MISCELLANEOUS.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume II, Issue 61, 6 May 1843, Page 243

MISCELLANEOUS.

Solitary Imprisonment. — Between the body of the prison and the outer wall, there is a spacious garden. Entering it by a wicket in the massive gate, we pursued the path before us to its other termination, and passed into a large chamber, from which seven long passages radiate ; on either side of which is a long, long row of low celldoors, with a certain number over every one ; above, a gallery of cells like those below, except that they have no narrow yard attached (as those on the ground-tier have), and are somewhat smaller. The possession of two of these is supposed to compensate for the absence of so much air and exercise as can be had in the dull strip attached to each of the others, in an hour's time every day ; and therefore every prisoner in this upper story -has two cells, adjoining and communicating with each other. Standing at this central point, and looking down these dreary passages, the dull repose and quiet that prevails is awful. Occasionally, there is a drowsy sound from some lone weaver's shuttle or shoemaker's last ; but it is stifled by the thick walls and heavy dungeon-door, and only serves to make the general stillness more profound. Over .the head and face of every prisoner who comes' into this melancholy house a black hood is drawn : and in this dark shroud, an emblem of the curtain dropped between him and the living world, he is led to the cell, from which he never again comes forth until his whole term of imprisonment has expired. He never hears of wife or children, home or friends ; the life or death of any single creature. He sees the prison-officers, but, with that exception, he never looks upon a human countenance, or hears a human voice. He is a man buried alive ; to be dug out in the slow round of years ; and in the mean time dead to everything but torturing anxieties and horrible despair. His name, and crime, and term of suffering, are unknown even to the officer who delivers him his daily food. There is a number over his cell door, and in a book, of which the Governor of the prison has one copy, and the moral instructor another : this is the index to his history. Beyond these pages the prison has no record of his existence ; and though he live to be in the same cell ten weary years, he has no means of knowing, down to the very last hour, in what part of the building it is situated ; what kind of men there are about him ; whether in the long winter nights there are living people near, or he is in some lonely corner of the great gaol, with walls and passages, and iron doors, between him and the nearest sharer in its solitary horrors. Every cell has double doors: the outer one of sturdy oak, the other of grated iron, wherein there is a trap through whieft his food is handed. He has a Bible, and a slate and pencil, and under certain restrictions, he has sometimes other books, provided for the purpose, and pen and ink, and paper. His razor, plate, and can, and basin, hang upon the wall, or shine upon the little shelf. Fresh water is laid on in every cell, and he can draw it at his pleasure. During the day, his bedstead turns up against the wall, and leaves more space for him to work in. His loom, or bench, or wheel, is there ; and there he labours, sleeps, and wakes, and counts the seasons as they change, and grows old. — Dickens' American Notes. The Wbllesley Papers. — The executor of the late Marquis Wellesley last week sent to the British Museum upwards of three wagon-loads of MSS. and books, in compliance with the will of the noble marquis. It is hoped that these valuable documents will soon be made available to the public. — Witness. Paid Senators. — The Prussian Treasury has paid the deputies of the provincial committees lately assembled in Berlin, without distinction, 3 dollars a day from the period of their departure from their homes, and 1 dollar 10 groschen per mile for their travelling expenses to and from Berlin. — German paper. Itj is stated in the continental papers^that the great powers of Europe, or more strictly speaking of Germany, have become convinced of the necessity of appropriating colonies to each nation, and that for carrying the plan into effect a congress is about to meet at Alx la Chappelle. It is propossd that each state shall have a colony at least equal in extent to the mother-country, and that funds shall be raised for the formation of a fleet to protect the colonies from foreign aggression. The Courier Beige, in copying the report, adds — "We cannot but applaud this noble and generous idea, which will not fail to consolidate the peace of the world." It is certain from what appears in the papers, that ideas of colonization are very much in vogue in Germany. They seem to look much to Brazil, and it has been, repeatedly asserted that the Government of Bio Janiero is disposed to make grants of various districts to German emigrants for colonization upon certain conditions. It was lately stated in the Cologne Gazette, that M. Van Lede, a Belgian, after arriving on his business at Rio, had gone to Santa Catherina, to select a proper place for the establishment of a colony. A treaty of peace hu been concluded between Peru and Bolivia. ' The Spanish brig, Singular, which left Manilla on the 26th of November, struck upon the Prata Shoal on the night of the 4th of December. The captain and crew, with several passengers, took to the boots, intending to make Prata Island, but' were prevented from reaching it by contrary, winds. The beat containing the captain, mate, and twenty-two of the crew and passengers, were picked up by a fishing-boat, and taken to Macao, but nothing has been heard of the other two boa^s containing the remainder.