turnkey on duty, he turns sharp
round to the left, and pauses before another gate; and, having passed
this last barrier, he stands in the most terrible part of this gloomy
building--the condemned ward.

The press-yard, well known by name to newspaper readers, from its
frequent mention in accounts of executions, is at the corner of the
building, and next to the ordinary's house, in Newgate-street: running
from Newgate-street, towards the centre of the prison, parallel with
Newgate-market. It is a long, narrow court, of which a portion of the
wall in Newgate-street forms one end, and the gate the other. At the
upper end, on the left hand--that is, adjoining the wall in
Newgate-street--is a cistern of water, and at the bottom a double grating
(of which the gate itself forms a part) similar to that before described.
Through these grates the prisoners are allowed to see their friends; a
turnkey always remaining in the vacant space between, during the whole
interview. Immediately on the right as you enter, is a building
containing the press-room, day-room, and cells; the yard is on every side
surrounded by lofty walls guarded by _chevaux de frise_; and the whole is
under the constant inspection of vigilant and experienced turnkeys.

In the first apartment into which we were conducted--which was at the top
of a staircase, and immediately over the press-room--were five-and-twenty
or thirty prisoners, all under sentence of death, awaiting the result of
the recorder's report--men of all ages and appearances, from a hardened
old offender with swarthy face and grizzly beard of three days' growth,
to a handsome boy, not fourteen years old, and of singularly youthful
appearance even for that age, who had been condemned for burglary. There
was nothing remarkable in the appearance of these prisoners. One or two
decently-dressed men were brooding with a dejected air over the fire;
several little groups of two or three had been engaged in conversation at
the upper end of the room, or in the windows; and the remainder were
crowded round a young man seated at a table, who appeared to be engaged
in teaching the younger ones to write. The room was large, airy, and
clean. There was very little anxiety or mental suffering depicted in the
countenance of any of the men;--they had all been sentenced to death, it
is true, and the recorder's report had not yet been made; but, we
question whether there was a man among them, notwithstanding,