he said Bainbridge manacled and shackled for near
two months. At length on receiving five guineas from Mr. Kemp, a friend
of Solas's, Bainbridge released the prisoner from his cruel
confinement. But though his chains were taken off, his terror still
remained, and the unhappy man was prevailed upon by that terror, not
only to labor _gratis_ for the said Bainbridge, but to swear also at
random all that he hath required of him; and the committee themselves
saw an instance of the deep impression his sufferings had made upon
him; for on his surmising from something said, that Bainbridge was to
return again as Warden of the Fleet, he fainted, and the blood started
out of his mouth and nose." This example is by no means an exceptional
one. It is impossible, within the limits of this volume, to give an
adequate idea of the disease, the squalor, the cruelties and abuses
which existed in the prisons. Their interiors are often described by
the novelists, who were unable to exaggerate the actual circumstances.
Poor prisoners, when acquitted, were dragged back to prison and kept
there till their dues were paid or they were released by death. Richer
men were subjected to all sorts of indignity and danger, even to that
of small-pox, to force them to enrich their jailers.

The social condition of England in the first half of the eighteenth
century presents a material and unattractive aspect. Its most prominent
characteristics are the corruption and coarseness of the upper classes,
and the ignorant brutality of the lower. Still there existed beneath
this exterior, qualities and habits in the highest degree favorable to
civilization and social order. At a later time these qualities brought
about reforms which did away with many of the worst abuses. Among the
middle classes, fast rising to political and social prominence, lived
an earnest morality, which at a later time took form in the great
Methodist revival, and the rise of philanthropy. This persevering
industry of the same classes added enormously to the wealth of the
nation. When reform came, it came as a revolt against existing
conditions, showing at once how bad those conditions were, and how
strongly the popular mind inclined to a better state. A general feeling
of disgust prevailed which left deep traces on contemporary literature,
and produced a widespread misanthropy. The first half of the eighteenth
century was to the period of the Restoration like the morning after a
debauch