lent opportunities of doing so, at intervals all through the night, and continuously from daybreak until after the spectacle was over. I believe that a sight so inconceivably awful as the wickedness and levity of the immense crowd collected at that execution could be imagined by no man, and could be presented in no heathen land under the sun. The horrors of the gibbet and of the crime which brought the wretched murderers to it, faded in my mind before the atrocious bearing, looks and language, of the assembled spectators. When I came upon the scene at midnight, the shrillness of the cries and howls that were raised from time to time, denoting that they came from a concourse of boys and girls already assembled in the best places, made my blood run cold. As the night went on, screeching, and laughing, and yelling in strong chorus of parodies on Negro melodies, with substitutions of 'Mrs. Manning' for 'Susannah' and the like were added to these. When the day dawned, thieves, low prostitutes, ruffians and vagabonds of every kind, flocked on to the ground, with every variety of offensive and foul behaviour. Fightings, faintings, whistlings, imitations of Punch, brutal jokes, tumultuous demonstrations of indecent delight when swooning women were dragged out of the crowd by the police with their dresses disordered, gave a new zest to the general entertainment. When the sun rose brightly —as it did—it gilded thousands upon thousands of upturned faces, so inexpressibly odious in their brutal mirth or callousness, that a man had cause to feel ashamed of the shape he wore, and to shrink from himself, as fashioned in the image of the Devil. When the two miserable creatures who attracted all this ghastly sight about them were turned quivering into the air, there was no more emotion, no more pity, no more thought that two immortal souls had gone to judgment, no more restraint in any of the previous obscenities, than if the name of Christ had never been heard in this world, and there were no belief among men but that they perished like the beasts. I have seen, habitually, some of the worst sources of general contamination and corruption in this country, and I think there are not many phases of London life that could surprise me. I am solemnly convinced that nothing that ingenuity could devise to be done in this city, in the same compass of time, could work such ruin as one public execution, and I stand astounded and appalled by the wickedness it exhibits." It is much to be desired that executions in public should be abolishedthat death should be inflicted before appointed official witnesses, within the prison walls, the dead bodies being

afterwards exhibited for a short time, by which all the demoralizing excitement would be avoided, 1861.

MILLBANK PRISON is a mass of brickwork equal to a fortress, on the left bank of the Thames, close to Vauxhall Bridge; erected on ground bought in 1799 of the Marquis of Salisbury, and established pursuant to 52 Geo. III., c. 44, passed Aug. 20th, 1812. It was designed by Jeremy Bentham, to whom the fee-simple of the ground was conveyed, and is said to have cost the enormous sum of half a million sterling. The external walls form an irregular octagon, and enclose upwards of sixteen acres of land. Its ground-plan resembles a wheel, the governor's house occupying a circle in the centre, from which radiate six piles of building, terminating externally in towers. The ground on which it stands is raised but little above the river, and was at one time considered unhealthy. It was first named "The Penitentiary," or "Penitentiary House for London and Middlesex," and was called "The Millbank Prison," pursuant to 6 & 7 Victoria, c. 26. It is the largest prison in London, and contains accommodation for 1120 prisoners; the number of inmates averaging about 700. The annual cost for 1000 prisoners is 28,643., and the value of their labour in that time, 23751. So far as the accommodation of the prison permits, the separate system is adopted. The number of persons in Great Britain and Ireland condemned to penal servitude every year amounts to about 4000. Admission to inspect― order from the Secretary of State for the Home Department, or the Directors of Government Prisons, 25, Parliament Street, Westminster.

THE MODEL PRISON, PENTONVILLE, Caledonian-road, near the new Cattle-market. The prison contains 1000 separate cells. The inmates are detained for two years, and are taught useful trades; a most merciful and charitable provision, which it is to be hoped may prove successful. The cost of each prisoner is about 15s. a week. The first stone was laid 1840, and the building completed in 1842. The total cost was 84,1687. 12s. 2d.

THE HOUSE OF CORRECTION, COLD BATH FIELDS, will hold about 1200 prisoners, and is under the direction of the Middlesex Magistrates and the Secretary of State for the Home Department. There is a similar House of Correction at Westminster. The principal prison for debtors is THE DEBTORS' PRISON, so called, in Whitecross-street, for 380 prisoners. The annual cost of these two to the City of

London is 10,000l. The famous FLEET PRISON was abolished during the reign of her present Majesty, and the site converted into a goods station for the London, Chatham, and Dover Railway.

