Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from Letter on the Penitentiary System of Pennsylvania: Addressed to William Roscoe, Esquire, of Toxteth Park, Near Liverpool
In these chambers no individual, however humble, or elevated, can be confined, so long as the public liberty shall endure, but upon conviction of a known and well defined offence, by the ver dict of a jury of the country, and under the sentence _of a court, for a specified time. The terms of imprisonment it is believed can be apportioned to the nature of every crime with considera ble accuracy, and will no doubt be measured in that merciful de gree, which has uniformly characterized the modern penal legis lation of Pennsylvania. Where then, allow me to inquire, is there in this system the least resemblance to that dreadfulrecep tacle constructed in Paris, during the reign of Charles the Fifth, and which at different periods through four centuries and a half, was an engine of oppression, and torture, to thousands of innocent persons; or by what detortion can it be compared to the inqui sitorial courts and prisons, that were instituted in Italy, Portugal, and Spain, between the years 1251 and 1537? About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
