Rensselaer Union, Volume 7, Number 5, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 October 1874 — The Prisons of Paris. [ARTICLE]

The Prisons of Paris.

The Petite Roquette is the name given to the house of correction for youthful delinquent!under sixteen years of age, and for lads under age w hose parents have, as a last resource, brought them before the President of the Tribunal of the Seine. This must be necessarily a difficult and delicate dutjqand, as might be expected, the inquiry is often too slightly pursued. Worthless parents, wishing to be relieved of the care of their offspring, and perhaps about to contract a second marriage, will falsely accuse the poor boys. The system here is strictfly separate and cellular. This is doubtless absolutely necessary in the earlier stages of their treatment ; still, it is a sharp remedy, and it is very painful to see these young creatures, at the very age when their spirits are most buoyant, immersed in solitude, seeing nq.one but the officers and chaplains, and left to work and sleep alone. One fine lad, whose cell I with Ole warder, when I asked him how he came into that place, hesitated at first for an answer, and then replied, “They said I stole." His countenance rather belied liis evasive reply and I could not but doubt whether the facts altogether bore out Ijis favorable representation of his case. The youth looked well and as happy as circumstances w ould allow. I believe he was near the cud of his term. Six months is, I was informed, the utmost limit of their confinement here, with the exception of some more hopeful characters, who are detained with a view to further probation and ultimate apprenticeship If they are not w ell conducted, and are not claimed by their parents at the end of that time, they are removed to juvenile agricultural colleges, such as Mettray. I was happy to find some alleviations provided for "the misery of their situation, as well as means for their improvement, in the services and religious instruction of tlre chapet, and in the classes for instruction in .the..elements—of general knowledge. Separation here also is*triu■genrly enforced. The chapclisa rotunda, and is fitted tip with rows of box-like seats in concentric circles, all converging around the altar and the priest. There they sit unseen by each other and all seen by him. Their relatives, when they have any, are allowed to visit them, but the interview must take place on the wrong side of a wire grating. Even in the hours of recreation they are alone. Each little unfortunate has his own little yard, in which for one hour daily he may stretch his limbs under the eye of the vigilant keeper. I observed one, and only one, grim concession to childish tastes. A slight recognition of the fact, so truly and well expressed by Keble, jthat “ the heart of childhood is all mirth,” is seen in the hoop which bangs up at the entrance to each yard;.but the play must be indeed a slow one. No sooner has the unhappy urchin got his droop into fair motion when it falls against the walls of the inclosure and he has to begin again. This place is also their lavatory, where in all possible weathers, with the running pipe, soap and towels, each youngster performs his toilet. When the water is frozen in the pipes the soft-hearted authorities make a virtue of necessity and allow them to wash indoors The" system, although so stern and perhaps needlessly harsh, appears in many respects most admirable, and vastly superior to the practice, still to be found in England, of confining mere children with veterans whose hair has grown gray in crime. My last visit was reserved" for that which, on account of its painful associations, is in some respects the most interesting—the prison of the condemned — L>t Gr<ttitle Roquette. It is used as the temporary depot of those under sentence of penal servitude, as well as for the confinement of men condemned to death. There appeared to be nothing worthy of special notice in its ordinary an an cements. They pass the day in common, but-sleep separately at night. Quite apart from the rest are the three cel is for the condemned,—They are spaeious and airy, and extremely well secured. A warden and a soldier, who are changed every two hours, are in constant attendance upon him. He is never left alone, day or night. The chaplain also pays him frequent visits. All other visitors (except, when necessary, his legal adviser) are excluded. As. happily, the cells were at the time unoccupied, I was allowed to enter them. The gloom and stillness of the weird place made me shudder. —Good Words.