We this morning accompanied Count d’Hane to visit the celebrated prison of Ghent, the _maison de force_, which received the applause of Howard himself, and has been the model for most of the improved penitentiaries of Europe. It was erected in 1774, under the auspices of Maria Theresa, whilst the Spanish Netherlands were still attached to the House of Austria, and for its present state of completion and perfected system, it is indebted to the care and munificence of the late King, William I. of Holland. It, at present, incloses upwards of 1,100 prisoners, divided and classified into various wards, and employed in various occupations according to the nature of their crimes and the term of their punishment. Of these, two hundred were condemned to perpetual labour, and one to solitary confinement for life, the remainder for temporary periods. In Ghent there has not been more than _three_ capital executions since the year 1824, and as Belgium has no colonies to which to transport her secondary offenders, they are condemned to imprisonment in all its forms in proportion to the atrocity of their crimes. Labour enters into the system in all its modifications, and as the rations of food supplied to the prisoners are so calculated as to be barely adequate to sustain life, they are thus compelled, by the produce of their own hands, to contribute to their own support. According to the nature of their offences, the proportion of their earnings which they receive is more or less liberal; they are separated into three classes:--1st. The _condamnés aux travaux forcés_, who receive but three tenths of their own gains; 2nd. the _condamnés à la réclusion_, who receive four tenths; and 3rd. the _condamnés correctionellement_, who receive one half. The amount of these wages may be seen to be but small, when the sum paid for making seven pair of _sabots_, or seven hours’ labour, is but one penny. Of the sum allotted to him, the criminal receives but one half immediately, with which he is allowed to buy bread, coffee, and some other articles at a canteen established within the prison, under strict regulations, and the other moiety is deposited for his benefit in the savings’ bank of the jail, to be paid to him with interest on his enlargement. A prisoner, notwithstanding his small wages, may, after seven years’ confinement, have amassed one hundred and twenty francs exclusive of interest.