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<p n="925">T. R.</p>
<p n="926"> Titor stands, with another Turnkey, or Gatekeeper; in the space between these two gates is a third<lb></lb>
Turnkey, each of these Turnkeys in succession, accurately examine the cloaths or linnen (which are<lb></lb>
the only articles permitted to pass) left letters or food should be transmitted. My mother on Tuesday,<lb></lb>
the next day, brought me some food, this I was not permitted to receive, it was contrary to the regu-<lb></lb>
lations, it being one of the bread and water days. I addressed the Committee for relief, but was<lb></lb>
informed, it was not a place of indulgence, but of punishment.</p>
<p n="927">A <rs type="occupation" id="LMSMPS50958_occ199">Gentleman</rs>
<interp inst="LMSMPS50958_occ199" type="occupation" value="Gentleman"></interp>
, Fellow of the University of <rs type="placeName" id="LMSMPS50958_geo469">Cambridge</rs>
<interp inst="LMSMPS50958_geo469" type="placeName" value="Cambridge"></interp>
<interp inst="LMSMPS50958_geo469" type="type" value="undefined"></interp>
, soon after my arrival, waited on the Rev.<lb></lb>
Dr. Glasse, for the purpose of procuring me some accommodation, but was refused, and treated in a<lb></lb>
manner unbecoming a Gentleman, a Clergyman, or a Christian.}</p>
<p n="928"> <note type="authorial" place="margin">The order was granted<lb></lb>
an imporper are<lb></lb>
being made of it<lb></lb>
his 2nd. application <lb></lb>
was refused<lb></lb>
Vide minutes Come<lb></lb>
to Fb. 1797<lb></lb>
Dr Glass dulory<lb></lb>
the whole to be<lb></lb>
false<lb></lb>
D Wurtainly did<lb></lb>
tell Bourks that<lb></lb>
it was a place of<lb></lb>
Punishment not of<lb></lb>
Indulgence<lb></lb>
See also 6th. Fb<lb></lb>
1797 Minutes of<lb></lb>
Come<lb></lb>
Jos. Burks in Pri<obscured></obscured>
<lb></lb>
states very different<lb></lb>
<obscured></obscured>
<lb></lb>
Jos Buks out of<lb></lb>
Prison}</note>
</p>
<p n="929"> It would be superfluous to dwell on the sufferings arising from cold, hunger, damp unwholesome air,<lb></lb>
from Scron and insult, from the prohibition of pen, ink and paper, knife and fork; in short, from the<lb></lb>
privation of the necessaries allowed, and the mockeries for borne even to the worst felon in the worst<lb></lb>
gaol in the kingdom; suffice it to say, that the oppression become so intolerable, that even under the<lb></lb>
apprehension of brutal violence, I complained of my hardships, and petitioned for an increase of<lb></lb>
food and light, and was cooly told by the Rev. Dr. Glasse, that such allowance was incompatible<lb></lb>
with the regulations of the house, that it was a place of Punishment, not of Indulgence, that the <lb></lb>
discipline was intended to mend the morals, and to accustom its inhabitants to temperance.</p>
<p n="930">Gracious God! Are these the mild, and merciful laws of England? and is this conduct befitting <lb></lb>
a preacher of that religion, which recommends peace and goodwill to mankind?</p>
<p n="931">When I returned to my cell after this refusal, all the horrors of the place came upon me with<lb></lb>
accumulated force, and in the bitterness of my anguish and despair, I prayed for death as a release<lb></lb>
from my sufferings.</p>
<p n="932"> The mind of man shudders at the idea of Suicide, of rushing into the presence of his Creator, his<lb></lb>
hand stained with his own blood; but that man must be a rare instance of fortitude, who, a pri-<lb></lb>
soner in Cold-Bath Fields, possessing the means of self-destruction, should at all times resist the im-<lb></lb>
pulse, and would find some excuse for the act, from the consideration, that they who urge a fellow-<lb></lb>
creature to such a state of despair, perhaps of phrenzy, are the real authors of the crime.</p>
<p n="933">I can adduce instances of wretched beings in that dungeon, who became frantic, and of some who de-<lb></lb>
stroyed themselves. O fortunate Englishmen, who did not live to see the close of the eighteenth<lb></lb>
century!This is not the caricature of romance, nor the picture of remote danger; it is a plain state-<lb></lb>
ment of evils seen and felt, of evils present, imminent, and staring every. Englishman in the face.</p>
<p n="934">Where is the Englishman who can secure himself and his children from the desolation of this public<lb></lb>
calamity? perhaps even he who now, either actively or passively, encourages this inhuman scourge,<lb></lb>
may by a reverse of fortune endure its torments; or if he himself should escape, could he rise from the<lb></lb>
grave a few years hence, might see his family immured in this burial place of the living, this vault of<lb></lb>
artificial death, almost without food, lodging in a damp and contracted cell, shut out from the light of<lb></lb>
day; and to finish the catastrophe, exposed to the brutality of the lowest of human beings, a Turnkey<lb></lb>
of the House of Correction in Cold-Bath Fields.</p>
<p n="935">I do solemnly declare, that rather than undergo a repetition of my captivity, I would submit to<lb></lb>
the most cruel death that human malignity could inflict.</p>
<p n="936">No. 50, <rs type="placeName" id="LMSMPS50958_geo470">Jewin-Street</rs>
<interp inst="LMSMPS50958_geo470" type="placeName" value="Jewin-Street"></interp>
<interp inst="LMSMPS50958_geo470" type="type" value="undefined"></interp>
,<lb></lb>
<rs type="placeName" id="LMSMPS50958_geo471">Aldersgate-Street</rs>
<interp inst="LMSMPS50958_geo471" type="placeName" value="Aldersgate-Street"></interp>
<interp inst="LMSMPS50958_geo471" type="type" value="undefined"></interp>
.</p>
<p n="937"> <rs type="persName" id="LMSMPS50958_n937-1">JOSEPH BURKS</rs>
<interp inst="LMSMPS50958_n937-1" type="given" value="JOSEPH"></interp>
<interp inst="LMSMPS50958_n937-1" type="surname" value="BURKS"></interp>
<interp inst="LMSMPS50958_n937-1" type="gender" value="male"></interp>
.</p>
<p n="938"> <figure rend="mark"></figure>
To the credit and honour of one who was in that situation, he was discharged from his em-<lb></lb>
ployment, for the shocking crime of secreting some provisions, for the use of some of the prisoners<lb></lb>
who were subjected to a more than ordinary diminution of food!</p>
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