It should be borne in mind that this system is distinguishable from one of _solitary_ confinement with labor,--much more from one of mere solitary confinement without labor. An intemperate opponent, too rash or prejudiced to recognize all the truth, has often characterized the present Pennsylvania system as the _Solitary System_, and by this term not unfrequently aroused a feeling against it which must disappear before a candid inquiry. It is easy to condemn any system of absolute solitude without solace of labor or society. The examples of history rise in judgment against such. Who can forget the Bastile? We have the testimony of Lafayette, whose own further experience at Olmütz should not be neglected, as to its effect. "I repaired to the scene," he says, "on the second day of the demolition, and found that all the prisoners had been deranged by their solitary confinement, except one. He had been a prisoner twenty-five years, and was led forth during the height of the tumultuous riot of the people, whilst engaged in tearing down the building. He looked around with amazement, for he had seen nobody for that space of time, and before night he was so much affected that he became a confirmed maniac." But the Bastile is not the only prison whose stones, could they speak, would tell this fearful tale; nor is Lafayette the only reporter. Names often have the importance of things; and it cannot be doubted that the ignorant or dishonest application of the term _solitary_ to the Pennsylvania system is a strong reason for the opposition it has encountered. The _Separate System_ has but one essential condition,--the absolute separation of prisoners from intercourse of any kind with each other. On this may be engrafted labor, instruction, and even constant society with officers of the prison, or with virtuous persons. In fact, these have become, in greater or less degree, component parts of the system. In constant employment the prisoner finds peace, and in the society with which he is indulged innocent relaxation and healthy influence. This is the Pennsylvania system. There is another and rival system, first established in the _Maison de Force_ at Ghent, but borrowing its name from the Auburn Penitentiary of New York, where it was first introduced in 1816, by a remarkable disciplinarian, Elam Lynds. Here the prisoners are separated only at night, each sleeping in a small cell or dormitory by himself. During the day they labor together in shops, or in the open air, according to the nature of the work,--being prohibited from speaking to each other, under pain of punishment. From the latter feature this is often called the _Silent System_. As its chief peculiarity, in contradistinction to the _Separate System_, is the working of prisoners in assemblies, where all see and are seen, it may be more properly designated the _Congregate System_.