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singing. Instruction in that branch is given by one of the convicts, under the superintendence of the chaplain, which we hope will add increased interest to our devotional exercises.

During the year, twenty have left the prison and returned to mingle again with society. Each one, on leaving, has been warned against falling into the company of those who would lead him into vice and crime; the dangers which beset his path have been pointed out, and motives to a life of sobriety, virtue and religion, have been inculcated. Those who have left, with some few exceptions, have embraced the principles of total abstinence from all intoxicating drinks, and as their taste for strong drinks has been corrected by the simple course of diet used in the prison, and their minds have become informed on the subject, by a constant course of reading, something, it is hoped, has been done to secure them from an immediate course of intemperance and crime.

It would not be proper to attempt to define the degree of success which has attended moral and religious instruction, and efforts made for the reformation and future good of the prisoner. This must remain to be developed by time. But a becoming reverence for the bible, the Sabbath, and religious worship, is very generally manifest; the reality and importance of personal religion, and the correctness of its moral precepts, are admitted; and in some few instances, it is hoped, the saving influences of the gospel have carried life and peace to the soul.

It is due to the warden of the institution and the gentlemen associated with him, that I should bear testimony to their kind feelings and untiring efforts for the temporal happiness and moral good of those committed to their care, as well as the friendly aid which they have afforded me in the discharge of the discharge of my duties.While mildness and humanity have been mingled with decision and firmness in the discipline maintained, paternal council and admonition have exerted a salutary influence on the minds and morals of the convicts. I am happy to state my belief that the humane course of treatment, together with the moral influence exerted, and the moral and religious instruction imparted, have been attended with great good in relation to many. One fact is here worthy of notice. Of forty-eight, the whole number who have been liberated within two years past, not one has been recommitted to this or any other prison, and a large proportion of this number are known to be steadily engaged, either as farmers or mechanics, in obtaining an honest livelihood.

It may not be possible to ascertain all the causes which lead to the commission of crime, but some considerations are so pro

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minent in the history of those committed to our penitentiary, that they cannot be mistaken. Some of these causes may be re

medied, others can never be.

Many of these men were almost or entirely destitute of early moral and religious instruction. Some few were the offsprings of parents, one or both of which were professedly religious; but in most of these instances there is evidence of a gross neglect of parental instruction and discipline.

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Where a scrupulous regard of right and wrong is early inculcated, the principle becomes a fixed one, and operates as a powerful protection to the mind in after life. Very few of our victs were the subjects of such early moral culture. Many are exceedingly deficient in a knowledge of Bible instruction. Several, when committed, could not read; a still greater number could not write; and but few are found who possess an enlightened education. Many, also, have been permitted to grow up without restraints, and have thereby contracted habits of idleness and dissipation, the natural result of which has been to lead them to the commission of crime, to satisfy the wants produced by these vices.

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But one of the most fruitful sources from which the prison receives its constant recruits, is, that of intemperance. A large proportion of those sent here were intemperate men. Many were the children of intemperate parents, and have had the very worst example before them from their earliest childhood. ers, by frequenting places of intemperance, have been drawn into the company of the vicious, and gradually prepared for the commission of crimes of which they would once have though themselves incapable.

It will readily be admitted that the propensity in some men to a particular course of crime is much stronger than others; that there are cases of uncommon natural perverseness and recklessness of mind, cannot be doubted; but in most cases of this kind, much might have been effected by early culture and proper restraints. Many a young man who now shares the fate of a felon's cell, had he been trained up under other circumstances, might have occupied a respectable standing in society.

Some few cases exist, where crime seems to be the result of some natural defect of the mind, approximating so far towards idiocy as to render it difficult to determine whether the person is morally accountable for his conduct or not. But even in these cases, something more might have been done to restrain the passions and give the mind a correct bias, by proper parental influ

ence.

The truth then is irresistable, that the convict is an unfortunate fellow being, needing our pity and our friendly commisseration. Though guilty and fallen, he has yet a heart to feel; and the effect of human sympathy and christian kindness may be, to touch some chord of the soul which has refused to vibrate to harsher sounds, or to call into exercise some remaining portion of humanity which has hitherto laid dormant under the withering influence of neglected childhood, followed by a course of crime and the rough administration of retributive justice.

It is not to be expected, that every one who enters the state prison, will go out a reformed man; but I am confident very much may be done towards effecting a reformation in many instances.