CITY OF LONDON PRISON, HOLLOWAY (Mr. Bunning, Architect,) is a castellated building presenting a medieval character, erected 1853-5, to contain the class of prisoners formerly committed to Giltspur Street House of Correction, Bridewell, and the House of Correction for women at the Borough Compter : while, in the same way, the New House of Correction at Wandsworth has relieved the Surrey or Horsemonger Lane Gaol. Average number of prisoners, 320.

XIX. PERMANENT FREE EXHIBITIONS.

BRITISH MUSEUM, in GREAT RUSSELL STREET, BLOOMSBURY; built 1823-54 from the designs of Sir Robert Smirke, but completed by his younger brother, Sydney Smirke, A.R.A. The cost of the building amounts to one million sterling! It is faced with a portico, whose columns are extended round the wings of the building, and are 44 in number. The sculpture in the pediment is by Sir Richard Westmacott.

The Museum is open to public view on Mondays, Wednes days and Fridays, from 10 till 4 during January, February, November and December; from 10 till 5 during March, April, September and October; and from 10 till 6 during May, June, July and August.

The Museum is closed from the 1st to the 7th of January, the 1st to the 7th of May, and the 1st to the 7th of September, inclusive, on Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, and Christmas Day, and also on any special fast or thanksgiving day, ordered by Authority.

The Reading Room is open every day, except on Sundays, on Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, Christmas Day, and on any fast or thanksgiving days, ordered by Authority: except also between the 1st and 7th of January, the 1st and 7th of May, and the 1st and 7th of September, inclusive. The Room is open from 9 till 4 during November, December, January, and February; from 9 till 5 during September, October, March and April; and from 9 till 6 during May, June, July and August (except Saturdays, and then till 5). Persons desirous of admission must produce a recommendation from a house

holder in London satisfactory to a trustee or an officer of the house, and must send in their applications in writing (specifying their christian and surnames, rank or profession, and places of abode), to the Principal Librarian, or, in his absence, to the Secretary, or, in his absence, to the senior Under Librarian, who will either immediately admit such persons, or lay their applications before the next meeting of the trustees. Permission will in general be granted for six months; and at the expiration of this term fresh application is to be made for a renewal. The tickets given to readers are not transferable, and no person can be admitted without a ticket. Persons under 18 years of age are not admissible. Artists are admitted to study in the Galleries of Sculpture, between the hours of 9 and 4, every day, except Saturday. The Print Room is closed on Saturdays.

The Medal and Print Rooms can be seen only by a few persons at a time, and by particular permission.

The British Museum originated in an offer to Parliament, made in the will of Sir Hans Sloane (d. 1753), of the whole of his collection for 20,000l.-30,000l. less than it was said to have cost him. The offer was at once accepted, and an Act passed in 1753, "for the purchase of it, and of the Harleian Collection of MSS., and procuring one general repository for the better reception and more convenient use of the said Collection, and of the Cottonian Library, and additions thereto." In pursuance of this Act the sum of 300,000l. was raised by a Lottery; 20,000l. paid for the Sloane Museum, 10,000l. for the Harleian Collection of MSS., and 10,250l. to the Earl of Halifax for Montague House in Bloomsbury-a mansion at that time perfectly well adapted for all the objects of the Museum. The collections increasing, new rooms were added to receive the Egyptian Antiquities, given by George III. in 1801. The government of the Museum is vested in trustees, and the chief Gifts and Bequests include the Cotton MSS.; a collection of Books, and the interest of 7000l., bequeathed by Major Edwardes; the Royal Library of the Kings of England; Garrick's Collection of Old Plays; Dr. Birch's Books and MSS.; Thomas Tyrwhitt's Books; Rev. C. Cracherode's Books, Prints, &c., valued at 40,000l.; Sir Wm. Musgrave's Books, MSS., and Prints; Payne Knight's Books, Bronzes, and Drawings; Sir Joseph Banks's Books and Botanical Specimens; Library formed by George III.; and Mr. Grenville's Library. The Additional Purchases include Sir William Hamilton's Collection, 84001.; Townley Marbles, 28,2001; Phigalian Marbles, 19,000l.; Elgin Marbles, 35,000l.; Dr. Burney's MSS., 13,500l.; Lansdowne MSS.,