The Fleet. Its Rivers, Prison, and Marriages 14

The Fleet. Its Rivers, Prison, and Marriages 14

CHAPTER IX.

 

 

A little farther on, it washed the walls of Cold Bath Fields Prison,

the _House of Correction_, and we get a view of it in Hone's "Table

Book,"[41] p. 75. Here he says, "In 1825, this was the first open

view, nearest London, of the ancient River Fleet: it was taken during

the building of the high arched walls connected with the House of

Correction, Cold Bath Fields, close to which prison the river ran,

as here seen. At that time, the newly erected walls communicated a

peculiarly picturesque effect to the stream flowing within their

confines."

 

This "House of Correction" was indebted for its birth to the famous

John Howard, who had made an European tour, not to mention a home one,

inquisitorially inspecting prisons. We all know the result of his

labours; how he exposed abuses fearlessly, and made men's hearts soften

somewhat towards those incarcerated.

 

[Illustration: THE ANCIENT RIVER FLEET, AT CLERKENWELL, 1825.]

 

Howard, writing in 1789, held that capital punishment should be

abolished except for _murder_, _setting houses on fire_, and for

_house breaking, attended with acts of cruelty_. And speaking of his

Penitentiaries, he says:

 

"To these houses, however, I would have none but old, hardened

offenders, and those who have, as the laws now stand, forfeited their

lives by robbery, house breaking, and similar Crimes, should be

committed; or, in short, those Criminals who are to be confined for a

long term or for life....

 

"The _Penitentiary houses_, I would have _built_, in a great measure,

_by the convicts_. I will suppose that a power is obtained from

Parliament to employ such of them as are now at work on the Thames,

or some of those who are in the county gaols, under sentence of

transportation, as may be thought most expedient. In the first place,

let the surrounding wall, intended for full security against escapes,

be completed, and proper lodges for the gate keepers. Let temporary

buildings, of the nature of barracks, be erected in some part of this

enclosure which would be wanted the least, till the whole is finished."

 

This was a portion of his scheme, and he suggested that it should be

located, where it was afterwards built, in Cold Bath Fields--because

the situation was healthy, that good water could be obtained from the

White Conduit, as the Charter House no longer required that source of

supply, it being well served by the New River Company--that labour was

cheap--and so was food, especially the coarse meat from the shambles at

Islington.

 

The prisoners were to have separate cells, so as to prevent the

promiscuous herding of all, which had previously produced such

mischievous results, and these cells were to be light and airy. The

convicts of both sexes were to _work_, and their food was to be

apportioned to the work they had to do. Also--a very great step in

the right direction--they were all to wear a prison uniform. Howard,

philanthropist as he was, was very far from lenient to the rogue. He

was fully aware of the value of _work_, and specially provided that

his rogues, in their reformation, should pass through the purifying

process of hard labour. In later times, the way of transgressors was

hard in that place, and it became a terror to evildoers, being known by

the name of the _English Bastile_--which, however, amongst its patrons,

was diminished, until it finally was abbreviated into "the Steel" by

which name it was known until its abolition.[42]

 

This cognomen was so well known, that, in 1799, a book was written

by "A Middlesex Magistrate" entitled "The Secrets of the English

Bastile disclosed"--which was a favourable story of the management

of the prison in Cold Bath Fields. Still, it was the subject of a

Parliamentary inquiry, as we find in the _Gentleman's Magazine_ for

1798-9, under date of Dec. 31, 1798, p. 398, that, in the House of

Commons, Sir Francis Burdett gave notice of his intention of moving, at

some future day, for a report relative to the system practised in the

prison, called the House of Correction, Cold Bath Fields, with regard

to the persons therein confined.

 

In the "Parliamentary History of England," vol. xxxiv. p. 566, we learn

that on Mar. 6, 1799, Mr. W. Dundas moved that a Select Committee be

appointed to inquire into the state of his Majesty's prison in Cold

Bath Fields, Clerkenwell, and report the same, as it shall appear to

them, together with their opinion thereupon, to the House; and a

Committee was appointed accordingly. Unfortunately, the pages of what,

afterwards, become _Hansard's_, do not record the result.

 

But in the _Annual Register_ for the same year on Dec. 21st there

was a long report respecting it during a debate on the suspension of

the Habeas Corpus Act. Mr. Courtenay said, that, "having visited the

prisons, he found the prisoners without fire, and without candles,

denied every kind of society, exposed to the cold and the rain, allowed

to breathe the air out of their cells only for an hour, denied every

comfort, every innocent amusement, excluded from all intercourse with

each other, and, each night locked up from all the rest of the world.