The effort can be made to remedy the defects of early education, and correct the vicious habits of riper years, to imbue the mind with correct principles, and to call forth the moral sensibilities and soften the heart; and this effort community owes to every one incarcerated within its prison walls.

The object of imprisonment is two-fold-the safety of community and the reformation of the individual. Some one is released from confinement and returns to mingle with society, every few weeks; and in the course of a few years, nearly all who are now undergoing the solitude of prison life, will again spread out through community, to renew their intercourse with their fellow men. And whatever can be done to reclaim them from the wandering paths of vice; to convert the sinner from the error of his ways; to prepare the prisoner to go forth into the world a better man, and by his influence to bless his family and friends, and the society in which he may move, is but carrying out the great design of the penitentiary system.

JOHN ATWOOD, Chaplain.

New Hampshire State Prison, June 1, 1845.

PHYSICIAN'S REPORT.

To the Hon. Directors of the N. H. State Prison:

GENTLEMEN:-Since my last report, made to your board one year ago, two deaths have occurred at the N. H. State Prison. The first was the case of Nathaniel Hobart, who died Sept. 30, 1844, of disease of the lungs, following a severe attack of typhus fever, after about two month's confinement in the hospital. The

second, Hiram D. Freeman, who died March 17, 1845, of pulmonary consumption.

one.

This, like the last official year, has been an unusually sickly In the autumn of 1844, about one in every five of the whole number of convicts was sick with typhus fever; making in all about 17 cases, some of which were very severe. Last year, also, there was a large number of cases; making a greater number for the two years, I think, than occurred during the ten preceding years. There has, indeed, been an unusual amount of fever in the town of Concord, during the years 1843-'44, but nothing like the proportion that has occurred at the penitentiary. The prison ratio would give at least 2000 cases for the town, in the two years a number vastly beyond that actually occurring.

Besides the large number of fever cases of the last year, we have also had more than the usual amount of bowel, catarrhal, rheumatic and dyspeptic complaints, together with a few cases of erysipelas, and some cases in surgery. All these cases, and indeed all the cases of fever, have terminated successfully; but in the aggregate, they make up a very great amount of time lost to the institution, on account of sickness, in the course of the year. Respectfully submitted,

Concord, June 2, 1845.

E. CARTER, M. D..

REPORT

OF THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON THE STATE PRISON.

The standing committee on the State Prison, to whom was referred the reports of the warden, physician and chaplain of the State Prison; also, so much of His Excellency the Governor's message as relates to that institution, having attended to the duty assigned them,

REPORT

That they have had under consideration, carefully examined, compared and cast, so far as is deemed practicable and necessary, the receipts and disbursements of the warden, and are of opin

ion that the report is full and satisfactory, and that the vouchers of the disbursements are filed in the Secretary's office according to law.

Your committee have likewise carefully examined into the treatment and discipline of the convicts; also into the government and management of the affairs of the prison in general, and feel confident in saying that the discipline is judicious, and the treatment of the convicts kind and humane.

As the intent of the law and confinement is not to make the prison a resort of comfort and pleasure, but of punishment and reform, we have therefore considered it our duty, not only to inquire into the humanity of the warden and other officers, on the one hand, but to endeavor to ascertain whether the demands and intent of the law are carried into effect, in point of severity; and from observation and the best information we have been able to obtain, are of opinion that under the present comparatively mild system of treatment, more good will be effected than otherwise could be expected by a more rigid and severe execution of the law.

We have made inquiries into the extent and effect of the religious and moral instruction of the convicts, under the superintendence of the chaplain, the Rev. Mr. Atwood, and your committee have been highly gratified with the efforts to cultivate the minds and improve the morals of the convicts; and the success which has evidently attended these efforts, has convinced them that the appropriations made at the last June session for the moral and religious instruction of these unfortunate men, has been attended with great good.

The perusal of a weekly temperance paper, together with a good supply of religious and miscellaneous reading, attended with the constant labors of the chaplain, has had a very beneficial influence. Much of the time spent in the cells, and which otherwise would have passed away heavily, has thus been spent to good advantage. The convicts themselves express a lively sense of gratitude for the privilege of reading and receiving religious instruction, and a deep interest in the continuance of these favors. Such a course cannot fail to commend itself to the humanity and good judgment of every reflecting mind.

Your committee therefore recommend that a similar appropriation to that of last year, be made at the present session; and they cannot but feel an assurance that this recommendation will be cheerfully responded to by the legislature, and approved by the people of this State.

It will be perceived from the physician's report, that there has been an unusual amount of sickness among the convicts, the past

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