The State Prison at Charlestown, of which _Henry K. Frothingham_ is warden, contains 476 prisoners, one-third of whom are foreigners. Six deaths occurred during the year, and the average number on the sick list was six. Libraries are highly commended as a means of moral culture, and it is recommended that they be furnished at the expense of the Commonwealth, not only to the State prison, but to county gaols and houses of correction. The stinted supply of water at the Charlestown prison is mentioned as an evil, and it is a very expensive one too, inasmuch as it was procured during part of the summer, at an expense of from two to five dollars a day! In the county gaol there were received between November 1, 1850, and November 1, 1851, 5,541 prisoners, of both sexes, 3,135 of whom were foreigners. The daily average was 120. The Grand Jury think that the Commonwealth’s witnesses should receive as good fare while in prison, as they would be likely to receive at home. Whereas, they now are served with the same food that convicts receive. Whether this is not quite as good as most honest poor men can afford, does not appear. In the Alms House at Deer Island during the six months ending December 1, 1851, 931 paupers were received, of whom 686 were foreigners. Of the whole number, 33 were males, and 398 females, and 203 were under 12 years of age. The number of deaths in the same period was 77. There is a loud complaint here also, that the supply of water is inadequate. No trifling defect in such an establishment. The Grand Jury advert to the intolerable nuisance of bawdy houses, and suggest the expediency of a law, making the owners of such houses responsible for the use which is made of their premises. There is also a distinct reference in the report to the great disparity of punishments for similar offences, and the evil consequences which attend it--a subject to which we have more than once invited and urged attention. The erection of the new County Jail in Boston, is such an important movement in the prison-world, and the structure and occupants present so many interesting topics of remark, that we must make it the subject of a distinct article. ART. IV.--INSANE CONVICTS. We cannot refrain from calling the attention of our readers to the continued postponement of measures for the safe custody and proper treatment of insane convicts. In the last report (January 1, 1852,) of the inspectors of the Eastern State Penitentiary, the following passage occurs: If mental alienation in a prisoner renders his enlargement in society dangerous to its peace and safety, then that imprisonment is best which partakes of the nature rather of restraint, than punishment. There are in the Penitentiary some prisoners who, insane on admission, require now only restraints and proper treatment for their mental disease.