 1787, he was a member of the convention which framed the constitution of the U. States, and affixed his name to that instrument. In 1789, when the new government commenced its operations, he was a member

the abolition of all monopolies, and more especially the "corn law" monopoly; the free admission of all sorts of produce for manufacturers, and, indeed, of free trade in every respect, that the greater number may no longer be compelled to purchase any thing at an advanced price, that the profits of a very small comparative number may be unduly increased.-5. Church reform. This includes, first, equalization to a great extent of the church establishment. Every dignitary of the church preaches poverty and wallows in wealth. Great wealth being condemned as incompatible with the true religion, none of its ministers should, therefore, be wealthy. Second, ceasing to compel any one to pay for the maintenance of any particular doctrine he does not approve. Third, abolition of tithes in the fairest way and in the shortest time possible.-6. Abolition of slavery. This includes the freedom of every person, of every color and every shade of color. Holding of persons in slavery is unjust, atrocious and cruel. Abolition of slavery without compensation to slaveholders is also unjust; but it is inevitable, and, therefore, less unjust than retaining them as slaves. It becomes, then, the duty of the legislature to emancipate all slaves, with the least injustice, as well to the slave-holders as to slaves themselves, and in as little time as possible, compatible with the smallest amount of evil.-7. Taxes on knowledge. These are the stamp duty on newspapers, the excise duty on paper, and the duty on advertisements."

of the senate from New Jersey, and, in the following year, was chosen governor. He subsequently was appointed to the bench of the supreme court, and continued to sit upon it until his death, at Albany, on the 9th of September, 1806. He was an able statesman, an upright judge, and a disinterested patriot.

PAVOIS. (See Shield.)

PEARL SPAR. (See Dolomite.)
PENCO. (See Conception, La.)

PENITENTIARY SYSTEM OF PENNSYLVANIA. One of the points which have occasioned the greatest division of opinion among the friends of the penitentiary system, relates to solitary confinement. One party contend that this should be made the very basis of prison discipline, and have carried their principles into effect in the Eastern penitentiary of Pennsylvania: others strenuously oppose it. The opinions expressed in the article Prison Discipline, in this work, are rather unfavorable to the plan adopted in Pennsylvania. As the question is one of great interest, and as many misconceptions on this subject exist among those who are sincerely devoted to the reformation of prisons, we have thought it not improper to give, in this place, a view of some of the arguments which may be urged in support of the principle of uninterrupted solitary confinement. All that will be attempted will be to touch upon the main features of the question, and to offer some suggestions, derived from the writer's own experience, with the view of making it appear that the system of solitary confinement, as now practised in the Eastern penitentiary in Philadelphia, is the only effectual mode of making prisons schools of reformation, instead of schools of corruption. The more light there is thrown upon this subject, the better for the cause. Strong, and, in our opinion, unfounded prejudices against the system of solitary confinement, are entertained even by men justly esteemed for their enlight ened views and strenuous labors for the good of mankind. The late William Roscoe, for instance, was extremely hostile to the system, as appears from several pieces which he has written on the subject of prison discipline.* Mr. Roberts

* We learn, from doctor T. S. Traill's memoir on that distinguished scholar, read before the literary and philosophical society of Liverpool, in October, 1832, that he said "that no literary distinction had ever afforded him half the gratification he received from the reflection on the part he had taken on this great question; and he expressed his satisfaction that he now might be permitted to think that he had not lived altogether

Vaux, of Philadelphia, addressed to him a Letter on the Penitentiary System of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, 1827), from which, and from another production of this gentleman, we shall present to our readers various extracts in the course of this article. We would also refer the reader, for more particular information than our limits will allow, to other publications of Mr. Vaux, who is indefatigable in promoting the education of children and the correction of criminals. The publications to which we allude are Notices of the Original and Successive Efforts to improve the Prison Discipline in Philadelphia, and to reform the Penal Law of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, 1826); a Discourse delivered before the Historical Society of the State of Pennsylvania on New-Year's Day, 1827 (Philadelphia, 1827); and a Letter to Bishop White, the President, and other Members of the Philadelphia Society for alleviating the Miseries of Public Prisons, in No. 8, vol. i, of the Journal of Law (Philadelphia, 1830).+ -Before going into the subject of this article, we would remark that it is believed by many foreigners, that the Pennsylvania penitentiary system has been abandoned in the very state from which it takes its name. The following passage from the message of the governor of Pennsylvania to the legislature of that state (Dec. 6, 1832), shows that this is a mistake, and throws light upon other points in question:-"Our penitentiary system," says governor Wolf, "as immediately connected with the administration of criminal justice, is to be regarded as being of the first importance, in reference as well to the security of the persons and property, as to the general morals of our citizens; and, so far as regards the Eastern penitentiary, the philanthropic advocates of penitentiary reform may justly congratulate themselves upon the success with which their exertions have been crowned, in bringing so near to perfection a system in vain." And yet to such mistakes are great men liable-we believe that Mr. Roscoe had but a very imperfect knowledge of the effects of solitary confinement, and that his conclusions on the subject were drawn from unfounded suppositions.

