[Illustration: HOUSE OF CORRECTION. COLD BATH FIELDS.] The prisoners were not too well fed. A pound of bread, and twopenny worth of meat a day, and a very fair amount of work to do—was not calculated to make it popular among the criminal classes. It was the only prison in which the inmates wore uniform. That of the men was blue jacket and trousers, with yellow stockings, whilst the women had a blue jacket and blue petticoat. They had clean linen every week; so that, probably, it was a healthy prison. One good thing about it was, that a portion of the prisoners’ earnings was reserved, and given to them when they quitted prison. 14. City Bridewell, Blackfriars, was a house of Correction for the City. 15. Tothill Fields, Bridewell, was a similar institution for Westminster. 16. New Bridewell, Southwark, for Surrey. Besides these public prisons, were several private establishments used as provisional prisons—kept by the Sheriffs Officers, called _lock-up_, or, _sponging houses_, where for twelve, or fourteen shillings a day, a debtor might remain, either until he found the means to repay the debt, or it was necessary to go to a public prison, when the writ against him became returnable. They were nests of extortion and robbery. The Police Offices in London were: The Mansion House. Lambeth Street, Whitechapel. Guildhall. High Street, Shadwell. Bow Street. Union Street, Southwark. Hatton Garden. Queen’s Square, Westminster. Worship Street. Great Marlborough Street. Wapping New Stairs, for offences committed on the Thames. Of those _extra_ the City, Bow Street was the chief, and the head magistrate there, was called the Chief Magistrate, and received a stipend of £1,000 per annum; a large sum in those days. He was assisted by two others, at a salary of £500 each. Dr. Patrick Colquhoun called so much attention to the inefficiency of the police, that a Committee of the House of Commons, in the session of 1798, sifted the matter, and from the report of this Committee, only, can we gather the criminal statistics of the kingdom (at least with regard to its expense). [Illustration: BOW STREET POLICE OFFICE—1808.] The amount of the general expense of the criminal police of the kingdom, is stated by the Committee as follows: 1st. The annual average of the total expense of the seven public offices in the Metropolis from their institution in 1792, to the end of the year 1797 £18,281 18 6 2nd. Total expenses of the office in Bow Street in the year 1797, including remuneration to the magistrates in lieu of fees, perquisites, &c., and the expense of a patrol of sixty-eight persons 7,901 7 7 ————————————————— Total for the Metropolis £26,183 6 1