He supposed it was scarcely necessary to inform the House, that the

prison of which he had been speaking, was that in Cold Bath Fields,

known by the name of the Bastille." There was a lot more nonsense

of the same type talked by other M.P.'s and, it is needless to say,

that the exaggerated statements were anent a political prisoner--who

afterwards suffered death for treason. And in the remainder of the

debate even the very foundation for the libel was destroyed. It is a

curious fact, that people have an idea that political prisoners, who

have done as much harm to the commonweal as they have the possibility

of doing, are to be treated daintily, and with every consideration for

their extremely sensitive feelings. We, perhaps, in these latter days,

may read a profitable lesson in the suppression of treason, from the

proper carrying out of the sentences legally imposed upon those who

resist the law out of pure malice (legal).

 

In the _Gentleman's Magazine_ for 1796, is the following letter to--

 

_Dec. 10, 1795._

 

Mr. URBAN.--Your respect for the memory of Mr. Howard, will

induce you to insert the inclosed view of the House of

Correction for the County of Middlesex, formed principally on

his judicious suggestions. It is situated on the North side of

London, between Cold Bath Fields, and Gray's Inn Lane. The spot

on which it is erected having been naturally swampy, and long

used for a public lay-stall, it was found prudent to lay the

foundation so deep, and pile it so securely, that it is supposed

there are as many bricks laid underground as appear to sight.

What is more to the purpose, the internal regulations of this

place of security are believed to be perfectly well adapted to

the salutary purposes to which the building is appropriated.

 

"Yours, &c., "EUGENIO."

 

Still Cold Bath Fields Prison had an evil name--in all probability,

because prisoners there, were treated as if they had sinned against

the social canons, and were not persons to be coaxed and _petted_ into

behaviour such as would enable them to rank among their more honest

fellows, and in this way wrote Coleridge and Southey in "The Devil's

Walk," which was suggested by the _pseudo Christos_ BROTHERS who as

these gentlemen wrote:--[43]

 

"He walked into London leisurely,

The streets were dirty and dim:

But there he saw Brothers, the Prophet,

And Brothers the Prophet saw him."

 

Well, in the Devil's rambles he came across Cold Bath Fields

Prison--which, as I have said, was not beloved of the criminal class,

and, simply, as I think, for the sake of saying something smart, and

not that they ever had experienced incarceration, or is there any

evidence that they had even seen the prison, they write:

 

"As he passed through Cold Bath Fields he look'd

At a solitary Cell;

And he was well-pleased, for it gave him a hint

For improving the prisons of Hell.

 

He saw a turnkey tie a thief's hands

With a cordial try and a jerk;

Nimbly, quoth he, a man's fingers move

When his heart is in his work.

 

He saw the same turnkey unfettering a man

With little expedition;

And he chuckled to think of his dear slave trade,

And the long debates, and delays that were made

Concerning its abolition."

 

There is very little doubt, however, that, in the closing year of

last, and the commencing one of this, century, the conduct of the

Governor--a man named Aris--was open to very grave censure. People

outside imagined that all sorts of evils were being perpetrated within

its walls, and, either through laxity, or too great severity, of

discipline, something nigh akin to mutiny occurred in the prison in

July, 1800--which was promptly stopped by the presence of a company

of the Clerkenwell Volunteers. In August of the same year, there was

another outbreak in the prison, the occupants shouting "Murder," and

that they were being starved, in tones loud enough to be heard outside,

and, once more the Volunteers were the active agents in enforcing law

and order. This latter "seething of the pot" lasted a few days, and it

culminated in the discharge of the obnoxious Governor Aris.

 

There is nothing noteworthy to chronicle of this prison from that

date,[44] all prison details being, necessarily, unsavoury--and this

particular one was not watered with rose water. It was a place of

hard work, and not likely to impress the unproductive class, with a

wish to be permanent inhabitants thereof. Yet, as this present year

witnessed its demolition, something more must be said respecting it.

In the _Globe_ newspaper of January 1, 1887, is this short paragraph:

"Notices were yesterday posted on the walls of Coldbath Fields Prison,

intimating that it is for sale. Tenders are invited for the site, and

all buildings, &c., contained within the boundary walls. The prison

covers an area of eight acres and three quarters."

 

There ought to be some record of its dying days, for the demolition of

a prison in a large community of people, like ours in London, must mean

one of two things, either a diminution of crime, or, that the prison is

not suitable to the requirements of the age.

 

The Ninth Report of the Commissioners of Prisons, for the Year ended

March 31, 1886, speaking of Pentonville Prison, says:

 

"In November, 1885, the majority of the prisoners confined in Coldbath

Fields Prison were transferred to this Prison; and since that date, the

remainder have also been removed here, that prison being now vacated,

and in charge of a warder acting as caretaker.

 

"The tread-wheel[45] has been taken down at Coldbath Fields Prison, and

is in process of re-erection here.

 

"The behaviour of the officers has been good, with the exception of

four, discharged by order of the Prison Commissioners.

 

"The conduct of the prisoners has been generally good.

 

"The materials and provisions supplied by the Contractors have been good, and have given satisfaction.