These writings are known beyond the limits of the U. States. We find them mentioned with respect in the Lectures on Prisons, &c., by Nicholas Henry Julius (Berlin, 1828), and in the Annals of Institutions for Punishment and Correction of Paupers, their Education, &c., published monthly at Berlin, by the same author (both in German)-works little known in this country, on account of the language in which they are written, but which contain a great mass of information on the subjects mentioned in their titles.

surrounded by so many difficulties. The government of this prison has been conducted, in regard as well to its economy as its discipline, in a manner worthy of all commendation; and the experiment of the efficacy of solitary confinement with labor, so far as there has been opportunity to test it, has exceeded the expectations of the most sanguine among its friends. On the 25th October, 1829, the first convict was received into the Eastern penitentiary; and from thence until the 1st November, 1832, the whole number admitted amounted to 132 males, and 4 females, convicted of various offences. On the day last mentioned, there remained in confinement ninety male and four female prisoners. The whole number discharged between the above dates, by reason of the expiration of sentence, was twentyeight: nine died, and five were pardoned. One fact, in reference to this institution, bears strong testimony in favor of its discipline. It appears that not a single convict discharged from this prison has ever been returned to it; which would seem to prove pretty clearly, either that a thorough reformation has been produced, or that a dread of a repetition of the unsocial manner of life which had proved so irksome before, has deterred from the commission of crimes within those limits of the state in which a conviction would insure a sentence to the Eastern penitentiary. The annual accounts of the prison are not closed until the 30th of November. I have not, therefore, been able to ascertain, with accuracy, how far the earnings of the prisoners will be available to defray the expenses of the institution. It is believed that, for the present, they will pay all except the salaries of the officers; and it is not doubted that, as soon as the prison shall have been fully organized, the entire expenses will be defrayed out of the proceeds of the establishment. The experiment made in the Eastern penitentiary has demonstrated the fact, that solitary confinement with labor does not impair the health of those subjected to that ́species of discipline. The prisoners work to more advantage: having no opportunity for conversation or amusement, they eagerly desire employment; here all communication is cut off; no one knows his fellow prisoner; no acquaintance is formed; no contamination takes place; the convict sees no one, holds communion with no one, except such as will give him good advice; he is placed in a situation where he has every inducement to grow better, but little temptation to grow

worse; here thought and reflection will crowd upon the mind, and prepare it for solemn impressions, and for moral and religious instruction. The discipline established in this prison; the manner of the construction and arrangement of the building itself, and of the cells in which the prisoners are confined and employed, are admitted, by all who have turned their attention to the subject of penitentiary reform, to possess decided advantages over those of any other establishment designed for similar objects, in this or any other country. Foreigners, whose especial business it has been to visit the penitentiaries in this country, generally, for the purpose of acquiring information in reference to the subject of penitentiary punishment, and its efficacy in producing reformation in those subjected to its discipline, have, with one voice, awarded the meed of merit to that established in the Eastern penitentiary of Pennsylvania. I have the satisfaction to inform you that, of the 400 additional cells recently directed by the legislature to be constructed, 100 are finished, and will be ready as soon as the plastering shall have become sufficiently dry to receive prisoners: 118 more are in a state of forwardness, and the whole number will be completed in the course of the ensuing season."* The report to be made upon the Eastern prison during the present session of the legislature of Pennsylvania, we understand, will contain satisfactory proofs of the advantages of the system, and an account of essential improvements in the architecture of the prison. In the article on Prison Disci

last report of the inspectors of the Western peni*The governor continues as follows: "From the tentiary, as well as from a partial personal inspection of it, I am satisfied that its condition, and the fruits of the course of discipline there exercised, are directly the reverse of that which I have just attempted to describe. From the imperfect plan of the building itself, and the inconvenient, injudicious arrangement of the cells, the discipline of solitary confinement with labor cannot be enforced; the prisoners cannot be restrained from conversing with each other; every prisoner may acquire a knowledge of the individuals confined within its walls; contamination from conversation with his fellow prisoners may take place; the cell of the prisoner cannot, as in the case of the Eastern penitentiary, be used as his workshop, in which he may always be usefully and profitably employed; there are no separate yards connected with the several cells, which renders it necessary, for the health of the prisoners, to allow them frequently to associate with each other in the common yards. Many other defects exist, and many important alterations will be required to fit this establishment for the same course of salutary discipline so successfully practised in the Eastern penitentiary."