One very material objection to this machine arises out of the probability of abuse in the places where it is generally erected; an air of mystery has been thrown round houses of correction, which has acquired for some of them the odious name of bastile; even grand juries have been denied admission to them, on the ground that they are the prisons of the magistrates, not of the sheriff; we certainly do not understand either the policy or propriety of this distinction; that they should not be thrown open to the idle or merely curious we are ready to admit, but contend that they should be open to all official inspection; much must in every prison depend on the conduct and discretion of the jailors—to know that he is open to public animadversion is the best security for the due exercise of his office: a contrary assurance is well calculated to produce despotic feeling in ordinary minds; how much more then is it to be guarded against, when persons of the lower class are entrusted with extraordinary power of coercion, and are continually irritated by the refractory conduct of those who are placed under their authority. In such cases constant inspection, at uncertain times, and by uninterested persons, is the best guarantee against abuse.
FINIS.
